This spring I was determined to find a knockoff of the Prada Re-Edition 2005 bag and I knew Canal Street, on the edge of New York’s Chinatown, was just the place to get it. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, some friends and I took the C train downtown. The Canal Street subway station was cramped […]
May 2023 Edition
Welcome to Shoeleather Magazine! We publish timely longform work by Honors students at NYU Journalism.
Abused and Disempowered: How Traditions Set Up Pakistani Women for Violence, or Worse
Alizah believed she had met the love of her life when she was completing her Islamic studies degree. At just 19 years old, Alizah, whose name has been changed for her safety, is a Pathan girl who had met Naseer (also an alias), a Bengali boy who lived in the same neighborhood. As the two […]
“Eib!”: How a culture of shame keeps people in Jordan from accessing the help they need
I. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE “What will people say?” (* = Indicates name change for safety) Farah* had always dreamed of a traditional Arab wedding. In her fantasy, her fiancé would knock on her parents’ door with a bouquet of black irises to ask for their daughter’s hand in marriage. She would gather with everyone she loved […]
The Desegregation Bus on its Last Fumes
Abdul-Kaba Abdullah was just six years old in 1984 when the school bus came to his grandmother’s house in St. Louis City’s Walnut Park neighborhood. Instead of taking him to the school down the street, it took him 25 miles away to Beasley Elementary School in South County at 3131 Koch Road (an address Abdullah […]
“A Slippery Road of No Return”: Singapore’s LGBTQ+ Community Dares to Speak Its Name
They Are Different Roy Tan’s ears would prick up only twice in his life: once for love and once for history. Tan, 65, first noticed his attraction to men in the changing room at the Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was five years old at the time, and his parents would […]
From the Multiplex to the “Microcinema”
The Big Picture Earlier this year, Regal Cinema Union Square in New York City announced it would be shutting down after its parent company declared bankruptcy the previous summer. With 17 screens and 2,000 available seats, the recently renovated three-story, neon-lit multiplex is a vestige of commercial cinema’s glory days. Up until a few […]
The New Tattoo
In an age of trauma-informed everything, a growing group of tattoo artists is reshaping the industry by centering the emotional needs of clients and artists alike. Meanwhile, old-school artists mourn what’s left behind.