Monthly Archives: July 2012
Businesses: We Didn’t Enlist With Anti-Bloomberg “Beverage Choices”
At a City Hall rally, businesses protested Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on super-sized, sugary beverages. Some businesses that are listed as members of New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, which opposes Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on super-sized sugary drinks, do not know exactly how they got on that roster. “We do not take a […]
“I Felt Trapped In My Old Body”
Born a girl, Jacinto Peter Medina is in the process of becoming a man. This is part of his story, as told to Kiara Ventura, a Spectrum staff writer. I hate the cliché, “feeling trapped in this body.” But that is how I felt as a girl who was supposed to be a boy. I […]
Ancient Jewish Rite-of-Passage Gets Overhaul
A rabbi and bar mitzvah candidate read the Torah. Clerics and scholars at two major Jewish institutions are testing a project aimed at reshaping the bar mitzvah so that is marks more of a beginning than an ending of personal interest in and study of Judaism. Being a graduation “is not what a bar mitzvah […]
Store Operators Ponder Impact of Digitized Comic Books
Comic bookstore owners are hoping a mobile application designed by industry giant Marvel Comics will, as proposed, not run those who sell printed editions of comic books out of business. At the April 2012 release of the app, designed for Marvel by online comics distributor ComiXology, Marvel officials said a digital library could […]
Muralist Prefers Making Art For Public Viewing
When Strand, one of New York City’s oldest bookstores, invited muralist Michael Fumero to paint on one of its exterior walls, his first response was, “This is cool.” Then, from roof to sidewalk at that East Village location, he brushed on shades of red, yellow, green, blue and light flesh tones to create an animated […]
Organization Fixes Bikes, Grooms Youth Workers
With loose chains, pedals, bike frames and other tools of her trade hanging above her head, Natalie Feliciano, 21, was fixing a flat tire. “You don’t see a lot of female mechanics,” said Feliciano, who, at 16, started out as an intern at the East Village branch of Recycle-A-Bicycle and stayed put. Her bosses are […]
New Anti-AIDS Initiative Targets Young, Straight Males of Color
To slow the spread of HIV/AIDS by and among young, heterosexual males of color and encourage them to engage in a more public conversation about the disease, a Harlem-based group with citywide reach has launched its Young Men’s Initiative. During its inaugural daylong Young’s Men Summit, a July 21 workshop series, group leaders and some […]
Washington Square Fountain Doubles As Popular Wading Pool
If you’re walking into Washington Square Park on a hot day, chances are you’ll notice people cooling down in the fountain that is the centerpiece of that 9.75-acre public space. So, is it a scenic fountain, a pool for splashing around or a little bit of both? The Washington Square fountain has the distinction of being […]
After 500 Years, Martial Art Created By Slaves Still Survives
Returning to capoeira, the martial art she practiced as a teen-ager, was Marie Dasilveira’s way of getting closer to Brazil, which is her home country and the place where capoeira was born. Her search was strategic, said Dasilveira, 26, who signed up earlier this year for classes at Capoeira Brasil in Manhattan’s West […]
Street Performer’s Antics Offend Some, Entertain Others
The Great Perfarter knows that people think he is a raving lunatic. But there is a method to his madness, he said. “I was always attracted to what David Letterman, Tom Green and Andy Kaufman did on the street,” the Perfarter said, referring to those comedians, “the crazy man on the street who was […]
Petition Seeks “Justice” for Hit-and-Run Victim
Relatives and friends of Roxana Sorina Buta, and strangers who may only know her through headlines, are petitioning for the justice they believe she and her family have not yet gotten. Buta was 21 on the night she died, allegedly struck near Union Square by a hit-and-run New York City Department of Transportation garbadge truck […]
Eco-entrepreneurs Wedded to Business Model, Mission
Whether on a bicycle or skateboard, customers arriving by energy-saving transportation at Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery’s five locations get a special discount on their order. “It’s designed to create an incentive for the customers. They do something good for the environment and we give them a financial award,” said Maury Rubin, 52, head baker and […]
New Business Sells Filtered Water, Touts Health Benefits
By Janiece Montas Staff writer What the Molecule Project doesn’t do is sell flavored water. Co-owner Adam Ruhr makes that point clear off the top. In fact, the minerals and vitamins he dumps into the water he sells from a new East Village store does not taste so great. Drinking it, though, Ruhr said, benefits […]
Restoration Aims to Benefit Historic Church, Community
Parts of Grace Church, which was built of marble in 1808, were crumbling even before the Rev. Donald Waring was hired in 2004 as pastor of the East Village congregation. “The organ,” he said, “had given up the ghost.” That instrument was no longer making the pretty music that had helped make Grace Church a […]
Where Scavenging Recyclables is Outlawed, Scavengers Earn Cash
By R.J. Rubio Staff Writer Standing in the pouring rain at the corner of East Fourth Street and Avenue A, Hector Reyes, 51, was razor-focused on the task at hand, shoveling bottles and cans into the machines imprinted with “Redeem 5¢.” Scavenging for recyclable containers that other people throw away is popular among the […]
B-Ball Players, Young and Old, Still Competing at the Cage
By Stephanie Chan Staff writer Before Anthony Mason, Earl Monroe, Julius Erving and others became NBA standouts, they were winners on the basketball court at West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue, a place called “The Cage” that is still attracting players, young and old. On any given weekday or weekend, when the weather is […]
With Concrete As a Canvas, Sand Painter Pours Out His Art
First, Joe Mangrum sets up his boundaries, using four plastic buckets to roughly mark off a square. He rests a ringed binder filled with photographs of his artwork on a table he’s set up nearby. Then, he gets to work. From a dozen or so Ziploc storage bags, he grabs handfuls of sand dyed in colors […]
Group Trains LGBTQ Youth To Advocate for Themselves
The stereo was pumping: “You show the lights that stop me … You shine it when I’m alone and so I tell myself that I’ll be strong …” And the youth of FIERCE—with their mohawks, body-piercings, skinny jeans and assorted other signatures of personal style—were dancing to the beat. They sang along with to Ellie […]
“Planting Peace” Sets Down Roots In New York
When they hand out cups of water to passersby on Saturdays, volunteers with Planting Peace are doing more than helping people quench their thirst. “We give out free water to help with the heat situation. It attracts people to our stand,” said Aaron Jackson, 30, the organization’s president and co-founder. Their stand is a table, […]