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Featured News NYC Opinion

A Poignant Protest In Astoria Park

Photo: Alice Teeple

“Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Last night, hundreds of people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all cultures and all income brackets gathered along the waterfront in Astoria Park to reflect upon the immense losses of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and the countless others who had their precious lives cruelly stolen.

The choice of the gathering was extraordinary. On one side, the RFK Bridge, swathed in the light of the setting sun, its namesake struck down by an assassin’s bullet. On the other side, the Hell Gate Bridge spanning the East River Styx. And, shining in the light of hundreds of candles, remembrances of the slain, perfumed by incense, a shrine to the fallen of WW1. The inscription: “Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

The crowd parted in front of this shrine, forming a circle for poets, activists, students (some as young as 15), parents, Covid survivors, teachers, and musicians to step in and speak from their hearts. After several days of nonstop social media feeds stuffed with violence and rage, these brave ambassadors of peace still rose up for their loved ones. They acknowledged they were risking their lives, but still faced down their greatest fears to do the right thing: to speak their mind by baring their souls to hundreds of strangers who held space for them.

There were dozens of impassioned speeches, eyes shining with tears, the mantra “I’m tired” escaping into the universe, as citizen after citizen called for commitment to mercy and justice. Every speaker implored the crowd that non-Blacks continue to fight for equality, speak up for them, and to actively counter tyranny and discrimination at all levels. A white woman read her text thread between her family aloud, and asked others to follow suit and have those difficult conversations. When it comes down to it, will you retreat into the safety of your homes, or lay down your life for your friends? Will you advocate, will you amplify, will you cry, will you march, will you love?

Photo: Alice Teeple

The motto of the New York Police Department, Fidelis ad mortem, is Latin for “faithful to death.” A sinister translation, to be sure, after witnessing the atrocious brutality exercised on demonstrators this week. There was no need for the dozens of NYPD clutching riot gear on the perimeters. This was a protest of the interests of the oppressors who are given priority over common decency, of equality, and of humanity. When corporations talk a good game for advertising, but refuse to pay their employees a fair wage or provide health insurance, expect resistance. Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect. Where have those qualities been, other than emblazoned on the car doors ramming into innocent bystanders? Or brutally mocking, harming and neglecting vulnerable homeless people in our city? It’s shameful, and it’s wrong.

These were American citizens, exercising their right to peacefully assemble and speak freely about the government, to look out for our fellow humans of all colors of the rainbow, all genders, all orientations, and all cultural backgrounds. The Astoria Park rally radiated nothing but tough love and solidarity. As one speaker eloquently put it, “we all bleed the same color.”

The United States is a beautiful melting pot of humanity and melanin, and when given the chance, has the potential for so much beauty and grace and evolution. Don’t forget what we are fighting for. Inevitably there will be commercials with melancholy piano music and meaningless platitudes about “coming together,” but that’s the same old nonsense. Business as usual. Coming together means standing up for what’s right and helping your fellow humans, not just when it’s trending as a TikTok challenge or a black square on Instagram. Every day. Every hour of every day. Support minority-run independent businesses. Support champions of justice and support education. Support those who wish to travel to learn more about life around the globe. Support minorities in the arts and humanities.

When the glass is swept and the next news cycle lashes out the next Two Minutes Hate, hold on to the light. Tightly, fiercely. Never, ever lose the light.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Put your money to work and donate.

Black Lives Matter:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Brooklyn Bail Fund to assist protesters in Brooklyn:

https://brooklynbailfund.org/donate

Donate to Black Visions Collective:

https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

Donate to the Movement for Black Lives:

https://m4bl.org/join-our-movement/

Donate to The Bail Project:

https://bailproject.org

Donate to George Floyd Memorial Fund:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Donate to Reclaim the Block:

https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2

Donate to bail funds across the US:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd

Donate to the Southern Poverty Law Centre:

https://www.splcenter.org/

Donate to the #SayHerName campaign:

https://aapf.org/support

Donate to the Emergency Release Fund:

https://emergencyreleasefund.com/about/

Donate to Unicorn Riot to help provide accurate, on-the-ground coverage:

https://unicornriot.ninja/donate/

 

