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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Yay, summer is here, unofficially, at least. What are your plans? You probably heard Katie Honan on this show with serious reporting and analysis about city politics. Maybe you know her as one of the hosts of the FAQ NYC podcast, that's political. Well, now, she anchors also a new seasonal newsletter at the nonprofit news organization that she works for called The City. The newsletter is called Summer & THE CITY, and she joins us now to help kick off the season and this mostly beautiful summer weekend.

The weather on Saturday in particular looks perfect, clear, high somewhere around 80. Listeners, we can take a few recommendations from you too for what to do this summer, and even what to do this particular summer weekend. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Hi, Katie. Welcome back to WNYC, and nice to do it in this context for a change.

Katie Honan: Yes. Thanks so much for having me, Brian. It's good to talk about something fun and light-hearted.

Brian Lehrer: Do you want to introduce the Summer & THE CITY newsletter?

Katie Honan: Yes, sure. This is a product that we are launching in this limited edition for the summer. I'm sure for readers of The City know, we do very serious stories, investigations, corruption, fraud, serious issues, health issues, but we also-- we do these stories because we love New York City. The other side of loving New York City is loving the good sides of it as well, not just what the mayor might have said that week. I pitched this idea with, obviously, a lot of other people here working on, on our product team, our newsletters head, our editors, our social team.

It's been really fantastic figuring out how to capture that in a way that's useful, but then also teaching people about-- we've interviewed some of the city workers who make the city summer happen, whether it's a carnival inspector from the Department of Buildings or the team at the Parks Department making sure the boardwalk at Coney Island is under good repair. We're doing that for the rest of the summer up until the Wednesday after Labor Day. It's been a really fun-- a little bit of a departure from what we usually do, but we're happy to do it.

Brian Lehrer: For example, June is, of course, Pride Month, and you wrote in Thursday's newsletter that the month kicked off with a campy and colorful contest, Miss Subways 2024. Really? They still do Miss Subways?

Katie Honan: Yes. My colleague, Heidi Chu, did this really wonderful profile on the pageant. It launched in the 1940s as a wartime revenue booster for the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, which had just recently, at that point, merged. I guess they wanted to draw commuters' eyes to the advertisements, but also they use that by putting women up and what they represented. It ran through the 1960s, but it was brought back to life in 2017 by the City Reliquary Museum, which is in Williamsburg.

We're not the same city that we were in the 1960s and the pageant has evolved. Contestants represent their specific subway line. It's become a very campy way to celebrate the subways and who these people are and what they want to represent. I know, as New Yorkers, we mostly all have very personal relationships with our subway lines and our buses and our neighborhoods, and the pageant really celebrated all that. The photos were really great in the piece. That's just one example of these types of events that you'll either read about or learn about, so you can attend yourself.

Brian Lehrer: Kate in Montclair has recommendation for something to do in the summer in the city. Kate, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Kate: Hi. Yes. I just heard the news about Elizabeth Street Garden in the Village or wherever it is, but to see it before it goes. I'm so sad.

Brian Lehrer: You want to tell people who don't know about it, what the Elizabeth Street Garden is?

Kate: It's a little garden. It's sandwiched between two streets. I don't know the street names, but it's Elizabeth Street Garden. It's just a wonderful bit of quietude in the Village. Is it in the Village? I'm not sure, but when I go down there, I always have that on my phone to go stop by. I think its end date is September.

Brian Lehrer: Why is it going away? Is it to build a building?

Kate: Yes, they're going to build a building and it was taken over, but there's still a chance that it might succeed as a garden if they can figure out some place else to put that building. I think the city is taking it over, but fight, fight, fight, maybe we'll get it to stay.

Brian Lehrer: Kate, thank you very much. 212-433-WNYC if you have a recommendation for something to do this particular summery weekend or summer in the city at all. Betsy in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Betsy.

Betsy: Hi there. I live in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn. This weekend, on Saturday, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM we are having The Great PLG Stoop and Sidewalk Sale. It's 18 blocks of sidewalk and stoop sale, and you can find a map on Instagram at plgstoopandsidewalksale.

Brian Lehrer: Nice. Thank you very much. Katie Honan, back to you. Interesting that people came up with not presented culture like theater, concerts, things like that. The two callers who called up right away had things on the street.

Katie Honan: Yes. The street culture in the city is perhaps maybe the way we interact with the city the most. We don't go see Broadway shows every night. I think a stoop sale, it's a way to connect with your community, connect with your neighbors, buy some stuff. I think also in a city as busy and hectic as New York, finding a little bit of solitude. Elizabeth Street Garden is between Prince and Spring Streets, I believe, in Nolita, for that. There's a lot of history there for listeners who want more.

In looking at what to include in the newsletter, we take a lot of consideration into things that are free or very affordable because, as we all know too, New York City can be very expensive. The city's own agents like the Parks Department and the city's three library systems have-- despite budget challenges, they have a lot of really great programming that we tap into a lot to see what's available, whether it's free theater, movies in the park, live music.

