IRINA IVANOVA: How did you get into architectural photography?

JOHN BARTLESTONE: While I was still working as an architect, my boss started asking me to take pictures for internal use. At the time that I switched jobs, I was already involved in large format photography and had been shooting the Navy Yard for about a year.

II: How is your relationship with buildings different now (as a photographer) from when you were working as an architect?

JB: I worked for The Port Authority, which is an entity that is jointly owned by the states of New York and New Jersey. I worked primarily on projects at LaGuardia, the PATH System, JFK and the World Trade Center — that was from 1985 to 1995).

Of course, professionally, things have been upended. Where I used to become acquainted with a project in the program stage, I now come in when it’s nearly finished. I’m just a witness to architecture now and have much more time to appreciate it. But the same sensibilities are at work — you still have to know how to read the program and be able to let the building unfold for the viewer if not the user.

II: You’ve said that you prefer industrial spaces — do you mean to photograph, or in general? How come?

JB: In general. I love machines, especially when they are in isolation, or out of context: a pump house in the woods, an elevator motor room in a rooftop penthouse, a power substation on a residential street, a steam powered generator in a brick building. I love temples in which the holy of holies is the machine. But to have that you need masonry architecture surrounding the metal monster. Modern pre-fab sheds that shelter equipment do not fit this fetish well. The Navy Yard does: a steel ship in a brick dry dock, pump rooms galore, and great spaces everywhere. The Navy Yard itself is a machine out of context in the greater city, and that’s what really drew me to it.

II: How long had you been working on the Navy Yard project? And why did you pick that place, anyway?

JB: I went to the Navy Yard for 15 years. I did wander off and do other things during that time but it was always my primary interest. I’ve always loved infrastructure, so it did not take long for the Yard to pull me in. If you like what New York was, you can’t help but appreciate the Navy Yard. If you feel compelled to take pictures of industrial subjects, you don’t like to drive and you live in New York, the Yard’s the place to be. If I lived in Chicago, I’d be rowing a boat on the Calumet.

It’s funny, there’s so much talk today of making the waters around New York accessible, of letting people participate in activities at the water’s edge, but the Navy Yard is one of the last places left where the City and its waters work together and need each other, where the highest and best use, for once, is not parkland.

II: You’re a Manhattanite by birth. What drew you to Brooklyn? Are there any viable industrial spaces still left in Manhattan?

JB: There are no long-span industrial spaces in Manhattan, no heavy industry. Almost no industry at all. There are some great complexes that survived (Nabisco, Bell Labs), but they have been converted to other uses.

Manhattan has infrastructure, power plants, substations, the North River Treatment Plant, etc., but Brooklyn still has a working waterfront, some living industry and a few big industrial complexes such as the Army Terminal, Bush Terminal and the Navy Yard. It also still has its own working freight railroad that runs with traffic on the streets of Sunset Park. When I started at the Navy Yard in 1994, I could not have guessed that the other Brooklyn shipyard (in Red Hook) would be gone by the time I finished the project. And back then ships still supplied Domino Sugar in Williamsburg with cane.

I have to mention Phelps-Dodge, the best thing in Queens. It was a huge collection of buildings devoted solely to the task of turning 99 percent pure copper into 99.9 percent pure copper. It was the biggest factory in the city aside from the Navy Yard, and operated from the 1870s (at first producing industrial acids) until 1983.

II: Tell us about the equipment you use and your process.

JB: I took most of the pictures with a 4 x 5 camera and all except two with black and white film. But there is a good amount of medium format work in it too, and some 8 x 10 near the end when I started to use the larger format for some images. If the picture in the book is square, it was shot with a Rollei twin lens or later, a Hasselblad. I won’t really miss lugging a hundred pounds of gear on the F Train but it was the only way to do it.
I have a black and white darkroom in my apartment, but for the book I decided to scan the negatives. After that the files went to Ben Diep, owner of Colorspace Imaging here in New York. He gave them depth and substance that are very difficult to obtain with scanned negatives.

II: Why did you choose to do this project in black and white?

