A Summer’s Treat

the outside view of the brooklyn farmacy

Image by: Michelle

If anyone knows me then they will know how thoroughly obsessed I am over ice cream. I am the type of person that will eat ice cream all year round. Ice cream is my ultimate favorite dessert, I appreciate the variance that it can offer as well as the mouthfeel. It is an amazing creation that enables flavors to be so prevalent even in a frozen state. Ice cream reminds me of some of my best memories in life…it takes me back to fun memories in my childhood or great times spent with close friends. But as time evolves, ice cream trends are constantly changing from the simplicity that most of us are readily accustomed to. There is Thai rolled ice cream, liquid nitrogen ice cream, mochi ice cream, and gelato. Overall, the range and variation  in which ice cream is prepared has expanded. The debate about what constitutes as ice cream based on its percentage of fat has also broadened.

a maple flavored egg cream

Image by: Brianna Vasquez

The beautiful thing about New York is that it has so many amazing ice cream places integrated into it but unfortunately many are unknown to others. Personally, I prefer the sanctity of ice cream…the simplicity of traditional styled ice cream. Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain is located ideally close-by to the college which makes for a great and fun lunch spot. They offer many menu options from soups and sandwiches to egg creams and ice cream sundaes. They even seasonally offer student discounts on meals, desserts, and drinks as long as you have a valid student identification card.

an ice cream sundae

Image by: Brianna Vasquez

Over the summer, I had the greatest opportunity of visiting this awesome restaurant which is a short walk from the school. It looks quite small from the outside but it has a quaint amount of seating inside. The restaurant offers the option to either dine in or to take out…and I decided to dine in since I was strongly looking forward to laying my hands on one of their handcrafted sundaes as well as quenching my thirst with one of their house-made drinks. I had the maple egg cream which was robustly delicious as well as an almond joy styled sundae which was seasonally available when I visited the restaurant. The sundae was absolutely delicious and everything was made in house. The restaurant itself has an old school vibe which is interesting given the modern flavors of ice cream that is offered. I would recommend that everyone try this little ice cream shop that is neatly tucked into the heart of Brooklyn.

The New Museum

Hello CityTech, welcome back to campus! I hope everyone’s summer was as unforgettable as mine was.

Now I return to this semester of blogging with a revised initiative, which is not only tethered to historical forms of architecture within the five boroughs but has been broadened to include both contemporary forms of architecture and art.

Surprisingly, I will start off this semester with a museum that opened its doors to the public for the first time, on December 1, 2007; called The New Museum. The museum was started by woman by the name of Marcia Tucker on January 1, 1977, the small collection was held in The New School for Social Research and the exhibitions were housed there until 1997 when the museum moved to the Astor Building in SoHo (South of Houston). This new location had more space overall, giving the museum a chance to expand. After receiving funding, the New Museum for contemporary art made it’s latest move to its new location on Bowery, which is still in SoHo.

This new building was created by architects, Sanaa. The structure is eight stories high and consists of over fifty thousand square feet of usable space. The eighth floor is designated mechanical space and is not open to the public but the floor below it is the exact opposite. The seventh floor is also called “The Sky Box” since it is paneled with large viewing windows, which frames SoHo like a picturesque landscape. The room is also wrapped with an outside deck which gives the public a quiet urban oasis. From this deck it is easier to see the aluminum facade that webs and weaves around the entire museum making the staggered boxes more cohesive with each other. Further down the building are the exhibits, offices, cafe, and auditorium; each of these spaces occupy the boxes that can be seen from the exterior. The boxes all vary in size which makes each floor have a different ceiling height and method of maneuvering around the large room.

The New Museum only costs $12 for a student to buy a ticket and is well worth the visit. Art enthusiasts, architecture fiends, and those who enjoy a good view, would really enjoy this museum.

Plan your visit here.

