Kayle sent this email to me.
I agreed that Back Where I came from was like a love letter to New York. What really struck me most–as with other New York-centric readings we’ve had–is that I couldn’t tell when the book was written. I was really shocked when he mentioned his father working in the early 1900s, and when I found out the book was published in 1938; I could’ve sworn it was written at least two decades later.
I think that’s what makes most like a love letter. A love letter is something that transcends the centuries–even if it was written 200 years ago, most people reading it in 2015 can probably understand it and the sentiment behind it. Liebling achieves this same timelessness with his book because the people he profiles and the places he writes about really capture the spirit of New York City, and illustrates that the city remains the same at heart even as the years go by.
I decided to focus on St, Francis College in downtown Brooklyn. My brother just recently graduated and was part of the men’s basketball team. While on the team there was a scandal that took place that did not receive a lot of media coverage. A few basketball players were accused of inappropriate actions with a female student on campus. I would like to focus how it affected the program in terms of active players and their mind-state as well as prospective student athletes looking at the school.
My pitch is about two bars that are right next door to each other and how they deal with competing on the same street. South Slope is definitely heavily saturated with bars and liquor stores. I want to write about how the businesses deal with literally being side-by-side from each other. I also want to interview the neighbors who live right above the bars and what they think about the bars, that nearly take over the entire street (5th Avenue between 17th and 18th street). Another possible interview will be the Editor of South Slope News. I want him to shed some light on the neighborhood residents and how it has influenced the growing night-life in South Slope.
Dear Editor,
This semester, I’ve chosen to focus on Astoria, Queens and have been able to conduct a background study of it, as well as profiles of an Astoria resident and a local business. Astoria is known for it’s diversity and it’s busy avenues packed with an eclectic sort of stores and restaurants. However, Astoria’s diversity seems to be in jeopardy as rent prices raise, pushing out minorities, and enforcing a more predominantly white neighborhood.
The removal of the rent ceiling policy is to blame, as apartment complex owners are now free to charge their tenants as high a rent as they would like, with no repercussions. In order to get better prospective of this, I plan to get a closer look at the situation through an interview with an apartment complex owner. Peter Blidy has owned an apartment complex in Astoria on Newtown avenue for about twenty years, and would serve as an excellent primary source to see just how the renting in Astoria has changed over the years. He would be able to provide first-hand insight on the issue and possibly provide a reason for why some owners chose to raise their rent. Tenants of Astoria may also be a voice that I can include in my story since it will gain insight to how much of an inconvenience higher rent can be and whether or not it will drive them to move.
It’s important to find out why rent seems to be rapidly increasing and what this means for Astoria and it’s residents.
Sincerely,
Anita Bissoon
Currently I am torn between two issues that are happening one is more recent.
Recently there have been protests and complaints about the construction of large storage buildings being constructed on Empire Boulevard. The council member on the community board has residents asking for her impeachment from the board.
I still have to do more research and go into community board meetings but it’s a start.
The second idea I have still deals with real-estate. It is the concept of affordable housing. What is it? Who is it affordable for? Do the current census and surveys accurately reflect everyone or one the ones who can afford to stay in apartments with high rising rents?
These are all questions I have for this conflict piece in this neighborhood.
According the District Needs Statement for the Fiscal year of 2016 in Glendale, NY one of the main issues that is causing a safety issue and needs to be addressed is the traffic conditions. I have seen this safety issues first hand because I live across an intersection where there is no stop sign. I live on a one way street where cars go into the intersection of 66th Street and Cooper Avenue. There is also a park so you can say in one intersection there are three vehicles turning which can cause a lot of accidents because there is no stop signs. I’ve also seen people make an illegal left turn when they are not supposed to.
This is not just an issue on my block that I’ve seen, there are many other areas of Glendale where there are no stop signs and even if there was the vehicles don’t care about it and just keep going. As the statement has said there are”large increases in vehicular traffic and too many drivers speeding, running traffic signals and stop signs” and this is due to the fact that there are not many officers at our local precinct that patrol the area. There are barely any traffic officers issuing out tickets but there are barely people illegally parking either. It’s not the issue if illegal parking that’s causing the issue but the fact that vehicles run red stop signs, do not stop at a stop sign, and speed as well. People’s lives are at risk and there are already reported vehicle damage due to these incidents.
The most glaring conflict in Bayside at the moment involves a proposed high school at 203-05 32 Ave., the site of the former Bayside Jewish Center.
There is a strong opposition to the proposed school and its location. One is that it is located in a congested area and too close to an existing school, Bayside High School, which will cause parking and public transportation problems. The chief complaint, however, is that the community was not consulted before the School Construction Authority decided on the site. The general sentiment seems to be that the SCA was underhanded in its acquirement of the site, since the news didn’t come out until contracts were being drawn up. This is not the first time that the SCA has clashed with the Bayside community. In 2014, it acquired a former plant nursery and began constructing an elementary school despite similarly massive backlash and vocal opposition. At this point, the fight seems to have become less focused on the school and more focused on improving the relationship between the SCA and the community, in order to avoid these conflicts in the future.
I’ve written about this before, but it really is the big current issue in Bayside. I think I’d have a chance to go more in depth on this story and the factors that make it such a big deal, and I’d perhaps have a chance to explore its actual impact on residents in the area around the former Center.