With the warmer months upon us and the coming of the summer, new exhibitions are opening up and is the museums chance to showcase their exhibitions before they open to the public. These after hour events give the members a chance to see these exhibitions when the museum is closed for the evening.
The welcome to the Private Members Night at the MoMA.
I thought the line to the recent Private Members Night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was long until I saw the line to get into the MoMA. It wrapped around the block to the West 53rd Street entrance. They should have had multiple entrances for this event because so many people were in line. We were lucky in that the line moved really fast and we got in the museum rather quickly.
The crowd dispersed quickly with some people intrigued by the visual display in the lobby outside the main courtyard where the concert would take place that evening.
The visual art display in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art mesmerizes everyone.
Unlike like The Met, there is not the room in the main hall or the courtyard for all these people. Ron Carter, the famous Jazz musician was playing in the courtyard and they had to hold the line because there were too many people outside. Knowing these events, I got outside for the concert as soon as I made a trip to the bathroom (that was packed too). The courtyard was full of groups talking and waiting in line to get to the bar.
The crowds were huge at this event.
The worst part was that there were only two bars for all these people. One was in the lobby and one was in the courtyard and the lines were easily sixty deep for most of the night. There should have been a second bar both in the courtyard and maybe on the second floor of the museum to handle the flow of people. Still people did not seem to mind.
I was lucky in that I went to the courtyard first after going to the bathroom so I did not have to leave the courtyard so quick. I could see they were holding the line to get outside and the concert would only be from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. Even when I left the courtyard at 8:10pm, the line was still sizable to get outside. The concert was well worth it.
Mr. Carter’s performance was excellent. I could not believe that the first time he had been to the museum was in 1965. The last time he performed here was in 1993. For a guy in his 80’s, he looks in great shape. The concert was really good but since there was not enough seating for everyone it made it a bit in comfortable for the audience. Still I stayed through the first four numbers and enjoyed the music.
Around 8:15pm, I saw all these people peering through the window of the lobby and figured I should go see other things at the museum before it closes. About thirty other people felt the same way and a large group of us left the courtyard to the relief of another thirty who were let in. The concert only had about fifteen minutes left.
Ron Carter’s number last number when I left.
I went to explore the museum and see a few of the exhibitions that I missed the last time I was in the museum. This was the start of the Spring shows. As the concert started to wind down, the rest of the museum became busy.
One of the features of the even was scratch artist Kathie Kollwitz whose work spanned the world wars and show the plight of the working class in Germany during and in between the wars.
The paintings of Kathie Kollwitz.
Times were so rough for these people at that time and conditions not pleasant, the artwork reflected it. It was really depressing and I could see why Hitler rose to power. Her work showed how raw life was like between the wars and how bad their economy was at the time.
The other exhibition I saw was American artist Latoya Ruby Frazier, whose work representing our own working and underclass and of a population in Pennsylvania who time has passed by. The artist’s family was exposed to the problems of the steel industry and the after effects of its collapse.
The Latoya Ruby Frazier exhibition on the Private Members Night
I liked about her show was the honesty of the whole show. She showed her personal relationship with her relationship with her grandmother and her family. She also showcased her community, who had so much influence in her life. The community had been so badly affected by pollution, poverty and discrimination that it left a scar on the tight knit community of Braddock, PA.
The artist’s gallery display of her relationship with her family
When the biggest employer left, the much needed hospital, closed because their headquarters said it was losing money. This with the loss of the automotive industry caused the community to deteriorate. These are the communities that time left behind after WWII. It was really honest work.
The decline of Braddock as industry left the area.
The exhibition was heartbreaking and touching at the same time. She showed how much she cared about her community and many others in the exhibition like Flint, MI and Youngstown, PA and how one change in corporate behavior can effect the entire community.
I was able to visit other parts of the museum as well but all things do come to an end after three hours and it was time to leave. By the end of the evening, I was ready to go. What an interesting and engaging evening it was and what a great job the MoMA did creating this fantastic evening for all of us.
The skyline along Sixth Avenue.
When I left the museum for the evening, the lights of midtown came on. I never get bored on how beautiful the City is at night.
Walking back to the Port Authority at night.
It was another wonderful Member’s Night. This is why you should join the MoMA!
The “Met After Hours” sign inside the museum that evening.
How beautiful and welcoming the Met always looks on Private Members Nights.
After the weekend of my graduation from NYU and the activities of the graduation, I had almost forgotten that the Metropolitan Museum of Art was having one of their ‘Private Members Nights’ the next Monday. Between the last days of classes at both colleges and my graduation, it was nice to have a break and get my mind off everything.
‘Private Members Nights’ are a special night that happens usually on Monday when the museum closes early and a large portion of the museum is open exclusively to just members and a guest. They are a great to spend an evening touring the museum at a slower pace. Only certain parts of the building are open as well as the exhibitions so it gives everyone a chance to see particular exhibitions.
