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By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
What we know about what’s holding up the NYS budget so far
Mayoral money: Diving into Eric Adams’s campaign funds
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams scored big money from real estate backers this month for his reelection bid, which is unsurprising since the city’s self-proclaimed “most prohousing” mayor in history.
Adams is running as an Independent candidate in the general election coming up in November. His opponents are Queens Assemblymember Zohran K. Mamdani, this year’s Democratic mayoral nominee; Andrew Cuomo, the former governor and another Independent candidate; and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB), his latest filings show Adams has raised about $6.3 million ($6,384,487) in private funds. About $3.4 million of those donations came from New York City residents, while $2.9 million in donations are from outside the city. Adams has almost $4.3 million ($4,270,771) cash on hand.
Adams struggled with raising money amid a federal investigation into his campaign finances and an indictment (now dropped charges) from last year. From July 2024 to October 2024, he raised roughly $146,000 in donations.
Bronx broker at Trump Realty Inc who gave $1,000, and several donations from the SL Green Realty Corp. — Manhattan’s largest office landlord.
controversially moved to dismiss Adams’s corruption case in April 2025.
The NYCCFB said that Adams’s campaign has continued to not demonstrate eligibility to receive a public funds payment.
April 21, 2025 — Rochester, NY — Governor Hochul rallied in Rochester alongside community leaders and elected officials as she continues to demand a state budget deal that makes New York safer and more affordable. The rally comes after a week in which the Governor met with district attorneys, domestic violence survivors, small business owners, law enforcement professionals and union leaders to highlight her commonsense public safety proposals. (Darren McGee/ Office of Governor Kathy Hochul photo)
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
Some noteworthy standouts on Adams’s NYCCFB donor list in 2024 include various NYPD officers, a slew of retirees and “unemployed” individuals, a Queens driver who donated $1 about 28 times, a
The state budget is about three weeks late, the deadline being on April 1. Governor Kathy Hochul, who has been at odds with the State Legislature on a number of budget proposals, talked about her spending plan on Monday.
Adams has constantly been denied public matching funds by NYCCFB since last year. This May, Adams clapped back with a lawsuit against the NYCCFB but it was dismissed by the court. However, the court called into question NYCCFB’s “reliance on the indictment of Mayor Adams as a basis for its reason to believe the Adams campaign violated the law.” A federal judge
that the prosecution and the police have amassed. And yes, in 2019 the whole system was skewed to help just the prosecutors. It was unfair against the defendant,” said Hochul, briefly addressing the issue, “but now reforms are put in place and now it’s swung the other way.”
“On December 16, 2024, after reviewing all available information, including details of the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams, the Board determined there is reason to believe the Adams campaign engaged in conduct detrimental to the matching funds program, in violation of law,” said the NYCCFB
subsidy access; baby bucks, or guaranteed income for mothers in need; reforming temporary disability insurance payouts, and expanding mental health courts.
Sen. Gillibrand and Rep. Espaillat reintroduce Resilient Transit Act
By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff
“Your family is my fight,” said Hochul at a rally in Rochester on Apr 21. “I didn’t know I’d have to roll up the sleeves so soon and really launch into a fight [but] this is for all of you and I will not sign a state budget — I’ve said this from the very beginning — that does not fight these federal changes and put New Yorkers first.”
Subways or submarines? Sen. Kristen Gillibrand and Rep. Adriano Espaillat reintroduced the Resilient Transit Act last week on July 16, coinciding with the recent flooding in MTA stations across the city.
State Assemblymember Nikki Lucas noted that plenty of politicians try to use the state budget as leverage to push policy. She said that her constituents weren’t ex cited about some of the proposals, such as the mask ban, the changes to involuntary commitment laws, the ban on cell phones in schools, and the discovery laws.
Consequently, the New York City budget is also late. But, the City Council did put out a response to the mayor’s preliminary Fiscal 2026 budget report on April 1. There’s still discus-
ters and immigration services, which haven’t really shown up in the state budget yet. They’re also worried that the “unpredictability and antagonism of the Trump administration,
Among a laundry list of items in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, Hochul is pushing for middle-class tax cuts, expanding the Child Tax Credit over two years, providing inflation refund checks of up to $500, free school breakfast and lunch for students, full repeal of the State and Local Tax deduction, $370 million for public safety and law enforcement initiatives, and $77 million for cops in New York City subways.
The bill would put $300 million towards retrofitting public transportation systems against climate change-induced disasters through an existing U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) formula fund program.
communities that have been targeted and overpoliced. We need to decide what’s a good idea and what has consequences that may in fringe on people’s rights,” said Lucas.
munities,” said New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh on April 21 at a rally at City Hall.
“It is beyond time that we demand the city stand up and fight for every single person
More controversially, Hochul’s plans call for changes to the involuntary commitment laws, which would impact street homeless individuals with mental illness; amendments to Kendra’s Law, which deals with individuals with serious mental illness mandated to outpatient treatment; and reforms to the state’s discovery law, which puts pressure on prosecutors to hand over evidence to defendants and their lawyer indiscriminately in court cases.
“You’ve heard the phrase discovery laws right? It’s just about the evidence of a crime
“The Resilient Transit Act of 2025 establishes the first-ever dedicated funding stream to proactively strengthen our transit systems, while working to make them more durable in the face of extreme weather and climate-driven threats,” said Rep. Espaillat in a statement. “I’m proud to join Sen. Gillibrand to introduce this critical piece of legislation once again, ensuring our infrastructure not only withstands storms today but continues to serve communities tomorrow. Together, we are committed to investing in public transit and safeguarding the lifeblood of cities around the nation.”
semblymember Stefani Zinerman and Sen ator Jessica Ramos, are worried about the funding for childcare. They’ve supported the Empire State Campaign for Child Care (ESCCC), which is a group of parents and child care providers demanding that the state fund the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), a permanent child care workforce pay equity fund, and statewide universal childcare.
“This is more than a procedural delay, it is an affront to the very spirit of co-governance, where each branch of government must do its part to serve the people, not concentrate power,” wrote Zinerman.
vocates are calling for at least $169 million in funding for immigration legal services, $10
State of Good Repair grants provide capital assistance for transit agencies to maintain their lines in urbanized areas and such a formula would disburse funding if the bill passes. The Resilient Transit Act could help bankroll standalone projects or bolster broader resiliency efforts to better prepare for natural
Ramos, who is a mayoral candidate this year, added that she has a few more budget proposals like getting rid of the state’s minimum wage requirements for child care
disasters fueled by climate change like earthquakes, wildfires and floods. A few environmental justice provisions were added onto the reintroduced bill. Gillibrand’s office pointed to exacerbated impacts to Black and Brown New Yorkers due to more transit use and
er Bank and worker-owned language service cooperatives, $24 million for adult literacy, $4 million for Access Health NYC, universal childcare, legislation to support street vendors, expanding housing vouchers to all residents regardless of immigration status, and a ban on collaboration between city agencies and federal immigration enforcement. The city and state executive budget negotiations are ongoing. Though, at least one poll speculates that the deal will be finished and inked by April 30 or the beginning of May at the latest.
A subway station that had earlier flooded remains closed after a state of emergency was declared in New York Thursday, Sept 2, 2021, as the remnants of Hurricane Ida remained powerful as it moved along the Eastern seaboard. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams appears on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
See MAYORAL MONEY on page 27
State’s adult care facility lacks oversight — state comptroller finding
By TANDY LAU AmNews Staff Reporter
The state comptroller’s onsite audits of adult care facilities turned up a half-empty vodka bottle, a glass hand pipe, and deep concerns for the New York Department of Health’s (DOH) oversight of assisted-living housing for more than 37,000 people. A report published on July 9 delineated these findings, which were investigated from January 2018 to October 2024.
“Regular and routine inspections of these facilities, and correcting problems, ensure residents are not left in unsafe or unsanitary conditions,” said state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in a statement. “If the state Department of Health isn’t conducting timely inspections or following up to make sure violations are corrected, then vulnerable residents could be left at risk.”
Adult care facilities house people who do not live independently due to factors like age and disability status. They should not be conflated with the more regulated nursing homes, which provide more intensive care. Not all residents are seniors, but many are. DOH licenses and regulates the state’s 500+ adult care facilities through inspections every 12 to 18 months and investigations of resident complaints.
“One really important distinction between nursing homes and adult care facilities is that there are no federal safety standards for adult care facilities at all,” said Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition. “This is of concern to the public, because more and more people who, in the past, would go to a nursing home are now going into these adult care facilities.”
DOH did not promptly inspect 21 out of the 30 sites sampled by the audit. Some inspections were three to five years late. Follow-ups are mandated for violations and potential endangerment found during full inspections. However, DOH could not provide evidence that it followed up on any of the required citations in the sampled facilities. The state comptroller also observed “uncorrected issues” from earlier inspections, such as expired medications and lack of basic first aid training among staff.
Investigations also struggled to keep pace with agency standards. The audit found DOH could not provide evidence of investigations for 101 of 569 allegations stemming from 38 complaints. Results from such investigations must be reported to the corresponding facility within 30 days, but the state comptroller found many reports missed the deadline and seven reports were not issued at all. More than half of the late reports investigated substantiated allegations, including resident-on-resident abuse.
“You need to have regular inspections,” said Tina Kim, deputy comptroller for state government accountability. “When a complaint is lodged, people need to be listened to, so you need to actually do appropriate
investigations, and when those investigations and inspections are complete, you need to basically properly provide that information to the facility so they can fix it, and then you need to follow up to make sure that it’s actually done.
“It is important if you want the people to follow the rules and the regulations when they’re not doing that. That needs to be pointed out, and it needs to be followed up upon to make sure that, basically, residents are not being placed at risk.”
Elder care stands as a priority for the state comptroller as the New York City population gets older at an unprecedented rate, said Kim. Communities of color primarily fuel the city’s aging growth: The population of older Black adults grew by 68% from 2000
to 2023. Older Asian and Hispanic populations saw even larger gains in the city.
Mollot said the audit’s findings, unfortunately, do not surprise him, but they remain upsetting and depressing. However, the state comptroller’s office could not interview residents, enter private rooms, or review medical records. With no federal oversight, personal accounts probably paint the most complete picture.
“What I’ve heard over and over again is people living in fear,” said Mollot. “Not everyone, because there are good facilities out there that are well run, but in the absence of good rules and enforcement of those rules, it’s really voluntary.”
“I wish people would … have a little bit more compassion and empathy toward
the elderly and disabled, instead of treating [them as] prisoners and cash money [as a] billion-dollar business,” said Open Doors reality poet Shannon Nelson.
DOH pointed to COVID-19–related setbacks in the department’s “normal surveillance timelines” and said oversight is making progress toward getting back up to speed. A tracking system for monitoring compliance launched in 2024.
“Especially on critical audits like this one, they are required to give us a response in 180 days to tell us what the status of the recommendations [is],” said Kim. “But more importantly than that, a year after the audit was issued, we come back and we check to see what the status of recommendations [is], and we do some testing.”
NYS State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. (NYS Comptroller photo)
Ben Jealous placed on leave from the Sierra Club amid controversy
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
The Sierra Club, in a move reflecting tension at the influential grassroots environmental organization, has sidelined its executive director, Benjamin Jealous, as controversy has ensued over his tenure there.
However, several people defending him say that he is the victim of unfair treatment, untenable expectations, and racial discrimination as he has tried to steer the group out of a scandal involving its previous leader.
“We have worked with Ben closely throughout his tenure as executive director, and speak from experience. Ben is under attack by many who, through a pattern of misinformation, character assassination, and discrimination, seek to oust him from his position and drive him out of the Sierra Club,” said Aaron Mair, former president of the Sierra Club’s board of directors, and Chad Hanson former longtime national Sierra Club board member and research ecologist with the John Muir Project, in a letter to the organization. “We urge Sierra Club leaders to raise their voices and speak out against this smear campaign.”
Jealous, 52, served as the former president and chief executive officer of the NAACP for five years before stepping down in 2013. He made a run for governor of Maryland in 2018, and was named the executive director of the Sierra Club in December 2022 after an investigation a year before that revealed a toxic work culture and an alleged rape incident. He is the first Black person to hold the position.
Last week, the organization told reporters of the change in his status with them.
“Ben has gone on leave,” Sierra Club Chief Communications Officer Jonathon Berman confirmed in response to a query from the AmNews, stopping short of saying that Jealous was ushered out. “The Sierra Club does not comment on personnel matters.”
Mair, a retired New York State public health epidemiological-spatial analyst, said there is an underlying cause behind the rupture between Jealous and the Sierra Club.
“[A Board member] David Holtz — basically, Ben called him out and said you’re undermining our position, this is problematic, and so Dave immediately tried to come back, saying Ben was threatening him,” said Mair. “Now, all of a sudden, everyone is scared of the angry Black man, which is bullcrap. It’s one of those things where you know you screwed up.”
Jealous’s leave comes after several rounds of layoffs were announced, raising tension among local chapters, “bad faith” contract negotiations, and complaints from the Progressive Workers Union (PWU), which is an external entity separate from the club. Jealous was also slammed in a staff letter for not articulating a concrete strategy to fight back against President Donald Trump’s an-
ti-environmental agenda.
The PWU claims that Jealous has eliminated the environmental justice campaigns and equity team, as well as “laid off a disproportionate number of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)” staff. Union members overwhelmingly passed a noconfidence vote on Jealous last year.
A letter headed by Robert Bullard to the group’s board of directors also expressed concerns about Jealous’s ability to do his job.
Bullard said that Jealous and the Sierra Club had made specific commitments to Black homeowners in the flood-damaged Shiloh community in Coffee County, Alabama, that never came to fruition. “Residents have come to feel a deep sense of betrayal and left hanging when the promise of securing an attorney and commitment to support legal action against the Alabama DOT [Department of Transportation] never materialized,” Bullard wrote on his website.
“And then weeks of silence ensued and no updates.”
The Sierra Club’s Board of Directors voted in June 2025 to approve a $144 million budget for fiscal year 2025–2026, despite strong opposition from volunteer leaders and the PWU. The budget resolution said there was no net operating deficit. Mair, who was a member of the club’s finance committee, said the layoffs were the consequence of a $40 million budget deficit that preceded Jealous’s tenure. Jealous had to balance the budget by cutting “unnecessary and non-staff costs” and reducing staff, said Mair, and was vilified by the PWU for doing so.
Mair said the Sierra Club has been experiencing a “culture war” along with a budget crisis since 2020’s racial reckoning and the death of George Floyd. The club’s staunch “nature conservationists” are clashing with the growing number of younger and more diverse club staff who are focused on
moving the needle on environmental and social justice initiatives, he said.
“Most of our actions against inequity have to do with a legal issue, policy, or rule or regulatory framework. The way to challenge is through your elected leaders, civil society, and democracy,” said Mair. “If that is bogged down through malapportionment and sheer white racism, then Black people end up with toxic and dirty environments. They become the dumping ground. They become the zones to sacrifice.“
Mair said that he does not want to see Jealous removed from the Sierra Club because of what that could look like for the future, particularly for a group that pursues environmental justice.
“If he is fired, that would be a very dangerous [precedent] to cross as a person of color because it’s totally a double standard.
No white executive ever has been fired because labor had organized a disinformation campaign. There’s nothing there.”
Benjamin Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP, speaking with attendees at event titled “The Corporatization of Criminal Justice” hosted by
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at the Beus Center for Law and Society at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. 2017.
(Gage Skidmore via Flickr.)
Kimaada Le Gendre brings life to Queens Museum
By ESMERALDA MORAN Special to the AmNews
For Kimaada Le Gendre, becoming a teacher was not what she planned, but things changed and that’s a good thing.
“Both my parents are teachers. A lot of my family members— aunts, uncles, all of that — were teachers. … when I went to college, I definitely wanted to carve my own path,” said Le Gendre.
It was when she attended law school that the interest in education was sparked for the Queens native. Inspired by an environmental education class, Le Gendre connected her love of policy to the world of education she already knew, leading her to pitching the school where her mother worked — the Cambria Center for the Gifted Child — for an opportunity to teach environmental education.
The program was a success, and the principal of the school asked Le Gendre to stay to teach the class with an emphasis on teaching through the colonized lens. She already had experience with educating students in that manner while teaching at its sister school, the Cambria School of Excellence.
“It was a beautiful and rare opportunity … to really create curriculum that was rooted in social justice,” she said.
When Le Gendre joined the Queens Museum in January 2020, months before the COVID pandemic hit, she was an education manager. She focused on the adjustment of the museum’s youth programming, using her background in education to create a curriculum and curate a program that would benefit teens and their engagement with the museum.
When the pandemic hit, Le Gendre was faced with the challenge of maintaining engagement with youth through other means, using remote platforms like Zoom to maintain a connection with people.
“We wanted to make sure that the humanity aspect of it wasn’t lost because now I’m staring at you on a screen,” she said.
When the pandemic ended, many of the programs Le Gendre implemented through COVID continued, although now on a hybrid schedule to accommodate the change in engagement that it created. Le Gendre would remain education manager until May 2024, when she was appointed director of education and community engagement. The new position came with a change in the department as well, handling not only education programs but also exhibits related to public programs, as well as cultural and community events. The increase in programs came with the responsibility of maintaining the relationships, which Le Gendre said is important to keep.
“We definitely believe in trust building,” Le Gendre said. “We work with a lot of amazing community partners, and those community partnerships don’t happen overnight, this trust-building that has to happen over time. And we take those relationships very seriously, because sometimes they reach parts of the
Black
borough that we [can’t] reach.”
Le Gendre takes pride in the community aspect of the museum, citing it as one of their biggest strengths. The museum, located in Flushing, is locally driven, not guided by tourism like other museums in the city. Le Gendre is aware of the lack of awareness of the museum and wants to change that.
“I started realizing the hyper-local community knew the Queens Museum, but folks in South Jamaica and Rockaway and stuff like that, they didn’t know,” she said. “A big part of me also wanting to be there was this idea of ‘Okay, we need to reach other folks who are in Queens’ so that they feel like this is their space, too.”
Le Gendre emphasized the museum’s engagement with the community and continued efforts to maintain trust to build something that is a reflection of not only the museum, but of the neighborhood it resides in. With the implementation of programs such as the Queens Teens Institute for Art & Social Justice, Le Gendre understands the trust of the community is earned, not expected.
Le Gendre’s experience in working in a museum brought up acknowledgment of an arguably elitist culture that can come with that environment, making it easier to exclude groups of people who may not have had a prior connection to the arts.
“There are a lot of folks who think, ‘Oh my gosh, working in an art museum, you have to have this.’ I did not once take an art class in college, because my focus was so different. It’s one of those things where you can definitely take the traditional journey, but you can also meander, and you can also come from different viewpoints.”
In turn, Le Gendre is committed to holding the museum accountable for engaging in the community. In her current position, she said her work deals with more interaction with the community, granting her the
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Adams claims his administration is ‘most pro-housing in city history’
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
Let Mayor Eric Adams tell it and he would say he is the proud poster boy for building more housing across the city. In an op-ed he wrote for “Harlem World” magazine, he said he has the “most prohousing administration in city history.”
Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) plan, an overhaul of the city’s zoning rules to allow for more housing in every City Council district, was approved in 2024. The goal of the plan is to build 500,000 homes by 2032. As a complement to the mayor’s plan, the City Council also passed City for All to deepen commitments to preserving affordable housing and homeownership.
“When our administration came into office, we were clear that our city could not afford to keep kicking the can down the road on housing; it was not enough to tinker around the edges of our housing crisis,” wrote Adams, who is seeking a second term in office, “and we could not pass the buck off to a future administration.”
A number of housing developments have received Adams’s stamp of approval recently.
Adams announced the Ridge Street Apartments, a 16-story building for seniors on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The building is part of the city’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program, offering 190 studio and onebedroom apartments for low-income seniors age 62 and older at or below 50% of the area median income (AMI). The project is expected to cost $176 million, with the Adams administration contributing $32 million. Construction is expected to begin later this year and be completed by 2028, according to the city.
“We passed the first citywide zoning reform in 60 years to build a little more housing in every neighborhood and advanced five ambitious neighborhood plans to scrap outdated zoning in neighborhoods like Jamaica and Bronx Metro North,” Adams continued. “Because of these historic efforts, we are proud to call ourselves the most pro-housing administration in city history.”
More examples of the city’s efforts include breaking ground on the Innovative Urban Village housing development in East New York, Brooklyn, on July 15. The multi-phase redevelopment project spans 11 buildings over several acres of land. The campus will belong to the Christian Cultural Center, which promises to create 385 affordable and supportive units at up to 80% of the AMI in the
first phase. Another 94 apartments are reserved for households in need of support services such as case management, legal advice, and nutritional support.
A second phase includes two buildings that aim to build 453 income-based affordable rental units. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) allocated $47 million for the site, reserving it for its “extremely … low-income affordability program.”
The Brownsville Arts Center & Apartments (BACA) project aims to build 283 affordable rental apartments, at between 30% and 70% of the AMI, as well as a 28,000-square-foot cultural arts center on a city-owned site in Brooklyn. The project is expected to cost $254 million, with the mayor’s office contributing nearly $100 million in city subsidies.
Finally, the city has also approved plans to reshape central corridors in heavily trafficked neighborhoods like the Bronx-Metro North Station Area plan for uptown and the Bronx; the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use plan in Brooklyn; a plan to convert vacant offices into housing in Manhattan; and in Queens, the Jamaica Now Neighborhood Action plan and the OneLIC Neighborhood revamp of Long Island City’s waterfront.
“Study after study validates the impact of increased housing production in slowing the pace of rent growth,” said a Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) spokesperson. “A wide range of elected officials now advocate(s) for reforms to accelerate housing production and should be commended for adopting data-driven policy over NIMBYism.”
New York University’s (NYU) Furman Center’s Supply Skepticism Revisited study from 2023 found that increasing housing supply reduces or slows growth in rentals in the region, according to REBNY.
Many agree that more housing is part of the solution to the city’s housing and affordability crisis, but there is concern that the push to build will ultimately harm historically Black and Brown or low-income communities being built in.
“The Adams Administration’s commitment to building more housing, catalyzed by ‘City of Yes,’ is certainly commendable and should be celebrated.
In the most simple terms, increasing the housing supply stands to benefit all New Yorkers,” said Christine C. Quinn, president and CEO of Win (formerly Women in Need) in a statement. “However, to truly be pro-housing, that housing must be affordable and accessible.”
The issue of preventing current tenants
Mayor Eric Adams holds in-person media availability at City Hall, Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
(Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
Ridge Street Apartments will deliver 190 truly affordable homes for seniors on Lower East Side. (Handel Architects LLP)
and homeowners from fleeing the city due to gentrification or high rents while new housing is being built is still present. It is an area where Adams has met criticism.
“The Adams Administration’s recently proposed rent hike on CityFHEPS recipients runs counter to that mission and will make housing harder to access for hundreds of hardworking families across our city,” added Quinn. “The Administration has an opportunity to truly lead on housing, but only if they reverse course on shortsighted policies like the CityFHEPS rent hike and begin to prioritize affordability and accessibility in policymaking.”
On June 30, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted to raise rents by 3% on a one-year lease and 4.5% on a twoyear lease. This was the fourth year in a row that rents were increased for 2.4 million rent-stabilized New Yorkers, for a total of 12% while Adams has been in office, said housing advocates. Although the RGB is an independent body, they criticized RGB board members appointed by Adams.
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee challenging Adams in November’s general election, has also slammed the mayor over the latest rent hike and has been especially vocal about implementing a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments during
his campaign.
Kai Cogsville, communications director for the New York Interfaith Commission for Housing Equality and founder of Defend Harlem, which spent much energy on protesting the One45 housing development in Harlem recently approved by the City Council, said that he “doesn’t necessarily think pro-housing is good or bad.” He does believe that any housing built should prioritize being affordable for essential, working class households with incomes from $30,000 to $60,000. “Those are the folks being priced out. They need to build for those folks,” said Cogsville.
Cogsville’s father, Donald Cogsville, was president and a founding member of the Harlem Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) in 1995. The HUDC was dissolved by former Gov. George Pataki in favor of a state-controlled agency.
Cogsville believes that recreating the HUDC with affordable housing entities funded by the state could be a solution to the city’s housing crisis.
Adams is set to launch a City of Yes for Families plan this year, which is a set of zoning proposals and housing initiatives meant to help families stay in the city, such as co-located housing and schools, more grocery stores, the Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) program to encourage the creation of more playgrounds, and better public transit stations.
BACA will bring hundreds of new affordable homes and a world-class cultural center to Brownsville, Brooklyn. (Aufgang Architects photo)
Brooklyn deed theft victims push back in case against attorney
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
Janet Bruce, a woman who previously owned the three-bed, twobathroom single-family home at 161 East 29th Street in Flatbush, Brooklyn, is living in a senior living facility.
Bruce, 73, said she’s grateful to have a place to live after all she’s been through.
She and her lawyers are still waiting to go to trial against Sanford “Sandy” Solny, the former attorney who was recently tried and convicted for stealing 11 residential properties in Brooklyn.
Bruce said that in 2013, when her now-deceased husband, James, told her he wanted to sell their home a mere seven years after they purchased it, she turned to a family friend for advice. James had complained the house was not worth trying to hold onto, particularly since their extended family members were barely speaking to each other.
The Bruces had also missed several mortgage payments to Chase Bank after James suffered a stroke. After their mortgage was transferred from Chase to Citibank, Citibank initiated foreclosure proceedings against them.
Bruce said she reached out to her Realtor friend, Desiree Hooper, for help. “I got back to her, and she said, ‘Look, I know of someone by the name of Sanford Solny who is going to do a short sale, and what’s going to happen is that he’s going to give you guys, pay you guys, some money. And he’s going to pay off the rest of the mortgage, and free you guys totally from the debt.’”
Hooper is now deceased, but Bruce claims in her lawsuit that Hooper introduced her to Solny. Hooper told her that Solny and a company Solny’s daughter owned called A to Z Corp. would help arrange the short sale of the Bruces’ home. They would pay off the mortgage, so the Bruces would no longer be in debt, and even pay the Bruces $7,000 in cash in return for title to their home.
Just before March 9, someone from A to Z Corp. called the Bruces to ask if they had a lawyer to represent them. When they said they did not, the A to Z Corp. employee said they could provide a lawyer.
The Bruces met with Sanford and his daughter Shandelle Solny at their East 29th Street home on Sunday, March 9, 2014. “The time set up to do the transaction
was 6 p.m.,” Janet Bruce recalled.
“All of the parties were there: Desiree Hooper, my late husband, his daughter Vanessa Bruce … we were all waiting there for Solny … minutes to 8 (it was very late), minutes to 8, the doorbell rang. Solny came in and saw me, and he said, ‘Are you guys ready to go?’”
Standing in the dining area, Solny laid documents out on the table and pointed out where he wanted the Bruces to sign. Solny, Janet says, presented himself as the Bruces’ lawyer during the signing, even though his law license had been suspended since May 24, 2012, and was not due to be reinstated until May 24, 2014.
“I was never given the chance to read the documents,” said Janet — “none of us were. And what Solny was doing was flipping the pages, part of the pages, and just saying, ‘Sign, initial. Sign, initial.’ And I went straight ahead doing that.
“Before you know it, it was less than 15 minutes, and the transaction was over. A few weeks later, I got a call … from his office and [someone] said we have 45 days to vacate the premises.”
Janet said her husband moved to a rehabilitation facility in a nursing home soon after the signing, and she found herself having to coordinate moving three floors of furniture. After selling some
items and having people from her church come by to take others, she simply left everything else.
Back and forth with Solny in court
She was homeless. “One night, I walked into a shelter to see if I could get somewhere to stay, but they told me I would have to be in general population, and when I looked at the persons that were coming in, I burst into tears and walked out.” Eventually, at age 67, Janet was able to get enough money to pay for a single room in a building. “But I lost everything; we lost everything. My husband is deceased, and for the past few years, I’m back and forth with Solny in court, fighting to see what I can get. But everything — I’ve lost it.”
Janet said she’s grateful for the attorneys at the Lienhard & Grumbach law firm who have taken up her fight. “The fight is still on because it’s not over yet.”
Bruce v. Solny, first filed in 2020, was postponed while Solny fought Brooklyn District Attorney charges of defrauding and stealing 11 homes from a total of 15 people. Now, though, the case should be able to proceed.
After initially feeling relieved to have worked with Solny to clear her debts and get rid of the house,
credit continued to be destroyed.” Brooklyn’s D.A. agreed that Bruce appeared to have been scammed out of her home.
By June 18, 2018, Solny pled guilty to a felony in Queens County Supreme Court and was convicted. “Five voided deeds were returned to the rightful homeowners,” a Queens D.A. spokesperson said in an email correspondence with the AmNews earlier this year. “$100,000 in restitution [was returned] to the victims and an additional $100,000 in forfeiture funds. He was placed on a monitor but that has since expired. He also received five years’ probation, which has also expired.”
Solny’s attorneys were asked to comment on the alleged incidents in the case. Calls made to them by AmNews reporters were unsuccessful.
Bruce realized that foreclosure notices were still coming to her. She visited Citibank to try to speak with someone about it, but bank representatives refused to talk to her. Janet Bruce said that in 2017, she reached out to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and met with a representative.
The Brooklyn D.A.’s office knew that Solny had been indicted and charged by the Queens D.A.’s Office in February 2017 with stealing various properties between August 2012 and January 2017. A joint investigation into the case by the Queens D.A.’s Economic Crimes Bureau and New York City’s Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation had put together a list of the properties Solny and his associates were suspected of stealing. The Bruces’ home at 161 East 29th Street was on the list.
In a press release dated March 1, 2017, the Queens D.A.’s office claimed that Solny and his associates “allegedly collected rental income from individuals or from the City’s Housing Authority or Human Resources Administration (who were paying shelter expenses for individuals residing at the properties), [while] the homeowners’ properties continued to undergo the foreclosure process and the homeowners’
There’s no guarantee that Janet Bruce will regain her former home, but she hopes her Brooklyn Supreme Court case, which accuses Solny and his team of legal malpractice, breach of contract, fraud, and fraudulent inducement, will be among many to dismantle the Solny empire of 240 homes. Bruce’s case asserts that Solny and a coordinated group of scammers filed a newly signed deed to Bruce’s home under a limited liability company they created called E. 29 Corp. They placed tenants in the home and allegedly charged $3,000 a month in rent. Solnys’ team, according to Bruce’s lawsuit, collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent despite never paying off the Bruces’ mortgage. When Citibank again attempted to foreclose on the property because the mortgage was not paid and no short sale had taken place, Solny’s associates contacted Bruce, asking her to sign more papers to save the home from foreclosure. When Bruce responded that she thought the short sale had already taken place, she was told the sale was simply taking longer than expected.
“My take on this,” Bruce told the AmNews, “is that a lot of persons are working along with Solny, so whether he is in prison or he’s not, he just continues among the same type of [criminal] people. When I look at Solny, personally –– because every time he goes to court, I look at him –– he has no remorse, his lawyers don’t care. I’m saying this without any apology –– I’m saying exactly what the Pope said to one of our leaders: ‘Enough is enough!’”
In a letter to a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, Janet Bruce alleges she and her husband were victims of real estate fraud. (Copy of letter from Bruce v. Solny case exhibits photo)
Divine Nine News
Brooklyn Sigmas host annual Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant Awards Celebration
Small businesses in Brooklyn get a boost every year from a local chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
This week, the Kappa Beta Sigma chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. will host their 4th Annual Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant Awards Celebration in Brooklyn on July 24 at 6 p.m.
The chapter, also known as the Brooklyn Sigmas, holds this event in honor of Bro. Dr. Luc El-Art Severe, a member of Phi Beta Sigma and an attorney who passionately advocated for the small business community in Brooklyn and throughout the State of New York.
“The Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant is a testament to our ongoing commitment to supporting and uplifting the Brooklyn small business community, a cause dear to Dr. Severe’s heart,” said Juan Perez, a member of the Brooklyn Chapter. “We are proud to continue his legacy by providing essential resources to entrepreneurs who are the backbone of our local economy.”
Powered by the Brooklyn Sigmas’ Bigger and Better Business Committee, a $2,500 award will be presented during the celebration to Nadege Fleurimond, owner of BunNan, a Haitian-fusion restaurant in Brooklyn where the event is being held.
The grant was established to help Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises thrive.
According to Tiffany Joy Murchison, the inaugural grant recipient and owner of TJM & Co. Media Boutique, “Receiving the Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant was a pivotal moment for TJM & Co. Media Boutique. (The grant) provided the crucial support we needed to grow and continue serving our community. I am incredibly grateful for the Brooklyn Sigmas’ commit-
ment to fostering small business success and I encourage all eligible businesses to consider applying in the future.”
Bigger and Better Business became the organization’s first national program in December 1924 when it was introduced during the fraternity’s Tenth Anniversary Conclave in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. website, “When Bigger and Better Business was adopted as a national program, special emphasis was placed on encouraging and promoting Negro businesses. At its inception, the program sought to encourage Negro businesses to improve their business acumen, efficiency and service to the public, to be competitive with other businesses.”
Interested in attending the 4th Annual Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant Awards Celebration? Visit: bit.ly/LucSevereGrant.
For more information about the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Brooklyn Chapter’s Bigger & Better Business initiatives and the Dr. Luc El-Art Severe Small Business Recovery Grant, visit brooklynsigmas.org.
Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, Morehouse College alumnus and senior pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, presents Morehouse College President Dr. David A. Thomas with framed photo commemorating historic ties between
Inaugural grant winner Tiffany Joy Murchison, alongside family of Dr. Luc El-Art Severe and Brooklyn Sigmas Bigger and Better Business Committee.
The Late Dr. Luc El-Art Severe.
The Brooklyn Sigmas. (Photos courtesy of Brooklyn Sigmas/Dende Photography)
KAYLYN KENDALL DINES, MBA
FDNY EMS Local 2507 demands that fallen EMT comrade be memorialized
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union of emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and fire inspectors, boycotted the National EMS Memorial Service Weekend of Honor for the second year in a row.
The annual ceremony, held in Arlington, Va., on July 19, honors first responders who lost their lives in the line of duty. Local 2507 members continued to protest what they describe as ongoing disrespect toward one of their members.
Frederick D. Whiteside, 43, an FDNY EMT veteran of 22 years who served at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001, was working at Public Safety Answering Center 2 in the Bronx when he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died on November 17, 2023.
“This is an extremely stressful job,” said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507. “It is known that heart disease goes with our field of work: It’s extremely stressful. You know, you have 100 units on your screen at any given time that you are responsible for; that means you’re responsible for 200 people.”
PSAC 2 is known as one of the busiest call centers in the country, and union leaders like Barzilay recognize just how the workload can affect members.
“Especially in the New York State EMS, it’s almost like being an air traffic controller; that’s what being here is: It’s stressful,” he continued. “You make one mistake, and somebody’s life could be at stake. If [you] use the wrong key or type the wrong code into the system, something drastic could happen. We have people who go out on disability because of their heart condition from this job.”
The FDNY officially recognized Whiteside’s death as a line-ofduty fatality and honored him with a plaque dedication ceremony in November 2024. Whiteside’s mother, Audrey Anderson, attended the ceremony alongside Whiteside’s then 14-year-old daughter and other family members and friends. They received a trio of Teddy bears crafted from Whiteside’s uniform. Each bear features Whiteside’s official dispatch number and badges la-
beled “EMT,” and one is equipped with Whiteside’s former 911 dispatch headset.
FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said at the plaque ceremony that “Frederick Whiteside was a dedicated and compassionate EMT — both on the streets and on the radio. He had the skills we look for in all members: empathy, compassion, bravery, and selflessness. He was a great mentor to the next generation of our medical professionals and made sure he passed down his knowledge and experience to others.”
Whiteside was recognized by the FDNY as the 1,160th member to die in the line of duty.
Anderson remembers him as the child who became her best friend after her husband died in 2005.
“That’s my only child,” she said. “And having my only child gone –– which I call him my ‘son shine’ –– my heart is going to be broken forever. They have honored my son at other memorial institutions, and to me, as a mother and as a grandmother, to know that my granddaughter will never see her father again … A lot of these things mean a lot to her because she can have this for the rest of her life, and she will know how much her father loved his job and loved her.”
Calls and emails from the AmNews to the National EMS Memorial Service were not answered by press time, but Barzilay said he can’t understand why the national organization won’t memorialize Whiteside. He said that when the union asked to have Whiteside memorialized, they were told that because he was a dispatcher, they would not do it. However, Barzilay said the organization has memorialized dispatchers from other states in the past, with the same job description and duties, on their wall.
“I don’t know if it’s because of the new administration that [the National EMS Memorial Service] has [not done this], and they don’t understand how things operate in the FDNY, but there are many people on that wall who are not even EMTs or paramedics. But because they died while doing a rescue job, they put them on it. [There are] a lot of people who are frustrated with them, even internally — with some of the people who are making this decision.”
Whiteside, who was 43 when he died, was recognized as the 1,160th member of the FDNY as 1,160th member of FDNY to die while on duty. (FDNY EMS Local 2507)
FDNY EMT Frederick D. Whiteside was honored in New York City at a plaque ceremony attended by his family and colleagues. Family members received three Teddy bears made from his uniform, each featuring his dispatch number and an EMT badge, and one with his 9-1-1 headset.
Understanding the narrative 80 years later: African Americans and the A-bomb
By JANAE ANTRUM Special to the AmNews
August 2025 marks 80 years since U.S. warplanes dropped atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ushering in a surrender by Japan and effectively bringing World War II to a close.
Many stories are told about the bombing that brought in the nuclear age, including that of physicist Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, but author and New York University science historian Peder Anker believes there are other tales to tell as well, including the reaction of ordinary people, particularly marginalized groups. His book, “For the Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering,” released earlier this year, offers new perspectives that challenge the dominant social narrative.
In his research, Anker delved into newspaper archives, seeking to understand how the bomb was portrayed and how ordinary individuals, especially African Americans, reacted. His findings revealed a shocking segregation in the historical narrative
about the atomic bomb — information that often failed to reflect the perspectives of those who were directly affected.
