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amcouture · 27 days

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Fashion-forward attire Queens | www.aym-couture.com

Discover Your Dream Dress at A & M Couture: The Ultimate Destination for Formal Wear in Queens and Hackensack

When it comes to finding the perfect dress for your special occasion, A & M Couture is your go-to destination. Located at 60-77 Myrtle Ave, Queens, NY, and 265 Main St, Hackensack, NJ, our boutique offers an exquisite collection of formal wear that caters to every fashion-forward individual looking to make a statement. Whether you’re searching for a quinceañera gown, a prom dress, or attire for any special occasion, A & M Couture has everything you need to look and feel your best.

Quinceañera Gowns in Ridgewood: Celebrate in Style

The quinceañera is a significant milestone, marking the transition from girlhood to womanhood. At A & M Couture, we understand the importance of this day and are proud to offer a stunning selection of quinceañera gowns in Ridgewood and the surrounding areas. Our collection includes the elegant Princesa by Ariana Vara and the exclusive Disney 100 Years Edition dresses, designed to make you feel like royalty on your special day.

Prom Dresses in Queens, NY: Turn Heads at Your Prom

Prom night is one of the most memorable events in a young person’s life, and finding the right dress is crucial. At A & M Couture, we offer a wide range of stylish prom dresses in Queens, NY, ensuring that you’ll find the perfect gown to express your unique style. Our boutique features the latest trends, so you can step into the spotlight with confidence.

Special Occasion Dresses in NYC: Elegance for Every Event

No matter the event, A & M Couture has a dress that will make you shine. From weddings and galas to sweet sixteen celebrations and formal parties, our special occasion dresses in NYC are crafted to enhance your beauty and make your day unforgettable. With personalized dress consultations, our expert team is here to help you find the perfect fit and style for your big event.

Exclusive Gown Rentals in Ridgewood: Fashion for Less

At A & M Couture, we understand that purchasing a dress isn’t always the best option. That’s why we offer exclusive gown rentals in Ridgewood, providing a budget-friendly way to wear a designer dress without the commitment. Renting a dress from our boutique allows you to save time, money, and space, giving you the flexibility to choose the perfect outfit for your party or photoshoot.

Why Choose A & M Couture?

We are more than just a boutique; we are a family business dedicated to making every girl feel like a princess, regardless of budget. Our mission is to offer beautiful, dream-worthy dresses for all special occasions while maintaining the highest standards of customer care. Whether you’re looking to rent or purchase, our personalized approach ensures that every customer leaves with a dress that not only fits perfectly but also resonates with their individual style.

Visit Us Today

Ready to find your dream dress? Visit A & M Couture at our Queens or Hackensack locations and explore our extensive collection of quinceañera gowns, prom dresses, and special occasion attire. We are here to make your dress shopping experience memorable and enjoyable, ensuring that you feel confident and beautiful on your special day.

A & M Couture Queens Location: 60-77 Myrtle Ave, Queens, NY 11385, United States Hackensack Location: 265 Main St, Hackensack, NJ 07601, United States

Let A & M Couture be a part of your special moments, providing you with exquisite fashion choices that will be remembered for a lifetime.

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325projectspace · 4 months

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POLYMORPHIC POLKA

Sculptures by Leslie Fry

May 17 – June 9, 2024

Opening Reception: Friday, May 17, 6:00-8:00PM

325 Project Space, 325 St Nicholas Ave Ridgewood, Queens, NY

Gallery Hours: Sat/Sun 12-5pm and by appt.

325 Project Space is pleased to present: Polymorphic Polka, an exhibition of sculpture by Leslie Fry. In addition to works in the main gallery, the exhibition will include a series of bronze works exhibited in our outdoor space. Works in the exhibition consist of cast hybrid forms as well as sculpted elements in ceramic, wood and resin.

Articulating connections between the natural and constructed world, Fry’s sculptures respond to architecture, history, the human form, and the flotsam of everyday life. Fry’s figures are typically female or hermaphrodite, of imaginary descent, and melded with elements to portray strength, shelter, and metamorphosis. The exhibition will also feature a series of stacked forms evoking connection, precariousness and the uncertainty of our present time. Fry’s masterful use of imagery and the sheer physicality of her materials provide a sensual and surreal experience.

325 Project Space is an unpredictably periodic exhibition and event space organized by Jeff Feld, @feldjeff, [email protected] and located at 325 St Nicholas Ave in Ridgewood Queens. The project space is one block from the Myrtle/Wycoff stop on the L or M subway lines, approximately 25 minutes from Union Square. Gallery hours are Sat/Sun 12-5pm and by appt.

Leslie Fry's sculptures, drawings, and prints have been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries such as Kunsthaus in Hamburg, Zwitscher Machine Gallery in Berlin, Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, Windspiel Galerie in Vienna, Couvent des Cordeliers in Paris, deCordova Sculpture Park near Boston, Centre des Arts Visuels in Montreal, and Artists Space, Garvey Simon, and Wave Hill in New York.

Public sculptures have been commissioned in New York, South Korea, Montreal, Florida, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Public collections include Tufts University, Songchu International Sculpture Park, Freehand New York, Kohler Arts Center, Tampa Museum of Art, Fleming Museum of Art, Musée d’art de Joliette, and St. Petersburg, Florida’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Awards and fellowships include the Vermont 2023 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, U.S. Embassy Vienna, Chateau d’Orquevaux, Yaddo, Monson Arts, Vermont Arts Council, Kohler Arts/Industry Program, Fundacion Valparaiso, Blue Mountain Center, I-Park, Marble House Project, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Anderson Ranch, Ragdale Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, and Millay Arts.

Fry’s B.A. is from the University of Vermont, her M.F.A. is from Bard College, and she attended the Central School of Art in London. Born in Montreal, she lives in Winooski, Vermont.

#325 project space #jeff feld #sculpture #art gallery #contemporary art #ridgewood #bushwick #artists run spaces #leslie fry #painting #polymorphic polka

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sunaleisocial · 5 months

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NASA Announces Winners of Power to Explore Challenge - NASA

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/nasa-announces-winners-of-power-to-explore-challenge-nasa/

NASA Announces Winners of Power to Explore Challenge - NASA

NASA announced the winners on Wednesday of the third annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the power of radioisotopes for space exploration.

The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), “nuclear batteries” the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in the solar system and beyond. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.

“The Power to Explore Challenge is the perfect way to inspire students – our Artemis Generation – to reach for the stars and beyond and help NASA find new ways to use radioisotopes to power our exploration of the cosmos,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Entries were split into three groups based on grade level, and a winner was chosen from each. The three winners, along with a guardian, are invited to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a VIP tour of its world-class research facilities.

The winners are:

Rainie Lin, Lexington, Kentucky, kindergarten through fourth grade

Aadya Karthik, Redmond, Washington, fifth through eighth grade

Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, New Jersey, ninth through 12th grade

“Congratulations to this year’s winners and participants – together, we discover and explore for the benefit of all,” Fox said.

