Newsletter 7 - March 2000
We're sorry to say that after June 2000,
because of changes in our service provider's operations and a host
of other circumstances, we were forced to discontinue publication of
what -- we thought -- was a information packed digest. We hope to be
able to resume sometime in the future
Contents
1. St Patrick's Day
2. March Events
3. Broadway
4. Signs - Sealed and Delivered
5. Clothing and Footwear Sales Tax Exemption
1. ST PATRICKS DAY
The New York St Patrick's Day Parade is March
17th. We're planning a special issue of the newsletter for the 15th,
but a couple of items have to make it in now
The Queens St Patrick's Day Parade and Fair
is Sunday, March 5th at 12:00 Noon. This is the first inclusive St
Patrick's parade. Participants will include the Bread and Puppet
Theatre of Vermont, Big Apple Corps Band, Irish Arts Center and the
Emerald Isle Immigration Center. The staging area is on Skillman
Avenue between 41st and 43rd Streets and proceeds from Sunnyside to
Woodside. (7 train to 40th Street in Queens, walk North two blocks
to the staging area.) Not sure exactly what route the parade will
follow, the organizers sent us just the start of parade info. Call
718-721-2780 or e-mail them at (old address) for more info
The Staten Island St Patrick's Day Forest
Avenue Mile Race will be held Sunday, March 5th at 12 Noon. The
parade follows; it starts at Forest Avenue and Hart Boulevard. For
details call 718-442-3709
The Flushing Irish Cultural Day is
sponsored by the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians. The time is
12:00 Noon at 26th Avenue and 154th Street, Flushing. Call
718-746-3837 for further info
We'll have complete St Pat's info coming up on
the 15th
2. MARCH EVENTS
Besides the St Patrick's Day Parade there's a
lot of activity (as always) in the City this month. Here's a brief
sampling
Robert Goulet is at Feinstein's at the
Regency…The Paper Bag Players present Molly Wiggle and
Minnie Shake at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse…Betty
Buckley is at the Café Carlyle…The New York Botanical
Garden's Prelude to Spring flower show continues…The
Town Hall World Dance Festival presents Noche Flamenca!…
Joy Bogen sings Kurt Weill…Dancing on Dangerous
Ground is at Radio City Music Hall…The Greek Festival
is at Symphony Space…Arthur: A Live Adventure is a
treat for kids at Radio City Music Hall…City Center Encores!
presents Tenderloin…Trisha Yearwood is at
Irving Plaza…Jose Carreras is at Carnegie Hall…and always
much more
You can find more events and information at our New
York City Events Guide
3. BROADWAY
Remember, Jim's Deli has Tony Award and Broadway
theater history. What was the first production at the New Amsterdam
Theater? When did Bob Hope first play the Palace? Do you enjoy
Keeping Up Appearances on PBS? If so, when did star Patricia
Routledge win a Tony Award? You can find the answers to these and
many more Broadway questions at our Broadway
Guide
The Buzz
After seven thousand and umpty-ump performances,
Cats is
scheduled to close after the Jun 25th performance. Ticket sales have
been sluggish of late at the Broadway Theater. Almost record sales
after the closing announcement have spurred vague rumors of the show
moving to a smaller house. If the show has seven thousand-plus
performances in its second life, after nine lives that would
be...see you sometime mid 22nd century
On Mar 13th Faith Prince replaces Blair
Brown as the lead opposite Christopher Walken in The
Dead. Ms Brown is leaving the show to prepare for the
opening of Copenhagen,
slated for a Mar 23rd opening at the Royale Theater
The second incarnation of The Wild Party,
the one playing at the Manhattan Theater Club, is not going to make
it to Broadway after all. That leaves the Public Theater version to
open by itself at the Virginia Theater Apr 13th
The recently renovated Selwyn Theater is
to be renamed the American Airlines Theater in a $9.5 million
deal between the airline company and the Roundabout Theater
Company. It joins the Ford Center for the Performing Arts
as the only Broadway theaters with corporate sponsorship on the
marquee. Look for more deals as the Shuberts and others investigate
alliances
TKTS, the same-day, half-price tickets
booth operated by the Theater Development Fund has a new home
in it's future. In a competition, the design submitted by Australian
architects John Choi and Tai Ropiha was chosen as TKTS new home. A
sloped, wedge-shaped red stairway will form a 16-foot overhang under
which the TKTS booth will sit on Father Duffy Square. Construction
is slated to begin later this year; no announcement has been made as
to where the TKTS booth will operate during construction
Review
Squonk
opened at the Helen Hayes Theater February 29th. Read our review Squonk
Openings
Sam Shepard's True
West returns with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly
as the dysfunctional brothers | Previews begin Feb 17th for a Mar
9th opening at the Circle in the Square Theater.
