The BAT

Have you ever heard of the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Most people in New York haven’t even heard of it. They are more familiar with the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Well, the Brooklyn Army Terminal ( also referred to as the BAT) has a rich history and once was the center of a massive railroad system and served as the largest military supply base in the entire United States throughout World War II.

    In 1918, the BAT was commissioned  by the federal government  to serve as a supply base and military depot. It was designed by the famous architect Cass Gilbert (whom I will speak of later on). The entire complex is five million square feet and was a major accomplishment of its time. It was finally finished in 1919.

The BAT was also referred to as the “U.S. Army Military Ocean Terminal” or “The Brooklyn Army Base.” During World War II, the base  had fifty-six thousand military and civilian employees. When stated that it was the largest military supply base in the U.S., it was not a joke. Over three million troops passed through the base. Thirty-seven million tons of supplies passed through the base.

Today, the base still serves the surrounding community and helps the economy in a big way. It is a fully functional commercial and industrial complex that houses a number of corporate tenants and different industries. There is even a “secret” F.B.I. unit that is stationed there (I say “secret” because they were trying to keep it that way until they were exposed).

Some of its railroad system is still active today, and you can go down and see for yourself. Every morning there usually is a huge freight train that passes through First Avenue. It is an amazing sight for those who are unfamiliar. The BAT is one of the greatest assets of Brooklyn and more people  should familiarize themselves with the BAT. You might even find a great career there.

 

Work Cited

"History", BKLYN Army Terminal, BKLYN Army Terminal, 2014, Web. 19 April 2014

Where Did All Of The Housing Programs Go?

The Rental Assistance Voucher program helps 2.2 million low income families to rent housing at an affordable cost. Most of these households are headed either by senior’s, or people with disabilities but most are families with children. In these households the maximum income is $12, 500, and that is actually below the poverty level line. The Government and independent researchers have recognized that the voucher program is effective in the avoidance of homelessness. However, because of funding limitations only one in four eligible households receive a housing voucher or some other type of federal rental assistance, there are long waiting lists for assistance in every community and in order to be eligible or top priority you must be in a domestic violence situation or victim of a fire. During the Bush Administration, the unbalanced federal budget and priorities were questioned. The budget deficits emerged in 2003 and 2004. By the year 2007 many rental assistance programs were ended because of the budget. Congress and the Administration began to go under the scope because of it. The unbalanced budget affected many rental assistant programs, too many to mention however, Section 8 rental assistance program was greatly affected, it was created in 1970; owners were enticed to participate of secure and stable by budget authority approved up front by congress. This program assisted low income families pay their rent in trying to avoid homelessness. During the Bush Administration, the unbalanced federal budget and priorities were questioned. The budget deficits emerged in 2003 and 2004. By the year 2007 many rental assistance programs were ended because of the budget. Congress and the Administration began to go under the scope because of it. The unbalanced budget affected many rental assistant programs, too many to mention however, Section 8 rental assistance program was greatly affected, it was created in 1970; owners were enticed to participate of secure and stable by budget authority approved up front by congress. This program assisted low income families pay their rent in trying to avoid homelessness.

Charter Schools

Every parent wants the best education for their child. Most parents have no idea where to get it. If you live in a low income neighborhood odds are the public schools in your area are terrible. So they think, Private school! But that’s too expensive and chances are they can’t afford it. The next best thing is a charter school. So they think.                            

Charter schools are independently run schools that are funded by the government. Charter schools are free but like private schools, spaces in charter schools are very limited. By law Charter schools most hold a lottery. Anyone can start a charter school. Parents, teachers and even community leaders may submit a proposal to open a school. “In New York there are three authorities: the New York State Board of Regents, the State University of New York Board of Trustees, and the local board of education”  (“Frequently Asked”) they approve the opening of a new charter school.

