Thursday, May 1, 2008
Breaking the Chains and Cracking the Whip
By Michael Ronan
Members of the Break the Chains Alliance gathered April 24 in Foley Square to protest the controversial Immigration Reform and Control Act. The Break the Chains Alliance, a coalition of several ethnic and labor organizations, argued in an open letter to presidential candidates that these sanctions are a “road to disaster.”
The protest continued the dialogue started in that letter while also publicizing the group's May 1 walk to protest IRCA. With posters saying “Repeal IRCA Now!” behind them, speakers explained how IRCA divides documented and undocumented workers from joining together, resulting in worsening working conditions.
IRCA was originally put into place in 1989 in efforts to answer the country’s immigration problems. The act made it illegal for employers to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, but also gave amnesty to illegal immigrants who had come to the country before 1982.
As New York University politics professor Lawrence Mead said, “IRCA was a huge liberal victory.” However, several problems arose since IRCA’s installation, the largest of which was an increase in illegal immigration. “IRCA is an open door,” said Mead, explaining that after IRCA, “illegals all went out and bought fake documents.”
He said, “IRCA is a chameleon. The right sees it as a tremendous sellout to the left and the left sees it as creating a second class.”
John J. Crogan Jr., organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World, expressed this belief, calling IRCA, “a slave law to keep underclass workers.”
While acting on the behalf of both documented and undocumented workers, the Break the Chains alliance is not indicative of the country as a whole. “Most people are ambivalent [about the issue]," said Mead. “They do not like it when people break the law, but are sympathetic on an individual level.”
Mead also explained that the calls for change made at the April protest can be attributed to a “close connection to the illegal workers themselves,” as well as a fear against the recent “movement of tightening up” of immigration restrictions by the current administration.
For those reasons, speakers made a call on presidential candidates in an open letter to end what they called divisive immigration policies. Immigration has been a hot button issue that candidates have somewhat avoided during the election because how it divides voters. The immigration stance of the current government, however, as moved toward the right.
Mead explained this saying, “homeland security is beginning to crack the whip, but the whip is not IRCA.” The “whip” is the backlash from the failings of IRCA, as the government becomes more diligent in checking for illegal immigrants. Because of this backlash, Thursday’s event attacked the perceived root of the problem; IRCA.
“We are not going to wait till next year,” said one protestor. “That’s why we are marching on May 1.” May 1 marks International Workers’ Day, a day where workers had united in the past for the betterment of the working class.
Unity among workers, both documented and undocumented, is one of the ways the Break the Chains Alliance hopes to achieve better conditions for the working class. “Employers are using the laws to divide documented workers and undocumented workers,” said Adolfo Lopez, a member of the National Organization against Sweat Shops.
Stanley Mark, senior staff attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, added, “The law makes it foreign born versus native born people.”
Lopez used personal examples to illustrate this divisive policy in action. He recalled how, as an undocumented worker, he only made $15 a day while documented workers made substantially more. When Lopez asked his boss why he was making less money than the documented workers although he worker longer hours, he said it was because they had papers. Employers are “using the law to separate us [documented and undocumented workers] so we cannot fight together.”
For that reason, Lopez, and other members of the Break the Chains Alliance invited, “all workers, documented and undocumented to come to the march.” As Gustavo Mejias, member of the Million Worker March said, “They cannot divide us, black, Latino, Chinese. They cannot divide us.”
While stories like that of Lopez may make employers seem like the quintessential bad guys, as Mead explained, the issue is more complex. “Employers are not necessarily in the driver’s seat,” he said. Mead added that they are having trouble filling jobs that no one will do.
But doing the jobs no one else is willing to do has left undocumented workers with a desire for a better life and a clearer path toward citizenship. Jei Fong, an organizer with the Chinese Staff & Worker’s Association said Thursday’s protest was “not a call for guest workers, not a call for legislation that will criminalize good workers.” She said, “We are going to demand that all immigrants have a path to citizenship and won’t have to live in the shadows.
“We need to take control of our lives, take control of our work,” she urged.
“We all lose out big time,” said Harlem Tenant council head Nellie Bailey, explaining why action is needed. “Not only workers but the community.” Bailey then called on the unity of worker of all ethnicities saying repealing IRCA is “deserving of all the voices of the community across this city.”
