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New in the Adirondacks

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2026| 3 Comments »

Art: Michael Francis Reagan.
Adirondack Park covers one-fifth of New York State — larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, and many other national parks combined. It differs from those national parks, says the Nature Conservancy, in that it combines existing towns, businesses, recreation, and wilderness.  

When I was very young, I used to visit a great aunt who had a “camp” in New York State’s beautiful Adirondacks. It’s all coming back to me as I read Ginger Strand’s article in the Nature Conservancy magazine.

She begins by describing a meeting she had with scientists at Follensby Pond.

“This place served as timberland for over a hundred years and was privately owned by different families, but it still has a primeval feel … a unique, interlinked landscape of forest, streams, wetlands and rare silver maple floodplains. In 2008, The Nature Conservancy bought this vast parcel of land from the estate of the former owner. In addition to Follensby Pond, the 14,600-acre property includes 10 miles along the Raquette River, a prime paddling waterway that makes up part of the longest inland water trail in the United States. …

“It was widely expected that TNC would sell the land to the state of New York. Instead, to the surprise of everyone, including itself, TNC concluded that the property needed a special level of management and protection, and kept it. In 2024 the Nature Conservancy sold two conservation easements to the state. The easements opened part of the parcel to recreational access and designated the rest of it as a freshwater research preserve with managed public access. …

“The 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, covering one-fifth of New York state, is the largest park in the lower 48 states. But it differs from national parks, like Yellowstone or Yosemite, and state parks, which are typically set aside for recreation or wildlife. Managed by two state agencies, the park has no gates or entry fees, and it’s peppered with small towns, farms, timberlands, businesses, and hunting camps, all nestled among forests, mountains, rivers, and lakes. All told it is one of the largest tracts of protected wilderness east of the Mississippi, and if it had a heart, it would be right about at Follensby Pond.

“Follensby Pond is not really a pond, but rather a 102-foot-deep lake slightly larger than Central Park. For the local Haudenosaunee and Abenaki, it was a hunting area, accessed via canoe routes that traversed the Raquette River, the historic ‘highway of the Adirondacks.’ … Tourists sought it out until the 1890s, when a timber company bought the land. In private hands, it became a family retreat as well as timberland. …

“In 2008, the Nature Conservancy closed on the Follensby property. Just about everyone expected the organization to sell it to New York state to become part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. But with the economy entering a recession, the state had no funds to buy another big parcel. Under no time pressure to transfer the land, TNC began studying it. …

“To start, TNC hosted a ‘bioblitz,’ bringing 50 scientists — geologists, soil scientists, ecologists, fish experts — onto the land to survey its flora and fauna. What the science showed was that this property wasn’t just historically vaunted; it was ecologically significant. The lake in particular held a ‘functioning ecosystem that is almost as intact as they come,’ says Michelle Brown [Michelle Brown, a senior conservation scientist for TNC in New York]. …

“This lake harbors a population of freshwater lake trout. And not just any lake trout — ‘old-growth’ lake trout, according to past research led by McGill University. Because of the minimal fishing at Follensby, the trout have been able to grow older than similar trout might in other lakes. …

“The trout’s length here can reach 2 to 3 feet; the record one here weighed 31 pounds. That’s a prized quarry for someone who has been obsessed with fishing since he was four. Yet [Dirk Bryant, who directs land conservation for TNC in New York] loves the idea of keeping the pond and these fish protected.

” ‘The hardest thing for me as an angler was to learn to think differently. … But we’re thinking about our fisheries in climate change. The lake trout is our timber wolf, our apex predator.’ Now, he says, many of the lakes that used to have the trout don’t have them anymore.

“In fact, a 2024 study found that soon only 5% of the lakes in the Adirondacks will be capable of supporting native populations of trout. … Follensby Pond is one of a rare few cool enough and healthy enough to support lake trout. …

“ ‘If you have some intact waters that can support native populations, those are the places that will support adaptation to climate change, as well as providing brood stock for restocking other waters,’ Bryant says. ‘You don’t hunt wolves in Yellowstone.’ …

“Still, when the ‘brain trust’ floated the idea of protecting the pond as a freshwater preserve, it was a surprise to many. … Paddling guidebooks in particular had been anticipating that the Follensby parcel would soon be accessible. The Adirondacks team looked for ways to balance protecting the lake with not turning the area into a conservation fortress.

“ ‘There were all these different needs: public access, Indigenous access, hunting clubs with leases, the fishery, the town,’ [Peg Olsen, TNC’s Adirondacks director] says. ‘We wanted to honor and respect all the stakeholders.’

“They landed on a compromise. The conservation easements sold to New York state create two distinct areas on the Follensby property. On nearly 6,000 acres along 10 miles of the Raquette River, one easement creates new public access for hiking, paddling, camping, hunting and fishing. The other easement protects a nearly 9,000-acre section around Follensby Pond as a freshwater research preserve, guided by a public-private consortium, to collaborate on research and preserve the lake’s unique ecosystem. While making Follensby a living laboratory, it also provides for Indigenous access and managed public access aimed at education.

“Like the wider Adirondack Park, with its combination of private lands, active towns and protected wilderness areas, it, too, will be an ongoing experiment in balancing environmental preservation with human communities.”

Read more at the Nature Conservancy magazine, here.

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Toast of the Town Dancers, Age 60+

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Stefano Giovannini.
Phyllis Bogart discovered the Pacemakers, a dance group for older people, after her beautician recommended them.

They say, “You’re never too old,” but I know from experience that zumba requires a better sense of balance than I have now. Still, there are plenty of people who can not only dance after a certain age but learn new routines.

McKenzie Beard writes at the New York Post, “On the dance floor, Phyllis Bogart moves like she’s made of electricity, not metal. At 78, her pink-and-purple-streaked curls bounce as she shimmies and shakes with the energy of someone half her age, each twirl punctuated by a wide, wild grin. It’s clear that four hip replacements, a mechanical knee and a string of other surgeries haven’t slowed her down — though they did earn her a nickname.

“ ‘With all the titanium in my body, I’ve become known as the bionic babe,’ Bogart told the Post.

“The retired nurse and pharmaceutical rep is a member of the Pacemakers — a precision dance troupe that’s redefining what it means to be a senior, helping people in their 60s, 70s and even 80s stay active both mentally and physically. …

Founded in 2019, the NYC-based Pacemakers sprang to life after founder Susan Avery faced ageist backlash as the oldest dancer for the Brooklyn Cyclones from strangers online. …

“ ‘That is how I learned what it was like to be cyberbullied,’ said Avery, 65, recalling the 2017 incident. … But instead of letting it defeat her, Avery says her daughter urged her to channel the hurt into action.

“So Avery placed an ad in Playbill inviting seniors to audition for a new senior dance team. Sixteen performers answered the call.

“ ‘Our first performance was July 6, 2019,’ she said. ‘I was so nervous, but we ended up getting a standing ovation — and our dance card has been full ever since.’

“Now seven seasons in, the Pacemakers boast 47 members and have won fans around the globe with viral performances that have racked up millions of views online. The team performs for hundreds of thousands of fans each year, appearing frequently at sporting events, community centers, festivals and conferences across the Northeast. …

“While you have to be 60 to join, the group hosts workshops and ‘day discos’ open to all ages.

