Danny Jensen
January 2, 2009 | 2:19 pm EST
I loath walking down Canal Street in New York City. With every step is another over zealous sneaky sales person hounding you to buy false brand name goods. And it’s not just annoying to be bullied into buying fake luxury goods, it’s also dangerous. I noticed a poster yesterday for a public service ad campaign warning consumers just how bad it is to purchase counterfeit goods. While you may think, the only harm in buying a knock-off designer handbag is that the real designer label gets screwed out of a sale, but there is more at stake when purchasing fake goods. According to The International Anti Counterfeiting Association, here are five reasons not to support counterfeit products:
1. Counterfeiting is illegal and purchasing counterfeit products supports illegal activity.
2. Counterfeiters do not pay taxes meaning less money for your city’s schools, hospitals, parks and other social programs.
3. Counterfeiters do not pay their employees fair wages or benefits, have poor working conditions, and often use forced child labor.
4. The profits from counterfeiting have been linked to funding organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorist activity.
5. When you purchase a fake, you become part of the cycle of counterfeiting and your money directly support these things you would never want to support.
Yikes “funding organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorist activity”? Is that faux YSl bag really worth possibly risking someones life?
takepart and learn more about the dangers of counterfeiting goods and how to help stop them visit, The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition at
http://www.iacc.org. This non-profit organization devoted solely to protecting intellectual property and deterring counterfeiting. And of course, put down that rip-off Rolex!
While the demise of rock is perpetually predicted, it seems like downtown Manhattan is really running out of places to kick out the jams. Just as gentrification and rising rents tossed the infamous CBGB’s to the curb, The Knitting Factory has been forced to relocate to Brooklyn; bidding it’s raucous farewell on New Year’s Eve with Akron/Family, Deerhoof, and the Dirty Projectors. While I’m a big fan of Brooklyn, and happy that the historic rock venue has a new home (unlike CBGB’s), it saddens me to see further proof that Manhattan is losing it’s teeth, favoring souless homogeniety and luxury condos over passionate diversity and creative outlets.
The last time I was at the Knitting Factory I even pondered how the gritty club maintained amidst the shine of it’s newer neighbors. I would have loved to have been there for the final hurrah, which was surely a wild event given the bands. Here’s Joan Jett to remind us how to properly rock out:
If you’re looking for some fun to celebrate Hannukah or if you just want to laugh, you should consider dropping by The Tank to see Ha-Ha-Hannukah - a night of transdenominational laughter on religion, politics and other things you’re not supposed to discuss. 8 comics (of different/ no faith) for each night of Hannukah.
The evening will feature the comic stylings of Katie Halper, Negin Farsad, Costaki Economopoulos, Elon James White, Scott Blakeman, Heather Gold and one more (as there need to be 8 )
It seems like a geat way to get in the holiday and Hannukah spirit - the show takes place on December 23rd @ 7:00pm and is in New York City at The Tank which is located at Chaschama at 217 East 42nd St. in Manhattan.
Also be sure to takepart to send someone you know a Hannukah card from delivr - a cool site that works with Flickr and Creative Commons to make cards from people’s licensed photos!
Ever since I moved to New York City I’ve tried to donate a coat annually to the New York Cares Coat Drive. Every year New York Cares collects nearly 80,000 gently used winter coats and distributes them to thousands of men, women, and children who would otherwise go without.
90% of homeless adults need a new, warm coat each winter because they have no place to keep one over the summer months. Thousands of New Yorkers are in need of warm coats, so if you live in the NYC area and have an old coat to give takepart and visit http://www.nycares.org/volunteer/annual_events/coat_drive/index.php for drop off location info and other ways to help.
Still got some holiday shopping to do? Check out Wunderbloc.com. This snazzy site profiles small independent stores in NYC and gives them a chance to create an online store easily. Instead of each store having their own website, store have profiles all in one place on Wunderbloc. (Think of it like a really cool online mall, minus the yummy food court.)
The stuff they feature is super cute, unique, and chic.
Wunderbloc is not just a marketplace but also a community created for the local, boutique-shopping market and it brings shoppers and boutiques together to share, network and do business. They also have an amazing Panoramic views inside of stores.
Independent store owners are feeling the burn of this crappy economy, so if you have to spend money this season why not http://www.wunderbloc.com and spend your hard earn cash in supporting small businesses? You can do some good while getting some really good stuff.
Oh and if you live in NYC check out the East Village shop night on December 17th.
