Where I Work

June 19, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Sarah Brasky of Foster Dogs NYC on Helping Pups Find Fur-Ever Homes

There are people who are born dog lovers and then those who become them. Sarah Brasky was definitely born a dog lover. From an early age, Sarah was passionate about man's best friend; she was drawn to dogs, had tons of dog stuffed animals, and began volunteering at a local animal shelter when she was old enough. As an adult, Sarah has transformed this deep love into a means to make a difference when she founded the nonprofit Foster Dogs NYC in 2009. Foster Dogs NYC is devoted to supporting and working with rescue groups and organizations looking to place dogs in fosters homes. For many dogs, this home is the first step on the road to finding a forever home. Individuals who foster dogs are able to help them become the dog he or she was always destined to be through their love and support. Foster caretakers give these dogs a tremendous gift, one that is rewarded with lots of love and licks. We recently spoke with Sarah to learn more about the incredible work her organization does, to discuss why fostering is so important, and why it is so rewarding to both human and dog.
Read our interview with Sarah here
June 15, 2015

This Man Dove off the Flatiron Building into a Collapsible Plastic Pool for 20 Years

Picture this: You walk by the Flatiron Building, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the entire city, and see a man positioning himself to jump off. Today, you'd call 911 without hesitation, but 50 years ago it was annual spectacle. Ephemeral New York uncovered the story of Henri LaMothe, the "diving daredevil" who performed a stunt around the country where he did his "flying squirrel" dive from 40 feet above ground into a collapsible plastic pool with only four feet of water. On his birthday on April 2, 1954, he climbed to the 40-foot mark on the Flatiron Building and did his signature jump. For the next 20 years, he performed the feat annually on his birthday, decreasing the water level each year. On his 70th birthday in 1974, he dove into a pool filled with merely one foot of water, and many say when he stood up, his back was still dry thanks to his famous belly flop.
Find out more about this daredevil
June 12, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Al Diaz on NYC Street Art and Working with Jean-Michel Basquiat

Artist Al Diaz is often asked to speak at panel discussions about Jean-Michel Basquiat or to lend his expertise for new exhibits about the world-famous artist. But Diaz was just as much a part of the downtown street art movement as his buddy Basquiat; in fact, the two got involved with the art form together. They met in high school and created the tag SAMO©, which appeared throughout lower Manhattan between 1977 and 1979 and put them on the map. They were first-generation NYC subway graffiti artists, and Diaz later became a text-oriented street artist. Today, you'll see his hand in the subway again with his WET PAINT series, which uses individually-cut-out letters to create "clever, surreal and sometimes poignant anagrams." We recently chatted with Al Diaz to get the inside scoop on street art history in New York City, what it was like to work with Basquiat, and how he and his art work are much more than a shadow of his famous friend.
Read the full interview here
June 11, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Talks About His Design for 2 World Trade Center

If you were still itching for more after Tuesday's reveal of Bjarke Ingels' design for Two World Trade Center, you're in luck. The starchitect himself chatted with NY Yimby about his design process and inspirations behind the tower. He also revealed an interesting tidbit of information when asked when asked when he started the design process. "Let's say in December," he responded. Keep in mind, though, that word only broke about him replacing Norman Foster in April. Controversy aside, Ingels has a lot to say about this world-famous project, including why he thinks Foster's plan was scrapped for his.
More revealing details right this way
June 9, 2015

Are Yuccies the New Hipsters?

