Spoke to the guy on my corner with the UHO table, or rather the table formerly known as UHO. He has a new, unmarked 15-gallon plastic water jug and a scrap of paper that doesn't pretend to be a city license on a table that no longer comes with strings attached, and he's as nice as he ever was, and I gave him a buck same as always.

In case you haven't heard, the UHO has been unmasked (again, only this time by attention-hog Andrew Cuomo) as a non-charity that collects a fee from homeless people who, in turn (shocked, shocked we all are to discover) pocketing the proceeds directly.

Six poets, former students of Richard Howard, read their poetry in his presence yesterday evening at the Casa Italiana in Morningside Heights.

His love and compassion was evident, and was reciprocated, except for when he commented that one of them, Lucie Brock-Broido, was famous for telling her students to "cut that." He could have been referring to the poem she had just read, and it certainly cut her. She drew the corners of her ample mouth down, and down they remained.

A cage goes in search of a bird.

The advice that hurts the most is the stuff you know is true -- Joseph Fasano, who read an intense and gripping poem.

Dear Lee,

Morningside Heights has changed considerably over the past thirty years or so. Change is part of the human condition, and it would be dangerous to cling to the past for its own sake; life cannot be preserved like a daguerreotype.

On the other hand, we can choose how things will change.

I'm writing about one particular decision, to force Morningside Bookstore out of business -- but I am also writing about every decision you make and its impact on our community.

Morningside Heights is more than just the home of Columbia the University; it is also home to Columbia the Community; thousands of alumni, teachers and intellectuals, attracted by the diversity, the climate of ferment and discussion, the availability of bookstores, cafes, and cheap eateries frequented by others of their kind.

Columbia University is forcing yet another independent bookstore to close. It's worse than book-burning; rather than burning books one at a time, CU is burning our ability to browse, talk about books and buy books from someone who cares about books.

Today is May 24; if we don't act, Morningside Books will be gone.

There is still time to save the store -- if owner Peter Soter can raise $100K by the end of the month, he can salvage his store. He has already raised more than $50K from customers and neighbors, but CU refuses to give him a stay. The neighborhood needs to get together and force CU to act in a reasonable manner.