Dreams Ending in Young Motherhood

When Roxana Penagos emigrated from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to New York in April 2001, one of her goals was to finish high school. She was 15 and healthy. But her life took another road few months later. Instead of opening a school record, she established a medical record with an obstetrician at a hospital in Queens when she found out she was expecting.

“After I got pregnant I never went back to school,” says Penagos, 24, a full-time mother who lives in Flushing, Queens, with her husband, a security officer who works for Rite Aid, and their three children, Joseph, 7, Ashley, 4, and Angela, 18 months.

Penagos never planned to become a mother at 15. She knew about contraceptive methods but “at that age you don’t think in the consequences; only in the moment,” she says. “And later you don’t know how to handle your problems. I was really scared.”

After giving birth to Joseph, Penagos not only put aside school plans, but started a period of discovery. She had to learn step by step, and by herself, how to be a Latina teenager immigrant mom, undocumented, and who didn’t speak English. “When you are a young mother society doesn’t treat you well. Even in the hospital you cannot take out your own son if your parents or an adult is not there.”

Penagos’s mother, who still lives in Bolivia, was the only family support the teenager mom had back then. When Joseph was sick, she either prayed or made a long distance call to her mother to ask for medical advice. She didn’t know that her son – a U.S. citizen – could be eligible for a medical insurance. “As a new immigrant you think the law here is the same than in your country, and if you don’t speak the language, you feel more isolated.”

Today, Penagos “gets by with her English,” she says. She is making plans for the future, but knows she has to wait years to achieve them. “I want to raise my children and teach them what is good and bad, and that everything in life has its consequences,” she says. “I want to study languages afterwards, but first I have to get my high school diploma. If I could, I’d do it now, but I have to wait until they grow more and go to school.”

Every year, the number of Latina teenager immigrant mothers in the United States, like Penagos, grows steadily. Most of them postpone or give up high school or college education and have to raise a child by themselves. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Latina teens give birth at a higher rate than that of white teens. A report issued by the center last January, shows that white mothers under the age of 20 had a birth rate of 9.4 percent compared to Latina teens whom had a birth rate of 14.3 percent.

Silvia Hernandez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, is pretty familiar with stories like Penago’s. Her organization works to overcome the structural barriers that Latina teen moms face when they try to access reproductive health services, and to create information specifically for the Latino community on how to have safe sex, healthy relationships and to navigate the health care system.

“The ‘one size fits all’ messages in campaigns preventing teen pregnancy are just not working to the full extent,” says Henriquez. “We need to take in account all of the needs of the community and we have to look at its diversity.”

Henriquez notes that the high rate of Latina teen pregnancies can be devastating for the Latino community in the future if there is not assistance in place when young Latinas do decide to become mothers. “They need resources to be able to be a parent and have access to health information,” she says.

In New York City, the National Latina Institute works with teen moms in the five boroughs. Experience tells Henriquez that even though this is not a rural area where health services are often scarce, there is still a lot of work to be done. “One of the challenges Latinas face here is the lack of adequate reproductive health services in many of the city’s clinics. We still find that in every community whether Latino or Asian,” she says.

A Bleak Future for the Latino Community

In the last 20 years, the majority of immigrants have come to this country from Latin America, and it is estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau that 40 percent of the Latinos in this nation are foreign-born. Haydee Zambrana, executive director of Latin Women in Action, a nonprofit organization based in Corona, Queens, has spent the last two decades working with that immigrant population. She agrees with the fact that high Latina pregnancy rates will have an adverse impact in the community at long term.

“Our population continues to increase. Children having children. They are 15 or 16 and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being parents themselves,” says Zambrana, whose organization provide, among other services, immigration advice and advocacy for families whose children has been removed by the NYC Administration for Children’s Services. “Because of that looming situation we also see a high incidence of Latino children in foster care.”

Zambrana also highlights another naked truth. Latinas immigrants living in impoverished communities are less likely to receive reproductive health care, contraceptives or sex education due to the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Her years of work in Corona further confirmed to her that most of the Latino immigrant families choose not to talk to their children about sex.

Angélica Acosta, 24, did not have to emigrate to the United States to corroborate Zambrana’s last asseveration. Acosta’s parents never talked to her about sex when she was a teenager in her native Cali, Colombia. At 15 she found out she was three months pregnant but didn’t know how and why. She ran away from home and ended up living at the home of her boyfriend’s grandmother.

“It was a very difficult time, but I survived,” says Acosta, who now lives in Jersey City, N.J., with her husband, Jorge Acosta, and their three children: Sebastian, 9, Shaiel, 4, and Sara, 3. “Today, I have a better communication with my parents, but I wish they would have told me everything that happens when you have sex.”

Acosta’s venture from Colombia to the United States started seven years ago when she graduated from high school and discerned an uncertain future there as a young mother –her boyfriend was killed six months after she gave birth. She had to leave Sebastian, her son, with her parents for five years until he was granted a U.S. immigrant visa two years ago.

After a tortuous trip through various countries, she finally arrived here and reunited with her future husband, whom she had met the year before in Colombia. “I thought about going to school back then,” says Acosta, who was 18 at that time. “I studied English for some months, but I stopped because I started to work and didn’t have time.”

Two years later her first daughter, Shaiel, came, and the following year Sara did. Family obligations increased, and school prospects decreased. “Right now, I don’t have any plans to go to college. I want to learn more English and support my sons while they are in school,” says Acosta. “I am happy of being a young mother, and I’m glad I had Sebastian when I was a teenager because that experience made me grow.”

As for the future, Acosta wants to open a small child care business and help her husband, who works as a limousine driver, to open a limousine service company. “For now, I just want to work,” she says.

Multimedia: Latina Immigrant Teen Moms

Queens, A Safe Haven for Hiram Monserrate

Shunned in Albany, the State Senator Continues to Enjoy Support Where his Political Carrier Started

State Senator Hiram Monserrate, sentenced today to three years of probation for misdemeanor assault of his girlfriend, has been sharply denounced by women's organizations and political leaders. Yet he retains the support of many residents of his Queens district -- and, remarkably -- of some local women's groups devoting to opposing domestic violence.

At the Friday morning sentencing a sobbing Monserrate apologized to the court and proclaimed his love for Karla Giraldo, his girlfriend and victim. State Supreme Court Justice William Erlbaum also sentenced Monserrate to 250 hours of community service and 55 hours of counseling and fined him $1,000.

Among Monserrate’s supporters at the sentencing hearing were the leaders of several Latino women’s groups from Queens, who had often attended the trial. Monserrate, a former police officer and City Councilman, was convicted in a non-jury trial that ended in October.

