After a parents of a rejected student filed a class action lawsuit, the Department of Education asked a federal judge to overturn a 1974 ruling that set in place quotas to keep the school 40% minority and 60% white. The DOE wants the court to overturn the ruling immediately so the 2008-2009 will be quota-free. Last June, 11-year-old Nikita Rau was denied a place at Coney Island magnet school, Mark Twain School - IS 239.......

In Following the Equator, Mark Twain wrote:“In America the ice-storm is an event. And it is not an event which one is careless about. When it comes, the news flies from room to room in the house, there are bangings on the doors, and shoutings, ‘The ice-storm! the ice-storm!’ and even the laziest sleepers throw off the covers and join the rush for the windows.” Yesterday, we had the latter day equivalent, with television......

TREE LIGHTING: Earlier this year, New Yorkers Fountains of Wayne transformed Demetri Martin into a lonely suit living in Brooklyn in this video. Tonight the band will be rockin' around the Stuy Town Christmas tree. A reader writes in:I just happened to see this flyer hanging up for the annual christmas tree lighting. And what the hell is this...7:30-8:00pm, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE. Seems like it's top secret, but there are flyers everywhere.Random! But if you're......

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a......

Unnamed sources are telling the Daily News and The Post that a deal between the stagehands’ union and Broadway producers is within reach. The two sides have an agreement on the main sticking point, the dispute over the number of stagehands required for a show’s “load-in” and are currently negotiating salaries. As one source put it, "Everybody is confident we can finally get this done." There’s even optimism that some shows affected by the strike......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in......

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched: Thursday, September 6the OPERA FOR ALL Concert, with party to follow (this will showcase the......

Showing how divided its philosophies are, Supreme Court justices ruled, 5-4, to limit the power cities have integrating schools and placing students by race. Schools in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington had been trying to maintain diversity by, as the NY Times explains, "limiting transfers on the basis of race or using race as a 'tiebreaker' for admission to particular schools." However, the majority found those programs to be unconstitutional and Chief Justice John Roberts......

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein offered his opinion of the Brooklyn school situation that raises questions about racial quotas set in place 33 years ago. Eleven-year-old Nikita Rau was rejected from the competitive IS 239/Mark Twain School in Coney Island because her admissions test scores were too low: Her 79 was lower than the 84.4 average score minority students need; white students may be admitted with scores of 77 or lower. Klein said, "I think probably......

A lesson in quotas and school bureaucracy for an 11-year-old: The Post reoprts that Nikita Rau was denied a place at a magnet school because she's not white. Rau and her parents hoped she would attend Mark Twain School - IS 239, a magnet school in Coney Island (recently reported to have the best Math and English scores for Level 4 students) but a 33-year-old federal ruling is preventing her entry. The quotas for the......

On Sunday we posted about the Bard Family being all but dismissed from their post at the Hotel Chelsea. As the interrogation spotlight continues to shine in the faces of the faceless "Board" that made the decision, a press release was sent out to explain what's going on behind the famous doors. The Bard Family, who have run the hotel from Mark Twain to Nancy Spungen to now, have been replaced by a new regime......

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: Theater Talk: Prime-Time Spectacular (WNET 13, Sunday, 10:30 p.m.) This Broadway interview show celebrates its 10th anniversary with an hour long prime time special. Lincoln Center Tree Lighting 2006 (WABC 7, Monday, 5:00 p.m.) Channel 7 gives over a good chunk of their 5 p.m.newscast to this annual tree lighting. Expect some Disney corporate synergy in any performances. A Charlie Brown Christmas (WABC 7, Tuesday, 8:00 p.m.)......

Comedy Legends Live: The inimitable Carl Reiner speaks with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman. Reiner—comedian, actor, novelist and director— was a creator, writer and producer for The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1999, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Come check out a legend. Tonight // 8:15pm // Kaufmann Concert Hall [ Lexington Avenue at 92nd St] //......

Did you make it to any of the festivals we mentioned a short while back? If you did, good for you, and you’ll know that these late fall smorgasbords have been putting some nifty stuff on stage; if you didn’t, this is a great week to make up for it, as the One Festival includes some very interesting pieces – all by solo performers, as the name implies. The range is pleasingly head-spinning: from Ryan......

While we're on the topic of the Bronx, this week's classic New York trip is to one of the only mainland boroughs many treasures: Wave Hill. A gorgeous property in Riverdale with views of the Palisades, it has been stunning visitors since Wave Hill House was first built in 1843. Originally owned by a jurist, the property has been called home by an impressive list of people. Theodore Roosevelt summered there as a child, Mark......

Maggie Dubris, Writer/Hypnotist/Ex-paramedic...