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Raymond Santana Jr.: From wrongfully accused to City Council hopeful

past, platform, and plans.

On a recent frigid afternoon, Santana was at El Barrista cafe in East Harlem, wearing one of his white “Drafted By God” hoodies from his clothing brand, Park Madison NYC, that he started in 2018.

“I always been a sketch artist since I was yea’ high. Loved to draw cartoon characters, Marvel characters. I started out doing stick figures. For me, it’s always been a passion, so when I became an activist, it was only right that I used that medium to get that message across,” said Santana.

He’s running for District 8, which encompasses Mott Haven, Melrose, and Concourse Village in the South Bronx; Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, and East Harlem in Manhattan; and Randall’s Island.

community goes through when it comes to things like the trash on the street, public safety, and affordable housing. It’s a long list of things that plague this community,” said Santana. “[They’re] in a place where there’s no faith, there’s no hope.”

His main priorities are affordable housing, especially for seniors; pooling mental health and street homelessness resources; improving sanitation; supporting youth and education, and public safety. He said the primarily Hispanic and Latino district also feels “under siege” with rising anti-immigrant sentiments in the city, and the constant threat of detainment or deportation from the federal level and President Donald Trump, who has a long-standing contentious relationship with the Exonerated Five.

“You got people who are just trying hard to make a dollar and now they fear that they’re gonna be deported or they’re gonna be snatched up in the middle of the night,” said Santana.

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

Another member of Harlem’s Exonerated Five is trying his hand at politics. Raymond Santana Jr., 50, announced he is running in City Council’s District 8 race last week. He sat down with Amsterdam News to talk about his

Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, who is term-limited, is the current councilmember.

Santana has no shortage of competition: Several prominent candidates are running to replace her, including Ayala’s chief of staff, Elsie Encarnacion; lawyer Wilfredo López; and Bronx Community Board Chair Clarisa Alayeto.

“For me, when I looked at my community, I see all the harsh conditions that my

Q&A with mayoral candidate Zohran K. Mamdani

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

New York State Assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 33, is a standout candidate in this year’s crowded mayoral race against the incumbent Eric Adams.

Mamdani currently represents the 36th Assembly District in Astoria and Long Island City. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally born and raised in Uganda. First elected to office in 2020, he was part of a wave of progressives that upended several races with the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He became the first South Asian man to serve in the State Assembly, as well as the first Ugandan and only the third Muslim to ever be a member of the legislature. He’s raised $1,491,837 in private funds to date and $2,859,333 through the city’s public matching funds program, according to the latest filings of the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB). About 83% of his donations are in-district and 94% are from small donors, according to the NYCCFB. Mamdani also went viral last week for trying to confront President Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan during his visit to the state Capitol. The Amsterdam News caught up with

Mamdani over the phone. Here’s what he had to say about his campaign so far. (Questions and answers have been shortened or edited for space and clarity.)

AmNews: Wait, I just learned this this week. Ramadan Kareem!

Mamdani: Yes, yes, that’s correct. You said it right. Thank you.

AmNews: What exactly does being a Democratic socialist mean to you? Socialist seems to carry a negative connotation in some circles.

Mamdani: To me, Democratic socialism means that everyone has what they need to live a dignified life, and New Yorkers tend to agree with that when it comes to sanitation, libraries, and the fire department. What I am arguing is that we have to extend that same belief to the things that are equally necessary, be that public transit or housing. If you need these things to live a dignified life in New York City, then they should not be things that you can be priced out of.

AmNews: That actually leads into my next question about housing. Can you talk a little bit about your plan?

See ZOHRAN K. MAMDANI page 37

He can relate viscerally to such fears. An East Harlem native, Santana was 14 years old, attending Junior High School 117 (now closed), when he and several young friends were wrongfully tried and convicted in the Central Park jogger rape case in 1989. The case involved a 28-year-old white woman, banker Trisha Meili, who was brutally attacked and raped in the park while jogging. She survived with

See RAYMOND SANTANA JR. on page 29

Exonerated 5’s Raymond Santana Jr., a City Council candidate, at El Barrista cafe in East Harlem. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Mayoral candidate Zohran K. Mamdani (Photo contributed by Mamdani’s campaign)

Kean University holds public safety solutions forum

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Black leaders including National Urban League president and CEO

Marc Morial took the stage on Saturday, March 1, for Kean University’s public safety and policing solutions panel in Union, New Jersey.

One of the panelists, New Jersey Assemblywoman and Legislative Black Caucus chair Shavonda E. Sumter hopes attendees could take away a better understanding of community-based programming.

“My hope is that the audience took away, including students, that public safety is up to all of us,” said Sumter. “That there are some structural changes that are required via policy [and] also via the intentional efforts of police departments, which are multifaceted: some are civil service, some are paid for by taxpayers, some are state and some are County.

“But none of it works without the community being involved,

Joseph Youngblood, Mayor Adrian O. Mapp, Jennifer Webb-McRae, Barbara George Johnson, assemblywoman Shavonda Sumpter, Jules H. Ship,

having a say in how they’re protected and also being a part of the community at large for public safety and reduction in harm.”

Jiles Ship, president of New Jersey’s National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives chapter, says such symposiums are crucial for involving the communi-

ty with public safety solutions.

“We’re giving [the public] an opportunity to be a part of the solution,” said Shipp. “And hearing from them too because too often we talk about law enforcement issues [by] generally [through] other law enforcement professionals talking to each other, or else we talk to elected

officials or politicians. You cannot be efficient in your public safety efforts unless you have the community at the table.”

The event stemmed from the university’s John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research and was open to the public. Barbara George Johnson, the vice pres-

ident for the institute, says New Jersey’s Legislative Black Caucus reached out about solutions for reducing community violence.

“That led to this idea of looking at public safety, community and policing in particular…it was really important that we emphasize action, because we have never been a policy institute that just works on research, reporting [or] publications,” said Johnson. “We are really about centering the community, how we center the work [and] understand the issue, create reports [and] recommendations but then work with the policymakers and the nonprofit officers who can actually bring this to bear.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit. ly/amnews1.

Muslim NYers on celebrating Ramadan during times of constitutional crisis

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

Despite political unrest sowing seeds of fear in New York City and overseas, Muslim communities are determined to continue observing their holiest month of Ramadan.

This year’s Ramadan, a monthlong period where participants fast from dawn to sunset, and Eid al-Fitr –– a grand holiday celebrated on the Islamic lunar calendar at the close of the fasting month ––will fall on March 29-30.

“This is a time to pray and fast for peace and understanding. In principle, we all have to be hopeful for clarity and safety, Muslim or not Muslim alike,” said Harlem Senator Cordell Cleare. “We know that our communities respect this period of spiritual upliftment.”

In the last two years, the city’s vastly diverse Muslim community had been struggling to accommodate an influx of migrants and asylum seekers. Newly arrived Muslims from north east and west regions in Africa were finding it hard to access Halal food, especially those living in shelters, and observe Ramadan properly.

“I knew growing up it was tough for me because in my community I was part of that first generation of young West African Americans in that neighborhood,” said Husein

Yatabarry, executive director of the Muslim Community Network (MCN), who is a Bronx native of Gambian descent. “I don’t even think that they really understood what Eid was. I think there is a lot more acknowledgement and understanding [now].”

Yataberry said that despite the growing commercialism in relation to Ramadan and Eid, with decorations and toy distributions in schools and at mosques, there’s definitely still difficulty in providing Halal meals to Muslim communities in need. MCN recently

partnered with City Comptroller Brad Lander, a mayoral candidate this year, Islamic Relief USA, and five local organizations to distribute over 12,000 boxed dinners for “Iftar” during Ramadan. Places the city can’t get to, nonprofits fill the gap, said Yataberry.

“It’s still difficult to access [Halal meals] in shelters,” said Akinde Kodjo-Sanogo, assistant director of organizing and advocacy for African Communities Together (ACT).

“We have limited funds, but we do our best with food distribution, ordering food and water for Masjids

as much as we can.”

Franchisee Kamal Raza owns two International House of Pancakes (IHOPs) that are open 24 hours in Laurelton, Queens and on East 149th Street in the Bronx. He offers a special Ramadan menu that’s available all day and is usually slammed with customers in the wee hours of the morning that come for “suhoor meals.”

At present, Raza purchases Halal meats and goods retail from local sellers at a more expensive price point since he can’t buy in bulk. He said the reason more fast-ca-

sual chains don’t commit to providing Halal meals is because of an issue with guaranteeing consistency and quality. He created separate grills and uses different utensils for cooking and preparation to ensure that there’s no contamination. “I’ve been in New York City since 1987. I used to live in Long Island and drive all the way to Jackson Heights just to buy Halal meat,” said Raza. “Now we can at least go to Restaurant Depot.” Luckily, there’s an outpour in demand from the Muslim community in the city regardless of the

Kean University symposium speakers (from left to right)

Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer, Jerome Hatfield.

(Nicole Mehl / John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research at Kean University photo)

A special Ramadan menu is available all day at an IHOP in Laurelton, Queens. (Ariama C. Long photos)

Photo of Ramadan decorations at an IHOP located at 134-60 Springfield Blvd in Queens.

Cure Violence prevented 1,567 shootings but needs support, says NYC Comptroller

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The city’s non-police strategy for gun violence prevention reduced shootings by 21%, reported researchers for the New York City Comptroller’s Office. Findings released last Monday, Mar. 10, credited the Crisis Management System (CMS) for 1,567 fewer shootings since officially adopting Chicago’s Cure Violence model in 2012.

“We looked at 19 years of shooting data in the neighborhoods that have [a] CMS program and compared them to neighborhoods that are comparable in other ways but don’t have a [CMS] program,” said NYC Comptroller Brad Lander at a Harlem press conference. “What we found is a 21% better drop in shootings. The data shows this work works … that means fewer shootings, fewer people getting killed, [and] fewer people in the hospital.”

Cure Violence tackles gun violence as a public health epidemic rather than just crime. In practice, stopping the spread involves resolving conflicts peacefully and addressing environmental factors like poverty in the most affected neighborhoods — most

New York City shootings are concentrated within 4% of city blocks.

The model deploys violence interrupters, like credible messengers who leverage former gang ties, previous criminal history, and neighborhood reputation to de-escalate potential shootings by engaging with “high risk” individuals without involving law enforcement or the criminal justice system.

How can researchers measure shootings that don’t happen? The report looks back as far as 2006, when the city began recording complete data on gun violence incidents to establish a predictive model throughout precincts. The researchers found the study “statistically significant” toward proving Cure Violence organizations helped reduce gun violence compared to operating neighborhoods before CMS programming started and other precincts where there are no such organizations.

Areas without coverage include Harlem’s 26th and 28th Precincts. The report also found neighborhoods like Brownsville, East Harlem, and South Bronx still faced “persistent concentrations of shootings” despite CMS presence. However, the researchers said the programming still effectively reduces gun violence in those areas.

However, the report also mentions gaps limiting CMS from further positive results. Findings pointed to longer payment delays among 1,400 requests in 112 different contracts over the past few years. Reimbursement times averaged 130 days in 2016. They jumped to 255 days, or more than eight and a half months, last year.

“We cannot put a bandaid on a gushing wound. Our children are dying in the street. It’s no [longer] that they’re getting shot or stabbed — they are dying,” said Harlem-based violence interrupter Iesha Sekou. “Many nights, the Street Corner Resources Speak Peace Forward team and others around the city that are doing this work sit with young people who are losing life. It is preventable. There are things we can do. There are things we are doing. But it is not enough.

“More funding needs to be accessed and that funding needs to be accessed in a timely manner. Do not ask us to go out and [almost] stand in front of a gun — and those who are caught up in the violence — and then we can’t get a paycheck or get the money to pay our staff.”

The report also found Cure Violence lacked access to NYPD data for violence interrupt-

ers to track real-time shootings and patterns over time. Researchers recommended enrolling CMS into ShotSpotter’s Data for Good program, which shares acoustic gunshot detection information traditionally used by police with appropriate civilian nonprofits and city agencies. More than 2,000 sensors are currently installed throughout the five boroughs.

While Lander criticized ShotSpotter as a police tool as recently as last month, his report said that “integration of ShotSpotter data into CMS has the potential to not only improve [community violence intervention] efficacy but reduce the costs of police-only response strategies that are extremely resource-intensive over time.”

Miami-Dade County implemented Data for Good to help dispatch violence interrupters from the municipalities’ “Walking One Stop” program toward areas where shots are detected the most. A 35% reduction in gun-related crimes was recorded in those targeted areas.

ShotSpotter’s parent company, SoundThinking, launched Data for Good in December 2022. While existing contracts largely stipulate the technology only be used for law enforcement purposes, a simple amendment would allow cities to opt into the program without drafting a new deal. There is also no additional cost for participating.

Alfred Lewers, SoundThinking’s senior director of trauma response and customer success, said the company has already spoken with NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, as well as executives of CMS organizations like Brooklyn’s Man Up! Inc. and Queens’ Life Camp, about how Data for Good could operate in New York City.

“We have a team of data specialists in our analysis team who would assist the organizations in getting access to the data, and that data would be anonymized, so it wouldn’t have any personal identifiable information,” said Lewers. “They wouldn’t have any specific addresses. It would be 100 blocks, and they would give the temporal grid, so if they know that gunfire is occurring in a certain area … then we would provide that information to them so that they can use it in the best way to serve that community.

“Depending on what community-based services or even government services are going to be provided, that will determine the cadence of data that we would be providing.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News.Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https:// bit.ly/amnews1

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander holds press conference about CMS findings at Harlem’s Street Corner Resources. (Ayman Siam/Office of NYC Comptroller photo)

Dr. Talib Hudson brings healing to his community through policy

By SAGE SWABY Special to the AmNews

Returning home to Harlem after undergraduate college, Talib Hudson knew he wanted to have an impact on his neighborhood. The fear Harlem teenagers have of gun violence was the drive behind Hudson’s founding the nonprofit think tank the New Hood.

Hudson grew up in Harlem in the 1980s and ’90s, during the crack cocaine epidemic. Witnessing that influenced his thoughts about a need for a public policy center that speaks to people’s experiences.

“When I was growing up, a lot of folks used to say, ‘Oh, you have to get out the ’hood, you have to get out the ’hood,’” said Hudson. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, why do we have to get out? Why can’t we build a community here where we can stay, but, just have it be better?’”

The New Hood, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit think tank, “empowering urban Black and Latinx communities through community-based policy ideas, research, and solutions.”

Black New Yorker

and think tanks work.

“‘Who’s writing a policy for the ’hood? Where are our voices in this?’” he wondered. “That was part of my experience. My education, formally and informally, in Washington, D.C., is what provided the foundation for what is becoming the New Hood.”

When naming his think tank, Hudson wanted to reflect the experiences of people from the ’hood and represent the certain flair that Black people in America bring to things, whether jazz, hip-hop, or sports. “I thought if it’s going to reflect the ’hood, then it should reflect the Æhood in that way as well,” he said. “The name, the New Hood, for a think tank is intentionally different.”

In 2010, before forming the New Hood, Hudson was pursuing his master’s degree in urban policy analysis and management at the New School. He was under the impression he’d enter a career focusing in community development and community development finance.

co-facilitate youth workshops. When asking teenagers about the issues they faced in their communities, Hudson heard the answer of violence, specifically gun violence, repeatedly. The fear of getting shot, stabbed, or jumped was a reality for them.

“That was a bit shocking to me, to be honest,” Hudson said. “I feel somewhat embarrassed to say [it] because I don’t remember it being like that when I was their age, growing up in New York. At the time, this was before the shooting in Connecticut — the Sandy Hook Newtown shooting. This was before gun violence was [nationally prominent] like it’s been in the past several years.” Hudson reflected on the lack of conversation about the fact that young people felt unsafe in their neighborhood due to a fear of bodily harm. “Where’s the policy for that?” he said. “That was the genesis of me trying to figure out how to address that problem.”

After his 2004 graduation from George Washington University, Hudson was introduced to urban development and policy while working for an economic development association in Washington, D.C. In one of his roles, he witnessed how the government

Joe Rogers, a friend of his who is executive director of the Harlem-based literacy organization Total Equity Now, asked him to

32BJ SEIU is Proud to Honor

32BJ SEIU is Proud to Honor

Dr. Hazel N. Dukes Dr. Hazel N. Dukes

Pastreich 32BJ SEIU President

Santos 32BJ SEIU Secretary-Treasurer

32BJ SEIU is the largest building service workers union in the country, representing more than 185,000 cleaners, doormen, porters, maintenance workers, window cleaners, airport workers, security officers, superintendents, and theater and stadium workers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, DC

In 2011, looking for ways to get involved in violence prevention in the community, Hudson was recommended to work with Iesha Sekou,

Dr. Talib Hudson, founder of the New Hood, wears a hoodie representing his nonprofit think tank. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Talib Hudson)

See HUDSON on page 27

Andre Brown gets 30 days more with family as he faces prison for previously overturned conviction

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

A resigned Andre Brown recounts sustaining a traumatic brain injury at the hands of corrections officers before suddenly breaking off into unfiltered elation. “I … just received some great news!” he said over the phone, making every syllable count. In the background, a woman yells “Oh, my God” in relief and his children scream in joy. Brown, 48, just learned he will not go back to prison tomorrow.

“We all thank you, God, thank you so much!”

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office granted Brown a 30-day stay as he awaits a response from Gov. Kathy Hochul after his lawyers, Oscar Michelen and Jeffrey Deskovic, filed an emergency clemency petition. He will return to court in April.

Moments before, Brown planned on turning himself in at 10 a.m. sharp on Thursday, Mar. 13, for a conviction he already served two decades and maintains his innocence for. “I’m in my final hours of being a father and a husband,” he said earlier in the interview. “I’m in my final hours of being a brother, uncle, a nephew, a cousin … of being a free man [and] I’m on the verge of going back to prison for a crime that I did not commit.”

A successful claim of ineffective assistance freed him in late 2022 from two consecutive 20-year sentences for attempted murder: His previous attorney failed to introduce evidence of a physical injury, which may have exonerated him. Brown was convicted for shooting two men on Jan. 15, 1999, but he was recovering from being shot himself and walked with a limp at the time when witnesses said the masked suspect was sprinting.

“According to the court, evidence of defendant’s injury would have established that defendant was incapable of running the distance and in the manner testified to by the victims and the eyewitness,” wrote Judge Troy Webber in his 2022 decision. “With regard to defendant’s claim of actual innocence, the court found that defendant had failed to meet his burden to present clear and convincing evidence in support of his claim.”

But Brown is not out of the woods yet. He will still go back to prison

next month if Hochul does not approve his emergency clemency petition because he was never fully exonerated and was only released on his own recognizance for the overturned conviction. Webber denied Brown’s innocence claim stemming from newly discovered evidence, opening the door for the courts to reinstate the conviction this past Christmas eve.

This news coincides with a crisis in New York state prisons, including several staff being charged with allegedly beating incarcerated individual Robert Brooks to death and corrections officers striking illegally to weaken the HALT laws banning solitary confinement over the past few months.

Hochul can grant Brown clemency, which would prevent him from returning to prison without necessarily vacating his conviction through a full pardon. A spokesperson for the governor said the office does not comment on pending petitions. Still, just another month with his family means the world to Brown.

It’s tough to imagine the mildmannered Brown as the “loudest disruptor” during his son’s basketball games, but referees have threatened him with a technical foul for yelling at them so hard. He gushes over the past two years with his son and daughter, from watching them wake up to packing their snacks for school.

“I just wanted to be a father,” said Brown. “I just wanted to be a friend to my wife and hold her hand walking down the street, something that she had longed for the 14 years we’ve been married, coming into our 15th year this year in November … being a parent is so humbling to me because I could have never raised my son or my daughter from a (prison) visit room floor.”

Brown refuses to refer to his past two years as “reentry” since he first turned himself in for the conviction barely into his adulthood. “It would be considered a ‘new entry’ because I’ve lived in prison more time than I’ve lived in the street,” he said. “I went to prison when I

was 21 years old, I had my 22nd birthday on the inside.”

Growing up in the Bronx, Brown spent his childhood taking care of his siblings and cousin after his parents were divorced and his mom was incarcerated. As a teen breadwinner, he worked at a White Plains retail store until the seasonal period ended. Brown turned to selling crack for around a year, according to his clemency petition.

Dealing led to Brown being shot in the leg while walking through the Bronx. According to the petition, he gave up the life after the incident to enroll at Borough of Manhattan Community College a year before he was arrested.

Over these past two years, Brown helped at-risk youth as a credible messenger and established a GED program and chess club at a local New Rochelle nonprofit. The work is an extension of the self-development he began in prison, ranging from parenting and mental health classes to facilitating HIV/AIDS education and prevention workshops.

Proponents of Brown include

the Innocence Project, whose director of special litigation, Vanessa Potkin, advocated for him in a letter to Hochul included in the clemency petition.

“Having worked with hundreds of people returning home after decades of incarceration, we are impressed with Mr. Brown and what he has achieved over the past two years,” wrote Potkin. “He has no hint [of] bitterness and is a positive, enthusiastic, helpful, kind person. He has worked to improve the lives of people around him — through counseling at-risk kids — and has continued on his own path of self-improvement through enrolling in college courses. Mr. Brown is exceptional.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https:// bit.ly/amnews1

Andre Brown family photo (left to right): his son AJ, Brown, daughter Trinity, and wife Tameka. (Photo courtesy of Andre Brown)

Leading the college experience

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

African American women are helping to shape academia — as professors, researchers, deans, and college and university presidents. Although they comprise fewer than 5% of individuals in the U.S. who hold doctorates, Black women are undaunted in building a presence. Those in leadership positions are working on increasing access and opportunities for future generations.

“I am the first Black president of Harford Community College,” said Dr. Theresa B. Felder about her position at the Bel Air, Md., school. “I feel the weight of that responsibility to be successful and to make the impact on the community that I came here saying I intended to make. I realize there were strong Black women [who] faced obstacles and paved the way for me to be in this spot, and I want to do the same for others. It’s satisfying, but it’s also a weight I feel every day. Being the first in anything carries responsibility.”

Finding and creating opportunity Mentorship was important to Felder’s career. “Mentors found me,” said Felder. “In high school, I had teachers and counselors [who] said, ‘You’re smart, you should go to college’ … Later in life, it was other professional women who encouraged me, who talked about my potential to see beyond what I was seeing and think beyond the job I was doing at the time. It was a president of a community college [who] said, ‘You could be a president and I will help you.’”

As a first-generation college graduate, a career in academia was not something Felder could fathom. Her undergraduate degree is in accounting and she worked in corporate accounting before starting a consulting business. She was living in Ohio and a community college there was one of her clients. Having gone to a four-year university, she didn’t know much about community colleges at the time. However, she quickly learned what was important: “As I got to know the mission and the fact that community colleges are open-access institutions, I really related,” said Felder. “I saw myself in every one of those students.”

She found she loved the work of community colleges, and returned to graduate school in her 40s, eventually earning a master’s degree in administration and a doctorate in higher education administration. While in graduate school, she began working at Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio, spending 17 years there and rising to the position of senior vice president, student success.

For many students, the major obstacle to college completion isn’t academics; it’s life challenges, such as finances, transportation, food insecurity, childcare, and family demands. Felder has worked to address student needs in a holistic way. With the presidential seed planted, she acknowledged her desire to lead an institution and have a positive impact on not only the students, but also the community. After participating in professional development programs, including the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship, Felder applied for the position at Harford and was hired.

New York City native Dr. Renée T. White, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the New School, credits the mentorship of one of her professors at Brown University with directing her toward graduate school and a doctoral program in sociology at Yale University.

“... professional women who encouraged me, who talked about my potential to see beyond what I was seeing and think beyond the job I was doing at the time. It was a president of a community college [who] said, ‘You could be a president and I will help you.’”

—Dr. Theresa B. Felder, first Black president of Harford Community College

Early in White’s doctoral studies, a professor questioned whether she was doing her own writing because the quality was excellent. She became hyper-vigilant about making sure her work was as perfect as possible.

“I was at Yale at a time when there were some incredibly interesting classmates in African American studies, history, political science, and American studies, and we created our own community of Black scholars,” White said. “One of my friends, Lewis Gordon, and I started a Black graduate student network. We had a dissertation support writing group where we wanted to share information with each other about navigating the formal process of the university but also informally how you get through.”

After building a career as a professor, researcher, and writer, White moved into administration and became dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Simmons College (now University).

“I’ve always been active in leadership roles in academic programs — leading a women’s studies program or a Black studies program,”

White said. “I saw it as an opportunity to tap into the things I really cared about in higher ed and do things on a larger scale that would have an impact with students, and be able to advance things that I thought were really important for faculty.”

Dr. Dara N. Byrne’s direction didn’t truly come into focus until she went to Howard University, an HBCU institution in Washington, D.C., for her doctoral studies. She was born in Guyana, and her family moved to Trinidad and then Canada, where Byrne attended university for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Before Howard, she had never had a Black professor; being at a historically Black university intensified her passion for education.

After completing her Ph.D., Byrne came to NYC for a Rockefeller Foundation residency fellowship at the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. From there, she was hired for a faculty position at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a City University of NewYork (CUNY) institution, where she re-

Dr. Theresa B. Felder, president of Harford Community College. (Photo courtesy of Harford Community College)

Dr. Renée White, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, New School. (Photo courtesy of The New School)

Dr. Belinda Miles, president of SUNY Westchester Community College. (Photo courtesy of SUNY WCC)

mained for almost 20 years, taking on administrative duties as her career progressed.

