Monthly Archives: December 2015

American Girl by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Please answer the following questions on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ American Girl, a profile of Michelle Obama. Answers are to be uploaded by 6PM on Monday, November 23rd.

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?

Note: Coates has just received The National Book Award for Non-fiction for his new book, Between The World and Me. Do read it!

The theme of Ta Nehisi- Coates’s profile is the distinct difference about Coates’s impression of Michelle Obama based on her history as well as her father’s history and past as a former Black Panther. Michelle Obama constantly seems to surprise the writer. Breaking down his expectations as a Black woman. Particularly about how event though she talks about her past it doesn’t make her sound bitter, or encouraging a certain type of people. Even though Michelle Obama sounds like she is not trying to talk about a certain type of America she is the bridge between the black American story that adds to the melting pot. Coates contextualizes Michelle as being a product of Chicago. Lots of things made that black America is proud of, publications ,insurance companies, banks and congressmen. Where Michelle comes from as well as her awareness of what black is and how it defines in this society is shocking since not many people can experience that. It sounds like being in that bubble as the refers it. Is a good feeling in the sense of not limiting yourself to stereotypes but leaving that place cripples the individual.

American Girl

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What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates’s profile?

The theme of the profile circulates around the idea that Michelle Obama embodies true American values and goals. The writer touches on Obama’s history and childhood to show that she has American culture deeply rooted in her from her humble beginnings.

Is there an overarching narrative?

The article starts with Obama’s beginnings in order to show the reader that she comes from a humble background, just like most of us. The writer includes information on the black population in Chicago as well as information on blue collar working families.

What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama?

Coates is surprised by how open Michelle Obama is about her past and how real she is in her speaking. She does not try to smooth over anything, and states exactly how she feels.

How does Coates conceptualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?

Coates notes in his piece that Michelle has not been negatively affected by racial and economic issues around her area. He sees that Michelle Obama’s family was able to remain stability even through hard times and is admirable of how unaffected she is of negative happenings. Coates believes that Michelle Obama is very fortunate, and has prospered even though hard times, making her the embodiment of American goals and values.

 

Battle in Black and White

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Both Fox’s and Bagli’s pieces tell how Stuyvesant town housing is inaccessible to different groups of people.

Bagli’s piece explains that the pricing situation of the apartments is the main factor that is driving out minority groups because they cannot afford to stay in the area. This is interesting in that Stuyvesant town was specifically oriented towards housing minorities, but is instead pushing them out of it. Fox’s piece discusses the way that Stuyvesant town was meant for low income families and veterans, but did not include black families. Black families were even excluded even if they were war veterans.

Both articles touch upon the problems faced in the housing industry in which raising rent prices makes it hard for families to maintain stable homes and forces them to move out. What separates the two writers is that Bagli’s focus lies mainly on present issues, while Fox chooses to look back into the past to remind readers that this has been going on for some time.

Invisible Child

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  1. Criticism that her last name was omitted.
    1. I feel that Andrea Elliot omitted Dasani’s last name with good intentions of keeping her anonymous since her story is one that is hard hitting and touches on many private aspects of her life. However, it might have been useful to use a fake name to further conceal her identity since Dasani is not a common name.
  2. Story ran too long.
    1. I do feel that the story ran too long. Even though there were a lot of details to cover about the daily aspects of Dasani’s life, it would have improved the piece if it was shorter in length to keep it interesting for readers. Some readers may not have enough time to read all five sections of the story, even if it is extremely well written.
  3. Times did not disclose the extent to which it was involved–months of following her every move.
    1. I think it would have been a good idea to disclose just how long it took to get information on and to construct the piece. It would allow other writers to see the dedication that it takes to truly uncover a story and give it justice through writing. It definitely seems like Andrea Elliot took a long time of shadowing Dasani to get the full story, but we will never be able to assume just how long.
  4. Not enough attention to the polices and politics of how homeless people are treated in New York City.
    1. I do not feel that this was a large issue in the story since it was a profile of the personal life experiences of a single girl, Dasani. Polices and politics are great information to include to strengthen the story. However, since this was not a conflict piece based on homelessness in general, it does not affect the quality of the profile that there was not a large focus on polices and politics.
  5. Risk of relying on a single story. Did it become a caricature of larger and more complex issues.
    1. I don’t believe that this story creates a caricature out of larger and more complex issues. It is a story meant to be a profile of a single homeless girl and the aspects of her daily life. Elliot did make sure to include both sides of the story to avoid any biases in her story. She showed Dasani in a light that shows that Dasani is actively trying to bring herself to a better living situation by trying to do better in school and not accepting her situation.

