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New York City’s 92nd Street Y at 150
At the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, you’ll find folks doing exactly what you’d expect at a community center – swimming, playing basketball, creating. But did you know Groucho Marx used the gym here, and Martha Graham taught dance here?
As CEO Seth Pinsky tells it, the organization’s remarkable history stemmed from a simple mission: “The 92nd Street Y was founded 150 years ago by a group of German Jewish civic leaders who saw a large number of Eastern European Jews coming to the United States, and they felt that that population needed a home, a safe place. And they said, ‘Let’s create a Jewish version of the YMCA.'”
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Everyone is welcome at 92NY. The historic Kaufmann Concert Hall is emblematic of this welcoming spirit. Truman Capote first read from “In Cold Blood” here, and Kurt Vonnegut debuted “Breakfast of Champions.” When Emma Lazarus wrote the words that gave voice to the Statue of Liberty (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”), she was teaching English to Jewish immigrants at the 92nd Street Y.
The stage has played host to Holocaust survivors (Elie Wiesel), musicians (Rod Stewart), Supreme Court Justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg), scientists (Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson), and politicians (Hillary and Bill Clinton), not to mention some of the biggest names in film, TV, theater and comedy.
In 1960, choreographer Alvin Ailey premiered “Revelations,” now one of his most well-known works, on this stage. Salie asked, “Why do you think that someone like Alvin Ailey was welcomed here at the 92nd Street Y when he wasn’t welcomed anywhere else?”
“Jews have a long history of being excluded,” said Pinsky. “And as a result of that, it’s a very important value for us not to exclude others for the same reason.”
Last fall, not long after the October 7th Hamas-led attacks on Israel, the 92NY drew heat for choosing to postpone an event with an author who was publicly critical of Israel. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Viet Thanh Nhuyen, maintains he was given notice of the cancellation last-minute, before some organizers moved the event to a local bookstore not affiliated with 92NY.
But as changing times present new challenges, Pinsky said they are still guided by one of their founding values, “tikkun olam.”
“Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means to repair the world,” said Pinsky. “And that’s a very important part of what we do. We’re trying to enrich people’s lives. We’re trying to build community.”
Programming at 92NY ranges from ceramics to parenting to art history, as well as a nursery school, performances, and the famed 92NY Talks series.
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Eighty-two-year-old Lincoln Field has been taking guitar lessons from Ed MacEachen here for decades; a few floors below, Joanne Krantz is busy bejeweling herself at the famed Jewelry Center; and Peter Stokes jumped into a pick-up basketball game here nearly 50 years ago, and he’s never stopped coming, for cardio and camaraderie. “It’s also a great meeting place to meet people,” he said. “Since I started playing basketball, I have lifelong friends now.”
A century-and-a-half ago, the founders of the 92nd Street Y may not have foreseen all that it would become, but Pinsky is sure their vision has remained true: “It’s a place for people to make their lives more meaningful,” he said. “It’s a place for people to connect to other people and not feel alone and isolated. And I don’t see that changing in the coming 150 years in any way.”
For more info:
- 92nd Street Y, New York City
- Photos courtesy of the 92NY, Jack Prelutsky, Lura Burnette and Michael Priest Photography
Story produced by Lucie Kirk. Editor: Karen Brenner.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”