Like many of his constituents from the 13th Senate District, which covers Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, and Elmhurst, these women insist that “racism” and biased reporting by the media are the main reasons for Monserrate’s troubles.

Martha Flores-Vazquez, a Democratic Queens district leader and founder of Community Prevention Alternatives, an organization that works towards the elimination of domestic violence, said: “There is no evidence, no history of domestic violence,” adding, “There is a Latino State Senator and look how he is mistreated.”

When Erlbaum convicted Monserrate of misdemeanor assault – and acquitted him of three felonies –he said “only two people” would ever know what actually happened that night.” Both Monserrate and Giraldo contend the injuries were caused by an accident.

In the aftermath of the events, which left Giraldo with cuts that required 40 stitches, Monserrate confronted a Special Committee of Inquiry in Albany—the first such committee convened by the Senate in close to 100 years—which is expected to decide his status in the Senate in the next weeks. He also faces pressure to resign from some political allies as well as foes, and from numerous organizations devoted to combating violence against women.

But if Monserrate’s welcome in Albany or local Democratic Party circles is uncertain, on the streets where Monserrate began his political career more than a decade ago he is still embraced by his Hispanic constituents, who include immigrants from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. Like Flores-Vazquez, other heads of women’s groups in his district have close ties to Monserrate. Over the years, many of those now coming to his defense have received funding from Monserrate, who was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents.

Another ardent Monserrate supporter is Haydee Zambrana, the executive director of Latin Women in Action, an organization based in Corona that offers support for domestic violence victims, among other services. “We don’t know what really happened inside that apartment last December,” says Zambrana. “The American media has overblown this case. The judge’s verdict was not guilty.”

Last month, Zambrana sent news organizations a statement, accusing the English-speaking media of bias against Latino politicians. “Are they doing the same against Afro-American politicians? So, what is the standard?” she wrote.

Zambrana has known Monserrate since 1999, when he was a Queens district leader. She supported his campaigns for the City Council and State Senate. Latin Women in Action received $50,000 in public funds in 2006, according to Zambrana, through Safe Horizon, a national organization that provides support for domestic violence’s victims; and in 2007 she “believes it was the same amount.” Safe Horizon, meanwhile has published a statement on its website urging “the New York State Senate to review the case and to take all appropriate action.”

This is not a case of giving a ‘favor for a favor,’ contends Zambrana. “I have not received any funds in the last two years. “He has done a lot for our community since he was councilman. We cannot be unfair. The community identifies with him; he helps everybody.”

Monserrate also enjoys the support of the Reverend Andy Torres, the president of the Association of Hispanic Evangelical Ministers of Queens and pastor of the Hispanic Church of the Community in Long Island City. He has been Monserrate’s spiritual adviser for many years, and says he hopes, eventually, to officiate at a Giraldo- Monserrate wedding – though they have not yet announced plans to marry.

“It was a difficult experience, both suffered, but they can rebuild their love and be together again,” says Torres, who assures both Monserrate and Giraldo confided in him after the incident and both confirmed that it had been an accident.

Giraldo, who testified this morning at Monserrate’s sentencing hearing and asked that Erlbaum lift the restraining order against Monserrate, says she wants to marry him. However, Erlbaum is keeping the restraining order in effect for now.

The relationship between Torres and Monserrate isn’t purely spiritual. Torres’s wife, Reverend Nancy Torres, is director of Community Center in Action, a program that prepares permanent residents for the citizenship test and offers English and computer classes in Long Island City. When Monserrate was a councilman, he channeled public funds to the program. “In 2007 and 2008 we got $30,000 each year through the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development,” Nancy Torres acknowledges, adding that the funds “had nothing to do with the church.”

In sharp contrast to his support among local women’s groups, Monserrate has been vilified by many other women’s organizations. One harsh critic is Marcia Pappas, president of the New York State National Organization for Women, based in Albany. “I am very shocked and ashamed that Justice Erlbaum only found Monserrate guilty of misdemeanor,” she says. “However, we have to work with it. It’s a terrible outcome for women.”

Pappas expects the Inquire Committee in Albany to remove Monserrate soon because “there is no place in our society for domestic violence, and having a perpetrator there will send a very bad message to the women of the State.” She also thinks that some Latino women organizations in Queens have their own reasons for supporting Monserrate.

“I don’t know them and I cannot say why they would defend an abuser except that they had personal contact with him,” says Pappas. “He is an official and has some control over communities and possibly the funding they get.”

It may be too soon to count Monserrate out. For now, the Democrats need him in the State Senate to maintain their one-vote majority. The Queens Democratic Party is supporting José Peralta, a State Assemblyman who represents Jackson Heights, for Monserrate’s seat in next year’s primary. However, Monserrate says he will run as an independent. And he may win. During his first run for City Council, thanks to the backing of the Hispanic community in Queens, he beat the Queens Democratic machine candidate.

©JB.
Top photo: Javier Castaño.

Raw Politics from Queens to Albany

The New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate is engaged in a two-fronted battle that could have broad implications for both his career and state government. After beginning to flex his political muscle in Albany, he was indicted in March on three felony counts and three misdemeanor counts of assault, involving his companion, Karla Giraldo, 30.

The indictment was handed up by a Queens grand jury, after Monserrate was accused of attacking Giraldo in December with a broken glass at his home in Jackson Heights. Monserrate has pleaded not guilty and says he fell while bringing her a glass of water.

He could face seven years in prison.

After the indictment, Monserrate temporarily stepped down as chairman of the Senate Consumer Protection Committee. He had previously agreed not to accept the stipend paid to committee chairs until the criminal case is settled.

This is not the only controversy Monserrate has faced recently. In November, he formed an independent caucus, known as the "Gang of Four," that denied its support to the majority leader of the State Senate, Malcolm Smith, demanding more minority leadership on Senate Committees. The maneuver temporarily splintered the Democratic majority in the Senate even before it had finished taking control from Republicans for the first time in 40 years.

The challenge paid quick dividends for Monserrate. Days after he was sworn in as a Senator, the Democrats named Monserrate chair of the Senate Consumer Protection Committee.

Monserrate's willingness to play hard-ball with his own party is not new. In 2006, while he was a Democratic City Councilman for the 21st district, he ran as an independent against the incumbent Democrat, John Sabini, for the 13th district in Queens. He lost by 236 votes. Last year, he ran unopposed for the same seat after Sabini resigned following his appointment to the chair of the New York State Racing and Wagering.

Monserrate remains a controversial figure. "Hiram is in the State Senate without the real support from the community", says Orlando Tobón, a Colombian-born community leader in Jackson Heights, where he has lived for 40 years and is known by many as "The Mayor of Jackson Heights."

