Located on 34th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, Webster Apartments is a non-profit residence building for women that offers temporary residence up to 5 years to interns, graduate students, trainees and/or fellows in New York City. 

Webster Apartments was founded in 1923 through the generous funds dedicated to the mission of providing safe and affordable housing to single working women in New York City by the Webster brothers. Charles Webster and Josiah Webster came to the city in the late 1800’s. Charles worked at R.H. Macy’s since his arrival and later became a senior partner at the organization until 1889. When he died in 1916, he left most of his wealth to this cause. Josiah Webster then oversaw the design and construction of the Webster Apartments and left a significant portion of his assets to the non-profit too upon his death. 

Almost a century ago, when the Webster Apartments started its operations, there were over 50 women-focused residential facilities in New York City. At present, only nine such establishments are operational. In peak seasons, Webster Apartments has a waiting list.  

It is a 13-story building with over 370 private rooms for guests and communal areas all over the building where residents eat, relax, and unwind as well as get their work done. Communal areas encompass TV lounges, meeting rooms, halls with work stations and pianos, and a small library. Dining room, rooftop and garden are where interesting conversations happen. During lunch and dinner hours, these spaces light up with women from different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds meeting and befriending each other. 

A resident waits for the elevator in the lobby to get to her room. April 27, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

An empty hall lined with lounges and beau parlors on both sides. May 4, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Residents use workstations in one of the communal areas. April 27, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

A guest takes a meeting while she relaxes in one of the mini TV lounges. April 27, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Romy Augustnys from Belgium relaxes on the rooftop on a pleasant day. May 10, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Julliana Loryn from Missouri switches her lamp off before leaving her room. May 1, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

A diverse group of residents enjoy their dinner in the dining hall. April 20, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Tarini Wijesekera from Sri Lanka pours sauces on her food from the sauce station in the dining room. April 20, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Sandra Donda from Spain checks notifications on her phone as she relaxes on a Sunday afternoon in the garden. May 1, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

Two residents busy working in one of the bigger TV lounges. April 27, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

The view of the city from one of the rooms on the twelfth floor. May 10, 2022. Photo by Quratulain Tejani

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“Lawmakers passed judgment before the trial so this outcome was expected,” said Faisal Khan, a Pakistani-Canadian and a restaurateur from Karachi. “Things like the evidence and presenting the case seem like a formality then.” 

The final Senate vote  on Saturday was 57 guilty and 43 not guilty, falling 10 votes short of the two-third majority requirement, acquitting the former President. 

The House impeachment managers presented videos and tweets of the Capital riots on Jan. 6 which left 5 people dead and more than 140 injured. They alleged that Trump had incited the riot to stop the confirmation of the electoral votes. For weeks Trump told his supporters the election was stolen.

Many Pakistanis believe that Trump was directly responsible for the insurgency. 

“Former President Donald Trump motivated this attack,” said Muhammad Ali Mustafa, a former political activist from Karachi, based in New York. “He should have been impeached and convicted.”  

According to Khan, the arguments presented by the House managers were convincing. The Republican senators who voted guilty have been the center of attention. 

“What surprises me though is the half a dozen senators who broke from the party and voted in favor of convicting Trump,” he said. 

Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania voted to convict the former president. The Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who lambasted the former President, voted not guilty.

 “It’s a shame that McConnell chose the party over the country,”  he said.

The Republicans and Trump’s defense lawyers Bruce L. Castor and Michael van der Veen used the First Amendment as a qualifying argument for the basis  of acquittal. Veen said that Trump is deserving of First Amendment protection as an elected official. 

Hasan Jamshed, a corporate banker from Karachi believes that the Republican argument regarding the constitutionality of putting a former president on trial exposes a glaring weakness in their accountability framework. 

“If we are to accept that Trump is now a private citizen and should not be tried in the Senate, it would set a precedent,” he said. “This means any future president could technically commit crimes before the end of their term and get away with it.” 

U.S . politics has always been the focal point of discussions in the global arena. Mustafa said, this attempt at coup d’etat will be remembered for years to come regardless of the verdict of the trial. 

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“Before a storm, deliveries are slow because everyone shops like they will be locked up for a month,” said Shawn MacPherson, a delivery person employed by DoorDash and GrubHub from Glen Falls, New York. “Then the storm hits and it is order after order.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency in several counties, and most of the state is seeing up to two feet of snow, but it’s just another day on the job for these workers.   

