14 times • JUNE 18, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com Night at Forest Park Carousel helps Woodhaven educators New outdoor bar making its debut in Ridgewood BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport A new outdoor bar in Ridgewood called Nowadays is providing residents with a different way to hang out. Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, the DJs behind the popular dance parties known as Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday, own Nowadays with Mark Connell, who owns the Botanica Bar. Located at 56-06 Cooper Ave., Nowadays is a nearly 16,000-square-foot “outdoor hangout with food and drink,” according to Carter. “We kind of see it as a place for people in the community to come hang out,” Carter said. “If you call something a bar it will conjure up a specific image, if you call something a beer garden it brings up a specific image. We don’t really like to try to define what it is because we want people to not categorize us before they come in.” The owners wanted to bring into their establishment a “backyard feeling” they got while performing as DJs. They achieved that goal by enclosing Nowadays with corrugated fences and filling the area with honey locust and birch trees, native grasses and sodded hills for customers to throw a towel down to lie on. Patrons are invited to bring their friends, children and even their dogs to Nowadays. “It’s totally a dog-friendly space as long as people bring a dog on a leash,” Carter said. “We want it to feel more like a friend’s backyard.” Nowadays makes sure customers are treated to a variety of entertainment and games. There is a bocce ball set, chess, checkers and backgammon sets with the playing boards painted directly onto the picnic tables. There is also a ping-pong table for customers to use. The bar offers customers a selection of local beers, sangrias and wines, as well as sodas from local soda manufacturer Brooklyn Soda Works. There will also be a wide selection of food for sale for all types of customers, including vegetarian and vegan hot dogs, grass-fed beef burgers, a beet burger and an avocado salad. “We care about organic and local stuff but we’re not trying to force that down anyone’s throats,” Carter explained. “What we are trying for here is to have a level of quality that is high but not force anything on anyone. We aren’t a vegan place or vegetarian place but we cater to all of those people. We like to have multiple options for all these different categories of eaters.” In addition to all of that, Nowadays donates 10 percent of their net profits for the poverty-fighting organization Robin Hood. “We really like Robin Hood because Robin Hood is an organization that is based here in New York and they specifically target poverty in New York City where poverty is a real big issue,” Carter said. “We are very fortunate to be in a place in our lives and society where we have the ability to make a living off of people’s luxury time. The fact that we can do that in the shadow of extreme homelessness and poverty, it really hit us.” Nowadays, which held a soft opening on June 11, will officially open starting on June 18 and operate through October, with hours on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to midnight, Fridays from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturdays from noon to 2 a.m., and Sundays RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice from noon to midnight. Eamon Harkin (left) and Justin Carter (right) at their new Ridgewood outdoor bar, Nowadays. BY KELLY MARIE MANCUSO editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com @RidgewoodTimes Woodhaven residents of all ages gathered at the historic Forest Park Carousel on June 12 for an evening of fun and merriment to help benefit the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) Educational Center for Women. The center, located at 87-04 88th Ave. in Woodhaven, provides a four-tier ESL program and High School Equivalency Exam courses to local women from a variety of countries, backgrounds and religions. The center was initially founded in 2004 at St. Clement Convent in South Ozone Park with only 18 students. Since relocating to St. Thomas Apostle Church in 2009, the center’s enrollment and services have greatly expanded. “When we moved to Woodhaven, it just blossomed,” explained the center’s director, Sister Catherine Feeney. “We just gave out 84 certificates.” Sushelia Loknath, a mother of two, was one of those recent graduates. Loknath completed the center’s High School Equivalency course and is awaiting a date to take the exam. “I like everything about the center,” she said. “The teachers are there for us anytime we need them. They make a lot of sacrifices for us there and we really appreciate all they are doing. I feel so happy going there.” Sonia Saleh, director of development at the center, echoed this sentiment. “We’re educating women and helping them to get better jobs. It makes a difference in the whole community,” she said. “The women are motivated. They come here because they want to learn. They want a better life. You get to see the women evolve.” The special fundraising event at the Forest Park Carousel was created and organized by Woodhaven Historical Society President and SSND board member Edward Wendell. “This group has a really deep impact on people’s lives. They’re really great,” he said. Because students pay a one-time fee of $40 to attend multiple classes at the center, fundraising events such as this are a vital part of the center’s survival. In addition to benefiting the center, the fundraiser also helps raise awareness and increases attendance at the landmark carousel. “I love bringing together two different organizations to really help each other,” Wendell said. “They do wonderful things for the people in the community,” said Wanda Sample, the center’s reigning 2015 Queen of Mardi Gras of the center’s major fundraising gathering held every February. “This is our first fundraiser here and hopefully we’ll have many more.” Many of the women from the center brought their children to the fundraiser for an evening of face painting, hot dogs, $3 carousel rides and a special magic show. “We want to reach out to the community and want the community to know about us and the school because we’re a big benefit to the community,” Saleh added. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Kelly Marie Mancuso Children enjoyed rides on the Forest Park Carousel in support of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Educational Center for Women.
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