The Fifth Avenue Easter Parade: 

A Link to Old New York

“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade!

On the Avenue, Fifth Avenue the photographers will snap us

and you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.”

New York City’s Easter Parade, immortalized in song by Irving Berlin in the 1948 movie, both with the same title, starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, dates back to late 1800’s.

There are no marching bands at this parade. Thousands of people do not stand behind barricades lining Fifth Avenue to cheer as the procession of schools, dignitaries, uniformed members of the police and fire departments march by. There are no floats towering above the street or celebrities in vintage cars waving to the crowds. It is older than the Columbus Day and Thanksgiving parades, two of the city’s largest events. Still it is not a parade.

It is a holiday tradition dating back to the late 1800’s

when the city’s blue bloods, members of powerful banking, shipping and industrial families who built the city and lived in mansions on or near Fifth Avenue, now one of the world’s premiere retail destinations. They worshipped at one of the four architecturally rich and important churches along this part of Fifth Avenue all completed within an eighteen year time frame of each other; St. Thomas Episcopal Church at 53^rd in 1870; Fifth Avenue Presbyterian at 55^th in 1875; the landmarked church of Teddy Roosevelt’s youth, St. Nicholas Collegiate Church at 48^th in 1872, and demolished in 1949; and St. Patrick's Cathedral, the upstart church built in 1888 by Irish immigrants at 50^th.

It began as an informal procession with the city’s aristocracy, heading to and from the church, showcasing their prestige and the fashionable and opulent styles of the day. As the event grew the churches decorated the fronts of their buildings with large floral displays. The poor and working classes came to admire the latest fashions and to watch the hoity-toity as they walked the avenue or rode in horse drawn carriages. Eventually retailers and large department stores realized the importance of the holiday and began promoting their merchandise around the event.

Irving Berlin created the melody for his song Easter Parade in 1917 and titled it “Smile and Show Your Dimple.” But it never caught on. He filed it until 1933 when it surfaced on Broadway in the musical revue As Thousands Cheer with Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb.  In 1942 Bing Crosby sang Easter Parade in the movie Holiday Inn, and featured again in The First Easter Rabbit in 1976 on television. There is also a George M. Cohan song The Easter Parade.

At the height of its popularity almost a million people showed up. Crowds have tailed off significantly and for the past few decades the parades is less reverent and more zany and colorful.  There is  less focus on the latest fashion trends and it is geared more towards the exotic, creative, although good style abounds.

Easter Parades are popular in many other cities too. Atlantic City lays claim to the first parade in 1876. Almost 500,000 spectators filled the boardwalk in the late1930’s. A far smaller event today, it is held at the boardwalk’s famed Steele Pier. San Francisco’s 21-year-old event, along its upscale Union Street, features rides, games, roller-balding cows, mini floats, and vintage cars. There is also an Easter Bonnet contest with prizes awarded for the "Best Couple, Pet, Family and Largest Hat."

New Orleans loves Easter and parades so much it has four including a gay event and two in the French Quarter; a wild one on Bourbon Street and a traditional parade by the St. Louis Cathedral.

New York’s Parade is held on Easter Sunday, on Fifth Avenue from 50^th to 57^th Street from about 11 a.m. to 3pm.

Photos: Color Easter Parade photo by Rudi Papiri 2009

Five Cupcake Sweet Spots: Billy’s, Donna Bell’s Among NYC’s Best

Everyone loves cupcakes. Thanks to Sex in the City and its four glamorous stars love affair with Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes, this delectable treat’s popularity has soared since its 2000 debut on the hit television show.  

Since then the cupcake craze has exploded. Lately cupcake shops have sprouted up, not just in Manhattan and Brooklyn but all over the country in Boston, upstate New York, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Oregon, Kansas and elsewhere fueled by the success of The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and an onslaught of books like Martha Stewart's Cupcakes; the Cupcake Café Book, The Cupcake Diaries. 

Scores of blogs - Cupcakes Take the Cake, 52 Cupcakes, All Things Cupcake - have flooded the internet.

My coworker, Katy Saunders, stirred my interest. Katy, who grew up in Virginia and went to the University of Kansas, makes a good cupcake. She has shared her taste for cupcakes with her office mates.

Often she arrives to work with her “cupcake” carry case filled with her homemade savories. Twice in 2010 she won Baked by Melissa’s scavenger hunt and spoiled us with her winnings - 200 mini cupcakes. She also made Magnolia Bakery's 15 New York City Moments list.