The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn about space power, celebrate their strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received nearly 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.

Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event held on March 15 that announced the 45 national semifinalists. Additionally, the national semifinalists received a NASA RPS prize pack.

NASA announced three finalists in each age group (nine total) during Total Eclipse Fest 2024 in Cleveland on April 8, a day when millions of Americans saw a brief glimpse of life without sunlight, creating an opportunity to shed light on how NASA could power missions without the Sun’s energy at destinations such as deep lunar craters or deep space. Finalists also were invited to discuss their mission concepts with a NASA scientist or engineer during a virtual event.

The challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s RPS Program Office and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

For more information on radioisotope power systems visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/rps

-end-

Karen Fox / Charles Blue Headquarters, Washington 301-286-6284 / 202-802-5345 [email protected] / [email protected]

Kristin Jansen Glenn Research Center, Cleveland 216-296-2203 [email protected]

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n0resistance · 9 months

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2024

It took me a few years to get to the point where I am as an adult 30 something living in New York. I finally live in a comfortable space and it has character for sure. Living in Queens makes me feel separate from the exhausting over productive city that I call home. I made my priorities minimal, and one thing I’ve been working on since 2022 is healing and understanding my emotions as well as past trauma.

I have always been constantly triggered, anxious, borderline depressed. What’s weird about depression is nobody can tell that you have it, especially for me. How can you be depressed when you travel all the time, how can you be depressed when you have an amazing relationship, and you’re social. You’re the one who doesn’t care about what people think about you.

Well; sometimes when we seem really happy the reality is we’re putting up a front. I was experiencing a ton of grief, grief of not being the way it once was, people changing, losing my grandfather and my dog. I’m still grieving it. Before, I made pretty good money but it felt abusive and I hated what I was doing. Which I would promise myself that I would never compromise my well being for money. It was a situation where I made a lot and also had the freedom to pursue the arts. However, I was neglecting my higher purpose. You feel that your purpose isn’t to just get through it and to soothe yourself later because you can afford it.

Traveling ends and you need a life outside your relationship. You need friends, work that matters, hobbies, and things that fulfill you. You need to feel good on your own or else you lose all balance. Balance isn’t really what society tells you it is.

I’ve achieved it at this moment, and am trying to maintain it. My partner and I live a lone finally (ha) in a neighborhood and place we enjoy, I’m not attached to my work, I cut out working full time and currently work a-few jobs. I have to be really on top of my schedule since I don’t work from home at all. This way I’m helping people with skill sets that took me years to hone. It’s led to make more money, spend less time on it, and help more people. So win/win. My motivation is to be autonomous, so I can create time to take care of myself, make art, work on my health, and spend time with loved ones. I’m not in enormous amounts of stress, finally. Never knew it was possible in New York City.

Now I’m dealing with the discomfort of calmness. After always being used to chaos, drama, and even tragedy. This Christmas was a very calm one. I dogsat, my partner had to work at the hospital, he sacrifices so much for work. We just focus on each other, gave each other gifts. It was like a staycation with work. That was it. We also got to see friends in Ridgewood which was really really cute before going back home. It was an alternative holiday. There was katonah yoga, brunch at Russ & Daugthers, city views, dogs, only tourists on the streets and Christmas cheer. I didn’t want to spend another Christmas apart from my boyfriend so I had to make it worthwhile. This was a way to be together.

Holidays are triggering. I have a lot of memories with my mom especially because she loved Christmas so much. So even though I’m not used to this, I’m trying to get comfortable in simple and calmness. I just feel old enough to know that everything will work out and things will change. It’s important to adapt and flow.

This was my year of relaxing. It took so much to get a comfortable place to live, it took so much to not actively hate work, it took so much to find the love of my life. I’m living as best as I can by prioritizing. Everything else is just extra. The new project, event, trip, course that I’ll be taking. It’s just extra but before it was sustenance to my survival. Mainly because I didn’t know how to figure it out. I didn’t know how to say no or put myself first.

My experiences of finding yoga again, going to a comedy class, doing a play, creating an event, and not allow negative vibes take over was a lot of action and mindfulness. Pursuing those things have saved my life in one way or another.

Before I was jumping from 1 unhealthy thing to another. Now, each thing I do is healthy with a healthy amount of it. I have a lot of resolutions this year that I want to incorporate in my lifestyIe. To be frugal, give up vices, Stop judging people, I want to eat well and read well, be around only good energy. I want to be a minimalist for real, and this the first real year where I don’t feel like my life is just me. I also have to adapt to my partner too, where his future takes him affects me, and also know what it is I want too.

To 2024, I’ll be turning 33 soon. I finally feel like a grown up. I just want to act like it now.

#howtolove

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brooklynlivingtips · 2 years

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Things to consider before deciding to live in Bushwick, Brooklyn

The Brooklyn borough of New York City's Bushwick contains the neighborhood of Bushwick. Ridgewood, Queens to the east, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, and Williamsburg to the north, form its borders.

Once a neighborhood with a large German population, Bushwick has undergone numerous transformations and is today renowned for its varied population, street art, and nightlife culture. Bushwick has gained popularity in recent years as a destination for musicians, artists, and young professionals because of its reasonably priced homes and convenient access to Manhattan by subway. Read how buy my house fast for cash works in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The House of Yes, a well-liked performance space and nightclub, and the Bushwick Collective, a collection of murals and street art installations located around the neighborhood, are two famous Bushwick attractions. The Brooklyn Mirage, a sizable outdoor event venue, and Roberta's, a renowned pizzeria, are two further hotspots.

Like many New York City neighborhoods, Bushwick has seen phases of economic downturn and gentrification throughout its complicated and occasionally controversial history. It nevertheless continues to be a thriving, culturally diverse community with a distinct personality and identity.

How to spend time in Bushwick

Particularly for those interested in art, cuisine, and nightlife, Bushwick has a lot to offer in terms of things to do. Here are a few ideas:

See the street art: The Bushwick Collective is an artistic collective that has transformed the area into an outdoor gallery of murals and street art. To discover more about the artists and their creations, you may either explore the streets on your own or join a guided tour.

Go to the galleries: The art scene in Bushwick is growing, and there are many galleries showing the creations of both regional and international artists. The Sardine Gallery, the Fresh Window Gallery, and the Luhring Augustine Gallery are a few of the well-known ones.

Get a bite to eat: Bushwick is renowned for its diverse dining scene, offering everything from classic German cuisine to hip cafés and diners. Popular restaurants serve pizza at Roberta's, Venezuelan food at Arepera Guacuco, and Ethiopian food at Bunna Café.

Enjoy the nightlife: There are many bars, clubs, and music venues to pick from in Bushwick's thriving nightlife scene. While the Brooklyn Mirage accommodates outdoor concerts and events, the House of Yes is a well-known location for dance performances.

