‘Rearranging helps to create new energy through the seasons. It’s important to experience that.’

Billy Knight, Southampton

“When I was a kid, I was constantly rearranging my parents living room and my sister’s bedroom. That’s where I learned to put together a space and make it easier for people to live in comfort and beauty. That’s really my passion, to make things functional and beautiful. Looking great doesn’t always mean comfortable. Art is environmental.

“Before I was a full-time interior designer, I owned a hotel in Puerto Rico and learned so much from that business, not only how to design functional, beautiful spaces, but also how to interact with people. Our hotel was featured in Architectural Digest; I felt really confident about that. It was an exciting moment for me. After 9/11, the tourist market crashed, and I returned back to the States.

A lot of designers go by the book, and that works, but I really like to think outside of that.

“During that transition, I was getting out of a long relationship. My friend Joanne asked me to decorate her house. She really held my hand and stabilized me during a painful period. We had a great time. After that, more connections started to happen, and things fell into place. I began working at Comerford [home furnishings] in Southampton as well as freelancing on my own.

“When I talk to clients, I have to put myself in the family’s shoes and feel out how they would best thrive in their spaces. I want them to like what we come up with. I take into account who I’m working for and what they’re about. I read their energies, and usually I can figure out a direction that’s meaningful. The verbal delivery of art really matters. Constantly communicating with my clients is so important to me.

“I get inspired by going to the markets all the time. I don’t use social media; I like people meeting people face to face. It’s beautiful to feel the fabric and understand how things might feel and breathe with one another.

“A lot of designers go by the book, and that works, but I really like to think outside of that. I sometimes wish people would take more chances. The benefit of not being the same is really powerful. Just like I was as a kid, I am still rearranging my house constantly. With each season, we change our clothes and how we interact with the world. Rearranging our spaces helps to create new energy throughout the year. It’s really important we experience that.”

Interviewed by Maggie Rose Melito

‘It’s so funny, something I started, just to make a couple extra bucks for groceries, now takes care of our household.’

Stephanie Knorzer, Centereach

“From when I was little, I wanted to be a chef. I watched Julia Child instead of watching cartoons.

“I went to culinary school. When I brought stuff home, my mom would be like, ‘Oh, my God, your baking is so good.’

“After we got married, my husband decided to go back to school. We moved to Long Island, and I knew we needed to make extra money.

It’s so important to shop small and support your local community because it just helps the community to thrive and helps build the area.

“Everybody would always say my chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies were so good. I started making those and selling them on Facebook. But creatively, it wasn’t enough for me. I started making more items and it really took off.

“I was doing my business out of my home for years. I was turning so many customers away, and I was thinking, ‘What if I just went full force with this?’

“After we got the store in Centereach, the business [The Cookie Shop LI] started picking up even more. My husband left his full-time accounting job to come work with me. My daughter works here, too.

“I have a great group of girls that I work with. We are all harmonious. I don’t need to see a whole background of what you’ve done. I just need to see that passion and care.

“It’s so important to shop small and support your local community because it just helps the community to thrive and helps build the area. We love it here, and we love working close to home.

“I imagine in my head what something should taste like, and then that’s where I go. Instead of working backwards and trying other people’s stuff, I use my own ideas.

“All our creations are very balanced. It’s flavor forward instead of just heavy on the sugars. We make everything from scratch. It’s like not hard or difficult. Of course, technique-wise it is, but it’s good for you. And it feels good to provide that for people.

“It’s so funny, something I started, just to make a couple extra bucks for groceries, now takes care of our household.”

Interviewed by Maggie Rose Melito

‘The Cuyahoga River on fire, pollutants everywhere … I decided I had to do something.’

Arthur Kopelman, West Sayville

“Growing up, I had an interest in marine life, but I didn’t make it a part of my life until well after receiving my PhD in population ecology. My work then was in insect population dynamics, my doctoral work was on a species of wasp; at that time, there were only 12 of us who were working on it and its related species. But as a child, I followed the work of Rachel Carson, author of ‘The Sea Around Us,’ and the work of Jacques Cousteau back when I was a kid, it drew me in. I was reading about oceanography, marine biology, all that stuff.

