The Caedmon School

In 1832, the Reverend Dr. McVickar found a large group of "destitute" boys playing on Stanton Street. He asked them why they were not at church, and they replied that there was no church. He immediately started raising money to start one. He managed to find a place to worship in a tiny room over an engine house. The first assembly occurred on January 6th, 1833, on the Festival of the Epiphany, hence the church's name. Since then, it has had many homes throughout the city and merged with a few other congregations before finding its current location on 74th Street. The parish moved in 1944, over a hundred years after it was first formed. At the time, the "Far East Side" had no Episcopal churches, but Epiphany chose to move in order to meet the needs of the New York Hospital complex.

Before he discovered the intriguing land of miniatures, Leslie Edelman practiced as an attorney. This all changed when he befriended a couple that owned a doll house business on Lexington Avenue in the 1980s. “The next thing I knew, I was working with them. ” Leslie would go to shows and spend his spare time doing odd jobs in the shop. When the couple was ready to retire, they asked if he wanted to purchase the shop. Enchanted with the idea of opening a niche business, building tiny furniture, and traveling the world collecting doll house pieces, Leslie said yes. Today, he is also the mastermind behind many of Tiny Doll House’s designs. In the mid-1990s, the store moved to East 78th, where it has seen its clientele change over the decades. Initially, the business attracted people from around the globe who had an interest in the hobby. “They would come to us as we were the tourist center of the world. ” There were also local families interested in building their children a doll house, and then it turned to collectors as later generations became immersed in electronics. “Today, we are seeing more and more young people have a renewed interest in miniatures. ”Who would not be fascinated by the rows of tiny watches, tea sets, board games, bottles of wine, minuscule cakes, and musical instruments? Modern leather couches, mini televisions, and beautifully crafted Lilliputian antiques decorate the various houses that also run the gamut. There are stores, workshops, Tudor cottages, and federal mansions. Leslie even sells the mini people who go inside each model, ranging from a small rendering of the Mad Hatter to a woman in an elaborate sari sitting next to a hookah. A standout moment for Leslie and his partner, Tim Porter, was the day “Joan Rivers flung open the door, threw her shoes to one corner and her fur coat to another, and the next thing we knew we were building a house for her. ” She used it as a prop on QVC to promote her charm bracelets. “She sold a hell of a lot of them! ”

