IT was Monday at the Chateau de Versailles , the gates closed to tourists , and Sofia Coppola was camped out in a quiet corner of the grounds , resurrecting Marie Antoinette .

A cold spring afternoon had been transformed into dawn with a spotlight that mimicked the rising sun .

Wildflowers from an adjacent field had been replanted in the tall grass .

Ms. Coppola arranged strands of a foot-high hairdo on the actress Kirsten Dunst , then stepped back and took a photo .

Then the cameras started rolling , and the young queen sat on the edge of a reflecting pool , tipsily sipping the last of her Champagne with some hangers -on , her royal husband tucked away in bed .

So this was what it must have been like for Marie Antoinette to have the place all to herself .

Versailles administrators granted Ms. Coppola , the 35-year-old writer-director , unprecedented access to the chateau and its grounds , allowing her to film scenes for `` Marie Antoinette '' over 12 weeks in the spring of 2005 .

Based on a best-selling book by Lady Antonia Fraser , this stylized , impressionistic portrait of the controversial French queen had its premiere this year at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews .

Even the two critics for The New York Times who saw the movie there came down on opposite sides of the fence .

Since then , it has attracted more than a million moviegoers in France .

It is set to open in the United States on Oct . 20 .

`` I 'm so glad we were n't in Budapest or whatever , like , trying to fake it , `` Ms. Coppola said a few weeks after wrapping , upstairs at that Right Bank institution the Café de Flore .

Once favored by Jean-Paul Sartre and now the canteen of choice for American expatriates in the St . - Germain-des-Prés neighborhood , it is next door to the apartment she rented while making the movie .

`` It 's so cool to be in the real places .

There 's something that just gets you into the mood .

They let us shoot in places people were n't allowed to normally , like Marie Antoinette 's private theater .

They were like , ` This is your home . '

`` The queenly welcome had to do with the fact that Ms. Coppola is something of a cult figure in France .

The French admire her talent : she won a best-foreign-film César , the French Academy Award , in 2005 for her last film , `` Lost in Translation , '' about a young American who spends most of a trip to Tokyo holed up in the Park Hyatt .

But they also esteem her much-photographed , tastefully chic personal style .

And her status as Hollywood royalty does n't hurt : her father , the director Francis Ford Coppola , is a demigod in France .

So her decision to make Marie Antoinette the star of her latest film has resulted in a grand comeback for the much-maligned queen .

Along with director and star , Marie Antoinette herself now ranks as a fashion icon .

Magazines have devoted special issues to her , featuring her portrait on the cover .

French luxury houses have issued Marie Antoinette merchandise .

Several books have appeared , tied not to the 250th anniversary of her birth last year but to the opening of the film , filling many an hour on both high - and lowbrow talk shows .

It is as if the French needed the hype of a Hollywood movie to get them excited about their own history .

But Ms. Coppola said she was more interested in the emotional life of her young heroine .

`` I wanted to make a personal story and not a big epic historical biopic , '' she said , adding that she wanted to tell the story from the point of view of a 14-year-old Austrian girl who is shipped off to France in 1770 to marry the future King Louis XVI , who is 16 .

She used Lady Antonia 's dense , anecdotal book as her primary source .

`` I would get bored when it would get sort of too detailed , '' she said of the book .

`` I did n't want to get bogged down with history , but to focus on the personal relations between these people .

Louis would n't sleep with her , so she wanted to go out and party -- like someone in a bad marriage going shopping .

It just seemed like the same old story . ``

This Marie Antoinette is a party girl with a gay hairdresser and a shoe fetish .

She drowns her sorrows in bonbons and Champagne while , beyond the castle walls , the people starve .

As for her famous response when told that the masses had no bread -- `` Let them eat cake '' -- both Lady Antonia and Ms. Coppola dismiss it as gossip .

-LRB- In the film , Marie Antoinette herself laughs it off . -RRB-

Speculation that she had a passionate affair with the Swedish count Axel Fersen is portrayed as fact .

Ms. Coppola 's film takes other liberties : she eschews the often stately colors used in portraits of the French court for pastels inspired by the famous macaroons of the Parisian pastry house Ladurée .

She relied on the costume department to vet dress styles or advise on the appropriate size of a bow -- but only to a point .

`` I want it to be believable , so that it does n't take you out of the story , `` Ms. Coppola said , '' but I 'd rather pick a heel that is more appealing to me that maybe was invented 50 years later .

I 'm not a fetishist about historical accuracy .

I 'm just , like , making it my thing . ``

Anyway , as she points out , `` they did n't speak English in Versailles , either . ``

The actors speak in their own mostly American voices .

`` I was trying to make it sound normal , '' she said , `` although I 'm a little afraid of it ever sounding a little too much California Valley Girl .

I 'm trying to get them to say ` all right ' instead of ` O.K. , ' to make it a little more formal than we would be , but not to feel like you were in a stiff period movie . ''

For several days in April 2005 , the production moved into the Hôtel de Soubise , a city palace that is now part of the National Archives in Paris .

Hairdressers carrying 18th-century powdered wigs on plastic heads walked the narrow streets of the Marais district , on their way to and from the set .

The actor Jason Schwartzman , who is Ms. Coppola 's cousin , was coming out of his trailer dressed as Louis XVI when a teenager in oversize shorts dropped to the sidewalk and began to bow in mock homage to the king , crying , `` Le roi ! Le roi ! '' Girls in long gowns , powdered wigs and sunglasses smoked cigarettes and talked on their cellphones between takes .

In an ornate 18th-century salon , Ms. Coppola huddled by a monitor in wordless conference with her brother , Roman , who is also a filmmaker , and who was on the set shooting secondary scenes .

`` I do n't have to say anything .

He can go shoot something and he 'll get exactly what I want , `` Ms. Coppola said .

`` It 's like having another brain . ``

Ms. Coppola said she was just following in her father 's footsteps by hiring family members .

Her mother , Eleanor , who filmed the `` Marie Antoinette '' making-of documentary , did the same job on Francis Ford Coppola 's `` Apocalypse Now . ''

And he acted as executive producer for his daughter on this film .

`` I mean , they 're just doing what they want .

They sort of have a little bit of a bratty attitude . ``

Mr. Schwartzman said he appreciated the mood on the set .

`` One thing that 's really nice about Sofia is , like , you do n't realize you 're working , `` he said .

`` And she talks to you about your character in a modern context , which you almost need .

Because they were people -- they 're not just facts and dates and that kind of stuff -- so she gives you something you can relate to . ``

Ms. Coppola said she wrote the lead roles for Mr. Schwartzman and Ms. Dunst -LRB- who starred in her directorial debut , `` The Virgin Suicides , '' in 1999 -RRB- .

`` Kirsten to me has just , like , a fun , bubbly , effervescent quality , and that 's how I think of Marie Antoinette , `` she said .

`` And she also has a depth .

And she 's German , so I thought she had the coloring and the features . ``

Ms. Dunst , who has been acting in films since she was 7 , said that she empathized with the young queen .

`` She was a girl surrounded by grown-ups who wanted things from her and judged her , and she did n't exactly know what people expected from her , `` Ms. Dunst said during a lunch break , in sweats and her pink-cheeked Marie Antoinette makeup and giant hair .

`` I could relate to that kind of loneliness . ''

By the time the film opened at Cannes , Marie Antoinette mania had reached such a fevered pitch that the French news media -- which had helped to generate it -- seemed stunned that the movie itself might not live up to the hype .

`` I was a little bit disappointed , '' the normally gushy Cannes veteran Laurent Weill said apologetically during one of his nightly television reports from the Croisette .

After some of the Cannes audience booed the film , another national newscaster told her audience , with a dash of understatement , `` Sometimes the most anticipated films are not the most appreciated . ''

For her part , Ms. Coppola calmly repeated in every interview that a strong reaction -- good or bad , anything but indifference -- was what she hoped for .

Many critics and observers saw the film as a comment on modern celebrity youth culture , with Marie Antoinette as an 18th-century Paris Hilton .

Others wondered aloud if Ms. Coppola 's sympathetic portrait of her heroine as a poor little rich girl had more to do with her own experience as a child of Hollywood and privilege .

Why , they asked , did Ms. Coppola focus on the queen 's frivolous lifestyle and teenage psyche , ending the movie well before she meets her destiny at the guillotine .

All her films have dealt with child-women during painful , alienated moments in their young lives .

`` I see them like a trilogy , and this is the final chapter , '' she said at the Café de Flore .

`` It 's a continuation of the other two films -- sort of about a lonely girl in a big hotel or palace or whatever , kind of wandering around , trying to grow up .

But in the other ones , you know , they 're always sort of on the verge .

This is a story about a girl becoming a woman .

And in this , I feel like she does . ``

THE NEW SEASON : FILM Correction : September 17 , 2006 , Sunday An article last Sunday about the making of the film `` Marie Antoinette '' misstated the location of Café de Flore , where the director , Sofia Coppola , was interviewed .

