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- {"id": "1788718", "text": ["AT the end of the last season of `` The Wire , '' another battle in the drug war came to an unceremonious close .", "As an experiment the police in the show 's grim Baltimore neighborhood had decided to try drug legalization within a circumscribed area , which locals started calling Hamsterdam .", "But within weeks , political blowback forced the experiment 's cruel end .", "Hamsterdam 's seedy row houses were torn down , leaving an equally inhospitable pile of rubble .", "Amid the destruction Juan Donovan Bell saw an opportunity .", "One half of Darkroom Productions , a local Baltimore hip-hop production team , he had been avidly following `` The Wire '' since its first season .", "`` These communities they depict , I live there , '' he recently said over the telephone from his West Baltimore studio .", "He said the show had done a good job of depicting the city 's drug gangs , police officers and politicos , but it had all but ignored the city 's music .", "So he began work on a mixtape album to showcase local rappers .", "`` I knew the mixtape would blow up if I called it ' Hamsterdam , ' '' Mr. Bell said .", "`` I was like , ' If you look at the show for entertainment , do n't forget about us . '", "`` He shot the cover photograph around the corner from where the Hamsterdam episodes were filmed , as the original location was unavailable : '' When they tore the houses down , that was real . ``", "`` Hamsterdam '' became one of the more acclaimed hip-hop records to come from Baltimore last year , and one of the first to receive attention outside the city .", "It caught the ear of David Simon , the creator and an executive producer of the series .", "`` I put it in my car 's CD player and drove around with it for three days straight , `` he said recently in a phone interview .", "`` I 'd been so frustrated about not being able to be authentic in the past .", "The music they 're listening to , it should be hip-hop , and it should be the hip-hop they 're listening to in Baltimore . ``", "When the show 's fourth season begins tonight , Baltimore 's rap scene -- by no definition a national powerhouse -- will have its biggest showcase to date .", "Darkroom contributes several songs featuring several unsigned rappers , most notably Tyree Colion , Mullyman and Diablo .", "`` The amount of people in Baltimore in the last five years who 've received record contracts , `` Mr. Bell said , '' you can count on one hand , with fingers left . ``", "No national rap star has emerged from Baltimore , despite all this grass-roots activity , largely because a distinctive local black sound -- Baltimore club , or house , a thrusting , occasionally lewd form of dance music -- already existed .", "-LRB- Last season `` The Wire '' used a few songs from DJ Technics , a local club-music figure .", "The context was `` quite tasteless , the way it was supposed to be , '' DJ Technics said jokingly .", "He contributes more club tracks this season . -RRB-", "`` The Wire '' has already invigorated the city 's musicians .", "`` Even though it 's fictional , the show has influenced rappers in Baltimore , `` said Blake Leyh , the show 's music supervisor .", "`` And by using this music , there 's a sense in which these different worlds are feeding back on each other now . ``", "Mr. Simon added : `` I think the show gave Baltimore a certain pride .", "It was coming out of their ghetto .", "Forget West Philly , forget East New York .", "When it comes to drug trafficking , we 're the first string .", "There 's perverse pride in that . ``", "In one scene this season two members of the show 's primary drug crew , trying to figure out whether the new corner boys are from a rival New York set , ask about a popular Baltimore song by Young Leek .", "The guy they are interrogating replies , in an unprintable fashion , that he has never heard of it , and he is thanked for his candor with a bullet in the head .", "UNLIKE most television shows , on which pop music is used to provide broad emotional prompts , `` The Wire '' uses songs only as source music , as it would be heard by the characters themselves .", "`` We 're adding to the credibility of the moment , `` Mr. Simon said .", "`` We 're not trying to cue people as to what to think .", "The perfect song that comments on the action , that 's never on the jukebox when the moment actually happens . ``", "And so the uses of Baltimore hip-hop this season helps firm `` The Wire 's `` grip on naturalist storytelling .", "`` The attempt , '' Mr. Leyh said , `` is to make everything as real as possible .", "Our concern is verisimilitude .", "The cumulative effect of all of these choices adds up to something very powerful . ``", "Inspired by the attention now being paid to their city and their work , the Darkroom producers are at work on a second volume of `` Hamsterdam , '' as well as a documentary about the city 's rap scene .", "In a dark pun on Baltimore 's nickname of Charm City , they are calling it `` Harm City Exposed . ''", "`` The streets is a monster here , '' Mr. Bell said .", "`` It can swallow up anyone .", "That 's why I want to get this door kicked down soon , because a lot of people do n't have any options . ``", "-LRB- Mr. Colion , one of this season 's most prominently featured artists , wo n't be able to see how his work is used on the show : he 's currently behind bars . -RRB-", "Using this music , Mr. Leyh said , `` is one more way ' The Wire ' can give back to Baltimore . ``", "Already , the artists attached to the `` Hamsterdam '' project are beginning to receive major-label interest .", "`` This is for us , '' Diablo said , `` and we need to make sure that it counts .", "Our only problem has been getting heard , and now we getting heard . ``", "In the final scene of the final episode of this season , one of the show 's young characters drives down a quiet street , Mullyman 's song `` The Life , the Hood , the Streetz '' blasting from the window of his stolen car .", "From Mullyman 's `` Still H.I.M. '' mixtape , it was one of the bigger Baltimore rap records of the past year , but in this new context portends a whole new life and meaning for the song and its author .", "`` In Baltimore your hood is your whole world , '' Mullyman said .", "`` ` The Wire ' inspired me , let me know we had a voice I did n't know we had .", "It showed me I might be sitting on oil . ``", "THE NEW SEASON -- TELEVISION ."], "summary": ["Article discusses how TV series The Wire will feature music from Baltimore 's rap scene , using songs only as they would be heard by the characters themselves .", "Baltimore rap music scene described .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [34], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788720", "text": ["THE singer-songwriter Marisa Monte has one of those supple , knowing voices that make Brazilian pop so inviting .", "After a decade in which she became one of Brazil 's top stars , Ms. Monte stopped touring in 2001 to catch her breath , have a child and re-examine her music .", "She did n't disappear .", "`` Tribalistas , '' the album she made in 2002 in a two-week collaboration with fellow Brazilian songwriters , Carlinhos Brown and Arnaldo Antunes , won a Latin Grammy award and sold a million copies in Brazil .", "Now she 's back with two very different albums , being released this week by the Metro Blue / Blue Note label in the United States : `` Infinito Particular '' and `` Universo ao Meu Redor . ''", "-LRB- They 're already hits in Brazil . -RRB-", "And on Nov . 14 she will come to the Beacon Theater as part of her first American tour since 2000 .", "`` Universo ao Meu Redor '' is about heritage : the sambas that Ms. Monte grew up hearing and studied more deeply when she produced an album for the Velha Guarda da Portela , the old guard , or elder members , of the long-running Portela samba school in Rio de Janeiro .", "-LRB- Her father is one of the school 's directors . -RRB-", "She sings borrowed sambas -- reaching back as far as the 1940 's and including some that have been widely sung but never recorded -- along with a few of her own songs , and she 's backed largely by acoustic instruments in cozy but untraditional arrangements .", "It 's samba carried inward .", "`` Infinito Particular '' is even more pensive .", "It features her own songs in settings that wrap her and a small band in an aura of orchestration and electronics .", "Both albums are wonderfully introspective , and it should be illuminating to hear what she does with the songs when she brings them to the stage in November .", "THE NEW SEASON -- MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Jon Pareles article profiles Brazilian singer-songwriter Marisa Monte .", "Describes her two just-released very different albums .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788721", "text": ["LISTENING to Young Jeezy is an immersive experience .", "Not just because he plunges listeners into a world of crack-trade narratives and gun-busting threats and grim late-night parties where no one ever seems to relax .", "-LRB- Though he does that , and does it brilliantly . -RRB-", "But also because he finds musical ways to suck in his listeners .", "He gravitates toward slow tempos , so he can sink into the beats , and so listeners have no choice but to slow down and sink with him .", "And his constant ad-libs -- `` Yeeeah '' and `` Ha-haaa ! '' and `` Thaaat 's riiiight `` and all the rest -- cleverly blur the line between sense and sound .", "Last year , after an impressive run on the mixtape circuit , Young Jeezy released `` Let 's Get It : Thug Motivation 101 `` -LRB- Island Def Jam -RRB- , a major-label debut that felt like a momentous event .", "He sounded utterly untouchable when he growled , `` You better call your crew , you gon ' need help / Whole car strapped , and I ai n't talking seat belts . ``", "The album yielded a handful of hits , most notably `` Soul Survivor , '' a collaboration with Akon .", "Maybe more important , the album established Young Jeezy as one of hip-hop ` s most unimpeachable stars : an Atlanta upstart not even narrow-minded New York listeners could deny .", "A pop hitmaker who still sounded great on mixtapes .", "And you can hear Young Jeezy 's influence in Rick Ross , the Miami rapper who clearly patterned his recent major-label debut after `` Let 's Get It . ``", "Now , barely a year later , Young Jeezy is gearing up for his second proper album .", "He has plenty of motivation : his friendly -LRB- so far -RRB- Atlanta rival T I . released an impressive CD , `` King , '' earlier this year .", "And his recent collaborations and mixtape contributions suggest he has n't lost a step .", "In `` I Do This , '' he rhymes , `` S550 , yeah , the brand-new Benz / Bought two the same color , I call ' em Siamese twins . ''", "Now the only question is : Will his plan -- to release the album on Halloween -- hold firm .", "Young Jeezy may seem immovable , but major-label hip-hop release dates are anything but .", "THE NEW SEASON -- MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Kelefa Sanneh article discusses Young Jeezy , one of hip-hop ` s most unimpeachable stars .", "Barely a year after releasing his first album , he is gearing up for second one .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [12, 9], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788722", "text": ["A JAZZ concert season can suggest comparisons to a course curriculum , a museum catalog or a tasting menu .", "The new season at Merkin Concert Hall was designed with yet another model in mind .", "It aspires to the gritty , unofficial quality of a mixtape .", "That may sound slightly out of character for Merkin Hall , which has earned a reputation for avant-gardism of a cool and cerebral disposition .", "But for Brice Rosenbloom and Simon Rentner , the season 's producers , it makes sense .", "Certainly it fits their profile .", "Mr. Rosenbloom has booked music at Makor and the Knitting Factory , and Mr. Rentner has a background in radio production .", "Their commitment to eclecticism comes across as matter-of-fact , even when it carries a whiff of youthful pretension .", "DJ Spooky was one source of inspiration for their programming concept , Mr. Rentner said in a recent phone conversation .", "The 45-concert season began on Sept . 2 with a tribute to New Orleans jazz and soul .", "Its closing jazz event , on May 7 , pairs the Ron Carter Nonet and the Aaron Goldberg Trio .", "Both concerts fall under Chamber Jazz , a six-concert subscription series that will also include the free-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor -LRB- Oct . 12 -RRB- and the Mingus Orchestra -LRB- Nov . 30 -RRB- .", "The hall 's No Minimum series no longer heeds its original dual-piano premise : its first installment on Oct . 9 will feature the pianist Robert Glasper with , separately , the guitarist Lionel Loueke and the bassist Meshell Ndegeocello .", "The Zoom : Composers Close Up series will include a Feb . 15 showcase for the Argentine composer Guillermo Klein .", "And the first concert of the new Masters Reimagined program , on Sept . 9 , will feature the music of Hermeto Pascoal as performed by the Bobby Sanabria Big Band .", "Though studded with stylish contemporary references -- like Radiohead and Bj\u00f6rk , the subjects of an interpretive concert on Oct . 19 -- the season 's most promising feature has a historic tinge .", "Reissue is a series that addresses repertory in a different fashion than Jazz at Lincoln Center , which once employed both Mr. Rosenbloom and Mr. Rentner .", "On Sept . 16 Reissue pays homage to Don Cherry 's `` Symphony for Improvisers , '' with that album 's original bassist , Henry Grimes , and the trumpeters Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell .", "On Nov . 14 it will salute Andrew Hill 's `` Passing Ships , '' with Mr. Hill leading an octet as well as his trio .", "On Dec . 19 Miles Davis 's `` Bitches Brew '' will be revisited by Animation , led by the saxophonist and producer Bob Belden .", "And on Feb . 19 , `` The Connection , '' by Freddie Redd , will be revived with the alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson filling in for Jackie McLean and , after a lengthy obscurity , Mr. Redd at the piano .", "THE NEW SEASON -- POP MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Nate Chinen article discusses highlights of 45-concert jazz season at Merkin Concert Hall , which aspires to gritty , unofficial quality of mixtape .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2, 1], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788724", "text": ["THERE is nothing more exciting than the premiere of a new work that seems destined to stick with you from the moment it starts .", "I may forever associate the 2005-6 season with the premiere of Peter Lieberson 's `` Neruda Songs , '' commissioned by James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and performed at Symphony Hall .", "That haunting , refined and emotionally revealing song cycle was like a love poem from Mr. Lieberson to his wife , the unforgettable mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson , who sang it sublimely in what would be one of her last performances before her death in July .", "As I look ahead to the coming season , several intriguing premieres catch my interest , starting with Tan Dun 's ambitious opera `` The First Emperor , '' which was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and receives its premiere there -LRB- Dec . 21 -RRB- .", "With Mr. Tan , an immensely skilled and eclectic composer , it 's hard to know what to expect .", "He has written works that are baffling in their banality , like `` Red Forecast , '' a multimedia piece for soprano , orchestra , a battalion of percussionists , video projections and audio tracks .", "The work is like some pretentious 60 's happening , with chanting , chaos , images of students rioting , a gaggle of voices .", "Yet other pieces have been close to entrancing , notably `` Water Passion After St . Matthew . ''", "Though though marred by exasperating stretches of meditative vamping , the work has some ethereal music and mesmerizing instrumental colors .", "And Mr. Tan 's Oscar-winning score for the 2000 film `` Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon '' is a knockout from start to finish : arresting , brutal , yet somehow charming .", "Mr. Tan 's new opera is set in the ancient court of Qin Shi Huangdi , the first emperor of China , a role conceived for Pl\u00e1cido Domingo .", "Count on the production by the film director Zhang Yimou -LRB- `` House of Flying Daggers '' -RRB- to be elaborate and flashy .", "How will it turn out .", "Not knowing is part of the fun .", "Perhaps the New York Philharmonic grew tired of reading about the excitement the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen has been generating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at its stunning new home , Disney Hall .", "Rather than just bring him here to conduct , the New York Philharmonic commissioned Mr. Salonen , an accomplished composer , to write a new piano concerto for Yefim Bronfman , which receives its premiere in New York -LRB- Feb . 1-3 -RRB- , with Mr. Salonen conducting .", "As a consolation prize the Los Angeles Philharmonic gets first dibs on recording the concerto .", "On a smaller scale , the eminent pianist Peter Serkin , whose passion for contemporary music is as intense as it was during his young rebel days as a member of the uncompromising quartet Tashi , is scheduled to give the premiere of a new chamber work by the British composer Oliver Knussen .", "Despite having written some bracing and ingenious scores , Mr. Knussen has had a woeful record of meeting deadlines .", "This work was supposed to have had its premiere when Mr. Serkin presented his Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall several seasons back .", "This time the delayed premiere by Mr. Serkin and the Zankel Band is to take place at Zankel Hall -LRB- April 13 -RRB- , with Mr. Knussen conducting .", "This season at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is the first planned completely by the ensemble 's new artistic directors , the pianist Wu Han and the cellist David Finckel .", "They have devised many programs that intriguingly mix old and new works .", "But I 'm looking forward to an all-Leon Kirchner concert .", "The society took part in commissioning this towering American composer to write his String Quartet No . 4 .", "One way to present its New York premiere would be as part of a varied program that might place the new work in a larger musical context .", "Instead the society will present the Orion String Quartet performing all four Kirchner quartets at Alice Tully Hall -LRB- March 7 -RRB- .", "They will be played in order , starting with the first , composed in 1949 .", "Here is a chance to follow Mr. Kirchner 's exploration of the quartet genre over a span of nearly 60 years .", "Out of town , admirers of the elegant composer Kaija Saariaho are looking forward to her 60-minute oratorio , `` La Passion de Simone . ''", "The work will have its premiere in Vienna this fall , and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will give the American premiere -LRB- Jan . 12-14 -RRB- .", "James Levine , who continues to champion tough-guy modernists , presents the premiere of Charles Wuorinen 's Eighth Symphony with the Boston Symphony at Symphony Hall -LRB- Feb . 15 -RRB- .", "Those who find Mr. Wuorinen 's music too off-putting in its complexity should hear Mr. Levine perform his works .", "In recent years Mr. Levine 's palpable excitement for the music has come through in stunning accounts of daunting Wuorinen scores .", "On the other end of the contemporary-music spectrum John Adams has fashioned the `` Doctor Atomic '' Symphony from his engrossing and courageous opera `` Doctor Atomic , '' which had its premiere last season in San Francisco .", "David Robertson , who is galvanizing audiences as music director of the St . Louis Symphony , conducts the premiere in St . Louis -LRB- March 16 -RRB- , then brings it to Carnegie Hall -LRB- March 31 -RRB- .", "As always with premieres from searching composers , do not assume anything .", "THE NEW SEASON -- CLASSICAL MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Anthony Tommasini article notes some classical music and opera premieres scheduled for upcoming season , including Tan Dun 's The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788725", "text": ["GUSTAVO DUDAMEL has quickly come a long way from his boyhood in Barquisimeto , Venezuela , when he used to conduct toy soldiers .", "He has attracted glowing praise from Simon Rattle , Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim , and a reputation as a rising star of the podium .", "And he 's still just a tender 25 .", "Mr. Dudamel is one of five musicians selected here as artists on the cusp of promising futures .", "He is a product of one of the classical music world 's most extraordinary phenomena : Venezuela 's youth orchestra system .", "Financed by the government and the Inter-American Development Bank , it has yielded scores of youth orchestras and trained hundreds of thousands of players , many from poor neighborhoods .", "Mr. Dudamel conducts its jewel , the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar National Youth Orchestra .", "He was also recently appointed the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden .", "He appears in America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic -LRB- Jan . 4 to 6 -RRB- , conducting Rachmaninoff 's Third Piano Concerto -LRB- with Yefim Bronfman as soloist -RRB- , Kodaly 's `` Dances of Galanta '' and Bartok 's `` Concerto for Orchestra '' .", "And with the Chicago Symphony -LRB- April 5 to 7 and 10 -RRB- , leading Bruch 's First Violin Concerto -LRB- with Pinchas Zukerman -RRB- and Mahler 's First Symphony .", "But he will be a busy guest conductor in Europe , appearing with a dozen orchestras , including the City of Birmingham Symphony , the Philharmonia of London , the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony .", "He has also been entrusted with Mozart 's `` Don Giovanni '' at La Scala Opera in Milan , Italy .", "Deutsche Grammophon , meanwhile , is about to release his recording of Beethoven 's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with the Bol\u00edvar youngsters .", "In the vocal realm , it will be a big season for Eric Owens , 36 , a Philadelphia-born bass-baritone who took part in two of the most important opera events last season .", "He won praise for his portrayal of Gen . Leslie Groves in John Adams 's `` Doctor Atomic '' at the San Francisco Opera .", "But raves came with the title role of Elliot Goldenthal 's `` Grendel '' at the Los Angeles Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival .", "Some critics described the part as perhaps the most demanding bass-baritone role in the repertory .", "Mr. Owens was `` consistently charismatic , theatrically and vocally , '' Peter G . Davis wrote in New York magazine .", "Others said he dominated the opera .", "This season Mr. Owens continues his close association with Mr. Adams .", "He will sing in the premiere of Mr. Adams 's new opera , `` A Flowering Tree , '' inspired by Mozart 's `` Magic Flute , '' at Peter Sellars 's New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic -LRB- Nov . 14 , 16 , 17 and 19 -RRB- .", "Other performances of the work are scheduled with the Berlin Philharmonic -LRB- Dec . 21 and 22 -RRB- and the San Francisco Symphony -LRB- March 1 to 3 -RRB- .", "Mr. Owens will sing other Adams works with the Boston Symphony -LRB- Dec . 7 to 9 -RRB- and the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall -LRB- April 27 -RRB- , and he makes his debut at the Netherlands Opera with a run of `` Doctor Atomic '' in June .", "He also has appearances with the Houston , Cincinnati and Alabama Symphonies .", "Compared with the celebrity glow of globe-trotting opera stars like Mr. Owens , contemporary composers like Michael Gandolfi lead low-key lives .", "A self-effacing 50-year-old from Cambridge , Mass . , and a friend of the much more famous composer Osvaldo Golijov , he started out in rock and jazz .", "Like many of his peers , he now survives by teaching -LRB- at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center -RRB- and winning foundation grants .", "His primarily tonal music , sometimes motored by Minimalism , is suffused with rhythmic vigor and vivid images .", "And he has a welcome humorous streak .", "One work is titled `` Budget Cuts : A Septet for Three Players and Conductor . ''", "Examples of his work will appear on programs by the American Composers Orchestra -LRB- Oct . 13 , Zankel Hall -RRB- and Boston Musica Viva -LRB- Feb . 4 , Tsai Performance Center in Boston -RRB- .", "Most notably his `` Impressions From ' The Garden of Cosmic Speculation , ' '' a work still in progress , will be conducted by Robert Spano with the Houston Symphony -LRB- March 16 to 18 -RRB- , the New World Symphony in Miami Beach -LRB- April 21 -RRB- and the Atlanta Symphony -LRB- May 24 to 26 -RRB- , where Mr. Gandolfi is in residence .", "Back to performers .", "The cellist Alicia Weilerstein , 24 , has been performing for nearly 20 years .", "She would probably have had an even bigger career by now if not for the small matter of college .", "She graduated with a history degree from Columbia in 2002 , an unusual stop-off for most virtuosos .", "Ms. Weilerstein also has a penchant for chamber music , performing in the Weilerstein Trio with her parents .", "One of her first major dates this season is a trio concert with Maxim Vengerov , violinist , and Lilya Zilberstein , pianist , at Carnegie Hall -LRB- Oct . 14 -RRB- .", "She performs the Elgar Concerto with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall -LRB- Jan . 11 and 13 -RRB- and with the Baltimore Symphony -LRB- June 8-10 -RRB- , and drops in for a slew of dates in places like Kalamazoo , Mich .", "Poughkeepsie , N.Y.", "Toledo , Ohio .", "Helena , Mont .", "And Wichita , Kan .", "Among the crop of emerging young pianists , Simone Dinnerstein , 33 , has done it the hard way .", "Praised for her intelligent and sensitive music making , Ms. Dinnerstein has won no major competition and lives with her schoolteacher husband and 4-year-old child in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn .", "She raised the money for her first recording , Bach 's `` Goldberg Variations , '' on her own .", "She played the work -- a brave choice -- at her New York debut in 2005 , winning positive reviews .", "In January she was taken on by her first major manager , Columbia Artists .", "In October the Delos label will release her recording of the Beethoven cello sonatas with Zuill Bailey , and her career generally gathers steam in the 2006-7 season .", "Highlights include a performance of Liszt 's Piano Concerto No . 1 and Totentanz at the Bard Music Festival -LRB- Oct . 27 -RRB- in Annandale-on-Hudson , N.Y. , and a recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -LRB- Nov . 19 -RRB- .", "Just as important may be a performance for an audience of one : an audition next month for Christoph Eschenbach , the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra .", "THE NEW SEASON -- CLASSICAL MUSIC Correction : September 17 , 2006 , Sunday An article and picture caption last Sunday about five classical music artists poised for breakthroughs misspelled the given name of one .", "She is Alisa Weilerstein , not Alicia .", "The article also misstated the date she graduated from Columbia .", "It was 2004 , not 2002 ."], "summary": ["Article profiles five musicians who are poised for a breakthrough and briefly describes their careers : conductor Gustavo Dudamel , bass-baritone Eric Owens , composer Michael Gandolfi , cellist Alicia Weilerstein and pianist Simone Dinnerstein .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [33, 24, 3, 43], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788727", "text": ["HERE 'S the bottom line about opera : Whatever the story , the music or the length , a performance rides on the quality of the singers in the principal roles .", "Verdi 's `` Don Carlo '' is a large and ambitious piece involving love triangles , political intrigue , the Spanish Inquisition and even a mysterious ghost .", "But the main difficulty in staging it is that it has six lead parts , each requiring a major singer .", "So it is rare to see a truly satisfying `` Don Carlo , '' yet this season the Metropolitan Opera is making a strong bid to provide one on Nov . 30 .", "Patricia Racette , Johan Botha , Olga Borodina , Dmitri Hvorostovsky , Ren\u00e9 Pape and Samuel Ramey onstage , and James Levine in the pit : the lineup is worthy of an opera gala in both star power and sheer musical ability .", "The one question mark is Ms. Racette : not whether this intelligent and moving artist will provide a committed performance , but what her lyric instrument will make of a role calling for a strong Verdi soprano .", "Still , when a singer as fine as Ms. Racette is your question mark , you are in good shape .", "`` Don Carlo , '' the story of the impetuous , weak crown prince of Spain -LRB- the underrated Mr. Botha -RRB- who defies his authoritative father , Philip II -LRB- the breathtaking Mr. Pape -RRB- , was written on the generous scale of French grand opera , and it underwent numerous reworkings after its 1867 premiere -LRB- including translation into Italian -RRB- as Verdi tried to get it right .", "Some of the difficulties were there from the beginning : to tailor the complex role of Princess Eboli to the voice of its first performer , Verdi ended up creating two unequal arias , one frilly , one dramatic .", "Ms. Borodina is one of the few singers alive who , with her languid , sensual voice , can hope to do justice to both .", "Some scenes simply proved intractable , like the discussion in Act II in which the Marquis of Posa speaks truth to the wrongheaded power of the autocratic Philip , a scene Verdi struggled with for years .", "The Met has found a way to curb its long-windedness .", "When Mr. Hvorostovsky , the heartthrob baritone with the never-ending breath support , and Mr. Pape are onstage together , any opera lover would be happy to watch , and listen , all night .", "THE NEW SEASON -- CLASSICAL MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Anne Midgette article on difficulties of producing Verdi 's opera , Don Carlo .", "Says Metropolitan Opera is making strong bid to solve them with good singers for all six leads .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788729", "text": ["OF the few weeds that crop up in the well-mowed lawn that is the New York Philharmonic 's coming season , one of the more welcome is native to the Midwest .", "David Robertson , left , taking a week off from his music director 's job at the St . Louis Symphony , will conduct music by Kaija Saariaho , Debussy and Sibelius -LRB- Dec . 14 to 16 -RRB- .", "He 's not a completely unfamiliar species : the Philharmonic is a co-commissioner of Ms. Saariaho 's `` Adriana Songs , '' a cycle extracted from her recent opera `` Adriana Mater '' with new connective tissue to join the various sequences .", "On the other hand , it takes visitors like Mr. Robertson to do the kind of heavy thinking that brings these three composers together in such a provocative way .", "Ms. Saariaho represents an interesting merger of Finnish music 's gray , stony aesthetic with a deep involvement in the `` spectral '' movement and its slow-moving clouds of carefully calculated overtones .", "`` Adriana Mater '' -- a story of rape and vengeance but , most of all , motherhood -- offers moments of sonic violence uncharacteristic of her earlier work , but the songs will also turn to dream sequences and Ms. Saariaho 's dramatically conciliatory ending .", "The Irish mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon will be the soloist .", "Debussy 's `` Martyr de St . - S\u00e9bastien '' conceals his later , leaner and more ascetic style inside a lumbering multimedia vehicle crushed by its own hyperactivity .", "When Kurt Masur did a cut-down version with the Philharmonic a few years ago , spectacle was eliminated , but the arm-waving excesses of d' Annunzio 's texts were inescapable .", "Mr. Robertson performs further liposuction by presenting what he calls `` Symphonic Fragments . ''", "If Debussy 's elusiveness has made its mark on Ms. Saariaho 's music , Sibelius 's `` Night Ride and Sunrise '' helps show the door she first came through .", "Brief , curious , obsessive , complex , with strings at a gallop , it is wintry in tone , a little hard-hearted and not easy to perform .", "`` La Mer , '' Debussy 's great essay on orchestral beauty , should warm us up at the end .", "After hearing this work , subtitled `` Day in the Life of the Sea , '' Erik Satie said that he liked the part at about half-past 10 .", "We should be on our way home by then .", "THE NEW SEASON -- CLASSICAL MUSIC ."], "summary": ["Bernard Holland article on David Robertson , who will conduct the New York Philharmonic in works by Saariaho , Debussy and Sibelius .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788741", "text": ["My state does not mandate paid maternity leave , and federal law does n't cover a business as small as where I work .", "Fortunately , my generous employer offers eight weeks of paid leave and an additional four unpaid .", "I am not sure I will return to work after that .", "May I still accept this offer .", "If I accept but do not return , must I refund the money .", "Name withheld , New Mexico Maternity benefits are not an advance payment on future work .", "They are better seen as compensation already earned , akin to health-care benefits or accumulated vacation days .", "There is nothing dishonorable in your not returning or unseemly about your current uncertainty .", "Having a child , particularly a first child , is a life-changing experience .", "You can not be sure how it will affect your feelings about the job .", "But your employer is operating out of personal generosity -- and a desire to keep employees happy and on the job -- rather than legal compulsion .", "-LRB- Where maternity leave is guaranteed by law , the issue is simple : comply .", "There is no requirement that you return to work or refund money if you do not . -RRB-", "So you should discuss the matter with your employer , to ensure that both of you clearly understand the situation and that both of you gain the peace of mind of knowing you have behaved openly , honestly and fairly .", "It may be that , learning of your indecision , your employer will amend the offer , even asking you to repay part of the money if you do not come back .", "That would be an unwise business decision -LRB- or perhaps a contract issue -RRB- , however : the policy is a model of decency and justice .", "But you should not behave deceitfully , particularly toward an employer who behaves so well toward you .", "UPDATE : A week after having her baby , the letter writer told her boss she was on the fence about returning to work .", "The boss changed the offer to two weeks of paid leave instead of eight .", "Once a week I pick up donated bakery items and deliver them to the food bank to be distributed to needy families .", "One morning I helped myself to a box of doughnuts .", "The following week I took some cookies for my grandson .", "Then it was a pecan pie , etc.", "Is this wrong .", "There seems to be plenty of food for the needy .", "Marjorie S . Desimone , Lansdowne , VA .", "I see where this is going : first you swipe a few doughnuts , then it 's a whole pie and before you know it you 're shooting it out with the cops at a Sara Lee factory .", "It 's an old , old story .", "Here 's one way to think about it .", "Suppose you were collecting cash for this same charity : would you help yourself to a few bucks if there were still `` plenty '' for the needy .", "If it 's wrong to take a wad of $ 10 bills , why is it right to take a wad of doughnuts .", "-LRB- Do they come by the wad .", "-RRB- I admire your work for the food bank , but you should stop skimming pastry .", "Here 's another way to think about it : If you did n't know the answer , you would n't have asked the question .", "It is often said that if you feel uneasy about your conduct , you 're probably doing wrong .", "But is that so .", "The proddings of the conscience are unreliable .", "Some people have a hypersensitive conscience and feel guilty about nearly everything .", "-LRB- Hence all those jokes that , in different versions , Jews and Catholics tell about themselves . -RRB-", "Other people do appalling things and sleep through the night untroubled .", "There 's no consistent calibration of the conscience .", "Feelings are not a reliable substitute for thought .", "That 's why therapists flourish .", "And columnists proffering ethical advice .", "THE WAY WE LIVE NOW : 9-10-06 : THE ETHICIST ."], "summary": ["Randy Cohen Ethicist column on comments on whether you may take paid maternity leave if employer is not required to provide it and you are unsure about whether you will return to work after having child .", "Also comments on whether a food bank volunteer may take the occasional box of doughnuts or cookies for herself ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2, 30, 0, 32, 41], "tag": ["Health", "Magazine"]}
- {"id": "1788742", "text": ["In New York City , Bohemia is determined by real estate : artists gather in raffish neighborhoods where studio space is cheap .", "The new outposts of culture and consumption they establish make the quarter desirable , thus raising the rents to prohibitive levels .", "The artists then decamp for the next shabby enclave .", "Starting in the 1960 's , what New Yorkers meant by `` downtown '' shifted from Greenwich Village to SoHo to TriBeCa to the Lower East Side .", "But Manhattan is a narrow island , and the portion of it dense enough to sustain the feeling of self-enclosure that Bohemia requires is quite small .", "And so , starting in the 1980 's , as rents skyrocketed , downtown began to migrate across the East River to Brooklyn .", "By now , those portions of Brooklyn first colonized by fleeing artists have almost completed the cycle of embourgeoisement .", "Williamsburg , the heart of Brooklyn 's gallery scene , has been thoroughly tamed by brasseries and boutiques .", "The kind of artists who are n't yet showing in those galleries are now moving to deepest , darkest Queens .", "But the middle-class householder geography of Queens offers too barren a soil for the rooting of a new Bohemia .", "Fortunately , there is lots more Brooklyn available .", "There is , of course , something wishful , or perhaps wistful , about this perpetual hunt for the urban El Dorado .", "A place that can shift around so easily sounds less like a neighborhood than a mentality , or a species of nostalgia .", "In most of America , after all , `` downtown '' simply means `` the city '' -- the place where things are close enough to one another that you can walk .", "But in New York , where every square inch feels urban , downtown is a refuge from -- a repudiation of -- the conventionality of Midtown , and mid-everything .", "Downtown is a concept , and perhaps an archaic one .", "The idea of Bohemia arose with the bourgeois city , against which it defined itself .", "In the Paris of `` La Boh\u00e8me '' -- the Latin Quarter , circa 1830 -- the artist willingly courts starvation and disease as the price of freedom .", "The poet Rodolfo may be giddy as he shovels his manuscript into the fire to keep warm , but it 's still the only source of fuel he has .", "Life was scarcely less desperate -- or less delightful -- in the downtown Manhattan of 1910 , when the poet and propagandist John Reed , according to one biographer , `` ate in obscure foreign restaurants , talked with the girls who walked the street in ' Satan 's Circus `` ` and caroused with Spanish longshoremen .", "Reed 's latter-day descendants are threatened not by penury but by gentrification .", "How can Bohemia contend with the twin baby stroller .", "The other day , walking around Fort Greene , one of Brooklyn 's current claimants to downtown cultural status , I stopped at an office building called 80 Arts .", "In the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts , or MoCADA , which occupies the ground floor , an exhibition of major black artists had just come down .", "I picked up some fliers from the counter .", "One , issued by a company called Downtown Babies , advertised `` Creative Play and Music Classes '' and `` Themed Birthday Parties '' to be held at MoCADA .", "Downtown Babies -- the end of Bohemia as we know it .", "80 Arts had been gutted and renovated as part of a `` cultural district '' established by a `` local development corporation '' organized around the Brooklyn Academy of Music , the cultural mega-institution of Fort Greene .", "Here was a planned Bohemia -- surely a contradiction in terms .", "Indeed , many locals , and local organizations , had protested the development -LRB- as they are now even more loudly protesting the Atlantic Yards , a nearby mega-project featuring skyscrapers and a basketball stadium to be designed by Frank Gehry -RRB- .", "But MoCADA owes its presence in Fort Greene to the cultural district .", "Should the project be fully implemented , a new theater and public library will be built as well .", "In short , downtown , or the idea of downtown , has become thoroughly implicated in the cultural and economic forces that it once resisted with every ounce of its scruffy integrity .", "The misfits and longhairs and revolutionaries deemed unassimilable by mainstream culture in John Reed 's day are now considered `` edgy '' .", "And edge , in turn , attracts sneaker stores and bistros and cultural entrepreneurs and even young couples with strollers .", "The derri\u00e8re-garde keeps catching up with the avant-garde .", "The avant-garde falls prey to its own lurid appeal .", "If Rodolfo 's artist pal Marcello were around today , his gallery opening would be catered by Absolut .", "And so the Bohemias of yesteryear have gone the way of Reed 's Spanish longshoremen .", "But is that so bad .", "Take a walk in Fort Greene , an ethnically and economically mixed neighborhood with tree-lined blocks of fine brick homes .", "A block away from 80 Arts , beyond the town house that the painter David Salle has lavishly rehabilitated , lies the lime-green Habana Outpost , an eco-friendly cafe where mothers push downtown babies on swings amid racks of folkloric skirts , priced to sell .", "And then , moving up Fulton Street , once a commercial swamp , there 's the wine store and the soul-food restaurant and the beloved Cake Man Raven .", "A few blocks away stands the Brooklyn Academy of Music , which has been irreproachably avant-garde since long before there was any money in it .", "Fort Greene feels less like Bohemia than what the scholar Joel Kotkin calls an `` elite urban enclave '' -- a place suited to the sophisticated tastes of the `` knowledge workers '' who now propel New York 's economy .", "But the wheel of development that brought in those young cosmopolites , and priced out a number of the area 's longtime , predominantly black residents , has not stopped turning : the Atlantic Yards project threatens to disrupt Fort Greene 's delicate ecology once again .", "We want to preserve our precious and beloved utopias like paperweight worlds .", "But the city -- at least this city -- will not permit it .", "THE WAY WE LIVE NOW : 9-10-06 James Traub is a contributing writer for the magazine ."], "summary": ["James Traub column on peculiar New York cycle by which one bohemian neighborhood after another is transformed from cheap place for artists to live , work and gather into elite urban enclave that they and other longtime residents can no longer afford .", "Says downtown , or idea of downtown , has become thoroughly implicated in cultural and economic forces it once resisted with every ounce of its scruffy integrity .", "Photos .", "Graphs ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [32, 0], "tag": ["Magazine"]}
- {"id": "1788743", "text": ["Q : In the 20-odd years since you opened your first restaurant , Union Square Cafe , in downtown New York , the area has gone from being a place to get a 25-cent cup of diner coffee into a foodie paradise .", "Would you say New York is the restaurant capital of the country .", "Absolutely .", "For its variety , quality and hospitality , no other city comes close .", "What are the up-and-coming food cities .", "There are so many ! Both Portlands -- Maine and Oregon -- are obsessed with good food .", "So are Seattle , Boston and Birmingham , Ala .", "I 'd throw in Las Vegas , but the profusion of restaurants there is more about an obsession with money and restaurant brands than it is with the soul of good food .", "Right .", "They 're too addicted to celebrity chefs , not unlike the Food Network , with Emeril and Mario Batali and Rachael Ray and the rest .", "Do you watch their various cooking shows .", "No , because I generally do n't learn anything that I did n't already know about food .", "And I 'm not even that smart .", "Is it fair to say that your contribution to the New York scene is that you helped pioneer the comfort version of high cuisine .", "Either that or the high-cuisine version of comfort food .", "As a Midwesterner , I am always looking for the middle ground .", "And I do n't mean that in a kind of wishy-washy , milquetoast way .", "You like to present yourself as a well-scrubbed , earnest guy from St . Louis who came East and made New York dining less stuffy , less French , less attitudinal .", "That 's me , although I am not sure about scrubbed .", "How much do you worry about your competition , which in the restaurant business is known to be fierce .", "When I first started , I worried hugely .", "When I opened Union Square Cafe , that neighborhood did n't have the density that it now has , and every time someone would open , I literally felt like another dog had peed on my tree .", "These days you are part owner of six restaurants downtown as well as of the Modern , your deluxe eatery at the Museum of Modern Art that is relatively uptown in geography and spirit and price .", "The chef 's tasting menu is priced at $ 125 per person .", "Down-to-earth is not limited to certain price points or architectural styles .", "Or so you contend in your forthcoming book , `` Setting the Table : The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business , '' which , surprisingly , does n't have a single recipe in it .", "What happened .", "One big debate my publisher and I had editorially was recipes or not , and the answer was no .", "Others have done narratives with recipes .", "Do something fresh , they said .", "So instead you decided to write a book on the hot new subject of hospitality .", "Yes .", "Show me three world-class art museums with equally good art and one of them will always have friendlier guards than the other two .", "That 's the one I 'm the most likely to return to .", "Have you ever been to Taco Bell .", "I went last year for the first time ever .", "I thought it was horrible .", "Whatever I am going to get in terms of a lower-priced and quicker transaction would never , ever convince me not to spend twice as much time and twice as much money getting something made by someone with a more individual point of view .", "But the price differential between Taco Bell and the Modern is not 2 to 1 .", "It 's 50 to 1 .", "Do you think that New York restaurants are overpriced .", "The Modern is not relevant to my comment .", "The value of dining at the Modern should be considered relative to dining at other luxury establishments of its ilk .", "Who cooks in your house .", "My wife , Audrey .", "To her credit , it is always fresh and always has at least four colors on the plate , and the kids are never given a choice .", "If they do n't want to experiment , they do n't eat .", "What do you see as the next food trend in New York .", "Two years ago , it was heirloom tomatoes .", "Last year it was Meyer lemons .", "It was watermelon this summer , watermelon as a replacement for tomato .", "The only ingredient that does not go out of style is hospitality .", "What about lettuce .", "Lettuce never goes out of style .", "You 've got a point .", "I 'll have to crunch on that .", "Deborah Solomon THE WAY WE LIVE NOW : 9-10-06 : QUESTIONS FOR DANNY MEYER ."], "summary": ["Deborah Solomon interview with Danny Meyer , downtown restaurateur who has ventured uptown with Modern , restaurant at Museum of Modern Art .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [22], "tag": ["Magazine"]}
- {"id": "1788744", "text": ["The International Astronomical Union all but threatened to go out on strike last month unless the rest of the solar system ejected an errant , puny member from the exclusive planets ' club .", "Thus , on the vote of a few residents of the hegemonic planet Earth , Pluto -- a celestial body whose only crime was to dare to wander in orbit to the beat of a different drummer -- was stripped of its 76-year-old classification .", "Pluto is now officially downgraded to a new category called dwarf planet , and all textbooks in all languages are ordered to refer to it with that adjectival derogation .", "World media , except a few unscientific sentimentalists -LRB- and the fictional Lois Lane 's Daily Planet -RRB- are meekly complying .", "The pejorative designation decreed by the stargazers ' union presuming to represent the solar `` Club of Eight '' is bottomed on dwarf star , defined as `` relatively small , with low mass and below-average luminosity . ''", "-LRB- Our sun falls into that demeaning category , but even so , sunblock is recommended . -RRB-", "The interest of language mavens in this astronomical rejiggering is the connotation of the words dwarf and planet .", "Dwarf , as both noun and adjective , means `` shorter than the average for the species , '' sometimes `` malformed or disproportionate . ''", "Because of cruel folklore portraying those affected by dwarfism as ugly Rumpelstiltskins , many with that genetic abnormality prefer to be called `` little people '' or `` of short stature . ''", "Midget , though well proportioned , is used to describe objects like tiny cars and submarines , and many little people take offense when the word is applied to them .", "The standard plural of dwarf is `` dwarfs , '' like Snow White 's Seven , though the novelist J.R.R. Tolkien has popularized dwarves .", "Planet and planetary are rooted in the Greek planasthai , `` to wander '' -LRB- Pluto wandered too far -RRB- .", "These words are gaining a political coloration .", "A recent visit to Australia by Mikhail Gorbachev drew a headline `` Former Soviet Supremo in Brisbane to Promote Planetary Perestroika . ''", "A Boston Globe article noted Colin Powell 's visit to the U.N. three years ago `` to convince the world of the planetary threat of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein . ''", "But environmentalists have been gravitating the use of planet , substituting it for world , as others cool toward global .", "`` Worried about a potential planetary crisis , '' William Broad wrote in The Times this summer , `` these leaders are calling on governments and scientific groups to study exotic ways to reduce global warming .", ". ``", "Roger Lewis of The Washington Post reported on `` green architecture '' at the National Building Museum , referring to `` atmospheric carbon dioxide and its planetary consequences . ''", "And Al Gore 's book `` An Inconvenient Truth '' was subtitled `` The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It . ''", "To my ear , many liberals are taking up the vogue use of planet and planetary while conservatives cling to world , worldwide and global -LRB- strategy , not warming -RRB- .", "Marshall McLuhan would probably now be writing about a planetary village .", "`` To save the planet '' connotes practical environmentalism , while `` to save the world '' connotes dreamy idealism .", "`` The growing use of planetary , '' opines Tom Pitoniak , an editor at Merriam-Webster , `` might be a symptom of a changing worldview , of people getting more conscious of our situation in a multigalactic universe .", "But there are still contexts where , if you use planetary , you 'll sound as if you 're in the realm of spaceships .", "Newt Gingrich said , a few weeks ago , that we were in World War III .", "If he had said that this was ` Planetary War III , ' you would have thought that aliens were landing . ''", "To whom , then , would the melodramatic suicide note -- `` Goodbye , cruel world ! '' -- be addressed .", "Though a planet is a physical world , the metaphoric world -- of ideas , of work , of entertainment -- is larger than the planet Earth .", "If a dwarf planet were a person , Pluto would be in a world of hurt .", "Evidence Some of our top intelligence officials are irritated at the way their analysts have been playing down reports from agents in the field of contacts between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran 's Revolutionary Guard .", "Gun-shy after criticism about past analyses of a series of contacts between Saddam 's Iraq and Al Qaeda , they are said to be `` unwilling to make judgment calls .", ". We 're not in a court of law , `` a source identified as '' a senior United States official `` told Mark Mazzetti of The Times .", "`` When they say there is ' no evidence , ' you have to ask them what they mean -- what is the meaning of the term ' evidence ' .", "`` -LRB- Guide to sourcemanship : `` a senior United States official '' is a political appointee over 30 .", "`` A senior agency employee '' is a midlevel careerocrat looking out a Langley window and dreaming about a book contract .", "No confidential informant is ever identified as `` junior , '' which would impugn the status of the source .", "-RRB- The job of a rhetorician is to answer rhetorical questions .", "I would sharpen the question , `` What is the meaning of the word evidence .", "`` by adding '' and how is it different from proof .", "`` Here 's an answer : First , forget the clich\u00e9 modifier credible .", "When it comes to evidence , what is believable to one analyst is incredible to another .", "Evidence may be hard or soft , conflicting or incontrovertible , it may be unpersuasive or convincing , exculpatory or damning , but with whatever qualifier it is presented , the noun evidence is neutral : it means `` a means of determining whether an assertion is truthful or an allegation is a fact . ''", "But here 's the rub that rubs so many intelligence analysts the wrong way : Evidence -- from tips , taps , tapes , testimony , confessions , weapons , documents , satellite photos and the like -- is not in itself proof .", "Only the conclusion that experienced minds draw from a weighing of all the evidence can approach proof .", "With that requirement for human judgment understood , intelligence analysts can take their best shot .", "THE WAY WE LIVE NOW : 9-10-06 : ON LANGUAGE Send comments and suggestions to : safireonlanguage@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["William Safire column on term ` dwarf planet , ' new designation for Pluto , and trend among environmentalists to use terms ' planet ' and ` planetary ' instead of ` world ' .", "Also comments on distinction between ` evidence ' and ` proof ' ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2, 15, 33], "tag": ["Magazine"]}
