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Loud music, drumrolls, cheering, energizing dance performances, Indian food, and a plethora of colors greeted anyone stopping by Dag Hammarskjold Park, located just a few blocks from the United Nations on Saturday, May 3rd.

This was a daylong party of colors, bright and vibrant colors. The sounds of the festivities could be heard blocks away, as people from all different backgrounds and ethnicities gathered together to celebrate NYC Bhangra’s 5th annual Holi festival, the Indian festival of colors. There was scarcely a person leaving the area who was not covered in hues of pinks, reds, and greens from head to toe.

Watch this video of the day of the event!

Holi celebrates the coming of spring and originates from ancient myths of the triumph of good over evil. It’s celebrated mostly in India and Nepal, but has begun to spread across parts of Europe and North America, as more people have become aware of the holiday and are attracted to this celebration of spring, love, and happiness.

“I’m getting splashed with colors,” said Elena, a first time participant at this event. “I never expected this.” Fresh faces entering the park would be greeted with cries of “Holi Hai” and sprouts of color. In this mix of music and colors, anyone is fair game.

Several thousands of people attended the festival. Many of the festival-goers were not locals, but had heard of it from family, friends, and Facebook. “We are here today because we were invited to participate in this wonderful thing of color,” said Becky Heisman, from Portland, Oregon. “You meet so many beautiful, colorful people. The food is actually wonderful too.”

Prayatmi Shakya, a student at Baruch College, was informed of the event by her Irish-American friend. She braved the chaos created by a train derailment the previous day and opted to take a cab to reach the site. “Seeing people from different walks of life to celebrate our tradition was one of the most thrilling experiences,” said Shakya.  “As I was watching the concert, the host asked if anybody knows how to sing Honey Singh’s song and I raised my hand and said “I can’t sing but I can dance,” so I was called up on the stage with couple of other people and we danced.”

The host, Monty Kataria, entertained the crowd between dance performaces, with explanations of Holi, dance-a-longs, and occasional jokes. The organizer of the event, Megha Kalia, could be heard many times from stage, requesting that everyone respect the park, get off the grass, and volunteer. “If you would like to stay back and help us out to clean, we love you,” said Kalia.

Kalia is a modern dance student at the Martha Graham Dance School and runs her own dance school called NYC Bhangra Dance School and Company in New York City, as well as the Sitarrey Performing Arts Center in Jersey City. NYC Bhangra organizes the Holi Hai festival every year and trains dancers in the art of Bhangra, a Punjabi folk dance that is slowly making its way across the world. The powder-spattered revelers at the Holi festival jumped up and down as Kalia demonstrated the basics of Bhangra.

The preparations for the event start as early as six months in advance, and volunteers play a large part in this. “There are a group of volunteers who work on the website, on setting up the food booths, people who are behind the scenes but are very important,” said Dolly Kamalpreet, a choreographer and performer for NYC Bhangra. “The passion that keeps them going is to be part of something so big.”

NYC embraces diversity, and so does NYC Bhangra. “It’s not just Bhangra dance,” said Kamalpreet. “We have bollywood, salsa, and belly dancing. We invite a lot of different teams to perform with us.”

The NYC Bhangra team is comprised of 10 dancers from different backgrounds. They start rehearsing two months before the show, starting with weekly rehearsals and then meeting bi-weekly as the event gets closer. The team also performs for Vaisakhi at the Indian consulate, Diwali at South Street Seaport, and for the NYC Dance Parade. The team is made of many non-Indians, and some even new to Bhangra.

Fengfeng Ken He has been practicing Bhangra for less than a year. Recently, the dance form went from being an interest to a passion. “Now with NYC Bhangra I’m learning a lot,” said Ken. “I hope for the rest of my life I’ll be doing this thing called Bhangra, because its magic.”

Watch this video to see NYC Bhangra’s rehearsal for Holi Hai!

“The bad guys know what you got and they want what you got. That’s what we do, we weed out the bad guys,” Eric Mamay, a member of the South Hampton Pistol & Rifle Club, said of the selective gun range club.

South Hampton Pistol & Rifle Club, a gun range located in Southampton, encourages residents of the Hamptons and tourists alike to join up. The club has grown exponentially over the last few years.

“Yeah, we had like 75 members a few years back when I joined,” Michael Brausch said, “Now we’re up to a little over 300 and it’s great to see love for the sport.”