Conflict Story: Keep Fighting Bensonhurst

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Here’s the fact: The majority of Brooklyn’s community boards voted “No” on Mayor DeBlasio’s Housing New York which is a 10-year plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable apartments across all five boroughs with a projected budget of $41 billion. However, Community Board (CB) 11, which represents Bensonhurst and Bath Beach, in the southwestern part of Brooklyn, voted “Yes” with the stipulation that the Mayor’s Housing Plan plan for CB 11 Brooklyn includes the district in a transit zone.

Source: Brooklyndaily

Updated December 2nd, 2015: Breakdown of various panels voted     [ Green = Yes, Red = No ]

Role of Community Boards and the addressing of its own concerns

As the primary role of NYC Community Boards is to improve the quality of neighborhoods, the Mayor’s Housing Plan raises overwhelming concerns in  residents and community leaders on issues such as creating smaller studio apartments/ which would result in legalizing illegally converted homes, building high additions, demolishing the existing affordable housing, and loss of parking in their neighborhoods.

Part of the Mayor’s Housing Plan proposes two zoning text amendments: Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) and Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) which is to eliminate or reduce the off street parking space and to implement “Transit Zone” in the Bensonhurst.

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Source: Housing New York NYC Planning – Community District Profile Brooklyn CD 11

Ross Brady, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee of [CB 11], reported that his committee waives a recommendation on the proposed Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) text amendment because CB 11 is not a mapped neighborhood for MIH and future actions would have to complywith the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) which is a standardized procedure for land use to be reviewed by the public.

“The need for affordable housing and senior housing to be worthy goals but posits that protections and considerations of the population density and existing community concerns and issues are not items that should be disregarded to reach these goals,” Mr. Brady said. “Development that alters the use and character of the community should undergo community review,” he concluded after committee deliberation on the application during the CB 11 General Meeting and Public Hearing held on November 12, 2015.

Changing Demographic and Parking crisis

Due to the growing population of new residents, Bensonhurst falls under the category of moderate to high-density zoning districts, according to the NYC neighborhood profile. 14th Ave to 25th Ave along 86th Street is Bensonhurst’s busiest shopping area, full of unloading trucks, double parked cars, and bicycles because of emerging small new businesses and the lack of adequate parking spaces. In fact, auto ownership and use of private vehicle commuting rate range from 34.47% to 43.94%, according to the New York University’s Furman Center Neighborhood Info Results (2010). These numbers have kept growing as the fuel prices are decreasing in today’s economy. Some results of the parking crisis are wasted time cruising for parking, angry drivers, increased traffic congestion and air pollution, and the nightmares after somebody experiences a hit-run away scenarios.

"There is just not enough parking."

“There is just not enough parking.” – A by passer said.

Naungyoe, an immigrant factory worker and a part-time yellow cab driver who has been living in Bensonhurst for half a decade, admits that he always struggles to find parking space in the neighborhood.

“When you get back home between 9 to 10 pm from somewhere, you’ve got to expect at least 45 minutes to one-hour of parking searching time – however, it is still not a guarantee of a free space yet,” he said. Mr. Naungyoe sometimes parked his car over 20 minutes walking distance away from his home.  Regarding the Mayor’s reducing off-street parking proposal, Mr. Naungyoe thinks that DCP should come up with feasible solutions such as providing hydraulic parking and underground parking lots for the residents. And having more reliable MTA subways and letting MTA buses run over major cross streets and avenues as in Manhattan neighborhoods.

