A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with CPF Sports Coordinator Burt Rosen at the CPF Sports Office in Flushing, where he works. At the age of 80, Burt is a natural comedian, and story-teller. Having worked for City Parks Foundation for 18 years, he is an integral part of the CPF Sports community, helping to coordinate CPF Sports activities throughout all five boroughs, while maintaining a friendly face in the office.

While Burt has become an avid tennis player in recent years, as a child, it was his least favorite sport, sitting on the bench in boredom when he would go with his friends to play. Instead, Burt participated in nearly every other neighborhood sport, his favorite being basketball. “I was a star,” he explains, laughing. “It’s an action game. It’s a running game, and it’s a little bit of contact,” he continues, mentioning that he would get himself into trouble from time to time for being too rough.

After retiring from textiles in 1995, Burt decided to give tennis another shot, and began taking adult classes at the National Tennis Center to fill the time. After a few classes, Burt decided to join an adult league. “I joined the league because I could hit the ball now. I wasn’t a tennis player. I could hit the ball, but that’s about it. So now I’ve been playing for 18 years. Now I consider myself a star,” he asserts. At this point, Burt was playing three to four hours of tennis a day.

Until one day, he entered the office in which he now works to get a permit to play. “Wrong office,” a woman at the front desk told him. Burt turned around to walk out, but as he was leaving, he overheard our CPF Director of Sports, Mike Silverman, on the phone, explaining that they need a senior to open up in the mornings. “They don’t sleep!” Burt recalls Mike saying. Hearing this, Burt marched right to the back of the office and knocked on Mike’s door.

“They sent me for the job,” he announced to Mike.

“Who sent you?”

“The people on the phone!” Burt responded.

“What do you know about tennis?”

“You wear sneakers. You wear whatever you want,” he asserted.

Burt has been working for CPF Sports ever since. His sense of humor continues to charm CPF employees, and the CPF athletes he interacts with on a daily basis.

Burt steals the show at a CPF party!

Working out of our office in Flushing, Burt does everything from answering phones and questions about CPF Sports activities, to assigning and organizing people on the tennis courts. He used to go to the CPF Sports sites to check in, and make sure the programs are running smoothly, but now his work remains primarily in the office, making his face shown, and getting to know the tennis regulars, many of whom he used to play with. Everyone from the seniors to the young CPF athletes know Burt, walking into the office with a friendly, “Hi Burt! How have you been?”

For the most part, Burt enjoys the relaxing environment of the CPF Sports Office, but of course every job comes with his downsides, to include calling security on stubborn court poachers. But Burt laughs about these experiences, taking pleasure in the comedy they seem to bring to the job. “It’s a nice job,” Burt says. “You meet nice people.”

Burt also takes pleasure in the opportunity CPF Sports brings to young athletes. His favorite CPF program is Track & Field, because the diversified exercise and constant activity make it a very healthy sport. “It’s so good for the kids,” he explains.

In his years at CPF, Burt has watched many young athletes excel into talented and motivated adults, a few even working with Burt in the Sports Office as an afterschool job, and using their experience and practice with CPF Sports to apply for college scholarships. One particular talented and hardworking young girl would come to the courts every day to play with anyone she could, developing skill that would later transfer to Ivy League level tennis. But what Burt valued most was not just her athletic skill, but her academic ambition as well, bringing in Word of the Day flash cards for Burt to quiz her. After many years at CPF, Burt has developed a number of connections like these, taking great pride in the accomplishments of these motivated young athletes.

While less than he used to, Burt continues to play tennis every winter, about three days a week, along with swimming on occasion (but only if the water is 90 degrees!), and golf (“I taught Mike Silverman golf. Truth. Put that in the report!”). While perhaps tennis seemed boring initially, Burt has developed a real passion for the sport that contributes to the general excitement he has for his job.

“I love the game,” he explains. “Tennis is something you can play your whole life. I don’t know if you see the pros on television. I don’t run like they do. And I don’t hit like they do, but it’s a great game. You play your whole life.”

Rules and Regulations:

1. Participation is limited to performers between the age of 13 and 18 (if not yet graduated from high school). We want to encourage the expression of talent of young people, but recognize that talent tends to mature over time.

2. Contestants are only allowed one entry in one category per season.

3. The Performance Categories that students have to choose from include the following:

• Vocal (solo, duet, ensemble)

• Instrumental (solo, duet, ensemble)

•  Theater/Drama (monologue, scene, spoken word, poetry, stand‐up, magic, etc.)