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Album of the Year: Civilian by Frank Tovey

 

Categories
Dining Events Featured Restaurants

Aquarius Celebrates Sustainable Seafood

The party in full swing. Photo courtesy of @lissyellelaricchia

Elegant warehouse–two words that don’t often go together. Yet that is the best way to describe The Foundry, the setting for the third annual Aquarius Festival on January 25th, the nation’s first and only sustainable seafood festival. As you walk into the venue, you see brick walls and bare metal walkways transformed into a classy club with the help of some lighting, Instagram-able decor, and multiple bars. Food trucks and stands set up in a semi-circle in the open courtyard, with seating around a few open woodfires.

Aquarius Seafood Festival
Seafood Watch is a sustainable seafood advisory list. Photo by @BarryTakesPictures

Aquarius stands out, though, with an incredible open bar of interesting cocktails and even more delectable food from a variety of ethical vendors. Some standouts included a variety of fresh oysters from the raw bar, provided by MF Events, Houseman‘s Squid with XO Sauce, and perhaps the biggest stand out: Ca’pisci with a delicious array of seafood including a spectacular swordfish skewer grilled and covered in Mint, Capers, and Lemon.

The cocktails were well prepared, drawing long lines from taste and spectacle. The Makers Mark Hickory Smoked Manhattan was especially delightful to watch and to drink. The bar staff used an actual smoker that plumed out to reveal a very nice Manhattan.

Mattitaco
Mattitaco serves farm-to-food-truck Mexican. Photo courtesy of @Ozgonza1

The real star of the night was Aquarius’ efforts to live up to its claim and take steps towards sustainability. Using the company Cup Zero, Aquarius was able to prevent loads of plastic waste. Cup Zero is a straightforward concept: party guests pay two dollars for a reusable plastic cup when they enter. When they leave the party, they return it and get their money back. It was easy, and more events should look into this very simple step. The booths also set out for more sustainable eating, using wood or paper containers and remaining plasticware-free. Overall, Aquarius was a great experience that showed you can throw a great event while still doing your part to help the environment.

Categories
Art Culture Featured

Mysterious Faux Food Cart Appears In Astoria

Photo by Hayley Bing

There’s a new food pop-up in Astoria, and it’s looking downright appetizing!

Dead and Berry’d appeared on 31st Street at an abandoned hot dog cart under the Ditmars stop this week. Its tasty “vegan/non-vegan fusion” offerings have certainly been tantalizing the block!

Photo by Hayley Bing

Green frankfurters, double-decker neon hamburgers, and frozen delights await the hungry masses at this formerly unloved street cart chained to a “No Parking” sign. The authentic artisan cuisine is skillfully handmade with indigestible Sculpey polymer, plated on eco-friendly thrift store china, and blends the finest in conceptual slaughter and foraging.

This forward-thinking chow wagon is committed to saving the environment and politely demands customers bring their own straws, on a sign plastered to the side of the cart. With all the roly-poly pigeons roaming the immediate area, and a farmer’s market across the street, Dead and Berry’d is committed to providing fresh farm-to-table squab for busy commuters.

Photo by Hayley Bing

The Dead and Berry’d logo alone is a masterpiece in graphic design: a KO’d pigeon with berries spinning over its head, invoking the spirit of the classic Rainbow Peace Dove poster of the great Milton Glaser, but with a tragic twist.

Their rustic menu, supplied by the neighboring Astoria post office Priority Mail rack, is artfully hand-drawn and calligraphed by a talented Anonymous…such a feast for each sense.

Astoria resident Hayley Bing, who spotted the new joint on her way to work, sent in these photos. She was one of the lucky few who got to sample the rare goods firsthand:

“The menu item they called ‘hotdog’ was reminiscent of the modeling clay I used to eat in art school on special occasions,” she says.