“Notably, only two members have professional dance training; the rest come from healthcare, education, law enforcement, journalism and a variety of other fields. … But there’s one thing they all share: a fearless approach to aging. … During performances, each member wears their birth year on the back of their jersey, loud and proud. …

“As the Pacemakers embrace their senior status, members say the group helps them stay well as they get older.

“ ‘I never thought at this age that I would be involved in something so exciting, so energizing, so fun and so challenging to my body and my brain,’ Bogart said. …

“Studies show that learning choreography is excellent for the brain, engaging memory, focus, coordination, timing, rhythm and movement simultaneously. Research suggests it helps slow cognitive decline and may even reduce the risk of developing dementia.

“The Pacemakers are also getting a full-body workout. Their complex routines require strength, flexibility and balance, helping members stay physically fit. … The group also creates a community, preventing social isolation and loneliness common among older Americans. …

“The group’s choreographer, Marissa Montanez, designs each routine with the dancers’ mobility and physical limits in mind.

“ ‘I want them to look good. I want them to shine. I don’t want to give them something so hard that they can’t handle it,’ said Montanez. … ‘But at the same time, I don’t want to give them a routine that makes people say, “Oh, old people, how cute …” I want people to be like, “Oh damn, they’re really good; I can’t even do that!” ‘ “

More at the Post, here.

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Many Countries Claim Santa’s Headquarters

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 26, 2025| 3 Comments »

Photo: The Guardian.
The Santa Claus Express sleeper ready to leave Helsinki station on its journey north to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland.

When Suzanne and John were small, we somehow acquired a large poster of Finnish Lapland that purported to show the way to Santa’s headquarters. I had always assumed Santa lived at the North Pole, but I was beginning to learn about marketers with other ideas.

Natasha Geiling and Kayla Randall have the story at the Smithsonian magazine, starting with Alaska’s claim: “It wasn’t the actual North Pole. But the fact that it was over 1,700 miles from it, smack in the heart of interior Alaska, was a minor detail.

“When Bon and Bernice Davis came to Fairbanks in early April 1944, they weren’t looking for the North Pole. As they drove their rental car out of town, they had something else on their mind: finding 160 acres on which to make their homestead, something Alaska law allowed if they used the area for trading or manufacturing purposes. … In the summer, nearby streams might attract grayling fish and waterfowl, but in the snow-covered month of April, it was hard to see that potential. The area did boast one unique quality: consistently cooler temperatures, about seven to ten degrees colder than anywhere else in interior Alaska. …

“With its proximity to both the highway and Fairbanks, the Davis’ homestead soon attracted neighbors. … By the early 1950s, the homestead had also attracted the attention of the Dahl and Gaske Development Company, which purchased the land — nearly in its entirety — in February 1952. … If they could change the homestead’s name from ‘Davis’ to ‘North Pole,’ they reasoned, toy manufacturers would flock from far and wide. …

“Things didn’t go according to plan — even with its location right on Richardson Highway, the Alaskan North Pole was too remote to sustain manufacturing and shipping. However, part of Dahl and Gaske’s vision eventually did take shape at a local trading post, which became one of several places that claimed to be Santa Claus’ home during the 20th century. Now a tourist destination, the town of North Pole in Alaska calls itself the place ‘where the spirit of Christmas lives year round’ and boasts the Santa Claus House, a holiday-themed family business.

“The real Santa Claus — the historical figure upon which the legend is based — never lived anywhere near the North Pole. Saint Nicholas of Myra was a fourth-century bishop who lived and died far from the Arctic Circle, in what is now Turkey. Born into a wealthy family, Nicholas is said to have loved giving gifts. …

“Santa’s red robes and gift-giving habits were based on Saint Nicholas, but his chilly home base is the invention of cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose famous depiction of Santa Claus in a December 1866 issue of Harper’s Weekly set the precedent for our modern image of the jolly fellow. Before Nast, Santa had no specific home, though by the 1820s, he was already associated with reindeer and, by extension, the frigid climes in which those reindeer live.

“In 1866, Nast’s cartoon ‘Santa Claus and His Works‘ featured the words ‘Santaclaussville, N.P.’ alongside Santa performing the tasks people now associate him with, from making toys to making his list (and checking it twice, of course). The ‘N.P.’ stood for North Pole, where Nast had placed his workshop and residence. …

“In 1949, [Santa’s home] took physical form for the first time, 13 miles from Lake Placid, New York. While trying to keep his daughter occupied during a long drive, Julian Reiss, a New York businessman, reportedly told her a story about a baby bear who went on a great adventure to find Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. Reiss’ daughter demanded he make good on his story and take her to the workshop. …

“He teamed up with the artist Arto Monaco — who also helped design Disneyland in California — to create a physical version of Santa’s workshop on 25 wooded acres around Lake Placid. Santa’s Workshop in North Pole, New York, with its novel depiction of Santa’s magical workplace, brought visitors by the thousands. …

“Other businesspeople found success drawing tourists with the Santa Claus legend without borrowing the Arctic landmark. America’s first theme park, now Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, actually operated as ‘Santa Claus Land‘ until 1984. …

“[Paul Brown — who today runs Alaska’s Santa Claus House along with his wife, Carissa] acknowledged that other places that claim equal ownership to Santa’s legend. ‘From a competitive standpoint, if you want to call it that, Rovaniemi, Finland, would be our biggest competition.’

“Rovaniemi — the administrative and commercial capital of Lapland, Finland’s northernmost province — wasn’t much of a tourist destination before Santa Claus came to town. Lapland had served as a sort of nebulous home base for Santa Claus in the European tradition ever since 1927, when a Finnish radio host proclaimed to know the secret of Santa’s hometown. He said it was in Korvatunturi, a mountainous region in Laplan. … Like the North Pole of Nast’s creation, however, Korvatunturi was real in theory but not necessarily to be visited.

“Santa’s home later moved over 225 miles south to Rovaniemi, thanks to an American visitor. During World War II [Rovaniemi burned] to the ground, leaving Lapland’s capital city in ruins. From those ashes, Rovaniemi rebuilt itself according to design plans that dictated its streets spread like reindeer antlers through the city. In 1950, on a tour of postwar reconstruction, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt paid Rovaniemi a visit, allegedly saying she wanted to see Santa Claus while in the Arctic Circle. The town hastily constructed a cabin, and Santa’s Village in Rovaniemi was born. But tourism to Rovaniemi really took off in 1984. …

“From North Pole, Alaska, and North Pole, New York, to Rovaniemi, Finland, the mythology of where Santa Claus lives creates an economy. [But] Brown, for his part, sees himself as safeguarding the legend of Santa Claus. ‘We are very protective of the magic of Christmas and allowing kids to have that for as long as they can have it,’ Brown said. ‘Just like Santa is the embodiment of joy and goodwill, we think of ourselves as one of the embodiments of the spirit of Santa.’ ”

More at the Smithsonian, here. Check out a trip on Lapland’s Santa Express at the Guardian, here.

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Restoring Pay Phones for the Public

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on September 29, 2025| 4 Comments »

Art: Richard Estes.
From the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, a glimpse of the old days.

Some of us appreciate the old-style telephone booth, its relative privacy, and the way you could still make a call if your mobile was out of juice.

Julian Ring reports at National Public Radio (NPR) that for folks in Vermont, where mountain vistas are jealously protected and limited cell towers don’t always reach, pay phones can be important with or without booths. A local electrical engineer wanted to do something about that.