Repealing the IRCA could be in the near future explained professor Mead. He said, “I think IRCA will be consigned to the scrap heap. The likelier outcome is no new law but a tightening up of restrictions.”
This is exactly what the members of the Break the Chains Alliance wish to avoid, demonstrated by their open letter. Tosh Anderson on behalf of the Break the Chains Alliance wrote that tighter restrictions “will just result in new means of circumventing those measures that will push undocumented workers even further underground and worsen the working conditions for all workers.” But unfortunately for them, this seems to be direction the country is heading.
New Yorkers Going Green at Gardening Festival in Union Square
By Alexandra Beggs
New Yorkers can’t seem to get enough green. Going green—from composting, to green roofs, to year-round container gardening—was the focus of a festival for National Garden Month in Union Square on Sunday.
The festival, NYC Grows, was a celebration of gardening in the city where backyards are on rooftops, and choosing what to plant is a strategy against shade, wind, and ruthless winters. But the festival was also an opportunity for new, ecologically-conscious horticulturalists and business owners to inform the public about new ways to live greenly.
Martha Desbiens, a principal landscape architect for VertNY, designs green roofs and urban gardens.
“In the city you have to be more creative to be green,” she said. Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC has tax incentives for people with green roofs, which Desbiens said has sparked the interest of many New Yorkers.
The gardens cost more, she said, but they last a long time, reduce water run-off by 50 percent, and reduce heating and cooling costs. The ecological designs have been utilized by many apartment tenants, as well as larger companies such as the Lichtenstein Foundation.
Kristi Stromberg Wright, also a principal designer at VertNY, does not think green roofs will be a transient public interest.
“Chicago is good example because they have amazing tax breaks for green roofs, so many people do it; it won’t be a fad because the environmental benefits are so great.”
Alex Feleppa, Director of Horticulture at The Horticultural Society of New York, described the society’s mission to foster the community and improve life through horticulture. Feleppa said the society has several programs of community outreach, even an interning program at Rikers Island, where inmates learn skills such as woodworking and horticulture in order to help them find job placement after they leave.
“It’s really gratifying getting people empowered and excited about doing it themselves,” said Feleppa. He noted that more visitors are posing questions on his blog, and visiting the society’s library with inquiries about becoming greener.
“[The Horticultural Society] is like the glue for all the green groups in the city,” he said, because the society offers resources and basic knowledge of horticulture, which then leads to ideas ranging from conservation to composting.
The subject of composting brought many curious visitors to the booth of the Composting Council of Canada.
Doug Hill, the General Manager of the Environmental Division, explained the process of composting.
“With a backyard composter, you put your kitchen scraps in the machine and it grinds them up. Then you can use it for your flowers, vegetables, whatever you’re growing.” He also pointed out that the curbside composter, a specially designed trashcan that many Canadians use is another way to compost. The contents are picked up in the same way the trash is, but instead of going to a landfill, they are turned into compost.
Hill noted that in Toronto, 92 percent of the citizens have curbside composting. In the United States, citizens in California and parts of Minnesota are also growing in participation.
“But because the curbside composting is not very profitable, it becomes a question of political will,” Hill said. Many visitors to his booth were eager to receive a compost bucket, which is for the scraps that are taken to composting locations.
Con Edison has also taken an active stance in reducing carbon emissions in the city. Bob McGee, a spokesperson for the company, said that “vampire electricity” is a new way New Yorkers can realize, and take efforts to reduce their energy usage.
“Vampire electricity is when common things in your home, such as computers and handheld devices, use power even when you’re not using them,” McGee said. Con Edison has proposed several summer energy efficiency programs, including a lighting program that installs Energy Star fluorescent lights in homes and an incentive program for homes with Energy Star heating and cooling systems.
Presenters at the festival also tried to spread the word about the differences individuals can make by changing small aspects of their lifestyle, such as buying groceries locally.
Chef Colin Alevras from The Tasting Room, a wine bar and café, brought his family to help him discuss the benefits of buying from local farmers while he tossed a salad of greens purchased at the Union Square Green Market.
“We find ourselves in unchartered water with these ingredients,” Alevras said about the often unfamiliar produce at the market. He held up a leaf and laughed, “I bought this the other day and I have no idea what it is.”
