Jennifer Sabin Poux

About Jennifer Sabin Poux

Jennifer Sabin Poux is a freelance journalist and writer who lives in Pocantico
Hills. For nearly two decades, she wrote and produced for ABC News. She has written nearly 50 opinion pieces on politics for Huffington Post, and her short stories, essays and articles can be found in Fiction, Kitchen Sink Publishing and The Hook.

Comedy in the Time of Corona

March 26, 2020 by Jennifer Sabin Poux

“Mind if we watch another Curb Your Enthusiasm?” my husband asks at midnight. Nobody has to get up before 8:30 a.m., so why not? It’s become something of a ritual: we started watching the new season of Larry David’s sitcom a few weeks ago, and then returned to the early episodes when Larry was – gasp – younger than we are today. And slightly less prickly than Bernie Sanders’ doppelganger is now in his seventies, making him expendable for the sake of the economy, according to some politicians. Turning off Brian Williams and turning to comedy has become a way to mitigate the stress of anxiety-tainted days. We sleep better when the night’s last note is hilarity rather than foreboding.

Comedy television is no panacea for a world on fire, but it does provide temporary relief from the flames. Some mornings I wake up and feel the weight of all the generations of my immediate and extended family. The most difficult has been my older sister’s failing health, and the barrier that the coronavirus has erected between her and a safer, healthier day-to-day life. She and her husband, who has Parkinson’s, were planning to move from Rhode Island to an assisted living community in Wisconsin near one of her daughters, a herculean effort for some of us in the days leading up to the move. The complex went on corona lockdown fifteen hours before her flight was scheduled to take off.

There seemed to be no humor in that moment– just disbelief at the unluckiness of our timing.

But isn’t that where humor is often buried? In irony, in bad luck and misfortune? My friend Eileen, one of the funniest people I know, helped me laugh at the absurdity of the situation for the first time. If you Google humor quotes, you’ll find the inspirational words of everyone from Erma Bombeck to Langston Hughes. Some are more profound than others. I like these words from (the also expendable) Mel Brooks, “Humor is just another defense against the universe.”

We need all the defenses we can muster these days. Cue Curb Your Enthusiasm’s clownish theme song. Larry David’s petty grievances, politically incorrect rants and personal interactions are so ridiculous and cringe-worthy that my husband and I can’t help but laugh for the twenty-five – forty minutes that each episode lasts. It’s enough time to forget that our college senior didn’t get to finish her final year at the school she loves and will probably have a hell of a time finding a job; or that our college freshman wasn’t able to complete his first year of independence and is now stuck with us for at least six months. (There is a silver lining in having our adult children home a little longer.)

Some people will be unable to find any silver linings in this time of crisis. Too many have already have faced unimaginable tragedy and thousands more will follow. As another elder statesman of comedy, 98-year-old Carl Reiner recently tweeted, “For the first time in memory I see nothing in this world about which I care to joke.” Agreed. But it is precisely the time that we can look to the fiction of television and film comedy for the jokes, for the respite.

Maybe Larry David the TV character can worry so freely about life’s nothings because he has no kids to worry about, and enough money to be insulated against economic anxiety. Oh to be wealthy and frivolous enough to open a coffee shop just for spite. That was so 2019.

2020 will be a year of financial reckoning for many. There is someone in our extended family whose company is struggling for survival. Another two who have been looking for a job – that task will be more difficult now than ever. We have two young nurses in our midst – one waiting for the dreaded peak, the other at home with a ten-week-old – my grand-niece – worried about going back to work in this inhospitable climate. And there’s the patriarch of our extended family who is ninety-two and in relatively good health for his age. But he is ninety-two – one can’t help but worry about him and his peers.

This virus is a multi-generational scourge: it may prefer the elderly, but it does not discriminate against the young, as we have begun to learn. And as the long arm of its economic fallout reaches into the 401k’s of our retirees, it also empties the wallets of the working class, feeds the instability of our hourly workers and undercuts the fragile economies of our newly minted high school and college grads. Many of our waiters and service workers are young or supporting young children. And many are society’s most vulnerable members.

