Heroes of New York

There are many homeless people who call the streets of NYC their home. During the lockdown in 2020, where few people ventured out, the homeless were still on the streets begging for food. In this episode, I talk to two wonderful individuals, KimMarco Salvo and Imad Khachan who have made helping the homeless, a part of their lives. I took a walk around Penn Station and Greenwich village, along with them to talk to the homeless people and understand their situation. I also speak to Paola Piscitelli, Director of The Community of Sant E'gidio USA New York chapter - a mission that Kim volunteers for - on the work that the community does to help homeless people. Listen to four homeless people share their own stories, including Julio - an ex-marine, Diego DaVinci -a wheelchair bound artist, Mr Paine - a school porter and Kiki -a woman who has no family.

I take a trip around Manhattan on a cold January night with a group of volunteers at the Coalition for the Homeless. They distribute food to the people living on streets. I learn more about what drives these volunteers to help homeless people and they share with me what every homeless person actually needs. Listen to part 1 of this episode where I talk with Giselle Routhier, Policy Director at the Coalition for the Homeless, the nation’s oldest advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless men, women and children. TwitterFacebookYouTubeInstagram

Homelessness is not new in NYC. However, with the loss of jobs in 2020 a lot more people are facing an impending crisis. That of eviction. If and when the eviction ban in NYC is lifted, more people are expected to turn out into the streets and in homeless shelters that are already overwhelmed. Single adults, families and children are equally impacted. I chat with Giselle Routhier, Policy Director at the Coalition for the Homeless, the largest such agency in NYC on the work they do and what she foresees in 2021. This is a 2 part interview. In the second part, I take a trip around town with the mobile soup kitchen team from the Coalition for the Homeless, to see the work they do for homeless people on the streets. TwitterFacebookYouTubeInstagram

God's Love We Deliver has been delivering medically tailored meals to people who are ill and in need of food. Started by one woman in the 80s who saw the plight of an AIDS patient and decided to take action, GLWD has grown into an organization that now caters to anyone from any background who is ill and requires food. In this episode, I talk to 2 employees, Natasha Bunzl, Communications Associate and Dorella Walters, Senior Director at GLWD about the organization's mission, the work they did in 2020 and what our listeners can do to help.

David Kass, is a New Yorker on a mission to beautify the city.Seeing the how neglected the flower beds around 6th avenue was, he started adopting flower beds around his neighborhood a few years back . He plants flowers and picks up trash all at his own expense. David shares his story and how he thinks you can help. David's Facebook page.

In this episode, I chat with Dylan Nunn. Dylan is the Co-founder of Mettā Creative and is involved in organizing international events for environmental non-profits, to developing an ERC token, to hosting multi day retreats around regeneration. He also moved to the Morning View Food Forest in March of 2020. The land is the headquarters of The REED Center for Ecosystem Regeneration.Dylan talks about land stewardship and sustainable living. Through his organization, Metta Creative, Dylan and his team encourages people to lead regenerative lifestyles through transformational experiences.

How can you bridge the digital divide? Ask Daisy Hampton, a 11 year old who has been addressing this question since New York Public schools went online at the height of the pandemic. When Daisy realized that not all kids in her class were able to attend online sessions because of their lack of access to technology she decided to take action. And that's how Including You was born. A non -profit peer -to - peer mentorship platform where children help other children. Through Including You, Daisy raises funds to procure devices and hotspot access to children across the country, who currently don't have access.

Pranitha Timothy is a social worker and the founder of Justice and Hope, an India based organization established in 2013. She was diagnosed with brain tumor while pursuing her Masters in Social work about 2 decades ago. Following brain surgery she lost her voice for two years. That didn't dissuade her from working for the helpless and the voiceless. Over the years, Pranitha has worked with prisoners, met those on a life sentence, worked with their families, joined a team that pioneered the fight against bonded labour and rescues victims of trafficking. Tune in to hear Pranitha share her inspiring story and what she thinks you and I can do to help our society.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States of America and a powerful advocate for gender equality. In this episode, I explore RBG's style of advocacy and the way she brought about change from the way she dressed to the relationships she forged in her professional and personal life.