JB: Black and white can have a more sculptural look than color. Black and white allows one the luxury of a bit of temporal ambiguity. It leaves more to the imagination, and also reduces distractions like blue plastic tarps and orange fences that I really don’t like to see.

Black and white film has more detail per square inch than color, produces negatives that are a pleasure to see in their own right and can be processed at home. The last part is very important when you want to control density by customizing development times , and save money too. If I were starting this project today I would still print in black and white, but I might shoot it on both black and white and color negative film. And in case you were wondering, as long as they make film, I will never shoot something like this digitally.

Then there’s the fact that there is such a long tradition of shooting this kind of subject in monochrome. But, I have to say that when I see the work of photographers like Richard Pare, Andrew Moore and Tom Sullens, I’m tempted to explore color. In their work, color is never a distraction.

II: What’s next?

JB: I may have to leave town for the next one. Heavy industry still lurks out there and I need to shoot some.

PHOTO COURTESY: JOHN BARTLESTONE

Internet-based journalists and bloggers are now eligible to receive press credentials from the New York Police Department. The new guidelines announced in early March state that a journalist, including online-only media workers, applying for press credentials must show that he or she covered at least six events that the city restricted access to. Before these rules were announced, online-only journalists routinely reported being denied press credentials because they were not from an established print publication.

“This is a press credentialing system for the online age that can serve as a model for governments around the country,” said Gabriel Taussig, the city’s Administrative Law Division chief, in a March 1 press release.

Press credentials are vital to journalists who need to cross police lines to cover a story or to be identified as a member of the press. In addition, two new categories of press passes were announced: “reserve cards” that allow news organizations to give reporters access to a specific assignment, and “single-event press cards” that grant credentials to journalists who pre-registered for a single event. The new categories eliminate what the city called “the chicken or the egg” problem for journalists who had not yet covered six events where there was restricted access.

“The new rules will enable journalists to gather and report news in a more successful manner than before,” said Norman Siegel, a leading civil rights attorney who participated in the revision process, in the March 1 press statement. “Online journalists will now be considered as 21st century journalists and be treated equally to print, television and radio journalists.”

But while online bloggers will now be able to more easily obtain credentials, NYPD will continue to issue them, something that has caused controversy in the past. Some argue that the NYPD should not be the department issuing press passes because of its involvement in contentious issues that make it a target for critical reporting, which may in turn cause the department to deny credentials to journalists they deem unfriendly.

The new rules for credentialing journalists are the culmination of a process that began in November 2008, when three New York City-based journalists whose work was primarily online filed a federal lawsuit after their applications for press passes were denied. The lawsuit, led by Siegel, argued that the city’s rules for issuing press credentials were unconstitutionally vague and resulted in unlawful interference with covering news.

In January 2009, the journalists who were plaintiffs in the lawsuit were awarded their previously denied press credentials.

“The media landscape is changing rapidly and New York City — with a nudge from three journalists and a team of top lawyers — grasped that fact,” said David Wallis, a plaintiff in the now-settled lawsuit whose application for press credentials was denied by the NYPD in 2007.

The old guidelines caused headaches for local publications like Gotham Gazette, a online-only outlet read by thousands daily. Gotham Gazette was denied access to an October 2009 mayoral debate because they did not hold police press credentials. In a November 2008 blog post, Courtney Gross, the publication’s city government editor wrote, “Since the summer of 2007, we have been denied a press identification card, which would assist us in accessing certain crowded/exclusive City Hall events. The NYPD’s reason: that we are online only, sans a tangible, ink-stained print publication.”

A public comment period on the new guidelines began March 2 and lasts until April 7, when a public hearing on the new rules will be held at NYPD headquarters, 1 Police Plaza, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Public comments can be submitted to NYPD Legal Bureau, 1 Police Plaza, Rm 1496, New York, NY 10038.

Past articles in The Indypendent:
“A Win for Independent Media: NYPD Hands Over Previously Denied Press Credentials,” by Alex Kane. Published Jan. 10, 2009.

“Lawsuit Takes on NYPD Press Credential Policy,” by Alex Kane. Published Dec. 12, 2008.