Humor will not play a part in the economic stimulus package, of course. But humor can provide an assist in our psychological recovery plans that reaches across generations. Fleabag, Veep, Big Mouth, SNL, I think You Should Leave, Barry, Schitt’s Creek – their comedic social commentary can help us get through the night and redirect us to a future when this virus is in our rearview. (Save too-close-to-home dramas like Years and Years for post-pandemic viewing.)

There should be no guilt in alleviating the darkness of the moment for a short while, especially in the hours before we sleep.

With every episode we watch of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I hope HBO does a coronavirus season next year. Just imagine Larry David fumbling with this crisis – infuriating people, saying and doing all the wrong things, paranoid about every sniffle and cough. They probably won’t touch the subject for good reason, but maybe David is just irreverent enough that he will. And maybe it will be the balm we need when this is all over.

Sing Sing Prison Acquires a New Story and Preps for Museum Opening

February 22, 2020 by Jennifer Sabin Poux

Archival image of the Powerhouse Photos courtesy of Sing Sing Museum

In 1929, the New York Yankees played an exhibition game in an unusual location. It wasn’t a major league stadium or even a famous park. And Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and their teammates weren’t playing a team known for its athletic prowess.

That game on September 5th was between the Yankees and the Ossining Orioles. The venue? Sing Sing Prison.The Orioles were the best team in the Mutual Welfare League, a.k.a. a prison team.

The Yankees toured the prison before playing in their iconic pinstripes. One man who was incarcerated at Sing Sing was too ill to watch the game, so Ruth autographed his cell wall. Apparently, the Yankees signed a number of baseballs and handed them out. One ball from that momentous game, signed by Ruth and Gehrig, was acquired by Sing Sing Prison Museum just before this past New Year at an auction in Seattle.

The baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during a game between the Yankees and the inmates. The ball was recently acquired for the museum.
Photo Credit: MBA Auctions

Brent Glass is the Interim Director of the museum which will open in part in late 2020. He says that ball, which will be on exhibit along with its history, is significant to the museum because it connects several prison stories.

The ball will “help us tell the story of one approach…to try to encourage men who are incarcerated to partake in recreation, and to become integrated in society when they leave.”

It also helps tell the stories of Sing Sing in popular culture.

Glass says Warden Lewis E. Lawes, who was in charge of Sing Sing at the time of the game, implemented a progressive theory about the importance of rehabilitating the men under his watch in part by making life more interesting for them and giving them recreational and athletic opportunities. He was also connected to Hollywood; Lawes had written several screenplays including, “Over the Wall,” about a man incarcerated at Sing Sing of course.

Over the prison walls is where three Ruth homeruns landed that day in 1929. The Orioles wore hand-me-down NY Giants uniforms to face their professional opponents, but that didn’t help. No surprise– the game was a rout. The Yankees won 17-3. And they gave the men of Sing Sing a great show.

A rendering of the powerhouse
Photos courtesy of Sing Sing Museum

A New Cultural Institution

When we think about Westchester’s many cultural institutions, Sing Sing Prison does not come to mind. It doesn’t make any Hudson Valley must-see lists, yet. But that will change in this next decade, with the creation of the Sing Sing Prison Museum, opening in full in 2025. The museum’s founders are on a mission to make the museum one of Westchester’s great cultural tourism destinations.

You might go for the history, or you might go to gain a greater understanding of America’s prison complex. You might be interested in the more macabre aspects of the fabled penitentiary. Or you might go for the baseball.

The Sing Sing museum will be devoted to telling stories like the Yankees game, as well as the full story of the institution and its evolution. It will highlight stories of its brutal past and most infamous prisoners like Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, and those of the ordinary men incarcerated there, as well as their families, and the rehabilitation work occurring there in the 21st century. And the museum’s installations will be designed to encourage visitors to examine the greater social justice issues of the prison system.

“That’s one of our major goals for the museum is to challenge people to reimagine the criminal justice system and to take action to create a more just society,” says Glass.

Glass, who is also Director Emeritus of Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, says all stakeholders will be included in the creation of the museum. “We want to tell the story of how incarceration has affected everyone at Sing Sing. We want to talk to the men who are incarcerated. What stories do they think are important to tell? We want to talk to people who have been victims of crimes. We don’t want to leave their stories out.” And he says the museum will include the stories of the people who have worked there over the years.

