{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/dj58c9s186/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Alka Mansukhani Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAlka Mansukhani is a scientist and community activist living in Long Island City. In the interview, Alka recalls moving to Long Island City in the 1990s, recounting the inaccessible waterfront, empty streets, lack of schools, and scant public amenities. She talks about the positive and negative impacts on the neighborhood over the last three decades including the shifting demographic, gentrification, new businesses, and reclaimed waterfront spaces for public use. Alka is involved with the Long Island City Coalition advocating for sustainable, equitable urban development for climate resiliency in Long Island City and along the waterfronts in New York City. She speaks about her work with the non-profit organization Health Equity Initiative, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness of health inequity and encouraged forward-thinking toward preparedness for the future.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40534"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-05-28 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Alka Mansukhani (Interviewee)","Jo-Ann Wong (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview recorded as part of the Changing Landscape of Hunters Point project at Hunters Point Library."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1989-2021 (temporal)","Hunters Point and Long Island City, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAlka Mansukhani is a scientist and community activist living in Long Island City. In the interview, Alka recalls moving to Long Island City in the 1990s, recounting the inaccessible waterfront, empty streets, lack of schools, and scant public amenities. She talks about the positive and negative impacts on the neighborhood over the last three decades including the shifting demographic, gentrification, new businesses, and reclaimed waterfront spaces for public use. Alka is involved with the Long Island City Coalition advocating for sustainable, equitable urban development for climate resiliency in Long Island City and along the waterfronts in New York City. She speaks about her work with the non-profit organization Health Equity Initiative, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness of health inequity and encouraged forward-thinking toward preparedness for the future.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/148/877/small/Screenshot_%2865%29.png?1644249883","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - HP_Ambassadors_Interview__Alka_Mansukhani-edit.mp4"]},"duration":3094.01598,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/148/877/small/Screenshot_%2865%29.png?1644249883","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/148/877/original/HP_Ambassadors_Interview__Alka_Mansukhani-edit.mp4?1644249819","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3094.01598,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Hello and welcome Alka Mansukhani, thank you so much for joining us here today as part of one of the interviews for our Hunters Point ambassadors program. We're just going to jump straight into our questions for today. First one is, what is your personal connection to Hunters Point / the Long Island City neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1.0,23.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: So I'm a current resident and I live here right in the heart of Long Island City on 48th avenue and Vernon. I've lived here since the early nineties. So I've really seen this neighborhood transform. I live here with my husband and I raised my daughter here. And so, I'm invested in this community and its future and then have seen its transformation over the last, almost three decades.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=23.0,57.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so out of curiosity, why did, when you were moving into Hunters Point, why was Hunters Point a place that you chose to live in?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=57.0,66.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I had never heard of Hunters Point ever before. I worked at NYU School of Medicine. I was focused completely downtown. I lived in Washington Square village and then I met my husband in '89 and he was an artist who had a studio in Long Island City. And so that was my first visit here in 1989. And I was completely taken aback, as you know at that time and even now to some extent, there's this big mental blockade against crossing a river and going from Manhattan to the outer boroughs in some sense. And back then it was very strong. So coming to this place, then, I came to visit him and wound up staying eventually. So that's how, it was by default. I didn't go looking for this neighborhood back then. I don't think many people did then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=66.0,129.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, you know, you mentioned that you came in the nineties, you said, right? I have only known Hunters Point in the 2019, 2018 era. And I'm assuming that Hunters Point has changed dramatically from the nineties to 2021. Can you talk about some of the changes and how did Hunters Point look like when you first came versus now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=129.0,157.