NYC hopes

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

New York's mayor has hope for positive change because of last week's election, like most American voters do. 

When he reached out to the current administration for help, he found only deaf ears--no help came for his city's immigration crisis. But now he's optimistic that his concerns will be heard and some of his ideas put into effect:

“I am willing to sit down with this administration like I tried to sit down with the previous administration in my 10 trips to Washington to say: we have a problem that is overrunning our cities.” 

 

Not in favor of mass deportation, he does hope for 1) federal money to help finance NYC's  support of immigrants, 2)  more secure border policies including background checks, and 3) sending some immigrants to less populated locations.

“When I talked about public safety in 2021, it was ignored. When I talked about migrants and asylum seekers in 2023, it was ignored.” He doesn't like being ignored. 

A similar story applies to the Teamsters Union who for many years were loyal supporters of the now-left-wing party. They feel ignored. But the union president found an open, responsive welcome when he wished to speak to the political party convention of our president-elect.

from Politico

NYC pays 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Migrants being housed in New York City hotels (photo) may receive pre-paid credit cards to buy food and baby supplies, a pilot program begun last March funded by the city through a controversial no-bid contract with a finance company which profits in some way.

 

They say that it saves the city millions of dollars, compared to their former policy of giving boxed meals (which received some complaints about the quality). The cards must be re-loaded every week at a value of about $350, for a monthly dole of about $1400. Recipients promise to use the cards only for authorized purchases.

Mayor Adams is ending the program at this year's end, going back to boxed meals. About $3.4 million was the total cost of this program to the city.

from CBS

Hot Bread 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

No matter how good an idea may be, it may fold because of any number of problems. Somehow Hot Bread Kitchen has overcome the inevitable challenges to continue, and even to grow in its mission.

Starting out in the founder's kitchen, they celebrated a 15th anniversary last year, "creating economic opportunity through careers in food" and funded by $6 million in annual donations.

Through training and support, they claim they've put "1500 individuals on the path to economic mobility" whether as employees or entrepreneurs in the food industry. They like to call their members "Breadwinners." 

Crime@NYC

Friends of a native New Yorker woman came to town to shop the designer stores for an upcoming wedding. 

photo

The lights were off and the door locked when they arrived at their first one. A sales person cautiously answered their knock, and told them that a team of 15 men had targeted the store. They came in more than once to grab expensive merchandise and walk out with it. 

While seated at a trendy restaurant, their waiter warned against wearing diamond stud earrings or a valuable watch. Across the street they later saw another robbery in process.

Stolen designer merch is easy to get rid of on the streets. In luxury stores, clothing may be tethered to walls while jewelry and other goods are hidden in back rooms for genuine customers.

For those of you outside of the U.S. who may think that outrageous lawlessness like this is normal for us in America, I can tell you that it was definitely not normal . . until a couple of years ago. Crime was furtive. This shameless boldness is new. 

Tomorrow, crime spirals in today's Chicago.

from Human Events

God in a park

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Vice President of New York State Charities Association, Frederick Law Olmsted, designed New York's Central Park with a goal in mind. It was to be:

 “a specimen of God’s handiwork” that would heal “the hundreds of thousands of tired workers” of their “vital exhaustion,” “nervous irritation” and “constitutional depressions.” 

"Olmsted’s and [his assistant] Calvert Vaux’s design of Central Park artfully and systematically provided vistas and paths that would make one feel like the special object of a loving God through a beautiful city. Olmsted said every path, rock, flower and tree had a functional purpose in the creation of a healing scene."

photo

God in a garden

Many of us see the artistry of God in our gardens. But a talented landscape designer took it quite a bit further than the size of a home garden.

photo

In the mid-1800's Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park for the city of New York, having won a competition for the job.

"He went onto design Central Park based on the principles that he outlined in his apologetic argument for Jesus Christ. Olmsted combined an evangelical zeal with a tenderness toward the conscience of another person.

"He wanted a park that would display the natural glory of God’s plan. A park should also welcome people of all classes and persuasions, just as Jesus welcomed all who came to him. The design would allow people of all faiths to enjoy the park in their own ways and would not force belief in God on anyone."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Thirst 1

This week's content is from Thirst, by Scott Harrison

The Harrison family became Christian in the 1980's. The couple and their little boy, Scott, became active in their church, and they were all in.

Scott played the piano, which led to joining a band that played for events and clubs during his high school years. In New York after high school, he found a niche where he could monetize his drive, charm, intelligence, good looks . . as a club promoter.

photo

It was like making a living as a perpetual life-of-the-party. For ten years he immersed himself in celebrities, drinking, models, drugs, money. But then his faith re-awakened and he started looking for a better way.

A few months later, he was on a charity ship with no luxuries, no glamour, no money . . his lifestyle of indulgence was over.

(cont'd tomorrow . . the better way he discovered, making a difference in the world)

Chic in NYC

Chick-fil-A's new restaurant in Manhattan is the world's largest, with multi levels and rooftop dining. Business seems good, in spite of the non-welcome from an editorial writer who thinks the restaurant is "distasteful" because of the Christian identity of the franchise owners.

Customers, however, lined up at the door for a tasty meal.

This gently mocking headline sums it up, "Evil Christians Oppress Secular New Yorkers with Delicious Chicken Sandwiches."

photo: cbsnews.com

1915 vs 2015

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a report on the amazingly more prosperous life of an average American worker in 2015 compared to that of an American worker one hundred years earlier, 1915.

How can a comparison be made between different eras? Not by money so much, but by a comparison of what that worker could afford to have in his home.

