Celebrating Community
I was introduced to George “Crime79” Ibañez by my friend, and George’s fellow graffiti legend, Louie “KR.ONE” Gasparro. George and I spoke on the phone and then agreed to meet in Long Island City, near where I grew up. When I stopped by his office on 23rd street, under the 7 Train truss, I couldn’t believe how much that area […]
Defining High-Value The monetary worth of something, a fair return or equivalent in goods or services, or relative worth, utility, or importance. These statements are definitions of the word value. Now, browse the web in the self-help and dating spheres, and you may come across the phrase, high-value man. The use of the term high-value man has been growing […]
France had been since the early 19th century a major occupying power in Africa. Its Empire ended mostly after WWII, but Paris has never totally left alone its former colonies and still exercises strong control on most of them through the International Organisation of La Francophonie. Not all the formerly occupied nations are in the organization and it is striking […]
Visitors can have a magical time at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, thanks to a limited time-only exhibit that connects classic twentieth-century century Walt Disney films with eighteenth-century European history and artwork. Nestled between the Greek and Roman Art gallery and the European sculpture and decorative arts gallery is “Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts,” the […]
A week before Christmas, when the New York sun is perpetually in your eyes, I was standing in a crowd at the corner of Henry & DeGraw Streets, an intersection that was about to be dedicated to the memory of Mary Crisalli Sansone. While we squinted into the distance waiting for Mayor DeBlasio to show up, it occurred to me […]
Carroll Garden’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church extended an old tradition and sail-ebrated a new addition to its 171-year-old church via a handcrafted, wooden votive ship. A dozen votive ships dating from the first World War that hung in the church were cut down and stolen in 1978, leaving one broken and left behind during the robbery. That broken ship — […]
As I walk down Van Brunt St. to get to work each day, I have been intrigued by a store that features bright green moss in the window. This month I spoke to MossBoss NYC’s founder, Adzi Jasari who gave a greater understanding of his business. “This wasn’t something I always had planned,” Jasari said. “I was actually an MRI […]
STREAMING IS KING Over the past couple of decades, record labels have sought new ways to profit off their recording artists. In the early 2000s, the music industry was being ravaged by leaks and free music downloads through sites like Napster and the advent of the mp3 file. Today, streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc.) have replaced sites like […]
As in much of the globalized world, the pandemic has become a battle not only of health, but politics as well. Italy has struggled with COVID for two years. The introduction of the Green Pass has marked a turning point in strategies adopted by the Government. In April 2021 the European Union created the Pass which is a certificate with […]
On the eve of Christmas Eve, former Mayor deBlasio presented a cardboard check of nearly eleven million dollars to the Director of the Old Stone House in Washington Park. The money, drawn (extorted) from the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, will pay for rest rooms to be added to the small remaining space on the north end of the building, as well […]