For a city of 8 million, New York can be a lonely place. But most of us don’t go it alone – at least not all the time. We get by with a little help from our friends, our clubs, our cliques. Our tribes.

On the latest AudioFiles, we report on Lubavitcher Jews who roam the city in Mitzvah Tanks, reaching out to their secular brethren.  We also look at tech groupies at the city’s newest Apple Store, poisonous dart frog collectors and the surprising face of the Syrian resistance movement in New York.

Reports by: Michelle Bangert, Paul DeBenedetto, Rachel Dzanashvili, Lisa Hagen, Frans Koster and Rasmus Raun Westh.

Hosted by: Ian Chant and Rebecca Lee Douglas

Growing up in Ethiopia, Melody Kelemu always had dogs, a lawn where they could walk around by themselves and gardeners who took care of any mess man’s best friend left behind.

When she moved to the city to start college at New York University, the Neuroscience and Environmental Studies major watched as residents cleaned up after their dogs every day, and began to wonder how the waste could be put to better use.

Now the 21-year-old junior is applying for an NYU grant to put machines into dog parks that would turn waste into energy to power lamps — including in Washington Square Park.

Rami Ibrahim loves the swings and the basketball court at Power Playground near his Flatlands home.

The Avenue N park’s litter is another matter.

“The basket is right there,” said Rami, 11, as he stared at the trash strewn nearby – a styrofoam cup, a Swedish Fish wrapper, a losing lottery ticket. “It’s not good.”

That’s true for the Community District 18’s overall park ratings: For the past three years, the area has earned the city’s lowest marks for cleanliness and general conditions.

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City health officials are blaming banned dietary supplements popular with many South Asian immigrants for two non-fatal lead poisoning cases this year.

But some experts fear the problem could be more widespread.