Is the Cupcake Era Over in NYC?

Cupcake display at Magnolia Bakery
(photo credits: http://culturemob.com/get-your-sweet-fix- milk-magnolia-bakery-and-simplethings-open-late)

Rarely does a day go by in New York City where, walking down the streets or riding the subway, one does not see someone carrying a bag full of cupcakes.

Type in the word “cupcakes” in the Yelp search bar, and 1,698 results will appear for the area of New York. A feature article in New York Magazine written by Adam Sternbergh attributes the rise of cupcake culture to the combination of “a post-diet-fad craving for sugary indulgence, the girly-girl culture that spun up around Sex and the City, and a regressive nostalgia that spurs adults to seek out the comfort foods of some idealized, vanilla-scented childhood.”

Nicole Chu, 19, bought a Red Velvet Cupcake for $3.75 at the Crumbs Bake Shop at Union Square. “It’s a way for people to get their sweet fix on,” she said when asked about what she thinks attracts people to cupcakes, “it also has a nostalgic feeling.” Cupcakes remind her of the birthday parties of her childhood where her mother would bake homemade cupcakes. “When I am having a bad day, cupcakes remind me of those good days,” she said.

The portability of cupcakes is also a reason for their popularity. Chu mentioned that cupcakes are not actually her favorite dessert, she prefers frozen yogurt. “You can’t take a dozen frozen yogurts to someone’s house,” she joked. Her favorite cupcake bakery in Manhattan is Magnolia Bakery, because their frosting is “very buttery but not too sweet.”

Chu believes that cupcakes are overpriced and that people are in fact buying the experience of going to the bakery, looking at the display, choosing one flavor, and watching the cupcake get wrapped up. “The build up is very comforting,” she said, “nothing can go wrong except for gaining a couple pounds.”

Some foodies trace the beginning of the cupcake craze to July 9, 2000, when the fifth episode of season 3 of Sex and the City aired. The audience saw Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) eating pink frosted cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. More than a decade later, foodies are spotting a new dessert trend on their radar—macaroons.

Macrons from Laudrée
(photo credits: http://www.flickriver.com/ photos/chachahavana/popular-interesting/)

The dainty French cookies are “more sophisticated than cupcakes,” said Sarah Tenaglia, senior food editor and resident macaroon expert at Bon Appetit in an online article. Many foodies agree that macaroons are harder to make than cupcakes. Prices for these elegant cookies range from $2-$3 for one macaroon. In the November 1 New York Times article, “Airy Macarons,” Ligaya Mishan wrote about the eight best macarooniers in New York. “The macaron is the anti-cupcake,” she wrote, “a cupcake comforts. A macaron teases.”

When asked if she would rather have a cupcake or a macaroon, Chu answered, “That’s like asking the ‘Are you a Marilyn or Jackie O’ question!” 

A Place to Frolic, Please!!

The white arrows indicate where playgrounds can be found in New York. (courtesy of:
http://www.playaroundnyc.com/map/)

Like Robert Moses, Mayor Bloomberg also sees the importance of playgrounds. On November 30^th, Bloomberg opened the 200^th “Schoolyard to Playground” at P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights.

“PlaNYC, our long-term sustainability agenda, identified public schoolyards that could be opened up year-round in neighborhoods most in need of open space,” said Mayor Bloomberg in the November 30^th press release.  

“Schoolyard to Playground” is part of Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative to enhance the quality of life for New Yorkers. The $87.6 million program is a collaborative project between the Parks Department, the Department of Education, and the non-profit Trust for Public Land that seeks to promote physical activity and to ensure children have access to safe and clean playgrounds.

 Less than half of New York City’s public elementary schools have usable playgrounds, according to the Trust for Public land website. PlaNYC has set the goal of converting 258 schoolyards in all five boroughs by 2013. Upon completion, the playgrounds will be maintained by the Department of Education.

According to the administration’s press release, 71 percent of New Yorkers now live within a ten-minute walk of a park or playground.

