The Roosevelt Community Revitalization Group and high school students from Roosevelt, NY created a Photo Voice presentation in 2012 where they identified community assets and needs.
4. “IN THE SUMMER, WE WOULD HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE
COMING…THEY WERE THERE BEFORE THE TRUCKS CAME.”
5. “THIS SHOWS HOW DIFFERENT GENERATIONS COME TO
THE FARMER’S MARKET. IT’S A FAMILY THING.”
6.
7.
8. “THIS SHOWS THAT PEOPLE LIKE OUR APPLES! PEOPLE
LIKE LOOKING AT THE FOOD AND PEOPLE BRING THEIR
FAMILIES.”
9. “THERE IS A THOUGHT PROCESS IN PUTTING CERTAIN FOODS IN
CERTAIN SPOTS.”
10. “This is my first year working at the Farmer’s Market. I
live in Roosevelt, and the Farmer’s Market has helped
out the people who live in Roosevelt, it makes it easier
for them to buy fresh vegetables.”
--Khourie
11.
12. “LESLIE IS THE ONE THAT SPEAKS SPANISH TO THE
CUSTOMERS. A LOT OF OUR CUSTOMERS SPEAK SPANISH.”
37. “AT CENTENNIAL, YOU HAVE A LOT MORE OF THE OLDER
MEN…HANGING OUT THERE. AND A LOT OF VIOLENT
INCIDENTS HAPPEN THERE.”
38. “THEY SHOULD FIX THIS UP. THERE ARE MOSQUITOES
HERE, IT’S NASTY. IT’S BEEN THERE FOR YEARS NOW.”
39. “THERE IS NOT A LOT OF SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO WALK HERE
TO PICK UP THEIR KIDS FROM SCHOOL.”
40.
41. “THERE ARE NO LIGHTS OR CROSS WALKS HERE. THIS
CORNER IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN MOST CORNERS.
THEY NEED A LIGHT THERE.”
42. “WHEN YOU SAY YOU LIVE IN ROOSEVELT, SOME PEOPLE
THINK ITS LIKE A GHETTO NEIGHBORHOOD. SOME TIMES IT
REALLY ISN’T.”
43.
44. ROOSEVELT PHOTO VOICE
What works What needs to be fixed
• Farmers Market • Safety in public parks
• New school buildings • Safety for pedestrians
• New firehouse • More healthy food choices
• New library • Safer places for physical activity
• Roosevelt Park • Environmental hazards
• Charter school • Neglected spaces
• Credit union • How outsiders view Roosevelt
“In the summer, we would have a lot of people coming out. They would come at 10, we didn’t open until 11. People would walk up to us and we had no food [yet]. They were there before the trucks came.”
“This shows how different generations come to the Farmer’s Market. It’s a family thing.”
“This shows our organization and display of the fruit and people enjoying it.”
“When we first started we would get a rush, we would get a long line. And now it is more spread out, people will come in sections.”
“This shows that people like our apples! People like looking at the food and people bring their families.”
“People don’t look at our organization [of the food displayed]. They just want to know if it tastes good or not. They don’t say ‘Oh, you’ve organized this eggplant so well!’. There is a thought process in putting certain foods in certain spots.”
“This is my first year working at the farmer’s market. I live in Roosevelt, and the farmer’s market has helped out the people who live in Roosevelt, it makes it easier for them to buy fresh vegetables.”--Corey
Leslie is the one that speaks Spanish to the customers. A lot of our customers speak Spanish.
“People pay with WIC checks [to be used at Farmer’s Markets].”
“They are weighing the food that they bought and we figure out the price.”
“All these people are on line to pay.This shows how much people buy.”
“This is the Fire House. It represents Roosevelt. It represents safety. It was an old building before.”
“It is an elementary school. The old school was dirty. The other building before this was bad.”
“Before we used to play in the back in the dirt with this old building. There was no playground. “
New UlyssesByas Elementary School kids can ride their bikes to school. It’s a nice school.
ROOSEVELT PUBLIC LIBRARY“In the new area there is a theater. Our library has the largest African American collections in Nassau County.”“The computers are always full, teenagers and adults use it.” “I like it in there. You can read books in there, it’s nice and quiet. It’s not very crowded.”
“We go to Roosevelt Park, teen agers go there more often.” “Roosevelt has a lot more green space—place to picnic and a lake.”
The Credit Union is used more because it is local. We can cash checks without paying. Is a strong resource in the community
Not like a public school. My sister should be able to go here instead of centennial because she is in a self contained class. They don’t teach her anything only baby stuff. She won’t go to High School or College. The Charter School might help.
People dump on these sites. The contamination gets into peoples homes and causes illnesses and genetic problems. I worry about this.
“There used to be a factory there [where the buses are]; my mom used to work there. It was a laundry; they took it down.”It used to be commercial laundry. They have been closed for some time because of contamination. Apparently the laundry; there was some seepage into the ground water. So they closed them because it was contaminated, they tried to get a clean up on it. But the interim, they are making it worse by allowing the buses to park there. Because the buses have oil, so it’s not getting any better. I do know it is a Superfund, or Brownfield [site]. The state is trying to figure out who is going to be responsible for paying to have it cleaned up.
“They should make a house here. It’s abandoned.”“This space looks useless right now, like no one is caring.”
“This sign was not always there with the old school. People fight over stuff. The sign tells people to stop fighting, but its not going to get people to stop fighting.”
“It’s a switchblade…it was just out on the street in front of Centennial Park.”“I was surprised to see this here, but I wasn’t.”“You just don’t want to see a switchblade outside of a park. Its just weird.”
“There are too many Chinese food places and too many delis. There is no other places to get ethnic food here, just that. There is just Delis, Chinese food and McDonalds. I get tired of eating that.”
“They [the delis] all serve the same thing, they don’t serve anything fresh, like vegetables and fruit. There is really not any other stores in the area. They’ve got a premium.”
“Centennial Park. It’s a bad park. People get hurt a lot.” “I don’t like to go to [Centennial Park] because we’re Spanish and they look at us weird. They keep on staring at us—I don’t really see Spanish people there, I don’t.”
“At Centennial, you have a lot more of the older men…hanging out there. And a lot of violent incidents happen there. When it starts to get in the afternoon and the evening, you’ll see more adults in the park.”
“They should fix this up. There are mosquitoes here, it’s nasty. It’s been there for years now.” “They should mow it!” “The fence needs to be fixed!”
“There is not a lot of space for people to walk here to pick up their kids from school.” “A lot of people have to walk down that street to pick up their kids from school. See what the condition of that is?!”
“It’s always crowded there at the end of school, there are a lot of cars, and there are a lot of people that walk. [People] have to walk in the street.”
Corner of East Fulton and Babylon Turnpike.“There are no lights or cross walks here. This corner is more dangerous than most corners. There is no light on the corner. It is a major blind spot in that area. And you have a bus that comes down that street, there is a bus stop right on that corner. This corner has had so many accidents.” “They need a light there.”
“Don’t tell anyone you go to Roosevelt High School. [They’ll say] “Oh I feel so sorry for you.” [People not from Long Island] think [living in Roosevelt is] suburban life—identical houses and soccer moms and all of that. In reality it is not like that. Trust me, it is not like that.” “When you say you live in Roosevelt, some people think its like a ghetto neighborhood. Some times it really isn’t.”