Anker discovered that early resistance to and questioning about the bomb came notably from African American newspapers. Works like Vincent Intondi’s “African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement” further shed light on this critical yet often overlooked aspect of history. Anker argues that the victims of the bomb deserve a more prominent place in the discourse, not just those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also those in America who were exposed to harmful material, particularly Indigenous people whose land was exploited for uranium mining.
In his role as a professor at NYU, Anker emphasizes the necessity for students to engage with the horrific implications of nuclear weapons to prevent their future use. He aims to shift the focus of the discussion back to America, highlighting the local experiences of those who suffered from the
bomb. “It’s easy to mention that all the suffering was in Hiroshima, but that was not true; there was a lot of suffering in America and in the Pacific,” he said.
Anker expresses concern that today’s younger generation may be unaware of the nuclear threat’s true horrors. “If you ask people who are about 60, they’ll say, ‘Yeah, that weapon is horrible,’” he said, reflecting on the perspectives of older generations.
For Anker, ensuring that all voices are included in these narratives is crucial. He noted that when examining the histories in
the development of atomic bombs, the scientists involved are predominantly white, despite the significant contributions by women and scientists of color.
In striving for a more inclusive retelling of history, Anker’s work brings to light the stories of African Americans and others affected by the atomic bomb. Amplifying these voices not only honors their experiences but also advocates for a better understanding of the past. “I want to make sure all voices are being heard and all stories are being told,” Anker said.
For the Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering. (Peder Anker photo)
Peder Anker. (New York University photo)
Moral arc bending toward justice?
Don’t count on it!
Justice in the U.S. for Black Americans, especially those victims of an unwarranted police shooting, is like looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The pot might be there but ain’t no gold in it. The killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville in March 2020 during a botched raid, is one of many cruel examples. While one of the seven officers involved in the raid was convicted, his sentencing for violating Taylor’s civil rights was just 33 months, a far cry from a maximum life in prison sentence.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, was visibly distraught by the sentence delivered by U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, who was appointed by Trump. Some satisfaction may come from the fact that former officer Brett Hankison was sentenced to 33 months in prison — far more than the prosecutors’ recommendation of an unprecedented one-day sentence and three years of probation.
Go figure! And the numbers here, as always in such incidents, are glaringly off-kilter. A 26-year-old Black woman is assailed by 20 bullets, and the shooter gets 33 months. There
is nothing unusual about this arithmetic when placed in the context of police violence and Black victims. We’ve seen it time and time again, and the recent shooting death of Jabari Peoples by the police in Birmingham, Alabama, is another instance where the past is prologue.
Even more egregious in Taylor’s murder is that none of the officers who fatally shot her were charged with a crime at the state or federal level. An additional element of injustice to mix in this empty pot.
Each day brings another tragedy letting Black Americans know how hopeless they are in removing this victimization, this wanton slaughter. The rash of administered consent decrees against police departments and denial of federal funds have has no effect on curtailing the killings, and the situation is increasingly hopeless in these Trumpian times.
Maybe one day that long arc of the moral universe that Dr. King spoke of — the one that bends toward justice — will finally arrive. The release of FBI documents on his assassination is a topic for another time. But don’t count on that arc reaching its destination, not even in your greatgrandchildren’s lifetime.
Turning City-owned land into the housing New Yorkers need
By AHMED TIGANI Acting Commissioner, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
If you’ve ever walked past an empty lot or an underutilized city-owned building and thought, “We should be doing more with this,” you’re not alone.
The truth is, not every vacant lot you pass is City-owned — but those that are each represent an opportunity to put public dollars towards transforming public lands for the public good. And it’s not just vacant land. At HPD, in collaboration with our partner agencies, we are learning from past experience and applying new tools to reimagine how municipal properties and facilities, including parking lots and garages, are used. In a moment of urgent housing need, we have to ask ourselves whether these sites are truly delivering their highest and are best used. When they are not, we must act. And I am proud to say that this approach has been something HPD has leveraged for decades, but in recent years, with greater urgency and new energy.
You can already see the fruits of our labor taking shape. For example, last year, under the leadership of Mayor Adams, New York City’s housing agencies exceeded their shared goal of advancing 24 affordable housing projects on public land within 12 months. We moved forward on 26 projects — surpassing the Mayor’s original target and demonstrating what’s possible when we align resources, leadership, and urgency. These developments benefited from the strong collaboration across City government, nonprofit partners, and private developers — each working together to deliver more housing more quickly and more equitably.
The footprint of this work spans the city –– for instance, there is our project in the upper section of Inwood, where a little-used city parking lot along the Harlem River is being re-
imagined through a community-driven planning process that will deliver upwards of 600 affordable homes and public green space. In Staten Island, we’re converting an old cityowned garage on Jersey Street into over 200 affordable homes and a new community hub. In the Bronx, we just announced plans for The Stemma: 149 deeply affordable, sustainable homes on a long-vacant lot in Crotona Park East.
We are also looking closer to home for opportunities to create new homes for New Yorkers. The headquarters for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, 100 Gold in the heart of lower Manhattan, will be transformed into what we estimate could be between 1,000 and 2,000 new homes –– at least 25% of which will be affordable. This project will produce more affordable homes than have been produced in the entire last decade in this area. HPD is also moving forward with the redevelopment of a City-owned commercial building in Downtown Brooklyn at 395 Flatbush Avenue extension. The City is partnering with our development partners to transform the site into over 1,200 new homes
with, between 250 and 380 affordable units, and new public open space.
In addition to these projects, HPD advanced seven more affordable housing projects on public land, representing 1,070 new homes, through the land use approvals process, known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure or ULURP, in 2024. One of these projects, the Brownsville Arts Center & Apartments will bring not only 283 affordable homes to Brownsville, but also a cultural arts center with performance, rehearsal, and studio space for use by local cultural and arts groups.
Whether it’s building above a public library or converting an empty parking lot, we’re focused on creating homes that serve the New Yorkers who need them most — seniors, formerly homeless households, and low-income families. This is about more than building units. It’s about building a city where everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home. We know this work is urgent, and in a city as resourceful and resilient as New York, an empty lot should never stand in the way of a family having a roof over their head.
The work continues.
Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief
Damaso Reyes: Executive & Investigative Editor
Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor
Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor
Siobhan "Sam" Bennett: Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising
Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus
Ahmed Tigani
(Fibonacci Blue photo via Wikimedia)
Justice for Peoples and our people
By HERB BOYD
There was a time when I worried about the fate of my children; then I wrung my hands about the dangers my grandchildren faced. These days, I am concerned about my great-grandchildren. While my family has been blessed with longevity, I am sure to be personally relieved about the outcomes of my great-greatgrandchildren. But the condition of my people is more than a selfish interest in my family — it’s about all our families, and what happens to one, historically, has resonated throughout our community, with sometimes terrible consequences abroad. I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, 86 years ago, but I was taken from that cauldron of intense racism during the second major migration from the South. Reading about the police shooting death of Jabari Peoples, a promising teenager, brought back memories and a fresh round of anxiety about our young people. What is most disturbing about this tragedy is Gov. Kay Ivey’s support of a state agency’s refusal to release body camera
footage of the shooting, charging that the case must first be thoroughly investigated. She said she was confident “that facts will prevail” in the June 23 shooting. And I am reminded of her recent banning of DEI offices.
Some of those facts should be highly visible and show that Jabari, an aspiring police detective, was shot in the back, sitting in his car with his girlfriend. They were approached after an officer claimed to have smelled marijuana. The officer, whose identity remains undisclosed, said that Jabari reached for a gun, which, if true, should be revealed in the body camera — if that evidence is not tampered with or distorted.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, representing the family, said, “We’re at a disadvantage because they have the video.” Jabari’s parents, Vivian Sterling and William Peoples, were heartbroken and deeply distressed by the loss of their child.
No, he was not a relative, but he was a member of my extended family that stretches back across the ages and hopefully into the future, though with each
passing day we have less and less of a guarantee.
For more than a generation, as a journalist, I have been following these atrocities, and each one brings a deeper sorrow, an unrelieved sense of hopelessness. Soon, I will be off to glory, and I hope I leave behind more than my sorrow. Justice for Jabari and our people!
New York City has a housing affordability crisis. New Yorkers have as close to 0% chance of finding a safe, affordable place to live as they have ever experienced in the nearly 60-year history of the Housing Vacancy Survey.
Our city is already one of the most expensive places in the world to live, and while housing prices and rents are going up, real incomes are flat, making it harder for families — particularly low-income New Yorkers — to maintain their homes.
Recent polling finds that housing affordability is top of mind for NYC voters in this election cycle. One local law makes this all worse, depriving families of income and fueling gentrification at the expense of long-standing residents of New York City’s communities: Local Law 18, with restrictions on short-term rentals like Airbnbs. Instead of mitigating the affordable housing crisis, this burdensome regulation makes it harder for families to stay in their own homes while failing to increase the available supply of housing. Unfortunately, today’s growing housing predicament reminds us of a horror film we’ve all seen before. In the 1960s and 1970s, New York’s neighborhoods experienced truly devastating cycles of housing abandonment. Inflation and other factors, like high fuel costs and unsustainable property taxes, spiked oper-
ating costs, and many homeowners and landlords concluded it was simply more feasible to abandon their properties rather than continue to operate them.
New York City was handed the keys to 100,000 properties from tax foreclosures, making the government the largest landlord in the city. Not a borough of the city was left untouched by the tsunami of abandonment. In some neighborhoods of Brooklyn and the Bronx, entire city blocks went silent with abandoned buildings. Vacancy and abandonment allowed crime to breed freely and made life harder for New Yorkers, threatening the city’s future.
The Housing Partnership was born of this abandonment crisis. Founded by then-Mayor Edward Koch and David Rockefeller in 1983, we worked closely to transform these vacant properties into 35,000 “Partnership Homes” that became the first real pieces of the “American Dream” for Black and Latino households who had never had the opportunity, because of housing and financial discrimination, to own homes.
From Staten Island to the farthest reaches of the Bronx, neighborhoods were reborn with Partnership Homes. Black and Latino New Yorkers built generational wealth via this newfound homeownership — and New York City blossomed from this grand public-private experiment throughout the 1990s into the early 2000s, when those last tax-foreclosed
properties were returned to productive economic use.
At present, we find New York homeowners once again burdened with the same high taxes, inflation, and out-of-control operating costs that fueled New York City’s previous housing abandonment wave. Unfortunately, this time around, we are not seeing innovative public policy that helps New Yorkers continue to afford their homes so they may pass their housing wealth to future generations. What we are getting instead is more burdensome regulation. While some scapegoat shortterm rentals for rising housing costs, the data does not show that restricting them has improved either housing affordability or availability.
Short-term rental income helps New Yorkers stay in their homes and maintain them properly with extra income. Local Law 18 aims to target bad actors, but instead penalizes working-class homeowners, especially in outer borough neighborhoods already under pressure from displacement. In neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and Soundview in the Bronx, where we have had a lot of success in building affordable housing, there simply are not as many hotels as in Manhattan. Without flexible short-term rental options, these neighborhoods lose another economic tool to help maintain safe housing
Summer’s almost over
I don’t want to alarm folks, but summer is almost over. Before we know it, it will be time to get the kids ready for the new school year, have those final beach days, and start thinking about post Labor Day realities. I am definitely not trying to rush summer’s end, but I do need to set a few goals so I can remind myself to take advantage of these waning weeks of summer and hot weather.
I cannot believe it, but I only went to a NYC beach one time this summer. New York has some amazing beaches just a subway ride away. Whether you’re going to Brighton Beach or heading out to Fort Tilden and Riis Beach, they are well worth the trip. Amazing birds, soft sand, waves that aren’t too dramatic, and oftentimes good crowds, they are little gems not far from the hustle and bustle of city life. Considering the Bronx is the only borough attached to mainland America and the other four boroughs are islands, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we have such amazing coastlines just minutes from skyscrapers.
I often write about going to museums and spending time in nature, birding and playing croquet with friends and getting my Vitamin N (for nature). For the remainder of the summer, I would also like to read a lot more. I often get so busy reading the news and magazine articles that lately my fiction reading has fallen to the sidelines. I am
so looking forward to being intentional about reading a bit of fiction before the grind of the school year begins in just a few weeks. I also like to use the summer months to do a little “summer purging”. As the fall begins to creep in, I often forget about some of my favorite sweaters and warmer clothes, largely because I can’t see them in my closet or drawers. I like to spend the summer months clearing out some of my closets and drawers so I can donate to those who are in need, see what is already in my closet, and to make room for more positive energy to come into my life. So, what are your summer plans for the next few weeks? Is sleep and staying in on your list or will it be going out more? Reading more books or writing in a journal? Spending time in nature or going on a trip? Whatever you decide, let’s be intentional about savoring the last few weeks of summer, staying cool, and setting intentions for the remainder of the year. I definitely don’t want to rush summer’s end, but the thought of autumn in New York fills my heart with a level of excitement I cannot measure.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.
CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.
Vivian Sterling, left, and William Peoples hold a photo of their son, Jabari Peoples, during a press conference in Homewood, Ala. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
The Housing Barrier Part 4: Housing shortage leaves gun violence survivors stuck in nursing homes
By SHANNON CHAFFERS Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member
Jonathan Gonzalez was twenty years old when he was shot and paralyzed after getting caught in the middle of a robbery in 2006. Following the incident, Gonzalez underwent rehab at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. He was on a ventilator for three months before he could breathe on his own again.
“I used to drown in sadness for the first thirty days. I cried often. I wanted to be able to walk again,” he recalled.
After six months, Gonzalez’s Medicaid insurance plan that covered his rehab stay ran out, and he had to leave the hospital. But he could not go back home. His family’s apartment was on the fourth floor, and there was no elevator.
“In June of 2007, I was transferred to a nursing home because I didn’t have [anywhere] to go,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez lived at the Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in the Bronx for five years, the time it took for his mother to find an accessible apartment that would accept her Section 8 voucher. The federal government gives the nursing home a two-star rating out of five.
“I was trying to leave [the nursing home] since I got there. But… I depended on my mother to find accessible housing so I was able to move. That took her a while,” Gonzalez said.
Sirr Holmes, an eighteen-year-old from Rochester, New York, went through a sim-
ilar experience. He was shot and paralyzed in 2022 during an altercation at a house party. After his rehab period at Strong Memorial Hospital ended, he was also forced to move to a nursing home — Monroe Community Hospital — because his family could not find accessible housing.
Holmes said his experience at the nursing home was so negative that he decided to leave after two and a half years, even though his family still lives in an inaccessible apartment. The nursing home has a three-star rating.
“I couldn’t really go [anywhere], there wasn’t anything around me. I was weak. And I didn’t really have nobody to talk to there but older people,” Holmes recalled.
Although he is happier living with his family, he still has to be helped in and out of the apartment, an issue highlighted in earlier articles in this series on the challenges gun violence survivors face finding adequate housing.
Ari Ne’eman, a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that a lack of affordable and accessible housing is the main reason young people with disabilities end up in nursing homes, in addition to difficulty accessing long-term care through Medicaid.
“We have this cultural understanding that nursing home [placement] and other forms of institutionalization is something that happens because of the severity of people’s impairment. But in reality, it’s very frequently happening because of policy choices we make and insufficient access to
housing,” he said.
“[It] is pretty straightforward to support someone with paralysis in community, with home and community-based services and personal care attendants, provided that they have access to those services, and provided that they have access to affordable, accessible housing.”
It is unclear how many gun violence survivors are currently living in nursing homes due to inaccessible housing. Data from the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services show that 566 nursing home residents in the state have quadriplegia, 779 residents have paraplegia, and 11,232 residents have hemiplegia. Some of these categories overlap, however, and it is not specified how these residents acquired their impairments.
Miguel Escalon, a physiatrist at Mt. Sinai who helps people rehabilitate from spinal cord injuries in what is called “acute rehabilitation,” estimated that between 30 and 50 percent of his patients go to nursing homes after completing rehab. Aside from Mt. Sinai, many gun violence survivors do acute rehab at NYU Langone (the other hospital in the city with a spinal cord injury rehabilitation center), or are discharged from the trauma unit where they were initially treated without going through acute rehab.
“I have zero idea how many patients there are right now in nursing homes that got shot that I never met, that never got sent to Mt. Sinai or NYU, that have no idea what they could be doing and are just sit-
ting there, and have been sitting there for years,” Escalon said.
“That’s the kind of thought that would keep me up at night,” he continued. “But it can be a big issue to me 24/7, but it’s not going to be a big issue until the city or society makes it a big issue.”
Life in a nursing home: Substandard care and the loss of autonomy
Both Gonzalez and Holmes said that the care they received at the nursing homes was inadequate. Holmes described the staff’s treatment of him as “hit or miss.”
“At the beginning, they acted like they wanted to do their job, and they were there to actually help you,” he explained. “But going on and on, you can see that they were disrespectful… you could have your call bell on, and they could be right at the desk or right at your door, and they will walk away from it, they won’t answer you.”
Gonzalez felt similarly mistreated, and said one nurse refused to help him brush his teeth in the morning.
“I’m paralyzed completely from the neck down. And that requires a full level of care. I need assistance [for] everything, from taking a bath to brushing my teeth, eating, dressing. And a lot of staff, they didn’t really want to do as much,” he said.
“It was upsetting that these people are here at a job, and I have this condition where I am dependent on them, and they are somewhat upset that they have to do more for me than for others.”
See story on next page
Jonathan Gonzalez, 38, lived in a nursing home for five years after he was shot and paralyzed at 20. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Gonzalez)
Natália Méndez, who lived at Beth Abraham at the same time as Gonzalez, said she felt there was not enough staff to attend to patients’ needs.
“If you only [have] three [staff] in a floor of eighty [residents], people are going to be sitting in their urine, people are going to be sitting in their feces, people are going to have trays of food sitting out, that nobody came for, because they didn’t have the time. The smell is putrid,” she said.
The Beth Abraham Center and Monroe Community Hospital did not respond to requests for comment.
The quality of care at nursing homes has become an issue of national concern in recent years, especially following the pandemic. A major report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2022 found that nursing homes in the U.S. are plagued by substandard care, inadequate staffing, poor working conditions, poor oversight and regulation, and a fragmented financing model.
Nursing home residents with spinal cord injuries also face particular challenges. For example, nursing home staff are not typically trained to care for patients with spinal cord injuries.
“If a patient needs assistance transferring into their wheelchair, a lot of times [the staff] are reluctant to do so, just because they don’t have the same training as the medical assistants that work in acute
rehab like Mt. Sinai,” said Garrison Redd, a gun violence survivor who leads a survivor support group at Mt. Sinai.
“So a lot of times, the patients are in their bed for 23 plus hours a day, [with] maybe one hour of therapy.”
Gonzalez said he chose Beth Abraham in part because they had a rehab center where he thought he could continue his recovery. But once he moved in, he realized it was not the same quality as what he was receiving at Mt. Sinai, and stopped going.
“At Mt. Sinai, they were doing therapies for my muscle memory, to train my ligaments and muscles to move again,” he explained. “At the nursing home, they were not offering even half of that.”
Escalon said he was also concerned that gun violence survivors might get sent to lower-quality nursing homes due to bias against them from higher-quality ones.
