This week we explore how getting older might actually mean getting better with Richard Faraino, whose life chronicles New York's most pivotal moments. From fighting on the frontlines of the AIDS crisis as both a medical librarian and ACT UP activist to his stunning midlife career pivot into horticulture, Richard now creates spaces of beauty in Battery Park's gardens for 12 million annual visitors—a poetic evolution for someone who once fought to distribute life-saving medical information.
Richard's journey from medical librarian to ACT UP activist during the AIDS crisis
Finding love through "The Back Room," an early digital dating service, despite policies against dating HIV-positive men
How his pattern of seeking solace in gardens evolved into a second career
Creating Battery Park's stunning gardens and their impact on 12 million visitors annually
The psychological liberation of abandoning external validation in midlife
Why embracing change becomes easier—not harder—as you age
Richard's philosophy on genuine community impact versus performative activism
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