Archive for May, 2009

An Enjoyable Experience

Posted in Uncategorized on May 22nd, 2009 by Sapna Kishnani – Comments Off

I did not mind working in a group, however, I preferred to work alone. It was much simpler that way since I would know what I had to do and was not to be held accountable for anyone else’s responsibilities. At the beginning of this project, I felt as if I was thrown into a group with random people who I was only working with because we all put down Coney Island as our primary choice. Leo, Dalya, and Kate. I heard their names before, but never really spoke to any of them. When we first addressed the project, it seemed impossible. Who was going to do what? Initially, no one could come up with how to divide the work because everyone had different ideas of where to take the assignment. It was a mess until the last few weeks.

Initially, all we knew was that we wanted to preserve the sentimental value of Coney Island; we wanted to make sure it remained a place where families could come and relax. However, we knew no one would invest in keeping the amusement park open, so we investigated the idea of building a casino since it seemed the most probable way to increase economic productivity. There was a contradiction here. How could we build a casino and still preserve sentimental value?  We went back and forth until the words of the people we spoke to in Coney Island set our minds in one direction (instead of four).

People’s reponses were almost unanimous. We had to not only keep the amusement park, but extend it. Our only problem left was to fugure out how to make it a year round establishment that brought in the money. After several suggestions we all agreed upon a multiplex cinema with surrounding restaurants. Once this was established, the rest came easy. Everyone expressed an interest in an aspect crucial to the formation of the new Coney Island. Kate, for instance, agreed to investigate safety of both the rides in the park and the neighborhood. I jumped at the idea of building a model and Leo and Dalya both took on finances and video work.

We all went about doing our own research, but constantly kept in touch through e-mail, text, and phone calls. Whether it was help that I needed with Photoshop or a website concerning issues of park safety in Coney Island we all helped each other by sending one another information. Even the video soon came to be the product of each of our opinions. Meeting together helped smooth transitions from one topic to another. Each of us soon became an expert on the other’s research.

I am extremely proud of our accomplishments and was surprised when I began missing the times all of us stayed up till 3am in Leo’s room adding finishing touches to the presentation. All we needed was a direction, and once we found it, we were set.

-Sapna Kishnani

Group Reflection by Alexandra Koenig

Posted in Uncategorized on May 16th, 2009 by Alexandra Koenig – Comments Off

The power point project I believe was personally an overall a great learning experience for me. The project enabled me to experience first hand the benefits and challenges associated with working with a large group of my peers. The class provided me with valuable experience in research, presenting and public speaking. The greatest challenge that my group faced was the lack of corporation from the professionals within the field and from non-profit organizations, which we attempted to contact. The overall lack of corporation from outside sources hindered the depth and development of our design plan for Governors Island. As a result a number of necessary details were missing from our research. Another obstacle that the group had to overcome was learning how to use and operate new technology, which none of us had ever used before. Aside from the setbacks that we faced I felt that the project challenged me intellectually and enabled me to expand my overall knowledge on not only of Governor’s Island but also of New York City as a whole. The project enabled me to experience first hand the various problems that urban planners and developers face when they undertake a large-scale development project.

group project reflection

Posted in Uncategorized on May 14th, 2009 by Kayt Chang – Comments Off

I enjoyed working in the group which looked at the future of Coney Island. It has been a beach which, in the past, I have visited numerous times in the summer because it was so convenient via subway. Now, in class, to be able to research the plans various groups have for its improvement and redevelopment, was an exciting task.
I enjoyed the steps we took that led us to the finished product. We conducted interviews on a beautiful April day, on the boardwalk, in order to see what changes people in Coney Island would like to have happen. It was such an experience talking to people, interacting with people, and finding out how they feel about a topic we were assigned to investigate; they were all incredibly helpful and it was just nice to have real feedback from the people that matter.
The project also got me interested in powerpoint. I must admit that in groupwork, I have always strayed away from that part of project; I am not technologically adept. In fact, for this project, it was the other members who put the powerpoint together. BUT, it got me interested and I took a chance in doing a powerpoint for another one of my classes and it is rather fun; I found out that it is something I would definitely want to involve myself in the next time around.
I also liked presenting. I must admit that I did not have the bulk of the presenting to do in my case. However, it was excellent practice, I felt, to work on my speech making skills and building confidence and real fluency when speaking in front of an audience.
I felt this class put just the right amount of emphasis on the skills that matter and I truly did learn a lot.