December 22, 2002

With the Lott controversy having driven the difficult question of race into the foreground, President Bush faces a far harder task in his campaign to demonstrate that the Republican Party is open to all. The Week in Review

Anthony Tommasini reviews Baz Luhrmann's Broadway production of La Boheme and recalls notable productions of other favorite musical works; photos (M)

Construction of a seven-story, 110,000-square-foot glass and steel office building is to begin next March on the blockfront on the north side of Houston Street between Crosby Street and Broadway in NoHo. The design of the building, inspired in part by the cast-iron architecture characteristic of the neighborhood, incorporates glass elevators that run in a glass-enclosed shaft. The project, to be completed in about a year, is being developed by Macklowe Properties without having tenants signed up. A Macklowe executive said that there have been discussions with potential tenants, but that leases had not yet been signed.

Doctors in US are offering anti-aging treatments even though effectiveness has not been established and long-term risks are ill defined; treatment is expensive: $1,000 a month for panoply of drugs and dietary supplements, including human growth hormone and testosterone for men and women, estrogen and progesterone for women, melatonin, DHEA, vitamins and antioxidants; photos (M)

Two reports offering data and analysis of housing trends in New York City have recently been published. ''The State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods, 2002'' -- a community-by-community look at indicators like housing prices, mortgage originations, foreclosures, tax delinquencies and vacancy rates -- is being offered to the public by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at the New York University School of Law. The report, which includes 475 tables and maps, also tracks shifts in population, income, crime and school achievement levels.