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Oh my god. When I first came, there was nothing here that—especially coming from downtown in the village in Manhattan, there were no restaurants, there were few hardware stores around on this strip of Vernon Boulevard. There was John's Deli where you got fantastic Italian sopressata and, you know, salamis and that sort of thing. And there was Mannetta's restaurant on Jackson Avenue. But other than that, there was really nothing here. I mean, there were, like I said, a few hardware stores and the waterfront was a chain link fence there. It was completely industrial on the waterfront. The one time I visited once, I found a pack of wild dogs around the garbage dump. So it was a very different neighborhood and it was spooky to be here at night. I remember in 1990 maybe, I stayed over the night at my, at the time he wasn't my husband, but he wasn't here and I spent the night at the loft and look after the cat or something like that. And I felt positively spooked out because it was so quiet at night. But at the time it was mostly, I think it was like an Italian neighborhood and Italian working class neighborhood. You used to see like older Italian folks sitting out on their stoops and chatting away in dialect. And they'd be, you know, not only on the stoop but on the sidewalk with the chairs, I mean, you rarely see that sort of thing anymore. And neighborhood is transformed completely. I guess people moved out, it got gentrified. But it was a totally different neighborhood. It had a whole different feel to it, you know? It was so quiet and for the likes of me also, I've always grown up in a city that's buzzing all the time and in the evening it felt positively spooky.\t\t\t\t#REF!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=157.0,286.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: I mean, it's so wild to hear you say that there was no restaurants and the chain link fence, because now it's completely different.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=286.0,295.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Imagine, yes that was quite something because I guess much of New York City in that sense has, you know, it's a post industrial revolution kind of city. And so most of the waterfronts, instead of being recreational were used for industrial purposes. And we're only now starting to reclaim these waterfront spaces, which is so important. And in this area, particularly since it's all in the flood plain right now. So yeah, it was pretty wild back then. When our daughter was born here in '94, there were, you know, no play groups, no preschools, no nothing. PS 78 had just opened in the City Lights building, which was the only high rise tower on the waterfront by '94. And there was this little preschool there. It was the only underserved and not over full preschool in all of New York City. So they were very few kids in the class because the population was very small. We used to make our own play groups and everything was self-organized. It was actually quite wonderful. And you can ride your bicycle down in the middle of Vernon Boulevard because there were hardly any cars, so it was a very different place.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=295.0,382.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, you know, especially, you know, you were mentioning how there were very few children, which is very different nowadays, as well. I wanted to ask when did you start noticing these changes being evident in the community? And when did you realize this is going to be something here to stay, some of these changes?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=382.0,405.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I must admit I didn't pay that much attention through the nineties and maybe even through the 2000s, for the most part, I was so focused on my work and, you know, raising a child. Maya, our daughter, went to PS 78 for the first three years—preschool, first grade, and second grade. And at that time, I became involved in the community here. Otherwise I was totally focused on Manhattan. Everything was there, our friends were there and I never did anything in Queens until Maya started going to school and I started meeting people in the neighborhood through the school. And so we formed the PTA and I was on that first PTA and on that search committee for the first principal there. So I got to know people in the neighborhood and I must say it was quite a diverse neighborhood in terms of socioeconomically, very diverse, which I don't think it is so much anymore. It's definitely been quite gentrified, more so at least. And there was a large Hispanic community at the time at the school as well, which you don't see much of anymore. So those are my recollections of being in the school. What was the specific question again? I tend to just be rambling on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=405.0,495.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: No, it's very interesting what you're talking about with the schools, especially because now there's a lot of new families coming into Hunters Point. So there's a lot of preschools and a lot of children in the neighborhood. So it is very interesting when you say that, but the original question was when did you start noticing changes? Like for instance, you said City Lights used to be the only high rise.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=495.0,520.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: That's right. In court square, there was that Citibank tower that had been there since I think the late eighties perhaps, and the City Lights building was there in the early nineties, I think by 1990 or 1991, that that was the only high rise there. And then, over the years, there's been this burst of development. I guess it was earmarked for the Olympic village. And since then the developers, I mean, it was like one of the best kept secrets. It's five minutes from Midtown Manhattan and transportation was easy with the seven train. The seven train used to be pretty quiet. And with the population having increased tenfold from the nineties really, there isn't enough transportation here now and it's crowded and the infrastructure hasn't grown alongside the population. So while yes, it's nice, you see dog runs and lots of little preschools and, you know, things for toddlers and daycare centers and meeting the needs of the community. In terms of transportation it's a very unmet need here. And I think that burst has sort of happened, I would say, over the last 10 years or so. And I think it's uncontrolled at this point, it's sort of bursting luxury housing without—this piecemeal kind of development- without any comprehensive planning. And