Category Archives: Feature Writing Fall 2010

Beachy Keen

It’s ten o’clock on a chilly October morning, and all is quiet on the streets that border Coney Island’s beach. The shops along Surf Avenue, with their brightly painted signs hawking various treats, are shuttered. Apart from a trickle of … Continue reading

Posted in Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Graves End/Coney Island | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tutti a Nuccio a Mangiare!

Past Hot Shot Photo and Video Studio, and just before Pizza Park on Avenue U, is a most enticing aroma. It fills the senses and the mind with thoughts of dough rising to a peak, and the buttery batter of … Continue reading

Posted in Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Graves End/Coney Island, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Jewel in Chinatown

A faded jade green sign with mustard yellow letters Don Enterprises hangs above a store window in Chinatown, a remnant of a time passed.  Presently,  an emerald green awning hangs gallantly under the Don Enterprises sign, with the name Pearl … Continue reading

Posted in Chinatown, Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010 | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Local Food Chain Takes Root in Queens

In neat rows of soil that dance around immovable objects, a ventilation duct here, a water tower there, Brooklyn Grange Farm, located on the roof of the building at 37-18 Northern Boulevard, gives birth to hearty greens and juicy tomatoes, … Continue reading

Posted in Astoria, Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Long Island City, Queens | Tagged | 2 Comments

Putting the Needle on the Record at Academy

Nigerian disco, garage, and reggae line the grungy walls of Academy Records Annex. From the boxes slowly imploding on the floor, to the racks suffocated with records above, and even the posters on the walls this is surely a music … Continue reading

Posted in Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010 | 1 Comment

When Hardware Becomes Housewares

Outside New York City, the small town hardware store contains racks of sharpened saws, columns of hefty hammers and shelves of potent power tools to satisfy every homeowner’s need. Entire walls are dedicated to a multitude of nuts, nails, bolts, … Continue reading

Posted in Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Stuyvesant Town | Tagged | 2 Comments

Old Cuts in a Changing Neighborhood

At the corner of East Tremont, a small shop has catered to many textures of hair—straight, curly, dread locks, braids, and waves. From a distance, on the East Tremont strip of small delis, markets, discount stores and salons, the M&M … Continue reading

Posted in Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010, The Bronx | Tagged | 5 Comments

Burger, or Beer Garden?

On the weekends, this bar is packed wall to wall with a diverse collection of Crown Heights residents. It is more than just a bar however—it is Franklin Park, the official beer garden of Crown Heights. Differing from most bars … Continue reading

Posted in Bernstein Spring 2009, Community Business Story, Feature Writing Fall 2010 | 1 Comment

Neighborhood faces profile: Juan Ortiz (FINAL)

Around 3:30 p.m., a man walks into the Williamsburg Community Center accompanied by many happy-spirited children, who he had just picked up from school. On the surface, he seems like the typical citizen of the community, whose desk is strewn … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Neighborhood Faces Story | Comments Off on Neighborhood faces profile: Juan Ortiz (FINAL)

The Fifteen Year Old Calendar

Since 1995, Francisco Pablo Garcias has been living his dream. He wakes up in his two bedroom apartment shared with three other men, bikes six blocks, and begins his seven hour shift. He is a restaurant dishwasher in Williamsburg, and … Continue reading

Posted in Neighborhood Faces Story | Comments Off on The Fifteen Year Old Calendar

Made in Chinatown

Imagine this.  A family of three sits around their dinner table talking about their days. The father complains of back pains from doing heavy lifting.  The mother moans about having to wake up at 4 a.m. every morning to go … Continue reading

Posted in Chinatown, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Neighborhood Faces Story | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Made in Chinatown

Waiter, Check Please!

Packing up the belongings she has collected over more than two decades is a bittersweet moment for Donna Weekes. Soundview, thirty-odd acres of Bronx land bordered by the Bronx River Parkway, Westchester Avenue, White Plains Road and Lacombe Avenue is … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Neighborhood Faces Story, The Bronx | Comments Off on Waiter, Check Please!

The Block That is Changing Hell’s Kitchen

Many New Yorkers are too hurried to take in their surroundings as they bustle through the familiar yet undistinguishable city streets. On a normal commute to work, one does not normally stop to look at the fascinating architecture of nineteenth … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Hell's Kitchen, Neighborhood Faces Story | Tagged | Comments Off on The Block That is Changing Hell’s Kitchen

An Over the Counter Friendship

For the residents of Flushing, traveling on Main Street is often a shoulder-to-shoulder affair. In a throng where each person goes about his or her own business and where the tempo of movement is entirely erratic, it is easy to … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Flushing, Neighborhood Faces Story | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Kids Are Her Priority

“I always loved working with children, whether I was teaching them math or showing them how to tie their shoe laces…as long as I could make them smile.” These are the words that are proudly emitted from the lips of … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Neighborhood Faces Story, The Bronx | Tagged | Comments Off on The Kids Are Her Priority

Sports Fever with a Chance of Mellow

On top of a glass counter,displaying goods from New York sports teams such as the Jets or Mets, rests a sleek black laptop computer.  Behind its glossy exterior is a middle-aged man scrutinizing what he sees on the screen. Despite … Continue reading

Posted in Graves End/Coney Island, Neighborhood Faces, Neighborhood Faces Story, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Neighborhood Pride Moves to Northwest Queens

Brooklyn pride shines forth on shirts and in songs, even with catchy phrases from the borough president on the city-limit signs, but no such in-your-face attitude is found in its neighbor to the north. One young entrepreneur, however, seeks to … Continue reading

Posted in Astoria, Feature Writing Fall 2010, Long Island City, Neighborhood Faces, Neighborhood Faces Story, Queens | Tagged | Comments Off on Neighborhood Pride Moves to Northwest Queens

The Good Life or The Green Life?

It’s the Dalton School education for our children, the penthouse that overlooks Central Park, and the $180 caviar at Le Cirque. This is the dream as we drift to sleep at night, the wish on every birthday candle, and the … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Neighborhood Faces Story, Upper East Side | Comments Off on The Good Life or The Green Life?

Visionary of The Delicatessen Circuit

Step inside the small bagel shop near the Coney Island subway station in the early morning hours, and you’re likely to see a crowd large enough to rival Coney Island itself. As early as seven o’clock in the morning, Coney … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Graves End/Coney Island, Neighborhood Faces Story | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Visionary of The Delicatessen Circuit

Joe Gould as a Man

Joe Gould was a very interesting man. He himself was a vagabond, traveling around and getting meals and clothes wherever he could. He wore all second hand clothes, donated to him by friends who had worn them out, leading to … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Writing Fall 2010, Joe Gould's Secret, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on Joe Gould as a Man