I am always so conflicted by people asking for spare change. Living in New York City I am bombarded daily by subway beggars announcing trauma in the hopes someone will give them a dollar, some seem sincere while others: “I am not an alcoholic. I am not a drug addict. I am not criminal. I am a war veteran, with AIDs, and my house burned down, and I have 12 kids, and I am blind” seem a wee unbelievable.
Sorry, but when a “homeless” person giving this brilliant performance and is wearing shoes more expensive than mine I’m not going to give them anything. I mean , if you’re going to play homeless, please get a better costume.
I wish I could give money to all in need, but I don’t always know who is really in need. Sadly reports show, that more people are in need right now as we face this terrible economic situation. The homelessness rates and demand for emergency food are rising and homeless advocates fear that many cities were not equipped for the increase.
A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors showed that 19 of 25 cities saw an increase in homelessness in the 12 months to October, while four reported a drop and two cities lacked enough data for conclusive results. On average, the cities in the survey saw a 12 percent rise in homelessness. Homeless advocates say families are flooding homeless shelters across the United States in numbers not seen for years, camping out in motels or staying with friends and relatives following foreclosures on tens of thousands of homes during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.-Reuters
For ways to help end homelessness, takepart and visit the National Alliance to End Homelessness at http://www.endhomelessness.org/
You might think that this economic downturn (officially a recession, I suppose, at this point) recycling would go up, what with the reusing of things, but apparently the exact opposite is happening. The New York Times reports that the recyclables market has completely tanked, leaving people unable to sell used cardboard, metals, newspaper, or plastic.
Ordinarily the material would be turned into products like car parts, book covers and boxes for electronics. But with the slump in the scrap market, a trickle is starting to head for landfills instead of a second life.
In the past, cities have been able to sell the recycling they picked up at a profit, thus actually turning recycling programs into revenue. But now, that’s completely changed.
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s rainy and dreary here in New York City, and it’s making me a little sad. One thing that always (and I mean always) cheers me up is Sesame Street (I’ve probably posted this video before). So, for all the folks out there having a rough go at it (I’m sure you’re out there) - just remember that you’re awesome as you are. Just ask Kermit:
And because it is easy to be green (environmentally at least) takepart with We Can Solve It!
An Episcopal seminary in Chelsea is struggling to cut through bureaucratic red tape in order to continue drilling tiny geothermal wells, which would heat and cool the building without fossil fuels. The eco-smart plan would produce clean energy and reduce the seminary’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1,400 tons, but has been entangled by conflicting schedules and objectives of various governmental departments. While the various agencies surely have valid reasons and concerns, someone should implement a streamlined process to facilitate a smoother transition to green energy. If every organization that wants to reduce their carbon footprint faces similar costly, and time-consuming bureaucratic hurdles, many will no doubt shy away from making these important green improvements.
takepart by learning more about geothermal possibilities and encourage your elected officials to make a smooth transition to clean energy.
Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day
Google Investing in Geothermal
The New York City Department of Transportation has released a plan to make the streets of the Big Apple more walkable. The plan, World Class Streets: Remaking New York City’s Public Realm by Gehl Architects/Urban Planning Consultants studies the issues surrounding pedestrian traffic and outlines new city policies regarding the function and design of public spaces to better accommodate that traffic in NYC.
The main finding of Gehl, a Danish firm credited with turning Copenhagen into one of the most walkable and bikeable cities on earth, was that - surprise, surprise! - New York City sidewalks are too crowded. The solution? Devote more public space to pedestrian traffic and less to automobile traffic. Given that tearing down privately owned buildings or converting already scarce public park space weren’t viable there wasn’t really anywhere else to turn.
The report and policies fall directly in line with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s vision for a cleaner, greener with less cars. After seeing his Congestion Pricing initiative stonewalled in the New York State legislature, Bloomberg has consistently moved toward cutting down the access of automobile traffic in Manhattan on his own, using measures that do not require State approval such as mandating more bus lanes on Broadway in Lower Manhattan and creating a Pedestrian promenade on the Great White Way south of Times Square. This report represents the further evolution of the Mayor’s vision for a cleaner, greener city that uses less fossil fuels and relies more on people power and public transit.
You can takepart in learning more about this green vision of the future of NYC by checking out the Sustainable Streets Plan.
LINKS:
NY Times: Green Inc.: Taking the Woe Out of Walking in New York City
NY Daily News: International Urban Whiz would ban cars in Times Square
Crains New York: NYC will close two lanes to cars on Broadway
