Clips of the Week

Here are some great stories to enjoy over the holidays:

• Tim Persinko’s article about a rising Brooklyn boxer made the Canarsie Courier.
• Henry Stewart cites some Brooklyn history to bolster his opinion piece about plans to eliminate the B-37 bus. You’ll find all the reasons he’s against scrapping the line in the Brooklyn Eagle.
• Linnea Covington has the lowdown on New York’s best empanadas for Serious Eats.
• Maya Pope-Chappell made Essance – as an interview subject. She talks about how she won two tickets to the inauguration through Sen. Schumer’s lottery. Maya will be reporting from Washington – but she doesn’t reveal whom she’s taking.
• Damiano Beltrami’s audio slideshow about how Arthur Avenue’s merchants are weathering the economic crisis and other changes is featured on the homepage of i-Italy.org.
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote a piece about Councilmember-elect Liz Crowley’s transition effort for the Queens Tribune. (I have a copy in my office – come on by for a look.)
• Igor Kosov’s story and slideshow about half-completed ghost buildings in soon-to-be-rezoned Brighton Beach was featured in City Limits.
• Jessica Firger also made City Limits with her story about an ad campaign encouraging pit bull owners to have their pets spayed or neutered. Jessica’s companion piece and video – produced by Steve Pacer – can be found on the News Service.

Our News Service had another busy week:

• Valerie Lapinski shot a video piece about a group of bikers who made their annual holiday visit to a Brooklyn nursing home.
• Tracy Chimming’s video story features interviews with Union Square holiday market merchants who are singing the blues over slow business.
• Maya Pope-Chappell, keeping with her inauguration theme, put together a print-and-video package about a Brooklyn youth marching band whose members hope Barack Obama’s big day will be their next gig.
• Maureen Ker, Vinita Singla and Adeola Oladele combined on a print-and-video package about the push to get shoppers to use reusuable bags – and Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to hit plastic bag users with a six-cent surcharge.
• Cristiana Oliveira found a food pantry that offers the hungry more than food. Clients can get free haircuts – courtesy of volunteer pantry workers from Manitoba, Canada.

Congratulations once again to the Class of ‘08 – it was a pleasure attending that inspiring ceremony.

Have a great and safe holiday – and keep those stories coming.

I know better than to let my lede get bogged down with sentimental mush about graduation, so let’s get straight to business:

• Henry Stewart’s entertaining review of the not-so-entertaining (by his reckoning) revival of “All My Sons” was featured in The L Magazine.
• Linnea Covington offered a somewhat more positive review of the new Nolita bistro Lulu in her piece for New York Press.
• Jenni Avins profiled multi-talented artist Alex Kopps for Foam magazine.
• Nicole Turso’s profile of a real Queens character – a kiddie entertainer who calls him The Balloonatic – made the Queens Courier.
• Karina Ioffee also notched a byline in the Courier with her profile of a popular Jackson Heights sari tailor.
• Collin Orcutt and Michael Preston proved the value of follow up with this video piece about a high school hoops standout’s decision to attend Villanova. The video was featured on sports reporter Adam Zagoria’s blog — as was the duo’s earlier profile of the athlete.
• Ben Fractenberg’s opinion piece about the Internet, the Obama campaign and finding one’s self through a connection to others made The Huffington Post.

Our News Service was very busy this week:

• Nicholas Martinez and Brian Winkowski offered a video piece about the fight to save Admirals’ Row in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard.
• Nick Loomis and Jim Flood did a video on the revival of the growler – a vessel guaranteed to make for fresher and less expensive beer drinking.
• Geneva Sands-Sadowitz gets down to the nitty gritty of urban composting in this video story.
• Adeola Oladele’s latest video focuses on some immigrant grad students and what they want to see from the Obama Administration.
• Jessica Wakeman found a Harlem jazz club with hot music – and a great backstory — in this video piece.
• Joe Walker and Sophia Tewa profiled two young Brooklyn entrepreneurs who are recycling vinyl records into fashion accessories.
• Caitlin Drexler got the story behind Commerce Bank’s now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t transformation into TD.
• Stephen Bronner and Clark Merrefield obtained Margaret Truman’s FBI file for our latest I-Team special.
• Valerie Lapinski chronicled the latest clash between Central Park horse carriage operators and animal rights activists in this Sounslides presentation.
• In case you missed them, the final installments of this semester’s audio podcasts – Culture Shock, This Place Called Home and Health Pods — can be found here.

Okay, I promised not to lede with mawkish sentiment, but I didn’t say anything about ending with it.

I want to thank the member of the Class of ‘08 for their help in bringing the News Service to new heights, especially during this historic election year. Your energy, enthusiasm, dedication and hard work have been inspiring to me – and to the Class of ‘09, which is following your fine example.

