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Her Tales of the City: Her Walls Were Alive With the Sound of Music
Even the most heartfelt affection can wane with overexposure. The opera man on the other side of the wall is one example.
Her Tales of the City: The Boiler That Broke Her Heart
An absence of warm coziness met her when she opened the door after a night out. She was 23 and the super of a co-op.
Her Tales of the City: Farm Girl Saves Pigeon at Nonfat Cafe
With the mention of Iowa, her home state, it was over for her before it began. Then came the day she taught city dwellers a lesson about pigeons.

Michael Jackson: The Man in Our Mirror
What Black American culture—musical and otherwise—lacks for now isn't talent or ambition, but the unmistakable presence of some kind of spiritual genius: the sense that something other than or even more than human is speaking through whatever fragile mortal vessel is burdened with rep...
In Defense of Michael Jackson's Magic
A year ago, I tried to convince a stranger that, yes, magic does indeed exist. I wasn't talking about David Blaine, Criss Angel, or street magic—no. I meant the magic in creativity, in manifesting things at will, in . . . in . . . aggh! I was so frustrated that I couldn't explain it to her,...
Why Michael Jackson's Past Might Be Gary, Indiana's Only Future
The first thing I noticed was that Michael Jackson was gone. Downtown Gary, Indiana's main drag hosted a wide-scale mural project in 2002, fantastic possible futures for the city's boarded-up buildings painted directly onto the boards, with an MJ adorning the old record store, symbolically turnin...

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR VARGAS May 15, 2009
Promoter Joe DeGuardia will pit two of his best heavyweight prospects against each other tonight when Kevin Johnson, of Asbury Park, and Devin Vargas, of Toledo, Ohio, meet in a battle of unbeatens at Harrah's in Atlantic City. Vargas (17-0, 7...
SENATE AGAIN FAILS TO END STANDOFF July 3, 2009
ALBANY -- Battling leaders of New York's Senate who met with Gov. David Paterson say there is no power-sharing agreement to end a standoff over control of the chamber. After Friday's one-hour, closed door meeting the Senate remains gridlocked...
TANKER SPILL SHUTS CONDO COMPLEX July 3, 2009
NANUET -- A spill from a tanker carrying 3,500 gallons of chlorine has shut down a street in a suburban New York condominium complex in Nanuet. Nanuet authorities say the spill occurred about 10 a.m. Friday. No injuries have been reported. So far...

Wife gets 25 years to life for killing fire marshal husband
Janet Redmond-Mercereau was given 25 years to life for murdering her husband Douglas, a Staten Island fire marshal.
Praise for Ferry Crew's Accident Response
The FDNY, NYPD and Coast Guard responded to a Staten Island Ferry accident at the St.
Humans Vs. Elephants in Coney Island Eating Contest
Step right up and watch as humans face off against elephants in a rare cross-species eating contest at Brooklyn's Coney Island! Three professional bipedal eaters are slated to compete on Friday morning against three circus elephants in a six-minute challenge to see who can ingest the most hot dog buns.