The Creative Center: A Home Away From Home

New Yorkers are known for being independent people. Those who are native to Manhattan strut with purpose and brim with pride in their respective nooks. For those coming from elsewhere, the first few months on the metropolis are very similar: hometown ties are cut, needy exteriors are quickly shed, and slowly enough, self-sufficiency becomes a learned art. In a city with some of the brightest lights, biggest opportunities, and longest life expectancies, it’s easy to believe yourself invincible. That is unless you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness that reminds you on a daily basis that you’re not. Suddenly bright lights equate to hospital fluorescents, your biggest opportunity is recovery, and loneliness is an unavoidable reality. When New York suddenly turns into the coldest place imaginable, where can an independent New Yorker turn? For many, the answer lies in The Creative Center.

The Creative Center is a non-profit organization that specializes in “creative aging,” the concept that where there is artistic self-expression, there are health benefits. The center has brought art to those with chronic illnesses such as cancer or AIDS, since 1994. “We wanted to give those with cancer a home,” said Robin Glazer, director and co-founder of the Creative Center. What began as a series of workshops for women with cancer has blossomed into a program for those of all ages, genders, and stages of treatment. The Creative Center now has daily workshops, artists-in-residence hospital programs, an online gallery, and a training program that works to bring their philosophy and proven approach to arts to hospitals around the country.

As a cancer survivor herself, Glazer knew the painful process that inevitably follows cancer diagnosis. She wanted to create a haven away from the drabness of hospitals and the painful reality of treatment, a place where self-expression was not only encouraged but expanded on and improved. “I didn’t want it to just be ‘arts and crafts for sick people’, I wanted people to improve and become proud of their art,” Glazer said. With this idea in mind, Glazer constructed a program with a school-like structure. Students can take two workshops per semester, with a year at the center consisting of three semesters in total. Some of the courses available include creative writing, watercolor painting, knitting, as well as courses in ceramic and jewelry making. Classes are available to those who have had a diagnosis, are in treatment, or have recovered from a terminal illness. While these workshops do not get students actual credit, they do get the invaluable experience of creating as they recover in a non-judgmental and non-competitive environment. Best of all, the workshops are free-of-charge.

With funding from multiple organizations, The Creative Center also offers programs to hospitals at little to no cost. With guidance from the center, artists are trained to work closely with patients that unfortunately are bedridden due to their illness. Equipped with paints, beads, yarn and a plethora of other crafty things, artists-in-residence spend hours with patients who might have otherwise been alone. “The artists-in-residence program not only provides art for these patients, but friendship, and friendship is exactly what these guys need,” Glazer explained. The program has garnered such positive responses from hospitals and patients alike, that the center now offers training to senior centers and nursing home administrators. Positive responses have also led more organizations to hop on the center’s bandwagon. Such organizations include: Livestrong, National Endowment for the Arts, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Creative Center’s most important partner however, is University Settlement, a social program that has actually absorbed The Creative Center this past year. University Settlement’s ideology is deeply rooted in the idea that low-income families deserve basic services at an affordable price to enable them a chance at the American Dream so proudly advertised by this country. With such similar goals, the merger is hardly a surprise. In fact, Glazer had dreamt of the day that such a program would back the center. “I was nervous for a long while of what might happen to the center if I should die,” Glazer shared, “After all, it was only three of us coordinators running the entire program. Once we got absorbed, I was ecstastic. University Settlement has secured a place for The Creative Center in the future.”

Nassau County Youth Programs Suffering at the Hands of Elected Officials by Sarah Moi-Thuk-Shung

photo-19

Eager volunteers, tables filled with arts and crafts, and a pumped up DJ await as students begin to file in for some Christmas fun. The gym at Gotham Avenue Elementary School will soon be filled with nearly 400 first to fourth graders for this years Christmas party. Patrick Boyle, Executive Director of Gateway Youth Outreach, Inc., along with his staff, put together this party for the children who are a part of GYO at Gotham, as well as students from nearby elementary schools. The toys given to these nearly 400 children, the pizza delivered for them as well as volunteers and staff, and the surprise visit from Santa Claus were all sponsored by GYO. This event would not be the first that GYO has had to sponsor without the help of government funding since the budget cut in July.

“We had programs that had 800 kids in them every day after school. Nassau County in their infinite wisdom decided in July to cut our budget completely. We do have one program that is being run through a state grant at the Gotham Avenue School for 100 children, but that means that 700 kids don’t get programs,” said Boyle. This great decrease in numbers of kids who don’t get programs does not begin to show the devastation of the budget cut.

photo-18

Parents of children that attend elementary schools in the Sewanhaka Central District who are used to having summer programs and afterschool offered to them through GYO were forced to find alternative programs, most likely at a high cost or at an inconvenient location. Luisa Celis, parent of an 8-year old at the only open afterschool program in the districts says, “This is just a life saver for me. Babysitting is expensive and I cannot work to pay babysitters. If they cut the program, I probably won’t be able to have a job.” Like many parents who work full time, Luisa just needs somewhere for her son to stay for an hour or two until she is off of work and able to pick him up.