“It’s important for me to stay regional,” he added, encouraging the audience that buying from farmers’ markets stimulates the local economy and helps the community.
Joanne Wessel is a part of a community garden, Dias y Flores, which is located on the Lower East Side.
“Most people don’t know much about gardening” at the garden, “but once it becomes a part of your routine, it becomes a part of yourself,” she said. “[Gardening] rooted me spatially in the community, especially in New York because people are so territorial, I’ve become more open.” Many of these gardens make up a larger coalition of public gardens in the city, where volunteers dedicate their time for the upkeep of the gardens.
In regards to the Green Movement, Wessel expressed amazement at the growth of organic grocery chains and her own visitation to the Green Market.
“Now 14th Street is a Mecca for foodies! I come to the market at least twice a week and religiously on Saturdays,” she said. She added that she visits the market “to support the community, it’s vital, you eat better, and you’re preserving a way of life.”
Bloomingdale's Workers and Management Reach Tentative Agreement After Rally for a Fair Contract
by Lisa Bonarrigo
Bloomingdale’s workers and management reached a tentative contract agreement Wednesday, April 30, avoiding the intended strike declared by the leaders of Local 3, a union representing Bloomingdale’s workers under the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). A strike would affect over 2,000 workers and close the Bloomingdale’s 59th St. store indefinitely.
The old contract expired Wednesday night, implementing a new 4-year contract which addresses all but the workers’ desired health care plan. Before the contract is ratified, an additional two weeks has been allotted for discussion of this and the general wage increase demanded by the workers.
Workers at the Bloomingdale’s 59th St. store sent a message to management Thursday, April 24 when they voted to strike for a better contract, ultimately generating the tentative agreement. This decision came after Local 3 rallied outside the 59th St. store on Tuesday, April 22.
Local 3 members repeated chants such as “What do we want? Contract. When do we want it? Now” and “Who are we? Local 3” at the demonstration, which lasted a little over an hour. Yellow fliers were distributed reading “Bloomingdale’s workers are demonstrating today as part of a Union effort to convince Management and Macy’s Inc, the parent company, to be fair and just.”
Immediately following the demonstration, Local 3 representatives and Bloomingdale’s management met to continue contract discussions which began on Feb. 14. The workers’ demands for a general wage increase and a better health care plan were not met at that time.
RWDSU Local 3 President Ida Torres expressed her concern for the workers at the rally. “At this point, we’re looking for a living wage. A wage that ensures our workers can put food on the table for their families; we want them to have the health benefits they need to survive,” Torres said.
According to Torres, under the most recent contract workers at Bloomingdale’s are being paid as little as the $8 an hour minimum wage in New York City. Another category of workers are paid by straight commission. “They don’t know what they’re making, it depends on what they sell,” Torres said.
The health benefits under the most recent contract do not meet the demands of the workers in order to ensure a decent standard of living, according to Torres.
Torres mentioned the National Labor Relations Board, which was created by Congress under the Wagner Act in 1935 to guarantee employees the right to organize and negotiate with their employers. “With a union, the boss has to deal with the voices of the workers,” Torres said.
Cassandra Berrocal, Secretary Treasurer of RWDSU Local 3, similarly noted the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, also known as the Labor-Management Relations Act. This act made union organization laws more specific, such as more clearly defining unfair labor practices.
At the time of the rally Berrocal was positive about the pending negotiations with the company. “Our intention is to settle by May 1,” she said. The workers’ contract originally expired on March 1, but an automatic 60 day extension was implemented.
Berrocal stressed the amount of workers represented by Local 3, and how many are discouraged with the current contract. “Our local union represents workers from all divisions of operation in the 59th St. store – the selling division, the non-selling division, housekeeping, and so on,” Berrocal said.
Sal Leibowitz has worked in the Advertising Department of Bloomingdale’s 59th St. store for 40 years. He said he’s witnessed a couple of demonstrations similar to the one on April 22, but did not believe a strike was necessary. “This isn’t the worst, but it’s pretty bad,” Leibowitz said.
Leibowitz said he’s stayed with the company for so many years because of the security of having a job. “I like the people here and I enjoy the work, but I’ve got to survive also,” he said.