In a candid and fun conversation, Abhijit Bhaduri drops pearls of wisdom on handling the digital workplace. From collaboration to creativity, we discuss a range of topics that relate to the work from anywhere culture. Abhijit Bhaduri is an author, coach and a talent management expert. He is the author of Dreamers and Unicorns, a book about the post - COVID world of work. He is a personal branding coach and talent management advisor. He was the Chief Learning officer of Wipro for seven years and was widely recognized for his innovative approach to learning and building a future-ready workforce. Abhijit has led HR teams at Microsoft, PepsiCo and Colgate-Palmolive in US, Asia-Pac and India. He is one of the few authors who writes fiction and non-fiction. Forbes calls him' India's most interesting globalist'. Watch the video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-wex2upRu8

This is a story of kids from a public school in NYC that caters to students with special needs. During the summer of 2019, some of the students from the school came over to the Peter Cooper Village(PCV) - Stuyvesant Town(ST) residential complex to help the staff with their duties of cleaning the premises, as part of their summer training. The hope was that the training would help the kids build independence and confidence in their own abilities. However the results stunned everyone involved - from the school educators to the management staff at PCV/ST. This is the second part of the interview with Richie, Nestor and Malcolm. For the first part of the interview head here. I also talk with the educators from the school - Allison Tearney and Taylor Curtin - who share their dreams and hopes for their students.

During the biggest lockdown New York City has seen, an army of 160 people prepared for battle everyday. But their enemy was invisible, tinier than a millionth of an inch. Their battlefield? The Stuyvesant Town - Peter Cooper Village - a residential neighborhood in Manhattan that spanned over 110 buildings, with over 11,000 apartments. These brave souls were the janitors, cleaners and other support staff that kept the premises clean and safe everyday. At a time when little was known about the virus and how it spread, these people risked their lives to travel on subways and public transport to do their duty to a community that some of them had served for nearly 4 decades. Along the way, they lost a colleague, another lost his wife and their families pleaded with them to stay home. But they didn't relent. Duty comes first. Tune in to hear these brave men talk about their fears, why they kept going and how they remained sane during the darkest period of 2020.

Imad Khachan runs the only remaining chess shop in New York City. Situated in Greenwich Village. A Palestinian refugee with no family of his own, Khachan has become “the father of everybody” to a community of chess enthusiasts, those curious to learn more about the game, and those whom Khachan describes as the city’s “invisible people.” Every day after he shuts shop, Imad walks around the city helping the homeless who call NY streets their home. He started a FaceBook page called "Angels of New York' where he posts pictures of homeless people in the hope that it inspires his followers to help and take action. In this episode, Imad shares some of his experiences interacting with the homeless including William Lombardi, former Amercian chess grandmaster and how our listeners can help this cause. Chess Forum Angels of New York

On a lazy summer evening, a man collapses in a New York playground while playing with his two little kids. The kids think its pretend play. Only its not. In less than 30 minutes, the entire scene changes as police cars, fire trucks and ambulances line the road and over 20 people are working to revive the man. By the time he's rushed to hospital, its been an hour since his heart stopped. Heroes of New York, cover this true story of some brave and nameless heroes who tried their best to help a man they will never meet again.

The Father's Heart Ministries is located in the East Village, New York City. For the past 23 years, they have been running a soup kitchen and open food pantry serving the hungry and homeless. During the pandemic they have been a respite to many in this part of the city. In this episode, I speak with Marian Hutchins, the Executive Director of the Father's Heart Ministries. She shares her experiences from moving to New York and the East Village in the 80s when drugs and violence was the norm and her experiences working with the needy and the poor. Tune in to listen to a story full of compassion and humanity. Facebook page