Tobón, who played himself in the Oscar-nominated 2004 film "Maria Full of Grace", about young Latinas who are used as drug couriers, is typical of many local constituents who have a love-hate relationship with Monserrate. Tobón is grateful for Monserrate’s work as a two-term Councilman for Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst, and says, “Now we have a voice in Albany, and that matters.”

Yet the relationship between Tobón and Monserrate, whose parents are Puerto Rican, is colored by etnich rivalries. When he ran for the City Council, Monserrate won the support of the diverse Latino neighborhood that includes Dominicans, Ecuadorians and Colombians, and he promissed to back a Colombian for his seat when his term was over.

Instead he backed Julissa Ferreras, a Dominican who was elected to the council in a special election in February.

Monserrate also is being investigated by the Queen District Attorney’s office for campaing improprieties involving city contributions to the community organization LIBRE, where Ferreras was chairwoman.

Monserrate declined repeated requests to be interview for this article.

On the City Council, Monserrate is credited with spearheading several important reforms. He championed a law in 2005 requiring truth-in-pricing in retail stores. He also helped to draft the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, or Executive Order 41, that allows all city residents access to city services independently of their immigration status.

But why he might be best remembered by his constituents and many others is his victory over Mayor Michael Bloomberg to have Sunday parking-meter regulations rolled back, reinstating free parking everywhere in New York City on Sundays.

"I'm a religious person as well as many people in Queens, and getting out of church in the middle of the sermon to feed the parking meter was something not pleasant to God," said Luis Castro, who served as a close adviser to Monserrate and his community liaison for more than eight years, before quitting that position last May. At the time Castro called his boss an “egocentric politician”; now he is helping Monserrate defend himself against the assault charges.

Indeed, perhaps no one knows Monserrate better than Castro, 52, who was born in Ecuador. He boast of helping Monserrate, a member of the Royal Rangers, a Protestan youth group similar to the Boy Scouts, which Monserrate joined at age 12.

"I saw Hiram for the first time in June of 1967 when his mother was eight months pregnant with him,” says Castro. “We have been friends for 41 years."

Monserrate, 41, was raised in Chelsea, on Manhattan’s West Side, but later moved to Bellrose, Queens, with his parents. Monserrate dropped out of school at 17 to enlist in the Marine Corps; he eventually joined the Police Department for 12 years and earned a bachelor degree in political science at Queens College.

Monserrate became the first police officer to be elected to the Board of Directors of the New York Civil Liberties Union and was a founding member of the Latino Officers Association. He left the NYPD in 2000 to run for Democratic distric leader in Queens and a year later, for City Council.

Many of those who know Monserrate best assume he has his eyes on higher offices. Castro expects his former boss to run for mayor, and Javier Castaño, editor-in-chief of the Spanish language newspaper Hoy before it closed in Dicember, agrees that "Monserrate might see the State Senate as a springboard for City Hall.”

But Castaño points out this challenge for Monserrate: "In the city he's a strong politician, he has power. In Albany, it’s going to be more about diplomacy."

Fresh Like in the Old Times

Farmers from upstate New York not only see the Greenmarket at Union Square as the most convenient place to sell their organic products, but also to keep in touch with long time friends in the city.

At least that is the experience that Nestor Tello, the owner of Tello’s Green Farm, located in Red Hook, New York, has three times a week when he sells his organic eggs to his “friends.”

Tello describes himself not only as a farmer, but as a man who transports people to the past. “Here, there is real integration between us [farmers] and consumers. People feel they are shopping as in the 19th century when you could buy fresh food every day,” said this immigrant from Colombia who has been selling his products for the last ten years in this popular downtown greenmarket.

A normal day for Tello in Union Square is characterized by two events: the selling of most of his organic farm production, and an updating for his customers about his upstate farm. “They don’t only ask about the farm, they want to know about your personal life too. They like to know, and I like to talk,” he said.

But Tello cannot count the other farmers who sell eggs as his friends in Union Square. Many of other are at odds with him because of his low selling prices, though, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by that.

“Summer is coming and business is picking up and I want to offer good prices to my customers,” said this farmer pointing to a dozen of organic eggs selling for $3,75, and to a half a dozen marked for $2, which is obviously a better deal than at other selling stands.

Selling organic food in New York City’s streets is nothing new. In the 1800s, Brooklyn was the top agricultural producer county in the country. In the mid 1990s, farms moved to the Midwest and local farming diminished in the area. But in the 1970s complaints about stale food in supermarkets paved the way for farmers to offer and sell fresh food into city neighborhoods.

Migliori Farm is one of those farms that have been a reliable provider of fresh food to city residents for decades. Located in Tivoli, New York, it brings three times a week its produce to Union Square and once a week to Bowling Green park in downtown Manhattan.

These days, Migliori Farm is selling organic apples and pears, and hot apple and pear cider. “This is the fruit season. The greenhouses just started to sow and we’ll see the vegetables in three months,” said Juan Chasi, a 15-year employee of the farm who is in charge of selling Migliori's products in the city.

Chasi admits that right now business is slow and that some of the apples in display at Union Square are from last year’s harvest, but “we have a special freezer where we maintain them,” he said about the red apples that sell for $1,40 a pound.

One of the magnets to attract customers, Chasi says, is the fact that the farm uses few chemicals during the growing of its products. “I don’t work there, but I know they use only pesticides to kill the weeds,” he said. “That it reflects in the flavor’s fruit, and has a beneficial effect in the health of the customer.”

Going Green? First, Take a Look at Your Wallet

The broad call for the use of green energy might be strong; but it might not be reaching everybody.

Even in the always-sunny island of Puerto Rico, the hype to install a solar energy system as an alternative energy source is not making much of an echo on its residents. The upfront cost in a time of global economic turmoil seems to be the biggest obstacle.

Anibal Riollano, a retiree from a pharmaceutical company who lives in Camuy, in the Northwest side of the island, has been thinking about installing a solar energy system in his home since last year. He has not made a decision yet. He thinks that the high installation costs versus the long-term savings are not attractive enough.

Besides the titanic task of finding a green energy licensed contractor in the island, Riollano would have to pay $65,000 for an 8,000 kWh/year solar panel system for his home, where he and his wife are the only occupants. Despite the fact that the Puerto Rican government implemented last year a fiscal incentive to deduct the costs, he would reach the breakeven point between the investment and the savings in about 20 years.

“On top of that, I would have to buy a new dryer, change my electric stove for a gas stove, and make less use of the air conditioners,” he said in a telephone interview from his home. “Now that oil prices have dropped, the energy bill did too. I feel less pressured to switch to green energy.”

