PHOTO: Duy Linh Tu
Our intrepid group posing for posterity in the World Room at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.
Top Row Standing (L to R): Jennifer Johnson, Beth Schepens, Andy Glockner, Michael R. Schreiber, Sean Alfano, Kalyanaraman
Middle Row Seated: Aude J. Lagorce, Jonathan Matsey, Gabriel Rodriguez-Nava, Jessica Belasco, Kodi Barth, Pema Norbu
Floor in front: Diego Graglia, Noel Pangilinan


Our Stories Are From Outside of Manhattan . . . Just Like All of Us

With a class comprised of seven international students and seven Americans, five of whom also were new to New York City, it made sense for us to explore the unknown places scattered throughout New York.

The disparate locations made the project an immense challenge, as some of our reporters had hour-long commutes just to get to their island, but everyone rose to the occasion. Our staff camaraderie was terrific throughout the project.

We are proud to bring you these real New York stories, told by reporters from all over the globe.

We hope you enjoy our tour of New York's other islands. Send us .
 Project Masthead
Executive Editors Jessica Belasco, Andy Glockner Multimedia Editor Michael R. Schreiber
Managing Editor Jonathan Matsey Design Editors Diego Graglia, Pema Norbu
Production Editor Jennifer Johnson Reporters Sean Alfano, Kodi Barth, Kalyanaraman, Noel Pangilinan, Gabriel Rodriguez-Nava,
Beth Schepens
Quality Assurance Editor Aude J. Lagorce

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Our Staff:
Sean Alfano (Buffalo, NY)
Sean came to Columbia after suffering through a childhood of chicken wings and traumatic professional sports defeats. We're waiting for the cathartic book project. Sean reported on Randall's & Ward's islands for this project.		 Aude J. Lagorce (Paris, France)
Aude is superorganized, attentive to detail and has the best shoes of anyone in the class. We're talking all sorts of funky shades. Maybe there IS something to the French sense of style. Aude is the quality assurance editor for this project.
Kodi Barth (Nairobi, Kenya)
Kodi has ample international reporting experience. He has also married his wife about 11 times in different legal and civil ceremonies, an all-time high for Columbia new media. Kodi reported on Rikers Island for this project.		 Jonathan Matsey (Knox, IN)
Jon's culinary horizons have been broadened this year. Habits are hard to break when every person in your family for the last six generations went to Wabash College. Jon is the managing editor for this project.
Jessica Belasco (Dallas, TX)
If you are reading this during normal business hours, Jessica is probably asleep. Seriously. We welcome her late-night productivity and respect her disinclination for The West End. Jessica is co-executive editor on this project.

 Pema Norbu (Thimphu, Bhutan)
Pema came from quite far to attend Columbia. Her home country has the second-worst soccer team in the world, but at least they beat Montserrat last year, 4-0. Pema is co-design editor for this project.
Andy Glockner (Old Bethpage, NY)
Andy is the only NYC24 staffer who lived in Manhattan before he came to Columbia. He talks way too much about Ivy League basketball and says "Nice" too much. Andy is co-executive editor for this project.

 Noel Pangilinan (Cebu City, Philippines)
On long Fridays during our normal publishing cycle, Noel's daughters scampered about, providing needed levity. He has no comment on Pema's edging him out for distance travel. Noel reported on Ellis & Liberty islands for this project.

Diego Graglia (Posadas, Argentina)
Diego's dog, Indio, was the placeholder for many of the pictures on the original iterations of the site. Diego served more or less the same purpose throughout the month of work. He is co-design editor for this project.

 Gabriel Rodriguez-Nava (Chihuahua, Mex)
Gabriel has a cache of female friends who are always willing to massage him in times of great stress. He also figured out that a bumpy car is not the best tripod for a video camera. Gabe reported on Roosevelt Island for this project.

Jennifer Johnson (Norman, OK)
Any mention of the Sooners' Red River rivalry with Texas gets Jennifer's cockles up. Rumor has it that, years ago, she forced Jessica to transfer from UT to avoid conflict this semester. Jennifer is our production editor on this project.

 Beth Schepens (Homeless Air Force Brat)
Beth brings a transient flavor to our team, having attended about two dozen primary schools before she turned 18. She can relate very well to the experiences of the inhabitants of Governors Island, which she reported on for this project.
Kalyanaraman (Madras, India)
The eponymous Kalyan brings his broadcast skills to our new media group. He wins the ingenuity award for renting a boat to shoot island footage. Kalyan reported on City Island for this project.		 Michael R. Schreiber (Washington, DC)
Yeah, Mike's all clean-shaven now, but don't let the choir boy style fool you. He has been riddling us with his daring interactive pieces all semester. Accordingly, Mike is the multimedia editor for this project.
       
Our Advisers:

Sreenath Sreenivasan (Tokyo, Japan)
In between writing his online columns and his 6:00 a.m. WABC Tech Guru appearances, Sree leads our merry bunch from his elevated-chair pulpit. He is an associate professor of professional practice and oversees the new media concentration at Columbia University.

  

Duy Linh Tu (Saigon, Vietnam)
Duy gets to worry about all of the uploads, file transfers and other technical gimmicks that drive our sites. When he's not working with us, Duy is a founder of Resolution Seven, a website design and distribution company for documentaries. Duy is a 1999 graduate of Columbia's School of Journalism.
 

Michael Moran (Kearny, NJ)
Every now and again, Mike takes time off from covering some one-sided war to drop by our class and spread the new media news gospel. Mike is a senior producer at MSNBC.com and the 2003 Hearst New Media professional-in-residence at Columbia's School of Journalism.

  

Scott Gould (Matamata, New Zealand)
Scott, the school's webmaster, has been a real lifesaver for our class. He spent hours solving crises and entertaining us with his unique New Zealand humor.
     
The staff of NYC24 would also like to thank the technical staff at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and our visiting scholar from Korea, Joohee Bong. Also, NYC24 would like to thank San Francisco-based for providing original music for our multimedia features.