By Nashia Kamal
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How financial hardship is bringing some New York City families closer together
Darren Cargill works 40 hours a week handing out fliers on a sweltering Manhattan street corner for the Working Families Party.
It’s his way to help his family survive the recession.
“My mom raised me and my twin brother alone,” Cargill, 19, said. “I have this job so I could help my mom.” His mother raised the two boys on a teacher’s salary and the family barely scraped by. Now that he’s older, Cargill is determined to earn money and share the responsibility.
For many New York City family households, there is an upside to the economic downturn: it’s bringing them closer together. With finances getting tighter in New York City households, many teens, such as Cargill, are appreciating the hard work and sacrifices of their parents. What’s more, as more people lose jobs, families are more reluctant to spend money, which leaves them more free time with each other.
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By Ani Sefaj
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The owner of Pan Latin Café hopes a community focus will help save her business
On a recent Thursday afternoon near the peak of lunch hour, Elizabeth Fernandez of the Battery Park City Ballet School Day Camp and her troupe of seven and eight year-olds walked into Pan Latin Café.
While many restaurateurs would have groaned at the thought of serving a pack of rambunctious children, within a few minutes, Pan Latin owner and chef Sandy Kraehling seated the group, baked some Latin American cookies, pulled some ‘dulce de leche’ ice cream from the freezer and began to teach the children how to make ice-cream sandwiches with a Pan Latin twist. “It requires time, energy, and materials, but this is how we give back to the community,” Kraehling said. “It’s not in our best financial interest, but we do it.”
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By Kaitlyn Kwan
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The recession has added a new wrinkle to the college decision process
Most students agonize over which college to attend. But for Kaitlyn O’Hagan, the decision to enroll at Hunter College instead of Boston College or New York University was easy to make.
That’s because O’Hagan’s father recently was laid off, and Hunter College, one of the 23 institutions under the umbrella of the City University of New York, offered her a full scholarship to its Macauley Honors program. “We weren’t sure what kind of situation we were going to be in for the next few years,” the 17-year-old Stuvyesant High School graduate said.
For students like O’Hagan, the recession has added a new wrinkle to the college decision process. With national unemployment rates now at 9.5 percent and the economy continuing to struggle, families have been forced to cut back on spending. As a result, many students this year declined admission to pricey private universities, favoring less expensive state or city schools.
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By Janah Campbell
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Despite the recession, hair salons are enjoying a spike in business
Joann Terrelong has been getting her hair cut at Astor Hair in the East Village for 18 years. The Bronx resident stops by the discount salon, located in the basement of a building near the busy corner of Astor Place and Broadway, every three or four months for a cut and the occasional highlight.
Terrelong patronized fancier salons when she was younger, but now she doesn’t see much point to plunking down a small fortune for a haircut. “You pay more for the name, and they don’t give you a good style,” she said. “Who doesn’t want to save money?”
Although many people are fighting the temptation to buy new clothes or eat out during the recession, one treat they’re less likely to give up is a good haircut. Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and skin care providers experienced a 4.5 percent increase in sales in the last 12 months, according to Sageworks, a retail consulting and research firm in Raleigh, N.C. Low-price salons, in particular, seem to be reaping the benefits.
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By Christian Torre
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Downtown merchants join forces to keep business alive
One Tuesday afternoon in July, merchants and community activists gathered over salad, pizza and lemonade to hash over an issue foremost in their minds: saving the Lower East Side’s mom-and-pop businesses.
The people at the meeting, hosted by the Lower East Side Business Improvement District, threw out all kinds of ideas to help merchants struggling in the recession. They suggested closing neighborhood streets once a week to cars, extending hours and even selling products online.
“Foot traffic has always been a problem, even before the recession, and now it’s compounded,” said Roberto Ragone, executive director of the Lower East Side Business Improvement District.
Indeed, the storefront vacancy rate in Manhattan is now at an estimated 6.5 percent, the highest level since the early 1990s, according to a recent report by Marcus & Millichap Research Services, a real estate investment services firm in Encino, Calif. That has prompted entrepreneurs and community groups to look for ways to attract customers.
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