It is in Paris on the Left Bank , not the Right .

Summary: Article discusses director Sofia Coppola 's new film Marie Antoinette , which premiered at Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews .

Summary: Coppola was granted twelve weeks of unprecented access to chateau and grounds of Versailles for filming .

Summary: Film portrays Marie Antoinette as party girl .

Summary: Photos .


PERHAPS partly because it was made at a time when movies often threw in a little something for everyone , there 's a sappy love story tucked into the corners of `` Frankenstein . ''

But it 's inconsequential : there could be nothing in `` Frankenstein '' more romantic than Boris Karloff 's monster , right .

With his heavy-lidded gaze and his twisted smile , he 's not quite human and yet more human than we can almost bear .

To honor the movie 's 75th anniversary , Universal unveils this special edition with extras that have not appeared on previous releases .

-LRB- On the same date Universal will also release the 75th anniversary edition of `` Dracula . ''

And Sept . 19 marks the release of the Boris Karloff Collection , featuring some of his lesser-known films , including `` Tower of London '' and `` The Strange Door , '' which co-stars Charles Laughton . -RRB-

We learn that Karloff would entertain his fellow actors on-set with Cockney ditties , and insisted on breaking for tea .

This charming actor , underneath layers of carefully conceived makeup , created a character whose resonance has not diminished over the years .

The monster 's cries of anguish , frustration and finally pain are the evidence of his curse : he is allowed to walk among men but not invited to be of them .

His clumsy underestimation of the fragility of life results in the death of a little girl , and the scene in which she drowns , cut from the version of the movie we all used to see on television , is heartbreaking and shocking even today .

How could any of us not know how this monster feels .

-LRB- Universal Home Entertainment , Sept . 26 , $ 26.98. -RRB-

STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S .

Summary: Article discusses new DVD of film Frankenstein , starring Boris Karloff , on the 75th anniversary of film 's original release .

Summary: Photo .


G . W . PABST 'S tragic fable , from two plays by Frank Wedekind about a prostitute whose love for -- and conquest of -- a married man begins her spiral of decline , is one of the most beautifully filmed of all silent movies .

Pabst 's unobtrusive but masterly compositions and disarmingly delicate lighting effects are the stuff of rapture .

Then again , when Louise Brooks , above , is your star , it 's your duty to place her in a context of perfection .

Brooks plays the doomed , exquisite Lulu , who , with her sable bob and mischievous , calculating smile , became an enduring symbol of jazz-age freedom and joyousness .

If beauty and saucy charm were all Brooks had to offer , she would have ended up a caricature .

But this performance is so vital and so infinitely shaded that it inspires wonder each time you see it .

Brooks 's Lulu is an image of relaxed modernity : she may be willful , petulant and manipulative , but she is also a woman striding toward an uncertain future in a world that does n't provide easy comforts .

On the night of her disastrous wedding to the rich Dr. Schön -LRB- Fritz Kortner -RRB- , who believes he adores her but really wants to possess her , she stands in front of the mirror , preparing to remove her wedding finery .

The first thing to come off is a new strand of pearls , which represent the safe , pampered life she has been striving for .

She lets the glowing beads pool in the palm of her hand , and we see her face in the mirror , an ivory moon framed by darkness .

The faint smile that crosses her lips is not one of greed or catlike satisfaction but of quiet relief : she has set herself up for a life without worry and strife , not yet knowing that such a life is impossible .

We have seen how frivolous and thoughtless she can be , and we have witnessed her gentle treachery , but judging her is unthinkable .

We ca n't trust Lulu .

We can only believe her .

In addition to a new , restored transfer of the film , this two-disc set has four different musical scores -LRB- two of which were commissioned for this release -RRB- and a booklet that includes an essay by J . Hoberman , the Village Voice film critic , and Kenneth Tynan 's essential Brooks profile , `` The Girl in the Black Helmet . ''

-LRB- Criterion Collection , Nov . 10 , $ 39.95. -RRB-

Summary: Article discusses new DVD of G W Pabst film Pandora 's Box starring Louise Brooks .

Summary: Photo .


KATHRYN BIGELOW made `` Point Break '' as if she were determined to show up all the big boys as sissies .

She pumps this movie full of adrenaline like someone determined to see how much helium a balloon can hold before it bursts .

This is the sort of picture in which the hero -LRB- Keanu Reeves , above left -RRB- is named Johnny Utah , and a bad guy about to meet his maker exclaims , `` I 'll see you in hell , Johnny . ``

It would be ridiculous if it were n't so delirious .

Utah is an F.B.I. agent who goes undercover to bring down a group of surfers financing their pursuit of the big waves with a string of bank robberies .

His nemesis is Bodhi , the surfing guru-bank robber who , as played by the marvelous Patrick Swayze , above right , is like a stoned version of the chest-thumping he-man Robert Shaw portrayed in `` Jaws . ''

The Carlos Castaneda of machismo , Bodhi is ready with a quasi-mystical justification of everything from riding a tube to planning a heist .

Ms. Bigelow is in love with macho thrill seeking , but she ca n't resist kidding it .

So as `` Point Break '' grows more intense , it becomes funnier .

She keeps the movie in perpetual motion , whether speeding along in a car , gently bobbing on a surfboard or , in the movie 's stunning visual set piece , sky diving .

The cinematographer , Donald Peterman , makes you feel as if you 're hovering beside the sky divers as they caper around in midair before pulling the rip cord .

When the five come together to form a floating circle , it 's as if you 're looking at some wacko version of King Arthur 's knights , and it 's elating .

This is the action movie as goofy rapture .

-LRB- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , Oct . 3 , $ 19.98. -RRB-

CHARLES TAYLOR THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S .

Summary: Article discusses new DVD of film Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow .

Summary: Photo .


DUMPED into theaters as an exploitation cheapie in 1968 , this lyrical thriller is a minor American classic .

As Dennis , a young man trying to get his feet on the ground after being released from a reformatory , Anthony Perkins , right , gives perhaps his richest performance , certainly his most touching .

Just as Perkins was trying to leave behind the juvenile roles that had typecast him , Dennis , a basically decent fellow , is trying to become an adult .

But even when he succeeds in hiding his past , he ca n't resist playing the smart aleck or slipping into a world of make-believe .

Dennis persuades the town golden girl Sue Ann -LRB- Tuesday Weld , right -RRB- to slip into that world with him .

The twist is that she 's every bit the psychopath people assume Dennis is .

And since she 's bored with the small town and hates her mother , she 's ready for anything .

Lorenzo Semple Jr . ` s screenplay is beautifully worked out , and the director , Noel Black , does a superb job of modulating the film 's conflicting elements : the coming-of-age story and the thriller .

Sensitive and unsettling , `` Pretty Poison '' at times suggests a smaller-scale version of `` Splendor in the Grass , '' without the Freudian gush .

And when violence breaks out in the suburban setting , Mr. Black plays it straight , not for the cheap irony that won so much praise for Terrence Malick 's phony , condescending `` Badlands . ''

A large part of what makes `` Pretty Poison '' chilling is Ms. Weld 's amazing performance .

It is no stretch to cast her as the prettiest girl in town , but resisting the urge to telegraph a character 's craziness takes real discipline .

Ms. Weld pulls off the neat trick of making Sue Ann seem even more like a normal , carefree teenager after she kills .

Pointing a gun , as she 's preparing to commit a murder she has long dreamed of , Ms. Weld 's smile has never been sweeter .

-LRB- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , Sept . 5 , $ 14.98. -RRB-

Summary: Article discusses new DVD of 1968 thriller Pretty Poison starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld .

Summary: Photo .


PLENTY of Jane Austen devotees nearly fainted in horror at the liberties Joe Wright took with his 2005 adaptation of `` Pride & Prejudice '' .

The DVD release of Robert Z . Leonard 's far more outlandish 1940 version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier , above , is likely to set many more Regency bonnets quivering with indignation .

Forget that Austen 's dialogue has been zingered up and accented with a whimsical score , and that the costumes , by the Hollywood gown god Adrian , have a distinct and bizarre antebellum flair .

-LRB- Georgian , Southern -- what 's the difference .

-RRB- The picture is deeply , ridiculously pleasurable not in spite of its anachronisms but because of them .

As the critic Robin Wood said , `` It is not a very good film , but at least it is alive . ''

Garson makes a highly unbelievable Lizzy Bennet -- her satiny coolness comes off mostly as indifference -- but at least Olivier 's Darcy is there to make up the deficit .

Olivier may be playing a matinee idol as much as a literary character , but he manages to meld the two seamlessly , playing Darcy 's propriety and reserve as a subtle , erotic mating dance .

Maybe Austen herself would have approved of that , but even if not , this `` Pride and Prejudice '' at least has a crazy , joyful sheen .

