UNIT 2:

New York’s Oozing Problems and How We Can Solve It.

I have been living in Brooklyn all my life but sometimes I would go to the city with my parents. During the times I went to Manhattan when I was younger I would see the things around me. It was amazing. The scenery of gigantic skyscrapers, the streets were relatively clean, there were different people of all kinds and there weren’t that many homeless people. Compared to Brooklyn and specifically, the area where I live is pretty quiet, lacks crime, and is small. But as the year goes by to the new year New York has been degrading there seems to be more crime. There are more homeless people. Everything is pricey. There are garbage political leaders and they make horrible laws.  There is too much trash. There is so much tax that it is taking the majority of our money.  Rent is super high to the point where during the 2021 election there was a political party called “The Rent Is Too Damn High”. Even my own neighborhood has gotten worse with crimes. the only crimes that I saw before we car crashes and occasional robbings, but now it has turned into robberies every other week, and even hate crimes have been increasing lately. and lastly, just a few days ago someone was stabbed to death not even 4 blocks away from my home. What is going on!

New York is truly amazing but these problems are truly destroying New York to the point where people are leaving in masses. Over 300,000 people have left New York since the last census. We as New Yorkers and others must solve this problem so that we can make New York good again. If we do not try and keep letting it get worse then it will be worse for our future generation and they do the same thing that we did until New York turn into a dump.

The political leader in our state should always try their best to do everything for the people of New York and always be truthful. But what happens when they don’t. “the Cuomo administration had internal data showing that the deaths of 13,147 nursing home residents were reported as of Feb. 3, 2021. But it publicly reported that only 9,076 deaths were tied to nursing homes during that time period, failing to report 30 percent of the deaths”(Ferré-Sadurní). During the beginning of the pandemic, former governor Andrew Cuomo was praised for his control of the COVID-19 outbreak, meanwhile, he was hiding data from the public on how many people died. If Cuomo hid data for this then what other things did he hide from the public? A political leader that is corrupt is another reason why this state is becoming worse. They put bad policies and rules that either make the problem worse or don’t change. Why was Cuomo even governor? The answer is the people themselves. there are many problems that led to bad politicians being elected. A few examples are Not looking at their views but only voting for whatever side they were on, not being a voter,  the main culprit is not voting at all. Voter turnout is how many of the registered voters voted in that election. During the most recent election (2021 Election) The voter turnout was around 21% which is the lowest ever in history (Ngo). We need to actually do our research to find out which candidates we like and go vote.

New York’s problems have drastic effects on us, one of the most recent problems as of March of 2022 is shoplifting and stealing. Abdul Alhirsh is an owner of a smoothie store and was robbed at gunpoint and lost $500 after that he was shortly robbed again ” Earlier this month, he ran out of the store to stop someone who had stolen a bottle of coconut water. The person’s accomplice shoved him to the sidewalk…and no one was around to help. Mr. Alhirsh stood up in a daze, hands bleeding, and walked back into the store.”(Hong) Mr. Alhirsh got fed up and tired of people robbing him of his money so he took matters into his own hands but when the thieve’s friend attacks Alhirsh, only then did Alhirsh realized that he should not have to risk himself for his item. It is an unfortunate thing. The police can not do anything to stop this because they have to deal with other crime and usually see it as less prioritizing.  These people should not have to risk their lives for trying to get their own stuff back even though it is justifiable. Some of them are dangerous and could hurt you. Every month the NYPD reveals the citywide crime statistics for the month and for February 2022. “grand larceny increased by 79.2% (3,762 v. 2.099), and grand larceny auto increased by 104.7% (1,083 v. 529).”(NYPD) Grand larceny is robbery above $1000. If grand larceny has a 79% increase imagine pettier crimes like under $1000 thief. What’s the point in staying in New York if you keep getting robbed that leads to you making less money then after that having to pay the rent that is too high overall causing you to lose your profits. If I were them and I had the money I would relocate somewhere.

