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Anna Sanders

By Anna Sanders 12/12/11 4:40pm

Media Horse

I'm here to see a man about a horse.

Do the Neighs Have It? Activists Try to Dissuade Tourists from Carriage Rides

The two little blonde girls, each no more than nine, stood next to their parents on the cobblestone sidewalk at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, slouching in the way only bored children can. Moments before, an older woman had come up to the family wielding a flyer emblazoned with the words “DON’T RIDE A HORSE CARRIAGE,” and proceeded to feverishly explain what she viewed as the evils of the industry. During the speech, the girls’ father stared blankly into the intersection. He finally looked down at his daughter and asked, “What do you think about that? You asked earlier…about the horses? How they were treated?” Read More

By Anna Sanders 12/05/11 11:52am

Media Horse

The white Percheron carriage horse that fell/collapsed near Central Park yesterday. (Photo: Win Animal Rights)

Carriage Night-Mare Continues As Horse Falls Near Central Park (Video)

A carriage horse slipped and fell near Central Park yesterday afternoon, raising more accusations from both animal rights groups and the Horse and Carriage Association of New York City.

Around 4 p.m. yesterday on Central Park South and 59th Street, a white carriage horse tripped and fell. While no one was hurt, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), an advocacy group, stated the horse “collapsed” in a press release. The association, in turn, responded in their release that groups like NYCLASS are “making his minor tumble out to be a major incident.”  Read More

By Anna Sanders 11/22/11 2:32pm

neigh melee

102_3117

The Carriage Horse Wars Stampede Through City Hall

The following article has been updated to include a statement from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Ruby looked restless. The brown horse shifted in place, turned around, and occasionally poked her white muzzle between the red bars of her 8 by 10-foot stall on the second floor of the Clinton Park Stables. Her golf ball-sized eyes glistened and she sighed, staring out at us all the while. The Observer reached in and stroked Ruby’s snout between the bars, wondering if the horse had any clue of the battle raging around her.

Since the death of Charlie, a carriage horse that collapsed on 54th Street last month, the struggle for—and against—the City’s horse-drawn carriage industry has grown into an all-out war, with the Horse and Carriage Association of New York now filing formal complaints against some of the industry’s biggest challengers.  Read More

By Anna Sanders 11/15/11 10:33am

unsocial media

twitter

Mainstream News Organizations Aren't Very Good At Using Twitter, Study Finds

The journalism community prides itself on its social media use, but a study released yesterday reveals that mainstream news organizations are using Twitter wrong, i.e. to advance their own material as opposed to engaging with readers and followers.

Researchers from The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and The George Washington University’s Read More

By Anna Sanders 11/07/11 2:30pm

Mental Health Protest

(Screenshot: AP)

UPDATED: Former Employee of Rockland Co. Dept. of Mental Health Takes Off Pants, Lets Go of Rope, After Dangling Off Tappan Zee Bridge [VIDEO]

Update: The man let go of the rope on purpose or accidentally fell into the water around 2 p.m., according to The Nation’s Greg Mitchell. He landed in water or on the deck of barge and was taken to police barracks, Mr. Mitchell reports. The man’s condition is unknown, but NBC New York reports the man fell in the water, not on the barge. Right now he’s on an emergency worker’s boat, according to Gothamist. Before jumping he also took off his pants, apparently, and tried to swim away but emergency workers gave him a life preserver, which he took.

Occupy Wall Street might have to step up their protesting efforts. A man is currently dangling off the Tappan Zee Bridge, protesting his termination at a mental health facility Rockland County. Michael Davitt is clinging to a banner that’s tied to a van blocking traffic on the bridge over the Hudson River, occasionally taking sips from a thermos. The banner reads “ROCKLAND EXECUTIVE LEGISLATURE COVER UP RETALIATION,” and Patch reports his car has closed one lane. Read More

By Anna Sanders 11/03/11 12:39pm

environment

Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, Eric Goldstein from the Natural Resources Defense Council, former Commissioner of the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection Albert F. Appleton, Deborah Goldberg from Earthjustice, and actor/activist Mark Ruffalo.

Mark Ruffalo Attends Tension-Filled Hydrofracking Forum on UWS

Last night, actor Mark Ruffalo was on hand at an Upper West Side public forum to voice his opposition to the proposal allowing  hydrofracking in New York State.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal arranged the forum as a means for her UWS constituents, along with other New Yorkers, to discuss the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s proposal to open the Marcellus Shale to natural gas drilling, which comes after the moratorium on the practice was lifted in June. The DEC has opened its Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), which explores the controversy surrounding hydrofracking, to public comment through Dec. 12.  Read More

By Anna Sanders 10/28/11 2:24pm

Occupy Wall Street

Reporters use social media tools to get the whole story in Zuccotti Park. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Zuccotti Press Corps Toggle Between Twitter and Notebooks

Just before dawn on Oct. 14, Salon reporter Justin Elliott was on Twitter and in Zuccotti Park, awaiting the outcome of Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to clear out the Occupy Wall Street protestors for cleaning.

“On scene at Zuccotti, infusion of new protesters just arrived with signs “NYPD protects and serves the rich” | big cheers #ows,” Mr. Elliott tweeted.

A few days later, Nocturnalist columnist and New York Times staff reporter Sarah Maslin Nir kept followers up to date on the latest from her Zuccotti sleepover.

“Getting cold and tired, but every serious protestor has a tarp to block the wind. And I refuse to huddle for warmth #gonnadie,” Ms. Maslin Nir tweeted just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 17.

With freezing rain forecast for Saturday, staying warm is a major concern for Occupy Wall Street protesters and reporters alike. For many journalists, the movement is noteworthy for regularly drawing them out of the newsroom for long periods of time, demanding an on-the-fly mélange of traditional and social media reporting.  Read More