What is nice is that they have a Members Bar and the restaurants open so the members can relax and have dinner or a drink or both. There an also music so it makes it a very festive and social evening. This was a very crowded section of the museum
The Members Bar and Music on the Private Members Night.
Since I had just been in the museum the other week to see the ‘Harlem Renaissance’ exhibition and a couple of the other exhibitions, I decided to see two others I was interested in ‘Weaving Abstraction’ and ‘Sleeping Beauties’, an exhibition on Vintage clothing and the memories and personality left behind by their former owners.
The entrance to the ‘Weaving Abstraction’ exhibition.
In the exhibition for ‘Weaving Abstraction’ the art is a comparison of ancient Pre-Columbian Art and modern artists equivalents. The comparison and the quality of the artwork was intriguing. Sometimes I could not tell what was ancient and what was new.
The description of ‘Weaving Abstraction’
The work took a modern approach to how each artist interpreted the art. What I found interesting with the art and this is without looking at the signs is what was ancient and what was modern.
Some of the current pieces in the collection.
Some of the modern pieces in the collection mixed in with Pre-Columbian art.
Some of the more modern pieces in the exhibition.
The Loincloth was one of my favorite pieces in the exhibition.
The Loincloth was one of the most interesting and colorful pieces in the exhibition.
I was able to relax and have a drink at the bar before I headed up to the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ exhibition. The line was long and moved quickly showing that the exhibition was really popular.
The ‘Sleeping Beauties’ exhibition is a different angle at looking at clothing. Rather than its history, it looks at the personality of its prior owner. The means the smells that the owners left with things like perfume and smoking. Near most of the clothing there were scent beads to better represent the smells.
This detailed evening cape I thought was beautiful.
The description of the Cape made by Gucci.
This beaded jacket I thought was one of the nicest pieces in the collection.
Some unusual displays took center stage at the exhibition.
The collection of vintage clothing on display from different eras.
This dress studded with beads and embellishments was influenced by insects and bugs.
The description of this evening dress by the House of Lanvin.
By the time I had finished viewing the exhibition, it was almost time to leave. The lines had been so long to see “Sleeping Beauties” (this had been extremely popular that evening) that it was almost ten o’clock when I left.
The evenings are when the museum shows its true magic when it is all lit up. Here is the outside of the museum at the end of the evening.
The Met at the end of the evening.
The courtyard outside the museum at night.
The fountain lit for the evening had almost a musical appearance.
The Members entrance as I was leaving for the evening. This is the true beauty of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It was a relaxing evening of music and great art. Just what I needed after a long semester and my graduation from college.
I finally reached another milestone in my education and in my life. I graduated with honors from New York University with a 3.813 GPA. Quite an accomplishment from someone who last graduated from Cornell University back in 2010. I was a lot of hard work and one big balancing act of time but I walked across the stage of Radio City Music Hall with the energy and enthusiasm of any undergraduate.
You can read my blog on “Grad Alley” a few days before the Graduation Ceremony:
I came a long way from the first meeting I had at the college back in October of 2019. I had visited Georgetown University the summer before and realized that it was not for me. When I got the email from New York University in the Summer of 2019 I thought, let me check this out. It is closer to home and I would be going to school in Manhattan and Greenwich Village to boot. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.
Before the Graduation Ceremony began.
The graduates settling in for the start of Graduation.
As a returning college student (I am not going to lie, this is my fifth time to college and this is the fifth college I have graduated from), I was a little intimidated by my classmates at first. I did not know what a Google Doc or a Google Slide was the first day of class. I did not even bring my computer into the class the first (I knew better from that day on) and was still using my 3G flip phone (which got a lot of chuckles from my classmates). I also was older than everyone by over twenty years but with that comes years of work experience, travel and knowledge of the ever changing Hospitality industry that keeps evolving and will continue to in the future.
Justin before the start of the ceremony.
I got up to speed really quick with a new iPhone 13 Pro (whose picture and video taking ability has transformed this blog) and a new HP computer and watched many Google YouTube videos to keep me up to speed. By the end of the first semester, I was an old pro at all of these functions and for the first time in my life got straight “A”s in my classes. It was a long time in coming that I had to prove this to myself. And at New York University no doubt (NYU).
The theater filling up with students and parents.
It had been a long journey over the last year and a half. Running in and out of New York City for classes in between my job at Bergen Community College. Countless late nights writing papers, researching subject matter and trips to libraries on both campuses to finish projects. This on top of working on Executive Boards for the Fire Department and Men’s Association in town, volunteer work that I do and squeezing in blogging on seven sites. There were times I almost had to pull an ‘all nighter’.
The stage before we started the graduation.