In 2022, Byrne became dean of Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, one of the top ranked public honors colleges in the country. It is a highly selective college — fewer than 10% of applicants are accepted — where students receive financial and ac-

are willing to incur the expense (student loans) and might never come back to New York.

“That is one heck of a responsibility: to think about what it means to leverage the best of what CUNY has to offer to provide — not just an academic experience for these kinds of students but a community for them where they learn to collaborate with each other, challenge

ademic support so they can fully achieve their potential. Although Byrne, a professor of rhetoric and intercultural communication, misses being in the classroom, she thrives on developing leaders who have a desire to live and work in New York.

Black excellence in New York

In addition to the honors curriculum that students take at Macaulay, they also enroll at one of the eight four-year colleges in the CUNY system. Graduates receive degrees from both Macaulay and the college of their choice.

“It is exciting and challenging to retain highachieving students in New York,” said Byrne, noting that these students could go to elite institutions such as Harvard or Stanford if they

each other, build things together, and also think about how you use that kind of talent and momentum to serve the city,” said Byrne.

“I think a lot about what it means to rely on taxpayers’ dollars to do this work, so I’m not just interested in educating really smart students; I’m interested in how to create New Yorkers [who] can lead and shape New York.”

Last year’s graduating class had an average grade point average of 3.8. Byrne is working on capacity-building for all aspects of Macaulay, which must be done in a zero revenue environment: The college does not charge tuition and doesn’t collect fees. There is no working capital, so Byrne must find public and private partners who align with the work. She connects with people and entities that

want to be part of educating New Yorkers with a long-term commitment to New York.

“That has brought up a lot of my creativity and innovation,” Byrne said. “What I have been finding is that my strength as somebody who really understands CUNY, has worked in various contexts where you can only get things done in partnerships with a lot of people, is a real asset in a zero revenue environment where we go far because of gifts … we’re thoughtful about what we’re doing and how to make a little have a big impact for these students.”

Queens native Dr. Belinda S. Miles has served as president of SUNY Westchester Community College (WCC) since 2015. Herself a graduate of York College in Queens, a senior college in the CUNY system, she understands the impact an open access institution can have for people seeking entry into higher education. As an undergraduate, she was a Pell Grant recipient and was eligible for work-study. Her job was as a tutor in the writing lab, which helped her understand the power of education, as well as how an institution can commit resources to serving its students — a concept that drives her to this day.

Over the past decade, WCC has received numerous grants to further educational opportunities. A landmark event was in October 2018, when WCC received the largest federal grant in school history — $2.7 million over five years — through the U.S. Department of Education’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions program. It went to WCC’s Caminos Exito (Pathways to Success) and funded increased academic support, counseling, and advising for all students.

“Fewer than 5% of our courses had an online presence pre-pandemic,” said Miles. “Having everything online for a while gave us a chance, as we were building back, to think about how we could build back smarter … We had a major opportunity to change our scheduling model in very significant ways. We were learning a lot, through our student success and completion agenda, about where students were stuck and what institutional opportunities there were to help facilitate their success.”

She keeps a constant eye on innovation: Other milestones of Miles’ presidency at WCC have included founding an honors college and a center for cybersecurity, expansion of undergraduate research, internships, and a project-based curriculum, as well as collaboration with regional industry partners. A key component of success is building strong networks to support the work of the college.

“Education is an intervention that makes a difference in individuals’ lives and their families,” Miles noted. “I continue to look down the road and around the corner to see what’s next. Feeling confident in adapting to change and sometimes facilitating change is part of what I do.”

Toward the future

By the end of Byrne’s first year at Macaulay, she was able to launch a funded transfer system that enables the college to accept transfer students from CUNY’s seven community colleges. These transfers now join stu-

dents admitted as freshmen.

Byrne knows her value as an academic leader, which serves as a guide for Black women aspiring to the academy or trying to navigate it. “Go where you’re loved,” she said. “Students get to see through me all of the places where I am welcomed.”

Miles was hooked on mentoring back in graduate school, when she made sure students who may have been struggling received needed support and encouragement. Throughout her career, she has made time for women and men who seek her advice.

“It’s natural for me to mentor,” Miles said. “I teach in a couple of leadership institutes, future presidents’ institutes, like AACC (American Association of Community Colleges). I teach leadership in the Kansas State University doctoral program (online). I really enjoy working with those who are aspiring to hone their craft. Nine of my former direct reports (deans and/or vice presidents) became community college presidents (six female, three male).

“At this point, I mentor new presidents or sitting presidents. If there’s a challenge, we try to think about how to move through it.”

White hasn’t been in the classroom in a while, so she hasn’t had the opportunity to spot talent as her professor spotted her, but she gladly serves as an informational resource for students.

“Where I’ve done the bulk of my mentoring has been with folks who are currently academics and those who are moving into administrative roles,” said White. When attending a conference or event, she will sit down with people and talk about things such as developing a tenure portfolio.

“Getting folks into graduate programs is important, making sure they graduate, and then also making sure that academics stay and can actually thrive and are being treated fairly,” White said. “I’ve learned a lot about how these processes look at different types of institutions, so I can pass that on.”

White started a group for women-identified academic leaders (of all ethnicities), such as program heads, deans, and provosts. In the aftermath of the stark impact of the pandemic, ongoing check-ins remain uplifting. Just the “how are you” question is meaningful.

“It opened up this incredibly powerful, heartfelt conversation; people were really vulnerable and honest about things they were going through,” White said. “I’ve continued to convene that group. I’ve also pulled out subsets of that group — a group of Black women leaders — at various moments when things have been really hard in the world.”

When she was provost at Wheaton College (2016–2021), White participated in a New England Humanities Consortium that launched a faculty of color mentoring program. It included training about how to mentor, which remains valuable.

“I continue to try and be a resource, to offer support, to offer calm about the difficulties of being a leader and being a Black woman leader,” White said. “[I ask] what can I do to make it a little less onerous or provide a space where there are things you can experience a little differently than what I experienced.”

Dr. Dara N. Byrne with students and CUNY executive vice chancellor, and COO Hector Batista with Macaulay students. (Photo courtesy of Macaulay Honors College)

Dr. Dara N. Byrne, dean of Macaulay Honors College. (Photo courtesy of CUNY)

Union Matters

Union march pushes back against Trump/Musk job cuts

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Laid-off federal workers, members of several New York City labor unions, and community groups marched in downtown Manhattan on Saturday, March 15. Participants joined activists to demand an end to the seemingly arbitrary job terminations and related healthcare program reductions being put through by the Trump administration.

Marchers claimed that the federal government’s firing of workers from agencies like the Veterans Administration, Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with cuts to services like food and rental assistance, Medicaid, and Medicare, will hurt average Americans.

Such “radical cuts in public investments,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has stated, only benefit corporations and the nation’s richest, by providing them with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. These spending cuts, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank said in a Feb. 28 report, “would take away or significantly reduce assistance to families of all races and ethnicities but would particu-

larly affect communities of color. Past and ongoing discrimination and inequities in areas like housing, school resources, and hiring create barriers to education, health, well-paying jobs, and wealth for people of color, increasing economic hardship and the need for assistance.”

From Foley Square to Wall Street’s bull

“We are here organizing because we see this as a giant transfer of wealth and a complete destruction of our U.S. Constitution,”

Analilia Mejía, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), told the AmNews. “Everything that we believe about and support in our institutions ––that represent collective government –– [is] under attack.”

Thousands gathered for the demonstration, carrying posters, bullhorns, and drums. They marched from Foley Square up Worth Street to Broadway/Federal Plaza and then stopped traffic while occupying streets all the way down to the city’s Wall Street statue of a charging bull. Along the route, they shouted out various calland-response chants: “No more cuts! No more cuts!” “Get up, get down: New York is a union town!” “They’re talking healthcare cuts. They must be nuts! They’re talking

Medicaid cuts. They must be nuts!” “This is what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” “Hey hey, ho ho — Elon Musk has got to go!” “MOVE, DOGE, get out the way! Get out the way, DOGE, get out the way!!!”

Those protesting said they were shocked that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had voted for the Republican funding bill. Trump later congratulated Schumer by stating he “appreciate[d] Senator Schumer, and I think he did the right thing.”

Several protesters marched through the streets, carrying signs depicting cemetery tombstones with inscriptions such as “Death by DOGE,” “Couldn’t Afford a Doctor,” “No Primary Care,” and “Bled Out During Miscarriage.”

At the end of the march, these protesters staged a die-in by lying down on the street with their feet facing Wall Street and their tombstones facing the front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Even as they marched and chanted, at least one passing observer voiced support for Elon Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The CPD’s Mejía said she wasn’t surprised: “Elon Musk and Donald Trump

benefit from a cult of personality,”she said. “The fact is that most Americans are underwater in terms of their economic stability — caring for their families and accessing healthcare — so I don’t blame American people for not being fully clued in on the level of destruction and the avarice and greed that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are moving. They will feel it, though, so we are using this moment to elevate our voices to point out what is future pain, whether it’s tariffs, cutting Medicaid, or destroying safety nets. Once these cuts get instituted, the general American public, I think, will catch up.

“Again, I don’t blame American people because we’re so busy trying to make ends meet, trying to feed our kids, trying to navigate an economy that is increasingly built with inequity. These folks control the platforms in which we communicate; they have close relationships with corporations that get to silence journalists and publications. Think about what happened with opinion pieces or endorsements during the campaign. And then they control the mediums of communication. We can’t blame people for not knowing. That’s why we have to take to the streets. Eventually, people will connect two and two together.”

Thousands march through downtown Manhattan to protest Trump administration cuts to federal programs. (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

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Opinion

McMahon, undo your half nelson on education

What Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and her colleagues have done in Texas, challenging the Department of Education to reverse its decision to close the Regional Office of Civil Rights (OCR) should be emulated across the nation.

In the letter, Rep. Crockett and the other Democratic members of Congress wrote: “As you are aware, OCR plays a vital role in ensuring students have access to quality education by enforcing federal civil rights protections throughout our country’s education system. Such protections include ensuring students with disabilities receive meaningful access to their programs or activities in the most integrated, appropriate education settings; that students and faculty are protected against sexual discrimination in the classroom and in school programming and activities; and ensuring that no student is discriminated against by schools because of their race, religion, national origin, or color.”

What the Texans have done coincides with the lawsuit filed by Democratic-led states, including New York Attorney General Letitia James. Under the leadership of Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, the department announced that it was cutting its workforce nearly in half, from 4,133 to 2,183 employees, an evisceration by “a thousand cuts,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Echoing James and Weingarten was a legal complaint filed last week in Massachusetts federal court that the Trump administration “cannot dismantle the Department of Education. It cannot override — whether through large-scale RIFs (Reduction in Force) or otherwise — the statutory framework prescribing the Department’s responsibilities.” In short, what the lawsuit notes emphatically is that the department cannot be incapacitated without congressional approval.

Like many of the other moves to eliminate various departments and agencies of the federal government, the Trump administration, aided and abetted by DOGE, justifies the changes under so-called efficiency and accountability, which comes with no real evidence of the lack of either. From coast to coast, there’s a growing resentment towards Trump’s policies, and nowhere are they more deleterious than in the educational realm. Demolishing the Department of Education is only a harbinger, we feel, of more destruction on the agenda, and if education is stifled, then what safeguards exist to protect other valuable agencies and institutions? We have already seen the attempted muzzling of the press and the media. An authoritarian juggernaut looms on the horizon.

Civic engagement is a participation sport— and our young people must play to win

By DAVID C. BANKS

My father used to say, “There are three kinds of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wake up and ask, ‘What happened?’” The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis — were all in that first category. They strategized, they studied the levers of government, and they knew how to apply pressure in the right places to make lasting change. They weren’t just reacting to the moment. They were playing to win.

Civic engagement has always been at the heart of Black history. We often tell our young people about the bravery of those who sat at lunch counters, marched across bridges, and faced down dogs and fire hoses. What always inspires me most about those moments is not just the courage, though — it is the strategy. The people who changed history were not just reacting to injustice; they were deeply informed about the system they were challenging. They understood who held power, how laws were made, and how to use the machinery of government to create change.

This is why civic education is not just important — it is essential. Too many of our young people do not know who represents them, what their elected officials do, or how they can make change in their own communities.

I think back to my own wake-up calls — the moments I truly understood the responsibility that comes with education.

understand the rules, and play to win. Too many people are currently sitting on the sidelines. In the 2021 New York City mayoral election, only 21% of registered voters cast a ballot — meaning nearly 80% of eligible voters did not participate in choosing the city’s leadership. Nationally, in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, 66% of eligible voters turned out, which is a stronger number, but still leaves tens of millions of Americans disengaged from the process. Too often, people do not vote because they feel disconnected, powerless, or unsure of how to get involved. We do not need to lecture young people — we need to show them how civic engagement works in real life. Here are five concrete ways to begin your engagement.

the power of collective action, whether by volunteering at a food pantry, helping out at a church, or organizing a neighborhood cleanup.

• Make voting personal — Millions of people do not vote because they do not see the impact. Conversations at home about how policies affect housing, jobs, and education can help bridge that disconnect.

• Turn engagement into a habit — Civic engagement should be ongoing, not just something we only do during election season. Encourage young people to follow local news, join a youth advocacy group, or write letters to their representatives.

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My parents taught me the purpose of my education. They taught me about the people who fought, bled, and died for my right to learn. They made it clear that my education was not just about personal success — it was about using my knowledge to transform my community. Today, our schools must teach this deeper purpose. We must show young people why their education matters beyond the classroom. Without that understanding, they will struggle to be agents of change.

The reality is that democracy is a participation sport. You do not just sit in the stands and expect your voice to be heard. You have to get on the field,

• Attend a local government meeting — Each congressperson, state legislator, or City Council member holds regularly scheduled public meetings. Along with community board meetings, these are all open to the public. Attending even one meeting allows young people to see how decisions are made and who is making them.

• Research your local representatives — Every student should know the names of their City Council member, state assemblyperson, congressperson, and borough president. Study their roles so you are aware of what they are each responsible for.

• Engage in community service — Civic engagement is not just about voting; it is about service. Help young people experience

Champions make history

History has shown us that change only happens when Black communities are informed, organized, and engaged. The Civil Rights Movement was driven by everyday people who decided to take action. It was not just about knowing the past — it was about shaping the future. Every young person deserves to understand the power they hold. The question is not just whether they know their history; it is whether they know how to make history. When young people truly understand how government works, they do not just watch things happen. They make things happen.

Democracy belongs to those who participate. Let’s make sure the next generation is ready to participate and win.

David C. Banks

Nothing is outlandish in the Trump universe

Happy Women’s History Month

By HERB BOYD

What next from Trump’s unlawful bag? When Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student was arrested and detained by Homeland Security, it is still not clear why he was apprehended and dispatched to a jail in Louisiana. Khalil possesses a green card and is therefore a permanent resident. But of course, as we know so well, Trump thinks he needs no justification for such illegality.

Maybe they can place Khalil in the same category of the 200 Venezuelans, allegedly gang members, rounded up and shipped off to jails in El Salvador. They were hustled out of the country based on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, back when the U.S. government believed a war with France was imminent.

During World War II, the Act was invoked and people of German, Italian, and Japanese ancestry were imprisoned without trial, most egregiously the Japanese citizens.

There is no current danger of war, and certainly not with these Latin American countries or Palestinians, but in Trump’s convoluted worldview and rule of lawlessness, that’s of no consequence. The gang of Venezeulans, in Trump’s estimation constituted a threat, “an invasion” against the U.S., and thus are “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies.”

Arresting Khalil has sent a chilling effect to activists across the nation, particularly those determined to express their outrage on the conflict in the Middle East and the devastation of Gaza.

And his unlawful detainment raises concerns about the safety of other permanent residents and citizens expressing their constitutional rights. All these Orwellian moves by Trump and his appeal to the Supreme Court to allow restric -

tions on birthright citizenship, may be an ominous step toward denying the automatic citizenship of children born in the U.S. It could even portend the evisceration of the 14th Amendment and the rights of Black Americans.

Arresting Khalil has sent a chilling effect to activists across the nation, particularly those determined to express their outrage on the conflict in the Middle East and the devastation of Gaza.

It’s not too late to celebrate Women’s History Month. Every March, I celebrate the amazing women in my life, reflect on the courageous women who blazed trails before me, and think of ways I can support future generations of women and girls who will go on to do amazing things in large and small ways.

This March, I am celebrating the courage and tenacity of the late and supremely great Dr. Hazel Dukes. Most people know her as a civil rights icon in New York State; a mentor to politicians and public servants; and a tireless leader in advancing equity in organizations, the workplace, at the ballot box, and so much more. So many New Yorkers are feeling a sense of loss because they won’t be able to pick up the phone and seek her sage wisdom and advice. So many leaders are thinking of the ways they can continue her work in these uncharted political waters. What a life she lived — over nine decades on this Earth. She will be dearly missed.

This month, I will also think of the myriad of amazing women in my life, starting with my mother, Gloria Greer. I just spent a weekend with my mother, sister, and a trio of women who are the exact ages of my mother, my sister, and myself. The six of us have evolved from friends into family for the past four decades and I am so thankful for the opportunity to see how this happens. I am so thankful to my mother for modeling what sisterhood

can and should look like with her various girlfriends and sorority sisters. As I have gotten older, I rely on my sisterhood friendships with Black women as a true foundation in my life.

This month, I will also take time to reflect on the ways I can continue to mentor other women, especially Black women, who are trying to decide what professional path is best for them. I am thankful to have found a profession I love and that gives me the fulfillment in my life I have always wanted. This month, I will take additional time to be intentional about the ways in which I can mentor a new generation of women looking to find their way.

How will you celebrate these remaining weeks of National Women’s History Month? I hope you will take some time to thank the various women in your life for their contributions. In doing so, I hope you are inspired to reflect about the ways you can be of service to a new generation of women to help them attain their true potential.

And do not be afraid to extend this celebration to April and beyond.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

Sand Island Internment Camp in Hawaii held U.S. citizens of Japanese descent after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (U.S. Army Signal Corps Collection photo via Wikimedia)

Caribbean Update

Caribbean governments push back against Trump’s travel restrictions

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

This week, Caribbean Community (Caricom) governments attempted to push back against the Trump administration’s travel restriction plans for various nations, saying that no regional member state poses a threat to the U.S., all are compliant with international laws, and they are at a loss to determine why they even made the list.

Reports from Washington indicated that a list of 43 countries around the globe have made the travel restriction list, which is divided into separate tiers with countries like Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, and others being put on the “red” list, meaning their nationals will be totally banned from entering the US.

In the second or “orange” category, Caricom trade bloc member state Haiti made the cut, alongside Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Russia, among others. Pleading complete ignorance and bewilderment about why St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts, and Antigua were included in the “yellow”

category, most leaders say they are either awaiting formal notification before reacting or have signaled disagreement with the White House plan altogether.

“I can’t tell the United States what to do, but any reasonable person would recognize that Antigua and Barbuda is not a threat to the U.S. and we have been very cooperative. We will not promote acrimony with the U.S., but we will stand on principle to defend our sovereignty and our people,” said Prime Minister Gaston Browne during a weekend radio program. “Our interests are mutual. We recognize the importance of a prosperous United States, and we want to have a good relationship.”

Meanwhile, leaders of the Eastern Caribbean nations on the list say they are awaiting formal notification before reacting.

“The government of St. Lucia and the embassy in Washington are actively seeking clarification on this matter. The USA is a friend of St. Lucia and remains a key partner in St. Lucia’s development. We look forward to an even stronger relationship between our two countries,” said Prime Minister Phillip Pierre.

In nearby Dominica, long-serving Prime

Minister Roosevelt Skerrit noted that “Dominica values its longstanding and cordial relationship with the United States and is committed to strengthening this partnership. The government of Dominica will remain actively engaged in this matter and provide more information as it becomes available.”

Nations like St. Lucia and Dominica appeared to have made the list amid concerns in the U.S. and the Western world about their highly lucrative citizenship by investment programs through which wealthy foreigners can buy a national passport or local citizenship by investing sums from $100,000 to $300,000. In some jurisdictions, investors and applicants are also required to invest in local real estate and other developmental ventures.

Those on the yellow list have 60 days to satisfy American officials that their background and diligence checks of applicants, but Antigua’s PM Browne says nothing is wrong with the island’s program as far as diligence matters are concerned.

He made it clear that “[w]e were especially careful to emphasize that our government

Six immigration headlines you need to know this week

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

In the ever-changing world of U.S. immigration policy, where chaos and controversy often take center stage, six major developments have shaped the landscape this past week. From legal battles to policy shifts, here’s what you need to know.

1. “Self-Deportation” fantasy returns

The Trump administration is pouring $200 million into a mobile app and ad campaign aimed at convincing undocumented immigrants to self-deport — that is, leave the country without action by the government. With immigration arrests falling short of Trump’s exaggerated promises, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relaunched the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app, now featuring a “self-deportation reporting” tool. Officials claim it’s the “safest option” and will help save law enforcement resources — but here’s the reality: Undocumented immigrants have constitutional rights, and no amount of propaganda changes that. History shows that most immigrants won’t simply leave, especially when they have built lives and contributed to the economy for decades.

2. Federal judge blocks Trump’s wartime deportation tactic

A federal judge slammed the brakes on Trump’s attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime measure last invoked during World War II, to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the move was unconstitutional; it involved blocking deportations that were already in progress and ordering flights to turn around. The administration attempted to quietly implement this drastic measure, but lawsuits exposed the plan, raising serious concerns about due process and human rights.

Trump’s Justice Department immediately appealed the ruling, claiming it interferes with the president’s power to remove “dangerous aliens,” but the ruling sends a clear message: Executive power does not override the Constitution.

3. Record-high deportation arrests

The “Guardian” reported that U.S. immigration enforcement arrested more people in the first 22 days of February 2025 than in any full month in the past seven years. With detention centers packed at 47,600 detainees, Trump’s administration has ramped up deportations and suspended asylum programs. Even more disturbing, unaccompanied immigrant children are now being targeted for deportation, while their access to legal aid is being cut. The administration briefly halted funding for legal representation, sparking outcry before reversing course, but the damage is done: Without lawyers, children face a greater risk of trafficking and exploitation.

maintains a sanctions policy fully aligned with that of the U.S. Treasury in all financial matters. Antigua and Barbuda do not accept applications from any country currently on a U.S.-banned list, and our citizenship by investment program (CIP) follows rigorous vetting procedures — all applications are rigorously vetted by recognized international agencies, including Interpol, to ensure that no applicants with a criminal background or current charges — including terrorism — are considered.”

Regional leaders have asked for a meeting with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, or any high-level official to discuss a range of policy matters that could affect the region, including U.S. disagreements with the presence of Cuban medical workers and other professionals in the Caribbean. Last week, foreign ministers met with U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone, but they say they prefer a face-to-face with Trump or Rubio to clarify several misconceptions because, for example, the Cuban medical program provides a medical lifeline to many Caricom member nations.

4. Green card and citizenship form chaos

The Trump administration’s rushed overhaul of immigration forms has sparked immediate legal challenges. The new forms, including those for green cards and citizenship, were rolled out without a grace period, forcing attorneys and applicants into chaos.

• Among the controversial changes:

• Recognition of only two genders

• Return of the term “alien” instead of “noncitizen”

After a lawsuit, USCIS was forced to allow a 30-day grace period, but the confusion highlights the administration’s continued push to make legal immigration more difficult.

5. Haitian & Venezuelan immigrants fight back

Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are suing the Trump administration for attempting to cut their protections short. The lawsuit, filed in Boston, argues that the move is unlawful and discriminatory.

TPS extensions were granted under the Biden administration due to worsening crises in both countries, but Trump officials are now moving up expiration dates, potentially forcing thousands of immigrants into dangerous conditions. The legal battle will determine whether the president can legally revoke an already granted extension.

6. Caribbean-born congressmember attacked in immigration smear Dominican-born U.S. Congressmem-

ber Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) became the latest target of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which falsely labeled him an “illegal immigrant.” Espaillat, who immigrated legally and later became a U.S. citizen, was attacked after delivering the Spanish-language response to Trump’s address to Congress. The baseless accusation drew sharp criticism, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling it “disgusting.”

Despite backlash, the NRCC doubled down, underscoring the GOP’s increasingly hostile rhetoric toward immigrants. Espaillat, a strong advocate for immigration reform, remains undeterred in his fight for immigrant rights.

As Trump’s second term unfolds, his administration’s immigration agenda appears more focused on political theater than actual policy solutions. From mass arrests to targeting children and eroding legal protections, these policies are more about fear and control than public safety.

But immigrants, advocates, and legal experts are fighting back — through lawsuits, activism, and resistance. Because at the end of the day, no executive order can erase the contributions of immigrants who have long been essential to the American fabric.

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.

Afro Bolivian women… fighting for a better world

By JESÚS CHUCHO GARCIA Special to the AmNews

Translated by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

South America’s Republic of Bolivia has a significant African presence. Africans were kidnapped and enslaved there beginning in the 17th century; 30,000 alone were brought to the high-altitude city of Potosí to work in the wealth-producing silver mines.

The 2012 national census in Bolivia marked the first time the Afro Bolivian population was officially recognized as a specific ethnic group. According to that census, there were 23,330 people of African descent living in Bolivia, making them the sixth-largest demographic group in the nation’s total population of 10,027,254.