I would not have guessed, walking through the room hung with sparkly princess dresses and pink china, that Judy Famigletti used to be a hockey mom. The owner of Let's Dress Up, an event center for little girls, told me that she has two sons who both played ice hockey through college. She would go with them to their different games and formed her own business while traveling: she designed sports-themed Christmas ornaments, which developed into a broader home accessories business. While she greatly enjoyed painting, sewing, and decorating, most of Judy's creative power was directed towards sports and practicality. She had no use for frills and sparkles. Once her sons were grown, Judy moved to the city and set off on a new path. She knew that she wanted to have her own business that involved home decorating and that she wanted to work with little girls, since she was already very familiar with the world of boys. She reminisced about how she used to walk around her neighborhood when she was little, asking people for old jewelry and wearing her big sister's dresses. Judy began designing the concept for Let's Dress Up, meanwhile getting in touch with her feminine side. Needing to be resourceful in her first few years, as she no longer had a house in which to hold Let's Dress Up, she decided to barter with a restaurant. They allowed her to use their private room in return for decorating the eatery for the holidays. In 2005, she began holding events in the restaurant's back room, decking it out with her old hats and dolls. Shortly thereafter, Judy was able to move into her own space on 85th Street, followed by another location in Connecticut in 2010 - in an effort to be closer to her son and three of her grandchildren. "My granddaughter practically lived in the store until Kindergarten, " she said with a smile. Her sons also helped her with the business. In 2015, tragedy struck. Because the traveling was starting to become a hassle, Judy decided to close the Connecticut location and focus on the 85th Street spot. Shortly after making that decision, however, a fire broke out, ruining all of her old hats and dolls, and causing the space to require a complete overhaul. When I had the pleasure of meeting Judy at the end of 2015, her feathers did not appear to be ruffled. She had just finished renovating and moving her Connecticut dress-up things into the store. "After the fire, I decorated it based on the new girl, " Judy shared, showing me a wall hung with Disney princess outfits. Instead of her classic, vintage items, she had bright, shiny new things, with an emphasis on Disney's Frozen. "Elsa has replaced Ariel as the favorite princess. "Judy was inspired by the number of little girls who stopped by when she was renovating to ask, "When are you going to open? " She began thinking of new ways to expand Let's Dress Up, beyond the tried-and-true birthday parties. When I visited, she had just started offering special "Classes in the Castle" that little girls could come to with a play date. During these classes, the girls do craft projects, play with the dress-up items and learn the rules of princess etiquette from "Lady Judith" - Judy's persona in her shop. Judy showed me an example of one craft, in which little girls dressed a Pinkalicious dress-up doll after listening to one of the stories in the series by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann. Judy has now expanded into a summer camp and occasionally holds seasonal workshops; however, she assured me that her main passion will always be the parties. Each of the parties is all-inclusive, beginning with a special tea party invitation that is sent to the guests. On the day of the event, the hosting family arrives fifteen minutes early so that the birthday girl can select her favorite dress and be ready to greet her guests. Once all of the girls are dressed in the various gowns, purses, tiaras, wands, and jewelry, they get glitter nail polish and sparkly, clear lip gloss. Judy then puts a pink screen up so that the girls can take group and individual photos. The various parts of the party last only fifteen minutes, which Judy feels is the perfect amount of time for short attention spans. When I inquired about the age range, Judy told me, "The most common age is five. I can tell when they outgrow it because they start asking why there's no prince. "Once the pictures are taken, all the little princesses sit down to their tea party, set with proper china. I asked if any of the china ever breaks and Judy shook her head vehemently, saying, "When they dress like princesses, they act like princesses. " Judy took all the tea party equipment out of pretty striped hatboxes, laying everything out on a doily. "The piece de resistance is the glass slipper, " she said, putting a tiny slipper at the top of the place setting. She also showed me the little party favors, composed of sparkly bracelets in a mesh bag. Judy has used the same party favor throughout the years "because it's the right one. "Each tea party is comprised of the same ingredients: a bagel with cream cheese or butter, strawberries, cheese sandwiches cut in the shape of a heart, and cupcakes or cake. After listing the different courses of the princess feast, Judy informed me that she used to do her parties for the Museum of the City of New York. They requested that she hold high-end birthday parties in their Dollhouse Room. Though the parties were fun and the room was beautiful, it was a massive undertaking. Today, Judy sticks to her spot on 85th Street. Judy has also allowed others to take over her space, as there is enough room for a long table. She is looking forward to the day when someone chooses to have a baby shower in her space. Until then, Judy already has a lot on her beautiful pink china plate, with as many as four parties in one day. On my way out the door, I saw a wall full of knightly coats of armor, often used by little boys who are invited to the parties (although there are times when the boys are perfectly content to wear the dresses). I asked if the girls could be knights, instead of princesses. Judy answered with a benevolent smile, "They can be anything they want to be. "

