In a “radical move,” at the end of end of last year, Liz Mestres, left, stepped down as executive director of the Brecht Forum after 18 years. Mestres, along with the late Arthur Felberbaum, Mary Boger, right, Susan Boger, Carol Goldman, Bill Henning, Lisa Maya Knauer, Eli Messinger, Luis Prado and Juliet Ucelli, founded the Brecht Forum/New York Marxist School back in 1975. Today, Brecht Forum is located in the Westbeth complex. While Mestres, seen above at the group’s holiday party, is transitioning out of her staff role, she’ll remain closely involved with the school.

love-eggs

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

On Saturday, Time’s Up! held a “dance bike ride” to raise awareness of women’s, gay and transgender rights. In the season’s spirit, Easter eggs were passed out to participants before the ride. The eggs contained condoms and organizers called them “love bombs” after the seed bombs that garden activists throw into empty lots. Riders held up their Easter eggs at Union Square, above, before biking to the Astor Place Cube, Tompkins Square Park and then on to Brooklyn. They danced at each stop.

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

Tahmina Islam and her son, Dawood, 2, were among a group of three Bengali families from Jamaica Heights who rallied outside Judson Church in the Village last Friday afternoon, calling on the government to release the families’ fathers. All three men are being held awaiting deportation. The children were born in America and thus are citizens. The fathers would have had to leave the U.S. and re-enter to gain residency, but weren’t guaranteed they’d be able to get back in. Rashid Muhammad, the kids’ tutor, led them in chanting, “I want my Dad back now!” “I want to go to Harvard!” “I want to go to Stuyvesant!” “How can I do it if Dad is in jail?” “Taking care of family is no crime!” Mazeda Uddin, an organizer with the Alliance of South Asian American Labor, said losing their fathers has been particularly tough on the families because Southeast Asian woman depend on their husbands’ income. They’ll be going to Washington April 10 in a convoy of 10 buses to lobby congressmembers and senators for immigration reform.

– Lincoln Anderson

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Stefania Owen, who plays Dorrit, Carrie Bradshaw’s kid sister, in “The Carrie Diaries,” the “Sex and the City” prequel, had her bike stolen on Prince St. sometime around 1 p.m. on Wed., March 13. She and her dad, left, cable-locked their four-month-old six-speeds to a tree near MacDougal St., then went to help someone move in to their place. When they returned an hour and a half later, the bikes were gone and only 2 feet of cable was left. “The store insisted we buy this cable, that you couldn’t cut it,” her dad said. “We rode everywhere, even in the winter. It’s a great way to see the city,” Stefania said wistfully, before they headed to the First Precinct to report the theft.

Last week on Greenwich St. in Tribeca, a pigeon seemed to be contemplating the progress of One World Trade Center, a.k.a. The Freedom Tower.

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Wrapped in plastic, a huge wreath was ready to be recycled on Varick St. near Franklin St. last week.

Saturday evening’s dusting of snow mostly quickly melted in Lower Manhattan. However, in Tribeca, the Hudson River Park’s boardwalk and the tall grasses that surround it maintained their coating of white powder a bit longer.

Photo by Lincoln Anderson

During Superstorm Sandy a sign on the grounds of the Jacob Riis public housing complex at E. Sixth St. and the F.D.R. Drive bent but didn’t break in the powerful winds coming off the East River.

Photo from Tequila Minsky

Uncovered: Books, haircuts and history

The alteration of a narrow two-story building at 17 E. 13th St. between Fifth Ave. and University Place last week revealed two signs from long ago. Carol Greitzer, a former city councilmember and an ever-alert Village preservation advocate, told the newspaper about a sign saying Childrens Hair Cut on the first floor and the Erskine Press sign on the second floor of the former restaurant. The building dates from 1911 when the Erskine Press moved there from 22 E. 17th St. The founder, Archibald Erskine, was a carpenter born in Scotland in 1830. He went into the printing business sometime before 1897. George C. Erskine conducted the business after him. Erskine Press was last listed in the Manhattan telephone book in the 1933-34 edition. An Erskine Press is currently located in England, specializing in the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.” The history of the barbershop was not immediately known.

Some acrobatic parkgoers really got carried away with themselves in Washington Square. Photo by Milo Hess