Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

His superhero name is Jimmy Justice, a citizen journalist who tapes and uploads videos of NY traffic agents said to be breaking the very same laws they enforce. 

He’s been on national television, such as on ABC’s “i-Caught,” MSNBC’s “Caught on Camera” and the “Star Jones” show.

“I’m an average working class guy with a passion for justice. What makes me different from others is that I am not afraid to walk up to a law enforcement officer and confront them,” he said.

Got that right. He isn’t intimidated by them, but he still rather hide his true identity and not his face, as shown in the following video clips. 

Though NYPD failed to provide a response to me, officials have spoken on television, obviously outraged and calling Justice’s actions harassment.  His response is, “I would not have the conscience to accuse someone of wrongdoing unless I was absolutely certain that according to the law they have done something wrong.”

Some find it refreshing that New York City’s “zero tolerance policy” carried out by cops is extended to include them as well.

Justice started video taping two years ago, when he found an officer parking his vehicle in front of a fire hydrant when it wasn’t an emergency, a move that would cost any other civilian $115.

“I could show the entire scene, and provide empirical proof, such as the officer leaving McDonalds holding a bag of food, and the officer would not have the opportunity to lie. “

Part of his confident stems from reading up on traffic law, along with privacy issues when filming in public.

So the government, specifically Internal Affairs Bureau, does reprimand their own, according to Justice.  The 311 procedure is shown below:

He has not yet been arrested or seriously injured for his “activism.”  However, he has been pushed around, punched, almost run over by a car, spit on, cursed at and had two cameras broken.

Oh, and has a day job, folks, this doesn’t exactly pay the bills.

“I always bring my camera with me to work in case I see something unfold that should be recorded. Manhattan is the busiest borough so therefore I get the most video there.”

Justice claims that he’s making a difference, seeing a reduction in the rate of recidivism in areas where he made a presence.  He even described a “success” story, after revealing the behavior of one highly ranked cop:

Justice receives about 200 emails per week, which range from fan mail, to death threats, to marriage proposals by German girls.  He won’t stop what he’s doing until he’s run out of material.

Last Monday marked the 28th anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic death. The beloved singer and ex-Beatle was shot and killed on December 8th, 1980, as he entered his New York City apartment building, the Dakota at 72nd Street and Central Park West.

Every year, people gather at Central Park’s Strawberry Fields to remember Lennon and his message of peace. Impromptu meetings take place where fans light candles, place flowers on the famous “imagine” mosaic, and sing his songs as a reminder of how much his music meant to so many. This year, New Arts NYC, a non-profit group of artists and volunteers, organized a tribute concert on Sunday, December 7th to add to the commemoration.

The concert, dubbed “For the Love of Lennon,” was held in the park’s Naumburg Bandshell. Professional musicians played Lennon’s songs onstage for fans to enjoy and sing along to.

Central Park was one of Lennon and wife Yoko Ono’s favorite spots in New York City. Before his death, Lennon would take walks with his family through the park, which was right across the street from their apartment.

In 1981, according the Central Park’s website, the New York City council proposed that this area be officially designated to Lennon’s memory. Yoko Ono donated $1 million to the Central Park Conservancy to help in re-landscaping the area. The result was Strawberry Fields, named after the well-known Beatles song “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 9th, 1985, what would have been Lennon’s 45th birthday. Comprising the West side of the park, from 71st to 74th street, the site is a landscaped garden centered around the “imagine” mosaic, which was donated to the park by the city of Naples, Italy.

Since its creation, Strawberry Fields has served as a sacred place for fans of Lennon who are inspired by the singer’s messages of love and peace. Year-round, people can be found around the mosaic, taking pictures or singing songs. Some are regulars—people who visit the area often and know each other well.

Harvey Newman runs a group on the website meetup.com called the Circle of Peace. The meetings take place every month at Strawberry Fields between members who are devoted to the idea of peace and non-violent resolution, which Newman feels is at the core of Lennon’s message and legacy.

It’s that time of year again, where Santa and his minions take over New York. Santa Con (short for convention) is an impromptu party where thousands of people come to spread holiday cheer, sing some carols, and have a few drinks (starting at 10 am and continuing throughout the day). The rules are simple: be kind, don’t get arrested, and above don’t make kids cry.

Attention Brooklyn hipsters: your next soiree could play host to an unlikely party guest. Page Six reports that 57-year-old actor/comedian Bill Murray has been crashing house parties and hitting up bars that generally cater to the 20-something set. In October, Murray strolled into a Halloween party at an East Williamsburg loft, to the shock and delight of party guests. Apparently he had been party-hopping with musical duo MGMT after one of their shows. 