Go for a stroll in Maria Hernandez Park: This community park is a terrific spot to unwind, observe people, and enjoy the sunshine. Also, there are several community gatherings and performances hosted here all year long.

These are only a few of the numerous activities available in Bushwick. There is constantly something new to uncover because the neighborhood is continually changing.

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Reasons to reside in Brooklyn's Bushwick

There are a number of reasons someone could decide to sell my house quick for cash, including:

Affordability: Bushwick is relatively reasonable in terms of housing costs when compared to other areas of Brooklyn or Manhattan. For people who wish to live in New York City but are on a tight budget, this makes it an appealing choice.

Cultural diversity: Bushwick is renowned for its multicultural neighborhood, which is home to people from all over the world. As a result, there are numerous opportunities to sample other foods, languages, and traditions, creating a complex cultural tapestry.

Arts and culture: Bushwick is home to a vibrant arts scene, with a wide variety of galleries, street art installations, and performance venues. This can be a big lure for musicians, painters, and other creative types.

Transportation: With a number of subway lines and bus routes passing through the area, Bushwick has excellent access to the rest of the city via public transportation.

A strong sense of community is still there in Bushwick despite its recent fast urbanization. For those looking to get involved and make a difference, there are many community events, festivals, and volunteer opportunities.

Of course, there are also possible cons to residing in Bushwick, including as gentrification issues, rising rents, and worries about neighborhood safety in some areas. When selecting if Bushwick is the location for you, as with any metropolitan region, it's crucial to do your research and consider the benefits and drawbacks.

#Youtube

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reveal-the-news · 2 years

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Free Stores Offer an Alternative to the Exploitative Capitalist Economy

We all love a good bargain, and are sometimes willing to go to great lengths to secure one. But for a few hours at Woodbine*, an experimental facility in Ridgewood, Queens, New York, thrifting was completely free and no arrests were made. Perhaps surprisingly, a flood of people showed up at the space 30 minutes before the “Free Store” event began. In a free shop, people are encouraged to bring…

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trippingtrixharper · 4 years

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◊ ♫ ◊— look what the cat dragged in! that’s [BEATRICE HARPER] and [SHE/HER] are/is an around [25]-year-old [CASUAL VISITOR] to the store, but they’ve been in the neighborhood for [5 YEARS]. I think they are a(n) [EMPLOYEE AT ROSE DINER] and I overheard them listening to [ROLLER DERBY SAVED MY SOUL] by [UNCLE LEON & THE ALIBIS], and, I dunno man, it seemed pretty fitting. Like, call me shallow but I look at them and think of [MILENA TSCHARNTKE] and [FRESHLY SCRAPED KNEES, BURPING CONTESTS WHILE TRYING TO CATCH POPCORN IN YOUR MOUTH, WORN OUT ROLLER BLADES]. (ooc info: chels/toon, she/her, est, 23)

hi it’s your girl toon, ready to give you love!!!

SOME BASICS ABOUT TRIX

Birthplace: Ridgewood, Queens

Sexuality: Bisexual

Birthday: May 27th, 1995 (Gemini)

Personality: Trix is full of fire and energy. She craves fun and colorful personalities, she loves to say long live rock & roll like a super fan while barely knowing all the classics. Her favorite day of the week is Lazy Sundays which is just an excuse to stay in her three day old pajamas all day while eating popcorn and binge watching television, she absolutely hates being 25 (one day she’ll blink and be 30, and then she’ll have to kill herself), shitty action films make up her entire DVD collection (yes, she still has DVDs), and due to being heavily invested in the NYC Roller Derby community (and just downright careless) she is queen of the mystery bruises. She doesn’t have the best sense of personal space and social cues, often saying the first thing that comes to mind, but she’s really just out here trying to be herself.

Music: Trix is not musically inclined. She loves music but she’s never played an instrument in her life and is more of an audience/the type of person to sit at a drum set and go berserk, raising her arms at the end and screaming I LOVE YOU NEW YORK!

A BRIEF HISTORY (ALWAYS....POTENTIAL TO BE EDITED)

Trix was born Beatrice Harper, but Trix was something her father used to call her as a kid. She has since reclaimed it, integrating it into her roller derby life. She was born and raised in Queens, only recently moving to Crown Heights five years ago with her entire family (her biological grandmother, her two biological younger half-siblings, her step mother, and her older non biological brother.)

Her father, Jonas Harper, married fellow New York native Sandra Rubio, when Trix was seven and Sandra’s son was 11. Her father was the primary breadwinner of the family, moving in his mother, and having a full house as Sandra had two more kids. Trix always had a super close bond with her siblings.

When her father died her junior year of high school, she felt her family cripple under the financial burden, and instead of pursuing her own dreams she opted for working when she could to help contribute. (It’s not like she had an inch of an idea what she wanted to do with her life anyway.)

She’s been working at on-and-off at Rose Dinner ever since, and they let her wear her skates at work because the guests tip her better when she does. She’s left a few times to pursue other jobs but her restlessness and inability to commit keeps her coming back. She still lives at home because it makes the bills easier if they all contribute, but also because moving out means like...being an adult? They moved to Crown Heights a few years ago.

Half of the time her grandmother is telling her she’s lazy and not working enough, and the other half of the time her older brother is telling her she’s selling herself short. Truth is, she’s been holding onto the guise of responsibility and family as an excuse not to change what she’s used to.

What brings her the most joy is Roller Derby. Her father was the first person to put her on roller blades as a kid, and she grew up skating, but only got into roller derby after graduating high school. She plays for Honey Punch, and her best friends on her team who she’ll often refer to as their skate names are Dollface, Lady MacDeath, Jenny Jawbreaker, and Banshee. She started going by Trix again when she started roller derby, which made her feel like she had a connection to her dad, and her skate name is The Terminatrix (yes, she did that).

Her goal is to eventually try out for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby in October, but it’s complicated.

Overall she’s a little kid in a big kid’s body, and she uses humor to cover up the fact that she’s actually pretty lost.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

Skate Friends: People/skateboarders/etc who go to the skate park or skate meet ups, where they can hang out or take videos of each other.

Best Friends: Trix is from New York, so others who have also been here since their childhood/teenage years that could be long term good friends with her would be awesome! Any other friends too! She’s pretty clingy and while she tries her best to be loyal, she is the type to switch up plans with minimal warning. I see her friends often thinking “Typical Trix” and may even get frustrated with her sometimes. She thinks the people in her life will always be there, and honey that just ain’t true.

Coworkers: Trix has been working at Rose Diner for years now and the staff there feels like a little community. Growing up in Queens she’s also big on doing stuff for the community/locals, like delivering groceries to her elderly neighbor when she can. If your character has a family that might know her, or they’re someone to post flyers around the neighborhood about community based events or meet ups, let’s collab!

