Blog & News

Activities, Food, Rent and More⁠—COVID Resources for Families

Juggling work and family is even more challenging when you’re sheltering in place. Here are some free or low-cost resources – including from our own programs – to help families thrive.  Arts and Activities  Goddard Riverside Community Arts – We have online dance and music composition classes for all ages, plus live events! Take a ballet class, join us for Arts Potluck on May […]

Remembering Clare Dockery

Last September, a small group of neighbors gathered in a park on West 97th Street to toast their former neighbor, Clare Dockery. Clare had passed away a year prior in April 2018 at the age of 84. Clare’s friends reminisced about her and her activism. Their stories were peppered with phrases like “That was Clare!” […]

Coronavirus: A Letter from Executive Director Rod Jones

Dear Neighbors,   I am reaching out to you, our neighbors and partners, in this time of uncertainty. Goddard Riverside continues to work every day for a fair and just society, even as the COVID-19 situation escalates. As we have done for more than 160 years, Goddard Riverside is responding to the needs of New Yorkers as best we can and adapting our programs to these changing times.  We are […]

Annie Skaruppa and Team

How a 5-Year-Old Helped Fight Homelessness

Annie Skaruppa is not quite old enough for first grade. But this winter, she decided she was plenty old enough to help her fellow New Yorkers. “We were out on Broadway and she saw teenage girls selling hot chocolate to raise money for charity. She wanted to raise money for charity too,” Annie’s mother Cindy […]

Finding the Artist Within

Huan Xin Huang made his living as a farmer in the Guangdong province of China. But he couldn’t stop thinking about art. “From the time I was very young I was really interested in painting,” he recalled. He didn’t have access to training, so he taught himself oil painting by copying photos. Now, as a […]

Goddard Riverside mourns the passing of longtime supporter Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark is well known as the “Queen of Suspense.” One of the best-selling authors of all time, she wrote dozens of gripping tales that were loved around the world. At Goddard Riverside, however, she was equally renowned for her generosity. Besides donating to support our programs, Clark was the featured writer at multiple […]

Phelps House Tenant Testifies to Congress

On a recent afternoon, Geraldine Collins was sitting in the community room at Phelps House discussing her recent Congressional testimony. Suddenly a woman poked her head in the door. It was a fellow tenant who didn’t like the way her new showerhead had been installed. “Did you put in a work order?” Collins asked. “Okay, […]

Stopping Homelessness Before it Starts

Just a year and a half after being signed into law by Mayor Bill De Blasio, New York City’s groundbreaking Right to Counsel law is showing impressive results—and being adopted by cities and states across the country. Now Goddard Riverside is working with organizations across the city to strengthen and expand it. Before the law […]

Volunteers Sweeten Thanksgiving Meal

‘Twas the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and all through the basement of St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church, volunteers were making pies. At one station they mixed dough; at the next table they rolled it and fit it to pans; there was a separate station for the crumble topping specialists; and across the room […]

Brand-New Books Half Price at Goddard Riverside Book Fair

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 22, 6-9 PM Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23, 10 am – 5 pmWHERE: Goddard Riverside Bernie Wohl Center 647 Columbus Ave (at 91st) Goddard Riverside’s longest-running and most popular fundraiser, our annual Book Fair, will take place this year on November 23 and 24 at the Bernie Wohl Center. The Book Fair […]