Gateway Youth Outreach does not only consist of afterschool programs. The staff of GYO works with students who are on probation and they allow them to do community service as well as provide them with counseling. More counseling is provided for elementary and high school students and their parents who live in Elmont, if there is a problem within the home. Also, GYO deals with superintendent suspensions in order to help a child that is in trouble get back into school faster. “We run a myriad of programs and whatever the need is in the community, that’s what we’ll do,” said Boyle.

photo-17

GYO is a not for profit corporation that receives a certain amount of money from Nassau County to run the business and provide it’s different programs. The total budget for GYO for the year is about $328,000. For all 43 youth service agencies in Nassau County, the budget was $7.3 million. In relation to the $2.6 billion budget for the whole county, the budget for youth services is a mere 0.002%. “To me it’s just a war on kids and there families, the county is very short-sighted,” said Susanna Isaacson, former member of the Nassau County youth board. After the budget cut, Isaacson was told she either had to retire early or she would be laid off. She decided to retire a year early and did not receive her full 30-year pension.

The politics behind the budget cut made by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano gets complicated, but Mr. Boyle was able to explain it in layman’s terms. “It was because of a fight between redistricting and bonding, it had nothing to do with youth services,” said Boyle. Politicians were not concerned with the welfare of the children and their families, but more so they were looking out for their own jobs when it came to making the decisions for the budget cuts.

So what is in the future for youth programs in Nassau County, more specifically Gateway Youth Outreach? At 4:29pm on October 11, GYO received a little over 50% of their money back for funding. Now, the program will be able to serve about half as many kids as it did when it received full funding, this means close to 400 kids in total. “They can still use us as a pawn because they have only given us back half of our money and they know we want the other half because that is how we serve as many people as we do,” said Boyle. It is the hope of many working parents that 100% of the youth programs in the Sewanhaka Central District community as well as throughout Nassau County will be restored soon. The guidance that these programs provide for the youth is necessary and imperative to the thriving communities of Long Island.

The Upper West Side’s Battle for Bike Lanes

The M5 bus drives straight down Riverside Drive from 120th Street until 72nd Street and then turns onto Broadway, Manhattan’s main street. It’s a picturesque sight with beautiful post war monuments on 110th Street, lines of trees changing colors leading into Riverside Park, and a universal quiet, with the exception of children’s squeals of excitement in the playground.

But now the quiet is being tarnished with the constant, but necessary, sounds of horns aimed at bicyclists. Bike lanes are nonexistent on Riverside Drive in the Upper West Side and on Columbus Avenue they are cut short. The effort to implement safer bike practices has been an uphill battle for Community Board 7. Screen shot 2012-11-29 at 12.02.55 PM

According to the Community Board 7’s October minutes, the attendants “all spoke in favor of extending the lanes.” Their adamant pro-bike lanes attitude stems from the 2-year wait they’ve been forced to sit through on the matter. Yet, up until their December 11, 2012 Community Board meeting, no further steps regarding bike lanes have been resolved.

A spokesperson for the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign said, “Protected bike lanes help save the lives of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.” Bike lanes in New York City are distinguished by the painted white lines on the ground with a stick figure picture of a person on a bike; protected bike lanes are divided from regular traffic with a barrier.

In response to the vote that tied up the plea to continue protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue, she said “DOT (Department of Transportation) will have to do more research on the topic now. A lot of people, who last night voted against [protected bike lanes], said that they did so because they did not have enough information, which we [UWS Renaissance Campaign] certainly do not agree with.”

A car owner and frequent visitor to the neighborhood, Diane Delgado, said “The streets are too narrow for bikers. I constantly have to stop my car to let them go by. I am not a fan of having bikers on bike lanes or the streets”

Crowded streets are a New York problem, but even more so with bikers cutting off MTA buses and racing too close to a 4,000-pound car. Even though, by law, as stated on the nyc.gov website, bicyclists are allowed to “ride in the street” and “ride in traffic,” they are also encouraged to “ride in the middle of the travel lane” if their distance from a car is too close.

“I can’t believe that the Community Board, yet again, voted against safe streets and against the will of the community,” said Lisa Sladkus on Facebook after a Community Board 7 meeting,  “Business is important, but safety trumps all.”

Protected bike lanes might be the solution each party is looking for. With protected bike lanes traffic will not be brought to a halt because of bikers and bikers will be able to ride freely.

