The production team behind 16 Acres, Mike Marcucci (left) and Matt Kapp, are working on a sequel documentary. Photo by Joe Woolhead.
The production team behind 16 Acres, Mike Marcucci (left) and Matt Kapp, are working on a sequel documentary. Photo by Joe Woolhead.
The sequel to the Downtown documentary—16 Acres—will show the dramatic changes in Lower Manhattan
THOUGH THE TWIN TOWERS COLLAPSED IN ONLY SECONDS, it took more than 10 years to rebuild One World Trade Center, once known as the Freedom Tower. Nearly another 10 years since the release of 16 Acres, a documentary directed by Richard Hankin and produced by Mike Marcucci and Matt Kapp, and the cityscape continues to evolve, with the team now working on a sequel film.
In those first years following 9/11, it was unclear whether another World Trade Center would ever be built in Lower Manhattan. Contentions rose as many residents, family members, and friends of victims advocated against rebuilding on what they viewed as sacred ground. Larry Silverstein, having purchased the Twin Towers only six weeks before the attack, became a focal point for rebuilding tensions, and yet his determination and investment to erect a new World Trade Center campus is now recognized as a catalyst of Lower Manhattan’s revitalization today. 16 Acres, released in 2012, detailed the events, discussions, and expectations at Ground Zero’s 16-acre campus in the first 10 years following 9/11. From the first town halls hosted in Lower Manhattan to receive stakeholder input on rebuilding plans, to the push-pull of the architectural design and build process that continues today, the film navigates the many dynamics that come with building on “the most famous construction site in the world,” as Marcucci calls it.
Though Larry Silverstein has served as a driving force in restoring Lower Manhattan these past 20 years, 16 Acres explores the considerable resistance he faced, both from the local community as well as heads of agencies. “A lot of New Yorkers really just tuned out. They weren’t returning, it wasn’t a very happy place. There was a lot of conflict, sadness,” Marcucci recalls, pointing to local reluctance to ever attempt revitalization following the aftermath of 9/11. As Kapp adds, “all you heard was bad news here.”
Yet the documentary highlighted a distinctly New York-type resiliency that manifested through the prolonged design and build process for the World Trade Center. From the give-and-take between competing visions by master planner Daniel Libeskind and lead designer David
Childs, to the extensive permitting and revisions mandated by the many agencies involved, the story behind Ground Zero is at once complex and yet steadfastly geared towards the ending we now know today: four World Trade Center towers, coupled with a 9/11 Museum and Memorial and a transportation hub built to draw people in. “If you’re a New Yorker, you can’t not want to be involved in the telling of this story,” Kapp emphasizes.
Today, Marcucci and Kapp are working together to film a sequel to 16 Acres, a documentary exploring downtown’s historic past and inevitably bright future. “We’re also going to look at the past and project the future a little bit, all based on what’s happening now. So, it’s the story of downtown, more than anything,” Marcucci says.
Starting with what was known as “Radio Row” in the 1920s, to the future of living and working with downtown’s changing demographics, the sequel sets out to offer a broad look at the history of Lower Manhattan while building on how recent events, such as 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, and COVID-19, will affect the culture here moving forward. Yet the two producers remain upbeat about downtown’s future. Marcucci notes, good or bad, “there’s always change. It seems downtown is destined for more of that.”
16 Acres can be streamed on Epix, DirectTV, Paramount Plus, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and Vudu. 16acresthesequel.com DT
The Tribute in Light, designed by Gustavo Bonevardi. Photo by Joe Woolhead.
Twenty years later, Tribute in Light helps New York City heal. Photo by Joe Woolhead.
