The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

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Are Waste Transfer Stations Evidence of Environmental Racism?

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By Jeremy Williams

The New York City council held a meeting on Thursday where they made a step towards regulating waste transfer stations in neighborhoods across the city, after two people were killed by sanitation trucks in six months.

The City Council passed bill  0157-2018-C or the “Waste Equity Bill” which will divert trash from overburdened waste transfer stations which are usually located in low income or minority dense districts. Councilman Reynoso sponsored the bill, He believes addresses environmental racism which he referred to as an “insidious method, to which historically disadvantaged communities are made to suffer because of the color of their skin.”

 Reynoso represents District 34, encompasing North Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens which has the highest concentration of waste transfer stations within the city.

Before the City Council passed this bill, 72 year-old Leon Clark was killed after being struck by a private sanitation truck in the Bronx, on April 27th. This bill targets dangerous sanitation trucks that recklessly speed through neighborhoods posing a risk to elderly residents. Councilman Reynoso asked the council, “How could a city that prides itself on progressive politics… possibly allow a system like this to exist.”

21-year-old Mouctar Diallo was also killed by a sanitation truck in the Bronx, on November 7th, 2017.

Councilwoman Adams, who represents the 28th District said, “The bill has admirable goals.” However she still struggled with it saying, “While this bill addresses capacity reformation… conspicuously absent are the persistent issues of air pollution, truck traffic, foul odors, and other matters that affect my quality of life and the quality of life of the people in Southeast Queens.” Adams, who did vote in favor of the bill, said that in the future she hopes for a more collaborative effort.

The councilmembers hope to approve a bill in the future that not only tackles increased truck traffic but attacks all of the negatives of waste transfer stations including poor air quality, which is especially harmful to people with asthma. Woodhull Hospital, which serves the 34th district has the highest rate of asthma related admissions across the entire city.

Expect a bill that will bring stronger regulations for waste transfer stations and private sanitation companies in the near future.

Firsthand Accounts of Sexual Harassment

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By: Katelyn Wright

“For me, the abuse that I suffered—both initially and when I first tried to report him and confront him—destroyed my life,” says Jen Willems on Facebook. Willems is an advocate for the #MeToo movement.

Women from all over the world have experienced mistreatment from men. Catcalling, harassment, sexual abuse, rape, and disrespect.

Jolie Joyce, 16, from Astoria shares her experience with catcalling. She was walking home and a man made kissing sounds at her. She told him to leave her alone and he got defensive. The man said, “Cover up if you don’t want attention.”

Madisyn Guerrero, 14, from Jackson Heights says she is disrespected by men constantly. Once, she dropped her boyfriend home at 97th Street near Junction Blvd and was waiting for her dad to pick her up from a store. A man started saying vulgar things and grabbed his private parts in front of her. She was disgusted and flipped him off.

Another time, Guerrero was waiting to get ice cream from Mr Softee and she wasn’t wearing a bra. A strange man started staring down at her and began to nod his head at her. She said, “You’re disgusting” and left the line.

Dianna Gainza, 36, witnessed her white friend (who is the same age) being sexually harassed. They were at a club in Atlanta. The club was mostly filled with African American and Latino men. Her friend, Jess, had her butt smacked and grabbed by an African American man. She confronted him and he said, “So what? What are you going to do about it? Keep moving along if you don’t want problems.”

Jess felt defeated and helpless. She cried the entire night and refused to go to the club ever again. However, Gainza and her other friends—who are Hispanic and African American—did not receive any disrespect from men at the club. Therefore, in this scenario, did race play into this harassment?

Monica Guerrero, 26, says that she was walking home one day when a guy on a bike came her way. He grabbed her butt and she pushed him off the bike. She began cursing him out in Spanish and he ran off with his bike.

Any woman, despite their race, age, and looks can be mistreated by men. It is very common and the #MeToo movement is bringing awareness for these women who are continuously objectified and sexualize. It has been occurring for too long and there are steps being taken to bring hope to those who feel mistreated and alone.