- {"id": "1788760", "text": ["THE 80 's are back in the first part of the season , when three notable works from that decade will be on view .", "Each represented a breakthrough for its choreographer .", "Each has been infrequently seen since its debut .", "Twyla Tharp 's 1981 `` Golden Section , '' right , to be performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center in December , is the final part of a larger work , `` The Catherine Wheel , '' to music by David Byrne , the lead singer of that quintessentially 80 's group Talking Heads .", "Ms. Tharp 's kinetic , whiplash movement , Mr. Byrne 's jerky , compulsive rhythms and Santo Loquasto 's reworking of his original sporty gold costumes turn the dancers into superheroes , raised to a higher plane through the sheer joy of movement .", "While Ms. Tharp was first garnering critical plaudits for `` The Golden Section , '' a young Belgian choreographer , Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker , was completing a piece she had started during a year at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University .", "Her `` Fase '' -LRB- 1982 -RRB- , set to four pieces by Steve Reich , started Ms. de Keersmaeker 's career .", "A rigorously austere duet that will be performed during the Brooklyn Academy of Music 's `` Reich @ 70 '' celebration in October , `` Fase '' is minimal in its formal composition and rich in its effects .", "Simple repetitive turns and steps show two women in swirling black dresses slipping in and out of phase with each other in a tour de force of timing and memory .", "Ms. de Keersmaeker makes us hear the shifts of the musical rhythms and see the bones of her dance with a thrilling intensity .", "The French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj was hardly unknown when he created his version of `` Les Noces '' in 1989 .", "But the success of the work , to be performed by his company in November at the Joyce Theater , secured an international reputation for Mr. Preljocaj , who drew on his Albanian roots in his hard-driving vision of Stravinsky 's work .", "Five men and five women fling five dummies in wedding dresses into the air as they enact the apparently deeply instinctive rituals of courtship , marriage , sex and death with a physical energy and a violence that are at once alarming and exciting .", "Mr. Preljocaj 's chicly black-clad dancers do n't look like the peasants of Bronislava Nijinska 's 1923 original , but his piece indicates that in some ways nothing ever changes very much .", "THE NEW SEASON : DANCE ."], "summary": ["Roslyn Sulcas article describes three notable dance works from 80 's , each of which represented breakthrough for its choreographer , that will be revived in New York this season .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 1], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788761", "text": ["AFTER the August doldrums , autumn offers more dance performances than one person could possibly attend , with various come-ons promising the sublime at each .", "Yet within months -- or even weeks -- most fade from memory , as if they had never happened .", "No , dance does n't last , but once in a while the memories do , and they keep audiences coming back .", "Whether adding to the anticipation of premieres by favorite choreographers or sweetening the return of cherished works , these afterimages , as the critic Arlene Croce called them , become part of each new performance .", "Twyla Tharp 's `` In the Upper Room '' -LRB- above , with David Hallberg and Paloma Herrera -RRB- returns for American Ballet Theater 's City Center season next month after last year 's smash run .", "Driven by a propulsive Philip Glass score , it would seem too relentless to produce specific recollections : a furious blur of bodies fades in and out of billowing smoke that , for once , does n't read as a theatrical clich\u00e9 .", "But somehow , once this 39-minute blur slows and 13 dancers stand dripping and heaving before rapturous applause , distinct personalities have emerged -- for me , most memorably in Ethan Stiefel 's fist-pumping exultation .", "It 's too soon to know if Mr. Stiefel , sidelined last winter with a knee injury , will dance in this grueling ballet .", "But we can hope .", "RoseAnne Spradlin cultivates an earthier physicality , one indelibly achieved with the unprettified , desperate bodies in her 2002 `` under / world . ''", "`` Survive Cycle , '' in development for a November premiere at Dance Theater Workshop , will feature original video , music and a landscape of shredded clothing .", "Unlike `` under / world , '' it includes no nudity , but I imagine moments of naked vulnerability to haunt the mind 's eye as that work still does .", "As always in dance , you had to be there , and Barbara Milberg Fisher was .", "A member of Ballet Society and New York City Ballet from 1946 to 1958 , she has written `` In Balanchine 's Company : A Dancer 's Memoir , `` coming Oct . 3 from Wesleyan University Press .", "In the introduction , Ms. Croce writes : `` One feels that , for Barbara Milberg Fisher , nothing supersedes the memory of once having been part of a magic circle .", "That memory is the treasure she imparts to us now . ``", "THE NEW SEASON : DANCE ."], "summary": ["Claudia La Rocco article describes two ballets and book that keep memories of dance performances alive .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788762", "text": ["TALL , red-blooded words -- the kind that wrestle big ideas to the ground -- are storming the stages of New York .", "Throughout their bracingly ambitious careers Tom Stoppard , August Wilson and David Hare have always insisted that conversation be something more exalted and exhausting than a mere after-dinner diversion .", "Now Mr. Stoppard alone bids fair to make this the most dynamically verbal theater season since Shaw was a young thing of 70 .", "-LRB- Shaw , incidentally , is fittingly represented by `` Heartbreak House , '' his rueful but energetic meditation on a social class paralyzed by world-annihilating war , in a revival from the Roundabout Theater Company . -RRB-", "In `` The Coast of Utopia , '' the first installment of which , `` Voyage , '' begins performances on Oct . 17 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center , Mr. Stoppard has filled not one but three plays with the lives of the intellectual forebears of the Russian Revolution .", "Their discussions and arguments , which span three decades of the 19th century and consume roughly nine hours of stage time , concern mind-quaking subjects like the dialectic of history , the path of nations , the impact of literature and even the limitations of their favorite weapons , words themselves .", "When the trilogy was first produced at the National Theater of London , this talk teemed with such passion that I left -LRB- to my surprise -RRB- more energized than depleted .", "The New York version is directed by Jack O'Brien , who propitiously proved his mastery of epic scope and towering language in the first-rate Lincoln Center Theater production of Shakespeare 's `` Henry IV . ''", "With `` Utopia , '' whose three parts will open sequentially , Mr. O'Brien will be overseeing -LRB- gulp ! -RRB- more than 40 actors in 70 roles .", "The ensemble includes Billy Crudup , Richard Easton , Jennifer Ehle , Josh Hamilton , Ethan Hawke , Amy Irving , Brian F . O'Byrne and Martha Plimpton , none of whom is likely to lapse into the automatic rhythms of `` yadda yadda yadda . ''", "Mr. Stoppard 's contemporary , David Hare , is confining himself to only one play , of conventional length .", "That 's `` The Vertical Hour , '' which begins previews at the Music Box Theater on Nov . 9 .", "The British Mr. Hare , who dissected American realpolitik in his Washington docudrama `` Stuff Happens , '' continues to focus on these United States with his drama about an American academic -LRB- and former war reporter -RRB- who experiences culture shock while on vacation abroad .", "If this all sounds a tad dry , you should know that the academic is played by the luscious -LRB- and brilliant -RRB- Julianne Moore .", "The director is Sam Mendes , whose last collaboration with Mr. Hare , `` The Blue Room , '' was a concentration of commercial catnip that brought new life to the career of Nicole Kidman , whose brief appearance in the play buck-naked is still discussed by dirty old theatergoers .", "A little less conversation has never been on the agenda for the characters of August Wilson .", "Before he died last year , Mr. Wilson completed the most ambitious cycle of American plays ever written .", "A chronicle of the African-American experience in the 20th century , the 10 plays are resonant with rich talk , both earthy and celestial , that considers nothing less than the history and destiny of a people .", "In a season celebrating Mr. Wilson , the Signature is presenting three of these plays : `` Seven Guitars '' -LRB- which opened last month and runs through Sept . 23 -RRB- , `` Two Trains Running '' -LRB- Nov . 7 to Dec . 31 -RRB- and `` King Hedley II '' -LRB- next February -RRB- .", "Lend them your ears , for in Mr. Wilson 's work , talk turns into unforgettable song .", "THE NEW SEASON THEATER ."], "summary": ["Ben Brantley article on plays ` that wrestle big ideas to the ground ' that are coming to Broadway this season .", "Discusses The Coast Of Utopia trilogy by Tom Stoppard , The Vertical Hour by David Hare and three plays by August Wilson .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 1], "tag": ["Arts", "Theater"]}
- {"id": "1788763", "text": ["THEATER has always been in the business of recycling and renovation .", "Even ye olde Greeks were retelling oft-told tales .", "But these days , as revivals seem to outnumber new plays , at least on Broadway , it is easy to point to their preponderance as evidence of the business 's superannuated condition .", "And yet the ability to revisit classic -- or even just old -- works is one of the major glories of the theater .", "Admit too that even stuffy old Broadway has a better track record when it comes to `` remakes '' than Hollywood , which can not manage even to improve on cheesy sitcoms when it goes foraging in the past .", "Three notable productions this fall exemplify different approaches to the craft of theatrical restoration .", "The Roundabout Theater Company tends to play it sensibly , safely and respectably .", "The formula is simple : Take a classic , add a few stars and a director of stature , and mix .", "This fall the company 's slate includes a welcome revival of Shaw 's twilight comedy-drama `` Heartbreak House , '' with a cast of reliable names like Philip Bosco , Laila Robins and Swoosie Kurtz as well as Lily Rabe , the daughter of David Rabe and Jill Clayburgh , who is displaying an impressive devotion to the stage at a time when most young actors have their sights set elsewhere .", "The director is Robin Lefevre .", "And the Roundabout deserves credit for its allegiance to Shaw , particularly as the 150th anniversary of his birth year comes to a close .", "Another season , another Stephen Sondheim revival .", "No reason to complain when they are exhilarating reconsiderations like John Doyle 's `` Sweeney Todd '' from last year , which boiled the ghoulish musical down to its firm bones and rattled them beautifully .", "The satisfying partnership of Mr. Doyle and Mr. Sondheim returns this season with a new look at `` Company , '' from 1970 .", "Mr. Doyle , who won a Tony for directing `` Sweeney , '' is once again using an economy of means to unearth new riches in a much-revived musical .", "In literal terms that means that once again the cast is doubling as the orchestra .", "But the presumption that Mr. Doyle 's unique musical methodology is merely a gimmick is refuted by this sleek , compelling production , which I saw at its premiere last season at the Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati .", "Despite its treasured score , the rap on `` Company , '' in which the roving eye of a bachelor turning 30 traces the fault lines in the marriages of his friends , is that it has been permanently stuck in its period , as a sort of musical comedy answer to `` That 70 's Show . ``", "But Mr. Doyle 's production , which stars a magnetic Ra\u00fal Esparza as the chronically unattached Bobby , cleanly ushers it into a timeless present tense without playing fast and loose with George Furth 's book .", "`` My Deah , '' a new comedy by John Epperson , better known as the voiceless drag diva Lypsinka , typifies the reliable theatrical appeal of taking a fiendishly irreverent approach to a piece of antique dramaturgy -- in this case , Euripides ' revered `` Medea . ''", "I attended a reading of Mr. Epperson 's spoof sometime around 210 B.C. , it seems to me , and have been baffled by its failure to be produced in New York .", "Treading confidently a path forged by the respected auteurs Charles Ludlam and Charles Busch -LRB- possibly in similar heels -RRB- , Mr. Epperson sends up the original by transplanting it to the Deep South .", "Lypsinka herself will not be appearing -- a voiceless Medea is inconceivable -- but Nancy Opel , a dab hand at low-down comedy , should be perfect casting for the title role , a woman who makes your garden-variety steel magnolia look like a shrinking violet .", "The production , directed by Mark Waldrop , comes courtesy of the Abingdon Theater Company .", "THE NEW SEASON THEATER ."], "summary": ["Charles Isherwood article says that ability to revisit classic works is one of major glories of theater .", "Productions of Shaw 's Heartbreak House , Sondheim 's Company and John Epperson 's My Deah , based on Medea , described .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 11], "tag": ["Arts", "Theater"]}
- {"id": "1788764", "text": ["WELCOME to the new season .", "Same as the old season .", "And the season before that .", "For most of its history , Broadway was like a train station .", "Shows came and went .", "Some big hits would stick around for a few years , then leave before too long .", "But things have changed , or to be precise , stopped changing .", "September is traditionally the time when the marquees light up with new titles , productions fresh from the road tryout or from a successful run at a smaller theater .", "This year , however , 10 of the shows on Broadway have played more than 1,000 performances , 7 of them more than 2,000 .", "-LRB- Several others , like `` Spamalot , '' `` Jersey Boys '' and `` The Color Purple , '' seem capable of joining the thousand-performance club before they 're done , whenever that will be . -RRB-", "Half of the 10 longest-running shows of all time on Broadway -- `` The Phantom of the Opera , '' `` Beauty and the Beast , '' `` Rent , '' `` Chicago '' and `` The Lion King '' -- are still running , and two more -- `` Les Mis\u00e9rables '' and `` A Chorus Line '' -- are about to be revived .", "`` Somehow or other , '' said John Breglio , an entertainment lawyer and a producer of the new `` Chorus Line , '' `` Broadway has found a popular form of entertainment that keeps these shows going and going . ''", "All of which is good news for those that are already up and running , but potentially terrifying for anyone hoping to mount a new one .", "There are only 39 theaters on Broadway .", "If 10 are booked indefinitely , that means far fewer available sites for new shows , and the competition has risen accordingly .", "Nevertheless musicals or plays that are ready for the stage and have money in the bank generally find a place .", "A number of productions that proved themselves off Broadway will be making the transition this season .", "`` Spring Awakening , '' the rock musical about adolescence and its discontents that first played at the Atlantic , will open at the Eugene O'Neill on Dec . 10 .", "`` Grey Gardens , '' the musical based on the bizarre lives of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale -LRB- aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier -RRB- , will move to the Walter Kerr for a Nov . 2 opening .", "And `` The Little Dog Laughed , '' the satire of Hollywood mores that had a successful run at the Second Stage , will open on Nov . 13 at the Cort .", "Meanwhile `` High Fidelity , '' which had been moving forward in the development process without knowing exactly where it might land , got a place to go in the Imperial when `` Dirty Rotten Scoundrels '' called it quits .", "And if `` The Wedding Singer '' ca n't make it through the less maritally inclined months of fall and winter , the Hirschfeld will be ready for its next tenant , most likely the Kander and Ebb musical `` Curtains . ''", "Rocco Landesman , the owner of the five Jujamycn theaters on Broadway , dismisses the idea that there 's any shortage of stages .", "`` If you have a show that anybody has a modicum of interest in , '' he said , `` you 're going to have a theater . ``", "What you may not have , though , is the theater you want .", "In addition to the 918-seat Walter Kerr , other small and mid-size theaters -- the 1,079-seat Gerald Schoenfeld and the 1,078-seat Bernard B . Jacobs -- which have often housed straight plays are being occupied by musicals : `` A Chorus Line '' at the Schoenfeld and `` Martin Short : Fame Becomes Me '' at the Jacobs .", "Other shows have to make do in some of Broadway 's least loved theaters , like the three that sit on cross streets -- gasp ! -- east of Broadway .", "TO some , the trend toward long-running sure things suggests that Broadway has dumbed down .", "But it can also be seen as the result of an effort , over more than 30 years , to make the showpiece of American theater a more customer-friendly business .", "`` Broadway as we know it today began in the 70 's , `` said Nancy Coyne , a founder of the Broadway marketing firm Serino Coyne , which has worked for 8 of the 10 longest-running shows .", "Back then business was off .", "The city was on the verge of bankruptcy , and Times Square was a danger zone .", "And the few Broadway and Off Broadway productions that had experimented with credit cards and phone-in reservations had limited success , said Paul Libin , the producing director at Jujamcyn , who at the time was the managing director for the Circle in the Square .", "Then in 1972 American Express was accepted , for the first time , at all Broadway box offices .", "That allowed people to book tickets by telephone , instead of having to visit the box office or put a check in the mail .", "By the early 1980 's the sales were conducted through centralized offices that could be open 24 hours a day .", "The advent of computerized ticketing made purchases easier still .", "What 's more , said Robert E . Wankel , the executive vice president of the Shubert Organization , `` computerizing tickets let us put tickets on sale for a year , which we were not able to do on a hard ticket .", "And now we can actually sell as long as we want to . ``", "In the early 1990 's customers got the opportunity -LRB- despite resistance from the Shuberts -RRB- to choose their seats when ordering tickets .", "By the late 1990 's people all over the world were able to buy tickets quickly over the Internet .", "And now , with e-ticketing , an actual ticket is no longer even necessary .", "Over the same period Broadway was learning a new word .", "In 1972 `` marketing meant going to the A & P , '' recalled Harvey Sabinson , a longtime press agent who later became the executive director of the League of American Theaters and Producers .", "And television commercials , he added , `` were talking heads repeating quotes . ''", "But in 1972 Mr. Sabinson and the team behind the musical `` Pippin '' started brainstorming and got the idea to include scenes from the actual show .", "A production number from `` Pippin '' was filmed on a soundstage in New Jersey that winter , and a new way of advertising Broadway was born .", "`` Pippin '' eventually played 1,944 performances , at the time the 10th-longest run ever .", "The success of the commercial introduced a whole new form of advertising .", "`` ` Grease ' was one of the very first ones , `` Ms. Coyne recalled .", "`` It was in its fifth year , and no one expected it to go much longer than that .", "The commercial gave it another three years . ``", "`` The Wiz , '' `` Evita '' and `` Cats '' followed suit .", "Still , the television commercial that may have been the most significant factor in expanding the Broadway audience was not even for a Broadway show .", "On Feb . 14 , 1978 , the New York State Department of Commerce introduced a new `` I Love New York '' commercial that focused on Broadway as a tourist attraction .", "The impact was immediate and enormous , said George Wachtel , the founder of Audience Research and Analysis .", "Before that , Broadway `` was a little provincial . ''", "But afterward , he continued , `` it was what New Yorkers did , it was what high rollers did when they came to New York .", "` I Love New York ' made Broadway Everyman 's theater . ``", "The TKTS booth , which opened in June 1973 , also brought in the Everyman , offering half-price tickets and helping to fill out the audience for many a struggling show .", "So between 1972 and 1978 Broadway had introduced itself to the credit card market , the computerized ticketing system , telephone reservations , modern television advertising and , by way of the `` I Love New York '' commercial , the rest of the country .", "The stage was almost set for the perpetual run , long before `` Beauty and the Beast '' was a gleam in Disney 's eye .", "What arose next .", "Prices .", "When `` They 're Playing Our Song `` opened in 1979 , Mr. Wachtel said , the top ticket cost $ 27 .", "Three years later the top ticket to `` Cats '' cost $ 45 , a jump of 66 percent .", "Prices continued to rise over the next decade , albeit a bit more slowly .", "But they did not end up scaring people away .", "`` Shows used to say , ' O.K. , we get to the winter , we die , ' '' said Emanuel Azenberg , a longtime producer and manager on Broadway who also cited the importance of new , more sophisticated accounting methods .", "`` But now you could sustain the bad winter as long as spring was coming again because of the prices . ''", "Meanwhile New York was once more becoming a tourist attraction .", "Between 1991 and 2005 , according to the city 's convention and visitors bureau , the number of visitors to New York nearly doubled , to 42.7 million per year .", "And since 1985 , the league reports , attendance on Broadway has grown by almost five million , with nearly twice the proportion of out-of-towners , and a great increase in children and teenagers .", "No one took advantage of the growing -- and changing -- audience quite like the British impresario Cameron Mackintosh , who , through a combination of spectacular productions and business savvy , produced the three longest running Broadway shows in history .", "But other producers have still managed to come up with a few tricks .", "The year 2001 saw the introduction of premium-price ticketing , selling the best seats at `` The Producers '' for $ 480 .", "The Internet , and e-mail blasts , provided an advertising medium much cheaper than television .", "More complex business models evolve all the time .", "`` We have so much more sophisticated discounting , coupled with premium pricing , and we can anticipate seasonal fluctuations , '' said Kevin McCollum , a producer of the 10-year-old `` Rent , '' which created a lottery system for cheaper tickets .", "`` There 's a lot more shifting of schedules and trying to capture the audiences . ``", "And if a show does make it to the tenure track , it can take a page from the playbook of Fran and Barry Weissler , who with their 1994 revival of `` Grease '' and the 1996 revival of `` Chicago , '' perfected the star-replacement technique , giving shows that are years old a calculated injection of buzz every few months .", "-LRB- Is there a single person watching Usher 's performance as Billy Flynn who bought tickets just to see how `` Chicago '' is holding up .", "-RRB- With this ever-growing inventory of gimmicks , the question at the beginning of each season has become : Which new entry is going to join the marathoners ' club .", "This season will it be `` High Fidelity , '' the musical based on Nick Hornby 's best-selling novel .", "Or `` Mary Poppins , '' presented jointly by two heavyweights of the long run , Mr. Mackintosh and Disney Theatricals .", "Or will it be a dark horse contender , like `` Spring Awakening '' .", "After all , this time last year few could have predicted that `` Jersey Boys '' would be likely to tie up the August Wilson Theater for years .", "That 's a heartening example for producers .", "Except for the ones who want to put their shows in the Wilson .", "THE NEW SEASON : THEATER ."], "summary": ["Article on factors that have resulted in many more Broadway productions than in past running for years .", "New plays find it difficult to locate appropriate theaters .", "Reasons for long runs include new marketing techniques , television commercials and increasing percentage of audience made up of tourists .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [53, 28, 13, 15, 0], "tag": ["Arts", "Theater"]}
- {"id": "1788765", "text": ["VISUAL artists who create performance works are nothing new , but Claude Wampler , a tiny woman with austere artistic intent , is a wonder .", "Ms. Wampler , who has a history of manipulating the line between audience and performer , presents her newest production , `` PERFORMANCE -LRB- career ender -RRB- '' at the Kitchen Nov . 16 to 18 .", "As usual it is full of secrets .", "The culmination of several years of experiments , the production , as she recently explained , will `` merge a kind of visual-arts experience into a performance context , or vice versa . ''", "Much of Ms. Wampler 's performance work is about the perception of power and how swiftly it can change hands .", "For `` Bucket , '' presented at Performance Space 122 in 1999 , she hired attractive people to walk out in a huff during the show to test the real audience 's commitment .", "For `` Stable -LRB- Stupidity Project Part 10 -RRB- , '' seen at P.S. 122 in 2003 , Ms. Wampler seated the audience before a ring of Rottweilers wearing western outfits as a topless cowgirl gyrated next to the sound booth .", "As the minutes ticked by , the dogs -- huge , gentle and ridiculous -- stared at us .", "We stared back .", "-LRB- Who was more stupid .", "-RRB- As the audience reached the breaking point of fatigue and frustration , a screen was revealed onstage : Ms. Wampler had been secretly videotaping the crowd , turning the audience into performers .", "`` I 'm trying to remind the audience of their part in a performance , so that there 's a moment of instability , and then maybe some spontaneity can happen , `` she said in a recent telephone interview .", "`` But I 'm not taking advantage of the audience or using it as my material .", "It 's morally for them .", "When I 'm watching dance or theater pieces , I 'm praying that someone will do that for me . ``", "It seemed odd that Ms. Wampler -- a brave , independent and transgressive force in both the performance and the art worlds -- was excluded from last year 's Performa , a biennial of visual art performance in New York .", "But for her , the very word `` performance , '' purposely crossed out in her work 's title , is both used up and a little vague .", "`` This could be my last work , and I do n't even mean in the theater , but forever , `` she said .", "`` That 's the way I have to think about it .", "I 'm suspending my own disbelief and saying , ` If I had to make a final piece , what would it be .", "` That 's the career-ender . ``", "THE NEW SEASON : DANCE ."], "summary": ["Gia Kourlas article describes newest production of Claude Wampler , PERFORMANCE -LRB- career ender -RRB- , which will merge visual arts experience into performance arts context or vice versa .", "Wampler 's previous works and philosophy of dance discussed .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 1], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788769", "text": ["FEW directorial debuts in recent years have raised such high expectations as `` In the Bedroom , '' Todd Field 's adaptation of the Andre Dubus short story `` Killings . ''", "That drama won five Oscar nominations , including best picture , actor and actress -LRB- for Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek -RRB- .", "And Mr. Field received an award from the New York Film Critics Circle for best first film .", "Now , five years later , comes `` Little Children , '' his screen adaptation of Tom Perrotta 's satirically edged 2004 novel of contemporary suburban life and its discontents .", "In light of its forerunner the choice makes perfect sense .", "As he demonstrated with `` In the Bedroom , '' Mr. Field , an actor turned director , scans the depths of his characters ' souls and sees them whole .", "This psychological radar is a gift he shares with Mr. Perrotta , with whom he wrote the screenplay for `` Little Children . ''", "The double-edged title refers not only to the suburban kids who more or less run their parents ' lives , but also to the 30 - and 40-something adults whose needy inner children cry out for release .", "One of its wistful themes is that , like it or not , having children brings your own youth to a crashing halt .", "You 're no longer at the center of things .", "The story 's emotional lightning rod is Ronald James McGorvey , a damaged middle-aged man who has recently returned to live with his mother after serving time for exposing himself to children .", "He is a pariah in their suburban Boston community and a focus of its collective fears , embodied by Larry Hedges , a disgraced former cop with a violent streak who wants to hound him out of town .", "In one of the novel 's most disturbing scenes , Ronald 's presence at a public swimming pool on a brutally hot day precipitates mass panic among the assembled mothers watching over their children .", "In the film Ronald is played by the former child star Jackie Earle Haley .", "His powerfully creepy portrayal is a pointed departure from the standard screen image of the child molester or flasher as an ordinary guy with an unfortunate kink .", "Two mismatched couples fill out the rest of the film , which will be shown Sept . 30 at the New York Film Festival and is set to open on Oct . 6 .", "Kate Winslet and Gregg Edelman play Sarah and Richard Pierce , and Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Wilson are Kathy and Brad Adamson .", "Noah Emmerich plays the former cop .", "The abundance of subplots in `` Little Children '' -- more than are in `` In the Bedroom '' -- is one reason that the film incorporates a sporadic voice-over -LRB- by an authoritative male narrator -RRB- to push the story along .", "A major subplot in the novel , and its most satirical thread -- Richard 's deepening addiction to Internet pornography -- is alluded to , then dropped .", "The movie concentrates on the affair between Sarah and Brad -LRB- called Todd in the novel -RRB- , who is so handsome the women refer to him as `` the Prom King '' when he shows up at the playground with his son .", "Brad , who plays quarterback on the local football team and is entranced by teenage skateboarding culture , is a classic case of a man in the throes of Peter Pan syndrome .", "But in the movie 's kind and patient view , we all carry varying shades and degrees of arrested development into adult life .", "THE NEW SEASON : FILM ."], "summary": ["Stephen Holden article discusses Todd Fields 's new film Little Children , his screen adaptation of Tom Perrotta 's satirically edged 2004 novel of contemporary suburban life and its discontents .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts", "Books"]}
- {"id": "1788770", "text": ["THE Myth of Crazy Mel began seeping out of Hollywood long before he was arrested for drunken driving six weeks ago and burst out with the ugly , anti-Semitic comments that have put him in extreme damage-control mode .", "A 2004 episode of `` South Park '' about `` The Passion of the Christ '' depicts him as a looney-tunes guy bouncing off the walls in his underwear and whooping .", "Mel Gibson is `` crazy , dude , '' one South Park kid tells another .", "`` Mel 's crazy , but I like him , `` a name-dropping billionaire says in Bruce Wagner 's latest Hollywood novel , `` Memorial '' -LRB- released this month but written pre-meltdown -RRB- .", "And Mr. Gibson 's new film , `` Apocalypto , '' was already one of the most talked-about of the season , largely because of the Crazy Mel factor .", "Even for him , the oddball quotient is high .", "An action movie set in the dying days of the Maya civilization , the 15th century , `` Apocalypto '' was made in the Yucatec dialect without a single recognizable actor , and shot in the jungles of Mexico , where heavy rains slowed production and postponed its planned release from this summer .", "Photos from the set showed that Mr. Gibson had grown a full beard and let its central white streak grow longer than the rest , as if defiantly choosing to look like an aging eccentric .", "As a director , he has been some kind of mad genius so far , anticipating what audiences want with startling clarity : making a sword-and-sandals epic when it was no longer fashionable , yet winning Oscars -LRB- including best director -RRB- for `` Braveheart '' -LRB- 1995 -RRB- .", "Turning what seemed a gigantic folly -- a gruesome , subtitled , self-financed passion play -- into a $ 600 million worldwide blockbuster with `` The Passion '' -LRB- 2004 -RRB- .", "But those photos from Mexico and the subject of `` Apocalypto '' -- the hero , called Jaguar Paw , is chosen as a human sacrifice and makes a fast-paced escape through the rain forest -- were enough to make anyone wonder whether Mr. Gibson had finally gone around the bend and turned into some cinematic Kurtz , lost in the dark jungle .", "The film is still being edited , so there 's no way to know whether `` Apocalypto '' might be crazy-brilliant or just crazed .", "But we know from his recent mug shot that Mr. Gibson has lost the beard .", "-LRB- As those things go , it 's a glamour shot , showing that some actors can play to the camera no matter how high their blood alcohol level . -RRB-", "And we know that his drunken Malibu tirade casts an inescapable shadow over the film 's opening , raising many questions , including : Will `` Apocalypto '' really arrive on Dec . 8 .", "As recently as last week Touchstone , the Disney division releasing it , insisted it would .", "That 's about all the studio will say about a movie that must have become an albatross , because the crucial question is : How can this film be marketed .", "Mr. Gibson 's name and ability to chat up `` Apocalypto '' was its only real selling point .", "Now he trails apologies and questions about bigotry wherever he goes , which will make it pretty hard to stay on message about old Jaguar Paw .", "Whatever happens with `` Apocalypto , '' it would be unfair if his personal debacle were to overshadow Mr. Gibson 's immense gifts and accomplishments as a director .", "Apart from commercial success , his films have been rich with action , emotion and visual interest .", "`` The Man Without a Face '' -LRB- 1993 -RRB- was n't the safest or easiest choice for a first-time director .", "He cast himself as a former teacher whose face is horribly disfigured on one side , and whose innocent relationship as mentor to a teenage boy is questioned .", "The film may not be as gripping as it should be , but the camera moves fluidly in this pretty-looking period piece , set in Maine in 1968 , and the delicate subject is not overplayed until Mr. Gibson gives himself one scenery-chewing monologue near the end .", "You can almost feel him finding has way as a director while yearning to burst the limits of the movie 's small scale .", "By the time he got to `` Braveheart , '' just two years later , even the logo for his production company , Icon , looked better .", "By far the best of his three pre - `` Apocalypto '' films , this epic sounds as silly as ever when described , and the warrior 's blue face paint that Mr. Gibson wears as William Wallace , the 13th-century Scottish freedom fighter , has become the laziest of Mel jokes .", "Yet `` Braveheart '' still works as a big , enormously satisfying popcorn movie .", "Mr. Gibson brings all his star power to the screen , convincingly taking Wallace from romance to brutal vengeance when his wife is killed .", "The scope and relentless pace of the battle sequences remain thrilling .", "And in hindsight we can spot two elements that have become his trademark : torture scenes on screen and controversy off .", "When Wallace is tortured and martyred before a crowd in a prolonged scene at the end , the visceral depiction of suffering leads straight to `` The Passion of the Christ . ''", "`` The Passion '' remains difficult to sit through because of its extremely graphic scenes of Jesus ' torture : we see his flesh ripped off as he is scourged .", "Early in the film one eye is swollen shut , and by the end his face glows red with blood .", "But this is exactly the film Mr. Gibson set out to make -- unsubtle , grisly and disturbing -- and it 's easy to respect him for his uncompromising vision .", "You ca n't miss how deeply felt and eccentric a project it was , with a spark of zealotry that goes beyond simple faith .", "Yet `` The Passion of the Christ '' also gives new meaning to preaching to the converted .", "The film never proselytizes .", "It simply speaks forcefully to an audience of believers .", "The charges of anti-Semitism leveled at `` The Passion , '' primarily because of a scene in which the Jewish crowd calls for Jesus ' death , have come back to haunt Mr. Gibson now .", "There were equally wrongheaded attacks calling `` Braveheart '' homophobic because of a scene in which the English king , Longshanks , pushes his gay son 's lover out a tower window .", "In both cases Mr. Gibson 's critics confused the characters with the director .", "Any homophobia in `` Braveheart '' comes from Longshanks , who also resented the political influence the lover was gaining .", "And both Caiphas , the Jewish high priest , and Pilate , the weak-willed Roman governor , bear responsibility for Jesus ' death in `` The Passion . ''", "The fault line is not between Jews and Romans but between believers and nonbelievers .", "Of course , during his highway arrest , it was Mel Gibson himself , not some character , who spouted anti-Semitic remarks .", "And in the way that news reports about Mr. Gibson 's ultraconservative Catholicism and comments by his father , Hutton Gibson , denying the extent of the Holocaust bled into the reception for `` The Passion , '' so his current off-screen problems are likely to deflect attention from `` Apocalypto . ''", "The film 's Web site , put up months ago , still heralds it as `` a heart-stopping mythic action-adventure , '' and the trailer -LRB- a notoriously unreliable guide , but all we have -RRB- suggests it is squarely aimed at fans of `` Braveheart . ''", "As Jaguar Paw races through the jungle pursued by torch-bearing warriors , the movie seems fraught with the kind of action that makes Yucatec or any other language superfluous .", "There will be subtitles , but Mr. Gibson , who wrote the screenplay with his former assistant , Farhad Safinia , has said there is n't much dialogue anyway .", "Some actors have extravagantly painted faces , while others are caked with white powder from a lime quarry .", "There is romance , or at least there has been sex : we see Jaguar Paw look tenderly at a pregnant woman .", "And a huge crowd scene at a Mayan temple is presided over by a man with clawlike nails straight from a horror film .", "More mysteriously , in May Mr. Gibson told Time magazine , `` The fearmongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys . ''", "That adds an intriguing , media-ready frisson , but now even attacks on the Bush administration ca n't displace the Mel Meltdown in any discussion of `` Apocalypto . ''", "Mr. Gibson 's drunken comments and his two public statements of apology have landed in a changed world of celebrity gossip and Internet speculation , which wo n't let this story fade .", "Internet chatter and celebrity magazines probably wo n't lead many people to decide whether to see `` Apocalypto '' or not , though .", "Loyal Gibson fans will view this as a sad story of alcoholism , forgive him and buy their tickets .", "Others will reject the apologies as mere spin and think his anti-Semitic outburst proves what `` The Passion '' led them to suspect .", "But then , any viewer incensed by `` The Passion '' was n't likely to go to `` Apocalypto '' in the first place .", "Disney 's marketing problem is more complicated : how to reach the vast middle ground of people who are simply looking for entertainment .", "`` Apocalypto '' is not as big a financial nightmare for Disney as it could have been .", "Mr. Gibson 's production company financed the film -LRB- the budget is reportedly under $ 50 million -RRB- , and Disney has only domestic distribution rights .", "But that arrangement is costly enough .", "Legally bound to release the film , the studio has no choice but to tough it out .", "And in the end , just as Mr. Gibson 's actions have made him his own worst enemy , he may have no choice but to become his own greatest asset .", "If the arrest report could travel with lightning speed , arriving on the Web site TMZ.com two days later , so a Mel Gibson apology tour could move as fast .", "-LRB- Alan Nierob , Mr. Gibson 's publicist , said plans for promoting the film have not been addressed yet , partly because the movie is n't ready to be seen . -RRB-", "In his second apology Mr. Gibson said there was `` no excuse '' for his remarks .", "And the issue of whether he is truly anti-Semitic is ultimately between him and his conscience .", "But that statement , asking for forgiveness and help from Jews in his recovery , was the shrewdest public relations gambit he could have made in a dire situation .", "It puts anyone who doubts his sincerity or refuses his apology in the camp of the unforgiving .", "Who wants to be there .", "And while the moviegoing audience might be tickled by celebrity gossip , it does n't really want to believe the worst of its stars .", "The Meltdown might even become a blip in his career .", "After all , atonement and forgiveness are as crucial to the Judeo-Christian tradition as money is to Hollywood 's .", "THE NEW SEASON : FILM ."], "summary": ["Caryn James article profiles director Mel Gibson .", "His new film Apocalypto , set in 15th century Mayan civilization and made in Yucatec dialect without single recognizable actor , is set to open in December .", "Interest in film is high not only because of its subject but because of controversies surrounding Gibson .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [6, 4, 5], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788773", "text": ["IT was Monday at the Chateau de Versailles , the gates closed to tourists , and Sofia Coppola was camped out in a quiet corner of the grounds , resurrecting Marie Antoinette .", "A cold spring afternoon had been transformed into dawn with a spotlight that mimicked the rising sun .", "Wildflowers from an adjacent field had been replanted in the tall grass .", "Ms. Coppola arranged strands of a foot-high hairdo on the actress Kirsten Dunst , then stepped back and took a photo .", "Then the cameras started rolling , and the young queen sat on the edge of a reflecting pool , tipsily sipping the last of her Champagne with some hangers -on , her royal husband tucked away in bed .", "So this was what it must have been like for Marie Antoinette to have the place all to herself .", "Versailles administrators granted Ms. Coppola , the 35-year-old writer-director , unprecedented access to the chateau and its grounds , allowing her to film scenes for `` Marie Antoinette '' over 12 weeks in the spring of 2005 .", "Based on a best-selling book by Lady Antonia Fraser , this stylized , impressionistic portrait of the controversial French queen had its premiere this year at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews .", "Even the two critics for The New York Times who saw the movie there came down on opposite sides of the fence .", "Since then , it has attracted more than a million moviegoers in France .", "It is set to open in the United States on Oct . 20 .", "`` I 'm so glad we were n't in Budapest or whatever , like , trying to fake it , `` Ms. Coppola said a few weeks after wrapping , upstairs at that Right Bank institution the Caf\u00e9 de Flore .", "Once favored by Jean-Paul Sartre and now the canteen of choice for American expatriates in the St . - Germain-des-Pr\u00e9s neighborhood , it is next door to the apartment she rented while making the movie .", "`` It 's so cool to be in the real places .", "There 's something that just gets you into the mood .", "They let us shoot in places people were n't allowed to normally , like Marie Antoinette 's private theater .", "They were like , ` This is your home . '", "`` The queenly welcome had to do with the fact that Ms. Coppola is something of a cult figure in France .", "The French admire her talent : she won a best-foreign-film C\u00e9sar , the French Academy Award , in 2005 for her last film , `` Lost in Translation , '' about a young American who spends most of a trip to Tokyo holed up in the Park Hyatt .", "But they also esteem her much-photographed , tastefully chic personal style .", "And her status as Hollywood royalty does n't hurt : her father , the director Francis Ford Coppola , is a demigod in France .", "So her decision to make Marie Antoinette the star of her latest film has resulted in a grand comeback for the much-maligned queen .", "Along with director and star , Marie Antoinette herself now ranks as a fashion icon .", "Magazines have devoted special issues to her , featuring her portrait on the cover .", "French luxury houses have issued Marie Antoinette merchandise .", "Several books have appeared , tied not to the 250th anniversary of her birth last year but to the opening of the film , filling many an hour on both high - and lowbrow talk shows .", "It is as if the French needed the hype of a Hollywood movie to get them excited about their own history .", "But Ms. Coppola said she was more interested in the emotional life of her young heroine .", "`` I wanted to make a personal story and not a big epic historical biopic , '' she said , adding that she wanted to tell the story from the point of view of a 14-year-old Austrian girl who is shipped off to France in 1770 to marry the future King Louis XVI , who is 16 .", "She used Lady Antonia 's dense , anecdotal book as her primary source .", "`` I would get bored when it would get sort of too detailed , '' she said of the book .", "`` I did n't want to get bogged down with history , but to focus on the personal relations between these people .", "Louis would n't sleep with her , so she wanted to go out and party -- like someone in a bad marriage going shopping .", "It just seemed like the same old story . ``", "This Marie Antoinette is a party girl with a gay hairdresser and a shoe fetish .", "She drowns her sorrows in bonbons and Champagne while , beyond the castle walls , the people starve .", "As for her famous response when told that the masses had no bread -- `` Let them eat cake '' -- both Lady Antonia and Ms. Coppola dismiss it as gossip .", "-LRB- In the film , Marie Antoinette herself laughs it off . -RRB-", "Speculation that she had a passionate affair with the Swedish count Axel Fersen is portrayed as fact .", "Ms. Coppola 's film takes other liberties : she eschews the often stately colors used in portraits of the French court for pastels inspired by the famous macaroons of the Parisian pastry house Ladur\u00e9e .", "She relied on the costume department to vet dress styles or advise on the appropriate size of a bow -- but only to a point .", "`` I want it to be believable , so that it does n't take you out of the story , `` Ms. Coppola said , '' but I 'd rather pick a heel that is more appealing to me that maybe was invented 50 years later .", "I 'm not a fetishist about historical accuracy .", "I 'm just , like , making it my thing . ``", "Anyway , as she points out , `` they did n't speak English in Versailles , either . ``", "The actors speak in their own mostly American voices .", "`` I was trying to make it sound normal , '' she said , `` although I 'm a little afraid of it ever sounding a little too much California Valley Girl .", "I 'm trying to get them to say ` all right ' instead of ` O.K. , ' to make it a little more formal than we would be , but not to feel like you were in a stiff period movie . ''", "For several days in April 2005 , the production moved into the H\u00f4tel de Soubise , a city palace that is now part of the National Archives in Paris .", "Hairdressers carrying 18th-century powdered wigs on plastic heads walked the narrow streets of the Marais district , on their way to and from the set .", "The actor Jason Schwartzman , who is Ms. Coppola 's cousin , was coming out of his trailer dressed as Louis XVI when a teenager in oversize shorts dropped to the sidewalk and began to bow in mock homage to the king , crying , `` Le roi ! Le roi ! '' Girls in long gowns , powdered wigs and sunglasses smoked cigarettes and talked on their cellphones between takes .", "In an ornate 18th-century salon , Ms. Coppola huddled by a monitor in wordless conference with her brother , Roman , who is also a filmmaker , and who was on the set shooting secondary scenes .", "`` I do n't have to say anything .", "He can go shoot something and he 'll get exactly what I want , `` Ms. Coppola said .", "`` It 's like having another brain . ``", "Ms. Coppola said she was just following in her father 's footsteps by hiring family members .", "Her mother , Eleanor , who filmed the `` Marie Antoinette '' making-of documentary , did the same job on Francis Ford Coppola 's `` Apocalypse Now . ''", "And he acted as executive producer for his daughter on this film .", "`` I mean , they 're just doing what they want .", "They sort of have a little bit of a bratty attitude . ``", "Mr. Schwartzman said he appreciated the mood on the set .", "`` One thing that 's really nice about Sofia is , like , you do n't realize you 're working , `` he said .", "`` And she talks to you about your character in a modern context , which you almost need .", "Because they were people -- they 're not just facts and dates and that kind of stuff -- so she gives you something you can relate to . ``", "Ms. Coppola said she wrote the lead roles for Mr. Schwartzman and Ms. Dunst -LRB- who starred in her directorial debut , `` The Virgin Suicides , '' in 1999 -RRB- .", "`` Kirsten to me has just , like , a fun , bubbly , effervescent quality , and that 's how I think of Marie Antoinette , `` she said .", "`` And she also has a depth .", "And she 's German , so I thought she had the coloring and the features . ``", "Ms. Dunst , who has been acting in films since she was 7 , said that she empathized with the young queen .", "`` She was a girl surrounded by grown-ups who wanted things from her and judged her , and she did n't exactly know what people expected from her , `` Ms. Dunst said during a lunch break , in sweats and her pink-cheeked Marie Antoinette makeup and giant hair .", "`` I could relate to that kind of loneliness . ''", "By the time the film opened at Cannes , Marie Antoinette mania had reached such a fevered pitch that the French news media -- which had helped to generate it -- seemed stunned that the movie itself might not live up to the hype .", "`` I was a little bit disappointed , '' the normally gushy Cannes veteran Laurent Weill said apologetically during one of his nightly television reports from the Croisette .", "After some of the Cannes audience booed the film , another national newscaster told her audience , with a dash of understatement , `` Sometimes the most anticipated films are not the most appreciated . ''", "For her part , Ms. Coppola calmly repeated in every interview that a strong reaction -- good or bad , anything but indifference -- was what she hoped for .", "Many critics and observers saw the film as a comment on modern celebrity youth culture , with Marie Antoinette as an 18th-century Paris Hilton .", "Others wondered aloud if Ms. Coppola 's sympathetic portrait of her heroine as a poor little rich girl had more to do with her own experience as a child of Hollywood and privilege .", "Why , they asked , did Ms. Coppola focus on the queen 's frivolous lifestyle and teenage psyche , ending the movie well before she meets her destiny at the guillotine .", "All her films have dealt with child-women during painful , alienated moments in their young lives .", "`` I see them like a trilogy , and this is the final chapter , '' she said at the Caf\u00e9 de Flore .", "`` It 's a continuation of the other two films -- sort of about a lonely girl in a big hotel or palace or whatever , kind of wandering around , trying to grow up .", "But in the other ones , you know , they 're always sort of on the verge .", "This is a story about a girl becoming a woman .", "And in this , I feel like she does . ``", "THE NEW SEASON : FILM Correction : September 17 , 2006 , Sunday An article last Sunday about the making of the film `` Marie Antoinette '' misstated the location of Caf\u00e9 de Flore , where the director , Sofia Coppola , was interviewed .", "It is in Paris on the Left Bank , not the Right ."], "summary": ["Article discusses director Sofia Coppola 's new film Marie Antoinette , which premiered at Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews .", "Coppola was granted twelve weeks of unprecented access to chateau and grounds of Versailles for filming .", "Film portrays Marie Antoinette as party girl .