Governor David Paterson went to Washington D.C. yesterday and stated the case for the Empire State, "New York doesn't need a handout, we need a handback." After thanking the House Ways and Means Committee for inviting him, Paterson began his remarks by saying, "The great novelist Ayn Rand advised us in the Fountainhead that our country, the greatest country in the world, was founded on the basis of individuals, where people were encouraged to adventure,......

Have you re-read the classic coming-of-age JD Salinger novel, Catcher in the Rye, lately? amNewYork takes a trip down memory lane, and 5th Ave, with a pair of Holden Caulfield-tinted glasses. Apparently people like the Central Park Conservancy historian get a ton of inquiries about the New York references in the novel. The most popular question, "Where do the ducks go in the winter?" Referring to the ducks in the Central Park pond that our......

The Post and Daily News have a number of editorials and columns about the Deutsche Bank building fire response and fallout. The Post continues to demand FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta's resignation and faulted Mayor Bloomberg for standing by Scoppetta. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez wonders why Bloomberg and Scoppetta have gone into "virtual hiding" and blasts Bloomberg for sending lobbyists to kill "legislation that would force tougher enforcement of safety laws by the city......

MOVIE: It's certainly not the kind of night for an outdoor movie, so we suggest sitting in the cool a/c and watching the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. "Gone is the possibility of mankind’s dominance in this sequel to Night of the Living Dead; the zombies are in control now, with a group of AWOL soldiers and TV producers on the run from the staggering hordes. A deserted shopping mall offers a safe hideout,......

It's been announced that Angelina Jolie will play the role of Dagny Taggart in the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. Braveheart writer, Randall Wallace, will adapt the novel. Taggart is the most powerful female character in any of Rand's books, and someone that Jolie was apparently eager to portray. During one of the many times the film was going to be made in the past, Faye Dunaway was brought up to play......

+ The New York Times' Michael Kimmelman calls the Whitney's Picasso show "a compare-and-contrast slide show." Ouch. + Meanwhile, The New York Sun explains why it took so long for the new Bronx Museum of Arts. + Flavorpill's Artkrush points us to MOMA's Project 83, the first solo US exhibition of Polish artist Monika Sosnowska's work. Clean architectural lines minus Ayn Rand utilitarianism. + Non-real estate whores, check out 101 Warren Street's rooftop, a 20,000......

+ Belgian block-edged sidewalks and park benches are coming to Cortelyou Road, reports The New York Sun. Is Flatbush the new Fort Greene? + Speaking of Brooklyn and the Sun, Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is teaming up with CUNY to build a one-million-square-foot tower in downtown Brooklyn for classrooms and, natch, condos. + The NY Times has its turn looking at the booting of Fashion Week from Bryant Park. We looked at this issue......

The "dream teams" of noted architects working together for prestigious projects is the subject of a Times architecture article. Though Daniel Libeskind, dream team of one, won the World Trade Center competition, apparently teamwork is the new black of the architecture world, as evinced by all the other teams who entered. The Times brings up a 2001 quote from design world "star," Rem Koolhaas: "If I pride myself on one thing, it is a talent......