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first publication of his relativity theory. NYSkiers flocked to the 
ones in February to learn more about this 'man of the century' of Time 
magazine. 
    The showcase for science in the City was the Science Fair at City 
College on February 13th. This megaexhibit presented some 1,700 -- one 
thousand seven hundred! -- high school science projects in competition 
for citywide and national awards. I was mustered up as a judge, ready 
for my civic duty. My father caught a chest cold on the preceding 
Friday, I stayed home to look after him, missing the fair this year. 
Dad recovered fully in a few days. 
    A surprise event in February was the 'Gates' in Central Park. It 
opened on the 12th and closes on the 27th. The exhibit is 7,500[!] 
post-&-lintel aluminum portals straddling 36 kilometers[!] of park 
paths. From the crossbar hangs an orange banner fluttering in the 
wind. The immense number of portals and their extent over the entire 
park make it one stupendous show! 
    Altho the exhibit 'ends' on February 27th, it'll take a week or so 
to dismantle the gates. Removal starts on Monday the 28th at the south 
end of the park, You can see them for a few more days by entering 
Central Park in the 60s and higher streets. 
    The banners, if tiled on the ground, cover 100,000 square meters, 
25 metric acres! The thread to sew the banners, if laid out as one 
piece, is 232,000 kilometers, about 2/3 of the way to the Moon. Yes, I 
thought it was a typo when I first read that. 

Sky News 
 ------
    Comet Machholz put up a good show for us! Between rounds of clouds 
and snow, we followed it into the circumpolar skies in February. It's 
receding from us and Sun to start fading. In march it'll still be a 
binocular object. I include an ephemeris for Machholz, probably for 
the last time, under March 1st.
    Saturn is still in our face as he soars into high sky in the south 
at nightfall. He's moving retrograde slowly, with station on March 
21th, then he resumes direct eastward motion thru Gemini for the rest 
of the 2005 apparition. 
    I can't recall mentioning this in NYC Events but I do a monthly 
column for the New York Chapter of the National Space Society called 
SpaceWalk. It's aimed at space enthusiasts, who may be weak in 
mainstream astronomy. It has a starchart for the month and banter 
about some aspect of astronomy. For March 2005 I illustrate one 
feature of Einstein physics, banking off of the Graduate Center shows 
and its importance for space travel. SpaceWalk is a bit down the page 
on the list of features on the left side of the chapter's website, 
www.nsschapters.org/ny/nyc. 

City news 
 -------
    The fire on January 23rd near Chambers St, IND 8th Av, totaling a 
signal control room, badly wrinkled this subway line. After a couple 
weeks of decimated service, NYC Transit got most of the trains back by 
mid February. It'll take a few months to restore full operations, with 
possible adjustments made on short notice. Please study posters and 
flyers at stations all along the line.
    On February 11th the NYC Dept of Health issued a panic alert about 
a new HIV. A 46YO man on Manhattan caught HIV in December 2004, with 
the expected decadish time for it to shift into AIDS. AIDS hit the 
victim in February 2005! This sudden arrival of AIDS from HIV was 
compounded by the HIV's total resistance to 19 of the 20 usual AIDs 
medicines! By end February, there was some backpedaling on the 
severity of the alert, but researchers remain extremely concerned 
about a possible new, swift, invincible variety of HIV. 
    On February 12th, a megashow opened in Central Park, 'Gates' I 
describe it above under 'Event news'. All during its two week un, 
NYSkiers by the dozens -- and THREE MILLION other visitors --  
strolled the walks under the portals. I went on the 26th in late 
afternoon, after taking in the Greenwich Village bookfair, and covered 
about 2 kilometers of path from 67th St & CPW to 72nd St and 5th Av. 
The Gates were so funky and such fun, plus my long dwell at the 
bookfair, that I missed the Observing Group meeting that afternoon! 
    The International Olympic Commission visited the City on February 
21-25 to continue its evaluation for the 20112 Olympics. New York 
competes against London, Paris, Moscow, Madrid. The IOC gave the City 
very high ratings informally but, of course, the actual decision comes 
in July 2005. The City has one excellent feature unique among the 
contestant towns. No matter which country is on the pitch for an 
Olympic event, its own countryfolk will be cheering it. Will they come 
from overseas? Many will, yes, but the bulk of the fans will come from 
the national nabes of New York! 
    On February 21st an little noticed social event took place in 
Washington Heights which deserves better attention. On 21 February 
1965 Malcolm X was shot dead in Audubon Ballroom, 165th St and 
Broadway, while speaking at a rally there. This was one of the 
meterstone events of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Now, on 
the 40th anniversary of his death, Audubon Ballroom was dedicated as a 
Malcolm X memorial museum. The public opening is in May, with interior 
work still in progress. 
    The olders of us lived thru those years, I at City College 
overlooking the riots and fires in the Harlem valley. Really, 

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