So far while researching the mta’s old and new problems it seem like the old is affecting the new in this case. Technology plays a huge part in the development and pace of things we run like trains. We must update our phones because if not we’ll be stuck with old software that will go slow, break down repeatedly or even give up all in one. Governor Cuomo does not fix anything not does he find help for these system problems; All he does is play puppet master.
Category: Community Problems/ Community Solutions
Noise Pollution Memo – Latrell Greene
Latrell Greene
ENG 1121
Dr. Hall
4/4/2019
Noise Pollution Memo
Noise pollution being ever-present in big cities like NYC, can lead to health effects that range from levels of both physical health effects, to psychological. Â A multitude of studies have been conducted on the effects of noise pollution on the human mind and body, which goes to show how prominent the problem is.
According to a study 2011 study from the German Department of Environmental Health, “Noise from transportation is by far the most widespread source of noise exposure, causing most annoyance and public health concerns.”
A 2000 study conducted research on the effects of noise pollution on humans. The effects included, “Noise Induced Hearing Impairment”, “Stress Related Health Effects”, “Sleep Disturbance” and “Effects on [Cognitive] Performance”
A study from 1995 by Journal of Hypertension featured conducted research on the effects of urban noise pollution on blood pressure and heart rate in preschool children, and concluded that “the group mean blood pressure and heart rate values of preschool children from quiet areas contrasted with readings for those from noisy environments. This indicates a positive association between the level of traffic noise and a possibly increased role of sympathetic cardiovascular regulatory influence. ”
Noise pollution’s effects could be solved by targeting policies, or policy makers, since the policies are what can control the level of noise in a city. A reasonable noise threshold that can be upheld by law/policy would be very beneficial for people since people can be affected.
Sources
- http://www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741;year=2011;volume=13;issue=52;spage=201;epage=204;aulast=Babisc
- https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/cms/attachment/2122895a-7860-45ef-8a1e-c7b2ccb08c1b/ehp.00108s1123.pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Valeria_Regecova2/publication/15570548_Effects_of_urban_noise_pollution_on_blood_pressure_and_heart_rate_in_preschool_children/links/5a51575aa6fdcc769001ff4a/Effects-of-urban-noise-pollution-on-blood-pressure-and-heart-rate-in-preschool-children.pdf
For Tuesday
Hey everyone– good work today!
For Tuesday, I would like you all to work on Unit 3– your “Community Problems” projects. On OpenLab, please post a brief “progress report” that lets me know what you’ve done so far and how you’re doing with the unit.
Some important dates:
Tuesday, April 16: Revision of essay 1 (education narrative) is dueÂ
Thursday, April 18: Unit 3 is due.
Please note that these are pretty close together. If you ignore these dates until the last minute, you’re gonna feel a WORLD OF PAIN! (Or just be super stressed.)
Stanley Desir                                                                                                04//04/19
ENG 1121 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Research Memo
Throughout my research I learned a lot about gentrification. I learned that it’s happening all around me and in front of me in my whole community. I believe it’s one of the main catalyst in the reason why rent is rising in new york city. In my opinion, it’s government invasion. Dramatic changes are playing out across parts of urban America, making many neighborhoods hardly recognizable from a relatively short time ago. A new class of more affluent residents(Rich white people) are moving into once underinvested and predominantly-poor communities. Development has followed, typically accompanied by sharp increases in housing prices that can displace a neighborhood’s longtime residents. Here are some stats I picked up about gentrification. Nearly 20 percent of neighborhoods with lower incomes and home values have experienced gentrification since 2000, compared to only 9 percent during the 1990s.
- Gentrification still remains rare nationally, with only 8 percent of all neighborhoods reviewed experiencing gentrification since the 2000 Census.
- Compared to lower-income areas that failed to gentrify, gentrifying Census tracts recorded increases in the non-Hispanic white population and declines in the poverty rate.