Worried about Haitian young adults slipping through the cracks in New York City, Brooklyn community activist Darnell Benoit founded Flanbwayan, The Haitian Literacy Project, in 2005. Benoit currently serves as the director of the Flatbush-based educational and advocacy nonprofit, serving the needs of local Haitian youth. The Indypendent caught Benoit for a moment in her office before she left for a two-week mission to Haiti organized by the group Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees.

Jaisal Noor: How did you get involved in Flanbwayan and Haitian immigrant education advocacy?

Darnell Benoit: For 15 years, I worked as an English as a Second Language teacher in adult education programs. Back then, I noticed a lot of young people, 17, 18 years old, were coming to those programs. When I started speaking with them, I realized that they should be in high school instead of in an adult program. I decided to focus on Haitian immigrants because, in doing the research, I found it was a huge problem in the community. Even today there is not an organization like Flanbwayan working on education needs for new immigrants. We also collaborate with other immigrant organizations.

For our community, focusing on education is very important because many parents are working, and a lot do not speak English. We work not only to help students get access to education, but to advocate for better programs. In the public education system when, as a new immigrant, you enter at an early age, things are okay. Even if you have difficulty learning English, you have time [to learn it]. But the problems starts for immigrant students who enter directly into high school. That’s why we just focus on students age 14 to 21, with a very special focus on older students, whom the city calls “overage.”

JN: What are some of the typical challenges that these students are faced with?

DB: Our community used to have six thriving bilingual programs, they no longer exist, because the city has phased them out. The DOE [Department of Education] insists that there are still two, but they don’t exist. That’s one option our students don’t have that other communities have. For Haitian students, many enter behind in school. This means you might be 17, but educationally you are not like an 11th grader. A 17-year-old student might have just completed eighth grade. Flanbwayan is here for students who are marginalized, for students falling through the cracks, because they are the most challenging. They are the hardest to educate. But everyone deserves a quality education, so some of the issues that we have are students with low or no literacy. The DOE initiated a program called SIFE [Students with Interrupted Formal Education]. It’s a great initiative, but it’s not available in our community.

JN: In 2006, the Department of Education announced plans to “phase down” Samuel J. Tilden High School, which provides English as a Second Language services for Haitian students, and the school is closing this June. What effect will this have on these students?

DB: Tilden is a big high school and has been serving Haitian kids for ages. I didn’t grow up in Brooklyn, but most of my friends who grew up in Brooklyn went to Tilden. The high school had a vital bilingual program, but in recent years the school was “failing,” and the DOE decided to close the school. There will be 40 to 50 students at Tilden in June who will not graduate. What people don’t realize is that when a school closes, it doesn’t mean all the students get a high school diploma. It means the students have to fend for themselves. The DOE doesn’t have a plan for them.

JN: How has the earthquake in Haiti affected the work that your organization does and the students you work with?

DB: We’re just happy we’re here to welcome students coming in after the earthquake. For students [coming in from Haiti], Jan. 12 is the last time they have been in school. Returning to school is the one thing that helps bring normalcy back to their lives, because that’s what is going to help them with the trauma they have been through. We’re able to help them meet other young people, so that they can start building their lives here and start picking up where they left off.

For more information visit flanbwayan.org.

Inside, the walls are draped with national flags — yellow, red, white and blue. Classrooms buzz with workshops on organizing, language, job-training and computer skills. Make the Road New York advocates for immigrants in housing, education and labor disputes, winning numerous legal and political battles over the last decade. The Indypendent’s Jon Gerberg sat down with Julissa Bisono, the workplace justice organizer, to discuss her organization’s work and the current political reality for immigrants living in the United States.

Jon Gerberg: What is a normal day like here at Make the Road New York?

Julissa Bisono: What I do here is try to organize mostly immigrant workers in order to improve working conditions and help them recover wages. On a typical day, a person comes in who has either been working for a place for many, many years and been laid off, realized that they have not been receiving minimum wage, or has not been paid overtime. What I’ve been seeing lately is that people are working for a month or two, being promised wages, and then never getting anything at all.

JG: What are some examples that really infuriated you?

JB: Usually the people that come in have very extreme cases. I had a worker come in yesterday who said he left his job to work for a construction company. He worked there for two months, was promised $150 a day, and then didn’t get a penny. Now he’s getting evicted because he hasn’t been able to pay the rent.