Let’s be honest parents are running to the opportunity to anything other than their zone school. Charter schools are smaller than public schools, have less students, therefore offer smaller class sizes. That also means your child has more one on one time with their teacher. Charter schools tend to cater to the locals. For example if the community the school is in, is big on baseball, the charter school will have emphasis on their baseball team. Charter schools have to meet certain public school guidelines but not all of them. Mainly they have the keep the authorities that approved them happy by maintaining high score and leading the school properly. Other than that they are free to teach the student in different ways to help obtain their goals (“GreatSchool”). Any parent would jump to that opportunity.

Unlike public schools, charter school teachers lack a union. So teachers are forced to work a ton of hours for very little pay. Because of that most charter school teachers tend to change profession. Furthermore, most teachers in charter school are new hires and have little to no experience teaching (Russom). This then compromises the grades in charter school. Not saying that the quality of teachers aren’t good because they are new but older teachers normally know what works for them, while new teachers are still “figuring it out”. Differing from many peoples beliefs, charter schools don’t always produce better grades than public schools. In fact many charters schools close down due to academic failures (and many more reason).

Parents need a better understanding of what a charter school is. They need to do a deeper study into the schools they are sending their children too. Just because it’s a charter school doesn’t mean it the best.

Work cited

“Frequently Asked Questions About Public, Charter Schools”. uncommonschools.org. N.p. N.d. Web. April 24, 2014

GreatSchool Staff. “Seven Essentials about Charter Schools”. Greatschools.org. GreatSchools Inc. N.d. Web. April 24, 2014

Russom, Gillian. “The case against charter schools”. International Socialist Review. N.p. May 2010. Web. April 24, 2014

Tenure

Tenure for teachers is job protection so to say. Teachers go through a lot of observations and evaluations, with tenure teachers cannot be disciplined or fired without being taken to court first. Some say it is meant to protect teachers with more experience from being fired to hire younger teachers with less pay. Tenure was given to teachers after working 3 years in a school; this was called your probation period. The teacher would then have to be recommended by the principle of the school to receive tenure. 2.3 million Teachers received tenure as of 2008(“Should teachers”). Former Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education recently issued a new tenure-decision making framework for principles as a guide when choosing who to recommend for tenure (“Tenure for”). This made it more difficult for teachers to receive tenure. They now had to work for it. Tenure is meant to recognize outstanding teaching but it seems that for many years it was just given to anyone.

           It all sounds pretty fair, good deserving teacher get job protection. How about the teachers that have tenure and don’t deserve it? Over 6,000 teachers are up for tenure this year, yet student’s grades have not progressed in years; the numbers aren’t adding up. It would be senseless to entirely put the blame on teachers, but if the educators aren’t highly affective, the child suffers. One wonders, if a teacher isn’t highly affective, why then reward them with job protection. As unfair as it is, a teacher’s effectiveness is tied to student’s achievements. If the teacher cannot teach then the teacher should not be teaching, and definitely not granted job protection. Who’s to say that these teachers that already have tenure won’t stop teaching at their best potential? They will still be evaluated but by the time they are reprimanded and taken to court, students have already suffered.

Essentially, what needs to change are the evaluations teachers undergo and a drastic reconsideration and thorough look at those already granted tenure.  

Work cited

 “Tenure for Newer Teachers”. UFT.com. United Federation of Teachers. N.d. Web April 10, 2014

