I had been living in NYC for a little over one month.  I got  on the 4/5 train before 9am from Brooklyn to Manhattan for a job interview.  At the Broadway/Lafayette subway stop in lower Manhattan, I left the underground to transfer to the Lexington train uptown.  When I exited on to Houston Street there was chaos on the street.  I noticed the fire engines and police cars first, then the unmarked cars with lights and sirens all heading downtown.  Then I noticed the people running, one of them yelling that a plane hit the World Trade Center.   I moved down the street half a block and the trade center came into view.  There was a huge gash and smoke pouring out of the building.  Like most people, I assumed that a small plane must have accidentally hit the tower.  I stood there for a few minutes considering what to do and then left, assuming that I still had to make the job interview.  I got on the 4/5 train uptown, buzzing with chatter about the accident.  At the 14th street station, someone got on the train and yelled that another plane had hit the second tower and we were under attack.  I got off the subway at the 42d street station and called my cousin back in Brooklyn.  He told me he was watching TV and that the Pentagon had just been hit as well and that there were reports of additional planes in the air.  I went across the platform to get to the downtown train back to Brooklyn and made it halfway between the 42nd and 34th street station when the train stopped and lights went out.  I was in the first car and could see light from the 34th street station around the corner, but we weren’t moving.  The conductor came on the speaker after a few minutes and informed us that all trains were being stopped due to an incident at the trade center.  We waited in the tunnel until they moved us to the next station to let people out.  When I got out of the station at 34th Street everything above ground was a confused scene.  All traffic had stopped, people were standing in the middle of the street listening to radio reports from cars stranded in the masses.  There were reports of additional crashes, reports of more planes in the air and rumors of a plane heading for the Empire State Building (which was a few blocks from where I was standing).  We had a clear view of the burning towers, and that’s all that people were watching.  At this point, a few people started screaming and we saw the first tower collapsing. It was the most surreal site to witness.  A tower that had looked so immovable and central to the NYC skyline was collapsing on itself in a silent, dusty explosion.  There were gasps, screams and cries all around me.  I stood with everyone and continued watching for half an hour until the second tower fell.  During this time, I ran into a friend of my uncle’s and he told me to follow him to his coworker’s apartment.  From there, I reached my uncle and decided to spend the rest of the day with him at his 22nd street apartment.  (All trains, tunnels and bridges had been closed, so there was no way to get back home).  While walking to my uncle’s apartment, I started catching people walking uptown with dust-covered suits.  There was a flat look on most people’s faces.  I didn’t see a lot of shock or panic…just disbelief.  The most memorable reaction was when I reached the outside of my uncle’s apartment and saw a woman completely covered in grey dust, weeping in a man’s arms.  When I passed, I heard her say something about people jumping off the tower.  That was the first time I remember feeling the human impact and not just the structural and societal impact.

I spent the rest of the day watching the replays of the images on my uncle’s TV.  I called the restaurant which was my employer at the time and the manager told me I had to find my way back.  He told me it was quickly becoming the busiest night of their history.  When the subways opened, I made my way back to Brooklyn and to the restaurant.  As he said, the restaurant was filled both inside and out.  The air was thick with the smell of the burning towers, and debris consisting of half burnt business documents blowing down the street.  I spent the rest of the night serving people from the neighborhood.   On a day of such horror and confusion, I believe people were looking for something positive and reaffirming.  Perhaps they were looking for the most basic of needs…a human connection and a sense of community.

Yesterday, Ethan and I spent our date night at Cinemapolis for a screening of “May I Be Frank“, co-produced by someone Ethan knew growing up in Ithaca, Conor Gaffney.  Conor was out in San Francisco working with friends for Cafe Gratitude, (a Vegan/Raw Food restuarant), when their worlds collided with a native Brooklynite, Frank Ferrante.  Frank, A 54 year old, obese and depressed addict, caught the affection of Conor & his friends, who put him on a 42-day regimen to transform his life, in quite the opposite way of Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me.

The result is a very real, raw account of the various steps he commits to take as he begins to heal his body, mind and spirit.  It really, really moved me and his message is still with me today - that we, and only we, have the power to be who we want to be.  Cliche, cliche, but there is nothing more true that that.  Yes, this includes facing your demons and taking risks but Frank lets us into all of this and coming through the other side is a more centered, authentic and fulfilled person.   The film also beautifully demonstrates the power of community and giving of your self to impact a life.

If it screens near you, check it out.  If not, the DVD will be up on their website soon.

