Steel This Magazine Issue 10 by Steel This Magazine

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STORYBURGH a spotlight on the community surrounding the islamic center of pittsburgh

contents

DINNER PARTY steve salvi saves your supper, thank goodness

DAMON YOUNG

A PITTSBURGH FOR EVERYONE edward banchs talks race, culture, and bad poetry with the pittsburgh author

PublicSource shares heather tomko’s thoughts on pittsburgh’s accessibility to people with disabilities

Steel This Magazine needs your help. Writers, Photographers, Salespeople... we need you! If you’re a creative, or if you simply have some good story ideas, please reach out to: info@SteelThisMag.com to get involved.

contributors:

Publisher - John Dubosky Creative Director/Graphic Design - Kelli Koladish Editors - Susan Cunniﬀ & Karen Mundie Photography - Brian Volinic Writers - Amy Maurine Edwards, Loretta Millender, Skipper Anderson, Edward Banchs, Dana Colecchia Getz, Randy Garcia, Michael Thornman, Sheena Carroll, Varsha Mathur, Alyse Horn-Pyatt and Farah Iman of Storyburgh Sales - John Dubosky and Melissa Ursu Crossword Puzzle - Written By: Brian Herrick Edited By: Daniel Finan

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PublicSource, Storyburgh, and Word Association Publishers

how a local dj teamed up with a young girl to rock the block

FIND A HOUSE, ALREADY!

a memoir

POTHOLES SINKHOLES AND THEIR VARIOUS CAUSES strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride

GET YOURSELF A DATE tips and tricks to navigate the world of online dating

CROSSWORD PUZZLE BEDTIME FOR TECHNOLOGY skipper anderson’s take on being dragged into the 21st century

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THE BIBLE OF LAWRENCEVILLE

Start with God

PITTSBURGH’S FIRST FEMALE ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF SOUNDS OFF

pittsburgh’s art houses provide a venue for more than just performances

Prayer?

pittsburgh realtors talk shop and share some advice

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ARTIST HOUSING ONLY

get to know DAMON YOUNG By: Edward Banchs Photo By: Sarah Huny Young

amon Young has been discussing his writing a lot lately. Whether through speaking engagements or press interviews, he has been busy promoting his upcoming book, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker. Known as one-half of the Very Smart Brothas, the writer has built a reputation as a voice that spears right through the thick meat of rhetoric coming from the nation’s conversation on matters of race and privilege. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Damon Young still makes his home in the Steel City. “Being in the ‘Burgh allowed me to experiment, to build and focus on that in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to if I lived in a bigger city,” he says, explaining he had always hoped to make a living as a writer. Meeting Steel This for a late breakfast, we had been seated no less than sixty seconds at a bar counter in the Ace Hotel on a chilly Friday morning— surrounded by the East Liberty neighborhood he grew up in— when a waitress joyfully greeted him and recited his order by rote. He’s a regular.

Young and Jackson connected through a small community of black bloggers in the early 2000s. For Jackson, a former budget analyst, the connection to Young was organic as they developed a working partnership and, in due time, a book and a blog. “The more Damon and I talked, the cooler we got. And, after both being burned out on writing so much, we decided to write a book and create a blog while working to keep our names out there (the pair’s book, Your Degrees Won’t Keep You Warm at Night: The Very Smart Brothas Guide to Dating, Mating, and Fighting Crime, was released in 2011 through Create Space.) The site took off, though, and we decided to see where it could take us. I can confidently say that neither of us thought it would take us to where we are currently,” says Jackson via email.

His reputation as a writer and commentator came into focus when, in 2008, he and the Washington, D.C.-based Panama Jackson, along with fellow blogger, Liz Burr, started a blog under the moniker, Very Smart Brothas, which Young describes as an, “Act of desperation,” for him. “At the time I was working at Duquesne University. I was working for a college prep program, and then the program lost its funding in 2009. Everybody got laid off.”

The blog, now hosted by theroot.com, an online magazine founded in 2008, has amassed over fifty-two thousand followers on Twitter, and occupies both of their professional lives (Burr left Very Smart Brothas in 2014). Very Smart Brothas is a celebration of the black experience in America highlighting literature, music and film. It was not always this way, as their site was born with the intent of giving, “Tongue-in-cheek

Unemployed and having difficulty finding work, Young decided it would be best to focus on his passion for writing to improve on his craft, in hopes of one day earning a living from words. SPRING 2019

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“If you are still saying racist things and doing racist things, then that’s what matters, not what’s in your heart. What matters is how you treat black people, or other people of color.”

and irreverent,” relationship advice, explains Young. As the pair are not shy about their politics, the site has since evolved into an opportunity for the two to express their reflections of black life in America. “Life happened to Very Smart Brothas,” says Jackson. “And frankly, writing about relationships got old, and we’d said all we needed to say on a consistent basis on that end. Meanwhile, around us black life was happening… and we decided to focus more on the types of topics and discussions that were present in the community.”

The pair often take aim at social issues including gentrification, white privilege, and institutional racism, in signature fashion, with poignant humor and mercurial wit. “Discussing what it feels and looks like to be black every day, when people pretend it doesn’t matter or isn’t a thing. That’s what caused the transition: we grew up and decided that we couldn’t miss out on discussing what was happening in the world, to talk about what we all need to stay coupled up. We still do that sometimes, of course. But now we take the entire experience into account, which includes relationships,” Jackson adds.

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Part of what motivates Damon Young is the, “Messy and grimy”, space that our country is occupying regarding race. “You have to realize that we’re talking about America’s lifespan. Any chance of progress right now is going to be incremental, and there’s going to be dips. And also, we’re still in a place where people don’t even acknowledge that history, and you if you have a large population that doesn’t even acknowledge that history, then of course we’re not going to have any real substantive progress.” Continuing to chip away at his breakfast, he dug deeper into his interpretations of what is happening in America right now. When asked if perhaps the country needed to be an equal distance removed from the time between the Middle Passage to the span of the Civil Rights movement, as he had just mentioned, he replied, “Maybe. I think some people are having honest conversations right now…and certain people are still too blinded by whichever biases and prejudices and emotional baggage that they’re carrying to see the truth…I think the conversation about race, racism in America, is focused on whether or not a person really believes in their heart that white people are superior, and black people are inferior. That doesn’t matter as much as your actions. If you are still saying racist things and doing racist things, then that’s what matters, not what’s in your heart. What matters is how you treat black people, or other people of color.” His thoughts on race, life, family, as well as the world around him, stepped into sharper focus for his fans and the public with the release of his memoir, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, published by HarperCollins imprint Ecco on March 26th.

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The transition to becoming a fulltime writer wasn’t easy for Young. After graduating from Penn Hills High School, he attended Canisius College in Buffalo, N. Y., where, he jokes, he studied basketball. “My focus entering college was to be a basketball player.” Realizing that a career as a professional athlete was not a likely reality for him, he shifted his focus toward his other love in college: writing. “We are going back to the late ‘90s when writing very terrible poetry was in vogue. I think it might still be, but it was the peak shitty-poetry era. I was definitely a part of that and was writing these really bad poems.” Ultimately this led to taking up writing for the campus’ black newspaper, before transitioning into an editorial role. Writing continued as a hobby for Damon until the establishment of Very Smart Brothas, which boosted his writing profile significantly. Then Ebony magazine offered him a job in 2011, one that he describes as his, “First, ‘Holy shit!’” job. A few years after that, Damon found himself writing for GQ.com, where he composed short reflections on American current events marked with his sardonic, witty, and always humorous tone, a style that is shaped by his unique voice which takes center stage in his new book. The book provides readers with erudite, personal, and honest reflections on the events from Damon’s life that have made him who he is. He writes about his upbringing, friendships, basketball, marriage, racism, white privilege, fatherhood, masculinity, his parents, and Pittsburgh the way that few could, never once compromising his style. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is an important book, and it will remain one for a long time to come, as seldom does the black experience become so lucid for non-black readers. And Young’s words are uncompromisingly honest. “There are bits in there about my parents, bits in there about my wife, bits in there about friends that I had to get their blessings, their permission to write about,” he says. Noting that the book’s original intention was to showcase his views on different topics with, “Aggressive, punchy, snarky essays,” with each chapter focusing on a different topic—examples he cited were

the “N” word chapter, the barbershop chapter, the white privilege chapter—his agent swayed him toward a memoir in essays. Young felt it was for the best, “I didn’t agree at first. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t agree, I knew it was right, but didn’t want to say it immediately. But I came around eventually, after about a week.” For Jackson, his excitement over his friend’s book resides with the thought that the world will now get to know the Damon Young he has known for over 15 years, a writer he describes as gifted, creative, insightful, and humorous. “He’s worked so hard to get here and deserves all of it. It’s been interesting to have been there for the entire process, and reading the chapters before they were finalized, and then seeing a finished product. It’s empowering,” says Jackson. “I think that’s what you can expect: unbridled blackness, of course…a human being managing through life and growing through experiences.” For all of the buzz that Young has been generating lately it becomes clear that his goal of one day making a living as a writer has not only come to fruition, but that he has also become a valuable and necessary voice in America right now. “He’s a talent who discovered just how talented he is when it mattered most and hasn’t looked back yet,” says Jackson of his friend. Setting his knife and fork on the now empty plate, pushing it forward, Young leaned back, sated, ready to get back to work on his nearby computer. However, there was one more SPRING 2019

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topic we needed to discuss: Pittsburgh. When I asked who his intended audience was, Young indicated he wrote the book for himself. It is palpable throughout the journey of his life how much Pittsburgh means to him. “It’s where the bulk of my memories occurred, good and bad. I grew up in this neighborhood (East Liberty). I remember walking up and playing basketball at Peabody High School, or walking down Highland to go to David’s Shoes and seeing if they had some Jordan’s on sale. I still believe that the Potato Patch fries are the best French fries on earth. I remember posting up at The O when I was still too young to go upstairs and drink; I knew that’s where everybody would be on a Friday, Saturday night. Going to camp at the Homewood Y. I have so many rich memories of this city. For all its faults…

Pittsburgh is my home.”

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Feeble Organs perform @ Garfield Art House

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ART HOUSES I often receive invitations on Facebook for house shows – typically for DIY bands, but sometimes for punk, experimental, and even spoken word gigs. The listed location is either the ubiquitous, “Message for Address”, or a name–often a silly adjective-noun combination, or a phrase that sounds like an inside joke. The Pittsburgh Art House and the Garfield Art House stand out with their blunt and literal names; these venues are built and branded as homes for artists.