“Should Teachers Get Tenure?”. ProCon. ProCon.org. N.d. Web. April 9, 2014

A Famous New Yorker I Admire

Shawn Corey Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 4, 1969. He responds to his nick name 'Jay Z', in which I would be referring to in my post. Jay Z grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, New York. His neighborhood and living conditions were not the best and was not easy at all. I admire the fact that he did not become a product of his environment which is very easy to do however, he did not settle or use his mishaps as a crutch to continue to live and struggle in those conditions which seemed that there was no ending and certainly not enough of anything to live comfortably. After he was succesful as a artist he opened his own record label company Def Jam. He was able to sign his friends that he actually went to school with to his label. All of whom he signed went on to be big artist themselves. Jay Z started releasing records in the late 80's. He has accomplished the releasing of platinum records, he created a urban clothing line 'Roca Wear', that is extremely sucessful, he has his own sneakers which was the biggest-selling sneakers and opened his first sports bar 40/40 club in 2003. Because all of his accomplishments, Jay Z has employed thousands of people in all of his establishments around the world. He has employed people from his old neighborhood in Brooklyn also which was uplifting for their community. After retiring in 2006, He left his presidency of Def Jam and sold his remaining stake in Rocafella to found Rock Nation in 2008. He is now married with a lovely toddler daughter and is part owner of the Nets baseeball team. He continues to bring jobs to the brooklyn community, and has done so by building the Barclay Center which is located downtown brooklyn. Anyone looking for a basketball game, concerts or any entertainment can visit the Barclay Center in Brooklyn there is always entertainment there. Work Cited J.M. "Jay Z Biography", www.imdb.com/celebrity/Jay_Z/biography.html, n.d., 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc, Web, April 17, 2014

New York City Tourist

New York City may be voted as the number one dirtiest city; however our city attracts so Many people living in different Parts of the World. Most people dream about coming to our city to make changes in their life’s or just tour and see what we have to offer. Despite the fact that New York City is voted for being the dirtiest, loudest and rudest New York gets one third of Tourists who prefer visiting our city than any other city. Even if they already Aware that New York is not the cleanest place to be they rather come to New York.

New York City is where most people may dream about coming even if it’s for vacation or just to see the city with their families. According to the New York Times (Kate, Taylor) stated that New York City “Welcomed Record 52 Million Tourists in 2011.” Even though we get so many tourist in New York our mayor still expect more tourist, Michael Bloomberg stated that the goal is to get 55 Million visitors by 2015. In the Article “A Record year for New York Tourism"(Kate) Stated that when it was asked about the reason why they came to visit New York the most popular answer is cultural institutions. However there are other things that attract the tourist to visit such as the Bicycle lanes and Pedestrian Plazas which have sparked an International Attention to Tourism.

New York is neither the cleanest place nor the dirtiest place.  I think it doesn't  matter if its clean or dirt  in new York  because the tourist still comes to the city with their families even if its looks  or smell bad they are here, although they are complaining about how bad  the city smells , they prefer being in New York city. We have about 1 million people visiting the city every week According to (ken McCarthy).  We still get so many visitors coming from the entire world to see our Museums or Statue of liberty and take pictures of the twin towers.  The tourist loves New York City even at its worse they still prefer our city then any others. 

Work Cited

Kate Taylor "A Record Year for New York Tourism". NYTimes.com . December 31, 2013 

Web April 14, 2014

Ken McCarthy  "The Importance of Tourism". Commercial observer.September 12, 2013

Web April 14,2014

Policies affecting homelessness in NYC

Policies are always changing in this country, some for good and some for bad. For homelessness there has been very strict policies that make life harder for the poor. One program that is continuing to fail for the Bloomberg administration is the advantage program. This program helps to pay for rent for the homelessness. Recently Mayor Bloomberg announced his administration is going to stop paying rent for "approximately 8,000 families still receiving subsidies under the advantage program." Many households that weren't homeless no more have become homeless again. Without a proper subsidy to assist the people they will not be able to afford there rent. Another government program is section 8. They provide rental assistance to families in need. Recently they have put a hold on the applicants and no one else can apply. They are not taking any more applicants unless they have a family because they are prioritized or have been in shelters for a significant amount of time. Homelessness is not simply a result of a bad economy, it is also caused by the shrinking number of affordable housing options available to poor and working people in New York City. New York is trying to make progress in creating affordable housing, but the pace is too slow to keep up with the city's needs. Policies need to be fixed and created to help the needy instead of working against them. We are all New Yorkers and we should work as a whole to fix this problem. Although Mayor Bloomberg has contributed greatly to the increase of homelessness let Mayor Bill De Blasio be reminded that what affects homeless families affects all of us.