We had the opportunity to interview Parliamentary Representative Mónica Rey Gutiérrez and talk with her about the community of Afro Bolivian women in the nation.

AmNews: When did you start engaging in Afrocentric activism?

Mónica Rey: I became an advocate for the rights of the Afro Bolivian people when I was a member of an organization formed at the end of the 1980s. That group led to the creation of the Concejo Nacional Afroboliviano (Afro-Bolivian National Council /Conafro) in 2011. I have served as a parliamentarian and am a current member of the Afro Bolivian women’s organization Cimarronas and the international organization ARAAC (Articulacion Regional Afrodescendientes de America Latina y el Caribe/Regional Afrodescendant Coordination for Latin America and the Caribbean).

Our efforts to secure historical, social, economic, and political vindication have led to notable progress within the government. The nation’s new constitution incorporates Afrodescendants, anti-racism legislation has been enacted, and the first Afro Bolivian decade has been declared, among other developments. The current political crisis has significantly impacted our progress, making us one of the hardest hit. This situation calls for us to strengthen our efforts by refining our demands.

AmNews: When did the Cimarronas organization start?

Mónica Rey: The Association of Afro-Bolivian Women, Cimarronas, began its advocacy agenda in 2020 and has become a driving force in the fight against discrimination and gender inequality in Bolivia. Its name, “Cimarronas,” pays homage to the historical resistance of Afrodescendants who defied oppression in search of freedom.

Cimarronas recognizes that the road to equality requires deconstructing power structures rooted in racism and patriarchy, an inherited legacy of colonialism. Its work focuses on dismantling these systems of oppression and building a society where Afro Bolivian women can live free from discrimination and violence.

The association has had a significant impact on Afro Bolivian communities through various initiatives:

• Shelters: Provide shelter and support to female victims of violence, offering a safe space for healing and empowerment.

• Educational programs: Through workshops and training, we promote the education, leadership, and civic participation of women, girls, and adolescents.

• Political advocacy: We actively participate in the creation of public policies that address the specific needs of Afro Bolivian women.

• Economic empowerment: We promote the development of skills and income generation for women, contributing to their economic independence.

• Cultural preservation: We promote and preserve our rich Afro Bolivian cultural heritage, strengthening identity and pride in their roots.

Cimarronas looks to the future with determination. We are committed to continuing the work of building a more just and egalitarian Bolivia.

STEVENSON COMMONS

755 WHITE PLAINS ROAD, BRONX, NY 10473 MITCHELL LAMA RENTAL & PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8. BEDROOM APARTMENT WAITING LISTS ARE BEING OPENED

*Subject to change.**Based upon the number of persons in household. The rental charge will be the listed basic rent OR 30% of the gross income, whichever is greater.

OCCUPANCY STANDARDS: Studio & One Bedroom: One – Three persons, Two-Bedroom: Two – Four persons, Three-Bedroom: Four – Six persons, Four Bedroom: Five – Eight persons.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: (FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION)

• Applications are not transferable.

• Applicants must be financially responsible.

• Applicant/Head of household must be at least 18 years old at the time of the lottery.

• Preference will be given to documented veterans selected in the lottery that are NY State residents only.

• Any applicant who does not meet the correct family composition will be automatically disqualified.

• Applicants can only be on one waiting list at a development. If applicants have the right family composition, they can apply to more than one lottery. However, if they are selected for more than one lottery, they will have to choose which waiting list they prefer.

• ONE REQUEST ONLY PER APPLICANT. Any applicant placing a duplicate request will not be entered into the lottery. An applicant can only submit a paper entry or an on-line entry. If applicants enter on-line and also mail in a letter or postcard, they have submitted a duplicate request and will not be eligible for the lottery.

• An applicant whose name is selected in a lottery cannot be included in the family composition of any other applicant who is selected in the same lottery for that particular housing company development. Failure to comply will result in the disqualification of both applicants.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The waiting list will be established through a limited lottery: 200 applicants will be drawn for the Studio & One-Bedroom, 300 for the Two-Bedroom, and 100 for the Three & Four-Bedroom. HOW TO APPLY: ONLINE You can now apply to a lottery online through Mitchell-Lama Connect. Applying is fast, easy and you will be able to check the status of your entry to see if you have been selected. To apply on line go to: https://a806-housingconnect.nyc.gov/nyclottery/lottery.html#ml-home

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025. YOU

Members of the Afro Bolivian women’s organization, Cimarronas. (Courtesy photo)

Bolivian Parliamentary Representative Mónica Rey Gutiérrez is also a member of the Afro Bolivian women’s organization, Cimarronas. (Courtesy photo)

BX BP Gibson pushes to establish birthing center

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

In response to alarmingly high maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the Bronx, Borough President (BP) Vanessa Gibson recently released a Birthing Center Report that urgently called for establishing a borough-based birthing center.

Citywide the rates of maternal mortality remain staggeringly high, especially among Black and Latino women. About 25% of the pregnancy-associated deaths were of Brooklyn and Bronx residents, according to the latest report on Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

There are three established birthing centers statewide, and two in the city currently. The Bronx’s only birthing center, the Childbearing Center of Morris Heights, opened in 1988 and closed in 2012.

“The Deputy Borough President and I are adamant and committed and intentional about this work,” said Gibson at a press conference with healthcare advocates, community leaders, and local stakeholders on Mar. 10. “We are the only borough in the city of New York, five boroughs, that is led by two women of color and so we take this work extremely personally when it comes to lifting up the voices of so many of our families in need.” The group called for the establishment of a local birthing center, better maternal healthcare policies, improved outreach efforts, and increased funding for healthcare programs.

“This is an issue that affects our people and so when we say this is a call to action and attention, it is. This is about saving lives. This work is about giving our mothers and women and children a fighting chance to live,” Gibson continued.

Maternal healthcare has been a longstanding priority for Gibson. Early in her administration, she formed the Bronx Maternal Health Consortium, hosted roundtables with maternal health providers, and worked on legislation to protect expectant mothers and increase awareness of fraudulent “crisis pregnancy centers.”

Deputy Bronx BP Janet Peguero agreed that the issue was deeply personal for her as a new mom. She used the Maryam Reproductive Health + Wellness clinic services during her pregnancy, she said.

“I understand the challenges and vulnerabilities that come with motherhood, and I know firsthand how vital it is to have access to safe, compassionate, and culturally sensitive care,” Peguero said. “The maternal health crisis in the Bronx cannot be ignored any longer. We must do more to support mothers and birthing people in our borough, ensuring they have the resources, care, and options they deserve.”

It’s important to note that a clinic is separate from a birthing center. Birthing centers focus on providing holistic services before, during, and after a person gives birth. Such a facility is staffed by healthcare pro -

fessionals like midwives, nurses, social workers, case managers, physicians, and doulas. They can help craft an individual birthing plan and deliver children outside of a traditional hospital, which helps lower costs for patients.

Birthing centers can handle “low-risk pregnancies” and make referrals to nearby hospitals in case of complications, and individuals with “high-risk pregnancies” can use a center as a resource for prenatal, postpartum, and educational services.

“We know from evidence and experience that the outcomes at birth centers for low-risk pregnancies are excellent and lower cost,” said Myla Flores, founder of the Birthing Place, co-founder of Womb Bus and Maryam Reproductive Health + Wellness, and president of the New York State Birth Center Association.

“Most importantly, they provide care that fully engages expectant

parents in their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.”

The biggest hurdle to establishing more birthing centers is getting enough funding to obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) and being approved by the state’s Department of Health (NYS DOH).

This is because most birthing centers are typically small and community-based facilities that serve low- and middle-income families with little capital. The two in the city continue to struggle due to delayed and low insurance reimbursement rates for their services and insufficient staffing, said the report.

In 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York’s Midwifery Birth Center Bill into law, which advocates hoped would reduce the red tape common to establishing birthing centers and give midwives a more central role in deciding how these centers are regulated.

Coming one step closer to

seeing a birthing center in the Bronx is exciting and fulfilling for SaveArose Foundation Co-founder Bruce McIntyre, who lost his partner in April of 2020 due to medical negligence throughout her entire pregnancy and — with Flores — was part of the effort to get the birth center bill passed. He is also a member of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ maternal health steering committee.

“It’s been a long journey, having to navigate grief and navigate parenting,” said McIntyre. “We’ve been waiting on these regulations to come through, so this is a step closer for us to bring our dreams to fruition and create a space where Black, Brown, and Indigenous women are being prioritized and no longer seen as an afterthought. This is truly a revolutionary moment for us, and [for] moving forward as a community and moving forward as a society.”

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson at maternal health crisis press conference on Monday, Mar. 10, 2025. (Photo contributed by Bronx Borough President office)

Construction underway for East Harlem affordable housing units with funding from Wells Fargo

By LEAH MALLORY Special to the AmNews

Construction is officially underway for the 1760 Third Ave project, which is turning a vacated East Harlem dormitory into affordable housing units for both formerly unhoused and low-income individuals in New York.

The housing project, which is led by Breaking Ground, a nonprofit that provides supportive and affordable housing across New York, received a $500k grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation to fund the initiative. Page Travelstead, the Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment Group managing director, said the company’s collaboration with Breaking Ground goes back 15 years.

“We see that Breaking Ground has a proven track record of providing the kind of scaffolding necessary to build a future life,” she said. “They’re not just building a home; they’re providing mental health services, they’re providing job resources, and they’re providing just everything that someone will need to thrive and survive.”

Financing for the project comes from both Wells Fargo and New York State in a public-private partnership. Wells Fargo provided a $24.9 million letter of credit to Breaking Ground, with a separate $500,000 grant to assist with additional costs. The organization received a $128 million mortgage from the state via the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), along with additional funding from the New York Acquisition Fund and the NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation, Having both types of support makes the initiative more effective, Travelstead said.

“I think just doing public or just doing private doesn’t yield the same results,” she said. “I think bringing both parties or all sides to the table brings more resources and more expertise. We have different capabilities than the state and city, and they have different capabilities than we do. They can bring more subsidy, we can bring more private dollars, and it’s just a multiplier of what we can get done together.”

When asked about how the community will be affected by the development’s construction and the introduction of new people into the area, Travelstead pointed to Breaking Ground’s track record of success as proof of the positive impact these housing units can have.

“I know that there are always people [who] fear bringing formerly [unhoused] people into their community will create crime and other issues, but, as you’ve seen in every other development that we’ve done with Breaking Ground and many other supportive developers, the communities have thrived once those projects have arrived. There are services for people beyond just the residents of the housing development.”

In terms of sustainability and ensuring that the units last, Travelstead explained it boils down to funding. “The federal and state government has an interest in making sure that the project stays affordable and well-maintained, and that it has the resources it needs,” she said. “Everyone works together to make sure that the budget for operating the project is enough.”

Travelstead said they check in with Breaking Ground every month to ensure development is on track. Construction is anticipated to take one to two years.

Construction of new affordable housing units now underway at 1760 Third Avenue. (Photos courtesy Wells Fargo)

Ailey II presents the next generation of dance

By ZITA ALLEN Special to the AmNews

Ailey II, the company of talented young dancers whose full-throttle, no-holds barred energy and critically acclaimed performances has been called “the next generation of dance,” brings an exciting program of Ailey highlights to the Ailey Citigroup Theater from March 26–April 6 for its annual New York season. Returning to the city after a 28-city tour, the company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Francesca Harper, presents two dynamic programs this season — “Echoes” and ”New Vintage” — each spotlighting a collection of dances by Alvin Ailey and late Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, as well as the dynamic choreographic duo Baye&Asa, along with Harper, whose expansive artistic vision, probing intellect and generosity of spirit is reflected in the season. After all, Harper is carrying on the tradition established by Ailey, when he conceived of this company designed to give young talented artists a platform to hone their craft, and by her predecessor, Ailey II’s Founding Artistic Director Emerita Sylvia Waters. It is a tradition that supports and showcases dancers and young emerging choreographers who reflect both a rich artistic legacy and a bold innovative creativity, that Harper said is embodied by the phrase “legacy shaping the future.”

That concept will be on display in this upcoming season, Harper added. “Like Sylvia Waters, my job is to preserve our beautiful legacy works but then to really provide new emerging choreographers, like Hous-

ton Thomas, with opportunities.” In a brief interview, Thomas describes an impressive dance background that includes, attending the creative summer program AileyCamp and later dancing and choreographing in Europe with folks like the legendary William Forsythe, with whom Harper has also danced. Thomas said his work, “Down the Rabbit Hole,” was prompted by the heightened dependence on technology during COVID-19. “I really wanted to dig deep into how technology has become part of our routine while also examining its impact on our potential loss of autonomy.” While Harper was aware of his work a few years before inviting him to mount a piece on the company she said when she saw that particular work, “I knew it would be perfect for the dancers in Ailey II.” That care has gone into the choice of the entire season’s program.

This season Ailey II presents two different programs that are showcased in the first two days. On Wednesday, March 26, the program “Echoes” will focus on storytelling, cultural preservation, and innovation to symbolize the enduring resonance of humanity with works like Francesca Harper’s own “Luminous” which pays homage to the 50th anniversary of the companies and the artists who paved the way for future generations. It also includes the world premiere of Thomas’ intriguing “Down the Rabbit Hole,” which was inspired by the futuristic “The Matrix” film series. In a nutshell, Harper and Thomas said that while non-narrative, its premise is the probing question about technology, to be: “Are we powering it or is it powering us?” This first program also includes Alvin Ailey’s lusciously fluid “Streams,” which se-

duces us with its reflection of water’s ebb and flow through movement that embodies Miloslav Kabelac’s mesmerizing percussive score. Harper said, “There’s such diversity in ‘Streams’ from moments that are very percussive to moments that are introspective in this work that uses an abstract narrative to say what Mr. Ailey wanted to say about our social and political condition.”

The second program, “New Vintage,” will premiere on Thursday, March 27 with a selection of works that highlight the bold vision Ailey had when he founded the company and showcases a tradition of risk taking by celebrating both those who paved the path for today’s talent alongside a daring new generation of artists. This includes a program that features an excerpt of Judith Jamison’s first choreographic work for

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1984, which stunned audiences and critics who admired her as a phenomenally charismatic performer only to discover an amazing choreographic powerhouse with the premiere of “Divining.” Recalling the impact the work had on her upon first viewing it Harper said,“This piece presents us with a deeply powerful, unapologetic, almost shamanistic female figure and is really a celebration of our African roots. For me to see this force of nature, Judith represented onstage. Ms. Jamison was an idol of mine.” Harper went on to list the impressive women who have performed the piece including Donna Wood and April Berry. The program also includes a collection of excerpts from three classic works choreographed by Alvin Ailey between 1958 and 1972 under the title, “Ailey Highlights.” Then there is “John 4:20,” an expanded duet by the dynamic Baye & Asa whose work is constructed on a foundation of a technique that fuses hip-hop and African dance languages to inform the way they energetically engage contemporary dance, theatre and film. Thomas’ “Down the Rabbit Hole” is also on the evening’s program — reminding audiences that for more than five decades, Ailey II has merged the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and artistry of today’s most outstanding choreographers. Founded in 1974 as a bridge between The Ailey School and the professional dance world, the company embodies Alvin Ailey’s pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people.

Ailey II Artistic Director Francesca Harper. (Nir Arieli photo)

Ailey II in Francesca Harper’s “Luminous.” (Lynn Donovan photo)

Tony-winner LaChanze makes directorial debut with ‘Wine in the Wilderness

BY LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

We all know Tony Award-winning Broadway star LaChanze for her acting prowess, but now you will get to see her wear another hat, as she makes her directorial debut with Alice Childress’ work “Wine in the Wilderness” playing at CSC’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater, located at 136 E 13th Street. LaChanze recently took the time to talk with the AmNews about this stunning production.

AmNews: LaChanze why did you choose Alice Childress’ play “Wine In The Wilderness” to make your directorial debut?

LaChanze: They chose me — I was given the opportunity and couldn’t say no. I’m a strong supporter of Ms. Childress’ works and part of my mission as an actor and director is to see all her works produced in New York, to highlight her exceptional plays that reflect American history.

AmNews: Why is the message behind this play so relevant, especially today?

LaChanze: Don’t judge a book by its cover. But what makes her a brilliant playwright is that she doesn’t beat you over the head with the message. She sets up circumstances that are familiar to everyone so that you’re leaving the theater with a new perspective.

AmNews: Childress truly captures the Black experience in America, and “Wine In The Wilderness” puts a spotlight on the way that some African Americans belittle each other. What do you want audiences to get from experiencing this play?

LaChanze: I want audiences to appreciate the differences in all of us and reexamine how we each play a part in the biases that continue to divide us.

AmNews: The way that Bill speaks to Tomorrow Marie is quite raw and demeaning. As a director, what is the challenge you face in guiding the actors’ performances so that the audience isn’t completely turned off by Bill?

LaChanze: Ms. Childress wrote

Bill to be a character who isn’t a typical bad guy, but a product of his circumstances. He is a Black man in the early ‘60s, when riots were happening and the Black revolution was just beginning. So I focus on the internal riot that each character is trying to

manage, not labeling them with one broad stroke, but exposing their own internal struggles and reminding each actor that these characters are multidimensional.

AmNews: This play shows not only that some Black men can

speak with blatant disregard for the feelings of Black women, but that some Black women also tear each other down. What lesson is to be learned from this element of the play?

LaChanze: This isn’t about Black women tearing each other down,

it is about Black women starting to see and value each other.

AmNews: You were last seen on Broadway in the Alice Childress’ play “Trouble In Mind.” What is the challenge when going from being on stage performing her characters, to now directing other actors to perform her work and give it the rich, proud, and funny delivery it so richly deserves?

LaChanze : As an actor having been in a Ms. Childress play, my only challenge is restraining myself from wanting to jump up and do the role. That said, each actor brings their own dynamic perspective, which is why I cast them. [The company of actors includes Grantham Coleman, Olivia Washington, Brooks Brantly, Lakisha May, and Milton Craig Nealy.]

AmNews: What is it like working with this cast of five actors?

LaChanze: I got lucky. I got lightning in a bottle. I have some of the most incredibly talented actors that I get to work with on this show. They say oftentimes directing is 80 percent casting, and I have to say that’s true, because if you have the right actors that can embody the characters, then half your job is done. The rest is making sure they recreate the reality of the world, the circumstances and the time and this cast is definitely doing just that.

AmNews: As this is your directorial debut, are you taking the actors’ suggestions for delivery, and what is it that like?

LaChanze: My approach is to create a rehearsal environment that is collaborative, where everyone’s opinion is heard and valued.

AmNews: A lot of Black history is included in this production, why is this important?

LaChanze: In a time when our history is trying to be hidden, buried under lakes, and destroyed, we need Ms. Childress’ work more than ever.

AmNews: Why should people come to see this production [now playing through April 13]?

LaChanze: Because it’s a good show! It’s an important piece of our American history that people need to know about.

stage.org.

LaChanze (Photo courtesy of Print Shop PR)

Tiger Woods dating Trump Jr’s ex-wife; Will Smith to drop 1st new album in 20 years; Nick

Barrotta stars in “Duplicity;” Tyler Perry pays for Angie Stone’s funeral service

WITH THE FLO

Interesting new couple alert!

Tiger Woods is dating Donald Trump Jr’s ex-wife Vanessa Trump. She and Donny share five children. A source close to the Trump family confirmed to People magazine that Tiger and Vanessa have quietly been dating for several months. According to the insider, her ex-husband, the eldest son of President Donald Trump, is “cool” with the pair being an item. Vanessa’s daughter, Kai, is a golfer. And, according to realtor.com, the new lovebirds’ homes are located just minutes away from each other in Jupiter, Florida...........

Tongues are wagging that Will Smith is releasing his first new album in 20 years. “It’s official,” the Oscar-winning actor posted on Instagram. “My new album

‘Based on a True Story’ drops March 28th. Two weeks. Hit that presave. Been working on this project for a minute and I’m itchin’ to get it out to y’all.” Welcome back, Fresh Prince!

Tyler Perry’s “The Oval” star Nick Barrotta is making his film debut with a featured role in Perry’s latest project, “Duplicity,” to stream on Amazon Prime, March 20. Said Barrotta, “‘Duplicity’ is very exciting. I play Sam, who is a producer at the news station where Fela [Megan Tany] works. Sam is a buttonedup, straight, serious about his job guy. The movie is a legal drama, sort of thriller, lots of plots and twists.” He added, “Tyler Perry changed my life. He gave me my first scripted job. He is a light that really shines so bright. He is not

only a mentor, but a friend.” “The Oval” is now in its sixth season on BET. “We’re still rocking and rolling,” added Barrotta.......

In more Tyler Perry news, the rumors that the producer paid for Angie Stone’s funeral in Atlanta on March 16 are all true. The generous billionaire even sent in his team to make all of the arrangements. Perry delivered a moving speech at the service, where he said it was terrible that she has been denied her royalties. Also, for those of you who are wondering if D’Angelo, the father of their son, Michael D’Angelo Archer II, attended Angie’s funeral: No, he did not. Sources say the crooner sent a security team, but never showed up himself. Singers who paid tribute to Angie included Keke Wyatt, Tamela Mann, Y’anna Crawley, Anthony Hamilton, and Kirk Franklin. Other celebrities in attendance included Jawn Murray, Jasmine Guy, Chris Tucker, Terri J. Vaughn, Musiq Soulchild, and Lamman Rucker, along with Angie’s sorority sisters of Zeta Phi Beta. .........

October 02, 2019. (TechCrunch / commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TechCrunch_Disrupt_San_ Francisco_2019_-_Day_1_(48834070763)_(cropped).jpg))

Will Smith onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 at Moscone Convention Center on

Amina Rachman’s life of service and activism

By RACHEL SAMPSON Special to the AmNews

A headline about Malcolm X broke through my mass-media boundaries recently, who was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, while delivering a speech in Manhattan. Had my aunt Amina not been traveling with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) down south at the time, she would have been on the stage when he was shot and killed. While still a teen, it had been one of her jobs to introduce him before his speeches at the Audubon Ballroom.

My aunt, Amina Rachman, was just settling into her hard-earned retirement and working on a memoir when cancer took her all too suddenly on Sept. 25, 2011. She was going to call it “From X to Aleph (א ),” an apropos title for her journey from Christian to Muslim to Jewish convert (“Aleph” being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet).

Born in Harlem in 1948 as Sherron Jackson, my aunt became Sharon 10X in the Nation of Islam, Amina Abdur Rahman in Islam, and ultimately Amina Rachman before becoming a bat mitzvah at her Brooklyn synagogue in her 50s.

Her career in public service and political and social activism began in high school with SNCC. She met Malcolm (as she called him) while participating in an early morning demonstration against Harlem Hospital before school. She quickly became close to him for the next two years until his death. His late wife, Betty Shabazz, told my aunt just after his death that her husband saw Amina as another daughter. Amina was interviewed in the ’90s for the “PBS documentary about Malcolm X’s life called “Make it Plain”.

My aunt graduated from high school at only 15 after a hero of an educator recognized that Amina’s boredom had been mistaken as special needs. After her travels with SNCC to the south and to Chicago, and all the organizing in Harlem, she joked that she retired at 18. Next, she became an Orthodox Muslim, worked at the Urban League, and gave birth to her daughter Sabra at 21. Amina served as deputy chancellor of education

under NYC Mayor David Dinkins, and as a leader at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union under Randi Weingarten. At 35, she met my maternal aunt Leonore at a fundraiser for the LGBTQ group now called Hetrick-Martin Institute, and they went on to raise a son, Josh, together.

I miss my aunt; it’s been nearly 15 years since we last spoke. I want more of this book she never got to finish; these incredible pages of history as seen through the eyes of

“an exceptionally precocious, curious, Black girl in Harlem in the 1950s and ’60s, within a really complicated family, during an extraordinary time in American history, who pushed through classism and racism to become a mover and a shaker in the world of education policy,” as my aunt Leonore, who has also since passed, best put it.

In a speech at her funeral, Mayor Dinkins shared the following:

“I was privileged to work with Amina — first, as my education policy advisor while I was Borough president, and later, as a member of the team at the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. I never ceased to marvel at how remarkably clear and patient she was in her dealings with the uninformed, the misinformed, and, on occasion, the downright igno-

rant. She helped to address some of the most troubling issues of our times, and did her level best to enlighten, to inspire, to motivate and to educate.

“I admired Amina’s calm courage. She relied on reason and truth to advocate for civil rights, for religious tolerance, for quality education for the poor, and she gave more than lip service to her belief that we must all shoulder the responsibility for each and every human being, including the sick, the powerless, the most vulnerable.

“We thought the world of Amina, and we mourn her passing. Yet we know that she would want us to look beyond our tears to the battles ahead and rededicate ourselves to creating a world free of inequities, intolerance and ignorance. The City of New York is a better place because she was here. It is said, my friends, that service to others is the rent we pay for our space on earth. Amina Rachman departed us paid in full. Let her not look down and find any of us in arrears.”

I see no better time to humbly share these words, to share a piece of Amina’s memoir and an important piece of history. I gratefully acknowledge my aunt’s activism and the words, below, that she wrote before her death, in the hope that they can affect and help

coal truck would come by, put out the chute, and shoot the coal down into the basement. My grandfather and my uncles, who also lived in the building, would “bank the coal,” shoveling it into the furnace. Any issues about heat and hot water and all the nasty comments about the superintendent not taking care of the building were directed at my grandfather. I heard them all. Next door in 218, my great-grandmother lived in a large five- or sixroom apartment — large by New York City standards — and over time, various different aunts and uncles lived there, too. Generations of families often stayed on the same block back then.