“Patrick Schlott often finds himself in a cellular dead zone during his drive to work,” writes Ring.

” ‘You go down the road, you turn the corner and you’re behind a mountain and you’ll lose cell coverage pretty fast,’ he says.

“The 31-year-old electrical engineer says poor reception is a common frustration for residents of Vermont’s Orange County. To address this issue, he’s providing his community with a new way to stay connected.

“Schlott has taken old pay phones, modified them to make free calls, and set them up in three different towns across the county. … With just an internet connection, these phones can make calls anywhere in the U.S. or Canada — no coins required. And Schlott covers all the operating costs himself.

” ‘It’s cheap enough where I’m happy just footing the bill,’ he says. ‘You know, if I’m spending $20 a month on, say, Netflix, I could do that and provide phone service for the community. And to me, that’s way more fun.’

“Since Schlott installed the first phone in March last year outside a general store in the town of Tunbridge, Vt., hundreds of calls have been made.

” ‘I knew there would be some fringe cases where it would be really helpful,’ he says. ‘But I never expected it to get daily use and for people to be this excited about it.’

“He says the phones have come in handy for drivers whose cars have broken down nearby. And at a public library in Thetford Center — the most used installation by far — kids have been able to call their parents for rides home or simply to check in.

“In June, Vermont voted to ban cellphones in schools beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year. Schlott says public telephones will soon be more essential for students in the area. …

“Schlott has received some donations to help sustain his project. But he says his one-man funding model may need to adapt if the initiative continues to grow.

” ‘One of the cornerstones that I want to stick to is, no matter what happens on the backend, the calls will always be free,’ he says. ‘And I will figure out a way to make that happen.’ “

Meanwhile in New York City, reporter Rachel Treisman says that “New York City pay phones are officially a thing of history. The last public pay phone was removed from the streets of midtown Manhattan [in May], and is heading straight to an exhibit in a local museum.

“It’s the final chapter in a saga that’s been unfolding since 2015, when the city started uprooting phone booths and replacing them with LinkNYC kiosks, which offer free public Wi-Fi, charging ports, 911 buttons and screens with maps and other services (they also generate revenue for the city).”

There may be no workable pay phones in New York now, but I know that film and ad companies will always have need for a phone booth that looks like it works. There is one on the corner of my late sister’s apartment building that is frequently in demand. I believe it was used in Matrix.

The two pay phone stories are at NPR, here, and here. See also the research by “Mark Thomas, who has spent decades tracking the ‘world of public telephony’ through his website, The Payphone Project.”

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Using Ballet to Help Veterans

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Dina Litovsky.
Román Baca leads rehearsal on the deck of the Intrepid, the aircraft carrier turned museum on the Hudson River.

The wars that have been fought in my lifetime sometimes seem to have been necessary and inevitable. Most often, not. As the young people head off, I always think about how their lives will have been warped if they get back. It seems so wrong. And right now the services we’ve promised them are being slashed.

Fortunately, there are efforts at healing that forge ahead. One such program involves ballet.

Brian Seibert writes at the New York Times, “When Román Baca was serving as a Marine in Iraq in 2005, he didn’t tell many people what kind of work he had done before the war. He had tried that in boot camp, and it hadn’t gone well. So when his best friend in the platoon asked him why he seemed so interested in local dance practices, he hesitated before admitting the truth: He was a ballet dancer.

“Baca’s friend wasn’t bothered by the revelation. So Baca told him his crazy idea: to translate their wartime experiences into dance.

“Eventually, that crazy idea became Baca’s life. With his wife, Lisa Fitzgerald, he founded Exit12 Dance Company, which makes and performs works about military experience. What started as a way for Baca to deal with his trauma has expanded into a mission to help other veterans deal with theirs — through dance.

“In recent weeks, a group of veterans and family members of veterans, ranging in age and physical ability, has been gathering in the belly of the U.S.S. Intrepid, an aircraft carrier turned museum on the Hudson River. Using various improvisational exercises, they have been creating a dance work [to] perform on May 30 on the ship (on the flight deck, weather permitting). More important than that performance, though, is the process.

“Baca sees the workshops as a corrective for military training. ‘To make a person respond immediately to orders and commit acts of violence, military training changes your identity,’ he said. ‘It removes everything that defines a person’ — your clothing, your haircut — ‘and then it changes you through physical exercises, repetitive motion and powerful brain-body connections.’

“Baca, who has been leading these workshops since 2011, recalled a moment from one: Everett Cox, a Vietnam War veteran who had kept away from everything military for decades, responded to a prompt of action verbs by expertly stabbing and slashing with an invisible bayonet. His long-unused training was intact in muscle memory.

“Another time, Baca was choreographing a military exercise sequence and directed his dancers to yell ‘kill’ with every motion. When Fitzgerald questioned if that creative decision might have been a bit much, Baca explained that he was only being accurate: Coupling all actions with the word ‘kill’ was part of boot camp.

” ‘That’s absolutely needed when you are in uniform,’ he said. ‘But what do you do with that after you get home?’

“The workshops use physical exercises to help restore what Baca, borrowing a term from the philosopher Paul Ricoeur, called narrative identity. ‘You start to tell people who you are and parts of your story and then you listen to others do the same,’ he said.

“ ‘A lot of trauma survivors will say that you never fully heal,’ he added. But as evidence of how the process can work, he pointed to the experience of Cox, who returned from service in Vietnam feeling so guilty and ashamed that he did not consider himself a veteran. ‘I lost my mind in Vietnam’ is how Cox put it to me.

“For nearly 40 years, Cox, who took drugs and attempted suicide, tried to lock away what had happened. He was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic; one psychiatrist told him he was incurably insane. Then, in 2010, he attended a retreat for veterans at the Omega Institute, a holistic wellness center in the Hudson Valley. ‘It changed my life,’ he said. For the first time, he began to talk about his wartime experiences, and to write about them, and to cry. …

“ ‘If you’re holding a war in, it takes a lot of energy,’ he said. ‘And if you want to loosen that up, it also takes a lot of energy.’ ”

I so admire Baca, who against what seems to me like very long odds, keeps working hard to bring these damaged veterans back to life.

More at the Times, here.

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High-End Architect Goes Affordable

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 22, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: Hufton+ Crow.
This affordable housing in New York was designed by the firm of famed architect Daniel Libeskind.

If you’ve spent your career catering to the wealthy, where do you go for other worlds to conquer? One architect turned to the poor.

The story is from Justin Davidson at Markets Today via MSN.

“Walk down an ordinary blah-colored stretch of Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Bedford-Stuyvesant, past the dispiriting bulk of Woodhull Hospital and the brown-brick boxes of the Sumner Houses project, and you come upon an incongruous apparition, a great white sugar cube that’s been carved, beveled, and knocked askew. Stranger still, this work of obviously ambitious architecture was executed on a spare budget for residents with meager incomes. Even more startling, the Atrium, an affordable-housing development for seniors and veterans of the shelter system, was designed by the firm of Daniel Libeskind, he … of the kind of jagged form that would defy attempts to gift-wrap it.