Why build a museum at Sing Sing now? Glass says, “Every chapter in criminal justice history has a few pages written at Sing Sing.” Unlike a popular museum like Alcatraz, Sing Sing is still operating. And he adds that its proximity to New York City and historic sites in the Hudson Valley makes it a perfect location. It will also bring tourism and millions of tourist dollars to Ossining. The museum founders estimate that 260 jobs in the museum and the wider community will be created, as well as 100 construction jobs.

The Sing Sing Prison Museum will open a preview center in 2020 at the Powerhouse on the prison campus. The Powerhouse provided electricity to the prison from the 1930’s to the 1960’s and will be repurposed with the construction of exhibition spaces, classrooms and a theater, as well as space for re-entry programs to help released prisoners acclimate to society.

When the full museum opens in 2025, Glass says visitors will be able to enter the historic cellblock. “We would break into the prison in effect through a secure corridor that would connect the Powerhouse to the historic cellblock which is about 100 yards south of the Powerhouse. The historic cellblock, built in 1825, would be the centerpiece of the visitor experience because it is an extraordinary ruin that nobody gets to see at this point.”

Sing Sing has a notorious past–including 614 executions in the 20th century–but it is working to bring a sense of humanity to its prisoners through a variety of arts and educational programs. Rehabilitation Through the Arts provides year-round theater workshops and performance to the prisoners of Sing Sing. They also run workshops in dance, visual arts, music and creative writing. Hudson Link for Higher Education provides college educational opportunities to prisoners through private funding. The correctional facility has a garden and a professional master gardener, Douglass DeCandia, who works with the prisoners. There are also programs for the families of prisoners.

Perhaps some of the families of early twentieth century prisoners might still have their signed baseballs from the 1929 game against the Yankees. Glass is hoping the museum might be able to acquire a few more. In the meantime, this one will be on view at Sing Sing’s new museum later this year, a wonderful testament to the idea that people who are incarcerated benefit from the occasional diversion and a reminder of what’s possible on the outside.

Six Tidbits About Sing Sing

The 1,200 cells in the historic cellblock built in 1825 were seven-feet long, six-and-a-half feet high, and three-feet, seven inches wide.
In the 19th century, some prisoners were subjected to punishments like the “shower bath,” similar to waterboarding.
David Berkowitz, aka “the Son of Sam,” was incarcerated at Sing Sing.
Some Hollywood movies filmed scenes at Sing Sing including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing Sing
Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Harry Houdini and B.B. King have all performed at Sing Sing

How We Talk About Incarceration

October 26, 2019 by Jennifer Sabin Poux

The Sing Sing Prison Museum Hopes to Impact the Conversation-and Ossining

Here’s what we don’t talk about when we talk about incarceration: the women left behind when a husband, father or son is imprisoned. The Wait Room, a dance and acrobatic production held outside Sing Sing Prison in September, directed the audience’s focus to those women who suffer the emotional, physical and economic burdens of the prison system, as well as the burden of shame. The production was poignant and effective: it was impossible to watch the dancers move and fly (with the help of harnesses) around the tilt-a-whirl stage without thinking more empathetically about the women whose loved ones reside up the hill at Sing Sing.

The Wait Room, a Flyaway Production out of San Francisco, was brought to Louis Engel Park on the Hudson River in Ossining by the future Sing Sing Prison Museum and the Bethany Arts Community. The production meshes seamlessly with the museum’s broader mission. Opening in part in 2020, and in full in 2025, the museum will be devoted to telling the story of the institution and its evolution. It will highlight not only the stories of its brutal past and most infamous prisoners like Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, but of the ordinary prisoner and his family, and the rehabilitation work occurring there in the 21st century. And the museum’s installations will be designed to encourage visitors to thoughtfully examine the greater social justice issues of the prison system.

“That’s one of our major goals for the museum is to challenge people to reimagine the criminal justice system and to take action to create a more just society,” says Brent Glass, Interim Executive Director of the museum.

