The South Bronx: From Rags To Million Dollar Piano District .


The Bronx has a rich cultural history and is home to some of the most vibrant communities in the went under rapid growth during the turn of the twentieth century, as it residential development boomed and subway lines extended further South in the Bronx, making travelling to and from the inner borough of Manhattan more accessible. Thousands of Irish, Italian, French, German, Polish and Jamigrants left the bronx  and either migrated further South in the Bronx or left the borough entirely, leaving behind mostly Hispanic and African Aican populations. Essentially, the South Bronx went from being two-thirds non-Hispanic in 1950, to two-thirds black or Puerto Rican in 1960. While issues of poverty, crime,  unemployment are not unique to the bronx The Mott Haven area of the Bronx has caught the eye of property developers and businessmen, with film studio springing in the waterfront warehouses, and companies specialising in loft apartments snapping up land.

 According to the 2015 BCD1  (Bronx Community District 1) Community Health profile, 72% of our community is Hispanic, 25% is Black and 2% is White. What’s more, 28% of our community is foreign born and 36% have limited English proficiency, and while some may say that the borough is not ready for major gentrification, developers argue that water front land of the mott heaven  has great potential for real estate opportunities, on the other hand  The South Bronx is, and has a history of being, one of the poorest neighborhoods in NYC. Crime, and drugs  in the borough is at a high compared to others . “We’re seeing more cameras faster — and more borough equity,” said Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak, the NYPD’s top spokesman, and effort to ensure the public the the police is active in lowering the stats as written by The New York Times .

According to the bronx has a median household income 10% of what some of the new propose apartment developments in the borough would cost. Owning one of these apartments will set you back 20-30% downpayment, not many of the renter in the bronx can become owners, I say this is the introduction to gentrification . Gentrification is a term used to describe what happens when lower-income neighborhoods receive massive levels of new investment, adding amenities, raising home values and bringing in new upper-income residents. This can lead to cultural displacement, when members of a racial or ethnic group who were longtime residents of gentrified neighborhoods are pushed out. The map shows some of the propose construction sites for the developments along the waterline, and the Group.

The Chetrit Group and Somerset Partners, the developers behind the Piano District and Port Morris waterfront development to bring thousands of market-rate luxury housing to the South Bronx, have sold their development for $165 million to Brookfield Properties according to The New York Post. This is the single most expensive transaction for a development site in Bronx history according to property records, and websites. With property values rising, a lot of the culture and bronx natives will be pushed out of the sll ready known “Lost Borough” , at least thats what some fear, and what studies have shown happens when gentrification happens.According to the New York Times it is  being called the new Brooklyn, and it has many local residents fearing for their displacement, as they sit hopelessly while their borough gets auctioned off Piece By Piece.

 In my experience i was born and raised in the bronx, and i plan on getting a piece of this auction. Myself  and many local bronx residents should be invested in the borough that we call home for decades personally  I don’t  believe in displacement of locals  because they are the culture and the blueprint when listening to the narrative , and ideology of a community .  The say this is the new piano district, and i say we are the ones that hold the true keys . When you ask a bronx native if they are aware of the proposed “Piano District”, many are unaware.

 Bibliography :

CityRealty Staff. “Deegan Towers: New 25-story buildings on the South Bronx waterfront top out construction.” Future New York. October 17, 2019.

Small, Eddie. “This is what Brookfield’s South Bronx Megaproject Will Look Like.” TRD New York. 


The Art of Graffiti

The Art Of Graffiti

Although people detest graffitis practice due to its association with themes such as vandalism, rebellion, and criminal mischief, it is most often used as a means of self-expression. When it comes to the topic of graffiti, most of us will readily agree that it is in violation of the New York City law to mark public and private-owned property without authorization. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of if voices can be heard through this form of artistic expression then why should they be silenced? Whereas some are convinced that graffiti isn’t an art form, others maintain that it is important as it marks a place in Bronx culture, its rise in mainstream culture today, as well as its influence amongst the Bronx youth.  

In their recent work Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Shapiro authors of the book “Nonstop Metropolis A New York City Atlas” offer a lens into the South Bronx, and the issues that plagued the 1970’s as well as the connection to the uprise in South Bronx Graffiti. Graffiti has been ever present in the Bronx and it stems from the total economic collapse of the South Bronx during the 1970s that resulted in mass amounts of arson as well as elevated crime rate. This resulted in youth at the time to need an outlet of expression and “in that mess, kids found a way to achieve some measure of normalcy, remaking the landscape through a culture they would come to call hip-hop, creating beautiful, funky graffiti” (Solnit and Jelly-Shapiro Pg 119). Graffiti is one of the 4 aspects of hip-hop it was an activity that kept kids from being overwhelmed by all the unfortunate tragedy that was ensuing during that time. Just as important, it’s also stated that “kids–were going through an outburst of creative energy” (Solnit and Jelly-Shapiro Pg 130) this is important to acknowledge because with much negative influence around at that time there were positive outlets of self-expression and it kept kids away from destructive forms of expression such as the arson that was going on as well as crime. With the excess negativity that was ever-present in the 1970’s, there’s no doubt that graffiti was part of the reason that the Bronx youth were able to recuperate from the hardships that they had faced during that time, as well as solidified its importance to Bronx youth.

From legendary graffiti artist like Taki 183, Keith Haring, to even unknown street artist, every piece of art sprayed upon a surface in New York eventually culminated into what we see today in the streets of New York. In some cases, there are even stories that are told behind the art form, for example, Chalfant Henry and Cooper Martha authors of Subway Art state “Rivals Cross out each other’s names”(6). The essence of what is being said is there are usually deeper meanings to even the average graffiti art that you’d see walking around in New York. At first glance, people might say, “what if there isn’t any story to be told behind the art presented” but on closer inspection, there is still the process in which the graffiti got there which is often a tale to tell, authors Chalfant Henry and Cooper Martha iterate “The “writers” face many obstacles in pursuit of their goal”(6) this is in support of the fact that there is usually a story to be told even if it’s minor. As a result of the many untold stories that graffiti holds its significance to New Yorkers should be taken seriously, and due to graffiti’s coming of age into popularity it is doing so and sparking more discovery and interest.