“Unfortunately, if you take a population of young men, especially minorities, that are injured in a shooting, they’re very very hard to get into a nursing home because I think — right or wrong — I suspect what’s happening on the other end is, this person probably was involved in some kind of nefarious dealings, otherwise, why would they get shot?,” he explained.
“So you can imagine, in theory, a scenario where very few, maybe one or two nursing homes, are going to say yes to a patient for the reasons I postulated, and those nursing homes are the ones that are likely to be the ones that need patients, which are likely to
be the ones that nobody wants to go to,” he continued.
But it’s not just an issue of poor treatment. Nursing homes also infringe on people’s autonomy.
“Even the best nursing home in the world has to regiment people’s lives. Has to say, this is the time when you eat, this is the time when you go to sleep, this is the time when you have access to activities that we choose, in order to deal with the logistics of supporting people with significant needs all in one location,” Ne’eman said.
“When you’re living in your own home, or in your own apartment, and the services are designed around you and your preferences, you make those decisions.”
Nursing homes also take a large portion of permanent residents’ Social Security checks, further limiting independence.
“You only get $50 a month,” explained Yaw Appiadu, Executive Director of the Harlem Independent Living Center. “So if I was getting $800, now I’m in a nursing home and they give me $50… [my] dignity of life goes way down.”
“[It] is very common,” Ne’eman said of the practice. “It’s something that really reflects the lack of freedom that life in a nursing home exemplifies.”
The struggle to leave
The fact that people with disabilities remain in nursing homes even though they could be supported to live in the community costs the state financially. The New
York State Department of Fiscal Services found that one year of care at a nursing home costs about $159,000 per person on average, while the average annual cost for at-home care is about $66,000 per person. Medicaid pays for a significant portion of these nursing home costs, as more than 70 percent of nursing home residents in New York receive Medicaid coverage. Motivated in part by potential cost savings, and in part by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, federal and state governments have made concerted efforts to help residents with disabilities receive care in the community by expanding Medicaid programs that provide home and community-based services (HCBS) and housing assistance. HCBS costs have grown from 12 percent of spending on Medicaid long-term care in 1988 to 59 percent by 2019. A portion of these funds has gone towards nursing home transition programs, which are designed to address the barriers people in nursing homes face transitioning back into the community. New York’s key nursing home transition programs include the Nursing Home Transition and Diversion Waiver (NHTD), the Olmstead Housing Subsidy, Open Doors, and the Rapid Transition Housing Program.
When Gonzalez wanted to move out of his family’s apartment into his own, he used the NHTD program to do so. The waiver provides coverage for attendant care, and residents in need of housing can qualify for
See HOUSING BARRIER on page 16
Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in The Bronx. (Shannon Chaffers photo)
Housing Barrier
Continued from page 15
the NHTD Housing Program for assistance. Gonzalez said the program covers 70 percent of his rent. With a monthly income of $1,000 from Social Security, he pays $345 per month.
Cherice Redd, 35, lived in nursing homes in the city for six years after becoming disabled due to complications from a weight loss surgery. She used the Open Doors program — which provides participants with a transition specialist and helps them access HCBS services — and the Olmstead Housing Subsidy to transition back into the community. With the help of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID), one of the independent living centers the state contracts with to administer these programs, Redd was able to secure athome care and find and afford an accessible apartment in the Bronx.
“With Open Doors, [BCID] was able to help me search and apply [for apartments] … and also advocate for me when I felt like I was not being considered for certain apartments because of my income, [or] because I’m on disability,” Redd explained.
Despite their positive impact, experts point to a series of challenges that prevent these programs from helping as many people as they could.
First, some nursing homes make it difficult for residents to find out about opportunities to transition out of their facilities. A federal law requires nursing homes to ask residents once a year if they would like assistance leaving the nursing home. But both Appiadu and Ne’eman said that there is insufficient compliance with that requirement.
Appiadu explained that if someone in New York indicates they want to leave a nursing home, they are supposed to be referred to the New York Association of Independent Living (NYAIL), the umbrella organization for the state’s independent living centers.
“But what I have seen is that folks want to get out of the nursing home… but the referrals aren’t done. So people are not aware of the programs that are available for them to succeed,” he said.
Gonzalez’s experiences attest to that. He described his efforts to leave the nursing home as a “tug of war” between him and the staff. Although he was assigned a social worker, she did not seem dedicated to the task of helping him leave.
“It wasn’t easy, getting out of there,” he said. “I feel like I wasn’t being helped as much as someone would think.”
Ne’eman said that one reason nursing homes make it difficult for patients to leave is their financial incentive to keep residents there, as Medicaid reimburses nursing homes for long-term patients. This incentive is higher for lower quality nursing homes than higher quality ones due to a difference in Medicare and Medicaid payment rates.
“Medicare pays more for post-acute services, services that are delivered after hospitalization, than Medicaid pays for long-term services,” Ne’eman explained.
“The nursing homes with the higher star ratings... they’re getting people coming in the door who are being paid for by Medicare. And their incentive is, alright let’s support them to return to community on a relatively swift basis.”
On the other hand, nursing homes with lower quality ratings have more trouble attracting short-term patients.
“They’re largely going to be taking the perspective: ok, I have a bed, I want to fill it, Medicaid is going to pay to fill it, and with that in mind, they have relatively little incentive to support people to transition back in the community,” Ne’eman said.
Additionally, whereas nursing home care is a mandatory Medicaid benefit, HCBS services are optional.
“Federal Medicaid law requires states to cover nursing home care without any waiting lists. But states are permitted to maintain long waiting lists to access home and community based services,” Ne’eman explained.
New York is one of a few states that does not cap the amount of people who can access HCBS services, and therefore does not maintain a waitlist for its HCBS programs. But the flexibility states have to design their own HCBS systems has led to a proliferation of programs, each with their own conditions and eligibility requirements, that can be difficult for applicants to navigate. A recent study highlighted how these administrative burdens — like determining one’s eligibility or gathering application materials and medical documentation — stymie disabled peoples’ efforts to live in the community.
“People have a right to live in the community. That’s a clear tenet of the American with Disabilities Act,” explained study co-author Rebecca Johnson, a professor at Georgetown University.
“Everyone is doing their best to try to help people exercise that right, but the reality is just an unfortunate situation where… [it’s] really hard to navigate these processes at a time when people are highly vulnerable and really need access to this help.”
Low wage rates for homecare workers presents another challenge for community living. Those enrolled in a Medicaid HCBS program can find it difficult to hire the support they need. Advocates have pushed the state to increase the minimum wage for homecare workers to help address this shortage.
Ne’eman also said that states need to place greater emphasis on helping younger people leave nursing homes. His study on young people in nursing homes found that the rate of nursing home utilization for younger people with disabilities has declined more slowly than that of older people with disabilities.
Finally, advocates say that the current capacity of the nursing home transition
Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Many gun violence survivors with spinal cord injuries rehabilitate here. (Shannon Chaffers photo)
Room at Bellevue Hospital in New York. (Photo by Seth Wenig/AP)
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programs does not match the demand for assistance.
“We’re working with hundreds of people right now who want to get out of nursing homes… The state does [have] programs to get people out of nursing homes, but there’s just not enough money to do it, and there’s not enough housing,” said Joe Rappaport, Executive Director of BCID.
In 2024, the state Department of Health (DOH) said that 185 individuals transferred out of nursing homes onto the Nursing Home Transition and Diversion Waiver and 490 residents were assisted by the Open Doors program.
In addition, 42 recipients of the Olmstead Housing Subsidy (OHS) transitioned out of nursing homes, as did 15 recipients of the Rapid Transition Housing Subsidy (RTH). But both of these programs reached their capacity before their five-year contracts came to an end last October. This gap, which lasted for about 9 months, limited the amount of new people independent living centers could enroll in the programs. In November 2024, DOH provided a new contract, which they said gave additional funding for both programs.
While it’s not clear how many people in nursing homes are actively looking to leave, or how much it would cost the state to facilitate these transitions, rough calculations based on existing data provides insight into
how much the state saves per person transitioned.
In 2024, the state saved an average of $77,898 for each person on state insurance who transitioned out of a nursing home using Open Doors. In subsequent years, without the initial cost of the transition, those initial savings increase to $93,000 annually. Even if the cost of a housing subsidy is taken into account, (assuming a voucher that covers 70 percent of the average New York state rent), the states’ savings would average $68,502 per year after the initial transition.
The recent federal law which cuts Medicaid will likely restrict the capacity of HCBS services, including nursing home transition programs, in the near term. But the reality remains that a more robust effort towards deinstitutionalization would mean both cost savings for the state and better quality of life for those with disabilities.
“When we talk about community living, when we talk about deinstitutionalization, we’re not just talking about a change in the way that healthcare is delivered,” Ne’eman said. “We’re also talking about freedom.”
Shannon Chaffers is a Report for America corps member and writes about gun violence for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
Cherice Redd sits outside her Bronx apartment building. She used the Open Doors program to leave the nursing home she was at and find accessible housing. (Damaso Reyes photo)
Continued
Office of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID), one of the independent living centers which administers the state’s nursing home transition programs. (Photo courtesy of BCID)
By DAMASO REYES AmNews Staff
In our city of islands, teaching open water swimming is a climate solution
It was a cold but partly sunny morning in early January as Brighton Beach native Abby Jordan contemplated the Atlantic Ocean she was about to run into, as cotton candy clouds sped by in the sky above.
Though she was wrapped in a parka underneath, she was only wearing a swimsuit and gloves and was already shivering in the 40-degree air as she gathered with a small group of like-minded folks who, week after week, plunge themselves into the sea, regardless of the season.
Abby is part of a small but growing community of open water swimmers in New York. Some swim for health reasons and others simply because they love nature. But Abby swims not just for those reasons but because she sees open water swimming as a response to climate change and encourages and teaches others for exactly that reason.
Jordan has been a volunteer with Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers (CIBBOWS) since 2015 and an advocate for residents of coastal communities to connect with the water.
“Folks want to enjoy the ocean, love being in the water, but they don’t know how to swim, and that’s a really dangerous mix, right? They don’t know the tools that are necessary for calming down and relaxing if you are caught in a rip (current),” she said in an interview with the AmNews
As climate change fueled heat increases, vulnerable New Yorkers without air conditioning are, more and more, seeking relief in the water. At the same time, New York has been experiencing a lifeguard shortage for years, which means that some beaches don’t allow swimming even when city residents need it the most.
According to the NYC Parks Dept. “During beach season, lifeguards are on duty daily, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Swimming is prohibited when lifeguards are not on duty and in closed sections.”
“People are still going to go in the water, and ... we’re going to continue to have heat waves. We’re going to continue to have more hot days. Are we going to continue to criminalize people, especially communities of color, when they want to cool down in the ocean?” Jordan said.
Jordan swims all year round, partly because swimming is one of the ways she deals with stress, but also in order to advocate for and normalize open water swimming.
After experiencing the initial shock of the near freezing water, Jordan started swimming back and forth, parallel to the shore with housing projects in the background, and the Cyclone roller coaster in the dis-
tance. She stayed for a surprisingly long time and when she got out she explained that swimming in the sea, even in the depths of winter, energizes her like nothing else.
Surrounded by open water
Seven months later Abby Jordan and a group of CIBBOWS volunteers stood on a nearby beach on a warm Saturday morning.
Jordan was preparing for the organization’s signature event the next day, Grimaldo’s Mile which honors an NYC lifeguard who advocated for open water swimmers. Her colleagues were preparing to teach an open water swimming clinic which gives swimmers the essential prep they need to feel comfortable and be safe in the ocean.
“If you think about how much of New York City is surrounded by open water, it’s shocking to think that we’re not good at getting into it and feeling comfortable, ” said Christina Gantcher, a CIBBOWS board member and their director of programs.
“I want people to be able to experience this huge opportunity we have, because we do have public beaches, which are great and safe, and it’s kind of hard to think that we’re a beach town because we feel so trapped in our concrete jungle, but the truth is, there’s lots of water all around us.”
Constance Sasso, a CIBBOWS former board member, agreed.
“I think it’s important for everybody to maintain the connection with the natural environment, especially people that are living in urban environments,” she said.
“However, it only takes a second for an accident to happen, and knowledge of the possible dangers, and knowledge of how to relax and be mindful of what your limitations are is pretty important .... They should know and understand to keep themselves safe,” in the water as well, Sasso added.
Once clinic participants had gathered the volunteer instructors went through the basics of open water swimming and the best techniques to stay safe and have fun. After the safety briefing the group went into the water wearing their high visibility swim caps and trailing buoys to continue the lesson in a more hands on, or feet wet, manner. Many of the swimmers were fans of the pool but intimidated by the ocean.
Hell’s Kitchen resident Scott David, who attended the clinic, was preparing for a triathlon in Miami. He had spent a lot of time training in the pool but the ocean was a totally different experience for him.
“The slight panic of not having anything to hold on,” he responded with a smile when asked about the difference between pool and ocean swimming.
“This is eye-opening and exciting. I want to get stronger and better ... I should See story on next page
Open water swimming advocate Abby Jordan enters the Atlantic Ocean in January, 2025 (Damaso Reyes photos)
Brighton Beach native Abby Jordan wants more people from the community to access the ocean
have come earlier,’ he added.
The stimulation of the ocean provided a nice contrast for another participant.
“It’s way more pleasurable than pool. There’s a lot of monotony there, and there’s more excitement and more things to see, more things to think about [in the ocean]. There are several elements that add to the experience here,” said clinic participant Uwen Umoh.
Abby Jordan was just 18 years old when Superstorm Sandy hit and she says it had a profound impact on her.
“I think that experience really pushed me towards a different understanding of what I wanted to have for my life. I was introduced to climate change because of that. I was introduced to coastal resiliency initiatives because of surviving Sandy and now, as an educator, I can share my story with my students,” said Jordan, who works as a climate education program manager at the National Wildlife Federation.
“We have so much water that we have to learn to live with and we have to really change our systems’ way of thinking in order to survive and adapt to the changes that climate change is going to have on our city,” she added.
This story was made possible by a Climate Solutions Visual Storytelling grant from the Solutions Journalism Network. Continued from page 18
Open water swimming student Scott David dives into the ocean. (Damaso Reyes photos)
Instructor Constance Sasso explains proper technique to open water swimming student Uwen Umoh.
Caribbean Update
Trinidad under state of emergency measures
By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews
Trinidad’s brand-new government has placed the country under emergency measures to address a worrying rise in violent crime and to stymie alleged plans by gangsters and dangerous prisoners to assassinate top state officials. The country has already recorded nearly 250 murders so far this year.
The weekend announcement of state of emergency (SOE) measures is the second since last December and is in place for the very reason the previous government had agreed on: to block an elaborate plan by gangsters to seriously disrupt life in the federation with Tobago.
Police Chief Allister Guevarro said he moved swiftly to inform the administration of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar about the deteriorating situation after reviewing intelligence reports of major plans
to disrupt peace in the oil and gas-rich republic, blaming the situation on a “highly dangerous criminal network” operating inside state prisons.
The government also moved with haste to have ceremonial President Christine Kangaloo sign documents initiating the emergency measures, giving police and the military additional powers of arrest and detention of criminal and other suspects. Some inmates regarded as dangerous and as gang leaders have already been moved to secret locations, separating them from others.
Guevarro said the plans of heavily armed gangs had included targeted assassination attacks on police, members of the judiciary, and other officials linked to law enforce-
ment and state prosecutions, as well as prison officers. The commissioner noted that funding is derived from a range of violent organized criminal activities, including high-value robberies, extortions, kidnappings, and infiltration of state-funded programs involving public works contracts.
The measures come without any restrictions of movement.
“The scale, coordination, and internal facilitation of these activities indicate an operational capability that exceeds the containment capacity of conventional law enforcement measures,” Guevarro said. “As such, a comprehensive and immediate strategic response was required to safeguard national stability and
protect public officials and institutions.”
In justifying the move by the government to citizens, Attorney General John Jeremie said authorities were “left with no choice but to take the most dramatic action available under the constitution. We have done that, and we make no apologies for it. Our intelligence reports suggest, and they strongly suggest with a degree of high confidence, that the recent murder of a state prosecutor was directly linked to a specific gang.”
The last SOE ended in April. The commissioner contended that the last SOE was directed more at gang violence, while the latest “is being held to deal with a particular threat. It involves people who are forming themselves into an organized syndicate. I want to make that absolutely clear. This has nothing to do with gang violence.”
See CARIBBEAN on page 31
Twice displaced: The tragedy of Alligator Alcatraz and Florida’s Native lands
FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER
Native Americans in Florida’s Everglades are being displaced again — this time not by colonizers with muskets and treaties, but by Florida’s governor and the razorwired detention camp now known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Long before Europeans arrived — before trailers and guard towers popped up on the Dade-Collier airstrip — this land was home to the Calusa, Tequesta, and Glades people: thriving cultures that lived as stewards of the environment as far back as 4,500 years ago. Later, the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes resisted white colonization and made the swamp their sanctuary.
But in 2025, history repeated itself. A new immigrant detention facility was fast-tracked on that very land, built without tribal consultation or archaeological review in what many view as a modern act of erasure.
That’s why, on July 14, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida filed a motion to join a lawsuit alongside environmental groups against multiple government entities, including the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Miami-Dade County, and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The lawsuit argues that the facility’s construction threatens Miccosukee villages, sacred and ceremonial sites, and traditional
hunting grounds. Tribal members, who reside within the Big Cypress National Preserve, have lived on and cared for this land “since time immemorial,” according to the filing.
The site in question, the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (TNT), was originally developed in the 1970s as part of a now-defunct plan for a supersonic “Everglades Jetport.” That $1 billion dream was ultimately shut down by scientists, environmentalists, and tribal advocates who successfully fought to preserve the ecosystem.
But that historic victory has now been bulldozed — literally and figuratively — in a matter of days.
In June 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis invoked a 2023 executive emergency order to erect the detention camp at lightning speed. Using emergency funds originally reserved for natural disasters, the state awarded no-bid contracts to private firms with ties to the Republican Party, which quickly slapped together tents, bunk beds, chain-link fencing, and guard towers — right in the middle of sacred Indigenous ground.
All of it was done without:
• An Environmental Impact Statement
• A Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act
• Any tribal consultation or community input
Public records confirm that no input was requested from the Seminole or Miccosukee tribes, both federally recognized with long-standing cultural and legal claims to this land.
Today, the detention site sits inside Big Cypress National Preserve, part of one of the most fragile ecosystems in North Amer-
ica. The Everglades is a slow-moving river of grass teeming with wildlife — alligators, pythons, panthers, manatees, rare birds and hawks, and orchids.
Scientists have raised serious alarms:
• Razor wire, floodlights, and construction disrupt key wildlife corridors
• Fuel and human waste runoff could pollute the water table
• The facility is in a high-risk hurricane and flood zone
• Extreme heat threatens the safety of both detainees and guards
Yet despite all this, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier proudly coined the name “Alligator Alcatraz” in a promotional video for the site. The name stuck.
Former President Donald Trump, during a July 1 visit, praised the facility and joked that it might be “better than the real Alcatraz.”
