NYC's Upper West Siders might know the 142 year-old, block long, many-storied, red-brick building on Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd Street.

Completed in 1883 and designed by Gilded Age architect Robert Morris Hunt – famed for the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. – the base of the Statue of Liberty – the front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – this building, on Amsterdam and 103rd Street, opened as the Association Residence for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females. In the late 1960s, it was set to be torn down. BUT – in time – was saved in great part due to the efforts of two of our guests -- and was resurrected as a major youth hostel inviting visitors from all over the world looking to experience NYC up close and personal.

Former Manhattan Borough President and City Council member Ruth Messinger and Bloomington Historial Pam Tice joined us to tell the story of Hunt’s building -- a story that encompasses the history of NYC – both its wealth and inconsistent goal to provide dignity to its citizens.

This BCR program was recorded at 5 Napkin Burger Bar on Broadway and W. 84th St.

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Stop the Chop” exists to eliminate non-essential helicopters from the skies above New York City – because – according to the "Stop the Chop" website: “Tourist, charter and commuter helicopter flights dramatically reduce the quality of life for millions of people in the metropolitan area. They pollute our environment, pose significant safety risks, harm our children, and make us miserable”

It was a hot, second day of summer afternoon in Riverside Park – at the “You’ve Got Mail” promenade and garden. We sat on a bench and talked with our UWS neighbors about their concerns and questions regarding the Helicopter racket that invades our peaceful moments.

Two experts, on the effects of the copter cacophony on our health and enjoyment of the our city parks, joined us -- Melissa Elstein and Ken Coughlin; both long-time NYC community organizers and environmental activists. Melissa was recently on BCR program #221 talking about “Love Your Street Tree Day” sponsored by the “West 80s Neighborhood Association”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 33 -- Veteran's For Peace "Fast for Gaza."

This will be the final of the "Fast for Gaza" conversations with peacemaker Kathy Kelly. It was the beginning of a brutal heat wave in NYC; we found a shady spot on the UN side of 1st Avenue. On the opposite side a small group of fasting protestors held signs and umbrellas.

Kathy and I talked about her 2004 book "Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison" -- focusing on the chapter "Change Agents" -- when she was visited in Pekin Prison by two FBI agents. Kathy talks about the families and children she got to know during her many visits to Iraqi hospitals during the decades-long UN / US sanctions on Iraq. UNICEF reported that 500,000 children under the age of five died between 1991 and 1998 due to those sanctions. Kelly's "Voices in the Wilderness" worked to bring medical supplies to those beleaguered people.

The music in this program is “Hiroshima Rising from the Abyss" performed by the Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin Jazz Band, featuring drummer Andy Watson.

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.