In Nyc, As for racial and ethnic changes, the report shows that gentrifying neighborhoods saw an increase in white population, despite a citywide decrease. Gentrifying neighborhoods also saw a larger decrease in the black population through 2014 than the city as a whole. The report also compares income changes across neighborhoods. Between 1990 and 2014, average household income in gentrifying neighborhoods rose by 14 percent. By contrast, average household income in non-gentrifying neighborhoods declined by eight percent while average income remained steady in higher-income neighborhoods. The rent in New York City is too damn high—with a median rent above $3,000/month, this is an undeniable fact but the biggest increases have largely been concentrated in areas that have historically been considered lower-income to gentrification. The real estate website mined its data from 2010 to 2018, looking at more than one million listings, and found that New York City rents have increased by 31 percent in those eight years. But the biggest jumps were found in neighborhoods that are considered gentrifying: Ditmas Park, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Bedford-Stuyvesant all experienced rent increases of more than 40 percent, while other areas with increases of more than 35 percent include Inwood, Washington Heights, and Crown Heights.
Below is a link to a chart which has to do with statistics involving gentrification. https://communityindicators.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2016_Rosoff_Measuring_Gentrification_NYC-1.pdf
Gentrification Memo
Karina Ramsey
Dr. Carrie Hall
English 1121
April 4th, 2019
 On My Block (Gentrification Memo)
Gentrification has become a big problem in Brooklyn. Residents of Brooklyn and packing up and leaving their homes because she can’t afford to pay the increasing rent. I researched gentrification happening in neighborhoods in Brooklyn like Crown Heights and the rise of gentrification in East Flatbush. In neighborhood like these with a huge Caribbean immigrant population it’s sometimes hard to see it changed in order to make room for higher paying residents. You see local Caribbean food places close down so food places like sushi can open up. Having Cocktails bars replace the fried chicken spots, and Pet spas to giving these new income residents a reason to stay.
Many residents don’t want to move to places like Brownsville, or East New York because they don’t want to be surrounded with the violence and crime that comes with living in those neighborhoods, especially when they are raising young men and women, they rather leave the state of New York. Many even move to Boston, Maryland, or Philadelphia for affordable living but travel back to Brooklyn to shop at their local markets and food places that they enjoy and are used to. A Lot of people end up moving in with their parents because they can’t afford to pay their rent when it increases, or they can’t pay the asking prices for a new apartment. Many landlords even stoop as low as not providing heat nor hot water to force their tenants out. Landlord are even buying tenants out and offering them as much as 10,000-70,000. It seems like a lot of money to middle-income people, but in fact is nothing, its pocket change. When they add up moving expense, taxes, and the cost of to find a new apartment they would have been better off sticking it out at their old apartment.
Some warnings signs of gentrification are landlords increasing the rent tremendously because they know existing tenants can’t afford to pay it. Landlords coming in and changing things like your kitchen countertop which has been there for 10 years to a brand new expensive one. See your childhood neighbors moving out and moving to places like Atlanta and Virginia. What is really common is that that landlords are withholding repairs with the hopes that their current tenants with move out so they can repair and make room for higher-income renters.
A Lot of middle-income residents are living the city of Brooklyn and the state of New York altogether because of the cost of living. Landlords in the neighborhoods I research are not helping the situation of gentrification, in fact they are part of the reason we are losing our neighborhood to rich white folks, who can afford to pay these ridiculous prices these apartments are going for now. Gentrification inn Crown Heights is in a rush and it is slowing moving to East Flatbush. You can slowing see new condos and high-rise building being built in East Flatbush. Rents are slowing stating to increase and more Caucasian people are staying on the train pass Atlantic Ave.
research memo
Pavel Nunez
Dr Carrie Hall
4/3/19
English 1121
                                                                 Research Memos
Based on the 1st  article I read that  “Seven people died while walking or riding between New York City subway cars in 2018, according to the MTA, including four people in December alone — a jump from five total deaths in 2017. There were also five deaths from passengers going between subway cars in 2016. After 2018’s deadly year, the transit authority is reminding New Yorkers how dangerous walking between subway cars can be.”,and to combat this After 2018’s deadly year of a lot of deaths, the transit authority is reminding New Yorkers how dangerous walking between subway cars can be everytime someone gets on the train.
