Tina Traster
The Archive
Russian agents threaten couple in adoption cancellation
Moscow agents tracked down the private phone number of a Long Island couple who wants to cancel their adoption of two children from Russia and called them in an apparent...
Couple wants to void adoption of 'mentally ill' Russian orphans
A Long Island couple has asked a judge to vacate the adoption of two Russian-born children who suffer from serious mental disorders and are now living in state institutions. In...
Your snow-packed ski-trip savior: Mont Saint-Sauveur
Being American, I only knew of Mont Tremblant, so that’s where I went for Canadian skiing. The resort, with its Swiss Alps-style village, world-class downhill skiing, first-class hotels and glam...
Find a bit of Brooklyn in Ulster County
AS the last leaves of autumn fall, don’t miss your chance to check out Rosendale, a ruggedly picturesque postcard of a place 90 minutes from Manhattan. Its 19th-century Main Street...
Who would give up an adopted child?
It had been three years since Beth and Tom Remboldt had adopted Galina, a little girl from Russia. Abused as a child, the 9-year-old was nearly impossible to handle. She...
Soak it up
If Snooki were house-hunting, she’d do well to skip Spring Lake, NJ, a laid-back coastal town that is the antithesis — and the antidote — to the rowdy resorts that...
Nature calls
Unless you stumble upon Livingston Manor in mid-June during its annual Trout Parade, it’s hard to grasp what this otherwise sleepy town in northern Sullivan County is all about. But...
The charms of Charlevoix
Thank a catastrophic meteorite crash, 350 million years ago, for giving us Canada’s Charlevoix — a spellbinding, 35-mile-wide inhabited crater that is unlike any landscape I’ve seen in the lower...
Reading the map
GULP! “He’s got a gun!” I shriek. “What do you mean?” my husband calls from the living room. “He’s on the list. Quick, come here.” My husband, Ricky, shuffles into...
Upstate dept.
Narrowsburg, Ny, is a gorgeous tableau of late 19th-century Main Street buildings stuffed with big-city sophistication. The tiny Sullivan County hamlet hugging the “Big Eddy,” as this part of the...
Still standing
When the forecasts began days before Sandy, I was sure of two things: First, we’d lose power in our rural Rockland County house. Second, we’d be unable to leave because...
Jim Dandy
When my daughter was young, she had a wooden building-block set that she mixed and matched to create an idyllic American town. I was reminded of those renditions when I...
Now and hen
If you have a dog, cat or gerbil, I bet you know where the 24-hour vet is located. You probably know how long it takes to get there in an...
Nurturing nature
My daughter clattered down the steps when she heard my blood-piercing scream. “What’s the matter, Mommy?” “Luna’s got another one,” I said, shielding my eyes with my hands. “It’s OK,...
Home is where the history is
For seven years on and off, I’ve been doing a genealogy project — but instead of investigating my family’s roots, I’m entangled in another family’s ancestry and the history of...
Springs awakening
Dr. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, the New York City couple known as reality television’s “The Fabulous Beekman Boys,” are a telling example of what can happen to a pair...
Another one bites the dust
As I watched the yellow earth mover scooping out mounds of dirt, I crossed my fingers and hoped the folks who recently bought the house around the corner were making...
Revisiting the Poconos
If you were born before the 1970s, the Pennsylvania Poconos likely conjures up memories of a cheesy honeymoon destination with heart-shaped bathtubs and mirrored ceilings at the “beautiful Mount Airy...
Hunter’s aim
Ask someone if they know Hunter Township, and they might look at you quizzically and ask, “Do you mean Hunter Mountain? In the Catskills?” Yes, Hunter Mountain is one of...
Surviving the snow daze
Looking like Mr. Sad Sack, my husband Ricky took off his black-and-red checked lumber-jacket, sunk into the couch and emitted a long, painful whistle, like a tea kettle. “What’s the...