It is no surprise that School of Rock NYC chose to open a location on East 75th Street in 2012. The block is teeming with families and is home to a wealth of creative neighbors, including two dance schools. Founded by Paul Green in the 1990s, the school has inspired both a film and a musical. On a daily basis, it provides high-quality instruction and activity for eight to eighteen year olds in the neighborhood and beyond. As Jackie Schellbach, one of the owners of this location, explained, the School of Rock teaches children how to hold a guitar, how to prepare for graduate school auditions, and everything in between. Walking through the facilities, Bob Jones, the music director, told me that each instructor has a passion for music and an impressive resume. Bob, himself, has experience in classical, folk, jazz, and rock, and has toured throughout North America and Europe with a variety of groups. His background playing the classical double bass has allowed him to help children with a classical background make the transition into Rock and Roll and memorized performance. Jackie focuses more on the managerial side of things, but she was able to tell me firsthand about their group classes. She came in with a bunch of friends for a class some time ago and by the end, her group was playing a song together. That is School of Rock’s promise: at the completion of a lesson, a student will be able to perform "something. "As we continued walking, Jackie and Bob showed me the front rehearsal room where small groups can jam together and the smaller practice rooms for voice and keys. Everywhere I looked, there were inspiring posters of rock legends on the wall, such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, alongside photos of students performing. Continuing to stroll through the space, I commented on the main social hub with red and black benches. Jackie explained that this is where kids "socialize, practice and maybe even get some homework done between lessons. " During the summer, "day campers" often use the space to write original songs together. Bob added that the School of Rock does birthday parties where attendees can either write their own song or learn how to play a well-known tune together. Heading downstairs, I was impressed by the high quality of the equipment in the rehearsal and recording room, which included a full soundboard and enough space for a big band. Bob shared that they can help older students record demos, but that these facilities are open to any student. Having the opportunity to perform a song with other kids after only a few sessions can really change a child. “Kids discover themselves and gain new levels of self-confidence, " Bob proudly stated. Nodding in agreement, Jackie added, “We see it happen. ” The School offers free trials to anyone who wants to try out their classes. According to Bob, there is a pretty high return rate from these trials - in his words, because “our teachers are just awesome. ”

The magic of Mark Rosenthal’s instruction is that he knows exactly what children are capable of and how far he should push them with their art. He admitted, “I discovered the exact difficulty of each grade. That's why this works. ” As he showed me around the Art Center, I was continually surprised by the work and the advanced skills that the children were able to exhibit. I became aware early on in my exploration that the Art Center does not just foster good technique, they "teach skills and love of the creative process. ”Mark started the Art Center nearby in 1994, but he had already been teaching in the neighborhood since 1985. He worked at the Town School, and because he was not formally trained as a teacher, he was sure to read all the books he could find on child development, teaching styles, and art in the classroom so that he could keep up with his peers. Mark spoke to me at length about Howard Garner’s idea that art should be reinstated as a discipline in schools and the Erikson theory of psychosocial development. After a few years at the Town School, Mark qualified for a sabbatical and it was then that he officially began his Art Center by renting space from other schools in the area. Like Mark, who studied painting at Cooper Union and NYU, many of the other teachers in the Art Center are professional artists. I met Paul, an illustrator, and Melissa, a sculptor. Mark explained that he tries to have teachers from a number of different disciplines in order to make classes more interesting and to provide greater range of instruction to the students. The Art Center is set apart from other schools by the fact that the classes are strictly kept to a five to one student/teacher ratio. This ensures that each student is able to receive individual instruction. The space allows two classes to happen simultaneously, with the age range from first grade up through adult. Looking at the curriculum for the different grades, Mark pointed out how the children will approach the same project from a different perspective as they get older. For example, first graders will create simple two dimensional self-portraits, but third graders are instructed on how to use shading. Though I recognized a few projects as common to most children’s art classes, I was impressed by how many unique assignments Mark has given his students and how many fascinating pieces the children are encouraged to create. Even the 3D paper mache animals, which are a staple of most school art classes, were unlike any I had seen before. “A lot of kids do these, but we like to do it on steroids, ” Mark boasted. One distinctive series I noted was a collection of Chinese paintings of toys. Mark told me that he found a book of famous Chinese toy art and thought that it would be a fun project for the kids, especially since each toy has a folk story attached to it. Some of their one-of-a-kind art projects arise out of serendipity: one year, the paint shipment did not arrive in time, so Mark created a workshop that involved coloring in different shapes. This assignment continues today. It is evident that Mark is proud of what he has created, as well he should be, with the amount of research and training that has been put into the school. “We think of it as the best art school for kids out there. That’s how I designed it, ” he said, matter-of-factly. He listed his experience in the field, his highly honed curriculum, and especially his amazing fellow instructors as the driving force behind his success. As Mark continued to flip through books of children’s work, appreciating much of it, he stopped, smiled, and announced, “The kids are what I love. ”

