The Paw Print

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

Manhattan

Gentrifying One Block at a Time

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“Everything is just shutting down in this neighborhood,” said Solon Ramirez, a local resident.

This has been a common complaint among New Yorkers in Hell’s Kitchen. Owners of local shops were forced to close and pack their belongings to make room for a flashy 38-story hotel.

Hell’s Kitchen is located between 34th Street and 59th Street. Once a low-rise community, it has come to be known as “Clinton” because “Clinton” sounds more modern and the name reflects the sleek, new buildings dominating the area.

Although Hell’s Kitchen has been gentrifying since the 1970s, locals were very disappointed to hear that a city block of markets was forced to move elsewhere during the past two months.

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Photo Credit: DNA Info
MARKET “MEATS” END: The Big Apple Meat Market was relocated at the end of January.

The first victim was the Big Apple Meat Market located on the corner of 41st and 9th Avenue. It had been open for more than two decades and has become a local favorite because of its cheap, good quality meats and other food.

“That’s why I like this place; you get cheap and good food,” said Edward Montilla, who was a regular shopper at that market.

When the market was abruptly closed at the end of January to make room for the New York Hotel, a message from the store was posted on the door.

“I tried everything but at the end we have to move on,” wrote Pat Maddalena, the manager of the meat market.

When locals heard about this news, they were very disappointed. They complained how everyone would have to buy groceries at the Food Emporium and that it would be constantly crowded.

“Now, I have to buy my meats in the Food Emporium and it’s going to be like a war zone inside,” said Michael McKee.

“The Emporium could only do so much,” said Raul Garcia.

One month later, the relocated meat market opened again. The new location is located at 39th Street and 9th Avenue, which is about two blocks away from the original location. However, according to locals, they said it doesn’t see to have the same success as before.

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Photo Credit: Scu Monkey
OUT OF DOUGH: 99¢ Fresh Pizza was relocated this February, just weeks after the meat market was closed.

The second victim was next to the meat market, the 99¢ Fresh Pizza. Like the Big Apple Meat Market, it also was an old-time favorite. It has opened for at least a decade.

“That pizza place was amazing, it was the ideal hangout place after school. The service was quick and the people that worked there was really friendly,” said Daniel Das, a regular customer of the place.

Just weeks after the Meat Market was moved, the pizzeria suffered a similar fate. The pizzeria closed but announced that it will relocate one avenue away.

Today, the pizzeria is experiencing the same amount of success as before but some locals, particularly students said they couldn’t stick around as much as before because of the close proximity to other residential and office buildings occupying the area.

“I can’t hang out there anymore because people from the residential building next to the pizza place don’t want kids blocking their entrance,” said Jay Williams.

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Photo Credit: New York Serious Seats
FARMER’S LAST STAND: The beloved farmers market was forced to close. Like its neighbors, it will make way for the new hotel.

But the biggest blow for residents in Hell’s Kitchen was the closing of the Stiles Farmers Market, which was between the meat market and the pizzeria.

The market had been open for 26 years and has gained a remarkable reputation as one of the most popular markets in the neighborhood.

But at the end of February, it was forced to close and was purchased by the Friedman & Landis Group who will use the property as space for the new hotel.

“Best kept neighborhood secret; extremely sad to hear the place is closing for good,” said Kirsten Smith, a regular shopper at the farmers market.

“This was the last cheap place around town,” said Sumto Samin.

Stiles has another location ten blocks away but some shoppers won’t be able to shop as often because it’s too far away.

Regulars who shopped at the original Stiles location noticed that the fruits and vegetables the other location sells aren’t as fresh.

“Not the same as the one near Port Authority. The prices are the same but the produce isn’t,” said Brandon Chang.

Today, local residents still feel the impact of the closed stores. Some have move on while others tried to get people to sign a petition, hoping to reverse the future hotel’s plans. However, they had little success.

“There’s nothing we can do but just watch the neighborhood change before our very eyes,” said Michael McKee.

Big Apple Ranked #1: What for?

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“The Big Apple” has once more been proclaimed the number one city in the World, but this time it is for a less than flattering reason: rodent infestation. The website Animal Planet, in 2012, created a list of the “Top 10 Worst Rat Cities in the World,” and New York City ranked number 1.

We are dealing with a rodent control issue, and it is incontrovertibly a multi factored one. All five boroughs are impacted and included. Nevertheless, there are areas that are more severely infested than others. In 2014, The Gothamist, a local New York City news outlet published a map which locates the living rats:

The areas colored in yellow or light orange are also infested by rats, simply “less severely.” Nowhere is safe.

Quick Shocking Fact: In the building where diplomacy is in action, the rats discuss their issues too. Even the United Nations Headquarters has suffered from rat infestations.

According to the writer of the New York Times bestseller “Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants,” Robert Sullivan states, “It is estimated that NYC has twice as many rats as it has humans, which would mean approximately 16 million rats.”