“My father had an interest in nature, and he always let us explore in any way we could. It was my parents that instilled in me a desire to understand what’s going on, and lifelong learning and education. Even before I started college, I worked as a volunteer with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, because by that point it was the 1970s, and there were so many horrendous things happening: the Cuyahoga River on fire, pollutants everywhere, other things.

“I decided I had to do something. I had heard of ‘ecology,’ and I kind of thought I knew what it was, but when I got to college, I found out it was this incredible field of powerful information that attempts to explain phenomena and things that were going on. It was highly mathematical, and you can do it on so many different levels. When I finished my work on the wasp, I had begun teaching during grad school at the college level. This was when I realized I had to put my efforts where my rhetoric was about endangered species, so it was time to switch gears and start something different.”

The highest number of seals that I’ve seen there at one time was 218, and that was March 2020, when the marinas were closed during COVID.

“When I was in grad school, I used to go out on whale-watching trips with other students in Montauk with the Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation, and I loved it. It blew me away every time, and in 1987 I decided to become one of their volunteers. I got hooked!

“Two years later, I became one of their scientists, and I’ve been leading trips and doing research ever since with whales and dolphins. Then in 1995, I began leading trips in Montauk to look at seals, and in 2004, I heard about seals at Cupsogue Beach, and in 2006 started to study there, and I’m still doing it. It’s one of the longest studies of a single site of seals in New York. As of March 2024, I’ve been there over 540 times, with over 32,000 seal encounters. My work there involves counting and photo identification, which was easier when they were much closer, but I’ve got 236 harbor seals in my catalogue, including two who have been back for their 19th consecutive year. They don’t come as close to the shore as they used to, but even then, the ones I’ve been seeing for years I can recognize from pretty much any angle.

“The idea behind tracking them is what we call ‘site fidelity’ — how often an animal will return to the same site, how long it may spend there. With the right kind of data, you can make assessments about population size and growth rate. While I’m not at Cupsogue enough to make all assessments, I can say that the highest number of seals that I’ve seen there at one time was 218, and that was March 2020, when the marinas were closed during COVID; no boats out, that makes a difference. Just looking at their behavior, how they use the site and how it’s changed over the years, there has been a tremendous increase, although this year it’s down, I’m still working on why.”

Cupsogue is a good spot for the seals … or it was.

“By the 1960s, harbor and gray seals had bounties on their skins up in Massachusetts and northward and were almost entirely wiped out. But in 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act allowed for a recovery, and seals began to return to their historical spots by the 1980s. They’re both doing well now, and Cupsogue is a good spot for the seals … or it was. Disturbance now has moved them further and further from the easily viewed spots. They used to sit on rocks along the bluffs that weren’t in the water, where it was easier to view them, which they didn’t use until about five, six years ago.

“Every year, I bring lots of people on seal walks, and I plead with them, you can come on your own, but don’t come any closer to the seals than where I take you. And when you go, you have to be quiet; some people do that and some just don’t care. I’ve seen the seals disturbed by people being noisy, rowdy or, lately, by drones. They’ve since headed east and north, which is primarily where they go now, because they’ve been spooked. We go see them two, three days a week on average. By May they’re pretty much gone, which is when we start getting ready for whale season.

“I can recognize harbor seals by their markings. Along the East Coast, we’re also seeing an increase in humpback whales, but not finback whales; it’s not a die-off for finbacks, just a change in distribution. I also have a catalogue of whales, which sometimes I can recognize by sight by their dorsal fin shape or nicks or injuries or scars or patterns of markings on the right side of their heads and backs behind their heads. Humpbacks I can recognize by the underside of their flukes, which they lift out of the water often when they dive, or by scars or their pectoral flippers and patterns. We also see short-beak common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins fairly regularly. We view these by boats. In the summer last year, we went on two, three trips a week for whales, but we’ll be going four times a week this summer out of Montauk.”

The wildlife around here, they are doing well. Unfortunately, as their numbers go up, it leads to more human interaction, ship strikes, etc., so we’ve got to be careful.

