Ceiling fans have long been a staple in homes and businesses worldwide, serving not only as decorative elements but also as practical tools for enhancing air circulation. While their primary function is often associated with cooling, ceiling fans offer a range of benefits beyond mere temperature regulation. In this article, we delve into the mechanics…
Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitana opened on Coney Island 100 years ago (no, we’re not exaggerating) and more or less has been operating the same way since then, under the management of a single family.
According to the New York Times, though, things are about to change: the owners are now looking for an investor or buyer to take over the space.
“We’re coming up in age and we don’t have the manpower to continue,” said Louise Ciminieri, a part-owner alongside her sister Antoinette Balzano and brother Frank Balzano, to the outlet.
Although looking to move on, the owners are clear on one thing: prospective buyers will have to agree to continue making the pizza the way it has been on premise since back in 1924, when Totonno’s first opened.
Offering thin crusted pizzas made with imported ingredients from Italy, Totonno’s is one of the very few pizzerie in NYC that still uses a coal oven—a tradition that die-hard fans of the destination hope will continue. It also does so in the same building it has been operating out of since Antonio Pero, an Italian immigrant who worked at Lombardi’s on Spring Street in Manhattan, founded the eatery in 1924.
The pizzeria is clearly part and parcel of the city’s culinary and cultural character, having survived through Hurricane Sandy, the global COVID-19 pandemic (Totonno’s closed in March of 2020 and reopened two years later, now only offering takeout twice a week) and an awful fire in 2009 that forced the eatery shut for about a year.
The legendary destination enjoys die-hard fans that have moved on from the neighborhood as well—including Senator Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn native.
“In the old days, you stood on line, and when Totonno’s ran out of dough they’d come outside and say, ‘You’ll have to come back another time,'” the politician said to the New York Times. “But it was worth waiting for every minute.”
Although the family seems to be dead set on moving on, a centennial celebration of all that Totonno’s stands for is likely in the works for later this year. We expect to see a whole lot of people there paying their respects.
By NYC.gov Ahead of the summer season, as New Yorkers experience more extreme weather events, New York City Mayor Eric Adams made an announcement today. Mayor Adams and New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) Commissioner Zach Iscol today announced a robust, proactive safety plan to protect New Yorkers from extreme heat, as well as tips…
Last night’s thunderstorm in New York City was a pretty violent one. As the rain picked up and the wind whipped around buildings, lightning flashed in the sky, even hitting the Empire State Building!
As always, someone is out there watching with a camera on hand.
The Empire State Building’s Instagram posted a video of the strike happening from different angles and it’s pretty freakin’ cool.
By HWM Partner Dubai, a city synonymous with luxury and extravagance, offers a vibrant pool party scene that beckons locals and tourists alike. Among the dazzling array of options, Palazzo Versace stands out as a beacon of sophistication, hosting some of the most coveted pool parties in the city. Let’s take a plunge into the…
Racing to escape the rain, I reached my building in the Bronx and positioned my face in front of the facial recognition entrance system. Despite multiple attempts, the screen repeatedly failed to identify me. As a Black woman, I had experienced the inconvenience of the system taking longer to recognize me than it did for lighter-skinned individuals. But stuck outside alone at night, this was the first time I truly felt endangered by this technology and felt aware of the omnipresent surveillance in my neighborhood. This experience forced me to confront the disturbing realities of how much personal biometric data I was relinquishing, who was accessing it, and the inefficacy of a system that barred me from my own home.
Across New York, countless tenants with landlord-installed facial recognition share these concerns about surveillance and racial discrimination. The prevalence of facial recognition technology in residential buildings not only infringes on personal privacy and puts tenants’ biometric data at risk, but it also exhibits racial biases against overpoliced Black and Brown communities. It is imperative New York State legislators ban its use this session to ensure the safety, privacy, and dignity of all New Yorkers in their homes.
Surveillance is especially prevalent in public housing. According to the Washington Post, there is one camera in New York City public housing for every 19 residents, comparable to one for every 20 visitors to the Louvre in Paris. This level of surveillance saturation goes hand in hand with the extreme gentrification occurring in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but also beyond the city, in places like Yonkers and Buffalo. Adding facial recognition technology to their surveillance arsenal is part of landlords’ efforts to attract wealthier, predominantly white tenants to these neighborhoods, making them feel safer, while closely monitoring current, mainly Black and Latinx public housing residents. This increases the likelihood of these tenants being punished or evicted for minor rule violations, including when misidentified.
