“On Sundays, I wake up at 6:30 AM, and I walk downstairs and pick up the Sunday New York Times—an old-school hard copy. I open up my door and there it is, sitting in front of me. This fall, I’ve been getting up early, at 6 a.m., and heading out to the Rockaways, to catch waves. I recently got a new board, an 8’ 6” performance board that I have to be a little faster on to catch those waves. I’ll go out there and catch waves with a couple of friends, surfing buddies.

I get back at 9:30. I’m a bit of a coffee addict, so I have my favorite blend from Sahadi’s—the Kona blend… I grind it to a medium grind and I pour it over. I also make myself my smoothie, and I put in flat seeds, oatmeal, spinach, kale, berries, carrots, and depending on whatever fruits are in season, I throw that in there. I also put in a probiotic kefir, for gut health, and a bit of juice. So I read the New York Times while drinking coffee. 

Now, Sundays are plant days for me…I use the same pot that I use to heat the water for my coffee, but I water my plants, and then that whole routine takes me to mid-morning. I will then get on the phone and I check in on my family, with my parents—my dad’s 87 and my mom’s 85—so I call them to see what’s going on with them in Virginia. I call my son, who’s down at the University of Southern California. I call my daughters, who are here in New York working, so I just check in—how’s life going and see if we want to meet anywhere. Then I will go out, and I will head down to 5th Avenue in Brooklyn to go meet a friend for lunch.The streets will be blocked off by cars. There’s always a band or a farmer’s market—always something going on down 5th Avenue in Brooklyn. So usually my friend and I will both discuss philosophy and what we’re reading.

For lunch, one spot I really love is My Cuban Spot on Carroll and 3rd—it’s like the size of a closet, but they make these Cubano sandwiches that are just from a different planet—SO GOOD! There’s a Mexican joint on 5th and Carroll, and I’ll go there and get a burrito. There’s a burger joint on Fifth and Garfield and I’ll go there and get a wagyu burger with blue cheese crumbles.

Then I’ll climb on a scooter and “Revel” over to the Brooklyn Heights Cobble Hill area. There’s my favorite store in NYC and it’s called Hatchet Supply—they have the super high-tech outdoor gear, and it’s really interesting. I walk up the street, and one of our families owns the restaurant Colonie. Sahadi’s is there, Trader Joe’s is there, so, during the late afternoon, I do some shopping. Around the evening, I get back on the Revel, scoot back to Park Slope, and I will get a burrito from Papi’s on 7th Avenue. They have the best burritos there. I’ll come home, and I’ll sometimes eat it while watching TV. Then I’ll read after that. My dentist tells me “only floss the teeth you want to keep,” so I’m like okay, I’ll floss all of them. I get into bed and try to get a good night’s sleep before school the next day.

I tell everyone I don’t have a job—I go to school. On Monday mornings, I go to the Lower School and greet the Lower School kids before they go into school. They’re the happiest kids going to school—I get to see three, four, five, six-year-old kids running into school, and then I’ll get into my car and drive up to the Dyker Heights campus. I do the same thing—as soon as you walk onto campus, you feel the energy of the kids. And there’s always something going on: whether it’s Blue Devil Night or a performance. I love walking around our hallways because they are noisy. A dream that I have, when I go to bed on a Sunday evening, is how I can help our school be the funnest school in New York City. That’s my dream—that our school can be more fun than any other school.”