I decided to take advantage of Katy’s expertise and check out what New York City has to offer. We tasted cupcakes from 19 different shops. Here is a review of five.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop is a Brooklyn treasure. It built a devoted following quickly at its charming Bay Ridge shop, after its 2005 opening. 

The LoBuglio brothers, Massimo and Luigi, followed with a second shop in Nolita, at the corner of Mott and Prince, across from old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 2010. Nestled among Nolita’s nineteen-century tenements and fashionable boutiques, galleries and cafes, LCB, with its checkered floors and chandeliers sparkles as if ready for a movie shoot but still exudes charm and a neighborhood atmosphere.

Its colorful cupcakes, puddings, pies and cakes fill its long display counter. With seating for 30 plus and large windows it is an ideal place to watch NoLita’s interesting characters zip by while sipping fresh lemonade or an Nutella cappuccino with a scrumptious peanut butter butter cream or German velvet cupcake.

Katy calls it “The Best” with “perfect flavor and proportion.” And she loves the pink carry boxes.

LCB: 30 Prince Street; 212-941-9100; www.littlecupcakebakeshop.com

Two Little Red Hens…Once upon a time Brooklyn was all about pizza, hot dogs, knishes and stoops. But times have changed. Today you can add hipsters, dot.coms and cupcakes. 

Founded by two aspiring bakers, Mary Louise Clemens and Christina Winkler, Two Little Red Hens began in Brooklyn at a Farmer’s Market in 1992 before moving to Park Slope. They gained a loyal following and a high New York Times rating. 

In 2001 they opened a second shop in Yorkville. Five years later they split with Clemens staying in Brooklyn and renaming that shop Ladybird Bakery.

With Winkler at the helm TLRH is one of the city's best cupcake emporiums (and pies and cakes as well). It is a mouth-watering oasis amidst the choas resulting from the building of the second avenue subway. While many avenue stores have closed due to the upheaval the bakeshop thrives. It is homey with soothing colors and farmhouse curtains and seats about eight people. The L-shaped glass counter is filled with an assortment incredible looking cupcakes.

Brittany Omon, the super friendly manager, said “On weekends the line stretches way out into the street.”  When asked what is their secret she said, “Everything is good. We sell 40 different items including cookies, tarts, coffee and specialty cakes and cupcakes. We bake everything on the premises and we use best ingredients.”

Katy’s critique: “Moist, creamy fillings, sweet icing and good variety of fillings.”   Try the raspberry, coconut, and almond cupcakes.

Two Little Red Hens: 1652 Second Avenue between 85 & 86^th St. 212-452-0476;

events@twolittleredhens.com; www.twolittleredhens.com

Donna Bell’s Bake Shop opened in April 2011 in Hell’s Kitchen’s steps away from the theater district. It’s four person staff bakes, cooks, cleans and sells amazing cupcakes, muffins, Mississippi mud pies, brownies, cookies, breakfast biscuits, corn bread squares, casseroles and cold and warm sandwiches in a 500 square foot space.      

Their delicious cupcakes are filled with butter cream icing.  Other options include vanilla, blueberry, champagne, peanut butter and others.

Started by three best friends, actress Pauley Perrette, who stars on NCIS, Darren Greenblatt, and Mathew Sandusky, and inspired by Perrette’s mother, Donna Bell, a native of Alabama, the shop, thanks to its homey touches and Greenblatt’s outgoing persona and willingness to please and do things the best way possible makes you feel as if you crossed the Mason-Dixon line.

“We are based on a real person, Donna Bell, and her wonderful family recipes and gracious southern hospitality. That's makes us unique,” Greenblatt said. “We are humble, rustic, not fancy. Our baked goods are made daily on the premises. We use natural and fresh ingredients.”

The small shop is nicely designed. It is bright cheery airy and immaculate. There are no tables or chairs but you can sip coffeee at one of the two small padded window alcoves. 

Katy gives it a thumbs up and likes their cute protective packaging.

Donna Bell’s, at World Wide Plaza, 301 West 49^th Street; 212-582-8463 www.donnabellsbakeshop.com; For catering inquiry@donnabellsbakeshop.com; www.facebook.com/pages/Donna-Bells-Bake-Shop

Buttercup Bake Shop’s pedigree would place it at the top of any list automatically. Owned by Jennifer Appel, a clinical psychologist, who with a high-school friend, Allysa Torey, opened Magnolia Bakery on Blecker Street in 1996. When their partnership dissolved Appel, an author of Buttercup Bakes at Home and The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook, opened Buttercup in 1999. 