An article in the 1913 Journal of Home Economics describes an average apartment home in New York City:

". .  a four room flat, rent nineteen dollars, nine in family. . This family of nine has a boarder to help pay the rent. . . There is a bath tub, but the clothes wringer and last winter’s sleds are always kept in it. This is not the home of a very poor family: the father earns twelve dollars a week, two girls are in a factory . ."

(from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

workers paint the Brooklyn Bridge 1915: pinterest.com

(cont'd tomorrow)

Food to Eat

Street food is big in New York city. But the food vendors are mostly very small businesses. "For me, the mission has always been how can I help these amazing small food vendors grow their businesses?" So says native New Yorker Deepti Sharma.

Upon finding out that NYC food trucks needed help to expand the catering side of their businesses, she started a business of her own to act as a "marketing arm" for them.

Her company, Food to Eat, works with office managers to help them find local food providers for catered lunches or to provide meal benefits for employees. She wants corporate food business to go to local smallish food providers.

So surprised

The article "Foreigners share what they find most surprising about America" summarizes answers of people who've come to America and made paradigm-bursting discoveries:

• "Foreigners cannot believe how vast the United States is. . . my Italian relatives come here thinking they can visit me in Seattle, plus also see New York City, Miami, the Grand Canyon and Hollywood all in a week--by car."
• "Food portion sizes which are ridiculous to my view. "
• "The typical supermarket has at least a hundred varieties of frozen pizza, 50 brands of trail mix, etc. I was just astounded by the different kinds of products available even at small gas station convenience stores." 
• “I was aghast at the amount of stuff people wasted every single day."
• "None of my friends back in India believed me when I told them that you can literally buy anything, including food, and return it within ninety days for a full refund "
• "Nicest people in the world, even in New York which is supposed to be one of the rudest cities in the world." 

Lowline Lab

(cont'd from last Friday)

Lowline Lab is a demonstration of the technology that's going to produce a green park below street level on the lower east side of Manhattan - New York's first underground park.

To get sunlight below Delancey Street so there could be plants in the park, James Ramsey developed an "optical system" which is highlighted in this lab as a "proof of concept." Tubes overhead use mirrors and lenses to take the light down underground. A flexible metal canopy over the lab helps to reflect light down on the plants according to where it's needed.

Ramsey is working with Dan Barasch to develop the park. Here is the TED talk Dan did about the project:

Low Line

Last August my niece and I visited the High Line in NYC. It's a park with shops and a path above the streets, following an old elevated train track.

Now I find out there's also a Low Line park located in "lower east Manhattan" that will grow trees and plants below the streets. The site is an abandoned trolley terminal, unused since trolley service ended in 1948.

It won't actually be up and running until maybe 2020, but a "lab" has been constructed to demonstrate the technology and prove that this will, indeed, work. More on this demo next week.

911 tower

"Starchitect" Bjarke Ingels has designed the last tower that will, as he puts it, "frame" the eight blocks of  the 911 memorial.

The building will look like a column of seven offset blocks, providing an outdoor terrace or hanging garden for each block. He pictures the blocks housing different sorts of companies, more creative than financial. Its core tenants will be media companies.

Ingels, just 40 years old, moved to New York City from his native Denmark five years ago and is very much in demand. His firm is also co-designer of Google's new headquarters near San Francisco Bay.

Charlie Rose interviews the animated and well-spoken Bjarke Ingels here.

WeAreFilms

(cont'd)

Alex and Aaron started making films together as kids and it just hasn't stopped. They got "better equipment" and kept learning, started a website.

They have some advice for dreamers who can identify  - "Don't think that just because you don't have the best equipment that you can't make something beautiful or touching. . . Find others who are equally as passionate about filmmaking as you are and make videos together on weekends. That's what we would do. Eventually you find a core group of people that you love working with and ideally you get to hire those people to work with you in the future whenever you have paid gigs."

Both brothers having homophilia, they've enjoyed donating their time and skills to filming summer camp memories for children with the condition.

"Shooting a music video is one of our favorite things to do. There's just something magical about creating an image that a song will be remembered by."

Film makers

"The film industry has a reputation for being cutthroat, backstabbing, and grueling. It’s true – especially in NYC. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And we don’t have to be that way."

That's Aaron Craig who works with his brother in film making. They are good at it and they love it (so often this way, that you love doing what you are gifted to do).

They work with excellence and passion, like other good film makers. They also aim to do it without being cutthroat and backstabbing.

That's a "good work" - in whatever it is that you do, to do it well and do it with integrity that honors God. 

(cont'd tomorrow)

NYC #2

(cont'd)

While in New York we went to a Broadway musical. It was the first for both of us and we loved it. "Amazing Grace" is the story of John Newton who progressed from callous slave trader of the 1700's  . .  to repentance . .  to Christian priest working to end the slave trade in England.

The musical opened last October in Chicago. Now it's on Broadway and I'm glad it's done very well. 

Next time you hear the hymn, picture Newton's mindset as he wrote it because now you know the choices he made.

NYC #1

Here's the trip report I promised:

In the category of glad-I-did-this, we stayed at a B&B in Harlem. The photo isn't our street, but it looks a lot like it.

Here's what we saw in New York City:

• neighborhood - people quietly sitting on their steps and hanging out with their neighbors, and we joined them at Lulu's Taquilleria, Maison Harlem, and Hungarian Pastry Shop
• racial diversity - black, Hispanic, white, Asian, Indian, anything
• energy - my niece, energy on wheels, loved it and contributed to it
• bad behavior - verbal abuse in the subway so threatening that the police came down
• food fight - angry adults at a food cart on the street, my niece called 911
• language diversity - I could only identify French, Spanish, Chinese
• subways - we went all over Manhattan in them
• food - markets and restaurants just everywhere!

In short, those New York cliches came to life - including the electric feeling after dark in Times Square.

(cont'd tomorrow)