In September, I’ll once again have the pleasure of joining our Regatta participants, major donors, and representatives at one of my favorite events of the year: the NY Architects Regatta Pre-Race Cocktail Party and Skippers’ Meeting. It’s held in the world-famous Model Room at the New York Yacht Club, complete with ship models, a Tiffany stained-glass ceiling, and a twenty-five-foot-tall carved stone fireplace.
That’s it—behind me—in the photo above. Also in that photo is my friend, colleague, and NYARC board member, Daniel Frisch.
Carved stone. Dan Frisch. The Architects Regatta…
You might be wondering how I’m going to tie this all together.
In addition to being a wonderful architect, Dan is also an author. His first collection of essays, Looking Forward to Monday Morning, is available now, and he’s already at work on a second volume. One of the essays in progress focuses on a fantastic organization: The Pellettieri Stone Carvers Academy.
Dan introduced us to the Stone Carvers Academy a few years ago, and it’s turned out to be an unusually perfect fit. While they don’t carve many boats, they are an organization making real, measurable impact—using the practical skill of stone carving to open doors and possibilities for students. It’s exactly the kind of community-driven work the Regatta was built to support.
Dan kindly shared a short excerpt from his forthcoming essay, and I’m delighted to share it with you:
When I was a student at Columbia University, I was only vaguely aware that neighboring St. John the Divine was incomplete, and that the church had an active stone carving program. Twenty-five years later, I was back in the St. John community as a parent of two young children at the Cathedral School and while attending a Friday assembly, I found myself listening to a presentation by Chris Pellettieri, the now-former stone carver of the Cathedral. After the talk, the kids headed up to class and I reintroduced myself to Chris and confirmed he was indeed the carver of a certain garden folly hidden behind a faux-Parisian townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (our project referenced in this essay). Chris is no longer a carver at the stone yard at the church, as they no longer have a full-time stone carving program. While the Cathedral must miss his steady hand at the stone, he has gone on to more important endeavors. He runs the Pellettieri Stone Carvers Academy, a not-for-profit organization teaching the art of stone carving to predominately underprivileged students. I visited him on Governors Island a few summers ago where he was running a summer program under the umbrella of the National Park Service. I am humbled by his talent and passion for this ancient building art, and by his uncontainable enthusiasm for inspiring a new generation of carvers.
I’m very excited to see what comes next—both in Dan’s forthcoming second collection and at the Stone Carvers Academy. And this September, when I’m once again standing in front of that massive fireplace, I hope I’ll be telling you that the Regatta is supporting Chris and this remarkable program.
Registration for the 2025 Regatta is about to begin.
Former skippers will get a direct email. But we would love to welcome some new participants! Interested? There is a contact form right here
If you can’t wait for Dan’s second volume, pick up a copy of Looking Forward to Monday Morning — it’s available on Amazon here.
You can learn more about the Pellettieri Stone Carvers Academy here.