New York Minutes

Happy 40th Anniversary, Urban Fellows!

2009-05-13T11:03:00.002-04:00

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/celebratin-40-years-of-urban-fellows/

Celebrating 40 Years of Urban Fellows
By Sewell Chan

The Urban Fellows Program, begun in 1969, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The idea was fairly simple: Take a group of bright and energetic recent college graduates, assign them to work with high-level New York City officials, and expose them to the joys (and frustrations) of municipal government. The year was 1969, and idealism about public service was in the air, when an assistant city administrator, Sigmund G. Ginsburg, part of a team of young aides to Mayor John V. Lindsay, invented the Urban Fellows program.
This evening, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the sixth mayor to make use of the fellows, will honor the 40th anniversary of the program in a reception at Gracie Mansion.

Some 900 Urban Fellows — about 25 a year — have passed through the program. Applicants must have graduated from college within two years of the start of the fellowship, which runs from September to May. Many Urban Fellows end up staying in, or returning to, city government. Among the alumni who now serve in the Bloomberg administration are Linda I. Gibbs, deputy mayor for health and human services (class of 1985-86); Robert W. Walsh, commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services (class of 1981-82); and Jeanne B. Mullgrav, commissioner of the Department of Youth and Community Development (class of 1984-85).

City Room asked several former Urban Fellows to reminisce on the program and what it meant for them. Descriptions of their accomplishments, and excerpts from their responses, follow.

Ounces of prevention vie with pounds of core

2009-02-17T16:25:00.002-05:00

OUNCES OF PREVENTION VIE WITH POUNDS OF CORE
Preventive programs are falling by the wayside as the city budget is cut ever closer to only mandated services. > By Lindsey McCormack

City Limits WEEKLY #674February 9, 2009
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In the wake of the mayor’s presentation of the cost-cutting preliminary budget for fiscal 2010, city social services agencies are circling the wagons around “core services.” For the Department of Homeless Services, the core means maintaining the shelter system. At the Administration for Children’s Services, it’s protecting abused children and overseeing foster care. The Department of Corrections must maintain prisons, and the Human Resources Administration manages food stamps, among other duties.

In their push to protect mandated services, many agencies are cutting back on preventive programs—those aimed at addressing small needs before they become big ones. Such programs are premised on the idea of spending some money up front to prevent larger problems – and costs – down the road. The bill for eviction prevention is lower than for a stay at a homeless shelter, for example, and family counseling is cheaper than putting a child in foster care. But preventive programs are rarely mandated, and agencies that focus on the needs of lower-income New Yorkers came under particular pressure in the latest round of budget cuts.

“Social services tend to be looked at as non-core programs,” says Maria Doulis, a senior research associate at the Citizen’s Budget Commission. “Every program has its own constituency, and the greatest public outcry tends to be about education and police. Social services fall lower on the scale.”

Certain aspects of the mayor’s proposed $58.8 billion budget, released on the last Friday in January, bear out that assertion. While the police, fire and corrections departments all cut about 2 percent of projected spending, their budgets still exceed the FY 2010 baseline adopted by City Council last June. On the other hand, agencies like the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which cut 6 percent, and the Human Resource Administration, which cut 8 percent, are spending well below their baseline budgets. Children’s and homeless services also account for almost 95 percent of projected city layoffs for FY 2010 – not counting 13,930 teachers, whose threatened jobs may yet be saved by the state or federal governments.

All of this is part of a plan to bring the remainder of FY 2009 budget into balance, and to close the $6.4 billion budget gap looming next fiscal year. The mayor’s proposal forms the basis for rounds of community board feedback, City Council hearings, and other refinements that will occur before the budget is approved by early June.

Losing Capacity
ACS insists that the eventual loss of 842 staff members – 608 from layoffs – will not affect front-line casework or preventive services like mental health counseling and parenting classes. Outside the agency, though, some worry that the layoffs will reverberate. “It’s a significant number of positions, and those people must be supporting the efforts of the child protective workers,” said Stephanie Gendell, associate executive director for policy at the Citizen’s Committee for Children. “We’re concerned about the impact, but don’t know what it will be.”
During previous attempts to shore up New York’s finances, city agencies focused on relatively painless savings through administrative cuts and attrition. Last November’s budget did eliminate some preventive programs, such as the Fortune Society’s discharge planning services for detainees on Riker’s Island, which aim to reduce recidivism. That particular program was axed by the Mayor’s Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator. This time around, broader cuts to preventive programs, as opposed to personnel, include:

Homelessness Prevention
State funding for the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), which funds caseworkers to mediate rent disputes and connect low-income tenants to rental subsidies, already has been eliminated (as reported in Eviction Prevention Imperiled By State Cut, City Limits Weekly #671, Jan. 12, 2009).

The Jan. 30 budget peels $5.1 million from another program designed to prevent homelessness. A flagship effort of the Department of Homeless Services, HomeBase went citywide at the beginning of 2008, and currently serves more than 1,000 families each month at an annual cost of around $12 million.

DHS says it will seek “alternative sources” to replace city funding, which goes toward everything from legal services to household repairs. But some are nervous about where that money will come from, and when. “Quite frankly, if we were to lose HomeBase and HPP, we would no longer have any credible capacity to prevent low-income families in the Bronx from becoming homeless,” said Ken Small, development director at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, which provides HomeBase services in the Bronx.

After-School and Youth Employment
A thick docket of research shows that after-school and youth employment programs provide long-term bang for the buck, both in educational attainment and child safety. With almost 80,000 kids enrolled, New York City has the biggest after-school initiative in the country, according to the Department of Youth and Community Development.

The latest budget reverses years of growth, cutting 10,750 after-school slots for elementary, middle, and high school students for the coming school year. Also, this summer fewer teens will take part in the popular Summer Youth Employment Program, as 1,450 slots are dropped. (Federal funding for the summer program has also eroded over the past decade, from $43.9 million in 2000 to $3.4 million this year.) Even without the cuts, the program is oversubscribed—last year more than 100,000 teens applied for 43,113 positions.

The cuts amount to $11 million in savings. But DYCD is also planning to invest $14 million in an internship program and two other literacy and skills programs for teens who have dropped out of school.

Services for People with HIV/AIDS
New Yorkers living with HIV are entitled to government-subsidized housing, a policy grounded in evidence that stable housing correlates with improved medical care. The city also funds a range of health, counseling, and housing placement services to quicken the transition to permanent housing.

In November, the HIV/AIDS Service Administration (HASA), a division of the city welfare agency, HRA, eliminated contracts with community agencies that provide case management to clients in some HASA-supported housing. The new budget maintains that cut, and expands it to another group of case managers that focuses on people with multiple diagnoses and advanced AIDS cases, for a savings of $5.9 million.

Sean Barry, director of the NYC AIDS Housing Network, says that fewer support services will drive some clients back to the streets, increasing the city’s reliance on emergency shelter. “They’ll probably end up cycling in and out of SROs, which cost a lot more than supportive housing. They’re unhealthy for clients, and unhealthy for the city’s budget,” said Barry.

Seeking Conclusive Evidence
Preventive programs are particularly vulnerable to cuts because of their often less tangible benefits. "When government cuts back, prevention programs can be at risk because short-run savings are immediate, while long-run costs may be hard to measure and hard to see," said Mark Greenberg, a poverty researcher and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

Some preventive services may work better than others. In the case of housing services for people living with HIV, there is evidence that a simple subsidy program without additional case management services is quite effective, according to Prof. Dennis Culhane, a specialist in homelessness policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Even for more generalized homelessness prevention programs, city decision makers have few hard facts to go on when making budget decisions. “We don’t have conclusive evidence to say whether in tight times a city should move its money towards prevention,” said Culhane. “I personally think we should move in that direction, especially since so much money is put into long-term shelter stays.”