The trailer , included here , gives us a shot of the five Bennet girls chattering away in their drawing room as the words `` Five love-hungry sisters and how they got their husbands ! '' splash across the screen .

Yet even the boldness of that ad campaign has a certain charm .

Sure , MGM was trying to sell a classic to the masses , but sometimes , the movies are the crossroads where schoolgirls and scholars meet .

-LRB- Warner Home Video , Oct . 10 , $ 19.98. -RRB-

STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S .

Summary: Article discusses new DVD of 1940 film of Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier .

Summary: Photo .


BEFORE the accident that paralyzed Christopher Reeve , it was all you could do to convince people that such a charming , good-looking guy was also a wonderful actor .

After the accident he became so beloved that his performances were almost beside the point .

It would be fitting if this eight-disc collection -LRB- two discs for each of his four Superman movies -RRB- focused attention on the beauty of Reeve 's performances as the man from Krypton and his alter ego , Clark Kent .

Reeve was blessed with some of the best comic timing the movies have seen since the heyday of screwball .

His Superman takes great pleasure in playacting the super nerd Kent .

You feel a prankster 's joy behind Kent 's every klutzy move , every whinging bit of jealousy he admits to feeling over the adoration Margot Kidder 's Lois Lane , above , has for Superman .

In `` Superman II '' -LRB- 1980 -RRB- , directed by Richard Lester and the best entry in the series , Superman gives up his powers so he can love Lois as a man .

Reeve enacts a remarkable scene when , for the first time , Superman finds himself a vulnerable mortal after getting into a fight with a bully at a roadside diner .

Crumpled to the ground , Kent notices the blood coming from his mouth and stares at it , giving a sick little laugh reverberating with a fear he never before felt .

To watch it is to feel all the security ever inspired by a superhero shaken to the core .

The extras in this set were not available for preview -LRB- nor was the cut of `` Superman II '' directed by Richard Donner , being released on a second disc .

Mr. Donner left after disputes with the producers , and Mr. Lester was brought in to finish the movie -RRB- .

It is a nice tribute to Reeve that in this year 's `` Superman Returns , '' the director , Bryan Singer , captures a mournful , moving spirit that keeps faith with the deepest and most painful places Reeve ventured to go during his time in the cape .

-LRB- `` Superman : The Christopher Reeve Collection , '' Warner Home Video , Nov . 28 , $ 79.98.

`` Superman II : The Richard Donner Cut , '' Warner Home Video , Nov . 28 , $ 24.98. -RRB-

CHARLES TAYLOR THE NEW SEASON : FILM / DVD 'S .

Summary: Article discusses new eight-DVD collection of four Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve .

Summary: Photo .


WHEN Natalie Wells bought a home in Englewood , N.J. , a year ago , she was unaware that her American pit bull terrier was illegal to own in the city .

Shortly after moving in , she was told by one of her daughters about a city law that banned the breed , commonly called pit bulls , along with several similar breeds and Rottweilers .

Under the 1999 law , even this year 's best-in-show winner at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , Rufus , a colored bull terrier from Holmdel , N.J. , would be banned in Englewood .

`` I pretty much knew in my gut it was n't right , `` Ms. Wells said .

In July , Ms. Wells filed a challenge to the law in Bergen County Superior Court along with Mia Rodriguez , a neighbor who also owns a pit bull , and the American Dog Owner 's Association of Castleton , N.Y.

Last month , Superior Court Judge Jonathan N . Harris agreed with Ms. Wells and ordered the city to stop enforcing the law because it was in conflict with a New Jersey statute that prohibits restricting dogs by breed .

`` Cities do n't have the right to make laws that violate state law , `` said Flora Edwards , the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs .

`` If the legal drinking age is 21 under state law , the City of Englewood or Montclair ca n't say it 's 25 or 18 . ``

According to a Centers for Disease Control study , the pit bull breed was responsible for more dog-bite fatalities than any other breed from 1979 to 1998 , the latest year for which figures were available .

The breed was responsible for 66 of 238 dog-bite fatalities during that period .

Rottweilers were next , with 39 .

The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act sets out criteria for dealing with aggressive dogs , but prohibits breed discrimination .

New York has a similar statute .

Connecticut 's law does not ban breed discrimination .

Despite such laws , some communities still have restrictions on specific breeds .

They range from outright bans to requiring property insurance coverage and the use of shorter leashes and muzzles in public .

Tanya Ford , village clerk in Hempstead , N.Y. , said she was aware of no challenges to its law , which categorizes American pit bull terriers and several related breeds as vicious dogs , requiring that they be muzzled when walked and kept on a chain with a minimum strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding three feet in length .

Owners must also have liability insurance of $ 100,000 .

Mahlon Goer , a pit bull owner who tracks legislation in New York for the American Dog Owner 's Association , said the state still allowed insurance companies to drop customers or deny property insurance to prospective customers based on the breed of dog they own .

Underwriting policies vary , according to the group , but beyond pit bulls and related breeds , the list includes Siberian huskies , Great Danes , German shepherds , St . Bernards and Dalmatians .

Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws because keeping tabs at the local level can be difficult unless laws are highly publicized .

According to the American Kennel Club , last year it tracked 105 communities around the nation where breed-specific legislation was pending , enacted or defeated .

The group had tracked another 76 through July .

Among the municipalities in the region that have breed-specific laws are Larchmont , Sands Point and Hempstead in New York and Millville and Atlantic City in New Jersey .

Numerous communities across the United States have such laws .

One of the most controversial is in Denver , where authorities have euthanized more than 1,000 pit bulls since the reinstatement of a ban on the breed in May 2005 .

The city 's animal control division had suspended enforcement of the ban in 2004 after the governor signed a bill restricting local governments from outlawing certain breeds .

But the city successfully sued , arguing that the bill violated its home-rule authority .

In Englewood , Douglas Bern , a lawyer who served on the City Council when the law was passed , said the council was responding to incidents in a public park where the dogs were being used to intimidate people .

He said the police had also felt threatened by pit bulls when responding to a call at a home .

The city argued that the municipal law complemented state statute , which was designed to address situations where `` existing local laws inadequately address the problem '' of aggressive dogs .

`` The city of Englewood 's ordinance in this regard actually furthers and is consistent with the legislative intent , which is to address a void where local governments have not addressed the area of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs , `` the city said in a court brief .

Under the ordinance , bull terriers , Staffordshire bull terriers , American pit bull terriers , American Staffordshire terriers , Rottweilers or `` any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds , '' were banned from the city .

Some summonses had been issued under the law , but city officials did not know how many .

`` It 's like there 's a stigma for having one of these kinds of dog , `` said Ms. Rodriguez , who owns an ailing 8-year-old pit bull named Cyrus .

The Englewood City Council will discuss the law at its Sept . 19 meeting , said Scott Reddin , the council president .

He said he did not expect the council to challenge the court 's decision .

`` We were profiling certain breeds and that was found to be unconstitutional , '' he said .

`` I do n't think the council will have any problem rescinding that . ``

Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations have come out against breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address the problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .

`` As we like to say , punish the deed , not the breed , '' said Lisa Peterson , a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club .

`` We think breed-specific laws are unfair to responsible dog owners . ''

Barbara Bishop , who owns Rufus , the top dog at the Westminster show , said she was trying to use the dog 's success to highlight the unfairness of breed-specific bans .

`` We want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite , whether it 's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff , `` Ms. Bishop said .

`` Every dog will be a product of what it 's brought up to do . ``

Ms. Bishop attributed much of the image problem of the pit bull breeds to people who train them to be vicious , including drug dealers who use them as guard dogs .

`` We have Rufus , who 's the top winning colored terrier of all time , and we still have people stop in the street and say , ` There 's a pit bull , ' `` she said .

For Ms. Wells , the law seemed even more absurd because her 12-year-old pit bull , Sentry , has cataracts and has had cancer , heart surgery and a hysterectomy .

`` She is a member of the family , '' said Ms. Wells , who has two daughters , ages 34 and 32 .

`` My kids tease me all the time and say she 's my favorite daughter . `` .

Summary: Article on legal challenges pit bull owners have been making against local laws in New York City metropolitan area that ban or restrict certain dog breeds .

Summary: Opponents of breed-specific laws say it is difficult to know how many communities have such laws .

Summary: Numerous national dog owner and veterinarian associations oppose breed-specific laws , saying they are unfair and do not address problem of aggressive and dangerous dogs .

Summary: Photos .


HE sits in his wheelchair as the family rushes around him .

He can not move much , or say more than hello .

He can not participate in the summer activities that everyone pursues with great vigor day after day .

If it 's warm enough , he goes out onto the deck and snoozes in the sun with the dogs .

Unlike them , however , he does n't jump up and make excited noises when people come .

At most , he slowly turns his head and smiles .

Everyone speaks to him politely , but not for long .

What 's the point .

