When eating street food or any type of food for that matter, there is always the chance of getting sick.
I conducted a survey in Washington Square Park on whether or not anyone has ever gotten sick from eating street food.
Seventy percent of the locals said that they have never gotten sick from eating street food. Thirty percent said they have gotten sick from it, although all of them said that they have continued to eat street food.
All 30% of New Yorkers who have gotten sick from eating street food said that they had eaten from Mexican food carts. The meals they ate consisted of fish and chicken tacos and burritos.
Manny the Famous Bubble Man performs in Central Park.
by Madison Cerniglia
You don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to be amazed and dazzled by talented performers. Just walk into a New York City park and experience a thoroughly entertaining show for free.
Central Park is one of the largest social hubs in New York City. Tourists and New York locals can sit in the park to relax, eat a meal, play leisurely sports, or watch street performers.
Many of the acts return often to Central Park to play for summer weekend crowds.
One of these acts is “The Black Guys Dancing.”
The Black Guys Dancing is a group of young men that combines dancing, acrobatics and comedy into a thrilling show that attracts large crowds.
Many would assume that street performers only put on shows to earn easy money, but that is not the case for these young men.
The founder of the group, Chris from the Bronx, said, “We’ve been dancing all our lives.”
The chemistry and passion within the group is evident as they perform their extremely popular show near the famous carousel. At the first of their five shows on a Sunday afternoon, over 75 people stopped to watch.
They take turns doing impressive dance moves that are similar to breakdancing and acrobatics. But what makes this show resonate with park-goers is the interaction with the audience.
This is a common theme among the popular street performers.
Many might have seen the famous bubble man blow larger than life bubbles around the city. But with so many catching onto the trend of performing with bubbles, what makes certain street artists more popular than the rest?
It all comes back to audience interaction.
Manny the Famous Bubble Man from Queens, N.Y., was receiving a constant flow of tips unlike the other “famous bubble guy” just a quarter mile further into the park. What did Manny have that the other did not?
Manny’s bubbly personality drew people in. He was not afraid to have a conversation or make jokes and this made him more likable to the public.
Manny was conscious about his audience and invited a young boy to help him blow a bubble. Manny’s friendly spirit was contagious, which is most likely the reason his bucket contained many dollar bills.
The other bubble man had ear buds in and would not talk to anyone. He still had an entertaining show, but he was missing a certain quality that Manny had.
Walking around the city’s parks you see many performers: musicians, dancers, and novelty acts.
Looking around at the tips these performers were making, it all came down to who made the most personal connections with the audience.
These personal connections seemed to stem from passion.
When speaking to The Black Guys Dancing and Manny the Famous Bubble Man, it was obvious that they loved what they do.
Street performing has trickled down to younger ages as well.
Alyssa Chetrick and Ivan Mendez are high school musicians who have had experience playing in the streets.
Ivan, a guitar player, said “I don’t give a f*** about the money.”
He made it very clear that the only reason he performs is because he is devoted to playing music.
Alyssa, who plays the violin, did stress that choosing what to play can be frustrating sometimes. She said “There’s an extent of intellectual engagement that you try to get, but it’s not always easy.”
Both musicians agreed that they play what they want and try not to conform to what the general public wants.
“I always play how I’m feeling, and if they like my emotions they come,” said Ivan.
The joy all of these performers cannot be measured in the dollar bills they receive. Even though they welcome the money, it is not the main reason many street performers are putting on their shows.
An entertaining and successful show has certain elements to it. If you want to learn what they are and maybe become a street performer yourself, click here.
Know the Law In NYC it is a requirement to have a permit when performing in or next to a park. The last thing you want is to run into trouble with the police while in the middle of a show.
Understand the Crowd Flow Scout out local parks and street corners that lots of people visit. If you become familiar with when and where the crowds are the largest, you can greatly increase your tips. According to New York street performers, the busiest time of the year is the holidays.
Have a Unique Act Even though playing guitar can be very impressive, guitar players are a dime a dozen. Find something that is unique. If you are having difficulty standing out, try to include some crowd-pleaser elements in your act. For example, if you are playing an instrument, try to perform 4-5 pop songs from the top of the charts.
Get the Audience Involved People are more likely to leave tips if you give them an experience they won’t forget. Don’t be afraid to interact with them and maybe incorporate them into your act.Here is how it should be done.
Love What You Do This is the most important! You cannot expect others to have a great time if you aren’t. Make sure you are passionate about your show and share that with others.
