BY BEN WINTERS
On July 17, there was an architecture story above the fold in the New
York Times, splashed on the fronts of the New York Post and Daily News,
and played with a picture everywhere from the Boston Globe to the Los
Angeles Times. Architecture, like most art forms, is rarely given such
prominent display. But these are unusual times, and the story in question
was the unveiling of six preliminary plans from the Lower Manhattan Development
Corporation (LMDC), the non-profit charged with deciding what to do with
the land parcel where the World Trade Center once stood.
Most of the national articles, like Fred Kaplan’s in The Globe, were simply descriptive of the plans, rather than evaluative. Not in New York. In a Times Metro section "Appraisal" from architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, the LMDC’s plans were derided as mere "proposals for real estate development." On the Op-Ed page, the lead editorial was titled The Downtown We Don’t Want. "These are dreary, leaden proposals," opined the Times’ editorial board–proposals reflecting the desire of the Port Authority, which owns the space, for valuable retail space, more than for any sincere memorial or thriving cultural district.
These pieces echoed criticisms found in coverage elsewhere in New York, like the article by Daily News reporters Pete Donahue and Greg Gittrich. Besides giving an exceptionally detailed rundown of all six plans for downtown, they pointed out that those plans had immediately been met with "more complaints than praise."
"Several critics focused on the fact that all six designs are driven by the same constraint: The Port Authority, which owns the Trade Center site, has demanded that all the commercial space destroyed in the attacks be rebuilt," wrote Donahue and Gittrich. Hence, "each plan calls for 11 million square feet of office space, 600,000 square feet of retail space and 600,000 square feet of hotel rooms."
Also on July 17 came word of another memorial plan, one likely to be less controversial. The AP story, which was picked up by papers from Baltimore to Austin, read: "Dozens of choirs from across the world have signed up to perform Mozart’s 'Requiem’ on Sept. 11 as part of a rolling concert to honor those lost in the attacks." This "Rolling Requiem," the article continues, "is set to begin at 8:46 a.m.–the time of the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York–starting at the international date line and moving westward into every time zone."
"Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis," goes the Requiem. "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them."
STREET FIGHT
From the Headlines We Never Thought We’d See Dept.: "It’s Not Easy Being HIV Positive, 'Sesame’ Says."
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This gem was over a July 12 article by Paul Farhi for the Washington Post’s Style section. The article opened thusly: "Episodes of 'Sesame Street’ may soon be brought to you by the letters H, I, and V." This same story, about PBS’s announcement that they’ll be adding an HIV positive character to the South African version of "Sesame Street," soon proved irresistable to many news outlets–especially after a cabal of Republican Congressmen announced their disapproval. Daily Variety got this legislative angle on Sunday, July 14 and ran it under the priceless header "GOP Targets HIV Muppet."
"The lawmakers said that by Sesame Workshop’s calculation, the average age of children watching 'Sesame Street’ in the U.S. is 2- to 4-years old," ran Pamela McClintock’s Variety piece, which went on to quote the letter that the representatives (led by Louisiana’s W.J. "Billy" Tauzin of the Commerce Committee) had sent to PBS President Pat Mitchell:
" 'As such, while it is important to teach children in an age-appropriate manner about compassion for those who contract certain diseases, we would like to inquire as to whether there is other PBS programming, aimed at an older age group, which may be more suitable for such sensitive messages,’ the solons wrote in the letter." (Solon is Variety-speak for an authority or "someone in the know" It’s from the Greek. Seriously.) "Capitol Hill pols, and especially Republicans, have long looked for reasons to cut back on funding for public broadcasting."
There is an obvious refutation to the Congressmen’s beef, even if one doesn’t agree that the show should be trying to educate South African youngsters on compassion for AIDS patients. "Sesame Street" has always labored to be inclusive. In the original version, for example, Hispanic and Asian children have been added to the cast as those groups have increasingly become part of America’s cast. Tragically, having an HIV positive cast member on the South African version is just an accurate reflection of that nation’s demographics. From Farhi’s Post piece:
"South Africa has the most HIV-infected people of any nation in the world: Since 1996, the number of cases has doubled to more than 4 million, or 1 in 10 people."
HARSHEST REVIEW OF…EVER?
Michael Sommers at the New Jersey Star-Ledger tried to be nice, he really did. "Providing young actors with a forum in which to develop their fledgling skills is the noble ambition of Amphibian Productions," begins his piece of Saturday, July 13, and from that point it seems like his review of the company’s production of Leonce & Lena is going to be fair-to-positive.
Er, not so. "After a few minutes, it is obvious that a tyro acting squad–drawn mostly from graduate students at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth–cannot handle the play’s crucial need for a fanciful yet delicate performance style. Without going into pointless detail or naming names, the results are generally pathetic."
After a brief synopsis of Georg Buchner’s 1836 play about a jaded pair of royals who find love, Sommers offers a conclusion that’s sure to send shivers down the spines of parents and friends all over New Jersey. "Relatives and loyal friends of those involved will probably be in attendance to root for their loved ones, but there is no need for the public to visit the scene of this accident."