School

guide others.

The material below is excerpted from “From X to Aleph (א),” the unpublished memoir of Amina Rachman. For the full article, visit amsterdamnews.com.

Childhood and belonging

Black people didn’t live all over New York City when I was growing up. We lived in a few neighborhoods. Most Black people who lived in Manhattan lived in Harlem, unless a family came into some money and moved to Queens or out to Long Island. At that time, Harlem was not just poor people. Harlem was the place where Black achievers and celebrities lived. You would see boxer Sugar Ray Robinson in the neighborhood. Or baseball player Roy Campanella, after he was paralyzed and in a wheelchair, investing his money in a liquor store on the corner of 134th Street and 7th Avenue.

I’m fairly certain my parents separated when my mother was pregnant with my brother, and my mother took my sister and me back to her old neighborhood. We lived in her parents’ first floor apartment on 220 West 134 St. The building no longer exists, but back in the ’40s and ’50s, my grandfather was the superintendent. I remember the

From a kid’s perspective, I had a wonderful elementary school, but looking objectively at test scores, income levels, and all the other statistical data, it was a horrible school. The building was very old with a coal-burning stove. Rats ran freely through the halls. Classrooms had wooden desks nailed in place and huge sliding doors. By the time I started pre-kindergarten at 4, I was reading. I don’t think my abilities were so apparent to my teacher. By first grade, school bored me. So I got into major trouble. I ran my own little world in the back of the classroom. I got sent to the principal’s office several times. I think some teachers thought that I had learning disabilities, that I must be acting up in class because I couldn’t do the work.

It was the principal, Elliot Shapiro, who figured out that I was bored. Elliot Shapiro was a famous administrator in his time, a real fighter for children’s needs. When Mr. Shapiro came across unused musical instruments in a boarded-up warehouse, he decided that he wanted to give kids in his school music lessons. He brought a teacher from the Henry Street Settlement to give violin lessons as part of an afterschool program for 25¢. It was Mr. Shapiro who came up with the idea that I would skip a grade. I basically ended up completing second and third grades in one year. Far from being overwhelmed, I found I actually liked school again. I also started learning to read music and play the violin. These things kept me from acting out, which was fortunate, as I could have been sent to Special Ed had it not been for Mr. Shapiro. He

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Amina Rachman was born Sherron Jackson in Harlem in 1948. (Photos courtesy of Sabra Pacheco)

remained my hero my whole life. Music lessons took me beyond my neighborhood into the rest of Manhattan, but none of that could prepare me for how much my world was going to expand. In junior high I met two teachers unlike any I’d ever had: Ted Salzman and Carl Silver, a math teacher and a science teacher, both activists. Both were part of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), which, in the late ’50s and early ’60s, was a progressive, important organization. NCCJ also had a youth group. It was predominantly white, but there were other Black kids there. We would go to the NCCJ folk singing groups. Between the songs, we would have political discussions with Carl and Ted. We were having intense conversations about Ghana, the first African country that was just beginning to overthrow colonialism, and the youth freedom movement starting to bubble up with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For me, this was the equivalent of somebody being at college and having sophisticated conversations with professors. This was just amazing!

Activism

Through SNCC, I began moving in different circles, going to places far beyond Harlem and Manhattan and New York. SNCC made arrangements to use various college campus dorms and buildings for their staff meetings when schools were on break. My godmother was nervous about me going so far away until she met Stokely Carmichael, one of SNCC’s first leaders. She thought he was a charming young man. A gifted student, he went to Bronx Science and then Howard University. Stokely was only a few years older than I am, but at that age, he seemed a lot older. The funny thing is that my godmother completely trusted him. Stokely would call and talk to her and say, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.” Because my godmother would have these conversations with people like Stokely and Jim Forman, she felt I was fine. I was in good hands. Oh, my God! At 14, I’m in the 10th grade, and I’m going to Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta for SNCC staff meetings, and demonstrations in Washington and Baltimore. We once marched from Baltimore along Route 40 to Washington, D.C., and sat in segregated restaurants along the way. Anytime school was closed up here in New

York City, I was there in the south with SNCC.

I live on 134th. In the Amsterdam News, a prominent New York City Black newspaper, I read that HARYOU had opened right on the next street [at the Harlem YMCA] for the purpose of studying youth in Harlem. I’ve demonstrated in the south. I know all these people at SNCC, and I’m ready to take a stand. I take myself around the corner to the HARYOU offices one day and say, “Who are you people? And what do you mean you’re here to study youth?” I look around the room. There’s no one my age here. That’s outrageous! I raise such a ruckus that day that they decide to have a long conversation with me right then and there. Before I know it, I was offered an after-school job, and became the youth representative for HARYOU. I wound up on committees and commissions. I was in meetings with the mayor. The cultural committee included the writer and activist James Baldwin.

Meeting the minister

One day, a group of us were demonstrating [at the Harlem Hospital construction site]. There were white college students. There were activists from CORE. Some were walking with pickets. Some were lying in the street, blocking cement trucks from working on the site. Sometimes we did both, taking turns. My shift comes, and I’m lying on the street, and someone comes over. I don’t know why

Malcolm sent someone over to talk to me because I did not know him. I had seen Malcolm around on the site, and maybe he had seen me before. I was a familiar face at demonstrations.

I think Malcolm recognized my face and may have been surprised to see me in the Harlem Hospital demonstration, especially sitting in the street blocking a cement truck, when he had probably seen me at other places like 125th Street, listening to speakers on the corner. In any event, he sent someone over to ask me to get up and come across the street and talk to him. This would be my first meeting with James 67X, who was Malcolm’s main assistant. James comes over and says to me, “Sister, Minister Malcolm is across the street, and he’d like to speak to you.” I’m thinking, This is bizarre. So I say, “If he’d like to speak to me, he can come over here and speak to me.” “I think he’d like for you to come across the street and speak to him.” “I can’t get up from here. I have to stay.”

James goes back across the street, speaks to Malcolm, comes back again, and keeps trying to persuade me. “Sister, the Minister would really like to talk to you for just a few minutes. You can come back to your spot, but just come across the street for a few minutes.” And finally I tell him, “I need to sit here for another 15 minutes, and when my shift is finished, I’ll come over.”

When I finish, I go across the

for so badly that you put your life on the line,” I tell him. “But you don’t really believe that that truck might run you over,” [he responded]. I don’t let go so easily. I tell him about people resisting passively in India. “People in India got killed. I don’t think you really believe that that truck might run you over,” he replied. He paused. And he said, “That’s a devil sitting in there. That’s not a person who thinks like you and me.”

street to talk to Malcolm. Malcolm looks at me and says, “What are you going to do if that truck starts moving?” “That truck is not really going to start running over people.” “Oh, he wouldn’t say it was on purpose,” Malcolm said. “He’d say it was an accident. ‘Oops, my foot slipped.’ But you’d be dead either way, on purpose or [by] accident.” “This is nonviolent action and passive resistance,” I say. “You have to take a stand and prove to people that you want what you’re fighting

We go back and forth, kind of discussing civil disobedience, passive resistance, nonviolent action, the philosophy, the strategy of the Movement versus Malcolm’s ideas. “Is this really the road to freedom for Black people in this country? begging white America for jobs, letting us in and giving us a piece as opposed to creating something of our own?” Malcolm asked, “The example that he used a lot was the bus boycott. People in Montgomery had boycotted the buses for more than a year. People had walked, and taken car services, carpooled, and finally got the bus company to agree to let Black people sit anywhere on the bus. The companies eventually hired a few Black people as bus drivers. Malcolm said, “People could’ve bought that bus line, or started their own and had a thriving business with a solid ridership.”

That was something to think about. His was a different idea, one that I hadn’t thought about before. And that was the beginning of my relationship with Malcolm.

Amina Rachman. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Sampson)

Cumbre Afro at CENTRO looks to unite cultures from Puerto Rico to Harlem

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

This year, the University of Puerto Rico’s Cumbre Afro is headed to Harlem. “CENTRO x Cumbre — Sites of Black Memory: Our Ancestors, Archives, and Arts,” the fourth annual Cumbre Afro, or Afro Summit, will conclude with events at East Harlem’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College.

On Mar. 21, beginning at 6 p.m., CENTRO will host a discussion between its director, Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez; Joy Bivins, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and Professor Vanessa Valdés, author of the book “Diasporic Blackness: The Life and Times of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.”

Throughout the day on Mar. 22, CENTRO will host panel discussions that look at the intimate, labor-intensive work of photographing, documenting, and archiving history –– particularly Black diasporic history –– and understanding how it helps define us.

Bringing the Cumbre to Harlem honors the legacy of Afro Puerto Rican writer and historian Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, said poet/ novelist Mayra Santos Febres, coordinator of the Racial and AfroDiasporic Studies Program at the University of Puerto Rico (PRAFRO). It’s part of a retracing of the steps Schomburg took as he worked to document and embrace Black history.

At age 17, Schomburg moved from Puerto Rico to New York City. He adapted to the city’s daily grind but also maintained his personal goals of connecting with New York’s diverse Black community and preserving AfroDia-

sporic records. Schomburg even contributed occasional articles to the New York Amsterdam News. “The whole Cumbre is dedicated to Schomburg because we know that Schomburg was the founder of AfroDiasporic studies,” Santos Febres told the AmNews

This year’s conference theme is in recognition of Schomburg’s detailed compilation of information about historical Black communities. “That is really important for us because sometimes Schomburg is thought of only in terms of his research on African American studies, but actually, we know that Schomburg was a great connector,” said Santos Febres. “He connected [the Jamaican-American writer] Claude McKay to [the Cuban poet] Nicolás Guillén. He did studies on the Callejón de los Negros in Spain. He found this figure that was long-forgotten — the work of Juan Latino, who was a professor in the 16th century at the University of Granada.”

Schomburg’s archival work was purchased by the New York Public Library and is now the basis for Harlem’s Schomburg Center.

Schomburg’s Caribbean heritage guided his concentration on the importance of African diasporic roots. “He was particularly adamant about what the scholar Jerome Branche has termed ‘malungaje,’ or our supranational identity as Black people in the global African context,” Santos Febres said.

“That is why we are dedicating our Cumbre to Schomburg: We believe, like he did, that we cannot fully understand race, racialization, and the history and culture of people of African descent without incorporating a diasporic theme into what has been produced.”

The Cumbre Afro’s four days of programming in Puerto Rico have featured speakers from Zimbabwe, Senegal, Ivory Coast, the U.S.A., the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.

CENTRO’s opportunity to host the Cumbre Afro in New York City will help it strengthen its “connections with the University of Puerto Rico and its program in Afro-Descenden-

cia y Racialidad (PRAFRO),” said Figueroa-Vásquez: “This gathering represents an incredible opportunity for us to enrich our community connections, working alongside NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. We are excited to host a collective of scholars, artists, writers, and musicians to share insights on hemispheric Black histories.”

In New York, some of the events will feature talks from archivists at the Schomburg Center, CENTRO, CUNY’s Dominican Studies Institute, and Brooklyn College’s Haitian Studies Institute. Representatives of cultural institutions such as East Harlem’s Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) and Orlando, Fla.’s Puerto Rican

del nacionalismo’ (nationalism’s girlfriend), or this romanticized idea, when Juliá was an incredible political leader, and she was an Afrodescendant. The most important part of Julia is how her life is a summary of the life of all Puerto Ricans and Caribbeans ––and also of all women public intellectuals.”

Juliá de Burgos may have been the Caribbean’s first public intellectual of African descent, Santos Febres contends, but her role is often downplayed, as is her Black heritage. Although people who knew her, like the writer and former president of the Dominican Republic, Juan Bosch, described her as a dark-skinned woman with curvy hair, “In the photographs, she looks too white and it’s weird …That was the technique at the time: Photos of the ’20s and so on had people who were dark all of a sudden becoming white,” Santos Febres said. “And that happens in many other documents — historical documents at the beginning of the 20th century and the end of the 19th century. But I think that to read thoroughly about who and what was the life of Juliá would make you understand the incredible ‘rompimientos,’ the vanguard ways of thinking and writing that Juliá practiced. She’s an incredible model.

Organization for the Performing Arts (PROPA) will talk about preserving history while trying to survive in gentrifying neighborhoods. Santos-Febres will give a talk about her latest work, “La otra Julia (The Other Julia),” a book that reimagines the life of Julia de Burgos, one of Puerto Rico’s most well-known poets. Burgos, who was a poet, journalist, and supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement, is iconic on the archipelago, but even though she was biracial, she tends to be depicted with a bleached-out face –– her African heritage is rarely acknowledged.

“I try to rescue Juliá specifically from that whitening,” Santos Febres said. “Puerto Rican identity has defined her as ‘la novia

“She migrated from rural Carolina down to the city, and then to New York City. She was one of the editors of “Pueblos Hispanos,” and a cultural journalist — she won a prize for that. She was the general secretary of the female-led branch of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, so she was much more than a romantic poet. However, this is the way that people tell us that Juliá is being taught at school, so I wrote this novel based on her life to try to restore the importance of Juliá de Burgos in Latin America as a public woman intellectual of African descent in the Caribbean.”

CENTRO x Cumbre will take place at 695 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Some of CENTRO x Cumbre’s free events will also be available online for those who cannot attend in person. Visit https://centropr.hunter. cuny.edu/event/centro-x-cumbresites-of-black-memoryour-ancestors-archives-andarts/?mc_cid=b5f4113454&mc_ eid=4006f7692b.

Book cover for Mayra Santos Febres’ “La otra Julia (The Other Julia)” (Contributed photo)

Schomburg contributed occasional articles to the New York Amsterdam News. (Schomburg article in AmNews Aug. 24, 1935, from ProQuest)

Dr. David Levering Lewis’ ‘The Stained Glass Window’ lights up the 92nd Street Y

By MICHAEL ADAMS Special to the AmNews

Lots has changed in the book business. But invariably, important titles published in New York still ideally start life at 92NY where they are discussed before a paying audience of some of the city’s most discerning cultural lovers. This time-honored debut of eagerly anticipated works is often preceded by the author’s interview on WNYC Radio’s “Brian Lehrer Show.”

The latest of David Levering Lewis’ 11 books, “The Stained Glass Window,” premiered at both venues.

Last Thursday night found Dr. Lewis in a compelling exchange with equally acclaimed writer Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed, best known for her 2008 history-changing book on Sally Hemings and her family. Memorably, in 1981, Lewis wrote a groundbreaking examination of the Harlem Renaissance called “When Harlem was in Vogue.” As these expert Black history authorities discussed “The Stained Glass Window,” over 200 audience members, in-person and virtually, gave their rapt attention to every word. Beginning with his African and European ancestors in 18th century America, “The Stained Glass Window” provides a powerful account of Dr. Lewis’ heritage. The book concludes just as the young Black scholar starts his post-graduate studies at the London School of Economics. Recounting his family’s advance, Lewis shatters every fallacy of white supremacy, underscoring the essential, re -

passing and living in fear. He told a story about questioning his mother’s ancient best friend during his research. “Your mother was the nicest ‘no nation’ person I ever met!” she told him. “I had never heard that term before!” he said of a phrase so descriptive, there’s no mistaking its meaning. But Dr. Reed did know the terminology, having heard mixedrace people called “no nation people” growing up in Texas.

Impressed by a whole world and entire epoch that “The Stained Glass Window” lays out, Dr. Reed inquired, “Is there another book, a sequel?” But Lewis replied with emphatic resignation “No. I have memory problems, not yet Alzheimer’s, but I’m aware of it, that would prevent me from completing another small book.”

disparate lagging behind, is all our own doing. Their success in turn, they insist, has nothing to do with us. It’s based on hard work. Not ours, for centuries, for free. Only theirs.

demptive value of America’s diversity. Once demonized as “miscegenation,” Lewis’ mixed-race heritage set his family apart. It was a status, he explained, that meant disdain and privilege both. America’s “one drop rule” was a choice of either being Black and proud or white

Book Review: ‘Power from the Podium’

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

As is customary, the Afrikan Healing Circle, a percussion choir, opened the ceremony at a recent commemoration of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) at the Shabazz Center in Washington Heights. When the drumming stopped, Dr. R.A. PtahsenShabazz handed me his book, “Power from the Podium — the Story of Black Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos.” I had no idea that Ptahsen-Shabazz was a percussionist, doctor, and also an author. On the occasions I’ve been in his company, he has always been so self-effacing, and seemed reluctant to share his book with me. It’s a book he needs to share with the world, and at just over 100 pages, it’s a quick read, almost equivalent to the speed of the sprinters he so vividly highlights. The good doctor reveals so much about the historic moment in Mexico City during the 1968 Olympics when Smith and Carlos stood on the victory podium with no shoes, and each cast a gloved fist to the air while the Star Spangled Banner boomed across the stadium.

Millions have seen that iconic gesture

With another answer, Dr. Lewis explained the book’s message and value taking the crowd back to an Uber ride he once took. Descended from European immigrants, who only arrived in the U.S. after slavery ended, the driver told him that families like his bore no responsibility or blame for enduring white supremacy. “It made me realize,” said Dr. Lewis, “how despite all my work, I was out of touch. This man represented the way millions think. Yes, they assume there are some exceptions. But they also feel that inequality, Black Americans’

“Finally there was an opportunity for me to pose a question. With atrocity and adversity during slavery and after, dismissed today, with discrimination and prejudice deliberately, officially, forgotten, ‘The Stained Glass Window’ helps to bear witness.” Thinking that it is a record that cannot be allowed to be suppressed, I asked Reed and Lewis both, “Six years ago, troubled times gave us Black Lives Matter. Like then, like the Civil Rights Movement or the Civil War, might not the hostilities of today be an opportunity to do great things, a crucible that makes us better?”

Before Dr. Reed took the lead addressing my quandary, both said I was optimistic.

“Yes, Black Lives Matter unified people around the world against white supremacy. So now can be a chance to change things. We have hope,” said Dr. Reed, with Dr. Lewis concurring. And I’m here to say that if you read the “Stained Glass Window” too, learning what others overcame, believe it or not, with far worse odds, you’ll be inspired to have hope, to be optimistic, and to act accordingly in these times.

Dr. David Levering Lewis signs “The Stained Glass Window,” the latest of his 11 books, for Princeton University historian Wallace Best, the HughesRogers Professor of Religion and African American Studies and Director of the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies. (Michael Adams photo)

Billy Cobham, Nnenna Freelon, Schomburg, Ladies Got Chops

Nnenna Freelon is one of those singers I can listen to and never tire of feeling the warmth insulated in her every note. She tells stories that sing with an emotional relevance; she sings jazz, but the blues dances in every lyric.

From March 21–23, the song stylist will grace Dizzy’s jazz club (60th Street and Broadway). She arrives in the city with new material and the CD “Beneath the Skin” (Origin Records). She diverts from the American Songbook standards that she effortlessly transforms into newfound gems.

“Having experienced love and loss, I felt it was time to write my own material,” Freelon explained in a PBS N.C. segment. “It’s an interior of you, a different vulnerability.” She has turned her experiences into a collection of heart-spoken songs that aim to heal life’s personal and universal broken places. “You have to take in what you are receiving and engage in it,” she said, although with this new outing, she does take time to offer her own unique blues-toned rendition of “Oh, Susanna.” Susanna will never be the same!

Freelon didn’t sign her first record deal until she was in her late 30s, recording her debut CD, “Nnenna Freelon,” for Columbia in 1992. That demonstrated the deal was more about talent than age.

She has received seven Grammy nominations that acknowledged the always-late gatekeepers finally noticed her talent. Before such nominations, she was already accepted in her community of North Carolina and later a welcomed talent to the jazz community, having worked with such notables as Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Herbie Hancock, and Terence Blanchard, including her White House performance with trumpeter-composer Clark Terry.

“I embody the music. It’s in me, I feel it in a visceral way — it feels like dance or poetry,” Freelon said in a PBS interview.

The resident of Durham, N.C., will be accompanied by pianist Miki Hayama, bassist Kenny Davis, guitarist Keith Ganz, and drummer Jeremy Warren.

For reservations, visit jazz.org.

“Thunderous, fiery explorer seeking new sounds in drumming” describes the depth of Billy Cobham. His first paid gig at the age of eight as a member of St. Catherine’s Queensmen, a drum and bugle corps in St. Albans, Queens, boosted his confidence as he escalated to stints with Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, the organ soul of Shirley Scott, and guitar/vocals of George Benson. He rattled the so-called definition of jazz for something more moving by co-founding the jazzrock combo Dreams, which included Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, John Abercrombie, Don Grolnick, Barry Rodgers, and Will Lee. The following year, he joined Miles Davis’ groundbreaking

fusion ensemble and contributed to “Live-Evil,” “A Tribute to Jack Johnson,” and the “Bitches Brew” sessions.

Cobham, a true music techy, followed his fusion experience with Davis and became a founding member of the jazz-fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra, along with McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, and Rick Laird. Cobham, who lives in Switzerland and rarely performs in New York City, will storm the Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street) through March 21 with his explosive technique that has powered the resourcefulness of so many prominent bands. He will be joined by his Time Machine, with keyboardist Oz Ezzeldin, trumpeter Randy

For reservations, visit bluenotejazz.com.

The Schomburg Center, the most prominent Black research library in the world, is also recognized as a supporter of community jazz. Since 1992, it has held an annual Women’s Jazz Festival (WJF) showcasing Black women in music, founded by Harlem resident and jazz vocalist Melba Joyce. Over the years, the festival has become a progressive, eclectic music component that propels all genres, from New Orleans’ musicians to riveting poetry, the sounds of Cuba, and the rhythmic flow of Africa.

On May 24,the 2025 festival comes to a finale with the inventive tenor saxophonist, bandleader, and vocalist Camille Thurman. Her tenor is so absorbing — the way she reconstructs a standard like “The Night has a Thousand Eyes” (Inside the Moment, 2017, Chesky) into a moving force just outside the realm, swinging on the cusp of avant gardism. Thurman has an intuitiveness — she plays inside the music, pushing her concept out to the public ear-ways.

Only a confident musician will take chances on traveled tunes, especially a Miles Davis composition like “Nefertiti.” Thurman’s ability to reinvent standards, along with creating her own inspired originals, has become her calling card. Her vocals offer another dimension of instrumentation. She sings in colorful rhythms — from inflections that range in scats of bebop hipness to sensual songs of love and those moments in between.

Brecker, trombonist Marshall Gilkes, and saxophonist Brandon Wilkins.

“Time Machine is an updated version of my production that featured Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Glenn Ferris, Alex Blake, John Abercrombie, Milcho Leviev, and Lee Pastora; 50 years have blown by since then,” said Cobham. “I have rarely performed some of the music from that period. ‘Solarization,’ ‘Total Eclipse,’ ‘Bandits,’ ‘Crescent Sun,’ ‘Moon Germs,’ and ‘Sea of Tranquility’ have barely seen the light of day in any of my productions, so I am now focused upon resurrecting them around music that the Total Eclipse portfolio has inspired me to create.”

For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

The 23rd Annual Ladies Got Chops Women’s History Month Music & Arts Festival comes to an end in New York City on March 29. The affair takes place at the New Amsterdam Musical Association, one of the country’s oldest Black music institutions (107 W. 130th Street). Featured women artists will include Annette St. John, a singer of international fame and Harlem native, will bring her blend of jazzy blues and gospel to the forefront; actress and singer Kim Austin; singer, actress, and bandleader Harmony Bartz; and Billie Holiday, Jr. (6 p.m.–10 p.m.).

For more information, visit ladygotchops.com.

Nnenna Freelon (Tanasha Walker photo)

founder of Street Corner Resources. She became a mentor to Hudson and trained him. “I would not be where I am in my career without Iesha Sekou. I can say that without a doubt,” said Hudson.

Hudson first brought the idea of the New Hood to Kristin Morse, executive director of the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, in 2016. He was earning his doctorate in public and urban policy from the school at the time. Entering a doctoral program while working full-time did not give Hudson the ability to build the New Hood with the vision he had in mind until 2021.

In 2021, he led a webinar and a couple of policy essay series about community healing policy, supported by the Center for New York City Affairs, where he had an administrative capacity through hosting the webinar and handling promotion. Being connected with the New School allowed Hudson to raise money thanks to the institution’s 501c3 status.

“It’s almost like a fiscal sponsorship in a way,” said Hudson. “The Center for New York City

Affairs and the New School have been very supportive in providing the soil for which to have a rose try to grow from concrete.”

Being affiliated with the university also helps bolster his credibility in policy work.

Gun violence prevention is at the center of Hudson’s full-time role as well. He works with the Black and Brown Collective for Community Solutions to Gun Violence, a group of Black and Brown researchers whose mission is to enhance safety and wellness in communities around the United States.

Hudson’s work continues to excite him. He enjoys watching people realize how the government works through his presentation for the New Hood — an introduction to government and public policy. When attendees start to see how it works, they are empowered.

“As long as they have a sound mind, you can never take away someone’s education. That’s part of the legacy of who we are as a people. That’s why education has been so important to us as a people, because no one can take that from you. Once you know, you can’t not know. I think that’s really powerful.”

that artist Kephera Ife captures on the cover of the book. While that moment has been captured throughout the media since it happened, very few are aware of the details and fallout of the event that Ptahsen-Shabazz depicts unerringly, particularly the hardship, harassment and death threats Smith and Carlos endured.

