Kate Tewksbury grew up playing ice hockey at Chelsea Piers. One of the other kids on her team had a dad who started coming to watch, then decided to give the sport a try himself. He never really stopped. He became one of the facility's most dedicated adult players, still lacing up for lunchtime open hockey in his seventies.
Kate has spent three years at Chelsea Piers, moving through the company's fitness business and the opening of a new field house in Brooklyn before landing back at the original Chelsea flagship a year ago, now as VP of Business Operations.
Chelsea Piers turned 30 this year. What's stayed constant, Kate says, is that New Yorkers have kept showing up, for themselves and for their kids, and that hasn't wavered in three decades.
Some of that comes down to how the place is built. The trusses overhead in the original Chelsea building date back to 1908, when the piers themselves were constructed, and the team has never covered them up. It's the same instinct behind every new location, whether that's the original steel here or, in the Flatiron space, an art installation telling the story of Madison Square Park.
But mostly, Kate says, it comes down to knowing people's names. As Chelsea Piers keeps expanding, staying that close to people is the one thing she won't let change.
Some mornings, that's Kate herself. She gets off the M23 one stop early just to grab a coffee at Joe's Chelsea cafe before heading in. She has her own definition of a good neighbor: someone who looks you in the eye, says hi, and keeps a quiet distance.
Good Neighbors is an ongoing series about the businesses and people in Joe Coffee's community.