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Ty Hankerson wins in Queens District 28
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
The incredibly competitive race to replace City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams in Queen’s District 28 has officially wrapped up with the second round of New York City Board of Elections (BOE) ranked choice voting results posted this week. Tyrell D. Hankerson, Adams’ chief of staff, is the new councilmember-elect.
“This was a hard-fought race, and we are proud of the coalition we have built throughout this district. From the very beginning, our message was one District 28, and we carried that message throughout the campaign,” said Hankerson on Tuesday, July 1.
“We are elated that the voters chose me, Ty Hankerson, to be their next representative, and we will fight every single day to make sure our district is affordable, is safe, and we all enjoy a better quality of life. Thank you to everyone who supported us. To my opponents, I look forward to a continued dialogue for the benefit of our community.”
The council seat in District 28 encom -
passes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, and South Ozone Park. This district was spotlighted, not only because of Adams’ recent mayoral run in the June primary, but because it is a culturally diverse Black and Brown (meaning South Asian and IndoCaribbean as well as Hispanic) immigrant community that is split up among numerous city council districts due to redistricting. It’s also bifurcated by the Van Dyck Expressway, said attendees, with mostly Little Guyana on the left and South Jamaica’s Black community on the right.
Hankerson was up against Japneet Singh, a young Sikh community leader; the exonerated former Councilmember Ruben Wills; Latoya LeGrand, an aide to Assemblymember Vivian Cook; and real estate broker Romeo Hitlall.
Hankerson drew his campaign experience and policies from working with Speaker Adams. He supports legalizing safe basement apartments, educating street vendors, introducing an Indo-Caribbean–based curriculum in schools, protecting the city’s status as a sanctuary city,
Owning a home remains a path to wealth, but Black homeowners need to safeguard their future
NYU’s Furman Center calls on city agencies and non-profits to identify neighborhoods where owners could be vulnerable to losing their homes. Eightyeight percent of “at-risk” and “higher risk” properties are in rapidly gentrifying Queens and Brooklyn neighborhoods.
(Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)
MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS INFORMATION
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
Many of the world’s millionaires reside in the United States, with much of their wealth coming from property ownership.
According to a new report by UBS, the world’s largest private bank, strong financial markets in the United States in 2024 boosted the number of millionaires in this country. Data from UBS’s recently released “Global Wealth Report” shows that financial power increased for individuals by 4.6% in 2024.
Of all the world’s regions, wealth grew in the Americas the most, and predominantly in North America: “The world’s USD [United States dollar] millionaires own nearly half of the entire personal wealth identified in our sample,” the UBS report states, “and North America is their main host: four out of 10 millionaires are based there, a significantly higher number than in any other region.”
The UBS study also points to the growing number of Everyday MILLIonaires (EMILLIs), many of whom have grown wealthy because of property ownership. The U.S. dollar’s high exchange rate has boosted the value of U.S. homes, and as properties are purchased or even inherited, more and more U.S. homeowners are becoming millionaires. Over a thousand EMILLIs are created every day in the U.S., UBS asserts.
Many EMILLIs are female: they are women
who inherit wealth from their parents or, since they tend to live longer than men, from their husbands.
Because Black wealth in the U.S. relies heavily on homeownership, retaining property ownership is crucial for building wealth in Black families. But the Amsterdam News has consistently been contacted by homeowners who have been victimized by deed theft and predatory lending schemes.
Vulnerable owners
Wealth distribution varies by race in the U.S.: the Federal Reserve has found that the wealth of white people is diversified among an almost equal amount of mutual funds, stocks, and real estate, while Blacks, Latinos, and Asians tend to have their wealth rooted in property.
This highlights how different groups build and hold their wealth in the United States.
Maintaining wealth has to be planned, representatives of TD Bank told the AmNews Paige Carlson-Heim, the head of U.S. Social Impact at TD Bank, pointed to a recent report from New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, which calls on city agencies and non-profits to identify neighborhoods where owners could be vulnerable to losing their homes. Eighty-eight percent of “at-risk” and “higher risk” properties are in
See TY HANKERSON on page 36
Councilmember-elect Tyrell D. Hankerson. (Photo contributed by campaign)
Zohran Mamdani’s fight for community safety for all
By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News staff
Exactly a year before officially launching his mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani spoke over the phone with me about his frustrations with the state of the world.
The Oct. 7 attacks occurred roughly two weeks before our interview and many democratic officials rushed to champion Israel’s right to self-defense by then. Like his peers, Mamdani unequivocally condemned Hamas’ killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians. But he could count on two hands how many party holdouts joined him in calling for an initial ceasefire and ostensibly advocated against killing innocent Gazans in the months and years to come.
In Chicago, a landlord murdered six-yearold Palestinian American Wadee Alfayoumi in a hate crime. “A landlord who he ran towards thinking that he [the landlord] was looking to play with him and instead he was met with multiple stab wounds,” said Mamdani.
The hostile climate evoked bad memories for the Queens-based state lawmaker who grew up Muslim in post-9/11 New York City. He distinctly remembered how his aunt feared wearing a hijab in public and stopped taking the subway. “She felt as if she could only be safe within the confines of the four walls of her home,” Mamdani recounted. Yet he believed lip service against domestic Islamophobia without addressing the plight of Gazans would ring hollow.
“What is so concerning to me is that many politicians think that they can, on one side of their mouth, give a message endorsing unrestrained mass murder of Palestinian civilians,” said Mamdani over the phone in 2023. “And on the other side of their mouth, say that there’s no room for Islamophobia seeking in some sense to distinguish between what they believe Muslims over there deserve versus Muslims over here.
“What these politicians do not seem to understand is that if you are someone listening to their rhetoric and you hear in their words that Palestinian life does not
deserve the same anguish, the same protection [and] the same dignity as any other person’s life then it means frankly that life can be taken in the name of self defense, or a right to defend oneself.”
Still, protests across the city gave him hope. Mamdani believed public opinion swung in favor of his calls for a ceasefire but felt there remained a “chasm” in political representation.
On the doorstep of Gracie Mansion
On Oct. 23, 2024, Mamdani officially announced his long-shot campaign for mayor at the Connected Chef food pantry in Long Island City. Back then, his name-recognition sat at around 1%.
What he lacked in initial political backing he made up for in community support. While a groundswell of young voter turnout now characterizes Mamdani’s campaign,
his day-one endorsers largely boasted older, working-class immigrant members. Advocates from early-adopter trio New York Communities for Change (NYCC), CAAAV Voice, and DRUM Beats packed the cozy venue as he promised a more affordable New York City.
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM) racial justice organizer Simran Thind says sister organization DRUM Beats — which advocates politically for working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean New Yorkers — endorsed Mamdani as many members were familiar with his past efforts and felt his mayoral priorities addressed their material needs.
“The overall messaging is around platform, affordability [and] being able to really get to the core issues [in] a really simple and digestible way that a lot of our folks understood and resonated with was really what drew people in,” said Thind.
NYCC director of campaigns Alicé Nascimento recounts meeting Mamdani for endorsement talks back in Aug. 2024. Any initial reservations dissipated after meeting him and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now spin-off took the leap of faith in the millennial assemblymember.
“He was a candidate that wanted to be in partnership with our organizations, in partnership with immigrant communities of color and make them a center of what the New York that he envisioned,” said Nascimento. “And that’s the New York that we envisioned.”
Mamdani’s policy blueprint centering around freezing the rent and providing universal childcare also included a comprehensive plan to form a Department of Community Safety to address public safety beyond the NYPD.
“Fundamentally, New Yorkers want to be in a city that is run well and focuses on their needs [and] deals with affordability,” said Maurice Mitchell, Working Families Party national director. “And wants leadership that is decent [and] bold and could actually function.”
Mamdani’s message resonated with New Yorkers in extraordinary fashion over the next eight months. At 12:17 a.m. on election night last week, the state’s top law enforcement official Letitia James introduced Zohran Mamdani for his victory speech after presumptive front-runner and ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded in the democratic primary race just hours after the polls closed.
“You need to understand that Zohran is really a man who respects the humanity of everyone,” said State Attorney General James. “The primary is now over and tonight we celebrate the victory … his critics said that he didn’t have the right name. Well, now all of them know his goddamn name.”
Fighting hate hits home
Throughout his campaign, Mamdani
MAMDANI on page 11
Is it time for a more inclusive era of ownership in NYC’s gaming and casino industry? Rev. Sharpton and JAY-Z think so
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
SL Green Realty Corp., one of New York City’s gaming titans hoping to build a toprated casino in Caesars Palace in Times Square, has submitted its bid for one of the open state license slots.
To hedge their bet, SL Green Realty formally announced a partnership with music mogul Jay-Z, civil rights activist and National Action Network (NAN) founder Rev. Al Sharpton, and global digital real estate investor Ryan Williams before the deadline on Friday, June 27.
The seemingly unlikely gaming partners, in what’s typically been a white-led industry, said they aim to increase Black and working-class representation, secure union jobs, and promote an inclusive community-level ownership model in the future.
“Caesars Palace Times Square has a broad and diverse coalition of support … because they recognize that this project will uplift hardworking communities across New York City through good-paying jobs and an unparalleled $250 million community benefits program,” said Garrett Armwood, head of government affairs at SL Green, in a
statement. “Uniquely, this project will also give communities historically underrepresented within traditional casino ownership a seat at the table, and the opportunity to own the table full stop.”
The plan
SL Green intends to transform the office building at 1515 Broadway into a gargantuan 150,000 sq ft. casino with more than 3,000 slot machines, 190 tables, 13 private gaming salons; the Caesars Sportsbook at the 40/40 Club (a luxury sports bar and lounge concept, courtesy of Jay-Z), and a World Series of
Poker room. The hotel portion will include 992 rooms, three destination restaurants, a wellness retreat, nightclubs, and a “family-friendly” SUMMIT One rooftop and park with skyviews.
“I’ve always been a believer that exceptional partnerships ultimately create longterm value,” said Williams. “What I believe I [bring to the table] is a platform that can actually bring the masses into the kind of investment that they’ve historically been boxed out from, and frankly, historically, have suffered from when you look at
Zohran Mamdani announces his mayoral campaign in Long Island City on Oct. 23, 2024. (Tandy Lau photo) See
Graduation season hits for Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice programming
By TANDU LAU Amsterdam News Staff
There’s no business like show business, except gun violence prevention. Last week, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) held a graduation ceremony and rough cut screening for the Brownsville-based Flip the Script cohort as they ready their project “Click” for film festival consideration.
The program pays young New Yorkers $20 an hour for a filmmaking apprenticeship while working with mentors to unlearn behaviors fueling gun violence in one of the city’s “hotspot” neighborhoods. “It was a culmination of the work of the young people,” said MOCJ director Deanna Logan.
“It was giving them their certificates and their flowers because they’d actually accomplished what we set out to do.”
Twelve young adult participants from Brownsville make up the “Flip the Script village,” including Angel Aguilar who handled the sound and played a supporting role in the film. He learned about the program from a friend and says the experience motivates him to develop professionally.
“The schools over here [are] not that good,” said Aguilar over the phone. “The program itself is really something, it’s really good. It’s something to keep the youth out the hood even if it’s for three days or three hours.”
While he always enjoyed watching movies, Aguilar never planned on working on one. He still does not know if he can get
a foot into the industry, but would love the idea of pursuing a career in film.
Samantha Kleinfield, executive director of Community Innovations at MOCJ, says designing programs like Flip the Script involve working alongside the community.
“Public safety isn’t just about policing,” she said. “It’s about creating these spaces, whether [or not] for Flip the Script for young people to heal and then be able to tap into their untapped wisdom and build these skills, and then harness their power and agency to be seen as more than just their worst decision or worst moment in life.”
Kleinfield says there is a “clear move away from risk prone behaviors and towards self actualization” among participants since the current Flip the Script cohort started. She credits a social-emotional curriculum implemented in the first months, allowing the class to genuinely bond, including those involved in rival gangs.
Future screenings will include both a public and private premiere of “Click.”
“The idea is having a red carpet premiere in a movie theater so the kids can see themselves on the big screen,” said Kleinfield.
Flip the Script marks just one MOCJ initiative tying in professional development with crime prevention. On June 25, 19 people with former criminal justice involvement graduated a reentry training program for their commercial driving licenses.
“This is an outcome in which we all win: our graduates, our economy, and society
at large,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement. “We cannot expect people to reintegrate into society if we do not provide them with the means and opportunity to earn a decent living. That is exactly what our CDL program does, and that’s exactly why we will be expanding it next year.”
100% of the graduating class found jobs with a salary range between $80,000 and $124,000. The program tackles financial stability for those with conviction records, which is known to dramatically decrease recidivism, while addressing an existing
labor shortage.
“[In] our initial recruitment, we decided to focus and first start with participants we have in our transitional housing program in the spirit of providing holistic and wraparound services,” said Kleinfield. “Whether they have a work requirement or not, but [we know] that at least 60% of individuals within the first year are released from jail or prison are unemployed. We are trying to provide not just a pathway to a well-paying viable career, but also a pathway to permanent housing.”
Gov. Hochul holds interfaith reception at Lincoln Center
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul held an interfaith reception last week at Lincoln Center in Manhattan that highlighted the state’s grant funding program for faith-based organizations to revitalize their community spaces.
The event kicked off with snacks, refreshments, and two invocations. The room was filled with faith leaders and advisors from all backgrounds and ethnicities.
“I just wish the rest of the world could do what we’re doing here,” said Hochul, speaking about her youth as a Catholic in Buffalo, N.Y. “People of all different faiths, different parts of our state. People from all walks of life. This is the gift I wish we had everywhere, but it starts in rooms like this.”
Hochul said that her upbringing was rooted in faith and social justice, an influence that has shaped her leadership.
The Office of Faith and Non-profit Development Services (OFNDS), formerly known as New York’s Office of Faith-Based Community Development and Services, was launched back in 2023. The idea was to connect state agencies to faith communities in need. Its executive committee members include President Reverend A.R.
Bernard, Jennifer Jones Austin, Reverend Dr. Franklyn Richardson, and Reverend Dr. Malcolm J. Byrd.
“Let me just say that may we continue to draw closer together, to be inspired, not only to celebrate what we’ve done already, but to press forward for what is ahead of us,” said Bernard. “United, unshaken, and unwavering in our shared call to love and lead.”
Last year, OFNDS began offering grant funding to faith-based and not-for-profit organizations interested in developing a Community Resource Room (CRR), which would provide public access to essential technologies such as computers, Wi-Fi, and audio/video equipment. Funded services are intended to remove barriers for people who need technology resources to have access to telehealth appointments, career advancement services, remote educational opportunities, social services applications, or other computer access needs.
About $2.3 million is available in awards, and each grantee will receive up to $50,000. So far, there are 43 grantees statewide.
Grantees Reverend Arthur S. Rose and wife Reverend Dana Rose, of Upon This Rock Ministries Incorporated and the Family Restoration Project One in Mount Vernon, were at the interfaith reception.
Rose said he was “honored” and “deeply grateful” to be a recipient of a CRR award.
“Prior to this grant, we’ve been an organization that offers cognitive behavioral classes, career readiness services. We serve at-risk youth. We have a food pantry that feeds 500 families biweekly, throughout the year. We host domestic violence seminars and digital training classes throughout the year. We try to call ourselves the human repair shop,” said Rose.
He lamented that because of their church’s location in Westchester County,
they are not eligible for traditional funding and grants from New York City government entities, although they end up serving many people originally from the five boroughs.
“We’re proud to stand in the gap and to serve as a bridge for those in need of access, support, and rest restoration. We don’t turn anyone down,” said Rose.
“Thanks to Governor Hochul’s leadership, we’re excited to expand our reach by announcing the development of our new community resource room.”
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro (far left), MOCJ director Deanna Logan (second-left) and Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Kaz Daughtry (far right) award graduates in the commercial driving license program. (Courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice)
New York State (NYS) Governor Kathy Hochul held an interfaith reception at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at the Lincoln Center on Thursday, June 26. (Ariama C. Long photo)
Heather Guerino: An advocate for change in the Bronx
By JASON GONZALEZ Special to the AmNews
Instead of making a problem worse by complaining, why not help solve it? Complaining may be simpler, but taking action is a more worthy endeavor. It could lead to a better Bronx, and ultimately a better world.
For Heather Guerino, these outcomes are what make it all worthwhile. At the heart of Guerino’s advocacy is her organization, Crusaders for Children’s Rights, which significantly impacts the lives of children in the foster care system. One of Guerino’s most compelling success stories involves a young boy called “T.T.”
He was in the foster care system. “T.T.’s” teeth were in very bad shape and in desperate need of proper care. But due to bureaucracy and red tape, he was not able to
THE URBAN AGENDA
By David R. Jones, Esq
NYPD’s Bad Habit: Stop-and-Frisk Abuses Still Targets Blacks, Latinos
A new report from a federal court-ordered monitor slams “troubling” and “unconstitutional” stop-and-frisks by an elite New York City Police Department unit founded and championed by Mayor Eric Adams.
The Adams administration’s Community Response Team (CRT), established to focus on quality-of-life issues like motorbikes and car alarms, has devolved into “stopping, frisking, and searching unconstitutionally” mostly innocent Black and Hispanic people, the monitor said.
The CRT is a disgrace. The federal monitor found that “97% of the individuals stopped, frisked, and searched were Black or Hispanic men.” In a sample of body camera footage, the monitor said, 41 percent of stops, searches, and frisks by CRT officers were unlawful. That compares to a 2022 audit of NYPD safety-team stops that concluded a quarter of their stops were unlawful.
Since Adams took office, the recorded number of legally dubious police pat downs have nearly tripled. This is the direct result of his administration’s support for gung-ho policing tactics that Adams condemned as an activist police captain before he sought elected office.
The Adams administration cites CRT in touting a drop in murders and shootings, but sharp increases in overall crime citywide expose the CRT gambit as a failure. This is especially so because of the terrible social costs – documented by the federal monitor – of CRT terrorizing people of color without any objective reason to suspect them of wrongdoing.
The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk culture continues in the face of yearslong calls for an end to the unlawful practice. In 2013, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled the NYPD’s tactics violated New Yorkers’ constitutional right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure. The judge called it a “form of racial profiling.”
And even those shocking totals are undoubtedly an undercount. The federal monitor’s report found that officers frequently failed to report pat downs, even though they were required to do so. In 2024, the report estimated, officers failed to report four in 10 stops. And even when they did, there was a “lack of meaningful review” by supervisors.
Why does the NYPD continue to rationalize racist, long-standing, well-documented human rights violations? Why can’t we just get beyond stop-and-frisk as a policing strategy?
It’s because of a lack of imagination by City Hall and the NYPD brass. Overly aggressive specialized police units are unleashed again and again through the years to wield an indiscriminate unconstitutional hammer. Police double-down on targeting people of color in the misguided belief that abusive tactics are the best way, or maybe the only way, to deter crime.
This bellicose thinking figures in why the NYPD has declined for years to do away with, or even dramatically curb, the practice. It was a public controversy during the terms of mayors Rudolph Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio and now, Adams. Of course, Bloomberg, who publicly apologized for the tactics, earned distinction for a record 685,724 stops in 2011.
In his two-decade police career, Adams spoke out against police brutality, and, later, NYPD stop-and-frisks. He described his administration’s approach as “precision policing” combined with community initiatives and increased police presence in the subways. Over time, Adams has presided over a resurgence in aggressive tactics.
get the braces he needed by going through various dentists and insurance companies. But because of Guerino’s persistent advocacy, “T.T.” finally received the orthodontic treatment he required.
“I’m from the Bronx. I am for the Bronx. There are children in Norwood, I’m advocating for them. There are children in the South Bronx, I’m advocating for them,” Guerino said. “I’m just for the Bronx, plain and simple.
…Wherever there are children that are being affected, whether it’s by gun violence or by vandalized graffiti, I’m going to be there for them, advocating for changes.”
This achievement underscores Guerino’s commitment to putting the needs of children first and navigating complex systems to ensure their well-being. Her passion for service shines through in
The most recent federal monitor’s report is the 25th in a decade. It shows the New York City Council was spot-on to override the Adams’ veto last year to enact the “How Many Stops Act.” The law requires the NYPD to publicly disclose previously undocumented Level 1 encounters, in which officers can approach someone not necessarily under suspicion of criminal activity, and Level 2 encounters, in which officers can approach civilians based on a founded suspicion of criminal activity.
In the first year of the act’s expanded reporting, the NYPD’s data showed a sharp increase in the number of stop-and-frisks. Police reported 25,386 stops last year, nearly a 50 percent increase over 2023 and the highest number since 2014. That compares to 8,947 in 2021, the year before Adams took office, according to NYPD data.
The NYPD’s unions and their political supporters have never offered any alternatives to the stop-and-frisk problem. They simply complain about reforms just to win sympathy and influence public perceptions of their abuses.