this place was set up to be a village. So it just doesn't have the infrastructure that it needs to support the population in terms of open space and parks, in terms of community spaces. There really aren't any. And it's this gentrification is pushing out older residents, basically, that used to be— I mean, in the nineties, I remember most of the people here that we came across were either artists or musicians or doing ceramics and, you know, that sort of thing, and found lofts and studio spaces here and there because industry didn't move out of Long Island City I think the way it did in places like Soho, Williamsburg, where you suddenly had this spate of massive, beautiful loft spaces that people could come into. And those are very hard to find now. And there is still industry in the interior. So it hasn't all gone as such. But there's been this spate of high rise development, mostly from, you know, changing of the zoning, which I think is a huge threat to the neighborhood. And, you know, even the sewer system is not good enough. I don't know how many people here know that when it rains here, you have untreated sewage that goes out into the East River and, you know, things like that are not addressed every single time you have another high rise. Nobody says anything about where all those flushing toilets are going. laughter","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=520.0,712.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: That's being involved in the community more so now and particularly after the Anable Basin and Amazon issues that happened here a few years ago, I became much more involved in local organizations and know much more about the issues that actually affect the neighborhood and the lack of infrastructure and the affordable housing that's really needed here. Yeah. So I think this is, I would say it's the changes over the last 10 years have been dramatic, some good, and some—it's really worrisome because it's sort of developer driven and they don't really pay much attention to what a community needs and a community needs to be organized in order to push back. And some communities are better equipped for that. And I remember years ago, when these high rise buildings started to form here, a friend of mine who lives in a neighborhood in Greenpoint said what did you guys get? You didn't get anything? You didn't even get a swimming pool? This would never happen in our neighborhood because we have enough organization here to push back. Somebody needs to push back and go to those planning meetings, right from the get-go not from, you know, not when the plans are already made and unclear already happened and all that. So I think people need to be made more aware of the processes that are involved. And it's, I guess it's part of citizenship, which I'm only learning now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=712.0,809.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: I know, I only just recently learned about the sewage in Newtown Creek and it was extremely eye opening to learn just what is happening in that creek and how that all leads into the East River essentially. It's definitely eyeopening. But I did want to go back to some of the points you met and go a little bit deeper into them. So the first one was on transportation. When you said that the seven train used to not be crowded, I had a flashback of one time I was just leaning against the door. And I was like, this is normal because it was so packed. And so what are ways that you can see as potential improvements to transportation and the neighborhood? Because I know the ferries are pretty popular, too, as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=809.0,858.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Yeah. The ferries are popular, but the ferries need to be made more frequent or something like that. You know, because you still have to time yourself on the ferry and if you're right on the waterfront and going right to the waterfront on the other side in different places. So the ferries can work for some people, but here there's a hub at Court Square and there's a hub at- where is it- where the E train is on 11th street and 44th Drive. But it's a walk away and there's not sufficient transportation infrastructure here. Public transportation, I mean. I mean cars- Yes. Oh, that was the other big thing. When- in the early nineties you could park anywhere. It was never an issue. If somebody came to visit, that was the one big plus. Oh, you can park anywhere. And you can forget about that now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=858.0,920.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Now it's like a race to get the parking spot before the other car.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=920.0,925.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Yeah. You never saw traffic jams on Vernon Boulevard. That was never there. So yes, there's good things. People coming into our neighborhood is a good thing. It brings vibrance to the neighborhood and it's lovely that we have more restaurants and more amenities would be nice too. But I think neighborhoods need to not just be neighborhoods where people live, but where there are communities that are engaged and that's what makes for a community where people are sort of invested in the neighborhood and invested in the future of the neighborhood. And that usually happens once you- sometime when you have kids, then you start caring about what's in the neighborhood—at least that's how it started for me. Looking at the school and looking around the school. And then once she was older and doing her own thing, I was focused on myself and then came back to it at the time of Anable Basin, when several of my friends in the neighborhood that I'd gotten to know were involved and I joined Long Island City Coalition. And we thought that was not a good idea, because of the subsidy. I mean not that we didn't think it was a good idea for Amazon to come here, but that it was not a good idea for it to be subsidized like that for this richest company in the world to be subsidized by the state government in that way and that they can come, but without the subsidies, which they have, they've come to various places in the city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=925.0,1028.