Although fans had the opportunity to watch American singer Sabrina Carpenter perform for free at the Prudential Center in Newark, the actual price of their attendance became exceedingly clear: they were used as props. From the audience perspective, it may seem like the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) occurs at the same time as the pre-show, which contains over an hour of celebrity performances and interviews. In reality, major portions of the pre-show are filmed several days prior, as uncovered by a reporter’s visit.

Such was the case for Carpenter, who was this year’s major pre-show performer alongside NLE Choppa. Carpenter’s medley of her songs “Feather” and “Nonsense” was shot on the evening of September 9th, three days before the actual VMAs. Edited footage of her performance was aired alongside other pre-show content on September 12, some of which was streamed live via the MTV Youtube channel.

The attendants of Carpenter’s performance, which numbered far lower than her usual large-scale concerts, are visible in the official video. The majority of the audience gained tickets through 1iota, an agency that offers exclusive passes to shows and musical events. The tickets were available in different tiers, with priority members checking in before the general audience, and given spots closest to Carpenter, directly behind the stage. The hall was modestly sized, and decorated with disco balls and red lights.

Several audience members managed to obtain tickets the previous night. “I was shocked when I got the email,” said Jayla, who declined to give her surname. “I had applied through 1iota just the day before.”

The official video, which features Carpenter’s vocals and choreography, gives the impression that it was taken in one shot, which is not the case. In fact, Carpenter was directed by the staff to perform multiple times, with the final take culminating in an explosion of heart-shaped confetti.

“I had no idea they’d do that many takes,” said an anonymous fan. “On TV, it looks so natural.”

Audience members were also given signs showing support for Carpenter, with some posters featuring popular lyrics from her songs. The fans nearest to Carpenter were instructed to raise their signs at specific times, while the general audience was repeatedly asked to provide thunderous applause.

The crowd was given the additional opportunity to stay past Carpenter’s performance and partake in a promotional video for Toyota, in partnership with MTV and Colombian artist Shakira. Audience members gathered outside with a group of Toyota cars and were handed posters and sweatshirts emblazoned with Shakira’s face. Although the crowd was initially excited for the event, with several people even leaping forward to grab MTV signboards, they quickly grew frustrated at how many takes were required of them.

“They’re not even paying us!” quipped one attendant, who joked with her friends that this was unpaid labor.

Jayla, who also chose to stay for the Toyota promo, even removed her boots at one point, saying, “I couldn’t take it anymore, my feet hurt so much.”

Not only was the crowd forbidden from keeping any merchandise, but the director also publicly chastised one audience member for appearing lackluster on camera. She took him by the shoulders and said, “I know you’re tired from standing so long, but I need you to show more energy for me, okay?”.

The crowd could not access their phones until after the event, as they were required to lock their devices in Yondr pouches. These pouches are openable only by staff members, and are meant to keep audience members ‘present’ during live music.

“I talked to some people who’ve gone to 1iota events before, and this is the worst it’s ever been,” said Jayla. “It was just so disorganized. I don’t think I’d attend a pre-show event again unless it was someone I really cared about.”

Documentarian Stanley Nelson discussed the footage, subject matter and memory of “Attica,” his film about one of the deadliest incidents in American prison history, at his alma mater, City College on Feb. 24.

Nelson is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director of numerous documentaries on the African American experience. “Attica,” his latest film, with Traci A. Curry, examines the infamous 1971 prison uprising in which 33 prisoners and 10 guards died. The film premiered at the opening night of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, on the exact date that the riot began, September 9th, 2021.

On September 9th, 1971, inmates rose up over cruel and inhumane treatment, overcrowding, censorship of letters and obscene living conditions that limited them to one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper each month. The prisoners seized control of the maximum-security correctional facility known as Attica, in upstate New York.

Eventually, state police retook most of the prison, but 1,281 prisoners occupied an exercise field called D yard, where they held 39 prison guards and employees hostage for four days, while they negotiated their demands.

Many Attica prisoners began to perceive themselves as political prisoners rather than convicted criminals.

When negotiations stalled, New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the police made the decision to launch a disastrous raid on September 13th. On that day, a helicopter dropped tear gas from the sky — as state police rushed the yard and fired 3,000 rounds — killing 10 hostages and 29 inmates. By the time the uprising was over, 43 people were dead.

Felicia Harden, filmmaker and Professor at City College interviewed Nelson about the editing process of “Attica,” and asked him about the use of profanity, and vivid imagery with the footage he used.

“They [inmates] experienced this uprising at Attica in 1971, and I wanted them to just tell the experience however they felt comfortable telling it. It’s a hard story to relive and when you have to go back in time to tell it, it’s hard to control the rawness of someone’s experience. The subjects in the film are what made this film come together,” said Nelson

“Attica” is a film that Nelson was intending to make for thirty years. Due to Covid, the film was stalled, which made it a challenge for the film to be completed. The process of making “Attica” started with a trailer as a trial, which later on was picked up by television network Showtime. “When I finally decided that I was going to go for it, I knew it was the right thing to do,” said Nelson.

