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A Dog’s Spring Break

Victor Kerlow

Dear Diary:

The elevator doors open on the eleventh floor.
A little white poodle gets out alone.
She walks around all confused and then gets back into the
elevator, with me.
I don’t know what to do.
I’ll take her to the doorman.
But it’s a beautiful spring day and the front doors
are wide open so she dashes out of the building.
Oh my God!
I’m going to be blamed for the neighbor’s dog’s
getting hit by a bus.
I give chase yelling to the people on the street.
“Stop the dog! Stop THAT dog!”
We all give chase.

A real-estate broker and his client the air-conditioner repair guy
and even the mail woman.
Hank, the doorman, says, “That’s the Deckers’ dog.”
“Let’s get her!“ I shout.
Hank is a really calm person. Nothing rattles him.
With an open palm, he gestures to the door and
The Deckers’ poodle obediently follows his hand
gently leading him back to safety and away from
the rest of us who are chasing her around
the sidewalk like maniacs.

Cool heads always prevail; even on a warm spring day.

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Marching In the Streets

James Brown helped hold a large Puerto Rican flag aloft at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, which started in Midtown and ran north up Fifth Avenue to East 79th Street on Sunday. Present along with Puerto Rican organizations and Latino businesses were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott.Brian Harkin for The New York Times James Brown helped hold a large Puerto Rican flag aloft at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, which started in Midtown and ran north up Fifth Avenue to East 79th Street on Sunday. Present along with Puerto Rican organizations and Latino businesses were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott.


Marching In the Streets

James Brown helped hold a large Puerto Rican flag aloft at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, which started in Midtown and ran north up Fifth Avenue to East 79th Street on Sunday. Present along with Puerto Rican organizations and Latino businesses were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott.Brian Harkin for The New York Times James Brown helped hold a large Puerto Rican flag aloft at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, which started in Midtown and ran north up Fifth Avenue to East 79th Street on Sunday. Present along with Puerto Rican organizations and Latino businesses were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott.


Loan Dispute Threatens a Countercultural Soapbox

It was Wednesday night, also known as Yippie Soapbox Night, at 9 Bleecker Street and some of the old gang was gathering. Outside the building, David Peel, a 1960s troubadour known for an ’80s anthem of sorts with the refrain, “Die Yuppie Scum,” was reminiscing about the Grateful Dead.

Inside, a man strummed a guitar and sang the words to “For What it’s Worth,” the Buffalo Springfield paean to protest and paranoia. About 20 people watched. One man pumped his fist in time with the music. Another tapped his cane.

For 40 years, the three-story brick building at 9 Bleecker Street, just west of the Bowery, has been associated with the Yippies, or members of the Youth International Party, which was started by Abbie Hoffman and others. In 1973, a group of younger members, called Zippies, moved in and named the place Number 9. They bought the building in 2004 after a prolonged rent dispute, then opened a cafe and museum there.

But their battles were far from over.

Since 2009, the Yippies have been fighting an attempt by a lender to foreclose on Number 9. Last month, they suffered a setback in that case when a judge appointed a receiver to manage the building and collect rent.

As gentrification has changed the NoLIta neighborhood, Number 9 stands out like an old tie-dyed T-shirt among a sea of cocktail dresses. Many of those who frequent the place relish that raffish status and at one point on Wednesday night a longtime Yippie named Aron Kay brought up the building’s history and recent difficulties while addressing the crowd.

He noted that Number 9 had been used as a place to publish newspapers, like the Yipster Times and Overthrow, as well as an organizing spot for pro-marijuana parades, anti-nuclear protests, and demonstrations held during national political conventions.

“We have been an ongoing center to promote the First Amendment,” said Mr. Kay, who is known for flinging pies at ideological adversaries like the Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy and the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. “There are almost no places like this left but Number 9 will prevail.”

That may not be easy. In court documents, Steven L. Einig, a lawyer for a company called Centech, which holds the building’s mortgage, stated that Yippie Holdings, which bought Number 9 along with a nonprofit called the National AIDS Brigade, had failed for more than five years to make payments on the $1.4 million mortgage.

A lawyer for Yippie Holdings, John Diffley, replied that his clients “were compelled into foreclosure with payments being rejected by the principle of Centech” as part of a scheme or plan to take over the building.

