Carriage Industry Under Close Watch as Holidays Approach

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

Holiday season is the busiest time of year for the horse carriage industry in Central Park, a business tied to the city’s tourism. Despite the excitement, carriage drivers feel threatened by a proposal to replace the rides with vintage-looking electric cars.

Non-profit animal rights organization New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets (NY-CLASS) plan to protest the rides near the park over the next few weeks. They hope to deter tourists from riding the horse carriages and raise questions about how the animals are treated. The horses work long days, in hot and cold weather and often without proper breaks, according to NY-CLASS. If the city council approves the proposal, the electric cars can be on the road as early as 2012.

See more on the story below.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

In a survey distributed to NYC-based women between the ages of 20-30 about the balance between work and motherhood, 90 percent of women identified the ideal balance by looking to their mothers. The 30 percent of respondents who won’t consider being a stay-at-home mom had mothers who worked full time. Eighty percent of women who would consider spending days at home with the possibility of freelancing had mothers who worked part-time.

Whether or not the future of the stay-at-home mom looks grim, survey results indicate women feel pressure from both ends of the spectrum—to raise children and to have a career.

Thirty-six percent of women said having a career is “extremely important” and 64 percent said having children is “extremely important”. While American women increasingly give birth above the age of 40 (correlating with the rise in women pursuing higher education and demanding careers), 40 percent of survey respondents selected 26-30 as the ideal years to become a mother. Of those women, 75 percent have Master’s degrees.

Zero percent of women selected age 40+ as an ideal age to give birth.

Survey results indicate that while the Feminist Movement succeeded in some respects—female ambition seems higher than ever—the pressures that come along with it seem just as high.

The Swoosh of Her Own Brush

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

It’s a good time for makeup.

Cosmetic company L’Oreal saw a 10 percent profit increase this past year. During tough financial times, people tend to purchase inexpensive items- a century-old concept called the Lipstick Effect. For Brooklyn makeup artist Doris Dweck, a new lipstick means more than a happy wallet.

Dweck, 22, works as a Judaic studies teacher in the Syrian Jewish community of Midwood. Outside of the classroom at orthodox Barkai Yeshiva, she spends most nights applying makeup for community women. Like a lot of her clients, Dweck dresses according to customary modesty standards– skirts below the knee and sleeves past the elbow. Frustrated with her conservative wardrobe and restrictive community expectations, Dweck found a happy-medium at the counters of Mac.

Bobbing for Apples

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

The October 14^th launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S just nine days after founder Steve Jobs’ death shook the tech world for good and for bad.

Apple diehards and Blackberry customers itching to abandon their T-Mobile contracts anticipated Apple’s conference on October 4^th for months, when technology websites and major newspapers suspected the launch of an iPhone 5 to take place. Many disappointedly learned about the iPhone 4S instead.

Apple’s stock dropped five percent following the announcement. Fans craving a slimmer, sleeker version of their iPhone 4 instead had the option of upgrading for a faster camera and a voice recognition app, talking assistant Siri. Many felt the swap wasn’t worth it.

Despite the backlash, Apple saw 4 million iPhone 4S sales in its first three days on shelves. Service providers warn customers of 2-week backorders and Apple stores struggle to accommodate long lines. Why?

Battle of the smartphones, courtesy of Sally Felton

Because some folks were just thrilled to get rid of their Blackberrys.

Cara Eisenpress, frustrated with her Blackberry, followed the lead-up to Apple’s newest iPhone and can’t wait to get the 4S when her Blackberry contract expires next month.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Melissa Bykofsky, skeptical of the iPhone 5 rumors, made the plunge and purchased the iPhone 4 in September. She has no regrets.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Joanna Fantozzi wishes she heard about the Apple conference earlier.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Apple’s flagship Manhattan store on 5th Avenue and 59th Street draws huge tourist crowds and locals looking for product fixes 24 hours, seven days a week.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Just Horsing Around

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

The horse and carriage rides offered at Central Park made headlines once again last week. Nonprofit organization New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets (NY-CLASS) unveiled a model electric car as potential replacement for the horse and buggy rides. Supporters of Intro 86, a 2010 City Council bill proposing the gradual elimination the carriages, embrace the idea.

The faux-vintage cars proposed by NY-CLASS aim to reinvent the feel of classic New York City for tourists without the use of animals. Each car holds up to six people with rates comparable to those of the carriage rides.

