DRAFT Version – due 10.18

An Open Letter to NYC Museums

mirilieber

Dear NYC Museums,

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved to visit museums with my family. When my parents had off from work, we would make our trek into the city, with destinations such at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Natural History in mind. And why not? Even though we live out in Long Island, the infinite artistic wealth of knowledge and creativity displayed in these museums are just a train ride away, readily available, many even free of charge. My mother would whip up a quick lunch, and we’d head out to the city after eating. The trip was about an hour or two, but by the time we got there, it always felt like longer. There was always that anticipation build-up, and I never had great time perception as a kid.

What I did notice, though, was that we would only spent a few short hours at the museum, which was barely enough time to scratch the surface of the place. It wasn’t because we wanted to leave, I could have wandered around aimlessly for hours, even as a kid. But alas, as soon as meal time rolled around, so did our departure.  We would leave the museum, and then begin our hunt for affordable Kosher restaurants nearby.

You see, I am an Orthodox Jew. My family, along with other Jewish families, only eat food that is clearly labeled as “Kosher”. According to Jewish law, Jews can only eat foods fitting certain requirements. Food that is served in the cafeterias in NYC museums do not meet these specific regulations, therefore Jews are not allowed to consume any of it.

The problem isn’t that Kosher food is unavailable in museum cafeterias. It would be unfair to expect that non-Jewish people not partake in the foods that they enjoy, especially with us Jews being a minority group in such a culturally diverse city. I’m not bothered at all by the cafeterias, and don’t believe that museums are responsible to cater to each individual’s dietary restrictions. The real issue, in my opinion, is the policy forbidding outside food from entering NYC museums.

On the FAQ page of the American Museum of Natural History’s website, they say that while no outside food is allowed to be brought into the museum, the food court has “food for every taste”. This statement is simply false, as my religious beliefs prohibit me and my family from consuming anything substantial in their cafeteria.

I do understand that the cafeterias are a large source of income for museums, and that a change in policy would definitely impact the food court’s revenue. Families may decide to skip the heavily overpriced food, and instead pack with them. Bringing food, though, is a major inconvenience to whoever gets stuck carrying it, especially if they are planning on spending multiple hours exploring the museum itself. I would like to argue that even if the outside food ban were to be lifted, people would still be purchasing their meals from the cafeterias. Nobody would voluntarily drag around a bag weighed down with food for multiple hours unless it would be of necessity, whether that necessity be religious or even financial.

Just this past winter, my family was planning on spending a day off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We left early in the morning in order to maximize our time at the museum, because if you’ve ever been to the MET, you’d know that it’s impossible to cover even a fraction of its exhibits in one visit. We decided to pack sandwiches, hide them in our bags, and hope for the best. We arrived at the entrance just as the museum was opening its doors, and jumped in line with the other visitors. Upon reaching security, they shuffled our bags around, and found our lunches. My father explained that we kept Kosher, and there was no other food fit for us to eat inside of the museum. The security guard wasn’t budging, and gave us two options- either to throw the food in the trash, or eat it outside.

We ate our lunch on the steps outside that day, in the freezing cold, at 10am. And then left the museum just a few short hours later.

Miri Lieber

An Open Letter to the Miss New York Teen USA Pageant

sterlinglipscomb

To the Miss New York Teen USA Pageant:

I remember the excitement of receiving your first letter very well, the shaking hands and tears because I thought “wow, I’m actually beautiful” for what felt like the first time. Then, it was all downhill from there. When I ran into my mom’s room to tell her, I felt so confused. Why wasn’t she jumping with joy? Why didn’t she start crying too? Why wasn’t this moment like every teen drama I’d ever seen?

“They send that to every girl, don’t let them fool you” is what she said to me. And suddenly, I understood. You did not handpick me, I was not subjected to scrutiny of my Instagram or Facebook or other public photos, I was not, for lack of a better term, special. I was a naïve, young girl, with good social/economic standing, that you could use to benefit your organization through material and advertisement-based means. I would be lying if I said my confidence did not take a hit there, it was a harsh reality for someone who was looking for anything to make them feel desired. Simply put, it hurt. A lot, actually.

