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State budget highlighted victims services — but advocates say it’s just the start
By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member
The newly finalized state budget will bolster New York’s victims’ compensation program. But will it matter if people don’t know it exists?
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget raised maximum reimbursement for burial expenses from $6,000 to $12,000 and lifted barriers to claiming compensation. Notably, the reforms removed contributory conduct denials — which weigh whether the victims “contributed to their own injuries” — from homicide cases.
For context, victims and survivors can file a claim with the state for compensation as “a last resort” through the Office of Victim Services (OVS) to recoup out-of-pocket expenses used after a crime they experienced. The wide range of costs covered includes lost earnings, medical care, and employmentrelated transportation due to an injury sustained from a crime-related incident.
Tahirih Anthony, senior policy director for Common Justice, said the Survivor’s First Act serves as an important next step to the budget, which was finalized two days after she spoke to the AmNews. The bipartisanbacked bill would expand on gains made by the budget, including the elimination of
April 14, 2025 New York, N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul and New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV) released a new package of three reports today highlighting the importance of passing Hochul’s proposal to streamline New York’s discovery laws to protect rights of crime victims. (Don Pollard/ Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
contributory conduct assessments for all crimes, rather than just homicide.
“The big piece is that it would get rid of contributory conduct for all cases,” said Anthony. “We just feel like you can’t talk about public safety without talking about what survivors need to actually be safe in the first place. This is something that survivors have [been] asking for, which is kind of why we nicknamed it the Survivors First Act, because we should be putting survivors first and putting their needs first.”
Anthony said their data, based on different research and public records requests, found Black victims made up roughly half of contributory conduct denials. She added that she does not believe it is a coincidence that “the same communities that are over-policed and under-protected are the same ones that are likely to be denied compensation.”
“The idea of [a] perfect victim — when we let biases decide who needs help, we basically turn victim services into gate-
State budget conflates mental hygiene with public safety
By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member
More than $196 million from the newly finalized state budget will go towards mental health care, announced Gov. Kathy Hochul last Friday, May 9.
While Hochul’s statement pointed to efforts against mental health stigmatization, advocates say her push to ramp up involuntary commitment laws and connect serious mental illness to public safety concerns “are being made through the lens of how to control the public perception of danger in New York City.”
To be clear, the correlation between mental health and criminality remains dubious. Past
research suggests people with “psychiatric” conditions are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime. But contrary narratives stem from notable incidents within New York City, particularly on the subway.
“She has put money towards mental health, but I don’t think she has at all even attempted to destigmatize mental health,” said Ruth Lowenkron, the director of disability justice at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “And certainly this does just the opposite…that this is the way we’re going to take care of public safety by ensuring that more people with mental health diagnoses are either locked up in psychiatric hospitals or committed to outpatient commitments [is] entirely missing the mark.”
The budget greenlit involuntary commitments if an individual is perceived as unable to care for themselves based on their appearance or behavior under the definition of “likelihood to result in serious harm.” Such a standard of basic needs has long been employed by medical professionals, with observations ranging from not wearing a coat during winter weather or refusing food despite not eating while living with a serious mental health condition.
“The change, really here is enshrining that statute in the law which permits law enforcement on the street [and] in the subway to make a decision [that] first, a person who has a mental illness [and] secondly, that they are unable to provide,” said NYCLU staff attorney Beth Haroules. “So a person, for example, who says, ‘I’m not going to go to a city shelter. Don’t take me to the intake center, because the last time I was in the city shelter, I was attacked,’ the police are allowed under the standard to say ‘so you’re mentally ill, you’re rejecting housing; I’m taking you in, and I’m going to let a clinician make that determination.’”
Under Section 9.41 of the State’s Mental Hygiene Law, law enforcement can “take into custody any person who appears to be mentally ill and is conducting himself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to himself or others.”
Debates over involuntary commitment
Feb. 19, 2025 Brooklyn, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul convenes a mental health roundtable. (Darren McGee/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul)
BP Levine scores big endorsements in comptroller race
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
Manhattan Borough President (BP) Mark Levine has pulled ahead as a candidate in this year’s City Comptroller race.
Levine is up against a slew of other candidates, including Brooklyn Councilmember Justin Brannan, governmental liaison Ismael Malave-Perez, and Brooklyn State Sen. Kevin Parker, as they try to replace current Comptroller Brad Lander. Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar was running but dropped out of the race on Jan. 27.
Levine was endorsed by former Congressmember Charles B. Rangel and former Assemblymember Inez E. Dickens, as well as Congressmembers Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres, Bronx BP Vanessa Gibson, Brooklyn BP Antonio Reynoso, and Queens BP Donovan Richards.
“Mark has always shown up for Harlem and for communities across this city that too often get left behind,” said Rangel in a statement. “He’s got the heart of a public servant and the know-how to keep our city on solid financial ground. I trust Mark to protect taxpayer dollars, invest in working families, and ensure the city government delivers for all New Yorkers, not just the privileged few.”
Levine’s campaign has received a whopping $2,716,159 in matching funds (more than $2.7 million) and $1,006,721 (more than $1 million) in private funds, accord-
ing to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB).
“It’s an incredible honor to have the support of Rep. Rangel and Assembly- and Councilmember Dickens — true giants of public service,” said Levine in a statement.
“Their leadership helped shape New York for the better and their legacies in Harlem and beyond continue to inspire. With their backing, we’re even more energized to build a campaign rooted in equity, transparency, and fiscal justice for all five boroughs.”
