Most of us recognize Starbucks as one of the most eco-friendly coffee shops in NYC. They have planned initiatives like planting 1 tree per cup of coffee, using recycled material for their cups, and partnering with environmentally friendly farmers to mitigate the effects of climate change. I mean like, even their logo is green.

While Starbucks has become a champion of sustainability, I think they are neglecting the the biggest issue yet – food waste. Today, as I waited 45 minutes for my 4 coffee travelers, I couldn’t help but notice the poorly trained staff who would overfill the shaker and end up pouring the excess milk down the drain. What shocked me more was that other staff did the same exact thing. I began wondering, is this just bad practice at this specific Starbucks shop? Or has it become an institutionalized practice?

I suddenly recall my recent visit to Coco’s, a bubble tea shop right across from Baruch, and remembered how the barista poured out an entire cup of mango slush down the drain because it was the wrong order. Hell, I would’ve taken that drink for free in a heartbeat. But now I realize this isn’t a problem specific to that local Starbucks, or even coffee shops in general. Food waste has become so common that we forget about the hundreds of thousands of children starving in the streets. As a global leader, NYC should set an example to not only protect the environment that we have, but also to sustain it. Food is a finite resource that has a much better destination than the sewers.

Let’s start by defining and differentiating graffiti and vandalism. According to Merriam Webster, graffiti is usually unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface. Vandalism, on the other hand, is best defined as willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property. Well, doesn’t that sound awfully similar? In my opinion, graffiti is a form of vandalism, regardless of the artists’ intentions. If it’s not authorized, it is vandalism.

Don’ get me wrong, I fully support the freedom of expression through artistic approaches.  I wouldn’t mind having Van Gogh’s Starry Night spray painted on my door, but who would want obnoxious white gang symbols or random people’s names on my door? So should we just ban all graffiti?

Yes we should. Again, graffiti is a form of vandalism. Nobody should support a culture of defacing public or private property. But should we ban all spray painted art? Definitely not. I think art is fundamental to NYC culture and graffiti is certainly a part of it. In fact, art sustains much of the cultural diversity that our city is known for. In order to continue this tradition, we should allow some of these spray painters to express their artistic opinions. We already have art programs that support public art within NYC parks. We should continue to condone graffiti while expanding public art programs to embrace spray painted art.

This is another picture taken in my neighborhood, just around the corner of my block. And it’s not just this block, it’s becoming so common that I would sometimes trip on these sidewalks. For disabled individuals, particularly those who are visually impaired, this may pose a real threat. They can potentially trip while a car is approaching,.

This is an issue that concerns the resiliency of our city. The Department of Transportation should direct some of their focus on these sidewalks. Instead of replacing the concrete periodically, they could use hardened plastics as they are more resilient to severe weather. It is also cheaper to produce and install than traditional concrete. I believe the key to resiliency and sustainability is not increasing the budget or manpower, but to develop creative solutions that are financially feasible as short and long term goals.

We all know that the primary reason behind train delays are those rude New Yorkers who force the door open (myself included) so that they won’t be late to work. Each of these incidents add like three seconds to the delay, and it starts to add up when it happens multiple times at every station. But more importantly, the trash (or objects) left on the tracks are responsible for much of the delay that we experience. In July of 2017, there was a track fire in Upper Manhattan D line, resulting in a complete halt to the D line and caused several people to suffer from smoke inhalation. Throughout 2016, there were 707 fires caused directly by excessive trash on the tracks. This is much worse than just some people holding the doors because it stops an entire line until the incident is resolved. It may take minutes, but it can also take hours. As a city striving to become a more sustainable and resilient home, I think we should direct more of our focus on transportation. According to the MTA, New Yorkers ride the MTA 5.65 million times daily. If, on average, a New Yorker rides the MTA twice per day, then nearly a quarter of NYC population rides the MTA daily. And let’s be honest, we experience these delays everyday.

Interesting statistics on the effect of MTA delays:

The Human Cost of Subway Delays: A Survey of New York City Riders

Before:

After:

A decade ago, who would’ve thought that the Sunset Park/Bay Ridge area would be gentrified. I certainly didn’t think so but I am clearly wrong. Most of our neighborhood consists of low-income families who cannot afford these luxurious condos. So then why would real estate developers choose this area to renovate?

The answer is quite simple actually. Not everyone is poor. While the impoverished population is certainly growing faster than the middle and upper class, the rich are only getting richer. They need somewhere to live and Manhattan is running out of space. So they begin developing in less wealthy neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Sunset Park.

The rent at this luxury apartment starts at ~$2000 for a studio sized apartment and can go up to $4500 for a premium suite. Even the most affordable studio costs more than twice the average rent in my area. As more of these apartments are built, rent prices will rise to the point where living costs become unsustainable.

But gentrification isn’t really all that bad. The problem is that these real estate developers are all private. Many of them refuse to participate in NYC’s affordable housing program. Thus, restricting these luxury apartments only the wealthy. If all of these newly developed apartments can somehow accommodate the lower classes as well, we would see more of the modernization that gentrification brings to our communities over the social and economic divide.