Latest news with #Eckstein
Straits Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
To find high-end furniture in New York, look up
The back staircase to the furniture showroom at Nickey-Kehoe in New York on April 29. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES New York's new designer decor showrooms are hidden away from foot traffic, making shopping for furniture feel like visiting a speakeasy. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES To find high-end furniture in New York, look up NEW YORK – Thirty years ago, a New Yorker with a sharp eye and a strong back could still find and rescue an Eames chair from a midtown dumpster. Those with greater means, and less patience, might buy marble pedestal tables and Swedish flat-woven rugs at furniture dealers, like Lin-Weinberg Gallery and Wyeth, that were wedged between ice cream shops and eyewear boutiques in the city's walkable neighbourhoods. Recently, though, rising rents and a desire for intimacy have pushed high-end decor upstairs and out of view. Always a treasure hunt, shopping for designer furniture in New York has become more like grabbing drinks at a speakeasy: If you know, you know. In 2022, Mr Alan Eckstein, 39, moved his furniture showroom, Somerset House, from a storefront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – where he could expect 300 visitors on weekends – to a cheaper warehouse on a desolate block in Long Island City, amid small residential buildings and across fro m a gated carpark. The grandson of a decorator , Mr Eckstein got into the interior design business six years ago, amassing inventory at the Design Within Reach Outlet, at auctions and flea markets, and via Craigslist. He began using the pieces to decorate listings for local real estate brokers . Furniture store Somerset House in Long Island City in April. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES Shoppers at his warehouse find his inventory displayed for sale in artful groupings. The brick walls are freshly painted ecru, and new oversize picture windows splash sunlight onto the furniture, like a 1950s coffee table with fanciful Jacques Blin tiles on top and some inevitable scuffs on its wood legs (US$8,200 or S$10,600) . In July, Somerset House will be moving again, this time to double in size. Mr Eckstein has come to appreciate 'being off the beaten path' and has chosen an even less accessible Long Island City address he calls 'even more speakeasy'. In lower Manhattan, Mr Nick Ozemba, 33, is a co-founder of the concept space Quarters, where you can order designer furniture or a cocktail in a hospitable environment. It is far from 'a white-box space', he says. Indeed, the entrance on Broadway uses a fire stair, leading some who pop up to Quarters on the second floor to fear they have trespassed in a private home. Ms Felicia Hung and Mr Nick Ozemba, are founders of Quarters, a furniture store that sells luxury furnishings and serves cocktails in a polished second-floor space on a 'rugged' block of Broadway below Canal Street in Manhattan. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES In 2023, Mr Ozemba rented 8,000 sq ft on what he termed a 'rugged' block south of Canal Street . Then he gut-renovated the raw loft with his Rhode Island School of Design classmate and business partner Felicia Hung, 34. They opened the fully furnished model rooms and an adjoining vest-pocket bar to the public a year ago. 'We wanted it to feel cosy and moody,' Ms Hung says. Current merchandise ranges from a Roma Heirloom Tomato-scented candle by Flamingo Estate (US$60) to a new In Common With flush-mount chandelier of fused glass and leopard wood (US$42,000). The partners have hosted intimate parties for Loewe, Birkenstock and Tom of Finland to attract a fashionable clientele. But running a store that looks like a rich friend's home has not been without hiccups. Guests once climbed onto a bed display. And a thief stole a decorative tiger figurine. Near Quarters, the presence of the new Lawson-Fenning furniture showroom is announced only by the small print on the building's intercom directory. 'You really have to know where you're going,' Mr Glenn Lawson says. He and Mr Grant Fenning, 57, opened this Manhattan outpost of their original Los Angeles showroom in a 4,500 sq ft Lafayette Street loft in February. The new Lawson-Fenning furniture showroom is located in a loft that was once used as an apartment. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES 'We're not hitting you over the head with design,' says Mr Lawson, 52. The loft was once used as an apartment, and its finishes looked dated. The renovation by New York interior designer Josh Greene, 45, has earth tones and rusty marble kitchen counters, a spa-like bathroom and a powder room. Mr Lawson says the decor signals a shift in style for his company, towards the polish and panache of 1930s New York. 'We're actually looking at Art Deco chairs and lampshades with fringe,' he says. As in California, he will sell contemporary ceramics and vintage-inspired sofas off the floor . The Temple Studio showroom in Manhattan. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES In the Flatiron district, an abandoned tech office was filled with desks before it became Temple Studio, which opened this spring to show fabrics and rugs from independent makers. 'You had to have your magic glasses on' to see the potential, says Ms Kate Temple Reynolds, 44, who opened the studio with Ms Amarlies Gonzalez, 48. She calls the 4,500 sq ft penthouse an art gallery for textiles. 'We wanted to be a charming, hidden spot.' The drab building lift opens to reveal showroom walls hung with Alice Sergeant's riotous hand-printed brocade in pink and ochre. Hooks and shelves brim with saturated colour and adventurous patterns. 'We show people how to layer and combine them without clashing,' she says. West Out East founder West Chin in the duplex furniture showroom in Manhattan. PHOTO: ASHOK SINHA/NYTIMES Around the corner, furniture store West Out East has a duplex loft. Mr West Chin, 56, a residential architect, was born in the Bronx, where his father was an architect of social housing. In 2014, he opened a Long Island location for European furniture and branded it with his distinctive first name plus the local shorthand for the area, where he digs clams on the beach and has a house. The Manhattan location opened in 2021. In the Flatiron location, the layout is curated like an apartment, making it easy to envision the pieces in a home. 