With the purchase and razing of a certain 1852 East Village townhouse still fresh in some people’s minds Door To Door Realty proudly introduced the new face of 532 East 5^th Street. Our original plan was to renovate and refurbish the townhouse that once stood on that spot but as we proceeded it became apparent that, disappointing as it was, preserving the original structure was simply not feasible.

The modern, glassy design of this new 10-unit apartment building certainly stands out as the new kid on the block, but we are no less excited about what we bring to our tenants on the inside: the comfort and security of technology combined with quality of life aspects not always found in a rental – think rooftop gardens and private balconies with room to move.

While the new face of 532 E. 5^th is a far removed from the traditional brownstone expression, this new addition to the nabe sits already as home to some, while laying out a new chapter in the story of everyone acquainted with the East Village.

For more details on the development of this brand new residence visit our website’s Portfolio page.

Recently a small group of writers and literary organization administrators gathered at 4 St. Paul’s Café & Gallery for a great and rare opportunity. Monica Valenzuela, Director of Development and Community Programming at the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI), hosted a free, informal information session specifically geared toward the emerging literary artists and writers in our area.

As part of COAHSI’s mission, Ms. Valenzuela seeks to serve individual artists by providing information on resources to help further their artistic endeavors. On January 10th the writers in attendance were treated not only to a morning with Ms. Valenzuela but an up close and personal meeting with Eleanor Savage, a Program Officer at the Jerome Foundation.

Ms. Savage shared information about their Travel and Study Grant Program, which supports NYC-based artists’ project investigations and research outside of the city, and their General Grant Program, a highly competitive grant that specifically funds the creation of new work by emerging artists. ‘Ms. Savage was very receptive, very open to questions,’ said Ms. Valenzuela, adding that she was impressed with how the workshop participants engaged Ms. Savage with thoughtful questions. ‘It’s a great opportunity and real confidence boost (for artists) to have a Program Officer from a grant maker of that caliber come out and meet you face to face,’ she noted.

The Jerome Foundation, a major supporter of the Arts across all disciplines, last year stated their intention ‘to build, over time, a larger and more comprehensive Literature funding program in New York City.’ Emerging and aspiring literary artists and writers could hardly be pursuing their dreams at a better time.

It was only very recently that Monica Valenzuela, through Brendan Coyle and his Second Saturday Staten Island art walk efforts, met George Christo and Sabrina Hamilton for the first time. ‘I was introduced to them during December’s Second Saturday,’ she recalls. ‘I appreciate the role they are taking in the community.’

In turn, we at Door to Door have been extremely pleased with the opportunity to work with Ms. Valenzuela and Ms. Savage in helping give our local talent the boost they deserve.

'Chemical Lane' – photo: Nathan Kensinger

Perusing Nathan Kensinger’s photographs of Staten Island might be enough to convince anyone, particularly the entire world besides Staten Island, that New York City’s ‘other’ borough is fated for eternal stepchild status. Check out his images of the long-defunct North Shore train line, Rossville’s ‘Chemical Lane’ and the sprawling no-entry zone of Bloomfield. Coupled with the history lessons he serves up in his photo essays (seriously, the guy does his homework), the picture on offer is a stark one indeed.

Yet Mr. Kensinger also notes that (besides some unusual odors) the unlikely specter of change hangs in the air up and down the Arthur Kill and along the Kill Van Kull. Thirty-three acres of Rossville waterfront are being slated for redevelopment in the Working West Shore 2030 project. Along the North Shore there has been talk of reactivating the North Shore Rail Line, while in our own front yard there is also the vaguely familiar-sounding North Shore 2030. And we here at Door to Door are throwing our own hat into the ring with our plan for the Special Kill Van Kull Maritime Arts District.

As clearly, brutally evidenced by Mr. Kensinger’s work, Staten Island has seen more than her share of abuse and neglect. Fortunately, there are those who see the potential she still holds. We are excited to count ourselves among them.

Thank you Nathan Kensinger for allowing us to share your work.

270 Park Avenue (via gbNYC.com)

Aside from the potentially-incongruous idea of Park Avenue going green, three things about the renovations at No. 270 struck me as quite amazing.

(1) Rain water runoff collected in the massive 54,000-gallon basement tank and used for landscaping and toilets will save 1 million gallons of water every year. One million? Does that much rain fall on a single building in Manhattan in the course of a year? Business idea: Park Avenue Bottled Water.

(2) In renovations 990,000 square feet of old carpeting was recycled. Excellent work folks, there are now 990,000 kindergartners who don’t have to kneel on the linoleum during story time. LEED application slogan: 270 Park Avenue – Saving children’s knees!

(3) ‘New floor designs and layout give 85 percent of employees natural daylight at their desks, with more than 92 percent having exterior views.’ Which means 8% of those who get a job at this swanky address are relegated to a broom closet. Probably a nice one though.

