Summer Brings a Wave of Homeless Families

As the school year sailed to a close last month, Arielle Figueras crossed the stage in her cap and gown and proudly accepted her fifth-grade diploma. The next day, she was homeless. Arielle, a petite 11-year-old, and her parents, brother and sister packed their belongings and arrived at the intake center for homeless families in the South Bronx. Though they had been fighting with their landlord for months and their gas and electricity had long been shut off, they refused to leave their apartment while school was in session. “She was graduating, so we had to wait,” Arielle’s mother, Marilyn Maldonado, said. “We just didn’t want to disrupt their routines. We couldn’t do that to them.” Many New Yorkers view summer as a time for vacations, camp and lazy days at the beach. But city officials have been preparing for quite a different summer ritual: the swelling of the population of homeless families. They call it the summer surge, and say that this year could be the worst yet. Because the homeless population this spring was up more than 20 percent over last spring, possibly because of higher unemployment, officials are girding for an all-time high in the number of families in shelters at once, expecting close to 10,000. Already, thenumber has reached 9,420. Other cities are noticing a similar trend. In Toledo, Ohio, one overcrowded shelter has been turning away dozens of people each night. In Charlotte, N.C., a shelter that is typically open only in winter has stayed open for the summer to meet demand, which is 20 percent higher than last summer. Across town, a Salvation Army shelter is so full, it has set up mats on the floors. The reasons are varied but simple. Landlords who are reluctant to evict during winter are less hesitant when it is warmer. Parents like the Maldonados, who have endured poor housing conditions to spare their children agitation and humiliation at school, finally pack up and leave. And relatives who have taken in families in cramped apartments lose patience when children are suddenly underfoot all day long. “When school’s open, families tend to stay where they are,” said Deronda Metz, the director of social services for the Salvation Army in Charlotte. “And when school’s out, they’re told it’s time to go.” In New York, the number of homeless families applying for shelter in the summer has been 28 percent higher than the rest of the year the last three years. Their first stop is the intake center, a 24-hour, sprawling 66,000-square-foot brick building in the Bronx. They must walk through metal detectors, must submit to questioning from social workers and, after hours of waiting for their names to be called, are bused to a temporary hotel room or apartment. Workers have begun to make room for the hundreds of extra families that are expected at the center this summer. On the second floor, all of the cubicles in one room were dismantled, replaced by rows of plastic chairs to make a waiting room for up to 114 people. Rows of boxy light gray metal lockers — each large enough to hold several suitcases — were installed. Employees at the intake center are being limited to one week of vacation during July and August. Just a few hours after the public schools let out for summer, families began trickling into the center, their faces tight with stress. One woman walked briskly inside with her young son, who wore a bright blue backpack and held an armful of books. Another woman, who would not give her name, waited outside with her daughter, who had just finished second grade. “My sister said we couldn’t stay with her anymore,” she said, fanning herself for some relief from the humidity. “I said once she’s done with school, we’d get out.” Arielle’s father, Douglas Maldonado, said that their landlord had stopped making repairs and had altered the building’s electric billing to make the Maldonados pay for other apartments’ power, up to $8,000 a month. But they held onto their apartment just long enough for Arielle’s graduation and for their son, Sabino Figueras, to graduate from eighth grade the week before. The Bloomberg administration has run into trouble before with its handling of the summer influx of homeless families. In 2002, there was a public relations debacle when officials allowed hundreds of parents and children to wait in the intake office each day, more than three times the number that city fire codes allowed. Other families were placed in anempty men’s jail in the Bronx that was later discovered to have been contaminated with lead paint. This summer, the administration will use a combination of existing homeless shelters that are not quite full and vacant apartment buildings that have been fixed up for homeless families, said Robert V. Hess, the commissioner of homeless services. “We have a variety of options, so that we can be as nimble as possible,” Mr. Hess said. “We keep some reserve.” One essential part of the city’s plan is to place families in hotels temporarily, some of which are used for both homeless people and paying customers. Mr. Maldonado’s family spent its first few nights in a hotel on 145th Street in the Bronx. One of the mattresses in the room, Mr. Maldonado said, was filthy and stained with urine. On June 28, Tarshima Dixon, a mother of four, went to the intake center with her 14-year-old son, Jason. Two more sons, Craig Dixon, 13, and Nahjee Johnson, 8, waited outside with their grandmother and cheerfully bounced a basketball on the sidewalk as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” played from their minivan’s stereo. The family was evicted in April, and Ms. Dixon’s mother did not have room for all of them. So Ms. Dixon, along with Craig, Nahjee and another son, Gregory, 16, moved into a shelter in Brooklyn soon after. Jason had been living with his father in Camden, N.J., but Ms. Dixon wanted him back with his brothers. They had to come to the intake center to let the city know there would be one more homeless person needing a bed. “He just finished school this week,” said Ms. Dixon, who added that she was determined that the whole family would move into an apartment by August. “I wasn’t going to bring him here until he was done.”

