Tag Archives: New York City
Pro dancing is more than just making a living
By: Mariana Zepeda The stiff competition. Being rejected during auditions. Not knowing your next income source. Those are some of the reasons why many aspiring dance professionals get asked, “What’s your backup plan?” Yet, for many of them, dance is more than just a way to make a living. “I would do it for free […]
Having a main gig and a side hustle
By Sharnali Zaman Cardboard boxes of Honeycrisp apples, maraschino cherries and roma tomatoes were lined up horizontally on the top shelf of Mike Jones’ metal food vendor cart. It was 93 degrees on that corner of Greenwich and Chambers Streets, where he stood tending to that rolling cart and his customers. His face was wet […]
Fashioned-stamped in New York City style
By Briana Mirville The everyday, seen-on-the-street fashionistas of New York are unapologetically themselves. A woman wearing a flamingo pink tutu sitting over a white formal ball gown on a Tuesday may not be a remarkable occurrence for those used to the city, but for newcomers, it might spark inspiration. Using their curated clothes to express […]
Where the sidewalk is an art studio
By Liz Namgung In the winter of 2000, Fejzo stepped onto the jet bridge at John F. Kennedy airport, bags heavy with art supplies from Albania. He began drawing as a child. Now, at 48, living in his adopted city, portrait sketching has become his full-time job. His workspace isn’t the standard walled, windowed studio. […]
New York’s iconic, disappearing yellow cabs
By Giana Nevarez Tevere It used to be that, on a busy day, yellow taxi driver Kazi Asaduzzaman would pick up around 30 passengers. But that Tuesday in July, half that number got into his back seat. “Because of Uber and Lyft, there is no more business for us taxi drivers,” said Asaduzzaman, 64, who’s […]
For the love of chess and, sometimes, money
By Sarah Levine The younger man bounded down the four steps to the basement of a Tenth Street brownstone, punching a secret password into the keypad. Its green checkmark flashed. The older man opened the door and waved him inside. Four hundred dollars was that Tuesday night’s prize at the Marshall Masters Chess Club. Somewhere […]
Fighting to save historic Merchant’s House
By Grace Andino Twelve years into their fight to protect the Merchant’s House Museum, those who staff the facility on East Fourth Street said they still are hoping planned construction of a hotel next door will not proceed. They argue that the construction will threaten the museum’s structural integrity, possibly causing the place to crumble […]
Jazz has a post-pandemic rebound
By Kai Russell When she was 19-years-old, Rie Yamaguchi-Borden started work as a cleaning person at the Smalls Jazz Club. She had no idea she would find her passion and career there. “It sucked me in strong enough that I started to take piano lessons, I started to sing, I started to play drums,” said […]
Women taxi drivers are 1/10th of workforce
By Ishani Konar Of the 80,000 people driving taxis, limousines, Ubers, Lyfts and other ride-share vehicles in New York City, women are behind the wheel of only a few. Sixty-year-old Adalgisa Sanchez is one of those 8,000 women. With her son and daughter, single mother Sanchez moved to New York from the Dominican Republic in […]
Street performers aim to inspire and uplift
Street Performing in NYC By Anthony Jose Urena On a patch of concrete in Washington Square Park, Adjua Ajamu lays down his paisley-printed red carpet and, on top of that, a tip jar and a cube-shaped speaker that is connected to his phone. It powers the synthetic music that is the background for his singing. […]
Yoga, arts, community on St. Mark’s Place
By Jessica Romero Silver On the fourth floor, some among the dancers who’d assembled for a fundraiser made small talk, while a dachshund scurried about, darting from room to room. On the third floor, the two instrumentalists of The Royal Green Rangers, with their concert over, were trying to hug each and every person in […]
A worker-owned LGBTQ bookstore
By Carl Tsegah The air is crisp as Merlin Sabal opens the door to the BlueStockings Cooperative Bookstore. The morning sun illuminates a flag near the entrance whose rainbow colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, signifying the LGBTQ community. Sabal, 28, has spent the last four years as one of the owners […]