Cityscape

When you think of wildlife in New York City, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  A lot of you might be thinking pigeons, or rats or perhaps squirrels.  But, what about bees? 

 The buzzing insects typically aren’t the creatures associated most with the Big Apple, but they still have quite the presence here.  Beekeeping has seen a rise in popularity in New York City in recent years, especially since the board of health legalized the practice in 2010.  On this week’s show, we’re exploring the wonderful world of bees in New York City. 

If New York City streets could talk they probably would never shut up.  They would go on and on about tales of the people who came before us.  A new book explores the stories of many iconic New Yorkers dating back hundreds of years.  It’s calledFootprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers.  The authors, James and Michelle Nevius, a husband and wife tour guide team, are our guests on this week's Cityscape.   

New York is a city obsessed with real estate.  When it comes to celebrities, we’re intrigued to find out who lives where, and marvel at the high prices they paid for their apartments.  We love to catch a glimpse inside the windows of historic townhouses or high priced co-ops on 5th Avenue.  We want to know how much rent our friends or colleagues are shelling out for that one bedroom in Willamsburg, and perhaps more importantly how’d they manage to snag such a sweet apartment.

In case you didn't know, summer officially arrived June 21, 2014 at 6:51 am EST. After the brutal winter we had, we couldn't let this moment go by unnoticed, so this edition of Cityscape has a summer theme.  We'll find out why New York City is a whole lot hotter than the surrounding suburbs in the summertime, check in with some frisbee enthusiasts in Central Park, and find out what it takes to keep Central Park's lawns pristine despite the heat and wear and tear of the summer months.

When you think of a monk, you might picture a quiet man tucked away in the isolated wilderness, shrouded in mystery.  But on this week's Cityscape, we’re bringing you the "Urban Monk," whose monastery on Manhattan's Lower East Side is anything but secluded.  Gadadhara Pandit Dasa joins us to talk about his new book Urban Monk: Exploring Karma, Consciousness and the Divine.

It’s a scene we’ve seen countless times in the movies and on television.  A woman is walking down the street and is catcalled by a group of men working on a nearby construction site.  It’s typically portrayed as a laughing matter, but that kind of behavior is rooted in a much more serious issue. 

On this week's Cityscape, we’re taking a close look at the issue of street harassment.

Our panelists include:

Scammers come at us from all angles.  They target us on the street, on the internet, and pretty much everywhere in between.  On this week’s Cityscape, we’re exploring scams in New York City, from a Craigslist rental scam to a psychic reading rip-off.

Some of them are tasked with helping us find our way around.   Others are charged with telling us what to do or not to do to keep us safe.  And some of them are in the business of trying to persuade us to buy something. We're talking about signs. On this week's Cityscape, we’re exploring the history and impact of signage in New York City.

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.