By: Sheena Carroll Photos By: Liz Tripoli

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The Art Houses are the creations of landlord Dylan Ahrens, who says that their origins can be traced to 2006, in post-Katrina New Orleans. There, he worked for real estate developer John Orgon, who opened a financially affordable mansion where local artists could focus on their craft instead of struggling to make ends meet. This project was a huge success. When Ahrens moved to Pittsburgh in 2009, he found many similarities to New Orleans. Ahrens said of Pittsburgh, “Being an artist here isn’t so easy from a financial standpoint. When I found two connecting townhouses in Highland Park in 2010, I saw an opportunity to bring a piece of New Orleans to the ‘Burgh and provide affordable living to artists.” The Highland Park location, known as the Pittsburgh Art House (or sometimes the “OG Art House,” citing its status as the first one) has since hosted countless open mics, rock shows, comedy and variety shows, and experimental art projects. The Garfield Art House, founded in 2017, continues the open mic and variety show traditions of the first. On a visit to the Garfield open mic series in December 2018, I received my first tattoo, done by a professional artist while a comedian was “on-stage” in the living room performing a set to a large, enthusiastic crowd. It was an unparalleled experience, largely because of that enthusiasm. Musician and long-time Art House resident, Liss Victory, cites the inclusive and judgement-free environment as to why such strange intimacy can occur. “The space is small, only so many people can fit, and human ingenuity and compassion come to the forefront to make the whole thing work. I’ve also met a lot of people who are less intimidated to come to somebody’s house than they are to go to a bar or venue. People with anxiety or similar issues will find themselves at the Art House (or some house), then build a circle of friends, then progress out into the world with the scene of folks with whom they’ve grown closest. It’s a really beautiful and natural progression to watch. Actually, watching people become more comfortable with themselves and others, then become active members of the arts community, that’s probably my favorite aspect of the intimacy generated by a house show.” Liz Tripoli, co-host of the open mic, admires the openness to experimentation, saying, “I’ve been to other house venues, but I’ve never seen such a comfort level nor such diverse talents.” In this spirit, Tripoli and Victory created the Haus Lab workshop series, in which Sheena Carroll and her band, Sister Sheena and the Shadow Puppets perform @ Garfield Art House

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artists of all genres performed a 5-minute piece, followed by about 10 minutes of group discussion. “The artists get really great feedback and the audience gets to take part and influence others,” Tripoli says. “We loved it so much, that Victory and I turned it into a ‘Fringe’ show that we premiered in Rochester, NY last fall.” This Haus Labinspired show will also be at the 2019 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival. Tripoli doesn’t live at either of the houses but jokes that sometimes it feels like it with how often she is there for events. Besides being an event host, she also acts as resident cook and caterer for many Art House events. To this she says, “The open mics are free to attend, so even if it’s been a rough week, [and] you don’t have time or extra cash to grab something for dinner, whether you’re a vegan or a carnivore or someone with dietary needs, I get to do my best Sicilian mother act to make sure the, “Starving artists” have a bite to eat. You can come empty handed but leave with a full stomach and a sated mind.”

Nick Graybeal (on guitar) and Jacquea Mae @ Highland Park Art House

Victory has cited her experience at the Pittsburgh Art House, where she moved in 2013, as life-changing. She has since moved into the new Garfield Art House with her husband, comedian Krish Mohan. When asked if the Art Houses have rules, she replied, “The rule of Art House is kind of lawlessness! I kind of love it. The ultimate defensive response at the Art House: ‘THIS IS MY ART.’ That said, everyone tries to maintain good relationships with our neighbors, observe noise ordinances (turning down the music at 10 or 11 p.m.), and promote events carefully so we aren’t blatantly violating any laws.” Part of this careful event promotion is the previously mentioned, “Message for address” tactic, which Victory says results in increased safety and a nice level of intimacy. “We can double check who is coming if we don’t know them. And it’s really exciting to go to a new city, find a house show, and message somebody who may become a new friend asking if you can drop by their house! What an adventure!” Ahrens is pleased with the growth and development of the Art Houses, saying, “Many tenants and former tenants have stayed connected with each other for years and collaborated together in many different facets. I have seen bands come together, tons of cross promotion, and even businesses develop that have had a profound impact on the community. It has been immensely gratifying.” Ahrens is in the process of opening a third location on the 5200 block of Penn Avenue, where First Friday attendees will be invited to stop in and share their music, comedy, spoken word, poetry, or improv. The Pittsburgh and Garfield Art Houses may not be the typical house venue experience, with their unique events and 24/7 focus on the arts, inclusiveness, experimentation, and delicious home-cooked meals. According to Tripoli, “All in all, it’s a full-service venue, and if you can’t love that, you just can’t love.”

Liss Victory performs @ Highland Park Art House SPRING 2019

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miss loretta’s corner the time porky chedwick came to lawrenceville Interview and Transcription By: John Dubosky

e were in Lawrenceville at 29th street. Most of the time back in that day there were no TVs unless you were really rich, it was nothing but great big radios in people’s homes. And we would listen to the radio and I kept hearing this station that was playing a lot of black music. They played white music too, it was a mixture. And I wondered, ‘Dag, who is this person” and it turned out his name was Porky Chedwick. He was the DJ. I thought, “He’s gotta be white if his name is Porky Chedwick.” But he was playing black music so I wanted to know more about him. At that time, they had phone booths and it cost a dime to make a call. I was 13 years old. I got the number for the radio station and I went to the phone booth with that dime and I called and I got through.

Mark’s on the corner, across from that was Stanley’s Bar, and then across from that was a restaurant. Miss Ada White who I used to work for at her boarding house was still there, I went to her. I had to ask all these people all the way down to Klavon’s drug store which is Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor now. I went around to grown ups and told them what I was trying to do and they said they’d help me. Finally we went down to the police, the number three police station right down the street at 26th street. So, I went to them, talked to everybody, said what was what, and they agreed to help. We did it on a Friday evening. They blocked Penn Avenue from 29th street to 28th street. It was in the late Spring in 1955. Kids wore penny loafers or we had the black and white buster shoes, which was Pat Boone’s shoe style, black and white. And it was the poodle skirts for the girls. So, we wore that for that dance. I called Mr. porky Cheswick back, told him everything was set and he showed up and we had a great time.

So, I said, “My name is Loretta Allen, and sir, are you black or white?” And he said, “I’m white,” and I said, “Well, why do you play so much black music?” and he said, “Because I really like it and it’s nice. Why do you ask?” I said, “We listen to you and we love it, but why haven’t you ever been to our neighborhood and given us a street dance?“ He said, “No one ever asked me,” so I said, “Well, I’m asking.” He asked me if I could get a street blocked off. He told me the procedures and what to do about the police for the event.

We had kids mingling with one another, we had blacks, we had whites, we had Puerto Ricans, we had Italians, we had Polish people, all the way from 16th Street for this dance. It was the only street dance we ever had down there, and Mr. Porky Cheswick and I got together and I talked with him and he said “That was very nice of you to do this and I hope we meet again,” but I didn’t see him for many years. The next time I met Mr. Porkey Chedwick was five years ago, just before he died. The man that owned Hambone’s on Butler Street, Mr. Bill Hamlet, who has passed himself this year, he had Mr. Porky Chedwick there and I went in as a grown woman and met him. We talked and he said, “You’re the little girl named Loretta,” I guess that was the only time he had a child call him up on the phone and ask him if he was black or white, ha ha. We laughed and joked and we

So, I told him I’d call him back when I had done it. “Will you come?” I asked. He said he would. I asked how much it would cost and he told me if I got the street blocked off, we’ll charge 25 cents a person and then we’d have the street dance and he’d provide all the music. “Who’s going to collect the money?” I asked, and he told me I would be in charge of that too. I agreed. So, I went to the business owners from 29th to 28th street in Lawrenceville. That included the churches that were there, Saint SPRING 2019

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“I’ve always loved organizing the community for good.”

r of ponsoorner S d u A Pro retta’s c o miss l

played old time music right at that bar and sat there and had a wonderful time together.

We had The Te mpt at i ons , we had James Brown, Nancy Wilson, all kinds of people. He played white too. He played Duke of Earl, Soldier Boy, all these kinds of music, it was wonderful. That was the last time I talked to Pork, and then he died. But it was a wonderful thing we were able to do in Lawrenceville. I’ve always loved organizing the community for good. I used to work at a five and dime at 31st street. I used to sweep the store out. I’d get paid every weekend. I worked at T’s drug store across the street, I’d leave there after working as a soda jerk, and go across the street and work sweeping out the store. I was sweeping one day and there was an elderly black lady I knew named Ms. Simmons. In the window of our store was a coat, it was a fake fur. She kept staring and staring at it. She asked me how much it cost because she couldn’t read or write. I told her it was $49.99. She said, “Wow, that’s a lot of money.” So, I asked why she didn’t see if she could pay for it in installments. She asked, “They’ll let us [black people] do that here?” I said, “Yes, ma’am.” They had customers black and white and that’s the first time she came in there. The man told her what she could pay. She didn’t come back for a while and at the time I didn’t think anything of it.

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I saw her a few weeks later and asked her if she got her coat or if she was making payments on it and she said, “I don’t know how to do it.” I asked how much she could give me each week and told her I’d do it for her. She said, “But, I don’t know how to write my name,” so I took care of it for her.