Here’s to paying Frank’s transformation forward in little ripples…

My son is 19 months old and knows how to navigate an iPhone.  Does it make me a bad parent for exposing my kid to a smartphone before he can talk?  What responsibility do we have as parents for a generation growing up surrounded by this kind of technology?   Living and working in a digital age, I can’t help but think about the right balance between the virtual world and the natural world for my kid’s development…and these issues are only going to get more complicated.  But it’s this conflict and challenge that I believe is driving the success of a local organization I’ve been following in Ithaca…

Primitive Pursuits was launched ten years ago with a mission to teach kids the skills that will strengthen their connection with nature.   It’s almost hard to believe that an organization like this has become a necessity.  Growing up, I spent as much time as I could outside.  But then eventually I discovered cable TV.  And then video games.  And then computers.   And now I spend most of my day in front of  a laptop working for an internet company.  (Neither of which even existed 25 years ago!)  Well, now we have a generation of kids growing up with the virtual world as a standard in their lives.  Between websites like Facebook and online gaming, kids can even create a social life without leaving their bedroom.

Tim Drake, the Director of Primitive Pursuits, shared this statistic with me at a recent meeting:  On average, children spend 53% of their day in front of a screen, 35% in a classroom and less than 1% in outdoor activities. He also shared results from a study that children could identify 100 corporate logos but not 10 plants from their own backyard. What are the repercussions of children growing up without a strong connection to nature?  If you don’t connect with the natural world, do you have any sense to protect it?

The concept of Primitive Pursuits is nothing new, but the relevance and importance seems to be growing as our society grapples with questions about the role of technology in our lives.  However we decide to raise our own son, I’m glad to know that there are people like Tim focused on the basic idea of getting kids connected with, and excited about the outdoors.

I attended the Primitive Pursuits 10 year anniversary event last weekend and took a few pictures for their website….

For more information about Primitive Pursuits, click here.  There is also a documentary on this subject of the need for outdoor education for todays kids called Play Again.  I haven’t seen it yet, but hear good things.

On this MLK day, I feel his impact in tangible ways based on events taking place in our Ithaca community.  On Saturday we attended a community breakfast with hundreds of our neighbors, including civil rights leader, and friend of Dr. King, Dorothy Cotton. We also heard a speech from the new superintendent of Ithaca City Schools, with a theme of shared community responsibility for the education of our children.  It was a day that made me appreciate one of the most basic and fundamental arguments of MLK- that we are all tied together and have a shared responsibility to help our neighbors.

“We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Over the next month, I’ll be reading a book along with the rest of our county as part of an effort called MLK Community Build.  The book is the last one published by Dr. King before his death, titled “Where Do We Go From Here:  Chaos or Community?” A local group of non-profit organizations, educational institutions & volunteers launched this effort, and have already distributed 10,000 copies of the book free of charge to residents in the county.  Once the public has read the book, there will be a series of community-led discussions for the public to engage in topics that cross lines of race, economics and politics.  An ambitious effort, and something that Dr. King would surely be proud of if he could witness it today.

This month the Ithaca Common Council and Mayor approved a budget to include blueprints for a complete redesign of The Commons, Ithaca’s downtown pedestrian mall.  As a member of the Commons Advisory Board, I’ve spent the last two years listening to community members talk about the value and problems with this mixed use space.  At its best, The Commons can be a cultural center, filled with locally owned businesses and restaurants; a place to shop, eat and connect with your community, in a unique outdoor space.  At its worst, The Commons has been a depressing alley of struggling stores and vacant real estate.

But over the last two years, there has been a steady stream of successful new shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.  New restaurants are opening all over the commons; Cinemapolis, Ithaca’s independent theater is thriving in their new location, The State Theater is attracting top musicians from all over the country, and now the Kitchen Theater opened doors at a brand new space off the commons.  Over the past few months, I’ve overheard more and more return visitors talk about the transformation of our downtown in a positive (sometimes surprised) light.  With the popular growth of local economies and the local food movement, this redesign and commitment from our community is the right move at the right time.  Kudos to the Mayor and council for voting this through despite pressure under a weakened economy.

To read a brief highlight of the recommendations from Sasaki Associates, the firm that provided the preliminary concepts, click here.

In order of appearance in the slideshow: 1) Bagman.  Apparently, he’s famous.  He was yelling that the black bag represents oil. 2) Greensprings, Ithaca’s Natural Burial Preserve (yes, that’s a woman laying in a coffin.) 3) Not sure what these two were promoting, but I heard something about fiddles and dancing rainbows.  4) Yup, that’s the Tompkins County Amateur Radio Club (and of course he’s carrying an antenna!) 5) Go Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Facility!  (That would be a walking toilet, connected to the walking treatment facility and finally, clean water) 6) And that?  That’s just a man riding a penny-farthing.   