But the idea is still in the air for Riollano, he said, noting that paying up front for the total cost of the system and waiting years to get the money back is an option that “takes green energy out of the priority list of poor people.”

Thousands of miles away from the Caribbean, Charles J. Virga agrees that a solar panel system costs a lot of money. Virga, a green energy licensed contractor and owner of Choose Green Energy LLC, a Solar Power Systems Company located in Union City, New Jersey, knows that people are not wholly embracing the green energy idea yet.

“They don’t know for sure that it works. I think a lot has to do with education. They keep hearing how expensive it is and assume that it takes too long to get your money back,” he said.

Virga notes that the fiscal incentives in the Tri-State Region are great for would be solar energy users. In an 8,000 watts system, which costs around $70,000, the home owner gets from New York State a $20,000 maximum cash incentive. And also a $5,000 maximum tax credit, as long as the person is eligible.

“At the Federal level, there is a tax credit of 30 percent of the total cost. And at the New York City level there is a 35 percent property tax abatement that is taken over four years. That is more than $6,000 per year approximately,” he said, adding that with all those incentives, a New York City home owner will reach the breakeven point in just five years.

A solar panel energy system is composed of a number of photovoltaic panels that collect sunlight. DC (direct current) is generated from the panels and sent to an inverter that converts it into AC (alternating current) or regular electricity. The AC power flows directly into the home if there is a demand or into the utility grid if there is not. When power flows back to the utility grid, the meter turns backwards and because of the Net Metering Law the energy company buys the extra energy.

However, a house has to meet two basic conditions for the system to work. One is to have a South-facing roof space, and no shading from trees or other buildings. “It could be a Southwest or Southeast direction or a flat roof space to point the panels to the South. If you have a shade from a neighbor’s home that would not allow it to work,” Mr. Virga said.

One thing to keep in mind, Virga, added, is that “this is a strictly supplemental system.” In case of an outage, the system also goes down. “What you probably want to do is to put a generator or a battery backup,” he said, noting that the battery option is expensive and a “maintenance nightmare.”

When it comes to designing green energy homes, architects hear a lot of questions about solar panels from clients, but few end up choosing one. Jennifer Suharmadji, a design coordinator at SOSH Architects, an architectural company located in Manhattan, thinks that the solar panel technology is still an idea but not a reality to most people.

“I don’t think the average person is going to purchase one for their home tomorrow, but I do think that in 5 to 10 years the number will increase tremendously,” Suharmadji said, adding that the main con might be “the amount of energy that it [the system] actually does produce, which is relatively small compared to the amount of energy that is used by the average person and the physical amount of panels needed.”

Still, Virga sees more pros than cons from owning a solar panel system than Suharmadji. It’s true, he said, that the system costs a lot of money, but “we have all this money coming in from the government.”

“The good thing is that for every dollar you spend on reducing your energy at your home, its value goes up by $20. Some people don’t feel that solar panels are beautiful, which is very strange to me,” Virga said. “What’s more beautiful, an electric bill for the next 35 years that says $0, or a skylight in the front of your house? That’s a personal decision.”

Mentally Ill Homeless Not Welcome in Astoria

Urban Pathways, a non-profit organization that provides supportive housing, is about to receive a warning from Astoria residents in Queens: Not in my backyard!

The cause of the dispute between the community and the organization is the construction of a 50 unit-residence on a vacant lot in the northwest corner of 2nd street and 27th avenue, across Astoria Houses. The 50 one-person studios will house, under supervision of Urban Pathways, mentally ill homeless, some of them recovering from substance abuse or living with HIV/Aids.

The residential complex, with an estimated building cost of $14 million, is funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health. However, Astoria residents think the project will be a detriment to the quality of the mentally ill homeless because the area is underdeveloped, has limited public transportation and the nearest places for shopping are located miles away.

Frederick Shack, executive director of Urban Pathways, is confident to win this Nimby battle. He also expect Astoria residents, organized through its Community Board, to understand the benefits that supportive housing –a type of affordable housing for people who need support to live independently- will bring to them.

“We met with the disability subcommittee of the Community Board and requested a meeting with the leadership of Astoria Houses to discuss the project. We are investing in new construction and we are bringing some jobs to the community,” he said.

Before requesting a meeting with the community Shack tried to meet with another strong opponent of the project, Astoria Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. Although Shack doesn’t question the Councilman’s opposition, he disagrees with the notion that the project will daunt potential investors for the area.

“A study from New York University’s Furman Center clearly spells any concern about the impact of supportive housing on property values. I’d strongly suggest a review of that material,” Shack said referring to a study released last month which found that the value of properties within 500 feet of supportive housing shows steady growth value in the years after the supportive housing opens.

To secure a final commitment for financial funding from the State Mental Health Department, Urban Pathways has to wait a 75 days notification period -already in progress-, in which the community will express their opinion. The organization faced the Astoria Community Board in a public hearing last December, and received no support from it.

“We have the property on the contract and we expect to close on the property within the next 60 to 90 days,” Shack assured.

But the residence unit, which will benefit only mentally ill homeless due to its peg to the New York III Supportive Housing Program’s State budget, has become a personal crusade for Councilman Vallone. His main problem with it, he said, is about the tax payer money that will go into that.

“The State had cut its aid to the MTA, but they find $14 million to put this sort of project in Astoria,” he explained to the Community Board on November 18th. “There are priorities when you come to a budget crisis. They have to be funding the Police and essential services like trains and schools, but not 50 residence units for mentally ill people.”

As a politician who pretty much knows the outcome of this type of strife, Vallone told the Community Board that despite opposition, there is little hope to stop the project because “the law is so ridiculous.”

“You have to prove two things: oversaturation and change in the character of the neighborhood. If you prove oversaturation you have too many of these; and if you prove change of the character of the neighborhood, you can’t prove oversaturation,” he said.

Vallone reminded the audience that the area is on the course of economic development. “Some people want to build housing there and they told me that they might not come down if something like this will come in,” he said referring to the developer Hallets A Development Company, LLC. “Can we handle 5, 10? Maybe. Can we handle 50? Absolutely not!”

Claudia Coger, a community advocate and resident of Astoria Houses, a four-block residential complex located across the vacant lot which houses between six and eight thousand people, is not concern about the investors but the community. Coger ensures that she doesn’t want to see the new residents going through the troubles she faces every time she goes shopping.

“We have to take a bus or walk at least 25 blocks to the nearest supermarket at 30th street and 31st avenue. We are already overburdened. We don’t need more people dumped into the area,” she said.