• Dance (solo, partners, ensemble)

NOTE: Performances are not limited to those listed in parenthesis. Event organizers reserve the right to determine which performance category acts best fit into.

4. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be awarded across all performance categories. The purpose of prizes is to reward the talented young performers for their efforts, to encourage them to pursue their dreams and to help them further their study of the arts.

7. It is strongly recommended that an act run no more than 3 minutes. Under no circumstances may an act run more than 5 minutes. ACTS RUNNING OVER 5 MINUTES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED! The act is timed from the first vocal expression in any vocal category; the first body movement in any dance category; and the first musical sound in any instrumental category.

8. Contestants must present themselves to event coordinators an hour before the program commences.

9. In the Vocal category, instrumental accompaniment by the person in the act or others is allowed, but is not judged. It must assume the pure character of accompaniment. The test shall be whether the performance would stand alone. NOTE: CD back‐up may be used. Please label each CD with the performer’s name, the number of the track to be played, and the track title. We cannot be responsible for any CD which is not picked up following your performance.

10. No voice or voices or synthesized vocal utterance may be used for accompaniment by contestants entered in the Vocal categories. This includes recorded live voices and voices that are produced and recorded synthetically. (i.e. synthesizers or digitally sampled.)

11. In the Instrumental categories, live or taped accompaniment is allowed but must assume the pure character of accompaniment. The test shall be whether the performance would stand alone. The use of any instrument(s) being judged is not allowed. In the use of any electronic keyboard, no pre-programmed music is allowed; the contestant must create all sound live on stage.

12. In the Dance category, accompanists are permitted on stage, but must not assume visual importance in the performance. There must be no taps or blatant tap effects on a taped recording by a dancer.

13. In the Vocal and/or Instrumental category, any combination or vocal and/or instrumental performance will be accepted, including bands with or without vocals. In this case the entry will only be adjudicated in the contestant’s chosen category.

14. The simple standard that we believe can be fairly applied regarding appropriateness is the following: The lyrics, actions, and dress code of any entry must comply with all good policies for student conduct. In other words, performers may not sing about, discuss, or pantomime any activity that students could not actually say or do on school grounds.

15. City Parks Foundation/NYC Parks & Recreation is not responsible for theft/damage or injury of any kind, to persons or instruments, props, clothing etc., during, before or after the performance.

15. City Parks Foundation/NYC Parks & Recreation holds the right to use contestant’s name and/or photo for any further publicity purposes.

16. Contestants will be judged on the following basis: Presentation, 25%; Creativity, 25%; Clarity, 25% and Relevance, 25%. During the preliminary reviews contestants are scored solely by the judges. They will be evaluated on how the act would be received by an appropriate, impartial audience in an appropriate setting, and is not based on the size or enthusiasm of an act’s “fan club”.

After only five days of hard work, the roof went up!

The next day, the stage was built!

Frontal view, day 7

Day 9 - You can see where the speakers will hang from the roof and the poles for the stage lights!

Here you can see the crew painting the beams on day 11

Just after 12 days of work, can you believe it?!

Keep checking back for more updates on the stage build and this year’s SummerStage festival!

Meet Molly Muffet

The current production at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre is a charming puppet show featuring Molly Muffet (the great–great–great–great granddaughter of the original, “Little Miss Muffet”). Written and directed by Doug Strich, Little Miss Muffet’s Monster-Sitting Service tells the story of what happens when the little girl sets up a monster-sitting program while her parents are away for a high school reunion.

Molly and Al

But have you ever wondered what it is like behind the scenes of a marionette puppet show? Or possibly how long it takes to produce one? The idea for Little Miss Muffet’s Monster-Sitting Service began to formulate in 2008. That was when Strich began to think of characters and a story line to fit them all together.

It was not until two years later (2010) that Strich began to write the script for the production. Once finished, it was time to build the puppets. The crew began building the puppets in June of 2011, and has continued to improve and touch up the characters since then.

Building one of the puppets

Auditions were held in mid-October to cast puppeteers and voiceovers, and the cast began rehearsals in December of 2011.The puppeteers stand on a bridge 14 ft. above the stage as they maneuver the puppets’ many strings. There are strings to move parts of the characters that one would not even think of, like the blinking of an eye. To find out more about the act of puppetry, simply attend a show! Before the show starts, a puppeteer comes out into the audience to show the children and their parents exactly how they are able to control the many movements of the characters.

