Will Smokers Find Paradise
On Rooftops of New York? When the city's new smoking ban went into effect on March 30, it appeared so iron-clad that even the most resourceful restaurateur or bar owner would be hard put to find a loophole. But some Greenwich Village residents believe a way has been found. They fear that Read MoreBoard 8 Rallies to Oppose
Local Firehouse Closures When Mayor Bloomberg grimly announced last year that the city should brace itself for a $4.8 billion budget gap in 2003, he assured the public that "smart management [would] keep the pain of belt-tightening to a minimum." Though it's clear by now that the cost-cutting measures floated by Read MoreBy sunrise on Sept. 11, 2002, one year after the towers fell, the crowds were already thick at Ground Zero. A strange carnival had descended on downtown overnight, depositing a sea of mourners, babies clad in red, white and blue, politicians and doughnut vendors. Bagpipers had marched in from all corners of the city, some Read More
On the morning of Jan. 18, Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, a
puckish smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, delivered his annual-and ostensibly last-State of the Parks address at the department's headquarters in Central Park. The mood was nostalgic, as the onetime maverick and full-time eccentric reflected on his 15 years as Parks Commissioner. "I Read MoreOn a balmy summer afternoon in 1991, Shelly Friedman was strolling the boardwalk in Brighton Beach with New York Times reporter Joyce Purnick when they came upon three elderly women.
Mr. Friedman, an attorney, was in the midst of a contentious battle with local residents who were dead set against demolishing the historic Brighton Beach Baths Read MoreEarlier this month, City Comptroller Alan Hevesi tried to put a
number on the economic fallout from the World Trade Center attack, releasing a report that estimated the loss at somewhere between $90 billion and $105 billion over the next two fiscal years. Of that, $45 billion was for the loss of the buildings and the Read MoreNine firefighters began digging around the narrow gulch
formed between a fallen pipe and a steel plank. They moved through the debris, exhuming rocks, insulation, metal casings and a sheaf of dot-matrix paper. After five minutes of silence came the cry: "We've got a body!" They shined a light into the hole, scooping faster now, the Read MoreWhen the Metropolitan Museum of Art rolled out its $200 million expansion plan last January, reaction from the museum's Fifth Avenue neighbors was unequivocal. Fed up with a seemingly endless stream of construction projects sullying their Central Park views, they hired a team of high-priced attorneys to fight the plan.
Despite heavy pressure from these Read MoreWhen Beverly Gunther moved into 1001 Fifth Avenue seven
years ago, she never imagined that she would one day find herself feuding with her neighbor across the street, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the contrary-the Met was one of the neighborhood's prime attractions. During the days, Ms. Gunther, an art lover, roamed the galleries. At Read More
