By Christine Stoddard

French-speaking migrants from Africa stand outside of a shelter for asylum seekers at 47 Hall Street in Clinton Hill. In our on-the-street conversations, several men told me that they feel especially isolated as Francophones. As they have experienced, most assistance for recent migrants is only available in Spanish, and New Yorkers they meet in daily street life are unlikely to speak French. A common refrain I heard was, “Americans don’t speak French.” More than one man told me that I was the first French-speaking American they had met.

Bahei, age 34, from Senegal.

By Christine Stoddard

File photos c. 2021 of Glass Bottle Beach at Dead Horse Bay in Gateway National Recreation Area, on the outskirts of the Marine Park neighborhood. The site has been closed since 2020 due to hazardous levels of radioactivity. From 1948 into the mid-1950s, it was a landfill with a mound elevation of 25 feet. Now eroding, the shoreline features a patchwork of broken bottles, ceramics, metal objects, clothing, and a mix of random household and industrial items.

By Marleen Barr

Anti-defamation League National Director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt posted this comment  about the December 9, 2023 Saturday Night Live cold open skit concerning  the Harvard, M.I.T, and University of Pennsylvania presidents’ response to calls for Jewish genocide on their campuses:  “The skit was atrocious. The sentiment even more appalling”  (X, December 10, 2023, https://twitter.com/JGreenblattADL/status/1733975732148183439 ).  I disagree. The laugh out loud funny skit was devoid of anti-Semitism. It instead focused on at once pervasive and ludicrous aspects of academic culture: administrators’ rampant embrace of equivocation as well as scholarly discourse’s  jargon filled incomprehensible locutions. The knee jerk anti-Semitism accusations the skit garnered fail to place it within the Jewish humor tradition. This omitted contextualization is integral to understanding the skit.  I will link the skit to comedic “tradition, tradition” and counter the anti-Semitism accusations. 
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By Madeline Edalow

New York City is ever-changing and long time residents grow accustomed to iconic establishments disappearing.
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I am a life-long New Yorker. Within my lifetime, the gentrification of Northern Brooklyn has progressed at lightening speed. The luxury establishments that continue to open often feel inaccessible to me. I often feel like a tourist in the city I grew up in, not recognizing neighborhoods where I used to spend a lot of time.
As the area surrounding the Lorimer L train in Williamsburg Brooklyn felt the impact of trendy hipsterdom, one spot felt accessible to a wide range of people. I am speaking of Kellogg’s Diner.

By Aaron Gold

When people make fun of Brooklyn hipsters, one of the go-to things to cite (after craft beers, underground music, and ironic tattoos) would be axe-throwing bars. But there’s a very good, very deep reason why axe-throwing has become such a staple of the scene: It’s really, really fun.

Even the less violent of us can feel a rush of pride and adrenaline as a steel hatchet leaves your hands, rotates end over end, and finds purchase in a wooden target. It’s marksmanship to the level of lumberjack. It’s darts with bladed weapons. It’s a unique experience for anyone who doesn’t have a penchant for chopping firewood or acres of wooded land, but does have a bit of free time.

When approaching Kick Axe Throwing in Gowanus, you’re immediately greeted by a large statue of a bull. Because, why not? Once you get through the people who are taking their pictures beside it (don’t judge, you know you’ll be doing the same when you leave), you’re treated to a vibe that is clubhouse meets escape room. There is a nice lounge area with couches that are actually comfortable, alongside plenty of games like Jenga and beer pong. If you have to wait for your appointment, you will not be left bored, as there is plenty to fuel either your Instagram feeds or your desire for social connection.
The bar is not quite as well stocked as one might hope, but that’s understandable, considering the majority of the establishment’s patrons will be spending their evening chucking hatchets. Still, the beer selection has enough to appeal to both those looking for the classic cheap drinks, as well as those with a thirst for microbrews. A few canned cocktails and wines are also available for those with more discerning palettes, but the options there are limited.

By Christine Stoddard

By Sarah Harley        ​