El Mogota is Tasty, Twice in One Day

Today I had El Mogota's for lunch for the first time, and it was so good, my mate and I decided to have it again for dinner. The only other restaurant I've done that with recently is Cafe Orient 33.

Located right on the corner of Kedzie and Argyle, I would pass by this taco place all the time, but never bothered to check it out because it looked a little dingy. I was also really mad at this particular intersection because the laundromat across the street painted over that pretty mural on the side of their building, and I've shunned that area ever since in protest. 

Anyway!

The place was not empty,  the people at the 3 tables were angled out, because privacy

Yes, the place got a make-over, as in, it was “hipsterfied” at the end of January, and it looks way better now. The décor is simple, but effective. Dark wooden paneling lines half the wall, with 9 (?) matching table and chairs. Art on the walls are black and white photographs of graffiti in Pilsen the owner says he took. The kitchen looked clean, and the owner was working and very polite and helpful.

I realize I was judging a book by its cover here by not trying it sooner, but now I am glad I finally went it. 

My mate Chris went there to pick up lunch, and returned with tacos. We ate their pescado, arrachera,

and barbacoa and before we even finished those we agreed to try dinner there. For dinner, I went to pick it up (because eating twice at the same place, who does that?). Our entrees were the Albany Park burger and the breaded chicken sandwich.  The quality of the food was superb, as were the prices.  

Your friends and family miss and love you, Omar Flores

Memorial for the late Omar Flores as photographed by Carl Nyberg

Albany Park may no longer be Little Beirut, but its residents are still dying here, every year. Twenty-one year old Omar Flores, a known gang member according to police, died last week after being shot in the head in broad daylight. He was one of three victims that were killed by gun violence last week. The other 25 people that were shot last week survived. But this isn't a post about gun violence and gang statistics, because Flores is not just a statistic. From the Chicago Tribune:

About 3:10 p.m. Tuesday, a 21-year-old man was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle in the 4700 block of North Lawndale Avenue when two males, both wearing hooded sweatshirts, approached on foot and opened fire, police said.

Flores died the next day. As of Saturday, no one has been charged with murder. Flores mother, in DNAinfo:

"You can't imagine the feeling of a mother losing her only son and he was my youngest," said Ortiz, who also has two daughters.

 The makeshift sidewalk memorial was photographed this Sunday at Ainslie and Ridgeway.

Little Beirut is no longer a warzone: musings on the rehabilitation of Albany Park

This post was originally published on August 11th, 2010 and was one of the few I was able to save via Google Cache after the Windy Citizen closed down. (I didn't know it was closing down until after the fact or I would have saved them all! Including the 8 photos that went with this post) Horner Park West Neighborhood Association president Gretchen Helmreich encouraged me to put up some of my old posts (last year?), so here we go...  

the Albany Park Post logo on the Windy Citizen site

There were two small fires on Albany last Monday. The first one took place in a garbage dumpster in an alley, the other in an apartment building minutes later.

I notice the commotion in the late afternoon and go outside to investigate. The fire is already out by the time I leave my apartment. Four engines have gathered on the one way street and 75 (easily) people mill about watching the firemen, talking in hushed tones. A couple of women clutch their children. "It was started by some kids" passes through the crowd, "maybe they were playing with matches?"

Besides the fire engines, there is a "command van," an emergency vehicle I have never seen before. As the photo illustrates, this "command van" is suited for fires larger than this particular one. I imagine a bathroom inside the van, and maybe a machine to make coffee. The fireman appear busy, so I try to gather information from the English speakers around me.

The English speakers around me are either construction companies advertising their services or insurance agents. One of the window boarding companies tells me they listen to scanners to find out about a fire, and this one was the 3rd (?) one they've been to today. He gives me his card.

The insurance agent stands on the other side of the street, and calls the window boarders "gang-bangers" but I think this was a slip of the tongue and he meant to say "vultures". Right before I speak with him, a fellow I recognize as a "gangbanger" (through other encounters) walks by, scoping out the scene. Said "gangbanger" appears uncomfortable, lowers his gaze and quickens his pace when I wave at him. (I shrug here in real life - he was already doing a bad enough job drawing attention to himself, being as everyone else was milling around, staring at the firemen. I'm no Nancy Drew though, so I will leave this be)

This fire began in a stairwell, and was contained to the third floor apartment and second floor stairwell. The fire immediately before this one happened in the alleyway behind "Big Red," also started by "some kids." When the firemen were done putting out the first fire in the garbage bin, they turned the corner and put this one out. It was most convenient. No one was injured.

