Marriage Equality Keeps Gays from Boisterous Support of Either Candidate

This story also appears here: NYU Pavement Pieces


The presidential candidates opposition to full-fledged marriage equality has kept many gay and lesbian New Yorkers from wholeheartedly jumping on the Obama or McCain bandwagon.

“You won’t get it with either one. I feel bad saying this, but I’m still undecided,” said Michael Cooper, 28, at Stonewall Inn in the West Village where a smattering of gays gathered to watch the third and final debate between Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (D-AZ).

“For the most part, they sound the same,” said Cooper as he sipped some liquor at the famed bar.

Stonewall Inn has been a political focal point for decades. In the late 1960’s, when gay bars were often terrorized by police officers with nightly raids, the patrons of Stonewall fought back.

It was on June 28, 1969, when eight police officers attempted to raid the bar, the ensuing “Stonewall riots” ignited the modern gay rights movement.

Throughout the debate Cooper would criticize Obama and McCain equally.

He said Obama’s “pay as you go” plan for new budgeting rules in spending sounded like he was ignorant of the rest of America already living paycheck to paycheck.

He said McCain’s policies sounded like the Bush Administration’s and derided him as “McSame.”

“They are just as silly as the rest of them,” said 48-year-old bartender Chuck Streeper about both of the senators’ policy toward marriage equality.

Both candidates have said they support civil unions, but refused to support marriage, much to the dismay of many in the LGBT community.

Streeper acknowledged that most people that came into the bar were voting for Obama, but he had to follow his own heart: “I’m voting for Nader.”

Rick Street, 50, who was visiting from Washington the bar with his partner, felt marriage for gays would be legalized under an Obama presidency.

His friends and PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) parents, Kathy and Robert Reim, didn’t agree. “We think [civil unions] are serious head roads.”

As the debate drew to a close, Michael Cooper got closer to a decision: “I’ve flip-flopped so many times, but I think I’m actually leaning towards McCain.”

Citing McCain’s plan to drill in Alaska, Cooper summed up his feeling: “The guy just makes more sense.”

Demand for Child Care Reaches City Hall

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has closed 17 child care centers since coming to office, and according to the union protesting outside City Hall three weeks ago, he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“We want Bloomberg to know we are frustrated,” said 72-yeor-old District Council 1707 Executive Director, Raglan George Jr.



George, speaking with four children surrounding him, told the packed crowd of Local 95 Head Start employees, Local 205 day care employees, and supporters that it was time for The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to give the union what it wants.

Both locals were together in protest against ACS, who has not given either union a contract in almost three years, and better healthcare for them and their children.

“[We are together] for unity. We can make a bigger difference together,” said Linda Gomez, 39-year old director of administration for DC 1707.

They have introduced a plan for better heathcare coverage to the ACS, which is posted on their website (www.dc1707.net), that they feel will keep health care costs low, even with child care centers staying open and providing better coverage.

In 2006 ACS tried to close 13 more centers because of, what they claim, is under-enrollment.

Suzy Bonny, a 27-year member of DC 1707 and Head Start, said she is concerned about parents not getting child care they need.

“Without child care, parents get up-tight. They need that three, four, six hours away from the children. Parents can’t get anything done when they are up-tight,” said Bonny, who has raised seven children.

George also felt parents who didn’t have child care would have to stay home and miss work, thus leading them to welfare.

Several other unions, SCIU and UAW, were also there to show solidarity. “It’s a good turnout, but we were expecting more,” said Vickie Littlejohn, 54-year-old DC1707 staff organizer, referring to the 70-80 protesters outside City Hall.

This was the second demonstration by the DC 1707 this year. According to George, “we will be out here everyday if we have to.”

Hang in There

As David Blaine was more than half way through accomplishing his latest stunt, risking blindness and massive internal bleeding, he had one thing keeping him going: the support of his fans.



“They’ve really helped make this go by in a way that I could never thank them enough for,” said Brooklyn-born Blaine, 35, of his supporters and added: ““I know I will make it to the end.”

As Blaine talked he sounded fatigued, and at a loss for words. He said, “I have adapted to the situation somewhat.”

A crowd of 50 people surrounded Blaine. Some are fans, others on vacation in the Big Apple.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said 24-year-old Alana Kane from London, England. She came to Big Apple to shop, but had to see Blaine after hearing about his stunt.

“Hang in there!” yelled Kane up at Blaine.

A fan since Blaine’s first ploy, Patrick Barr, 44, said, “I think he is a shaman” and felt Blaine’s stunts take “intestinal fortitude.”

Blaine has been a fixture in New York since 1999, when he entombed himself underground for seven days across from Trump Place. Since then, he stuck himself in a block of ice at Times Square (2000), has balanced atop a 90 ft high pillar in Bryant Park (2002), submerged himself in water in front of the Lincoln Center (2006), and shackled to a rotating gyroscope near Times Square (2006).

