Hillsong NYC

This video's not mine and it's not from the night I went, but it helps show the praise and worship part of the service :)

Rock instruments and rhythms and waving arms greeted us as we walked into Irving Plaza last night. I was with my friend V and her parents, we were going to church. But, I grew up Catholic, got confirmed as a Catholic, and continue to attend Catholic mass every Sunday. We walked into a concert hall instead of a church with a rock band instead of a choir and a woman preaching. Hillsong NYC was not my typical church experience, but it was an amazing spiritual and faithful experience.

Ghost Bikes

Spread throughout the city are bikes painted white and left chained to street signs. Some have placards, some have flowers in a handlebar basket. Every single one of them is placed at the site of a biker's death. Every single one is a ghost bike serving as a reminder and memorial to a biker's life and the pursuit of safe streets for all.

Ghost bikes are an international phenomenon that began in New York City in 2005. 67 bikes are placed around the city. Between 1996 and 2005, 225 bicyclists were killed in NYC. Between 1996 and 2003, 3,462 bicyclists were seriously injured.

NYU's Center for Academic and Spiritual Life Construction Update

In the fall of 2009, NYU and the Archdiocese of New York came to an agreement on the sale of the old Catholic Center to NYU. Deconstruction, followed by new construction soon followed and has been progressing quickly ever since. The new Center for Academic and Spiritual Life is planned to open in the summer of 2012.

As seen, the construction crew has begun enclosing the building, designed by Machado and Silvetti, in a brownish, sandstone like stone facing. Once the facade is complete, the construction will shift from stage two to stage three and the crew will begin working more intensely on the inside of the building.

Hudson River Park, You Rock!

One of my first "New York" experiences was running from Washington Square Park to Hudson River Park (via Christopher Street) and then running south on the Hudson down to Battery Park. I fell in love. The different piers and park areas and public plazas made my run interesting and the views of Ellis Island and Lady Liberty reminded me of why I came to New York: it's a city that contains the whole world.

On Sunday, I was walking on the Hudson with a friend and discovered that Pier 25 opened! I wasn't expecting it to open until spring. The Hudson River Park Trust has added lots of activity areas to the pier: a children's playground, a skate park, volleyball courts, an Astroturf field, mini-golf, boat moorings and public bathrooms. Some of the areas won't fully open until Spring, but the skate park, Astroturf field and skate park opened on November 4.

Here're are a few pictures I took:

Astroturf field 

Sand volleyball courts 

looking back at the mainland

Playground 

Skatepark (street-style)

And for extra fun, there was a dude with a parrot walking in front of us on the Greenway:

A Modern Resurrection

I celebrated Easter this morning at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Sixth Avenue and Washington Place. Easter Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection; a new beginning rising from an end. He died but conquered death.

Coincidentally, I visited the Tribute WTC Visitor Center ($10) last Thursday; the day of Christ’s Last Supper before his crucifixion. There, I visited the galleries, took a 60 minute audio tour of the site and heard from John Henderson, a volunteer guide at the center.

The audio tour included 16 stories from survivors and first responders from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Their 9/11 stories made me think of my own.

Have I finally joined the NYC bike culture?

After a week of rain, the sun finally decided to show its glorious face. More people are on the street than in the past few months of winter. Crowded sidewalks and streets make it harder for everyone to get around but most people don't seem to mind. It's too beautiful outside to care.

And for some people, it's too beautiful outside to care about looking both ways when crossing the street. Or, to even look at all before quickly darting across the road. Today, a girl crossed LaFayette at Bleeker and the biker in front of me, riding north on LaFayette was caught between traffic on one side and construction on the other. The girl popped in front of him, out of nowhere. He yelled. She got out of the way. No harm no foul.

I started biking in NYC a year and a half ago. I've pedaled through rainstorms, snowstorms and freezing cold days. Not until today, though, have I felt a part of NYC's diverse population of urban cyclists.

