Unprecedented Numbers Flock to Back the Pack

On December 6^th, the Green Bay Packers began a sale of 250,000 allocated shares of stock at $250 a piece .The stock provides the owner with no financial benefits; the stock also doesn’t pay dividends or appreciate in value in any way. Within 48 hours, over 185,000 shares had been purchased.

The team announced the fifth stock sale with plans to expand on Lambeau Field, where the Packers play on Sundays. The expansion will cost $143 million to expand and improve the stadium. 7,000 seats will be added, raising the seating capacity to 79,728.

A stock from the 1923 sale. Stocks were sold at $5 a piece.

New scoreboards, a new sound system and new entrances are just some of the other improvements that should be finished for the start of the 2013 season.

This is the fifth time that the Packers have had a sale of stock, and the first since 1998. In 1923, the team was going to go under, so they decided to become a publicly owned team, offering the first sale of stock in order to keep the team in Green Bay.

The Packers, who play in Green Bay, Wisconsin, are the only publicly owned franchise in professional sports. They also hold the distinction for being the smallest city in America to house a professional sports franchise.

Typically, a single person or a small group owns a sports franchise, but such is not the case for the Green Bay Packers. Before this most recent sale, the Packers had 112,148 shareholders owning 4,750,937 shares of stock.

The Packers released this sample of what owners can expect to receive in the mail.

There are also restrictions that the team has put in place to keep one person from owning a surplus of stock, which would allow the person to become the majority owner of the team.

Owners have few perks in owning the team, with invitations to annual shareholders meetings being the highlight. Still, the fans have once again answered the call to help the Packers with their latest renovation. Such a stock sale prevents the team from having to tax the surrounding counties; the team is paying for the rest of the renovations themselves.

The website created for the stock sale had to be overhauled after the amount of traffic on the website caused the entire website to crash. The site, packersowner.com, has been fixed and is now working with much faster speeds.

Calls and messages were left with President and CEO Mark Murphy, board members, and employees in charge of running the stock sale process, but no calls were returned.

Controlled Violence: Where is the line drawn?

Sports, especially contact sports like football and hockey, are one of the only places in America where it is legal to assault people. Where is the line drawn, though, when the violence becomes excessive?

Ndamukong Suh’s “stomp heard ‘round the world” has only enhanced his label as a dirty player. The Detroit Lions defensive tackle was ejected from the nationally televised Thanksgiving football game after he stomped on the arm of a Green Bay Packers player. In addition to being ejected, Suh was suspended two games by NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell, who has disciplined Suh numerous times during his short stint in the NFL.

Suh has been a repeat offender of receiving ‘unnecessary roughness penalties’ for his hits on opposing quarterbacks. He has ripped off quarterback’s helmets, body slammed quarterbacks in preseason games, and delivered forearm blows to the heads of his opponents. Suh has also been fined of thousands of dollars, $42,500 so far, for these various personal fouls. At what point will this excessive violence ruin Suh’s career, not to mention his sponsorships, which include Chrysler and Subway?

Ndamukong Suh stomps on the right arm of Packer's guard Evan Dietrich-Smith. Photo: CBS

An immature but talented quarterback quarterback for Virginia Tech, Marcus Vick, younger brother of the Philadelphia Eagles Mike Vick, was seen as a player with NFL potential. However, in 2006, Vick was dismissed from the team after stomping on a defenseless player during the Gator Bowl. Vick wasn’t bothered by the move, assuring himself that the NFL would be his next step. “It’s not a big deal,” Vick was quoted as saying, “I’ll just move onto the next level, baby.”

His move to the next level wasn’t as glamorous as expected, as he went undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins but was shortly cut afterwards. Vick has never surfaced in the NFL again, only making the news from time to time for various legal troubles.

In 2000, Marty McSorley was an enforcer for the Boston Bruins of the NHL. His job, in addition to skating and playing hockey, was to protect his star teammates by getting into fights, fights that are within the rules of the NHL. These fights have an unwritten code, with players usually deciding ahead of time that they would like to fight.