With outdoor dining being canceled there’s a surge in food deliveries. 

MacPherson believes bad weather also means less delivery personnel.  Rough weather conditions make deliveries a hassle and not many sign up for that. 

“Some won’t go out in the snow,” he said. “But I feel like I’m doing a service.”

There are a number of challenges that delivery personnel face, from freezing weather to difficult roads. So driving the right vehicles and a good road sense are extremely important. 

Gary Rockdashil, 52, from Syracuse, New York who also works for Doordash said he pulls out his Dodge Truck to deliver food in storms and rough weather conditions since larger vehicles are easier to maneuver. He drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee otherwise. 

“If the weather gets extremely bad, I drive my Dodge truck,” he said. “But it was okay and not that challenging today.” 

MacPherson drives a 2012 Jetta to do his deliveries. He said he wanted to buy snow tires for his car, but is now working to pay off his car and credit debt before he makes the purchase. 

“Driving is hard with summer tires,” he said. “Cars tend to skid on icy roads which when in contact with the exteriors of the tires create the friction. Many cars get stuck in the snow and need to be rescued or towed.”

Earlier this year in a  snowstorm, MacPherson got stuck and a motorist pulled him out with his truck. 

But this is not the only challenge. Keeping the food warm is hard and for MacPherson so is finding the house numbers with street lights off at night. 

The silver lining in all this for many drivers is the sometimes hefty tips that they earn. 

“Sometimes with bad weather people tip better,” said Rockdashil. “But we make extra money from Doordash also, as they add larger peak pays when there is bad weather.” 

DoorDash also has a mechanism where people tip the delivery personnel before their orders are delivered. People who tip well get their orders on time with an excellent service. 

“We always see a lot of no tip delivery offers and have to decline them until an offer makes sense to take,” said Rockdashil. 

But there are a lot of people who also do not show any respect or courtesy towards their riders. 

Matt Oakes of Buffalo, New York,  tries to keep the food warm in his red bag and delivers it fresh. He works to provide for his family and manage his bills. 

“We are out here doing a job, whether to feed our families or to pay bills,” said Oakes. “Many people don’t tip or even say thank you.”

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“Suffering through the PTSD of Laura, it has been a nightmare in a way,” she said. “You want to lay in bed forever and feel the pain and grief of something like this but the world doesn’t stop because a hurricane destroyed your town.”  

Laura, a category 4 hurricane, hit parts of Louisiana in August, leaving many homeless killed 77  people in Louisiana, Texas, Haiti and Dominican Republic. It decimated at least 10,000 homes and damaged over 130,000 structures. The disaster caused the state billions  in agricultural and farming losses and destroyed industries like timber and fisheries. Hurricane Delta then struck in October adding to the destruction. 

Months later people in Lake Charles, Louisiana are still struggling to string together the pieces of their lives. Roofs are still covered with tarps, foundations of homes are infected with mold, people are still living in trailers and tents and debris on the streets.  Six weeks later, flooding caused by Delta weakened the already damaged structures.  

“Driving through Calcasieu and Beauregard Parishes, your heart swells way up into your throat in pain for your family, friends, and neighbors,” said Debbie Barras Arnold, a local from one of the hardest hit areas. “It is going to be years before we rise from the ashes.”

Louisiana is a state prone to hurricanes. In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and  Rita left many broken and in pain. Most believe that the damage caused by hurricanes Laura and Delta has been just as devastating.

“A lot of the people I have spoken to, said that Laura was way worse than Rita,” said Rebecca Dickinson Reed, a mother of two who had evacuated for Hurricaine Rita. “We stayed for Laura and that was the scariest thing I have ever been through…shingles ripping off, water pouring into my childhood home. The ceiling fell in the bathroom, the moment I walked in.” 

Survivors in Lake Charles said they have been deserted by local media and have been on their own. 

“We were flabbergasted at the lack of news coverage from Laura,” said Reed. “My husband knows people that live an hour away and they had no idea of the amount of devastation that we had here, until my husband sent them pictures of what we were going through.” 

In the aftermath of these disasters, most of the people were depending on the assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the government. But residents said the lack of empathy and negligence  on their part has been appalling. 

“Never once after Laura or Delta did I see a rescue officer or a policeman, no Red Cross, nothing,” said Beth LaBeau whose post had gotten a lot of traction after she shared a heartbreaking account of the night Delta had struck.  

