Family attraction

A New York moment:

For the last century New York City, particularly Manhattan, has been a place that families leave once they have school-age children, a migration mostly due to high rents and a spotty education system. Last week smart New Yorkers—The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson, the Manhattan Institute’s Kay Hymowitz, and property developer Brad Hargreaves—gathered at a Manhattan Institute event to discuss this issue over the clatter of tiny plates of cured meats and marinated olives.

New York reflects a historical trend of families leaving all major cities east of the Mississippi, minus an outlier or two like Indianapolis, according to Thompson, who has written several pieces on the changing demographics of cities. But that trend seems to be accelerating even as crime levels are at historic lows and urban gentrification has taken off.

Thompson worried about the “equality of opportunity” for families when most high-paying work is “in places where families cannot stay.” (This Vox piece makes a compelling case for why raising children in the city is not as terrible as many think. I’ve seen the positive picture the author paints play out among families in my church.)

Meanwhile, Hargreaves has two companies: One is riding the wave of roommate households (which outnumber nuclear families in New York), and the other is trying to make more space for families. The first, Common, rents private bedrooms that have shared kitchens and common spaces. The second company, called Kin, plans to construct residential buildings designed for families, with shared child care and play areas in the building.

Kin is piloting its first such family building in the rapidly gentrifying Long Island City, a Queens neighborhood one stop out of Manhattan. The photos make this building appear designed for a wealthier set, but perhaps if wealthier families stay in the city, they will help improve institutions for other families in the city.

Worth your time:

Elite chess is extremely athletic, according to experts. Players can lose 10 to 12 pounds in one tournament. One grandmaster playing in a tournament “had burned 560 calories in two hours of sitting and playing chess—or roughly what Roger Federer would burn in an hour of singles tennis.”

This week I learned:

Median household income has jumped 17 percent in the last decade in Democratic districts, and it has fallen 3 percent in Republican ones, according to data from the Brookings Institution.

A court case you might not know about:

In 2009, a small-time Jamaican drug trafficker cooperated with the U.S. government to testify against his boss, a drug kingpin. In retaliation for his testimony, “his sister’s house was burned down, the house of his children’s mother was bombed, six of his cousins have been murdered, and his father was forced to flee the country,” according to a U.S. federal judge.

This year, unexpectedly, the federal government deported him to Jamaica, though his immigration hearings were ongoing. For three days he dodged attempts on his life in Jamaica before a U.S. judge ordered federal agents to bring him back to the United States while his case proceeds.

Culture I am consuming:

My relatives and I have started a film club project to watch several of French director Claire Denis’ films. This weekend, it was 35 Shots of Rum, a 2008 film about the relationship between a father and daughter. Denis was raised in Francophone countries in West Africa, so many of her films focus on French-speaking African characters.

Email me with tips, story ideas, and feedback at ebelz@wng.org