Art Installations Beautify Parkchester Library in the Bronx

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By: Jenna Song

Parkchester, Bronx – The Parkchester Library’s outdoor courtyard is being transformed this summer by vibrant art installations made by library patrons on Sundays and Mondays through the free “Art in the Air” program.

Just months ago, when people visited the library, all they saw was a bland courtyard with a large brownish T-Rex, kangaroo and tortoise statue. Now, they will notice a vibrant courtyard filled with colorful crocheted flowers knotted onto fences; knot balls and large knitted rectangles wrapped around columns; macrame braided and knotted in diamond patterns on tree trunks; vines of ivy hanging from the second floor balcony just above the library entrance; and various crocheted, knit, marcramed, and knot patterns covering the statues.

According to local artist Ruth Marshall who runs the program, the main purpose of the creative art installations is to showcase public art created by the community for its enjoyment. The program is open to people of all ages, genders and skill levels.

Nina Maness, a librarian who runs adult programming at the Parkchester Library, has seen people from nearby senior centers, as well as little kids attending the program. She was surprised to see the wide range of attendees and says, “ it’s really nice to have that intergenerational type of community.”

Ms. Shep, 70, who is a regular at the program says she comes because the projects are “very easy, very simple, very stress-free…[and] it keeps my mind busy. It [also] keeps me focused for two hours and I enjoy the people.” Another regular, 11-year-old Mar, says she came to learn how to crochet and knit.

The artist herself, who teaches newcomers how to make the crafts structured around attendees’ skill levels, has noted that it is not uncommon for people to come in knowing nothing about crocheting but leaving 2 hours later having learned three or four new stitches along with making a flower.

In addition to creating and planning the projects, Marshall is also welcome to ideas from attendees, such as adding a knit pouch made by Mar, or crocheted “glasses” made by Ms. Shep for the kangaroo statue.

All of the crafts are made using a soft, durable nylon cord called paracord. The attendees choose most of the color combinations for their crafts.

According to the library’s website, “This project is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Bronx Council on the Arts.”

Queens Church on Immigration

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GAC LOGO

Immigration is a topic discussed among several platforms, such as art and scripture. It has been discussed throughout history but more so in today’s society.  

The 14-16-year-old class of the Greater Allen Cathedral in Queens, NY is preparing a skit on immigration for Sunday School.

T.W., 15, identifies as an African-American female. When asked the reason for portraying the issue of immigration in America as a skit, she said, “an immigration skit shows people what immigration’s about.” In other words, the injustices people have to go through. She hopes the skit will open people’s eyes to the injustices immigrants have to go through in America. The term ‘illegal immigrant’ upsets her, she said. “They call immigrants illegal, it’s like not fair.”  

T.S., 16, identifies as a Trinidadian-American male. He hopes the skit will change the way immigrants are treated when entering America. When asked about the effect of the term ‘illegal immigrant’ on him, he said, “It doesn’t really affect me but it affects others around me.”  

K.C., 16, identifies as a Haitian-American female. She hopes the skit will help the government see what it is doing to families. She said she doesn’t mind if immigrants are ‘illegal,’ but finds it problematic if they are also criminals.  

T.M., 15, identifies as a Jamaican-American male. He believes immigration is an important topic to discuss. He hopes the skit will help immigrants be accepted and start a new life in America. The term ‘illegal immigrant’ impacts him because it makes him “think about how we have so much and a lot of people do not and [they’re] getting taken away from their families.” He is very sympathetic toward the families ICE is separating. When asked about what he’s been told about ICE, he answered, “I feel like they’re doing an unfair thing, that people need to be able to come into this country and feel safe.”  

T.J., 15, identifies as an African-American male. He hopes the skit will be meaningful to people. The term ‘illegal immigrant’ impacts him because “if I wasn’t from here, it would be hard to get here.”  