The video of the organist before the ceremony started:
What I found over that year and a half was a whole new way of looking at the Hospitality industry. I had never really thought about Sustainable tourism, Dark tourism, LGBTQ tourism and Diversity in tourism. I had never categorized it in the sense it was different things to different people. My professors had their way of teaching it and I had my own and going forward I used both when creating projects and my own expectations from my students. They gave me a different perspective of looking at the way a place could market itself and I took it one step further and asked of my students how can small towns and musty historical sites be made unique and interesting by marketing them in a different way. Break the mold of what they were doing and present it in a format that they might not have thought of in that light.
The NYU Bagpipers opening the ceremony.
Video of the Bagpipers entering Radio City Music Hall:
What really opened my eyes were the three GFI (Global Field Intensification) courses that I was able to experience. On my first meeting with my faculty advisor, he told me that he was planning a trip to Prague for a week and then insisted that I must come on it. He kept going and going until I finally said “yes”. I knew nothing about Prague or really where it was located. I kept thinking it was in Russia. Two Professors decided to do back to back GFI’s, the first one going to Paris and the second to Prague. Since my brother was getting married in Sicily, it gave me an excuse to go on both. It opened my eyes to a different world that changed me.
Our Dean welcoming the graduates and their parents and guests.
Paris is a more amazing city than I could have imagined. As intense and cultural as New York City but in a totally different way. The countless independent shops, restaurants, cafes and flea markets opened my eyes to a city not overrun by chain stores and each neighborhood had its own cultural identity. Every day it was a new adventure or trying new restaurants or experiencing new foods served in a way that I had not seen in the States. Since it was a Culinary Tourism class, I had to lead a tour of gourmet shops, bakeries, chocolate and candy shops and the gourmet department of a department store. I had never been to Paris before, knew nothing about the city and had not spoken the language since the 1980’s (I had three years of high school French). Somehow I charmed enough shop owners with my broken French to welcome my class in to try their products. It was a huge success (Google “Exploring Paris Block by Block”) for the details on the trip.
The ceremony was about two hours and most of that was calling names of graduates.
Then off to Prague for another wonderful experience exploring the history, food and culturally delights in the city. We visited all the touristy spots you would normally see on the tour but our tour guide, Jana, really had us exploring the city from a different perspective from someone who lived in all these areas. Everyday we experienced something new and in the time that I got to explore the city on my own, I walked the entire city as I would in Manhattan and got to pass all the local shops and restaurants and experience things as a local would living in Prague.
Then it was off to Abu Dhabi and Dubai during their Winter tourism season and that was a true eye opener. It was like going home as I discovered my Arabic roots (though they are about 400 years old and through my mother’s Sicilian heritage). All the men looked like me and that made me feel more at home. Though we had a pretty tight schedule again seeing all the sites that are popular with tourists, I had to stay an extra day because of the flights and got to explore Abu Dhabi on my own.
When the ceremony was over we were all applauded.
Me crossing the stage to finally graduate from Graduate School:
I walked the entire part of my neighborhood around the hotel and discovered the more localized view of the city through the eyes of the Omens, Saudis, Indians and other ethnic groups that made up the majority of the population that make this city run. I walked through their neighborhoods and visited their shops, restaurants, bakeries and stores and saw the city through their eyes. This was the city that I wanted to experience. That and a flat tire coming back from Al Ain left us eating at a local ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant where the site for thirty American students shocked the restaurant owner who could not believe that he had a full restaurant on a quiet Tuesday night. These were the experiences that I got in classes at NYU.
My blogs on “Exploring Abu Dhabi and Dubai Block by Block”:
As we all prepared for the excitement of graduating, I thought back to my first day of class and arriving on the NYU campus right before Labor Day weekend and having no clue what to expect. I have a clearer idea now how the world ticks and how much I had been exposed to in such a short period of time. My Professor who had taken us to Paris was now leading a class over the summer to Barcelona and I really wanted to stay to experience that as well.
The end of the ceremony at 6:00pm.
When all of the students and parents took their seats, the ceremony started on time at 4:00pm. We were greeted by the Radio City Music Hall organ player who made his appearance and then disappeared behind a wall. Then came the NYU Bagpipers who opened the ceremony for us. This was followed by a speech by our Assistant Provost and then by our Dean of our College for the School of Professional Studies.
In the hallway of Radio City Music Hall after graduation.
Then we had to endure the one thing I hate, the student speech. I have sat through countless junior high, high school and now five colleges of students saying things like “life long friendships” and “what we learned from the past will carry us into the future” and ” the people who influence us”. I have heard this same speech over and over again that I could have memorized it and bet on what she was going to talk about. I bet by the time the ceremony was over, everyone was going to part ways and many of my classmates would be traveling back to the countries they originally came from and run their tourism boards. I did not know too many of my classmates who were going to stay in New York City.