The lender holding the mortgage for the headquarters of the Youth International Party, shown here, has opened foreclosure proceedings against the building's owners.Brian Harkin for The New York Times The lender holding the mortgage for the headquarters of the Youth International Party, shown here, has opened foreclosure proceedings against the building’s owners.

Meanwhile, Judge Jeffrey K. Oing of State Supreme Court has granted a request by the company to appoint a receiver to manage the building and Mr. Einig has written that those using the premises should pay $15,000 to $20,000 per month in rent. A foreclosure case is continuing.

Mr. Einig did not immediately return a phone call on Sunday evening.

The outcome is of particular interest to Dana Beal, a Yippie leader who moved into the building in 1973 and has used it as a headquarters for a group called Cures Not Wars that campaigns for medical marijuana and promotes Ibogaine, a derivative of an African shrub that researchers have said can interrupt addiction to substances like tobacco and heroin.

Mr. Beal is in prison in Nebraska, after being convicted of transporting 150 pounds of marijuana in a van. Speaking from a hospital in Nebraska, where he recently had surgery, Mr. Beal said that he wanted the city to intervene in the dispute with Centech and ensure that such advocacy work can continue at Number Nine.

“This building is important as history,” he said. “We’re going to mount a campaign to save it.”

Displays inside Number 9 attest to its countercultural past. There is a framed copy of the original Youth International Party manifesto hanging on a wall. Nearby is a scarred and patched door that was damaged in 1981, when a small explosive detonated outside the building.

But in recent years Number 9 has taken on a new life. Occupy Wall Street protesters began using it as a meeting spot in 2011. There are poetry readings there, hip-hop shows, comedy revues and a regular event called Drug War Trivia Night.
On Saturday evening, about 40 people, most in their 20s, gathered in the building’s basement to watch a series of bands with names like Cannonball Statman and Black Market Merchants.

Among the crowd was Roger Walsh, 20, from the Upper East Side, who said he had first visited Number 9 about a year ago, while performing with his band, The Lounge Act. He had returned many times since, he said, drawn by a sense of camaraderie.

“There’s a community,” he said. “The feeling of coming here is like the feeling of going back to the house you grew up in.”



Tony Awards 2013 Live Blog

Billy Porter, center, as Lola in the musical Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Billy Porter, center, as Lola in the musical “Kinky Boots,” which received 13 nominations for the 67th annual Tony Awards, including for best musical, director, actor, score and choreographer.

Tonight Dave Itzkoff and Charles Isherwood are live blogging the 67th annual Tony Awards. The telecast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on CBS. Live commentary, ballot updates, photos from the show and the red carpet can be found here.

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4:19 P.M. Curtain Up on Tony Night

Radio City Music Hall will be crackling with genuine dramatic tension at the Tony Awards on Sunday night as rival teams of producers, artists, and actors (as well as CBS viewers) brace for the outcome of the race for best musical between two acclaimed hits, “Kinky Boots” and “Matilda.” Tony voters interviewed over the last two weeks gave the edge to fan favorite “Kinky Boots,” but “Matilda” had the better reviews from critics, and no one was discounting a late surge in voting for either show.

The shows will compete directly in 11 categories. Two early signs of where voters are leaning: Whether “Kinky Boots” or “Matilda” wins for best book (Harvey Fierstein vs. Dennis Kelly, respectively) and best actor (Billy Porter vs. Bertie Carvel).

Among the other lively races are best actor in a play (the frontrunners are Tom Hanks and Nathan Lane, with Tracy Letts as the dark horse); best actress in a play (a probable close contest between sentimental favorite Cicely Tyson and theater veteran Kristine Nielsen); and best play revival (a duel between “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Trip to Bountiful”).

Neil Patrick Harris returns as host, and Mr. Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver, Audra McDonald, and nominee Cyndi Lauper (for best score for “Kinky Boots”) will appear on the CBS telecast, which begins at 8 p.m. ET.

ArtsBeat and NYTimes.com will have coverage throughout the night, including live blogging by theater critic Charles Isherwood and reporter Dave Itzkoff. And check out Monday’s newspaper too for a complete wrap-up and photos.

â€" Patrick Healy



Tony Awards 2013 Live Blog

Billy Porter, center, as Lola in the musical Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Billy Porter, center, as Lola in the musical “Kinky Boots,” which received 13 nominations for the 67th annual Tony Awards, including for best musical, director, actor, score and choreographer.