Shortly after taking the above photo, it comes to my attention that my bike was stolen. It is this news that prevents me from uploading these photos the same day. But before I go into the theft of my bike, and the string of thefts and burglaries in this Northwest vicinity, I would first like to take you on a quick journey back in time.

In the late 1980's  this area of Albany Park, beat 1713 specifically, had the nickname "Little Beirut".

Little Beirut was referred to as a "war zone" and "the armpit of the [17th] district". Cops with guns and bullet proof vests didn't want to enter 1713 after dark. In the center of all this commotion stood the slum building otherwise known as "Big Red"... and Big Red was as slummy as you could get. In 1988, the back porches collapsed and weren't reparied. Some units didn't have refrigerators or hot water. Water would be shut off because the landlord didn't pay his bills.  Bathroom floors would rot and bathtubs would come crashing down onto the floor below. Toilets leaked regularly, as did the ceiling when it rained. A sweatshop producing surgical scrubs was operated out of the basement.

memorial to Erik "Scarface," a victim of gang violence, 2010  

 I know all this because "Big Red" has been featured in two documentaries -  Dai-Sil Kim-Gibson's "America Becoming (1991)" for the Ford Foundation and "Heart Broken in Half" (1989) by Dwight Conquergood - of which you can watch the first part on youtube here. All quotes about Little Beirut during this time period come from Conguergood's essay "Life in Big Red: Struggles and Accommodations in a Chicago Polyethnic Tenement"  found in Louise Lamphere's collection "Structuring diversity:ethnographic perspectives on the new immigration" (starts on page 95).

If Dwight Conquergood (what a name!) sounds familiar, it's because Mr. Conquergood was heavily involved with the now award winning Albany Park Theater Project until he died of cancer in 2004. While Conquergood's work helped display the inner workings of gangs and urban life, and he himself was personally involved with the youth he befriended in Albany Park (mentoring), he wasn't the only force of good rehabilitating the neighborhood.  

Sergeant Barker (meet her at your district 17 CAPS meetings, people) believes the CAPS program was instrumental in the lowering crime rates Albany Park has seen over the last 20 years. CAPS, Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy, began in 1993 and is described by the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern as being "the nation's most ambitious experiment in community policing." (If you don't feel like looking over all these theses, I'd recommend glancing at the first and last one. edit: link is now broken)  

Simply, CAPS aims to break down the borders between police and citizens. Barker believes the shift in Albany Park is partly due to less of a "us against them" mentality, as there is more communication between citizens and police. Violent crime as decreased over 40% since 1990, as have robberies, assaults, batteries and rapes. Property crime has dropped by 30%, as has murders. Burglaries are down over 50%. However, gang and drug-related shootings has not steadily decreased.   

Besides alternative policing strategies and community building initiatives, Richard Mell, who was elected Alderman of the 33rd Ward in 1975, has made some improvements to beat 1713, as any good alderman would. Jaime Andrade Jr, Alderman Mell's secretary (or "right hand" man, edit: and who is now the 40th District State Rep after taking Deb Mell's seat ) once told me he wore a vest when he first started working in 1713, twelve years ago. He brought to my attention the soccer field and park built just 10 years before, which he was involved in. We spoke of Ronan Park expanding with the newly acquired land (edit: now the Global Garden), and past improvements (little things, but many little things) in the beat. In the 2 years that I have lived in 1713, new light poles with brighter lights have gone up, as have police cameras, newly planted trees and a traffic light just last year. 

the Global Garden, 2013 (?)

Conquergood, the CPD, and Alderman Mell's team were not alone in their efforts. 

Back in 1962, the North River Commission (also Albany Park Chamber of Commerce), was formed by the Swedish Covenant Hospital, North Park University and the Albany Park Bank. The North River Commission's mission was simple: revitalize the area. The NRC was instrumental in bringing hundreds of jobs to the neighborhood by pushing for the construction of the Albany Park shopping Center in February of 1987, the Kimball Plaza in February of 1988, The Albany Plaza Shopping Center in May of 1990 and the plaza on Lawrence and Pulaski (which held a Dominic's in 1989). Besides bringing jobs to the neighborhood by developing commercial properties, the NRC implemented a Streetscape Program (1977) and a Facade Rebate Program (1981).  

