I love Halloween in NYC.  In a town where every day is a parade of style and costumery, folks really amp it up for the 'ween.  (And thus I've become pretty judge-y about costumes.  Enough with the "sexy" everything get-ups for women -- sexy Freddy Kruger doesn't even make sense.  Props to those going for precise verisimilitude or the absolutely outrageous.  Feel free to judge …

My first post-college job was teaching English at a Polish university during the last days of Soviet communism.  When I entered the classroom on the first day, the students stood at attention with a mix of ceremonial deference, existential boredom, and mild derision. (I responded with an awkward, swivel-handed ersatz royal wave.)

It didn't take me long to realize that the…

So this Halloween I'm going as Bob Dylan, c.1966.  (I'm a bit long of tooth to pull off the 20-something songpoet...my attempt at Bono last year was more age-appropriate).  Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home has been rattling around my cranium as I think about working domestically vs…

Folks, have a peek at some images from our Launch Event on October 6th -- at which we celebrated 30 years as a program of Safe Horizon, and embraced our future as the independent New York Peace Institute.  Thanks to all who came out to show your support for our mission to build peace in New York City and Beyond!…

This month's mensch is the shaved-headed, benignly smiling figure you see above.  The one on the right.  In the suit.  Detective Jeff Thompson, NYPD.

Jeff became a mediator with us about five years ago, and his boundless energy, intellectual curiosity, and passion for peace have made him a deservedly recognized figure in our…

(without the part in which management tries to break the back of organized labor or the constant threat of being slammed in the face by an ingot)

My grandfather, Iggie Hoffman, was a crane operator at Bethlehem Steel (the subject of Billy Joel's …