Appel transferred her Magnolia success to Buttercup's east midtown location. With its gentle colors, long counter and friendly staff it is reminiscent of a French or Belgium patisserie.  Cupcakes – German chocolate or Buttercup Golden with Vanilla icing - are among the best and their cakes, pies – strawberry rhubarb crumb, lemon meringue - puddings, and cookies are just as good. Katy likes their icing which is super sweet like Magnolia’s.

Buttercup: 973 2^nd Ave bet. 51^st & 52^nd Streets. Call 212-350-4144. http://www.buttercupbakeshop.com/

Billy’s Bakery has three Manhattan locations in Chelsea, NoLita and Tribecca. The one I know is in Chelsea, which is cute, and inviting decorated with “I Love Billy’s tee-shirts and bags." 

It has a vibrant yet gentle buzz as an ideal neighborhood meet-up spot sitting inside our outside on its benches. Owners Marc and Wayne opened Billy’s in 2003. One avenue west of the Chelsea boy strip, Billy’s, lures all, including the stroller crowd with its scrumptious cupcakes – try the yellow daisy and classic chocolate or maple pecan – cakes, cookies, scones, muffins and pies. 

Katy like its great color scheme and cute go-to bag.

Billy’s: Chelsea 184 9^th Ave; 212-647-9956 For other locations see: www.billysbakernyc.com; facebook: BillysBakeryNYC

Photos by Rudi Papiri

   John's Boxing Club: 
   A South Bronx Field of Dreams

Bobby Gleason's gym, now a parking lot, located to the right

Ray Kinsella’s built his Field of Dreams, a baseball diamond, on his Iowa cornfield. In the 1989 movie of the same name, a voice told Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, “If you build it, he will come.” Kinsella did and deceased ballplayers emerged from the cornstalks behind the outfield.


Pashk Gjini, a seventeen-year-old Albanian immigrant has his Field of Dreams in a run-down former post office in the South Bronx. Located on a desolate stretch of Westchester Avenue John’s Boxing Club is surrounded by a parking lot and elevated subway tracks. In America’s poorest Congressional districts the American dream thrives.


Pashk came to the US at 8. His older brother Gjin, 34, arrived in the late 1990’s. In 2004 Ginj took over the Jerome Boxing Club, founded about 1981, and renamed it John after his son.

Pashk and  banner of world ranked  Clottey and Agbeko, 

At 13 Pashk began working at the club on fight nights. He collected admissions, cash only, at the front door. In 2008 he started working part-time. Pashk, who has a brown belt, said, “I was teaching martial arts but my brother needed me.”


Pashk manages John’s part-time after classes at Cardinal Hayes High School. He captains their playoff soccer team and belongs to the Martin Scorsese Media Center. Scorsese, a Hayes graduate, won an Oscar for Raging Bull, about Bronx native Jake LaMotta.


 “Owning a business is my dream. Pashk pays his tuition with the money he earns. Pashk learned the business with little input from Gjin, a tile setter. “I thought I was too young to work here. My brother believed in me.”


Soon Pashk computerized the business. “Before we kept names and dues on index cards in a box, in no special order.”  He created a website, a Facebook page, used You Tube to showcase events, and listed the gym on search engines. He handed out fliers. He sold tee shirts and hoodies with John’s name. When he broke even he gave the rest away. “Let people wear them instead of collecting dust on a shelf. It’s free advertisement,” Pashk said. His efforts paid off. Membership swelled to over 400 from about 125.


Accepted by several local colleges he plans to study business. A wiry built six-footer, the sandy-hairedPashk spoke no English when he arrived. Today he speaks fluently. He is polite, bright and personable. He deals with the club’s many personalities in a friendly and engaging manner.

Photo from Jerome Boxing Club's heyday. Lamboy in photo.

Boxing clubs once dotted the city’s neighborhoods. They lacked the amenities and sparkle of Equinox or Crunch. Places like Stillman’s, Gleason’s, (original one was next door to John’s) or Gramercy Gym captured the city’s gritty underbelly. They became office or hangout for gangsters, bookies, promoters, hustlers, trainers, pro and amateur fighters, wanna-be-tough guys and boxing devotees.