When I entered FD Gallery, I was convinced I was walking into a bakery - drawn in by the delectable trays of pastries and beguiling tarts in the window. Only after I saw a dazzling array of gold and jewels did I realize that this was, in fact, an estate jewelry gallery. The painted cakes in the window were a display for the necklaces and brooches carefully exhibited around them. "We all have an affinity for sweetness, " Thomas Tolan, the gentleman who greeted me, laughed when I told him my mistake. He explained that the displays, which change every six to nine weeks, are meant to be fantastical: "We feature a lot of animal motifs and pieces of whimsy that transcend fine art. "Thomas went on to tell me that FD are the initials of the gallery's founder, Fiona Drukenmiller, a woman who had a successful career on Wall Street, but who left finance to raise her three daughters. When her youngest went off to school, Fiona decided to return to work. Recognizing that her passion and knowledge lay in estate jewelry - as she had amassed her own personal collection of jewelry over the years - she set out on a new career path. Thomas said that FD has a much understated business model, and that having a side street location allows for the anonymity of their clients. The gallery does very little advertising and relies on word of mouth. Perhaps because of this, FD provides excellent customer service. The staff essentially work as a concierge, welcoming people and tracking any items that are of interest to them. The pieces are all curated by time period and material. Although the jewelry was magnificent, and several pieces had interesting histories, I was particularly fascinated by a ruby Buddha that Thomas said dates back to fifteenth century China. It was evident that Thomas was passionate about his position at FD. This is definitely a "gallery as opposed to a jewelry store, " however, each item is meant to be used and appreciated. As he put it, "A piece of art like this should be worn and enjoyed. It would be sad to see it locked away in a safe. " He went on to say that he often gets attached to something, and then feels a special bond with the person who ends up purchasing it. In addition to the Cartier and sparkling Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry in the front of the boutique, there are rare books and other vintage items in the back, along with an espresso bar laden with treats. I was getting ready to step back outside when Thomas, full of smiles, confirmed my suspicions, saying "It really is fantastic to work here. Fiona is a remarkable woman. " And it was only a few days later while riding the subway that I looked up and spotted an advertisement for the upcoming AIDS Walk. Along with the corporate sponsors listed, there was one solitary individual donor: Fiona Drukenmiller. I was so pleased, not only to recognize her name, but to see that she is truly a philanthropic, altruistic, whimsical woman.

The Upper East Side sometimes feels like Little Hungary, what with the First Hungarian Literary Society on 79th Street, the Hungarian House on 82nd, and various Hungarian churches scattered throughout the neighborhood’s residential streets. The First Hungarian Baptist Church, which provides services in Hungarian, is no exception. The congregation was established in 1895 and now resides in a building completed by Emery Roth, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, in 1916.