The new law is supposed to make things better but sometimes it does not. A man was arrested for robbing a bank in  December 2019. But for some reason, he was released with free bail, Which led to this person robbing more banks. only when the Fed had to join to arrest him because of the fact that he was robbing FDIC-insured banks only then was he actually held(Cohn). Why was this man releaded with free bail? The reason why he was released with free bail is because of the Bail Reform. The Bail Reform gives free bail to people that do certain crimes, for example, some crimes that are  2nd to 3rd-degree Robbery and Burglary as a hate crime, selling drugs to a child, 3rd-degree assault and also a hate crime, Aggravated assault on a child under 11 years old, 2nd-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular manslaughter, Grand Larceny, Public lewdness, Assisting in female genital mutilation, Possessing a sexual performance by a child, and another estimate of 130 crimes are made free with bail(CBS). Do these crimes seem like first-time offenders and sorry people would do? The crimes that I have listed are all horrible and whoever commits these heinous crimes should be in prison for a long time. I understand that the bail reform is for the poor that need can’t pay for bail but when there are people that are exploiting it there must be something done. One more example of a person who had exploited this bail reform is Tiffany Harris a woman who went around between December 2019 and January 2020 slapping and cursing 3 Jewish women. She was arrested but guess what happened. You guess right she was freed and two days later slapped another Jewish woman holding her child she was again also got free bail again. How is that fair for someone to assault another person and get no penalty at all? There should be restrictions on violent crime in this bill. This case resonated with me because my family and I are Jews ourselves and when this happen there was a mass amount of hate crimes towards Jews in December 2019 one of the notable ones being the Monsey Hanukkah stabbing where 5 Jews were stabbed and one of them died. I was extremely upset at New York and the NY Government when Tiffany Harris was able to walk out free. It felt like they betrayed me and the Jewish people. Jews are the main target for hate crimes in New York but as of recently both Jews and Asians have been the main targets for hate crimes. If we truly want the Bail Reform to work we must need solutions for it. Some solutions could be making sure that first to second-time offenders are the ones that are able to be eligible for bail reform, taking violent crimes out of eligible crimes, and people that get rearrested can not get be eligible for the bail reform.

I want to live in a New York where people are not in fear of something happening to them. You see some of the problems that affect us every day. We must find a way to fix these problems. Some solution to these problems is voting and researching the candidates and voting for the one you agree with. Try to make others vote by helping them learn how to vote. Pick up trash or bring others to help clean the streets. We should fix the bail reform bill and try to make sure that the good people that make mistakes for low-level crimes do get some Justice meanwhile those that keep on doing the crime should not be able to get free bail and should have a tighter sentence. Fix the rent price to more affordable prices. Lower our taxes, and help fix the homelessness problem by giving them shelter and protecting them so they don’t get robbed or attacked in those shelters. There are so much more solutions to fix New York but we have to think of them altogether. So let’s fix New York NOW!

Unit 1

There are many different community’s that many individuals come from. In fact, being part of a community can honestly help you learn and grow as an individual.  For example, in my community I was able to adapt to the words that we seem to play with. In other words, what I mean by playing with the words is that we seem to have different terms for the words we use. For example, “aguas” is a word that is expressed in different ways.  In reality aguas is a word in Spanish that actually means water. Yes, when many hear that word, they think water but, in this case in my community, they seem to be using it as “watch out”. But don’t get me wrong we would also refer it as water as well. You would often hear the word be used by your grandparents, cousins, uncles, siblings and even people who aren’t your relatives but that are around you. Furthermore, it is used in different scenarios such as your household, family gathering, or even if you’re having a conversation with an induvial.

ONE Saturday morning, I woke up around nine something, both of my siblings already awake one watching tv and the other on their phone watching YouTube. I briefly ask both of them “did you guys just wake up as well” they both replied, “yeah not that long ago”. So, then I decide to ask them if they knew where our parents were at. One reply’s “not sure” and the other reply’s “honestly not sure there probably outside” So I quick look at the weather on my phone because I remember the day before the news mentioned how good it was going to be outside, as I checked my phone it shows me that it’s about 80 degrees outside. I then decide to call my parents and ask them where they were. My mom then replies, “we’re outside your father is looking for parking, we just came to buy Mexican bread”. So, then me and my siblings decide to contribute and help set things up beforehand. One of my siblings started to make hot chocolate while the other decided to start setting up the table and I decide when the hot chocolate was ready, I would serve.  My parents got home just in time that the hot chocolate was made, and I said, “you guy can sit down ill serve”.  So, as I began to walk to the kitchen, my sibling said, “oh watch out its hot”. But as I walk further in the kitchen, all I heard was one of my parents shout out Aguas esta caliente.

Since it wasn’t my first time hearing those words, I was able to acknowledge what they meant. But if you ever wonder someone who isn’t very familiar with the certain words that are being used with different meanings they would just totally get confused or even just make them wonder why they are shouting water. On top of that, it is literally spelled the same way nothing seems to change but the way it is being expressing. Plus, it’s understandable because who would think that aguas could also possible mean “watch out”.

I don’t remember the first time I ever heard the word being used in the sense of not referring to water. However, what I can say is that I would use it couple of times. The way I would use the word would be whether I have a conversation with someone, or if someone is asking me a question. For example, if I come home from outside knowing that it’s raining and one of my family members or anyone in genral is planning to go out but doesn’t know it’s raining, I would instantly say to them “aguas esta lloviendo”. what I mean by that is watch out its raining outside.