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [6, 7], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788776", "text": ["PERHAPS partly because it was made at a time when movies often threw in a little something for everyone , there 's a sappy love story tucked into the corners of `` Frankenstein . ''", "But it 's inconsequential : there could be nothing in `` Frankenstein '' more romantic than Boris Karloff 's monster , right .", "With his heavy-lidded gaze and his twisted smile , he 's not quite human and yet more human than we can almost bear .", "To honor the movie 's 75th anniversary , Universal unveils this special edition with extras that have not appeared on previous releases .", "-LRB- On the same date Universal will also release the 75th anniversary edition of `` Dracula . ''", "And Sept . 19 marks the release of the Boris Karloff Collection , featuring some of his lesser-known films , including `` Tower of London '' and `` The Strange Door , '' which co-stars Charles Laughton . -RRB-", "We learn that Karloff would entertain his fellow actors on-set with Cockney ditties , and insisted on breaking for tea .", "This charming actor , underneath layers of carefully conceived makeup , created a character whose resonance has not diminished over the years .", "The monster 's cries of anguish , frustration and finally pain are the evidence of his curse : he is allowed to walk among men but not invited to be of them .", "His clumsy underestimation of the fragility of life results in the death of a little girl , and the scene in which she drowns , cut from the version of the movie we all used to see on television , is heartbreaking and shocking even today .", "How could any of us not know how this monster feels .", "-LRB- Universal Home Entertainment , Sept . 26 , $ 26.98. -RRB-", "STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new DVD of film Frankenstein , starring Boris Karloff , on the 75th anniversary of film 's original release .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [4, 1], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788778", "text": ["G . W . PABST 'S tragic fable , from two plays by Frank Wedekind about a prostitute whose love for -- and conquest of -- a married man begins her spiral of decline , is one of the most beautifully filmed of all silent movies .", "Pabst 's unobtrusive but masterly compositions and disarmingly delicate lighting effects are the stuff of rapture .", "Then again , when Louise Brooks , above , is your star , it 's your duty to place her in a context of perfection .", "Brooks plays the doomed , exquisite Lulu , who , with her sable bob and mischievous , calculating smile , became an enduring symbol of jazz-age freedom and joyousness .", "If beauty and saucy charm were all Brooks had to offer , she would have ended up a caricature .", "But this performance is so vital and so infinitely shaded that it inspires wonder each time you see it .", "Brooks 's Lulu is an image of relaxed modernity : she may be willful , petulant and manipulative , but she is also a woman striding toward an uncertain future in a world that does n't provide easy comforts .", "On the night of her disastrous wedding to the rich Dr. Sch\u00f6n -LRB- Fritz Kortner -RRB- , who believes he adores her but really wants to possess her , she stands in front of the mirror , preparing to remove her wedding finery .", "The first thing to come off is a new strand of pearls , which represent the safe , pampered life she has been striving for .", "She lets the glowing beads pool in the palm of her hand , and we see her face in the mirror , an ivory moon framed by darkness .", "The faint smile that crosses her lips is not one of greed or catlike satisfaction but of quiet relief : she has set herself up for a life without worry and strife , not yet knowing that such a life is impossible .", "We have seen how frivolous and thoughtless she can be , and we have witnessed her gentle treachery , but judging her is unthinkable .", "We ca n't trust Lulu .", "We can only believe her .", "In addition to a new , restored transfer of the film , this two-disc set has four different musical scores -LRB- two of which were commissioned for this release -RRB- and a booklet that includes an essay by J . Hoberman , the Village Voice film critic , and Kenneth Tynan 's essential Brooks profile , `` The Girl in the Black Helmet . ''", "-LRB- Criterion Collection , Nov . 10 , $ 39.95. -RRB-", "STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new DVD of G W Pabst film Pandora 's Box starring Louise Brooks .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788779", "text": ["KATHRYN BIGELOW made `` Point Break '' as if she were determined to show up all the big boys as sissies .", "She pumps this movie full of adrenaline like someone determined to see how much helium a balloon can hold before it bursts .", "This is the sort of picture in which the hero -LRB- Keanu Reeves , above left -RRB- is named Johnny Utah , and a bad guy about to meet his maker exclaims , `` I 'll see you in hell , Johnny . ``", "It would be ridiculous if it were n't so delirious .", "Utah is an F.B.I. agent who goes undercover to bring down a group of surfers financing their pursuit of the big waves with a string of bank robberies .", "His nemesis is Bodhi , the surfing guru-bank robber who , as played by the marvelous Patrick Swayze , above right , is like a stoned version of the chest-thumping he-man Robert Shaw portrayed in `` Jaws . ''", "The Carlos Castaneda of machismo , Bodhi is ready with a quasi-mystical justification of everything from riding a tube to planning a heist .", "Ms. Bigelow is in love with macho thrill seeking , but she ca n't resist kidding it .", "So as `` Point Break '' grows more intense , it becomes funnier .", "She keeps the movie in perpetual motion , whether speeding along in a car , gently bobbing on a surfboard or , in the movie 's stunning visual set piece , sky diving .", "The cinematographer , Donald Peterman , makes you feel as if you 're hovering beside the sky divers as they caper around in midair before pulling the rip cord .", "When the five come together to form a floating circle , it 's as if you 're looking at some wacko version of King Arthur 's knights , and it 's elating .", "This is the action movie as goofy rapture .", "-LRB- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , Oct . 3 , $ 19.98. -RRB-", "CHARLES TAYLOR THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new DVD of film Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [8], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788780", "text": ["DUMPED into theaters as an exploitation cheapie in 1968 , this lyrical thriller is a minor American classic .", "As Dennis , a young man trying to get his feet on the ground after being released from a reformatory , Anthony Perkins , right , gives perhaps his richest performance , certainly his most touching .", "Just as Perkins was trying to leave behind the juvenile roles that had typecast him , Dennis , a basically decent fellow , is trying to become an adult .", "But even when he succeeds in hiding his past , he ca n't resist playing the smart aleck or slipping into a world of make-believe .", "Dennis persuades the town golden girl Sue Ann -LRB- Tuesday Weld , right -RRB- to slip into that world with him .", "The twist is that she 's every bit the psychopath people assume Dennis is .", "And since she 's bored with the small town and hates her mother , she 's ready for anything .", "Lorenzo Semple Jr . ` s screenplay is beautifully worked out , and the director , Noel Black , does a superb job of modulating the film 's conflicting elements : the coming-of-age story and the thriller .", "Sensitive and unsettling , `` Pretty Poison '' at times suggests a smaller-scale version of `` Splendor in the Grass , '' without the Freudian gush .", "And when violence breaks out in the suburban setting , Mr. Black plays it straight , not for the cheap irony that won so much praise for Terrence Malick 's phony , condescending `` Badlands . ''", "A large part of what makes `` Pretty Poison '' chilling is Ms. Weld 's amazing performance .", "It is no stretch to cast her as the prettiest girl in town , but resisting the urge to telegraph a character 's craziness takes real discipline .", "Ms. Weld pulls off the neat trick of making Sue Ann seem even more like a normal , carefree teenager after she kills .", "Pointing a gun , as she 's preparing to commit a murder she has long dreamed of , Ms. Weld 's smile has never been sweeter .", "-LRB- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , Sept . 5 , $ 14.98. -RRB-", "CHARLES TAYLOR THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new DVD of 1968 thriller Pretty Poison starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [10], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788781", "text": ["PLENTY of Jane Austen devotees nearly fainted in horror at the liberties Joe Wright took with his 2005 adaptation of `` Pride & Prejudice '' .", "The DVD release of Robert Z . Leonard 's far more outlandish 1940 version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier , above , is likely to set many more Regency bonnets quivering with indignation .", "Forget that Austen 's dialogue has been zingered up and accented with a whimsical score , and that the costumes , by the Hollywood gown god Adrian , have a distinct and bizarre antebellum flair .", "-LRB- Georgian , Southern -- what 's the difference .", "-RRB- The picture is deeply , ridiculously pleasurable not in spite of its anachronisms but because of them .", "As the critic Robin Wood said , `` It is not a very good film , but at least it is alive . ''", "Garson makes a highly unbelievable Lizzy Bennet -- her satiny coolness comes off mostly as indifference -- but at least Olivier 's Darcy is there to make up the deficit .", "Olivier may be playing a matinee idol as much as a literary character , but he manages to meld the two seamlessly , playing Darcy 's propriety and reserve as a subtle , erotic mating dance .", "Maybe Austen herself would have approved of that , but even if not , this `` Pride and Prejudice '' at least has a crazy , joyful sheen .", "The trailer , included here , gives us a shot of the five Bennet girls chattering away in their drawing room as the words `` Five love-hungry sisters and how they got their husbands ! '' splash across the screen .", "Yet even the boldness of that ad campaign has a certain charm .", "Sure , MGM was trying to sell a classic to the masses , but sometimes , the movies are the crossroads where schoolgirls and scholars meet .", "-LRB- Warner Home Video , Oct . 10 , $ 19.98. -RRB-", "STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new DVD of 1940 film of Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788782", "text": ["BEFORE the accident that paralyzed Christopher Reeve , it was all you could do to convince people that such a charming , good-looking guy was also a wonderful actor .", "After the accident he became so beloved that his performances were almost beside the point .", "It would be fitting if this eight-disc collection -LRB- two discs for each of his four Superman movies -RRB- focused attention on the beauty of Reeve 's performances as the man from Krypton and his alter ego , Clark Kent .", "Reeve was blessed with some of the best comic timing the movies have seen since the heyday of screwball .", "His Superman takes great pleasure in playacting the super nerd Kent .", "You feel a prankster 's joy behind Kent 's every klutzy move , every whinging bit of jealousy he admits to feeling over the adoration Margot Kidder 's Lois Lane , above , has for Superman .", "In `` Superman II '' -LRB- 1980 -RRB- , directed by Richard Lester and the best entry in the series , Superman gives up his powers so he can love Lois as a man .", "Reeve enacts a remarkable scene when , for the first time , Superman finds himself a vulnerable mortal after getting into a fight with a bully at a roadside diner .", "Crumpled to the ground , Kent notices the blood coming from his mouth and stares at it , giving a sick little laugh reverberating with a fear he never before felt .", "To watch it is to feel all the security ever inspired by a superhero shaken to the core .", "The extras in this set were not available for preview -LRB- nor was the cut of `` Superman II '' directed by Richard Donner , being released on a second disc .", "Mr. Donner left after disputes with the producers , and Mr. Lester was brought in to finish the movie -RRB- .", "It is a nice tribute to Reeve that in this year 's `` Superman Returns , '' the director , Bryan Singer , captures a mournful , moving spirit that keeps faith with the deepest and most painful places Reeve ventured to go during his time in the cape .", "-LRB- `` Superman : The Christopher Reeve Collection , '' Warner Home Video , Nov . 28 , $ 79.98.", "`` Superman II : The Richard Donner Cut , '' Warner Home Video , Nov . 28 , $ 24.98. -RRB-", "CHARLES TAYLOR THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S ."], "summary": ["Article discusses new eight-DVD collection of four Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2], "tag": ["Movies", "Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788789", "text": ["WHEN Natalie Wells bought a home in Englewood , N.J. , a year ago , she was unaware that her American pit bull terrier was illegal to own in the city .", "Shortly after moving in , she was told by one of her daughters about a city law that banned the breed , commonly called pit bulls , along with several similar breeds and Rottweilers .", "Under the 1999 law , even this year 's best-in-show winner at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , Rufus , a colored bull terrier from Holmdel , N.J. , would be banned in Englewood .", "`` I pretty much knew in my gut it was n't right , `` Ms. Wells said .", "In July , Ms. Wells filed a challenge to the law in Bergen County Superior Court along with Mia Rodriguez , a neighbor who also owns a pit bull , and the American Dog Owner 's Association of Castleton , N.Y.", "Last month , Superior Court Judge Jonathan N . Harris agreed with Ms. Wells and ordered the city to stop enforcing the law because it was in conflict with a New Jersey statute that prohibits restricting dogs by breed .", "`` Cities do n't have the right to make laws that violate state law , `` said Flora Edwards , the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs .", "`` If the legal drinking age is 21 under state law , the City of Englewood or Montclair ca n't say it 's 25 or 18 . ``", "According to a Centers for Disease Control study , the pit bull breed was responsible for more dog-bite fatalities than any other breed from 1979 to 1998 , the latest year for which figures were available .", "The breed was responsible for 66 of 238 dog-bite fatalities during that period .", "Rottweilers were next , with 39 .", "The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act sets out criteria for dealing with aggressive dogs , but prohibits breed discrimination .", "New York has a similar statute .", "Connecticut 's law does not ban breed discrimination .", "Despite such laws , some communities still have restrictions on specific breeds .", "They range from outright bans to requiring property insurance coverage and the use of shorter leashes and muzzles in public .", "Tanya Ford , village clerk in Hempstead , N.Y. , said she was aware of no challenges to its law , which categorizes American pit bull terriers and several related breeds as vicious dogs , requiring that they be muzzled when walked and kept on a chain with a minimum strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding three feet in length .", "Owners must also have liability insurance of $ 100,000 .", "Mahlon Goer , a pit bull owner who tracks legislation in New York for the American Dog Owner 's Association , said the state still allowed insurance companies to drop customers or deny property insurance to prospective customers based on the breed of dog they own .", "Underwriting policies vary , according to the group , but beyond pit bulls and related breeds , the list includes Siberian huskies , Great Danes , German shepherds , St . Bernards and Dalmatians .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws because keeping tabs at the local level can be difficult unless laws are highly publicized .", "According to the American Kennel Club , last year it tracked 105 communities around the nation where breed-specific legislation was pending , enacted or defeated .", "The group had tracked another 76 through July .", "Among the municipalities in the region that have breed-specific laws are Larchmont , Sands Point and Hempstead in New York and Millville and Atlantic City in New Jersey .", "Numerous communities across the United States have such laws .", "One of the most controversial is in Denver , where authorities have euthanized more than 1,000 pit bulls since the reinstatement of a ban on the breed in May 2005 .", "The city 's animal control division had suspended enforcement of the ban in 2004 after the governor signed a bill restricting local governments from outlawing certain breeds .", "But the city successfully sued , arguing that the bill violated its home-rule authority .", "In Englewood , Douglas Bern , a lawyer who served on the City Council when the law was passed , said the council was responding to incidents in a public park where the dogs were being used to intimidate people .", "He said the police had also felt threatened by pit bulls when responding to a call at a home .", "The city argued that the municipal law complemented state statute , which was designed to address situations where `` existing local laws inadequately address the problem '' of aggressive dogs .", "`` The city of Englewood 's ordinance in this regard actually furthers and is consistent with the legislative intent , which is to address a void where local governments have not addressed the area of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs , `` the city said in a court brief .", "Under the ordinance , bull terriers , Staffordshire bull terriers , American pit bull terriers , American Staffordshire terriers , Rottweilers or `` any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds , '' were banned from the city .", "Some summonses had been issued under the law , but city officials did not know how many .", "`` It 's like there 's a stigma for having one of these kinds of dog , `` said Ms. Rodriguez , who owns an ailing 8-year-old pit bull named Cyrus .", "The Englewood City Council will discuss the law at its Sept . 19 meeting , said Scott Reddin , the council president .", "He said he did not expect the council to challenge the court 's decision .", "`` We were profiling certain breeds and that was found to be unconstitutional , '' he said .", "`` I do n't think the council will have any problem rescinding that . ``", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations have come out against breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address the problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "`` As we like to say , punish the deed , not the breed , '' said Lisa Peterson , a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club .", "`` We think breed-specific laws are unfair to responsible dog owners . ''", "Barbara Bishop , who owns Rufus , the top dog at the Westminster show , said she was trying to use the dog 's success to highlight the unfairness of breed-specific bans .", "`` We want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite , whether it 's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff , `` Ms. Bishop said .", "`` Every dog will be a product of what it 's brought up to do . ``", "Ms. Bishop attributed much of the image problem of the pit bull breeds to people who train them to be vicious , including drug dealers who use them as guard dogs .", "`` We have Rufus , who 's the top winning colored terrier of all time , and we still have people stop in the street and say , ` There 's a pit bull , ' `` she said .", "For Ms. Wells , the law seemed even more absurd because her 12-year-old pit bull , Sentry , has cataracts and has had cancer , heart surgery and a hysterectomy .", "`` She is a member of the family , '' said Ms. Wells , who has two daughters , ages 34 and 32 .", "`` My kids tease me all the time and say she 's my favorite daughter . `` ."], "summary": ["Article on legal challenges pit bull owners have been making against local laws in New York City metropolitan area that ban or restrict certain dog breeds .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws .", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations oppose breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [39, 20], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788791", "text": ["HE sits in his wheelchair as the family rushes around him .", "He can not move much , or say more than hello .", "He can not participate in the summer activities that everyone pursues with great vigor day after day .", "If it 's warm enough , he goes out onto the deck and snoozes in the sun with the dogs .", "Unlike them , however , he does n't jump up and make excited noises when people come .", "At most , he slowly turns his head and smiles .", "Everyone speaks to him politely , but not for long .", "What 's the point .", "He ca n't say more than a couple of words , and it 's hard to tell how much he understands .", "He is my stepfather , Peter , an 88-year-old man who in the last decade has been transformed from a lively and dynamic person into not much more than a body occupying space .", "He has post-polio syndrome , a condition that seeps the strength from his upper body as steadily as it weakened his legs when he was a teenager .", "A couple of strokes have further debilitated him .", "As my son , Asher , said to my mother one day , it 's as if he 's hardly a person anymore .", "And yet this is n't how Asher , 14 , behaves toward him .", "He constantly monitors Peter 's feet to see if they 've slipped off the footrests of his wheelchair .", "He always asks if Peter wants something to drink .", "His recognition of the full extent of what it means to be a person goes beyond his frustration at Peter 's limitations .", "Asher is concerned with Peter 's comfort , his feeling of inclusion .", "Peter 's situation brings out Asher 's own humanity .", "Peter is certainly a person to my mother , Addy , though she has no illusions about his abilities .", "He is her third husband , the one who was finally her friend .", "She does what she can to make him comfortable and to replicate his old habits .", "Since his only real pleasure is food , she makes him good meals for lunch and dinner .", "At night they listen to Amy Goodman on NPR and then watch Chris Matthews and a couple of episodes of `` Seinfeld '' or `` Curb Your Enthusiasm . ''", "On Tuesdays , Peter 's longtime men 's lunch group comes over to eat with him and discuss books and politics .", "Peter does n't participate , but he enjoys the routine .", "Last summer he could still join them at the local restaurant .", "He would motor up the street in his Jazzy wheelchair with an orange pennant waving above his head to warn cars away .", "He is far from being able to do anything like that now .", "Peter needs to be cared for at the most basic custodial level .", "When my friend Anne visited , her 9-year-old son , Nick , was interested in what this entailed .", "Over the course of a five-day stay , Nick asked many questions of Stacey , the woman who comes in to get Peter out of bed in the morning -- the very practical questions that most adults prefer not to think about .", "Several times Stacey saw Nick looking in the window when it was changing time .", "He was n't fazed by what he saw .", "He accepted Peter 's condition and presence in the house as natural .", "He was right about that .", "My mother and Peter live on the lip of a harbor in Maine .", "All summer , family members passed through , usually for a week or so .", "I stayed the longest -- six weeks .", "On some days there were enough people staying to fulfill my old fantasy of a big house full of people , bursting with robust togetherness .", "This was a new phenomenon here .", "For many years we were only welcome to stay for a short time .", "The stepparents had limited tolerance for each other 's children , especially the noisy grandchildren .", "I often rented nearby to make visits to my mother less stressful .", "Other sons and daughters did the same .", "We rarely overlapped or had the sense of a beloved summer house , full of traditions passed down through generations .", "We each had a private relationship with Maine , and with Peter and my mother .", "But an unexpected side effect of Peter 's deterioration has been a lessening of the feeling that anyone beyond my mother and stepfather creates a crowd .", "Now Peter seems to enjoy the bustle that my mother used to believe was an imposition on him .", "He is no longer an aging intellectual who requires quiet for reading and writing .", "The grandchildren are older , and he is younger , babylike .", "After breakfast , he sleeps for a couple of hours in the kitchen , no matter the amount of dish washing or screen-door banging .", "So family life swirled around him this summer .", "We spent the kind of easy time together that I like best , quantity rather than quality .", "Just hanging out .", "Siblings , nieces and nephews trooped through with significant others in tow .", "They each had a relationship with Peter while they were there .", "Some spent time talking to him even if he could n't reply .", "Others made sure he was comfortable at the table during meals .", "Though it was easy to forget he was in the room , everyone was delighted when he broke into a conversation with a responsive remark .", "The old Peter ! It was good to see him again , if only for a moment .", "Starting the last week of July , my mother began to say fall was in the air .", "I bridled against this , though I knew what she meant .", "I felt it too , a change in the light from white to yellow , a softening of the wind , a resignation of the leaves on certain trees .", "But I did n't want to skip ahead , so I pretended not to notice .", "It 's summer , I insisted .", "This is what summer is like in Maine .", "It is tempting to make this whisper of fall a metaphor for Peter 's diminishing presence .", "September brings up memories of how the end of summer felt during childhood , a loss .", "Yet I find myself resisting the comparison .", "Peter is alive , and summer does n't officially end for 10 more days .", "I 'm still wearing white .", "GENERATIONS ."], "summary": ["Alice Elliott Dark Generations essay on summer spent in Maine with her family and her stepfather , Peter , 88 , who is debilitated with post-polio syndrome and effects of strokes .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 66, 11], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788795", "text": ["Last spring Robert Ehrlich , a restaurateur and food entrepreneur from Sea Cliff , posted a notice on Craigslist that read : `` Looking for out-of-the-box innovative sushi chefs who want to try anything and who have a sense of humor . ''", "Dhani Diastika , formerly of Nobu 57 in Manhattan , answered the call and soon installed his team of six chefs at Mr. Ehrlich 's little coffeehouse .", "The result is a curious hybrid .", "The coffeehouse , the Sea Cliff Coffee Company , offers breakfast fare like cheese omelets -LRB- $ 8.95 -RRB- and salads -LRB- $ 7 -RRB- and sandwiches -LRB- $ 7.50 -RRB- for lunch daily , just as it has done for five years .", "But now , Wednesday through Sunday evenings , it becomes the Sea Cliff Sushi Company , serving Asian fusion cuisine worthy of a big-city hot spot .", "Mr. Ehrlich also runs his snack food empire , Robert 's American Gourmet , from an office next door , selling his line of Pirate 's Booty puffed rice and corn snacks .", "`` I travel a lot and I always find a funky local place that 's kind of off the beaten path , `` he said .", "`` Now I can live that every day . ''", "Tucked away in a cul-de-sac off Sea Cliff 's main street , the cafe is washed in vibrant shades of mango and pomegranate and furnished with vintage Grateful Dead posters and about 10 mismatched tables , with more seating on the front patio .", "On sushi nights , the tiny kitchen turns out a big-flavored spicy tuna sandwich , topped with tempura crunch , avocado and tobiko -LRB- roe -RRB- -LRB- $ 14.95 -RRB- , rich marinated black cod in sweet miso glaze -LRB- $ 15.95 -RRB- and pristine yellowtail sashimi with jalape\u00f1o , yuzu-soy and cilantro -LRB- $ 15.95 -RRB- .", "Customers can bring their own wine or beer -LRB- no hard liquor allowed -RRB- , and reservations are suggested .", "Sea Cliff Coffee Company and Sea Cliff Sushi Company , 100 Roslyn Avenue , Sea Cliff , N.Y. -LRB- 516 -RRB- 671-4411 .", "SUSAN M . NOVICK ."], "summary": ["Article on Sea Cliff Coffee Co , coffeehouse in Sea Cliff , NY , that converts to Sea Cliff Sushi Co restaurant at night ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [11], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788796", "text": ["IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .", "Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .", "The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .", "Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .", "A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .", "The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .", "All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .", "Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .", "`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .", "James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .", "`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .", "`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``", "What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .", "`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .", "`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .", "The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``", "Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .", "`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''", "Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .", "`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .", "`` he said of the City Council .", "`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``", "Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .", "Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .", "Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .", "`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .", "STORM PROTECTION ."], "summary": ["Article on controversy over rejection by City Council in Long Beach , NY , to beach preservation project by Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect beach from ocean flooding .", "Surfrider Foundation contended plan to build 15-foot-high berm and dune from Long Beach to Point Lookout would create dangerous riptides and harm look of beach and would not protect beach .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1, 4], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788798", "text": ["ON the morning of Sept . 11 , 2001 , I was scheduled to fly from La Guardia Airport to Columbus , Ohio .", "At home in Babylon , I put on my navy blue American Airlines uniform , which made me feel as if I represented the guarantee of safety and security to all the passengers on my flight .", "I always knew that I wanted to be a flight attendant .", "As a child growing up in Queens , I would ride my bicycle down 79th Street and Astoria Boulevard , about 500 feet from La Guardia Airport , to watch the planes take off .", "Sometimes I could see people 's faces in the windows of the planes .", "I 'd imagine them going to exciting places in a jet filled with important people .", "I wanted to be on those planes .", "Training for my dream job as a flight attendant was an awesome experience .", "I learned how to evacuate an aircraft in less than 60 seconds , and how to use and find all the emergency equipment aboard different planes .", "I was trained in first aid and judged fit to withstand G-force turbulence and abrupt cabin pressure changes .", "I loved flying to all those different places .", "Still , there was nothing I loved more than flying home to Babylon , seeing Long Island 's twin forks , being thankful that I was n't stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic I could see on the Long Island Expressway and spotting my old elementary school , my old street and finally my old house in Queens as the pilot approached runway 13 Right .", "My mother , a security worker at MacArthur Airport in Islip , would often drive me to the airport , just as she was preparing to do on the morning of Sept . 11 .", "But on this morning , we stopped in front of the television only to learn that American Airlines Flight 77 had crashed into the Pentagon , and that American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 had already crashed into the World Trade Center .", "As the south tower collapsed , news came that United Flight 93 had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania .", "Faces , voices and names of colleagues flashed through my mind as the television anchors spoke .", "I called my supervisor , who told me that I should stay home until further notice .", "That week was a blur and then it was time to go back to work .", "I got up and put on my blue uniform .", "My stomach tightened and my heart grew heavy , not because I was afraid to fly , but because I was afraid of being weak in front of my passengers .", "My mother drove me to John F . Kennedy International Airport .", "She looked over at me as we drove west on the Southern State Parkway .", "`` Do you want to do this .", "`` she asked .", "I said yes , but she knew better .", "I got to Kennedy barely able to control my emotions .", "Security was tight , and the airport was quiet , not because there were n't any passengers for the few scheduled flights that morning but because everyone was nervously silent .", "Like me , people seemed afraid of being forced back into the routine of living .", "The television set in the crew 's flight room ran news of box cutters found on some passengers , and rumors of breaches in security were flying around .", "That 's when I broke down .", "I thought I could control myself .", "I was supposed to be strong , yet there I was crying like a child .", "My supervisor consoled me , but she took me off the flight and told me to go home .", "I called my mother to pick me up .", "She had never left the airport and was waiting for my call .", "Silently , we drove back home to Babylon .", "I eventually did get back in the swing of things , but layoffs kicked in and my flight schedule became erratic and unpredictable .", "Eventually , I left my job .", "How do I feel about memorials and tributes and prayers for 9/11 .", "Then , as now , my way of dealing with them is simple : I can not be associated with them in any way .", "Save me from the prayers , monuments , movies and television specials .", "It 's too emotional for me , and I have too much respect for my colleagues , those who died in those planes , to pretend that I could possibly know what they went through .", "I do know , however that they worked hard that day to save lives and calm nerves .", "When I go back to 79th Street , I can still see into the windows of planes taking off from the airport .", "Maybe one day I 'll return to the airline industry , but it will never be the same -- safety and security are no longer something that I or anyone else can guarantee .", "Op-Ed Contributor ."], "summary": ["Op-Ed article by former flight attendant Michelle Henderson , as told to Prof Howard Gold , on her reaction to terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 2, 45, 6], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788801", "text": ["Every year , tens of thousands of children pass through Suffolk County 's Family Court , the second busiest in New York State .", "Many of them are troubled teenagers accused of crimes , and a few hundred have to be locked up while awaiting trial or sentencing for serious offenses , or to serve time for lesser violations , like truancy or vandalism .", "Suffolk has no place of its own to put these children , and has n't since 1974 , when its juvenile detention center was shut down by the state .", "It has dealt with the issue by shipping children out of the county -- to Nassau County , whose center has troubles of its own , and as far away as Syracuse and Buffalo .", "None of this would be a problem if the only concerns were controlling costs and shuttling people from place to place .", "The juvenile court machinery has shown itself to be perfectly capable of dealing with the logistical challenges and caseloads .", "But the bureaucracy needs to remember that these cases involve children , immature by definition and often fragile .", "They need close contact with their families and lawyers and ready access to medical treatment , mental-health care and other social services .", "They are not hardened criminals , and if the goal is to make sure they stay that way , the county urgently needs to find a way to keep children in custody that is safe , humane and more accommodating to the particular needs of young defendants .", "As it is , the juveniles themselves -- last year , Suffolk held 608 of them in secure custody for a combined 4,055 days -- and their families have done most of the accommodating .", "State law requires that juvenile cases be resolved within three days of a youth 's being charged .", "This means children can be bused out of Suffolk to a detention center as much as 12 hours away , only to return in a day or two .", "The distant centers offer only a room and meals , so treatment like counseling has to be suspended while the young people are being shuffled around .", "Officials in Nassau and Suffolk have talked about building a new center together , but the classic Long Island predicament -- where do you put it . -- caused the effort to fall apart .", "One obvious solution is also close at hand : Nassau 's juvenile center in Westbury .", "That building is 50 years old and in bad shape .", "In April the state urged the county to take `` immediate action '' to fix serious deficiencies , including fire code violations , inadequate perimeter fencing and staffing shortfalls .", "A dining room ceiling was sagging and near collapse , and there was no system to open all the cell locks at once in a fire .", "Nassau has set aside $ 2.8 million in its capital budget to make repairs , and is hoping for a matching amount from Albany .", "The action is welcome but late , and we will waste no ink applauding the county for suddenly deciding , under pressure , to make sure that the center 's heating and ventilation systems , locks and fire alarms , among other absolutely essential things , are finally adequate .", "Nassau 's action on its own juvenile-center problems opens the possibility of a solution to Suffolk 's .", "Rather than build something new , and endure the predictable local resistance to choosing a location for it , the smarter tack may be for Suffolk to help Nassau put the center in Westbury into decent shape and for both counties to use it jointly .", "There may be room in Nassau 's center -- which has a licensed capacity of 32 , and 46 rooms in all -- to handle the needs of both counties .", "The shabby treatment of juvenile defendants has been ignored for too long .", "The Suffolk County executive , Steve Levy , should join his Nassau counterpart , Thomas Suozzi , in putting the needs of juvenile defendants on the front burner .", "Long Island ."], "summary": ["Editorial , scoring lack of juvenile detention facility in Suffolk County , suggests it join forces with Nassau County to renovate center in Westbury and to use it jointly ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [21], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788802", "text": ["JESSE FRIEDMAN bit into a bagel with lox last Sunday and ripped into the criminal justice system in Nassau County as if he had just been charged that morning , and not in 1987 , with hundreds of sex crimes against children .", "Convicted as a sexually violent predator -- the highest-risk category , Level 3 -- he is barred from parks and places with many children .", "Bagel stores are not off limits , so he sat in one on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and discussed his case and how it was affected by the 2003 film `` Capturing the Friedmans . ''", "`` It 's the trial I never had , `` he said of the Oscar-nominated documentary , which portrayed the decline and fall of the Friedmans of Great Neck after Jesse and his father , Arnold , were arrested in 1987 , accused of molesting children during after-school computer classes in the basement of their Picadilly Road home .", "The film contained interviews indicating flaws in the prosecution of Jesse Friedman and raising questions about his culpability , despite his guilty plea .", "Mr. Friedman has used this information to try to overturn his conviction .", "An appeal failed in the state courts earlier this year , but he retained the civil rights lawyer Ronald L . Kuby and filed another motion , in federal court , in July .", "A central claim of the motion is that prosecutors , lacking physical evidence , built their case on the false accusations of children who admitted to being abused only after investigators used `` high pressure , manipulative and result-oriented interrogation techniques with child witnesses that produced false allegations . ''", "These techniques included intimidation , threats and hypnosis to create false memories of abuse , the motion claims .", "It also contends that investigators unlawfully withheld exonerating material , including denials from students -- some of whom said in the film that they were pressured into fabricating abuse claims .", "But there are also accusers who stand by their charges and are infuriated at Mr. Friedman 's continued denials .", "Frances Galasso , who led the Nassau police sex crimes squad in the Friedman investigation , said in an interview on Wednesday that coercion was not used with the children .", "`` They gave detailed statements that upset my most hardened detectives , '' said Ms. Galasso , who is now retired .", "`` The parents were brought in as soon as we were able to break the ice , and they co-signed the statement . ''", "She called the documentary one-sided and `` a disgrace and insult to the victims and their parents . ''", "`` I 'm really happy it did n't get the Academy Award , because it was n't accurate , `` she said .", "`` Both Jesse and his father are guilty as sin .", "Remember , he pled guilty , and you do n't plead guilty to a crime like this if you did n't do it . ``", "Jesse Friedman was 17 when he and his father were arrested and charged with hundreds of counts of sex crimes against children .", "Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children .", "-LRB- He committed suicide in prison in 1995 . -RRB-", "Jesse Friedman said that he wanted to fight the charges in court but felt that a successful defense would be impossible to mount .", "His father had already decided to plead guilty , and Jesse believed that the judge and jury would be biased against him , he said .", "According to his recent motion , he was `` condemned in the press and vilified by a community hungry for retribution . ''", "Fearing life in prison , he said , he accepted a deal , admitting guilt and receiving a 6 - to 18-year sentence .", "After serving 13 years in prison , he was released in December 2001 and has since lived in Manhattan .", "He is now 37 and will be finished with his parole in three months , making him a free man , in a sense -- except for his Level 3 status , which he will always maintain , unless the conviction is overturned .", "`` That follows me till the day I die , '' he said .", "Upon release from prison , Jesse moved in with his brother , David , who works as Silly Billy , one of the most prominent party clowns in the city .", "But when the co-op board found out who Jesse was , they objected , and Jesse moved out .", "He now lives with his fianc\u00e9e , Elisabeth Walsh , in an East Harlem building with no child residents , a condition ordered by his parole officer .", "He said his landlord and neighbors accept his situation .", "He may not leave New York City and must observe a 9 p.m. curfew .", "Ms. Walsh , 27 , is also from Great Neck .", "She never knew Mr. Friedman growing up , but she knew of him , especially because she attended his alma mater , a small charter high school called the Village School .", "`` I 'm the age of his accusers , `` she said , adding that she never believed the allegations .", "After seeing the documentary , she said , she wrote him a letter of support .", "They met and are now engaged , despite her family 's misgivings .", "`` My parents love Jesse , but they feel like I 'm taking on all his problems , `` she said , nuzzling him .", "`` But for me , he 's worth it . ``", "Mr. Friedman says he and Ms. Walsh plan to move someplace where he is less likely to be recognized .", "He laughed hard when asked if he would ever settle down on Long Island .", "`` I think if I set foot on Long Island , I 'd have my house burned down , `` he said , though he added that one thing would make him welcome a return : if a federal court ordered hearings in his case .", "`` To go back there and be able to grill my prosecutors , '' he said .", "`` I 'd take that . ``", "THE ISLAND E-mail : theisland@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["Corey Kilgannon The Island column on Jesse Friedman , arrested in 1987 , along with his father , on charges of molesting children during after-school computer classes at their home in Great Neck , NY . Friedman , convicted as sexually violent predator , has filed second motion to try to overturn his conviction .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788803", "text": ["FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .", "When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .", "It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .", "`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .", "`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .", "` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .", "` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '", "But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '", "Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '", "`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .", "`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .", "The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .", "The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .", "At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .", "The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .", "In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .", "It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .", "In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .", "That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .", "To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .", "The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .", "To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .", "Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .", "Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .", "The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .", "The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .", "They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .", "`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .", "`` It 's kind of common sense .", "If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``", "EDUCATION ."], "summary": ["Article on Clara T O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn , which spent three years on ` in need of improvement ' list under No Child Left Behind program and has managed to work itself off list .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["Education", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788804", "text": ["IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .", "But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .", "`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .", "`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''", "The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .", "The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .", "`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .", "`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''", "But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .", "`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .", "`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''", "The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .", "Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .", "Anything larger was cut into logs .", "Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .", "In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .", "Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .", "`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``", "Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .", "All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .", "`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .", "`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''", "STORM CLEANUP ."], "summary": ["Article on work of Nature 's Choice Corp , yard-waste recycling company hired by Montclair , NJ , to clear debris caused by July 18 storm that destroyed about 200 trees on public property .", "Company turned trees into about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 16], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788805", "text": ["DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''", "Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .", "And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .", "`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .", "`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``", "In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .", "They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .", "Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .", "The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .", "The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .", "The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .", "The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .", "One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .", "Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .", "Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .", "Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .", "Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .", "Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .", "Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .", "Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .", "Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .", "But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .", "VANDALISM ."], "summary": ["Officials in Yorktown , NY , say graffiti has reached new heights this summer .", "Police have begun graffiti patrols as deterrent and have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges since July .