On February 21, 2000, McSorley was skating behind a Washington Capitals player, Donald Brashear, with only seconds left in the game. He swung his stick at Brashear’s head, striking his exposed left temple. Brashear was knocked unconscious and suffered further injury when his head struck the ice. Brashear suffered a grade 3 concussion (on a scale of 1-4) and McSorley was suspended for the rest of the 1999-2000 season, which amounted out to 23 games.

Further legal action was taken, though, and in October of that same year, McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon, and the NHL increased his suspension to another full season. McSorley never played in the NHL again.

Violence is undoubtedly a part of sport, but there is a line that is crossed all too often by players, regardless of their league. Before Suh’s stomping incident, he was voted one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. The poll, done by Sports Illustrated, wasn't voted on by the media, but by his fellow NFL players.

The Knicks are Back- Does Anybody Care?

Madison Square Garden will welcome the New York Knicks back on Christmas with some new bells and whistles after the “Phase One” renovation of MSG. The question is, will New Yorkers welcome back the Knicks with the same enthusiasm?

“The entire situation just came across as spoiled, the players, the owners, everybody,” said Manhattan resident James Fryar, a self described “supporter” of New York Knicks basketball. “They (the Knicks) are relevant for the first time in awhile, and then this has to go happen. It takes some of the steam out.”

Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony hope to make New Yorkers care about the Knicks.

Many people didn’t really have an opinion one way or another on the Knicks return.. “It’s fun. Good for them. What do I care? I’m the wrong person to ask about this; last week I still thought what’s his name Ewing was on the team! He isn’t, correct?” Agnes Scotcher, a West Village resident said. "The only reason I ever see my grandson is because he likes to watch the Knicks games. So, I'm glad they fixed it all up so that I can see him!" Scotcher said with a laugh. After hearing the main points of stress in the conflict, Scotcher called the whole thing "mularkey" and laughed.

“Me and the guys used to go all in on one of those packages and split up the tickets,” Maurice Caldwell, a doorman and security guard in Manhattan said. He and a group of hotel workers used to purchase a season ticket package for the Knicks home games, but Caldwell isn’t so sure that they will fork over the money this year. “With everything going on today, they are gonna sit around bickering about how to split billions? What a problem to have.”

The New York Knicks had a league high revenue of $226 million in 2010. After all expenses were paid, including salaries and expenses, the Knicks came away with roughly $64 million income. This wasn’t the case for many teams though, which is where the main frustration came from.

Out of the 32 teams in the National Basketball Association, 17 of them lost money during the 2010-2011 season. “It’s unfortunate to hear,” Caldwell said, “but I mean they are all millionaires. No sympathy here.” Caldwell’s co-workers nodded in agreement.

Giving Up and Going Home

Even professional athletes are cutting back to save money.

Waiting for the end of the NBA’s lockout, New York Knicks guard Andy Rautins moved back to his childhood home outside of Syracuse, New York.

According to a study done by Twentysomething Inc.,
%85 of college graduates move back in with their parents.
This %85 now includes Andy Rautins.

In the 2010 NBA Draft, Rautins, 25, was selected 38^th overall by the Knicks. He signed a two-year, $1.38 million deal. This past season, he made over $600,000, not bad for a recent college grad. But, with the uncertainty of the labor situation, Rautins came to the conclusion that living in Manhattan was just getting too expensive for his million-dollar budget, and decided to spend a little bit of time with mom and dad.

The labor situation is threatening to ruin the NBA’s season. First, the entire preseason was cancelled, with hope that an agreement could be reached before the regular season began. However, the players and owners have not been able to come to an agreement. Federal mediators have been summoned to the meetings multiple, many of which have been held in New York City.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has set Wednesday, November 9^th as the latest deadline for an agreement to be reached. This seems unlikely to be executed, however, with the NBA Players’ Association declining the most recent offer from the owners. The agreement called for a 50-50 split of all revenues, a deal that many players, including Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, have been ready to accept.

Bryant’s teammate, Derek Fisher, is the Players’ Association president. “The current offer on the table from the NBA is one that we cannot accept,” Fisher said in a statement after the latest negotiation. The NBAPA isn’t as unified as they once were, though, with over 50 players looking into the legality of decertifying the Players’ Union in order for basketball to be played this year.

With the threat of the entire season being cancelled, it is important to question how many fans the NBA could potentially lose, when they are already behind in terms of American popularity when compared to Major League Baseball and the NFL.