Tonight Dave Itzkoff and Charles Isherwood are live blogging the 67th annual Tony Awards. The telecast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on CBS. Live commentary, ballot updates, photos from the show and the red carpet can be found here.

Auto-Refresh: ON
Turn ON
Refresh Now
4:19 P.M. Curtain Up on Tony Night

Radio City Music Hall will be crackling with genuine dramatic tension at the Tony Awards on Sunday night as rival teams of producers, artists, and actors (as well as CBS viewers) brace for the outcome of the race for best musical between two acclaimed hits, “Kinky Boots” and “Matilda.” Tony voters interviewed over the last two weeks gave the edge to fan favorite “Kinky Boots,” but “Matilda” had the better reviews from critics, and no one was discounting a late surge in voting for either show.

The shows will compete directly in 11 categories. Two early signs of where voters are leaning: Whether “Kinky Boots” or “Matilda” wins for best book (Harvey Fierstein vs. Dennis Kelly, respectively) and best actor (Billy Porter vs. Bertie Carvel).

Among the other lively races are best actor in a play (the frontrunners are Tom Hanks and Nathan Lane, with Tracy Letts as the dark horse); best actress in a play (a probable close contest between sentimental favorite Cicely Tyson and theater veteran Kristine Nielsen); and best play revival (a duel between “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Trip to Bountiful”).

Neil Patrick Harris returns as host, and Mr. Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver, Audra McDonald, and nominee Cyndi Lauper (for best score for “Kinky Boots”) will appear on the CBS telecast, which begins at 8 p.m. ET.

ArtsBeat and NYTimes.com will have coverage throughout the night, including live blogging by theater critic Charles Isherwood and reporter Dave Itzkoff. And check out Monday’s newspaper too for a complete wrap-up and photos.

â€" Patrick Healy



‘The Purge’ Leads at the Box Office

It was another grim box office weekend for movie stars, as a micro-budgeted horror film, “The Purge,” crushed Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in “The Internship.” A mere $3 million to make, “The Purge” (Universal Pictures) surprisingly dominated North American theaters, taking in an estimated $36.4 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box office data.

“Fast & Furious 6” (Universal) was second, taking in about $19.8 million, for a three-week total of $202.9 million. The holdover “Now You See Me” (Lionsgate) finished third, with estimated ticket sales of $19.5 million, for a two-week total of $61.4 million. “The Internship,” which cost Fox and New Regency about $58 million to make, was a disappointing fourth, taking in about $18.1 million. And the animated “Epic” (Fox) was fifth, selling $12.1 million in tickets, for a three-week total of $84.2 million.

Why did audience interest surge for “The Purge”? Universal and Blumhouse Productions backed the horror movie with a savvy social media marketing campaign. The concept was also fresh: in the movie’s futuristic plot, any and all crime is legalized during one 12-hour period each year. “The Internship,” on the other hand, was lambasted by some critics as a glorified infomercial for Google, and its marketing campaign, in particular its outdoor advertisements, appeared to copy the playbook of comedies past.



After the Rain, a Night of Rock

Kings of Leon, who would have headlined Governors Ball on Friday before rain ended the night early, gave the event a rain date on Saturday night on Randall’s Island. The band squeezed onto the main stage just before Guns N’ Roses.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Caleb Followill, the band’s singer and leader, after joking that Kings of Leon was back to being “just the opening band.” That made rock with guitar muscle even stronger on Saturday’s agenda at Governors Ball.

Kings of Leon, which played its sturdy, modernized Southern rock, is not flamboyant onstage. It just plays through the songs, letting the music â€" the grain of Mr. Followill’s voice, the breadth and drive of the riffs â€" carry the concert. It easily did: the unswerving beat (hinting at dance music) in “Knocked Up,” the buildup and U2-like “whoa-oh-oh” singalong of “Use Somebody,” the patient guitar meditation of “Closer,” the springy hint of ska and urgent lyrics of “Sex on Fire.” The band introduced what it said was a song it had never performed that reached back to the frenetic strumming of its early days when it was often compared to the Strokes.

In its performance, Guns N’ Roses brought the rock-star struts, rowdy fashion statements and pyrotechnics of 1980’s-vintage stadium rock. When Axl Rose first remade Guns N’ Roses as a band of sidemen rather than a group that had built its songs and career together, he ended up with sterile technicians. Now he has a band that reclaims nostalgia-enhanced memories of the band’s 1987-1991 heyday by expanding the lineup to hit even harder.

