Author Archives: Jaclyn L

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Conflict Story Proposal-Lenox Hill

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Many New Yorkers joke that the Second Avenue Subway project has been in the works since 1904 when the subway first opened and will never be finished, but the city has promised construction will cease in 2016.

When construction began, Second Avenue’s businesses and residents have suffered it’s consequences. Countless businesses have closed due to the restricted sidewalk space, traffic and it’s noise has increased exponentially, and residents have long endured the noise, vibrations, and smoke from the construction.

Since most of the actual drilling and heavy work is almost complete, there has been a slight revival on the Upper East Side, where the construction has hit the hardest. Restaurants are occupying spaces that were left vacant due to the construction, units are finally renting again, and residents are happier not having to deal with the noise and hassle of constant construction.

I would write about the conflict itself in great detail, and then profile a resident and a restaurant who have since benefitted from the so-called “revival” of the Upper East Side around Second Avenue Subway construction.

Liebling Response

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I have to agree with Philip Hamburger that much like most of what we’ve read in class this semester, “Back From Where I Came From” by AJ Liebling is in deed a love letter to New York.

He describes New York as a microcosm that can function regardless of what is happening around it, and New York is even made up of multiple microcosms in itself that can function independently, as Liebling says “they live and die oblivious of the worlds around them”. They often clash with one another, and feed off of one another, but never depend on one another.

Liebling argues that there is simply no one better than the native New Yorker. No one speaks better, no one looks better (“New York women are some of the most beautiful in the world”), and while I’m not sure I can agree with those two statements, I see what Liebling is saying, that there is simply no place like New York.

Neighborhood Business Proposal: Lenox Hill

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Since 1936, Windsor Florist on East 78th Street and Lexington Avenue has been providing Lenox Hill residents with beautiful flowers and unique plants. Sam Karalis, who inherited the business from his family, has it all, from simple red roses to rare, exotic cacti and even Venus Flytraps.

Since Windsor Florist has been around so long, I would love to see it’s evolution as a shop and how it had to change with the neighborhood, and the city in general. Also, it’s quite busy due to it’s close proximity to Lenox Hill Hospital, one of the neighborhood’s focal points and a place guaranteed to help a flower shop stay in business.

Looking at their website, one can see an array of different options, but many of their flower arrangements and plants cost over $100. I’m curious if it’s the wealthy residents in the neighborhood who can support these sales or if it’s just people visiting friends and loved ones in the hospital.

The shop itself has almost definitely had it’s rent grow exponentially since 1936, and I’m wondering how they’ve managed to stay in such a coveted location for so long.

Windsor Florist is always a visible treat to peer into from the outside, and getting an inside perspective from the owner himself, employees, and a customer would make for a great Lenox Hill story.

Invisible Child Comments

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Dasani and her family, I found myself rooting for them during tough times, and rejoicing at times when things were going well, like when they had a birthday party for Dasani, even though the cake was stolen from Pathmark. I didn’t feel her last name particularly mattered, we knew her family intimately by the end of the series, and I don’t think the fact that I don’t know their last name changes anything.

The story did run a bit long, but it was essentially telling somebody’s life story. That absolutely deserves some time. As for the Times not disclosing the extent of following her family, I found it clear that at the bottom of every article, there was a link to “Summary of Reporting” that detailed exactly what Andrea Elliott had been doing with Dasani and her family. Perhaps this was added after any controversy started brewing.

I also felt there was very much attention called to the policies and politics on how homeless people are treated, it was clear almost every time Chanel and Supreme suffered a setback  or were mistreated at Auburn how messed up the system is.

There is always risk when relying on a single story, but I don’t think there was any generalization and it was certainly not a caricature of larger and more complex issues. It may not have touched on these issues, but it didn’t caricature them in any way.

Lenox Hill Backgrounder

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Often grouped or confused with Carnegie Hill and Yorkville or just simply lost in the vast expanse that is the Upper East Side, Lenox Hill is a small but historical part of Manhattan, with roots dating back to some of the earliest inhabitants of the city.