The feast of street art that covers the Bronx landscape is not only vast in size, but presents an array of different experiences and stories that we’re told through the use of latex gloves, protective masks, and spray canisters, coming together to create expressive graffiti murals. There are deep connections between the Bronx and the history of graffiti and often the debate between whether or not it can be considered defacing or beautifying is traced back to sources in the Bronx. The PIX11 YouTube channel uploaded a video that goes into detail about a graffiti exhibit in The Bronx Museum of the Arts

interviewing Deborah Colin who is the executive director of the museum talked about graffiti in the 1970’s starting  “it was formed in a particular sort of space and time in the Bronx… there was a lot of frustration and economic and social concerns”, consequently this shows graffiti in a positive light where it was used as a segway from the consumption of negativity that at the time was found in abundance. Another example of graffiti being used to integrate topics of relevance to art can be seen in some of Dondi Whites works, he was a very relevant artist of the 1980’s and is also in the graffiti exhibit in The Bronx Museum of the Arts, his most notable art being the “Children of the Grave” 

pieces he would spray paint on trains which was a depiction of what was going on during the time period between 1978 – 1980, 1980 being the worst year of crime in the city. Plainly put graffiti is apart of Bronx culture because it maintained a platform in the borough to continuously be a further expression of the eventful periods in the city’s history.

Graffiti to this day is considered defacement even tho it has public approval to be considered art by some and is even displayed as such in certain museums and galleries. With its deep-seated roots in the Bronx there’s no doubt it’s practice will still continue and with its continuation hopefully, it can be seen in a more positive light.


Works Cited

Solnit Rebecca and Jelly-Schapiro Joshua, “Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas”, Oakland California, 2016 print

“Children of the Grave Part Three”, published by Widewalls, published on April 22, 2015

“Transit graffiti is showcased at Bronx Museum.” YouTube,  uploaded by PIX11 News, published on Oct 1, 2019,

TREAM: Trash Rules Everything Around Me.

Although trash is necessary to farmers in the form of compost. It is beneficial to people in urban develops because the smell bacteria and viruses that comes from uncontrolled trash can cause illnesses such as heart disease and environmental problems like air pollution. Recent studies like these shed new light on our environment through of department of sanitation.

Those people keeps their garbage because it can be useful or recycle. According to the New York times, through the impact of garbage to New-York city neighborhoods. By focusing on the city  New York times overlooks the deeper problem of trash. In fact, regarding the mountains of trash in New York city. We can see food animal corpses and  intolerable smell, with contribute to poor air quality. In fact that leads to cardiovascular issues and air pollution. Trash in landfills can be used for compost. Our main rationale from the thesis without because it shows us, “ how are the garbage from?”. In addition our city has rubbish around the streets, through the fast food restaurants, dunkin donuts, Starbucks coffee and the seller around the streets. We can observe the cans, plats, spoiled food and the restaurants plastic bag.

Although New York city has the waste systems to keep the city clean. I celebrate the fact that exploring urban data urges us to “ what does New York do with all its trash? One city’s waste-in numbers”2019.  Exploring urban data is surely right about the public and  private waste system because, the private waste is from business. And then The public waste from residences and government buildings. In fact everyday New York public garbage truck collected less than 7000 tones. After finishing their route, it will be deposited in New York’s waste transfer station. Then it  will be carried to a landfill.

I advocate a radical revision of the garbage and recycling in New-York. In the video, the author writes how much the population threw the trash everyday. Also, the department of sanitation and private companies struggle to keep the city clean. It shows us how the department has  norms by dividing the trash in 3categories. Those devisers are  paper, metal/ glass, plastic/ mixed solid waste. In addition the video highlighted new trash is death with step by step. How are carried the trash to the next stop. Also it will be deposited to landfill and will be used as organic compost.

But New York times would certainly take issue with the argument, that trash rules everything around me. My map shows us where the department of sanitation transported the trash. Through  two waste systems: the private and public. And then, it demonstrates the causes of the mountains of trash by cardiovascular diseases, poor air quality. Finally, it explains the types of garbage and how the waste system struggle to clean our city each day. This calls me back to my own experience. In my country, less people throw trash.  Because more of them are farmers, and they keep recycle to sold to the companies of transformation. But our department of sanitation doesn’t work everyday. In the same way, it is to keep the city clean and avoid air pollution who can be a danger for our health.


Gentrification in the Bronx

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Gentrification and Displacement in the Bronx: Bronx Housing Crisis.

In this new era gentrification have been a struggle for people that live in the Bronx and within the community of New York City. Although gentrification is marketed as a positive means of neighborhood improvements, there are disadvantages that are attached to the upgrade. The impediment of gentrification is the displacement of the original residents which leads to a housing crisis. Many people agree that gentrification is good for the neighborhood whereas others disagree that gentrification will cause the cultural collapse of the Bronx. This essay will focus on the effects that gentrification has on the current housing catastrophe in the Bronx, and how the process can be done without the ethnic cleansing of the existing inhabitants.

Gentrification is the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area. Through gentrification there are improvements that can be beneficial for people that move into newly revitalized neighborhoods. Peoples perspective regarding gentrification varies depending on their economic standing. We are made to believe that gentrification can contribute to new options for food, retail, outlets and opportunities for more jobs in the community.  According to a Ted Talks seminar conducted by Stacy Sutton, she mentions positive key factors which implies that ” gentrification can improve housing through the use of public and private sectors and attracts businesses.” This is showing that the process of gentrification can point to positive influences for people that are considering it to be a movement of greater change for residents. The community will receive new storefronts, plus, thanks to gentrification new buildings begin to pop up all over the neighborhood. Also, there will be product offerings to create potential for more revenue in new areas. People will experience cleaner neighborhoods and improvement of public safety services. Overall, gentrification can be helpful for people in dilapidated neighborhoods and communities.

