Documenting 9/11 Rememberances

Bathed in sunlight streaming in through the glass façade, about 80 New Yorkers gathered Wednesday evening to remember the lives that were lost more than nine years ago on September 11th.

The night marked the initial installment of the “9/11 Today and Tomorrow” lecture series, held in what will soon become the National September 11th Museum in Manhattan’s Financial District.

In a space encircled by photographs depicting the harrowing chain of events on that terrible day, the audience was silent as intimate recordings of those affected by September 11th reverberated throughout the room in the memory of their loved ones lost.

Dave Isay, 44, founder of StoryCorps, a national initiative documenting stories of everyday Americans, spoke of his organization’s collaboration with The September 11th Memorial. Through StoryCorps, the grievances and memories of families of September 11th victims were captured on tape to create a living tribute to those killed. The earliest recordings were taken in Grand Central Station, but StoryCorps now provides recording booths in parks all around the city.

“It is an opportunity to tell the person they’ve lost how much they loved them,” said Isay in his address to audience members.

For the three and a half years that StoryCorps and The September 11th Memorial have been working together, over 1000 September 11th interviews have been conducted.

The deaths of September 11th will not only be remembered as a statistic. the project aims to “make sure that the world remembers the 2982 tragedies,” said Isay.

People who lost loved ones said recording their remembrances proved therapeutic.

“The loss is inconceivable. The human brain can’t process it. The only way to begin to process it is through stories,” said Isay.

And the effect of the stories was powerful. In a room of 80 audience members, it appeared few eyes were dry after the tapes were rolled.

“I came back here to pay tribute to everybody,” said Jerry Czermendy, 70, a retired city Human Resources Administration employee who worked nearby and said heremembers the terror of September 11th with vivid clarity.

Despite the passage of time, much of New York is still healing from the attacks.

“Almost nine years after the event there is a tremendous need to make a pilgrimage down to Ground Zero,” said Joe Daniels, president of the September 11th Memorial. Capturing the voices of those forever changed by September 11th is the first step in the challenge of “creating an institution while the history of September 11th is still unfolding,” he said.

“First person narrative will be what defines this institution,” said Daniels.

Joe Daniels, President of The September 11^th Memorial and Museum, spoke to audience members Wednesday evening about the goals of the foundation.

Dave Isay, 44, founder of StoryCorps, spoke emotionally about the his organization’s collaboration with The September 11^th Memorial to capture the memories of those lost.

Memorial President Joe Daniels stands next to a backdrop of September 11^th photographs.

The September 11^th Preview Site features a model of what the new Ground Zero construction will look like.

The fire helmet of a fireman who perished on September 11^th is respectfully displayed in a glass case.

Directing a "Collective of Collectives"

Two days before last Thanksgiving Steven Englander received a check in the mail. The brown UPS envelope contained a $1 million check made out to ABC No Rio, the center for arts and activism he runs on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The donor was anonymous.

Englander, 49, has devoted himself to the organization for nearly 20 years. Nothing prepared him for the shock of the gift that arrived a few months after No Rio jumpstarted long dreamt of plans for expansion of their 156 Rivington Street building. “To this day we still don’t know where it came from,” said Englander.

First came No Rio’s June approval for $1.65 million in city funding by Manhattan City Council representatives. Then came the anonymous million-dollar check. For Englander, it was hard to believe that a formerly abandoned building once purchased from the city for $1 was well on its way to fundraising a $4 million expansion project.

Through it all, Englander has kept No Rio connected to its earliest core as a collective, and it shows. In what Englander now calls an “intervention,” No Rio was born in 1980 by a group of artists who began squatting in the Delancey Street building as activists against the city’s strict land use policies. While the space was originally used as an art gallery and music venue, today it is proud to also offer a dark room, a silk-screen print room, and a ’zine library as part of its facilities. The organization continues to be collectively run by approximately 50 volunteers, with Englander acting as the only paid employee.

Sitting on a wooden stool in a stretched-out gray sweater, Steven Englander grins boyishly as he speaks about the overwhelming influx of funds. Englander’s conscientiousness and efficiency as director amidst an economic crisis has won the approval of many of his peers. Most importantly, Englander has stayed true to ABC No Rio’s roots. Englander has managed to push No Rio in a progressive direction, while maintaining its earliest purpose for the organization to represent “an activity that should be shared and passed along and not turned into an institution,” said Joseph Nechvatal, 59, a digital artist and one of the original founders of ABC No Rio, currently living in both Paris and New York.

Englander speaks casually as he pushes his long graying hair back with two hands. Despite the stress of No Rio’s construction project, he appears confident that the collective is happy. Crossing his legs he laughingly remarks, “It’s been a long time since there was a mutiny against me.”

ABC No Rio director, Steven Englander, 49, sits in the space where he formerly lived in the No Rio building.

The facade of ABC No Rio has changed little since the '80s despite immense gentrification of its home on the Lower East Side.

Sculptural art frames the door of one of the many work spaces in No Rio's four story building.

In the construction of a new building, No Rio will unfortunately lose many remnants of its past, as seen here in a warning written on the stairwell by a former activist.

Hardly an inch of wall space is left untouched by artwork in the halls of No Rio's soon to be demolished building.

Snow Sweeps Across the North East

The snow swirled endlessly in Manhattan late Wednesday evening, the wind sweeping each flake in pursuit of another. It was a spinning game of snow tag that no flake could win, weaving a veil of icy moisture that hung heavy on eyelashes and seeped deep into the pores of mittens. City employees shoveled on.