We aren’t sure what’s in those offerings or even the head chef’s true identity, but perhaps it’s best to keep this a beautiful mystery. Ditmars certainly needed a little zip in its step with all the new construction and changes happening to the beloved 31st Street promenade. And what a gamble! Food is flying off the shelves. By Thursday they’d sold out of their signature hot dogs, hamburgers and shakes, but we’re anxiously waiting for the next installation.

Perhaps Time Out had no idea what to say, but Downtown is ready to chow down.

 

See More

Raising The Bar With Hank Fontaine

Album of the Year: Civilian by Frank Tovey

Clan of Xymox Materializes At Le Poisson Rouge

Blake Charleton Keeps It Fresh

Christine Smith Waits On The Far Side Of A Star

Adrian Sexton Draws The Death Card

Categories
Business Doctors Featured Health Living Wellness

Charles B Wang Community Health Center Recognized As Quality Improvement Leader Recipient

L-R Shephanie Cheng, Board Member, CBWCHC; Dr. Anthony Ferreri, Regional Director of HHS (Region 2); Jane Eng, President and CEO, CBWCHC;  Cheryl Donald, Regional Administrator of HRSA (Region 2); Dr. Perry Pong, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CBWCHC.

The Charles B Wang Community Health Center, a Manhattan- and Queens-based nonprofit, held a press conference yesterday to celebrate recent administrative and quality-based victories in their mission to provide high-quality healthcare to their community. The CBWCHC was named a HRSA National Quality Leader for the fifth consecutive year, and the second consecutive year as the sole community health center recipient in New York State. They were awarded a total of $173,470 in Quality Improvement Awards, given to companies for providing effective preventative and life quality improvement treatment to their patients.

The CBWCHC is a fixture of NYC, with its five locations giving critical care to many of the city’s immigrants. The organization has an immigrant history itself, beginning in 1971 as a community-run health fair in Chinatown. Since then, it has grown to a 24-7 service provider with more than 61,000 patients in 2018. 

CBWCHC’s award recognizes them as being in the top 1-2% of providers in diabetes and heart and clinical quality measures. Dr. Perry Pong, the executive vice president and chief medical officer, credits their success to CBW’s commitment to what he calls genuine care. “When you care one patient at a time,” he says, “you will achieve your goal of the patients coming back. You will achieve patient satisfaction, loyalty, you’ll have more visits, you would have more revenue because you show that you care. That’s the difference that we can make that only at a patient level but also to the community.”

The health center has special meaning for many of the board members and officials present for the press conference. Stephanie Cheng, a board member and patient, recounted how her family had relied on Charles B Wang since her childhood, when her family first arrived in the US and was unable to afford more expensive medical care options. “Not only did we come for annual checkups,” she told the assembled group, “they also provided resources to help my dad quit smoking and metro cards to get to have from the center and mental health services for my family members.”

Jane Eng, President and CEO of the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center stands with The Hon. Brian Kavanagh, New York State Senator (26th District), The Hon. Yuh-Line Niou, New York State Assembly Member (65th District), Dr. Anthony Ferreri, Regional Director of HHS (Region 2), Cheryl Donald, Regional Administrator of HRSA (Region 2), and members of the Health Center’s Board of the Directors and executive staff.
Categories
News

Heat Outrage: In Record Heat, Power Outages Continue

Thousands were left without any power this weekend as one of the hottest days of the summer also struck New York City. Areas in Brooklyn including Canarsie, Flatlands, Mill Basin, and Bergen Beach were affected by the power outages and had many concerned for the nursing homes in the area as the heatwave grew stronger. The heatwave which lasted all weekend long left the city in the high 90s with a high percentage in humidity making the outdoors almost unbearable.

This lack of power has continued on from the Manhattan blackout which occurred about a week ago and affected nearly 40 blocks around Times Square. To restore some of the city’s power, Con Edison had to shut down much of the power in Brooklyn and Queens. As many as 50,000 residents in the Brooklyn and Queens areas suffering without air conditioning.

Mayor Bill De Blasio was not happy with the circumstances and called for an investigation on the power outages. Con Edison worked endlessly in order to restore power for their customers bringing as many as about 20,000 people back up with their power. Emergency generators and air-conditioned buses were sent to elderly facilities. 