Glass, who is also Director Emeritus of Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, says all stakeholders will be included in the creation of the museum. “We want to tell the story of how incarceration has affected everyone at Sing Sing. We want to talk to the men who are incarcerated. What stories do they think are important to tell? We want to talk to people who have been victims of crimes. We don’t want to leave their stories out.” He also says the museum will include the engaging stories of the people who’ve worked there over the years.

The Wait Room is one example of how the Sing Sing Prison Museum is deftly utilizing art and storytelling to educate audiences. The dancers performed to music and voice recordings of women whose loved ones are or have been incarcerated. The Wait Room’s choreographer, Jo Kreiter, is herself married to a man who was imprisoned for six years. Hearing the voices of marginalized women talk about the exorbitant expense of driving hours to visit someone in prison, the interminable wait in line to see them, being turned away because of an underwire bra or the wrong pants, all of it resonates because it becomes so personal as the backdrop to mesmerizing dance performances. The dancers sometimes fly, but they are also tethered to the oversized chairs on the clock-faced stage.

In addition to personal stories like those in The Wait Room, Glass says the museum is meant to give visitors history and context about the American justice system as a whole, and how it’s changed over time. What was a crime 100 years ago might not necessarily be a crime today. As a society, our concept of punishment has evolved over time.

Why build a museum at Sing Sing now? Glass says, “Every chapter in criminal justice history has a few pages written at Sing Sing.” Unlike a popular museum like Alcatraz, Sing Sing is still operating. And he adds that its proximity to the cultural mecca of New York City and historic sites in the Hudson Valley makes it a perfect location. It will also bring tourism and millions of tourist dollars to Ossining. The museum creators estimate that 260 jobs in the museum and the wider community will be created, as well as 100 construction jobs.

It’s what we don’t see that we can pretend isn’t happening, and that’s what art like The Wait Room examines. There has been a growing national conversation about the racial inequities of the prison system, and “Race” is the title of one of the production’s dances. But there are other issues inherent in the system that place an incredible burden on the women who visit their loved ones in prison. The cost of driving eight hours roundtrip, or more likely taking an expensive bus to a prison visit. The wild markup on items inside the prison commissary. The shame when friends ask, why are you still married to that criminal? The difficulty of raising a child with an imprisoned father, of suddenly being a one parent, one income household. The often condescending and dismissive treatment of the women by the prison guards as if they too have committed a crime.

Sing Sing has a notorious past – including 614 executions in the 20th century – but it is working to bring a sense of humanity to its prisoners through a variety of arts and educational programs. Rehabilitation Through the Arts provides year-round theater workshops and performance to the prisoners of Sing Sing. They also run workshops in dance, visual arts, music and creative writing. Hudson Link for Higher Education provides college educational opportunities to prisoners through private funding. The correctional facility has a garden and a professional master gardener, Douglass DeCandia, who works with the prisoners. There are also programs for the families: for example, they were invited to see The Wait Room free of charge.

The Wait Room ends with an ode to the women’s love for their husbands, partners, sons and fathers, no matter the egregiousness of their crime or the injustice of their innocence. A lone dancer flies high like a trapeze artist above the stage and above the audience, free, for the moment, of the binds of prison. The dance is called, “This is a Love Story.” It’s difficult to imagine a story about imprisonment as a love story, but the story of prison is, after all, about people. The Sing Sing Museum will examine the history of violence and crime, of justice and injustice, cruelty and redemption. It will also tell the story of men, women and children trying to survive in a system that flouts love but will never fully extinguish it.

Five Facts about Sing Sing

The 1,200 cells in the historic Cellblock built in 1825 were seven-feet long, six-and-a-half feet high, and three-feet, seven inches wide.
In the 19th century, some prisoners were subjected to punishments like the “shower bath,” similar to waterboarding.
David Berkowitz, aka “the Son of Sam,” was incarcerated at Sing Sing.
Some Hollywood movies filmed scenes at Sing Sing including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing Sing

Ten reasons to Love, Love, LOVE Pleasantville

August 24, 2019 by Jennifer Sabin Poux

Living in Pocantico Hills with a Pleasantville P.O., parking at the Hawthorne train station and sending your kids to Briarcliff High School is a bit of a geographic conundrum. You don’t really belong to any one town. Pocantico Hills is a school district rather than a town–even the school itself and Stone Barns are technically in Sleepy Hollow.

