Lifestyle
92NY, a historic cultural center, turns 150 — grappling with today's Israel-Hamas war
The 92nd Street Y, New York is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As a Jewish cultural institution, it’s also facing criticism related to the Israel-Hamas war.
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The 92nd Street Y, New York is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As a Jewish cultural institution, it’s also facing criticism related to the Israel-Hamas war.
92NY
Nonprofits often struggle to adhere to their original mission statements, especially as they develop new programs and serve new audiences. For Jewish institutions, the Israel-Hamas war has been an inflection point.
That’s been especially true of The 92nd Street Y, New York, which turns 150 this month.
92NY was founded by a group of German Jewish New Yorkers as one of the earliest branches of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, which were modeled on the Young Men’s Christian Associations, better known as the YMCA.
It had a simple goal — help immigrants assimilate, said Seth Pinsky, CEO of 92NY.
“They saw a growing wave of Eastern European Jews and felt that these new immigrants would need a place where they could learn how to become Americans, become educated, gain skills, and adjust to a new life in a new country,” Pinsky said.
Swimming at New York’s Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) in 1911. The YMHA eventually became The 92nd Street Y, New York, a cultural force that hasn’t lost its community center vibe.
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Over time, The 92nd Street Y, New York became much more: a nondenominational, cultural powerhouse open to all. “Even though it was founded as a Jewish institution, has always been a Jewish institution, it is also an institution that has always served the wider world,” said Pinsky.
‘Category buster’
Look through the archives and it seems like anybody who’s anybody in culture, science, politics and the like has appeared at 92NY: writers such as Dylan Thomas and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, entertainers like Paul Robeson and Carol Burnett, and scientists like Dr. Jane Goodall. Modern dance pioneers Martha Graham and José Limón taught at 92NY before founding their own companies. Alvin Ailey debuted his best known work, Revelations at 92NY in 1960.
Martha Graham was among the modern dance pioneers who taught at 92NY before founding her own company.
The 92nd Street Y, New York
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The 92nd Street Y, New York
Every day, thousands of people still use The 92nd Street Y, New York as their local community center. They come for its swimming pool, daycare, gym and numerous classes, from tap dancing to jewelry making.
They also come for events and lectures. Recent speakers include actor Emily Blunt and actor/singer Audra McDonald, former U.S. Rep Liz Cheney, and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism. During the pandemic, 92NY started streaming virtual presentations online, reaching millions of people around the world.
“It’s a category buster and there’s really nothing else like it anywhere,” said Pinsky.
Pinsky said 92NY was built on Jewish and American values including “debate and a robust exchange of ideas.” From Israeli prime ministers to civil rights activists, for decades it has thrived as a place for diverse programs and points of view.
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, spoke with Rabbi David Ingber, senior director at 92NY’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life on Jan. 24, 2024.
Vladimir Kolesnikov/Michael Priest Photography/The 92nd Street Y, New York
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Vladimir Kolesnikov/Michael Priest Photography/The 92nd Street Y, New York
But that identity was shaken after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Afterward, 92NY postponed an event by one of its divisions, the well-regarded Unterberg Poetry Center.
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen was scheduled to talk at 92NY two weeks after the attacks. But he was also one of hundreds of writers who’d signed an open letter in the London Review of Books condemning Israel’s occupation and calling for a ceasefire. The Israeli government says that a ceasefire could lead to further attacks.
Nguyen’s novels are about surviving war and trauma, but Pinsky said it was not the right time for him to appear at 92NY.
“It was during the traditional Jewish period of mourning, and it was about a week after the so-called Day of Rage, when Hamas called for the targeting not just of Israelis, but of Jews and Jewish institutions,” Pinsky said. “And so what we said was not that he couldn’t hold those opinions and not that he could never appear on our stage. But maybe that moment wasn’t the right moment.”
The Poetry Center’s director, Bernard Schwartz, refused to postpone and quickly arranged for the event to take place at a local bookstore instead.
Nguyen told the audience he believed he was canceled.
“Art is supposed to keep our minds and hearts open. So the greatest irony of all of this is that what could save us — or one of the things that could save us — art — has been silenced,” Nguyen said.
Writers, including playwright Tony Kushner, signed an open letter angry at 92NY’s decision. Some of those scheduled to speak last fall withdrew. Schwartz and the two other members of the Poetry Center’s staff resigned, effectively suspending the program.