Yuccies = Young Urban Creatives. And according to Mashable, they're the new iteration of hipsters. The author describes his self-created and self-describing class as "a slice of Generation Y, borne of suburban comfort, indoctrinated with the transcendent power of education, and infected by the conviction that not only do we deserve to pursue our dreams; we should profit from them." Just think of your friends moving to Brooklyn these days. They probably work for a startup rather than as a furniture maker and they likely do Flywheel instead of hot yoga. It's a new type of free spiritedness, the love child of yuppie and hipster that is rooted in personal fulfillment while still maintaining a successful lifestyle (and Instagraming it along the way).
More on the yuccie trend ahead
June 5, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Michael Schneider on Telling Tales of Immigration on Ellis Island Using Technology

Modern-day storytelling ranges from the age-old tradition of oration to the modern take of 140 characters. But what happens when the story is a mix of old and new and is intended for an audience that ranges from elementary school students to centenarians? That's where ESI Design, a firm dedicated to enriching the human experience, steps in. ESI was founded in 1977 by Edwin Schlossberg. Their unique focus on melding traditional techniques with modern technology made them the perfect fit to design the recently launched Peopling of America Center at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. The center–conceived with the vision and support of the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation and its president Stephen Briganti and the National Parks Service–highlights journeys undertaken before Ellis Island opened in 1892 with "Journeys: The Peopling of America - 1550s-1890," which opened in 2011. On May 20th, another wing called "The Journey: New Eras of Immigration" opened to give visitors the chance to look at immigration that took place after Ellis Island closed in 1954. One of the visionaries at ESI is senior designer of media and technology Michael Schneider. For the Peopling of America Center, he was responsible for figuring out which of the available technologies worked best for the new exhibits and their audience. We recently spoke with Michael to learn how ESI approaches storytelling and, specifically, how the firm designed the galleries for the Peopling of America Center.
Read our interview with Michael here
June 4, 2015

Mipsterz Are on the Rise in NYC, and They’re Cooler Than Your Average Hipster

We all have one of those friends: you ask them if they consider themselves a hipster (which by all accounts they are) and you're met with a very sardonic "I hate hipsters..." While it's pretty much an unspoken rule that those who knowingly fall within hipsterdom should never acknowledge such, there is a unique group of young folks in the city wholly embracing the label as part of their identity. In fact, they've come up with their own play on the word: Mipsterz, or Muslim hipsters.
more here
June 2, 2015

INTERVIEW: noroof Architects on Tackling Tiny Apartment Design in NYC

The tiny house movement seems to be taking over the nation, but living in modest quarters has pretty much always been the norm for the average New Yorker. One architecture studio that's focused their energies on the challenges of designing the super small—versus the super tall—is Fort Greene-based noroof Architects. Led by the duo of Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver, the studio has been developing ingenious ideas that address the space challenges that come with living in a dense city—and they often involve transforming furniture. Jump ahead to learn more about how the pair approach downsized living and designing for families, where they find inspiration, and then get some ideas on how you can make your cramped apartment feel far more capacious.
Meet Margarita and Scott
May 29, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Peter Kaye Keeps the Turntables Spinning at Bleecker Street Records

In the age of streaming music, it may be surprising to learn that not only are record stores still in existence, but millennials are buying more than their fair share of albums. Perhaps it's because records are tangible and there is a movement for feeling and touching items, or maybe it's a natural progression of hipsterdom, but 20-something New Yorkers are buying the same records their parents listened to as well as current chart toppers—yes, even Taylor Swift releases vinyl. One of the happy observers of this resurgence is Peter Kaye, a manager at Bleecker Street Records in the West Village. For the last 18 years, Bleecker Street Records has been a go-to destination for those looking for records, CDs, and "extracurriculars" as Peter calls the posters, patches, pins, and playbills the store carries. While its address no longer matches its name, the musical mission at Bleecker Street Records remains the same. Peter has a very important hand in how the store runs. As both a manager and the LP guy, he's responsible for finding the records and serving as an in-store historian. He's able to put each record into context and explain why it matters, which helps lesser-known albums have their moment in the spotlight. We recently spoke with Peter to find out what it's like to manage a record store in a digital era.
read the interview with him here
May 20, 2015

Santiago Calatrava ‘Treated Like a Dog’ After WTC Transportation Hub Takes a Toll on His Reputation