Humans Of City Tech

“I’m 23 Years old, born and raised in Brooklyn NY. At age 7, I didn’t speak a word of English. In 1997, my parents decided to go back home (to Egypt) forever. I attended Pre-K and Kindergarten in Egypt. 3 years later, they changed their minds and we traveled back to the States. At age 8 I was in 2nd grade. At 13, I transferred Junior High School from public to private school (which was probably the worst investment my parents did). At 18 I graduated High School; I wasn’t popular but I received a Gold Medal in Digital Media and Technology. For the popular kids though, poking fun at a short fat hijabi really tickled their fancy. I’m still insecure, #thanksguys. In 2012 I majored in Graphic Design at City Tech. 2 years later I became a Peer Mentor for Freshmen students and an Executive member of Sigma Alpha Pi, NSLS Honors Students Organization. In 2015 I was Senator of Technology and Design of Student Government Association and a Design Intern at Faculty Commons. A year after I was promoted to be Social Director. I will be graduating with my Bachelors this Spring, 2017. You see, I climbed this latter, never alone though. Never think that you can do everything on your own. Be kind to one another, because Kindness always wins. And if you’re different, that’s good, because it’s better to be different.”

Loubna Aly

Photo credits: @rasheediscool

 

Humans Of City Tech

“The skills, gifts and potential of City Tech students is considerable. Finding, exploring and sharpening those abilities involves focused engagement and the active development of talent while in our First Year Program (FYP). I’m really fortunate to work with outstanding faculty, staff and students to help so many students.   I have a professional passion to help FYP students as they will become leaders in our community.  I’m also lucky to train and oversee so many amazing student peer mentors who assist in the growth and development of our programs that catapult careers and generate campus leaders.”

a smiling woman at a desk in a blue button-down shirtIlia Silva

Humans of City Tech

“My name is Elsabeth maximin I am a freelance makeup artist located in Brooklyn, NY. This all started from when I was in middle school and someone put eyeliner on me and I came home and my sister started yelling “mommy Elsa has on makeup” I thought I was going to be in big trouble but when my mom saw me and didn’t care I don’t think she realized the storm that was coming. So I started to use money that she gave me for makeup and that was a big mistake because of my carribbean background my mom didn’t play that. The money she gave me was for food and food only she told me “nah bodda waste my hard earned money on crap” so this taught me how to get my own so I used the little bit of makeup and practiced and practiced being self taught from YouTube and really little of makeup it was hard but I pushed myself and learned because I was always a creative person taking visual arts and photography in hs wearing my creations on my face was one thing I would love to do. Eventually I got to a point where people started asking me to do theirs and my first client was one of my close friends but it was a start of something much bigger I did her makeup for her sweet 16 and it started clientele for me I posted the picture of her makeup I did and other people wanted me to do theirs also. Over time I got a lot better and was doing people’s makeup and got jobs to feed my makeup addiction. Now I have a full collection in my vanity at home. So I didn’t want to stop at just doing people makeup because I felt I was a little limited when clients come in very few give you creative control depending on the event they have they they have a certain look they want to go for and I have always had dreams of starting a YouTube channel being taught from those videos so after years of saying “im Gonna do this” I finally invested in it I said if I’m going to do this I’m going to put my best work out there because this is a representation of me and I bought all the equipment and started on filming my graduation makeup it was a look I named Egyptian but crease which now has over 1,000 views on YouTube starting my YouTube channel has given me massive amounts of confidence and pushed me as a creator looks that I have done for YouTube I would have never tried on a daily basis I have looks of turning myself into a crazy cute clown with ripped cheeks yet she looks so innocent, I turned my brother into scar from lion king, I also do wearable looks so anyone from beginner to makeup junkie can enjoy my channel and I’m so glad that I have because it’s the thing that makes me the happiest in this world without makeup without my YouTube channel putting my content out into the world for anyone to see and not being scared of what anyone thinks seeing me with no makeup at the beginning to full face at the end and feeling beautiful with it without that’s the confidence I got from doing this and I don’t know where I would be without that.”