"Twelve years ago, the officers and volunteers at the North River Commission advanced a premise, then unknown and immediately ridiculed. The premise was  that older, lower income, predominantly multi-family areas that suffer from slum and blighted conditions do so beginning with the commercial strip or main street of the area. Up until then, the accepted wisdom was that decay began with deferred maintenance and ultimately abandonment of large multi-family buildings. Our conclusion was that if you successfully change the look of the main street to prosperity, and if you provide hundreds and even thousands of employment opportunities,then the housing market can be stimulated into rehabilitation." 

NRC's efforts were successful: Property value predictably increased all over the neighborhood...except for district 1713. The reason? Big Red. Big Red was a hotbed of activity for gangs and drug trafficking and it wasn't until the apartment building was taken over in 1989 by the president of the Albany Park Landlord Committee/ Oakwood Development Company that crime levels dropped. (The new owners also displaced half of the tenants in 4 months). A 1.5 million loan was required to rehabilitate the building, but somehow, the new landlords were just as bad as the old one, and were ordered by City Hall to sell the building in 2003.  

Big Red is now owned by Tancor Inc. It took Tancor one year, spending 1 million, to rehab Big Red. The items not replaced in the building are as follows: the boiler (which was new), 50% of the original electrical grid, half the windows, and some drywall and certain floor boards. Everything else in the building was replaced. Iron fencing, intercoms, appliances, and automatic parking gates in the back were added, and the laundry room, stairwells,  back deck, cabinets, and bathrooms were rebuilt, as was the fountain in the front and the walkways. Some of the basement apartments were turned into storage. The intricately detailed steam radiators, handsomely painted silver, are the only visible reminder of Big Red's slum building history.  

I lived in Bid Red for a year and a half, in the same section of the building Conquergood lived in. The floors and ceilings were somewhat slanted (my desk chair would roll) and everyone joked about the building sinking, but otherwise, my experience was pleasant. Ironically,  Big Red is now one of the nicest buildings on the block, or dare I say it, in all of 1713. Big Red also has one of the best on-call maintenance men I have met in my life, named Jose. I grew up in NYC and I've lived in apartments almost all of my life, so I mean it when I say Jose is been the best. 

I enjoyed my corner apartment in Big Red, as it let me keep track of the Albany & Ainslie intersection. Last July, I wrote this bit of prose on the Albany Park blog: 

Last night, a plastic garbage bin was burned in the intersection of Albany and Ainslie. Its melted carcass, full of aluminum cans, has been lying there all day. There is another garbage bin in the same condition in the alley off Ainslie, and further west, a massive tree branch sits on the sidewalk.

 Property value in Albany Park has risen to such an extent that rumors started by media outlets of a Whole Foods coming to the neighborhood compelled some people to buy property here. Why those rumors were started, I don't know. I was always under the impression Whole Foods automatically dismissed any neighborhood with gang activity.

Tribute to Andre Ephrame, another victim of gang violence, September 2012

Like the fire in July, and the fires last Monday, the criminal activity I see most often in beat 1713 is gang-related. For all the money invested into the neighborhood, no one has adequately addressed the gang problem- not Mell, not the NRC, or the CPD. Each has focused on the symptoms, not the actual disease, as they say. Albany Park has a good number of civic organizations, but programs that would interest gang-prone youth don't seem to be catching on. True, the Albany Park Neighborhood Council has been advocating for more jobs for high school students but in this economy finding a job for teens is equally as hard as finding jobs for other unemployed citizens. The Albany Park Community Center has youth oriented programs but any gang-leaning youth or older rehabilitated gang members scoff at the APCC (this could be the skewed view of my sources though). Young teenagers are still compelled by gang life here.

Investors can build as many condos as they like in Albany Park, but if people are still shooting each other over "ocular confrontations" (see last CAPS meeting recap) then the real estate value of the neighborhood won't go up... and no one will move into those newly built condo units.

Flash back to Tuesday of last week with me.  

It is late morning, early afternoon, and it is after a friend has informed me of bike thefts in her area too, that I feel somewhat positive enough to go outside. Folks over at the Center Square Journal have been complaining of thefts and burglaries as well and I remember Officer Glascott's words from the last 1713 beat meeting -a portion of the crime along the northwest Brown line stops are caused by youth from Lawrence Hall Youth Services. A "crime wave" is really only a couple of people, a sentiment also echoed by Sgt Sacks.