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Yeah. And to continue off of that, you mentioned the rezoning laws and how they've changed over the years. So I only knew the very brief surface level about the zoning laws and Hunters Point, would you be able to go into little bit more detail about?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1028.0,1043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: A little more. I'm nowhere near an expert on this. There are other people in our group who know this much better than I, but the rezoning goes from basically a commercial manufacturing rezoning to either mixed use, which is good sometimes, or to residential. And when that happens, then the land becomes good for these high rise, luxury developments, which seems to be the only thing that's profitable, or at least that's the way it's thought in terms of the way business models are constructed. And so that's why the city's happy to give away this kind of rezoning to promote development or, you know, designate like the Court Square areas, the federal opportunity zones, or that gives all these tax breaks basically. But that never permits— you know, there's unclear service and tokenism that's given to the community, but never sufficient resources. And, invariably, it's the most vulnerable within the community that gets affected the most. You know, the communities that get pushed out. And I mean, it's happening all over the city and all over the country so it's not specific to Hunters Point South, but it's a concern. Yeah, because we really need to, particularly in this post-pandemic, I think people are more thoughtful and more reflective about what we really want to see in the future. What kind of space do we want to leave for our kids and future generations. And so things like climate resiliency and how development happens and how we engaged with our community, sort of all issues that we've been toying with at the margins seem to have come to more center stage now, which I think is a good thing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1043.0,1168.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Yeah and actually you touched upon a point about how the zoning laws—when it comes into communities, certain communities are getting pushed out. And so I wanted your thoughts on how potential zoning laws might have affected gentrification within the Hunters Point neighborhood.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1168.0,1187.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: So I think there's been a lot of rezoning in the Court Square area where there's- because otherwise, if something isn't designated mixed use or residential, you can't really build residential units in that neighborhood. So that entire—what is it called? Where the bridges- that area it's still Court Square, I guess—that area has been rezoned completely. And so you see tons and tons of high rise buildings over there. It's really left to be seen now because of, yes, the pandemic came and all of that. Are these spaces going to be filled? You know, I doubt it. I mean the way people work and play has changed. And so the kind of spaces we used to build pre-pandemic may not be appropriate for what's going to be post-pandemic. I mean, you know, things like Zoom and StreamYard are here to stay, I think. They aren't going away. I think there needs to be communities organized, constantly maintaining pressure on elected officials. And if you make enough noise eventually things happen. It's like Bushwick Inlet Park in North Brooklyn. You know, it was community activism that led to that park being a park. Otherwise it was going to be yet another high rise tower. So we need that. We need people to come together. Sometimes that goes against the grain of sort of individualism and all that. But, yeah. Communities need to bond and highlight the— I mean, there's always going to be differences and that's fine, but at least a space where issues can be discussed, where the community can be part of the planning process and not just to be shoved down their throats after the fact when everything's a done deal, which is kind of how it happens now between city and developers. It's a very developer led process. So you don't really know what's on until it's happened, which is usually the case. Yeah. It would be great to see that process change and there be some bottoms up kind of input into the process, because communities know best often what they need and what's lacking. And rather than someone from the outside coming in, telling them what they need, and that's true of all kinds of communities and community needs for different things as well, other than development.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1187.0,1365.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, speaking of community, I wanted to go a little bit further into what you were talking about with community. And so how do you see that sense of community that you define coming together to create positive change in the neighborhood? How are you seeing that in Hunters Point?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1365.0,1384.