By Vanesa Vennard Joel Kier has been an avid Gracious Home shopper for nearly two decades. The premier home and goods store first opened in 1963 in the Upper East Side, and thanks to Kier, the company will make it to it’s 50th anniversary this year; still in business and better than ever. In 2010, 
By Vanesa Vennard Dr. Steven Corwin went into medicine to help people, focusing on cardiology because his mother’s father and his father’s father both suffered from heart disease. “You have somebody in your family that has a disease, you want to help them,” he said. “Even though I couldn’t help my two grandparents, there are other 
By Vanesa Vennard When it comes to designing luxury homes in Manhattan, Gary Jacob keeps New Yorkers in mind by always including the essentials. He wants to create homes that are as useful as they are beautiful. “We want to build the best living environment so that people come home to their apartments happy,” said 
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 
By Vanesa Vennard Before Father George Witt, S.J. was prepping for his services at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, he was teaching English and religious education at Saint Agnes Boys High School for 10 years. Though Witt says there is certainly teaching involved with ministry, the church offers a broader and more inclusive subject 
By Vanesa Vennard In emergency rooms, doctors and nurses seem to be on call 24/7, working odd hours for several patients. But when it comes to emergencies with the hospital itself, John Muniz, Director of Engineering at Beth Israel, is the one on call. “My patient is the hospital, the actual infrastructure,” said Muniz, who 
Our Town Thanks You The OTTY Awards have become an annual tradition anticipated by many in the Upper East Side community as a celebration of what makes the neighborhood great. (See the Letter to the Editor by Betty Cooper Wallerstein on page 14.) OTTY stands for Our Town Thanks You – they are an opportunity 
