Five boroughs, Four days, One unforgettable city

I participated in my second Open House New York Weekend in October 2025. I had a hard time imagining an experience that could top my first time (read my OHNY 2024 post), but somehow it happened. There are so many choices to make from the full itinerary of activities; it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Eventually, I decided that my “guiding principle” would be to set foot in every borough, even if it was a brief visit. Here are the highlights, narrowed down (mostly) to one per borough.

Manhattan

I volunteered at the Launch Party in the beautiful Woolworth Building first, then helped out at the leak detection activity later that evening. After helping participants find the leak detection activity and check in, we got to participate too. The NYC Department of Environmental Protection staff members showed us how they seek out leaks in the city’s infrastructure and head off problems before they become overwhelming crises. Here I am listening through their device for unusual water flow activity. One of my biggest takeaways was how much these people love their jobs. So much of the work of running the city is out of the spotlight, but critical. These were those people.

Staten Island

I had two volunteer assignments in Staten Island the morning after all of the launch party/leak detection fun. It was exceptionally difficult to pick one to feature because I loved our visit to the Staten Island Compost Facility so much. That facility inevitably makes it into almost every conversation I have about OHNY Weekend 2025.

However, I am choosing to talk a little bit about the Alice Austen House Museum. As much as I love hunting down things to see in NYC that may not be the very first listing in guidebooks, I’m not sure I would have ever gotten around to this one. The home and museum are a nationally designated LGBTQ+ history site, since artist Alice Austen and her partner, Gertrude Tate, navigated many difficulties as a same-sex couple in their day. It has absolutely stunning views of New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn from its waterfront. It was beautiful, moving and thought-provoking.

The beautiful Alice Austen House Museum

Bronx

I am so happy that OHNY has given me opportunities to learn more about the Bronx (where I worked for three years from 1989-92). Last year, we walked the Cross-Bronx Expressway. This year, we visited Joseph Rodman Drake Park. It is a true story of racial division, as white people have relatively sophisticated gravesites, whereas enslaved African graves in the vicinity went unnoticed for so long until an elementary school project helped bring the totality of the site to light.

(That’s why I’m just sharing a picture of the sign. I felt strange sharing pictures of the graves, although doing so is undoubtedly essential to history.)

Queens

When I read the description of the OHNY LiveOnNY activity, I sort of wondered what it could have to teach me. Was I ever wrong. LiveOnNY promotes organ and tissue donation while supporting donor and recipient families.

I will never forget seeing a) a donor liver — not to sound ignorant but the real thing doesn’t look like the image I had from anatomy books — it made me want to treat mine better and b) hearing from a woman who donated her toddler son’s heart when he died as well as from a woman who received a heart transplant. These women were so courageous to share with us in the way they did.

Brooklyn/NYC Ferry

I had to think creatively to fit Brooklyn in, and the stop was very brief, but I’m going to say it counts! I took the NYC Ferry from Manhattan to Brooklyn, where I grabbed an Uber to get to my stop in Long Island City (Queens). Here’s how I rationalized this being OHNY-related. Open House New York had a partnership with NYC Ferry and Turnstile Tours, and there were audio guides you could listen to along the route. I listened to some of the audio guide, snapped shots of the beautiful scenery, and called this an OHNY stop.

Infrastructure Tour

I had to miss the Infrastructure Tour in 2024 because I had Sunday evening play tickets and couldn’t manage the logistics. Therefore, I was probably the first person to click “buy” when tickets went on sale for 2025. Bethann Rooney, Director of the Port Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, narrated our trip through the ports (for which we had to get special clearance from the Coast Guard since we were venturing out farther than typical for a Circle Line vessel). I have been involved in SmartBrief’s supply chain newsletter for a few years, and it makes me a little giddy to actually SEE the things we write about. The scale is almost impossible to grasp. Also, this Floridian learned that it’s very possible that my orange juice traveled through Port Newark on its way to me. It was endlessly fascinating, and gave me one last chance to say hello to Lady Liberty up close before leaving town.

The opportunity to give instead of taking

I returned to Manhattan from my Staten Island day via the Staten Island Ferry, and started walking back to my hotel. I was a little bit lost in thought, between making sure I was taking the correct route back, processing the very full day I had already experienced, navigating a bit of sleep deprivation and thinking (as always) about how to fit more activities in.

Eventually, I became aware that the woman loudly saying, “HEY!” was actually trying to get MY attention. I couldn’t figure out why (had I dropped something?). I stopped and looked at her, curious as to why she wanted my attention.

Woman: “Where can my kid touch the marine animals?”

Paula: “What?” (wondering how she thought I would know)

Woman: “There’s an Open House New York activity where kids can touch marine animals.”

[[[ envision light bulb going off over my head as I realized I was still wearing my OHNY volunteer shirt (pictured below with fellow volunteer Bill) ]]]

Paula: “Oh”!

At this point, I pulled up the OHNY schedule on my phone, looked up the information about the Wetlab Look-in at Hudson River Park, and shared it with her.

Then her bus arrived and she and her family ran for it, so I’ll never know the rest of the story.

However, it was so meaningful to me to do this one little thing to help someone access the city more easily. Since I don’t live in NYC, I’m usually limited to giving money to causes I care about. Obviously, money never hurts. But being able to tangibly help someone else (especially a kid) was incredibly fulfilling.

Things to follow up on:

There are two resources needed by organizations affiliated with OHNY site visits I made that I want to share, in case anyone can help.

Sean’s Gift

First of all, there is a program affiliated with LiveOnNY, Sean’s Gift, that provides hand-knitted and hand-crocheted blankets to comfort and honor families of organ donors. Here’s one that I saw the day I visited:

You can learn more about Sean, who the program is named after, via this article. I haven’t yet, but I hope to pick my crochet hook up after decades away from it and prepare some blankets for Sean’s gift. If you’re interested in getting involved, send a personal message through the program’s Facebook page.

Joseph Rodman Drake Park & Enslaved African Burial Ground / Hunts Point Slave Burial Ground Project

I discussed this site above in my “Bronx” section, but it is hard to do it justice in just a few sentences. Students from PS 48 in the Bronx have been absolutely integral for DECADES in bringing this history to the public’s attention, and trying to bring equity to the enslaved people buried there, whose treatment was so bad in contrast to the wealthy Hunt, Leggett and Willett families.

They definitely didn’t ask me to solicit help, so I’m just passing this along in case anyone is interested in pulling at this thread. The project can always use financial donations, but there are other types of help they could use (such as keeping its website up and expanding it). Here’s the project site if you’re interested in learning more.

This is a picture of Justin Czarka, a teacher at P.S. 48, and Phil Panaritis, who have been integral to keeping this story alive. Thank you, Justin and Phil. (Note: You can support Justin’s classroom through Donors Choose!)

Final Thoughts

I’m so grateful to the city I love for revealing more of itself to me during this trip, and to the staff and volunteers of Open House New York for making it all possible.

If you want to know more about a place where you live or a place you love, indulge your curiosity about how things work. You’ll be amazed at the intellectual and emotional doors that will open!

Here are some more photo memories (access my full album here):