Birds, Cages, and Care

San Juan Hill NYC

​By Claudie Benjamin A recent online chat reads: “My house feels so empty and boring without Charlie and Lilly!  I am going overseas to a family wedding and had to take them to the vets for boarding yesterday. I know they will be well...

Hero in Troubled Times

San Juan Hill NYC

​By Claudie Benjamin Remarkable? Yes. Sadie Stewart Hobday was a public health pioneer who took the goal of doing good to heart. From what is known about her life, this Black woman from the South was undeterred by race-related barriers and ever-present...

You Never Know When You’ll Need to Pawn

Amsterdam Avenue, San Juan Hill NYC

​By Claudie Benjamin What is the coolest thing you’ve ever brokered?” That’s a question pawnbroker Daniel Kalter is often asked. He said the answer has got to be “a vintage Rolls Royce.” Daniel kept the vehicle in his...

How US Military Brought Latin to Jazz

San Juan Hill NYC

​By Claudie Benjamin Latin Music and its infusion into early Jazz arrived in New York City by design rather than by chance. Several well-documented migrations of Puerto Ricans to the Upper West Side’s San Juan Hill, and other blocks mainly occurred...

Salute to Firefighters

Amsterdam Avenue, Amsterdam Avenue, San Juan Hill NYC

​By Claudie Benjamin Even an eternal optimist has likely been shaken by the volatilities of the city, nation, and turmoil characterizing world affairs as 2025 begins. Pick your poison, and all the variables of slashing and other violence are lurking behind the...

“San Juan Heal” Stands Out at Lincoln Center

David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, Public Art, San Juan Hill NYC, Temporary Art

by Sarah McCully It’s hard to miss the bright colors dotting David Geffen Hall’s typically neutral facade. Since early October of last year, the newly renovated concert hall’s northern windows have played host to a temporary art installation called...