By Lydie Raschka

One day, Carol Giordano struggled against a robust wind.

“I’m disabled,” she said. “I walk with a cane. I had papers in my hand. Of course they flew everywhere.”

Enter Louis Rios, 59, doorman since 1974, and all-around Good Samaritan.

“There he was,” said Giordano. “Running after the papers. I didn’t expect it. It was so kind.”

When the weather turns bad, Louis Rios is the one to remind office workers what they need. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Rios works in a prestigious commercial building, at 733 Third Avenue at 46th Street, owned by the Durst Organization that houses the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as UN World Food, Rodale Press and, at one time, the offices of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late U.S. senator from New York.

He calls every entrant by name, even those who pass through his doors just once a week.

“There are hundreds of us in this building,” marveled Jennie Powers, vice president of special events for the multiple sclerosis group. “Louis is the first person people meet when they arrive. He’s the front of the house for us. His face is in my head. He is always so present.”

As “front of the house,” Rios serves as watchman, good-natured nudge and confessor. He holds the elevator car for those in wheelchairs, or using canes or walkers.

“He asks what you are having for lunch,” said Powers, “and reminds you to bring a sweater, an umbrella. He’s the greeter. He’s the weatherman.”

“It’s almost like if they were family,” said Rios. “A lot of people come in with problems from the outside. I let them take it out, it makes them feel good.”

Rios was born and raised in Brooklyn with two brothers. His father died 10 years ago. He and his wife, a retired New York City schoolteacher, raised two daughters on the first and second floors of a three-family brownstone they purchased in Park Slope in 1977.

The couple likes to “get in the car, turn it on and just go.” They’ve been to Vermont, London and Montreal, where they visited cathedrals and casinos.

“I’m usually pretty good with casinos,” he said.

When it comes to his 35 years at the door, however, Rios is modest and nonchalant. “The building practically runs itself,” he maintained, “nothing unusual happens here.”

Yet tenants say he is unusual for his ability to be the eyes and ears of a building.

“I feel pretty good around him when I’m out there,” Giordano said. “He’s watching out for me.”

By Lydie Raschka

Carlos Cruz doesn’t go anywhere, but he doesn’t need to—the world passes through his doorway.

Tenants in the 455-unit buildingat 61-15 97th St. Rego Park where he works as a doorman come from Africa, Argentina, India, Pakistan, Russia, Israel and other far-flung places.

Cruz, 48, came to New York City from Puerto Rico at age three. It was his first and only plane ride, a journey he cannot remember. “I am afraid to fly,” he said.

Tenants say Carlos Cruz is always going out of his way to help. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

He and one sister, currently battling cancer, are the only survivors from his childhood family of six. He has a niece and nephew who live in Pennsylvania.

In his 22 years as a doorman, familial-type bonds have grown between Cruz and some of the building tenants. He has been deeply affected by the deaths of old-timers, one elderly woman in particular, and was present for the death of one man right in his lobby.

“He was a married man,” Cruz recalled animatedly, “having an affair. He was nervous. It was terrible.”

There have been other sensitive situations to manage, like the aide who abandoned her wheelchair-bound charge when she got drunk and fell in front of the building.

“Most of the people here are absolutely wonderful,” he laughed, “but some of them are just too much.”

“Carlos is exceptional,” said Fragida Diaz, a tenant for 26 years. “He dresses impeccably. He takes his job very seriously.” Tenant and single mom Michelle Gilliam cited the time her 9-year-old son had to wear a tie to his private school, instead of his usual clip-on bow tie.

“Carlos showed him how to make a perfect Windsor knot,” right in the lobby before school.

He often fields complaints from tenants. He keeps in touch with the super on a two-way radio and is praised for his responsiveness. One time he helped Diaz get into the storage room to get her luggage for a trip. She’d forgotten to retrieve it during the posted hours. “You’d usually get, ‘I’m sorry, it’s a skeleton crew,’ you know?” she said. But Cruz managed to track someone down. “Thank God for Carlos! He goes the extra mile to help you.”

He is an avid stamp collector. He took to collecting at age five, when he was introduced to it by a neighbor. Today, his collection fills 13 books. The stamps come from friends, family, mail-order services and those tenants from all around the world.