Currently, there are a lot of problems I have with you and I know there are a lot of problems other people have with you as well. Some of them have to do with my own insecurities as a female, exploiting young women for their physical appearance, and pretending you are not after the money of young women who want approval/validation of their appearance. Look, we all know you want a pretty face to represent you, so why act like the interview process is really going to account for much? You’re making yourself look bad by pretending to be decent.

As of this moment, I am writing to you on behalf of all New York state young women with no money to pay your entry fee and a clear understanding that what you determine is beautiful is the only thing that matters in your competition. Why else would physical appearance account for 2/3 of the judging process?

First of all, I have been receiving your unwarranted advertisement that claims I have been “chosen” to participate in your competition, for years now. If this were not a school assignment and I were not supposed to be handling this professionally, I would use a much less mature word for male cow feces to describe my present feelings towards the letters. The only reason I’m receiving your letters is because of the public information you have been able to acquire about me. You know nothing about me, you are only trying to get my money. This is clear by the entry fee you charge to compete.

“Oh, but the entry fee is covered by the scholarships!” Yeah, they are, if I win. And if I don’t win? I owe you money that I may not have. Some girls who receive these letters become so filled with hope, believing they have been handpicked by an elite group of people who looked through their photos or know who they are, and they run in to compete, regardless of whether they have the money or not, because they think they have a real chance at winning, because you lead them to believe that they are truly special in terms of this competition. Of course, these girls may win, and I do not mean in any way that they do not have the ability to. But, the fact that you use such careful words like “chosen” and “we invite you to compete” can give girls false hope.

Furthermore, if I manage to get enough sponsors to pay my way into the competition, maybe even a little extra, you take all of the money. Yeah, I looked through your FAQ, I am doing my research. I am not blindsided with rose-colored glasses about being “chosen”, you are after the money I can make for you. If I make enough money for you, I get “material items” that will help me win the competition, like dresses, haircuts, accessories, make up, etc. So, what about the girls who do not get those benefits, who barely scrape by with the fee? Are they not at a disadvantage?

Secondly, you are still telling women what they must wear in order to be considered beautiful. A young woman who showed up in sweatpants during the competition for the “athletic wear” portion, regardless of how beautiful/charismatic/lively/amazing she may be, will not win, because the judges cannot determine how “physically fit” she is with baggy clothes on. That’s actually disgusting. By walking out onto that stage, my female peers are subjecting themselves to being sexualized. Nobody sees the interview portion except the judges, nobody knows what the girls’ personalities are like when they are not trying to put on a show for a competition, nobody knows who they are other than a pretty face in tight fighting leggings and a sports bra, or evening gown. How can you claim that “Anyone can compete, there is no perfect body type” and then blatantly contradict yourself by saying, “You are being judged on how healthy and physically fit your body is”? Sure, overweight girls can compete, but they probably will not win.

Here is the problem with that: According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2013-14, 1 in 6 children from ages 2-19 were considered obese1. In New York state, excluding NYC, 35% of students in middle/high school are obese2 and, including NYC, a third of children/adolescents are either obese or overweight. But, every time I look at photos from a Miss New York Teen USA pageant, I don’t see a girl above an average BMI for every three average or under BMI girls. I see: skinny, skinnier, little bit of body, and skinny again. Our nation is not made up of skinny girls, stop making women who do not meet your definition of beauty feel inadequate.

So, here’s what I propose: get rid of this contradictory “every body type is beautiful, but you have to be physically fit/healthy to be competitively beautiful” mentality and stop baiting girls into competing without telling them what exactly they are getting into. Tell them what the entry/registration/sponsorship fees are right up front in the letter you send. Stop pretending that you are representative of every young woman in New York; you are very clear throughout your website that obese/overweight women who do not meet your standard of fit are not going to be able to progress very far. I find your hypocrisy incredibly unfair, as I’m sure a lot of other young women do.

Your competition has the potential for acceptance of all body types, you say that you believe all body types are beautiful and that there is no perfect body type, yet you exclude so many young women because their body type does not fit the competition. How can you continue to ignore this constant contradiction? If you allowed all young women to compete, gave all of them a fair chance, your competition would be so much more appealing and it would help encourage young women who are not fit to love themselves. You could be an immense force for good in the world, for those young women. Instead of telling them how they should look and scorning them for how they do look, you could teach them to be happy with who they are and how they look. You could show that you don’t have to be under a certain size of dress to be beautiful.

