The Providence Eye

Turning the Tide in Providence How long-term community organizing against polluting industry in the Port of Providence is building the infrastructure for co-governance and making progress towards climate justice   Editor’s Note: Th...

#Providence residents, led by community insiders, are transforming the port area's toxic legacy into a movement for racial and environmental justice through a decade of coalition-building & policy change.

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/turning-the-...
✍ Story by Health in Partnership

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

Ben Sisto Brings “The Museum of Who Let Who Let The Dogs Out Out” to PVD When most people hear the catchy chant and echoing barks of “Who Let The Dogs Out” they think of boom boxes, glow sticks, and an illuminated early-2000s dance floor. But [...]

For local artist Ben Sisto, Who Let The Dogs Out isn't just a throwback — it's a story of intellectual property, copyright law, and artistic collectivity.

Learn more about Sisto's collection of 300 objects related to the song's history, now on display at PPL in collaboration with OPEN.

Essential Work in A Living: Working-Class Americans Talk to Their Doctors by Michael Stein, M.D. When Dr. Michael Stein, a doctor and writer in Providence, sees patients, he makes a special effort to learn about their work.

Providence-based doctor and author Michael Stein considers work as a vital lens to make sense of health, presenting his patients in their own words through a series of first-person accounts.

#PVDlocal

#PVDlocal / #RIlocal

The Case for Ranked-Choice Voting in Providence. Providence may soon be at the forefront of improvements in the way we vote. Many citizens, in Providence and across the country, express frustration with their elected officials and fear [...]

This week, in @thepvdeye.bsky.social's opinion section (which I edit), we've got an argument for Providence (and Rhode Island, more broadly) to adopt Ranked Choice Voting.

Read it here:

Historic Nathan Bishop School Was Saved From Demolition.  Can Gilbert Stuart Middle School Also Be Renovated? The monumental, 500,000 square-foot, Gilbert Stuart School Middle School that has been at the heart of Elmwood and the West End neighborhoods for 95 years, may be demolished in a [...]

On Tuesday, more than 50 community members gathered at the Sackett Street Recreation Center to ask questions and share what they know – or think they know – about why the city is spending more money to demolish and replace Gilbert Stuart than it would cost to renovate it to like-new condition.

77 Acres of Polluted Freshwater: Mashapaug Pond Counts Despite being the largest freshwater body in Providence, Mashapaug Pond is seemingly hidden. On a Jane’s Walk tour led by Traci Picard earlier this year, the public historian explained that [...]

Mashapaug Pond was added to the RI Department of Environmental Management's list of impaired waters in 1998. It has been on the list ever since.

The pond's high levels of phosphorous and low levels of oxygen make it unsafe for swimming and eating fish from the pond.

Photo courtesy of RIDEM.

Who’s the Paul Cuffee School Named For? The First Person of Color to Enter the White House Through the Front Door* According to the Paul Cuffee School website, when their namesake returned to the U.S. in 1812 from voyages to Sierra Leone and then England, he found his ship had been [...]

Paul Cuffee was a businessman, whaler, ship’s captain, ship builder, philanthropist and abolitionist, and when he died in September 1817, he was believed to be the wealthiest man of African descent in America.

FringePVD 2025: A Glorious Celebration of Creative Freedom and Community Spirit There is an inscription carved into the dome of the Rhode Island State House that essentially says   “Think what you like and say what you think.” That sentiment is [...]

Looking for something to do tonight?

Fringe Festival #PVD has already begun, but there is still a chance to catch performances today and throughout the weekend!

Read more below about some of the performances included in this year's lineup.

Why We Mask: Solidarity, Creativity & Community Care in a Not-Quite-Post-Pandemic World At a backyard cookout this spring, Emily Kindschy did something she hadn’t done in several years: she took off her mask in a crowd. “We were standing at a distance, [...]

Masking continues for many in Rhode Island who remain concerned about the risks of long COVID. Its visibility recalls a time when mutual aid held people together through uncertainty.

