New York Never Let Me Down

Incoming Editorial Team·Verified October 4, 2026

Charlotte Wells drops into the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region to visit Paula Spiro, a legendary drummer and drum teacher (whose former students include Luscious Jackson drummer and original Beastie Boy Kate Schellenbach). Having left New York in 2024, the elderly Spiro recalls her life in the city with wonderment and an unerring sense of rhythm, in a tribute to the artists and queer elders being pushed out of the place they shaped.