At a virtual public hearing on Oct. 6th, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) disclosed its plans to implement restrictions on truck weights and work zone speed enforcement for overweight trucks to build the safety and protection of bridges, such as the Robert F Kennedy Bridge. 

   The hearing was led by Catherine Sheridan, the President of the MTA’s Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority. Sheridan spoke about how the new layout for overweight trucks will impact the community.    

   “MTA Bridges and Tunnels has a great history of excellence in keeping infrastructure in good condition and improving safety on our roadways,” Sheridan said. But, “Weigh in motion protects our infrastructure by deterring overweight trucks from crossing our bridges, increasing their service life, and reducing the costs of repair, allowing our dollars to be spent more efficiently.” 

   Weigh In Motions weigh trucks on the road before they cross bridges. This and work zone speed limits are programs that were extended to the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority in 2025, after Governor Kathy Hochul first introduced Work Zone Speed legislation in 2021. 

   “In 2025, New York State passed legislation amending New York State’s Vehicle and Traffic Law to grant MTA Bridges and Tunnels the authority to use more modern technology to enhance its efforts to protect bridges, workers, and travelers,” said David Gmach, the Director of Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement for tolling strategy at MTA Bridges and Tunnels. 

   These programs were put into motion due to the MTA experiencing over $30 million in annual damage from overweight trucks on its bridges. 

   “The proposed changes are about safety,” Gmach told the audience. “These are critical safety initiatives that have shown to be successful at other facilities in New York and elsewhere in the United States.” 

   After the speeches from members within the MTA sector ended, the public was able to share their opinion on the addition of these two new factors to their bridges and roadways. 

   Vincent Jenkins, an audience member, shared the importance of public safety when it comes to implementing this new software on our streets and bridges.

   “Make sure that there’s safety for handicapped people in these work zone areas for the public and for the MTA, and for transportation, make sure that we develop this and that we can keep the workers safe,” he said. 

   Jenkins’ message was followed by comments from Lisa Daglian, Executive Director at Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC), to the MTA. 

   “Keeping transit riders and transportation workers safe goes hand in hand. PCAC is proud to support the two proposals on today’s agenda for MTA bridges, tunnels, and roadways, the Weigh in Motion pilot on the RFK bridge, and work zone speed enforcement,” she said. “Ensuring that drivers of trucks and other large vehicles adhere to weight rules will help keep our road and bridge infrastructure intact.” 

   According to the MTA, the Weigh-In-Motion and Work Zone Speed programs have provided a 60% collision reduction through August, when compared to the same dates in 2019.

   “The impacts of the climate crisis and extreme weather become more important, become more common. With so much unpredictability that can bring heavy winds and flooding to our infrastructure, it’s key to limit preventable damage like that from overweight trucks,” Daglian said. 

On September 3, protesters rallied outside the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan in support of four Brooklyn College adjunct professors who were fired over the summer after participating in demonstrations against Israeli actions in Gaza. According to the organizers, the goal of the rally was to show that their case cannot be ignored and that the issue of reinstating the professors will follow the CUNY administration everywhere.

The rally began at 11:35 a.m., and lasted for an hour. By the beginning of the event, two police cars were already in front of the building and six law enforcement officers were in their positions. About fifty people, including students, teachers, and activists, participated in the rally. They held banners and shouted “If you come for four, you’ll face us all,” demanding that the “Fired Four” be reinstated.

Anthony C. Allessandrini, professor of English at Kingsborough Community College and Middle East Studies at the Graduate Center, was the first to speak. He emphasized that these firings are directly related to the pressure on freedom of expression. Allessandrini shouted, “If management can fire four of our colleagues based on their political expression, then in reality we do not have academic freedom.”

Evan Rothman, chapter co-chair of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) at the CUNY Graduate Center, noted that the protest goes beyond one specific conflict. When asked what this protest meant to him, Rothman replied, “One of the reasons we are out here today is we want the chancellor and the rest of the CUNY administration to know this isn’t something they can confine — it is going to follow them wherever they go.” He added, “The folks that were fired — they are not just active in Palestine organizing, they are also union activists. And right now Brooklyn College is going after the union, including full-timers who stood with their colleagues. So it affects all of us.”

Among the speakers was Corinna Mullin, until recently an adjunct professor of political science at Brooklyn College and John Jay College, one of the “Fired Four.” She emotionally shared, “Over the summer, CUNY fired four adjunct faculty members through non-reappointment, a process that requires no justification. All four of us had strong teaching records and the support of our departments. What do we share in common? We are all active in the Palestine solidarity movement and in the union.”

Mullin also emphasized, “Adjuncts are treated as disposable, and now that precarity is being weaponized to target us for political speech.” 

Venus Blue, a member of the Brooklyn College Student Union also spoke. Her speech linked the firings to a broader campaign of pressure on activists and students. “This isn’t about safety. This is about our right to free speech, which has been sold by the board of trustees to the authoritarian war mongers in Washington, D.C.,” said Blue.

During the rally, there were calls for Graduate Center President Joshua C. Brumberg to take a clearer stance in defense of students and professors. Participants shouted, “Hey Josh, what do you say, will you stand with students today?”

The rally ended with calls to continue the campaign. As Rothman said, “We are gonna keep fighting because we’re gonna win.”

The organizers stated that they will push for the reinstatement of the “Fired Four” and are ready to take further actions this fall semester.

While the legal futures of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students remain uncertain due to a pending federal court case, they also face significant financial hurdles. Many turn to programs such as TheDream.US that are crucial in providing financial support to undocumented students, helping bridge the financial gap for those ineligible for federal aid. The scholarships enable them to pursue higher education despite these obstacles. 

Applications for TheDream US open on November 1, offering an opportunity for many students facing these challenges. 

TheDream.US offers two main scholarship programs aimed at supporting students’ educational goals. The National Scholarship is available to high school graduates or community college graduates, providing up to $33,000 to cover tuition and fees for a bachelor’s degree at one of their partner colleges. The Opportunity Scholarship, on the other hand, offers up to $80,000 for students in states with limited access to in-state tuition or financial aid. This scholarship covers tuition, fees, housing, and meals.