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Years later, when I was much older and married and had my own home, I kept in touch with her. And she and a few other elderly folks were now well into their 60’s but weren’t collecting any social security. These people would come and sit at my table and I’d teach them how to write their name and read out of a Dick and Jane book. Anytime someone in their family would die they would come here and I would help them with an obituary, and help them pay certain bills because I knew they didn’t know how to do it. In my mind was, “How do I help them?” Each day once the kids would leave for school I would take their hand, show them how to write their name Like I was being a school teacher. I’d teach them how to count money properly. And I realized they were on public assistance and I asked why they didn’t have social security, and they had no idea how to do it. So, I went down to the social security office and got all the paperwork and got all of them signed up for it. SPRING 2019

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“God, if you let my light shine, I will let it shine for you the rest of my life.” The checks were coming to them now, they’d bring them to me and I’d show them how to write their names on them and take them down to the bank and get their money. Some of them hadn’t collected in so long they got a back payment of more than a thousand dollars. I took them down into places like the Strip District to show them how to buy things like furniture for their homes. Ms. Simmons was a hundred and some years old when she died, and when she was in the hospital I was a nurse at the time. I was able to go in and be with her and comb her hair and plait it for her. And she was able to write her name and know what it looked like and read a little bit. These elderly people were wonderful people personality-wise, they just didn’t know how to read and write. God had me planned in certain ways to do certain things in Lawrenceville. I liked the idea to open doors for them that they had never seen before. She got that coat she wanted. And she loved that. The idea that she could go in and pay that money for that coat, $49.99. The idea that I could sit down with the elderly and help them to the point that there was a person they could trust to put their money right or to help them with things. Not realizing that they had no knowledge of how to write their name, or to read, back in the day it was rare for one of them to have someone in their family who had a TV. They weren’t reading a magazine or a book because they couldn’t read. I didn’t stop opening doors for people there. That’s what I kept on doing. Everything I went to do it was to open more doors to open more life and see what life held for anyone, everyone, and whoever I touched

or whoever touched me. What experience could I get out of meeting that individual? Just them talking to me. Just the other day a lady wrote me from 42nd street about seeing my column in this magazine, and she said “All the things you’re saying you’ve done, my mother had done some of that,” they were a white family that wasn’t rich, and she said, “I dint like the idea that black and white wouldn’t play together. I didn’t like the idea of people who did the wrong thing to other people,” that was in the letter. I feel good afterwards. God said you’re your brother’s keeper. If I can’t give you food instead of throwing wit away, to me, that’s’ wrong. I think God put me here to help whoever I can help in any way that I can help them. That’s what I want to do. Like I told your readers in a past issue, doctor Klavon sits in my mind so much when I go to doctors and how he jeopardized his practice to come into a black home to save my brother. But he took that oath to help and I took an oath too years ago. I was young. I took an oath at a church, I was eight years old. I went into Saint Mark’s Church, and every Sunday my mother sent me to that church. I had to take and kill a chicken first, ring its neck, put it in this pot of hot water, take the feathers off, bring it to my mother, it was the best chicken in the world. Then I took a bath, put my clothes on and took my sisters to Saint Mark’s across the road. I never learned to ride a bike, I didn’t skate, I never played with dolls, I did real things. I was doing things like grownups did. I think about that oath that doctor Klavon took and how he came through a back alleyway and up steps to give my mother medicine, and didn’t even take money from her and instead took it from my pay working for him later. When I went into that church, I was eight. I said, “God, if you let my light shine, I will let it shine for you the rest of my life.” I think that’s why I do it now, is to let God’s light shine. I hope and pray that I can always let it shine. I will light a candle for God anywhere. And me lighting that candle, to me, is being kind to people, being helpful, being thankful, it’s being good. I want to let my light shine so that it might shine in you.

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STEEL THIS MAGAZINE PRESENTS

our spring dinner party menu CURATED BY THE CHEFS AT CENACOLO RESTAURANT IN IRWIN Introduction By: John Dubosky

ometimes you just get lucky. Such was the case when my photographer, Brian Volinic, and I popped into Cenacolo a few weeks ago. Owner and founder, Steve Salvi, and Cenacolo’s head chef, Josh Toney, were hard at work crafting new recipes for their spring menu, and we were about to sample it. “This one’s good, I think we’re getting close. Here, try it,” Salvi said as he handed Chef Toney a steaming dish from behind a roaring set of burners. Volinic and I sat back and watched as the two craftsmen blended ingredients, some garlic here, some crisped prosciutto there, all in an effort to highlight a new spin on giglio pasta that Salvi has been perfecting. It’s a

green pasta, which is a standard giglio noodle with a subtle, earthy, addition that gives it the verdant presentation: powdered asparagus. “We’re trying to create something that represents a traditional Italian serving of roasted asparagus with a poached egg and some parmesan. It’s like a whole meal, but it’s simple, delicious, and there’s just incredible flavor,” said Salvi as we chewed raw noodles from a recent batch. The noodles are tasty even in their uncooked form, which isn’t surprising coming from Salvi’s pasta company, Fede Pasta. After a few permeations of their concoction, Salvi and Chef Toney are happy with what they’ve plated. Everyone tastes and agrees. This dish is now ready to be part of Cenacolo’s new spring menu that will be up and rolling by the time you’re reading this article. And we’re in luck, because they’ve taught us how to make it, and we’re imparting that knowledge to you, good reader. This dish is perfect for a spring dinner party. A hearty serving of pasta, with the crispness and lightness of al-dente asparagus and green onion, it also can warm a chilly spring evening with a firm and filling pasta, savory browned butter, and smoky prosciutto. Bridgett Dye, Manager at Cenacolo, also whipped up a delicious Strawberry Mule featuring Tito’s Vodka and strawberries, with some basil to compliment the presentation. Steve Salvi sautés in his Irwin kitchen.

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2 Tbs. Butter 2 Cloves Garlic ½ Cup of Fresh Peas 1 Egg, Whipped Shaved Parmesan (For Garnish) Lightly- Crisped Prosciutto (For Garnish) Hard Boiled Egg Yolk (For Garnish) ¼ Cup Sliced Scallions (For Garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS: This is a quick one! Have your necessities prepped beforehand. Slice your scallions, take a few slices of prosciutto and lightly fry them until crispy like little ham chips, and slice open that hard-boiled egg to get to the hardened, orange, center. Then, you can start boiling your pasta in salty water. While the pasta is cooking, drop your butter into a hot pan. Toss in the garlic and let the butter melt and absorb the garlic flavor. Next, we’re going to toss in our asparagus and peas, let them cook for a few minutes until al dente. We’ll finish this off with our whipped egg. This is the tricky part, if you let the egg rest in the hot pan, it will firm up and scramble. We’re after a creamy sauce, not scrambled eggs. So, you’ll want to add this at the last minute, and continuously stir to let the mixture thicken a bit without clumping. Then, we’ll throw in our cooked pasta and a small bit of pasta water to blend the ingredients. Finally, we’re ready to plate. Once plated, you can sprinkle on the scallions and some shaved parmesan. Crumble the prosciutto and sprinkle the crumbles on the dish and lightly grate some of the boiled egg yolk onto the dish. The yellow flecks at the top of this plate really drive home the visual pleasure of this dish, and the texture mixes nicely with the warm flavor of the egg in the pasta sauce.

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TIPS

for ﬁrst time

HOMEBUYERS

Steel This Magazine asked all of the realtors, lenders, and renovation specialists we could find how the heck a first time homebuyer can get a crack at this market. The good news: even in a seller’s market there’s still room for the little guy in a lot of Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

CHRIS MUNDIE – REALTOR - YOUR TOWN REALTY

The best place to start is where we all want to start, on the internet. Familiarize yourself with houses and house prices and neighborhoods, and really know what you’re looking for. Do your research and refine your wants. Also, once you find a property that you love, always get a sewer cam. People think the roof is the big repair to the house; it’s not. Your readers should also know that the fall and winter are not actually that bad of a time to buy or sell a house. The market is a lot slower, and you encounter many fewer situations of multiple offers on properties, but there are still people out there buying houses and selling houses.

TODD STAINBROOK – PRESIDENT – AJM MORTGAGE

What I’m finding is it’s never too early to get pre-approved. A lot of people are coming to us because they’ve found the house of their dreams, we pull their credit, and we find there’s a credit challenge. Had they come to us three months earlier, we could have anticipated this, but in a seller’s market, they’re never going to wait for that. Make sure you get a seasoned real estate agent. You want someone that does this full time. So often people use the acquaintance, or the brother’s friend, and their heart really isn’t in it. You want someone with experience.

JEFF PHILIBIN – BRANCH MANAGER – PRIME LENDING

The renovation happening all over Pittsburgh is an exciting, rapidly-evolving story. The city is full of homes built from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. These houses have tons of history and architecture that buyers appreciate. We’re seeing first time homebuyers purchase & renovate these beautiful old homes with special renovation loans. They are updating these homes with modern kitchens & baths and finishes while retaining their sense of place. They are re-creating and revitalizing the neighborhoods and becoming part of the community.

HEATHER EDMONDSON – REALTOR – KELLER WILLIAMS

If my clients aren’t decided on what area to focus on, I always suggest spending time in the areas that they are considering. Eat at a local restaurant or spend time in a local coffee shop. If trying out your daily commute from your potential neighborhood is an option, that is a great exercise also! If school systems or child care is a consideration, I suggest scheduling a tour of the school or child care center. Doing drive-bys of homes that have caught their eye and making sure that the homes are in line with their expectations is also a good way to narrow it down.

DEANNA DAVIS – REALTOR - KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY PGH EAST.

What I would say is to do your research and actually explore these communities. So, if you ride through Larimer, for example, you don’t understand the total change that’s coming just by driving through town. Do a lot of research; don’t just go on the trends. The Lower Hill, Manchester, Mexican War Streets, those would all have been good investment areas. And when you’re investing, make sure your house is your investment. If you’re buying a house for $100,000, ensure that you will get your $100,000+ if you need to sell it in five years.

R O B

STROHM – REALTOR – COLDWELL BANKER

The thing I have to say to any young buyer is: everybody can afford a piece of real estate. The best thing that you can do is to purchase a piece of property when you’re young. It teaches you to manage your money, you know you have $500 you have to put away each month for your mortgage, you’re building for your future and when you leave, you have something you can sell. The first mortgage you get is the hardest, after that, it’s easier. If you get a 30-year mortgage and you make four extra mortgage payments a year, that brings you down to an 11-year mortgage. And don’t worry about a percentage point of interest here or there, get into your property as soon as you can, just get in! If interest rates drop, you’ll refinance, if they go up, you’ll be happy with your lower rate.

You Can

Purchase & Renovate

How they finance the homes you see on TV

eople think that buying and renovating a home it is something other people do. No, it’s something you can easily do. You just haven’t because you don’t know how. All you need is a good guide who specializes in renovation financing. It’s easier than you think! Look for an ugly kitchen. Or bad bath. That’s right, when you’re hunting for the perfect house, (spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist), look for a home you kind of like in your favorite neighborhood. When you see something that other buyers are passing on because it’s in apparent need of too much work, you should see it as your opportunity. The fact is, even in a booming market, your options are always going to be limited. You need a guide with imagination who can help you create the house you can’t find. Fortunately for you, most home buyers don’t even consider renovation as a possibility for their budget. We lend on the projected, as-completed value and condition of your home. We see what you see: A property with potential. We promise you, it’s way more fun than you may think. This is doable and budget-friendly. And instead of doing it yourself over the course of years (and credit card debt) your contractor can begin immediately after closing, and enjoy it for years to come.

