Tag: Greater Astoria Historical Society

Look! “Hell Gate” Program

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

See you tonight at Grove 34! Tickets are still available here.

Take a look at our four storytellers whose stories started at our “Hell Gate” Sip & Scribe at Sunnyside Arts. Want to join in on the creative writing fun? The next Sip & Scribe is October 4th! Register here. 

Stories

CROSSING THE BRIDGE by Jackie Sherbow, performed by Mia Arias Tsang, directed by Erika Iverson

REAWAKENING by Mia Arias Tsang, performed by Jackie Sherbow, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

THE BRIDGE TO THE BRIDGE, by Alicia Lieu, performed by A. King McCarty, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

UNDER THE HELL GATE, by A. King McCarty, performed by Alicia Lieu, and directed by Erika Iverson

Special Guests

Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society, and A. King McCarty present “The Hell Gate Kid.”

Plus, a live performance from Natalia ‘Saw Lady’® Paruz!

Thank You

Shout out to our wonderful story coaches, Tim Lindner and Pichchenda Bao.

Bios

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

Mia Arias Tsang is a writer and freelance editor based in New York City. Her work explores themes of queer desire, intimacy, and disconnect. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Copy, Autostraddle, Half Mystic Press, Fatal Flaw Magazine, and Broad Recognition Magazine, among others. She is a copy editor for the literary magazine Identity Theory and program coordinator at the literary nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, and writes a newsletter called Overripe Peach. She lives in Queens with her cat, Peanut, and is currently working on a novel.

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

A. King McCarty (Ashley King) is an artist, writer, actor, musician and founder of Artstoria New York with her husband and fellow creator, Graham McCarty. She is a two-time recipient of the Queens Community Art Grant and an Art Hotel resident artist. She lives near the Hell Gate Bridge with her husband, son and lots of plants and comic books. Visit her on Instagram at @artstoriany and @akingmccarty

Natalia ‘Saw Lady’® Paruz can be heard playing the musical saw on movie soundtracks such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, HBO’s The JinxTime Out of Mind with Richard Gere, Fox Searchlight’s Another EarthDummy with Adrien Brody, etc. She performed with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta, with the Westchester Philharmonic, Royal Air Moroccan Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and at Lincoln Center with PDQ Bach composer Peter Schickele and with the Little Orchestra Society. She was chosen by Time Out New York and the Village Voice for their “Best of New York” lists and was featured in articles by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th St, Astoria)

Meet “Hell Gate” Storyteller Jackie Sherbow

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Our show is next week! Get your tickets here and meet our final storyteller Jackie Sherbow!

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th St, Astoria)

Meet “Hell Gate” Storyteller Alicia Lieu

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Our next storyteller is a Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor who hails from San Jose, California.

Meet Alicia Lieu and get your tickets here for our “Hell Gate” show!

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th Street, Astoria)

“Hell Gate” News

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

PROUD TO BE A QUEENS BOOKEND EVENT. TICKETS HERE!

Less than two weeks until the show and we have two pieces of news to share:

Unfortunately, due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, Barrie Miskin will have to join us for a future show.

Meanwhile, grab your copy of her searing memoir of Motherhood, Madness, and Hope Hell Gate Bridge at the Astoria Bookshop – you could also win one playing story trivia!

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th Street, Astoria)

Fantastic “Hell Gate Bridge” Sip & Scribe

Together
Ever-exploring
The evolving landscape as beautiful as it is exhausting
Alone
– “Hell Gate Bridge” poem by artist A. King McCarty

Did you know that Kelly Jean leads a monthly Sip & Scribe at Sunnyside Arts? Last Friday, our four “Hell Gate” storytellers attended the sold out evening of writing, mingling, and drink-sipping with other Queens creatives.

Want to join us next month? Register here for the 10/4 Sip & Scribe or email kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com to be added to Kelly Jean’s weekly newsletter of upcoming writing fun.

This community event also helped the storytellers generate ideas for the true tales they will trade and perform at our upcoming 9/25 “Hell Gate” show at Grove 34. Grab a ticket to come hear the stories the night inspired!

Everyone explored the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives. One breathtaking fact: The February 2005 issue of Discover magazine estimated that, if humans were to disappear, the Hell Gate Bridge could last for at least a millennium; most other bridges would fall in about 300 years.

