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	<title>The Wonkster &#187; Arts</title>
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	<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster</link>
	<description>Gotham Gazette&#039;s blog about New York policy and politics</description>
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		<title>An Eyesore Growns in Brooklyn</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/11/17/a-eyesore-growns-in-brooklyn/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/11/17/a-eyesore-growns-in-brooklyn/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:28:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=8718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Barclays Center may never host an NBA champion but it already has a distinction: novelist and urban expert James Howard Kunstler has named it the eyesore of the month (for October; sorry we caught up with this a bit late).
In his &#8220;award proclamation&#8221; &#8212; under a pretty scary picture of the future home of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Barclays Center may never host an NBA champion but it already has a distinction: novelist and urban expert James Howard Kunstler has <a href="http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore_201010.html">named it</a> the eyesore of the month (for October; sorry we caught up with this a bit late).</p>
<p>In his &#8220;award proclamation&#8221; &#8212; under a pretty scary picture of the future home of the Nets &#8212; Kunstler writes, &#8220;This basketball arena, designed to look like a Little Debbie Peanut Butter and Coconut Snack Cake, was designed by Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects. But the cherry-on-top of the whole deal is the so-called &#8220;plaza&#8221; in the foreground &#8212; a leftover triangular scrap of undevelopable real estate that [developer Bruce] Ratner threw to the people of Brooklyn as a bone to dogs. Lovely spot, huh, sandwiched, as it is, between about eleven lanes of traffic.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>End of an Era (UPDATE)</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/05/14/end-of-an-era/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/05/14/end-of-an-era/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 17:53:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Courtney Gross</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nextNY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law and order]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nbc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=7459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[NBC announced today that it had canceled Law and Order &#8212; the city&#8217;s longest running primetime series.

Photo (cc) Det.Logan

Here is Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s statement on the show&#8217;s cancellation:  
“Over the last 20 years, Law &#038; Order became a New York City institution. It began filming in the City at a time when few series [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>NBC announced today that it had <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/nbc-cancels-law-order/?WT.mc_id=BU-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-LAO-051410-NYT-NA&#038;WT.mc_ev=click">canceled</a> Law and Order &#8212; the city&#8217;s longest running primetime series.<br />
<span class="photo_right"><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/3156132958_a6c09c4d0d_m.jpg"><img src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/3156132958_a6c09c4d0d_m.jpg" alt="3156132958_a6c09c4d0d_m" title="3156132958_a6c09c4d0d_m" width="240" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7467" /></a>
<div class="photocredit">Photo (cc) Det.Logan</div>
<p></span><br />
Here is Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s statement on the show&#8217;s cancellation:  </p>
<p>“Over the last 20 years, Law &#038; Order became a New York City institution. It began filming in the City at a time when few series did, and it helped pave the way for the more than 150 television shows based here today, including the Law &#038; Order spinoff Special Victims Unit, which will continue. Law &#038; Order not only broke the record for New York City’s longest-running primetime series, it set the record for the longest-running crime series in the nation, collecting numerous Emmy awards along the way. It also helped launch the careers of thousands of talented actors and featured many memorable performances – although my cameos are not among them. We’re grateful to Dick Wolf for choosing New York City as its location for all of these years, and for helping showcase the City’s depth and versatility as a setting and all of the advantages of filming here.”</p>
<p>UPDATE: We just checked in with Julianne Cho of the <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/index/index.shtml">Mayor&#8217;s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting</a>, who said every season of Law and Order contributed $79 million to New York City&#8217;s economy. It ran here in New York for two decades. The show employed more than 4,000 people, Cho said. </p>
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		<title>Signature Theatre Finds a Home</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/12/22/signature-theater-finds-a-home/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/12/22/signature-theater-finds-a-home/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Courtney Gross</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nextNY]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=6104</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
After years of struggling to get on stage somewhere near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the Signature Theatre Company has found a home in Hell&#8217;s Kitchen just mere blocks from Broadway, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and members of the company announced this morning. 
On the still-cement ground floor of a building under construction on 10th Avenue, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="photo_left"><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/theater.jpg"><img src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/theater.jpg" alt="theater" title="theater" width="350" height="265" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6108" /></a></span></p>
<p>After years of struggling to get <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20080910/202/2643">on stage somewhere near Ground Zero</a> in Lower Manhattan, the <a href="http://www.signaturetheatre.org/">Signature Theatre Company</a> has found a home in Hell&#8217;s Kitchen just mere blocks from Broadway, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and members of the company announced this morning. </p>
<p>On the still-cement ground floor of a building under construction on 10th Avenue, stars (yes, Maggie Gyllenhaal was spotted!) officials and theater-lovers gathered to unveil the company&#8217;s new address &#8212; to be known as the Signature Center. The theater, which will have an interior designed by the architect <a href="http://www.foga.com/">Frank Gehry</a>, will be just one part of the building developed by the Related Companies. The entire 59-story structure will also include a 800 new housing units, 160 of which will are for low-income families, and it comes with a $800 price tag. </p>
<p>The company&#8217;s space will be comprised of three distinct theaters, rehearsal studios, a cafe, bookstore and administrative offices. </p>
<p>Following September 11, 2001, the company <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20080910/202/2643">planned to relocate</a> to a Gehry-designed building in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/arts/arts-groups-vie-for-a-home-at-ground-zero.html">Lower Manhattan</a> at the site of the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/timeline/groundzero/">Ground Zero reconstruction</a>. They were <a href="http://www.renewnyc.com/Newsletters/March2005/">slated to also share the space</a> with the Joyce Theater. But in 2007, the company accepted an offer to relocate &#8212; with the city&#8217;s help &#8212; because the shared space proposal proved to be cost prohibitive. </p>
<p>The city is contributing $25 million to the theater&#8217;s construction. </p>
<p>Today, donning a hard hat and nearly drowned out by the sounds of construction workers hammering and drilling overhead, Bloomberg dipped his hands in cement to solidify the announcement. And then the crowd applauded (though there was no standing ovation).</p>
<p>&#8220;Theater makers leave only three things behind: legends, play scripts and from time to time, when the economy&#8217;s good, landlords get it, when the mayor and City Council support it, buildings,&#8221; said Pulitzer Prize winning playwright <a href="http://www.barclayagency.com/kushner.html">Tony Kushner</a>, whose works will comprise the company&#8217;s 2010-11 season. </p>
<p>The theater is slated to open in 2012. </p>
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		<title>Envisioning a New Sidewalk Shed</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/10/21/envisioning-a-new-sidewalk-shed/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/10/21/envisioning-a-new-sidewalk-shed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:13:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanshed]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=5628</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The city-sponsored design competition to improve the ubiquitous royal blue sidewalk shed has been narrowed down to three finalists out of 164 submissions. Jurists in the urbanSHED competition selected the Tripod MOD(ule), urbanCLOUD, and the Urban Umbrella. Click here to see a slide show.