Demanding Waivers and Opposing calls

In the recent public hearing meeting, CB 11 recommends approval of the Zoning for Quality and Affordability under several modifications. The Department of City Planning proposed waivers of requirements for a small number of spaces for certain districts but the CB 11 completely opposed any reduction in the parking space requirements or the waivers.

Mr. Brady said: “CB 11 opposes the inclusion of the district in a transit zone. The designation of transit zones does not adequately reflect the need for parking and the current parking situation due to development and illegal curb cuts/front yard parking…Furthermore, City Planning should undertake a study to determine the scope and impact of illegal curb cuts and front yard parking.”

The opposition from the CB 11 committee expresses critical concerns of the general residents; however, there are also different perspectives people feel on the neighborhood’s parking crisis.

Eric, who owns a couple of real estate properties in Bensonhurst, acknowledges the parking problems, but he is very optimistic and reluctant to complain to 311 about illegal parking or blocking his drive way.

“I understand and sympathize with some of the drivers blocking my drive way for few hours or a night because I was in their shoes once,” he said.

According to Eric, summer is one of the highest parking disputes seasons because of the existence of summer schools in the neighborhood. Parents park their cars wherever they can, often blocking other people drive ways and that their negligence causes excessive noise pollution which leads to people fighting or aggressive driving.

Snapshot of unloading trucks and double parked cars on 86th Street

Snapshot of unloading trucks and double parked cars on 86th Street

Ongoing fight

Since the Community Boards are New York City agencies which play an advisory role in the issues pertaining to land use and budgetary issues, some of the CB boards in Brooklyn and others in Queens have completely rejected the Mayor’s Housing Plan.

For CB 11, the district manger, planning and zoning committee and other community leaders are working together to support thepopulation of some 199,000 people in the Bensonhurst community. There has been no resolution yet on the zoning conflict, but CB 11 is kept fighting, according to an updated report from the last community board meeting on December 9, 2015.

“Each community needs to address its own concerns and one-size-fits-all solutions are not appropriate,.” Ms.Eilas-Pavia wrote in her email reply. She and her board members are currently demanding that The Department of City Planning (DCP) conduct a study to determine the full scope and impact of illegal curb cuts as well as front-yard parking.

With the deep concern for the community in mind, Ms.Eilas-Pavia wrote that the  “safety of our residents and our first responders” is the main priority for CB 11.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.J. Liebling

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Critic Philip Hamburger has described Back Where I Came From as a “love letter to the City of New York.” Do you agree or disagree? If so, how and why does Liebling express his views? What techniques does he use as a reporter/writer?

Philip Hamburger is correct when he describes “Back Where I Came From” as a “love letter to the City of New York” since he goes into precise detail about all aspects of New York. He clearly has paid a great deal of attention to the tiniest things that make up the city, making it easy to infer that he has a great passion for the city. Liebling goes into detail with the description of buildings, daily tasks of New Yorkers, as well as using street numbers and landmarks to give his readers a precise location of the place he’s bringing to life with his words. From the details Liebling provides, he definitely uses techniques of imagery and scene in order to bring life to his “love letter to the City of New York.”

The Struggle to Be Heard: How a Community Overcame a City Agency’s Intrusion

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The Bayside Jewish Center now sits closed, waiting to be sold once again.

The Bayside Jewish Center now sits empty, waiting to be sold once again.

They fought the law, and they won—or rather, they fought a city agency and won.

Residents of Bayside, Queens certainly had an extra reason to be thankful when the news broke just two days before Thanksgiving that the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) would not be moving forward with its plan to build a 730-seat high school on the site of the former Bayside Jewish Center.

In a formal statement on November 24, SCA president and CEO Lorraine Grillo said, “Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach a consensus with Bayside residents and local elected officials on our proposed development site for a new high school in their neighborhood.”

Grillo’s statement, while accurate, makes it sound as if the whole thing were a simple disagreement, as if the biggest challenge was deciding what type of school ought to go on the site. In reality, the six-month battle between the SCA and Bayside called to mind the age-old question: what happens when an unstoppable force meets and immovable object?