He ca n't say more than a couple of words , and it 's hard to tell how much he understands .

He is my stepfather , Peter , an 88-year-old man who in the last decade has been transformed from a lively and dynamic person into not much more than a body occupying space .

He has post-polio syndrome , a condition that seeps the strength from his upper body as steadily as it weakened his legs when he was a teenager .

A couple of strokes have further debilitated him .

As my son , Asher , said to my mother one day , it 's as if he 's hardly a person anymore .

And yet this is n't how Asher , 14 , behaves toward him .

He constantly monitors Peter 's feet to see if they 've slipped off the footrests of his wheelchair .

He always asks if Peter wants something to drink .

His recognition of the full extent of what it means to be a person goes beyond his frustration at Peter 's limitations .

Asher is concerned with Peter 's comfort , his feeling of inclusion .

Peter 's situation brings out Asher 's own humanity .

Peter is certainly a person to my mother , Addy , though she has no illusions about his abilities .

He is her third husband , the one who was finally her friend .

She does what she can to make him comfortable and to replicate his old habits .

Since his only real pleasure is food , she makes him good meals for lunch and dinner .

At night they listen to Amy Goodman on NPR and then watch Chris Matthews and a couple of episodes of `` Seinfeld '' or `` Curb Your Enthusiasm . ''

On Tuesdays , Peter 's longtime men 's lunch group comes over to eat with him and discuss books and politics .

Peter does n't participate , but he enjoys the routine .

Last summer he could still join them at the local restaurant .

He would motor up the street in his Jazzy wheelchair with an orange pennant waving above his head to warn cars away .

He is far from being able to do anything like that now .

Peter needs to be cared for at the most basic custodial level .

When my friend Anne visited , her 9-year-old son , Nick , was interested in what this entailed .

Over the course of a five-day stay , Nick asked many questions of Stacey , the woman who comes in to get Peter out of bed in the morning -- the very practical questions that most adults prefer not to think about .

Several times Stacey saw Nick looking in the window when it was changing time .

He was n't fazed by what he saw .

He accepted Peter 's condition and presence in the house as natural .

He was right about that .

My mother and Peter live on the lip of a harbor in Maine .

All summer , family members passed through , usually for a week or so .

I stayed the longest -- six weeks .

On some days there were enough people staying to fulfill my old fantasy of a big house full of people , bursting with robust togetherness .

This was a new phenomenon here .

For many years we were only welcome to stay for a short time .

The stepparents had limited tolerance for each other 's children , especially the noisy grandchildren .

I often rented nearby to make visits to my mother less stressful .

Other sons and daughters did the same .

We rarely overlapped or had the sense of a beloved summer house , full of traditions passed down through generations .

We each had a private relationship with Maine , and with Peter and my mother .

But an unexpected side effect of Peter 's deterioration has been a lessening of the feeling that anyone beyond my mother and stepfather creates a crowd .

Now Peter seems to enjoy the bustle that my mother used to believe was an imposition on him .

He is no longer an aging intellectual who requires quiet for reading and writing .

The grandchildren are older , and he is younger , babylike .

After breakfast , he sleeps for a couple of hours in the kitchen , no matter the amount of dish washing or screen-door banging .

So family life swirled around him this summer .

We spent the kind of easy time together that I like best , quantity rather than quality .

Just hanging out .

Siblings , nieces and nephews trooped through with significant others in tow .

They each had a relationship with Peter while they were there .

Some spent time talking to him even if he could n't reply .

Others made sure he was comfortable at the table during meals .

Though it was easy to forget he was in the room , everyone was delighted when he broke into a conversation with a responsive remark .

The old Peter ! It was good to see him again , if only for a moment .

Starting the last week of July , my mother began to say fall was in the air .

I bridled against this , though I knew what she meant .

I felt it too , a change in the light from white to yellow , a softening of the wind , a resignation of the leaves on certain trees .

But I did n't want to skip ahead , so I pretended not to notice .

It 's summer , I insisted .

This is what summer is like in Maine .

It is tempting to make this whisper of fall a metaphor for Peter 's diminishing presence .

September brings up memories of how the end of summer felt during childhood , a loss .

Yet I find myself resisting the comparison .

Peter is alive , and summer does n't officially end for 10 more days .

I 'm still wearing white .

GENERATIONS .

Summary: Alice Elliott Dark Generations essay on summer spent in Maine with her family and her stepfather , Peter , 88 , who is debilitated with post-polio syndrome and effects of strokes .

Summary: Drawing .


Last spring Robert Ehrlich , a restaurateur and food entrepreneur from Sea Cliff , posted a notice on Craigslist that read : `` Looking for out-of-the-box innovative sushi chefs who want to try anything and who have a sense of humor . ''

Dhani Diastika , formerly of Nobu 57 in Manhattan , answered the call and soon installed his team of six chefs at Mr. Ehrlich 's little coffeehouse .

The result is a curious hybrid .

The coffeehouse , the Sea Cliff Coffee Company , offers breakfast fare like cheese omelets -LRB- $ 8.95 -RRB- and salads -LRB- $ 7 -RRB- and sandwiches -LRB- $ 7.50 -RRB- for lunch daily , just as it has done for five years .

But now , Wednesday through Sunday evenings , it becomes the Sea Cliff Sushi Company , serving Asian fusion cuisine worthy of a big-city hot spot .

Mr. Ehrlich also runs his snack food empire , Robert 's American Gourmet , from an office next door , selling his line of Pirate 's Booty puffed rice and corn snacks .

`` I travel a lot and I always find a funky local place that 's kind of off the beaten path , `` he said .

`` Now I can live that every day . ''

Tucked away in a cul-de-sac off Sea Cliff 's main street , the cafe is washed in vibrant shades of mango and pomegranate and furnished with vintage Grateful Dead posters and about 10 mismatched tables , with more seating on the front patio .

On sushi nights , the tiny kitchen turns out a big-flavored spicy tuna sandwich , topped with tempura crunch , avocado and tobiko -LRB- roe -RRB- -LRB- $ 14.95 -RRB- , rich marinated black cod in sweet miso glaze -LRB- $ 15.95 -RRB- and pristine yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño , yuzu-soy and cilantro -LRB- $ 15.95 -RRB- .

Customers can bring their own wine or beer -LRB- no hard liquor allowed -RRB- , and reservations are suggested .

Sea Cliff Coffee Company and Sea Cliff Sushi Company , 100 Roslyn Avenue , Sea Cliff , N.Y. -LRB- 516 -RRB- 671-4411 .

SUSAN M . NOVICK .

Summary: Article on Sea Cliff Coffee Co , coffeehouse in Sea Cliff , NY , that converts to Sea Cliff Sushi Co restaurant at night .


IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .

Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .

The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .

Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .

A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .

The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .

All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .

Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .

`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .

James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .

`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .

`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``

What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .

`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .

`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .

The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``

Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .

`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .

`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .

`` he said of the City Council .

`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``

Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .

Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .

Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .

`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .

STORM PROTECTION .

Summary: Article on controversy over rejection by City Council in Long Beach , NY , to beach preservation project by Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect beach from ocean flooding .

Summary: Surfrider Foundation contended plan to build 15-foot-high berm and dune from Long Beach to Point Lookout would create dangerous riptides and harm look of beach and would not protect beach .

Summary: Photos .


ON the morning of Sept . 11 , 2001 , I was scheduled to fly from La Guardia Airport to Columbus , Ohio .

At home in Babylon , I put on my navy blue American Airlines uniform , which made me feel as if I represented the guarantee of safety and security to all the passengers on my flight .

I always knew that I wanted to be a flight attendant .

As a child growing up in Queens , I would ride my bicycle down 79th Street and Astoria Boulevard , about 500 feet from La Guardia Airport , to watch the planes take off .

Sometimes I could see people 's faces in the windows of the planes .

I 'd imagine them going to exciting places in a jet filled with important people .

I wanted to be on those planes .

Training for my dream job as a flight attendant was an awesome experience .

I learned how to evacuate an aircraft in less than 60 seconds , and how to use and find all the emergency equipment aboard different planes .

I was trained in first aid and judged fit to withstand G-force turbulence and abrupt cabin pressure changes .

I loved flying to all those different places .

Still , there was nothing I loved more than flying home to Babylon , seeing Long Island 's twin forks , being thankful that I was n't stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic I could see on the Long Island Expressway and spotting my old elementary school , my old street and finally my old house in Queens as the pilot approached runway 13 Right .

My mother , a security worker at MacArthur Airport in Islip , would often drive me to the airport , just as she was preparing to do on the morning of Sept . 11 .

But on this morning , we stopped in front of the television only to learn that American Airlines Flight 77 had crashed into the Pentagon , and that American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 had already crashed into the World Trade Center .

As the south tower collapsed , news came that United Flight 93 had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania .

Faces , voices and names of colleagues flashed through my mind as the television anchors spoke .

I called my supervisor , who told me that I should stay home until further notice .