Do not hesitate to call, email or visit any time I can be of help. If you want to drop by and just shoot the breeze, that’s fine, too – one of the great parts of working in a newsroom is when friends drop by.

So good luck and congrats to all – and keep those stories coming.

Hard to believe we’re entering the final month of the semester. Here are some of the latest results of our reporters’ continuing hard work:

• Joshua Cinelli wrote an article for City Hall about local efforts to boost the economy by luring more foreign investment.
• We all know quitting smoking saves lives and money – Francesca Levy offers a state-by-state look at the dollars kept by kicking the habit in this article-and-slideshow package for Forbes.
• Heather Chin reaped the benefits of hopping on a breaking story with her video piece about the New York Times hoax edition distributed last week. Her video accompanies an article put together in short order by the News Service class.
• Joe Filippazzo’s News Service story about Bobby Fischer’s FBI file was picked up by El Nuevo Herald, and got many blog links.
• Karina Ioffee profiled a popular sari tailor for the Queens Courier. (Note: as of this writing, the link seems to be broken. I’ll check into it.)
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote about incumbent Assemblymember Marge Markey’s reelection for the Queens Tribune (I have a copy in my office – feel free to come by for a look.)
• If you missed our latest podcasts during the week, check them out here: Health Pods, produced by Loren Bonner, Shuka Kalantari, and Djenny Passe-Rodriguez; and This Place Called Home, produced by Linnea Covington, Celina Fang, and Tyler Mitter.
• Collin (Hoops) Orcutt predicts great things for the Lakers in his latest Men’s Fitness blog post.
• Busy Barry Paddock shared a byline on this Daily News story about a drunk driving tragedy.

Even with the end of Daylight Savings Time, there still aren’t enough hours in the day for all the reporting our staff is somehow managing to do.

We added 14 election-related stories to the News Service this week – including pieces that were picked up by Off The Bus (via Lives in Focus), am New York and the Queens Courier.

I won’t list them all here, but you can check out our stories on our nearly ready-for-prime-time election site. The interactive map, featuring our massive audio vox pop spanning the city, is almost completed, thanks to the hard work of our first-semester reporters, Interactive I profs, Russell Chun and Drew Geraets.

The map hasn’t quite gone live yet, but due to a technical quirk, many of the individual posts are on the web – and the Village Voice has noticed. The Voice’s post on our project has been picked up by several local blogs.

Much more of our election coverage, of course, is yet to come.

Here are some of the non-election pieces our reporters somehow found the time to work on this week:

• Mathew Warren helped assemble this NYtimes.com video about an Iraq war veteran adjusting to his new life as a student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
• Dan Macht’s article about the thaw of the municipal bond market found a home in Crain’s New York Business.
• Barry Paddock contributed to this Daily News story about two brothers killed in a Brooklyn shootout with cops.
• AnnMarie Costella’s review of a provacative exhibit by the British artist Bansky made The Villager.
• Jessica Firger’s fun talker about how some pet shelters ban black cat adoptions around Halloween became a Page 3 story for am New York.
• Linnea Covington’s feature on the latest frozen yogurt boom (Pinkberry, anyone?) made New York Press.
• Last week, you read Collin Orcutt on the NFL. This week, he takes on the NBA for Men’s Fitness.
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote a couple of local profiles for the Queens Tribune. I have copies in my office – come on by for a look.
• In case you missed the live audio webcast of Culture Shock, produced by Abi Ishola, Erin O’Neill and Craig Thompson, you can check out the show here.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming.

Not surprisingly, there’s a strong election theme this week – a sign of much more to come. Here are some of our reporters’ latest pieces:

• Rima Abdelkader’s story about the challenge foreign-language journalists are having translating “maverick,” “Joe Sixpack,” and other colloquial campaign phrases made Off The Bus. The article became our latest election piece to get big pickup, and drove a large amount of traffic to our News Service.
• Maya J. Pope-Chappell wrote about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for the Amsterdam News. You’ll have to register to gain access to the site, but it’s well worth the effort.
• Adeola Oladele profiled a Kenyan woman who can’t vote in the U.S. election, but is trying to make an impact by joining a Harlem-based group that traveled to Pennsylvania to register voters. Adeola’s broadcast piece can be found on the News Service.
• Ria Julien and Sandra Roa exhibited great planning and timing with this News Service broadcast story in which they covered a swearing-in ceremony for naturalized U.S. citizens on Oct. 10 – just in time for the new Americans to make the New York voter registration deadline.
• If you missed the live This Place Called Home podcast, produced by Tyler Mitter, Linnea Covington, and Celina Fang, you’ll find it here.
• Just call Sergey Kadinsky Mr. Queens. He put a fun lede on this Queens Courier short about some teens’ sewer-diving misadventure. He wrote a piece for the Queens Tribune about a schoolyard reconstruction project – and he recently was profiled by the paper (by the Class of ‘07’s Joe Orovic). The Trib pieces aren’t on-line – I have copies in my office. Come on by for a look.
• Karina Ioffee’s powerful story about the parents of a murder victim who attended the killer’s sentencing was featured in the Queens Chronicle.
• Collin Orcutt played Friday afternoon quarterback, offering football predictions for the Men’s Fitness blog.
• Matt Townsend scored a solo byline in the Daily News with his article about the return of the Concorde – as a museum piece.
• Stephen Bronner contributed to a Daily News story about pedestrian fatalities in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
• Barry Paddock covered a fire that killed a great-grandmother for the News.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming.