The author carefully builds his story, giving readers a little biographical material on each sprinter, one primarily out West and the other on the East Coast, born about a year and day apart during World War II. Most of the book’s drama centers on the buildup to the Olympic trials and the actual events. To this end, Dr. Harry Edwards, a former athlete at San Jose State College and activist, is a key figure, along with 400-meter sprinter Lee Evans. Together, they developed the seeds of protest stemming from the inadequate housing complaints of San Jose State athletes, forging the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR).

Interestingly, rather than calling their protest a boycott, Ptahsen-Shabazz introduces the term “mancott” to avoid the historically racist-applied ‘boy’ moniker for African American men. The group nationally received a dozen athlete supporters, most notably Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Russell and Jackie Robinson.

With Smith and Carlos — and later Lee Evans — having demonstrated their actions against America’s unrelieved racism and discrimination, the next shoe to fall, so to speak, was the punishment meted out, especially for Smith and Carlos, both evicted from Olympic Village with no welcoming committee when they arrived back in the states.

That lack of recognition for their victories was just the beginning of the problems that would befall the acclaimed track stars. Ptahsen-Shabazz explains some of the turmoil the men encountered. “The pressures on Smith and Carlos’ families from American society were more than just financial,” he writes. “The psychological taunting became haunting. Tommie,

John and their family members would be harassed by a barrage of threatening hate mail and more. The pressure would even bring the loss of life.” Smith’s mother was the first to succumb to the relentless attacks; and later, quite tragically, John’s wife, Kim, worn and unstable, took her life.

What Ptahsen-Shabazz demonstrates so convincingly is that despite the subsequent events and ceremonies as retribution for the denunciation the track stars faced — a statue in their honor, a salute from President Obama, and even some semblance of employment, the flood of resentment, and demeaning insults made life unbearable. Even so, Smith and Carlos soldiered on, and as Ptahsen-Shabazz observed: “ … Any modern-day athlete who seeks to express their cultural-political voice on behalf of the people, in the midst of this world of calamity, will be in some way connected to the spirit of justice elevated to the heavens in the blackgloved fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and their triumphant expression of Power from the Podium.”

T. Thomas Fortune, an accomplished journalist and prolific author CLASSROOM IN THE

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

A recent invitation to speak on the life and legacy of Timothy Thomas Fortune was the perfect opportunity for my column. On several occasions, I have included Fortune in my commentaries and anthologies, and no matter where he’s included his worth and prestige are undeniably warranted.

Fortune was born into slavery on Oct. 3, 1856 in Mariana, Jackson County, Florida. His education began after his family, Emanuel and Sarah Jane Fortune, moved to Jacksonville, where he attended Edwin M. Stanton School. It is not clear how he managed to acquire the job as a page in the state senate and later as an apprentice printer of a state newspaper. But they may have come as a result of his father’s standing as a politician during the Reconstruction Era. A succession of newspaper jobs followed his introduction to the profession at the Mariana Courier and the Jacksonville Daily-Times Union

While Fortune was mainly a journalist, he was also quite proficient as the author of numerous books and articles, to say nothing of the countless editorials.

But the income from his writings had to be supplemented by a steady job and reasonable salary in order to pay the bills. By 1874, he was sustaining himself as mail route agent, and then worked as a customs inspector for the eastern district of Delaware. His tenure as an inspector was very brief and he was soon off to Howard University.

At the HBCU, the inveterate autodidact was admitted to the law school. But after a couple of semesters, he changed his major to journalism. This, too, was just temporary and he was

soon off to work at the People’s Advocate in Washington D.C. It was during this stint that he married Carrie C. Smiley. His journeys next took him to New York City, and his journalistic occupation expanded considerably, most lucrative as an editor and publisher of the New York Globe, then The Freeman, and finally The New York Age. It was at the latter paper that his renown was fully established, and the paper was widely circulated and praised as “The Afro-American Journal of News and Opinion.” In 1890, a proponent of militant agitation, Fortune was elected chairman of the executive committee of the National Afro-American Press Association (NAAPA) at their annual assembly in Indianapolis.

As he took on the leadership of the NAAPA, he still found the time and energy to co-edit the more militant publication, The National Afro-American League, and Fortune is often cited as the progenitor of the “Afro-American” designation. This work was short-lived, lasting only four years but was revived in Rochester, New York, in 1898 and renamed The National AfroAmerican Council under the guidance of Alexander Walters. Later, Fortune would succeed Walters as president from 1902-1904. Interestingly, both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were prominent members of the council, as well as the esteemed Ida B. Wells. In several ways, the League and the Council were pacesetters for the

ley’s 1900 presidential campaign, though he remained a bi-partisan critic of the corruption in both parties.

Fortune published his book “Dreams of Life: Miscellaneous Poems” in 1905. Two years later, he experienced a nervous breakdown and sold the Age to Fred R. Moore, who kept the paper operating until 1960. Meanwhile, Fortune continued writing and published his next book, “The New York Negro in Journalism,” in 1915.

When Marcus Garvey arrived in the U.S. in 1916 and put the UNIA on the map, Fortune was there for him as an editor of the organization’s organ, The Negro World. With a circulation of 200,000 in the states and elsewhere, it was the largest Black publication.

ACTIVITIES

FIND

OUT MORE

Practically every compendium on Black journalism has at least a citation on Fortune and his legacy, and there’s more from me on Fortune in this article: “The Black Press: A Long History of Service and Advocacy.” Crisis. Vol. 98, no. 3 (March 1991).

DISCUSSION

See Tony Martin’s “Literary Garveyism” on Fortune’s journalism with the UNIA and The Negro World.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Born before the Civil War, Fortune lived to see the outcome of World War I, and the celebration of the New Negro Renaissance.

later creation of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. But Fortune’s real renown came from his coownership of the New York Age, which he shared with his brother Emanuel and Jerome Peterson. From the paper’s articles and editorials, it led the way against the KKK, lynching, racial discrimination and the various attacks on Black Americans. The paper was unflinching in its fight against white supremacy and the daily violence that went unchecked in the Black community.

After Ida B. Wells’ printing press was destroyed by a white mob in 1892, Fortune gave her a job and the platform to continue her crusade against lynching. Fortune, an implacable Republican, volunteered to help on William McKin-

According to Tony Martin in his book “Literary Garveyism,” Fortune greeted Garvey’s poetry with enthusiasm, and “he saw Garvey as being uniquely qualified to write poetry. Only those who have suffered greatly or felt the ecstasies of joy in its highest and purest form, and capable of reaching the depths in poetic expression which affect and move great masses of people,” Fortune said of Garvey. During this same period, Fortune debated William Ferris on the relativity of miracles, concluding that the creation of the UNIA was a miracle and attributable to Garvey’s powers. Ferris was of the opinion that only the transformation of things by the deity could be properly defined as miraculous.

Six years later in 1928, Fortune died in Philadelphia. He was 71. He is buried at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania. In 1976, his house in Red Bank, New Jersey. was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

March 16, 1966: Rodney Peete, a NFL quarterback, was born in Mesa, Arizona.

March 17, 1919: Singer/ pianist Nat King Cole was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He died in 1965.

March 18, 1959: Actress/singer Irene Cara was born in the Bronx, New York. She died in 2022.

(“The Afro-American Press and Its Editors” photo via Wikimedia)

Raymond Santana Jr.

no memory of what happened. NYPD officers had already rounded up a group of Black and Brown boys (among them were Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, and Santana) in relation to a series of other attacks perpetrated in the park that night by youths, according to the Innocence Project.

After hours of questionable police interrogations, the teens, with the exception of Salaam, made taped confessions to the crime. Five were found guilty of rape, assault, and burglary despite no matching physical evidence. Santana was tried as a juvenile and sentenced to five to 10 years in 1990. He served five years, and was released on parole at the age of 20.

While incarcerated, he earned his General Educational Development (GED) and an associate’s degree, thinking that would help him with employment opportunities. However, he struggled to get a job with the stigma of a conviction and being labeled a sex offender following him. He also had a “strained” relationship with his family, especially his father, Raymond Santana Sr., at that time. He said his father was a straitlaced, hard-working man who had never served any time and couldn’t relate to what his son was going through.

“The criminal justice system had a hold on me that I just couldn’t get loose,” said Santana. After failing to adhere to the terms of his parole, Santana said he spent an additional 20 months locked up. It was at this point that he hit “rock

bottom,” feeling like he had “given up.” Spiraling, Santana was arrested on a drug charge in 1998, admitted guilt, and was convicted again.

Matias Reyes admitted he was responsible for the Central Park jogger rape in 2002. Santana was released and all of the Central Park Five convictions were overturned. He received about $7.125 million out of a $41 million settlement with the city in 2014. Their story was captured in Ava DuVernay’s miniseries on Netflix, “When They See Us,” in 2019.

“My life has been an open book since 1989, and so we continue to leave it that way because we’re not hiding [and] we’re not afraid,” said Santana about campaigning. “The judgment has been passed on us and we’re still standing

at the end of the day, so that’s the testament to our strength. We’ve been called the worst labels: urban terrorists, wolf pack, super-predator, wilding. How much worse can it get?”

His core lesson and message, Santana said, is that “I would have to tell my younger self [to] just keep moving forward, keep pushing forward, don’t give up.”

His “Brotherhood” T-shirt and hoodie collection is dedicated to his fellow members of the Exonerated Five. It simply reads: “Yusef, Kevin, Antron, Korey, & Raymond.”

Since 2004, Santana has been an outspoken criminal justice advocate and public speaker with the Innocence Project and a member of the New York City Justice League. The Inno-

cence Project has pushed legislation in several states to ban deceptive police tactics during the interrogation of minors and mandate the recording of interrogations to prevent wrongful convictions based on false confessions. In the entrepreneurial arena, Santana has also produced a documentary about exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth, who was the first person to escape death row due to DNA evidence in the U.S. He maintained a residence in Atlanta, Ga., with his only daughter, but has said he split his time between there and New York City since 2014. He briefly married and divorced Flavor of Love star Chandra “Deelishis” Davis around 2021. His campaign said he currently lives in the district on 125th Street.

Santana knows he’s not a “politician” in the traditional sense. Essentially, he’s following in the footsteps of his friend Salaam, who is the councilmember in the nearby District 9 and chairs the council’s committee on public safety. Santana said that he “sees the success and change” Salaam is bringing to Central Harlem, and is excited about the prospect of partnering with him.

Around the corner from the cafe, Santana’s father was tending to the community garden and its nine cats on 117th Street. The garden’s building has a dedication to his son. Together, they speak to potential voters passing by. Santana’s campaign said that their fundraising report will be out on March 17 with the city’s New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB) filing. They are also in the process of collecting signatures to get his name on the ballot in June’s primary.

Exonerated 5’s Raymond Santana Jr. with his father, Raymond Santana Sr., at 117th community garden in East Harlem. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Sexually transmitted infections increasing in NYC — here’s how to protect yourself Health

By DEREK LAMB Special to the AmNews

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been increasing in NYC in recent years. Data released for New York City show citywide rises in syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea cases, with a notable 36% increase in syphilis cases among women.

Rates of infection have been more stable nationwide, with CDC data showing between 2.4 and 2.5 million STI cases per year for the last six years, although cases of syphilis have reached 70-year highs nationally.

In the face of these trends, both government and nonprofit organizations have worked to combat these infections with some success. A recently released report from the NYC Department of Health (DOHMH) showed a substantial 22% decline in year-over-year syphilis cases, al -

though chlamydia and gonorrhea cases continued to climb.

To understand how the current STI landscape developed, the AmNews spoke with Marlene LaLota, MPH, regional director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a nonprofit organization that provides healthcare and testing to people who have STIs. In looking at trends, LaLota said the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still a factor.

“COVID messed us up in so many more ways than just COVID. And in New York, because we were hit so hard, the health department and pretty much every other healthcare infrastructure turned their attention to COVID,” she said.

As a result of this focus shift, fewer people got tested for STIs during the pandemic. More recently, according to Chantal Gomez, deputy press secretary for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), “As regular healthcare

visits, and STI screening during many of those visits, started to return to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, numbers of syphilis cases detected via routine screening rebounded somewhat.”

Regular testing is critical for people who suspect they have STIs because of the long-term effects these conditions can have on health. As LaLota explained, “if you have syphilis and you’re not diagnosed pretty early in the disease, it has very severe consequences. Syphilis is very dangerous; people die from it. Chlamydia [and] gonorrhea can cause infertility in young women.” These health consequences can be avoided, since syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea can be cured with medication. Even STIs that are not curable, such as genital herpes or HIV, can be treated and managed. Controlling STI spread requires constant testing and treatment. As STI testing fell off in the early days of the pandemic, it created

the conditions where STIs could flourish. Not getting tested meant not getting treated, and not getting treated meant spreading STIs to more and more partners.

As Gomez said, “STI case rates have been increasing for well over a decade, and the higher the prevalence of STIs among sexual networks … the higher the probability of exposure to and acquisition of STIs for members of those networks.”

Solutions exist but funding sparse

Over the past two years, the NYC government has taken steps to address the climbing STI rates, such as strengthening reporting guidelines and providing additional funding for rapid STI testing throughout the city. However, despite the support and the city’s Sexual Health Clinics, the government alone is unable to meet the needs of its large population. According to LaLota, in recent years, “some

of [the Sexual Health Clinics] have closed, and some of them that are operating stop seeing people at about 2:30 [p.m.] or so. They get pretty full.”

To combat the demand for sexual health services, AHF opened a new Healthcare Center and Wellness Clinic last year in Hell’s Kitchen that is open until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday–Friday, and until 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays. “When you walk in there at 6 to 7:00 at night, it’s standing-room only, and we have a pretty large waiting area,” LaLota said. That shows “it has been incredibly needed in the community.”

Last year also saw a new way to get tested for syphilis with FDA approval of an athome syphilis test: NOWDiagnostics’ First To Know Syphilis Test. Gomez said these at-home tests “are especially useful as a screening test for people without previous syphilis diagnoses.” However, she clarified that “laboratory testing by a healthcare provider must follow to confirm diagnosis … so that the patient can receive appropriate treatment.”

LaLota emphasized the importance of inperson testing at medical facilities, compared to at-home tests: “I feel like it is better for people to come in, to get the counselling, to have the discussion … There’s nothing like having that news in person from a healthcare professional, and then being treated right away.”

The most recent data shows that efforts to combat STIs in NYC have met with some success, with cases of primary and secondary syphilis — the earliest stage of the disease — decreasing by 21.7% among men and 29.7% among women in 2023 in NYC, although cases of latent and late-stage syphilis continued to increase in women. Chlamydia and gonorrhea rates increased for the third year in a row, indicating that there is much more to be done in address-

“If you have syphilis and you’re not diagnosed pretty early in the disease, it has very severe consequences. Syphilis is very dangerous; people die from it. Chlamydia [and] gonorrhea can cause infertility in young women.” These health consequences can be avoided, since syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea can be cured with medication. Even STIs that are not curable, such as genital herpes or HIV, can be treated and managed.

—Marlene LaLota, MPH, regional director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

ing the overall STI surge. A similar slowing of trends has been seen nationally, per a CDC report released late last year.

It is important to recognize that these data are only through the end of 2023, and the impact of interventions in late 2023 or 2024 will not be seen until future years.

Key to the ongoing fight against STIs is funding. Reflecting on both her work at AHF and the Florida State Health Department, LaLota said that “STIs are and always have been a big issue and a big challenge. The funding is not there for STIs.” Funding STI education, testing, and

treatment correlates strongly with new cases; according to LaLota, “if you look at, if you overlay graphs of funding for STIs and STI incidence, it overlaps.”

Control of STIs also relies on individuals making informed decisions based upon their health status. W. Imara Canady, AHF’s national director for communications, said that when a person suspects that they might have an STI, they need to act upon it.

“Sometimes, particularly our younger population, [people think] that ‘if I don’t deal with it, it will go away,’ and that’s not the reality,” Canady said. “It’s actually ‘if I do deal with it, then I’m empowered to make healthy decisions moving forward’.”

The most important aspect of sexual health is STI testing. According to DOHMH, “routine STI testing …will ensure timely diagnosis and effective treatment.”

As part of her job at AHF, LaLota handles calls about suspected STIs on a daily basis: “Anybody that told me ‘it’s burning, it’s itching, it’s dripping, it’s green’ — please go get checked out!”

Despite years of work to overcome stigma related to sexual health, some stigma about STIs and STI testing remains. Clinics like those operated by NYC government or AHF take steps to make visitors comfortable and supported as they seek to understand their STI status. LaLota described AHF’s perspective as “You’re not a bad person, you’re not a dirty person, you’re not a slutty person. You’re just a person that got a disease — an infection that is incredibly prevalent.”

STI testing is not just a concern for anyone who is dating multiple people, but also those in committed relationships. “There is nothing sexier than a couple that says they love each other to go get tested together,” said Canady. “The first, most empowering thing that any individual can do for themselves and their partners is to know their status and get tested.”

Continued from page 30

A vintage STI awareness ad from 1952 (Image via Wikimedia)

Ramadan

Continued from page 3

anxiety over the political climate, said Raza, who identifies as a Democrat.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Israel/Palestine war in Gaza had stirred many Muslim New Yorkers to political action. They took to the streets, protesting the city and federal administrations for not taking a definitive stance against the war. Bloody conflicts between Israel and Palestine stretch back decades. This recent round of fighting began on Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas, a quasi-governmental terrorist organization, attacked and kidnapped Israeli citizens. Fighting lasted for 17 months before leaders were able to broker a ceasefire in favor of a prisoner exchange for the last two months. Israel launched fresh strikes on Hamas forces in Gaza on Tuesday morning, March 18, 2025. Concurrently, U.S. forces commenced airstrikes in Yemen targeting Houthi rebels. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Action, a national Muslim political advocacy organization, denounced the strikes against Gaza and Yemen. “This destructive alliance and militaristic approach severely compromise America’s global credibility, security, and moral leadership,” said CAIR Action Executive Director Basim Elkarra. “These policies are not ‘America First’—they directly undermine our nation’s interests, fueling resentment and violence worldwide. It’s time for American lawmakers to end this complicity, halt funding for aggressive military actions, and prioritize peace and justice.”

In New York City, college campuses, such as Columbia University, had become a hotbed of political outrage as students loudly protested the war and treatment of Palestinian citizens. Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian-American graduate student at Columbia until last year, led several protest efforts on campus. He was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8 inside his university-owned apartment “without a warrant” despite being a green card holder. He’s been transferred and detained in Louisiana with no charges as of yet, reported the Associated Press.

President Donald Trump has vowed to revoke Khalil’s green card and deport him, in an effort to silence student protests on campuses nationwide. In a recent open letter, Khalil called himself a “political prisoner” and said he’s been targeted because of his use of free speech –– a guarantee in the U.S Constitution’s First Amendment.

Khalil has become a central figure in the city’s mayoral race in conversations about immigration and Trump’s deportation agenda, while Mayor Eric Adams has been slammed for his refusal to comment because of his agreement not to criticize Trump.

Khalil’s arrest has shaken Muslim New Yorkers of all backgrounds.

MCN has discussed Khalil’s arrest with Columbia students and many that have their visas or green cards or are already natu-

ralized citizens expressed a sense of deep fear. Yataberry knows of students that were placed on a “list” at Columbia and “doxxed” in the last year and a half. At least two students that he knows of are scared about being on a federal list of some sort.

MCN turned to ‘Know Your Rights’ sessions in shelters, mosques, and schools to educate the community on their rights last year. But it feels a bit futile now when the federal administration disregards the city’s laws and relies on outdated alien sedition acts to detain people without warrants or due process, said Yataberry. He wholeheartedly advocates for having lawyers on retainer for migrants and asylum seekers, and is pushing for the governor to pass the Access to Representation Act (ARA) S.141/A.270. He said that it’s currently in the state legislature’s budget, so he’s hopeful it will go through this year.

Many also fear they may be blanketly targeted as “terrorists.” Yataberry spoke about a similar issue after the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused a spike in Islamophobia throughout the city. He said Imams and mosque leaders, who experienced that trauma and surveillance in the early 2000s, are opting to no longer speak about politics in their establishments.

He said that it’s certainly an uneasy time to observe Ramadan, but hopes that people prevail. “I think the spirit of Ramadan is to persevere during tough times. Physically, you’re going through adversity without drinking water or food during the time the sunlight is out. I think internally it’s to keep your thoughts at bay and put your faith in God,” said Yataberry.

“We are believers. It’s not easy for people to live in fear but they are hopeful,” said Kodjo-Sanogo. “Some have stopped going out to work or coming to the masjid to pray because they fear they’ll be recorded.”

Sanogo added that ACT serves a large group of Sudanese and Muslim immigrants as well. Though it’s less spoken about in international headlines, Sudan’s Khartoum is also gripped in the midst of a civil war that broke out during Ramadan in April of 2023. “To me, personally, I’m against war. This is not the solution. They should be able to sit down and talk and come to a compromise without weapons,” said Kodjo-Sanogo. “They make assumptions about Muslims. Muslim doesn’t equal violence.”

Photo of Ramadan decorations at an IHOP located at 134-60 Springfield Blvd in Queens. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Divine Nine News

Essex County Commissioner A’Dorian Murray-Thomas hosts D9 Day in Newark

Essex County Commissioner

A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, a native of Newark, New Jersey, recognized the need to acknowledge the impact of Divine Nine Organizations and their members, and took action to ensure their contributions in Essex County received some well-deserved recognition. The result was Essex County’s First Divine Nine Day Celebration, held on Mar. 5 at the Essex County Hall of Records in Newark. Leaders of the Divine Nine organizations received resolutions on behalf of the Essex County Board of Commissioners and the City of Newark’s Municipal Council.

As a high school student, MurrayThomas received scholarships from both the Montclair Alumnae Chapter and North Jersey Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Now, she shares scholarship information every year from local chapters of sororities and fraternities in the Essex County area. She believes it is her responsibility to represent her neighbors — residents of District Two in Essex County.

“The role of the elected official is to be an amplifier of the voices of the people. It’s not to be their voice because our people have a voice,” said MurrayThomas, a founder of SHE Wins, Inc. and a 2016 White House Champion of Change — College Opportunity honoree under former President Barack Obama’s administration. “It’s to be an amplifier of the voices that exist and the voices that are silenced and silent. We were thrilled to host the first-ever Divine Nine Day to celebrate the work and accomplishments of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Essex County. We are bringing together inspirational leaders who have made significant impacts in their communities.”

At the event, 10 distinguished honorees received resolutions: Rev. Timothy Adkins Jones, MDiv., Ph.D., senior pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, and member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Shevon Armstrong, vice principal at Quitman Street School in Newark and member Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Beverly Canady, Irvington Schools and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; Vesta Godwin Clark, executive director of St. James Social Services, Corp. and member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; Tyrone Daye, life coach and stretch therapist, and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Sharon Foushee, Pan-Hellenic Council president and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Shadae McDaniel, Sr., vice president of the All Stars Project and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Leonard Robbins, real estate development and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Theodore N. Stephens II, Essex County prosecutor and member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.; and Dr. Kcyied Zahir, coach and school principal; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

A’Dorian Murray-Thomas (center), Essex County commissioner for District Two, and Minister Donna Beck with distinguished honorees, who represent each of the Divine Nine organizations, and a youth representative who presented remarks during the program, during First Essex County Divine Nine Day Celebration on Mar. 5 at Essex County Hall of Records, Newark, N.J. (Photos courtesy of Essex County Commissioner A’Dorian Murray Thomas)

Essex County Commissioner A’Dorian Murray-Thomas (left) presents resolution to Distinguished Honoree and Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II, a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

KAYLYN KENDALL DINES, MBA

State looks to reclassify Harlem River to encourage swimming despite continued sewage overflows

The decision to pursue an SB-WW classification has drawn criticism from environmental advocates

By SURINA VENKAT Special to the AmNews

After decades of efforts to improve the Harlem River’s water quality, the state is considering upgrading its class designation to encourage swimming.

The river is the first New York City waterbody to be considered for reclassification by the state in 2025. However, the proposed reclassification anticipates continued sewage overflows in the Harlem River watershed, which has disappointed environmental advocates. They see the proposed designation as a pessimistic assessment of the river’s future at best and a lack of commitment from the state to substantially reduce the river’s current pollution levels at worst.

“It’s a way of saying, ‘We are never going to be able to clean up this river to a level where it’s actually clean all of the time,’ and it’s making that legal, instead of [the state] having to keep saying, ‘We’re trying to get there, but we can’t get there yet,’” said Joy Hecht, Harlem River Community Rowing board member and treasurer.

The Harlem River is currently designated as a class I waterbody, which means its recommended uses are for fishing and secondarycontact recreation such as boating.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is considering a class SB designation for the river with a Wet Weather (WW) exception, which would update its acceptable uses to include primary-contact recreation such as swimming. Under the WW exception, which was created in 2023, the state would recommend against entering the river for up to 36 hours after periods of heavy rain. According to a Jan. 31 draft report by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), a copy of which was

obtained by the Amsterdam News, this is because even 0.5 inches of total rainfall can lead to combined sewage overflows (CSOs) in the river, temporarily creating unsafe swimming conditions.

CSOs refer to overflows from combined sewage systems — systems that collect industrial wastewater, domestic sewage, and rainwater runoff in the same pipe. When rainwater runoff exceeds a system’s capacity, it can lead to untreated sewage and stormwater discharging into nearby waterways.