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7, 1, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788813", "text": ["MODERN dance from beyond the borders of the United States has always flowed into New York , but this season the flow will become a torrent as presenters all over the region place a new emphasis on internationalism , even with tighter visa restrictions .", "Some might fret that this is bad : every slot allotted to a foreigner deprives an American , they reason , and life for American dancers is hard enough .", "But the gain in cosmopolitanism will more than offset any loss , enlivening local choreographic creativity and broadening the audience 's perspectives .", "This season the mainstream midlevel New York dance theaters are augmenting their foreign offerings , and so are presenters in the broader New York region .", "Dance Theater Workshop has been emphasizing international dance of late , but now the Joyce Theater and Danspace Project at St . Mark 's Church are joining in .", "And there will be even more to come as the winter and spring schedules fill out .", "Three events this fall stand out for me , maybe in part because I 've already seen these artists or these very pieces in Europe and know they 're good .", "This month the riveting French conceptualist Boris Charmatz , in partnership with another choreographer and dancer , Dimitri Chamblas , will make one of his rare New York appearances .", "Mr. Charmatz is charming and full of ideas .", "Even when they do n't work , they 're interesting .", "He and Mr. Chamblas will be at St . Mark 's Church , in a piece called `` \u00c0 Bras le Corps , '' described as a `` private perspective on their strenuous tumbling , lunging and grappling , '' all in a boxing-ring setting , Their appearance is part of a citywide multiarts festival called European Dream .", "The French ballerina Sylvie Guillem is one of the biggest stars in the dance world .", "But partly because she 's restlessly curious and maybe also because she 's in her early 40 's now and seeking -LRB- as Mikhail Baryshnikov has done for so long -RRB- new , nonballetic challenges , she is moving into what the British call contemporary dance .", "This month she has a collaboration in London with the choreographer Akram Khan .", "Two years ago she undertook a similar collaboration with Russell Maliphant , full of stark movements seemingly designed for the leggy Ms. Guillem , angular gestures and vivid lighting .", "That program will be seen next month at City Center , the first offering in the center 's new partnership with the innovative , dance-oriented Sadler 's Wells Theater in London .", "Jedediah Wheeler , the longtime New York dance manager and producer , is making the performing-arts series at Montclair State University in New Jersey into an innovative force that , with money and persistence , may one day rival the Brooklyn Academy of Music as a beyond-Manhattan destination for new work .", "For November Mr. Wheeler has booked one of the most exciting of all the new British physical theater troupes : the Vincent Dance Theater from Sheffield , England , led by Charlotte Vincent , in a piece I saw last spring called `` Broken Chords . ''", "It is theatrically wrenching and hilarious , choreographically intense , musically compelling .", "-LRB- One of the dancers is also a first-rate violinist , and the title refers to both marital breakup and the need to arpeggiate chords in Baroque string music with a modern bow . -RRB-", "I will be curious to see if the New York dance audience shares my enthusiasm for this piece .", "Finally , a quick note on two Japanese-flavored imports .", "Yubiwa Hotel in `` Candies : girlish hardcore '' is at the Japan Society this week , part of the society 's `` Girl , Girly , Girlish '' series , and Kota Yamazaki / Fluid Hug-Hug will be at Dance Theater Workshop in November .", "Ms. Yamazaki , Japanese-born and New York-based , conducted research for her new `` Rise : Rose '' in Senegal .", "Who needs world travel .", "Titles like that are a trip all by themselves .", "THE NEW SEASON : DANCE ."], "summary": ["John Rockwell article on how flow of modern dance presentations into New York from around the world will become torrent this year .", "Notable visitors from France , United Kingdom and Japan discussed .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 24], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788814", "text": ["NEW YORK dance is a wildly inventive scene , and I would n't be surprised if sometime during the coming season we had the chance to see naked stiltwalkers expertly dancing hip-hop to Arvo P\u00e4rt on a float on the Gowanus Canal .", "But the monuments of dance , the long-standing sources from which all this recent innovation has flowed , will also be represented , and returning to them regularly will be good for the soul .", "To start , the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform at the Joyce Theater in mid-October , at Mr. Cunningham 's most slyly playful , it would seem , in a premiere called `` eyeSpace , '' to which audience members will be encouraged to take their iPods to hear the dance 's downloadable score by Mikel Rouse .", "-LRB- Technophobes will be provided with loaners . -RRB-", "Also on the program will be one of Mr. Cunningham 's signature site-specific `` events '' and a revival of his 1960 `` Crises , '' which John Cage once described as a harsh and erotic piece about a man and a woman bound together in part by elastic bands .", "It is hard to imagine today 's performers matching the wildness and ferocity that Mr. Cunningham , Viola Farber and Carolyn Brown once brought to it .", "Will they make it new .", "Paul Taylor 's `` Troilus and Cressida -LRB- reduced -RRB- , '' a premiere to be performed by his company in March at City Center , sounds like a typically outrageous Taylor cartoon .", "Its Shakespearean characters include a schlub of a Troilus , a worn Cressida and a swarm of macaroni-headed Cupids to egg the lovers on .", "The music .", "Ponchielli , of `` Dance of the Hours '' fame .", "Finally , this season and next will be the last time to savor the great artistry of Kyra Nichols , a ballerina of incomparable musicality and nuanced technical expertise .", "Ms. Nichols retires from the New York City Ballet in June , but she will dance in ballets including Balanchine 's `` Vienna Waltzes '' and `` Liebeslieder Walzer , '' and she 'll also play Carabosse in `` The Sleeping Beauty . ''", "THE NEW SEASON : DANCE ."], "summary": ["Jennifer Dunning article notes three monuments of dance , long-standing sources from which all recent innovation has flowed , who will be represented in New York this season : Merce Cunningham , Paul Taylor and Kyra Nichols .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788815", "text": ["BUILDINGS are looking prettier than ever , thanks to the freedom that contemporary architects have these days to play with form .", "Meanwhile , many of our cities are falling to pieces , as the infrastructure that once bound them into functioning communities crumbles from years of neglect .", "New Orleans exposed a breakdown in infrastructure and social policy that will not be repaired by a conventional formula of tourism , architectural nostalgia and gated communities .", "And the atomization of cities as diverse as Dubai , Beijing and Beirut , where the construction of glistening new urban centers masks growing social inequities at their edges , have only further exposed the hollowness of some contemporary urban-planning strategies .", "So the most promising trend this year is a renewed emphasis in architectural circles on urbanism as a field for creative exploration .", "Architects like Eyal Weisman -LRB- in London -RRB- , Teddy Cruz -LRB- San Diego -RRB- , Philipp Oswalt -LRB- Berlin -RRB- and Rem Koolhaas -LRB- Rotterdam and just about everywhere else -RRB- have been striving to bridge the gap between architectural fantasy and stark political and social realities .", "Seeking to distance themselves from the current obsession with `` star '' buildings , they proceed from the assumption that we can not create valid new architectural forms until we arrive at a deeper understanding of the era we live in .", "The 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture , which opens this weekend , is the first to focus on entire cities rather than uncovering the latest architectural trends .", "Organized by Ricky Burdett , the exposition examines the effect of design in cities as diverse as Cairo , Mumbai , S\u00e3o Paolo , Johannesburg , Mexico City and Caracas .", "Among the highlights is Al-Azhar Park in Cairo , conceived as an `` urban lung '' to provide relief for a city that has only one square meter of green space for each inhabitant , and a series of schools in S\u00e3o Paolo that function as around-the-clock community centers to help reduce violence among youths in the poorest slums .", "-LRB- Simply getting children off the streets is a starting point . -RRB-", "`` I think projects like this give a raison d' \u00eatre to architecture again , which is what the profession is looking for , '' Mr. Burdett said .", "In `` Lago : How It Works , '' a book to be published this fall , Mr. Koolhaas turns his penetrating gaze to the Nigerian city , a dense matrix of congested slums and infill markets that in many cases have devised their own court systems and electricity and water utilities .", "In the 1970 's Lagos was the nexus of a stirring intellectual renaissance and a wave of sprawling , megalomaniacal urban planning projects .", "That optimism evaporated with the drop in oil prices at the end of the decade , and the city was left to fend for itself .", "Today , the Nigerian government is trying to resurrect some of the old planning projects , clamp down on illegal street trade and rein in urban indiscipline in general .", "Yet in eight years of research , Mr. Koolhaas realized that what seems like chaos to outsiders is a complex and highly organized social organism .", "His analysis suggests that a democratic , informal urban planning model could be combined with aggressive planning to lift Lagos out of poverty without destroying the spontaneous freedom of daily urban life .", "`` In Lagos there is no choice , but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no choice , '' Mr. Koolhaas has said .", "`` In New York , on the other hand , there 's a sense of infinite choice , but a very conventional set of options from which to choose . ``", "Of course Mr. Koolhaas , now 62 , has been known for countering conventional wisdom about how cities really work since the publication of `` Delirious New York , '' a 1978 book casting the `` city of congestion '' as an antidote to the sterility of Modernist planning conventions .", "Today , he is joined by a younger generation of architects who are no longer content to consider architecture in isolation from larger urban patterns .", "Among them is Mr. Oswalt , 42 , who has organized a show that arrives in December at the Van Alen Institute in New York and the Pratt Manhattan Gallery .", "Titled `` Shrinking Cities , '' it examines the shrinking industrial centers on the fringes of the emerging global economy .", "The show sheds light on the abysmal failure of planners to avert the gradual disintegration of cities like Leipzig , Germany .", "Ivanovo , Russia .", "And Detroit .", "The phenomenon of decay is often juxtaposed with a different form of assault : the insidious encroachment of suburban values .", "New Yorkers need only stroll through SoHo to get the point .", "The exhibition , which originally opened in Berlin 2004 , also resurrects some largely forgotten critiques of urbanization .", "It touches on the Disurbanist proposals of Soviet Constructivists like Moisei Ginzburg and Mikhail Barshch , who challenged the thinking behind Western urban traditions in favor of a more rural Russian model , and Frank Lloyd Wright 's Broadacre City , in which each family would be allotted an acre of land and the agglomeration would serve as a decentralized metropolis .", "But the show 's most penetrating attacks are reserved for more recent urban strategies , particularly the argument that the salvation of cities rests in a so-called `` creative class '' that leads the way to gentrification .", "`` Shrinking Cities '' is to travel in February to Detroit , where , a bit paradoxically , it will go on view in an abandoned 21,000-square - foot warehouse that will be the temporary home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit .", "Designed by Andrew Zago , the museum is being opened , in part , with the goal of revitalizing the city center .", "Finally , Mr. Weisman , an Israeli-born architect who is the recipient this year of the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture , will open a series of lectures this fall at the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal .", "The talks are pegged to the release of `` Hollow Land : The Architecture of Israeli Occupation , '' a chilling book in which he explores the way the military selects targets in bombing and fortifying cities and how those strategies can re-emerge in civilian planning practices during peacetime .", "His analysis is ideally timed .", "If the Modernist mass-housing programs of a half-century ago reduced a generation of urban poor to mere numbers in a machine , many of those projects are now being wiped away to make room for an equally troubling formula : gated communities , open-air malls and sanitized tourist enclaves that have exacerbated social inequities by making destitute children invisible .", "Acknowledging the complexity of these issues is not enough .", "Thankfully , some architects have assumed the challenge of binding us back into a civilization whose fabric often seems on the verge of unraveling .", "THE NEW SEASON -- ARCHITECTURE ."], "summary": ["Nicolai Ouroussoff article says most promising trend of year is renewed emphasis among architects on urbanism as field for creative exploration .", "Says attempt is being made to bridge gap between architectural fantasy and social reality .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [4], "tag": ["Arts"]}
- {"id": "1788840", "text": ["FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .", "When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .", "It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .", "`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .", "`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .", "` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .", "` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '", "But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '", "Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '", "`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .", "`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .", "The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .", "The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .", "At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .", "The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .", "In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .", "It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .", "In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .", "That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .", "To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .", "The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .", "To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .", "Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .", "Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .", "The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .", "The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .", "They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .", "`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .", "`` It 's kind of common sense .", "If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``", "EDUCATION ."], "summary": ["Article on Clara T O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn , which spent three years on ` in need of improvement ' list under No Child Left Behind program and has managed to work itself off list .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["Education", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788841", "text": ["IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .", "Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .", "The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .", "Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .", "A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .", "The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .", "All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .", "Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .", "`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .", "James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .", "`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .", "`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``", "What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .", "`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .", "`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .", "The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``", "Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .", "`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''", "Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .", "`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .", "`` he said of the City Council .", "`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``", "Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .", "Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .", "Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .", "`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .", "STORM PROTECTION ."], "summary": ["Article on controversy over rejection by City Council in Long Beach , NY , to beach preservation project by Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect beach from ocean flooding .", "Surfrider Foundation contended plan to build 15-foot-high berm and dune from Long Beach to Point Lookout would create dangerous riptides and harm look of beach and would not protect beach .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1, 4], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788842", "text": ["IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .", "But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .", "`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .", "`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''", "The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .", "The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .", "`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .", "`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''", "But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .", "`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .", "`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''", "The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .", "Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .", "Anything larger was cut into logs .", "Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .", "In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .", "Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .", "`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``", "Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .", "All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .", "`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .", "`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''", "STORM CLEANUP ."], "summary": ["Article on work of Nature 's Choice Corp , yard-waste recycling company hired by Montclair , NJ , to clear debris caused by July 18 storm that destroyed about 200 trees on public property .", "Company turned trees into about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 16], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788843", "text": ["DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''", "Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .", "And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .", "`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .", "`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``", "In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .", "They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .", "Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .", "The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .", "The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .", "The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .", "The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .", "One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .", "Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .", "Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .", "Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .", "Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .", "Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .", "Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .", "Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .", "Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .", "But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .", "VANDALISM ."], "summary": ["Officials in Yorktown , NY , say graffiti has reached new heights this summer .", "Police have begun graffiti patrols as deterrent and have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges since July .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7, 1, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788845", "text": ["Little by little , the cafe inside Atticus Bookstore in New Haven has swallowed more and more of the space .", "It began with a couple of tables , a counter and display cases in 1981 , when the cafe opened .", "There are now 20 tables occupying about a third of the store , and according to Caleb Fraser , an assistant manager , plans are slowly evolving for even more cafe space .", "The cafe has proved to be wildly popular for its hearty soups , generous sandwiches and salads , coffees and other beverages , as well as baked goods , including cookies , tarts , muffins and scones .", "A popular order is soup and half a sandwich or salad for $ 8.20.", "Half a sandwich and half a salad at the same price is also a favorite combination , with eight sandwiches or panini and seven salads to choose from .", "I 'm partial to the lemon chicken salad and grilled tomato panino with pesto , but have n't been disappointed with any of my choices .", "Black bean soup is a menu regular , and there 's always a meat soup like chicken Florentine with spinach and a vegetarian soup like lentil -LRB- or try the cold avocado-yogurt pur\u00e9e if it 's on the day 's menu -RRB- .", "The cafe is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is especially crowded at lunchtime , between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.", "Throughout the day , from breakfast on , students , professors and others congregate for coffee , espresso , cappuccino and a pick-me-up nibble .", "Matineegoers to the Yale Repertory Theater down the street often drop by for a quick lunch or post-performance snack .", "But no one needs an excuse -- the sweets are incredibly delicious , whether raspberry or blackberry Danish , sticky buns , plain or whole wheat croissants , lemon tarts , bread pudding , chocolate cheesecake brownies or almond bars .", "All baked goods , like the soups and everything else at the cafe , are made at the local Chabaso Bakery , the bookstore 's parent company .", "Atticus Bookstore / Caf\u00e9 , 1082 Chapel Street , New Haven .", "-LRB- 203 -RRB- 776-4040 .", "PATRICIA BROOKS ."], "summary": ["Patricia Brooks reviews cafe inside Atticus Bookstore in New Haven , Conn , photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788846", "text": ["HE sits in his wheelchair as the family rushes around him .", "He can not move much , or say more than hello .", "He can not participate in the summer activities that everyone pursues with great vigor day after day .", "If it 's warm enough , he goes out onto the deck and snoozes in the sun with the dogs .", "Unlike them , however , he does n't jump up and make excited noises when people come .", "At most , he slowly turns his head and smiles .", "Everyone speaks to him politely , but not for long .", "What 's the point .", "He ca n't say more than a couple of words , and it 's hard to tell how much he understands .", "He is my stepfather , Peter , an 88-year-old man who in the last decade has been transformed from a lively and dynamic person into not much more than a body occupying space .", "He has post-polio syndrome , a condition that seeps the strength from his upper body as steadily as it weakened his legs when he was a teenager .", "A couple of strokes have further debilitated him .", "As my son , Asher , said to my mother one day , it 's as if he 's hardly a person anymore .", "And yet this is n't how Asher , 14 , behaves toward him .", "He constantly monitors Peter 's feet to see if they 've slipped off the footrests of his wheelchair .", "He always asks if Peter wants something to drink .", "His recognition of the full extent of what it means to be a person goes beyond his frustration at Peter 's limitations .", "Asher is concerned with Peter 's comfort , his feeling of inclusion .", "Peter 's situation brings out Asher 's own humanity .", "Peter is certainly a person to my mother , Addy , though she has no illusions about his abilities .", "He is her third husband , the one who was finally her friend .", "She does what she can to make him comfortable and to replicate his old habits .", "Since his only real pleasure is food , she makes him good meals for lunch and dinner .", "At night they listen to Amy Goodman on NPR and then watch Chris Matthews and a couple of episodes of `` Seinfeld '' or `` Curb Your Enthusiasm . ''", "On Tuesdays , Peter 's longtime men 's lunch group comes over to eat with him and discuss books and politics .", "Peter does n't participate , but he enjoys the routine .", "Last summer he could still join them at the local restaurant .", "He would motor up the street in his Jazzy wheelchair with an orange pennant waving above his head to warn cars away .", "He is far from being able to do anything like that now .", "Peter needs to be cared for at the most basic custodial level .", "When my friend Anne visited , her 9-year-old son , Nick , was interested in what this entailed .", "Over the course of a five-day stay , Nick asked many questions of Stacey , the woman who comes in to get Peter out of bed in the morning -- the very practical questions that most adults prefer not to think about .", "Several times Stacey saw Nick looking in the window when it was changing time .", "He was n't fazed by what he saw .", "He accepted Peter 's condition and presence in the house as natural .", "He was right about that .", "My mother and Peter live on the lip of a harbor in Maine .", "All summer , family members passed through , usually for a week or so .", "I stayed the longest -- six weeks .", "On some days there were enough people staying to fulfill my old fantasy of a big house full of people , bursting with robust togetherness .", "This was a new phenomenon here .", "For many years we were only welcome to stay for a short time .", "The stepparents had limited tolerance for each other 's children , especially the noisy grandchildren .", "I often rented nearby to make visits to my mother less stressful .", "Other sons and daughters did the same .", "We rarely overlapped or had the sense of a beloved summer house , full of traditions passed down through generations .", "We each had a private relationship with Maine , and with Peter and my mother .", "But an unexpected side effect of Peter 's deterioration has been a lessening of the feeling that anyone beyond my mother and stepfather creates a crowd .", "Now Peter seems to enjoy the bustle that my mother used to believe was an imposition on him .", "He is no longer an aging intellectual who requires quiet for reading and writing .", "The grandchildren are older , and he is younger , babylike .", "After breakfast , he sleeps for a couple of hours in the kitchen , no matter the amount of dish washing or screen-door banging .", "So family life swirled around him this summer .", "We spent the kind of easy time together that I like best , quantity rather than quality .", "Just hanging out .", "Siblings , nieces and nephews trooped through with significant others in tow .", "They each had a relationship with Peter while they were there .", "Some spent time talking to him even if he could n't reply .", "Others made sure he was comfortable at the table during meals .", "Though it was easy to forget he was in the room , everyone was delighted when he broke into a conversation with a responsive remark .", "The old Peter ! It was good to see him again , if only for a moment .", "Starting the last week of July , my mother began to say fall was in the air .", "I bridled against this , though I knew what she meant .", "I felt it too , a change in the light from white to yellow , a softening of the wind , a resignation of the leaves on certain trees .", "But I did n't want to skip ahead , so I pretended not to notice .", "It 's summer , I insisted .", "This is what summer is like in Maine .", "It is tempting to make this whisper of fall a metaphor for Peter 's diminishing presence .", "September brings up memories of how the end of summer felt during childhood , a loss .", "Yet I find myself resisting the comparison .", "Peter is alive , and summer does n't officially end for 10 more days .", "I 'm still wearing white .", "GENERATIONS ."], "summary": ["Alice Elliott Dark Generations essay on summer spent in Maine with her family and her stepfather , Peter , 88 , who is debilitated with post-polio syndrome and effects of strokes .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 66, 11], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788848", "text": ["FIVE years ago my brother and I spoke regularly .", "Five years ago we drank together , teased each other without mercy and , occasionally , even expressed feelings of affection .", "After 9/11 we did not .", "My brother is a 20-plus-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department , a former marine with a degree in history whose politics are conservative .", "He is four years older and quite a bit larger than me .", "I am a 20-plus-year veteran of big-agency advertising , a creative director turned fiction writer whose politics , not surprisingly , do not lean conservatively .", "Until five years ago , this was not such a big problem .", "There were plenty of other things to talk about , and we knew that despite our differences , there was still much to appreciate about each other .", "On Sept . 11 , 2001 , I was in Boca Raton , Fla . , on business accompanied by my wife , my 3-year-old daughter and my mother-in-law -LRB- yes , my mother-in-law came on business trips with us back then -RRB- at , of all things , a sales convention for a yogurt company .", "At 9 a.m. , we were granted a 10-minute respite from the executive Vince Lombardi-isms and the Roman Colosseum-inspired motivational d\u00e9cor .", "The first thing I did was check the messages on my personal communications device du jour , because in 2001 , I was convinced that the more I checked the quotidian drivel it contained the more it seemed that my ad agency , yogurt convention , frequent-flier-miles-financed-family-business-trip life mattered .", "But this time what the messages told me were hardly drivel .", "I immediately called New York to check on my brother who was not supposed to be working , but with firefighters you never know .", "He was n't working .", "He 'd soon go to the site , but luckily he would n't be one of the 343 firefighters killed .", "For the next hour , I 'm fairly sure that he watched what I watched , that he looked away when I looked away , and I am fairly sure that at 9:59 a.m. , when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed , he felt exactly what I felt .", "What we all felt .", "I am also sure that those were the last pure , nonpoliticized thoughts any of us would have about that day , and the last time that my brother and I would feel the same way about anything for some time .", "Renting a car and driving home was our only option .", "At first I wanted to push through , to rush the family home .", "`` To what .", "`` my wife asked .", "`` To have our daughter watch her parents sit paralyzed in front of a television set .", "`` So we took our time , taking a scenic , non-traditional route back to New York .", "I got my information from fellow travelers and National Public Radio .", "I found comfort in the measured voices of `` All Things Considered , '' solace in `` I love New York '' signs in Georgia , inspiration in the words on Jefferson 's tombstone at Monticello , near Charlottesville , Va . , which noted that he was also one of the fathers of religious tolerance in this country .", "Meanwhile , my brother was getting his information from rescue workers and fellow firefighters .", "Because of his military background , his job in the years before the attack had included training recruits at the Fire Academy at Randalls Island .", "His job in the months ahead would be to coordinate funerals .", "Dozens of funerals .", "For friends and friends of friends , each with a story more tragic than the last .", "Late at night on Sept . 14 , my family slept as I drove through Pennsylvania .", "With no NPR to be had for the time being , I listened to sports guys weighing in on the Northern Alliance , D.J. ` s explaining the tenuous Pakistani-Afghani relationship .", "With each passing mile , more and more proselytizing and hate seeped into the views of the syndicated giants .", "Driving near Port Jervis , N.Y. , a state trooper pulled alongside our car and shined a spotlight inside while the rest of my family was sleeping .", "Four strangers in a red rental car with Florida plates .", "Suspects .", "To think that 9/11 drove a stake between my brother and me is as na\u00efve as thinking that it drove one through the country .", "Red and blue staters had been at each other 's throats for a while , and my brother and I had clashed on and off over lots of things for years .", "But this took it farther .", "He had been affected by it in ways I could not imagine .", "Of the 343 firefighters killed , he knew dozens .", "No one that I knew had died .", "Within a week , I would go back to work .", "For more than a year , he would go to funerals and I imagine that in addition to grief , a man with my brother 's courage and sense of duty must also have been dealing with a serious case of survivor 's guilt .", "But did that make his opinions -- which had become increasingly angry and pronounced -- right .", "Over the last five years we 've disagreed about everything from the 2000 and 2004 elections to the war in Iraq , radical Islam and of course , the liberal news media .", "For a while we tiptoed around politics but when we were together everything seemed political .", "For a while we did n't speak at all .", "But lately we 've been talking .", "I care too strongly for him to let politics destroy our relationship and I think he feels the same .", "The other day I called him .", "He had just gotten home from the hospital where a fellow firefighter , Lt . Howard Carpluk Jr . lay in critical condition from injuries suffered when the floor had given way in a burning Bronx building .", "Another firefighter , 25-year-old Michael Reilly , who had served in the Marines in Iraq , had already died .", "My brother told me he was there near Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the doctors gave them an update .", "-LRB- Lieutenant Carpluk died the following day . -RRB-", "My brother sounded tired .", "After some time , while discussing Labor Day plans , I told him that I 'd been invited to discuss my book on a conservative talk show in Boston and joked that I feared an ambush .", "He told me to tell them that my brother was a New York City firefighter , and maybe they 'd go easy on me .", "Op-Ed Contributor James P . Othmer is the author of the novel `` The Futurist . '' ."], "summary": ["Op-Ed article by James Othmer describes ways in which his relationship with his brother , veteran New York City firefighter who worked at World Trade Center site , changed after 9/11 ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 59], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788850", "text": ["C . Lee Hanson , of Easton , rarely plans ahead to visit Connecticut 's memorial to the victims of Sept . 11 .", "But at odd moments he finds himself going to the site , on Long Island Sound at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport .", "There , he sees once again the three names carved in stone : those of his son , Peter .", "His son 's wife , Sue .", "And their 2-year-old daughter , Christine .", "They were passengers on United Flight 175 and died when their airplane hit the World Trade Center five years ago tomorrow .", "Paula Clifford Scott of Mystic goes there , too , mostly during annual memorial services .", "There are two familiar names etched in stone , and on her heart : those of her daughter , Ruth McCourt , and 4-year-old granddaughter , Juliana .", "They were on the same flight as Mr. Hanson 's family , and were among the 152 from Connecticut who died that day .", "States with the largest losses from the attacks have had difficulty memorializing those who died .", "New York only recently awarded the first big construction contract for the footings of a memorial at the World Trade Center site .", "New Jersey 's state memorial , under construction at Liberty State Park in Jersey City , has run into opposition because it obscures views of Lower Manhattan from the park .", "But Connecticut , at former Gov . John Rowland 's urging , moved swiftly to create a state tribute to the victims of Sept . 11 .", "Within seven months a site overlooking the Sound had been chosen .", "At the first anniversary of the attacks , the memorial was taking shape , with nearly every element donated -- including the design , done with the participation of victims ' families .", "Best of all is the location .", "In a place where sea meets sky , the memorial offers the promise of tranquillity , even in the face of loss .", "`` I like simple things , '' Mr. Hanson said , and it pleases him that the design of the memorial is not complicated .", "The names of the victims are carved in granite bricks , scattered randomly , to symbolize the senselessness of the act that took their lives .", "Beach roses bloom nearby , and benches invite contemplation .", "On a clear day , the Manhattan skyline is visible .", "It is from here that horrified Connecticut residents watched the billowing smoke from New York City after the attacks , and mobilized to help .", "Asked what the state memorial meant to her , Ms. Scott said : `` Remembrance -- and life .", "Life stopped for a little while that day .", "It was up to us to begin again . ``", "Connecticut 's lovely memorial to Sept . 11 keeps alive memories of the victims , comforts the families and offers solace to visitors .", "It stands also as a monument in proud contradiction to those who say government can not do anything right .", "Connecticut ."], "summary": ["Editorial holds Connecticut 's memorial to September 11 , at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport , keeps alive memories of victims , comnforts families , offers solace to visitors and stands as monument that contradicts those who say government can not do anything right ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [25, 26, 1], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788855", "text": ["WHEN affluent suburbanites travel , they can be quite fussy , demanding that airplanes show up and take off like clockwork and that anything less is -- to use a word the fastidious favor -- unacceptable .", "But when they 're lounging in their backyards , they want the skies to be jet-free , or at least noise-free .", "If jets must be seen , they should not be heard .", "The problem in hubs like New York is that the two desires are fast becoming irreconcilable .", "American airlines handled 739 million passengers last year .", "By 2015 that number is expected to balloon to 1 billion .", "No one wants an airport sprouting next door , with all the attendant whines , drones and roars , so the Federal Aviation Administration has been trying to squeeze in more flights by rejiggering the way planes use air space in the corridor between Philadelphia and Connecticut .", "But the redesign has set off a fury among people living around Westchester County Airport , which includes thousands of Connecticut residents .", "It turns out that flight patterns around the airport may have to be tinkered with because of the spillover from changes in patterns at La Guardia Airport , meaning more whines and roars for those living below .", "Until recently , the issue of rerouting seldom flashed on the public 's radar , mostly because the F.A.A. had not always been forthcoming .", "In February , Janet Lockton , president of the Greenwich-based Air Conservation Trust , went to an F.A.A. slide show in Stamford and came away reassured that Westchester 's airport would be untouched , and that La Guardia flights would spend more time over the uncomplaining waters of Long Island Sound .", "But then she ordered three CD 's containing 1,226 pages of the preliminary environmental statement and discovered in the nearly impenetrable appendixes that planes taking off from the county airport would indeed loop over Westchester and Connecticut for longer periods .", "She alerted officials across the state border , and in June , County Executive Andrew J . Spano issued a letter to the F.A.A. , based on an environmental consultant 's study .", "Mr. Spano 's letter rebuffed the F.A.A. ` s preferred proposal for flight patterns because the plan would have '' a significant impact `` on places like Rye Brook , Pleasantville and Briarcliff .", "Some aircraft , Mr. Spano bristled , would `` incredibly '' be rerouted over the Indian Point nuclear plant .", "He did n't mention Connecticut , but the new flight paths would raise decibel levels in Greenwich , Stamford and New Canaan -- though how unhinging the noise would be has been disputed , with the F.A.A. minimizing any spikes in volume and the consultant , Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc . , saying the changes would probably be `` highly noticeable . ''", "The county airport already has limits on noise enshrined in county law .", "In any half-hour-period , no more than four commercial planes can land or take off at the airport , and those planes together can carry no more than 240 passengers .", "Flights are practically banned between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.", "The airport has intentionally been kept a backwater , with such anomalies as propeller-plane flights to Toronto .", "`` There are people who persist in talking about how Westchester could , should or would expand , '' said Robert Funicello , director for environmental projects at Westchester 's transportation department .", "`` It is n't going to happen . ``", "He and Ms. Lockton argue that planners need to think about alternatives like high-speed trains .", "The Port Authority thinks the area needs a fourth full-scale airport to go with Kennedy , Newark and La Guardia , probably at Stewart Airport outside of Newburgh , N.Y.", "Other regional planners think a day of reckoning can be put off if everybody sacrifices , including Westchester Airport and its neighbors .", "It 's hard to argue that officials should not do all they can to block noise in the suburbs , where people pay a premium for tranquillity .", "But advocates for quiet skies may have to start pondering a day not too far distant when the major airports ca n't handle any more planes , and travelers ca n't get flights they need .", "Changes will have to be made that would raise the number of flights and ratchet up the noise .", "We live in an era , after all , when flying on a plane has become almost as routine as riding a subway .", "Many of the people who can afford spreads in Westchester and Connecticut earn much of their living traveling for business , which could slow down if air travel gridlocks .", "`` We 're going to run out of room at airports or room in the skies unless people get the big picture view , `` said Kevin Mitchell , chairman of the Business Travel Coalition , a group that represents corporate buyers of travel services .", "`` The upshot is much higher business fares and even higher leisure fares . ''", "In the past half century , airplane travel has changed from an indulgence of the well-to-do to a convenience that most people can enjoy .", "If airports stop growing , travel could become far less democratic , and just visiting an aunt in Missouri may become prohibitive .", "That 's a trade-off well worth thinking about by those carrying on the worthy fight against noise .", "E-mail : joeberg@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["Joseph Berger column on dispute between Federal Aviation Administration and tens of thousands of Westchester County and Connecticut residents over FAA plan to alter flight patterns at Westchester County Airport , which has potential to increase noise .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7, 27], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788856", "text": ["Fans of the lyrical qualities of 19th-century paintings -- purity , serenity , sentiment -- will find a visit to the Bush-Holley Historic Site in Cos Cob immensely appealing .", "There , the latest installation in a series of exhibitions devoted to artists who lived and worked in the Greenwich area presents the work of John Henry Twachtman -LRB- 1853-1902 -RRB- , one of America 's most genteel and popular Impressionist painters .", "Twachtman is a particularly appropriate choice for this museum .", "He was a cornerstone of a lively late-19th-century art colony centered on the Bush-Holley House -- where he lived from time to time as a guest and painted and taught other artists .", "He also bought a 17-acre property in Greenwich , where he did his finest work .", "The current exhibition is a selection of paintings produced on his Greenwich property , coupled with a handful of works done on his travels to Massachusetts , California and Europe .", "The exhibition is subtitled a painter 's painter , for Twachtman was admired more by other painters than by collectors for much of his career .", "Several of the early paintings here were owned by his peers , including a lovely Venetian cityscape that once belonged to J . Alden Weir , a fellow Impressionist .", "Twachtman devoted himself to teaching , which also helped to buoy his reputation among other artists .", "The show opens with a picture of the artist 's home in Greenwich , showing a small farmhouse surrounded by acres of largely uncultivated land .", "Twachtman set the farmhouse high up in the canvass , at the crest of a hill and shaded by a light clump of autumnal trees .", "It works on all levels , being neither ponderous like his earlier tonalist pastiches nor as formulaic as some later Impressionist paintings .", "Twachtman also liked to paint the back facade of his house , viewed close up from above and below or framed through the tangled greenery of his overgrown garden .", "`` Artist 's Home Seen From the Back `` -LRB- circa 1894 -RRB- is perhaps the most accomplished of these pieces , the contrasts of color and light in the garden areas augmented with some pleasantly pedantic detailing .", "Though it shows the artist 's obvious painterly gifts , the most interesting works are views from the Bush-Holley House , looking out over the quiet bay below .", "A great deal has changed in the century since Twachtman painted here , not the least of which is the development of the shoreline .", "Gone is much of the natural beauty and tranquillity of the setting , which is what drew Twachtman and other artists to the Bush-Holley house .", "Two of the most curious paintings are also the least successful .", "They are scenes of Yellowstone Park , where Twachtman traveled to paint on commission for a patron .", "One of the works depicts a gushing waterfall , the other a ravine , but neither is entirely convincing .", "Both are painted from an implausible point of view , that of someone hovering midair or standing in the middle of a river .", "Nor do the tones of pink , lavender-gray , powder blue and green seem quite right .", "Twachtman was painting in Yellowstone in 1895 , by which time he was an accomplished and much admired artist .", "So why were his Yellowstone paintings so off the mark .", "Perhaps he had become accustomed to painting at home , focusing on the lush greenery , brooks and barns of Connecticut , and was just unsure of himself and his relationship with the new subject matter .", "Whatever the explanation for these aberrant images , they pale in comparison to his Greenwich and Cos Cob paintings , of which there are several excellent examples here .", "`` Autumn Mists '' -LRB- circa 1890 -RRB- , which depicts the pond on his property , clearly shows Twachtman 's skill at painting water .", "Passages of blue and green paint are thickened in parts with white to give the surface some texture , but they also capture subtle gradations of light .", "It is thoroughly cinematic .", "`` John Twachtman : A Painter 's Painter , `` William Hegarty Gallery , Bush-Holley Historic Site , 39 Strickland Road , Cos Cob , through Oct . 29 .", "Information : -LRB- 203 -RRB- 869-6899 or www.hstg.org.", "ART REVIEW ."], "summary": ["Benjamin Genocchio reviews works by John Twachtman at Bush-Holley Historic Site in Cos Cob , Conn .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [29], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788857", "text": ["Alma Winemiller is the old maid 's old maid .", "And Amanda Plummer is all over her like a swarm of drugged Southern bees in Hartford Stage 's heartfelt and heart-wrenching new production of `` Summer and Smoke . ''", "Tennessee Williams often said that Miss Alma , as almost everyone calls her , was his finest female character and the one most like him .", "She is a Mississippi minister 's daughter , still relatively young in the years just before World War I but already spinsterish , admiring of the `` everlasting struggle '' between good and evil represented by Gothic cathedrals , and eventually dependent on and grateful for `` little mercies , '' like her prescription for sleeping tablets .", "Ever since her mother turned into a mental infant , Alma has been responsible for the running of the household .", "She is dutiful but angry -LRB- `` You act like a child , but you have the Devil in you , '' she tells her mother -RRB- and occasionally vengeful .", "There is not an uncomplicated or stereotypical bone in Alma 's body , and Ms. Plummer adds complexities and vulnerabilities of her own .", "Alma 's problem is that she has been in love since childhood with the golden boy next door , John Buchanan Jr . , played with easy Redfordish charm by Marc Kudisch .", "That 's Doctor Buchanan .", "But John 's problem is that he is n't much interested in taking over his respected father 's medical practice .", "He prefers to spend his time drinking and carousing with fast women like Rosa Gonzalez -LRB- Stephanie Beatriz -RRB- , whose father owns the local casino .", "Williams almost always throws an exotic `` foreign '' character or two into his company of mostly genteel white Southerners .", "In this case he does n't have anything nice to say about Latinos .", "Rosa exists only as a giggly sexual object , and Papa Gonzales -LRB- Mateo G\u00f3mez -RRB- is depicted as loud , drunken , greedy and violent .", "The only two characters who really matter , however , are Alma and John .", "The obvious question is why hunky John bothers with pitiful Alma at all , so real chemistry between the two characters is crucial .", "This production , smoothly directed by Michael Wilson , delivers that in no uncertain terms .", "Mr. Kudisch 's John is sincerely fascinated by Alma , if only because of her enlightened ideals .", "Ms. Plummer 's Alma is absolutely breathless when John unbuttons her blouse to place the stethoscope on her chest .", "John 's sexual interest in her is real , too .", "At this point in his life , he wants to sleep with every woman who crosses his path .", "If `` Summer and Smoke '' is one of Williams 's lesser-known works , there are unfortunate reasons .", "Although the critic Brooks Atkinson praised it to high heaven when it opened on Broadway in 1948 , it was a flop , running only three months or so .", "Maybe that was a result of perceived overkill : Williams 's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama `` A Streetcar Named Desire '' had opened less than a year before and was playing two blocks away .", "It is also possible that Margaret Phillips was not the right Miss Alma .", "The 1952 Off Broadway revival , at Circle in the Square , with the remarkable Geraldine Page in the role , received a warmer welcome .", "Ms. Page recreated her role for the imperfect 1961 film version , opposite Laurence Harvey as John .", "-LRB- Ms. Page and Ms. Plummer starred in the 1982 Broadway production of `` Agnes of God , '' for which Ms. Plummer won a Tony Award . -RRB-", "The brilliance of `` Summer and Smoke '' lies in its final scenes -- Alma and John 's last encounter -LRB- in which his line `` It has only been three or four times '' is an almost unbearably painful realization -RRB- , followed by Alma 's unexpected conversation with a traveling salesman .", "If this were John Buchanan 's story , it becomes clear , Alma would play a very minor role , if she appeared in it at all .", "`` Summer and Smoke '' is at Hartford Stage , 50 Church Street , through Oct . 