Author Archives: Chanelle Perrin
Reporter’s Notes: Allerton-Pelham Gardens
Over this past weekend, my friends and I decided to visit a haunted house for Halloween. The haunted house was located in Rye Playhand, which is technically not my neighborhood, but it is about 20 mins from my house on interstate 95. However, while on my way driving to the haunted house, I noticed a trunk in front of me with the word “Nicosia’s” in front of me for a good duration of the ride. The name seemed familiar but I could not place where I had seen it before until returning back to my neighborhood an hour later. The name “Nicosia’s” belongs to a local bakery in my neighborhood. I always thought it was on the verge of closing down because it seemed so empty in the store. As a I child I used to buy breakfast sandwiches from there, until a store opened up next door with more variety and lower prices. I guess my lack of returning didn’t affect the business because they are still open to this very day. If I had seen this truck a week prior to this, it might have been the topic for my small business story. I do wonder how far the truck was going, because as I got of the exit for Rye Playland, the Nicosia’s truck continued to speed down the interstate.
Allerton-Pelham gardens: Lead/ Draft of Business story
At about 10 o’clock every morning Tony Gaudio raises the metal shutters to his 42 year old business. He walks across the red tiled floors and turns on the lights. As the flickering florescent lights steady it illuminates a sign that reads ‘ no outside food will consumed on these tables.’
Tony Gaudio and 3 of his employees turn on the remainder of the machines and prepare for another day of business inside of Three Boys From Italy Pizzeria.
A landmark to the Allerton-pelham gardens neighborhood, this pizza shop has been located in the same spot since 1970. The longevity of this business is a testament to the quality of the food served there. In a heavy Italian accent Tony gaudio said, ‘ no, I don’t use the facebook, no Twitter. People like the food so they tell people.’ For certain there has been good things mentioned about the business which is constantly busy 7 days a week.
Protected: Allerton-Pelham Gardens: Three Boys from Italy Pizza Shop
Chanelle Perrin; A.J. Liebling response
I definitely enjoyed certain parts of the A. J. Liebling pieces. I found the excerpt on Hymie Katz to be the most entertaining. His character reminds me of a present day New yorker. An individual with the hunger for the next dollar. I felt that this ‘tummler’ was a foreshadowing for the future new York. That the people with the business sense and drive would be the future of the city.
I also enjoyed Liebling’s description of 142nd and 143rd street in Harlem. He tells this portion of the story through a series of lists, something reminiscent of E.B. White’s “Here Is New York”. Liebling begins to describe the living conditions of the poor and of the well off. It’s ironic how close in proximity each social class is to the other, but yet how vastly different their lives are. The poor sleep stacked on top of one another, versus the well off population that could afford the additional space.
Liebling made Harlem come to life from his words, he did a great job of creating the environment in my mind. He carved out the environment then worked his way to the the significant individuals in his neighborhood. For instance Miss Ira who gives the neighborhood its touch of fashion, or Pearl Hankinson an activist in the area. Hankinson is wealthy enough to leave the area, but has found comfort in it, she is one of the residents who has actually watched the neighborhood change over the years, and according to her it gets worse and worse. Initially, I wondered why she she chose to stay, but it’s clear that she has become attached to the neighborhood and It’s children.
Overall Liebling’s pieces I feel are good templates for a profile and backgrounder. He works his way from the general grand scale information, to a more specific detailed account of the neighborhood.
Protected: Business Proposal: Allerton-Pelham Gardens
Chanelle Perrin, Joe Gould’s Secret
I must admit I did enjoy this book, Joe Gould’s character seems so eccentric. I found it funny how for a majority of the story everyone was so willing to help Joe Gould, but eventually grew tired of his theatrics and turned their backs on him. It seemed as if his life was a cycle of disappointments. His mother continuously sent him money until she grew tired of his life on the reservations with the Indians. Another thing I found interesting was the moment Gould over hears the principle making fun of him, it’s almost like a loss of innocence. As a little kid, he knew was a different from the other children but to hear an adult speak of him the way other children looked at him was a harsh dose of reality. Furthermore, the reaction he gets from his father is even more hurtful. I think it is in this moment Joe Gould became the eccentric character he displayed to Joe Mitchell. Gould seems truly lost throughout the story, constantly redoing things because he never got it quite right like in his “Oral History”. I feel he made up the “oral history” to show the relevance of the things people say. His principle’s words changed his life and his father’s dismissive attitude towards him afterwards; I think this was a key moment for him. He learned to walk to the beat of his own drum, because if he couldn’t impress his own father, what difference would the rest of the world make. There were times in the book when I wondered if anyone questioned his mental state. There were times I believed something may have been truly wrong with him, but he was smart, and he knew how to survive, he was able to use his charismatic personality to live off of the people he knew. I feel Joe Gould carried on as if he didn’t care about the opinions of others, but it seems everything he did was a cry for attention. Weather it was to upset people or to entertain, he just always brought attention to himself the best ways he could.