Coger, 74, who has lived in Astoria Houses for more than 50 years and is part of its Tenants Associations, has been helping the Community Board to organize the public hearing. To cast aside discrimination, she clarifies that her opposition has nothing to do with any mental condition. “Its’ not discriminating against the needed. We are people with needs. It’s about their safety and their well being.”

Faith, and Small Loans, Keep Women in Business

By Jose Bayona

12/12/2008

With major banks and other institutions cutting the stream of credit down to a trickle, women entrepreneurs are facing the greatest difficulties to stay in business. The survival effort requires them to resort to lines of credit with personal property as collateral, or to use credit card cash advances at a high interest rate. These, among other tactics, help them understand their business as well as their best friend.

Brenda Maeda, an immigrant from Guatemala who owns Hair and Beyond, a beauty salon in Rye, NY, near to Port Chester, has seen a 30 percent decrease of business activity in the last three months. She knows that is just the beginning and expects to confront the real slowdown in January.

“It took me more than a year to grow 30 percent and only two months to lose it,” explains Maeda, 33, about the ups and downs of her small business, which she expanded in February 2007.

In Rye, she has 11 employees, three on pay roll and eight working on commission. In Harrison, NY, where she originally opened her business, had a smaller salon with only four chairs and two employees.

“Now, many of my regular clients wait six to eight weeks to get their hair dye and I have to keep paying for the loans I used to expand,” says Maeda, who after Christmas will cut the working hours to many of her employees.

Women entrepreneurs like Maeda face varied problems these days according to a recent Small Business Administration’s report. Keeping up with payments is only one of their problems. A decrease in revenues and the two-thirds of U.S. banks tightening their lending to small business are some others. That situation forces them to request lines of credits in banks or to resort to micro loans. Maeda appealed to both of them to stay in business.

“Last year I used some money from a line of credit from Washington Mutual and this year I got a $21,000 loan from Accion NY,” she says.

Maeda and her brother borrowed $35,000 from Washington Mutual from a line of credit using their house as collateral. She used $8,000 for her business and the rest for improvements in the house they own together. To get the loan at Accion NY, she had to ask her brother to be a co signer after the organization reviewed her latest income taxes and her credit report.

Maeda’s goal now is to pay both loans, avoid borrowing again, and refrain in her business. That includes cutting publicity in the local newspapers and attending more networking events and community fundraisers where she can promote her business.

“People are more cautious these days,” explains Lauren Kozien, communications director of Accion NY, an organization that provides microloans ranging from $500 to $50,000 to individuals who have no access to traditional sources of credit. “We have seen an increase in our lending but I don’t think is that large. Some businesses feel is not the best time to expand, but still out there are entrepreneurs willing to push forward.”

Accion NY’s requirements to grant a loan -with interest rates of 10.99 percent, and at reduced rate of 6.99 percent for the Bronx and Upper Manhattan,- are that small business owners don’t have any outstanding payments with credit card accounts, other loans or mortgages, and have had not bankruptcy in the last 12 months.

The majority of Accion’s borrowers are minorities and immigrants, 38 percent women and 62 percent men. When they lag behind in their payments, Accion NY works closely with them to make sure the loan remains manageable, and offers one-on-one counseling and credit seminars to teach them how to remain focus.

“The bulk of our credit seminars are attended by women. They are usually the first ones to realize that they have to make changes and implement actions in order to survive a crisis,” says Kozien, who also asserts that all entrepreneurs, women and men, are struggling right now.

Ignorance can damage

Marina Flores is another minority entrepreneur who, despite the financial turmoil, hopes to keep her business alive with the help of faith and a small loan. Flores, 50, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic arrived to the U.S. in 1997. Today, she owns a beauty salon, Mi Nueva Imagen, (My New Image) on Driggs Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Although Flores has not perceived a substantial decrease in her business yet, she hopes to maintain revenues at least until she pays off a $13,000 loan to BOC Capital Corp., a not for profit organization in Brooklyn that rescued her from sky rocketing payments from a Bank of America’s loan.

“In February 2008 I needed money to expand my business and my first thought was to go to the bank. The manager at the branch told me that I had $8,000 available on my credit card. I borrowed them and I ended up paying a 33 percent interest rate for a cash advance,” explains Flores, who lives in Brooklyn and supports financially four grandchildren and two of her five sons in the Dominican Republic.

Even thought she has a bigger beauty salon now and steady clients, she has been hesitant to hire any employees. At her business Flores greets the customers, washes, cuts and dries their hair, and also cleans the place herself. Four more hairstylists work there, two rent two chairs and two on commission.

“The salon’s weekly income is about $1,500. Enough to pay the utility bills, the $2,000 rent, and the monthly payment to BOC,” says.

Getting access to credit and the lack of financial knowledge are the most common obstacles for immigrant entrepreneurs like Flores. But many of them get help from organizations like BOC Capital Corp., which provides short and long term loans ranging from $500 to $25,000, with interest rates of 8 percent to 10.5 percent.

According to its senior lending officer, Hector Davis, BOC bases its criteria for lending in the entrepreneur’s ability to penetrate the market and his business experience. “A loan is something that you take and start paying within 30 days. Your business plan must show that you are able to do it,” he explains.

“Women entrepreneurs have some advantages. They are willing to research and ask questions more openly than men, and implement an advice into their businesses,” says Davis. “They are less likely to walk away from a difficult situation.”

This business counselor also believes that women will play an important role in overcoming the current economic crisis. “There might be a woman who needs to close her business and go to the work force, or there might be another who feels that if she puts more time into their business she can make it work,” he says. “It’s all about determination and intuition to make a business succeed.”

No looking back

Veronica Cicero, an event planner, worked with determination for two and a half years to make her small business succeed. Last September she gave up due to the low revenues and high expenses and closed down Carrousel Dreams, a store located in Jackson Heights, Queens.

To open her business in March 2006, Cicero, 28, grabbed all her savings, a small loan from her mother and a $20,000 loan from Accion NY. In the beginning, her business did good and never show red numbers, according to her. But her break-even point last December concurred with the first signs of the economic slowdown.

“If I had had some more capital, I might have survived. The store had regular clients of its own,” says this entrepreneur born in Caracas, Venezuela, and who is currently working for a decoration company in Manhattan.

One of the experiences Cicero took from the entrepreneur experience is that, despite working arduously, she felt like a parasite. “I worked very hard all that time and never brought anything home. My husband was essentially supporting me. All the revenue at the store went to get more merchandise and to pay the rent. It was like a vicious cycle,” she says.