TRUE OR FALSE? • Buying & Renovating A Home Is Out Of Reach Unless You Have A Ton Of Cash • PrimeLending Helps First Time Home Buyers Purchase & Renovate Homes All Over Pittsburgh Every Month • I Have To Find The Perfect House.. Or Settle • I Can Turn Almost Any House Into The House I’ve Been Looking For • Renovation Loans Are Messy

FALSE TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE

Michel Wright Loan Officer NMLS 742833

Jeff Philibin

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(we love doing them!)

Want to know more? For a FREE

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2516 Jane Street, Suite 201 | Pittsburgh, PA 15203 | 412.690.7155

All loans subject to credit approval. Rates and fees subject to change. ©2018 PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company. (NMLS: 13649) Equal Housing Lender. PrimeLending is a wholly owned subsidiary of a state-chartered bank and is an exempt lender in PA. v010918

Buying or Selling a home in today’s market can be tough. tough That’s why you need Rob Strohm’s PASSION and EXPERIENCE to help you every step of the way. Rob has over 25 years of experience helping people like you sell and buy homes right here in Pittsburgh.

rstrohm@coldwellbanker.com facebook.com/robstrohmsells Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services are independent contractor agents and are not employees of the Company. Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. 410568PIT_7/18

TIPS

for ﬁrst time HOMEBUYERS

JULIE BLOCK – REALTOR – RE/MAX SELECT REALTY

One interesting thing we suggest for the typical homebuyer is to let them look for their dream home and dial it back 30%. People seem to want about 30% more than they can afford. You need to look at competing priorities. It’s the art of listening for us. We probably save time, five or six houses, by just sitting down for a cup of coffee before going to see a house. Getting to know people, their goals, and why they’re buying, with that in mind, we help people navigate this, and find out what is going to meet their goals in the home. We encourage people to shop as much as they like on apps like Zillow before they go out to buy. While a lot of information on real estate apps is slow and inaccurate, they’re a great way to get to know neighborhoods and markets. People who shop around a bit are better prepared to move more quickly.

MICK MARINO – PA MANAGING BROKER – EXP REALTY

Get pre-approved with a lender who does their underwriting up front. Buyers have a tendency to think they can afford more than they really can. They’ll look at a house, get excited, apply for the application, start spending money on inspections, get denied, and it breaks their heart. By being pre-approved that lender will tell you what price range you qualify for and what sort of seller’s assist you qualify for. They should investigate with different lenders if they have any first time homebuyer programs that can help with funding, down payments, assistance, because some lenders have them and some don’t.

RYAN EDMONDSON – REALTOR – KELLER WILLIAMS

I think the most important thing for first time home buyers to do is to establish the right mindset from the beginning. Buying a home is an emotional process, but it is not a life or death situation. Buyers shouldn’t put too much pressure on themselves to find the “perfect” home that checks all of their boxes. And they should try not to get too attached to a home until they have it under agreement and have had it inspected to determine that it is in good condition. In the current market, buyers are likely to miss one or two homes to bidding wars before they end up winning one. As disappointed as my clients have been immediately after losing out in a bidding war, I’ve NEVER had one say they wished they would have won in an earlier negotiation rather than ending up with the house that they eventually purchased. There is always another one around the corner.

DENISE BUNGER – REALTOR – KELLER WILLIAMS

Affordability is the number one thing that I love about this market. As someone who spent most of my adult life on the West Coast and literally moved from the Bay Area to take advantage of housing affordability in Washington State, it’s very easy to appreciate housing prices in Pittsburgh. My daughter bought a house at 23 in this market. She would not have been able to do that in the Bay Area or most other West Coast markets of this size. Not only are homes more affordable here, but there is plenty of opportunity to restore older homes to their former glory and beyond. I’m excited to see areas like Garfield, Bloomfield, Wilkinsburg, Homewood and others going through this transition - some more slowly than others, but still, it’s happening. In conjunction with neighborhoods transitioning and being restored, I like that neighborhoods that may have been traditionally inhabited by only one or two ethnicities, are now more diverse. It feels more open and inclusive than the Pittsburgh I remember as a kid. We’ve got miles to go, but it feels like we’re headed in the right direction.

LAUREN KLINE – REALTOR – COLDWELL BANKER

My best advice is to organize all of the items in my, “Prepare for Mortgage Application” form, on my website, PittsburghPropertyDiva.com, so when the time comes to make your application, you have everything organized and ready to go. The mortgage process is unhinging for most, and the more organized you are out of the gate, the easier everything will be during the process. Then, buyers can focus on being excited! Manage your credit and DO NOT make any major purchases or open any new credit cards during the transaction period. Last, but certainly not least, make sure you have an excellent/experienced agent!

MAGGIE JAYSON – REALTOR – RE/MAX SELECT REALTY

I sit down with new buyers and have a conversation as to where they will be working, what type of neighborhood is important to them, and what’s on their wish list. We also cover their price range. I ask that they speak to a lender of their choice to begin the process of understanding closing costs, mortgage rates, monthly payments, and explain the tax structure in our local area. It’s best that they have an understanding of all of the expenditures. And certainly it can take some time to absorb. I find a good lender will work with buyers either meeting them in person or talking to them over the phone. I always recommend this form of communication rather than the hasty emailing.

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domestic kidnapping I

n 1932, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the twenty-monthold son of the famous aviator was kidnapped and killed. In 1953, Robert Greenleese, Jr., the son of a wealthy Cadillac dealer from Kansas City, was kidnapped and killed. In cases such as these, when a child disappears and there are no witnesses or clues, you are most likely dealing with an abduction and in some instances a demand for money.

St. Patrick’s Day and he was to take them to the parade and later to dinner, but he never returned my children. He drove off with the children in some sort of vehicle. Since then, I have learned he does not have a car and his license is suspended. He is supposedly getting around on a motorcycle. He used to be on drugs, but I have been told he is no longer using drugs. I have no proof of this.”

It is an entirely different situation when a parent calls to report that a child has been kidnapped by the husband or the wife. Custody fights often come to the attention of the police. The most illustrative case involving a custody fight was that of the Sam McClain family.

She blamed herself for the abduction. Unquestionably, the woman was foolish to have placed so much trust in her exhusband. But any one of us is capable of making bad decisions, and from what I gathered in my interview with Leila McClain, she was a good person and a good mother in every sense of the word. I wanted to help her.

It was a spring-like day, the year was 1969. The women in the office were actively engaged in telephone conversations. Two runaway females were being interviewed and the police scanner was continuously reporting on activities on the streets. A young attractive Pittsburgh stenographer named Leila McClain was escorted into my office by Officer Eileen O’Connor. From the looks of her, I could sense she was troubled. “Captain Rocco,” she said, “I was referred to you by my sister, June DiConcillis.” “Yes,” I said, “June is my neighbor and I often see her at church. It’s amazing how much you look like her.” “We are twins,” she said. She began sobbing and it took a while before she regained her composure. She told me, “My husband, Sam, has kidnapped my sons, Danny and Sammy, ages seven and nine. We are divorced and I have legal custody of the boys. He was granted visitation rights under supervision. Against my lawyer’s advice, I permitted Sam to take the children without supervision. It was

Parental kidnappings do not normally receive the same attention as children who disappear without leaving a clue. But it was very obvious that Sammy and Danny McClain were with the wrong parent. Mrs. McClain said, “I hired a private detective. I contacted my congressman and my senator. I wrote a letter to the president. Nothing has helped. Your name was mentioned by many people.” With a pitiful expression on her face, she pleaded, “You are my last resort, please help me.” Distraught and consumed with grief, she managed to provide me with the necessary information to begin the investigation. A background check of Samuel McClain confirmed the suspension of his automobile and motorcycle driving privileges. We also confirmed that he was a drug abuser. Divorce records verified that Leila was a victim of abuse. The courts awarded her full custody of the children, with limited privileges for Sam. While I was capable of obtaining this information with little effort, I also had a stroke of luck when I learned that Sam SPRING 2019

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McClain had a lady friend who had also vanished. None of her friends or relatives was able to provide any information concerning her whereabouts. It was apparent that her departure from her residence had been cleverly arranged. She left no forwarding address with the postal authorities, the telephone company, or movers. She did not give a resignation notice or a reason for leaving to any of her coworkers. Her employment supervisor was stymied “I hope nothing serious has happened to her,” she said. Several of her coworkers were questioned and reported that she had been seeing a man named Sam. It was evident I was on the right track, but there were no clues leading me to the whereabouts of Danny and Sammy. When Leila was given the information, she registered no surprise in learning that he was with a woman. I now considered the possibility that they were traveling as a family. I mentioned this to Leila and quickly regretted it, because Leila began to sob, saying, “I am their mother.” “Of course you are,” I answered. “However, the boys will be more likely to get registered in a school if they are part of a family.” Leila’s eyes widened. “Do you think so?” “Of course,” I said. “You can’t float around with children forever. Eventually they will have to settle down and get registered in a school. Sammy and Danny are going to get a lot of attention in any neighborhood if they are not attending school.” I could see a glimmer of hope in Leila’s eyes. Unquestionably, the abduction had been well planned. However, I was determined to beat them at their game. In the past, I relied on the Board of Education to help me locate missing children. Previously I had found the two small missing children of the Honorable Judge James McGregor in a school thousands of miles away from the State of Pennsylvania. Leila made frequent visits to the office and called once or twice a day. I was becoming concerned about her physical and emotional well-being. It is not unusual for parents to fall apart under these circumstances. However, Leila was beginning to give up any hope of ever seeing Danny and Sammy again. I now had

the additional responsibility of restoring her hopes. Leila’s unexpected appearance in my office one warm June day enabled me to observe her closely. “Leila,” I asked, “shouldn’t you be at work?” With her head bowed, making attempts not to face me, she said, “I have asked for a leave of absence because I am unable to concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing. My supervisor is very supportive.” Leila impressed me as being a competent stenographer, considering the number of years she was employed by the same company. I looked at her and said, “I think it is important that you keep busy and concentrate on positive thoughts concerning your children.” And then I added, “Leila, I have an idea and there is a good possibility that it may work.” “Will it help locate my children?” she asked. “I certainly hope so,” I answered. “I am going to put you to work.” Leila looked at me without knowing what to say. Within the next week, an office had been set up in the home of Leila McClain. Her family, friends, and neighbors pitched in to distribute thousands of flyers to police departments and boards of education throughout the country. Typewriters pounded from morning to night. Neighbors brought food, others folded envelopes, and still others carried bundles of flyers to the post office. I kept providing more and more addresses for police departments and boards of education. I personally communicated with authorities in California, Arizona, Alaska, Canada, and other places where Sam McClain was known to have been. Leila was recovering her energy and optimism. Although no good results were forthcoming at this time, our faith and determination were evident. Sam McClain was a successful businessman. His profession had familiarized him with all corners of the universe. What were our chances of discovering McClain’s secret hideout? Several months passed and I continued to SPRING 2019