The NYPD can access surveillance footage through its dystopian Domain Awareness System (DAS), which consolidates private and public camera feeds and intelligence data, regardless of its origin. This system includes video footage from cameras around the city, including in residential buildings, infringing upon the freedom of residents, particularly Black and Latinx communities who are already disproportionately targeted by discriminatory policing. With the NYPD’s track record of using facial recognition technology against children, who are more prone to misidentification by the technology, it comes as no surprise that residents feel threatened at the idea of the police having access to their biometric data and movements without consent.
Tania Acabou, a single mother from New Bedford, Massachusetts, found herself evicted on the grounds that she had violated a guest policy, as determined by the facial recognition camera, when the “guest” was her ex-husband providing childcare so that she could attend school. New Yorkers, threatened by similar actions, have resisted non-consensual installation of these systems by landlords. In 2019, residents of Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brooklyn organized against the implementation of facial recognition technology that forced them to surrender their biometric information. The power these systems give to landlords is boundless, forcing tenants to grant access to their biometric data to third parties with no security assurances.
Protests by community members have successfully led to the introduction of a bill in the New York State legislature which prohibits the use of facial recognition by landlords on any residential premises. To protect New York residents from the threat of being tracked by landlords and not having control over their data, this bill needs to be advanced to the Assembly and Senate floors for voting. At a time when protecting the rights and privacy of New Yorkers is paramount, legislative intervention is more crucial than ever to prevent discrimination and safeguard the homes of residents.
Renwick-Archibold is a Research Intern at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and a 2024 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in computer science and cognitive neuroscience.
This past Saturday, there was a special baseball game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 2024 Hall of Fame East-West Classic featured 30 former Black Major League Baseball players honoring the history and legacy of the Negro Leagues, representing the long and deep tradition of the American cultural institution by wearing the jerseys of Negro Leagues teams. More than 5,700 fans came out to watch former All-Star and Hall of Fame players.
The East defeated the West 5-4 in six innings.
Philadelphia Phillies legend Ryan Howard, the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year, 2006 National League MVP, and 2008 World Series champion, was named the Classic’s MVP after hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning to give the East the lead.
“It’s always been a fraternity,” Howard said after the game. “The cool part about it is you have your teammates that you play with coming up in the Minor Leagues, and a lot of the guys you play against at each level in the Minor Leagues, so in a sense, you’re coming up together with them, as well…And just to have this kind of brotherhood and continue to have it is special.”
Curtis Granderson, a 16-year MLB veteran from 2004–19, during which he was a three-time All-Star, hit the first home run of the 2024 game, wearing a Newark Eagles jersey.
“It’s cool,” he said. “Anytime I got a chance to play in these [Negro League throwbacks] throughout the course of a season, I always looked forward to it and loved it, so I’m happy to get a chance to put it back on again today.”
Edwin Jackson, who pitched for more than a dozen MLB teams from 2003–19, registering 1,508 career strikeouts, took the mound to start the game. The home run derby contest preceded the game as Adam Jones, who is most remembered for his years (2008–18) with the Baltimore Orioles in a career that spanned from 2006–21, defeated Prince Fielder.
The son of Cecil Fielder (1985–98), a two-time AL home run leader and 1996 World Series champion with the New York Yankees, Prince Fielder had a notable career. He played in MLB from 2005–16 and was a six-time All-Star.
One player who received a lot of recognition from the crowd was Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., widely considered one of the greatest players in baseball history.
Along with the game, the weekend featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the “Souls of the Game” exhibit. Rowan Ricardo Phillips, an award-winning poet, was one of the consultants who was included in the development of the project, and he was pleased to see the support.
“The fact that people really want to start and think about the roots of the story, the voices, from the beginning, people we don’t often think about—Bud Fowler, Octavius Catto, those types of players—it really excites me,” he said.
“I think what’s really wonderful about the exhibit is, we can rethink the story of baseball that we want to tell to ourselves and to our future selves, instead of thinking, ‘Well, let’s pick this up from 2020 or 2024 or whatever.’”
For more about the East-West Classic, visit MLBbro.com.