Eileen Macholl, the Executive Director of the Unitarian Church of All Souls, introduced me to Mary-Ella Holst, calling her a “historian, long-standing member, and guru. ” The answer to most questions in the church, Eileen told me, is “Ask Mary-Ella. ” We learned just how extensive her knowledge was when she took us on a tour of the sanctuary and recounted the history of the congregation. She joined the church in 1964 to teach at the church school, but Mary-Ella is a well of information stretching back as far as 1819, when the congregation was first formed. It began when William Ellery Channing was invited to give a speech in Baltimore and made a trip down from Boston, where he lived. On the way, he stopped in New York to visit his sister, Lucy Channing Russel. She then invited her friends, primarily Bostonians staying in Manhattan, to listen to William give a sermon. He was not feeling well at the time, so he read the sermon while sitting down, but his listeners were inspired to start a church based on his reading. The congregation moved around in its first few decades. Its third location was in a church on Park Avenue and 22nd Street that was cheekily referred to as the “Church of the Holy Zebra, ” thanks to its odd striped design. Though the church was much derided and no longer exists, the Victorian Society in London recently got in touch with the Unitarian Church of All Souls to tell them that the church had been one of the first examples of Ruskin architecture in the United States. Before entering the congregation, Mary-Ella showed us to an old pew rental chart. She pointed to a name, George F. Baker, explaining that he was the founder of Citibank. He had been the President of the Board for fifty years, which was useful, since the church is entirely self-funded. They receive no support from a national organization and when the church is short on funds, the board is expected to come up with the money. Countless other influential figures have attended the church, including Louisa Lee Schyler, who founded the Bellevue School of nursing, and author Herman Melville. Continuing into the sanctuary, Mary-Ella spoke about William Ware, who became the first minister for the church. She described him as a “great writer, but a bad preacher. ” He had the proper lineage, however, since his father was on the faculty of Harvard and helped form the divinity school, despite his Unitarian tendencies. He was also married to the daughter of Benjamin Waterhouse, who invented the smallpox vaccination. A lot of the history of the time, Mary-Ella said, comes from the diary of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, a female writer who attended the church, but was not a member due to her gender. She also encouraged William Ware to write Zenobia, a novel that was published in the Knickerbocker, a literary magazine, and took place in Ancient Rome. William Ware also wrote Julian, which described life in Nazareth, but never mentioned Jesus as the Son of God. The most influential minister, however, is featured to the right of the altar. The bas-relief of Whitney Bellows is thought to be the largest relief that the sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens ever made. It is believed that Peter Cooper, the founder of Cooper Union, convinced him to create it after Augustus spent two years studying with Rodin. Bellows, who was “more powerful than any newspaper, ” was supremely influential in New York. He created the Union League Club to support emancipation and raised money for the sanitary commission, which eventually became the American Red Cross. He even had a hand in forming Central Park (the co-designer of the park, Calvert Vaux, was a member of the Unitarian Church of All Souls), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History. Our tour ended with two important elements that bookmark the sanctuary. First, Mary-Ella turned us around to face the impressive organ. The church is very musical, with a church choir, a community choir, a youth choir, and a concert series. Though the current organ is relatively recent, the church’s historic first organ is being used in Vermont. Finally, Mary-Ella gestured to the elaborate design made with gold and silver strings at the front of the church, created by Sue Fuller. Unitarian Universalists welcome all beliefs or lack thereof. For this reason, within the sparkling design above the alter, there is the swooping arc of Islam, the Star of David, and a Christian cross. We were informed of countless other tidbits about the church and the history of the city from Mary-Ella, and were not surprised to learn that she conducts a lecture series in the summertime. The Manhattan Sideways team was riveted through her entire tour and highly recommends it to anyone interested in understanding more about New York City and its influential members throughout the years.