That week was a blur and then it was time to go back to work .

I got up and put on my blue uniform .

My stomach tightened and my heart grew heavy , not because I was afraid to fly , but because I was afraid of being weak in front of my passengers .

My mother drove me to John F . Kennedy International Airport .

She looked over at me as we drove west on the Southern State Parkway .

`` Do you want to do this .

`` she asked .

I said yes , but she knew better .

I got to Kennedy barely able to control my emotions .

Security was tight , and the airport was quiet , not because there were n't any passengers for the few scheduled flights that morning but because everyone was nervously silent .

Like me , people seemed afraid of being forced back into the routine of living .

The television set in the crew 's flight room ran news of box cutters found on some passengers , and rumors of breaches in security were flying around .

That 's when I broke down .

I thought I could control myself .

I was supposed to be strong , yet there I was crying like a child .

My supervisor consoled me , but she took me off the flight and told me to go home .

I called my mother to pick me up .

She had never left the airport and was waiting for my call .

Silently , we drove back home to Babylon .

I eventually did get back in the swing of things , but layoffs kicked in and my flight schedule became erratic and unpredictable .

Eventually , I left my job .

How do I feel about memorials and tributes and prayers for 9/11 .

Then , as now , my way of dealing with them is simple : I can not be associated with them in any way .

Save me from the prayers , monuments , movies and television specials .

It 's too emotional for me , and I have too much respect for my colleagues , those who died in those planes , to pretend that I could possibly know what they went through .

I do know , however that they worked hard that day to save lives and calm nerves .

When I go back to 79th Street , I can still see into the windows of planes taking off from the airport .

Maybe one day I 'll return to the airline industry , but it will never be the same -- safety and security are no longer something that I or anyone else can guarantee .

Op-Ed Contributor .

Summary: Op-Ed article by former flight attendant Michelle Henderson , as told to Prof Howard Gold , on her reaction to terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 .


Every year , tens of thousands of children pass through Suffolk County 's Family Court , the second busiest in New York State .

Many of them are troubled teenagers accused of crimes , and a few hundred have to be locked up while awaiting trial or sentencing for serious offenses , or to serve time for lesser violations , like truancy or vandalism .

Suffolk has no place of its own to put these children , and has n't since 1974 , when its juvenile detention center was shut down by the state .

It has dealt with the issue by shipping children out of the county -- to Nassau County , whose center has troubles of its own , and as far away as Syracuse and Buffalo .

None of this would be a problem if the only concerns were controlling costs and shuttling people from place to place .

The juvenile court machinery has shown itself to be perfectly capable of dealing with the logistical challenges and caseloads .

But the bureaucracy needs to remember that these cases involve children , immature by definition and often fragile .

They need close contact with their families and lawyers and ready access to medical treatment , mental-health care and other social services .

They are not hardened criminals , and if the goal is to make sure they stay that way , the county urgently needs to find a way to keep children in custody that is safe , humane and more accommodating to the particular needs of young defendants .

As it is , the juveniles themselves -- last year , Suffolk held 608 of them in secure custody for a combined 4,055 days -- and their families have done most of the accommodating .

State law requires that juvenile cases be resolved within three days of a youth 's being charged .

This means children can be bused out of Suffolk to a detention center as much as 12 hours away , only to return in a day or two .

The distant centers offer only a room and meals , so treatment like counseling has to be suspended while the young people are being shuffled around .

Officials in Nassau and Suffolk have talked about building a new center together , but the classic Long Island predicament -- where do you put it . -- caused the effort to fall apart .

One obvious solution is also close at hand : Nassau 's juvenile center in Westbury .

That building is 50 years old and in bad shape .

In April the state urged the county to take `` immediate action '' to fix serious deficiencies , including fire code violations , inadequate perimeter fencing and staffing shortfalls .

A dining room ceiling was sagging and near collapse , and there was no system to open all the cell locks at once in a fire .

Nassau has set aside $ 2.8 million in its capital budget to make repairs , and is hoping for a matching amount from Albany .

The action is welcome but late , and we will waste no ink applauding the county for suddenly deciding , under pressure , to make sure that the center 's heating and ventilation systems , locks and fire alarms , among other absolutely essential things , are finally adequate .

Nassau 's action on its own juvenile-center problems opens the possibility of a solution to Suffolk 's .

Rather than build something new , and endure the predictable local resistance to choosing a location for it , the smarter tack may be for Suffolk to help Nassau put the center in Westbury into decent shape and for both counties to use it jointly .

There may be room in Nassau 's center -- which has a licensed capacity of 32 , and 46 rooms in all -- to handle the needs of both counties .

The shabby treatment of juvenile defendants has been ignored for too long .

The Suffolk County executive , Steve Levy , should join his Nassau counterpart , Thomas Suozzi , in putting the needs of juvenile defendants on the front burner .

Long Island .

Summary: Editorial , scoring lack of juvenile detention facility in Suffolk County , suggests it join forces with Nassau County to renovate center in Westbury and to use it jointly .


JESSE FRIEDMAN bit into a bagel with lox last Sunday and ripped into the criminal justice system in Nassau County as if he had just been charged that morning , and not in 1987 , with hundreds of sex crimes against children .

Convicted as a sexually violent predator -- the highest-risk category , Level 3 -- he is barred from parks and places with many children .

Bagel stores are not off limits , so he sat in one on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and discussed his case and how it was affected by the 2003 film `` Capturing the Friedmans . ''

`` It 's the trial I never had , `` he said of the Oscar-nominated documentary , which portrayed the decline and fall of the Friedmans of Great Neck after Jesse and his father , Arnold , were arrested in 1987 , accused of molesting children during after-school computer classes in the basement of their Picadilly Road home .

The film contained interviews indicating flaws in the prosecution of Jesse Friedman and raising questions about his culpability , despite his guilty plea .

Mr. Friedman has used this information to try to overturn his conviction .

An appeal failed in the state courts earlier this year , but he retained the civil rights lawyer Ronald L . Kuby and filed another motion , in federal court , in July .

A central claim of the motion is that prosecutors , lacking physical evidence , built their case on the false accusations of children who admitted to being abused only after investigators used `` high pressure , manipulative and result-oriented interrogation techniques with child witnesses that produced false allegations . ''

These techniques included intimidation , threats and hypnosis to create false memories of abuse , the motion claims .

It also contends that investigators unlawfully withheld exonerating material , including denials from students -- some of whom said in the film that they were pressured into fabricating abuse claims .

But there are also accusers who stand by their charges and are infuriated at Mr. Friedman 's continued denials .

Frances Galasso , who led the Nassau police sex crimes squad in the Friedman investigation , said in an interview on Wednesday that coercion was not used with the children .

`` They gave detailed statements that upset my most hardened detectives , '' said Ms. Galasso , who is now retired .

`` The parents were brought in as soon as we were able to break the ice , and they co-signed the statement . ''

She called the documentary one-sided and `` a disgrace and insult to the victims and their parents . ''

`` I 'm really happy it did n't get the Academy Award , because it was n't accurate , `` she said .

`` Both Jesse and his father are guilty as sin .

Remember , he pled guilty , and you do n't plead guilty to a crime like this if you did n't do it . ``

Jesse Friedman was 17 when he and his father were arrested and charged with hundreds of counts of sex crimes against children .

Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children .

-LRB- He committed suicide in prison in 1995 . -RRB-

Jesse Friedman said that he wanted to fight the charges in court but felt that a successful defense would be impossible to mount .

His father had already decided to plead guilty , and Jesse believed that the judge and jury would be biased against him , he said .

According to his recent motion , he was `` condemned in the press and vilified by a community hungry for retribution . ''

Fearing life in prison , he said , he accepted a deal , admitting guilt and receiving a 6 - to 18-year sentence .

After serving 13 years in prison , he was released in December 2001 and has since lived in Manhattan .

He is now 37 and will be finished with his parole in three months , making him a free man , in a sense -- except for his Level 3 status , which he will always maintain , unless the conviction is overturned .

`` That follows me till the day I die , '' he said .

Upon release from prison , Jesse moved in with his brother , David , who works as Silly Billy , one of the most prominent party clowns in the city .

But when the co-op board found out who Jesse was , they objected , and Jesse moved out .

He now lives with his fiancée , Elisabeth Walsh , in an East Harlem building with no child residents , a condition ordered by his parole officer .

He said his landlord and neighbors accept his situation .

He may not leave New York City and must observe a 9 p.m. curfew .

Ms. Walsh , 27 , is also from Great Neck .

She never knew Mr. Friedman growing up , but she knew of him , especially because she attended his alma mater , a small charter high school called the Village School .

`` I 'm the age of his accusers , `` she said , adding that she never believed the allegations .

After seeing the documentary , she said , she wrote him a letter of support .

They met and are now engaged , despite her family 's misgivings .