Me after graduation was over and Radio City orchestra seating had emptied out.
Then we walked on stage row by row and they called our names over the loud speaker so that family and friends could see us walk on stage. I was so thrilled to hear my name and that a got a nice applause. I was not sure that anyone noticed me as I crossed the stage. This made me feel like a million dollars. I could not believe that I had graduated from such an exclusive college like NYU and with honors. That was quite the achievement for me.
Maricel and I in Radio City Music Hall before the usher kicked us out.
As the rows and rows of classmates made their way to the stage and walked on and off, I looked behind me to see people leaving the theater before the ceremony was over. I thought it was wrong for people to not wait until all the graduates to finish but I will be honest. The second the last classmate crossed the stage, the music started, the confetti and streamers came down and then they wanted us out of there. There was a show that night and they needed to clean up. I wasn’t even out of the orchestra seating before the usher was asking us to leave so they could clean up.
One last shot when the usher turned her back for a second.
Me talking to my friend, Reema, after the ceremony.
We were able to snap some pictures before we left when the usher’s back was turned and then we had to leave. They closed the doors behind us and then the ushers kept everyone off the stairs and everyone had to leave the hallway so there was quite the crowd just outside the door. I bet the show in the evening went off without a hitch.
The end of the ceremony.
While we were outside, Maricel and I took lots of pictures around Radio City Music Hall and then finally had to go across the street because the crowds outside got to be too big as more people had to leave the entrance to the theater and make their way out to the street. It was packed with graduates and their families either taking pictures or trying to cross the street. There was grid lock for about a half hour.
Leaving Radio City Music Hall after graduation.
Outside Radio City Music Hall.
All the graduates and their family and friends had taken over Sixth Avenue and we were all over the place taking pictures. Funny enough with all the time I had been spending in the Times Square/Theater District for my blog on the Streets of Times Square, I got to know all the buildings quite well and we made our way over to 1251 Sixth Avenue to take pictures before heading back over to the hotel.
Me in front of 1251 Sixth Avenue. No one paying that much attention to us. We decided to have some fun with it.
Me as the worldly graduate.
Having some fun by the fountain.
Having some fun at graduation.
Maricel wanted to take more pictures so we went to Times Square with the other tourists but we took one more picture in front of Radio City Music Hall before we left.
My best friend, Maricel and I outside Radio City Music Hall after graduation.
We went to the TKT Booth Stairs where everyone in Times Square was hanging out and complete strangers were wishing me congratulations and well wishing me in my future. That felt really good and I appreciated it.
Me having some fun in Times Square and the ladies below were cheering me on and wishing me well in my graduation from college.
After all the picture taking (trust me there are dozens more shots of me all over Times Square), we headed back to the Marriott Marquis. I had made plans so that we would be having dinner at the Broadway Lounge, their signature restaurant, for graduation night. The views and the food are always amazing. This is where Maricel and I eat when each of us has a very special occasion in our lives.
What a wonderful dinner. The food and the views at the restaurant are just spectacular and the service is always very nice. We had to practically barge our way to a window table when the host gave our first table away. I had to calm a manager down when we took the second table. I had to explain that it was my graduation dinner and my friend wanted to be sure I had a window table. After that, he was fine with it.
While we were ordering we were taking pictures of the restaurant and then each other. Now that graduation was behind me, we could have a little fun and be silly. It was such a great meal.
Me photographing MaricelMaricel photographing me.
Then we had dinner. The Broadway Lounge on the Eighth floor of the Marriott Marquis has always been a favorite place of mine to go for dinner for a special occasion. The views are amazing and the food wonderful.
The view from the Broadway Lounge window.
We had the most amazing Graduation meal once we were seated. We started with their fiery Chicken Tenders which was a pretty generous portion for an appetizer. These lightly breaded chicken breast tenders were rolled in a hot pepper and spicy sauce and served with creamy Italian dressing.
Ryan’s Spicy Chicken: The fiery Chicken Tender with a ranch sauce
I was in the mood for a burger and Marriott does such a nice job with these. Both the regular burger and the Smashburger are excellent, and I decided on the Smashburger while Maricel had the short ribs and mashed potatoes.
The Short Ribs and Mashed Potatoes
The Broadway Smash Hit burger with French Fries
For dessert we shared the ultimate dessert treat, the Strawberry Tower, which is layers of pound cake, fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce topped with fresh whipped cream, cheesecake bites, wafer cookies and a giant lollypop which tasted like bubblegum. With a $32.00, it was a little pricy but since it was my graduation night it was the perfect way to end the meal and it was delicious.
The Marquis Strawberry Tower at the Broadway Lounge for my Graduation dessert.
Me getting a photo op with that delicious dessert.
