Here in New York City, there has a budding problem over the years and now it is now in the face of every New York civilian like it or not and that is the homeless. Over the years it seems like some people that walk through the streets could just avoid the occasionally homeless person, but now it is impossible and now it’s time for everyone to take full awareness of this problem.  To show that this is a real problem and only getting worse, after doing some research I found that In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Also that the number of homelessness people living in shelters  is now 75 percent than it was 10 years ago which is really eye opening. 

Compared to other cities, New York has quite a margin over the next city which is Los Angeles. when you compared the two, New York has a 20 thousand lead over Los Angeles. What makes harder for these homeless people to get off these streets and back on their feet and on to try to live a normal life again is the difficulty of getting the help. In the video above, I spoke to two men who are homeless and they both emphasized how hard it is to get help. One of the men Jack described it as ” a million loops to jump through to get help”.

For myself, I feel that the problem lies with the people not doing anything to help out this problem and when they decide to I feel that it will be too late. Coalition for the Homeless does a great job mapping out the data of the homelessness people and providing data for everyone to understand that this problem is not just going to disappear, it will only get worse as time go on.This page provides up-to-date statistics and charts about homelessness in New York City.This page provides up-to-date statistics and charts about homelessness in New York City. Here you can find up-to-date data about New York City’s homeless shelter population, download charts and historical statistics about homelessness in New York City, and find an explanation of data sources.

As I mentioned in the video, I often avoid and ignore the homeless when I go out and I can’t say I will commit to helping them or the situation, but I’m a lot more aware of the problem than I was before I did the research and when I can, I will try to help and pass on the information that I learned to others and maybe they’ll have the same change of opinion as I do now.Personally I feel that too many people do not care enough to make changes because they do not know anyone personally in that position or just not willing to invest time into it. But just like everything else, people will only begin to understand the problem when it begins to effect their lives but by that time it’ll be too late and who knows how bad it’ll be bad by then.

The Queens Community Board 12  is  the second largest in Queens and it covers the largest part of queens which also includes Hollis where I am a resident of.  The other areas include Francis Lewis Blvd. and Springfield Blvd. Growing up in the 1990s up to 2018 in Hollis, I looked up how the population has change throughout the years from 1970 up to 2010. Growing up I saw the growth of the neighborhood rising almost every couple of years and I was shocked when I saw by how much compared to years ago.

As the graph portrays below, the Hollis area took a hit in the 1980s dropping down a couple thousands compared to how it was in the 1970s.  In 1990 it began to recover from the drop off in the 1980s.  Heading into the 2000s , the population was beginning to sky rocket up and all the signs showed that it was going to keep rising as the years went on.

As I mentioned before, growing up in Hollis  while the population was growing made it much more noticeable for myself. New people were moving into the area and new faces began to appear throughout the neighborhood.

I will looking forward to seeing how much the population has grown in the next census taken in 2020. I fully expect the population to have grown much larger than any of the years listed below. This is good for Hollis because the neighborhood has many things to offer to others and will continue to grow as people will enjoy living here. Those include The Jamaica Performing Arts Center and others that people that will enjoy here in Hollis. 

 

 

One of the most anticipated games of this years NBA season ended in a large team scuffle resulting in numerous suspensions. Lebron James debut at Staples Center as a Laker could be scripted in a Hollywood script it seems as tempers flared and players were thrown out.

The NBA has become very strict  on fights on the court since the ” Malice in the Palace”. All the players involved can expect suspensions but the severity of the punishment is on the mind of everyone involved. What can be said though is that the game expectations were met even if this fight did not happen.

Ozier Muhammad is a photojournalist working on the New York Times since 1992. Previously he has worked for Newsday, Ebony magazine and The Charlotte Observer.

In 1985, Muhammad was working with Josh Friedman and Dennis Bell on a series for Newsday called ” Africa, The Desperate Continent” which entails about the drought and famine that were terrorizing the people. For that series Ozier and his group won the Pulitzer Prize along with Ozier winning the Polk Award in News Photography.

Among being recognized for his pictures taken of Harlem in the 1980s, he has some other iconic pictures under his belt. Some of those include Obama’s Campaign , New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and also of Haiti after the earthquake.

Here is some of his work mentioned above. 

A fight sparked in the Upper East Side with about a dozen involved and now the police are now searching for those dozen. It all started when Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes made an appearance at the Manhattan Republican Club and just when him and his group were leaving, they crossed paths with a group of anti-fascists  protesters.Slurs and expletives can be heard in video showing the fight, as men kicked and punched several protesters on the sidewalk. The NYPD released footage Monday showing the altercation from an alternate angle in hopes of identifying the participants.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center says their leaders and members “regularly spout white nationalists memes and maintain affiliations  with known extremists”. As of right now, the police are still searching for multiple members of the Proud Boys group after the brawl.

An article in a New York magazine was that was published in February of 2014 was titled ” Is  Gentrification All Bad” and that gave Spike Lee the opportunity  to speak about all the negative of gentrification in New York City .

