Interesting.

Interior landmarks are defined as spaces “customarily open or accessible to the public, or to which the public is customarily invited.” But the law does not discuss what happens when tenants move or owners try to cope with post-9/11 fears.

This reporter set out on Jan. 9 to see what luck he would have visiting the interior landmarks downtown. He showed up unannounced at each place, in the garb of a history-minded visitor – spectacles, old Harris tweed jacket, button-down shirt, bow tie, thick-soled shoes (actually, he dresses like that every day) – with a copy of the official Guide to New York City Landmarks tucked under one arm.

He was allowed to walk through just one space without undergoing a search. Two buildings admitted him after scanning him. He was allowed to glimpse a couple of lobbies and sneaked a peek at another. At two buildings, he was told firmly to leave.

The article then lists various interior landmarks, ranked roughly by accessibility. Don’t bother trying to get into the Woolworth Building, apparently.

I briefly mentioned John Kerry yesterday. Well, the newest issue of GQ has a long, harsh article about Kerry and his possible attempt to run again in 2008.

“He thinks it’s about him,” says a former Kerry campaign aide who had significant responsibilities in a key swing state. “He thinks all those people worked so hard and gave so much of their time because of him. And that is a gross misreading of the situation. I think he’s under the illusion that over 50 million Americans voted for him, as opposed to the reality that they voted against George W. Bush.”…

Another big-name Democrat who is close to party activists and donors, and who worked hard for Kerry in 2004, is even harsher: “Nobody has enthusiasm for him. We should have won that last time. He was running against that idiot.”

Even better is this exchange reported in today’s New York Daily News.

Wade [Kerry’s press secretary] responded hirsutely: “As a GQ fashionista would say, the magazine’s political coverage has the longevity of the Soul Patch and the sophistication of The Mullet. I won’t lose sleep over the inside-the-beltway musings of a reporter too young to shave and the Chardonnay-drinking pals he met on the cocktail party circuit.”

Crowley [the reporter], who pointed out that he’s 33 while Wade is only 30, retorted: “David Wade should show more respect for his elders. A juvenile response like that is what you get from someone without a real defense. And, by the way, maybe if John Kerry understood fashion better, he wouldn’t have gone on those windsurfing outings, which made his own staff cringe.”