How El Barrio Is Developing

Produced by Oscar Balbuena

Criminal Justice Reformer Ellis on the Zimmerman Verdict, Stop-and-Frisk, the Future

Ask formerly incarcerated Eddie Ellis, an internationally known prison reformer, if there are lessons to be taken from the current lawsuit against alleged racial profiling by some members of the New York Police Department and the verdict in the Trayvon Martin killing case and he will say he cannot give an optimistic answer. Yes, Ellis, […]

Handed-down Art Brings Henna Designer Earnings and Cultural Pride

  The thick paste cascades down skin, leaving a trail. As hours go by, the drying paste turns to a granulated, printed design. That design is known as henna, an art form and body ornament that got its start in the Middle East and North Africa. When Ditiksha Nanavaty was a little girl, her mother […]

Wiccans Defend their Modern Version of Ancient Religious Traditions

On a small patch of grass in Tompkins Square Park, 17 members of the New York City Wiccan Family Temple walked around a red altar, burning incense and chanting. “Circle ‘round the fire to raise a cone of power, to bring what we desire. So mote it be,” they repeated, clapping at the end of […]

LGBTQ Youth: YES Center Encourages Us to Be Ourselves

When Kevin Crespo was growing up in Brooklyn, he got the impression from neighborhood kids and his relatives that boys were expected to be macho. Crespo said he had a hard time meeting that expectation. “I feel like they [think] less of me. Like, I have to prove myself [in] some way, shape or form
” […]

Activists Allege Abuse by Nuns and Push for Right to Sue

“Nuns abuse children, too.”

Those were the allegations that members of Road to Recovery wrote on poster boards in red stenciling and draped across their bodies.

As they stood on the front steps of Judson Memorial Church, they also handed out flyers bearing the same message to people leaving that facility. The protesters chose that church on Washington Square South for its proximity to Notre Dame School, 13 blocks away. At that school, Road to Recovery member Cecilia Springer, then known as Sister Mary Grace, alleges she was sexually abused as a high school sophomore in 1946.

“Nuns abuse children, too. And I’m one of those victims.” said Springer, 84, a retired nun.

“Dress-up Jesus” Magnets Stir Conversation and Controversy

Robert Hain has made blasphemy his business. When Hain created his first Jesus dress-up doll in the early 1990s, they were made of paper and paired with a slew of paper outfits: A football uniform, bunny slippers, ultra-short denim cutoffs, bellbottom pants. In 2004, Hain turned the paper dolls into purple, fuschia, devil-red and other […]

Upcoming Building to Accommodate Homeless LGBT Youth

A third of homeless people in Manhattan are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to advocates for those persons. And, the advocates added, a disproportionate number of those particular homeless people are teens and young adults with comparatively little money to cover the high cost of New York City housing. That reality is what drives a plan to build […]

Chess Camp Aims to Groom Kings and Queens of the Game

Summer signals many things: hot weather, long days, summer vacation, no school and, for some kids, chess lessons. “Having something that he thinks is interesting and that he works hard at develops a sense of reward,” Susan Murray, a New York University professor, said recently at the end of her 6-year-old son’s first day at […]

Eco-Minded Annual Event Promotes Recreation on the Water

Oversized sky blue arrows pointed the way toward that Saturday’s activities at Governor’s Island National Monument. One led participants to kayaks made of cardboard, another to boat tours of New York Harbor, and still others to paddle-boarding and assorted water sports. Those were some of the activities slated for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance’s City of […]

Despite Glitches and Critics, Citi Bikers Take to the Road

Since Citi Bike rolled out in late May, its campaign to get people pedaling around the city has been criticized for its bike rental prices, its broken bike locks, its consumption of sidewalk and street space and so forth. Despite those complaints, the program also has its fans. “Anything to make getting around the city […]

For Thrifty Shoppers, Resale Stores are a Steal

When Lars Bregonje, 23, heads into a thrift store, he trusts that he’ll luck up on a good find. “If there was something nice you saw three years ago at a retail store that they don’t sell any more, you might stumble upon it at a thrift shop,” said Bregonje, while flipping through a rack […]

Chess Fans are Paying to Play

The day Walter DeLoatch and Myles Savage met inside Chess Forum, they readily discovered what they had in common: A desire to hone their chess skills, and to avoid the chess players who regularly compete in nearby Washington Square Park. To DeLoatch and Savage, the park players seemed more concerned about hustling for dollars than […]

NYU’s Expansion Rankles the Neighborhood

Doris Casella and Dotty Roberts sat in the shade near the fountains of Washington Square Park, surrounded by New York University’s buildings. Even though Casella is an NYU graduate, she had only criticism for her alma mater’s expansion plans. “When I heard that NYU was fixing this place up I almost had a heart attack,” […]

Vinyl’s Newest Fans a Lifeline to Record Stores

In an era when digital downloading has put traditional record stores out of business, several Greenwich Village storeowners said they have survived partly because a younger generation of vinyl fans have been their strongest customer base since the mid-2000s. “They realize vinyl sounds better,” said Bob Abramson, owner of the House of Oldies on Carmine […]

When the Heat is On, New Yorkers Try to Keep Cool

The heat wave that hit New York City for six consecutive days in July was brutal. Temperatures topped out at 97 degrees on July 18 and high humidity made it feel much hotter. Despite not being a record-breaking scorcher, New Yorkers still looked for ways to cool off. They opened up fire hydrants–exactly 900 of […]

Love of Africa Reflected in Designers’ Wares

Through the eyes of Ghanian-born and -reared fashion designer Kwabena Ofosu Ware, plain T-shirts and polo shirts look better when embroidered with symbols of West Africa. That belief, personal taste and ancestral pride, he said, are what underlay Quabs Couture, his year-old business. “I started by making the clothing for myself, and then every time […]

No Ellis Island Stop, But Ferry Ride Costs the Same

Although Ellis Island has been closed since last October’s Superstorm Sandy, visitors to the national landmark are being charged full price for ferry tickets. The tickets would normally get them access to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, which is on adjacent Liberty Island. Admission to the landmark park sites are free, but tourists […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]