IN NEW YORK, art isn’t limited to the galleries and theaters; it overflows into the streets, draping itself across the city’s skyline. Architects, artists, social organizations, and New York’s many public agencies each play a hand in building the immersive installations that speak towards some of today’s most pressing topics. New York-born architect and artist Gustavo Bonevardi is recognized for his many public projects exploring the impact local and global crises have on our population, and in New York today he is perhaps best known, along with creative partner John Bennett and lighting designer Paul Marantz, as among the artists behind Tribute in Light, an annual light projection commemorating the anniversary of 9/11. Today managed by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Tribute in Light was conceived with the support of the Municipal Art Society as two beacons echoing the Twin Towers as they defined New York City’s skyline. Though the two light beams don’t represent the actual size of the towers, which were each an acre in size, the gap between the beams and the net acreage the installation occupies is approximate to the size of the towers. “What we’ve settled on is to create not the buildings themselves, but the void between those,” Bonevardi notes, emphasizing “this tension between these two vibrating pillars.” With the beacons of light reminiscing what the Twin Towers represented, Bonevardi adds that, “to my mind, it always seemed like the World Trade Center towers were sort of like a gateway, like a door to the city,” symbolizing open arms to the millions passing through each year. In the 20 years that Tribute in Light has taken place, it has acquired a steadfast following that looks to those lights each year, recalling that same message the towers once represented.
Tribute in Light. Photo by Joe Woolhead.
Yet, Bonevardi hopes that the installation looks less at what was, and more at what could be. The Freedom Tower now erected serves as a new vision for the city’s reception of travelers and immigrants alike. Lower Manhattan on its broader spectrum has transformed from a once “beautiful and haunting” evening ghost town, as Bonevardi describes it, to a thriving neighborhood accommodating both residential and commercial tenants collaborating together to build a culture of arts, activism, shopping, and dining.
Gustavo Bonevardi. Photo by Ann Foker.
“I think that’s what New York is, it’s always fresh and new and vibrant,” Bonevardi notes, adding that when it comes to downtown’s future, “I expect it to be something unexpected. I expect to be surprised somehow. I mean, the city is constantly reinventing itself.” His most recent proposal, Missing, explores what traces the COVID-19 pandemic left on cities through footsteps echoing the many who passed away these nearly two years. Whether through such unexpected displays of resilience or delicate works of art, Bonevardi and the many other artists across New York show that this city champions perseverance and adaptability above all, underscoring what it takes to be a New Yorker.
Each year, Downtown readers come to us asking what might be the best gifts to give this season. We took a look at this year’s greatest products from cooking to dining, fashion to beauty, and tech to culture to give our recommendations for the ultimate gift guide of 2021. Browse on for ideas on what to give each special person in your life this holiday season, from our hearts to yours.
Become a barista in your own kitchen with the all-in-one EspressoWorks 15-bar Espresso Machine, offering an electric grinder, portafilter, ceramic cups, and milk frothing pitcher. Craft professional-quality café drinks in less than a minute at home and never spend a dime on take-out coffee again!
A New-York based maker of seasonal, award-winning craft liqueurs, has expanded its portfolio. This small batch is crafted using hand-picked flowers from Greiner Brothers farm. The liqueur is a more fragrant, less sweet alternative to traditional Elderflower liqueur.
This set will have your bar ready to go to prepare an old-fashioned for dad, or that special holiday guest. Includes 13.5 oz bourbon cherries, 8 oz demerara syrup, 1 oz aromatic bitters, and a graduated jigger.
We are in love with this perfect holiday gift, made of diamond wheel cut glass with a beautiful crisscross pattern, this New Orleans-inspired set is engineered to enhance your whiskey drinking experience. Set includes one decanter and four glasses.
A lovely mouth-blown glass vessel, large hand-cut reeds fill your home with a steady release of expertly crafted fragrance. Each essential oil-based fragrance is specially blended and highly concentrated to provide a true, natural scent for up to a year.
LAFCO Signature Candle
Fragrant, soy-based candles have been hand-poured into colorful mouth-blown art glass vessels that can be reused in your home décor. Each naturally luxurious essential oil-based fragrance has been specially designed and concentrated to provide a true and natural scent.
Give the Gift of Cruising
CLASSIC HARBOR LINE’S Cocoa and Carols Holiday Cruise is a great way to get into the holiday spirit with coworkers or loved ones and the perfect gift. The 1.5-hour cruise sets sail evenings from Chelsea Piers and will include live musical performances, complimentary house-made cocoa, and cookies, and a selection of beer, wine, and soda will also be available for purchase, plus spectacular views of New York City. Choose one of many city cruises on Classic Harbor line, give the gift of New York City, with some of the best crew and captains in all of NYC.sail-nyc.com
These stunning chess sets take distinguished line-ups of notable architecture and transform them into game pieces to create a truly unique statement piece. Each set includes double-weighted pieces featuring soft felt bases, a hand screen-printed wooden hatch board, and a presentation box. Of course, our favorite is the New York Skyline.
Bring France to your table this year with Château de Nalys Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grand Vin 2017
We are thrilled to add to our gift guide this year, the Guigal family’s dream of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with three extraordinary vineyards coming together in an intensely expressive, utterly complete wine. The Grand Vin defines the estate style with a precision of fruit, spice, and minerality and notably, a beautifully composed structure that unfolds and builds (and builds). This wine is deep and dark, with an intense nose of red and blackberries and spice. A beautiful composition, with silky tannins, power, and elegance. Pair with red meats either grilled or cooked in sauces, game birds, or aged cheeses.
Refresh from long, hard days out on the town with the Honest Nighttime Self-Care Kit. Complete with a cleanser, mud mask, facial cream, and resurfacing serum, this collection takes away the years this city might wear on you overnight.
Obagi skincare products are designed to help minimize the appearance of premature skin aging, skin damage, hyperpigmentation, acne, and sun damage.
Polish + Mask contain an unparalleled level of 30% L-ascorbic acid for brighter more youthful-looking skin and ultra-fine silica-alumina crystals that help shed the most superficial layers of the epidermis, removing built-up surface debris and prepping skin for infusion of Vitamin C. Even better? The infusion of botanical oils minimizes dryness while maximizing glow.
The concentrated Obagi Professional-C Serums offer vitamin C in a rich formula in three concentration levels, perfect for all skin types. Suncare from Obagi contains vitamins B, C, and E to help brighten the skin and promote a healthy, youthful-looking glow. While vitamin C provides added sun protection, it does not take the place of sunblock. Thankfully, this dual-function sunscreen combines broad-spectrum SPF 30 in a 10% L-ascorbic acid formulation—the perfect multitasker to address the appearance of skin aging.
Sabah’s in Denali Green is the perfect leather shoe to complement your fall outfit this season.
Give the gift of beauty and grooming this year with Dr. Amy B. Lewis
Dr. Amy B. Lewis is a nationally renowned medical expert and consultant in the field of cosmetic dermatology, and one of Downtown’s newest board members. From Cosmetic anti-aging procedures to specialized products, she is our go-to expert. Choose a gift certificate, make gift-giving simpler by giving the recipient the choice. Stocking stuffers are our favorite, choose from Colorscience Mineral Correction Palette, Crystal Peel Lavender Microdermabrasion Exfoliating Soap, Alastin Regenerating Skin Nectar, Emepelle Eye Cream, Colorscience Lip Shine, Clinicians ComplexLIP Enhancer Clear & Red, Colorscience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face shield, ISDIN Si-Nails, Photozyme Vitamin C+E, and ISDIB K-Ox Eyes.
For Her give full-size beauty products, Alastin Procedure Enhancement system with TriHex Technology, Emepelle Night Cream, DefenAge Clinical Power Trio, ISDIN Uradin Lotion, and Hylastra®Gold.
For Him get him started out on the right foot with anti-aging products, DefenAge Men’s Kit, Photozyme Omega 36 DNA Complex, ISDIN Isdinceutics Malatonik™, Neocutis Bio-Gel, Photozyme Ultra-Rich Cream, and Alchime Skin Repair Gel.
Since it was first made in 1972, Gran Juvé has always been an emblematic Cava, representing the best of Juvé & Camps. Categorized as “Brut” with just 5g/l of dosage, it is only produced in exceptional vintages and is made using the best quality grapes from select vineyard plots. Aged in the bottle for about 42 months, it showcases the intensity and complexity that Cava can achieve. Hints of white flowers and stone fruit are followed by notes of a long-aged cava: brioche, toasted flavors, spices, and honey. Chardonnay contributes to the creamy mouthfeel and the Xarel.lo to the elegance and long finish. Exquisitely balanced, this dry cava is expressive, intense, complex, and fresh, a harmony of endless sensations.