Named for Robert Lenox, an immigrant Scottish merchant who purchased the land in 1818 from Archibald Gracie, of Gracie Mansion fame. Lenox used this expansive piece of land, ranging from East 60th Street to East 77th Street, all the way east to the East River and reaching as far west as Park Avenue, as a farm. A steep slope on what is now East 70th and Park Avenue lends itself to the “Hill” portion of the neighborhood’s name.

After Robert’s death in 1839, his son James Lenox took over the farm, but ended up selling most of the land by the 1870s. James kept and built on some of the land, most notably building the Lenox Library on East 70th and 5th Avenue, now known as the Frick Collection, an art museum holding works from all over the world. Today, the vast majority of the population of Lenox Hill lives extremely comfortably, with an average household income of $106,772, according to the US Census, more than double the national average of $51,939. However, it doesn’t go very far, as residents must contend with ever rising rents, a 600 square foot one bedroom on 63rd Street and 3rd Avenue rents for $2,600 a month, according to PropertyShark.

With rent prices at at all time high, people can simply not afford a space big enough to hold a family in Lenox Hill. According to the city’s data, out of 59,689 total households in Lenox Hill, only 7,681 have children. This may be due to the fact that over 50% of the population is over the age of 45, an age group unlikely to have school-aged children.

Despite what seems to be a lack of families with children, Lenox Hill has many features one might desire for raising a family. It holds some of the city’s top ranked public schools, like PS 35, and private schools, like the Allen-Stevenson School, The Buckley School, Birch-Wathen Lenox, and the Ramaz School. It’s close proximity to Central Park gives a place for kids to play, and the availabilty of the 6 train at 68th Street and 77th Street allow for easy transportation. Residents working in Lenox Hill utilize this transportation heavily, with an average commute time of 26.7 minutes, according to PropertyShark. Residents also can call Lenox Hill Hospital, one of New York City’s top ranked hospitals, a neighbor.

To fulfill one’s cultural needs, Lenox Hill is within walking distance of a plethora of museums, including the MoMa, the Met, the Guggenheim, and many art galleries. Movie theaters are in abundance, and Lincoln Center is just a short hop across town.

Historically, Lenox Hill has been a predominantly white neighborhood. According to city data, 92% of the population is white, 4% is Asian, and only 1% is African-American. Efforts to diversify the neighborhood have been ongoing since 1894, with the founding of the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. Originally founded as a kindergarten for children of the many immigrants flooding into Ellis Island, the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House now helps relocate people of all races to live and work on Manhattan’s entire East Side, focusing primarily on Lenox Hill.

Lenox Hill is just a tiny sliver of the expansive Upper East Side, but the neighborhood has carved out a name for itself in its history, infrastructure, culture, and being an overall very pleasant place to live.

2 Jobs at Sugar Factory, and a Lump in the Throat

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The writer does give us very much of Robert Shelton’s personal history, but it’s extremely important here as it gives us, the readers, an idea of where he’s coming from and ultimately, his intimate connection with the Domino sugar factory. His personal history is a nice touch to this article, it makes it very personal and real.

The narrative is essentially Shelton’s relationship with the factory and its neighborhood, and how much everything has changed since he started working there, culminating in the now abandoned factory housing a huge sculpture, indicative of the artsy population that has taken over the neighborhood.

The lead, “Robert Shelton had never seen the floor of what he always called the sugar house until the day this spring when he returned to the Domino refinery.”, is a great sentence that leaves the reader begging for more. “Who is Robert Shelton, why has he never seen the floor of the Domino refinery, and what is his place there?” is what I’m wondering when I read this lead. It’s not a hard news lead that reveals all the important information at once, but works well in this piece.

The nut graph doesn’t appear until much later, “He was talking about “A Subtlety,” the massive sculpture by the artist Kara Walker, a sugar-coated homage to African-American slave women and to the slave laborers who built the 19th-century sugar trade.”. The author explains essentially why we need to read about Robert Shelton and the refinery, with his point of view being slightly Shelton’s side, as a reader, I found myself rooting for Shelton.