A few weeks ago, the TIME magazine carried an issue solely dedicated to global warming.It said we have a few months to take decisive action. Given all that is going around due to pandemic, upcoming US elections people sometimes tend to forget about the larger than life crisis that’s looming over us. And so I am out looking for people who were continuously working in the midst of this pandemic to address climate change. In this week’s episode I speak with Sandith Thandasherry, CEO and founder of NavAlt Solar & Electrical Boats. He is the man behind India’s first solar powered ferry, Aditya. With a Bachelor of Technology in Naval Architecture from IIT Madras and an MBA from INSEAD, France, Sandith has around two decades of industrial experience behind him. He worked in a shipyard in Gujarat for two years, after which he went to South Korea and worked across shipyards in the country. After he completed his MBA, this naval architect and entrepreneur started this journey with Navgathi, the first company that he founded to build small-capacity, solar-powered boats. Although solar-powered ferries are a common sight in global waterways, they were yet to sail in Indian waterways because of the high costs involved when Sandith started out. He soon realized that the biggest and most commercially viable sector is large passenger water transport boats. However, to initiate that business, they needed to team up with a larger player in the field. Coincidentally, this was when AltEn, one of the world’s most experienced solar boats manufacturer was looking for a partner in India. NavAlt was finally formed in October 2013 and the rest as they say is history. In July this year, Aditya, India’s first solar powered passenger ferry built by Sandith and team won the first ever Gussies award. This is the world’s only international award exclusively for electric boats. More than 50 electric boats were nominated for this award, representing over 19 countries of manufacture, in 3 different categories. Aditya won in the 3rd category “ Excellence in Electric Boats Designed for Paying Passengers”. Every day Aditya makes 22 trips with 75 people on board – that’s 580,000 people a year – and the charging cost to top up the batteries is US$2.60 – TWO DOLLARS and SIXTY CENTS A DAY – preventing the burning of 58,000 litres of diesel and saving ₹ 4,612,000 – US$ 65,000 a year.Aditya plies on the waterways of Kerala, a small state in South India, where Sandith’s company and operations are located. Kerala has been affected by global warming very severely in the past few years with heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides visiting her every year during the monsoon. Seeing that positive steps are being taken in the state to tackle climate change is an inspiration to the rest of the country. I also take personal pride since I am from Kerala. Aditya’s success and recognition is testimony to the fact that clean energy is the solution that we have to adopt to rewrite the climate change narrative. I speak to the man himself to learn more about his story and his vision for the future.

Feeding front line workers in NYC, Boston and the Bay area during the COVID-19 crisisSupporting small businesses and local kitchens in the US at the same time. Working tirelessly to help millions of displaced migrant workers in India. These are some of the things the team at American India Foundation(AIF), a nonprofit American organization involved in accelerating social and economic change in India are doing during this pandemic.Tune in to listen to Nishant Pandey, CEO of American India Foundation, talk about the work AIF is doing during the crisis and the biggest challenges migrant workers face. Most importantly, he shares ways in which you can help. Follow AIF's work on social media:FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagramFollow Nishant on Twitter:@nishant_AIF

This week I interview Phara Policar, an exceptional person who is a volunteer at New York Cares, a Lupus advocate and a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster children. A little bit about New York Cares - They launched their relief effort in March with over 2,500 volunteers who have spent a combined 7,500 hours on 439 projects. Their services include phone banking and food packing and distribution projects. They conduct calls to seniors and other vulnerable citizens, to check in on their well-being and to ensure that they have access to vital items like food and medicine. NYCARES also recently launched virtual learning projects to allow volunteers to continue to support New York City students remotely.Prospective volunteers can visit newyorkcares.org for more information on how to sign up and for a listing of current project availability. Phara was also a guest speaker at the United Nations 2018 Global State of Volunteerism Report.

