December 02, 2002

December 2, 2002 Issue

Cover Story

Power Preschools

On the Upper East Side, preschool isn't just the place for 3- and 4-year-olds to begin their education. It's the seat of status yearnings, the gateway to New York's social Valhalla. No wonder people like Jack Grubman (and even this author) will pay any price -- or in Grubman's case, get someone else to pay it -- to get in.

Features

Manhattan's Top Twenty Preschools

What's taught, who gets in, famous alums, and, of course, what your chances are.

To All Appearances

Financier Jeffrey Silverman seemed to have it all: the beautiful wife, the lavish homes on the East Side and in Palm Beach, the young twins he doted on, the powerful society friends. But since late September, when he was found with a fatal gunshot wound near the Greenwich estate he'd recently been forced to sell, a different picture has emerged, that of a man keeping up the appearance of wealth and hoping the real thing would follow. Finally, the bill came due.

Last Man Standing

Over the course of his 50-year political career, North Carolina senator Jesse Helms became New Yorkers' ultimate political bogeyman -- pro-life, anti-gay, segregationist (at least in the beginning), isolationist. An extremist parody of red-state America. But now, as he prepares to retire, it's become clear he's remade the Senate in his own take-no-prisoners southern-Republican image. It's also clear that he's -- are you ready for this? -- a nice guy.