Taking a Break at NYCityBeat

NYCityBeat will be taking a break until September. Many thanks to our staff.

Help Is On The Way

Unemployed New Yorkers will be receiving 645 million dollars in federal stimulus money. More than half of the money $370 million will go to people who have been out of work for more than a year, while the remaining funds will be used to close the state’s insolvent unemployment fund.New York is one of several states that have not complied with the requirements to receive a share of the $787 billion stimulus package for their unemployment systems.

Some experts think unemployment insurance payments helpful to the economy because most of the money is spent on groceries, gasoline, and other necessities. Critics think insurance payments is added incentive to those receiving aid to just stay idle. Regardless of who is right or wrong in the matter the fact is many New Yorkers need the money.

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Swine flu’s unknown symptom

To the symptoms experts in medicine attribute to the Swine flu, we should add brain damage, which, among other things, exacerbates the negative feelings or prejudices some hold about their fellow living beings. As peculiar as it sounds, this last symptom seems to particularly affect those who have not even been reached by this so-called pandemic.

While some among this group take aim at pigs, others are choosing to point fingers at the people from Mexico, the country where the first Swine flu cases were reported.

The quarantine China enforced upon scores of Mexican nationals and the racist statements appearing in the blog of Mayor Bloomberg appointee Betsy Perry –Perry was forced to resign her post at the Women’s Issues Commission after the incident– confirm the levels of stupidity the Swine flu produces in those untouched by it.

Jury turns assaulters into the assaulted

Last year, in July, Luis Ramirez was attacked by a group of white teenagers in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. As a result of this assault, which according to witnesses was accompanied by racist slurs, Ramirez entered into a coma and subsequently died.  

Two weeks ago, an all-white jury chose to declare two of Ramirez’s attackers not guilty of serious charges, which brings downs to zero the probability that they will spend more than two years in prison. Apparently, the jury agreed with the defense attorneys’ claims that Ramirez was the aggressor and that the defendants had just reacted to his violent ways.

Gosh, it’s good to know that we live in a country where justice is always served.

Doomsday averted

After weeks of delays, the state senate finally passed an MTA bailout agreement, which will be used to add capital to the state’s transit agency. While fares are still going to rise, it won’t be nearly as drastic as the doomsday plan calls for. Service is not going to be cut, but the base fare for buses and subways will rise to $2.25. Monthly metro cards will rise to $89 while weekly fares will rise to $27.

(more here)

The bailout doesn’t come without a political toll. Elliot Sanders stepped down a day after the agreement was reached. Governor Patterson has thrown strong hits that he was looking for a shakeup in MTA’s leadership.

Even more severe, State Democrats (Malcolm Smith and David Paterson in particular) have taken a severe hit and appear weaker than they did before the talks even started. The failed negotiations are seen as an indictment of the disorganization and ineffectiveness of the party. This could possibly give state Republicans a boost coming into the 2010 elections.

African American in NYC

Since I’ve started my third story on a person dealing with the foreclosure of her home, I’ve been noticing a lot of for sale signs around my neighborhood. come to find out, in the last quarter of 2008, it was found that 13 of 15 zip codes in the city that had the highest foreclosure rates were in Queens. So, I’ve decided to post up stories that deal with this crisis that I found interesting. Enjoy.

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Immigrants in detention

How do we know that we cannot be vulnerable to loose our sanity in our everyday lives?

Well, the story of Xiu Ping Jiang is the story of, what I assume, the story of a lot of immigrants lost in a system of immigration policies and bureaucracies, and unknown to the American people. However, more and more do we hear about such stories. The mentally ill immigrant who is in jail and cannot “fight deportation or getting travel documents” says the article.

Not to say she is lucky, but she has the luck to have two sisters who deeply about her, and fight for her. Those who have no family or relatives to depend on are aen more vulnerable.

This story also illustrate the more general trend, reported by the New York Times, to neglect medical care for detained immigrants.

Economic recession stressing mental health agencies in Long Island

The relationship between the recession and mental health programs is quite ironic.

Once the economy plummets and people start losing their jobs, the demand for mental health care rises. But, the lack of money result in budget cuts, and more hospital staff being laid off, creating a shaky and over-stressed system that’s main purpose is to help people (who are experiencing some of the same symptoms.)

Long Island is just one area that has been experiencing this unsettling dynamic. A recent Newsday article had interviews with some of Long Island’s psychiatric facilities, doctors and therapists about the affect of the recession.

They found that “calls to Nassau County’s Mental Health Association hotline are up 20 percent since September” and a psychiatric clinic in Glen Oaks serving Queens and Nassau County, Zucker Hillside Hospital’s ” admissions to outpatient mental health services have risen by more than 1,000 cases – a 50 percent hike – so far this year compared to the same period a year ago.”

Swine Flu Fear Can’t Stop NYC Subway Riders

As a New York City subway rider, the talk of how contagious the swine flu is made me nervous. I felt so uneasy, I flinched every time a person at a close proximity coughed or sneezed. I only thought for the worse, but then I went back to listening to my iPod. Apparently, people like myself have no choice but to go about their lives and ride the subway as The New York Times recently reported. The Times cited a Gallop poll , which said only 4% of people nationwide avoided taking mass transit on April 30th, due to the risk of contracting swine flu.

*The poll does not mention how many people were asked in total and if they were in specifically swine flu affected areas.

Two cases of “Raccoon Ringworm” in Brooklyn

While there is no scientific evidence pointing to pigs as the carrier of swine flu, there are two recent cases in Brooklyn, New York of a rare fatal disease called “Raccoon Ringworm,“ which is linked to raccoon feces. According to the Daily News, a Brooklyn-born infant is left brain damaged after going upstate last year and started to have neurological problems in October and is still hospitalized today. The other case is of a Brooklyn teenage male who has lost sight in one eye since January. So far there are only 30 people nationwide who have raccoon ringworm, where it mostly affects young children and causes permanent brain damage and/or death.

*Symptoms can be detected in two to four weeks after coming in contact with the parasite in raccoon feces, they include:

-nausea

-loss of coordination and muscle control

-development of blindness