Spike was speaking on a Tuesday night not too far from his father’s home proceeded to go on a rant when asked about gentrification. when he was nearly asked a question about “the other side” of the gentrification debate. “Let me just kill you right now,” Lee interrupted, “because there was some bullshit article in the New York Times saying ‘the good of gentrification.’”

Lee has a first hand view of how gentrification can change a neighborhood because he has seen it happened in his very own neighborhood where he grew up as a child. He has been on the record that it is every person’s right to live where they want to but has issues with how the activity and safety improves once white people move in. 

As Lee begins his argument, he compares what he saw growing up in Fort Greene and how it has drastically changed once White people started moving in. “I grew up here in Fort Greene. I grew up here in New York. It’s changed. And why does it take an influx of white New Yorkers in the south Bronx, in Harlem, in Bed Stuy, in Crown Heights for the facilities to get better? The garbage wasn’t picked up every motherfuckin’ day when I was living in 165 Washington Park. P.S. 20 was not good. P.S. 11. Rothschild 294. The police weren’t around. When you see white mothers pushing their babies in strollers, three o’clock in the morning on 125th Street, that must tell you something.”

Now although this is wrong on account of the expenses of living in that area being higher now that others have decided to move into the neighborhood. With that , comes the protection of the police and better schools for all the kids that live there. In order for gentrification  to work , there has to be change in that just not those neighborhoods that White people enter but all neighborhoods around New York City just as the original New York Magazine talks about. “Gentrification doesn’t need to be something that one group inflicts on another; often it’s the result of aspirations everybody shares. All over the city, a small army of the earnest toils away, patiently trying to sluice some of the elitist taint off neighborhoods as they grow richer. When you’re trying to make a poor neighborhood into a nicer place to live, the prospect of turning it into a racially and economically mixed area with ­thriving stores is not a threat but a fantasy. As the cost of basic city life keeps rising, it’s more important than ever to reclaim a form of urban improvement from its malignant offshoots. A nice neighborhood should be not a luxury but an urban right.“‘

Lee who was raised in Fort Greene, has witnessed first hand how his neighborhood has changed over the years. 

 

 

Many firefighters of the FDNY are hurting as one of their own Michael Fahy was killed from a gas leak at an illegal marijuana grow house. Michael was a 17 year veteran and was well respected around the department. During the event, Michael’s family and Mayor De Blasio revealed a street sign in honor of Michael and for the service he provided for so long.  The two men that were in the marijuana growth house, Julio Salcedo and Garivaldi Castillo pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

“… Many have noted that had he stayed with us, had we have the blessings of his presence, there’s a very good chance he would’ve been sitting in one of these chairs not so long from now.” One of the many powerful statements made from de Blasio at the ceremony.

The sounds of bag pipes echoed through the streets in the Bronx as loved ones, firefighters and community members remembered Deputy Chief Michael Fahy.

 

Charmaine Nero is a Brooklyn College alumna, who in August of 2018 joined the Fox 40 news team in Sacramento as a reporter.

Before she starting working in Sacramento, she was working in Little Rock for two years as a multi media journalist and during that period, covered major stories. Those stories include a club shooting, several tornadoes destroying people’s homes among other important stories.

Charmaine is a proud alumna of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in NYC, where she served as president of the Columbia Journalism Association of

I found interest in Charmaine because I also eventually want to reporting in California and now that I’m in Brooklyn College just like Charmaine, I hope that my path will eventually lead me going to California for reporting.

Former Brooklyn student now Alumni Renee Saff speaks on how Kosher is changing in the year of 2018. In the short clip below, Renee gives details on how the owners of Kosher restaurants are changing and becoming more modern. I personally never been to a Kosher restaurant, but after watching the full video, I hope in the near future to go one and experience for myself the food and the culture. 

 

Nike has revealed its 30th anniversary featuring  highly controversial former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

 

On the eve of the start of the NFL season, Nike  revealed their  new commercial ad celebrating their 30th year anniversary featuring Colin Kaepernick as they reveal to the world that they will continue to support Kaepernick and are behind him as he goes on to fight against police brutality. Hours after Nike has released this ad, numerous videos was posted on social media of people burning their Nike product.

Kaepernick, who has been out of the NFL since 2016 has filed a grievance case against the NFL owners claiming that most teams are refusing to give him a job because of the stance he holds on social injustice. In the ad, Kaepernick’s slogan in this  is ” Believe in something Even if it means sacrificing everything”. This is something Kaepernick firmly believes in as he began kneeling down in protest during the National Anthem bringing attention to social injustice.

Nike’s stock had begun to take a hit during the first release of  the ad on the night of the NFL season  but ever since then, their stock and popularity has been on the rise. This move by Nike is showing that they know Kaepernick high popularity with the younger people. With Nike’s other superstar athletes supporting Kaepernick like Lebron James and Serena Williams who is also mentioned in the ad, Nike is taking a stance that is attractive to young people and will see their popularity continue to rise.

Nike has taken what others company seems to be a huge reach when in fact, this was the best thing that Nike could have  done and this will impact their company in a positive way in years to come. Even though they have lost some they have gained so much more.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/14/news/companies/nike-kaepernick/index.html