Neighborhood Faces Final: Pastor Thompson Allerton-Pelham Gardens
Plaques emblazoned “Man of the Year” among other accolades cover the walls of the office, and photographs of his family sit on his desk. Besides the faint noise of a fan in the distance and the occasional ringing of a telephone, the office seems calm and peaceful. His royal purple suit with gold accents clashed with the calm atmosphere of the room. His vibrant attire and the awards adorning the walls only scratch the surface of this man, best known as Reverend Keith Elijah Thompson.
Reverend Thompson is currently the presiding pastor of Bronx Miracle Gospel Tabernacle Word of Faith Ministries in the Allerton-Pelham gardens community. This September was a milestone for Pastor Thompson, marking 32 years of service in the neighborhood.
A native from the island of Jamaica, Reverend Thompson made his way to The United States in the late 1960’s. The Reverend was not always sure if being a pastor was his calling. “I tried running away from it,” he said. His initial hope was to become a tailor and designer in America after graduating from a design school in Brooklyn in the 1970’s. In addition to wanting to be a tailor, Pastor Thompson said he also aspired to open a grocery store, “The spirit of entrepreneurship was always in me,” said the Reverend.
Upon moving to the neighborhood 32 years ago, Pastor Thompson noticed that there was a scarcity of churches in the area. Within any community he felt it was necessary to have a church as the foundation. “The church serves the community in various areas. In weddings, funerals or just for individuals seeking counsel. My heart is to serve the people of the community.” His hopes were to begin with his church and immediate community and then spread his vision across the Bronx.
He began seeking out like-minded individuals in the community, business men/women that were looking to make a positive change in the area. He proceeded to show love and extend himself the best way he could throughout the neighborhood. His work was effective within the community leading him to become the Vice President of the Burke Avenue Merchant Association. This led to his later involvement with the Clergy Coalition of The 47th police precinct. Reverend Thompson worked his way up through the ranks as a clergy member “ when the 47th precinct was established, I joined in as just a member, then I became assistant treasurer, then the treasurer, and then one of the vice presidents.” He has served about 12 years in the organization and is still apart of the clergy coalition, serving as a liaison for community affairs.
With 12 years of service to the clergy coalition under his belt, Reverend Thompson decided to further extend himself out to the community. Pastor Thompson opened a resource center right next door to his church. “If you desire to serve your community, education is one of the most essential things to achieve your goals and be successful.” The resource center provides classes for individuals preparing to take their G.E.D. (general equivalency diploma) free of charge. The resource center became his opportunity to spread his vision past his own neighborhood, “I am now able to not only serve my community but people from all over seeking to better themselves.” He wanted to extend the services of the resource center; however funding was limited. The Reverend said, “Even thou the heart is willing, sometimes the flesh is not so strong.” Few individuals have tried to reach out, but overall the funding to keep the resource center up and running was lacking. “When you have the bills rolling in and teachers to pay, it becomes hard without the support and I was doing this for many years without any income from it.” The center now provides job training and job placement programs, however, the G.E.D. classes are now administered by someone else.
The Reverend’s work with youth and education does not stop there. He is the dean of El Shaddai Preschool and has been since its opening in 2001. To Pastor Thompson, the youth is the start and end of it all. If you can start children on the right path, you give them a chance to become better adults that will later serve their community. Pastor Thompson said, “ The reverence of God has been removed from the public schools. The youth today are growing up without any reverence for humanity or God, and it becomes a danger zone.” A father of four, Pastor Thompson believes these core values should not be kept from the youth, “It’s the same respect they have for God, that they will have for their teachers, parents and fellow man.”
