Clips of the Week

Looks like everybody has really earned the Spring Break respite. Here are the latest fruits of your labors:

• Linnea Covington wrote a very timely story about Passover cooking for The Brooklyn Paper.
• Cristina Alesci wrote a piece for the Daily News about a program that helps train high school students for the business world.
• Claudia Cruz reported on efforts to break gridlock on 181st St. for the Manhattan Times Meeting Tackles 181st St. Gridlock(PDF).
• Joe Filippazzo’s piece about the effects of record high oil prices on fishing in Sheepshead Bay made the Bay News.
• Coney Island is filled with characters and Henry Stewart found one of them: a guy who wants to bring trolley service to the area. His story made Bay Currents (PDF).
• So, what does Eliot Spitzer do next? Carl Winfield takes a shot at that question in the latest issue of The Capitol (I have a copy in my office for anyone who wants to read the article).

Meanwhile, I just posted a slew of new TV pieces to the news service site, including stories by:

• Abimbola Ishola (About a proposed solution to traffic problems in East New York)
• Emily Mayer (On challenges faced by women boxers)
• Megan McGibney (On the Staten Island sushi boom)
• Tyler Mitter (On the increase in organic food sales)
• Adeola Oladele (On how the weakened dollar is hurting folks abroad who rely on money sent from the U.S.)
• Steve Pacer (On a new bar that’s trying to buck the economic odds)
• Djenny Passe-Rodriguez (On efforts to landmark a Chelsea building that may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad)
• Jennifer Saavedra (About confusion encountered by seniors trying to navigate the Medicare Part D prescription plan)
• Anna Limontas-Salisbury (On a Brownsville businesswoman who specializes in personalized party favors)
• Vinita Singla (On the downtown in business faced by Spa owners in Brooklyn)

Check out their great work!

Speaking of video… Be sure to watch alum Chika Osaka’s very lively piece for Reuters (I’m sorry, that’s Thomson Reuters, now) on Tokyo’s cross-dressing maid cafe.

While others are filing tax returns, the Class of ‘08 is filing stories. Here are some of the latest:

• Rebecca Harshbarger’s story about how the weak dollar is hurting local immigrants who send much-needed money to their loved ones back home made City Limits.
• Francesca Levy’s piece about a unique anti-domestic violence program was featured in Women’s eNews.
• “Busy” Barry Paddock’s learned that sometimes the picture is as important – if not more important – than the words. He not only scored some strong interviews for a story about a teen stabbed in school, he was the only reporter to come away with the all-important photo of the victim. Check out his work in the Daily News.
• Erin O’Neill’s story about a bitter nursing home strike in the Bronx, where strikers created a “wanted poster” of pictures they snapped of replacement workers, was published in The Riverdale Press.
• Matt Townsend’s article about a controversial rezoning plan that could bring big buildings to Chinatown found a home in The Villager.
• Well, the Mets aren’t exactly smokin’ these days – and neither are their fans. Matt and Damian Ghigliotty teamed on a piece about how some tobacco-happy Mets fans are fuming over the enforcement of the smoking ban at Shea Stadium. You’ll find their story in the New York Observer.
• In our alumni corner, Kate Pastor’s been busy for City Limits, writing a piece on how a rezoning plan could change 125th St. and a story about man who was evicted from his Harlem home – and caught in a legal morass.

I got word yesterday that we’ve received a Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award in the Best All-Around Independent Online Student Publication category for Region 1, which covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Central/ Eastern Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Long story short, we have a shot at the SPJ’s national award in this category come September.

The well-deserved recognition is a tribute to all your hard work and dedication, which also can be seen in this latest batch of clips:

• Rebecca Harshbarger reported on the controversy over redeveloping the Bowery for The Villager.
• Joe Filippazzo’s piece about a split in a Manhattan Beach civic group made the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
• Dan Macht noted the 20th anniversary of the Campaign Finance Board for City Hall News.
• Linnea Covington’s profile of musician Shara Worden found a home in the Brooklyn Paper.
• Mathew Warren contributed to this New York Times congestion pricing story.
• Kate Lurie’s story about seemingly recession-proof pet pampering made Chelsea Now. Kate also notched a Daily News clip with her story about a program that aims to keep troubled teens out of juvenile lockups.
• AnnMarie Costella also made The News with her story about Brooklyn librarians and parents banding to fight RIF program cutbacks.
• Annie Shreffler’s been working on a cool poetry project for WNYC.
• In our alumni corner, Heather Appel’s slice-of-life feature about a Passaic store graced the front page the Herald News.