LaBeau said that her post had received thousands of responses and people from California and Africa had sent help but she never heard back from any government official. 

“My calls to the Mayor were ignored,” she said. “The Governor never responded. Calls to local news ignored. Families were living in tents. There was no water, no toilet.”

But on the afternoon of Aug 29, President Trump  visited the disaster-struck areas of Louisiana with FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor. Following Laura,  Trump approved a disaster declaration specifically for Louisiana with provisions of over $207 million for individual and housing assistance and around $2 million for public disaster assistance. 

According to FEMA’s press release  Hurricane Delta survivors can apply for assistance to make their current homes habitable. Assistance can also be granted for the replacement of essential household items, medical and dental expenses, and funeral and burial costs of the affectees.  FEMA also provided suggestions on rebuilding homes to provide maximum disaster resistance. The agency also has a helpline so  victims  can reach out to their community education and outreach specialists for guidance.  

Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard respond immediately after Hurricane Laura destroyed much of Lake Charles. They performed route clearance, and search and rescue missions. Photo by Josiah Pugh

While talking to the press last month, Nic Hunter, Mayor of Lake Charles, said that the city needs the help of American people to speed up the recovery process. 

“We have residents in Lake Charles who are having to deal with the wind damage from Laura and having to gut out the homes because of Delta,” he said. Hunter said that they are pleading to volunteer groups and faith based organizations to step in. 

But residents said it was not enough.

JayVon Muhammad, the CEO of South West Louisiana (SWLA) Center for Health Services,  said such disasters expose and unveil the staggering racial and ethnic inequalities. The clinic where she stayed the night of Laura is located in a low-income area of Lake Charles that mostly consists of Black residents. While Muhammad has home owner’s insurance,most of the local residents do not, and can’t afford to rebuild. 

With the second wave of COVID-19  knocking on doors, temperature dropping by the minute and holiday season around the corner, the challenges of residents multiply manifold. 

The coronavirus pandemic has also slowed down the process of recovery and rebuilding in most areas. 

“Because of COVID, it has been very hard to get the help that we need,” said resident and mother, Sarah Reed Laird. “Contractors don’t want to come out and look at your house because of COVID, FEMA inspectors don’t want to visit, because of COVID.” 

Many survivors have been forced to relocate to dangerous areas.

“I am on SSI once a month,” said Alyissa Thomas, 19  and a mother of two toddlers. “We are currently in an apartment in Lafayette, where there’s shooting almost every night.” 

This holiday season will be particularly grim for many of the survivors. 

“It is depressing to drive around Lake Charles,” Reed said. ”The landscape of my city is forever changed.” 

There has been a silver lining even in this adversity. Despite the inevitable challenges of sanitation, scarcity of clean drinking water, and power outages to juggle with, resilience has prevailed and brought the community together. 

Muhammad said that three days after Laura, people brought food from their refrigerators and the town had a collective barbeque. Later, the neighborhood had received funds and more help arrived. 

“Houston Mayor’s office sent four to five huge trucks with supplies days later,” she said. “We’ve handed over 40,000 boxes with food and necessities since the disasters and fed over 16,000 hot meals since the two hurricanes hit.”  

The repair and relief work is still underway. ‘SWLA Hurricane Aftermath 2020’ is a Facebook community of over 120,000 members, created for them to share their stories of triumph and seek help. Many other fundraisers collect donations for the communities too.  

“God bless the Church groups that have stepped up to help in all the ways they could,” said Lena Leger, another survivor. “There are still shoes to fill but I’m sure we will get there. I just wish it could be sooner. It has been three months and that’s a long time to live in a tent in Louisiana.” 

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 To many of them, the last four years of the Trump presidency, was characterized by marginalization of minorities, suppression of freedom of speech, and supremacist ideologies taking control of the state. It was not very different from what some  had experienced or had family who had.

Voters from this suburban city, a part of the Detroit Metropolitan Area, flocked to the polling stations in great numbers in support of the President-Elect Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris. 

Niraj Warikoo, a reporter at the Free press tweeted the breakdown.

In the city of Dearborn, 69% to 30% for Biden over Trump, per city clerk results.

— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) November 5, 2020

“We the American people have the right to choose our President, “said Ayda Ibrahim, of Lebanese descent, an accountant and mother of two. 

