Yes, we do love NYC and there’s a new campaign to encourage us all to make a city better. Macys Flower Show is back! The pickleball crazed is coming to Central Park and there’s a giant solo cup in Rockefeller Center. Valerie Smaldone has the scoop on “Kids Night on Broadway” where kids can attend show for free! Sandi Durell has the scoop on new shows coming to Broadway this year. Our roving photographer was roving in Venice—check out her fabulous photos. And if you sign up for our May 19^th Renewal Summit by March 31^st, you could win an island vacation.

Sign up for our Renewal Summit by March 31^st and you could win a trip to the 5 Star resort Club Barbados. GET THE DETAILS.

Buy Your Girl Scout Cookies from Troup 6000

Thanks to a Tomato pal for sending this story along. Launched in 2017, Girl Scouts of Greater New York’s Troop 6000 is a first-of-its-kind program designed to serve families living in temporary housing in the New York City shelter system. Each week, Girl Scouts meet in shelters across the city. All fees, uniforms, trips, and program materials are provided at no cost.  You can help by getting your cookies from them this year. Learn more and get your cookies.

Join us for a celebration of Gabriella Contestable’s beautiful book of six short stories that will transport you to Venice, Florence, Rome, to Cinque Terre and back. Each woman in these stories faces her time of day, a reckoning. Hosted at Gabrielle Carlson’s beautiful boutique.

We ❤ NYC

Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, and Partnership for New York City launched a citywide civic action campaign this week, We ❤ NYC.  The themes of the campaign are focused on ways New Yorkers can help improve the city, prioritizing public safety, support for small businesses, caring for parks, and litter cleanups. As part of its effort to empower residents to drive change in their own communities, the campaign will involve several partnerships with public agencies and nonprofits across the city aimed at achieving a safer, more livable, and more business-friendly city.

March 26-April 10. Macy’s Flower Show Returns

A dreamscape of fluffy clouds and whimsical floral landscapes ring in the season of renewal at the 48th annual Macy’s Flower Show® featuring DIOR. The main floor, balcony and windows of Macy’s Herald Square flagship store, will be transformed into a floral extravaganza that will transport guests to a dream-like city in the sky, as thousands of plants, flowers and trees take root in the iconic store’s main floor.

Macy’s iconic floral spring tradition has enchanted generations of fans with themed gardens that showcase thousands of live flowers, plants, and trees from around the globe for almost five decades. Native to many different landscapes, Macy’s Flower Show offers visitors a unique opportunity to enjoy these florals blooming in unison, in a spectacular showcase that offers a glimpse into their home landscapes. Sprouting in unexpected settings, the florals bloom on store countertops, in world-famous display windows and specially designed architecture including bridges, columns, and topiaries. The show will be staged in distinct fashion with playful, whimsical shapes, featuring several gravity-defying elements to create a magical paradise, packed with florals in bright, inspiring tones.

Pickleball is Coming to Wollman Rink

If you’re ready to find out why pickleball has become the fastest country sport in the country, head to Wollman Rink which is being converted into 14 professional pickleball courts. They’ll have court rentals, lessons, clinics, open play, leagues….All are welcome from beginners to elite players. Pickleball is easy to start but hard to stop. See you on the court. GET THE DETAILS.

Now-May 31. A Giant Solo Cup at Rockefeller Center

In this interesting outdoor art exhibit, artist Paula Crown’s two-part exhibition project #solotogether.  The bronze sculpture Resilience, on view at the top of the Channel Gardens, alludes to the devastating environmental impact of single-use plastics and extends Crown’s intention to memorialize the collective suffering experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, reminding us of humankind’s resilience and innate ability to transfer energy even through the most mundane of objects.

The second part of the exhibition is on view in the Rink Level Gallery, formerly the Rockefeller Center post office. An extensive investigation of the familiar crushed solo cup through a dynamic cast sculpture floor installation; a new suite of photographs; a newly recorded audio work; and a site-specific wall piece, allows the viewer to experience the breadth and depth of Crown’s artistic meditations on this everyday object.

Roaming in Venice

Another city we love! Our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Rubens recently returned from Venice and shares her series of awesome photos, titled, “Water Colors,” aptly named for this series of photos.

She writes, “I was fortunate enough to visit Venice, Italy, a city comprising 118 small islands, surrounded by canals and over 400 bridges. This “Floating City” is like no other in the world. Venice lends itself to photographers. This colorful, ancient and unique place has a special glow, and the waterways reflect the centuries old beauty all around. I was truly in heaven exploring this gem that thankfully serves the finest pasta and gelato!

Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of poetry/photo books, “The Long Pause and the Short Breathe.” Follow her on Instagram@nfrconsult