Central Park Zoo: Brought to You by Robert Moses

By the 20th century, the animals and conditions at the zoo had deteriorated. Photo: NYC.gov

Robert Moses revamped and reopened the zoo in 1934. Photo: NYC.gov

The zoo became known as the 1934 Zoo or the Robert Moses Zoo. Photo: cpzbook.com

Remodeled by Aymar Embury II, who also designed the Triborough and Henry Hudson Bridges, the Central Park Zoo quickly became popular again.  
 Photo: cpzbook.com

In 1983, the zoo was closed, demolished, and re-opened in 1988. Photo: Nyc.gov

Today, the Central Park Zoo is "connecting the people of New York City to wild nature". Photo: Centralparknyc.org

Halloween's Snow Cripples New Jersey

Even without power, the Mayor of Madison, New Jersey was able to use Facebook to keep the residents updated following this weekend’s storm.

The Halloween weekend snowstorm smacked northern New Jersey, leaving entire towns without power. Summit, Chatham, and Madison all have gone days without power, causing the cancellation of schools, and forcing the towns to postpone the trick-or-treating for Halloween.

Madison’s Mayor, Mary-Anna Holden has been very critical of the Jersey City Power & Lighting company, claiming that she was “lied” to about when power would be restored. In an interview with the Independent Press, Holden was quoted as saying that the delay has “cost Madison 170 thousand dollars in revenue”. She then later retreated to Facebook, posting on her Facebook page:

“JCP&L still clueless. About 11:30 p.m. last night they told us we were a priority. Hah! Public works and electric department are freeing roads and downed lines along with the fire dept., and keeping water and sewer pumps running manually on generators. Nasty work. Drove every street with the Supt. Of public Works to inventory damage.”

Chatham has already cancelled school for the whole week as they struggle to reconnect power throughout the entire school district. Madison closed schools on Monday and Tuesday, but with the power being re-established in some places throughout Madison, there is hope that there will be school some point this week. Local colleges in Madison have also closed, as Drew University has had to shuttle students off-campus to neighboring colleges after the entire campus lost power.

“The storm knocked out the entire town, it has been like a zombie movie or something,” Madison business owner Frank Iannarone said. Iannarone runs the Madison Pharmacy at 66 Main St., and because of the demand from local nursing homes and needy elderly customers, they were forced to open the store and operate without power. “People needed their drugs, and they couldn’t wait just because we don’t have power,” Iannarone said, “It has certainly made for an interesting time, but we will figure it all out. The importance was getting the drugs.”

Oct. 27th Town Hall Meeting

The New School had a Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, October 27^th. Students, faculty and staff filled up Wollman Hall for the presentation led by New School President David Van Zandt and New School provost Tim Marshall.

The meeting started out with a presentation, with Marshall and Van Zandt highlighting the successful switch to Gmail accounts, and displayed their new bell schedule which should be debuting in the fall of 2012. The presentation took a turn to the less cheerful side when the subject of enrollment and money was brought up. The trend of modest enrollment growth was unexpected, as the school had been dealing with rapid growth for some time.

The trend was slightly disturbing, because the New School had budgeted for a full expansive enrollment for 2011, but only accepted 22 more students than they had the previous year. This slight improvement wasn’t what the administration had expected, as the New School is a tuition dependent school; the majority of their money comes from the enrollment of the students.

President Van Zandt pointed to his long term goal of trying to keep the tuition from raising over the next few years, saying that “we could lower the cost of tuition” but that the students’ experience would be drastically altered. Van Zandt finished up by saying that this trend wasn’t unusual considering that the economy has been rough for everybody. He also pointed to the fact that the New School was in much better shape that a lot of other school's, pointing to the fact that the New School has stayed out of the "red" in terms of deficit.