Sena Cheung (17, left) and Sebastian Flores (16, right) enjoying a Friday night in Central Park
Even in a city that never sleeps, teenagers sometimes have trouble finding age appropriate things to do on a Friday night in New York City, according to an informal survey.
Once teenagers are allowed to go out with their friends without supervision, they need to find something to fill their time.
The survey showed that about 71% of teenagers are allowed to go out at 14 years old or younger, 14% are allowed to go out at 15 years old, 7% are allowed out at 16 and 7% are allowed out at 17 years old or older.
This doesn’t mean that kids are allowed to roam free and do whatever they want.
“My mother won’t let me go out at certain times,” says Amber Miranda from the Bronx, “And there are things that are too far, like Brooklyn.”
The survey also showed that almost 79% of teenagers have a strict curfew to follow. Almost 36% of kids have some kind of boundary from how far they can go from their house. And the other 28% have some other kind of restriction.
Once teenagers are allowed the option to go out and be with their friends, they have to find things to do.
Only 14% of teenagers who took the survey said that they had trouble finding thing to do in New York City this summer.
Parks, movie theaters and cheap restaurants are all popular places for teenagers to hang out on the weekends, according to the survey.
However, in order to go to movies or restaurants teenagers need money.
A large 86% of kids who took the survey said that their parents in some way pay for them to do things with their friends.
Only 14% percent said their parents always pay for them to go out with their friends, and half of the survey takers said that their parents only pay for them sometimes.
“Finding cheap things to do is imperative when you’re in New York City for the summer” said 17 year old Michelle from San Diego.
Over 57% of answers from the survey said that they can only spend $20 or less when they go out with their friends.
Less than half of the survey takers said that they pay more than that on a regular basis.
Teenagers, especially starving college students, need inexpensive options for things to do in New York City.
It is after all one of the most expensive cities to live in, according to CBS MoneyWatch.
Even just walking around the streets on a Friday evening can leave teenagers with few age appropriate options, says NYU PreCollege residential and commuter students alike.
The streets that are filled with bars and nightclubs and expensive restaurants can be distracting and leave some kids thinking there is nothing else to do, according to the 14% of survey takers that had a hard time finding things to do.
When teenagers get bored and see a row of bars on St Marks Place, they look for ways in, according to the residential advisers who were in charge of the PreCollege students this summer.. This means they search for fake IDs and can get caught and in a lot of trouble for having one.
Out of the 20% of students who took a separate informal survey, only half of their fake IDs worked and got them into bars in New York City.
The other half were caught and their IDs were taken from them on site, according to NYU PreCollege students who were with the group that got carded.
St. Marks Place is a popular strip for bars and clubs in the East Village Photo taken by Meghan Riley
Hookah bars and fake IDs have been popular topics in New York University dorms this summer.
A hookah bar or lounge is an easy 21-plus establishment to sneak into, according to underaged NYU dormers, where patrons can smoke tobacco out of a shared water pipe and order alcoholic drinks.
In the NYU PreCollege Program, only 20% of PreCollege students own a fake ID, according to an anonymous informal survey.
There are a few different ways of getting a fake ID, including ordering them from websites and online providers like www.reallygoodfakes.com.
From this website, you can buy a fake ID from New York, Minnesota, or Colorado for only $150.
Each ID is guaranteed to pass a black light test at bars and nightclubs, have the correct hologram sticker for the state it is from, and a barcode to be scanned at stores, “to the best of their ability,” according to the website’s FAQs page.
The website even offers reprint options in case your fake ID is taken from you, which will happen if an establishment recognizes an ID as fake.
Bars and nightclubs have gotten very good at recognising fake IDs.
“Fake IDs will be confiscated and the police will be called,” according to a representative at Sahara Citi, a hookah bar on East 13th Street, “The police handle it from there.”
The ID must be handed over to law enforcement within 24 hours, according to New York State law.
Using a fake name on an ID is considered a misdemeanour but using the real name of another person is a gross misdemeanour and can mean jail time, according to the underage and fake ID laws.
The possible charges for underaged possession and consumption would mean a minimum of $150 fine for a first offence.
That’s $300 that you’ve now wasted and a lot of explaining to do to your parents.
A volunteer for Conversations New York leads a discussion about happiness.
People eager to discuss a variety of topics gathered at Bryant Park in July to join Conversation Day, an annual event dedicated to bringing people together through in-person interactions.
Anyone who was interested in participating could simply get a nametag, check the board of topics, and join a table of other people willing to talk.
