Robert-Hornsby

Michael Rebell was growing frustrated. It was October, over 10 months after the trial had ended, and Judge William Smith still had not released a decision on the case. In the 50 years that Rebell had worked in education reform, he had never known a judge to take this long. His career had taught him that change often required patience, but that did not stop him from hoping that Smith’s decision would arrive sooner. The case he had presented, after all, was urgent: He believed democracy was on the line.

Nearly eight years after the birth of her twin daughters, Marissa Hoechstetter won a small but significant victory on Thursday: she will finally be able to obtain copies of her children’s birth certificates that do not bear the name of the obstetrician who she says repeatedly sexually abused her, thanks to a new bill passed by the New York City Council.

Red, fleshy chunks of watermelon skid off the stage into the faces of the audience.

The Black Theatre Ensemble gave an outstanding performance of “Bootycandy” by Robert O’Hara this weekend, courting audience applause after almost every scene.

It is hard not to laugh at a show that follows its opening fire escape directions with the reminder that there is an open bar in the back. It gets better as a room full of drunk Law School students start laughing, then howling, about all the things that normally keep them up at night: the stiff competition for BigLaw jobs, impossible school honors, and professors that just cannot seem to explain things clearly.