The financial challenges facing undocumented students extend beyond tuition. Many struggle with securing housing, obtaining work authorization, and planning for the future due to ongoing legal battles over DACA. 

Censar Ventura Tapia, the program manager at the Center for Youth and the Future of Work and a DACA recipient, has \personal experience navigating these barriers.“Before DACA, finding housing was difficult because landlords required social security numbers, which we often didn’t have,” Tapia explained. “Even after DACA, many of us hadn’t built credit, so accessing housing remained a challenge.”

While scholarships like TheDream.US have provided much-needed support, the uncertainty surrounding DACA has left many students feeling like “second-class citizens,” Tapia added. “Without legal protections, many young people would be left out, unable to support themselves or pursue higher education,” he warned.

Sergio Leon Hidalgo, a research fellow at Brooklyn College’s Immigrant Student Success Office, echoed similar sentiments. As a recipient of TheDream.US scholarship, Hidalgo noted that it “opened the door to education” and gave him the tools to navigate a challenging job market. He emphasized the importance of scholarships like these in providing undocumented students with equitable access to education, stating, “Regardless of where we were born, we should have the opportunity to contribute to our communities.”

However, the fear of losing DACA protections continues to weigh heavily on students. For many, the end of DACA would not only limit educational opportunities but also threaten work authorization, making it difficult to support themselves and their families. 

As the debate over immigration reform continues, programs like TheDream.US remain one of the few safety nets for undocumented students. Advocates and recipients alike are calling for broader financial aid reform to ensure that undocumented youth have access to higher education and the chance to build a stable future, regardless of their immigration status.

Similar to other years, New York City’s annual West Indian Labor Day 2023 parade
brought color, music, and amazing food to Crown Heights, Brooklyn this Monday, September 4.
The parade started at 10 am right after the early morning j’ouvert celebration took place.
Thousands of Caribbean people made their way to Eastern Parkway to celebrate Caribbean
heritage and culture. Some people of other heritages came to explore and enjoy the West Indian
lifestyle as well. People came to drink, dance, eat, and enjoy their time with friends and family.

Many vendors lined up on the sidewalks selling food and accessories that people participating came to buy. Participants could try food from Jamaica, Trinidad, St.Lucia, Guyana, and other West Indian countries just by finding the right food vendor. Grace Brown, 46-year-old food vendor originally from Kingston, Jamaica, was at the parade selling dishes from her homeland. Brown offered jerk chicken, jerk pork, rice and peas, festival, saltfish, and so much more to her customers. Brown said, “Every year I come on the parkway and sell food. I can’t remember a year I haven’t come”. Brown has been selling food during the parade for over 10 years and she says she has no plan on stopping because “business is always booming”.

One participant, Shaniaya James, came on the parkway with her 13-year-old son and her boyfriend. James shared that she used to come on the parkway all the time when she was a child and she wanted to share this experience with her son. She did have many concerns about his safety though saying, “He has been coming since he was a baby also but I will never let him come alone because there is always a shooting or something happening.”

Crime is always a great concern for participants because every year something happens at the parade. New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban claimed this parade was the best and safest in years as there was little crime but little before 5:30 pm on Eastern Parkway one person was shot and two people were slashed. The incidents happened in an area where participants had already passed so there weren’t many people there. Although this happened, Mayor Adams still claims, “This is one of the safest J’ouvert celebrations and Labor Day weekends we have seen in recent memories, and probably the safest J’ouvert celebration in history”.

Being safe during the parade is always a concern for participants but this doesn’t stop them from going out and having fun. The West Indian Parade brings in lots of money for local vendors who sell food and products. Many participants go yearly and stay aware when they are at the parade so they are not in harm’s way and can simply just enjoy themselves.

In New York City, hundreds of Black entrepreneurs are turning adversity into opportunity after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic by starting their own businesses. 

The Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics reported the most extensive number of new business applications in 2021, totaling more than 5.4 million, a 20% increase over 2019. 

The rise in Black women starting enterprises reflects the Great Resignation, which has seen millions of women quit their employment due to childcare, wage equity, work-life balance options, and coronavirus avoidance concerns. 

Women in the Black is an organization that assists African American women-owned small businesses in filling the financial gap. Since the outbreak, there has been a boom in Black-owned businesses, largely due to Black women. Although the COVID-19 outbreak had a substantial negative impact on the economy of the country, not every American was equally impacted. The economic, social, and health effects of COVID-19 are rapidly worsening in Brooklyn.

Women in Black’s financial officer, Teri Coaxum, emphasized the value that these black-owned companies offer to the community during these trying times and how they were responsible for the continued prosperity of the Brooklyn area.

“More than 25% of workers are employed by the 37 minority-owned small enterprises in Brooklyn that we assisted during COVID-19, and they produce more than $250,000 in annual economic production. About 25 of them are owned by women, ” said Coaxum.

Minority women are primarily responsible for establishing new businesses as they have struggled with financial stress, childcare shortages, and discussions about remote work, all of which have been exacerbated by persistently low pay and workplace discrimination.

Another factor contributing to the surge of Black business ownership could be epidemic layoffs. Because of the job insecurity brought on by COVID-related restrictions, many people have looked into other choices, including starting their businesses.

Bread Beauty Supply, “a hair-care company for not-so-basic hair,” was founded by Maeva Heim. Black women and other consumers from various backgrounds can get the holistic hair products they need online at the Bread Beauty Supply website.

“I started my brand in 2020, and my idea of a brand was always about filling that gap and creating great products for Black women in a way that has not existed before. I was terrified, but some of the challenges of starting your own business during the pandemic may not be as apparent as if you were relying on employment from someone else,” said Heim.”For me, that was undoubtedly a blessing in disguise.”

To address long-term goals for improvement, finance access, and a lack of financial respect for minority company owners, Operation Hope offers concrete programs and activities. Operation Hope assists business owners in having the most significant effect possible in their neighborhoods.

According to Operation Hope, a lack of regard for money and access to capital are two fundamental, systemic issues that have impeded the growth and opportunities for small businesses in America for more than 400 years. More Black women may start their businesses because they want more control over their working lives.