JG: Over the past two years, how has the recession been a factor in the increase in workplace injustice?

JB: Undocumented workers don’t have the benefit of applying for unemployment insurance, so they don’t have many options. They need to find another job as soon as possible. So what I’ve seen is that they go to these employment agencies to help them find a job, and these employment agencies have become smarter about ripping off people. In the last two years I’ve had a couple of our members move back to their countries. After being here for 10 years, not seeing your family, it starts to take a toll on you. Some people are hopeless about immigration reform and just trying to survive day to day.

JG: With such high unemployment, why do you think people are still immigrating?

JB: There’s something about New York City. Back in our countries, people still talk about that “American Dream”: “I’m gonna work really hard here and I’m gonna build up and then go back to my country.” I feel like maybe 30 years ago it was more possible to actually do that, but now it’s more challenging. Jobs are not there. Wages are not there. It’s really hard to live in New York City because it’s expensive.

JG: You say there’s not as much racism in New York, but reports have shown that unemployment is an issue that has vastly different effects across lines of race and class.

JB: I feel like it’s easier to adapt here. It’s different from living in a town in the suburbs where you’re the only Hispanic family. Queens is the most diverse place in the world. In Queens, you see the diversity along the 7 train. You go to Main Street and it’s Asian. Corona is Mexican, Ecuadorian and Dominicans. And then Jackson Heights is Colombian, Bangladeshi. It’s easier when there are different types of communities.

JG: Sometimes there are conflicts of interest between labor and immigrants’ rights groups. What differences have you seen in your work and how do you think they can be reconciled?

JB: We’re all immigrants. That’s what I believe. The anti-immigrant groups have done a real good job at trying to divide us and say that immigrant workers are taking up most of the jobs. A lot of the unions say, “Wow, it’s hard for us to find jobs because the immigrant workers are taking over.”

Some unions are stuck on the fact that they want work visas, which creates a space where people are more vulnerable to exploitation. What we want as an organization is immigration reform that is going to allow families to stay together and still work and follow a path to citizenship.

JG: How do you propose to solve some of these problems?

JB: Well there’s this constant fear of immigration [police]. We need immigration reform as soon as possible. There are a lot of workers that pay their taxes here but never enjoy the benefits of a person that has [legal] status.

JG: What can New Yorkers do right now to start changing these injustices?

JB: They need to get organized. They need to get together as a group and start fighting for justice. I know it’s hard because people, especially undocumented workers, fear immigration [police]. I think that people need to start believing that if we get together there can actually be change. I don’t want to sound like Obama, but I’ve seen when workers organize themselves, the power that they have.

For more information, visit maketheroad.org.

The students — Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa and Juan Rodriguez — are walking 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, D.C., in a five-month campaign named “Trail of Dreams” to raise attention about the conditions of immigrants and to pressure President Barack Obama and Congress to take up comprehensive immigration reform, including providing greater access for undocumented students to education.

“We’re coming out of the shadows,” Pacheco, 25, told The Indypendent in January. “Here we are, the undocumented youth that have so much potential and so much desire to make this a better country.” The students had tried to schedule a meeting with the sheriff ahead of time, but had not been successful, so they dropped in. If the students had been arrested, three of them could have faced deportation. Rodriguez is the only legal resident.

Conway has been a vocal proponent of “287(g),” a federal provision authorizing local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. The Trail of Dreams says that this policy has resulted in the deportation of hundreds of immigrants from Gwinnett County in just the past three months — which the student walkers say is oppressive and discriminatory.

“We’re not scared of Sheriff Conway,” said Rodriquez, 20, in a March 2 press statement. “Local enforcement of federal policies like the one Sheriff Conway is proudly implementing is proof of the need for real immigration reform. These policies have the long-term effect of criminalizing immigrants — the vast majority of whom are here only to work hard and provide for their families.”

For more information about the Trail of Dreams, visit trail2010.org.

