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Table of Contents

November 29, 2004 Issue

Cover Story

Mickey Drexler’s Redemption

Mickey Drexler built the Gap by inventing a uniform for America. But when the company started to struggle, he was summarily fired. Now he’s back in the game as CEO of J.Crew and aiming to remake the national dress code. Not to mention his reputation.

Features

Iced

In broad daylight on Sixth Avenue, a month before he and his father were due to stand trial for money laundering, diamond dealer Eduard Nektalov took a bullet in the back of the head. A visit inside the Nektalovs’ community of Bukharan Jews in Queens, an immigrant society that fiercely protects its own.

Will The Last Hipster Please Turn Out The Lights?

New York is suddenly so five years ago. A satire.

A ‘Nutcracker’ Family Album

Fifty years ago, everyone but George Balanchine thought his Nutcracker would drive the New York City Ballet into bankruptcy. Boy, were they wrong. Photograph by Neal Slavin.

Strategist Holiday Gifts

The Best Bet

The ultimate evergreen for your Christmas tree.

What to Buy the Tricky People In Your Life, like:
A Couple With a New Baby

Your Younger Brother

Your Style-Obsessed Friend

Your Teenage Nephew

Your Granny

Your 5-Year-Old

Your Tween

Your Boss

Your Dad

Your Artsy Aunt

Big Bold Baubles

Glitzy five- and six-figure baubles.

Map No 4: Lexington Avenue

The stretch of Lexington Avenue from 69th Street to 82nd Street feels like a slice of New York past.

Map No 5: Crosby Street

Crosby Street offers a quietly chic shopping experience.

Map No 6: Austin Street

Forest Hills is packed with chains, boutiques, and hard-to-find items that make the F-train trip worthwhile.

Home for the Holidays

The dysfunctional family Christmas, a fashion parable

Holiday Gifts

Great gifts under $20

Wishful Thinking

Two (very different) real New Yorkers and what they want

Shrink Wrapped

A Freudian analysis of what gifts really mean.

The Look Book

Kate Young, Stylist

The Restaurant Review

Rubenstein visits Lure Fishbar, the dramatically remade Canteen

If You Can Make It Here

Mail-order food: another way to infiltrate the red states.

Taste of a Nation

Learn about the red states mysterious cultures by eating their food.

In Season

Butternut-squash bruschetta, the most creative use of a gourd since the jack-o'-lantern.

Loaves for Leftovers

The perfect post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich requires careful planning and great bread.

Meltdown

One good thing about the cold: great hot chocolate.

Charge, Then Recharge

Even the staunchest shopper can use a little pick-me-up on the busiest retail day of the year.

Body

Luxe, prepackaged beauty products.

Travel

Trips you can give as gifts.

Mating

To have a baby, a woman needs a man. But she doesn’t have to fall in love with him. Or even meet him.

Real Estate

The Chelsea boom moves north.

Intelligencer

Intelligencer Gossip

Viva Eminem, Eliot Spitzer’s gubernatorial cash-grab begins, and more.

It Happened Last Week

A TV celebrity was married, a great museum reopened, and a giant electronic snowflake was installed over midtown.

Queens Bomber

Can Willie Randolph fix the Mets?

The Liza Minnelli Drinking Challenge

Does drinking really make you stronger? A test.

Lovable Dirty Bastard

Ol’ Dirty Bastard: the Ringo of rap.

HMV Unplugged

What killed the city’s big-box music store?

Yule Log

How much do you spend on holiday gifts? A nosy sidewalk survey—conducted outside Bloomingdale’s and Saks.

Columnists

The City Politic

Bloomberg gets more politically skilled every day, and his reelection may well hinge on how well he’s thought of by middle-class blacks.

The Bottom Line

Bush’s Social Security scheme would be a dream for Wall Street—and a nightmare for everyone else.

The Culture Pages

Up With People

Neil LaBute gets a little less pessimistic—but only a little.

Movie Review

Oliver Stone’s Alexander is, surprisingly, a date movie.

An Interview with French Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet

His A Very Long Engagement is a darkly lovely adaptation of the Sébastien Japrisot World War I novel.

The Pre-Show Show

Our reviews of this week’s movie previews.

Theater Review

The engrossing Democracy.

’Night, Mother Reviewed

A play about daughter Jessie carefully preparing her suicide, and mother Thelma unable to stop her.

The God Of Hell Reviewed

An absurdist but not entirely absurd comedy.

An Interview with Actor Michael McKean

Michael McKean’s roles are probably better known than he.

How La Cage aux Folles Took Wing and Landed Back on Broadway

Seven steps from France to Broadway.

Book Review

Tom Wolfe’s latest is better than you’ve heard.

Pop Music Review

Eminem grows up.

Classical Music Review

The City Opera’s Cinderella fails to soar.

I Vespri Siciliani Reviewed

The Met’s revival is a true period piece.

An Interview with 23-Year-Old Conductor Alondra de la Parra

This week, the up-and-comer will lead the Mexican American Symphony Orchestra in its debut at Town Hall.

Art Review

Hans-Peter Feldmann’s archival photography.

Show And Tell

Most heavy-metal concerts don’t start at 9 A.M. on Sunday, but Chloe Piene managed to draw a crowd of 250 to hear the Brooklyn band Candiria.

The Week

New on DVD

Departments

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