Economist.com Cities Guide: New York Briefing - May 2005

News this month

Ground Zero, still zero

More than three years after the World Trade Centre was destroyed, George Pataki, New York's governor, has finally announced what even casual observers of the reconstruction have long known: rebuilding is delayed. One reason for the slow going is a concern expressed by the New York Police Department about the impact of a truck bomb on the proposed 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. Police say the planned tower is too close to the West Side Highway, at 25 feet away, and recommend a distance of at least 75 feet. This means the tower's base will have to be redesigned.

The security concerns, however, are hardly new. The Port Authority, which owns the land, said the completion (scheduled for 2009) could be delayed up to a year while they are addressed. But the date seemed implausible anyway, as there has been little construction since the tower's cornerstone was laid on July 4th last year. Most energy has been spent bickering over such matters as the on-site memorial and whether to build on the former towers' footprints. David Childs and Daniel Libeskind, the Freedom Tower's architects, have promised that the spirit of the original plan will remain, despite the changes. A preliminary design will be released in the next few weeks.

First in the morning

New York will become the first city in the country to make “morning after” contraceptive pills readily available to all women who want them. Michael Bloomberg, New York's Republican mayor, promised the new programme will provide $1m in public funding to promote emergency contraceptive pills at city hospitals. He also promised another $2m for family planning in poor neighbourhoods.

The plan was blasted by anti-abortion conservatives, who complain of Mr Bloomberg's leftist sympathies. (He ran as a Republican merely to avoid a gruelling Democratic primary in 2001.) The mayor countered their complaints by saying that a goal of the programme is a cut in the 90,000 abortions performed in the city each year.

A small boom

Two small makeshift grenades exploded outside a building housing the British Consulate in midtown Manhattan in early May. The explosions, which occurred in the middle of the night, caused some minor damage to the building but no one was injured. They were found in a flower planter outside the building.

The incident came just as the British voted on whether to keep Tony Blair and his Labour Party in power for a third term. But police say the explosions may have been meant for another tenant in the office building, a board-member of Caterpillar, a maker of construction equipment, who has been the subject of a demonstration before. Police are still looking for suspects, after releasing a Dutchman who was loitering around the building after the explosions.

A tumble of Tonys

Monty Python's “Spamalot”, a recreation of the venerable “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, led this year's Tony nominations, with 14 nods. Of those, five went to its actors, while one was for best musical and another went to Mike Nichols, for best direction. As usual with the Tony nominations, a select few take most if not all: “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “The Light in the Piazza” each earned 11 nominations for best musical. “Doubt”, John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a Catholic school in the Bronx, led the drama lot with eight nominations.

Edward Albee, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, will receive a special Tony for lifetime achievement. Hugh Jackman, a theatre veteran before he embarked on his film career, will host the award ceremony on June 5th at Radio City Music Hall.

Landslide

A retaining wall skirting one of Manhattan's parkways collapsed on May 12th, allowing a landslide to bury a stretch of roadway. No one was injured, though up to a dozen parked cars were crushed by soil, rumble and even trees that were uprooted and swept across the road. The inundated section, on the Hudson Parkway near 181st Street, caused the highway to be closed and diverted temporarily as crews worked to clear the debris. The 75-foot wall had been scheduled for repair the following week. Before it collapsed, residents said they could see its face bulging.

Catch if you can

May 2005

Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”

Until June 12th 2005

Expect to pay a bundle for a glimpse of Denzel Washington in this limited run of “Julius Caesar”, a bloody play that rarely lures a wide audience. The Hollywood star acquits himself as Brutus, channelling the moral ambivalence that has served him well on screen. His is a compelling presence, filling the stage with elegant gestures and a rich voice, though some will note that Broadway is still not his métier. Still, the 112 performances are starting to sell out. Daniel Sullivan, a Tony Award-winner, has directed this grisly update (the characters all wear suits and the setting looks Balkan).

Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th St (between Broadway & Sixth Ave). Tel: +1 (212) 239-6200. Book tickets through Telecharge's website.

See the show's official website.

More from the New York cultural calendar