&#8220;The winning solutions and the honorable mentions focus attention on how our [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The city-sponsored design competition to improve the ubiquitous royal blue sidewalk shed has been narrowed down to three finalists out of 164 submissions. Jurists in the <a href="http://www.urbanshed.org/" target="_blank">urbanSHED</a> competition selected the Tripod MOD(ule), urbanCLOUD, and the Urban Umbrella. <a href="http://cfa.aiany.org/index.php?section=specialalbum2&#038;albid=212" target="_blank">Click here</a> to see a slide show.</p>
<p>&#8220;The winning solutions and the honorable mentions focus attention on how our streetscape can be improved by attention to the basics of architecture:  light, air, materials, structure and form,&#8221; said Rick Bell, Executive Director of <a href="http://main.aiany.org/" target="_blank">AIANY</a>, which also sponsored the competition.</p>
<p>The jury made its decision based on the shed&#8217;s impacts on pedestrians&#8217; experience, the use of both natural and electric light, and improvements to structural components.</p>
<p>The finalists will receive $5,000 to further develop their designs, and the ultimate winner will get $10,000. <a href="http://www.downtownny.com/" target="_blank">The Alliance for Downtown New York</a>, another sponsor, will build a prototype of the winner&#8217;s design in lower Manhattan. </p>
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		<title>Urban Grime as History</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/10/21/urban-grime-as-history/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/10/21/urban-grime-as-history/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graffiti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preservation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=5623</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Incorporating the aesthetics of the natural reclamation of urban abandonment was part of the intent of the High Line park that snakes its way above the streets of the Meat Packing district. But street art wasn&#8217;t considered an essential element of that urban fabric, and graffiti that once adorned the walls along the park was [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Incorporating the aesthetics of the natural reclamation of urban abandonment was part of the intent of the High Line park that snakes its way above the streets of the Meat Packing district. But street art wasn&#8217;t considered an essential element of that urban fabric, and graffiti that once adorned the walls along the park was replaced by the city with a <a href="http://www.iheart.org/iheartpublic003.html" target="_blank">solid slate of gray</a>. But the actions have a number of people <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/removal-of-graffiti-along-high-line-vexes-some/" target="_blank">up in arms</a>, calling it the destruction of history. And some are <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/10/20/high_line_graffiti_almost_all_rubbe.php" target="_blank">particularly</a> <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/04/24/high_line_cleaning_up_or_losing_cha.php" target="_blank">worried</a> about the &#8220;Revs&#8221; and &#8220;Cost&#8221; piece further down the line that remains for the time being. It&#8217;s not just graffiti, however. Metal sculptures that were once welded to a rusting cavernous area &#8212; now flooded with blue light &#8212; have also <a href="http://nyctheblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/where-are-thou-metal-sculptures-once.html" target="_blank">gone missing</a>. Meanwhile, the city has made steps toward <a href="http://blog.thehighline.org/2009/10/19/high-line-at-the-rail-yards-major-breakthrough/" target="_blank">acquiring</a> the High Line past 30th Street.   </p>
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		<title>Art at City Hall Angers Avella</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/07/09/art-at-city-hall-angers-avella/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/07/09/art-at-city-hall-angers-avella/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:53:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Courtney Gross</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nextNY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Avella]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=4517</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Include councilmember and mayoral candidate Tony Avella in the list of City Hall goers that find the new public art installation unsightly. 
The police vestibules were converted to red and white, faux brick shacks about two weeks ago as part of a public art installation. I know that at least one officer, who is charged [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="photo_right"><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/art2.gif"><img src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/art2.gif" alt="art" title="art" width="250" height="375" class="alignright size-full wp-image-4910" /></a></span></p>
<p>Include councilmember and mayoral candidate<a href="http://www.tonyavellaformayor.com/"> Tony Avella</a> in the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--cityhallart0629jun29,0,4666008.story">list of City Hall goers</a> that find the new public art installation unsightly. </p>
<p>The police vestibules were converted to red and white, faux brick shacks about two weeks ago as part of a public art installation. I know that at least one officer, who is charged with keeping guard at City Hall&#8217;s gate, isn&#8217;t pleased with the renovation, saying he was &#8220;embarrassed&#8221; to be in there. </p>
<p>But what is one person&#8217;s embarrassment, is someone else&#8217;s masterpiece. </p>
<p>Avella sent over this letter to the editor, in full after the jump, citing his displeasure and urging other New Yorkers to write to the mayor to tell him to take them down. </p>
<p>Here is the letter:<br />
<span id="more-4517"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;To The Editor:</p>
<p>As many of your readers may know, a temporary so-called &#8220;art&#8221; exhibit was recently erected covering the facade of the two main security booths at the entrances to City Hall.</p>
<p>Instead of a professional police post, we now have a cartoon-like structure with painted bright red bricks.</p>
<p>We entrust the welfare of the visitors, staff, and elected officials who utilize City Hall to the respected New York City Police Officers who secure these gates. These officers should not be subjected to operating out of security stations that resemble something from an episode of &#8220;Looney Toons.&#8221;</p>
<p>Everyone who sees this monstrosity agrees it is absolutely ridiculous and an insult to the police officers who man this post. Everyone with the exception, apparently, of Mayor Bloomberg.</p>
<p>I am appalled that Mayor Bloomberg called these houses &#8220;cute, something different&#8221; and that they would attract tourists. The reality of the situation is that providing a safe and secure environment for everyone in and around City Hall should be the primary focus. The present toylike atmosphere of the security booths are demeaning to the Police Officers who occupy them and make a mockery out of the purpose they are intended to serve.</p>
<p>I urge every reader to contact Mayor Mike Bloomberg demanding that this ridiculous exhibit be removed immediately.</p>
<p>Sincerely,<br />
Tony Avella<br />
Council Member<br />
District 19 &#8211; Northeast Queens&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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		<title>After Gehry</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/06/05/after-gehry/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/06/05/after-gehry/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:45:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atlantic Yards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bruce Ratner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ellerbe Becket]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frank Gehry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marty Markowitz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=4030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So what effect will Bruce Ratner&#8217;s decision to drop Frank Gehry&#8217;s much-touted design for the basketball arena mean to the future of Atlantic Yards? For one thing, the massive complex when &#8212; or more accurately if &#8212; built will have little resemblance to the glossy original plans.