Boyd Gaines & Karen Ziemba star in Contact,
moving to the Vivian Beaumont Theater | Previews begin Mar 2nd for a
Mar 30th opening.
Aida
started previews Feb 22nd for a Mar 23rd opening at the Palace
Theater.
Closings
Putting
It Together closed Feb 20th.
The
Price closes Mar 5th.
Cats
is only a memory as of Jun 25th. Remaining tickets are going fast.
Coming Up
Riverdance
begins previews Mar 3rd for a limited run at the Gershwin Theater
thru Jun 25th.
The
Wild Party begins previews Mar 10th for an Apr 13th opening
at the Virginia Theater.
Webber and Rice bring back Jesus
Christ Superstar. Reviews begin Mar 23rd for an April 16th
opening at the Ford Center.
Cherry Jones stars in a Eugene O'Neill classic, Moon
for the Misbegotten. Previews begin Mar 7th for a Mar 19th
opening at the Walter Kerr Theater.
Patrick Stewart stars in the Arthur Miller drama
Ride Down
Mount Morgan, coming to the Ambassador Theater. Previews
begin Mar 21st for an April 9th opening. It's a limited run to Jul
23rd.
Blair Brown leaves The
Dead to star in Copenhagen,
beginning previews Mar 23rd at the Royale Theater for an Apr 9th
opening.
Rose,
a powerful piece for Olympia Dukakis, begins previews Mar 28th for
an Apr 12th opening at the Lyceum Theater.
Tom Stoppard's The
Real Thing is back on the boards, beginning previews Mar
29th for an Apr 17th opening at the Barrymore Theater.
Elaine May and Alan Arkin collaborate on Taller
Than a Dwarf. Previews begin Mar 31st for an Apr 24th
opening at the Longacre Theater. The show stars Matthew Broderick
and Parker Posy.
Be sure to get all the Broadway details at our Broadway
Guide
4. SIGNS -- SEALED AND DELIVERED
Sometimes when you click a wrong button on a web
site you find something quite interesting. We happened to stumble
across the New York City Department of Transportation site and found
that you can purchase replica or custom made New York City street
signs.
Replica street signs include Wall Street and
Times Square with the Miss Liberty logo, and Broadway or the Grand
Concourse. You'll also find four-color customized signs for kids,
signs for sports fans, signs with your company or organization logo
and no parking signs (including the famous "Don't even think of
parking here!"). They also offer replicas of 1964 World's Fair,
Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field direction signs. From down memory's
lane they will also make 1970s replica signs when the color scheme
was different in each borough: black on yellow-orange in Manhattan,
white on green in Brooklyn, blue on white in Queens, white on blue
in the Bronx and black on yellow on Staten Island.
If that isn't enough you can also choose from
classic Route 66, Welcome Back to Brooklyn, Interstate 95, Yield to
Mom and Santa, Please Stop Here signs. If you can't find what you
want you can design your own street sign. Prices start at $32 and
most seem very reasonable.
The site's pages are graphically heavy and are a
bit slow to load, but well worth a visit. You can find them at:
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dot/html/signs/cmsigns.html
5. CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR SALES TAX EXEMPTION
Beginning March 1st, 2000 clothing and footwear
costing less than $110 per item is "permanently" exempt
from the 4% New York State sales, compensating use, and the New York
City 4¼ % taxes. The exemption applies only to clothing and
footwear worn by humans. It also applies to most fabric, thread,
yarn, buttons, snaps, hooks, zippers, and like items that become a
physical component part of exempt clothing used to make or repair
exempt clothing. A vendor's charge for alterations made to exempt
clothing that the vendor sells is likewise exempt. Most accessories
(such as handbags, umbrellas, watches, and watchbands) are not
considered clothing and are taxable. However, belt buckles,
handkerchiefs, sweatbands, head scarves, and neckwear such as
scarves and ties, are exempt.
The criteria used to determine items that are
exempt or not are somewhat confusing: A baseball batting glove is
exempt, a first catcher's mitt is not. A headbands is not exempt, an
athletic sweatband is; disposable diapers (baby or adult) are
exempt.
We can't hope to interpret the entire Department
of Taxation and Finance document; if you'd like, you can find the
complete skinny on exempt and non-exempt items, lay-away sales,
exchanges and the use of coupons at: (old link)
Hope you enjoyed our newsletter. See you next
month,
Susie and Jim
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