Harriet Farmah, a sales associate at the 59th St. store for past two years, was also concerned about security. She said that the workers are being treated unfairly due to a lack of respect from the company. “We are not appreciated at all. We bring the store millions of dollars every year and it’s not appreciated,” Farmah said.
The Bloomingdale’s workers received support from many union workers around New York City who joined them to picket. “We have the support of the RWDSU and local unions from the Central Labor Council – which represents 1.5 million workers,” Berrocal said.
RWDSU represents union workers throughout New York City. President of the RWDSU, Stuart Appelbaum, was at the demonstration and said that he was concerned for the workers at Bloomingdale’s. He agreed with Farmah, saying that the workers deserve respect from the management. “We have workers here that have made this company successful throughout the years. They demand dignity and respect,” Appelbaum said.
He also went on to explain how both the workers and their families are affected by the contract negotiations. “They want to know they won’t have to worry how they’re going to survive or how their families are going to have the healthcare they deserve,” Appelbaum said.
Ruben Fort, Vice President of Local 377, another union within New York City represented by RWDSU, said that what happens to one union can often affect others. “That’s why we’re here in solidarity with Local 3 today,” Fort said.
Daniel J. Walkowitz is Director of Experiential Learning with a particular interest in labor at New York University’s Metropolitan Studies Department. He said that union workers rally to build public support, draw attention to their cause, and educate consumers as an alternative to a strike, which deprives them of wages.
Walkowitz also mentioned why negotiations are necessary with pending strikes. “Some owners, usually the more intractable ones, prefer to negotiate and recognize unions as a way to create labor peace, and have organized spokespersons that can discipline the labor force and avoid wildcat strikes. Strikes cast workers wages in the short term, but they cost owners profits that can not be recouped,” Walkowitz said.
Jack the Dripper's Killer Exhibit at the Jewish Museum
by Walter Ancarrow
The Jewish Museum previewed its newest exhibition, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and Postwar American Art, 1940-1976 on Tuesday, the first U.S. showcase of Abstract Expressionism in 20 years.
The exhibition, which begins May 4, spotlights the works of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, with smaller focus on painters like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Arshile Gorky.
Also displayed are the writings of Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg, two influential art critics of the post-war era.
The exhibition aims to give fresh perspective to Abstract Expressionism by providing the audience with works of the painters and the critics, and the historical background necessary to put the movement in cultural context.
“Different art critics and writers have interpreted the art in many different ways,” said Norman Kleeblatt, head curator of Action/Abstraction. “They shape the way we still think about the art.”
Kleeblatt alludes to Greenberg and Rosenberg, who were notorious for their clashing beliefs. Their philosophy on art is summed up in the exhibition’s sly title.
Rosenberg endorsed action, or the physical way of making art, as exemplified by Pollock’s “drip” technique – the method used to make his iconic splattered paint pieces. Greenberg believed in the abstraction of the piece, or the overall look, feel, and design of the work.
Kleeblatt hopes the showcase gives the audience a launching point of comparison between the different ways Rosenberg and Greenberg viewed the art, mixed with the painters’ ideas behind the works, and the audience’s own opinion.
“It’s terrific!” exclaimed one woman who hadn’t yet seen the paintings.
“I don’t know exactly what [the artist] wants to say,” said Eva Sas, a freelance journalist from Hungary who admitted to not having very much knowledge on Abstract Expressionism. “I’ve read a few things about Pollock, that’s it.”
But that didn’t prevent her from enjoying the exhibition.
“It’s a mixture of reality, imagination, and feelings,” she said.
Abstract Expression began in the late 1940’s as one of the many movements that sprang from the New York art scene. It gained acceptance after WWII and helped propel the United States, particularly New York City, into the avant-garde spotlight, taking the attention away from Paris.
“Here you have [the United States] coming off WWII and struggling,” said Maurice Berger, curator of the exhibition’s three “context rooms” designed to help place the movement in social perspective. “This is really the only period in American art that was on the same trajectory – it too was struggling.”
Berger said that this parallel is what makes the art important.
“Over the years, art critics have begun to focus on the relation between art in the cultural and social contexts,” he explained.
His “context rooms” display newspaper clips, magazine articles, and gallery pamphlets organized in neat little rows against the wall. TVs play snips of documentaries featuring interviews with art critics of the time, Greenberg and Rosenberg included. Berger wants the audience to rethink Abstract Expressionism by providing historic framework.
