Grand Central Station currently has an exhibit on display that pays homage to New York City’s role in film. Everything from
The Untouchables to Spike Lee’s creations to
You’ve Got Mail. Photographs, film clips, backdrops, and quotes from famous film makers. It’s stunning and it’s free and it made me fall in love with this place all over again. I am, shamelessly, one of those people who reads every word of every plaquard in a museum though I usually only look at any one image for about 5 seconds.
As I’ve wandered around this city the past week, I’ve been thinking about it as the backdrop of my life, the setting in which I will have some wonderful adventures and meet a host of characters, some of whom I have known for years and some of whom I have yet to meet. So it was particularly appropriate that at this tribute to New York’s contribution to film, that I found two very poignant quotes about settings.
The first comes from Ray Bradbury. I think of him as the author of books about strange and mysterious worlds, that years later turn out to not be so strange. It turns out he was just more forward thinking and didn’t care if people thought he was a little odd. It also turns out that he had quite a bit to say about film and theatre as well. “Drama and theater are not special and separate and private things in our lives. They are true stuffs of living, the heart and soul of any true city. It follows that we must begin to provide architectural stages upon which our vast populations can act out their lives.” (To read more about him, you can click here: http://www.raybradbury.com/about.html).
I never thought of the city as having a job to do. Before reading this, I thought of the city as something we take into our lives, that we adapt to, because it is far too big and powerful to mold it to what we need. And this quote stopped me in my tracks and asked me to reconsider the role of setting. It told me that I am not here merely to exist and make my way through the maze of New York. I can actually carve out my own path here and the setting itself will be changed because I have been here and done something worth doing.
The second quote comes from Eugene Lourie, a little known art director of the 1950’s. While he never made a colossal mark of his own, he is credited as having influenced the work of Inoshiro Honda’s Godzilla. (For more on Lourie, click here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522123/bio). For someone consumed with a career in visual creativity, I believe he missed his calling life as a wordsmith because his discussion about setting and backdrop was one of the most beautiful and elegant pieces about art I have read. When asked about the artistic license of set designers to add or remove details from a set he simply said, “We were creating a poetic reality, a reality with a soul.”
I’d like to think that I came to New York to do exactly the same work as these set designers. I wanted to be here with all of the beauty and ugliness, the pristine gardens and grimy streets and subways, in the midst of all the noise and the blessed few moments of peacefulness. I was willing to take it all, and then write stories in this blog about the things I truly loved. So in these writings you are getting a flavor of my life here and yes it’s through my filters of my eyes and my experiences. Some people come to New York and they hate it, some fall in love with its perfect imperfections, and many vascillate between these two states numerous times. So while I could be accused of painting a picture of New York through rose-colored glasses, I prefer to think of it as just adding a layer of poetry on top of the reality and bolstering it up from the bottom with some soul.
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
Sounds like life is treating you well. Noone deserves more happiness. I hope all of your smiles continue. JC
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