Did we embrace the Martian at South Street Seaport?

Internet hype is a crazy thing.  It has made some of the greatest MCs of the 90s look like broke, washed-up, dust heads.  Conversely it can make hordes of no-talent artists the flavor of the month, propelling them to short-term, “swag”-driven, faux-stardom.  However, when these artists break out of the blogosphere and onto the charts, you have to begin to take them seriously, regardless of their perceived validity.  Such was the case of Kid Cudi.  His overwhelmingly popular Internet mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi,” along with an invaluable co-sign from the illustrious Mr. Kanye West, launched him into our popular consciousness faster than a private-school hype-beast runs to SoHo for the latest Nike Dunk release. 

Leaving discussions of talent aside, it was this relevance that brought me to the free Kid Cudi/Chester French concert on Friday evening at South Street Seaport.  The way I see it, the Internet has removed hip-hop’s regulatory system of checks-and-balances, meaning that before an artist breaks into the mainstream channels, there isn’t really any way to confirm their validity.  The live show stands more or less as the last levee between real hip-hop fans and the sweeping tide of complete mediocrity.  Even in the age of studio rappers and online fame, everyone must eventually be tested.  A concert in New York City should in theory be Kid Cudi’s way of solidifying his place in the game and validating his talent. 

But as far as the actual show goes, it was generally underwhelming.  The beats were loud, the vocals somewhat inarticulate, the requisite MJ shoutouts present, but besides that there was little substance.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t vibe pretty hard when “Day N Nite” came on (although that may have been the drank in my system), or that the crowd wasn’t hanging on to his every word.  But was this dude spitting like 40 bar freestyles like Jay or taking ten-minute impromptu vocal solos a la Mos?  Of course not.  He didn’t even have the charisma and charm of Wale or lyrical prowess of Torae.  And simply because everyone else has a habit of lowering their expectations doesn’t mean I will. 

That’s not to say that the show was horrendous in any way.  Despite some difficulties with diction and a clumsy flow that lacked developed vocal-control, he had a very strong energy.  His confidence that radiated through the crowd and reflected back to him as scores of devout fans recited even the lesser-known mixtape tracks word-for-word. 

However, what truly caught my attention on that day was not the performance but the crowd.  As the rain came down in a steady stream, flocks of hipsters ran for cover to save their precious $400 Jordans from contact with the natural elements.  At one point, as I surveyed the sheer profusion of loud neon windreakers, 90s-style snapback hats, trendy streetwear tees, and, of course, skinny jeans, I realized that this concert was a slice, a cross-section, so to speak, of the entire internet/hipster/hypebeast movement.  In short, everything that Hova’s “D.O.A.” decried. 

This group of urban and suburban youths ranging from 14-26 in age, covering all racial and sexual categories, is the new pop consumer demographic.  These are the blog-fiends, the downloaders of every new mixtape, the purchasers of every new sneaker, the quintessential representation of the neo-commercialism of the Internet Age.  As Travis McCoy (the nonthreatening, completely insipid frontman of the pop/rap/rock band Gym Class Heroes) took the stage in a special guest appearance, I realized just to what degree this crossover movement will define the future popular culture.  It seems as though this internet movement is poised to merge all forms of popular music and fashion into one commoditized, conglomerated mass: easy to buy, easy to wear, easy to package in an “alternative” disguise, easy ego-boosts for kids with their mixtapes, blogs, colorful outfits, and easy buzz-word recognition (hipster, hypebeast, etc).  What’s sad is that this movement began with independent clothing entrepreneurs, underappreciated MCs, and a bunch of critics who saw the Internet as the most powerful way to change the status quo.  But unfortunately, the problem with the mainstream is just that: no matter how much you change it, it’s still the status quo.  