The other bitter experience for her was the difficulty of getting credit. “I asked for a line of credit at Washington Mutual and didn’t get it. I had a business account at Commerce Bank and I couldn’t get a line of credit there either, not even an overdraft. To get the loan at Accion NY, I had to bring my husband in as a co signer”, she says.

Last September, when her business closed, Cicero stopped her payments to Accion NY. She and her husband owe $9,000 to the not for profit organization, but they recently settled down the balance with Accion NY for less than and started to paid it.

Cicero does not feel undeterred by the outcome of her first experience as an entrepreneur. In the future, she wants to try again, but taking into account all the lessons she learned in Jackson Heights. “I don’t think it was a failure,” she says. “It was just at the wrong time. It’s water under the bridge and I have learned from my mistakes.”

A Promise of No Reduction

Since the financial crisis began, and with a presidential campaign at its peak, I wake up earlier than usual every morning to read the hard copy of The New York Times I get delivered at my door. Last Friday, October 3rd, besides the daily-freaking financial article, there was a small box in the front page announcing some changes in the newspaper to reduce costs. That's understandable in the current economic situation. Among the changes, the Times says that the Metro Section will be renamed New York and will appear after the International and National news in the main section. Also, they detailed some other changes in the Sports, Business Day, and Arts sections. But what called my attention was the last sentence in the box, which sounds like a promise: "There will be no reduction in any coverage." Well, let's think more carefully about that.

Ironically, since I quit my job last August as an assistant editor of the print edition and online editor of the Spanish publication at one of the main newspapers in the city, I read more the Times in print edition than online. I'm feeling I went backwards from the online world to the print world, a dangerous contradiction to the general advice given to any journalist these days. But at the same time I feel that I have been "exhuming" stories from the print edition that otherwise I would never read online. Now, I feel somewhat betrayed. And I feel that way because I know for a fact that condensing a newspaper reduces the coverage. Maybe this week that isn't obvious in the Times, but I might start to see the difference in the coming months.

Why do I care so much about this? One of the main reasons is because I plan to finish my bachelor degree in the next three semesters and apply to graduate school next year, graduate, and try to get back again a full time job at a newspaper. (I hope they are still circulating by then.)

When I was working in the editorial office we had to reduce costs in our publication every three months. From 32 pages, we went to 24, later to 16. Less than that amount of pages and we couldn't make the weekly edition. Every time there was a drastic reduction in coverage few feature articles had to wait for two to three months to be published because there wasn't space to publish them. Freelance writers also had to wait more than that to see a pay check in the mail. I know there are differences between a weekly and a daily publication, but in times of economic restrain the definition of "reducing costs" can get really bad for both of them.

Whatever happens in the future, more or less coverage in print editions, staff reduction in newsrooms, decreasing numbers in circulation, or a pale prospective in the news industry, I won't change the course: I will be writing for newspapers and other publications for the years to come.

"Paraiso travel", llega a Nueva York

Debo admitir que la cinta “Paraíso travel” me despertó la libido, y la nostalgia, durante y después de su proyección. Las varias escenas de sexo, que sea dicho de paso están muy bien logradas a nivel de dirección y de actuación, despiertan la libido de cualquiera. Pero el tema de la película no es la cantidad de piel que muestra, sino la historia que cuenta.

Hay que empezar diciendo que la producción la versión cinematográfica de la novela del mismo nombre del escritor Jorge Franco (Rosario Tijeras) es de muy buena factura a nivel técnico y visual. Esto se debe en gran parte a la mano talentosa de su director, Simon Brand, de origen colombiano y curtido por muchos años en el mundo de la publicidad. En cambio, el guión, o la historia en sí, es un cliché más del conjunto de historias de personajes que emigran de un país a otro en busca de un mejor porvenir y en el camino lo dejan todo. Inclusive, por momentos la adaptación cinematográfica parece haberse quedado en el tiempo como cuando el protagonista arriba a su destino y pide que le ayuden a llamar a su casa y recibe por respuesta un “eso de las llamadas es muy caro mijito”. En los umbrales del siglo 21, la línea está fuera de contexto.

“Paraíso travel” cuenta la historia de Marlon y Reina, dos jóvenes clase media que viven en Medellín, Colombia, y que por iniciativa de Reina emprenden un largo camino a través de Centroamérica para llegar a Nueva York en busca de la madre de ésta. Es la historia de dos inmigrantes que llegan a Estados Unidos, como muchos, colombianos en este caso, y todas las vicisitudes que tienen que vivir durante su periplo.

Marlon y Reina no vienen en busca del “sueño americano”, como otros. Marlon, recién graduado de secundaria y camino a la universidad, se deja convencer por Reina, un personaje manipulador hasta la saciedad, bajo la promesa de que si “coronan” Nueva York, el premio para él será ‘sexo a la lata’, como dirían en el país del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. A juzgar por la malicia indígena de Reina, un espectador versado en la idiosincrasia colombiana sabe desde el principio que Marlon tendrá que compartir su “premio” con varios otros más. Éste sólo viene a entender la dimensión de su metida de pata justo antes del final de la historia.

En el elenco, mención aparte merece el actor nacido en Bogotá, Colombia, John Leguízamo. No por lo que su participación significa para la cinta, sino por el gran trabajo actoral al convertir a Roger, su personaje, un sadomasoquista gago, en un reflejo de ese mundo subterráneo y enigmático que sólo se encuentra en la Gran Manzana. Leguízamo en los últimos años ha tenido especial interés en envolverse en el cine latinoamericano (basta recordar “Crónicas”) y su “cross-over” a la inversa es muestra de lo sólida que puede llegar a ser la industria del cine en español, si Hollywood le da un campito. Con un rinconcito basta, por ahora.

En el resto del elenco, destacan la mexicana Ana de la Reguera como Milagros, y varios actores colombianos de renombre en ese país, que por un tiempo se trasladaron a Nueva York, específicamente al restaurante Pollos Mario de la calle 83 y 37 avenida en Jackson Heights (catalogado por el NY Times como el sitio donde se come el mejor pollo a la brasa de la ciudad), para vivir por unas semanas el día a día de muchos de sus paisanos inmigrantes.

“Paraíso travel”, que se estrenó con mucho éxito en Colombia en enero pasado, hará parte de la programación oficial del Tribeca Film Festival 2008 que inicia el 23 de abril y finaliza el 4 de mayo. No estará entre las películas en competencia, pero su exposición de seguro le ayudará a conseguir un distribuidor en Estados Unidos y así mostrar la otra cara de la inmigración, la de los que lo arriesgan todo, y lo pierden todo, a cambio de nada.