Or, as Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, put it:

“With a regular coat of paint that bridge can last as long as the pyramids.” – from Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old in AMNY, March 27, 2017

Key takeaways:

  • As strong as it is, the Hell Gate Bridge is overlooked the most. What other structures and marvels do we overlook in Queens? In our lives?
  • “How do bridge?” I want to learn more about how bridges even work!
  • Personal bridges in our lives that transport us back to safe harbor: friends, family, old journals.
  • Art as a bridge to communicate through writing, theater, and drawing. 

Participants also rotated through the “Four Seasons of Hell Gate” for some guided writing inspired by the spectacular artwork of A. King McCarty.

The night culminated in a lovely sharing of “Hell Gate Bridge” poems like this one from founding member and story director, Erika Iverson:

Breeze
Blows Suddenly
Rain pulls down the blossoms like an angry mom at the end of a party
Still

This fantastic poem from story coach and social media guru, Timothy Lindner, captured the energy of this magical evening:

Summer is over, and we’re here
writing about Hell Gate Bridge, somewhere
I’ve never been – it’s stood
for a lifetime and will be here longer
than any of us. How does one decide
which books to read, what shows
to start, when we have so little time,
we can only cross this bridge so much.
Summer, can’t you be more durable?
Let me swim in your oceans
for a little while longer?
Two more minutes, two more minutes.
Winter beckons. I’m never ready
for the fading, migrations, but spring
sips her wine, fall dons her overalls,
both waist-deep in the revolution.
We’ll keep circling, circling, crashing
into the shore, longer than our bodies.

Hell Gate Tickets Available

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 is an intimate venue, so get your tickets for our No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” show.

For this Bookend Event, four Queens storytellers are trading tales inspired by the iconic Hell Gate Bridge. Plus, a special presentation from the Greater Astoria Historical Society and story trivia for fun literary prizes!

Want to meet our four storytellers and learn more about the Hell Gate while doing some writing of your own? Join us at Sunnyside Arts on Friday, 9/6 for Kelly Jean’s monthly Sip & Scribe.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th Street, Astoria)

Save the Date for Hell Gate!

The theme for our next show is place, specifically the iconic Hell Gate Bridge! Save the date: 9/25 for this special team-up show with the Greater Astoria Historical Society at Grove 34 in Astoria.

Big news! “Hell Gate” is AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

We’re excited to be part of week of literary events held across all the boroughs leading up to the festival.

Check our our storytellers and creative team below. More info coming soon, including how to join us on 9/6 at Sunnyside Arts for a generative workshop to kick-off our collaborative process!

Storytellers
Alicia Lieu
Jackie Sherbow
Mia Arias Tsang
Barrie Miskin

NYTI Creative Team
Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons
Pichchenda Bao
Tim Lindner

***

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Watch “Left My Heart”

Check out the heartfelt story swaps and surprises from our “Left My Heart” show at Grove 34. The full program is here. 

Read Bob Singleton’s imaginary interview with Tony Bennett in the Queens Gazette, which inspired this unforgettable evening of shared stories, songs, and Queens history.

Video credit: AJV Media

***

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Left My Heart” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

We Laughed, We Cried, We Sighed

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, ALL, for a fantastic evening of story swaps, Astoria history, and music at our “Left My Heart” show! Full program here. To quote Catherine Kapphahn, “We laughed and cried and sighed.”

Interested in Catherine’s book Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me, which was featured at the show. Grab your copy here.

Sorry you missed? Never fear, subscribe to watch the show on YouTube. Coming soon!

A huge shout out to Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, for his amazing insights into Tony Bennett’s life and music.


Read Bob’s imaginary interview with Tony Bennett in the Queens Gazette created directly from quotes from the Astoria legend and the inspiration for our ART HEART event.

Big thanks to:

  • Everyone who came out last night with open hearts.
  • The storytellers for sharing such intimate tales of love and strength.
  • The creative team for helping to bring this night to life.
  • Grove 34 for the perfect space and help getting set up.
  • Greater Astoria Historical Society for the amazing insights into Tony Bennett’s life and music.
  • Flushing Town Hall for all their support! Check out other upcoming Queens grantee events here.
  • New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York Foundation for the Arts.
  • AJV Media for filming and photographing the event.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for a photo album from the event, along with podcast episodes and more. If you didn’t win a copy during story trivia, the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology is available here.