1 .", "Information : www.hartfordstage.org or -LRB- 860 -RRB- 527-5151 .", "THEATER REVIEW ."], "summary": ["Anita Gates reviews Hartford Stage production of Tennessee Williams 's play Summer and Smoke , directed by Michael Wilson .", "Amanda Plummer and Marc Kudisch star .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1, 16], "tag": ["Theater", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788859", "text": ["IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .", "Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .", "The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .", "Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .", "A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .", "The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .", "All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .", "Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .", "`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .", "James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .", "`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .", "`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``", "What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .", "`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .", "`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .", "The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``", "Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .", "`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''", "Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .", "`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .", "`` he said of the City Council .", "`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``", "Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .", "Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .", "Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .", "`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .", "STORM PROTECTION ."], "summary": ["Article on controversy over rejection by City Council in Long Beach , NY , to beach preservation project by Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect beach from ocean flooding .", "Surfrider Foundation contended plan to build 15-foot-high berm and dune from Long Beach to Point Lookout would create dangerous riptides and harm look of beach and would not protect beach .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1, 4], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788860", "text": ["HE sits in his wheelchair as the family rushes around him .", "He can not move much , or say more than hello .", "He can not participate in the summer activities that everyone pursues with great vigor day after day .", "If it 's warm enough , he goes out onto the deck and snoozes in the sun with the dogs .", "Unlike them , however , he does n't jump up and make excited noises when people come .", "At most , he slowly turns his head and smiles .", "Everyone speaks to him politely , but not for long .", "What 's the point .", "He ca n't say more than a couple of words , and it 's hard to tell how much he understands .", "He is my stepfather , Peter , an 88-year-old man who in the last decade has been transformed from a lively and dynamic person into not much more than a body occupying space .", "He has post-polio syndrome , a condition that seeps the strength from his upper body as steadily as it weakened his legs when he was a teenager .", "A couple of strokes have further debilitated him .", "As my son , Asher , said to my mother one day , it 's as if he 's hardly a person anymore .", "And yet this is n't how Asher , 14 , behaves toward him .", "He constantly monitors Peter 's feet to see if they 've slipped off the footrests of his wheelchair .", "He always asks if Peter wants something to drink .", "His recognition of the full extent of what it means to be a person goes beyond his frustration at Peter 's limitations .", "Asher is concerned with Peter 's comfort , his feeling of inclusion .", "Peter 's situation brings out Asher 's own humanity .", "Peter is certainly a person to my mother , Addy , though she has no illusions about his abilities .", "He is her third husband , the one who was finally her friend .", "She does what she can to make him comfortable and to replicate his old habits .", "Since his only real pleasure is food , she makes him good meals for lunch and dinner .", "At night they listen to Amy Goodman on NPR and then watch Chris Matthews and a couple of episodes of `` Seinfeld '' or `` Curb Your Enthusiasm . ''", "On Tuesdays , Peter 's longtime men 's lunch group comes over to eat with him and discuss books and politics .", "Peter does n't participate , but he enjoys the routine .", "Last summer he could still join them at the local restaurant .", "He would motor up the street in his Jazzy wheelchair with an orange pennant waving above his head to warn cars away .", "He is far from being able to do anything like that now .", "Peter needs to be cared for at the most basic custodial level .", "When my friend Anne visited , her 9-year-old son , Nick , was interested in what this entailed .", "Over the course of a five-day stay , Nick asked many questions of Stacey , the woman who comes in to get Peter out of bed in the morning -- the very practical questions that most adults prefer not to think about .", "Several times Stacey saw Nick looking in the window when it was changing time .", "He was n't fazed by what he saw .", "He accepted Peter 's condition and presence in the house as natural .", "He was right about that .", "My mother and Peter live on the lip of a harbor in Maine .", "All summer , family members passed through , usually for a week or so .", "I stayed the longest -- six weeks .", "On some days there were enough people staying to fulfill my old fantasy of a big house full of people , bursting with robust togetherness .", "This was a new phenomenon here .", "For many years we were only welcome to stay for a short time .", "The stepparents had limited tolerance for each other 's children , especially the noisy grandchildren .", "I often rented nearby to make visits to my mother less stressful .", "Other sons and daughters did the same .", "We rarely overlapped or had the sense of a beloved summer house , full of traditions passed down through generations .", "We each had a private relationship with Maine , and with Peter and my mother .", "But an unexpected side effect of Peter 's deterioration has been a lessening of the feeling that anyone beyond my mother and stepfather creates a crowd .", "Now Peter seems to enjoy the bustle that my mother used to believe was an imposition on him .", "He is no longer an aging intellectual who requires quiet for reading and writing .", "The grandchildren are older , and he is younger , babylike .", "After breakfast , he sleeps for a couple of hours in the kitchen , no matter the amount of dish washing or screen-door banging .", "So family life swirled around him this summer .", "We spent the kind of easy time together that I like best , quantity rather than quality .", "Just hanging out .", "Siblings , nieces and nephews trooped through with significant others in tow .", "They each had a relationship with Peter while they were there .", "Some spent time talking to him even if he could n't reply .", "Others made sure he was comfortable at the table during meals .", "Though it was easy to forget he was in the room , everyone was delighted when he broke into a conversation with a responsive remark .", "The old Peter ! It was good to see him again , if only for a moment .", "Starting the last week of July , my mother began to say fall was in the air .", "I bridled against this , though I knew what she meant .", "I felt it too , a change in the light from white to yellow , a softening of the wind , a resignation of the leaves on certain trees .", "But I did n't want to skip ahead , so I pretended not to notice .", "It 's summer , I insisted .", "This is what summer is like in Maine .", "It is tempting to make this whisper of fall a metaphor for Peter 's diminishing presence .", "September brings up memories of how the end of summer felt during childhood , a loss .", "Yet I find myself resisting the comparison .", "Peter is alive , and summer does n't officially end for 10 more days .", "I 'm still wearing white .", "GENERATIONS ."], "summary": ["Alice Elliott Dark Generations essay on summer spent in Maine with her family and her stepfather , Peter , 88 , who is debilitated with post-polio syndrome and effects of strokes .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 66, 11], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788862", "text": ["It 's exciting to wander the stalls of foreign bazaars , food halls and markets , with their stocks of rich and strange ingredients that promise , perhaps , a thrill of sweet discovery .", "Some of that excitement can also be had in White Plains , where Yaranush packs its shelves and cases with foods from the Mediterranean and the Middle East .", "Even shoppers familiar with the wares grab a basket and trawl the aisles of this small shop .", "But old-timers might head right for the clear boxes of dried fruit and shelled and unshelled nuts , just beyond the breads heaped at the entrance .", "Some wander to the back for sesame cakes and for glistening , honey-dripping baklava .", "Then there 's the refrigerated case .", "Next to items like stuffed grape leaves , eight kinds of olives , savory pastries , yogurts , hummus , tabbouleh and tzatziki are the bins of feta , why I usually come here .", "Yaranush has three types of feta bobbing in a brine bath : Greek , French and Bulgarian .", "And they 're all made from sheep 's milk .", "The crumbly Bulgarian 's sour , salty taste is good on a salad .", "The Greek style , smooth and somewhat less salty , goes well with tomatoes and in sandwiches .", "The mild and creamy French spreads nicely on crackers and can take a sweet or savory topping .", "Customers unsure of which feta to choose can request samples .", "Between the breads and the baklava , shelves burst with coffees , all sorts of preserves -LRB- including quince and pumpkin -RRB- , vegetables , herbs , spices , cookies , condiments , biscuits , candy and even mortars and pestles and sets of dainty coffee cups .", "Most labels are in English , but if a jar of mysterious syrup or a bag of Persian dried lemons catches the eye , the gracious owners are always on hand for explanations and advice .", "Yaranush Mediterranean Foods , 322 Central Avenue , White Plains .", "-LRB- 914 -RRB- 682-8449 .", "M . H . REED Westchester ."], "summary": ["Article on Yaranush Mediterranean Foods in White Plains , NY ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [15], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788865", "text": ["FIVE years ago my brother and I spoke regularly .", "Five years ago we drank together , teased each other without mercy and , occasionally , even expressed feelings of affection .", "After 9/11 we did not .", "My brother is a 20-plus-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department , a former marine with a degree in history whose politics are conservative .", "He is four years older and quite a bit larger than me .", "I am a 20-plus-year veteran of big-agency advertising , a creative director turned fiction writer whose politics , not surprisingly , do not lean conservatively .", "Until five years ago , this was not such a big problem .", "There were plenty of other things to talk about , and we knew that despite our differences , there was still much to appreciate about each other .", "On Sept . 11 , 2001 , I was in Boca Raton , Fla . , on business accompanied by my wife , my 3-year-old daughter and my mother-in-law -LRB- yes , my mother-in-law came on business trips with us back then -RRB- at , of all things , a sales convention for a yogurt company .", "At 9 a.m. , we were granted a 10-minute respite from the executive Vince Lombardi-isms and the Roman Colosseum-inspired motivational d\u00e9cor .", "The first thing I did was check the messages on my personal communications device du jour , because in 2001 , I was convinced that the more I checked the quotidian drivel it contained the more it seemed that my ad agency , yogurt convention , frequent-flier-miles-financed-family-business-trip life mattered .", "But this time what the messages told me were hardly drivel .", "I immediately called New York to check on my brother who was not supposed to be working , but with firefighters you never know .", "He was n't working .", "He 'd soon go to the site , but luckily he would n't be one of the 343 firefighters killed .", "For the next hour , I 'm fairly sure that he watched what I watched , that he looked away when I looked away , and I am fairly sure that at 9:59 a.m. , when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed , he felt exactly what I felt .", "What we all felt .", "I am also sure that those were the last pure , nonpoliticized thoughts any of us would have about that day , and the last time that my brother and I would feel the same way about anything for some time .", "Renting a car and driving home was our only option .", "At first I wanted to push through , to rush the family home .", "`` To what .", "`` my wife asked .", "`` To have our daughter watch her parents sit paralyzed in front of a television set .", "`` So we took our time , taking a scenic , non-traditional route back to New York .", "I got my information from fellow travelers and National Public Radio .", "I found comfort in the measured voices of `` All Things Considered , '' solace in `` I love New York '' signs in Georgia , inspiration in the words on Jefferson 's tombstone at Monticello , near Charlottesville , Va . , which noted that he was also one of the fathers of religious tolerance in this country .", "Meanwhile , my brother was getting his information from rescue workers and fellow firefighters .", "Because of his military background , his job in the years before the attack had included training recruits at the Fire Academy at Randalls Island .", "His job in the months ahead would be to coordinate funerals .", "Dozens of funerals .", "For friends and friends of friends , each with a story more tragic than the last .", "Late at night on Sept . 14 , my family slept as I drove through Pennsylvania .", "With no NPR to be had for the time being , I listened to sports guys weighing in on the Northern Alliance , D.J. ` s explaining the tenuous Pakistani-Afghani relationship .", "With each passing mile , more and more proselytizing and hate seeped into the views of the syndicated giants .", "Driving near Port Jervis , N.Y. , a state trooper pulled alongside our car and shined a spotlight inside while the rest of my family was sleeping .", "Four strangers in a red rental car with Florida plates .", "Suspects .", "To think that 9/11 drove a stake between my brother and me is as na\u00efve as thinking that it drove one through the country .", "Red and blue staters had been at each other 's throats for a while , and my brother and I had clashed on and off over lots of things for years .", "But this took it farther .", "He had been affected by it in ways I could not imagine .", "Of the 343 firefighters killed , he knew dozens .", "No one that I knew had died .", "Within a week , I would go back to work .", "For more than a year , he would go to funerals and I imagine that in addition to grief , a man with my brother 's courage and sense of duty must also have been dealing with a serious case of survivor 's guilt .", "But did that make his opinions -- which had become increasingly angry and pronounced -- right .", "Over the last five years we 've disagreed about everything from the 2000 and 2004 elections to the war in Iraq , radical Islam and of course , the liberal news media .", "For a while we tiptoed around politics but when we were together everything seemed political .", "For a while we did n't speak at all .", "But lately we 've been talking .", "I care too strongly for him to let politics destroy our relationship and I think he feels the same .", "The other day I called him .", "He had just gotten home from the hospital where a fellow firefighter , Lt . Howard Carpluk Jr . lay in critical condition from injuries suffered when the floor had given way in a burning Bronx building .", "Another firefighter , 25-year-old Michael Reilly , who had served in the Marines in Iraq , had already died .", "My brother told me he was there near Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the doctors gave them an update .", "-LRB- Lieutenant Carpluk died the following day . -RRB-", "My brother sounded tired .", "After some time , while discussing Labor Day plans , I told him that I 'd been invited to discuss my book on a conservative talk show in Boston and joked that I feared an ambush .", "He told me to tell them that my brother was a New York City firefighter , and maybe they 'd go easy on me .", "James P . Othmer is the author of the novel `` The Futurist . '' ."], "summary": ["Op-Ed article by James Othmer describes ways in which his relationship with his brother , veteran New York City firefighter who worked at World Trade Center site , changed after 9/11 ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 59, 2], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788867", "text": ["`` The Rising , '' Westchester County 's towering memorial to the victims of 9/11 , did not get off to a promising start .", "The drawings were lovely but the design was flawed .", "It called for 109 polished steel cables , one for each Westchester resident killed that day , to rise from a circular base and intertwine into a pillar soaring magically to the sky .", "But the plan had to be rethought when the engineers informed the architect that his vision was likely to collapse under its own weight .", "Fixing it meant spending a lot more money , and as the Board of Legislators debated the issue and a crash fund-raising effort began , it seemed possible that this project could end up stalling and floundering as badly as its hexed counterpart at ground zero in Lower Manhattan .", "That it did not -- and that a completed memorial is scheduled to be dedicated today at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla -- is a testament to the virtues of flexibility and cooperative good will , and to the power of a beautiful idea .", "`` The Rising '' was the unanimous choice of a committee of victims ' family members overseeing the design competition .", "The architect , Frederic Schwartz , and his engineering team recovered quickly from the technical setback .", "They replaced the cables with thicker stainless-steel rods , adjusted the swooping profile and came up with a structure that honored the original concept while promising to stand up to wind and gravity .", "The cost overrun for the redesigned memorial was not insignificant -- its original $ 200,000 price tag ended up at about $ 770,000 .", "By all accounts , that was the only real mix-up .", "Under the leadership of County Executive Andrew Spano , who first proposed the memorial in a State of the County address in 2002 , `` The Rising '' arose in a process that seems to have been a near-miraculous convergence of vision and efficient follow-through .", "The victims ' families were consulted at every step .", "They chose not only the design but also the site , in the shadow of the mighty Kensico Dam .", "They were invited to submit messages to be etched beneath the victims ' names on the granite plaques encircling the memorial , and many did .", "The product of their collaboration is remarkable , a web of polished steel that recalls but does not mimic the elegant geometry of the World Trade Center .", "To walk around and beneath it -- to read a name and family tribute on a marker and then follow the path of a single steel strand that pulls your gaze up and into the endless depth of a blue sky -- is to participate in an act of remembrance that can upend your expectations of what a memorial can do .", "`` The Rising '' proves that adding a bit of group participation and democracy to the creation of a work of art is not always fatal to an artist 's vision -- that the work of committees is not doomed to end in blandness and incoherence .", "It shows that a memorial incorporating personal tributes -- one that lets loved ones write the text -- does not have to succumb to maudlin sentiment .", "The messages are powerful in their simple dignity , and remind us that the heroism and suffering of that September morning were not confined to a few blocks of Lower Manhattan , but radiated throughout the New York region , and beyond .", "Finally , and most strikingly , `` The Rising '' shows that a memorial necessitated by an act of mass murder need not be morbid .", "This strange , shimmering tower , which aims skyward and lifts the heart with it , seems likely to be simultaneously a place for solemn remembrance and a source of delight .", "That 's a paradox , but one we will be only too glad to puzzle over .", "Westchester ."], "summary": ["Editorial praises The Rising , Westchester County 's towering memorial to victims of 9/11 at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla , NY , as testament to virtues of flexibility and cooperation and power of a beautiful idea ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [5, 0], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788870", "text": ["TO those caught up in the loose-hipped calypso beat wafting over Peekskill this time last year , the One World Arts and Culture Fest at the Paramount Center for the Arts might have seemed little more than well-organized fun .", "But like a good many events masquerading as simple entertainment , the festival , which returns for a second run on Sept . 13 , was the beginning of a larger mission for Jon Yanofsky and his staff , who had watched the region metamorphose and had not liked what they believed was a limited cultural response to the changes .", "`` We saw a demographic that was not really respected in arts programming , '' Mr. Yanofsky , the center 's executive director , said recently in a phone interview .", "`` Looking around , we were seeing a void in the kind of really broad-spectrum festival that would meet the interests and needs of an increasingly diverse regional demographic .", "There were lots of heritage festivals , but no one that put out a really big umbrella and looked at a large spectrum of cultural and artistic expressions . ``", "And so , building upon an idea from a board member , Geneive Brown Metzger , Mr. Yanofsky and his team created what they thought was missing : a festival whose scope was vast enough to entertain the masses in one of Westchester County 's most diverse areas and to provide the Paramount with a means of more accurately defining its potential audience and ultimately connecting with it .", "`` We did n't know what to expect , `` Mr. Yanofsky said .", "`` But one of the best ways to learn about and reach your market is to offer a festival and learn everything for free . ''", "What they got was a great turnout , he said , and events , like an Afro-Puerto Rican dance and music workshop , that were attended by people aged 7 to 65 .", "`` We were able to fund-raise enough last year that we could honor our original vision that the majority of activities be free , '' Mr. Yanofsky said , noting that the festival charges admission only to films .", "`` That proved to be a really important component . ''", "This year 's festival , which has been expanded to five days from four , begins Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with an awards ceremony and the opening of a visual arts show .", "Two films -- `` The Harder They Come , '' Perry Henzell 's 1972 cult hit starring Jimmy Cliff as a reggae singer-turned-political outlaw amid the brutal exploitation of the Jamaican music scene , and `` Calle 54 , '' Fernando Trueba 's 2000 love song to Latin jazz -- will be shown at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday , respectively .", "-LRB- Admission is $ 8 for adults , $ 5 for children . -RRB-", "The pianist Arturo O'Farrill , whose father , the Afro-Cuban jazz pioneer Chico , is the subject of an entire segment of `` Calle 54 , '' will introduce that film and answer questions afterward , and even play a few riffs .", "Saturday is Family and Youth Day , a new addition to the festival with seven hours of free performances and workshops in capoeira , the Brazilian martial art .", "African dancing and drumming .", "South American storytelling .", "And flamenco dance and steel drum playing , starting at noon .", "`` We wanted to specifically provide programs to bring kids to so they could experience the very diverse expressions of our region 's very diverse communities , `` Mr. Yanofsky said .", "Last year 's Free Music Day was headlined by the calypso giant the Mighty Sparrow .", "This year 's , from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday , features performances by Bakithi Kumalo of South Africa , the Adehye African Dance Group from Ghana , the Ecuadorian altiplano group Runahurco , and samba and capoeira ensembles , before segueing into the day 's top draw , the reggae stalwarts the Wailers .", "`` People have been coming up to me and saying : ' The Wailers in Peekskill for free .", "Are you kidding me .", "' `` Mr. Yanofsky said .", "`` And I tell them , ' Yes , it 's free . '", "Thank our sponsors when you see them . ``", "Paramount Center for the Arts , 1008 Brown Street , Peekskill .", "Information : -LRB- 914 -RRB- 739-2333 .", "Www.paramountcenter.org."], "summary": ["Article on second annual One World Arts and Culture Fest at Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill , NY , which is set to open on September 13 .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788871", "text": ["THE Jacob Burns Film Center 's annual fund-raising awards dinner and auction is a flashy affair , featuring dignitaries from the film industry and bidders who pool together to try to win big prizes , like a ride in the Fuji blimp .", "At this year 's event , which will celebrate the nonprofit center 's fifth anniversary , the items up for auction include a weeklong vacation in Nantucket and , perhaps the most-sought-after prize , an in-home concert performed by the Tokyo String Quartet .", "Stephen Apkon , executive director of the Burns Center , said that items offered at the event generally go for $ 5,000 and up , and bidding for the quartet usually starts at about $ 10,000 .", "The Tokyo Quartet , widely considered one of the world 's premier chamber music groups , has a long-running connection with Westchester County and the Burns Center , based in Pleasantville .", "The first violinist , Martin Beaver , and the cellist , Clive Greensmith , live in Dobbs Ferry .", "The second violinist , Kikuei Ikeda , lives in Chappaqua .", "When the quartet needed a local rehearsal space a few years ago , Brian Skarstad , a Pleasantville violin maker , offered a room in his downtown workshop .", "The quartet used the space for a couple of years , and town residents would often stop outside the door to listen .", "After the Burns Center opened in 2001 , Mr. Skarstad 's wife , Louise Beach , a composer , asked the quartet if they would be willing to play a house concert for the film center 's first benefit auction , in 2002 .", "They agreed , and found the intimacy of the performance refreshing .", "`` We really love doing these concerts , '' Mr. Greensmith said in a telephone interview .", "`` More often than not , the audience is made up of incredibly interesting people , real chamber music lovers .", "The Burns Center attracts a very cultural audience . ``", "The Tokyo Quartet has performed a house concert for every Burns Center fund-raising auction .", "At the start of each year , the quartet sets aside two or three potential concert dates -LRB- the quartet 's regular touring schedule is arranged at least a year in advance -RRB- .", "Mr. Greensmith and Mr. Ikeda are also regulars at the film center , which each year presents more than 450 films from 50 different countries .", "`` It 's a different spread of films than you 'd get at the blockbuster-type places , `` Mr. Greensmith said .", "`` We live near this cultural center of New York City , but it 's important to celebrate the ingenuity of local places like this . ``", "Last year 's house concert was held at the Chappaqua home of Marvin Israelow and Dorian Goldman , classical music fans who had unsuccessfully bid on the Tokyo Quartet in two previous years .", "`` When we were outbid the first time , we were invited to join the performance , '' Mr. Israelow said in a telephone interview .", "`` After that , we became even more enchanted by the possibility of having the Tokyo in our home . ''", "On their third try , Mr. Israelow and Ms. Goldman joined forces , and funds , with six friends and won the Tokyo 's services in a lively bidding session .", "They invited nearly 20 friends for the concert and a pot-luck dinner .", "The quartet performed works by Mozart and Bartok , discussing the pieces before playing .", "At intermission , Mr. Beaver offered to let a teenage violin student in the audience play his Stradivarius -LRB- all four members of the Tokyo play Stradivariuses that were once owned by the virtuoso Niccol\u00f2 Paganini -RRB- .", "`` His parents ' jaws dropped to the floor , but he played it well , `` Mr. Israelow said .", "`` The performers were extraordinarily gracious and generous , and the living room vibrated for weeks and months afterwards with the sounds of the concert . ''", "The Jacob Burns Film Center 's Fifth Anniversary Celebration and Awards Dinner will be held on Saturday , Sept . 16 , at 7:30 p.m. , across from the center , at 364 Manville Road , Pleasantville .", "For information , call -LRB- 914 -RRB- 773-7663 or visit burnsfilmcenter.org."], "summary": ["Article on Jacob Burns Film Center 's annual fund-raising awards dinner and auction in Pleasantville , NY . Items for auction include in-home concert performed by Tokyo String Quartet .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 1], "tag": ["Movies", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788874", "text": ["WHEN affluent suburbanites travel , they can be quite fussy , demanding that airplanes show up and take off like clockwork and that anything less is -- to use a word the fastidious favor -- unacceptable .", "But when they 're lounging in their backyards , they want the skies to be jet-free , or at least noise-free .", "If jets must be seen , they should not be heard .", "The problem in hubs like New York is that the two desires are fast becoming irreconcilable .", "American airlines handled 739 million passengers last year .", "By 2015 that number is expected to balloon to 1 billion .", "No one wants an airport sprouting next door , with all the attendant whines , drones and roars , so the Federal Aviation Administration has been trying to squeeze in more flights by rejiggering the way planes use air space in the corridor between Philadelphia and Connecticut .", "But the redesign has set off a fury among the tens of thousands of Westchester and Connecticut residents living around Westchester County Airport .", "It turns out that flight patterns around the airport may have to be tinkered with because of the spillover from changes in patterns at LaGuardia Airport , meaning more whines and roars for those living below .", "Until recently , the issue of rerouting seldom flashed on the public 's radar , mostly because the F.A.A had not always been forthcoming .", "In February , Janet Lockton , president of the Greenwich-based Air Conservation Trust , went to an F.A.A. slide show in Stamford and came away reassured that Westchester 's airport would be untouched , and that LaGuardia flights would spend more time over the uncomplaining waters of Long Island Sound .", "But then she ordered three CD 's containing 1,226 pages of the preliminary environmental statement and discovered in the nearly impenetrable appendixes that planes taking off from the county airport would indeed loop over Westchester and Connecticut for longer periods .", "She alerted officials across the state border , and in June , County Executive Andrew J . Spano issued a letter to the F.A.A. , based on an environmental consultant 's study .", "Mr. Spano 's letter rebuffed the F.A.A. ` s preferred proposal for flight patterns because the plan would have '' a significant impact `` on places like Rye Brook , Pleasantville and Briarcliff .", "Some aircraft , Mr. Spano bristled , would `` incredibly '' be rerouted over the Indian Point nuclear plant .", "How unhinging the noise would be has been disputed , with the F.A.A. minimizing any spikes in volume and the consultant , Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc . saying the changes would probably be `` highly noticeable . ''", "The county airport already has limits on noise enshrined in county law .", "In any half-hour-period , no more than four commercial planes can land or take off at the airport , and those planes together can carry no more than 240 passengers .", "Flights are practically banned between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.", "The airport has intentionally been kept a backwater , with such anomalies as propeller-plane flights to Toronto .", "`` There are people who persist in talking about how Westchester could , should or would expand , '' said Robert Funicello , director for environmental projects at Westchester 's transportation department .", "`` It is n't going to happen . ``", "He and Ms. Lockton argue that planners need to think about alternatives like high-speed trains .", "The Port Authority thinks the area needs a fourth full-scale airport to go with Kennedy , Newark and La Guardia , probably at Stewart Airport outside of Newburgh , N.Y.", "Other regional planners think a day of reckoning can be put off if everybody sacrifices , including Westchester Airport and its neighbors .", "It 's hard to argue that officials should not do all they can to block noise in the suburbs , where people pay a premium for tranquillity .", "But advocates for quiet skies may have to start pondering a day not too far distant when the major airports ca n't handle any more planes , and travelers ca n't get flights they need .", "Changes will have to be made that would raise the number of flights and ratchet up the noise .", "We live in an era , after all , when flying on a plane has become almost as routine as riding a subway .", "Many of the people who can afford spreads in Westchester and Connecticut earn much of their living traveling for business , which could slow down if air travel gridlocks .", "`` We 're going to run out of room at airports or room in the skies unless people get the big picture view , `` said Kevin Mitchell , chairman of the Business Travel Coalition , a group that represents corporate buyers of travel services .", "`` The upshot is much higher business fares and even higher leisure fares . ''", "In the past half century , airplane travel has changed from an indulgence of the well-to-do to a convenience that most people can enjoy .", "If airports stop growing , travel could become far less democratic , and just visiting an aunt in Missouri may become prohibitive .", "That 's a trade-off well worth thinking about by those carrying on the worthy fight against noise .", "E-mail : joeberg@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["Joseph Berger column on dispute between Federal Aviation Administration and tens of thousands of Westchester County and Connecticut residents over FAA plan to alter flight patterns at Westchester County Airport , which has potential to increase noise .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788875", "text": ["WHEN Natalie Wells bought a home in Englewood , N.J. , a year ago , she was unaware that her American pit bull terrier was illegal to own in the city .", "Shortly after moving in , she was told by one of her daughters about a city law that banned the breed , commonly called pit bulls , along with several similar breeds and Rottweilers .", "Under the 1999 law , even this year 's best-in-show winner at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , Rufus , a colored bull terrier from Holmdel , N.J. , would be banned in Englewood .", "`` I pretty much knew in my gut it was n't right , `` Ms. Wells said .", "In July , Ms. Wells filed a challenge to the law in Bergen County Superior Court along with Mia Rodriguez , a neighbor who also owns a pit bull , and the American Dog Owner 's Association of Castleton , N.Y.", "Last month , Superior Court Judge Jonathan N . Harris agreed with Ms. Wells and ordered the city to stop enforcing the law because it was in conflict with a New Jersey statute that prohibits restricting dogs by breed .", "`` Cities do n't have the right to make laws that violate state law , `` said Flora Edwards , the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs .", "`` If the legal drinking age is 21 under state law , the City of Englewood or Montclair ca n't say it 's 25 or 18 . ``", "According to a Centers for Disease Control study , the pit bull breed was responsible for more dog-bite fatalities than any other breed from 1979 to 1998 , the latest year for which figures were available .", "The breed was responsible for 66 of 238 dog-bite fatalities during that period .", "Rottweilers were next , with 39 .", "The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act sets out criteria for dealing with aggressive dogs , but prohibits breed discrimination .", "New York has a similar statute .", "Connecticut 's law does not ban breed discrimination .", "Despite such laws , some communities still have restrictions on specific breeds .", "They range from outright bans to requiring property insurance coverage and the use of shorter leashes and muzzles in public .", "Tanya Ford , village clerk in Hempstead , N.Y. , said she was aware of no challenges to its law , which categorizes American pit bull terriers and several related breeds as vicious dogs , requiring that they be muzzled when walked and kept on a chain with a minimum strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding three feet in length .", "Owners must also have liability insurance of $ 100,000 .", "Mahlon Goer , a pit bull owner who tracks legislation in New York for the American Dog Owner 's Association , said the state still allowed insurance companies to drop customers or deny property insurance to prospective customers based on the breed of dog they own .", "Underwriting policies vary , according to the group , but beyond pit bulls and related breeds , the list includes Siberian huskies , Great Danes , German shepherds , St . Bernards and Dalmatians .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws because keeping tabs at the local level can be difficult unless laws are highly publicized .", "According to the American Kennel Club , last year it tracked 105 communities around the nation where breed-specific legislation was pending , enacted or defeated .", "The group had tracked another 76 through July .", "Among the municipalities in the region that have breed-specific laws are Larchmont , Sands Point and Hempstead in New York and Millville and Atlantic City in New Jersey .", "Numerous communities across the United States have such laws .", "One of the most controversial is in Denver , where authorities have euthanized more than 1,000 pit bulls since the reinstatement of a ban on the breed in May 2005 .", "The city 's animal control division had suspended enforcement of the ban in 2004 after the governor signed a bill restricting local governments from outlawing certain breeds .", "But the city successfully sued , arguing that the bill violated its home-rule authority .", "In Englewood , Douglas Bern , a lawyer who served on the City Council when the law was passed , said the council was responding to incidents in a public park where the dogs were being used to intimidate people .", "He said the police had also felt threatened by pit bulls when responding to a call at a home .", "The city argued that the municipal law complemented state statute , which was designed to address situations where `` existing local laws inadequately address the problem '' of aggressive dogs .", "`` The city of Englewood 's ordinance in this regard actually furthers and is consistent with the legislative intent , which is to address a void where local governments have not addressed the area of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs , `` the city said in a court brief .", "Under the ordinance , bull terriers , Staffordshire bull terriers , American pit bull terriers , American Staffordshire terriers , Rottweilers or `` any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds , '' were banned from the city .", "Some summonses had been issued under the law , but city officials did not know how many .", "`` It 's like there 's a stigma for having one of these kinds of dog , `` said Ms. Rodriguez , who owns an ailing 8-year-old pit bull named Cyrus .", "The Englewood City Council will discuss the law at its Sept . 19 meeting , said Scott Reddin , the council president .", "He said he did not expect the council to challenge the court 's decision .", "`` We were profiling certain breeds and that was found to be unconstitutional , '' he said .", "`` I do n't think the council will have any problem rescinding that . ``", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations have come out against breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address the problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "`` As we like to say , punish the deed , not the breed , '' said Lisa Peterson , a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club .", "`` We think breed-specific laws are unfair to responsible dog owners . ''", "Barbara Bishop , who owns Rufus , the top dog at the Westminster show , said she was trying to use the dog 's success to highlight the unfairness of breed-specific bans .", "`` We want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite , whether it 's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff , `` Ms. Bishop said .", "`` Every dog will be a product of what it 's brought up to do . ``", "Ms. Bishop attributed much of the image problem of the pit bull breeds to people who train them to be vicious , including drug dealers who use them as guard dogs .", "`` We have Rufus , who 's the top winning colored terrier of all time , and we still have people stop in the street and say , ` There 's a pit bull , ' `` she said .", "For Ms. Wells , the law seemed even more absurd because her 12-year-old pit bull , Sentry , has cataracts and has had cancer , heart surgery and a hysterectomy .", "`` She is a member of the family , '' said Ms. Wells , who has two daughters , ages 34 and 32 .", "`` My kids tease me all the time and say she 's my favorite daughter . `` ."], "summary": ["Article on legal challenges pit bull owners have been making against local laws in New York City metropolitan area that ban or restrict certain dog breeds .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws .", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations oppose breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [39, 20], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788876", "text": ["FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .", "When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .", "It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .", "`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .", "`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .", "` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .", "` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '", "But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '", "Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '", "`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .", "`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .", "The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .", "The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .", "At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .", "The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .", "In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .", "It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .", "In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .", "That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .", "To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .", "The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .", "To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .", "Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .", "Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .", "The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .", "The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .", "They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .", "`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .", "`` It 's kind of common sense .", "If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``", "EDUCATION ."], "summary": ["Article on Clara T O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn , which spent three years on ` in need of improvement ' list under No Child Left Behind program and has managed to work itself off list .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["Education", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788877", "text": ["IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .", "But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .", "`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .", "`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''", "The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .", "The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .", "`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .", "`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''", "But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .", "`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .", "`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''", "The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .", "Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .", "Anything larger was cut into logs .", "Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .", "In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .", "Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .", "`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``", "Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .", "All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .", "`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .", "`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''", "STORM CLEANUP ."], "summary": ["Article on work of Nature 's Choice Corp , yard-waste recycling company hired by Montclair , NJ , to clear debris caused by July 18 storm that destroyed about 200 trees on public property .", "Company turned trees into about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 16], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788878", "text": ["DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''", "Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .", "And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .", "`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .", "`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``", "In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .", "They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .", "Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .", "The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .", "The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .", "The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .", "The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .", "One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .", "Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .", "Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .", "Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .", "Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .", "Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .", "Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .", "Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .", "Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .", "But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .", "VANDALISM ."], "summary": ["Officials in Yorktown , NY , say graffiti has reached new heights this summer .", "Police have begun graffiti patrols as deterrent and have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges since July .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7, 1, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788879", "text": ["WHEN Natalie Wells bought a home in Englewood , N.J. , a year ago , she was unaware that her American pit bull terrier was illegal to own in the city .", "Shortly after moving in , she was told by one of her daughters about a city law that banned the breed , commonly called pit bulls , along with several similar breeds and Rottweilers .", "Under the 1999 law , even this year 's best-in-show winner at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , Rufus , a colored bull terrier from Holmdel , N.J. , would be banned in Englewood .", "`` I pretty much knew in my gut it was n't right , `` Ms. Wells said .", "In July , Ms. Wells filed a challenge to the law in Bergen County Superior Court along with Mia Rodriguez , a neighbor who also owns a pit bull , and the American Dog Owner 's Association of Castleton , N.Y.", "Last month , Superior Court Judge Jonathan N . Harris agreed with Ms. Wells and ordered the city to stop enforcing the law because it was in conflict with a New Jersey statute that prohibits restricting dogs by breed .", "`` Cities do n't have the right to make laws that violate state law , `` said Flora Edwards , the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs .", "`` If the legal drinking age is 21 under state law , the City of Englewood or Montclair ca n't say it 's 25 or 18 . ``", "According to a Centers for Disease Control study , the pit bull breed was responsible for more dog-bite fatalities than any other breed from 1979 to 1998 , the latest year for which figures were available .", "The breed was responsible for 66 of 238 dog-bite fatalities during that period .", "Rottweilers were next , with 39 .", "The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act sets out criteria for dealing with aggressive dogs , but prohibits breed discrimination .", "New York has a similar statute .", "Connecticut 's law does not ban breed discrimination .", "Despite such laws , some communities still have restrictions on specific breeds .", "They range from outright bans to requiring property insurance coverage and the use of shorter leashes and muzzles in public .", "Tanya Ford , village clerk in Hempstead , N.Y. , said she was aware of no challenges to its law , which categorizes American pit bull terriers and several related breeds as vicious dogs , requiring that they be muzzled when walked and kept on a chain with a minimum strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding three feet in length .", "Owners must also have liability insurance of $ 100,000 .", "Mahlon Goer , a pit bull owner who tracks legislation in New York for the American Dog Owner 's Association , said the state still allowed insurance companies to drop customers or deny property insurance to prospective customers based on the breed of dog they own .", "Underwriting policies vary , according to the group , but beyond pit bulls and related breeds , the list includes Siberian huskies , Great Danes , German shepherds , St . Bernards and Dalmatians .