An Old Friend Lives Again Amid the Bookshelves

NEW YORKERS & CO.
Published: July 17, 1994



An Old Friend Lives Again Amid the Bookshelves

After Potemkin, a German short-haired pointer, died on Feb. 9, 1984, Margot Rosenberg and Bern Marcowitz say, their lives weren't the same. For 10 years, the husband and wife tried to figure out a way to memorialize their pet -- and to change careers.

So, last month, the couple opened the Dog Lovers Bookshop at 9 West 31st street, and decided that Potemkin would be the founding dog, "whose image will not only watch over the shop but will soon be emblazoned on everything we have in the store," said Ms. Rosenberg.

The shop sells books about canines of all kinds -- domestic dogs and their wild cousins, the coyote, fox, jackal and wolf. There are books about each breed, copies of the latest fiction and the old classics like "Lassie" and "Old Yeller," as well as audio tapes, videos and foreign language books.

"We want to cater to the person who loves dogs but not to the dogs themselves," said Ms. Rosenberg. So there will be no leashes or collars or dog food sold.

However, there will be recipe books, for dog treats. How do sesame seeds with peanut butter and sprouts sound? Students Will Learn Film-Making Where Tammany Bosses Held Sway

The New York Film Academy, where film makers learn their craft, has moved to Tammany Hall, once the site of the city's Democratic political machine.

The school, which has an enrollment of 80, was formerly located at Robert DeNiro's TriBeCa Film Center.

The new space, 20,000 square feet over four stories at 100 East 17th Street, between Park Avenue and Irving Place, has a screening and rehearsal room, editing facilities, conference rooms and a roof garden.

"The environment is inspiring. With the 20-foot ceilings and the marble floors, it's an environment to create," said Jerry Sherlock, the academy's director, who describes the program as an "alternate to a four-year formal film school like the University of Southern California and New York University."

All of the instructors at the school are working film makers, Mr. Sherlock said. Classes have between 12 and 14 students; the course runs for eight weeks and costs $4,250. Spy Magazine Returns, With Plans to Be 'Funny Again'

Four months after it ceased publication because of financial difficulties, Spy magazine returned to the newsstands last week.

Sussex Publishers Inc., the publishers of Psychology Today and Mother Earth News, acquired the magazine in May from Jean-Christophe Pigozzi and Charles Saatchi, the British advertising executive.

The magazine, which in its original incarnation thrived on satirical send-ups and gossip of media, politics and power, is now based at 49 East 21st Street, with a staff of 20.

"We've been successful at relaunching magazines that have gone out of business -- like Psychology Today and Mother Earth News," said Owen Lipstein, editorial director of Spy.

The current issue, with Heather Locklear on the cover, resembles the style of the old magazine. Asked about his plans for Spy, Mr. Lipstein said: "We've revigorated it to the original formula. We had to make it funny again, which it ceased to be -- it had become similar to the objects it parodied."