On Nelson Mandela's 102nd bday, Heroes of New York, remembers one of the greatest heroes of our times and how he endured a lockdown like no other in history. Listen to this 10 minutes special, where I take you through three key lessons from Nelson Mandela's time in prison. 00:02:07 Time bound goals00:03:15 Power of positive habits00:06:14 Forgive and let goTo learn more about building habits that stick, listen to Joshua Spodek's interview on my show

Fiona Stokes, Assistant Nurse Manager and healthcare hero, contracts the COVID herself after nursing several patients infected by the virus. This is the story of how Jonathan Angelilli, an energy medicine practitioner used Qingong - an ancient form of energy medicine - to heal Fiona and is helping many other healthcare workers in NYC for free. Jonathan is a hero to healthcare workers, like Fiona, who are working day and night to heal COVID patients while putting their own lives at risk. Jonathan and Fiona also share a beautiful connection, one which they share with our listeners right at the end of this conversation! Jonathan Angelilli is a New Yorker, personal wellness expert, pioneer of holistic fitness, and 2x American Ninja Warrior (NBC). He’s been empowering students through health movement for 20 years, has a Bachelor of Science from NYU and a minor in Gender Studies, as well as thirteen fitness certifications. Jonathan completed a 3 year program in Medical Qigong through the Institute of Traditional Medicine (Toronto) in 2016 and has been featured as fitness and tai chi expert on network television (ABC, FOX), is a published author (Harper Collins).Qigong is an ancient form of energy medicine that uses mindful movement, touch, and sound to heal the body-mind.Jonathan runs free energy medicine classes for NYC health care workers and first responders. The program is called Energy Medicine for Heroes. Since April, he has raised over $5,003 and offered over 100 free sessions to health care heroes. Fiona Stokes is an Assistant Nurse Manager, with over 30 years of work experience, at a large health care facility. She assists with the management of a 33 bed Medical unit and a 12 bed Ventilator unit. She has received numerous awards and recognition throughout her career.Read more about Jonathan's work - Energy Medicine for Heroes

Food can transcend boundaries. It can unite people irrespective of their background. And it can bring healing and nourishment to both who serve and who are served. This is the story of Brandi Covington - cofounder of Cooking With Corey and Poonam VK - cofounder and CEO of Saavor, who joined hands to serve meals to healthcare workers during the pandemic in NYC. In this episode, Brandi Covington - cofounder of Cooking with Corey - shares her struggles as an entrepreneur and small business owner in NYC during the lockdown that forced many businesses to shut down. Brandi talks about what motivates her and how she managed to keep her business afloat while serving health care workers at the same time.I also talk to Poonam Kumar, cofounder and CEO of Saavor - a marketplace and mobile application platform connecting local chefs and food companies to their community - who started a fundraiser during the lockdown to support meals for healthcare workers. She and Brandi partnered to serve and deliver to many hospitals around the city. Brandi operates out of The Entrepreneur Space, which is a food and business incubator in Long Island City, NY. They provide a home to emerging businesses at a reasonable cost. During Covid-19 they have worked on keeping the foodpreneurs up and running by working with the Queens Borough President's Office to Fuel the Frontlines, feeding the hospital workers in the hardest hit areas, such as Queens, New York. The total number of meals the foodpreneurs served frontline workers thus far is 1,625.To learn more about Brandi's business:info@cookingwithcorey.comInstagram: cooking_with_coreyWebsite: cookingwithcorey.com To learn more about Saavor: Instagram : saavornowWebsite : http://www.saavor.co/

In this episode, I chat with Yuri Birchwood-Fuentes and Yule Lee - NYS architects - about the work they did in setting up COVID-19 testing centers throughout the city during the pandemic. They share the challenges they faced as a team to set up physical locations during the lockdown and the lessons it taught them. Yuri Birchwood-Fuentes was born and raised in Manhattan. He holds degrees in Architecture from the Irwin S Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union and Masters of Architecture from SUNY Buffalo. Yuri is a registered architect in NYS where he practices and a member of the American Institute of Architects.Yule Lee is a lifelong New Yorker who is a registered architect with NYS. He has been practicing architecture in New York City for the last 15 years and has worked on several different project types varying in size and complexity.