Members of the club range from young women to middle-aged men to the senior members who founded the club. One does not simply walk in, however, as potential members need to be members of the NRA and have three references.

“It’s just a way to pick the absolute best people. Gun licensing, NRA membership and all. If you mess up you get scolded in front of everybody and it’s really embarrassing. It’s not for everybody, you got to love the sport,” Brausch said.

Members are also very passionate about their defense of the second amendment.

“The government is absolutely trampling on the right to bear arms. We are not these people they are after and we have our own ways to keep the club secure and free of ill dealings,” Mamay said.

Many members stress their discomfort with the Government‘s assault on the second amendment following the shooting in Newtown. In other words, many members feel as though other amendments and laws will fall victim to the Government’s “strong arming.”

Of course, the incident that best summarizes the government’s actions refers to 20-year old Adam Lanza shooting and killing over a dozen elementary school students in Sandy Hook. Because he was armed and showed no signs of mental disability, gun control was enforced and gun users targeted.

However, the group does allow non members to shoot if accompanied by a member and supervised. Safety and precautionary measures are emphasized heavily to ensure the safest and most enjoyable experience possible. They want their visitors to have a good time doing what they love, but also stress that they join up to attend many of the group’s events and contribute to the club.

Shooting Range #1:

Shooting Range #2:

Vinyl enthusiast turned out in record numbers this year in New York City for the sixth annual Record Store Day (www.recordstoreday.com).    Nearly 20 stores in the city participated this year in the event that has gained popularity in a resurgence of an old tangible music source—the vinyl record.  The day continues to top the sales of each preceding year and has spread to international status.

https://vimeo.com/95296642

The way people attain music now has changed drastically since vinyl’s dominance years ago before the takeover of tape cassettes and compact discs.  Now the public can listen to their favorite albums or songs for free on the internet or digitally download them.  But Record Store Day’s increasing success has added to the survival of vinyl amongst all the technological competition.

Williamsburg and Greenpoint, conjoined neighborhoods in Brooklyn, have become one large community that represents a strong appreciation for vinyl retail.   For residents of NYC and tourists alike, the area offers a destination for the most record store locations.

The recently opened Rough Trade Shop in Williamsburg is a new expansion from the London based company and the biggest record store in NYC.

Manager Andy Larsen seemed pleased in this year’s outcome.  “The day was really great, a nice welcome to New York City.  Over a thousand people came,” she said.  “We had ten bands and two DJs perform in the store.  It was a great success.”

A store participating officially in RSD must sign the “Record Store Day pledge” that states, among other stipulations, that they will not gouge prices or hoard exclusive items to sell online.

The rules are enforced strictly.  Co-op 87, a tiny record shop that specializes in used vinyl, also located in Williamsburg, was recently taken off the RSD’s list of participating stores.

“We are actually banned from the Record Store Day organization,” Co-op employee Nate Stark said.  “This year we only had a small amount of releases that we were allowed to carry.”

Stark explained that Co-op 87 had stayed open for 24 hours last year and was told they had violated the pledge.  The store still continues to have their “24 hour marathon” every year as a tradition and they remain a positive competitor amongst neighboring stores.

Overall all, record stores, participating officially with RSD or not, exceeded in sales that culminated close to a 60% increase from previous years according to Nielsen SoundScan.  The Billboard vinyl chart that week reflected the success of the young holiday as most of the high ranked albums were RSD releases.

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BY JENNA BAGCAL

In 1964, four boys from Liverpool changed the landscape of music forever. This was the year that the Beatles made their first live appearance in United States. Feb. 9, 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which garnered much enthusiasm from fans all across America.

The impact that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have had on the music industry can be seen and felt by the presence that they still have years after their initial success in the 1960s.

In commemoration of the the Beatles’ 50th anniversary in America, many fans and organizations across the city and the tri-state area have been honoring the band in various ways. The New York Public Library is currently hosting a Beatles exhibit called “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles!” that has been open since Feb. 6 of this year.

The exhibit, held at the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, features an impressive array of all things Beatles. It seeks to capture the energy of years 1964 to 1966, when Beatlemania and The British Invasion ran rampant in the United States. The exhibition includes pop culture artifacts from the Beatles era, including clothes worn by the band members, their instruments, original records, ticket stubs and countless other paraphernalia. There are also videos featuring celebrity and fan interviews of what it was like for them on that fateful day 50 years in the past.