In addition to stamp collecting, Cruz enjoys reading, PBS shows and tending an elderly neighbor’s garden.

“He’s very attuned to women’s needs, to people with disabilities,” said Gilliam. “He just treats everyone with the same respect.”

By Lydie Raschka

One day, Carol Giordano struggled against a robust wind.

“I"m disabled, she said. “I walk with a cane. I had papers in my hand. Of course they flew everywhere.

Enter Louis Rios, 59, doorman since 1974, and all-around Good Samaritan.

“There he was, said Giordano. “Running after the papers. I didn"t expect it. It was so kind.

When the weather turns bad, Louis Rios is the one to remind office workers what they need. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Rios works in a prestigious commercial building, at 733 Third Avenue at 46th Street, owned by the Durst Organization that houses the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as UN World Food, Rodale Press and, at one time, the offices of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late U.S. senator from New York.

He calls every entrant by name, even those who pass through his doors just once a week.

“There are hundreds of us in this building, marveled Jennie Powers, vice president of special events for the multiple sclerosis group. “Louis is the first person people meet when they arrive. He"s the front of the house for us. His face is in my head. He is always so present.

As “front of the house, Rios serves as watchman, good-natured nudge and confessor. He holds the elevator car for those in wheelchairs, or using canes or walkers.

“He asks what you are having for lunch, said Powers, “and reminds you to bring a sweater, an umbrella. He"s the greeter. He"s the weatherman.

“It"s almost like if they were family, said Rios. “A lot of people come in with problems from the outside. I let them take it out, it makes them feel good.

Rios was born and raised in Brooklyn with two brothers. His father died 10 years ago. He and his wife, a retired New York City schoolteacher, raised two daughters on the first and second floors of a three-family brownstone they purchased in Park Slope in 1977.

The couple likes to “get in the car, turn it on and just go. They"ve been to Vermont, London and Montreal, where they visited cathedrals and casinos.

“I"m usually pretty good with casinos, he said.

When it comes to his 35 years at the door, however, Rios is modest and nonchalant. “The building practically runs itself, he maintained, “nothing unusual happens here.

Yet tenants say he is unusual for his ability to be the eyes and ears of a building.

“I feel pretty good around him when I"m out there, Giordano said. “He"s watching out for me.

By Lydie Raschka

Carlos Cruz doesn"t go anywhere, but he doesn"t need to's the world passes through his doorway.

Tenants in the 455-unit building at 61-15 97th St. Rego Park where he works as a doorman come from Africa, Argentina, India, Pakistan, Russia, Israel and other far-flung places.

Cruz, 48, came to New York City from Puerto Rico at age three. It was his first and only plane ride, a journey he cannot remember. “I am afraid to fly, he said.

Tenants say Carlos Cruz is always going out of his way to help. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

He and one sister, currently battling cancer, are the only survivors from his childhood family of six. He has a niece and nephew who live in Pennsylvania.

In his 22 years as a doorman, familial-type bonds have grown between Cruz and some of the building tenants. He has been deeply affected by the deaths of old-timers, one elderly woman in particular, and was present for the death of one man right in his lobby.

“He was a married man, Cruz recalled animatedly, “having an affair. He was nervous. It was terrible.

There have been other sensitive situations to manage, like the aide who abandoned her wheelchair-bound charge when she got drunk and fell in front of the building.

“Most of the people here are absolutely wonderful, he laughed, “but some of them are just too much.

“Carlos is exceptional, said Fragida Diaz, a tenant for 26 years. “He dresses impeccably. He takes his job very seriously. Tenant and single mom Michelle Gilliam cited the time her 9-year-old son had to wear a tie to his private school, instead of his usual clip-on bow tie.

“Carlos showed him how to make a perfect Windsor knot, right in the lobby before school.

He often fields complaints from tenants. He keeps in touch with the super on a two-way radio and is praised for his responsiveness. One time he helped Diaz get into the storage room to get her luggage for a trip. She"d forgotten to retrieve it during the posted hours. “You"d usually get, ‘I"m sorry, it"s a skeleton crew," you know? she said. But Cruz managed to track someone down. “Thank God for Carlos! He goes the extra mile to help you.