When I got back to the room was the ultimate surprise for me. Maricel decorated the room for my graduation. I was shocked and touched that she got this done in between the time we had arrived to check in and the time I left to get to Radio City for the 3:00pm check in for graduation. I was so touched. No one had done something like this to me before.
Maricel surprised me by decorating the room for my graduation.
The room at the hotel decorated for my graduation.
Me on my graduation night at the hotel in the room decorated for me by my best friend.
Earlier this year I had watched Cliff Richards duetting with a ghostly Olivia Newton-John after her passing for a Christmas video singing “Suddenly” from the movie Xanadu. In part of the video, I watched Olivia Newton-John wheel a cake out for his 75th birthday and totally surprising him in an earlier video. I said to myself “that is something only a real true friend does” and wished someone would do that for me in my lifetime. Maricel did this that night. When a real friend knows what you are going through and has the opportunity to react, it makes all the difference in the world to someone. Tonight, it was me!
With the beautiful views from the room of Times Square and having the ultimate view of where the ball drops directly in front of us, I could not have asked for a more perfect graduation night. I had had different experiences on the nights of my high school, Michigan State University and Culinary Institute of America graduations but this is the one I will always remember. When a friend shows you the ‘top of the world’, you could not ask for more.
The view of Times Square from our room and the famous ‘ball’.
The view of the ‘ball’ from Times Square.
The view of the room at night.
The view of Times Square from our room where the ball drops.
The next morning the Breakfast buffet was absolutely the best way to end the evening. The food was excellent and the selection was wonderful. We were able to eat Club M, the private members room that was nice. It was the perfect breakfast.
The amazing breakfast buffet the next morning.
The amazing breakfast the next morning.
The breakfast buffet was very extensive.
It was an amazing graduation and now on to new experiences to see and new ideas to embark on. It has been quite the journey.
Justin Watrel, Graduate Class of 2024 School of Professional Studies New York University with Honors.
What a true friend does:
Cliff Richards and the late Olivia Newton-John “Suddenly”.
Watch as she rolls out the 75th birthday cake for him for his ’75th Year Concert’. A real friend can only pull this off!
I still can’t believe that all things come to an end.
On Friday, May 17th I graduate from Graduate School at NYU. It has been a long ride since October 2019 when I came on campus for the first open house. The there were those dozen Zoom meetings during COVID preparing us for classes when they resumed. I thought the campus would never open up again and then it did when I entered in September of 2022. It figured that was the semester my boss gave me three classes to teach. Talk about a balancing act with three classes to teach and four classes to take.
Still here it is a year and a half later and this adventure has taken me from Washington Square Park to Paris, Prague, Abu Dhabi and Dubai with stop overs in Palermo and Punxsutawney, PA. That trip to see the groundhog really changed me.
Then came ‘Grad Alley’, our last official event before graduation. On an extremely gloomy night with a storm approaching, I headed in Manhattan for my last day of being a student before graduation. I almost did not head in because the threat of rain. I waited until almost 4:00pm and nothing and I thought ‘what the hell, there is free hot dogs involved’.
There was much more than that and I ended up having a wonderful time. I wish more colleges did something like this. This was a great to spend a great night in the City and my last night as a NYU student.
The Undergraduates in front of the fountain in Washington Square Park. They had graduated that afternoon.
Grad Alley at 5:00pm at the start of the event.
The crowds were huge as I guessed that everyone else thought the way I did, throw caution to the wind. It looked like everyone had a blast. There was all sorts of campus entertainment, games, music and especially the food. Campus foodservice did an excellent job supplying the food and drinks.
Me getting in line for the first Cotton Candy I have eaten in a decade.
The entertain was excellent. The professionals knew how to perform for a crowd. The first person I watched was the Electric Violin player. She was great!
The electric guitar player that evening.
She was excellent and knew how to engage the crowd. She played the classics and then the pop tunes. She kept it going for three sets.
Keeping going through the second song.
This street fair wrapped around the southern right corner of Washington Square and two full city blocks of entertainment and food.
The crowds just kept growing for that early evening.
The man on stilts played games with the crowd.
There was a lot of great entertainment all over the place. On top of the people on stilts playing toss with students, there were mimes amusing parents and jugglers having a ball showing how it is done.
This young woman was throwing things up and around.
As I made my around the blocks of tents I stopped in for hot dogs, soft pretzels, cotton candy, grapes and trail mix, bags of chips, the ice cream carts for eclair ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches, popcorn and soda. I stopped figuring out how much I ate after the second ice cream bar and soft pretzel. This is when I am in high heaven. I love ‘Carnival food’. I have not eaten things like this in so long that I really enjoyed it. “Junk Food” is very underrated.
The tents of food and entertainment by Washington Square Park.
After my several snacks, I stopped to see the entertainment and that was enjoyable. The first stop was the wonderful jazz music of the 9th Street Stompers playing all the Cole Porter and Count Basie classics.