Some may wonder what prompted so many black women to start their own businesses.

 “Many Black women who felt they were underpaid or left behind at traditional institutions became entrepreneurs out of necessity rather than an opportunity,” said Cynthia Bryant, associate with Operation Hope. 

Ria Graham, with the assistance of her mother Karen Valentine, opened KOKOMO in North Williamsburg in July, 2020. This newly-built restaurant delivers flatbreads, comfort dishes, unique cocktails, and luscious desserts presented precisely with bright plating and is inspired by the exotic and rich Caribbean culture. To put it mildly, it is an awful challenge to open any restaurant amid a terrible pandemic. However, Graham and her team succeeded in doing the impossible. 

“Your seating capacity is severely constrained, you are suddenly liable for the health and safety of your staff and your guests, and you are constantly building and rebuilding infrastructure and logistics according to an ever-changing set of regulations. Also, you must work harder than usual to hang on, hoping things will get better barely,” Graham said. 

Since March 2020, there has been a significant shift in how people live and work. Employees converted their houses into offices, employers adopted a work-from-home policy, and parents added homeschooling to their list of duties. 

As the pandemic’s worst has passed, we are observing how Women as business owners are perceiving, organizing resources, discovering new chances, and taking risks to attain their aims in creating new, inventive companies. 

“As a Black entrepreneur, you come into this assuming you are not going to have, you know, a one-up on acquiring funding for different possibilities. Moreover, we are already taught, “OK, you will have to work harder just to be seen,” Graham said. 

With the backdrop of the Prospect Park Boathouse, Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam walks purposefully around his outdoor class, guiding and repositioning students toward a more mindful meditation practice. Clad in a red, loose fitted t-shirt and black slacks, Monlam gently reminded students to stay present and keep your spine straight. At the end of the class, Monlam finished with brief breathing exercises.

Despite the roar of airplanes overhead, Monlam continuously coaxed and guided the class through the distraction – the essence of meditation.

About 25 students attended the open air session, which was one in a series called University Open Air – a collection of free classes taught by immigrant scholars from around the world. 

“I used to teach in the forest, I teach my students in the open air. Because they really feel relaxed and surrounded by nature. And here, you hear the airplane, you hear the birds chirping, and here we have water,” said Monlam during the Sept. 8 “Tibetan Seven-point Vajra Posture and Benefits: Opening five chakras and energizing five pranas/energies within” class.

Many students joined the class to find a respite from their busy lives. Susan Hemly said she came to participate to release stress in a calming environment. 

“Because I like that it’s a free program by the library… and I love the benefits for my mind and body. It is very peaceful and helps my stress release process. I knew I had to incorporate it into my life,” Hemly said. 

The Brooklyn Public Library hosts the University Open Air series, which is now in its fifth year. Classes are free and open to the public. 

In addition to the meditation course, University Open Air offers a variety of other courses, such as drawing, writing, Salsa music and cinematography. Workshops are taught by immigrant educators across a variety of disciplines. 

“The intention is to provide a platform for scholars from other countries to teach, obviously, in the open air and public space and typically, they’re people who don’t teach in universities for a variety of different reasons,” said Vanessa Baish of the Brooklyn Public Library, who coordinated the event on site. 

“The hope is both that we offer something to the community and that we get to take advantage of this lovely park space, this is a collaboration with the park and that instructors have an opportunity to show their talents and find other work as a result in their field.” 

Many participants in the Open Air Series visit the classes to learn, to enjoy the outdoors and to make new connections in the community. 

Miguel Salandy, a Brooklyn resident originally from Trinidad and Tobago, said he was excited to experience new things.

“I expect to get some new knowledge, something that I didn’t have,” he said. “It’s always good in life everyday to try something new,” Salandy said. 

Another popular class, “Drawing from Nature,” filled up on the afternoon of Sept. 8. The class is taught by Alon Andorn, originally from Israel, and focuses on seeking artistic inspiration from the surrounding natural habitat. 

More than 20 people sat together under a tree with clipboards, paper and pencils, ready to be inspired. 

“I usually have free time around this time and I like to spend time by trying new things and different activities and drawing in the park sounds very peaceful, so it’s nice to be here,” said Rose Williams, 56, of Prospect Heights. 

Baish said she hopes that the Library’s open air courses can reach more residents in the community. 

“There’s just so many kinds of classes, additional classes that we can teach. We were actually just talking about finding even more instructors and ways that this can translate to other kinds of classes,” Baish said. “Honestly, I just love seeing how much people enjoy it.” 

The University Open Air courses continue through Sept. 18, with courses in Feng Shui, cinematography, renewable building materials, and more. For more information, visit the University Open Air website. 

Iliana Calderon, Esther Chabbott, Argenis Collado, Alanis Guinada, William Hernandez, Niara Johnson, Jesus King, Berry Negron, Emin Purisic, Brittany Royal, Kelsey Santos, Tanesha Thorpe and Juwan Wyatt contributed to this report. 

People from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds who immigrate to the U.S. are at risk of to being diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. While some residents say the price points and the oversaturation of fast food options like McDonald’s, Burger King, and shops like Texas Chicken and Burgers in minority neighborhoods point to where this trend comes from, nutritionists say the narrative is much more complicated.

Black Caribbean immigrants make up roughly half of East Flatbush’s population, where there are higher rates of hypertension (36%), diabetes (15%), and childhood obesity (22%) than New York City as a whole.  Many of the immigrants hold on to the belief that fast-food restaurants are driving the high percentages of food-relates diseases in the neighborhood.

Tony’s Health Food, a Guyanese and family-owned health food store opened in the Little Caribbean neighborhood in East Flatbush, because this part of Flatbush did not have stores that sold nutritious and organic products back in 1997.

Danrodge is the son of Tony, the owner, who helped the mom-and-pop store to push more nutritional foods like beetroot and sea moss over the counter.  “We didn’t see many healthy foods in this neighborhood, so we wanted to help bring back the herbs, the bush medicines, rooibos [a red herb for tea], all those types of old-school stuff from the Caribbean,” he said.

