To: Professor Samantha MacBride
From: Derek Ku
Date: Apr 15, 2013
Re: Annotated Bibliography
Venugopal, Arun. 2011. “WNYC News Blog – Census Pinpoints City’s Wealthiest, Poorest Neighborhoods.” WNYC. http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/dec/08/census-locates-citys-wealthiest-and-poorest-neighborhoods/?utm_source=sharedUrl&utm_media=metatag&utm_campaign=sharedUrl.
Venugopal highlights one of the lowest income neighborhoods in New York City that is located in South Bronx and provides socioeconomic statistics presented over a map of New York City. He goes on to highlight the opposite side of the spectrum in Upper East Side where the median income is over $200,000. I find it fascinating that the poor live immediately a couple blocks away from the affluent in Midtown West. The geographical data presented on the median income level map allows me to understand how the wealth is distributed amongst the five boroughs of New York City and the neighboring states. In regards to storm water management and power blackouts, I will be exploring how quickly a neighborhood recovers after these disasters. I will examine how this hastens because of neighborhood cooperation or exacerbates from rioting, theft, or arson. The closer the neighborhoods are to the lower water levels and parks, the higher the median income.
Tingle, Alex. 2013. “Flood Maps.” Accessed April 15. http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=43.3251,-101.6015&z=13&m=7.
Tingle, an experienced software engineer utilizes geographical data and water levels to create a map that displays which areas of land will be submerged in water as the water level rises. I will be observing how water level affects the amount of risk a neighborhood is in and how each neighborhood handles the surplus storm water. I have also noticed a trend between the distance from the coast and the increasing median income. This is due in part to rising real estate prices along 12th Avenue and York Avenue, with exception to the Lower East Side which is rent controlled, or rent stabilized. Another point of interest that I discuss is how TriBeCa and the West Village dealt and recovered from Hurricane Sandy as opposed to the residents in the Lower East Side and East Village. Both neighborhoods suffered a huge drawback due to the water damage, but both handled the situation drastically different.
“Population – New York City Department of City Planning.” 2013. Accessed April 16. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/demo_maps_2010.shtml.
In the NYC 2010 Census, I will be observing how dense each neighborhood is and provide insights on the quality of life in the neighborhoods by comparing it with the water level and median income level. The Upper West Side and Upper East Side are highly populated yet the median income is relatively high due to all the luxury apartments, brownstones, and townhouses. People also have access to Central Park, the East River and Hudson River respectively, which makes these neighborhoods exorbitantly expensive. On top of that, Upper East Side and Upper West Side are both situated on fairly high ground.
“Hurricane Sandy: New Jersey, New York Still Struggle With Power Outages.” 2012. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/hurricane-sandy-new-jersey-york-power-outage_n_2113856.html.
Over 8 million customers lost power during the storm and over hundreds of thousands of customers lost power days after Hurricane Sandy, demonstrating the lasting effects of the Hurricane on power in New York City and the surrounding areas. Electric infrastructure got damaged to the point where they could not access electricity even if it was available to their neighborhood. The power outage in densely populated areas hurt homes and businesses alike. Most of the densely populated neighborhoods such as Lower East Side, East Village, and West Village were hit. Queens’ Breezy Point and Long Island were hit the hardest due to lack of infrastructure and population density.
“SoPo: The Coining of a Neighborhood Name.” 2013. The Atlantic Wire. Accessed April 16. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/11/sopo-coining-neighborhood-name/58639/.
Due to the power outage, New Yorkers banded together to form a temporary neighborhood called South of Power. On a social standpoint, where everyone formerly went to barhop and enjoy nightlife, now became a place where everyone dreaded. In a city overrun with real estate professional whom coin acronyms and nicknames for neighborhoods, South of Power was ironically created to unite the neighborhoods and boost morale amongst the residents. It was not an uncommon occurrence to see folks in the Lower East Side without access to clean water resort to fire hydrants and clearing supermarkets for supplies. People stocked up on food and water, expecting the effects of Sandy to last for more than just a couple days. A loss of power became the cause of crowds huddling around Starbucks for Free wi-fi and Chase Banks for outlets. In a bleak, powerless portion of New York City, it’s citizens created a symbol euphemistically embracing the grit and struggle that New Yorkers endured during and after Hurricane Sandy.
“Phone Charging Stations Pop up Around NYC in Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy | Digital Trends.” 2013. Digital Trends. Accessed April 16. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/nyc-pop-up-charging-stations-help-hurricane-victims-power-up-their-phones/.
Electricity runs a city. Without power, millions of New Yorkers were left unable to utilize their phone to contact family and family. As observed by some media outlets, New Yorkers took up extremes to even bike on a stationary bicycle that cranked a generator, charging multiple phones. In response to New York’s lack of mobile electrical infrastructure, Brightbox, a Brooklyn based startup creates mobile charging stations which charges a $2-4 fee per usage. The need began after the founder, Adam Johnson saw the crowded in residential and hotel lobbies. After its installation in front of the Ace Hotel, it has charged over thousands of phones. Other issues still remain; a lack of Wi-Fi connection would render tablets and phones without service useless as a mode of communication in a disaster. Brightbox provides a temporary solution to a small portion of Manhattan. In the coming years, New York will need these charging stations spread out amongst the city to combat disasters that might occur in the future.
“Thousands of Con Edison Customers Lose Power Due to Hurricane Sandy Through New York City and Westchester County.” 2013. NY Daily News. Accessed April 16. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/69-000-power-nyc-westchester-article-1.1194870.
Con Edison threatened to shut down its operations because the storm surge would “flood the underground electrical delivery system.” New York’s electrical infrastructure has not prepared for a flood of this magnitude. Hurricane Sandy brought record-breaking water levels. Our poor stormwater management infrastructure provided New York with only drains and grates that would allow excess water to flow back into the tunnels below the city. Power was cut from lower Manhattan, because ConEd deems the pipes to be explosive if inundated with cold sea water. The seawater threatened to burn out the equipment which would have made repairs a lot slower.