The guys did a wonderful job and I could see that they had been playing for years. It was fun to hear songs from the well known Broadway shows.
The group kept all of entertained and it was hard to see at times because the crowds were so large. I was able to get this picture in during a quick lull.
Then I walked around to where everyone was playing carnival games but the lines were so long, I said to myself that there was other things to do. That’s when I stopped over to see the NYU Cheerleaders perform.
I can see the reason why we did so well in sports. Our cheerleaders do such great a great job and use such great music for their routines.
After another round of snacks (I am sorry but those soft pretzels and caramel corn were so good!), I walked around some more and then stopped to listen to the NYU Songwriters perform. These kids were really good.
The NYU Songwriting Program
Candice singing about being a “Strawberry Shortcake”
Video on Candice singing “I’m a Strawberry Shortcake”. She was really good:
We went into ‘Ho Down’ mode when this cowboy sang some classic tunes and then his own country music.
I am telling you I want to see the kid in Nashville because he will shock all the southerners with his talent. NYU produced a talented cowboy who could lead the ‘Texas Two Step’. His original songs were terrific.
Getting some Churros before they were all gone. I am not sure who in NYU food service was running the show but they did a terrific job! There was plenty of food for everyone.
Then it rained for about fifteen minutes and that really thinned the crowds. It did not even rain that hard but the crowds cleared out. I just pulled out my umbrella and continued to listen to the NYU Songwriters perform. I really enjoyed this.
All good things come to an end and 8:00pm rolled around. Before I left, I had another hot dog (the ladies gave me a double hot dog and I thanked them in both English and Spanish) and soda and stopped to eat. That’s when I saw the line for pictures with ‘Lady Liberty’ disappear. She had real patience as I finished up eating. She could not have been nicer and we took a great picture and had a nice talk.
Justin with Lady Liberty.
With all that food in me and still humming some of the NYU Songwriters tunes, I decided to walk back to Port Authority. The rain had stopped and it was a warm night. I stayed long enough to see the campus wrap things up pretty quickly.
All good things do come to an end even after a wonderful evening in Manhattan. Even pass 8:00pm, people were still milling around.
As I walked up Broadway (my favorite route), I passed the Empire State Building lit for our graduation. I can not believe that I have been part of this for the last two years. It is still surreal to me.
The Empire State Building lit for NYU Graduation
I still can’t believe that I am done and will be graduating on Friday night. A year and a half has gone by so fast. The travels through Manhattan have taken me to Paris, Prague, Palermo, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In a year and a half, I have seen the world and then some!
Passing through the NoMAD neighborhood on my way home.
It was a great night and a lot of fun. I could not have imagined that I would have had this much fun on my last night on campus but this being my fifth time to college and my third graduation ceremony I will be attending I am becoming a pro at this.
‘Grad Alley’ was a great time and the best way to spend my last day as a student at NYU.
Justin Watrel at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen on April 19th, 2024.
I have been volunteering at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (HASK) since September of 2003 ( I have mentioned this in many of my blogs) and it has been a wonderful and very humbling experience. I have clocked in many hours since I started and have seen many volunteers come and go along the way. On April 19th, 2024, I finally reached my reach goal and achieved the 2500 hour status.
This had always been a goal of mine since the first Volunteer lunch I attended back in 2003, my first year of volunteering at HASK. I always remember the pride that everyone felt when they achieved their 500, 1000, 2500 and 5000 hour awards at that lunch.
In the old days (pre 2008 meltdown), the 500 and 1000 hour award winners got a beautiful plaque, the 2500 hour winners got a engraved clock and the 5000 hour winners got an beautifully engraved silver bowl. We have not done those things in years but there is still that sense of accomplishment when we hit those milestone hours. I felt it at the recent Volunteer lunch in April 2024.
I have been volunteering at HASK since September 30th, 2003. It was the wanting to help the volunteers who were assisting at the piles downtown after 9/11. I had just moved home from the island of Guam and wanted to do something to help the effort in New York City. That and as a Culinarian and Hospitality Major, I thought I could put my cooking skills to some use for the 9/11 effort.
At that point though, Mayor Bloomberg had closed the piles to volunteers and machinery took over. So the volunteering was over. The Italian restaurant downtown, which had been supplying all the food for lunch and dinner was shutting down from feeding volunteers. The owner told me he no longer needed anyone but suggested I volunteer at a soup kitchen which there were a few in the City that needed help. The economy sucked at this time and they were all busy. A year and a half later after settling in at home, I looked into volunteering again.
While participating on a walking tour of Brooklyn for a ‘Trends in Retail’ class at the Fashion Institute of Technology (where I am an Alumnus), I saw on our volunteer board on campus Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and decided to volunteer the next week. The was September 30th, 2003.