“It sends a terrible message, because writers have to be able to express themselves,” said James Shapiro, an author and English professor at Columbia University. He’s been actively involved with 92NY for years, including teaching a class on Shakespeare. He said he’s so furious, he doesn’t plan to return.
“I’m a Zionist. I’m a supporter of the Y. I’m a defender of my community,” said Shapiro, “And when a group within that community is effectively making it worse by aligning it with a view that Jews censor writers who don’t line up with their beliefs, it sets a terrible example.”
Shapiro praised the work of the Poetry Center’s small staff and “the brave stand that they took in defense of free speech.”
Pinsky said he’s well aware there are people in the literary world “who are not happy with the decision we made.” He vowed to rebuild the Poetry Center. “We’re ready to do the work and we think our poetry program and literature program is an important one, and it’s one that we want to get back on its feet.”
Cultural institutions need to ‘reconsider everything we do’
92NY is just one of many cultural institutions getting heat for whatever they do — or don’t do — related to the Israel-Hamas war. The decisions they make could affect their funding, audiences and staff morale.
“The 92nd Street Y, like all Jewish institutions, but I think all institutions with conscience, have to think ‘How do we respond?’ ” said Susannah Heschel, chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth College. “I think it means we have to reconsider everything we do. As a professor of Jewish Studies, what do I hope to achieve? And I’m not sure.”
CEO Pinsky said 92NY’s commitment to a “robust exchange of ideas” hasn’t changed. Since Oct. 7, it has featured conversations that have been both critical and supportive of the Israeli government.
Trying to make sense of difficult topics is one of the many reasons people go to 92NY. But they also come for concerts or to take a class or go for a swim. Pinsky said its mission to enrich individuals and create community is needed now “more than any time” in its 150-year history.
“The fabric of society is being pulled apart in so many different ways,” he said. “And bringing people together and making them feel connected is incredibly important. And that’s who we’ve always been and that’s who we continue to be.”
This story was edited for audio and digital platforms by Jennifer Vanasco.
Lifestyle
In ‘No Other Choice,’ a loyal worker gets the ax — and starts chopping
Lee Byung-hun stars in No Other Choice.
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In an old Kids in the Hall comedy sketch called “Crazy Love,” two bros throatily proclaim their “love of all women” and declare their incredulity that anyone could possibly take issue with it:
Bro 1: It is in our very makeup; we cannot change who we are!
Bro 2: No! To change would mean … (beat) … to make an effort.
I thought about that particular exchange a lot, watching Park Chan-wook’s latest movie, a niftily nasty piece of work called No Other Choice. The film isn’t about the toxic lecherousness of boy-men, the way that KITH sketch is. But it is very much about men, and that last bit: the annoyed astonishment of learning that you’re expected to change something about yourself that you consider essential, and the extreme lengths you’ll go to avoid doing that hard work.
Many critics have noted No Other Choice‘s satirical, up-the-minute universality, given that it involves a faceless company screwing over a hardworking, loyal employee. As the film opens, Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has been working at a paper factory for 25 years; he’s got the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect family — you see where this is going, right? (If you don’t, even after the end of the first scene, when Man-su calls his family over for a group hug while sighing, “I’ve got it all,” then I envy your blithe disinterest in how movies work. Never change, you beautiful blissful Pollyanna, you.)
He gets canned, and can’t seem to find another job in his beloved paper industry, despite going on a series of dehumanizing interviews. His resourceful wife Miri (Son Ye-jin) proves a hell of a lot more adaptable than he does, making practical changes to the family’s expenses to weather Man-su’s situation. But when foreclosure threatens, he resolves to eliminate the other candidates (Lee Sung-min, Cha Seung-won) for the job he wants at another paper factory — and, while he’s at it, maybe even the jerk (Park Hee-soon) to whom he’d be reporting.
So yes, No Other Choice is a scathing spoof of corporate culture. But the director’s true satirical eye is trained on the interpersonal — specifically the intractability of the male ego.
Again and again, the women in the film (both Son Ye-jin as Miri and the hilarious Yeom Hye-ran, who plays the wife of one of Man-su’s potential victims) entreat their husbands to think about doing something, anything else with their lives. But these men have come to equate their years of service with a pot-committed core identity as men and breadwinners; they cling to their old lives and seek only to claw their way back into them. Man-su, for example, unthinkingly channels the energy that he could devote to personal and professional growth into planning and executing a series of ludicrously sloppy murders.
