NEW YEAR'S EVE FIZZLES

For a city once known as the New Orleans of the Rio Grande and for a historic downtown that aspires to becoming a second French Quarter, there was hardly a stir as fireworks exploded in the sky and bullets fell dangerously back to earth.

"We're waiting for the norther to arrive," said the more vocal of two old men reclining on the old post office's steps. "My buddy and I don't drink anymore. We're too old to have sex. Most of our buddies are dead and buried. We don't welcome the new year. It makes us think that we're one year closer to death."

El Hueso de Fraile on Elizabeth carried the torch and a few cantinas lent their shrill voices to the evening. But there wasn't even enough activity to attract the transvestites and prostitutes who don't think twice about braving the elements in order to share their warmth in exchange for a little wealth.

"It's disappointing," said "Delta" Dave Handelman who played an unplugged set at the Foncerrada's bohemian hangout. "Everyone goes for the bright lights and superficiality of the northside and ignores the authenticity and ambience of downtown. But we don't have vision. I thought our mayor was going to lead us out of the darkness, but I see no light at the end of the tunnel with him in the lead."

The mayor made few promises during his campaign, but he did list restoring downtown as one of his top priorities. He has proven that he is a man of not only few words but few accomplishments as well.

"Why won't our leadership take this diamond in the rough and polish it," continued Handelman. "All our major cities have taken their once abandoned downtowns and turned them into showcases. Why is Brownsville still inhabiting Mananaville? Brownsville talks about its potential, but it never realizes it. I quote Salvador Dali: 'Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.'"