The side streets are full of people with a lot of character, and that would certainly include Eugene Nifenecker, known as “King Gene. ” When I commented on his moniker, he immediately reached for a plaque on his desk. He explained that once he started calling himself “King Gene, ” a friend pointed out that he could not be a monarch without any land to his name. Gene then discovered that for a fee, he could buy one square foot of historic land in Scotland. He did so, has the deed to prove it, and now uses it to back up his claim of being the once and future Balloon King. There is a reason, however, that the name of the business is plural. He is backed up by an amazing team of people. For example, Kathy has been with Gene since before he left his job in the sign business. Gene shared that he was working in his grandfather’s old store on 83rd Street as a third generation sign manufacturer. He had been hand painting signs since the sixth grade and he simply got tired of it. A friend, who Gene used to make signs for, was selling her place on 80th, and Gene took advantage of the opportunity, choosing to enter the world of balloons. He also took Kathy with him. “This is my kingdom, ” he said with a smile, picking up his plastic scepter that a customer had given to him. Gene has done a lot of research on balloons and what keeps them afloat. He told me that the reason why balloons end up on the floor the morning after filling them up is because helium is the second smallest atom, and so it is able to seep through the pores of the balloon. As a result, Gene adds gel inside of the balloons in an effort to fill up these pores. Additionally, he only uses American-made balloons. I learned that other countries tend to make their balloons with a lot of chemicals, which causes them to give off the awful rubbery smell that many people associate with balloons. Gene showed me a few examples of jobs he has done, including a series of see-through bouquets that he made for an event at a grand ballroom in midtown. He also informed me about an exciting installation he was a part of when Target was releasing a new bath product. He and his team blew up 3500 clear balloons that were arranged in rows of forty by forty by twenty in Grand Central Station. They were all different sizes and were blown up and deflated before being properly filled, in order to make them perfectly round. What makes Balloon Kings special, however, as Kathy pointed out, is “You can come in for just one balloon or one million balloons. ” To drive that point home, Gene asked Olivia, a Manhattan Sideways team member, her favorite color. He then blew up a green balloon inside another see-through balloon with geometric shapes and presented it to her. Before handing it over, however, he tied the ends of the ribbon and curled it. “When you walk out, it should always have a curl, ” Gene announced. As Olivia, in her twenties, grinned like a toddler while Gene tied the balloon to her wrist, Gene said, “Any kid that comes in with a parent gets a balloon, no matter what. ”We quickly understood that every visitor to Balloon Kings receives the same special treatment that we did. Kathy pointed out, “Every single balloon is done by hand. We have to touch every part of it, ” and then added, “We want to make the customer’s vision come to fruition. ” I was impressed by the organized rows of different kinds of balloons. There are sixty-seven colors represented with at least 600 of each in stock every day. The easy-to-follow set-up and code are thanks to Gene, who prides himself on his organization, which he developed in the sign business (for anyone curious about his previous work, the signs in the Jazz at Lincoln Center building are his). “I brought structure to a fragmented industry, ” he explained. But mostly, he has brought a sense of fun and whimsy to the neighborhood, which I experienced within just a few minutes of him whisking me around the store and calling me “my lady. ” And then ended by saying, “It’s fun! Balloons are fun! ”

The ceiling of this long, narrow shop is studded with chandeliers in all shapes and sizes. Behind the counter, hundreds upon hundreds of keys dangle from hooks on the wall. The window display is piled with doorknobs and old telephones. “Antiques, ” Mr. Charlie told me. “They don’t make them like this anymore. ”Born in Iraq in 1935, Mr. Charlie was raised in Israel before moving to New York as a young man. He speaks six languages: Arabic, Hebrew, English, Turkish, Farsi, and “a little bit” of Filipino. The evidence of this incredible linguistic ability is scattered throughout the shop - a bottle label in Hebrew, a conversation with a client that swings between Arabic and English, and in his voice itself. His speech is soft, quick, and underscored with a hard-to-place accent. He likes to talk, maybe almost as much as he likes locks. Mr. Charlie fell into locksmithing by accident - or perhaps by fate. While visiting friends on Long Beach, Long Island, he helped one of them jimmy open their truck door in a matter of minutes. And thus, a locksmith was born. He speaks of his work like the expert he is: with the love and pride of one who knows they do a good job. “I’ve been in business a long time and never had a problem. I love to serve, to help people. ”His customers seem to return the devotion. In the back of the shop, Mr. Charlie showed me a small collection of antique Iraqi pots and synagogue decorations given to him by one of his clients, a Lebanese woman who works for the U. N. He pulled two wooden combs from one of them. “These are just like the combs my mother would use, ” he said, tracing his fingers over their hand-painted surfaces. Mr. Charlie’s own children do not share his passion for antiques and locks. With no one to take over the store, Charles Locksmith Inc. will close when Mr. Charlie retires. Without a doubt, the shop is worth a visit before its doors are shuttered for good. It is a gem of old New York, steeped in history from the antiques on the shelves to the man behind the counter.

In 1832, the Reverend Dr. McVickar found a large group of "destitute" boys playing on Stanton Street. He asked them why they were not at church, and they replied that there was no church. He immediately started raising money to start one. He managed to find a place to worship in a tiny room over an engine house. The first assembly occurred on January 6th, 1833, on the Festival of the Epiphany, hence the church's name. Since then, it has had many homes throughout the city and merged with a few other congregations before finding its current location on 74th Street. The parish moved in 1944, over a hundred years after it was first formed. At the time, the "Far East Side" had no Episcopal churches, but Epiphany chose to move in order to meet the needs of the New York Hospital complex.