In a glimmer of hope, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch recently pledged to the City Council she would implement stricter measures against officers who ignore stop-andfrisk reporting requirements. The federal monitor, Mylan L. Denerstein, set a deadline of 90 percent reporting compliance by the end of the year. Otherwise, she threatened to take “further action.”
I’ve said this before, and it needs to be repeated: No one is saying the NYPD should stop enforcing the laws. Just stop singling out Black and Hispanic young men.
Clearly, the federal monitor is not holding her breath. “We are tired of monitoring the NYPD,” Denerstein wrote. “It has been eleven years.”
Heather Guerino (Contributed Photo)
Mamdani: Where will party loyalties lie?
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
This week’s election board results reaffirmed Assemblymember Zohran K. Mamdani’s win in the June primary for the mayor’s race. Some in the Democratic party are hyped about getting behind the young Muslim socialist, while others are hesitant or outright hostile toward him.
The second round of ranked choice voting (RCV) results from July 1 showed that if former Governor Andrew Cuomo had not conceded, Mamdani would have still won the primary with 56% of the votes or 545,000 votes. Cuomo would have finished with 44% of the votes or 428,530 votes, according to the New York City Board of Elections (BOE).
“Democrats spoke in a clear voice, delivering a mandate for an affordable city, a politics of the future, and a leader unafraid to fight back against rising authoritarianism,” said Mamdani in a statement. “I am humbled by the support of more than 545,000 New Yorkers who voted for our campaign and am excited to expand this coalition even further as we defeat Eric Adams and win a city government that puts working people first.”
Pandemonium broke out as Mamdani took an early lead after the polls closed on Tuesday, June 24. He garnered 43.51% of the vote — a total of 432,305 votes — in the first round, according to the first round of RCV results posted
by the BOE. Cuomo had a total of 36.42% of the votes at that point.
Mamdani supporters had braced themselves for a fight on Election Night, but Cuomo opted to concede the race stealthily and all smiles, with a contingency plan. He had already qualified in May to advance to the November election for mayor as an Independent candidate, essentially pulling the same move as incumbent Eric Adams, who also officially announced he’s running as an Independent last week.
Mamdani went from being recognized locally in Queens and among the State Legislature to a frontrunner in the race in about four months, shocking “the establishment” and challenging preconceptions about the current state of the city’s usually uninterested voters. Where Cuomo’s legacy, Super PAC, name recognition, and attack ad blitz failed, Mamdani succeeded.
Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani’s campaign manager, attributed this to the campaign’s motto of authenticity in social media videos and traditional media appearances, his platform of affordability, key cross-endorsements, a strong stance on equal rights in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and an extensive ground game. The campaign boasts the largest volunteer field operation in city history, with 50,145 volunteers by Election Day, more than 1.5 million doors knocked, and 2.1 million phone calls made, according to Bisgaard-Church.
Almost immediately after the results, the political world started analyzing Mamdani’s campaign and proselytizing to the national Democratic party that a new star was born.
Mamdani turned out historic numbers in traditionally progressive areas of the city, like Astoria in Queens; Greenpoint, Ridgewood, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn; and more gentrified neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Harlem. He won over working class neighborhoods like Jamaica and Forest Park, as well as majority Hispanic districts like Castle Hill in the Bronx and Woodhaven in Queens, according to electorate maps from the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).
He received fewer votes throughout Staten Island; Borough Park, Canarsie, Brownsville, East New York in Brooklyn; Middle Village, southeast Jamaica, Laurelton, Rosedale, and St. Albans in Queens; and several Bronx neighborhoods. The electorate map showed that many majority Black neighborhoods stuck with Cuomo.
Mamdani’s campaign sig-
nificantly engaged irregular voters, first-time voters, and younger voters under 40 across the city. Amanda Litman, co-founder and President of Run for Something, didn’t work on Mamdani’s campaign for mayor but was delighted that more than 6,000 people have reached out expressing an interest in running for office because of his win, she said. Litman doesn’t think the “Democratic machine” exists anymore, or at least, that it’s out of touch with everyday issues and voters — especially when it comes to the generational divide.
“I think party leaders would be foolish if they don’t show that they can respect primary voters,” said Litman. “If they don’t show that they’re behind who the voters have picked, they are really begging the question: Who is this party for?”
Former Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado is one of those Democrats happy to endorse Mamdani, probably because he is busy breaking away from the state’s “political machine” and Governor Kathy Hochul.
“While Zohran and I may not agree on every issue, we share a deep commitment to tackling the affordability crisis that’s hurting New Yorkers every day,” said Delgado in a statement. “From rising rents to unaffordable childcare and skyrocketing healthcare costs, too many families are being pushed to the brink. I believe Zohran understands the urgency of this moment — and I look forward to working with him to meet it head on.”
Republican candidate for mayor Curtis Sliwa was unopposed in the primary and will be the GOP nominee in November. The wider Republican party has slammed Mamdani for being Muslim and attacked his status as a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Uganda, which, considering President Donald Trump’s MAGA playbook of mass deportation, is somewhat expected.
Even Democrats who had backed Cuomo early in the race, like Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, rebuked Republicans for calling for Mamdani’s deportation and using racial slurs.
“New York City and our entire nation are built on the backs of immigrants,” she said in a statement. “Zohran Mamdani is an American citizen who won the primary election by being resoundingly elected by the voters of New York City in a democratic process, and is well on to become our first Muslim mayor in history after the general election. The disgraceful and disgusting calls from Republican lawmakers to deport Mamdani, who is currently a New York State Assemblymember, is a blatant continuation of their racist attacks on groups of legal immigrants. Our great city is currently undergoing threatening, unconstitutional, and illegal ICE raids — and this is a politically desperate attempt to weaponize the Assemblymember’s immigrant background.”
Bichotte Hermelyn has since said that she officially supports Mamdani in the general election in November. “To everyone who has reservations, I ask you to put them aside at this moment and come together for the future of our city and our party,” she said.
U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand’s interview on WNYC that characterized Mamdani as a threat to Jewish New Yorkers’ safety because of his understanding of “jihad” and “intifada” as Arabic terms. She has since apologized and walked back her statements. Gillibrand wasn’t the only one struggling to support Mamdani out of the gate. Political consultants, who declined to comment on the record to the Amsterdam News, said there’s quite a bit of infighting among Democratic clubs that don’t want to support a “socialist” and would prefer a more traditional Democrat. Quite a few members of the city’s Jewish community don’t think it’s okay that Mamdani is being painted in some spaces as an antisemite or a “Communist,” either.
Trump, who’s repeatedly called Mamdani a Communist, has publicly said that he’d strip Mamdani of his citizenship or arrest him if he interferes with federal agents’ deportation operations.
“That Trump included praise for Eric Adams in his authoritarian threats is unsurprising, but highlights the urgency of bringing an end to this mayor’s time in City Hall,” said Mamdani. “At the very moment when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare, and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this president’s division, distraction, and hate. Voters will resoundingly reject it in November.”
Less expected were comments from fellow New York Dems like
Democratic primary winner in mayoral race Zohran Mamdani at his watch party on June 24. (Ariama C. Long photo)
Weeksville Heritage Center Food Fest in Brooklyn
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
The Weeksville Heritage Center in Brownsville, Brooklyn celebrated its 4th annual food festival this year on Juneteenth. The event highlights Black-owned businesses while honoring the traditions of Juneteenth that are rooted in food.
The food fest is held on the street in front of the heritage center and in the huge sprawling lawn on its property, turning the event into a backyard extravaganza for the neighborhood. This year’s festival showcased 29 brands offering a range of culinary bites and treats from across the Black, African, and Caribbean diaspora. Attendees feasted on barbecue, seafood, sorrel, rum cakes, ice cream, crab, fish cakes, empanadas, and plenty of vegan options.
The Brooklyn-based businesses in-
cluded Black Nile, Virginia Smashburginia, Miss Holly’s Smokehouse, Black Rican Vegan, Breukelen Rub, The Crabby Shack, 2 Girls & a Cookshop, Jase’s BBQ, Coco Bred, Brooklyn Suya, Soul Bites, Picklejuice, Mac Shack, Lakou Cafe, Biscuits N Thangs, Lacey Burger, Angie’s Delightful Bites, Sassy’s Fishcakes, Makina Cafe, Crème & Cocoa Creamery, Doc’s Cake Shop, The Salty Heifer, Patsy’s Rum Cake, Brownstone Cheesecakes, Island Pops, Brooklyn Tea, Hibiscus Brew, Happy Cork, Brooklyn Blend, BEM | books & more.
Traditionally, Black Americans celebrated Juneteenth by eating red foods and drinks like watermelon, strawberries, barbeque, and red velvet cake. This signified “resilience amid bondage.” People would also feast on foods considered to be “good luck” culturally, like collard greens and blackeyed peas, according to History.com.
Patsy’s Rum Cake mini pineapple rum cakes.
Weeksville Heritage Center Juneteenth Food Fest on Buffalo Avenue in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 19. (Ariama C. Long photos)
Happy Cork, a Black-owned liquor and spirits store, offered free tastings at the festival.
Brooklyn Blend’s fresh coconut waters.
Greyz Bistro, a Caribbean fusion restaurant, on St. John’s Place in Brooklyn.
New York comes out for Pride!
By DAMASO REYES
New Yorkers from all walks of life and all ages lined 5th Avenue on the last Sunday in June to celebrate
Pride. Thousands of marchers participated in the annual tradition and this year’s theme: “Rise Up: Pride in Protest.” Black New Yorkers were well represented on both
sides of the police barricades and made sure their message of love, acceptance, and freedom could be heard all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in DC.
(Damaso Reyes photos)
Union Matters Labor alliances grow for the Mamdani phenomenon
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
Strong support for State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic primary is boosting his chances to be elected mayor in the November 4 general election.
Prominent labor unions that had endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor have now switched sides.
Mamdani visited the headquarters of the 40,000-member Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC) within two days of Cuomo conceding to him. After asking for the union’s support, on June 27 HTC posted support for Mamdani on its X/Twitter page: “Today, our union proudly announced our endorsement.”
Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ SEIU, the union of 185,000 property service workers said, “Zohran Mamdani has united and inspired New Yorkers around a positive and optimistic vision for a truly affordable city. He is ready and equipped to fight for our city and has made clear he is ready to stand up to attacks from the Trump administration.” Pastreich promised to put “boots on the ground” to help get Mamdani elected.
New York City’s largest union, the 150,000-member DC 37, had endorsed Adrienne Adams, Zohran Mamdani, and Zellnor Myrie ––in that order –– as its rank-choice picks for the Democratic primary. And Mamdani’s campaign retains support from United Auto Workers Region 9A; Workers United NY/NJ, which represents manufacturing, retail, food service, garment-making, and distribution center workers; the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), the largest resident physician union in the country; the film and television industry workers of IATSE Local 161; City University of New York’s union workers in PSC/CUNY; UNITE HERE Local 100’s cafeteria, dining room, and restaurant workers; and the delivery and warehouse employees of Teamsters Local 804.
Transform NYC’s political status quo
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, has pledged to transform New York City’s political status quo. If elected, he wants
to fight against the federal government’s ability to use masked ICE agents to abduct and then deport people. He says he will tackle the high cost of living in the city by freezing rents on stabilized apartments, by making the MTA’s buses free to ride, and by increasing the taxes paid by corporations and high-income individuals. He plans to use those funds to pay for social programs that will help reduce inequality.
Mamdani’s progressive policies have appealed to liberal-oriented union workers. Even though the healthcare workers union, 1199SEIU, officially came out in support of Cuomo back in April, a group calling itself the 1199 Members Against Cuomo has started a
petition to call for that endorsement to be rescinded. The 450 union members who signed the petition are calling for 1199SEIU’s newly elected president, Yvonne Armstrong, to “rescind our union’s endorsement of Andrew Cuomo and set a new precedent for how 1199SEIU conducts its political process, defined by integrity, transparency, and real member participation.”
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) did not back any candidate in the Democratic primary, citing a lack of consensus among its members, and so far has not said who it would support in November. The UFT also, however, has members who have started a petition calling for an endorse-
ment of Mamdani. “We call on the UFT to join DC37, the UAW, the PSC and other unions that endorsed Zohran for the primary,” the petition states, “as well as the growing number of unions that have endorsed since the primary including 32BJ, NYSNA and HTC. We urge the UFT to swiftly endorse Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who understands the power of organizing, and a candidate we can trust to wield that power to champion the rights of our members, students and families, immigrants, and all working people.”
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) also did not back any candidate in the Democratic primary but is now endorsing Mamdani. NYSNA President
Nancy Hagans said, “NYSNA is proud to support Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who consistently puts the interests of working people first, and is glad that labor is coalescing around him to meet this moment. We share his commitment to fighting for a city that provides healthcare, public transportation, education, and other vital services, so that New Yorkers don’t just survive but thrive. Mamdani has shown up for nurses in our campaigns to increase funding for public hospitals, achieve pay equity for public sector nurses, prevent hospital closures, and protect New York City from future public health emergencies. Mamdani can count on NYSNA nurses for our support.”
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign has won the support of 32BJ SEIU, the union of 185,000 property service workers. (32BJ SEIU)
fielded questions on how he would approach combating antisemitism due to his pro-Palestinian beliefs. His consistent response is a public safety one by promising to ramp up hate crime prevention funding by 800%. During a press conference with State Senator John Liu on June 2, he pointed to conversations with Jewish New Yorkers who expressed their concerns.
“What they deserve is safety, and that’s why at the core of my proposal to create a Department of Community Safety is a commitment to not just talk about antisemitism, but to tackle it,” said Mamdani. “Increased funding for proven anti-hate crime programming by 800% … we need a mayor who can understand that innate humanity in each and every New Yorker, and will protect each New Yorker.”
Funding for hate violence prevention would rise from $3 million to roughly $26 million under Mamdani’s Department of Community Safety proposal. Money would go towards expanding programs in anti-hate education, restorative justice, enhanced reporting and victim services.
Hate crime prevention remains personal to Mamdani. After the Oct. 7 attacks, he told the Amsterdam News a man left him a voicemail wishing him and “all Muslims” death, and brain cancer upon his firstborn child (he does not have kids). Earlier this month, the NYPD investigated a car bomb threat from a “repeat caller” against Mamdani (he does not own a car).
Islamophobia against Mamdani escalated nationwide after his democratic primary victory last week. Many attacks came from elected officials across the country. Rep. Andy Ogles called him “little Muhammad” and penned a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate his naturalization. Rep. Nancy Mace alluded to New Yorkers failing to “never forget” 9/11 by electing Mamdani.
NYIC Action president and CEO Murad Awawdeh believes this “Islamophobic meltdown” is dangerous to both Mamdani and the entire Muslim community at large, and stems from fear of his platform for working class and immigrant New Yorkers.
“Zohran Mamdani is a product of our community,” said Awawdeh. “He came to the United States as a child, he was able to live in the New York City we all love. And that’s what he’s fighting for. To be able to continue to be able to have New Yorkers of all stripes to afford to live in the city of New York and to live in a safe city — a city that allows them to thrive and not just barely survive.”
Mamdani looks beyond the blue
But the $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety plan covers more than hate violence. When Mamdani spoke with me this past April about his public safety plan, he envisioned centralizing existing non-police crime prevention strategies into one office and ramping up their funding while the NYPD focused on solving more serious crimes.
The Crisis Management System celebrated for reducing gun violence by squashing beefs and providing jobs would receive a 275% funding boost. The NYPD’s B-Heard pilot for civilian mental health responses would be overhauled and expanded to every neighborhood.
While the programs might not be novel, the approach may be. Alex Vitale, professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and coordinator of the Policing & Social Justice Project, reviewed an earlier draft for the Mamdani campaign and says the proposal will allow the most overpoliced Black and Brown neighborhoods to imagine public safety solutions beyond badges and guns.
“Part of the problem has been that political leaders in the city have told these communities that they can either have more policing or they can have nothing,” said Vitale. “And of course, that has led some of them to lean heavily on policing as the solution to all their problems. What’s exciting about a potential Mamdani administration is the commitment to putting more choices on the table.
“When we put more options on the table for communities, we’re going to learn very quickly that there are a whole list of other things that they would like to have to keep their community safe, other than just intensive and invasive policing.”
Thind believes Mamdani importantly shifted core public safety discussions toward addressing the root causes like housing and away from “surface-level solutions” like forcible hospitalization and incarceration.
She says DRUM overwhelmingly supports Mamdani’s Department of Community Safety plan. But the organization, which includes the family of Win Rozario — a Queens teenager police killed during a mental health response last year — remains concerned over NYPD involvement with BHeard, which currently does not guarantee a non-police response.
“This is a policy platform that we are more critical of,” said Thind. “We still have some concerns around police still responding to those calls. And that doesn’t necessarily solve the problem of mental health response [with] police.”
Still, she believes a potential Mamdani administration will hear out DRUM’s concerns thanks to their working relationship.
Much of the organization’s confidence in the democratic candidate stems from his “backbone” supporting Palestine. “It matters to our members,” Thind said.
Back in 2023, I asked Mamdani if threats against him would impact his advocacy on Gaza. “The intent of these threats is an attempt to silence any views that speak for the universal dignity of people,” he said. “If that universe includes Palestinians, and for me and for many others it does — when I received these threats — it does not make me question for a moment, speaking up on my beliefs.
“These are the beliefs that I ran on to be in this office. These are the beliefs that I hold and there’s no point in being in this office if it is simply to sacrifice those beliefs.”
How To Manage The High Costs Of Leasing or Buying a Vehicle
By Renee Horne, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer for Chase Auto at JPMorganChase
Car prices may be volatile in 2025, so many consumers will have to be even smarter with their money. Whether you’re looking for a way to commute to work or school on your own time, or you’ve been saving up for your own set of wheels to go on countless adventures, in today’s financial climate, managing your vehicle loans efficiently is key. It could help you save money and limit potential headaches down the road. Here are some helpful strategies to manage your vehicle payments:
1) Budget wisely. Before signing on the dotted line, make sure that your monthly payments align with your financial goals. Don’t stretch your budget too thin. It’s better to set your car budget first and then find a vehicle that fits that budget, rather than finding a car and potentially being disappointed if it’s more than you can afford. Using a car payment calculator can help estimate your monthly car payment for different scenarios, by inputting the ballpark amount you’d like to finance along with some other basic info.
2) Automate your payments. Some lenders offer the option to automate your monthly payments. This can be an extremely useful tool as it helps you avoid missing your payment and a potential late fees.
3) Make biweekly payments. Instead of monthly payments, consider paying half of your monthly amount every two weeks. By making biweekly payments, you end up making a total of 26 payments in a year, the equivalent of 13 monthly payments rather than 12—helping you pay off the loan a little earlier. Make sure you contact your lender to confirm this is an option.
4) Consider shorter loan terms. Though longer loans often mean smaller monthly payments, they usually come with higher interest rates, which typically ends up costing you more over time. If available, opt for a shorter loan term to save on interest.
Looking for ways to better plan for or even reduce insurance, gas, and maintenance costs?
Though these costs are generally unavoidable, there are a few simple ways that you can minimize the impact on your wallet, including:
1) Shopping around for insurance. Shopping around for rates can help you compare different insurers, as rates can vary widely between providers. This way, you have a better chance of finding a policy to suit your needs at a price that won’t break the bank.
2) Fuel-efficient driving. Perhaps an unexpected way to use less gas is through your driving habits. Avoid making hard stops and starts. For long stretches of uninterrupted miles, cruise control will help your car use less gas by maintaining a steady speed.
3) Maintaining your car regularly. Routine check-ups can also help you save money on gas but also help prevent expensive repairs in the future. Changing the oil regularly, checking tire pressure, and following the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule are great ways to keep your car and wallet happy.
How should someone approach the true cost of car ownership before buying a car?
The total or true cost of car ownership typically goes beyond just the sticker price—although the sticker price is typically the largest of all the expenses associated with buying a car. Other expenses that usually get bundled into the total cost include sales taxes, vehicle registration fees, maintenance and running costs, car insurance and financing.
Be sure to do your homework before stepping on the lot. There are many tools available that can help you plan for additional costs, such as sales taxes, registration fees, and insurance— which can vary depending on the car make, model and even the color.
For informational/educational purposes only: Views and strategies described in this article or provided via links may not be appropriate for everyone and are not intended as specific advice/recommendation for any business. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but JPMorgan Chase & Co. or its affiliates and/or subsidiaries do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. The material is not intended to provide legal, tax, or financial advice or to indicate the availability or suitability of any JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. product or service. You should carefully consider your needs and objectives before making any decisions and consult the appropriate professional(s). Outlooks and past performance are not guarantees of future results. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates are not responsible for, and do not provide or endorse third party products, services, or other content.