Doug Strich demonstrates marionette puppetry

Little Miss Muffet’s Monster-Sitting Service opened on January 17 and will run through September, 2012. The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre currently shows the production every Tuesday-Friday at 10:30am and noon, as well as every Saturday and Sunday at 1:00pm.

By: Stephen Kahn

How far and wide this city stretches is…?

I can’t quite think of the right word to describe it.  Give me a few minutes.

I spent my first summer in New York last year, when the weather was nearly unbearable, especially with no AC unit.  The only thing I had was a ceiling fan, which, thankfully enough, spun like a motorboat propeller.  Downtown Manhattan loves the sun.  Her skin absorbs it and holds it tight.  The streets never let go, and once the streets build up a warm enough temperature, it starts to spread like wildfire.  Building bases heat up, then the cracks in the walls and windows expand and it’s even easier now for her to become engulfed.  The furniture catches next, and soon a trip is made to the bodega to purchase extra ice trays.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time outdoors.

I got to know the neighborhoods of Nolita/Bowery and SoHo, Greenwich Village and the East Village.  By summer’s end I felt very comfortable with my surroundings, and thought I had a good grasp on the city limits, north south—east west.  “Yeah, I got this.  Got it on lock.  New York, eh, ‘snot that much bigger than Baltimore…”

…Oh how much the City Parks Foundation has taught me in my second summer.  Not only how incredibly large New York City is, but also how diverse it is, and how the subway can drop you off in what seems like another world.  And I thought the LES was the underside of things.  How about Brownsville?  Or Bedford-Stuyvesant?  I have captured some of the most saturated and worn cityscapes I’ve ever seen, and that’s coming from Baltimore.  I enjoy mixing photography with storytelling (aka “making movies”), and the thing I like most about these parts of Brooklyn is how beautifully deep-rooted they appear.  Any picture taken here has a story behind it.

The people aren’t walking around with espressos and shopping bags deciding where to brunch—for better or for worse—but there is certainly a sense of community regardless of how it functions.  On any given night, some music in Betsy Head Park brings them together in harmony.  Take the train west to Red Hook.

Different story.  In the shadow of the massive Ikea building, this park attracts an even more colorful congregation on a different landscape.  A much larger and greener park brings people from all over the city, people who came to see and hear and even criticize the performance.  A more involved crowd in a “hipper” area, Brooklyn Vegan is not missing this one.  Try travelling north to Springfield, Queens.

I said to myself out loud, “Where the hell are we?”  Apparently, we were still in New York.  A very secluded, wooded park in Springfield that has a serene feel.  There are old bridges and little stone canals that lead into a still pond with uneven undergrowth around the edges.  It looks natural.  The stage is surrounded by foliage as well.  There are giant lonely trees sprouting right in the middle of the crowd.  (Cheryl, one of the photo interns, actually climbed one and took a picture.)  We sprawl on to 69^th Street, Manhattan.

Back to where I twice visited last summer in that god-forsaken heat, it was like the mecca of outdoor venues for me.  And it still is, but thanks to the CPF’s nonselective attitude and the degree to which they take the term “citywide,” I am now beginning to understand just how much this town has to offer.  I am very grateful to be part of this organization, and for years to come I will not be remiss of shows happening in all boroughs.

How far and wide this city stretches is…redonkulous.  Yeah, that’s the right word.

Last fall, I went away for my freshman year of college. As a born and raised New Yorker, I left fearless that I could live anywhere, even as people mocked my ability to survive let alone live in a rural setting. My new home was Ithaca, NY. As I soon learned, Ithaca may be Gorges but New York City is irresistible and a bit of an addiction. To say “I heart NY” is to understate the situation, I need NY. As each school vacation approached, my imminent return made me nervous and flighty; my stomach would fill with butterflies.

Why did a city have such a hold on me?

