11 May 2012
Barack Obama has just become the first president to openly endorse gay marriage. Jimmy LaSavia is the co-founder of GoProud, a national organization that calls themselves “the voice of gay conservatives.” LaSalvia’s vote is set for candidate Mitt Romney, but he says there’s a positive side to the President’s announcement earlier this week. [Audio clip: [...]
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11 May 2012
New York City is the battleground for a historic election this year. Most of the candidates are New Yorkers, though the winners won’t be going to Washington or Albany. They’ll be headed to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. A constitutional change there that takes effect this year will give the Dominicans abroad–about [...]
Posted in The Globe0 Comments
11 May 2012
The use of stop and frisk by the New York City Police Department has reached an all time high. The NYPD reports that in 2011 officers made almost 700,000 stops. This week the New York Civil Liberties Union responded with a report criticizing the practice, highlighting that police found weapons on less than two percent [...]
Posted in City Life0 Comments
11 May 2012
When dementia sets in, it’s often thought that all is lost. But staff at the Studio Museum in Harlem doesn’t think so. It has a program to provide art therapy to Alzheimer’s patients, which is meant to keep moods up and minds active. Some hope the program might lessen the need for medication to fight [...]
11 May 2012
A leafy little block of west 107th street is pretty quiet 22 hours day of the day. But around noon on school days, weather permitting, the street closes to traffic and opens to children on recess. It’s all over in a couple of hours, but some block residents say the students’ playtime is no fun [...]
Posted in City Life, Education0 Comments
11 May 2012
Three million New Yorkers live too far from grocery stores, according to the city. Experts call these areas “food deserts”. That’s because it’s difficult for residents to find fresh groceries. And as a result, they’re more prone to health problems like diabetes and obesity. A city program is trying to tackle the issue. [Audio clip: [...]
Posted in City Life, Health0 Comments
11 May 2012
The Chelsea Hotel is one of the most durable symbols of bohemian Manhattan. But lately, the atmosphere there has turned toxic. Last year, a real estate developer bought the Chelsea, and began renovations intended to turn the counterculture institution into a luxury hotel. Residents filed suit, alleging that the construction had led to health violations [...]
Posted in Culture0 Comments
11 May 2012
“Man of La Mancha” is the musical adapted from Cervantes’ Don Quixote, about the deluded hero who charges windmills on horseback. Commentator Ben Bradford feels for the Don–he has his own windmill. [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Posted in Commentaries, Featured0 Comments
11 May 2012
J.P. Morgan Chase made it through the financial crisis relatively unscathed. And its CEO, Jamie Dimon [dye-mon] was supposed to be untouchable. But yesterday, the firm announced that it had taken a two-billion dollar loss on a massive trade that backfired. Dimon called the bank’s strategy “poorly executed and poorly monitored.” [Audio clip: view full [...]
Posted in Money0 Comments
11 May 2012
Thousands of college students will walk the stage this month at graduations across the country. And the majority of them will be looking for a job. But if the past few years are any indication, they could be in for an unpleasant surprise! Researchers at Rutgers University surveyed graduates from the past 6 years and [...]
Posted in Education0 Comments
11 May 2012
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] HOST INTRO: Next week the people behind your favorite voices at Uptown Radio will graduate. For all of us, a diploma from Columbia means the opportunity to go onto bigger things in journalism. Commentator Acacia Squires is realizing this also means big debt. SQUIRES: I was twenty-five and [...]
Posted in Commentaries0 Comments
11 May 2012
Dying is an expensive business – today the average funeral costs 8,000 dollars. A hundred years ago, Jewish immigrants to New York shared that financial burden by forming burial societies, where members paid small yearly dues to reserve a grave site near their loved ones. Today, those 15,000 societies are in unregulated decline – or [...]
Posted in City Life0 Comments
11 May 2012
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] HOST INTRO Another potential 2013 candidate for mayor has blasted Mayor Bloomberg for his 2013 budget. The budget would cut the number of contracts awarded for after school and early child care programs by about half. In the week since the mayor unveiled his budget, educators and [...]
Posted in Money0 Comments
11 May 2012
One of the most popular genres of video games are first-person shooters, like the Halo and Call of Duty series. Millions of players compete against each other in virtual warfare, online. Amidst the violence, an unusual sub-culture has emerged. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] HOST INTRO: One of the most popular genres of [...]
Posted in Featured, Science and Tech0 Comments
11 May 2012
Before Pappa’s Got A Brand New Bag, It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World and Sex Machine, James Brown wasn’t quite the megastar we remember. But that all changed 50 years ago this fall. That’s when James Brown recorded a show at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre which later became a seminal live album. To mark that anniversary, [...]
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04 May 2012
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had breakfast with Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this week in Manhattan. President Obama had lunch with the mayor at the White House a few weeks ago. The obvious agenda: both the president and his challenger want Bloomberg’s endorsement. I spoke with Lois Romano, who writes for Politico, about the candidates’ [...]
Posted in Interviews0 Comments
04 May 2012
Strong storms this winter have taken their toll on East Hampton’s Georgica Beach, eroding it to roughly half its normal, summertime size. Town officials say the remaining land is not big enough for the hundreds of beachgoers who normally flock there during the high season. But the town is also concerned that cars and people [...]
Posted in Science and Tech0 Comments