Seriously, the initiatives taken in renovating this 52-story building are impressive. And, we hope, a harbinger of things to come for our great city.

Thank you Stephen Del Percio and gbNYC for bringing us this piece.

Art exhibit on Feb. 11 to feature works of Tim Daley, who photographs performers playing music on platforms and trains throughout the New York City

Ron Raffel on the 14th Street F Train platform in NYC. photo: Tim Daley

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The 4 St. Paul’s Café in Staten Island will celebrate melodies – in photos – when the popular artist venue features “Subway Music,” a showing on Feb.11 by noted photographer Tim Daley.

As a child, native New Yorker Daley spent a good deal of time viewing landscapes from the backseat of a car, during his family’s travels.

He now journeys throughout the country, photographing interesting places and people he meets along the way.

In the fall of 2000, Daley began paying attention to the music played in the tunnels of New York City’s subway system. Following that music has led him to meet people from all walks of life.

Daley captures the musicians playing their music on platforms and trains throughout the city.

The impassioned photographer and Brooklyn resident has degrees in both photography and advertising design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan.

The 4 St. Paul’s Café and Gallery is located at 4 St. Paul’s Ave. in the Staten Island community of St. George.

Doors to the art show open at 6 p.m.

Curator of the art show is Kira Yustak, who also will display a limited number of her own works. The exhibition director is Sabrina Hamilton of Tompkinsville-based DOORtoDOORrealty

For additional information about the “Subway Music” exhibit at 4 St. Paul’s Café and Gallery, call Kira Yustak at 917-541-9119.

About the 4 St. Paul’s Café and Gallery

The St. Paul’s Café and Gallery is a gathering place on the North Shore of Staten Island, N.Y., where patrons share in the energy of creativity alongside writers, artists, musicians and stage performers.

Situated on the street level of a sophisticated five-apartment premise, the eclectic venue at 4 St. Paul’s Ave., in the Staten Island community of St. George, embraces an art gallery, trendy café, and a FedEx store that caters to local small-business owners.

For additional information about the 4 St. Paul’s Café and Gallery, call Jerry Nunez at 718.556.5400.

Relevant Public Relations, LLC

Contact: Barton Horowitz

Headquarters: 718‑682‑1509

Mobile: 917‑715‑8761

Email: Bhorowitz@RelevantPR.com

The great thing about traveling is, you never know what you might find.

On a recent trip to Asheville, NC I took a detour off I-81 and made a pass through the one-traffic-light town of Floyd, Virginia. This on the advice of a friend who told me it was ‘a cool, quirky little place’. With a population hovering somewhere around 440, Floyd had to have something extraordinary going for it. That or my friend was going to owe me four hours of my life and thirty bucks’ worth of gas.

A quick search told me to head for The Floyd Country Store, the apparent center of Floyd’s recent revival, of which I’d soon learn plenty about. Finding the store took me a while – there were three possible ways to go from that stop light, not counting the way I came in – but on my third try there it was, down there past the Floyd Barber Shop, all wooden façade and country kitchen deco and plenty of homemade jam and penny candies and bib overalls to go around.

While my wife kept the kids happy with some late-morning ice-cream (the hand-made stuff so good it renders the time of day meaningless) I chatted up Dave Wood, friendly general manager of Floyd’s, who was all too happy to piddle away his time telling me a little…no, a lot, about the turn of fortune this tiny community took not long ago.

Sadly, I was not going to still be in town on Friday to witness the Jamboree. Still, I felt myself feeling just a bit giddy for having found this little gem in the Blue Ridge Mountains; of standing in the very place where two guys with guitars began to turn around a has-been town; of having an afternoon to spend poking around the crossroads of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail and the impressively varied, packed-with-quality Floyd County Artisan Trail, still known only to a fortunate few – for now.

The great thing about community is, you never know what you might find.

"I always wanted to ride the Staten Island Ferry."

All right, so Mr. Twain himself will not be present (we hear he’s on retreat in the Appalachians penning his latest novel, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn Survive the Foreclosure Era), but his spirit is alive and well right here in our beloved borough, and will be right through March. This all thanks to Staten Island OutLOUD, the community group recently selected by the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read, a national program designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture.

OutLOUD chose Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as the focus of their community event series, which includes film screenings, story time for kids, and A Pen Warmed Up in Hell, an interactive reading and discussion on Mark Twain’s political writings which will take place right in our own 4 St. Paul’s Cafe & Gallery. Come by Saturday, February 11th at 8pm for what should prove to be a most lively event!

Congratulations and many thanks to Staten Island OutLOUD for bringing Mark, Tom, Huck, Becky and many more of American Literature’s greatest names to our neighborhood.

Reprinted with the author’s permission.