a young woman in a gray sweater, in front of colorful flagsElsabeth Maximin

Photo by: @rasheed

Humans Of City Tech

“Growing up I always wanted to be a Veterinarian. I have a huge love for animals and ever since I was little I always wanted to help them and learn more about them. When I first started college I majored in Veterinarian Technician. After going to school for a few semesters for that, I realized that I disliked it. I felt crushed, not knowing what to do (since that was my dream). So I ended up changing my major, again and again.  I finally went with Communication Design focusing on Graphic Design. I always liked design and art, so I said why not. Now, I love it! I enjoy designing so much and I am glad I chose this major. Even though I major in Graphic Design and will get my degree in this major, I still try to help animals as much as possible by volunteering at my local shelter. Moral of the story is, sometimes we think we know what we want to do, but life has a way of showing us the right path. You should never stop until you’re satisfied and of course, happy!”
a young woman with dark hair in a teal T-shirtMariaelena Pulgarin

Humans Of City Tech

“My story? Well where do I even begin?  I am a 19 year old girl who lives in Brooklyn New York. I was adopted at the age four and now I live with a family of 6 and  I couldn’t be more grateful to have them in my life. Everything I am and have is all because of them. They mean the world to me. Because of them I have opportunity to come to college and get my degree. As of small I have always been into singing. Whether it be just for fun or in a choir i would always find so much pleasure in it. As I  got older my love for music grew and it grew to a point where now i’m consumed by it all. I always have to be listening to music or just singing. I always have my headphones on me at all times because there is so much music out there in the world that deserves to be heard. I myself write my own songs. I loved writing a lot of poetry when I was smaller up until now and because of that it really helps me with my songwriting skills. I have performed many times throughout my life and every time I did it was so special and so amazing to be up there and I loved that feeling I get when I’m up there. I found that it helps me express myself and it helps me let people know that this is me and this is what i wanna do. I want to become a singer and hey… yeah…. it might sound silly or impossible but hey…. nothing is impossible if you are willing to go out and work hard for it. Never give up on a dream you have because you can do it. It may not come to you right away but I promise you that if you stay strong and you have some faith in yourself you better believe that your right in your hands waiting for you to let it out and be seen. As for my dream its a struggle at the moment because of my doubt in myself and some other things but…I’m not  going to quit because this is what I really want and nobody or anything is going to stop me.I will conquer the world to become who I know I can be step by step.”

a young woman in a beanie hat and pin-stripe pantsTonniqua Maldonado 

Humans Of City Tech

“You have to be strong to be a woman because being a woman comes with many challenges (periods, pregnancies, stereotypes) that require emotional, mental and physical strength to overcome. My favorite part of being a woman is defeating the stereotypes. I come from a hispanic family who has passed down and encouraged the stereotypes of our women throughout generations. ‘The woman has to serve the man’ my grandma would always say. However my dad always told me other wise. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do. I am only to do what I feel is right. I’ve always stuck with what my dad would tell me and here I am today, defeating those stereotypes. I do not cater to no man because I have to. I do because I want to. I do not wear earrings and bracelets everyday. I do not wear dresses and skirts. I am my own person and I act and dress the way I am comfortable, and City Tech is a place that encourages that comfort. Nothing makes me smile more than being able to relate to both genders when i speak to fellow students. I love to feel just like one of the guys. However I would not trade being a woman for the world. Being a woman has built my character. It’s cliché to say but we’re strong because we’re women, and we’re women because we’re strong.”

two young women back to back in jeans, in a hallwayCaitlyn Nunez 

 

Humans Of City Tech

“5 years from now I’ll be 26. I should be done with PA school by Gods grace. I should be engaged. thinking about getting married. And how far do I think I can get in life: Honestly I just want to get to the point where I’m comfortable with my life, doing what Love and hopefully After my PA I could continue and eventually get my MD.”
a young man sitting on stairs with fist in front of face
Kabir D Omolaja