Exes/Flings: I normally don’t pre-plot romances and I’m not attached to this because I love the organic route but Trix has just lived here her whole life and she is very forward but kind of a spaz so I imagine they have to exist LOL.

If you have any ideas feel free to hit me up c:

#if you were confused reading this me too i cannot help you #may edit it bc i wrote most of it on the spot but i may make her brother a wanted connection #fr.intro #bio #IM OPEN TO ALLL PLOTS!!! :)#did i check for spelling errors? why of course not good sir

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waterturnsback · 4 years

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At the risk of being overly earnest...

All of this blog post will go after the jump because no one should read it, and I’ll probably delete it later.

Today is July 20, and without fail, it is the hottest day of the year. Dark Sky says it is 93 degrees but feels like 98 degrees. MyRadar says it is 92 degrees and feels like 96 degrees. The default iPhone weather app says it is 93 degrees and feels like 99 degrees. It is 7:25 p.m. It is awful.

Every summer, this stretch of days is the most oppressive of the year. The preheating of our sidewalks and streets is over, and it is time to bake. The humidity rolls in to make it a sauna. It is awful. It helps me remember everything.

There are too many events tied to this week. From July 17 through July 24, give or take a few days on either end, I can lay out formative events since 2008. Timehop and Facebook Memories have jarred my brain over the past few days and reminded me of what I miss, what I savor and what has shaped me to this point.

In 2008, Anna and I went to Whartscape in Baltimore on July 20. I took the above photo of Sam Herring of Future Islands there. I used to pinpoint this day as my shift into truly being “cool,” which is a concept that doesn’t quite age well. But we saw Future Islands, Dan Deacon, a Girl Talk side project, Adventure, Parts & Labor, Double Dagger, Ponytail and so many more. There were a bunch of weirdos in a parking lot in Baltimore. I was 16, and I hadn’t been around that before. It was something I wanted to be a part of in the future. It ruled. I am bummed I did not write about this day on the 10-year anniversary two years ago and that it came up quickly this year. Maybe for the 13th anniversary? It was a hot day. Black Dice’s set to close the night got canceled when a storm blew through, and Anna and I got lost in Baltimore in the storm.

Two days earlier, Anna and I went to Artscape to see The Oranges Band, one of the criminally underrated Baltimore bands of the 2000s. Anna was super into them in the early/mid-2000s, and I think they just weren’t weird enough to carve out the longevity and brain space of some of the Whartscape acts. It was fun. It was hot.

One day earlier, Scooter + Jinx played its last show (I don’t think we played again after that?) at the Shamrock Park bandshell. It was acoustic with me, Anna and Benn, and we covered Wilco (three times!), The White Stripes, Silversun Pickups, The Thermals, Cold War Kids, Pixies and I really can’t bear to watch any more of the videos to figure out what else we played. It was a lot. Earlier, I played guitar for Ashley, who sang, and we played some originals and covered Ted Leo. That was the night where Kate and I said we “liked” each other. It was a big deal at the time.

In 2009, there was another outdoor concert at the bandshell the same weekend. I performed alone as Wapinitia, and then Benn accompanied me on a drum for a “Death Valley ‘69″ cover and a Polar Bear Club cover. I played a ton of originals that I know longer remember how to play, though I find the set list for that night when I was cleaning out my room last week and packed it away in a box.

A couple people spent that summer trying to set me up with Elisabeth, and I had been listening to them, despite a couple disastrous encounters a month earlier. The Rita’s/Wendy’s setup will live in infamy. But I tried, and then I realized that I just didn’t care. So I hung out with Kyle and we talked to whole time. I was disillusioned that summer, but I was 17, so it makes sense.

In 2010, I do not really remember what I was doing. The IronBirds were on the road that weekend, so I was not working. I know I went back to Shamrock Park at night and just kind of walked around because I was sad and lonely (lol). My high school graduation party, which doubled as Anna’s college graduation party and my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary part, was in a couple days, so we were cleaning.

In 2011, I went to New York for the weekend. On July 22, Anna and I sat at the Williamsburg Waterfront and watched Death From Above 1979 perform from a distance. It was a hot night. The next day, Molly P. met up with us, and we went to the Prospect Park Zoo before seeing The Feelies, Real Estate and Times New Viking. We saw Real Estate in May and Anna was at the 285 Kent show in June where the band played its new album front to back, so we were seeing the evolution of the Days songs in the live environment. It was a great show, and I think I tried to drink some coconut water and immediately spit it out. Otherwise, Anna kept getting us wine.

From Prospect Park, we went to Shea Stadium and caught Andrew Cedermark’s set to close a bill that had also featured Dustin Wong. It was $7 per person to get in, or something like that, but Anna hustled Patrick Stickles at the door to let the three of us in for $7 because there was only one band left. We were drinking out on the Shea Stadium balcony, and Molly P. told me that she wished she hadn’t agreed to go see ODDSAC with me instead of going to senior prom the week before. I can’t argue with that. I texted Molly M. that I liked her.

Jeffery and Kia were at 285 Kent, so we went down to the water from Shea and wound up seeing Pictureplane at some insane hour of the night. It was so hot in 285. My phone said it was 88 degrees outside or something along those lines, and I got a chill when I walked out of 285. Someone was handing out watermelon, and it was hot. I don’t know how I survived that day. The mass shooting in Norway also happened that weekend.

The next day, Molly M. and I talked about the night before, and I said, “It’s real.” We wandered Williamsburg that day before going to Hoboken to see Real Estate and Dent May at Maxwell’s.

In 2012, Grandpa and Grandma died during the week, so I was a mess (though I did see Shut Up And Play The Hits in theaters, and it was good). I was going to New York anyway July 20, but I called out of my internship and got on an earlier bus. Anna picked me up from the MegaBus and we just kind of wandered Manhattan. The Aurora mass shooting happened the night before, too. I don’t remember where we got dinner, other than we got Mexican. We went out to Ridgewood Queens and then got ready. Molly M. was home in San Diego that weekend, so I didn’t have to walk on eggshells at Emily’s apartment on Havermeyer. Diana was in a fun mood, along with Becky, and Anastassia, Molly K. and Marc B. were also there (and more probably met up with us?). We pregamed pretty hard, and there are a bunch of hilarious photos that are now gone from Facebook because Becky deactivated last week. We went to the Woods and then some random house party in Williamsburg. There are a bunch of goofy pictures of me and Emily in the backyard, and Emily fell asleep on a bike(?).

The next day, Anna and I met up with Dent May at Grand Ferry Park and interviewed him for about 20 minutes. It was a perfect interview, and he tapped into a lot of what me and Anna were feeling psychically without knowing what we were going through. It was a beautiful night, and it was just really cool to talk to him. He was playing Glasslands, and since I was 20, I couldn’t go, so me and Anna met up with Anastassia and went to House of Vans to see Dum Dum Girls and Widowspeak. Anna and Anastassia stood inside the alcohol area, while I stood on the other side of the fence to talk to them. The sets were good, and then Anna and I went back to 285 to see Iceage. It was nuts. There were real punks there, and the indie kids weren’t ready for it.