Art movements like Abstract Expressionism were new ways of reflecting upon a world of radical social change – McCarthyism, the looming Cold War, civil rights, and feminist movements. The exhibition includes what Berger calls “blind spot” artists like Lee Krasner, Pollock’s wife, and Norman Lewis, one of the few African American Abstract Expressionist artists. The rise of minority artists was one social outcome of the art movement.
“Many of the important artists were immigrants or children of immigrants,” said Kleeblatt.
De Kooning emigrated from the Netherlands, while a large number of Jewish artists and critics, like Rothko, Philip Guston, and Michael Goldberg, became a force in the art world.
“Synagogues were some of the first institutions to commission abstract artists,” said Berger, citing this as one of the reasons the Jewish Museum hosted the exhibition.
“I’m glad [the curators] are tying it into being Jewish,” said Alex Schatzberg, an NYU sophomore who plans on attending the exhibition when it opens to the public. “It’s not something I normally think as being Jewish.”
Perhaps the exhibition’s biggest link to Jewish culture comes from Greenberg and Rosenberg, who helped make Abstract Expressionism mainstream. Kleeblatt believes the two critics are still influencing art admirers today.
But for some viewers, it’s about the look of the piece and not its critical analysis.
Liz Bowen, a student at Fordham and one of the few young people at the exhibition, said that, while she knows about the art movements and the ideas behind them, it’s her personal interaction with them that’s important.
“A lot of [the art’s] neat because it’s like looking into a space you’ve never seen before. It swallows you up,” she said.
Her personal favorite wasn’t exhibition headliners Pollock or de Kooning.
“I really liked the inclusion of Barnett Newman because his stuff is a lot more minimal compared to Jackson Pollock. It’s a completely different rendering of the same principals,” she said.
Overall, she was excited for the collection. “This seems like a really rare thing… to see [the art] put together in one place. It’s cool to see them all teamed up.”
Others, like Molly Zimmelman, an art student at the New School, can’t wait for the exhibition to start.
“You go to the MoMa or the [Metropolitan Museum of Art] and you see the same stuff so I’m excited for some new art,” she said. “And Pollock happens to be really interesting.”
The Jewish Museum’s Action/Abstraction exhibition runs May 4 to September 21 and features Pollock’s famous “Convergence” and de Kooning’s masterpiece “Gotham News” as well as other Abstract Expressionist works. The exhibition will travel to St. Louis and Buffalo later this year.
The Jewish Museum previewed its newest exhibition, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and Postwar American Art, 1940-1976 on Tuesday, the first U.S. showcase of Abstract Expressionism in 20 years.
The exhibition, which begins May 4, spotlights the works of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, with smaller focus on painters like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Arshile Gorky.
Also displayed are the writings of Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg, two influential art critics of the post-war era.
The exhibition aims to give fresh perspective to Abstract Expressionism by providing the audience with works of the painters and the critics, and the historical background necessary to put the movement in cultural context.
“Different art critics and writers have interpreted the art in many different ways,” said Norman Kleeblatt, head curator of Action/Abstraction. “They shape the way we still think about the art.”
Kleeblatt alludes to Greenberg and Rosenberg, who were notorious for their clashing beliefs. Their philosophy on art is summed up in the exhibition’s sly title.
Rosenberg endorsed action, or the physical way of making art, as exemplified by Pollock’s “drip” technique – the method used to make his iconic splattered paint pieces. Greenberg believed in the abstraction of the piece, or the overall look, feel, and design of the work.
Kleeblatt hopes the showcase gives the audience a launching point of comparison between the different ways Rosenberg and Greenberg viewed the art, mixed with the painters’ ideas behind the works, and the audience’s own opinion.
“It’s terrific!” exclaimed one woman who hadn’t yet seen the paintings.
“I don’t know exactly what [the artist] wants to say,” said Eva Sas, a freelance journalist from Hungary who admitted to not having very much knowledge on Abstract Expressionism. “I’ve read a few things about Pollock, that’s it.”
But that didn’t prevent her from enjoying the exhibition.
“It’s a mixture of reality, imagination, and feelings,” she said.
