City Belt

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: CITY HALL

Class & classic -- that's JC City Hall for ya. This photo, taken by Eve Rametta, makes City Hall look like such a lovely place to be ... almost makes us forget about what *actually* goes on inside. Almost.

Remember, folks -- you gotta be in it to win it! To be featured as Photo of the Week, and in our constantly updating Flickr badge in the right sidebar, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

POEM: OBJECT

My pink Jesus
Leaks blue blood
On Corinthian capital

When I got him last year
He was full
And I was full
And when I asked him
Anything
His answers made me laugh
I could make sense
Of them

WE NEED MANDATORY SENSITIVITY TRAINING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ShapTalk: Guest Commentary
By Michael M. Shapiro

This past February, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that school systems are responsible for stopping bias-based harassment and found in favor of a former student who had been incessantly harassed because of his sexual preference while attending the Toms River Regional School District. A school district may now be held liable if it is notified of a “hostile educational environment” and does not take reasonable action to eradicate it.

While New Jersey has one of the toughest anti-discrimination laws in the Country, enforcement of the law is weak, particularly in public schools. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision should be viewed as a catalyst for change in its public schools. To avoid adverse court decisions and to create an educational environment free of bias-based harassment, schools should take an additional step: Every school district in the state should be required to provide mandatory sensitivity training to all students, faculty and staff.

JERSEY: GOOD ENOUGH TO WRITE ABOUT

...But apparently not good enough to speak in.

So, I direct your attention to a book about Jersey ("an anthology of essays by some of New Jersey's best young writers"), having what could only be called a "book release party/reading/thing" in the East Village. It's things like this that perpetuate the idea of Jersey as Novelty. What a shame.

But this points to a larger issue as well. Where would these hip-lit types had this event in Jersey? Symposia? Imagine Atrium? 58? 001? Maxwell's? Grace Church? Kim's?

But just because the spaces in HudCo are few and far between doesn't excuse this, in my eyes. And while none of the few venues I rattled off are perfect fits, many would have been a great place to host the hip-lit crowd. Did they even look into it? Because if they had, they likely would have found *something* that would have worked. After all, if Jersey truly "occupies a unique place in our national consciousness," wouldn't the best way to celebrate that be to party on this side of the Hudson, regardless of Manhattan's "ease of use"?

Perhaps I'm just overreacting at this point, but shouldn't we be just as pissed at things like this as the nose-look-downers across the river get when a Jersey band, suburban kid, or whatever says they're from NYC?

-JW

BUT I DIGEST ... NORTH JERSEY VIETNAMESE SHOWDOWN

Round Four: Two Great Restaurants, Only One Crown
By Kimberly Kaye

For those of you who are just tuning in, “But I Digest…” has spent the last two months pitting North Jersey’s best Vietnamese restaurants against each other in order to crown a champion deserving of your warm weather obsession. We’ve trawled the length of the Northeast Garden State Parkway seeking out competitors, singling out talent from a list of enthusiastic recommendations and documented champions before choosing our gladiators. While by no means inclusive, the list eventually reduced itself to four worthy contenders, including one heavyweight champ, an old-school underdog and a sleeper with a cult following. We’ve sampled soups and salads, noodles and rice, fish and fowl and various cow parts, as well as a small parade of other wonderful Southeast Asian delicacies -- and the results are in.

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?

That's the question that's come up more than once in the past month. Where, oh where, has my little City Belt gone? Well, long story short: despite the variety of bylines you see on the site, we're a two-person operation. And those two persons' lives (and drained bank accounts) simply got in the way in the past month. We're trying to sort through a way to push on with this, in a different, more manageable way. Please feel free to offer any suggestions; you can comment or e-mail us at citybelt@gmail.com. If you want to write, give us the remnants of your trust fund, or figure out how we can afford to pay writers, hit us up too.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: APPLES, BAMBOO

Not sure where this was taken ... "a store of some sort," you're probably saying, and of course you're right, smartass. Lots of lines. We like lines! This one's by Flickr user gypsee.

Remember, folks -- you gotta be in it to win it! To be featured as Photo of the Week, and in our constantly updating Flickr badge in the right sidebar, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

MOTUS IMAGO: THE FILM USER'S GUIDE

The weekly rundown: by Shane Smith

don't miss:

Volver I'm not a big fan of Almodovar or Penelope, but this is a good one Cinema Village (Manhattan)

don't bother:

Music and Lyrics Hugh and Drew compete for Most Cloying Performance of the Year. cute soundtrack, though.

POEM: BLESSED IN NEWARK

Orthodox in all but name,
We find ourselves between the apse and nave
Of two worlds where our reflections
Mimic blank expressions
And pepper mosaic windows.

The bus wends its way through Vailsburg,
My spiritual home, our Fatima,
Where we gained strength
On Friday evenings in April and May
And heard the Sodality Sisters gather and sing
The hauntingly beautiful Acathistos service
To the Mother of God.

This annual preparation for the Passion
Featuring sacrificial tin can banks,
Was shattered by a new wave of bloodshed,
The fifth attack in three weeks,
Which sparked a night of rioting near Bethlehem.

The suicide bomber on a bicycle,
Who may have been a woman, died.
When was the reincarnation?

Did I miss the body?

Which turn for Zarvanytsia?

-- Roman S. Ponos

NEW JERSEY'S POLS: BACKING THE WRONG PRESIDENTIAL HORSES?

ShapTalk: Guest Commentary
By Michael M. Shapiro

Officials of both political parties should have learned a lesson from 2004 when key Democratic politicians, including Gov. Jim McGreevey, jumped on board with Gov.Howard Dean, only to see Dean implode soon thereafter, leaving them with little influence over Sen. John Kerry, the eventual Democratic nominee. Apparently, those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Approximately one month ago, a long line of Republican officials publicly announced their support for Rudy Guliani for president. Recently, a significant contingent of Democratic officials, including Gov. Corzine, publicly backed Sen. Hillary Clinton for President. Both groups of elected officials will find themselves on the outside looking in should the political winds afoot blow in an unexpected but likely direction.