Links

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/nyregion/on-recycling-nyc-goes-from-leader-to-laggard.html?ref=nyregion

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/nyregion/a-diverse-new-york-city-in-some-ways-anything-but.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=nyregion

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/sports/baseball/world-series-dugout-phones-last-bastion-of-the-landline.html?src=mv&ref=sports

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/opinion/sunday/will-dropouts-save-america.html?pagewanted=2

Re: New York City Council Member Margaret Chin

Margaret Chin has been the District 1 council member since January 2010. Chin, a Democrat, was the first Asian American woman elected to city council. (THE FIRST TWO SENTENCES COULD BE TURNED INTO ONE TO GET THE READER INTERESTED MORE QUICKLY) She has been actively participating in the fight to protect schools, senior citizens, and community organizations from budget cuts, having “called on Albany to support an additional surcharge on the top 2% of New York households,” according to her city council website.

Chin moved to the United States with her family from Hong Kong, China, when she was nine years old. Chin grew up in Chinatown, attending P.S. 130 and JHS 65 (THESE ARE A LITTLE CONFUSING IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM) for school. After attending the Bronx High School of Science, she attended the City College of New York, receiving a degree in education.

Following college, Chin became very active in enriching the rights of Asian immigrants. She helped found Asian Americans for Equality, a group that was designed to help Asian Americans and other immigrants who were in need. Chin served as the president of the group from 1982 until 1986. Chin also worked at a continuing education community college, helping immigrants get a college education. (A BIT REPETITIVE W/ THE WORDS "COLLEGE" AND "EDUCATION") Chin’s father came to America before the rest of his family did, and his struggles during that time period have always motivated Chin (SOURCE/QUOTE?) to helping improve the quality of life for immigrants.

District 1 in Manhattan in made up of the lowest parts of Manhattan. Canal Street serves as its northern border, going all the way down to the bottom of Manhattan. District 1 includes the Financial District, Battery Park City, Tribeca, Ellis Island, and Governor’s Island. (ALL THIS INFO IS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING AT THIS POINT. COULD THIS PARAGRAPH BE MOVED/SOMEHOW INTERTWINED WITH ANOTHER PARAGRAPH?)

Chin has been dealing (DEALING HOW? POSITIVE/NEGATIVE?), as has everybody in the area, with Occupy Wall Street. She has come under fire recently for not marching with on Zuccotti Park with other members of the City Council, despite being one of the most liberal members of the Council. Multiple articles have sighted (CITED?) that while in college, Chin was a member of the Communist Workers Party. (THIS IS INTERESTING - ANY MORE BACKGROUND INFO WOULD BE GREAT) Her response for why she was not at the march was due to a “scheduling conflict”, adding, “I have been to so many marches.”

Chin also serves as the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee Chair, having recently conducted a research project about furthering preliminary cancer research. Chin is married to Alan Tung, a public school teacher, and has a son, Kevin, who graduated from Syracuse University. (I FEEL LIKE THIS PARAGRAPH IS OUT OF PLACE AND DOESN'T END THE ARTICLE VERY SMOOTHLY. IF ALL THE INFO ABOUT HER FAMILY/BACKGROUND WOULD BE IN ONE PARAGRAPH, IT COULD BE EASIER TO FOLLOW.  SOME MORE QUOTES FROM HER WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD. IN GENERAL, I THOUGHT THIS PIECE WAS A GREAT SUMMARY OF HER AS A COUNCIL MEMBER. THE STRUCTURE'S A LITTLE CONFUSING, ALTHOUGH THE LAYOUT'S GREAT!)

STORY EDIT: New York City Council Member Margaret Chin

Margaret Chin has been the District 1 council member since January 2010. Chin, a Democrat, was the first Asian American woman elected to city council(CONSIDER MAKING THIS YOUR FIRST SENTENCE? IT IS MORE COMPELLING) She has been actively participating in the fight to protect schools, senior citizens, and community organizations from budget cuts, having “called on Albany to support an additional surcharge on the top 2% of New York households,” according to her city council website.

Chin moved to the United States with her family from Hong Kong, China, when she was nine years old. Chin grew up in Chinatown, attending P.S. 130 and JHS 65 for school. After attending the Bronx High School of Science, she attended the City College of New York, receiving a degree in education(CAPITALIZE EDUCATION?).

