Is New York still a city of dreams?
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Clayton Patterson
“I have deep roots in this city,” explains writer Alan Kaufman. “I know how important, culture, purpose and vision are to keeping a city like this alive.”
Alan’s story is typical of the rags to riches trajectory so many have experienced in New York City. His ancestors were among the million Jews who arrived in the Big Apple after fleeing programs in Tsarist Russia. Thanks to great public schools and subsidised college fees, he was able to escape the projects and study at City College of New York (known as the Harvard of the proletariat) and become a respected writer.
Alongside artist, photographer and activist Clayton Patterson, Kaufman discusses with filmmaker Simon J. Heath how New York City no longer offers the opportunities for social advancement and creative freedom it gave them and ponders what this means for the city’s future.
You might like
As the Cornwall & Devon coastline gentrifies, what’s left at UK surfing’s spiritual home?
Priced out – Once belonging to anyone willing to be cold and thrown around underwater, the sport is becoming increasingly inaccessible, as second homes and commodification reshape England’s southwestern shores.
Written by: Noah Petersons
An intimate window into New York’s ’70s lesbian scene
We Others — An exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery combines Donna Gottschalk’s unearthed photographs of LGBTQ+ activists and friends, along with Hélène Gianneccini’s written histories.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In photos: Washington DC’s Black communities facing up to gentrification
A Language We Share — A new exhibition featuring the work of Beverly Price and Gordon Parks preserves historically Black neighbourhoods in the USA, before development and economic forces made them disappear.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The Pope has declared holy war on AI
The New Butlerian Jihad — In his first encyclical letter, Pope Leo XIV addressed the increasing pervasiveness of artificial intelligence as a threat to the already fragile structures of society. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland makes sense of it all.
Written by: Emma Garland
On the frontlines of Britain’s ’80s protest movements
Protest and Equality — Against a backdrop of Thatcherism, hospital closures and global conflict, photographer Sarah Saunders was a documentarian of the long decade’s effects on society, as well as the communities actively resisting it.
Written by: Miss Rosen
6 years on from George Floyd, how much more accessible is the outdoors for People of Colour?
Second Nature — A new report by The Mix Global highlights continued barriers that marginalised folks face when exploring nature, despite attempts at greater representation. Phil Young takes stock of how far we’ve come.
Written by: Phil Young
