Me outside the Javits Center on Tuesday to volunteer with City Harvest
I’m smiling because this week I completed my first volunteer shift with City Harvest. With a group of 200 volunteers and staff, we rescued over 75,500 pounds of food after the close of the Fancy Food Show on Tuesday evening at the Javits Center. This food will be distributed to food pantries, soup kitchens, and community organizations all over the city to people who need our support. This work is deeply personal to me. I grew up with food insecurity (meaning we worried about where our next meal would come from) and I was a free lunch kid.
The hunger issue in NYC is dire. 50% of working-age households in NYC are struggling to make ends meet. 1.4 million New Yorkers are food insecure. That’s nearly 1:6 New Yorkers, including 1:4 children.
This work is also personal to me because of my passion to protect our natural world. On Tuesday, we also saved all of this food and packaging from ending up in the trash. 30% — 40% of the food in the U.S. (108 billion pounds!) is wasted every year, to say nothing of all the resources it took to create that food and packaging. This costs Americans $473 billion every year. Nearly 1/4 of all landfill waste in the U.S. is food, and it is one of the largest producers of methane gas, which is causing climate change, weather-related disasters, and hunger.
Given the scale of this challenge, I’m excited about doing more work with City Harvest and helping more New Yorkers. I hope you’ll join me — there are so many ways to be a volunteer! Visit https://www.cityharvest.org/volunteer/ to learn more.
Below are some pictures from the Tuesday event! All photos by City Harvest.
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
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