The carriage rides have been a big money maker for the city—tourists pay the average rate of $100 for a 45-minute tour of Central Park. Just last month, a makeshift website sold carriage rides at exaggerated prices in attempts to capitalize on the popularity of the city-run carriages. As holiday season approaches, drivers worry that NY-CLASS’s efforts and unfair competition will hinder their busy season.

Many national organizations and animal rights activists embrace the electric car proposal, questioning the horses’ living conditions and capacity to work. The Horse and Carriage Association of New York remains weary of the legislation and maintain they take proper care of their animals.

See photos below for more on the controversy.

Horse and carriage amid 57th Street traffic

On October 16th, a horse and carriage driver heads west on 57th Street. Each morning, 204 drivers circle in and around Central Park to sell carriage tours. Many come from Clinton Hill Stables on West 52nd Street, the closest stable to the park.

A driver schmoozes with tourists after arriving at Central Park South. Once they get customers, drivers move their horses down 57th Street to the park’s 6th Avenue entrance. Animal rights activists-- like actress Lea Michele--oppose the rides. Michele joined NY-CLASS to encourage “more humane options” for the city’s tourism industry.

“People say it’s inhumane but I’m sure the drivers treat their horses ok,” said Mary Quandt of Saratoga Springs. Quandt frequently visits Manhattan with her family and supports the horse and carriage rides. “It’s how they make their living,” said Quandt of the carriage drivers.

Sammy, a driver for two years, doesn’t feel threatened by NY-CLASS’s proposal. “They’ve been saying that for five years already,” he said. Nonetheless, carriage drivers have a lot at stake should Intro 86 pass. Upset with recent press coverage, other drivers around the park declined to comment.

An Upper East Side mom and her son feed a carrot to a carriage horse before taking a ride. Not everyone around Central Park gets as much enjoyment from the horses.

While Central Park draws millions of tourists each year, locals and exercise junkies frequent the park as well. The smell and mess left by the horses further justifies the electric car proposal by NY-CLASS to eliminate the carriages.

A carriage horse takes an hourly, 15-minute water break as required by law. The ASPCA argues that horses should be free to graze—not tied to rigid drinking schedules and dodging pigeons for food. They claim some drivers deny their horses these breaks during heavy tourist seasons.

NY-CLASS argues that the carriage rides further violate animal rights. Since three horses died in a 1988 heat wave, the city prohibits drivers to take horses out in temperatures above 90 degrees and below 18 degrees. Still, horses work long hours-- nine hours a day, seven days a week.

A carriage driver heads into Central Park. Whether or not they violate animal rights and if they’re uniquely valuable to NYC tourism seems like an endless debate. NY-CLASS hopes to end it for good this time around.

Photos: 2nd Ave. Subway Construction

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

Photos of the 2nd Avenue subway construction from 63rd Street through 96th Street. The first phase of construction ended last week, although the MTA predicts another five years until the line’s completion.

Signs for the "Shop 2nd Avenue, It's Worth It!" campaign in the 96th Street subway station

Wire fences block off construction sites on 2nd Avenue

Sidewalk closures have posed problems for local businesses relying on pedestrian traffic

Looking out at 2nd Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets

2nd Avenue subway construction workers on the job

Delaying Motherhood for Career

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

Once upon a time, women in America had little choice but to stay at home and raise the children.

How the world has changed!

America's favorite housewife, Lucille Ball 'I Love Lucy', courtesy of the Purposeful Housewife

An article in New York Magazine last week reported birth rates in the U.S. fell 4 percent in 2008, while birth rates for women ages 45-49 increased 17 percent. Findings from a 2010 Pew Research Center study yielded similar results– the number of women having children at ages 40 and over tripled since 1990. According to the study, women are increasingly pursuing higher education and demanding careers and consequently, delaying motherhood.

A recent New York Times article suggested women who postpone pregnancy that long are in for a surprise. The average 40-year-old woman has a 5% chance of getting pregnant each month.

Women of NYC, please tell me where you stand on the issue. Do you ever worry about raising children while having a career? Do you wonder about postponing motherhood for too long?

Loading…

Kids & Careers: Can American Women Have the Best of Both?

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

The struggle for women to balance motherhood and career made headlines several times this year, with famous and influential women voicing their opinions. When Beyonce announced her pregnancy at the MTV Video Music Awards, fans expressed disappointment that the 30-year-old wouldn’t be touring her new album.