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws because keeping tabs at the local level can be difficult unless laws are highly publicized .", "According to the American Kennel Club , last year it tracked 105 communities around the nation where breed-specific legislation was pending , enacted or defeated .", "The group had tracked another 76 through July .", "Among the municipalities in the region that have breed-specific laws are Larchmont , Sands Point and Hempstead in New York and Millville and Atlantic City in New Jersey .", "Numerous communities across the United States have such laws .", "One of the most controversial is in Denver , where authorities have euthanized more than 1,000 pit bulls since the reinstatement of a ban on the breed in May 2005 .", "The city 's animal control division had suspended enforcement of the ban in 2004 after the governor signed a bill restricting local governments from outlawing certain breeds .", "But the city successfully sued , arguing that the bill violated its home-rule authority .", "In Englewood , Douglas Bern , a lawyer who served on the City Council when the law was passed , said the council was responding to incidents in a public park where the dogs were being used to intimidate people .", "He said the police had also felt threatened by pit bulls when responding to a call at a home .", "The city argued that the municipal law complemented state statute , which was designed to address situations where `` existing local laws inadequately address the problem '' of aggressive dogs .", "`` The city of Englewood 's ordinance in this regard actually furthers and is consistent with the legislative intent , which is to address a void where local governments have not addressed the area of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs , `` the city said in a court brief .", "Under the ordinance , bull terriers , Staffordshire bull terriers , American pit bull terriers , American Staffordshire terriers , Rottweilers or `` any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds , '' were banned from the city .", "Some summonses had been issued under the law , but city officials did not know how many .", "`` It 's like there 's a stigma for having one of these kinds of dog , `` said Ms. Rodriguez , who owns an ailing 8-year-old pit bull named Cyrus .", "The Englewood City Council will discuss the law at its Sept . 19 meeting , said Scott Reddin , the council president .", "He said he did not expect the council to challenge the court 's decision .", "`` We were profiling certain breeds and that was found to be unconstitutional , '' he said .", "`` I do n't think the council will have any problem rescinding that . ``", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations have come out against breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address the problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "`` As we like to say , punish the deed , not the breed , '' said Lisa Peterson , a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club .", "`` We think breed-specific laws are unfair to responsible dog owners . ''", "Barbara Bishop , who owns Rufus , the top dog at the Westminster show , said she was trying to use the dog 's success to highlight the unfairness of breed-specific bans .", "`` We want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite , whether it 's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff , `` Ms. Bishop said .", "`` Every dog will be a product of what it 's brought up to do . ``", "Ms. Bishop attributed much of the image problem of the pit bull breeds to people who train them to be vicious , including drug dealers who use them as guard dogs .", "`` We have Rufus , who 's the top winning colored terrier of all time , and we still have people stop in the street and say , ` There 's a pit bull , ' `` she said .", "For Ms. Wells , the law seemed even more absurd because her 12-year-old pit bull , Sentry , has cataracts and has had cancer , heart surgery and a hysterectomy .", "`` She is a member of the family , '' said Ms. Wells , who has two daughters , ages 34 and 32 .", "`` My kids tease me all the time and say she 's my favorite daughter . `` ."], "summary": ["Article on legal challenges pit bull owners have been making against local laws in New York City metropolitan area that ban or restrict certain dog breeds .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws .", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations opposes breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [39, 20], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788881", "text": ["FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .", "When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .", "It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .", "`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .", "`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .", "` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .", "` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '", "But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '", "Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '", "`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .", "`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .", "The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .", "The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .", "At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .", "The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .", "In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .", "It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .", "In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .", "That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .", "To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .", "The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .", "To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .", "Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .", "Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .", "The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .", "The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .", "They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .", "`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .", "`` It 's kind of common sense .", "If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``", "EDUCATION ."], "summary": ["Article on Clara T O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn , which spent three years on ` in need of improvement ' list under No Child Left Behind program and has managed to work itself off list .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["Education", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788882", "text": ["IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .", "Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .", "The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .", "Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .", "A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .", "The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .", "All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .", "Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .", "`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .", "James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .", "`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .", "`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``", "What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .", "`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .", "`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .", "The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``", "Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .", "`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''", "Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .", "`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .", "`` he said of the City Council .", "`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``", "Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .", "Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .", "Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .", "`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .", "STORM PROTECTION ."], "summary": ["Article on controversy over rejection by City Council in Long Beach , NY , to beach preservation project by Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect beach from ocean flooding .", "Surfrider Foundation contended plan to build 15-foot-high berm and dune from Long Beach to Point Lookout would create dangerous riptides and harm look of beach and would not protect beach .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1, 4], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788883", "text": ["IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .", "But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .", "`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .", "`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''", "The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .", "The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .", "`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .", "`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''", "But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .", "`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .", "`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''", "The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .", "Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .", "Anything larger was cut into logs .", "Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .", "In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .", "Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .", "`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .", "`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``", "Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .", "All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .", "`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .", "`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''", "STORM CLEANUP ."], "summary": ["Article on work of Nature 's Choice Corp , yard-waste recycling company hired by Montclair , NJ , to clear debris caused by July 18 storm that destroyed about 200 trees on public property .", "Company turned trees into about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 16], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788884", "text": ["DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''", "Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .", "And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .", "`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .", "`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``", "In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .", "They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .", "Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .", "The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .", "The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .", "The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .", "The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .", "One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .", "Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .", "Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .", "Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .", "Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .", "Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .", "Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .", "Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .", "Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .", "But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .", "VANDALISM ."], "summary": ["Officials in Yorktown , NY , say graffiti has reached new heights this summer .", "Police have begun graffiti patrols as deterrent and have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges since July .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [7, 1, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788885", "text": ["HE sits in his wheelchair as the family rushes around him .", "He can not move much , or say more than hello .", "He can not participate in the summer activities that everyone pursues with great vigor day after day .", "If it 's warm enough , he goes out onto the deck and snoozes in the sun with the dogs .", "Unlike them , however , he does n't jump up and make excited noises when people come .", "At most , he slowly turns his head and smiles .", "Everyone speaks to him politely , but not for long .", "What 's the point .", "He ca n't say more than a couple of words , and it 's hard to tell how much he understands .", "He is my stepfather , Peter , an 88-year-old man who in the last decade has been transformed from a lively and dynamic person into not much more than a body occupying space .", "He has post-polio syndrome , a condition that seeps the strength from his upper body as steadily as it weakened his legs when he was a teenager .", "A couple of strokes have further debilitated him .", "As my son , Asher , said to my mother one day , it 's as if he 's hardly a person anymore .", "And yet this is n't how Asher , 14 , behaves toward him .", "He constantly monitors Peter 's feet to see if they 've slipped off the footrests of his wheelchair .", "He always asks if Peter wants something to drink .", "His recognition of the full extent of what it means to be a person goes beyond his frustration at Peter 's limitations .", "Asher is concerned with Peter 's comfort , his feeling of inclusion .", "Peter 's situation brings out Asher 's own humanity .", "Peter is certainly a person to my mother , Addy , though she has no illusions about his abilities .", "He is her third husband , the one who was finally her friend .", "She does what she can to make him comfortable and to replicate his old habits .", "Since his only real pleasure is food , she makes him good meals for lunch and dinner .", "At night they listen to Amy Goodman on NPR and then watch Chris Matthews and a couple of episodes of `` Seinfeld '' or `` Curb Your Enthusiasm . ''", "On Tuesdays , Peter 's longtime men 's lunch group comes over to eat with him and discuss books and politics .", "Peter does n't participate , but he enjoys the routine .", "Last summer he could still join them at the local restaurant .", "He would motor up the street in his Jazzy wheelchair with an orange pennant waving above his head to warn cars away .", "He is far from being able to do anything like that now .", "Peter needs to be cared for at the most basic custodial level .", "When my friend Anne visited , her 9-year-old son , Nick , was interested in what this entailed .", "Over the course of a five-day stay , Nick asked many questions of Stacey , the woman who comes in to get Peter out of bed in the morning -- the very practical questions that most adults prefer not to think about .", "Several times Stacey saw Nick looking in the window when it was changing time .", "He was n't fazed by what he saw .", "He accepted Peter 's condition and presence in the house as natural .", "He was right about that .", "My mother and Peter live on the lip of a harbor in Maine .", "All summer , family members passed through , usually for a week or so .", "I stayed the longest -- six weeks .", "On some days there were enough people staying to fulfill my old fantasy of a big house full of people , bursting with robust togetherness .", "This was a new phenomenon here .", "For many years we were only welcome to stay for a short time .", "The stepparents had limited tolerance for each other 's children , especially the noisy grandchildren .", "I often rented nearby to make visits to my mother less stressful .", "Other sons and daughters did the same .", "We rarely overlapped or had the sense of a beloved summer house , full of traditions passed down through generations .", "We each had a private relationship with Maine , and with Peter and my mother .", "But an unexpected side effect of Peter 's deterioration has been a lessening of the feeling that anyone beyond my mother and stepfather creates a crowd .", "Now Peter seems to enjoy the bustle that my mother used to believe was an imposition on him .", "He is no longer an aging intellectual who requires quiet for reading and writing .", "The grandchildren are older , and he is younger , babylike .", "After breakfast , he sleeps for a couple of hours in the kitchen , no matter the amount of dish washing or screen-door banging .", "So family life swirled around him this summer .", "We spent the kind of easy time together that I like best , quantity rather than quality .", "Just hanging out .", "Siblings , nieces and nephews trooped through with significant others in tow .", "They each had a relationship with Peter while they were there .", "Some spent time talking to him even if he could n't reply .", "Others made sure he was comfortable at the table during meals .", "Though it was easy to forget he was in the room , everyone was delighted when he broke into a conversation with a responsive remark .", "The old Peter ! It was good to see him again , if only for a moment .", "Starting the last week of July , my mother began to say fall was in the air .", "I bridled against this , though I knew what she meant .", "I felt it too , a change in the light from white to yellow , a softening of the wind , a resignation of the leaves on certain trees .", "But I did n't want to skip ahead , so I pretended not to notice .", "It 's summer , I insisted .", "This is what summer is like in Maine .", "It is tempting to make this whisper of fall a metaphor for Peter 's diminishing presence .", "September brings up memories of how the end of summer felt during childhood , a loss .", "Yet I find myself resisting the comparison .", "Peter is alive , and summer does n't officially end for 10 more days .", "I 'm still wearing white .", "GENERATIONS ."], "summary": ["Alice Elliott Dark Generations essay on summer spent in Maine with her family and her stepfather , Peter , 88 , who is debilitated with post-polio syndrome and effects of strokes .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 66, 11], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788886", "text": ["WHEN Natalie Wells bought a home in Englewood , N.J. , a year ago , she was unaware that her American pit bull terrier was illegal to own in the city .", "Shortly after moving in , she was told by one of her daughters about a city law that banned the breed , commonly called pit bulls , along with several similar breeds and Rottweilers .", "Under the 1999 law , even this year 's best-in-show winner at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , Rufus , a colored bull terrier from Holmdel , N.J. , would be banned in Englewood .", "`` I pretty much knew in my gut it was n't right , `` Ms. Wells said .", "In July , Ms. Wells filed a challenge to the law in Bergen County Superior Court along with Mia Rodriguez , a neighbor who also owns a pit bull , and the American Dog Owner 's Association of Castleton , N.Y.", "Last month , Superior Court Judge Jonathan N . Harris agreed with Ms. Wells and ordered the city to stop enforcing the law because it was in conflict with a New Jersey statute that prohibits restricting dogs by breed .", "`` Cities do n't have the right to make laws that violate state law , `` said Flora Edwards , the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs .", "`` If the legal drinking age is 21 under state law , the City of Englewood or Montclair ca n't say it 's 25 or 18 . ``", "According to a Centers for Disease Control study , the pit bull breed was responsible for more dog-bite fatalities than any other breed from 1979 to 1998 , the latest year for which figures were available .", "The breed was responsible for 66 of 238 dog-bite fatalities during that period .", "Rottweilers were next , with 39 .", "The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act sets out criteria for dealing with aggressive dogs , but prohibits breed discrimination .", "New York has a similar statute .", "Connecticut 's law does not ban breed discrimination .", "Despite such laws , some communities still have restrictions on specific breeds .", "They range from outright bans to requiring property insurance coverage and the use of shorter leashes and muzzles in public .", "Tanya Ford , village clerk in Hempstead , N.Y. , said she was aware of no challenges to its law , which categorizes American pit bull terriers and several related breeds as vicious dogs , requiring that they be muzzled when walked and kept on a chain with a minimum strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding three feet in length .", "Owners must also have liability insurance of $ 100,000 .", "Mahlon Goer , a pit bull owner who tracks legislation in New York for the American Dog Owner 's Association , said the state still allowed insurance companies to drop customers or deny property insurance to prospective customers based on the breed of dog they own .", "Underwriting policies vary , according to the group , but beyond pit bulls and related breeds , the list includes Siberian huskies , Great Danes , German shepherds , St . Bernards and Dalmatians .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws because keeping tabs at the local level can be difficult unless laws are highly publicized .", "According to the American Kennel Club , last year it tracked 105 communities around the nation where breed-specific legislation was pending , enacted or defeated .", "The group had tracked another 76 through July .", "Among the municipalities in the region that have breed-specific laws are Larchmont , Sands Point and Hempstead in New York and Millville and Atlantic City in New Jersey .", "Numerous communities across the United States have such laws .", "One of the most controversial is in Denver , where authorities have euthanized more than 1,000 pit bulls since the reinstatement of a ban on the breed in May 2005 .", "The city 's animal control division had suspended enforcement of the ban in 2004 after the governor signed a bill restricting local governments from outlawing certain breeds .", "But the city successfully sued , arguing that the bill violated its home-rule authority .", "In Englewood , Douglas Bern , a lawyer who served on the City Council when the law was passed , said the council was responding to incidents in a public park where the dogs were being used to intimidate people .", "He said the police had also felt threatened by pit bulls when responding to a call at a home .", "The city argued that the municipal law complemented state statute , which was designed to address situations where `` existing local laws inadequately address the problem '' of aggressive dogs .", "`` The city of Englewood 's ordinance in this regard actually furthers and is consistent with the legislative intent , which is to address a void where local governments have not addressed the area of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs , `` the city said in a court brief .", "Under the ordinance , bull terriers , Staffordshire bull terriers , American pit bull terriers , American Staffordshire terriers , Rottweilers or `` any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds , '' were banned from the city .", "Some summonses had been issued under the law , but city officials did not know how many .", "`` It 's like there 's a stigma for having one of these kinds of dog , `` said Ms. Rodriguez , who owns an ailing 8-year-old pit bull named Cyrus .", "The Englewood City Council will discuss the law at its Sept . 19 meeting , said Scott Reddin , the council president .", "He said he did not expect the council to challenge the court 's decision .", "`` We were profiling certain breeds and that was found to be unconstitutional , '' he said .", "`` I do n't think the council will have any problem rescinding that . ``", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations have come out against breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address the problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "`` As we like to say , punish the deed , not the breed , '' said Lisa Peterson , a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club .", "`` We think breed-specific laws are unfair to responsible dog owners . ''", "Barbara Bishop , who owns Rufus , the top dog at the Westminster show , said she was trying to use the dog 's success to highlight the unfairness of breed-specific bans .", "`` We want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite , whether it 's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff , `` Ms. Bishop said .", "`` Every dog will be a product of what it 's brought up to do . ``", "Ms. Bishop attributed much of the image problem of the pit bull breeds to people who train them to be vicious , including drug dealers who use them as guard dogs .", "`` We have Rufus , who 's the top winning colored terrier of all time , and we still have people stop in the street and say , ` There 's a pit bull , ' `` she said .", "For Ms. Wells , the law seemed even more absurd because her 12-year-old pit bull , Sentry , has cataracts and has had cancer , heart surgery and a hysterectomy .", "`` She is a member of the family , '' said Ms. Wells , who has two daughters , ages 34 and 32 .", "`` My kids tease me all the time and say she 's my favorite daughter . `` ."], "summary": ["Article on legal challenges pit bull owners have been making against local laws in New York City metropolitan area that ban or restrict certain dog breeds .", "Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws .", "Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations oppose breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [39, 20], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788887", "text": ["A selection of New Jersey events scheduled in honor of the victims of Sept . 11 : Bernards Township -- Memorial service .", "Monday at 7 p.m. Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church , 45 Church Street .", "-LRB- 908 -RRB- 647-0340 .", "Camden -- `` For the Healing of the Nations '' concert , featuring Nnenna Freelon , Andy Bey , Mark Johnson , Sandra-Turner Barnes , the Afro Blue Vocal Ensemble of Howard University and others .", "Sunday at 3 p.m. $ 25 .", "Walter K . Gordon Theater , Camden Center for the Arts , Rutgers University , Third and Pearl Streets .", "-LRB- 856 -RRB- 225-2700 .", "Hamilton -- Free admission to sculpture park for Sept . 11 .", "Monday , from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Grounds for Sculpture , 18 Fairgrounds Road .", "-LRB- 609 -RRB- 586-0616 .", "Manalapan -- The Heart of New Jersey Chorus , a chapter of Sweet Adelines International , will perform .", "Monday at 7:30 p.m. Monmouth County Library , 125 Symmes Drive .", "-LRB- 732 -RRB- 431-7242 .", "Montville -- `` George Washington 's Indispensable Men : The 32 Aides-de-Camp Who Helped Win American Independence , `` memorial program presented by the author Arthur Lefkowitz .", "Monday at 7:30 p.m.", "Senior House , 356 Main Street .", "-LRB- 973 -RRB- 394-0554 .", "New Brunswick -- Evensong : works by Walmisley , Handl , Williams and Bainton .", "Sunday at 6 p.m. Christ Church Episcopal , 5 Paterson Street .", "-LRB- 732 -RRB- 545-6262 .", "Oradell -- `` The Guys , '' a 9/11-inspired drama by Anne Nelson , free for survivors of Sept . 11 and members of victims ' families .", "Sept . 16 and 17 .", "Bergen County Players , 298 Kinderkamack Road .", "-LRB- 201 -RRB- 261-4200 .", "West Orange -- Remembrance ceremony , at the Essex County Sept . 11 memorial .", "Monday at 8 a.m.", "Eagle Rock Reservation , Eagle Rock Avenue .", "-LRB- 973 -RRB- 621-4404 .", "West Windsor -- `` Remembering 9/11 Through Dance , '' choreographic tribute to West Windsor victims .", "Sunday at 6 p.m. Ron R . Rogers Arboretum , Route 571 and Clarksville Road .", "-LRB- 609 -RRB- 799-6141 .", "RECALLING SEPT . 11 ."], "summary": ["Selection of New Jersey events scheduled to honor victims of September 11 .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788888", "text": ["AS Jamaica station came into view , Joe Singh of Deer Park stood by the train door and looked out the window .", "What he and other commuters on the Long Island Rail Road see these days is much different from what they saw before a $ 300 million renovation of the station that began more than five and a half years ago .", "`` It 's much better than it was before , `` Mr. Singh said .", "`` There is a better covering from the rain .", "The platforms were covered before , but it was n't as good . ``", "Mr. Singh , who was about to step off the 7:47 a.m. train from Deer Park , said he takes the Long Island Rail Road to Jamaica and then takes the E subway to his job in Forest Hills , Queens , where he is a sales representative for Quest Diagnostics .", "As part of the renovation , a new walkway was built to connect the railroad station to the E , J and Z lines .", "Mr. Singh said that he liked the walkway and had always found it clean but that the front entrance of the railroad station was `` very , very dirty . ''", "`` They never clean it , '' he said .", "`` Now they 're fixing the first-floor bathrooms behind the ticket booth .", "Let 's see how they do . ``", "Another commuter , Monte Colbert of Merrick , a certified public accountant with Marcum & Kliegman in Melville , said the station `` feels more modern . ''", "Mr. Merrick , who was waiting for a train to Pennsylvania Station , added , `` It lends itself to commuting . ''", "An estimated 98,000 Long Islanders travel through Jamaica station during the morning rush , said Susan McGowan , a spokeswoman for the L.I.R.R.", "She said that about 14 percent of the riders switch trains at Jamaica for either Brooklyn or Hunters Point Avenue trains .", "The renovation was `` substantially completed '' in April , said Richard C . Oakley , director of capital program management at the railroad , although some odds and ends must still be wrapped up , like the reconstruction of Sutphin Boulevard .", "That work , which involves installing catch basins , is being overseen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , Mr. Oakley said .", "The Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , the parent of the railroad , shared in the cost of the Jamaica station renovation .", "It included the AirTrain , an 8.1-mile light rail system that opened in December 2003 to connect the station to Kennedy International Airport .", "Mr. Oakley said a key feature of the newly renovated Jamaica station was the replacement of wooden beams , waiting rooms and mezzanines with steel beams and laminated glass .", "The result is a more open feel .", "The mezzanines , for example , are no longer enclosed , and the east-end mezzanine , formerly 16 feet wide , is now 80 feet wide .", "UPDATE ."], "summary": ["Update on $ 300 million renovation to Long Island Rail Road 's Jamaica Station .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788889", "text": ["What was supposed to have been summer 's last hurrah instead became another quest for any available stretch of sand and surf .", "Many Suffolk County residents found themselves warned off their neighborhood beaches over the Labor Day weekend , just as Long Islanders had been periodically throughout the rainy summer .", "Downpours and the elevated bacterial levels in the water that resulted led Suffolk and Nassau County health officials to close or issue warnings against swimming at a patchwork of beaches and parks for days at a stretch in June , July and August .", "Most recently in Nassau , 23 beaches were shut down on Aug . 25 .", "They reopened six days later .", "Suffolk authorities issued an advisory covering 62 beaches on Aug . 28 .", "Two days later , two beaches were closed but the advisory was lifted for 57 beaches and their waters again cleared for swimming .", "The fun was short-lived .", "On Sept . 1 , the Friday of the long holiday weekend , the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto struck .", "The arrival of Ernesto , which had been downgraded to a tropical storm before it hit Long Island , prompted Suffolk to issue a new advisory that covered 52 beaches .", "According to Suffolk 's beach hot line , that advisory was lifted Monday at 24 beaches but remained in effect at 28 -- in Centerport , Cold Spring Harbor , the Great South Bay , Huntington , Long Island Sound and Northport -- for an additional 24 hours .", "Although Nassau shut down beaches on its North and South Shores four times over the summer , Ernesto dropped too little rain there to raise bacteria counts beyond acceptable levels , said Cynthia Brown , a Nassau health department spokeswoman .", "That , however , does not mean Nassau residents can make up for lost time by spending this weekend or next at a county beach .", "`` The beaches are now officially closed until next year , '' said Ms. Brown , noting that residents ' user permits expired on Tuesday , the day after Labor Day .", "First Plant to Turn Grease Into Fuel Opens The Northeast 's first plant to convert restaurant grease into biofuel has officially opened .", "The pilot plant , which is in Bohemia , is expected at first to produce up to 1,000 gallons a day of biofuel that could be used in diesel-powered cars and trucks , as well as home-heating systems .", "North American Biofuels , founded last year by C . David Butler II and Alan Ellenbogen , opened the plant on Aug . 29 .", "By December , its output should reach about 4,000 gallons a day , the company said .", "Suffolk County 's sewage-treatment plant stopped accepting restaurant grease in 2002 after its system clogged up , and Nassau 's plant accepts grease only from restaurants inside the county .", "For the past four years , Suffolk restaurant owners have had to pay to ship their grease to New Jersey , where plants have developed their own problems , or dump it illegally down the drain .", "`` This facility takes a costly problem -- the disposal of waste grease -- and turns it into an energy solution by producing a clean , renewal energy product , which will reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere , '' Steve Levy , the Suffolk County executive , said in a statement .", "Mr. Butler , an engineer , developed the processing system and its computerized operating technology .", "Russell Reid , a New Jersey-based waste management firm , will transport the used grease to the plant .", "Island Biofuel , based in Center Moriches , will be the major distributor of the end product , Mr. Ellenbogen said .", "Producers of biodiesel and other forms of renewable energy can be eligible for federal , state and local tax incentives .", "But North American Biofuels was not because it relies on a technology that is cheaper to build than plants that process `` virgin '' sources , like soy oil -- about $ 7 million compared with $ 20 million to $ 30 million .", "But the company will pass along a 50-cent-a-gallon federal subsidy to its customers , Mr. Ellenbogen said .", "That would lower the wholesale price per gallon to less than $ 1.90 , compared with about $ 2.25 for home-heating fuel and about $ 3.10 for biodiesel made from soy , he said .", "Bill to Penalize Inmates For Spitting at Guards Under a year-old state law , a jail inmate who throws blood , semen , urine or feces at a corrections officer can be charged with a felony .", "Now a bill , sponsored in the State Assembly by Thomas P . DiNapoli , a Democrat from Great Neck , would add saliva and phlegm to that list .", "Corrections officials in Nassau and Suffolk said inmates know that the law established tougher penalties for throwing certain bodily fluids at guards but also know that it did not include saliva , so they have spit at guards more .", "The bill , which passed the Senate in June , would make that a Class E felony punishable by one and a third to four years in state prison , not in a county jail .", "The sister bill in the Assembly , sponsored by Mr. DiNapoli , is in committee .", "The unions representing corrections officers in Nassau and Suffolk support its passage .", "`` One hundred percent , '' said Vito Dagnello , the president of the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association .", "`` It 's become part of the job that you go home at night not knowing what you 've contracted . ``", "Saliva or phlegm , particularly if it contains blood , can carry infectious pathogens , including those that cause hepatitis , tuberculosis or H.I.V. , the unions said .", "Mr. Dagnello said it was difficult to get worker 's compensation or disability payments for illnesses that guards believe were contracted from inmates , `` because the government 's position is that you could have contracted it somewhere else . ``", "John Duer , the president of the Nassau County Sheriff Officers Association , said the same compensation battle exists for corrections officers statewide .", "He said that one of his members was recently spit at by an inmate whose saliva landed in the officer 's mouth .", "`` Now he 's being tested for a whole list of contagions , `` Mr. Duer said of the officer .", "THE WEEK ."], "summary": ["The Week column .", "Remnants of Hurricane Ernesto and elevated bacterial levels in water prompt Nassau and Suffolk County health officials to close or issue warnings against swimming at several beaches and parks .", "C David Butler and Alan Ellenbogen open American Biofuels , Northeast 's first plant that converts restaurant grease into biofuel , in Bohemia , NY . State Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli sponsors bill that would establish tougher penalties against prison inmates who spit at guards .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2, 14, 16], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788890", "text": ["The Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts in Long Branch has unveiled its big fall exhibition titled `` Stuff It ! '' -- a riotous ensemble of artworks employing stuffed objects .", "It is a victory of a kind for this plucky institution , for in May it nearly closed for lack of funds .", "But it was saved by an anonymous donation of $ 20,000 from a famous Shore rock musician .", "It has also just received a grant of $ 22,000 from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts .", "The exhibition was organized by Doug Ferrari , an artist who founded the institute and mortgaged his home two years ago to open the nonprofit space .", "For this exhibition he has chosen artists from all over the country , drawing on submissions through an informal national open call , along with recommendations from friends and other artists .", "Most of the artists are women , and all of the contributors seem to make art that involves filling , stuffing , inflating , upholstering or padding of one kind or another .", "Stuffed sculpture goes back to the 1960 's , when pop artist Claes Oldenburg began to make oversized everyday objects -- a floor fan , a hamburger , a sofa -- with woven and sometimes painted fabric left flaccid or stuffed with soft materials .", "Some of the art here is in that vein , but there are also pieces that defy categorization -- a collection of antique sock monkeys , say , or a video by Matt Barton that shows one of his kinetic art installations with stuffed animals .", "Not surprisingly , much sewing , needlepoint , darning and embroidery is evident throughout this sweeping survey of nearly 50 works , including everything from upholstered abstract geometric canvases by Suzanne Brady of Manalapan to arch , titillating sculptures made from discarded socks by Tracey Featherstone from Hamilton , Ohio .", "There are also all kinds of stylish orchestrations of fabric and stuffing by Bethany Jean Fancher , Audrey Chibbaro and Joan Wheeler .", "Nothing is what it seems on Orly Cogan 's table of confections , for her edible-looking cakes , doughnuts , flans , slices , muffins , tarts and other treats are actually hand-sewn and crocheted from pieces of old socks , clothes and blankets .", "The subterfuge is far from obvious , but I guess that is the point behind much of this kind of trompe l' oeil sculpture .", "It is also what makes it incredibly popular with viewers , who can appreciate an act of craftsmanship that fools the eye .", "Rebeca Raney from New York City has contributed a wonderfully eccentric installation -- a tripped-out tableau of messy psychedelic wall drawings and radioactive-looking rocks encased in fake fur along with a stuffed , life-size cartoon figure in a space helmet and shimmering gold jumpsuit .", "It looks likes Versace crossed with the Wiggles crossed with `` Star Trek . ''", "Gaping in disbelief , I stood in front of the work for several minutes .", "The eccentricity of the tableau is ingratiating , but it would n't count for much if the pieces themselves were n't well made .", "Happily , they have been constructed with the utmost care , especially the central figure , whose face and hands are delineated by a jumble of colorful miniature embroidery .", "This formal detail makes for a lovely , unexpected surprise , representing hours of long , hard work by the artist .", "Not all contemporary art is as junky as it sometimes looks .", "The aim of the Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts is to increase public access to , and awareness of , the contemporary arts in central New Jersey -- visual art , music , theater and dance .", "This exhibition is another example of how the institution is meeting its mission .", "I know of no other nonprofit art center in New Jersey that does so much with so little .", "`` Stuff It ! '' is at the Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts , 20 Third Avenue , Long Branch , through Oct . 6 .", "-LRB- 732 -RRB- 263-1121 or www.sica.org.", "ART REVIEW ."], "summary": ["Benjamin Genocchio reviews Stuff It -RSB- , exhibition of artworks employing stuffed objects on view at Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts in Long Branch , NJ . Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788891", "text": ["SEAN O'CASEY 'S one-act play `` The Cooing of Doves , '' typed and marked up by the playwright , lay on a reading table at Princeton University 's Firestone Library .", "Neither yellowed by history 's aura nor piously unblemished , the unbound stack of 18 pages looked more like a term paper than a century-old artifact in the university 's new Leonard L . Milberg Irish Theater Collection .", "In fact , the manuscript , which became the second act of O'Casey 's seminal work `` The Plough and the Stars , '' looked so ordinary that Paul Muldoon , the poet and Princeton professor , at first overlooked it while perusing other samples of the collection , which was donated in his honor .", "The university announced the gift Aug . 29 .", "`` Fantastic , '' Mr. Muldoon , 55 , murmured with hushed excitement , leafing through the manuscript .", "`` Fantastic . ''", "The collection will be on public display at the library from Oct . 13 to April 22 .", "The opening of the exhibition will be observed with a series of events , including a production of Brian Friel 's `` Translations '' at the McCarter Theater .", "A symposium including the Irish actors Stephen Rea and Gabriel Byrne .", "And a lecture by Joe Dowling , the former artistic director of the Abbey Theater in Dublin , Ireland 's national theater , where many of the collection 's works were first staged .", "Irish drama provides `` a case study in the inextricability of literature and politics , '' said Prof . Michael Cadden , who teaches Irish theater at Princeton , because so many plays articulated the desire for independence from Britain .", "The collection 's 1,200 works include playbills from `` The Hostage '' and `` The Quare Fellow , '' by Brendan Behan , and a yellowed 1952 first edition of Samuel Beckett 's `` En Attendant Godot , '' in the original French , which he later translated as `` Waiting for Godot . ''", "The collection is named for its donor , the financier Leonard L . Milberg , a member of Princeton 's class of 1953 who lives in Rye , N.Y.", "Mr. Milberg had already given the university three collections of works by American poets , Irish poets and Jewish-American writers , before he was inspired by Mr. Muldoon to add Irish drama to the list .", "`` Paul is a friend , a wonderful man , '' Mr. Milberg said in a telephone interview .", "`` I 'm a fan of his poetry , and I 'm a fan of Paul Muldoon . ``", "Mr. Milberg acquired the collection over the past five years , he said , through dealers and at auction in New York , Ireland and England , with the help of a dealer , J . Howard Woolmer .", "Being in the presence of such manuscripts is a thrill and an inspiration , said Mr. Muldoon , who was born in County Armagh , Northern Ireland , and who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for his collection of poems `` Moy Sand and Gravel . ''", "`` It 's quite touching , really , to be in the presence of O'Casey 's DNA , `` he said .", "`` It does help to be reminded that these plays in this case -- like poems , novels -- are indeed written by , in some profound sense , ordinary people -- people with a particular gift , of course . ''", "The manuscripts can also be insightful .", "For example , in a scene in `` The Cooing of Doves , '' O'Casey crossed out some characters ' proper names and identified them by occupation : `` Mrs. Macineely '' became `` The Orange Seller . ''", "The change stripped her of the personality or the geographic associations the name might carry , Mr. Muldoon suggested , and transformed her into a `` type . ''", "He added : `` It 's almost as if one is engaged , in some sense , in a bit of detective work , you know -- if not the scene of the crime , at least some evidence that an event has taken place here .", "In this case , the making of the play . `` ."], "summary": ["Article on Princeton University 's newly acquired Leonard L Milberg Irish Theater Collection , donated by Leonard Milberg , member of class of 1953 who lives in Rye , NY . Collection was donated in honor of poet and Princeton Prof Paul Muldoon .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [12, 15], "tag": ["Theater", "New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788892", "text": ["THE Bridgeport Police Department has joined a handful of other departments around the state in putting officers on Segways , the futuristic-looking battery-powered upright scooters .", "Police Chief Bryan T . Norwood said the department bought four Segways last month for $ 5,500 each to use on regular patrols and at events like concerts .", "He said officers from the bicycle unit were trained to ride the Segways first .", "Chief Norwood said that besides giving officers better mobility , the scooters were good public relations .", "`` It 's phenomenal , `` he said .", "`` I 've seen officers who are normally quite reserved become animated when they 're on this vehicle .", "And the people just flock to them out of curiosity . ``", "Officer Caleb E . Lopez , a spokesman for the South Windsor Police , said the department began using its only Segway earlier this year as a test .", "If the Segway proves useful , Officer Lopez said , the department will consider buying more .", "`` The officer on it is not as physically taxed as he or she would be on a bicycle , '' he said .", "`` And anytime you have a conversation piece , it 's a great way of getting to know the public . ``", "A spokeswoman for Segway Inc . of Bedford , N.H. , said the police in Hartford and the state police at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks have Segways .", "Mayor John M . Fabrizi of Bridgeport tried one and said they were easy to ride .", "`` After about 10 minutes of practice , I was able to handle it , '' he said .", "Carla M . Vallone , a spokeswoman for Segway , said about 20 percent of the vehicle 's sales were to police departments and security agencies .", "She said they liked the scooters for a variety of reasons .", "`` They can cover twice the amount of ground that they could walking , '' she said .", "`` They 're also eight inches off the ground when they 're on the scooters , so they have a sight line that 's above a crowd .", "And when they 're working in an area with a dense population , they can move as fast or as slow as the people around them . ``", "Ms. Vallone said the model Bridgeport bought , a police edition with a front cargo bag and extra reflectors , has a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour and can travel about 24 miles on 6 to 8 hours of charging .", "Chief Norwood said he hoped to buy four new Segways , with wider tires designed for off-road use , in the next few weeks .", "NOTICED ."], "summary": ["Police Department in Bridgeport joins handful of others around state in putting officers on Segways .", "Four battery-powered upright scooters will be used on regular patrols and at events like concerts .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 1], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788893", "text": ["The remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto hit Fairfield County last weekend , bringing winds that downed trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes .", "The storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression , and its center had already veered toward Pennsylvania by the time it struck Connecticut last Saturday , but winds in some areas in the state were gusting at nearly 60 miles per hour , said Todd Miner , a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University .", "The storm also dropped nearly three inches of rain on some parts of southwestern Connecticut , Mr. Miner said .", "More than 20,000 United Illuminating customers lost power during the storm , 5,800 of them in Fairfield .", "By Tuesday morning , power had been restored , said Al Carbone , a company spokesman .", "Last Saturday night , a peak of about 54,400 Connecticut Light and Power customers were without power , the vast majority of them in Fairfield County .", "Stamford was hit hardest , with 14,300 people losing power on Saturday .", "In Greenwich , 11,100 lost power , according to Mitch Gross , a spokesman for the company .", "On Sunday morning , 10,250 customers in Norwalk had no power .", "More than 100 crews went out over the weekend to make repairs , including outside contractors and workers from other states , Mr. Gross said .", "About two dozen poles had been snapped , he said .", "All power was restored by Tuesday night .", "Mayor Dannel P . Malloy of Stamford said he was concerned that Connecticut Light and Power has had to scramble the past few months to restore power after the failures .", "`` I think they were overwhelmed again , '' he said .", "`` They have a staffing problem in lower Fairfield County .", "I think they 're going to be overwhelmed a lot unless they place more resources here . ``", "Last month , Gov . M . Jodi Rell ordered the Department of Public Utility Control to examine the power supply in the state and review plans by power companies for handling failures .", "THE WEEK ."], "summary": ["Remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto hit Fairfield County , downing trees , knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and bringing heavy rains to some parts of southwestern Connecticut .