The switch to a more conventional arena designed by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So what effect will Bruce Ratner&#8217;s <a href="http://www.barclayscenter.com/pdf/6_04forestcityratnerstatement.pdf">decision to drop</a> Frank Gehry&#8217;s much-touted design for the basketball arena mean to the future of Atlantic Yards? For one thing, the massive complex when &#8212; or more accurately if &#8212; built will have little resemblance to the glossy original plans.</p>
<p>The switch to a more conventional arena designed by <a href="http://www.ellerbebecket.com/"> Ellerbe Becket</a> could save $200 million, a key consideration at a time when money for real estate projects is tight. And, the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/nyregion/05gehry.html?hpw">reported</a>, Ratner has to act quickly. He has to start building the home for the Nets by the end of the year, according to Charles Bagli&#8217;s article, or face losing his right to use tax-exempt financing.</p>
<p>In the bid to save money, &#8220;Gehry&#8217;s swooping glass and metal designs have been swapped for a more traditional brick façade &#8230; that is not unlike Ellerbe Becket&#8217;s <a href="http://www.consecofieldhouse.com/">Conseco Fieldhouse</a>, home to the Indianapolis Pacers,&#8221; The Architects Newspaper <a href="http://archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=3561"> observed</a>. (For reviews and pictures of Ellerbe Becket&#8217;s previous work, see <a href="http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/05/home-team-advantage-what-ellerbe-becket.html">Atlantic Yards Report</a>, which last week anticipated the firm&#8217;s taking over the Nets arena.)<br />
<span id="more-4030"></span><br />
Such a change could reinvigorate opposition to the entire project. “The current Atlantic Yards plan bears increasingly less resemblance to the project that was approved in 2006,” said Vin Cipolla, the president of the <a href="http://mas.org/"> Municipal Art Society</a>, told Bagli. “The replacement of Gehry further reduces the public benefits of the project, which urgently needs re-evaluation and oversight.”</p>
<p>Develop Don&#8217;t Destroy Brooklyn, a longtime, opponent of the project <a href="http://www.developdontdestroy.org/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=2084">agrees</a>, citing the uncertainly of affordable housing at the site, the lack of office space &#8212; which might have brought revnue and jobs &#8212; and recent <a href="http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/52909AtlanticYardsTestimony.pdf"> Independent Budget Office data</a> indicating the whole project would cost the city money. Meanwhile, Ratner wants to renegotiate his deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/05302009/news/regionalnews/ratner_a_rail_loser_171687.htm"> delay payment</a> of $100 million, due later this month. &#8220;It is time for Gov. Paterson to take control of this debacle, end the charade that the Atlantic Yards would provide any benefit for the public and make it official, on paper, that Atlantic Yards is scrapped,&#8221; writes Develop Don&#8217;t Destroy.</p>
<p>Government approval might not be the only barrier. Daniel Goldstein a spokesman for Develop Don&#8217;t Destoroy, <a href="http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/23/32_23_mm_gehry_out.html"> said</a> the change in the design for the arena could threaten corporate support. “Is Barclays going to pay $400 million to put their name on what will be an airport hanger? Will other sponsors stick with a building that is no longer Gehry, no longer world-class building?” he asked.</p>
<p>But longtime Atlamgtic Yards cheerleader Borough President Marty Markowitz shows no signs of budging. &#8220;Ellerbe Becket is one of the best firms in the business &#8212; so we can be confident that the Nets and Brooklyn will indeed have a world-class, stunning arena here in Downtown Brooklyn and we will be bringing more affordable housing to those who so desperately need it,” he said in a statement.</p>
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		<title>New York Media Arts Map</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/02/02/new-york-media-arts-map/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/02/02/new-york-media-arts-map/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:36:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york media arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york media arts map]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=2482</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To help media artists, funders, exhibitors and others find each other, the state and two non profit organization created an interactive map that organizes media arts groups by location. Users can hover over a borough or county in the state, and a list of the organizations pops up. Organizations can also be viewed by category, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/nymediamap.png" align="right" hspace="10" height="110" width="165"/></a>To help media artists, funders, exhibitors and others find each other, the state and two non profit organization created an <a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org" target="_blank">interactive map</a> that organizes media arts groups by location. Users can hover over a borough or county in the state, and a list of the organizations pops up. Organizations can also be viewed by category, such as <a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org/map/results.php?media_policy=1" target="_blank"> policy and advocacy</a>, <a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org/map/results.php?fiscal=1" target="_blank"> sponsorship</a> or <a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org/map/results.php?grantmaking=1" target="_blank"> grantmaking</a>. The <a href="http://www.nymediaartsmap.org" target="_blank">New York Media Arts Map</a> was launched in December by <a href="http://www.amdoc.org/index.php" target="_blank">American Documentary</a>, the <a href="http://www.experimentaltvcenter.org/" target="_blank">Experimental Television Center</a> and the <a href="http://www.nysca.org/public/guidelines/electronic_media/index.htm" target="_blank">Electronic Media and Film Program of the New York State Council for the Arts</a>. </p>
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		<title>What If Your Office was a Park?</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/01/09/what-if-your-office-was-a-park/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/01/09/what-if-your-office-was-a-park/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:02:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nextNY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breakout!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[co-working]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cooworking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freelancers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freelancing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nycwireless]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=2257</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Technology has enabled workers to collaborate from the far corners of the earth, but face-to-face collaboration is still a necessity. So how can we best facilitate that, and make the experience as welcoming as possible?
