A casual NPR listener (or reader of the transcript, which can be found online) would probably see nothing unusual in D'Arcy's story, which aired on Dec. 27, 2004. According to the transcript, none of the principals in the case, including MoMA's attorney, would be interviewed for the report. More than one source, however, was willing to criticize -- harshly -- the museum's position in the case. Former museum director Tom Freudenheim expressed puzzlement that MoMA, despite being directed and chaired by Jews, allowed its "greed" to overcome its "sense of responsibility." Two lawyers active in cases involving Nazi art loot were also quoted with similarly unflattering remarks, one suggesting that museums can resort to a "war of attrition" in such lawsuits, which often involve aged claimants.

Apparently, someone at MoMA contacted someone at NPR and demanded a correction, which NPR currently has posted on its website: "The government, not the museum, has custody of the artwork. The museum says it took no position on the question of the painting's ownership. NPR failed to give the museum a chance to answer allegations about its motivations and actions."

But D'Arcy's report doesn't address the custody of the artwork, and in regard to ownership says only that when "MoMA has discussed the case over the past seven years, the museum has said it's bound by its loan contract to return the painting." As for the claim that he failed to give the museum a chance to present its point of view, D'Arcy says he has a fax in which the museum declines to participate in the story.

NPR, where D'Arcy has been a freelance contributor for 20 years, gave D'Arcy a two-paragraph "termination" memo accusing him of overlooking "basic standards of journalism" in the report. D'Arcy says adamantly that "MoMA was not able to find any inaccuracies in the report, and the correction aired and posted by NPR does not address any inaccuracies."

High-profile reporters and experts in Nazi-era art resitution have rallied to D'Arcy's cause. In a letter to the NPR board, Morley Safer suggests that the broadcaster "has caved in to intimidation by a large, wealthy and powerful cultural institution." The lawyer and art historian Lucille Roussin disputes MoMA's claim that it has never taken a position on the question of the painting's ownership. "MoMA is on record, under oath, in court documents systematically crediting the ownership claims of the Leopold Foundation and questioning the legal foundation for the Bondi claims," she writes. "MoMA's position in the current case also asks the court to prevent the Bondis' ownership claim from ever coming before a US judge."

What happens now? "It's been an awful experience for him, being undermined as a journalist by both MoMA and NPR," D'Arcy's attorney, David S. Korzenik, told Artnet News, "and we are now deciding what action to take." D'Arcy remains a correspondent for the Art Newspaper, a contributing editor at Art & Auction and a regular critic on the "Front Row" program on BBC Radio.

The founder and director of P.S.1, Alanna Heiss, sent Pozzi what he called a "blunt" email, explaining that she was removing his work "because I must put up new work in the hall." 10 Color Combinations was an emblem of the site-specific art movement, Pozzi says, that was cited both in an essay on "the index and photography" by art theorist Rosalind Krauss and in an article in Artforum reviewing P.S.1.'s history as a premier alternative space. P.S.1 "could have at least kept a couple of parts," Pozzi wrote to Artnet News. "I consider it a vindictive erasure of history."

PRANK EMAIL HITS "GREATER NEW YORK"
Needless to say, "Greater New York 2005" at P.S1 has also generated a certain amount of anxious anticipation among younger artists in the city, a fate already parodied by Artnet Magazine contributor Elliott Arkin with his most recent comic sculpture. But a new, anonymous prankster has now gotten into the act, sending out an official-looking press release for the show that is notable for its subtle humor.

For one thing, each of the several mentions of the "Greater New York" title is followed by a supershift "TM" sign. Another tip-off is the reference to the curatorial review of works by over 2,000 artists, who are billed as ranging "from promising high school students to seasoned recent graduates of MFA programs to the artists of persistent dealers." Also promised are free lunches in the P.S.1 cafeteria and an initiative to form an artists' union. For the complete text, click here.

A few days later on Monday, Mar. 7, Page Six of the New York Post reported that financier Steven Greenberg has offered the artists $50 million for the entire project -- an offer that Christo and Jeanne-Claude have reportedly declined. "I thought collectors might pay $250,000 for four of them, to keep on their lawn or to add to their art collection," Greenberg told the paper. "My idea was to remarket them. You could perhaps end up realizing $375 million for all of them."

Meanwhile, an over-zealous policeman arrested a 25-year-old Italian tourist for putting a sticker advertising a website on one of the gates near Columbus Circle. The woman was charged with vandalism and spent the night in The Tombs, the notorious jail in Lower Manhattan. "It was an ugly experience," she said. "In America, there seems to be no distinction between big crimes and small crimes."