 Giselle Routhier "Mayor Bloomberg’s Failed Homeless Policies Are Affecting Landlords Too" Coalitionforthehomeless.org  February 27, 2012 Web April 11,2014

New York represents hard working people

    I see New York City as the state of hard working people, people that are from different parts of the world. Throughout history, New York City has been a major point of entry for immigrants. What is it about New York that attracts people? well people that has come here for the first time, will accept any paying job that most Americans won't take. For example, a busboy at a restuarant washing dishes all day and night. I believe that some jobs in New York are easy to find, and that's why people are willing to do anything to survive here. On the other hand, I always said that immigrants and other people from different places is what makes New York be New York.
  Everyone who moves to New York wants to shine in whatever dream they pursue, in my opinion this is the best state to have fun in we have all kinds of good food, art, music etc but, everyone has to really work hard to make it here.

                                                                       Work Cited
Brennan Rosenberg, Mark "10 Reasons NYC Isn't as Great as You Think It Is" Blackouts and Breakdowns', 'Eating My Feelings'  web. April 6,2013 n.p April 11 ,2014

Cyberbullying on the Rise

        For years, social networks have been used to bring people together. Social networks has unfortunately also introduced cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place on the internet using cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying occurs through social media sites, text messages, chat, and other websites. Examples of cyberbullying is mean text messages or rumors posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles and much more. Cyberbullying can happen at anywhere and at any time of the day, which makes it difficult for parents to protect to their child. Messages and photos can be posted and distributed quickly to a very wide audience through social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The internet allows personal information to be exhibited worldwide, allowing thousands or millions of people to access the information at any one time anywhere making ways for the victims to escape increasingly limited. Kids who are cyberbullied are more likely to use alcohol and drugs, skip school, experience in-person bullying and have lower self-esteem.

             Some social networks allow users to create an account without entering a lot of personal information, making it easier for users to make fake profiles. Sites like Kik or Ask.fm, allow bullies hide behind these fake or anonymous profiles to harass their victims, making it difficult for victims to pinpoint who their bully. Although these sites have features like blocking the harasser or reporting nasty comments, some of the victims don't know these features are available to them. Victims should be able to use social networks without being scared of being harassed or watched. 

Work Cited

Wallace, Kelly. "Parents, beware of bullying on sites you've never seen". CNN Living. October 16, 2013. Web. Cable News Network. April 10, 2014.

What are Greenhouse gases?

 Before we talk about how green house gases are affecting the climate, we first need to know what they are and where they come from. Green house gases are any gases that are able to keep infrared heat in. Thus heating up our atmosphere and earth. This is called the green house affect. The green house gases that are causing this affect include carbon-dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluoridated gases(hydro-fluorocarbons,per-fluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride)(Marc Lallanilla). Green house gases are created by the burning of fossil fuels (gases, oil, coal), chemical reactions, livestock, and agriculture. These gases come from a number of sources. Some sources include electricity production 33%, transportation 28%, industrial 20%, commercial and residential 11%, agriculture 8%, and land use and forestry(Sources, EPA). According to the EPA, “Electricity production generates the largest share of green house gas emissions. Over 70% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas.” Transportation is the next leading cause of green house gas. Cars, trucks, airplanes, buses, ships, and trains burn fuel which creates carbon-dioxide. Industrial, commercial and residential, and agriculture follow behind in source for emissions. From when the industrial revolution started to 2009 carbon-dioxide levels have increase 38% and methane levels 148%(Marc Lallanilla). This is a major increase which is causing disarray in the climate. If this continues we may have to fear the worst.

Work Cited

Lallanilla, Marc. "What Are Greenhouse Gases?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 27 June 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

"Sources." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

"S

So Rich and So Poor at the Same Time

           New York City is one of the wealthiest City in the USA. According to Robert Frank a writer from The Hall street Journal, “The report says New York has 7,720 people worth at least $30 million. In second place is Los Angeles, with 4,350, followed by San Francisco (4,230) and Chicago (2,550), (Robert Frank)”. This shows that the money one’s again is not giving properly because we are giving money to the people that already have money that have life all figured out. But the government is only giving money to them and not to people that really need it or putting in places that truly need it like the school in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Harlem. On the government gives more money for fancy new building that minimum wage people could not afford. Instead of putting the money in to good use that would benefit the lower class community.