Despite the positive attributes of gentrification it is not without its disadvantages. The most notable of said drawbacks is housing, particularly affordable housing.  Finding economical feasible housing has been the main issue for people that live in the Bronx. According to the effects of gentrification on affordable housing it states ” gentrifying neighborhoods, consist of areas that had low-income from 1990 to 2014, and experienced rent growth above the median sub-borough area rent growth between the 24 years. This means that gentrification impacted neighborhoods for so many years and it precipitated low income residents in the community. This can be related to most people that are struggling in keeping up with not being poor. ” Bronx neighborhoods that were at the highest risk were the ones from Port Morris to Norwood while areas on the borough’s eastern and western edges–Riverdale, for example–were considered more secure.” This clearly means Port Morris and Norwood was the most to get hit with gentrification making it harder for people to live in good circumstances in that area.  The bad thing is that gentrification will keep evolving and will be hard for people to keep searching houses based on their income. Overall, gentrification has had a big impact on people that are low income which means that they are in greater risk of facing house displacement in targeted neighborhoods.

Gentrification can be done humanely and responsibly through protections. At this moment, there is a housing crisis in the Bronx stemming from urban revitalization that is causing a decrease in housing affordability and mass homelessness. In order to alleviate this situation, the following protective policies need to be put in place: constructing more affordable housing that’s income specific, revitalizing existing structure for low-income residents, rental limitation caps and regulations, and modest residential real estate opportunities. There needs to be a change in this system before it gets reaches to a point that people have to face displacements and affecting the way they used to live before. According to National Low Income Housing Coalition, it states “ baseline protections for the most vulnerable residents, producing and preserving affordable homes, non-market-based approaches to housing and community development, and approaches to community participation.”  This is proving that protections are needed for residents that struggle economically with special attention to housing security. There utilized resources source that relates to the protections needed during the gentrification process. A significant source is, a community land trust. The Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards, establishes, acquires, and holds in perpetuity real property to ensure that community members preserve a stake in a neighborhood profoundly impacted by decades of environmental injustice and economic neglect and to promote pathways to meaningful self-determination.” This is showing that through this protective policy the south Bronx is making sure that residents live in good conditions as well as improving economic growth in the community. Substantially, having protective securities will definitely maintain people in safety standards and for people not to deal with gentrification in in the environment.

In conclusion, gentrification caused destruction for peoples lives making more complicated especially for those that live in residents for so long. Those who are able to remain in place will have to decide if they want to, and those who are unable to retain their locations will have to choose the next step. Throughout my experience living in the Bronx, I have seen areas and houses that look clean and nice but those are private houses which are expensive to purchase. I have lived in a basement apartment for several years with my family and we started to noticed that the rent was increasing. We decided to move out from the basement to another one due to the increase of rent my family couldn’t pay off. Other people came to rent the house so my parents and I had no other choice but to move out and to search for houses in the Bronx. Now that I live in an apartment the rent is not has bad compared to my living experience in the apartment basement. The neighborhood I’m in now Morrison Sound view is crazy because people are complaining about the rise of rent and the increase of displacements because of the place being gentrified. The neighborhood that I live in there is mostly Latinos and black people. The area is poor resulting that if gentrification do occur around the district people will definitely suffer consequences like moving out and their culture will get erased permanently. I know that is going to be difficult to face these issues because it will continue to keep going and is up for to corporations to make a change during times of housing crisis. I find gentrification really messed up because is ruining our lives and for people that just been new to the community. It will be better if gentrification did not occur making less it complicated for the ones that work with low income wages.  The most people that gets these problems are mostly people in color. The way I’m seeing things people don’t deserve this kind of suffrage mainly people that are owners and are living in the community for so many years. The crazy thing is that real estate don’t care about people they just keep control on peoples money and the benefits people receive. 

Work cites:

1. What we don’t understand about gentrification | Stacey Sutton | TEDxNewYork


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This image is indicating about the effects of gentrification and the risks people can face through this complicated movement. There are many effects that can impact on people referring to this picture the main one is displacement because people have to move out and the money they wasted for the house is all lost due to gentrification.





                      Rat and Roach Wonderland

Imagine for a moment that you are in the living room of your home. As you’re relaxing you notice something small move from the corner of your eye. That creature you noticed is none other than a rat or a roach. Pests have been an ongoing issue throughout New York City, especially in the Bronx borough. Although there have been many complaints in the Bronx about pests, rats and roaches tend to appear in the poorest areas in the Bronx. Which proves that there is a correlation between poverty and pests population.

The people in the Bronx have often complained about the rats and roaches in their apartments. The predicament with the infestation of rats and roaches is still occurring even in more recent times. This was the case with one family who lived in an apartment filled with rats as she expresses it through her complaints on the matter. According to the video it is clear that those tenants who were living in the apartments had witnessed a continuous infestation of rats in their living space. The events in this video further drive the point that infestation is an existing problem in the Bronx. What it comes down to is the lack of protection that the people of the Bronx have from getting an infestation similar to the one seen in the video. Another instance of there being a rat and roach infestation in the Bronx has occurred in recent memory too. Similar to the previous video the people living in the apartments are dealing with having rats and roaches in their homes. Their course of action was to file a complaint to the landowners of the apartment. Once again the complaint has been ignored by the landowners of the apartment leaving the tenants having to find a way to deal with the rats and roaches themselves. Generally having pests in ones apartment is never a pleasant experience. It can last for weeks or even months but the impact that it can have on people can be unforgettable. Especially since the complaints of these very people have been left unheard by the landowners. In other words it is like having an ongoing dilemma without any real solution. The pest problem in the Bronx neighborhoods is often dismissed by people who only see the best parts of New York. The parts that are being referred to are Manhattan and Brooklyn with their tourist attraction. Once more the rat and roach situation in the Bronx has to be resolved even if the complaints aren’t enough.