🔗 Read more: pvdeye.org/why-we-mask-...
✍️ Rachel Swift
📷 Photo by Eduardo Barrios

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

Happy Sunday! Check out last week's People in Providence, shot by Jenna LaBombard: pvdeye.org/people-in-providence-07-09-chris/

Chris | Billy Taylor Park

“When I was younger... I could either do my homework or go out and play basketball."

Wickenden Street Welcomes Rong Chic with Grand Opening Celebrating Spicy Sichuan Flavors and Unique Asian Desserts Providence’s Fox Point neighborhood, home to many popular eateries like Pizza Marvin, Jahunger, and Aleppo Sweets has a new star: Rong Chic, which celebrated its grand opening on June 14, [...]

Rong Chic owner Yao Liu moved to Providence in 2022 from China, where she was a practicing lawyer. While she quickly fell for Providence, she found herself often missing the flavors of home.

Now, Liu and Chef Xiao-Zhong are bringing Sichuan cuisine to #PVD through Rong Chic.

Out today: COVID-cautious #Providence, the city's Tree Equity Score, Rong Chic opens on Wickenden Street, a reader writes in about flags at protests, and more. Read at pvdeye.org.

Benefit Street’s “Enchanted Garden” It was a sultry July night in 1845 when Edgar Allan Poe, the world-famous American author and poet, walked north on Providence’s Benefit Street. During this visit to the city, [...]

Beneath the moonlight on Benefit Street, a hidden rose garden kindled one of American literature's most intense love affairs, co-starring Edgar Allan Poe. Nearly 200 years later, the scene from that night can still be seen. 🌹

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/benefit-stre...
✍️📸 By Levi Lionel Leland

Community News Fellow 2025 Community News Fellow Overview The Providence Eye is a hyperlocal news site dedicated to sharing information about Providence’s various neighborhoods and communities. Our articles are currently e...

Detailed fellowship information here: pvdeye.org/community-ne...

The PVD Eye is now accepting applications to participate in the first-ever Community News Fellow program!

Over 3 months, participants will learn about journalism and practice reporting, writing, and working with an editor.

Applications due 7/15.
For more info + to apply: forms.gle/KDgzJmTBAjfU...

Providence Pride The 49th-annual Rhode Island Pride took place this past Saturday, June 21, drawing over 100,000 people to Providence for a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community — and just one of many [...]

In this week's Providence Counts, The PVD Eye looks at the numbers behind RI's 49th-annual #Pride celebration. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

✍️ Sebastian Connolly
📸 Kim Deacon Collection, Providence Public Library

Providence Parks Department Improves, Maintains, and Builds Outdoor City Spaces The Providence Parks Department (PPD) manages 123 outdoor spaces. These include our neighborhood parks, athletic fields, basketball courts, playgrounds, conservation areas, and walking/running tracks ...

#Providence Parks Department manages more than just parks—they also maintain basketball courts, skateparks, cemeteries, dog parks, and more.

Check out some of the projects the PPD has taken on to maintain and improve public outdoor spaces in #PVD.

✍️ Nini Stoddard
📸 Providence Parks Department

I was delighted to give this great piece a home at @thepvdeye.bsky.social.

The Lonely Road of Monsters: A review of Selene Shade, Resurrectionist for Hire Selene Shade runs a successful small business in Goat Hill, a quirky little city that will strike  readers who know Providence as distinctly familiar. Which is good, because Shade’s line [...]

PVD-based horror writer and painter Victoria Dalpe's most recent book follows a professional resurrectionist. Raising the dead for a living proves to be the least of her worries when a string of supernatural murders plague her town.

✍️ Diane Josefowicz
📸 CLASH Books

The case for rent stabilization in Providence Providence is now the worst place to be a renter in the United States. That’s not just rhetoric—data shows that we have the widest gap in the country between what [...]

This week's @thepvdeye.bsky.social Readers Voices essay (the section I edit) is an argument for rent stabilization from Harper Keehn.

"Most [Providence] residents can’t plan for the long term because their rent can change drastically, month to month," she writes. "Is that fair? Is it sustainable?"

To Create Lifelong Readers – And Informed Citizens – Providence Public Schools Need Librarians. That’s Why I Support the School Libraries Act. Several weeks back, I was notified by the current librarian at Providence’s Nathanael Greene Middle School that she had been laid off. The school’s new principal apparently told her that [...]