`` My parents love Jesse , but they feel like I 'm taking on all his problems , `` she said , nuzzling him .

`` But for me , he 's worth it . ``

Mr. Friedman says he and Ms. Walsh plan to move someplace where he is less likely to be recognized .

He laughed hard when asked if he would ever settle down on Long Island .

`` I think if I set foot on Long Island , I 'd have my house burned down , `` he said , though he added that one thing would make him welcome a return : if a federal court ordered hearings in his case .

`` To go back there and be able to grill my prosecutors , '' he said .

`` I 'd take that . ``

THE ISLAND E-mail : theisland@nytimes.com .

Summary: Corey Kilgannon The Island column on Jesse Friedman , arrested in 1987 , along with his father , on charges of molesting children during after-school computer classes at their home in Great Neck , NY . Friedman , convicted as sexually violent predator , has filed second motion to try to overturn his conviction .

Summary: Photo .


FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .

When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .

It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .

`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .

`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .

` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .

` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '

But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '

Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '

`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .

`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .

The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .

The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .

At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .

The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .

In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .

It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .

In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .

That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .

To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .

The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .

To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .

Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .

Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .

The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .

The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .

They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .

`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .

`` It 's kind of common sense .

If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``

EDUCATION .

Summary: Article on Clara T O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn , which spent three years on ` in need of improvement ' list under No Child Left Behind program and has managed to work itself off list .

Summary: Photo .


IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .

But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .

`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .

`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''

The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .

The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .

`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .

`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''

But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .

`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .

`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .

`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''

The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .

Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .

Anything larger was cut into logs .

Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .

In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .

Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .

`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .

`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``

Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .

All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .

`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .

`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''

STORM CLEANUP .

Summary: Article on work of Nature 's Choice Corp , yard-waste recycling company hired by Montclair , NJ , to clear debris caused by July 18 storm that destroyed about 200 trees on public property .

Summary: Company turned trees into about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil .

Summary: Photo .


DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''

Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .

And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .

`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .

`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``

In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .

They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .

Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .

The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .

The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .

The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .

The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .

One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .

Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .

Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .

Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .

Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .

Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .

Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .

Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .

Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .

But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .

VANDALISM .

Summary: Officials in Yorktown , NY , say graffiti has reached new heights this summer .

Summary: Police have begun graffiti patrols as deterrent and have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges since July .

Summary: Photo .


MODERN dance from beyond the borders of the United States has always flowed into New York , but this season the flow will become a torrent as presenters all over the region place a new emphasis on internationalism , even with tighter visa restrictions .

Some might fret that this is bad : every slot allotted to a foreigner deprives an American , they reason , and life for American dancers is hard enough .

But the gain in cosmopolitanism will more than offset any loss , enlivening local choreographic creativity and broadening the audience 's perspectives .

This season the mainstream midlevel New York dance theaters are augmenting their foreign offerings , and so are presenters in the broader New York region .

Dance Theater Workshop has been emphasizing international dance of late , but now the Joyce Theater and Danspace Project at St . Mark 's Church are joining in .

And there will be even more to come as the winter and spring schedules fill out .

Three events this fall stand out for me , maybe in part because I 've already seen these artists or these very pieces in Europe and know they 're good .

This month the riveting French conceptualist Boris Charmatz , in partnership with another choreographer and dancer , Dimitri Chamblas , will make one of his rare New York appearances .

Mr. Charmatz is charming and full of ideas .

Even when they do n't work , they 're interesting .

He and Mr. Chamblas will be at St . Mark 's Church , in a piece called `` À Bras le Corps , '' described as a `` private perspective on their strenuous tumbling , lunging and grappling , '' all in a boxing-ring setting , Their appearance is part of a citywide multiarts festival called European Dream .

The French ballerina Sylvie Guillem is one of the biggest stars in the dance world .

But partly because she 's restlessly curious and maybe also because she 's in her early 40 's now and seeking -LRB- as Mikhail Baryshnikov has done for so long -RRB- new , nonballetic challenges , she is moving into what the British call contemporary dance .

This month she has a collaboration in London with the choreographer Akram Khan .

Two years ago she undertook a similar collaboration with Russell Maliphant , full of stark movements seemingly designed for the leggy Ms. Guillem , angular gestures and vivid lighting .

That program will be seen next month at City Center , the first offering in the center 's new partnership with the innovative , dance-oriented Sadler 's Wells Theater in London .

Jedediah Wheeler , the longtime New York dance manager and producer , is making the performing-arts series at Montclair State University in New Jersey into an innovative force that , with money and persistence , may one day rival the Brooklyn Academy of Music as a beyond-Manhattan destination for new work .

For November Mr. Wheeler has booked one of the most exciting of all the new British physical theater troupes : the Vincent Dance Theater from Sheffield , England , led by Charlotte Vincent , in a piece I saw last spring called `` Broken Chords . ''

It is theatrically wrenching and hilarious , choreographically intense , musically compelling .

-LRB- One of the dancers is also a first-rate violinist , and the title refers to both marital breakup and the need to arpeggiate chords in Baroque string music with a modern bow . -RRB-

I will be curious to see if the New York dance audience shares my enthusiasm for this piece .

Finally , a quick note on two Japanese-flavored imports .

Yubiwa Hotel in `` Candies : girlish hardcore '' is at the Japan Society this week , part of the society 's `` Girl , Girly , Girlish '' series , and Kota Yamazaki / Fluid Hug-Hug will be at Dance Theater Workshop in November .

Ms. Yamazaki , Japanese-born and New York-based , conducted research for her new `` Rise : Rose '' in Senegal .

Who needs world travel .

Titles like that are a trip all by themselves .

THE NEW SEASON : DANCE .

Summary: John Rockwell article on how flow of modern dance presentations into New York from around the world will become torrent this year .

Summary: Notable visitors from France , United Kingdom and Japan discussed .

Summary: Photo .


NEW YORK dance is a wildly inventive scene , and I would n't be surprised if sometime during the coming season we had the chance to see naked stiltwalkers expertly dancing hip-hop to Arvo Pärt on a float on the Gowanus Canal .

But the monuments of dance , the long-standing sources from which all this recent innovation has flowed , will also be represented , and returning to them regularly will be good for the soul .

To start , the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform at the Joyce Theater in mid-October , at Mr. Cunningham 's most slyly playful , it would seem , in a premiere called `` eyeSpace , '' to which audience members will be encouraged to take their iPods to hear the dance 's downloadable score by Mikel Rouse .

-LRB- Technophobes will be provided with loaners . -RRB-

Also on the program will be one of Mr. Cunningham 's signature site-specific `` events '' and a revival of his 1960 `` Crises , '' which John Cage once described as a harsh and erotic piece about a man and a woman bound together in part by elastic bands .

It is hard to imagine today 's performers matching the wildness and ferocity that Mr. Cunningham , Viola Farber and Carolyn Brown once brought to it .

Will they make it new .

Paul Taylor 's `` Troilus and Cressida -LRB- reduced -RRB- , '' a premiere to be performed by his company in March at City Center , sounds like a typically outrageous Taylor cartoon .

Its Shakespearean characters include a schlub of a Troilus , a worn Cressida and a swarm of macaroni-headed Cupids to egg the lovers on .

The music .

Ponchielli , of `` Dance of the Hours '' fame .

Finally , this season and next will be the last time to savor the great artistry of Kyra Nichols , a ballerina of incomparable musicality and nuanced technical expertise .

Ms. Nichols retires from the New York City Ballet in June , but she will dance in ballets including Balanchine 's `` Vienna Waltzes '' and `` Liebeslieder Walzer , '' and she 'll also play Carabosse in `` The Sleeping Beauty . ''

THE NEW SEASON : DANCE .

Summary: Jennifer Dunning article notes three monuments of dance , long-standing sources from which all recent innovation has flowed , who will be represented in New York this season : Merce Cunningham , Paul Taylor and Kyra Nichols .

Summary: Photo .


BUILDINGS are looking prettier than ever , thanks to the freedom that contemporary architects have these days to play with form .

Meanwhile , many of our cities are falling to pieces , as the infrastructure that once bound them into functioning communities crumbles from years of neglect .

New Orleans exposed a breakdown in infrastructure and social policy that will not be repaired by a conventional formula of tourism , architectural nostalgia and gated communities .

And the atomization of cities as diverse as Dubai , Beijing and Beirut , where the construction of glistening new urban centers masks growing social inequities at their edges , have only further exposed the hollowness of some contemporary urban-planning strategies .

So the most promising trend this year is a renewed emphasis in architectural circles on urbanism as a field for creative exploration .

Architects like Eyal Weisman -LRB- in London -RRB- , Teddy Cruz -LRB- San Diego -RRB- , Philipp Oswalt -LRB- Berlin -RRB- and Rem Koolhaas -LRB- Rotterdam and just about everywhere else -RRB- have been striving to bridge the gap between architectural fantasy and stark political and social realities .