One of his last entrepreneurial ventures was the renting out of an apartment building in the neighborhood. His hopes were to provide housing for people at a reasonable cost. However, many people took his title as a Reverend and his giving heart for granted and began defaulting on their rent. He said, “It is not easy dealing with people when they don’t pay their rent; it’s hard for you to survive. As a pastor they know my merciful nature and will live in the apartment and not pay any rent.” Even with the discussion of tenants taking advantage of his good will Pastor Thompson still manages a bright smile.
Overall, Reverend Thompson has seen the neighborhood change. He’s seen people come and go, businesses open and close, but yet his church remains at 821 Burke Avenue. When asked what would be his next venture he said, “The lord is the true visionary. My hope is to get a bigger church for the lord, and to continue to spread my message of love.” His daughter, Sharice Thompson, summed it up, “No matter what my dad does, or what ever you may ask him, he will bring it back to God, that is the foundation for all of his beliefs.”
Pastor Thompson has left a great mark on this community, and his work is not yet finished. “He is unique and he knows who is. He is not intimidated by rank or authority– respecting their positions, but still he knows who he is, and that’s a powerful thing,” said Jeanette Brown, secretary of the church.
Pastor Thompson is a man of many faces, a husband, father, entrepreneur, and a community activist. If you see him out and about, you may hear people address him as Rabbi, Chief Apostle, Reverend, and even Mr. Burke Avenue, but to the countless people he has helped, he is just Pastor Thompson.
Podcast: Reverend Thompson discusses future goals and Jeanette Brown commends his style.
Protected: Reporter’s Notes: Allerton-Pelham Gardens
Neighborhood Backgrounder, Allerton-Pelham Gardens
I have chosen Morris Park as my neighborhood, however that is the informal name, according to the New York City government, my neighborhood is community district 11, Allerton-Pelham Gardens. My neighborhood is made up of Allerton, Bronx Park East, Eastchester gardens, Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, and Pelham Gardens. The community has its own board members, 50 individuals that are appointed by the Bronx county president Ruben Diaz Jr. The responsibility of the board members is to bring forth the issues of the community in board meetings, and have needs met by adding things into its budget.
The district has an overall population of 113,232 people. According the census for Allerton-Pelham Gardens from 2000-2010 the population of White non-Hispanic has decreased 29.2%, whereas the Asian non-Hispanic demographic takes up a significant 58.4%. To be honest, I haven’t physically noticed the rise of the Asian American culture in the community, but I have noticed the shift of the overall demographic. When my family and I first moved to this neighborhood we were the only black family on our street. It might be a stretch of an assumption but I believe we were the beginning of a migration. I am beginning to see more Hispanic, Black, and Caribbean families move into the neighborhood. Some white families have chosen to adjust to the demographic shift while others have chosen to leave, or move further to the outskirts of the neighborhood.
My neighborhood is considerably clean, most of the area is residential homes with a few apartment buildings sparsely scattered throughout the community. The condition of playgrounds around the area has fluctuated over the years but has stayed within an 85%-95% cleanliness rating. Something I did notice is that the average household size increased from 2.74 in 2000 to 2.85 in 2010, so most houses are still around the same size in the area, but a few have increased. Furthermore, housing in my area seems pretty stable. Over the course of 10 years the number of occupied housing units has only decreased by 1.5%, I guess it would be safe to say people move to this area and don’t want to leave right away. In addition to the decrease of occupied homes, inevitably there was an increase in vacancies of about 1.2%, yet again not a significant change, but a change none the less.
Now, I will turn my attention to the educational aspect of my neighborhood which is important for this family orientated area. Of the 113,232 people that inhabit this community about 26,014 of them are children in the New York City school system. Allerton-Pelham Gardens has 23 public and 10 private schools. The overall ratings for the schools vary but ratings for daily attendance have steadily increased over the past 5 years. The rate of students exceeding standards from third to eighth grade leave much to be desired, reading scores are at 43.9% while math scores are 57.3%. These percentages are the lowest scores district 11 has seen within the same 5 year time span.
I beginning to believe that education may be the root of my conflict story. How is that schools have increased attendance but substantially fallen behind in performance?