The organization running the event was “Conversations New York”, whose goal is to encourage New Yorkers to engage in meaningful, face-to-face conversations to promote a better understanding of other humans and their perspectives. The nonprofit started in November 2012, and this was their third annual event.
Trained volunteers were stationed at each table to keep the conversations lively, and to make sure each participant was contributing.
Volunteer Sally Moses of Brooklyn said the appeal behind the conversations is that, “You can talk about anything and be as open as you want because you probably will never see the person again in a city like New York.”
“We’re celebrating the soul of New York. Our collective ideas, feelings, intuitions, hopes, concerns, anger” said Ronald Gross, founder and director of Conversations New York. “I would want (the participants) to get is a reminder that it’s really fun and enjoyable and rewarding.”
Conversations New York holds conversations every day in a smaller format, to encourage people daily to pursue more human interaction.
“The conviction that we’ve lost track of the value of human conversation as part of our social, culture, intellectual and educational life”
When you walk through Washington Square Park, be careful not to run into people glued to their phone playing the latest Pokemon game, completely solitary despite being in a lively area.
Or maybe when you grab lunch with a friend, you notice her scrolling through Instagram and checking her Facebook feed more than contributing to a conversation. As you look around, you might see similar scenes happening at each table.
Millennials, people born after 1980 according to Pew Research Center, receive a negative view about their cell phone use from older generations, particularly because of the large amount of time spent on phones.
“Looking around seeing everyone on their phones in the middle of a beautiful park on a sunny day makes me sad for this generation. Back in my day we had conversations with each other,” said Greenwich local Emma Bamdorf, 53.
Although the initial purpose of the cell phone was to increase conversations, 84% of teens aged 16 to 18 in an informal survey said that since they started using their phones, they actually talk to their friends less.
In an attempt to increase face-to-face communication, organizations have been created solely to bring people together to talk with each other.
“Conversations New York” is a group where trained volunteers plan meetings around the city where people can go to sit down and have a conversation about anything ranging from politics to love.
Ronald Gross, founder and director of “Conversations New York,” said the inspiration for this group came from, “The conviction that we’ve lost track of the value of human conversation as part of our social, culture, intellectual and educational life… I want people to get a reminder that it’s really fun and enjoyable and rewarding and profitable.”
But with the growing consumption of social media, is conversation just growing on a different platform?
Ninety-two percent of teens reported that most of the time spent on their phones was on social media applications, the most prominently used being Instagram and Snapchat to post photos and videos.
The move from face-to-face conversation to online doesn’t necessarily mean there is a lack of communication, or is detrimental to human interaction.
Sophia Klass, 17, of the Upper East Side said, “social media and phones in general allow teens to keep in touch with each other, especially because we’re always busy with academics and extracurriculars.”
Other teens stated that using phones too much only becomes a problem in large social situations if everyone is on their phone instead of talking to each other. Some said that their only negative is the distraction it can create at school.
Besides social media, other types of apps that take up time are gaming oriented,where they can be played anywhere on a mobile device.
With the recent release of the wildly popular Niantic app “Pokemon Go,” players travel with their phones to catch Pokemon, level up, and advance in the game with the use of real time location and activity tracking.
This new development in apps has created a new sense of being attached to a phone, as users everywhere are thoroughly attached to their mobile device. While some people see this as “teenagers being addicted to their phones,” most players just view it as a fun and interactive way to play a game, and actually have met people while playing.
Some of the negative stigma results from the fact that the new Millenial generation grew up with technological advancements, where older generations were introduced to it later on in life.
“There’s such an unfair blame put onto teenagers about being on their phones too much, but they allow us to stay connected, and have interactions that we wouldn’t be able to have without them. It only becomes a problem when used in extreme,” said 16 year old Amber Deshawn of Lower Manhattan.
Team Mystic members Soyeon (20) and Frenlly (25) catch Pokemon at the Central Park Conservatory Garden last week.
Pokémon Go players have been trying to “Catch ‘em all” as they hunt for Pinsirs, Goldeens and other creatures of the Pokemon world.
The mobile gaming app Pokémon Go has taken over the summer of 2016 as the biggest craze for children, teenagers, and adults alike.
Pokémon Go was released on July 6 by Niantic Inc., makers of Ingress and Field Trip, two other apps. Pokémon Go has broken the record for most App Store downloads in its first week of release, according to CNNMoney, topping Twitter.
In New York City, Pokémon Go players are taking advantage of the abundance of Pokestops in every neighborhood from Chelsea to Harlem. Many people are even saying that Pokémon Go has helped them go outside more and see new places.