Today, there are more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreation facilities in New york City, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation. In 1895, a state law was passed that dictated, “Hereafter no school house shall be constructed in the City of New York without an open-air playground attached or used in connection with the same.” Seward Park, at Hester and Essex Street on the Lower East Side, was opened in 1903 and became the first municipally-built playground in the country (prior parks had been privately sponsored). From 1934 to 1960, during Robert Moses’ reign as Parks Department Commissioner, the number of playgrounds in the city grew from 119 to 777.

Community Board 7 has been advocating for schools to open their playgrounds to the public after hours, on weekends, and during the summer. Even with Riverside Park and Central Park nearby, the residents who live along Amsterdam Avenue in the 80s still have a long walk to reach outdoor recreational spaces. “We are still unable to open school playgrounds to the public because of the Department of Education policy of requiring a custodian to be on site to clean up and lock up the playground after hours,” said a spokeswoman from CB7, “and we don’t have the funding right now.” According to a DNAinfo.com article about CB7’s initiative, it costs between $50,000 and $100,000 a year to maintain a school playground after school hours.

Even though 300 acres of new parkland have been added since 2007, according to the PlaNYC website, New York City still has “less open space per person than almost any other major city in America."

Indecision: Politics of Space

Conversation, debates, but no solution—yet. Melissa Holmes and her two fellow University Student Senators moderated the Town Hall meeting held in the newly painted Kellen Gallery on Monday. Over the weekend, volunteers had painted over the walls that have been graffiti-ed by some of the occupiers. While a variety of opinions were heard, no conclusions were drawn as to whether Kellen Gallery will be offered again to the occupiers.

Among the first to speak was Adam Rodriquez, a student worker who has worked at Kellen Gallery for two and half years. He expressed his disappointment in the administration’s lack of judgment. “Where is the common sense?” he asked. The administration had seen the occupiers vandalize the study center at 90 Fifth Avenue, and Rodriquez wanted to know why the administration did not foresee that the occupiers would trash the gallery too. “It looks like we have no control over the school,” said Rodriquez. He was also concerned about losing his job at the gallery, but the curator clarified by saying student workers will still get paid.

Many had hoped that the New School Occupation would provide a “space for discussion and conversation.” The point many student occupiers tried to get across was that the graffiti was done by a minority within the group. “The minority didn’t get what they wanted and set out to make sure no one else got what they wanted either,” said one student occupier. One person proposed that the graffiti should be perceived of as art. “Shouldn’t art be political?” he asked.

Time and again, Holmes tried to “take the temperature” of the crowd to see if a decision could be made about the fate of Kellen Gallery.

The assistant director of the gallery expressed that she is “not sure [Kellen Gallery] is the best place to carry out the conversation” because “the space has become loaded.”

“The student movement is one of the most important things I can see myself partaking in,” said Ted, a student pursuing his masters in Philsophy at the NSSR, “we need a space.”

The Fate of Our Wastes

Compost at the Lower East Side Ecology Center
booth at the Union Square Greenmarket.

New Yorkers generate about 14 million tons of waste each year—but who is really the one taking out the trash?

The city agency known as the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is responsible for collection refuse, which are the contents of trash bags and cans. For recycling, the DSNY currently collects paper such as newsprint, cardboard, but not napkins, tissues, and paper plates/cups. According to the DSNY website, approximately half the paper collected goes to five local paper processors in the metropolitan area. 

After being picked up by Department of Sanitation trucks, all of the plastics, cartons, and metal collected travels by barge or rail to the Sims Metal Management Municipal Recycling in Queens, the Bronx, or Jersey City. Sims Metal Management is also building a new recycling facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. Construction broke ground in the summer of 2010, and the facility is scheduled to begin operating sometime between December 2012 and June 2013.

  

Model for the new Sims Metal recycling facility being build at Sunset Park
(photo credit: Sims Metal Management)

However, recycling bins are not always in sight when one is on the go. According to the New York Times article by Mireya Navarro, there are only 500 curbside recycling bins in New York City. The City Council hopes to double the number of recycling bins by 2020.

While the Department of Sanitation collects food scraps from some restaurants and businesses, the DSNY does not collect residential compost. According to the NYC Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling website, “Although the potential for composting is considerable, currently only yard trimmings and Christmas trees can be cost-effectively collected and composted in NYC on a citywide scale.” However, there are locations in each borough that are part of the NYC Compost Project, where residents can compost their food scraps on certain days of the week.