He is an avid stamp collector. He took to collecting at age five, when he was introduced to it by a neighbor. Today, his collection fills 13 books. The stamps come from friends, family, mail-order services and those tenants from all around the world.

In addition to stamp collecting, Cruz enjoys reading, PBS shows and tending an elderly neighbor"s garden.

“He"s very attuned to women"s needs, to people with disabilities, said Gilliam. “He just treats everyone with the same respect.

By Lydie Raschka

For parent Sophia Lee, Deirdre Corcoran’s classroom is a delicately balanced social structure that creates just the right climate for learning. A strong base of respect allows Corcoran to be “judiciously playful” with her students.

Deirdre Corcoran invites her Irish father to school to sing folk songs about the immigrant experience.

“She sings and dances with the class, laughs and cries with them, shares her family, heritage and passion with them,” Lee said.

From the perspective of student Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Corcoran is also a teacher who explains things “really, really well.” She was the first teacher to sit at his table after a lesson to make sure that he and his classmates understood the subject—not an easy task in a busy classroom of 27 students.

Corcoran is a Brooklyn native and experienced educator who was nervous about balancing home life and career when she and her husband started a family a decade ago. She thought it would be best to keep home and work separate.

“That’s not what happened and it was the wrong way to look at it,” she said.

On trips with her family, she found herself thinking about what she could bring back to the classroom and share with her students; on field trips with students, she was thinking about what she could bring home and share with family.

“They go hand in hand,” she said. “Just as I want to know about my students’ lives, I want them to know about mine.”

Students have therefore met her 2nd- and 4th-grade daughters, budding Irish step-dancers who join the class on Take Your Daughter to Work Day, and Corcoran’s Irish father, who comes in to sing Irish folk songs about the immigrant experience.

Teaching history through personal stories, whether via folk songs or the diary of a Civil War soldier, works well for this age group, Corcoran has found.

“Emotionally, 5th grade is just the right age to understand, to offer them personal interest stories. They have such empathy for the people of the time,” she said.

To help students further walk in another person’s shoes, she takes them to Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn, to see a station on the Underground Railroad, and on a day trip to Gettysburg, Penn.

“It’s so fresh to hear these young people start to understand history and to see them empathize with people of the past,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran is married to a fire captain in the New York City Fire Department.

“We care a lot about our city,” she said. “It’s what attracted us to each other—the great reward we feel in helping others.”

The couple is surrounded by extended family in Brooklyn: parents, in-laws, sisters, nieces and nephews. They enjoy biking, relaxing at the beach and exploring New York City’s many playgrounds with their daughters.

Teaching is also a family tradition. Corcoran’s singer-songwriter father taught high school history and her sister is a teacher, too.

“It’s in our blood,” Corcoran said. “I think of it as a calling.”

–

Deirdre Corcoran
5th grade, P.S. 321

By Lydie Raschka

Gabriela Klassen is reluctant to share her secrets of time management—perhaps because they go against the grain in this test-prep, skills-based climate. One trick is to “compact” the basics: spend an entire morning on math, for example, so that the afternoon can be dedicated to projects.

Gabriela Klassen was a professional musician playing in orchestras before she became a teacher.

And projects are the meat and potatoes of Klassen’s curriculum. They spring from extensive interest surveys she administers when she first meets students to get a good sense of the group’s curiosities (Klassen has recently taught the same gifted and talented class from 3rd through 5th grade).

In 3rd grade, a boy wanted to go to China. She developed a series of lessons centered on the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, comparing Chinese design principles with the tradition of Western classical architecture. The idea of yin and yang was applied to vocabulary: Kids made lists of opposites. During their visit to the garden, students identified design elements and then designed their own gardens. The study ended with a Chinatown lunch.

An emphasis on architecture is another hallmark of Klassen’s teaching. She has taken summer classes on everything from drafting, design and theory, to model-making and computer-aided design. She first thought about bringing this passion to the classroom when a student said he wanted to climb to the top of the Empire State Building. This launched a survey of architectural structures, from the simplest to the most complex.

“These are structures they can build, make and find all over New York,” she said.