Abstract Expression began in the late 1940’s as one of the many movements that sprang from the New York art scene. It gained acceptance after WWII and helped propel the United States, particularly New York City, into the avant-garde spotlight, taking the attention away from Paris.
“Here you have [the United States] coming off WWII and struggling,” said Maurice Berger, curator of the exhibition’s three “context rooms” designed to help place the movement in social perspective. “This is really the only period in American art that was on the same trajectory – it too was struggling.”
Berger said that this parallel is what makes the art important.
“Over the years, art critics have begun to focus on the relation between art in the cultural and social contexts,” he explained.
His “context rooms” display newspaper clips, magazine articles, and gallery pamphlets organized in neat little rows against the wall. TVs play snips of documentaries featuring interviews with art critics of the time, Greenberg and Rosenberg included. Berger wants the audience to rethink Abstract Expressionism by providing historic framework.
Art movements like Abstract Expressionism were new ways of reflecting upon a world of radical social change – McCarthyism, the looming Cold War, civil rights, and feminist movements. The exhibition includes what Berger calls “blind spot” artists like Lee Krasner, Pollock’s wife, and Norman Lewis, one of the few African American Abstract Expressionist artists. The rise of minority artists was one social outcome of the art movement.
“Many of the important artists were immigrants or children of immigrants,” said Kleeblatt.
De Kooning emigrated from the Netherlands, while a large number of Jewish artists and critics, like Rothko, Philip Guston, and Michael Goldberg, became a force in the art world.
“Synagogues were some of the first institutions to commission abstract artists,” said Berger, citing this as one of the reasons the Jewish Museum hosted the exhibition.
“I’m glad [the curators] are tying it into being Jewish,” said Alex Schatzberg, an NYU sophomore who plans on attending the exhibition when it opens to the public. “It’s not something I normally think as being Jewish.”
Perhaps the exhibition’s biggest link to Jewish culture comes from Greenberg and Rosenberg, who helped make Abstract Expressionism mainstream. Kleeblatt believes the two critics are still influencing art admirers today.
But for some viewers, it’s about the look of the piece and not its critical analysis.
Liz Bowen, a student at Fordham and one of the few young people at the exhibition, said that, while she knows about the art movements and the ideas behind them, it’s her personal interaction with them that’s important.
“A lot of [the art’s] neat because it’s like looking into a space you’ve never seen before. It swallows you up,” she said.
Her personal favorite wasn’t exhibition headliners Pollock or de Kooning.
“I really liked the inclusion of Barnett Newman because his stuff is a lot more minimal compared to Jackson Pollock. It’s a completely different rendering of the same principals,” she said.
Overall, she was excited for the collection. “This seems like a really rare thing… to see [the art] put together in one place. It’s cool to see them all teamed up.”
Others, like Molly Zimmelman, an art student at the New School, can’t wait for the exhibition to start.
“You go to the MoMa or the [Metropolitan Museum of Art] and you see the same stuff so I’m excited for some new art,” she said. “And Pollock happens to be really interesting.”
The Jewish Museum’s Action/Abstraction exhibition runs May 4 to September 21 and features Pollock’s famous “Convergence” and de Kooning’s masterpiece “Gotham News” as well as other Abstract Expressionist works. The exhibition will travel to St. Louis and Buffalo later this year.
People and Pets Fight Animal Cruelty
By Piper Wallingford
On April 10, the New York chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals observed its third annual ASPCA Day. Supporters dressed in orange to tell New York that pets are as important as people are, and every animal deserves a loving home.
Many people went “orange for animals,” dressing themselves, and even their pets, in the color of the ASPCA. At 8 p.m., the lights on the Empire State Building glowed orange, promoting awareness of animal abuse.
New York University student Megan Wang was there to support the event because she thinks the ASPCA truly cares about animal welfare. “Animals have no one to help them, and they can’t tell anyone what’s wrong,” she said. “It’s difficult to get people to care because they don’t think animals matter as much.”
Wang was a volunteer at a cat shelter, Ali’s Place, when a fire broke out at the center. “The firefighters wouldn’t go check on the animals,” Wang said. “They kept saying that they didn’t do that for animals, only for people. But when you show that you care about animals, you show that you care about people too.”