Barr had some criticisms of this event: “I was more impressed by his other stunts…I wish he didn’t keep standing up,” referring to the five-minute break Blaine took every hour to stand up, go to the bathroom, and get checked out by doctors.

“I don’t think it is realistic that the TV audience (the finale was to be carried live on ABC) will know he is taking breaks,” said Melissa Vink, 39, on vacation from Michigan.

Regardless, even Vink says she thinks Blaine has “superhuman abilities” and has admired his stunts for years.

Before Blaine could even unharness himself, the rumor mill had already started for his next event; Barr heard it involved staying awake for a long time, but Blaine spokeswoman Sarah McDonnell denied that.

Blaine hasn’t said anything about what is next but did divulge his secret formula for deciding: “I like to imagine me as a little kid growing up in New York and the things that would make me come and watch.”

Give Profits a Chance

Three weeks ago, leaders from every corner of the globe descended on New York for the United Nations General Assembly. The businesses surrounding the U.N. building in Midtown East weren’t looking for world peace – they just wanted more customers.

“We are hoping business picks up,” said 19-year-old hostess, Jesena Duton, at Mediterranean restaurant Don Veitia.

For Don Veitia, located at the corner of 46th St. and 2nd Avenue, business has been a lot slower this year, like most of their neighbors.

The 192 U.N. member states meet every year at this time in New York City for the general debate in which they discuss their views on international issues. Now in its 63rd meeting, the U.N. planned to tackle the global food crisis and the need to democratize itself more.

“We anticipate it will be very busy,” said Saygi Akca, 29, an accountant for the Amish Market grocery store located on 45th St just steps away from the U.N, headquarters . She knows from last year that they will be making a lot of much-needed money from catering orders.

The owner of John’s Café Restaurant on the corner of 44th St. and 2nd Ave., Gus Argyros, was also getting ready: He is stocking up his restaurant with extra supplies.

Argyros, who has owned John’s since 1991, has seen business boom in the area during assembly weeks. In years past, he fed TV broadcaster George Stephanopoulos and the former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland; “She had like 10 bodyguards,” he said.
Argyros was worried about barricades going up in the area because delivery people woudn’t be able to get food supplies to him.

“People won’t be able to get anywhere: there will be barricades and people checking I.D.’s,” said NYPD Police Officer Louis Claudio, 30.

Ripson Syed, an employee at a candy/ice cream/novelty shop, Heavenly Delights on 2nd Ave., was looking forward to the barricades cutting down on foot traffic: “People can’t walk around here during the week…now people will be able to get here.”

Syed has felt the pain of a poor economy in Bangladesh, where he is originally from, and here in New York. He hopes a U.N. diplomat will come into Heavenly Delights so he can ask them: “What are you going to do about the economy?”


“When America is affected the whole world is affected,” he added.

The U.N. General Assembly ran from Tuesday, September 23rd and concluded Wednesday, October 1st.

Whispers of Politics in Staten Island

It’s Saturday night in Staten Island and the full moon’s reflection playfully shines off New York Bay to light the unassuming Cargo Café. If you listen closely, just past the wind-battered white exterior of the bar, you can hear the voices of who will decide the fate of the Republican Party in New York City.

“If there is one thing people do at this bar, it’s talk,” said 33-year-old bartender Jason Jetson.

The one topic of conversation that can get the usually tight-lipped Staten Islanders talking is the upcoming congressional race between Democrat Michael McMahon and Republican Robert A. Straniere.

After 15 years of Republican leadership, New York’s’ 13th Congressional District - the only district in the city represented by a Republican – may be moving the Big Apple towards an entirely Democratic congressional delegation.

That would be accomplished by electing McMahon to succeed Vito Fosella Jr. (R) in the wake of his recent a drunk driving/adultery scandal.

“They are both good guys, but I’m voting for Straniere,” said Bob Carrol, 57, a lawyer living across the street from Cargo.

Carrol, who stopped in for a drink, cited Straniere’s 25 years of experience in the New York State Assembly as a reason to vote for him.

He was also concerned with the possibility of a Democrat being elected: “I don’t want a congress that is strictly Democratic, we need balance.” He wasn’t concerned about local issues, but wants a representative who was a Republican because of, what he calls, “a proactive stance towards national defense.”

Outside Cargo having a cigarette, was Mike Oates, 48, a freelance photographer and a self-proclaimed Staten Island institution – he says his family has been there for generations.

Oates, for the first time in the 30 years he’s been eligible to vote, is finally casting his first vote for McMahon, whom he says “is down to earth” and “doesn’t have any skeletons in his closet.”