Learning through thematic projects requires lots of planning, something Klassen does when she gets home, after she collapses for an hour or two and takes Mishka, her dog, for a run. Klassen lives with her husband Arnold near the school. In her spare time, she plays violin or Renaissance lute in chamber music ensembles. A previous career playing in orchestras took her from Japan to Italy, but Klassen eventually wanted to settle down. Her younger sister, Helen, suggested teaching: starting at age 14, Klassen began to teach Helen to play violin and continued to do so for 10 years.

Rekha Menon, the parent of one of Klassen’s students, has found that she brings out the best in her son.

“He was advising us on our stock picks in 3rd grade,” Menon said.

In 4th grade, he got into playing piano in a full-length production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 5th grade, he became fascinated with red-tailed hawks in Central Park.

“My son identifies birds while walking down the street with binoculars,” Menon said. “I don’t think this is something you would find in a standard curriculum.”

Now, Klassen’s 5th graders are deep into reading and writing mysteries—and learning about the musical leitmotifs in North by Northwest, how sound brings about suspense—and they’re working their way through Shakespeare’s Richard III.

Samantha Deutsch, a fellow teacher, is amazed at Klassen’s talents.

“She has a natural ability to channel her student’s own passions—for trains, rocket ships, skyscrapers, butterflies, planets, whatever,” she said. “As a colleague, I learn something every time I walk through her door.”

–

Gabriela Klassen
5th grade, P.S. 145

By Lydie Raschka

Fifth-grade teacher Tracy Nemiroff breaks the math nerd mold.

“She’s not what you’d expect,” said parent Claudine May-Gomez. “Tiny, beautiful, little, pretty—and she loves math!”

Tracy Nemiroff is an advocate for gifted students, arguing that the challenges they face are often overlooked.

But this math lover also has a reputation for being tough.

“I demand a lot. I give them really hard problems,” Nemiroff said.

“A lot of parents complain,” May-Gomez said. “‘She’s too hard,’ ‘There’s too much homework,’ but she doesn’t care. She does what’s best for the kids.”

This does not mean letting her students fend for themselves, however. Nemiroff answers emails after school if kids need help, has them practice for state and national math tests until test taking feels like a walk in the park and defuses math anxiety with singing, dancing and rapping—like the introductory rap she performs on the first day of school:

I’m from Miami, so I’m used to the heat,

When the snow comes down, I get frozen feet.

On parents’ night, Nemiroff hands out a questionnaire. Parent Min Miller took notice. Never before had a teacher asked, “Is your child afraid of math?” Miller’s daughter, Maeve, was indeed a little afraid. She had been surprised to get 60 percent on her first math test of the year. Many gifted kids enjoy good test scores and so had Maeve, but Nemiroff is interested in chipping away at the gifted child’s tendency toward perfectionism.

“I want them to take risks, to know it’s OK to make mistakes,” she said. “It is what students do with their mistakes and struggles that defines them as learners and makes them most successful.”

Emphasis is placed on problem solving that draws on all of a child’s accumulated math knowledge. For Maeve, this teaching strategy has worked, and she’s back in the 90 percent range.

“Maeve has such confidence in math,” Miller said.

Maeve adds, “Ms. Nemiroff makes it fun, like there’s nothing to it, so you’re not scared.”

Math inventions are one way of keeping it fun. Student projects have included designs for a mathematical keyboard, an electric protractor, a digital ruler and a baseball mitt that measures speed upon impact. As a gifted child herself, Nemiroff felt “pushed to make sure I got everything right.” She wants her students to take chances.

“That’s when I see them coming alive,” she said. “That’s when I see the most progress.”

Upon graduation from Emory University, in Atlanta, Nemiroff moved to New York City with her fiancé. She taught at NEST+m for two years before a slot opened up at the Anderson School, where she’s been for three years. She is a member of MENSA, the organization for people with high IQs, and uses puzzles and problems from MENSA’s newsletters in her classroom. She is an advocate for gifted kids.

“Often gifted kids get overlooked for the challenges they go through,” she said.

“People think they have anything and everything given to them, but they have problems and pressures just like everyone else.”

In spite of the rigor of her approach, Nemiroff tries to keep math light and relevant with questions like, “Why would Derek Jeter and David Wright use the Pythagorean theorem in their work?”

