Tag Archives: Antraniq Gharibian
Backgrounder: Kips Bay
Geography
Kips Bay, New York is located on the East side of Manhattan, just below the East River Ferry. It stretches from Thirty-Forth Street on the North side, to Twenty-Third Street on the South side, from Park Avenue on the West side and FDR Drive on the East Side.
Demographic
Males take over 45.9% of the total population, which is 83,828, leaving the female population to be 54.1%. Of these 83,000 or so people, over 42,000 are in a white-collar line of work, covering a massive 72.4% of the work force pie. In similar numbers, non-family households control 73.8% of the households market (which is a total of 50,021), while the remaining percentage (26.2%) remains as family households.
The smallest percentage of the “education pie” are people that reside in Kips Bay with no High School degree. Only 1,391 people hold this title. The largest percentages lie in where people have either a bachelors or masters degree, with bachelors controlling 45% and masters controlling 36%. With this being said, the median salary of a household ranges from $100-125K, with average household net worth being over $1.2M.
Living
It is no surprise that the average rent is high. Compared to New York as a whole, whose median rent is $1,125, the median rent in Kips Bay is $1,932. This doesn’t sound like much, however, the average rent is $3,718 per month, while the average $4,342 per month ($778,000/house on average) mortgage is making it more affordable to rent an apartment than to buy one.
Crime
In comparison to the national average, the biggest differential in crime rate is robbery risks. If we say the number for the national average rate of robbery risk is 100, the Kips Bay average is 349, more than triple the amount than the national average. The New York average of robbery risk is 130. Interestingly enough, the biggest differential of crime, this time working in favor of Kips Bay, comes in larceny. Again, if the national average is 100, the Kips Bay average is 76. Still, it is still not as impressive as the robbery risks.
Consumer Spending
Once again, if the national average for spending is 100, than Kips Bay almost doubles spending in every category there is. This is including, but not limited to, insurance, health care, entertainment, food, tobacco, and etcetera. New York’s average is larger than the national average, but not as big as Kips Bay’s average spending.
Big Issues
One of the biggest issues that is around Kips Bay is an issue that New York in general may share: gentrification. People are being pushed and bought out of their spaces in order to accommodate for the more wealthy. However, now that the demographic of people who live in Kips Bay are upper or upper-middle class, the big issues rest on the problem of homelessness.
The homelessness population in New York is over 58,000 people. In Kips Bay, you could kind, on average, a homeless person roughly once every two streets,depending on the hour of day, on Third Avenue from Twenty-Ninth to Twenty-Third Street. This issue has gotten so bad that you can now see homeless people in firms. For example, Bank of America, located on Third Avenue between Twenty-Ninth and Twenty-Eighth Street houses at least one or two homeless people, on average, per day.
Neighborhood Faces: Dave Carlson
In the many times we walk around our specific neighborhoods, no matter how big the size of our luxurious and filthy metropolis is, we may continue to see the same familiar faces. Each face a life, and each life a story. Local “homeless” man Dave Carlson resides on the street corner of Third Avenue between Twenty-Sixth and Twenty-Seventh Street, right next to the Subway restaurant.
In his fifth year as a street resident, and that is meant to be taken literally, Dave is the face that everyone sees on their way to and from work, just as long as you’re a Kips Bay resident.
Starting his life as a soldier fighting wars overseas, he is greeted with cold shrugs of New York. “I had no more family and no more friends when I came back home,” Dave says as he is sitting down on his milk crate he carries with him, looking down at his hands. However, he has found friends from continuously living in his non-literal street address. He is greeted with warm hellos and offers of blankets, shirts, socks, scarves, mostly everything that the residents can give him.
“The winters are harsh, so I try to get as many clothes as I can. I have this suitcase with me, so i can store my clothes. I’ve been to all the homeless shelters, but my clothes and belongings always get stolen from me, so it’s better if I stay on the street.”
Regardless of fact or opinion, Dave Carlson has not even been threatened to move out of his residence, unlike many unfortunate New Yorkers in the past.
2 Jobs at Sugar Factory, and a Lump in the Throat
Does the writer give us more than Robert Shelton’s personal history?
The writer does give us more than Shelton’s personal history. We dive into a string of historical visuals laid down by the author that illustrates the history of the sugar factory and also labor workers.
Describe the narrative of this profile, the arc of the story.