Personally, I think that would encourage a lot of young women to take care of themselves. When a woman is told she will never surpass a certain point because of her weight, one is not only degrading everything she could be just based on a physical feature that may not be completely in her control (google search hypothyroidism, it’s a real issue), but also, potentially, destroying her self-confidence/self-esteem. This can leave a lasting impact, psychologically, which could lead to alcoholism, drug abuse, and/or mental disorders, like depression and body dysmorphia. But, if you tell a woman she can succeed, regardless of her weight and body, she will be more likely to try. Not only would this satisfy your pageant’s extravagance by bringing in more participants, the entire competition would be more diverse and exciting to watch because now there is an element of the real world in it.

I hope you understand my frustration with your inexplicit body-shaming and gradually mounting expenses, and thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

And, just for the record, every body type IS beautiful in EVERYTHING.

Sincerely,

Sterling Lipscomb

 

References

https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/obesity/

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity

https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Student-Weight-Percent-Obese-by-Grade-Level-Statew/xjsc-2jcc

Open Letter to the New York Times (and other New York media outlets)

dkrule

Dear New York Times,

Where are the women? The journalism profession has been overwhelmingly dominated by men as long as it has existed.  You’re the second biggest newspaper in the country and therefore have one of the biggest voices.  So how is it that 69 percent of the articles that you publish are written by men? How is it that women make up two thirds of journalism graduates but men make up two thirds of newsrooms? Not only that, but the stories that women do end up getting published are more likely to be health and lifestyle, whereas their male counterparts are more likely to get articles published on crime, justice, and world politics.

Why don’t women’s opinions matter to you? Out of your thirteen regular op-ed columnists, only two are women.  Women make up 52 percent of New York City and 48.6 percent of its workforce, so why doesn’t your paper reflect this?  Women in journalism go to the same schools as men, get the same grades, but have to yell twice as loud just to be heard.  When less women get to report, less women’s stories are heard.  And don’t even get me started on female newscasters and the sexual harassment and problems that they face in being taken seriously, but that’s not what this is about.  This is about you, a business that is struggling for readership and looking for ways to reinvent itself.  Why don’t you start at the beginning? If you strive to make all people feel represented and heard, more people will want to listen.

 

Good luck,

DK Rule

 

Sources

http://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/downloads/pdf/gender-briefs-report.pdf

https://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/still-talking-about-it-where-are-the-women/

https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists

 

Open Letter , Bronx Zoo

shyc99

Open Letter to THE BRONX ZOO

 

Dear Owners of the Bronx Zoo,

Good Afternoon. My name is Shyann Cooks and when I was younger I wanted to work with animals in college. I attended the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation (an institution from which you often hire your employees) located 15 minutes from your Zoo, 2011 – 2013. Being from the hood, to put it frankly, my friends and I used our school -identification cards to get into the zoo for free. We truly did love the animals and how much they mimicked us (or us them). But those blissful trips soon ended after high school. Without a job and a good reason for our parents, no one was willing to pay the elevating prices. And I lost my connection to the animals. Six years ago, admission to the Zoo was a mere 11 dollars give or take, mainly because for the attractions, such as the carousel, an extra 2 dollars per ride was to be paid. Now, the price is 20 dollars and 5 for the extra experiences, well the only real “experiences”. On top of this, there is an additional 15 -dollar fee when you pass the entry line. So, in total, excluding the likely 30 dollars on those extra rides, 40 bucks to enter a damned zoo?  And no food allowed in the park, so jacked up prices inside to eat? You bet.

Animals hibernate, right? So as a reasonable person I wonder: why do the prices stay so high, when half of the animals aren’t available to be seen? Where’s the compromise? The Bronx Zoo’s revenue for 2016 was approximately 1 billion dollars, which is amazing for the animals (not all of the money goes to them and most of your employees make 9-13 dollars an hour) but what about the people who live there? It’s a tourist attraction after all, so why not have community events? Why not have more accessible discounts?

This is America though. We have a choice not to go to the zoo. We can miss out on the opportunities, say no to our kids. But wouldn’t you agree that the expensiveness should   be backed by safety. To know that my potential 100 bucks isn’t going to be a dreaded memory. Too many animals – dangerous ones- escape every year. Defunct elevators. Poor instructions by employees. Come on! Besides the adults, many of your consumers are children who do not get the protections they should. I’m not saying to wrap the place in bubble wrap, but more child safety would be appropriate. The water where the dolphins are could easily be invaded by a curious toddler. The trails make it easy to get stranded. If you make so much money, why not make it a safer experience? Give the people their money’s worth.

And so, while your love for animals is greatly appreciated, your greed and policies (food) are not. You are located in the South Bronx where almost everyone is in poverty. Where it is inexpensive because businesses know how to compromise. Why do kids have to miss out because it’s not even free for them? Free Wednesdays sound great until you realize one day out of seven translates to a traffic storm where no one actually enjoys the “experience”.

Thank you for reading,

Shyann A. Cooks

Open Letter to Broadway

sarahumstadt99

Dear Broadway,

An icon for all of New York City; your productions are world renowned and widely considered a must see or a must do within someone’s lifetime.  Every person who sees a production benefits tremendously, and every show has something fit to relate to every type of audience.  “On Your Feet” was the musical production of lives of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, and this show had tremendous value to the Latino community, the immigrant community, and it had an incredibly powerful political message as well. One of the most pivotal moments in the play was when Emilio and Gloria attempt to become cross over artists and end up being denied by their record label for being “too Latin.”  At this moment, Emilio defies the record label, and explains his story of coming to America from Cuba.  He explains that he is a citizen, and that he deserves every opportunity that he is willing to work toward; he says “look at my face, whether you know it or not, this is what an American looks like” (Dinelaris).  This show brought the fact that immigrants are the one making America what it is today, and people who come from somewhere else but have made this country their home, are Americans and they have ambition, drive, and dedication.  This show resonated with every person in the audience, and taught crucial lessons.  Along with this, there are important messages in countless other productions.  “Hamilton”, which tells the story of Alexander Hamilton in colonial America, tells the audience that through hard work, any goal can be achieved, no matter the obstacles.  “Dear Evan Hansen” inspires adolescents to be who they truly are, and to never be afraid to stand up for what they believe in, and these are just some of the countless examples of incredibly profound stories across the Broadway stages today.  However, the price of tickets for these productions have skyrocketed to levels that are nearly completely unattainable for many people.  Higher levels of attendance, combined with high levels of tourist and the ever increasing cost of production of these magnificent events is contributing to the highest ticket prices that the city has seen in years. In fact, “theatergoers in New York forked over an average of $103.88 per ticket” (Ng), which is nearly six percent higher than the previous peak price. With prices this steep, how is it  possible for people to see the shows that would inspire them, resonate with them, and foster a love for music and theater.

Since the theatre has so many values for almost every person with a desire to see a show, various options should be implemented so that Broadway can become more accessible.  There number of rush tickets with student discount should be increased, since the prices of these tickets are slightly cheaper and people who live and work in Manhattan have a relatively easier time getting to the theatre during rush hours. An adult ticket should also come with the opportunity to bring one child under the age of twelve for free or highly reduced prices, so that younger people can attend shows that have pertinent messages and begin to develop a love and appreciation for music and theatre. Lastly, I believe that prices for ticket packages should be heavily reduced.  Some of my most cherished high school memories were trips with the school band to see Broadway shows, however, this past school year they were unable to find a show with reasonable group ticket prices.  Adolescents and students should have the most access to the lessons, messages and overall impact that a Broadway production has and one of the best ways to truly glean all of these is to attend a show with peers and educators.  Group ticket prices should be lowered to facilitate the ability for more schools to attend the productions.

To conclude, the theatre that is up to the caliber of Broadway has endless value to every person who sees a show, but the sharp increase in average ticket price is making it nearly impossible for the general public to seethe shows that would give so much back to them.  I believe that certain measures, such as lower group ticket rates, the addition of a free of reduced price child ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket, and an increase in morning rush tickets would increase the availability of the value of theatre to many more people.

 

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-broadway-ticket-prices-20140610-story.html

 

https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/broadway-tickets-expensive/