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?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Pomp and Circumstance
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,
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,
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Time for tea, and celebrity spotting #2
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!
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!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bullet-proof vest and all
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?
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?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Googlegängers
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...
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...
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