As it so happens, the unstoppable force isn’t so unstoppable after all.

The Brewing Storm

In February 2015—after 77 years of serving the religious and social needs of Bayside’s Jewish community—the Bayside Jewish Center closed its doors for good, citing rising maintenance costs and plummeting membership as the impetus for the decision. It didn’t take long before they had a buyer. Armed with $114 million, the SCA approached the Center with an offer, and a plan to put a high school on the site that would help alleviate overcrowding in the area.

Overcrowded public schools have long been an issue in New York City—in March 2014, more than 7,000 students citywide were learning in a trailer classroom outside of the main school building. Bayside’s two high schools, Bayside High School and Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, are attended by 3,300 and 3,600 students respectively—putting them approximately 160% over capacity.

Susan Seinfeld, district manager for Community Board 11, says that overcrowding in Bayside schools can be attributed to the high level of achievement of its school district. District 26 has an exceptional performance rate, with 85% of students meeting state reading standards and 95% meeting state math standards. Because of the Department of Education’s open enrollment policy, students can apply to attend any school in the city rather than be restricted to their zoned school—and with such high performance rates, district 26 is very attractive to parents wanting to make sure their kids succeed.

“People flock to Bayside,” Seinfeld said. “The district performs better than most districts in the city.

David Solano, a Bayside resident and vice president of alumni group Friends of Bayside High School, agreed with her. “We looked at the numbers and the reason district 26 schools are crowded is because the schools are successful.”

Despite the apparent need to relieve overcrowding in district 26—a need expressed in Community Board 11’s statement of needs for 2016—the community does not want another school in the neighborhood. Parking in the largely residential area around Bayside High School is already a game of chance, and driving is a test of patience as people try to maneuver around the hordes of parents and buses that swarm the streets on a twice-daily basis to move kids in and out of the area.

Narrow 204th Street runs right between the Bayside Jewish Center and Bayside High School's athletic field.

Narrow 204th Street runs right between the Bayside Jewish Center and Bayside High School’s athletic field.

Solano said that with the Bayside Jewish Center being located directly across the street from Bayside High’s athletic field and only blocks away from the school itself, a high school on the property would add about 700 students and 100 staff to the area and throw approximately 10% more cars into the vehicular fray.

Public transportation would suffer as well. Five bus lines pass through Bayside; two of them, the Q28 and Q31, make stops right by Bayside High and the three other schools located within five miles of it: Cardozo, Francis Lewis High School, and World Journalism Preparatory School. When classes are in session, anyone waiting for a bus at a stop that comes before one of the schools often has to watch in despair as multiple buses pass by without stopping. The addition of another school would exacerbate the problem and require the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to add additional buses along each route, which in turn could create further traffic problems.

“The students who attend Bayside High are so overcrowded on [public] transportation that I can’t get on buses,” Solano said. “Buses are full several stops before they even get to the school.”

Seinfeld stated, “Not all kids are walking from home…so the MTA would need to increase the number of buses. Often with high schools, they’ll dedicate certain buses to handle the volume.”

Other reasons are often given for opposing the construction of a new school—after traffic, decreased residential property values is the next biggest complaint, and with Bayside already being home to 15 schools at varying grade levels, residents feel that the town is oversaturated with schools anyway.

It’s clear that Bayside wants a solution to overcrowding that doesn’t entail building a new school. That much was evident back in 2013, when the SCA locked horns with the community over an elementary school it wanted to build on a former garden supply center that was located between a busy main road and a public middle school. Extreme backlash against the plan ensued; complaints about traffic and decreasing property values abounded. But Bayside lost that particular battle, and the SCA pressed forward with the plan, prompting the suggestion that the agency’s failure to collect community input on the proposed school signified that it didn’t care about the community and its desires.

In May 2015, it became apparent that 2013 had taught the SCA a few lessons on keeping its plans quiet until it’s too late to stop them.

