This Month’s Featured Articles…
Early railroading in the Hudson Valley
Above: Blue Hill Curve in Chatham, NY, is known as the sharpest curve on the Boston & Albany Railroad line. It was half-past six in the morning when the first-ever train out of New York City was drawn by horse from Chambers Street to its starting point on 31st Street, on its way to stops at 152nd Street, Yonkers, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Ossining, Peekskill, Cold Spring, Fishkill, New Hamburg, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Oakhill, Hudson, Stuyvesant, Castleton, and last but not least, Albany at [...]
Four September Days: From Ground Zero to Copake, Susan Massarella’s astonishing story of terror, survival, and healing
Above: Susan Massarella’s ID badge from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (at the time, her married name was Mollo). Curiously, the ID failed to scan at the World Trade Center security checkpoint the morning of September 11, 2001. September 11, 2001 As Tuesday dawned in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood, Susan Massarella hit the snooze button, toying with taking the day off, but talked herself into getting ready for work. Her then-husband Peter Mollo was away, traveling in Southeast Asia with his [...]
From tree to press: The local orchards producing delicious ciders and wines from their estate-grown apples
If you’re an apple lover like me, then you know that there are few things better in this world than a nice, fresh hard cider. Autumn has always been my favorite season for many reasons – and apple picking is certainly one of them! We are lucky to live in a region that is bountiful with apple orchards and farms. Many of these farms also have on-site cideries where they use their estate-grown apples to ferment ciders, wines, and other delicious beverages. Next time you [...]
The importance of local libraries & why they matter more than ever
Public libraries are one of the few places in modern society where nothing is expected from visitors. There is no status or membership required to access them, and you can stay all day without having to spend a dime. In recent years, public libraries have increasingly taken on roles in their communities that fall well outside of the range of merely checking books in and out. A study titled, “The Role of Rural Public Libraries in Providing Access to Online Government Services,” from the University [...]
Goddess Goodness: An exhibition at the Athens Cultural Center explores the concept of “goddess”
Above: Ntangou Badila, Cells horizontal. When Niva Dorell was approached by the Athens Cultural Center to curate an exhibition around the theme of ‘goddess,’ she was of course intrigued. “There were so many directions it could go,” she says when I catch up with her to talk about the show and her role in it. Her first task, she knew, was to distill her thinking around the theme. “For me,” Niva explains, “‘goddess’ is a powerful energy; the source of all things: creation, creativity, femme [...]