Starchitect Santiago Calatrava has taken a media beating for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the long-delayed (it's nearly six years off schedule), incredibly-over-budget (final construction costs ring in around $4 billion, twice what was projected, making it the world's most expensive train station), flying bird-looking (though some critics think it looks more like a "rack of lamb") PATH station project that he designed as part of the WTC revitalization. It was recently announced that the hub would open next month, but as it comes to a close, Santiago Calatrava is stuck at a dead end, noting that the project has taken a major toll on his reputation. After living in NYC for 12 years, Calatrava has stopped being commissioned for work in the U.S. "I could not compete because people have not asked me to compete," he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview at his Park Avenue townhouse. "I have been treated like a dog."
How did Santiago Calatrava get here?
May 14, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: ‘Wildman’ Steve Brill Takes Adventurous Folks Foraging in the City’s Parks

In the concrete jungle that is New York City, there's an entire world of wild, yet edible plants and mushrooms. For many, this is likely surprising news, but it's exactly the type of information the aptly named "Wildman" Steve Brill loves to share with New Yorkers. "Wildman" Steve has been foraging New York City's parks and surrounding areas for over 30 years. He even goes so far as to refer to them as his supermarket. However, he didn't always have wild in front of his name. In fact, it was a budding interest in cooking that led him to the edible world. Over the years, his interest blossomed into a business leading foraging tours in New York and beyond, where he introduces newbies to the activity and teaches them about ecology, nature, edible and medicinal plants, and mushrooms. His tours take him through many of New York City's parks including Central Park, Prospect Park, Inwood Hill Park, and Forest Park. "Wildman" Steve has the privilege of working on a regular basis with a wide range of New York schools, universities, institutions and camps, as well as hosting birthday parties for budding naturalists. We recently caught up with "Wildman" to learn all about foraging and the natural world that exists within the city (and even got a few recipes).
Hear about life as a professional NYC forager
May 8, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Brian and Andy Marcus Carry On a Three-Generation Photography Tradition

May marks the beginning of wedding season, and for many of us that means attending multiple affairs in a short time frame. For father-and-son photography duo Andy and Brian Marcus, multiple is an understatement. Between now and November, they'll be watching many brides walk down the aisle, they'll capture that moment when grandma goes wild on the dance floor, and most importantly, they'll document those romantic glances between the newlyweds. The Marcus men are carrying on a photography legacy started by Fred Marcus, Andy's father and Brian's grandfather, who opened Fred Marcus Studio in 1941 on the Upper West Side. What began as a small photography studio has grown extensively over the years, becoming not only a sought-after company for baby, bar and bat mitzvah, engagement, and wedding photography, but also a tradition in many New York families. Andy grew up around the studio, began working there after college with his father Fred, and later took over the business. Brian, who's beginning to take over from Andy, is not only carrying on a family business, but doing so at a time when few young people can say they work at a business their grandfather started. The family-oriented nature of the business extends to the clients; it's not uncommon for the Marcus men to have photographed the grandparents' wedding, then their children's milestones, and now their grandchildren. We recently stopped by the studio and spoke to Andy and Brian about carrying on a family legacy and what it takes to capture all the excitement and intimacy of a wedding.
Hear all about life at Fred Marcus Studio here
May 1, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Behind the Reference Desk at the New York Public Library with Philip Sutton

Though we're living in the digital age where we can do a tremendous amount of research online, sometimes we still need the library, and more importantly, the help of an actual person. If you happen to be researching your family or interested in learning the history of a particular building in New York, then perhaps you've stopped by the reference desk at the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy of the New York Public Library and asked librarian Philip Sutton for help. Philip has worked in the Milstein Division for almost five years as a reference librarian. On a daily basis, he takes the journey with New Yorkers looking to learn more about their city and more often than not, to answer deeply personal questions about their families. It's a unique position to be in, and one that he takes very seriously. Originally from London, Philip has a particular expertise in helping people conduct research on building history in New York. He writes blog posts on the topic for the library and teaches a bi-monthly course aptly titled, “Who Lives in a House Like This? How to Research the History of Your New York City Home,” during which he instructs New Yorkers how to get started with their research. We recently spoke to Philip about his role at the library, and, as expected, he was full of helpful resources.
Read our full interview here
April 24, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Guy Zoda – a.k.a. King Henry – Entertains Brooklyn Cyclones Fans