Many of the internships are wrapping up, but the clips just keep coming. Here’s a sampling of the latest:

• I can guarantee that not one word of Henry Stewart’s review of “Henry Poole is Here” will be used as a blurb in any future advertisements. Check out his very entertaining piece in the L Magazine. He also said a lot in very few words in this blog item — sounds like a full-blown story waiting to happen.
• Linnea Covington, writing for New York Press, offers a short, but image- and information-packed review for the enticingly titled play, “Anaïs Nin Goes to Hell.”
  
• Jessica Firger found a hipster friendly doctor in Williamsburg who offers E-mail, video and IM consultations — but will occasionally make an old-fashioned house call. You’ll find her story in The Brooklyn Paper.
• Shuka Kalantari hosted the latest edition ofKPFA Radio’s “Voices of the Middle East and North Africa,” and contributed a segment about the late Palestinian poetMahmoud Darwish. She also started a companion blogf or the show.
• Dan Macht put together a piece about McCain’s and Obama’s reactions to the Russia-Georgia conflict for the Telegraph.co.uk
  
• Francesca Levy wrote about the world of for-profit universities owned by publicly held corporations for BusinessWeek. Check out her video interview with the new dean of the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland
• Barry Paddock contributed to today’s Daily News front page story about heroism amid tragedy in Queens.
• Damian Ghigliotty reports for Crain’s New York Business that unemployment in the city is down – even as unemployment claims are up.
• Meanwhile, in a glimmer of sunny economic news, the hotel business on Long Island is doing well, Danny Teigman found for Newsday.
• Mathew Warren contributed to this New York Times talker about MetroCard ethics (which may be an oxymoron these days.)

Congrats to all — and keep ‘em coming. (But make sure to enjoy what’s of summer, too).

Some more great news this week: The NYCity News Service took Best News Site honors at the first annual eduStyle Awards ceremony. The recognition is particularly gratifying because we didn’t enter this contest — they found us. We also beat out some quality competition: Virginia Tech and Boston University were the other finalists.

The award is another tribute to your fine work. Here are some of the latest examples:

• Claudia Cruz traveled to the Dominican town of Sánchez where she found that the government has yet to provide promised new housing for many folks who lost their homes to devastating landslides.

• Matt Townsend reports on a ban on voter registration drives at VA facilities for Pro Publica.

• WARNING: This video contains footage of people eating live octopus. If you’re brave enough, check out this unforgettable food piece Fritzie Andrade helped produce for nytimes.com.

• Allison Esposito has been working with young journalists from Children’s Press Line. She helped shape this story about a Little League for children with autism. The article made the Daily News.

• Some Queens homeowners may lose part of their backyards to a city-owned nature trail, Barry Paddock reports for the Daily News.

• Danny Teigman, reporting for Newsday, talked to Long Island golfers about Greg Norman’s flirtation with history.

• The Real World is coming to Red Hook, Jessica Firger reports for The Brooklyn Paper.

• Speaking of reality TV, Craig Thompson talked to some participants in the controversial new show The Baby Borrowers for this babble.com piece.

• Elephants let their feet do the talking, Shuka Kalantari reports for Quest, a mutli-media science site put together by Northern California Public TV and Radio station KQED. Shuka also has been working for KPFA radio. She did a segment for Voices of the Middle East and North African about a photo exhibit called, “Not Given: Talking of and Around Photographs of Arab Women.”

• Clark Merrefield reports on a deal to preserve a 582-acre ranch in this Point Reyes Light article.

• Think New York rents are bad? Check out Carl Winfield’s businessweek.com slide show about the world’s most expensive cities.

• Damian Ghigliotty shows the value of follow up in this Crain’s New York Business article about the debut of a new law requiring owners of large stores to provide a recycling bin for plastic bags.

• Linnea Covington wrote about a band that’s bringing the Balkans to Brooklyn. Check out her profile of Slavic Soul Party in New York Press.

• Dan Macht assembled a slide show for the telegraph.co.uk showing a recreation of the Battle of Waterloo. He also did some rewrite on a story about a battle of another sort: Madonna’s alleged marital woes.

• In our alumni corner, Sebastian Bednarski produce a video for the nypost.com about well-traveled soccer superstar David Beckham.

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.

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.

• 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.