s. m. p.

You’re a writer working in New York and you’re about to publish some riveting, hyper-local content. Maybe you’re reporting on where the halal guys buy their lamb, or showing how Canarsie will be the next Flatbush, or exploring the burgeoning momo scene in Jackson Heights. You’re about to be drowning in pageviews. Dope! Great! But hang on. 

We are not “out here.” And we’re CERTAINLY not “out THERE.”  The City of New York was consolidated on January 1, 1898, including Queens, Kings, Richmond, New York, and Bronx counties. Whoever your audience-- young people, yogis, pet owners, whatever-- we’re scattered throughout all five boroughs of the city. It may seem subtle, but your readers notice when you write “all the way in Queens” or “out in the Bronx,” and it grates on us. Avoid relative terms of distance or familiarity if the only point of reference is where you live. 

Sure, there are places that are hard to get to by public transportation. And if you’re writing about transportation issues, keep at it! But talk to locals before you make value judgments. Some neighborhoods may be far from the subway, but many people in the city enjoy a lifestyle that doesn’t rely on transit. Talk to local people to figure it out. Which brings me to my second point: 

People care about where we live. Ask us. This should be one of the first questions you ask when covering any location-based story in New York. Practice it: “What neighborhood is this?” If you’re speaking in person, it may seem silly to ask about where you are. But it matters. And it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you get a location wrong, your readers will roll their eyes and inform you, if not discount your reporting to some degree. Even residents sometimes disagree about neighborhood boundaries, so ask two people if you’d like, or call up the local Community Board. They’ll be happy to tell you. 

As a writer, you probably don’t need to be told this, but words matter. Somehow even the New York Times style guide allows formulations like “the Country Club section of the Bronx.” This is not how any New Yorker speaks. New York is a city of neighborhoods, not wards, districts, or emirates. (Attempt “nabe” at your own risk.)

Avoid cliches. This is just good writing, but it bears repeating when describing New York neighborhoods. Queens has never been peopled only by Archie Bunkers. Apocryphal stories about Staten Island being won from New Jersey explain nothing. Brooklyn was never merely the borough of homes and churches. There’s nothing wrong with appreciating the deep history of New York. But if you’re describing history that you haven’t researched, in writing that isn’t about history, it’s probably best avoided. 

Two stories in the same New York Times e-mail update, 9/29/14: Animal Abuse Gains Traction as a Serious Crime, With Jail More Often the Result. (By Michael Winerip and Michael Schwirtz)

In Rare Rebuke for Rikers Officers, Judge Urges Firing of 6 Who Beat Inmate. (By Stephanie Clifford)

Jail time for a man who kicked a cat and was recorded on video. A long-delayed firing for several prison guards who cuffed a man and beat him, breaking his nose, his back, bruising him badly. What message does it send when our justice system issues more severe punishment for kicking a cat than for handcuffing and breaking the bones of a human being in the state’s custody? And that, even after “two and a half years elapsed between the [prison beating] episode and the judge’s decision.” The bigger picture is even more bleak: The Times found ”129 cases in which inmates, many with mental illnesses, were severely injured in altercations with guards,” last year alone.

Two stories in the same e-mail update, 9/29/14: Animal Abuse Gains Traction as a Serious Crime, With Jail More Often the Result. (By Michael Winerip and Michael Schwirtz)

In Rare Rebuke for Rikers Officers, Judge Urges Firing of 6 Who Beat Inmate. (By Stephanie Clifford)

Jail time for a man who kicked a cat and was recorded on video. A long-delayed firing for several prison guards who cuffed a man and beat his face and back. What message does it send when our justice system issues more severe punishment for kicking a cat than for handcuffing and breaking the bones of a human being in the state's custody? And that, even after "two and a half years elapsed between the [prison beating] episode and the judge’s decision." The bigger picture is even more bleak: The Times found "129 cases in which inmates, many with mental illnesses, were severely injured in altercations with guards," last year alone.

Scientists have known for years that injection wells and other human activities can induce earthquakes by changing pressures underground. That can have the effect of “unclamping” old stressed faults so the rocks can slip past each other and cause the ground to shake.

NYCHA Chairman John Rhea's defense? The Atlanta housing authority had paid BCG for a similar contract. 

The MTA can save $96 million a year — by giving away free subway and bus rides to the disabled, officials said Monday.

The freebies will encourage some disabled riders to take mass transit instead of the far more costly door-to-door Access-A-Ride van service the Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides, the transit officials said. The program cost $442 million last year — about $66 a trip. Participants pay $2.25 a ride but can take an approved caregiver for free.

But one advocate questioned that logic.

Earlier this year, LISC, with Enterprise Community Partners, invested $18 million in the energy-efficient retrofitting of 2,226 affordable apartments in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. Most of the money came through the state's Weatherization Assistance Program, which had received federal economic stimulus funds. [...]

LISC is now tracking these buildings’ energy and water consumption. It is using an online grading system called EnergyScoreCard, developed by Bright Power, and will provide quarterly updates to the housing groups, encouraging them to use the same system to track energy and water utilization in their other buildings as well.

“We’d like to figure out which retrofit measures have the biggest impact,” says Colleen Flynn, who oversees LISC’s green efforts in New York City. “If in general we see reductions in operation costs over time, we could actually build in retrofits when we’re underwriting affordable housing deals. That way we wouldn’t have to rely on federal grants to do [retrofits].”