The irony is chilling: that infamous penitentiary in San Francisco was occupied by Native Americans in 1969 in a historic protest for tribal land rights and civil justice.
To add insult to injury, the Department of Homeland Security posted a mocking image of alligators wearing ICE hats, as if laughing at the outrage — and the sacredness of the land they’re now desecrating.
It’s more than a cruel joke. It’s a xenophobic branding campaign, designed to dehumanize migrants, glorify punishment, and mask the deeper injustice with political theater. The optics are intentional. So is the erasure.
And that’s where the tragedy deepens. Many of the migrants detained at this site are themselves descendants of the K’iche’, Ixil, and Garifuna peoples of Central and
South America — fleeing persecution, violence, poverty, and climate disaster. Now, in 2025, they are being detained indefinitely on land stolen from another Indigenous people — in a swamp, behind razor wire. It’s a haunting symmetry. Displacement on top of displacement. Centuries apart, yet eerily alike.
Already, more than 43,000 people have signed a MoveOn petition demanding that DeSantis shut down the camp.
Among the most vocal voices is Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee environmental activist who lives just miles from the detention facility. She and others say the site was built near sacred burial sites and the Corn Dance ceremonial grounds, as also noted by Florida artist Clyde Butcher.
This isn’t just a Florida issue. It’s a national reckoning.
We are watching history repeat itself — again — as one group of Indigenous people is locked up on the ancestral land of another, while political leaders mock the consequences and corporations profit from the pain.
And perhaps most heartbreaking of all, many voters — even within marginalized communities — supported the very system that is now enacting this cruelty.
That’s how erasure works. It’s slow. It’s generational. And by the time it becomes visible, it’s already been cemented.
Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on news about Black immigrant communities from the Caribbean and Latin America.
Most Honorable Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC MP, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (Public domain photo)
Arts & Entertainment
Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner dies in tragic drowning
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
While his acting credits are very current, Malcolm-Jamal Warner is best known for his role as Theo Huxtable in “The Cosby Show,” whom he portrayed from ages 14 to 22 during the show’s long run. Warner, 54, died on Sunday while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. The cause of death was accidental drowning, and the Costa Rican National Police said he died from asphyxia.
Born on August 18, 1970 in Jersey City, New Jersey, Warner was named after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. After showing an interest in acting, his parents enrolled him in a performing arts school in New York City. According to Variety, he auditioned for the role of Theo as part of NBC’s nationwide search, and Cosby personally selected him for the role.
For decades, “The Cosby Show” was seen as a cultural touchstone, depicting an affluent Black family with two parents who were professionals living in a brownstone in Brooklyn. The praise of the show dimmed after multiple allegations of sexual assault were made against star Bill Cosby, but Warner’s appreciation for Cosby’s impact remained.
In a 2015 interview in Billboard, Warner said, “What [Bill Cosby has] done for comedy and television has been legendary and history-making. What he’s done for the Black community and education has been invaluable.” Through a representative, Cosby said news of Warner’s death hit him like the death of his son Ennis in 1997. He noted that Ennis and Warner would hang out and “were amazing together.”
Having been part of such a series gave
Warner a life of impact. “Malcolm-Jamal Warner was an inspiring TV sibling to countless Black youth and me,” said Dr. Shaun Harper, a professor of education, public policy, and business at the University of Southern California. “In his ‘Cosby Show’ role, Warner portrayed adolescence in ways that were familiar, affirming, and entertaining.”
Podcaster/content creator Brooke Ashley grew up watching “The Cosby Show” reruns and found the Huxtables similar to her family.
“One of my absolute favorite episodes is ‘A Shirt Story’ when Denise attempted to recreate the designer shirt for Theo,” said Ashley.
“That infamous scene when Theo wears the messed up creation of the Gordon Gartrelle shirt will forever live rent free in my brain.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner made Theo Huxtable an icon; he was everyone’s favorite brother.”
Following his role as Theo, Warner continued to act. He appeared in the sitcom “Malcolm and Eddie” for four seasons followed
by the BET sitcom “Reed Between the Lines.”
From 2018-23, he was a cast member of the medical drama “The Resident.” His most recent television credits are “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” and “9-1-1.”
Ashley was a BET intern in the PR department when “Reed Between the Lines” was premiering. “During the press run, he was always lovely and down to earth,” she said. “The sudden passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner is a tremendous loss and I want to send his family and friends my deepest condolences.”
Celebrities have taken to social media to express their sorrow and their admiration. Warner’s “Malcolm and Eddie” co-star, Eddie Griffin, posted to Instagram: “My Heart is heavy today… For what the world lost was a Father, a Son, a Poet, a Musician, a[n] Actor, a Teacher, a Writer, a Director, a Friend, [and] a Warrior that I had the pleasure of going to war with against the Hollywood machine and sometimes with each other because that’s what Brothers do but the Love was and is always there. You’ve taught me so much and I thank you. Rest Well My Big little Brother.”
Tracee Ellis Ross also took to Instagram to voice a tribute. “I love you, Malcolm. First I met you as Theo with the rest of the world, then you were my first TV husband. My heart is so so sad. What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant. You made the world a brighter place. Sending so much love to your family. I’m so sorry for this unimaginable loss.”
Warner was also a musical artist — winning a Grammy in 2015 for Best Traditional R&B performance — a writer, and a director. Last year, he launched a podcast, “Not All Hood,” with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley, where they discussed Black masculinity, mental health and media representation.
“When we talk about the Black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the Black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss and acknowledge all of those different aspects,” Warner told People.
“His impact on Black culture will endure forever,” said Harper.
Warner is survived by his wife and daughter. He preferred to keep their names private and they had not yet been identified at press time.
From the Nov. 5, 1988 issue of the AmNews.
From the May 4, 1991 issue of the AmNews.
From the Dec. 20, 1986 issue of the AmNews.
From the Sept. 19, 1987 issue of the AmNews
Malcolm-Jamal Warner arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/ Invision/AP, File)
Wu-Tang Clan celebrates hip-hop history in historic NYC ‘takeover’
By JOHNNY KNOLLWOOD
Special to the AmNews
Masta Killa, Method Man, U-God, the GZA, RZA, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck and Ghostface Killah – no one could get iller — The Wu-Tang Clan, from the affectionately known “Shaolin Land” of Staten Island returned to their homebase New York for a citywide celebration on their farewell tour called "Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber with openers, “Run the Jewels.” The landmark celebration included a pop-up shop at Irving Plaza featuring exclusive merch and artist signings, afterparties with member appearances at Brooklyn Chop House and Hill Country BBQ, and an interactive map of Wu-Tang sites centered around the group’s historic performance at Madison Square Garden on July 17. The remaining eight founding members were joined by Cappadonna and Young Dirty Bastard, son of original member Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who passed away in 2004. The evening was as much a celebration of hiphop’s vibrant history in its NYC birthplace as it was a commemoration of Wu-Tang’s body of work — featuring a career-spanning set of hits, fan favorites, and special guest appearances by genre progenitors including Lil’ Kim, Slick Rick, and Big Daddy Kane.
The Wu-Tang Clan, who formed in 1992 on Staten Island, are undoubtedly one of the most influ-
ential and pioneering groups in hip-hop history, a genre that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023 with citywide performances and exhibitions. Their 1993 debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” recorded on a tight budget, featured raw production and the lyrics heavily influenced by kung fu movies, comic books, and Five Percenter Nation terminology amid the gritty backdrop of ‘80s and ‘90s New York City. It was DIY, philosophically punk rock, and no one had heard anything like it before. The album has sold roughly three million copies
to date and is lauded by fans and critics as one of the greatest hiphop records of all time.
The energy was bustling outside in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday as Wu-Tang fans, affectionately known as Killa Beez, swarmed to the stadium from all corners. A local New York City man, who identified as Chico, waited outside for hours to try to score a ticket. “They’re the best,” he told the AmNews . “I’ve been here since five.” Attendees also included visitors from around the world. One fan, Vroni Beier, flew in from her home in Co -
logne, Germany just for the performance, attending the show, the pop-up shop, and an afterparty featuring a performance by Cappadonna at Hill Country BBQ. “Wu-Tang was a huge influence on my musical experience,” she told the AmNews Fearing they might not perform in Europe, she bought tickets for the farewell tour as soon as they went on sale. “They opened doors, even to other music like soul … I grew up in a small town, hip-hop was a huge thing for me, even as a little child.”
The energy was high inside
Madison Square Garden. Killa Beez took over the stadium, rapping along to classics like “Protect Ya Neck,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” and the anthem “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit.” The set included hits from members’ solo work like Method Man’s “All I Need,” Raekwon’s “Ice Cream,” and GZA’s “Liquid Swords.” Mainstays in the hip-hop community popped into the 34th Street venue to join the group on stage, including Lil’ Kim, Havoc (of Mobb Deep), Big Daddy Kane, and Slick Rick, New Yorkers who’ve made great strides and contributions to the world of hip-hop. The set was a testament to Wu-Tang’s place in the genre’s history, and an acknowledgment of their peers and those who came before them. At the show’s conclusion, the group bid their farewells to a sea full of screaming fans. It feels strange to say goodbye to an outlet so on top of their game in a live setting, packing out arenas and putting smiles on thousands of faces. The Final Chamber Tour concluded in Philadelphia on July 18 after a stop at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ the night before. But in a world where farewell tours are a dime a dozen, who knows what is yet to come — and if this really spells the end for these genre pioneers. The future is uncertain, but one thing was abundantly clear to fans at Madison Square that night: Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit.
The Wu-Tang Clan, live at Madison Square Garden on July 17, 2025. (Johnny Knollwood photos)
CTH presents ‘Memnon’ at Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Harlem — for free
By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews
If there is one thing that I look forward to each summer, it is whatever the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is doing in the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater (Marcus Garvey Park at 122nd Street). This summer, Ty Jones,
CTH’s producing artistic director, is bringing another incredible play to the center stage in its 2025 Uptown Shakespeare in the Park production. During its 25th anniversary, CTH is presenting “Memnon,” which tells the story of the legendary Ethiopian warrior-king, a long-overlooked hero of the Trojan War. The pro -
duction runs through July 27, and is free.
The cast features Eric Berryman as Memnon, Andrea Patterson as Helen, Jesse J. Perez as Priam and Nestor, David Darrow as Polydamas and Antilochus, and Jesse Corbin as Achilles.
The technical team includes Riw Rakkulchon, scenic design;
Celeste Jennings, costume design; Alan C. Edwards, lighting design; Emmanuel Brown, fight director; Frederick Kennedy, sound design; and Yee Eun Nam and Hannah Tran, music and co-video designers.
The show is presented Tuesdays through Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free; you can RSVP at
cthnyc.org, and walk-ins are also welcome — but I must warn you: Whether you RSVP or just walk in, plan to get there early because seats fill very quickly.
CTH is always making sure to present our stories and shine a creative and exciting spotlight on Black creativity and excellence. Hope to see you there!
Scenes from Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) staging of “Memnon,” now on at Marcus Garvey Park.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams speaking at opening of CTH’s “Memnon.” (Bill Moore photos)
Lincoln Center’s BAAND Together Festival spotlights five dance companies
By ZITA ALLEN Special to the AmNews
It’s that time of the year again, when the city is a-buzz with enough exciting cultural events to make your head spin, such as events like the Lincoln Center BAAND Together Dance Festival, featuring five of the city’s iconic dance companies: Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. From July 29–August 2, this unique collaboration that was initially created a few years ago when live performances struggled to make a comeback after the COVID pandemic and is now in its fifth year, proves that necessity is indeed the mother of invention.
This year’s BAAND audiences will be treated to the Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Robert Garland’s “Nyman String Quartet No. 2,” which will share the stage with the New York City Ballet’s performance of Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain (Pas de Deux)”; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s luscious performance of Lar Luboitch’s “Many Angels”; American Ballet Theatre’s “Midnight Pas de Deux,” created by Susan Jaffe; and Ballet Hispanico’s compelling performance of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “House of Mad’moiselle.”
In a joint statement, the artistic directors of all five presenting
companies underscored the importance of this festival, saying, “BAAND Together began as a gesture of hope during a time of crisis. What started as a response to the challenges of COVID has grown into a celebration of what makes New York extraordinary — its creativity, its diversity, and its spirit. These performances remind us that the arts are not just entertainment; they are a vital force that brings people together and lifts us all.”
During a recent conversation with Robert Garland, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) artistic director, he offered an example of the thoughtfulness that goes into
each company’s selection of the work to be presented at the dance festival. Garland said his “Nyman String Quartet No. “ was inspired by DTH’s founder Arthur Mitchell, whose commitment to supporting aspiring young Black ballet dancers prompted him to leave his position as the first Black soloist with New York City Ballet in 1968 to found DTH at a time when the world of ballet was not particularly welcoming to dancers of color.
That same commitment to a broader community was also reflected at the time, Garland said, by another figure who inspired his work: the boundary-shattering athlete and Olympic Gold Medalist John Carlos. Winner of the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, Carlos caused shockwaves when he stood on the Olympic podium and thrust his fist in the air in solidarity with fellow Americans struggling for equal rights and social justice. Not only did Carlos and Mitchell know each other, but Garland said, “They both put their bodies on the line to do great things for the community when standing on the inter-
national stage.”
Even though audiences in the past have been dazzled by the performances of each of the BAAND presenting company’s choreographic gems and displays of technical virtuosity and artistry, something new has been added to the Lincoln Center festival this year. For the first time, a free panel discussion will provide a rare be-
hind-the-scenes glimpse of this on-stage collaboration. The Tuesday, July 29 at 5:00 p.m., event will feature the artistic leaders of all five companies: Eduardo Vilaro, Ballet Hispánico; Alicia Graf Mack and Matthew Rushing, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Susan Jaffe, American Ballet Theatre; Wendy Whelan and Jonathan Stafford, New York City Ballet; and Robert Garland, Dance Theatre of Harlem, moderated by Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center.
As if that isn’t enough, each afternoon, one of the five companies will also offer free dance workshops that are open to anyone who wishes to participate. The series offers a variety of dance forms, appropriate for all ages and abilities.
Clearly, the BAAND Together Dance Festival is a treat not to be missed.
For more info, visit lincolncenter.org.
Ballet Hispanico’s “House of Mad.” (Rosalie O’Connor photos)
Unity Phelan and Preston Chamblee in NYCB’s “After the Rain.” (Erin Baiano photo)
Veronika Part and Thomas Forster in ABT’s “Midnight Pas.”
AAADT’s Yannick Lebrun, Ashley Green, and Isaiah Day in Lar Lubovitch’s “Many Angels.” (Paul Kolnik photo)
Dance Theatre of Harlem Company artists in “Nyman String Quartet No 2.” (Steven Pisano photo)
‘Superfine’ exhibit’s design tailored for the Met
By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews
Black literature and the increased visibility of museum exhibitions such as the Met’s “Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” or the Whitney’s “Edges of Ailey” are highlighting more art from the African diaspora. The Met’s newest exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” provides another insightful experience through the history of dandyism. The costumes, clothing, and other items on display essentially correlate to the design of the exhibition itself. The show presents 12 sections of architecture complemented by 12 aspects of dandy style. The large architecture creation was also meant to represent freedom.
Artists Tanda Francis and Torkwase Dyson are responsible for the mannequins and exhibition architecture, respectively. The two artists accurately captured the dandyism atmosphere via their mannequins and sculptural designs. The show’s composition includes well-dressed mannequins placed where visitors must look up, with many of the works displayed as if on a pedestal, encouraging viewers to view Black and African diasporic style with awe and admiration.
“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” is based on the book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” published in 2009 and written by Monica L. Miller, Columbia University’s and Barnard College’s chair of Africana Studies and acclaimed scholar.
“The exhibition interprets the concept of dandyism as both an aesthetic and a strategy that allowed for new social and political possibilities,” said Miller. During a recent Artist Talk at the Met about the new installment, the guest curator said she began her research on dandyism more than 30 years ago as a graduate student and revealed that the translation of her book into an exhibition was wellprepared. She described Black people demonstrating their right to self-presentation through dandyism as “a mode of distinction
and resistance within a society impacted by race, gender, class, and sexuality.”
“I do African faces in public spaces,” said Tanda Francis. As the show’s mannequin designer, she made sure the mannequins featured African faces. Francis referred to working with Miller as a “great collaboration.” “Mannequins idealize beauty — it’s meant to be a beautiful person,” said Francis during the artist talk. The evolution of dandyism, inspired by Black style and mannerisms from the exhibition, is
directly related to Black literature. Zora Neale Hurston’s 1934 essay, “Characteristics of Negro Expression,” was used as inspiration for “Superfine.” “Whatever the Negro does of his own volition, he embellishes,” Hurston wrote.
The other well-tailored clothing complemented the purposely gray mannequins. The exhibition’s design color mimicked a theme of toned-down, dark colors, according to Torkwase Dyson. During the Met artist talk, Dyson discussed how Miller’s book inspired her ex-
hibition design. “Something so beautifully written about in the show is how Black people [were] liberate[d] from the Caribbean, from Virginia, to New York,” said Dyson. “I wanted to make sure that the work I did, the geometry that [came] from the book, expressed that expanse.”
Francis recognized Dyson’s challenge in designing elevated structures. “It’s probably hard to photograph, but they are great to be in the presence of,” she said. One visitor enjoyed viewing the works, including the African details of the mannequins’ faces, as a “godly” experience.
“Outside of symbolism and representation, there was a godliness and ancestral gauge,” said Joseph V. Moore Jr. The vegan chef and community organizer described the exhibition as a “train vision” that flowed as visitors walked through. He added that the show’s music was spot on and being there felt “cinematic.”
“It was so timely to think about how to create what I consider sort of a force multiplier as exhibition designs go,” said Dyson. She believed it was her and the team’s job to make a space that accurately conveyed Miller’s text from her research and book. “I felt like the lighting designers were visionaries. I felt that I had worked at my capacity in [relation] to time and space.” Dyson believes her design for the show was taken to another level by the Met, yet it wasn’t institutionalized.
“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will be at the Met until October 2025. For more info, visit metmuseum.org.
Mannequins made by artist Tanda Francis on display for “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition.
Gold-and-black dressed mannequin at “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition.
(L-R): Artists Torkwase Dyson, Tanda Francis, and author and guest curator Monica L. Miller.
Visitors explore “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition at the Met. (Brenika Banks photos)
Sisters Uptown, Dick Griffin, Annie Mae Calhoun Way
As the U.S. government takes giant steps into fascism, employing the banning of books as an American necessity, it is imperative that the Sisters Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center remains a vibrant voice in Harlem. The only major Black-owned bookstore in Manhattan has been an influential resource in Harlem for the last 25 years and now needs community support.
July 25 (6 p.m.–10 p.m.) will serve as a 25th anniversary celebration and major fundraiser to help Sisters Uptown, which finds itself struggling in the midst of social media, AI, and distractions that diffuse the importance of reading. Sisters has ignited reading power in the community since its founding in 2000 by Janifer P. Wilson and her daughter Kori Wilson. Their resourceful programs have served as intellectual food to nurture minds, hearts, and souls with the works of African American authors, poets, and masters of the spoken word. It’s the place where such renowned writers as Walter Mosley, Terry McMillan, Felipe Luciano, Sista Souljah, and Herb Boyd choose to have their book-signings.
