Author Archives: a.moulier

Preserving the Neighborhood Couldn’t Have Gotten Anymore Difficult

Posted on by
- Kenneth Kearns Desk

– Kenneth Kearns Desk

Files pile up, emails are coming in, and the phone can’t stop from ringing. While trying to satisfy everyone on the other end of those emails and phone calls, community board members gather at the round table to face the bigger issue. High rise buildings, and wall-to-wall apartments being built and accumulating a higher population into neighborhoods. Residents can’t imagine being forced to sell their precious homes, destroying the moments they’ve already created and having to alter their future.

Being denied by all fifty-nine-community boards in New York City, the Mayor’s Housing Plan is certainly not being welcomed with open arms. Especially not by a neighborhood like Throgs Neck, who strive to preserve the area, ideal for family homes. District Manager Kenneth Kearns, for Community Board 10, does not seem convinced with the plan and is dedicated to making sure the Throgs Neck neighborhood is preserved.

“Right now if the zoning for quality and affordability, and mandatory inclusionary housing passes the city council without any amendment and if it goes in the way it is” said District Manager Kenneth Kearns “The chances are very strong that this neighborhood is not going to look how it looks right now”.

The properties in Throgs are more likely to be owned by more than half of the population, than it is to be rented, according to the Findahome website. Families waterfront properties may be replaced by high-rise buildings, the population would sky rocket, road cut in’s would be put into place, and strip malls would take over East Tremont Avenue.

East Tremont Avenue

– East Tremont Avenue

For some residents the physical change is not their only worry, to preserve the neighborhood for them means keeping ownership of their homes. The plan offers affordable housing to low-income families, seniors, and the 60,000 homeless people in New York City. Will this plan be able to provide home for them and everybody else comfortably?

Members of Community Board 10 have discussed the possible long-term outcomes of this plan. The future generations being at the top of their list, without the ownership of family homes, families won’t have anything to pass down and may be forced to relocate themselves. Providing homes for those in need may not sound like a bad thing but members question the deeper issues that come with it. Having a roof over your head comes with the basic need of having food to feed yourself and a more complicated need, shaping a future. Can providing shelter take care of all of the above?

No one can imagine a city full of no progress. Having denied the plan, all community boards may agree that some things are not as good as they seem and other things could just use a different solution.

“All your going to do is clump people together in high rise buildings with no space between them, your just creating ghettos” said District Manager Kenneth Kearns “You cant do that if you want to see how its suppose to be done with high rise buildings go to co-op city, there’s so much space”.

The New York Times described Throgs Neck as one of the last middle and upper middle class areas in the Bronx. Residents feel so lucky to have the feel of living in the suburbs but still being right in New York City. Relocating would mean leaving behind something residents define as priceless. The housing plan seems to already be pushing some away.

“I raised all four of my kids here, and two of them now live walking distance, providing the best for my three grand children means the world to me. So If I go they go” said Maggie Santiago, a longtime resident of the Throgs Neck neighborhood.

Not only are community board members putting their inputs, residents are weighing in on the decision. Being so use the natural setting and spacious living, residents won’t think twice on whether they would stay or go. The bad outweigh the good for Throgs Neck residents especially since the bad may be long term and chances are the good is temporary. A lot is at stake if the Throgs Neck neighborhood fails to preserve it.

While residential communities realize what may be at stake others can’t seem to figure out how anyone would not want to help provide a possible solution to the homelessness epidemic New York City is going through.

“I disagree with the residents of Throgs Neck because they are not being open minded to accepting people in unfortunate circumstances, that aren’t in their tax brackets, into their community” said Lawrence Smith, who works for the Board of Elections.

The question of whether Mayor De Blasio will make any changes to the housing plan still remains. Community board members anticipate the meeting taking place in early January 2016, that will reopen the discussion about the housing plan.

 

American Girl

Posted on by

What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates”s profile? Is there an overarching narrative? What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama? How does Coates contextualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?

