Tag Archives: Neighborhood Faces Query

Neighborhood Faces Query: Father Joseph F. Lorenzo

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Father Joe is a pastor at the Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Pauda, located just south of Houston Street in Soho. I am interested in Soho’s role to help out the poor and homeless. Father Joe’s initiatives such as the JoyJ initiative to hand out coats and pillows to the homeless is the type of activity I am interested in because it shows how one person, through the leadership he has by being a pastor of the church, drives members of a community towards a common goal.

I am choosing Father Joe for this profile article because even though today many people do not view “the church” as a significant force for positive outcomes in the world, it is interesting to see the positive actions a church takes to improve or help relieve, issues and conflicts in its community on a local level.

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.

Neighborhood Person Profile – Catherine Ochoa

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The person I’ve chosen to spotlight from my neighborhood- Washington Heights- is Jose Valdez. He is the owner of a prominent multiservices business agency in the heart of the Washington Heights. Located at 161st street and Broadway, he is a great person to interview to know just how much the neighborhood has changed. Since I have decided to focus on Hispanic business owners and what they have to say about the changing demographics in the area, I would love to talk to him about how he started his business, what has changed since then, and how he has had to adapt because of the nearing gentrification process that will eventually occur. He is also involved in the community and is an advocator to more Hispanic local leaders. I am extremely interested in investigating this further, because it seems like the once Hispanic-American population that was so prominent in Washington Heights is constantly dwindling. There have been rent hikes in the area, business closings for more “hipster” places to reopen in those once family owned restaurants, as well as a new population of different races moving into the neighborhood. As a Hispanic-American, I want to investigate this further in order to get down to the real reason this is happening. I would like to get Jose Valdez’s take on this,as he has seen many changes in Washington Heights throughout the years. Some of the multimedia I plan on including will have video footage of our interview as well as the neighborhood,and a podcast/voice over about how Washington Heights is changing and how this is affecting the Hispanic population in this area.