It is the city’s great traditions that have always exposed me to something new that make me need New York City. Whether it be sitting on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art watching the street performers or the community you feel waiting in line for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, NYC always gives you the chance to have a fresh experience. SummerStage by the City Parks Foundation is one of the city’s great traditions. And this summer, I was able to experience it from the other side. I joined the City Parks Foundation as a photography intern. Photography always made me feel like a master of time. It could freeze single moments and make them eternal. And so the joy and the glory of SummerStage were now suddenly immortal, season-less. The amazing performances were there for us to step back into; the delight and excitement of the crowd was always there for us to share. No matter how many times, I look back at the pictures I have taken over this summer, the happiness and energy in the performers and the audience never seems to fade. I love to share those moments with others because I want to take them there, show them what they missed, prove nowhere can top my city.

The crowd during opening act, Bubbles’ performance on June 24th at Mainstage

SummerStage is simply one of those things that makes the city impossible not to love. It makes you want to gush like a proud parent asking, “So what does your city do?” SummerStage and the City Parks Foundation set New York City aside from the pack and remind you concert after concert how naive you were to assume you could live anywhere else.

By Alyson Bonura

The concept of urban farming has become pretty familiar to most New Yorkers. There are many small ones scattered throughout the five boroughs, whether they be on people’s rooftops or right on the street where any community member can gain access to them.

This summer I had the pleasure of interning at Umoja Garden in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Mainly I was there for the purpose of educating various community groups. Every child that walks into Umoja is overcome with fascination: the plants, the dirt, the vegetables we harvest from the ground. It amazes them. And it is incredibly fulfilling to be part of the learning process. Inner city kids don’t necessarily have the luxury of seeing an enormous sunflower and being able to actually touch it and smell it.  It’s rare that they get to run around and catch butterflies and pull fresh carrots from the ground then eat them. What really gets me is their excitement and passion when they’re doing all of this. It makes me think that maybe this experience in Umoja Garden in the middle of Brooklyn in the middle of a hot hot summer, will inspire them to pursue a path in science or maybe this new generation will be so captivated by the urban farming movement that they will help it grow into something bigger and better than what it is now.

Though education was a major part of this internship, I also spent a lot of time close to the earth myself. Umoja needed a lot of TLC at the beginning of the season, which basically meant an endless amount of weeding. But there was something so personally rewarding about this. Sure it was hard work, but we saw results. And it was nice to see people enjoy the beautiful garden after we cleaned it up. I also loved being able to pick things straight from the ground, like carrots and arugula, and eat it right there. We also had an over abundance of sunflowers this season so we spent one afternoon cutting them down (sad, but it had to be done) and harvesting the seeds for later planting. I took some enormous sunflowers home too. I looked pretty strange carrying them on the subway.

It’s so amazing to be so close to nature even when in the middle of New York City. And it’s great that City Parks Foundation has been able to pass this opportunity onto so many curious young minds in the community. 

Photo Courtesy of Laura McFarland Burns

By Elike Kumahia

Jazz-a-ma-tazz’s swinging grooves, Oran Etkin’s worldly rhythms, and the Pickney Players island-soaked melodies, along with great music and stories by other artists served as the soundtrack for my summer with the SummerStage Kids.  

The two months I spent in New York City, while devoted to securing and working an internship, was intended to be a period of exploration; both personal and geographical. Working with SummerStage provided me with ample opportunity to accomplish both.  I was a New York neophyte, this being my first extended stay in the city. Thankfully, the job was based upon traveling and the Kids program brought me to the distant reaches of each of the city’s boroughs, a pleasure that would not have been possible had I spent my days anchored to a desk, as is the case with many internships. Instead, I spent several mornings per week traveling throughout New York City, assisting artists relaying messages of fun, learning and love to eager audiences of children and parents.

My fondest memories of these performances will be the kids; their pure excitement and enjoyment is etched in my mind as a throwback to my younger days, especially as I enter my final year of college and prepare to join the working world.

I never realized how much the City Parks Foundation has intertwined with my life, but it seems that every summer we have some sort of connection. Throughout my high school years I would attend the free Tennis Lessons at McKinley Park in Brooklyn. Last year I attended a Summer Stage Concert which was definitely the highlight of the summer. This year I decided to do something different and actually be a part of this great organization that does so much for the city by applying to be a photography intern.

I went back to McKinley park to take pictures and found out my coach is still teaching! There he is on the left.

Being a photography intern lets me see so much of what the City Parks Foundation does for many communities across New York City. It seems the father I go from the places I know, the more smiling faces I see. People really enjoy the shows that Summer Stage presents, and its free fun for the whole family.

I went from watching him on TV to watching him in my viewfinder. Shaun T amazes kids with his muscles.