That&#8217;s the idea behind Breakout!, the upcoming &#8220;festival of mobile co-working.&#8221; 
Breakout!, which is planned for the fall, intends to explore [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Technology has enabled workers to collaborate from the far corners of the earth, but face-to-face collaboration is still a necessity. So how can we best facilitate that, and make the experience as welcoming as possible?</p>
<p>That&#8217;s the idea behind <a href="http://www.breakoutfestival.org" target="_blank">Breakout!</a>, the upcoming &#8220;festival of mobile co-working.&#8221; </p>
<p>Breakout!, which is planned for the fall, intends to explore that question through a two-week festival of outdoor co-working environments in public places throughout the streets of New York. (The <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/04/23/working-from-home-get-out-once-and-a-while/" target="_blank">co-working movement</a> is an informal meeting of freelancers who come together to collaborate on new ideas.) It will be part of an <a href="http://www.situatedtechnologies.net/" target="_blank">exhibition</a> by the <a href="http://www.archleague.org/" target="_blank">Architectural League of New York</a> that will explore the integration of technology into the urban fabric.</p>
<p>According to their <a href="http://prezi.com/1894/view/#101" target="_blank">online manifesto-of-sorts</a>, the goal is, &#8220;to provoke discussion about how urban designers, architects, freelancers and businesspeople can create public spaces that re-integrate the commercial life of knowledge-based cities into public spaces.&#8221;</p>
<p>The exhibits &#8211; which <a href="http://www.nycwireless.net/2009/01/breakout-festival-in-fall-2009/" target="_blank">will</a> be &#8220;injecting lightweight versions of essential office infrastructure into urban public spaces&#8221; &#8211; will offer a combination of three elements: online social networking tools, a set of processes and skills to get people collaborating, and &#8220;temporary and mobile infrastructure,&#8221; such as new types of portable desks and chairs. </p>
<p>Breakout! doesn&#8217;t necessarily see this as a new idea. &#8220;If we look back at the city before the office building, the streets were the site of every kind of economic activity,&#8221; the online presentation posits. &#8220;In the New York of 1900, almost every kind of activity took place in the streets.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Landmark Problems</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/12/01/landmark-problems/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/12/01/landmark-problems/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:40:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landmarks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tierney]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=2128</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Looking for an upside to the recession? (No snide comments abut hedge fund managers, please.) The current downturn could be good for the city&#8217;s architectural heritage, according to Julia Vitullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute (and 
contributor to Gotham Gazette). &#8220;The pause in New York City&#8217;s building boom &#8230; gives everyone a chance [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Looking for an upside to the recession? (No snide comments abut hedge fund managers, please.) The current downturn could be good for the city&#8217;s architectural heritage, according to Julia Vitullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the <a href="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/">Manhattan Institute</a> (and <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20081014/202/2672"><br />
contributor</a> to Gotham Gazette). &#8220;The pause in New York City&#8217;s building boom &#8230; gives everyone a chance to think,&#8221; she <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/new_york_on_the_block_141428.htm?page=0"> wrote</a> in the Post over the weekend. &#8220;This is the time to think about the importance of old buildings in New York&#8217;s urban fabric &#8211; and how to preserve those worth keeping.&#8221; (An accompanying <a href="http://www.nypost.com/photos/galleries/news/regionalnews/pp_20081129_buildings/photo01.htm"> slide show</a> describes 10 endangered buildings.)</p>
<p>A series on the <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml"> Landmarks Preservation Commission</a> by Robin Pogrebin in the Times, though, casts doubt about whether the administration has any inclination to seize the moment.<span id="more-2128"></span> Headed by Robert Tierney, who the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/arts/design/26landmarks.html?pagewanted=1&#038;_r=1&#038;sq=landmarks%20preservation%20commission&#038;st=cse&#038;scp=2"> said</a> &#8220;has no background in architecture, planning or historic preservation,&#8221; the agency is slow to act, &#8220;its decision-making is often opaque, and its record-keeping on landmark-designation requests is so spotty that staff members are uncertain how many it rejects in a given year.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pogrebin <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/arts/design/29landmarks.html?ref=design"> reports</a> that, while the landmarks commission waits to act, developers obtain permits from the city <a href="http://nyc.gov/html/dob/html/home/home.shtml"> Buildings Department</a> &#8212; the two apparently do not speak to each other &#8212; to destroy the very detail that might qualify a building for landmarking. By the time the issue gets to landmarks it&#8217;s too late to save the now-mutilated structure. </p>
<p>&#8220;Pogrebin provides multiple examples of how Tierney&#8217;s evident, if well camouflaged, hostility to the cause of preservation is creating a culture of sneaking and lying and deceit and, for all we know, double-dealing,&#8221; the Clyde Fitch Report <a href="http://clydefitch.blogspot.com/2008/11/will-robert-b-tierney-chairman-of.html"> said</a>.</p>
<p>Despite that kind of information, so far Pogrebin has not done much to connect the dots. As the Noticing New York blog <a href="http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2008/11/landmarks-preservation-commission-will.html"> wrote</a> after the first two articles, &#8220;Remarkably, neither article mentions the influence of the city office of the mayor in relation to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and neither article mentions the particular influence of the current mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg.&#8221; </p>
<p>If two city departments do not talk to each other &#8212; and if the landmarks commissioner appointed by the mayor has no visible qualifications for his jobs &#8212; might the commission&#8217;s dillydallying reflect some larger policy agenda at City Hall? </p>
<p>Lost City has <a href="http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2008/11/its-landmarks-commission-article-season.html"> one suggestion</a> for what Bloomberg could do: &#8220;Robert B. Tierney, the landmarks mommissioner &#8212; who declined a budget increase in 2007 of $750,000 approved by the City Council, and earns an annual city salary of $177,698 for his crimes &#8212; must be removed. &#8230; If ever a man did not understand the nature or importance of his job, it&#8217;s he.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/26/times_says_the_lpc_doesnt_just_suck_it_really_blows.php">comment</a> on Curbed said that is not enough: &#8220;The commission needs ALL new people. &#8230; The commissioners are in the pockets of the developers and the mayor.&#8221;</p>
<p>The problem may extend far beyond the commission&#8217;s offices. In one the few comments in the Times series to hint at this, Anthony C. Wood, author of &#8220;Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City&#8217;s Landmarks,&#8221; told Pogrebin, &#8220;This administration is so excited about the new that it overlooks its obligation to protect the old.&#8221; </p>
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		<title>Graffiti as Devil on the Shoulder</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/11/26/graffiti-as-devil-on-the-shoulder/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/11/26/graffiti-as-devil-on-the-shoulder/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:34:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[broken windows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[giuliani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graffiti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quality of life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quality of life crimes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=2127</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Keeping quality-of-life crimes in check is viewed by many as a means of sandbagging against the possibility of a crime wave resulting from the economic downturn.   
