Essays

Standalone photo stories and complementary images for podcasts

May 2017: Mei Lum, 27, took over her family's porcelain store called Wing on Wo on Mott St. after they considered selling the building in which it resides. The store is the oldest continuously run shop, and Lum became its fifth generation owner. She

May 2017: Mei Lum, 27, took over her family's porcelain store called Wing on Wo on Mott St. after they considered selling the building in which it resides. The store is the oldest continuously run shop, and Lum became its fifth generation owner. She has since turned the store into a community space for events that discuss gentrification in the neighborhood. [Gallatin Photojournalism Lab with Ron Haviv - unpublished]

May 2017 - The W.O.W Project, named after the Wing on Wo store, is a local organization that Lum created. The group offers space for artists to explore displacement and settler colonialism. [Gallatin Photojournalism Lab with Ron Haviv - unpublished]

May 2017 - The W.O.W Project, named after the Wing on Wo store, is a local organization that Lum created. The group offers space for artists to explore displacement and settler colonialism. [Gallatin Photojournalism Lab with Ron Haviv - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Neighborhood leader Karlin Chan started a volunteer-led effort to clean Chinatown streets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chan opens a fire hydrant on Doyers St. to use its water to brush the roads with brooms. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Neighborhood leader Karlin Chan started a volunteer-led effort to clean Chinatown streets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chan opens a fire hydrant on Doyers St. to use its water to brush the roads with brooms. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Former Nom Wah Tea Parlor owner Wilson Tang brushes the pavement alongside his son in front of their Doyers St. restaurant. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Former Nom Wah Tea Parlor owner Wilson Tang brushes the pavement alongside his son in front of their Doyers St. restaurant. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Chan and a volunteer push an outdoor dining shed to allow hydrant water to flow underneath it. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Chan and a volunteer push an outdoor dining shed to allow hydrant water to flow underneath it. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: A volunteer stands in the rivulet created by the hydrant water. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: A volunteer stands in the rivulet created by the hydrant water. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Volunteers continue cleaning Chinatown roads down Pell St. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Volunteers continue cleaning Chinatown roads down Pell St. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Reflection of the hydrant water near Mott St. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: Reflection of the hydrant water near Mott St. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: After a few hours of cleaning, volunteers and Chan (right) celebrate the end of their final sweep for the season. [Personal - unpublished]

Oct. 2020: After a few hours of cleaning, volunteers and Chan (right) celebrate the end of their final sweep for the season. [Personal - unpublished]

June 2022 - Cancer, skin lesions and lost family: Ramapough Lenape Nation members say Ford Motor’s Illegal dumping on their land in Ringwood, NJ during the 1960s and 70s caused irreparable harm. Van Brunt St. is known as "cancer row" because of its

June 2022 - Cancer, skin lesions and lost family: Ramapough Lenape Nation members say Ford Motor’s Illegal dumping on their land in Ringwood, NJ during the 1960s and 70s caused irreparable harm. Van Brunt St. is known as "cancer row" because of its proximity to the superfund site where Ford dumped toxic waste. Families along this street developed cancer of the years. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Wayne Mann was the named plaintiff in the Mann v. Ford lawsuit filed by roughly 600 members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation’s Turtle Clan over claims that Ford Motor’s Company’s illegal dumping of hazardous materials harmed their health. [

June 2022 - Wayne Mann was the named plaintiff in the Mann v. Ford lawsuit filed by roughly 600 members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation’s Turtle Clan over claims that Ford Motor’s Company’s illegal dumping of hazardous materials harmed their health. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Mann has been diagnosed with cancer and other ailments. His case was settled out of court in 2009, with the residents splitting about $10 million. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Mann has been diagnosed with cancer and other ailments. His case was settled out of court in 2009, with the residents splitting about $10 million. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Dennis DeFreese Sr. (left) and Valerie Gunn (right) are members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation’s Turtle Clan and have witnessed the superfund site's effect on their community. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Dennis DeFreese Sr. (left) and Valerie Gunn (right) are members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation’s Turtle Clan and have witnessed the superfund site's effect on their community. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - The idea of moving is difficult for Turtle Clan members because of their ties to the land. “I absolutely love it here. It’s just things have to be done right. Things have to be done better. As far as relocating, I don’t know how that’s go

June 2022 - The idea of moving is difficult for Turtle Clan members because of their ties to the land. “I absolutely love it here. It’s just things have to be done right. Things have to be done better. As far as relocating, I don’t know how that’s going to go over," Gunn said. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - Sally’s Pond, just south of Ringwood Manor in Ringwood State Park, is downhill of the nearby Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site. The chemical 1,4-dioxane has been detected in the pond’s water, which eventually flows to the Wanaque Res

June 2022 - Sally’s Pond, just south of Ringwood Manor in Ringwood State Park, is downhill of the nearby Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site. The chemical 1,4-dioxane has been detected in the pond’s water, which eventually flows to the Wanaque Reservoir. Since testing began in 2016, no 1,4-dioxane has been detected in the reservoir. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - It's estimated that some Ringwood residents lived nearly 40 years in homes built on top of toxic sludge. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]

June 2022 - It's estimated that some Ringwood residents lived nearly 40 years in homes built on top of toxic sludge. [Hazard NJ podcast SE01EP3]