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Renee Horne
We need to extend Moral Mondays to every
day of the week
Rev. William Barber III. and his Moral Mondays have never had a more opportune moment to address the nation’s immorality than this week as the Senate passes its spending bill. On Monday, as is his wont, Barber led scores of clergy and lay people on a walk to the Supreme Court as a singer did a rendition of “Walk With Me, Lord.” Several members of the group carried 50 life-sized cardboard coffins symbolizing the number of people who would be victims if their Medicare benefits were lost in each of the 50 states. Placards fastened to the coffins bore a ominous warning, “This coffin represents policy murder.”
Arrayed in a gold and brown vestment with black and white cloth, Barber projected the solemnity of the moment and then said “There’s something evil when you’ve got power and you’ve got free health care simply because you got elected to office but then you want to block the people from having health care,” he preached, his words directed at the senators poised to vote for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
He had a special denunciation for his state senator Thom Tillis, who came out against the bill, charging
that his party was making a “mistake.”
Barber corrected him, “This is no mistake. This is policy violence. This is policy murder. That’s why we brought these caskets today.”
The bill was by no means beautiful, but “damnable and dangerous,” Barber said, and any person with any degree of morality would amen the good minister, and we certainly do.
Barber has been unwavering in his campaign for poor people, picking up the baton left behind by Dr. King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. If those people dependent on Medicare are without their benefits, more than 50,000 are projected to die in the first year alone. And that number is sure to escalate with each passing day, to say nothing of the hungry children in need of the SNAP program that is also endangered.
The good preacher has promised not to stand down to the bill’s devastation, and we must find the same resolve and pressure our leaders to step up, and resist what is sure to be a calamitous outcome with its passage.
Moral Mondays are fine but we need a push for morality everyday of the week, every week of the year, and every year of our lives.
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
We are building a more affordable New York
By WALTER T. MOSLEY NYS Secretary of State
Let’s face it, the cost of living isn’t cheap. Whether you’re buying groceries, paying rent, or juggling childcare, it can feel like your paycheck is stretched to the limit every week. But Governor Kathy Hochul is committed to improving the quality of life for you and the more than 20 million residents of New York State. She fought for and delivered a state budget that puts you first and makes New York a more affordable and livable state.
We call it the Affordability Agenda and here’s what it means for you: more money in your pocket, less stress on your wallet, and real investments in your future. We know that too many families across the state are struggling to make ends meet. As the federal government continues to play with reckless and unauthorized tariffs that have burdened businesses with skyrocketing costs that have been passed along to consumers, the Governor’s Affordability Agenda is centered around making life easier for New Yorkers.
As secretary of state, I travel all over New York. I talk directly to local leaders and residents from the North Country to Long Island, to Syracuse, Buffalo, Mid-Hudson, New York City, and many communities in between, and they all tell me the same thing: “We need help.” Prices are up, inflation continues, and Washington’s economic policies are making things worse — but here in New York, we’re not waiting around. We’re taking action. It’s our job.
The Governor’s Affordability Agenda recently passed through the New York State Budget, delivering victories on issues that working families care about most. The FY26 State Budget was a battle for the governor, who fought for real relief, especially for middleand low-income New Yorkers who go out every day to make ends meet for their families.
What does all this mean for you?
Here is just some of the relief
coming your way:
• Inflation refund checks of up to $400, putting money in the pockets of more than 8 million New York households.
• Lower middle-class taxes, with $1 billion annually in tax relief to 8.3 million families.
• Expanded child tax credit that provides up to $1,000 per child to 1.6 million families, which since 2023 has included children under age 4.
• Free school meals for more than 2.7 million students.
• Safer and more affordable childcare through big investments that help both parents and providers.
• $15/month high-speed internet access for low-income households, helping close the digital divide.
• $2.5 billion in STAR rebates to provide relief to homeowners.
• The most consequential statewide housing plan in decades, so families have access to affordable housing and homeowners and renters are protected throughout our state.
• Added jobs and boosted tuition assistance, education funding, and public transit investments to the highest levels in history so families have the best opportunities for success.
And we’re not stopping there. Governor Hochul is also committed to making New York the most business-friendly and workerfriendly state in the nation.
The governor’s economic development and workforce proposals include new access to low-interest capital for small businesses, free community college for adults pursuing degrees in high-demand fields, enhancing the performancebased Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit with a new tier for semiconductor supply chain companies, and protecting workers from wage theft.
Let’s focus on the free tuition. Right now, more than 400,000 jobs are available in the State of New York. At the same time, more than 4 million adults ages 25 to 55 don’t have a college degree or credential, which is often the key to un-
locking better-paying jobs. Here’s what we’re going to do. The state is going to pay for community college for those adults ages 25 to 55 who are studying to be in one of the indemand fields, such as healthcare, education, or technology, because we know it’s often the cost that is the barrier. If you’re working for minimum wage and you’re trying to pay for childcare, and then maybe cover the cost of a community college to lift yourself up, it just doesn’t add up. With this plan, you won’t have to choose between them.
We’re also investing big in our small businesses and downtowns. The Affordability Agenda works hand in hand with the successful economic development programs we already have in our state, like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward program, to boost local businesses; improve housing; and create places where people want to live, work, and play. With this year’s budget, we will also continue offering millions of dollars for communities in every region of our state to bring their downtowns into the 21st century.
As of today, we have awarded more than $1 billion to more than 124 cities, towns, and villages around the state. In New York City, Harlem was one of the winners of this program and we are working to help make it a great renaissance story of the city. We also have other communities, such as Jamaica, Far Rockaway, Long Island City in Queens, and other areas in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan’s Chinatown, that are already seeing big differences in their communities because of these programs.
With the FY26 Budget and Governor Hochul’s 2025 Affordability Agenda, we are rewriting the New York story. This budget is about building a state where working families don’t just survive, they thrive.
This is more than a policy plan and a budget: It’s a promise to continue fighting for the working people and families in New York State and to make life more affordable for everyone.
The
(Paul Becker photo via Wikimedia)
Fascism is just around the corner, any cosy little corner
By HERB BOYD
On several occasions, I have asked whether I believe America is on the verge of becoming a fascist government. Well, after putting off answering the question, I have finally relented and for those who follow my views this is nothing new. During Trump’s first term in office, as his right-wing agenda congealed, I joined a number of activists in using the term “incipient fascism.” Well, we can dispense with any moderation because it’s here in manifold ways. I was surprised, to
some extent, to hear Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee, call Trump a fascist. If we abide by the rules, which Trump rarely does, a fascist is an authoritarian, autocratic, anti-Democratic leader who will resort to any means to impose his policies. Trump has been absolutely defiant in his rule of law, defying the governmental checks and balances, upturning the Constitution, ignoring the opinions of judges, and becoming an unrepentant dictator. When he ordered a special celebration of his birthday on June 14, under
the guise of honoring the flag and history of the nation’s military, many of us believed it was nothing more than a show of his political muscle. More broadly, it was a harbinger of his attack on the nuclear facilities in Iran and a way of shoring up Israel’s standing in the Middle East. Trump is determined to roll back all the gains made during the Civil Rights Movement, to uphold white supremacy, and make America in his own brutal totalitarian image, and if that isn’t fascism then it’s right — and I mean right — around the corner.
A turning point in corrections: Transparency, accountability & human dignity
By DELAINE DIXON
June 19, 2025
There comes a moment in advocacy when change isn’t a request, it’s a demand. After a year embedded in oversight work, amplifying the voices of incarcerated individuals and standing with families left behind, I’ve seen how unchecked silence perpetuates harm and how transparency can be transformative.
That’s why the passage of A.8871/S.8415 in New York matters. It confronts a staggering reality. In 2024, 143 people died in DOCCS custody, a 34% jump from the year before. That means nearly one death every 2.5 days behind bars behind every statistic, a family in mourning.
This bill doesn’t merely react — it reveals. It mandates security cameras in common areas and requires footage of in-custody deaths to be delivered to the attorney general’s office within 72 hours. That timeline means truth arrives on schedule, not buried in bureaucracy.
As someone who has dedicated the past year to drafting transparency protocols and designing data-driven oversight mechanisms, I know firsthand: policies matter when they puncture silence. That’s why this legislation obligates DOCCS to notify next-of-kin and publish a death notice publicly within 24 hours. It’s not just fast, it’s fundamentally respectful.
Power shifts when watchdogs can act.
Under this law, the Correctional Association of New York can conduct inspections on 24-hour notice, access FOIL-protected documents, and report unfiltered findings. Real oversight starts with real access.
And the Terry Cooper Autopsy Accountability Act ensures that autopsy reports include photos, slides, and x-rays, giving families what all humans deserve: a full, transparent truth about how a loved one died.
Importantly, this reform expands the State Commission of Corrections from three to nine members, mandates quarterly OSI complaint reports, and extends legal timelines for claims — intentionally redesigning our institutions to withstand scrutiny beyond just this week or this year.
This work is personal. I’ve drafted policy memos, supported community inspections, and elevated stories that would otherwise remain hidden. I’ve seen how revealing patterns of neglect and abuse can spark change, from targeted investments in healthcare in one facility to leadership shifts in another.
Still, passing a law is just the first step. We need public dashboards to track OSI footage requests and notification timelines. We need funded oversight teams, intentionally strong, sustained beyond election cycles. And we must weave the lived experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people into enforcement strategies and oversight design.
A.8871 isn’t a cure-all. But it is a foundation and a commitment to dignity, accountability, and infrastructure that outlasts political tides. It tells New Yorkers: our corrections system must uphold transparency as a baseline. We must hold it accountable, not just in theory, but in practice.
Because behind every number — 143 deaths, one every few days — are lives lost in silence. This bill makes sure we don’t let another death be invisible.
Delaine Dixon is a Policy and Communications Analyst with a focus on criminal justice oversight, corrections reform, and transparent government systems. He has worked with advocates, agencies, and oversight bodies to help push forward reforms grounded in justice and accountability.
What is the 4th of July to me?
CHRISTINA GREER,
PH.D.
Every 4th of July, I reflect on the myriad feelings that seem to take over me. As I am surrounded by American flags and patriotism and good feelings regarding the inception of this nation, I often feel distant, unbothered, disinterested, and sometimes overwhelmed by the displays of patriotism. The comedian Roy Wood Jr. had an old joke asking how many flags do you need to see in a neighborhood for you to shift from feeling patriotic to somewhat disturbed as a Black person. I have never forgotten that important observation, and the current holiday season in this particular political moment is no different. When I was growing up, the 4th of July was a time for my family to have cookouts with friends, maybe head to downtown Philly and watch the fireworks, catch lightning bugs late into the night, eat corn on the cob, and enjoy a long summer day that turned into an even longer summer night. Some of my favorite summer memories are around the 4th in Martha’s Vineyard in the sea salt air and always with family friends. For my family, the holiday was less about patriotism and more about a dedicated time to spend with loved ones. Like so many American holidays, I don’t necessarily feel connected to the origins of the holiday, but I so appreciate the opportunity to fellowship and reflect on the complicated ways that I fit into this country.
I am constantly thinking about whether or not
I (or Black people writ large) can ever be true, full, and equal citizens in this country. There are so many ways this country tells Black people, and so many other groups, that despite America being an independent nation, free from British rule, the country will continue to exclude so many and fail to live up to the principles laid out so clearly in our founding documents.
The past few July 4th holidays, I have been outside of the United States, which instills a different type of patriotism. It often conjures feelings of pride for all of the hard work and toil my ancestors put forth to help build America into the nation it is today. I am filled with a sense of belonging as I look across the ocean and think about the millions of Black people who have the right to claim America as their own, as complicated and turbulent as our history and our present may be.
Again, I will celebrate this 4th of July from across an ocean and think about the courage and bravery of so many millions upon millions of Americans who dared to dream about making it to and making it in this land.
Christina Greer, PhD, 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.
Delaine Dixon
Caribbean Update
Government accuses China of attempting regime change in St. Vincent
By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews
As the U.S. looks inward with its “America first” policy, China has in recent years been accused of attempting to increase its influence in Latin America and the Caribbean through carefully crafted trade and aid schemes, and by financing thousands of Chinese businesses in the region, among other strategies.
From the Bahamas in the northern Caribbean to Guyana and Suriname in the far south of the 15-nation Caricom bloc, large Chinese state and private sector companies have been spreading their wings in the region, investing hundreds of millions of dollars and winning large Caribbean government contracts — all the while Chinese merchants move to dominate the supermarket and hardware stores sector, heavy duty trucking services, and even gold and diamond mining.
Critics say the Chinese influence is less obvious in the economies of the smaller Eastern Caribbean nations, where there are fewer opportunities to dominate than in the more socalled developed nations.
As the local merchant class continues to lobby governments to limit the growth and influence of cash-flush Chinese companies, an interesting situation is playing itself out in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
There, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, seeking a sixth consecutive five-year term in
elections due this year, has been openly accusing China of supporting the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) to get his Unity Labor Party (ULP) out of power so St. Vincent can switch diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to mainland China once the ULP is out of office. He also says that it is in China’s interest to get the NDP in power as it has promised to follow the policy of neighboring islands like Grenada and Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts to sell local passports and citizenship in exchange for cash, a policy the ULP has staunchly opposed. The ULP argues that Chinese nationals would be among the first to apply for citizenship under the controversial citizenship by investment program (CIP) as a Vincentian passport allows visa-free travel to dozens of countries around the world.
Reacting to the allegations about attempts at regime change in St. Vincent, Chinese Ambassador to Grenada Wei Hongtian says Beijing has no such plans.
“It is not our policy to interfere in the internal affairs of any country — it is not our policy to involve ourselves in local politics,” Wei told the Grenada newspaper New Today, denying Chinese merchants are investing in the opposition. “It is not our policy. China encourages its companies to have cooperation with their local partners in other countries, but asks them to always respect and follow the local law and to do this in keeping with international laws.”
But in a rather candid assessment of the
Can this immigrant get the job done?
FELICIA PERSAUD
In a sea of bad news, came a glimmer of hope for this July 4th. Last Tuesday evening, June 24, New York City witnessed an incredible upset: A Muslim immigrant, born in Africa, with roots in India, clinched an unofficial win in the Democratic primary for mayor, shaking up the political establishment. Zohran Kwame Mamdani is already making history, and he’s not stopping there. Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani, whose middle name was chosen in honor of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, is on track to disrupt the traditional political dynamics of the city, the state and national politics at large. His victory could mark a turning point, breaking the grip of the Democratic elite, while undoubtedly ruffling the feathers of the MAGA crowd. And honestly, that’s a good thing, considering the bullying we’ve seen and the lack of fight from the Democrats. As Mamdani showed last Tuesday night, he remains unbothered and laser-focused
— so bring it on, trolls. He knows that real change requires fresh leadership, and it will take an immigrant to clean up the mess left behind by current mayor Eric Adams, who, instead of leading New York with conviction, cozied up to Trump and has embraced policies that undermine the very essence of New York’s progressive values.
Adams’ legal troubles, coupled with his recent decision to reinstate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Rikers Island jail complex — reversing a 2014 sanctuary policy — are nothing short of disgraceful. His administration’s betrayal of immigrant communities is exactly why New York City needs a leader like Mamdani.
Spending part of his childhood in Cape Town, South Africa, Mamdani was raised with the values of resilience and leadership.
At his victory party last Tuesday, he quoted the late Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Mamdani’s message isn’t just one of optimism; it’s about action, clarity, and bold reforms.
With a background in Africana Studies, Mamdani is the epitome of what it means to be an “African American” — born in Africa, now a proud U.S. citizen. His platform promises a transformative future for New Yorkers,
with policies such as free city buses, public childcare, rent freezes on stabilized apartments, city-owned grocery stores, and an expansion of affordable social housing — something that is badly needed.
Mamdani’s political career has been marked by substantial accomplishments. His influence is felt in his role on nine Assembly committees, including those on aging, cities, election law, and real property taxation. Notably, he has sponsored over 20 bills in the Assembly, three of which became law, and co-sponsored 238. His advocacy secured over $100 million in the state budget for increased subway service, and he championed the successful launch of a fare-free bus pilot program. Mamdani also led the charge against a proposed dirty power plant, organizing New Yorkers to defeat it.
If Mamdani wins in November, he will become only the second immigrant mayor in New York City’s history, following Gabriel Minvielle, who served in 1684-1685. Minvielle, a French Huguenot, was a key figure in New York during the colonial period, marking the city’s long tradition of immigrant leadership. As Mamdani prepares to become the first African-born, Indian American, and Muslim mayor of New York, he stands on the shoul-
situation in St. Vincent, PM Gonsalves noted that the Chinese are determined to see the back of the ULP. “Right now, they’re operating in the embassy of a country not too far from us, in this Caribbean. It is from there that the center of the NDP election campaign is being financed and run. It is organizing the printing of t-shirts in various constituencies. They’re paying people who’re commenting on radio. They are paying the radio station them, too. In one case, there’s an entity out of India which is connected with some cricket thing. They’re all now putting money into the NDP coffers,” he said.
Most Caricom countries have diplomatic relations with mainland China but a few like St. Vincent and Haiti among others have resolutely opted to stay with Taiwan, much to the annoyance of China.
Gonsalves says the ULP will remain opposed to the golden passport scheme once in power. “I am opposed to selling the passports and the citizenship in principle. I’m opposed on the grounds of practicality. I’m opposed on the grounds that it is not sustainable and that it is reckless to run your country’s finances on selling passports and citizenship,” he said. The ULP had abandoned the cash for passport scheme when it took power in 2001, but the NDP has made no secret of its plans to reinstate such if it wins general elections constitutionally due by next February but widely expected late this year.
ders of many immigrant giants, ready to bring fresh vision and integrity to the city.
Mamdani’s track record, his ability to organize including the youth vote, and his focus on progressive policies show that he has what it takes to not only shake up the status quo but to make real changes. The key to his success will be staying true to the people who elected him and ensuring that his ambitious platform is delivered on.
In this critical moment, the people of New York have an opportunity to elect a leader who understands their needs and is unafraid to challenge the system to make those needs a reality. Mamdani can, and should, be the change New York City so desperately needs. But as always, the question remains: can this immigrant really get the job done?
The stakes are high, but with Mamdani’s passion, history and commitment, one thing is clear: he’s ready to try. And from one immigrant to another, that is a change worth fighting for.
Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on positive news about Black immigrant communities from the Caribbean and Latin America.
View of Young Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (Image by Ernie A. Stephens from Pixabay)
How to stay safe during NYC summer heat waves
By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews
Dr. Michelle Morse, MD, MPH, is the acting health commissioner and chief medical officer of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She spoke with the Amsterdam News about staying safe during NYC summer heat waves and how to identify dangerous signs of heat exhaustion. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AmNews: Could you talk about some of the dangers of excessive heat during the summer months and mid-June, 2025 heat wave?
This is a record-breaking heat wave for us. It’s the first big one of the summer season. We see upwards of 500 heat-related deaths every year in New York City, unfortunately, and what we worry about of course is that as climate change continues to advance, that number could go up. That’s what we want to prevent. We want it to be zero and unfortunately that is not the case yet so the risks of this kind of heat to people’s health are very serious and are really worth New Yorkers paying attention to [the risks].
AmNews: What are some of the concerns that we are already seeing this summer regarding the heat?
Some of the things that we’re already
seeing [include], a very large increase in ER visits related to heat illness over the past couple of days. So that’s something that New Yorkers should know. There are a number of things [people] can do to prevent the impacts of heat on their health and I would say that these prevention actions that New Yorkers can take are even more important for the people that are at highest risk of heat-related illness and injury.
The people that are at highest risk are our elders over the age of 65. It’s also people that have chronic conditions like diabetes or lung disease or kidney disease, pregnant people are at higher risk people that are on medications that change their body temperature at higher risk, so those folks should be paying even more attention to related complications but what everyone should do in times like this, is try to spend more time inside in air conditioned places, minimize any time that you’re spending outside particularly outside walking or exercising. This is a time when we recommend that everyone drink much more water than they would otherwise and stay hydrated. We also encourage people, if they have to be outside, to try to take a break from the sun, be in a cool place for a break for 15 minutes or so as often as they can and all of these kinds of things are really helpful in preventing heat-related injury.
The other thing you can do in particular if you’re worried about your electricity bill
is put your air conditioner to 78 degrees. It’s going to cool you adequately but you know not to kill your electricity bill and then we encourage people to take cool showers as well; those are all things that can be really helpful in heat waves like this.
AmNews: What are 3-4 common symptoms of someone suffering from heat exhaustion?
There are a number of red flags that you should be very concerned about. You should go to an emergency room if you experience this or you have a friend or family member that’s experiencing it. We really encourage people to check in with their friends, family, neighbors and make sure that they’re safe during heat waves like this and that they have the resources and support they need to stay cool. That’s another good, friendly thing that New Yorkers should do.
