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Thursday, May 9th, 2013

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Superstorm Sandy: A Live Town Hall. What worked. What didn’t. What’s next.

A post-broadcast online conversation on THIRTEEN’s Google+ page with Live Town Hall panelist John Boulé, Vice President, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Retired Colonel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Superstorm Sandy: A Live Town Hall
What worked. What didn’t. What’s next.

Also see a post-broadcast online conversation on THIRTEEN’s Google+ page with Live Town Hall panelist John Boulé, Vice President, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Retired Colonel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

More than six months after Superstorm Sandy caused $50 billion in damage, questions still remain regarding the region’s infrastructure, its disaster response capabilities, and what the future holds.

Seeking answers and conversation about the storm and recovery efforts, New Jersey and New York public broadcasting stations teamed up to broadcast a special multi-platform live Town Hall event. Hosted by Mike Schneider, managing editor of the NJTV’s news program NJ Today with Mike Schneider, expert panelists fielded questions before live studio audiences at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre in West Long Branch, NJ and the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Superstorm Sandy: A Live Town Hall aired and streamed live on Thursday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m. on NJTV, New Jersey’s public television network, THIRTEEN in New York City, WLIW21 on Long Island, WHYY TV in Philadelphia, and their websites, in collaboration with media outlets WNYC at 93.9FM and AM820, New Jersey Public Radio, The Star-Ledger and NJ.com, NJ Spotlight, NJ News Commons and The New York Times.

Topics of discussion included: infrastructure: maintenance, parameters for the future and how New York and New Jersey’s infrastructure compares to other regions; building codes in the post-Sandy era; the storm’s environmental consequences: what can we fix, what may not be reparable; storm response: the effectiveness of Sandy response by FEMA, the government, the utility companies and the region overall; economic ramifications: who is paying the debt the storm left behind, government funds versus constituent responsibilities, and looking to the future: the region’s ability to plan ahead for extreme weather.

Guest panelists included experts in an array of fields, from infrastructure and engineering to climatology and charities. The live program featured reporting from various locations across New Jersey, New York City, and Long Island. Lauren Wanko from NJ Today with Mike Schneider, MetroFocus’ Rafael Pi Roman, and Long Island Business Report’s Jim Paymar revisited communities and individuals that they covered when the storm hit in November, continuing their in-depth reporting from the worst hit towns and cities. Other special reports came from WHYY, The Star-Ledger and WNYC.

Panelists at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey
• Richard Constable, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
• Nicole Gelinas, Searle Freedom Trust Fellow, Manhattan Institute
• Vivien Gornitz, Special Research Scientist, Columbia University
• Ralph LaRossa, President & COO, PSE&G
• Mayor Matt Doherty, Belmar, NJ
• Patrick Murray, Director, Monmouth University Polling Institute
• Peter Reinhart, Director, Kislak Real Estate Institute, Monmouth University
• Bill Ulfelder, Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy of New York
• Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken, NJ

Panelists at the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in Manhattan
• John Boulé, VP, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Ret. Col. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• John Cameron, Chair, Long Island Regional Planning Council
• Bud Griffis, Professor of Civil Engineering and Construction, Polytechnic Institute of New York University
• Joe Nocera, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times
• Richard Ravitch, Former Lieutenant Governor, New York
• Sheena Wright, President & CEO, United Way of New York City

Questions for the panelists were gathered from the public prior and during the program in the comments field of station web sites, and via Twitter #sandytownhall.

See the Storify feed below for questions, comments and images posted with the hashtag #SandyTownHall on Twitter.

Superstorm Sandy: A Live Town Hall is made possible by the New Jersey Recovery Fund at the Community Foundation of New Jersey, The General Contractors Association of New York, New York Building Congress and New York Building Foundation, Bernard and Irene Schwartz, AECOM, New Jersey Manufacturers, Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV, Tishman – an AECOM Company and the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York. [View the story "Superstorm Sandy: A Live Town Hall" on Storify]

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Live from the Artists Den: Season 5 Premieres Oct. 6

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Norah Jones performs at the historic Green Building in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens. Photo by Adam Macchia.

On Saturday, October 6 at 10 p.m., Live from the Artists Den returns to WLIW with a new season, featuring artists Norah Jones, The Wallflowers, Rufus Wainwright, and Mayer Hawthorne.

Season Schedule:

October 5: Grammy Award-winner Norah Jones at the Green Building in Brooklyn, NY.

October 12: Multiplatinum rockers The Wallflowers at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco.

October 19: Vocal virtuoso Rufus Wainwright at the Church of the Ascension on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

October 26: Soul phenomenon Mayer Hawthorne at the historic Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Watch a Preview:

Celebrating the Stories of Our Community: Min Ying Cao and Dolma Lhamo

Monday, September 17th, 2012

This month, our Community Stories campaign highlights Min Ying Cao and Dolma Lhamo, who discuss the experience of growing up outside of their home countries and interacting with other cultures in NYC.

