1. Casino Building in NYC
As someone who has lived in Coney Island almost my entire life, I am used to the influx of people flocking in to see new attractions, enjoy the weather, swarm the beach, or just hang out with family and friends nearby. However, there are great drawbacks to the increasing number of people that visit and it makes me skeptical about the new casino being built in Coney Island. Casinos are a powerhouse for money, but also a prime area for crime and no parking (in an already busy area).
https://theconeynyc.com/
This isn’t a juicy article, but it does say that the community will be given “roughly 4,000 union jobs” if the casino is built. This sounds good on paper, but it will definitely damage the surrounding community.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/nyregion/coney-island-casino.html
Mr. Sitt, a wealthy landowner in Coney Island paints this story of a perfect Coney Island that can only be made through a casino. He strongly believes that Coney Island, a place with so much life, needs to be revitalized by something big that forces people to come back (which I find sinister, not innocent, and childlike as he describes it). However, Coney Island is seasonal for many reasons. Besides the obvious fact that its beach brings in the most people, the electrical and sewage systems freeze up during the winter and don’t function properly. The Casino would quite literally have to redo Coney Island and the project would take billions of dollars. To try and understand Mr. Sitt’s side of the story (which many people agree with), Coney Island has ended up as a tale of nostalgia:
“Mr. Sitt argues that Coney Island — which has struggled to regain its footing since its heyday — was the most in need of the economic boost and had the strongest local support.”
2. Textbooks
Throughout my first semester at Baruch, I have probably looked at one of my multiple textbooks a single time. Everyone was “required” by Baruch to purchase a textbook for specific classes in order to get credit for the class. However, the textbooks are rendered useless as the professors don’t use them and if they do, the slides or class already reflects the information we need to know. The Baruch mandate for purchasing these textbooks is scandalous and should be removed.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/6/18252322/college-textbooks-cost-expensive-pearson-cengage-mcgraw-hill
Students are forced to pay upwards of one thousand dollars for textbooks each year, which can be stressful or impossible for some students. Additionally, schools like Baruch who don’t allow you to simply borrow a textbook or get it from an outside source make requirements that place pressure on families. Scholarships that cover tuition tend to not include the real money makers for these schools, which lie in textbooks and subscriptions. As a Macaulay Honors student, this is an uncomfortable reality that can be seen through Hannah’s experience:
“Hannah’s tuition and housing is covered by scholarships, but she has to use student loans to pay for her health insurance; she pays for other necessities, including textbooks, out of pocket. In other words, her generous financial aid package isn’t enough to cover the essentials.”
3. Online Betting
As someone who has witnessed it firsthand, online betting can do serious damage to people who aren’t visually able to see their cash disappear before them. What is worse is when children are able to build their gambling addiction at a young age through online casinos that contain flashy slots, simplistic betting systems, and content creators that are paid with boosted odds to advertise their “easy wins”. However, it is hard to remove a certified business that doesn’t break the law in any way. The ethics of the situation is the real problem, and it is extremely hard to make concrete changes without brute force under the law.