The signs and symptoms include: if you’re feeling dizzy or lightheaded, if you’re feeling nauseous or vomiting. A very late stage finding is confusion and being completely disoriented, if your heart is racing, your heart rate is very high, those are all signs and symptoms of heat stroke, the kind of severe version of heat-related injury and we highly recommend that you go to an emergency room if you’ve been outside in the heat and you start to experience those symptoms.
A man uses a wet towel to cool off in July of 2020 in New York. The city opened more than 300 fire hydrants with sprinkler caps to help residents cool off during a heat wave. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Dr. Michelle Morse (Contributed photo)
Forever. For Justice.
Secrets of Harlem’s rich legacy now a tap away with ‘Signs of the Times’ app
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
The Harlem-based historic preservation organization, While We Are Still Here (WWSH), has launched a new mobile app designed to help users explore New York City’s most historic, Black history-rich neighborhood.
WWSH’s free app is called “Signs of the Times.” The GPS-enabled app, developed in partnership with the software development company HubSpire, was inaugurated last weekend during a press conference held at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum.
“We are thrilled to introduce this app, which brings our historic markers to life and offers a deeper understanding of pivotal eras in Harlem’s history,” said WWSH founder Karen D. Taylor. “It’s like having Harlem in your pocket.”
“Signs of the Times” guides users to 24 historic markers throughout Harlem. The app was created to highlight Harlem’s history as a cultural hub for African diaspora culture.
Taylor told the AmNews: “While We Are Still Here hopes that the app will attract young people, all the way through middle and high school. Another audience is composed of tourists. The app is very easy to use, and people won’t get lost, because GPS is embedded in it, and it maps out all the installed Signs of the Times markers. It even lets you know what markers are nearby. The app also features biographies, historic images, and sometimes, video. We anticipate thousands of users who will patronize our app [along with] sponsors such as stores, restaurants, and cultural institutions.”
In a press statement, WWSH notes that, “The marker project — conceived by Lehman College Africana Studies Professor Emeritus William Seraile; Marline A. Martin, former director of the LeRoy Neiman Gallery; and While We Are Still Here — was initiated in 2020. Although delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project reached near completion in 2024, with one remaining marker scheduled for installation, following site construction, by the end of this year.”
Multiple Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist James Carter performed “Body and Soul” as inaugural “Signs of the Times” app users arrived at the Coleman Hawkins marker location. Carter later reflected on the profound influence “The Hawk” had on both him and the jazz genre as a whole. (Siyaka Taylor-Lewis photos)
While We Are Still Here founder Karen D. Taylor (at podium) and Thomas Abraham, CEO of HubSpire Corp., introduce the new mobile app, “Signs of the Times”
Photo by Ari Mintz
Arts & Entertainment
A sense of ‘Purpose’ — A conversation with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
By MARK WINSTON GRIFFITH Special to the AmNews
Prominent among the buzz generators this Broadway season is Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose,” playing at the Hayes Theater through this August. “Purpose,” the winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play, examines themes that converge, over a 24-hour period, on two generations of the Jaspers, a Chicago-based family that is explicitly inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s family life.
The plot in “Purpose” is disarmingly spirited along by smart, sitcom-adjacent humor, but is ultimately grounded in a moral and political complexity that lets you know that whoever wrote this ain’t playing around.
There’s so much back story. “Purpose” employs a narrative Sherpa in the form of Nazareth “Naz” Jasper, the perpetually fourth-wall-breaking younger son of Civil Rights Movement living legend Solomon Jasper and family caretaker Claudine Jasper. Naz, fresh off a spiritually elevating photography assignment, lands at his family home only to be joined by Aziza Houston, the queer woman with whom Naz has previously arranged to asexually conceive a child. Aziza soon finds herself waist deep in high-voltage family dynamics that also include Naz’s elder, emotionally struggling brother Junior, who has recently finished a prison sentence for financial fraud, and Junior’s embittered, Jasper-loathing wife Morgan, who has been courtordered to swap places in prison with Junior because of her complicity with his crimes.
We’re given early warning by Naz that the family dinner will become the battleground for some lively family messiness, and to say that hijinks and drama ensue is an understatement. The second act is spent sifting through the dinner’s emotional wreckage of recriminations, revelations, and threats.
This kind of family complexity, — one that carries a broader sociological resonance — is my jam, so I sat down with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins via Zoom to dig deeper into his
portrayal of the Jaspers and Black American generational identity.
AmNews: So much of Junior’s sense of being lost, both personally and professionally, is a result of his swimming in the backwash of the Civil Rights Movement and his father’s legacy. Daddy Jasper claims that everyone “knew their role” in the Civil Rights Movement, but this is clearly not the case for Junior, a generation later. Junior complains that he was never taught anything by his father or properly mentored, and he clearly doesn’t know what his social role and purpose are. What’s your take on the political grounding of this nation’s newest generation of political leadership? Are they clear? Are they confused? How much faith do you have in their sense of purpose and political vision?
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (BJ-J): As far as intentional commentary, I don’t know if I can claim that. I’m writing from a place of observation. My mother moved to DC to be a part of [President] Jimmy Carter’s cabinet and she sent me to an Afrocentric school where my teachers were all activists, Pan-Africanists,
I remember the early moments of Black Lives Matter (BLM). I lived two blocks from the Barclays Center during the uprisings, and the constant refrain I was hearing from my mother and her generation — who were the last gasp of boomers, the last gasp of the Jim Crow generation — was, “Who is the leader? Where is the leader?” She had come up in a space where, to make progress, there had to be one voice leading the many, so she couldn’t even wrap her head around what was happening with BLM. Everyone is responding to the same experience of disenfranchisement, injustice, inequality, and needless Black death, and yet, we only ever are taught about the one version of it that’s sort of mainstream, right? Every town has a Martin Luther King Boulevard in it.
brave enough to step out and say what they feel to take action, because we live in an anti-DEI culture, which is a wild concept. Who’s antidiversity on a planet that is nothing but diverse, right? Or anti-woke? The opposite of woke is asleep. People are so self-conscious. This is what happened to a lot of Panthers. In pop cultural spaces, they were always depicted as buffoons, disorganized, and it robbed that moment of its real richness and intellectual rigor. I think everyone feels the purpose, but can’t find their way into it.
and former Panthers, so I grew up in this stew of facets of what we might think of as Black political life and activism from the 20th century. This play came to me in some form at the very back end of Obama II. I’m haunted by an image from Obama’s [acceptance speech] from his first win: There’s a shot from the [news] coverage, of Jesse Jackson standing in the crowd with a single tear rolling down his face, and I’m just thinking like, man, there are so many things pinging off of each other in this moment, symbolically, in terms of history. I think what’s never quite unpacked fully is the depth and richness and wide-ranging strategies that make up the gains of Black political life in the 20th and 21st centuries.
I’m gesturing at the romanticization of the Civil Rights Movement and, let’s say, the commodification of it, or the kind of distilling it into its symbols. This commodification created these slipstreams, like you said, the weight of which Junior is swimming in. In some ways, he’s trying to live his life on patterns that are old, and the trap he falls into is not being able to stay present to what’s really happening.
At the same time, I’m witnessing a lot of friends who discovered activism in the last 10 years, and were suddenly trying to piece together a legacy for themselves, because they were responding to the reality of what was happening outside their front doors, but I was also witnessing them go through what all those lovely folks in the ’60s and ’70s were going through, which was a kind of fatigue. This is a kind of work and a practice that is draining. It costs people things and sometimes that cost is borne out on the level of familial relationships and even personal relationships. How do you live as a full person, and yet also commit oneself to a necessary cause? That’s the tension in the Jasper family. While Solomon Jasper was out literally making the world freer for some folks, his family was in a certain kind of trap.
AmNews: You talked about demystifying the civil rights era and, of course, you use the word “purpose” very intentionally in the title. Do you feel like that sense of purpose exists in the political moment we’re in today? Or is it even fair to make the comparison?
BJ-J: I do think that the purpose exists. I think the challenge is for us to become aware of it, to figure out how to articulate it and lock into it. You know, there’s so much that discourages individuals from being
What’s preventing us from locking into that space? That’s the conversation, I think, worth having. The title, “Purpose,” is inspired by a book I came across by a very important political scholar and historian. He talked about the ’80s in terms of the narrative of Black political life being an era of a crisis of purpose, where in some ways it had achieved the gains of political buy-in that it had been after, and once that happened, there was no plan. There was a vacuum of all this energy, where it was like, “Well, now what — now what do we do?” That moment is what kind of stalled things out, maybe. That’s kind of the argument being made [in “Purpose”].
AmNews: Do you feel like we’ve moved beyond that moment? Because I actually lived it.
BJ-J: The world’s new every day, and new people are constantly showing up, right? I think I’ve always been interested in these cycles that seem to happen socially, where another generation comes of age and goes, “Wait a minute. Why am I being treated like this?” And they have to reconnect to some old version of the struggle. But I’m always interested in those moments in between. Like, what happened? What’s that collective act of forgetting or overexhaustion when things get quiet; these benign neglect moments? Of course, it’s different, it’s not the ’80s anymore. I was born in the ’80s. It’s 40 years later, and the world is a new place.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Jai Lennard photo)
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Continued from page 17
The same old things are happening, but there are new forms of it. The beginning of my career was very contentious for people. I have a play called “Appropriate” that premiered 10 years ago. It did well, but it was met with a lot of aggression in a way that was crazy. Ten years later, it’s on Broadway, it wins a Tony. I realized in that 10-year period, people just had more language for this experience. That creation of language, that creation of ideas, that documentation of points of view — that does move the conversation forward. I believe people just have more tools to process their experience of struggle.
AmNews: What about the concept of “Black Excellence” that the Jasper family both epitomizes and feels deeply burdened by? What was your view of the notion of Black Excellence growing up, which is to say — where do you fall in the spectrum? Do you believe that being an accomplished Black professional, who is a credit to their race, is a necessary North Star for Black folks, people whom the world is trying to convince are wretched? Or do you think Black Excellence is a dangerous bourgeois construct that we need to dismantle because it oversimplifies our humanity? I know those are two extremes, but where do you fall between them?
BJ-J: I guess I want to have both. You do need models in the world, because I think young people and young minds are often shaped by what forms of thought they have access to. I think about Toni Morrison every day because I don’t think I would have understood there was a path somewhere for me to be a writer without the model of Toni Morrison. I’m reading “Toni at Random,” which is a book about her years as an editor and how she was so daring and so experimental and took no guff from anybody. That groundbreaking, that path-breaking ... I would say I’m one of thousands of Black writers who benefited from that excellence.
But that idea of a Black writer and the mold that she cast of difficult work that was deserving of the work to get through it; the intelligence, that ownership of the active reading of literature and the canon — those things were essential for me to be able to get to where I am. I just needed to have that.
At the same time, there’s nothing worse than when these things create divisions within the community or are weaponized and you’re ultimately re-inscribing a kind of class system. I do think that part of the challenge for the Jasper family is they’re kind of hoisted on their petards — their own ambitions that they bought into. They drank the Kool-Aid with a promise because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. It’s all coming back now, to be reckoned.
How do you forgive yourself? How do you forgive the choices you make as a young person? How do you stay committed to a struggle that you don’t know the end of and how it’s going to look?
Then, how do you live with what the results are, that reality of life, which is that everything comes with wins and losses. I think I live in that space where we shouldn’t be afraid of excellence, shouldn’t demonize excellence. But also excellence is fleeting — excellent by whose standards? Life, if you’re lucky, is long, and you live through many different yardsticks that emerge that want to tell you what you’re worth or what you’re not worth.
Solomon feels that he dedicated his life to achieving freedom for his people, and when
in the theater. No one knows why we laugh, but it does a lot of things. One, it’s proof that you’re listening. If you’re laughing, it’s because you got something, and you’re receptive to that thing. Laughter also is a thing you can’t be very selfconscious about — it’s a thing you kind of do automatically. And when we do it in a group, and we realize we’re all laughing, and subconsciously, you feel connected to people. You’re realizing that you share a point of view with other people in this space, and that should be a thing that unifies and grounds you.
There are very important experiences where you hear some people laughing and other people not laughing, and you ask yourself, why am I not laughing?
he can’t quite see that his kids are living free, as free as they can, it doesn’t look like what he thought freedom would be. How do you live with the fact that you still did the work? You just couldn’t control what the work looked like.
AmNews: You clearly wanted to make people think when they were experiencing “Purpose,” but you clearly wanted to entertain them as well. I saw the show twice, and the two audiences laughed in different ways to different things. I don’t know if you’ve experienced that.
BJ-J: I haven’t seen it in a while, but I have heard the audiences have gotten quite raucous, and I heard last night was a very good audience.
AmNews: Yeah, it was a great audience. How intentional, how strategic was your use of humor? Were there things that you felt would be better communicated or received differently through humor?
BJ-J: Try as I might, I cannot write a sad thing that’s just sad the whole time. I’ve tried, and people still laugh. Something about my voice clearly is comic, and I need to let that be the thing.
Laughter is a very important and useful tool
lease the chokehold of that because that’s where freedom is going to start, when we can acknowledge the good and the bad, and take pride in being a part of our historic and familial makeup.
I think about Mom and Dad [Jasper] at the same age their kids are, and how at that point, they were already young parents. They were in the world experimenting in ways that their own parents could never have dreamed of for them. They were going to college, they were seeing the world, they were leaving the 20-mile radius of the little farm that their families had come from. Everything was an experiment for them, too, but the experiment looked different. What they don’t see is that their children are doing the same thing.
It’s the same kind of path of self-definition that everyone goes down, but when you do it in a different world, you can sometimes lose the forest for the trees.
I think Aziza, Junior, and Nazareth are very free people. Nazareth gets to live his life in the woods, taking pictures of lakes, and he gets paid for that. There’s nothing freer than that, you know? Aziza’s a single woman, she doesn’t have a child, she’s wellemployed. She’s proud of where she is. Even Junior, who is fresh out of prison and his wife’s going in, literally is free. He’s also free from the chokehold of this dynastic life he was supposed to live. He’s trying to learn how to live without his father’s name. To appreciate those things, you have to look past the trappings of what might make them “undesirable” children to a certain generation of people. For me, it’s about releasing shame to find purpose.
AmNews: I want to come back to this question of generational split. With Daddy and Mama Jasper, there was so much surety, conviction, and fixedness in their political ideology, purpose, gender identity, mental identity, cultural norms, etc. But in the next generation, with Aziza, Naz, and Junior, there’s so much exploration, there’s fluidity, there’s unsteadiness. What do you think accounts for that generational contrast?
BJ-J: I think it’s something about shame. I find that shame is such an interesting curse for a lot of families.
For that generation that [Solomon] and other elders belong to (I would count my own parents in that world), they have a very difficult time talking about experiences of pain, experiences of embarrassment. Part of their survival was about not acknowledging the wounds that shaped their lives, but when you don’t acknowledge those wounds, you become those wounds, and suddenly you’re being parented by a wound. As a child, you’re being shaped by something you can’t ever name. It’s like a ghost in the room, and that creates its own forms of anxiety.
For me, it’s about trying to create a new generation — people who are ready to re-
AmNews: You explore sexual identity, as well as mental health, in “Purpose,” and Aziza at one point even suggests that Naz’s asexuality is somehow connected to his neurodivergence. Was that mashup of sexual identity and neurology an incidental one-off, or was it intentional and part of some kind of larger point?
BJ-J: For me, it’s about this idea of self-determination. The great irony and existential struggle of Black American life is trying to literally name oneself — descended from people who were ripped away from their context in service of an insanely exploitative and very successful economic system, who had to sire new generations of giants on this Earth, who had to literally make up the story as they go and piece together a kind of language world to hold their being. So much of the fights of the postslavery and post-Jim Crow eras was about having to throw off the labels and stereotypes that were thrust upon them to build their own definition of self. The whole point of political correctness, which is now demonized as an idea, was literally giving people the right to name themselves. Now, it’s this oppressive thing to ask people to be respectful when someone says what their name is. Among these various things that Black Americans have interfaced with are sexuality, mental competence, and
The cast of “Purpose.” (Marc J. Franklin photo)
Apollo Theater breaks ground on much-needed renovations, closing doors for a year
By MARIELLE ARGUEZA Special to the AmNews
In a half-full theater of donors and reporters, Apollo staff and board members announced a temporary curtain call for the historic venue on June 30 before a full-scale renovation begins. The project, which broke ground earlier this year, will update the lobby, restore murals, install a new HVAC system, modernize safety and staging equipment, reinvigorate both the Historic Theater and the smaller Soundstage, refresh the restrooms, and create a new bar and café that will be open to the public during the day. Ultimately, the renovation aims to expand the Apollo’s capacity to generate revenue, grow its programming, and remain a cultural cornerstone for the neighborhood. The theater will close for a little over a year and is expected to reopen in summer 2026.
“It took a village [to build the Apollo], and it will take a village to renovate the theater,” said Apollo President and CEO Michelle E. Banks.
The renovation will cost approximately $65 million, funded through a mix of donors and public- and private-sector organizations. Major contributions come from the Empire State Development Corp., Harlem Community Development Corp., J.P. Morgan, National Trust Community Investment Corp., New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Economic Development Corp., New York City Neighborhood Capital Corp., Octagon Finance LLC, Sirius XM Holdings Inc., United Fund Advisors LLC, and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corp.
Thanks to the theater’s status as a histor-
ic landmark at the local, state, and national levels, the project is also supported by Historic Tax Credits.
The renovation is part of a larger $200 million investment in two relatively new cultural districts: El Barrio in East Harlem and the Harlem Cultural District, to which the Apollo belongs, according to New York State Sen. Cordell Cleare. “There is no Apollo without Harlem. There is no Harlem without the Apollo. We feel it belongs to us,” she said in her speech at the June 30 event.
The curtains won’t remain drawn for long. In 2022, before the current renovation, the Apollo team reopened the Victoria down the street. Responding to an RFP in 2015, they transformed the once-derelict movie theater — nearly as old as the Apollo — into an auxiliary venue. During the main stage’s closure, programming will continue at the Victoria.
Concerns that the Apollo’s new facilities would contribute to gentrification were quickly addressed. Among the speakers were those with deep personal ties to the theater, not just as patrons but as former staff.
“I grew up in this theater,” said Manhattan Deputy Borough President Keisha SuttonJames, granddaughter of civil rights attorney Percy E. Sutton, who helped buy and renovate the Apollo in the 1980s and played a key role in securing its historic landmark designation. She shared memories of scraping gum from under seats and working in the gift shop under the watchful eye of current board chair Charles “Mr. Apollo” Phillips.
“This is the love we give to the theater. This was the cradle, the Mecca of Black culture,” she said. “This is about building
lective resilience through culture.”
col-
Apollo fans won’t have to wait a whole year for shows and talks — programming continues at Victoria. (Marielle Argueza photos)
Dietrice Bolden sings her rendition of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.”
Renderings for Apollo’s lobby. (Courtesy of Charcoalblue, Flyleaf Creative, and Beyer Blinder Belle)
Modernization does not mean romantic aspects of historic theater, like red velvet curtains, gold filigree details, will go away. Team hopes to retain as much historic detail as possible.
AmNews FOOD
Bronx Chef Eric Adjepong’s Elmina makes D.C. feel like Accra — no passport needed
By EDEN HARRIS Special to the AmNews
Africa Correspondent
“Top Chef” alum Eric Adjepong is serving up soul and serious storytelling at Elmina, his first-ever restaurant. Think jollof rice with duck and Halal-friendly bites that bring everyone to the table.
The celebrity chef and Bronx native is a first-generation Ghanaian-American who competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Kentucky” in Season 16, among other shows, and currently hosts Food Network’s Wild Card Kitchen establishment. He is bringing Africa to the nation’s capital in a daring way. It’s not just through the spices or stories on the plate, but in the convivial atmosphere.
Elmina, which means “goldmine” and is the site of the former transatlantic slave trade in Ghana, gives a nod to the country’s key exports, including sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, timber, and indigo, through its rooms. The Sugarcane Room serves as a sensory bridge between worlds, inviting visitors to feel what Ghanaians feel, according to Adjepong.
“When I think about Ghana, I think about the weather and the warmth … in the Sugarcane Room it feels very tropical, it specifically doesn’t have [air conditioning]. I wanted it to feel like you sorta have been transported a little bit,” he told the AmNews
goes down, you can really get a sense of an Accra night.”
Besides guests getting an authentic Ghanaian feeling while dining, when it comes to his food, his Jollof Duck Pot is also a taste of his roots. “It’s a blend of two things,” he said. “It’s a very traditional dish in [the] sense that it’s jollof rice, like my grandmother would have made it, and then we are adding some contemporary touches like duck. The duck is duck breast, duck leg, and duck egg. The duck legs have been brushed with tamarind glaze.”