Brannan, who is currently City Council’s finance committee chair, is a close second in the comptroller race. In terms of fundraising, he’s raised $585,987 in private donations and $289,598 in public matching funds.
In comptroller debates, Levine and Brannan have discussed the city budget, contracts, promoting governmental transparency in a time of “economic uncertainty,” rents, and pension funds. For the most part, they agreed that the city’s pension systems and hospitals have to be safeguarded from threats under the Trump administration; the public and comptroller should have more say in the budgeting process; and budget cuts to arts, parks, and City University of New York (CUNY) should be avoided at all costs. Both candidates expressed concerns about Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the budget.
One of the areas where they differ is in regard to affordable housing. Levine’s plan calls for using the municipal pension fund system to help finance building affordable housing, up to 75,000 units, over the next decade. Brannan is opposed.
Malave-Perez, one of two candidates of color in the race, has also made a splash. He was endorsed by former Assemblymember Adam Clayton Powell IV and has big support from Latino and faith communities in the Bronx, with endorsements from Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. and Councilmember Rev. Fernando Cabrera. He’s raised $86,966 in private funds so far.
Torres, Espaillat call for funding Harlem River Environmental Restoration Project
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
In a letter last week, Congressmembers Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat demanded New York City match funding for an environmental restoration project in Harlem.
The Harlem River Environmental Restoration Project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was put forth under the Hudson Raritan Estuary (HRE), which dates back to 2001. The river is a 9-mile tidal strait characterized as “urbanized” — lacking green space, having poor water quality, and with mostly economically disadvantaged neighborhoods nearby. The project hopes to “improve significant ecological function” and incorporate new infrastructure to manage the risk of coastal storms and flooding.
Torres pushed for a $500,000 allocation for the restoration project in the Consolidated Appropriations Bill of 2024, but first, the city must fund and complete a feasibility study executed with a local sponsor and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP). In a letter sent to Mayor Eric Adams on May 5, the congressmembers asked the city to commit to funding their share of the $500,000 under federal law.
“Without a local commitment, the federal funds could be forfeited by the end of Fiscal
Year 2025,” they wrote. “The Harlem River project represents a critical opportunity to restore ecological function, improve water quality, enhance public access, and strengthen New York City’s climate resilience. Failure to move forward would mean not only the loss of current federal dollars but also jeopardizing future environmental investments in the Bronx and across New York City.”
Torres and Espaillat were joined by Bronx Borough President (BP) Vanessa Gibson; Manhattan BP Mark Levine; Deputy Speaker of the City Council Diana Ayala; and Councilmembers Eric Dinowitz, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Althea Stevens, and Carmen De La Rosa in calling for the funding.
Torres’ office said that the mayor hasn’t given a “formal response to the letter yet, but there have been a series of conversations on the staff level with DEP.”
“The clock is ticking on the Harlem River Environmental Restoration Project,” said Torres in a statement. “This initiative is vital to the environment, health, and well-being of the Bronx, and we can’t afford to let this opportunity slip away. I urge City Hall to act swiftly and ensure this critical investment becomes a reality.”
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. ( Manhattan Borough President flickr photo)
Harlem River Greenway to the Bronx. Mayor Eric Adams announces expansion of Harlem River Greenway to the Bronx on High Bridge connecting Manhattan to the Bronx on Wednesday, Mar. 22, 2023. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
BK community continues to demand justice for fired Superintendent Brendan Mims
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
The Bedford-Stuyvesant community is still reeling from the unceremonious firing of Superintendent Brendan Mims, who was commended for his hands-on approach to the schools in his charge. A community petition to get him reinstated has been circulating for the last month, but the city hasn’t budged.
Bed-Stuy falls under the Community Education Council (CEC) of District 16 in Brooklyn. It’s composed of 23 public schools with roughly 4,700 students, 64% of whom identify as Black American, according to statistics from the New York State Education Department (NYSED). In recent years, the district has faced an ongoing instability at the administration level, which has led to the turnover of the last three superintendents.
Mims was appointed a few years ago while former New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks was in office. He was removed from his position by Chancellor Melissa Avilés-Ramos and the Department of Education (DOE) in April 2025 during Spring break and just before citywide testing commenced. Mims was then offered a reassignment overseeing school truancy and restorative justice efforts at what’s commonly referred to as a DOE suspension site. He reportedly refused.
The Amsterdam News reached out di -
rectly to Mims for his perspective on the situation. He said he was grateful for the advocacy efforts on his behalf but, under advice from his lawyer, was unable to comment.
Mims brought “transformative leadership” to the superintendent role and helped usher in the city’s Black studies curriculum, said members of the coalition and his colleagues.
“We’re still building momentum to say
this was wrong and nothing they’ve said would constitute removing a superintendent with his community partnerships and his record,” said Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman, who’s been leading the charge to get him reinstated. “To put the district in such a position and for the public not to be included –– it’s unforgivable. Certainly, ill-conceived.”
Mims had also reached out extensively to community nonprofits and leaders to
collaborate on educational programs for students in the district.
Barry Cooper, founder and executive director of the B.R.O. Experience Foundation in Bed-Stuy, posted the petition to reinstate Mims. His organization focuses on Black male mental health among the city’s youth. He knew and worked with Mims for the last two years, he said, and was outraged that he was removed. He felt the decision was “haphazard” and rushed because of the turnover with previous superintendents. “I think they figured that no one would care,” said Cooper.