Sparring session in first ring. Boxers and trainers watch

One Thursday afternoon in late December thirty people work out. Two fighters pound the heavy bags with the intensity of prizefighters. Two jump rope; a fifth, strapped with weights, climbs the tread master. Another weaves his body as if avoiding imaginary punches while popping the N-bag; a seventh pummels a speed bag. A woman zaps her trainer’s padded gloves with hard jabs; a pair of boxers spars in each ring watched by their trainers.


Lulu Arroyo, of Harlem, joined John’s that day. She paid three months dues and extra for a trainer. John costs $50 per month. Trainers charge $35 a week. “My uncle told me this is the place to learn boxing and prepare for the golden gloves,” Ms. Arroyo said. When asked about the mostly male environment she said, “Here they respect boxers male or female.”

John’s members come from Brooklyn, Manhattan and other parts of the Bronx. They are fast food workers, messengers, security guards, immigrants, firemen, cops, teachers, single mothers and golden gloves hopefuls. They hail from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Mike Tyson and Roberto Duran have here. CSI NY and Nike filmed here. Evander Holyfield made a commercial.

Nigerian Blessing Afolayan 

John is home to former IBF champions from Ghana, Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko. A huge banner with their photos hangs on the wall by the main ring.

“Imagine “The Hitter” fought world champ Manny Pacquico in Cowboys stadium before 53,000 on Showtime,” Pashk said referring to Clottey who lost the 2010 fight. Albanian heavyweight, two-time Golden Gloves champ Stivens Bujaj calls John home.


John’s trainers are ex-pros or amateurs. Boxing is in their blood. Understanding Allah, Lorenzo Cidd, Billy Giles, Don Kirschner, and Edwin Viruet bring character and soul. Viruet won 31 fights. He fought Roberto Duran twice, once for the lightweight title. Eastside boxing blog www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=480&more=1 described the Puerto Rican born, Viruet as fearless. Howard Cosell called him courageous and classy. With the grace and movement of Muhammad Ali taunted Duran and smashed him in the face before losing a close decision.
Viruet has trained Wesley Snipes and gangster Sammy Gravano. A boxer’s life is hard. Dreams are fleeting. Today Mr. Viruet squeezes by on social security and food stamps.


Blessing Afolayan trains three to four times a week. He balances work, a family with hard workouts. His girlfriend and their infant sit nearby as he works out.

Afolayan, a native of Nigeria, with a rich boxing tradition, has a 7-2 amateur record. He rips the heavy bag relentlessly. He wants to turn pro soon. “Good fighters here. Good history,” he said. Others like Marcial Lamboy, 55, come here to stay in shape. Lamboy boxed in the Spanish gloves and has trained at this site for 30 years.

Dedicated Lamboy veteran of Jerome Boxing Club

At 80, Don Kirschner is the elder statesman. He is a trainer, an ex-Marine Corp boxer and  co-manager. A South Bronx native, Kirschner and his two brothers trained at Cus D’Amato’s Gramercy Gym for 25 cents apiece. He remembers watching champions Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres. “Cus told a trainer ‘take the three blondies and start them with uppercuts. I want perfection.’”

Kirschner in club's office filled with boxing photos

He teaches principles he learned from D’Amato. He cautions boxers to always defend themselves. “I stress jabs. Counter a punch with your forearm and cover your face. Don’t get hit.”

John is a family affair. “Fathers and daughters train here; couples work out together. Mothers sign up sons to keep them out of trouble,” he said.

The monthly fee is less than at other places yet it is a hardship for many. Kirschner often waves his fee.

Don K, referee,  singer's Noam Weisntein's (L) CD 

With his blonde wavy hair he looks younger than his years. He is sharp-minded and insightful. His hands are cat-quick. His air punches attest to this. He asks boxers “Why do you come here? Do you see yourself as a boxer,” he said “Honesty, concentration and inspiration builds confidence.”

Kirschner said two types come here: those who want to become boxers and kids who want to defend themselves against bullies.

“The bully learns boxing is hard and he is not so tough,” he said.

Membership has fallen as the club fights to survive. The club has had a month-to-month agreement with the city since 2011 and will close soon. A new development is planned for the site.

“John is important to many people. The area has many problems and few resources,” Pashk said. “It gives people an interest, a place to come and feel good and do something positive.”

Kirschner sums it up best.  “We dream of turning pro, training the next champ. We dream to do better. Dreams offer hope.”


