+ The New York Sun calls the Queens Museum of Art building "fascist" and its redesign renderings "weak." Rare feat.

+ Norman Foster sets his sights on a neighborhood known for its aversion to "bold contemporary architecture" (rendering, right). No, we don't mean Greenwich Village and we do wonder if this is NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff's way to sway opinion to keep the design in tact.

+ Speaking of downtown, more than a hundred art students are being booted from their Hewitt building studios to make room for Thomas Mayne's stainless steel mesh. Hello Long Island City - and the 7 train.

+ West Eighth Street: "Culinary Alley" or just a sparkling example of eclectic street design and planning?

+ Check out street-flyer art while you still can.

+ And, head over to "Going Public:
City Snapshot(s) and Case Studies of the Mayor's Design and Construction
Excellence Initiative" at the Center for Architecture. Mayor Bloomberg may surprise you.