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supply Leila with addresses. Leila did not become discouraged; instead, she grew more determined. It was a monumental task for police investigators to reach out to sources throughout the country. We did not have the technical advantages that the police have today. There was no Internet, no computers, no cell phones. We felt like we were dragging sacks through a desert. After a while, my instincts told me that we had probably contacted every board of education in the country without success. Nonetheless, I had a feeling that something was going to happen soon. On December 9, 1969, I felt like going for a swim and decided to take a walk after work to the YMCA on Wood Street. After an enjoyable swim, I dressed and returned to the office where I exchanged a few words with Officer Lucinda Pearson, who was working the afternoon shift. As I walked into my office, the phone rang. I picked it up and said, “Hello, Missing Persons, Captain Rocco speaking. “ A very strong male voice responded, “Good. I want to talk to you. My name is George Wilson and I am the principal of an elementary school in Seattle, Washington. I am looking at a flyer that I received with your name on it inquiring about two missing children. The boys, Danny and Sammy, are students in my school. They are going by their real first names but their surname is different. The children have been here since September 1, 1969.” I immediately expressed my appreciation for this long-awaited phone call. I explained to Mr. Wilson that the children had been taken away by their father in complete violation of a court order, and that the woman who was representing herself as their mother was also being sought as a missing person. I asked him if he would cooperate with us in a plan to return the children to Pennsylvania. He provided me with an address where they were living and maintained that he would continue his support in any way he could. Immediately upon ending the conversation, I sat and considered the best strategy to return the boys to their mother. There were, of course, complicated legal issues that would have to be addressed and

so I called Robert Dugan, the district attorney of Allegheny County. After I briefed him on the McClain investigation, he said, “Therese, if you take this to the Seattle authorities, you will have a very difficult time returning these boys to the State of Pennsylvania.” I had already considered that—I did not want any delays to result in the children being placed in the custody of child welfare—and had thanked the school principal for not calling the police right away.

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“Bob,” I asked, “what advice can you give me?” He said, “Follow your instincts.” I thought to myself that it was exactly what I wanted to do.

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My heart was beating rapidly as I made the phone call to deliver the news. I knew there would be an emotional response. “Hello,” I said, “this is Captain Rocco. Is Leila there?” An elderly woman responded, “Yes, yes!” Leila never knew what to expect whenever I called. I felt certain she was not expecting to hear what I was about to tell her. “Leila, I know where your boys are.” There was silence and then she let out a scream and before saying anything else, she began to cry. It took her a while to regain her composure. The joyous outburst of her family members could be heard in the background, and I was overwhelmed with emotion, knowing that I had lifted the heart of a grieving mother. “Where are they? “she asked. “They are in Seattle, Washington, and they are fine.” I advised her that I would get back to her shortly with a plan. The following morning, Leila, accompanied by Patrick Hillebrecht, an off duty detective, took the first flight to Seattle. They arrived early in the day and Leila waited in their rented car as Detective Hillebrecht went into the school to meet with the principal. The principal provided him with the address of where the children were currently living. Sitting in the car parked near the residence, Leila and the detective discussed their strategy. They spent the entire night watching e a large bay window in the house, which gave them ample opportunity to witness McClain and his mistress moving about, but not the children. This alarmed Leila until Detective Hillebrecht explained, “You can’t see them because they are not tall enough to be seen in the window.” The following morning at 8:15, Leila saw Danny and Sammy for the first time in nine months leaving the house and walking down the slight hill to the sidewalk. She opened the car door and waited until they had reached level ground and turned into the street where she was parked. When the boys were very close, Leila jumped out of the car and called, “Danny! Sammy!” As they looked up, they recognized their mother and screamed, “Mommy,” and ran into her arms. Leila was anxious as they waited at the airport to board the plane for the return flight to Pittsburgh. But the happy travelers arrived in Pittsburgh that evening without incident and were met by members of their family and all of the wonderful people who had helped the Missing Persons Bureau to bring this investigation to a successful conclusion. This story commanded the attention of the Pittsburgh Press, which commended me for playing “Santa”— bringing a mother the two best gifts she could have ever imagined.

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pwsa, sinkholes, instagram, and the disappearing orange cone By: Amy Maurine Edwards

A divot in the pavement on Dobson Street in Polish Hill was noticeable to drivers in January of 2019. By February, it had spread to an indentation the size of a bathtub though it had a depth of only a few inches. Next, a hole opened up within the depression and a cone was placed inside. Within a week, the cone was swallowed by the hole. During the repair a few weeks later, children skirted Road Closed signs as they unloaded from the school bus stop on the steep and heavily trafficked incline of Herron Avenue, scattering like leaves into the winter wind. According to a road worker in a yellow safety vest minding the barricade at the intersection of Herron and Dobson Street, the sinkhole was, “Caused by a collapsed sewer line and was being repaired by a PWSA sub-contractor.” “No one contacted us that the work would be done and they cut us off completely from the sinkhole to the water main. But the biggest problem was the buses getting stuck,” said Chris Laffoon, owner of Kaibur Coffee Shop, located a block from the site of the Polish Hill sinkhole. Customers sip Earl Grey tea and iced coffee, and click away on their keyboards as he prepares my matcha latte and relates the experience. The stop for the 54 bus sits directly in front of his coffee shop at the corner of Hancock and Dobson Streets. Many riders will pop in for a warm beverage or vegan pastry while waiting for the bus. “It’s crazy that they weren’t communicating with the buses and many people had to walk further after the buses just stopped coming,” said Laffoon. Riders, without notice, had to then walk SPRING 2019

(or run) to the two other closest bus stops, depending on which bus they had to catch. “That’s probably why it’s been so slow over the past weeks—ever since they’ve been working on it,” adds MJ Dough, cook and pastry chef, plating a vegan Reuben and whisking it away to the back room. Upstairs from Kaibur Coffee Shop is Cruel Noise Records, “A second floor underground loosey-goosey record shop that sells music, art, experience,” according to owner/operator John Villegas. Commuting most days to his business by bike, Villegas notes that though his business was not affected by the construction, he almost, “Sunk into [the hole]” at night, not knowing that it was there. The metal sheets are slippy/scary when wet, especially at night,” notes Villegas, adding that he has fallen on one of those before while mounting his bike. Progressively caffeinated by green tea (yes, I am that person), my focus wavers and I start to click through my phone, finding myself in the familiar and mindless scroll of Instagram. In searching for PWSA, the first account that pops up is @pwsasinkholes. Their profile states, “Shitty service. Shittier Water. Documenting some of the finest sinkholes lead based water can create. Now also featuring water main breaks. DM [direct message] pics.” They have 1,013 followers with only 149 posts. I noticed that many of my own friends on Instagram were following the account and scrolled through. Pictures ranged from those of small depressions to full-on road collapses, some with entire vehicles inside of them.

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Many were disconcerting, but others were meant to be funny. Posted on December 6th, 2018: a woman in an orange shirt, glasses, and sandals is sitting inside a smaller sinkhole and is captioned, “TBT [Throw Back Thursday] to sandal and sinkhole weather.” According to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, “Sinkholes result from the erosion of bedrock and subsurface material at the site of the hole. Heavy rainfall, mining, excessive pumping of groundwater and failure of utility lines, including water and storm sewer lines, can promote sinkhole development.” The sinkholes most apparent to us in the city of Pittsburgh appear on road surfaces and should be differentiated from the enormous potholes for which our fine city is infamous. Many times a pothole can be the first sign of a sinkhole, but there are different factors at work that will transform and/or distinguish one from the other. The Pittsburgh Department of Public Works website, under the section of potholes, states that: “Pothole patching is a year-round activity which is performed by the Maintenance Divisions. Each of the Area Divisions is responsible for handling all the pothole patching complaints and requests that are received in their respective areas. Each has one or two asphalt crews that perform the work.” Robert A. Weimar, the Director of the Pennsylvania Water and Sewer Authority, noted in an Op-Ed for the Pittsburgh PostGazette that, “2018 officially is the wettest year on record in Pittsburgh, with 57.83 inches of rain descending on our city. The previous record was set in 2004 with 57.41 inches. For a region that typically gets close to 38 inches a year, 2018 delivered nearly 50 percent more than normal.” This is a ubiquitous and sometimes dangerous problem throughout the city. As you sit and wait for yet another tire to be replaced, sometimes you just have to scroll through your phone and laugh. As I was doing just this a few months ago, the @pwsasinkholes account crossed my mind

and I pulled it up, emboldened and perhaps desperately annoyed, and smashed that message button. The owner of the account, to my surprise, did write back. They prefer to remain anonymous and below is a word-for-word account of our messages. @pwsasinkholes - August 1, 2018 - January 8, 2019; 126 posts; 1,000 followers; 69 following What prompted/inspired you to start this page? Do you have personal experience with these issues?