On Sunday, July 22, Anna and I went down to DUMBO with Anastassia, and we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. It was cool. I still do not understand the logic of riding your bike across the bridge if you are a serious biker, but the views were great and it wasn’t too hot. We wandered Manhattan a little bit and then took the ferry back. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen, and it was a satisfying end to the weekend during an awful time. Emily and Diana met up with us at American Apparel. Everyone agreed it was one of the most fun weekends of the summer, and it happened while Molly M. was away. Hm.

On Monday, we went to see Beach House in Central Park. Marc P. got the ticket that was supposed to be for Molly M. It rained. Lower Dens opened. It was beautiful. Anastassia watched from outside the fence, and we all went back to Brooklyn together. I was taking the bus home the next afternoon, so Anastassia and I met up in Williamsburg in the morning and went to Co-Op 87. I bought her a Widowspeak 7″, and we went over to Manhattan and I got pho for the first time in my life. It remains one of my favorite weekends under the worst circumstances.

In 2013, it was again one of the hottest days of the year. Me, Dan and Rob drove to Annapolis on July 19, and it was miserable. We tried to walk around. I did a phone interview with someone on the street. We got ice cream, and then we went back to College Park. On July 20, I went to Baltimore and met up with Seth and Ryan at an Irish bar on the Inner Harbor where we were going to meet Colleen for her birthday, but her flight got screwed up, so me, Seth and Ryan just watched the pirate boat in the harbor and the lightning.

In 2014, I was alone in California, so I drove out to Pomona to go to the Viva Pomona festival. I saw Thee Oh Sees, Fuzz and Terry Malts. I bought Worry by Big Troubles on vinyl from a record store out there. It was cool. I think that was the same weekend I watched an entire season of House of Cards, went to The Geffen Contemporary to see the Mike Kelley exhibit and then met up with Jack in Echo Park.

In 2015, I came home from covering a girls youth soccer tournament in Richmond and went to see No Age at the H&H Building on the hottest day of the year. They were good. No one was really there. A couple days later, I got my first real job at The Sun.

In 2016, I hadn’t taken my job at PennLive yet, but it was getting close. On July 23, we went to an Orioles game with a pretty deep crew, and it turned into a long day. It was so hot and so humid. It was raining, but there were no clouds over us. Jack said it was like the sky was crying.

In 2017, we spent a night in D.C. We were trying to use Brad & Mike’s pool because it was so hot, but then it thunderstormed.

In 2018, we were on our way to Western Maryland for a weekend at Deep Creek Lake. I got pulled over for speeding leaving Cumberland, but I got let off with a warning because I pulled over right when the guy waved me down. It was a good weekend. I think that was really the first time I started drinking a lot of White Claw. We got taquitos for the lake house, and it was the best food decision we made that weekend. Later, that weekend, I thought I lost my phone. I didn’t.

In 2019, we were in Denver. It was fine.

In 2020, I am sitting in my apartment waiting for a mattress to be delivered so I can throw out my old one and my futon frame in the trash tonight and then set up my room. I am so close to getting there.

#personal #writing

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cipascontainer · 4 years

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Garbage pick-up is still happening. ‘Scared to death’ haulers aren’t letting us down.

Tuesday was a garbage day on Ridgewood Avenue in Glen Ridge, and with the rain falling and the light still dim at 7 a.m., “Big Rob” Wilchard was making the rounds for Suburban Disposal, the town’s solid waste contractor, tossing bags of household trash into the back of his truck.

Wilchard and his partner wore heavy gloves, but not masks. And while they feared the coronavirus, telecommuting is not an option in their business.

“I’m scared to death of it, but when they tell me I got to go to work, I got to go to work,” said Wilchard, 53, who lives in Newark.

Solid waste collection is a public health measure in and of itself, so suspending it like officials have done with some other services amid the coronavirus outbreak is out of the question. And unlike office work, it cannot be done remotely.

So, as with first responders, workers at water supply companies and utilities, and others whose jobs simply have to get done, there’s no choice for sanitation and recycling workers but to carry on — or haul on — and hope that their gloves and common sense will safeguard them against transmission from an unwitting carrier who placed the trash container or recycling bin out on the curb with virus-contaminated hands.

“Doctors got to go do what they do taking care of people, so I guess we got to get this garbage up, otherwise it would be everywhere,” Wilchard said. “Listen, if I don’t get this garbage up and it piles up, man, you’ve probably got more diseases.”

Anthony Roselle, a supervisor at Fairfield-based Suburban, said the company had been combating germs long before the coronavirus outbreak, and apart from wearing gloves, workers knew to wash their hands, use sanitizer and not touch their faces.

“We already know how to keep ourselves clean,” Roselle said. “It’s kind of business as usual.”

Town Councilman Daniel Murphy, who chairs the council’s public works committee, said he was confident the haulers were looking after themselves.

“We’re concerned about them and they’re at the front line,” Murphy said. But, he added, “Right now, we don’t see any issues.”

As for residents, Murphy reminded them to use the same common-sense precautions to prevent the spread of the virus through the waste disposal and recycling processes that they would in other walks of life. Even if a sanitation worker is protected by gloves, that doesn’t mean the virus can’t be picked up from one trash can or recycling bin and planted on another, potentially exposing residents to each other’s contagions.

“It goes without saying that anything they touch could have been touched by a third party, and as such they should be diligent about washing their hands,” Murphy said. “Wash your hands, don’t touch your face.”

While no special precautions are being taken regarding curbside pickups, Glen Ridge joined many other municipalities by adopting restrictions on use of its public parks during a special meeting on the coronavirus Tuesday night, including closing basketball courts to discourage gatherings of people in close proximity.

Apart from the curbside waste pickup that Suburban is contracted for, Glen Ridge Department of Public Works staffers collect trash from receptacles in parks and other public places. Public Works Director William Bartlett said there no changes to the collection process, but that DPW employees were redoubling their usual sanitary precautions like washing their hands frequently and disinfecting surfaces in trucks and work spaces.

“As of now, there has not been a change in operations,” Bartlett said. “I’m sure that is going to be something that we monitor with municipal government.”

Curbside pickups notwithstanding, the coronavirus has disrupted some disposal programs.

For example, Union County announced Tuesday that all countywide recycling days have been canceled during March and April, including mobile paper shredding events, household hazardous waste programs, and scrap metal recycling. A Union County spokesman, Sebastian D’Elia, said those programs were located at a single drop-off point where long lines can form with people waiting to dispose of their items, so the dates were cancelled to avoid any possibility of transmitting the virus.