Elmina has been passing muster since its opening in February 2025, with diners like Annette Koroma and her friends taking to the restaurant to celebrate her birthday and enjoy the Halal options.
“The amazing part of this restaurant is the fact that they provide Halal options for people that are Muslim, so it’s a great opportunity for us to eat clean, so that’s a great thing,” Koroma told the AmNews, adding that she also came to experience the upscale Ghanaian recipes.
With Washington recognized not only as the nation’s capital but also as a culinary center, Adjepong said tourists traveling from his home state to D.C. should know that at Elmina, he’s telling a story that bridges his heritage with his journey through kitchens and cultures.
“It’s a unique look at what Ghanaian food can be from now, from 2025 and beyond,” he told the AmNews. “I grew up loving these flavors and the ingredients and dishes, and I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about and express how I’ve been influenced by where I’ve worked, where I’ve lived, and the people I’ve been around.”
Adjepong also said the Food Network is a big inspiration of his, all of his experiences melt into what he thinks about food. “West African food is one of the most delicious and the fact that I can do it in this form, and in this beautiful space with an amazing team, I’m very blessed.”
Asked why is it important for someone with his background to be in the nation’s capital as a chef, Adjepong said, “I’ll leave that up for the people to answer, that’s not for me to answer. I hope I make an impact, and I hope it’s a positive one.
“Like any type of art, I can’t dictate what the public is going to think about what I do. I can put my best foot forward and that’s what I can control, [along with] making sure the quality is there, the service and hospitality and effort behind the hospitality is there. Then I’ll let the public decide.”
Adjepong said the best time to be in the room is at “nighttime — when the sun
Chef Eric Adjepong’s Sugarcane Room pays homage to key export from Ghana at his restaurant, Elmina, in Washington, D.C., in June 2025.
Annette Koroma (in pink dress) celebrates her birthday at brunch at Elmina with family and friends in Washington, D.C., in June 2025.
Chef Eric Adjepong’s Jollof DuckPot Dish at his new restaurant, Elmina in Washington, D.C., in June 2025.
Chef Eric Adjepong’s Indigo Room pays homage to key export from Ghana at his restaurant, Elmina, in Washington, D.C., in June 2025. (Eden Harris photos)
Baylor Project display extraordinary talents at Blue Note
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
For singer Jean Baylor and percussionist Marcus Baylor, the eight-time Grammy Awardnominated husband-and-wife duo collectively known as the Baylor Project, the month of June featured at least seven high-profile performances in New York City.
In the first week of June, the pair joined musician and awardwinning music director Adam Blackstone and pianist Cory Henry to create a tribute to the late Richard D. Parsons, a Black business leader, at the Apollo Spring Benefit. Last week, joined by a three-person horn section and a pianist, the Baylor Project took over the legendary Blue Note jazz club for six shows, including Juneteenth, as part of
the Blue Note Jazz Festival.
Among the songs the 2022 NAACP Image Award winners for for Outstanding Vocal Jazz Album performed included “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Laugh and Move On,” “Tenderly,” and “More in Love,” from their 2017 debut album, “The Journey,” as well as “Only Believe,” “We Swing (The Cypher),” “Tell Me a Story,” and 2024’s “Walk With Me, Lord.”
What makes seeing the Baylor Project so special is that as masters of their craft, Jean as a vocalist and Marcus as a singer, they create unique improvisations, an essential part of the history of jazz music that can’t be heard on their recordings. Marcus Baylor demonstrated that he is not just a drummer but a true percussionist as he pulled out a seemingly end-
less array of percussion instruments that he played with his right hand while continuing to play the drum set with his left. Jean Baylor’s mezzo-soprano can take you to church on some songs and to the roaring 1920s on another. Their pairing is simply divine.
“We have performed there a couple of times, and it’s the first time we’re there for three nights. It’s always a pleasure to come back to the Blue Note,” Jean Baylor told the AmNews earlier in June. “It is a legendary place, and so many great people have been there over the years.”
“It’s Juneteenth and Black Music [Month], so we are excited,” Marcus Baylor chimed in. “It is always an honor to be able to play New York City. It’s always an amazing time with a special energy.”
A sign and sound of the Hawk in Harlem
By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews
Thanks to Karen Taylor and the organization While We Are Still Here, a new marker is in place to memorialize the sound of tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins on 153rd Street on Sunday afternoon. To celebrate the placing of the Hawkins marker, near where he lived on the street (at 445), Taylor brought a busload of admirers to the spot, where they were serenaded by the sax virtuoso James Carter. His rendition of Hawkins’s immortal solo on “Body and Soul” featured his typical flair and unique improvisa-
tion, which always includes a full exploration of his horn. There was also time for him to extend his history of the music, with a snippet of examples, explaining how jazz transitioned from swing to bebop. It was his performance, though, that mesmerized the attendees and passersby, many of them applauding as they headed for the next stop on the historic marker tour of Harlem. On several occasions, Carter has given a sonic moment to Taylor’s vision, and there are sure to be other opportunities for him to share his vast knowledge and matchless saxophony.
Saxophonist James Carter (Herb Boyd photo)
Baylor Project performs at Blue Note. (Derrel Johnson photos)
Marcus and Jean Baylor, collectively known as the Baylor Project.
Celebrating Queer Pride with a symbol of love
By MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS Special to the AmNews
Today, more than ever, New York’s Gay Pride Parade is extraordinarily important. It’s a powerful reminder to be true to oneself. It matters so much, lest those discovering a queer identity — but unaware of the city’s widespread allyship and supportive LGBTQ+ community — hide in dark closets out of fear. Depriving the world of the beauty and luminance they add to the rainbow, leaves us all bereft.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic there have only been 52 parades since the first, in 1970. They’re held on the last Sunday in June each year. Different from recent parades, this year’s 2025 march was more like the proudly rebellious protest inaugurated in the aftermath of 1969’s Stonewall Uprising.
When police routinely raided the now landmarked Stonewall bar, patrons — fed up with being belittled and harassed — fought back! “I threw the first punch!,” Storme de Laverie, Harlem’s renowned crossdressing, butch lesbian singer and activist, told me in 2010.
Apart from those two canceled parades and one other, I’ve marched in each since 1984, the year prior to my moving to New York from Ohio. Beginning in 1996, I’ve given roses to spectators bordering the avenue, first on one side and then on the other. Over the years, a few different friends have helped me. But, by far, my most stalwart assistant, every year since 2003, has been Ron Lestor, the originator of Harlem’s Disco Party Fundraiser. Jumping up and down, vigorously pointing to their
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Despite backlash from Washington, there were 60 floats with corporate sponsors this year. Over a million cheered an estimated 85 thousand marchers (Michael Henry Adams photos)
partner, child, or mom, people clamor so enthusiastically for me to give them a rose. Their fervor is so exuberant, one would imagine I was handing out emeralds!
For men, for gay men, Miquel Brown’s anthem announcing, “So many men, so little time! How can I choose? How can I lose?” seems to be gospel. Over a lifetime one meets so many charming prospects. But amongst them all, I knew he was the one. We didn’t have decades together, just six years, three
spent with others. But in terms of connection and satisfaction, our relationship was enough.
A sure sign of growing older is the collapse of time. As a child, an hour playing with a special friend can seem like a happy eternity. But then, almost imperceptibly, days, weeks, years, seemingly start to merge. This was not yet the case when we met. I was 34, finishing graduate school at Columbia. Born in 1963, Markiver, who came from Raleigh, North Carolina, was 27. He performed in the second company of the Dance
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
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mental health. I think this is about people trying to think their way into the form of life that best expresses who they are. That might mean sometimes it runs contrary to the available labels that are there for you. How does anybody live their life when it feels like the options for naming yourself are so limited? How do you make new names for yourself? Especially for that younger generation, but also the older parents who have
Theater of Harlem.
Medium height, medium build with big brown eyes, a tapering waist and a dazzling smile with glistening lips, Markiver was, I thought, beautiful.
That was truly marvelous. But it’s the memory of his gentleness, kindness and thoughtfulness, that was what saw me through his death from HIV/AIDS in 1995. Tossing roses to expectant strangers along the Pride Parade route in memory of Markiver, is a quite tiny gesture. But, it allows me to at least symbolically share the won-
derful gift that his love was for me.
I get so much back in return. New Yorkers of all ages, genders, classes and races gather together peacefully, rejoicing in our luck to live in the best place, a city where we value respect, encourage diversity, hold equality sacred and strive for inclusion. At the same time, we are exultant in our uniqueness, everyone. The vitality, creativity and determination of the crowd, its “fire,” it gives me life! You can’t ask for much more than that.
When Ron and I finished, heading to Harlem on the train, we had
to find a new form for their lives now that they’re not the king and queen they thought they were going to be. The [older] son’s got to remake his life out of prison, the youngest son is trying to just be allowed to follow the impulses of who he is. Aziza wants to be a mom, without the trappings of what we think a mom should have.
It’s not about saying that asexual people are mentally disturbed. For me, it’s all about
just one bunch of white roses left. Our destination was the restaurant Vinatería, where we met friends for dinner. Just as downtown, fellow diners were eager to celebrate Pride with a rose too. Later still, afterward at Harlem’s hottest Gay bar, 4-West, dancing and drinking the night away, the place was thronged with partying people. The line to get in was a quarterblock long. And, this caused me to think as I waited, ‘I wish I still had more roses to share!’
That’s something for next year perhaps?
upending labels in every way. There are aromantic and asexual people I’ve since learned about. Black male representation on stage is always so complicated because it often comes down to some crazy sexual situation. There has to be a different way to talk about Black male emotionality, interiority, intimacy. In some ways, Naz was my attempt to sort of see where we could get with that. It seems like we got pretty far, because [audiences] love Naz. It has struck up interesting conversations, but I wasn’t really that self-conscious about it when I was working on it. I just wanted to present a different
mode. Of course, every [character] wants him to be what they need him to be so they can feel right in their story. It’s all about the story they tell themselves about being a loving person in relationship to Naz. For Aziza, he has to be someone who is in need of more resources than he’s been given. For Mom, he’s just someone who needed confidence and support, and the world wanted to name him something. The dad needs him to just come out as gay, but he’s not gay, and so he’s like, “What are you?”
That’s family, right? Family is always about appreciating everyone else’s expectations of you.
People are delighted to get a rose tossed their way Attire featuring every color of the rainbow predominates
Celebrating Pride with revelers at Harlems 4-West Bar on 127th Street (Michael Henry Adams photos)
Billy Hart, The Jazz Gallery, Small’s
Behind the fabled red door of the Village Vanguard (178 7th Avenue South), down the steep narrow stairwell, there are many stories and fabled memories from the likes of Tommy Flanagan to Roy Haynes, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins.
The Vanguard’s history in pursuit of infinite progression welcomes the creative fire of drummer Billy Hart from July 8–11. He will be joined by his longtime intuitive souls: tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist Ethan Iverson, and bassist Ben Street. Together, they have an uncanny connection, a soulful communication enhanced with a variety of colors and textures. The quartet (with saxophonist Mark Turner) has recorded a few albums on ECM Records; their most recent is “Just” (2025). Hart’s inventive style has placed him in the company of artists such as Shirley Horn, Dick Griffin, Wayne Shorter, and Sonny Fortune, and he appeared on the groundbreaking fusion album of Miles Davis “On the Corner” (1972). The NEA Jazz Master has been recording continuously as a leader or sideman since 1965, as a member of Herbie Hancock’s 1970s ensemble Mwandishi (he appeared on three albums), and as a member of Quest.
The drummer continues to perform with the collaborative ensemble, the Cookers, which usually consists of Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Craig Handy (or Billy Harper), George Cables, and Cecil McBee. The band has toured extensively and has recorded six albums together.
For reservations, visit villagevanguard.com.
The Jazz Gallery, known for being ahead of the musical curve as an incubator for inventive artists, presents vocalist and composer Georgia Heers on July 9 for one night only.
The recent (2023) graduate of the Juilliard School of Music ushers in her own style of song. Heers has already distinguished herself on Broadway in George Clooney’s adaptation of “Goodnight and Good Luck.”
The South Carolina native, now with digs in Harlem, has performed with Emmet Cohen, Cyrus Chestnut, Joe Farnsworth, Cyrus Chestnut, and the innovative Chilean guitarist Camila Meza.
Heers, the runner-up in the Sarah Vaughan vocal competition, is becoming an important new voice in jazz, demonstrating her resourceful confidence by tackling such songs as Abbey Lincoln’s high-flyin’ “Freedom” with a refreshing buoyancy while holding onto the defiant relevance of its lyrics from Max Roach’s album “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite,” with lyrics by Oscar Brown, Jr. She brings a new sparkle to Billie Holiday’s signature tune “Them There Eyes,” and an improvised bouncy tempo to
her idol Vaughan’s “Thou Swell.”
At such an early stage in her career, she effortlessly takes well-traveled standards down her own path of improvised harmonies with twists and turns, creating her own vital stamp. She’s developing a vibrant scat that will grow stronger and hipper as time swings by.
Heers believes in the healing components of music and artistic creation to cultivate community and healing. She wants to dedicate her life to exploring the depths of music spanning across the African diaspora.
Heers has charted a path beyond the stars. For reservations, visit jazzgallery.org.
Two shows are at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The pianist Anthony Wonsey plays all the pearly keys with his imaginative arrangements and dexterity. His diversity covers stints with vocalist Nnenna Freelon and saxophonist Kenny Garrett, playing in the realms of the African diaspora.
He appears at Small’s on July 6, with two shows, at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. During the past few years, he has played regularly and recorded with the groups of Carl Allen and Nicholas Payton. His debut CD as a leader, “Anthonyology,” was recorded for the Japanese Alfa Jazz label and released domestically by Evidence. For more info, visit smallslive.com.
Mimi Jones is a whirlwind of inventive energy. In two decades, she has become an artistic force as a bassist, vocalist, producer, record label owner, and filmmaker. As a leader, she has recorded three CDs on her label, Hot Tone Music. Her bass grooves cover a lot of territory, from world beats to
funky rhythms and straight jazz. On July 9, she brings her eclectic sound to Small’s for two shows, at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Jones, recognized as a U.S. Jazz Ambassador, has toured extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. It’s difficult — perhaps even disrespectful — to call her a side woman when she’s earned chairs with such royalty as Kenny Barron, Dianne Reeves, Tia Fuller, Ingrid Jensen, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marc Cary, Toshi Reagon, Rachel Z, Ravi Coltrane, and Terri Lyne Carrington’s Grammy-winning Mosaic Project.
Small’s, one of the very few jazz clubs that still swings into the wee hours, will present pianist and composer Noah Haidu, on July 9 with two shows, at 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
The pianist recognizes Kenny Barron, Bill Charlap, Barry Harris, and Bruce Barth as his mentors. His latest recording was included in “Downbeat” magazine’s Best Albums of the Year issue (January 2022).
“Slowly” was released on the heels of his multimedia project “Doctone”; an album of pianist Kenny Kirkland’s (one of America’s great pianists) music was released in tandem with a book by Haidu about Kirkland’s life and a documentary short film that Haidu produced.
The last event of the evening on July 9 will be a jam session hosted by Jason Clotter from 11:45 p.m.–4 a.m. For more information, visit thesmallslive.com.
Is it relevant for the government to acknowledge the months of Black History and Black Music? No, definitely not when
the American patriarchal system remains a capitalist supremacist country that continues to ignore the realities of political injustice, inequality, and economic exclusion. James Brown loudly expressed, “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing/Open the door, I’ll get it myself/We don’t need no sympathy” (released in 1969). The songwriter, singer, and activist Oscar Brown was quite adamant on his recording of “Forty Acres and a Mule” — it served as an open letter to the U.S. government with its humor and is still extremely intentional. “If I’m not mistaken, every slave set free was to get forty acres and a mule/No telling how much work was done by my ancestors during those slavery rules/but sure as hell it got to be worth at least forty acres and a mule/We had a promise but that was taken back.”
The promises and recognition of empty holidays are meaningless without sincere actions for a real democracy. The present administration is currently deporting people without due process and eagerly attempting to erase African American contributions from the annals of history. Black history and Black music are to be enjoyed, observed, studied, and researched every day. People must continue to hold up the bloodstained banner of justice. The struggle continues as Black music and Black history serve as an ongoing documentation of America’s real truth!
*Note: Due to weather conditions, Maggie’s Garden Jazz Concert will take place on July 12.
Billy Hart at Bach Dancing & Dynamite S.0ociety, Half Moon Bay CA. (Brian McMillen photo/commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_ Hart_1.jpg)
the impact of casinos and gaming in Black and Brown and working class communities around the country. My view was that this was a transformative, generational opportunity to change the paradigm.”
Williams, founder of Cadre, considers himself a “serial entrepreneur” and is passionate about community investment. Leveraging technology and his network, he has raised billions of dollars in capital and empowered underserved communities to build generational wealth. He has known Marc Holliday, SL Green’s chairperson and Chief executive officer, for about a decade, he said.
Williams said he’s not much of a gambler himself, but many of his family members are. He was motivated to help when he saw how “consumed” they could become in gaming without much return on their money. His idea is to allow everyday New Yorkers to invest directly in equity shares of the hotel and casino project, starting at $500. Over time, people would get profits from that equity sent back into their accounts, he said.
SL Green has promised a hefty $250 million toward community investments: $80 million for public safety, $20 million for Broadway tickets for economically disadvantaged families, $5 million for public health and affirming care for LGBTQ+
people, and $15 million to help create a civil rights museum spearheaded by Sharpton and the Civil Rights Foundation. Armwood said the community aspect of the proposal was the result of “hundreds and hundreds of meetings with community members,” as well as input from Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Sharpton.
“We’re going to have three casinos in the state. There needs to be one that some of us that are not billionaires can invest in,” said Sharpton to a crowd of enthusiastic labor members from unions like the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Mason Tenders, Actors Equity and
and Hotel
Council, that were at a rally in Times Square on June 26.
Sharpton said he supported Jay-Z in his Barclay’s Center venture and is firmly committed to also seeing him become the first Black man in the city’s history to own a casino. As an aside, Sharpton had once been guaranteed a new NAN headquarters and civil rights museum at the One45 development site on 145th Street in Harlem. Planning is still ongoing for that development, but the office and museum idea have since been nixed.
“I am proud to support Caesars Palace
Times Square because I understand how it will benefit New Yorkers across the city and create opportunity for all of our communities,” said Assemblymember Jordan Wright.
“My constituents wake up every day facing an affordability crisis that threatens to push them out of the city they’ve called home for generations. This project will face that crisis head-on — it’s a lifeline for working-class New Yorkers that will provide thousands of good-paying union jobs and bring in new revenue and long-term economic stability for working people — not just in Midtown, but in every borough.”
Gaming in general, gambling, the lottery, and sports wagering have been a burgeoning industry for New York State since former Governor Andrew Cuomo — an Independent mayoral candidate this year — signed the Upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act of 2013. The act stipulated that at least seven years had to pass before bidding wars to build a casino in New York City could begin. In 2023, bidders floated eight proposals for three open sites in the boroughs. Every company paid a $1 million fee to the New York State Gaming Commission to submit their final proposals last week.
However, New York City has a long, at times sordid and racially fraught, history with gambling.
Harlem’s infamous gambling racket
In the 1920s and ’30s, Harlem dominated the highly profitable numbers racket, which
Local 802, Local 79 Theater, 32BJ SEIU,
Trades & Gaming
Rev. Al Sharpton and labor community rally in Times Square on June 26 to support future casino. (Contributed by Caesars Palace Times Square)
Education
Jeremiah Program celebrates single mothers graduating college and their children
By JANAE ANTRUM Special to the AmNews
The Jeremiah Program (JP) Brooklyn celebrated the graduation of 15 mothers and 10 children on June 27 at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
Among the program successes was Nickiesha Salmon, a recent graduate of Medgar Evers College with an associate’s degree in teacher education. Salmon, a single mother of two boys, joined JP Brooklyn in January 2024 after discovering it through immigration resources. Her journey began at an open house event, where she felt an immediate sense of belonging. The support and sisterhood she found within the program, particularly from her family coach, have been pivotal in her educational journey.
The JP was founded in 1993 by Michael J. O’Connell, who recognized the need for coordinated support for single mothers in
apolis, Minn., has since expanded to serve nine cities across the United States. JP operates as a national nonprofit with a proven strategy for disrupting generational poverty by empowering families to achieve economic independence and transform their life narratives.
JP Brooklyn, launched in 2017, is making significant strides in supporting its community. In 2024, JP Brooklyn supported 341 mothers and children through its twogeneration programming, with 170 children benefiting from JP-funded summer enrichment opportunities and 117 mothers pursuing their post-secondary education journeys.