A winegrowing family for over 200 years, Juvé first started producing sparkling wines under their name in 1921. This family-owned, 100% estate-based producer is revered in Spain for its painstaking focus on quality and sustainability.“Reserva de la Familia” (translating to ‘Reserve of the Family’) is the leading Gran Reserva in the world, always vintage-dated, and all the more notable because of the quality needed to produce it without dosage (‘Brut Nature’ designation). Deep, intense and elegant, initially evokes notes of ripe white fruits followed by hints of fennel, toast, and citrus to complete its distinguished aroma. Its creamy mousse is perfectly integrated in the palate, making its texture in the mouth simultaneously fresh, rounded, and evocative.
Tea is our office staple. Some love their coffee, for Downtown we prefer tea. A much more relaxing way to wake up or unwind. It’s more of an experience, a ritual, far more than just brewing. Many prepare just the perfect cup of tea individually, for some it’s the rich cream and the perfect amount of raw sugar first then the pour-in Tea Forte’s steeped tea. While others go all-natural, with lemon, and honey, regardless of your process, be sure to ask for Tea Forte this holiday season, or this could be added to your very own list!
This holiday season, be sure to open the lid to reveal a tea menu and a collection of 20 pyramid infusers in five blends, including Raspberry Ganache, Harvest Apple Spice, Winter Chai, Rum Raisin Biscotti, Spiced Ginger Plum, or our Publisher’s favorite the classics, like English Breakfast, Earl Gray, or Estate Darjeeling.
The Scrumptious Side Sleeper Pillow
Every person is unique, we each sleep in different positions. Are you a side or back sleeper? Have you heard that traditional rectangular pillows aren’t designed to support our neck and shoulders perfectly no matter what position we happen to sleep in? We’ve heard this from both our physical therapist and medical doctors, there is more and more research about having the best pillow to match your body. This unique curve from the side sleeper pillow by Honeydew does just that, it supports your neck and shoulders whether you are on your side or your back and offers proper neck alignment and support. Give yourself the gift of healthy sleep, or if you are feeling generous, get one for the entire family!
All Body by Honeydew Pillow
Are you like most people, rolling up a towel, or placing an extra pillow between your knees? Sleeping with a pillow between your kneesdramatically improves spinal alignment and promotes sleeping on your side, which helps to lessen tossing and turning throughout the night and significantly improves breathing. This can greatly reduce or even eliminate snoring, and also provides tremendous relief for those who suffer from sleep apnea. Also, hugging has been found to release oxytocin and serotonin in your body. Simply put, snuggling up with a body pillow at night can lower your heart rate and reduce stress levels. This promotes a sense of comfort and peace that will improve the quality of sleep.
Have you ever wanted to remove some stuffing from your pillow? Honeydew’s fill is the most important part of your new pillow. It literally took years of prototypes and testing before they found that oh-so-perfect blend of materials, in just the right ratio, allowing for the perfect combination of support and softness. All Honeydew pillows have a discreetly hidden zipper that lets you add or remove fill to make sure your new pillow is the perfect height for your body.
This no-shock system uses sound and vibration instead, to redirect your dog, and also provides daily health insights. Knows your dog’s location using real-time GPS tracking. Use the collar together with the Wagz app.
This is New York City, so space is a premium. Grab this all-in-one home gym and maximize space while you max out your routine.
Hydrating hair care essentials are all bundled up in a neoprene pouch, perfect for anyone on your list.
Now, don’t think that this scrumptious Bali Body tanning oil is for eating because it smells just like watermelon. But you can achieve a deep natural tan with this hydrating, natural oil. It’s one of the best we have ever tried. Enriched with watermelon seed extract to naturally enhance melanin while leaving you smelling fruity fresh. Say hello to the ultimate summer essential!
Simply one of Downtown’s favorite brands. Try this lovely Bali Body self-tanning kit. This brand never uses drying and damaging sulfates, phthalates or parabens, (unlike 98.9% of beauty products!). They love all furry friends, which makes Bali Body 100% vegan and cruelty-free. These are just some of our editor’s favorites.