Other people like Charles Rosenay!!! of Liverpool Productions have also been celebrating the Beatles’ 50th anniversary. Rosenay!!! has been a lifelong Beatles fan since he saw the group perform on “Ed Sullivan” as a young boy in the Bronx. His company has been running Beatles conventions since 1978 and Beatles tours since 1983. His first convention took place in New Haven, Connecticut.

“I was an intern at a theatre in New Haven, Connecticut… and they wanted ideas for events. I was really pushy and I said ‘we should do a Beatles convention. Well, the theatre closed , but I had put the wheels in motion to have this convention.”

After this failed attempt, Rosenay!!! took it upon himself to have a convention of his own at a hotel owned by his parents friends and put together what in his words was a “backyard Beatles convention”, with a few hundred people in attendance.

“The first convention really was a learning ground because I thought ‘Ok I bombed in every possible way,’ I didn’t get a major guest, I didn’t really get a lot of vendors and all that. But I did it again the next year at a college, and they were really receptive to it.”

Aside from conventions, Rosenay!!! and Liverpool productions also does yearly tours in Liverpool and other parts of England that allows fans to visit the landmarks and stomping grounds of the Beatles. The “Magical History Tour” as it is known, is currently in its 31st year. Rosenay has said that these tours are still popular because the Beatles’ appeal is still so strong today.

“It’s a shared love. I think that if a kid listens to ‘Yellow Submarine’ he’ll enjoy it as much today as a kid would have in the 60s. If they’re discovering Sgt. Pepper on a musical level and they’re learning to be a musician, it has as much relevance now as it did then.”

Honoring the Beatles: 50th Anniversary Celebrations from Jenna Bagcal on Vimeo.

Charles Rosenay!!! has been a Beatles fan since he was a child and has turned his love for the band into his life’s work. Hear him share his experience watching them on “Ed Sullivan” and some of his best memories of the Beatles.

As the spring semester come to a close and summer comes, it’s about that time where most New York City college students are heading to their summer internships. Since the very beginning of this year, many college kids have been preparing themselves to get an internship. Many are going to internship finding sites or their college career offices; applying and sending out their resume and cover letters. Some in these last few months have been lucky enough to receive an email responding for an interview, and some have already received the great news that they have been accepted to be an intern.

Internship programs have been making news and it all not positive. Just last year a Chinese New Agency, Phoenix Satellite Television U.S here in New York City made headlines when an intern, Lihuan Wang, filed suit against her supervisor who sexual harassed her, reported in Bloomberg BNA. However the controversy does end there, Wang’s case was thrown out by a federal judge, due to the fact that she was not being paid by the Agency, that made her not an employee and therefore she has no right to sue the Agency and her suit was not able to stand in court.

The biggest negative of having an internship is that most of the time the program is unpaid. There are some that are paid ones out there, but those can be rare. “The issue of being unpaid while you are an intern is a controversial one and it’s one that leads a lot of interns vulnerable, and unprotected by law” responded Shauna Channer, a Baruch student, to the Wang story.

This summer things however will be changing, in June a law will in effect that was just signed in April of the this year by the new mayor of New York City Mayor De Blasio. Wang’s case caught the attention of some NYC council member and a bill was introduced that will now protect interns. This law will  give interns the protection from any discrimination and harassment, reported in the Huffington Post, but it also extends the protection of New York City’s Human Rights Law to interns, whether they are being paid or not.

“New Yorkers deserve to work in a safe environment without fear of harassment or discrimination—and this legislation will ensure that interns, paid or unpaid, are entitled to workplace protections under the law” said Mayor De Blasio in his speech before signing the bill.

This is very good news for many interns that will be working in New York City, however the issue of getting paid for the work and time interns put in is still highly debated. Many companies see that interns are getting compensated with all the new things they are experiencing and the new skills they are learning. “I could see why this may be a good reason not to pay us, but sometimes it just like c’mon give us a little something to work with” says Fitha Tarigan, a LaGuardia College student.

“There’s a value associated with paid work that isn’t necessarily there when you’re working for free” attorney Juno Turner told the Atlantic Wire last year after representing the interns who sued Fox Searchlight last year for not paying them on the set of Black Swan. The other side of the argument sees that paying the interns shows the interns that they are valued and their hard work does not go unnoticed by the company.

