Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Morning at Morningside Park. Located a stone's throw from Columbia University, Morningside Heights is technically in Harlem. The park itself first opened in 1895, after 22 years of development. Although it may be a staple of the area now, it can be hard to believe that it …
Author: Fred McNulty
How does Ranked Choice Voting work in NYC?
In special elections and primaries, New York City has used ranked choice voting since 2021. Although it has exited for nearly 800 years and is used in a number of voting systems around the world, most elections in the United States still use "first past the post." What is ranked choice voting? What does it …
Exploring Gantry Plaza State Park and Hunter’s Point South Park
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Parks near the Pepsi sign. Both Gantry Plaza State Park (run by New York State) and Hunter's Point South Park (run by New York City) are located in Hunter's Point of Long Island City, which is located in the southeast corner of Queens. The two parks make …
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Exploring Four Freedoms Park
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Is Four Freedoms Park a hidden gem? "Freedom of speech," "Freedom of worship," "Freedom from want," and "Freedom from fear." These are the Four Freedoms outlined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union Address, for which is park on Roosevelt Island is …
Exploring Brighton Beach
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Show respect for Brighton Beach. The Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn is home to a 1kilometer long beach of the same name, but I was visiting to show some respect for local business owners. Even since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some people have been boycotting Russian …
Exploring Bryant Park
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Bryant Park was (literally) a cemetery. Bryant Park is a great place to hang out when the weather is good (assuming that you can find a place to sit). The park itself - as well as the surrounding area - have some fascinating pieces of historical intrigue …
What are NYC Community Boards?
Although public forums are routinely lampooned on television shows like NBC's Parks and Recreation, they are alive and well in New York City's Community Boards. But what exactly are NYC's Community Boards? What do Community Boards actually do? In this video, we walk through the basics. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions …
Exploring Coney Island Beach
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Fun times at Coney Island Beach. I wish I had gone in between weather, but I reveled at the chance to dig into some interesting history about Coney Island. If I had more time, I would have discussed a bit more about the interesting changes that went …
Exploring Grand Army Plaza
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Grand Army Plaza has a ton to learn about. Although most people probably rush through it to enter Prospect Park, there's more than meets the eye at Grand Army Plaza. I was only able to run through a handful of historical tidbits in my video, but there …
Exploring Marcus Garvey Park (Part 2)
Video available on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Great views from Marcus Garvey Park. I have visited the Central Harlem park before, but this time I was on a mission: to visit the top of the Fire Watch Tower on the top of Mount Morris. In late March, the NYC Parks department opened up the …