“In many ways, these animals are a critically important part of Long Island’s ecosystem, and they are doing well. Problems for whales are I think mainly being hit by vessels or entanglements. There are those trying to blame this on wind farms, and that is an absolute crock! There is absolutely no direct evidence of any whale deaths that have anything to do with wind farms. They’re being hit by boats. They’re an important component of nature around Long Island, and in a sense, their presence, in greater numbers, can hopefully lead to more awareness and better behaviors. We have to be careful when it comes to the water — plastics, pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, all the kinds of things that have an effect on the planet.

“The wildlife around here, they are doing well. Unfortunately, as their numbers go up, it leads to more human interaction, ship strikes, etc., so we’ve got to be careful. I love seeing them, or I wouldn’t be doing this for over four decades, but I also love to educate, as a professor for 39 years. I’m semi-retired now and teach part time. They are an indication of the systems that are well, and their continued presence is a good indicator that in some ways we’re doing things properly; we just have to make sure that we do better. People come to the seal walks in the cars and park them in the lot at Cupsogue, and sometimes they sit and wait while running their engines. So, I walk up to them and say, ‘Hey, you’re here for the seal walk? For the sake of the planet, turn your engine off.’ It’s a little thing, but it makes a difference. Even the little stuff.”

Interviewed by Ian Stark

‘Although I cannot see myself writing another full-length book, I am eager to start working on a book of short stories.’

Dale Bratter, Sea Cliff

“As a new social worker in 1995, I found myself swept up in the turbulence created by the AIDS virus, a disease unlike any other because everything about it was cloaked in secrecy and fraught with stigma, misinformation and the overwhelming public fear of AIDS. I spent a decade in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, doing social work and supporting marginalized African American women and children with HIV/AIDS during the height of the epidemic. I was deeply affected by being in the presence of these brave women and children, and also by working alongside my dedicated co-workers, including the doctors and nurses in our clinic. In 2023, 18 years after leaving my job, I wrote and published ‘In Their Presence: Untold Stories of Women and Children During the AIDS Epidemic.’ It took me five years to write this book.

Their lives, their deaths and their stories of survival deserve to be recognized as missing chapters in the early history of the AIDS epidemic in America.

“Embedded in the chapters are never-before-told stories of intimacies, heroic acts, joys and failures – my clients’ as well as my own. These women and children received the same terrifying diagnosis as gay men but had no powerful advocates fighting for them, little media recognition and no celebrity attention. Their lives, their deaths and their stories of survival deserve to be recognized as missing chapters in the early history of the AIDS epidemic in America.

“A memorable experience that occurred while working with a pregnant client with HIV was not only that she asked me to be her birthing partner for a Caesarean section, but, when seated next to her in the operating room, she extended a hand to me – indicating, I thought, that she was feeling anxious and in need of emotional support. But that wasn’t the reason. She placed a camera in my hand and asked me to take photographs of the delivery – which I did!

“Although I cannot see myself writing another full-length book, I am eager to start working on a book of short stories. When you have lived a life of nearly eight decades – I’m 78 – if you’ve been brave enough to step out of your comfort zone from time to time, been lucky enough to have encountered people vastly different from yourself and learned from them, been able to see humor in what others see as mundane, and are open to finding love at the same time you start receiving Social Security, then, for me, it is imperative to write these stories.”

Interviewed by Saul Schachter

‘I think talking about suburbia sort of fills a section of country music that you would call Americana.’

Bob Koenig, Levittown

“In the first grade, I saw ‘Yellow Submarine’ at the Calderone Theater in Hempstead, and that changed everything. I wanted anything and everything I could find on The Beatles. My dad loved love country music. The first concert I saw was Johnny Cash at the Garden in 1969. I started playing guitar as I got older. I began writing music and recorded my first song in 1983.

“I was an only child, so I think I found myself enjoying different things. I had to find ways to entertain myself. I have a big record collection. I have a comic book collection; I’ve always read comics. It’s just about finding things that inspire you.