“Paraíso travel”. USA/Colombia 2008. 110 minutos. Basada en la novela Paraíso travel de Jorge Franco, con guión de Jorge Franco y Juan Manuel Rendón. Dirigida por Simon Brand. Con Angélica Blandón (Reina), Aldemar Correa (Marlon), Ana de la Reguera (Milagros), Germán Jaramillo (Don Hernán), Margarita Rosa de Francisco (Raquel), John Leguizamo (Roger), Vicky Rueda (la caleña), y Ana María Sánchez (Patricia), entre otros. www.paraisotravelmovie.com.

Babel

Babel, la nueva película del dúo González Iñárritu-Arriaga, y la última de su trilogía que incluye Amores Perros y 21 Grams, es una historia que despierta un intenso interés por su construcción dramática, pero en sus más de dos horas de duración no logra alcanzar la humanidad necesaria para conmover al espectador como lo hizo Amores Perros. Con el paso del tiempo se aprende que cuando las cosas se hacen desde el corazón y por necesidad, consiguen el valor que lsa hace trascender tiempo y espacio, como en el caso de la ópera prima de González Iñárritu-Arriaga.

Protagonizada por Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi, Said Tarchanid, Elle Fanning y Nathan Gamble, entre otros, Babel se desarrolla en tres escenarios distintos: Marruecos, Tokio y Tijuana, todos interconectados por diferentes circunstancias. De las tres historias, dos están contadas subjetivamente, desde el punto de vista del espectador, y una contada con compromiso personal y desde un ángulo mucho más humano. De más está decir que la historia más conmovedora y humana es la que se desarrolla en Tijuana, México. Amelia (Adriana Barraza), una niñera mexicana indocumentada que desea ir de San Diego a Tijuana a la boda de su hijo es la protagonista de este segmento. Sus problemas se originan cuando no encuentra donde o con quien dejar a Debbie y Mike, dos niños, que ha cuidado por años y decide llevárselos consigo a México dándole un giro inesperado a la historia.

Allí, en su tierra natal, Amelia es parte de una de las escenas más memorables de la cinta. La secuencia de la boda mexicana de su hijo en la que Santiago (Gael García Bernal), ejecuta una gallina al mero estilo del campo mexicano, retorciéndole el pescuezo y arrancándole la cabeza. El animal decapitado corre sin rumbo en medio de la fiesta ante la mirada horrorizada de Debbie y Mike, los niños americanos, y la alegría y el correteo de sus contrapartes mexicanos. Una secuencia que no tiene precio por la brillantez de la realización y la valorización de un mismo evento por dos culturas diferentes.

La historia que sucede en Tokio, aparte del impresionante paisaje de la ciudad, carece en su mayoría de una profundidad que incite a envolverse en ella. Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) deambula por la metrópoli en busca de si misma y hasta el final de la cinta parece no haber logrado su objetivo. Lost in Translation tuvo sin duda su influencia en esta parte del guión.

La trama de Marruecos, con su secuencia que dramáticamente debiera ser la más importante por el elenco que la integra, logra un punto positivo que la salva de caer en el cliché. Susan (Cate Blanchett) y Richard (Brad Pitt), viven un matrimonio en decadencia y han decidido tomar unas vacaciones juntos en busca de oxígeno para el tedio que agobia su relación. Mientras viajan en un autobús turístico por las montañas de Marruecos Susan es herida mortalmente de bala. El disparo es hecho por Ahmed (Said Tarchani) y Yussef (Boubker Ait El Caid), un par de niños hijos de un campesino pobre de la región que acaba de comprar un rifle para proteger a sus cabras de los chacales.

Este acto inconsciente de dos niños pobres e iletrados debido a las circunstancias que los rodean, se convierte en un incidente internacional de magnitud desproporcionada. Apresuradamente el Departamento de Estado norteamericano lo califica como un acto terrorista colocando a Marruecos en la categoría de países donde células terroristas planifican atentados contra objetivos norteamericanos. Un enemy state en el mejor sentido de la palabra. La cinta llega a su final y la foto de los niños ignorantes y su padre le sigue dando la vuelta al mundo a través de CNN, apareciendo como tres peligrosas amenazas para la seguridad interna de los Estados Unidos.

Si Babel cierra la trilogía empezada hace seis años con Amores Perros y seguida por 21 Grams, es obvio que la ópera prima de González Inárritu supera a sus sucesoras en profundidad y calidad humana. A veces estas dos características se empiezan a perder cuando la medusa llamada Hollywood lanza su mirada seductora sobre cineastas que a la larga terminan no diferenciando entre la piedra y piel humana.


Babel

Dirigida por Alejandro González Iñárritu; Guión (en inglés, español, japonés, árabe y lenguaje de señas) por Guillermo Arriaga. Basada en una idea de González Iñárritu y Arriaga. Director de fotografía Rodrigo Prieto. Editor Stephen Mirrione y Douglas Crise. Música Gustavo Santaolalla. Producción artística Brigitte Broch. Producida por González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik y Steve Golin. Duración 143 minutos.

Con Brad Pitt (Richard), Cate Blanchett (Susan), Gael García Bernal (Santiago), Koji Yakusho (Yasujiro), Adriana Barraza (Amelia), Rinko Kikuchi (Chieko), Said Tarchani (Ahmed), Boubker Ait El Caid (Yussef), Mustapha Rachidi (Abdullah), Elle Fanning (Debbie), Nathan Gamble (Mike) y Mohamed Akhzam (Anwar).

El Quijote en Nueva York.

Las aventuras del ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha y su fiel escudero Sancho Panza están por primera vez en la escena teatral de Nueva York de la mano del director colombiano Jorge Alí Triana, quien con el sobrio trabajo del elenco de actores del Teatro de Repertorio Español y una acertada versión teatral del colombiano Santiago García puso a disposición del público hispano parlante de la gran manzana la obra literaria cumbre de la literatura española: Don Quijote de la Mancha.

“Esta versión teatral intercala diferentes géneros como la comedia, la tragedia y la farsa para presentar un Quijote carnavalesco y energizado, viviendo en un mundo utópico. Este personaje que vive de la fantasía y de la utopía, marca una distancia de los tiempos actuales donde cada vez cuenta más el éxito económico y la superficialidad”, expresó Triana durante el cóctel de estreno de la obra el pasado jueves 2 de febrero en el Teatro Repertorio Español, antes de preparar sus maletas de regreso a Bogotá para empezar a dirigir la pieza teatral catalana El Método Grönhol, de Jordi Galcerán, con el Teatro Nacional de Colombia, de Bogotá.

