Nick and Mairys Love Brooklyn (and each other)

Nick E Finn and Mairys Joaquin are a crazy talented Brooklyn couple who define the word "hustle". Mairys is a Brooklyn native (East New York) who is a former teacher and school leader, and current singer-actor-musician-real estate agent-entrepreneur. Her partner Nick is originally from Seattle (read: NOT Brooklyn), but has declared that he will be buried in NYC's best borough. Also a former teacher, Nick is a poet-writer-actor. Nick and Mairys tell Alexis about what makes Brooklyn so great, what challenges it faces and how the city has impacted their relationship and their work as teachers and artists. Mairys lets us know how her childhood in NYC informs her work as an educator, broker and community member. Nick shares how he has reckoned with his role in Brooklyn's gentrification as both a teacher and an artist, and how it inspired him to write and perform in his solo show The Last Hipster in Brooklyn. And as tends to happen when three teachers get together, Nick, Mairys and Alexis got a lot done in a little bit of time. They hit on the beauty of Bachata in the summer, how Jay-Z sold Brooklyn on a basketball team, Spike Lee (of course) and more. Follow Nick and Mairys on their social to keep up with their past and upcoming work. And as always, find links to everything referenced in the episode below.

A shot from Nick and Mairys' wedding. 12/30/2016. Dominican Republic.

TO READ AND RESEARCH:

• Mairys' website, where you can find her music and performance videos
• Nick's show The Last Hipster in Brooklyn
• East New York: The confusing rezoning of East New York. And in 2016, journalist and East New York native Kevin Heldman created a four episode podcast and wrote a feature article analyzing the neighborhood. (Note: The content is good, but do not appreciate Digg's description of East New York as the "worst" neighborhood in NYC- whatchya mean by that Digg?)
• A 2015 article about the 55% drop in enrollment in teacher preparation programs like Teach For America in 2012 after the country rebounded from the Great Recession
• Racial Bias in Special Education
• From The Ringer how the Brooklyn Nets are attempting to rebound from their failed attempts to buy New Yorkers fandom
• New York magazine's profile of Cynthia Nixon (they couldn't help throwing a Miranda reference directly on the cover)
• Discounted Citi Bike memberships for NYCHA residents
• The New York Times blows up the spot of every ticket seller hustling in Times Square
• From 'Broken Angel' House to Condos
• How Spike Lee met Rosie Perez  (and how to attend the 20th anniversary screening of He Got Game at BAM on April 30th)

TO LISTEN TO:

• Mariah Carey's Hero (the first song Mairys performed publicly)
• Jay-Z (no link provided- do your research)
• Frank White's Hypnotize (the Life After Death-Remastered version)
• Hot 97 and La Mega 97.9 on your FM dials
• Daddy Yankee
• Spotify's Bachata Lovers playlist
• The Bee Gees

TO WATCH:

• The Deuce (HBO)
• She's Gotta Have It (the Netflix series)
• Wyclef Jean on Desus and Mero
• Dave Chappelle's Block Party
• Do the Right Thing and its opening credits which feature Rosie Perez dancing for 4 minutes and 24 seconds
• Fresh (Netflix)
• The Warriors
• Moonstruck (Cher!)
• Saturday Night Fever