An Outpouring of Outrage

State Senator Tony Avella was a decidedly unhappy man on the morning of May 21 when he, like the residents of Bayside—which is part of his congressional district—learned for the first time that the SCA had decided to purchase the Bayside Jewish Center in order to build a high school. According to a statement, when his office contacted Lorraine Grillo, they were told that the agency had purposefully kept him and other elected officials in the dark because they “didn’t want to give him time to organize” against them.

“Too many times, SCA has been allowed to barge into a neighborhood and construct a monstrous school wherever they choose,” said Avella, who held the first of numerous rallies outside of the Center the same day the SCA announced its plan. “Though at least one City Council member is carelessly supporting this plan, the residents of Bayside will not tolerate this proposal and are prepared to put up a fight.”

That City Council member was Paul Vallone, who had seemingly been involved in early discussions between the SCA and the Center. In a statement that appeared in the Times Ledger, Vallone gave his support for the proposed project. “There is no denying the overwhelming demand facing our district with regard to a long overdue high school for our students and community, but there is also never going to be a perfect place to build one.”

He was the only elected official to support the SCA, and there were very few community members who sided with him.

“The Board was very upset that the SCA hadn’t reached out to us first to discuss the purchase,” Seinfeld stated.

A petition that Solano started up shortly after the SCA announced the proposal garnered approximately 3,500 signatures from parents, students, and local residents who all agreed that another high school was neither wanted nor needed. Solano sent copies of the petition to the SCA and the Department of Education, neither of which responded.

Senator Avella, meanwhile, introduced a bill in the State legislature that would mandate that the SCA contact elected officials and community boards before making a final decision about where it will build a new school. It would also require the agency to provide a detailed explanation about why it needs a new school, what other properties it had considered, and why it felt that the one it had chosen was best.

The fight over what ought to be done with the Bayside Jewish Center’s property heated up even further as the summer rolled on. Once it became apparent that the SCA was going ahead with the purchase and would not back down from it, debates began over what type of school should go on the site.

One proposal was to move World Journalism into the new building from its current location one mile away, which would provide the school a bigger space but would leave behind an empty building and create more traffic problems in Bayside. A second proposal was to create an annex for Bayside High, to which the principal of the school responded by stating that he didn’t need it and that an annex would only let the Department of Education worsen overcrowding by continuing to admit students from distant districts into Bayside High. Finally, a third proposal was to create a specialized high school for Bayside.

“Bayside students have to travel for specialized schools,” Seinfeld said, noting that the closest specialized high school to Bayside is in Jamaica, Queens and is still a seven-mile and hour-long commute by bus. “York College only has 500 seats.”

The downside of a specialized high school would be that it would cause the performance rates of the district’s regular high schools to drop by funneling the best students into the specialized school and leaving the other schools with average and failing students.

“The three schools have to service the whole community. They can’t pick and choose,” Solano said, pointing out that specialized schools have the option of choosing which students to admit that public schools do not. “If they were to put in, say, ‘Townsend Harris North,’ they would skim the better students off the top [of the class.]”

Though the debate was framed as a discussion over what kind of school Bayside residents would prefer, it was really a discussion about what sort of school they would mind the least. The simple fact was that the community didn’t want any kind of high school on the site at all.

“The community wants it to go away,” Seinfeld said. “They’ll always think there’s a better place for a school.”

By September, it was obvious that the school wasn’t going away. On the eve of September, just a week before classes would be back in session and the streets would once again be teeming with slow-moving vehicles, the SCA announced that it had signed a contract with the Bayside Jewish Center finalizing the sale of the property. Once again, the agency failed to notify elected officials.

“It is an act of bad faith to sign the deal without hearing the concerns of local Bayside residents,” said Senator Avella, whose legislation had by now been passed by the State Senate and was being carried in the Assembly by Assemblyman Edward C. Braunstein. “This is a perfect example of why a law is necessary for including residents into the decision making process on where to build their schools.”

“We had an idea it’d get there—we knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when,” Seinfeld said of the SCA’s agreement. “We wanted the SCA to be more upfront. We didn’t know until after it happened.”