It remains to be seen whether city government will use the budget crisis to redefine some core social services in a more preventive light. City Councilman Bill De Blasio, chairman of council’s General Welfare Committee, has scheduled a hearing in March to review potential cuts to prevention services, especially in the Department of Homeless Services. In that area at least, a new push for preventive emphasis may come from the federal government. Both the House and Senate versions of the evolving stimulus bill have provided $1.5 billion for homelessness prevention services, including rental assistance, legal help, and conflict mediation—but not for more traditional forms of assistance like emergency shelter. New York City stands to receive a sizable portion of that money, potentially making up for cuts in homelessness prevention programs like HomeBase.
- Lindsey McCormack

Your Money Helpline

2008-12-17T22:54:00.001-05:00

I volunteered at the call center for this today:

Call the Helpline NOW!

English: 212.330.6505 | Spanish: 212.330.6506

Can’t get to a phone? Join our live Webchat today from 2-3 p.m. on investing and retirement! Send us your questions below!

Free Advice to help you through the Financial Crisis

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS affects everyone, from people struggling with their rent or mortgage to those losing their jobs or seeing the value of their pensions eroding.

But help is here! Starting Monday, the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs, The City University of New York and the Daily News will launch an unprecedented initiative to offer FREE advice to anyone who needs it.

The YOUR MONEY HELPLINE brings together some of the leading experts from across the city to give YOU the help you need. With uncertainty plaguing every aspect of personal fi nance, there has never been a greater need for the type of advice the YOUR MONEY HELPLINE will bring.

Our experts come from the City’s Office of Financial Empowerment, banks and credit unions, financial industry associations and participants, city agencies, CUNY’s business, finance and economics faculty, staff and student financial aid experts and other trained volunteers. Starting Monday morning, they will be available on a Daily News phone bank to answer all your questions and offer advice about weathering the financial storm.

They will provide help in English and Spanish – and advice will be featured on the Univision Spanish television channel and the Wado radio network.

It is vital help that could benefit all New Yorkers. Contacting the YOUR MONEY HELPLINE could be the most valuable call you ever make.

YOUR MONEY HELPLINE STARTS ON MONDAY DECEMBER 15.

Please remember that you can always call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/ofe to learn about services available throughout New York City to help you through the financial crisis. And for quick information about free and low-cost financial education classes and counseling available in your area, visit the City's Financial Education Network Directory.

For information on higher educational opportunities and financial aid, job training, certificate programs, skills building and professional training programs at CUNY's 23 campuses, please visit: www.cuny.edu

Just couldn't stay away...

2008-08-27T21:43:00.004-04:00

So, I'm back. I found I missed it. I'm still torn, but I thought I'd post these articles, and maybe a few pictures from summer.

This one I had to post after reading it myself and having three people send it to me, about becoming a New Yorker. I'm no New Yorker yet, but I do recognize many points well made. My favorite, a quote from one Mr. Chen:

"'I’m pretty good with the subways now, but at night it’s a little weird, and I don’t really know how that works.'

(Neither do we, Mr. Chen.)"

Also it mentions that in 2006, around 77,000 people in their 20s had been in the city for less than a year. I was one of those! I've told they probably didn't survey people in convents, though, so that takes the count up to at least 77,006.

Also, I thought as an avid opposer of gated communities and most HOAs, I thought this NYTimes blog post was good food for thought. In the comments section below the post, a lot of people say, if you don't like 'em, don't move to a neighborhood with a HOA. The scary thing is a lot of the new developments that go up all over the place have mandatory HOAs that do everything from mandate the color of your house to outlaw clotheslines. So if the only affordable place to live is a new development with a HOAs, there's not really a choice at all. It reminds me of that X-Files episode where this monster made of lawn dirt ate people who broke the neighborhood rules. Anyone? Anyone?

Pomp and Circumstance

2008-05-15T23:19:00.002-04:00

So I write this, for dramatic effect, on the eve of my last night of being a Fellow! Tomorrow's it, the last day, the show is over say goodbye. Only, not really. Much of the melodrama is decidedly lost on me, since I decided to stay on at DHS for the summer. My title changes from fellow to intern, but my job will be largely the same. There are some projects I want to see through, such as this financial education initiative, so I'll be there until August when school starts.

The fellows had a "graduation" ceremony last week. Everyone got all dolled up, Bloomberg came and spoke (his advice: make your billions first, then go in to public service...), all in all it was a very nice evening. We started the event by getting there 15 minutes early and arranging ourselves on a picturesque stairwell for a photo-op, with a Bloomberg-sized hole in the front row. He arrived, inserted himself in the picture, and we were off! It must be strange to live your life shepherded around from one photo-op to another...

Anyways, that's a wrap, folks. I think this is probably the end of my blogging, but I do love to end on a photo montage, so there may be something more yet! No promises though. :-) Thanks for your reading and sticking it out through the end.

Much love,

Time for tea, and celebrity spotting #2

2008-04-23T21:56:00.006-04:00

The Fellows had tea at Gracie Mansion yesterday morning, the mayoral residence of New York City, although Bloomberg doesn't actually live there (he thought his own digs on 79th St were good enough). Bloomie himself was there (a few of us caught a glimpse of him walking through the kitchen) supposedly having a budget meeting, but actually it turned out the commish of the Dept. of Buildings was resigning. Sad.

In the evening, I went to a special screening for DHS senior staff of this movie about a family experiencing homelessness. The movie itself wasn't great, and the discussion afterward with the director was, shall we say, very lively. The best part of the evening, however, was that as I was leaving the theater there was a small crowd waiting to get in for a screening of another movie, there on the sidewalk was Nick Sobotka from The Wire! As I have recently become addicted to this show, it was rather exciting.

That's all. Hope you enjoyed the links!

Bullet-proof vest and all

2008-04-21T21:36:00.003-04:00

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to do a police ride-along in the Bronx. Did you know that anyone can do a ride-along? You just have to fill out a request at the municipal building and pass some sort of approval process. Who knew? I now know, but didn't follow the process, it was part of our fellowship (one of things I was looking forward to the most! That, and Rikers...). I chose the 40th precinct, which is where I worked last year at Mercy Center. I was interested to see the streets that were so familiar to me in a different light. My UF partner Jess and I suited up in bullet-proof vests (no pictures allowed, unfortunately, although mine was waaaay too big and made me feel like I was wearing a life jacket...) and hopped in the back seat of the car with our two officers.

We took off with the siren shrieking and dodged traffic for a few blocks and I thought it they were just showing off, but as we approached an upcoming intersection it was clear something was going on, as there were a few other cop cars and an ambulance parked in a huddle. Our officers got out and Jess and I looked at each other, then scrambled out after them. It turned out a man had gotten slashed across the face by his ex-girlfriend's brother, he said. By the time we got there he was pretty patched up, and we listened to our officers as they questioned him and some of his friends who had witnessed it. Then we followed the ambulance to Lincoln Hospital to finish the report. I've never seen the inside of Lincoln Hospital before, although I've heard many horror stories from our participants and others in the Bronx, so it was interesting to finally get to go inside. No one paid much attention to the two of us, so we just followed walked around like we we knew what we were doing until someone told us to leave, and no one ever did. We sat in on more questioning of the guy who got slashed (who, by the way, was not someone I would want to mess with - he was huge!) and then headed back to the station to file some paperwork and switch cars (our siren had broken).