“People that buy from the store are not everyday food shoppers in Flatbush,” said Danrodge, who describes the customers as serious dieters.

Even so, Danrodge is attracted by the unhealthier foods that surround Tony’s Health Food himself.

“Maybe I’ll get Chinese once every two weeks, but for me, I mostly eat at home and cook my food,” he said, “It tastes good and makes you feel good, but I know I must cook my own food.

Still, some question how healthy the Caribbean food shops and restaurants are that the East Flatbush immigrant population order from, which are comparable to the food cooked in many West Indian households.

Starch is the largest component of West Indian dietary habits. Rice, potato, and cocoyam are boiled or cooked in slow-simmering pots. Other foods like long beans [borra], eggplant, callaloo, and cabbage, are common in the West Indian diet as well.

At Ital Fusion, locals lineup to purchase vegan food aligned with Rastafarian dietary practices, what they believe is a detox from the fast-food meals they typically eat. Sarah, the cashier says the most frequently purchased meals are their zucchini, sweet plantains, curried chickpeas, and vegetarian lasagna.

The long lines and the cultural foods served at Ital Fusion raises the question about the impact of authentic Caribbean food on the poor health charts of East Flatbush residents.

Does eating this kind of Caribbean meals—either in a restaurant or at home—lead to obesity, diabetes and hypertension? Brooklyn College Assistant Professor of Health and Nutritional Science Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky said that is too simplistic. “There are many external factors that may be driving the increased risk of obesity. The focus on individual culpability is misguided,” she said.

She went on to say, “The food environment is one factor that contributes to chronic disease risk, but we [nutrition researchers] do not actually have good data on how people interact with their food environments.”

A recent Foodscape report showed that 25% of East Flatbush residents consume no fruits or vegetables in a day, which is the highest rate of unhealthy eating in any neighborhood tracked by the United Hospital Fund. However, more than half (53%) of residents live within a five-minute walk to fresh produce, compared to 49% city-wide.

Professor Horlyck-Romanovsky explains by saying, “People are eating to cope with a lot of the stressors that are in their lives: financial stress, occupational stress, working multiple jobs, poor sleep quality, navigating transnational families, and financially supporting family members in their home countries. In addition, things like air pollution, noise pollution, poor housing quality, and traffic congestion are external factors that increase the risk of chronic disease.”

Researchers so far have not zeroed in on how the food ecosystem in Flatbush works to affect public health.  While the over-abundance of fast-food options superficially explains why there are higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension come in East Flatbush, the reasons are not completely clear.

Michaelle Joseph, a Haitian local, said, “I don’t exercise because my energy is drained, so if I ate the food from Chinese, McDonald, and Burger King my health would be in serious danger.” She says she would rather invest her energy into making home-cooked meals than wager her health on fast foods.

Bodegas, which sells more of processed food, outnumber supermarkets 21 to one in East Flatbush, and Joseph has to deal with other external factors, even as she is adamant about steering clear of chronic diseases.

Michelle Edward, the Jamaican manager for Fisherman’s Cove, a popular Jamaican-food chain in Brooklyn said, “Sometimes the price for fast foods, when you get the burger, the fries, and the drinks adds up to be more than Jamaican food, but I guess some people just grow attached to it.”

RIDGEWOOD, NY-  On a beautiful spring afternoon people used to rush to Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, and spend the day shopping with their family. The aroma of different foods would entice; stomachs would start to rumble, and the most difficult decision would be what to eat.

That was then, this is now. The question being asked now is where to eat.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, shoppers on Myrtle Avenue had many options, even if they were similar, like a diner or taco spot. But in the pandemic, restaurants across the city closed. According to Eater New York, at least 1,000 restaurants and bars have closed down. Slowly, restaurants are coming back, but the area has a ways to go.

“A lot of places to eat have closed down here in the last few years,” said Jenny Padellinoz, a resident of Ridgewood for different periods over 20 years.

One of the first restaurants to close during the early stages of the pandemic was Ridgewood Eats. It opened in 2005 and was a major part of feeding the neighborhood with a variety of burgers, steaks, and salads.

“They had issues with the leases and other issues that we don’t have control over,” said Theodore Renz of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District. That led to their closure after serving the neighborhood for over 15 years.

Other diners have shut down in the area over the last few years, and with businesses closing, foot traffic is not what it once was in the area. Fast food chains like Burger King have shut down while many food places like pizzerias and Indian have failed to gain the attention of locals.

“I will admit that I don’t come to Myrtle Avenue as often as I used to,” said Luis Condo a resident of Ridgewood for 23 years. “It is easier for me to get my shopping done at the mall and grab food while I’m there. There is not a lot of businesses like when I first moved here, and I think that is effecting the local restaurants.”

Despite many setbacks, including a fire in 2017, Tasty’s is still open and has been going strong since 1987. The owner did not respond to requests for an interview. However, a waitress there for over 30 years said the restaurant managed to stay afloat during the pandemic, though it was very difficult for the owners and staff alike. They relied on deliveries, just like many other restaurants that remained open during those difficult times.

In the next year and a half, the area is looking forward for the completion of The Ridgewood Tower, which will have business such as Target and Burlington Coat Factory. They are also looking to include a restaurant as well as smaller businesses.

“I definitely think that can help out this area,” Condo said. “That will add foot traffic and can help out local restaurants in the area, because after everything that happened recently they can use any additional help.”

In addition, Joe & Johns Pizzeria is looking to expand their business into a more restaurant-friendly setup. Tasty Thai opened up a couple of years ago and has brought a different flavor to the neighborhood.

“The Thai restaurant was a great addition because we had no other place like that to eat,” said Renz. “And now the new there’s a Japanese restaurant coming in.”

The fast food chain Wendy’s is also under construction and should be opening up in a matter of months.

While it has not been an easy period for residents of the area things are beginning to look better again. The smell of different foods is coming back to Ridgewood.