McMahon, the only Democratic City Council member representing Staten Island, was the favorite at Cargo.

“Mike McMahon lives and breathes Staten Island. He has a real grasp on things – knows his district,” said Oates.

Although the people of Staten Island might disagree on who to vote for on November 4th, Oates summed up the consensus: “Staten Island is unique; people want to vote for someone that does good for the island.”

Beams of Hope

On the eve of the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks, two four ton steel beams to be used in construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have returned home to New York.

The two beams have been to 25 cities in 25 states to raise money for the memorial foundation, and gave Americans a chance to pay their respects to the victims of 9/11 by writing their names on the beams.

“These beams should be for all Americans…This wasn’t just an attack on New York, it was [an attack] on America,” said Naidie Bompane, who works as a paralegal in lower Manhattan.

Bompane was working three blocks away from the World Trade Center during the attacks: “I couldn’t go back to work for three weeks.”

When she walked by the beams on her way to work this morning, she had to stop. “I wanted to cry,” she said.

The beams, located at the north end of Battery Park, had been attracting attention since Wednesday night when they arrived, according to security guard Felipe Pia.

Pia was in charge of watching the beams since midnight. He said people started coming out immediately, taking pictures and staring at them in awe.

He said he felt privileged just to be guarding the beams.

Camille Grey, an employee at the Aon Corporation, was teary-eyed while looking at the beams.

Grey lost 176 of her co-workers on September. 11th when the second plane hit the south tower. Grey, who had the day off work that day, was at the beams because she “had to be there” for her co-workers.

She didn’t think the beams were enough of a tribute to the victims, and wanted to see the towers rebuilt for them. She was upset about the time it was taking to build the Freedom Tower, which even Mayor Michael Bloomberg told The Wall Street Journal today is “frustratingly slow.”

Mayor Bloomberg used his speech at the beams this morning as a platform for his four-part plan to get the Freedom Tower and 9/11 memorial and museum construction back on track.

The beams will be available for signing until 7 p.m. tonight and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow. They will also be outside Giants Stadium from 2:00 p.m. to the end of the first quarter of the New York Jets opening home game on September 14th.

Max City

I've been reading comics since second grade with the Reign of the Supermen arc in Superman comics. Around the same time I start reading, I began creating my own comics. My brother, Steve, and I created a whole universe of characters that lived in a fictional city called Max City (named after our dog).

We spent over a decade constructing this universe: we had our own crossovers between books, created 100s of characters, and, basically, created our own mythology.

Below I have posted the final comic I ever worked on in our universe. It features all our best characters. Two of Steve's characters, Super-Steve and Hicks appear, as well as my creations: Lightning Man, Xerex, Green Knight, and a group of villians I called "the Alumonti."

It's all fairly ridiculous but I recently joined a comic book group at NYU and we will be working on our own comic for the semester, so I thought I would revisit it. Enjoy!

Heavy Cloud Hangs Over Fashion Week

(My first story for NYU was on Fashion Week and I wrote a few different versions of it before I turned it in. This version I did not turn in, but I think it is still a fun read.)

“Love your body, love your curves!”

This chant was probably something most people did not expect to hear when going to Fashion Week in New York’s Bryant Park on Sunday afternoon.

Outside the heavily guarded white tents, that contained some of the skinniest models on earth, a voice of discontent was rising.

Tiffany Bank, and her peers in Ms. NYC Plus, were protesting the fashion industry’s use of women’s bodies that are unrealistic for the majority of women.

Bank, with her pink “Curves on the Catwalk” t-shirt said, “We are trained models. We can walk the catwalk just like they can.”

The members of Ms. NYC Plus had applied to be models at the event, but were denied, even though most had experience modeling for designers such as Lane Bryant. They felt the fashion industry as a whole was not being fair to plus-size models and wanted to see plus-size designers, like Monif C., at the event.

“The industry’s idea of what plus-size is is warped. A size 8 is not a plus-size,” said Bank.

Bank, who is from Brooklyn, was documenting the protest by handheld video for “The Tyra Banks Show.” She will be filming an episode of the show on Wednesday (airdate TBD) in which she will show the audience Fashion Week from her perspective.

The members of Ms. NYC Plus were ecstatic about the positive feedback they were getting from the crowd and felt “very blessed” to be there.

One fashion week attendee from Washington, D.C. said he was impressed by the diversity of the models inside the event, but when asked if there were any plus-sized models, he said, “No. Come on, this is fashion.”

Fashion Week, which started in 1943, has been held in Bryant Park for the past 14 years.

The women of Ms. NYC Plus are holding an event called “The Art of Curves: The Movement” on September 19^th at Studio 450 located at 450 W.31^st.

The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week will continue in Bryant Park until Friday.