Sister L.H, the teacher, identifies as an African-American female. She hopes the skit will “move others to action and because of the heightened awareness that a skit will bring, that they will understand that they have the power to do something.” When asked about what she’s been told about ICE, she answered, “ICE is an organization that basically patrols the border…they patrol the border in the sense that they’re the ones responsible for…I don’t want to just say apprehending people who come across the border because they should also be directing them to the proper authorities.”  

The teacher as well as the students were asked, “If you were undocumented, would you flee or would you stay and fight for you and every other undocumented person?” T.W. and T.S. said they would flee. K.C., T.M., T.J., and Sis. L.H. said they’d fight to stay.  

The students and the teacher said immigration is important to them individually. T.S. said, “On a [scale] from one to ten, probably like eight.” K.C. said, “It’s important because you know families are being separated from each other and that’s like really sad.” T.M.  said, “It’s very important because if I was put in their shoes, I would want to be [treated] the same as everyone else.” T.J. believes diversity itself is important. Sis. L.H. said, “Immigration is very important to me because I understand that most of America was built on the contributions of immigrants from different countries.” 

Immigration is a very controversial topic that can spark sensitivity within many living in America. Immigration in what it’s come to today has been made to be an upsetting topic for many. It has driven many families apart and broken many families that have been reunited. The Greater Allen Cathedral is being brave in discussing a topic so large that has many different opinions around it. They hope to make a difference in performing this skit and with that, spark greater discussion. Many live in fear of what could happen but forget that there is always now. The GAC shows the reality of it while also trying to spark hope in people. This shows determination for change and empathy for those affected. 

Injured Sluggers Return: Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes

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By: Russell Stern

Ailing sluggers Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes returned to their respective lineups Friday night, as the Bronx Bombers faced off against the New York Mets before a sold out crowd at Yankee Stadium. However, while Cespedes powered the Mets to a 7 to 5 victory over the Yankees, Sanchez fizzled at the plate, leaving several runners on base in key situations.

Cespedes, who was on the disabled list for 57 days with a hip and quadriceps injury, came into Friday’s game batting .255 with 8 home runs and 28 runs batted in. Normally a left-fielder, Cespedes was instead used as a designated hitter to avoid aggravating his injury. Sanchez missed 25 days because of a right groin strain but was healthy enough to catch the entire game for the Yankees. Prior to his injury, he was struggling with a .190 batting average, 14 home runs, and 41 RBI’s.

The time off seemed to only benefit Cespedes, who appeared rejuvenated and boosted the Mets’ weak offense.

Cespedes went 2 for 4 with a walk, shooting a single into right field and smacking a home run off the Yankee rookie right-handed starting pitcher, Domingo Germán.

After the game, Cespedes said he felt well and that his timing was good, according to the Daily News.

Sanchez’s performance, on the other hand, was a different story. Out of the 14 runners the Yankees left on base, he stranded six. Sanchez went 1 for 5, stroking a meaningless single while striking out swinging two times, softly grounding out to short, and lazily popping out to second. He failed to capitalize on various opportunities the Yankees had throughout the game.

After the game, Sanchez said to a reporter through an interpreter, “Definitely don’t feel good about it. Had opportunities to help my team and I didn’t help my team tonight. I’ve got to put that aside and move toward tomorrow and hopefully find myself in a situation where I’m able to do my job tomorrow.” He said that he hopes he will be able to perform well against Mets’ pitcher Steven Matz on Saturday.

Friday’s game was the 16th Yankee home sellout of the 2018 season, hosting a crowd of 47,175 people. This Subway Series game was of particular interest to New York baseball fans because Mets’ fireballing starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, was making his Yankee Stadium debut. Syndergaard, whose average fastball velocity hovers around 97.9 miles per hour, also recently returned from an injury to his right index finger.