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: If you join your local organizations and you know your neighbors and I mean, how do we know our communities in a sense? People know their neighbors perhaps, or they know, it's usually through family or you know people through your school or through the dog run, you know, that sort of thing. Or at work. And then work is not always in the same neighborhood, you know, they're not your neighbors. So that community engagement is really something that- I see it as something that's building over time. People finally know- I mean, I didn't know what the community board did or anything like that. It never even occurred to me to attend the community board meeting. But if you just went to one of those, you get a sense of what goes on there, who's on the community board, how do you get on the community board? What kind of organizations are involved with what sorts of issues in your neighborhood? And you get involved with that. When initially it was with, you know, selecting a school principal and after that it was on zoning issues. And now we're very, our organization is, would love to see along with a lot of other local organizations extension of the waterfront park through the Anable Basin area, because it's all in the flood plain. I mean, what are we building high-rises there for when it's all going to be underwater in 30 years? Yeah. So you need these resilient waterfronts to come back, so, you know, build more than 200 feet back because this whole thing of building hard architecture on a waterfront, it's sort of an old fashioned approach now from everything I've heard and again, I'm not an expert in this area, but there are people in our group who are, and you can buttress your building and build it up high and have a sea wall in front of it sort of thing. And then when the water comes, it's going to flood all the surrounding areas and create a swimming pool around you for more inland communities. So it's not really a resilient solution. And thinking is that these kinds of waterfronts have sponges, like the saltmarsh parks and things like that, just like Hunters Point South, which is an absolutely fantastic park. It would be wonderful to extend further. And there is public land on that. So public land should be put to public use and not even over more high rise buildings. And then there's plenty of data out there that says that when you build parks and open spaces, and we need open space here with the increased population density. As it is at Hunters Point Park South, you can see how crowded it is on a weekend because people come from all over. It's not just from this neighborhood that come to that park. I was campaigning in that park last year and people from all over, I have experienced that firsthand. So, we need more open space and Long Island City is like way down there in the open space to per capita ratio. I think it's second from the bottom or something in terms of neighborhoods. And so there's really a need for more. I mean, that whole Court Square area there's no open space there at all. It's just tower after tower after tower. It's just not livable, it's not human in some way.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1384.0,1625.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so that kind of goes into—when I was reading your bio, where it says that part of your current activities are sustainable, equitable urban development for climate resiliency, and you touched a little bit upon it, but I definitely want to talk about the climate resiliency portion, because why is it important to talk about that in today's current—no pun intended-- climate laughter in places like Hunters Point and Long Island City?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1625.0,1656.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I think most important thing is- for one thing, the pandemic has made people think about the future. I mean, most of our thinking and the way corporations work is, you know, you're thinking about the next quarter and the next quarter, and what are the profits for the next quarter. So there's this tendency to do a lot of short-term thinking. And one of the things the pandemic has done is it's brought our attention to priorities and what's important and what's preparedness in advance. And the notion that nature can fling anything at you, and it's very clear that there's more coming from wherever it came from. And Hunters Point South is below the flood plain in many parts. And so there is a city wide attempt to kind of look at the waterfronts of the city overall and many organizations are doing that, but we do need this kind of comprehensive planning of the waterfronts together, not parcel by parcel the way the city does planning right now. And with climate resiliency, I think it's become clear with not only the pandemic has something to do this, you know, temperature changes, are connected to these things, events like hurricanes and storms are going to be coming by more so. And flooding is a huge issue. I mean, we have right just behind the library, Hunters Point Library, you have some sunny day flooding on and then there is a tide that comes in, the water comes all the way in. And so that's happening.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1656.0,1761.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Really?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1761.0,1761.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Yeah. We have pictures of that. When we put in a bid for why we need spongy parks on that waterfront. You know, the water is not going anywhere. It's gonna find its way in. And so we need to have preparedness and climate resiliency and urban design is- I mean, the world over rural to urban migration is happening in the developing world. And it's thought that whatever, within the next 50 years, 70% of the globe is going to be living in urban areas. And so urban planning, urban resiliency is really the stuff of the future and we really haven't been doing that. It's really this spot, you know, doing it plot by plot kind of development. And in fact, that Anable Basin area is something that—there's a consortium that one of our groups has shown it to, you know, put it in for a site to an international organization of developers. And they were developers of resiliency plans in Denmark, and it was a global competition and they picked this area because of the sort of issues associated with the flood plain, and that the development should be benefiting both more vulnerable communities and better off communities, which there sort of is over here with the—you have all the Queensbridge that's north of there, and then you have the better off, socioeconomically better off communities on the south end. And how do you build a plan that incorporates, you know, something that's good for everybody and does