19 BRONX WEEKLY March 10, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
Mary Goggin offers the a story of the gritty underbelly of life and a recovery, partially set in the borough.
Photo courtsy of Mary Goggin
Pelham Bay actress performs
solo tale of redemption
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A local actor who was
able to overcome addiction
to go onto a successful career
on television now has
a one woman show chronicling
her journey.
Mary Goggin, a Pelham
Bay local and working actress
for two decades, overcame
an addiction to heroin
and is now staring in a onewoman
show about her recovery
that she would like
to perform in the borough.
Goggin is the author and
performer of the play, based
on her own experiences,
called ‘Runaway Princess:
A Hopeful Tale of Heroin,
Hooking and Happiness’
that is being performed at
the FRIGID New York festival
through Sunday, March
10.
She said that it chronicles
her growing up in
Throggs Neck before when
it was less developed and
her subsequent plunge into
a world of drugs and prostitution
before ultimately
coming clean and winning
a hard-earned sobriety.
The Bronx is a character
in the play, with places
like the Throggs Neck waterfront
and a sunken boat
offshore, a candy store at
Miles and East Tremont avenue,
and an overpass over
the Throgs Neck Expressway
where she fi rst tried
drugs all making appearances
in the performance
–named or unnamed.
While much of the material
is gritty, she hopes that
viewers fi nd an uplifting
message of redemption, as
the character reunites with
her daughter and mother after
years of estrangement.
“I hope people take away
some hope, especially with
the opioid crises and more
people addicted to heroin,”
said Goggin, adding her
desire that people view the
show as honest and funny.
Rather than wait for
someone to write a role
for her that encapsulated
many of her experiences,
she decided to write the
play herself, said Goggin,
who has been sober for over
30 years.
She is eager to fi nd a
venue to perform Runaway
Princess, which has only
minimal props and the actor’s
own presence, in the
borough.
“I would love to fi nd a
theater in the Bronx and
do this show here,” said
Goggin, adding “It would
be great to encourage recovery
and healing in the
Bronx.”
Actress Mary Goggin of Pelham
Bay has written and is staring
in her own one-woman show.
She grew up in Throggs Neck.
Photo courtesy of Mary Goggin
The is a view of a scene from
the one woman show.
Photo courtsy of Mary Goggin
How the Amazon deal would
have benefi ted the Bronx
properties, one at 101 Bruckner
Boulevard adjacent to
the Willis Avenue Bridge
and another at 259 E. 134th
Street, just across from the
Third Avenue Bridge.
“Amazon most likely
would have opened the door
to allow smaller companies
to take offi ce space in its
surrounding areas,” he continued.
Even though Queens
can feel like a foreign land
from the Bronx, Long Island
City is only a mere fi ve
miles away from Yunason’s
Mott Haven properties and
is easily considered to be
the surrounding area.
He continued on, citing
that the large scale Brookfi
eld project slated for a lot
that’s also adjacent to the
Third Avenue Bridge has
an estimated completion
that essentially coincided
with Amazon’s HQ2.
Yunason also noted that
the Union Crossing building
of 825 E. 141st Street
in Port Morris would have
also likely benefi ted from
Amazon’s potential Bronx
spillover effects.
“There is no doubt that
the Bronx could provide
such a move with much
needed support in terms of
affordable workforce housing,
offi ce space for companies
operating in the Amazon
eco-system, and a major
upgrade in logistics properties
for e-commerce,” the
developer added.
As far as affordable
workforce housing goes for
Amazon, one luxury apartment
complex in the south
Bronx has already seen
people jumping across the
east river from Long Island
City before any news of a
possible HQ2.
Newly opened Bridgeline
of 329 E. 132nd Street,
which overlooks the Bronx
waterfront also would have
likely continued to benefi t
from Amazon’s move, says
Jillian S. Faulls of Bridgeline’s
leasing team.
“Amazon defi nitely
would have brought an infl
ux to the south Bronx,”
the 15-year real estate afi -
cionado said, adding that
more people would have
simply been introduced to
the area, even if they don’t
commit to a luxury apartment.
“That would have also
boosted local and small
businesses down here and
introduced a lot of people to
an area they may have not
been all that familiar with,”
she said, calling that parcel
off Bruckner Boulevard an
area that’s “budding in its
own unique way.”
Faulls also noted that
the commute from the #6
IRT stop at 3rd Avenue-
138th Street station to
Long Island City’s Vernon
Boulevard station via #7
IRT transfer at Grand Central
Station is only about a
30-minute trip.
“That would have been a
major selling point, besides
our in-unit washers and
dryers,” she joked.
Something that Yunason
and Faulls both agree on is
that the Amazon’s backing
out of an NYC headquarters
was disappointing to
say the least.
An iconic Tats Cru mural beneath the Third Avenue Bridge. Schneps Media/ Alex Mitchell
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