• Reporters are always on duty. Matt Townsend got an unsolicited phone call at home – and turned it into a strong political story for the New York Observer.
• Mathew Warren “bagged” this environmental piece for the Daily News.
• “Busy” Barry Paddock worked on a handful of stories for the News this week – including this sidebar to the wood.
• In our alumni corner, Nadia Zonis turned an off-shoot from her capstone into a clip.

• It’s still too damn cold out, but a couple of our colleagues are helping the Sun shine (sorry, I can’t help the puns).
  Check out Fritzie Andrade’s story in the New York Sun about a chef with an unusual hamantaschen recipe and her piece about upcoming foodie events, including the always fun Ninth Avenue International Food Festival.
• Fritzie and Jessica Firger combined on a comprehensive guide to springtime family activities in the city.
• Joshua Cinelli wrote about a medical van that’s supposed to help Bronx veterans – but is stuck in a parking lot 361 days a year. Check out his story in the Norwood News.
• Eliot Caroom chronicled a raucous community board meeting for the Greenpoint Star. Eliot’s story about the fight to preserve school funding made the News Service.
• Lakshmi Gandhi covered filmmaker Mira Nair’s keynote address at the South Asian Women’s Leadership Forum for SAJA Forum.
• Cristina Alesci reported on a new gold rush for the Daily News.
• In our alumni corner, Carolyn Nardiello told New York Times readers about a deer tick extermination plan set for Shelter Island and Fire Island.

• Claudia Cruz was busy in two states, heading to her old stomping grounds of Ohio and filing three pre-primary story packages for Off The Bus. Check out her work, here, here and here. She also found time to file an article – in English and Spanish – for the Manhattan Times about a first-of-its-kind study of spending habits of Dominicans in the U.S.
• “Busy” Barry Paddock also was hard at work. He contributed to several Daily News stories, including covering a murder at his local supermarket ! He also scored his first Daily News solo byline with this light, bright and tight Page 2 story about a Fay Wray scream-a-like contest at the Film Forum. An expanded version of Barry’s live-in piece about an author who turned his job at Chelsea specialty foods store in a book was picked up by Chelsea Now.
• AnnMarie Costella’s story about a new controversy surrounding Harry Houdini’s death made the Daily News.
• Maureen Ker took a run of the mill wire piece about a medical study on acupuncture and fertility, and gave it a local angle – and a (very cute) human face. Her story – complete with a picture of a happy mom and her newborn daughter – was published in am New York.
• Jessica Firger’s story about a bunch of clowns with a serious message made Beyond Race magazine’s website, along with one of her pictures.
• Exhibiting some good street reporting and teamwork, Roisin O’Connor-McGinn, Rosaleen Ortiz, Annie Shreffler and Mathew Warren hit Chinatown the day after a much-ballyhooed raid on peddlers of counterfeit designer good. They found some hawkers who were still doing business. The team’s multi-media package can be found on the News Service.
• Clark Merrefield’s story about the battle to unionize part-time workers at the Lower East Side Tenement museum also can be found on the News Service.

Speaking of the News Service… check out our new News Map. Special thanks to Drew Geraets, Joe Filippazzo and Dana Oliver for making it happen.

• In our alumni corner, Tanzina Vega’s feature about Colombian party buses in NYC not only made the New York Times’ Sunday paper, it also was the day’s most emailed Metro section story.

• Matt Townsend placed stories about Orchard Street’s struggles – and Hillary Clinton’s struggles – on the New York Observer’s website.
• Loren Bonner followed up on the Victory Memorial Hospital closure saga for the Brooklyn Paper.
• Linnea Covington also made the Brooklyn Paper with her profile of a local karaoke king.
• Henry Stewart and Joe Filippazzo shared the front page of the Feb. 25 Brooklyn Daily Eagle with stories about Coney Island and Gerritsen Beach, respectively.
• Stephen Bronner did a quick turnaround for amNY, covering a City Council hearing on a new wireless information system for cops and firefighters.
• Cristina Alesci’s story about picking insurance policies made the Daily News’ Your Money section.
• Barry Paddock also was busy for the Daily News, earning three contributor tags in one day, and sharing a byline on this murder story where he trounced the competition.
• Two multimedia packages from Sandeep’s class, featuring some impressive teamwork, made the news service site: Lakshmi Gandhi, Christiana Oliveira and Dana Oliver combined to tell how 1,000 more fruit and vegetable carts are coming to city streets.
• Linnea Covington, Dan Macht and Mellissa Seecharan teamed to cover a protest of a company that runs senior citizen housing in New York and around the nation.

Our alumni were hard at work, too:

• Sebastian Bednarski produced a video on some young chefs for NYpost.com.
• Angela Hill reported this very timely story about racial identity and political power for WNYC.

• Check out Dana Oliver’s story about Chinese New Year’s celebrations in Sunset Park. (PDF)
• Daniel Macht and Rosaleen Ortiz put together a multi-media piece for Off The Bus on what some voters of the future (already gearing up for the 2020 election) are thinking about during the current campaign.
• Joe Filippazzo’s neighborhood profile of St. Albans made amNY.
• Lakshmi Gandhi’s guide to a podcast interview with author Manil Suri appeared on SAJA’s website.
• Mathew Warren was part of the team that produced the New York Times’ front-page story on the arrest of a suspect in the slaying of an Upper East Side therapist.
• Eliot Caroom’s story about a controversy over a composting toilet found a home in the Daily News.
• Stephen Bronner joined Eliot in the News’ Bronx section with his story about a Valentine’s Day push to teach teens how to avoid abusive relationships.
• Cristina Alesci pointed out how credit card companies aren’t following the fed’s led in cutting interest rates in this Daily News business section piece.

Our alumni also are going strong:

• Sweet Georgia Brown! Sebastian Bednarski produced a video about Harlem Globetrotters legend Curly Neal for NY Post.com. He also put together a story on the man behind the White Flag clothing line.
• Heather Appel had the honor of writing the obituary of an extraordinary colleague at the Herald News.

• AnnMarie Costella’s story about a Brooklyn do-gooder has a great lede. Check it out in the Bay News.
• AnnMarie and Melissa Seecharan combined efforts on a companion video, which I’ve posted on the News Service site.
• Stephen Bronner’s Jersey City profile made amNY.
• Mathew Warren shared a byline on this Times pre-primary piece.
• Barry Paddock contributed to the Daily News’ Giants victory hoopla.
• Cristina Alesci scored a Daily News clip with this piece about a survey that sheds doubts on whether the Washington tax rebate plan will boost the economy.
• Joining Cristina in Monday’s Daily News business section was alum Emily Stewart, whose piece on mutual funds with low investment minimums originated in Prof. Saunder’s class.
• Sebastian Bednarski worked Fashion Week for the NY Post, producing this video.
• Dmitry Kiper wrote about GodTube.com, a fast-growing video-sharing and social-networking site with Christian content for the Christian Science Monitor.

• Claudia Cruz’ walkup to the Florida primary – focusing on Miami’s Hispanic community – made The Huffington Post.
• Linnea Covington’s article about an entrepreneur bringing a taste of Trinidad to Wall Street found a home in Downtown Express.
• Barry Paddock is on a hot streak at the Daily News. He scored his second front page story.
• Our alumni are having a big impact as well. Check out Heather Appel’s multi-media package for her new gig at the Herald Examiner — it’s the piece headlined, “Last to abolish, first to apologize”.
• Doaa Elkady scored a Crain’s New York Business clip with her story about Little India merchants being squeezed by rising rents.
• Danny Massey also made Crain’s with a story about how different businesses are using creative recruiting methods to attract talent.