Unpacking the Stories of the Nameless Dead Buried on Hart Island
The New York Times begins to unravel some of the stories of the people whose remains lie in mass graves on Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field. The Times investigates the many ways deceased New Yorkers end up on Hart Island: being estranged from living relatives, poverty or in some cases, people were buried there after donating their remains to medical research. The report comes complete with breathtaking drone footage shot from above the island. [NYT]
The Hasidic Community Is the Top Section 8 Recipient In One of City’s Priciest Real Estate Markets
The federally-funded Housing Choice Voucher program, known as Section 8, helps low- and moderate-income families rent in the private market. While many landlords won’t accept the voucher, keeping Section 8 holders in marginalized neighborhoods, the Hasidic community has managed to remain in Williamsburg, one of the city’s priciest and most sought-after real estate markets. While some question the economic practices that have allowed the community to rent in Williamsburg, others say the community is just trying to survive. [New York Daily News]
Child Mothers Share Their Stories in New Photo Series
Child rights organization Plan International and the United Nations Population Fund launched an exhibition called #childmothers, in which they tell the stories of young moms and hope to raise awareness on the issue of early motherhood. One teen from Bangladesh was married at the age of 13, and now at the age of 16, has been pregnant three times. The series puts a spotlight on topics such as child brides, discrimination, and lack of access to resources. [Mashable]
Forecast: Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Sexism
Hint to KLTA: If you’re going to make your on-air meteorologist cover up her sparkly sleeveless dress because of angry emails from viewers, maybe don’t do it on live television? Or, even better, don’t do it at all. Read all about #sweatergate, the latest in lady problems, courtesy of a Los Angeles local news station that thought it’d be funny to offer a cardigan to the reporter, mid-segment. [Chicago Tribune]
Girls Just Want Equal Funds
James Corden of "The Late Late Show" brought on Cyndi Lauper to perform her '80s classic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” but with a new, pay-gap twist. As Corden sings, "Guys, if she's mad, it's not PMS / It's 'cause you do the same job and but she's makin' less." [Harpers Bazaar]
US Backs Arming Libya to Fight ISIS
The UN, with US backing, is making an exemption on the arms embargo to the unstable country. Weapons will be sent to Libyan fighters so they can better fight ISIS, which they say is spreading. This is all a scary reminder that ISIS keeps pushing ahead, not just in Syria and Iraq. [BBC]
Meet the Shomrim, Williamsburg’s Volunteer Hasidic Patrol Force
You may have seen them patrolling Williamsburg — the Hasidic guys who kind of look like police officers but who aren't. The controversial force has been implicated in a brutal beating, as well as the blooming corruption scandal that puts in the spotlight the relationship between some NYPD officials and big shots in Hasidic communities. Here is a close look at the Shomrim. [The Daily Beast]
Trump Pretended to Be His Own PR Guy
During the 1980s, Donald Trump took reporters’ phone calls posing as a PR guy for himself. One of those interviews has gone viral — Trump calls himself “John Miller” and answers personal questions about his relationships and tells a story about Trump meeting Madonna. It’s so painfully obvious and the Washington Post annotates the transcript for us. [Washington Post]
Twitter to Change 140-Character Limit
The social media giant is now going to forego counting photos and links as part of the 140-character count (a limit originally imposed, according to BBC News, when tweets were created to fit as text messages before smartphones in 2006). Last year, the limit in direct messages between users was increased to 10,000 characters. [BBC]
Photographer Jill Freedman on the Old New York and Instagram
Jezebel’s chats with Freedman about her use of social media, what New York was like in the '70s and '80s and how she came to document the city’s police and firefighters. It also includes several of her striking photographs of the city in its grittier days. [Jezebel]
"I love to see men cry": an interview with Jill Freedman, street photographer of the '70s https://t.co/7kXpeZICqn pic.twitter.com/AQnFtKDspd
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) May 16, 2016
The Ongoing Legacy of 'Pet Sounds'
The Beach Boys’ seminal album "Pet Sounds" turned 50 this month, and although it was not a big hit when it first came out, writer Jason Guriel maintains that its influence is still being felt today. He describes it as pop music’s “first big, coherent statement” that helped pave the way for big artistic statements from today’s musicians, ranging from Radiohead to Beyoncé. [The Atlantic]
A Cheese Surplus Has Hit America
A drop in U.S. exports has left the country with a glut of cheese (not to mention a surplus of meat, dairy and grain as well). As the Wall Street Journal reports, each person in America would need to each an additional three pounds of cheese this year to work off the excess. [WSJ]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Irene Plagianos, Danielle Tcholakian, Gwynne Hogan, Eddie Small, Carolina Pichardo, Nikhita Venugopal, Alexandra Leon, Camille Bautista, Shaye Weaver, Noah Hurowitz and Rachel Holliday Smith.
