The Marine Society of the City of New York has announced that Captain Richard Phillips, ex-Master of the MAERSK ALABAMA, has accepted membership in the Society.  Captain Phillips will be in attendance at this year’s annual dinner to receive his membership certificate.

A categorical soccer shop in a Better Modell’s store.

The Modell family of Modell’s Sporting Goods has learned one thing is for certain in their 120 year history: always listen to the customers.  This is especially true in tough economics times, when you’re not only battling your competition, but also your customers’ disposal income (or lack of it). more »

GETTING TANKED: Andy Rosenwach’s 115-year-old firm builds and installs the water tanks that top NYC buildings. Photo credit: Christian Johnston

When the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage undertook its New York City Project some years ago, work was a prominent item on the agenda. As part of the mission to document urban culture in the five boroughs, interviewers sought out people engaged in iconic city trades, from lox smoking to graffiti artistry, and asked them about their jobs.

Now that research has yielded a book, Lox, Stocks, and Backstage Broadway: Iconic Trades of New York City by Nancy Groce. With chapters on Broadway’s backstage artisans, Wall Street traders, subway workers and others, the book celebrates those whose jobs “create, maintain and nurture the very heart of Gotham.”

Our longtime member, Rosenwach Tank, was profiled in the book. more »

Learn more about the excellent work of the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service.  Each year, BBCS helps thousands of Brooklyn’s neediest and most disadvantaged people to achieve self-sufficiency and better realize their potential.  You will see and hear for yourself how BBCS is positively changing the trajectories of people’s lives.

“OBJECTIFIED”

This movie takes a look at the creativity behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets.

It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism and sustainability.

It documents the creative process and looks at how things impact our lives.

We can learn about who we are, and who we want to be, by the objects we surround ourselves.