The heat is on

So I went to a running group on Monday night, and it turns out that one of the other runners was college roommates with my 12th grade English teacher's daughter. A stretch, I know, but see what I mean about New York not being that big a place? Oh, and speaking of running, I ran my 8th road race this morning in Central Park. One to go, and I'll be qualified for next year's marathon!

Erika, Maren and I went to the opera today. Or rather, we went to see an opera a converted bathhouse called the Lyceum in Brooklyn. We visited during the open house weekend earlier in October, and decided to check out an opera in an attempt to broaden our cultural horizons (and they had student discounts, which helps considerably in the broadening of cultural horizons). The show was Beethoven's Fidelio and it had the makings of any great performance: cross-dressers, love triangles, evil rulers and near-deaths, but overall, I don't think opera is for me. Oh and Saturday night, the roomies and I tried out Juniors, which is famously good Brooklyn cheesecake. We're doing our best to try out the Brooklyn landmark establishments.

By the way, the media storm about the intake policy has not died down. On the contrary, as last week there was a city council hearing about the issue. Here's one more article about the homeless prevention programs, from the Gotham Gazette. It blasts the department and it's programs, draws links between our programs and other programs that don't actually exist, and don't use named sources, but it is one point of view, and also gives you some more idea about what my department does. Sorry about the duluge of links in recent weeks. I'm just not used to being part of something that generates press, and I'm interested in all of it!

Tomororow, another workweek begins. Best of luck to us all.

Oh yeah, and they turned the heat on in the building. Guess it's officially cold...

Ups and downs

So the work on the new policy continues, and there have been several late nights. The NYTimes came out with an editorial today - here's what they have to say about the matter. On another end of the spectrum, here's what the NY Daily News had to say.

On a more positive note, however, I got to go observe the lease-signings for clients who are moving out into apartments. These clients have made their way through the shelter system and happily exiting. Here, everyone was happy and excited to move into a new place. I also got to talk with several clients, and I was very impressed with them and the amount of work they've done to get try and get back on their feet. I think I needed to see that end of things after a spending a week at the intake center.

In weekend update news, this weekend was abosolutely gorgeous! On Saturday Hana from Westerville/MIT came into town we got to do some touristing around. Today, I got a camera, which was terribly exciting, and I tested it out as Erika and I took a sunny walk through Central Park. Oddly enough, I ran into my boss in the middle of the woods in the Ramble. New York is not such a big place after all, I don't think.

The first picture taken with the new camera. I'm so excited to have one again. Location: City Hall Park.

Central Park, with fall leaves and spring-like weather.

The past few days have been super hectic. I worked Sunday evening and late on Monday and Tuesday at the intake center in the Bronx. DHS is working on implementing this new policy and for the first few days it was an all hands on deck kinda thing. Even new hands, like me, although I didn't have too much of a role. The first day I directed families through the intake process, and the rest of the days I helped keep track of reporting numbers. There is a lot of press surrounding this new policy because it's pretty controversial. I'm not even sure what I think about it, yet (and even if I did, I'm guessing it wouldn't be a great idea to post it…). I do know, though, that it was incredibly sad to see the amount of families coming through each night. From an office perspective, the phrase "homeless families" is one thing, but when you see all the kids with their backpacks on or in strollers – it really is heart-wrenching.

Craziness

So, DHS changed an intake policy and it has been pretty crazy the last few days. I literally just got home from work. We spent all evening at the intake center in the Bronx. Here's an update: (Because, ultimately, the NYTimes writes better than I do...)

Yesterday's news after the policy was announced.
A report made tonight after it went into effect.

More later, when it's not so late!

Open House New York

Photos courtesy of Erika:

At the top of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch at Grand Army Plaza. That's the library in the background. Eastern Parkway, my street, veers off to the left. The ceiling of this amazing Jewish Temple in Manhattan. It was built in 1929.
One of the balcony wings in an Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. That's me at the end checking out the first stained glass windows made in the US. Erika was motioning for me to get out of her frame, but I thought it was an "I'm fine, just gonna sit here for a bit - you keep looking" wave...
The Empire State Building last night in the fog.

Celebrity Sighting #2

So, you might have been wondering if I got lost on my way to work the first day and never found my way back, but never fear, I'm back. And excited, I had the day off today (Thank you, government job...). To celebrate, last night Erika and I went to Upright Citizens Brigade, which is the stand-up comedy show the MVC girls frequently frequented last year. We were sitting in line as usual when I looked up and saw Will Arnett (GOB from Arrested Development) walk right past us on the sidewalk and into the building (he's married to Amy Poehler, who usually hosts the show). I don't usually get too excited about celebrities, but woohoo this made my night. Mostly because I love Arrested Development. Well, completely because I love Arrested Development. But anyway...

As for my work assignment, I have spent the week doing a lot of reading and researching, and trying to get up to speed on the programs in my department. So far I've learned a lot about financial education and financial tools for people with low income. I even went to a conference at NYU on "Reaching the Unbanked." ("Unbanked," is one of the worst invented descriptions I have ever heard...). I also got to tag along to some meetings with the presidents of some large non-profits in the city. It's been really interesting, but I still haven't gotten a handle on what exactly I'm going to be doing. I think I'll find out more next week.

To catch you up on the fun things, if you're so interested. Last weekend Ryan visited and we spent the weekend enjoying the city. It is nice to be able to do things like, say, eat out, without having to worry about staying under $100 for the entire month. We also checked out the farmers market in Grand Army Plaza, and I got some New York apples that tasted like fall itself. Yum. Next week I'm getting cider. That's the one good thing about being back in a place that actually has fall...

This weekend was Open House New York, which is the program that opens up a lot of private spaces in the city that are usually closed. They give tours and talks at each of the sites. Erika and I climbed to the top of the arch at Grand Army Plaza (pictured below in the Sept. 20 post) and we saw the inside of several very cool churches and Jewish temples. We also went to a former bathhouse that this guy turned into a theater and arts performance space and coffee shop. We mostly stuck to Brooklyn - there is so much to explore in this borough that I didn't know about last year. Pictures from Erika's camera will follow soon, I hope.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Tomorrow starts a short week of work and the return of fall weather, so they tell me. Have a great one,