COVID-19 not only affected the physical health of millions of citizens across the state, it also had a deep impact on local businesses in Bay Ridge

“I have lost my two other pet stores and I almost lost this one too,” said Teresa Founs, the owner of the local pet store Fluffy Paws Supplies & Grooming at 7401 3^rd Avenue, Brooklyn. “I tried and tried to get loans but didn’t get any because of my credit,” she explained.

Her credit score took a heavy hit because she lost her other two pet stores.

A similar pattern can be seen along 86^th Street between 4^th and 5^th Avenues. A walk down this usually-busy shopping area shows eight stores that are either being rented or up for lease. Those eight businesses include Century 21, Modell’s, and the law firm Gullo & Associates.

“What happened during the pandemic was that online stores started to compete with local businesses,” said Patric Condren, a consultant and executive director of the Business Improvement District (BID) on 86 street. “There has been a retail reset,” he said.

Condren is referring to Amazon and other  online shopping sites that profited in a big way during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos’s fortune went from $113 billion to $178 billion.

A retail reset happens when a store moves merchandise or rearranges products in a more marketable way. It is basically a reorganization to make the store more appealing to buyers, once the owners see a lack of engagement from the customers.

Condren is also confident that the situation will improve, but it won’t happen soon. “There is no way to tell how long it’s going take for businesses to improve and no way to know the short term impact of it,” he said.

Bay Ridge’s Community Board says the same. In its latest Statements of Community District Needs, it wrote, “The short-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic within Community District 10 are significant and it remains too soon to project future financial implications to the local economy.”

For Teresa Founs, business is slightly stable but the taxes on her property are becoming harder and harder to pay. She pays around three thousand dollars in taxes. “I am also applying for jobs and studying. If I find a decent paying job, I will leave this store,” she said.

Founs also explained that she was able to sustain herself during lockdowns because “my landlord lowered the rent for me. It was really hard for me to survive after losing my two stores.”

Each day the B41 leisurely travels along Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, where it is met with ongoing traffic– delivery trucks, dollar vans, and impatient pedestrians blocking access to the curb from where the 71-year-old bus service picks up its unsatisfied passengers.

“I’d rather walk than take the [B41] bus,” said 24-year-old Flatbush resident, Perla Hernandez. “I would probably reach wherever it is that I am going faster, for sure,” she added as she chuckled to her friend, who nodded in agreement.

According to data gathered by the Bus Turnaround Coalition, the B41, which runs from Tillary Street to Kings Plaza, moves at a speed of 5.9 m.p.h., meaning it is reportedly slower than 66.6% of New York City buses, despite being the 10th busiest bus route in the city with over five million daily riders. Further assessment of the bus’s speed and reliability resulted in it earning a failing grade from the transit advocates at Bus Turnaround Coalition, who labeled the B41 worse than 99.6% of NYC Buses.

As a result, Mayor Eric Adams has pledged to spend $900 million to build 150 miles of new bus and bicycle lanes, along B41’s route included, in the city’s most ambitious effort to hasten some of the slowest buses the city has to offer.

“Eventually, New Yorkers are going to walk around with a thumbs up, and they’re going to say ‘GSD – get stuff done,’ we get stuff done in this administration,” said Mayor Adams in a news conference in Brooklyn on April 23rd, where he repeatedly used the term ‘historical’ to delineate his $900 million plan.

Now, Flatbush residents and B41 Passengers worry about how the addition of a bus lane will affect their daily lives.

“What about people who drive?” questioned 38-year-old car owner Joseph Walsh. “I assume with less road space [due to the addition of a bus lane], there would be more traffic. So they’re going to speed up the buses just to slow down the cars; I don’t see how that is progress,” he said.

Similarly, 26-year-old Alex Reyes is already wondering how the city’s decision to install bus lanes will affect him financially. “There’s already talk about the subway fare increasing, but does this mean the bus fare will increase too?” He said. “I imagine with faster service, more people will decide to take the bus and eventually cause the $2.75 to be increased to $6.75 like some of the express buses we already have,” he added. “I will absolutely not pay that much.”

“I say, don’t fix what isn’t broken,” said 41-year-old Justin Davis, only to be interrupted by his 39-year-old wife, “oh, but it is broken,” she said. “There’s a reason why we never take the bus; it’s slow, and it’s unreliable,” she added.

Despite the general disinterest, preexisting bus lanes and busways elsewhere in the city have proven successful. The 14th Street M14 busway, which was introduced in October of 2019 by former Mayor Bill DeBlasio, reported faster crosstown commutes and a significant increase in ridership. In addition, the Main St. busway located in Flushing, Queens, also reported a 50% increase in bus speed since its pilot last year.

“It’s simple, we need a bus lane, and we need it ASAP,” said 19-year-old Carlos Vega. “Just look at it,” he said as he pointed to the busy, intertwined roads at Flatbush Junction, where cars take over buses and pedestrians race stoplights and moving vehicles to cross streets. “It’s a mess, and it needs to be organized somehow,” he said.

Data compiled by the city shows that MTA buses are involved in as many as 23 crashes and 624 car accidents involving motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians each day. The introduction of bus lanes also aims to tackle this transportation issue and promote road safety throughout the city.

“These are our streets,” said Mayor Adams in the news conference. “It [plan to create bus lanes] is about being able to move throughout your city in a safe way,” he said.

Moreover, since bus riders are primarily people of color and low-income individuals who do not own cars or live far from the subway, some are openly advocating for the addition of a bus lane along Flatbush Avenue to speed up bus service, enabling all New Yorkers to reach their destination on time, regardless of their mode of transportation.

“It’s about equality,” said 33-year-old Brooklyn resident Sarra Hasson. “Everyone should have access to basic, reliable transportation, and in a city as busy as New York, it’s essential,” she said.

Each morning, many thousands of New Yorkers start their day with a bagel with cream cheese and a large coffee to prepare for their busy working hours ahead. But that tradition is coming up against some new realities. High levels of inflation due to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are forcing local consumers to reevaluate their breakfasts to accommodate the growing increase in food prices.

“I can’t spend over $4 on a bagel every morning,” said 23-year-old Flatbush resident, Alexa Marie. “If I do, I’m worried I won’t be able to afford to pay my bills,” she added, with an anxious chuckle.