I am out in the street taking this picture of the fire-stained building all boarded up and wondering who got the boarding contract (my money is on the spanish-speaking guy who gave me his card), when I am approached by "Loco," a local youth about to graduate from Lawrence Hall Youth Services.

Loco shoveling snow for cash, February 2011

"Loco" is dressed in a suit today, and accompanies me on my coffee run. He tries to help me negotiate with Maria (of the fruit truck on Lawrence and Ainslie) in Spanish over the price of some sunflowers, and tells me he is looking for a second job so he can get custody of his "kids" back (he already works at a bakery off Lincoln Ave). His "kids" are his brothers and sisters. He shows me the pictures of them he carries in his wallet. He has no father and his mother is in a mental institution, he says. Loco has a large scar from when he was stabbed in the neck before he was 15 years old (he was mistaken for a gangbanger, he tells me), and has always been a ward of the state. Loco is really into Glenn Beck.

The only thing Loco wants to talk about, besides Glenn Beck and bicycles (Loco tries to sell me a girl's bike with a busted back wheel for $20 that day, and I've had him tune up my bike before for the price of 2 cigarettes), is Lawrence Hall Youth Services. He tells me it is pretty common for youth to just go rob some white people. (All white people are rich to the kids of Lawrence Hall, apparently...)  

Speaking of Lawrence Hall, Loco tells me of this isolation room "riled up" students are put in, and he describes it "like a prison". All white walls, with nothing to do. Everyone goes in there at some point or another. He tells me about this gym built for students that was supposed to be finished years ago (Uh oh. Is there a parallel universe going on here?)

"Oh, and we do a lot of art... a lot of art" Loco says.

Lawrence Hall Youth Services is known for their award winning art program (one teacher specifically, might I add). Rebecca Rico, of the NRC, had nothing but nice things to say about the art program over at Lawrence Hall. Loco too, except, he thinks they should have other things to do there besides art... at least a gym? He wants a working gym. Loco spends a lot of time talking about how underfunded Lawrence Hall Youth Services is.

Ironically, the new Chicago Vehicle City Sticker was designed by a student at Lawrence Hall Youth Services. The city has stated plainly that the only purpose of these stickers is to raise revenue. If we lived in a better world Lawrence Hall would receive some of that money given the nature of the sticker.

I don't mean to be harsh with Lawrence Hall Youth Services, but with all the money already spent rehabilitating the neighborhood, it makes no sense that Lawrence Hall Youth Services (which offers a solution to the actual gang problem) is so underfunded that it can't do its job properly. If Lawrence Hall was doing its job properly, ALL youth sent there would break the cycle of mugging, stealing and gang violence. (I wonder, is Lawrence Hall working on breaking down the "us versus them" mentality too?)   

CeaseFire & neighbors positive loitering after a boy was shot in the leg, Spring 2011

Looking at the city wide budget cuts, it appears as though the city doesn't care about preventing gang-related crime. Funding for Chicago public schools is abysmal and staff continue to get laid off, and after school programming has been completely eliminated. I don't know about the rest of Chicago but I would rather wait an extra 10 minutes for the train or have my garbage picked up less frequently, than be mugged while exiting the Brown line stop at Francisco by some punk with low self-esteem and parental issues.        

I know I've praised Congressman Mike Quigley (of the 5th Congressional District) before in the past, but he seems to be one of the few IL politicians I respect. Included in Quigley's project requests for the fiscal year of 2011 was a half a million dollar request for Lawrence Hall:

 Funding will be used to support Lawrence Hall’s Youth Violence Prevention Program. The students at Lawrence Hall’s school are amongst the highest-risk for engaging in violence. This is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will go to help underserved communities. Lawrence Hall serves a population that is predominantly living in economically disadvantaged communities and has a history with family and community violence, gang involvement and other behavioral issues that require special education and behavioral modification services to address violent and aggressive behaviors, emotional disorders, leaning disabilities, and other disorders. 

To conclude, with the millions invested into this neighborhood by both the government and private institutions, it is ridiculous that youth related services are neglected, and continue to be neglected. Street beautification can only go so far in deterring gang-related crime.

Park West of River Park Gets an Upgrade too

Photos taken on June 15th, of what I assume is the work of Chicago Plays (see my last post), the Mayor's five year program rebuilding 500 playgrounds, parks, and recreational areas throughout the city.