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“I kept seeing sinkholes around town that weren’t being taken care of. I figured it would be fun to document them and caption them. Instagram made the most sense for some reason. (I hate Twitter, Facebook is for your parents and grandparents, and Tumblr is too much work, especially from a mobile phone.) As for my personal experience with PWSA, I had to replace a lead line. It was thousands of dollars. I have friends and neighbors that spent more than $10,000 for a sewer line replacement.’ “I understand that the pipes in my house are mine and not the city’s responsibility, but, when you are beyond the sidewalk and into the street, that is now the homeowner’s responsibility. I don’t know what year that changed, but it was before I was born. In most other municipalities in Allegheny County or nationally, that’s the city’s responsibility. They have a surplus budget and higher tax revenue than in the past. Increasing water bills and doing a poor job at infrastructure improvements isn’t the solution. The amount of water that they lose is astronomical. They are just a horrible disaster and this needs to be known by all.’ “What also concerned me was that the city was working to privatize water. Kevin SPRING 2019

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Acklin was Mayor Peduto’s Chief of Staff and didn’t stick with it for a second term because he wanted a higher paying job. That job was as the Attorney for Peoples Gas, who were working to buy out PWSA. That plan was exposed by a few newspaper articles and he took a job as the Attorney for the Penguins, probably to deal with the Lower Hill/ Civic Arena development site.” How does the Instagram format differ from traditional news media (where one would typically find info about infrastructure deterioration) and why is it useful for disseminating this information and spurring discussion? What are its drawbacks? I don’t see this as a news outlet. It’s just a meme account without memes. This is a PWSA information account, along with a gallery of Pittsburgh sinkholes. Google is a great source to learn about Pittsburgh’s decaying infrastructure. What is the most surprising thing or action that has happened as a result of curating this account? Good, bad, productive, funny? Top three moments were when Peoples Gas followed the account, when Kevin Acklin followed it, and when we reached 1000 followers. How many hours a day/ week do you spend doing research for and posting on this account? That varies and is hard to put a number on. I spend a lot of time reading local news articles. At the beginning, a lot of time was spent finding and archiving photos of sinkholes. Now, followers send them or tag them. It is happening very naturally now. *** The overall take of the account, from posts to comments, could be described as snarky - but this is not wholly unwarranted. There are serious problems with infrastructure locally, as well as nationwide. With a variety of contributing factors, many cities struggle to keep up. I reached out to PWSA to get their side of the story. How has the increased rainfall impacted PWSA lines citywide? Do your numbers show an increase in line failures with this stress on the system, or other prominent issues? Last year was the wettest year on record with 57.83 inches of rain— nearly 16 inches more than 2017 and almost 20 inches more than our average of 38 inches. Not only are we experiencing more rain, the storms are also growing in intensity and frequency, which can place additional stress on the sewer system if stormwater is entering too quickly.

Our goal is to keep as much stormwater as possible out of the system to slow down the flow of runoff and reduce occurrences of basement backups, roads flooding, and raw sewage from entering our rivers. The stormwater project recently completed at Melwood and Finland in Polish Hill is designed to reduce the risk of runoff. New curb lines, additional stormwater inlets, and bioretention features with underground storage help to slow and hold back the flow of water before it enters the sewer system. This is an example of the projects we are doing around the city to better manage stormwater. The project at Melwood and Finland is estimated to manage 1.2 million gallons of runoff annually. When a line fails under a road surface, is there any way to know that it has occurred before water is visible or a sinkhole forms? For example, in the neighborhood this article focuses on—the sinking road surface on Dobson St. at Harding St. steps in Polish Hill. On a day-to-day basis there is not a way to tell when a line fails. We are televising the sewer lines throughout the city, and this gives us some idea of their condition. However, we have 1,200 miles of sewer lines and it’s an ongoing process to document them all. We use CCTV’s to televise our lines. It’s a closed circuit video inspection of the sewer lines. We send a camera into a manhole. It inspects the length of the sewer and the sewer laterals within it. The inspection is recorded and we can view videos of the inspection to understand the condition of the sewer. What are the mechanics by which a depression in the road, a, “Sinkhole,” forms if it is caused by a sewer or water line failure? What are other causes? Many factors contribute to a depression in the road, including the ground movement, erosion, type of soil, (some types cause more seepage), condition of the road, (some roads have no base, meaning that it’s an unimproved road with asphalt on top) and the age of the pipe. The collapsed sewer at Dobson and Herron was built in 1897— it was 122 years old, so the age and condition of the pipe was most likely a factor in its collapse. When these depressions/sinkholes are repaired, is this a joint effort by PWSA, DPW, etc.? What is the approach and has it proven successful and sufficient? If the depression or sinkhole is caused by a sewer or water main break, then it’s PWSA’s responsibility to fix. This particular break was PWSA’s responsibility. There are some instances where we do partner with other agencies, usually when there is no clear delineation of responsibility. These issues are handled on a caseby-case basis.

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DATING PROFILE

TIPS By: Varsha Mathur of Luxe In Love Coaching

I regularly review online dating profiles for clients and hear about their dating stories. I hear the good, the bad, and the very ugly stories about online dating. But it really does not have to be so hard. Here are 5 reasons why your profile may be overlooked by potentially great matches:

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You can be the funniest, most charming and beautiful person ever, but if you have spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, men and women will swipe past your profile. This is especially important for those apps that only let you put one or two sentences on your profile. If you’re being funny or interesting but the comma in the sentence is in the wrong place, you may just come across as a fool. Absolutely do not use abbreviations like, LOL, GSOH, STR. Most people who work with me want long term relationships, these abbreviations come off as childish, and as if you are in a rush which don’t represent solid relationship skills.

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Whether you’re describing yourself or describing the ideal partner, no one cares about your ability to recite the thesaurus. Instead, just be real. Tell people what you like to do, what you like to eat, watch and play. Are you a foodie? Do you travel? Have dinners with family? Go a step further and describe the action involved with things you enjoy. For example, Instead of: “I like to hang out with my friends.” Try this: “Last time at the bar with my buddies; we won trivia night!” Instead of: “I love to travel.” Try this: “When in France, I always eat at my favorite bakery.” Instead of: “I like walks, and love my dog.” Try this: “My dog is a regular at Schenley Park.” Statements like these are packed with information. How active you are, how clever, or well-traveled is more interesting if read this way rather than being told bluntly.

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Many of us have some part of our body that we just don’t want to expose. That is fine. But think about it, eventually, your perfect match will be seeing that part of your body. I mean, even on a first date, they are going to get a really good look at you. So, get it out of the way right there on your profile and put a picture of yourself, your whole self. Of course, it is important that it be a current and flattering picture, but be honest. Smile and show a picture of yourself doing something that interests you. Pictures of a sport you play, while visiting a museum, or enjoying time with your friends are all good options.

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Make sure the information and pictures are current, and update your profile regularly. My rule of thumb is that no picture should be more than six months old. Ideally, post pictures that are current for the season. Try pictures like skiing or in front of a Christmas tree, autumn foliage, at the beach or cooking at home with fresh vegetables. This way the person viewing can relate based on what they are experiencing, too. Update your profile if you make any changes to your look.

YOU SEEM JUDGEMENTAL.

Describing your ideal partner may seem presumptuous and is really impossible with a limited amount of space on a profile. Instead of talking about the parameters that your partner should fit within, describe yourself. Use phone calls and dates to decide whether a person is right for you. Leave that in your control and allow people to reach out to you based only on who you are. For example, if you say “must love dogs” and a great match is allergic, they may swipe on by. However, if you describe your relationship with your dog to show how fun and loving you are, a person may consider taking allergy meds regularly just to be with a great person like you. No one wants to see a list describing your ideal partner just so they can check off 8 out of 10 things and feel like a “B average” date.

Varsha is a dating & relationship coach at her company, KnowingLuxe™. Clients ask me to review their profiles often and the things that stand out to me are often the same across the board. It is amazing how an outside eye can improve the overall look and feel of your profile. If you have any questions, I would love to hear them. Feel free to message me on social media or by email. www.LuxeInLoveCoaching.com

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to me, accessibility feels like an afterthought in pittsburgh development First-person essay by Heather Tomko

aving spinal muscular atrophy means that I’ve never been able to walk. I’ve used a wheelchair since I was about 3 years old. I rely on help from others for many parts of my day — bathing, getting dressed, making my meals and just generally getting around. I still try to be independent however I can. Growing up, I went to public school and took classes with my peers. I lived in the dorms with the rest of the students in college. I work as a research coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh and am pursuing my master’s degree in public health. But for most of my life, I’ve had to learn to get around in a city, and a society, that is not very accessible to me. Pittsburgh has been doing a lot of work to make itself a city that champions diversity and inclusion. It’s also gained national attention as a place of innovation, where new residents and visitors can see how old neighborhoods are redeveloping. Yet with all these changes and new attention, I don’t feel that the city always takes disability into account.

Something as simple as a trip to a coffee shop can be filled with obstacles. I have specific paths I need to take when I’m navigating my wheelchair in Oakland and paths that I avoid at all costs. I have a map in my head of which sidewalks have the least cracks for my wheelchair to pass. Drivers of cars worry about potholes on roads, but I worry about the equivalent on the sidewalk. I will wait an extra turn at a crosswalk if it means I’ll be taking the flatter path to my destination, rather than the turbulent one. If it snows, the city’s plows often push huge piles of snow right into the curb cuts that I use to cross the street. I may end up having to walk outside in the cold an extra block or two until I find one that’s clear enough for me to use. Then, when I get to the coffee shop, I have to wait outside until someone else walks by and I can ask them to let me in. There’s no automatic button for me to press. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 guarantees my rights to access. It requires places like schools, restaurants,

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stores, even sporting arenas, to make reasonable accommodations for me so that I’m able to use them. And there’s no grandfather clause in the law, so older buildings are covered just like newer ones. If this is all true, and the ADA was enacted almost 30 years ago, you may be wondering why I’m still encountering so many places that are inaccessible to me. Yes, Pittsburgh is an old city and a geographically challenging one, too. Entrances to older buildings have a step, or a few steps, to get in. That’s a problem for my wheelchair. But it’s not only older establishments posing problems. I’ve also encountered new or newly renovated buildings that are still inaccessible. For instance, Steel Cactus in Shadyside requires climbing a flight of stairs to enter. I’ve learned the hard way that I have to confirm the accessibility of each and every single new restaurant I want to try. There is nothing worse than being excited for a night out only to get there and find out you can’t get in. Adam DeSimone, one of the owners of Steel Cactus, explained that the company spent 15 percent of renovation costs on accessibility, including accessible bathrooms, and that the restaurant is in compliance with building code for accessibility. “Our South Side location does have an elevator and is wheelchair accessible,” DeSimone said.Yet an accessible bathroom doesn’t help me if I can’t get in the building, and an elevator at the South Side location doesn’t do much for me if my friends and I are looking for somewhere to eat on Walnut Street. Imagine standing outside a restaurant on a rainy Saturday night, scrambling to find a nearby alternative that is accessible and isn’t fully booked. As a senior in college, I learned that many of the bars that my classmates were going to in Oakland and on the South Side simply weren’t options for me. Unfortunately, protections under the ADA are vague. The law requires reasonable accommodations to be made, but doesn’t specify what “reasonable” means. If someone with a disability comes across an inaccessible building, their options are to sue or to file a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. The onus is all on the person with a disability to enforce compliance. But just following the ADA is not enough. As explained by Jess Benham, the director of public policy at the Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, the standards set by the ADA are pretty low. She noted that the law is important “but doesn’t really guarantee the rights of people with disabilities the way people think that it does.” For example, the ADA allows a restaurant to put the accessible entrance around the back, where I have to go through the kitchen just to get to my table. This meets the letter of the law – I’m able to access the restaurant and have a meal there – but it does not make me feel like a valued customer. As a college student, I loved going to a noodle restaurant in Oakland, but I had to send a friend to the front entrance to ask the host to unlock the delivery door, where I was waiting. “I don’t feel that the city always takes disability into account.” “We need to go beyond the ADA,” Benham said. “...and it’s also about attitudes and stigma. Are we treated with respect or treated as lesser than?” Market Square was recently overhauled to make it a pedestrian oasis of sorts but does not seem to take wheelchair-using pedestrians into account. There are curb cuts, but the paths are mostly cobblestone ones. For me, that’s the bumpiest, most SPRING 2019