This is not the most disturbing fact. Sullivan goes on to say, “There are more rats infected with the bubonic plague in North America, than there were in Europe at the time of the Black Death.”

To once more point to startling intelligence, female rats can have up to 15,000 descendants in one year. The bestselling author states, “A dominant male rat can mate with up to 20 female rats in just six hours.”

He says, “They [mice/rats] are adept at climbing, swimming, and yes, working their way through a serpentine of sewer pipes and exiting your toilet bowl.”

Unfortunately, this newsflash will not end the very alarming evidence of the danger that rat infestation evokes in our city. The author proclaims, “A third of the world’s food supply is consumed or destroyed by rats. Rats have eaten cadavers in the New York City’s Coroner’s office. Rats have attacked and killed homeless people sleeping on the streets of Manhattan.”

To put in perspective the seriousness of the issue and its far reaching effects Sullivan adds, “The Department of Homeland Security, as part of its post 9/11 bio-terrorism alertness effort, catches rats and inspects their fleas to see if terrorists have released the Black Death in New York City.”

The daily life of New Yorkers is challenged to new levels. Literally nowhere is safe.

To reserve a table in any restaurant, one would unconsciously share a meal with the mice, and pay a high price for it too. Even the most expensive restaurants are located in areas that share this very problem. It is true that more expensive restaurants might have a budget that can afford exterminators more frequently. So one might think that these restaurants are a safer way to go, but rodent infestation is constantly a threat, a threat for businesses and a threat for citizens. According to a Harvard University Graduate Study of 2013, in Manhattan, zip code area 10128, 74 out of 154 eateries are infested by rats.

The Health Inspection grading system has the primary objective of empowering the consumer by providing reliable information, and establishing an incentive for businesses to be more sanitary. In the long run, the goal is to fortify eateries from the dangerous rats. However, this has not been achieved.

The Health Inspectors are famous for their sternness. One of the finest and most expensive restaurants in the world, Per Se, received the grade C, CNN reported. In contrast, a Dunkin Donuts, in Ridgewood, Queens, one of the most severely rat infested areas, leaks all the garbage on the streets; receives witness based accusations from the community for its lack of sanitation, yet its grade is an A. Thus, the popular belief seems to be inaccurate.

The failure of the Health Inspection grading system makes its obvious that an overhaul is necessary. One reason for the system’s miscarriage is that it depends on individual inspectors who lack focused guidelines. This conflict, poor restaurant sanitation enables rats to roam everywhere and endanger the human settlement.

Artyom Matusov, a Legislative Policy Analyst at New York City Council stated, “We have a government agency that’s willing to blatantly lie to the public, if we cannot trust the health department to provide real scientific data … then we cannot trust any agency.”

If the City is to decimate its rat population, it is essential to tighten government action. However, that would not be nearly enough. The public is as essential.

Solutions are being implemented. The city financed $611,000, for a project that would bring 45 inspectors to neighborhood associations, community boards, elected officials, building owners, and businesses to plug holes and put poison in the rat holes and tunnels.

In addition, restaurants, other businesses, and even vacant buildings have owners, and those owners must be penalized in some form if they do not contribute to the effort of controlling rodent infestation.

The first step to implementing a sustainable solution has been completed by the work of Senator Bill de Perkins and the media, who published an interactive report on the rat issue. New Yorkers were asked to take a survey and reply to the question: “How often do you come into any form of contact with rats in the subway?” 87% of respondents said daily, and 80% described the situation to be severe or state of emergency.

To resolve the rodent infestation issue of New York the subway must remain in focus, because it is a hotspot for the rat population. It is where rats live, it is where rats reproduce.

Niels Bohr, a Nobel Prize physicist and philosopher once said, “Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.” That certainly applies to this problem.

There are many possible solutions. One is to create a sustainable public education campaign to increase awareness, and bring to light the behavior of our citizens, which contributes to the increase of these unwanted inhabitants.

Another potential solution that might introduce controversy is banning eating on the subway, or establishing a fee for it, a fee that is equal to the fare. This would not be a direct ban, but to a large extent it would play the same role.

One other obvious solution is to require a better job from the Transit Maintenance Crew, expand this department, and increase the funds for better, new, and cleaner supplies. Perhaps every 24 hours the Transit Maintenance Crew could not merely pick up garbage, but also wash the platforms thoroughly. This in the long term could create more jobs.

Create a better system for littering throughout the city; citizens must seal their refuse before placing it in the cans.

In a comment on Senator Perkin’s survey, one citizen said, “I would like an experimental program to be conducted. Allow volunteers to have access to gloves, brooms and dustpans, to clean the platform while waiting for the train to arrive. I am sure there will be many who would participate.”

The city could certify a scientific research group to develop a chemical that could exterminate a large number of rats, and simultaneously be affordable. The government could then create teams of professionals to go to houses (with the citizens’ approval) to apply this extermination medicine.

Another anonymous citizen provided the idea of having a weekend shutdown for major extermination, with follow-ups and regular maintenance.