Despite not pitching at his best, Syndergaard still pitched effectively, giving up only one run on eight hits and striking out four. He didn’t walk any batters, and mostly threw strikes.

In contrast, Germán had a difficult outing. In only 3.2 innings, he allowed four earned runs on five hits. Although he struck out three batters, he also walked two.

Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone commented on the young starter’s performance at a post-game press conference. “You could tell he was really struggling to find that fastball command, and if you don’t have that, you know, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said.

Boone added, however, that Germán showed potential and could develop to be a very good pitcher. He had several excellent starts with the Yankees but struggled in recent outings. On account of this, the Yankees sent him down to the minor leagues shortly after the game.

The Yankees continue their homestand against the Mets on Saturday afternoon with their right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray facing off against Steven Matz. The series concludes on Sunday with Masahiro Tanaka pitching against Mets’ ace Jacob DeGrom.

Momix Dancer-Illusionists Blow New York Audience Away

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Momix dancers received a standing ovation as their show came to an end July 12 at the Joyce Theater as the dancers stood there with sweat dripping down their faces,

The audience clapped with enthusiasm rewarding the dancers for their impressive performance. All the clapping recognized the infinite amount of hard work the dancers had to put in toward performing well.

The Momix company was created 37 years ago and has been traveling the world showing off its skills ever since. The founder and artistic director is Moses Pendleton.

He has been managing dancers and their shows all over the world for about 40 years including the Opening Ceremonies for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Now, people line up in front of the theater in Chelsea waiting anxiously to see his artistic creation.

The company considers itself to harbor a new type of dancing known commonly as dancing-illusionism. As they’re performing there is a strange type of music playing in the background.

At this specific show, named “Opus Cactus”, the music was of a Middle Eastern and Indian style but it had no words. All the music consisted of was instrumental sounds and vibrations.

It is almost impossible to describe the crazy movements that go on upon that stage.The dancers pretend to be animals and then the curtain closes. When the curtain reopens the dancers are swinging from ropes all over the stage with a huge skull moving around behind them. The stage glows with dim lights and the muscular performers move the audience using only their bodies and their imaginations.

 

The Death of Cable T.V.

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its a tv
Photo Credit: arstechnica.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the early sixties. Television is wildly popular and becoming more mainstream each year in America. Families, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances gather together to watch T.V., and a revolutionary outlet for the spread of news is born. Who could have imagined that something so life changing could become obsolete so fast?

50 years later, and the consumers’ mind is beginning to shift.

The internet was created in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, but streaming video has been relevant for about a decade. Since the beginnings of companies such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and recently Amazon; people have steadily been making online streaming part of their daily routine, with Netflix alone having almost 82,000,000 members.

There are two main reasons for this. One, the $10 or less a month subscriptions to most online streaming services – with the exception of YouTube, which is free – is far less expensive than the hundreds of dollars a year that cable TV can cost. However revenue for these online companies reaches into the billions each year.

In addition, having things to watch online is much more convenient than watching live or even recorded TV. Not only can people watch on their computer, phone, or tablet, but they can watch anytime, with no restraints on the number of episodes or videos they can view.

The overall consensus by data gathering companies is that streaming shows are overtaking the popularity of traditional television; in fact, each year the number of new unique viewers rises by 146 percent, according to Adobe.

Older generations on average are more likely to have cable subscriptions than the younger ones, 80 percent of 32-48 year olds picked pay TV over online subscriptions, but as time progresses and the majority of content is produced on the internet, this will change.

“I never really thought of anything other than cable as being practical,” an anonymous senior living in New York City explained. “Everything’s on TV… when you’re paying extra on the internet for something you already own, it isn’t responsible.”

As practically all future generations will grow up with the internet, this view will dramatically change: Young people now aren’t used to the rituals of television, and don’t have patience for non-instant forms of media.

So now with the online streaming market taking off, who are the major players?

