One of the final outreach initiatives I worked on at WHEDco was engaging the religious community along Southern Boulevard, especially the small storefront churches that dot the strip. During the day, the storefronts are completely inactive: the grates are down constantly, and often feature graffiti, and many of the signs seem impromptu or hastily-compiled, often…
Mapping Community Organizations
For my map, I asked Yesmin and Kerry at WHEDco what they most needed mapped as a part of the CDNA process, and one of the things that came up was an interest in knowing where the different types of community organizations in the area were located to reference for both outreach and connecting residents…
Interview with Kerry McLean
On Tuesday, I sat down with my boss, Kerry McLean, to talk about her background, experience in non-profit work, and influence on WHEDco’s community development department. The full interview is here.
Right to the City
“Urbanization, we may conclude, has played a crucial role in the absorption of capital surpluses, at ever increasing geographical scales, but at the price of burgeoning processes of creative destruction that have dispossessed the masses of any right to the city whatsoever….The urban and peri-urban social movements of opposition, of which there are many around…
The “Field”
“Sociologists who study organizations sometimes use the term ‘field’ to describe a set of organizations linked together as competitors and collaborators within a social space devoted to a particular type of action — such as a market for certain products, the pursuit of urban development, or the realm of electoral politics. Agreements struck among the…
Who Likes Maps?
I have to preface this post with the acknowledgement that I love maps. I have a Google Maps tab open at all times for any searches that come to mind, from food places in the area to subway routes and everything in between. For my work at WHEDco, my main resource has been OASIS, which…
Southern Boulevard: A History
The history of Southern Boulevard closely parallels the history of the South Bronx as a whole, and is in many ways emblematic of the many demographic, spatial, and cultural shifts that took place in the area over time. Before 1900, like much of the Bronx, the area was home of wealthy landowners outside of New…
Photoessay: Bronx Summer Fest
This week, I spent most of my time prepping for one of WHEDco’s annual community events: Bronx Summer Fest, a block party and street festival that takes place outside of one of their affordable housing sites (and my office) in Crotona Park East. Here’s what my day looked like:
Positionality
Hello from the South Bronx! In the last two weeks that I’ve been working with WHEDco, I realize that the most time I have for thought and reflection takes place during my commute. To make a brief outline: on the days I start at WHEDco at 9:30 AM, I leave my home in suburban New…