Dr. Torian Easterling is the former first deputy commissioner and chief equity officer for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and currently the senior vice president of Population & Community Health at One Brooklyn Health. He met Mims in 2023 at one of Cooper’s events. They’ve been collaborating on how to recruit more BedStuy students into Easterling’s Young Doctors Project. This is a free year-round mentoring program based in DC, Virginia, and NYC that allows students to explore professional careers in areas of public health, traditional medicine, dental practice, and veterinary practice.
“Mims was committed to finding funding and networking opportunities,” said Easterling. “He was out on the streets developing partnerships, meeting parents. He is the type of leader we need.”
Bernard Placide’s case still causing outrage in New Jersey
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
The family of Bernard Placide Jr. is still waiting for the state of New Jersey to officially release its investigative report on the young man’s killing.
On Sept. 3, 2022, the then 22-year-old Placide was shot and killed by members of the Englewood Police Department (EPD). The shooting devastated his family and led to their filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office took control of the internal affairs investigation into the case, and civil litigation attorney Eric Kleiner –– who is representing the Placide family in the lawsuit –– has pointed out that Platkin’s office has yet to adjudicate it. “Because of that,” Kleiner said, “the civil case remains on the dockets. We have to wait for the attorney general to finish because the files are confidential; we only have about 4% of the body cams at best. My take is we’re probably missing 97% of the files … Until they finish their thing, the federal judiciary is going to respect the confidentiality of [the Attorney General’s] guidelines.”
Scott T. Jenkins, a former Englewood police officer who now serves as vice
Reinstate Superintendent Brendan Mims petition graphic. (Barry Cooper photo)
Screenshot from Englewood police body cam footage from Sept. 3, 2022, when officers shot and killed Bernard Placide Jr. (NJ Office of the Attorney General video)
See BK COMMUNITY on page 36
New York’s prisons dominated the news this year. Did the state budget address them properly?
By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member
New York kicked off 2025 with state prisons regularly under the public eye. Body-worn camera footage showed the world how correctional officers allegedly beat Black New Yorker Robert Brooks to death. Prison staff then staged a wildcat strike across the state over safety conditions, costing the state millions. Another 10 prison guards were charged last month for the fatal beating of another Black New Yorker, Messiah Nantwi.
But does the newly finalized state budget commensurately address this state prison crisis? Thomas Gant, a community organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) and a formerly incarcerated individual, says no.
“The governor didn’t seize and the commissioner didn’t seize on a great opportunity to make [some meaningful change in this] crisis-bred environment,” said Gant. “The budget was an opportunity for the governor to do that, and she didn’t. And it is very disappointing, because I do know that there were bills pushed by the Senate and Assembly, in particular the Earned Time and Second Look Act, to say, ‘Look, here’s the answer.’
“You need an answer to transform the prison culture? We have it [with] this work for us getting folks home and out of those dangerous and harmful environments, but more importantly, transform[ing] the culture that’s going on right now and there.”
The Earned Time Act bolsters “good time” and “merit time” laws to motivate rehabilitation programming participation and good “institutional” behavior by shaving off prison time. The Second Look Act allows judges to review and reduce excessive sentences. A third bill, the Marvin Mayfield Act, eliminates mandatory minimum sentences known for coercing guilty pleas.
Gant said prison safety starts with meaningful programming that sets the stage for reentry. He recalls ulterior motives like outof-cell time as initial incentives for him, which later springboarded him toward a wide range of activities, from commissioning sports leagues to mentoring at-risk high schoolers.
Robert Ricks, the father of Brooks, is an open proponent for the three sentencing reform bills. “My son was denied his second chance,” Ricks said in March. “I believe if we had laws like the Second Look Act in place when my son was incarcerated, he would have been home long before they murdered him.”
According to Ricks, his son served eight years of his 12-year sentence before his death and initially engaged in programming ranging from getting his GED and obtaining
sign language certification to taking maintenance training and horticulture classes — but then “time started doing him.”
New York’s excessive sentencing practices stem from the Rockefeller Drug Laws in the 1970s, which mandated mandatory minimums for narcotic sales throughout the state, and the 1994 crime bill, which drove mass incarceration federally. Such a history led to the disproportionate imprisonment of Black and Brown New Yorkers. Today, more than 105,000 children have a parent serving time in prison or jail in New York State, according to the Office of Children and Family Services.
The state legislature will tackle the sentencing reform laws as a priority in the remaining session, but they remained outside the budget. Research from the Vera Institute shows 74% of polled New Yorkers support the Earned Time Act and 68% support the Second Look Act.
To address the recent strikes, New York is set to lower the hiring age for correctional officers from 21 to 18. “No 18-year-olds should be in prison, period,” said Jerome Wright, co-director of the #HALTSolitary Campaign. “Whether they committed a crime or want to work there … you think it’s going to be less [abuse] by people who live in these rural communities who don’t know nothing about people coming into their facilities and who are coming to a culture of already-made violence and racism? You’re going to exacerbate it; you’re not addressing it.”
The state budget includes measures mandating constant body-worn camera usage during interactions with incarcerated indi-
viduals and allowing three prison closures over the next fiscal year. Oversight organizations like the New York State Commission of Correction and the independent Correctional Association of New York (CANY) received boosted funding.
“Through a landmark institutional investment of $3 million in new funding to support CANY’s monitoring activities and the enhanced responsibilities assigned to the State Commission of Correction, New York State has recognized the vital role that prison oversight plays in supporting transparency and accountability,” said CANY executive director Jennifer Scaife in a statement. “Likewise, CANY supports the enactment of a statewide body-worn camera program and the authorization for closure of up to three prisons. Both of these measures promise a shift toward a better-functioning, modernized system.