If we’ve learned anything about our jobs this last year and a half, it’s the importance of a reliable webcam. The Brio Ultra has what you need for a simple, clear look.
With streaming services taking the movies to your home, the Philips NeoPix takes your home to the movies. Sit back and relax with hi-def visuals and enjoy your homemade popcorn.
Bring Snoop Dog home for the holidays with this delicious red or rose. These delicious wines are bold and strong in character, full body. Cali Rose is ever so ripe with strawberry notes along with delicate floral and rose petal aromas. Fruit-forward notes of fresh raspberry, strawberry, and red cherry.
Their Chardonnay is filled with stone fruit aromas and a sweet textured palate. On the nose, notes of peaches & cream and spicy oak are carried onto the palate and supported by a creamy and criminally intense backbone. This full-bodied, powerful wine finishes with rich notes of butterscotch and spice.
It would be a crime not to add to one’s holiday list!
Pick up on one of the fastest-growing hair-care brands with EVOLVh, a pioneer in clean haircare products for that perfect look, free from guilt and chemical additives.
The cutting edge in sensory experience is brought to life through the collaboration of two high-profile Italian luxury companies.
Looking for something new and different this year? Try this one-of-a-kind, portable, and unbreakable barrel that keeps NEFT cold for up to 6 hours in any season.
While the barrel may be the hook, it’s the extremely smooth taste that sets NEFT apart from any other vodka. Perfect for holiday gifting or anyone who wants to up their spirits game, NEFT will make an unexpected and luxurious gift to nearly everyone on your list.
NEFT’s exceptionally pure taste is created using the cleanest, all-natural ingredients: oxygen rich-spring water that has been filtered for 50 years far beneath the Rhaetian Alps of Austria, and four non-GMO rye grains farmed in Lower Saxony, Amato, Askari, Pollino, and Rasant. Inherently low in dissolved salts and ions, the naturally filtered water and ancient rye grains were carefully selected to develop a vodka where the ingredients are meant to be tasted.
The LARQ Bottle is the world’s first self-cleaning water bottle and water purification system. It uses UV-C LED light to eliminate up to 99.9999% of bio-contaminants from your water and bottle.
From the oldest Venezuelan rum brand, Santa Teresa 1796 is one of the first super-premium rums to employ the Solera Method, an artisanal processing method featuring a blend of light, heavy, and pot still rums aged 4 to 35 years. Santa Teresa 1796 features a palate that hearkens back to scotch and whisky, with notes of tobacco, leather, molasses, and dark chocolate. Packaged in a stylish value pack accompanied by the limited-edition Cantinero Coffee Bitters created by renowned bartender Julio Cabrera.
Holiday Dreams’ a perfect gift for someone special on your list. The scent evokes your fondest holiday memories, a lovely balance of freshly cut evergreen and sweet spiced cider simmering on the stove. The beautiful gold jars for both the candle and the diffuser are a Limited Edition treat that adds a kiss of luxury to your holiday décor.
This year it’s all about Sicily for wines. Sicily is the perfect region for growing grapes with high-quality potential. Through ancestral rituals, refined from generation to generation, Sicilian winemakers have increasingly developed a culture of excellence through the enhancement of the island’s indigenous varieties. To date, more than 60 varieties are grown in Sicily, of which about 20 are indigenous. Assovini Sicilia is an association of Sicilian winemakers that brings together over 91 wine companies to promote the quality of Sicilian wine around the world.
This Holiday season, infuse your home with The Scent of ORVEDA. The leader in Biotec is a brand that is kind to the skin, kind to society, and kind to the environment. The candle trio is sweet, yet tart, woody notes derived from petitgrain bigarade add an initial crisp feel, with middle notes of green cardamom erupting before a fresh and earthy base. Hand-crafted and hand-poured in Italy by the finest artisans, this candle set is vegan and 100% compostable.
Maison Ladurée
Maison Ladurée presents its new advent calendar containing a selection of irresistible treats for everyone to enjoy counting the days to Christmas with something sweet.
Made for those who love to combine style with functionality. Ever misplaced, lost, or dropped your phone? Just place your iPhone into the sleek crossbody phone case and start wearing your phone crossbody or as a necklace.