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uncomfortable ride, and I will actually go out of my way in the square if it means that I can avoid even 15 seconds of cobblestone. The ADA doesn’t specifically mention cobblestones, of course, but I don’t think of Market Square as the paragon of accessibility for someone with mobility issues. Some businesses include accessibility during remodeling but don’t seem to understand what it actually means. Local disability advocate DJ Stemmler ran into this exact situation a few years ago at Sushi Fuku in Oakland.

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The building required patrons to climb a single step to get into the building. When Stemmler posted about the lack of accessibility on a Facebook page she runs, the owner was upset – he had made the inside of the building fully accessible and didn’t understand why he was being called out. The two spoke at a meeting of Accessible Oakland, an advocacy organization co-founded by Stemmler. The owner offered to carry her wheelchair up the step, but when Stemmler explained that it was too heavy and a safety issue, he seemed to understand. “We looked each other in the eye across the table and, at that moment, he understood the problem, and we understood that he wasn’t the problem,” Stemmler said. He bought a temporary ramp to make the location accessible to wheelchair users and then worked through the city permit process to get a permanent ramp installed. “Working with DJ, I learned that a business needs to be accessible from the outside to the inside,” Yen said. “It made me fully aware of accessibility situations.” He has since ensured that all of his businesses, two Sushi Fuku locations and Fuku Tea, are fully accessible.

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Accessibility consultant Joan Stein explained that business owners often don’t understand what ADA compliance looks like. In particular, they may assume they’re OK because they’ve been issued city permits — but the city doesn’t enforce federal law. “Business owners typically feel blindsided after they receive a complaint,” Stein explained, “and they say that they’ve already gotten a city permit.”

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Josie Badger, the campaign manager for the #IWantToWork advocacy campaign, said businesses may be meeting the letter of the law, but they’re often lacking common sense. She cited the example of putting an accessible bathroom in a building that is not wheelchair accessible because it requires a step to get in.

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Badger pointed out that a few places in the city champion inclusion, including the Warhol Museum, which has tailored tours and events like inclusive silent discos to be accessible for visitors with sensory issues and autism. “What they’ve done is outstanding,” she said.

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Pittsburgh’s government has made efforts to improve accessibility, and Richard Meritzer served as ADA coordinator beginning in 2007 until he died in February.

“A consultancy of people with disabilities would be great to see, not just on the ADA but on actual usability and feasibility,” she said. “It’s not the laws that create access; it’s the people.”

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Meritzer championed the “One Step” program, which provides resources to businesses to remove barriers to entry. Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said the city’s planning department is studying the position and expects to seek new candidates in the spring. “The coordinator has long worked closely with the Mayor’s Office and will continue to do so in the future,” McNulty wrote in an email. Stein said she believes the one-step barrier is the No. 1 issue to address moving the needle on accessibility in the city. Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] evidently appears to agree. The URA board voted in February to waive the guidelines of the Storefront Renovation Program (SRP) to allow for accessibility improvements in line with the One Step program. Previously, the funding from the SRP was allocated to improve the physical appearance of a storefront. Tom Link, director of the URA’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, explained that the authority saw the need for accessibility renovations and that this waiver would provide direct funding to help with accessibility.

Benham said Pittsburgh has made improvements but still has a long way to go. “Success will come when we can acknowledge that disability exists, but not discriminate against it, and when people with disabilities are able to find jobs, be represented in places of power, find affordable housing and be as successful in education as their able-bodied peers,” Benham said. Pittsburgh is developing rapidly. But I don’t see people with disabilities being considered in these changes until it’s too late. Take for example the bike lanes that take away handicapped parking spots. Progress on one front that takes away from another group isn’t real progress. Pittsburgh constantly touts its status as one of the most livable cities in the nation. For people with disabilities, that’s still far from being true. Heather Tomko is a public health researcher and the founder of Accessible YOUniverse (www.accessibleyouniverse.org). She can be reached at heather.tomko@gmail.com.

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building pittsburgh community By: Farah Iman | a student writer at the University of Pittsburgh Photos By: Hariadi Harey and Anis Nahrawie

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Spring-green leaves bursting from buckled boughs frame Bigelow Boulevard in the Schenley Farm Historic District. And the once scrawny sweetgums, red oaks, hawthorns and maples now cast shadows over large Revival-style homes. At the corner of Bigelow and Parkman Avenue, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh (ICP) stands out amid lookalikes of Georgian homes, Italian villas and Tudor cottages. Its brownbrick structure is short and boxy. From the outside, it lacks the warmth of the many hip-and-gable roofed houses surrounding it, but it is the heart of the Muslim community of Pittsburgh. Since its founding in the early 1980s, the ICP has contributed to the growth of many Muslim individuals – Tahmina Ahmed is one of them. Straight dark brown hair frames Tahmina’s round and lightly dimpled face – the kind of face that looks cheerful even when she’s not smiling. Her small stature and soft voice might lead you to assume that she’s a timid teenager, but she speaks unabashedly about her opinions, and her well-spoken thoughts prove otherwise. And while she happily accepts being labelled “cute” and “sweet” – “I’d be Frosted Flakes if I was a cereal” – she’s not a high school student as many strangers assume, but a 22-year-old married woman with a full-time job as a Legal Administrative Assistant at Steele Schneider. At her office in downtown Pittsburgh, she assists in cases that mostly involve the welfare of children with disabilities who have been mistreated by school authorities. This kind of work is just a touch of what Tahmina enjoys doing: “I have a passion for helping people understand and being more inclusive.” SPRING 2019

Tahmina stands out and she’s used to it. As a practicing Muslim and the daughter of Uzbek immigrants, she has always been the minority. She is the only Muslim that Steele Schneider has ever employed, and she was one of only two Muslims in a class of 375 students in Shaler High School of North Hills, Pittsburgh. Because of her position, Tahmina made it a point to get involved in school, particularly when it came to social justice. She participated in the student council, frequently spreading awareness about diversity in a mostly non-Muslim, Caucasian student body. “People knew me for that,” she said. After graduating high school, Tahmina continued to play an active role in Student Government as the president of her class at Chatham University. But her involvement went beyond school. During her senior year, she interned at The Global Switchboard, an organization that helps refugees and immigrants become integrated into the Pittsburgh community. It is a cause close to home because of her parents’ backgrounds. Tahmina’s parents were born in Uzbekistan and raised in Afghanistan before fleeing to India during the Soviet-Afghan war in 1987. Two years later, they moved to the United States, settling in Flushing, New York, where Tahmina’s father continued his work as an oriental rug weaver. At home, he has a collection of at least 100 rugs from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, which he repairs and dyes for a living. It was his job as a rug weaver which brought Tahmina’s family to Pittsburgh in 2005. He was offered a better business

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opportunity with a new partner. It was one he decided to pursue because it meant he’d be able to provide more for his young family. But it hasn’t been easy. In the beginning, Tahmina’s parents and older siblings struggled to assimilate because there wasn’t a large Uzbek or Afghani community in Pittsburgh. “It was easier to find people of our own [background in New York]. My father’s side of the family are all there.” The transition was made even more difficult when her father was betrayed by his business partners on multiple occasions, eventually costing him his job. He currently does freelance work, depending on an unsteady stream of clients. Despite being minorities, Tahmina and her family connected with the local community through ICP like many other Muslims in Pittsburgh. “My family grew up going to ICP. I went to Sunday school there.” It was during her Sunday school lessons, that she was taught the Arabic alphabet, Quranic verses and stories about the Prophet Muhammad; it was also where she got to know the majority of her female Muslim friends. Even though Tahmina doesn’t go to ICP as often as she used to as child and college student, she believes the ICP plays an important role in the Muslim community of Pittsburgh, especially since 2015 when Wasi Mohamed became ICP’s new Executive Director. According to Tahmina, the administration of ICP had mostly consisted of old men, out of touch with the youths, and Wasi’s decision to take over after graduating from Pitt was very much welcomed. “He’s young and I think that’s what ICP needs – young, new, fresh people.” He has since established a new youth leadership program with the aim of revitalizing ICP’s role in uniting the Muslim community and encouraging Muslim youths to volunteer. “ICP doesn’t really get a lot of funding so [Wasi] needs volunteers to help bring the Muslim community back together.” It seems to be effective as there are many Pitt students involved in ICP’s various programs, such as its Food Pantry – all six of its Volunteer Coordinators are current Pitt students. Mariam Shalaby, a friend of Tahmina, is one of these students. Mariam and her family have been active members of ICP

since they moved to Pittsburgh from Nebraska in 2000. Because they moved here when she was still a young child, Mariam has had the privilege of seeing how ICP has changed over the years. “The thing about ICP is that it is always evolving,” she said. “I think it depends who the administration is.” During Mariam’s childhood, it was mostly parents who ran ICP, which meant that there were a lot of fun activities for her to do: summer camps, kayak, rock climbing and joining ICP’s Girl Scouts troop. ICP was an integral part of her childhood. “Some of my best memories are sitting outside of ICP eating ice-cream after Maghrib and playing cards.”