Back in Glen Ridge, Baldwin Avenue resident Tom McFadden was out walking his dog just as Wilchard and others were making their Tuesday morning pickups. McFadden said the thought had occurred to him while he was setting out his weekly recyclables just how vulnerable the workers who pick them up might be.

“It could be anywhere,” McFadden, 62, said of the virus. “You know, you have your plastic bins and stuff, and you handle them and they handle them. And hopefully, they’re taking precautions.”

Asked about his fellow residents, McFadden said, “People probably don’t think about it.”

Tuesday is recycling day on Tuxedo Road, where veteran waste haulers Mark Lewis and Jahaad McLauria were picking up stacks of flattened cardboard boxes from the curb and throwing them into the back of a big green garbage truck belonging to Basso Rubbish Removal, Glen Ridge’s recycling contractor. The two men were taking the coronavirus scare in stride.

“It’s on my mind, yeah,” said McLauria, who is single and lives in Newark. “But concerned? Worried? Not really.”

Lewis, a father of two from Irvington, said he’s lived through decades of flu seasons and other outbreaks, dodging germs for a living. So the coronavirus wasn’t going to keep him from doing his job. That said, Lewis does draw the line at some point.

“One thing,” he said: “I don’t pick up any tissues.”

Source

The post Garbage pick-up is still happening. ‘Scared to death’ haulers aren’t letting us down. appeared first on Cipas Container Service.

from Cipas Container Service https://www.cipascontainer.com/garbage-pick-up-is-still-happening-scared-to-death-haulers-arent-letting-us-down/

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amcouture · 1 month

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A & M Couture | www.aym-couture.com

Find Your Perfect Dress at A & M Couture: Your Go-To for Quinceañera, Prom, and Special Event Gowns https://www.aym-couture.com/

At A & M Couture, located at 60-77 Myrtle Ave, Queens, NY 11385, and 265 Main St, Hackensack, NJ 07601, we’re all about making your special moments unforgettable. Whether you're gearing up for a quinceañera, sweet sixteen, prom, or any other big event, we have just the dress for you. Our store offers both rental and purchase options, so you can find the perfect fit for your celebration.

Rent or Buy: We Have You Covered

Dress Rentals: Planning a party or photo shoot? We’ve got you covered with our rental service. Choose from our beautiful selection of dresses and enjoy the convenience of renting. It’s a smart way to save time, money, and space while still looking fabulous.

Dress Purchases: Your quinceañera is a major milestone, and we’re here to make it magical. Our collection of quinceañera gowns and prom dresses are designed to make you feel like a star. Whether you want to keep your dress as a cherished keepsake or pass it on, we’ll help you find the perfect dress for your special day.

Why Choose A & M Couture?

Exclusive Collections: From the enchanting Princesa by Ariana Vara collection to the whimsical Disney 100 Years Edition, we offer unique dresses that stand out.

Wide Selection: Our boutique in Ridgewood, New York, has a range of styles to fit every taste and budget, ensuring you find something you love.

Personalized Service: Our friendly team is here to guide you through the process, making sure you find a dress that’s just right for your event.

At A & M Couture, we’re a family-owned business dedicated to helping you look and feel amazing. We believe every girl deserves a dream dress, and we’re here to make that happen.

Come Visit Us: Check out our collection and get personalized service at A & M Couture. We’re excited to help you find the perfect dress at our Ridgewood or Hackensack locations.

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325projectspace · 4 months

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Leslie Fry - Amelia - 2023. Ceramic, wood. 29 x 18 x 16 inches

POLYMORPHIC POLKA

Sculptures by Leslie Fry

May 17 – June 9, 2024

Opening Reception: Friday, May 17, 6:00-8:00PM

325 Project Space, 325 St Nicholas Ave Ridgewood, Queens, NY

Gallery Hours: Sat/Sun 12-5pm and by appt.

Fry’s B.A. is from the University of Vermont, her M.F.A. is from Bard College, and she attended the Central School of Art in London. Born in Montreal, she lives in Winooski, Vermont.

#325 project space #jeff feld #sculpture #art gallery #contemporary art #ridgewood #bushwick #artists run spaces #leslie fry #painting #polymorphic polka #kunst

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sunaleisocial · 6 months

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NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge - NASA

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/nasa-names-finalists-of-the-power-to-explore-challenge-nasa/

NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge - NASA

NASA has selected the nine finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.

NASA selected nine finalists out of the 45 semifinalist student essays in the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous science missions and to dream up how their personal “super power” would energize their success on their own radioisotope-powered science mission.

The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), a type of “nuclear battery” that the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in our solar system and beyond. As cities across the United States experience a total solar eclipse, we experience first hand a momentary glimpse into what life would be like without sunlight. This draws attention to how NASA can power missions at destinations that cannot rely on the energy of the Sun, such as deep craters on the Moon and deep space exploration. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.

The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn more about these reliable power systems, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.

Carl Sandifer

Manager, Radioisotope Power Systems Program

“The RPS Program is so impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge,” said Carl Sandifer, NASA’s manager for the Radioisotope Power Systems Program in Cleveland. “We would like to congratulate the finalists, and we look forward to welcoming the winners to NASA’s Glenn Research Center this summer.”

Entries were split into three categories: grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event that announced the semifinalists. Students learned about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and work together to explore.

Three national finalists in each grade category (nine finalists total) have been selected. In addition to receiving a NASA RPS prize pack, these participants will be invited to an exclusive virtual meeting with a NASA engineer or scientist to talk about their missions and have their space exploration questions answered. Winners will be announced on April 17.

Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA

Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY

Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT

Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA

Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA

Sara Wang, Henderson, NV

Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ

Madeline Male, Fairway, KS

Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV

About the Challenge

The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Kristin Jansen NASA’s Glenn Research Center

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weepingmusicartisan · 3 years

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PERFORMANCE TONIGHT!Amazing Amy! Jedi Yoga! Yoda Yoga! Stretching From a Galaxy Far, Far Away! The Force is Flexible With This One! The Only Star Wars Themed Yoga Dance in the Cosmos performs in The Lost Dog Show _ Space Cows, Fri. June 25, 2021, 10 PM, The Keep, 205 Cypress Ave., Ridgewood, Brooklyn/Queens, NY 11385. https://www.facebook.com/events/596955974602111/

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nothingman · 6 years

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In June, a crowd of over 400 sex workers, activists, organizers and allies convened across from the Stonewall Inn to celebrate International Whore’s Day. Sex workers, who belong to a criminalized and marginalized community, gathered in celebration and in protest. Their demonstration made a statement—that, even in the face of ever-present policing and a new wave of harmful legislation, sex workers can and will gather out in the open to flex their political muscle. This was best articulated in a chant, near the end of the protest, for congressional candidate Suraj Patel.