Ben Ryé 2019 offers an extraordinary rich bouquet with outstanding aromas obtained from dried grapes: apricots and candied orange peel. On the palate, it offers countless sensations that sweep from fruity scents to delicate hints of scrub Mediterranean offering an extraordinary freshness that balances the sweetness. Its complexity is enriched by a savory and very persistent finish.
Aroma: ripe hints of red fruits, blackberries, raspberries, and cherries, hints of spices including vanilla, licorice, and cocoa. Flavor: soft, full, velvety tannins, persistent and aromatic. Best paired with: aged DOP Ragusano cheese, complicated and spiced dishes like chicken curry, game pâté, lamb, and rabbit.
What goes better together than pizza and wine? While in New York, pizza has become a class get-together comfort food, its origins in southern Italy originally had it that pizza would be an artfully-crafted dish intended for the individual. Move aside, dollar pizza: at Kesté Fulton, pizza’s reclaiming its original glory.
With a wide-ranging flavor palette bringing together dough, tomato, mozzarella, and a variety of toppings, pizza’s ultimate companion can be none other than wine, which accents every meal with notes of fruit and spice. Cavit Wines upholds the important role of wine with a spectrum of options to choose from, the most popular being Cavit’s Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Prosecco, and Rosé. Of all these, Pinot Grigio is a classic favorite, while Prosecco is recommended to go with anything.
Diving into the Makings of Cavit Wine
Cavit Wines are grown in northern Italy in a region known as Trentino, where the temperate climate enhances the fruity flavors. 4,500 farming families make up Cavit’s cooperative, ensuring a sense of community is harvested with every bottle. Operations at Cavit bring together sustainable farming practices with advanced research taking place with the Institute of San Michele all’Adige, one of Europe’s leading winemaking schools. Top it all off with the most technologically-advanced winery in all of Europe, and Cavit Wines has consistently been ranked highest among brands internationally. In the U.S. alone, Cavit offers the #1 Pinot Grigio, making it a perfect choice for get-togethers.
Pairing Cavit Wine with Class Pizza
Bringing it all back to the companionship wine and pizza share, a number of pizza topping are recommended withe each wine to bring out each other’s flavors. Pair the Pinot Grigio with any cheesy pizza to balance out the heavy richness of stacked cheeses, while the Pinot Noir paired well with both meat and mushroom pizzas. Cavit’s Moscato wine brings a touch of sweetness to pizzas layered with spicy toppings like jalapeños, and Prosecco, as mentioned, goes well with anything.
To browse Cavit’s wine collection and purchase a selection for your next event, visit their website. To learn more about the ins-and-outs of pizza making, visit the Pizza Academy Foundation. And to simply pick up a pizza on your next night out, visit Kesté Fulton at 77 Fulton Street.
The World Trade Center in a pivotal era of rebuilding
A wealth of information exists out there on what happened during the 9/11 attacks. Documentaries, films, podcasts, books, you name it: most are a few clicks away. Yet considerably less so exists for what happened in the wake of those attacks, how the World Trade Center was rebuilt and Lower Manhattan was transformed into the thriving commercial and residential neighborhood it is today.
Top of the World, a podcast produced by Muddhouse Media in collaboration with Silverstein Properties, explores what it took to rebuild the World Trade Center campus and many of the other centers across downtown from the eyes of the rebuilders themselves.
Larry Silverstein, Daniel Libeskind, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mary Ann Tighe are among those who led the development, design, and policy-making which indelibly changed the downtown landscape as the neighborhood sought to recover.
Top of the World also comes in the wake of another crisis: as Kris Meyer, the CEO of Muddhouse Media describes the podcast as it focuses on “the rebuilding and recovery of New Yorkers, again at lower Manhattan, but bookended with the rebuild and the recovery coming out of COVID for New Yorkers.” Yet as the city’s resilience carries onfollowing this very different type of public health crisis, we can see that the spirit of New York remains strong as ever. “As Larry Silverstein says, ‘Never count New York out,’ New Yorkers are resilient, strong, and they’re rebuilders. Just as every city in the country, in the world, has to rebuild and recover, I think we as a people have that in our DNA: to rebuild and recover and come out stronger and better than we were before,” Meyer continues.
