Blog & News

Teaming up for a Joyous Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at Goddard is always a celebration of food and community—and this year the holiday joy was flowing on both sides of Central Park, thanks to our strategic partnership with the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center.  Goddard Executive Director Roderick Jones joined Isaacs Center Executive Director Gregory J. Morris on the Upper East Side to help dish up turkey and all the trimmings in the morning. Then they came to […]

Keeping the Lights On After School

What do young people like about After School? This week at our Beacon Program, they put it in writing.  “After School is important because kids need to make friends.” “After School is fun because you can meet friends and learn new games. Also you can go outside, and you can get snacks.” “What I like about After School is computer coding, because it’s fun […]

Goddard, Isaacs Center Gatherings Celebrate the Power of Community

Long-parted friends hugged and supporters toasted another year of community-building as Goddard and our strategic partner, the Isaacs Center, held our first in-person galas since the start of COVID.  Goddard’s Annual Gala at Monarch Rooftop on 35th Street featured panoramic views of the Empire State Building and city skyline. Guests watched a video featuring our Young People’s Chorus and a wrapup of this year’s challenges and landmarks […]

The covers of Pura's Cuentos and Children Under Fire displayed side by side on a tan background with a light green border

Social Justice Book Prize Winners Announced

Children Under Fire: An American Crisis and Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories have won Goddard Riverside’s 2021 social justice book prizes.  Pura’s Cuentos, by Annette Bay Pimentel with illustrations by Magaly Morales [Harry N. Abrams], won the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice. The book captures the exuberant spirit and passion of Pura Belpré: celebrated storyteller, author and folklorist, and the first Latina […]

Your Favorite Fall Events are Back!

Fall means events at Goddard Riverside: especially the Gala, Book Fair and Book Bash. Last year we took them online due to the COVID pandemic. Now they’re back in person, with measures designed to keep you safe.  Annual Gala: We’ve booked the Gala for Monday, October 18. This year’s Gala will take place at Monarch Rooftop, a spacious indoor/outdoor lounge bar with stunning views of the Empire State Building […]

A silver metal sign reading TOP Opportunities, on a black metal decorative fence, seen from below with a view of a sunlit brownstone and blue sky overhead

“I want them to know it’s possible”: a TOP Opportunities story

Nicole is a woman in her fifties, neatly dressed with a radiant smile. She currently works as a receptionist and soon will begin a public-facing job for a government agency.   She’s also been living with mental illness for almost two decades.   It started in the early 2000s when her great-grandmother, who had raised her like […]

Goddard Riverside Isaacs Center Strategic Alignment

A Partnership Years in the Making: Goddard Riverside and Isaacs Center

Two Historic Settlement Houses Announce Strategic Alignment  Goddard Riverside Executive Director Roderick Jones is New York City born and raised, but when he took over the leadership position here he was also the new kid on the block. He’d been the head of a settlement house in St. Louis for several years, and before that […]

Meals and Activities, 593 Columbus—September 2021

Breakfast and Lunch Signups are no longer required. Just come join us! There will be two seatings daily: 11:30-12:30 and 12:45-1:45. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday     Sept. 1 Pork Link Pancakes Oatmeal Cantaloupe  Turkey Burgers French Fries Mixed Salad Orange     Sept. 2  Sliced Deli Turkey English Muffin Oatmeal Apple Juice   Bag Lunch  Sept. 3 Peppers & Onion Omelette Oatmeal Apple  Baked Fish Baked Potatoes Carrots Peach   Sept. 6Swiss Cheese Oatmeal Apple Orange Juice  Stew Chicken Rice and […]

Screen shot of a women speaking

“We are the Future”: #DegreesNYC Youth Leader Darleny Suriel Testifies Before Congress

The cost of college includes way more than tuition—and the government must double its Pell Grants if it truly wants to help students complete their education, #DegreesNYC Youth Council Co-Coordinator Darleny Suriel testified to Congress in late July.  Sometimes not having subway fare is a make-or-break situation, she told the House Committee on Education and Labor. “While attending Borough of Manhattan Community College as a […]

Kids doing a talent show dressed up

Summer Programs Offer Togetherness After a Challenging Year

Slime is all the rage at our Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center summer youth program. There’s a table permanently dedicated to it across the lobby from the gym, loaded up with glue, shaving cream, contact lens solution, baking soda, dye and essential oils. Several girls between eight and fifteen years old were gathered there on a recent Tuesday evening, measuring ingredients and blending them in paper cups with the intense […]