“With the Jewish Museum in Berlin, opened in 2001, Libeskind established himself as a pioneer of deconstructivism, a style based on the illusion that buildings were lifting off, bursting, imploding, or peeling apart. After the 9/11 attacks, when he was appointed master planner of the World Trade Center rebuilding project, he became famous as the embodiment of advanced architecture, headlining a period when a dozen or so celebrities scattered the world with signature structures. You might not know where a building was or what it was for or how it stood up, but you could quickly identify who designed it. His global brand would seem like an odd choice for the most basic tier of New York’s urban shelter. …

“Spend some time in and around the Atrium, though, and you begin to see that the pairing of high-design auteur and low-income residents meets an assortment of needs and isn’t just noblesse oblige. Erected by a cluster of nonprofits — Selfhelp Community Services, Riseboro Community Partnership, and the nonprofit developer Urban Builders Collaborative — on a patch of NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] land, the Atrium leavens the neighborhood with 190 new apartments, a spacious community room, fresh landscaping, and a jolt of jauntiness.

“Like many public-housing projects, the original Sumner Houses, built in the late 1950s, withdraw from the street, lurking behind a perimeter of pointless lawn. The Atrium does the opposite, hugging the sidewalk, peppy and reassuring. This is an active, even restless building that greets passersby with a smooth dance move. … The whole structure makes a quarter-twist from ground to roof, and you can trace its sinews stretching diagonally across the grid of ribbon windows.

“Inside, comfortable apartments encircle the raised, skylit courtyard that gives the building its name. That arrangement is a resonant one for Libeskind, who grew up in the Amalgamated Houses in the Bronx, a complex developed in the 1920s by the garment workers union. …

” ‘It stood out,’ Libeskind told me. ‘It was populated by working-class people, but it had a sense of elegance.’ The courtyard was essential, a way for mostly Jewish immigrants to replace the tenement’s narrow, stinking air shaft with a form of genuinely gracious living. …

“Still, there’s a difference between an outdoor courtyard and an indoor atrium. Carelessly handled, the nine-story doughnut form could easily have evoked stifling precedents. … To avoid any hint of that oppressiveness, Libeskind laced the floor with diagonal walkways between raised planters and sculpted the inner façade almost like a climbing gym, with protrusions, ledges and trapezoidal windows placed in an apparently random arrangement. The goal was to make the court a destination rather than a vestibule. Since it’s one floor up from the lobby, going there requires an affirmative decision. …

“The success of a low-income housing complex depends on its social warmth. Selfhelp maintains a small team of social workers on-site, mostly to help residents navigate the welfare bureaucracy but also just to be there if they want to chat. …

“The residents I spoke to enjoy the Atrium, not because of its architectural pedigree but because it is clean and safe and orderly and bright, a rare haven for New Yorkers whose lives have often been turbulent. Still, loneliness is a tough enemy. …

“Designing a building and running it are different arts, but doing each one well fortifies the other. With the Atrium, Libeskind has given vulnerable people a place they can gradually make their own. He has also demonstrated that the daunting list of rules, requirements, prohibitions, and economic strictures that govern affordable housing in New York don’t have to choke off inventive architecture. …

“Ahmed Tigani, a deputy commissioner at the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, insists that the Atrium shouldn’t be a one-off showcase of precious design. Recruiting architects like Libeskind makes it clear that low-income housing is an integral part of the cityscape. City housing staffers should wrestle with loftier questions than those described by the number of units built, Tigani says. ‘What is the physical impact of our investment, but also the social and spiritual impact? What does a building visually contribute? Does it feel like a part of your neighborhood? Does it feel like a statement of belief in what that housing can be?’ ”

More at MSN, here.

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Thriving at 102

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on February 18, 2025| 8 Comments »

Photo: Jackie Molloy for KFF Health News.
Hilda Jaffe, 102, in her apartment in New York. Jaffe enjoys doing puzzles, reading, volunteering, and attending cultural events.

I have always thought that a city like New York, with many kinds of public transportation and easy walking to whatever you need, is the best kind of place to grow old. The problem for most of us is that we may still need a car to do the simplest things long after we can’t drive.

Here’s a story about a thriving 102-year-old doing her errands without assistance in New York. I’m convinced that part of her good fortune is not having to drive.

Judith Graham writes at the Washington Post, ” ‘The future is here,’ the email announced. Hilda Jaffe, then 88, was letting her children know that she planned to sell the family home in Verona, New Jersey. She’d decided to begin life anew on her own in a one-bedroom apartment in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.

“Fourteen years later, Jaffe, now 102, still lives alone — just a few blocks from the frenetic lights and crowds that course through Times Square.

“She’s the rarest of seniors: a centenarian who is as sharp as a tack, who carries grocery bags in each hand when she walks back from her local market, and who takes city buses to see her physicians or attend a matinee at the Metropolitan Opera.

“Jaffe is an extraordinary example of an older adult living by herself and thriving. She cleans her own house, does her own laundry, manages her own finances, and stays in touch with a far-flung network of family and friends via email, WhatsApp and Zoom. Her 78-year-old son lives in San Jose. Her 75-year-old daughter lives in Tel Aviv.

“I’ve spoken with dozens of seniors this past year for a series of columns on older Americans living alone. Many struggle with health issues. Many are isolated and vulnerable. But a noteworthy slice of this growing group of seniors maintains a high degree of well-being. …

“Sofiya Milman is the director of human longevity studies at the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She studies people known as ‘superagers’ age 95 and older. ‘As a group, they have a very positive outlook on life’ and are notably resilient, like Jaffe, she told me.

“Qualities associated with resilience in older adults include optimism, hopefulness, an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, meaningful relationships, community connections and physical activity, according to a growing body of research on this topic.

“Jaffe has those qualities in spades, along with a ‘can-do’ attitude. ‘I never expected to be 102. I’m as surprised as everybody else that I am here.’ …

“She credits her genetic heritage, luck and her commitment to ‘keep moving,’ in that order. … Asked to describe herself, she quickly responded with ‘pragmatic.’ That means having a clear-eyed view of what she can and can’t do and making adjustments as necessary.

“Living alone suits her, she added, because she likes being independent and doing things her way. ‘If a problem comes up, I work it out,’ Jaffe said. …

“There are only some 101,000 centenarians in the United States, according to the most recent Census Bureau data. Of this small group, 15 percent live independently or conduct their lives independently while living with someone, according to Thomas Perls, the founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians in the world. …

“About 20 percent of centenarians are, like Jaffe, free of physical or cognitive impairments, Perls said. An additional 15 percent have no age-related illnesses, such as arthritis or heart disease. …

“Every day, Jaffe tries to walk 3,000 steps — outside if the weather is good, or inside, making laps in her hallway, if the weather is bad. Her diet is simple: bread, cheese and decaffeinated coffee for breakfast; a sandwich or eggs for lunch; often chicken and a vegetable or restaurant leftovers for dinner. She never smoked, doesn’t drink alcohol and sleeps an average of eight hours each night.

“Even more important, Jaffe remains engaged with other people. She has subscriptions to the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and a chamber music series. She participates in online events and regularly sees new exhibits at four of New York’s premier museums, where she has memberships. She’s in regular contact with family members and friends.

“Jaffe also belongs to a book club at her synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and serves on the synagogue’s adult education committee. For more than a decade, she has volunteered several times a week as a docent at the New York Public Library’s main branch on Fifth Avenue. …

“When I asked about the future, Jaffe said she doesn’t worry about what comes next. She just lives day to day.