Photos by Rudi Papiri; Jerome Boxing Club photo from Marcial Lamboy.
Editor's Note: John's Boxing Club, at 436 Westchester Avenue (between Bergen and Brook), Bronx, NY closes at the end of February. John's is moving one block away to 450 E. 149th St. Located on the second floor the new site will have about 5,000 square feet. The grand opening is slated for March 5.

Bill Toledo, Navajo Code Talker, 
Tells His Story in the East Village

Everyone knew the moment he entered Cooper’s Craft  Kitchen in the East Village.  The words “he’s here,” passed from one person to the next. Even the weekly Thursday night football gang, with beer mugs in hand, watching ESPN on the television intently, turned to the entrance where Bill Henry Toledo stood.

Bill Toledo, a World War ll veteran and a Navajo Code Talker came to New York City as part of LaSalle’s Academy’s, an all-boy’s high school on East 6th Street, annual Veteran’s Day celebration.  Mr.Toledo, joined by several other Code Talkers, visited the school earlier that day and shared their remarkable story with the students. The next day, November 11th, the Code Talkers marched in the city’s annual Veteran’s Day parade.

The 87-year-old Toledo, wearing a red garrison military cap with yellow braids and adorned with USMC insignias, wore a turquoise, black onyx necktie pendant. He stood straight, with shoulders back as he greeted well-wishers with a firm hand shake. Personable, sharp-minded and energetic Mr. Toledo looked younger than his years. 

“Early in the war the Japanese broke every code we had,” Toledo said. “This gave them a huge advantage.”

Most codes dated back to the Civil War. Armed with many fluent English speakers the Japanese cracked all codes and even used the information gathered against the Allies. The U.S. military devised intricate codes, which often took an hour or more to decipher a simple message.

Philip Johnston, a son of a Protestant Missionary, grew up on a Navajo reservation. He played with Navajo children and spoke the language fluently.

Later Johnston became an engineer for the city of Los Angeles. When he read a story about the military working with Native Americans to develop a new code he went to Camp Elliot, near San Diego to suggest the Navajo language. His selling points: it is an unwritten language, extremely complex with no alphabet, no symbols and is spoken only among the Navajo in the Southwest. Less than 30 non-Navajos spoke the language.

The Navajo had no translation for words like radar, hand grenade, and tank. Johnston’s suggested using Navajo words. For example radar became - owl, potato - hand grenade, turtle - tank. The code contained 200 terms initially but grew to 600. Navajo code talkers translated code quickly and effectively. At Iwo Jima six coders worked around the clock receiving and sending over 800 messages without one mistake.

In early 1942 the Marine Corps created a special code unit and recruited 29 men from the Navajo reservation, reverently known as the “original 29.”

At 18, living on the Navajo reservation near Albuquerque, New Mexico and a member of the Ta’neezabnii Clan meaning the Tangled People, Toledo part of the second wave of code talkers, enlisted in October 1942 with his cousin Preston and his uncle Frank.

Toledo did boot camp at Camp Elliott and studied code at Camp Pendleton. He went to Guadalcanal with the Third Marine Division for jungle training and first saw action with the invasion of Bougainville, Philippines in November 1943.

 “Our mission was highly confidential. Except for the officers no one knew why we were there,” Toledo said.

On Bougainville a fellow Marine mistook Toledo for a Japanese soldier. “He poked me with his rifle. He marched me back to our commander in camp,” Toledo said. “He told him he captured a prisoner. The commander was real mad and assigned me a bodyguard although I did not find out that was his job until after the war.”

Toledo took part in the battles on Guam and Iwo Jima where over 1700 and 6000 Americans died respectively. He almost became a statistic. One night on Guam, after an attack destroyed his company’s communications system, Toledo ran messages from headquarters to the front line. “A sniper took shots at me,” Toledo said. “Snipers picked off several Marines that day.”

Another time Toledo found himself in the middle of a minefield. Aided by other soldiers he retraced his steps and escaped unharmed.

Toledo and his 3^rd Marine Division landed on Iwo Jima, just eight square miles in size, two days after the first Marines landed. “We thought things would go okay. It took 36 days of tough fighting. The Japanese built tunnels connecting the entire island,” Toledo said.

A machine gun fortification atop a hill, killed many Marines unable to take cover in the barren landscape destroyed by earlier bombing runs. Given a message by his commander Toledo quickly translated the message. Minutes later a marine artillery unit wiped it out.

“This was the last hill before we reached the end of the island,” he said.