Considerada una de las más admirables creaciones del espíritu humano, la novela de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra fue adaptada en 12 escenas para teatro por Santiago García, director del grupo de teatro colombiano La Candelaria. Esta versión presentada en Nueva York fue llevada a escena en Bogotá por La Candelaria en el año 2000, y en la adaptación se nota el oficio escénico de un hombre de teatro con más de cuatro lustros en la profesión.

Quizás la solidez de la versión teatral es lo que mantiene vivo el montaje de una hora y cuarenta minutos, en el que ni el oficio de dirección de Jorge Alí Triana logra esconder la falta de herramientas histriónicas de un elenco de actores que al parecer no está acostumbrado a enfrentarse a este tipo de textos, o carecen de una sólida formación en teatro clásico que les permita brillar con luz propia sobre el escenario de Repertorio.

El encargado de darle vida escénica a las fantasías del Caballero de la Mancha es el veterano actor cubano Ricardo Barber, secundado por la excelente actuación, una de las pocas luces de la noche, del argentino Emyliano Santacruz como su fiel escudero Sancho Panza. Junto a ellos actúan Silvia Sierra como Dulcinea, Tatiana Vecino como la Duquesa, Yanko Bakulic como Merlín, Alberto Morgan como el León, y Raúl Duran como el Cardenal, entre otros. Los diseños de vestuario y escenografía, bastante predecibles para la ocasión, corrieron a cargo de la colombiana Paula Pérez, y el diseño de luces fue creación de la puertorriqueña María Cristina Fusté.

VENEZOLANOS AL FRENTE

Mención especial y aparte merece el grupo de venezolanos que actualmente labora en Repertorio, y quienes aparte de ser responsables de gran parte de las funciones diarias de esta institución teatral, jugaron un rol determinante en la producción de El Quijote. Eduardo Navas responsable de los maquillajes de los actores y la iluminación; Fernando Then en la gerencia de producción y asistencia de dirección; María Fernanda Rodríguez quien recientemente arribó a Nueva York, estuvo como segunda asistente de dirección; Alfonso Rey, Gredivel Vásquez y Gabriel Flores, siendo personal estable del teatro, también fueron piezas fundamentales en diferentes aspectos artísticos de la producción.

Todos ellos, artistas integrales de teatro formados en Venezuela, han sabido dejar en alto su nombre y su gentilicio, con dedicación y esfuerzo. Nuestros merecidos reconocimientos!

JB©

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Esperando a Godot.

Esperando a Godot
8/26/05

A pesar de escribir para varios periódicos en español en Nueva York, nunca he hecho crítica teatral. Esto se debe principalmente a que mi formación profesional ha sido en el campo del teatro, en el cual esporádicamente y menos de lo que quisiera, sigo ejerciendo. Por eso entiendo de sobra que presentarse en cualquier espacio de Nueva York tiene un significado trascendental en la trayectoria de cualquier actor, director o grupo teatral local o latinoamericano.

La imagen del teatro en español que hacemos en esta urbe, es en la mayoría de los casos sobre-valorada en el exterior, y muchos de los que tienen conciencia de ello hacen caso omiso por el simple hecho de tener la oportunidad de hacer presencia teatral en la llamada “la capital del mundo”.

Pero la realidad aparece tarde o temprano, y a veces nos preguntamos: ¿Hasta cuándo los trabajadores escénicos locales de la gran manzana van a seguir engañándose entre si mismos haciendo teatro inocuo?. ¿Hasta cuándo teatreros foráneos, aquellos que hacen un esfuerzo económico sobrehumano en sus países de origen para hacer una temporada de una semana en “la capital del mundo”, vienen de gira y se llevan una o dos notas de prensa en español, a veces escritas con los pies, donde solo se hace mención al lugar y fecha de presentación?.

La necesidad de una crítica teatral especializada en español en la ciudad de Nueva York es algo latente y primordial. Necesidad que debe ser resuelta no solo por los medios, sino por la presión de los trabajadores teatrales hispanos hacia esos medios. Presión de parte de teatreros y compañías que se sientan seguros de sus propuestas como para confrontarlas ante el público, y ante los críticos, como en cualquier parte del mundo. ¿Miedo a crecer partiendo de la polémica?, ¿o tal vez una comodidad a la que nos hemos estado acostumbrados por años y de la que es muy difícil deshacerse?

Cuando hacia parte del Festival Internacional de Teatro de Caracas, en tiempos de Carlos Giménez, era casi nula la presencia de grupos de teatro hispanos procedentes de Nueva York. El secreto a voces era la baja calidad de sus propuestas en comparación con grupos procedentes de otros países donde los recursos y la capacidad de trabajo eran los mismos. Diez años después parece que la historia sigue siendo la misma, y esto no cambiará si no existe una revisión constante de ese trabajo, que no se logra con un Martín Onio escribiendo una vez al mes para una página web que llega mayormente solo al medio teatral. Existe la necesidad de cinco Onios escribiendo para los tres periódicos en español de mayor circulación en la gran manzana, y para el sinnúmero de publicaciones culturales en español, como sucedía cuando el argentino Alberto Minero, una de las pocas personas que se preocupó por el tema, lo hacia desde El Diario La Prensa de Nueva York.

El inicio de la temporada teatral hispana 2005-2006 se acerca, y con ella el anhelo de los grupos, actores locales y foráneos de que el New York Times, o el Daily News en inglés, envíen a uno de sus críticos y así poder enmarcar y colgar en la pared el logro del “cross over”! Del otro lado, si los medios en español aparecen, bienvenida la nota, ya que significa un ahorro en publicidad y así todos estamos haciendo nuestro trabajo. Se mienten a si mismos en voz alta. Más allá de eso, muchos teatreros siguen engañándose en cierta forma con la profesión, pero ese fenómeno no se siente a flor de piel por el simple hecho de estar viviendo y haciendo teatro en español en “la capital del mundo”.

La pelota está del otro lado, y si es verdad que la crítica es lo que diferencia a los hombres de los animales, le corresponde primeramente al medio teatral exigirse a si mismo para elevar su nivel en todos los ámbitos, y no seguir esperando a Godot!

JB®

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JoseBayona.com

A partir de hoy podrán leer mis artículos en mi página web JoseBayona.com.

Alli encontrarán información sobre diferentes trabajos periodísticos y muchas otras cosas más.

Espero verlos continuamente en www.JoseBayona.com


From today on you are invited to read my articles in my personal web page JoseBayona.com.

In my web page, written mainly in Spanish, you will find a wide variety of journalistic work and other interesting topics.

I hope to see often in www.JoseBayona.com, mil Gracias,


José Bayona.