Stories from the Rebuild
As the podcast goes through the initial design competition for architectural proposals of One World Trade Center into the many negotiations that took place between developers and the Port Authority, guest features speak through their experiences while on the front lines of it all, including the anecdotes, pitfalls, and personal successes that accompany any project of a scale like this. Meyer recalls that of the most interesting points, listening to Larry Silverstein talk about the research put into making those buildings the safest in the world: what it took to build those and the research on how to build a better building, a safer building, a greener building, a cleaner building,” stood out as a particularly distinct nod towards the future of resiliency in Lower Manhattan.
Other highlights including hearing from the artists-in-residence at the World Trade Center on their unique role in capturing life downtown during its rebuilding phase, as well as the perspectives of leading designers Michael Arad and Daniel Libeskind, architects of the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center, respectively, and those of policy leaders such as Jessica Lappin of Downtown Alliance, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Rick Cotton of the Port Authority. With New Yorkers checking out podcasts on the streets, in the subways, and while in offices, the beauty of Top of the World is its accessibility: “If you want to continue to learn and get educated on what it took to rebuild the World Trade Center, you can do it anywhere you listen to podcasts,” Meyer emphasizes.
Top of the World was produced by Muddhouse Media with Creative Director Mark Carey, Production Director Mike Gioscia, Head of Business Development Annie Powell, and producer Stefen Laukien at the helm. Top of the World is available on podcast streaming channels including Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart, Google, and Pandora.
Any entrepreneur should know the what, how, and why of what they’re selling — yet most times, the “why” is missing.
The businesses that stand out and succeed most often do so because they’re able to tap into the broader mission their specific product, service, or cause is supporting, and the “what” and “how” simply become the vehicle for an entrepreneur’s more significant impact.
At Doughp, a cookie dough company founded by Kelsey Moreira in early sobriety, her “why” of selling cookie dough taps way beyond the indulgent taste of her sweet desserts, which with no eggs and heat-proof flour can be eaten raw or baked, and taps into crafting cookie dough as a platform for mental health and addiction recovery, which Moreira herself connects with.
“The story to Doughp begins in early sobriety, jumping back in the kitchen and baking nights and weekends,” Moreira recalls, adding that her free time spent baking was “really kind of a self-discovery moment to figure out who ‘Kelsey’ was and what she likes to do.” Coming off of the heels of a ten-year career in tech,
Moreira soon made the jump full-time to launching her own cookie dough company after receiving enough encouragement from friends, family, and colleagues who all enjoyed the treats she’d often gift them with.
Cookie Dough on the Ride to Recovery
Opening her first storefront on Pier 39 in San Francisco in 2017, Doughp initiated #Doughp4Hope that same year “to break the stigma around mental health and addiction recovery,” Moreira emphasizes.
The company quickly launched into the big-time as Moreira was soon featured on a hit reality television series Shark Tankand recognized as an honoree of Forbes 30 Under 30. Yet with Doughp’s growth topping the charts at 219% each year, the same mission has carried through to make a difference. “This is so much more than cookie dough to me.
In fact, I would say we’re not a cookie dough company — we’re trying to give people a chance to make an impact around issues that matter to them, with mental health and recovery at the forefront. That’s really what we’re selling: the chance to make an impact,” Moreira underscores.
In 2021, Doughp partnered with, SHE RECOVERS Foundation to provide 1% of all sales to support the non-profit’s initiatives. As Moreira explains, “they also support mental health challenges, life challenges, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders,” mentioning that SHE RECOVERS takes care to acknowledge that “we’re all in recovery from something.
I certainly really aligned with their philosophy and I’m proud to be a partner of theirs.”
Looking ahead, Moreira sees expanding the company to crafting cookie dough as a platform for mental health while including a broader palette of indulgent desserts, with expansion still geared towards raising awareness for mental health and addiction recovery.
“Looking at Doughp as just a cookie dough company would be short-sighted, so I really see evolving the business into a food platform for mental health and addiction recovery,” she adds.
To order Doughp cookie dough and support their mission, visit doughp.com.