The rest of the evening was a little less eventful. We answered two calls of fires within 10 minutes and two blocks of each other. The first was from a beauty parlor, and the women were standing out front with their hair in HUGE rollers, the kind you see in the movies or music videos - I didn't know people actually used those. The firetrucks arrived simultaneously though and they were just investigating the smell of smoke, so there wasn't much for us to do. The second involved more crazy driving (with our now-working siren) and a climb up the stairs of an apartment building, where the upstairs neighbor had called 911 over what basically amounted to a burned dinner downstairs. We also stopped a guy for having an open container and checked on a tripped burglar alarm at a storage facility.

All in all, it was pretty eventful and very eye opening. And not just my eyes, either, you should have seen the stares we got riding around in the back of the cop car! Pretty funny. Anyway, definitely once in a lifetime experience.

In honor pretending to be a member of the uniformed services, but since they didn't let me take any pictures of the police ride, I'm posting this picture of my nephew and me a few weeks ago at his fourth birthday party in Florida. My sister knows someone and arranged to have a firetruck come, and everyone got to try on a firefighter coat, including the grown-ups. Cute, huh?

Googlegängers

2008-04-10T20:45:00.005-04:00

As someone who has googled my name and others (is that something one admits in public?), I found this article from the NYTimes interesting. I was always happy that I am the only one with my name, but I can kinda see the appeal in having a Googlegängers...

In other news, the Fellows took a trip to Albany this week to talk to NYC lawmakers and lobbyists. Unfortunately, most of our trip was thwarted by the fact that everyone was is still in the process of finalizing the state budget, which was 9 days overdue. Most of our speakers canceled. We did get to see the capitol building (well, it's more of a complex), and I've never been to Albany before so I was happy to be somewhere new.

The Fellows in front of some very picturesque government building... (Note the winter jackets despite the fact that we're almost midway through April. When is it going to be spring, again?)
Only five more weeks of the fellowship left! I can't believe it. For those who were wondering, I am going to be attending The New School next year to get a masters in urban policy. I also will be retiring this blog. Yes, it's sad but true. Next year I will take up the unassuming role of the starving grad student just like a million other residents of this great city. Where's the public interest in that? Just wanted to put out a warning for my loyal readers. Enjoy 'em while they last...

The Fellows at Prison

2008-04-06T18:03:00.002-04:00

So the highly anticipated annual Fellows trip to Rikers Island took place last week. For the uninitiated, Rikers is NYC's prison, located just off the "coast" of Queens, with a landmass of over 75 landfill. It's pretty much an entire city unto itself - complete with 10 prison facilities, a water treatment plant, a visiting house, central laundry and bakery and other pleasant amenities. The island is capable of housing up to 17,000 inmates, all of whom are either waiting to be sentenced or serving terms of one year or less.

We are able to take the tour because one of the Fellows works in the Discharge Planning division, which started just 5 years ago with the goal of reducing recidivism and homelessness among those released from Rikers. The division has formed a collaboration with the Dept. of Homeless Services and Dept. of Human Resources to help inmates about to be released access benefits, housing, employment services, legal assistance, education, etc. It sounds like they've really made a lot of progress in trying to help what would probably be the hardest service-needy population there is.

We took a tour of the one women's facility, and dropped in on a drug awareness class that is part of a voluntary support program for inmates who want to take advantage of the discharge planning process. At first it was incredibly uncomfortable - 25 fresh-faced Fellows standing in this room with 40 inmates during a drug support group - um, awkward. I felt like we were just staring at them in some sort of zoological exhibit. But then, their facilitator asked if they had any questions for us, and a woman says, "Um, who are you??" So one of the Fellows introduced the group, and the facilitator asked US if we had any questions. The last question asked was the most powerful, "What would you want people to know about you?" The answers: "I'm still a person." "Even though I've bad choices, I'm a good person." "I can change."

Then on a lighter note, we saw a demonstration of the canine unit. The officer planted a bag of pot (Where did it come from? We didn't ask...) in a gas tank. The dog, trained in what we learned was "passive alert," was let out of the van and went immediately for the cars. It took all of about 2o seconds to head to the rear of the car and sit down, looking happily at the officer with a look that said "Ok great, what's next?" Then the guy had all the Fellows line up and put the baggie in Elijah's pocket. The dog went right down the line and sat in front of him, tail wagging. You'd never guess he was actually saying, "Welp, here's the druggie!" It was pretty amazing.

Lunch was made for us by a group called Fresh Start, which is a culinary training program for male inmates. It was good, too! We also toured the nursery, a men's jail and the visiting house. I've never really thought about the reality of being locked up, but am I glad I've never had to. It was so strange walking through the halls. There are lines painted in the hallway and you have to walk between the lines and walls. We'd be walking down one side of the hallway and be passed by a line of inmates going in the other direction. I've never been so hyper aware of my situation vs. another's. You couldn't help feeling guilty just knowing that you were going to walk out of that building today and back into a normal life...

So anyway, that was my day at prison. It was enough to make one's head spin.

The elephants walk at midnight!

2008-03-19T23:25:00.003-04:00

Erika and I went to Manhattan last night to watch the circus come into town. They block off 34th street and march the elephants from the Midtown Tunnel to Madison Square Gardens at midnight. We got there about 10 til, but were pretty far down the route so we had to stand out in the cold for about 45 minutes before they showed up. When they did, it was quick! Six elephants in a row, each holding a tail in their trunk. The crowd was small, but they had the streets blocked off with police barriers like for a regular parade. A small crowd ran along the sidewalks with the elephants, yelling and waving their hands. It was bizarre. But worth the wait. Next year I'd just go a little later. I tried to take pictures, but since I was doing a little running and the light was bad, they didn't turn out so great. I guess it's the kind of thing that's better just to remember, anyway, elephants walking through Herald Square...

Of course, the circus is bad and mistreats the animals (the animal rights activists were there also), don't go see it. But who can resist the elephants?

Ready, Set, Books! and other stories.

2008-03-16T14:26:00.003-04:00

Last weekend I went with a few other volunteers from Mercy Center to take part in this book drive called Project Cicero, for teachers and other organizations that work with kids. You can have a team of five, and each person given a large box and one hour to wander through this huge ballroom filled with new and slightly used books. The box has to be left in the hallway, though, so you frantically fill your arms with as many as you can hold, run out to the hallway, dump your books into the box in a fairly organized fashion (the box has to close at the end, so you have to be an efficient packer). So basically it was like a giant kids' book easter egg hunt, or more like the daydream that I had as a kid that time would freeze (and so would everyone else but me) while I was in the grocery store so I could run around and eat whatever I wanted (I know, I was a strange one...). I love kids books, and it was so much fun just to be able to pick up all my old favorites, and whatever else struck my fancy. Between the five of us, we ended up with over five suitcases and two backpacks full of books that Mercy Center will use for the reading and after school program. The new books are especially great, because they give them out as gifts when the kids graduate.

In other news, a woman at work gave me some salsa dancing lessons at the Y. She was unable to complete the class because of back injury, and she knew I would like them, so she passed them on to me! I started this week, and I'm very excited about them. I don't dance nearly enough these days.

Annnnnnd, in a completely unrelated note, my friend Grant had his piece air on NPR this weekend, which is very exciting. You can listen to it here. Yay Grant!

Hmm, I think that's about it. Until next time,

HOPE Count Down

2008-03-05T21:23:00.003-05:00

So the big news around DHS these days is that the results are in, and HOPE 2008 shows the homeless street population has decreased 12% since last year. If you want the long of it, check out the mayor's press release, and if you want the short of it, here's a short entry from the NYTimes City Room blog. The latter piece comes complete with a few public comments. People are already disputing the methodology of the count, and there was a slight public controversy because the guy from Columbia who ran the last two counts didn't do it this year. I leave it to them to debate.

Battling it out

2008-03-03T21:25:00.002-05:00

Westerville is famous! Note the reference to Westerville being the "dry capital" before Prohibition. It's interesting to see Texas and Ohio linked all the time in the headlines these days, since for me, the two have always been linked. Tomorrow should be interesting!

