Theatre in Review: The New York Story (Cherry Lane Theatre)Colin Quinn grumpily and often hilariously pays tribute to a vanishing Gotham in The New York Story. Drawing on The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America, which was published last month, Quinn, risking the ire of the politically correct, traces the various ethnic strands that make up the feisty, contrarian, take-no-prisoners attitude that for decades has defined our fair city -- and which, he fears, is vanishing. Manhattan, once known for sarcasm, muggers, and Ed Koch, is becoming homogenized into the land of Disney, Starbucks, and de Blasio. Boldly going where no comic has since Jackie Mason left the stage, growling out gags in his distinctively raspy, run-on manner, Quinn deals in the hoariest of stereotypes; yet he handles them affectionately, examining them to see how each contributed to the essential orneriness of native (and longtime) New Yorkers. The Dutch, he informs us, have defined much of the city's lexicon: "Bedford. Stuyvesant. Bushwick. Brooklyn. The Van Wyck. Knickerbocker. Those are all Dutch words. F--k is a Dutch word. If you're on your stoop in Brooklyn, saying, 'F---ing Yankees,' you're bilingual." The British contributed their sense of superiority; as a result, New York is "the only place you have blue collar snobs." The Germans brought us the concept of "rude polite." The Jews "have been here about 150 years and I think it's fair to say they still haven't recovered from the boat trip. They're still walking around a little queasy. Slightly bent over. Back problems." And as befits a comic named Quinn, he says, "So now you've got a city that's sort of in disrepair. I don't know what it is. It's swampy. Full of shantytowns. It's just a festering ground to breed resentment and misery. Who's going to want to live there? The Irish." Quinn goes on his merry way, also pointing out the salient qualities of Italians, Russians, Asians, blacks, and Latinos. For all his complaints about the kinder, blander contemporary New York, he unsentimentally recalls the days when the city was off limits to the faint of heart, "when 35 was the new 70," and "at Port Authority, pimps used to be lined up like Citibikes." Things were so tough, he adds, people carried "mugger money," which they paid like a tax. But times have changed, he adds, and not for the better: "Brooklyn is 100% white right now. You get on the L train at two o'clock in the morning and it looks like a ski lift." Some of his jokes are funnier than others, and some of the best are deft comic sketches; my favorite is the long-gone "directions guy," who would sit out on the street looking for poor lost souls to humiliate. Turning away in disgust from one such hapless driver, he snaps, "The Van Wyck? You've gotta be kidding me! You ended up here from the Van Wyck? It's impossible to get here from the Van Wyck!" Quinn's ability to slip in and out of various tough-talking Noo Yawk types adds crackle to even the most familiar gags. As should be clear by now, The New York Story is really a high-concept standup act, installed in an Off Broadway theatre and given an extra touch of glamour by having Jerry Seinfeld as director. (It's hard to know what his contribution might have been, since Quinn is pretty much the same as he always is; then again, when you're doing a show called The New York Story, who wouldn't want to have the most New York of comics on your team?) In any case, Quinn is a fine fellow to spend 70 minutes with, and his commentary on an ever-changing city is packed with hilariously pointed observations and shock-of-recognition laughs. Furthermore, underneath all the sarcasm is a surprising warmth; he clearly loves the city and wants it to remain as cantankerous, as infuriating, as impossible as possible. Sara C. Walsh's set features such echt-New York details as a stoop and a laundry line; I assume she also designed the show's projections, which include such iconic images as the Statue of Liberty, a subway station, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Sarah Lurie's lighting has its witty touches, including a green, white, and orange lighting cue when Quinn takes on his Irish heritage. Quinn fans will, of course, pounce, but even if, like me, you aren't particularly familiar with his work, The New York Story should provide a steady source of amusement for hometown audiences and in-the-know tourists. After all, who doesn't enjoy a little complaining now and then? -- David Barbour 
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