“Kissing Doesn’t Kill: Greed and Indifference Do.” –Gran Fury*

Corn fields and empty roads, heroin needles and experimental art: two worlds that seemingly couldn’t be further. Two worlds which have led to Marvin Taylor’s ability to curate “The Downtown Collection” at New York University’s Fales Library.


The collection’s birth, and Marvin’s place in it, both sprang from practical concerns born from undesirable situations. But, they have resulted in astounding success.

“If you’re the one lone fag in your school study hall can be really hard,” said Marvin. So, he spent a lot of time in the library shelving books. This eventually led to his position as curator of the Downtown Collection in Fales Library at NYU. There he purchased the only art the school could afford: art that no one else wanted.

Tampa Day 1

"I like to play animals," she said. "But I don't like playing by myself." We soon found a group of other kids. She was a tiger. I was a monkey. He was an alligator. She was a bird. Roars, clomps and squawks soon followed my own anxious chatter: everyone else wanted to eat me for lunch! Saved by the bell, we lined up for our real lunches and left for the cafeteria.

For spring break this year I am leading an Alternative Break in Tampa Bay, Florida. Alternative Breaks is a national program that allows college students to spend one week in a community away from their university to engage in direct service work. My group is tutoring at Bay Crest Elementary School.

Birding BPC

With winter breathing its last icy breath, the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy hosted a winter bird walk program on March 6 to help residents learn more about birding for the spring migration season. 

March: In like a Lion, a Lion like Aslan

Four days in and March is already treating me better than February. February wasn't terrible but between snowstorms, retreats, meetings and homework I was beginning to drown. March 1 woke me up with sunshine and a wide, blue sky.

Battery Park City Introduction

My first assignment was to begin researching statistics and data on my neighborhood and to take a walking tour through it, to get a feel for what it has to offer. Below is my memo to my editor about my early findings, half way through completing the research and after taking the walking tour. As a memo it is informal, yet informative and readable. It shows why I chose BPC and reveals a few things I can sink my teeth into as I continue reporting the neighborhood. Enjoy!

Fair-Weather Fans Wait in Line for SNL

Socked feet waving in the air, jäger shots being poured and the clicks of poker chips, all normally found at drunken sleep-over parties, were seen at Rockefeller Place among the students and young adults waiting for Saturday Night Live tickets on a warm night that hinted at spring’s arrival after a painfully cold winter.

Fans wait in line through Friday night to receive stand-by tickets for the Saturday Night Live’s rehearsal and live show 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning. The cold, windy, rainy and snowy conditions of the past months have deterred fans from lining up to see Saturday Night Live. With the arrival of spring, more fans are sprouting from the sidewalk to try to catch the cast and guests in a live performance.

“The warm weather helped a lot in deciding to come,” said Mia Gomez, a freshman at Marymount Manhattan College. Hailing from Texas the past few months have been her first true winter experience. She enjoyed the snow but “hated walking to and from class,” especially on the day when she “couldn’t feel her face.”

“I wouldn’t be here tonight if the weather was that cold,” she said. “I love Ray LaMontagne, but not that much.” The coldest temperature Mia would wait through is 25 degrees. Cold weather prevented Mia from seeing her hero, Steve Martin guest host in January. “It was 2 degrees outside and I just couldn’t do it, I wish I could have,” said Mia.

“I came because of Ray LaMontagne,” said Caitlin Boag, Mia’s friend and another freshman from Marymount. She has waited through below zero temperatures for concerts but wouldn’t endure wintry conditions for Saturday Night Live. “I would never be here if it were freezing, not for SNL, not for Ray,” she said, but, “it’s so much easier because it’s warm out.”

Other fans were more explicit in their distaste for waiting in line during wintry weather. “I would never come in the middle of winter. I have a brain,” said Preston, a junior at St. John’s University. He looked comfortable in a folding chair, sweatshirt and jacket.

The warm weather, for Preston, was a main reason to wait for SNL. “I don’t care about the Rock and I don’t even know the musical guest,” he said.