The Harlem River still experiences a high number of CSOs, particularly due to an outfall at W. 192nd Street, which is one of the largest contributors to CSOs in New York City. However, the river’s current pollution levels have decreased dramatically since the 1900s, particularly after passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.

In 2011, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership launched as one of seven pilot locations of the Bronx and Harlem River Watersheds, which spurred further efforts to clean up the Harlem River. Ongoing green infrastructure initiatives such as the Tibbetts Brook Daylighting

Project and Van Cortland Lake Improvements Project are expected to decrease CSOs into the Harlem River by more than 215 million gallons per year upon completion and have done much to improve the water quality of the river.

However, in its draft report, which focuses on the Harlem River’s use attainability, the DEP wrote that it is “not feasible” to pursue an SB classification without a WW exception, which would require reducing CSOs in the river further by 75%.

Pursuing a three-quarters or 100% reduction of CSOs in the river would cause an increased financial burden on DEP customers, the report determined. This conclusion has saddened several environmental advocates, even as they expressed excitement about the increased water quality and opportunities for swimming in the river.

“NYC has invested billions of dollars to improve the health of our waterways and they are cleaner today than they have been in the last 150 years,” a DEP spokesperson wrote in a statement to Amsterdam News. “We were glad to hear from the community on their desires for the Harlem River and look forward

make it safe to swim in at all times could cause increased financial strain on those who stand to benefit the most from reduced river pollution levels under the DEP’s current financing system.

Access is equity

Chauncy Young, coordinator with the Harlem River Working Group, a coalition of groups working for 15 years to reconnect community members to the river waterfront, called the river’s pollution and residents’ lack of physical access to the waterfront, which has decreased opportunities for Bronx residents to participate in water activities like rowing and swimming, a “huge equity issue” that he felt the city should be prioritizing.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps has ranked the Bronx as the “least healthy” county in New York state for 16 years in a row. Access to exercise opportunities is one of the factors it considers in its determinations.

to working collaboratively on further improvements.”

The DEP has projected that it would cost approximately $11.48 billion to fully reduce CSOs and approximately $9.32 billion to reduce CSOs in the Harlem River by 75%.

The city’s wastewater and stormwater systems, which include “combined and separate sanitary sewers with 7,400 miles of sewer pipes, 152,000 catch basins, 96 wastewater pumping stations, and 14 WRRFs, plus various green infrastructure assets,” are 95% funded through user fees for water and wastewater.

The DEP anticipates that upgrading the Harlem River’s classification to an SB waterbody without the WW exception would increase user fees per household by $183 citywide. Maintaining existing pollution control costs $1,462 per household citywide currently, the DEP report estimated.

Of residents within the Harlem River watershed, 30% are living below the federal poverty level, according to a DEP analysis of census tract data. Pursuing the level of CSO reductions required to eliminate the WW exception for the river and

“It was a space that was once such a vibrant part of our communities and somehow had been taken away, almost like a history forgotten,” Young said, recalling how the river was once “the center of recreational activities for the whole region.”

The Harlem River used to have dozens of boathouses along its banks and once held a reputation as a hub for competitive rowing, but intense urbanization decreased residents’ access to the river and several boathouses eventually fell into disuse. A resurgence in rowing is currently taking place on the river, with several boathouses re-emerging.

“New York City has done such an extraordinary job of trying to create access to green space, but has so much more work to do to create access to blue space,” said Brigid Ahern, CEO of Row New York. She expressed optimism for more “outdoor experiences on the water.”

Rosa Diaz, Community Board 11 secretary and chair of its Environmental, Open Spaces, and Parks committee, said she feels similarly but the river’s continued pollution has left her with some reservations about using it for swimming. “If we do have the opportunity to swim, it will be wonderful,” she said. “It can open a lot of opportunities for our East Harlem community and the surrounding areas.”

Park Avenue Bridge spanning Harlem River. New classification may mean New Yorkers can swim in the river soon. (Acroterion photo via Wikimedia)

No disease is deadlier in Africa than malaria. Trump’s U.S. aid cuts weaken the fight against it

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda — Malaria season begins this month in a large part of Africa, and no disease is deadlier on the continent, especially for children. The Trump administration’s decision to terminate 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts has local health officials warning of catastrophe in some of the world’s poorest communities.

The U.S. has been the top bilateral funder of anti-malaria efforts in Africa. Africa’s 1.5 billion people accounted for 95% of an estimated 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The USAID stop-work orders issued in late January left Dr. Jimmy Opigo, who runs Uganda’s malaria control program, and others “focusing on disaster preparedness,” he told the Association press.

Anti-malarial medicines and insecticide-treated bed nets that help control the mosquito-borne disease are “like our groceries,” Opigo said. “There’s got to be continuous supply.”

As those resources dwindle with the termination of U.S. contracts,

Opigo said he expects a rise in cases of severe malaria later this year, including problems like organ failure. There is no cure. Vaccines being rolled out in parts of Africa are imperfect, but are expected to largely continue with the support of a global vaccine alliance.

The Washington, D.C.-based Malaria No More said new modeling shows that just a year of disruption in the malaria-control supply chain would lead to nearly 15 million additional cases and 107,000 additional deaths globally. The organization has urged the Trump administration to “restart these life-saving programs before outbreaks get out of hand.”

Health workers in the three African nations most burdened by malaria — Nigeria, Congo, and Uganda — described a cascade of effects with the end of most U.S. government support. The U.S. has provided hundreds of millions of dollars every year to the three countries alone through the USAID-led President’s Malaria Initiative. The U.S. funding has often been channeled through a web of non-governmental organizations, medical charities, and faith-based organizations in projects that made malaria prevention and treatment more acces-

sible, even free, especially for rural communities.

Uganda had 12.6 million malaria cases in 2023 and nearly 16,000 deaths, many of them children under 5 and pregnant women, according to WHO.

Opigo said the U.S. has been giving between $30 million and $35 million annually for malaria control. He didn’t say which contracts have been terminated but noted that field research was also affected.

Some of the USAID funding in Uganda paid for mosquito-spraying operations in remote areas, which were supposed to begin in February before the rainy season, when stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for the wide-ranging anopheles mosquito. They have been suspended.

“We have to spray the houses before the rains, when the mosquitoes come to multiply,” Opigo said. Long lines of malaria patients can be seen outside clinics in many areas every year. Malaria accounts for 30% to 50% of outpatient visits to health facilities across the country, according to the Uganda National Institute of Public Health.

Nigeria and Congo

Nigeria records a quarter of the

world’s malaria cases, but authorities have reduced malaria-related deaths there by 55% since 2000 with the support of the U.S. and others. That support is part of the $600 million in health assistance the west African country received from the U.S. in 2023, according to U.S. Embassy figures. It was not immediately clear whether all of that funding has stopped.

The President’s Malaria Initiative has supported Nigeria’s malaria response with nearly 164 million fast-acting medicines, 83 million insecticide-treated bed nets, more than 100 million rapid diagnostic tests, 22 million preventive treatments in pregnancy, and insecticide for 121,000 homes since 2011, the embassy says.

In Congo, U.S government funding has contributed about $650 million toward malaria control since 2010. Now, some of the successes in fighting malaria in Congo are being threatened, which will complicate already difficult efforts to identify and track disease outbreaks across the vast country as supplies and expertise for malaria testing are affected.

Worsening conflict in Congo’s east, where some health workers have fled, has raised the risk of in-

fection, with little backup coming.

With the loss of substantial U.S. support, “a lot of people are going to be affected. Some people are really poor and cannot afford (malaria treatment),” said Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo, a Nigerian who runs the Market Doctors nonprofit, which provides affordable local healthcare services.

Up to 40% of her organization’s clients are diagnosed with malaria, Ayo-Oyalowo said.

There is hope among health workers in Africa that, even after the dismantling of USAID, some U.S. funding will continue flowing via other groups, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — but that group also received U.S. support and has not issued a public statement about the dramatic cuts in U.S. aid or whether its services will be affected.

Opigo said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health might be sources of help. However, “we need to manage the relationship with the U.S. very carefully,” he added.

Chinedu Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. AP journalist Dan Ikpoyi in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed.

A Tanzanian woman works at local factory making bed nets that protect from mosquitos that can carry malaria.

(Damaso Reyes photo)

Religion & Spirituality

Breonna Taylor. Say her name.

Breonna’s on my mind today. I’m on a little break, but I’m tuned in — to her death. Tuned in to the colonialism that shapes this Puerto Rican paradise where I find myself. Tuned in to the slave trade, and to the anti-Indigenous and anti-Blackness it fostered. Tuned in to the persistence of bigotry in our nation. We live in a nation that does not value Black lives. In fact, I think Blackness is despised by

more people than we dare admit. We live in a nation where poor Black and Brown people are prone to have their doors bashed in, no-knock warrants issued — because finding drugs is more important than their peaceful lives. We live in a nation where Breonna was killed while sleeping. Ahmaud was killed while running. George Floyd was killed with a knee on his neck. And now, Black Lives Matter Plaza is being dug up, destroyed — because this administration wants to erase any evidence of Black progress. Their attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion? It’s just code for an attack on Blackness.

I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m so disappointed that we elected this sociopath to run our country. And I’m disgusted at the persistence of anti-Blackness in our culture.

My heart breaks at the swiftness with which our human rights gains are reversed. If you can be shot to death because you’re sleeping while Black, then you can also be arrested and deported for speaking up at a protest because your green card fails to protect you. I need us to connect these dots, family. We are each other’s keepers. When they came for Breonna and Ahmaud and George and Mahmoud, they came for us.

So let’s stay alert. Stay vigilant. Let’s understand that our faith isn’t about working toward some parachute out of this world. But our

faith is about making this world the reign of God on earth. That requires truth-telling. That requires conflict. That requires nonviolent confrontation. That requires perseverance. That requires an intersectional lens — understanding that our fates are inextricably connected. You can’t be who you’re called to be until I am. None of us is free until we are all free.

This administration is determined to shock us into overwhelm and silence. Our job is to pick the one or two things that matter most to us and dive in — whole heartedly. Teach your children about those issues. Learn about those issues. Campaign about those issues. Make phone calls about those issues. Get in the streets about those issues. Be an expert in those issues. And be clear that you are the one we’ve been waiting for — to make a difference.

In the name of Breonna. In the name of Mahmoud. In the name of God.

We are all tired. Take a break. Take a breath. And when you’re able — jump back in.

We got this. I need us to have this. I believe in us.

Stay tuned for things to learn and do. Join me and Rev. Natalie for Integrating Into a Burning House: Conversations for Survival on March 18 at 7 PM ET. Watch my latest sermon, What to Do About Others. And this fall, join us for the Freedom Rising Conference — a chance

to commune with folks doing love and justice work.

But most importantly — breathe.

I’m praying for us all. Especially today, I’m praying for Breonna’s mom and Mahmoud’s wife.

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 building a just society with fierce love, Dr. Lewis champions racial, economic, and gender/ sexuality justice. The author of several books, including “Fierce Love” and the “Just Love Story Bible,” her work has been featured on NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, NPR and in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Ebony and Essence Magazines.

(Left) Breonna Taylor (Family photo) (Above) A sculpture of Breonna Taylor, created by artist Chris Carnabuci for Confront Art’s “Seeinjustice” exhibition, is on display in Union Square, New York City. (Bill Moore photo)

Zohran K. Mamdani

Continued from page 2

Mamdani: Right now a majority of New Yorkers give over more than 50 % of their paycheck each month to either a landlord or a mortgage lender, and we know that this crisis is at an even higher point when it comes to Black New Yorkers. That level of housing insecurity is shown in statistics to be affecting 50% of Black households across New York City with the same household three times as likely to face eviction as white households. We’ve proposed a number of ways to directly tackle this crisis.

The first is to freeze the rent for close to 2 1/2 million rent stabilized tenants across New York City. This is a form of housing that has historically been a site of economic stability that Mayor Adams has instead turned into yet another site of the cost of living crisis, hiking the rent on rent stabilized attendance by more than 9% in the three years that he’s been setting the rent for the rent guideline board. Additionally, we’ve made a commitment to build 200,000 truly affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes over the next 10 years, tripling what the city is currently set to build through its own financing. This is housing that is targeted towards families of four who make $72,000, to low income seniors, to more than 100,000 New Yorkers that live in a shelter. When you have a crisis at the scale of the housing crisis, the public sector has a responsibility to step up and lead alongside the private sector. Finally, as part of our housing plan, we’re taking on bad landlords. What we’ve seen for too many New Yorkers who are tenants across the five boroughs is that they don’t even call 311 anymore because of how unhelpful that experience has been. We are pledging to transform that experience both by reporting violations as well as actually having those violations be addressed.

AmNews: Is there a worry that a rent freeze would hurt smaller landlords or homeowners?

Mamdani: A lot of rent-stabilized properties are of a larger scale. This is a commitment that has been born out of the findings of the rent guidelines board itself. In terms of the rent freeze, the vast majority of rent stabilized housing are buildings with six or more units built before 1974. So a lot of times when we speak about small landlords in a brownstone, those are typically an amount of units that fall underneath that threshold.

AmNews: Quite a few candidates in the race have a very similar base of working class Black and Latino voters. How are you going to appeal to this community?

Mamdani: Our campaign is distinct in that our North Star from the very beginning has been to have a relentless focus on an economic agenda. We began the campaign with three clear policy promises: freeze the rent for close to two and a half million New York-

ers, take the slowest buses in the nation and make them fast and free, and expand universal pre-K and 3K into universal childcare. These are, in many ways, the same costs that are giving New Yorkers so much anxiety at this moment — whether or not they can afford to live in the city. That economic agenda, that North Star, has continued to drive us through this race and inform every additional policy proposal that we have put forward. Whether it be raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, or creating a network of municipally owned grocery stores, one in each borough, that would guarantee cheaper prices for bread and milk and eggs. Or the commitment to double the amount of money that the city spends on preserving public housing across the five boroughs. It all comes back to how we can actually use the tools of city government to make it easier for working class people to afford to live in the city they call home.

AmNews: Are you a fan of congestion pricing?

Mamdani: I’m supportive of congestion pricing. I have supported it out of a belief that it would reduce congestion, that it would transform our streetscape, and that it would also be something that would speed up our bus transit system. We have seen all of those things take place in the time that it’s been implemented, especially also while being able to raise a significant amount of money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) capital budget. Last year, I launched a campaign to get congestion pricing right. For it to be at its most effective it needs to be paired with immediate enhancements of bus service across the five boroughs.

AmNews: As mayor, how would you respond to the situation with Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil? I think it’s important for New Yorkers to know that as

legal citizens, or undocumented folk, that they’re not subject to being disappeared and detained without due process. Mamdani: It is absolutely unacceptable, what has happened to Mahmoud Khalil, and he must be released immediately, and this is what I’ve been saying since the news of his detainment has become public because it is an assault on the First Amendment. It’s a sign of advancing authoritarianism under Trump. It’s something that must be opposed by all of us. In this moment, we’re seeing the systematic dismantling of many different initiatives towards equity when you’re talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as the dismantling of the First Amendment when it comes to political expression. It is all the more necessary to have a mayor whose politics are consistent and clear about the fact that if we want to claim to believe in universal rights and if we want to claim to believe in the constitution of this country, we must apply it to each and every New Yorker. The time for standing up is now. Instead, we have a Mayor who’s opting for cowardice and collaboration when New Yorkers are demanding courage and connection.

AmNews: Do you think there’s anything more that a mayor can do on a city level to make sure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen?

Mamdani: I don’t even think we’ve been able to explore that under the current mayor, who has publicly spoken about his interest in civil collaboration with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I serve on the cities committee in Albany, and that means I get three minutes to question the sitting mayor on any topic every year when the mayor comes up to Albany for Tin Cup Day. And my first question this year was on this very topic. I asked the mayor to address the fact that his own Schools Chancellor had

reported that attendance in schools across New York City dropped by up to 5 % because of families that were afraid of sending their children to school lest they be abducted by ICE in the process.

I asked him, “Will you take this opportunity to publicly and clearly state that New York City will not allow entry to ICE agents into our schools, hospitals, other city property, unless they present a warrant that’s been signed by a judge?” And he refused to answer that question, instead punting it to the law department. You don’t need to be a lawyer or even a legal scholar to understand that our sanctuary laws that have been passed in New York City forbid local government from this kind of collaboration that our mayor has been so interested in, all in pursuit of securing his own personal freedom at the expense of other New Yorkers.

AmNews: How are you feeling about your chances in the race so far?

Mamdani: Campaign is on a high note. It has an immense amount of momentum, and it all reflects the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a different kind of politics, one that puts working people first. I think for too long our politics has required translation and this is a politics that is consistent, that is direct, and it is clear that this campaign at its core is about one thing: making the city more affordable.

AmNews: Is there anyone that you could see yourself cross endorsing or maybe partnering up with later in the race?

Mamdani: I’m open to cross endorsing other candidates so long as they’re not disgraced New York executives, whether past or present. Luckily for New Yorkers, that leaves a number of options. I’m very excited about developing that coalition, being a part of a slate, and finally cross endorsing another candidate to ensure that on June 24 we finally turn the page on this disgraced former governor and current mayor.

Zohran K. Mamdani speaking at Launch Rally on October 23, 2024. (Photo contributed by Mamdani’s campaign)

Williams and Brewer blast Adams, Trump at City Hall rally over school funding

By CHRISTIAN SPENCER Special to AmNews

Educators, parents, and politicians rallied outside City Hall, condemning Mayor Eric Adams’ sweeping education budget cuts as they blasted his perceived coziness with President Donald Trump amid federal education rollbacks.

About 50 demonstrators gathered on the steps of City Hall. Their voices echoed through lower Manhattan as they chatted in unison, “fund our schools!”

The rally centered on the demand to protect 3-K education, mental health services, and other essential education programs that are at risk under Adams’ latest budget proposal.

While Adams’ budget cuts and reallocations may not be extensive, they create uncertainty and vulnerabilities, particularly for young families, by not fully restoring $112 million in funding for 3-K, according to Chalk Beat.

While Adams, alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul who led the effort, replaced $92 million in expiring federal funds with city and state funds and allocated an additional $100 million for early childhood programs, these restorations still fall short of the $170 million previously cut from early education initiatives.

City Council member Gale Brewer of District 6, who previously served as the Manhattan Borough President, calls on the urgency of protecting education funding arguing that Adams’ budget fails to support the city’s most vulnerable students.

“The schools are underfunded. They need to have social workers. They need arts. They need wraparound services. They need afterschool programs, and teachers need to be paid more,” Brewer told Amsterdam News. “If none of those take place, we’re not gonna have a first quality educational system. So I’m here to say all the issues that are being raised today, absolutely needs the funding to go with them.”

Pointing to the struggles faced by students in shelters and from non-English-speaking households, Brewer said Adams has failed to prioritize their needs.

The silver lining in Adams’ budget is the $514 million in recurring city and state funds allocated to key education programs, including mental health care, career readiness, and literacy initiatives for public school students, according to the official NYC government webpage.

ministration figures have sparked political controversy, particularly his ties to former border czar Tom Homan.

“There’s no question that students who are in shelters are often not going to school. Either the parents are afraid, or there’s not enough support for them. We need language support because many of the students in my district for instance speak different languages. They need assistance.” Brewer said.

However, his interactions with Trump ad-

While Adams has faced backlash for hosting Homan – It has been confirmed Adams held a meeting with Homan in mid-February and shared an interview with the border czar on “Fox and Friends”– and allowing ICE access to Rikers Island, there is no direct connection between these relationships and his education budget decisions.

Critics argue that these ties could weaken his standing with New York City’s progressive base, further complicating the debate over school funding.

With Trump’s push to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, New York City schools stand to lose $2 billion in federal funding, a devastating blow to programs serving low-income students and those with disabilities.

Public advocate Jumaane Williams called out both Adams and Trump, arguing that city leadership should be standing up to harmful policies rather than enabling them.

“Wish we had a mayor who would stand up to some of those cuts that would be helpful,” Williams told the Amsterdam News

He pointed the blame directly to what he believes is driving harmful education policies. “Donald Trump, Elon Musk, all the folks who are pushing policies that are going to hurt, not just the money, but actually the ability to harm people both physically and financially.”

Williams also criticized Adams’ leadership, likening him to an extension of Trump rather than an independent city leader.

“Right now, we have a president in the White House, and we have a ‘deputy president’ in City Hall. I would just love for the ‘deputy president’ to just be the mayor of the city, and speak up against what he said.”

Parent and student frustrations, particularly of those who are people of color or speak a language other than English, were amplified by Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education — a plan met with fierce legal opposition that same day.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, alongside 20 other state attorneys general, sued the administration to stop what they called an illegal effort to gut the department, warning that it would devastate funding for high-poverty schools and special education programs.

Amid these federal threats, New York City parents fear their public school needs are being sidelined by Adams, who they say isn’t doing enough to fight for critical education funding.

Standing before a podium, speakers took turns airing their grievances against what they called the Trump-Adams alliance.

With deportation crackdowns, aggressive policing, and tax breaks for the wealthy defining Adams’ tenure in the eyes of rally goers, many echoed the sentiment of City Council Member Lincoln Restler (D-33rd District), who warned that it’s only a matter of time before Adams is voted out.

“Mayor Adams has one move, and one move only — it is to cut our schools. It is disgraceful what he does, what he has done to early childhood education,” Restler said.

He added that the mayor’s time in office is limited if he continues on this path.

“This is Eric Adams’ last budget because we know he is not coming back. He has one more chance to do right by our families.”

As the city moves forward with budget negotiations, rally goers vowed to continue fighting until Adams reverses course and fully funds New York City’s schools.

Jumaane Williams mocked Mayor Eric Adams as the “deputy president” because of his inability to call out President Donald Trump. (Christian Spencer photo)

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NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York , NYCTL 2021A Trust and The Bank of New York Mellon as Collateral Agent and Custodian , Plaintiff, vs . 187 Street Mazal LLC , Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion dated August 14, 2024 and entered on December 27, 2024 , I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at Room 116 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on April 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., 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 2170 and Lot 29. Said premises may also be known as 659 West 187 Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $47,989.20 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index #156380/2022.

Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee

The Law Office of Thomas P. Malone, PLLC, 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 553, New York, New York 10165, Attorneys for Plaintiff

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

EAST WEST BANK, Plaintiff -against- HOP CHONG TRADING COMPANY, INC., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered February 28, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 116 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on April 23, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, known as 38 East 73rd Street, New York, New York 10021, Block: 1387 Lot: 49. Approximate amount of lien $8,564,556.48 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850313/2024. PAUL SKLAR, ESQ., Referee Pryor Cashman LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 7 TIMES SQUARE, NEW YORK, NY 10036

{* NY AMSTERDAM NEWS *}

Notice of Formation of SIKLAE HOSPITALITY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 40 East End Ave., Unit 14B, NY, NY 10028. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Duane Morris LLP, Alejandra Vargas, Esq., 230 Park Ave., Ste. 1130, NY, NY 10169-0079. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Supplemental Summons and Notice of Object of Action Supreme Court Of The State Of New York County Of New York ACTION TO FORECLOSE A MORTGAGE Index #: 850267/2024 U.S. Bank National Association, Not In Its Individual Capacity But Soley As Trustee For The RMTP Trust, Series 2019-C Plaintiff, vs Carlin C. West AKA Carlyne West, AKA Carlyne C. West, Tony Zamora As Heir To The Estate Of Steven James Zamora If Living, And If He/She Be Dead, Any And All Persons Unknown To Plaintiff, Claiming, Or Who May Claim To Have An Interest In, Or General Or Specific Lien Upon The Real Property Described In This Action; Such Unknown Persons Being Herein Generally Described And Intended To Be Included In Wife, Widow, Husband, Widower, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assignees Of Such Deceased, Any And All Persons Deriving Interest In Or Lien Upon, Or Title To Said Real Property By, Through Or Under Them, Or Either Of Them, And Their Respective Wives, Widows, Husbands, Widowers, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assigns, All Of Whom And Whose Names, Except As Stated, Are Unknown To Plaintiff, Carla Fierros As Heir To The Estate Of Steven James Zamora, Unknown Heirs Of Steven James Zamora If Living, And If He/She Be Dead, Any And All Persons Unknown To Plaintiff, Claiming, Or Who May Claim To Have An Interest In, Or General Or Specific Lien Upon The Real Property Described In This Action; Such Unknown Persons Being Herein Generally Described And Intended To Be Included In Wife, Widow, Husband, Widower, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assignees Of Such Deceased, Any And All Persons Deriving Interest In Or Lien Upon, Or Title To Said Real Property By, Through Or Under Them, Or Either Of Them, And Their Respective Wives, Widows, Husbands, Widowers, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assigns, All Of Whom And Whose Names, Except As Stated, Are Unknown To Plaintiff, People Of The State Of New York, United States Of America On Behalf Of The IRS, Board Of Managers Of Le Domaine Condominium, Criminal Court Of The City Of New York, New York City Parking Violations Bureau, New York State Department Of Taxation And Finance, Commissioner Of Social Services Of NYC, John Doe (Those unknown tenants, occupants, persons or corporations or their heirs, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, guardians, assignees, creditors or successors claiming an interest in the mortgaged premises.) Defendant(s). Mortgaged Premises: 403 East 62nd Street, Unit#19B New York, NY 10065 To the Above named Defendant: You are hereby summoned to answer the Complaint in this action, and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Supplemental Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff(s) attorney(s) within twenty days after the service of this Supplemental Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this Supplemental Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. The Attorney for Plaintiff has an office for business in the County of Erie. Trial to be held in the County of New York. The basis of the venue designated above is the location of the Mortgaged Premises. TO Tony Zamora, Unknown Heirs of Steven James Zamora Defendants In this Action. The foregoing Supplemental Summons is served upon you by publication, pursuant to an order of HON. Francis A Kahn of the Supreme Court Of The State Of New York, dated the Twenty-Sixth day of February, 2025 and filed with the Complaint in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, in the City of New York. The object of this action is to foreclosure a mortgage upon the premises described below, dated December 20, 2006, executed by Carlin C. West AKA Carlyne West, AKA Carlyne C. West and Steven James Zamora (who died on June 13, 2019, a resident of the county of Santa Clara, State of California) to secure the sum of $1,000,000.00. The Mortgage was recorded at CRFN 2006000707984 in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County on December 29, 2006. The consolidated mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed August 12, 2009 and recorded on August 28, 2009, in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County at CRFN 2009000277626. Plaintiff is also holder of a mortgage dated August 13, 2009 executed by Carlin C. West AKA Carlyne West, AKA Carlyne C. West and Steven James Zamora to secure the sum of $29,113.45 and recorded at CRFN 2009000277627 in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County on August 28, 2009. Said mortgage was consolidated with the mortgage referred to at CRFN: 2006000707984 by a Consolidation, Extension and Modification Agreement executed by Carlin C. West AKA Carlyne West, AKA Carlyne C. West and Steven James Zamora dated August 13, 2009 and recorded August 28, 2009 at CRFN 2009000277628 in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County to form a single lien in the amount of $975,000.00. The consolidated mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed June 4, 2012 and recorded on June 21, 2012, in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County at CRFN 2012000244218. The consolidated mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed January 3, 2020 and recorded on January 15, 2020, in the City Register of the City of New York, New York County at CRFN 2020000018724. The mortgage was subsequently modified by a Deferral Agreement on December 28, 2021. The property in question is described as follows: 403 East 62nd Street, Unit#19B, New York, NY 10065 HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE NEW YORK STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT WE SEND YOU THIS NOTICE ABOUT THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME. IF YOU FAIL TO RESPOND TO THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION, YOU MAY LOSE YOUR HOME. PLEASE READ THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT CAREFULLY. YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONTACT AN ATTORNEY OR YOUR LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE TO OBTAIN ADVICE ON HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE The state encourages you to become informed about your options in foreclosure. In addition to seeking assistance from an attorney or legal aid office, there are government agencies and non-profit organizations that you may contact for information about possible options, including trying to work with your lender during this process. To locate an entity near you, you may call the toll-free helpline maintained by the New York State Department of Financial Services at 1-800-342-3736 or the Foreclosure Relief Hotline 1-800-269-0990 or visit the department's website at WWW.DFS.NY.GOV. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEAVE YOUR HOME AT THIS TIME. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO STAY IN YOUR HOME DURING THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEAVE YOUR HOME UNLESS AND UNTIL YOUR PROPERTY IS SOLD AT AUCTION PURSUANT TO A JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE AND SALE. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU CHOOSE TO REMAIN IN YOUR HOME, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR PROPERTY AND PAY PROPERTY TAXES IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE AND LOCAL LAW. FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS Be careful of people who approach you with offers to "save" your home. There are individuals who watch for notices of foreclosure actions in order to unfairly profit from a homeowner's distress. You should be extremely careful about any such promises and any suggestions that you pay them a fee or sign over your deed. State law requires anyone offering such services for profit to enter into a contract which fully describes the services they will perform and fees they will charge, and which prohibits them from taking any money from you until they have completed all such promised services. § 1303 NOTICE NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this Foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. DATED: March 10, 2025 Gross Polowy LLC Attorney(s) For Plaintiff(s) 1775 Wehrle Drive, Suite 100 Williamsville, NY 14221 The law firm of Gross Polowy LLC and the attorneys whom it employs are debt collectors who are attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained by them will be used for that purpose. 84969

Notice of Qualification of GRITZY, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/28/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/22/25. Princ. office of LLC: 11 Park Pl., 3rd Fl., NY, NY 10007. 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, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of 2 MAIN STREET, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/04/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/29/21. NYS fictitious name: 2 MAIN STREET, LLC (NY). 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 DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of hLevel, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/25/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/29/24. Princ. office of LLC: 2248 Broadway, #1954, NY, NY 10024. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o 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 DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Management.

Notice of Qualification of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/06/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/27/15. Princ. office of LLC: 1145 17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. 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 DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., Plaintiff v.

HAN H. CHEN AKA HAN CHEN, DAN XU, BOARD OF MANAGERS OF CARNEGIE PARK CONDOMINIUM, CITY OF NEW YORK TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU, CITY OF NEW YORK PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU, CITY OF NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, JOHN DOE, JANE DOE, JOHN DOE, Defendant Index No.: 850353/2024

Property Address:

200 E 94th St, # 811 aka 200 E 94th St Apt 811 aka 200 E 94th St New York, NY 10128

Block: 1539 Lot: 1429

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the Plaintiff's attorneys within thirty days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service, and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint.

NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered, and you can lose your home.

Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property.

Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

This is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an ORDER FOR ALTERNATE SERVICE BY PUBLICATION, APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM, by Honorable Francis A. Kahn, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, signed on the 24th day of January 2025, at New York, New York.

The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage on the following property:

Tax I.D. No. Block: 1539 Lot: 1429 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, BOUNDED AND DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE CORNER FORMED BY THE INTERSECTION OF THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE WITH THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 93RD STREET; RUNNING THENCE NORTHERLY ALONG SAID EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE A DISTANCE OF 201 FEET 5 INCHES TO THE CORNER FORMED BY THE INTERSECTION OF THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE WITH THE SOUTHERLY OF EAST 94TH STREET; THENCE EASTERLY ALONG THE SOUTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 94TH STREET A DISTANCE OF 215 FEET TO A POINT; THENCE SOUTHERLY AND PARALLEL WITH THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE A DISTANCE OF 100 FEET TO A POINT; THENCE EASTERLY AND PARALLEL WITH THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 93RD STREET A DISTANCE OF 24 FEET TO A POINT; THENCE SOUTHERLY AND PARALLEL WITH THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE A DISTANCE OF 101 FEET 5 INCHES TO A POINT ON THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 93RD STREET; THENCE WESTERLY ALONG THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 93RD STREET A DISTANCE OF 239 FEET TO THE CORNER FORMED BY THE INTERSECTION OF THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THIRD AVENUE WITH THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF EAST 93 RD STREET, THE POINT OR PLACE OF BEGINNING. SAID PREMISES ARE KNOWN AS 200 EAST 94TH STREET, UNIT 811, NEW YORK, NY AND DESIGNATED AS SECTION 5 BLOCK 1539 LOT 1429 AS SHOWN ON THE TAX MAP OF THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, COUNTY OF NEW YORK, CITY OF NEW YORK.

These premises are also known as 200 E 94th St, # 811 aka 200 E 94th St Apt 811 aka 200 E 94th St, New York, NY 10128. Woods Oviatt Gilman, LLP 500 Bausch & Lomb Place, Rochester, NY 14604

CITY CRAWL ADVENTURES

LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/09/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 242 W 61st St, Apt 3A, New York, NY 10023. Purpose: Any lawful act.

ACLM GROUP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/13/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 99 Wall Street, Suite 1020, New York, New York 10005 Purpose: Any lawful act.

Supreme Court-New York County – Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. MAREYUKI YAHATA and YUMIKA YAHATA, Defts. – Index # 850261/2024. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 25th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 26th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVENAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 0.00493200000% in the premises at Block 1009, Tax Lot 37 located at 102 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of February 18, 2022, executed by Mareyuki Yahata and Yumika Yahata to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $19,305.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on April 14, 2022, in CRFN 2022000157866. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

Supreme Court-New York County – Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. IBRAHIM ALEMU, Deft. – Index # 850368/2024. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 25th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 26th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVENAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 0.006173181814852670% in the premises at Block 1010, Tax Lot 1905 located at 101 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of April 20, 2023, executed by Ibrahim Alemu to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $24,742.50, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on August 23, 2022, in CRFN 2023000213873. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

Supreme Court-New York County – Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. CROMWELL T. CABRISOS, Deft. – Index # 850084/2021. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 26th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 28th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 0.0271980765638990% in the premises at Block 1006, Tax Lot 1304 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of August 27, 2017, executed by Cromwell T. Cabrisos to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $45,854.02, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on November 30, 2017, in CRFN 2017000440252. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

Supreme Court-New York County – Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. KUMUD K. DHITAL, JANE E. DHITAL and BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF 57TH STREET VACATION OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., Defts. – Index # 850169/2021. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 26th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 27th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of .009864% in the premises at Block 1009, Tax Lot 37 located at 102 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of December 30, 2011, executed by Kumud K. Dhital and Jane E. Dhital to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $43,690.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on May 21, 2012, in CRFN 2012000200512. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

4056 HARPER AVE LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/25/2025. Office loc: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 4056 Harper Ave, Bronx, NY 10466. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Host 1640 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on January 7, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 605 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY. Purpose: Any lawful act.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. YUKO MATSUDA, Deft. - Index # 850291/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 24, 2025, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the NY County Courthouse located 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 16,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $59,778.54 plus costs and interest as of November 6, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Referee will not accept cash as any portion of the deposit or purchase price. Bruce Lederman, 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. WILLIAM J.P. LANGAN and NYC ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, Defts. - Index # 850325/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 3, 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, April 3, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.034346960764478% and an interest of an undivided 0.0343469607644787% tenants in common interests in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION

SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $47,953.62 plus costs and interest as of November 5, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Jeffrey R. Miller, 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. EDUARDO MARTINEZ CASTELLANOS and KILDA SORAYA BORRELL SANCHEZ, Defts. - Index # 850141/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 24, 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, March 27, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided .009864% 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 $59,778.54 plus costs and interest as of December 4, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Matthew D. Hunter III, 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. CHARLES KC HUMPHREY, RITA SUSAN HUMPHREY and NYC ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, Defts. - Index # 850324/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 3, 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, April 3, 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 $162,319.45 plus costs and interest as of November 1, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Jeffrey R. Miller, 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. Any unknown heirs to the Estate of MARIE J. ABRIL, next of kin, devisees, legatees, distributees, grantees, assignees, creditors, lienors, trustees, executors, administrators or successors in interest, as well as the respective heirs at law, next of kin, devisees, legatees, distributees, grantees, assignees, lienors, trustees, executors, administrators or successors in interest of the aforesaid classes of persons, if they or any of them be dead, all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to the plaintiff, et al., Deft. – Index # 850192/2020. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 26th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 27th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVENAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 0.00986400000% in the premises at Block 1009, Tax Lot 37 located at 102 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of November 26, 2014, executed by Marie J. Abril to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $30,712.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on March 6, 2015, in CRFN 2015000077700. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

MOTION MADE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 2/8/2025. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 262 Elizabeth St, Apt 3, New York, NY 10012. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of 39 E 1ST HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/03/25. 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 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Supreme Court-New York County – Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. MICHELE C. ALANIS, Deft. – Index # 850006/2024. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 25th day of February 2025 and duly entered the 26th day of February 2025 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVENAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s attorney, within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State) In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 5,000/28,402,100 in the premises at Block 1006, Tax Lot 1302 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of August 18, 2017, executed by Michele C. Alanis to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $30,200.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on November 13, 2017, in CRFN 2017000416025. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

NOTICE OF SALE

Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, Index No. 850180/2022

Six Gramercy LLC, Plaintiff, v. Westside Units Kips Bay, LLC et. al., Defendants.

TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered November 1, 2024, the undersigned referee will sell at public auction on March 26, 2025 at 2:15pm in Room 130 at the Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, NY, NY, the property located at 330 East 33rd Street, Unit 12F, New York, NY 10016 (Block 936, Lot 4160). The approximate amount of Plaintiff’s lien is $391,830.98 plus interest and costs. The premises will be sold in one parcel and subject to provisions of the judgment and terms of sale.

Elaine Shay, Esq.

Law Offices of Tae H. Whang, LLC, Attorneys for Plaintiff, 185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 201, Fort Lee, NJ 07024, Tel. (201) 461-0300

GLOBALLYCLEAN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/16/24. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 1159 Second Avenue #202, New York, New York 10065. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Hugues Loiret Saint Loup LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/11/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 33 W 46th St - Ste 800, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Mikasho LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/23/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 2425 95th Street Fl 1, East Elmhurst, NY 11369. Purpose: Any lawful act.

PHR NPL Fund IV, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 7/18/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: P.O. Box 230653, New York, NY 10023 Purpose: Any lawful act.

F AND C1 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/3/2025. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 23 LARRABEE AVE, OYSTER BAY, NY 11771. Purpose: Any lawful act.

COLON & PARTNERS PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/04/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 250 Park Ave 7th Fl, New York, NY. 10177. Purpose: Any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT – NEW YORK COUNTY – NEW YORK COMMUNITY BANK, Plaintiff v. 176 W. 86 ST. CORP., et al., Defendants. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion entered on December 12, 2024 (the “Judgment”), I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder in Room 130 of the New York County Supreme Court, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, on April 9, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., the premises known as 176 West 86th Street, Commercial Units A & B, New York, New York. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in New York County and State of New York: Block 1216, Lots 1001 and 1002, as more particularly described in the Judgment. Approximate amount of Judgment is $2,374,356.14, plus additional interest and fees. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index #850025/2023. The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's Covid-19 Policies and foreclosure auction rules. Clark A. Whitsett, Esq., Esq., Referee. Andriola Law, PLLC, 1385 Broadway, 22 nd Floor, New York, NY 10018, Attorneys for Plaintiff

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY

MCLP ASSET COMPANY, INC., Plaintiff against KEVIN C. LAU, et al Defendant(s)

Attorney for Plaintiff(s) Knuckles & Manfro, LLP, 120 White Plains Road, Suite 215, Tarrytown, NY 10591.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered February 6, 2025, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at Room 130 at the Supreme Court, New York

County, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York on April 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM. Premises

known as 200 East 94th Street, Unit 2012, New York, New York 10128. Block 1539 Lot

1516. The Condominium Unit (the "Unit") known as Residential Unit 2012 in the building (the "Building") known as Carnegie Park Condominium ( the "Condominium") and by the

street address 200 East 94th Street, New York, New York, Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judgment is

$755,529.61 plus interest, fees, and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 850624/2023. Cash will not be accepted at the sale.

The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's

Covid-19 Policies and foreclosure auction rules. The Referee shall enforce any rules in place regarding facial coverings and social distancing. Referee will only accept a

certified bank check made payable to the referee.

Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee File # 2296-004151

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. RADOSLAV KANSKY and LUCIA KANSKA, Defts. - Index # 850590/2023. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 9, 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, March 27, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0135990382819495% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase 1 HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $25,295.86 plus costs and interest as of September 1, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Clark Whitsett, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Hybrid Public Information Meeting about the Permit Application for a Recycling Facility at the existing Inwood Material Terminal Part 360/361 Solid Waste Management Facility (existing Registration #30W39R)

1 Sheridan Boulevard, Inwood, New York 11906

Inwood Marine Terminal, LLC (IMT) will be conducting a Public Information Meeting to provide information and solicit Public Comment on a proposed Permit Application for continued operation of a recycling facility (Facility) at 1 Sheridan Boulevard in Inwood, New York. IMT is seeking to transition its existing Solid Waste Management Facility Registration (#30W39R) to a Permit to comply with requirements of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Part 360/361 regulations established in July 2023. The Facility serves the community by recycling construction and demolition materials for reuse, including source-separated concrete, asphalt rock, brick, and excavated materials and uses marine transportation to reduce the number of trucks on local and regional roads and highways.

As part of the application process, public outreach is required to provide information on the Permit Application to all interested parties. This Public Notice is directed to anyone that lives, works and/or represents a neighborhood or community near the Facility and to those persons on the project Contact List, established in consultation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), including local residents, local government and elected officials; business owners, land owners and occupants; local civic, community, environmental and religious organizations; local news media; and administrators/operators of any school or day care.

Want to know more? Attend the Public Information Meeting, in person or virtually.

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025

Time: 6:30pm – 8 pm

Location: In person, First Church of God, 14-25 Beach Channel Drive, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

OR

Virtual, Via Zoom Register in advance here: https://rb.gy/q988yp

PURPOSE

• Learn about the proposed Permit Application

• Talk to representatives from Inwood Material Terminal LLC.

• Have the opportunity to ask questions and express your concerns about the proposed permit.

• Provide verbal or written Public Comments on the Permit Application.

For additional information or to learn how to provide Public Comment on the Permit Application, go to this link: https:// hauglandgroup.us/imt-public-notice/. Comments can be submitted at any time before the Public Information Meeting and up until April 30. For more information or to submit Public Comments, contact:

Inwood Material Terminal Community Hotline (347) 718-5199

IMT.Community@hauglandllc.com

Inwood Marine Terminal, 1 Sheridan Boulevard, Inwood, New York 11906

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. PATRICK TURNER and SANDRA TURNER, Defts. - Index # 850263/2024. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 9, 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, March 27, 2025, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.00986400000% 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 $49,937.09 plus costs and interest as of August 27, 2024. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Clark Whitsett, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

All In For Theatre LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on January 7, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 62 Saint Felix Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Purpose: Any lawful act.

TACC Farms LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/14/2025. Office location: Orleans County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 3710 Tuthill Road, Albion, New York, 14411. Purpose: Any lawful act.

The Wellness Odyssey LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/31/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 228 Park Ave S #187967, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.

SALON DE LILY LLC LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/14/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 29W 36th St, STE 5U, New York, NY, 10018. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Jocelynn Cheng Acupuncture PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/24/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 26 E 93rd St, Apt 7AB, New York, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE

STILLWATER ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, AS TRUSTEE OF LBC2 TRUST, V. 3RD AND 36TH STREET LLC, ET. AL.

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HERE BY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgement of Foreclosure dated October 23, 2024, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein STILLWATER ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, AS TRUSTEE OF LBC2 TRUST, is the Plaintiff and 3RD AND 36TH STREET LLC, STANLEY GUREWITSCH, ERIC NEMIROFF, ALL STATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, UNITED ACQUISITION LEASING CORP., THE MURRAY HILL TERRACE CONDOMINIUM, BY THE BOARD OF MANAGERS are the Defendants. I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the NEW YORK COUNTY SUPREME COURT, ROOM 130, 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007 on April 23, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 201-205 East 36th Street, Unit C-, City of New York, County of New York, Block 917, Lot 1001. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgement Index# 850110/2022. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

Elain Shay, Esq – Referee. Elaine Shay Attorney at Law, 757 Third Avenue, 20th Floor, New York NY 10017. David Pikus, Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C., 17 State Street, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10004, attorney for Plaintiff.

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

453 EAST 83RD FUNDING

L.P., Plaintiff -against- 453 EAST 83RD STREET LLC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion dated July 9, 2024 and entered on December 16, 2024, and Decision and Order on Motion dated and entered on February 5, 2025, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 116 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY 10007 on April 23, 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 Northerly side of East 83rd Street, distant 76 feet 6 inches Westerly from the corner formed by the intersection of the Westerly side of York Avenue (formerly Avenue A) with the Northerly side of East 83rd Street; being a plot 102 feet 2 inches by 20 feet by 102 feet 2 inches by 20 feet. Block: 1563 Lot: 121

Said premises known as 453 EAST 83RD STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10028

Approximate amount of lien $7,857,890.82 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850183/2023.

ELAINE SHAY, ESQ., Referee

KRISS & FEUERSTEIN LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 360 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10017

{* AMSTERDAM*}

Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC) Name: Emmy Eats LLC Articles of Organization filed by the Department of State on New York on: 01/02/2025 Office location: County of New York Purpose: Any and all lawful activities. Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: c/o Ivey, Barnum & O'Mara, LLC, STOP JAH 170 Mason Street, Greenwich, CT 06830

Laura Shepard LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/24/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 250 W 22nd St, New York, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful act.

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK. BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE 130 WEST 30TH STREET CONDOMINIUM, SUING ON BEHALF OF THE UNIT OWNERS, Plaintiff -against- DAVID M. SIMON a/k/a DAVID SIMON; LISA D. GOODMAN a/k/a LISA GOODMAN, et al Defendant(s).

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT BRONX COUNTY

RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2013-TT2 BY U.S. BANK NATIONAL

ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS LEGAL TITLE

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK. HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- FOLAYEMI ANIFOWOSHE, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated on July 30, 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 April 16, 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, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 0.0381% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302. Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $59,947.94 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850029/2020. ROBERTA ASHKIN, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

DLG# 36988 {* AMSTERDAM*}

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated December 3, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 116 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on April 9, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan and County of New York, City and State of New York, known as Residential Unit No. 16A in the building known as 130 West 30th Street Condominium located at 130 West 30th Street together with an undivided 2.241% interest in the Common Elements. Block: 805 Lot: 1043

Said premises known 130 West 30th Street, Unit 16A, New York, NY 10001.

situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan and County of New York, City and State of New York, known as Storage Unit No. 11 in the building known as 130 West 30th Street Condominium located at 130 West 30th Street together with an undivided 0.079% interest in the common elements. Block: 805 Lot: 1060

Said premises known as 130 WEST 30TH STREET, STORAGE UNIT NO. 11, NEW YORK, NY 10001

Approximate amount of lien $113,708.03 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850614/2023.

ROBERTA E. ASHKIN, ESQ., Referee

Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 444 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10022

{* AMSTERDAM*}

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME

COURT COUNTY OF NEW

YORK US Bank National Association as Trustee for CMSI REMIC Series 2007-03REMIC Pass-Through Certificates Series 2007-03, Plaintiff AGAINST Chaya Gottesman

a/k/a Chayala C Gottesman

TRUSTEE, Plaintiff against ANDREA DAVIS, et al Defendant(s)

Attorney for Plaintiff(s) Knuckles & Manfro, LLP, 120 White Plains Road, Suite 215, Tarrytown, NY 10591 and . Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered July 31, 2017, I will sell at

public auction to the highest bidder at the Bronx County Courthouse, Courtroom 711 at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York on April 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM. Premises known as 851 East 220th Street, Bronx, New York 10467. Block 4679 Lot 13. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of and County of Bronx, City and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judgment is $658,107.47 plus interest, fees, and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 382261/2009. Cash will not be accepted at the sale.

The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 12th Judicial District's Covid-19 Policies and the Bronx County foreclosure auction rules. The Referee shall enforce any rules in place regarding facial coverings and social distancing.

Ricardo Oquendo, Esq., Referee File # 2600-000011

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Plaintiff AGAINST Pedro D. A. Alvarez Arenas, if living and if dead, the prospective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and successors in interest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, purchase, inheritance lien, or otherwise or any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and every person not specifically named who may be entitled to claim to have any right, title or interest in the property described in the verified complaint, all of whome and whose names and places of residence unknown, and cannot after diligent inquiry be ascertained by the Plaintiff; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered March 28, 2022, and Amended November 25, 2024, 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 10007 on April 2, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 15 William Street, New York, NY 10005. 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 NY, Block: 25 Lot: 1503. Approximate amount of judgment $792,245.73 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 810049/2012. The auction will be conducted pursuant to the COVID-19 Policies Concerning Public Auctions of Foreclosed Property established by the 1st Judicial District. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: December 10, 2024 83664

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR BNC MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2006-2, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-2, Plaintiff AGAINST REGINALD BORGELLA, ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered June 8, 2017, 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 April 9, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 140 7th Avenue Unit 7R, 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 of New York, County of New York, State of New York, Block 768, Lot 1203. Approximate amount of judgment $1,043,907.05 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850069/2014. The aforementioned auction will be conducted in accordance with the NEW YORK County COVID-19 mitigation protocols and as such all persons must comply with social distancing, wearing masks and screening practices in effect at the time of this foreclosure sale. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC 1775 Wehrle Drive Williamsville, NY 14221 00299477 83949

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Plaintiff, vs. FARHAD M. BOUKANI, ET AL., Defendant(s).

a/k/a Clare C Gottesman, et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered February 9, 2022, 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 April 16, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 127 West 82nd Street, Unit 1B, New York, NY 10024. 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: 1213, Lot: 1159. Approximate amount of judgment $873,418.90 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850006/2018. Joseph Buono, Esq., Referee Frenkel Lambert Weiss Weisman & Gordon, LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 01-086495-F00 83828

Notice of Formation of RJMD HOLDINGS III LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 201 W. 79th St., NY, NY 10024. 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.

IPPSOLAR CROSSROADS ESS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/26/2024. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: PAUL JEUN; 200E 33RD ST., #30E, NEW YORK, NY, 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Bar Reuven LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/2/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 525 E 14th St, New York, NY 10009 Purpose: Any lawful act.

ONESTONE LENDING LLC, Plaintiff -against- ALTA OPERATIONS, LLC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 17, 2023 and entered on November 27, 2023 , 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 April 2, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County and State of New York, known as The Tower Unit 10A in the building known as "One Riverside Park Condominium" together with an undivided 0.3653% interest in the common elements. Block: 1171 Lot: 2508. Said premises known as 50 RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, UNIT 10A, NEW YORK, NY 10069. Approximate amount of lien $1,027,596.74 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850198/2020.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on December 19, 2022 and a Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on July 29, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 9, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 467 Central Park West, Unit No. 1-D, New York, NY 10025. 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, City and State of New York, Block 1842 and Lot 1003 together with an undivided 0.4972 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $332,718.76 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850053/2019.

Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee

Friedman Vartolo LLP, 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff. Firm File No. 244201-1

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that a license, number NA-0340-24123030 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 3859 10th Ave, New York, NY 10034, NY County for on premises consumption. Liquid Bar & Restaurant LLC, D/B/A Liquid Bar & Restaurant RADIANT REFLECTIONS BEAUTY SALON LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/25/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 2505 Adam Clayton Powell, Front, New York, NY 10039. Purpose: Any lawful act.

JERRY MEROLA, ESQ., Referee. The Camporeale Law Group PLLC, Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, 585 Stewart Avenue, 770, Garden City, NY 11530

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff AGAINST ELVIRA P. CHRISTI, ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered May 23, 2024, 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 April 16, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 520 West 112th Street Unit 4B, New York, NY 10025. 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 1883, Lot 1104. Approximate amount of judgment $392,131.52 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #116866/2009. Allison M. Furman, Esq., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC 1775 Wehrle Drive Williamsville, NY 14221 18-003305 83903

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK

GREEN MOUNTAIN HOLDINGS (CAYMAN) LTD; Plaintiff v. 2040 MADISON LLC; et al.; Defendants

Attorney for Plaintiff: Hasbani & Light, P.C., 450 7th Ave, Suite 1408, NY, NY 10123; (212) 6436677

Pursuant to the judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on 10/16/24, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder at the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 9, 2025, at 2:15 PM Premises known as 2040 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10035 Block: 01754 Lot: 0116

All that certain plot, piece, or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the County of New York, State of New York.

As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale.

Sold subject to the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. Approximate amount of judgment: $2,604,204.14 plus interest and costs.

Index Number: 850007/2021

Clark Whitsett, Esq., Referee

Notice of Formation of 505 WEST 168TH REALTY, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/26/17. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Fischer Porter & Thomas, P.C., Attn: Arthur "Scott" L. Porter Jr., Esq., 560 Sylvan Ave., Ste. 3061, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of CPG DOBBS MANAGER LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 116 E. 27th St., 11th Fl., NY, NY 10016. 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 122072543. Purpose: Real Estate Investment & Development.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, NYCTL 19982 TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN, Plaintiff, vs. HARLEM INVESTORS LLC, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion dated June 27, 2024 and entered on November 29, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 116, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on April 9, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., 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, City and State of New York, Block 1937 and Lot 48.

Said premises may also be known as 240 West 132 Street, New York, NY.

Approximate amount of judgment is $46,263.01 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index #151257/2020.

Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee

The Law Office of Thomas P. Malone, PLLC, 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 553, New York, New York 10165, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Notice of Formation of 109 DUCK POND LANE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/04/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Arthur S. Penn, 980 5th Ave., Apt. 21B, NY, NY 10075. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of I LOVE JUICY 200, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/24/25. 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, 200 Amsterdam Ave., Unit 20B, NY, NY 10023. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company. Model City Home Renovation, LLC. Arts. of Org. filing date with Secy. of State NY. was January 8, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of process to 55 W. 116 ST Suite 129, New York, NY 10026. Purpose any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of WILLETTS-NYC, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/25. 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, c/o Michael DeRose, 272 Water St., Ste. #2F2R, NY, NY 10038. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY

OF New York , Metropolitan Life Insurance Company , Plaintiff, vs . David M. Simon a/k/a David Simon , ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on December 4, 2024 , 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 April 2, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 130 West 30th Street a/k/a 128-134 West 30 th Street, Unit No. 16A & Storage Unit 11, New York, NY 10001 . 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 805 and Lots 1043 & 1060 together with an undivided 2.241% and 0.079% interests respectively in the Common Elements (as such term is defined in the Declaration). Approximate amount of judgment is $943,764.76 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850382/2023.

Tom Kleinberger, Esq., Referee Friedman Vartolo LLP, 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff. Firm File No.: 232572-1

Notice of Qualification of TABERNACLE & TOAST LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/28/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Tiffany Siegel, 89 Monitor St., Apt. 619, Jersey City, NJ 07304. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg. - 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of CARLTON HILL GROUP LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/03/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/22/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 1460 Broadway, NY, NY 10036. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of FLATIRON DRAGADOS CONSTRUCTION HOLDING LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/06/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/01/09. Princ. office of LLC: 810 Seventh Ave., 9th 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 Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICA- TION of Oui Do Good LLC. App for authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 1/28/2025. Office location: NY County, LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/9/2018. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 45 W 90th St.. Apt 2B. New York, NY 10024. LLC address in DE: 160 Greentree Dr. Ste 101. Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Pur- pose: any lawful activity. 5090 Wo

Notice of Formation of RESERVE MANAGEMENT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/25/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Certes Partners, 1359 Broadway, Ste. 800, NY, NY 10018. 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 Qualification of SILLY WITCH LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/20/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/18/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 50 Murray St., Apt. 1104, NY, NY 10007. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez, DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of VETRICS GROUP LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Virginia (VA) on 04/19/21. 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. VA addr. of LLC: 100 Shockoe Slip, 2nd Fl., Richmond, VA 23219. Cert. of Form. filed with Clerk of the Commission, 1300 E. Main St., 1st Fl., Richmond, VA 23219. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice is hereby given that Application ID Number NA-034625-104365 for a On-Premises Catering Establishment license has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine and spirits at retail in a Catering Establishment under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at the Waldorf Astoria Residences located at 301 Park Avenue, Floors 12, 18 & 20 in New York County for on-premises consumption. AB Stable LLC and Waldorf=Astoria Management LLC, 301 Park Avenue, Floors 12, 18 & 20, New York, NY 10022.

RIOSEVENTS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 2/19/2025. Office location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 4237 Hampton St, #6F, Queens, NY 11373. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Halwa NYC LLC filed w/ SSNY 12/29/24. Off. in NY Co. Process served to SSNY - desig. as agt. of LLC & mailed to the LLC, 228 Park Ave S #850152, NY, NY 10003. The reg. agt. is United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave, Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of 123A 7TH HOLDINGS LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/03/25. 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 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

MARRERO LAW, PLLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) ********** Office in New York Co. SSNY desig. agent of PLLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 122 East 42nd Street, 4th FL, NY, NY 10168. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice is hereby given that Application ID Number NA-034325-104356 for a On-Premises hotel license has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine and spirits at retail in a Hotel under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at the Hotel Waldorf Astoria located at 301 Park Avenue, Floors Basement - 12 in New York County for on-premises consumption. AB Stable LLC and Waldorf=Astoria Management LLC, 301 Park Avenue, Floors Basement - 12, New York, NY 10022.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, PS FUNDING, INC., Plaintiff, vs. 236 WEST E&P LLC, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on November 28, 2023 and a Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on November 6, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 2, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 235 West 136th Street, New York, NY 10030. 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, City and State of New York, Block 1942 and Lot 116. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,849,325.16 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850143/2021.

Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee

Chartwell Law, One Battery Park Plaza, Suite 710, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Notice of Formation of NomadE28 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 1040 First Ave., Ste. 343, NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Pierre Martin at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

174 PARK OPS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/09/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 250 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

KSX Consulting LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on Feb 3, 2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 312 11th Ave #19D, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act. White Tiger 2024 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/01/2024. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 3857 White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY 10467. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Argentinos en NY LLC. Filed with SSNY on 01/25/25. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail copy to: 339 West 48 St #1C, NY. NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful.

U.S. bobsledders reach medal podium at 2025 World Championships

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The 2025 IBSF Bobsled and Skeleton World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, wrapped up last weekend with U.S. athletes on the podium. Kaysha Love, a former track athlete, won the gold medal in monobob, and veteran bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor finished third, winning her 10th World Championship medal.

Sylvia Hoffman, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist in the twowoman bobsled, did not qualify for the World Championships, but was on hand as a forerunner. That means she did preliminary runs down the track to ensure track conditions and safety were satisfactory.

“Everyone’s excited to be here in Lake Placid,” she said midway through the competition. “A lot of people have come out. We have

hospitality tents set up at different parts of the track … I’m happy that I’m able to be here and be a part of the environment.”

On the skeleton side, Mystique Ro won silver in the women’s event and gold in the first skeleton mixed team event, partnering with Austin Florian.

Hoffman remained in Lake Placid after the conclusion of the championships for USA BobsledSkeleton selection races, which set racers up for next season. A huge plus of being in Lake Placid is that she was able to use her own sled, which she was unable to have during the World Cup season due to the high cost of shipping the sled to Europe. Despite the challenges, she set some start records and had top 10 finishes.

“It’s been nice to get back to the monobob in my own sled that I’ve won medals in,” said Hoffman, who rented sleds when in

Europe. “The hardest part is how quickly can I adapt? Is the sled that I’m in actually fast? That all comes down to funding and sponsorship.”

Equipment is a crucial part of bobsled, and having your own sled provides an advantage. To set herself up for a return trip to the Olympics (at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Hoffman was the brakeman for Meyers Taylor and has since transitioned to pilot), she has to have her own monobob with her throughout the season.

“Each day is going to be a challenge … but I chose this route and you have to see it through,” said Hoffman, who would love to do motivational speaking for companies and colleges to start collaborations with potential sponsors. “I’m focusing on my piloting skills. I have goals of being the best that I can be.”

The Rose win Unrivaled women’s basketball league’s inaugural title

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Coming off a seminal 28th season, the WNBA will hold its annual draft in less than a month on April 14 at The Shed at Hudson Yards in Midtown Manhattan. By various measures, this is an exciting and historic time in women’s professional basketball. The Unrivaled league is another building block in the sport’s evolution.

“We have just collectively made history,” said Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler after the innovative women’s 3x3 basketball league crowned its first champion on Monday. Rose defeated Vinyl, 62–54, led by finals MVP Chelsea Gray, at the custom-built Wayfair Arena in Miami, where all of the league’s games were played. The inaugural season ran from Jan. 17 to this past Monday, March 17 and was composed of six teams, with WNBA stars spread across the rosters. The players were paid an average of more than $200,000 and each member of the Rose received an additional $50, 000 for winning the title.

Notably, no Black female head coach has won a WNBA title (three Black men have led championship teams). Both head coaches in the Unrivaled final, Nola Henry of the Rose and the Vinyl’s Teresa Weatherspoon, are Black women.

The Rose celebrate winning the inaugural Unrivaled 3x3 women’s basketball championship with a 62-54 win over Vinyl on Monday night. (Unrivaled photo)

“It’s a team full of relentless dogs that refuse to be denied and a coach that’s super passionate about my players, my preparation and just the opportunity in front of us,” said Henry, a New Jersey native and a 2017 participant in the WBCA’s So You Want to Be a Coach

program. “From day one, they counted us out. … What they going to say now?!”

Even in the loss, Weatherspoon, known to New Yorkers as a Liberty legend, expressed gratitude. “They’ve been absolutely outstanding this entire time that

we’ve been here,” said Weatherspoon of her players. “I have had an enjoyable time being in their presence every single day. We all were learning from each other and we were all growing together, and it was a beautiful thing to be a part of.”

Prior to the final, postseason honors were announced. Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier, who dominated play throughout the season, was named the regular season MVP. She led the league in points, field goals made per game, and steals per game. While her Lunar Owls went 13–1 in regular season games, they lost in the semi-finals to Vinyl.

Rose forward Angel Reese was named 2025 Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year, although she missed the playoffs due to injury. Lunar Owls Head Coach DJ Sackmann was named the 2025 Unrivaled Coach of the Year. Collier, Gray, and Laces wing Kayla McBride were named the First Team All-Unrivaled. Lunar Owls guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, Vinyl wing Rhyne Howard, and Reese were on the Second Team All-Unrivaled.

The season concludes with an eye to the future. There are new investors coming on board, including Wanda Sykes and Stephen Curry, joining Carmelo Anthony, Coco Gauff, Dawn Staley, and Geno Auriemma. There are suggestions to add additional locations beyond Miami for 2026, but that will be decided at a later date.

Bobsledder Sylvia Hoffman returned to Lake Placid last weekend as course forerunner, a role that ensures track safety. (James Reed photo)

With Cam Thomas out for the season, Tyrese Martin looks to fill the void

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNew

The Brooklyn Nets are confronted with challenging circumstances as they continue to eye a play-in tournament spot: Their place in the standings and inability to stay on the plus side of the win-loss ledger over four- and five-game stretches puts them at a disadvantage. Brooklyn has not had a winning streak of four or more games this season.

They have 13 regular season games remaining when they face the Indiana Pacers tonight on the road. They were 23-45 before playing the Celtics Tuesday night in Boston and went into that matchup at 12th on the East, five games below the 10th seed Miami Heat, which are in the Eastern Conference play-in position. The 7th through 10th seeds will be the four tournament squads.

The Nets’ objective became more problematic when they had to shut down leading scorer Cam Thomas for the remainder of the season after he reinjured his left hamstring on Saturday in a 116-110 loss to the Chicago Bulls last Thursday. He has dealt with the issue for most of this season, suffering the initial injury nearly four months ago on Nov. 25. The 23-yearold, 6-foot-3 shooting guard has played in only 25 games this season, averaging

24 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. Thomas, who was drafted by the Nets in 2021 with the 27th overall pick out of LSU will be a restricted free agent at the end of the NBA season.

With Thomas sidelined and the Nets’ roster being one of many moving parts since trading former starters Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith this past December, Tyrese Martin, a 6-foot-6

guard selected in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors out of the University of Connecticut, is a player taking advantage of opportunities. Martin, who signed a two-year deal last month after initially being signed to a two-way contract, went into Tuesday’s game averaging 12.8 points a game in just under 24 minutes in March.

“I think the consistency and also buying into where we try to build long-term, trying to put in place what our culture and our identity is, showing up every day and getting 1% better, building relationships, and executing trying to be a star in his role” are important factors, said Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez on Sunday before the Nets’ 122-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks at the Barclays Center.

“I think that Tyrese did that since the first day. That’s why he earned what he earned, and his consistency and how the type of a pro that he is. That’s why we want him around, and that’s why we committed to that and rewarded him,” Fernandez said, “Now the reality is he’s got to keep doing it and he’s got to keep doing it and do it better. The challenge is how much can you grow? So far we’re, like I said, very, very happy with him.”

The Nets will play the Pacers again in Indiana on Saturday and the Dallas Mavericks at the Barclays on Monday.

NY and NJ women’s college hoops teams head into postseason action

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

It’s that time of year when Division I college basketball heads into what Columbia University coach Megan Griffith calls a new season. It’s win or go home as the top teams take on postseason action.

For the Columbia Lions it involves a return to the First Four — the initial games of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament — with the winners advancing to the round of 64. Columbia faces Washington tonight at 7 p.m. with the action being shown on ESPN2, the largest viewing audience for a Lions game.

“We play one of the most fun and unique styles of basketball,” said Griffith. “We share the ball at a really high rate. Our players play with a tremendous amount of love and joy for the game. I’m excited to put that on national display.”

No other New York City teams will be part of the postseason, but play continues for several teams from New Jersey. Fairleigh Dickinson, which won the Northeast Conference Tournament, advances to its first ever Big Dance. Princeton joins Columbia and Harvard, winner of the Ivy League Tournament, in the NCAA Tournament, the first time in conference his -

tory three teams have made the cut.

“It’s pretty remarkable what our league has been able to do in a short span of time,” said Griffith. “The first two-bid that we ever got was in 2016 … We get to coach four-year players. That’s a large reason why the league has seen so much success. These players are growing with the league. I know we’re ready to make some noise in the tournament.”

The overall top seed in the Tournament is UCLA as well as the top seed in Regional 1. The other number one seeds are Regional 2 University of South Carolina, Regional 3 University of Texas, and Regional 4 University of Southern California.

Also, shout out to the two HBCU schools heading to the Big Dance. Southern won the SWAC tournament and will face UC San Diego in the First Four. Norfolk State is making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has its highest-ever seed, #13 in Regional 2, taking on Maryland.

Two other New Jersey teams play on with Seton Hall heading to the WBIT, hosting Quinnipiac tonight. Rutgers is scheduled to play in the WNIT. Two HBCUs, Coppin State and Howard will also take part in the WNIT.

Brooklyn Nets guard Tyrese Martin has elevated his game over past several weeks, receiving increased playing time resulting from injuries to his teammates. (Noah K. Murray photo)

Junior forward Susie Rafiu and the Columbia Lions head to the Big Dance. (Columbia University Athletics/Brian Foley photo)

Diamond Johnson leads Norfolk State to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament. (Nick Sutton photo)

United Airlines NYC solidifies itself as the world’s preeminent 13-mile race

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

New York City is now the location in which the most prestigious marathon and half marathon are staged. The former, the TCS NYC Marathon, a 26.2 mile trek through all five of the city’s boroughs, has long been the most coveted title by world class long distance runners. This past Saturday, the United Airlines NYC Half rose to the same status among 13.1 mile races.

Both are produced by the New York Road Runners (NYRR), which holds 60 annual adult and youth races. The NYRR is a non-profit organization founded in 1958 by the late, great Ted Corbitt, commonly known as the father of American long distance running and the first African American to compete in an Olympic marathon, making history at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Corbitt would have been proud to see history made this past Saturday as over 28,600 runners finished the United Airlines NYC Half, the most ever for the event, which began in 2006. Leading them across the tape in Central Park, where the race, starting on Washington Avenue near the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Park and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time in the arduous compe-

tition’s 19 years, were Abel Kipchumba, Sharon Lokedi, Geert Schipper, and Manuela Schär.

For the second straight NYC Half, Kipchumba, from Kenya, captured the men’s open division in a race record 59:09. Lokedi, also from Kenya and the 2022 NYC Marathon champion, won the women’s open division title, setting an event

record by clocking 1:07:04. Schipper, from the Netherlands, defended his title in the men’s wheelchair division in 49:53, and Schär, a threetime Paralympics gold medalist, took her fourth NYC Half in 54:09 for the women’s wheelchair victory. She was previously on the podium for wins in 2015, 2018, and 2022.

“I think it’s a really exciting time

for the women’s field. And I’m so excited to see that and to still be part of it,” Schär said on the NYRR Set the Pace podcast.

As for Kipchumba, he approached the half in the same manner as he does full marathons.

“When I was coming for this second half marathon [in] New York, I was training for a marathon. I was

Current and future track stars show up and show out at New

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

Track and field diehards in the New York tri-state area, used to make the yearly pilgrimage to the Armory in Washington Heights, Manhattan, to get a close and first-hand look at some of the sport’s best young stars at the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships.

Alas, in 2023, the meet moved to Boston, Mass., where the apparel company’s global operations are headquartered. From last Thursday through Sunday, the crowds that gathered at the Track at New Balance, on the brand’s campus, received the gift of performances that rewrote the scholastic record books, including two by Bullis School sensation Quincy Wilson.

On Saturday, Wilson broke the meet record of 45.76 seconds in the 400 meters — the record he established a year ago with a blistering 45.71, the

well prepared … because you must prepare your psychology … Today the field was so strong, that told me to push more, and then I ran that 59:09,” he explained.

The United Airlines Half featured world-class professional athletes from 14 countries, 30 Olympians and Paralympians, and multiple national record holders.

Balance Nationals

second-fastest in high school history. Who has the best time? Yes, Wilson: 45.66. On Sunday, Bullis, a private,

co-ed, college preparatory school in Potomac, Md., lowered their all-time 4x400 meter mark. The quartet of Camer -

on Homer, Alexander Lambert, Colin Abrams, and Wilson shattered their previous record of 3:11:87 set last year with a new

standard of 3:09:44.

Wilson, who at 16 years old became the youngest male United States track Olympian ever last summer when he ran on the men’s 4x400 meter relay team at the Paris Olympics, blazed a 45.9 seconds final leg in Boston. Bullis holds the top three boys’ high school times in the event — the school’s 2019 squad registered 3:12.53 in 2019.

Wilson wasn’t going to engage in an elaborate celebration for his remarkable accomplishments. Instead, he told the media, “I’m going to sleep and I’m playing [the video] game 2K.” In other record-breaking showings, New Jersey’s Union Catholic smashed the state record in the distance medley relay with a winning time of 11:38.03, bettering the old mark of 11:41.12 held by Southern Regional since 2009. IMG Academy set a new record in the girls’ 4x800 meters with a time of 8:46.04.

Olympian Quincy Wilson (second from the left) with his 4x400 meter Bullis School teammates at last year’s New Balance Nationals Indoor championships. (nbnationalsin.com photo)

Women’s wheelchair NYC Half marathon winner Manuela Schär. (NYRR photos)

Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba and Sharon Lokedi happily pose after their victories in Saturday’s United Airlines NYC Half marathon. SPORTS

St. John’s, Beast of the Big East, begin their NCAA tournament journey

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

The turnaround has been swift and dramatic: After a enduring more than a decade of mediocrity, New York City-born and Long Islandraised Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino has reinvigorated the St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball program. The university’s ardent followers and New York sports fans are pondering how far the team can go in the NCAA Tournament. Sweet 16? Final Four? Even a NCAA championship?

Guided by the demanding Pitino, who garnered Big East Coach of the Year honors, St. John’s capped their regular season Big East title with a conference tournament championship by defeating Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm (30-4) won 30 games or more games

for only the third time in its history and the team now has expectations to make a deep tournament run as the No. 2 seed in the East Region.

They will face No. 15 seed Omaha tonight (9:45 p.m.) in Providence, Rhode Island. The Florida Gators are the East’s No. 1 seed.

The Red Storm’s best finish in the Big Dance in the last 26 years was a trip to the Elite Eight in the 1998–99 season. To get that far this March, RJ Luis Jr., a 6-7 junior guard from Miami, Fla., will have to continue his superb play. The Big East Player of the Year was named the conference tournament’s most outstanding player of the tournament after exploding for 27 points in the second half versus Creighton. Luis leads the team in scoring at 18.4 points while pulling down 7.2 rebounds per game.

“As a little kid, you dream with these special moments during March Madness and the tourna-

ment championship,” Luis said. “When I was little, I would see the guys go up to the ladders and cut the nets. Obviously, to do it myself is incredible. It’s a great feeling. I’m just truly blessed. God has been so good to me. I just keep my faith in Him and know that He has already planned all this. This has been my destiny. I’m just continuing to work on my craft and trust in the process.” South Shore High School product Kadary Richmond, a fifth-year 6-6 senior guard from Brooklyn, is the team’s most versatile player, leading the team in assists and steals. The team’s inside presence is Zuby Ejiofor, 6-9, the Big East Most Improved Player award winner, averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds.

A victory over Omaha would have the Red Storm playing on Saturday versus the winner of the Kansas and Arkansas matchup.

With Mitchell Robinson back in the fold, the Knicks expand their rotation

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

It was much ado about nothing. A national media topic of discussion that was really a nonstory at this juncture of the long NBA season when Knicks forward Mikal Bridges suggested head coach Tom Thibodeau utilize the bench players more.

Because Thibodeau has been criticized for many years, going back to his first NBA head coaching stint with the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015, for wearing down his starters, Bridges’ opinion was amplified.

“We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there,” Bridges said in Portland last week where the Knicks were playing their fourth game of a five-game, seven-day Western road trip.

Fatefully, Bridges logged 41 minutes and scored a team high 33 points, the most consequential of them a game winning three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to push

the Knicks to a 114-113 win.

While All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson is still recovering from a right ankle sprain sustained on March 6 versus the Los Angeles Lakers in a 113-109 OT loss, center Mitchell Robinson played his eighth game of the season on Monday night after returning from left ankle surgery performed last May. His 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes were impactful in the Knicks 116-95 win over the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks were 43-24 when going into their game last night on the road against the San Antonio Spurs, the No. 3 seed in the East and five games ahead of the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers. Robinson has provided Thibodeau more lineup flexibility and expansion of his bench. He is increasing the minutes the 7-foot Robinson and fellow 7-footer, starting center Karl Anthony-Towns, share the court with the All-Star Towns at the power forward spot.

By the eye test, Robinson’s explosiveness, timing stamina and activity are rapidly improving with each game.

“He’s just a huge factor in partic-

ularly when you have him and KAT [Towns] out there together, get two seven footers, and then when OG [Anunoby] is on the front line with them, also he’s just so long,” said Thibodeau after Monday’s win.

“The baskets protected, but I think the rim protection, his ability to get out of the perimeter, defend, pick and roll, challenge shots, cover a lot of ground and make a second and third effort to be up on the pick and roll and then still get back to rebound and change shots. You see him multiple effort plays from home. I think his timing is coming around. So, he’s moving great. He feels great.”

“I mean, his presence alone adds a lot to our defense. It adds a lot to our team and gives us a chance to get really versatile with our lineup,” observed Towns. “So today was a good day. I thought we got that four or five with me and him and it caused some problems, and it allowed us to see how we can improve on that too.”

Robinson acknowledged that his comfort level is growing.

“I feel good. I’m finally getting the rhythm back a little bit, so that’s great. Basically, just got to keep going.”

The Knicks play the Charlotte Hornets on the road tonight, and host the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks at the Garden Saturday and Tuesday respectively.

St. John’s Red Storm, celebrating their Big East Tournament victory on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, face Omaha tonight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson totaled 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in a 116-95 win over the Miami Heat on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. (Bill Moore photo)