It should also be taken into consideration that there is a clear connection between poverty and population of rats and roaches. The Bronx has been known to be the poorest of the five boroughs in the city. Even in current times the people of the Bronx have been struggling economically over the last decade. The “Bronx has had the slowest economic growth” in the city and has “not bounced back from the recession”( Wisnieski). As a result of the economic problems that the Bronx has been facing the housing has also taken a negative impact from this economic issue. And with there being poverty in these neighborhoods in these neighborhoods in the Bronx it results in less than ideal living conditions. It is these very living conditions that lead to the attraction of rats and roaches to these apartments. and had dealt with pests at some point. The Bronx with its economic issues cannot always reach those who had to live with poor housing. It is no wonder why there have been stories of the Bronx being the borough with the most rat infestations. And yet it is not often mentioned in a public setting making it seem as if the people who had to deal with these pests felt  ashamed. But then again no one wants an uninvited guest in their household, especially if it is a rat or a roach.

Rats and Roaches have been known to spread disease through the pathogens that they carry. The people who are most prone to getting ill from roaches are actually children. The reason being due to the fact that children having “coming into contact with an allergen”(Warman). Which in this case happens to be the feces from the roach. The illness that these children of the Bronx suffer from by being exposed to that feces is usually asthma. These same children of the Bronx also happen to live in the poorer areas leading meaning that there will be more roaches. Though roaches are already a threat to the health of children in the Bronx. Rats have gotten people in the Bronx sick as well because of the pathogens that they carry. There was even a recent instance of a person in the Bronx getting sick from exposure to the pathogens that the rat  carried. Considering that it was one person who had died from that the disease the other people living in that apartment were concerned if the same would happen to them. As observed from the video the death of the one tenant from the rat disease revealed an unfortunate truth about the neighborhoods in the Bronx. That truth was of course the fact that the Bronx and the tenant who died was the first of what would seem to be even more victims from the rats in these Bronx neighborhoods. What can be understood from this event is that rats have certain bacteria that can be harmful if it comes into contact with a less than fortunate person. This is only part of a long battle between Bronx and the pests that have surrounded the neighborhoods of the Bronx. Not only should people be aware of the health issues that these rats and roaches cause but also try to consider the ways that these diseases could be prevented.


While some might not think that rats are not pests and can be kept as pets that may seem true but once again rats that are found near the apartments in the Bronx should not be considered as pets. The same can be applied to those who believe that roaches can be pets as they also have not been good for the people of the Bronx. There is also the argument about how exterminators are readily available for those who live in the Bronx. As positive as that may seem at first, it is actually quite costly to get an exterminator in the first place. Instead the people of the Bronx have used the typical traps to eliminate as many of the rats and roaches as possible but even with that  there are always survivors. However the map was made with a purpose of exploring how the Bronx is in terms of the rat and roach infestations faced over the years. While making the map I had to think of ways to incorporate the topic of my research in the overall design of the map. What I came up with was a hand drawn map with some illustrations on the side relating to the topic that I have been researching. Beyond the whole process of creating the map I believe that the true meaning of the map is too shed light on a problem in the Bronx that has affect everyone who has lived there including myself.Pests have been a reoccurring problem throughout my entire life even back when I lived in Manhattan I still had to deal with pests on a daily basis. In fact I believe that it what caused the asthma that I have to this very day since the apartment I used to live in was infested with rats and roaches. Of course me and my family ended up moving out of that neighborhood in Manhattan to the Bronx neighborhood that I reside in to this very day. However while at first it seemed like I wouldn’t have to deal with pests while living in the place it eventually became clear that it wasn’t actually the case. The most recent experience I had with a rat infestation actually occurred last year. The first time I recall seeing a rat in the house was when I was walking to the kitchen. I noticed the rat was near the stove but as I moved it scurried away and that’s when I told my family about it. For the next few months, me and my family would continue to notice more rats around the house. Since we couldn’t afford an exterminator, we had to resort to using steel wool to cover up the holes that the rats were creating. The steel wool has been working but scratching can still be heard inside the walls sometimes. It was these experiences from my life that served as the inspiration for my map.


works cited

Bradley, Ryan. “The Rat Paths of New York.” NYTimes, 23 Apr. 2015,

Ashford, Grace. “Leaks, Mold and Rats: Why New York City Goes Easy on Its Worst Landlords.” NYTimes, 26 Dec. 2018,

Bronx residents plagued by rat infestation

Link to video :