John, Preston’s friend, agreed. “I wasn’t doing anything and the weather was nice. I didn’t feel like getting drunk so I came here,” he said. They brought homework to help the several hours of waiting to pass more quickly. Neither would wait through cold or snow but “I’d come again if we had the free time and the weather was nice,” said Preston.

While most of the people waiting in line came—or were helped in coming—by the warm weather others did come because of the hosts. “I came only because the Rock’s here,” said May Steinberg, a junior at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “I’ve had a crush on him since I was 11 and I’m almost 21, so that’ almost 10 years,” she added.

May knows what it is like to wait in line during cold weather too. She waited in line to see Rainn Wilson guest host two years ago and remembers it being 5 degrees that night. “It was really cold, really bitter cold. I felt like I’d almost died,” she said. Such severe weather would have prevented her from waiting to see the Rock guest host. “I wouldn’t come again in weather like that, even for him. It could kill me and if I died I couldn’t like him anymore,” she said.

Even so, some fans of Saturday Night Live will wait through any conditions to see their favorite stars host. “I waited through the snow and sleet to see Ellen Page last year,” said Morgan Collins, a sophomore at New York University. “Even though it was freezing and probably made me sick it was worth it and I would do it again,” he added. Morgan wasn’t in line to see the Rock but has gone to Saturday Night Live several times. “The host, sometimes the musical guest, is more important than the weather,” he said.

On the night of Friday, March 6, 2009 the overnight low was 36 degrees and at 1:00 am the temperature read 51 degrees. Saturday Night Live was unable to verify the seasonal trend but the fans’ testimonies speak strongly toward the idea that warmer nights lead to more fans waiting in line for the show.

Chocolate Sales Stay Sweet Despite Melting Economy

This Valentine’s Day, despite the economic crisis surrounding every decision individuals—and couples—must make, sales of boutique chocolates remained comparable to previous years in New York City’s West Village and SoHo districts. Though it would seem that sales would melt they held strong because of the emotions, feelings and traditions that connect chocolate to many major holidays and events, especially Valentine’s Day.

It is difficult for a weak economy to affect Valentine’s Day. “People like nice things and if they won’t buy them on other days they will buy them for Valentine’s Day,” said Jackie Caruso, an assistant manager at Vosges Chocolates. Most of the chocolates purchased on or before the holiday were bought as gifts. Though fewer customers bought the truffles that Vosges is known for, those who did purchased more. The average purchase was $45 but customers bought individual pieces ($2.25) and boxed sets whose price depends on the number for chocolates purchased.

Similar trends were found at other stores in the area. This Valentine’s Day “people aren’t spending as much on big luxury items but chocolate is still a luxury and it’s affordable,” said Keeling Tong, owner of Kee’s Chocolates. In fact, at Kee’s, this year’s Valentine’s Day was “a little better than last year’s,” continued Tong. This is important because the cost of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, is higher than it was before past Valentine’s Days. The International Cocoa Organization shows prices for January 2009 at $2,600 per ton of cocoa, up $400 from 2008 and $900 from 2007.

Despite the increased prices for raw goods Tong hasn’t raised prices. “It is more important to maintain the product and customer base and to keep the customer’s happy than to gouge prices to make a better profit,” said Tong. At Kee’s Chocolates a single bonbon costs $2.35 and the average Valentine’s Day gift purchase was a box of 12 pieces for $30.

Like Kee’s Chocolates, Li-Lac Chocolates experienced strong sales this Valentine’s Day also. There wasn’t really difference in sales “and if there sales were different, they were a little higher,” said Martha Bond, owner of Li-Lac Chocolates.

Having owned the store for 21 years, Bond’s contacts reach as far as Hershey’s bars. The “old-timers say, in their experience, that chocolate does well” no matter what the economy is doing; “it comforts people and is an affordable luxury. It is part of almost every holiday,” said Bond.

The comfort and traditions associated with chocolate may help it survive, especially because it is often given as a gift. “I would continue [buying chocolate] no matter what. The amount might go down but I would still give it as gifts” for others and myself, said Lee Russeth, a regular consumer of Vosges Chocolates.