Since the debate has not been settled, many companies like, Condé Nast, has decided to no longer take interns for their magazines. This is was decided after 2 former interns filed suit against the company, for paying them to low of a wage while, reported in the New York Times. Condé Nast settled the suit and closed every internship programs and opportunity.

There are these disadvantages of having an internship, but there are still many good reason for having one. “Internship are so important for me as a student, I think the experiences are great, but also they can lead to good paying jobs, for some of us hopefuls” Says Crisiti Zulicon

An internship has many benefits, for one reason it allows students to get their feet wet and see what’s like to be working in their potential industry. They are given the insider’s look of the ins and outs and are able to gain new experiences outside of the classroom environment. Another benefit they will learn new skills and put to use the skills they have learn and enhance them. And lastly it’s a great time for them to network.

Here is Christi Zulicon’s story and her positive experience interning at Net-A-Porter and Teen Vogue

The Girl, The City, & The Internship from Marc Tarigan on Vimeo

“Even thought the news about internships have not been so great, hopefully all this media attention will encourage companies to change their programs and how they structure it” says Christi. “I had a great experience at Net-A-Porter and Teen Vogue, and I believe it benefited me and I hope it benefited them that I could be there and support and put my ideas on the table. So it’s like a win-win for everyone”

Here are some great tips, to leave you with from fellow college students on landing and internship. Happy Hunting.

Ever hear, “Hey ma! Come over here!” or “You’re a** looks good in them jeans!” while you’re walking down the street? 70-99 percent of women get comments like these, and worse, on a daily basis; sometimes these comments are accompanied by gawking, stalking, and groping.

The person treating women in this way may see it as he is complimenting them on their looks and they should take it is a positive thing, but many women see it as passive aggressive behavior and it makes them feel unsafe.

Stop Street Harassment , a nonprofit organization says, “Street harassment is any action or comment between strangers in public places that is disrespectful, unwelcome, threatening, and/or harassing and it is motivated by gender or sexual orientation.” This behavior is punishable by a $250 fine and/or 15 days in jail in New York State (punishment varies from state to state) but it is still one of the most under-reported crimes by women and LBGTQ group.

Though it seems as if laws are vague in regards to street harassment, the United Nations is aware that women are victimized daily across the world. In March of 2013, for the first time, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women included several clauses  about sexual harassment in public spaces in its Agreed Conclusion. The UN called on the United States to “increase measures to protect women and girls from violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying, in both public and private spaces, to address security and safety, through awareness-raising, involvement of local communities, crime prevention laws, and policies” and to “support the development and use of information and communications technology ….as a resource for the empowerment of women and girls, including access to information on the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls; and develop mechanisms to combat the use of information and communications technology used to perpetrate violence against women and girls.”

Hollaback!, is one organization that raises awareness on this issue through community based initiatives. As of now, Hollaback! has a presence in 79 cities and 26 countries across the world. They have numerous resources available to women and girls on their website which includes: a blog where women can share their experience with street harassment (which doubles as a support system), statistics regarding street harassment, instructions on how to deal with street harassment in a safe manner and how to intervene if you are a bystander, and instructions on how to bring awareness in your community.

There is a growing movement by artists, writers and activists to bring awareness to the on-going issue of street harassment. One artist, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, took out to the streets of Brooklyn and posted sketches of women with captions such as “My outfit is not an invitation,” and “You are not entitled to my space.” She calls this continuous moving exhibit, “Stop Telling Women to Smile” and she has brought it to many cities across the United States, including Atlanta, Georgia and San Francisco, California.The reason behind her naming it that phrase is because it is one of the subtle yet annoying comments women hear from harassers.

Writer, Mercedes Frias, has a number of articles on gender-bias and street harassment. Her first article is called Catcallers, and she says that she was inspired to write it by a conversation she had earlier that day.

“I was telling a colleague about having to constantly deal with catcalls on the street and how uncomfortable they made me.  She claimed that the attention I received was a result of the way I dress (a great example of America’s horrible habit of blaming the victim).  I argued with the fact that whether I wore a dress, jeans, or a winter coat, the feedback I “attracted” (according to her) remained the same.”

Mercedes received very little negative feedback on this article, despite controversy surrounding this topic. Since street harassment has become such a normal thing to experience everyday, most don’t see it as a threat or as being disrespectful.