Link to source:,49286






My map is based on the garbage that can be seen in the ocean, landfills, and recycling plants and the amount of pollution all around New York City. Usually people throw their trash in trash cans and do not really think about where it is going or what happens to it as sanitation workers remove the garbage from the trash cans and it gets hauled off to either recycling plants, landfills or some of it like plastic ends up in the ocean and marine wildlife mistake it for food and even get tangled in it causing some loss in marine life or  gets washed up at the beach causing it to be covered in trash. When I was young I always believed that our garbage ended up in a recycling plant and never thought of or knew what a landfill is for such a long time until I learned about what it is. I thought that it was not good for the environment until I learned that the point of landfills is to isolate waste from its surrounding environment, preventing water contamination and stop contact with the air, which was not true, while the garbage decomposes in the landfill. But there are also dangers in placing garbage into landfills which affects the air and water by polluting it which causes a lot of problems for our health. People used to think that the trash they threw out mostly went to recycling plants and landfills but recently for a while it was discovered that it was found in streets, in the beach, in the oceans and was even buried in landfills that resulted in causing the pollution of air and water which, in turn causes various respiratory diseases and other dangerous health effects as dangerous contaminants from it causes it to be absorbed into the lungs and different parts of the body. This is caused by our decision to throw our stuff to the floor, spit on the floor without cleaning any of it up even when they are confronted to do so and even ignore when asked to clean up their mess. Recycling Garbage is a necessary part of life as it causes less pollution and saves up the used material to be reused again for the future and helps the economy greatly while cleaning up the rest of the trash that is left everywhere. According to What are the benefits of Recycling? “ Scrap cars, old bottles, junk mail and used rubber tires are becoming common features of our landfills. All of these may seem endless, but the resources required to make them are finishing off quickly. Recycling allows all of these junk items to be used over and over again so that new resources do not have to be exploited. It conserves natural resources such as water, minerals, coal, oil, gas and timber”(Rinkesh, other words, What are the benefits of Recycling are stating that recycling allows for less waste and saving more needed resources to better the planet and that they are able to lessen the amount of garbage by reusing the material. I agree with them and the reason why is that on certain products they will have a label with all the information about it and sometimes say that the product uses reused material and some trash is being cleaned up in New York. But although they made a claim that most of the recycled garbage is reused this is not the case as not all are actually recycled as some of the material is degraded from the amount every time the item is recycled and is being wasted which causes more unused material to be wasted. But what is true is that it gives more job opportunities to those that need it and more money to the workers. According to What are the benefits of Recycling “ While you may feel that recycling is each person for himself, in reality it is a huge industry within itself. After you do the basic sorting out and deposit your trash for recycling, it has to be sorted and shipped off to the right places…Certainly, one of the major benefits of recycling is that it creates more jobs in the community and provides stability to the entire process. Throwing the trash away creates some six to seven jobs at best, where recycling can help create close to thirty jobs”(Rinkesh, are right about the increased jobs in recycling plants as The U.S scrap industry generated over 150,000 direct jobs and over 323,000 indirect jobs in 2015, US recycling industry employed 1.25 million workers while the US solid waste management industry only hired 0.25 million workers, but my view, however, contrary to what they have argued, is that sometimes something will go wrong in the workplace and can lead to injuries and fines for it, it can cause workers to leave or quit and would not want to be hired at all and the business can start to lose money which in turn causes the businesses to close and become bankrupt. This can also affect the economy by causing less jobs in the recycling station and even less pay, this leads to worker stress and workplace problems and more job loss. The impacts of the Recycling Center and Landfills is that it can lead to health problems because of faulty equipment or from the pollution in the air which leads to people to complain about the environment and the measures that are not being put in place. This will start to get worse as we in the future will not be able to keep this in check and our planet will become inhabitable. According to Garbage Pollution, Causes, Effects and Solutions “Garbage pollution arises when the waste collected in dumping sites keeps rotting, spreading odor and cause air pollution in the surrounding areas…It is often seen that waste including inorganic material such as iron cans, paper, plastic, glass pieces, or leftover food, animal bones, vegetable peels etc. are dumped in the open”(Sujeet Kumar What makes Sujeet Kumar right in his claims is that the trash is piling up and it is making it difficult for people to lead normal lives as pollution has more of an effect on us causing us to develop more problems in life.  According to Garbage Pollution: Causes, Effects and Solutions “In our country, the cities are getting reduced to dumping grounds of waste. Garbage is present everywhere in some form or the other whether there is a village or a city, a temple or a mosque. This problem has been increasing since the last nearly three decades, leading to health issues and degradation of the environment. Today we are victims of many types of waste including domestic, agricultural and industrial waste…The rest either accumulates in the fields or in the streets and in the end, during the rainy season; it reaches the oceans through rivers”(Sujeet Kumar )Although others may say that with the Recycling plants and Landfills, the planet is much more cleaner and safer due to less strain from pollution and reusing of materials to save leftover unused material. However this is not the case as this map below shows the areas where the waste is most common at.

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This picture I took a while ago shows how much as humans, we use our resources very quickly and make a mess of things. This was taken near my High School and it was actually cleaned up just over a month and a half ago as a month and three weeks ago it was actually worse.

To summarize, these are the reasons how waste  in the ocean, landfills, and Recycling plants cause lots of pollution all around New York and the fact that some of our health problems come from waste pollution.


Inline Online Art


A map of different art related locations.

This map is to show where certain are located in terms of museums or other facilities.

Artists cannot be mapped themselves, but the art that they do can be mapped depending on where they are within the city. The map will point out places you can go to to see different art pieces even if it’s in a museum or somewhere on the side of a street. Although people like seeing publicly displayed pieces of art and find them important, other people tend to show that online art and artists are unimportant as a whole which shows that we may need to show how important it is what artists do privately and publicly. If we are right about people thinking that art is unimportant, then major consequences for the artist and work traffic that they need to make money.

For the public, displayed pieces in museums and in public parks make people appreciate them for being there, and thus some people come to love those pieces. According to Americans for the Arts they say that public art “humanizes the built environment, provides an intersection between past, present, and future, and can help communities thrive”. This shows that in communities different art-related structures help build up a community around it and it helps connect events and people born at different times together. They also have a video that goes in greater detail on these points.

Although the arts are important in communities and in people’s lives, there’s a group of people that almost make fun of artists and sometimes even be disrespectful towards artists. In the subreddit Choosing Beggars people post how people in their day to day lives want everything cheaper or sometimes even free. A user on there who goes by batterycat made a post about how a friend of theirs is stealing their art and displaying it as their own and even selling it as well without any credit. This goes to show that even though people are not afraid to just insult someone’s work just for their own benefits and shows how artists are not exactly respected or treated right.

If the general public forgets the importance of the arts, then it could have some serious issues arise from it. In a public opinion poll made by Americans for the Arts they showed statistics involving the arts and how it affects people on their daily lives. One such example is how the public feels as though the arts should be taught in and out of schools. This shows that while there are people who dismiss it, the general masses agree that art is generally very important in daily life.