Photo courtesy of council.nyc.gov

Following college, Chin became very active in enriching the rights of Asian immigrants. She helped found Asian Americans for Equality, a group that was designed to help Asian Americans and other immigrants who were in need. Chin served as the president of the group from 1982 until 1986. Chin also worked at a continuing education community college, helping immigrants get a college education. Chin’s(BE WARY OF REPETITION IN SENTENCES. THIS IS THE THIRD SENTENCE IN A ROW THAT BEGINS WITH 'CHIN') father came to America before the rest of his family did, and his struggles during that time period have always motivated Chin to helping improve the quality of life for immigrants(HOW DO WE KNOW IT HAS ALWAYS MOTIVATED HER? DO YOU HAVE A SOURCE?).

District 1 in Manhattan in made up of the lowest parts of Manhattan. Canal Street serves as its northern border, going all the way down to the bottom of Manhattan. District 1 includes the Financial District, Battery Park City, Tribeca, Ellis Island, and Governor’s Island(I QUESTION THE PLACEMENT OF THIS PARAGRAPH. IT IS A ROUGH TRANSITION RIGHT NOW. IS THERE A WAY TO WEAVE THIS INFO INTO ANOTHER PARAGRAPH, IN A WAY THAT CONTINUES THE NARRATIVE AND DOES NOT MOMENTARILY INTERRUPT IT?).

Chin has been dealing, as has everybody in the area, with Occupy Wall Street('DEALING' CAN HAVE A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION. FURTHERMORE, I THINK THE 'AS HAS  EVERYBODY IN THE AREA' NEGATES THE PARTICULAR SITUATION SHE IS IN THAT YOU DESCRIBE IN THE NEXT SENTENCE).. She has come under fire recently for not marching with on Zuccotti Park with other members of the City Council, despite being one of the most liberal members of the Council. Multiple articles have sighted that while in college, Chin was a member of the Communist Workers Party(CAN THIS BE EXTENDED? IT IS A RATHER BIG PIECE OF INFO THAT WILL DISTRACT THE READER IF IT IS CASUALLY MENTIONED IN A LONG PARAGRAPH). Her response for why she was not at the march was due to a “scheduling conflict”, adding, “I have been to so many marches.”(NICE QUOTE. AND GREAT LAYOUT, BY THE WAY).

Chin also serves as the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee Chair, having recently conducted a research project about furthering preliminary cancer research. Chin is married to Alan Tung, a public school teacher, and has a son, Kevin, who graduated from Syracuse University(THIS PIECE HAS A RATHER ABRUPT ENDING. I THINK INFORMATION ABOUT HER FAMILY SHOULD BE PLACED MUCH EARLIER, AND HER OTHER WORK DOES NOT SEEM TO BE THE FOCUS OF THE PIECE. WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE FOCUS? WHAT ISSUE IS SHE MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT? I WAS NOT SURE. YOU PROVIDE GREAT INFO ON HER FIGHT FOR PROTECTION AGAINST BUDGET CUTS, ENHANCING RIGHTS FOR ASIAN IMMIGRANTS, AND FURTHERING PRELIMINARY CANCER RESEARCH. HOWEVER, I COULD NOT DISCERN WHICH PARTICULAR ISSUE WAS THE FOCAL POINT. YOU SAY SHE IS ONE OF THE MOST LIBERAL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. DO YOU THINK A POSSIBLE FOCUS COULD BE A CONTRAST BETWEEN HER LIBERAL REPUTATION AND HER RELUCTANCE TO EMBRACE THE OWS MOVEMENT? I FOUND THAT TO BE THE MOST COMPELLING ANGLE.)

New York City Council Member Margaret Chin

Margaret Chin has been the District 1 council member since January 2010. Chin, a Democrat, was the first Asian American woman elected to city council. She has been actively participating in the fight to protect schools, senior citizens, and community organizations from budget cuts, having “called on Albany to support an additional surcharge on the top 2% of New York households,” according to her city council website.

Chin moved to the United States with her family from Hong Kong, China, when she was nine years old. Chin grew up in Chinatown, attending P.S. 130 and JHS 65 for school. After attending the Bronx High School of Science, she attended the City College of New York, receiving a degree in education.

Photo courtesy of council.nyc.gov

Following college, Chin became very active in enriching the rights of Asian immigrants. She helped found Asian Americans for Equality, a group that was designed to help Asian Americans and other immigrants who were in need. Chin served as the president of the group from 1982 until 1986. Chin also worked at a continuing education community college, helping immigrants get a college education. Chin’s father came to America before the rest of his family did, and his struggles during that time period have always motivated Chin to helping improve the quality of life for immigrants.