“That change in perspective is common in later life. ‘Focusing on the present and experiencing the here and now becomes more important to older adults,’ said Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, who has studied emotional changes that accompany aging for decades. …

“Jaffe certainly understands the value of facing forward and letting go of the past. Losing her husband, Gerald Jaffe, in 2005 after 63 years of marriage was hard, she admitted, but relinquishing her life and most of her belongings in New Jersey five years later was easy. …

“ ‘It was so exciting for me, being in New York,’ she continued. ‘Every day you could do something — or nothing. … In a house in New Jersey, I would be isolated. Here, I look out the window and I see people.’ ”

More at the Post, here.

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Umbrella Sharing App

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 15, 2025| 5 Comments »

Photo: Rentbrella.
An umbrella-sharing startup from Brazil.

I used to live in New York City, and one of the many characteristically New York phenomena I observed back then was what would happened in a rainstorm.

All of a sudden, from nowhere, sellers of umbrellas would appear. The umbrellas sold quickly, but most often they were poorly made. If there was a high wind, you would see them inside-out in a trash bin, dumped before the buyer even got home.

I can’t speak to the quality of the umbrellas in today’s story, but I’m guessing they are made of sturdier stuff — else how could they be shared repeatedly?

Aleksandra Halina Michalska and Carolina Pulice write at Reuters, “A Brazilian umbrella-sharing app, which has for several months been giving New Yorkers a way to cope with unexpected downpours, is now preparing to expand to Europe.

“Rentbrella launched in 2018 in Sao Paulo, a city known for torrential late afternoon summer rains. It offers an app that allows customers to borrow an umbrella from an automated kiosk and use it free of charge for 24 hours.

“If they don’t return the umbrella within that period, they are charged $2 for the second day under the U.S. price plan and another $2 for the third day. When the daily charges hit $16, the user can keep the umbrella.

“Freddy Marcos, one of the company’s three co-founders, said in an interview that Rentbrella aims to expand to at least 10 other countries in Europe in the next two years.

“The company launched in the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in October with 35 kiosks, each with 100 umbrellas, under agreements with real estate firms such as WeWork … Tishman Speyer … and Beacon Capital. Rentbrella plans to add 100 more stations throughout the United States this year.

” ‘The best thing about it is that it is free,’ said co-founder Ary Krivopisk, adding that Rentbrella aims to expand into London early this year.

“The company plans to generate revenue from advertisements printed on the umbrellas, although it has yet to sign any such deals in New York.

“The startup, which has so far raised $7 million from undisclosed investors, has around 40,000 umbrellas available in Sao Paulo.”

More at Reuters, here.

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New York Church-Bell Contest

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 9, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Trinity Church.

One of the churches most affected by the collapse of the Twin Towers at Ground Zero was Trinity, a 300-year-old church that, after a recent upgrade, is still going strong. Today’s story is about Trinity and its hosting of a bell-ringing competition.

Rose Adams writes at the Gothamist, “Bells reverberated across the Financial District on [a Saturday in October], producing thunderous clangs and glissandos.

“Bands had traveled as far as hundreds of miles to climb into the landmark Trinity Church tower and strike eight bells in a complex, intricate order for the national Trinity Striking Competition, a demonstration of skill in the 17th-century art of change ringing. …

“Down in the churchyard, only band members and unsuspecting tourists milled about. Trinity didn’t advertise the contest, which had participants from Washington, Boston, Smith College and the church itself. A world-renowned expert in the art form, Simon Linford of England, judged how evenly the teams rang — no jumbled notes or overlapping gongs.

“Change ringing requires strength and focus. Participants each tug a rope attached to a bell weighing between 500 and 2,700 pounds, working together to chime all the bells in unique sequences, known as ‘changes.’

“For Saturday’s contest, each team arrived having memorized a ‘touch,’ or 238 permutations of eight bells, which takes about 15 minutes to ring. A full peal — the gold standard of change ringing — involves more than 5,000 permutations and lasts more than three hours.

“ ‘It’s a meditation of sorts,’ said Austin Paul, 30, a software engineer who led the Boston team. Paul learned about change ringing eight years ago from a friend who studied bells. ‘I love the sound of it. I love the mathematical problems in it. And I love the social aspect of it, too,’ Paul said.

“Ringing remains popular in its native England, which holds a national, 12-bell striking competition. But in North America, which houses only about 50 bell towers, compared to Britain’s 5,000, the art form has been kept alive by a small group of enthusiasts, mostly along the East Coast.

“The Trinity contest was the first U.S. competition in six years, and the mood was friendly.

“ ‘Competition is not the main thing,’ said Micah Walter, 31, from the Smith College team. ‘It’s more for the social aspect of getting together with the other ringers.’

“Trinity Church’s band, an eclectic group of all ages, practices weekly and performs about twice a month for church service. Although the ringing is unpaid and takes years to master, the group has found a steady stream of members through word of mouth.

“ ‘If you really get hooked by change ringing, you tend to do it for your entire lifetime,’ said the band’s leader Tim Barnes, who has been ringing for 46 years.

Despite Trinity’s hometown advantage, Saturday’s win went to the Boston band, which rings in Old North Church, where Paul Revere was a change ringer.

“The Washington team, the 2018 defending champions, came in close second, followed by New York and Smith College.

“The third-place finish didn’t faze New York, though. The team has been rebuilding since Trinity tower’s yearslong closure.

“ ‘From a band development perspective, we feel great,’ Barnes said. …

“Future competitions may enlist younger members in training. Seraphim Ericsson, a 10-year-old bell enthusiast who knows the hertz and specifications of each Trinity bell, hopes to compete one day.

“The hardest part of change ringing, Ericsson said, is ringing ‘the tenor’ — the 2,700-pound bell, which is the church’s biggest.”

More at the Gothamist, here.

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Steady Income for Artists

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 28, 2024| 1 Comment »

Photo: Creatives Rebuild New York.
Painter Athesia Benjamin created a self-portrait while participating in the guaranteed income program.

From time to time this blog has checked in on experiments in basic income taking place around the world. If you use search terms like “basic income” or “guaranteed income” in my search box, you will find many related articles, including ones on helping Kenyan villagers, keeping New Orleans teens in school, slashing homelessness in Finland, and supporting artists in Ireland.

New York has also piloted a basic income for artists.

Maya Pontone writes at Hyperallergic, “Early findings from a guaranteed income program for artists across New York State reveal that such initiatives can provide crucial support for artists’ financial stability, professional advancement, and individual well-being. 

“While more comprehensive results are slated to be released at the end of the year, preliminary outcomes show that when artists receive guaranteed income, they generally concentrate on addressing outstanding debt, bills, and increasing their personal savings. They also have more freedom to work on their practice and more time for caregiving responsibilities.

“The report was compiled by Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), a $125 million guaranteed income and work opportunity initiative that began in 2021 and is chiefly funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Under the program, CRNY provided 2,400 artists across New York no-strings-attached monthly payments of $1,000 for 18 consecutive months, prioritizing individuals who are acutely impacted by institutional barriers to financial security based on their race, physical ability, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and caregiving tasks.

“On average, the survey found that 17% of the guaranteed monthly payments were used to pay off debt, principally outstanding credit card balances and loans and mortgages. Furthermore, artists saved approximately $150 more each month and put nearly $140 of the payments toward expenses like rent and utilities. The initiative also showed that participants generally reported feeling improved mental and emotional health in comparison to those who did not receive guaranteed monthly payments. …

“ ‘Going through a breast cancer diagnosis during a pandemic was the most difficult experience of my life,’ shared one anonymous participant quoted in the report. …

‘Guaranteed Income gave me the support I needed to slowly build my life back, become strong and healthy again, and has truly led me back to this industry feeling safe, valued and supported,’ the participant wrote.