not push people out of the neighborhood, but can create community spaces, workspaces, spaces for small businesses, parks, not just spot zoning for high rise buildings. And that kind of planning is clearly imperative for the future and the fact that they, you know, they said, as a very interesting piece of land, to be thinking about these issues because of all those different factors that play into that area. The fact that it's industrial, it's part commercial, we need space for artists, small businesses shouldn't be pushed out. You know, to try and think of how to design spaces like that. It's fantastic that it got a kind of recognition and it could be, I mean, if the right forces moved it in the right direction, this could be- Hunters Points South waterfront could be like a model for 21st century resiliency if it went right and it could be held up as a flagship for how things could go, because there's public land there, you have a department of education building, a department of transport building, and the plans for it are all up in the air. And so there's public land there should be put to public use. And if things go well, then, you know, this could be a flagship for how waterfront development should happen in the face of climate change and how to build resilient communities, resilient waterfronts. I think the pandemic has played into people's mindsets where they're more open to thinking about things in a more forward-thinking way.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1761.0,1986.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so continuing off of that forward thinking way, I also want to talk about for you, what do you see as equitable urban development in places like LIC and your neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1986.0,1999.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I think the biggest issue here is affordable housing. I mean, just people, I know people I know want to come, whether they're teachers or artists or whatever, they can't afford to rent a place here or buy a place here it's like out of reach completely. So the way- what's considered affordable housing needs to change. I mean, there was an article recently, I can't remember where it came out that to get into an affordable house, to get affordable housing in Long Island City, you need to have an income of over $80,000. I mean, that's not affordable housing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=1999.0,2043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Laughs That's a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2043.0,2043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: So we calculate the MIH or whatever it's called is just needs to be changed because the way it's calculated now, apparently it takes into account Westchester and also things. So, it needs to be, it needs to be changed. As to what's called affordable and we need affordable housing here. Otherwise you're just going to create enclaves of- I mean, a society is only as good as, you know, how we take care of its children and its vulnerable. And, and we need to be thinking about all of that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2043.0,2085.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so to go on to a slightly lighter note, going back to—you've been on Vernon for, you said close to three decades now. And so obviously you've had a lot of memories in the neighborhood. So I wanted to ask for you, what are some favorite memories that you have of living in Hunters Point?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2085.0,2106.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I'm a scientist, so I spent most of my life in a lab in the city. So one of my loveliest memories early on, really on a weekend, riding a bicycle in the middle of Vernon Boulevard all the way up north and back, and then organizing these play groups for these kids where there was really no space for them other than there was that little Andrew's Park, which I only discovered after I had a child, I didn't even know it existed. But it's very lovely and it had these beautiful old trees. We would organize these little playgroups over there for the kids. And that's always a lovely memory of meeting new people and inviting them in, to come join the group. And the group got really big. They were like at least 10 or 12 kids in the group, which was pretty big for that time. Or maybe even 15. I don't know, there might've been that many. So that was, that was really nice because it was in a way of kind of getting to know the neighborhood and we'd take the kids for little walks around and go to each other's homes. It was getting to know the neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood in that time. And it felt very cohesive. And so those are very happy memories of the place. And it was so quiet on the weekends. I mean, there was, it was amazing. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2106.0,2199.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Now, now it's a little bit different. laughs Speaking about getting to know your neighbors and neighborhoods, you've seen Vernon- basically the whole rise of essentially, lots of stores and restaurants. So I always have to ask, what are your favorite stores or restaurants, and do you have any recommendations?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2199.0,2224.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: We tend to go to Tournesol, the little French bistro on Vernon and 51st. And it's been there a long time and I like it because it's small. The menu is small, the place is small. It doesn't have this, you know, we have to grow, we have to get bigger. It's not very technological. The people are lovely, and it feels neighborhoody. So I, we go there a lot and I like that a lot, but I love that there's this new Szechuan place in the neighborhood called Hupo. And just cause I like spicy food. So I've done takeout from there a few times and recommend it. That's good too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2224.0,2272.