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Margot Adler Margot Adler is a NPR correspondent based in NPR's New York Bureau. Her reports can be heard regularly on All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition.
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Margot Adler

National

After Branch Kills Baby, New Yorkers Look Skyward

Questions remain about who -- if anyone -- is responsible for the weekend death of a 6-month-old baby killed by a falling tree limb in New York's Central Park. Was the weekend accident, which also seriously hurt the baby's mother, just a freak occurrence? Or was it the result of negligence?

After Branch Kills Baby, New Yorkers Look Skyward

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Turning The Public Into Performers With 'Street Pianos'

Nina Pike sits at one of the street pianos and improvises a piece. Margot Adler hide caption

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Margot Adler

Music News

Turning The Public Into Performers With 'Street Pianos'

"Play Me I'm Yours" is an art installation in New York by British artist Luke Jerram. It features 60 painted pianos in parks, on sidewalks and on street corners, left for anyone to play. Though they sometimes sit idly, the pianos occasionally inspire average people to become street musicians.

Turning The Public Into Performers With 'Street Pianos'

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Photography

'Polaroid Collection' Sale Sets Record At Auction

Sotheby's auction house in New York on Tuesday night concluded a two-day sale of photographs from a collection of more than 1,600 assembled by Ansel Adams and Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid. The auction was controversial because a number of photographers believed they had only lent their photos to the now-bankrupt company, and therefore the photos weren't the company's to sell.

'Polaroid Collection' Sale Sets Record At Auction

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What's A Picture Worth? Polaroid Auctions Photos

Photography

What's A Picture Worth? Polaroid Auctions Photos

More than 1,000 Polaroid photographs are being auctioned at Sotheby's in New York City as part of Polaroid's bankruptcy court order. The auction includes legendary photography dating back to the 1940s. Some artists argue that they only lent their work to Polaroid and that the company does not have the right to auction it.

What's A Picture Worth? Polaroid Auctions Photos

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National

Unlocking NYC: These Keys To The City Actually Work

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given keys to the Dalai Lama and the New York Yankees, but those were just symbolic. Now, an art project aims to distribute keys to the public to get people to see parts of the city they have never seen. The keys allow people to unlock doors and gates at 24 sites: a locker in a gym, a garden in an ashram, a baptistery in a church, a cemetery, a Faberge exhibit ...even a bedroom closet at the home of New York City mayors: Gracie Mansion.

Unlocking NYC: These Keys To The City Actually Work

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Vampire Stories: Two New Twists On An Old Nemesis

Review

Book Reviews

Vampire Stories: Two New Twists On An Old Nemesis

The summer sun may be shining, but vampires don't seem to be going anywhere. NPR's Margot Adler has read more than 100 vampire books this year, and gives a heads-up on two bloodsucking books expected to be summer blockbusters: Christopher Farnsworth's Blood Oath and Justin Cronin's The Passage.

Vampire Stories: Two New Twists On An Old Nemesis

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One Hundred Faces Of War Gives Soldiers A Voice

Marine Lance Corporal Jeff Lucey. Matt Mitchell/100 Faces Of War Experience hide caption

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Matt Mitchell/100 Faces Of War Experience

Arts & Life

One Hundred Faces Of War Gives Soldiers A Voice

Painter Matthew Mitchell's project is deceptively simple: He's painting 100 portraits of people who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The process has taken on a much more powerful reality than he realized it would.

One Hundred Faces Of War Gives Soldiers A Voice

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Chilean Wine Wins Blind Taste Test
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Food

Chilean Wine Wins Blind Taste Test

In 1976, a blind wine taste test in Paris put Napa Valley, Calif., wines on the map. More than 25 years later, a similar event called the Berlin Tasting brought new respect to Chilean wines. Now, a Chilean vintner has re-created the Berlin Tasting to bring more recognition to Chilean wines -- and, at the New York tasting, it worked.

Chilean Wine Wins Blind Taste Test

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For Sale: Michael Crichton's Pop Art Collection

An auction worker in London stands in front of the Jasper Johns painting 'Flag' at an exhibition of the late Michael Crichton's art collection set up by Christie's auction house. Lefteris Pitarakis/AP hide caption

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Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Fine Art

For Sale: Michael Crichton's Pop Art Collection

On May 11 and 12, Christie's will auction nearly 100 works of art from the collection of the late author. Well known for writing novels like Jurassic Park and producing television shows like ER, he was also an expert on pop artists like Jasper Johns.

For Sale: Michael Crichton's Pop Art Collection

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Europe

Travelers In Limbo At JFK

Volcanic ash from Iceland has shut down major airports throughout Europe. At John F. Kennedy airport in New York, travelers bound for Europe are dealing with flight problems the caused by the eruption.

Travelers In Limbo At JFK

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N.Y. Doormen Threaten To Walk Off The Job

Their doormen's contract expires next week, and the union and building owners remain far apart. A doorman, who preferred not to be identified, stands outside of his building in Manhattan on Wednesday. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Business

N.Y. Doormen Threaten To Walk Off The Job

Some 30,000 New York City doormen and other building workers are threatening to strike. Their contract expires next week, and the union and building owners remain far apart. There hasn't been a strike since 1991.

N.Y. Doormen Threaten To Walk Off The Job

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Obituaries

Track Dedicated To Mayor Of Central Park

Anyone who walked or ran on the famous Central Park Reservoir running track in New York would see him. They called him the Mayor of Central Park, and he claimed to be the first person to jog around the reservoir when there was just a little path. Since 1937, Alberto Arroyo was there every day, and when he retired he was often there the entire day, waving and saying hello to everyone. When he couldn't run, he walked. Then he used a cane, then a walker, and finally, after a stroke, a wheelchair. Arroyo died last month at 94.

Track Dedicated To Mayor Of Central Park

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Finally, New Yorkers Can Bee All They Can Bee

New York has changed its beekeeping rules, making clandestine operations legal. That's good news for these two Brooklyn beekeepers (above), who were photographed last year when their craft was still illicit. Today, Deborah Grieg and Jim Fischer (below) open up a hive for inspection. Chris Hondros/Getty Images hide caption

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Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Food

Finally, New Yorkers Can Bee All They Can Bee

Beekeepers who once kept their urban hives shrouded in secrecy can work openly in New York, now that a beekeeping ban has been overturned. Honeybees, which had been classified as wild and dangerous animals, are being kept by a growing number of New Yorkers.

Finally, New Yorkers Can Bee All They Can Bee

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Museum Guards 'Sw!pe' The Spotlight

The cover of Sw!pe Volume 1. Cover art by Jack Laughner, type and design by Christopher D. Boynton Sw!pe/Red Hook Editions hide caption

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Sw!pe/Red Hook Editions

Fine Art

Museum Guards 'Sw!pe' The Spotlight

A group of guards from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has collaborated on a new art and literary magazine called Sw!pe. Many say the artwork and museumgoers they spend their day watching seep into the work they make when they go home.

Museum Guards 'Sw!pe' The Spotlight

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