“In an interview with Hyperallergic, Maura Cuffie-Peterson, CRNY’s director of strategic initiatives, explained that critics of guaranteed income programs generally ‘claim that they disincentivize work. … Our report shows that not only are artists working with a guaranteed income, but they’re really shaping work that is meaningful to them and in their community life.’

“The report’s findings add to survey results released by CRNY this summer that showed a majority of NY artists are in precarious financial positions, currently earning significantly below living wage standards.

“ ‘When done ethically and in collaboration of those who are directly impacted, research can lead us to better designed programs and even policy solutions,’ Cuffie-Peterson said, adding that guaranteed income programs could be more beneficial if they ran for longer periods of time.

“As an example, she cited Minnesota arts organization Springboard for the Arts’s recent announcement that it is extending its guaranteed income pilot for artists to five years and offering additional financial counseling services.

“ ‘It’s less what should be researched next, but more how these things that are all being researched are building up into something bigger, more impactful, and more meaningful to more people,’ Cuffie-Peterson said.”

More at Hyperallergic, here.

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For a Rockette, It’s All Math

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 19, 2024| 5 Comments »

Photo: MSG Entertainment/Victoria Lewis.
In “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” the 36 Rockettes on stage imitate the stiff movements of toy soldiers. This photo was taken during a dress rehearsal on November 6, 2024. 

For many New Yorkers and visitors to New York, the holiday season is a time to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. I went there once as a child with my babysitter. We saw the Rockettes, and then we saw the featured movie. The movie was Million Dollar Mermaid, a biopic about an Australian swimming legend. It starred Esther Williams and it made a big impression on me. Maybe an even bigger impression than the Rockettes did.

But the Rockettes are a wonder of the world. And today’s article — from Popular Science, of all things — explains just how they do what they do.

Laura Baisas writes, “Every holiday season, the Radio City Rockettes dazzle with their eye-high kicks that seemingly defy gravity. During the precision dance company’s roughly 200 shows over eight weeks, a dancer can do up to 650 kicks in a single day. For all this kicking, Rockettes must stay in peak physical condition. While this signature kick is a festive feat of physics in its own right, the math on stage also makes the magic.

“The Rockette’s home at Radio City Music Hall in New York City first opened its doors in 1932. … With this storied stage history, it should come as no surprise that a show that has been running for close to a century continues to use some tried-and-true, but admittedly low-tech methods. 

‘Our stage is set up like a giant piece of graph paper.’ 

“ ‘Our stage is set up like a giant piece of graph paper,’ Julie Branam, a former Rockette herself and the current director and choreographer of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, tells Popular Science. ‘Every two feet, there’s a number and a dash or a solid line. There are also colored lines, so you will see red, green, blue, white, and upstage of each one of those lines is a dotted line. So everywhere you look, is a giant piece of graph paper and that’s how we figure things out.’ …

“Rehearsals typically start in October and the whole show is plotted onto actual paper so that the choreographers and dancers can get an idea of how their dances will look from the audience. For example, the iconic ‘Parade of Wooden Soldiers‘ number is seven pages long for roughly five to six minutes of dancing. 

“ ‘As we are learning choreography, I can sort of see almost an overhead visual of where my coordinate is,’ Danelle Morgan, a current Rockette who also serves as an Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain, tells Popular Science. …

“ ‘Parade of the Wooden Soldiers’ is one of the original numbers from the show, which has been performed since the Christmas Spectacular first premiered in 1933. It’s a fan favorite, for its military-like steps and the iconic slow fall at the piece’s conclusion. …

“ ‘Every four counts they’re going to replace the line in front of them and we have 24 counts. And then that spoke [of the wheel] will revolve,’ explains Branam. ‘So you can really see where you’re going and know where everybody is and how far they’re traveling.’

“Choreographers will also use design softwares like OmniGraffle to create a digital version of these stage puzzles and plot the movements of the 36 dancers on stage. Each dancer follows an individual track, so she knows what order and where to go on the stage. Everyone is also lettered so that they can refer back to the plot points and quickly see where they need to be. Still, it’s all easier said than done on paper. 

“ ‘As a dancer, I challenge my body so much, but each Rockette has to challenge their brain so much as well.’ … says Morgan. ‘When you step into this position, then it’s a completely different brain game and a different brain challenge. It’s puzzles.’ …

“Since uniformity is key to making the precise patterns that the Rockettes are famous for, the company has what are called swings. In performing, swings are sort of an understudy times 10, who has to learn multiple parts instead of just one. Morgan is currently one of 12 swings in the company. …

“ ‘We know every single Rockette’s individual track, with the help of our charts and the information that we get in rehearsal, so we’re ready to jump in at a moment’s notice,’ says Morgan. … ‘We can jump in costume and then give the audience the same show that they deserve every single show. It’s a high adrenaline situation every time.’

“The festive costumes might make being Rockette look glamorous, but it takes a lot of grit to be a Rockette. In addition to the precision of their dancing, costume changes as short as 78 seconds, and physical challenges, there is also the mental load of performing in up to four shows a day for eight weeks. 

“That comes down to ‘training your resilience,’ putting mind over matter, and importantly, leaning on your fellow Rockettes when you think you just can’t do another kick. The special appearances at major events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting or working with younger dancers also help boost company morale. 

“ ‘It’s just constantly having that reminder that what we do is something super unique that brings so much joy to so many people,’ says Morgan. ‘I think that helps us get through and keeps us motivated.’ “

More at Popular Science, here.

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Singing to Cows

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 9, 2024| 2 Comments »

Photo: Alexandra Genova for the New York Times.
Last year, Churchtown Dairy in Claverack, N.Y., drew hundreds of carolers. (Notice the loft above.)

Other than blogger Deb at A Bear’s Thimble, most of us have lost the daily connection with farm animals that our ancestors knew. When we take our kids to a farm, it seems exotic. No wonder people jump at the chance described in today’s story.

Arielle Gordon reported at the New York Times, “About 200 carolers had just begun the second verse of the classic Christmas song ‘The Friendly Beasts’ when a little girl let out a squeal of delight. About 20 feet below the balcony, on the floor of the large domed barn, two of the half-dozen dairy cows were butting heads. As the grazing heifers lifted their horns, their playful roughhousing seemed like a display of holiday cheer.

“[The] Churchtown Dairy in Claverack, N.Y., once again hosted a Yuletide tradition: caroling to the herd of 28 cattle that call the cathedral-like barn their winter home. What began a decade ago as a way for the farm’s staff and their families to celebrate the herd has since grown to an annual tradition that brings locals and out-of-towners to the farm’s 250-acre property each December.

“[Preregistration] for the two caroling events filled up within hours of going online. Farm staff fielded phone calls from frustrated would-be carolers, some of whom blamed an Instagram post advertising the event for its rise in popularity.

“ ‘We’re considering adding a third night next year to accommodate all the interest,’ said Grace Pullin, Churchtown’s director of partnerships and programs. …

“Attendee, Sharon Mclees, 64, has attended for six years. Growing up around cows, Ms. Mclees said she felt comforted by the tranquillity at Churchtown. ‘I love the farm atmosphere,’ she said. ‘It’s just so back to nature.’

