Published in the The Appeal. By Olivia Heffernan Three Bronx friends recount their 2012 arrests in the NYPD‘s ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ experiences with the court system, incarceration and lives seven years later. At approximately 4 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2012,…
Category: People
Sectarian War in East Ramapo Schools
BY SARIKA BANSAL Steve Forman, one of Ramapo High School’s assistant principals, was stunned to find on a recent morning that his town’s sectarian feud had spilled into his school. On the blackboard in an empty classroom, someone had scribbled:…
Crop to Cup
BY STEPHEN SCHABER On 14th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in Union Square, across from Jason’s Jewelry & Diamonds and next door to a Western Union, you will find Bourbon Coffee, a large café with a larger mission. This…
Tommy’s Team
BY ASHOKA MUKPO On a drizzly day in mid-April, about seven teenagers sit in a cluttered Washington Heights high school classroom, waiting to hear the recruitment pitch for a local football team. Slumping in their seats, they look distractedly out…
Refugees in a Refugee Nation
BY NICOLE SCHILIT The 100 men packed tightly in the barren room suffered from different degrees of malnourishment, a visible marker that distinguished how long each had spent in the prison. The worst off had been jailed up to four…
Mexico’s Latest Poet-Diplomat
By Mónica Adame I met Gaspar Orozco during my first event as public relations coordinator for the Mexican Consul General in New York almost three years ago. Our boss, the head of the Consulate, invited Mexican artists living in the…
Ethiopia Chokes Refugees
By NICOLE SCHILIT Genet’s soft voice makes it difficult to make out the words she is saying. The young Eritrean refugee avoids eye contact, and when she speaks she turns toward the empty space in her small one-room home rather…
Just Beside History
By Stephen Schaber My parents hate being bothered by the telephone- the ringing, the holding, the talking. When someone calls they rarely answer it. In fact, the answering machine picks up after two rings. I find it incredibly annoying. They…
Roma On Her Own Terms
BY REBECCA WEXLER NEW YORK—With the exception of the delicate gold rings on nearly all of her fingers, Petra Gelbart does not look stereotypically Roma. Her fair skin and small hazel eyes suggest her father’s Czech and Eastern European roots…
Israel Struggles to Absorb Africa Refugees
BY NICOLE SCHILIT Johannes (name has been changed) is a twenty five year old refugee from Eritrea who came to Israel four months ago through Sudan and then Egypt. He lives not far from South Tel Aviv Bus Terminal, an…