Phil Arkow is chair of the Latham Foundation, which examines the link between animal abuse and domestic violence. “People treat animals like they treat other people,” he said. “But very few [police] jurisdictions screen for animal abuse because officers are trained to deal with human issues, not animals. There aren’t even any statistics about animal cruelty.”
Arkow believes that events like ASPCA Day will encourage people to fight against animal cruelty and recognize the importance of pets. “If there’s more awareness, and more training, and more people thinking about it, then there’s going to be more programs that fight animal abuse.”
New York City law enforcement agencies have already taken important steps towards eliminating animal abuse, said volunteer Noel Dowling. Animal abuse is a felony in New York, she said, adding that New York also has humane law enforcement officers who investigate animal cruelty.
More people need to get involved to change existing animal abuse policies, said ASPCA employee Laura Meece. “People need to know that they can help and can make a difference,” said Meece.
ASPCA Day started three years ago in order to educate more people about animal cruelty. “This event has a lot of impact because it draws in so many people who don’t know what’s going on,” said Meece. “People are walking in the park or coming out of the subways. They see people in orange and the bright colors and come over.”
Dowling hopes that the event will encourage people to learn more about the prevention of animal abuse “It’s an event for people who don’t know anything – they’ve never seen the website, or talked to an officer,” she said. “Any kind of information that we can get out there, through volunteers or adoption, is important, even if we just reach someone who insists on buying a purebred dog.”
Many dogs at the event sported orange bandanas and sweaters, while some of their owners had even dyed their hair. Volunteers handed out free calendars, dog treats, and even orange cotton candy to draw in people. Some of the tents were informational, like the ASPCA enforcement officer, or the veterinarian who was answering questions about pet nutrition. Other tents were just for fun, like the artist drawing caricatures of dogs.
But the tent that drew the biggest crowd was the one that held rescued animals that were available for adoption. Crowds of people packed around cages housing rescued animals wearing “Please adopt me” vests. Cats and dogs peeked through the wire cages, and event organizers scrambled to keep order as people pushed forward for a closer look.
Wang believes that adopting rescued animals is an important way to fight animal abuse. While volunteering at an ASPCA shelter, she often saw the results of animal cruelty first hand. “A lot of animals at the shelter had been abused and were missing ears or limbs or had eye problems,” said Wang. “My favorite cat, Bobby, had a permanent ring around his neck from a choke collar.”
For Wang, ASPCA Day is an opportunity to find families for animals that have never had loving homes. “Bobby was adopted and went to a home where people care about him. Other abused animals can be adopted here, and it’s important to encourage that love between owners and pets.”
Danielle Ramos-Castro wanted to see every animal go to a new home. “I like seeing animals and knowing that that they all have a chance to be adopted,” she said.
Danielle’s mother, Susanna Ramos, thought that having adoptable animals on site was a great way to raise awareness. “Animals have a greater opportunity to be adopted at events like this because everyone wants a cute kitten or puppy,” she said.
The Ramos’s dog, Nina, was rescued, and Ramos considers her a part of the family. “We dressed in orange and came today so everyone can be aware of how important animals are in our lives.”
Jessi Santiago adopted her Pomeranian, Teddy, at the first ASPCA Day three years ago. “We adopted Teddy from ASPCA because they’re the only people who stick up for animals,” she said. “We have two other pets, two cats, and they’re all absolutely spoiled. Every animal needs a chance to be loved.”
Having volunteered for the ASPCA for more than 20 years, Dowling said that loving an animal is one of the greatest joys anyone can know. “The love between pets and people, you can’t explain it to non-animal people, and you don’t have to explain it to people with pets,” she said.
ASPCA Day gave many people the opportunity to start understanding the love between people and animals, as well as other benefits of having a pet. “Pets teach you how to relax, and they keep you happy,” Dowling said. “They do so much, there’s absolutely no question we love our pets.”
On April 10, the New York chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals observed its third annual ASPCA Day. Supporters dressed in orange to tell New York that pets are as important as people are, and every animal deserves a loving home.
Many people went “orange for animals,” dressing themselves, and even their pets, in the color of the ASPCA. At 8 p.m., the lights on the Empire State Building glowed orange, promoting awareness of animal abuse.
New York University student Megan Wang was there to support the event because she thinks the ASPCA truly cares about animal welfare. “Animals have no one to help them, and they can’t tell anyone what’s wrong,” she said. “It’s difficult to get people to care because they don’t think animals matter as much.”