This Bill sighting is just one of many unusual appearances the actor has made on the nightlife scene recently. According to the Post, Bill was spotted a few weeks before at a bar in West Chelsea, where he joined a table of 22-year-old girls and bought them rounds of champagne. Last year, Murray earned the title of most helpful party guest after showing up at a bash in St. Andrews, Scotland, and offering to do the dishes after hosts realized they were out of clean glasses. 

Oh, and then there was a small incident involving Swedish police, DUI and a golf cart. 

Many are saying Bill’s behavior is a sign of an obvious midlife crisis following the actor’s public and messy divorce last spring from Jennifer Butler Murray, his wife of 11 years.

“I suppose he was slightly flirtatious, but really, it was more like he obviously wanted a bit of a chat. He seemed a little lonely,” one of the party-goers said. 

Whatever the reason, the man can do no wrong in my eyes. I absolutely adore Bill. So if any of you happen to cross paths with Murray, or spot him at one of your parties, sulking in the corner with a can of PBR-please, please invite me!

More and more young families priced out of Manhattan have wrangled with older, long-time residents in Jackson Heights, Queens. In this neighborhood’s historic garden apartments these two generations have struggled over the use of private gardens. At some co-ops, the established residents have compromised. But at others they’ve held their ground, prohibiting this wave of new children from playing on their lawns.

Dudley Stewart and a group of his young neighbors took action. They organized and won enough seats on their co-op board to change the rules.

It was fall when Dudley and Laura Stewart moved to Jackson Heights. Spike, their three-year-old son, could bounce around the jungle gym at the local public park. They lived in one of these historic co-ops with a beautiful central garden. Rent was much less than what the young couple had paid in Manhattan. The Stewarts had found a great spot.

After winter rolled around the neighborhood kids emerged with the spring thaw. Travers Park became so crowded that Dudley couldn’t keep track of Spike. He figured out why his community ranks second to last (pdf) in New York City for the number of parks per resident. “It was almost to the point of danger,” Stewart said.

Danger at the public park and pressure to use the private gardens was not always a problem. When Edward MacDougall originally developed Jackson Heights, beginning in the early 1920s, there was plenty of open space. The ends of blocks were covered with grass. Fields and farmlands abounded.

“Then after World War II the original developer died and his children basically sold off the land,” said Daniel Karatzas, author of “Jackson Heights – A Garden in the City.” “By 1954 or thereabouts the whole neighborhood had been covered over with the exception of one block for Travers Park.”

Today, children play in the park as the private gardens sit serenely.

Some older residents fear that their tranquil gardens, which they have tended over many years, will be ruined. Many have lived in Jackson Heights since the 1960s, or even before. They watched the neighborhood decline in the 1970s and 1980s, when the cocaine trade flooded nearby Roosevelt Avenue. Their lawns leached into mud patches. Everything was in disrepair. Then, a few residents decided to clean up the gardens and formed committees. With their dedication and the assistance of professionals, they nursed their private parks back to life. Today, they see the results of their dedication threatened by little feet and plastic shovels.

I got up from my table at a Harlem lounge on Saturday night to thank an unknown guy who stepped out of the shadows to pay my tab. In return, he smacked the side of my right thigh and said, “No problem, sweetheart,” or some such. How did I react?

I didn’t say anything. I was too busy looking at the burn mark that landed an inch below my boyfriend zone. High school dances popped into my head, where the guy wants to cop a feel but doesn’t want trouble so he rests his hand just above your rump but below the small of your back. High thigh was this guy’s compromise.

“Oh, that don’t mean nothing,” Unknown Tab Payer said. I was still looking at my thigh as though it belonged to another chick–specifically, the pole-humping one in the music videos. Did this dude just smack me on my thigh? Really, really close to my a$$?

I mumbled something about him having overpaid (he put $40 on a $13 tab) and while he was telling me to get another drink, I walked back to my table with my head still in 40 seconds ago, replaying the smack. It was a rare moment where I was too shocked to catch an attitude. And, here’s the other unexpected part: I’m actually grateful.