The Wilsons are courageous women, following in the historical tradition of Blackowned Harlem bookstores dating back to George Young’s Exchange Bookstore in 1915; Lewis Michaux opened the National Memorial African Bookstore, also known as the “Home of Proper Propaganda,” in 1937; Una Mulzac’s Liberation Bookstore in 1967; the Tree of Life, also known as University on the Corner of Lenox Avenue (UCLA), founded by Kanya Vashon McGhee in 1969; and, still in business, Grandma’s Place, the toy and children’s book boutique founded in 1999 by Dawn Harris-Martine. Only 152 Black-owned bookstores remain in the U.S. “Michaux, the Liberation bookstore, and the Tree of Life were key elements that inspired me to start my own bookstore,” explained Janifer during a recent interview.
“As we celebrate our 25 years, we are asking the community to help us succeed. How are we going to move forward? If we won’t be here, we will be somewhere else — closing is not an option. We need to figure it out.”
Get ready for an exciting evening among the books with live music, spoken word, food by Chef Ashley, games, and testimonials by supporters and participants like writer/poet Mark Polite, who started at Sisters and has since authored five books. Take time to network and discuss the pertinent question of how Sisters can strive into the future.
Sister’s Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center is at 1942 Amsterdam Avenue (156th Street). Donation is $25. For information,
call 212-862-3680 or visit sistersuptownbookstore.com.
The trombonist and composer Dick Griffin has covered a wealth of territory during his distinguished career as an innovative leader, as well as working with the likes of Billy Bang, Charles Tolliver, McCoy Tyner, Abdullah Ibrahim, Brook Benton, and Archie Shepp, although the trombonist says he was greatly influenced as a musician and bandleader during his extended stints with multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and the inventive Sun Ra Arkestra.
On July 24, Griffin brings his big band to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (58 West 129th Street). In Griffin’s 16-piece big band, every unknown star is a star — no big names, no marquee show-stoppers; just professional jazz musicians creating good music.
“I’m not following the big band repertoire, the music books of Lionel Hampton, Duke, or Count Basie,” said Griffin. “I have my own perception that includes my originals and McCoy Tyner’s music. He is one of my favorite composers. His tune ‘You
Taught Me to Sing’ is a beautiful ballad that we have interpreted using flute and piccolos. For this performance, we will also add a mix of Latin music and more ballads.”
The show begins at 7 p.m. For more info, visit jmh.org.
One of the most rewarding tributes in New York City is to have a street named in your honor; that will happen for community activist and educator Annie Mae Calhoun on July 26 (12 noon–12:30 p.m.). Her name will become part of the East Bronx with a street renaming ceremony marking Annie Mae Calhoun Way at the corner of Pearsall and Givan Avenues.
Calhoun was considered more than a mere citizen in the borough of the Bronx where she resided from 1957 until her transition at the age of 96 in 2021. The transplant was described as a community activist, mentor, and resource for young people and adults in the neighborhood. She was, by many accounts, always friendly, warm, and loving. She and her husband Charles Calhoun raised three children; Charles Edwin, Ethel, and William. All three
gravitated toward music, the boys both playing drums. Will Calhoun was an original member of the group Living Colour; Charles Edwin led his own group called Funk Masters; and Ethel became a singer and dancer/choreographer, touring with Alvin Ailey.
Calhoun worked at Kings County for 30 years, and while there, earned a master’s degree from NYU. After retirement, she continued to soar. As a longtime member of Eastchester Presbyterian Church, she taught Sunday School and led the nutrition program for the church’s after-school program. She was a pied piper in the Bronx — all of the neighborhood children knew and loved her, along with the adults.
Over the years, Calhoun was acknowledged for her civic-mindedness and community involvement, receiving an abundance of proclamations and awards, but her greatest honor will be this street renaming ceremony. The reception takes place at Eastchester Presbyterian Church (3154 Fish Avenue, the Bronx, N.Y.) from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. with live performances.
Janifer P. Wilson, owner of Sisters Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center. (Ron Scott Associates photo)
Mayoral money
in a statement. “Subsequently the Board has continued to deny Mayor Adams public funds for these reasons, as well as for his failure to timely file Conflicts of Interest Board disclosure.”
Adams made up the slack in his matching campaign funds by raising about $1.5 million from June to July 2025 with substantial donations from real estate companies and appearing at a fundraiser in Florida for young Republicans.
His other major donations come from employees at companies such as SL Green Realty, which in particular has contributed a total of $95,901 to Adams’s campaign since 2022, and real estate investors Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL); Newmark, a commercial real estate advisor company; CBRE Inc., a global leader in commercial real estate services and investments; the Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP law firm; the Greenberg Traurig law firm; JT Magen & Co., a major leader in the construction industry; Cushman & Wakefield, another real estate company; Alliance Building Services, a building maintenance and security services company; Alder & Stachenfeld, a real estate law firm; InTandem Capital, a private equity firm; and James E Fitzgerald, construction management and general contracting.
The Amsterdam News reached out to
these companies for comment, but many either declined or weren’t able to respond by post time.
Adams also had a singular $2,100 donation from real estate mogul Bruce Teitelbaum, who has been pushing to build his One45 housing development project in Harlem for years and finally received City Council approval just last week.
“Eric Adams is not a pro-housing mayor,” said Cea Weaver, coalition director for Housing Justice for All. “In NYC, being a pro-housing mayor means governing for the tenant majority — not the real estate developers who bankroll your campaign. It means fully funding code enforcement, building truly affordable housing, and delivering a rent freeze for the millions of rentstabilized tenants who call New York home.”
Meanwhile, Mamdani and Cuomo are campaigning hard to stay ahead in the mayor’s race.
Mamdani has raised about $2.5 million ($2,562,307) in private funds and received a whopping $8.1 million ($8,148,070) in matching funds from the city. In the latest round, the NYCCFB said Mamdani had 78.8% in-district donors and 96% small donors.
Cuomo has about $4 million ($4,073,897) in private funds and received $4.2 million ($4,255,530) in public matching funds so far. He didn’t get any matching funds in July’s payout from the city, though. He has 63% in-district donors and 52% small donors. His campaign has about $1.1 million ($1,170,628) cash on hand.
greater flooding in non-white neighborhoods in Texas and New York.
“In the case of extreme weather events, Black and Brown communities are more likely to live in neighborhoods that are at the front lines of the destruction,” said Gillibrand over email. “This bill would help communities across New York by increasing transit safety and reliability during and after destructive storms like the one in New York City earlier this month. Access to transit levels the playing field for everyone, and it must continue to serve as a lifeline for potentially impacted communities.”
Despite the timing, Gillibrand’s office maintains the bill’s reintroduction two days after stormwater flooded the 1 train route is a coincidence. On July 14, Central Park recorded 2.07 inches of precipitation surpassing Hurricane Henri four years ago. Only Hurricane Ida, which also occurred in 2021, documented more rainfall.
“As climate change increases the number and severity of extreme rainfall events the city is experiencing, we are doing things like increasing the number of trees in the city to reduce stormwater and using the latest available climate science and data to inform our infrastructure projects,” said Elijah
Hutchinson, Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice executive director, in a statement. “We also continue to look for every available dollar that can be put towards projects that address flash flooding and encourage all New Yorkers to use our Environmental Justice NYC mapping tool to explore the flood risk where they live and work.” Gillibrand’s office points to the MTA’s Climate Resiliency Roadmap locally as the Resilient Transit Act navigates Capitol Hill. The gameplan identifies coastal surges, torrential rain, sea level rise and extreme heat as the four main climate threats for the transportation authority’s service area.
Adapting the city’s subway system includes the MTA’s recent “Fix and Fortify” program which led to nearly 4,000 “coastal surge protections” through $7.6 billion following damages from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Additional efforts include elevating vents to prevent rainwater from entering underground to prevent subway flooding.
“With extreme weather events happening more and more frequently, a dedicated funding stream for transit resiliency projects is an absolute necessity,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber over email. “It is vital to protect transit systems like the MTA –– that are not only antidotes to climate change but also economic engines for the entire country.”
Pop Smoke’s spirit keeps annual Brooklyn festival alive
By ESMERALDA MORAN Special to the AmNews
It was a “Welcome to the Party” day as fans of the late hip-hop icon Pop Smoke, as well as residents of Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood, celebrated his life at the annual Pop Smoke Day Festival in Canarsie Park on July 20.
The festival took place on what would have been the drill rapper’s 26th birthday. Live DJs dropped favorite Pop Smoke tracks, while people enjoyed free food and a basketball tournament. It was one of many events hosted by the Shoot for the Stars Foundation, founded by Pop Smoke, whose given name was Bashar Barakah Jackson.
“It was Bashar’s doing,” said Audrey Jackson, Pop’s mother. “He wanted a means of giving back to the community and so he created a foundation to do that.”
Pop Smoke was killed in 2020 during a home invasion at his Los Angeles home. After his death, Jackson took over the foundation as CEO, continuing working toward the goal that Pop wanted for it.
Jackson uses her past experience as an educator to guide community-building and provide a safe space for young people in the neighborhood. The initiative resulted in an event-filled weekend, which included several other Brooklyn community organizations and ended with a gala to celebrate the rapper’s legacy and impact on Brooklyn and hip-hop culture.
“It’s about unifying on the challenges that we have here in the community and celebrating the awesomeness of this waterfront community,” said Norine Medas, founder and executive director of the Canarsie Merchants Association.
While bringing together members of the community, the festival also gives his fans a chance to find purpose in Pop’s music. Jodie Quaglia, a New York City teacher, said that she is able to connect to her students and find community through Pop Smoke’s music.
“I love his music, but also my son and my students love his music,” Quaglia said. “I think he made waves throughout all age groups.”
The event also gave fans the opportunity to engage with not only Pop’s legacy, but to show their appreciation. Hip-hop fan Rio Helms, who came from Colorado to visit family for a couple of days, was excited to be able to attend the festival on finding out about it.
“My uncle took me and my brother to all the Pop Smoke murals and he saw how much we loved all of them. S, so when he heard about this event, he made sure that he got us there,” Helms said.
Obasi Jackson, Pop Smoke’s older brother, was on hand for the festival’s basketball tournament, which was ongoing starting before the weekend’s events. He noted how the players connected with the event.
“A lot of people want to be artists, they want to be basketball players or just play a sport in general, so to see young men out here and even young women playing ball and being inspired by something that they love to do is just
a beautiful experience,” he said. Jackson, with his mother, has helped to build the foundation to where it is today and sees what engaging with the community has done for young people in the community. As an artist himself, he cited the response of the community to their efforts as a positive impact on his own work.
“The way that I go about [my art] has been a little bit weird, because I was so sad at first, so I was using music just to get me by, but now I’m seeing everything that we’re doing and how great it can be, and I’m actually inspired again. I’m loving it, and I’m just truly inspired by everything that we’re doing,” said Jackson.
Audrey Jackson and Shoot For The Stars members pose in front of Pop Smoke poster in Canarsie Park (Esmeralda Moran photos)
Brooklyn teens compete in tournament as part of Pop Smoke Day
City closes final COVID rapid testing site, alarming residents Health
By ESMERALDA MORAN
Special to the AmNews
The city has shut down its last rapid COVID-19 testing site despite community efforts to keep it open, leaving New Yorkers without an easy way to find free PCR testing amid recent rises in coronavirus diagnoses.
The Crown Heights, Brooklyn location, which was run by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, permanently ended services on July 18, just weeks after the announcement was made. The free rapid tests allowed users to get their results in 24 hours. The site also offered flu and RSV tests, along with the COVID tests.
Upon news of the closure, com-
munity groups like the Crown Heights CARE Collective brought attention to the announcement through social media in an effort to stop the closing of the last testing location in the city. In an Instagram post, the group urged people to send a note on the DOH website to Dr. Michelle Morse, acting commissioner of the agency.
“It was a big discussion inside our community chats. People were really alarmed,” said Crown Heights CARE Collective organizer Cheryl Rivera.
Members of the community regularly utilized the testing site, taking advantage of the efficiency of the process. “I’ve done it and it really does take five minutes.
When I’ve been in NYC Health and Hospitals it’s typically taking
a lot longer,” said Rivera.
With the closure, New Yorkers must now find other ways of getting tested. Although the testing site has closed, New York Health + Hospitals will still provide COVID tests at 11 sites throughout the city. However, there are concerns that people will not be able to access these tests as easily as they would in a testing site.
“There’s no more PCR tests. This was really a place where you could walk in and usually find an appointment,” said Rivera. “If you want to get a PCR test, you have to book at places like the COVID health and hospitals, but this is a lot more involved of a process.”
Despite the peak of the pandemic passing, New York continues to encounter spikes in COVID
cases during the winter and smaller spikes in the summer. In March, there were as many as 613 cases and mid-July saw 211, according to city data.
As the city continues to defund initiatives originally set up during the pandemic, it has become harder for community members to find ways to protect themselves against COVID with many not aware that such resources were available in the first place.
“Some people sadly did not even know that this PCR testing clinic was still available in Crown Heights. It just hasn’t been advertised to people,” said Rivera.
Community organizations have stepped in to find alternatives for community members in need of the resources originally provid-
ed by the testing sites. The Crown Heights CARE Collective alongside other Brooklyn organizations, has distributed at-home COVID testing kits for residents as a replacement for PCR tests. Though at-home tests are still available and accessible, they are not as accurate as PCR tests, and if not provided by a community organization, can be costly. It becomes an issue for marginalized groups that relied on such resources.
“People are still concerned about COVID, especially elderly people. People come in and they’ve been happy to get masks from outside events or COVID tests. They’ll take the home COVID tests. People are just not aware that PCR testing did still exist,” said Rivera.
(Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY photo)
BNY
ability to let members of the community feel welcome, not put off by the institution.
“I think it’s also this idea that we are a very big, scary, intimidating building,” she said. “People sometimes don’t want to come inside because they’re like, ‘Oh, a museum. Ooh. I don’t know if I’m gonna understand these shows, these exhibitions,’ and so there’s that part of it.
Housing
Continued from page 13
and promote neighborhood stability. Once these properties fall into disrepair, they become targets for being replaced by pricey developments and gentrification.
Ensuring housing affordability encompasses more than just regulation. It is also about making sure people have financial support against rapidly increasing costs so they can stay in their homes and continue to build wealth in their communities. We need flexible public policy
“A lot of the [programs] that come out of our department — accountability, intention are definitely at the heart of it, because there’s an emotional labor that goes to creating, facilitating, and maintaining these types of programs, because they’re not surface-based programs,” Le Gendre continued.
While the museum continues to cater to the public, Le Gendre acknowledged concerns regarding the future of museums
that recognizes how shortterm rentals, when regulated fairly and reasonably, can be part of a balanced strategy to help struggling homeowners stay rooted.
Bill 1107, which reforms Local Law 18 and enables owners of one- and two-family homes to rent out their homes for short-term use when they’re not home, is currently before the City Council. The proposal also, for example, increases the guest cap for short-term rentals from two to four people. Current law bans these items and limits the needs of those traveling to or living in the outer
amid continued cuts to funding for institutions such as libraries and museums during the Trump administration. Despite that concern, Le Gendre focuses on alternative solutions to the lack of funding. She and Queens Museum president Sandy Tallant believe in developing ambitious programs without letting money dictate their ambition.
“You develop it through ideas and things like that, and then you chase the money, right? Then you’re
boroughs — or even Manhattan neighborhoods like Morningside Heights, Inwood, and Harlem.
New York City’s homeowners deserve policies that support their goals of wealthbuilding and neighborhood stability through homeownership — not policies that will cause New York City to return to unnecessary cycles of physical disrepair and instability.
Jamie Smarr joined the New York City Housing Partnership in 2022. He previously served as director of tax and zoning incentives for New York City Housing Preservation and Development from 1997–2002. T:10"
looking for grants if you believe in something, if there’s a story to be told, if there’s an impact to be made, then you hope to get a specific type of money, whether it’s through brands, individuals, institutions, to then pilot these programs, pitch these programs, maintain these programs,” she said.
Le Gendre’s unwavering hope in her work is one of the many things that drive her to continue her efforts in community engagement. As a daughter of Queens, the job is
Carribean
Continued from page 20
Security forces have already raided state prisons and removed a number of inmates suspected of being involved in the plot to disrupt life in the federation with Tobago, including the execution of top government and state officials, Guevarro said.
Citizens in the country have lived through several of these special security exercises in recent decades, including the July 1990 attempted coup that had resulted in the deaths of a few dozen people, gunshot injuries to then-Prime Minister Ray Robinson; arson attacks against businesses in the city; and the storming of parliament, the state television station, and other entities by an Is-
more than just fulfilling.
“While I’m not from the hyperlocal Corona community, when we do programs that folks from South Jamaica or Southeastern Queens are from, I feel very much a kinship when we partner with certain schools out there or when we have certain teens who sign up from certain neighborhoods,” Le Gendre said. “I really feel like the work that I set out to do to kind of get this work out in Queens is happening day by day, slowly but surely.”
lamic gang, upset about rising inflation and other ills in society.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Keith Rowley, whose government was roundly criticized for imposing an SOE at the end of last year, said current PM Persad Bissessar now has “eggs on her face” because she previously dismissed the then-measures as a political gimmick before the April 28 general elections that her party won.
“This SOE is a shameless political gimmick, a band-aid in an election year to address the root causes of crime,” Persad Bissessar said back then. “This (PNM) government is out of ideas and out of time and is hiding from the violent crime crisis he and his government contributed to over the last ten years. No plans were given for post-SoE.”
Religion & Spirituality Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways
By MARTHA BELLISLE, CEDAR ATTANASIO and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press
SEATTLE — After a Seattle immigration judge dismissed the deportation case against a Colombian man — exposing him to expedited removal — three people sat with him in the back of the courtroom, taking his car keys for safe-keeping, helping him memorize phone numbers, and gathering the names of family members who needed to be notified.
When Judge Brett Parchert asked why they were doing that in court, the volunteers said Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers were outside the door, waiting to take the man into custody, so this was their only chance to help him get his things in order. “ICE is in the waiting room?” the judge asked.
As the mass deportation campaign of President Donald Trump focuses on cities and states led by Democrats and unleashes fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants, their legal defenders sued this week, seeking class-action protections against the arrests outside immigration court hearings. Meanwhile, these volunteers are taking action.
A diverse group — faith leaders, college students, grandmothers, retired lawyers and professors — has been showing up at immigration courts across the nation to escort immigrants at risk of being detained for deportation by masked ICE officials. They’re giving families moral and logistical support, and bearing witness as the people are taken away.
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project was inundated by so many community members wanting to help that they made a volunteer training video, created “Know Your Rights” sheets in several languages and started a Google sheet where people sign up for shifts, said Stephanie Gai, a staff attorney with the Seattlebased legal services nonprofit.
“We could not do it without them,” Gai said. “Some volunteers request time off work so they can come in and help.”
Robby Rohr, a retired nonprof-
it director, said she volunteers regularly.
“Being here makes people feel they are remembered and recognized,” she said. “It’s such a bureaucratic and confusing process. We try to help them through it.”