Julia Vitullo-Martin told AMNY last week that the city needs to keep cracking down on such offenses. &#8220;Our sidewalks are mess, streets are a mess, there’s dirt [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Keeping quality-of-life crimes in check is viewed by many as a means of sandbagging against the possibility of a crime wave resulting from the economic downturn.   </p>
<p>Julia Vitullo-Martin <a href="http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/2008/11/amny_series_day_two_little_thi.html" target="_blank">told</a> AMNY last week that the city needs to keep cracking down on such offenses. &#8220;Our sidewalks are mess, streets are a mess, there’s dirt all over the place, quality-of-life offenses are clearly going up, there’s graffiti all over the place, there’s awful acid vandalism that one sees increasingly in the subway,&#8221; she cautioned.</p>
<p>But the theory that petty crime leads to more serious crime, referred to as the &#8220;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198203/broken-windows" target="_blank">Broken Windows</a>&#8221; theory, had never been scientifically tested &#8211; until now. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1161405" target="_blank">study</a> published in the online journal Science found that people will indeed commit crimes if they see that others have gotten away with something. </p>
<p>In a series of experiments that played out over <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081124_Phila__s_fight_against_graffiti_never_ends.html" target="_blank">two years</a>, <a href="http://www.rug.nl/staff/k.e.keizer/index" target="_blank">Kees Keizer</a>, a professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, created environments in public places to test the theory. </p>
<p>In one experiment, Kees and his colleagues painted graffiti in an alleyway used to park bicycles. He then attached fliers for a nonexistent sporting event to the bikes and observed how many people littered the fliers. He also observed how many people littered the fliers when the alleyway was clean. </p>
<p>The result? Nearly 70 percent of those observed littered when the walls had graffiti (which was <a href="http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12630201" target="_blank">painted sloppy</a> so that it wouldn&#8217;t be mistaken as art). But when the walls were clean, only a third littered. </p>
<p>Pictures of the experiment are <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/11/the_spread_of_disorder_can_graffiti_promote_littering_and_th.php" target="_blank">posted</a> on the Not Rocket Science blog.</p>
<p>But zero-tolerance polices used to keep such quality-of-life crimes in check can be counterproductive, Keizer warns, because people view it as a declaration of war.<br />
<span id="more-2127"></span></p>
<p>Geraldine Pettersson, co-author of a 2003 <a href="http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/crime/reducinggraffiti/casestudyreportongraffiti?page=1" target="_blank">report</a> on graffiti for the British Department for Transport, came to a similar conclusion. &#8220;You make it sound like a battle, and it becomes a challenge to them,&#8221; she <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16096-graffiti-and-litter-lead-to-more-street-crime.html" target="_blank">informed</a> The New Scientist.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the study only proves that people will commit similar crimes, not that the seriousness of the crimes will escalate.</p>
<p>“It’s an interesting study, it’s very clever. And the results are believable within the limited bounds set by their design,” Robert Sampson, chairman of Harvard University&#8217;s department of sociology, <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news146409568.html" target="_blank">told</a> the Associated Press.</p>
<p>&#8220;But the results don’t show that disorder spreads to predatory crime,&#8221; he said, &#8220;what they show is that disorder increases people’s likelihood of committing (similar) acts.”</p>
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		<title>Money in the Mist</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/10/22/money-in-the-mist/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/10/22/money-in-the-mist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:39:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waterfalls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=2075</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Love it or loathe it, Olafur Eliasson&#8217;s  New York City Waterfalls apparently provided a boost to the city in these tough economic times. According to a  report issued by the city yesterday, the controversial art installation generated $69 million for the city economy.
Seems a lot for a project that, as Daily Intel put [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Love it or loathe it, Olafur Eliasson&#8217;s <a href="http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/"> New York City Waterfalls</a> apparently provided a boost to the city in these tough economic times. According to a <a href="http://nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2008/waterfalls_economic_impact_report.pdf"> report</a> issued by the city yesterday, the controversial art installation generated $69 million for the city economy.</p>
<p>Seems a lot for a project that, as Daily Intel <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/10/those_crazy_waterfalls_actuall.html">put it</a>, &#8220;Mostly just made you go, &#8216;Oh yeah, the waterfalls,&#8217; when you happened to pass by a spot where you could see them.&#8221;</p>
<p>So how did they come up with that figure?<br />
<span id="more-2075"></span><br />
Some of it&#8217;s pretty straightforward. For example, it cost about $15.5 million to build and install the project. </p>
<p>But then it all gets a lot murkier, as the report credits $26.3 million in what it calls &#8220;incremental spending&#8221; to the project. Much of this purportedly was spent by people who saw The Waterfalls and then did something else in the city &#8212; money the report, citing  surveys of tourists and New Yorkers, maintains they might not have spent otherwise. And all that money in turn spun out an additional $26.8 million</p>
<p>Anyone who saw the falls this summer can look at their own experiences and see how squishy these numbers are. For example in June, my father, who was visiting from Maryland, my husband, my son and I went from our home in Flatbush, to dinner in Carroll Gardens and then to Brooklyn Bridge Park where we looked at the waterfalls and had ice cream cones.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s the incremental spending here? Would my father have visited without the art? (Yes.) Would we have gone out to eat Cuban food? (Probably.) Without The Waterfalls would we have gone to Brooklyn Bridge Park and bought ice cream. (Probably not.) Would we have had dessert? (Probably.) Would it have cost more or less somewhere else. (No way to tell.) Would we have gone somewhere else after eating? (Probably.) Would it have been a cheaper or more lavish form of entertainment? (Who knows?)</p>
<p>As Carol O&#8217;Cleireacain, a former New York City finance commissioner, <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/city-puts-impact-of-waterfalls-at-69-million/"> said</a> when the Times asked her about the report, &#8220;As in many economic models, it all depends on the assumptions you make. If you make generous assumptions, you&#8217;ll come up with generous results.&#8221; She went on to say that it was more likely that tourists  already in New York City went to see the installation than that the installation drew those tourists here in the first place.</p>
<p>But, hey, we want to help the city drive up its numbers. So here are some things we could not find in the report: the economic impact of the money spent to take care of trees and other plants <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/nyregion/13waterfalls.html?_r=2&#038;oref=slogin&#038;oref=slogin"> damaged</a> by the salty mist from the Waterfalls; and the money the city gave Appleseed and <a href="http://www.audienceresearch.com/">Audience Research &#038; Analysis</a> to prepare a 28-page lavishly illustrated full color report on what a big success the project was.</p>
