Posts categorized as Community

I saw Rockaway Rod walking his dog on the boardwalk. He waved and smiled at me. His hair was in full Rod Stewart form. That is a good sign! Spring is here and the kids are in the skate park with the bluetooths blasting. Friends are on the beach with blankets and boards. The boardwalk was crowded over the weekend with people walking, biking and enjoying the warmer temperatures. I started cleaning up my front garden. My daylilies are breaking through the soil. The crocuses have sprung in the Beach […]

I took a dip in the ocean last Sunday. As one would guess, it was quite cold. The temperature read 41 degrees. It was windy. I loved it. Artist Riitta Ikonen is the organizer of Sea Changes, the Rockaway winter swim initiative I participated in. Sea Changes is part of a global program curated by FLOCK to connect friends, family, community and strangers during our global pause. It is offered with support from the arts and cultural organization, Nordic Culture Fund and Nordic Culture Point, a cultural arts grant program. The FLOCK website reads: “Ikonen […]

This past Sunday I attended a sweet event choreographed and performed by Michelle Amara Micca. It was held at the handball court on 77th Street. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I arrived. There were four stations set up with coolers, ice cream, cones and sprinkles. Micca (she goes by her last name) sat in a chair. The music began. After about 30 seconds, an audience member made an ice cream cone, walked up to her and put it upside down on her head. She slowly got out […]

Driving on the Belt Parkway over a decade ago, I remember seeing the landfill by Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn. I recall the strange black netting over the garbage hills and the signs with Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo’s names on them, with an explanation of what was happening at the location. With the new administration, the signs changed to read Bill De Blasio, and architectural landscape plans were presented. But it seemed like it would forever look like an experimental nuclear site. The former Fountain Ave. Landfill was in operation […]

My husband hates my seasonal decorating obsession. He thinks it’s a waste of money, a waste of storage space and it’s plain ol’ silly. Despite this though, last year for our anniversary he bought me six huge mum plants from Lisena Garden Center (12-5 Cross Bay Blvd, Broad Channel). They looked beautiful on my porch. Adding the burst of yellow and orange color I needed to contrast the hay bundles and corn stalks in my fall harvest display. The flowers lasted well into late October. I never understood why people […]

I had the exciting opportunity to collaborate on a design project for The Beach 91st Street Community Garden. For over a year, I’ve been eager to redesign our garden site map but haven’t had the time. I put an email out to my fellow community garden members to see if any creatives were interested in volunteering. Member Walter Meyer responded and introduced me to Diana Erazo, who he taught at Parsons New School and subsequently hired as an intern at his company, Local Office Landscape & Urban Design (LOLA). Some […]

Typical morning: I wake up, put on a pot of coffee and feed my cats. And Instagram my cats while waiting for my coffee. Then I see a little fluffy head pop up at the glass window of the back kitchen door. It’s Sweetie. We named her Sweetie for her friendly disposition. She’s a black American long-haired, around 7 months old. She began visiting regularly two months ago. I’m able to pet her which means she may have been domesticated as a kitten. If you’ve been reading my column for […]

I made a 4,000 pound mistake. As a member of The Beach 91st St. Community Garden’s leadership team, was tasked with purchasing gravel for a special project. I called Glenwood Mason Supply as suggested by one of our members. I told them I needed two square yards of pea gravel. The delivery came earlier than expected, this was last Saturday. The driver was concerned about dropping the 2 ton load. His machine only worked on solid ground and the garden is soil and grass. But I couldn’t leave two tons […]

Last week, I felt uneasy about my column on chives, given all that’s going on. I needed some time to process. I ended up rewriting this column for this week three times. It just doesn’t feel okay for me to write about gardening or cooking right now. Our whole nation is in crisis. The killing of George Floyd on May 25th and the conversation about the resulting protests for justice and equality has entered every household in America, including mine. These hard discussions often take place around the dinner table. […]

Since my column last week “Inspiration Online And Art At Home,” I’ve noticed even more creativity (and weirdness) on the web. We’ve adapted so quickly to our new social world and work lives, now held virtually…  it’s pretty amazing. One of the best examples of this is what my friend Ed McKenna is doing. He’s a Breezy guy. I met Ed through my husband. They’ve played in some great bands together over the years. Ed, better known to his students as Mr. Ed, is a special education music teacher.  A […]