‘STUDENTS FIRST’ NOTHING MORE THAN A RED HERRING By Helen Rosenthal I’m trying to wrap my head around Students First, the latest phenom in education reform. Reading through their website, I can’t help but see code words. Their mission statement says, “Real change … puts students’ needs before those of special interests or wasteful bureaucracies.” 
Life in a Box To the Editor: The city’s recent plan that was noted in your paper (“Living Large?” Aug. 9) to make tiny 275-square-foot apartments for singles seems outrageous. Why not go even further and make street apartments for the homeless? These could consist of large refrigerator or sofa boxes with a battery-operated hot 
When proximity breeds contempt Readers may remember how often I have expounded on the social benefits of living in this crowded, vibrant, melting (and mingling) pot of a city—where the possibility of conversations with strangers is always right at the tip of your ears, and even if you are too shy to talk to strangers, 
Permanent Plaza To the Editor: I support turning the Kips Bay Pedestrian Plaza into a permanent fixture. The test run spanning June and July on the service road at Second Avenue between East 33rd and 30th streets was a positive addition to the neigborhood where I have lived since 1985. People in this area are 
Incidentally, the “Smile!” and “Don’t rush!” inscribed on my billfold aim to reduce stress and remind me to stow my wallet deep within my pocketbook after a transaction, even if the cashier and those waiting behind me are impatient. Evidently, I wasn’t careful after making a CVS purchase, and shortly after, at the Morton Williams
And Why We Want to Know What It Looks Like “Are you free tonight?” asked my friend Laura. Unfortunately, I was not. “Shoot,” I said. “I’m sorry. Why?” “Oh, too bad … I wanted to ask you to come to this really fun outdoor movie night in Brooklyn. Bob and the kids are out of 
Remembering Judith Crist The assignment, maybe the first one, was to describe a place. I chose the Gethsemane Chapel at Riverside Church, a tiny and dramatic space where my parents were married. Wait. I hear a voice that’s interrupting me right now. The voice says, “What exactly do you mean by a ‘dramatic’ space? Couldn’t
Renewing an All-Out Fight Against Traffic Crimes “Stay safe” says the green whistle Assemblyman Micah Kellner gave out at the 19th Precinct’s Night Out Against Crime held at the entrance to beautiful Carl Schurz Park. (Ah, if nature like this were truly appreciated, there’d be less crime to protest—an Olympian goal.) I took a lot 
A realistic way to disarm the electoral college, so every voter has a voice New Yorkers just don’t thank the one percenters enough. Of course the wealthiest seldom get thanked at all. It’s not at all surprising given their not-so-flattering name was coined by their opponents, Occupy Wall Street But regardless of whether you think 