Through this internship, I have traveled to many places I have never been to even though I have lived in New York City all my life. I have met amazing people who are so thankful for what the City Parks Foundation does in communities that can often be neglected. I am proud to be a part of everything that the City Parks Foundation does for New York and I can’t wait to see what future years hold.

The Ratatat concert must have been my favorite event just because I love their music and I loved the sea of people in front of me having the time of their lives.

7/18/2011: Time Warner and the Union Square Farmers Market
 Angelica Chery and Semecca Suber

Today we visited the Time Warner office building, where we learned about
where and how wireless technology is made. To learn more about what it is
like to be an engineer at Time Warner Cable, we did activities to learn about wireless technology. We learned about the difference between what WIFI and a wireless connection is. We also learned that cell phone class are transmitted through cell towers and switching stations and that encryption is used to make calls securely. We also got to visit the Union Square farmers market, where we were able to taste a corn salad and they gave us green bucks to buy fresh picked fruits and vegetables. We really enjoyed the farmers market and we can’t wait to visit again on a cooler day!

 7/19/2011: Overnight Trip Day 1
Nia Wilson and Tatyana Lawrence
 Today was the first day of our overnight trip to see the Ashokan Reservoir.
We stayed at the Colonial Inn in Upstate New York. We first put our stuff in
rooms and then we listened to a presentation about watersheds and different
reservoirs and how water is an important resource. We had dinner and a
little free time and then we went on a night hike. It was fun and scary! We
saw fish, frogs, bats and birds. It was fun because we got to experience new
things. We had good fried chicken, salad and spaghetti and meatballs and for
dessert we had chocolate cake and strawberry pie. We liked seeing the
Ashokan Reservoir the next day and the trip was very fun.

 7/20/2011: Overnight Trip Day 2
 Bryana Morales
 On the second day of the overnight, we visited the Ashokan Reservoir. We
saw a small model of the watershed, which had dirt, small trees, horses,
grass and factories around the rivers. I liked it because it taught me that
if a factory dumps pollution or a horse goes to the bathroom in the
Catskills near the river that can affect the water very far away in New York
City! I liked hearing the sound of the water hitting the shore and it was
very relaxing. We had great sandwiches for lunch and then took the bus back
to NY. I had fun because that was my first experience going hiking and
camping and because I got to share this experience with my friends.

7/21/2011
 Aisha Johnson and Quyn Israel
 We went to Strack Pond in Queens. We saw a lot of different dragon flies
and damselflies. Some were black and white, red, blue, purple, and green.
Our guide from the Natural Resource Group taugh us about how dragonflies
molt. We also learned that the male dragonflies are aggressive and the
females often choose to lay their eggs in vegetation around lakes. It was
hard to catch the dragonflies and they seemed sneaky or mean because they
stopped and looked at us and then flew away! When they reproduce, they are
in a wheel position. Even though it was hot and there was a lot of pollen
and even though the dragonflies were hard to catch, it was still a lot of
fun to catch them. When you catch them, you have such a satisfying feeling
(like “Yes! I caught it!”). We almost fell in the water, but we caught each
other. We got our sneakers and feet dirty, but we didn’t care and had a lot
of fun!

7/22/2011
Holly Hernandez and Jesuheidi Ortiz
Today we went to the American Museum of Natural History. We broke up into
teams and went on a scavenger hunt in the Hall of Biodiversity. We were
looking for different species, what habitats they live in and what they eat
to survive. Finding all of the animals was the most challenging part of the
day.
Our favorite part was when we worked together as a team and cooperated. We
also liked seeing the sea life, like the giant whale and the small
underwater species.

The three-week Green Girls Summer Institute, going into its sixth summer, serves 30 girls from the four Young Women’s Leadership Schools in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with hands-on activities and trips to parks and natural areas, wildlife refuges, and cultural institutions. Green Girls provides middle-school girls with intensive summer experiences that enrich their understanding of science and environmental justice issues, familiarize them with New York City’s vast natural and institutional resources, and promote leadership and life skills. Ultimately, the Green Girls Summer Institute helps girls explore their own vast potential and the extensive career possibilities available in the sciences.

These carefully-selected and sequenced activities address a variety of science subject matter, including environmental education, ecology, biology, geology, zoology, and botany. Sessions encompass an array of environmental and environmental justice issues that focus on community problems and the need for green spaces, water conservation, air quality and the natural world.