Helen Chang, a parent volunteer from the
Grace Church School, composting at the Lower
East Side Ecology Center booth.

At the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, people can be seen carrying bags of food scraps to dump into the large gray buckets provided by the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Aurelia Kaelin is the supervisor at the compost collection booth; she also gives advice about how to keep worm buckets at home. “The city always says that there is no space, no room [to compost],” said Kaelin. She usually collects about 8 buckets of compost on Mondays, 12 buckets on Wednesdays and Fridays, and 15-20 buckets on Saturdays.

Helen Chang, a parent volunteer from the Grace Church School, came to the Union Square composting site with a cart full of food scraps to compost. “The school does compost through the City, but they just couldn’t keep up with the amount of food waste being generated,” said Chang. About six months ago, she and nine other parents formed a volunteer group to bring the excess food scraps to the Greenmarket on Mondays and Wednesdays.

In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg initiated PlaNYC to make a greener New York by setting a goal to divert 75% of the city’s solid waste from landfills. When asked if she foresees the City composting on a large scale anytime soon, Kaelin responded, “They’ll have to come up with something sooner or later, there is just too much waste.”

How to Recycle in New York City on Howcast

A Way to Make A Living: Operate a Green Cart

Mohammad Ali Ashraf with his Green Cart and van.

At five o’clock in the morning, a yellow van pulls up at 96^th street between Lexington and Park Avenue. Mohammad Ali Ashraf then proceeds to set up his Green Cart by unloading boxes full of pomegranates, persimmons, and oranges. 

In 2008, in an effort to increase accessibility of fresh produce to the boroughs, Mayor Bloomberg signed Local Law 9, establishing 350 Green Carts permits each for Brooklyn and the Bronx, 150 permits for Manhattan, 100 for Queens, and 50 for Staten Island. Ashraf is one of 1,000 Green Cart operators in New York City. A Green Cart is one that can only sell raw fruits and vegetables, such as whole apples, bananas, carrots and berries.

According to the New York City Administrative Code, there are 4,100 mobile food cart permits in New York City and as many as 2,500 people on the waiting list for permits. More than half of the carts sell foods such as hot dogs, roasted nuts, and kebabs, while less than 10% of carts sell fruits and vegetables.

The produce from Ashraf's Green Cart comes from a
provider in Huntspoint, Bronx.

On the border between the Upper East Side and East Harlem, Ashraf’s Green Cart sits right across the street from an Associated Supermarket. According to Ashraf, he doesn’t feel that supermarkets threaten his business because “people come to me for just one or two things.” His customers are mostly those who work at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine nearby.

Originally from Bangladesh, Ashraf arrived in New York in 1995 and worked in a candy and newsstand. He lives with his wife, two sons, and a daughter in a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx. He makes about $80 to $90 a day, and works from five in the morning till eight thirty at night. His wife works as a cashier from time to time. “I don’t work in December or February because it is too cold,” he said. During those two months, Ashraf is unemployed.

Although Ashraf did not disclose as to whether or not his cart receives financial assistance, Green Carts are different from any old cart that sell fruits and vegetables in that operators can get reduced-interest rate loans from ACCION USA. According to the NYC Green Cart website, vendors can get loans amounting to $5000, at interest rates of 6.99-9.99%.

Ashraf has been at the same location selling fruits and vegetables for three years. When asked what job he would rather have, he smiled and said, “When I find a better job than this one, I'll switch.”

The Power Broker: Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32: QUID PRO QUO

(photo courtesy: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quid%20pro%20quo)

Mayor William O'Dwyer (Tammany-backed), the 100th mayor of New York City
(photo courtesy: http://www.irishamericanmuseumdc.org/online-library/article/william-o-dwyer)

Cartoon from 1941
(photo courtesy: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/TammanyHall.html)

The Power Broker: Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Monopoly

Ole Singstad of the New York City Tunnel Authority and chief engineer of the Brookyln-Batter Project
(photo courtesy: http://hemneslekt.net/histories/img/singstad_2.jpg)

Building the Queens-Midtown Tunnel in 1939, designed by Ole Singstad
(photo courtesy: http://www.cloutonline.com/2010/01/queens-midtown-tunnel-1939/)

Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel as it was partly built in 1944
(photo courtesy: http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/brooklyn-battery-tunnel/)

In 1946, Robert Moses' Triborough Authority swallows the New York Tunnel Authority

The Power Broker: Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30: REVENGE

 A Summer Scene at Batter Park (postcard, 1917): Castle Garden Fort & The New York Aquarium
(http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/a-summer-scene-at-battery-park-in-1917/)

Castle Clinton, once the site of the New York Aquarium, housed America's first captive Beluga Whale
(info courtesy of: http://www.nps.gov/cacl/index.htm; photo courtesy: http://aquaviews.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Beluga-Whale.jpg)

Castle Clinton

(photo courtesy of: http://nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM003-CASTLECLINTON.htm)

George McAneny, traditionalist reformer who fought Moses to save Fort Clinton
(photo courtesy of: http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U167970INP/george-mcaneny-holding-a-shovel)

New York Aquarium at Coney Island
(photo courtesy of: http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Brooklyn/photos/NY-Aquarium.html)

Admissions fee to the New York Aquarium--thanks to Robert Moses

Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel which runs directly under Castle Clinton
(photo courtesy: http://www.mta.info/bandt/html/bbt.html)

Robert Moses & Lincoln Center

"Razing eighteen square blocks of slums stretching north from the Coliseum and rearing on their ruins a huge, glittering culture center that would house—in grandeur—not only university, opera and Philharmonic but a dozen other related institutions."
--The Power Broker

University Town Hall (October 26th, 2011)

At the Town Hall meeting, which took place in Wollman Hall President David Van Zandt and Provost Tim Marshall gave presentations about their progress in serving the New School community. The new bell schedule, which will be implemented in Fall 2012, will allow for cross-divisional registration. "Students will be able to take better advantage of the whole university," said Marshall. President Van Zandt then discussed the construction progress of the new University Center, which will open in Fall 2013. He then presented statistics about the New School's financial status. Of the New School's $330 million dollar budget, 80% of the revenue comes from tuition and fees, 10% from student services (health, dining, and housing). The university's enrollment did not increase, which Van Zandt cites that it is a national trend. He then suggested that the university's "dependency on enrollment growth is not sustainable."

During the question-and-answer session, faculty and students raised issues regarding the lack of rigorous discourse in diversity, which they attribute to intrinsic structural issues of the university. "It is not expressed in the curriculum," said on faculty member. Another suggested that diversity has in fact decreased in the faculty body. An MIT graduate and new professor to the New School applauded the President and Provost's transparency and openness in holding the meeting and advocated for more collaborative research opportunities for faculty and students. He sees research as a tool for the university to generate additional revenue. It seemed as if professors across the New School's divisions were interested in exploring the potential of interdisciplinary and inter-divisionary research.

Whose Nutritional Advice Would You Take?

“You have to walk the 3 miles from Yankee Stadium to Central Park to burn off the calories from one 20oz. soda,” read one of the posters in a New York City subway car.

In an attempt to offset the obesity epidemic, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has installed such posters to urge New Yorkers to be mindful of their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Rachel Knopf, the Health Educator at the New School and a registered dietitian, has mixed feelings about the effectiveness of these posters. “I think there is a fine line between knowledge and fear tactics, which don’t work,” she said. According to Knopf, the Student Health Service’s has a “health at every size” approach to making nutritional advice. By recognizing that diets only work in the short term, she argues that the focus should be to alter one’s actions and eating habits rather than fixating on one’s size. Furthermore, Knopf believes in giving nutritional recommendations based on individuals’ economic means.

“One major issue is that many college students do not know how to plan meals or to make time to shop and cook,” she said. Instead, students often rely on eating prepackaged foods or eating out. For a year and a half, Knopf spearheaded the “Beyond Ramen” program to try to teach New School students how to cook. Though the events themselves are only two hours long, the preparation work for the food demonstrations took up eight hours of her time. In the end, the program was discontinued. “No one showed up,” said Knopf.

However, the Student Health Services is still pushing its efforts in providing students with the skills needed to lead a healthy lifestyle. Last month, they hosted a cooking demonstration in the basement of the Stuyvesant Park dorms, and students learned how to make seafood paella and smoothies.