I don't really know what this recreational area with the soccer field area is called (Google calls it "Chicago Celtic Training Location" but I don't think that is the official name???), it could just be River Park... but anyway, it was in desperate need of a cash infusion. Check out how bad the erosion of the banks was in 2011. Hooray concrete and gravel, keeping the banks in tact.

The other interesting thing to note about this recreational area: Jaime M. Andrade, Jr claimed partial responsibility for the development of this park,  believes it helped rehabilitate this section of Albany Park from its "Little Beirut" days back when he was working for Mell Sr.

Lastly, some hyperlocal media criticism: why didn't DNAinfo do a post about the construction being done at these two parks? These park upgrades make quick and easy posts.

Ronan Park Playground Gets an Upgrade

While biking through the neighborhood on Tuesday, I was happy to discover the Ronan Park playground getting a much needed upgrade. The actual play set looks new, and the grounds were being filled with material soft enough for children to play in.

This playground was pretty run-down and terrible and at least a couple of decades old. The buildings around this playground are also medium density-plus filled with the poor tenants and immigrant families, so the playground itself is heavily used, as are the benches facing the playground.

 All very feel-good but now here comes the cynic: I suspect this playground is getting an upgrade now not because these immigrant families have pressed the appropriate people with some sort of civic action. Rather, the playground is getting an upgrade now because cultural events organized by the NRC bring wealthier tenants to the park, which includes the Alderman. I was unable to find a mention of this construction in any of the 33rd ward newsletters, however, so perhaps Mell has nothing to do with the upgrade and this is just a Chicago Parks District allocation of funds.

UPDATE:

Commentators on this post (see below) pointed out this construction project is the result of a city-wide initiative Mayor Rahm Emanuel started last year. An excerpt from the press release that went out at the time, including this quote from Mayor Emanuel,

 “The 300 playgrounds we are rebuilding in every neighborhood will be a catalyst for a better quality of life and higher standard of living for every Chicagoan.”

 The new “Chicago Plays” Playground Program, which was launched with the speech, is a five-year playground renovation project. The program targets the replacement of equipment at over 300 aging playgrounds throughout the city.

Thanks for this, West River Park Neighbors!   

Okay okay, I no longer believe the APCC is nefarious

I've been hard on the APCC for years, and yeah, on more than one occasion I wrote negative things about the center, including when this blog was on the Windy Citizen.

The first time they annoyed me was years ago when I tried to hook them up with this dude who used to run a skate board shop and was a mentor to a bunch of local youth. He had issues with the APCC, ranted about them being out-of-touch paper pushers that did nothing all day and when nothing happened between him and the APCC (aka setting up a program for at-risk youth there) I blamed the APCC entirely. The dude was also kind of unreliable, so... my bad there.

But! The vibe in the APCC office building was dingy and weird and my hesitation about the place was echoed by other community members and even other civic organizations. The APCC didn't seem to like or want to answer my questions or respond to any sort of suggestion or complaint for a long while, but perhaps this resistance and cold distance was due to an aging workforce unfamiliar with the new technology.

When artist Indira Johnson began sprinkling her Buddha Heads of peace all over the 'hood, I heard one of the APCC staff complained about them, saying the statues violated the 1st amendment. That type of idiocy made me laugh.

I came around to the APCC after witnessing some of the good work they were doing at their Foster location, teaching English to ESL students and offering daycare, and meeting and speaking with Radhika Sharma Gordon. That goodwill went away when the APCC moved out of the neighborhood. This move pissed me off because of the potential for financial fraud, and an anonymous comment my rant about that received one year later, only made me more wary.

The APCC moving came soon after Gordon left the organization, which made me question the APCC as a force for good all over again. However, after occasionally chilling with the CeaseFire dudes at the Ecuadorian Center this year, the APCC is now all right with me. They informed me the APCC helped them acquire most of the computers in their center and the APCC generally supports the two fellas anti-gang violence efforts regularly, which in my mind, makes up for them closing the CeaseFire center in Albany Park.

Also, check out the Storify below of their latest event. The APCC is officially functioning on Twitter now, and not only that, they actually threw an event where children smiled and had a good time.  

As for a Storify of this event, weeks ago, the reason is a teaching one...

