In her final state of the city address as speaker, Ms. Quinn on Monday said the city's top priority must be to "keep our middle class here, " and she described affordable housing as being at the heart of a "crisis" afflicting this shrinking segment of the city.

WSJ: Quinn Address Aims at Middle Class

Along with the 100-seat theater now nearing completion on the roof of the Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center and the 299-seat Theatre for a New Audience under construction within Brooklyn's BAM Cultural District both designed by New York architect Hugh Hardy it is also a gain for New York's theater scene, particularly that segment devoted to the city's teeming population of newcomers, strivers and on-the-verge or comeback talents.

WSJ: Frank Gehry | Pershing Square Signature Center | By Julie V. Iovine

The New York City taxi industry is heavily regulated, and nearly every segment of it spends large sums of money on campaign contributions and lobbyists.

WSJ: Deal Clears Way For New Taxi Class

Further illustration of Mr. Shimabukuro's credo comes in a segment of Mr. Nakamura's documentary from a senior shelter in the Japanese city of Sendai, devastated by the twin disasters of Fukushima.

WSJ: His Ukelele Is On Fire | Jake Shimabukuro | Cultural Conversation by Matthew Gurewitsch