Baseball season is back in full swing, and though much of the sports chatter has been about the Mets' strong start and A-Rod's return after a season-long suspension, we have our attention focused on the city's two minor league teams–the Mets- affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones and the Yankees-affiliated Staten Island Yankees. Come June 19th, these two teams will be starting their seasons with a game against each other. With the big game under two months away, Guy Zoda is getting ready to reprise his role in community outreach and promotions for the Brooklyn Cyclones, or, more specifically, as fan favorite King Henry. As an entertainer and performer, Guy came up with the character King Henry years ago. He produced and starred in a community access show called “The King Henry Show,” which aired in 30 cities from New York to Hawaii and won a home video award in 2008. On a whim in the early 2000s, he donned his King Henry costume and made his royal presence known at a Cyclones game. What started out as fun for fans later turned into professional entertaining at home games and a community position with the team. We recently spoke with Guy about Brooklyn, his love for entertaining, and what makes minor league baseball special.
See what King Henry has to say
April 17, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Getting the Scoop with Jennie Dundas of Brooklyn’s Blue Marble Ice Cream

Spring may have taken its time this year, but the sun is shining, the trees are finally starting to bloom, and this means one thing–it's officially ice cream season. If you're looking for the perfect local scoop, which also happens to be consciously sourced and organic, then you might just stop by Blue Marble Ice Cream's Cobble Hill or Prospect Heights shops or pick up one of their pints on your next grocery store trip. Blue Marble Ice Cream was co-founded in 2007 by former roommates turned entrepreneurs Jennie Dundas and Alexis Gallivan. For Jennie and Alexis, who originally connected on Craiglist, a love of ice cream inspired them to open a scoop shop. And while neither had a business background, they were determined and opened up in Brooklyn. Fast forward several years, and Blue Marble is ready to expand nationwide after being picked up by a number of major supermarket chains. On a local scale, they're part of a wave of businesses helping to transform Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, something of which the company is extremely proud. We recently spoke with Jennie to get the scoop on Blue Marble's founding, its headquarters in Industry City, and of course, to find out why ice cream is everyone's favorite warm-weather (or year-round!) treat.
Read our interview with Jennie here
April 10, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Caroline Weaver Is Making Pencils Cool Again with Her New LES Pencil Shop

In an era where typing trumps writing by hand, it might come as surprise to learn of a one-month-old store on the Lower East Side devoted to all things pencil. Then again, perhaps the digital age has primed all of us for a return to the simplest writing implement of them all, which is exactly what owner Caroline Weaver hopes will happen with her store, CW Pencil Enterprise. Caroline opened the store mere weeks ago in March, following the launch of an online boutique back in October 2014. While the move from screen to storefront may seem fast, Caroline's decision was in response to stellar online sales. Her store provides a tactile shopping experience, but more than that, she wants to share her passion for pencils with New Yorkers. Customers will be delighted by Caroline's knowledge of pencil history as well as her understanding and appreciation that pencils are at the beginning of many great achievements. We recently stopped by the store to ask Caroline some sharp questions, and just like the pencils she carries, her answers were on point.
Read our interview with Caroline here
April 8, 2015

My 500sqft: Artist Hector Castaneda Invites Us into His Spanish Harlem One-Bedroom ‘Museum’