“Surprisingly, I received very few negative comments.  However, the reason for this might’ve been related to my views and the amount of readers I had at the time.  It was the first article I posted on my blog and it did not get as many views as my most recent ones (about 400 compared to 4000).  I deleted it about a month ago with intentions of revamping and hoping it gets the attention it rightfully deserves. Although the feedback I received, as uncommon as they were, was from women agreeing with me, I recently spoke to a few co-workers at my school and two teachers (female) actually said that catcalls make them “feel pretty.”  An older woman told me “you’re going to miss them when they stop.”  I tried to explain that while on your way home from the train at 11pm, the last thing you need is a potential threat expressing his desire for you.”

Bringing a stop to street harassment cannot be done by an individual, it has to be done through community-based initiatives to bring mass awareness.

“Education.  It is the only thing I can think of that will actually be effective.  Educating the men that are in the streets deliberately making women feel uncomfortable will definitely minimize the harassment. “ http://

The gates to Honda Day opened at 6 a.m. to a long line of cars and sleepy drivers. Many had been waiting since 3 a.m. and were catching a nap after long drives from all over the East coast. But it was worth it, because for car enthusiast, Honda Day is Christmas.

The car show, which takes place twice a year, fell on April 13th. And car enthusiasts had been gearing up for months. Such preps include auto bodywork, engine work and any other customization to make their cars stick out.

Back in 2002, the first Honda Day event drew up 1200 participants and spectators. Its founder, Javier Ortega, a CUNY Baruch College alumni looked to maximize the fan experience by including a structured drag racing event, a professionally judged car show, a Honda Day project car giveaway, and entertainment stage and vendors who carry top of the line automotive parts. Over the years Ortega has kept the same successful format of entertainment, with the only difference coming from the amount of spectators showing up. The turn out for this years event more than tripled the turn out for the first ever Honda Day in 2002.

Ortega expressed his gratitude, “ It has been a long time coming, our hard work has shown progressive improvement since our very fist show. What excites me the most is the faces on all the kids who come out and have a good time.”

Honda Day is the day for excessively loud music, loud and smelly exhausts and extremely fast cars. It’s a platform where these cars can be showcased without encounters with authorities.

Krishna Blair and Gustavo Paula shared some of their car experiences.

Honda Day 2014 from Edwin Duran on Vimeo.

Slideshow:

The idea of not putting chemicals in the hair to change the texture, the look, or to manipulate the hair in anyway is something that has been happening over the past few years. The trend of not relaxing is slowly fading but is not completely gone.

The related term for not putting chemicals in the hair is called “going natural.”

Wearing your hair in its natural state is nothing new to society, before there were relaxers and perms people wore their hair just the way it was. Hairstyles change over the course of a generation. In the 1960s the “Afro,” the mid-1980s the “Jheri curl,” the 1970s the “Lye Relaxer.”

The trend of relaxing and perming the hair was to make it “manageable,” in 1877 Garret A. Morgan created the relaxer. The relaxer was made to smooth out the hair follicle to make curly hair straight.

Around 2010 the trend of “going natural” started to pick up, it was a way of embracing the hair in its natural state whether it’s curly, wavy, kinky, fizzy or straight. Along with embracing the hair in its natural form, a sense of self-awareness is develop during the process. How does hair define a person. how do you feel about your hair.

Today there are websites such as naturallycurly.com, curlynikki.com, sisterswithbeauty.com, naturalhollywood.com coilyhair.com just to name a few, that offers insights on natural hair (hair in general) and gives and inside look to the natural hair journey of some celebrities as well as the everyday person.

Chris Rock’s documentary (2009) “Good Hair” goes into details about what is defined or considered to be the “right” type of hair. Many people have this notion that “good hair” is a particular texture or style but it is really accurate.

There is not type is hair that is good and another that is bad; it all comes down to perspective.

The process of “going natural” is not easy, but there are a few ways to go about it. A person can transition and allow their natural hair to grow out for a certain length before cutting off the chemically manipulated strands. Some may decide to do a “big chop” which usually occurs when a person feels that they cannot go through the transition process and decides to cut all their hair off and start afresh.

Patience is key to this process, as a person’s hair does not grow to a desired length over night.

There are many tips available to help a person as they go through this journey. There are a few youtubers such as Mynaturalsisas, Shameless Maya, SunKissAlba, Naptural85, Mo Knows Hair, heyfranhey, just to name a few who have great advice and style ideas to help anyone as they go through the natural hair journey.