 

Neighborhood Faces Query

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As a security guard at Lenox Hill’s Ramaz School, Dwight Johnson is constantly surveying the neighborhood. The Ramaz Upper School, located on 78th street between Park and Lexington Avenues, sits directly on the northernmost border of what is considered Lenox Hill.

For the past nine and a half years, Johnson has served dutifully as one of the school’s main security guards. He provides not only security for the children attending school, but also a friendly face to say goodbye to as the students go home for the day.

At his post, Johnson is extremely vigilant on 78th street, and is well aware of many of the happenings around Lenox Hill, especially at nearby Lenox Hill Hospital, a hotbed of activity.

Johnson is also extremely in tune with the more mundane aspects of Lenox Hill, which can be the most telling of any possible conflicts. He knows the routines of the residents he sees everyday, like when they leave and return from work, at what time they walk their dog, and whether or not they accompany their children to and from school.

He also knows the general atmosphere of the neighborhood at any given time, and can easily tell if something interesting is happening or about to happen. If anyone is going to reveal a current conflict in Lenox Hill, it’ll be Dwight Johnson.

250 Words on Lenox Hill- Revised

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Often grouped with Carnegie Hill and Yorkville or just simply referred to as the Upper East Side, Lenox Hill is a historical part of Manhattan, with roots dating back to some of the earliest inhabitants of the city.

Named for Robert Lenox, an immigrant Scottish merchant who purchased the land in 1818 from Archibald Gracie (of Gracie Mansion fame). Lenox used this expansive piece of land, ranging from East 60th Street to East 77th Street, all the way east to the East River and reaching as far west as Park Avenue, as a farm. A steep slope on what is now East 70th and Park Avenue lends itself to the “Hill” portion of the neighborhood’s name.

After Robert’s death in 1839, his son James Lenox took over the farm, but ended up selling most of the land by the 1870s. James kept and built on some of the land, most notably building the Lenox Library on East 70th and 5th Avenue, now known as the Frick Collection.

 

After having attended High School in Lenox Hill for four years and after living there for two, I feel very strongly that Lenox Hill has become my “home” in Manhattan. My familiarity with the neighborhood will hopefully enable me to talk to the right people, obtain the best information, and uncover the deepest secrets in order to write about a neighborhood conflict that no one has written about before.

Queens Tourist Story

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Kirk Semple does a great job with his reporting and interviewing techniques to answer the main question any reader would be having, “what exactly is so appealing about Queens and who on Earth would want to travel there?!”

Semple shows us exactly why Queens could be an interesting destination by listing all there is to do, like various museums and athletic events. He makes it more than just a borough overlooked by most New Yorkers and makes it real by also listing the number of hotels it boasts, and the increase in visitors.

Another crucial aspect Semple covers is interviewing tourists who actually want to visit Queens, since it’s probably the least believable, even after all the data Semple brings. Hearing from the French and Italian that actually couldn’t wait to visit Queens really made the story.

Here is New York

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1. It’s an incredibly effective opening, as White does an excellent job of describing what I believe is everyone’s exact feelings towards New York. Privacy is most definitely a plausible gift, as it is something people generally seek out, and New York, while crowded, loud, and often cramped, can provide complete and much needed alone time among the ruckus in a simple corner booth of a restaurant or a park bench.

Loneliness is easily attainable here as well. Even in a city full of people, one can feel incredibly alone. Whether it’s in a packed subway car or a Baruch elevator, one can literally be surrounded by other bodies and yet be utterly alone. Or, live in a building be completely alone. New York is unique in that it offers this feeling, and you must actively seek people out to combat this.

2. How and why does the writer use lists in this book?

White uses lists to make points in his book. He uses lists to make the point that every single thing he lists, no matter how long the list may be, is incredibly important. That New York is the center of everything he lists, in no particular order. And that he is just blocks away from all these places that so many important events occurred, again, in no particular order of importance. He effectively shows the importance and the history of New York in his lists.