I just was checking this morning, the Queens Library central branch in Jamaica has free music every Sunday. It's not outside, but sometimes, especially on a day like yesterday, you don't want to be out. At least, I don't want to be outside. I want to be in air conditioning. This is just some of the things. When people talk to me about what they like about the summer, it's a wide range of things. Usually, it's like you said, it's not something that you'd expect. It's maybe just going for a long walk with a friend, and then that's a beautiful way to experience the summer.

Brian Lehrer: Someone else writes about the Elizabeth Street Garden that it's being evicted to build a retirement house. Somebody else writes, "Volunteer to help a rescue organization this summer by fostering kittens. They're inundated this kitten season. People simply do not responsibly spay and neuter their pets. They need your help, and it's super fun to know you've done something that can save a life." That's not specifically summer seasonal, but I guess it is if this is kitten birthing season. I guess that's the implication. Another listener writes, "Brooklyn Pride on Fifth Avenue on Saturday, International Music Festival at Jalopy in Red Hook all weekend, open streets and shows in the theater." Janelle in Flatbush has one. Hi, Janelle. You're on WNYC.

Janelle: Hi, Brian. I'm super excited to see Dance Hegin­both­am performing tonight and tomorrow at Governors Island. They're doing a public showing at 3:00 of a new piece called You Look Like a Fun Guy. The company has an amazing sense of humor, very accessible and fun. They'll be officially premiering it later in August at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Brian Lehrer: This weekend at Governors Island. Is that what you're saying?

Janelle: This weekend, tonight and tomorrow, at Governors Island. I believe it's free. You just have to RSVP.

Brian Lehrer: Awesome. Thank you, Janelle. Also this weekend, Katie, and they're going to be doing a full or separate segment on it on All Of It coming up, the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Is there a theme this year? That's usually the first or second Sunday in June.

Katie Honan: Yes. It's Boricua de Corazón, which means Puerto Rican in your heart. It's a big tradition. There's so many parades in the city, but I know this is one of the biggest ones. This year's grand marshall is Tito Nieves, who's a salsa singer, and the madrina is Lisa Velez. You may know her as Lisa Lisa from Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, a very popular freestyle singer, not that she's old, but from the genre freestyle. The padrino is Ramon Rodriguez who's an actor. I used to cover Jackson Heights, and there's so many parades in Jackson Heights on Northern Boulevard or 37th Avenue. I just love a parade. You go, you fly a flag, you maybe buy some drinks or food that people are selling and you just experience-- it doesn't have to be your own culture. It's just one of the many cultures that make up New York City.

Brian Lehrer: Ildiko in Washington Heights, you're on WNYC. Hello, Ildiko.

Ildiko: Good morning, Brian. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. I know you were on hold when we were doing our first-time callers call-in earlier, and we didn't have time to get to you, so I'm glad you made it on this segment.

Ildiko: I'm nothing if not persistent. Thank you so much for taking the call this time. I wanted to let the listeners know that there's a wonderful event taking place this Thursday. I know it doesn't fall into the weekend. It is a book release and listening party for a new album from Mikel Rouse. The name of the memoir is The World Got Away, and he'll be discussing the memoir. It's really about 40 years' life of an artist, a very unvarnished view of what it's like to work as an artist in New York City for the last 40 years. We're celebrating that in the release of the new album this Thursday at 5:00 PM at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Brian Lehrer: Neat. Ildiko, thank you very much. Glad you got on. Katie, I see from the first installment of your Summer & THE CITY newsletter that you grew up on the beach, Rockaway Beach. What in your opinion makes for the perfect Rockaway Beach Day?

Katie Honan: I always tell people to get to the beach early. I have some friends who say, "Oh, we're coming down to the beach. We should get there around 2:00 PM." I'm like, "Just don't come because you could sleep at the beach." That's why I tell people, "Get up early, beat the traffic." I don't want to be on a bus in traffic. You don't either. There's a huge line if you're taking one of the city ferries. If you take an early ferry, you won't get there.

Obviously, the beaches don't officially open till 10:00 AM. That's when lifeguards come on. I do not advise you go swimming before 10:00. Get to the beach early. For me, I like to get on a beach before 10:00 AM. I usually pack a lunch. I don't feel like spending a lot of money. I usually try to be off the beach by 3:30. Then I like riding a bike up the whole length of the boardwalk. I try to go on a ride on the whole peninsula.

There's so many beautiful parks on the peninsula from the border of Long Island down to Breezy Point up to Fort Tilden. I encourage people to take advantage of that. I guess I keep bringing up parks, but that's a beautiful time to take a look at them. Even if you go the length of the peninsula for the beach, it really changes. I go down to Beach 17 or Beach 32nd Street sometime and the water is different. It's a totally different vibe.

Brian Lehrer: That's such a great description and in detail of things to do and ways to perceive the Rockaways. There we have to leave it with Katie Honan, senior reporter at The City, where she anchors now the Summer & THE CITY newsletter. She's the co-host in her day job of FAQ-- I know this is part of your day job, the FAQ NYC podcast. Thanks so much for sharing Summer & THE CITY.

Katie Honan: Thanks so much, Brian.

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