This summer, her math skills will be particularly relevant and handy as she, and her fiancé, plan their wedding.

–
Tracy Nemiroff
5th grade, The Anderson School

By Lydie Raschka

Kindergarten teacher Brenda Davis is known, respectfully, as the “Jedi Master of early childhood teachers” by the parents who revere her—a few of whom were in her classroom when they were 5 and 6 years old. Davis learned her craft through years of practice, training and dedication. She is described as “artful,” “wise,” “focused” and “patient.”

Brenda Davis says she likes working with kindergartners because “they tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.”

“It’s better as I’ve gotten older,” she said. “I have much more patience with children than adults.”

Yet the adults at P.S. 180 watch and learn.

“As a parent, you drink it up and try to take notes,” said Megan Berry. “Her skill is the result of someone who has been showing up for everything for years.”

After a dissatisfying foray in the business world, Davis worked in daycare for 10 years. She ventured into the public school system as a substitute, schlepping a bag of activities suitable for kindergartners through middle schoolers because of her constantly changing assignments. But her heart has always been with the youngest ones.

“I always liked the early grades,” she said. “They tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.”

Davis has seen at least six principals come and go in her 21 years at P.S. 180. One of her biggest challenges has been adapting to those who arrive with new methodologies and trends.

“That has been a challenge,” she said. “Sometimes they didn’t have elementary school experience. I’ve had to learn to be more flexible. I used to have much more fixed ideas. As I get older, I see we can reach the same point and come from different directions.”

In many ways, however, Davis is a principal’s dream. She loves to learn and refine her technique. A recent training topic was “differentiated instruction,” or providing students with different avenues to acquire content, based on their interests and abilities.

“Some students are really into dinosaurs,” Davis said, “and I have a lot of block builders this year. You have to feel your group. Each group has a different rhythm and you can’t alter that. I find private moments to sit and talk to them about their interests. There’s a lot of talking in pre-K and K.”

There’s also a lot of going out. She takes her class to the Bronx Zoo, the Transit Museum and Central Park to look for bugs.

Davis has had her own Jedi Masters along the way: a mother “who liked to explain things;” Mrs. Jackson, her 3rd- grade teacher; and a grandmother who was “a great reader.” In college, she had a supportive professor who encouraged her to “keep going forward” when she was inclined to stop with her associate’s degree. Eventually, she earned her master’s from Adelphi University.

A life-long Manhattanite, Davis enjoys swimming, walking and Turner Classic Movies. She has one child and one grandchild and is active in children’s programming at her church. At P.S. 180, alumni can often be found hovering around her door, a testament to her lasting impact.

“Heart, soul and spirit,” she said. “That’s what a child needs nurtured.” 

–
Brenda Davis
Kindergarten, P.S. 180

By Lydie Raschka

Every weekday, Karen Kilbane rides her bike from Tribeca to the Upper East Side to teach kindergarten at Hunter College Elementary School.

“She lives for her kindergarten,” said Principal Randy Collins. “Her class is a great way for kids to start school.”

An inventive teacher, one of Karen Kilbane’s lessons brings students to Central Park to make an ecology-based documentary.

Kilbane wasn’t sure she wanted to be a teacher when she first volunteered with children more than a decade ago and became caught up in their “energy, love and excitement” for learning. She had an in at Hunter, a public elementary school for the gifted run by the eponymous CUNY school: Her aunt is a professor of education there. Kilbane was hired as an assistant teacher, still unsure if she wanted to commit her life to teaching. About a month into the job, she knew she’d found her calling.

In her classroom, students learn through the arts—drama, literature, music, film, dance and the visual arts. This may take the form of a mural, based on research about the animals of ancient Egypt and how they relate to the gods, or choreographing and performing in a Broadway-caliber musical about Sekhmet, the Egyptian warr ior goddess. Kilbane’s desire is to “keep every child challenged, interested, happy, learning and growing, in spite of different abilities and needs.”

One approach that has worked well to meet these goals is an ecology-based documentary her class makes about Central Park. The class takes field trips with park rangers. Then they go out in smaller groups and capture footage of their own Central Park discoveries and work with the technology teacher to edit a polished film.

“They share their information,” Kilbane said. “It’s project-based learning and it’s seamless—they don’t even realize it’s science.”