Who Would Lead New York if Paterson Left? Who Knows?

ALBANY — The question is delicate, if not somewhat ghoulish. But given the unpredictable tumult that has come to characterize politics in Albany over the last year and a half, it is hardly unthinkable:

What would happen if Gov. David A. Paterson were to die suddenly, resign or become so incapacitated that he could no longer carry out his duties as governor? Who would lead the state then? In ordinary circumstances, politicians and legal scholars could trace a straight line of succession from the governor to the lieutenant governor to the Senate president to the Assembly speaker. But the state has no constitutional contingency plan for the situation it faces now: a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office and a dispute over who is the rightful Senate president. And no one seems to know who is next in line. Even the governor says he is unsure, and he has not left the state since the Senate dispute began on June 8, to avoid any confusion about who is running the government, his office said. He has turned down an invitation to attend the National Governors Association’s annual meeting in Mississippi later this month and even scuttled plans in late June to attend a wedding just across the Connecticut line. “That’s the problem. No one knows,” said Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, who along with the government watchdog groups Citizens Union and Common Cause urged Governor Paterson on Monday to appoint a lieutenant governor as a way of breaking the stalemate that has left the State Senate divided 31 to 31. (Under the State Constitution, the lieutenant governor casts the Senate’s tie-breaking vote.) The Constitution provides no process for filling a vacancy of the lieutenant governor’s office, so it has been empty since Mr. Paterson was unexpectedly elevated to the governor’s office when Eliot Spitzer resigned. But Mr. Gianaris, a Democrat, and the nonpartisan government watchdogs argued that a section of the New York State Public Officers Law, which governs powers and duties of state officials, allows the governor to fill elected offices for which there is no provision explicitly spelling out how the vacancy should be handled. “The current situation is extraordinary and requires a deeper look at the relevant legal authority,” Mr. Gianaris wrote in a letter to the governor, which was also signed by Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, and Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York. “You have the power to resolve the ongoing dispute by appointing a lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate.” Mr. Paterson said the proposal was under review, but was noncommittal. In a written statement, he said, “I look forward to working with these groups and others to find a way to end the stalemate.” Albany entered its fifth week of gridlock on Monday with no resolution in sight. In the latest legal maneuver, an upstate Democratic senator, Darrel J. Aubertine, sued the State Assembly to compel it to take up the dozens of bills Senate Democrats passed last week in a disputed session. The Senate has not held a session with the participation of both parties since June 8, the day that two Democrats joined Senate Republicans to mount a surprise vote to oustMalcolm A. Smith, the Democratic leader, from power. One of those Democrats later switched back, leaving the chamber split 31 to 31. If Mr. Paterson, a Democrat, were to follow through with the suggestion to appoint a lieutenant governor, his move would almost certainly result in a strong reaction from Republicans and be fertile ground for a legal challenge. “If the governor wants to violate the Constitution, I guess he can do it,” said Senator Dean G. Skelos, leader of the Republicans. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, encouraged the governor to act. “The governor should exercise his power under this statute to appoint someone as soon as possible,” said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman of the Upper West Side. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo frowned on the idea, pointing out that the Constitution calls for the governor and the lieutenant governor to be chosen at the same time. The governor’s appointment of a lieutenant governor, he said in a statement, “would not provide long-term political stability, but rather the opposite, by involving the governor in a political ploy that would wind through the courts for many months.” Even before the Senate revolt, when the line of succession was clear, Mr. Paterson refrained from transferring his powers to the Senate president, not even when he left the state, or when he underwent outpatient eye surgery on three occasions last year. His office applies what aides refer to as the “effective absence rule,” which means that the governor is not effectively absent from the state — and therefore considered able to perform his duties according to the Constitution — if he is reachable and in constant communication with his office. “The Constitution was written before modern communication was available,” said Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for Mr. Paterson. “And with modern communication, the governor is able to continue to exercise his powers.” Still, there is some legal uncertainty about what is considered an absence, as Mr. Paterson has shown by sticking close to home in recent weeks. In an appearance at the Statue of Liberty with Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey on the Fourth of July, Mr. Paterson made a point of mentioning that Liberty Island was indeed part of New York. Mr. Corzine then joked that Mr. Paterson had better be careful not to fall in the water on the boat ride back because he could end up in New Jersey waters.  

