What I think about change, and a chance to meet Leslie Boghosian Murphy.
You can RSVP to this event by responding to this email. Note that I probably told too many people about it already and my roof has limited capacity, so you should RSVP soon if you want to come.
Neighbors, what I’m certain about is very little. What’s worse is that what I’m certain about is actually decreasing as I get older. When I was 11 years old I was basically certain about what happens when we die; 20+ years later, holed up in my apartment on a rained-out Memorial Day weekend with my phone sitting at a precarious 2%, the only things I can tell you with any certainty are that you will lose track of a lot of umbrellas in your life and you should not buy off-brand iPhone chargers from the Rite Aid at 23rd and 10th.
What I believe to be true about the way things work is a bit of a different story, however, and one of my increasing number of beliefs is the following: Change—real change in your community that you can actually, tangibly feel on a day-to-day basis—is very rarely effected through bomb-throwing at people you don’t really know. Real change is also rarely effected through the literary equivalent of bomb-throwing, which is the strongly worded letter or email you send at the very moment you identify a problem or area of concern. Rather, I think that change which actually changes the temperature in your room is effected through forming genuine relationships with people before you need to ask them for something, and, of course, voting in your local elections.
That brings me to Leslie Boghosian Murphy, who has helped us with our budding community garden initiative and who is currently running for City Council in the Chelsea, West Village, and Hell’s Kitchen area. The Democratic primary for that race is June 22, and the primary will basically decide the whole election. I readily admit that I am too uninformed about the issues at present and too principled in my stance on never pitching about anything to give you some type of pitch for Leslie, but listen: We are going to host a meet-and-greet this Thursday, June 3, at 6:30pm at my rooftop at 507 West 28th Street (northwest corner of 28th Street & 10th Avenue) where you can eat a little, drink a little, and talk to some people, including Leslie. Regardless of who you plan to vote for or whether you plan to vote at all, I think it is worth it to stop by and check out the view.
The problem is that I probably already told too many people about this event and my roof has limited capacity. So you need to reply to this email with a bit of haste if you want to attend.
Post you missed this week (just one):