“Churchtown Dairy was founded in 2012 by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the granddaughter of the business magnate John D. Rockefeller, but the property has been under her family’s purview for decades. Her mother, Peggy Rockefeller, purchased the land as part of a larger acquisition of over 2,700 acres by the American Farmland Trust, an agricultural nonprofit Peggy started in 1980.

“The younger Ms. Rockefeller partnered with the architect Rick Anderson to design the farm, traveling the country visiting barns for inspiration. For her, the dome is a sign of a healthy, biodynamic farm. … Mr. Anderson explained that its shape served a more practical purpose: ‘Cows hate corners.’

“The dairy is not unique in its caroling tradition; just a few miles up the Taconic State Parkway, Hawthorne Valley Farms has been singing to its herd in a smaller event on Christmas Eve for the past 40 years. Staff members at Churchtown each had a different theory on the origins of the practice. Ms. Pullin suggested it might have been inspired by the work of the German esoteric philosopher and biodynamic farming pioneer Rudolph Steiner, who claimed that cow horns had ‘astral-ethereal formative powers.’

“Eric Vinson, a herd manager on the farm, referenced the old European myth that animals are able to communicate with humans at Christmastime. In more contemporary contexts, scientists at the University of Leicester found that cows produced more milk when played songs with less than 100 beats per minute. (R.E.M.’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ seemed to go over especially well.) By that logic, carols, with their measured pace, could be conducive to a happy herd. …

“Carolers, armed with illustrated songbooks, began with Christmas classics — ‘The First Noel,’ ‘Silent Night,’ ‘Joy to the World,’ — before Ms. Pullin opened the floor to requests. There were shouts of ‘Free Bird,’ but the crowd eventually settled on ‘Feliz Navidad’ as the final number of the night.

“The cows wagged their tails in appreciation — or maybe they were swatting away loose hay — and for a moment, the myth seemed to come alive: Animals and humans communicating for the holiday.”

The farm sells raw, unpasteurized milk. My mother sometimes bought raw milk at a farm near brother Will’s nursery school in Rockland County, New York. That was definitely a Rudolf Steiner farm. The nursery school followed his ideas, too.

You can read about the quality control drill that keeps raw milk safe at Churchtown Dairy, here. And do let me know if you have ever sung carols to cows! I want to try it.

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Migrant Girls in Scout Troop

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 25, 2024| 2 Comments »

Photo: Girl Scout Troop 6000.
Girl Scouts of Greater New York’s Troop 6000 is a first-of-its-kind program designed to serve families living in temporary housing in the New York City shelter system.

Kindness and compassion are not dead. You just need to know where to find them.

Consider New York’s Girl Scout Troop 6000, which reaches out to migrant children.

Sara Herschander reports for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Once a week in a midtown Manhattan hotel, dozens of Girl Scouts gather in a spare room made homey by string lights and children’s drawings. They earn badges, go on field trips to the Statue of Liberty, and learn how to navigate the subway in a city most have just begun to call home.

“They are the newest members of New York City’s largest Girl Scout troop. And they live in an emergency shelter where 170,000 asylum seekers and migrants, including tens of thousands of children, have arrived from the southern border since the spring of 2022.

“As government officials debate how to handle the influx of new arrivals, the Girl Scouts — whose Troop 6000 has served kids who live in the shelter system since 2017 — are quietly welcoming hundreds of the city’s youngest new residents with the support of donations. Most of the girls have fled dire conditions in South and Central America and endured an arduous journey to the U.S.

“Not everybody is happy about the evolution of Troop 6000. With anti-immigrant rhetoric on the rise and a contentious election ahead, some donors see the Girl Scouts as wading too readily into politically controversial waters. That hasn’t fazed the group — or their small army of philanthropic supporters. Amid city budget cuts and a growing need for services, they are among dozens of charities that say their support for all New Yorkers, including newcomers, is more important than ever.

“ ‘If it has to do with young girls in New York City, then it’s not political,’ said Meridith Maskara, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. ‘It’s our job.’ …

“Last year, Troop 6000 opened its newest branch at a hotel-turned-shelter in Midtown Manhattan, one of several city-funded relief centers for migrants. Though hundreds of families sleep at the shelter every night, the Girl Scouts is the only children’s program offered. …

“Last January, the group began recruiting at the shelter and rolled out a bilingual curriculum to help scouts learn more about New York City through its monuments, subway system, and political borders. …

“With few other after-school opportunities available, the girls are ‘so hungry for more’ ways to get involved, says Giselle Burgess, senior director of the Girl Scouts of New York’s Troop 6000.

“Seven years ago, Burgess, a single mother of six, built Troop 6000 from the ground up after losing her rental home to developers. While living in a hotel-turned-shelter, she got the idea of creating a troop for girls like her daughters. It was the height of ‘NIMBYism,’ she says, the not-in-my-backyard movement opposed to local homeless shelters.

“At the time, she asked: ‘Who’s gonna give us a chance?’

“As it turns out, ‘the donations started pouring in,’ she says. A New York Times profile lead to a groundswell of philanthropy. … So, when the mayor’s office floated the idea of starting a troop at the Midtown shelter, the Girl Scouts were ready. …

“Troop 6000 employs bilingual social workers and a transition specialist versed in supporting children who’ve experienced trauma. But otherwise, it operates much like any other Girl Scout troop. Most importantly, says Maskara, the troop offers a glimmer of consistency to children who often must pack up, move homes, and switch schools in the middle of the academic year. Scouts are encouraged to continue participating even when their families move. …

“ ‘Keeping the girls connected is what matters the most for us right now,’ says Burgess. ‘There’s a lot of emotion, frustration, and hurt.’ Around 50 scouts who have left the shelter participate in a virtual troop. ‘We want to be able to encourage the girls and let them know it’s not over,’ she says. ‘We’re still here.’ “

More here.

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He Learned Dance Moves from a Soldier

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 18, 2024| 2 Comments »

Photo: Battery Dance.
Hussein Smko, a mostly self-taught Kurdish dancer/choreographer whose talent was spotted by Battery Dance over social media in 2014, inspring the company to give him training over Skype.

I love stories of surprising personal journeys, like the one today about a Kurdish boy whose admiration for a soldier’s hiphop move started him on a road to a dance career in the US.

Here’s Brian Schaefer at the New York Times . “When Hussein Smko was 9, the American military arrived in his hometown, Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region. It was 2003, and Smko, already a survivor of the Kurdish civil war, would chase the American Humvees with other kids. One day a soldier beckoned him over and demonstrated a simple, beguiling gesture: He held out a straight arm then made it ripple like water, a classic hip-hop move.

“ ‘I thought it was like a big sparkle,’ Smko, 30, said in an interview. ‘And I was like, How could you break your bones like that?’

“That brief encounter loomed large for Smko, starting him on an unlikely dance journey that eventually brought him to a small, sun-dappled theater in Tarrytown, N.Y., where he was rehearsing with the Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg last week: the dance they were preparing, ‘On the Nature of Rabbits. …

“Smko’s path to this moment has been twisting and at times precarious. After his encounter with that liquid-armed soldier, he immersed himself in hip-hop dance, learning Michael Jackson routines through pirated music videos. Finding outlets for dance was difficult. … He was teased and called gay. But he persevered, and at 13 he started the Street Wolves, a hip-hop troupe that helped spread the form in Kurdistan.