I have seen many changes over the years going from a small buffet line to a massive one created before COVID and then after the closing of the line on March 13th, 2020 and the pivot to outside takeout service. Now we only have outside take out service, sandwich drop off and pantry service, where people order their groceries with us and pick them up when they ‘place the order’ with us on site and pick them up while they are there. It’s a new system that seems to be working well.
In between my last semester at NYU, where I will graduating with my Masters in Global Hospitality Management on May 17th and my classes I have been teaching at Bergen Community College this semester, I have been volunteering more between classes. That’s how I finally finished the 2500 hour goal. I by no means will be stopping. There is now the 5000 hour goal to accomplish but it is that sense of joining all those other volunteers who achieved that goal and that sense of pride of giving back to a City we love so much that makes it worth it. Please note that I did not get the clock but with cellphones no one really uses them in the house anymore. One more thing to dust. It’s just that sense of accomplishment that means so much to me.
The lunch was really wonderful. We started off with a very inspirational talk by Reverend Anne, who talked about the pride of giving and then our Volunteer Coordinator Steve talked about the people who accomplished the milestone hours.
The volunteers who accomplished milestone goals. I entered the 2000 hour plus category. My name proudly added to the listing right in the middle of the listing.
Reverend Anne giving her inspirational speech that afternoon.
The volunteers at HASK enjoying the talk that afternoon just before lunch was served.
The lunch was a lot of fun and the food delicious.
The table was set with fresh salad, rolls and a dense Chocolate cake for dessert.
The Buffet line had Mushroom Ravioli, Roasted Broccoli, Stuffed Chick and Fish entrees and vegetables. The food was plentiful and wonderful. Everyone really enjoyed the lunch that afternoon.
The Mushroom Ravioli
The Roasted Broccoli
The Stuffed Fish entree
The Stuffed Chicken entree
The rich Chocolate cake for dessert.
It wasn’t the food that meant so much to me that afternoon even though lunch was really good and the Stuffed Chicken delicious, it was joining that rank with the people who had achieved so much that afternoon and whom I respected for their work at HASK. That sense of us giving back to the community that meant the world to me.
The irony is that the person I so much wanted to be like, Oswaldo, who I met on that first day volunteering and who achieved his 500 hour award at that first luncheon I went to twenty-one years ago, was there that day at this luncheon. I had not seen him since our Pre-COVID days and was now only volunteering on Wednesdays, when I was teaching class. He now only volunteers on Wednesday mornings.
When I reminded him of our years of volunteering together and that first Volunteer Lunch years ago, he just laughed and also wondered where the time had went. He also noted when I brought up the achievement of the 2500 hours and the clock, he laughed and said he did not know where his was anymore.
I guess we all go full circle in life. Like I said, I do not need a clock to mark this milestone. I am just proud that maybe I am making a difference in people’s lives. Whether a person is homeless, working poor, disabled or maybe a new immigrant to this country and to New York City, I am helping them to achieve their dreams as well. A place to rest and eat can give anyone a breather is always a helping hand. Isn’t this what God wants from us in the ‘Platinum Rule’? Treat those as they would want to be treated?
As I look forward to graduation from NYU and a new chapter in my own life, it is another sense of accomplishment along with my Masters that makes me feel fulfilled and humbled. This is how we grow and change in life.
Plus now I have another 2500 hours to accomplish. Maybe they will bring that silver bowl back some day!
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Executive Team picture in the Bergen Room on the Bergen Community College campus for the project “Dining at the Bergen Room: the Ultimate Dining Experience” on April 24th, 2024.
In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of post-COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Two semesters ago we created the project “It’s Cultural on Campus-Bergen Community College” publicizing the Gallery Bergen, The Ciccone Theater and the Bergen Room Bistro to the outside community. It was a ‘Digital Campaign’ to bring people to the Bergen Community College campus from all over Bergen County, NJ to enjoy all the wonderful things to do and see on our campus. The project was a huge success and all the Professors and Departments involved really enjoyed the Presentations (See Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Six):
Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Six: “It’s Cultural on Campus”:
One of my counterparts on campus loved the campaign and ‘hired’ (asked me) to expand the project for a “Digital Campaign” for the Bergen Room and expand the project with all new menus, commercials and create a special Themed Dinner for the student dining room. This resulted in “Dining in the Bergen Room”:
I got Professor Drakeford and Professor/Chef Morrisey involved in the project and we worked together to see the best ways to promote the success of the Culinary Program’s Student Run Dining Room.
I created the Teams two weeks before the Spring Break and got them started on their project. When we returned from the Spring Break, we arranged for the class to dine in the Bergen Room. Chef Morrisey and his Team of Culinary Students created a special menu for us when the Bergen Room was closed and the students got feast on a four course meal courtesy of the Culinary Arts Department.