District 1 in Manhattan in made up of the lowest parts of Manhattan. Canal Street serves as its northern border, going all the way down to the bottom of Manhattan. District 1 includes the Financial District, Battery Park City, Tribeca, Ellis Island, and Governor’s Island.

Chin has been dealing, as has everybody in the area, with Occupy Wall Street.. She has come under fire recently for not marching with on Zuccotti Park with other members of the City Council, despite being one of the most liberal members of the Council. Multiple articles have sighted that while in college, Chin was a member of the Communist Workers Party. Her response for why she was not at the march was due to a “scheduling conflict”, adding, “I have been to so many marches.”

Chin also serves as the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee Chair, having recently conducted a research project about furthering preliminary cancer research. Chin is married to Alan Tung, a public school teacher, and has a son, Kevin, who graduated from Syracuse University.

Manhattan Community Board #6

“Manhattan Community Board 6 is active in maintaining and improving the quality of life of area residents by closely monitoring municipal service delivery throughout our district.”

A map illustrating Community Board #6,
courtesy of Wikipedia.

Manhattan Community Board 6 is comprised of neighborhoods located along the East Side of the island, ranging from 14^th to 59^th street. Neighborhoods in Community Board 6 include Gramercy Park, Turtle Bay, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, and Murray Hill. The area of Board 6 is roughly 1.4 miles, or 888.4 acres, according to the city’s website. Community Board 6 is also home to the United Nations, many embassies, and the homes to numerous foreign diplomats.

According to the New York City website, the population is over 136,000 as of the year 2000, a %1.8 change from the 1990’s census. The population is over %75 Caucasian, with Asian/Pacific Islanders making up %10 of the population. There has been a %45 increase of Asian/Pacific Islanders in the area from 1990-2000, a trend that attributes to the increased Asian influence throughout the Community Board.

The average household income in Community Board 6 is over $73,000, with a fairly low rate of families below the poverty line, far below the New York City average. Over %31 of the employed work in the areas of Management, Business, and Financial Operations, much higher than the New York City average of %13.5. All of this information was according to the New York City community board website.

The Community Board #6 is also home to five hospitals, including the NYU Lagone Medical Center and the Beth Israel Hospital. In addition to all of the typical committees that a Community Board would have, such as Budget & Governmental Affairs, Business and Street Affairs, and a Parks and Landmarks Division, the #6 board also has a Land Use and Waterfront committee, which has a specific subcommittee that works with the waterfront along the East River, which serves as a boarder to the east.

The Impact of NYC's Rental Market on College Students

New York City is one of the most inflated and expensive real estate markets in America. That market is even more difficult to maneuver when you’re living on a college student’s budget.

Sam McFarland, 21, is a junior at the New School. And even though he started classes at the end of August, he still does not have an apartment. “I’ve gone to the bank multiple times to get money for a deposit, returned, and lost the apartment because somebody else put down more money,” McFarland said. “I have been staying at a friend's apartment, on his couch, and have been constantly scanning the Internet for open houses and deals on apartments. I’d guess I’ve made over two hundred phone calls for apartments.”

McFarland has been searching for a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, and with a limited budget, finding the right deal has been taxing. “I get really frustrated with the whole situation. I know that there are good deals out there, and I know my apartment is out there. But, the amount of work that I’ve had to put in, while going to school and work, has been crazy. I keep waiting for a lucky break.”

Certainly not alone, McFarland has the unfortunate task of dealing with the New York City real estate market. In most markets, real estate agents are paid by the homeowner or landlord trying to sell the property. But, because of the high demand, agents, often referred to in New York as brokers, charge the person trying to rent, instead, a fee that can range from one month’s rent all the way up to %15 of a yearly lease.

And this current market isn’t much help for those like McFarland, who can see a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan typically go for around $2,500 per month. The vacancy in New York City is less than %1, and the rent prices have never been more inflated than they are in this current back-to-school market. “I live at home on the Upper West Side in order to save money,” New School junior Eddie Rakowicz said, “It certainly isn’t that popular with the ladies, but it saves me a ton.”

