Rock the Block was a day-long mystery bus tour, part of Going Places (Doing Stuff) III, in which participants were told only where and when to meet, what to bring, and when they’d be back.
Willing adventurers:
- explored the abandoned New York City Farm Colony on Staten Island where they were greeted by an Alice Austen impersonator.
- met John Foxell, a modern-day Forest Gump whose extraordinary home is filled with the sculptures and artifacts he has collected, acquired, found, and created over the course of his life.
- feasted on a Sri Lankan buffet.
- perused the eroding remnants of a turn of the century landfill at Dead Horse Bay, led by Manhattan Well Digger Dan McGee.
- cavorted in the rain as we waited for a thunderstorm to pass. (The bus’s windshield wipers were broken.)
- played games at Brighton Beach, including an effort to identify, on an inflatable globe, the most countries of origin of passersby (as well as a scavenger hunt and a round of tug-of-war).
- learned to square dance from Howard Richman, then pulled on-lookers into the fun.
- formed a giant line and leapfrogged into the ocean as the sun set.
Further reading: a first-person account by Pauline Pechin
Credits
Intrepid Leaders
Curators
Transportation
In Association With