“Throughout my college years, I was studying popular culture and local history. My thesis paper was on Levittown, where I now currently live. I got involved with the historical society. They still have the museum today. I worked my way up to vice president of the group. I also joined the Hicksville Historical Society because my grandfather had a farm on Newbridge Road. I also joined the Mineola Historical Society because that was my hometown.

“I thought, there’s books pertaining to the various towns and so forth, but there’s not music. How about teaching history through song? And even just to have music to be a soundtrack to the town. The idea went from one song to a whole album about Levittown. My wife sang on it, too. It was a special project. I’ve been able to perform the songs for schools and local celebrations.

“I think talking about suburbia sort of fills a section of country music that you would call Americana. It’s more the common person finding a place in suburbia.

“On my Levittown album, there’s a song called ‘Talking Suburban Veteran Blues.’ Levittown was originally a community for veterans after the war. The song follows the year in a life of a veteran who was coming home living in the city and needing someplace to go. Here, was the American dream being handed to them for a decent price on Long Island. There were no fences; everybody found themselves living together. The kids ran free. It was all very new and exciting.”

Being involved with your community really gives you a sense of being there.

“I have a lot of different meetings that I go to every month. I go to Mineola Historical Society. I have a board meeting and a general meetings with the Levittown Historical Society. And the Hicksville Historical Society has its own meeting. I’m also on the consistory with the Parkway Community Church in Hicksville. After retiring as a postal worker, I now also work as a teacher’s assistant, and I play guitar on Wednesday nights at a church in Williston Park.

“Being involved with your community really gives you a sense of being there. Most of the time, especially today, a lot of people are either at school or at work. They tend to find their homes as places to rest in between busy days, but I think if people are just more aware that there really are historical societies in their community and got involved, even if it’s just to come out and visit the museums, we could all become fully immersed in a sense of place.

“Every day you get up and you look around and think, this was potato fields and farms. And now there’s these homes here, and we’re all a part of the history now. Even though things have changed, a lot of houses have changed their size and shape, the towns still carry the same spirits.

“The Mineola Historical Society’s planning a great event this summer. They’re going to have a trolley bus that will take people around the town and show different sites. You’ll be able to see where the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway went through and where there were different hotels. So, you know, just trying to show some things of the past to get people a sense of what was there before.

“I have so many different passions. I’ve been published in RetroFan magazine and other books about various subjects. I’ve been featured in The New York Times. I was fortunate enough to be in a successful band, The Keys, from 1988 to 1994. I’ve experienced a lot throughout my life. I like the idea of teaching other people about things to get my interest across. and I find hope that sometimes people will enjoy the things I enjoy.”

Interviewed by Maggie Rose Melito

‘I love uniting the community with like-minded people while spreading awareness about vegan lifestyle choices.’

David Lockworth Jr., Central Islip

“I decided to become a vegan eight years ago due to improve my health after watching documentaries about the meat industry. Being an animal lover also influenced my change of diet, and it is the best decision that I ever made. There are many benefits to having a vegan lifestyle: It’s very healthy, you’re reducing your carbon footprint, and you’re saving animals. Being a vegan affects your life and many other lives in the best possible way, but vegan options aren’t always readily available everywhere.

“When I first went vegan, I had to go into the city a lot to find the foods I wanted, and that’s how I first encountered a lot of vegan-centered markets. One day in 2019, I was stuck in traffic on my way home from the city when inspiration struck — I decided to start a vegan market that would travel all over Long Island. I used social media to drum up interest and secured 24 vendors for our first event, which was held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Levittown in July 2020. Over 450 people showed up! Since then, we have flourished. We now have events all year long because, in the cold winter months, we find indoor venues. It’s been amazing to watch food vendors evolve; some have started with a booth and ended up with a food truck!

I decided to become a vegan eight years ago due to improve my health after watching documentaries about the meat industry.