The APCC was tweeting these tweets at me, and I couldn't help but think to myself, "put these in a Storify, fool! Don't spam me these pictures!" Nonprofits should get comfortable with Storify (I'm looking at you Casey M. Smagala), as it's really handy as a promotional tool.  I like it, have been using it for years (back when I was staff at the Daily Dot, 2011) because it puts tweets in chronological order and makes use of promotional material you've already shared. You can embed all kinds of posts, including Facebook posts.

Gompers Park Party Tomorrow Night!

 

Gomper's Park bridge in 2007, photograph by Jo Ann Deasy

Saw this on NextDoor just now, happening on the 19th:

Join us at Gompers Park for a FREE night out of live Latin music and dancing from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Bring the whole family - and a picnic, too!

The Gompers Park Advisory Council will offer a musical instrument craft for the children to make and take home. Don't miss this special night out in our unique, urban oasis - Gompers Park! 

According to the Chicago Park District website, the band playing will be the all-female Puerto Rican ensemble Las BomPleneras.  Their Facebook page is here, and if that doesn't excite the feminist in you, check out this YouTube video of their performance from Old Town Folk and Roots Music Festival in 2011.  

Come to the Ecuadorian Association's Block Party on June 27th!

There will be dancing, a talent show, and generally positive loitering on the block given this is also a Ceasefire event planned by both Danny and Edwin.  

Food and snacks is still up in the air, though we are working with Lindo Michoacan and Jerusalem Liquors, and plan on getting other local businesses involved. That said, would be a good opportunity for food trucks to stop by. *hint, hint!!!*

 The block party should only close Albany up to the first alley, so traffic needing to get on Albany can still go through the alley or through Gunnison. 

Thoughts on how Jaime Andrade won the 40th District Primary

Some Local Proof the Affordable Healthcare Act is Working

I am sick of hearing about Obama's website and how he failed as a President because his website did not magically fix the entire healthcare system over night. His use of technological tools are better than almost every other politician out there, but for some reason we demand he be a tech god and the US government the best tech support outfit in the world, better than Silicon Valley and Bangalore combined. This is why all this anti-Obamacare/healthcare.gov website coverage is embarrassing, "journalists," because you gave so much air time to the loser Republicans.

"Wah, wah, the website is broken! Someone is trying to hack into it! Look how incompetent the President is at building a very important website," they whine like children.  

Meanwhile, inside Illinois,

"Cook County Health and Hospitals Systems has achieved its goal of 115,000 applications initiated for CountyCare, an early rollout of the Affordable Care Act for Cook County, Illinois, more than two months ahead of schedule."

115,000 people for the early version! That's a fifth of the number currently being cited everywhere (500,000) by the media! 115,000 people ALONE in Cook County, this size of an area!

Given that, more than 500,000 people have to have signed up for healthcare under the ACA. It's statistically impossible for it to be just "500,000." But anyway, it's not the numbers that are important, it is all these people who are now able to get affordable insurance.

So cool it on the anti-ACA website coverage please.

Here's the rest of the press release, sent to me on November 13th, for those that are curious:

Free Pizza & Blog Technology Workshop for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders

I recently teamed up with Mazie Soto and Phillip Pompa as a volunteer for their TLCC Chicago Autobiography/Photography Blogging pilot workshop. I had been meaning to volunteer in some capacity for a while -- I enjoyed the short stint tutoring at Roosevelt High School when the Albany Park Post was on the Windy Citizen, but felt I wasn't really wanted by the program as I was younger and not a math or science "expert."

Blogging, editing, helping young ones better articulate themselves however, is right up my alley (as is helping the Ecuadorean Center acquire computers, hah) as it is my line of work. Come next week, I will be at the Sulzer Library helping edit and type -- if any kids show up, that is.   

Both Mazie and Phillip are very passionate about the project, and about helping under served children, but it's been incredibly disappointing to see pushback from the Chicago Public School system. We can't even leave flyers on the premise for some reason -- which is really freaking rich considering 9 out of 10 schools in the United States still don't offer a computer science class. There is a real need for this type of education, but the CPS apparently doesn't want any help.

Anyway, here is the flyer! Send your young ones, I promise I won't tell them about 4chan's /b/.