On the other article The MTA has came up with an effective solution for combating the amount of people that jumped on the tracks of the train by the installation of platform screen doors, which are common in European cities and Asian cities. Aside from preventing people from falling or jumping onto the tracks, having a barrier between the platform and the tracks keeps stations cleaner(so nobody throws trash), reduces fires caused by garbage on the tracks(which causes delays, and allows for air-conditioned platforms. But unfortunately for the MTA, there isn’t enough money to fund this idea because its out of their yearly income and honestly why install this to protect 0.2 percent of the people that are crazy enough to go in the tracks and kill themselves.
Also on another group members article I learned Most trains on the New York City Subway are manually operated. The  signal system currently uses Automatic Block Signaling, with fixed wayside signals and automatic train stops. Many portions of the signaling system were installed between the 1930s and 1960s. The age of the subway system shows that many replacement parts are unavailable from today’s signal suppliers and must be custom built for the New York City Transit Authority, which  obviously operates the subway. Additionally, some subway lines have reached their train capacity limits and cannot operate extra trains in the current system to avoid even further delays. They could try upgrading this but the again, that requires a lot of money which the MTA doesn’t have despite earning billions each year, which is a similar problem on the research above.
Gentrification Memo
Amani Nassar
English 1121
Dr. Hall
April 4, 2019
Memo
Brooklyn has changed drastically over the past few decades. Our low income neighbors are being displaced as newer, richer people take over. Starbucks are taking over our local bodegas, family owned businesses are closing, and rents are going up, Brooklyn is becoming the next Manhattan. But why is Brooklyn being so gentrified?
I don’t think there is one real explanation for why people come to live in Brooklyn and gentrify it to their liking. There are so many factors that contribute to the gentrification of what was once Brooklyn. For one, Brooklyn is pretty close to Manhattan allowing easy movement of people from borough to borough whether it’s through a car or train. Brooklyn is also in high demand of bigger businesses coming in, who can afford the higher rents such as the Chipotle’s we see. Money rules our world, wherever the money is, is where the people will follow. The rich can afford to buy property, drive up rent prices, making the neighborhood less minority filled and bringing in more high rise luxury apartments that most of us can’t afford.
According to the New York Post “escalating housing costs — spurred by gentrification — have driven lower-income Hispanics out of once the predominantly Latino neighborhoods.” Due to higher rents, low-income families are forced to leave their neighborhoods and move to other boroughs like the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, which are more affordable for them.
The true culprit that started gentrification was the “rezoning of parts of Downtown Brooklyn in 2004 to allow for denser residential growth, the area has seen the development of new condominium towers, townhouses, and office conversions, which all have spurred population growth,” according to James Dinsdale who was a student at John Jay College. The rezoning has allowed more retail shops to come into Brooklyn, more offices, and of course more people. It’s shocking, yet amazing to see how the heart of Downtown Brooklyn is being modernized and filled with shops while just a few blocks away we have affordable housing projects with many low-income families struggling. Rezoning is the action or process of assigning land or property to a different category of restrictions on use and development allowing developers to build higher buildings, and so on.
According to Jillian Steinhauer’s article “development companies are given huge subsidies to build condos, and new residents receive deals that allow them to not pay property taxes for the next 10 years!” This article is from 2013, which means the 10 years these developers were given have not finished yet, we can see more changes coming to Downtown Brooklyn and other neighborhoods in Brooklyn.Â
I currently live in Park Slope, Brooklyn which has become one of the most gentrified neighborhoods in Brooklyn. My mom was born and raised in Park Slope and has seen it changed throughout her life. While we walk the streets she would tell me things like “wow, I remember when this was an empty lot where we would all play,” Today we see see expensive supermarkets or high rise condos in placement of those empty lots. When I asked her when she noticed Park Slope was changing she told me it was back in the early 2000’s. Park Slope used to be filled with minorities, burned down buildings, corner stores and empty lots all over but now it’s the new mini Manhattan.