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Even though Mariam loves ICP, she admits that they weren’t always that great. In fact, Mariam’s parents sent her to Sunday School at the Muslim Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (MCCGP) in Monroeville, instead of ICP. “My mum did not want us to go to ICP Sunday school because it was very disorganized,” said Mariam. “You’d walk in and you’d see kids running around everywhere. The basement used to be carpeted and imagine having people down there with food – very gross.” It was disorganized, and yet, people still loved it. “It was like going to your grandma’s messy home. You will always go back because you love it so much and you love the people there.” Like Tahmina, Mariam thinks that ICP has improved in recent years, and she had only good things to say about Wasi taking over ICP’s administration: “He implemented a lot of really good change. I think putting someone young in a leadership position at the masjid, specifically Wasi, really breathed some new life into [ICP]. We have a lot more initiatives, like political engagement and engagement with the outside community.” Tall windows line the sides of ICP’s building, giving way for sunshine to warm the ruby-red carpeting of its prayer hall. By one of these windows, Wasi, the 25-yearold Executive Director of ICP, sits crosslegged in black sweatpants and a hoodie. He fingers his car keys as he talks to three young women sitting with him. “[ICP] started up around the early 1980s,” he said. “Most of the Muslim organizations in the SPRING 2019

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going, especially during Ramadhan, the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. Ramadhan is the holiest month of the year for most Muslims because they believe that this was when the holy Quran was first brought down to the Prophet Muhammad. In celebration of this, Ramadhan is observed as a month of fasting, according to the five pillars of Islam.

country started from [Muslim Student Associations] – local college students who wanted to build organizations and stay. So, the original founders of this center were that.” The Islamic Community of Pittsburgh started off as just a one-bedroom apartment on Atwood Street. As its community grew, they moved around Oakland several times. Before moving to the Schenley Farm Historic District, they had been in a building on Forbes Avenue, where Skyview now stands. Even though they’ve occupied the current building for over 20 years, their old sign could still be seen on Forbes Avenue up until a few years ago. ICP started off being run by Muslim youths, and today, the administration is back in young hands. Wasi was only 22-years-old when he became ICP’s Executive Director, starting work just a day after graduation, and he’s leading ICP in a new direction. “Wasi has done a lot of things that have to do with sociopolitical action and public representation in the political climate that we have now, which is really excellent. And he’s brought in a lot of outside interns to work at ICP and made us into an active non-profit organization that serves other people,” said Mariam. A new space that ICP is trying to move into is leadership development. In Wasi’s eyes, developing potential leaders is essential for the long-term health of Pittsburgh’s Muslim community. “Islamically, leadership is very

important and without having trained leaders, it limits our institution. So, we want a system in place so that whenever people are interested in becoming leaders in the community, they can learn all the lessons they need and once they’re done with the program, we’ll come up with opportunities.” One of the ways that Wasi will be doing this is through ICP’s Islamic Leadership Model, or Ilm for short (fun fact: it also means knowledge in Arabic.) “We’re trying to figure out a way to standardize our leadership teaching and make sure we have something for each level,” said Wasi. This means having programs for young adults like Mariam, who are old enough to take on serious community issues but young enough for active work, and providing training for ICP’s Board of Directors, who are mostly older, working adults with families. Next year, he plans on opening a refugeefocused youth center in North Side, Pittsburgh. According to Wasi, there are about 400 Muslim refugees who have resettled in Northview Heights, most of which are Somali-Bantu Muslims who fled war-ridden Somalia. But “they don’t necessarily get along that well [with the rest of the local community]. We’re hoping to create a leadership program that [will] bridge the gap a bit.” But Wasi isn’t just about implementing new ideas – he values ICP’s traditions as well and plans on keeping them SPRING 2019

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93% of 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide fast throughout Ramadhan from morning twilight (Fajr) to evening twilight (Maghrib). The term ‘Ramadhan’ comes from the Arabic phrase ar-rama , which means scorching heat or dryness, in reference to the thirst Muslim adherents tend to feel as they fast. You might think this obligation is crazy if you were living in places such as north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, where the sun is sometimes visible for 24 hours. How could anyone survive fasting for days on end? But Muslims in these parts of the world fast according to Mecca’s time zones. In recent years, Ramadhan has fallen during the summer in Pittsburgh, meaning Muslims here fast for about 16 hours each day. Many of them will break their fast together at ICP where food is provided for everyone every single night of Ramadhan. That’s between 300 and 600 people a night, for 30 days straight. It’s a hectic month for Wasi because it means non-stop work for him, but he tries his best to make it fun for everyone by incorporating ICP’s diversity – “there are over 45 nationalities represented at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh [during weekly Friday prayers] – into the Ramadhan dinners. “We’ll have India–Pakistani night, Indonesian Night or Somali Night. And everyone from the community comes and cooks their traditional dishes. I love it,” he said. With over 45 nationalities to choose from, Wasi would love to have at least one country’s traditional food served each night, but it’s difficult. Some populations

are not that big and just because people are here doesn’t mean they know how to cook. In between laughs, Wasi recalls how he took over the kitchen with his friends during the previous Ramadhan. “Last year, me and a group of guys just decided we wanted to do a day and try to cook, and it was just a mish-mash because all of us were from different countries and everyone just wanted to make sure they had a dish [of their own]. It was a bunch of random stuff — it was hilarious.” ICP’s Ramadhan traditions aren’t just meaningful to the local community who have grown up in Pittsburgh, but international students who are far from home as well. Yasmeen*, a Pitt student from United Arab Emirates (UAE), is one of hundreds of Muslims who breaks their fast at ICP every night. Instead of going home, she decided to stay in Pittsburgh over summer to do some research. “Last year was the first time I spent Ramadhan away from family. I was definitely scared.” For many Muslims, Ramadhan is a special month, not just because of its religious significance, but because it means spending more time with family. All Muslims break their fast at the same time, so most families will eat together more often than usual. After dinner, tarawih prayers are usually done as a congregation, either at home or more commonly, at the mosque. It was this and the spirit of Ramadhan that comes from fasting and praying together that Yasmeen worried she’d miss last summer. “I don’t care that much for the food – I can make food at home – but the fact that I wouldn’t have any place to go for tarawih,

that would suck. And you don’t feel like it’s Ramadhan until you see other people also fasting.” Luckily, Yasmeen found what she needed at ICP. “It was really nice because all the families would come and eat food. Everyone is really happy, then you pray together, then you eat more food together.”

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It has also become part of ICP’s tradition to hold Eid al-Fitr celebrations on Flagstaff Hill, where about 2000 Muslims congregate to celebrate their 30 days of fasting. To Fathima, this was the best part of staying in Pittsburgh over the summer.

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In the early summer morning, rows upon rows of Muslims could be seen on Flagstaff Hill. Their colorful bodies, clad in different traditional outfits from around the world, moved in synchrony as everyone followed the guidance of their Imam at the front of the congregation. Non-Muslims passing by, either leaving or going to the Phipps Conservatory would stop and stare. Hesitated. Then walked over and asked, “What’s going on?” Fathima recalls, everyone was more than happy to explain and invited these strangers to join in the fun. Given the negative way that Muslims are portrayed in American media, Fathima was pleasantly surprised that so many Muslims were able to celebrate so openly in a public space, without any backlash. “It was beautiful. I was feeling so good that it was possible for people to have fun in an open area. Families and kids [were] playing — we had bouncy castles, they had food trucks, ice-cream. They had animals there – goats, chickens – for the kids to play with. There was a turkey walking around. It was a good experience.”

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For over 20 years, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh has proven to be a much-loved place of congregation for the Muslim community of Pittsburgh. “If there wasn’t an ICP, it’d be bad. I’m very glad they exist.” *Her name has been changed to provide anonymity.

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give me a break By: Skipper Anderson

Let me clarify something from the start, I’m really getting on in years. I turn 70 in August. In “Old Friends,” Paul Simon sings, “How terribly strange to be seventy.”

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It is, I suppose, a momentous event. In some cultures, I might be venerated as a tribal elder and respected for the wisdom I have accumulated. Unfortunately, I live in the United States in 2019, have a phone far smarter than I am, and own a computer on which I just mastered downloading email attachments (when I leapt this hurdle, my wise ass son said to me, “Welcome to the nineties, Dad,”). But what truly and continuously rings my chimes is Alexa, the personal assistant with an attitude.

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We were given this machine by my daughter and sonin-law. From her first day in our house, I was aware that Alexa had: (A) a tremendously poor view of me, (B) had made a pact with my wife to drive me mad, (C) enjoyed a radical feminist agenda which incorporated A & B, (D) realized my relative stupidity and was toying with me in a very cruel fashion.

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In the beginning, Alexa simply ignored my requests by not answering any query I made. My wife, whose language skills are a few hundred years ahead of mine, was able to communicate with the big A from plug in. Thus, I began using Eliza Doolittle enunciation. “Alexa does the rain in Spain fall mainly in the plain?” To which she might answer, “I do not understand your question,” or “Further information is needed,” or even, “You may lack the intelligence to understand the answer.” Were my wife to ask the same question, Alexa would probably sing to her in the voice of Julie Andrews, “Yes, the average rainfall on Spain’s plain is twenty-five inches.” Serenity now!

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As I pondered the most efficient way to approach and deal with Ms. Alexa, I began to conceptualize her as digitally corporeal. Perhaps I was one of the test subjects being traumatized by this new AI. One should admit that men have not been the greatest advertisement for our species. Truthfully, however, I think I have lived my life treating women with respect and as equals – at least that’s how I remember things. So, I really, really disliked Alexa treating me in such a cavalier manner. I devised a plan. I would show Madam Alexa that men, as difficult as this may be to conceive, could be civil, thoughtful creatures.

my town. She answered with, “Could you be more specific?” I inhaled the anger waiting offstage and asked her, “Alexa, what is the current temperature?” “The current temperature at your location is 24 degrees.” Oh, joy! I felt like Anne Sullivan with Helen Keller, or perhaps Hellen Keller with Anne Sullivan.

The next morning, I entered the kitchen – Alexa’s lair – wearing my wife’s pussyhat from the Women’s March. Logic dictated that Alexa might very well respond to this overture, but one must be wary in such situations. I began by asking the forecast for

Still, there are times… Recently I asked, “Alexa, how long can I expect to live?” Her reply, “If you were a dog, you would only be ten years old.” That’s all right. She and I have come a long way. I only hope I can take off this hat before summer!

“If you were a dog, you would only be ten years old.”

Since then, Alexa and I have become somewhat sympatico. Not, of course, on the level of cooperation she shares with my wife. Indeed, we have gotten to the point where she will inform me of spring training games and even box scores. I have gained much, if not all, of her trust.

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