But living here has turned out to be a geographic bonanza: rather than one town, I claim three, situated as I am almost equidistant between Pleasantville, Briarcliff and Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow. My family and I frequent all three to shop and eat. But the one we visit more than any other for the mundane and the sublime is Pleasantville. Here are ten reasons to love this village.

1. The restaurants keep coming.

For a village of just 7,000, Pleasantville has a remarkably strong collection of dining options. A few of my newer favorites: Pub Street for seafood and salads, Mission Taqueria for tacos and margaritas, Southern Kitchen for, well, southern food, and Dai for its fresh sushi, soups and charming atmosphere. I get the sense Pleasantville residents don’t have a restaurant saturation point, which is good news for those of us who live here. If somebody builds a good one, they will come.

2. The Town Anchor.

I was practically in mourning when Yvonne and Roy decided to sell the Village Bookstore, but I’m thrilled they found an enthusiastic buyer in Jennifer Kohn to keep this gem open and thriving. If you love books, there’s nothing like browsing the aisles, reading the jacket cover and looking for employee recommendations over buying online. It’s also a chance to snub Amazon and more importantly, keep our local retailers in business.

3. The Bounty of the Farm.

I’ve checked out a few other farmers’ markets and maybe I’m biased, but Pleasantville’s Saturday market is something special. The sheer number of choices, the friendly sellers, the music, the quality of produce and the cheese all add up to a singular experience. On Saturdays, my family sits down to “market lunch,” which features three-four cheeses, fresh breads, pickles, salad and sometimes fresh seafood.

4. Mall Avoidance.

We all need to hit the Westchester or the Palisades Center on occasion. And I don’t want to see any of those stores go out of business. But when I have to buy a gift, I stay in town. I like pulling right up, throwing a quarter in the meter and walking into the Glass Onion for jewelry and accessories, Rhododendron for scarves and other women’s gifts, Aardvark for the dog, Kimberly House for baby clothes and scented gifts, Photo Works for a framed photo for the grandparents, and of course back to the Village Bookstore for anyone. Tip: The Pleasantville Pharmacy is a great stop at Christmas for something extra for kids, a pair of earrings, or a hostess gift.

5. You don’t have to go to NYC to see an art film.

What can I say about Jacob Burns except that it’s the jewel of Pleasantville. I hate to go anywhere else to see a movie anymore. And if your kids are interested in film, check out their fantastic after school courses and summer camp.

6. Skate the Old-Fashioned Way.

It’s as fickle as the winter weather, but when it’s open, Opperman’s Pond is an idyllic spot for family ice skating or a game of hockey. Pull up, put your skates on and go. There’s no line, no fee, and no rentals, so bring your own.

7. Architectural Digest.

I live in a mid-century modern home, and I’m not alone. A friend owns one near town where I’ve seen several, and then there’s Usonia, Frank Lloyd Wright’s utopian dream, right here off Bear Ridge Road. If the 1950’s are too new for you, Pleasantville has an impressive stock of Tudors, Victorians and Colonials, particularly the beauties lining Bedford Road that help Pleasantville live up to its name.

8. A True Community Theater.

My daughter did just two productions at Arc Stages during high school–I wish we had enrolled her as a young child. So many kids come back year after year until they go off to college. The people who run Arc Stages are as child-centered as you get. And their approach to musical theater and drama is to choose ensemble productions that give every kid an important role. Their community stage for adults and the variety of professional productions are excellent as well.

9. The Biggest Small Music Festival.

We’re a Clearwater Family, but I’ve got to say, Pleasantville is giving the Croton festival a run for its money when it comes to talent. This year, Everclear, Soul Asylum, Aimee Mann and Matthew Sweet were the featured artists. Every year in July, Parkway Field turns one Saturday into an all-day party. You can bring your kids or leave them home, but there’s something for everyone.