America Saves! (not to be confused with Jesus) (sorry, is that sacrilegious?)

2008-02-27T21:21:00.005-05:00

On Monday I got to go with the commissioner to a press conference at one of the neighborhood credit unions to promote America Saves week, a national movement to encourage household savings, especially for those with low income. DHS was invited, along with the Dept. of Consumer Affairs (DCA), because we both have asset building initiatives, and we are trying to link those initiatives to the more general initiatives that are going on around the country. Apparently it didn't rate high enough in either our agency or the DCA to make it on either website, and I think there were only a few (aka, two) actual press there, but I was still excited. I never thought I would be interested in the world of asset development and financial services, but as I learn more and continue to work with this program I am becoming convinced that basic financial literacy is essential for people to move out of poverty. And it's such a basic service, too - education about how to best use your money, and providing access to banking services to put that knowledge to work, are empowering in a way that other types of social services are not. I'm a fan.

Seattle

2008-02-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

So yes, the big trip to Seattle. I left at the crack of dawn with a coworker, flew for 6 straight hours and landed on the west coast at 12 noon. Thank you, time change. We rushed to the already-in-progress in time to here the luncheon speaker introduced, but sadly, we missed lunch. The introducer caused quite a stir when he announced, "Mr. Bill Gates...senior." It was pretty funny because you could tell the whole audience was expecting Bill Gates, and didn't know quite how to react to his father. Anyway, the conference was interesting and I learned about a few other programs, but for the most part I think conferences are pretty overrated. I did enjoy going on a site visit to some supportive housing units specifically for formerly homeless families with lots of kids.

On Saturday my Westerville friend KellyB, who lives in Seattle and works as an ASL interpreter, picked me up and gave me the grand tour of the city. It was great to tour with an expert! I like the city a lot; it is very densely built, but also interspersed with lots of trees and hills and water. A good mix to keep things interesting. There are also lots of cute, distinctive, walkable neighborhoods. And lots of parks. And bakeries. You really couldn't ask for much more. Except maybe some sun. I would love to visit again in the summertime, when it's not so overcast and you can see the surrounding mountains.

Saturday was caucus day in Washington, so Kelly and I stopped by her local elementary school to cast her vote. I've never seen anything like it! Everyone from the neighborhood milled around the school until they found their designated spot (hers was in a corner of the library, along with three other districts), and signed in with their choice. After everyone was signed in, one person was allowed to speak for one minute in support of each delegate, then there was a short period when people could mill around and ask each other questions. They, the precinct captain asked if anyone wanted to change their vote, then tallied up the results. She announced Obama the winner, to lots of cheers. From there, apparently, they elect a certain amount of delegates to go to the official state caucus and cast their votes. It was all very interesting to see the democratic process in action in a way in such a community-oriented, hands-on sort of way, that you don't usually get to see.

After the caucus we met my cousin Alan and his wife Michelle at Pike Place Market, which is like El Mercado in San Antonio only a lot cooler (Sorry, San An). In addition to the usual touristy souvenirs, the market also sold lots of fresh fruit and fish and cheese and products from local artists. You could wander in there all day. I spent the night with Alan and Michelle (many thanks), and in the morning they took me for a run around a nearby lake before heading to the airport. There was a Valentine's Day 5K going on called "Love 'em or Leave 'em," which made me laugh. Then it was time to go, and that was that! Next weekend is a holiday and I am headed to Texas, so lots of traveling going on. Until next time, a few pictures.

Skyline view from across the lake.
A troll under an overpass, made out of VW Bugs (you can see one under his left hand).
Pike Place Market
This is not Seattle, but last week's tickertape parade.
Subway steam and tickertape debris

Ticker-tape

2008-02-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

While I don't really care about the Superbowl, I do like a public spectacle (and confetti!), so I made my way out to Broadway, just one block from my office, to see what I could of the ticker tape parade for the NY Giants. Which turned out to be not much, since the crowd was about 50 deep from the street, but I still enjoyed the watching the fluttering debris and hearing the roar of the crowd when something exciting happened. Our venerable Mayor Bloomberg had urged people, “If you have an office along Broadway, you are encouraged to throw confetti out your windows … just don’t throw anything heavy out the window — paper only," and it was really funny to see what must have been raided from copiers and printers floating through the air, as well as rolls of toilet paper floating gently down a 20 story office building. I did see said mayor as he passed by on one of those double decker sightseeing bus, but he was the only I could recognize from as far away as I was (although, not going to lie, being closer up certainly wouldn't have made a difference...) So yes, fun times, but it was time to make our way back to the office for another day. Unfortunately I don't think I got any great pictures. Confetti doesn't photograph especially well.

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week, because I get to go to Seattle for a conference on homelessness! I'm so excited!

New Operation to Put Heavily Armed Officers in Subways

2008-02-02T17:10:00.001-05:00

I find this incredibly scary...

HOPE 2008

2008-02-02T16:27:00.000-05:00

So, the previously mentioned HOPE count took place this Monday night. The city was divided into districts and volunteers were assigned to certain tracts within each district to survey. Supposedly, the NYC count is one of the most statistically sound counts in the country, but I don't know all the details about what makes it such, although I know it does have to do with how the tracts are selected to be surveyed, and the presence of decoys to serve as controls. As a DHS employee, I got to our base school at around 9:00 to set up for the volunteers. When the 30-some volunteers arrived at 11:00, we gave them a brief training on the rules. The basic gist of the evening is to give the survey to everyone you see on the street who is not actively working.

The survey asks 1. Is there someplace you call home that you are returning to tonight? 2. What type of dwelling is that place (apt/house/room/public space/abandoned building/etc) 3. Has anyone else asked you these questions tonight? You are supposed to ask everyone, because you can't really tell what's what on looks alone (and to make sure you find the decoys!). If you do find people who are homeless, you offer them a ride to the shelter intake facility (there were vans on call for this purpose). If they did not want to go, and didn't seem in danger, you just thanked them and handed them an outreach card with contact info if they should change their mind.

I went out in Bushwick, Brooklyn with fellow Fellow Ryan, our team leader Michelle and a police escort. I did most of the talking, which involved stopping those in the street, introducing myself and doing the survey. Now keep in mind, these questions are being asked to people between midnight and 2:00am. DHS does its best to publicize, but no one we talked to that night had any idea what we were doing. Only one guy refused to answer though, and we talked to around 25 people. We got some really confused looks, though, especially when we asked if anyone else had already asked them these questions.

Having a police officer with us made for an interesting dynamic. The officers were supposed to be out in pairs, and be trailing us a bit, but ours stayed close to us, which I think made a lot of the participants nervous. I don't blame them! We found one homeless guy, who told us he was a vet and had been living in a very abandoned building by the Long Island RR track for several years. He wanted to get back on his feet but didn't want to go into the shelter system. We didn't find any decoys, which wasn't unusual, but somehow we still felt like we'd missed something.

By the time we finished, I was frozen to the bone, and the night wasn't even that cold, I was only out for three hours and I was moving the whole time. I could never hack it as homeless in NYC in the winter. I don't know how people do it. What I enjoyed most was seeing the city from a completely different angle - I'm never out that late in that kind of neighborhood specifically looking for that kind of population. It was very, very interesting. Next year, I think I'd like to participate as a decoy.

Anyway, that's that. The rest of the week was eventful as well, as I attended at debate at the 92 Street Y about the existence of God, ate at a french bakery and listened to a folk singer/songwriter on the LES. That, my friends, is why I continue to love New York, although I do have to remind myself sometimes on days like today when it's cold, wet and windy.