Upgrading the 100 years old transit system is another potential solution, placing strong lighting, painting the underground platforms in brighter colors, and implementing an eco-friendly cooling system. This will make New York City become the number one city in the world, and for a reason that can make all proud.

Solutions exist; the speed of their implementation must increase. The health concern is one that greatly endangers all. Rodent control is vital, the consequences would be too ghastly to discuss, for the danger is demonstrable and indisputable.

All must dig in, as Senator proclaimed, “YOU FEED THEM, YOU BREED THEM.”

Artists' Haven Shuts its Doors

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Pearl Paint’s landmark building located on 308 Canal Street.
Pearl Paint’s landmark building located on 308 Canal Street.

Established in 1933, Pearl Paint has been the home of artists for over 80 years. Its Canal Street location in Lower Manhattan has been an iconic New York City landmark for decades, but on April 17th the beloved red and white building closed its gates for good.

Pearl Paint’s real estate broker, Massey Kankal has not released any plans to demolish the building, and proposes that the space can be “delivered vacant.” The five-story building is listed for sale at $15 million, with a lease price of $825,000.

Pearl Paint’s newly unemployed workers are shocked. They were given only 10 days notice that their jobs would be terminated, an act deemed illegal by their union, Workers United Local 169. “We all just can’t believe it,” said an anonymous worker to DNAinfo. “I’ve worked here for 10 years and this is how they treat you? You know how I really feel? This is f—– up.”

Pearl Paint’s previous customers are shocked as well. Lilly Nathan has been coming to the art store for over 20 years. “I’m in disbelief,” she says. “I mean I really can’t believe it. I’ve been coming here since I moved to New York City. I was just starting out as an artist, and that was when I was in my mid-twenties! That was so long ago.”

People like Dawn LaSalle have grown to know Pearl Paint’s employees as a local family. “I remember coming here with my mother as a little girl. She used to paint all the time at home and I would love to play with her different paint bottles,” she says. “I would see this beautiful red and white building and be so happy. The people here were always so kind and friendly. It’s a shame they’re closing this place down.”

The attention has been increasing with artists online as well, and many are disappointed to see another local business shut its doors. “I remember going there with my mom when I was a freshman in art school,” writes Jonathan D on Pearl Paint’s Yelp page. “It’s a sad day for New York. The days of New York being an artist mecca are over.”

With such a classic business closed, many of Pearl Paint’s loyal customers now need to find a new art supply store. SoHo Art Materials is just a three minute walk away from Pearl Paint’s building, and they seem to be picking up quite a few of Pearl Paint’s old customers.

“Customers have been coming in that have been going to Pearl Paint for years, and we are able to provide them with the art materials they are looking for,” says the manager of SoHo Art Materials. “I wouldn’t say we are the secondary source for Pearl Paint’s customers, but the primary source.”

Surrounding art supply stores Blick Art Materials and Utrecht Art Supply were unable to provide a comment.

Even with other art supply stores in close proximity, some of Pearl Paint’s customers are uneasy making the switch. “I’ve tried the other stores and it’s just not the same,” says Jenna Soto. “I’m used to walking right into Pearl Paint knowing what I need and knowing right where to get it. With these new art stores, I don’t know where anything is and I always have to ask the workers.”

Pearl Paint was a home for individuality and creativity. The employees were welcoming and always encouraged self-expression through art. “The workers at other stores are nice, but they’re so young,” she says. “You can tell that this is just some job to make money. They’re kids, they don’t care what store they work in, as long as they earn money to spend. At Pearl Paint, you knew that the workers cared. You knew that they liked to help.”

No one has yet to express interest in buying the property. Although it is unclear what the building will become in the future, it is safe to say that Pearl Paint will definitely be missed.

Local Play Gives Birth to Social Change

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Performers in Theater for the New City’s “Emergency or the World Takes a Selfie” pose in character

“I loved giving birth,” fourteen-year-old Lily Fremaux says. Lily is a performer in “Emergency or the World Takes a Selfie,” a performance by Theater for the New City (TNC). Her main role is playing a pregnant woman.

Each summer, TNC performs a different play, each with a focus on current events. Although TNC is based in the East Village, the performances are conducted in thirteen locations across all five boroughs of New York City. The locations include parks, playgrounds, and closed-off streets.

The performances are written and directed for the stage by Crystal Field, who also performs in them, with music by Joseph-Vernon Banks. It features a cast of fifty performers of all ages. All performances are free.

The cast of performers are largely dedicated to their art. Many have been with the company for over four years and are very close and supportive of each other. “All the people are very funny and spontaneous and really add something to the show,” performer Holly Phillips says.

The cast is also very welcoming. After the final act, performers run to the audience and pull them out of their seats and onto the stage to dance. A cast member shouts, “We’re hosting a block party afterwards so whoever stays gets food!”

