For the past four years, Lynn Bodnar Kelly has been the executive director of the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit that Bette Midler founded in 1995 to help make clean, open, green spaces more accessible. The organization, which owns and operates 52 community gardens, also plants trees, renovates gardens and restores parks in communities.
“Everyone asks if I’m friends with Bette,” said Ms. Bodnar Kelly, 51, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Gowanus, Brooklyn, with her Parisian boyfriend, Laurent Fanichet, 53. “She’s the heart of the organization and checks in, but she has a thriving career. I’m checking in and meeting with gardeners, the staff, our communities and donors.”
As a child growing up in Old Town on Staten Island, Ms. Bodnar Kelly would be sent to her family’s backyard to pull weeds when she misbehaved. She said she “loathed” the experience but gained an appreciation for the work it took to maintain a garden.
“Now I’m fascinated by gardens and helping them thrive, and paying it forward for others who don’t have backyards or access to nature,” she said. “I’ve become a fighter for these places.”
EARLY RISE I’m up at 7 a.m. I’m like my father, an earlier riser. It’s a habit I can’t break. I lounge around for several hours because this is my one day not to rush. I buy Starbucks dark roast ice coffee in a big bottle, add two cocktail-size ice cubes and add a splash of half and half. I get back into bed and get on the laptop. I’m a nerd, so I do the boring life things. First, I order from Fresh Direct. They have a great seltzer brand, Adirondack; I love their mandarin flavor.
Then it’s clothing. Right now, I’m ordering new dresses for summer from J. Crew, Diane von Furstenberg and Boden, a British company. Laurent lives and works in New York and Paris, so he sleeps like a rock, mostly because his body never adjusts to the time zone. He’s in a constant state of jet lag. I’m a local news junkie and watch Eyewitness News or News 4 New York. Once he’s up, around 10, he’ll make a Nespresso, and then we watch CBS or CNN.
TRAINING There’s a gym in my building. I’ve been doing weight training with kettlebells because I’m determined to age gracefully. Part of that is staying strong. My trainer, Whitney Biaggi, whom I’ve been working with for the past four years, recently added jump rope to my routine, which is like being back in the St. Joseph Hill schoolyard on Staten Island.
NO BRUNCH I’m in the apartment by noon; Laurent is showered and dressed. I hate brunch, so I make eggs and toast. Laurent loves the burritos from Reyes, a bodega up the block that makes authentic Mexican food. They also serve two tacos for $6. I’ll get another iced coffee while he gets something to eat.
WHEELIES If the weather is nice, we get e-bikes because they’re fun, and go to Red Hook. I’m a roller disco fanatic. I got my first pair when I was 8. They were blue suede with three yellow stripes. I grew up next to a roller rink called Skate Odyssey. The place was pure magic. About 15 years ago, my friend Lola Star ran a pop-up roller rink in Coney Island — now she runs Dreamland, a roller disco party in Prospect Park — and I fell in love all over again with the music, the lights, the disco ball, the feeling of community with others who enjoy skating. The minute I hear the first beat of “Another One Bites the Dust,” or anything by Chaka Khan, I’m up.
There’s a multiuse schoolyard on Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets that’s free to use. I bring a speaker and I’ve got 10-to-15 playlists, each with 100 to 200 songs, which I’m obsessive about editing. The music I play is about the r.p.m. and my mood. I listen to everything from Beyoncé to David Bowie, especially rap and house. I’m into freestyling — going forwards, backwards and spinning. I practice because roller disco requires a lot of balance and technique. I go to parties hosted by BKLYN Skates, Roller Wave and Skaterobics. The skate community in New York is welcoming to all kinds of people. I love to wear themed outfits, but not when I practice. Sometimes I’ll wear a big sequined flower in my hair, because you have to have sparkle.
PUB CRAWLS Sundays are a freewheel day of no plans, drinks and friends. By 2, we usually hit Sunny’s, an old, longshoreman-type bar in Red Hook that was an active shipping waterfront. It’s part dive bar, part art bar, with a wonderful cast of characters. They have a garden in the back, but we sit outside in the front. I love to people-watch. In the warm weather, it’s a margarita on the rocks; in the cold weather, it’s a hot toddy.
Brittiny Sessions and Steve Jacobs, Brooklyn buddies I used to work with, usually come and meet us. Then we hit San Pedro, another fantastic dive bar institution which is only a few blocks away, and order tacos or nachos. Everything is on the main drag, and we spend time decompressing with people I love.
OUTDOOR OYSTERS Around 4, we get new Citi Bikes and ride on a path along the waterfront and end up in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I love Pilot; it’s a huge, restored, antique sailboat that’s docked and has a seasonal bar and the best oysters. I hate Sunday reservation culture, so I generally don’t make one and there are never any spots. Laurent works the charming French thing and manages to get us a spot most times.
GARDEN CHECKING We are back on bikes — riding slowly and carefully now, and go through Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and to Gowanus, where I like to check in on a N.Y.R.P. community pocket garden, Gil Hodges, on Carroll Street. It’s a sweet, charming space in the midst of a neighborhood that’s changing rapidly.
TV TIME We’re home for “60 Minutes,” which is on at 7. Or it’s Netflix. I shower and put on pajamas. Surprisingly, Target has the softest cotton ones called Stars Above. Then we find something in French because I have a French class on Monday nights and I like to say what I watched. We just watched “Fiasco,” a French comedy that was hysterical. We also watch French reality shows, which are easier to understand.
PAUSE FOR COOKING Laurent loves to cook. We usually make some kind of vegetable chicken stir fry or braised chicken thighs in mushroom and cream sauce. He’s always adding more butter or cream than I want because he’s French, but his food is so good.
EXHAUSTION Regardless if Laurent’s here or not, I’m in bed and knocked out by 10. On my phone, I look at something on TikTok that’s about French language and traveling, or maybe I’ll text with some girlfriends. Eventually I stop fighting sleep and zonk out.