Here's to a great weekend,

Chevy Chase and counting the homeless

2008-01-24T23:53:00.001-05:00

So in an attempt (although, rather feeble) to keep up with my celebrity-spotting friends, I have to report that Erika and I braved the cold on MLK weekend to get tickets for our usual holiday visit to Upright Citizens Brigade (the standup comedy place) on Sunday night. And I mean, it was cold! Felt like 8 degrees! Being the veteran line sitters that we are, we decked out in longjohns and huddled under blankets for an hour, and it payed off, because the guest monologuist was Chevy Chase! So that was fun, although he actually put on a really bad performance. It was like the poor man was having a stroke, really, but the rest of the regular cast didn't seem to mind, and they were funny anyway.

Coming up this week is the annual DHS HOPE count, which is the annual census of street homeless. Over 2,500 volunteers go out the night of Jan. 28, and I'm going to be counting with a team of people from my division in Brooklyn. It should be interesting, more on that later... In the meantime, a short blurb from Time Out New York.

A semi-depressing NYTimes article

2008-01-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

Makes you really want to read it, huh...

"A program specifically for working families, would pay up to $1,130 a month for a two-bedroom apartment for one year. Families would be expected to pay $50 a month toward rent and would be encouraged to save up to 20 percent of the actual rent.

By year’s end, he said, the city would match the savings as well as their $600 in rent contributions. An extra year would be allowed for those who were still shaky. He estimated that a family could have $10,000 by the end of the second year."

This program is what I am working on.

2008-01-11T20:27:00.001-05:00

In a desperate bid to add more spice, some holiday pictures:

Self portrait of the fam. They had never done the "cram as many people as possible into the shot that someone takes with one hand" thing. I learned from a pro...
My nephew, the pilot.
Evan got Gulpin' Guppies for Christmas. What a great game...
Roommate Kathleen returned (and brought a friend) for some New Years and post holiday fun.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-11T20:11:00.001-05:00

You might have noticed my lack of posts. I think I have a cross between the winter blues and blogger envy of my friends who are writing from far away and exotic locales. Actually, there just hasn't been a whole lot going on.

My second NYE in NYC (as I found out New Year's Eve, apparently, is called these days) was spent overlooking the park where we toiled last year to run four miles at the stroke of midnight. The plans this year were a little more relaxing, as fellow Fellow Lesley lives right by the park and has a rooftop perfect for midnight firework viewing. We hung out at her place and at five to midnight, we found ourselves scrambling up 21 flights of stairs to reach the roof before the big moment, because the elevators were too full to fit in. The view of Central Park and all the people below was amazing - at midnight we could hear the crowd roaring. The fireworks were great too (aren't they always?) and then, there was a brawl. Yes, a brawl, on the rooftop of a private apartment building in one of the poshest areas in town. I honestly thought someone was going to be thrown off the roof or killed with a bottle or deck chair to the head. Someone called the cops and in the meantime we got the heck out of there, missing the grand finale. What is wrong with people??? The rest of the night was pleasant, though, as Ryan and I made our way toward Grand Central Station to meet the roommates, who were hanging out in the pub where the local bartender from last year in Queens now makes his living.

Before New Years I met with my aunt Jeanne and cousin Jennifer, who were in town for the holidays, before they ironically left the next day to visit my home in Ohio. We had pizza with my OTHER cousin Glen, who lives in NYC and works at the statue of liberty.

I'm sorry this post is pretty boring. They might be for a while, I think we're in the winter doldrums, although the burst of warm weather this week was a nice taste of spring. Here's to more of that!

Sweet hymns of old, a weary world rejoices...

2007-12-25T18:39:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Rockefeller Christmas fun

2007-12-20T21:46:00.001-05:00

Ollies reunited!

2007-12-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

Last week I had the honor of having a guest. Molly came to visit and we ran amok in NYC. Well, actually it was too cold to really run amok, but we did the best we could. I showed her some sights, she showed herself some sights while I was at work, we ushered at Blue Man Group, attempted (and failed) to win tickets to Wicked and had our first taste of Ethiopian food, on recommendation of Molly's husband Matt who used to live in New York. Fun times!

Other than that, not much going on here, except I'm experiencing for the first time the world of corporate holiday parties. My goodness, there are so many! These things get expensive! Tonight is the last of three.

Oh, also I saw I am Legend, the movie we saw being filmed near Grand Central Station last spring ("You are able to hear gunshots. Do you not be alarmed – they are NOT REAL…"). I usually don't do scary movies but since I had vested interest in this one, I went with Erika, who promised she'd let me grab her arm during the scary part. The movie itself was ok, scary parts aside and plot holes aside, but the main appeal was the eerie scenes of almost every street imaginable in New York City deserted and overgrown. Creepy. It was also fun see our "our" scene, which was pretty pivotal. It was fun see the tipped taxi from another perspective and decipher Will Smith's shouting.

This is an interesting article about the blurring of government and non-profits. NYC has been using non-profits and private dollars a lot lately, to fund pilot programs like the Conditional Cash Transfer program. The pertinent question, I think, has occurred to me as I am learning more about how city government operates:

Government already contracts with charities to perform work formerly done by government, such as managing social service programs, making charities more like government. Now, as it turns to private donors for voluntary contributions, government is becoming more like charity.

Leaders argue nonprofit funds allow the city to spend money on neglected or experimental programs, but others question whether giving to the government is the most effective charitable cause.

It seems like the oftentimes confusing path of funds from private to public and back to private hands can't be terribly efficient, as there is a cost to each transaction - making the funds like a glass full of water that spills a little over the side every time someone passes it along. Nonetheless, it seems to be a trend, especially under Bloomberg's administration. It makes for some interesting partnerships. Anyway, just thought you might find that interesting.

Going home on Saturday for Christmas! Happy holidays to all.

Happy Hanukkah

2007-12-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

Just to give you a little flavor of my neighbhorhood, I thought I should tell you that my neighbhorhood has a "Menorah Mobile" (so named by roomie Erika) that drives around the neighborhood blaring (and I mean blaring) what sounds vaguely like a cross between "Rockin around the Christmas Tree" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" played by a marching band, but is actually a song in Hebrew (although I'm guessing on the language), and has a "Happy Chanukkah" banner draped over the sides barely covering the painted "Rent Me. Call ***-****." It passes around the block a few times every night like the icecream man. Welcome to BROOKLYN!

Oh yes, semi on the same subject, the first night of our DC trip was the second day of Hanukkah, and the Jewish Fellows invited everyone to take part in lighting the Menorah. We congregated in Sarah's room as she lit the candles, and she and Bracha sang their song. Then, at our prompting, we made Etan tell us non-Jews the story of Hanukkah. It was fun. It reminded me, oddly, of being at a youth hostel in Argentina and watching Isrealis do the same thing. Traditions are pretty amazing - uniting across space and time.

Fellows take DC

2007-12-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

After leaving at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, the Fellows made their way to our nation's capitol via charterbus and arrived early Wednesday afternoon. The goal of the trip (I think) is to introduce us to the ways in which city and national politics interact, especially for a city like New York City. The schedule was jam-packed with at least four seminars a day. Highlights included meeting with a former fellow who is now a senior education advisor for Senator Kennedy, a guy from Homeland Security (who pronounced certain key words, like "terrorist" with the exact same inflection and intonation as his boss, Mr. Bush...), and someone from the Department of Treasury. I was childishly excited to see all the national monuments, since I haven't been to DC since I was six, but sadly I didn't even get to see the front of the White House (I only caught a brief glimpse of a side garden from the Treasury Building. However, we did take an evening trip to the Lincoln Memorial. It had been snowing all day and it was absolutely beautiful. I didn't realize everything was all lined up like that - from the steps of Lincoln you can look straight out and see the Mall, the Washington Monument and the Capitol building, all glowing very white against the snow.Lincoln can be pretty formidable...
Fellows in front of the capitol building, in front of the Museum of the American Indian, our one cultural stop.
Other than the monuments, though, I wasn't all that impressed with DC as a city. It's so square and squat. Everyone told me that there was a law forbidding any building to be taller than the Washington Monument ("Or the capitol building. I can't remember..." was how the conversation usually went) but the internet says it's actually because of a 1910 law restricting a new building's height to be no more than 20 feet (6 m) greater than the width of the adjacent street. Either way, it makes for a streets that look like they're lined with giant air conditioners, or something...