ARTS_Infographics_MECH 6

While most people will say that artists are treated with respect and are popular, those people may only respect traditional artists of old and/or be people who think modern-day artists aren’t working honest jobs. The point of the map is to show that people don’t need to go to a big museum to see good art as there are so many different artists online that also deserve recognition and could use the support. As an artist myself who knows other artists, it’s difficult trying to be a digital artist and trying to make a living.

Yo Fuck Da Police!: New York City Crime Rate

This New York City map was currently screen shot through a app called ” The Citizen App”, this app is constantly informing you of the current crimes being committed around your area. It varies in color yellow indicates misdemeanor while red indicates either a shooting or a homicide.


Thesis statement: New York police department in the 1990’s had a vast impact in the rapidly decrease in crime till this day, but skeptics argue other reasons for the decrease in crime and not due to the involvement of NYPD.

The New York Police Department CompStat gives important statistics on the crime rate in the 1990 till 2019. It shows how rapidly the crime rate in N.Y.C had dropped, in 2019 our crime rate is at its lowest in a total of 83,448 compared to the crime rate in the 90’s that were 527,257 that is a total of 83 percent dropped rate, we are current at NYC lowest of all time. This CompStat will help back my argument on how NYPD had a vast impact on the decrease in crime rate till today due to the rapped arrest rate New York police department had conducted in the early 1990s. Many may not agree with the tactics or reasons why officers may arrest an individual, but because of those arrest our society crime rate has dropped as low as it did. Upholding the law and holding those accountable have made our city safer.


In the article What Reduced Crime in New York city hit major key points to my thesis. Author David R. Francis gives important details/date and accurate percentage on how high the crime rates in New York city around the early 90’s were. Francis goes on a explains the policies known as the “ get- tough” that were carried out by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s. Giuliani’s policies on lower-level crime also known as the broken window being an arrestable offense had a great impact on crime reduction. “Felony arrest rates (except for motor vehicle thefts) rose 50+70 percent in the 1990s. When arrests of burglars increased 10 percent, the number of burglaries full 2.7 to 3.2 percent. When the arrest rate of robbers rose 10 percent, the number of robberies full 5.7 to 5.9 percent”(Francis p1). This quote shows how affected these new policies are by raising the amount of arrests a officers must make in order to reduce that certain crime being conducted. The rise of arrests have scared those individuals who were going to commit the crime to stop in order not to be caught or due time for that specific crime, this scared tacked worked so well that the percentage of crimes being conducted drop to half that percentage then what previously were. Frances also brings in the skeptical point of view of their thoughts on crime rate in NYC has decreased drastically they believed it was the economic boom to be blamed for the dropping of the crime rate. The unemployment rate declining 25% drove the criminals in New York city to stay in the straight and narrow. This article gives me vast important information that will help me backup my thesis and also add on to what others believe why the crime rate has dropped to half the percentage then what it previously was.


The topic of my map will give New Yorkers visual information on how the crime rate in New York City has dropped drastically since the early 90’s, what new policies were created and enforce in order to continue seeing this immoderate drop of crime in a city that was once known to be the worst high crime rated city in the United states. When it comes to the topic involving NYPD most of us will readily agree upon the injustice system of corrupt cops and the unfair treatment of certain ethical groups. Others may argue that New York City needs to better there laws toward protecting our officer during the line of duty, while criminologists believe that due to the low social strata comes high crime rate. In my own view, yes, I agree that there are individual police officers who are unjust while conducting their job when there are better ways to have dealt with certain situations, but on the other hand I don’t believe that the unethical conduct of individual police officers should be frown upon the entire New York police department or for other officers who had nothing to due with the misconduct/mistakes for that specific incident shouldn’t receive the black lash for the mistakes of others. This matter of hate/love from the people of New York City towards the NYPD needs to change. If New Yorkers continues to disrespect NYPD officers and continue violently protesting against them instead of finding a more civil way to handle things on both ends then the decrease in officers will start to occur more rapidly. If that occurs then with the decrease in officers will come the increase in crime. NYPD needs to find a better solution in keeping the corrupt officers on check before there fellow officers are crucified / label for a crime they didn’t commit. The suicide rate for officers is already an issue for the NYPD and the rate for suicide in there department is only growing. Although NYPD may not be a fan favorite at the moment for the people of New York city, one major fact that can not be denied or argued is that even though they are not liked, New Yorkers know that they are in fact needed in order to continue keeping the rate of crime at is lowest.

In the 1990s New York city was rated one of the highest crime rated cities in the United states. From homicide, robbery , grand larceny, federal assault, rape and GLA. According to the New York city police department statistics for homicide around the 90’ was “2,262 , GLA 146,925, Rape 3,126 ,Robbery 100,280,and Gr.Larceny 146,925( NYPD CompStat Unit pg.1)”. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s set a “get tough ( Giuliani page.1)” policy that led NYPD to arrest criminals even though it was just a misdemeanor, the more arrest officers conducted the lower the crime on those specific crimes declined. NYPD rapped arrest rate during the 1990s did a vast impact for our society crime rate today, in 2019 our crime rate is at its lowest in a total of 83,448 compared to the crime rate in the 90’s that were 527,257 that is more than 83% drop in crime rate. Many may not agree with the tactics or reasons why officers may arrest an individual, but because of those arrest our society crime rate has dropped as low as it did. Upholding the law and holding those accountable have made our city safer. Who’s to say if that policy wasn’t inputted what the crime rate would had been today, just imagined constantly being on high alert not knowing if today the day we might die , get robbed, or even worst one of our love ones got raped and killed over $20. If there’s no officers to enforce the laws towards those individuals, then those individuals who have nothing to fear but to continue conducting crimes. A great example would be, as a child you are taught to respect your parents and obey their rules, if broken you were to suffer the consequences. You as a child rather follow their rules then to receive punishment, your parents enforcing those rules upon you made you the person your are today. That was your parents way of making sure you conducted yourself in a civil matter while respecting the law . Laws are enforced in order to keep us safe you may not agree on why there are enforced but the individual enforcing them risking their lives day by day are the reason why we don’t worry as much as individuals did in the 90’s, we are more in a calmer state of mind when traveling in the city then those individuals in the 1990s constantly looking over there should hoping not to be the next victim in a violent society.