Having lunch with my students at the Bergen Room on the Bergen Community College Campus in Paramus, NJ:
We started the Testing Menu with a Pumpkin Carrot Ginger Soup.
Then we had the second course with a Toasted Green Salad with a light Cream Dressing.
The main course was a Chicken in a Creamy Peppercorn Sauce, Baked Pasta and Roasted Brussel Spouts.
The meal was completed with a Cream Cheesecake that tasted more like a cream cake and topped with Fresh Strawberries.
All the Teams got to dine with one another and get to know each member in a less formal setting.
This meal got the students to know their product better and look around the Bergen Room and see how they could take this student run dining room and transform it to a special themed event that would dazzle myself and the other Professors and bring in the paying public. Here are some of their ideas:
Along the way, I had various speakers come in to talk to the students. Professor Tim Blunk from the Art Department and the Curator for Gallery Bergen, our on campus Art Gallery came in to talk to the students about the artists that are available on campus and the number of students on campus who are looking for projects for their portfolios. He also discussed some of the happenings at Gallery Bergen.
Professor Jim Bumgarner, the head of our Theater Department, came in to talk to the students on the student singers, actors and dancers that study at the college. He discussed upcoming shows and theater events planned for the future. He added too that there are a lot of students looking to add to their resumes on projects like this.
Our last in house field trip was to the Horticultural Department and to the Greenhouses in Ender Hall. Dr. Steven Fischer, who is head of the Holocultural Program, gave us a tour and talk on the growing seasons, the plants that are grown and available in the greenhouses, the arrangements that are created for the Bergen Room Bistro.
The tour of Greenhouses on our last inhouse field trip with Dr. Fischer explaining the greenhouses.
Asking questions about the floral arrangements used for the Bergen Room.
Discussion of the grounds of the Horticulture Department grounds.
It was a good tour and opened the students eyes on how events were decorated and where the flowers came from and how they were grown. The students were creating their centerpieces for their theme dinners and I wanted them to see where they would get the flowers from.
My President and SVP of Operations on the field trip to the Greenhouses.
We finished our last Board meeting the week before the Presentation and then the Executive Team had a week to make the adjustments. We would be presenting the Project in the Bergen Room Bistro on April 24th, 2024.
The new Corporate website for the Bergen Room Team:
The Presentation Day had some hiccups along the way but overall it was a great Presentation. I was so proud of the students. Each of the competing Teams set up for extra credit a table in the Bergen Room on how their Dining Experience would be set for the evening of their meal. I have to say that the Teams did a nice job with the decorations and all received extra credit for their place settings. There was a lot of creativity in this class.
The were the three Team tables on how they would be set for their ideas for the Student Fundraiser.
Team One’s Display Table
Team Two’s Display table (The Wining Team)
Team Three’s Display Table
The Three Teams then started their Presentations to Chef Morrisey and his student staff, invited guests and friends of the students who came to see the Student Consultants ideas. What creativity! Each team had to present their theme, their menus, music for the event, artwork, floral arrangements and Social Media campaigns. It was an afternoon of a lot of creativity and though that went into each Teams ideas.
Here are their Commercials promoting the Bergen Room:
Team One:
Team Two:
Team Three:
Here are their Presentations from the afternoon. Each Team had to ‘pitch’ their ideas to the Culinary Team.
Team One:
Team Two:
Team Three:
The Teams competed for the prize being the most creative and effective project to sell the Bergen Room Bistro to the outside community.
Team Three even created for extra credit a AI version of visiting the Bergen Room.
After the Team conclusion, it was time for questions and answers. The point of the whole project was to get the students ready for a career in business and marketing and there were questions of why the project was taken so seriously. The answer I had for one parent was that you want your son or daughter to get a good job out of college? It is better they get their lumps here than on a new job. They will be more prepared for the workforce.
One parent did compliment me in that his son was so excited about the project and it really showcased his son’s talents in filming and graphics. That was nice to hear that students are excited about their work. I know that these are the students that will get good jobs out of college and be prepared for Corporate expectations.
I couldn’t more proud of a group of students that banded together to showcase this wonderfully run student dining room.
Have you been there yet?
I took pictures with my Executive Team before the Presentation. I very proudly wore my Alumni Chef’s Jacket from when I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1998. I don’t think it had been out of the dry cleaning plastic since that time.
Professor/Chef/CEO Justin Watrel with SVP of Operations Ayesha Zulfiqar and President Tugay Bera Bozogluer.
Professor Justin Watrel with the winning Team Project from Team Two. I was very impressed with their work. The Team was lead by Vice-President Mauricio Benitez and Team Leader Dennis Shkembi.
My group picture with Team Three lead by Vice-President Taner Ender and Team Leaders Kane Cheng.
Our Corporate picture for the Bergen Room Team at the end of the Presentation.
I am so proud of my students each semester. I like knowing I am training the next group of Executives for their future.
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