The Real Central Park Santa Claus
By Laura Shin
The man in the Santa suit greeting families in Central Park is an 82-year-old photographer from the Upper East Side, but he is no fraud. Everything from Ed Bobrow’s snow-white beard to his warm personality is real. Read more
School Rallies Around Former Student
On the day before her 10th birthday, Lauren Arena’s ordinary childhood changed dramatically. It was when she had her first seizure, which has since developed into an unknown illness leaving her wheelchair-bound and forced to spend much of her time at her home.
To show its support, the Catholic high school Lauren attended, Saint Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side, is hosting its first-ever Christmas fair Dec. 4, to help the Arena family raise money for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for their daughter. Read more
Making Sense of Suffering
Author delves into darker side of life
It doesn’t make for the most innocuous bedtime reading: a freezer full of human body parts, a woman with a devastating cancer that has warped her face and an accidental but fatal AK-47 discharge.
This and 23 other tragic stories comprise the material of Tales of Woe, John Reed’s latest collection of non-fiction. Read more
Steven Sater’s Spring Awakening
By Alice Robb
“New York is my love,” said Tony Award-winning writer Steven Sater, best known for writing the lyrics and book of Broadway rock musical Spring Awakening.
The writer divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City. Though his wife and two children live in L.A., in a big house with a full-sized refrigerator and a yard, he opts to work out of his apartment in the Dakota Building. Read more
A Look at Old Yorkville, One Story at a Time
By Dan Rivoli
In Yorkville, there are buildings, street corners and landmarks that cause Thomas Pryor to launch into a story about his childhood in the neighborhood or relay a bit of trivia.
In passing P.S. 158 on York Avenue and East 78th Street, he points out the preserved boot- wipes students would use before entering the school. He then launches into an anecdote about how his grandparents met at P.S. 158 as students. Read more
CAROLINE: JUST LIKE US?
Carolyn. Caroline. Carolyn. Caroline.(I feel like David Letterman at the Oscars: Uma. Oprah. Uma. Oprah.)
Carolyn Maloney is just one of a slew of career politicians who are now up against Caroline Kennedy for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. And if I were Carolyn & Co., I would be so not happy.
HUNGER PAINS
Inside the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, a woman is calling out numbers, once in English, again in Spanish. Jose Maldonado is waiting for his number. The Bronx man, a widower who cares for his three pre-teen children, was recently referred to the church in hopes that he can take part in the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, a co-op food bank based there that serves mostly Manhattan residents.
This is the first time that Maldonado has sought this kind of assistance. He is independently employed as a house painter and receives food stamps and city benefits Read more
A PROBABLE HIT
Improbable Frequency, a surreal musical tale of spies, physics and radio waves, is currently making its U.S. premiere at 59E59 Theaters. At the helm of this award-winning production is Lynne Parker, the co-founder and artistic director of Dublin, Ireland’s Rough Magic Theatre Company. Parker stormed the Dublin and Edinburgh Festivals with this World War II satire set in Ireland, racking up awards and invitations to tour with her dynamic company. With the New York production underway, Parker is tackling a fresh challenge of sorts. Following is an edited excerpt Read more
OLD BOYS’ CLUB
A woman may have almost nabbed the Democratic nomination for president, but all is not well in the land of gender relations. From Mary Dorothy Line, who needed a partial birth abortion in order to preserve her health, to Caro Marrero, an East Harlem carpenter who loves her job but barely makes enough to cover the cost of child-care, women still often find the world stacked against them, both professionally and personally. Read more
RUMORS OF A RIVETING READ
MALONEY’S FIRST BOOK IS AN EYE-OPENER THAT WILL SHOCK THE CONSCIENCE
By Edward I. Koch
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has written a valuable book on the subject of equal rights for women, Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. Regrettably, the long sought goal of equal rights for women has not yet been achieved. Great progress has been made, but the road ahead is long and hard.
I know Carolyn Maloney well. She ultimately won the seat in Congress that I held for nine years before being elected mayor of New York City. Read more
