Big Apple Greeter

A Free Welcome-Visitor Service from NYC Volunteers

A Free Welcome-Visitor Service from NYC Volunteers

Hudson Yards: A Colossal Achievement

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When Greeter Bob Gelber offered to take us to Hudson Yards, none of us could have imagined the enormity of the site.

This is the largest privately funded real estate development in the nation’s history. It spans 30th Street to 33rd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues and will include 17 million square feet of commercial and residential space. It is in Phase 1 of 2 of the building process.

Hudson Yards will include the headquarters of such companies as HBO, Facebook, Coach, and Time Warner along with new restaurants by famed chefs Thomas Keller and Costas Spiliadis. The site will house approximately 4,000 residences and 14 acres of public open space, including the Vessel and the Shed.

The Vessel

The Vessel, designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick, is a 16-story, 150-foot-high structure of interconnected staircases. It has 154 flights, 2500 steps and 80 landings. When you walk up and down the Vessel, you’re treated to great views of the Hudson River and the High Line.

The Shed is an indoor/outdoor cultural center presenting a wide range of performing arts, visual arts and pop culture. The Shed has a space for large-scale performances; a 500-seat theatre; and two levels of exhibition space.

The Shed

People who live at Hudson Yards will never have to leave the complex. The seven-story mall has 100 shops including Neiman Marcus, Dior, Chanel, and H&M. Residents of the 285 apartments will enjoy a 75-foot-long pool, spa, fitness center, yoga studio, and children’s playroom.

Kohn Pederson Fox designed the master plan and two buildings. Other renowned architects such as Frank Gehry and David Childs will also be part of the design team.

The entire project is estimated to cost 25 billion! Once it has been completed, it will contribute 19 billion annually to NYC’s Gross Domestic Product. All we can say is, “Not too shabby!”

Artwork at the 34th Street Hudson Yards subway

The Understated Elegance of Murray Hill

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Greeter Paula Thomson knows Murray Hill like the back of her hand. She has lived there since 1978, when she was blessed to find a rent-stabilized apartment – one in which occupants won’t face high rent increases each year – the dream of every New Yorker.

Paula spoke about the area and its history. What we learned as we walked was both fascinating and fun.

Murray Hill is the area from 34th Street to 42nd Street and from Madison Avenue to the East River, on Manhattan’s east side. It is mainly a residential neighborhood.

The area was originally settled by the Dutch and named “Inclenberg.” In the 1750s, a wealthy Quaker shipping merchant and his wife, Robert and Mary Murray, built a 25-acre farm named Belmont. It was near the top of the hill – which was 20-40 feet — at what is now Park Avenue between 36th and 37th Streets. After that, the area was forever called Murray Hill.

Former Carriage Houses for Horses at Sniffen Court

According to legend, Mary Murray was a heroine of the Revolutionary War. During the Battle of Manhattan, she invited the British commander General Sir William Howe and his men to enjoy a pot of tea and to rest at Belmont. This allowed the American soldiers to escape!

By 1847, residents became alarmed when industry began moving closer, so they drew up the “Murray Hill Restrictive Agreement.” This permitted only residential apartments and brownstones. The homes were designed to be village-like and not aggressive – to reveal as little as possible about the level of privilege.

The Morgan Library and Museum

Paula pointed out some of the 14 landmarked buildings: The Union League Club built in the 1930s for staunch Republicans, and the Morgan Library where 49-year-old J.P. Morgan lived with his 19-year-old bride. When he learned she had a boyfriend on the side, the marriage went kaput!

The Collector’s Club

We also saw the lovely Collector’s Club for stamp collectors. And we learned that Sniffen Court, on a tucked-away side street between Lexington and Third Avenues, used to be the location of carriage houses for horses. Now these are beautiful residences.

Today, a certain cachet still defines Murray Hill. It is graceful and refined, but a show-off? Never.

Social Justice is Alive, Well, and Beautiful – at The Ford Foundation Gallery

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When we approached the Ford Foundation at 320 East 43rd Street in Manhattan, we saw an imposing building set back from the street. Once inside, we were welcomed by the sweetest security guards and staff.

Our guide was the Gallery’s Director, Lisa Kim, who was captivating as she shared the building’s history. In 1936, Henry Ford and his brother Edsel started the foundation as a charitable organization. The organization had a $25,000 endowment to support local arts in Michigan. By the time the brothers died in the 1940s, Henry Ford II was president, and the endowment was worth $450 million ($15 billion today!)

The lush indoor garden

In 1967, the foundation moved to Manhattan. Architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo designed a soaring 14-story building of glass, granite and steel. There were 400 private offices looking down at a first-floor interior garden, with lush trees, vines and shrubs, lizards, crickets and a bat! Landscape architect Dan Kiley made this garden the first of its kind in the U.S.