It has three guitarists â€" Ron (Bumblefoot) Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba â€" instead of two. It has two keyboardists â€" Dizzy Reed, the only link with the 1991 band, and Chris Pitman â€" instead of one. And its bassist, Tommy Stinson, and drummer, Frank Ferrer, share a wallop, sometimes underlined by fireworks onstage. The three guitarists can reach back to blues and soul, shred at top speed and play wailing hard-rock guitar-hero solos. Mr. Thal hardly lets a lead phrase go by without a pitch-bending wiggle of the whammy bar.

Guns N’ Roses did not reveal new songs. Its most recent album, “Chinese Democracy,” brought together nearly all of the current members but that came out in 2008. Yet they wrung all they could out of the older songs. Mr. Rose, whose high, electrocuted-tomcat wail gave Guns N’ Roses its edge, sounded oddly dulcet during the early part of the set. Then his yowl and screech returned.

The band filibustered the songs a bit â€" ”November Rain,” with Mr. Rose at the piano, got Pink Floyd and Elton John excerpts as a prelude and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” had extended guitar passages â€" and guitarists got to show off while Mr. Rose was backstage changing jackets, T-shirts and hats. Charging through songs like “Nightrain” and “Paradise City,” Guns N’ Roses delivered 1980’s rock excess, rowdy and unrepentant.

Governors Ball on Satuday also had a hip-hop contingent that was as triumphal as Guns N’ Roses. Nas, headlining on the other large stage doubled as the wise elder and current contender. He summed up the life of the urban ghetto with songs from his 1994 album “Illmatic,” and went on to explore pleasure and politics. Kendrick Lamar traded the self-questioning of his recordings for the shouting and cheerleading of live hip-hop; the audience happily supplied words whenever he gave them a chance. Azealia Banks, dressed in a cutout fluorescent garment, rattled off high-speed rhymes that flirted, boasted and picked catfights over throbbing, skittering tracks, while concert-goers pumped their fists.

There were other takes on rock through the day. Divine Fits, the band led by the songwriters Britt Daniel (from Spoon) and Dan Boeckner (from Wolf Parade), played songs in which each note, chord and word sounded chiseled. A set by the sardonic two-man Canadian punk band Japandroids was followed by the three-guitar surge of the Canadian punk band, its name not printable here, that is led by the singer Damian Abraham: flintiness followed by earnestness, sparseness followed by full-bodied blare (Mr. Abraham spent most of the set in the audience).

And there was another track, too: the patterned repetition of Minimalism. Animal Collective, whose set was cut short by equipment failure â€" the band said it got no sound check â€" spun its songs into dizzying, overlapping, euphoric incantations. Alt-J, from Britain, dug into the resemblance of folky picking and electronic ostinatos, mingling guitars and electronics. Dirty Projectors’ songs surrounded David Longstreth’s lead vocals with intricate, staggered, Minimalistic guitar and vocal lines. Moon Hooch â€" two saxophonists and a drummer â€" played a live version of dance music, with repeating riffs and excursions that always settled back into the beat.

There was more dance music, making Minimalist repetition functional as a physical force: from Icona Pop, two women who switched between harmonizing as vocalists and controlling the synthetic beats that backed them, and from Robert DeLong, a singer, songwriter and one-man band who uses electronic loops and controllers to back songs that are structured with the verses and choruses of pop.

The disc jockeys Paper Moon and Griz also applied dubstep’s cutting synthesizer tones and destabilizing bass lines to the blips of trance and electro (Paper Moon) and even, in Griz’s set, to oldies like “Tequila.”



After the Rain, a Night of Rock

Kings of Leon, who would have headlined Governors Ball on Friday before rain ended the night early, gave the event a rain date on Saturday night on Randall’s Island. The band squeezed onto the main stage just before Guns N’ Roses.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Caleb Followill, the band’s singer and leader, after joking that Kings of Leon was back to being “just the opening band.” That made rock with guitar muscle even stronger on Saturday’s agenda at Governors Ball.

