Epicenter mostly focuses on New York City politics but today we begin occasionally zooming out at the national picture, given upcoming midterm elections.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Democrats are facing a pretty bleak picture going into the midterms. In general, the party of the president in office tends to face headwinds at the midpoint of his term, if only because voters tend to place anything bad that’s happened in the interim directly at his feet.
Actor Dayo Olatokun went from sleeping in his car in Los Angeles to creating a four-week arts program for NYC students. The artist realized he wanted to use his experience to help youth identify their passions early to avoid becoming a struggling artist. So, Olatokun founded the nonprofit organization GPA—the Gifted & Purposed Alliance.
Mayor Eric Adams has announced his plan to support students with dyslexia in NYC public schools. The DOE will now screen all students in kindergarten through second grade for literacy three times a year by educational company Acadience Learning. Students in 3rd through 10th grades will also be screened three times a year, but by a screener option chosen by the principal. Students who continue to perform below the benchmark will then be screened for dyslexia and other language-based disabilities.
Through Fair Student Funding (FSF), NYC schools receive funding based on their enrollment numbers. But with enrollment declines as a result of the pandemic, this formula was temporarily halted. While the DOE will allocate some federal funding to supplement the loss in funding due to decreased enrollment over the next two years, schools are still nervous about what their budgets will ultimately look like.
This week we welcome Ann Rosen. Rosen graduated from SUNY at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and the visual studies workshop with a master’s degree in fine arts, studying with Nathan Lyons, Joan Lyons and John Wood. She studied printmaking, photography and alternative photographic processes. She has received residencies at Artpark, New […]
Perry Shum, 33, was 12 years old when a pair of Air Jordan True Blue’s caught his eye. The shoe was crisp white, simple but detailed with red and blue accents. One of his middle school friends was wearing them, and the rest were anxiously waiting to buy that same pair of shoes. At the time Shum didn’t understand why people were so eager to buy a specific pair of shoes, but after buying his first pair of Air Jordan True Blues he understood why they were worth the wait. His love for sneakers has grown 10-fold since and he began scouting, buying and consigning sneakers.
Judith Vivell, 82, was a 19-year-old college sophomore at University of California, Berkeley, when her roommate asked her for a favor. “I have to get an abortion. I’m going to Tijuana, [Mexico], and I need you to drive me back,” her roommate told her. It was 1960 and abortions in the United States were illegal. As soon as Vivell finished her Spanish final the next day, she got in her roommate’s 1957 Cadillac convertible and made the nine-hour journey to Tijuana. They went to a slummy part of town. Her roommate left to get the abortion while Vivell stayed in the car. when her roommate asked her for a favor. “I have to get an abortion. I’m going to Tijuana, [Mexico], and I need you to drive me back,” her roommate told her. It was 1960 and abortions in the United States were illegal. As soon as Vivell finished her Spanish final the next day, she got in her roommate’s 1957 Cadillac convertible and made the nine-hour journey to Tijuana. They went to a slummy part of town. Her roommate left to get the abortion while Vivell stayed in the car.
Mention that you live in New York to someone almost anywhere outside of the city and there is one standard assumption they’re likely to make: you pay way too much in rent.
A children’s book that addresses racism is causing quite a stir for some parents, according to the New York Post. “Our Skin” is a book geared toward children ages 2-5 that addresses skin tones and the origins of racism— but many don’t like the way it tells children that white people invented the concept of race, claiming that it ‘preaches hate.’
When I tell people I’m from Queens, I often hear how diverse the borough is. And depending on how much time or patience I have, I often follow that up with, “Yes, but it’s also the most segregated.” After school dismissal at my high school, Bayside, was the perfect example of this. You didn’t really have to ask anyone which bus they were taking to get home — the white kids jumped on the Q76 going toward Whitestone or simply walked home. The Asian Americans waited at the Q28 stop to get to Flushing, along with the Latino students who would then jump on the 7 train afterward. Black students hopped on either the Q31 or the Q76 heading toward Jamaica.