Patel is challenging Carolyn Maloney for her 12th District seat in the upcoming New York Democratic primary. In addition to being a 25-year incumbent, Maloney is also a co-sponsor of FOSTA. FOSTA and its sister Senate bill, SESTA, were ostensibly designed to fight sex trafficking. Already, the legislation has resulted in numerous websites self-censoring, for fear that they will be held liable for “facilitating prostitution.” Rather than, say, providing resources to trafficking survivors, community organizers and sex workers report that FOSTA-SESTA has served to shut down platforms for advertising and screening clients, pushing sex workers into the streets and halting online communication and harm reduction.

Standing in the crowd of protest signs and red parasols, Patel got to hear hundreds of community members and allies screaming his name, as an organizer urged protestors to “show up for someone who stands up for us.” She continued, “Let’s show the nation you don’t need to throw sex workers under the bus to win an election.”

In a courtyard outside of his campaign offices, Patel described being completely overwhelmed by the crowd’s support. “I’m just a first-time candidate, I’m 34 years old—eight months ago I was a completely private citizen,” he told The Daily Beast. “So it’s strange to be honest with you, and a little overwhelming. A lot of people are counting on this campaign to win.”

While the hotel executive and NYU business ethics professor has gotten a good deal of press exposure for being the rare anti-FOSTA-SESTA candidate, he didn’t initially aim to align his campaign with sex workers’ rights. In fact, Patel says that he had no idea what FOSTA-SESTA was when he started out. He was quickly inundated with messages from constituents, asking him what he planned to do about his opponent’s pet bill. “Honest to God, the first few days we just ignored it,” Patel admitted. “We Googled it and were like whoa, probably don’t want to touch that, kept moving.” But as time went on, and the messages kept coming, he decided to revisit it, thinking, “Maloney’s a big champion of this thing, let’s at least look at it and see what it is.” His campaign spent two months working with various organizations, talking to sex workers and trafficking survivors, people who opposed FOSTA-SESTA and people who championed it.

“Not only are people being hurt by this, trans women especially, but it’s actually become harder to prosecute trafficking.”

“We realized there are a lot of people being hurt out there,” Patel recalled, adding, “Harm reduction is the number one principle that I want to start this campaign with. Legislating morality is way above my pay grade, and I do not plan to do it. Ever. But we have caused harm, by our own doing, and we have not solved the trafficking problem. Not only are people being hurt by this, trans women especially, but it’s actually become harder to prosecute trafficking.”

“Clearly this is like a Mike Pence-y, moralizing bill because sex trafficking isn’t even the largest form of trafficking!” Patel offered. “If we cared about trafficking, we’d talk more broadly about labor trafficking—and of course undocumented immigrants, who don’t have any recourse in the police and the criminal justice system. But we didn’t. And so clearly the motives were skewed, and Democrats fell for the trap, as they tend to often do.”

He continued, “So I think that it’s important that we offer an alternative to the actual problem they were saying they were going to solve, and then say, what you really were trying to do is moralize around sex work and stigmatize it further.”

Patel conceptualizes his fight against FOSTA-SESTA within a larger framework. He emphasized that the legislation affects “the most marginalized among us,” including but not limited to trans folks, people of color, and undocumented people. Talking about FOSTA-SESTA lends itself to a conversation about mass incarceration and harmful policing—and it is Patel’s belief that the diverse, educated, extremely liberal district he seeks to represent ought to be at the forefront of these debates. Or as he puts it, “If we don’t look at prevention instead of punishment here, across all kinds of criminal justice issues, not just SESTA-FOSTA, then who will?”

As a candidate who “plans to win,” Patel aspires to raise up the sex-worker community that has literally rallied behind him. “I get to move in places and hallways that sex workers don’t get to yet. And therefore, my allyship is one to elevate their voices, and destigmatize sex work.”

A day later, on a scorching-hot New York City Saturday, Patel was in Ridgewood trying to do just that. With Survivors Against SESTA, Patel’s campaign organized a town hall for sex workers and allies. It was billed as an opportunity for the community to ask Patel questions, share experiences and concerns, and generally hold space.

Two hundred people packed into The Dreamhouse, a DIY venue draped in chandeliers and gilded mirrors. For the event, the club was filled with chairs circling a makeshift stage. Lola, an organizer with Survivors Against SESTA, welcomed the crowd.

Thank You!

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On the phone a few days before the town hall, Lola stressed that Patel was a singular candidate. “We have a lot of conversations with various elected officials at various levels of office where they will seem to understand the issues that we talk about, and then just feel like they don’t have the political cover to support us publicly,” she explained. “And so that I think is what’s really different about Suraj, is that he’s not ashamed, and he’s actually actively and explicitly supporting the safety of sex workers.” In speaking up for sex workers, Patel has gained some vocal supporters. According to Lola, “We know a lot of sex workers who’ve canvassed for the campaign because of his positions on sex work. People have done a ton of spreading word about it on social media. I know people who registered to vote who were not previously registered to vote in Democratic primaries, just so they could vote for Suraj.”

While sex workers are still very much reeling from FOSTA-SESTA, Lola posited that the “devastating” legislation has also managed to catalyze the community: “Because of how swift that devastation was, it politicized a lot of people who weren’t previously politicized, and media also began covering the harm in such a way that in previous times sex workers weren’t really covered. So it sort of gave people more room to think about this issue critically instead of just having that immediate response of, ‘Oh, sex work is trafficking, all women are exploited, etc.’”

“Obviously we really hope that Suraj will win, we hope that he’ll be an advocate for us in Congress,” Lola concluded. “But at the end of the day, even if he doesn’t, this is a really big step in the right direction for us, because the entire campaign shows that you can support sex workers and still do OK, and actually get a really positive community response from it.”

Ceyenne Doroshow, the Founder and Director of the advocacy organization GLITS (Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society), explained why so many people were sacrificing a day at the beach to sit in a dark room in Ridgewood. “Our community is getting raped, beaten, murdered, and we have no way to defend ourselves,” she said, introducing Patel to the crowd. “Suraj, you’re our way.”

Doroshow joined Cecilia Gentili of GMHC and Womankind’s Aya Tasaki in a panel discussion that hit on the aftermath of FOSTA-SESTA and potential next steps. Gentili, who’s the Director of Policy at GMHC, “the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy,” spoke candidly about what she’s been seeing in the community: “Specifically right now in Jackson Heights, there’s been a tremendous number of violence against sex workers that identify as trans and are undocumented. And because they are sex workers, because they are undocumented, and because they are trans, these people are not comfortable with coming out in any kind of way.” She added that, “These people were doing sex work in their houses, in their places, and it was relatively safe for them. But because they are unable to advertise online, they have been forced to go back to the streets, where all these predators are going to them and stealing their money, violently approach them, rape them.”