Despite living in extremely confined quarters, some students are looking to the positives of their living situations. “My bedroom is big enough for a queen-sized bed and about one foot of walking space,” New School junior Luke Mulder said, then added, “But one of my current roommates is a German supermodel, so you won’t find me complaining.”

9/11 Interview

When I called Frank Nunez, a former Jersey City firefighter who was a teacher and coach of mine, he was hesitant to answer questions about his 9/11 experiences. Here is the story he was willing to share.

Nunez worked shifts in a 48-hour span, and had worked from Sunday night until Tuesday morning. Every Tuesday at 5am, he would meet at the same diner with his father, a fellow firefighter who was about to start his 48-hour shift. After breakfast, he returned to his Jersey City apartment, closed the blinds, and went to bed as the sun rose. Around noon that Tuesday, he awoke to 15 voicemails, calls from family, friends, and his fellow firefighters.

“It was a sort of ‘call to arms’,” explained Nunez, who wasn’t even twenty-four at the time. “They needed all the help they could. I went down to a park right by my house with a clear view of the New York skyline. The skyline was covered with smoke, billowing out of the towers.” He couldn’t recall the specific images, calling them a ‘mish-mash’ of emotions and memories, but was overwhelmed by the amount of people coming together to witness this view from the park.

Nunez went to work shortly after, and assisted throughout the entire search and rescue process. While he was trying to describe some of the things he saw, he kept reiterating that everything was “hot, smoldering, and covered in soot.”

When I asked for more specifics as to some of the things that stuck out in his memory, he became very quiet, and didn’t speak for a few minutes.  I tried to return to the question later, but he stated that he didn’t feel like talking about the things he saw.  “Nobody should deal with what we did,” he said, and didn’t care to get into any further detail.

Shaken up by 9/11, Nunez went back to school to become a teacher, and is still a math teacher and varsity coach at Madison High School in New Jersey.  He said that he still feels “pangs of anger and sadness around the day”, but said that every day makes things a little better.

E 48th St

Tucked between Midtown and Murray Hill is a small neighborhood called Turtle Bay. The neighborhood is known for its commercial real estate, proximity to the United Nations, and its plethora of hotels.

Blocks away on Park Avenue sits the prime commercial real estate in all of Manhattan. As a result of this center of business, a large amount of hotels are located close by, providing a luxurious living option near the business hub. E 48^{th st}, between 3^rd Avenue and Lexington, is home to more than a few of these very nice hotels, including the Roger Smith Hotel and the East Side Marriot.

Mornings on 48^th are more than a little busy, with hundreds of new guests checking in and out every morning. The bellhops stand at the corner of 48^th and Lex with their whistles, hailing cabs to make the turn onto 48^th to shuttle the hotels’ guests. “I would say I hail about one hundred cabs every morning for our guests,” doorman Juan Barrea said, who has been working for various hotels in the area for over ten years. “I’ve been hit by more than a few cabs, but I guess I hail over two hundred a day.”

Working down 48^th towards 3^rd avenue, there are a plethora of small shops and restaurants, working towards the large apartment complex on the corner, 160 E 48^th St, The Buchanan.  The Buchanan is a high-rise apartment building outfitted with fifteen stories, two entrances (one on 47^th, one on 48^th) elevators, and a garden courtyard in the center of the complex.

After being let in by one of the many doormen, the courtyard has the potential to impress. There are well cared for gardens, fountains, and ample benches and tables for the residents to utilize during the nice weather. It offers an extremely tranquil place to relax, and for many, smoke. “A few years back, the super said we weren’t going to be smoking in our buildings, so the only place for us to really smoke is out here,” said long-time resident Janice Cheung. Cheung and a few others can often be found sitting at the tables smoking, doing a crossword, and enjoying their morning coffee.

The courtyard is also a very sociable gathering place.  Residents often gather for evenings of wine and cheese and social drinking. More than one child’s birthday party has taken place in the courtyard, and the super’s kids can often be seen riding scooters and throwing balls during the middle of the warmer days. “The courtyard reminds me of Europe; I love coming down here after I get back from work,” said new resident Stephanie Wells.