Located in an unassuming low-rise walk-up in Spanish Harlem is a tiny apartment with no views, a small living room, and thousands of pieces of one-of-a-kind art from around the world. Its owner, Hector Castaneda, is a world traveller who's visited more than 50 countries over the last 15 years. While most folks are happy simply snapping a few photos and heading home after a week or two, Hector is all about immersion and spends months at a time in some of the world's most exotic and extreme locales. As Hector travels the world he picks up art, tapestry, sculptures, furniture, and musical instruments from every country, which today magically fill every nook and cranny of his 500-square-foot apartment. "He is the only person I know who can turn a dingy walk-up building apartment into a work of art—it's really a private New York Museum and Hector is the curator," his friend Lisa Monroig told us. Once we heard that, we knew we had to pay him a visit.
Tour this miniature museum in the heart of Spanish Harlem here
April 3, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Meet the Human Behind The Dogist, Elias Weiss Friedman

Elias Weiss Friedman has devoted himself to photographing everyday New Yorkers. His subjects are diverse, come in all shapes and sizes, and they also happen to be dogs. In a city that is estimated to have 600,000 dogs, it's only fitting that Elias developed The Dogist, a photo-documentary series capturing New York's four-legged friends. His work highlights the canines that bring so much character to the city, yet rarely get the recognition they deserve. As a photographer, blogger, and "dog humanitarian," Elias is committed to introducing the Big Apple's dogs to the world. We recently caught up with Elias to find out how The Dogist came to be, and to find out what it takes for a pup to grab his attention.
Our interview with The Dogist here
March 27, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Gil Shapiro of Urban Archaeology Re-Imagines Beautiful Old Things

Native New Yorker Gil Shapiro founded Urban Archaeology in the early 1970s, when the salvaging movement was just catching on. With a collector’s–and creator's–eye and an entrepreneurial spirit, he began re-imagining architectural remnants as treasured additions to the home environment. This month the company has been preparing for an auction taking place on March 27th and 28th, handled by Guernsey’s auction house, when nearly 1,000 of their long-treasured pieces of history will be sold to prepare for a move to a new location. First opened in Soho in 1978, the store's early customers–including Andy Warhol and other denizens of what was undisputedly the epicenter of the art world–adored the unique and time-treasured aspects of Shapiro's restored architectural salvage pieces, yet they would always find ways they wished they could customize their favorite items. Finding that he excelled at bringing a fresh perspective to pieces of historical and architectural importance, he started reproducing individual pieces as well as creating new lines of bath fixtures and lighting, many of which originated in places like the Plaza Hotel, New York’s Yale Club and the St. Regis Hotel.
Read our interview with Gil here
March 23, 2015

INTERVIEW: Melinda Hunt Memorializes the Unclaimed New Yorkers Buried on Hart Island

Since 1980, inmates at Rikers Island have buried 62,000 unclaimed and unidentified New Yorkers in mass graves on Hart Island, a small, mile-long piece of land to the east of the Bronx that is the largest tax-funded cemetery in the world, holding over one million bodies. Before its current use, the island served many uses, including a prison, psychiatric institution, tuberculosis sanatorium, and a boys' reformatory. The Department of Corrections gained control of the land in 1968, and it has been closed to the public ever since. That's all changing, though, thanks to artist Melinda Hunt, who created the Hart Island Project, an interactive online memorial that provides access to information about the burials on Hart Island and tools for storytelling so that no one is omitted from history. The site's Traveling Cloud Museum lets users look up information on their loved ones and share their personal memories. Last year, Melinda led the introduction of legislation that would give control of the cemetery to the Department of Parks and Recreation so that New Yorkers can freely visit the island and its graves. And coming up this Labor Day weekend, Emmylou Harris will sing at the gated entrance to the dock, calling attention to the Hart Island Project's efforts. We chatted with Melinda about her passion for Hart Island, how the Project has evolved, and what we can expect in the near future.
Read our interview with Melinda Hunt here
March 20, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: The Couch Doctor Is In–How Sal Giangrande Deals with Furniture That Won’t Fit