“What Long Island Vegan Pop Up really offers is a sense of community. Long Island is so big. and it has such diversity in lifestyles, and yet this free market really brings everyone together. The vegan community is really supportive, but our events are not just for vegans — we have something for everyone of all ages. I always wanted the event to be about more than food, and we have partnerships with arts organizations like Islip Arts and Colored Colors. You can find handmade arts, crafts, clothes and even crystals at our events, which typically last over the course of a weekend, so two days. I still work full time at a job, but being the founder of the Long Island Vegan Pop Up is my passion. I love uniting the community with like-minded people while spreading awareness about vegan lifestyle choices.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan

‘I was always into working out. I wanted to help people. I always wanted to motivate people, but I never made that connection.’

Andrew Flores, Mineola

“I was in construction for a decade. Four hours of my day were spent commuting. Then I met my fiancée, and she asked me what I was doing with my life. She suggested that I should be a personal trainer. I was unsure because it seemed so farfetched. I was always into working out. I wanted to help people. I always wanted to motivate people, but I never made that connection.

“At the end of 2019, I became a trainer at LA Fitness. I got a promotion the week before COVID hit. I started taking clients on FaceTime just to keep their results going, and that led to taking one client in the garage when I had like half a floor. And then that just turned into putting it on Instagram and just pushing it. And now, three or four years later, here we are.

“A lot of my clients are women but, of course, I’m open to everyone. I think women are more willing to ask for help. That’s something that I try to let other men know. It’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to not know something.

I’m teaching clients how to work out and change their mindset, but they’re also teaching me not only perspective and gratitude, but also their own experiences.

“The workouts are an example of what it looks like to make those wins step after step, and then it translates to their business, job, friendships and relationships. And they start realizing, ‘Oh, I want to do better for myself. I want to get treated better.’

“I think that everybody has a tough time giving themselves credit. This is a place where people feel comfortable and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I do look good.’ And it’s not taking away from the next person. Everybody in the gym celebrates each other.

“One thing about construction is that on my commutes, I would take notes from podcasts to pass the time. That’s where a lot of the advice that I’m able to give comes from. I knew how long it would take to grow a business, but I was still dying to get out there. I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. And my body knew that.

“Now, I’m a gym owner. To get to the next point, I need to surround myself with other successful people. I am only four years in, but I’m hungry. I’m teaching clients how to work out and change their mindset, but they’re also teaching me not only perspective and gratitude, but also their own experiences. I’m always willing to pick up from anybody else. I think you must be willing to learn.”

Interviewed by Maggie Melito

‘Ever since I graduated from undergrad, that’s when I picked up my camera and have not stopped.’

Ashe Davis, Roosevelt

“I have always had a camera growing up. My dad had cameras around. We had a lot of photo books, so I feel naturally photography always surrounded me. Around middle school is when I really started picking up a camera. In high school, I was taking pictures for the yearbook or just to have memories.

“My parents got me my very first professional camera probably my sophomore year of college. I picked it up, went outside, took one picture and said, ‘Yeah, this is too hard’ and put it back down. In 2018, my friends were like, ‘You really need to try this out again.’ Ever since I graduated from undergrad, that’s when I picked up my camera and have not stopped.

Life is too short to not go after what you want.

“When I first started photography, I was just doing portraits, taking pictures of my friends and getting anyone in front of my camera, until eventually it developed into a business. I was not expecting that to happen at all. It just came about, and I started getting more clients. I have learned to put myself out there more. I started reaching out and emailing companies. I have had opportunities associated with MTV ‘Fresh Out,’ New York Fashion Week, Roc Nation, Femme It Forward, SiriusXM, [the] WNBA draft and more. You can’t just sit and wait for opportunities to come to you. The worst thing somebody could tell you is no.

“This year, I have been focusing a lot on putting out more personal projects, making my art more meaningful so that anytime somebody sees it, they can get a message out of it. I want to break more into the television and film industry as well as get my feet planted more in the music and sports industry now that I got a taste of it. I feel I’m very versatile when it comes to photography.

“I am also an occupational therapist for the Department of Education in the Bronx. I don’t do photography full time. I wear different hats, but while it’s important to have the career that you’re in, you need to fuel your passions at the same time. Don’t let work get in the way of your passions. If you can balance both, just try your best to do it, because life is too short to not go after what you want. Just go for whatever is on your mind. Maybe that crazy idea might be something we need in the world.”

Interviewed by Victoria Bell