Hello Sabrina,

I have been meaning to write you since the night I tended bar at The Saint
Paul’s Cafe. It was such a pleasure to meet you and your husband, George.

You guys are really fun and you are an amazing artist. I loved your
photographs of the Verrazano Bridge. I had such a great night. I can’t
believe that we ended up at Poco Loco. I’ve always wondered about that place and it was surprisingly better than I had expected! But as cool and
fun as you both are, I was especially impressed and excited to learn about
all of the projects that Door to Door Realty is working on. I looked at
the plans for Pavilion Hill and was blown away by the scope of the project.
I sometimes walk that back staircase with my dog and always believed it to be such a hidden gem. Even though you explained to me what was intended for the lot behind 4 Saint Paul’s, it was only after I viewed the elevations that I was able to fully comprehend the concept. I love the idea of the catwalk and of joining commercial and residential areas for mutual benefit.

As a native St. Georger, I too have dreams of a community transformation,
where coffee shops, boutiques and galleries were commonplace instead of the fast food restaurants, check cashing places and vacant storefronts that are typical of the commercial areas in the neighborhood. One of my life goals is to open a bar/lounge within walking distance from the ferry that will blend art, culture and design to provide an environment where locals and
visitors alike can relax on a comfy upholstered sofa, meet like-minded
people, look at art, hear good music and sip fine wine.

That is why I was so excited to meet you and George. You are creating
change and making things happen. We all have a love for Staten Island and want to make it more than what it is. The island has so much potential to
be a place where people love to live and also a place where people want to visit. I am so sick of having nowhere to direct tourists when they come
off of the ferry, looking for something to see, buy or eat. I am also
tired of having to go into the city to find a decent place to hang out.
Visiting Staten Island should not be considered a waste of time. It is
time for the negative stigma that has stained the reputation of Staten
Island to finally be eradicated.

I look forward to witnessing all of your new developments that are soon to
come to the neighborhood. If you ever need anything, I would love to be
of assistance to you, even if it is to exchange ideas and opinions. I
work as a design consultant at a custom home furnishings and fabric
showroom in the Flatiron district and work with designers and architects
all the time. You and your husband are inspirations to me and I can’t wait
to work and hang out with you again. Until next time.

Best Regards,

Alison Cortes

Doping the Void, Rustbelt Homewreckers, Get to the Chopper!, 10:30 p.m.; Wed.: Riotgod, 10 … ALAN AND RUBEN'S BAR AND GRILLE Washington, Pa., 724-223-1038. Wed. …. MONESSEN ELKS 724-288-0331 or 724-518-0031. Sat. ….. “ Rivers of Steel,” paintings, lithographs and more by the regional artists including Robert Qualters, Ron Donoughe, Clyde Hare and more, through March 15. … BIKE HEAVEN R,J. Casey Industrial Park, North Side, 412-716-4956 or 412-734- 4034.

Originally posted here: Belly Dance History | Weekend Guide | Belly Dance For Beginners

By the time I’d hauled all our bags up to our hotel room my wife had the kids – crazy as dogs after being trapped in the car all afternoon – sitting at the window table with a mess of crayons and some paper. The calm, I knew, wouldn’t last long. So I dove into the book on the other table: A Look at Asheville. The first paragraph of the first page I opened to went like this:

“In the early ‘90s, something magical happened. A few trailblazers found their way to downtown Asheville, which had been in a slumber for several years, and the renaissance began. Slowly the abandoned storefronts sprang to life, many of them rehabbed to their original glory. Former retail spaces were converted into studios and galleries, with music halls and art house movie theaters opening as well. Soon, boutiques moved in alongside, and world-renowned chefs brought their culinary skills to town, mixing international flavors with traditional Southern cuisine.”

The Rebirth of Downtown goes on to outline the development Asheville has undergone through the past two decades, the explosion of the art scene this development ignited, and the many subsequent accolades Asheville has received, from Fodor’s, The Huffington Post and Outside magazine to name but a few. I couldn’t believe my luck; not only was I going to be immersing myself in all this over the next couple of days, but now I didn’t have to think up an opening for my first post as the new blogger for Door to Door Realty.

Those who know George Christo and Sabrina Hamilton of D2D can attest to their passion for the development of the arts, imbued in their commitment to the renewal of Staten Island’s North Shore. ‘There’s a movement across the globe,’ George will tell you, ‘that St. George is a part of.’ Some people can see it happening, even now in its earliest stages. More will catch on in the coming years. And someday, in the not-too-distant-future, there will be a book on a table in a hotel room overlooking St. George and the North Shore and the Manhattan skyline with an article that starts something like this:

“In the early 2000s, something magical happened. A few trailblazers found their way to Staten Island…”

(Posted by Kevin Kato, D2D Realty’s newest contributing blogger.)