In 2016, President John Walker wanted to renovate, making the interior more modern, but keeping its historic sensibility. The renovation was completed in 2018, with added space for an art gallery. The gallery’s mission: To disrupt inequality in all its forms and to push for social change.

That mission has been fulfilled a thousand times over. In the current exhibit, Utopian Imagination, each piece has something to say in the most beautiful or magical way.

A very chic astronaut
A spaceship’s ode to forgotten cultures

Zak Ove’s Skylark is a spaceship with objects that resemble African and Trinidadian sculpture, bringing new life to forgotten cultures.

In Yinka Shonibare’s Cloud 9, a black astronaut clad in fashionable African fabrics, represents the survival of black people as pioneers in space.

Juliana the Powerful

Juliana Huxtable’s Lil’ Marvel photograph shows us the artist (herself), a transgender black woman. Huxtable rejoices in the power of her own body, pulling you in so you can’t look away.

The gallery is free and accessible. The exhibit is on view through December 7th. For more information, go to fordfoundation.org.

Jackson Heights: Around The World And Out of This World

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Jackson Heights has one of the most culturally diverse populations in Queens. Stroll down any street and you’ll see people from all parts of the world, from Hispanic to Caucasian, African American to Native American, Tibetan to Uruguayan, and from all stations in life – rich and poor, gay and straight, young and old.

Jackson Heights is also one of the country’s first planned communities. The Garden City Movement (started in 1904) was a reaction to the overcrowded tenements and squalid living conditions of inner London and New York’s Lower East Side. The many garden apartment complexes became examples of more tasteful living.

Two historical events made the Jackson Heights neighborhood explode: In 1909, the Queens Borough Bridge opened, connecting Manhattan to Queens. In 1917, the elevated railway line (today’s #7 subway train) brought a huge influx of residents.

The Post Office Mural
Credit: livingnewdeal.org

And what a neighborhood it is! You’ll find a neo-Georgian Post Office famous for a mural completed in 1940 by artist Peppino Mangravite. The mural was part of a Works Project Administration project. It depicts the transformation of Jackson Heights from cornfields to a Garden Community.

Architecturally, it is also diverse. There are schools built in the Flemish Renaissance style, a church in modern Gothic style, and the elegant Chateau apartment complex built in the French Renaissance style.

The French Renaissance Chateau
Credit: 6tocelebrate.org

For a literal taste of Jackson Heights, get your salivary glands ready. There are Cuban, Peruvian and Brazilian restaurants as well as Colombian steakhouses.

On Roosevelt Avenue from 74th to 108th Streets, you’ll find food trucks from all over the world dishing up delicacies such as Middle Eastern lamb over rice, Greek souvlaki, Ecuadorian ceviche, Mexican elotes (corn on a cob), homemade tamales filled with meats, cheese, or fruits, and fruit aguas frescas (smoothies).

Jahn’s Kitchen Sink Sundae (note the faucets)
Credit: pinterest.com

Jackson Heights is teeming with fun. Whether you visit a coffee shop that’s also a Japanese grocery, or the home of Alfred Butts, who invented the game Scrabble, or Jahn’s ice cream parlor with a kitchen sink sundae that has 30 scoops of ice cream and every topping imaginable, you’ll be vastly entertained wherever you go.

Cheryl Fleisher Wins Everyday Hero Award From RSVP

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RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) is one of the largest volunteer networks in the nation for people 55 and over. Many Greeters and office volunteers are referred to Big Apple Greeter by RSVP, so when they asked us to nominate one of our volunteers for their Everyday Heroes award, we chose Cheryl Fleisher, who is the living definition of that term.

Cheryl is our Everyday Hero

Cheryl began volunteering for us in 2017 and immediately made a huge impact. She got us involved for the first time in on-line and peer-to-peer fundraising. She was the driving force behind our 2017 Giving Tuesday and Year-End campaigns, which doubled the amount of the previous year from $20,000 to $40,000. And she co-created our Inheritance Giving campaign. Only a year later, we already have 40 people signed up.

So on September 20th, RSVP held a Recognition Breakfast honoring Cheryl and other New York winners. The breakfast theme was the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock. They titled the event: PEACE, LOVE AND SERVICE: Celebrating Our Groovy RSVP Volunteers.

One of the table decorations

As the winners were announced, peace, love and harmony permeated the room. The celebration was held at Con Edison’s grand ballroom at 4 Irving Place. Con Edison graciously provided the food and the ballroom. There were about 20 tables in total, each with decorations such as multi-colored peace signs and tie-dyed napkins.


To say the breakfast was “far out” would be an understatement. But for us, the best part was when Cheryl was called to accept her award. Having one of our own receive an honor she richly deserves…was delicious.

Cheryl’s name in lights


Meet a real New Yorker and discover the magic of New York City’s many culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods.


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