Every New Yorker has been there: After searching for and securing the perfect apartment, moving day comes and you just can't get your favorite piece of furniture into the elevator or up the stairs. With movers on the clock, and stress setting in, you begin to consider ditching your couch altogether. But instead, you take a deep breath, grab your phone, and let Sal Giangrande come to the rescue. Like knights in shining armor on moving day, Sal and his team over at New York Couch Doctor are experts at disassembling and reassembling everything from couches to pool tables to box springs. They liken their precision to that of surgeons, cutting into and stitching back together dressers and entertainment centers seam unseen (for the most part). And, like surgeons, they're on call 24 hours a day. We recently chatted with Sal to learn more about his days being New York's go-to furniture doctor.
We chat with sal
March 17, 2015

Interview: McSorley’s Historian Bill Wander Fills Us In on the Secrets of NYC’s Oldest Bar

Undoubtedly, there are hundreds of New Yorkers and out-of-towners planning to stop by McSorley's Old Ale House today for a St. Patrick's Day round of beers. But beyond the brews and bros, there's a deep history rooted in this East Village institution, and we've found the man who knows it all. The official historian of McSorley's, Bill Wander can give you the full timeline that dates McSorley's to 1854, making it the oldest bar in the city. He can also fill you in on all the tchotchkes adorning the walls of this Irish tavern, none of which have been removed since 1910. But more important than the textbook facts related to McSorley's, Bill has an undeniable passion for this watering hole, for both its important cultural history and the unique social atmosphere that keeps the bar a neighborhood mainstay after all these years. We recently chatted with Bill to find out some of the lesser-known details about McSorley's and what the title of "official historian" entails.
Read our full interview with Bill Wander here
March 13, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: David Brooks, Illuminating the City One Bulb at a Time

A block from Bloomingdales, on 60th right off of Third, is a store that every New Yorker should know about. The store sells 36,000 kinds of one thing, and its name gives it away: Just Bulbs. Just Bulbs has been taking care of New York’s light bulb needs in one variation or another since 1945. It's currently owned and run by David Brooks, who began working at the family business back in 1982. Since he hit the register at Just Bulbs over thirty years ago, he has learned as much about bulbs as people. And when it comes to people, they are often buying the wrong bulbs. Wanting an insider's look into the world of bulbs, I recently visited Just Bulbs to speak with David. In between questions, he was ringing up customers and answering questions over the phone. For David, today was just another day helping New York keep the lights on.
Read our interview with David here
March 6, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Carter Emmart Brings Us Aboard His ‘Starship’ at the Museum of Natural History

Here in New York, we think of space is terms of square feet and how little of it we have. But for Carter Emmart, space has an entirely different meaning. In his case, it refers to a space that is harder to quantify and infinitely large. Carter is the Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History, where he focuses on creating a means to visualize the universe based on what we currently know about it. He is responsible for giving us access to stars, planets, and galaxies through the museum's space shows in the beautiful Hayden Planetarium–like the currently running Dark Universe, overseeing the development of an interactive 3D atlas known as the Digital Universe, and running educational programs including the Digital Flight School. We recently spoke with Carter to learn more about his role digitizing the universe and why the American Museum of Natural History can be thought of as a virtual space ship.
Get beamed up with Carter here
February 27, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Paleontologist Mark Norell Spends His Days with Dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History

While the closest to dinosaurs most of us come is plastic toys and the occasional viewing of Jurassic Park, Mark Norell gets up close and personal with these prehistoric creatures on a daily basis, and it's fair to say he has one of the most interesting jobs in New York. As the division chair and curator-in-charge of the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Paleontology and professor at Richard Gilder Graduate School, Mark's work is very exciting. He studies not just dinosaurs, but a wide range of fossils from various time periods, and conducts research that benefits our understanding of both the prehistoric and modern world. And an extra perk of the job is surely his office–he occupies the entire top floor of the museum's historic turret on the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West (we don't recall Ross Geller getting an office like that!). We recently spoke with Mark to learn more about paleontology and what it's like to work at the museum.
Read the full interview here