New York City

NEW YORK - To Pedro Serrano, a New York City police officer, his low rate of stopping and frisking people while patrolling the South Bronx was a sign he was exercising restraint in using the controversial law enforcement technique. His bosses saw it differently. To them, Serrano's 2012 record of just two stop-and-frisks suggested he was not doing enough to protect people in the crime-ridden 40th Precinct, whose residents are mostly black and Latino. "We're still one of the most violent commands in the city," Serrano's commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack, said during a heated conversation in February, which Serrano secretly recorded.

Shoe brand Nine West has launched what it's calling the "Gangs for Good" charitable campaign. The center of the campaign is a contest that will give girls a chance to win a trip to New York City and $5,000 to the charity of their choice.  All entrants have to do is create a gang with your friends -- and they don't mean "gang" in the gangster sense. Each group must consist of at least three girls, but no more than five. To enter, each group is to submit a video showing the group's acts of kindness and style to Nine West's YouTube channel,  "Channel 9. " The gangs will be judged based on their style, how they dress individually and how they look as a group and also on the gang's act of kindness.

NEW YORK - A judge on Monday invalidated anti-obesity rules that would have made New York the nation's first city to restrict sales of super-sized sugary drinks, setting up a showdown with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who called the last-minute ruling "completely wrong" and vowed to appeal. State Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling's 36-page decision was issued the day before the limits were to take effect. It was a victory for a coalition of groups, including labor unions and the restaurant industry, who had sued to block enforcement after the city's Board of Health easily approved the regulations in September.

This story has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details. Colleen Neary will never forget the day when George Balanchine articulated the blueprint for her life's work. She was in her early 20s, then a respected New York City Ballet dancer. "He put me in to teach company class," she says. "He said to me, 'This is what you will do in the future.' I said I wanted to dance, but he said, 'You won't dance forever. You will teach dancers my ballets. " Fast forward to 2013, to a rehearsal of Balanchine's 1941 "Concerto Barocco" at the Westside headquarters of Los Angeles Ballet.

Two of New York's most prominent experimental troupes, the Wooster Group and Richard Maxwell's New York City Players, have joined forces to tackle a trio of early one-act dramas written by Eugene O'Neill about seafaring men and that vast expanse of briny rootlessness that is their existential home. There are, in short, three contrasting sensibilities at work in this production of "Early Plays," which opened Thursday at REDCAT, where it runs through Sunday. But they are united in their desire to cleanse the palate of theatergoers accustomed to a menu of stale and flavorless familiarity.

The Wooster Group and New York City Players tackle Eugene O'Neil's "Glencairn" plays — "Bound East for Cardiff" (1914), "The Long Voyage Home" (1917) and "The Moon of the Caribbees" (1918). Together, the tales of roughousing sailors take on a poignant, lonely resonance. This performance features cast members from both companies directed by Richard Maxwell. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. 8:30 Thu.-Sat, 3 p.m. Sat.-Sun. $45 and $50. http://www.redcat.org.

So, I asked the candidates Tuesday night: How many mayoral debates does this one make? Forty-two and a half, Eric Garcetti said, in a bemused tone. A half debate? Maybe that was one where some of the principal candidates weren't there. Or a debate so stricken with debate fatigue that it seemed like only half a debate. ENDORSEMENTS: Los Angeles City Elections 2013 Never mind. The actual number is "more than 30,” and I added one Tuesday night, moderating a debate sponsored by civic and residents' groups in Northeast L.A. Four of the five principle candidates were there; Wendy Greuel was out of town.

In the late 1970s when Edward I. Koch won his first term as mayor of New York, the city was in shambles, its coffers and confidence sapped by financial crises and a paralyzing blackout. It needed a fighter and found one in Koch, a well-practiced pol with the determination - and bite - of a bulldog. He steered the city out of bankruptcy and restored its swagger, a one-man cheerleading squad who personified the witty and feisty New Yorker. The three-term mayor of New York and perennial civic combatant, who rallied and riled the city in and out of office with his tenacious style and irrepressible opinions, died Friday of congestive heart failure at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital, said his friend and spokesman George Arzt.

Rage is Back A Novel Adam Mansbach Viking: 304 pp., $26.95 "I always had this sense that there was a great American graffiti novel waiting to be written," Adam Mansbach says. Best known as the author of the bestselling, foul-mouthed "children's book for adults" "Go the F - to Sleep," Mansbach has penned an ambitious new novel. "Rage is Back" is a loving homage to graffiti culture in New York City. Graffiti has been celebrated in art books and documentaries and canonized in recent shows like MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibition, but few long works of fiction exist.

Now that the obligatory holiday trips to see family are in the books, consumers hoping for a more leisurely getaway may want to keep their suitcases handy. Experts say the travel deals available in January are often some of the best all year. That's important because travelers can expect to pay more for airfare and hotel stays this year. Average daily rates for U.S. hotels increased 4.2% in 2012, to an average $106.23 in November, according to Smith Travel Research. Domestic airfare increased 4.5%.