Holding Ground: An Historic Town’s Fight Against Franchises

Sun dressed women drink and dance alongside men in summer suits and expensive swim shorts. The live band rocks its own twist to Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. Servers dish out clams and sandwiches with smiles while speedboats and motorcycle gangs rumble their engines before parking at the party. This is the pier at Claudio’s Clam Bar in the heat of the Long Island summer. Where cocktails clash with clams and couture in celebration of the season.

Claudio’s Clam Bar & Restaurant is the oldest same family owned restaurant in the United States. It stretches out into the Bay from Main Street in Greenport, a small and picturesque fishing town turned tourist escape for wealthy New Yorkers who look to sleep, swim and spend their summer days outside of the Hamptons.

Today, the post-Sandy scene at Claudio’s is more salvage than celebration. Closed for the season with renovations moving along, locals worry that the storm may have pushed the restaurant and its owners past a breaking point.

“I really hope they can come back from this. You won’t see it on the market, but Claudio’s is always up for sale,” says life-long resident and local librarian Poppy Johnson. “If the price is right, of course.”

The past ten years have seen Greenport real estate double, even during a down market. Business owners fight like sharks for a piece of the up-and-coming quiet beach town with Manhattan variety, but most of what makes Greenport so desirable is already in place.

“I’ve been the owner and operator of Sandpiper for 33 years,” says ice cream parlor owner Paris Alatsis. “You’ll find me or my wife making our homemade ice cream every day of the week.”

Like Claudio’s, Sandpiper Ice Cream attracts visitors with its long family history. The old-fashioned popcorn machine and rotating pretzel stand pay a nostalgic ode to the old days of ice cream parlors, and everybody likes seeing a private owner work his business day in and day out. But, as Mr. Alatsis notes, “Things got harder when Ralph’s came.”

Ralph’s Italian Ices has enjoyed three summers of booming business in Greenport. The new kid on the block sings a familiar tune, as most of Greenport’s tourists have undoubtedly had dessert at a Ralph’s elsewhere in the tri-state area which the budding franchise spans.

“I’ve been getting dessert from Sandpiper since I was in high school. Back then it was the only parlor in town. We still go, but now my kids beg for Ralph’s every time we pass,” explains Julia Robbins, a local realtor.

Gone are the days of the highway diner, replaced by the golden arches of McDonald’s, familiar in both product and price. Like the rest of the world, Greenport is no stranger to franchise businesses outgunning family-owned operations.

But doesn’t that defy the enjoyment of a vacation? To escape from the familiar and experience the unknown?

“It’s tough, when the big companies move in, but people can tell if you love what you do,” explains Aldo Maorana while crafting several espressos behind the counter of his café on Front Street. “It’s all in the service. I’ve been making coffee for thirty years, but I don’t work the shop to sell people coffee. I live my life to share experiences with people, on a human level. “

Aldo’s Café was faced with a threatening intrusion when Starbucks, the unholy symbol of gentrification, moved right across the street. Perhaps it was Aldo’s philosophy on life and business that helped preserve his shop, as an uplifting victory for the home team saw Starbucks pack up and ship out after two seasons, when corporate headquarters saw that the business wasn’t meeting its quota.

“Greenport should be an experience, not just a business. I hope people can understand that,” Aldo explains.

The shop-lined streets of Greenport village have seen coffee competition come and go. New dessert eateries won’t even brew coffee out of respect for the hometown hero who beat out Starbucks. But corporate sharks feed wherever they can find food, and right now—with tourism increasing thanks to direct transport to the town from the Hamptons, Manhattan and even Connecticut—the money situation in Greenport is looking mighty delicious.

The next push is coming from Subway, the world’s largest franchise. Despite a good fight from Greenport Township, including the Building and Zoning Departments who seek to preserve Greenport’s pristine public image, the franchise famous for its $5 footlong subs looks like it will be taking a big bite out of every sandwich business in town very soon.

“There’s always this looming threat that things are going to change,” says Mark LaMain, owner of Butterito’s, formerly Butta’Cakes. LaMain took Superstorm Sandy as a sign to change his shop. He decided to expand from just cupcakes and pastries and include soups and fresh baked sandwiches to the menu. LaMain is proud to serve locally sourced foods.

“The hurricane was one thing, now Subway is moving in. I’m totally revamping the menu—again—to include burritos. And if Chipotle comes next year, then I’ll just take it as a sign to leave the town,” LaMain jokes. “It all comes down to the customer though. Where are they going to eat? Do they want something fresh or do they want something familiar?”

The historic family business of Claudio’s brings in big business. The mom and pop shops that precede it all attribute to the small town charm that attracts tourists and keeps them coming back. But Mark LaMain begs the perfect question. In a summer resort town hours away from the traffic of city living, do visitors want more of the same or something new?