Similarly, 22-year-old student Fatima Assad is already beginning to wonder whether she should quit eating out altogether. “Lately, it seems like my entire paycheck is spent on food,” she said. “I’m probably just going to start bringing food from home.”

According to new data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices grew by 8.5 percent nationally and 6.1 percent in the New York City Metropolitan Area in March 2022 compared to March of 2021. A report published last month by the New York State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, Inflation in the New York City Metropolitan Area, stated, “For over a decade following the Great Recession of 2008, inflation remained low, generally under 2 percent; however, price increases began to accelerate in the spring of 2021 and are now growing at the highest annual rate in 30 years in the NYC metro area.”

As a result, New York City restaurant owners are compelled to pass along the inflated costs of running their business to consumers, or risk losing their businesses due to insufficient funds.

The symbiotic relationship between business owners and patrons is especially crucial in a city such as New York, where the supply and demand is ever-growing, and as any relationship expert would counsel, the answer to most successful partnerships relies on practicing “communication is key.”

Communication is certainly key to one local Flatbush deli, Ovi’s Place, where 50-year-old owner Pablo Oviedo displayed a sign earlier this year apologizing to his customers for the increased food prices.

Oviedo explains the sign, which reads, “To our valued customers: due to the increased cost of food and supplies, we have to raise our prices. Sorry of the inconvenience,” was put up in an effort to promote transparency.

“The sign is to make our customers understand that we aren’t increasing prices because we want to be rich,” said Oviedo. “We are increasing the prices because we want to stay in business.”

Grocery prices were 7.9 percent higher in February of this year, according to the Consumer Index’s most recent data, and are predicted to increase biweekly. Business owners, such as Oviedo, are pushed to alter what they charge to accommodate their costs.

“I’m a customer too,” said Oviedo. “Every time I go to the market to buy [groceries and supplies] for the store, I notice the price has increased from last week. “How can I run a business if I spend more than I make?”

Conveniently located near the CUNY Brooklyn College campus at Flatbush Junction, a shopping area with several big box stores, such as Target, Ovi’s Place is naturally a hub for peckish college students and shoppers who now worry whether the benefits of eating at home outweigh the cost of eating out.

“At first, a lot of people complained about the prices,” said Oviedo. “They [students] complain and, unfortunately, don’t come back.”

But other patrons are mindful of the current inflationary era and vow to continue their regular eating habits despite the extra costs.

“If anything, it would probably cost more for me to buy groceries, that only last me about a week than it would for me to spend a few dollars more on a lunch special,” said 32-year-old Brandon Cowell. “I don’t mind the extra charge, it’s a hard time for everyone right now, so I understand,” he added.

Tenants at 201 Linden Blvd in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn are battling a rising number of rats in their building.

They are not the only ones. According to an AP news report, during the month of April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings to the NYC’s 311 line, according to an AP report. That’s up from about 6,150 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

In New York City, Local Law 55 of 2018 requires that owners of buildings with three or more apartments keep their tenants’ apartments free of mold and pests.

Illiat Harris, the 201 Linden Blvd Tenants’ Association coordinator, along with other tenants, have been contacting the landlord several times to try to get the rat problem addressed. “I sent an email to Jonathan Samet describing all the problems, including rat infestation and he said they were going to be solved,” said Harris. “It’s been nearly nine months since I sent the email and nothing has changed.”

Michael Lanza, the press secretary for the New York City Health Department, which follows up on rat complaints, said, “Buildings are inspected upon complaint or as a follow up to previous inspection.” He continued, “we do not have any records of 311 complaints on 201 Linden Blvd.”

“I feel like all the work I put into writing out the problems is for nothing,” said Harris. “We did not make any complaints to 311 because he promised he was going to take care of the issues.” Harris says that she even told the landlord that she was going to call the Health Department to come to the building but he remained quiet.

Elizabeth Horstman, a tenant who has lived in the building for about eight years, says that she had to renovate her whole kitchen, by removing the kitchen walls and placing steel woven wire under sheetrock to prevent rats from coming into her kitchen. “It made a big difference in my apartment, I have not seen any more rats. It worked,” said Horstman. “I decided to do this because I plan on staying longer in this apartment.”

In the NYC Rat Information Portal, the inspection data shows that the building 201 Linden Blvd has not been inspected within the last six months. The last inspection was made on August 26, 2021, in which they found some rat activity, but there has not been a rat treatment from the NYC Health Department since 2015 data shows.

Samet, the landlord, claims he sends an exterminator every three months. “I try to do the best I can but it will never be perfect. The tenants also need to do their part, by making sure there aren’t any leaks from the garbage bags, maintaining a clean environment in their apartments,” said Samet. “I have kept the basement clean from garbage and I have someone come clean the garbage closets on every floor every morning so the garbage doesn’t get accumulated.”

James, the supper in charge of the maintenance in the building said “I wash the floor with water and soap but the problem is not inside. The outside needs to be cleaned up, and also the holes outside need to be covered up, otherwise, rats will continue to come to the basement.” James said that the building manager needs to hire an exterior maintenance company to clean up and cover outside holes, even the tall grass bushes outside of the property because that is not part of his daily duties.

Sharon Wilson, another tenant, has reached the end of her frustration level. “I am sick of rats. I have considered moving but rent is so expensive for new tenants. The worst part is that I get paranoid when I see one,” said Wilson. “If I see a rat by the kitchen I cannot go back there, I start to shake and feel like it will run through my feet the minute I go back there.”

“We need more manpower and an exterminator to maintain the outside. These issues have been going far too long because of total neglect by you as the manager/owner and the maintenance team,” wrote Harris in an email she sent to Samet on August 25, 2021.

The New York City Department of Housing, Preservation and Development has nearly 20 open complaints that tenants have made to 311 regarding other problems in the building and only one regarding mice. Other issues reported include: no heat, no hot water, and no locks on the entrance door which according to Harris makes it easier for thieves to steal packages from the building lobby.

In just over the span of one week, residents of Borough Park, Brooklyn are left with many questions after two fires have broken out at a gas station on April 14th and at a residential building on April 22nd.