“It is time for Obama to deliver,” said Shuya Ohno, assistant communication director of the National Immigration Forum, a prominent immigrant advocacy organization.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the history of this nation,” states the Campaign to Reform Immigration for America on its website. “We can do nothing and watch as our families and communities continue to be torn apart by the broken immigration system … Or we can stand up.”

“In his State of the Union address, I think Obama mentioned 36 words about immigration,” said Julissa Bisono, the workplace justice organizer at Make the Road New York, which is organizing some 2,000 people to travel to the capital. “It’s been a year already and immigration has been put on the back burner.”

La Opinion and The LA Times reported March 4 that Obama met with his Domestic Policy Council to discuss jump-starting the reform effort and has pushed Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to take the lead on crafting legislation.

“Although this is a positive step forward, we expect the President and Congress to move beyond meetings to concrete bipartisan legislative action,” said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, in a March 5 statement.

The campaign says it has organized approximately 150 buses to bring New Yorkers to Washington for the March for America.

“Immigration is an absolute part of the American story,” Ohno said. “This is for all Americans who really care about moving this country forward.”

To join the March for America, visit wemarchforamerica.org.

Both events were held on a day when hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations in more than 30 states across the United States to protest deep cuts in funding for public education. In the movement’s epicenter in California, actions included rallies, marches and occupations of buildings and freeways. Mass rallies were held in San Francisco and Sacramento. Students blocked the main gate to the University of California at Berkeley. In Oakland, more than 140 people were arrested and one student was seriously injured after police attacked protesters who stopped traffic on Interstate 880. California college students were recently hit with tuition hikes of 32 percent while more than 20,000 public school teachers face possible layoffs.

TAKING A STAND: Bill Steyert, a Vietnam War veteran and member of Veterans for Peace (VFP), braved the rain to participate in an anti-war vigil commemorating the 1,000th U.S. soldier killed in Operation Enduring Freedom Feb. 23. According to icasualties.org, the tally includes fatalities that occurred in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Yemen. Standing in Midtown Manhattan, the group read the names of U.S. soldiers and Afghan civilians killed during the occupation. Demonstrators from VFP, the Granny Peace Brigade and Peace Action NY chanted, “Jobs not Bombs,” during a march to the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square. On March 20, VFP chapters will hold events to marking the eighth year of the Iraq War.

FRI-SUN MARCH 19-21
Fri: 7pm-9pm; Sat/Sun 10am-9pm
See website for admission fees.
CONFERENCE: LEFT FORUM . “The Center
Cannot Hold: Rekindling the Radical
Imagination.” Last year’s conference had
more than 200 panels, 600 speakers and
3,000 attendees. Join us this year.
Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza
212-817-2003 • leftforum.org

FRI MARCH 19
Noon • Free
RIDE : BUREAU OF ORGANIZED
BIKELANE SAFETY . The newly formed
Bureau of Organized Bikelane Safety
team invites cyclists to join a ride through
Midtown bike lanes. The ride is intended
to promote safety and increased enforcement
in bike lanes. Rally to follow in
Bryant Park at 12:45pm.
Meet at Madison Square Park, 23rd and
Broadway • 917-494-8164 • times-up.org

SAT MARCH 20
7pm • $10
READINGS: WOMEN ’S HISTORY
MONTH POETRY . Join poets Prisionera,
Gloria Fontanez, Seary, Maria Aponte,
Passion, Mia and Jamica for “Yes We
Can: Women’s History Month Poetry.”
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 E 3rd St
212-780-9386 • nuyorican.org

7:30 pm • $13
SCREENING: TIBET IN HARLEM . The
Search, directed by Padma Tseten, is a
road movie that explores a disappearing
culture as it follows a Tibetan film
director’s search for actors for his next
film followed by a discussion with the
filmmaker.
Maysles Institute, 343 Lenox Ave
212-582-6050 • mayslesinstitute.org

MON MARCH 22
7pm • Free
SCREENING: DEATH AND TAXES. The
military consumes 30 percent of federal
spending, according to the War Resisters
League. In this 30-minute documentary,
more than 20 people explain why and
how they refuse to fund war. Followed by
a discussion.
Judson Memorial Church, 241 W Thompson
St • 718-768-7306 • warresisters.org

