Plenty of thanks for our Turkey of a borough

I remember learning in some elementary or middle school history class that the founding fathers argued hotly over what the national symbol should be. The argument came down to two options: the bald eagle or the turkey. As legend would have it, Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey. He said it would be a truly representative [...]

Getting away to camp was just what my family needed

Sitting on the steps of our cabin, staring up at the stars, working on a bottle of French Merlot, I was finally starting to feel rested. After all, it had been a busy Saturday for the three of us — me, my wife, Christine, and our daughter, Emma. It had just been the evening before [...]

Delightful, risque Dalí exhibit opens at QMA

I went to the Queens Museum of Art last Thursday night, and I was absolutely stunned at how much the place had changed in the last few weeks. I had just been there at the end of May, and I had seen an exhibit featuring photographs of third-world-nation children and another one featuring walls covered [...]

Take a day off in Manhattan, and look what you can do

This day is called the feast of Crispian: He that outlives this day and comes safe home will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, and rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, and say “To-morrow [...]

Do politicians get their kicks making little kids cry?

My wife Christine would like me to make an appeal to the city and state decision-makers who will ultimately determine if the Queens Zoo and the Prospect Park Zoo remain open. “What’s wrong with you?” she wonders. Let me give you a little background.

So … anybody know a good theater reviewer?

Kent Mancuso has retired to Florida. Or at least that is what the person writing the theater reviews under the pseudonym of Kent Mancuso has decided the fictitious reviewer should do. In my debut column, I stood up for Mancuso’s reviews of Queens community theaters and noted the possibility that the writer may actually be [...]

Boro arts groups need to get it while they can

At a time when government budgets are tight, often it is the arts that is the first to suffer. In Queens and throughout the country, public and private arts institutions are supported by a variety of levels of government aid. From the City Council to the state Legislature to the federal government, millions of dollars [...]

Have music festivals improved? Bonnaroo hopes so

With the Woodstock ’99 festival still in the hearts and minds of concert promoters, they understand that convincing a small, rural town that hosting a large-scale concert festival is a tricky task. Bonnaroo NE will do just that. Scheduled to be held Aug. 8 through Aug. 10 at Calverton Enterprise Park in Riverhead, L.I., the [...]

The best review comes from someone who knows

I am a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts who majored in theater. After high school I spent some time working professionally in the theater and trying to break into film. But a writers’ strike hit, auditions dried up and I decided to go to college. Though I continued acting in college, participating [...]