Although NYPD is label as untrustworthy corrupted justice system of racial profiling a majority of the people who join the NYPD were born and raised within our community trying to make a change. The department as a whole shouldn’t be backlash for individual cop who made mistakes, us as a community are hypocrites. We fight for justice equal treatment and racial profiling. While New Yorkers are constantly disrespecting the NYPD hollering “ fuck the police!” teaching the generation before us that it’s okay to throw a bucket of water to officers while in the line of duty, with no re-precaution allowing them to continue this trend while taping it making it go viral. Without the knowledge on the amounts of damage they just caused. Any firearm that has contact with water can cause rust, which comes with jamming of the firing pinning in a Glock and may cause the officer his/her life. Everyone hates being labeled for the mistakes of certain individuals in our ethical group ,but we are no different doing it to police officers who are actually doing there job with good intentions. Who may had saved many lives while risking their own . We need to look into the facts before we start to protest for a murder or criminal just because we didn’t like the outcome of the aftermath actions. Yes! We demand respect and punishment to corrupt cops, we are going by it the wrong way taking our angry towards the ones who are trying to help us and keep us safe. Unjust treat in our country have changed but the reason for there change wasn’t because they act violently or harassed others. It changed because they went by things more civil peaceful protests, Dr. Martin Luther king and Rosa parks were arrested but not one of them fought back but left calmly till things were resolved then they were released. They are the reason why we as minorities today get to enjoy the enjoyment of what we considered back then white privilege.

New York city as a community and the New York police department should find a better method towards working together and trying to rebuild trust between each other in order to better the community, to show the community that they are there to protect and serve not to cause harm. That NYPD shouldn’t be the ones you should be afraid of that there is a still trust within the community to help NYPD when they need to get clearer statement on what just occurred instead of the law of the “don’t snitch” policy New Yorkers have deemed to be the unbreakable rule resulting inconsequential harm towards the witnesses/victims. If we don’t change our views as a community and if the NYPD continues not to get rid of the corrupt officers then how do both ends except the crime to continue dropping and animosity on both sides to end. We as a community need to show/ teach our youth to respect our officer as well as the police department re-giving course on costume/ courtesy and how to properly handle certain situations. I know many might not agree with arresting criminals what some might call small and unlawful arrest but statistic show “Felony arrest rates (except for motor vehicle thefts) rose 50+70 percent in the 1990s. When arrests of burglars increased 10 percent, the number of burglaries fell 2.7 to 3.2 percent. When the arrest rate of robbers rose 10 percent, the number of robberies fell 5.7 to 5.9 percent (Frances pg.1)”. This quote shows how affected these new policies are by raising the amount of arrests a officers must make in order to reduce that certain crime being conducted. The rise of arrests have scared those individuals who were going to commit the crime to stop in order not to be caught or due time for that specific crime, this scared tacked worked so well that the percentage of crimes being conducted drop to half that percentage then what previously were.

Many argued that the reason for the rapid decrease in crime was caused due to the increase in employment that many went to the straight and narrow in order to be employed. Many skeptics argue “The national unemployment rate declined 25 percent between 1990 and 1999, and by 39 percent in the city between 1992 and 1999. This study shows that a single percentage point decline in the jobless rate decreases burglary by 2.2 percent and motor vehicle theft by 1.8 percent. Increases in the real minimum wage also significantly reduce robberies and murders: 3.4 to 3.7 percent fewer robberies with a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage and 6.3 to 6.9 percent fewer murders (Francis pg.1)”. The increase in employment and minimum wages encouraged criminals to stop committing crimes to keep their record clean in order to be employed. Due to the rise of employment the decrease in crime came from 1992 to 1999. They argued that it wasn’t the increased in arrests that scared the criminals to not commit the crimes, but the hope of being employed is what changed there course of action. I respectfully disagree with this theory because as statistics shows in the police department diagram how due to the high arrest rate and the drugs/ guns being taken off the streets NYC has crime has drop. When 9/11 occurred and the employment rate was once again at its lowest the crime rate in the city still remained low. It shows that it wasn’t due to the employment rate for the decrease in crime it was due to the officer enforcing the law and keeping criminals off the streets. I served 4 years in a half in the United States Marine Corp and I heard many stories from my fellow brothers/sisters who served in Vietnam once coming back home from serving their country, keeping our enemies from invading our home, they came back to being spit at and protested being called “baby killer ! Murder!”. It was a horrible era being a service member serving their country with good intentions of keeping what we call home safe, they risked their lives every day being away from there families knowing the risk of never coming home. So when I see officers who are serving the state being disrespected in a way that my brothers in arms were, brings rage and disappointment. Those who protest and disrespect us who risk our lives day in and day out , not knowing the sacrifices we make each day to keep them safe. They never served a day in there life being young as 17 preparing your will making sure everything on check, so when the day comes that you don’t return home your priorities had been handle and your family grieving for your lost can just grieve without the worry of your barrel options, because it’s been handled. As a veteran I know what officers go through day in and day out the mentally one must have just to get by each day and those are the reasons why I know being an officer in New York city is very difficult and that reason is why I respect and mentally knowingly know how they feel while they serve their country.


Work Cite

NYPD CompStat Unit, “Police Department City of New York “,Report covering the week 10/28/2019 through 11/03/2019. Volume 26 Number 47,2019,, November 03,2019.

Francis, David R., “What Reduced Crime Rate in New York city”, the NATIONAL BUREAU of ECONOMIC RESEARCH, January03,2019,, October 05,2019.