“I usually would just handle my business and go home, but now I’m like you know what, let me go catch some Pokémon,” said 24 year old De’shon Williams of Brooklyn.
Pokémon Go is a virtual reality app that takes the original Pokémon franchise to a new level. Players become Pokémon Trainers by capturing Pokémon. The app uses real world locations as Pokestops, centers for catching Pokémon. The more Pokémon players catch, the higher they level up. When players reach level 5, they choose a team-Valor, Mystic, or Instinct- and work to capture Pokémon hubs known as Gyms for their team.
Pokémon Go players are also using the game as a way to meet fellow Pokémon Trainers. By setting up “lures” to attract Pokémon, Pokémon trainers can meet in a certain area and chat as they hunt for Pikachus and Magikarps.
“I get out, I interact with people. You know, before the game people don’t really talk to each other. People just want to ‘hi and bye’, and do what they got to do. But here it’s a lot different. With this game, everybody has something in common,” said 25 year old Ruben Escobar of the Bronx.
For some, Pokémon Go is a way of exercising and seeing new places. However, other players see the app as just a game instead of a way to increase physical activity.
“I duct taped my iPhone to a box fan and I let it just go for a little while and that way I can ‘walk’ for 10 miles and I don’t even have to move,” said NYU student Alex Novelle of Southern Florida.
The more players walk, the more Pokémon are available to them. This is not only because more Pokestops are available, but also because the game has Pokémon eggs that hatch and produce Pokémon after players walk 1-3 miles.
Even though Pokémon Go has only been around since July, Pokémon itself has been around since 1996 when Pokémon Red and Green were released in Japan for Gameboy consoles. Over the years, Pokémon has grown into a trading card game, game for Nintendo consoles, television shows, and movies. The nostalgia of Pokémon is what has led many people to play Pokémon Go.
One 15 year old player said that before playing Pokémon Go he played Pokémon on Gameboy. He said the nostalgia drew him to download the game, and also that there are not a lot of gaming platforms that have Pokémon games.
Pokémon Go is available anywhere in the U.S. and is rated 9 years and up. To sign up, players must either join through the Pokémon trainers club or enter their Google account information. Half of the players said that they had no problem providing their information to the app.
Security and respect have been concerns brought up all over the country by business owners who are being disturbed by Pokémon Go players. In Washington D.C., the Holocaust Museum was a Pokestop until Niantic finally removed all gyms and Pokestops in the area.
Safety has also been an issue for the popular gaming app which is available for children to download. On August 1, Governor Cuomo has banned sex offenders from downloading Pokémon Go.
“Protecting New York’s children is priority number one and, as technology evolves, we must ensure these advances don’t become new avenues for dangerous predators to prey on new victims,” said Governor Cuomo in a statement responding to Senators Jeffrey D. Klein and Diane Savino who feared that children were unknowingly being led near sex offenders residences.
Pokémon Go is now issuing warnings to players when opening the app reminding them not to enter dangerous or restricted places while playing.
Political and social protests in the New York City happen with such frequency that they seem like part of the daily routine for locals. Yet, are the rallies and protests effective after all? Are they worth the effort?
An example was the anti-Donald Trump protest on July 7. This was organized to demand Walmart to withdraw its financial support for the Republican National Convention and denounce Donald Trump. It was said to be effective eventually, according to the organizers.
Members from organizations including RWDSU, UFCW, The Black Institute, Walmart Free NYC, and Making Change at Walmart gathered and asked Walmart to take action and stop economically supporting the RNC, which later nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate.
“While Walmart did not denounce Donald Trump outright, it did say it would only be donating $15,000 to the convention. This is a much smaller number than they have donated in previous years,” one of the organizations that arranged the rally, RWDSU, said in an e-mail.
The protesters’ purposes were to call on Walmart to join the other major companies that have withdrawn their support for the 2016 Republican National Convention due to Trump’s history of bigotry and offensive statements against countless groups, and to raise public awareness regarding the issue, organizers said.
Yet, these protests seem to have little effect on regular New Yorkers, according to an informal survey made on the streets of the city. Most of the people value convenience more than political stands of the companies.
“I wouldn’t go to another store just because the company supports Donald Trump,” saidJasmine from Brooklyn, who is in her 30s.
Other than the protest in front of Trump Tower, rallies have also taken place in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Bank of America building in California, and the Trump International Hotel site in Washington, DC.
The owner of a street food cart in front of Trump Tower said that the protesters blocked the streets.
“I sell less products than usual when there’s a protest,” he said. He said that most of the time he is not interested in what they’re protesting.
