Author Archive

Ann Cook Is a Champion for Education Reform in the City

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in OTTY Awards, Our Town

AnnCook_0414 Ann Cook has been the co-director of Urban Academy since the school started in 1985, but she speaks proudly of her work this year as executive director of the New York Performance Standards Consortium. She says she is deeply involved with the organization. The consortium represents a group of high schools that have implemented a
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Barbara Coffey Continues to Help Carnegie Hill Flourish

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in OTTY Awards, Our Town

BarbaraCoffey Barbara Coffey doesn’t just enjoy the pleasing environment the Carnegie Hill area has to offer, she’s also responsible for helping maintain it. As CEO of Carnegie Hill Neighbors (CHN), Coffey oversees the board which aims to ensure top-notch quality of life in the Carnegie Hill region, as it has for the 40 years Coffey has
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Mike Beck is a Friend to Everyone

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in OTTY Awards, Our Town

Mike Beck 001 Mike Beck is deeply passionate about helping younger generations thrive to the best of their abilities, and he puts this passion to work at Vanderbilt’s YMCA for countless hours a week. Beck has been a member of the Vanderbilt YMCA’s board since 1999 and is currently serving his third non-consecutive, two-year term as chairman. While
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Rabbi Deborah Hirsch Keeps Her Congregants Close

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in OTTY Awards, Our Town

RabbiDeborahHirsch It’s Deborah Hirsch’s third year with the Temple Shaaray Tefila congregation, though she’s been doing rabbinical work for 31 years, and the dedicated rabbi has a major project underway. “We’re working on a new vision statement for the congregation,” explained Hirsch. “That’s been a very gratifying project. We engage almost 200 congregants in conversation about
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Marc Spitz on “Then” and “Now”

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in Arts our town, Arts our town downtown

spitz A walking tour with a music journalist brings his memoir to life If “raucous” and “intimate” can coexist adroitly, that describes the atmosphere at the release party for Marc Spitz’s new memoir Poseur, an affair tucked cozily away up a staircase at the Lower East Side’s Slipper Room. Everyone here knows each other, laughs heartily
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Downtown, Then and Now with Marc Spitz

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in Music

spitz A walking tour with a music journalist brings his memoir to life If “raucous” and “intimate” can coexist adroitly, that describes the atmosphere at the release party for Marc Spitz’s new memoir Poseur, an affair tucked cozily away up a staircase at the Lower East Side’s Slipper Room. Everyone here knows each other, laughs heartily
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Revitalization vs. Preservation In The Village

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in Breaking News, News OTDT, Our Town Downtown

Richard Blodgett, president of the Charlton Street Block Association, stands in front of a gutted building on Sullivan Street in the Village. The adjacent building in the complex was designed in 1853 by Calvert Vox, a co-designer of Central Park, explained Blodgett. He knows the building in front of him will soon be transformed into
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Direct Action Fashion Show Promotes Spectacle and Going Green

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in Breaking News, News & Features West Side Spirit, News OTDT, News Our Town, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, West Side Spirit

Oyster shell dresses and green grass suits raise awareness of the city’s community gardens Michael Leete, who works at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in Alphabet City, showed up for last weekend’s “anti-fashion” show dressed as a sparkly orange tree. Leete, 28, and fellow acts were decked out head-to-toe in all recycled and
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The Travails of Online Dating Come Alive

Written by Alissa Fleck on . Posted in Breaking News, News & Features West Side Spirit, News OTDT, News Our Town, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, West Side Spirit

 OkCupid veterans flock to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to swap horror stories Studies everywhere are examining the same panic-inducing question—will online dating, with its guaranteed ability to let you endlessly shop around and tailor your perfect mate, ruin relationships forever? Last week’s OkCupid Show (Stories of Love, Sex and the Internet) at the Housing Works
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