The Best Laid Plans

Of course, the fight didn’t end with the contract signing. Residents continued to rail against the project, and parents made their frustrations known at a meeting with Councilman Vallone in late October. Though he still supported the school, Vallone conceded that the SCA’s site selection process was flawed and lacking in transparency; a week later, he introduced city legislation that would require the agency to allow communities greater input in the selection process.

At its monthly meeting in November, Community Board 11 voted almost unanimously against the school, with only a single board member out of 32 voting in favor of construction. Community boards, which are made up almost entirely of volunteers, lack actual legislative power, but carry significant political clout as liaisons between the community and government agencies. CB 11’s landslide vote proved to be a wake-up call to Councilman Vallone.

“The councilman realized the tides were changing,” Solano said of Vallone’s change in stance. “He succumbed to saying, ‘Okay, my community has spoken. I don’t want the school here and I’ll tell the [City Council to vote] no.’”

Two weeks after the vote, Vallone penned a letter to Lorraine Grillo asking her and the SCA to withdraw its petition for the school. He wrote, “Our community remains united in opposition to the site selection process…as evidenced by the most recent vote at Queens Community Board 11. Additionally, my fellow Council Members have already expressed their support to our opposition and remain ready to stand with me at any future committee hearings.”

“A more rational siting policy would have taken this opposition into consideration before the SCA entered into a contract with the Bayside Jewish Center,” reads another official letter to Grillo co-signed by Assemblyman Braunstein and U.S. Representative Grace Meng, whose district includes Bayside.

On November 23, Senator Avella held his fifth and final rally against the project, this time calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to strike down the proposal.

“You campaigned in our neighborhoods. You campaigned on having community involvement and more transparency,” Avella said in a statement printed by the Queens Courier. “Throughout this entire process it’s been the reverse. Well, now you have the chance to do the right thing and in effect do what you campaigned upon.”

On November 24, six months of protesting, rallying, and petitioning came to a fateful boiling point with a statement from Lorraine Grillo that came at around 3:00 p.m.

The community had won. The SCA was withdrawing its petition to build the high school.

Looking Ahead to the Future

Now what?

Overcrowding, both in Bayside and in the city as a whole, still remains a problem without an easy solution. In a February 2013 report showing enrollment projections for the city’s public schools over the next decade, the SCA estimates that Queens will have approximately 20,000 more K-12 students in the public school system by 2021 than it does in 2015; it also expects district 26 in particular to have about 1,000 more K-8 students in the same six-year time period. What needs to be done?

David Solano feels that instead of sinking more and more money into an overcrowded district, the SCA should use its funds to provide more resources to failing schools in districts that have plenty of empty seats.

“It would’ve been a travesty to waste $114 million of our education money when it was needed in other areas. There are 3,000 empty seats through the borough,” he said, adding that the community has repeatedly called for the Department of Education to “beef up” low-performing schools. “Bayside’s percentage of kids from the neighborhood is 29%. Everyone else is from outside the community. Why can’t they build a school in a [failing] neighborhood to serve those students and give them a real choice?”

Susan Seinfeld felt that, because seats in district 26 are highly sought-after, the Department should institute a cap on the number of students it admits there.

“If they could accept fewer students at Bayside, Francis Lewis and Cardozo, it would relieve overcrowding,” she said.

For now, the SCA has to deal with the matter of reselling the property it purchased for an undisclosed portion of its $114 million. That matter, too, feels like it could be the next fight waiting to happen—doubtless, the community will want a say in who the property is sold to, and for what purpose. Solano says that he would like to see the property be converted into a community center that would also provide services specifically for senior citizens. At the moment, Bayside only has two senior centers.

“A senior center is badly needed, but I’d like it to be a bit more accessible,” he says, noting that the community at large would benefit from such a center as well. “It could be a common area for reading, afterschool [programs,] and tutoring too. It could be a lot of things, and it’s going to take public money.”

Class Photo (December 10, 2015)

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So sorry that some of you arrived after we shot this photo.  It was a wonderful class. Do make sure that you upload your Conflict Stories (published and tagged) and that all of your posts have your name on them. Add multi-media, too.