A storm from the Northeast dumped 12” on New York City and outer boroughs Wednesday evening. Schools were closed, flights were cancelled, and the fast city pace came to a slow crawl for a day.

Thursday morning brought a break in the snow, and the sun arrived, working to melt away the frozen remains of the freezing weather that battered New England. The National Weather Service reported nine inches of accumulation in Central Park, and the snowstorm put the preparedness of New Yorkers to the test.

New York City public schools were closed for the day as a result. In a snow briefing held Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg defended the precautionary measures taken for the storm. “After brief lulls, snowfall at mid afternoon reached the intensity that made the decision to close public schools the right one,” he said.

Other measures were taken to minimize the storm’s effects.

Around the city’s federal buildings and courthouses, city employees shoveled and salted the sidewalks of these highly trafficked areas. Pedestrians were appreciative of the hard work.

“I am impressed at how clean the streets and sidewalks are today, especially compared to how long it is taking to clean up cities south of here,” remarked Lindsey Fontana, a 21-year-old NYU student from Massachusetts.

Pedestrians downtown were left to spend the day making less-than-graceful leaps across snowdrifts left by plowing. Others were caught cracking a smile at their own wariness, as walkers tiptoed awkwardly across icy patches of concrete in Soho.

Other New Yorkers sought snow-day fun.

“People want sleds. We got a lot of calls,” said Shola Ibrahin, 30, an employee of Ace Hardware of Tribeca. “How many times do we get snow like this in the city? We don’t have sleds. This isn’t Colorado!”

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Oversized plow trucks lined up outside of the federal courthouses Thursday morning after a long night of work that kept the streets impressively clear.

New York business owners diligently shoveled the sidewalks of their storefronts Thursday morning.

The snowstorm layered city parks and open spaces with a blanket of snow.

An apartment rooftop in Tribeca was made virtually inaccessible due to eight inches of snow accumulation.

Bright afternoon sunlight on Thursday began the slow process of melting away icicles clinging to the ledges of buildings.

"The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus" - A Lecture by Dr. Mitchell Thomashow

Amidst the stark white and grey palette of NYU’s Gould Welcome Center auditorium, the topic of discussion was of a much greener nature.

Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, President of Unity College in Maine, spoke to NYU students and educators Tuesday. In his lecture titled “The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus,” Thomashow shared his experience as President of an environmental college to educate audience members seeking to create a similar green atmosphere at NYU.

“The way we look at it, we’re training a new generation of sustainability leaders leading by example,” Thomashow said in his lecture to NYU students and faculty.

Founded in 1965, Unity College is a leading environmental college of just over 500 students. The curriculum at Unity is focused entirely on the environment elements of traditionally broad based majors, and the campus itself is committed to sustainability.

Thomashow shared his insight on Unity’s efforts in green architecture, campus gardens, composting and recycling projects, and the harnessing of solar and wind energy.

Though Unity is a small rural college, Thomashow urged NYU students that sustainability is just as feasible on a large urban campus.

“Every school is different. I’m interested in sustainability as an integrative theme for every campus,” said Thomashow.

NYU students appeared excited and inspired by Thomashow’s speech.

“I think this is important because in X amount of years our planet is going to die if we don’t do something about it,” said Sonya Kumar, 19, an NYU student in the Environmental Studies Program.

Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, Union College President, addressed eager audience members from behind the podium of NYU's Gould Welcome Center Auditorium.

NYU students and faculty members alike took notes and listened attentively to Dr. Thomashow's inspiring advice on taking steps today to create sustainable campus environment for tomorrow.

Jeremy Friedman, Manager of Sustainability Initiatives at NYU, ensured a worried student that a movement toward a Green campus is just as feasible in a large urban environment as it is in a small rural one.

Dr. Thomashow was receptive to questions from students and faculty members, inspired by the tremendous effort demonstrated by those living and working at Unity College.

Dr. Thomashow supplemented his speech with a vibrant powerpoint presentation featuring photos of the students and grounds of Unity College.

Greenmarket Speaks on the State of the Union

The Union Square Greenmarket became a forum for discussion on Friday afternoon, as New Yorkers shared their reactions to President Obama's State of the Union address delivered Thursday evening.

Amidst the array of mixed vegetables was an array of mixed reviews for the President’s address.

“There were a lot of good ideas, but the solutions offered are not going to work,” said Kenneth Barber, 67, a farmer from Valoise, New York. Barber expressed his disdain for big business and his dissapointment in Obama’s failure to act on behalf of the “little man.”

“In reality, Wall Street has become nothing but a big gambling casino,” Barber said from the passenger seat of his bright yellow Penske truck he transports his produce in every weekend.

Not everyone at the Greenmarket shared such a negative reaction to the address, however.

“I think that too many people are forgetting who got us into trouble and they are blaming him,” said Gail Bitoe, 66, a vendor from Chelsea, New York. Bitoe stated that she would cast the same vote for President Obama today that she did in 2008.

Still others were at a loss for words.

While many people admitted to not having watched the address, student Dan DiLeo, 55, silently threw up his arms in an exaggerated shrug in his response to the speech.

The Union Square Greenmarket, an open air farmer's market, has been thriving since a few farmers first arrived to sell their produce in 1976.

Greenmarket vendors braved the bitter cold Friday to sell their goods.

New York farmer Kenneth Barber, 67, stands next to the truck that transports his produce to the Union Square Greenmarket every weekend. Barber voiced a great deal of concern over the direction Obama is leading the country in.

New Yorkers stroll through a sea of tents at Union Square's Greenmarket.

Dan DiLeo, a 55-year old full time student, offers his response to Obama's State of the Union address delivered Thursday evening.