All power is expected to be turned back on this evening. Locals and residents are able to check the status of power on Con Edison’s interactive map.

Pexel
Photo courtesy of Pexel
Categories
Living

NYC Car Insurance Rates Are Some of the Highest in the Nation. Which Borough is Lowest?

New York is an amazing place, but with more than 8.5 million people living in it, it’s also incredibly expensive. The high cost of living is due to several factors, and one of those is auto insurance.

New York City has some of the most expensive auto insurance in the nation, and the reasoning behind this is very simple. In addition to its very high population density, New York City has higher crime rates than a majority of the country, including automobile-related crime. The city also has high levels of traffic and congestion – factors which can increase insurance rates. Additionally, New York City has very strict minimum liability requirements when it comes to auto insurance. While these stringent requirements can protect consumers in the event of an accident, they can also drive up rates. A quick look at the minimum requirements for liability:

  • $10,000 coverage for property damage.
  • $25,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI) coverage per person.
  • $25,000 coverage for bodily injuries to one individual.
  • $50,000 coverage for bodily injuries per wreck and bodily injuries per collision.
  • $50,000 coverage per accident for uninsured motorist bodily injury.

Of course, New York isn’t just a city, it’s a city of five boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx. New York auto insurance rates can vary based on which Borough you live in.

So, here’s a ranking of which Borough has the highest and lowest auto insurance rates.

1. Brooklyn

This might be a bit of a surprise – you may have expected Manhattan (after all, EVERYTHING is more expensive there), but no, it’s actually Brooklyn. The average auto insurance policy in Brooklyn is more than twice as expensive as it is anywhere else in New York. According to numerous studies, auto insurance in Brooklyn can cost you more than $3,500 annually.

2. Queens

Queens is next on the list, with the average auto insurance policy costing drivers roughly $3,000 every year. Queens has a large percentage of driving commuters – roughly half of their residents – and, as we know, more drivers means more accidents, and this means higher auto insurance rates.

3. The Bronx

The average auto insurance policy in the Bronx is about $2,900. As expensive as this is, the good news is that this is still lower than the New York City average of roughly $3,000, making this the first Borough in which the average rates drop below the city-wide average.

4. Manhattan

This one is a bit of a surprise, as Manhattan is usually regarded as the most expensive Borough. However, it came in fourth on the list of most expensive auto insurance rates, with the average policy costing consumers $2,600.

5. Staten Island

Staten Island easily has the lowest auto insurance rates of any of the five Boroughs, with the average driver paying roughly $2,500 per year. This rate is nearly $500 lower than the citywide average, but still significantly higher than the statewide average of about $1,500. A large contributing factor is almost certainly Staten Island’s comparatively low population: It not only has the smallest population of the five Boroughs, but it has the lowest population density.

Where to find the cheapest car insurance carriers

If you are shopping for car insurance rates, don’t go with the first company you see. Shop around and get as many different quotes from as many different companies as possible. Every company will give different rates for different people, and this is particularly dependent on your individual driving record.

The website PennyGeeks examined which car insurance companies had the cheapest rates for New York drivers. Here’s what they found:

  • Liberty Mutual has the best rates for safe drivers.
  • On the other end, High-Risk Drivers could find the cheapest insurance with Allstate.
  • State Farm Insurance had the best rates for teen drivers.
  • Drivers who are willing and able to pay their insurance premiums upfront could find the best rates with Esurance.
  • USAA (United States Automobile Association) had the best rates for Military Drivers.

The same survey examined overall reviews and complaints. Looking at the same five companies, it gave out the following grades:

  • USAA: A
  • Liberty Mutual: A
  • Allstate: B+
  • ESurance: B
  • Nationwide:: B-

In conclusion, auto insurance rates can vary by a variety of factors, but one of those factors is absolutely where you live and keep your car. When purchasing auto insurance, make sure you take the time to determine how you can save the most money, and make sure you shop around for the lowest rates. Doing so help ensures that you will save as much money as possible!

Featured photo by Chase Fraser