Word of the day: Marginalization
Margin = edge, border (like the margin of a piece of lined writing paper)
Definition: treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral
Intro Lesson:
Today’s destination, Roosevelt Island, was named after the 32nd president Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was part of the marginalized population, but hid it from public. The word of the “marginalization” in current context means to consider the group or population of people as secondary and to isolate by
Relegating them to unimportant or powerless position within a society or group. We learned that the islands on the Manhattan River were all homes to a marginalized population. From Riker’s Island prison to Randall’s Island mental institution to Roosevelt Island smallpox hospital. We thought about the pros and cons of creating a marginalized population. We considered how marginalized populations may provide safety or comfort to the general population, but then where do the marginalized population’s basic human right of access to create personal social connections lie?
Roosevelt Island Ride
Today was our third official bike ride, and we headed to Roosevelt Island! It was up to 90’s and humid, which made it feel even hotter. We made sure before we left that everyone had water to stay hydrated throughout the ride.
After filling up our water bottles, everyone walked down 96th St. to East River. From there, we saddled up and rode north alongside the East River until we got to Ward’s Island Pedestrian bridge. Riding over the bridge, we took a quick water break on the other side, then continued to ride North toward Randall’s Island until we arrive at Hell’s Gate Circle. From there, we rode all the way down to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge and rode our bikes over the bridge into Queens.
Staying on the west side of Queens, Alberto lead everyone down South to our lunch destination, Socrates Sculpture Park. Here, we saw interesting goat sculptures. There was even one of a severed goat’s head that was taller than any one of us! Coupled with the heat and some intense bicycling, everyone was ready to sit down and eat. All of us took shelter under the canopies of trees and bushes. Josue, Carmen, and Maria even found themselves some ice cream to cool themselves off. After eating lunch, Alberto jumped the fence for us to collect a water sample, and we checked our last water sample for E. Coli. And alas! It did have E. Coli.! Don’t drink the river water at Ward’s/Randall’s Islands! We filled our water bottles once again and we were off to our final destination.
We followed down Vernon Boulevard to the Roosevelt Island bridge, and crossed over into Roosevelt Island. It was a bit scary but also lots of fun going down the spiral spoke at the end of the bridge! We explore the entire island as we headed to the south tip of Roosevelt Island, where we encountered the famous abandoned smallpox hospital and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. Here, we saw a model in athletic wear having some kind of shoot. As we took a quick break, a few of us took ourselves to become a model ourselves.
To conclude the ride, we rode back out the same way we came (across the Roosevelt Island Bridge), and followed the edge of Queens down to the Queensboro Bridge. We travelled up 1st Avenue from 60th street to 96th street, and then turned onto 3rd Avenue, returning back to the Beacon School. Overall, today’s ride was difficult, because of the weather. However, everyone did great challenging themselves through every moment!
Participants
Candia, Adriana
Cuffe, Kyle
Cuffe, Kely
Galindo, Maria
Munoz-Medrano, Carlos
Munoz-Medrano, Carmen
Navarro, Alexis
Navarro, Daniela
Navarro. Omar
Ramos, Diego
Ramos, Josue
Sibanda, Farai
Coleaders
Georgia Bancheri, Cappy Collins, Judy Lee, Alberto Rivera, Joseph Wilson
Ride Statistics
Miles biked: 13.98 miles
Program time (hours): 6 hours
Ride time (hours): 2 hours 43 minutes
Calories burned*: 895
*http://www.mapmywalk.com/improve/calorie_calculator/
Estimates based on 100lbs, 5′ 2″ ht, 13 yo, average between male and female.
Water Quality Monitoring Results
pH : 8.5
Nitrates : Negative
Nitrites: Not tested
Hardness: 425
Chlorine: 0
Pesticides: Negative
Lead: Negative
E.Coli: Positive
No Comments