This is the story of Stuytown's management team and how they rose to the challenge of providing food to those who needed it the most during the COVID-19 lockdown in NYC. In addition to running the Stuytown pantry - which has delivered over 300,000 lbs at the time of this recording in June 2020 - they also used the residential ice cream truck to deliver over 20, 000 cups of ice cream to health care workers in NYC. Joining me on this show are, Robert Vazquez-director of lifestyle services and deliverer of joy, happiness and ice cream to over 20 NYC hospitals and their respective healthcare heroes- Meera Mason-Sukhra and Gerald Taggart-both managers in our Design and Construction division who are overseeing the logistics of the Stuy Town Pantry.

Haruna Borg and Mark Borg are both couple therapists who understand very well the impact of the lockdown on our mental health. Personally, they have lost patients to the COVID, and they also saw couples virtually, even when they came down with the COVID, . And at the same they are parenting their two school going kids. The couple is no stranger to the fact that tempers tend to flare when you are living 24/7 with someone you love locked up in a tiny space that serves as home, office, play area and gym.In this episode, the Borgs, talk about setting boundaries in your relationship and why its important to constant keep working on your relationship with your significant other. Listen to part 1 of this conversation here

Up, close and personal with Manoj Dalmia - pediatric and adult anesthesiologist from NYC. He is real, honest, passionate and unapologetically himself, but embraces his vulnerability as his dominant strength. In this episode, Manoj shares with us, some of his deepest and most touching experiences from treating COVID patients. I could not help but tear up. He has also meticulously chronicled his daily experiences at the hospital during the lockdown on his FaceBook page. You can read more on his FB page.

In this episode, Josh and I talk about change. There is only one way to fight climate change, pandemics and systemic racism. Through change. But to change anything, we need to first change ourselves. Changing our behaviors is how we can influence change in our society. But how hard is it? Tune in to hear Josh share his wisdom as he changed his lifestyle and continues to do so in a bid to save the environment. Listen to the 1st part of this talk on building Habits that Stick here. Joshua Spodek PhD MBA is a three-time TEDx speaker, #1 bestselling author of Initiative and Leadership Step by Step, host of the award-winning Leadership and the Environment podcast, and professor at NYU. He works with individuals and groups to improve their environmental culture and behavior.Here's the TEDx video that Josh refers to in this episode where he goes into depth doing meaningful things.

CHOCOLATE FOR HEALTHCARE HEROESTo thank our healthcare heroes, Milène Jardine Chocolatier have been sending chocolate as a token of love, hope, and support. They have been working around the clock to bring normalcy and safety back to society. MJ Chocolates believe chocolate can bring a dose of happiness and peace to their stressful situations. To reach more heroes, they created a chocolate for healthcare workers gifting program.Website: https://milenejardine.com/IG: @milene.jardine.chocolatier

Haruna Borg and Mark Borg are both couple therapists who understand very well the impact of the lockdown on our mental health. Personally, they have lost patients to the COVID, and they also saw couples virtually, even when they came down with the COVID, . And at the same they are parenting their two school going kids. The couple is no stranger to the fact that tempers tend to flare when you are living 24/7 with someone you love locked up in a tiny space that serves as home, office, play area and gym. In this episode, the Borgs, share openly the negative impacts of toxic positivity, the technique they use to handle conflicts in their personal lives, why apologies never work and how to effectively strike a balance in our every day lives. 00:01:38 Toxic Positivity00:07:02 Forced Gratitude00:14:00 How to handle a conflict00:31:32 Rules of handling a conflict00:38:01 Deep listening00:39:31 Apologies versus AmendsHow to reach Mark: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/mark-b-borg-jr-new-york-ny/188295And Haruna: https://lcswharuna.com/

