Culture Pass: 12 Stories of How Civic Space in NYC is Changing Hands

Ryan Haddad, playwright and performer, at the Public Theater in Astor Place, the East Village. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Charles Leslie, founder of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, at the museum on Wooster Street in SoHo. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Michael Rella and Peter Servedio, butchers at Peter’s Meat Market, housed in the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, which was established in 1940 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Nicola Caito and Camille Tetard, patternmakers, at their atelier in the Garment District. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Basma Sheea, Bengali-American singer, on the steps of the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx, a landmarked 1922 building designed by Joseph H. Friedlander and Harry Allan Jacobs. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Elissa Carmona, lead singer and founder of Morrisania Band Project, in front of the 2006 Arquitectonica–designed North Wing at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

John Paul Enfante, writer and teacher, in front of the landmarked Hispanic Society of America, designed in 1904 by Charles Huntington, at Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Ness McKelvey at home in Henry Hall, completed in 2017 by BKSK Architects with interiors by Ken Fulk, on the northern edge of Hudson Yards in Midtown. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Bain Coffman and Gui Junta, owners of Chang Noi Thai restaurant in downtown St. George, Staten Island. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Admir Ekmestic, former soccer player, at Mrki’s Place, a Yugoslavian private social club. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Dee Flattery, pub owner at The Quay. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Veronica Arze, café owner at Duzer’s Local, with her son Nicholas Silvestro. Photo: Tom Stoelker.

Tom Stoelker is senior staff writer at Fordham University. As a freelancer, he writes and photographs the urban landscape, including features for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal, The Architect’s Newspaper, and Landscape Architecture Magazine. Here, Stoelker travels to (almost) every borough to speak with a new generation bringing multicultural perspectives to established institutions and infrastructure around the city:

1. East Village, Manhattan: Ryan Haddad, Playwright and Performer at the Public Theater

2. SoHo, Manhattan: Charles Leslie, Founder of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, at the Museum

3. Arthur Avenue, the Bronx: Michael Rella and Peter Servedio, Butchers at Peter’s Meat Market, the Arthur Avenue Retail Market

4. Garment District, Manhattan: Nicola Caito and Camille Tetard, Patternmakers, at their Atelier

5. Grand Concourse, the Bronx: Basma Sheea, Bengali-American Singer, at the Andrew Freeman Home

6. Grand Concourse, the Bronx: Elissa Carmona, Lead Singer and Founder of the Marrisania Band Project, at the Bronx Museum of the Arts

7. Washington Heights, Manhattan: John Paul Enfante, Writer and Teacher, at the Hispanic Society

8. Midtown, Manhattan: Ness McKelvey at Home

9. St. George, Staten Island: Bain Coffman and Gui Junta, Restaurant Owners at Chang Noi Thai

10. Astoria, Queens: Admir Ekmestic, Former Soccer Player, at Mrki’s Place ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

11. Astoria, Queens: Dee Flattery, Pub Owner at The Quay ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

12. Tomkinsville, Staten Island: Veronica Arze, Café Owner at Duzer’s Local ONLINE EXCLUSIVE