Barry Skolnick, crusader for quality of life Downtown, is leaving the city at the end of the year.

It wasn\u2019t just the lack of affordable senior housing, or the broken elevators, or the cyclists riding on the side- walks, which \ufb01nally drove Skolnick to his decision.

Skolnick, 62, has fought for school seats and week- end subway service, rea- sonably priced groceries and countdown timers at crosswalks. His venue was Community Board 1, where he served on four commit- tees and had one of the board\u2019s best attendance records. His enemies were

Luminaries of the theater gathered at The Players Club on Nov. 23 to honor one of their own, a man of the theater and a writer of dis- tinction, the journalist Jerry Tallmer, who now writes for The Villager and Downtown Express.

Marian Seldes, Austin Pendleton, Jules Feiffer, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, and yet more friends and colleagues paid tribute to the man who was among the founders of The Village Voice and who began the Off-Broadway Obie Awards more than 50 years ago.

Quality of life
gad\ufb02 y leaving B.P.C.
for better\u2026

Stars of stage and
arts salute Tallmer
as a \u2018critic who cares\u2019

Murray and Greenwich Sts. took on an ethereal quality last Sunday as steam leaking from a pipe rose up into the air on a windy night. There was no \ufb01 re or explosion and a Con Edison spokesperson said he had no record of an incident.

Koch hits
\u2018The Road,\u2019
p. 29

The party was held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City, where Morgenthau, chairperson of the board, had the unenviable task of introducing the mayor. Last week Bloomberg accused the D.A. of keeping separate funds to hide money from the city, setting off a hostile battle of words in the press. The two apparently haven\u2019t gotten along since Morgenthau considered charg- ing the city in the fatal 2007 Deutsche Bank fire.

(By the way, Morgenthau\u2019s spokesperson said Bovis Lend Lease and the city did not have to pony up any money when they admitted Deutsche misdeeds and signed an agreement with the D.A. )

The Daily News reports that Morgenthau and Bloomberg were friendly at Tuesday\u2019s Hanukkah party, smiling, shaking hands and chatting. Bloomberg joked that Morgenthau, 90, is young compared to Bloomberg\u2019s 100-year-old mother. Morgenthau reportedly replied that he was glad to hear Bloomberg\u2019s mother is still going strong at 100. \u201cThere\u2019s hope for me,\u201d Morgenthau said.

Also in the crowd, we spotted another unlikely duo enjoying each other\u2019s company. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famed sex therapist, shared a handshake with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who towered over her. Maybe Kelly was looking for some advice?

Council hearings and speaking at length at public meet- ings, including this week\u2019s Chinatown forum on the loca- tion of the 9/11 terrorist trials.

\u201cI admire the fact that he\u2019s still here, helping and mak- ing a contribution,\u201d Borough President Scott Stringer said after listening to Gerson speak Monday night. But, Stringer added, referring to Gerson\u2019s replacement, \u201cI\u2019m also very excited now about the Margaret Chin era.\u201d

the Hudson River, but is being built in Cleveland, to replace some industrial shipping yards. At 100 acres, it will be a little bigger than Battery Park City, and it will be half park space compared to B.P.C.\u2019s one-third, The Plain Dealer reported.

Like Battery Park City, the Cleveland plan will have a continuous waterfront esplanade, but one difference is that the street grid will be put at a diagonal to the Lake Erie, to shelter pedestrians from the wind. A windy waterfront cer- tainly sounds familiar \u2014 perhaps the diagonal street grid is a lesson Eckstut learned from walking the windswept streets of Battery Park City.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who refused to go to bat on congestion pricing last year, has now been named leg- islator of the year by the Environmental Advocates.

Some environmental groups knocked Silver last year for not pushing for congestion pricing, which would have reduced car traf\ufb01c in Manhattan by imposing a fee that would fund mass transit.

But this week Robert Moore, executive director of the nonpro\ufb01 t Environmental Advocates, a New York group, called Silver a \u201cgreen hero\u201d in a release Silver\u2019s of\ufb01 ce cir- culated. In the release, Moore cited Silver\u2019s support of the Green Jobs/Green New York legislation, which will make the state more energy ef\ufb01cient and retro\ufb01t 1 million homes.