10. Charm.

Pleasantville is oozing in it, and at a time when people do so much ordering online and ordering to go, the village is often busy and alive. Let’s keep it that way. I worry about our small-town retailers dying off. Pleasantville, like so many of our Westchester villages, towns and cities, relies on its residents to be faithful customers. In return, it offers us a charming and bountiful place to call home.

The JOY of School Theater

May 31, 2019 by Jennifer Sabin Poux

As the recorded soundtrack kicked in and the curtain opened on the stage at Pocantico Hills School, my eyes welled up. What the hell? I hadn’t had a kid there for four years. Seated in the refurbished auditorium with a friend to watch the middle school production of A Lion King, I surreptitiously dabbed at my eyes. I tended to shed a tear or two whenever my own children took the stage, but I didn’t know 95 percent of the kids in the show. Why was I getting emotional? It took me a few minutes to figure out that I was in the throes of an almost-empty-nester moment, a multi-sensory reminder of where my kids had been, where their love of theater had started, and with one in college and one about to go, it brought up a lot for me.

It was also just weeks since I’d watched my son play Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Briarcliff High School, the final three performances of his high school career. I was filled with pride, but also gratitude. The Briarcliff theater department had given my son, my daughter before him, and my family more than any of us could have predicted over the course of seven years. It was difficult to part.

Having enjoyed performing in the musicals at Pocantico under the direction of the wonderful Sheila DePaola, my children sought out theater in high school. And there they discovered much more than an after-school activity. They found their closest friends, their community. And they found passionate teachers and mentors.

Briarcliff’s program, which involves a fall drama, spring musical and a show of one-acts, is devoted as much to theater education as to the production itself. The outstanding director of the program, Ian Driver, loves the process of creation and development, and as a committed child-centered educator, he takes his students on the ride with him, always a great adventure that culminates in an incredibly enriching and collaborative theater experience.

Whether Shakespeare or musical comedy, theater depends on collaboration. A show is the epitome of team effort, and each member must pull his weight and honor her commitment to the whole for the show to come together successfully. With each production, the students gain a broader understanding of storytelling, the power of music, the tension of drama, the satisfaction of problem solving and the magic of performance. And they gain confidence. There is comfort in numbers. Teenagers who have never taken a dance lesson become tap dancers, in an ensemble. Students who have never swung a hammer become carpenters, part of a crew.

The theater welcomes budding divas and other talented young adults, some with beautiful voices, some with an innate gift for acting, some with excellent comic timing. But it also beckons the shy and the disenfranchised, the student who hasn’t enjoyed social acceptance in other spheres of school but finds belonging in building the set, singing in the chorus or playing in the pit. Theater can also bridge socio-economic and racial divides.

At Pocantico, almost every middle school student, regardless of their background, participates in the show, making those differences less apparent. The theater provides a home for those with artistic impulses but no other place to discover or exercise them. It’s a place to develop skills that may lead to a career or just wonderful memories. Ultimately, school theater programs offer students a unique, close-knit, artistic community that embraces differences, something not always found in the prevailing suburban sports culture.

We raise our kids here because of the excellent schools, the beautiful setting, an escape from the stresses of city living. But for some kids, the suburbs can become stifling and one-dimensional by the time they reach high school. Theater offers kids an escape from the mundane, an outlet that reaches beyond the confines of school. It also instills in them a love and reverence for the performing arts, something they can enjoy the rest of their lives.

The first time I teared up in the theater with one of my children was 14 years ago, when I took my daughter to see Beauty and the Beast; she was just seven or so. It was her first Broadway show, and it moved me to watch her react to the spectacle on stage, to remember the shows I saw as a child.

I have been moved by my own kids over the course of their childhoods as they performed in 25 productions and counting. I was moved by the realization that they worked so hard through the hours of repetition and waiting, the frustrations and obstacles, to reach that sweet moment when the orchestra plays the first notes of the overture, the curtain falls away, and they transform into characters inhabiting another time and place. That’s when I always feel a catch in my throat. The artistry and confidence they and their cast mates will exude over the next two or three hours never fails to blow me away. But mostly, I am grateful that they have known what it is to be part of something big and beautiful.