Moses Gates finds stagnation frightening

Name: Moses Gates

Age: 36
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI

Current town: Brooklyn, NY

Job description: New York City tour guide; urban planner; teacher

Bio: Presenter at Conflux 2009; licensed NYC tour guide since August 2001; tour guide for Flux Factory's Going Places Doing Stuff since its inception in 2008

Upcoming projects: Adjunct Professor of Demography at Pratt Institute, who will be teaching Demography 631 this fall ("It's methods heavy. It's about how to do population projections and economic-based analysis. I want to give a shout out to Joe Salvo, my old demography professor who's Head of the Population Division at the Department of City Planning, who is brilliant and who I've learned demography from; he's awesome."); publishing a memoir through Tarcher, an imprint of Penguin

Select links: Exploring census tracts with Marie Lorenz (Tide and Current Taxi); "On top of the George Washington Bridge" (vimeo)

Describe your current state of mind.

I feel good. I've had a productive year. Moving forward. Making progress.

How did you become a New York City tour guide?

I got my New York City tour guide license in December 2001. It's an easy way to be a mildly credentialed expert in New York. It's the kind of thing where New Yorkers who become New York-o-philes want some way to quantify that; you're not going to go get a doctorate in American History with a concentration on the development of New York City. So you pass your New York City tour guide exam.

I'm a big fan of always preparing yourself for economic disaster: I have my real estate license, my tour guide license, my American Institute of Certified Planners Designation. I have all these things there in case I need to get a job. It's like residue from my Depression-era grandparents. 

Lauren Melodia is a proud homeowner, unofficial office occupant

Name: Lauren Melodia

Age: 30
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Current town: Brooklyn, NY
Job description: Social justice advocate
Bio: Founder of Milk Not Jails
Upcoming projects: Launching a political line of dairy products by Milk Not Jails this winter ("It might not be on the shelves as soon at it will be online. If people are involved with a CSA in their neighborhoods, they'll definitely be able to buy it there.")
Select links: “Support Milk Not Jails” (Just Seeds); "Strategies to Encourage Mixed-Income CSA Participation" (Just Food); "Lauren Melodia and Milk Not Jails" (Heritage Radio Network)


Describe your current state of mind. 

I feel better to not be in an office right now; there’s better air circulation. Although I don’t work in an office, I squat in one and I’m very thankful for that. It’s like a love/hate relationship. 

What’s it like squatting in an office? 

I use this office space at this non-profit that I used to work at years ago. And it’s like my family. But I haven’t actually asked them: “Is it okay that I’m here?” And I don’t go in that often; I go in twice a week just for a new environment to focus in. But it’s a little bit weird. I actually know everyone there. They are aware that I don’t work there. I can’t pretend that I’m a temp or anything.

Robyn Hasty wishes she could name all of the constellations

Name: Robyn Hasty (a.k.a. "Imminent Disaster")
Age: 26
Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Current town: Brooklyn, NY
Job description: Photographer; street artist; printmaker; sculptor; co-conspirator of all trades, including set design
Bio: Documented alternative economies in America using wet-plate photography for a self-directed project called Homeland; crew member of Miss Rockaway Armada's Let Me Tell You About A Dream I Had in Philly and Swimming Cities Serenissima and Switchback Sea; helped to build mud huts in Ghana for six weeks; set designer for Jeff Stark's Sweet Cheat
Upcoming projects: A solo show at Christina Ray in Soho on January 12th (“Basically showcasing the whirlwind of making things that happened over the last 10 months.”); applying for grad school (“The deadline is January 15th”); traveling to New Orleans to do some more work in wet-plate; possibly biking across Europe; “more whirlwinds”
Select links: "Photographer Goes Off-Grid With An Antique Camera" (NPR); "Creator Q&A: Robyn Hasty" (Kickstarter); "A Vintage-Style Photo Essay of Alternative American Communities" (Flavorwire); "People engaging with the economic collapse" (Marketplace); "LOVE + BULLSHIT" (Suckapants); robynhasty.com 

Describe your current state of mind. 

I’ve been kind of sad. 

Why have you been sad? 

I’m not entirely sure but I just spent a few months traveling across the country and doing this big project in Philly. And then I went to Ghana with a lover to build a mud house. And then he kind of broke up with me. And then I came back alone, spending time in my house without this support network.

Jane Gish's feet move quicker these days

Name: Jane Gish (aka "Bitch Cassidy")
Age: 28
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA
Current Town: Brooklyn, NY
Job description: Roller derby girl; chocolatier; law student; seamstress
Bio: Blocker for the Brooklyn Bombshells, who beat the Bronx Gridlock (78-31) at the Gotham Girls Roller Derby championship game in October 2011; founder of Super Foxy Sweets, a line of vegan truffles; student at CUNY Law School with an interest in family mediation
Upcoming projects: Published the Bananarchist Cookbook (“It’s a collection of anarchist trivia, jokes, a bunch of art projects - and recipes, too.”); collaborating with her boyfriend on Trouble Factory, a series of “actions” – including the distribution of “Revolution Kits” (“It’s not something that someone with Leftist tendencies needs to buy for real. The hope is that it’s a really subversive Christmas present that you can get someone, who may need to open up their mind a little bit.”)
Select links: “Bananarchy Reigns” (Green in BKLYN); “Eight Wheelers” (Brooklyn Based); “Meet the New Vegan Truffle in Town: Super Foxy Sweets” (Super Vegan); “NYC’s roller derby girls are who like to rough it” (NY Daily News)


Describe your current state of mind.


I’m picturing a box full of leaves. I’m trying to gather them into the center and then lift them up. I’ve had a strange couple of days where I’ve felt very scattered. And it’s finally coming together…that’s normally how it works.


How did you get involved with roller derby?


In April of 2008, I went to my first bout and I was hooked. I thought it was the coolest thing. I played sports in high school and I hadn’t done anything athletic ever since. But I was incredibly intrigued, so I put on a pair of roller skates for the first time in 12 years, learned all over again and tried out eight months later.