Wang was a volunteer at a cat shelter, Ali’s Place, when a fire broke out at the center. “The firefighters wouldn’t go check on the animals,” Wang said. “They kept saying that they didn’t do that for animals, only for people. But when you show that you care about animals, you show that you care about people too.”
Phil Arkow is chair of the Latham Foundation, which examines the link between animal abuse and domestic violence. “People treat animals like they treat other people,” he said. “But very few [police] jurisdictions screen for animal abuse because officers are trained to deal with human issues, not animals. There aren’t even any statistics about animal cruelty.”
Arkow believes that events like ASPCA Day will encourage people to fight against animal cruelty and recognize the importance of pets. “If there’s more awareness, and more training, and more people thinking about it, then there’s going to be more programs that fight animal abuse.”
New York City law enforcement agencies have already taken important steps towards eliminating animal abuse, said volunteer Noel Dowling. Animal abuse is a felony in New York, she said, adding that New York also has humane law enforcement officers who investigate animal cruelty.
More people need to get involved to change existing animal abuse policies, said ASPCA employee Laura Meece. “People need to know that they can help and can make a difference,” said Meece.
ASPCA Day started three years ago in order to educate more people about animal cruelty. “This event has a lot of impact because it draws in so many people who don’t know what’s going on,” said Meece. “People are walking in the park or coming out of the subways. They see people in orange and the bright colors and come over.”
Dowling hopes that the event will encourage people to learn more about the prevention of animal abuse “It’s an event for people who don’t know anything – they’ve never seen the website, or talked to an officer,” she said. “Any kind of information that we can get out there, through volunteers or adoption, is important, even if we just reach someone who insists on buying a purebred dog.”
Many dogs at the event sported orange bandanas and sweaters, while some of their owners had even dyed their hair. Volunteers handed out free calendars, dog treats, and even orange cotton candy to draw in people. Some of the tents were informational, like the ASPCA enforcement officer, or the veterinarian who was answering questions about pet nutrition. Other tents were just for fun, like the artist drawing caricatures of dogs.
But the tent that drew the biggest crowd was the one that held rescued animals that were available for adoption. Crowds of people packed around cages housing rescued animals wearing “Please adopt me” vests. Cats and dogs peeked through the wire cages, and event organizers scrambled to keep order as people pushed forward for a closer look.
Wang believes that adopting rescued animals is an important way to fight animal abuse. While volunteering at an ASPCA shelter, she often saw the results of animal cruelty first hand. “A lot of animals at the shelter had been abused and were missing ears or limbs or had eye problems,” said Wang. “My favorite cat, Bobby, had a permanent ring around his neck from a choke collar.”
For Wang, ASPCA Day is an opportunity to find families for animals that have never had loving homes. “Bobby was adopted and went to a home where people care about him. Other abused animals can be adopted here, and it’s important to encourage that love between owners and pets.”
Danielle Ramos-Castro wanted to see every animal go to a new home. “I like seeing animals and knowing that that they all have a chance to be adopted,” she said.
Danielle’s mother, Susanna Ramos, thought that having adoptable animals on site was a great way to raise awareness. “Animals have a greater opportunity to be adopted at events like this because everyone wants a cute kitten or puppy,” she said.
The Ramos’s dog, Nina, was rescued, and Ramos considers her a part of the family. “We dressed in orange and came today so everyone can be aware of how important animals are in our lives.”
Jessi Santiago adopted her Pomeranian, Teddy, at the first ASPCA Day three years ago. “We adopted Teddy from ASPCA because they’re the only people who stick up for animals,” she said. “We have two other pets, two cats, and they’re all absolutely spoiled. Every animal needs a chance to be loved.”
Having volunteered for the ASPCA for more than 20 years, Dowling said that loving an animal is one of the greatest joys anyone can know. “The love between pets and people, you can’t explain it to non-animal people, and you don’t have to explain it to people with pets,” she said.
ASPCA Day gave many people the opportunity to start understanding the love between people and animals, as well as other benefits of having a pet. “Pets teach you how to relax, and they keep you happy,” Dowling said. “They do so much, there’s absolutely no question we love our pets.”
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