Villager photo by Jefferson Siegel

Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, with Assistant Chief Anthony Izzo of the Police Department’s Organized Crime Control Bureau, standing in rear, on Tuesday announcing the closure of a full city block in Chinatown where sales of counterfeit goods were rampant.

Transcending belief
By Sarah Norris
On September 11, 2001, Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, both of whom were pregnant, lost their husbands in separate plane crashes into the World Trade Center. Although their Boston suburbs are only one town apart, they had never met until shared tragedy brought them together.

Koch on Film
By Ed Koch.
“London to Brighton” (+) This movie is devoted to the seamy side of life involving prostitution, pimps and criminality which exists in most, if not all, cities. In this case, it is the City of London.
“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (+)
This movie, which takes place in Romania in the 1980s, packs a wallop.

Blue romance
By Steven Snyder
Enigmatic to the point of exasperating, “The Duchess of Langeais” is likely to confound many viewers. As the film delves deeper into the personalities of its star-crossed lovers, however, one appreciates that all of this tension is quite intentional.

Too Hot Halal hoopsters have faith in each other
By Sarah Klein 
Four basketball players in black team T-shirts attempt to charge down the rubber court, but one lags behind at a slow jog. One player scores. His teammates slap hands and a celebratory roar rises from the stands. But seconds later, someone else misses an easy shot. A varsity basketball player refereeing the game, who towers over the players he is watching, muffles a laugh.

A sublime construction of Israeli stones
By Talia Page
Following the enormous success of showings in New York over the past decade, Michal Rovner’s latest installation, “Makom II,” at the PaceWildenstein gallery, has been highly anticipated. Rovner initially garnered public notice with her 1997 film, “Border,” which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art, and received more than a dozen subsequent screenings at major international venues. In 2001, “Notes,” her collaboration with composer Philip Glass, was featured at the annual Lincoln Center Festival.

Life, summed up in six words
By Adrienne Urbanski
Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words (his creation: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”) Smith Magazine, a web site showcasing personal narratives, invited writers to come up with their own six-word memoirs.

A castle rich with compelling narratives
By Jerry Tallmer
The Castle is a brooding, imposing four-story edifice on Riverside Drive at 140th Street, visible from the West Side Drive. Erected in 1913, it has in its time served as a Catholic girls’ school, a Yeshiva, and then an empty eyesore that became a crack house.