On a Sunday night, Shannon Swimm, a freshman at Eugene Lang College, finally found the time to go grocery shopping and cook for herself. She spent $30 on groceries at Trader Joe’s and made herself lasagna and salad. Swimm finds it hard to have a well-balanced diet, and she usually eats what is the most “quick and filling.”

“For breakfast, I just drink tea,” Swimm said, “but by lunch time I’m starving so I’m willing to go wherever to eat whatever.” She has no time to prepare food at dinnertime either, for she has to do homework.

Swimm finds the posters about the health threats posed by sugar-sweetened beverages a little ridiculous. “I try not to pay attention to them and take it at face value,” she said. Swimm would rather take nutritional advice from the New School nutritionist than from the Department of Health because she feels that a nutritional would cater specifically to the individual and their needs and goals.

Councilwoman Helen D. Foster

Helen D. Foster (Photo Credit: council.nyc.gov)

Helen D. Foster, a democrat, represents the 16^th District in the City Council. One of the poorest council districts in the city, District 16 is comprised of West Bronx, Morrisania, South Bronx, Highbridge, and Melrose. The population estimate in 2006 for District 16 was 167, 588, with the median household income being $21, 468. The demographic composition of the district is mainly Hispanic (56.7%) and Black (39.8%), according to information provided by Andrew A. Beveridge of CUNY Queens College.

District 16 (http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/16)

Upon graduating from the City University of New York School of Law, Foster worked as the Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She then moved into the private sector, serving as the Assistant Vice President for Legal Affairs at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. In 2001, she became the first African-American woman elected to a city office from the Bronx County, and has since them been reelected twice, in 2005 (receiving 98% of the vote) and in 2009. According to the Gotham Gazette, Council members earn about $112,500 a year.

Councilwoman Foster is currently the chairperson for the New York City Council Committee on State and Federal Legislation as well as the co-chair of the Women’s Caucus of the New York City Council. She also serves on seven committees: aging, community development, education, finance, general welfare, health, and public safety.

Foster fought and won her third term, but she has one of the worst attendance records of all the 51 members in City Council. According the chart below from the Gotham Gazette, from January 2006 to January 2009, Councilwoman Foster attended only 73.1 percent of the City Council meetings. Earlier this year, amNewYork cited that in 2010, she had a 61.7 attendance rate. However, it is worth noting that District 16 is more than 13 miles from City Hall. In an interview with Courtney Gross for the Gotham Gazette, Foster said that she prioritizes staying the Bronx and solving constituent issues over attending committee meetings in Manhattan.

In 2006, Foster was one of two council members who voted against the new Yankee Stadium (the vote was 45-2-2, with two abstentions), according to the New York Observer. Councilwoman Foster also showed avid support for Barrack Obama in his presidential campaign in 2008.

Foster is married, and her husband, Eric McKay, is a writer and filmmaker. She also has a 12-year old stepdaughter, Aminah McKay. Her current term expires in 2013. 

Immigrants Own 48% of NY's Small Businesses

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/immigrants-play-key-role-as-city-entrepreneurs-study-finds/?ref=todayspaper

So What If I Drive with One Hand on the Horn?

In the Upper West Side, it is not uncommon to see three “Don’t Honk: $350 Penalty” signs at one intersection. According to the Gothamist, each sign costs $51 to put up—that’s $153 spent for one intersection.

The New York Police Department responds to noise complaints about noise from neighbors, clubs and bars, stores and businesses, and vehicles, according to the 311 website. With 217 noise service requests each, Manhattan’s Community Board 7 (Upper West Side) and Community Board 6 (Stuyvesant Town/Murray Hill/Gramercy Park) tied for most noise service requests.

Screen Shot of the Noise Service Request Count by Community Board

Emily Goodman, an Upper West Side resident, suggests that the high number of noise complaints from her neighborhood is perhaps due to the types of resident (older people and families with young children) and the demographic.

Contrary to the popular notion that it stressful to drive in Manhattan, Goodman drives down the West Side Highway every morning to get to work. “I know it is not politically correct, but I prefer [driving] to public transportation,” she said.