In other news, I am officially qualified for the New York Marathon after completing a pretty slow and painful 10K this morning (I haven't run for close to a month...). So excited. But now I have to stop just talking the talk and start running the run - 11 months to get into shape. I'm going to have to find a club or team to train with, I think, because I need some accountability.

You, me and a tree

2007-12-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

The roomies at Rockefeller Center, with ice rink, a glowing Prometheus and of course, the infamous tree. It's a little blurry and I look a bit like a bank robber, but so it goes.

a small world, once again

2007-12-03T22:04:00.000-05:00

So last night I decided it had been far too long since I'd done any dancing, so I decided to throw a good night's sleep to the wind and go to the monthly swing dance hosted by the NY Swing Dance Society. I'm on their mailing list, so I get reminders all the time, but for some reason or another I've never been. Anyway, I went, it was fun, I danced a lot (as usual, attracting middle-aged men for dance partners. But they're the ones who can dance really well, anyways...) AND I ran into Mike, who used to be a Swing Bum at Trinity. He just moved up here a few months ago, and of course is already dancing like crazy. It was fun to see a familar face, and he luckily introduced me to a few more dance partners, more my age...

I also met someone who, learning I was from Ohio, asked me if I played Euchre, then told me about a group that meets in a Manhattan lounge every Saturday to play. I probably wouldn't go, but for some reason I really like the idea of a Euchre club. I love New York!

Unfortunately with the true retreat of warm weather, we seem to have lost warm water in the apartment, and it is not pleasant. I'm not showering in cold water all winter. Seriously. That is not an idle threat.

I'm going to DC with the Fellows this Wednesday through the end of the week. I'll try to come back with good stories.

Until then,

Happy December!

2007-12-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and well. My absense was caused by a convergence of many things: work, travel, holidays, sudden general aversion to the computer, etc., but I'm back in action. What has been happening these last few weeks?

Workwise, I had been working to put together an evening event to get Bronx shelter residents enrolled in bank accounts. I was VERY nervous about it all, since I was principle planner, but it seemed to go well. Attendance seemed low, by my accounts, but in general it was declared a success. I am happy to have it over with, but I also have three more to go (we're trying to do one event in each borough), so no rest for the weary. After the event, I went with some coworkers to a restaurant in Little Italy in the Bronx that supposedly has the best Italian food in the entire city, no mean feat. There was no menu; the waiter simply stood at the head of the table and told us what they were serving that day. The food came out heaping on steaming plates and the red wine flowed in abundance (in general, I mean, not necessarily for us...) with Italian Christmas carols as a backdrop. Mmm, my eggplant parmesan lived up to expectations!

Travelwise, I made it down to Texas the weekend of Veteran's Day for some warm and balmy fall weather. For Thanksgiving, I traveled with Ryan to his home in New Hampshire, then onward and upward to his relatives in Lowville, NY. Despite cold weather and much time spent on the road (Friday was the only day we didn't spend at least 4 hours in some type of vehicle), a good time was had by all, with great food and lots of Euchre. Many thanks to the Condons and Sunderhafts for hosting me. :-)

Citywise, I'm working hard not to let the recent descent into bitter cold keep me from enjoying life in NYC. The roomies and I ventured out tonight to see the Rockefeller tree and all the accompanying Christmas hoopla. It's not as awe-inspiring the second time around, but still fun, although a bit overwhelming. There were actually crowds of people lined up to get into the stores on Fifth Avenue like they were waiting to ride a roller coaster. Trying to get through the hoards of people on the sidewalk involved dodging families with bulging bags from FAO Schwartz and American Girls. I think I'll stick to weeknights to visit the holiday sites. (PS, most of the window displays were still cool, and also I can't help liking the light display at Saks Fifth Avenue that blasts "Carol of the Bells" all the way down the street...)

Anyway, that's it!

How the Urban Fellows almost ended up in Sex and the City…

2007-11-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

An adventure today:
Wednesday mornings are Urban Fellow seminar days, where we meet with a public figure or go on a field trip. This morning we took a tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, an example of public-private partnership to turn an old navy yard into a large-scale commercial and industrial space. Part of the trip involved taking a tour of Steiner Studios, a movie production company that is one of the tenants. We were supposed to meet one of the executives, take a tour of the largest sound stage outside of Hollywood, then move on. However, today they were filming a big scene from the upcoming Sex and the City movie (man, that thing is everywhere…) with LOTS of extras. When our little bus pulled up in front of the studios, someone was there to meet us and quickly asked us, "Are you here for friends and family?" Before anyone could really register what she said, she just turned around and said, "Follow me. We'll take you to hair and makeup and get you through wardrobe." So before anyone knew what was going on, we were herded into a big room filled with beautiful people in very fashionable outfits. At one end of the room stood a row of hair stylists and make-up artists; at the other end, a huge spread of Dunkin Donuts and coffee. We were instructed to have a seat, and our guide left us. At this point, our director starts to realize we're probably in the wrong place. While she's figuring things out, official-looking people keep wandering by our group, asking somewhat skeptically, "You guys have already been cleared by wardrobe??" Apparently our business attire wasn't making the grade… Anyway, eventually it was determined that we were, indeed, not the "friends and family" extras and we had indeed crashed this party with beautiful people, nice dresses and free pastries. Alas, sadly, we were herded back out and did not get to make our movie star debut…

However, coincidentally, we did get to see Mayor Bloomberg give a press conference about the opening of a navy yard historical center (and he got to make a cameo in Sex and the City, or so we heard...) That was pretty cool, although it was FREEZING COLD. And apparently, if you're a politician, you aren't allowed to wear coats. That's a silly rule.

Don't they look cold???
In other news, Sunday was the marathon, and it was a perfect day for running. My fellow Fellows Sarah and Lesley joined me at the finishline to hand out heat sheets (those tinfoil-ish blanket things) to the runners, and we welcomed fellow Fellow Dave as he crossed the finish in an amazingly fast 3:19. It was a lot of work, but worth it. For hours beforehand, we had to pull the perforated heat sheets off what looked like a giant roll of Saran Wrap, and stuff them in the fence for when the big rush. There were 40,000 of the things stuffed all up and down the road. we climbed in them piles of big shiny leaves, ostensibly to smush them down to make room for more. When the runners came through, we were supposed to throw our arms around them and wrap their shoulders, although during the peak traffic it basically devolved into people madly snatching them out of my arms as I ran back for more. What made it most exciting, though, was knowing next year I'll be seeing the view from the other side!!

Sarah, Holly, Dave (runner extraordinaire) and Lesley.

Trick or Treat

2007-11-01T22:36:00.000-04:00

Soooooo, sorry I have one more piece of press. Well, I won't promise that, actually. But this op-ed piece from the NYTimes is interesting. I like that it says there are no easy answers, because that's the one thing I've come away with after this first month of work.

Last night was Halloween, and I bought some candy in case we were going to get trick-or-treaters. I'm not sure how that works in New York City with all the apartment buildings, and living in a convent last year certainly didn't give me any insight. Sadly, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters, but I went for a run in neighboring Park Slope and literally had to dodge whole sidewalks full of mini Spidermans and witches. Park Slope is known for its stroller-pushing population anyway, and they were out in full force! It was also cute to see parents and their little kids all sitting on steps of their brownstones waiting to hand out candy.