            In New York City may be wealthy in culture and at times unity but lack in sharing. Sharing the goods it seems like all the money is staying in one place one place as if the wealthy were the only hard working people as if poor people don’t deserved the same treatment from the government.  This would be the other reason I believe that the money is not being distributed correctly in New York City.  

Work cited

Frank, Robert. "New York Has the Most Super-Rich." The Wealth Report RSS. Dow Jones & Company, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

NEW YORK CITY BIKE SHARE PROGRAM

                                       New York City Bike Sharing Program

It was a hot summer afternoon day in Manhattan in July 2013. Many people were enjoying their time with their respective families or friends in some cool places such as Bryant Park with its water fountain or Central Park.  Others were trying to get home by trains or buses after a long working day. I was driving alongside Fifth Avenue going south.  Two men hailed my cab at Sixtieth Street.  I stopped and picked them up. After couple blocks we hit the traffic. There were many tourists walking on the side walk, taking pictures, and admiring the beauty of the city.

 What these tourists did not know or at least did seem not to care about was my frustration. I was sitting on traffic for more than half an hour without moving even five blocks. One of my passengers started complaining about the traffic and the cab fare. Beside that he said” the train and the buses are very crowded right now”.  He added “I wish I would have taken a bike”.  He was referring to the newly Bike Share Program introduced to the city transportation system.

The New York City Bikes Share Program was introduced to make commuting easier and cheaper for many of the city residents.  Before assessing how successful the program is after operating nearly a year, I will look at the program itself and its objectives.

  Bike Share is a new phenomenon that has been gaining popularly across many big cities in Europe (Paris, London), and in the United States (Boston, Washington DC) and so on. Boston and Washington DC had introduced bike share in their transportation system long before New York City. The former Mayor of New York City and his administration was the strongest advocates for the bike share for the city. On May 21012 Mr. Bloomberg, touting some of the benefits of the program declared “Subways and buses don’t always go where you want to go, and that can mean a long walk or taxi ride. Now New Yorkers will have another option-hop on a Citi Bike” (Coscarelli).

 The Bloomberg administration was studying how to make the program work well and safer for many years. It started by allocating too many of the city streets and avenues miles and miles of bike lanes. According to Block who was a staff writer for the New York Daily News”  the bike lanes project's completion brings the city's total street bike lanes to 420 miles and its total bike lanes, including park space, to 620 miles”( Block).

The program is about sharing bikes in regular bikes stations.  We can find bike stations mostly in Manhattan neighborhoods, Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg.  So far I have not seen any bike station in the Bronx.  We can have access to these bikes by purchasing a Daily, Weekly or Annual Membership.”  Annual members through August 13, 2013 were 71,395” (Flegenheimer).

 The program has been gaining popularity months and months and causing challenges to the company.” In its opening months, New York City’s bike share system has found itself locked in a perpetual race against its riders- to remove bikes from fully occupied stations, and to refill stations before the supply runs dry”(Flegnheimer). According to Emily Badger who is a former staff writer at the Atlantic Cities,”NYC bike system toppled 7 million trips, and more than 100,000 have signed for annual membership” (Badger).

Another challenge that the company has been facing off is financial difficulties due to low revenue generated by the bikes. Many issues contributed to the low revenue, including “damage to the equipment during super storm Sandy, software glitches, and the harsh winter” (Kusisto, Brown, and Tangel).

                                                              Work cited

Dorian Block,”New York City finishes 200 miles of bike lanes at Grand Concourse cermony”, nydailynews.com, July 9, 2009, nydailynews web, April 10, 2014  

Emily Badger,” Why DC bike share is flourishing while New York’s is financially struggling”, Washingtonpost.com April 1, 2014, washington post web April 5, 2014.

