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ABOVE: Tourists sit in beach chairs in one of the new pedestrian zones on Broadway near Times Square.

6/27/2009

I made this photograph while on a freelance assignment last week at NASDAQ for Marine Money. It was the first time I was in Times Square since portions of Broadway were shut down to vehicular traffic.

There was an interesting profile of Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s Transportation commissioner, in New York Magazine recently, which explains the project in greater detail. It’s worth a look.

–CP

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6/27/09

Kathleen O’Rourke/The Advocate

Swimmers enter the water at Greenwich Point for the start of the “3rd Annual Swim Across America” event to benefit the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.   In 2008, the Greenwich / Stamford swim raised over $200,000 for the cause.  This year, according to the “Swim Across America” website,  an anonymous “angel” donor underwrote the costs of the event. Therefore, 100% of the money raised by the Greenwich / Stamford swim will go directly to ACGT.

I arrived early for this event anticipating a line of cars waiting to enter Greenwich Point.  But swimmers and spectators were brought by bus from the finish line so I was virtually the only person on the beach at 7:20am.  The buses arrived shortly thereafter and the beach was bombarded with swimmers in black wetsuits and bright yellow caps.  When the sun hit just right they looked like creatures from the black lagoon entering the water.   I lost count at 100 swimmers but as they pulled away from the beach the term “making waves” to fight cancer became a reality.

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6/21/2009

NOTE: This is the first in a series of audio slideshows we are calling “In Their Own Words” featuring people in our community with interesting stories and lives. Look for Kate King’s story in Monday’s Advocate and check back for more profiles in the future.

Father George Poulos retired today after serving 53 years as a Greek Orthodox priest at Church of the Archangels in Stamford, one of two Greek churches in this city.

Standing on the altar with Archbishop Demetrios, Poulos first cracked a joke about the Archbishop’s long-windedness, then paraphrased Gen. Douglas MacArthur, saying “old priests never die, they just fade away.”

–CP

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6/19/09

Kathleen O’Rourke/The Advocate

A group of Stamford High School seniors gather in the student parking lot after receiving their caps and gowns for Monday’s commencement ceremony.  Monday is proving to be a busy day for the city’s graduates with AITE‘s ceremony at 1:00pm, Westhill High School at 4:00pm and Stamford High School at 6:00pm.

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ABOVE: Car guys discuss the authenticity of paint schemes on a 1970 Dodge Dart in the Stop & Shop parking lot on West Main St.

6/17/2009

SEEN IN STAMFORD: I was heading over to Stop & Shop to pick up a couple of things I forgot to get at Shoprite on the way home from work and saw a few classic American cars lined up in the parking lot.

The Stamford ‘Vette and Classic car club meets Wednesdays at 6 in the grocery stores parking lot, with up to 50 members from NY and CT showing their classic rides.

This particular Dart is not your grandma’s grocery getter, with a Mopar 400 under the hood.

FOR THE RECORD: That’s 248 cubic inches more than my Subaru.

–CP

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ABOVE: Gaquawn Henderson, Benjamin Jordan and Jeff Karbonic line up before the J.M. Wright Technical High School commencement.

6/16/2009

It remains to be seen if this will be the last commencement ceremony at Wright Tech as we know it, but today the kids are the story.

As they lined up in the cafeteria for the procession, one girl asked me “are you excited for us?”

“Um. Yes. I’m stoked for you.”

The deja-vu-all-over-again factor makes it hard to get excited about covering high school graduations. Then you realize what it means to the students and their families.

It’s all about perspective.

–CP

BELOW: Xiomara Angel, 18, of Stamford, and Jeff Karbonic, 18, of Stamford, celebrate after the J.M. Wright Technical High School commencement exercises on on Bobby Darling Field in Cubeta Stadium in Scalzi Park in Stamford.

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6/11/09

Jumpers and trainers warm up in a ring at the 79th Ox Ridge Charity Horse Show at Ox Ridge Hunt Club.

Kathleen O’Rourke/The Advocate

This gloomy, dreary weather has left me too exhausted to come up with clever commentary on this assignment.  Despite getting stuck in a muddy parking lot, nearly dropping my camera in a pile left behind by a horse and getting rained on, I actually enjoyed the two hours I spent at Ox Ridge.   I’ve covered this event for years.  A picturesque location, an abundance of finely primped horses, talented riders and beautiful people.  It’s easy to walk away with a blue ribbon…for photography.

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6/10/09

Willie Byrd greets passengers on his CTTransit bus route from Norwalk to Stamford.  Byrd has been with the company for 15 years.

Kathleen O’Rourke/The Advocate

Advocate reporter Martin Cassidy and I rode the 8:10am bus out of the Stamford Transportation Center this morning for a story on the CTTransit proposed 40% fare hike.  Due to sever motion sickness, aggravated by an empty stomach, heat and looking through my camera, I was forced to exit in Darien and hitch a ride back on Willie’s bus.  Well it was my lucky day because here’s a man that prides himself on doing a good job.  He greets passengers with a smile, knows many of them by name and seems genuinely happy to be sitting in that seat.  I would gladly pay the extra fifty cents for another chance to ride along with Willie.

GO TO: Stamford Advocate for a video and Martin’s story on the fare hike