scholarly journals Streets, Sidewalks and COVID-19: Reimaging New York City’s Public Realm as a Tool for Crisis Management

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150006
Author(s):  
Donovan Finn

The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant disruption to economic and social systems. New York City, as the United States’ largest city and among the nation’s most densely populated, was an early epicenter of the crisis. Modifications to the design, planning and operations of the city’s public realm have been important components of the city’s overall response to mitigate the effects of the pandemic while also facilitating economic recovery and providing social, educational, and recreational opportunities for city residents. This commentary provides an overview of New York City’s urban design responses to COVID-19, highlighting some of the successes and limitations of the city’s programs. We conclude by arguing that, in order to be effective, short-term crisis response efforts such as these must eventually be turned into government policies that not only address immediate urgent crises but also begin to facilitate durable long-term recovery and address longstanding systemic inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Author(s):  
Shay Lehmann ◽  
Alla Reddy ◽  
Chan Samsundar ◽  
Tuan Huynh

Like any legacy subway system that first opened in the early 1900s, the New York City subway system operates using technology that dates from many different eras. Although some of this technology may be outdated, efforts to modernize are often hindered by budgetary limits, competing priorities, and managing the tradeoff between short-term service disruptions and long-term service improvements. At New York City Transit (NYCT), the locations of all trains on all lines are not visible to any one person in any one place and, for much of the system, train locations can only be seen at field towers for the handful of interlockings in its operational jurisdiction as result of the legacy signal system, which may come as a surprise to many daily commuters or personnel at newer metros. In 2019, developers at NYCT gained full access to the legacy signal system’s underlying track circuit occupancy data and developed an algorithm to automatically track trains and match these data with schedules and manual dispatchers’ logs in real time. This data-driven solution enables real-time train identification and tracking long before a full system modernization could be completed. This information is being provided to select personnel as part of a pilot program via several different tools with the aim of improving service management and reporting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion E. Hambrick

SoulCycle is a $122 million company offering customers 45-min workouts in its indoor cycling studios. As one of the first boutique fitness firms to emerge in the $28.5 billion fitness industry, SoulCycle grew from one indoor cycling studio in New York City in 2006 to 67 studios across the United States by 2016. SoulCycle executives faced a pivotal moment in May 2016. Chief executive officer Melanie Whelan recognized the company faced increasing competition in the boutique fitness segment, with companies such as Flywheel and Peloton making inroads into this market. In addition, two of SoulCycle’s founders resigned from their leadership positions earlier the same year. These developments led to questions about the long-term viability of SoulCycle within the larger fitness industry. A detailed financial analysis of SoulCycle, including an examination of the company’s financial statements, financial ratios, strategic initiatives, and competitors, could provide insights about its chances for continued success.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 443-488
Author(s):  
Tomasz Pudłocki

Artykuł przedstawia część pierwszą korespondencji Eileen i Floriana Znanieckich, znajdującej się w Archiwum Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej w Nowym Jorku. Pokazuje ona wiele nieznanych wątków z życia Znanieckich, a zwłaszcza Floriana – jednego z najsłynniejszych polskich socjologów, profesora Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego, który wiele lat pracował w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki. Prezentowana edycja obejmuje listy ze Stefanem Piotrem Mierzwą, który w języku angielskim używał nazwiska Stephen Peter Mizwa, oraz z Edith Brahmall Cullis-Williams. Mierzwa był założycielem Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej, długoletnim dyrektorem wykonawczym fundacji, a w końcu jej prezesem. Dzięki swojej działalności na rzecz kulturalnego i naukowego zbliżenia Polski i Ameryki stał się jedną z najbardziej rozpoznawalnych postaci w życiu Polonii amerykańskiej w XX w. Cullis-Williams była założycielką i prezeską Polskiego Instytutu Sztuk Pięknych i Literatury w Nowym Jorku i znaną w środowisku amerykańskim polonofilką. W zasobach archiwalnych Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej przetrwały kopie listów Mierzwy pisanych do Znanieckich. Kopie listów Cullis-Williams nie zachowały się w tej kolekcji, ale choćby te, wysłane do niej przez Eileen, prezentowane w niniejszej edycji, doskonale uzupełniają obraz amerykańskich relacji i powiązań towarzyskich małżeństwa Znanieckich, jakie wyłania się z innych źródeł. Chronologicznie listy obejmują okres 1923–1940 i pokazują początki współpracy Znanieckiego z Fundacją Kościuszkowską, wnoszą trochę nowego światła do obecności Znanieckiego w Nowym Jorku w latach 1931–1933 oraz do pierwszych miesięcy pobytu poznańskiego socjologa w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki w 1940 r. Polish-American traces of cooperation. The correspondence of Eileen and Florian Znaniecki in the archival collections of the Kościuszko Foundation in New York, part 1 The article presents the first part of the correspondence of Eileen and Florian Znaniecki, which is located in the Archives of the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. It shows many unknown threads from the life of Znaniecki family, especially Florian – one of the most outstanding Polish sociologist, a professor at the University of Poznań, who worked for many years in the United States of America. The presented edition includes letters with Stefan Piotr Mierzwa, who used the name Stephen Peter Mizwa in English, and Edith Brahmall Cullis-Williams. Mierzwa was the founder of the Kościuszko Foundation, a long-term executive director of the foundation, and finally its president. Thanks to his activities for the cultural and scientific rapprochement between Poland and America, he became, if not one of the most important figures in the life of American Polonia in the twentieth century, so certainly among the New York State Poles. Cullis-Williams was the founder and president of the Polish Institute of Arts and Literature in New York City and a well known American polonophile in the American environment. The archives of the Kościuszko Foundation have survived copies of Mierza’s letters written to Znaniecki. Copies of Cullis-Williams letters have not been preserved in this collection, but even those sent to her by Eileen, presented in this edition, perfectly complement the picture of American relationships and social relations of the Znaniecki marriage emerging from other sources. Chronologically, the letters cover the period 1923–1940 and show the beginnings of Znaniecki's cooperation with the Kosciuszko Foundation. What is more, the collection brings a little new light to Znaniecki’s presence in New York in 1931–1933 and the first months of the Poznań sociologist’s stay in the United States of America in 1940.


