Good intentions, but no safety net

East New York, at the end of the 3 train in Brooklyn, is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Over half the population lives under the poverty line, and infant mortality is way above the city average.

This week's financial crisis has created a near-panic for many people this community - no, not the employees of city agencies, not the residents themselves, but people who work at nonprofits. As Lehman Brothers and other firms have folded, it suddenly seems like most of the major sources of charitable funding have dried up overnight.

Some of the nonprofits in East New York are the best in the city, programs that have won praise and major grants in the past. Over the years they've gained a larger and larger role in people's lives. Many of them provide the most basic services: shelter, childcare, furniture, legal help. There are also dozens of churches that provide food, many reporting a drop in their tithing income.

New Yorkers have yet to see what will happen to these organizations and to the people who rely on them.

In a short walk through the neighborhood, you'd come across a huge number of charitable programs, sometimes a few to a block. Here's a cross-section of what's available in East New York and the kinds of things they do:


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Graffiti cleanup

In New York City, graffiti have been a problem for a long time. In 1995, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York set up the Anti-Graffiti Task Force, a multi-agency initiative to combat the perceived problem of graffiti vandals in New York City.

The City currently offers free graffiti removal services to communities across the five boroughs. Property owners or authorized representatives may submit a waiver to the City to allow authorized personnel to clean graffiti.

The question, however, remains how fast does the cleanup happen? We looked at this question by examining Chinatown, a neighborhood in Manhattan with a relatively high number of graffiti cleanup requests.


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Graffiti in Morningside Park

One of New York's most famous forms of urban blight, or, if you prefer, street art, has all but disappeared from Morningside Park. A stroll through the park turned up very few examples of graffiti, and park-goers and employees are quite pleased about it.

The roughly 30 acre park has playgrounds, baseball fields, a swampy pond, and only eight instances of graffiti. The writing is small and relatively unassuming - nothing too large or colorful. 

One of the tags was poignant. Penned on the steps of the park's southwestern entrance were the words, "RIP Daddy." Some were simple exercises in self-promotion, featuring only a clearly written name. Others were nearly illegible.

Parents watching their children on the playground say they feel the park is safe and clean. Under a close watch from both the NYPD and the Parks Enforcement Patrol, the park is improving - and one of the most visible signs of that change is the lack of graffiti. 

"It used to be much more unsafe," says Parks Enforcement officer D. Louis. "Basically we try to patrol around the premises as much as possible." 

Park visitor Maria Lancaster is satisfied with their efforts.

"It's fine," she says. "It's clean enough. There's no graffiti or garbage on the ground."

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Mash-Up: Where Are We Peeing Illegally?

New Yorkers are famously competitive, and the battle between neighborhoods is no exception. Upper West Siders sneer at the old money across the park; Chelsea residents stay away from the tourist trap of Greenwich; and the Lower East Side is vastly superior to the East Village, thank you very much. Now, thanks to information from New York's 311 citizen information phone line, we can compare neighborhoods using an age-old standard of popularity: which gets pissed on the most?

In 2005, New York City Council passed Local Law 47, which requires the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) to release monthly reports of the calls made to New York's 311 number. Local Law 47 was intended to increase the transparency of the city government, by letting people know how long it took the city to respond to complaints. But the information it provides can also be used as a window onto the lives of New Yorkers: what they do, what they see, and what they complain about. And one of the things New Yorkers call to complain about is people relieving themselves in public.

The map below shows reports of urinating in public in Manhattan since the beginning of 2008. The reports are grouped by zip codes--the smallest geographical areas available in DoITT's monthly reports, and areas that largely (if imperfectly) coincide with neighborhoods. Each icon represents one complaint; zip codes that aren't included below have zero complaints this year.

Admittedly, information about where we pee illegally may be subject to reporting bias: residents of tony Gramercy, for instance, may be quicker to complain to 311 than those in the neighboring (and more transient) Lower East Side, which may explain some of the difference captured in the DoITT's reports. Indeed, neighborhoods that rank the highest in complaints may even try to claim superior citizenly virtue, for being so quick to notify the city of their misbehaving brethren. This isn't the last word in the Great Manhattan Inter-Neighborhood Piss-off. But until then, let's let the numbers tell their own story.


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MASH UP: This is how you'll enjoy a rainy fall

As the summer comes to an end and fall comes back to town, New Yorkers and tourists alike need to be prepared to entertain themselves during rainy Sunday afternoons. We have compiled a little list of extraordinary experiences in the West Village. All the places are within walking distance, so huddle under that umbrella and enjoy yourselves.


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1. Breakfast at Amy's Bread on 250 Bleecker Street: Enjoy some pastry before a long pampering-filled day.

2. Don't forget it's Sunday, so church goers can take a seat in the Neighborhood Church on 269 Bleecker Street.

3. Make a stop on the corner of W 11th Street and 7th Avenue South to pick up the perfect Halloween costume. There is something for everyone. (A personal favorite: gentlemen can dress up as Father Will U Tell)

4. On the same street, after purchasing the perfect Halloween outfit, wander into 182 7th Avenue South for a psychic reading. See what the stars have in store for you this fall.

5. Walk a little further, and step into the Pleasure Chest. The store is quiet until a flock of women from the Sex and the City bus tour walks in. Giddy and giggly, they look at all the different objects to enhance female pleasure.



6. Cross the street to have some lunch at Jekyll and Hyde on 91 7th Avenue South. According to the restaurant's Web site, "Jekyll and Hyde is a haunted restaurant and bar for eccentric explorers and mad scientists where guests can eat and drink among the unusual and the bizarre." If that does not grab your attention...!

7. After lunch, if the rain persists, it is time for some pampering. Get a manicure at 168 Bleecker Street at Model Nail. After that, keep on relaxing during a real Chinese back or a foot rub on 88 7th Avenue South. For the more adventurous

8. With all this leisurely behavior, it may be time to step into an ATM, but do not step into this one. Washington Mutual was the biggest American bank to go bankrupt. So better to step into another ATM.

9. If you are in the mood for an Asian dinner: stop by Chow Bar on 230 West 4th Street.

10. Have after dinner drinks at Wicked & Willy's, where the sign reads: "Time flies when you're having rum." With that motto in mind, the rest of the night will be a guaranteed success.

11. After dinner it's time to put on a stylish outfit, sip a manhattan (or another drink of your own choosing) in the stylish underground Madam X on 94 West Houston. The outside looks like an Amsterdam style red light district brothel, but the inside is a Zagat rated lounge.