The New York City Noise Code cites that the use of vehicle horns in non-emergency situations is illegal. “I don’t use it the second the light changes,” said Goodman. She only uses her horn if necessary to alert pedestrians or other cars.

On the road, she finds the taxi drivers (they are “not the best drivers”) and bicyclists (they “don’t obey traffic laws”) to be the most difficult. “People usually honk if the flow of traffic is interrupted,” she said.

According to the 311 website, residents can request the City to install a “Don’t Honk” sign at an intersection, and the City will conduct a study to determine if a sign is necessary.

“For example, I had a caller call me last week saying that there is honking twenty-four-seven outside a club near her house,” said Donald, a 311 phone representative, “I would then take down the street address and the Department of Environmental Protection would conduct a study to assess the environment then approve or deny the request.”

When asked if she thinks drivers actually obey the “Don’t Honk” signs, Goodman thinks that people probably don’t pay attention to the threat of the $350 fine. The city's transporation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, said to NY1, “We haven’t done studies in the efficacy of honking sign.” So why does the City spend money to put up these signs that drivers just turn a blind eye to?

"What a Hundred Million Calls to 311 Reveal About New York"
 (By Wesley Grubbs and Mladen Balog of Pitch Interactive, 2007)

Some Links for City Research

Useful Links:

New York City Census FactFinder
2000 Census Profiles for New York City (BY STREET ADDRESS/COMMUNITY DISTRICT)
http://gis.nyc.gov/dcp/pa/Map?hseNumber=250&address=WEST+89+STREET&borough=1&event=PROCESS_TRACT

2010 Census: Tables, Maps, and Census Briefs provide detailed information from the PL 94-171 file from the 2010 Census.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/census_2010.shtml

MyCITI: the City’s newest mapping resource NYCityMap 
http://www.myciti.mas.org/make_a_map_citi2.html

311 Online Service Request Map
http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311srmap/

Protecting the Health of CB2

"#OccupyCB2" signs on the chairs.

The Environment, Public Safety, and Public Health Committee of Community Board No. 2 held a meeting regarding the St. Vincent’s Campus Redevelopment Project on the night of September 21. Before the meeting commenced, a man walked around the auditorium and placed “#Occupy CB2” signs on the empty chairs. The chair, Jason Mansfield, led the board of five men and four women. “This is an unprecedented construction project in the middle of the Village, in the middle of a heavily residential area with two schools,” began one board member.

(Photo Courtesy of Community Board No. 2)

First on the agenda was a presentation by Ann Locke, who addressed questions raised by the board regarding the remedial action plan for the environmental impacts of the construction project. The board was also concerned that the demolition of the old hospital building would release asbestos and wanted to know the contractor’s plan of containment. Locke addressed how hazardous material was going to be disposed and explained that no carcinogens would be released into the environment. Citing that after 9/11 the health of children at Stuyvesant School were negatively impacted by delivery trucks not having diesel particular filters installed, the board requested that vehicles of the contractors and all parties working on site to be equipped with diesel particular filters. The board also made a request for the construction company to set up a website and post, in a timely manner, the air quality for playgrounds and public areas. “NYU does it” was their argument.

When chair then opened up questions to the floor, he began to lose control of the discussion. Some members of the community (specifically those who were holding up “#OccupyCB2” signs) had questions completely unrelated to the agenda. First up to the microphone was a man with an eye patch who had with him a small dog. He began by saying how he almost had a small stroke that day. “Why can’t they give us a hospital?” he asked, “They have the money!” to which some members of the community answered with a standing ovation. Next up was an older woman who said, “We were shot down at every turn, but we still want to save the hospital!” As soon as they got a hold of the microphone, they began to speak passionately and at length about saving St. Vincent’s.

A spokesman from North Shore LIJ responded by saying that “the existing hospital [St. Vincent’s] could not continue to exist as a competitive 21^st century hospital because of physical constraints such as ceiling height” and cannot fit modern equipment. “In 2014, the community will receive a new park, new school, and new emergency department,” he added.

After Mansfield regained control of the room, Judy Wessler of the Commission on Public’s Health System gave a presentation on the “Qualitative Community Health Survey” conducted by the St. Vincetn’s Community Health Needs Assessment Task Force. Her presentation highlighted how people don’t know where to go after St. Vincent’s closed. “Information, transportation, and access to appointments were a serious problem,” said Wessler.