Both fires occurred less than a week from each other in walking distance from one another. The gas station is located on the corner of 44th Street on 4302 Fort Hamilton Parkway and the residential building on 4303 10th Avenue and 43rd street.

“These fires are currently under investigation and no cause or any criminality has been determined,” a spokesperson for the FDNY said.

The only major update, the FDNY was able to provide was the current status of the two firefighters who were injured as a result of the fire that broke out on the 22^nd. Both have been treated and released from the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

In the aftermath, the gas station is back to pumping gas but there still is yellow tape around each gas pump. Windows at the co-located convenience story are boarded up with signs by the NYC Buildings Department warning people that “the area is imminently perilous to life.”

“At the scene, inspectors observed severe fire damage, including a partially collapsed metal roof and broken windows,” Deputy Press Secretary Ryan J. Degan, at the NYC Department of Building said. “Due to the extent of the damage, a partial vacate order was issued for the store.”

Attempts to reach the owner of the gas station were unsuccessful.

Residents in the area at the time of the fire were left worried about the fire at the gas station as the station, which is located between PS 131 elementary school and right under the Fort Hamilton Parkway train station on the D-line.

Though there is an investigation on the extent of damages at the gas station, the residential home has seemingly been left empty. The smell of smoke still lingers in the air. Heavily damaged furniture was tossed to the corner of the street and the windows for the apartment on the second floor smashed and covered up with wooden boards.

“Due to the severe extent of the fire damage, full vacate orders were issued,” Degan said, “Any displaced residents were offered emergency relocation assistance from the American Red Cross.” Attempts to contact the owner of the building were unsuccessful.

In just the first four months of 2022 alone there have been over 7100 structural fires in New York City, a decrease from the first third of 2021 when over 7500 structural fires were reported according to the New York City Fire Department. 

Even though the number of NYC fires declined from last year, the number of people who died in fires in New York City rose 16 percent in 2021 leading to 73 fatalities an increase from 2020 where 63 fatalities were reported by the FDNY, as reported in the New York Post.

Over a month after both incidents have occurred, still many questions remain.

Angela Tulloch, who lives on 142nd Street and Riverside Drive, has been a part of the Harlem community for over 40 years, and a dedicated member of Riverbank State Park’s community garden for 30 years.

Tulloch, a foster parent, gardener, and woman in her 60s, wanted to find a hands-on experience for the children who live with her. She also wanted to better her health by learning how to grow and cook foods that lower her high blood pressure and manage her diabetes. She found both at Riverbank State Park.

There is a community garden in the park that boasts a silver and glass greenhouse. Educators who work there teach what goes into the planning and care of gardens. There is a kitchen garden with in-season herbs and vegetables, and a pollinator garden that contains native flowers, grasses, trees, and local species.

The Park partnered with The Horticulture Society of New York in 2017, and “The Hort,” as it’s called, works closely with the Park to serve Harlem’s community members by teaching about the benefits of horticulture, harvesting seedlings to grow food, and cooking with the foods a community member has grown at the greenhouse.

Every Tuesday, The Hort has an event called “Cooking with Community.” Tulloch has been coming to “Cooking with Community” for over six months now, and it has changed her outlook on healthier food choices and how to cook foods that community members harvest.

“It changed how I look at food because it’s vegetarian. This event changed my relationship with food, and I became more aware of my food choices because The Hort has a nutritionist who teaches about high blood pressure, diabetes, and what foods to eat to maintain these things, which I have,” said Tulloch.

Riverbank State Park, located at 138th Street and Riverside Drive, was opened to the public in 1993. The park’s design came with a greenhouse structure, but it was a small glass box that didn’t have any functionality as a greenhouse.  For many years, the park just used it to park lawnmowers.

“In 2016 and 2017, we put together a plan to build a real functioning greenhouse and make a fully functioning horticultural gardening education program for park patrons, for school children, for seniors, for families, and for everybody in the community,” said Leslie Wright, the regional manager at Riverbank State Park. The greenhouse was completed in 2017, and the Park then entered into a public/private partnership with the Horticultural Society of New York to run public programming for gardening and horticulture.

The park’s community garden was established earlier, in the early nineties, with 58 plots of different sizes. It is now in the middle of a renovation to maximize the space and create 65 plots of the same size for community gardeners, to be ready by June. The Park staff meets regularly with the gardeners to ensure they have what they need, from sheds to hoses, and gardening equipment.

“Riverbank is also putting in a formal teaching garden for public programs that the Hort will lead,” Wright announced.

“The greenhouse and teaching garden, the Hort, runs all the public programming, she continued. “They host school groups, they have open hours for the general public to drop in, and they host all sorts of classes and programs. Community garden members are 100% welcome to participate in all Hort programs.”

The Hort offers the community gardeners the opportunity to start seedlings in the greenhouse. Recently, it attended Riverbank’s monthly community gardener meeting and ran a survey asking what seeds everybody would like.

“There’s limited space in the greenhouse, and we have 65 different gardeners, so by popular demand, four different kinds of seeds were chosen amongst the gardeners,” Wright said, “Tomatoes, basil, lettuce, and fennel were the lucky winners.”

Supportive Housing Services, Therapy, and Food

Sara Hobel, executive director at 120-year-old Horticulture Society of New York, helps lead the Hort’s therapeutic programs.

“We’ve expanded our therapeutic programs, which still take place at Rikers, but now also take place in supportive housing and affordable housing and places where people have limited access and are really without the ability to cultivate nature,” she said.

“We inherited the belief that this is something that everybody should have access to and it’s essential for mental health, as well as physical health. We are probably the pioneers in horticultural therapy, outside of hospital settings,” added Hobel.

Horticulture therapy was originally created to help people who had surgeries or were recovering from a major illness. The Hort has expanded its use into rehabilitation and education at Riverbank State Park.

The Hort began its involvement with supportive housing in 2005 with The Bridge, a mental health, substance use, and veteran housing program for community members in Harlem. The Hort staff have consulted with the staff at The Bridge and are training people on how to start their own urban farms and how to grow their own veggies and herbs.