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788896", "text": ["Steve Lonegan , the mayor of Bogota -LRB- the one in New Jersey , not Colombia -RRB- , began the summer on an ugly note by demanding that McDonald 's remove a billboard that is printed in Spanish .", "The fast-food giant stood by its guns -- or maybe its hamburgers -- and the billboard still stands .", "But Mr. Lonegan is not to be deterred .", "He is ending the summer season with an effort to allow local voters to say whether they want English to be the town 's official language .", "Wisely , the Bergen County clerk , Kathleen Donovan , whose office has the final say over what goes on ballots , asked for a legal opinion on whether the nonbinding referendum question was allowable under the law .", "The answer was no .", "A lawyer , John Carbone , wrote that questions on municipal ballots must pertain to a matter a town can act on .", "State law does not authorize Bogota or any other municipality to declare an official language .", "Mr. Lonegan predicts he will win when he appeals the ruling to the courts .", "Judges , he says , are reluctant `` to take away the right '' of voters to express themselves .", "He also says he will raise money privately to pay for the appeals .", "That is consistent with his belief as a conservative Republican that government spending should be kept as low as possible .", "But the entire effort , which seems like a slap in the face to Hispanics , is also consistent with his practice of seeking widespread approval from ultraconservatives whose opposition to illegal immigrants is at a fevered high .", "As Mr. Lonegan admits , even a successful referendum would change nothing in Bogota .", "The town would still be required to abide by state and federal law stipulating that some documents be printed in more than one language .", "What is likely to change is Mr. Lonegan 's reputation : he may grow in stature among bigots , while losing credibility among minorities and fair-minded citizens .", "The choice is his .", "New Jersey ."], "summary": ["Editorial opposes effort by Mayor Steve Lonegan of Bogota , NJ , to introduce referendum on making English town 's official language ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 0], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788899", "text": ["PROCLAIMING the beginning of a new era in Atlantic City gaming , Pinnacle Entertainment Inc . has agreed to buy the Sands Casino Hotel , the smallest of the 12 casinos in the city , for $ 250 million , with the intention of tearing it down and building an upscale casino-hotel complex .", "`` It 's the right thing for Atlantic City , `` said George Toth , the president of the Sands .", "`` I just think to try to run the small type of gaming house we were running no longer fits the model in a destination city .", "We did n't have shopping or a swimming pool , so we were just limited .", "Today in the gaming field , you have to offer a lot more things . ``", "Pending regulatory approvals , the deal should close by November , with demolition of the existing buildings starting then and construction taking as long as three or four years .", "The deal was announced Tuesday .", "The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa , the most recent casino to open in Atlantic City , in 2003 , cost $ 1.1 billion to build .", "Estimates for the new Pinnacle operation , which will be on 18 acres adjacent to the Boardwalk , have run as high as $ 1.5 billion .", "`` What it does is take an afterthought of a property and suddenly makes it the talk of the town , '' said Joe Weinert of the Spectrum Gaming Group , a casino consultant that also publishes The Gaming Industry Observer .", "`` This is terrific news for Atlantic City , for it takes a property which has no impact on Atlantic City and will transform it into the next great casino here . ''", "The Sands was built 26 years ago but ran into severe debt problems before being bought by Carl Icahn in 2000 .", "After a series of transfers into holding companies , the Sands went into bankruptcy in 2005 .", "The case is in bankruptcy court in Camden .", "The Sands has 2,100 employees , and they will be out of work if the plans for demolition are completed .", "Given a statement by Daniel R . Lee , Pinnacle 's chairman and chief executive , that appears likely .", "`` The success of recent Atlantic City developments has proven that customers in the Northeast respond positively to state-of-the-art gaming resort design and amenities , '' Mr. Lee said .", "`` While we regret the necessity of closing the Sands to create an exciting new resort , we look forward to working with gaming regulators , state and local authorities on this project to create more jobs , tax revenues and other lasting benefits for the region . ''", "Pinnacle owns casinos in Nevada , Louisiana , Indiana , Argentina and the Bahamas , but not in the top two American casino cities , Atlantic City and Las Vegas .", "Mr. Lee , though , worked for Steven Wynn when he was considering opening a casino in Atlantic City in the late 1990 's , so he is familiar with that landscape , Mr. Weinert said .", "`` This is the beginning of an arms race , '' said Mr. Weinert , noting that three other potential operators are looking at sites around Atlantic City .", "`` It is only a question of which of these four groups will make the standard for the next-generation concept in Atlantic City . ''", "Jeff Vasser , the executive director of the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority , which works to bring conventions to town , said he was not ecstatic about losing the 600 rooms at the Sands as the prime convention season comes around , but was happy to look at the future , with as many as 2,000 rooms planned for the new hotel .", "`` It 's a giant game of leapfrog here right now , and it is the time for Sands and Pinnacle to do the leaping , `` Mr. Vasser said .", "`` This is the Sands ' reaction to the Borgata , and now the other casino companies like Harrah 's and Trump will respond . `` ."], "summary": ["Pinnacle Entertainment Inc agrees to buy Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City , NJ , for $ 250 million .", "Plans to tear it down and build upscale casino-hotel complex ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788900", "text": ["IF you were an employee of a company and were disgruntled with its performance , who would you want to hold accountable .", "The chief executive , who is popular with key constituents and wields clout over your financial well-being .", "Or at least one , if not two , of the chief executive 's top lieutenants , both unpopular , and presumably easy to scapegoat .", "That , essentially , is the question that faces State Senator Thomas H . Kean Jr . as he grapples with the biggest political issue in his race to unseat United States Senator Robert Menendez : the war in Iraq .", "Mr. Kean is a Republican -- and a fairly moderate one at that , in contrast to the conservatives who run Washington .", "And as a member of the New Jersey Legislature , he had no role in any decisions related to Iraq .", "But he does say that he would have voted for the initial resolution authorizing the use of force , just as Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joseph I . Lieberman , both Democrats , did .", "But because of his party affiliation , Mr. Kean has been flayed by Mr. Menendez and other Democrats -- and the polls show that Iraq is a problem for Republicans .", "Yet Mr. Kean ca n't join Democrats in pummeling President Bush , because he ca n't win without the backing of the national Republican Party in a traditionally Democratic state and with only a third of the money that his opponent has raised .", "So he has tried , with varying success , to distance himself from the chief executive , President Bush , without directly criticizing him , while taking issue with two key underlings , Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H . Rumsfeld .", "A few months ago , Mr. Kean experienced one of the low points of his campaign , when Mr. Cheney came to New Jersey for a fund-raiser on his behalf .", "Rather than show up at the event , where photos of the two would have been instantly transformed into Democratic red meat , Mr. Kean appeared after Mr. Cheney had left -- blaming traffic between Trenton and Newark .", "But many people wondered whether he had calculated his late arrival by traveling on Route 1 , known for its horrific traffic , rather than the New Jersey Turnpike .", "Then , a week ago , Mr. Kean became one of the highest profile Republicans to call for Mr. Rumsfeld 's resignation .", "He said that it was detrimental that Mr. Rumsfeld had `` politicized the war through some of his comments , '' including a recent speech touching on those who advocated appeasing Nazi Germany in the 1930 's -- a speech that some people interpreted -LRB- incorrectly , according to the Pentagon -RRB- to be a veiled criticism of the war 's detractors .", "But throughout a one-hour-plus interview , Mr. Kean declined to criticize Mr. Bush .", "`` I just do n't think that the president is very well served by Secretary Rumsfeld staying in that position , `` he said .", "`` I think that the president needs a constant flow of information if he 's going to have his best ability possible to make the decisions that he needs to make . ``", "Democrats have derided Mr. Kean 's attempts to blame everyone but Mr. Bush .", "It is analogous , they say , to criticizing everyone at Enron other than Kenneth L . Lay , or attributing the famines in China in the 1950 's and 1960 's to someone other than Mao Zedong .", "Indeed , in a news conference this past week , Mr. Menendez likened it to `` throwing the first mate of the Titanic overboard while standing side by side with the captain as he steers straight toward the iceberg . ''", "It is hard to tell whether people will find Mr. Kean 's balancing act credible or whether they may find him disingenuous .", "But suffice it to say , the more undecided people are about his intentions , the better it is for Mr. Kean .", "`` I think it 's very smart , I think it 's very tricky , and I think that there 's no alternative , `` said Peter J . Woolley , a professor of politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University .", "Mr. Woolley is also executive director of the university 's PublicMind poll .", "It recently found that Mr. Kean had a small lead among registered voters that widened to 11 percentage points if Iraq were not a factor .", "And while many believe that Mr. Menendez should still be considered a slight favorite because of New Jersey 's Democratic tendencies , Mr. Woolley said that Mr. Kean should be encouraged that his favorability ratings have been higher than most Republicans ' in recent statewide races and that Mr. Menendez 's ratings have been a bit lower than most Democrats ' .", "Still , Mr. Woolley says he does n't think that Mr. Kean will invite Mr. Bush to New Jersey anytime soon .", "But the Bush family is another matter .", "On Wednesday , Mr. Bush 's father , former President George H . W . Bush , stumped for Mr. Kean in Bridgewater .", "So , too , did the first lady , Laura Bush , a couple of months ago .", "So maybe Mr. Bush 's mother and twin daughters will come next .", "POLITICAL MEMO David W . Chen is Trenton bureau chief of The New York Times ."], "summary": ["David Chen Political Memo column on issue of war in Iraq as it applies to New Jersey State Sen Thomas Kean Jr , moderate Republican who is seeking to unseat Democratic US Sen Robert Menendez .", "Notes Kean has tried , with varying success , to distance himself from Pres Bush without directly criticizing him , while taking issue with Vice Pres Dick Cheney and Defense Sec Donald Rumsfeld .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [9, 3], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788980", "text": ["The vibrant restaurant scene along Hudson Street , which includes longtime crowd pleasers like Nobu and Chanterelle , has continued to grow in the past year , with these five newcomers .", "DANI * -LSB- Rating : One Star -RSB- -LRB- 212 -RRB- 633-9333 .", "333 Hudson Street -LRB- Charlton Street -RRB- .", "$ $ .", "Review : 4/12/06 .", "Dani aims for a bit of distinction in a crowded New York marketplace of Italian restaurants by taking a few steps toward an often unexplored area of Italy : Sicily .", "That region 's fruits , nuts and proximity to northern Africa are reflected in a menu that also hedges its bets with the kind of fare found at many other New York restaurants , Italian and otherwise .", "The best dishes , like bucatini with sardines , and the desserts are very good indeed , and the noisy room is visually appealing .", "FATTY CRAB -LRB- 212 -RRB- 352-3590 .", "643 Hudson Street -LRB- Horatio Street -RRB- .", "$ .", "$ 25 and Under : 10/26/05 .", "Zak Pelaccio 's rollicking Malaysian roadhouse is done up in dark woods and reds .", "Ornately carved chairs with stiff backs are crammed around small tables that fill the tiny dining room .", "The signature chili crab consists of a Dungeness crab served in a delicious pool of spicy , crab-drenched sauce with broiled white bread to sop it up .", "MR . CHOW TRIBECA -LRB- 212 -RRB- 965-9500 .", "121 Hudson Street -LRB- North Moore Street -RRB- .", "$ $ $ .", "Review : 6/28/06 .", "Mr. Chow Tribeca opened more than a quarter-century after the Mr. Chow on East 57th Street , but it stays true to its predecessor 's formula : a mixture of familiar and less familiar Chinese food in a slick setting with formally attired servers and an aura of clubby exclusivity .", "It can be expensive , if amusing , but a few dishes , like the Peking duck , are terrific .", "NOVO -LRB- 212 -RRB- 989-6410 .", "290 Hudson Street -LRB- Spring Street -RRB- .", "$ .", "Article : 2/1/06 .", "This Latino place has Alex Garcia as chef and partner .", "The dinner menu is divided into categories like ceviches , grilled meats and fish , hot and cold tapas plates , and salads .", "The lunch menu offers sandwiches including a Cuban pressed sandwich with chicken croquettes and crispy mariquitas , and colorful limeades , smoothies and aqua fresca -- water infused with fresh fruit like melon , papaya and guava .", "SETACCI -LRB- 212 -RRB- 675-0810 .", "420 Hudson Street -LRB- Leroy Street -RRB- .", "$ $ .", "Article : 5/3/06 .", "Lisa Cannistraci , who owns Henrietta Hudson , and Joey D' Angelo , a chef , formerly of Union Square Caf\u00e9 and Esca , own this stylish Italian place in the West Village .", "The name is Italian for sift .", "The menu has crudo like oysters or clams on the half-shell , antipasti like grilled baby octopus , or house cured sardines , and entree selections that include grilled whole branzino and brick-roasted baby chicken .", "GOOD EATING / HUDSON STREET E-mail : eating@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["Excerpts from previously published reviews of restaurants along Manhattan 's Hudson Street -LRB- Good Eating column -RRB- ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788983", "text": ["That 's Mr. Gettys to You Q . `` Citizen Kane '' is my absolute favorite movie .", "I know that the Charles Foster Kane character , who builds an empire around a New York newspaper , is modeled after William Randolph Hearst , and that Susan Alexander resembled Hearst 's companion , Marion Davies .", "But which politician was Boss Jim Gettys supposed to be .", "A . That one 's not quite as obvious .", "Jim Gettys , played by Ray Collins , could have been a composite of figures from Tammany Hall and New York City politics in the early 20th century .", "There were plenty to choose from , with names like Johnny Oakley and Big Tim Sullivan .", "But one clue is the scene in which Gettys chews out Kane for printing a cartoon showing him in prison stripes .", "That really happened to Charles F . Murphy , a Tammany leader who started as a horsecar driver and owned several bars while building political power .", "Hearst , a Tammany opponent who twice ran for mayor himself , had his papers regularly denouncing Murphy as a latter-day Boss Tweed .", "One Hearst cartoon in 1903 showed Murphy dressed in striped prison clothes .", "A caption , referring to the restaurant where the Boss and his sachems often huddled , read : `` Look out , Murphy .", "It 's a short lock-step from Delmonico 's to Sing Sing . ``", "Politics has a way of uniting enemies , though , and three years later , the ever-calculating Murphy helped Hearst get the Democratic nomination for governor .", "He lost to Charles Evans Hughes .", "Sparrow Snatching Q .", "While traveling to Yankee Stadium on the D train , a friend and I noticed a woman carrying a live sparrow in a plastic shopping bag .", "The next day , in Union Square , I saw a young couple carrying a transparent take-out container with a live sparrow .", "Is there something going on that involves the sacrifice of a small bird .", "And is it legal to capture sparrows .", "A .", "We asked people at the Bronx Zoo and the New York Companion Bird Club about this , and they ruled out a cult or ritual .", "Your sightings seem to be a coincidence .", "One club member noted that while the birds may have been unprotected English sparrows , there are also dozens of sparrow species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act , many of them in New York , and capturing them is illegal .", "One respondent added that the housing described in the note was awful .", "Another animal advocate wrote : `` I think the people were just picking up fledglings thinking they were injured or orphaned . ''", "New York City Audubon offers guidelines on how to handle injured birds and baby birds on its Web site , www.nycaudubon.org.", "Look for Project Safe Flight under Programs .", "Double Digits Down There Q . Am I misremembering , or did there use to be subway trains with names like CC , AA , BB , etc.", "What happened to them .", "A . You 're not imagining things .", "Double-letter designations survived until 1986 , when they were phased out .", "Double letters once identified local routes , and single letters meant express , but as routes and designations changed over the years , that distinction became almost meaningless .", "Unless you 're an optometrist , this all may be too much information , but in 1986 , the CC became the C , the GG became the G , the LL became the L , the QB became the Q , the RR became the R , and the AA became the K , which was absorbed two years later by the B and C .", "There also used to be a KK train on the J line , an HH train -LRB- Rockaway shuttle -RRB- , a T and TT -LRB- West End express and local -RRB- and a QT -LRB- Brighton Beach local -RRB- .", "MICHAEL POLLAK F . Y .", "I . E-mail : fyi@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["FYI column answers questions about which politician Boss Jim Gettys was modeled after in movie Citizen Kane , why people are seen in city with live sparrows in shopping bags and take-out containers and whether there used to be subway trains with double letters .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [2, 27, 0], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788984", "text": ["WHEN we first met in 2003 , Eve , to me , epitomized TriBeCa loftiness .", "I was making a hasty move from Washington to Manhattan , where I had grown up on the Upper West Side .", "All the remaining parts of my immediate family still resided there , my sister and cousins , nearly all within talking-out-the-window distance from one another , exactly like our parents ' and grandparents ' generation .", "I desperately wanted to try something new and to see if , at nearly 50 , I could become a downtown girl .", "I found a great loft to sublet in TriBeCa .", "But before I could move into the small loft building on Hubert Street near Greenwich Street , I had to pass muster with the six other people who already lived there .", "Some of them , like Eve , had been in the building for decades , when the neighborhood was filled with artists , struggling writers and illegal squatters instead of brokers with bonuses .", "For my co-op sublet interview , I was prepared to answer all manner of questions about my personal probity and financial condition , none of which got asked that night .", "Instead , Eve , a birdlike , somewhat frail-looking woman in her 60 's , had some sharp questions for me about coverage of culture and politics at The New York Times , where I work .", "I learned that she was on the faculty at Hunter College and was a teacher of poetry .", "I found I loved the old , low industrial architecture and cultural edginess of TriBeCa , even with borrowed belongings .", "It made me feel as if I were coming to live in a new city , not returning to a familiar one .", "My landlord 's library , I found , was superior to my own .", "I loved the big open space , especially the windows that faced out onto the Hudson River .", "I loved taking walks on the river with Buddy , my 13-year-old dog , whose adjustment to Manhattan life , after years spent running around our suburban yard , was immediate and joyous .", "And of course some things took getting used to , like having no front door , just an elevator that opened directly into my place .", "The elevator , in fact , played a big part in my fateful encounter with the professor , her poetry and , later , her painting .", "One winter Sunday , when I decided to run out for a manicure , Buddy became outraged that I was going for a walk without him .", "He growled as I put on my coat and boots .", "Then , suddenly , the elevator opened without warning .", "-LRB- The elevator generally came to our floor only when I summoned it , or when it was opened by a special key .", "Its opening this time is still a mystery . -RRB-", "Buddy , a sweet-tempered Westie , went into guard-dog mode and , before I realized what was happening , flew into the elevator , sensing an intruder muscling onto our turf .", "I heard a ruckus and , horrified , saw that Eve was in the elevator , barefoot and in her cotton nightgown .", "Buddy had nipped her on the knee .", "I had instant visions of lawsuits and eviction letters .", "Instead , when I followed Eve up to her loft on the top floor to help her clean the bite , I found a serene woman who felt worse about the situation than I did .", "Her loft was crammed with books and brightly colored canvases she had painted .", "Her place was a bit of a mess , and completely unrenovated .", "The floors were not buffed and gleaming the way mine were .", "Eve 's place was utterly unchic , unlike so many of the lofts I had seen elsewhere in TriBeCa , which sometimes had the look of sleek boutique hotels , stylish but coldly anodyne .", "She did , however , have stunning views of the river .", "I kept vigil over Eve , bringing her fresh Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment .", "I urged her to let me take her to a doctor .", "She reluctantly agreed , and we went uptown to see an internist friend .", "In our Town Car ride , we chatted about books and our neighbors .", "She was n't partial to the new restaurants that were constantly opening -LRB- and usually soon closing -RRB- in our neighborhood .", "She loved the graceful dowager , Capsouto Fr\u00e8res .", "`` It 's wonderful in the spring when they open all the doors , `` she told me .", "Although the bite turned out to be harmless , I found that I enjoyed checking in on Eve .", "I learned that she had grown up near Boston and gone to the University of Chicago and grad school at Columbia .", "Romantic poetry was her love , and she had a wonderful library .", "She painted .", "She alluded to a husband , but since she was always alone when I saw her , I assumed the husband was an ex .", "COME spring , Eve invited me to her retirement party .", "Some of her graduate students showed up , and so did her husband , who appeared to be much younger and was a good-looking English teacher at a military school out west .", "In fact , the two of them were heading west for the summer and intended to sublet Eve 's loft .", "By this time , the owner of my sublet had plans to return to New York , and although the prices were insane , I bought a loft two blocks from my sublet .", "After I moved , I lost track of my neighbor .", "Then , a few weeks ago , strolling with Buddy , I spotted Eve and her husband entering their building .", "She was in a wheelchair , hobbled by bad knees .", "`` I 'm having knee replacement surgery , `` Eve happily announced .", "Her husband told me they had sold the loft and were under pressure to clean out all of Eve 's belongings over the weekend .", "The next time I passed the building , there were cartons of books by the curb , including a Modern Library edition of Plutarch 's `` Lives , '' Samuel Pepys 's diaries , and a hardcover edition of Yeats 's collected poems , many with Eve 's jottings from her grad school days .", "An old paperback of Damon Runyon 's `` Guys and Dolls '' especially beckoned me .", "Eve 's name was written on the title page in fountain pen ink , with the notation `` London July , 1960 . ''", "When her husband appeared , I asked him if it was O.K. to take some of the books .", "He said that was what they were there for .", "I also told him I would love to have one of Eve 's paintings if she was n't moving them all .", "`` She would love that , '' he said in a noncommittal voice .", "Then one Saturday my cell rang .", "`` Jill , it 's Eve . ``", "She was calling from out west .", "She told me that the new owner of her loft was moving in and that she had left three of her paintings in the hallway for me to choose from .", "Two nights later , I went back and rode up to her place in the elevator in which Buddy had committed his crime .", "The loft was empty , and I imagined it would soon be completely renovated and buffed to Architectural Digest standard .", "I agonized over the canvases , all of which were large and extremely colorful oil paintings , all abstract and beautiful .", "I picked one that was heavy with sapphire and orange .", "I carried the painting over my head down Greenwich Street , past the spanking new Wolfgang 's Steakhouse filled with brokers ordering $ 50 hangers and strips .", "I went past the new Robert De Niro boutique hotel going up on the corner of North Moore .", "I thought about that scene in `` An Unmarried Woman '' in which Jill Clayburgh , at the end of the film , is carrying Alan Bates 's painting through the streets of SoHo .", "Eve 's painting has a home on one of my brick walls , not far from the bookcase with her books and Buddy 's dog bed .", "But , sadly , TriBeCa has lost one of its truly original loft girls .", "NEW YORK OBSERVED ."], "summary": ["Jill Abramson New York Observed essay on her former TriBeCa loft neighbor , Eve , somewhat frail-looking woman in her 60 's , who had wonderful library and is a painter .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [8], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788985", "text": ["JULIAN MONTAGUE has spent seven years spotting shopping carts buried in undergrowth or pond muck .", "An artist who lives in Buffalo , he has also taken thousands of photographs of carts that ended up far from their original homes .", "Mr. Montague , utterly deadpan , classifies the artifacts by location type and likely cause of demise for a Web site -LRB- www.strayshoppingcart.com -RRB- and in his new book , `` The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America : A Guide to Field Identification '' -LRB- Abrams Image -RRB- .", "His categories can be self-explanatory -LRB- `` bus stop discard , '' `` plow crush '' -RRB- or cryptic : `` open true '' -LRB- abandoned on pavement or lawn -RRB- , `` gap marginalization '' -LRB- between buildings -RRB- .", "Happier subtypes , like `` alternative usage '' and `` structurally modified , '' are for carts adapted as things like souvenir stands or driveway barriers .", "`` This language of scientific classification can be very powerful , '' Mr. Montague said .", "`` It affects your perceptions .", "It brings this peripheral stuff into focus .", "And I like to speculate on what happened to the carts .", "How many people were involved , and is it in a permanent or ephemeral state .", "`` Through Oct . 14 , 40 of Mr. Montague 's photos , taken in five cities , will be shown at the Black and White Gallery , 636 West 28th Street , near 11th Avenue .", "The two New York examples , spotted in Dumpsters in Coney Island and Brighton Beach , fall into the `` in / as refuse '' category .", "EVE M . KAHN NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT : NEW YORK IN FOCUS ."], "summary": ["Selection of photographs by Julian Montague of abandoned shopping carts .", "Exhibition of Montague 's photos will be shown at Black and White Gallery in Manhattan ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [10], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788986", "text": ["In New York , even monks face the vagaries of hectic schedules and urban congestion .", "Case in point , Pema Wangdak , a Tibetan Buddhist monk , who the other day could be found sitting in traffic that crept along the Cross Bronx Expressway at 10 miles an hour .", "A police car cruised shot by , its alarms screaming .", "Drivers glared .", "Pema Wangdak remained unrattled , smiling as if he were sitting at the edge of a mountain stream .", "`` When I 'm in the car , somehow it has a soothing effect on me , `` he said .", "`` It 's comforting . ``", "Pema Wangdak , 52 , who came to the United States from Dharamsala , India , in 1982 , drives to the city from his home half an hour away in Cresskill , N.J. , several days a week .", "His appointments are as far-flung as the city 's largely decentralized Tibetan community .", "Recently , he gave talks at Tibet House near Union Square in Manhattan and at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Richmond on Staten Island , offered spiritual counseling to Tibetan friends in Sunnyside and Jackson Heights in Queens , and visited a Tibetan nun recovering from surgery in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan .", "Between appointments , he has encountered people puzzled by the sight of a small , reedy monk in burgundy robes smiling his way through city traffic , often with a cellphone earpiece in place .", "`` I usually tell them that we lamas do n't have enough money to hire a driver , `` he said , '' so I have to drive myself . ``", "His serenity in the face of everyday frustrations has inspired some of his fellow commuters .", "`` I used to resist driving in the city , '' said Peter Arcese , an adjunct professor of literature at New York University and a student of Pema Wangdak 's .", "`` You do n't feel that enlightened on a bad day dealing with traffic .", "`` Then I saw that the lama is constantly driving .", "Driving can be its own meditation . ``", "On a recent Monday afternoon , Pema Wangdak traveled to Calvary Hospital in Pelham Bay , the Bronx , where a 32-year-old Tibetan woman had died of liver cancer that morning .", "A dozen of her relatives greeted him in the waiting room .", "By the time Pema Wangdak had finished praying for the dead woman to be reborn in the Buddha realm , it was 2:59 p.m.", "His next appointment , with a student on the Upper West Side , was at 3 .", "He got back into his car , resigned to being late .", "`` You always think , ' I have to do this or that , ' '' he said .", "`` But we forget that the process of getting there is equally important .", "Everything is a dharma teaching . ``", "JENNIFER BLEYER NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT : ON THE ROAD ."], "summary": ["Tibetan Buddhist monk Pema Wangdak comments on soothing effect he experiences while driving in New York City .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [13, 5], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788987", "text": ["AT midnight on the evening of Thursday , Aug . 31 , WLIB-AM , one of the city 's most storied radio stations and one that for years broadcast from the fabled Hotel Theresa in Harlem , ushered in a new era .", "A staff member cued up a rousing hymn called `` High Praise , '' and with the push of a button , WLIB was now `` Your praise and inspiration station , '' playing gospel music round the clock .", "Until that moment , and for the previous two and a half years , the station had been the home of Air America , the liberal talk-radio network .", "For the previous decade , the station had broadcast Caribbean music .", "Radio stations switch formats all the time .", "But for a station like WLIB , long regarded as the `` Voice of Harlem , '' moving forward takes place in the shadow of a long and illustrious past .", "With its lively call-in shows that gave voice to the concerns of the Harlem community , WLIB spoke to and for black New Yorkers .", "The format change , first reported by The Amsterdam News , has made many avid listeners remember what this heartbeat of black life once was .", "`` Switching to gospel , I ca n't be against that , of course , `` said the Rev . Herbert Daughtry , a veteran civil rights advocate and preacher at the House of the Lord Church in Boerum Hill , Brooklyn , who used to telephone WLIB to report news of interest to the station 's listeners , like reports of police brutality .", "`` We surely need the Gospel .", "But knowing how vital it was , I feel we are missing something . ``", "In 1971 , WLIB became the city 's first black-owned radio station , and the crown jewel of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation .", "A co-founder of Inner City was Percy Sutton , a former Manhattan borough president and long one of the city 's most powerful black leaders .", "Perhaps paradoxically , the new gospel format is in keeping with the station 's history .", "WLIB played gospel in the 1950 's and 60 's .", "Even so , the new format has received a tepid response from community leaders who , like Mr. Daughtry , say that the community needs a black-talk format .", "`` We do n't really have a format right now for information on social , political and economic change in Harlem , `` said Councilwoman Inez Dickens , who represents Harlem .", "According to Deon Levingston , the station 's general manager , and Vinny Brown , the operations manager , the station will reintroduce talk shows at some point but will remain music-intensive .", "The station , which now operates out of an office at Park Avenue and 34th Street , broke ties with Air America when WLIB could not reach an agreement on the terms of a renewal of Air America 's lease , according to representatives of the station and Air America .", "`` We saw the move to gospel as a way to keep viable programming , '' Mr. Levingston said .", "`` Our goal is to serve the community , and you ca n't do that if you ca n't keep your lights on . ``", "The gospel format , he said , was in keeping with WLIB 's history and meshed well with the soul format of its sister station , WBLS-FM .", "A return to the old talk show format , he added , would not have been financially viable , especially in what is one of the nation 's most competitive radio markets .", "WLIB has an average audience of 24,900 listeners at any given 15-minute period , according to the station 's ratings report for the spring of this year .", "When WLIB was broadcasting Air America , a popular talk show , `` Mindflight , '' whose host was a D.J. , Gary Byrd , was broadcast in the wee hours .", "And on weekends , the station broadcast boisterous public affairs shows , like the Rev . Al Sharpton 's `` Sharp Talk . ''", "With the switch to all gospel , both programs are off the air , at least temporarily .", "At its peak , WLIB represented , as Mr. Daughtry put it , `` the heartbeat and the drumbeat '' of New York 's black community .", "Its era began in 1949 , when two brothers , Morris and Harry Novik , purchased the station from The New York Post .", "As general manager , Harry Novik jettisoned the station 's classical-music format , replacing it with rhythm-and-blues and gospel music and community affairs programs aimed at black audiences .", "It was during this period that the station moved to the Hotel Theresa .", "In the following years , WLIB broadcast live from conferences of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and staged music festivals at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem .", "By 1967 , the station dedicated seven and a half hours each weekday to gospel and rhythm and blues .", "The most popular program was a call-in show , `` Community Opinion , '' moderated by Leon Lewis , the station 's program director .", "During the turbulent 60 's , the station 's airwaves crackled as black listeners shared heated opinions on subjects like the civil rights struggle , the Vietnam War and the crushing poverty in the nation 's ghettos , Harlem chief among them .", "When the Rev . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . was assassinated in April 1968 , WLIB interrupted its regular programming and served as a public bereavement forum for grieving callers .", "ITS political role continued into the 1980 's and the early 90 's .", "`` I may get up in the morning and get a call that someone in the community had been killed , '' Mr. Daughtry said .", "`` I could pick up the phone to WLIB , and the word went out . ''", "Other radio programs focus on local issues and have a call-in segment , but to WLIB fans , the station offered something more .", "`` Folks want to hear a concentrated discussion of what 's going on in the hood , `` said Bill Perkins , a lifelong Harlemite , former councilman and now a Democratic candidate for the State Senate .", "`` What 's going on in the City Council as it relates to the hood .", "How do we look at Iraq from the view of the hood .", "On these other shows , you might hear that incidentally , but it 's not the mission . ``", "On the streets of Harlem the other day , the consensus among WLIB listeners seemed to favor gospel over talk .", "`` Gospel is good every day , all day long , '' said a white-haired man named Alfred Solomon , who was standing on 125th Street .", "Was he worried about the absence from the airwaves of a black talk station .", "`` What are they going to talk about .", "`` Mr. Solomon replied .", "`` That 's been going on for years and it has n't accomplished anything .", "We need gospel music that can do something for the spirit . ``", "Radio Days November 1926 The predecessor of WLIB , called WBKN , signs on from a studio on Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville , Brooklyn , the fi rst of several homes throughout the city .", "1930 's - 1940 's The station has varied and changing offerings , including the city 's fi rst program in Chinese .", "Eventually , it becomes known as `` The Voice of the Negro Community . ''", "April 1968 When the Rev . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . is assassinated , WLIB opens the airwaves to angry and bereaved callers , helping , in the opinion of many , to prevent rioting in the city .", "1969 As the black power movement gains strength , the Black Panthers are the host of their own program , `` The People 's Information Slot . ``", "October 1970 WLIB goes off the air for several days during a labor dispute that involves the fi ring of an employee and picketing by station workers .", "July 1971 WLIB becomes the city 's fi rst black-owned radio station when it is bought by a consortium that includes Percy Sutton , the former Manhattan borough president .", "URBAN TACTICS ."], "summary": ["Article traces history of WLIB-AM , radio station that has broadcast for years from fabled Hotel Theresa in Harlem and recently switched from call-in shows to playing gospel music round the clock .", "Timeline .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 3], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788988", "text": ["Slashing diagonally across Manhattan 's street grid , Broadway is responsible for memorable irregularities like Times Square , Union Square and of course the Flatiron Building , one of the city 's best-known and most-photographed structures .", "In Brooklyn , Flatbush Avenue follows a similar wayward course , though the lower-slung buildings on the irregular lots that line the street are more likely to be gas stations , garages and warehouses than works of architectural distinction .", "But now , in a borough where comparisons with Manhattan remain a fact of life , some optimists are saying that a building planned for a triangular lot near the Manhattan Bridge could be a flatiron building of Brooklyn 's own .", "The project 's architect , Ismael Leyva , does not shy away from the comparisons .", "`` To me , when I saw this site being triangular-shaped , the first thing that came to my mind was that this is going to be similar to the Flatiron Building , '' he said on Thursday , adding that his team had rounded off the front of the planned building in an homage to the famous skyscraper .", "Construction of Brooklyn 's flatiron building , a project of the developer Isaac Hager , is scheduled to begin in a few weeks and to be completed in the summer of 2008 .", "The differences between the buildings are considerable .", "The 22-story Flatiron Building , at 23rd Street , Broadway and Fifth Avenue , has a limestone and terra-cotta facade , while the new building , a 21-story structure at 85 Flatbush Avenue Extension , on Tillary Street , will be glass .", "Moreover , the Flatiron Building is commercial , while the new building will hold luxury condominiums .", "-LRB- Mount Hope Court , a 10-story 1914 structure on the Grand Concourse that is known as the Bronx 's Flatiron Building , is also home to apartments . -RRB-", "Most significant , the Flatiron Building of 1902 is a revered architectural icon , while the Brooklyn building , even optimistically speaking , has an uphill climb to reach such status .", "Still , the comparisons have come , beginning with those in The Brooklyn Papers , a weekly , which described the structure as looking `` like the lovechild of the Flatiron Building and a spaceship . ''", "Mr. Leyva said he was gratified that people saw similarities between the buildings but demurred .", "`` Most of the shape is dictated by the site and the zoning requirements , '' he said of his project .", "One way in which the two buildings really could be similar has to do with their role as a catalyst to development .", "The Flatiron Building helped open a heady era of construction , and in Downtown Brooklyn , Mr. Leyva 's project is one of several buildings to emerge from zoning changes made in recent years .", "A few other tall buildings are planned for the immediate neighborhood .", "Two of them , on Gold Street , are from Mr. Leyva 's designs , and a third , at Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues , will sit on a similar triangular lot that could spawn another high-rise wedge .", "In the opinion of Simeon Bankoff , executive director of the Historic Districts Council , an advocacy group , the planned building at 85 Flatbush Extension appears to be out of context with what is in the area now .", "But he added , tongue only partly in cheek , `` Maybe it 's in context with the new Brooklyn . ``", "JAKE MOONEY NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT : DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN ."], "summary": ["Article on plans by developer Isaac Hager to build luxury condominium building on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn designed to emulate Flatiron Building in Manhattan .", "Drawing ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [5, 8], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788989", "text": ["Over the last decade , when it came to choosing who would represent Staten Island and southwest Brooklyn in Congress , Anita Lerman has been the unchallenged standard-bearer of the Independence Party , a small but growing group with 6,703 members on the island .", "But in the primary elections on Tuesday , Ms. Lerman will face a rival for her party 's mantle , an opponent who is better known to voters : Vito Fossella , the Republican who has held the House seat in the 13th District since 1997 .", "Mr. Fossella and Ms. Lerman , the 62-year-old former host of a public access television show called `` Anita Lerman Presents News and Views for Staten Island , '' are squaring off for a line on the ballot that in the general election typically attracts 1,000 to 2,000 votes , just 1 or 2 percent of the total .", "But local officials of the Independence Party of New York -- there are others in Florida , Michigan and elsewhere -- say they are not surprised that Mr. Fossella is seeking their party 's nomination .", "`` There are going to be more and more primaries on the Independence line , '' said Sarah Lyons , chairwoman of the party 's Staten Island chapter .", "`` The party has grown , and it 's become recognized as a thing of great value .", "We 've been working at the grass roots to build a voting base underneath it . ``", "Mr. Fossella , 41 , who will run unopposed on the Republican line in November and in the past has won election by tens of thousands of votes , said he was seeking the Independence nomination because of his personal beliefs .", "`` I pride myself on being an independent fighter for people I represent , '' Mr. Fossella said last week .", "`` The core of the word ' independence ' is to step up and do what 's right , regardless of the fact that sometimes it means going against your own party . ``", "Mr. Fossella cited the examples of his battles against the Bush administration to increase homeland security funds for New York and to preserve deductions for home mortgage interest and for state and local taxes on federal income taxes .", "Ms. Lerman , who is the vice chairwoman of the local party , said her top issue was to make energy policy more environmentally friendly and to reduce consumers ' energy costs .", "As for her chances in the primary , Ms. Lerman said she did not see her campaigns in terms of winning and losing .", "Rather , she said , her campaigns are about meeting the people of Staten Island as she goes door to door and talks to them about their views .", "`` People say , ' When I was in the big party , nobody ever came to my door with a petition for a candidate , ' '' Ms. Lerman said .", "`` Every person who feels more involved and is heard , and says , ' Wait , this political process can have something to do with me ' -- that 's a victory . ``", "JEFF VANDAM NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT : STATEN ISLAND UP CLOSE Correction : September 17 , 2006 , Sunday Because of an editing error , an article last Sunday about the Congressional race for the seat that represents Staten Island and southwest Brooklyn referred incorrectly to the general election in November .", "Representative Vito Fossella will face Stephen A . Harrison .", "He will not run unopposed ."], "summary": ["Article on New York City 's Independence Party primary election that will pit party standard-bearer Anita Lerman against Republican Vito Fossella , who has held House seat in 13th District since 1997 .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [1], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788990", "text": ["SHELDON GRUBER never met his grandfather Joseph Punn , a ceiling man from an era when pressed-tin ceilings could be found all over New York .", "But he has heard the stories .", "Too poor to afford a truck in the 1920 's , Mr. Punn used to hang panels of decorative tin around his waist on ropes and travel by subway across the city to install them .", "`` I think eventually he might have gotten a horse and wagon , '' Mr. Gruber said .", "A result of the labors of Mr. Punn and others in his industry was an array of baroque ceilings around the city .", "It was possible to glance upward in countless barrooms , parlors and factories and see a textured latticework of flowers , torches or other flourishes .", "Although pressed-tin ceilings are sold by stores like Home Depot , Mr. Gruber says he believes that his company , AA-Abbingdon Affiliates , is the city 's last remaining business that sells them exclusively .", "Even as recently as the 1950 's , he says , a handful of other tin-ceiling specialists could be found in New York , but no longer .", "Mr. Gruber , a ruddy 48-year-old with slick black hair , fills his orders from a small showroom and warehouse on an industrial stretch of Utica Avenue in East Flatbush , Brooklyn .", "He recently shipped pressed-tin ceiling panels to South Korea for a hotel , to the Western United States for a chain of billiard halls , and to Mexico and Ireland for restaurants .", "Pressed-tin ceilings in New York date to the 1860 's , when thin iron sheets coated with tin were used in buildings for fire protection .", "According to some accounts , immigrants from Europe began having the sheets stamped with repeating ornamental patterns to recreate the look of molded plaster ceilings popular in their native lands .", "With metal , they could do so at a fraction of the cost , using a material more durable than plaster and less likely to crack .", "The appetite for stamped metal has only increased in recent years as deteriorating pieces from the 19th century need to be restored or replaced , according to Richard Pieper , director of preservation for Jan Hird Pokorny Associates , a Manhattan-based architecture firm .", "`` There are certainly other manufacturers of metal ceilings and cornices , '' Mr. Pieper said , `` but as far as I know , Abbingdon is the only one still in New York . ''", "Though commonly described simply as tin ceilings , they are now usually panels made of steel , chrome , brass or copper , which are specially manufactured for Abbingdon outside the city .", "The ceilings come in great variety .", "Abbingdon , for instance , offers 41 ceiling designs at up to $ 12.50 a square foot , along with 15 cornice designs .", "Some make use of the same vintage patterns that Mr. Gruber 's grandfather sold 80 years ago .", "While the company ships around the world , about 15 percent of its sales are in New York , Mr. Gruber says , a proportion that may reflect New Yorkers ' appetite for decorative touches evoking the city 's past .", "Walking through his warehouse one morning recently , Mr. Gruber lifted the tops of large cardboard boxes to inspect goods being readied for shipping .", "Inside one box was a pile of shiny chrome panels decorated with concentric squares .", "The panels in the next box bore a quaint Victorian pattern .", "A third shipment featured a diamond pattern emitting sunburst rays .", "`` The main factor , '' Mr. Gruber said , `` is that what 's old is new . ``", "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT : EAST FLATBUSH ."], "summary": ["Article on AA-Abbingdon Affiliates in East Flatbush , Brooklyn , which may be New York City 's last remaining business that sells press-tin ceilings exclusively .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [6], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788991", "text": ["WHEN the planes hit the twin towers , I was on the last day of a weeklong fishing trip in that part of the country where Montana , Wyoming and Idaho come together in a kind of north-woods wonderland , a patch of the West that is home to Yellowstone National Park , the Tetons , gleaming rivers and herds of elk .", "It is hard to imagine a place more removed from the successive horrors of that day .", "Early the next morning , the woman at the check-in counter at the small airport in Butte seemed genuinely sorry for me when she saw the Bronx address on my driver 's license .", "`` Well , you 're going right back into it , are n't you .", "`` she said , her '' it `` heavy with portent .", "I sensed that what she was really saying was : `` You poor thing .", "I sure am glad I live out here and not in that East Coast hellhole of yours . ``", "Of course , it turned out I was going nowhere that day , at least not on a plane .", "But the thought of remaining in Montana while my hometown bled was unacceptable .", "The previous day , watching those horrific images on television in the lounge of a motel just outside Yellowstone , I had felt absurdly out of place .", "I 'm not sure I had fully appreciated until that morning what a deep-dyed New Yorker I had become over the years .", "Those were my neighbors in those buildings , the people I sat with on the subway and exchanged glares with after bumping shoulders in Times Square .", "I might even have known some of them .", "It was essential to get home .", "Like many travelers stranded around the country that week , I rented a car .", "In my haste to get to New York I did n't pay much attention to the speed limits on the interstate , but every once in a while another car would leave me in the dust and I 'd wonder if it was another New Yorker hurrying home , perhaps having learned bad news .", "I wondered how many hundreds or thousands of us there were , all racing across the continent in rental cars toward the wounded city .", "So it was east through brown and yellow Montana , then south through the Crow Indian Reservation into Wyoming , then east again through the spectacular reddish emptiness of northeastern Wyoming and into endless South Dakota , where walls of rain came down in the night and lightning bolts provided eerie glimpses of the Plains .", "Then the farms of Iowa and Illinois , then Chicago and night again , the relentlessly heavy traffic of Interstate 80 in Indiana and Ohio .", "Then morning again and the most beautiful landscape since Wyoming , the densely green hills of western Pennsylvania , a green so deep in some places as to be almost black .", "Finally , that Friday afternoon , Sept . 14 , the short sprint across New Jersey and then , 2,400 miles and 49 hours after I left Butte , the smoldering hole in the skyline , the smoke and dust still rising from the rubble .", "Trifling thoughts occur even at solemn moments , and I could not help thinking how , after many years of regarding the towers as brutish and ugly , I had only recently developed a grudging fondness for them and was going to miss them .", "Some New Yorkers like to ridicule the tourists who stand gawking at the big buildings .", "But here 's a little secret : There are New Yorkers who , despite a lifelong familiarity with the city , sometimes find themselves standing in the middle of the sidewalk and staring up , momentarily whacked by the amazingness of Manhattan .", "More than once , a sidewalk hustler , observing my skyward gaze , has taken me for a rube easily separated from his money .", "As I looked at the skyline that afternoon , having driven most of the length of the country , one of the first things that came to mind was the Tetons , in whose blue-skied grandeur I had just spent a couple of days .", "The association seemed entirely natural .", "One was made by man and the other by nature , but both reached high into the sky , and both were powerful symbols of the country .", "As I look back , that seems to have been a particularly good time to drive across the United States , a chance to see the American flags breaking out on lampposts and front porches from region to region , and to listen on the car radio as people with continually changing accents struggled to understand what had happened .", "For me , Sept . 