'This is a duplex my clients would buy on a higher floor,' he says. Furnishings from Living Divani, Boffi and Porro live in the second-floor loft for a year before moving to sister locations in East Hampton, New York; Miami; and Westport, Connecticut. Everything is functional and liveable, he says, for children who eat ice cream on the couch, and for their parents who drink red wine. He flies his shop's logo over the sidewalk, on an oversized flag, but some customers venture upstairs only after their designers insist. 'The city has no idea we exist,' he says. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Indianapolis Star
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
He can't see high jump bar when he clears it. It hasn't stopped him from being one of Indiana's best
Batesville senior Ayden Eckstein is one of Indiana's top high jumpers. The senior has battled injuries and was born blind in one eye, none of which has stopped him. He will high jump at Marian next fall. Batesville senior Ayden Eckstein strode toward Franklin's long jump pit, crashing into the sand. Six tries yielded a top mark of 21 feet, 3-and-a-quarter inches — good for first place at the Bill Self Invitational by nearly three inches. It's not even Eckstein's best event. That would be high jump, which he placed sixth in at the 2024 IHSAA track and field championship. "He is a student of the sport," Batesville coach Lisa Gausman said. "He takes in everything that we say and tries to implement it to do better. He watches videos on his own, too, to see what you're talking about." That work has been key to Eckstein's grasp of the sport. A child who was "not very good (at sports) to start with" — as Eckstein put it — now ranks among Indiana's best high jumpers and is the best combination long and high jumper Gausman, a track coach of 30 years, has instructed. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Eckstein had a normal childhood. He played soccer through senior year and basketball until he was a sophomore. Baseball when he was a kid. He likes playing video games and watching TV in his free time. But, when he was an infant, it was unclear just how normal his life would be. Eckstein was three months old when his family discovered he was born with unilateral optic nerve hypoplasia, which caused blindness in his right eye. A significant percentage of those born with the disorder also have brain abnormalities, his mother Samantha Demaree said. "They did all of the imaging and everything was somehow completely normal," she said. "It's been awesome. I never thought he would be an athlete." It was upsetting at the time with plenty of tears, his grandmother Angel Hall said, because they didn't know how it would affect him. But once Eckstein learned to walk and stopped "clipping sides," Hall said, all was good. The biggest issues are depth perception and peripheral vision, Eckstein said, but not much else. "I like to say that I had a normal childhood because I didn't know any different and it didn't really affect me in any way," he said. He was offered special seating in classrooms and didn't take it. There was no impact on his athletic career. When he was scared growing up, he'd only cover one eye in fear — sad but funny, his stepfather Erik Demaree said, because he didn't know what it was like to see out of both eyes. But what's typical for Eckstein is pretty extraordinary. When high jumping, he clears the bar on his right — the side he's blind on. "Most people can kind of see the bar," Eckstein said. "I just can't, so I have to really trust my steps and my form." While Eckstein tried lots of sports growing up, he didn't find track and field until eighth grade. He went to a Catholic school with just 14 students in his class and was allowed to compete in track and field at Batesville because he lived in the district. Eckstein joined the sport to make friends and at the urging of his track-loving grandparents Gary and Angel, both of whom coached locally. Eckstein didn't start jumping right away but thought, 'Man, I think I'm going to be really good at high jump.' His freshman year was alright. Eckstein didn't feel things click until the summer of his junior year, when he replicated his then-personal best of 6 feet during his first practice. Erik and Samantha, however, saw something special early on. Eckstein won a junior varsity meet at South Dearborn his freshman year, only jumping around 5 feet, eight or nine inches. Erik was struck by his agility. "I took him home after the meet and was trying to hype him up," Erik said. "(I was) super excited, like 'You have so much potential.'" Eckstein continued to improve, success coming hand in hand with hard work. Gausman said Eckstein always had the technique but found greater success as he got stronger, more explosive and muscular. A growth spurt helped, too. He shot to 6-3 as a sophomore and now stands at 6-5. Eckstein nearly reached the state championship as a sophomore until he twisted his ankle playing basketball in PE class the week of regionals — the first of several injuries. Last season he twisted his ankle and had patella tendinitis, but it didn't affect his jumping during the season. This season it's a bone chip in his ankle, the result of slipping on ice leaving his house in January. His ankle swelled up, forcing him to quit jumping for a couple of months. He's seen a chiropractor and massage therapist, in addition to taking it slow in recovery with easier workouts in the weight room and shorter approaches. Eckstein returned soon before the Hoosier State Relays, where he'd hoped to win the small school division. He finished third — not what he wanted, he said. But just jumping again was alright. Gausman credited behind the scenes work with Eckstein's success amid injuries, including hitting the weight room, a jump rope