Villager photo by Elisabeth Robert

Bruce Morrow, a.k.a. Cousin Brucie, with his Peacock jukebox at home in Greenwich Village.

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Listen to your Cousin
By Jerry Tallmer
Michael Harrington, a very serious radical, author of “The Other America,” a book about poverty that changed a lot of things, and with it all, a dashing, charismatic, lionized young standout of the 1960s, once blithely remarked to this writer, while en route to speak to some college kids: “I’m like a jukebox. Put a quarter in me and I’ll talk about anything.”

Gottlieb gets in on river rush
By Lincoln Anderson
It’s an old empty hotel and something secret is going on inside.
No, it’s not the Bates Hotel.
It’s the Keller Hotel on the Greenwich Village waterfront. The building has been vacant for the last 10 to 15 years, but construction workers have recently been renovating inside in what to neighbors appears to be a clandestine manner.

7 proposals submitted for Pier 57
By Albert Amateau
The Hudson River Park Trust last week presented the seven development teams that propose to transform Pier 57, the former city bus depot on the Chelsea waterfront, into a cultural destination in the 5-mile-long riverfront park currently under construction.

Residents revolt against Union Sq. BID plan to expand to north
By Albert Amateau
At their first public meeting on the proposed expansion to double the size of the Union Sq.-14th St. Business Improvement District, organizers last week ran into vocal opposition from a group of residents north of the square.

Irving students give mixed reviews of new security
By Elizabeth O’Brien
Nearly a month after City Hall dispatched 150 police officers to the city’s most crime-plagued schools, students at Washington Irving High School had mixed reviews for the officers stationed at their Gramercy building.

Convention protestors hope to camp out in the park
By Lincoln Anderson
Thousands of protestors are expected to flood into New York when the Republican National Convention hits town Aug. 30-Sept. 2. The center of action will no doubt be around Madison Sq. Garden at 30th St. and Seventh Ave., but afterwards the protestors will need somewhere to stay. Some local activists think Tompkins Sq. would be the perfect spot to pitch tents and camp out.

Basketball City is becoming a political football
By Albert Amateau
Tension is rising in the tug of war between Basketball City and park advocates over Pier 63 on the Hudson River as the sports facility’s lease draws closer to its Dec. 31, 2004, expiration.

New Gottfried bill would allow S.L.A. to enforce liquor license conditions
By Albert Amateau
Chelsea Assemblymember Richard Gottfried has proposed state legislation intended to make the State Liquor Authority more responsive to community concerns. A Gottfried bill unanimously passed by the Assembly earlier this month would give the S.L.A. power to enforce conditions attached to liquor licenses.

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Tribeca Film Festival gears up 1800 volunteers are sought
By Danielle Stein
Looking at the handful of employees occupying a sliver of hardwood-floored space on North Moore Street, you’d think you were observing the daily workings of a small temp agency or a start-up public relations firm. You’d never guess what the sparse group is really up to: putting together one of the largest film festivals in the world.

Orson Welles retrospective at Film Forum
By Jerry Tallmer
A great movie is like a great novel, or for that matter a great painting: You can always learn something new. I must, over the years, have seen “The Third Man” two dozen times, but this past weekend, when I took another look for present purposes, three things that had never registered before jumped out at me.

Pioneer of American avant-garde film soldiers on
By Aileen Torres
Lithuanian born Jonas Mekas is widely considered to be the godfather of American avant-garde cinema. Born in 1922, Mekas immigrated to New York in his 20’s, settling first in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and later on Orchard Street on the Lower East Side.

Koch on Film
By Ed Koch
‘The Dreamers’ (+)
This is a film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci who directed many movies including “Last Emperor,” “The Conformist,” and “Last Tango in Paris.” His films are always sexually arousing and this one, which includes male and female frontal nudity and some serious coupling, is no exception.
‘La Mentale the code’ (+) This French film is a combination of “The Godfather” movies and the HBO television show “The Sopranos.”

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