Let it never be forgotten that Arabs in Michigan showed up when America needed it most. Put some respect out there for Wayne County – Dearborn – and it’s people. pic.twitter.com/F0sapq9c4p

— Mustapha Scheib مصطفى محمد شعيب (@Moose) November 5, 2020

Arab immigrants came to Dearborn in the 1880s followed by a second wave in the 1910’s that was driven by the lure of working on Ford’s assembly line. Refugees and asylum seekers from Middle East’s conflict ridden countries have also taken sanctuary in Dearborn’s predominantly Arab American communities. 

“We see how power goes from one person to another without any war,” said Zeinab Assaf, an Arab American immigrant, lauding the democratic system in the United States and a smooth transition of governance here. “American people are lucky to have that.” 

Abed Hammoud, an attorney from Dearborn and the Founder of Arab American Political Action Committee, campaigned for and voted for Biden in the election.  

“I want a serious president, somebody who respects the institutions, who doesn’t lie,” he said. “Trump runs the country like a show.” 

Hammoud also believes strong institutions are the backbone of a democracy and essential to civilian supremacy.

“Trump always tried to undermine the institutions especially the Department of Justice, the FBI, and all the institutions that could protect our civil rights here,” he said.

As the state started turning blue and the Republicans’ initial lead started fading, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in Michigan for the vote count to stop. The Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson flagged the Republican lawsuit ‘meritless’ and ‘frivolous’. She said that a record number of voters cast their votes from Michigan in these historic elections.  

Trump supporters started demanding the vote count to stop and creating chaos at polling stations after the initial results. Later, many gathered at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing protesting Biden’s victory, questioning the election integrity on Saturday, November 7. 

“We live in a country protected by law, “ said Ibrahim.“I grew up with wars on the streets but nothing will happen in America.” 

Ibrahim believes that Americans have seen four years of misleading claims and racism and  that the country needs to move on to the next stage with optimism.

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The event ignited a lot of rage and fury on social media. Last weekend, scores of women took to the streets countrywide, protesting the incident, organized by the Aurat March, a movement working for women rights with annual public demonstrations. 

“Mera jism, meri marzi (translation: my body, my choice),” chanted the women who were attending the protests.

Iman Najeeb protesting outside the Parliament House in Islamabad. The placard reads ‘Listen to me carefully: My body, my choice,’ Sept. 12, 2020. Photo by Ahmed Rathore

Most women who came out to show their strength in numbers and register dissent felt this was a pivotal point in the sexual politics space. The present government has failed to provide protection to women, which has also been a source of contention. 

“The gang rape incident in 2012 in India sparked a lot of fury on the national level,” said Safa Imran, 20, a student at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. She was an active participant at the protests in Lahore. “The tipping point was the statement of the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore, blaming the victim as usual, and we knew it was essential to show our anger and demand our rights.” 

This broke my heart 💔#motorwayincident pic.twitter.com/GNvBviGfBQ

— Weareone 🇵🇰 (@monanotmoona) September 12, 2020

Zahra Hajyani, 31, from Karachi attended the protests knowing that almost all women around her had experienced some kind of sexual assault. She also shared her traumatizing stories of molestation from her childhood. 

“When I was in the third grade, a friend’s uncle gave me a few of those old brown one rupee notes and then asked me to accompany him to his house,” she said as she started narrating her story. “This was very common since we’d get money from our elders all the time, so I went with him. Later, he made me sit on his lap and before I knew it, his hands were in my panties. It was gross, and disgusting.” 

This is not the only emotionally scarring incident Hajyani shared. She opened up about another experience that she

A placard at the protests in Karachi reading ‘Yes All Men, including my father, brother, and husband,’ Sept. 12, 2020. Photo by Zahra Hajyani

had in the shared bathroom at her school during summers one year, when construction work was taking place there. She was fortunate to be able to escape the situation and tried to take action, but nothing concrete came out of it. 

“I cried eight times during the two-hour protest,” said Iman Najeeb, 23, who was protesting along with other proponents of women rights activists in Islamabad, outside the Parliament House. “At Aurat Marches, the energy is very different. We are excited, celebrating our femininity. But this was the first time it was sad. The men and the women, the elderly, and the children stood there raising their voice. Every woman there had a story that she was hiding.” 

Several placards at the protest resonated with the attendees. “Yes all men” is the one particularly controversial as it stood out. It triggered Najeeb’s male friends when she shared the photo on her Instagram.