This year’s performance centers around an EMT who is suspended after he ignores protocol. While off the job, he meets an investigative reporter and they both land in the hospital after being shot at by members of the National Rifle Association. In recovery, they dream they have encountered many “emergencies” all over the world, including the power crisis in Ukraine and the unequal distribution of wealth in Brazil.

TNC’s performances address a wide range of issues with humor. For example, to draw attention to congress’s ineffectiveness, congressmen and women are portrayed as zombies which gained enthusiastic applause from the crowd. One audience member says, “I loved that part. It was really clever and it cracked me up.”

Even though the performance addresses many issues, it also provides solutions and advocates people to take action. The EMT worker shouts, “When the protocol is corrupt, break it!” And at the end of the performance all the actors gather together to sing a song with the lyrics, “You are the source. Spread the information. Post it. Tweet it. Even take a selfie.”

So it is no surprise that the theater’s Facebook page contains many posts about current issues with a left-wing bent. Their most recent posts include an excerpt from Hillary Clinton’s book, Hard Choices, about global women’s rights, and a quote, “I wish more people cared about Earth as much as they cared about who they believe created it.”

John Buckley, a TNC performer and manager of the theater’s Facebook page, writes, “TNC aims to raise social awareness in the communities it performs in, creating civic dialogue that inspires a better understanding of the world beyond the communities’ geographic boundaries.” TNC has gained national recognition as it has won the Pulitzer Prize for theater and 42 Off-Broadway Theater Awards, also known as Obie Awards.

“Street theater is very much about what is going on in the world and how we can change it,” Lily says. “I feel like not a lot of other plays accomplish that.”

Prices and Building Sizes Skyrocket as East Village Gentrifies

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Prices and Building Sizes Skyrocket as the East Village Gentrifies

by Anna London

It’s no secret that real estate in New York is a hot commodity, and that developers and affluent people have been buying properties in poorer neighborhoods, displacing residents and changing the face of communities. Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen (‘Clinton’), and the East Village have been subject to it for some time now.

However, gentrification reached new levels in the East Village this May, as the contractor commonly referred to by East Village locals as Ben “The Sledgehammer” Shaoul purchased an entire strip of buildings on Houston Street with the purpose of knocking them down and building high rises. Shaoul is known as the “Sledgehammer” following an incident where he was seen in a heated argument with East Village squatters while his employees stood beside him holding sledgehammers.

The “Sledgehammer” has made it his mission to gentrify the tight-knit Village ever since his first project in September of 2013, when he bought the building that housed the beloved coffee shop “The Bean,” and raised their rent so exorbitantly that it was priced-out from its location on First Avenue to make room for yet another Starbucks.

In June 2013, Shaoul bought the non-profit Cabrini Center which supplied health care to low-income elderly people, and renovated it into luxury apartments. Rent for a one-bedroom at the old Cabrini, now named BLOOM 62, begins at $3,450 a month and goes up to $7,600 a month for larger apartments.

    After six months, BLOOM 62 was 82 percent leased and received glowing reviews from Real Estate Weekly, which exclaimed, “The smell of barbecue coming from the built-in outdoor grills and the blooming hydrangea summed up the building’s message: Just because you’re in Manhattan, doesn’t mean you can’t live as if you’re out in the country”.  Rooftop barbecues are illegal in New York City. Neighbors, many of them long term residents, are infuriated and confused about this, as many of them recall being ticketed and harassed when they would have barbecues on their roofs.

Inspired by his success with BLOOM 62 and what is estimated to be around 40 other buildings that he owns in the East Village alone, Shaoul set his sights on the block of Houston Street between Ludlow Street and Orchard Street, a strip of restaurants sharing the block with the famous restaurant Katz’s Delicatessen.

His newest project on Houston Street has led to the closing of numerous old and loved businesses such as Bereket, a famous Turkish restaurant that opened in 1995. The only business remaining is Katz’s, which only remains because the owner of the deli also owns the building.

The block of buildings to be demolished on Houston Street, surrounded by high rises.

From The Ludlow on Ludlow Street to a massive 166-unit building on Avenue D, high rises have already begun to line Houston street, virtually blocking out the sky with their massive height. In response to the grumblings of numerous residents in the East Village, Shaoul told a reporter from the New York Times during a tour of some of his buildings, “Why is everyone so hung up on the East Village? How about saying to me, ‘Ben, wow, your building is really beautiful, let’s focus on how

well-built it is?'”

East Village resident Edward Arrocha, known affectionately to many East Villagers as “Eak”, disagrees strongly, exclaiming, “All this money they’re spending and they’re still getting tenements. These buildings are so badly built. I can’t fathom that they spend this much, when I moved here you could live on very little.”

The East Village was once protected by such New York zoning laws, which demanded that all buildings along avenues A, B and C be six stories high. In 2008, rezoning laws were approved, which stated that buildings on Avenue A could be up to 32 stories high. Buildings east of Essex Street on Houston could be up to 12. Elissa Sampson, an urban geographer in the East Village, holds out hope that the process is not irreversible, saying, “Gentrification is made by humans and can be prevented by zoning.”

