The Reservoir

What does it mean to build a life in common at the end of the world? The crises in which we find ourselves living ― constant, and newly surprising ― require us to be present for each other in all kinds of ways. And yet the system in which we live wants to keep us distracted, pluggedin, doom-scrolling, and separate. Woodbine, a physical space in Ridgewood, Queens from which this publication was born, was founded, in part, as a means to create that presence. Almost a decade ago, in the wake of Occupy Wall Street and Hurricane Sandy, and from different corners of New York City, we chose to reorganize ourselves within a neighborhood together. The intentional act of building community in proximity ― with the ethos of the chance encounter, and giving ourselves space and time for reflection ― is part of our answer to the distraction and separation we are ever experiencing.