Sharon Grossman

Sharon Grossman

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Posts by Sharon Grossman

Touring Harlem

0
11 years
by in Neighborhood Visits

It’s pretty amazing how little I knew about the rich history of Harlem, especially since I’ve spent months living here. I enjoyed the entire tour, but two moments stood out most to me.

The first was when our group stood before a seemingly uninteresting Popeye’s. This Popeye’s used to be the Big Apple Nightclub — the place to party roughly fifty years ago. I could just imagine the fabulously dressed people walking in and out of an old-timey club. It’s pretty crazy how quickly neighborhoods change and evolve. Plus, I’m sure a tour group standing in front of a Popeye’s was a bizarre sight for any pedestrians walking past.

The second moment was when we visited Strivers’ Row, or two blocks of gorgeous Brownstones. I thought it was unbelievable that when they were first put on the market, in the early 20th century, out of 140 homes that were built less than twenty sold. However, even then these homes were for the wealthier New Yorkers, hence the name Strivers’ Row. It seemed out of place in the relatively lower-middle class neighborhood. And as my fellow classmate said, quite dreamily, “Imagine if these were CCNY’s frat houses.”

Pregnancy Woes

0
11 years
by in Blog posts, Immigration Stories

I found the Eyes on Bangladesh to be a a stunning visual display of a world we would have otherwise never experienced. It’s hard to imagine life that is entirely different than the way we live here in the States, but the exhibit gave us an elegant peak into lives that were quite removed from Western influence. The part that I found most intriguing was the set of photos that documented birth in a small town in Bangladesh. I suppose it surprised me the most because I — quite ignorantly — assumed that all births occurred in hospitals. With our well-endowed hospitals, pregnancy check-ups, and pregnancy books, birth has become a stylized event. These photographs cut through all of that; they portray birth as raw, painful, and dangerous. There is nothing controlled here, and it gives these photos a sense of realness.

This exhibit also reminded me of the overwhelming inequality of the world. So many people live in poverty, without access to basic necessities (such as hospitals, pain medication for the birth, etc), and no one seems to do anything about it. To be completely honest, I don’t know how to approach such disparity. How can we get the supplies impoverished people of other countries need when we can’t take care of our own? The economic divide in this country gets steeper every year, and it seems that the wealthiest do all that is in their power to maintain the status quo. Of what value is our awareness if we are essentially incapable of helping? How can we be the country with a saving-others complex when our Supreme Court has made it even easier to buy elections? Do we even have a voice?

A Bleak Venture

0
11 years
by in Blog posts, Immigration Stories

My primary reaction to the documentary Golden Venture was disgust and shame. This country was founded by immigrants, yet we treat some of our immigrants as though they’re scum. The story this film told absolutely horrified me. Immigrants so desperate to escape their home country that they spent $30,000 and suffered through a year-long boat ride in order to  get here were treated like convicts. Half were deported immediately. The other half, after four years in prison, were given parole. Not amnesty, not citizenship – parole. 220 of the Golden Venture passengers live in the US. Most of them are trapped in limbo, technically “legal” but still subject to sudden deportation. These people live with the constant fear of deportation, and for what purpose?! Who are these laws protecting? Of the more than 110 passengers who were deported, about 60 have returned to the US illegally. Although they were beaten, jailed, and in some cases forcibly sterilized after they were sent back to China, they have no chance of asylum here in the US. This system is so flawed and outdated yet remains unchanged. I don’t know how we can fix things for undocumented immigrants, but we must do something. Regardless of what some members of congress claim, were all immigrants once.

Size Matters

1
11 years
by in Blog posts, Census Data

What I found most interesting about Mr. Salvo’s presentation was the sheer number of people that reside in New York City. Although I was aware that New York City is the most populous city in the US, seeing its population relative to other large cities was quite striking. New York City is more than double the size of Los Angeles, and four of the five boroughs would have ranked in the list of most populous cities in the US, had they been considered cities.

 

This data helps explain some governance issues that arise in this giant city. The population here is so large and so diverse that making citywide decisions on government spending and services is very difficult. Thus the borough presidents and the city councilmembers must be very much aware of how their constituents’ needs play into the agenda of the entire city.

 

As a fun aside, the population size also explains “borough loyalty.” New Yorkers tend to identify by their borough, not their city (As in, “I’m from Brooklyn,” rather than “I’m from NYC.”). Considering the boroughs size and diversity, such identification makes perfect sense.

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