Happy Holidays (almost) to all! And Happy New Year!

Roslyn Bernstein

FeaturesDecember2015

Photo credit: Glenda Hydler

Vision Zero Act

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New Yorkers are perpetually moving pendulums in a game called life. If it’s not going on our phones ordering a venti caramel macchiato from Starbucks, then we’re running across the street to catch a cab or a bus. Now imagine getting a ticket for not waiting for the traffic light or walking all the way to the crosswalk before crossing the street. The rustle and bustle don’t just live in the city but also within it’s boroughs too. Cars, trucks and buses are littered throughout Flushing Main Street, as the moon greets the meek. But, this night was not like the others, this night was sparse with cars and tears in the streets.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! THUMP! It was about 8:30 p.m. near Main Street and Kissena Boulevard when the accident occurred. Lifeless body was left in the middle of the street as a charter bus heading to a casino drives past Main Street. Citizens of Flushing saw a scene of utter shock and dismay, as cars upon cars running over the body. According to community Activist Sherrell Jordan “We have too many casino buses that’s coming through this very congested area in Flushing.” In a formal statement by a Skyliner employee, “There is an investigation and we are cooperating.”

In January of 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City’s Vision Zero Act. Traffic fatalities in New York have indeed fallen significantly, to at least 43 pedestrians killed this year, compared with 47 at this time last year. Though this isn’t a huge number, Mayor Blasio is looking to permanently rework the streets and it could begin by 2017. These changes would not have gone through without the help of Councilman Peter Koo, Assemblyman Mike Simanowitz, Ron Kim, Grace Meng and Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti.

Before and After "Slow Zones"

Before and After “Slow Zones”

As indicated by the 109th precinct records online, it shows that during the month of September it had only issued 8 speeding violation tickets. Which would seem like a blessing, but, in reality, it’s not. As a Flushing resident you, see blatant disregards for traffic laws nearly every day. Kim Muy Wong a Flushing resident says that “I see cars turn on Roosevelt to Main daily with little regard to the traffic signs. Just the other day I was walking from Main Street to 41st Street and a car just narrowly missed me. Even though I had the right of way.” Reading from the 109th precinct’s records also show that 4.7% of the summonses issued by this precinct this year were for driving without a valid driver’s license. That could mean 1 in 20 drivers is apparently driving illegally in Flushing. Just the thought of this can cause many people to think residency in Flushing would have a negative effect, but it’s quite the opposite as well. Flushing population and rent have been increasing the only way to help this problem are to teach the people, to protect the people.

Department of Transportation’s data of Hit & Run Deaths since 2012 – 2014 average was about 32 accidents, and in 2014 it was 22 accidents within Flushing Queens. But after Vision Zero was adopted by Mayor Bill de Blasio it has dropped down to 14. It’s not the first such initiative since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office the NYPD reportedly handed out 452 jaywalking tickets between Jan. 1, 2015 and the end of February, compared with just 50 during the same period last year and 531 for all of 2013. Mayor Bill de Blasio is wanting an overhaul of everything related to New York City traffic and safety precautions. He goes on in saying that “The fundamental message of Vision Zero is that death and injury on city streets are not acceptable and that we will no longer regard serious crashes as inevitable.”

Before and After

Boroughs are taking step by step advancements to their street safety every week. Just recently Flushing has been adopting the select bus service lanes or the only bus lanes for major buses that run through Flushing. Trying to relieve traffic congestions and allow pedestrians to gauge and see where the motor vehicles are coming from. Among the 47 streets named crash prone Kissena ranked 8th worst and main 9th worst, based on the city’s measurement of killed or seriously injured per mile. But for Sherrell Jordan, “That’s not enough, the neighborhood where this deadly accident happened needs speed bumps. And it shouldn’t take a tragedy to call attention to the problem.”

It could be said that these accidents were both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for the fact that people are getting more aware of traffic and street safety. While the negative part is that we as a human race had to see tragedy before we stepped up to the plate and repair the problems.

Preserving the Neighborhood Couldn’t Have Gotten Anymore Difficult

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- 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.