Wfuv's Cityscape

In times like these, the gentle flickering of a candle can help you feel at ease. And if that candle also has a delightful fragrance, your spirits could be lifted to a whole ‘nother level. On this week's Cityscape, we're talking with a Bronx native who's fanning the flames of a successful candle making business. And taking wax to a different extreme, we’ll check in with the folks at Madame Tussauds. 

You can’t have a conversation about historical architecture without referencing Stanford White. He was one of the most prominent architects of the Gilded Age. White was a partner in the firm McKim, Mead and White, which built some of the most iconic institutional and domestic buildings of the early 20th century.  White’s great-grandson Samuel G. White is out with a new book about Stanford’s work. It’s called Stanford White in Detail. Samuel is our guest on this edition of Cityscape.  

The music industry still has a long way to go for gender equality. Research shows that women remain woefully underrepresented in the industry. Enter All the Ladies, a new children's album that was created in protest of  the lack of female representation in the music industry. The collection of 11 songs is focused on general equality, female empowerment and breaking glass ceilings. In this edition of Cityscape, we're talking with the album's creator, Joanie Leeds. 

Now that we’re heading into the thick of the winter season, who couldn’t use a warm cup of tea? What about a cup while seated on antique furniture? Our guest this week can offer you both.    Honey Moon is the owner of both Brooklyn High Low, a new tea spot located in Prospect Heights, and 1 of a Find, a vintage shop that’s just down the street from the tea room.    Brooklyn High Low puts a New York twist on two classic English traditions: Low Tea and High Tea. 1 of a Find offers vintage clothing and vintage home decor, as well as unique gifts.

After sitting on a jury in a trial involving a double homicide in East Harlem, Efrem Sigel wanted answers. He wanted to know more about the circumstances that led the young people involved to engage in a life of crime and violence. The killings took place in the courtyard of the East River Houses, a public housing complex located on 1st Avenue between 102nd Street and 105th Street in Manhattan.  Efrem Sigel recounts his experience as a juror in the trial and his subsequent examination of the link between poverty and violence in his book Juror Number 2: The Story of Murder, The Agony of a Neighborhood.

What do George Carlin, Barack Obama, Humphrey Bogart and Billie Holiday all have in common? They all once resided on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A new book highlights nearly 600 hundred notables who at one time or another lived on the Upper West Side. It’s called Notable New Yorkers of Mahattan’s Upper West Side: Bloomingdale and Morningside Heights.  The author is Jim Mackin. He’s a New York City historian and founder of WeekdayWalks, which provides tours of New York City neighborhoods. Mackin is our guest on this week's Cityscape.   

A lot of names come to mind when we think of people who have shaped New York City history --  John D. Rockefeller, Edith Wharton, and Robert Moses, for instance. But there are many names you might not know. And too many of those names belong to people of color.  Do you know the name of the person who helped desegregate New York City public transportation? What about the person who helped invent the lightbulb with Thomas Edison? Did you know that New York City was home to the first Black doctor in the United States? Do you know his name?  In You Should Know Their Names, we explore the remarkable stories of seven Black New Yorkers whose names we think you should know. 

The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and black women are several times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Bruce McIntyre is trying to do something about that.  His partner died after an emergency C-section at a Bronx hospital in late April. He says her death is an example of long-standing inequities in the health care system for women of color. That's why McIntyre founded the Save A Rose Foundation. It’s dedicated to shedding light on issues of maternal mortality among women of color in the U.S. We recently talked with McIntyre about the love of his life, Amber Rose Isaac, and his efforts to prevent other families from going through similar heartache. 

With COVID-19 cases on the rise, what are the challenges older New Yorkers are facing as the pandemic rages on? According to a new AARP Foundation and United Health Foundation report, the pandemic has resulted in an “epidemic of loneliness” among older adults. Joining us this week to talk more about this and other issues related to the impact of the pandemic on older New Yorkers is AARP New York Director Beth Finkel.

The bookstore scene isn’t what it used to be, but New York City is still home to some remarkable booksellers, including Argosy Books, the city’s oldest independent bookstore and the Strand, arguably the most recognizable bookshop in the city. In this episode, we’re diving into the story of Café Con Libros, an intersectional Feminist community bookstore and coffee shop in Brooklyn. It aims to create “a vibrant community space where everyone; specifically female identified folx, feel centered, affirmed and celebrated.”  Kalima Desuze is the owner of the shop. She joins us this week to talk about the inspiration behind Café Con Libros, the recent “Boxed Out” campaign, and what it means to be a Black female business owner in 2020. 