It’s all satisfyingly pulpy stuff, loaded with showy, cinematic homages to old-school suspense cinematography and editing — cross-fades, reverse-angles and jump cuts that are deliberately and unapologetically Hitchcockian. That deliberateness turns out to be reassuring and crowd-pleasing; if you’re tired of tidy visual austerity, of films that look like TV, the lushness on display here will have you leaning back in your seat thinking, “This right here is cinema, goddammit.”
Narratively, the film is loaded with winking jokes and callbacks that reward repeat viewing. Count the number of times that various characters attempt to dodge personal responsibility by sprinkling the movie’s title into their dialogue. Wonder why one character invokes the peculiar image of a madwoman screaming in the woods and then, only a few scenes later, finds herself chasing someone through the woods, screaming. Marvel at Man-su’s family home, a beautifully ugly blend of traditional French-style architecture with lumpy Brutalist touches like exposed concrete balconies jutting out from every wall.
There’s a lot that’s charming about No Other Choice, which might seem an odd thing to note about such a blistering anti-capitalist screed. But the director is careful to remind us at all turns where the responsibility truly lies; say what you will about systemic economic pressure, the blood stays resolutely on Man-su’s hands (and face, and shirt, and pants, and shoes). The film repeatedly offers him the ability to opt out of the system, to abandon his resolve that he must return to the life he once knew, exactly as he knew it.
Man-su could do that, but he won’t, because to change would mean to make an effort — and ultimately men would rather embark upon a bloody murder spree than go to therapy.
Lifestyle
Austin airport to nearly double in size over next decade
AUSTIN, Texas – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will nearly double in size over the next decade.
The airport currently has 34 gates. With the expansion projects, it will increase by another 32 gates.
What they’re saying:
Southwest, Delta, United, American, Alaska, FedEx, and UPS have signed 10-year use-and lease agreements, which outline how they operate at the airport, including with the expansion.
“This provides the financial foundation that will support our day-to-day operations and help us fund the expansion program that will reshape how millions of travelers experience AUS for decades to come,” Ghizlane Badawi, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said.
Concourse B, which is in the design phase, will have 26 gates, estimated to open in the 2030s. Southwest Airlines will be the main tenant with 18 gates, United Airlines will have five gates, and three gates will be for common use. There will be a tunnel that connects to Concourse B.
“If you give us the gates, we will bring the planes,” Adam Decaire, senior VP of Network Planning & Network Operations Control at Southwest Airlines said.
“As part of growing the airport, you see that it’s not just us that’s bragging about the success we’re having. It’s the airlines that want to use this airport, and they see advantage in their business model of being part of this airport, and that’s why they’re growing the number of gates they’re using,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.
Dig deeper:
The airport will also redevelop the existing Barbara Jordan Terminal, including the ticket counters, security checkpoints, and baggage claim. Concourse A will be home to Delta Air Lines with 15 gates. American Airlines will have nine gates, and Alaska Airlines will have one gate. There will be eight common-use gates.
“Delta is making a long-term investment in Austin-Bergstrom that will transform travel for years to come,” Holden Shannon, senior VP for Corporate Real Estate at Delta Air Lines said.
The airport will also build Concourse M — six additional gates to increase capacity as early as 2027. There will be a shuttle between that and the Barbara Jordan Terminal. Concourse M will help with capacity during phases of construction.
There will also be a new Arrivals and Departures Hall, with more concessions and amenities. They’re also working to bring rideshare pickup closer to the terminal.
City officials say these projects will bring more jobs.
The expansion is estimated to cost $5 billion — none of which comes from taxpayer dollars. This comes from airport revenue, possible proceeds, and FAA grants.
“We’re seeing airlines really step up to ensure they are sharing in the infrastructure costs at no cost to Austin taxpayers, and so we’re very excited about that as well,” Council Member Vanessa Fuentes (District 2) said.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen
Lifestyle
After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’
Wyle, who spent 11 seasons on ER, returns to the hospital in The Pitt. Now in Season 2, the HBO series has earned praise for its depiction of the medical field. Originally broadcast April 21, 2025.
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Television
After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’
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