A group rallies peacefully in front of City Hall standing in front of the steps and holding up signs to save the libraries. The bright colors and sunshine smile adorning the excited faces of those gathered.
Budget cuts are only increasing through these past years, and these effects have not gone unnoticed by patrons and librarians who are fighting today to keep budget cuts from destroying the service that public libraries give to their communities.
Local Parkchester Library in the Bronx
Nearby is a local library in Parkchester in the Bronx, where parents, children, and teens gather for their local activities.
Women’s History Month Display Theme
Celebrating this month, Women’s History Month in the display. The local library is in charge of themes that raise awareness and celebrations to connect with the community.
Ms. Arianna Gonzalez manager of the Library, who has worked for 18 years described her team as her creative wheel when coming up with new teen programs.
Ms. Gonzalez speaking about budget cuts
Ms. Gonzalez has stated that despite their employment and salary being secured, their fight against the budget cuts is due to the impact it will have on the community they serve. Opening hours and closing hours will more likely be affected, and the extended Sunday services may also be impacted, as well as the quality of the service they have for families.
Program Flyers for patrons
For many new, New Yorkers programs like the ESL serve as an opportunity to open doors, in addition, services like obtaining the IDNYC through the help of the staff become a safe haven for many undocumented.
A gathering area
Free use of computers, printing and copying services, and a safe area where struggling teens and tired parents can settle in. Local Libraries serve as a safe haven, social gathering place, and partnership between the library and the Bronx community.
Monday morning at 10 a.m. in front of the City Hall steps, a gathering a crowd, cameras shuttering, and people chattering in colored shirts. New York Public Library and Stand with your Library shirts worn by many.
Library shirts and signs were handed out
“New York’s City budget purposes a 36.2 million budget cut in funding cuts for public libraries” in a mass email sent out March 15th, 2023.
Sheila and her friend, employees of the NYPL
Sheila shared that “the libraries go beyond ethnicity, skin color, and background. They are a diverse group and bring people together.”
Her friend commented. “The importance that English classes are offered free to the public, help especially people coming in from other countries.”
Long time Librarian
“We go past books, we are not just filled shelves. The importance of the library is what knowledge we share with others.”
11 years working at the NYPL
“My response might be biased, but we bring so much to our communities and these cuts affect what we give to them.”
Speaking at the Rally, was Linda E. Johnson – President and CEO, of Brooklyn Public Library. Anthony W. Marx – President and CEO, of New York Public Library, and Dennis M. Walcott – President and CEO, of Queens Public Library.
Speakers tell their stories about the impact their local branches have had in their lives serving as first-time employees to guide them in a new country and serving as hope.
The loss of funding will be felt by every parent, teen, and child as hours are suddenly cut short. Programs that keep teens in school and headed toward college will cease in being created.
You can even get your taxes done for free.
“Do what you love, love what you do. It is something I can truly say I have lived by no matter what role I have played in the NYPL. 18 years later and I still find every day working with this organization rewarding, and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for the NYPL and the communities we serve.” Ms. Gonzalez shared with me after the rally took place.
The budgets are said to arrive at a final decision in the month of May, and everyone waits in hopes for what the upcoming months will bring and the support that can be gathered to save the libraries of New York.
City officials announced that as of April 1, street vendors are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and instead they are now handled by the Department of Sanitation. Beloved street vendors are now more than ever being treated like trash. I hope to interview various street vendors and photograph their carts, and the food that they sell, with the hopes of capturing their response to this recent change. I’m curious if vendors are going to be more discreet with their stalls, or more flamboyant as a form of protest. I also hope to interview the Street Vendor Project that advocates for many of these vendors.
Our guest speaker had to cancel last minute—which means we get to look at the rest of your photo essays together.
Assignment: Photo Essay #2: The Group Photo Essay
On Tuesday next week, your pitches will be due for the second and final photo essay of the semester. The group theme of these photo essays will be examining the ways NYC is changing through the food we eat. We will spend that class workshopping your ideas.
Change can mean a lot of things: It might refer to old ways being lost. It might mean being the leader in a new trend. It might mean adapting and evolving.
Some ideas:
Spotlight two different businesses that sell an iconic NYC foot like a chopped cheese: one old-school and affordable, and one in a trendier neighborhood, and tell the stories of the people behind both.
Photograph an urban farm as the planting season begins: something like the Black Joy Farm in the Bronx, perhaps, which is aimed at distributing fresh produce in a food desert and working to reconnect people with the land. Or another farm on this list.
Photograph a soup kitchen or community refrigerator and tell a story which delves into how food insecurity is affecting many New Yorkers.
Shoot a day in the life story of someone who provides an essential, behind the scenes role in bringing New Yorkers their food: someone like the person who delivers pastries to all the coffee carts, or someone who wakes up early to prep ingredients and then drives their food truck from Queens to busy intersections in Manhattan for the lunch crowd.
Are there any food traditions that are in danger of being lost, or that are having a moment of visibility because of world events? (Iran or Ukraine, for example?) Who is trying to keep them alive? What role does that food play in the cultural identity of an immigrant community? Attend a community-run cooking class.
Do a story on the disappearance of the dollar slice. Photograph a number of pizza places around the city (around Manhattan, or a sampling in different boroughs perhaps) that have been forced to raise prices. Talk to the owners and find out why.
Ramadan just began. Food obviously plays a major role in how it is observed. Have you heard of anything happening in the city this year that is interesting or new, or would be news to people who don’t celebrate?
Do something on the seed sovereignty movement. Attend a seed swap in Queens, or investigate the NYPL’s seed library. Photograph indigenous activists working on this issue.
Today we’re going to have an interactive exercise. I’m going to break you all into groups and have you quickly research a famous image. You’ll have 10-15 minutes to read about it and discuss as a group, and then you’ll take turns presenting to the class.
What’s the backstory to the image? What did the photographer say about their process? Was it controversial? What impact did it have?
We’ll be looking at your photo essays together today.
I also want to share an event for those of you who still haven’t done the breaking news story.
The Phagwah Parade will take place this year on Sunday, March 26 in Richmond Hill, Queens. It starts at 12 p.m. at 133rd Street and Liberty Avenue and continues to Phil Rizzuto Park.
Here’s the Facebook event which includes contact info for some of the organizers and info about some of the community groups that are involved in the parade:
Your finished breaking news assignment should be submitted to me, via WeTransfer, by Monday night March 27 at midnight. We will spend class on Tuesday the 28th putting together a Medium post like we did last time so that we can pitch the story to D&S—hopefully more successfully this time!
If you still need to do your breaking news assignment but you cannot make it to the Phagwah parade, please email me so I can work on finding another event for you to cover.