Twenty years of riding New York City subways and stomping these concrete streets as a young, black female is enough to dry husk the Pollyanna out of any woman-child. It feels good to be surprised by boorish behavior. Like, maybe, even after all of this:

I was 12 when I started riding the train to school alone and when random men began to press against me on the overcrowded 6 train in the mornings. Strangers have shown me their free willy’s on subway platforms. Grown men have hissed at me while, as a young girl, I walked with my mother. One young man wished AIDS upon me after I rebuffed him for pulling at me. Others have cussed me out. “I hate black women!” a few have yelled. Cars have trailed me at a snail’s pace both in broad daylight and at night. And of course, there are the near misses and “what if” situations that I owe to luck and the guardian angels…

the city still can’t beat me down. So long as I can still be shocked–a sign that my standards are intact–I’m happy.

This post is more personal than any I’ve written in this space. Sexual harassment feels normal because it’s what I grew up around, but–and I have to remind myself of this–it isn’t. Speaking up counters the most dominant message that this city taught me about what it means to be a young, black girl/woman: “You are prey.”

I took a picture of this sign on the C train earlier in the semester. I’d planned to do a story but class deadlines took priority.

They didn’t have these signs when I was a kid. Got me wondering, What if the city undertook a massive (and clever) public service campaign to deter street harassment? What would be its impact on men and women in this city? What kind of conversation would such a campaign provoke?

Taken by Henry Cool Pics on Flickr

On Tuesday’s morning edition of “The Today Show”, host Matt Lauer interviewed former Victoria Secrets model and current TV show mogul,Tyra Banks on a survey her show conducted during this summer to over 10,000 teenage girls and young women.

“Tyra Banks good morning and Wow” were the first words Lauer said. “I’m a parent of three little kids and my jaw dropped….What surprised you the most?”

Tyra explained that finding out how honest the girls were in their answers because the survey was anonymous, surprised her the most.

The survey itself was composed of questions centering on “sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, as well as drinking, drugs and violence among females.” (excerpt taken from Today Show contributor Laura T. Coffey report on the story.)

Here are some of the statistics from the study:

• On average, girls are losing their virginity at 15 years of age.
• 14 percent of teens who are having sex say they’re doing it at school.
• 52 percent of survey respondents say they do not use protection when having sex.
• One in three says she fears having a sexually transmitted disease.

Just viewing some of the clips that was provided to Today’s viewers showed one 16-year-old girl wearing a green jacket who smirked when she told Tyra she had nine lovers since losing her virginity at age 13.

Click here to view the Today Show video in its entirety

In addition to the video, an article was accompanied to provide more description of the survey and statistics. (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27706917/?GT1=43001)

And an interactive map: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27285583/

NYC STATS

“About 1 in 3 youth are currently sexually active”

Last year in August, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued its sixth volume of “NYC Vital Signs”, focusing on”Teen Sexual Activity and Birth Control Use in New York City”.

Statistics was provided by the New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Knowledge of emergency contraception varies by gender and borough

*Youth in Manhattan (55%) and Staten Island

(54%) are more likely to report knowledge of

EC than youth in Queens (41%) and the Bronx (43%).

*Youth in East and Central Harlem more

commonly report having heard of EC than youth

in North and Central Brooklyn (59% vs. 37%).

The show will be airing this Friday…check for local listings.

Now that I’ve overcome the lack of timeliness with this post by luring you in with that dramatic title that will probably be used by Oliver Stone in his next installment of the presidential docudrama series, please play the following clip.

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That was the scene at Solomon’s Porch in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn when MSNBC pronounced Barack Obama the projected President-Elect of the United States on Election Day night.

To be in New York City that night was a blessing for me. Not because I’m some Obamaniac and I could carouse with my liberal brethren, but because I got to witness the spectacle that was New York City on the night of Nov. 4, 2008.

Well… Brooklyn actually. I didn’t get to Manhattan.

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Baba Baro celebrates Obama's win in his neighborhood of Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn on Election Day night.

I really only ran into Obama supporters, so I don’t know what McCain backers were doing that night. If I was a McCain supporter, instead of the totally non-partisan, non-biased, non-feeling pressbot that I am, I would at least come out to witness people going absolutely crazy in a totally non-violent way (with the possible exception of Williamsburg, but those kids don’t count). It was history in the making and we were all there, regardless of who we voted for. When reflecting on the events of November 9, 1989, even the highest ranking GDR official has to say to himself, “zat vas pretty cool.”

Not that I’m comparing McCain supporters to Stalinist fascists, but it’s a convenient analogy because, like then in Berlin, a barrier fell in America almost 19 years later.

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Manuel Williams of Canarsie, Brooklyn celebrates at Solomon's Porch in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn as President-elect Barack Obama takes the stage in Chicago for his victory speech on Tuesday night, Nov. 4, 2008.