Free Blog Technology Workshop for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders
Pizza will be provided for participants

When: November 6, 2013 Where: Sulzer regional Library in the Community Conference room at 4455 N. Lincoln Ave  Chicago, IL 60625 Time: 4-6:30pm	* A little about us, Technocratic Learning and Collaboration Center of Chicago is a 501c(3) nonprofit whose mission is to help middle school aged students from underserved communities improve their academic performance through positive motivation, collaboration, and holistic learning by utilizing technology as a way to bridge the digital divide
Please sign up at www.tlcchi.org/signup.html or call/text us at (773) 840-8522 Space is limited	A big thank you to our sponsor

That new building being constructed on Kedzie & Lawrence is going to be a residence for the elderly

According to Albany Park Plaza workers (who interact with the construction workers regularly) this new building will be a residence home for the elderly. No indication it will be just for elderly Koreans, like the building next door. 

Enjoy that big crane:  

 

The Ecuadorian Association Needs Your Old Computers

 

  AEU Vice President Danny Siguenza and AEU volunteer Edwin Rivera. Both also volunteer at CeaseFire. 

The Asociacion Ecuador Unido (AEU or Ecuadorian Union Association in English) just north of Lawrence on Albany is currently trying to build a computer lab/free Internet cafe on their premises, and they are in desperate need of old computers and donations.

 "There's not a lot of places for youths to go to after school" said AEU Vice President Danny Siquenza, after citing McDonalds as an alternative and the Albany Park Neighborhood Association's computer area "which is always full."

 The computer hangout will be built in the main lobby (see above picture) by volunteers -- mostly parents who drop their children off for dance, music art or Tae Kwon Do lessons taught at the AEU said Siguenza.

The construction will include the demolishing of a wall and a new one to partition the lobby. The AEU will be holding a dance soon (TBD), tickets at $5, to raise money for dry wall, desks and other necessities.

The story behind the Ecuadorian Association's mural

There's not a whole lot of street art in Albany Park (occasionally gang graffiti will be somewhat pretty, but the whole "gang" business makes it hard to justify it as art), but one new community mural consistently catches my eye.

Located just north of Lawrence on Albany on the old garage door belonging to Asociacion Ecuador Unido (AEU or in English: Ecuadorian Union Association), this mural was completed near the end of August.

What it looked like on August 15th:

The mural was part of an Albany Park Neighborhood Association youth employment program, explained AEU Vice President Danny Siguenza today. About 80 teens in the community were given summer jobs at schools, nonprofits, daycares, hair salons and other local business as part of the program, and one of the jobs was painting this mural.

Thoughts on Congressman Quigley named by BuzzFeed as "Most YOLO"

For a good couple of minutes earlier this week, my face was frozen between a wince and a grin: my elected congressman was on BuzzFeed as the “most YOLO Congressman on Facebook.”

The grin because it is great Quigley is getting recognition for his public appearances, community outreach and grasp of social media, the wince because while the BuzzFeed piece was celebratory it was also satirical and that made me defensive. YOLO makes me think of reckless young adults passed out at a party or driving drunk. "You Only Legislate Once" doesn't do it for me, so stop trying to make that happen, Benny Johnson. Ugh.

This is why then, that I immediately puffed up with “How dare BuzzFeed mock Quigley for actually doing his job and photographing it!” upon reading the title of the piece. Quigley and his neighborhood antics -- which include riding with garbage pick-up workers to experience their job difficulties -- has always made me proud to call him my elected official.

I’ve been following Quigley’s antics on social media, primarily through Twitter, for years now and I was always impressed with his use of the Internet. His team is constantly sharing photos on Flickr, Facebook and now Instagram, as well as news blasts, alerts, and website polls on issues and upcoming legislation. Quigley and his staff understand how to use the Internet to keep his constituents happy and informed. I know, because I am happy and informed. He even responds to emails-- once in letter form-- and his staff has always been helpful and polite on the phone if I am calling about legislation that has caught my attention.

Which is why then, that I wince over BuzzFeed being the first national publication to recognize Quigley’s social media prowess, and them doing so in a not-so-respectful nor complete-enough-to-my-liking manner. I realize BuzzFeed is currently rebranding itself as a serious news site but I still associate them with regurgitate from reddit and social media shaming posts meant to stir liberal hate, both clickmagnet formulas they won't be stopping any time soon. Maybe one of their readers might actually think Quigley does nothing but photo-ops, pick fights in his Blackhawk jersey and plays with marine life all day! I hate that person, whoever they are.

Quigley, being the man that he is, took the BuzzFeed post with aplomb, tweeting the link various times including one tweet beginning with “Cool story bro.”  What a guy. Someone should give him an award or something.