Cityscape

If you live or work in New York City, you’ve definitely passed them on the street. Maybe you’ve even hung around to listen to them, or pitched a dollar into one of their instrument cases. Whether underground, in the park, or on the sidewalk, buskers are a way of New York City life.  On this week's Cityscape, we're delving into the world of buskers in New York City, from a 12-year-old cellist to a woman who plays the saw.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day -- a time to honor the women in our lives who’ve loved and nurtured us through the years. A lot of us will do that with a greeting card -- perhaps one with a pretty picture of a flower on the cover and a poignant saying inside. But, what if moms had the chance to write their own greetings? In honor of Mother’s Day, we asked some moms to write and share their personal essays about motherhood.

In a big city like New York, it’s easy to fall through the cracks.  On this week's Cityscape we have stories of things lost and found, from lip balm to pets.  We’ll also visit New York City Transit's lost property unit, and a Brooklyn beach that's a treasure trove of interesting items.

Every week WFUV's Cityscape brings you stories about the people, places, and spirit of New York. It's our own weekly love letter to this great city.  In conjunction with WFUV's Spring membership drive, we’ve prepared some of our favorite segments about the fascinating places we’ve explored and interesting characters we’ve met along the way, from the woman who runs a troll museum on Manhattan's Lower East Side to the volunteers who ring the bells in the tower of Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan.

A mask is a barrier between ourselves and the world. It conceals our identity and can free us in some way from our societal restrictions.  Think about how liberated people sometimes feel on Halloween.  On this week's Cityscape, we’re talking about masks, and our fascination with them.  We'll look at how masks are created and used in performance, as well as why some people wear metaphorical masks every day to protect themselves.

False accusations cover a wide spectrum. Maybe someone has mistaken you for a celebrity, or maybe someone spread a rumor about you. But some false accusations have long and lasting consequences.  On this week's Cityscape, we’re exploring the most extreme types of false accusations -- those that result in wrongful imprisonment.

At last, the weather is starting to warm up, providing more of an incentive to get out for a walk, or maybe even a bike ride.  On this week’s Cityscape, we’ll talk with a guy on a path to walk every street in New York City, and another guy who biked his way from Brooklyn to Hudson Falls – 500 miles away.  Tales from that journey are captured in a new book -- Conversations on the Hudson: An Englishman bicycles five hundred miles through the Hudson Valley, meeting artists and craftspeople along the way.

A lot of research has been conducted over the years on the risks and benefits of being on either side of the height spectrum.  For example, studies have shown that taller people score slightly higher on IQ tests than shorter people, and are more likely to be bitten by bugs than their vertically-challenged counterparts.  On the other hand, research shows short people are more likely to outlive their taller peers, but are still at a greater risk of developing heart disease.  On this week's Cityscape, we’re exploring what it’s like to be tall and short in New York City.  Our guests include the president of the Tall Club of New York City and Peter Manning, the founder of a Brooklyn-based clothing line for men 5'8" and under.  We'll also talk with Joshua Fischer with Snap Interactive, maker of the on-line dating site AYI.com about a survey that shows short men in New York City have trouble finding dates. And we'll hear from Olivier Rabbath, an artist and shoemaker from Brooklyn, who makes shoes for super large feet.

Finding Wall Street on a map wouldn’t be too hard for most New Yorkers, but pinpointing Humphrey Bogart Place might prove to be a challenge. The city is filled with honorofic street names.  On this week’s Cityscape we’ll talk with a guy who took it upon himself to catalog the more than 1500 honorofic street names in the city, as well as explore what it takes to get a street co-named in the Big Apple.  We'll also delve into the meaning behind some of the city's oldest street names and hear about some street names that are now extinct. 

We've all heard the phrase "time heals all wounds," but sometimes it's better to take responsibility and just say "I'm sorry."  On this week's Cityscape, we're looking at apologies and their restorative powers.  How and when should we apologize?  And is it ever too late?