August 23, 1989

August 23, 1989
Originally uploaded by Runs With Scissors.

A faded and peeling painted mural of Yusef Hawkins stands seemingly silent on a side street across from Bedford-Stuyvesant's Restoration Plaza. Seeing this deteriorating mural it's not difficult to imagine that it's possible that many people who walk by it don't know who Yusuef was.

After taking a few pictures of the mural I began thinking about what life was like in New York City in the 1980s. In particular the police killings Michael Stewart and Eleanor Bumpers as well as the white mob violence directed at blacks in Howard Beach and in Bensonhurst came to mind. As I walked down Fulton Street thinking of how when i went on dates with black women we would be refused service at restaurants and have to endure sly comments on the streets of Manhattan. Is it me or does it seem like these sorts of things just don't happen in the city anymore? Maybe this paled in comparison to what Rev. Al Sharpton and others who had watermelons thrown at them during their marches through Bensonhurst, or Micheal Griffin's unfortunate death.

I remember Mayor Ed Koch publicly asking for Sharpton not to march in Bensonhurst and the outrage that followed. Looking back it seems that these events may have been turning points for the city in how people relate to one another.

Could it be Sharpton is owed credit for changing New York City in a positive way?

Duh!

VANISHING CITY MIDDLE CLASSBy TOM TOPOUSISPrintEmailDigg ItStory BottomApril 3, 2007 -- The middle class is fast becoming an endangered species in New York City, where the costs of housing and health care have soared faster than salaries over the last decade, according to a survey of city leaders that was released yesterday.Almost all those polled - 92 percent - said it's harder for families today to work their way into the middle class, which the survey found requires an income between $75,000 and $135,000, a far cry from the city's median family income of $49,374.The squeeze on the middle class has left the city with a widening divide between rich and poor, with fewer families in the middle, said John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at CUNY.

VANISHING CITY MIDDLE CLASS By TOM TOPOUSIS - Regionalnews - New York Post Online Edition

Blogged with Flock

Knucklehead Alert!

Knucklehead Alert!
Originally uploaded by Runs With Scissors.

So I'm out having a great time with my new Flickr friend taking pictures in our neighborhood when these two characters come along.

The schmo in the suit is screaming, "Oh no, no, no. Don't take my picture!" The other rocket surgeon is yelling, "You're doing it all wrong. I'll tell ya how to take pictures."

Yep you guessed right, "Mr. Photography stands behind us while we're shooting pictures of other things blabbing on and on about how we need to get up early in the morning to take pictures of cherry blossom trees in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. So I'm thinking, is it worth $150 and a two week repair to remove my zoom lens from this guy's face?

And wouldn't you know it, as this is all going on a third dinosaur brain carrier walks in between us saying, "Don't take my picture unless you're going to make me famous." I yelled, "Come back. I'll put you on the Internet!"

Gotta love Brooklyn for its diversity and character.