Welcome to Staff Picks at nybgshop.org. Throughout the site you’ll find some of our team’s favorite items, but first we thought we’d tell you a little bit about ourselves.

My entire adult life has been spent in retail, from a family antiques business to my own interior design firm. But in all that time something was missing, and here, in my nearly eight years at The New York Botanical Garden, I’ve found it—what I call “Retail for the Greater Good.” There is tremendous satisfaction in knowing that our dedicated efforts and every dollar of profit support the incredible and important work done by the Garden and its staff. Thank you all for your continued support; we hope to see you often, both here online and in the Shop. Enjoy meeting the team…

I moved to New York City the day after I graduated from college—I couldn’t wait to experience life in what seemed to be the center of the universe. Twenty-two years later I still love it: the food, the culture, the museums, the incredible diversity, and the intense energy. This city has the best of many things, including, of course, botanical gardens. I’ve worked in retail for many years and I’m very proud of the merchandise we sell here, as well as the incredible beauty of our surroundings at the Garden.

When I was 13 years old, I had dozens of houseplants in my bedroom, all green and lush. I was the only one in my family who loved to rake the leaves in autumn, revel in the yellow forsythia’s first appearance in April, and prune the rose bushes in summer. My father and I wrapped the fig tree every winter in newsprint to protect it from the cold. I always wanted to work for The New York Botanical Garden, and have now done so for almost ten years, on and off since I was 21. Someday I plan to donate a bench that reads, "here I worked but never sat"!

I’m really into both plants and books so it’s a big deal for me to be working here. If I’m caught reading on the job I can say, “Well, I have to know what’s in the books we’re selling, don’t I?” If I’m caught strolling through the Perennial Garden during work hours I can say, “Well, I have to know about the plants we’re selling, don’t I?”

I have always been a wildlife lover, and that’s why it is a delight to work in such a uniquely beautiful place as the Garden. It’s a singular pleasure to see all the wildlife as I come to work in the morning and leave each night—wild turkeys, ducks, raccoons, rabbits, cardinals, robins, and best of all the red-tailed hawk family. I once had a close-up encounter with a baby hawk right outside our Shop, and he looked exactly like the stuffed Audubon version we sell. Our whole collection of stuffed animals and puppets is wonderfully lifelike—and the inspiration is right outside our windows.

I was born and raised in the Bronx, and as teenagers, my girlfriends and I would bike to the Botanical Garden and actually ride throughout the site. I thought what a nice place to work someday. After working in a garden center for ten years, that “someday” arrived five years ago. I love working with plants. I have a hosta collection in my shade garden and a big container garden where I grow conifers, perennials, shrubs and, in the spring and summer, all kinds of vegetables.

I’ve worked in retail for many years, in the beauty and wellness industry and in the electronics industry. Over the past few years, I’ve gained a better appreciation for outdoor activities like snowboarding and motorcycle riding. When I was growing up in the Bronx, my father and I would do landscape projects in the yard—which ultimately landed me here at Shop in the Garden. I now have the best of both worlds: retail and the Garden as the backdrop.