Learn more about the campaign and view previous videos here.

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Check out related stories on THIRTEEN’s local news and culture site, MetroFocus.

Celebrating the Stories of Our Community: Marica and Dr. Jan Vilcek

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

This month, our Community Stories campaign highlights Slovak Americans Marica and Dr. Jan Vilcek. Here, the Vilceks discuss arriving in New York from Slovakia (then Czechoslovakia), and the unique experiences and opportunities their new life in America provided them.

Learn more about the campaign and view previous videos here.

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Check out related stories on THIRTEEN’s local news and culture site, MetroFocus.

Filmmaker JL Aronson on Last Summer at Coney Island

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

JL Aronson. Photo courtesy of Bailey Photo (2008).

We recently spoke with filmmaker JL Aronson, whose documentary Last Summer at Coney Island explores the transformation of one of New York’s favorite playgrounds and the controversial proposals to redevelop the area in recent years. Here, Aronson explains what led him to make the film and how Coney Island has become a quintessential part of New York City history.

Last Summer at Coney Island airs August 19 at 10 p.m., August 22 at 4 a.m., August 24 at 2 a.m., and August 25 at 3 p.m. on WLIW21.

Mr. Aronson answered our questions via email.

What inspired you to make Last Summer at Coney Island?

I’d been going out to Coney Island and shooting there for a long time. I always loved piecing together the history with the reality of the present day. When I heard that a developer had bought out most of the amusement zone and that there would be massive changes coming, I felt it was important to document the way things had been. What I didn’t realize at first was how much push back the city and the developer would get. I don’t think they realized that either. Many people saw a complete makeover as a mortal threat to this place that meant so much to them.

With a history very much tied to New York City, what do you think makes Coney Island so unique and distinct from other amusement parks and beach side attractions in the country?

Well, first of all, most seaside amusement areas are wholly owned or subsidized by municipalities. But aside from the construction and occasional maintenance of the actual boardwalk, Coney Island was never that way. In fact, it seems like Coney Island survived all these years in spite of the city’s attitude towards it. Coney Island has sometimes been known as “the people’s playground” and that sense of egalitarianism is also reflected in the independent businesses that have comprised the amusement area. But more generally, Coney Island has its own feel that is distinctly New York City even though it doesn’t look, feel, smell or taste like any other part of New York City.

How do you think Coney Island’s role in the city has changed over the years? Has it become less relevant to New Yorkers?

If you compare the Coney Island of today with what it was during the first half of the 20th century, then it is less relevant. Before everyone had access to air conditioning, cable TV, cheap car rentals and cheap airfare, most New Yorkers had a lot fewer options for summertime recreation. Fortunately, what they did have was known to be the greatest collection of rides and attractions on the planet, not to mention a very nice beach. Now Coney Island doesn’t have the biggest collection of anything. And the beach has gotten a lot better, but according to a widely circulated report on American beaches, that too is lagging behind. However, Coney Island is still vital to the millions of New Yorkers who either can’t afford to go elsewhere or who simply prefer the convenience of going to a seaside park in their backyard (only a subway ride away!), and that describes a majority of New Yorkers. Also, I think New York is a place that few of its inhabitants take for granted. People know that there is an important history and legacy here, connected to the city’s larger history. And they also see the potential to make it a world class destination, once again.

What do you see as the biggest challenge to the redevelopment of the area? Do you see any way of making the existing model more sustainable?

A lot of people think that Coney Island was forever doomed by the placement of large housing projects in the vicinity of the amusements. I think that’s one challenge but it’s by far not the only one. Right now, the City of New York owns a majority stake in the amusement area, having bought much of the land from a speculative developer. Since 2010, the city has really focused on sprucing up the area in order to attract more investment: specifically national retailers and market rate housing developers for the adjacent land. They also need to improve the infrastructure of the whole island before any major development projects can get under way. But in the meantime, the Bloomberg administration has brought in new ride operators and set a high bar for being a vendor on the boardwalk and in other locations where the city is now the landlord. The cosmetic aspects are a step in the right direction although there’s been a lot of trial and error and a number of long time business owners were forced out. I personally feel that change should happen gradually and that the kind of oversized ambitions in evidence with many of the development plans going forward are probably not sustainable. But, at least for now, things have been improving.

In the film it is said that “a single owner is a dangerous concept,” with regard to a private developer taking over Coney Island. Do you agree?

JL Aronson filming Astroland's closing. Photo courtesy of Bailey Photo.

For sure. One of the things that has made Coney Island distinct all these years is the variety of styles and themes amongst the various businesses, and there’s a healthy competition there, too. However, the ideal situation is one in which the city owns or at least subsidizes the amusement park as an investment, with an ongoing commitment that can withstand the vacillating attentions of various administrations.