2009 True School Hip Hop NYC Park Jams | Thursdays

JULY 16: AFRIKA BAMBAATAA (Soulsonic Force, UZN) DJ JAZZY JAY (Soulsonic Force, UZN) KOOL DJ RED ALERT (KiSS FM, UZN) JULY 23: DJ JAZZY JOYCE: http://www.jazzyjoyce.com DJ SCRATCH (88 NMS Champion, EPMD) JULY 30: DJ CASH MONEY (88 DMC World Champion) DJ LORD FINESSE (DITC) DJ GRANDMASTER CAZ (Cold Crush Brothers) 5pm-9pm. FREE! All Ages.  The best of the best legendary Hip Hop DJs and special guests rocking at the brand new Crotona Park Amphitheater!  Host: GrandMaster Caz. Special guests (that even we don't expect) all of the time! Enter at Charlotte St & Crotona Park East, Bronx NYC 10457.  Held in association with Council Member Joel Rivera and The Friends of Crotona Park. 2 or 5 train to 174th St or try hopstop.com for directions.

Hip Hop Theater Festival: DC

       

Beats & BBQ: The Star Spangled Boogie ‘0

Friday, July 3, 2009  Beats & BBQ returns for some early  Independence Day cheer to offer you the same sweet combo of Soulful  Dance Music, BBQ and YOU!!!! In the neighborhood of Williamsburg,  Brooklyn. July 3, is a observance holiday which means NO WORK!!!!!!! The Lineup will be: Jose G (Pre Party Radio) Ali Coleman (Voice of Voices NYC) Siren (Save the Robots) Ruby Red  (Ruby Time) Jedi 9 (Artland NYC) Chris Miller (Artland NYC) Dawn Anesta (Soul Fire) Featuring the grilling expertise by Kiss the Cook There's no cover, free BBQ (with purchase of beverage) and beverage specials until party's end. 3 pm to 10 pm Its happening at the retro cool, neo-bohemian: Art Land Bar 609 Grand St Wiiiamsburg, Brooklyn, NY (L train to Lorimer St.)

BHF ‘09 Family Day Photos by Amy Hume

Great Photos from our Bodega Fam Photog team organized by our Human Resource Master Corrie. These are by Amy Hume. Some great photos showing what a good time we had in the rain. This is why we do it. For the little duns.

Senate debacle yields hiring freeze on police, firefighter jobs: Bloomberg

The Senate stalemate will keep 250 new cops off the street,Mayor Bloombergsaid Monday. Bloomberg froze hiring to save the $60 million a month lost becauseAlbanywon't pass a half-point city sales tax hike. "I don't want us to panic," Bloomberg said. "I don't think anybody expected this to go on. And yet it does." Also on hold because of the freeze are 90 emergency medical technicians, 150 firefighters, 175school safety agents and 150crossing guards. The cops were set to be sworn in tomorrow. "The state Senate's inability tofunction may literally result inblood on the streets," said CityCouncilmanPeter Vallone (D-Queens), chairman of the Public Safety Committee. The Senate has been deadlocked, 31 to 31, since a June 8 Republican coup. There is no lieutenant governor to break the tie. Senate Democratic leaders met withGov. Patersonyesterday to complain that Republican senators and turncoat Democrat Sen.Pedro EspadaJr. of theBronxare defying his request to quickly pass critical legislation. Republicans countered that the Dems were just upset that Paterson told the Daily News they may have to accept Espada in a major leadership position. Espada lunched yesterday with three other Democrats whobalked at their party's leadership last fall -Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens),Ruben Diaz Sr.(D-Bronx) andCarl Kruger (D-Brooklyn). Earlier,Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens)said Paterson could end the stalemate by appointing a new lieutenant governor under an obscure legal code. Republicans and stateAttorney General Andrew Cuomosaid the move would be unconstitutional.klovett@nydailynews.com