“Such posts end up getting a lot of hate and result in rape threats sent to the poster,” she said. “But we are lucky to be living in the age of social media where we are able to share these moments and messages with our friends and allies who are unfortunate and unable to make it to the protests otherwise. Even for our friends overseas, such posts are enlightening.”

There is a lot of polarization on social media about the possible solutions to this issue. Many advocate for hanging rapists publicly to serve justice but the discourse in feminist circles and civil society believe capital punishment is not the answer to this heinous crime. 

“Zainab’s rapist and murderer was also hanged, but it didn’t really help control the situation, did it?” asked Hajyani. 

Imran also said that capital punishment is not a solution. 

“I don’t think that institutionalizing capital punishment is a good idea, mainly because I do not trust the state to execute it responsibly,” she said. “It also minimizes the chances of the survival of the victim in most cases.”

I don’t want to see performative hangings to appease the public, I want to see long term structural change. #MeraJismMeriMarzi #motorwayincident pic.twitter.com/BUw4ftQFci

— Mera Jism Meri Marzi (@notsafaimran) September 12, 2020

Imran said that sex and consent education can be the best solution. She believes that the idea of sex education is distorted in the society and there’s also a stigma attached to it of being a western concept. If localized, it can help bring about a change at the grassroots level. 

The post Brutal rape compels women to protest, demand rights appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“I am happy that schools are finally reopening and things are starting to get back to normal,” said Noorulain Kazim, a mother of two. 

The most challenging aspect for many has been keeping kids disciplined which schools help with and keeping them focused on school work. .

Noorulain Kazim, 31, said that her kids, Jawad and Maleeka who go to Beaconhouse School, do not go to bed on time and get distracted easily. Jawad starts playing video games on his tablet or switches on the TV to watch cricket, while Maleeka turns the video off on Zoom and goes back to sleep. 

“In this episode, the person who is the most burdened and traumatized is the mother,” said Kazim.

Without domestic help, a mother finds herself overwhelmed with household work and expectations of the school. Not only does she have to explain the concepts to the kids again, but also has to keep track of their deadlines, and upload assignments on Google Classroom. Connectivity issues and frequent power breakdowns have added to the misery.

Unum Shafiq, a mother of a 5- year- old preschooler, believes that online classes do not help at all and her son’s comprehension levels have significantly dropped. For her, school is about the wholesome learning experience in a facilitated environment.   

“My kid in kindergarten has classes that go on for three and a half hours but he hardly retains anything,” she said. “When he goes to school, the physical presence of the teacher makes a lot of difference. Now he stares at the screen where the letters of the alphabet are on display and can only hear his teacher’s voice, which is a big disconnect.”  

After school hours for Unum are particularly tiring and it is very difficult for her to keep her kid busy. 

“On regular days, my son comes back from school exhausted,” she said. “After playing a little, doing his homework, and his Qura’an classes, he is drained and falls asleep.” 

Umum lives in a joint family and her husband and father-in-law have been very supportive and involved throughout, but she said that her sister and some of her friends do not enjoy that type of support.

Gardening as an extracurricular activity at school has kept Anaya Abbas engaged in the last few months. Photo by Midhat Abbas

For Midhat Abbas, a mother of two girls, Alizey, 9,  and Anaya,7,  who go to Dawood Public School, the last few months have been really hectic too. The girls start their day in front of their screens at 8:30 a.m. School ends at 2 p.m., with a 30-minute break in between. Extra curricular activities like gardening and cooking classes have added a little life to this monotonous routine, but have stretched the mothers, who support these activities  further, leaving them no time for themselves. 

“Before COVID, us mothers would go for breakfast once the kids went to school,” said Abbas. “Since the pandemic, we have met over Zoom once. We hardly ever get time for other activities. I have started feeling very depressed due to this.” 

For some families though, mental health and depression are privileged-people problems. Midhat’s friend has a family of three school aged kids, who do not have proper electronic equipment to take online classes. One of the kids takes the classes on the mother’s phone, one joins via the father’s, and one marks attendance through the aunt’s device. 

Fatima Abbas, who has two primary school kids, said her kids’ school have not experimented with online classes. They have instead moved to an assignment based continuation of studies where she has to bring back handouts and homework from their school every week and turn in the ones from the previous week. 

The government of Pakistan announced reopening of schools in phases, with students of grades 9 to 12 returning Sept. 15 , secondary students  Sept. 23, and the primary school students and preschool kids Sept. 30.

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