We are taken through Domino’s refinery from birth to death, and also the evolution of blue collar work/workers in association with the sugar factory and how the market of goods (ie: sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) can alter the ways of living.
What do you think of the lead? Where is the nut graf?
This anecdotal lead does a great job emphasizing the size of the sugar sphinx and also to compare it to the size and remains of the Domino’s sugar refinery. As for the nut graf, I believe it is the fifth paragraph, where Shelton says, “I can never come back here again.” The reasoning why is because this opens up the story as to why Shelton can never come back there again, and exactly why Shelton has such great memories of a sugar factory that he would miss it that dearly.
What about the author’s point-of-view?
I believe the author shares sympathy with Shelton. Here is a man that lives for his work, and after twenty years he would continue to sweat through his socks and battle through the harsh New York winters. Vivian Yee made it in her best interest to cover Shelton’s history as a Domino’s worker and also dove into his personal life a bit.
250 Words On Kips Bay
The neighborhood of my choice for this semester will be Kips Bay, which spans from FDR Drive to Lexington Avenue, and Twenty-Third to Thirty-Fourth Street. The reason as to why I chose this particular neighborhood is because I spend most of my time in Kips Bay. I live there and also visualize the problems and atmosphere that it has, during both the day and night.
During the day, it seems like a normal New York neighborhood- you have a few playgrounds, apartment buildings, semi-expensive restaurants that have been around for over a decade, and etcetera.
When the day turns to night, however, it is a completely different story. People come out and venture out into their favorite sport bars, one particular establishment being Tonic East. Every Friday and Saturday, Tonic has the dynamic of a nightclub as music bursts through the apartment walls adjacent to the building. Do not be surprised if you walk out your apartment door with a trail of bile on your front porch.
There is a homeless problem, in my eyes, that needs to be looked at more carefully. It’s understandable that homelessness is normal in Manhattan, but it has gone to the point where you can see the same people in the same place at the same time, countless times as if they are residence at the twenty-four-seven bank on the east side of Third Avenue between Twenty-Ninth and Twenty-Eighth Street.
The homelessness problem does not compliment the restaurants, bars, and apartments for rent, which could average to about $4,000/month for a two bedroom apartment.
E.B. White
1. What is your impression of the opening line of White’s book: “New York bestows gifts of loneliness and the gifts of privacy.” Do you agree or disagree with White? If so, why? If not, why not? How effective is the opening? What does it accomplish, if anything?
The gift of privacy is something that people have in New York in contrast to someone living in a small village. You can walk around and not have to worry about people seeing who you are and what you are doing. This doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing something wrong, it just means that you are limited in privacy. In a village, you are your own celebrity. That being said, the gift of privacy goes hand-and-hand with the gift of loneliness.
When there is a train full of people, very rarely does one person talk to another person that they do not know. We are all secluded into our own bubbles of reality. We become so obsessed with our privacy that we, as people, do not let ourselves into our own realities.
I agree with White’s line because it is apparent in every day life living in New York. When someone goes up to another person to ask them a question, the conversation remains untouched. People are so focused on their own privacy that they believe every question asked will be a question or inquiry not worth their time. The opening is very effective due to the understanding on an inner-New York life.
2. How and why does the writer use lists in this book?
I believe the author uses lists in order to create some sort of category within objects/items/ideas one would think do not go well together. For example, a grocery list would include eggs, flour, butter, milk. However, if the list included eggs, flour, sunglasses, AA batteries, pens, one would have a reason, a story, as to why they are putting that in a grocery list.
Queens Tourist
I thought Semple’s writing of the tourists in Queens article is a hybrid of traditional and non-traditional forms of journalism. Towards the beginning, Semple uses words and phrases such as “all-star lineup”, “celebrity of event” and “No. 1” as a way to describe Queens, the borough. The style seemed very laid back, as if Queens is the underdog rising up to the professional level of metropolitan tourism. However, as the article goes on, the author uses percentages and dates, cold hard data, to emphasize Queens’ lead in the increased percentage of tourists, surpassing Brooklyn and big dog Manhattan.
One factor I thought the author could have touched upon is the missing voice of the local resident living in Queens. How do actual residents living in Long Island City feel about tourists? My thoughts could be that it may kick some of the residents out to the outskirts of Staten Island. I’d like to think of it as a social tsunami of tourism and gentrification: first Manhattanites get kicked out from their homes, then people living in Brooklyn get swept away for $7.00 cups of coffee. It seems as if Queens is next.