Eating Well in the Recession

Woodlawn resident Cameron Miles, 30, is a self-proclaimed foodie.  She moved to New York in 2004 to be a dancer and works in restaurants between gigs.

The economic downturn has meant fewer shows and shorter hours at her job as an office assistant at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse, as many Americans have cut back on the luxury of dining out.  According toa recent survey in the economist, US consumer spending on food decreased by almost 10 percent in 2010.

Miles is bucking this budgetary approach, saying she is determined to eat well despite a decreased cash flow.  But she is budget-conscious in her own way. She is big on cooking at home, and has several tricks up her sleeve for making the most of her daily meals.

The strategy she is most adamant about?  Making a list and planning in advance. Continue reading

From hoops to hire – Will the Barclays Center create jobs for Brooklyn residents?

Construction is underway for the new Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue, and Brooklyn residents will soon have a new sports team, the Brooklyn Nets.

The Barclays Center website says the arena “will be a community centerpiece” for Brooklyn, and will offer local concerts and high school basketball games in addition to NBA events.

According to the Associated Press, part-owner Jay-Z announced plans to open the venue with a series of concerts next year.

The Brooklyn skyline will change, but will local economy improve? Can the new arena create jobs for Brooklyn residents in a down economy?

In a recent post, I spoke to Jose Reyes, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn about job creation in Sunset Park. Jose believes the new Barclays Center could boost the Brooklyn’s economy and potentially offer new jobs to people in his neighborhood. Continue reading

The Business of Degrees and Money Majors

'2008-09-08_17-24-26' photo (c) 2008, TechCrunch50-2008 - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce recently released a study clearly showing, for the first time, the earning potential of certain majors versus others. Engineering, computers, and mathematics top the list of median earnings, although business degrees, at 25 percent of all degrees awarded, are the most popular.

 

But Peter Thiel argues that college is completely pointless if you’re interested in starting a new venture, and he’s put money into the game. Thiel (at right) is the PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist who’s giving 24 college kids $100,000 each to drop out of school and start their own businesses. Bloggers and commentators immediately criticized him, not only because he himself earned degrees at Stanford, but because his selection criteria of the best-and-the-brightest is essentially cherry-picking from those students talented enough to have gotten into the top schools at all. Continue reading