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Awesome. The French restaurant, that's the one with the mural outside, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2272.0,2278.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: That's the one with the big sunflower called Tournesol, right by the subway.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2278.0,2286.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Yeah. I've always seen it. I've been wanting to go visit, so hopefully fingers crossed soon. laughs And so, kind of delving back into some of the more serious topics, I wanted to talk a little bit about your organization, that you are a part of, which is the Health Equity Initiative. And so can you talk about what the organization is and how did you get involved?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2286.0,2311.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Yeah, so I've been involved with Health Equity Initiative through the founder, Renata Schiavo, also was a scientist who I've known for many years. And she started this organization back in 2011 and it was very visionary at the time to talk about something like health equity, because nobody really knew what it meant. You can talk about equality, but what is equity kind of mean? So there wasn't even a good description. Most people didn't even know what it was, but the organization was—it's a membership based organization to bring together people from all different fields and sectors and walks of life and professions to come together to brainstorm. It was sort of the equivalent of people sitting at the same table to come up with policies and ideas and, you know, how to create transformative change towards health equity. Now, what is health equity? It's the concept that could health outcomes and living the best life you can and the healthiest life you can depends not just on your access to a doctor or healthcare, but on all these other social factors called like the social determinants of health. And that's like security with food, with transportation, with housing, with crime, with access to jobs, with education, and all of these things affect, you know, health outcome and the pandemic has just brought this front and center. And it's amazing that 10 years later now where, you know, the early 2000, 2010, 11, not many people knew what health equity was. Now every department of public health has a health equity section and organizations have it and academic institutions have it. So in that sense, I consider that it was visionary at the time it came about, and now we still run things like community forums, bringing together community leaders to see what are the needs within your communities, bringing awareness to these types of issues and affecting, trying to affect change in policy and bringing about policy and that would lead to more equitable kind of health outcomes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2311.0,2465.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: So we have a COVID-19 resources page. We've put out a lot of infographics for that. And it's so remarkable to see how in this—even with the vaccine campaign where initially you needed, you know, all this, you had to go on an app and you had to go on a computer and it became so clear that what used to be called housing red lining historically in the U.S. If you looked around the country was sort of overlapping so well with what's called now a digital red lining. So places that didn't have internet access and people poor computer support and internet access, which you needed to be able to access things like the vaccine and remote health care and all of that sort of thing, what exactly those neighborhoods that actually need it the most. And so you see those kinds of overlaps and see how factors like that play into the disparities that currently exist and they are addressable. And it's really great that it's come front and center now, and at least it's on the radar. And it's being recognized as an issue that needs to be addressed and not just this is because of high diabetes and it's because of high obesity where you put the sort of blame back onto the community as opposed to the factors that lead to the kinds of health issues and outcomes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2465.0,2565.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Especially during COVID-19, health equity has been definitely a larger part of the discussion. And so I wanted to ask you in terms of Hunters Point, but also just in Queens in general. How are ways that we can ensure health equity, especially during times like this pandemic?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2565.0,2586.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Well, that's a big question, but I think the first step in bringing awareness that these issues actually exist and there wasn't that kind of awareness before. You see much more awareness now that these issues do exist and that these are issues—because at the end of the day- I mean people who look at these sort of things in dollar terms and not just as social justice issues- at the end of the day it's a form of prevention. It's a form of leading to better health, which is recognized as saving dollars down the road, like climate resiliency. If it's incorporated into the plan now you're just kicking the bucket down the road, otherwise with, you know, with climate resiliency, FEMA, somebody has to pick up the bill when there is damage. So planning now helps costs down the road, and it's the same argument you can make for healthcare as well to address these types of issues. And to address inequities is leading to the better health of a society overall. How it can be done, there are a million ways to get to these different things and they need to happen simultaneously. You need to involve community-based organizations. You can't have information coming, experts coming from outside, telling communities what to do. So the community-based organizations, community health workers, how do you reach people who are just not online and can go look for stuff? So there has to be outreach. There has to be building of trust. There's so many factors that this can be dealt with in different ways, luckily different departments of public health and whatnot know that they need to be doing more in those types of directions. So there's lots of building of awareness within organizations. How do you do outreach? How do you involve people? How do you let them vaccinate and how do you get them to go where they need to go? All of those sorts of things, I mean, Queens in general was like the center of the pandemic, basically all of last year. And it's hopefully under control and, you know, with the vaccine measures, things should be getting better, but this is not the last pandemic that's coming. So we just need these structures in place and just in order to build a more resilient society overall.