awesome-everyday:

weroccupyunited:

1 in 7 American houses are empty. 1 in 402 Americans are Homeless = 24 Empty houses for each homeless person #ows #oo #99

This exact statistic came up yesterday during a conversation about foreclosures, and how the law bends directly towards the banks, rather than the home owner.

There are things being done in Louisville, and all over the country to fight back. Women In Transition and Occupy Louisville are actively working to educate home owners on how to battle the banks. There are even some more radical ideas in the works, in regards to foreclosed and abandoned homes.

My councilwoman, Attica Scott has made housing one of her top priorities. The number of foreclosed homes IN MY ZIP CODE is higher than it is anywhere else in this city. 

With so many vacant homes, it is absolutely insane to me that there are any homeless people in this city. 

I think that an initiative either by local economic/social justice groups or by the city MUST be enacted to help rebuild our communities, and put people in safe, warm housing. The houses are there, waiting to be loved. All we need to do is occupy ‘em.

Sounds of Classic New York Radio.  WKTU 92.3 FM.

As we look back on the life of Don today, I couldn’t help but think about how influential radio was on so many of our careers. And how far it’s come (or fallen,  depending on where you sit.)  For me, one major story is that of WKTU. The right station in the right market for the right time.

In 1975,  WKTU started playing an adult contemporary format. At that point, WKTU was positioned as a “soft rock” station and called “Mellow 92”. Ratings were relatively low. The station held on to the format in spite of low ratings until 1978. That June, when a station executive visited New York’s Studio 54 on half a dozen occasions, he was very impressed with the crowds there. He then got the idea that a disco music-based station was needed, as several FM-based Top 40 stations were leaning disco in other markets. As a result, the station management purchased 200 disco records and brought them into the station. Keeping the same airstaff, adding Paco from their Spanish-language AM station WHOM, and with no notice, the station abruptly flipped to a disco-based rhythmic top 40 format with the tagline “Disco 92” at 6 p.m. July 24, 1978. That fall, the station rose from “Worst to First”, unseating WABC in the 18-30 age demographic. Air personalities of this era included Kenn Hayes, Randy Place, Paul Robinson, Trip Reeb, Mary Thomas, Dave Mallow and Joe Guarisco. During the height of the disco craze, WKTU was the station to follow in New York.

At first, WKTU played mostly dance/disco and a few rhythm-friendly pop and rock songs (such as “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones), but by 1979, the station began to add more R&B music as well as rhythm friendly new wave rock. By then, WKTU was still regarded as a disco station, but could be more accurately described as rhythmic contemporary hit radio. Since that term was not yet used, the station had been classified as urban contemporary. During this period, disc jockeys such as Paco, Rosko, J.D. Holiday (Paul Zarcone), Dale Reeves, Bob Bottone, Jim Harlan Carlos DeJesus, Joe Causi, Guy Broady, Jay Thomas (yes, THAT Jay Thomas), Freddie Colon, Don Geronimo, Al Bandiero and Dianne Pryor graced the airwaves, as the station continued to be at or near the top into the 1980s.

This was a serious soundtrack for me as I explored parts of New York beyond Brooklyn.

On July 13, 1985 WKTU aired the historic Live Aid concert, and taht  night,  at  midnight, the station switched to an album-oriented rock format, adopted the nickname of “K-Rock”, and changed their call letters to WXRK.

Now, K-Rock was great  for what it was. It  was the FM Stereo home of Howard Stern, for example. It introduced some great  progressive mixshows. But there will  never be another 92 KTU.

(The WKTU call letters, by the way, later reappeared on New York City’s 103.5 FM with a dance pop format in 1996, which would later become HOT 103, and then — HOT 97).

I listened to a lot of radio growing up in New York. The ORIGINAL KTU will always hold a special place in my  heart.

jtotheizzoe:

You Go, Girl

Samantha Garvey, formerly homeless teen, science whiz, guest at the State of the Union, inspiration to us all.

(via NPR)

Yeah, so…there’s this. Hard to listen to people complain about nonsense when this is going on in the world.

bbook:

Although it’s quite literally on the other side of the world—from New York, anyway—the trip to South Africa may not be as daunting as it seems. Thanks to South African Airways, which now offers direct flights from Manhattan to Johannesburg. The 15-hour air-time is long enough for two three-course meals (glutton), bottomless South African wine (alcoholic), and unbeatable comfort (human). For those of us who can’t afford to spend a whole day recuperating post-flight, South African Airways is the your only way to go. And go is exactly what I did, hitting the road immediately after we touched down in Johannesburg.

Following the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the nation has elevated itself to an international destination. Still, while Johannesburg and Cape Town can rival most cities in amenities, veering off the beaten path is a must for any seasoned traveler. After 14 days spent immersing myself in the best that South Africa has to offer, I’ve returned with a curated list of five essential destinations that simply cannot be missed.

Where to Stay, What to Eat, and What to Do in South Africa

thedailyfeed:

The Long Island serial killer was discovered because of a hooker charging into a marsh with a head full of cocaine, The Daily exclusively learned.

Investigators believe the young sex worker had a drug-fueled, paranoid outburst while she was with a client last year, culminating in her drowning in a Long Island marsh, law enforcement sources told The Daily.

