Piggybacking on one of Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign planks for his ill-fated presidential run, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed making two and four year state college tuition free for state residents with a family income of less that $125,000. This impacts tens of thousands of students. Now, there has not been an explanation of how this will be paid for, but this is a major policy that is being discussed.
While I no longer think everyone should go to college, I'm seeing a lot of people struggle with the costs of college education. I graduated college thirty years ago and had a debt of about $10,000. Total. And it was hard to pay off. Students now are graduating with a debt many times what I had and it would be great for them to have that type of debt relief.
There were comments of people wanting their student loans reimbursed now that this may happen. Why? Because someone is getting something you did not? I thought as a society we were supposed to progress, not punch down or regress when others have any form of success. I always thought we were supposed to leave the room a bit nicer looking than when we left it, and this policy could certainly accomplish that. We worked hard. Now others do not have to. Is that a horrible achievement? Or are people going to be mad because they did not get theirs?
Selfishness is not something people learned at my college, SUNY Fredonia, whose motto is, "To learn, to search, to serve." It must have been in them all along.
Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Monday, December 8, 2014
The fight to save Cafe Edison
For the first half of my life I lived in New York state. I'm not a New Yorker, but from Long Island. No matter what anyone tells you, there's a world of difference between the two. These days, it's a nice place to visit but I would not want to live there.
The city has changed. As rents get too damn high small businesses are folding or forced out and upscale chains continue to be brought in to remove any local flavor the city once had. It's becoming a large shopping mall for tourists and I cannot help but wonder where the locals who are left go to eat.
One such place, 45 seconds from Broadway, is the Cafe Edison. It's been called The Polish Tea Room and has been operating just off the lobby of the Hotel Edison for over thirty years. Click on the link for some very interesting pictures of the inside of the diner and its history.
We ate here a couple of years ago when we visited. Is it the greatest breakfast place in the world? Hell no. Does it have the best atmosphere? It's real New York, a part of Manhattan that is fast disappearing. It is affordable. A place the stagehand and local workers can get a fast and reliable meal at a fair price. A place where a tourist can fuel up on the cheap for a day of sightseeing. And the city is fast running out of joints like this.
The owner of the hotel is trying to evict the current operators of the cafe, and has plans to put in another white table cloth restaurant with a name chef in its place. As if Manhattan does not have enough of them.
There's been a grass roots campaign to petition the owners to stop this, and to give the current operators of the cafe a long term lease on the site. City council members are aware, as is Mayor de Blasio. The story was told on NPR today. People are not giving up.
The city has changed. As rents get too damn high small businesses are folding or forced out and upscale chains continue to be brought in to remove any local flavor the city once had. It's becoming a large shopping mall for tourists and I cannot help but wonder where the locals who are left go to eat.
One such place, 45 seconds from Broadway, is the Cafe Edison. It's been called The Polish Tea Room and has been operating just off the lobby of the Hotel Edison for over thirty years. Click on the link for some very interesting pictures of the inside of the diner and its history.
We ate here a couple of years ago when we visited. Is it the greatest breakfast place in the world? Hell no. Does it have the best atmosphere? It's real New York, a part of Manhattan that is fast disappearing. It is affordable. A place the stagehand and local workers can get a fast and reliable meal at a fair price. A place where a tourist can fuel up on the cheap for a day of sightseeing. And the city is fast running out of joints like this.
The owner of the hotel is trying to evict the current operators of the cafe, and has plans to put in another white table cloth restaurant with a name chef in its place. As if Manhattan does not have enough of them.
There's been a grass roots campaign to petition the owners to stop this, and to give the current operators of the cafe a long term lease on the site. City council members are aware, as is Mayor de Blasio. The story was told on NPR today. People are not giving up.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
The dishes greed serves
The dishes greed serves
(For Cafe Edison)
Take away a lunch counter
replace it with tables draped by
linen napkins, framed by stemware
Take away the soul of a worker
who needs a place to eat lunch
that will not empty a wallet
Take away the jobs
of people who want to
feed the people
Not cater to another dining trend
A concept that will pop up and close
in three months
Something to fill the bottom line
of an accounting sheet
that keeps the stomach unnourished
Takes us away from a neighborhood
that turns into a district in name only
which has no real meaning
beyond a marketer’s vita
A strategy that is empty
on a boulevard that used to be something
unique to its citizens but is now
like everywhere else
Thursday, October 23, 2014
A rehatching
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a press release today, announcing that the Hatchery at Connetquot River State Park will begin operating again next year.
My Mom worked here and loved working in the hatchery. A virus shut it down in 2008 and there was a strong chance that it would never reopen. A lot of people in the park were very disappointed that it was not happening.
"The project is funded by a $150,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant awarded through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The Friends of Connetquot and other local fishing clubs will contribute $10,000 to purchase eggs needed to begin cultivating fish."
I think my Mom would have been very happy to see this happen. Her memorial bench is located by the hatchery.
The entire press release is here.
My Mom worked here and loved working in the hatchery. A virus shut it down in 2008 and there was a strong chance that it would never reopen. A lot of people in the park were very disappointed that it was not happening.
"The project is funded by a $150,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant awarded through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The Friends of Connetquot and other local fishing clubs will contribute $10,000 to purchase eggs needed to begin cultivating fish."
I think my Mom would have been very happy to see this happen. Her memorial bench is located by the hatchery.
The entire press release is here.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Astute or nosy?
As I got out of my car at work on Friday morning, I locked the doors. A person who works in another part of the building, who I do not know very well asked me why I locked my door.
Was I afraid, "Someone would rummage through my stuff?"
"It's just a habit," I said.
"You must be from the east coast."
"Well I live on the west side, too."
Was I afraid, "Someone would rummage through my stuff?"
"It's just a habit," I said.
"You must be from the east coast."
"Well I live on the west side, too."
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