Love and community at 35 Park

This is a true story about a building, a garden, friendships and a wedding. The building, 35 Park Avenue in Murray Hill, provides the backdrop and venue, specifically the garden. The garden is where friendships were started, and where a very special event, the wedding, took place on May 22. This is also a pandemic story, because the way the events unfolded was impacted by the pandemic.

The cast of characters are Susan Bernard, the bride, Daniel Gomez Aguilera, the groom, Thomas Grannell, the minister, Noriko Morita, the photographer and gardener, and Shigemi Morita and Helen Stavrou, the witnesses. Kirk Heasley, who also lives at 35 Park, brought this story to our attention. All of the aforementioned have lived at 35 Park for more than 20 years. They are all die-hard Murray Hill residents who have no second homes, and they all stayed in the city during the pandemic.

We begin the story with the garden. About seven years ago, there was an empty and unused outdoor space at the back of 35 Park with cement on the ground and brick walls. The building’s garden committee transformed the space into an oasis with a blossoming cherry tree, a small maple tree, bamboo and pine trees, seasonal flowers, greenery, seating areas and lounge chairs for sunning. Neighbors donated pots and helped out. The plantings attract birds, who fill the air with song. The garden became a place to meet neighbors, and it was there that Noriko met Susan. 

Susan and Daniel are psychotherapists, who have their practices in Murray Hill. They met in Malaga, Spain in the airport terminal when both were returning home, Susan from a vacation and Daniel from an extended family visit. The date was September 12, 2002. It was love at first sight, after a seven hour flight home. Nearly 20 years later they decided to tie the knot. It was not easy to arrange a wedding during the pandemic. They needed a marriage license, but the marriage bureau at City Hall was closed—they got a license online via zoom. They needed a minister. Their neighbor Thomas came to the rescue. Thomas had worked at the U.N. in the World Food Program and at Bellevue with the Visiting Nurses hospice program. He got his certificate as a lay minister so that he could conduct the wedding ceremony. They needed a photographer. Noriko, who had worked as a photographer in the advertising department at Japan Airlines, offered her services. Noriko’s husband Shigemi and Thomas’s wife Helen stepped up to be the witnesses. And finally, they needed a space for a ceremony that was going to take place on short notice during the pandemic. What could be better or more convenient than the lovely garden at 35 Park? During the wedding a black-throated warbler joined in to provide the music with an improvised serenade.

Due to the friendships that had formed among these neighbors, their spirit of community and a gardener who wanted to create a relaxing spot for all to enjoy, everything came together for this happy occasion. Since May, the garden has also been the venue for a baby shower and a birthday party, and it will, undoubtedly, continue to provide a beautiful, calming location for many more happy occasions.