“Attica” cost 1.5 million dollars to make, and where most of the funds went was for the footage that was used to tell the story. That footage included archives from Attica prison, tape from ABC’s journalist John Johnson who was one of the correspondents that covered the riot, and CBS archives to name a few.

The editing behind “Attica” included what types of footage Nelson needed to tell the story from both sides of the prison walls. Nelson and his archive director delved into perspectives from news footage, prisoners, lawyers, and notably footage from Attica.

“Surprisingly, it wasn’t a challenge to get the footage from Attica. Since the film follows the story from different angles, the prisoners, the guards, news stations and it was a heavily filmed incident in 1971, it was a matter of finding the exact footage we needed that went along with how the story was being told,” said Nelson.

In the documentary, Nelson didn’t address modern-day issues with prison reform and the status of the correctional system. His directorial intent was to keep the story of the 1971 riot in Attica prison as a reflection, a memory, or a moment in history just as is.

“It’s not one of those films where you clap at the end. It’s supposed to inform about the injustices, repression, abuse, and inhumane conditions of the 1971 inmates who experienced the uprising in Attica. What went down in those days and what was done before, during, and the aftermath of the riot,” said Nelson.

The year 2021 was the 50th anniversary of this deadly repression, and its legacy remains in the work of activists working for change to the incarceration system and prison reform.  Nelson includes rare interviews with survivors from both sides of the prison walls. The film lets one really see what happened at Attica like nothing before. “Attica” resonates with, “It definitely didn’t have to end that way,” said Nelson.

The film’s definitive, stirring, and devastating conclusion marks the 1971 prison uprising as the most disturbing the country has ever witnessed. Showtime has made Stanley Nelson’s emotionally remembered documentary available for free on its website and on Youtube until April.

Dr. Monica Sweeney, chairperson of Health Policy and Management at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, tells students at Brooklyn College about the success achieved in protecting infants in New York City from HIV. “In 2015, as far as we know, not one baby in New York City was born infected,” she said. Sweeney spoke at a May 12 conference that underlined the importance of public health policy. Radhika Viswanathan reports for Brooklyn News Service.

Brooklyn News Service reporter Shanece McGregor followed up on the meeting by speaking with Craig in this interview.

Against that background, Brooklyn News Service reporter Deidra Brisco explores how presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are responding to such concerns as poverty, workforce development and the possibility of economic mobility for everyone.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, First Lady Chirlane McCray visited Washington  for three days starting May 10 to advocate for improved mental health services in New York City, and to raise funding for her initiative ThriveNYC: A Mental Health Roadmap For All.

In Washington, the city’s first lady met with members of Congress and urged them to pass bills that would overhaul the nation’s mental health services. She supported the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, sponsored by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act. McCray also held a leadership discussion regarding minority mental health.

McCray said the lack of infrastructure and resources for mental health is a national crisis and that  “it will take attention from every level – city, state and federal – to make the kind of progress we need.”

Last November,  Mayor Bill de Blasio and McCray announced the $850 million mental health program called ThriveNYC that McCray is heading. It is made up of 54 initiatives aimed at supporting New Yorkers’ mental health.

City officials say that Mental Health Awareness Month offers the chance to focus on a neglected area of healthcare. “Thrive NYC is New York City’s ambitious and wide-ranging plan to address mental health and substance misuse challenges across the lifespan and across the continuum of care,” Deputy Mayor Richard Buery said.

As part of ThriveNYC, McCray launched “Today I Thrive” in April. It is a new mental health awareness campaign telling victims’ stories on TV, social media, buses, and subways, last month. The ads aim to open up the conversation about mental health, and invite New Yorkers to de-stigmatize the common issue. The campaign focuses on eight men and women who have struggled with some kind of mental illness.

McCray says that telling these stories will help erase the stigma associated with mental illness. “I hope this campaign encourages others to share their stories and talk honestly about mental health. Together, we can change the mindset around the mind,” McCray says. “We can make it as easy to talk about anxiety as allergies, so no one else suffers in silence.’

For McCray, the journey of mental illness hits close to home. Both of her parents suffered with depression, a close family member was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and one of her childhood friends committed suicide. But mental illness hit closest to home a few years ago when McCray and de Blasio’s daughter Chiara revealed her drug addiction, anxiety, and depression. Today Chiara is in recovery, and sharing her story to help others overcome mental illness.

Thrive NYC aims to change the conversation about stigma surrounding mental illness, and close the treatment gaps by providing equal health care to all New Yorkers. Over one thousand new providers will be trained to provide buprenorphine, a drug that prevents withdrawal symptoms in substance abuse users. Thrive NYC will help promote, prevent, detect, and treat mental illness in New York, to make a happier and healthier city. For all New Yorkers, NYC Support, a program finder which helps people quickly and easily find resources they may need.

By CHRISTELL CHERENFANT

Ludny Jean-Alcime, a freshman at York College in Queens, remembers herself as a pudgy child. But that began to change after she discovered she had Type 1 diabetes.

“When I was first diagnosed, I lost a lot of weight so I became anorexic,” said Jean-Alcime, 18, who has been living with Type 1 diabetes for almost nine years. “[Aside from being anorexic,] I would eat and throw up because I was scared to gain weight again.”