“We urge policymakers to ensure a transparent process when determining these prison closures and provide for a smooth transition for affected communities.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed to the body-worn camera rollout along with $400 million toward installing cameras in all correctional facilities as well as $7.2 million toward bolstering the Office of Special Investigations, which was immediately enlisted to investigate the killings of Brooks and Nantwi according to a State Senate hearing on May 14. An outside firm will also review corrections culture and patterns, in addition to expanding the existing whistleblower hotline.
“Governor Hochul’s top priority is public
safety and she was committed to delivering a budget that helps make New York saferand she did just that,” said the spokesperson. “This year’s budget continues record investment in gun violence prevention and other public safety initiatives, strengthens our laws to hold criminals accountable, and ensures those suffering from mental illness have access to the compassionate care they need.”
State Sen. Julia Salazar said she is proud of the progress but believes the budget is “no means enough to reform our abusive and flawed prison system.” The Brooklyn legislator is the Second Look Act’s lead sponsor.
“For decades, correction officers have tortured incarcerated people with little to no accountability, and our parole system continues to leave thousands of rehabilitated people wasting away behind bars,” said Salazar in her statement. “After correction officers murdered Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, we promised serious reform.
“In the month remaining before the end of this legislative session, I’m calling on lawmakers and the governor to enact substantial legislation that will increase oversight and accountability, end the rampant abuse happening inside of prisons, and expand pathways toward release.”
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.
Gov. Kathy Hochul visits Marcy Correctional Facility after Robert Brooks’ death. (Governor’s Office photo)
State budget funding disappoints community advocates
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
This year’s $254 billion state budget was exceptionally late, but Governor Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers finally voted on lingering items last week. Here are some of the areas that Black and Brown advocates were disappointed didn’t get more funding.
The deadline for the fiscal year (FY) 2026 state budget was April 1. Hochul and lawmakers spent about a month past that date in contentious negotiations over policy changes, such as involuntary commitment laws, reforms to the state’s discovery law, and a statewide mask ban. There was an additional 10 days’ delay after Hochul announced an “agreement” deal where lawmakers dragged voting through the budget bills.
Some strides were made when it came to the state’s Black Agenda, which was proposed earlier this year. This includes $30 million to New York Urban League and United Way of Greater New York, $1 million to socially and economically disadvantaged farmers, $8 million to support community behavioral health crisis response programs, $2.5 million to the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP), $3.1 million to the Correctional Association of New York (CANY) and $275,000 to the Fortune Society, $2.5 million for the statewide Afterschool Learning and Enrichment After-School Program Supports (LEAPS) program, and $28 million to the My Brothers Keeper program.
“As we transition from budget to legislation,” said Assemblymember Chantel Jackson, who chairs the Black legislative task force, “we remain committed to building our 2025 legislative agenda and upholding our mission: securing financial resources and advancing policies that uplift Black communities across New York State.”
There were also allocations to arts and cultural institutions: $60 million for the New York State Council on the Arts; $1 million to City University of New York (CUNY) Medgar Evers College, including support for the Dubois Bunche Center for Public Policy and Dr. John Flateau Chair in Election Data Analysis and Research; $250,000 to Weeksville Heritage Center and $100,000 to the Brooklyn Public Library Center for the Brooklyn History Society; $175,000 to the Boys and
Girls Club of Harlem and $500,000 to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and $222,500 to the Langston Hughes Community Library in Queens. However, quite a few people are unhappy with what was finalized.
SUNY Downstate Hospital
The battle to save the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Science Center hospital and university in Brooklyn has been waging for quite some time, but things came to a head in February 2024 when the community rallied against a plan to move inpatient services at Downstate across the street to Kings County Hospital. Community leaders and electeds feared this would effectively close the hospital.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter, of the New Hope Christian Fellowship church, has been leading the clergy effort to save the hospital. He said that the asking price was close to $1 billion for renovations and operation of the crumbling facility, and their proposed plan kept in-patient services at Downstate.
After months of demonstra-
tions, the hospital’s new community advisory board met in January 2025. Hochul committed to $450 million in capital funding and $100 million in operating support, in addition to the $400 million included in the FY 2025 enacted budget, for a grand total of $950 million for SUNY Downstate. Representatives for Hochul promised the community at the public hearings that this additional funding would be in the state’s executive budget. People were hopeful it would happen.
Findlayter said that somewhere in the budget negotiations, $250 million of Downstate funding was removed, leaving the community “angry, frustrated, and disappointed that we went and fought for the money and then through some back door dealing,” it was gone. Many are under the impression that the public hearings were “stringing the community along” the whole time, he said.
State Assemblymember Monique Chandler-Waterman said that $750 million was kept in the budget for Downstate but agreed that the shortfall was dis-
those facing poverty.
However, the Coalition for Equitable Education Funding said the final education budget bill made changes to the formula they could not agree with. They approved of increasing the per pupil weight for ELLs from .5 to .65 as written in the proposed state legislature budget. What made it into the final budget was a weight of .53, meaning about $30 million to city schools, which they said wasn’t enough.
“Far from helping New York City schools better meet student needs, the changes to the Foundation Aid formula will result in NYC schools getting hundreds of millions of dollars less than they would have received had the State made no changes to the formula at all,” they said in a joint statement.