Joe Coscarelli,” NYC Bike share Program Is Citi Bank Blue and Pretty Pricey”, nymag.com, June 7, 2012, nymagasine web  April 5 ,2014.

Laura Kusito, Eliot Brown and Andrew Tangel,” Citi Bike Needing  Millions of Dollars Looks for Help”, wsj.com, March 20, 2014, wsj wed, April 5, 2014.

Matt Flegenheimer,” The  Balancing Act That Bike –Share Riders Just Watch”, nytimes.com, August 13, 2013. Nytimes  web, April 5, 2014.             

Wealth and Distribution

           As we look at New York City most people think shopping, fancy buildings, party and fancy dinners. What they don’t see is the other side of the rood were family are struggling to make the minimum wage, to pay rent, or buy food for their family. When people think New York they think of time square, anything that’s downtown, but don’t see the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem. The reason is because those people are not being as exposed as the downtown area.  I believe the wealth is not being distributed correctly the reason in the places like the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem that do need the money for the street and bettering the school or the parks and the buildings are not getting it. But the government is giving more money to places that already are in a good place that don’t need more improvement. This is what Leeds me to believe that the money is not being distributed correctly.

            In the documentary Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream by Alex Gibney explain and show the life of people that are being affected by this situation. In this documentary you really get the sense of the separation in wealth, from in this documentary show the two different lives from the wealthy to the poor. I believe that this documentary really shows you what the other side of New York is like and not the good looking fancy one but the one where people struggle everyday just to bet bye.

Work Cited

“Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream.” Dir. Alex Gibney. 2012. Documentary.

Is New York City As Rich As Its Claims?

           My topic for this essay is, Is New York City as Rich at Its Claims? The reason I picked this to be my main question it’s because I have notice a lot of injustice in the way the money is being distributed in New York City. The reason I say this is because you go to visit downtown New York all you see is glamorous building and al the healthy styles are in downtown but when you visit uptown or the Bronx, or Brooklyn it almost feel like you’re not in New York anymore, because of the difference in how everything looks. Buildings that are just breaking down the parks are not in good conditions for the kids to play in. Things like this are the reason why I believe the money in New York City it’s not being distributed properly. In this I would be showing three sources that I found that agree with my argument.

            In the documentary Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream by Alex Gibney explain just what I am talking about. According to PBS In the documentary Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream show that, “Park Avenue in New York. 740 Park in Manhattan is currently home to the highest concentration of billionaires in the country. Across the river, less than five miles away, Park Avenue runs through the South Bronx, home to the poorest congressional district in the United States, (Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream)”. In this documentary it shows how wealthy one side of New York City can be right next to could have the poorest areas in New York City.

The other source that supports my topic is an Article in the Daily News. This article talks about also the inequality that there is in New York City. According to James warren, “Of the 30 most populous American cities, New York is tops in the inequality between the rich and poor. Of major cities, New Orleans and Miami come close but don’t surpass New York, according to Adam Bee, an economist in the income statistics branch of the bureau. Poverty persists in New York, (James warren). This shows that it’s a major problem in New York City that we are that separated in wealth. It seems like the places that need the money are not getting it but in a place like downtown where is full of money the government keeps giving to them.   

Works cited

"Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream." PBS. PBS, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

Warren, James. "Annual American Community Survey Shows New York City Has the Largest Gap of Income Inequality in United States." NY Daily News. 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Why Central Park?

              Central park is the 1^st urban landscape park to be built in the United States. Many people may wonder why build a park so large, that takes up so much space? The purpose of the park was to refute the European view that Americans lacked a sense of civic duty and appreciation for cultural refinement and instead possessed an unhealthy and individualistic materialism that precluded interest in the common good, (Waxman, Sarah). The park was built to live up to what society thinks of New York. A park where the wealthy can have a piece of mind and get away cruises through the park and also socializes. The poor could appreciate the environment of a beautiful park. Back in the 1800’s the city was not a good area there was a lot of violence and was loud. People used the area of central park to get away mostly where the cemetery was at and got a piece of quite. Now in day’s people use the park to go to for dates, love, celebrations, exercising jogging and others. With a park that is consists of 843 acres, 2.5 long and 0.5 wide there is so much to enjoy and more to love.