A thriving Coney Island makes New York a more livable space and also brings in money from tourists. We’re at a pretty good stage now, but there are plans to develop market rate high-rise housing in the area to subsidize the investment in amusements. Many of those people who pushed back against development asserted that there should be more amusements on that property and that a greater capacity for amusements and recreational uses would pay for itself. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but I think that if there’s anything Coney Island does not need more of, it’s high-rises.

Both Last Summer at Coney Island and your 2008 film Up on the Roof (about the last remaining pigeon keepers in Williamsburg) explore how time and gentrification have changed neighborhoods and pastimes in Brooklyn. Do you think these films are representative of what is happening in the city as a whole? What attracted you to this topic?

I won’t be the first to assert that New York has been undergoing a process of homogenization and corporatization for some time. Those things are a result of all the money that gets generated here and having a very pro-business and pro-development mayor. An independently organized amusement area doesn’t fit in with that kind of climate, nor does an old-time hobby like pigeon raising. I made Up on the Roof for similar reasons as Last Summer at Coney Island, which was to document and celebrate something that thrived when New York was a more adventurous place. Pigeon keeping hasn’t died out because of any specific policy changes or campaigns, but because people sort of fall in line with the general track that society is running on. As you see in the film, landlords and building tenants who used to accept pigeon flyers as a part of city life, adapt to a new reality. Suddenly you turn around and what used to appear to you as your neighborhood now looks like an investment. Everything appears sanitized and digital. People don’t want reminders of the old country or the pastimes that were brought over. They want to keep up with the ever-evolving American dream.

So, these films are about a collective experience of living in New York that used to be more the norm. The changes are symptomatic, I think, of our closing ourselves off from everyone else, aside from our small circles. The city is arguably more diverse than it ever has been (overall) but we’re losing the naturalness of interaction and the attendant sense of community that has long distinguished NYC from other metropolises. Still, we’ll always have the subway.

Celebrating the Stories of Our Community: Luna Ranjit

Monday, July 9th, 2012

This month, our Community Stories campaign highlights Nepali American, Luna Ranjit. Here, Ranjit discusses New York’s ability to embrace differences and being part of the city’s large and diverse South Asian community away from her native Nepal.

Learn more about the campaign and view previous videos here.

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Check out related stories on THIRTEEN’s local news and culture site, MetroFocus.

Long Island Business Report Premieres May 1 on WLIW

Monday, April 30th, 2012

Anchor Jim Paymar

Long Island Business Report presents an in-depth look at the current economic state of Long Island and reveals what needs to be done in order to improve working and living conditions for the future. Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and Anchor Jim Paymar (Business Week, CNBC, WABC-TV, WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV) examines the status of Long Island’s infrastructure and rising costs of living, as well as the potential for revitalization in it’s downtown areas. The program analyzes the financial, educational, and social aspects that make up Long Island’s increasingly diverse community and addresses how advancements in these areas can help maintain the thriving towns and villages.

This half-hour special features interviews with Kevin Law, president of the Long Island Association, Lawrence Levy, award-winning journalist and Executive Dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, and Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation. These business leaders and industry experts provide insight into the existing economic issues in Long Island and assess what changes must be made to bring new businesses and job opportunities to Suffolk and Nassau counties.

Long Island Business Report premieres Tuesday, May 1 at 10:30 p.m. on WLIW 21.

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Watch Online: Treasures of NY- Hearst Tower

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Paula Zahn hosts this behind-the-scenes look inside Hearst’s innovative headquarters with Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Architect Lord Norman Foster, and Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles.

For more information about the Hearst Tower and for past episodes and exclusive content, visit the Treasures of New York site.

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Treasures of NY: Hearst Tower Preview

Monday, March 5th, 2012

This March, Treasures of New York takes viewers on a private tour of Hearst Tower, the Hearst Corporation’s world headquarters, located on Eighth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan. Timed with Hearst Corporation’s 125th anniversary, the film also highlights Hearst’s history and growth into one of America’s largest media and information companies.

Treasures of New York: Hearst Tower premieres Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. on WLIW21.

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Live from the Artists Den Features Kid Rock on Feb. 25

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

On Saturday, Live from the Artists Den hosts Kid Rock at Graceland, rock and roll’s greatest landmark, in Memphis. The concert features Rock’s breakthrough songs like “Cowboy,” as well as recent hits “Born Free” and “Care.”

Live from the Artists Den featuring Kid Rock airs Friday, February 24 at 10 p.m. on WLIW21.

Watch a clip from the episode, and view the full song list below:

Song List:

“God Bless Saturday”
“Slow My Roll”
“Purple Sky”
“What I Learned Out On The Road”
“Cowboy/Lay It On Me”
“Bawitdaba”
“All Summer Long”
“Rock N Roll Jesus/Burning Love”
“Only God Knows Why”
“Born Free”

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