“There was this girl last week that was stabbed five times. Five fucking times,” Gentili said, visibly emotional. “That’s how bad it is. That’s what SESTA and FOSTA is doing to the community.” As a transgender woman who was formerly undocumented, Gentili spoke on undocumented trans people who do sex work “because they make the decision to do, or because it’s the only thing that we can do. Because realistically, nobody offers many jobs to trans people, and there are not many jobs that a person without documented status can do here.” Trans people disproportionately engage in sex work, and are disproportionately targeted and policed for doing so. FOSTA-SESTA has only increased the danger. “I’m tired of us being stabbed, beaten, robbed, chased,” Doroshow offered. “And then we wind up being criminalized.”

Still, Gentili offered a note of hope: “I dreamt years ago of the days when a politician was going to be with me, talking about what sex work looks like for an undocumented trans woman. And check this out: it’s happening now, and it’s happening out of struggle.”

Tasaki, Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Womankind, formerly the New York Asian Women’s Center, echoed Doroshow and Gentili’s testimonies while also offering a tip to outsiders attempting to catalogue community harm. “What we are demanded by all of these funders and politicians is like, give us numbers,” Tasaki said. “Give us all of the proof. And it’s like, just trust us. Just listen to our stories. It doesn’t seem to be enough for leaders like Ceyenne and Cecilia to be like, this is happening in my community! Somehow still, the system is requiring us to bulk that up with numbers…These are the deaths. How many more do you need for you to believe us?”

During his remarks, Patel spoke out against Congress for failing to “talk to the people who are going to be most affected by that law,” and against FOSTA-SESTA, calling it “a charade of a bill.”

“Every small-thinking politician that wants to take a bipartisan victory back home,” he continued, “can stand around Donald Trump in the Oval Office and pat themselves on the back for coming out against trafficking when all they really did was make it very difficult for lots of people in this country to survive, and made it much more likely that they would be exploited.”

But Patel urged the attendees not to be discouraged by the massive number of votes in support. If he were to defeat a 25-year-incumbent, he wagered, politicians’ sense of self-preservation would probably kick in. “If we terrify folks by saying, we’re going to vote, and we’re going to vote in large numbers, and we’re gonna organize, and we’re gonna out-organize, you’ll be surprised to see how many more doors and conference rooms start opening up to working on repealing this, or coming up with a way to dramatically restructure it so that it exempts voluntary, consensual sex work,” he said.

He went on to push back against the idea that sex work is a niche issue, or one that wouldn’t appeal to the majority of voters. Instead of “otherizing” the issue, he suggested broadening the conversation to talk about mass incarceration, and labor rights, as well as humanizing the sex workers who have been negatively affected: “Putting faces to the violence and showing that these are real people is one huge component.” Plus, he added, “There’s an estimated 10 to 20,000 sex workers in this district. Which means that there’s, who knows how many hundreds of thousands of clients in this district.”

While Patel received a lot of applause on his vision and allyship, he also got pushback. During the Q&A portion of the event, a self-identified organizer questioned if the candidate’s support of the sex-worker community would extend beyond the campaign—even if he loses. As one of the first and few politicians to come out against the legislation, would he continue to be a face of the anti-FOSTA-SESTA movement? While Patel joked that, if things didn’t go his way, he would start by engaging in a lot of “self-care,” he continued, “I’m 34 years old, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“For me this isn’t work anymore, this is just what I like to do. And because of it, I’ll be right here with you guys all the way through. That’s a promise.”

The fact that Patel, who maintains that he wants to keep hearing from the community and evolving his positions, has yet to come out in support of full decriminalization, remained a point of frustration. One attendee explained, “What you’re saying right now, it’s great, and it’s awesome, and it’s just not enough. So I need to know that you’re going to keep listening to us, and continue that learning that you’re doing.” While she thanked Patel for coming and speaking with the community, and for opposing FOSTA-SESTA, she continued, “I need to say that I am really tired of being grateful for so little.”

The event ended with another chant, something Patel’s probably gotten a little more used to by now.

“Sex workers vote,” the crowd screamed. “And we’re voting Suraj in.”

via The Daily Beast Latest Articles

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attract-mode-collective · 7 years

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Almost Time Again to Say RIP to Yet Another DIY Part of NYC

Once I passed the two-decade mark as a prisoner, I mean resident of New York City, I realized that it was perhaps time to move on. After all, the Big Apple’s siren call, which drew me here to the first place, had become increasingly (and rapidly) muted.

So I made a top ten list for myself, of important and/or favorite places; once everything was crossed out, it would indeed be time to get the hell out of NYC. The most recent casualty: Grassroots Tavern, aka the best damn dive bar that this city ever saw (and ever will). There’s not much left on that list.

Curious as to what’s included exactly? What’s left on my list? How about something I never bothered to include: Silent Barn. Why? Cuz if I had written the name down, I figured it'd be gone before the ink had even dried. Yet it did last. For a long time, longer than many expected.

But alas, not as long as others had hoped. Today it was announced that Silent Barn will soon be closing its doors. On April 30, 2018.

I'm not going to pretend that it's been my second home, at least in recent years. Though once upon a time... a different story. Today, the very concept of an indie arcade is still in its infancy, and back in 2010, Babycastles was the primordial goo from which much of everything has sprung from.

I was a member during the very early days, a statement that some might find contentious, depending on whom you talk to; as is the case with any scene, especially one with ties with music and art, everyone has their own narrative. As such, my time with Babycastles was equally contentious, as well as brief.

Yet it was long enough to allow me to throw a zine launch party at Silent Barn’s original incarnation. Not long after that was a full-on show, a showcase of both indie games and commercial games that were off-beat and experimental. There was also music, of course...

Silent Barn, like it did for so many others, was the place a fire was lit underneath my ass; HARDCORE FEELINGS in Ridgewood (back when Silent Barn was in Queens, not Brooklyn) got a fair amount of attention. So we capitalized on the newfound status of "The CBGB's of Video Games" and secured a short-term residency in Manhattan, near Times Square of all places. This in turn would allow me to tap into various resources at Attract Mode, to produce HEAVENLY SYMPHONY, a significant turning point for the collective.

When Babycastles said goodbye to the Times Square space was when I walked away as well, to concentrate on events on the behalf of Attract Mode, which would take place in Toronto, Seattle, even New York again a few times. Though I never forgot where it all started, where I came across folk who were weird in their own way, yet also weird in the same way I was too.

Silent Barn was a place where anything could happen, no matter how crazy the idea. Even yours. Because there were others willing to help make it happen… and where you wanted to see their crazy ideas coalesce as well, so you too pitched in. Again, April 30th will be the last day for Silent Barn’s current Brooklyn location, in Bushwick. A part of me assumes that it’ll find a new home, like it has before. The spirit will live on, and it will thrive again. Right?

Yet then there's the other part, which has seen too many good things in this city just… disappear. Sorry, I wish I had something more meaningful to share. Which is why I'm just going shut up and post pics from HARDCORE FEELINGS, all taken by Earl Madness...

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