“Now I’m a woman…I can decide I want to have kids. I can be the mother I want to be and dedicate myself to my children,” the soon-to-be-mom told InStyle magazine in August.

Oprah Winfrey, 57, represents the other end of the kids-and-career balancing act. Winfrey, who wrapped up the Oprah Show this spring after 25 years of entertaining stay-at-home moms, said her audience satisfied her maternal instincts.

“Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I became your surrogate,” said Winfrey in her last hour on air.

So where does the average American woman stand on the issue?

Working mom, courtesy of Ran Zwigenberg via Creative Commons

According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, American women are increasingly pursuing higher education and demanding careers (although not necessarily superstardom). Consequently, the number of women having children at ages 40 and over tripled since 1990.

A recent New York Times article suggested women who postpone motherhood that long are in for a rude awakening. The average 40-year-old woman has a 5% chance of getting pregnant each month.

Alternatively, some women don’t even want to bother with career but feel pressure to. Embarrassed to choose motherhood over a “real job”, they get pregnant “accidentally on purpose”.

“There’s a sense that it’s not cool to get married and have kids right out of college, but if you just ‘get pregnant’, you don’t face society’s judgment,” a 28-year-old mom told Glamour magazine last month.

Can American women have the best of both worlds?

Tips For Securing Magazine Jobs

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

With editors laying off full-time staffers and advertisers lacking faith in print, magazines clearly struggle adapting to technology and the suffering economy. Despite the budding potential of webzines—the New York Times recently reported a boom in shelter webzines like High Gloss—people cheering on the “Power of Print” ads dread conformity and fear their job’s shelf-life. FolioMag.com discussed promising statistics from MediaFinder.com, an online database of U.S. and Canadian magazines: 54 new magazines launched in the first quarter of 2011. Nonetheless, nailing coveted jobs at big-name glossies requires extra effort. Consider ways to adapt:

Embrace social media. According to The Social Times, 92% of today’s journalists have LinkedIn accounts. If used properly, journalists can find opportunities to publish their work and network.
Modernize your resume. For example, submit writing clips in PDF format. CubReporters.org, a site by AOL columnist Mark Grabowski, encourages scanning all published work since links to clips expire and sites shut down.
Check Ed2010.com. This resource for students and recent graduates posts open jobs and internships within the industry. Similar to MediaBistro.com, Ed hosts workshops on the nuts and bolts of magazine writing, panels with editors and a career advice column.
Read what you want to write. “You want to know that magazine or website inside and out,” said Marina Khidekel, articles director at Glamour in an Ed2010.com interview. Familiarize yourself with the publication’s voice and content to better your chances of freelancing or securing a job. Know the masthead and direct job inquiries to specific people.

Magazines in their purest form

Second Avenue Businesses on Express Train to Unemployment

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Paulette Safdieh

Since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) commenced construction on Second Avenue for a new subway line in April 2007, local business owners struggle to stay onboard. The underground blasting, traffic rerouting and construction sites transformed uptown Second Avenue from a bustling, consumer-friendly neighborhood into a community eyesore.

Construction on East 97th St. & 2nd Ave., courtesy of Mark Lyon. (March 2011)

Storeowners’ ability to survive may be further tested, as locals doubt the accuracy of the subway’s December 2016 completion date. In a recent AM New York report, the Federal Transit Administration placed bets on a February 2018 finish.

Last July, the New York Times reported 29 closed businesses on Second Avenue between 63^rd and 96^th Streets. Since then, owners continue to close up shop, or at best, layoff employees.

Beach Café owner David Goodside told the Wall Street Journal earlier this week that business at his restaurant on 69^th Street and Second Avenue is down 30% since opening in 2008. He laid off four employees this past spring. Ralph Schaller of East 86^th Street’s Schaller & Weber Grocery told Crain’s he can relate.

“I guess business will improve when (the construction) is over,” Schaller, who recently fired an employee. “If we’re still around.”

While the MTA and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce took joint initiative to encourage Second Avenue shopping with February’s “Shop 2^nd Avenue, It’s Worth It!” campaign, business owners see no reprieve as jobs and local businesses continue to fade.

WSJ suggested that as a result, neighboring First Avenue is experiencing a revival. Wine bar Felice and the famed 2^nd Avenue Deli are among upcoming openings on First Avenue this fall.