If you ever wondered what Theseus Roche would look like as a \u201cgiant French woman\u201d you can check him out performing at Theater for the New City this weekend. Roche \u2014 who over the years has led Manhattan Youth in some of the most creative productions you\u2019ll ever see done by middle schoolers \u2014 will take to the stage in two pieces by Patti Bradshaw (theaterforth- enewcity.net) in a puppet festival. (We\u2019re betting \u201cLa Mome Bijoux\u201d is the one with Roche in French drag.)

EDITORIAL PAGES. . . . . . . . . . . .22-23 YOUTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24-26 ARTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27-30

The upcoming week\u2019s schedule of Community Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all committee meetings are held at the board of\ufb01ce, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709 at 6 p.m.

88 Fulton Street
(Corner of 33 Gold St.)
New York, NY 10038
212.587.8930
212.587.8935

\u201cIt started from wanting to keep the community we have intact,\u201d said Learan Kahanov, co-chairperson of the Spruce Street School\u2019s school leadership team.

Kahanov and other Spruce parents dislike the city\u2019s proposals because they both zone the southern Financial District below Liberty St. for P.S./I.S. 276 in Battery Park City. Spruce has many families this fall from the southern Financial District, especially east of Broadway, so that area should be included in Spruce\u2019s zone, not 276\u2019s, Kahanov said.

However, simply expanding the Spruce Street School\u2019s zone would result in too many students at Spruce and too few students at 276, so the parents are suggesting additional changes, which essentially take the city\u2019s proposed zoning lines and rotate them. First, the parents would move Gateway Plaza from P.S. 89\u2019s zone into P.S. 276\u2019s zone. Then, they would move northern Tribeca families from P.S. 234 into P.S. 89. Finally, they would move southern and eastern Tribeca families from Spruce into P.S. 234.

\u201cThat would be great,\u201d said Joanne Fernando, who lives at Water and Pine Sts., and would be zoned for P.S. 276 under the city\u2019s current plans. \u201cI just assumed we would go to Spruce Street \u2014 it seems so logical to everyone down here.\u201d

Fernando feels much more connected to the Seaport than to Battery Park City, and she said most of her daughter\u2019s friends at Downtown Little School will be going to Spruce.

The city outlined its two zoning options last month and is gathering feedback from local parents and the District 2 Community Education Council. Will Havemann, D.O.E. spokes- person, said it would be premature to comment on the Spruce parents\u2019 proposal.

Shino Tanikawa, co-chairperson of the C.E.C.\u2019s zoning com- mittee, said she and the other C.E.C. members would study the Spruce parents\u2019 idea. The C.E.C. could make a zoning recom- mendation as soon as next week but will likely wait until the middle of January.

Community Board 1\u2019s Youth and Education Committee weighed in on the zoning issue this week, voting unanimously for the city\u2019s \u201cvertical\u201d option, number 2, which uses Church St. as the divider between P.S. 234 and the Spruce Street School. Option 1 excludes some buildings right near P.S. 234 and has generated more vocal opposition than 2.

Kahanov presented his new proposal to the committee, but they were hesitant because no one knows whether Kahanov\u2019s zones would evenly distribute children among the four Downtown schools. However, the new zoning proposal has gained support from Gateway Plaza parents who were lobbying to go to P.S. 276 but were zoned for P.S. 89 under both of the city\u2019s plans.

Diego Costa, a Gateway resident whose son starts kinder- garten next fall, called the new proposal \u201cawesome.\u201d P.S. 276 is closer to Costa\u2019s home, and he can see the school from his win- dow. Costa also wants his son to go to 276 because it is new.

The new plan is also likely to be popular among southern and eastern Tribeca families who were zoned out of 234 in one or both of the city\u2019s plans. Moving north Tribeca into P.S. 89 could open up enough room in P.S. 234 for all the families who live within a few blocks of the school, including those on Murray St., Church St., Greenwich St. and Broadway who have been complaining about not being included.

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A Community Board 1 committee has recommended this school zoning option for P.S. 234, 89, 276 and Spruce Street School. A group of Seaport parents have sug- gested a \u201cwheel\u201d adjustment (arrows) which would zone North Tribeca for P.S. 89 in Battery Park City, Gateway Plaza for 276 instead of 89, and the southeastern Financial District for Spruce instead of 276.