Zoning did not prevent Community Board 3 from voting to approve the construction of a massive high rise on Houston Street and Avenue D, directly across from the NYCHA projects. and one of the most impoverished areas of the Lower East Side.  Affordable housing advocate, Joel Feingold of GOLES (the Good Old Lower East Side), said to the Lo-Down NY, “this will be viewed as an incredibly hostile imposition. This building fits the exact caricature in people’s minds of neighborhood loss and change. I think it’s ludicrous to consider putting a building on Avenue D that’s all glass and steel and costs $2800 for a studio. I think it’s outrageous.” In addition, the building replaced a community garden.

    Eak, who has lived in the East Village since the early 90’s, has seen a number of waves of gentrification. He states, “I feel that gentrification has become a victim of its own success. This isn’t gentrification that we’re facing now, it’s super-gentrification, gentrification-on-steroids. Suddenly, the people who originally gentrified (the East Village) got displaced by the people who look at is as an investment.”

As a resident in the East Village myself, I have witnessed this gentrification firsthand. When my family moved to the East Village twenty-five years ago, it was an entirely different place than it is today. My parents, both self-employed artists, were typical of the first waves of gentrifiers. According to Sampson, who moved to the Lower East Side in the 70’s, “We were early gentrifiers. We were what the French call “bobo”, basically meaning ‘bourgeois bohemians’. People who chose to live in poor areas but had more conventional backgrounds.”

The Lower East Side and East Village attracted those with low incomes, artists, ‘oddballs and outcasts’ who could not afford to live in affluent neighborhoods. Steve Weintraub, a choreographer and former East Village resident, describes the neighborhood in those days, “That was kind of the funkier village. The Alphabet Jungle was just where you didn’t go.” The “Alphabet Jungle”, also commonly known as “Alphabet City” and “Loisaida”, refers to the region east of Avenue A, where the avenues have letters instead of numbers.

The East Village wasn’t always referred to as the East Village. According to Sampson, it used to be called the Lower East Side (which now refers to the area below Houston Street). “They began calling it the East Village in the late 50’s early 60’s, [which was meant to show it was] a continuation of the West Village and bohemian, [but which] destroyed the continuities with the past and made people think of them [the Lower East Side and the East Village] as two separate areas with two separate futures.”

While parts of the Lower East Side were dangerous and rightfully feared, others had a flourishing art scene and a tight-knit community. Collectively, it was a community built on support and creativity, with little to no emphasis on luxury.

As someone who first began spending time in the Lower East Side in the late 80’s, Eak explains, “It was risky, but there was music, poetry readings, it was sad but beautiful. I fell in love with it. I came to the place where my heart felt it belonged. My heart led me here and suddenly I was home. I have nowhere else to go, my heart is here.”

Frank London, a musician (and my father), explains, “When I moved to the East Village in 1990, I got a six-floor walk up apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen. It was a small one-bedroom and it cost $650 a month – which felt quite expensive at the time. The building that it was in, on Fourteenth Street, has recently been torn down for new construction. Our next apartment was a larger one bedroom for which we paid about $770 in approximately 1993. Around 1995 or so we moved to another apartment in the same building, a 700 square foot, 2-bedroom apartment. It cost about $850 when we first moved in, but by the time we moved out in about 2007, it was almost $1100 a month. Each of those were rent-stabilized apartments.”

Rent stabilization is a system which tries to keep rents affordable for tenants, and rent stabilized apartments are apartments which increase in cost by small percentages yearly. Rent controlled apartments are much less expensive and only slightly increase in cost, but are nearly impossible to get ahold of. According to nakedapartments.com, only 2% of NYC apartments are rent controlled, and they’re passed down through family, making them unavailable to anybody whose family hasn’t lived in the apartment since 1971.

Today, the average one-bedroom East Village/Lower East Side apartment  is not covered by rent stabilization and rents for $3,611 a month.

Eak admits there are benefits to gentrification, but explains, “At first, a certain level of gentrification made it a more agreeable neighborhood to live in. I could go to a store and buy fresh vegetables, I could get edible stuff at a corner store. I suddenly had a better sense of safety. But these points drove it to such a point that they didn’t exist anymore. Now I can’t afford it. Once it ultra gentrifies it won’t even benefit the rest of us [the original pioneers]”

The severe disproportionality in the economy has created a social divide in the East Village. Sampson elaborates, “This neighborhood still relies on food and clothes pantries. There are people on the top end and bottom end of the economic ladder. When you have neighborhoods with extremes and no middle class, you see people who are really needy, and the people who buy mink coats for their dogs”.

