UPDATE Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on Subway Safety following Brooklyn Mass Shooting

By DAVID GREENE

This week, following the recent mass subway shooting in Brooklyn, we asked residents if they feel safe riding the subway. “At this point, I don’t feel safe. I don’t think anyone feels safe due to the system that we have. They had no cameras at the 25th Street station, still no cameras. They got him, of course. They got him, but that’s not the point. The point is you could have avoided this if you had the cameras because you’re supposed to have the cameras, no? With the rise in crime on the subways, you weren’t supposed to have

By EDWIN SANTANA

The Vernon C. Bain Center, also known as “The Boat,” is perhaps the only floating jail in the country. Advocates have equated it to a slave ship. It’s an extension of Rikers Island. I know both The Boat and Rikers Island well, since I’ve been detained at both places, and I know they both deserve to be a chapter in the history books and not part of anyone’s present. The Boat opened in 1992 to make room for the ballooning population held pre-trial at the height of mass incarceration. Thirty years later, it’s still in use, even with the

By DAVID GREENE

This week, we asked readers what message it sends to kids about sportsmanship and fair play when professional, “elite,” athletes and performers are given an exemption from COVID-19 vaccination rules, while employees like ticket sellers etc. at such venues are required to be vaccinated. “The mandate should be equal across the board for the players as well as the community. That’s how I feel about it right now. Other than that, it’s crazy! You don’t know what’s going on from one day to the next. Things are changing too rapidly, and we’re not getting clear answers as to what’s

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Most of the attention on COVID-19 revolves around the physical consequences of its spread, especially in communities of color, but a secondary effect has to do with a decrease in academic attainment, especially in the Latino community. The educational fallout from the pandemic is seen in figures collected by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). During 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Hispanic enrollment in higher education fell overall by 5.4 percent. More alarming is the decline in first-time enrollment among Hispanic students, at almost 20 percent. These statistics present a difficult future for one of the fastest-growing segments

By DAVID GREENE

This week, we asked readers for their thoughts on the United States accepting refugees displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Anything we can do to help them out would be great. They have no place to go, and Russia is bombing them like crazy; it’s sad. It’s sad what’s going on. I hope there is a good ending, I hope there is peace for everyone there, and I hope Russia doesn’t team up with China because that’s scaring everybody.” David Glickenstein, Jerome Park “I think it’s a good thing because the innocent people get to

By AKEEM BROWDER

The death of my brother, Kalief Browder, sparked an international outcry, not just because of the terrible injustices he faced, but because he defied the odds, refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit, and demanded fairness. In honor of his fight, I have been demanding fairness, too, through The Kalief Browder Foundation. Now is a moment when we must all rise up to stop a new plan by Gov. Kathy Hochul that could lead to countless more tragedies like the one my family suffered. You may be familiar with the story: As a child of 16,

By SÍLE MOLONEY

One fire truck and a handful of firefighters responded to a report of a brush fire that broke out in Whalen playground at East 205th Street and Perry Avenue in the Norwood section of The Bronx on Friday afternoon, March 10. A brush fire is a fire involving low-growing plants. Eyewitnesses said some people had already tried to put out the fire a bit, before the FDNY arrived at around 3.44 p.m., as it had started to spread. The FDNY later said they were alerted to the incident at 3.38 p.m., that there were no reported injuries, and

By DAVID GREENE

This week, we asked readers their thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I feel that with this war, the Russians are unjust at what they’re doing…like a bully, and I’m glad that people of other countries are coming together and putting the pressure on him [President Vladimir Putin]. I don’t think it’s going to last too much longer. If you don’t have money, you can’t run a country, right? That’s how I feel about it. But I hope that this thing stops soon, because it’s going to spread like cancer in Europe if it doesn’t. He’s

By GENE ROMAN

After five years of haggling, debate, and protests, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York finally approved a debt restructuring agreement for Puerto Rico in January. The Fiscal, Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMB) was able to reduce the government of Puerto Rico’s total debt obligations from $33 billion to $7.4 billion, according to recent reporting by The New York Times. FOMB was created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016. It consists of seven members appointed by the President