New York City has long come to life during the holiday season. Between the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and the elaborately decorated holiday windows at stores like Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Big Apple, even in the midst of a pandemic.    But, until the late 19th century it wasn’t Christmas, but rather New Year’s that generated the most excitement in New York City.    We'll hear about that and more this week with our guest Anthony Bellov. He's a long-time volunteer and board member of the Merchant’s House Museum, the only 19th century family home in New York City preserved intact -- both inside and out. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic having brought the curtain down on performances across New York City, The Center for Traditional Music and Dance is launching an online series to provide a stage for immigrant artists, especially vulnerable members of the creative community.    More than 50 leading traditional instrumentalists, dancers, singers, poets and more are featured in Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Online.    The Center for Traditional Music and Dance's Executive Director Pete Rushefsky and Project Director and Staff Ethnomusicologist Andrew Colwell join us on this week's Cityscape to talk about the series, which features immigrant performers from around the world.

2020 has been anything but an easy year -- you know with a pandemic and all. But, a little humor can go a long way. Enter award-winning writer, illustrator, and cartoonist, Bob Eckstein. Bob has had his cartoons published in the New York Times, MAD magazine and the New Yorker. Bob's a regular guest on Cityscape, and joins us this week to talk about what he’s been up to during the pandemic, including putting out a new book with famed New Yorker cartoonist, Michael Shaw. It’s called The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-ish in this Current Sh*tstorm. 

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, no doubt many people want to turn back the hands of time, or perhaps move them forward. In either case, on this week’s Cityscape, we’re paying careful attention to time with a guy who knows a whole lot about it: Nick Manousos, Executive Director of the Horological Society of New York.   

"Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." It’s a quip attributed to writer, poet and critic Dorothy Parker. She also once said “a silver cord ties me tight to my city.” Her city being New York City. Dorothy Parker lived an extraordinary life in the Big Apple, but what happened after she died is also extraordinary. It’s a story that was literally put to rest this summer amidst the coronavirus pandemic.  More than 53 years after her death, Dorothy Parker’s ashes were interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.  It’s a tale only our guests on this week's Cityscape could tell well. Kevin C. Fitzpatrick is the head of the Dorothy Parker Society. He’s also a professional tour guide and author. He along with The New Yorker Writer, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, brought Parker’s cremains to the Bronx from Baltimore, where they had been interred at NAACP headquarters. It’s quite the story! 

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a dark cloud over New York City, and the rest of the world for that matter. But, bright spots still shine through each and every day. Among them, community gardens that have long been a place of comfort and hope for weary New Yorkers. A new book celebrates New York City’s community gardens, as well as the people who create, cultivate and enjoy them. It’s called Rooted in the Hood. On this week's Cityscape, we're talking with the author, Anna Angelidakis. 

A lot of people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic have traded their traditional workplace clothes for more comfortable and leisurely apparel -- sweatpants, T-shirts, slippers, etc. But, a new book takes a closer look at how what we choose to wear can affect how we think and work. It's called Dress Your Best Life: How to Use Fashion Psychology to Take Your Look -- and Your Life -- to the Next Level. In this episode of Cityscape, we're talking with the author, New York City-based fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen. 

Will they come back? Midtown Manhattan, the center of business in New York City, is still looking pretty empty these days. Office workers have yet to come back in large numbers. Is the shift to working from home becoming permanent and what will this mean to corporate efforts to diversify the workplace?  For years there’s been talk that automation and digital technology would have a tremendous impact on our nation's workforce, not only eliminating jobs, but also fundamentally changing how and where work is done. COVID-19 has accelerated these trends.   Our guest this week is Dr. Arthur Langer, Chairman and Founder of a nonprofit organization called Workforce Opportunity Services. Workforce Opportunity Services has helped hundreds of young people from underserved and underrepresented communities, as well as post 9-11 veterans, get good jobs at companies like Prudential, Bristol Myers Squibb and others throughout the nation.   Dr. Langer is also a professor at Columbia University,  Langer's research focuses in p

Like many small businesses, Economy Candy, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has had to pivot to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. The iconic New York City candy shop is making the most of online sales, but also going old school. They’ve stationed a pushcart outside of their store dubbed ‘Economy Candy To-Go.” And to make candy shopping super easy, they’ve been selling specially-curated candy packs since March. And yes, they now have Halloween-themed packs for the season. We recently had the chance to catch up with the folks currently holding down the fort of this long-standing family-owned business, third-generation owner Mitchell Cohen and his wife Skye Greenfield Cohen. 

For the first time in its history, New York City’s Central Park is home to a monument depicting real-life women. This summer, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a statue of women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth, made its debut on Central Park’s Literary Walk. The nonprofit organization Monumental Women was instrumental in seeing the project through. We talked with Monumental Women’s President Pam Elam and board member Namita Luthra about their efforts to break the bronze ceiling.