    This latest demolition of buildings on Houston Street reflects the transformation of the beloved neighborhood from community gardens and small buildings with affordable apartments to glass high rises and overpriced wine shops (no less than twelve have opened in the East Village over the last two years). When he moved to the East Village, Eak explains, “It was all about individuality. We were all real oddballs looking for affordable rent and certain individuality. We didn’t have to like each other but we could live together”.  Now, he resigns, “The people moving here are tone deaf, they don’t hear anything. You could be lying dead in the street and they’d keep walking. Nobody exists to them, there’s nothing, everyone is invisible. To see this in my community, it breaks my heart.”

Renovation of the Lawrence and Eris Field Building

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Baruch College’s oldest building, The Lawrence and Eris Field Building, located on East 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue, is finally getting a makeover. This building has not been renovated since the day it opened in 1929.

The Lawrence and Eris Field Building, also known as 17 Lex, is used by almost 4,000 students, staff and faculty members per semester. The building is very outdated and is critically in need of renovation.

According to the Director of Government and Community Relations at Baruch, Eric Lugo, “It’s a very old building… The elevators break down often and the building’s electrical infrastructure isn’t equipped to handle all the technology that comes with a 21st-century education.”

The renovations would provide the building with Wi- Fi access, which it currently does not have. Also, the building’s electricity is maxed out, so new Con Edison vaults would be installed under the sidewalk on 23rd street. These renovations would bring the building fully up to speed electrically, which is essential in the 21st century.

The elevators in 17 Lex are very problematic. Baruch students have to wait in long lines in the lobby of the building in order to use the elevators because most of the time they are out of service. “The worst problem is the elevators. I’m happy they’re going to fix it since they’re always breaking down”, says Emily, a Baruch student.

Most students are glad that there will be renovations because most rooms in the building do not have air conditioners or the air conditioners do not work.  Therefore, the installation of new air conditioners will make both teaching and learning more comfortable on warmer days. “Summer classes are unbearable here. Every student wish classes are held at the Vertical Campus because you feel like you’re in a desert”, says another Baruch student.

17 Lex is not fully up to date with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, so the renovations would fix this problem by building a new entrance ramp.

According to an article on DNAinfo.com, Baruch has secured $90.4 million for the first phase of the renovation, including $30 million in state capital funds.

The first phase of the renovation includes bringing 17 Lex up to speed electrically, replacing archaic and poor lighting in main lobby and replacing old elevators that are often out of service.

As said on the Baruch College website, the building will remain open during construction. However, the building and the surrounding area will be separated from construction by partitions and fencing. Also, a pedestrian pathway with a scaffolding will be provided to allow safe passage for those passing by the site.

Although the renovation of the Lawrence and Eris Field Building will not be finished until around the fall or winter of 2015, most people that use the building are willing to wait.

Paving the Path to Unveil Injustices

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Michael Grabell

“You do not have to be a foreign correspondent and go to Africa and China to find these problems and violations. There is plenty to uncover here,” Michael Grabell said describing the aspects of his career.

Michael Grabell currently investigates and reports for ProPublica, a journalistic organization whose primary goal is to serve the public’s interest. His investigative work includes articles about temp agencies and temp workers, President Obama’s economic stimulus package, the Federal Air Marshall Service, the Lance Armstrong doping allegations, chemicals stored near schools and neighborhoods, and the TSA’s body scanning. His work for ProPublica has been published in the New York Times, PBS NewsHour, CBS Evening News, NPR, and USA Today. In January 2012, Grabell, published the book “Money Well Spent? The Truth Behind the Trillion-Dollar Stimulus, the Biggest Economic Recovery Plan in History.”

On July 8 2014, Grabell shared some of his most influential experiences as a journalist writer with Baruch College Now students. “I start with a phone call to experts,” he stated, when asked to describe his working procedures.

In order to first select “the jaw dropping story-to-be”, Grabell creates a mental graph, qualifying the harmfulness of the incident, and quantifying its effect on citizens, such as how many are swept by the phenomenon.

Then Grabell proclaims, it is important to start with the most easily accessible data, look at the public records, lawsuits, social media and so on. Once the basics have been filled, it becomes easier to “be persistent in convincing officials to give up data,” he said.

In having decided on a good topic to research, Grabell explains, the duty of the author becomes to relate the story to the targeted audience. Simultaneously, he maintained that to reason with the intentions of the story is vital, because it forcibly teaches the reporter to be patient, to gain confidence, and to see a good horizon even if the path of uncovering a truth seems impossible to penetrate. Grabell persisted that these are some of the most important characteristics that will enable an investigative journalist to unveil those who attempt to “find a way to put the harm on somebody’s pockets,” the unparalleled way to serve the public’s interests, the people’s interests.

He also encouraged the students to ask as many questions as possible; stating that in fact, this precise fact led to his future success. During his internships Michael Grabell was not afraid to ask questions. “That is how I learned where all the documents were buried in town,” he confessed. Knowing where the information was and how to acquire it, was exactly the reason newspapers hired him – the reason he transformed himself, from a writer of the obituaries to an investigative journalist.

His passion to uncover injustices is apparent in his commitment to make reporting personal, while maintaining professionalism and accuracy. “If I am not interested, why would my reader be?,” he asks.

