As warm weather returns and the summer approaches, we are reminded that the streets, sidewalks, parks, and plazas of New York City are our civic commons. New Yorkers should be able to dance in the streets, sidewalks, and curbs if they want to.
Bronx
Opinion: Cricket Stadium Proposal is Wrong Fit for Van Cortlandt Park
Gary Axelbank |
“This is not a story about cricket, its popularity, and whether New Yorkers would support the expansion of it. The issue here is the proper use of public parkland.”
Health and Environment
Beach Season is Here. How Clean is the Water in NYC?
Mariana Simões and Ryan Pullido |
Last season, the city’s 25 beaches saw a total of 244 closures, either because water quality exceeded the city’s safety standards—determined by testing for the bacteria found in fecal matter—or because of excessive rainfall, which increases the likelihood of pollution entering local waterways. That’s up from 94 such closures during the 2021 season.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: How Paris is Out-Swimming New York City
Kara Meyer |
“As yet another hot and humid summer approaches, exacerbated by the prospect of rising temperatures, we have fewer public pools per capita than any other major U.S. city and 520 miles of waterfront. As Paris reclaims its riverbanks for public recreation, here we sit in the Big Apple, surrounded by the Hudson, Harlem, and East Rivers, with zero access for swimming.”
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: It’s Time to Think Outside the Box to Solve the Shelter Crisis
Robert Mascali |
“It is time for the governor and the legislature to step up to the plate and start acting like a partner to Mayor Eric Adams instead of a spectator. In fact, in recent years the state has been reducing its support for the city’s shelter system by not keeping up with its financial obligation.”
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: Who Gets to Enjoy NYC’s Open Streets?
Jackson Chabot and Chelsea Dowell |
“This program was a lifeline for New York City during the pandemic, and now it needs more resources and structural support to reach its full potential.”
Community Benefits Agreements
Bronx Students Ask: What Kind of Neighbors Are The Yankees?
CUNY Lehman College Podcasting Team |
In 2009, the new Yankee Stadium opened, replacing what used to be a park. Since the Yankees were getting public land, the city said they needed to give back something. How did that go? Journalism students at CUNY Lehman college investigate.
Sports & Fitness
NYC’s 75-Year-Old Ukrainian Soccer Club Plays in Brooklyn, with Hearts in Kyiv
David Brand |
The Ukrainian Sports Club was founded in 1947 as tens of thousand of Ukrainian migrants settled in New York. Today, the team competes in the historic Cosmopolitan Soccer League and continues to serve a special function for generations of immigrants.
Una Ciudad sin Límites
Cientos de nuevos equipos deportivos llegan a las escuelas de Nueva York tras demanda por equidad racial
Jeanmarie Evelly |
El Departamento de Educación y el Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL por sus siglas en inglés) están llamados a crear 200 nuevos equipos en los próximos dos años, como parte de un acuerdo sobre el acceso desigual a los deportes para los estudiantes negros y latinos.
Education
Hundreds of New Sports Teams Coming to NYC Schools Following Racial Equity Lawsuit
Jeanmarie Evelly |
The DOE and the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) are required to launch 200 new teams in the next two years, part of a settlement over disparate access to sports for Black and Latino students. The change comes at time of increasing competition for sports fields and courts: The city turned down a quarter of the permit requests it received last year, up slightly from before the pandemic.
Bronx
From the Archives: The Happy Land Fire, Soccer and Grief, 1996
Jeanmarie Evelly |
Friday marks 32 years since the Happy Land Social Club fire in The Bronx killed 87 people. In the aftermath of the tragedy, a neighborhood soccer league became “a lifesaver for some men who did not know how to handle the flood of grief.”
