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Posted inThings to Do

How to Celebrate Lunar New Year

by Andrea Pineda-Salgado

Today marks the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year. 2022 is the year of the Tiger, an animal that symbolizes bravery, confidence and strength. It is said that anyone who is born this year will be strong-willed, opinionated and stubborn — like a tiger. While the day is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, it’s celebrated throughout Asia and in Asian communities around the world, with lots of exciting events taking place in New York City.

Posted inFeatures

NYC Hack: How to hold an affordable offsite in New York City

by S. Mitra Kalita

I recently wrote a column for Time magazine on the key to holding a good offsite or workplace retreat, in this age of Omicron and telecommuting. Because Team Epicenter strives to be of service and value to New Yorkers, I thought it might be helpful to share what worked and why as we held our first hybrid (a mix of in-person and remote) work session since our founding in July 2020. 

Posted inPolitics

A Billion-dollar pothole plan: Everything to know about Gov. Hochul’s budget proposal

by Felipe De La Hoz

Welcome to the latest edition of this NYC civics-focused newsletter. I’m journalist Felipe De La Hoz, and I am pleased to inform you that we are now officially in budget season! What’s that, you ask? It’s the magical time of the year when legislators hash out how they’re going to spend the hundreds of billions of dollars that make up New York State’s massive annual budget. This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul released her plan, proposing an unprecedentedly large fiscal year 2023 budget of $216 billion, a figure so large that it exceeds the 2020 government budget of the entire nation of Norway, and is about $40 billion more than New York’s pre-pandemic fiscal year 2020 budget.

Posted inFeatures

The United States is currently facing one of the worst blood shortages in decades, and in New York, it is no different

by Andrea Pineda-Salgado

Since the start of the  pandemic in spring 2020, donations have dropped to almost half of what they used to be. Numbers are still low and it has been hard for donations to catch up to pre-pandemic numbers. This past holiday season, the numbers significantly dropped, putting people who desperately need donations at risk.

Posted inCovid-19

Pediatrician tackles questions related to surge in Covid-19 cases in kids

by Epicenter-NYC

Over the past couple of weeks, New York State has seen a significant increase in children testing positive for Covid-19. There is usually a spike in positive cases among adults after most holidays, but for the first time notable parallel positive results have been seen in children. Perhaps this increase can also be attributed to holiday gatherings or exposure at school. Whatever the reason, the numbers are alarming. Pediatric hospitalizations were up 395% in December. During these uncertain times parents may be overwhelmed and unsure how to keep their children safe.

Posted inFeatured Artist

Jeff Ostergren

by Nitin Mukul

This week we welcome visual artist Jeff Ostergren. Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ostergren has been a practicing artist for two decades, exhibiting in locations around the world including Los Angeles, Vancouver, Canada, and the Czech Republic. Recent shows include “Perverse Furniture” and “Death Masks” at Artspace in New Haven, Connecticut, and the commissioned installation, “Science For a Better Life” at City Wide Open Studios, also in New Haven, which explored the chemical history of Bayer Pharmaceuticals.