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		<title>Mail Order Homes</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/08/08/mail-order-homes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/08/08/mail-order-homes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:22:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1975</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Although there&#8217;s no word on the exhibition of the winners from the Office of Emergency Management&#8217;s post-disaster housing design competition, the Museum of Modern Art has got its own display of pre-fabricated housing on display in their Home Delivery exhibit. One of the homes, the System3, was erected at the exhibition site in six and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Although there&#8217;s no word on the exhibition of the winners from the Office of Emergency Management&#8217;s <a href="http://www.whatifnyc.net/" target="_blank">post-disaster housing design competition</a>, the <a href="http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=5476" target="_blank">Museum of Modern Art</a> has got its own display of <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.01/prefab.html" target="_blank">pre-fabricated housing</a> on display in their <a href="http://www.momahomedelivery.org/" target="_blank">Home Delivery exhibit</a>. One of the homes, the System3, was erected at the exhibition site in six and a half hours.  Another building, designed specifically for New Orleans, is estimated to cost just $40,000 apiece if produced in large quantities. Each of the five buildings, on view in the museum&#8217;s adjacent vacant lot, has its own journal on the exhibit&#8217;s <a href="http://www.momahomedelivery.org/" target="_blank">Web site</a>.</p>
<p><center><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/gZ4ixb55jp0n" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="395" height="300" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></center></p>
<p><a href="http://www.scribemedia.org/2008/07/31/home-delivery/" target="_blank">Scribe Media</a> video via <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/08/prefab-friday-unpacking-the-prefabs-at-moma/" target="_blank">Inhabitat</a>. </p>
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		<title>&#039;Emotionalizing&#039; Global Warming</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/07/24/emotionalizing-global-warming/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/07/24/emotionalizing-global-warming/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:59:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1951</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Turning off the lights in office buildings after hours might seem like an obvious way to save energy and cut back on carbon emissions. But one creative team has another idea &#8211; leave some of them on. 
JWT New York, an ad team, has proposed leaving all of the lights on at night on the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href='http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/datumline.png'><img src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/datumline.png" hspace="5" title="datumline" width="267" height="209" align="left" /></a><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/turn_off_the_li.php" target="_blank">Turning off the lights</a> in office buildings after hours might seem like an obvious way to save energy and cut back on carbon emissions. But one creative team has <a href="http://www.id-mag.com/annualdesignreviewwinners2008?catid=6768" target="_blank">another idea</a> &#8211; leave some of them on. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.jwt.com/" target="_blank">JWT New York</a>, an ad team, has proposed leaving all of the lights on at night on the eighth floor of every building on Park Ave. &#8220;If both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt, sea levels will rise <a href="http://a.abcnews.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/Story?id=1678441&#038;page=2" target="_blank">80 feet</a>, or, in city terms, eight stories,&#8221; the group said in its proposal. The idea, which they dub &#8220;The Datum Line,&#8221; was the winner of the &#8220;Concepts&#8221; category of I.D. Magazine&#8217;s Annual Design Review. (Via <a href="http://razorapple.com/2008/07/23/designers-put-nyc-future-on-the-line/" target="_blank">Razor Apple</a>)</p>
<p>The design review also <a href="http://www.id-mag.com/annualdesignreviewwinners2008?catid=6764&#038;slide=5" target="_blank">featured</a> the West 8th Street Subway Station Facade in Coney Island as a winner in their &#8220;Environments&#8221; category. Submissions to the review will be on <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2008/idreview_rel.htm" target="_blank">exhibition</a> at The New School through September.</p>
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		<title>311 Gets Dance Therapy</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/07/07/311-dance-therapy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/07/07/311-dance-therapy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:02:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>yhuang</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lmcc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[municipal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[risa jaroslow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sitelines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1926</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
At noon and 1:30 p.m. today uninitiated passersby might have been startled by the group of red and black-clad dancers jumping off the Municipal Building columns and silently strutting and sashaying in the outdoor lunch hangout at 1 Centre Street. Risa Jaroslow&#8217;s &#8220;311&#8243; is a dance for Sitelines, part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/311dance.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1927" title="311dance" src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/311dance.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="219" /></a></p>
<p>At noon and 1:30 p.m. today uninitiated passersby might have been startled by the group of red and black-clad dancers jumping off the Municipal Building columns and silently strutting and sashaying in the outdoor lunch hangout at 1 Centre Street. <a title="Rita Jaroslow Dance" href="http://www.hightidedance.com/" target="_blank">Risa Jaroslow&#8217;s</a> &#8220;311&#8243; is a dance for <a title="LMCC Sitelines" href="http://www.lmcc.net/art/programs/2008/sitelines/index.html" target="_blank">Sitelines</a>, part of the <a title="LMCC" href="http://www.lmcc.net/" target="_blank">Lower Manhattan Cultural Council&#8217;s</a> series of site-specific performances &#8212; this one supposed to highlight city engagement.</p>
<p>It turned out to be equal parts modern dance and old-fashioned public forum. Alberto Dennis, the dancer-MC, brought out a microphone and started asking the crowd questions: &#8220;How do you feel about municipal government today?&#8221; &#8220;I don&#8217;t really have an answer to that,&#8221; a young woman says. Turns out she&#8217;s from the Virgin Islands. Another man answers, &#8220;I probably shouldn&#8217;t say, given that I work in it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dennis moves onto other questions: &#8220;What changes would you like to see in the city?&#8221; One man, votes for <a title="Same Sex Marriage update" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/06/cuomos-got-patersons-back-on-g-1.html" target="_blank">same-sex marriage rights</a>. &#8220;Who knows what would happen if there were more Republicans in the New York State Senate?&#8221; Another woman gave an impromptu PSA about <a title="Give up your subway seat" href="http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/08/06/probably-you-should-give-up-that-handicap-seat/">giving up a subway seat</a> to the elderly or pregnant. &#8220;That would be nice. And also &#8212; well, what about that <a title="MTA 2nd ave" href="http://www.mta.info/capconstr/sas/index.html">2nd Avenue train line</a>? There&#8217;s been so many MTA fare hikes, but I&#8217;m not seeing a show of what I&#8217;m paying for.&#8221;</p>
<p>The crowd, like most in New York, got fairly vocal. The only group that refused to answer any questions was a cluster of young, blue-oxford&#8217;d Department of Education consultants &#8212; they were too busy trying to look busy over the remnants of Subway sandwiches and salads. Maybe they just didn&#8217;t have much to say.</p>
<p>If you have something to air about <a title="311" href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doitt/html/about/about_311.shtml" target="_blank">311</a>, or general comments about city government, bring them to the next lunchtime dance performances continuing throughout this week.</p>
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		<title>Hip Hop and Condoms</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/27/hip-hop-and-condoms/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/27/hip-hop-and-condoms/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:40:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1909</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hip hop has been blamed for contributing to urban ills for years. It is said to promote violence, misogyny, and homophobia. And with songs like the late Old Dirty Bastard&#8217;s ode to unprotected sex, one might also question its influence on safe sex. 