Initially, Salmon pursued a nursing degree, but she soon realized it wasn’t her calling. After discussions with an English professor, she shifted her focus to teacher education, inspired by her involvement in her youngest child’s life, who is on the
degree in psychology with a minor in education. Her ultimate goal is to give back to her community, especially to families with children on the autism spectrum.
Tiana Stowers Pearson executive director of JP Brooklyn, can attest to the success of Salmon and many other mothers. StowersPearson, who holds a JD but does not currently practice law, has dedicated her life to human services and nonprofit work. Her experience spans various roles in organizations such as the Manhattan Child Advocacy Center and New York Communities for Change.
For Pearson, working at JP Brooklyn is a dream job: It combines her passion for law, policy, and service to mothers and children. Coming from a lineage of strong women, she understood the importance of education and the value of community support. Her grandmother had 13 children, all of whom eventually earned college degrees, setting a precedent for Pearson when she became a mother at a
young age.
Reflecting on her journey, Pearson said,
“When I had my son as a young teenager, I never questioned whether I would go to college. That came from me seeing other strong, resilient women hold up their families during trying times but also pursue their own goals.” She emphasized the vital role of community, stating that “it takes a village” to raise children successfully.
JP Brooklyn’s mission focuses on economic mobility, addressing challenges faced by many mothers, such as the fear of losing housing assistance if they accept full-time jobs. To address these issues, JP Brooklyn has initiated new focus groups involving staff and mothers to identify service gaps, working collaboratively to co-create effective programs.
“At JP Brooklyn, we want to build that sisterhood and that network, and that supportive community for moms,” Pearson said.
students jpg
Graduating mothers who completed their bachelor’s degrees. (Janae Antrum photos)
Tiana Stowers Pearson
BNY
Continued from page 5
multiple capacities as she works to uplift and empower vulnerable populations in marginalized communities.
“Back in 1997, a little girl named Amy Burney, she was five years old when she was murdered in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. It happened not that far, maybe five buildings away from the daycare that I ran on University Ave. I was heartbroken,” Guerino explained to the Amsterdam News what inspired her and the beginnings of Crusaders for Children Rights.
“That year, my husband and I decided to have a street fair called ‘Give your child a hug day,’ in memory of Amy Burney. I wanted that day to be recognized as a day of remembrance for Amy Burney and for all the Amy Burneys out there. But I also wanted to bring awareness to what is happening to our children.”
Guerino also leads another initiative known as “Guerinos Against Graffiti,” an anti-graffiti campaign aimed at beautifying the Bronx, while addressing deeper societal issues. She believes that vandalism is oftentimes a symptom of poor mental health. Through community engagement and education, Guerino is working towards eradicating graffiti, as well as fostering a sense of pride and care in all local neighborhoods. Her efforts demonstrate a profound understanding of the intersection between environmental conditions and mental well-being.
“Luckily for me, I haven’t received any resistance from anyone in the Hip Hop community,” Guerino said. She acknowledged that the Bronx is the birthplace of rap and the role that graffiti plays in it.… “I would like to see beautiful artwork. If it’s an artwork that depicts our children in our community, I don’t have a problem with it. But ‘Guerinos Against Graffiti’ is always trying to make sure that the Bronx stays vandalized [and] graffiti free. I just really got tired of just seeing what was going on. I felt like no one cared about our children, and our children are our future. I said, ‘Why is it that in some sections of the Bronx, you’re not going to see vandalized graffiti?’ If you go to the country club section of the Bronx, if you go to City Island, you’re not going to see vandalized graffiti. But why is there vandalized graffiti in the South Bronx? Why is there vandalized graffiti in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx?”
Guerino’s advocacy extends to victims of domestic violence as well, a cause that became deeply personal to her following the tragic murder of Lisa Marie Velasquez in 2018. Velasquez, a Bronx native, was brutally killed while trying to intervene during a physical altercation involving Daquan Wheeler and Ciara Martinez. This heartbreaking event served as a catalyst for Guerino to delve into domestic violence prevention and initiative . She now works tirelessly to provide resources, awareness, and protection for individuals facing domestic abuse, honoring Velasquez’s legacy through her efforts.
“I realized that in 2018, it was a hard year here in the Bronx,” Guerino said. “[Lisa Marie Velasquez] was a victim when she was just trying to help a friend, who was a victim of domestic violence [herself]. “And I said, ‘You know what?’ I have to do something because I’m realizing that we don’t have laws to protect victims of domestic violence, and we need more social services. … I advocated with then-Assemblywoman, Natalia Fernandez, to pass stronger domestic violence bills.
Guerino’s impact on her borough is undeniable. Whether helping children navigate the foster care system, leading efforts to reduce vandalism, or standing up for victims of domestic violence, Guerino embodies the spirit of resilience and compassion. Her work not only addresses immediate needs but also strives to create systemic change and foster a healthier, safer community for all.
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Individuals or households who meet the income and household size requirements listed in the table below may apply Qualified applicants will be required to meet additional selection criteria.
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New York City is committed to the principle of inclusivity in all of its neighborhoods, including supporting New Yorkers to reside in neighborhoods of their choice, regardless of their neighborhood of origin and regardless of the neighborhood into which they want to move. AVAILABLE UNITS AND INCOME REQUIREMENTS
Kreyòl Ayisyien
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Health
Rising Ground’s Atlas program promotes therapy in the Bronx
By ESMERALDA MORAN Special to the AmNews
People of color are less likely to receive therapy or seek it, leading to greater disparities and stigma around the idea of therapy. Atlas recognizes this stigma and attempts to break it through their unique approach to therapy.
Atlas is one of many programs within Rising Ground. It is directed at improving community safety through the implementation of therapy, namely Functional Family Therapy (FFT).
Last Friday Atlas hosted a community event at Devoe Park in the Bronx. The yearly event is hosted in one of the five boroughs and aims to promote the incorporation of therapy into the lives of community members.
“I provide free therapy as they’re interested [and] make therapy like a part of their everyday lives,” said Diamond Jones, a therapist in the program.
The community event featured multiple mental health organizations as well as other nonprofits aimed at aiding members of the community. There was also free food, entertainment and giveaways for those that attended.
“Us coming out in community, dancing with folks, eating with folks, we really want to show them that we’re a part of your community. We have a service that we want to extend to you, but you can trust us,” said Atlas Program Director Nijah Afflic.
“We make a very intentional effort from the first time we call someone to just be human, to just be relatable,” said Angela Simmons, a therapist for Atlas.
“I’ve met [people] by Domino Bridge and we’re eating Chipotle and we’re really talking about really hard, vulnerable subjects, but doing it in a way that’s close to the community and they feel welcomed and they don’t necessarily have the hierarchy of the office,” said Jones.
Many Bronx residents were in attendance, eating, dancing and taking flyers from the different organizations around them. One attendee sat alongside her longtime therapist Emmanuelle Jean-Louis.
“I actually was introduced by a friend and then from there, I got the contact information. I filled out what I had to fill out and next thing you know, I got paired up with a therapist,” said Coumba Sylla, Jean-Louis’ patient.
“I was a person who was like ‘I don’t believe in therapy,’” said Sylla.
Sylla, like others, was hesitant to get started until she realized there were people that not only looked like her, but could relate to her as therapists.
“When I see that I can talk to a Black therapist, I start to open up my doors for them because I feel like it’s important for them to understand that there is a community behind them that needs them. So for them to be there for us is a wonderful thing.”
Sylla, with the help of Jean-Louis, has formed a healthy relationship with therapy and gotten rid of the stigma surrounding the word therapy.
The emphasis of meeting people where they are is a driving point for many of the therapists who note the importance of not only making sure that patients are seen at an equal level, but are more open to therapy overall.
“It’s important for us to bring that information back to the community and let them know that therapy can be culturally appropriate, culturally confident. It can be real,” said Afflic.
Afflic points to the basketball court where people play.
“You may see folks on the basketball court, playing a one-on-one, and they’re having a therapy session. And you wouldn’t know. You would think they’re two homeboys playing ball.”
Community members read their ticket numbers as a raffle for a children’s bicycle is called out, mental health flyers tucked away in purses and pockets. Some dance along to the music playing while others sign up for therapy consultations.
Bronx residents sit and enjoy the event.
Members of Atlas engaging with the community at Devoe Park, The Bronx. (Esmeralda Moran hotos)
was essentially the illegal lottery at the time. It was a game of chance “for the culture” that appealed to communities of all socioeconomic backgrounds and became a global phenomenon, despite its criminal element and juxtaposition to mob activity. Anyone could be a numbers runner or “hit the number” if they played often enough.
“It was a cultural pastime,” said LaShawn Harris, an associate professor of history at Michigan State University. “People who played were … working class, poor people, And then there were people who didn’t necessarily need money, like middle class professionals who played [it] as a kind of fun, harmless type of game.”
Harris literally wrote the book about Madame Stephanie St. Clair, one of the few Black women “bankers” in the numbers racket that flourished during that time. She also wrote “Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs & The Police Killing that Galvanized New York City” and “Sex Workers, Psychics & Numbers Runners.”
Harris, who is a Harlem and Bronx native, remembers her grandparents being engrossed in the church but also “playing numbers,” which was why she was drawn to recording St. Clair’s story as the “Numbers Queen.” “For a Black, immigrant woman to be out there calling out the police, calling out white gangsters … in Jim Crow North, she’s kinda like stepping out of her place. Just an ideal historical figure,” said Harris. Although it was popular, gambling had plenty of Black opposition. Some reformers and church-going people saw the numbers racket as an illegal and corrupt game. There was also the issue of overt police corruption among white officers who ran the racket in Black neighborhoods, which often led to arrests among Black bankers, runners, and bettors while high-level white “controllers,” or owners, and mob bosses involved escaped the law, according to Amsterdam News archives.
New York State didn’t move to crackdown unilaterally on the numbers game until the 1950s and ’60s, and finally created a legal version in 1980. The economic control that Black bankers had in gambling in the city was phased out, despite protests from some Black electeds that they should be hired by the state. The cultural habit of playing numbers and betting remained.
The negatives
According to a gambling prevalence survey, conducted in 2020 by the state’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), specific demographics in Black and Asian communities are most vulnerable to gambling harms. This includes 18to 24-year-olds, Black men, those with a substance use disorder, those with a high school diploma or less, and those with an income below $30,000 a year. Other groups, like veterans, the elderly, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Indigenous people, and people of color, were
also considered high-risk populations.
Armwood said Caesars Entertainment is a pioneer in problem gambling services. It has instituted the industry’s first self-exclusion policy, toll-free helpline, and responsible gaming Ambassador program. He promised there will be no street-level gaming, meaning people will have to enter, go upstairs, and clear security before they can gamble.
“In addition to Caesars’ industry-leading practices across all facilities for problem gambling, Caesars Palace Times Square will implement new policies that are sitespecific to New York City in response to the New York Council on Problem Gambling’s recent recommendations. including a street level outreach program, education and training for customers and employees, treatment programs, and an advertising and awareness campaign,” Armwood said in a statement.
Beyond the possibility of gambling addiction, some in the Black community still perceive the activity to be immoral and an unnecessary financial risk.
“I think it’s a fair pushback,” said Williams, who attends church in Harlem. “There’s definitely a stigma associated with gambling and I respect that there will always be a segment of our community that have real moral concerns about it. I think the right approach is, you take them serious, and you build a strategy around them transparently where you can prioritize it in a responsible way.”
Williams said the team is definitely talking with faith-based leaders, community organizations, and local stakeholders to mitigate ethical concerns. “Because we know our community, at the end of the day, might suffer because there are so many long-standing issues that we had
with these kinds of models, so again engagement — that’s the name of the game for us [along with] transparency and accountability,” said Williams.
Harris thinks the Times Square casino could definitely attract good union jobs,
but is hesitant about the capitalist aspect not benefiting the community. She hopes that real safeguards will be in place to protect those most vulnerable and that Caesars Entertainment follows through on its promises. “I’m hopeful it’s not a trickledown — we know that historically wealth doesn’t trickle down,” Harris said.
The public comment period will continue through this September, after which the community advisory committee (current governor, mayor, senator, assemblymember, borough president, and councilmember for the location of the project) will vote. The state’s gaming commission is expected to make a final decision by December.
“The commission is committed to ensuring responsible play in all communities across all gaming platforms, and regularly collaborates with the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) and the New York Council on Problem Gambling as part of the Responsible Play Partnership (RPP),” said Brad Maione of the gaming commission.
“All commercial casino applicants must put forth a project-specific responsible gambling plan as part of their application. These plans will be reviewed in consultation with the RPP.”
Other proposed casinos, as on Coney Island’s boardwalk in Brooklyn, have received immense pushback and simultaneous support from community stakeholders and electeds.
Religion & Spirituality
Love Period, This Pride: Just Love!
REV. DR. JACQUI LEWIS FIERCE LOVE
Happy Pride everyone! I am so glad you are on the planet. No matter who you love or how you look or how you identify yourself, you belong to God, and you are amazing!
What is it that makes the church so freaked about Queer people? We say we believe God made each of us in their own image. We say that we are Imago Dei — created in the image of God.
Each of us is awesomely and wonderfully created like God (Psalm 139). But what we really mean is you are like God if you are like us! If you look like us or like we think you should, join the club. The club could be loving humans loving each other and the world. But it seems most times, in times of deep foment and change, the church weaponizes its power to scapegoat people who are outside of so-called norms. I think the church should normalize love. Love period.
Love all the neighbors. Love all the people. Love all the Queer folk, all the Trans and Non-binary folk; let’s love the straight folk, the immigrants; let’s love hard, fiercely, and consistently. Love is the way, the truth and the life.
Just love. Period.
Love liberates. Big kiss, red lip.
Jacqui
P.S. Check out this lovely story WPIX did about the radically loving, Middle Church, that celebrates Pride 24/7. Come through, baby. You will love it! Link: https:// youtu.be/wfaptRZecZw
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is senior minister and public theologian at Middle Church in New York. Celebrated internationally for her dynamic preaching and commitment to justice, she champions racial equality, economic justice and LGBTQIA+/gender rights. Featured on MSNBC, PBS, NBC, CBS and NPR, she is the author of several books, including “Fierce Love” and the “Just Love Story Bible.” Countless individuals and communities have been inspired by Lewis’ transformative work on her podcast, “Love Period;” in columns and articles; and on stages, in churches, on the street and in digital spaces around the globe.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs acquitted of most-serious charges, convicted of prostitution-related offense
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs, 55, was convicted of a prostitution-related offense on Wednesday but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop’s most celebrated figures behind bars for life.
The mixed result came on the third day of deliberations. It could still send Combs, 55, to prison for as long as a decade, and is likely to end his career as a hitmaking music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador, and reality TV star.
After the verdict was read, Combs held his hands up in a prayer motion, looking at the jury and hugged his defense lawyer Teny Geragos. He continued to pump his right fist subtly, seemingly satisfied to be acquitted on the most-serious charges. Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and paid male sex workers, to
engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.
The jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power, and physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with the men. Combs and his defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to grant Combs bail in the wake of the verdict. He adjourned the court while he considers whether to free Combs on bail. Combs has been behind bars since his arrest in September. His lawyers argued that the acquittal on the most-serious counts changed the legal landscape enough that he should get bail. Combs seemed buoyant on arriving in the courtroom earlier Wednesday morning, a contrast to his mood a day earlier after he learned that the jury at his sex traffick-
ing trial had reached a yet-to-be-disclosed verdict on all but one of the five charges. He smiled and clasped his hands together in the air toward his family and supporters before hugging several of his lawyers and sitting down to await the outcome of the jury’s third day of deliberations.
On Tuesday, Subramanian ordered the jury to continue its closed-door discussions for a third day after the panel said it was unable to reach consensus on the top count: racketeering conspiracy.
The judge agreed with prosecutors and Combs’s defense team that less than 13 hours of deliberations was too soon to give up on reaching a verdict on all counts.
In a note to the court late Tuesday, the jury said “unpersuadable opinions on both sides” among some jurors had prevented the group from reaching a unanimous verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge.
The disclosure of Tuesday’s jury note about the partial verdict seemed to put defense attorneys and their client in a dour
(Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File photo)
mood even before it was read in open court by the judge.
Eight defense lawyers formed a half-circle behind Combs as the smiles and lighthearted mood that accompanied the arrival of other jury notes over two days seemed absent and the attorneys contemplated the possibility that jurors had reached agreement on counts that carried the heaviest sentencing penalties.
Combs appeared morose as his lawyers spoke with him. At one point, the hip-hop mogul solemnly read a piece of paper that attorney Marc Agnifilo handed to him. After the jury came in for instructions and then left the room, a subdued Combs sat in his chair for a few minutes. As he stood to leave, he faced his relatives and supporters in the audience, blew a kiss, and tapped his heart, as he frequently had done at the start and end of each day. Then he paused before his mother and exchanged a few words, telling her, “Love you” and “I’ll be all right.”
Marshals then led him from the room.
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NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that a license, number NA-0370-24146467 for Liquor, Wine, Beer & Cider has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Liquor, Wine, Beer & Cider at retail in a Restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 3700 Jerome Ave, Bronx, NY 10467, Bronx County for on premises consumption. Made In The Bronx LLC, D/B/A Made In The Bronx
Wanyeki Technologies LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/25/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 222 E 34th Street APT 2325, New York, New York, 10016 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.
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.
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., Plaintiff -against- DENNY MARTIN M.D. P.C., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated July 26, 2024 and entered on July 31, 2024, 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 July 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, State of New York, known as Unit No. 2A in the condominium known as "The Ruppert Yorkville Towers Condominium" together with a 0.097375% undivided interest in the common elements. Block: 1537 Lot: 2089 Said premises known as 1641 3RD AVENUE, APT 2A, NEW YORK, NY 10128
Approximate amount of lien $1,654,551.66 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850143/2022. CLARK WHITSETT, ESQ., Referee Buonamici & LaRaus, LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 222 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY 10605
NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that a license, number NA-0340-24147573 for Liquor, Wine, Beer & Cider has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Liquor, Wine, Beer & Cider at retail in a Restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 205 West 231st Street, Bronx, NY 10463, Bronx County for on premises consumption. Chef Rose, Inc, Chef Rose Caribbean Restaurant D/B/A
GTM ADVISORS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/12/05. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 235 East 87th St, Apt 12L, New York, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful act.
HFBFD LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/28/2021 Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 156A East 83rd Street, New York, NY 10028 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.
VESSEL GLOBAL CAPITAL LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/3/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 31 Hudson Yards, Office 51, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.
WRM HOLDING LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/31/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 2O ATLAS COURT, EAST MEADOW, NY 11554. Purpose: Any lawful act.
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 Application to Establish a Branch of a State Member Bank Metropolitan Commercial Bank, New York, NY intends to apply to the Federal Reserve Board for permission to establish a branch at 311 Blvd. of the Americas, Suite 502, Lakewood, NJ 08701. The Federal Reserve considers a number of factors in deciding whether to approve the application including the record of performance of applicant banks in helping to meet local credit needs. You are invited to submit comments in writing on this application to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Attention: Bank Applications Officer, 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045, or via email: comments.applications@ny.frb.org. The comment period will not end before July 18, 2025. The Board's procedures for processing applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. Part 262. Procedures for processing protested applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. 262.25 If you need more information about how to submit your comments on community affairs aspects of the application or to obtain copies of relevant procedures contact Mr. David Erickson, Community Affairs, (212) 720-6141; other questions, including those relating to general procedures, should be directed to Mr. Keith Goodwin, Head of Bank Applications, Bank Applications, (212) 720-5885. The Federal Reserve will consider your comments and any request for a public meeting or formal hearing on the application if they are received in writing by the Reserve Bank on or before the last day of the comment period.
Notice of Application to Establish a Branch of a State Member Bank
Metropolitan Commercial Bank, New York, NY intends to apply to the Federal Reserve Board for permission to establish a branch at 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1860, Miami, FL 33131. The Federal Reserve considers a number of factors in deciding whether to approve the application including the record of performance of applicant banks in helping to meet local credit needs.
You are invited to submit comments in writing on this application to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Attention: Bank Applications Officer, 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045, or via email: comments.applications@ny.frb.org. The comment period will not end before July 18, 2025. The Board's procedures for processing applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. Part 262. Procedures for processing protested applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. 262.25 If you need more information about how to submit your comments on community affairs aspects of the application or to obtain copies of relevant procedures contact Mr. David Erickson, Community Affairs, (212) 720-6141; other questions, including those relating to general procedures, should be directed to Mr. Keith Goodwin, Head of Bank Applications, Bank Applications, (212) 720-5885. The Federal Reserve will consider your comments and any request for a public meeting or formal hearing on the application if they are received in writing by the Reserve Bank on or before the last day of the comment period.
SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. JAMES R. HARVEY, ALVINA M. HARVEY and NYC TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU, Defts.Index # 850483/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 28, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0424631946437561% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $54,716.43 plus costs and interest as of March 13, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.
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.
SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. JANET LEFEBVRE, Deft. - Index # 850481/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 28, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0343469607644787% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $45,345.49 plus costs and interest until entry of Judgment on June 3, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.
SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. VANESSA TASHINGA NGARU, Deft. - Index # 850485/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 2, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $23,610.46 plus costs and interest as of March 13, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Doron Leiby, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.
RESILIENT SUSTAINABLE HABITABLE PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/31/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: Tower 45, 120 W 45TH St, STE 2801, New York, NY 10036 Purpose: Any lawful act.
CUSHION MENTAL HEALTH
COUNSELING PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 6/23/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 374 W 116TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10026. Purpose: Any lawful act.
For information on the below Request for Proposals, please go to https://mta.info/agency/real-estate/
Request for Proposals RFP3GD062725: Opportunity to lease portions of LIRR’s Southampton Station Building located in Southampton, New York.
Request for Proposals No. EZ062025: Opportunity to lease four (4) retail units throughout NYCT’s 34 St – Penn Station (8th Avenue Line, A/C/E Trains), Manhattan, New York.
Request for Proposals No. TG0625: Opportunity to lease the retail kiosk located at NYCT’s 168th Street Station (8th Avenue Line, A/C Trains & 7th Avenue Line, 1 Train), Manhattan, New York.
Request for Proposals No. AE202506: Opportunity to lease three (3) retail units throughout NYCT’s 125 St – Lexington Ave Station (4/5/6 Trains), Manhattan, New York.
Request for Proposals No. AE202506: Opportunity to lease one (1) retail unit at NYCT’s 116 St – Columbia University Station (1 Train), Manhattan, New York.
Request for Proposals No. AE202506: Opportunity to lease one (1) retail unit at NYCT’s Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts Station (A/C/G Trains), Brooklyn, New York.
Request for Proposals No. AE202506: Opportunity to lease two (2) retail units throughout NYCT’s Jay Street – Metrotech Station (A/C/F Trains), Brooklyn, New York.
Request for Proposals No. AE202506-1498: Opportunity to lease one (1) street-level retail unit at 1498 Sheepshead Bay Road at NYCT’s Sheepshead Bay Station (B/Q Trains), Brooklyn, New York
SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. MARTINA SMITH, Deft. - Index # 850486/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 2, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $19,544.14 plus costs and interest as of March 13, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Doron Leiby, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.
NOTICE OF SALE
REFEREE'S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE
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)
Request for Proposals No. MT2025-01: Opportunity to lease a street level retail unit at 1818 Caton Avenue, NYCT’s Church Avenue Subway Station (B,Q Trains), Brooklyn, New York.
Request for Proposals No. MT2025-02: Opportunity to lease three (3) retail units within NYCT’s West 4th Street Subway Station (6th Avenue Line, B/D/F/M Trains and 8th Avenue Line, A/C/E Trains), Manhattan, New York.
SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. RUSSELL R. WEBBER and BARBARA A. WEBBER, Trustee of the RUSSELL R WEBBER and BARBARA A. WEBBER
TRUST dated April 9, 2010, Defts. - Index # 850498/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 21, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the NY County Courthouse located 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0741276267592057% and an undivided 0.1505136467542480% tenants in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase II of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $80,859.31 plus costs and interest as of March 13, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.
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.
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.
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
7G 123 LAFAYETTE LLC,
Plaintiff -against- 123 LAFAYETTE LLC, et al Defendant(s).
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated March 5, 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 July 30, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the easterly side of Lafayette Street, distant 95 feet 8-5/8 inches northerly from the corner formed by the intersection of the northerly side of Canal Street and the easterly side of Lafayette Street; being a plot 51 feet 6 inches by 62 feet 9 inches by 51 feet 9-3/4 inches by 62 feet 9 inches. Block: 208 Lot: 4
Said premises known as 123127 LAFAYETTE STREET, NEW YORK, NY
Approximate amount of lien $21,759,120.80 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.
Index Number 850316/2024. ALLISON FURMAN, ESQ., Referee
Warshaw Burstein, LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 575 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10022 {* AMSTERDAM*}
Notice of Formation of LEAPS AND HURDLES, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/28/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 2410 8th Ave., Apt. 13F, NY, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT. NEW YORK COUNTY. USALLIANCE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION BY MERGER WITH NEW YORK METRO FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, Pltf. vs., UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAW OF JAMES MCCASKILL A/K/A JAMES MC CASKILL, HIS NEXT OF KIN, DISTRIBUTEES, EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, TRUSTEES, DEVISEES, LEGATEES, ASSIGNEES, LIENORS, CEDITORS, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST, AND GENERALLY ALL PERSONS HAVING OR CLAIMING, UNDER, BY OR THROUGH SAID DEFENDANT WHO MAY BE DECEASED, BY PURCHASE, INHERITANCE, LIEN OR OTHERWISE, ANY RIGHT TITLE OR INTEREST IN AND TO THE PREMISES DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT HEREIN, ALL OF WHOM AND WHOSE NAMES AND PLACES OF RESIDENCE ARE UNKNOWN TO THE PLAINTIFF AND CANNOT AFTER DILIGENT INQUIRY BE ASCERTAINED, et al Deft. Index #850257/2022. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale entered August 12, 2024, I will sell at public auction on July 30, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. prem. k/a 61 West 126 th Street, New York, NY 10027 a/k/a Block 1724, Lot 11. Approximate amount of judgment is $180,402.84 plus cost and interest. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale and the right of the United States of America to redeem within 120 days from the date of sale as provided by law. CHRISTY M. DEMELFI, Referee., MARGOLIN, WEINREB & NIERER, LLP., Attys. for Pltf., 575 Underhill Blvd., Suite 224, Syosset, NY. #102268
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.
WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE REGISTERED HOLDERS OF WELLS FARGO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE TRUST 2016-C34, COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2016C34, BY AND THROUGH ITS SPECIAL SERVICER, LNR PARTNERS, LLC, Plaintiff v. 153 ELIZABETH STREET, LLC, 153 ELIZABETH HOTEL LLC, 30 KENMARE MASTER, LLC, EDMOND LI, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE CITY OF NEW YORK, and PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Defendants, Index No. 850275/2021. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion dated August 8, 2024, which was duly entered in the above-entitled action and filed in the Office of the New York County Clerk on August 12, 2024 and December 26, 2024, as amended by the Decision & Order on Motion dated September 24, 2024, which was duly entered in the above-entitled action and filed in the Office of the New York County Clerk on September 26, 2024 (the “Judgment”), I the undersigned Referee in said Judgment named, will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at Room 130 of the Courthouse, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, the premises directed by said Judgment to be sold. The premises will be offered for sale, as one parcel, on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. The premises therein described are located at 153 Elizabeth Street, New York, New York 10023, also known as Block 479, Lot 29 on the Tax Map for the County of New York, together with the buildings, improvements, fixtures, machinery, equipment, personalty and other rights or interests of any kind or nature located thereon, and more particularly described in the Judgment.
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
The premises will be sold subject to the provisions of the filed Judgment, Index No. 850275/2021, and the Terms of Sale , all of which are available from plaintiff’s counsel upon request.
The approximate amount of the Judgment, for the property referred to therein, is $35,312,720.52, plus interest and costs, as provided in the Judgment. The successful bidder will be required to deposit 10% of the bid by certified or official bank check, unendorsed, made payable to the Referee.
Scott H. Siller , Esq., Referee ( 516) 644-6769
Herrick, Feinstein LLP, Attorneys for Plaintiff, Two Park Avenue, New York, New York 10016, (212) 592-1461, Attention: Scott T. Tross, Esq.
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.
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) METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
FIVE IRON GOLF APP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/11/2024. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 883 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS FL 3, NEW YORK, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.
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
ANGEL GLOW GROUP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/11/2025. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 700 W 178TH ST APT22, NEW YORK, NY,10033. 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.
GUNBAI LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/31/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 313 W 22nd St, Apt 1B, New York, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful act.
FIVE IRON GOLF MINNEAPOLIS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/03/2024. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 883 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS FL 3, NEW YORK, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.
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.
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.
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.
JABGRS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/28/25 Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 382 CPW #17, NY, NY,10025. 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*}
Notice of Formation of WHITE PLAINS 701 WESTCHESTER
LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/25. Office location: NY
County. Princ. office of LLC: 1315 W. 54th St., 1st Fl., NY, NY 10019. 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 Formation of WHITE PLAINS 711 WESTCHESTER LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 1315 W. 54th St., 1st Fl., NY, NY 10019. 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 Formation of WHITE PLAINS 777 WESTCHESTER
LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 1315 W. 54th St., 1st Fl., NY, NY 10019. 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 Formation of NEKO HEALTH 2 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/28/25. Office location: NY County. 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. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE 610 PARK AVENUE CONDOMINIUM, Plaintiff -against16EF
APARTMENT, LLC and MARA ENTERPRISES, et al Defendant(s). Index Number 151261/2023.
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered herein and dated September 29, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction located in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY New York on July 30, 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. PH16E in the building designated as 610 Park Avenue Condominium. Together with an undivided 4.0581% interest in the common elements. Block: 1379 Lot: 1189 Said premises known as 610 PARK AVENUE, PH16E, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065
Approximate amount of lien is $171,820.02 plus post-judgment interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the filed Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion and Terms of Sale. CHRISTY M. DEMELFI, ESQ., Referee
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP
Attn: Benjamin O. Gilbert bogilbert@sheppardmullin.com
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112 (212) 896-0682 {* AMSTERDAM*}
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK. NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN, Plaintiffs -against- CIAO-DI RESTAURANT CORPORATION, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein on March 31, 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 July 30, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, known and designated as Block 552 and Lot 1322, 1323 and 1327 on the New York County Tax Assessment Map, and being further known on such tax rolls as 88 Washington Place a/k/a West Washington Place, Unit S6, Unit S7 and S11, New York, NY 10011.
Said premises known as 88 WASHINGTON PLACE, UNIT S6, UNIT S7 AND UNIT S11, NEW YORK, NY 10011
Approximate amount of lien $14,968.16 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 154141/2023. SOFIA BALILE, ESQ., Referee Phillips Lytle LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiffs 28 East Main Street, Suite 1400, Rochester, NY 14614
SUPREME COURT ‑ COUNTY OF NEW YORK. CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff ‑against‑ JADE D FONTENAY
A/K/A JADE FONTENAY, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 5, 2025 and entered on April 21, 2025, I, the under signed Referee will sell at pub lic 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 and designated as Unit known as Residential Unit No. 3D in the building known as "PS 90 Con dominium" together with an un divided 1.3082% interest in the Common Elements. Block: 2033 Lot: 1030
Said premises known as 220W 148TH STREET, 3D, NEW YORK, NY 10039
Approximate amount of lien $316,162.94 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 Mortgag ee’s attorney. Index Number 850502/2023.
MATTHEW D. HUNTER III, ESQ., Referee
David A. Gallo & Associates
LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 47 Hillside Avenue, 2nd Floor, Manhasset, NY 11030 File# 7777.293 {* AMSTERDAM*}
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
AXOS BANK, Plaintiff -againstHUDSON 805 LLC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 26, 2024 and entered on February 3, 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 July 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, 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, NY 10014
Approximate amount of lien
$7,584,837.12 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.
Index Number 850233/2022.
JEFFREY MILLER, ESQ., Referee
Sheppard Mullin
Benjamin O. Gilbert, 212-890682, bogilbert@sheppardmullin.com
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112 {* AMSTERDAM*}
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.
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- WEI TIENG HUR, if living and if dead, etc..., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated February 20, 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 July 16, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, known and designated as Unit No. 5A in the condominium known as "Observatory Place Condominiums" together with an undivided 2.41 percent interest in the common elements. Block: 1676 Lot: 1420
Said premises known as 2019 1ST AVENUE, UNIT 5A a/k/a 2019-2023 1ST AVENUE, UNIT 5A, NEW YORK, NY 10029
Approximate amount of lien $321,532.88 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 850269/2019.
MARK MCKEW, ESQ., Referee David A. Gallo & Associates LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 47 Hillside Avenue, 2nd Floor, Manhasset, NY 11030 File# 7777.059 {* 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
{* AMSTERDAM*}
Notice of Formation of THE CURATED BREAST LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/19/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 515 Marin Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07302. 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. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF SALE
In pursuance and by virtue of a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly granted and entered in an action entitled NYCTL 2021-A Trust and The Bank of New York Mellon as Collateral Agent and Custodian for the NYCTL 2021-A Trust v. Yi Dong, et al., bearing Index No. 157646/2022 on or about April 30, 2025, by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, I, the Referee, duly appointed in this action for such purpose, will expose for sale and sell at public auction to the highest bidder on July 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., at the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, Room 130, New York, New York 10007, the liened premises designated as Block 882, Lot 1214, in the City of New York, County of New York and Borough of Manhattan, State of New York and known as 88 Lexington Avenue (a/k/a 80/88 Lexington Avenue a/k/a 129/133 East 26 th Street), Unit No. 404, New York, New York 10016 , directed in and by said judgment to be sold. The sale will be conducted pursuant to the Court’s Auction Rules and any COVID Restrictions. The approximate amount of the judgment is $64,549.64 plus interest and other charges, and the property is being sold subject to the terms and conditions stated in the judgment, any prior encumbrances and the terms of sale which shall be available at the time of sale.
Dated: June 19, 2025 New York, New York Scott H. Siller, Esq. Referee 706 Equestrian Way Westbury, New York 11590 (516) 644-6769
David P. Stich, Esq. Attorney for Plaintiff 521 Fifth Avenue, 17th Floor New York, New York 10175 (646) 554-4421
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
Seeking M/WBE bids for construction site at 89-61 162nd St Queens NY. contact bidding@ taxaceny.com
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York, U.S. Bank Trust National Association, As Trustee For LB-Dwelling Series V Trust, Plaintiff, vs. Kimberly Ann Busi a/k/a Kimberly A. Busi a/k/a Kimberly Busi, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on February 18, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on July 30, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 1 Wall Street Court, Unit 605 a/k/a 82 Beaver Street, Unit 605, New York, NY 10005. 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 28 and Lot 1043 together with an undivided 1.5944 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,129,124.74 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850472/2023. Tom Kleinberger, Esq., Referee Friedman Vartolo LLP, 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff. Firm File No.: 223745-1
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 MULLEN, ARMS & FITZPATRICK LLP.
Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/16/2025. Office Location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as 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 LLP served upon him/her is: 745 Fifth Avenue Suite 500 New York, NY 10151.
Purpose: Practice of Law.
SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST
COMPANY AMERICAS, as Trustee, on behalf of the Registered Holders of Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust 2016P5, Commercial Mortgage Pass Through Certificates, Series 2016-P5, acting by and through its special servicer, LNR Partners, LLC, Plaintiff -against- JW EAST BWY LLC, et al., Defendant(s), Index No. 655575/2023.
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered June 3, 2025, under NYSCEF No. 158 (the “Judgment”), the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction to the highest bidder in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007, on July 16, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. (prevailing Eastern Time), the property in said Judgment directed to be sold, which property may be briefly described as the real property located in the Borough of Manhattan, within the City, State and County of New York, and designated as Block 279, Lots 1101, 1102, and 1103, together with the fixtures, personalty and other rights or interests of any kind or nature located thereon or related thereto, as more particularly described in the Judgment.
Said premises are known as 11 EAST BROADWAY, The Royal Court Condominium, Unit Nos. 1A, 2A & 3A, NEW YORK, NY 10038
Approximate amount of Judgment is $23,303,940.33 plus interest & costs.
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and the Terms of Sale, as referenced therein, which are available from Plaintiff’s counsel upon request.
DORON LEIBY, ESQ., Referee VENABLE LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, 151 W. 42nd Street, 49th Floor, New York, NY 10036, (212) 3706257,
Attention: Rishi Kapoor, Esq.
{* AMSTERDAM*}
Notice of Qualification of TRYON PROPERTY OWNER, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/29/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/27/18. Princ. office of LP: 440 S. Church St., Ste. 880, Charlotte, NC 28202. NYS fictitious name: TRYON PROPERTY OWNER, 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 Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Formation of NEKO HEALTH 3 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/28/25. Office location: NY County. 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. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Seeking M/WBE bids for construction site at 3567 Willett Ave Bronx NY contact bidding@taxaceny.com
Notice of Qualification of PRIVATE EQUITY VII (E&F) GP LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/15/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/06/25. Princ. office of LLC: 9 W. 57th St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10019. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Summit Rock Advisors, LP at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Investments.
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 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.
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 Qualification of NMG Term Loan PropCo LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/29/19. 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 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of REDUS EL, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/03/09. Princ. office of LLC: 401 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202. 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 19808-1674. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State-Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
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.
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., Plaintiff AGAINST LAWRENCE LEE; ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered January 22, 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 July 16, 2025 at 2:15 pm, premises known as 100 West Street 58th 3A aka 100 West Street 58th #3A, New York, NY 10019. 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: 1010 Lot: 1412. Approximate amount of judgment $209,178.35 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850431/2023. Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee Tromberg, Morris & Partners, PLLC 39 Broadway, Suite 1250 New York, NY 10006 25-001042 86117
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.
Seeking M/WBE bids for construction site at 2074 Honeywell Ave Bronx NY. Contact bidding@taxaceny.com
Notice of Qualification of NUVEEN STRATEGIC RETAIL AGGREGATOR LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/18/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/11/25. Princ. office of LP: 730 Third Ave., NY, NY 10017. NYS fictitious name: NUVEEN STRATEGIC RETAIL AGGREGATOR 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 at the princ. office of the LP. 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, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #NA-0340-25103028 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 994 Columbus Ave., New York, NY 10025 for on-premises consumption; Limone LLC
NOTICE is hereby given that a license, number NA-0370-24135212 for liquor, wine, beer & cider has been applied for by the undersigned to sell liquor, wine, beer & cider at retail in a bar/tavern under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 4371 3rd Ave; Bronx, NY 10457 in Bronx County for on premises consumption. Zion Restaurant and Lounge Corp d/b/a Zion Restaurant and Lounge
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 Qualification of AP CREDIT SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS (AIV) II, L.P. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/08/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/26/24. Princ. office of LP: Attn: General Counsel, 9 W. 57th St., 43rd Fl., NY, NY 10019. 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 at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with The Secy. of State of the State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of NUVEEN STRATEGIC RETAIL INVESTORS LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/18/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/12/25. Princ. office of LP: 730 Third Ave., NY, NY 10017. NYS fictitious name: NUVEEN STRATEGIC RETAIL INVESTORS 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 at the princ. office of the LP. 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, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
of on patients; givers of clients otjobs@prioritycarestaffing. com.
Ty Hankerson
Continued from page 2
passing the New York for All Act; and introducing more cultural sensitivity training in the NYPD, especially when it comes to interactions with transgender New Yorkers.
“To my boss and mentor, Speaker Adrienne Adams, thank you for the foundation you laid and the trust you put in me to make the Great
28 even greater. To the pastors, civic and tenants leaders, labor, Congressmember Meeks , Senator Sanders and Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson and most importantly the voters of District 28, thank you for believing in me and I will fight everyday to make you proud of me,” continued Hankerson.
Black homeowners
Continued from page 2
rapidly gentrifying Queens and Brooklyn neighborhoods.
“We see this phenomenon increasingly facing our communities where TD has the privilege to serve customers from Maine to Florida,” Carlson-Heim said. “As we know, owning a home is one of the keys to building gen -
erational wealth. And what we see increasingly are situations where people have inherited property, maybe they’ve lived in the same house their whole life, their parents or guardians are deceased, but their names are not on the title. That threatens their ability to maintain home
In the first round of ranked choice voting (RCV) results, posted on Election Night on June 24, Hankerson was leading the pack with 34.81% of the votes, while Singh was close behind with 24.75% of the votes. He remained optimistic that he could win big.
This week’s RCV results show that Hankerson got 58.8% of the votes in the final round. Singh had 41.2% of the votes.
“I’m honored to have received over 40 percent of the
ownership successfully, because if their name is not on the title, they can’t borrow to make improvements to the property. There are risks of tax foreclosure and many other things. And so, we have been engaging with community groups across our footprint to help support the effort to change the situation and ensure that people who’ve been in their homes can
vote in a district that has only 700 registered Sikh voters,” said Singh about the loss. “It was a testament to the coalitions and community we were able to build. If you look at the numbers, we were able to win in areas where no South Asian or Indo-Caribbean candidate even bothered to campaign. Our campaign was about uplifting all communities that made up District 28 –– and results clearly show how diverse and broad of a coalition we
remain in their homes and leverage them for generational wealth.”