A native of Ohio, Kilbane is admired for her creativity, warmth and love
of learning.

“She loves big projects that involve learning on very deep levels,” said parent Kelly Posner-Gerstenhaber, whose 1st-grade son will find any excuse to go back to visit his kindergarten classroom. “All subjects are seamlessly connected and integrated. If ancient Egypt is the subject area of the year, then Egyptian math and numbers are studied.”

Kilbane brings her own passions to the classroom. She enjoys nature, mythology, gardening, hiking and traveling.

“I’m somewhat of a non-conformist,” she said. “That’s part of why I love Hunter. I’ve never taught anywhere else. The school gives us a lot of freedom to teach the way we want to teach while adhering to benchmarks. These are bright little kids who have so much to say. I try to give them an environment where everyone is learning from each other.”

Kilbane has been at Hunter for 13 years, five of them as a head kindergarten teacher—a long time, and yet just the beginning when compared to her father, who taught middle school in Ohio for 50 years. He is a big proponent of public education and has been a model of “dedication, hard work and passion,” Kilbane said. She follows in his footsteps. When it comes to teaching, she said, “I like the challenge.”

–
Karen Kilbane
Kindergarten, Hunter College Elementary School

Gathering to make crafts may seem more suited to the Midwest than to our steel and concrete city. But tell that to the dozens of henna-haired hipsters, Starbucks moms, silver tops and Michelle Obama look-alikes (and a few men) who showed up April 17 at the New York Public Library’s main branch to chat and knit, and cut and paste. According to Rare Books librarian Jessica Pigza, co-host of “Handmade Crafternoons,” these do-it-yourself salons “bring people into the library, build community and provide a space for creativity.”

Pigza, who blogs at The Handmade Librarian (handmadelibrarian.com), calls herself a dabbler, a “dilettante,” but she’s pretty accomplished. She wears dresses, tops and even a cape that she sewed from vintage patterns. By day, she’s in the rare books division, devoted to reader services and fielding remote reference questions by email. But one Saturday a month, she and Maura Madden, author of Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Craftsy with Your Friends All Year Long, co-host a crafting commune.

Photo by Shira Kronzon

By coordinating events and sharing her curiosity about crafts and books online, Pigza is one of many librarians keeping the New York Public Library relevant in a time of flux.

“Jessica has been particularly effective in using blogging to more directly connect with the craft and design enthusiasts among our patrons,” wrote Ben Vershbow, the library’s digital producer, by email.

Her library blog channel Hand-Made (www.nypl.org/blog_series/hand-made; not to be confused with her personal blog) encourages artists and other creative types to tap into the wealth of research material and ephemera at the main branch. Treasures include vintage valentine collections, textile samples, maps, menus and photos.

“It’s an interesting time at the library,” said Pigza, who lives with her husband and their dog in Washington Heights. “There is a lot of open thinking about what we can do.”

Each Handmade Crafternoon is two hours long and moderated by a local craft book author. Esther K. Smith, who wrote Magic Books and Paper Toys, taught attendees to make pop-up paper garland books last year. Kata Golda, author of Hand-Stitched Felt, demonstrated the art of stitched felt mice. At the April 17 session, Madden introduced books from the library’s collection, followed by a show-and-tell session among attendees.

I made a birthday card for my sister, snipping the letters of her name from the bridal magazine pages. My 14-year-old contentedly pressed and pulled cotton into a swirling tornado, which, sadly, got squashed in our bag during the two-mile walk home. The atmosphere was chummy and relaxing (halfway through I was filled with a sense of technology-free well-being). Some of the individual projects were inspiring, especially a knit baby blanket in rich red, orange and gold connected squares.

The last event before a summer hiatus is scheduled for Saturday, May 15. Moderator Natalie Chanin, founder and head designer of Alabama Chanin, will share some of her Southern sewing and sustainable fashion techniques.

Pigza and Madden plan to run the series for at least another season and hope to take the model to branch libraries in the future. It is easy to imagine how craft gatherings sprouting from the main branch to libraries all over the city (and beyond) might connect us to more than just crafts and books.
>
May 15, New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, 917-275-6975; 2 to 4 p.m., Free.