Caroline Kaplan

To Kelvin McAllister, baseball isn't just a game. It's how he gives back to his neighborhood.

Decreed as the "great American novelist" by Time magazine before the release of his previous novel, Jonathan Franzen is back with an undertaking to ascertain the merit of this title: "Purity," out Sep. 1.

Spectator confirmed Thursday that no new renters have secured the space on the corner of 112th Street and Broadway that beloved children's bookseller Bank Street Bookstore vacated earlier this year.

Uptown parents and education advocates are worried that recent state legislation, which emphasizes standardized test results in teacher evaluations, will hurt teachers in Upper Manhattan schools, which have large populations of non-native English speakers.

Young Jean Lee has been called "the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation" by the New York Times, and her newest piece, "Straight White Men," which opened at the Public Theater on Nov. 7, could be her most adventurous work yet.