Here in NYC this week, Snowmageddon wasn't.
Our mayor donned a parka for his press conference, warning of a storm for the record books. Mass transit was shut down. Schools were suspended. Downtown where I live, there was a desperate rush on kale.
But thankfully, we all woke up Tuesday morning to find our city streets pleasantly empty and hushed, blanketed by a thick but hardly disastrous blanket of snow... which by today has become gray slush, leaving at least one resident dreaming of summertime: Central Park picnics, runs along the Hudson, sidewalk cafes and -- my favorite sign of summer -- the return of the Sing for Hope Pianos.
In 2015, Sing for Hope is crowdsourcing the return of our army of harmony and bringing pianos back to our streets. Thanks to a groundswell of generosity by people from all over the country, the Sing for Hope Pianos will be back in the parks and public spaces of all five boroughs this summer, resonating with their message of art for all. The pianos will remind us, in Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney's words, that ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony. The pianos will bring strangers together, creating mini-pop-up communities and their summer songs will warm us.
Today, in an imagined escape from the 30-degree weather outside, I'm fast-forwarding to June via video -- specifically, via music videos created by artists in past years on the Sing for Hope Pianos. For a quick shot of sunshine, take a moment and click on one of the videos below. I promise you'll smile, channeling a sun-kissed moment in our city's great communal calendar: the songs of summer, played on 88 keys.
To learn more, click here. The Sing for Hope Pianos are made possible by donors like you, with key support provided by The Sing for Hope Founders' Circle: The Arnhold Foundation in loving memory of Sissy Arnhold, The Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation and Ann Ziff.