Published Work Archives - Page 20 of 22

Primary 2005

January 22, 2025August 1, 2005

City Limits

City Limits • September/October 2005

As New York politics heats up for its main event–the Democratic Parry primary on September 13–several races warrant a closer look. There are two stats that generally indicate the strength of a campaign: the number of petition signatures gathered to get on the ballot, which can reveal whether the operation has a wide reach, and the size of the war chest (a combination of donations and anticipated matching funds). With six candidates leaving office thanks to term limits and a handful of incumbents facing serious challenges, there’s plenty to talk about: Harlem’s District 9, the Lower East Side’s District 2, Sunset Park’s District 38. But the field narrows considerably when you focus on neighborhood activists who’ve managed to pull together competitive campaigns. City Limits picks out the ones to watch.

After School Aftershocks: Parents Oppose New Program

January 22, 2025July 22, 2005

City Limits

By Tracie McMillan, available at City Limits. A coming overhaul of the city’s after-school and summer child care is already causing chaos and confusion, say local parents. At a June 29 hearing, nearly 200 low-income parents crowded into a sweltering elementary school auditorium for a hearing on the city’s new Out of School Time (OST) … Read more

For a Scrappy Neighborhood, a Scent of Farm Fresh

January 22, 2025July 10, 2005

The New York Times

The New York Times • July 10, 2005

After 17 years, Joanne Grant knows Bushwick. So when she looked out her kitchen window and saw a farmer unloading his bounty onto her Brooklyn street Wednesday morning, she knew something was up.

Still clad in slippers and an aqua housedress, her hair tucked under a nightcap, Ms. Grant headed over to the farmer and waited in line to buy the three bunches of broccoli she clutched in her hand. But she also watched her front door anxiously.

Ending Workfare as We Know It?

January 22, 2025July 1, 2005

City Limits

Part 2 of series, “Getting By”

Winner, 2006 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
Finalist, 2006 Livingston Award for Young Journalists

City Limits • July/August 2005

It starts before Benita Andrews even makes it home. Five o’clock finds her walking to her South Bronx apartment, a ramshackle three-family covered in aluminum siding. Her kids–nine in all–spot her from their third-floor window, and they are already calling for her when she is half a block away. By the time Andrews passes the corner house, known as a drug spot, and a stoop blaring salsa music, her front stairs are lined with children. “It gets kinda crazy when I get home. Everybody’s all ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy.’” says Andrews, feigning irritation. “I about fall into a coma come 10:00.”

Ending Workfare as We Know It?

January 22, 2025July 1, 2005

City Limits

City Limits • July/August 2005

So far, the only sign of exhaustion from Andrews is a deep breath before the onslaught from her children begins. “I want to be working, but there’s too many loose ends at home,” she says matter-of-factly. Asked what it would take for her to leave welfare, Andrews raises her eyebrows–I have tried and it does not seem possible, her look says–and ponders the question. “If I do Scratch n’ Match [a state lottery game], that might cover me for three or four years,” she says. Pressed for specifics, Andrews launches into a list.

Siegel’s Bohemian Clout

January 22, 2025July 1, 2005

City Limits

City Limits • July/August 2005

Burlesque dancers, fire-spinners and nightlife activists aren’t commonly courted by politicians. But this year, bohemians citywide have at least one candidate eager for their support: Norman Siegel for Public Advocate.

Taking his second stab at the office, Siegel’s jumpstarting his campaign by drawing on the city’s newly mobilized masses, some of whom he’s represented in court: cyclists opposed to the aggressive policing of monthly mass bicycle rides; hipsters fighting the city’s arcane cabaret law, which prohibits dancing in bars without a license; and anti-gentrification advocates in Williamsburg, Prospect Heights and beyond. By early June, Siegel’s campaign had compiled a list of more than 400 volunteers ready to do battle for Norman.

Building Insecurity

January 22, 2025May 1, 2005

City Limits

City Limits • May/June 2005

Jesse Villegas takes pride in protecting the Empire State Building. A security guard at the 34th Street entrance, he reports to work in the landmark’s cavernous marble halls, overseeing turnstiles that scan office workers’ I.D. cards. But even though he’s a security officer, Villegas sometimes wonders if the building is safe. “Nobody really checks I.D.,” says Villegas. “All they’re doing is making sure people don’t jump over the turnstile.”

They also don’t do much to screen the 3.8 million tourists who pour through annually. A visitor’s first encounter with security is an x-ray machine for bags, located in the building basement where the line for observatory tickets begins. Entry to the building itself and various parts of its lower floors is monitored by nothing more than a surveillance camera.

Welfare 101: More Education Allowed

January 22, 2025April 15, 2005

City Limits

New city regulation lets single welfare recipients spend a year in school.By Tracie McMillan, orignally for City Limits Virtually all city welfare recipients are now able to spend up to 12 months pursuing education and training full-time under a new city policy, City Limits has learned. The city already had to allow single parents on … Read more

The Young and the Jobless

January 22, 2025March 1, 2005

City Limits

Part 1 of series, “Getting By”

Winner, 2006 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
Finalist, 2006 Livingston Award for Young Journalists

City Limits • March/April 2005

One in five.

That’s how many of New York City’s young adults, ages 16 to 24, are not working and are not going to school. Only a few of them are even looking for jobs. There are 200,000 in all–the approximate population of Richmond, Virginia.

There have always been young people for whom high school failed, and work was out of reach, but the sheer numbers have never been greater, according to new research from the Community Service Society of New York. The problem is not New York’s alone: The number of young adults whom policymakers call “disconnected” is surging nationwide.

Clean Bill of Health

January 22, 2025March 1, 2005

City Limits

City Limits • March/April 2005

Private employers could soon be forced to provide health insurance for their workers, under a new bill moving steadily toward City Council approval.

The Health Care Security Act, introduced last fall, would require private employers in five industries–large groceries, industrial laundries, hotels, building services and construction–to either provide insurance or pay into a citywide fund that would do it for them. Still in the early stages of negotiation, the bill has strong support; at press time it boasted 39 council sponsors, enough to survive a mayoral veto.