A former librarian explains why the real question is not whether schools can afford #librarians. It's whether they can afford not to have them. 📚

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/to-create-li...
✍️ Story by Sarah Morenon
📸 Photo by Kenneth C. Zirkel, via Wikimedia Commons

#Providence #RhodeIsland #PVDEye

How Ingrid Neuman Conserves Sculptures at the RISD Museum This past November, Ingrid Neuman, senior conservator at the RISD Museum, wheeled a twelfth-century Japanese wooden Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara into Hasbro Children’s Hospital for a CAT scan. Conserva...

👀 Peek behind the scenes at the RISD Museum with conservator Ingrid Neuman, who uses her chemistry background to preserve ancient sculptures and reveal their hidden stories.

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/how-ingrid-n...
✍️ Story by Kristine Yang
📸 Photo courtesy of the RISD Museum

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

The Failures (and Wonders) of Fatherhood: Lucas Mann’s Latest Book Explores Being a Dad Through an Innovative Lens In his 2009 essay “The Losers’ Club,” the Pulitzer-winning novelist Michael Chabon made a surprising connection: Writers’ careers are full of failure. So is fatherhood. “A father,” Chabon wrote, “is [...

Lucas Mann's Attachments: Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances
#BookReview by @dianejosefowicz.bsky.social
for @thepvdeye.bsky.social ‪

pvdeye.org/the-failures...

Via @bookcritics.bsky.social

The Freedom to Read– In Providence, Librarians, Authors, and More Speak Out on Banned Books “Our public and school libraries are more than just buildings with books. They’re spaces where kids can grow and learn, students find the resources they need to succeed, and community [...]

In #Providence, librarians, authors, and readers are rallying behind a bill to protect the right to read. 📚

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/the-freedom-...
✍️ Story by @EloiseNarrigan.com
📸 Photo by Authors Against Book Bans Rhode Island @AABBRI.bsky.social

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

Hunting for Humans A friend asks: “what are you doing for fun these days?”. Pip answers: “one thing that happens a lot is going hunting with a neighbor usually after dark”    With [...]

If you live in South Elmwood, there's a good chance these neighborly folks are out looking for you on their nighttime prowls. 🌃

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/hunting-for-...
✍️ Story by Phil (Pip) Edmonds

#Providence #RhodeIsland #PVDEye

Sadly, Kenny Daici is graduating and leaving #Providence. He has been a fantastic "People in Providence" roving reporter and we will all miss him. Check out all the folks he's shown us over the last year!

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/author/kenny...

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

The Providence Port, by the Numbers This past Saturday, May 17, The Providence Eye hosted its first ever public event. Providence Port Day, a free event held at Johnson & Wales’ Harborside campus and various locations [...]

The #Providence Eye's "Providence Port Day" offered the public a closer look at New England’s second-busiest port. Students from Roger Williams University break down the numbers behind its impact.

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/the-providen...
✍️ By Roger Williams University students
📸 By Joshua Geaughan

Providence is Strapped for Cash. Are Tax-Exempt Institutions Doing Enough to Help? Nearly half of Providence’s tax base (44%) is tax exempt. This fact requires that the 56% who pay taxes as existing property owners bear the burden anytime the city faces [...]

With nearly half of #Providence’s land tax-exempt, residents and small businesses shoulder most of the tax burden. A new PILOT agreement brings in more from tax-exempt property, but is it enough?

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/providence-i...
✍️ Story by Bob McMahon

#RhodeIsland #PVDEye

Rhode Island’s Newest Sports Venue is A Bike Ride from Providence. Biking from Providence’s East Side to the Rhode Island Football Club’s new Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket was a breeze on opening day, May 3. There was no need to [...]

A reader reflects on their bike ride from #Providence to Pawtucket, RI to catch the first game at @RhodeIslandFC.bsky.social's new stadium. ⚽️ No traffic, no parking fees, just a brisk ride & a few surprises at the match.

🔗 Read More: pvdeye.org/rhode-island...
✍️ Story By Mark Binder

#PVDEye