#PutTheGunsDown: 67 People Shot in NYC During Labor Day Weekend

This Labor Day weekend, while most of us were enjoying some barbeque, beer, family and friends, tragedy struck in the New York area. A shooting took place near the West Indian Parade in New York City on Monday, which left two police officers wounded and three individuals dead.

Lets break this story down a bit. While people were out and about celebrating this holiday weekend, two individuals decided that they wanted to open fire near a crowded parade, which led to the death of an innocent woman and their own demise.

Was hip-hop to blame? Are young people to blame?

According to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he does not blame the youth for the shootings that took place. He believes that this is a problem the government needs to fix through gun control.

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Posted by:

Terin

Is this 9/11 Anniversary Wine in Bad Taste?

Is this 9/11 memorial wine in bad taste?

A Long Island Winery, Lieb Family Cellars, has created a 9/11 themed memorial wine and says that 10 percent of the sales of their 9/11 Memorial Merlot and Chardonnay wines will go to the National September 11th Memorial and Museum.

The price of the wine has been set at $19.11 ,which I think is also another tasteless statement. The retailers will pocket around $6 from every bottle, while the Lieb Family Cellars says an estimated $1.15 to $1.91 per bottle is what will go to the September 11th Memorial and Museum.

“We lost a lot of friends on 9/11. The owners of the vineyard are Wall Street people. For us, it’s something we do to give back,” Gary Madden, the winery’s general manager said.

Can profiting from tragedy be ethical? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt

Today’s Crime Stories: Theft, Murder, and. . .Midwifery?

St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village was one of the few hospitals in NYC that was willing to support midwives who do home births. But now it’s closing, and that means about half of the midwives in New York will either have to stop practicing, or practice illegally.

This is happening because of a stupid law that says midwives need to have a “Written Practice Agreement” from a doctor in order to perform a delivery at home. Then if there’s a problem with the birth, that’s the hospital they go to. This law is totally unnecessary, because midwives obviously have a backup hospital in mind when they deliver a baby at home. Just like you know what hospital you might need to go to before you go skydiving. But for some reason, the law insists on treating childbirth like it’s an illness, not a natural part of human life that most often doesn’t require any time in a hospital.

Why was St. Vincent’s one of the only hospitals with doctors who are willing to sign such an agreement? There’s a huge stigma in the medical community against supporting midwives. Why’s there stigma? No reason except misogyny and greed. The medical profession is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies, who are rather keen on making sure pregnant women are pumped as full of drugs as possible during childbirth, even when those drugs are dangerous and unnecessary.

We talk a lot about giving women control of their own bodies when it comes to abortion, but what about when they’re actually having a child?  It’s incredibly important to take action now so home birth in NYC doesn’t essentially become a crime. Take action here and protect women’s choice in childbirth!

Posted by:

Rachel Bishop

Ain’t No Rain On The Pride Parade

If you were around Greenwich Village anytime during the end of June, chances are you caught glimpses of flashy colors, costumes and rainbow flags. Gay Pride festivities in New York span an entire week, with parties, parades, rallies, and festivals to celebrate and commemorate a landmark event in gay rights.

This year’s “Pride Week” was awe-inspiring not only in terms of the celebrations put on by the LGBT community, but also in the wider political context of this year’s festivities– especially the parade. With marriage equality a pivotal topic of contention between the gay community and conservatives, this year’s festivities were decidedly more pointed at the issues gays still face, rather than fun and frivolity. It was a widespread hope amongst the gay community that this year’s parade would sway some of the silent or indecisive voices on the issue of gay equality in their favor. The hope for change was even stronger this year than most; adding to the weight of the event was the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place on June 28, 1969, and spawned the Gay Rights Movement in The Village. The riots were, at the time, the gay community’s only response to continued police harassment and raids of known gay bars.
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Moni'ca Brown

Homeless Families Hit the Streets

Aren’t you glad summer’s finally here? The recent reemergence of the sun makes me crave days at the beach and nights spent camping. But the recession means that for many (hell, most of us) a vacation simply isn’t that feasible this year.

We should consider ourselves lucky if that’s the worst recession can do. It’s hit a lot of people a lot harder. Every year, the number of families who are homeless skyrocket at the beginning of summer. This year has been particularly bad. People from 10 000 families will become homeless in New York alone this summer, an increase of more than 28% from last year. At last count, that number had already hit 9420—9420 moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and children on the street in one city. That’s A LOT of people—so many, that if you wanted to meet them all, one a day, it would take you more than 27 years.

But numbers are just statistics. They don’t tell the whole story. People do. Like 11 year old Arielle Figueras, who completed fifth grade one day and was in a shelter with her family the next. Or the Dixon family, who were evicted in April, have been separated in various homes since then, and are now reunited on the streets. Families who had found short-term solutions—like staying with relatives or asking the landlord to temporarily take pity on them—are booted out now that the weather is warmer and the kids are out of school and underfoot.
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Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy