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Not Safer at Home: Domestic Violence Hotlines Field Dramatic Volume Increase

Award-Winning Blog May 30, 2020

The sudden uptick in calls to The Retreat’s 24-hour emergency hotline startled Loretta Davis, executive director of the safe haven for domestic abuse victims. And even stranger were simultaneous upticks at the four remaining agencies across Long Island that same day.

The surge in calls motivated Ms. Davis to reach out to the local paper — and when my editor asked me to take the story, I immediately accepted.

But not before my body went hot, and my hands started shaking, and I felt an all-too-familiar trauma response that I thought I’d left far behind.

I am a survivor of domestic abuse. I know firsthand how impossible it can feel to leave, and the subsequent terror that you will be found — fears that, I’m sure, are only amplified against the backdrop of an international pandemic.

But I promise you, there is a way out — and you are not alone.

At the bottom of the article, I’ve included a list of resources: emergency numbers and a sample safety plan, as well as a checklist to help you determine whether you’re in an abusive situation.

If you are, I know that you have the strength within you to leave. And it is my hope that this story helps at least one person do just that.

Climate Change: Sea’s Rising, The Ocean’s Coming In

Award-Winning Planet March 12, 2020

Almost 400 years ago, settlers discovered an idyllic peninsula along the coast of the Eastern Seaboard, its countryside cared for by five Native American tribes. They acquired land, built modest homes and continued on in this tradition, sowing the land with crops, culture and, eventually, wealth.

Word had spread about the tranquil white-sand beaches, vast farmland, dreamy wetlands and extraordinary light, attracting the upper echelon of society who created what “The Hamptons” is today — both a geographical area and a state of mind.

For tourists, the towns, villages and hamlets here are a sanctuary, a playground, and an escape from the hustle and bustle of their lives. But for many year-round residents and longtime visitors, that façade is starting to crack.

In recent years, their questions about and demands for the future of the East End have reached a fever pitch — concerns over sea level rise, erosion and global warming dominate pleas to save what is left and reverse the impact of climate change.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Marks 100 Years Since Confirmation Of Einstein’s Theory Of General Relativity

Celebrity Planet April 15, 2020

By age 15, Neil deGrasse Tyson had given his first public lecture on astronomy, and began attending the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. Gone were the days of standing on his apartment rooftop, desperately peering at the sky through his binoculars. He had gotten his first good look at the stars, and there was no turning back.

Andy Grammer Brings His Good Parts to Westhampton Beach

Celebrity Music April 15, 2020

For every album Andy Grammer writes, there are 100 songs that came before it — at least.

In the case of his third studio release, “The Good Parts,” it was 115. But who’s counting, the musician said.

Siobhan O’Loughlin Lathers Up for a New Twist on Theater

Stage April 15, 2020

No one makes a bubble bath better than Siobhan O’Loughlin.

Her water-to-bubbles ratio is borderline scientific, and the temperature is always right — allowing for an hour-long soak without turning cold. And the ambiance is dreamlike, complete with candles, fairy lights and … at least 10 perfect strangers.

Photographer Renate Aller Captures the Spaces Between

Art Travel April 15, 2020

Whether she’s watching a river of clouds snake through a mountain pass, or holding her breath as the sun breaks through a storm on the ocean horizon, Renate Aller has honed her ability to predict a moment — and only then does she click her shutter.

That split second, she says, is “the space between memory and expectation,” during which nothing inherently happens, but without which no change could occur.

Grenning Finds Power in The Art of Morton

Art April 15, 2020

There is more to George Morton than his sheer, mostly raw talent. Take one look at his dramatically lifelike, poignant pieces, and it’s there — his past, one set against the drug war of the 1990s in Kansas City, one that landed him an 11-year prison sentence.

One that nearly destroyed him.

Chalk and the Art of Letting Go with Kara Hoblin

Art April 15, 2020

Through chalk, Kara Hoblin learned one of the most important lessons that life has to offer: the necessity of letting go. As an artist, that means letting go of her work. As a lover, to let go of heartache. And as a human, to let go of loss, insecurity, hate and pain.

But it doesn’t mean throwing them away, she emphasizes. It simply means letting life be — while growing through the shadows and emerging into the light.

Forever Is Composed Of Nows: Eric Dever Compresses Time In New Exhibition

Art April 15, 2020

Eric Dever’s newest body of work, “A Thousand Nows,” is a study in compressed time, the 22 exuberant oils layered with colors that span the artist’s lifetime, from his earliest memories growing up in California.

Searching for Land Art in the Wild West

Art Travel April 15, 2020

Jane Weissman usually travels alone — by both circumstance and design, she said — and she loves paper maps.

If she can, she rents a car and plots her routes by hand, avoiding interstates as much as possible. It gives her a truer sense of a place, she explained, eight months back from a road trip around the Southwest, though the fine red rock sand likely lingers.