Click to view slideshow.

The Art of Mangold Hurling

This is not a Dr. Seuss book, but a match made in the world of international root tossing.  I’ve written twice now about my passion for the International Rutabaga Curling Championship at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market.   Well, this week, the commissioner of the Rutabaga Curl was contacted by the Acting Chairman of the Ancient Order of Sherston Mangold Hurlers.  Nope, I’m not making this up.  Apparently we’re not alone in our love for the sport of root vegetable throwing.   However, unlike the 14 year history of Rutabaga Curling, Mangold Hurling dates way back to the 18th century.  Sadly, despite this rich history, Sherston represents the only remaining  functioning Order in the UK with an annual hurl.

Well not only did the Sherston Mangold Hurlers reach out, but they invited a delegation of Ithaca Rutabaga Curlers to visit Sherston for their competition in October, in exchange for a return delegation for our December event.  And it sounds like the wheels are already in motion for the trip.  How great is that?  Thanks for the outreach Sherston.  It’s nice to know that we have a brotherhood across the pond.  We look forward to hosting you later this year.

A video of the 2009 Sherston Hurl:

The film itself was incredibly well done.  The acting across the board was outstanding.  Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Mo’Nique (The Mother) deserve academy awards.  Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carrey suprised me.  My only complaint was with the casting of Paula Patton for the teacher.  She’s beautiful, she’s a good actress, and she did a fine job with the role.  But she didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the movie.  She looked like she was ready for a modeling shoot in every scene.  And then one of our audience members noted that in the book ‘Push’ which the movie is based on, the teacher is heavy with much darker skin and dreadlocks.  In the book, Precious relates to this teacher in large part because of her looks.  I wonder why the producer took the liberty to change the look of this central character so much.  Perhaps because Precious herself wanted that type of body and light skin?  Regardless, it came across as a mistake in an otherwise near-flawless movie.  Oh, and the movie ends on a fairly positive note.  So don’t worry about walking out and needing counseling. Just go see it.  Two heavy thumbs up.

For the 12th year, Ithaca held the International Rutabaga Curling Championship.  This was my second year as a participant, and I had high hopes for bringing the trophy home to my family after last year’s knockout in the championship round.  I had a lot stacked against me this year.  The dawn of fatherhood has completely thrown off my training and sleep schedule.  I was down in NJ with the family on the morning of the curl and had to leave at daybreak just to make the registration booth in time.  The temperatures were again in the single digits and I did not dress for the weather.  But we made it to the curl in time for the opening ceremonies, the parade of nations and the turnip toss.  (If you haven’t seen pictures of the event, see my post from last year)

The goal of the competition is to roll and stop your rutabaga as close to the target as possible.  If you’re in the top 5 rolls of your round, you move on to the finals.  For this year’s competition I was the 69th competitor in the field.   When I stepped up to the line I felt good.  I wanted to keep the rutabaga short of the target, as I was disqualified by rolling too hard last year (too much adrenaline, I think.) Well, the plan worked and my roll  looked beautiful bouncing down the wood planks.  But then like an act of god, the root took a heavy turn to the left.  That turn cost me, as I ended up the 6th closest turnip of the round; missing the final by  less than an inch.  Oh, the drama.

Thanks to commissioner Steve for making this event happen every year.  You really tap into the heart of something so ridiculous, so fun and so Ithaca.

My losing curl:  

The Rutabaga Choir:  

Downtown Ithaca Before 'The Commons' - Circa 1901

Initial concepts for the redesign of Ithaca’s downtown pedestrian mall were unveiled today by Sasaki Associates.  The Boston firm, which designed the master plan for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was selected to provide recommendations and plans for a new Ithaca Commons.  These initial plans focus primarily on the spatial layout and considerations for the subterranean infrastructure, and they are a big step towards bringing a needed facelift to this central part of downtown Ithaca.  As a member of the Commons Advisory Board, I’m excited to see the city’s commitment to this, despite objections from a few groups that want the space returned to a street.  If grants can be secured and funding provided, this redesign will have a very positive impact on the economic health of downtown Ithaca.  It will bring the space back to its original conception as a community space for social exchange, entertainment and commerce.   If the opportunity passes or the appropriate funding for a full redesign is not secured, then the minority is right and it should be returned to a main street.  But what a loss that would be.

See the article from today’s paper here.