THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN


Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert General Growth Properties hopes to demolish Pier 17 to build redesigned retail, but in the meantime the firm has brought in new shops. The new leases are short term and have low rents, according to several sources. Report details Deutsche firefighters’ last fatal hour By Julie Shapiro Across the street from the smoking Deutsche Bank building, an F.D.N.Y. commander orchestrated the firefighting operations inside. He communicated by radio, his voice coming in clearly as he asked repeatedly for a roll call. The search for Beddia and Graffagnino Deutsche radio transmissions Excerpts of the audio transmissions from the fatal fire at the former Deutsche Bank building on Aug. 18, 2007, when firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, were both killed. They are the missing Engine 24 firefighters referred to in the tapes. Graffagnino is the first one to be found and Beddia is the second. [WARNING: TRASMISIONS CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE] Burden grills Sanitation over garage tower plan By Albert Amateau City Planning Commissioners zeroed-in on a few issues toward the end of an all-day hearing on Wednesday on the Department of Sanitation’s proposal for a $429 million garage for three sanitation districts on the UPS lot on Spring St. Hotel keeps ’em guessing as business it’s messing By Albert Amateau The project at 180 Orchard St. that began more than three years ago looks like a derelict construction site whose future is a mystery. But one thing is certain to some: Landlords sue, saying law would harass them By Jefferson Siegel Landlords filing suit against a new tenant anti-harassment law were lambasted at a rally on the steps of City Hall last week. Strand books one more month on Fulton St. Strand Bookstore’s 95 Fulton St. annex will be closing at the end of September, a month later than expected, said owner Fred Bass. The store closing was originally schedule for Aug. 31. Greenwich St. pedestrian recounts limo road rage incident On Aug. 27, Brian Lutz said he was speaking to his wife about how unsafe the intersection they were crossing — Greenwich and Duane Sts. — was when he suddenly heard someone yelling “Look out! Look out!” Looking to his left, Lutz saw a black limousine backing up straight at him.	NEWS What’s up, Seaport? Business up, as lower-rent shops move Downtown By Julie Shapiro The mall on Pier 17 does not have the air of a doomed building. Wait for W.T.C. trains may be at least 8 years By Julie Shapiro The World Trade Center PATH hub will not open until 2016, according to a February 2007 engineering study, a portion of which was obtained by Downtown Express. Artist with cancer ‘resurrected’ with Pollock grant By Janel Bladow “I love a black line,” says artist Paul Jansen strolling through his South Street Seaport painting studio, surrounded by tables topped with brushes, acrylic tubes, colored markers, and canvases covered with seven to eight coats of silky smooth white enamel. Contractor looks to resume weekend work near ballfields By Julie Shapiro Goldman Sachs plans to start working evenings and weekends to finish the construction of its headquarters in Battery Park City. Tugboats will tussle at annual Hudson River race The 16th annual New York City tugboat race takes place on the Sunday before Labor Day when more than a dozen tugs will power down the Hudson River from the Riverside South Pier at W. 72nd St. to Pier 84 on W. 44th St. on the Clinton waterfront. BACK TO SCHOOL The test numbers add up in math for Downtown schools By Laura Latzko There were drops in some reading scores at Downtown schools this year but almost all did better than the average in Manhattan on fourth and eighth grade reading tests. Charter school debate continues with new ones coming M.C.S. returns with small classes, perfect scores High school academy gives teens a second chance to graduate Wall Street’s masters take high school under their wings
ARTS DOWNTOWN The fashion queens of Christopher St. By Laurie Mittelmann On Staten Island, 20 wigs crowd the public housing unit of transgender model and prostitute Shawn Rachel, 28. Under the spiegeltents, all the Seaport’s a stage By Lee Ann Westover Through the early part of the 20th century, itinerant theaters crisscrossed Europe—not unlike the Broadway road shows of today. Velvet-draped, teak-trimmed “spiegeltents” brought vaudeville-style entertainment to the public in portable opulence. Transatlantic chase for money and love By Michael Rymer Sana Krasikov’s stories may never have a following on Wall Street, but they should. One character in her debut short-story collection. ‘[title of show]’ perfectly tailored for New Yorkers By Scott Harrah This clever, original musical comedy was first produced more than two years ago off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in the East Village and won an Obie. Its transfer to Broadway has been anticipated with much fanfare, but does it live it up to all the hype? Teen spirits By Jen Anderson Preferring to forget that I was ever a socially inept kid with braces and an unfortunate perm just trying to survive high school.	A family comedy (well, sort of) By Scott Harrah Many consider this ultra-dark tragicomedy by prolific avant-garde playwright Christopher Durang to be among his finest works, and for good reason. Elevated cinema By Leonard Quart Now in its third season, Movie Nights On The Elevated Acre takes place every Tuesday in August, starting at sundown between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

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