Financial education is seldom taught in the United States, and usually, only those in financial professions are taught how to preserve their wealth. But with more women inheriting and even earning their way to EMILLI status, there’s a greater need for them to understand how their money works and ways to keep it in the family.
Estate planning
Most families neglect estate planning, which involves drafting wills, establishing family trusts, and preparing other legal documents to specify the management of assets and affairs during a person’s lifetime and after their death.
“Many clients have said, if someone has passed away, ‘Oh, I get the house automatically,’” notes Donna Walton, the Wealth Strategist vice president at TD Wealth. “Sometimes it passes to them because it’s jointly owned with right of survivorship, but they don’t think they need to go to probate; they don’t think they need to do anything formally. And they don’t think that if it does go to them that they need to rerecord the deed.
“They go, ‘Oh, that’s just how it works: my mom died, there’s the two of us, right? Or I’m the only child, so, therefore, I automatically inherit; that’s just the way it is.’ And they never pass that deed on or change that deed to themselves or do the court process. For some people, it’s just not having access to attorneys or the ability to afford attorneys. You know, oftentimes with some of our clients, they just don’t want to, and you have to explain to them the problem of not doing that. But they just don’t necessarily under-
were able to create.”
“This race also highlighted the systemic racism and discrimination that exists within our district and as we move forward there’s a lot of work to be done to close those gaps. And I’m still going to be here, working every single day to close those gaps,” he continued. “I would like to congratulate all the candidates that ran and look forward to working with each one of them to make a better District 28.”
stand. Then when that child, that document, that house is never in their name, and they’re still living there, like Paige mentioned, you can’t get loans, you can’t do all of those things, and now you are beginning to get generations of people who have never ever done the appropriate legal process.”
Reaching out to a legal representative for estate planning can be challenging for Black homeowners, especially those who have in the past had to deal with racial disparities in home financing and when trying to gain legal support. But as more Black homeowners achieve EMILLI status, more services should become available to them.
TD Bank has been working in partnership with the nonprofit NeighborWorks America to sponsor day-long estate planning workshops that also provide free legal services. Workshops will be planned for the New York City area, but TD suggests that anyone interested in talking with local organizations about estate planning can contact the following:
• Legal Services: Casey Lee CLee@legal-aid.org; Emily Corcione ecorcione@lsnyc.org
• Fifth Avenue Committee (a NeighborWorks organization): Anthony Coker acoker@fifthave. org
• NHSNYC (a NeighborWorks organization): Tonya Ores tonya_ ores@nhsnyc.org
• Center for NYC Neighborhoods (a TD partner): Scott Kohanowski scott.kohanowski@cnycn.org
Newark’s Shakur Stevenson looks to retain WBC lightweight title
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
WBC lightweight champion
Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) is one of the most talented and intriguing boxers in the sport. His defensive abilities have been compared to some of boxing’s alltime greats. However, in a sport where many fans measure fighters on offense and knockouts over defense, the superiority of Stevenson is often overlooked, and he may be underrated.
The Newark native is hoping a successful title defense against William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) at Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens on Saturday, July 12 will help change critics’ perspective.
“You got a live dog,” said Stevenson, speaking to the AmNews of the 29-year-old Zepeda. “You got a guy that’s been waiting for his moment since he was a child too. I’ve [known] him since like 15 or 16 years old, so he has been waiting for this opportunity. He’s undefeated. He’s going to work extremely hard. He’s going to go and
give everything he’s got. That’s what makes him a dangerous fighter. But I don’t think he wants it more than me. I don’t think
nobody wants it more than me.”
Stevenson, 28, who was named after the late hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, won a silver medal at the
2016 Rio Olympics in the bantamweight division and turned professional a year later. His prowess is admired by one of the best ever.
“I hear stuff from Floyd (Mayweather Jr.),” said Stevenson of the 48-year-old retired former holder of 15 major world championships. “I watched the work that Floyd put in. I go back and look at the videos of Floyd Mayweather’s work, and then I got a lot more work to do. I’m not there yet. I don’t see myself like that. I want to get there. That’s the level that I want to reach.”
Stevenson knows the only way to gain the recognition he believes he deserves is by defeating some of the best in the business, starting with Zepeda. “There is only one fight I want, but we have to get past Zepeda first,” said Stevenson. “But there’s only one fight I want — me and Tank (WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis).”
With the exorbitant paydays the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority under the direction of its chairman, Turki Alalshikh, is affording boxing’s top competitors, such as bankrolling the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford matchup scheduled for September 13 in Las Vegas, Stevenson versus Davis may happen soon.
Dave Parker leaves a lasting legacy of great Black baseball players
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Dave Parker embodied the Negro Leagues. His swag, flair and ebullient demeanor on the baseball diamond conjured images of the showman that were as good and in many cases better than their white contemporaries. Prior to Jackie Robinson tearing down the sport’s racist color barrier, he made his Major League Baseball debut playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 17, 1947.
Parker would follow 26 years later, playing his first MLB game on July 12, 1973 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, when Black players were firmly entrenched as some of the game’s most revered stars and American icons - Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Josh Gibson et al. Parker passed away last Saturday from complications of the dreaded Parkinson’s disease at the age of 74.
Dishearteningly, his transition to join the ancestors occurred 29 days before he will now be posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 27. Parker’s elec-
tion to the Hall of Fame last December by the institution’s Classic Era Committee was long overdue.
If Hall of Fame voters had employed the simple measure of worthiness and elected Parker
years ago –– the man affectionately known as the Cobra –– he would have heard the tributes, witnessed the bust of his likeness with those of the aforementioned Black Hall of Famers in the awe-inspiring up-
state baseball museum, and heard the acceptance speech that will be delivered by his son.
In his classic brash style, Parker rightly asked “Why did it take so long?” when informed in Decem-
ber he had finally been elected. Parker, who was born on June 9, 1951 in Grenada, Mississippi and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, essentially replacing the incomparable Roberto Clemente as the Pirates’ right fielder after Clemente tragically died in an airplane accident on New Year’s Eve in 1972 and inconceivably never received more than 24% of votes in his 15 years on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot.
To be elected candidates, one must be named on at least 75% of the ballots. Parker was eventually removed from consideration in 2011 as per the BBWAA’s eligibility rules. Over his 19-year career playing for six teams, most with the Pirates (1973-1983), the imposing 6-5, 230 pound Parker was a seventime All-Star, 1978 National League MVP, two-time World Series champion in 1979 with the Pirates and 1989 with the Oakland A’s, twotime batting champion and threetime Gold Glove winner. He once rhymed, using a colloquial pronunciation of the number four, “The sun is going to shine, the wind is going to blow, and Dave is going to go 4-for-4.”
Dave Parker, at a ceremony in 2019 honoring the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1979 World Series championship team, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease last Saturday. (AP Photo/ Gene J. Puskar)
WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, pictured facing Artem Harutyunyan last July at the Prudential Center in Newark, will defend his title in Queens on July 12. (Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
The prevailing question, ‘what are the Knicks doing?’ lingers in early July
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
“What are the Knicks doing?”
I have been asked the question countless times over the past month since Tom Thibodeau was fired as the team’s head coach on June 3, three days after losing 4-2 to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The question often has curse words harshly and hilariously mixed in, by anxiety-filled Knicks fans, non-parti-
san supporters of other teams, and close followers of the NBA — the latter whose vested interests are infused with Knicks hate and wanting nothing more than to see the organization devolve back into the sh*tshow it was before the Leon Rose-Thibodeau era began in 2020.
My answers vary. Sometimes I provide a profoundly extensive take. Other times, I bluntly respond, “Hell if I know!” No one really does other than a very small circle of insiders that doesn’t include the
media because Knicks president Rose doesn’t speak with the media regarding team business. Neither does his right-hand man, William Wesley, the Knicks’ executive vice president - senior basketball advisor. Same for Gersson Rosas, the franchise’s senior vice president of basketball operations.
This crew is steadfast in maintaining the NBA’s version of omertà, the Mafia code of silence. While many members of the press have derided Rose and his comrades
for being muted, his stealthy comportment has yielded positive results since he was hired by Knicks owner James Dolan in March 2020 and then named Thibodeau as his first head coach four months later. July 2020, ironically, when Rose brought on Thibodeau to direct the Knicks’ on-court transformation and given the current state of affairs, he’ll name his next head coach this month, too.
This time, his decisions appear dubious.
One of my responses to “What are the Knicks doing?” is that it is obvious Rose and Thibodeau had irreconcilable philosophical differences; it is mindless to fire a coach that has improved the team three straight seasons and was on the cusp of making the Finals without already having his replacement locked up. My opinion is Thibodeau should not have been terminated. But his departure clearly was not solely about results.
Reports are that Mike Brown is the leading candidate to be the Knicks’ next head coach. Brown, 55, had previous head coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Sacramento Kings. He is a capable commander. But the Knicks roster still needs an upgrade. Agreeing to deals this week with free agent veterans, guard Jordan Clarkson and forward center Guerschon Yabusele are solid moves, but not fortune changers. There’s still more work to be done. The bench needs more fortifying.
Maybe by the time this piece is published over the next 24 hours the Knicks will have a new head coach. Yet, one month after Thibodeau was canned, the question “What are the Knicks doing?” blares across the basketball landscape.
Vic Hall, the 2025 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, teaches life lessons through basketball
By JAIME C. HARRIS
AmNews Sports Editor
“There are no bad kids; they all have potential,” Vic Hall passionately asserted to this writer during a phone conversation this past Tuesday. It is a tenet he has held since embarking on a decadeslong journey as a coach, mentor and youth development specialist. It is this mindset, buttressed by heartfelt tireless work, that earned Hall the 2025 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year Award, sponsored by the Hospital for Special Surgery this past February 26, at Madison Square Garden when the Knicks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers. With the honor, Hall was gifted $20,000 and entered as the Knicks’ representative in the Jr. NBA’s National Coach of the Year Program.
The Jr. Knicks is the Knicks’ youth program designed to introduce children to the game of basketball through clinics, camps and leagues. Hall, who began coaching as a 21-year-old, could be aptly characterized as an oracle. The 69-year-old
head of the Bronx-based non-profit Keep Youth Dreams Alive, which he founded in 1994, has helped shape the lives of a plethora of young people, many that today have achieved notable success in various professions. KYDA is housed at Earl Monroe High School.
“Accountants, lawyers, medical field professionals, actors,” listed Hall. “I am extremely proud of the men and women they have become. They used basketball as a tool to go to learn life lessons, how to serve their communities, interact with people that may have grown up differently than they did, in a different culture, they have traveled the world. I still look at them as my babies even though they are successful adults.”
Some of the names are well known in New York basketball circles including former St. John’s standout Billy Goodwin, who Hall refers to as “my little brother.” Durand Scott, who played at Rice High School and the University of Miami, and is balling professionally overseas. Justin Burrell, the 2011
East Conference Sixth
of
spent four years playing for iconic coach Dawn
at Temple University from 2000-04 before embarking on a career as an actress.
Omari Rambert, a program director for the New York Junior Tennis League and South Carolina State alumnus, credits Hall with imparting foundational life skills that he has carried with him well into adulthood.
“Coach Vic always talked about the value of discipline,” said Rambert. “Whether on the court or in the classroom. It’s because of him that I wanted to work with youth.” Hall’s basketball roots were planted at Columbus High School in the Bronx prior to attending and playing for Westchester Community College and one year as a freshman on the squad at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His coaching resume has lines at Columbus, Our Savior Lutheran and St. Raymond’s (Bronx), where he guided the girls’ varsity to the 2024 Tier 4 championship.
Next Thursday at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Hall will be inducted into the Grass Roots Hall of Fame along with legendary basketball figures Sonny Vaccaro and Boo Williams.
Big
Man
the Year for St. John’s who is in his 15th pro campaign, most recently in Japan. And Toni Belafonte, who
Staley
Knicks president Leon Rose, embracing Jalen Brunson after Game 6 of the opening round of this year’s playoffs, is reportedly considering (r) Mike Brown for the team’s head coach opening. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson, AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Vic Hall, founder of the Bronx-based non-profit “Keep Youth Dreams Alive,” is the 2025 Junior Knicks Coach of the Year. (Photo courtesy of MSG)
Denver Onyx wins Women’s Elite Rugby’s Legacy Cup
By LOIS ELFMAN
Special to the AmNews
This past Sunday marked the conclusion of the 2025 Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) season as the Denver Onyx claimed the league’s Legacy Cup 53–13 over the New York Exiles before an enthusiastic crowd at the TCO Stadium in Eagan, Minn.
The first women’s professional rugby league in the U.S. kicked off its inaugural 13-week season in March with six teams: Bay Breakers, Boston Banshees, Chicago Tempest, Onyx, Exiles, and TC (Twin Cities) Gemini. Each team played 10 games — five at home and five away.
The development of the WER was 15 years in the making. It was established on the foundation of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which ran from 2009–24, and founded to help develop talent for the U.S. national team. In 2022, plans began to make the transition to a professional model. Propelling this season’s excitement has been the popularity women’s rugby
gained during last summer’s Olympics in Paris, where the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team won the bronze medal.
“There’s the Ilona Maher effect,
who is everywhere on social media,” said Traci Young, WER director of rugby operations, about the star of the U.S. Olympic rugby team. “We do get some of the
sevens players coming and playing in our league. They can cross over.”
WER teams have 30 contracted players per team, with 10 additional players on call. For any given
match, 23 players are chosen and 15 are on the pitch at any given time. Maher did not play with WER this season, but she is trying to qualify for the U.S. team that will play in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England starting later this summer.
“There are three main things [that helped propel the WER],” said Young. “Players, number one. Every player is now like, ‘I want to be an Olympian.’ They saw those women with the medals around their necks and thought, ‘I want to be that,’ so we have more players interested in playing rugby. Second, the fans are super excited, they are super loyal, and rugby has a really awesome community. Last is the investors — people who are willing to sponsor a work in progress. We are hot, we are strong, and people want to watch us.”
Young added that community involvement is a goal. “We’re definitely trying to get out into the communities,” she said. “We had a free youth clinic the day before the Legacy Cup, trying to expose the community to rugby.”
Bruce Lincoln and Uptown Lacrosse expose Harlem youth to the sport
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
The New York Tri-State area is a hotbed for the sport of lacrosse.
The region produces some of the country’s best high school and college talent — both male and female players.
The late Jim Brown, who moved from St. Simons Island, Georgia, to Manhasset, N.Y., a hamlet on Long Island, was considered by some as the greatest football player of alltime, but is also viewed by many as lacrosse’s best ever. Brown starred in the sport at Manhasset High School before becoming a two-time All-American at Syracuse University, leading them to an undefeated season in 1957. In 1983, Brown became the first African American inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He died in May 2023. Endeavoring to inspire participation in lacrosse by Black youth, as well as youth of diverse ethnicities, Uptown Lacrosse is planting those seeds. A free, nonprofit youth program based in Harlem, its focus is teaching the fundamentals of the sport and building youths’ skills while fostering a fun environment that is conducive to their social-emotional growth. Uptown Lacrosse was founded
last year by serial entrepreneur and former Princeton lacrosse player Bruce Lincoln. Lincoln observed that there were few opportunities in inner city New York for youth to take part in lacrosse, similar to the exposure to the sport he had growing up in Lutherville, Maryland.
“We have experienced a very
positive response from both the kids and their parents as far as being able to learn lacrosse and being able to participate in the game,” Lincoln told the AmNews.
“We launched Uptown Lacrosse on February 22, 2025, at the Police Athletic League’s (PAL’s) Harlem Center, at 119th Street and Man-
hattan Avenue. “There were more than 150 kids, parents, and guests in attendance at the launch ...” Lacrosse in among the sports in which African-American youth are increasing their engagement — ones that the demographic, by and large, has historically shunned. (Fencing. in which Queens native
Lauren Scruggs won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer. and rowing are others.)
Uptown Lacrosse provides free access and instruction to youth primarily from Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the Bronx in grades 3 through 8, and has received donations from Princeton University, USA Lacrosse, and global sporting goods lacrosse and hockey equipment manufacturer STX.
Uptown Lacrosse’s signature event, Uptown L-Ball at the Rucker, originally scheduled to be held at the Holcombe Rucker Memorial Basketball Court in Harlem on June 22, was moved back to this past weekend due to heavy rain and instead was held at the Madison Boys and Girls Pinkerton Clubhouse(155th Street and Bradhurst Avenue). The event was designed to showcase the youths’ lacrosse prowess and highlight other teams, from high school to college, playing threeon-three lacrosse.
On April 5, 2025, the Uptown Lacrosse Academy began and ran every consecutive Saturday (excluding Memorial Day weekend), ending its inaugural spring season this past Saturday. The Academy will return in the fall for 15 weeks. For additional information, go to uptownlacrosse.org.
Misha Green-Yotts of New York Exiles scored first try in WER. (Women’s Elite Rugby photo)
Bruce Lincoln (second from left), founder of Uptown Lacrosse, with coaches and program participants at Madison Boys and Girls Pinkerton Clubhouse in Harlem last Saturday. (Uptown Lacrosse photo)
Sports
Natasha Hastings and Michelle Carter inducted into the NYAC Hall of Fame
By LOIS ELFMAN
Special to the AmNews
It was an auspicious evening on June 25 when athletes whose names are etched in history gathered at the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) to celebrate their induction into the NYAC Hall of Fame.
The nine athletes honored that evening all had extensive career accomplishments, including national championships, world championships and Olympic medals.
Among the honorees were close friends and teammates, shot putter Michelle Carter and sprinter Natasha Hastings.
“Michelle and I obviously had our separate journeys, but throughout the latter part of our careers we were Frick and Frack,” said Hastings, who won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and ’16 as a member of the 4x400 relay. “It’s funny when you think about how we made a junior team together in 2003 or ’04, and then we made several national teams together and then 2016 Games, of course. It was really nice being inducted with her.
They both trained in Texas (Hastings in Austin and Carter in Dallas), but it was understood that if they were going to the same track meet they would be roommates. They’d eat their meals together and explore the cities together.
“The thing that was really special about our friendship throughout the years was that we held each other accountable,” said Hastings.
“Those are the things that make real friends. Genuinely wanting the best for each other.”
Hastings was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens and attended high school in Harlem, so even though she hasn’t lived in New York City since she was 18, being associated with the NYAC as a competitive athlete made her feel like she was representing her hometown. She is deeply appreciative of the support the club provided as she pursued her Olympic dreams. Now a lifetime member, she intends to pay it forward.
“I look forward to being involved and helping with the future athletes and the athletes of now,” she said.
Speaking with the New York
Amsterdam News several days after the NYAC Hall of Fame banquet, she was still feeling the joy. It was deeply meaningful that her son, mother, brother and extended family and friends were in attendance to cheer her on.
Today, Hastings works at her alma mater, the University of South Carolina, where she is now a licensed
professional counselor associate. She works with the university’s mental health and performance team, providing mental health services to student-athletes and teams.
“I see students for anxiety management, life transitions. A lot of students, their first year away from home is hard, or they’re transferring and going through
the transition, and they just need someone to talk to,” Hastings said.
“We also do some performance work where they feel like they’re having mental blocks or they’re suffering from performance anxiety.”
Her personal mission is to provide representation
of Black women in the therapeutic space. “I want BIPOC, marginalized communities to see that we’re in the space,” Hastings said. “Someone who has the lived experiences in the shoes that they walk.”
Carter won Olympic gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the first and still only American woman to do so in the shot put. Today, she is a motivational speaker, who shares stories of overcoming challenges.
“As a young girl throwing a heavy metal ball, I never imagined one day looking at a room like this,” Carter said at the banquet. “To now be a part of NYAC’s incredible legacy, an institution that has long standing excellence, is both humbling and powerful.”
As a self-described girlie girl with a strong arm and a stronger lip gloss game, Carter expressed appreciation that the NYAC let her be her best authentic self. She said that you don’t just break records, you break barriers. Hastings noted that she and Carter would often share notes on cosmetics, and they appreciate that today’s track and field athletes feel more comfortable going with or without glam as it suits them.
“When I became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in shot put, I did it as me — lashes on, lips were popping and confidence turned all the way up,” Carter said. “You don’t have to change who you are to be successful; you just have to trust what God gave you to be. … I am able to share my story to help others see that [a] champion mindset isn’t just for sports — it’s for life, it’s for business, for school and for self-care. Showing up every day as your full, powerful self.”
The other 2025 inductees are Katie Meili (swimming), Curt Clausen (track and field), Katie Zaferes (triathlon), Kami Craig (water polo), Melissa Seidemann (water polo), John Mann (water polo) and Jesse Smith (water polo).
New York Athletic Club 2025 Hall of Fame inductees (l-r) Curt Clausen, John Mann, Natasha Hastings, Michelle Carter, Katie Meili, Melissa Seidemann and Jesse Smith. (Lois Elfman photos)