“I personally am very worried about a free standing emergency room,” said Wessler, “I think it works in rural areas, but we are in New York City.” Her statement was greeted by another standing ovation.

More Information:

“St. Vincent’s Campus Redevelopment Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (Department of City Planning, New York)

Plans for St. Vincent’s Site (Community Board No. 2)

San Gennaro's 85th Birthday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M1l4lh9Bjs

Interview with Lieutenant Christopher Love

Interview with Lieutenant Christopher Love 

September 11, 2011

By Emily Katz

On the tenth anniversary of September 11^th, Lieutenant Christopher Love rode the downtown six-subway train to the site of Ground Zero, a trip he takes every year in remembrance. “Everyone comes together on this day,” said Lieutenant Love, “the ten-year mark is the big one, though it seemed like yesterday”.

According to Lieutenant Love, it was a beautiful and sunny day. He was with his fellow firemen at their base in Harlem where they watched on TV as the World Trade Center’s North Tower collapsed into the ground. “When the first tower came down, we knew that we had lost a lot of guys,” said Lieutenant Love. Eager to go downtown to assist with search and rescue, he immediately called the dispatcher who told his brigade to hold back “to protect the rest of Manhattan.”

Lieutenant Love and his brigade were finally able to reach the site of the attack at nine o’clock that night. “If you could picture what hell looks like, that was what it was like at Ground Zero,” he said. Love and his team crawled under debris and even went into the subway system. They found no survivors. He stayed at the site for two straight weeks, and cleaning up the aftermath took a total of four months.

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, left Lieutenant Love with psychological scars. “I can’t stay in hotel rooms that are really high up,” he said, “and I can’t look at heavy machinery because they cause the horrifying images of that day to resurface.” The fire department was changed; it lost many of its senior firemen. According to Love, the men in the brigades today are much younger, much less experienced.

A New Yorker from Brooklyn, the Twin Towers were symbolic to Lieutenant Love. He recounts, “When I arrived at the site on that day, I couldn’t even tell where I was because the buildings were gone.” To him, the reconstruction of World Trade Centers is a way of telling the world: you can’t beat us.

Broadway at 89th Street

Broadway at 89^th Street embodies many dualities. Pedestrians can be seen relaxing on benches on the island separating the uptown and downtown-bound vehicles. The daunting, inanimate concrete high-rise buildings are juxtapose by colorful flowers in full bloom, and dogs of all breeds, shapes, and sizes parading down the sidewalk.  On this block, the old and the new coexist together: from the 65-year old Murray’s Sturgeon Shop to the 7-year old Georgia’s Café, from the Mister Softee ice cream truck that has been appearing at the same curb, year after year, every afternoon at three o’clock to the UNIQLO that opened two weeks ago. A stately synagogue, along with majestic lion head fountains and friendly doormen with bright smiles, uphold the security of the neighborhood. Whether one lives in one of the high-rises or simply passing-by on a tour bus, one can’t help but notice a sense of tranquility in the air.

Broadway at 89th Street, a two-way street that goes uptown and downtown.

On a nice day, pedestrians can been seen sitting on the benches positioned on the island.

Flowers planted on the island by the Broadway Mall Association add color and beautify the street.

Bella, a mixed maltese, takes a drink of water after having walked from 137th Street to 89th Street with her owner.

Murray's Sturgeon shop has been serving the Upper West Siders delicious smoked fish and gourmet salads since 1946.

Murray's Vegetarian Chopped Liver is scrumptious, made with sweet peas, string beans, eggs, walnuts, and sauteed onions.

Georgia's Cafe, which serves Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, has live music every night at seven o'clock.

Mister Softee (truck) vs. UNIQLO (red flag): an example of the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the indigenous and the foreign.

A woman walking her dog outside the Congregation B'nai Jeshrun, a synagogue at 257 West 88th Street.

A regal-looking lion head fountain outside the apartment building at 250 West 89th Street.

The doormen of 250 West 89th Street who always greet passer-bys with bright smiles. 

Photo taken from my 19th floor window of the street with a tour bus passing by.