4 OCTOBER 31, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
How a R’wood photography studio became
the offi cial videographer of the shelter wars
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
When the explosive Oct. 7 hearing
over the proposed Glendale
homeless shelter forced Community
Board 5 into the center of the conflict,
Ridgewood videographer Mark
Moss found himself in the opposite
position.
He was tasked with the problem of
how to best stay on the sidelines.
The community board hired Moss,
the president of Ridgewood photography
business Harisch Studios, to
live stream all of the board’s public
meetings and hearings for the next
year as a continued effort to make
community board activities more
transparent and accessible.
District Manager Gary Giordano
said that CB5 decided to take the
plunge into video steaming starting
this past September after the City
Council gave all 59 of the city’s community
boards an additional $42,500
of funding for the second year in a
row.
This new investment in video
technology came right at the moment
the community board weighed what
is arguably one of the biggest decisions
to come through the district
in years.
“Part of the challenge at a meeting
like that one becomes chronicling
it without appearing to be biased
in either direction,” Moss said. “So
I tried to steer away from showing
confrontations. I tried to steer away
from using the stream to give one
side a benefit over another.”
Moss found himself directing
live streams after years of running
Harisch Studios, a Myrtle Avenuebased
photo and video company
that has been operating in the area
since 1927. Moss took over the business
from his wife’s family, who
has worked there since the ’50s. He
works with both his mother-in-law
and his daughter.
He may run a family operation,
but that doesn’t mean his model is
traditional. Moss guides the business
based on changes in technology.
He’s seen other mom and pop stores
in Ridgewood struggle to keep up
with area’s changes, but he says
Harisch Studios in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of Harisch Studios
riding the waves of technology has
helped him stay afloat.
“The biggest challenge isn’t the
changing neighborhood. The biggest
challenge is the changing mindset
that they don’t need professional
photographers anymore,” said Moss.
“Part of it is that we’ve evolved as well.
The technology has changed, but it’s
provided up with opportunities that
didn’t exist either.
In addition to filming the community
board, Harisch Studios live
streams video for weddings, funerals,
school events and masses.
In 2018, the city’s Charter Revision
Committee came up with a list
of recommendations for community
boards that include increased funding
and efforts at maintaining public
transparency.
As a result several boards across
the city have begun to invest in
video services like those that Moss
offers. He said he’d be open to take
on more community board gigs, but
as with any decision, it boils down to
whether his small staff can handle.
“That’s the biggest challenge with
any small family-run business. If
you expand too quickly, you may
start hiring people that don’t have
the same concern about quality,”
said Moss.
QUEENSBORO UNICO ANNUAL
Christmas “Toys for Tots” Drive!
TOY DROP LOCATION
Please bring any Un Wrapped Toys to our location:
Address 8310 62nd Avenue, Middle Village NY 11379
Contact 917-880-6532
Gaspare J. Mistretta
Queensboro Unico President
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