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Zuccotti Park and “Occupy Wall Street”: Public Space Amidst A Growing Storm of Discontent

By: Alexander Alvarado, Jose Sabal, Stacy Wang

Imagine you’re walking up New York City’s Broadway on a Saturday morning to get breakfast at the nearest café. As you make your way towards Cedar Street, you hear a few voices around the corner that are louder than usual. In fact, it sounds like many voices; you guess twenty or thirty people. You’re anxious to see what is going on up ahead, so you walk a little faster. The sounds get louder as you near the end of the block. Turning the corner, you can hardly believe what you see.

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Soup Kitchens Support the Homeless Population in NYC

Privately Owned Public Spaces in NYC

Bike Safety in NYC

The Future of Bike Lanes in NYC: Will the Motorist-Cyclist War Ever End?

By: Jennifer Ganeles, Christopher Pringle, and Naomi W

On January 1, 2014, thousands of people gathered in the frigidweather to watch the inauguration of Mayor Bill de Blasio at City Hall. After a total of twelve years under the administration of Michael Bloomberg, New York’s most powerful politicians and celebrities stood alongside supporters in anticipation as de Blasio promised to “march toward a fairer, more just, more progressive place.” The day was a memorable one, as it marked the beginning of a new era for New York City.

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The Evolution of Bikes and Bike Lanes

By: Jennifer Ganeles, Christopher Pringle, and Naomi W

With spring in full swing and summer fast approaching, there is a buzz of excitement in the air as more and more New Yorkers are finally emerging from their winter hibernation. Just walk outside your stuffy office or classroom and take note of the large increase in people enjoying the outdoors. You might notice more commuters walking to their destinations, more children playing happily in the park, or more joggers whizzing by with water bottles in hand.

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So You Want To Have A Street Fair...

Street Fairs Need Fixing

By: Iesha Clement, Gaby Deane, Marina Nebro, and Cassandra Price

Walking down a street in New York City and happening upon a street fair is like happening upon a treasure. A regular street corner is transformed into a charming little fair filled with cheap purses, jewelry, lemonade, and food. Street fairs give us the opportunity to do something different without going too far from home. People are frequently caught off guard when they turn the corner on the way to their destination and find themselves in the middle of a street fair. It forces them to break with regular habits, and bring a bit of unexpected fun. A stroll has been turned into a half an hour’s worth of enjoyment with family and friends. Until you go to more than one.

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March On

By: Iesha Clement, Gaby Deane, Marina Nebro, and Cassandra Price

Judge Duffy, the judge of the 1993 court case Ancient Order of Hibernians V. Dinkins said of the exclusion of Irish gays and lesbians in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade: “ I cannot envision a Parade put on by any organization that would restrict its participants solely to those individuals who have never sinned. Such a gathering surely would be quite small in number, and those who would hold themselves out as entitled to participate most likely would be hypocrites.” Today, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization is still struggling to obtain the right to march under their own banner in the Manhattan St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

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POPS-Hopping in Midtown Manhattan

By: Alexander Alvarado, Jose Sabal, Stacy Wang

Walking on the busy streets of Manhattan, you may come across an unusual scene of New York pedestrians leisurely lounging around, perhaps reading or having coffee. It can sometimes be accompanied by an atypical amount of greenery and copious seating arrangements. These scenes usually take place in small nooks and crannies in the city and may seem like an odd, but welcoming contrast to the otherwise gray and utilitarian streets of New York. The nooks and crannies described are likely to be public parks and squares, but it is also just as likely for these spaces to be private property. These are quite simply referred to as privately owned public spaces (also known as POPS).

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Scales of Justice: Balance Security and the Public/Freedom

By: Benjamin Goldman, Matthew Gomm, and Wynton Lewis

While it may sound like a utopian ideal, when asked to imagine the perfect public space, one might imagine an area that is freely accessible to everyone, and an area which is safe. Including everyone in a public space, however, means also including the people who may have malicious intentions. Security in a given area must be properly implemented so that an area can remain public, but remain safe as well. But, one might wonder, why is security necessary in a public space?

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Arresting Dilemma: Stopping Stop and Frisk?

By: Benjamin Goldman, Matthew Gomm, and Wynton Lewis

The Bill of Rights in the 4th amendment guarantees protection against unreasonable search and seizure. However, the citizen has a reasonable expectation that the government will protect them against crime. Problems arise when these two basic expectations collide on the streets of our city. Should law enforcement have the power to interrogate and search any suspicious characters (however that may be defined), maximizing security at the expense of personal liberty? Or should the law only intervene when criminal activity is undeniable, thereby reacting to circumstances that may have been preventable. Such constitutional conflicts often find their way to the Supreme Court.

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Stop and Frisk Statistics

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The Homeless: An Invisible Society

By: Serinna Bradfield, Corin Greene, Marilyn M, Deborah Watman

On the corner of 8th avenue and 42nd street, the familiar sound of coins tinkling against a tin can are heard. The white, middle aged smiling man holding this can is named Al. He is homeless and asks all who pass by for help. Al is happy to talk and explain his living situation. He has not had a permanent residence for ten years, but still, “I am not homeless” is what he will tell you. The sleepless streets of New York City are his home, the people who pass by and share those streets are his neighbors. “You are all my community,” he says.

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Homeless Population and Soup Kitchens

By: Serinna Bradfield, Corin Greene, Marilyn M, Deborah Watman

Leroy, a forty-year-old soup kitchen guest simply says, "I was hungry, somebody told me about this place, and I came.” Erin was “rejected, and lonely” and came because she was hungry and “the food here is great. ” Michael is a former alcoholic and homeless, Susan is an unemployed single mother of five, and Walter is a poet. All of them have walked down 9th avenue in the Chelsea Area and stopped to wait on the long line of people eager to enter the Holy Apostles Church. They are not looking to pray or connect spiritually. Leroy, Erin, Michael and Susan probably do not believe in the same religion or God. But as they wait on this long line, all of their stomachs are rumbling.

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Shaping the Future of NYC

Professor Naomi Adiv
Macaulay Honors College
Queens College