“His pursuit of dance brought him to workshops offered by American Voices, a cultural exchange program affiliated with the United States Department of State. That led to a two-month tour of several East Coast cities, including Niagara Falls, N.Y., where he met his future wife, a U.S. citizen. After the tour, he moved in with her, then brought her to Kurdistan in 2013. The next year, ISIS laid siege to the region.

“Smko’s wife returned to the U.S. to give birth to their daughter while he stayed and prepared to fight. But a relative dissuaded him, which sparked a realization.

“ ‘I decided then that I want to fight through art,’ he said. … He applied for a green card and moved to Niagara Falls in 2015. The next summer, he was contacted by Jonathan Hollander, the founder and director of Battery Dance, a New York company that had briefly trained Smko on Skype years earlier. …

“The company quickly absorbed him into its classes and rehearsals, and suddenly Smko was dancing with trained professionals. ‘Hussein came up to that level,’ Hollander said. ‘It was just a miracle.’

“[In] 2020, he found himself at a crossroads. He worked for the Muslim American Leadership Alliance, and at a hotel front desk. He and his wife separated. He went back to Erbil to see his family, his first visit in seven years.

“His prospects improved in 2022, when he was introduced to the dancer and filmmaker Sasha Korbut and cast in the short film Incomplete, alongside Lidberg. ‘Our energies were synced up,’ Lidberg said of working with Smko. ‘It was the most natural thing.’

“That chemistry inspired Lidberg to include Smko in the development of ‘Rabbits.’ … Smko’s contribution to the process proved invaluable. Lidberg, who is used to working with polished, formally trained dancers, appreciated Smko’s raw physicality and unaffected vitality. …

“In 2019, he founded a company, Project Tag, that has shown work at the Battery Dance Festival and other small performance platforms. It is ‘a goal for me to speak about my background and my history.’ “

More at the Times, here.

I liked how Battery Dance described its original connection with the dancer: “Hussein Smko was the Adel Euro Fellow from 2016-2020.  A self-trained Kurdish dancer/choreographer whose talent was spotted by Battery Dance over social media in the summer of 2014, he was subsequently trained via Skype from his home in Iraq connected with Battery Dance practitioners in their studios in New York City. He managed to get to the U.S. in early 2016 and was granted Permanent Resident Status.”

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New York’s Endangered Languages

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2024| 2 Comments »

Photo: Josh Appel/Unsplash.
The New York City melting pot, where 700 languages are spoken — 150 of them endangered.

New York City attracts people from all over the world, so it’s perhaps not surprising that there are an extraordinary number of languages spoken — major languages and endangered languages.

Alex Carp’s impressive story at the New York Times digs into the details.

“Most people think of endangered languages as far-flung or exotic, the opposite of cosmopolitan. ‘You go to some distant mountain or island, and you collect stories,’ the linguist Ross Perlin says, describing a typical view of how such languages are studied. But of the 700 or so speakers of Seke, most of whom can be found in a cluster of villages in Nepal, more than 150 have lived in or around two apartment buildings in Brooklyn. Bishnupriya Manipuri, a minority language of Bangladesh and India, has become a minority language of Queens.

‘All told, there are more endangered languages in and around New York City than have ever existed anywhere else,’ says Perlin, who has spent 11 years trying to document them.

“And because most of the world’s languages are on a path to disappear within the next century, there will likely never be this many in any single place again.

“Language loss has been a natural part of human history for centuries, but it was typically small in scale and relatively confined. The lost language could sometimes leave traces in the language that overtook it, what linguists have called a ‘grammatical merger’ of intersecting societies.

“About 30 years ago, though, the linguists Ken Hale and Michael Krauss warned of a new, more dire form of loss in which a dominant language would ‘simply overwhelm Indigenous, local languages and cultures.’ Hundreds of languages were essentially gone, Krauss noted, and others were quickly fading. Several were spoken by as few as one or two people.

“As Perlin writes in his new book — Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, out this month — what stands to be lost is more than mere words. ‘Languages represent thousands of natural experiments: ways of seeing, understanding and living that should rightly form a major part of any meaningful account of what it is to be human.’

“With Daniel Kaufman, also a linguist, Perlin directs the Endangered Language Alliance, in Manhattan. When E.L.A. was founded, in 2010, Perlin lived in the Chinese Himalayas, where he studied Trung, a language with no standard writing system, dictionary or codified grammar. (His work helped establish all three.) He spent most of his time in the valley where the largest group of remaining speakers lived; the only road in or out was impassable in winter.

“After three years, Perlin returned to New York City, where he had grown up. … In 2016, E.L.A. began to map the languages spoken in the city. A vast majority were not recognized by large businesses, schools or city government. Officially, Perlin said, they were simply not there. ‘None of the communities with whom we planned to partner were recorded as even existing in the census,’ Kaufman and Perlin later wrote.

“Since their project began, Perlin and Kaufman have located speakers of more than 700 languages. Of those languages, at least 150 are listed as under significant threat in at least one of three major databases for the field. …

“A language’s endangerment is not simply a function of its size but also a measure of its relationship to the societies around it. Sheer numbers ‘have always mattered less than intergenerational transmission, Perlin writes in Language City. Until recently, in many regions of the world, dozens of languages lived side by side, each with no more than a few thousand speakers. Gurr-goni, an Aboriginal Australian language, had long been stable with 70. A language survives, Perlin writes, by sharing life with those who speak it. …

“When Perlin and Kaufman document a language, they work alongside native speakers to transcribe and translate video interviews that are recorded locally and during trips to a language’s home region. …

“To document Seke, for example, Perlin works with Rasmina Gurung, a 26-year-old nurse who happens to be one of the youngest Seke speakers in the world. Most Seke speakers, about 500 people, live across five neighboring villages in northern Nepal, near Tibet. Though the villages are within walking distance, each has developed its own Seke dialect. Like many of the smaller languages of ‘traditional face-to-face societies,’ Perlin writes, Seke has no ‘formal, all-purpose hello,’ because villagers live among the same groups of people and rarely encounter a Seke-speaking stranger. Instead, a question — Where are you going? What are you doing? — would be more common. …

“As E.L.A. produced its first language maps, the institute’s work caught the eye of Thelma Carrillo, a research scientist in the city’s Health Department. Carrillo, who is part Zapotec, was working on a Latino health initiative, but the city had what Perlin and Kaufman found to be ‘no basic demographic information’ on New Yorkers from Indigenous communities in Latin America, even though they have been migrating here in large numbers since the 1990s.

“ ‘We found ourselves in this odd position of being a conduit between the Indigenous Latin Americans of the city and the city agencies, because other organizations that work with them see them as Mexican or Guatemalan,’ Kaufman says. …

“By the start of the pandemic, the city had begun official outreach in nine Indigenous languages and recorded videos in several other endangered languages. By reaching these communities in their own languages, New York City offered what is almost certainly the first official recognition that they exist.

“Still, Perlin and Kaufman are keenly aware that the corpus they are building — word by word and sometimes syllable by syllable — might someday turn out to be a kind of fossil record.

“Outside of the office, Gurung mostly speaks Seke in voice notes to elders overseas or to tell her mother a secret she doesn’t want her sister to hear. On her first trip to Nepal with E.L.A., she ended every interview with the same question: ‘Do you think our language will survive?’ ”

More at the Times, here. Terrific maps and graphics.

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