On Iwo Jima a commander tapped Frank and five other servicemen to raise the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi. Summoned for coding, Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian, replaced Frank, in what became the war's most memorable photo.

With their still mission highly classified, the code talkers returned home from the war prohibited from speaking about their heroics. “I told my family and friends nothing about my work,” Toledo said.

In 1968 the government declassified the operation. In 2000, the original 29 received Congressional Gold Medals. The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2007 awarded medals to all code talkers.

Bill Toledo and the code talkers travel the country telling their story. The Navajo Code Talker Foundation is building a museum to preserve and document the Code Talker’s huge war contributions.

“We volunteered and we wanted to help our country. Our efforts put the Navajo on the map of our country’s history,” Toledo said. “Of the 420 code talkers who served less than 50 are still alive. The museum will keep their memory alive for future generations.”

To learn more about the Navajo Code Talkers or to help with the building of the Navajo Code Talkers Museum and Veteran Center see info below:

The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 1266, Window Rock, AZ 86515; email: info@navajocodetalkers.org.  


Photo of Bill Toledo by Rudi Papiri

The Daffodil Project 9/11 Memorial: 
One Dutchman's Gift of Hope, 
Renewal, and Beauty 

This year Mother Nature played the biggest Halloween trick of all. The calendar said autumn. The weather screamed winter. A freak storm dumped 30 inches of snow on parts of North Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire two days before Halloween. New York City lucked out. Only 2.9 inches of snow fell on Central Park, the first time since1869 the city had more than an inch in October and thousands of residents lost power. The storm damaged almost 1000 trees in Central Park. 

Amid the snow, slush and downed trees spring has indeed arrived. Thanks to city’s “The Daffodil Project” the weary spirits of thousands of volunteers from several hundred-community groups have perked up some.

Founded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, the project is an ongoing memorial honoring the lives of those who died and adds beauty and color to the city, often where there is very little. Four million daffodils bloom in parks, community gardens, along highways and in front of schools, and libraries each spring.

The project began immediately following 9/11 with Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Fowerbulbs, a major tulip bulb supplier in Holland, his way of lending emotional support.

Devastated by what he saw on television he contacted his friend Lynden B. Miller, a public garden designer in New York City and director of The Conservatory Garden in Central Park. He wanted the help and wanted to know what could he do. She asked if he had any extra bulbs. He did. He shipped 500,000 right away. In addition he got the city of Rotterdam and its Port Authority to donate 500,000 daffodils and 90,000 yellow tulip bulbs. That year the city received 1.5 million bulbs from local and other international donors.

Weeks after 9/11 the parks department and the Partnership for Parks organized a planting day. Ten thousand volunteers planted 250,000 bulbs that first day in late October.

Why Daffodils? Miller and van Waardenburg choose daffodils instead of tulips, a symbol of Holland, because squirrels eat tulips. Daffodils are recurring flowers and their vibrant colors embrace renewal and spring. They are well suited for the tough city landscape. They are resilient. They split off to form new flowers and require minimal care. And they are pollution resistant, a key point for congested city streets.

The Daffodil Project impacts all five boroughs. Groups from McCarren Park in Greenpoint Brooklyn, to Curtis High School on Staten Island, the Soundview Community Center in the Bronx, the Long Island City Community Garden in Queens, and the tree pits of the West 55^th Block Association in Manhattan have all taken advantage of this free program.

A few years after van Waardenburg sent his first shipment of bulbs, Joseph Temeczko, a Polish immigrant and Minnesotan handyman, followed with his own generous gift. He willed his entire estate of $1.4 million to New York City. The city spruced up Columbus Park in Chinatown and other public spaces in lower Manhattan and set aside $300,000 for the Daffodil  Project. Mr. Temeczko, a Nazi prisoner of war survivor, died a month after 9/ll while tending his garden.

Van Waardenburg continues to donate bulbs – almost four million to date – shipped by Con Edison. Other corporate sponsors have stepped in to help.

This year New Yorkers for Parks distributed bulbs on October 16 at Union Square Park. From mid-October to mid-November volunteers will plop bulbs – 250 allotted to each group - into their gardens and community spaces and look forward to April or May when they bloom and the daffodils blanket the city.

In 2007 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg named the daffodil the city’s official flower.

For more information go to: New Yorker For Parks

Garden Hardware: A Family Shop is the Nuts and Bolts of Hell's Kitchen 

When Bob Orgel moved his store, Garden Hardware, from Eighth to Tenth Avenue in October 2005, it marked another change to hell's Kitchen ever-shifting landscape.