As the Crumbs Empire Crumbles

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Crumbs cupcakes will become artifacts

Yes, Crumbs really closed all 19 locations in New York City. But while some cupcake lovers mourn the fall of the empire, others search for cupcake stores to fill the vacuum.

Some attribute the massive size of Crumbs’ cupcakes to their failure. Hilary Stout of the New York Times writes, “There was little dainty about Crumbs. Its signature product was a softball-size cupcake with a calorie count that sometimes topped 1,000.” For many, the cupcakes were too big to eat in one sitting, contradicting what many believe a cupcake should be: a small indulgence.

This would explain the success of Baked by Melissa, a store dedicated to selling bite-sized cupcakes which has many locations throughout Manhattan. Although its bestselling cupcake is the classic red velvet, it sells a variety of interesting flavors including chocolate chip pancake and peanut butter and jelly. And the benefit of the cupcakes’ small size is people can try many different flavors.

However, the cupcakes can be considered expensive for their size. Each cupcake is $1 and it is about the width of a quarter. In my opinion, the cupcakes are overrated. Their size seems to be their only claim to fame, as their flavor is just mediocre. I consider them too small to really taste the complexity of the flavor; they just taste sweet.

Less well known is Sugar Sweet Sunshine, a small cupcake shop located on the Lower East Side. According to the store’s owners, Peg Williams and Deb Weiner, the store was created to “make people happy every time they walk through the doors.” And they do. Sugar Sweet Sunshine scored four out of five stars from over 1,000 reviews on Yelp. One reviewer wrote “ooooo, it tastes like MAGIC! This was, by far, one of the best cupcakes I’d had in NYC…made me wonder even more why anyone likes Crumbs.”

I agree. The cake is moist and the texture is just right. The icing and cake are not overly sweet and very flavorful.

Its Ooey Gooey cupcake, chocolate cake with chocolate almond buttercream, has just the right amount of almond flavor and its Holla Back Girl, banana cake with cream cheese icing, has visible banana chunks with a real fresh banana taste. I would highly recommend all of its cupcakes as it has many simple but delicious flavors. It also has amazing puddings and pies!

Sugar Sweet Sunshine is not overdone or overrated like Crumbs and Baked by Melissa. Instead, it is humble, intimate, and warm. Although the space is small, it is cleverly designed with thrift store finds, hand-me-down furniture, polaroid pictures, and holiday cards. It looks like a grandmother’s living room! And, as soon as you walk in, you can smell the aroma of fresh baked goods.

Butter Lane is another cupcake store which is often overlooked. Butter Lane is small like Sugar Sweet Sunshine so you could almost walk by without noticing it if it wasn’t for the smell. Much of Butter Lane’s space is used by its cooking class, which is often in session, so you can smell the delightful store from a block away.

Butter Lane is unique because you can mix and match your cake and frosting. Although cake flavors are limited to chocolate, vanilla, and banana, there are about ten different frosting flavors, not including seasonal flavors. My favorites are the chocolate salted caramel frosting on any cake, which is the perfect mixture of salty and sweet, and the cream cheese frosting on the banana cake. You can taste the time and care it puts into its cupcakes.

I would highly recommend both Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Butter Lane. I believe they are superior to Crumbs, although I doubt Butter Lane and Sugar Sweet Sunshine’s owners have the desire to create empires. But that is fine with me. When cupcake stores become chains they seem to lose their charm.

A Benevolent Gift

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Paying for college in our modern world is hard. Young people often have to rely on scholarships to get the money they need and those are becoming harder to come by. However, thanks to Amy Hagedorn, it just got a little easier.

Last month, she donated $1 million to Baruch’s School of Public Affairs. She had previously donated money for scholarships and internships. Because of this, The Wall Street Journal named her the “Donor of the Day” of July 1st. Manuel Romero, the Director of Public Relations at Baruch interviewed through email said, “This program was established by Ms. Hagedorn and it has been a passion of hers since it was established.”

In addition to the general financial aid of students, this money is going to fellowships, paid internships, and scholarships. She is concerned about the rising costs students these days must face and how they must juggle getting an education with family obligations. They deserve a “Break,” she said to Melanie Grayce West, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

She is a well-known philanthropist who has spent her life helping others and enjoys drinking milkshakes.

Hagedorn was born in Queens, New York. She graduated from Baruch College in 1958. She spent over two decades teaching pre-k. Currently, she runs the Hagedorn Foundation. While in retirement, she focuses on providing money for student internships. She and her husband, Horace Hagedorn were co-founders of the Company, until he died in January 2005. Horace Hagedorn was a businessman for Miracle-Gro Company and he is often credited for the company’s success because of his marketing prowess. The Scotts Company merged with Miracle Grow and the Hagedorns ended up multimillionaires. After Horace’s death, Amy continued his legacy of providing money to well needed causes, and becoming President of the Company.