Seeking to distance themselves from the current obsession with `` star '' buildings , they proceed from the assumption that we can not create valid new architectural forms until we arrive at a deeper understanding of the era we live in .

The 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture , which opens this weekend , is the first to focus on entire cities rather than uncovering the latest architectural trends .

Organized by Ricky Burdett , the exposition examines the effect of design in cities as diverse as Cairo , Mumbai , São Paolo , Johannesburg , Mexico City and Caracas .

Among the highlights is Al-Azhar Park in Cairo , conceived as an `` urban lung '' to provide relief for a city that has only one square meter of green space for each inhabitant , and a series of schools in São Paolo that function as around-the-clock community centers to help reduce violence among youths in the poorest slums .

-LRB- Simply getting children off the streets is a starting point . -RRB-

`` I think projects like this give a raison d' être to architecture again , which is what the profession is looking for , '' Mr. Burdett said .

In `` Lago : How It Works , '' a book to be published this fall , Mr. Koolhaas turns his penetrating gaze to the Nigerian city , a dense matrix of congested slums and infill markets that in many cases have devised their own court systems and electricity and water utilities .

In the 1970 's Lagos was the nexus of a stirring intellectual renaissance and a wave of sprawling , megalomaniacal urban planning projects .

That optimism evaporated with the drop in oil prices at the end of the decade , and the city was left to fend for itself .

Today , the Nigerian government is trying to resurrect some of the old planning projects , clamp down on illegal street trade and rein in urban indiscipline in general .

Yet in eight years of research , Mr. Koolhaas realized that what seems like chaos to outsiders is a complex and highly organized social organism .

His analysis suggests that a democratic , informal urban planning model could be combined with aggressive planning to lift Lagos out of poverty without destroying the spontaneous freedom of daily urban life .

`` In Lagos there is no choice , but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no choice , '' Mr. Koolhaas has said .

`` In New York , on the other hand , there 's a sense of infinite choice , but a very conventional set of options from which to choose . ``

Of course Mr. Koolhaas , now 62 , has been known for countering conventional wisdom about how cities really work since the publication of `` Delirious New York , '' a 1978 book casting the `` city of congestion '' as an antidote to the sterility of Modernist planning conventions .

Today , he is joined by a younger generation of architects who are no longer content to consider architecture in isolation from larger urban patterns .

Among them is Mr. Oswalt , 42 , who has organized a show that arrives in December at the Van Alen Institute in New York and the Pratt Manhattan Gallery .

Titled `` Shrinking Cities , '' it examines the shrinking industrial centers on the fringes of the emerging global economy .

The show sheds light on the abysmal failure of planners to avert the gradual disintegration of cities like Leipzig , Germany .

Ivanovo , Russia .

And Detroit .

The phenomenon of decay is often juxtaposed with a different form of assault : the insidious encroachment of suburban values .

New Yorkers need only stroll through SoHo to get the point .

The exhibition , which originally opened in Berlin 2004 , also resurrects some largely forgotten critiques of urbanization .

It touches on the Disurbanist proposals of Soviet Constructivists like Moisei Ginzburg and Mikhail Barshch , who challenged the thinking behind Western urban traditions in favor of a more rural Russian model , and Frank Lloyd Wright 's Broadacre City , in which each family would be allotted an acre of land and the agglomeration would serve as a decentralized metropolis .

But the show 's most penetrating attacks are reserved for more recent urban strategies , particularly the argument that the salvation of cities rests in a so-called `` creative class '' that leads the way to gentrification .

`` Shrinking Cities '' is to travel in February to Detroit , where , a bit paradoxically , it will go on view in an abandoned 21,000-square - foot warehouse that will be the temporary home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit .

Designed by Andrew Zago , the museum is being opened , in part , with the goal of revitalizing the city center .

Finally , Mr. Weisman , an Israeli-born architect who is the recipient this year of the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture , will open a series of lectures this fall at the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal .

The talks are pegged to the release of `` Hollow Land : The Architecture of Israeli Occupation , '' a chilling book in which he explores the way the military selects targets in bombing and fortifying cities and how those strategies can re-emerge in civilian planning practices during peacetime .

His analysis is ideally timed .

If the Modernist mass-housing programs of a half-century ago reduced a generation of urban poor to mere numbers in a machine , many of those projects are now being wiped away to make room for an equally troubling formula : gated communities , open-air malls and sanitized tourist enclaves that have exacerbated social inequities by making destitute children invisible .

Acknowledging the complexity of these issues is not enough .

Thankfully , some architects have assumed the challenge of binding us back into a civilization whose fabric often seems on the verge of unraveling .

THE NEW SEASON -- ARCHITECTURE .

Summary: Nicolai Ouroussoff article says most promising trend of year is renewed emphasis among architects on urbanism as field for creative exploration .

Summary: Says attempt is being made to bridge gap between architectural fantasy and social reality .

Summary: Photos .


FOR failing to meet performance standards , the Clara T . O'Connell elementary school in Bristol , Conn . , spent three years on the `` in need of improvement '' list under the federal No Child Left Behind program .

When a new list came out last month , Connecticut had 290 elementary and middle schools on it , but the O'Connell School was not among them .

It had achieved what no other school in the state had managed under the four-year-old program : It had worked itself off the list .

`` For three years , the headline was that we were on the list , '' said Michael F . Audette , O'Connell 's principal .

`` Human nature being what it is , people would ask the teachers , ' What school do you teach at .

` And when the teachers would say , ' O'Connell , ' they 'd say , ` Is n't that the school that 's on the list .

` And the teachers would say , ' Yeah , but we 're doing a lot of good things . '

But nobody sticks around for the ` yeah , but . '

Now it 's nice to have a different headline , and now we can say , ` Yes , we 're that school . '

`` Henry Garcia , a spokesman for the State Department of Education , said O'Connell 's achievement was a testament to its hard work .

`` It takes schools that are in need of improvement time to see the progress once they develop curriculum and other strategies that improve student achievement , '' he said .

The number of Connecticut schools failing to meet what the program calls adequate yearly progress doubled in the 2005-6 academic year , up from 145 schools the year before .

The results were reached using scores from the Connecticut Mastery Tests , then figuring them into a host of categories and subcategories , including the number of children living in poverty who attend a school .

At the O'Connell School 80 percent of the students are poor , Mr. Audette said .

The tests require that at least 74 percent of students demonstrate proficiency in math , 68 percent in reading and 70 percent in writing .

In the 2002-3 school year , O'Connell passed all categories except reading , getting a score of 44 percent .

It also failed to meet the reading goal in 2003-4 , but reached it the next year .

In 2005-6 , it scored 61 percent in reading .

That was not high enough to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements , but federal officials put O'Connell in the `` safe harbor '' category , for schools that have significantly improved , and removed it from the `` in need of improvement '' list .

To raise the reading scores , Mr. Audette said , he and his staff reviewed the pupils ' reading data for weak areas .

The Mastery Tests require that pupils read passages and answer questions about what they have read .

To prepare , the children were asked to answer a reading question each day until they showed proficiency in expressing their comprehension .

Mr. Audette also hired additional reading support staff members and trained teaching assistants , assigning them to particular grades , where they placed the children into small groups and gave them a second instructional reading period each day .

Mr. Audette signed on with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University .

The Bristol School District paid for consultants from Columbia to teach faculty members at O'Connell .

The effort paid off , especially for the third graders .

They scored 90 percent in writing proficiency in the 2005-6 Mastery Tests .

`` If I was to pinpoint exactly what we did , I would say we really looked at our reading instruction , '' Mr. Audette said .

`` It 's kind of common sense .

If you want to be a good pianist , you practice the piano . ``

EDUCATION .

Summary: Photo .


IT may have left no physical damage in its wake , but the recent communal storm in this oceanfront city over the future of its beaches has realigned the political and environmental landscape .

Despite fears about the city 's vulnerability to a major hurricane , the five-member City Council , three Democrats and two Republicans , voted unanimously in May to reject a $ 98.5 million beach preservation project by the Army Corps of Engineers that was designed to protect Long Beach from ocean flooding .

The plan would have placed a berm of dredged sand along the beach 10 feet high , with a 5-foot dune on top , from the western end of Long Beach to Point Lookout , more than six miles to the east .

Point Lookout agreed to a separate plan after the Long Beach project was rejected .

A major opponent of the corps ' plan was an environmental and surfer-advocacy group , the Surfrider Foundation , whose members said the project would create dangerous riptides and harm the look of the beach , with no guarantee that the city would be better protected , as the corps and the proponents of the plan claimed .

The group held meetings to get its message to the public and the council alike , and produced testimony by a coastal engineer and several representatives from local communities whose beaches had undergone similar projects .

All testified against the corps ' proposals for Long Beach .

Jeff Kupferman , the chairman of Surfrider 's Long Beach Action Committee and a 45-year city resident , said that while rejection of the plan was a `` major victory '' for Surfrider , surfing was far from the only issue .

