For this Park Bench Chat edition of Bar Crawl Radio podcast we talked about the changing nature of the New York City theatre review and how Tik Tok might be dumbing down the craft of the NYC theatre critic. Joining us on a park bench in the "You've Got Mail" Riverside Park Promenade are two NYC Theatre Critics -- David Cote and Zoe Kaplan. David Cote is a playwright, librettist, song writer, actor and director -- and the longest serving drama critic of Time Out New York. His reviews have appeared in Opera News, The Village Voice, The Guardian and The New York Times – and elsewhere. And with us is Zoe Kaplan whose day job is as a Content Marketing Manager.

Earlier, Zoe demystified the world of work for Gen Zers and before that she managed reproductive and hormone health content for OOVA. Zoe writes a theater Substack called -- Not to Be Dramatic.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NYC's Upper West Siders might know the 142 year-old, block long, many-storied, red-brick building on Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd Street.

Completed in 1883 and designed by Gilded Age architect Robert Morris Hunt – famed for the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. – the base of the Statue of Liberty – the front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – this building, on Amsterdam and 103rd Street, opened as the Association Residence for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females. In the late 1960s, it was set to be torn down. BUT – in time – was saved in great part due to the efforts of two of our guests -- and was resurrected as a major youth hostel inviting visitors from all over the world looking to experience NYC up close and personal.

Former Manhattan Borough President and City Council member Ruth Messinger and Bloomington Historial Pam Tice joined us to tell the story of Hunt’s building -- a story that encompasses the history of NYC – both its wealth and inconsistent goal to provide dignity to its citizens.

This BCR program was recorded at 5 Napkin Burger Bar on Broadway and W. 84th St.

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Stop the Chop” exists to eliminate non-essential helicopters from the skies above New York City – because – according to the "Stop the Chop" website: “Tourist, charter and commuter helicopter flights dramatically reduce the quality of life for millions of people in the metropolitan area. They pollute our environment, pose significant safety risks, harm our children, and make us miserable”

It was a hot, second day of summer afternoon in Riverside Park – at the “You’ve Got Mail” promenade and garden. We sat on a bench and talked with our UWS neighbors about their concerns and questions regarding the Helicopter racket that invades our peaceful moments.

Two experts, on the effects of the copter cacophony on our health and enjoyment of the our city parks, joined us -- Melissa Elstein and Ken Coughlin; both long-time NYC community organizers and environmental activists. Melissa was recently on BCR program #221 talking about “Love Your Street Tree Day” sponsored by the “West 80s Neighborhood Association”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 33 -- Veteran's For Peace "Fast for Gaza."

This will be the final of the "Fast for Gaza" conversations with peacemaker Kathy Kelly. It was the beginning of a brutal heat wave in NYC; we found a shady spot on the UN side of 1st Avenue. On the opposite side a small group of fasting protestors held signs and umbrellas.

Kathy and I talked about her 2004 book "Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison" -- focusing on the chapter "Change Agents" -- when she was visited in Pekin Prison by two FBI agents. Kathy talks about the families and children she got to know during her many visits to Iraqi hospitals during the decades-long UN / US sanctions on Iraq. UNICEF reported that 500,000 children under the age of five died between 1991 and 1998 due to those sanctions. Kelly's "Voices in the Wilderness" worked to bring medical supplies to those beleaguered people.

The music in this program is “Hiroshima Rising from the Abyss" performed by the Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin Jazz Band, featuring drummer Andy Watson.

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 26 -- Veterans for Peace "Fast for Gaza. This BCR podcast begins and ends with music -- "Let My People Go" -- from “System Ali” – nine musicians -- Jewish and Arab -- singing in their native languages – Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, Amharic and English.

My conversation with Kathy Kelly continues as Israel and Iran exchange missiles and killer drones. She arrived at the vigil at the US Mission to the UN a bit late because she had been attending a meeting of faith NGOs hearing a report from two Palestinians and an Israeli about suffering in Gaza of which few are aware. Banks are closed making any normal business impossible. The cost of leaving is astronomical and movement within Gaza is impossible.

I sat down with Kathy on a metal bench on the United Nations side of the street. She opened her notebook and shared what she had learned.

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 23 -- VFP Fast for Gaza. I spoke with peacemaker Kathy Kelly and former member of the US AirForce Joy Metzler and asked them about their life choices that led them to join the "Fast for Gaza."

Joy Metzler, 23, is a member of VFP and co-founder of Serivcemembers For Ceasefire – US military veterans calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza. Joy graduated from the USAF Academy in 2023 and was discharged as a conscientious objector citing “US aggression in the Middle East and the murderous ethnic cleansing in Palestine.” I asked Joy what she would say to the young US Marines recently deployed to the streets of Los Angeles in support of ICE.

The night before our conversation -- Israel attacked Iran's military structures and leadership. While we sat on a metal bench outside the United Nations, the Security Council was preparing to hold an emergency meeting. This program begins with a statement by the United Kingdom Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, calling for calm in the Middle East.

Alan Winson

BCR Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monday – June 9, 2025 -- 19th day of the VFP Fast for Gaza -- talking with peacemaker Kathy Kelly and friends, as they consume no more than 250 calories a day for 40 days in solidarity with the citizens of Gaza who have been forced to exist on very little sustenance

This program begins with a Democracy Now! report on the seizure of the Gaza-bound aid ship – Madleen – in international waters by Israeli forces.

When I arrived at the US Mission – Kathy Kelly was asking Bill Tottenham -- U.S. Marine veteran and VFP representative -- about his attempt to get big media to report on the “Fast for Gaza” VFP protest.

I then spoke with Kelly about an early morning decision to walk from the U.S. Mission on 1st Avenue -- to the United Kingdom Mission to the UN several blocks to the north -- to raise awareness about the Israeli seizure of the yacht -- Madleen – operated by the Pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

I spoke with several of the fasters as we walked. At Rockefeller Center, security pushed the fasters out of the area and at St. Patrick Cathedral, NYP officers ordering the fasters off the north porch.

Mike Ferner of the VFP promised that for the rest of the "Fast for Gaza" protest, these walks would continue with a focus on the New York Times building.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Day 16 of the Veterans for Peace "40-Day Fast for Gaza."

Since May 22, 2025, I’ve been talking with peacemaker Kathy Kelly who has been fasting to raise awareness about how the citizens of Gaza are starving. It is the day before Eid al-Adha – the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice remembering Ibrahim or Abraham’s readiness to kill his son for his God. I sat down with Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell of Malloy Iowa -- a Catholic Worker and worker for peace – he was in town to receive the 2025 Pax Christi Peacemaker Award

We sat on a bench in the shade on the United Nations side of 1st Avenue. I shared an email I recently received from Ariella Dubrowin – an American-Israeli – who works as a lactation consultant and who calls for the destruction of Hamas as one step in protecting her country from its many enemies. She had been listening to these podcast and had some questions for the Fasters which were used to organize this conversation with Kathy and Brian.

At the end of the 35 minute program, Kathy reads from her recent article entitled “The Prisons of Gaza and Home – Fast for Gaza – Day 14”

Alan Winson

barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.