Oh yes, also this week I went to my first NYC literary event - a reading and book signing of the Storycorps book, Listening is an act of love. I know I've talked about Storycorps before: my friend Grant (whose blog, btw, is listed at right. He's spending a year in Sierra Leon teaching radio and journalism skills) worked there, and I went with two Mercy Center participants last year and made recordings. It's a great program, and at the reading they had people read their own stories that had been published, and there was a not a dry eye in the room. I even got suckered into buying a book, which I've been reading on the train, and thus get off to go to work a little teared up everyday. The book comes out for real on November 9, so look for it in bookstores. And turn to page 277 for Grant's name!

The marathon is drawing near and I'm so excited! And I love the way the whole city gets into it. The subway stations are plastered with a great ad campaign showing scenes from around the city with the slogan, "NYC is my running partner" and picturing various city dwellers in their daily lives handing out water to passing runners. I especially liked this one, with the Hasidic Jews, because that's who I see a lot of in my own neighborhood.

The heat is on

2007-10-28T20:22:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-21T22:23:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-17T22:56:00.001-04:00

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

2007-10-13T00:33:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-08T22:24:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-08T21:10:00.001-04:00

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,

Woohoo!

2007-09-27T18:37:00.000-04:00

So, after a suspenseful wait, I found out I will be working at the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in Prevention. One of my top choices! Yay! I'll let you know more as I find out what I'll be doing, but these are some of the programs I think I will be working on.

PS I just checked out our website and this was recently posted - all the Fellows on the steps of City Hall after our orientation tour. Don't we look like grown-ups? Sorta...

Off to bed to rest up for the first day of real work!

The big day

2007-09-26T23:05:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the big day! We're presenting our scavenger hunt findings and then...da dum, placements! I'm nervous...

Momentous occasions

2007-09-25T19:11:00.000-04:00

So, two momentous occasions have passed by, unmarked. The first, payday! I officially recieved my first check from the great city of New York. That was an exciting moment, and one that came none too soon. The second occasion: the end of interviews! In all, including group, follow ups and individuals, I did 38 interviews. Holy moly. The scariness of ranking my placement choices is over as well, as I turned in my list on Monday. I did a lot of second-guessing, but in the end you just have to turn it in and let it go. We find out our placements on Thursday.

Speaking of interviews, the article I posted last week about Ayn Rand came in handy shortly thereafter. In an interview the next day, I was asked, "What three people, living or dead, past or present, fictional or real, would you choose to have dinner with and why?" Whew, what a question to answer on the spur of the moment! I chose 1. One of my great-grandparents on my dad's side, because the family tree gets pretty shaky pretty quickly, and I would like to know more about where they came from and who they were. Then, since I had just read that article, I invited Ayn Rand and was able to talk intelligently with the interviewers about her life and books. They, incidently, had also read the article, and it turns out one of the interviewers greatly admired her. Point for me! Lastly, I invited Sr. Mary Galeone, my supervisor from last year, because she has the ability to communicate with all different walks of people. I don't need my dinner party to have lots of awkward silences, which I think would be the case with my great-grandfather, Ayn Rand and me sitting around the table...

Incidently, if the dinner was held at the apartment, we would have a table to sit around. Maren, Erika and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea in New Jersey last Saturday to get a dining room table and chairs. I've never been to Ikea, so that experience was fun, but getting our dining room set home on the shuttle bus and subway was a nightmare. Each time I move something in New York I think it is the worst experience ever, but each time it is trumped by the next. It took us almost five hours to get home, and my arms are still sore! Moral of the story: I am never moving ANYTHING ever again.

This week, the Fellows have been divided into teams for a Scavenger Hunt across the five boroughs. So, just when we thought we were done running around the city, we begin anew. Today was fun though, I got to see parts of the Bronx I had never been to, even after working there for a whole year. On the way home, I had my first real celebrity spotting. They were filming the Sex and the City movie at a Starbucks near Astor Place; you could see Sarah Jessica Parker through the window and she also stepped out for a second with what I think was her kid. I'm not sure if it counts as a real celebrity spotting if they are actually filming, but still, it's the closest I've got so I'm going to count it.

That's all for now,

Work, play and sleep

2007-09-20T22:58:00.000-04:00

A photo tour. I finally busted out Ryan's old digital camara that he graciously lent me after the untimely demise of my own. It may weigh ten pounds, but it gets the job done! :-) Here's a quick photo tour of my life thus far...

This is the municipal building, where I work for the time being. Our office is on the 24th floor and has an amazing view. You can't really see the statue at the top, but it is a woman holding a five-point crown (representing the five boroughs) called 'Civic Fame.' I think it's the second largest statue in the city. Sometime I'll get a good picture, but today I was on the way to interview and had to run...
The view from the office!
Back in the hood: The Brooklyn Museum of Art. This is only two blocks from our apartment!
The main Brooklyn Library. Only four blocks away!
Grand Army Plaza. This is the other side of the plaza from the library, and in between is the entrance to Prospect Park. This monument I think is to comemorate the Civil War, but for some reason there is a bust of JFK too. I should find out what's up with that... On Saturdays, there is a farmer's market in the plaza, but I haven't gotten a chance to go yet.
The front entrance to my apartment building. It's called the 'Mille Plaza'...that's how you can tell it's a classy place...

Run the Rock, and other adventures

2007-09-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning I participated in a road race, or sorts. I did the Nike Run the Rock event, which involves running 69 flights of stairs to the top of the Rockefeller Center. It sounds nuts, I know, but it was so much fun! I've never done a stair race before, so I was extremely nervous. I was afraid everyone would be super-serious and in shape, neither of which I am at the moment.It wasn't really at all like I expected; I traveled upward at more like a fast, steady walk. Most of the other people I talked with were doing it for the first time. They started us off in heats of about 15 people. It was strange to be lined up at a starting line and facing a wall of stairs right in front of you. I didn't stop for water at the halfway point, so I ended up completely alone for the second half of the climb. Despite being in a closed stairwell, I still had the absurd thought that maybe I had wandered off course...

It took me 13 minutes and 23 seconds to make it to the top, and the view as you stopped onto the observation was worth every second of it! Finishing to the Empire State building staring at you and a bird's eye view of Central Park was definitely one of a kind. I felt like I had conquered the entire city in just 13 minutes. Also, the post-race party was sponsored by the Rainbow Room, the really fancy restaurant on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center. Apparently they are known for greeting their guests with Bellinis (some sort of drink. I'd never heard of it before, but it was explained to me by a woman who worked in the Rockefeller Center who decided to do the race...). For us, they modified the ritual with a guy in a tux handing out water bottles as you crossed the finish line, and later, Gatorade served in champagne glasses. There was also a huge spread of fresh fruit, bagels, pastries and jelly beans (not sure about the significance of the jelly beans...). It was lots of fun, although I didn't know a single other person. It would have been nice to share the view and moment with someone else, but I made a few new friends.

On Sunday I went to Coney Island with some of my fellow Fellows. The Fellows divide into an interesting mix of people who are new to New York City, people who have lived in New York City but haven't gone to all the classic NYC hotspots, and people from the city who are NYC experts. I think that will make outings fun, because some people are new and others know what they're doing. I, of course, fall somewhere in between. Luckily, this group is almost as frugal (although not quite) as my volunteers, so I think my free and dirt cheap experiences from last year will be useful. Anyway, we met at the boardwalk, ate a lot of fried food and hotdogs, stuck our toes in the water and even rode the ferris wheel! Which was genuinely scary, by the way. Anyway, fun outing and it was nice to see everyone in normal clothes. Business attire is still no fun...