References
https://nypost.com/2017/11/06/hipsters-are-driving-low-income-hispanics-out-of-brooklyn/
https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/downtownbrooklyn/history/
Noise Pollution Research
MTA Signal Memo
Erik Yan
Dr. Carrie Hall
Eng 1121
I found 3 articles discussing the signals used for the trains by the MTA. The first article I found was from nydailynews.com and I found that the MTA subway system is using signals and switches from 80 years ago. In the article, they talk about how the MTA replace and repair the old components used for the train signals. They have not yet upgraded to something more modern. The article also brings up the cables in the tunnels are covered in 70 year old cloth which can have the problems of catching fire and water damage. The train dispatchers had to manually write down when the train entered the station. The way it is displayed is on a blackboard with small lights to represent each station. These are too outdated for today’s modern technology.
The second article I found was from Gothamist.com and I found that the MTA is in need of funds. They said the signal upgrade for the 7 line was originally estimated to cost $140.1 million but it actually cost $405.7 million. They discuss more about how MTA still needs a lot more money to upgrade it ancient subway system.
The third article I found was from villagevoice.com and I found that they talk about the history of the signals used by the trains. The subway signals we are using now is called a fixed block system. Each signal shows the status of the track. They said it is a system that works but if something goes wrong, it really bad. The article also talks about how the fixed block signal doesn’t really tell the train operator much information besides that the rail is blocked or not. Without any more information than that, train operators cannot really do much but play the safe game. They cannot go faster because they may hit another train which is not a good thing. This train signal issue also kind of creates the overcrowding issue because there may not be enough trains. Whatever trains are at the platform will get filled to the brim and become overcrowded too.
Minhaj Uddin
Dr. Carrie Hall
English 1121
April 4th, 2019
Gentrification
Many people that have lived in their neighborhood for more than a decade would realize that there is no changes that need to be done in there neighborhood. When more people move in and try to change things around for the better of themselves but not knowing that the people in there new neighborhood would not like the change that when it becomes a problem.Â
It becomes a problem because some people feel as if they are trying to take over in there neighborhood and they don’t realize that people are being affected by the way there neighborhood looks. The way you can resolve the issue is by making the people in your neighborhood realize that there is a problem and they are not noticing it. If you talk to the people in the neighborhood and come to an agreement with them then it is a neighborhood change and not only a change of what you feel is right.
In Brooklyn you will notice that in some neighborhoods there are people who hang out in front of the bodega shops and just drinks and smoke in front of it. Some people feel as if that is the wrong thing to do. There are little kids that walk by them and wonder what they are doing and they feel as if it is a bad example for their kids and some people want that to change.
People that move into new neighborhood specifically white people they feel as if they invest in buildings and raise they rent of the places that they move to will benefit the neighborhood. They feel as if the people that live in the buildings are living in junk. The people that are living there shouldn’t have to live in those types conditions. When they fix it, It then becomes a problem because of the rent. The raise the rent because the conditions of the apartments have gotten better. Some people don’t mind living in bad conditions if it brings there rent down. The “white people” don’t understand that. That is where crime plays a role in the neighborhood because people make changes without noticing the cons of doing it. Then the crime levels rise do to the fact that people lack money and they cant pay for it. It becomes a major change for them.
After people leave there neighborhoods and they come back to visit once in a while notice the changes that happen after they left. They realize what is done was done for the better of the people. They remember how hard it was back then and how often they would feel sick due to the conditions but they only realize after they left and not during the time they lived there. Sometimes changes in a neighborhood might not be that bad but make the changes with out consulting with the people that live around you might not be the best decision you make.