NYPD CompStat Unit, “Police Department City of New York “,CompStat, 2019,, October 25,2019.,1,2,3,4,6,8,10

Album: Straight Outta Compton, Artist: N.W.A, Release year: 1988, Duration: 5:46, Genre: Hip hop music



Racial profiling still affects today’s society


An analysis of 100 million police traffic stops has revealed that white people are more likely to be found with illegal items. Despite this fact black and Latino drivers are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white drivers.” The orange dots represents the percentage of black people who are being stopped by police unjustified.

There are many questions about racial profiling that still do not know the answer, such as, how does racial profiling in the past, affects the present? Are there cases of racial profiling today and what are they? Why colored, different religion, different ethnicity, has a certain impact in U.S. law enforcement?  Although the United States Law Enforcement agencies should be compromised to treat everyone equally, racial profiling still affects society every day, specially people of color. Judging someone just because they have a different color of skin happens every day and affects not only the victim, but it has a significant effect on the whole society, indeed, public safety. It is basically assuming some charges based on no real evidence.Racial profiling is the act of suspecting or targeting a person of a certain race for committing an offense. Racial profiling is illegal, however, it still a social controversy, it violates the U.S. Constitution’s core that promises equality under the law for everyone. It occurs especially when an officer accuse people based on their race, ethnicity or religion without any proof of criminal offense. 

Racial profiling is ineffective as an strategy from the law enforcement agencies and an offense for the 14th amendment of the constitution which states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”  This is according to FindLaw for Legal Professionals. This amendment guarantees equal rights and equal protection under the law.

According to the same article “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”People of color are more likely to face charges without any evidence than those who are considered actual “Americans”.This is something that affects specifically colored people, different religion, different ethnicity despite that the United States began an “post-racial era”.  According to the CNN news “The headlines pop up with alarming frequency: People of color going about their daily business — shopping, golfing, moving in — only to have the cops called on them.” 

Another evidence from CNN news states that “Researchers studied nearly 100 million traffic stops and found black motorists are more likely to be pulled over”. The question becomes, why uncolored people passed by and the representatives of law enforcement do not even care much? This is do to the fact that, according to them,  colored people are more likely to commit crime. According to History News Network “At the age of seven, Mary was profiled and taken to court by Augustine Washington Senior (George Washington’s father). At court, she was judged to be mulatto, sentenced to a thirty-year indenture, and was ordered to serve her indenture with Washington.”. “ Today, because of their appearance and ethnicity, citizens are being stopped, searched, and arrested.”. This demonstrates how racial profiling in the past has affected the present.  Despite significant advances in civil rights, the U.S. still deals with a lot of racial profiling. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2003, racial profiling became a turning point for the United States Government. They are committed to stop and interrogate with any evidence of  criminal activity. According to ACLU “In fact, the very inclusion of a national security exception in the guidelines is an admission by the Department of Justice that it relies upon racial and ethnic profiling in its domestic counter terrorism efforts” Which means, what they believe is, that the country will be more safe if they take more control of those who are considered more likely to commit crime. 

As you can see in the graph, black and Hispanic ethnicity are more likely to be stopped by the police and experience unnecessary use of force against them and it is a topic that still concerning the society today. 

There are annual statistics that show how people of color and Hispanic ethnicity are more likely to experience use of force from the police against them. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, black residents in New York City were 8 times more likely to be stopped by the police than white residents and 11 times more likely to be frisked. NBC News also claims that 64% of all Americans say that racism remains a major problem in our society. There exist many cases of racial profiling than were content of controversy in the United States such as the Jogger case and the Starbucks arrest case. This cases involved only black people. Police charged them for crimes that they did not committed for the fact that they were black.

Jogger case: This is the case of five black and Latino teens, Antron McCray, 15, Kevin Richardson, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, Raymond Santana, 14, and Korey Wise, 16, who were quickly arrested by the police for the brutal assault of 28 years old white woman Trisha Meili without any evidence that they were the attackers. They were forcing them to say they were guilty, indeed, spent 15 years in jail being innocent. They did not get enough evidence to put them to jail just because they were at the crime scene and were black. The case generated a lot of concern in the whole society, some were targeting the five teens as animals, rapists, “wolf pack” and among other nicknames. Donald Trump also took place on this case saying that they deserve to be sentenced for death penalty. A Netflix series was filmed based on this case, according to ABC News “When They See Us,” which is directed by Ava DuVernay, is a dramatized account based on a 1989 case of injustice and racial discrimination in New York City when five teenagers — four of them black and one Latino — were wrongfully convicted in the attack and rape of a white woman jogging in Central Park.”

Starbucks arrest case: This case involves two African Americans men who were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks. Minutes after they arrive at the place the manager called the police when they refused to leave because they were waiting for their acquaintance. CNN says that the nation started complaining about the case claiming that it was racial profiling act.

In conclusion, racial profiling is illegal, is a matter that still exists throughout the United States, it is a real problem as you have seen and it needs to be addressed. 

“When they see us’ is a lesson in the Dangers of racial profiling”                           

                                                         Work Cited

  1. “Fourteenth Amendment – U.S. Constitution.” Findlaw,
  2. “Racial Profiling.” American Civil Liberties Union,
  3. Yan, Holly. “This Is Why Everyday Racial Profiling Is so Dangerous.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11 May 2018,
  4. Willingham, A. J. (2019, March 21). Researchers studied nearly 100 million traffic stops and found black motorists are more likely to be pulled over. Retrieved from
  5. Willingham, AJ. “Researchers Studied Nearly 100 Million Traffic Stops and Found Black Motorists Are More Likely to Be Pulled Over.” CNN, Cable News Network, 21 Mar. 2019,
  6. “Racial Profiling Since 9/11 Report.” American Civil Liberties Union,
  7. Arenge, Andrew, et al. “Poll: 64 Percent of Americans Say Racism Remains a Major Problem.”, NBCUniversal News Group, 30 May 2018,
  8. Editors. “The Central Park Five.”, A&E Television Networks, 14 May 2019,
  9. ABC News, ABC News Network,
  10. “Racial Profiling in Police Stops.” Maps Mania,