Garden Hardware, founded by his grandfather Nathan Mandell and his father Bertram, opened in 1955.

His family’s presence on Eighth Avenue dates back even before ten. His grandmother Fay, a sharp businesswoman, bought the three-story building near 48^th Street, which housed the business, in the early 1940's. She also owned a brownstone at 306 West 48th Street. The backyard abutted the store, and housed the popular Swiss restaurant Mont Blanc, which has since moved across the street.

She opened Fay's corset shop. It closed shortly after World War II when this accoutrement went out of fashion. The store remained vacant for a couple of years before the family converted it to a hardware store.

Hell’s Kitchen has had several "rows" or themed blocks. Two of the city's most popular venues, Restaurant and Theater Rows are still thriving. Eighth Avenue had its own unofficial "mini row" featuring hardware stores. This ended when Orgel moved his business.

At one time at least six hardware stores operated on Eighth Avenue or its side streets. Each one had carved its own niche. W.H. Silver near 50th Street specialized in the movie and film trade; West End Hardware, located just off Eighth on 48^th served industrial customers; Longacre, located at the current site of the Food Emporium, at 49^th, supplied the old Madison Square Garden, then across the avenue at what is now World Wide Plaza; Silver and Sons, near West 45th catered to the Broadway theaters; and Times Square Hardware on the northwest corner of 42nd, which housed a bank for many years, now a 24/7 Duane Reade.

His grandfather and father carried specialty products for the hospital, hotel and restaurant industries. They also had a large client base of midtown office workers and westside residents.

Different businesses often require specific types of hardware. "The businesses we supplied though different had similar needs. We handled plumbing, electrical supplies plus pieces for doors, tables, bathrooms and so forth. You name it. We had it. We carried the oddball stuff they could only find here. After all, "What is a restaurant? It is a glorified hotel," Orgel said.

Garden Hardware has built a solid reputation over the years. Among their clients are top tier restaurants like Le Bernardin and The Four Seasons. It also supplied the famous Mama Leone's, once the busiest eatery in the country. It closed in the early 90's. Garden still supplies the parent company Restaurant Associates.

In the mid-90's, with the demise of Silver & Sons, Garden Hardware added the Broadway theaters to its list of clients.

When asked which shows and theaters have accounts with him Orgel said, "All of them. We do every single Broadway show, several off-Broadway and some TV and movie productions." He cites Le Miz and Phantom as his first shows.

The late Mickey Fox, a theatrical carpenter and stagehand, gave Orgel his entree to Broadway.

"One day Mickey called and said he needed a few things and that I should start stacking supplies for stagehands," Orgel said.  "Shortly after that Mickey faxed over his list. It turned out to be forty pages long. The pages kept coming and coming. Many of the things he needed I had never heard of before. And at that time I had twenty years in the business. The theatrical industry calls it by their name, and we in hardware had a different term for it.

"For example they call a cable clamp a Crosby. We say eye bolt, they say shoulder eye bolt, which actually is a much higher rated item," he added.

Orgel began working at the store part-time at 18. He made deliveries and got to know the neighborhood. His mother had lived on West 49th Street and had attended P.S. 17 just around the corner from the store. When Orgel, who grew up in Queens and Nassau County, finished college at the New York Institute of Technology, he began working full-time. Although he studied architecture for a time and then advertising he felt destined for the business.

Garden is an old-fashioned city hardware store filled with nuts, bolts, wrenches, screwdrivers, locks, paints and all the important things needed to maintain, repair or build your home or business. It is not the place where you walk around with a shopping basket. The aisles are cluttered with merchandise. The ceiling high shelves are packed with thousands of items. It is the place to go when you cannot find what you want anywhere else, or where you should have gone to in the first place.

Orgel’s knowledge in hardware supplies and repair is impressive. He is soft-spoken and humble but he knows-it-all and readily dispenses advice and the steps to complete a project, big or small, when asked. He is Hell’s Kitchen’s answer to WNYC radio “how-to home repair” gurus Al and Larry Ubell.

A slim 40-story glass tower now fills the old Garden Hardware site. The building remains unoccupied and has never housed a tenant. After all it is difficult to replace the Orgel family and their business.

Garden Hardware and Supply Company: 701 Tenth Avenue New York 10036;  212-247-2889; opened Mon-Sat.