With most significant historical events, I believe that it is the reaction to the event, rather than the event itself, that makes it significant. Obviously, we all knew that Obama is black throughout the election. However, he didn’t present himself as a black candidate any more than McCain presented himself as a white candidate. When race came up, Obama addressed it eloquently and dispassionately, and it was again put on the back burner. At the end, it was two intelligent, qualified candidates running for office and race became somewhat of a non-issue. That is, until Election Night.

I shouldn’t have been, but I was really surprised how much talk there was on the streets and in the media about the First Black President (or the second, if you agree with Toni Morrison, who has recently rescinded her 1998 opinion). It would be redundant to speak further on this when my classmate Sophie Cocke has already put it so well. Besides, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention John McCain on that night.

John McCain makes his concession speech in Arizona on Election night. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn)

I have the feeling that McCain had been working on his concession speech for quite a while because it was absolutely fantastic (even if his supporters in attendance weren’t as gracious). When I heard that speech, I remembered why I was happy to see McCain get the nod from the GOP, because either way there would be change in the White House. But it seems that nod had some preconditions and even the Maverick had to kowtow to the Republican base and its campaign methods. His stance on some key issues notwithstanding, I think McCain is an intelligent and earnest leader, and the character he displayed (and referenced ad nauseum) in Vietnam is as important a credential as his 30+ years in the Senate. It’s unfortunate for him and his supporters that his concession speech was the first glimpse we’ve seen of The Real McCain in a long time because if he’d run his entire campaign with the same grace, he might be President-Elect McCain now.

But, of course, the day was Obama’s.

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Obama greets his supporters in Grant Park in Chicago on Election Night. (VII photo by Ron Haviv)

***BLOGGER’S NOTE***

Love it or hate it, Iowa’s first-in-the-nation primary got things going for Obama. Here are a couple of pictures I took in my home town of Davenport for my former paper during the months he (basically) lived in Iowa.

“This is my first time voting as a United States citizen. I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” said Kevin Parker a Brit who recently gained his citizenship. Parker was part of the several thousand person party that took place in Times Square on November 4th 2008. Police were not expecting the amount of people that showed up for the impromptu event. As soon as Obama was announced the winner the NYPD came out with barricades to control the happy crowds. Chants of “Yes we did,” and “No more Bush” were heard throughout the evening and well into the early morning. The next morning supporters wanted to get a physical piece of the historic election. The New York Times sold out of papers at newsstands across the city. The Times ordered 50,000 extra copies. People waited up to an hour in line outside the building to get a copy of the paper. <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/54936308@N00/sets/72157608702463242/show/”><img src=”http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/katherinenocera/files/2008/11/dscf2165-300×225.jpg” alt=”" title=”Revelers in Times Square” width=”300″ height=”225″ class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-33″ /></a> Click on the photo for the slideshow.

My sister asked me to cat-sit for her this week while she goes on vacation with her boyfriend–and like the good sibling I am, I said yes.  The night before she was set to leave, she called to inform me that the hot water had gone off in her apartment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Apparently, this happens often, about once a month, sometimes more. It could last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. I asked her if she complained to the super, and she laughed, saying episodes like this are regarded as one of those things that come with the territory when you’re a New York City renter.

This incident—and the prospect of a weekend of cold showers—got me thinking. Sure, there are certain things that go hand-in-hand with urban dwelling, especially in New York. Tiny rooms are a given. Street noise is to be expected. Even bugs and rodents (ick) are usually met with a certain amount of reluctant acceptance. Most people are willing to deal with certain negative aspects of city life. But considering the cost of living and renting in New York, is a consistent supply of hot water too much to ask?

I checked out some websites on tenants’ rights and found on the New York City Department of Housing website that, “Building owners are required to provide hot water 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.” Were my sister a little less passive aggressive, she could file a complaint at 311, who would contact the buildings’ owner or send an inspector to the building if the hot water was not restored.

This article from the New York Times a few months back offered a look at another threat to renters—the foreclosure crisis. Many tenants, a group seemingly safe from the mortgage failures, have been forced out of their homes when their apartment buildings were foreclosed. Many buildings with no owners to repair and oversee them have fallen into dilapidated, nearly un-livable conditions for the tenants who have stayed behind.

In case you were wondering, the hot water came back on a few hours after my sister’s phone call. I’m curious to hear everyone’s landlord/rental horror stories (I know you all have them). Please share!