folks,

the section is in its final days as the beautiful, powerful, occasionally nutty thing we have known for years. so, like a child tending to a parent in late-life decline, i thought i'd do my best not to leave anything unsaid that needs to be said before oct. 6.

so, how great to see anemona's pitch-perfect story out front, joined by the work of the city hall bureau, which is on some fuckin roll.

B1 had david k.'s latest chapter of the rangel chronicles. a very cool inaugural pic by michelle agins for yet another fascinating lens effort. a neat lede on christine's nypd story, and nick and jon's roundup of that most shocking of nyc events: an interesting primary.

dwyer and dunlap, who have brought such a nice mix of real reporting and just the right dose of sentiment to 9/11 coverage over the years, finding the balance yet again.

jim barron's story about the end of the world -- the fruit of scared editors at 9:45 a.m. -- actually offers an implicit message for us: don't believe the hype when doom is predicted (for the planet or metro.) bagli and neuman working their beats. jim estrin's art with anemona's jump.

another day, another treasure.

if the start of this note felt a little maudlin, let me say i am a big believer in the afterlife (the nuns and jesuits did beat some shit into my head.)

and so to celebrate our section's newest incarnation, i invite you all to drink, dance and otherwise get your metro freak on at [redacted] in brooklyn on the evening of [redacted].

i'll get back to you with more details. but i hope you'll circle the date.

joe