Jackson’s Children Go to His Mother

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s mother was granted temporary guardianship of his three children by a Los Angeles judge on Monday, and a hearing on permanent custody was scheduled for next Monday. The mother, Katherine Jackson, 79, also petitioned to be named administrator of his estate, and a hearing on that matter was set for August. The judge did, however, appoint Mrs. Jackson a "special administrator" of the estate, permitting her to control property "in the possession of a third party" until Monday’s hearing. Police officials and those from Los Angeles County coroner’s returned on Monday to resume their search of the rental home where the singer died in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, said Detective Orlando Martinez, a department spokesman. Shortly after the judge’s ruling on Monday, Mr. Jackson’s father, Joe, held a disjointed news conference in front of the family’s San Fernando Valley home, during which he veered among his central topic, his plans for his new record company; his grandchildren, who he said were “happy”; and the private autopsy on his son, which the family ordered after findings of a county autopsy last Friday proved inconclusive pending the results of toxicology tests. Mr. Jackson said that there would be no funeral until the outcome of the private autopsy, whose results, he said, he expects shortly, and that the family was unprepared to say more about the arrangements. Of his three grandchildren, Mr. Jackson said, “We love those kids,” and added, “We’re going to take care of them and give them the education they’re supposed to have.” The singer’s older children, 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., also known as Prince Michael, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, are the biological children of Debbie Rowe, to whom he was briefly married. A younger son, Prince Michael Jackson II, 7, called Blanket, was carried to term by a surrogate who has never been identified. “Minor children are currently residing with their paternal grandmother,” documents filed by lawyers for Katherine Jackson say. “They have a long-established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in her care.” The documents list Ms. Rowe’s address as “unknown,” and the youngest child’s mother as “none.” Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff of Los Angeles County Superior Court, who granted the temporary custody, set a hearing for next Monday to make further determinations about the children’s guardianship. The petition seeking to have Mrs. Jackson appointed administrator of her son’s estate says she intends to “marshal assets of the decedent for the exclusive use of the decedent’s three children — her grandchildren — after payments of debts and expenses of administration.” Judge Beckloff scheduled a hearing for Aug. 3 on the estate matter. Michael Jackson was unwed when he died, and the filing says he did not have a valid will. It says the children are therefore the sole beneficiaries of the estate. Whether the singer in fact left a will — or how many wills he had — and what he left in assets and debts have yet to be determined. Monday’s filings may well presage future legal battles. Many custody experts, for instance, think Ms. Rowe would most likely win final custody of her two children should she seek it. At the news conference, which Joe Jackson held with the Rev. Al Sharpton on the lawn of the family’s home in Encino, Mr. Sharpton more than once whispered answers to Mr. Jackson, who seemed slightly confused and breathless as he took in the questions pelted his way. In his first order of business, Mr. Jackson said that he wanted to make clear he had embarked on creating a new record label, that “we have a lot of good artists” and that his son would have wished for the family to remain musically engaged. “Michael,” Mr. Sharpton agreed, “would have wanted his family to continue his work.

Billy Mays, OxiClean pitchman, found dead

 Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home Sunday morning, authorities told CNN. The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said. Mays was on the US Airways flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Tampa on Saturday that had a hard landing at Tampa International Airport when the plane's front tire blew out. There were no reported injuries on Flight 1241, US Airways told CNN. According to a local Tampa TV station, Mays said: "All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head." Airline spokesman Jim Olson told CNN Sunday there were no reported passenger injuries from flight 1241. The airline vowed to "cooperate fully" with authorities in the investigation. "We were very sad to learn of Billy Mays' passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," Olson said. Tampa officials say the Medical Examiner's Office expects to complete an autopsy by Monday afternoon. In a statement, Deborah Mays said that although "Billy lived a public life," the family does not plan immediate public statements about his death. Mays was a spokesman for Orange Glo and detergent OxiClean and appeared in commercials for other products. He is featured on the reality TV show ''Pitchmen'' on the Discovery Channel, which follows pitch people in their jobs.

"It is with incredible sadness that we have to report that Billy Mays died in his sleep last night," said a statement from the Discovery Channel. "Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth. Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this time of incredible loss." 

 

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