Housing access
After years of advocacy, the much-debated Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) was finally included in the state budget with an allocation of $50 million. Funding was also put toward affordable housing development and preservation, supporting Mitchell-Lamas, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFC) cooperative repairs.
appointing. “Although we fought for transparency and community inclusion, the Governor has not included the additional $250 million in this budget as promised,” she said in a statement.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie, an outspoken advocate for the hospital and a mayoral candidate this year, added: “This budget falls far short of what SUNY and the Governor promised us for Downstate, and far short of what this community needs and deserves. With the future of Downstate hanging in the balance, this is the time to make investments in health equity for Black and Brown people. Once the Advisory Board completes its work, this community will once again make its voice heard and demand a real plan to improve health care in Central Brooklyn.”
Education
The education portion of the state budget totals $37.4 billion, and aims to update the Foundation Aid funding formula to include resources for English Language Learners (ELLs) and
While many nonprofit organizations said this represents a significant and “long overdue” victory for housing justice, others felt that the funding was not nearly enough to help prevent evictions, reduce homelessness, and address housing stability for the city’s families in the future.
The Black Agenda initially called for $250 million toward the HAVP, but was haggled down to $50 million.
“To be honest, we landed at $50 million, but the governor didn’t want to do it,” said Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson. “And we all know that in the face of federal cuts, we need to protect small homeowners and renters. [But] the HAVP at $50 million is a huge deal, and that’s something I’ve been fighting for since before I was even elected — before it was called the Home Stability Support. This would essentially create a new Section 8 voucher program for up to 10,000+ renters across the state. It’s a big deal because the federal budget has cut Section 8 funding, so we want to be able to have enough protection for our tenants.”
Doctors, nurses, hospital workers, faith leaders, union members, and elected officials attend massive Save SUNY-Downstate rally in Brooklyn on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ariama C. Long photo)
Divine Nine News
An Evening of Elegance: NYAC of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. empowers Harlem through service and scholarship
The New York Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, invites you to attend their Evening of Elegance Scholarship Gala at 8 p.m. this Saturday, May 17. While formal attire is requested for the event at Villa Barone Manor in the Bronx, service and college scholarships are the priority.
Here is a message from Jimyce G. Johnston, the president of the New York Alumnae Chapter (NYAC):
“In this critical time in our nation, we need you, our supporters, to continue to help our young people as they navigate the challenges of their college campuses and have the financial resources to continue their education. Our aim is to make a difference in our community.”
In partnership with the 501(c) 3 taxexempt New York Alumnae Deltas, Inc., we are hosting the Evening of Elegance: Choice Awards scholarship fundraiser. This annual event raises funds to help us better serve the Harlem community with four-year college scholarships to deserving college-bound high school seniors.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, an international public service organization, has become one of the preeminent service-based sororities with over 1,050 chapters worldwide and more than 350,000 initiated members of primarily Black, college-educated, professional women. Locally, New York Alumnae Chapter is the oldest graduate chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and is committed to serving the underprivileged and elderly through comprehensive projects that serve the Harlem community in particular and the larger Manhattan area.”
Johnston added, The 2025 Evening of Elegance Choice Award Honorees who exemplify our sorority’s Five Point Programmatic Thrusts are:
• Economic Development: Charles
Gabriel, owner of Charles Pan-Fried Chicken
• Educational Development: Aiysha Fullerton, principal of Frederick Douglass Academy, and Peter Westbrook, posthumous award, the first African-American to win an Olympic Fencing medal (1984), and founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation
• International Awareness and Involvement: Debora Clark Fairfax, founder of Travel With A Purpose
• Physical and Mental Health: Ashlee Wisdom, founder and CEO of Health In Her Hue
• Political Awareness and Involvement: Karen D. Taylor, founder of While We Are Still Here
All proceeds support NYAC’s scholarships and public service programs. For more information about the event, visit dstnyac.org.
Annual ‘Hat Lunch’ held at Central Park Conservatory Garden
By MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS Special to the AmNews
Over time, the annual Central Park Conservancy Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon, which benefits Central Park and is held in the Park’s Conservatory Gardens, has become known as “the Hat Lunch” or “that Hat Lunch.”
Why “that Hat Lunch”? The name comes from the now de rigueur conceit that all attendees don their finest headgear, often extravagant confections created specially for the occasion. The ritual extends from well before the time of the first Conservancy Lunch, back in 1983. By then, as now, most — men and women alike — went about hatless.
For centuries before that, this was not the case. Hats were man-
dated for almost all events except evening parties and concerts held after 6 o’clock. When John and Jacquline Kennedy moved into the White House in 1961, their taste and sense of style changed everything almost overnight. Hats, once worn to the grocery store and at ball games, were out, even in Harlem. Until recently, they persisted in the Black community, for Sunday church, at weddings, and at funerals, but gradually, like the fading necktie, hats are seen less and less.
Because hats are no longer normal attire nowadays, the affluent ladies attending this fundraiser love putting them on, at least for one day. But indicative of their increasing obsolescence, for some, the minute lunch ends, their hats come off.
KAYLYN KENDALL DINES, MBA
Saba Nwankpah
With Joshua Kami of Ladies of Madison Avenue Instagram page.
Nichol King
Jazzmobile’s Robin Bell-Stevens
(Michael Henry Adams photos)
New York Alumnae Chapter President Jimyce G. Johnston (Photo courtesy of the New York Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated) New York Alumnae
Chapter President Jimyce G. Johnston (Photo courtesy of the New York Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated)
Union Matters
NJ Transit train engineers inch closer to strike amid ongoing wage disputes
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
The possibility of a strike or lockout by workers of New Jersey’s public transit system is getting closer and closer.