Recording videos of detentions to post online
Volunteers and legal aid groups have long provided free legal orientation in immigration court but the arrests have posed new challenges. Since May, the government has been asking judges to dismiss deportation cases.
Once the judge agrees, ICE officials arrest them in the hallways and put them in fast-track deportation proceedings, no matter which legal immigration pathway they may have been pursuing. Once in custody, it’s often harder to find or afford a lawyer.
Immigration judges are executive branch employees, and while some have resisted Homeland Security lawyers’ dismissal orders in some cases, many are granted.
Masked ICE agents grabbed the Colombian man and led him into the hallway. A volunteer took his backpack to give to his family as he was taken away. Other cases on the day’s docket involved immigrants who didn’t show up. Parchert granted “removal in absentia” orders, enabling ICE to arrest them later.
When asked about these arrests and the volunteers at immigration courts, a senior spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said ICE is once again implementing the rule of law by reversing “Biden’s catch and release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets.”
Some volunteers have recorded arrests in courtroom hallways, traumatic scenes that are proliferating online. How many similar scenes are happening nationwide remains unclear. The Executive Office for Immigration Review has not released numbers of cases dismissed or arrests made at or near immigration courts.
he was nowhere to be found.
The Rev. Fabián Arias, a volunteer court observer, said the woman whose first name is Alva approached him asking “Where is my husband?” She showed him his photo.
“ICE detained him,” Arias told her, and tried to comfort her as she trembled, later welling up with tears. A judge had not dismissed the husband’s case, giving him until October to find a lawyer. But that didn’t stop ICE agents from handcuffing him and taking him away as soon as he stepped out of court. The news sparked an outcry by immigration advocates, city officials and a congressman. At a news conference, she gave only her first name and asked that her daughter’s be withheld.
Brianna Garcia, a college student in El Paso, Texas, said she’s been attending immigration court hearings for weeks where she informs people of their rights and then records ICE agents taking people into custody.
While most volunteers have done this work without incident, some have been arrested for interfering with ICE agents. New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested after locking arms with a person in a failed attempt to prevent his detention. Lander’s wife, attorney Meg Barnette, had just joined him in walking migrants from a courtroom to the elevator.
Helping families find their relatives as they disappear
The volunteers’ act of witnessing has proven to be important as people disappear into a detention system that can seem chaotic, leaving families without any information about their whereabouts for days on end.
In a waiting room serving New York City immigration courtrooms, a Spanish-speaking woman with long dark curly hair was sitting anxiously with her daughter after she and her husband had separate hearings. Now
“We escort people so they’re not harassed and help people memorize important phone numbers, since their belongings are confiscated by ICE,” she said.
Paris Thomas began volunteering at the Denver immigration court after hearing about the effort through a network of churches. Wearing a straw hat, he recently waited in the midday heat for people to arrive for afternoon hearings.
Thomas handed people a small paper flyer listing their rights in Spanish on one side and English on the other. One man walking with a woman told him, “Thank you. Thank you.” Another man gave him a hug.
Denver volunteer Don Marsh said they offer to walk people to their cars after court appearances, so they can contact attorneys and family if ICE arrests them.
Marsh said he’s never done anything like this before, but wants to do something to preserve the nation’s “rule of law” now that unidentifiable government agents are “snatching” people off the streets.
“If we’re not all safe, no one’s safe,” he said.
An immigrant woman whose partner was detained in immigration court cries during a press conference on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)
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SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK. AXOS BANK, Plaintiff -against- HUDSON 805 LLC, et al Defendant(s). Index Number 850233/2022.
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 26, 2024 and entered on February 3, 2025 (the “Judgment”), I, the undersigned Referee will sell at a public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, New York on September 3, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. (E.T.) premises situate, all that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, known as Unit No. 805-06 in the building known as the Printing House Condominium. Together with an undivided 0.0124% interest in the Common Elements. District: 0403 Section: 014.00 Block: 02.00 and Lot: 044.002
Said premises known as 421 HUDSON STREET, UNIT 805/806, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014
Approximate amount of lien $7,584,837.12 plus post-judgment interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the filed Judgment and the Terms of Sale.
Attn: Benjamin O. Gilbert bogilbert@sheppardmullin.com
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112 (212) 896-0682
{* AMSTERDAM*}
Etico Managment LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/29/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 211 Thomspon Street APT 2E, New York, NY 10012. Purpose: Any lawful act.
West Atlantic Law Firm, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/08/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 104 West 40th Street, Suite 400 , New York, NY, 10018 Purpose: Any lawful act.
Empire Data Advisory LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on June 16th, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 26 Cornelia St., New York, New York, 10014. Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AS TRUSTEE FOR HARBORVIEW MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-2,
Plaintiff, Against HARVEY LEVINE, CAROLE LEVINE, ET AL
Defendant(s)
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered 09/13/2024, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction, in Room 130 at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on 8/13/2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 455 Central Park West, Unit 17B, New York, New York 10025, and described as follows:
ALL that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Condominium Unit (Hereinafter Referred To As The "Unit") Known As Unit No. 17B In The Premises Known As 455 Central Park West Condominium, And By The Street Number 455 Central Park West, Borough Of Manhattan, County City And State Of New York. TOGERTHER with an undivided 0.625% percent interest in the Common Elements. Block 01841 Lot 1276
The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $3,088,341.91 plus interest and costs. The Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 850318/2014
Roberta Ellen Ashkin, Esq., Referee.
MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, LLC, 10 Midland Avenue, Suite 205, Port Chester, NY 10573
Dated: 6/4/2025 File Number: 17-301350 CA
EL REY VENTURES LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/17/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 136 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Clear Process Engineering LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/14/2025. Office location: NY County County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 19376 N. 9th St., Covington, LA 70433. Purpose: Any lawful act.
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK
CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- TREVOR C. MORAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated April 22, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on August 6, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. The Unit known as Residential Unit No. 10A in the building known as The Heritage at Trump Place, 240 Riverside Boulevard, in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Together with an undivided 0.7911% interest in the common elements. Block: 1171 Tax Lot: 2111. Said premises known as 240 RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, UNIT 10A, NEW YORK, NY 10069. Approximate amount of lien $5,673,292.89 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. Index Number 850110/2019.
THOMAS KLEINBERGER, ESQ., Referee, David A. Gallo & Associates LLP, Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 47 Hillside Avenue, 2nd Floor, Manhasset, NY 11030. File# 5025.1930 {* AMSTERDAM*}
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
WOORI AMERICA BANK, Plaintiff -against- DK BEAUTY INC., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated March 27, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on August 6, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, known as Unit No. 2010 in the building known as the "20 West 33rd Street Condominium" together with an undivided 7.1629 percent interest in the common elements.
Block: 834 Lot: 1013
Said premises known as 18-28 WEST 33RD STREET, UNIT 2010, NEW YORK, NY
Approximate amount of lien $6,021,316.46 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.
Index Number 850042/2024.
SOFIA BALILE, ESQ., Referee Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 40 Calumet Ave, Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034
NOTICE OF SALE
SUPREME COURT: NEW YORK COUNTY CI NOTES LLC v. 7 TH REALTY HOLDINGS, LLC et al. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 11, 2025 and filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, New York County on April 17, 2025, bearing Index no. 850657/2023, I will sell at public auction on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 2:15 pm in Room 130 of the New York County Supreme Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 the premises known as 2291 7th Avenue a/k/a 2291 Adam C. Powell Jr. Blvd., New York, NY 10030 (Block: 1919, Lot: 63). Premises sold subject to filed Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Terms of Sale. Judgment amount $1,382,233.85 plus interest and costs. The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with the New York County Supreme Court Policies. Location and time are subject to revision based on Court policy, current protocols and health conditions. It is requested that Auction attendees practice social distancing whenever possible.
Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee. Harry Zubli, Esq., attorney for plaintiff (516) 487-5777.
ITSHAK HOLTZ FINE ART LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/3/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: Registered Agents Ince, 418 Broadway, STE R, Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful act.
GROUNDED STARS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/19/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 535 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, #1021, New York, NY 10017 Purpose: Any lawful act.
TOKPA MASSAGE THERAPY, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/22/2025. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 234 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.
V76 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on May 21, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: C/O Dontzin Kolbe & Fleissig LLP, 31 East 62nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10065. Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE, SUPREME COURT, NEW YORK COUNTY NewBank v. 43 Mott Realty Owner LLC et al. , Index No. 850034/2022
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 31, 2025 (the “Judgment”), I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder in Room 130 of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on July 30, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. the premises known as 43-45 Mott Street, New York, New York 10013, Borough of Manhattan, Block 164, Lots 28 and 29 (the “Premises”).
The approximate amount of the Judgment is $554,281.17, plus interest, costs, attorneys’ fees, and disbursements. The Premises will be sold subject to the provisions of the Judgment and terms of sale. Said auction will be conducted “rain or shine.”
Christy Demelfi, Esq., Referee
Plaintiff’s attorneys: Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. 990 Stewart Avenue, 3rd Floor Garden City, New York 11530 516-741-6565 (tel.) 516-741-6706 (fax)
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK. ALMA BANK, Plaintiff -againstN.V. JUDSON CORPORATION, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 11, 2025 and entered on April 28, 2025 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on August 20, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, known and designated as Unit No. 29G in the condominium known as "Olympic Tower Condominium" together with an undivided .2213396% interest in the common elements. Block: 1287 and Lot: 1063
Said premises known as 641 5TH AVENUE, UNIT NO. 29G, NEW YORK, NY 10022
Approximate amount of lien $2,004,580.73 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.
Index Number 850068/2023. MATTHEW D. HUNTER III, ESQ., Referee
SHERMAN ATLAS SYLVESTER & STAMELMAN LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036 {* AMSTERDAM*}
REFEREE'S NOTICE OF SALE
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK
APSEC RESOLUTION, LLC,
A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, Plaintiffagainst - WEST 21ST ASSOCIATES LLC, et al Defendant(s).
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on March 4, 2025. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on the 6th day of August, 2025 at 2:15 PM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York. Premises known as 34 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010.
(Block: 822, Lot: 59)
Approximate amount of lien $8,820,122.46 plus interest and costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.
Index No. 850497/2023. Jeffrey Robert Miller, Esq., Referee. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 840
New York, NY 10170
Tel. 347/286-7409
Dated: March 20, 2025
During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6-feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale
Uwabideli Brands LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on March 12, 2025. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 5680 Broadway #1039, Bronx, NY 10463. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Somethingsoft LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/16/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 125 Delancey St, Apt 1305, New York, NY 10002. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Greater Harlem Chamber SPV1, LLC LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/8/25 Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 200A W136th Street, New York, NY 10030. Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE
SUPREME COURT. NEW YORK COUNTY. FLUSHING BANK, Pltf. vs. GACH, LLC A/K/A PBAK LLC, et al Deft. Index #850038/2024. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale entered April 25, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 20, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. prem. k/a 43 East 25 th Street, Unit C6, New York, NY 10016 a/k/a Block 855, Lot 1007. The Unit known as Unit No. C6 in the Building known as The Stanford, located at 43-51 East 25 th Street in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York and also designated and described as Unit No. C6 in the Declaration establishing the Standford (hereinafter called the “Property”), made under the Condominium Act of the State of New York as amended ( Article 9-B of the Real Property Law of the State of New York dated March 31, 1986 and recorded in the New York County Office of the Register of the City of New York on May 5, 1986 in Reel 1058 Page 1675 as amended by Amendment to Declaration dated August 8, 1986 and recorded September 5, 1986 in Reel 1113 Page 464 and further amended by Second Amendment dated June 22, 1987 and recorded July 20, 1987 in Reel 12362 Page 1345 and further amended Third Amendment dated October 15, 1987 and recorded December 8, 1987 in Reel 1328 Page 2003 and by Fourth Amendment dated June 13, 1988 and recorded June 17, 1988 in Reel 1418 Page 442). Which Unit is also designated as Tax Lot No. 1007 in Block 866 of Section 3 on the Floor Plans of the Building, certified by Liebman, Liebman Associates, P.C. on the 23 rd day of April 1986 and filed simultaneously with said Declaration in the said Office of the Register of the City of New York, County of New York as Map No. 4454. Together with an undivided 3.2788% percent interest in the Common Elements of the Condominium. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,188,476.36 plus cost and interest. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale. JERRY MEROLA, Referee. CERTILMAN BALIN ADLER & HYMAN, LLP Attys. for Pltf., 100 Motor Parkway, Ste. 560, Hauppauge, NY 11788. File No. 12914.0513- #102291
NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #NA-0370-25121169 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & and liquor at retail in a bar under the ABC Law at 143 1 st Ave., NYC 10003 for on-premises consumption; Eighteen to One LLC
CRG CAPITAL GROUP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/08/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 134 West 29th Street, 4th Fl, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY
MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff against
PHILIP LAJAUNIE, et al Defendant(s)
Attorney for Plaintiff(s) Stern & Eisenberg, P.C., 20 Commerce Drive, Suite 230, Cranford, NJ 07016 and 1131 Route 55, Suite 1, Lagrangeville, NY 12540.
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered October 21, 2024, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at Motion Support Room 130 in the New York Supreme Court, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on August 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM. Premises known as 62 East First Street, Unit 4S, New York, NY 10003. Block 443 Lot 1108. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate lying and being the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judgment is $1,609,440.57 plus interest, fees, and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 850341/2018.
During the COVID-19 health emergency, Bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of the sale including but not limited to wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6-feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Should a bidder fail to comply, the Referee may refuse to accept any bid, cancel the closing and hold the bidder in default. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale. Referee will only accept a certified bank check made payable to the referee.
Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee File # NY201800001401-1
Notice of Formation of KIRKWOOD HOUSE ACQUISITION, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/18/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
GEMSIGHT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/04/2023. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 300 E 40TH ST, APT 8F, NEW YORK NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.
DRINK X FRESH LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/18/2025. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 228 PARK AVE S#715255, NEW YORK, NY, 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York , Stormfield Opportunity Fund, LP , Plaintiff, vs . Glotser Living, LLC , ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Consent Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered on April 9, 2025 , I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at Room 130 of the New York County, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on August 13, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 166 East 63rd Street, Unit 16D, Manhattan, NY 10065. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, Block 1397 and Lot 1341 together with an undivided 0.611252 percent interest in the Common Elements, as well as all personal property of Borrower as identified in that certain Mortgage, Assignment of Rents, Security Agreement and Fixture Filing, dated as of September 17, 2021, and recorded on October 7, 2021 as CRFN 2021000395478, and excluding any funds held by Plaintiff in any reserve, escrow, or suspense fund, and excluding any funds held by Plaintiff in any cash management account. Approximate amount of judgment is $970,128.57 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850572/2023. Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee Polsinelli PC, Aaron P. Davis, Esq., 600 Third Avenue, 42nd Floor, New York, New York 10016, Attorneys for Plaintiff
Notice of Qualification of Lani Cao Law Office, PLLC. A Certificate of Authority was filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/XX/2025. Office location: New York County. A Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) was formed on 07/XX/2025. SSNY is designated as the agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Lani Cao Law Office, PLLC: 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, PMB #xxxx, New York, NY 10016. The Articles of Organization were originally filed with the Secretary of Washington State. Location: 10800 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA.
Notice of Qualification of TWO SIGMA PULSAR PORTFOLIO, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/04/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/25/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 100 Ave. of the Americas, 16th Fl., NY, NY 10013. DE addr. of LLC: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
225 Willow LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on July 13, 2025. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 601 Wales Ave, Bronx, NY 10455 Purpose: Any lawful act.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR BANC OF AMERICA FUNDING CORPORATION MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-D, Plaintiff AGAINST DEVIKA KAMBOH, ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered April 4, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM, premises known as 630 1st Avenue, Unit 34E, New York, NY 10016. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 968 Lot 1464. Approximate amount of judgment $1,156,389.64 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850534/2023. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC 1775 Wehrle Drive Williamsville, NY 14221 23-001521 85402
Notice of Qualification of HANDSOME BROOK FARM, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/11/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/03/16. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 555 W. 57th St., Ste. 1103B, NY, NY 10019. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF OM SHADOW LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on May 31, 2025, Office Location, New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: UNITED STATES CORPORATION AGENTS, INC. 7014 13TH AVENUE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY, 11228, USA. The principal business address of the LLC is OM Shadow LLC 228 PARK AVE S #195985, NEW YORK, NY, 10003
Notice of Qualification of TWO SIGMA PULSAR ENHANCED FUND, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/04/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/24/25. NYS fictitious name: TWO SIGMA PULSAR ENHANCED FUND, L.P. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 100 Ave. of the Americas, 16th Fl., NY, NY 10013. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: NEW YORK COUNTY. NYCTL 2021A TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN, Pltf. vs., JILA SOROUDI, Defts. Index #157345/2022. Pursuant to for judgment of foreclosure and sale entered May 8, 2024 and order extending time to sell entered July 12, 2024 and decision and order entered April 16, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 13, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. prem. k/a 150 West 51 st Street, Unit 155, New York, NY 10019 a/k/a Block 01003 Lot 1240. Judgments amount $52,273.92 Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale. DORON LEIBY, Referee. THE DELLO-IACONO LAW GROUP, P.C., Attys. For Pltf., 312 Larkfield Road, Lower Level, East Northport, NY. File No. 22-000027 - #102297
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT. NEW YORK COUNTY. WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOLDERS OF CD 2019-CD8 MORTGAGE TRUST COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2019-CD8, Pltf. vs. 63 SPRING LAFAYETTE, LLC, et al Deft. Index# 850042/2022. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale entered April 23, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 13, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. prem. k/a 63 Spring Street, New York, NY a/k/a Block 496, Lot 34. Approximate amount of judgment is $28,125,967.56 plus cost and interest. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale. ELAINE SHAY, Referee. BALLARD SPAHR LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 1675 Broadway, 19 Floor, New York, NY. #102355
Notice of Qualification of STORAGE POST / 4396 BROADWAY, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/20/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/03/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of CSIP VII GENERAL PARTNER, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/10/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/11/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Kimbro LLC filed w/ SSNY 6/22/04. Off. in NY Co. Process served to SSNY - desig. as agt. of LLC & mailed to Mike Katz, 630 Third Ave, 23rd Fl, NY, NY 10017. Any lawful purpose.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, not in its individual capacity but solely as Owner Trustee of CSMC 2018SP3 Trust, Plaintiff AGAINST Sreeram Mallikarjun; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered April 23, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction in room 130 at the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on August 13, 2025, at 2:15PM, premises known as 350 West 42nd Street Apartment 53C, New York, NY 10036. The Condominium Unit (the "Unit") in the premises known as Orion Condominium and by the street number 350 West 42nd Street, Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Block 1032 Lot 1484. Approximate amount of judgment $1,206,958.02 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 850224/2021. Doron Leiby, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: May 8, 2025 85618
Notice of Formation of ALAN MENKEN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/16/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Fulton Vittoria LLP, One Rockefeller Plaza, Ste. 301, NY, NY 10020. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR RCF 2 ACQUISITION TRUST, Plaintiff AGAINST ANDREW G. DYSART, ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered January 24, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM, premises known as 170 West 23rd Street, Apt. 6J, New York, NY 10011. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Block 798 Lot 1116. Approximate amount of judgment $514,274.44 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850661/2023. Matthew D. Hunter III, Esq., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC 1775 Wehrle Drive Williamsville, NY 14221 23002684 85151
Notice of Formation of US OVERSIGHT PROPERTIES
LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/08/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 641 Lexington Ave., 15th Fl., NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of STORAGE POST / 4388 BROADWAY, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/20/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/03/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of ADVANTAGE SALES & MARKETING LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/18/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Nevada (NV) on 12/30/24. Princ. office of LLC: 8001 Forsyth Blvd., Ste. 1025, Clayton, MO 63105. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 101 N. Carson St., Ste. 3, Carson City, NV 89701. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #NA-0340-25100961 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 507 Columbus Ave., New York, NY 10024 for on-premises consumption; Eshel Avraham Mediterranean Grill LLC
Volleyball legend Flo Hyman posthumously receives USOPC Hall of Fame honor
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
Her honors are extensive and her accomplishments historic: 41 years after Flo Hyman was part of a medal-winning U.S. Olympic volleyball team and 39 years after her untimely death, she has been inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame.
