Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Doors: 5:30 PM | Program Starts: 6:00 PM
Tickets are $12.50 for Members | $25 for Public
The Petal Pusher
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | Doors: 5:30 PM | Program Starts: 6:00 PM
"The Petal Pusher" is an ode to New York City's Penn Station, the busiest and perhaps dingiest transit hub in North America. It's told through the prism of what was one of the longest-running small businesses there: The Petal Pusher. It was a flower shop, with several strategically located kiosks, that served the daily crush of commuters, especially on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. The film is a reflection on the economics of love (and desperation), and it's a testament to a bygone era — before recent construction transformed the station into a kind of mall filled with chain stores. At its heart, this is a story about love, loss, and family. The director’s parents opened The Petal Pusher in the 1970s and ran it for decades, until the station's renovation forced the business to close.
The 15-minute film will be followed by a panel discussion with Filmmakers David Abel and Mark Chesak, moderated by a special guest, with audience Q&A. After the program in the Cook Memorial Theater, join the filmmakers in the Jacobs Family Gallery for continued casual conversation and a brief cocktail reception with lite bites and a cash bar.
Guests will also have the opportunity to purchase fresh cut flower bouquets from a local small business during the event.
Make it a date with your mom!
ABOUT THE FILMAKERS
Abel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at The Boston Globe and a professor of the practice at Boston University. Abel’s work has won an Edward R. Murrow Award, the Ernie Pyle Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Feature Reporting. His films include the Emmy-nominated “Entangled,” which was broadcast on PBS, and other award-winning films, such as "In the Whale," “Inundation District,” “Lobster War,” and “Sacred Cod.” Abel, who began learning to make films as a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, is The Petal Pusher’s producer, director, writer, and cinematographer. See more about him at www.davidsabel.com.
From the North Pole to Miami Beach, Chesak has been cutting documentaries for more than 30 years. His editing credits include "Crash of Flight 111" for NOVA, "Dangerous Prescription" for Frontline, "Surviving Mars" for the Discovery Channel, as well as numerous shows for History Channel, NAT GEO, NBC Sports, and the DIY Network. He recently was the finishing editor of the Frontline program "In the Age of AI" and has collaborated on several short festival films. Chesak has taught film editing at Emerson College, Boston University, The Maine International Film Television Workshops, Future Media Concepts, and at Harvard University's Department of Art, Film, & Visual Studies.
