IN THE NEWS
••• “Pier A, a 124-year-old landmark, is on its way to a new life, thanks to the approval by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission of a long-delayed restoration project of the now dilapidated building,” says the Tribeca Trib. “With only a few small changes to plans approved more than 15 years ago, the commission voted Feb. 16 to allow the completion of exterior restoration work on the pier just south of Battery Park City. That work—begun more than a decade ago by a private developer but halted amid disputes over unpaid rent—is scheduled to begin again in May.” The Trib also gives a nice history of the building. For lots of photos of the inside of Pier A, such as the one above, go here and here.
••• Tribeca Film has an essay by Julio DePietro, director of The Good Guy—which premiered at the 12009 Tribeca Film Festival and opens tomorrow—about, among other things, why he shot a scene at Dylan Prime. (The preview worked on me, if only because it uses “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” a gorgeous song by Stars.)
••• Is the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden heading for a remodel? Says the Broadsheet Daily: “A spokesperson for Brookfield Properties (the owner of the World Financial Center) declined to comment, but a person familiar with the company’s vision for the World Financial Center complex said, ‘The main problem is that the staircase originally led people up to a pedestrian bridge that no longer exists.’ (This bridge was destroyed during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.) ‘So it has become a staircase to nowhere. The second issue is that the replacement for that bridge is a pedestrian underpass, which will lead directly to the back of those stairs.’ This is a reference to the tunnel beneath West Street, now under construction, that will eventually connect the World Financial Center to the rebuilt World Trade Center complex. ‘Thousands of people will use that tunnel every day,’ this source predicted, ‘and as things stand right now, they will be directed to a dead end behind the staircase.'” The Broadsheet Daily details how some people are upset by the idea.

COMING UP
••• This Sunday at 2:30 p.m., the Museum of Jewish Heritage presents “A Fresh Take on Race and Cultural Identity,” a discussion between author Adam Mansbach (right) and cultural critic Joan Morgan (farther right) about race, cultural identity, and hip-hop in the Jewish and Black communities. The $5 admission includes entrance to “Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow” (Sunday is the last day of that exhibition).
••• On Monday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m., Tribeca Cinemas Doc Series will screen Dark Days (2000), which “shatters the myths of homelessness by revealing a thriving community living in tunnels beneath New York City.” Director Marc Singer will be in attendance.