Astoria Park

Enrico de Trizio and Giancarlo de Trizio start jamming to the rhythm of their new-found city. The brothers -- Enrico on the melodica and Giancarlo on the cajón -- have never played to the sky before, but once they start, they don't want to stop.

To ratchet up recycling, artist Bernard Klevickas created "Twisted Bicycle," a sculpture/planter made of an old bike that is designed to be wrapped around city streetlights.

"Hey, Dog Walker!" The shout-out bounds across the street like a puppy fetching a stick. Erin O'Meara, leash and iPod in hand, waves.

Deciding to raise chickens in an apartment that's smaller than a chicken coop isn't something Jules Corkery and Robert McMinn are doing on a whim.

"Everybody says we look alike," says Francine Amendola. "But our mother says we don't," adds her sister, Laraine Amendola.

For nearly a quarter century, Patricia Pelengaris has been the owner of the establishment on 23rd Avenue at 28th Street that she named A&E Cleaners for her children, Alex and Eleni.

On the emerald green front door of Stanley and Kathleen Rygor's 1890 cottage, there's a Claddagh knocker whose well-worn brass shows that it's no stranger to visitors.