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2586.0,2750.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, you know, as we're speaking about COVID-19, I did want to ask how have you been doing personally at this time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2750.0,2758.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: I mean, I really can't complain. I mean, yes, there's been all the usual complaints like isolation and all of that sort of thing, but in general, we've been relatively safe and been taking all the measures and all that. But as you know, someone wisely pointed out once that your zip code is more important than your genetic code in determining your health outcome. And we've been relatively lucky in terms of where you live and education and socioeconomics and all of that, that all help. And they're all kinds of protective factors in some sense. So, we really can't complain and it's affected us in the ways it's affected so many others.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2758.0,2816.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, before you were talking about, you know, getting involved with community organizations, I know because I met you through Lisa that you are definitely heavily involved in the community. So, I wanted to ask you if you can name some of the community organizations, that you are a part of within Hunters Point, as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2816.0,2836.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: So, I belong to Long Island City Coalition, and I know now about the Newtown Creek Alliance and the Dutch Kills Loop that Lisa is involved in. So I've been to a meeting or two with them. And it's wonderful, too, that they're using these sorts of industrial spaces and making them accessible to the community. These things are all somehow tied together on a larger scale and they're all part of the—the waterfronts are the same—Newtown Creek and the East River all belong to the same estuary that comes and goes. And it's a very unique environment in Hunters Point South, because it's part of this waterway and estuary. Mostly locally, I work with the Long Island City Coalition, then I'm aware of lots of other wonderful groups working here—The Justice for All Coalition, the Sunnyside, Woodside, the coalition there. There are several others that- they're not coming to mind right now, but in the neighborhood. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2836.0,2918.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Awesome. And so, we've been talking a lot about Hunters Point past and present, but I wanted to ask, what are your thoughts on the foreseeable future for Hunters Point. What are things that you anticipate as changes? What are predictions you see for the neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2918.0,2936.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: We need to like stay banded together and be focused in our vision about where we want to see this neighborhood go, because I think if you just let it be, you'll just be getting more of the same, but I'm hopeful that people can come together and create a more resilient space. And that we will have a neighborhood where there's much more waterfront park and nature preserve and spaces for all that public land over there will be used for more small businesses, artisinal spaces, community organization spaces. There isn't anywhere here where you have community spaces where you can have community meetings, for example. There isn't really anywhere. So have spaces that build community, and it would be wonderful to find some way to bridge, also, the community sort of north of the bridge and south of the bridge kind of make it more of one community. So I'm hopeful. I think there is momentum and people are more forward thinking than they used to be. And I think this pandemic has made people sort of, you know, come out—even though it's been isolating in a sense, it had made people want to be aware. For example, at Health Equity Initiative, it's amazing. The pandemic year, people just said, how can I help? What can I do? How can I be involved in a way that we have not seen before? So it's changed people's mindsets. And that makes me hopeful that we can see change happening in the right direction.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=2936.0,3052.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Awesome. So, Alka, you actually answered my last question, which is what are you most hopeful for? Laughter And I think that is like I said, that your answer inspires me to be a bit hopeful for the future, as well. I'm going to stop the recording in a second, but just stay on the line please. And also just want to say, thank you so much for doing this. It was really interesting to speak to you about the neighborhood, especially as someone who's only really known the neighborhoods since, like, maybe 2018, 2019. Hearing your thoughts was extremely valuable.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=3052.0,3088.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877/transcript/35414/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Alka Mansukhani: Thank you. It was fun to talk to you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/64171/file/148877#t=3088.0,3094.01598"}]}]}]}