Issue: Fall 2007

The New Wave

Trevor Dye, a recent NYU graduate, waits for a wave off Rockaway Beach
in Queens. PHOTO: Carl Critz.
Trevor Dye, a recent NYU graduate, waits for a wave off Rockaway Beach in Queens. PHOTO: Carl Critz.

THE ROCKAWAYS — Tucked in the residential sprawl of the no-man’s land between the predominantly Irish community of Rockaway Park and Far Rockaway to the east, a shop called Boarders is the epicenter of a new wave of city surfers, commuters who ride the A Train to catch waves.

A Different Dialogue
Playing for Time
The Mark of TORGO

A Note from Editors Pete Hamill and Alyssa Katz

This is a magazine about the many places and people that make up New York City and its environs. The stories are reported and written by undergraduate students from the Department of Journalism at New York University, and they have been edited by their marvelous professors, and by us. More »

The Message

The Message

SHEEPSHEAD BAY — Hip hop artist Tavasha Shannon is more likely to cite Qur’an lyrics than brag about bling. She performs charity shows for prison inmates and will hasn’t performed in a club that serves alcohol since she embraced her Muslim identity. Around the world, fans know her as Miss Undastood.

Making it Home

UPPER EAST SIDE — Christmas Borlongan is 26 years old and completely on her own in a foreign country. In the Philippines, she and her fellow nurses imagined what they would find in America: tall buildings, incessant shopping, fancy cars and sweeping romances. Then she saw Central Park. “I guess maybe I was expecting too much.”

A Cell’s Journey

A Cell’s Journey

MURRAY HILL — Hadar Cohen had just immigrated from Israel when she noticed the ad in an newspaper. She filled out the clinic’s 12-page application, the beginning of a rigorous screening process ensuring that only the the most qualified women between ages 21 and 32 will pass on their genes to a total stranger.

Growing Up, With Help

Growing Up, With Help

CEDAR KNOLLS — Albert Young depends on the state of New Jersey for virtually every aspect of his life, from his job at the Allegro School to the home he shares with three other men. All of them are autistic. They’re getting by as adults, in a system built to help small children.