The strike deadline is 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 16.
Representatives of both the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET) and NJ Transit remain at odds over agreed-upon wages for their locomotive engineers. Last month, 87% of the union’s membership voted down a tentative eight-year contract with NJ Transit.
The wage level for the rejected contract would have brought BLET members in line with what NJ Transit is paying its other workers.
NJ Transit claims that the average salary for union members is currently $135,000 per year, and that the tentative contract it offered would have increased this to $172,856 per year. “Under the tentative agreement BLET members rejected,” NJ Transit says on its website, “locomotive engineers would have averaged $172,856 as of July 1, 2027. The highest-paid locomotive engineer would be earning $286,000 in 2027. These wages are competitive within the region, higher than wages at SEPTA in Philadelphia, and lower than those at MTA (Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road) in New York.
“Under the BLET’s proposal, the highest paid engineer’s salary would increase to $314,174 in 2027. It isn’t reasonable to live and work in New Jersey, but demand to be paid like you live and work in New York.”
BLET representatives dispute NJ Transit’s claims. They say that the average salary for their members in 2024 was only $113,000 a year.
“Unfortunately for the locomotive engineers in New Jersey Transit, this is simply not the case,” BLET General Chairman Tom Haas said during a May 9 press conference. “Reviewing publicly available data for all locomotive engineers in 2024, the average was only $113,000 per year. And a substantial number of locomotive engineers fell well below that average. So, you may ask why the discrepancy? Apparently, it seems like New Jersey Transit has been unable to understand their own payroll data. We have discovered that for reasons unknown to us, New Jersey Transit classifies locomotive engineers in two separate groups in their payroll system, with roughly half of the locomotive engineers in it. That one group has significantly higher annual earn-
ings than the other. And apparently, it was that group that New Jersey Transit has been citing when they offer their figures on average wages, their offers, and our proposals.
“The group that New Jersey Transit excluded, however, has average annual earnings of only $98,000. That’s about 30% less than what New Jersey Transit has been claiming.”
The union also disputed NJ Transit claims that wage increases would cost taxpayers an additional $1.3 billion and lead to a fare increase. “In fact, our proposal would cost New Jersey Transit just over $4 million per year more than their last proposal. So, the cost of an entire year of our proposal, which would guarantee that New Jersey Transit continues to provide service for 100% of the ridership. New Jersey Transit’s contingency plan is to spend that same amount, $4 million per day, to provide service to less than 20% of their daily ridership.
“Despite what NJ Transit tries to claim,” Haas said, “we have sought nothing more than equal pay for equal work, only to be continuously rebuffed by New Jersey Transit.”
BLET members are tasked with having to
be able to drive, monitor, and operate NJ Transit trains and ensure the safety of any passengers or freight they are transporting.
A recent NJ Transit job description for prospective train engineers explains that “The Locomotive Engineer (LE) position entails deep knowledge and application of train operating rules and regulations. It involves the operation of locomotives, performing pre-trip inspections and tests, monitoring track conditions during runs, controlling train speed by throttle adjustment and brake application, and ensuring the safety of passengers and equipment. Typically, LEs monitor speed, air pressure, battery use, and other instruments to ensure that the locomotive runs smoothly. They observe the track for obstructions, such as fallen tree branches, and use a variety of controls, such as throttles and air brakes to operate the train.”
On May 12, BLET and NJ Transit negotiators met with members of the National Mediation Board (NMB) in Washington, D.C., to see if the strike could be averted. BLET did not make any comments in the aftermath of that meeting, but NJ Transit President Kris Kolluri said, “We found the
discussion to be constructive and look forward to continuing negotiations in good faith. To respect the collective bargaining process, we will not be sharing any additional details publicly at this time.”
BLET asserts in a television commercial that it’s been airing in New Jersey that New York’s implementation of congestion pricing and mandatory office returns in the city have led to a rise in NJ Transit ridership and increased their members’ workloads. The union says its 461 members and trainees who work for NJ Transit haven’t received a raise in six years. They are “the lowest-paid locomotive engineers at any of the major passenger railroads in the United States,” the union notes. “The contract dispute has gone through years of NMB-sponsored mediation and recommendations from two Presidential Emergency Boards.” If a deal isn’t reached and BLET members go on strike, NJ Transit plans to add more buses to some of its major routes and contract private bus services to help transport riders.
NJ Transit’s train engineers haven’t gone out on strike since March 1983, when they remained out of work for a total of 34 days.
On Monday, April 3, 2023, people ride a New Jersey Transit train in Secaucus, New Jersey, traveling into Penn Station, New York. (AP
Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Treatment by us, for us: the critical need for Black psychiatrists
By DR. EBONI WOOLEY
There is no way around it: If you want to address the Black mental health crisis in America, we need more Black psychiatrists. America has been dealing with the devastating effects of declining mental health for decades, and Black Americans are affected disproportionately. Black adults are more likely than white adults to report chronic symptoms of emotional distress, such as persistent depression and generalized anxiety disorders. The suicide rates of Black Americans are continuing to rise to troubling numbers: In 2022, suicide was the third leading cause of death among Black people from ages of 10 to 24.
The U.S. has spent millions of dollars on improving mental health in underserved communities by improving access to treatment. Why are mental health issues among minorities continuing to rise? While racism, systemic oppression, and stigma are all valid answers to this question, the lack of Black psychiatrists and other mental health professionals is an even louder answer. Only 2% of psychiatrists are Black, according to the American Psychiatric Association. This unsettling lack of diversity is felt most by Black patients.
