On Interviewing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
Since 2021, I’ve had the privilege to volunteer with the Neighborhood Stories Project, a storytelling initiative by the New York City Dept. of Records & Information Services (DORIS). I’ve interviewed dozens of New Yorkers about their lives and have heard some incredible stories. The project aims to ‘put the community in the archive’ - in other words, to make New Yorkers voices heard. DORIS will manage and store these stories in the New York City Municipal Archives, so future researchers, documentarians, writers, City officials, and the public can access them and listen to real New Yorkers talking about the good, bad and the ugly of life in the city we call home.
Two years ago, I was looking for a volunteer opportunity, some way to get involved in the community, learn some new skills and also to use the skills I already had. My search led me to the Neighborhood Stories Project. In the Spring of 2021 I met with DORIS employees and learned some more about the project, and later that year received a crash course on oral history interviewing. I am not a trained oral historian, nor have I studied it at all. My background is in writing, audio and law. That year, I interviewed several New Yorkers and gained valuable experience in how to perform an oral history interview. Gradually, I felt more comfortable speaking with people and I genuinely enjoyed listening to each story. Each person I spoke to represented a wholly new and unique perspective on life in the city.
The reason I am so connected to this process personally is because I grew up hearing stories about the city from my family, especially my father, grandfather and uncles. My father and grandfather worked for the Department of Sanitation, an integral and often under-appreciated civil service in our city. Also, my grandfather grew up in an apartment building which was leveled to construct Lincoln Center. These stories sparked my interest in New York City history at a young age and motivated me to help DORIS document people’s stories so that we may have a better understanding of the past, present and future of our city.
Fast forward to the fall of 2022. I got an email from DORIS asking whether I’d be interested in interviewing Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso. I was familiar with Mr. Reynoso - I’d lived in Williamsburg for a short time while he served as City Council Member for the district. I knew he was a rising progressive politician, someone who could be Mayor someday. I immediately jumped at this incredible opportunity and informed DORIS that I was ready and willing to interview Mr. Reynoso anywhere, anytime. A few weeks later a date was set - December 5, 2022.
In the weeks and months leading up to my interview with Mr. Reynoso I went through a series of highs and lows. On one hand, I was excited to do the interview and speak with Mr. Reynoso. On the other hand, I was having a great deal of imposter syndrome. Why was I chosen? I’m not a trained oral historian. I wondered whether I could even do a good job. I researched, studied, and prepared to the best of my ability before the interview and meet to strategize with the team at DORIS. I would have to rely on everything I learned in my past interview experience.
I barely slept the night before the interview. In many ways, this interview felt like one of the most important moments of my life, though I couldn’t exactly explain why. We were scheduled to speak on a Monday at 10:00am. I took the morning off from work.
I arrived at Brooklyn Borough Hall at 9am and met my two teammates from DORIS who would be attending the interview. This was my first in-person interview and it was taking place in Borough Hall. When Mr. Reynoso was ready, I stepped into his office which was set up with lights and cameras. This was intimidating. I felt like Dan Rather interviewing the President of the United States but without Rather’s years of experience.
Fortunately, Mr. Reynoso is a practiced, comfortable, and enthusiastic speaker. I asked questions and he gave long, detailed, thoughtful answers. He made my job easy. The interview went well and the team from DORIS were very pleased with the results. I knew I wasn’t as relaxed as I might otherwise have been but I managed to structure the interview well and hit all of my talking points.
Over the past few months since the interview, I’ve assisted DORIS in preparing the interview for the public, cleaning up and editing audio, re-recording some of my audio, creating a transcript and also writing a short article. I’ve listened to the interview a few times now and am satisfied with the results. Mr. Reynoso shared some fascinating stories and was very open and honest in sharing his history growing up in Williamsburg and life in politics. I learned so much more from listening back - while doing the interview, my mind was preoccupied with structure and keeping an eye on the time. I did my best and I hope future New Yorkers can learn as much as I did from Mr. Reynoso.
Earlier this week, DORIS held a volunteer appreciation event and I got to meet some other members of the team, learn more about the department’s mission and even some history about the historic building at 31 Chambers Street which houses the archives. I believe the job of preserving these records is just as important as any other city job and I am honored to be a small part of this.
I learned from DORIS that my interview with Mr. Reynoso should be uploaded to Youtube shortly. This was exciting to hear as all of the interviews are not yet public on the internet, though they are accessible in-person at the municipal archives. If and when the interview is posted online, I will publish an audio version of the interview I created, which sounds less like an oral-history interview and more like a podcast, as well as the article I wrote about the interview’s content.
A very special thanks to DORIS for this opportunity; to Antonio Reynoso for his willingness to be a part of this project and for all his hard work in helping the people of Brooklyn; and to my family and friends for their love and support.
Until next time,
KW
