Cityscape

Between 250 and 300-thousand men and women from New York City served in the U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam War. 1,741 of them lost their lives. Their names are displayed at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in lower Manhattan. On this week’s Cityscape, we’re looking at Vietnam from a New York City point of view.

During the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, poet Walt Whitman declared it “the grandest physical habitat and surroundings of land and water the globe affords." His poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is celebrated by poetry lovers every year in an event in which they cross the Brooklyn Bridge reading poems about the bridge and city. So many poets, like Jack Kerouac and Frank O’Hara have drawn inspiration from New York City. And the city continues to be a literary muse for poets today. On this week's Cityscape, we're tapping into New York City's poetry community -- past and present.

Does the clack clack sound of typewriter keys make you nostalgic? How about the crackle of vinyl spinning on a record player? You may consider typewriters and record players relics of the past, but there are plenty of people keeping them alive and well. In this episode of Cityscape we talk with people using machines from decades past.

At any time of year in New York City, the smell of warm pretzels wafts through the streets. Most hot dog vendors sell them from their carts. But many New Yorkers say they don’t taste as good as they smell, so chefs have been introducing new twists to the salted bread. On this week’s Cityscape, we’re digging our teeth into the pretzel.

You see them along the East and Hudson Rivers, and snaking through Central Park. Arms pumping with a determined look on their faces. We’re talking about runners. They’re pretty much everywhere in New York City. On this week's show we're delving into the world of runners, including efforts to get kids into the sport as a way to inspire them to get fit and stay in school. We'll also talk with the author of a new book called Runners and Lovers. The novel is set in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

You mostly hear New Yorkers complaining about pigeons, but there are many people whose love for the birds runs deep. Even former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson called pigeons his first love, having grown up surrounded by them in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Today, Tyson races pigeons. His passion for the sport even spawned a reality show on Animal Planet called Taking on Tyson. But as you’ll hear on this edition of Cityscape, pigeons have a polarizing influence on New Yorkers. They either love 'em or hate 'em… Some interesting pigeon facts:

• Although pigeons are considered by many to be dirty and disease-ridden, there’s little evidence linking pigeons directly to infections in humans. The New York City Department of Health states only contact in high exposure with pigeon droppings can pose a small health risk.

• Despite common perception, there is no law that prohibits pigeon feeding everywhere in New York City. That said, the Parks Department posts notices in many areas prohibiting feeding. So it’s OK to feed the pigeons as long as there are no signs saying you can’t.

• Paul Julius Reuter founded the Reuters news agency, which got its start using pigeons bearing news and stock prices between Berlin and Paris. Carrier pigeons were much faster than the post train.

A mental illness is a medical condition that causes mild to severe disturbances in thinking, perception and behavior.  Recovery is possible. But there are many misconceptions about mental illness, which can lead to a variety of problems, like troubling finding work or housing. 

As part of WFUV’s Strike a Chord campaign, this week’s Cityscape is focusing its attention on mental illness and efforts to combat the stereotypes. 

They collect our garbage, and plow our streets after a snowfall – but New York City's sanitation workers often don’t get a whole lot of appreciation. On this week's Cityscape, we’re focusing our attention on the city’s sanitation workers, and we'll learn why it’s not okay to call them garbage men. Our guest is Robin Nagle, the sanitation department’s anthropologist in residence. She'll join us to talk about her new book Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City. We'll also dip into the Cityscape archives for segments with the city’s first female sanitation worker, as well as one with the late Andrew Macchio, a sanitation worker who loved to sing behind the truck.

Walking around the streets of New York City, its usually hard not to peer into the windows of the apartments and brownstones you pass and comparing the space to your own.

Connie Rosenblum was the author of the "Habitats" column published in the Real Estate section of the New York Times. She used real estate as the gateway to telling the stories of New York City residents, of all boroughs and backgrounds. She's put together expanded versions of a selection of the "Habitats" column in a book called Habitats: Private Lives in the Big City. This week on Cityscape we hear some of those stories.

New York City is known as the “concrete jungle,” but you won’t be hard pressed to find flowers here. From blossoms in Central Park to the bodega variety.

On this morning’s show, we’re talking flowers. We’ll learn how to arrange a bouquet with deli flowers and visit a flower shop that doubles as a bar at night. We'll also visit a shop in the flower district that has been around for four generations.