As you can see the way that the word is being expressed in my community many people would refer to it as a slang word. As a reader you may be thinking to yourself where this word come from or how did this word come to existence. After hunting for answers, you may correct me if I’m wrong but it’s a word that Mexicans would use back in the days when they would conduct a modern sewage treatment. So, they would basically collect the dirty water from their homes and toss it into the streets. But before tossing the water they would shout aguas to prevent any induvial to get hit with the water.

Aguas, is honestly a faster way to break down what you’re trying to say. Also, it’s one of many word that I will always remember and carry with me because it’s part of my culture. Besides, not only that it’s something that has been said within my surrounding and I seemed to adapt with. It’s like another new word that has been in adapted to my vocabulary.

Unit 2 

What would you do if you were put in a position where you are knowing that the opposite gender is having preference despite on your accomplishments? Not to mention, the U.S women soccer team has faced a problem similar to it where’s they weren’t rewarded equal as the males who are in the U.S soccer team.

With that being said Soccer is more than a sport. In fact, it’s a job where people have to depend on to be able to provide for their family. Even though many may not see what’s going outside the pitch they should be able to get knowledge on what’s really happening. What I mean by this is that people aren’t being treated equally. Many may complain that males seem to pull more streams which should led them to get more money but in reality, the sport of soccer males and females both have the same objective.

In the U.S people seem have a dispute on the United States nation soccer team based on curtain circumstances of the wages that are given to the males compared to the wages that are given to the females. For example, in February 22,2022 Andrew Das writes a statement from the Goalkeeper of the female nation team. “The numbers speak for themselves,” Solo said, though U.S. Soccer immediately disputed them. Men’s players, Solo said, “get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships.” In other words, Andre Das is getting to hear out people point of view based on the debate. While many people have different point of view, what Solo means by “the number speak for themselves” is that it makes one wonder is it really fair that the females can accomplishes more tittles than the males but yet still get paid less than the males.

The U.S women National soccer team have won about 16 titles in total. They have won in numerous competitions for instance in Olympic, Concacaf, and even the World Cup. Out of those 16 titles 4 of them are wins from the World cup, where 32 nations around the world face one another to see who lifts the title. Where is for the males, they have only had 7 titles in total and all those tittles have only been won in one tournament.  So, there honestly shouldn’t a preference for neither because both seem to bring eyes that just lead to help build up their team. On the contrary, the women deserve a raise where it’s to match the males’ wages because they have accomplished many things.

Its stunning just to know the difference between the way a male and female would earn averagely in soccer. Many female players from the U.S nation team have decided to speak out in an interview where they talk about the wage caps. In the interview with NBC its states that “28 members of the U.S women national team alleging they were paid less than 1/3 of the men’s team bonuses.”

According to The New York Times Magazine Lizzy Goodman published an article about the right of equal pay for U.S Women soccer team. For example, Goodman talks about the huge wage gaps between a male and female. In Goodman article it states that “If a male and a female national team player each played 20 exhibition games in a year, members of the men’s squad would have earned an average of $263,320, while members of the women’s squad would have earned a maximum of $99,000.” Basically, in the industry of soccer a male and female can both do the same thing, but males are the ones to seem to be the favorite. Apart from that, the sport soccer is meant to bring people together not to leave people out. People shouldn’t have to feel that there less worthy based off their gender. Now it’s just worth questioning how would you feel if you were in their shoes?

Overall, it’s always great to speak up because it helps encourage others. For instance, take this for example this isn’t just a matter of women who love to play the sport but it’s for everyone all around the world. It is showcasing that you shouldn’t feel trapped and left out. But you should speak up and fight for what you think it’s right.

Reflection

I just wanted to start off by saying that writing isn’t really my thing but after looking at my previous work I could honestly say that there has been improvement and growth throughout this semester. Overall looking back at all the assignment, I would have to say unit one Portrait of a word was my favorite because I was able to talk about something that is relatable to me. Not only that but it felt very pleasing to being able to share things that I know, and the way things are seen from my perspective. I would have to say that I didn’t really have a least favorite assignment but if I had to choose from all three, I would have to go with unit two Feature story. The reason why I would have to go with unit two is because it was the one where I felt like it was the most challenging. What I mean by this is when creating the structure of the essay for example adding resources to help clarify my sentences. Therefore, when writing these essays, it helped change my writing and the way I looked at it as I was writing for example, I had to put myself in the reader shoes and question myself as I was writing.

For all three unit I didn’t really have a trouble finding a topic or coming up with ideas but what I did find very challenging was trying to get my ideas across and being able to explain it. But when creating the drafts, the professor and my classmates would comment under my posts, I found it very helpful because they help me look at my writing in a different way. ln which I felt like it helped me expand my writing and get my point across. When comparing my previous finals for unit one and two before and after revision I was able to see that there is also room for improvement. The reason I’m saying this is because I learned that after you complete your final you should go back and revise it again because you would find some sort of piece where there needs revision.