Author: Esteban Illades (Esteban Illades)

There are approximately 252,000 Mexican-born immigrants in New York City, according to the Census Bureau. However, few of them participate politically or as active members in their local community.

The first few paragraphs of “Never the Hope Itself,” Gerry Hadden’s memoir about being a correspondent for NPR in Latin America and the Caribbean, hook you immediately: Hadden was on his way to become a Buddhist monk before abruptly changing paths and turning into a radio reporter instead. A few pages in, it turns out...

Some 70 students, teachers, parents and local union members marched Wednesday through Coney Island to protest state and city budget cuts to education.

Muni-meters and parking price hikes are making their way to Sunset Park. Many local residents are unhappy, seeing the meters not just as a new cost, but as cultural colonization.

The doors of P.S. 172 open at 3:05 p.m. The children rush out to meet their parents after a seven-hour school day. Their backpacks are full of books for tomorrow’s homework assignments. These enthusiastic students are from the Beacon School of Excellence, one of the top five elementary schools in New York City.