Most people have a Netflix subscription by now, and Hulu as well as Amazon both offer a vast selection of online stream-able content. But what’s interesting about these streaming companies, is that while buying the rights to certain T.V. shows and movies – they’re producing dozens of their own as well.

Traditional television networks like HBO and AMC, as well as CBS are putting almost all their content online – with dedicated streaming services. Also, virtually all TV channels have some sort of presence on YouTube, whether it be late night talk show clips, or small news segments.

While some say cable T.V. holds a lot of nostalgia with its name and history, it’s now an outdated way to consume programs. Online streaming will prove to become a much better and efficient platform to put shows on. Now that being said, the same companies that provide cable also happen to own the internet, (Internet Service Providers like Verizon, AT&T, etc.). So how the death of T.V. will play out, especially with new rollbacks on Net Neutrality, will ultimately be up to the companies who make the decisions.

 

Donald Trump Refuses Invite to Speak Annual Assembly of the NAACP

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       U.S president Donald Trump has rejected the invitation to attend the Annual Assembly of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

       This continues Donald Trump’s cycle of ignoring issues in minority filled communities and puts Donald Trump’s interest and care for the African American community in the U.S in doubt. Leon Russell, chairman of the NAACP told associated press, “we have lost—we’ve lost the will of the current Administration to listen to issues facing the Black community.”

       The NAACP has been one of the most influential American associations focusing on civil rights. “During his campaign, President Trump asked us ‘what do you have to lose?’ This is the second time President Trump has refused an offer to speak at our annual convention. We get the message loud and clear.” Russell said in the same interview.

       Trump has gone on record calling Mexican immigrants“criminals” and “rapists,” along with his “great relationship with the blacks,” so his refusal was not a surprise to many people, “This president has shown no concern to help minorities in America. It worries me as an African American, not only that he refuses the invite but with the statements he’s had in the past and now refusing to speak at a conference of one of the biggest civil rights groups in america to help colored people and minorities.” This was the opinion of a resident of Carroll gardens on the issue. Another Interviewee was not so much worried as much as angered; “this president is idiotic, I am disappointed in the U.S for allowing such a person to become president and him refusing this invitation is yet another sign of his ignorance.

 

Deer Infestation in Staten Island

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                     The deer population has more than tripled in the last six years.

 

Golf View Court locals are urging the community to place deer crossing signs warning both drivers and pedestrians after a significant increase in both traffic and health safety complaints. Staten Island Live reported the deer population on the whole island, “jumped from 24 to 793 in six years.”

Members of the community have shown concern particularly towards the intersection of 4 crossing main roads which lack guard rails to separate both the golf court and the forest to the street. A resident of the neighborhood for over ten years commented, “It’s a menace. They have no natural predators so they’re multiplying so quickly.” In the last week 4 neighbors had deer sightings on the intersection.

Some residents are taking action to try to place signs in the area. Another resident, Maria Morales shares, “Even in the daytime, deer roam and it’s not the best when you have a pet. I fear for ticks and Lyme disease.”

Lyme disease, carried by deer ticks is a possible threat to both pets and their owners. Although, not all ticks carry the infection. Deer can carry a variety of illnesses however, that should be broadcasted. Including: Anaplasmosis, Avian Influenza, Babesiosis, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), Escherichia coli Infection (E. coli) among others according to American Veterinary Medical Association.

The city is taking action to reduce the population of the species. SiLive.com recently uncovered, “The city spent $2,778 for every deer vasectomy performed during the first year of the management program, according to Parks Department numbers.”  Some hunters have taken advantage of the nuisance, though it is illegal to hunt in the five boroughs. There has only been one deer poacher caught out of the already limited number of reports. DEC spokesman Sean Mahar according to SiLive said on the subject, “Poaching is a serious issue and DEC aggressively investigates any reports of illegal hunting activity.”

Raymond Lacen, another decade long resident of Golf View Court agrees with city’s tactics and states, “There needs to be some form of population control, or the issue will become something out of control.”