Stigma has long been the default answer for why Black Americans suffer from mental health issues in silence. For instance, only 25% of Black Americans seek mental health treatment, compared to the 40% of white Americans. While it is true that cynicism exists in the Black community in regard to seeking mental health treatment, this can be directly tied to the impact of racism in the healthcare system. The Black population also has a general distrust of the healthcare system — for justifiable reasons, from the inhumane Tuskegee experiments to the high infant mortality rates among Black women. The terrifying comments by the country’s current leading healthcare official, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., only further highlights the racist medical beliefs of many. From an historical lens, Black Americans have faced a long history of mental health challenges. From the history of slavery, intergenerational trauma and high-profile cases of police brutality, more attention has been placed on how this affects mental health. Recent research has shown that viewing acts of police brutality on social media, and experiencing physical and verbal racist attacks,
may be attributed to the high rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Black community. Another study found African American older adults were more likely to experience internalization of stigma and a devalued self-identity, and were more likely to endorse negative attitudes toward mental illness and treatment compared to their white counterparts.
What’s even more heartbreaking than the foregoing statistics is the countless number of Black individuals who have sought mental health treatment but have been met with misdiagnosis, dismissal, and inadequate treatment. The Black community being misdiagnosed in mental health treatment is a common occurrence. Too often, non-Black psychiatrists misread emotional cues as anger, symptoms of trauma as “disruptive behavior,” and over-pathologizing behaviors of Blacks as more dangerous or disobedient. For instance, Black children are more than twice as likely to receive a diagnosis of a disruptive disorder, such as Conduct Disorder versus Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), even when meeting the criteria of ADHD.
This is concerning because disruptive disorders is a stigmatized diagnosis that is characterized by aggression and a callous disregard for others. Decades of research also show that Black people are frequently given psychiatric diagnoses more severe, less treatable, or incorrect. Schizophrenia has been misdiagnosed and overdiagnosed in Black men. Black psychiatric patients are 85% more likely to be restrained and for longer periods of time than white individuals.
Psychiatrists play an essential role in the diagnosis, treatment, and possible reduction of mental health symptoms by combining medical expertise with psychological insights. The lack of representation of the Black experience can lead to a misunderstanding of how Black patients display mental health symptoms.
Many agencies and institutions now require mental health professionals to take cultural competency training. However, this is only surface-level change that cannot properly convey the oppression and hurdles the Black community faces. The mental health profession — psychiatry in particular — suffers from a lack of diversity. This means that it is highly unlikely that Black individuals will have a psychiatrist who understands their intersectionality and unique experience. The
foundation of a strong therapeutic relationship between a psychiatrist and client is built on trust and being understood. A lack of representation and cultural understanding leads to ineffective care for Black individuals.
To mitigate this issue and see change requires a multifaceted approach. One critical step is developing and increasing fellowships and student pipeline programs for Black students. For instance, medical schools should partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to create pathways for students seeking a career in psychiatry. Black students face significant barriers to medical school, including a high financial burden, limited resources, and systemic racism, particularly in standardized testing. By partnering with HBCUs, medical schools can aid in reducing these barriers by providing waivers, application support, and mentorship. The voices of Black students who aspire to seek careers in psychiatry must be cultivated and celebrated.
Current and emerging Black psychiatrists also should be prioritized in leadership roles. In medical school, Black psychiatrists should hold faculty positions to aid in fostering strong relationships amongst Black students and lead research studies to further improve treatment outcomes. In treatment, Black psychiatrists, by nature of their lived experiences, can ensure that treatment plans are culturally sensitive and relevant. Many treatment plans and outcome goals rely on Eurocentric approaches that can lead to inadequate treatment among Black patients. In psychiatric inpatient settings, Black psychiatrists should also be overseeing the department to ensure that Black patients are being treated fairly, especially in disadvantaged communities.
Despite years of healthcare professionals ringing the alarm on the growing mental health crisis in our country, numbers are continuing to rise. As with most societal challenges, Blacks are immensely affected but often receive the least care. Frankly, if we want to reduce the mental health crisis in America, the fight for Black mental health equity must be at the forefront of the social justice movement.
Dr. Eboni Wooley, DSW, LCSW is a psychotherapist in New York City and an adjunct professor at New York University. whose work centers around developing and improving mental health treatment in socially disadvantaged communities.
NY politics chat … live!
CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.
One of my many endeavors besides teaching at a university, moderating events, and writing about politics is co-hosting the New York-focused podcast FAQ.NYC. Journalists Harry Siegel, Katie Honan, and I host a weekly podcast where we talk about all things New York City. We occasionally venture into chats about Albany and national politics, but we mainly discuss all things mayor, City Council, neighborhoods, legislation, and more. We see our podcast as a way to inform New Yorkers about issues large and small ... and sometimes even have a good laugh while doing so. On May 29 at 5:30 p.m., we will host a live episode, taping at the New York Law School, to discuss the state of the mayoral race.
During this electoral season, we interviewed almost every major Democratic mayoral candidate on the podcast … with the exception of Mayor Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who both seem to be avoiding tough interviews like the plague. This election is so consequential because New Yorkers will be choosing a leader who will have to stand up to (and sometimes negotiate with) an unpredictable and norm-busting president who seems to have a particular disdain for policy issues that directly affect millions of New Yorkers. New Yorkers will need to choose a leader with a clear vision for how to deal with possible defunding of public housing, transportation, education, infrastructure, hospitals, and overall budget issues. We will
need to choose a leader who will think deeply about how to integrate immigrant populations into our communities, as well as how to deal with the pressures of ICE in our institutions, ranging from jails to schools to houses of worship. How will the next mayor of New York deal with the potential of FBI agents attempting to arrest judges in New York City or deport innocent American citizens without probable cause who are living in one of our boroughs?