7pm • Free
READING: A POST-CAPITALIST
FUTURE . Political economists Leo
Panitch and Sam Gindin will read from
and discuss their new book, In and Out
of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown
and Left Alternatives.
Bluestockings, 172 Allen St
212-777-6028 • bluestockings.com

7pm • Free
READING: ART AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
Beverly Naidus will read from her new
book, Arts For Change: Teaching Outside
the Frame. There will also be a discussion
with some of the featured artists.
Revolution Books, 146 W 26th St
212-691-3345 • revolutionbooksnyc.org

TUE MARCH 23
7pm • $5 Sugg
DISCUSSION: DIRECT ACTION IN
HEALTHCARE ACTIVISM. Katie Robbins
of Heathcare-NOW!, Dr. Laura Boylan
of Physicians for a National Health
Program, and Laurie Wen of ACT Up will
discuss how to bring the single-payer option
back into the healthcare discussion.
Bluestockings, 172 Allen St
212-777-6028 • bluestockings.com

7:30pm • $13
SCREENING: SPOTLIGHT ON EMERGIN
G FILMMAKERS. Four Rivers, directed
by Tenzin Phuntsog, presents a series of
vignettes of the Mount Kailash region in
Tibet. A discussion with the filmmakers
will follow.
Maysles Institute, 343 Lenox Ave
212-582-6050 • mayslesinstitute.org

THUR MARCH 25
7pm • Free
DISCUSSION: FBI ENTRAPMENT .
Activists, lawyers and family members
of alleged suspects will share stories of
FBI entrapment, preemptive prosecution
and the targeting of Muslim communities
since 9/11.
40 Washington Sq S, Vanderbilt Rm 220,
NYU • Globalvoiceforjustice.uma.hm

SAT MARCH 27
10am-4pm • $35/$55
SEMINAR: CAPITAL: A CRITIQUE OF
THE PRESENT . Randy Martin will present
a 1-day seminar using Marx’s Capital
to understand present circumstances.
Martin is the author of On Your Marx:
Rethinking Socialism and the Left and
Financializing of Daily Life.
Brecht Forum, 451 West St
212-242-4201 • brechtforum.org

1pm-4pm • Free
SCREENING: YOUTH VOICES UNCEN -
SORED . The winning films from the
National Coalition Against Censorship’s
Sixth Annual film contest will be shown.
Poet Kahlil Almustafa will perform.
Ticket reservation recommended.
New York Film Academy, 100 E 17th St
212-807-6222 x19 • yfen@ncac.org

SUN MARCH 28
11:15am • Free
TALK: “NEW YORK’S OTHER ENVIRON -
MENTAL HISTORY .” This talk will highlight
the efforts of women and people
of color toward establishing parks and
green space in New York City.
New York Society for Ethical Culture,
2 W 64th St • 212-874-5210 • nysec.org

1pm-4:30pm • Free
FORUM: NUCLEAR WEAPONS-FREE
WORLD. Actor, writer and United Nations
representative Vinnie Burrows
will moderate this forum with Dr. Horace
G. Campbell, Frida Berrigan and Judith
LeBlanc.
The Riverside Church, Assembly Hall,
490 Riverside Dr
grannypeacebrigade.org

THUR APRIL 1
4pm-5pm • Free
VIGIL: 2,100 POLITICAL PRISONERS.
Amnesty International activists host
bi-weekly vigils to bring attention to
the case of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi and the 2,100 political
prisoners being held in Myanmar.
Myanmar Mission, 10 E 77th St
212-633-4215 • amnestyusa.org/suukyi

7pm • $5 Sugg
PRE SENTATION: “GRAVEYARD
OF EMPIRES.” This presentation by
Afghan-American sisters Laimah and
Wazhmah Osma will examine the realities
in Afghanistan, the increased U.S.
military presence there and the role of
the Western media in the war on terror.
Bluestockings, 172 Allen St
212-777-6028 • bluestockings.com

FRI APRIL 2
7pm • $7
READING: A WORLD OF POETRY. The
Zephyr Poets of Los Angeles will read
along with New York-based writers
about war, loss and identity sexuality.
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery
212-614-0505 • bowerypoetry.com