As a push began this week to get every adult in the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hip hop has been blamed for contributing to urban ills for years. It is said to promote <a href="http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_9562/" target="_blank">violence</a>, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4494053" target="_blank">misogyny</a>, and <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11223359" target="_blank">homophobia</a>. And with songs like the late <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&#038;ct=res&#038;cd=1&#038;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOl'_Dirty_Bastard&#038;ei=pwVlSPCnLpj-ggK-28XMDw&#038;usg=AFQjCNGrR7WnFd4ybnRyBWVNABxx_6DitQ&#038;sig2=Wuj15pX-vwkrKrW1yv0cOw" target="_blank">Old Dirty Bastard</a>&#8217;s ode to unprotected sex, one might also question its influence on safe sex. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26hiv.html" target="_blank">a push</a> began this week to get every adult in the Bronx (hip hop&#8217;s <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/city-rejects-sale-of-building-known-as-hip-hops-birthplace/" target="_blank">birthplace</a>) tested for HIV, and with a recent <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr044-08.shtml" target="_blank">survey</a> by the city on New Yorker&#8217;s sexual practices, the question might seem especially timely.</p>
<p>So, do b-boys, as hip hop&#8217;s participants are wont to be called, engage in risky behavior when it comes to sex? Not necessarily, a <a href="http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2007.119198v1" target="_blank">study</a> published this month in the American Journal of Public Health has found.<br />
<span id="more-1909"></span></p>
<p>Involvement in hip hop culture &#8211; defined as &#8220;urban social and artistic expressions, such as clothing style, breakdancing, graffiti, and rap music&#8221; &#8211; doesn&#8217;t affect young men&#8217;s likeliness to use a condom during sex, the study showed. In fact, it found that young men who say they really enjoy listening to hip hop are actually more likely to use a condom. </p>
<p>But there are problems: the report said that those who frequent hip hop nightclubs are much less likely to use a condom. Still, this may be more associated with night club scene, rather than hip hop. &#8220;Having sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol or drugs, situations often associated with visiting nightclubs in cities such as New York,&#8221; the report notes, &#8220;is likely to be the major reason for limited condom use.&#8221;</p>
<p>The researchers, who are affiliated with Columbia University, surveyed 95 black and Latino men aged 15 to 25 in Manhattan and the Bronx over four years. </p>
<p>&#8220;Popular discourses on young men&#8217;s health risks often blame youths&#8217; cultures such as hip hop culture for increased risk practices,&#8221; the report said, &#8220;but these discourses often neglect to critically examine how risk emerges in the lives of urban young men and what aspects of youths&#8217; culture can be protective.&#8221;</p>
<p>One thing that surprised the researchers, was that survey respondents&#8217; perceptions of hip hop didn&#8217;t relate to the frequency they used condoms. It didn&#8217;t matter whether the young men viewed the culture as being linked to drugs and drug trafficking,  something that is urban and hip, or an expression of young people.</p>
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		<title>Waterfalls Flip the Switch</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/26/waterfalls-flip-the-switch/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/26/waterfalls-flip-the-switch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:21:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Courtney Gross</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Waterfront]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Photo by nydiscovery and used via Creative Commons. It was taken on June 20.
On a soggy morning who would have thought the city needed even more water?
Well, we got just that.
This morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg flipped the switch on the &#8220;New York City Waterfalls&#8221; &#8211; a public art exhibit, which was privately funded, designed by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/2597569088_fd6a82e7b4_m.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1904" title="2597569088_fd6a82e7b4_m" src="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/2597569088_fd6a82e7b4_m.jpg" alt="Photo from nydiscovery via Creative Commons" width="362" height="271" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>Photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/nydiscovery/">nydiscovery</a> and used via <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en">Creative Commons</a>. It was taken on June 20.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">On a soggy morning who would have thought the city needed even more water?</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Well, we got just that.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">This morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg flipped the switch on the <a href="http://www.nycwaterfalls.com/">&#8220;New York City Waterfalls&#8221; </a>&#8211; a public art exhibit, which was privately funded, designed by Olafur Eliasson. Cascading water can be found at four East River locations, from Governors Island to Pier 35 in Manhattan. They will be on display until Oct. 13.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Similar to &#8220;The Gates&#8221; project in Central Park, the waterfalls are likely to be a tourist trap for the next several months. The city has released a brochure on the <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/nycwaterfalls_nftmap.pdf">best viewing spots</a>, and is also suggesting a ride on the Staten Island Ferry or hopping on the <a href="http://www.circlelinedowntown.com/waterfalls.asp ">Circle Line</a> for a waterfalls tour.</p>
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		<title>Illegal Advertisers Off the Hook?</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/20/illegal-advertisers-off-the-hook/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/06/20/illegal-advertisers-off-the-hook/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:03:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=1895</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe drives around with bolt cutters to cut it down from park fences. Its appearance on construction scaffoldings throughout the city led to a billboard-sized controversy. And Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro once told the Staten Island Advance, &#8220;It&#8217;s like graffiti, almost. This is environmental graffiti.&#8221; 
With all this opposition, is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E6DA133AF93AA15752C0A9649C8B63&#038;partner=rssnyt&#038;emc=rss" target="_blank">drives around</a> with bolt cutters to cut it down from park fences. Its <a href="http://www.nysun.com/new-york/record-numbers-of-scaffolds-spur-cottage-industry/38256/" target="_blank">appearance on construction scaffoldings</a> throughout the city led to a billboard-sized controversy. And Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro once told the Staten Island Advance, &#8220;It&#8217;s like graffiti, almost. This is environmental graffiti.&#8221; </p>
<p>With all this opposition, is illegal advertising going to face one of those quality of life crackdowns that graffiti would face? Maybe somebody will amend the state bill that seeks to <a href="http://www.qgazette.com/news/2008/0618/features/026.html" target="_blank">turn graffiti into a felony</a> to include illegal advertisers?</p>
<p>Probably not.</p>
<p>In fact, the <a href="http://antiadvertisingagency.com" target="_blank">Anti-Advertising Agency</a> points out that the Police Department&#8217;s vandal squad <a href="http://antiadvertisingagency.com/news/vandal-task-force-is-dropping-the-ball" target="_blank">doesn&#8217;t even arrest</a> such ad perps. Of the nearly <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/WireStory?id=5021523&#038;page=1" target="_blank">3,800 arrests</a> they made in 2007, none of those arrests were for illegal advertising, the activist group points out. (<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/02/12/2008-02-12_graffiti_complaints_and_arrests_surge.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> to see Graffitistat complaints broken down by borough.)</p>
<p>&#8220;You’d think <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/illegal-signs-and-a-reporters-broken-camera/" target="_blank">assaulting journalists</a> might be enough for the vandal squad to take notice, but not yet,&#8221; writes Steve Lambert, the group&#8217;s founder. </p>
<p>While <a href="http://gothamgazette.com/article/arts/20080325/1/2470" target="_blank">some debate</a> whether graffiti is an art or a crime, Gawker <a href="http://gawker.com/tag/vandalism/?i=395698&#038;t=illegal-advertisers-continue-to-elude-police" target="_blank">says</a> being anti-advertising is just plain anti-American.</p>
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		<title>Arts Education Debate Continues</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/03/21/debate-over-state-of-arts-education-continues/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/03/21/debate-over-state-of-arts-education-continues/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:05:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/03/21/debate-over-state-of-arts-education-continues/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two and a half years ago, Sharon Dunn, the newly installed head of arts education at the Department of Education, sat in front of the City Council unable to offer an idea of how many schools offer arts programs.
Earlier this month, the Bloomberg Administration caught up to speed and issued its first report card on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two and a half years ago, Sharon Dunn, the newly installed head of <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/Arts/default.htm">arts education</a> at the Department of Education, sat in front of the City Council <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/arts/20051129/1/1663">unable to offer</a> an idea of how many schools offer arts programs.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the Bloomberg Administration caught up to speed and issued its first <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&#038;catID=1194&#038;doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2008a%2Fpr078-08.html&#038;cc=unused1978&#038;rc=1194&#038;ndi=1">report card on the arts in schools</a>. But the findings were not positive: Only four percent of elementary schools meet the state&#8217;s arts education requirements.</p>
<p>Arts advocates were quick to criticize the administration, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/nyregion/07schools.html">according</a> to the New York Times, and some even said that the $150,000 spent on the report could have been used for arts programs.</p>
<p>But at least one group now <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/lweb20arts.html">says</a> that although the numbers are deplorable, &#8220;the Department of Education deserves credit for acknowledging this in its new report and has pledged to improve that performance.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-1751"></span></p>
<p>The comment was made by Randall Bourscheidt, president the of the <a href="http://www.allianceforarts.org/index.htm">Alliance for the Arts</a>, a research and advocacy group, in a letter to the editor in the Times. She went on to say, &#8220;The fact that nearly all schools now have some teaching in the arts is real progress after the disastrous elimination of arts programs during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s — a tragedy we need to avoid during this economic downturn.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, some worry that even the small high schools that focus on the arts are not sustainable in the long run because they are funded by private money. &#8220;If Bill Gates wasn&#8217;t around, would these small arts schools exist?&#8221; Richard Kessler, executive director of the Center for Arts Education, <a href="http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003727915">asked</a> Backstage magazine. &#8220;It&#8217;s a fundamental question of, Does [the government] actually want arts education or are they just following the money?&#8221;</p>
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		<title>The Cattle Branding of Times Square</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/02/22/the-cattle-branding-of-times-square/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/02/22/the-cattle-branding-of-times-square/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:48:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Muller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/02/22/the-cattle-branding-of-times-square/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Karrie Jacobs wrote a decade ago that Times Square was the only place in New York to &#8220;explore the marriage of architecture and electronic technology, of form and image, that is emerging as the defining style of the early twenty-first century.” But now, in Metropolis Magazine, she questions the relevance of &#8220;a district dedicated to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Karrie Jacobs wrote a decade ago that Times Square was the only place in New York to &#8220;explore the marriage of architecture and electronic technology, of form and image, that is emerging as the defining style of the early twenty-first century.” But now, in Metropolis Magazine, she questions the relevance of &#8220;a district dedicated to overstimulation for overstimulation’s sake in today’s environment.&#8221;</p>
<p>Times Square, she observes, &#8220;is now the epicenter of branding, its vitality dependent on the creative brio of the advertising industry. And branding, at this moment, is less a matter of originality and more a matter of claiming turf, whether that turf is a Times Square Jumbotron, a wee cell-phone screen, or the spot that blocks the paragraph you’re trying to read on a Web site. I’ve always loved Times Square, but I’m sick to death of branding.&#8221; </p>
<p><a href="http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3156">Click here</a> to read the article.</p>
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