By David Gibbons The first thing you notice about Nancy Easton is the sparkle in her eyes and then the crinkle in her smile, sure signs of the eternal optimist who won’t take no for an answer and relishes a tough challenge. Easton’s mission, through Wellness in the Schools, a nonprofit she founded in 2005, 
By Laura Shin If it’s a nice day in New York City, Joseph Bolanos is probably sitting outside on his Upper West Side brownstone stoop. Situated in the middle of the block on West 76th Street, Bolanos says it’s the perfect spot for neighbors to walk over, meet new people and talk about any issues 
By Tom DiChristopher When most people think about activities for senior citizens, they think shuffleboard, bingo—maybe mahjong. Karen Fuller’s mind goes elsewhere: gong therapy, laughter yoga, massage tai chi. For the past 20 years, Karen Fuller has been enriching the lives of seniors through a wellness program at Dorot, an organization that alleviates social isolation 
By Susan Armitage Irene Zola wants the world to know about people like Dolores Saborido. In her nineties, Saborido had outlived nearly all of her relatives. Her hired caregiver did not speak enough English, Zola says, and Saborido was socially isolated. Eventually, Saborido phoned Zola’s organization, Lifeforce in Later Years (LiLY), which matched her with 
Few New Yorkers know more about the daily problems the homeless face than Vanessa Wanderlingh, a homeless outreach officer with the NYPD’s 20th Precinct. “Within this last year I have engaged close to 100 individuals on the Upper West Side. I work with local outreach teams … and multiple residents of the community to offer 
By Laura Shin Katherine Oliver never thought she would work in government. But in 2002, the former journalist saw a unique opportunity to help rebuild a post-9/11 New York City by bringing Hollywood to the five boroughs. “I thought it would be a great way to help the city, and I was curious about an 
By David Gibbons Beethoven and Bernstein—as in Ludwig van and Leonard—aren’t a bad place to start for an aspiring young classical musician who wants to study conducting. Those two musical giants were Cynthia Elliott’s idols as a Stanford freshman and prospective music major. There was also Seiji Ozawa, who headed the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra 
By David Gibbons So what’s a medievalist with Ph.D. expertise in a mid-14th century civil war that brought the first bastard king to the throne of Spain by dint of propaganda doing running the New-York Historical Society? The answer is she has a prodigious talent and infectious enthusiasm for drawing her audience in by weaving 
City Council Member Gale Brewer is, of course, a politician. By many accounts, she’s also a skilled magician, having mastered the art of being in several places at the same time. Brewer’s most marked characteristic as an Upper West Side elected official is that she is seemingly everywhere. Those who have worked closely with her 