Kings of Leon, which played its sturdy, modernized Southern rock, is not flamboyant onstage. It just plays through the songs, letting the music â€" the grain of Mr. Followill’s voice, the breadth and drive of the riffs â€" carry the concert. It easily did: the unswerving beat (hinting at dance music) in “Knocked Up,” the buildup and U2-like “whoa-oh-oh” singalong of “Use Somebody,” the patient guitar meditation of “Closer,” the springy hint of ska and urgent lyrics of “Sex on Fire.” The band introduced what it said was a song it had never performed that reached back to the frenetic strumming of its early days when it was often compared to the Strokes.

In its performance, Guns N’ Roses brought the rock-star struts, rowdy fashion statements and pyrotechnics of 1980’s-vintage stadium rock. When Axl Rose first remade Guns N’ Roses as a band of sidemen rather than a group that had built its songs and career together, he ended up with sterile technicians. Now he has a band that reclaims nostalgia-enhanced memories of the band’s 1987-1991 heyday by expanding the lineup to hit even harder.

It has three guitarists â€" Ron (Bumblefoot) Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba â€" instead of two. It has two keyboardists â€" Dizzy Reed, the only link with the 1991 band, and Chris Pitman â€" instead of one. And its bassist, Tommy Stinson, and drummer, Frank Ferrer, share a wallop, sometimes underlined by fireworks onstage. The three guitarists can reach back to blues and soul, shred at top speed and play wailing hard-rock guitar-hero solos. Mr. Thal hardly lets a lead phrase go by without a pitch-bending wiggle of the whammy bar.

Guns N’ Roses did not reveal new songs. Its most recent album, “Chinese Democracy,” brought together nearly all of the current members but that came out in 2008. Yet they wrung all they could out of the older songs. Mr. Rose, whose high, electrocuted-tomcat wail gave Guns N’ Roses its edge, sounded oddly dulcet during the early part of the set. Then his yowl and screech returned.

The band filibustered the songs a bit â€" ”November Rain,” with Mr. Rose at the piano, got Pink Floyd and Elton John excerpts as a prelude and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” had extended guitar passages â€" and guitarists got to show off while Mr. Rose was backstage changing jackets, T-shirts and hats. Charging through songs like “Nightrain” and “Paradise City,” Guns N’ Roses delivered 1980’s rock excess, rowdy and unrepentant.

Governors Ball on Satuday also had a hip-hop contingent that was as triumphal as Guns N’ Roses. Nas, headlining on the other large stage doubled as the wise elder and current contender. He summed up the life of the urban ghetto with songs from his 1994 album “Illmatic,” and went on to explore pleasure and politics. Kendrick Lamar traded the self-questioning of his recordings for the shouting and cheerleading of live hip-hop; the audience happily supplied words whenever he gave them a chance. Azealia Banks, dressed in a cutout fluorescent garment, rattled off high-speed rhymes that flirted, boasted and picked catfights over throbbing, skittering tracks, while concert-goers pumped their fists.

There were other takes on rock through the day. Divine Fits, the band led by the songwriters Britt Daniel (from Spoon) and Dan Boeckner (from Wolf Parade), played songs in which each note, chord and word sounded chiseled. A set by the sardonic two-man Canadian punk band Japandroids was followed by the three-guitar surge of the Canadian punk band, its name not printable here, that is led by the singer Damian Abraham: flintiness followed by earnestness, sparseness followed by full-bodied blare (Mr. Abraham spent most of the set in the audience).

And there was another track, too: the patterned repetition of Minimalism. Animal Collective, whose set was cut short by equipment failure â€" the band said it got no sound check â€" spun its songs into dizzying, overlapping, euphoric incantations. Alt-J, from Britain, dug into the resemblance of folky picking and electronic ostinatos, mingling guitars and electronics. Dirty Projectors’ songs surrounded David Longstreth’s lead vocals with intricate, staggered, Minimalistic guitar and vocal lines. Moon Hooch â€" two saxophonists and a drummer â€" played a live version of dance music, with repeating riffs and excursions that always settled back into the beat.

There was more dance music, making Minimalist repetition functional as a physical force: from Icona Pop, two women who switched between harmonizing as vocalists and controlling the synthetic beats that backed them, and from Robert DeLong, a singer, songwriter and one-man band who uses electronic loops and controllers to back songs that are structured with the verses and choruses of pop.

The disc jockeys Paper Moon and Griz also applied dubstep’s cutting synthesizer tones and destabilizing bass lines to the blips of trance and electro (Paper Moon) and even, in Griz’s set, to oldies like “Tequila.”