 

Work’s cited

 

Waxman, Sarah "The History Of  Central Park" NY.com, 1994-2014, Mediabridge Infosystem.Inc.Web.  April,10,2014
Sowder, Adam "Central Park, History and Development of New York's Central Park" About.com, 2014, About.com. Web. April,10,2014
FAQ "Central Park" Central Park. 2004-20014, Greensward Group. Web. April,10,2014

 

Common Core State Standards

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is intellectually rich standards set in mathematics and ELA, English language arts/ literacy. The state of New York adopted these standards on July 19, 2010 with a full implementation to take place in 2013-2014. These standards aren’t only for New York State schools, but for the entire country. With the exception of Texas, Alaska, Nebraska, Virginia, Indiana, Puerto Rico and Minnesota (Minnesota has only adopted the ELA Standards) who haven’t adopted the standards, everyone else is on board. The Common Core State Standards create necessary steps in education regardless the zip code, race or language.

Although each state designs their own curriculum their standards are set the same across each state. They are also meant to match up with international standards as well. The Common Core State Standards are set across the country to ensure that when our students graduate from school they are prepared for college, career and the rest of their life.

Not everyone agrees to the new standards being set on our children. Many educators and parents are opposed to it. It is stated that the Common Core has never been tested on a real school to prove the amazing outcomes it promises to produce; hence there is nothing to back it up (Heitner). Like the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) act passed in 2001 the Common Core is supposed to help our children, but is it really? NCLB changed testing from every few years to every year for grades 3-12. It has not shown improvement in students’ grades and educators feel they’ve stopped teaching important material to prepare students for these rigorous tests (Turley). The Common Core State Standards are added on top of the NCLB test with challenging standards, which teachers say they haven’t received proper training for. Schools were pressured into adopting the standards due to fear of losing federals funds (Heitner).

            Before the tests were changed under the Common Core Standards 47% of New York City students passed the ELA test and 60% passed the Math test. With the new standards only 26% of New York City students the ELA test and 30% passed the Math test. Those are passing grades from third to eighth grade (Hernandez). Truth is the tests are difficult and meant to push the students to high thinking levels. With proper training and materials our students can flourish and be college and career ready.

Work Cited

Heitner, Ethan. “The Trouble with the Common Core”. Rethinking Schools. Rethinking Schools. 2013. Web. April 8, 2014

Hernandez, Javier and Gebeloff, Robert. “Test Scores Sink as New York Adopts Tougher Benchmarks”. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. August 7, 2013. Web. April 8, 2014

Turley, Jonathan. “Common Core Standards= No Child Left Behind on Steroids”. Johnathan Turley. N.p. June 29,2013. Web. April 9, 2014

NEW YORK BIKE SHARE.

Bike Share is a new phenomenon that has been gaining popularly across many big cities in Europe (Paris, London), and the United States.  Boston, Washington D.C have introduced bike share in their transportation system long before New York City. The former Mayor of New York City and his administration was the fierce advocates for the bike share for the city. On May 21012 the former Mayor, touting some of the benefits of the program declared “Subways and buses don’t always go where you want to go, and that can mean a long walk or taxi ride. Now New Yorkers will have another option-hop on a Citi Bike” (Coscarelli).

After some delays the Citi Bike Program was launched in May 2013. The program is about sharing bikes in regular bikes stations.  We can find bike stations mostly in Manhattan neighborhoods, Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg.  So far I have not seen any bike station in the Bronx.  We can have access to these bikes by purchasing a Daily, Weekly or Annual Membership.”  Annual members through August 13 were 71,395” (Flegenheimer).