Hyman’s honor was accepted by Ruth Nelson, who was a teammate and then coached her at the University of Houston, where Hyman was the first female student-athlete to receive an athletic scholarship. “She was offered the first scholarship at Houston and she said, ‘I need to share it with everyone,’” said Nelson. “That’s the kind of person she was.”
After three collegiate seasons, Hyman focused her attention on the U.S. national team. The squad failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympics and set their sights on the 1980 Summer Games, held in Moscow, the capital of the thenSoviet Union, but the United States boycott of the games due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, which was launched in February of 1979 and didn’t end until March of 1989, delayed Hyman’s Olympic debut.
By the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the team was internationally ranked. At 6-foot-5 and 30 years old, Hyman was the tallest and oldest member of the team, capturing attention for her dynamic play and personality. People across the U.S. stayed up to watch women’s
volleyball live. The team earned a silver medal.
“She was very humble,” said Nelson. “[This honor] was a long time coming. All these years have gone by, and I’ve kept up her website (flohyman.com) and social media because I believe that it’s very important for people to understand the history and how the ’84 medal really set the stage and foundation for volleyball’s development.”
Four-time Olympic beach volleyball medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, who played indoor volleyball at Stanford, was also among the inductees. “The idea of both of them being inducted sets the stage for so much larger growth for volleyball,” said Nelson.
Nelson noted that Hyman had a considerable impact on diversity in volleyball, due not only to her athletic prowess, but also her dynamic personality. “She wanted to meet everybody,” Nelson recalled. “National Girls and Women in Sports Day is named after her.”
Hyman died on January 24, 1986, while playing professionally in Japan. It was disclosed that the cause was Marfan syndrome. Extensive research has been done in her memory, and the Marfan Foundation holds her name in a place of honor.
The other female hall of fame inductees were Gabby Douglas, Anita DeFrantz, Allyson Felix, Susan Hagel, Marla Runyan, Serena Williams, and the 2004 women’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball team.
A historic win by 45-year-old Venus Williams resonates and shows there are no limits for excellence
By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
WASHINGTON — There are plenty of reasons why this particular victory by Venus Williams in this particular tennis match — just one of hundreds — resonated with so many folks. That she's 45, for one thing. Only one woman, Martina Navratilova, ever has won a tour-level singles match while older; her last victory came at 47 in 2004.
That Williams hadn't entered a tournament anywhere in 16 months.
That she needed surgery for uterine fibroids. And when asked Tuesday night after beating her 23-year-old opponent, Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open what message others might take away from that performance and that result, Williams was quick to provide an answer. "There are no limits for excellence. It's all about what's in your head and how much you're able to put into it. If you put in the work mentally, physically, and emotionally, then you can have the result," she said. "It doesn't matter how many times you fall down. Doesn't matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is. If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space, for you."
Williams has been winning at tennis for decades. Her pro debut came when she was 14. Her first Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2000, less than a month after her 20th birthday.
She accumulated four major singles trophies before Stearns was born and eventually wound up with seven, five at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open, plus another 14 in women's doubles — all with her sister Serena — and two in mixed doubles.
"I have so much respect for her to come back here and play, win or lose. That takes a lot of guts to step back onto court, especially with what she's done for the sport," said Stearns, who is ranked 35th and won NCAA singles and team titles at the University of Texas. "You have a lot behind you. You have accomplished a lot. And there is a lot of pressure on her and to kind of upkeep that at this age. So massive credit to her for that."
There were challenges along the way for Williams, none more public than the diagnosis in 2011 of Sjögren's syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain.
More recent was the pain from fibroids — noncancerous growths — and shortly before the DC Open, Williams said: "Where I am at this year is so much different (from) where I was at last year. It's night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery."
As thrilled as the spectators — "Who I love, and they love me," Williams said — were to be able to watch, and pull, for her under the lights Tuesday, other players were rather excited about it, too.
"I commend her so much for being out here,"
"She's, like, the queen. There's a royal air around her."
"She's one of the best athletes of all time," Frances Tiafoe said. "Her and her sister, they're not only great for the women's game, not only great for women's sports, but they are so iconic."
Yet, there were some on social media who wondered whether it made sense for the tournament to award a wild-card entry to Williams instead of an up-and-coming player.
DC Open chairman Mark Ein said it took
him about two seconds to respond "Of course" when Williams' representative reached out in April to ask whether a spot in the field might be a possibility.
A reporter wanted to know Tuesday whether Williams took any satisfaction from proving doubters wrong.
"No, because I'm not here for anyone else except for me. And I also have nothing to prove.
Zip. Zero. I'm here for me, because I want to be here," she said. "And proving anyone wrong or thinking about anyone has never gotten me a win and has never gotten me a loss."
said Taylor Townsend. Naomi Osaka's take:
American volleyball legend Flo Hyman is widely recognized as one of the sport’s all-time great players. (Courtesy of USA Volleyball)
Venus Williams waves to the crowd as she celebrates her win over Peyton Stearns during a match at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Liberty add Emma Meesseman and Stephanie Talbot for championship run
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
The defending WNBA champion New York Liberty made two moves coming out of last weekend’s All-Star break that may prove to be the final pieces to a repeat as they resumed regular-season play Tuesday night.
New York signed 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, a 32-year-old, 6-4 center who averaged 15.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in her best statistical season in 2016. The team expects Meesseman to back up starting center and 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, who returned to the lineup Tuesday night after being sidelined since June 19 with a right ankle sprain, as the Liberty defeated the Indiana Fever at the Barclays Center 98-84.
Meesseman last played in the WNBA in 2022 for the Chicago Sky and is a two-time FIBA EuroBasket champion and MVP representing her native country Belgium. She is expected to report to the team in early August.
“To finally get the word that she has committed to come here, I think that’s pretty special,” New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “She’s a great player. She was going to help any team that she would go to. There’s a comfort level here.”
There’s a reunion of sorts here, too. Bron-
dello coached Meesseman at the Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg nearly a decade ago. She added that Meesseman is a great and intelligent player, and is excited to land her.
“I think she will fit into the system very easily with the way that we play as a team at both ends of the floor,” Brondello added.
With the new addition, the Liberty have four of the last seven WNBA Finals MVPs on the
The Liberty also acquired 6-foot two-inch forward Stephanie Talbot, 31, who played 16 games this season for the Golden State Valkyries earlier this season.
“Steph was waved from a team and we were the team that was able to, to pick her up so happy about that. It’s been a smooth
transition,” Brondello said.
Jones had an immediate impact for the Liberty in her return, scoring a team-high 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds against the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever. Stewart and forward Leonie Fiebich added 17.
“It felt great to be back out there,” Jones said afterward. “Obviously, it’s a while since I’ve been on the court, but my teammates have held it down while I was out…”
Brondello was ecstatic to have the team’s anchor in the fold once again. “It’s a happy day, (Jonquel Jones is) back; she’s worked really hard, excited to integrate her back into the team,” she said before the game.
Clark sat out with a right groin injury sustained on July 15 versus the Connecticut Sun. Tuesday was the 11th game Clark has missed this season due to injury. The Fever fell to 12-12 after the loss to the Liberty while New York improved to 16-6, second best in the WNBA behind the Lynx, which were 21-4 when the league’s schedule tipped off last night.
New York hosts a rare home back-to-back at Barclays Center, beginning tomorrow against the Phoenix Mercury and Saturday against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Liberty travel to Dallas to play the Wings on Monday and will face the team they defeated in the Finals last year, the Minnesota Lynx, on the road on Wednesday.
Jets and Giants hand Wilson and Fields the keys to evolving offenses
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Ten months ago, Justin Fields began the 2024 season as the Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback. Despite a solid six-game showing, during which he was instrumental to the team’s 4-2 start, he was replaced by Russell Wilson, who battled an ankle injury in training camp that gave Fields an edge for the QB1 spot when the regular season began.
Wilson remained the Steelers starter for the remainder of the season as they hobbled into the playoffs, losing their last four regular season games, finishing 10-7, second in the AFC North, before losing their wildcard game 28-14 to the division champion Baltimore Ravens.
As fate would have it, both are now the declared starters for New York’s squads as Fields was the first to exit the Steelers, signing a two-year, $40 million contract with Jets on March 13 while two weeks later Wilson and the Giants agreed to a 1-year, $10.5 million deal with incentives that could push his earnings to $21 million.
As NFL training camps began this week, the Jets — under new head coach Aaron Glenn, formerly the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator (2021–24), and general manager Darren Mougey, the Denver Broncos’ assistant GM from 2022 to 2024 —
are hopeful that 26-year-old Justin Fields, drafted by the Chicago Bears with the No. 11 overall pick in 2021, will be their longterm starter and elevate the franchise to Super Bowl contention.
First things first: becoming a playoff team — something the Jets haven’t been since the 2010 postseason, making their 14-year drought the longest of all teams in the four major North American sports leagues (NFL,
NBA, MLB, NHL). The team finished 5-12 last season.
“I just think he’s ready to break out as a top-notch quarterback,” Glenn said to an NFL Network reporter in late March.
The 36-year-old Wilson is in the final stages of his playing days. How much longer he’ll continue is unclear, but the Giants see him as capable steward until Jaxson Dart — whom they traded up for in April’s draft, moving from the second round to select at No. 25 overall out of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) — is ready to take on arguably the toughest job in team sports.
Wilson has started in two Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks (2014, 2015), winning in 2014, and is a ten-time Pro Bowl selection. One of his charges under head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen, both now in Year 4 for a team that was 3-14 a season ago, is clear: help the Giants become respectable as part of the building process and teach Dart.
“Yeah, I expect to be the starter and come in here and be ready to rock and roll every day,” said Wilson in late March. “This team is really looking for somebody to lead them in every way in terms of process and the offseason, during the season, our habits and our thought process, how we create a great winning culture, and how do we continue to establish that, to really build on things that we do well and things we need to continue to do.”
roster with Jones (2024), Meesseman (2019) and Breanna Stewart (2018 and 2020).
Liberty forward Jonquel Jones returned to team’s lineup on Tuesday, scoring 18 points after being sidelined since June 19 with a sprained right ankle. (Brandon Todd/New York Liberty)
Russell Wilson (left) and Justin Fields, who last season each shared time as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterbacks, will now be the starters for the Giants and Jets respectively. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
USTA Foundation expands tennis, education and life skills programs for youth
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
Last Friday, nearly 100 kids gathered at Howard Bennett Playground in Harlem to learn about tennis, experience the sport, and also hear about financial literacy. The USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), again partnered with Chase to award 13 National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) chapters $350,000 in total grants to support year-round tennis, education and life skills programming.
Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program (HJTEP) is among the NJTL chapters receiving a Chase Return the Serve program. Founded in 1972, HJTEP works with kids ages five to 18, at any level of tennis skill, providing tennis instruction and academic support, including tutoring.
“I look forward to bringing tennis into the community, as usual,” said Simone Spigner, HJTEP program director. “We have our kids from the USTA Foundation excellence team coming out as volunteers. We want to make sure our participants understand the concept of giving back.”
The volunteers are members of HJTEP’s tournament team. These are the more ad-
vanced young players, many of whom go on to play in college. HJTEP covers the costs of equipment, private lessons and tournament fees for those players. In return, the players are required to do community service projects and to maintain a 3.5 grade point average.
“We always have them come out and help at these types of events, and they do such a great job,” said Spigner. “We train them to work with younger children. We help them engage with the children and they help the children have fun. We teach them games and how to demonstrate tennis strokes. They receive a lot of mentorship from our staff, which reflects on how they deal with children in the community.”
Spigner said every time HJTEP participates in these kinds of events, the organization then hears from about 30 interested applicants. There was an event earlier this year at Riverbank, and this year’s summer camp had many new participants. The organization also goes into New York City public schools to teach tennis.
“Our staff, we all came from public tennis courts,” Spigner said. “Some of our kids, we met through our community outreach programs and we offer them scholarships. Tennis for all. As long as HJTEP is around, they always have a place with us.”
New Yorker Ashleigh Ellis fosters diversity in figure skating
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
Growing up on Long Island, Ashleigh Ellis loved figure skating. She skated at the Freeport skating rink, which is part of a community recreation center. Although Ellis was the only Black skater, she found the rink to be a welcoming environment, in large part thanks to her coach, Liz Eldredge.
When Ellis was a teenager, she realized no one else at her rink looked like her. “I always longed for representation,” she said. “Going to competitions, I felt a little bit out of place and wished that I had a place where kids looked like me.”
Despite this, “I competed up to the novice level,” she added. In high school, Ellis switched to track and field, becoming a high jumper and earning an athletic scholarship for college. “After I graduated, I put my skates back on.”
Now residing in Los Angeles with her husband and two young sons, Ellis is living her dream to provide access to figure skating to a diverse range of youngsters ages 5 to 12. For the fourth summer, she is overseeing the Unity Ice Academy (unityiceacademy.org), inviting participants to Lakewood Ice-The Rinks (near Long Beach and Compton) for four weeks of skating, dance classes, age-appropriate character-building workshops, and bonding. There are
80 kids this summer. The 13- and 14-year-olds who age out of the program become junior counselors. Veteran U.S. competitor Starr Andrews serves as on-ice director.
“I think of them growing up and having a place where they’re doing a sport that they don’t normally see themselves in,” said Ellis. “They’re on the ice and seeing themselves. It’s such a beautiful thing and inspires me every day to keep going.”
This year’s summer program will conclude on August 2 with a recital. For the first time, about 10 to 15 participants will be invited to continue working with the Unity Ice Academy year-round. “Starting in September, we’re going to be meeting once a week,” said Ellis. “They’ll have lessons. There will be tutors to help them with their homework.” The rink hosts shows for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day in which these skaters will perform.
“We don’t limit our program to only Black and Brown children; we have children of all different colors,” said Ellis, who fundraises for Unity Ice year-round. “It really is about unity and having all types of people. It’s about everyone feeling they belong. We have built a beautiful community.”
Participants of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program receive instruction from camp counselors and test their skills. (Courtesy of HJTEP)
Unity Ice Academy founder Ashleigh Ellis (c) with some of the campers. (Courtesy of Ashleigh Ellis photo)
Sports
The Harlem Jets shape decades of brotherhood, growth and opportunity
By TYRESE ALLEYNE-DAVIS Special to AmNews
If you walk by Harlem River Park on any given weekend in the fall, you’ll likely hear the sharp clap of shoulder pads, coaches barking out instructions, and unified chants as young boys run laps together. The heartbeat of the field, the youth football program Harlem Jets, has served as a life raft for hundreds of Harlem’s youth.
Jamel “Coach Mel” Wright and a group of committed fathers launched the Harlem Jets in August 2005 fielding just four teams and under 100 youth. Since then, the Jets have blossomed into what their website describes as “a transformative two-generation sports and development organization” grounded in the belief that sports can be a powerful catalyst for personal growth and academic achievement.
Over the last 20 years, more than 5,000 children aged 5–13 have passed through the program, earning spots at prestigious high schools such as Cardinal Hayes, Stepinac, Iona Prep, Bergen Catholic, and Don Bosco Prep before competing at the collegiate level. A record 19 alumni are committed to college football for the 2025 season at Georgetown, Penn State, Duke, and Rutgers, to name a few.
Notable alums include Ajani Cornelius, a standout offensive lineman at the University of Oregon and now a rookie with the Dallas Cowboys; Justin Joly, a senior tight end for North Carolina State who this week was named preseason All Atlantic Coast Conference by USA Today; cornerback Elijah Jones (Arizona Cardinals), and Sanoussi Kane, now a safety for the Baltimore Ravens.
Kane still remembers the exact feeling of putting on a Harlem Jets jersey. “The camaraderie we had as a team — that bond is unforgettable,” he said to the AmNews. “Those guys are still my brothers to this day.”
Kane’s story embodies what the Harlem Jets are about: belief, effort, and perseverance. “I wasn’t the best guy when I was younger,” he admitted. “But hard work and dedication pushed me over the top. I had a great support system, and that started with the Jets.”
He credits Wright with changing his life.
“Coach Mel’s belief in me meant everything. That’s like my uncle — we went through a lot together. I can’t thank him enough. Some of us went to the NFL. Others became producers, news anchors — you name it. I’m just one testimony of his impact.”
Kane has paid it forward, mentoring Jets
players, not because he has to, but because he wants today’s youth to believe they can follow in his footsteps. “When I was growing up, we didn’t have NFL players come back. If these kids see me, someone from their program who lived around the corner, they’ll believe they can do it, too.”
That belief is also what fuels Coach Bob Mazur, a retired attorney who joined the Harlem Jets in 2009 after searching for a youth sports program to support. “Football rewards effort,” Mazur said. “Some kids who might not thrive in other sports can become essential players here. That’s something I love.”
He personally checks report cards, holds players accountable in the classroom, and teaches life lessons one huddle at a time.
“Even when it’s tough, they stick with it. That’s growth. That’s what we’re here for.”
Wright’s philosophy is echoed by former Harlem Jets quarterback and current coach Sofian Massoud. “The Harlem Jets changed my life — and the lives of so many people I grew up with,” he told me. “It gave us a productive outlet, but more importantly, strong men to look up to.
“Coaching is twofold,” he said. “You teach
the technical side — but you also share your story, your mistakes, your lessons. You give them a blueprint.”
Every Harlem Jets coach, from Massoud and Mazur, to Wright himself, carries that same torch. “Football teaches you to get knocked down and get back up. That mirrors life,” Wright said.
Today, the Harlem Jets run eight teams from ages 6U through 13U, in addition to cheerleading, wrestling, lacrosse, a summer camp, and a youth employment program. The organization remains proudly rooted in Harlem River Park, the field where it all began — now renovated and buzzing with activity thanks to the program’s community advocacy and growth.
In an era where youth sports can feel transactional, the Harlem Jets remain transformational. “Ten years ago, nobody thought we’d have three NFL players come out of this program,” Kane said. “Now we do — and more are coming. The sky’s the limit.”
Harlem Jets coaches and alumni, with founder Jamel Wright (standing in all gray center-left) and players kneeling during a practice, have become one of the most impactful youth sports programs in the country. (Sean Doyle photo)