The theme of the profile was making the first lady, Michelle Obamas, life so relatable. The writer really focused on giving insight of how and where she grew up. The overarching narrative was focusing on the population and class that surrounded the neighborhood Mrs.Obama grew up in. The way she was able to grow up in a tough city and separate herself from the stereotypes. The writer seemed to be surprised she wasn’t a “mad black woman”, that she was actually nice and calm. In the very first sentence of the article we understand what the surprise is “The first time I saw Michelle Obama in the flesh, I almost took her for white”, she was completely opposite of what the writer expected.

Stuyvesant Town Post

Posted on by

 

The recent story sort of summarizes Fox’s piece in order to inform the reader of the historical issues of Stuyvesant town. Although the recent story and Fox’s story are told from different perspectives, the arc of their stories appear to be similar. The recent story is informing the reader of the challenges and future goals of Stuyvesant town and Fox’s story informed the reader of the issues faced back then in order to get it where it is today. However both stories focused on the same goal, telling the struggle of keeping Stuyvesant town a home for the middle class and ending the stories off with the solution.

Back Where I Came From

Posted on by

I agree that Back Where I came From is a love letter to New York City. It expressed things that I could relate to being from New York myself, and although some of us don’t always stop and think of how great our City is, we know why it is great if someone asked. Liebling is very comparative in order to emphasize on what he is trying to say. When you compare something to something else it creates a visual on something you can’t see upfront. Also Liebling sometimes uses the comparative to stress something that could not probably compare to New York for example when he says “I always think of back where my friends came from as one place, possessing a homogeneous quality of not being New York.” He is comparing and thinking of where his friends are from and looks at New York to say it does not compare, there is nothing like it. Relating to love with someone else it is like the only thing you see, like New York is to Liebling.

Draft

Posted on by

The thought of living near a cemetery probably wouldn’t be someones first choice, but for   most Throgs Neck residents it’s the ideal place. Like Nicole Perrino, who went from a small town in Virginia to still finding some of home in Throgs Neck. Between the quiet walks down the street to the small town feel of greeting the local business owners and residents. Nicole who was use to the country life, where things were closed by the time the street lights came on to moving to the Bronx a borough like no other, she took a leap. Within that leap and shift of lifestyle she experienced different parts of the Bronx. As she moved around from Parkchester, where the merge off the highway brings in so much traffic but there’s a nearby Macy’s which is so convenient for many people. Then Castle hill a residential area to now Throgs Neck which is more like a home away from home. Growing up in Queens for some of her life makes Throgs Neck the most convenient. But aside to Throgs Neck being so close to Queens, Nicole enjoys the culture walking down the street and there is the smell of the freshly baked Italian bread and far along you see the nice small crowd at the outside seating area of the Havana Cafe having some lunch.

Invisible Child By Andrea Elliot

Posted on by

 

I don’t think the last name being omitted should in any way hinder what people think about the story, however should be taking her privacy into consideration. The last name not being a part of the story did not take me away from what I thought about the story and or take me away from the character herself. When someone is allowing you to tell their story and something their still trying to figure out and having to share that with the world, you then fall into a compromise with that person’s life, they gave a hand in showing their self therefore you don’t take an arm. Showing every single bit of who she is I think it just snatches her identity from her.

I am actually glad the story ran as long as it did, it let me into her world and after every part I just wanted to read more. I was dreaded the story ending, every part just left you wanting to know what was next and brought you to a place of thought with not only her but other homeless people.

The extent of the story did not have to be known upfront and that was the beauty of the story. As you read the story it gives you hint as to what time of the year it is. It went from the first day of school, to christmas, to birthdays.

I think because she did her research before hand she did not focus on the general story, although it is not every homeless persons story it just goes to shows how bad things really are when your homeless. The only problem is not only having a home but the circumstances you have to settle for and the constant daily struggles day to day. The story is about Dasani but for example the conditions of the homeless shelter is not something only she had to deal with but every other homeless person in the shelter or the day to day dangerous situations.

Relying on the single story is what built the interest in the story, if it was a general article I wouldn’t have been as glued to the story as I was.