 The program has been gaining popularity months and months and causing challenges to the company.” In its opening months, New York City’s bike share system has found itself locked in a perpetual race against its riders- to remove bikes from fully occupied stations, and to refill stations before the supply runs dry”(Flegnheimer). According to Emily Badger who is a former staff writer at the Atlantic Cities,”NYC bike system toppled 7 million trips, and more than 100,000 have signed for annual membership” (Badger).

Another challenge the company has been facing off is financial difficulties Due to low revenue generated by the bikes. Many issues contributed to the low revenue, including “damage to the equipment during super storm Sandy, software glitches, and the harsh winter” (Kusisto, Brown, and Tangel).

                                                              Work cited

Emily Badger,” Why DC bike share is flourishing while New York’s is financially struggling”, Washingtonpost.com April 1, 2014, washington post web April 5, 2014.

Joe Coscarelli,” NYC Bike share Program Is Citi Bank Blue and Pretty Pricey”, nymag.com, June 7, 2012, nymagasine web  April 5 ,2014.

Laura Kusito, Eliot Brown and Andrew Tangel,” Citi Bike Needing  Millions of Dollars Looks for Help”, wsj.com, March 20, 2014, wsj wed, April 5, 2014.

Matt Flegenheimer,” The  Balancing Act That Bike –Share Riders Just Watch”, nytimes.com, August 13, 2013. Nytimes  web, April 5, 2014.

Job oppertunities in New York City

   Throughout my life in New York City, I hear how people from other countries and regions struggle to make it to New York, because they think that New York has it all. For example, high paying jobs, better education, and better opportunities. However, I wonder, does New York City actually offer better job opportunities than other regions of the United States? 
While researching on this topic I found that more Americans actually are moving to Texas than to any other state. In the past year Texas has added 274,700 new jobs. In fact, Texas created almost one third of the country’s highest paying jobs. However, I believe that many are not aware of that kind of information because, many people don’t do any research before moving to a new state.  For me New York City represents the state of hard working people. 

                                                                      Work Cited
Sager, Ryan  "Tyler Cowen’s 10 Reasons Texas Is Our Future" Time N.P Oct. 17, 2013 web. April 4,2014

Sources for the BAT

My final research paper is about the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The Brooklyn army terminal (which I will now call BAT) is a facility that was used as a Army supply depot, which later became a manufacturing haven. It wasn’t hard finding sources. There is so much information about the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

    One of the sources I chose for y paper was New York City Bioscience Initiative. They have a section on the BAT and explain the economic potential the BAT can provide. Its gives an overview to the entire concept. It talks about the laboratory and bio-manufacturing uses.Theres also a part where it talk about how New York City is the ideal place for biotechnology due to its “intellectual assets” (“Brooklyn Army Terminal”). It provided me with a good example and answer to one of my topic questions about the BAT and the economy by explaining employment opportunities. The site even list economic incentives. It was ery informative.

    Another one of my sources is Bklyn Army Terminal. Yeah, Brooklyn is spelled that way. This is the actual website to the the BAT. It didn’t have that much information as I had expected but it still proved to be very informative and guided me to other sources. The site gives you a brief history. It has some pictures which you can view. It has a pretty good explanation of how it went from military to manufacturing.

    My third source, which is one of my favorites, has a treasure trove of information. It is called Military Railroads and Locomotives of the New York Metropolitan Area. This site tells you everything you need to know about all the railroads that went through Brooklyn and the rest of the city. It has maps, blueprints, pictures, and everything! This source is definitely one of the best for my paper. So far it has the best explanation of the the Armies role in Brooklyn, the BAT, and the its use of the railroads.

Work cited

“Brooklyn Army Terminal”, New York City Bioscience Initiative. Partnership for new York City. 2013. Web. 1 April 2014

“History”, Bklyn Army Terminal, Bklyn Army Terminal. 2014. Web. 1 April 2014

“Brooklyn Army Terminal/ Army Transport Center”, Military Railroads and Locomotives of the New York Metropolitan Area. N.P.. N.D.. Web 1 April 2014