“Prison life is about routine: each day like the one before; each week like the one before it, so that the months and years blend into each other.” Nelson Mandela about the 27 years he spent in prison. Mandela believed a lifetime’s habit of exercise helped him to survive prison, ready for the challenges that lay ahead. In this episode, I chat with Joshua Spodek, published expert and coach of starting habits that last, about building daily habits that stick. Josh explains how he does it , the many rewards he reap from building habits that stick and how you can do it too. Josh’s habit based achievements include: Posting to his blog daily for a decade, nearly 4,000 posts and countingDoing burpee-based calisthenics daily for nine years, over 150,000 burpees and countingIn his fifth year not flying (by choice)Picking up a piece of trash daily for over 1,000 days and countingJoshua Spodek PhD MBA is a three-time TEDx speaker, #1 bestselling author of Initiative and Leadership Step by Step, host of the award-winning Leadership and the Environment podcast, and professor at NYU. He works with individuals and groups to improve their environmental culture and behavior. Here's the video that Josh refers to in this episode where he goes into depth on building habit's that last.What we discussed:00:02:51 Building daily habits 00:07:04 Identifying values and their importance00:09:18 Habits that stick00:15:05 Mindset00:22:28 Nelson Mandela - Thriving under lockdown00:25:01 Sticking to new habits00:27:02 Mindset00:30:33 Building your structure from the inside out00:32:28 Cold Showers00:35:48 News fast - moderating the amount 00:37:11 SIDCHA00:43:04 How to build habits that stick

Well known public speaker , Rochelle Rice, talks about the importance of building pockets of certainty in our daily lives to help stabilize and build a sense of normalcy during these unusually turbulent times. Rochelle Rice, is the first woman in the world to hold both the Certified Speaking Professional(CSP) designation from National Speakers Association and Accredited Speaker(AS) designation from Toastmasters International. She is passionate about health and wellness and has been conducting movement classes for women for the past 35 years. During the COVID crisis, Rochelle has generously opened the virtual doors of her Zoom classes to women who want to benefit from movement and breathing techniques that help to relax the body and mind. Rochelle's website Instagram Linkedin Facebook

She has transported and rescued over 1000 dogs till date. At the age of 60, she rose to prominence as the runner up of the World Championship of Public Speaking 2019, beating over 30,000 contestants from 143 countries. Our guest for this episode is Luisa Montalvo, resident of South Texas who is rescuing stray dogs from certain death and transporting them to New York where each and every one of them is adopted by foster families who are grateful for her service. In this episode Luisa opens her heart about what it means to find people who care about animals, using her storytelling skills to spread awareness about the plight of animals ,and giving herself the next 10 years to take South Texas of the map as a place where dogs are euthanized. At the time of this interview, TIME magazine, carried an article on the high demand for foster animals in the US. People are adopting or fostering pets to beat the isolation.Foster home website :http://ruffhouserescue.org/ Chapters:00:01:03How the dog rescue project started00:06:19Staying connected with the dogs after adoption00:10:33Rescue agency details and how you can help00:13:20Spreading awareness about the plight of stray dogs00:15:03Why New Yorkers' make amazing foster families00:15:57Speaking for the voiceless00:19:17Message for our listeners

She is a mom, wife, businesswoman and an improv artist. Sarita and her husband Caesar Ekya sold everything they had in 2005 to start S'MAC - a popular East Village restaurant that sells Mac N Cheese. When New York went into lockdown in March this year, small businesses like theirs were hit and it forced them to make some tough decisions. Under immense pressure, the Ekyas revamped their business model, introduced an entirely new product line, started serving health care workers and even rehired one of the 2 employees they had to initially lay off. They have served over 1500 meals to health care workers at the time of this recording.In this episode Sarita explains what drives her, how she manages to remain calm and execute well under pressure, how scheduling has helped her to achieve a lot, and what one can do to remain sane and happy during the crisis. Related links: S'MAC Instagram @eatSMAChttp://www.eatsmac.com Sarita's improv Instagram @notyourbiwiimprov

Welcome to the 1st episode of Heroes of New York!Erwan Saunier - Program Director at Manhattan Kickers Soccer club - had to close down his business on Mar 16th when the pandemic started to spread through NYC. A week later his wife lost her job. Their 17 year old son is waiting and hoping that college will open later this year, but he fears not. Despite the fact that their world turned upside down during this crisis, Erwan stepped up to help others in his neighborhood in East Village. From picking up and delivering groceries, walking the dogs to taking out the trash, Erwan is a godsend to many in this part of the city. In this episode, Erwan opens up about what motivates him, why he doesn't follow the news and what you can do to help others during this crisis.