The Bridge has not joined the Hort at Riverbank State Park. Still, the partnership with them has given The Hort credible rapport for outreach by doing presentations at the ACL conference, the Supportive Housing Network of New York conference, Lantern Community Services, innovative services to help New Yorkers who are formerly homeless or have recently aged out of foster care recreate their lives, and communalized CAMBA. This Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization provides social services to New Yorkers in need.

They start vegetable and herb seedlings in the greenhouse, and those are the ones used at these residences. “They are able to see their vegetables grow from seed to plant and then cook with them. We’ve recently been doing workshops over Zoom for different places like Lantern Community Services to get the staff involved at each of the buildings,” said Natalie Brickajlik, Program Development Manager at The Hort.

Gerry Sherman, a vice president of MANHTN, a Mid Atlantic Horticultural Therapy Network for the tri-state area, is a clinical therapist who works at hospitals, nursing facilities, schools, and rehabilitation centers. Aa a horticultural therapist, she creates programming to help individuals build cognition and to learn to follow single-step or multi-step instructions.

“The psycho-social and the emotional aspect is the power of seeing something grow. Seeing something positively respond to the energy you’ve put into it can make people really proud of themselves and it can make you feel like you’ve had a positive effect in some way, so horticulture is kind of a safer way to work on that,” she said.

Harlem resident Eddly Antoine started attending the Hort’s “Cooking with Community” program cooking and gardening program at Riverbank State Park this spring. It’s just eight blocks from her home.

“You can participate, it’s hands-on, even if you don’t know the food, you learn about it. You mingle with others and talk about other foods you’ve eaten. It exposes you to certain foods that you’ve never tried and you get to eat with a group of people who are pitching in on the process,” said Antoine.

“It helped me understand the different foods I can harvest that can help reduce my high blood pressure and I get to learn all about sustainable food choices that I have grown at their greenhouse,” she added.

BROOKLYN- The children’s programs at the Hebrew Educational Society in the Canarsie neighborhood are making a comeback under a new normal.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, more kids are starting to return to the summer and after school program to take part in swimming, arts and crafts and other activities.

“Everything is back to normal now,” said a counselor whose alias is Bill Goldberg. He has worked at the Hebrew Educational Society for five years.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the building shutdown for two months. Once the building reopened, the children’s programs had to adjust to social distancing and masks.

He estimated about 500 kids attending the programs before Covid.

After it reopened, he estimated that about 100-200 kids in total had attended the programs.

“When we opened back, we had to work at 25% capacity, so we literally had one classroom and 10 kids (at a time) at most,” said Goldberg. “So for the majority of the activities, we tried to keep it counselor based because we didn’t want a lot of travel throughout the building. The only activities that we do outside of the classroom are gym activities.”

The after school program was hit hard due to shutdowns and social distancing. Counselors also make sure that kids wash their hands before and after every activity.

“During covid, there was only one big group for the after school program,” said an alias named Lucy Gardner. She is another counselor at H.E.S. “There were about 30 kids in total throughout the peak of the pandemic.”

After shutdowns, some of the kids felt worried coming back to H.E.S.

“Some of the kids were upset about the situation, but they just got over it,” said Goldberg. “It was a rough period for them to adapt to it. There were a few who were super scared of it and there were also the few that just ignored it completely.

“We just had to keep guiding them and to remind them to keep their mask up, wash their hands every 10-15 minutes, and between every activity, we would wash our hands.”

In addition, some of the kids felt shy interacting with one another, according to Gardner.

Some of the activities changed in order to prevent the spread of Covid. That was particularly true in the gymnasium.

The gym would be divided into separate “quadrants”. Mainly, each group would spread out and form under four basketball hoops. That way, the kids can participate in many games while not having too much contact with each other.

One of the games that they would play is knocking down a tower constructed with hula hoops by throwing a ball at it. Another game would be a makeshift Pac-Man game where the kids would walk on a line while being chased.

Then there’s the swimming activity.

“We didn’t have swimming for a while until we got the okay to swim without the mask because our main concern is drowning,” he said “From what I understand, they got the okay that the chlorine in the water would protect the kids from Covid.”

For the arts and crafts activities, the kids and counselors had to spread out for social distance purposes, as well as for music activities.

If someone’s child tested positive while they are in the organization’s building, the child would be placed in another room while being supervised.

The planned trips for the kids were also impacted by the pandemic.

“During the covid year, we didn’t have a planned trip. The most we did was walk to Seaview Park with a gym director, have an activity, and walk back to the facility,” the counselor said. “Last year, we started going out on more trips. We tried to keep one group in the building at all times, but we didn’t take out all of the groups.”

The groups are separated into three main groups. The smaller kids are called juniors, children ages between eight-years-old and 12-years-old would be considered as seniors, and kids 13-years-old to 18-years-old would be considered as teens.

The groups have designated days throughout the week when they have trips. The trips vary between outdoors and indoors.

“We’re still keeping the mindset of ‘if we do an indoor trip, that we have to take over the facility,’ solely because some of the parents are still uncomfortable,” Goldberg said. “For example, if we go to a trampoline park, we have to be the only group inside of the trampoline park for our designated time. If it’s an outdoor trip, we don’t have to take over the whole facility.”

In terms of the staff, a few of them have left because they felt uncomfortable working during Covid, according to him.

“We also didn’t have many specialists come in during covid,” Gardner said.

The rest of the staff have stayed and have adapted with the new rules and regulations of the building.

The organization has since used three rooms for the kids to do activities. As well as having about 25 kids per room.

After one group of kids are done with their activities, they make sure to thoroughly clean up each room before the next group of kids come to the classroom.

“In September 2020, you started seeing more people coming back because by that time, the vaccine was out,” he said. “We slowly started seeing staff come back and we started seeing kids coming back as well.”

In 2021, H.E.S had an estimate of 300 kids in attendance.

“We have about 130 applicants in the after school program right now,” Gardner said. “We separate them into six different groups now instead of just having one small group of kids in one classroom.”

The rest of the facility was unable to answer questions due to a lack of permission.

However, the counselors expect there to be 500 kids by the end of 2022.