Though New York City may be among the most diverse cities in the world, the conditions and standards of living for New Yorkers is far from equitable. NYC ranks as the fourth most residentially segregated city nationally, and the city’s schools and commuting regions are ranked as the most segregated in the country. Nearly half of the 59 community districts that make up New York City are occupied by a single ethnic group.

Nestled in Park Slope, Brooklyn is the Shirley Chisholm Shelter, where staff members are committed to do anything to ensure the safety of homeless youth and their families during the pandemic, even if that means shelter staff work around the clock.

Devices of hostile architecture may seem innocuous in their most common forms, such as surveillance cameras in front of apartment buildings or arm rests built onto benches. However, the reality of hostile architecture manifests in a mass deployment of these urban designs in public spaces to keep out “undesirable” populations- particularly, the homeless population. This not only materially harms homeless people, removing what few spaces of refuge they may have in a crowded urban setting for sleep or protection from the environment, but brings up a broader question at the heart of urban design and machinations of government: If the homeless do not belong in the private eye or the public, where do they belong?

The New York Sumer Youth Employment Program provides young people between the ages of 14-24 employment, career-building opportunities, and a stipend of $700-$1,000 for up to seven weeks of work. The program originally employed 75,000 youths and received around 125,000 applications annually at the cost of $124 million in prior years. The slots in SYEP are distributed randomly through a lottery system.

Our methods of helping young adults recently discharged from the foster care system in our city and across the United States are deeply flawed. Some may go as far as to argue that these efforts are almost nonexistent outside of the non-profit organizations dedicated to helping 18-24-year-olds in the foster care to homelessness pipeline.

Daisha and Judith of ReBronx sit down with us to discuss working alongside their friends and peers to give out food, water, face masks, and sanitary products during the Pandemic