 The search for the still-missing Shannan Gilbert from a quiet beach community 19 months ago led police to the skeletons of four women. All of them, like Gilbert, were prostitutes. They had been strangled, wrapped in burlap and dumped in underbrush in Gilgo Beach, on Long Island’s south shore.

I wanna be a Law & Order writer. I could just surf blogs all day and get stories.

theweekmagazine:

“Too averse to risk
To chance the lottery, yet
Steps into traffic.”

“A sudden car door
Cyclist’s story rewritten
Fractured narrative.”

New York City is using poetry to urge motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to think about safety. City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled the new Curbside Haiku campaign this week, saying the city is “putting poetry into motion with public art to make New York City’s streets even safer.”

smarterplanet:

Graphene Foam Sensors Cheaply Detect Trace Particles in Air Ten Times Better Than Current Tech | Popular Science

Nanotechnology as a discipline is bleeding-edge cool, but so often we hear more about its amazing potential than its practical application. So it’s always refreshing to catch wind of a story like this: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York have developed and demonstrated a small, relatively inexpensive, and reusable sensor made of graphene foam that far outperforms commercial gas sensors on the market today and could lead to better explosives detectors and environmental sensors in the very near future.

The new sensor dispenses with a lot of the limitations that have been holding back sensors in this space. In the last several years, many strides have been made in the science of manipulating nanostructures to be excellent detectors of very fine trace elements of chemicals on the air. But these sensors, while great in theory, are impractical in actual service.

sunfoundation:

Occupywallstreet Twitter network mentions and reply edges highlighted with labels

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word occupywallstreet when queried on November 15, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another. Relies and mentions edges are highlighted in blue, follows connections are grey. The data set starts on 11/15/2011 23:08 and ends on 11/15/2011 23:34 UTC, a total of 26 minutes of traffic.

imwithkanye:

Jay-Z, rapper/Bey’s husband/millionaire friend of Warren Buffet/voice actor, is now teaching kids how to be more financially literate:

“As a team you can put your interest in business to good use,” a cartoon version of Jay-Z tells the kids from his New York office. “That’s what I’ve done, being a good business man has allowed me to help others.”

[Watch]

from the NY Daily News:

JEAN GRAE
Representing: Queens
For fans of: Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli
Who they are: Tsidi Ibrahim (stage name Jean Grae) was born in South Africa, but she’s a New Yorker through and through. She studied at the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and majored in music business at NYU, laying her foundation as a hip-hop writer and producer. She fi rst took the stage in the mid-’90s, joining rap group Natural Resource and producing singles under the name What? What? before taking on the Jean Grae moniker and releasing “Attack of the Attacking Things” in 2002 and the critically acclaimed “Jeanius” in 2008. She has fallen off the radar some since then, but is reemerging to promote her follow up LP, “Cake or Death,” which she’s working on now.
Catch her: Sat. at 9 p.m. , Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn, $25.

Recently I was at an “idea” meeting with the staff of a very large national radio show where I said “what about Jean Grae?” and it was really like I said “while all  standing in water…stick your finger in that outlet.” I informed everyone there that  Jean was an absolute star and that it would be wise to get down now and not look like a rider when the world wakes up from its sexism and realizes it can handle more than one female rapper at a time later. This was one of many things that I told this staff would happen that they ignored. Very nice to see that she’s being  recognized.

margolockhart:

I am so inspired to finally pick up a camera and start a hobby I’ve only flirted with. Bill Cunningham is such an inspiration to artist and the artist at heart everywhere in the world. 

“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.”

-Bill Cunningham

bettyfelon:

Apparently, this is a karaoke place.

[Flushing, NY]

peterwknox:

justjokes:

New York movie map

I love movies like I love this town.

This is wonderful.

the20newyork:

neighborhoodr-eastvillage:

getbackvassifer:

Broadway & 8th

Here’s an old Subway System Map from 1968 showing some of the double letter local lines.

And one from 1972.

More historical NYC Subway Maps here.

I love the double letter trains. And curious to know how/why certain trains seemed to switch routes. The 1972 map shows the 3/4 stopping at Brooklyn College; now it’s the 2/5. But in ‘72 the 2 went to New Lots Ave., which is now where the 3 goes. Confusion!

The #1 train is pretty much why and when the 2 and 3 changed routes. You’ll  notice that the 2 and 5 go one way and the 3 and 4 go another after the trains come above ground. 

I used to live where there was a GG train, which became the G. No change in route. I  also  seem to remember an AA train,  which – I think – became the C line. 

wnyc:

Run!!!!!! The Radiohead newspaper/album is being handed out at the corner of Prince and Broadway with a full police escort! Be ready to have your picture taken.

New York-based architecture firm Studio Lindfors imagined what would happen if New York and Tokyo were hit by catastrophic rises in sea-level in their new series titled ‘Aqualta’. The images depict everyday life in this unusual scenario in two of the world’s biggest seaside cities.

People navigate NYC in gondolas or fish from newly formed river banks in the heart of Tokyo. The series is an eye-opening speculation of what might happen if global warming predictions come true and sea-levels do rise in these compact metropolises. The images also allow us to see what the urban landscape will look like in this scenario and how the built environment may change.

(from designboom)