routine and strength and mobility drills. Having perseverance and a "little bit of grit" has also helped," she said. Vote for track athlete of week: School records and some of nation's best times "He just does it," Gausman said. "You ask him, he's going to do it. You don't have to question and say, 'Hey, you get that done?'" Eckstein's personal best of 6'10" came at the Indiana All-Stars meet last June. He said he felt like his form just clicked — something he'd been struggling with for a while. He figured he could outdo it and hit 7'2" this season, which would break Batesville's school record. Eckstein is tied atop the leaderboard with a jumper from 1982. But the injury has taken its toll, so his new goal is reaching 6'10" again by regionals. Performing well as a senior would be nice, of course, but Eckstein and his family have eyes on the future. He'll jump for the reigning NAIA indoor track and field champion Marian next season, choosing the school over Cincinnati, IU and Indiana State because of its small-school feel and care for the whole student-athlete. They're excited for the high jump-specific instruction at Marian, which has been a struggle at times — though they appreciate how supportive Batesville's staff has been. Eckstein connected with Hugo Muñoz, a two-time Peruvian Olympian, for high jump instruction through his group Kangaroo Athletics in high school. Eckstein saw improvement right away. Muñoz has no idea how Eckstein can jump the way he does with the blindness in his right eye. It's stunning to Erik, too. But it's not shocking to many bystanders because they simply don't know about Eckstein's right eye. He hasn't told many people. Gausman wasn't aware. Samantha and Erik agreed most watching Eckstein at the Bill Self Invitational probably had no idea. "It's not that he didn't want to people to know," Samantha said. "He just didn't want the attention. It's been kind of an adjustment for him to be good at high jump because people will approach him and he has to talk to more people, and he's not used to that." Attention comes with the territory. But most of it is from people he already knows and cares about. He has five siblings. His grandparents and both sets of parents (father Andy Eckstein and stepmother Sharon Eckstein on the other side) attend many of his meets. His grandpa has all of his jumps memorized and often helps set up the high jump bar at smaller meets. Their family vacations revolve around Eckstein's travel, Erik said, including trips to New Balance and Nike Nationals. Hall watched as Eckstein competed in the long jump at the Bill Self Invitational, filming his attempts on her phone. His parents set up camping chairs with a view of the high jump. He was a late bloomer, Samantha said — athletic but not a standout at anything until high jump. Samantha and Erik let Eckstein take his time figuring out what sports he liked and develop from there. It's been a long time since those touch-and-go months where the family wasn't sure what Eckstein's life would look like. Now, they're just enjoying the ride. "If he went to the moon, we'd go," Hall said.
Globe and Mail
14-02-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Yael Eckstein, President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada, Receives 'Woman of the Year' Award from Jaffa Institute
TORONTO , /CNW/ -- The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada is proud to announce that its President, Yael Eckstein, was named 'Woman of the Year' by The Jaffa Institute at its annual gala in Tel Aviv on January 29 , 2025. Eckstein received the award in honour of The Fellowship's longstanding partnership with the organization, which works to assist severely disadvantaged children and their families living in Israel's most impoverished neighbourhoods. The Fellowship has supported food donations to Holocaust survivors, the elderly, and families in need for decades. Dr. David Portowicz , Founder and President of the Jaffa Institute, presented Eckstein the award alongside Chaim Hurvitz , Chairman of the Board of the Jaffa Institute, and spoke of the late Rabbi Eckstein, who founded The Fellowship more than 40 years ago, as a "beloved and unforgettable personal friend…who was, and remains, one of the people who managed to leave a mark on the state and people of Israel ." Nearly six years after his passing, The Fellowship is now Israel's largest provider of humanitarian aid. Last year alone, The Fellowship donated more than $80 million specifically for food aid programs in collaboration with government offices and various food organizations, and funded over 3 million meals in soup kitchens, in addition to hundreds of thousands of food packages and food vouchers. "My father began this partnership over two decades ago, as he worked tirelessly to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between Israel , the Jewish people, and Christians worldwide, and encourage them to join the mitzvah of feeding the hungry and assisting communities in need," Eckstein said. Today, The Fellowship supports more than 2 million Israelis and Jewish people worldwide each year, while combating antisemitism by building bridges between Christian and Jewish communities. The Fellowship has provided more than $157 million in emergency aid to Israel since the attacks of October 7, 2023 . "To see the next generation carrying this holy work forward, while having my sisters and daughters and nieces by my side as I receive this incredible honour is the greatest blessing in the world." The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada (IFCJ Canada) was founded in 2003 to promote better understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews and to build broad support for Israel . IFCJ Canada is a registered Canadian charity governed by an independent Board of Directors and led by President Yael Eckstein . For over 20 years, IFCJ Canada has worked alongside a network of Fellowship offices worldwide, including in the United States , Israel , and Korea. Today, The Fellowship is one of the largest providers of humanitarian aid in Israel and is a leading force helping Jews in need worldwide. For more information, visit
