Cityscape

New York City’s mostly surrounded by water, but it’s easy to get caught up in the concrete jungle and forget about the serenity you can find just off the shore. On this week's Cityscape, we’re looking to the water for stories of inspiration, including the tale of a Manhattan man’s life-changing love for sailing.

When people think of New York's islands, they think of Manhattan, City Island, Coney Island or Staten Island. But there are more than three dozen other islands scattered throughout the city's waters, each with their own rich history and unique identity. On this week's Cityscape, we’ll be learning all about New York’s “other” islands.

Kids today confront age old problems -- abuse, drugs, gang violence, living with dysfunctional families, teenage pregnancy. The list goes on and on. Many organizations in New York City work to keep young people out of trouble, some with more unique approaches, including one that uses basketball to keep kids on the straight and narrow.  On this week's Cityscape, a panel discussion on youth issues in New York City.

Even in today’s digital age, chalk is still a common instrument for communication and artistic expression. Teachers use it to write out lessons. Kids use sidewalks and chalk to let their imaginations run wild. On this week's Cityscape, we’re exploring chalk as a powerful tool for communication and self-expression. The show includes:

A lot of people are familiar with Coney Island’s storied past, but Rockaway Beach has an interesting history all its own. In fact, the Queens community was once a bustling, summer hot spot chock full of hotels and amusements that drew millions of visitors. Today, a new generation of visitors is discovering Rockaway Beach. There’s even a new weekend bus service shuttling people there from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Vivian Rattay Carter tells the tale of Rockaway Beach from its earliest beginnings in her new book Images of America: Rockaway Beach. Carter's our guest on this week's Cityscape.

It’s a summer tradition for a lot of New Yorkers – escaping the city for the serenity of the Hamptons. Dan Rattiner knows all about the summer hotspot. He’s been writing about it for years. Dan founded the free weekly newspaper, Dan’s Papers, in 1960. He was just 20 years old then. He’s still a staple on the East End of Long Island and out with a new book called Still in the Hamptons: More Tales of the Rich, the Famous and the Rest of Us. Dan's our guest on this week's Cityscape.

Between ice cream trucks, food carts and brick and mortar parlors, you can’t go a block in New York City without stumbling on a place to get an ice cream fix. On this week's Cityscape we’re exploring ice cream in New York City, including one parlor on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that’s "changing lives one scoop at a time."

Beer has a long and storied history in New York City, in part due to the influence of German immigrants. On this week’s Cityscape we’re delving deep into the history of beer in the Big Apple, as well as taking a look at the city’s suds resurgence in recent years.

Don Kirshner is not exactly a household name, but if you’ve listened to popular music in the last 50 years or so, you’ve probably heard his influence. Who Put the Bomp was one of about 200 songs the music producer helped turn into hits in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Don Kirshner, a Bronx native, died in January of last year of heart failure at the age of 76. A new book explores the career of this pop-music hit maker. It’s called Don Kirshner: The Man with the Golden Ear. Author Rich Podolsky is our guest on this week's Cityscape.

No doubt there are a lot of political junkies out there who spend a good deal of time flipping between cable news channels. But, you also have people who are deeply concerned about issues like the economy and education who don't follow the political process too closely. Getting people more engaged is critical to ensuring candidates address the issues facing ALL Americans. With the November elections inching closer, many organizations are in overdrive working to get people more excited to head to the polls and have their voices heard. And they have their work cut out for them. Voter turnout here in New York City is low with a capital "L". WFUV's Strike a Chord campaign on electoral engagement continues this weekend on Cityscape with a look at various efforts to boost political consciousness in New York City and beyond.