The local paper for the Upper East Side A SMALL BUSINESS PASSION PROJECT
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER
14-20
<P.16
2017
DACA: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE DREAMERS A longtime community leader on his involvement with an East Harlem group devoted to helping Latino immigrants BY STEPHAN RUSSO
In February I retired from a job I loved. I had been the executive director of Goddard Riverside Community Center since 1998, having started my career there in the summer of 1976 as a young and impressionable youth worker. As I rose through the ranks of this venerable West Side agency, I clung to the values of fairness, social justice and the power of offering a helping hand. Today Goddard Riverside serves over 17,000 neighborhood residents and has been a citywide leader in street outreach, supportive housing and access to higher education for young people who are often the first in their families to attend college. Yet it was time for me to move on and pass the torch to the next generation of leadership. Faced with the challenge of transitioning from community leader to community member, I wanted to put my energies elsewhere in the quest to “do good.” The instinct to find community, and be part of something that makes a difference, brought me to a wonderful East Harlem organization called CREA, Centro de Recursos Educativos para Adultos (The Center for Adult Education). I came upon CREA last spring after a conversation with an old friend and colleague. I related to her that I was interested in getting involved with a group working on immigration, particularly an organization deeply
A colorized postcard image from 1941 shows the giant, 17-foot, gold-tinted rotating globe in the lobby of the old Daily News Building at 220 East 42nd Street. One of the world’s largest indoor globes, it was used as a permanent educational science exhibit for schoolkids. Postcard: Published by Lumitone Photoprint, via Wikimedia Commons
CREA founder Maria Guadalupe Martinez (“Lupita”). Photo courtesy of CREA rooted in the Latino community. (I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 1970s in Colombia, South America, and the warmth of that community has never left me.) “I know a marvelous woman who leads an education program in the Hispanic community,” my colleague said. “The program works primarily with immigrants of Mexican decent who never had the opportunity to complete their studies in their home countries and are motivated to improve their lives through education.” She put me in touch with Maria Guadalupe
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
OurTownEastSide
O OURTOWNNY.COM @OurTownNYC
Crime Watch Voices NYC Now City Arts
‘TOO TOUGH TO DIE’ MEDIA A former Daily News reporter ponders the sale of the storied tabloid, reflects on its past glories, marvels that it has once again dodged a bullet – and prays for twin miracles, its continued survival and success BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
A single pointed word, perfectly chosen, speaking volumes. The telltale exclamation point that follows. A haunting photo that, once seen, can never be forgotten. The visceral presentation, in print no less, that can shock, anger, inform and take your breath away, all at the same time.
3 8 10 12
Restaurant Ratings Business Real Estate 15 Minutes
14 16 17 21
This was newspapering at its most elemental, and, I would argue, at its finest: On January 12, 1928, murderess Ruth Snyder went to the electric chair at Sing Sing after she and a lover garroted her husband. And the next day, a photo of the execution ran on Page One of the Daily News. There was the one-word headline — “DEAD!” – topping a picture of a woman in a black dress, sitting upright in a chair, an electrode strapped to her leg, her face masked, head helmeted, an autopsy table at her side, at precisely the moment a fatal current coursed through her body. OK, it was lurid. And sensationalistic. Illicit, too. You can’t just snap photos in a death house. So a News lensman (yes, we actually called them that) smuggled in an ankle camera, a long cable release running up a trou-
ser leg, and recorded the horrifying scene. Now, why is this a good thing? It was the mission of “New York’s Picture Newspaper” to show, not just tell. Its duty to readers was to present a vivid account by camera, not just pencil and paper. The editors wanted to show you what really happened inside that execution chamber. Did they want to sell newspapers?
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat and holiday candles Rosh Hashanah eve. Wednesday Sep. 20, 6:38 pm 2nd day Rosh Hashanah eve. Thursday Sep. 21 after 7:35 pm from a pre existing flame Friday Sep. 22, 6:35 pm from a pre existing flame. For more information visit: www.chabaduppereastside.com
We deliver! Get Our Town Eastsider sent directly to your mailbox for $49 per year. Go to OurTownNY.com or $ call 212-868-0190