11 will always evoke certain place names along the American highway -- Billings , Rapid City , Davenport , Toledo -- and a long , fast drive from one extreme to another , from the simple joys of Yellowstone to the smoldering epicenter of the real world .", "FIVE YEARS ON : LANDSCAPE ."], "summary": ["Mitch Keller essay recalls his trip across country from fishing trip out West to return to New York City after September 11 , 2001 .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 20], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1788994", "text": ["FIVE years ago my brother and I spoke regularly .", "Five years ago we drank together , teased each other without mercy and , occasionally , even expressed feelings of affection .", "After 9/11 we did not .", "My brother is a 20-plus-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department , a former marine with a degree in history whose politics are conservative .", "He is four years older and quite a bit larger than me .", "I am a 20-plus-year veteran of big-agency advertising , a creative director turned fiction writer whose politics , not surprisingly , do not lean conservatively .", "Until five years ago , this was not such a big problem .", "There were plenty of other things to talk about , and we knew that despite our differences , there was still much to appreciate about each other .", "On Sept . 11 , 2001 , I was in Boca Raton , Fla . , on business accompanied by my wife , my 3-year-old daughter and my mother-in-law -LRB- yes , my mother-in-law came on business trips with us back then -RRB- at , of all things , a sales convention for a yogurt company .", "At 9 a.m. , we were granted a 10-minute respite from the executive Vince Lombardi-isms and the Roman Colosseum-inspired motivational d\u00e9cor .", "The first thing I did was check the messages on my personal communications device du jour , because in 2001 , I was convinced that the more I checked the quotidian drivel it contained the more it seemed that my ad agency , yogurt convention , frequent-flier-miles-financed-family-business-trip life mattered .", "But this time what the messages told me were hardly drivel .", "I immediately called New York to check on my brother who was not supposed to be working , but with firefighters you never know .", "He was n't working .", "He 'd soon go to the site , but luckily he would n't be one of the 343 firefighters killed .", "For the next hour , I 'm fairly sure that he watched what I watched , that he looked away when I looked away , and I am fairly sure that at 9:59 a.m. , when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed , he felt exactly what I felt .", "What we all felt .", "I am also sure that those were the last pure , nonpoliticized thoughts any of us would have about that day , and the last time that my brother and I would feel the same way about anything for some time .", "Renting a car and driving home was our only option .", "At first I wanted to push through , to rush the family home .", "`` To what .", "`` my wife asked .", "`` To have our daughter watch her parents sit paralyzed in front of a television set .", "`` So we took our time , taking a scenic , non-traditional route back to New York .", "I got my information from fellow travelers and National Public Radio .", "I found comfort in the measured voices of `` All Things Considered , '' solace in `` I love New York '' signs in Georgia , inspiration in the words on Jefferson 's tombstone at Monticello , near Charlottesville , Va . , which noted that he was also one of the fathers of religious tolerance in this country .", "Meanwhile , my brother was getting his information from rescue workers and fellow firefighters .", "Because of his military background , his job in the years before the attack had included training recruits at the Fire Academy at Randalls Island .", "His job in the months ahead would be to coordinate funerals .", "Dozens of funerals .", "For friends and friends of friends , each with a story more tragic than the last .", "Late at night on Sept . 14 , my family slept as I drove through Pennsylvania .", "With no NPR to be had for the time being , I listened to sports guys weighing in on the Northern Alliance , D.J. ` s explaining the tenuous Pakistani-Afghani relationship .", "With each passing mile , more and more proselytizing and hate seeped into the views of the syndicated giants .", "Driving near Port Jervis , N.Y. , a state trooper pulled alongside our car and shined a spotlight inside while the rest of my family was sleeping .", "Four strangers in a red rental car with Florida plates .", "Suspects .", "To think that 9/11 drove a stake between my brother and me is as na\u00efve as thinking that it drove one through the country .", "Red and blue staters had been at each other 's throats for a while , and my brother and I had clashed on and off over lots of things for years .", "But this took it farther .", "He had been affected by it in ways I could not imagine .", "Of the 343 firefighters killed , he knew dozens .", "No one that I knew had died .", "Within a week , I would go back to work .", "For more than a year , he would go to funerals and I imagine that in addition to grief , a man with my brother 's courage and sense of duty must also have been dealing with a serious case of survivor 's guilt .", "But did that make his opinions -- which had become increasingly angry and pronounced -- right .", "Over the last five years we 've disagreed about everything from the 2000 and 2004 elections to the war in Iraq , radical Islam and of course , the liberal news media .", "For a while we tiptoed around politics but when we were together everything seemed political .", "For a while we did n't speak at all .", "But lately we 've been talking .", "I care too strongly for him to let politics destroy our relationship and I think he feels the same .", "The other day I called him .", "He had just gotten home from the hospital where a fellow firefighter , Lt . Howard Carpluk Jr . lay in critical condition from injuries suffered when the floor had given way in a burning Bronx building .", "Another firefighter , 25-year-old Michael Reilly , who had served in the Marines in Iraq , had already died .", "My brother told me he was there near Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the doctors gave them an update .", "-LRB- Lieutenant Carpluk died the following day . -RRB-", "My brother sounded tired .", "After some time , while discussing Labor Day plans , I told him that I 'd been invited to discuss my book on a conservative talk show in Boston and joked that I feared an ambush .", "He told me to tell them that my brother was a New York City firefighter , and maybe they 'd go easy on me .", "James P . Othmer is the author of the novel `` The Futurist . '' ."], "summary": ["Op-Ed article by James Othmer describes ways in which his relationship with his brother , veteran New York City firefighter who worked at World Trade Center site , changed after 9/11 ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 59, 2], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788996", "text": ["To the Editor : In a Sept . 3 letter -LRB- `` New York Is Bike-Friendly '' -RRB- , Ryan Russo , the Department of Transportation 's director for street management and safety , states that he and his colleagues `` have to work hard to win local support for the bike lanes , as there is often significant community board and elected official opposition to these plans . ''", "We have been working for two years with Queens Community Board 9 to establish a bike path on the long-abandoned city-owned former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch right of way .", "Returning it to public use as a greenway would seem to be a no-brainer , especially considering it was on the city 's 1997 greenway master plan .", "The city , however , has been less than helpful .", "Last year the Department of City Planning obtained funding for a feasibility study for this proposal , but could not go ahead because they were unable to secure a required `` implementation partner , '' even though they approached the obvious choices : the Parks Department and Department of Transportation .", "We ourselves were rebuffed in a meeting with officials from the Parks Department , who suggested that we assume full responsibility for conducting a study and amassing the funds for implementation .", "Mr. Russo has our support .", "Do we have his .", "Jordan Sandke Richmond Hill , Queens The writer is chairman , Rockaway Beach Branch Greenway Committee .", "To the Editor : It 's great that the Department of Transportation is adding bike lanes to the streets of the city .", "Now if it could just persuade cyclists to use them instead of ignoring red lights , riding the wrong way on one-way streets , or on the sidewalk , and in general behaving as if traffic regulations do not apply to them .", "David Vaughan East Village ."], "summary": ["Letters from Greenway Committee Rockaway Beach branch chairman Jordan Sandke and David Vaughan on Ryan Russo 's September 3 letter on difficulty in winning local support for bike lanes in New York City ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 8, 11], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788997", "text": ["Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his schools chancellor , Joel Klein , believe there 's a great deal of savings to be had in restructuring the financial operations of the school system -- $ 200 million is a frequently quoted number .", "To obtain it , Mr. Klein has awarded a $ 15.8 , 18-month no-bid contract to a management consulting firm to do the overhauling .", "Mr. Bloomberg , who took control of the city 's schools four years ago , has always invited a `` buck stops here '' accountability for his efforts .", "We 're going to be waiting to see how well he and Mr. Klein deliver on his promise to make this questionable deal pay off .", "As of right now , the arguments that the contract could not be put out to competitive bidding seem thin .", "Mr. Klein 's choice was the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal , a New York-based group that has stepped in to reorganize everything from the government of Orange County , Calif . , to the company that makes Twinkies .", "The firm also has experience working with school systems in St . Louis and New Orleans .", "The city 's Public Advocate , Betsy Gotbaum , is demanding an investigation of the consultants ' previous work with those two educational systems .", "That 's not unreasonable , but even if the work in St . Louis and New Orleans went well , finding ways to save money and streamline systems in a medium-sized city with completely dysfunctional schools is very different from working in New York , with its $ 15 billion budget , 1.1.", "million students and 80,000 teachers .", "For all its problems , New York 's system has also been the target of reform efforts by several different chancellors over the last decade .", "Many of the more obvious fixes have been made .", "But Mr. Klein , who first hired Alvarez & Marsal for a few months of work that was paid for by private donations , quickly signed the firm for the big project , which is being paid for by taxpayers and involves more money than all the department 's no-bid contracts awarded in the last fiscal year .", "He says the firm has already produced savings that has sent nearly $ 50 million to the schools for the hiring of more than 300 teachers and other workers .", "As they 've tackled a myriad of education problems , Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Klein -- who both lack previous education management experience -- have frequently shown a lack of respect for the education department 's own experts .", "While both men clearly have the schools ' best interests at heart , it 's sometimes hard to tell whether their eagerness to reach outside for help is based on real need or a simple impatience with people who do n't fit the corporate model .", "And in the past they have not always been right .", "In 2003 , they rushed a no-bid contract to put Snapple soft drinks in the schools , a deal criticized by Comptroller Bill Thompson .", "It produced only a fraction of the profit promised .", "In the not-so-long-ago bad old days , whenever the Department of Education wanted to enter into a contract over $ 50,000 , an approval required a request for bids , a public hearing and a vote by the school board .", "Nobody wants to go back to that cumbersome process again .", "But in this case , the mayor and his schools chancellor have n't done the argument for expediency much good .", "The City ."], "summary": ["Editorial questions Mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein 's decision to award $ 15.8 million , 18-month no-bid contract to Alvarez & Marsal to overhaul financial operations of New York City school system ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [0, 1, 22], "tag": ["New York and Region", "Opinion"]}
- {"id": "1788999", "text": ["STEPPING out of the 207th Street subway stop in Inwood , the last station on the A train , visitors from downtown Manhattan -LRB- that is , anywhere else on the island -RRB- can be forgiven for thinking they have reached the end of the earth .", "A mosaic on the station wall commemorates the end of the city 's longest subway line with the words `` At long last . ''", "And while the apartment buildings , at five or six stories , are just as tall as the ones beyond Inwood , the sky seems somehow bigger , or at least closer .", "Outside the station , the narrow strip of neighborhood is surrounded by river and parkland .", "Looming at the corner of Isham and Cooper Streets , behind a statue of Christ with a lamb on his shoulders , is the 70-year-old Church of the Good Shepherd , made of thick stone blocks that look as if they have risen out of the earth themselves .", "That is not what happened , of course .", "The Paulist Fathers , an order of Catholic priests , were there from 1911 on , there for the church 's construction , for its opening , for baptisms , weddings , funerals and everything else .", "Everything , that is , until 10 days ago .", "Shocking many parishioners , Paulist leaders announced in April that in the face of staffing problems , they would be leaving Good Shepherd behind .", "The decision led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to assume control of the struggling Good Shepherd School next door , replacing the principal , who had worked there for more than 20 years .", "The archdiocese has replaced the Paulists in the mostly Latino parish with members of the Capuchin Franciscan order , many of whose priests speak Spanish .", "The shift was first reported in The Manhattan Times , a bilingual weekly newspaper .", "For James Hamilton , a 34-year-old parishioner who is a member of the church 's men 's club and its Knights of Columbus chapter , the surprise was doubled .", "Late last year , he served on a committee aimed in part at helping the Paulists decide which of their churches to leave .", "At the time , the order decided to remain in Inwood .", "`` We would have understood more last year if they had made the decision as part of a process , but they decided to stay , '' Mr. Hamilton said last week .", "`` We were very shocked when this abrupt turnaround came : ' By the way , we 're leaving . '", "`` The man who made the surprise announcement at Sunday Masses in April , the Rev . John F . Duffy , president of the Paulist Fathers , said it came with '' a tremendous sense of sadness `` but was unavoidable .", "The order has dwindled to only 150 priests in the United States , Canada , Rome and Jerusalem , down from a high of 262 in the early 1960 's .", "And because the order 's priorities include evangelization and interfaith relations , he said , the everyday business of running churches is too time-consuming .", "`` The pastoral demand is such that you may have no time to do anything outside of parish work , '' Father Duffy said .", "`` Or , as in this case , you may think that in a couple more years you may not even be able to do the parish work adequately . ''", "The archdiocese hopes that the change in administration will also help shore up the school , which runs through eighth grade .", "According to Father Duffy , the school is in debt , and enrollment has dropped to barely 200 students , down from more than 1,200 in the mid-70 ` s .", "At noon on Wednesday , the sixth day of the Capuchin priests ' residence at the church , the Rev . Martin Curtin , the new pastor , celebrated Mass for about 60 people .", "They were scattered about the pews in the church 's cavernous interior , under an arching stone ceiling .", "Father Curtin was still moving his things to the church from his previous post in East New York , and the other priests in his order were moving from East Harlem , where their previous church , Our Lady Queen of the Angels , was awaiting final word on whether it will close .", "The words Father Curtin read , from the Gospel of Luke , were a goodbye of a sort that felt familiar , from Jesus to a group of his loyal followers who had tried to stop him from moving on .", "`` He said to them , ' To the other towns also I must proclaim good news of the Kingdom of God , ' '' Father Curtin read , `` ` because for this purpose I have been sent . '", "`` Street Level | Inwood E-mail : streetlevel@nytimes.com ."], "summary": ["Street Level column on decision by Paulist Fathers , order of Catholic priests , to leave Church of the Good Shepherd in Inwood section of Manhattan .", "Archdiocese of New York , assuming control of church and school , has replaced Paulists with members of Capuchin Franciscan order .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [10, 9, 29], "tag": ["New York and Region"]}
- {"id": "1789037", "text": ["Gussie Moran felt pretty before Maria Sharapova did .", "Cheekily pretty , for 1949 .", "In the face of a Wimbledon ban on all but the whitest attire , she flashed color and lace -- under her white hemline , on her naughty knickers .", "So began a decades-long line of ball-bashing beauties dressed by Ted Tinling with an eye toward putting a little after-hours into the afternoon .", "The glittery black cocktail number modeled by Sharapova in the last two weeks is less the latest mutation in the evolution of the tennis outfit than a return to the play-and-then-party frock of earlier generations .", "Which dress , then , belongs with which decade and player .", "It 's no longer a cinch to tell . a . -RRB- 1966 .", "Tinling may have loved to dress the Brazilian champion Maria Bueno most of all .", "`` She was an actress , '' he said in an interview with The Washington Post in 1989 .", "`` I would leave her alone for a few minutes and she would do her poses in front of the mirror and please herself about how the dress was going to look on her . ''", "Bueno won the Wimbledon singles title three times .", "b . -RRB- 1981 .", "Tracy Austin wore this Tinling dress when she beat Martina Navratilova to win her second United States Open singles title .", "c . -RRB- 1971 .", "Virginia Wade , the last Briton to win a Wimbledon singles title -LRB- in 1977 -RRB- , was a Tinling gal too . d . -RRB- 2006 .", "Do all Marias like to `` feel pretty , '' like the `` West Side Story '' Maria whose song accompanies Sharapova 's new Nike commercial .", "Maria Kirilenko , seeded No . 20 in the current Open , wore this pretty dress , designed by Stella McCartney for Adidas , before curtseying out in the third round .", "Answers : 1 .", "b . 2 .", "d . 3 .", "c . 4 .", "a MARY JO MURPHY The Basics ."], "summary": ["Women 's tennis outfits have evolved over past four decades .", "Photos of tennis dresses designed by Ted Tinling and Stella McCartney for Adidas ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [16, 7], "tag": ["Week in Review"]}
- {"id": "1789043", "text": ["OVER the last year , as Iran , Iraq and Lebanon have dominated headlines , hopes of gaining firmer control of a largely forgotten corner of the war on terrorism -- the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region -- have quietly evaporated .", "On Tuesday , the Pakistani government signed a `` truce '' with militants who have resisted Pakistani military efforts to gain control of the region , which is roughly the size of Delaware .", "The agreement , which lets militants remain in the area as long as they promised to halt attacks , immediately set off concern among American analysts .", "Al Qaeda 's surviving leadership is suspected of using the border areas as a base of operation to support international terrorist attacks , including possibly the July 2005 London subway bombings .", "Meanwhile , the Taliban leadership is widely believed to be using another border area to direct spiraling attacks in Afghanistan .", "`` There 's a link with broader international terrorism , `` said Robert Grenier , the former top counterterrorism official for the Central Intelligence Agency .", "`` There 's a link with what is happening in Afghanistan .", "Al Qaeda , such as it is now , really has its center of gravity in the area . ``", "Last week 's truce agreement covers North Waziristan , an area on the Pakistani side of the border .", "After the Taliban fell in 2001 , senior Qaeda and Taliban leaders are believed to have fled there from Afghanistan and to other remote border areas in Pakistan .", "The locations of Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri remain unknown .", "But American officials suspect that they are somewhere along the border .", "After two attempts to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003 were linked to the tribal areas , Pakistani officials expanded the military effort to subdue the region .", "But after suffering heavy casualties in 2004 and early 2005 , they began negotiating with local militants .", "Last year , Pakistan signed a separate agreement with militants in South Waziristan , but the move failed to slow the killing of government supporters .", "`` If you look at the number of deaths in the region , it 's not clear that they 've dropped , `` said Xenia Dormandy , former director for South Asia for the National Security Council .", "Signing such truces , she said , `` is a potentially dangerous route to take because there is little pressure that you can bring to bear to make sure they can follow through on the agreements . ''", "Two hundred miles to the south , the Taliban leadership is believed to have established a base of operations in and around the Pakistani city of Quetta , according to American analysts .", "Afghan officials say the Taliban used the area to plan and carry out sweeping attacks in southern Afghanistan in the spring .", "Pakistan has largely turned a blind eye to Taliban activities , American officials say , because it sees the group as a tool to counter growing Indian influence in Afghanistan .", "The Pakistanis have longed viewed a friendly Afghanistan as critical to their survival and fears India may be trying to encircle their country .", "At the same time , a separate uprising in Baluchistan province has tied up Pakistani soldiers .", "Ethnic Baluch tribesmen complain that Pakistan 's military government is not sharing enough of the profits from natural gas exploration with the locals .", "The killing last month of a charismatic tribal elder who was a rebel leader set off riots in several cities .", "`` Pakistan is essentially trying to put down a civil war in Baluchistan , '' said Ms. Dormandy , now an analyst at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard .", "`` At the same time , it 's trying to monitor its border with India , monitor the border of Afghanistan and bring down the Taliban and Al Qaeda . ``", "In Afghanistan , NATO forces that took control of security in the south from American forces this summer have been surprised by the size and strength of the Taliban insurgency .", "Roadside bomb attacks have doubled this year , and suicide bombings have tripled .", "Yesterday , a suicide bombing in Kabul killed at least 2 American soldiers and 14 Afghan civilians .", "All told this year , heavy clashes in eastern and southern Afghanistan have killed more than 100 American and NATO soldiers , roughly twice the number killed in the same period in 2005 .", "Since Aug . 1 alone , 28 NATO soldiers have been killed .", "Analysts say the problem in the border region is an explosive mix of conditions : a lack of government authority , a vast amount of weaponry and the rise of Islamic militancy .", "Until the 1980 's , the area was ruled by local tribes , whose brute self-government kept the population isolated and impoverished but allowed for a degree of stability .", "In the 1980 's , the American-backed anti-Soviet jihad unfolded in the region and began to wear away longstanding tribal structures .", "Huge piles of weapons and cash empowered Islamist organizations to open dozens of training camps , hard-line mosques and conservative religious schools along the border .", "In the 1990 's , the Taliban emerged there .", "Today , said Mr. Grenier , the former C.I.A. official , the only way to increase government authority in the rural areas on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was to develop the impoverished rural areas over time .", "`` But that 's a generational process , `` said Mr. Grenier , now a managing director at Kroll Inc . , a security firm based in New York .", "This summer , local people interviewed in southern Afghanistan said they were unsure that the United States and NATO would remain committed to the long , expensive process of stabilizing the border region .", "This year , the United States cut its aid to Afghanistan by 30 percent .", "Al Qaeda and the Taliban are no doubt betting that time is on their side .", "THE WORLD ."], "summary": ["Pakistani government signs ` truce ' with militants who have resisted Pakistani military efforts to gain control of North Waziristan , lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region .", "Agreement allows militants to remain in area as long as they promise to halt attacks .", "American analysts are concerned because Al Qaeda 's surviving leadership is suspected of using border areas as base to support international terrorist attacks .", "Taliban leadership is widely believed to be using another border area to direct attacks in Afghanistan .", "Photo .", "Map ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [3, 4, 1, 2], "tag": ["Washington", "Week in Review"]}
- {"id": "1789044", "text": ["WHEN Steve Irwin died last week , the world lost an entertainer who could command an audience by jumping on crocodiles and manhandling snakes .", "But Mr. Irwin , who was 44 when he was killed by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef , was more than a showman .", "For better and worse , as the star of `` The Crocodile Hunter '' and other nature programs he was the modern face of wildlife conservation .", "`` I sort of see him as the ' Mutual of Omaha ' for Generation X , `` said Eric Dinerstein , chief scientist and vice president for science of the World Wildlife Fund .", "Since 1992 , when he filmed his first wildlife special , Mr. Irwin had helped set the standard for a new genre of nature shows , one where the host shared the stage with the animals .", "Mr. Irwin poked and grabbed crocodiles , snakes and other wild creatures , often seeming to defy death in the process .", "His in-your-croc ` s-face approach was different from conventional documentary fare that typically kept the camera and the host at zoom-lens distance from the wildlife .", "`` He 's a far cry from David Attenborough , `` said Thane Maynard , interim director of the Cincinnati Zoo and host of the National Public Radio program '' 90 Second Naturalist . ``", "`` Steve Irwin 's more at the level of the kid 's wildlife program , laced with danger and adventure . ``", "Jack Hanna , the longtime host of wildlife shows , said that Mr. Irwin 's program `` was a whole new thing '' when it first appeared on the cable channel Animal Planet in 1996 .", "`` The Crocodile Hunter '' attracted younger viewers who might be bored by the staid style of `` Mutual of Omaha 's Wild Kingdom `` or an Attenborough documentary , but who would eagerly watch Mr. Irwin sloshing around with his charges .", "`` You can either like how he does it , or not like it , '' said Mr. Hanna , who added that Mr. Irwin always laced his programs with information about animals and conservation .", "Mr. Irwin 's approach was part of an evolution of how nature was portrayed on television , Dr. Dinerstein said .", "`` Twenty years ago , you almost never saw the predator catch the prey on film .", "Now , it 's a requirement . ``", "Conservationists said that in his interactions with animals , Mr. Irwin seemed to know what he was doing .", "But Steven Sanderson , president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society , said his biggest contribution was his enthusiasm .", "`` One of the greatest challenges we face as conservationists is people do n't care , `` Dr. Sanderson said .", "`` He really made people crazy about encounters with the wild . ''", "But other than inspiring viewers to care about wildlife , what kind of conservation message did Mr. Irwin deliver with his antic showmanship .", "`` There 's a circus-like atmosphere to it , `` said Eugene Linden , whose books on animals and intelligence include '' The Octopus and the Orangutan . ``", "`` How does that make for conservation .", "The implicit message is that animals are only interesting if they are dangerous or extreme . ``", "Alan Thornhill , executive director of the Society for Conservation Biology , knows how that message can sink in .", "When he was a teacher , Dr. Thornhill said , he used to travel with students to tropical rainforests .", "Before leaving he would often get calls from parents concerned about safety .", "`` They 'd have seen all the poisonous snakes on TV shows and they knew how dangerous it is , `` Dr. Thornhill said .", "`` My response always was , ' Your child is safer with me in a tropical rainforest than he is driving on the freeway . '", "`` Conservationists should be able to consider the merits of Mr. Irwin 's approach for a long time , as his shows will no doubt continue in reruns .", "But like the animals they showcase , nature shows keep evolving .", "That , Mr. Hanna said , is a problem .", "Mr. Irwin 's success has spawned imitators who have taken his approach even farther .", "In MTV 's `` Wildboyz , '' for example , the stars have been intentionally stung by a scorpion and bitten by a snapping turtle .", "`` My big concern is the Steve Irwin wannabes , '' Mr. Hanna said .", "`` I do n't know if that 's the thing we want to portray about conservation if it 's really blood and guts out there . ``", "Animal Nature ."], "summary": ["Steve Irwin was showman , entertainer and face of wildlife conservation for new generation .", "Some conservationists say his biggest contribution was his enthusiasm .", "Others say Irwin 's success spawned troubling imitators who do not have sufficient knowledge or consider safety .", "Photo ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [16, 31], "tag": ["Week in Review"]}
- {"id": "1789045", "text": ["THE Web site for an outfit called Term Paper Relief features a picture of a young college student chewing her lip .", "`` Damn ! '' a little comic-strip balloon says .", "`` I 'll have to cancel my Saturday night date to finish my term paper before the Monday deadline . ``", "Well , no , she wo n't -- not if she 's enterprising enough to enlist Term Paper Relief to write it for her .", "For $ 9.95 a page she can obtain an `` A-grade '' paper that is fashioned to order and `` completely non-plagiarized . ''", "This last detail is important .", "Thanks to search engines like Google , college instructors have become adept at spotting those shop-worn , downloadable papers that circulate freely on the Web , and can even finger passages that have been ripped off from standard texts and reference works .", "A grade-conscious student these days seems to need a custom job , and to judge from the number of services on the Internet , there must be virtual mills somewhere employing armies of diligent scholars who grind away so that credit-card-equipped undergrads can enjoy more carefree time together .", "How good are the results .", "With first semester just getting under way at most colleges , bringing with it the certain prospect of both academic and social pressure , The Times decided to undertake an experiment in quality control of the current offerings .", "Using her own name and her personal e-mail address , an editor ordered three English literature papers from three different sites on standard , often-assigned topics : one comparing and contrasting Huxley 's `` Brave New World '' and Orwell 's `` 1984 '' .", "One discussing the nature of Ophelia 's madness in `` Hamlet '' .", "And one exploring the theme of colonialism in Conrad 's `` Lord Jim . ''", "A small sample , perhaps , but one sufficient , upon perusal , to suggest that papers written to order are just like the ones students write for themselves , only more so -- they 're poorly organized , awkwardly phrased , thin on substance , but masterly in the ancient arts of padding and stating and restating the obvious .", "If they 're delivered , that is .", "The `` Lord Jim '' essay , ordered from SuperiorPapers.com, never arrived , despite repeated entreaties , and the excuse finally offered was a high-tech variant of `` The dog ate my homework . ''", "The writer assigned to the task , No . 3323 , was `` obviously facing some technical difficulties , '' an e-mail message explained , `` and can not upload your paper . ''", "The message went on to ask for a 24-hour extension , the wheeziest stratagem in the procrastinator 's arsenal , invented long before the electronic age .", "The two other papers came in on time , and each grappled , more or less , with the assigned topic .", "The Orwell / Huxley essay , prepared by Term Paper Relief and a relative bargain at $ 49.75 for five pages , begins : `` Although many similarities exist between Aldous Huxley 's ` A Brave New World ' and George Orwell 's ` 1984 , ' the works books -LSB- sic -RSB- though they deal with similar topics , are more dissimilar than alike . ''", "That 's certainly a relief , because we could n't have an essay if they were n't .", "Elsewhere the author proves highly adept with the `` on the one hand / on the other '' formula , one of the most valuable tools for a writer concerned with attaining his assigned word count , and says , for example , of `` Brave New World '' : `` Many people consider this Huxley 's most important work : many others think it is his only work .", "This novel has been praised and condemned , vilified and glorified , a source of controversy , a subject for sermons , and required reading for many high school students and college undergraduates .", "This novel has had twenty-seven printings in the United States alone and will probably have twenty-seven more . ``", "The obvious point of comparison between the two novels is that where Orwell 's world is an authoritarian , police-state nightmare , Huxley 's dystopia is ostensibly a paradise , with drugs and sex available on demand .", "A clever student might even pick up some extra credit by pointing out that while Orwell meant his book as a kind of predictive warning , it is Huxley 's world , much more far-fetched at the time of writing , that now more nearly resembles our own .", "The essay never exactly makes these points , though it gets close a couple of times , declaring at one point that `` the two works vary greatly . ''", "It also manages to remind us that Orwell 's real name was Eric Blair and that both he and his book `` are misunderstood to this day . ''", "The paper does makes a number of embarrassing spelling errors -LRB- `` dissention , '' `` anti-semetic '' -RRB- but William H . Pritchard , an English professor at Amherst , who read the paper at The Times 's request , shrewdly suggested that , in this day of spell check , they may have been included deliberately , to throw suspicious teachers off the track .", "If confronted with such a paper from one of his own students , he wrote in an e-mail message , he probably would n't grade it at all but would instead say `` come see me '' -LRB- shuddering at the prospect -RRB- .", "The Hamlet essay was a trick assignment , or perhaps a poorly worded one .", "Ophelia 's genuine madness , as opposed to Hamlet 's feigned craziness , has become a touchstone in Shakespeare studies , especially among feminist and gender studies scholars who read in Ophelia 's songs and fragmentary utterances a coded response to the irrationality and sexual repression of the Elizabethan patriarchy .", "The author of the four-page paper , supplied by Go-Essays for $ 127.96 , approaches the question more literally and concludes , not incorrectly , that Ophelia is literally driven crazy by her father , brother and lover -- or as the essay puts it : `` Thus , in critical review of the play , Ophelia mentally suffers from the scars of unwanted love and exploitation rather than any singular or isolated cause . ''", "The paper goes on to repeat this point with so much plot summary and quotation from the text that it soars right to the assigned length .", "It 's also written in language so stilted and often ungrammatical -LRB- `` Hamlet is obviously hurt by Ophelia 's lack of affection to his vows of love `` -RRB- that it suggests the author may not be a native speaker of English , and even makes you suspect that some of these made-to-order term papers are written by the very same people who pick up the phone when you call to complain about your credit card bill .", "He added : `` If I had paid for this , I would demand my money back . ''", "As it happens , a refund is just what Superior Papers offered , along with a 10 percent discount on a new paper .", "Term paper writing is an arduous business , we need to remember , and we should n't expect too much .", "As the author of the Orwell / Huxley essay says : `` It is so often that one wants something and in wanting romanticizes it , thus bringing disappointment when the end is finally obtained .", "They serve as a reminder that it is necessary to have pain to compare with joy , defeat to compare with victory , and problems in order to have solutions . ``", "Outsourcing Homework ."], "summary": ["Web sites claim that college students can buy customized , ` completely non-plagiarized ' term papers online .", "College instructors are becoming adept at using search engines to identify these papers .", "Three papers purchased for article are found to be poorly organized and unsubstantial ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [6, 8], "tag": ["Technology", "Education", "Week in Review"]}
- {"id": "1789046", "text": ["SOME debates are so polarized , with the competing sides so certain that any compromise would be dangerous , that it 's hard to imagine any middle ground emerging .", "The argument over how to try the 14 terror suspects recently transferred from Central Intelligence Agency prisons to military custody at Guant\u00e1namo Bay seems to be one of them .", "On one side is the Bush administration , which last week proposed that these suspects , whom it called the most dangerous in the war on terror , should be tried in military commissions under procedures that the White House asked Congress to endorse .", "Under the Bush proposal , the trials would not resemble any civilian trials or courts-martial held in the United States .", "Hearsay evidence and evidence obtained under coercion or duress could be admitted .", "And suspects could be denied access to classified evidence , although it would be disclosed to their military defense lawyers .", "On the other side of this debate are civil libertarians who insist that suspected terrorists ca n't receive fair trials unless they are given the protections of an ordinary court-martial -- including the right to exclude hearsay and coerced evidence and the right to see evidence against them .", "So , what 's a fair trial and how much due process does it require .", "Can the suspected terrorists be tried by a tribunal that lacks some of the protections that military defendants ordinarily demand .", "Surprisingly enough , this is not a debate about what the law requires .", "Short of endorsing cruel and unusual punishments for terrorists , Congress can set up whatever military commissions it likes .", "`` The administration 's proposals , if adopted by Congress , would almost surely pass muster with the Supreme Court , `` said Peter Spiro , who teaches international law at Temple University .", "`` Congress may not have complete carte blanche , but in the Hamdan case last June , four of the justices who voted against the commissions stressed that the president could always go back to Congress to get the authority he wanted . ''", "The issue , then , is more about the court of public opinion : how a trial , without the customary procedural rights , would be perceived in the United States and abroad .", "Inevitably , the military commissions , whatever form they take , will be compared to the Nuremberg trials in which Nazi war crime defendants were given due process -- up to a point .", "`` At Nuremberg , there was no secret evidence and no closed proceedings that the defendants ' counsel was excluded from , although it 's not clear how much physical access to the evidence the individual defendants had , `` said John Barrett , who teaches at St . John 's University law school .", "`` Hearsay and evidence produced by coercive methods were n't formally excluded by the Nuremberg charter , but the American interrogators did n't do rough stuff like water boarding -- although there might have been a corner or two cut that the coercion standard would find troubling . ``", "Many want the United States to meet this Nuremberg standard , which they believe gave it authority and credibility over the next half century to serve as a global model of due process .", "`` The trials should n't differ fundamentally from the fair trial provisions in any trial , especially when you have the potential death penalty or life in prison , `` said Richard Goldstone , the South African chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda .", "`` To exclude a defendant from any part of the trial , or to withhold evidence from the defendant , seems to me , by any civilized standard , outside what is acceptable . ''", "He added , `` The other objectionable provision is that evidence would be admitted even if obtained under duress or torture . ''", "But other legal scholars say that this is a different time .", "For one thing , they point out , the war is not over .", "`` In a war situation , international commissions often use hearsay as long as it 's reliable , `` said Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School , who led the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bush .", "Other scholars who defend the administration argue that national security can not be compromised .", "`` The issue of access to classified information is pivotal , '' says John Yoo , who helped the Bush administration draft an earlier version of the proposed commissions and who now teaches law at University of California , Berkeley .", "In his new book , `` War By Other Means , '' Professor Yoo argues that in the first World Trade Center bombing case in 1993 , prosecutors had to give the defense a list of 200 unindicted co-conspirators .", "The list , he writes , was `` delivered to bin Laden '' `` and '' was later found during the investigation of the African embassy bombings . ``", "Republicans in Congress are now negotiating with the Bush administration on a series of compromises .", "The military commissions may operate closer to the Nuremberg standard , but give the administration some of the authority it seeks .", "For example , one proposal would allow the use of hearsay and evidence obtained through coercion short of torture , while refusing to allow the use of evidence not disclosed to the defendant .", "Could this satisfy critics .", "Some legal scholars suggest that a trial conducted along these lines could have international legitimacy as well as meeting basic standards of due process .", "Even Mr. Goldstone , the chief prosecutor for the U.N. tribunals , says that jettisoning the use of secret evidence would remove the `` most objectionable '' part of the proposal .", "Professor Spiro of Temple University agrees .", "`` The Republican moderates ' proposal would come a lot closer to satisfying international opinion , and in part because it 's coming from the Senate and not the administration , `` he said .", "Still , the atmospherics of the trial , and the fact that the defendants face the death penalty , may make it harder for the verdict to be internationally accepted .", "`` Guant\u00e1namo is now a rallying cry in Europe , so any trials that take place there will be tainted by that fact alone , '' Professor Spiro said .", "`` The administration would be well advised to allow the proceedings to be televised to avoid the image of a show trial . ''", "But televised proceedings might give the defendants a political platform to hijack the proceedings .", "`` There 's always a danger that this will degenerate into a political circus , `` says Professor Goldsmith .", "`` Slobodan Milosevic used the trial against him as a political platform , and Saddam Hussein is doing the same thing .", "The more procedural rights you give the defendant , the more you allow him to continue the war by other means . ``", "Professor Goldsmith says the debate about what a fair trial requires will continue throughout every stage of the terrorist trials -- from the initial indictments to the actual trials to the Supreme Court appeals that would follow any death sentence .", "`` There 's a trade-off , `` he said .", "`` You can clamp down on access , but you do so at the cost of the perception of fairness , and finding the right balance of fairness and control is very hard . ''", "IDEAS & TRENDS Jeffrey Rosen 's latest book is `` The Most Democratic Branch : How the Courts Serve America . ''", "Editors ' Note : September 17 , 2006 , Sunday An article last Sunday reported on the debate over how to try 14 terror suspects recently transferred to United States military custody .", "The Bush administration has proposed that the suspects be tried in military commissions under procedures the White House has presented to Congress , including rules that would allow the admission of evidence obtained under coercion or duress .", "Civil libertarians , on the other hand , say the suspects should get the stronger due-process protections of an ordinary court-martial .", "The article included comment from Richard Goldstone , the South African chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda , who objected to the provision `` that evidence would be admitted even if obtained under duress or torture . ''", "The administration disputes this characterization of the proposed rules , saying they do prohibit the introduction of evidence obtained through torture .", "The article should have included this viewpoint , and should have reflected the fact that part of the debate is about how the term `` torture '' is interpreted ."], "summary": ["Polarizing debate over how to try 14 terror suspects who have been transferred to military custody at Guantanamo Bay is not only argument between Bush administration and civil libertarians , but public opinion debate over how trial would be perceived in US and abroad .", "Many people want US to meet standard of Nuremberg trials , which they believe gave it authority and credibility to serve as global model of due process .", "Some legal scholars say trials should include usual fair trial provisions .", "Others say this is different time and war is not over .", "Photos ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [17, 1, 21, 13, 22], "tag": ["Week in Review"]}
- {"id": "1789047", "text": ["In a directive whose logic is not always apparent , the Transportation Security Administration has spelled out what airline passengers can carry on board with them , what must be placed in checked luggage , and what ca n't go on the plane at all .", "Knives must be checked but knitting needles and corkscrews are allowed in the cabin .", "Up to four ounces of eye drops can be carried aboard , with fingers crossed that multiple terrorists wo n't combine their allotments to exceed the limit .", "Laptops , digital cameras , mobile phones and other electronic devices are permitted , so never mind any warnings you 've heard that they could be used to trigger a bomb .", "The bomb ingredients themselves , notably liquid explosives , will be kept out of the cabin by a ban on liquids , gels and lotions , except for small amounts of baby formula and medications .", "The ban on liquids surely makes sense given the lack of a reliable , efficient way to detect liquid explosives on the passenger screening line .", "But the other fine distinctions in this directive make us think the best approach would be a ban on virtually all carry -on items , or at least a limit of one small personal bag per passenger to tote travel documents , keys , vital medications , reading materials and any other minimal items that are allowed .", "There 's a lot to be said for a drastic reduction in what can be carried aboard .", "Passenger security lines would move faster if there were little or nothing for the screeners to screen .", "Passengers could be boarded faster and more comfortably if they were n't clogging the aisles while stuffing bags in the overhead bins .", "Most important , security would probably be enhanced .", "If a terrorist somehow slipped onto your flight , he would n't have bomb materials with him , or much of anything else for that matter .", "And his bags would get tougher scrutiny because the machines that screen checked luggage are said to be better at detecting explosives and other dangerous materials than the metal detectors and X-ray machines used for screening passengers and their carry -on bags .", "The chief downside , from a security standpoint , is that a greater burden would be placed on the lines that screen checked baggage , which in some airports are already overstretched .", "That raises the risk that screeners will rush checked bags through with inadequate scrutiny of the images of their contents , or that bags will back up and flights will be delayed to wait for them to be loaded .", "Still , that should not be a problem beyond the ingenuity of aviation planners .", "The handful of airports that already have big explosive-detection machines integrated into their baggage conveyor systems ought to be able to handle the load easily .", "When we raised the possibility of a ban on most carry -on items a month ago , there was a chorus of complaints from travelers who count on using their laptops during the flight .", "Or fear that valuable electronic devices might be lost , broken or stolen if checked .", "Or resent long waits after a flight to get their checked bags .", "Some travelers have already shifted to trains or automobiles for short trips and more will do so if the inconvenience mounts .", "These are not trivial issues .", "Airlines , already financially strapped , depend on business fliers who are the most likely to object to a change in the rules .", "Airlines could head off some of these problems by , for example , storing valuable electronic devices in locked overhead bins where they ca n't easily be stolen , and hiring more baggage handlers to unload planes rapidly .", "Separating people from their laptops during flights would be painful , although some people could surely use the time to go over reading material , or even revert to pen and paper .", "A ban on most carry -on items need not be permanent .", "Technologies that could screen passengers and their carry -on bags rapidly to detect known dangerous materials are under development , but it is uncertain when they might be ready .", "Even then , sophisticated terrorists will always look for new tactics to evade detection .", "For now , the surest way to keep dangerous materials out of the cabin is to keep virtually all materials out of the cabin .", "Editorial ."], "summary": ["Editorial calls for ban on most airline carry -on items until technologies are developed that can screen passengers and their carry -on bags rapidly to detect dangerous materials .", "Holds that new Transportation Security Adm directive regarding carry -on is confusing and that virtual ban of carry -on items would speed passenger screening and enhance security ."], "publication": "nyt50", "label": [26, 25, 29], "tag": ["Opinion"]}
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