Big Apple Greeter

A Free Welcome-Visitor Service from NYC Volunteers

A Free Welcome-Visitor Service from NYC Volunteers

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 not 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

Being a Greeter is Good for You. Lester Barnett can Prove It!

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About 70 Greeters attended an Annual Meeting at One Centre Street. We had no idea what a rousing good time we were in for.

Lester presenting

Big Apple Greeter’s Executive Director Alicia Pierro was thrilled to introduce Greeter Lester Barnett.

Lester, she explained, is a Renaissance man. He’s a graduate of Cooper Union, an artist who worked with Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell, a lover of (and expert in) all things cultural: art, architecture, history, and happily, Big Apple Greeter. He has been a Greeter for over sixteen years, logging in over 200 Greets.

Lester treated us to a beautiful slide show about The Proven Health Benefits of Volunteerism. His lively brain and joyful spirit emerged, as he first talked about who we Greeters are, especially in the minds of visitors.

We are New Yorkers, a different kind of animal. We’re Babe Ruth, Woody Allen and Jackie Kennedy. We’re nurturing, playful, curious and comfortable as an old shoe. We’re theatrical storytellers and excellent listeners. Lester’s favorite definition came from Trip Advisor: “A Greeter is not a professional tour guide; a Greeter is a new friend.”

Yes, we give much to our visitors, but what Greeting does for us is a story in itself. Greeting makes us smarter, healthier and happier. After doing thorough research about volunteering from icons such as Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities, Lester told us why.

Smarter, healthier, happier

Greeting makes us smarter because being with visitors is a challenge. We are constantly learning, planning, organizing and focusing on details, which makes our brains work harder. We have to be creative when the unexpected happens – because it always does!

Greeting makes us healthier. Volunteers in general have lower blood pressure than other people. They also have less heart disease, dementia, and fewer strokes – and they live longer!

Greeting makes us happier. It’s fun being with visitors! We share stories, lunches, photos, and we often become life-long friends. This means less isolation and more being out in the world. Another reason we’re happy? When we’re with visitors, we don’t have a BOSS!

Lester summed up his talk with the perfect tag line: Doing Good for the World Does Us a World of good.

Staten Island: The Biggest “Hidden Gem” in New York City

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About 20 Big Apple Greeter volunteers boarded the free Staten Island Ferry for a visit to the new Empire Outlets Mall. Everyone was excited because outlet stores have famous brands of merchandise at reduced prices. The mall is a short walk from the ferry. The mall has a food court and an outdoor café right on the waterfront, a great place to relax and enjoy the gorgeous views of the lower Manhattan skyline.

Empire Outlets in full bloom

Right next to the mall is the baseball park where the Staten Island Yankees play. This is the minor league team for the famous New York Yankees, where players gain experience before joining the top level team. Greeters attending the game had much fun seeing this local team. The tickets were inexpensive, and the game was fun and family friendly!

We would like to thank Travis Noyes, Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Empire Outlets Mall and a former member of the Big Apple Greeter Board of Directors. He hosted the Greeters and treated us to this special tour of the new mall and the Staten Island Yankees game.

Staten Island Yankees

The newly developed Empire Outlets Mall and the Staten Island Yankees ballpark are just a short walk to the historic town of St. George. Here you will find hip stores and coffee shops and the wonderfully restored St. George Theater. When you come to New York City, this experience is a must-see.

And on your ferry ride, you might just be lucky enough to see one of Staten Island’s magnificent rainbows.

Staten Island rainbow

Edward Hopper’s Studio Paints a Picture of Who He Was.

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We met at the New York University Silver School of Social Work, at 1 Washington Square North in Manhattan. It was part of thirteen row houses in the Greek revival style, built in 1833. They were commonly known as “The Row.”

On the fourth floor of Building Number 3 was what we had come to see: the studios of Edward Hopper, the celebrated oil painter and his wife Josephine Nivison, a watercolor painter and model.

Edward and Jo Hopper
Courtesy of deskgram

Our knowledgeable guide Amanda spoke about the personalities of both painters and the relationship between the two. They moved to the building in 1913 and in 1924 they married.

From 1905 to 1924, Edward was an illustrator for magazines and newspapers, much like Norman Rockwell. He absolutely hated it! He knew his art was good, but he had no confidence, and he was not a people person. Jo gave him confidence as well as contacts.

Once, when she had a watercolor exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, she shared half the show with Edward. She was feisty and spunky, and she wouldn’t let him give up.

Amanda pointed out pieces of interest in the studios. The north space was Jo’s, complete with a skylight, two portraits of her husband and reproductions of his art on the walls.

For his studio, Edward used the south space, overlooking Washington Square Park. We saw the easel he made for himself out of reclaimed lumber. Since he was 6’5, he needed a larger easel; he put it on wheels so he could move it around.

We also saw the printing press he used when he was an illustrator, and a coal bucket and fireplace, his only source of heat. The studio was bare, bordering on lonely, reflecting his temperament. Nonetheless, his silent, haunting paintings were totally captivating.

1942 NIGHT HAWKS, an instant classic
Courtesy of reddit.com

In his 40s, Hopper became widely acknowledged as the most important realist painter of 20th Century America. His painting “Night Hawks” became an instant classic, as did many others.

After a prolonged hospital stay in 1967, he insisted on going to his home/studio, where he died peacefully at age 85. Jo died one year later.

If you’d like to visit, go to socialwork.nyu.edu. or call 212-998-5900.


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


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