Look! “Left My Heart” Program

Jun 05 2024 @ 7:00PM

Our “Left My Heart” show is tonight at Grove 34! Tickets are still available here.

Take a look at the four storytellers whose stories started at our ART HEART: Storytelling and Portrait Trading event, which was co-facilitated by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons and storyteller Zach Rothman-Hicks.

Read about how engaging with Tony Bennet’s music and history from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives inspired the storyteller’s modern-day true tales. The ART HEART portraits will be on display during the show, along with other surprises.

Content notice: Tonight’s stories are true, traded with open hearts, and, in the second half, there is a depiction of suicide. If you need a moment, please feel free to step outside at any point during the performance.

If you have any concerns, our producer and host, Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, is happy to discuss them during intermission.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. You can learn more about suicide from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at afsp.org.

Stories

  • MOTHER’S DREAM, by January Yoon Cho, performed by Catherine Kapphahn
  • LOPSIDED STAR, by Catherine Kapphahn, performed by January Yoon Cho
  • HEAD, HEART, and SAN FRAN, by Zach Rothman-Hicks, performed by Carl M. Banks
  • THE HOUSE WHERE NOBODY LIVES, by Carl M. Banks, performed by Zach Rothman-Hicks

Storyteller Bios

January Yoon Cho, an interdisciplinary visual artist, works with video, photography, and drawing, intertwining themes of social conformity, feminism, and environmentalism. She has exhibited across the US and Europe. Notably, Cho’s The Walk Project received fiscal sponsorship from the NY Foundation for the Arts and grants from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and Puffin Grant for Feminist and Environmental Art. Cho has taught at Parsons School of Design, New School University, and Hanyang University (Seoul). Originally from Seoul, Korea, she moved to the US in 1990 for her art education, earning a BFA from RISD and an MFA from Parsons.

Catherine Kapphahn is a writer, educator, storyteller, and speaker. Her memoir Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Mereceived The Center for Fiction’s Christopher Doheny Award and was published by Audible. Her manuscript Miseducation of a Dyslexic Girl: a Memoir in Poems and Classrooms was recently long-listed for the Steel Toe Books Poetry Award. Catherine received grants from the Queens Council on the Arts and City Artist Corps. Her writing has appeared in Queensbound, Motherwell Magazine, Croatia Week, Newtown Literary, the Feminist Press Anthology This is the Way We Say Goodbye, Astoria Life, and CURE Magazine. Catherine is an adjunct lecturer at City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, where her students’ stories inspire her. Catherine is also a yoga teacher. She grew up near the mountains in Colorado and now lives between two bridges in Queens, New York, with her husband and two sons. 

Zach Rothman-Hicks is an educator and multimedia conceptual artist who creates interactive performances and projects intended to spark reflection, dialogue, and action. He has been a New York City Public School teacher since September 2009 and an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College since 2012 and Queens College since 2022. In April 2020, while a student in the PIMA MFA Program at Brooklyn College, he initiated Gabbing with Gays, a project that explored Emotional Intimacy in the LGBTQIA+ community. This project inspired future interactive art pieces, which were presented at the Staten Island Museum, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the Newhouse Center, Alice Austen House, Easton Mountain, Queens Public Library, Hunters Point Park Conservancy, Chashama, Culture Lab, and the 14th Street Y.

Carl M. Banks is a troubadour and musical nomad. Born in the heartland of Saint Louis, Missouri, he found his rhythm in the bustling streets of New York City, now calling Astoria, Queens, his home.  Traversing the country as a touring singer-songwriter, his lyrics and melodies echo the highs and lows of the American landscape while his stories touch on personal and profound narratives. He has been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and on WFUV’s local artist spotlight, “New York Slice.” Carl is also an ultra-marathon runner and co-creator of Queens-based “Bridge and a Slice Half Marathon” and “HotDog Eater 50 kilometer.”

Special Thanks to the No, YOU Tell It! Creative Team

  • Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, producer, story director, host
  • Erika Iverson, founding member, dramaturg 
  • Pichchenda Bao, story coach
  • Tim Lindner, story coach and social media

***

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Left My Heart” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Jun 05 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th St, Astoria)

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