`` We had concerns about swimming safety , as well as surfing , about fishing , kayaking , aesthetics -- any use of the beach , '' he said .

James P . Hennessy , a Republican council member , agreed .

`` It was never just about surfing , '' he said .

`` The council does n't agree about much , but it did agree that the beach fill part of the project was wrong . ``

What annoyed Mr. Kupferman was that Surfrider was portrayed negatively by those who favored the plan .

`` Their attitude was we were , ' Yo , just a bunch of surfer dudes out to get a wave , ' '' he said .

`` And they used that as the hook to try and discredit us .

The fact that we prevailed has sent a lot of ripples out into this community . ``

Alison Johnson , a Long Beach resident and vice chairwoman of Surfrider 's New York City chapter , which worked closely with the Central Long Island chapter in opposing the plan , said that the decision had ramifications beyond Long Beach .

`` It will make the powers that be look at storm protection on the East Coast in a different way , '' she said , `` which is the biggest success you can ask from any project . ''

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg , a lifelong Long Beach resident and a vocal supporter of the Corps of Engineers ' project , was less sanguine about the outcome .

`` How did people get elected to office that are so ignorant .

`` he said of the City Council .

`` I just pray hard and hope to God we do n't get hit by anything . ``

Even with the beach issue decided , the officials ' alliance with activists may continue .

Mr. Hennessy and the other Republican council member , Thomas R . Sofield Jr . , have proposed an alternative storm-management plan , which includes working with advisory groups like Surfrider , and the city has asked independent coastal engineers for ways to address beach protection .

Mr. Hennessy said he still had hopes of working with the Corps of Engineers should it agree to return to Long Beach , but he is adamant about his vote to reject the project .

`` I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who came up to me and said we 'd made a mistake , `` he said .

STORM PROTECTION .

Summary: Photos .


IN the 50 years he has lived in Montclair , N.J. , Rob Bianco has seen his share of monsoon-like downpours , blizzards , ice storms , even the remnants of hurricanes .

But Mr. Bianco , the superintendent of public works for Montclair , had never seen anything like the storm that ravaged the leafy landscape of his hometown on July 18 .

`` We literally had trees and telephone poles , some as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air , that were sheared and cut off , '' he said .

`` It was a treetop tornado , meaning it never hit the ground , but it still caused a great amount of destruction . ''

The storm , which hit the northeast corner of Verona , N.J. , before blowing with a vengeance -- about a mile wide -- through a swath of Montclair for roughly a half-hour , destroyed about 200 trees on public property in Montclair , an Essex County township of about six square miles .

The most heavily damaged areas , Mr. Bianco said , were Brookdale Park , which covers 121 acres in Montclair and Bloomfield , and the township 's Edgemont Park .

`` We had some cars smashed and a lot of people running for cover , '' he said .

`` It was a miracle that no one got hurt . ''

But what about all of those damaged oak and pine trees , some of which Mr. Bianco said were 250 years old .

`` Cleaning it all up was quite a daunting task , '' said Matthew A . Vastano , the executive vice president of Nature 's Choice Corporation , a yard-waste recycling company in Union , N.J. , hired by Montclair to clear the debris caused by the storm .

`` Montclair is not your normal town where vegetative waste is concerned , '' Mr. Vastano said .

`` The town , which has huge , huge trees , is very environmentally conscious , and it wants to keep all the trees it can . ''

The trees it could not keep were hauled away by Nature 's Choice to a temporary storage site .

Any piece of wood 16 to 18 inches long was put onto chipper trucks and into machines that turned it into chips .

Anything larger was cut into logs .

Some 25 truckloads of those logs were placed into 40-foot containers on trucks -- at a cost of $ 350 per container -- for eventual mulching .

In the end , about 600 cubic yards of mulch and topsoil , or 300 tons , were produced -- enough to cover about 100,000 square feet , according to Mr. Vastano .

Mr. Bianco said that Nature 's Choice would give Montclair some of the mulch or topsoil for free if the town needed it for a special project , but that the company was free to sell it to landscapers and other businesses .

`` We are a business , not a charity , '' Mr. Vastano said .

`` We 'll take most of that mulch and turn it into hardwood mulch or dye it either black or a shade of red before selling it . ``

Dianne Marus , the director of Montclair 's Department of Finance , said that the cost of the storm cleanup came to $ 366,950 but that the price , tallied by the Department of Community Services , did not include overtime costs for the Police -LRB- $ 74,983 -RRB- and Fire Departments -LRB- $ 4,650 -RRB- .

All told , Montclair has spent $ 446,583 on storm-related services , and the job is not yet finished .

`` There are still a number of stumps to be removed and lots of re-planting to do , '' Mr. Bianco said .

`` By the time all is said and done , this entire project is going to cost us more money and continue for at least another month . ''

STORM CLEANUP .

Summary: Photo .


DEEP into suburbia , on a sound barrier that runs along the Taconic State Parkway here , a graffiti artist announces his presence with a single word painted in yellow and black : `` Me . ''

Officials said that graffiti had reached new heights this summer .

And in a town that bills itself as a retreat from more urban locales , politicians and police officers are taking the problem seriously .

`` Whether you grew up here all your life , or whether you moved here from the Bronx or Yonkers or Long Island , you do n't want to see that , `` said Linda G . Cooper , the town supervisor .

`` And so we 're trying to take a very firm position . ``

In June , the Yorktown police began graffiti patrols as a deterrent .

They also began photographing graffiti they found to create a catalog of the work of local vandals for use in investigations , Lt . Donald Schuck said .

Since July , Lieutenant Schuck said , the police have arrested nine boys on graffiti-related charges .

The most recent came on Aug . 28 , with the arrest of a 14-year-old from Mohegan Lake , a hamlet of Yorktown .

The police said he had sprayed a wall at a town-owned sports club , causing about $ 400 in damage .

The boy , charged with making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments , both misdemeanors , was released to his mother and was scheduled to appear on Friday in Westchester County Family Court in White Plains .

The town , which has seen stop signs , park buildings , businesses and even a police radar unit defaced this summer , is also considering new legislation .

One proposed law would require vandals to pay restitution .

Another would mandate that residents who discover graffiti on their property clean it within 72 hours .

Ms. Cooper said that rapid removal discouraged vandals .

Town officials and youth advocates said there were a number of reasons for the surge in graffiti .

Lieutenant Schuck said increased access to the tools of graffiti had played a role .

Young people , previously stymied by a county law forbidding the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 , have begun ordering the paint over the Internet , he said .

Joan Valenstein , chairwoman of the advisory board for the Yorktown Teen Center , a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester , said the increase might be the byproduct of boredom in a town that she said did not provide enough youth activities .

Ms. Cooper said some of the graffiti included gang insignia previously seen in the southern , more urban part of the county .

Whatever the source of the graffiti , the town seems determined to stamp it out .

But out on the Taconic State Parkway , high above the cars rushing by , defiance is etched in yellow and black .

VANDALISM .

Summary: Photo .


Little by little , the cafe inside Atticus Bookstore in New Haven has swallowed more and more of the space .

It began with a couple of tables , a counter and display cases in 1981 , when the cafe opened .

There are now 20 tables occupying about a third of the store , and according to Caleb Fraser , an assistant manager , plans are slowly evolving for even more cafe space .

The cafe has proved to be wildly popular for its hearty soups , generous sandwiches and salads , coffees and other beverages , as well as baked goods , including cookies , tarts , muffins and scones .

A popular order is soup and half a sandwich or salad for $ 8.20.

Half a sandwich and half a salad at the same price is also a favorite combination , with eight sandwiches or panini and seven salads to choose from .

I 'm partial to the lemon chicken salad and grilled tomato panino with pesto , but have n't been disappointed with any of my choices .

Black bean soup is a menu regular , and there 's always a meat soup like chicken Florentine with spinach and a vegetarian soup like lentil -LRB- or try the cold avocado-yogurt purée if it 's on the day 's menu -RRB- .

The cafe is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is especially crowded at lunchtime , between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Throughout the day , from breakfast on , students , professors and others congregate for coffee , espresso , cappuccino and a pick-me-up nibble .

Matineegoers to the Yale Repertory Theater down the street often drop by for a quick lunch or post-performance snack .

But no one needs an excuse -- the sweets are incredibly delicious , whether raspberry or blackberry Danish , sticky buns , plain or whole wheat croissants , lemon tarts , bread pudding , chocolate cheesecake brownies or almond bars .

All baked goods , like the soups and everything else at the cafe , are made at the local Chabaso Bakery , the bookstore 's parent company .

Atticus Bookstore / Café , 1082 Chapel Street , New Haven .

-LRB- 203 -RRB- 776-4040 .

PATRICIA BROOKS .

Summary: Patricia Brooks reviews cafe inside Atticus Bookstore in New Haven , Conn , photo .