Author(s):  
Nawaf M. Alshabibi ◽  
Elena Prassas

New York City infrastructure is one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the United States. Local street construction and short-term work zones are almost continuously planned events that affect the movement of traffic on city streets by requiring the closing of one or more lanes at intersections throughout NYC, and it is important to understand the effect on capacity due to such work. This paper looks at the effect of short-term work zones on the capacity of signalized intersections in New York City. Data was collected at five locations in New York City, both during the work zone and then again after the work zone was removed. Over 25 hours of video data was collected and reduced. It was found that at all locations, the saturation headway was smaller during the work zone compared to after the work zone was removed, that is, the saturation flow rate per lane increased during the work zone. This was an unexpected result. A possible reason for this is the increased traffic pressure that drivers feel when a lane is closed. Thus, although overall approach capacity does decrease because a lane is closed, it did not decrease as much as expected. The field values are then compared with those from two other models: the Highway Capacity Manual model and a model developed by Schroeder et al. It was found that both models underestimate the capacity of the approach.


Author(s):  
Atin Adhikari ◽  
Jingjing Yin

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, has been rapidly increasing in the United States. Boroughs of New York City, including Queens county, turn out to be the epicenters of this infection. According to the data provided by the New York State Department of Health, most of the cases of new COVID-19 infections in New York City have been found in the Queens county where 42,023 people have tested positive, and 3221 people have died as of 20 April 2020. Person-to-person transmission and travels were implicated in the initial spread of the outbreaks, but factors related to the late phase of rapidly spreading outbreaks in March and April are still uncertain. A few previous studies have explored the links between air pollution and COVID-19 infections, but more data is needed to understand the effects of short-term exposures of air pollutants and meteorological factors on the spread of COVID-19 infections, particularly in the U.S. disease epicenters. In this study, we have focused on ozone and PM2.5, two major air pollutants in New York City, which were previously found to be associated with respiratory viral infections. The aim of our regression modeling was to explore the associations among ozone, PM2.5, daily meteorological variables (wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, absolute humidity, cloud percentages, and precipitation levels), and COVID-19 confirmed new cases and new deaths in Queens county, New York during March and April 2020. The results from these analyses showed that daily average temperature, daily maximum eight-hour ozone concentration, average relative humidity, and cloud percentages were significantly and positively associated with new confirmed cases related to COVID-19; none of these variables showed significant associations with new deaths related to COVID-19. The findings indicate that short-term exposures to ozone and other meteorological factors can influence COVID-19 transmission and initiation of the disease, but disease aggravation and mortality depend on other factors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1380-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany M. Trzebiatowski ◽  
Connie R. Wanberg ◽  
Karyn Dossinger

This research investigates whether and when a job applicant’s unemployment status (i.e., employed, short-term unemployed, or long-term unemployed) affects the probability of receiving an interview request by examining interview request rates in the presence of versus absence of unemployment status antidiscrimination legislation. In response to 3,335 fictitious resumes sent to 1,237 online job postings in Los Angeles and New York City, we received an overall interview request rate of 10.37. Long-term unemployed applicants were less likely to receive an interview request than short-term unemployed applicants in Los Angeles but not in New York City, which has unemployment status antidiscrimination legislation. These findings are supplemented with self-report survey data about perceptions of the unemployed from 200 hiring personnel in New York City and Los Angeles. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed for the unemployment, job search, and selection literatures.


mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Tauqeer Alam ◽  
Timothy D. Read ◽  
Robert A. Petit ◽  
Susan Boyle-Vavra ◽  
Loren G. Miller ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) USA300 is a successful S. aureus clone in the United States and a common cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 146 USA300 MRSA isolates from SSTIs and colonization cultures obtained from an investigation conducted from 2008 to 2010 in Chicago and Los Angeles households that included an index case with an S. aureus SSTI. Identifying unique single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and analyzing whole-genome phylogeny, we characterized isolates to understand transmission dynamics, genetic relatedness, and microevolution of USA300 MRSA within the households. We also compared the 146 USA300 MRSA isolates from our study with the previously published genome sequences of the USA300 MRSA isolates from San Diego (n = 35) and New York City (n = 277). We found little genetic variation within the USA300 MRSA household isolates from Los Angeles (mean number of SNPs ± standard deviation, 17.6 ± 35; π nucleotide diversity, 3.1 × 10−5) or from Chicago (mean number of SNPs ± standard deviation, 12 ± 19; π nucleotide diversity, 3.1 × 10−5). The isolates within a household clustered into closely related monophyletic groups, suggesting the introduction into and transmission within each household of a single common USA300 ancestral strain. From a Bayesian evolutionary reconstruction, we inferred that USA300 persisted within households for 2.33 to 8.35 years prior to sampling. We also noted that fluoroquinolone-resistant USA300 clones emerged around 1995 and were more widespread in Los Angeles and New York City than in Chicago. Our findings strongly suggest that unique USA300 MRSA isolates are transmitted within households that contain an individual with an SSTI. Decolonization of household members may be a critical component of prevention programs to control USA300 MRSA spread in the United States. IMPORTANCE USA300, a virulent and easily transmissible strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is the predominant community-associated MRSA clone in the United States. It most commonly causes skin infections but also causes necrotizing pneumonia and endocarditis. Strategies to limit the spread of MRSA in the community can only be effective if we understand the most common sources of transmission and the microevolutionary processes that provide a fitness advantage to MRSA. We performed a whole-genome sequence comparison of 146 USA300 MRSA isolates from Chicago and Los Angeles. We show that households represent a frequent site of transmission and a long-term reservoir of USA300 strains; individuals within households transmit the same USA300 strain among themselves. Our study also reveals that a large proportion of the USA300 isolates sequenced are resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The significance of this study is that if households serve as long-term reservoirs of USA300, household MRSA eradication programs may result in a uniquely effective control method.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Easterly

In the first decade of the twentieth century, a market in the personal debt of corporate and government employees was thriving in New York City and other major urban centers in the Northeastern andMidwestern United States. A set of shadowy entrepreneurs, colloquially known as “loan sharks,” offered short-term, high-rate advances that they called salary loans. Despite operating in violation of the law, primarily the prohibition against usury, the operations of these intermediaries had by 1912 reached an imposing scale. At least eighty-one such offices operated in Manhattan and Brooklyn alone, with millions of dollars in loans outstanding. Of these eighty-one offices, thirty-four belonged to interstate chains, the largest ofwhich stretched over sixtythree cities in the United States and Canada.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Wiley

Gerald Handerson Thayer (1883–1939) was an artist, writer and naturalist who worked in North and South America, Europe and the West Indies. In the Lesser Antilles, Thayer made substantial contributions to the knowledge and conservation of birds in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Thayer observed and collected birds throughout much of St Vincent and on many of the Grenadines from January 1924 through to December 1925. Although he produced a preliminary manuscript containing interesting distributional notes and which is an early record of the region's ornithology, Thayer never published the results of his work in the islands. Some 413 bird and bird egg specimens have survived from his work in St Vincent and the Grenadines and are now housed in the American Museum of Natural History (New York City) and the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Four hundred and fifty eight specimens of birds and eggs collected by Gerald and his father, Abbott, from other countries are held in museums in the United States.


1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-223
Author(s):  
Lillian Taiz

Forty-eight hours after they landed in New York City in 1880, a small contingent of the Salvation Army held their first public meeting at the infamous Harry Hill's Variety Theater. The enterprising Hill, alerted to the group's arrival from Britain by newspaper reports, contacted their leader, Commissioner George Scott Railton, and offered to pay the group to “do a turn” for “an hour or two on … Sunday evening.” In nineteenth-century New York City, Harry Hill's was one of the best known concert saloons, and reformers considered him “among the disreputable classes” of that city. His saloon, they said, was “nothing more than one of the many gates to hell.”


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