There are two main types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. The New York State Department of Health says that just 5 percent of diabetics have Type 1, which is often referred to as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. The most common theory for this specific type of diabetes is that a viral infection affects the autoimmune process, usually at a young age. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce an adequate amount of insulin.

It is difficult for pre-teens, adolescents and young adults with Type 1 diabetes to deal with their body’s changes. The term “Diabulimia” is heard frequently. It’s not yet recognized in the medical field but many of those who suffer from Type 1 diabetes know exactly what this word means. When people are diagnosed with Type 1, the disease often becomes tied to an eating disorder, whether it be anorexia or bulimia. These eating disorders affect females more than they do males.

“It’s crazy. I was born with diabetes, as doctors say but I didn’t know until I was 22. I’m 23 now,” said Devonte Wong-Wai, a John Jay College alumnus who discovered that he’d been living majority of his life with Type 1 diabetes. “It changed everything. I didn’t find out from a regular checkup. I had diabetic ketoacidosis, [which almost] led to my death.”

Wong-Wai took this diagnosis seriously and changed his lifestyle. “I had to cut out all sugars that weren’t natural and I can’t even eat certain fruits because of too much sugar,” he said.

Type 1 diabetes  can definitely be life altering. For the patient, the only thing that seems to be in control is the amount of insulin that gets injected into the body as well as the amount of food that is eaten. In order for these adolescents to keep from gaining weight, they sometimes skip the necessary insulin injection.

“When people skip their insulin, they lose calories through the loss of glucose in their wastes, mostly through urination,” said Louise Drouillard, a licensed practical nurse at Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. “I’ve been a nurse for about 10 years and it’s always the same thing with people with Type 1 diabetes. The residents with Type 1, their weight is always fluctuating but of course we keep them under a close eye,” she said.

New York City can be a tough place for up and coming chefs, and like those before her Veronica Espinoza found that out.

The Texan native worked as a paralegal for several years in Austin, but decided to start anew  after a painful breakup with a longtime boyfriend.

“I was dating someone for a long time and it didn’t work out and I was heartbroken. I had a cousin invite me to Mexico to this little town where the grade level was seventh grade and they would have people come in and show them how to make sweet bread and sell it so they could make profits for themselves,” she said. “I had a piece and it was delicious and at that moment I figured out no matter where you go I was still going to be heartbroken…I felt like I needed to change something about myself.”

She combined her love for the arts with her passion for desserts and enrolled at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin, gaining a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. She pursued a pastry culinary degree in order to help others by creating foods with love and care that would touch their soul.

Espinoza had not intended to switch gears and become a pastry chef. In her mind she had everything one could ask for—a budding career, a good relationship, and a strong family bond. The thought of moving thousands of miles away from home never occurred to her, but with the curve ball life threw, she decided it was time to make a change. Making sweet breads in Mexico jump-started the idea and ultimately set her on the path to becoming a pastry chef in New York City.

Most restaurant patrons rarely see the chefs, and probably do not think much about them; but they do appreciate presentation, taste, and quick service, and it is the chef’s job to provide all three.

Espinoza began her career at the Ausable Club, a country club on the Adirondack Mountain Reserve in upstate New York, acquiring the title of executive pastry chef. From there she moved to Maine where she owned and operated a small non-profit business, Cakes for Kids in Care, in which she baked for children in need. Due to life changes, she sold the business and moved back to New York City.

Upon moving back, she worked as a pastry chef alongside the then sous chef and current executive chef, Scot Burnett, at the Carlton Hotel restaurant Millesime on Madison Avenue for an entire year. Afterward she partnered with Savory Chef Chris Van De Walt to open a catering service, Yummy Perfection, stationed in Manhattan. Her usual days are filled with catering events from weddings to corporate dinners, including vegan dishes.

Espinoza is no stranger to hard work and going after what she wants, and she also believes in not settling for less. She is aware of the battle for minimum wage increases and the disparate pay between female and male chefs in New York City and would like to see change in the future.

“It starts with today; you have to know what you’re worth,” she says.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 11,140 chefs were employed in New York City with an hourly mean wage of $24.24 in 2014. This could be a livable pay for other areas, but in New York low pay can stretch the pockets.

With the recent protest concentrating on higher wages for fast food workers, public and freelance chefs are less likely to see an increase any time soon. Some restaurateurs are considering an end to tipping to balance the “back of the house with the front of the house.”

Is the low pay and grunt work worth it for chefs?

Espinoza and Burnett say cooking is a job, like any other. It requires patience and love for the work. The money is not the best to start but the overall experience is worth it. The most important thing is to find your niche and build from there. Espinoza also founded and dedicated a Facebook page— Chefs and Cooks of New York— in honor of the skills and hard work that they display everyday.

Students in Cali, Colombia work, borrow, scrimp and save to pay their college and advanced education tuition. Colombia doesn’t offer scholarships or financial aid and while banks offer loans, the high interest rates put those loans out of reach for many. Students talked to me about the creative ways they earn money to pay for their way.

Moziah Sterling reports.