I’ve stopped trying to define how the New York Times defines “love,” modern or otherwise. Cause it’s conspicuously absent from the latest “Modern Love” essay, ” The Kindness, and Xanax, of Strangers .” Or is it?! Don’t get me wrong: this is an interesting piece. It’s the account of a scientist’s breast cancer relapse, and it’s brisk, mordant and absorbing. I had a fresh case, in my previously unscathed breast. The new occurrence was local, meaning no multiple surgeries, no chemotherapy. This time I had the very best form of breast cancer.

Photograph of the Devils’ Zach Parise scoring a goal against Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist by Mary Altaffer/AP Devils 4, Rangers 2: What’s it like to go seven periods without a goal? The Devils hope they don’t have the privilege of finding that out again. They scored four times — thanks in large part to Travis Zajac’s goal and two assists — and took care of the Rangers after not scoring for 158 minutes. Beating the Rangers had been a problem for them recently, but Scott Clemmensen has 12 wins in lieu of Martin Brodeur. The Rangers, losers of three straight, got goals from Nigel Dawes and defensema Dmitri Kalinin

Just what is going on at South Street Seaport? First it’s getting redeveloped (with much resistance from the locals), and then it’s being sold by the development company. Curbed explains: “Yes, troubled South Street Seaport leaseholder General Growth Properties put the Lower Manhattan megamall/tourist trap up for sale last week, seemingly putting an end to the company’s desire to redevelop the historic port into a massive retail/hotel/residential thingamajig (above). But don’t scrape together your down payment just yet! General Growth has no real plans to sell the darn thing.” The Downtown Express got word from an insider, who says “the firm has been looking for investors for the Seaport for several months, and the company intends to retain the property. But since General Growth would consider selling the property if the right offer came in, the company had to say that the sale is an option, even if it’s not likely.” Sounds like they’re really attached to the project

With the population of the city steadily growing, how are New Yorkers somehow throwing out less trash ? No one seems to be able to figure out why, yet the amount of garbage and recyclables picked up by sanitation workers has been going down over each of the last four years. Reasons speculated behind the drop include a move away from glass bottles, an increase in the usage of garbage disposals in homes and even less periodicals being left on curbs due to the decline in print journalism (read all about it here on the Post’s website). But experts say that none of those factors are significant enough to warrant the 7% drop in trash since 2005. Even the head of the Department of Sanitation can’t wrap his head around it

The NY Times writes the obituary for NYC’s building boom . The Building Trades Employers’ Association’s data shows that $5 billion in projects, including “luxury high-rise buildings, office renovations for major banks and new hospital wings,” has been canceled or delayed due to the credit crunch. Developers are having a hard time looking for loans—though some projects are still eagerly anticipated, like ones along the High Line from Jean Nouvel and Annabelle Selldorf—and others who do have loans are having trouble paying them back.