The WonderWheel at Coney Island. Apparently it was built in 1920 and was declared an official NYC landmark in the 1980s.

Atlas Shrugged

2007-09-16T22:21:00.001-04:00

This was an interesting article in the NYTimes about Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Also interesting: NYTimes online has a link to post articles on your blog.

Sept. 11

2007-09-11T21:07:00.000-04:00

Today was Sept. 11 and since I work in lower Manhattan, there were reminders everywhere. My entire building took two moments of silence this morning, and in them, you could hear strains of bagpipes floating up 24 floors from the Police Plaza outside.

Rememberances aside, life bustled on as usual in the city. I had four interviews today (one of which involved dodging through a block-long protest of 9-11 conspiracy theorists to avoid being late) and so far, I've gotten excited about 5 or so of the positions. We have one more day of group interviews, then start the individuals and follow-ups, which should be more intense, since they'll just be one-on-one. We've been inundated with information about city functions and programs. I think I'm very impressed with the Bloomberg administration, although of course I've only heard from its proponents. It seems like he has taken on some of the city's most pressing issues and is making real efforts to combat things like homelessness, poverty, small business development and other such issues. Of course, my roommate Erika, who is a teaching fellow at a school in Brooklyn, sees the downside of his take on education, so there are two sides to every story, I suppose.

Oh, and speaking of interesting things happening on the way to interviews, this made half of us miss almost a complete interview. And we didn't even get to see or ride the cool train. Too bad...

Oh and one more thing: today we got a huge rainstorm and I got to watch it roll in from the 24th floor. It was raining so hard that first the river disappeared, the the far tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, and eventually the whole bridge was enveloped by sheets of pouring and rain and it looked like the world outside the plaza had completely disappeared. It was weird, but beautiful, and watching rain come from the sky and and continue to fall 24 more stories was a dizzying experience.

Anyway, sorry to wax poetic about the weather. Now, it's time for bed once again. Buenas noches,

Weekend in review

2007-09-08T20:49:00.000-04:00

I'd say the first day of interviews went well. My very first one of the day was one my first choice positions, and remained so after the interview. Unfortunately, over 2/3 of the Fellows attended as well, so I'm sure many of them are just as excited. Luckily we have a billion more days of interviews left. It was tough to get from one to another on time, since the appointments were half an hour apart, most of the supervisors ran over their time allotment, and none of us really knew where we were going. By the end of this, I will know lower Manhattan like the back of my hand, however. It's a nice introduction to a part of the city I didn't spend much time in last year. There's no better way to get to know an area than walking it (and getting lost in it...and found again.)

My first full weekend here has been pretty productive. On Friday night, Maren, Erika and I ate at an Indian restaurant in our neighborhood. It felt weird to be sitting in a restaurant like a normal person with the two of them, since we are so used to being volunteers with no disposable income. It was fun! Mm, and tasty... That's one of the things I am looking forward to about not being a volunteer. I'm certainly not going to go crazy or anything, but New York is famous for good cuisine and hopefully I can take advantage of that from time to time. Sunday night I met Naomi, a friend from Westerville, at a restaurant in Park Slope (our affluent and brown-stoned western neighbor) for crepes, and it was also tasty.

Saturday morning, I resumed the road race streak to complete number six of the required nine to qualify for the 2008 marathon. Getting closer! I spent the rest of the day doing things in the neighbhorhood: I walked to the main Brooklyn library (which is huge and majestic and only five blocks from my apartment!) to get a card (I'm now a card carrying member of all five boroughs...), bought a router (internet in my room, coming soon!), went to the hardware store, and finished setting up my room (there was no time during the week; I was sooooo tired after each day). So there you have it. Nothing terribly exciting, but I'm excited nonetheless. Oh, and we managed to get a couch! A dingy couch we found on Craigslist from a sketchy Argentine named 'Fabio,' but a couch nonetheless. We paid $60 for the thing, plus delivery, so the price was right, and it can always be spruced up with a cover. Our living room is finally becoming a common room, with a TV stand, coffee table, kitchen table (sort of - we're using a plastic 'garden table' and wheel in our desk chairs when we want to eat a meal together...) and some lamps. We're well on our way...

Btw, I'm still basically camara-less although I am dying to put up pictures of the neighbhorhood, so hopefully I can get something figured out soon. Photos make life much more interesting.

And our internet is up and running! This this rambling post with many parenthesi. But now, bedtime! Big day with five more group interviews tomorrow.

Have a good one,

2007-09-06T18:31:00.000-04:00

So, the last two days have been much more interesting than the first, although we continued to sit through our fair share of strange lectures, such as what larceny is and how not to commit it, what not to bring through security (they confiscate at least one pair of handcuffs a week...) and how to sign up for 401ks. We've also had some interesting info sessions on things like the city charter and the structure of NYC government. Oh, and today we got to take a tour of City Hall! That was exciting. We got to see the 'bullpen' where the mayor works (he shares his office with his entire staff, and shares a cubicle in the middle of things), although I felt like a third-grader on a field trip, and the "Blue Room" where the televised press conferences are held. We even briefly shared the plaza in front of the City Hall with the mayor as he posed for a picture with some people in hardhats.

BTW, working in politics is not going to be good for me with the whole problem recognizing people thing. I have a feeling I'm going to end up embarrassing myself when I don't recognize someone I should...

Anyway, we had to read the list of over 60 potential placements and pick out at least our top 20. For those placements with many interested Fellows, they schedule group interviews, which seem to be more like info sessions, and then some Fellows will follow up if they are still interested. Tomorrow starts the group interview process, which I think will be a good way to ease into the interviews. It seems we will all be running around like crazy from interview to interview. Unfortunately, I can't say too much about the potential positions, but there are some that sound really cool. I was at least somewhat interested in about half of them, but narrowed my list down to 23. Of those, there are about 5 that I am super excited about. Part of the point of the program is to get a lot of interview experience and exposure to the different city agencies and people, so they encourage us to do as many as we can. To start things off, I have three tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will leave you with some fun facts I've learned about New York City in the past few days:

In the 1840s, herds of pigs roamed Wall Street to consume debris as part of the city's early sanitation efforts
Speaking of Wall Street, it is so named because it was built in place of the original Dutch wall, built for protection, that was torn down to allow northern expansion
NYC has 12,75o miles of sidewalk (enough to stretch halfway around the world) and 6,400 miles of streets

Day One

2007-09-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

I'm a suit and briefcase during subway rush hour - weird. Spent the day filling out a ton of paperwork, learning how to do timesheets, getting finger printed, etc. The view from the 24th floor office is amazing - lower Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge. Fellow Fellows seem nice - went out to lunch with a few, and we ate in the park by City Hall. Most exciting part of the day: getting the packet of potential placements! 1.5 inches thick though, I'd better get reading!

And we're back

2007-09-02T21:26:00.000-04:00

I'm back! I officially moved into my new apartment yesterday, with the very generous help of my parents who drove a full minivan all the way from Ohio (and more, but that's a long story). The apartment is starting to look great, (although my room is still a disaster) but more importantly, it seems to have passed the parental approval test. More details to come, but I don't have internet yet so it might be a few days. My program starts Tuesday so wish me luck!

Happy Labor Day; enjoy the long weekend.

For those worried about safety

2007-08-22T15:59:00.001-04:00

New York City is the safest big city in the U.S.

A change of address

2007-08-22T12:38:00.000-04:00

After much thought, I have moved from Xanga to Blogspot, because Google is much prettier without a whole lot of effort. Hope you like the new look (and can remember the new address - nyminutes.blogspot.com). More to come in September...

For those who missed it, chronicles of my last year as MVC in NYC can be found at www.xanga.com/newyorkminutes.