The Foundation supports organizations that help immigrants become adjusted to life in America. It also supports projects that ameliorate public education and improve public initiative in community projects.

As an example of how Hagedorn has made a positive impact on people’s lives, in 2011 and 2012, Angelo Cabrera, a graduate of the School of Public Affairs and an immigrant, received support from the Hagedorn Graduate Scholarship. Using the money from the scholarship, he, working with Professor Robert C. Smith of the School of Public Affairs, competed in an international contest created by Iniciativa Mexico to cause meaningful change to the lives of Mexicans living in Mexico and out of the country. Out of the 57,000 ideas, his one, the Mexican Mentorship Project, received the top prize, 1.5 million pesos. His project increased Iniciativa Mexico’s ability to promote education among Mexicans. “Your generosity has transformed my life,” Cabrera told Hagedorn.

In addition to giving money to help students, Hagedorn is also a strong supporter of Erase Racism. This organization helps Long Islanders whom have suffered or are suffering from racial discrimination. Erase Racism is trying to equalize housing, education and health care for everyone.

Also, Erase Racism has many programs that are designed to help high school students and people of any age fight racial prejudice. The Student Leadership program, for instance, uses multiple workshops to teach students about racism, how it affected history and how it affects Long Islanders today.

Hagedorn’s efforts to improve the conditions of not only students but also people suffering from other problems serve as proof of her generosity. Romero describes her contribution as,“An outstanding gift for the School of Public Affairs (SPA), and the largest in its 15- year history. Her gift supports scholarships and paid internships for undergraduate SPA students, it also provides support for internship faculty and for the School of Public Affairs and for the College.”

Modernizing: A New Look for Baruch

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See the construction scaffolding above the Vertical Campus?

That’s one phase of a five-year plan implemented by Baruch College, which went into effect last year and will continue to be in effect until 2018. Dubbed the “Strategic Plan,” its mission is to create a brand new way of doing work at Baruch and strengthening the relationship between the faculty and the students. By putting this plan into effect, Baruch College hopes to provide a more collaborative, communicative and enjoyable experience for future undergraduate students.

The ambitious agenda consists of five main goals or phases.

One goal is to expand academic programs including emphasizing various communication fields such as journalism and graphic design.

“I think it’s a good idea because it raises awareness that Baruch is a great example of a high achieving college for intelligent high school students,” said Cheio Santana, a faculty member.

In addition to offering better programs, Baruch would like to strengthen the quality of the campus and its neighboring buildings.

campus_01_BARUCH
Photo Credit: Arch Paper
This is the proposed renovation of the Lawrence and Eris Building. It is part of the second phase of Baruch College’s 2013-2018 Strategic Plan.

Many buildings around the Gramercy community are very outdated and in need of proper wiring for technology.

The oldest building in the campus, the Lawrence and Eris Field Building, hasn’t been renovated since 1929. However, earlier this year, Baruch College announced that a $90 million makeover will take place soon. Antiquated elevators are replaced by modern ones and new glass walls will replace any of the cracked or damaged bricks. This won’t be completed until mid-2015 at the earliest.

“The main purpose of this renovation project is to open up and broaden horizons with a modern look,” said Eric Lugo, the community relations director at Baruch.

Baruch would also like to tackle any weather obstacles. After an especially snowy winter this past year, the president of Baruch, Mitchel Wallerstein, announced that a tent-like cover will be made above the entrance of the Vertical Campus to block the accumulating snow from the trees.

Besides strengthening the quality of the campus, Wallerstein hopes to build connections between the cultural diversity of the student body and the interactions with international students.

 “A global perspective will be the hallmark of the Baruch experience,” Wallerstein said in a statement before the plan was introduced.

Another goal in the agenda is to establish a friendlier, more transparent and comfortable place to study and work.

Basically, it means that Baruch will raise the college’s reputation through an array of messages and other sorts of communication such as phone calls, emails or even from notifications in its own Baruch mobile app.

Another phase in the Strategic Plan is to improve the foundation of the campus and strengthen it financially. Wallerstein explained how establishing a sustainable funding plan is the main priority and how oral communication skills are essential for this to work. As a result, a plan can be developed to generate funding and hopefully the plan will provide more revenue opportunities for others.

Photo: Michael Moran
Photo Credit: Michael Moran
A 25th Street Plaza and a student center is slated to open in the near future.

The other half of this phase is to “expand space and create place.” According to Wallerstein, one of the projects will “build a new student center and a 25th Street Plaza as an important focus for the Baruch community, while renovating new facilities to improve their appearance.”

However, the Strategic Plan will also have a big impact on the Gramercy community as well. Wallerstein said, “We will recommit to deepening our already strong relationships with the local communities that we have traditionally served in New York: businesses large and small, non-profit organizations, or cultural institutions.”

Baruch is dedicated and committed to work toward these goals every day. Each goal will almost certainly change the face of Baruch and hopefully will raise Baruch to a new level of achievement and success.

See you in 2018, Baruch.