These are just some of the questions we are grappling with this election season, so we’ve decided to host a live podcast episode to discuss it and take audience questions. Every election night, we invite our friend and colleague Ben Max from the Max Politics podcast to join us to discuss the political moment. For this live podcast episode, we will once again join forces with Ben for a robust conversation.
If you care about the future of New York City, this is the event for you. Come join us and spend an hour discussing politics and leadership and the future of the city. The event will be held Thursday, May 29, at 5:30 p.m. at New York Law School (185 W. Broadway, New York, NY 10013).
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.
International News
Trump just brought a group of white South
as ‘refugees’. What are they escaping?
Africans to
the
US
By GERALD IMRAY
Associated Press
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)
— The Trump administration brought a small number of white South Africans to the United States as refugees Monday. It says it’s the start of a larger relocation effort for members of the minority Afrikaner group who are being persecuted by their Black-led government because of their race.
The 59 South Africans had their applications fast-tracked by the U.S. after President Donald Trump announced the relocation program in February. He said Monday that white Afrikaner farmers are facing a “genocide” in their homeland, an allegation strongly denied by the South African government.
The Trump administration has taken an anti-migrant stance, suspending refugee programs and halting arrivals from other parts of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Refugee groups have questioned
why the white South Africans are being prioritized.
South Africa says there’s no persecution
The South African government said the U.S. allegations that Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of its country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country, and said they are amongst “the most economically privileged.”
Afrikaners are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa in the 17th century. There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80% Black. Many in South Africa are puzzled by claims that they are persecuted.
Afrikaners are South Africa’s largest white group and part of the country’s everyday multi-racial life. Many are successful business leaders and some serve in government.
Their language, Afrikaans, is widely spoken — including by non-Afrikaners — and is recognized as an official language, and churches and other institutions reflecting Afrikaner culture hold prominence in almost every city and town.
Afrikaners were the leaders of the apartheid system of white minority rule that ended in 1994.
So what persecution is the U.S. alleging?
Trump and his South African-born adviser Elon Musk have accused the South African government of having racist anti-white laws and policies, but the claims of persecution and genocide center on a relatively small number of violent farm attacks and robberies on white people in rural communities.
The U.S. alleges those attacks are racially motivated and the South African government is “fueling” them by allowing anti-white rhetoric in politics and not doing enough to protect Afrikaner communities. The government has condemned the farm attacks, but says their cause is
to escape from that violence and come here,” Trump said.
Affirmative action and ‘reverse racism’
The Trump administration has also criticized South Africa’s affirmative action policies as racist against whites and has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.”
No land has been expropriated, but Afrikaners who make up many rural communities have raised fears their land might be targeted.
South Africa has laws designed to advance employment opportunities for Blacks, and many white South Africans and white-led political parties have also criticized them and called them racist and counter-productive.
being deliberately mischaracterized.
Violent attacks on farm owners in South Africa have been a problem for years but represent a small percentage of the country’s extremely high violent crime rates, which affect all races. The government says there is no targeting of white people and farm attacks are part of its struggles with crime.
Groups representing farmers have recorded around 50 or less farm homicides a year in the last two years in South Africa. Those figures are set against a total of more than 20,000 homicides a year affecting all races.
“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans.”
Still, many rural white communities have long expressed fear at the threat of violence and feel attacks against them in home invasions and robberies are especially brutal.
“So, we’ve essentially extended citizenship to those people ...
Some Afrikaner groups say the employment, land and other laws are designed to specifically limit their opportunities in South Africa in a kind of reverse racism as punishment for Afrikaners’ role in apartheid. The government rejects that and says the laws are designed to give Blacks access to jobs and land they were denied under apartheid.
Not the only racial minority in South Africa
Afrikaners are not the only racial minority in South Africa, and not the only white minority. South Africa also has nearly 2 million white people with British or other heritage.
The Trump administration’s program initially only referred to Afrikaners. But in new guidelines released by the U.S. Embassy on Monday, applicants for refugee status must be “of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa.” Other racial minorities include a group of around 5 million with biracial heritage, as well as people with Indian and other south Asian heritage. It’s not clear how many South Africans have applied for or been granted refugee status, but U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the administration would welcome more Afrikaners as refugees in the coming months.
White South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. (AP Photo/ Jerome Delay, File)
Arts & Entertainment
Schomburg Center’s 100th kicks off with celebrations and reflections
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture held an all-day party on May 8 to kick off its 100th birthday celebration. The Harlem-based institution is commemorating a century of providing the public with access to evidence-based research about the African diaspora.
The day also marked the start of a year-long celebration of the Schomburg that will feature exhibitions, book giveaways, readings, and performances.
Crowds formed a line that wrapped down the street and around the block in anticipation of the 11 a.m. opening of the library’s doors. From midday through 6 p.m., visitors had the opportuni-
ty to view the exhibition “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity,” see some of the library’s original artworks, and attend talks that helped explain the Schomburg Center’s origins.
When the Schomburg Center was established on May 8, 1925, it was installed as the New York Public Library’s Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints. Items in its initial collection were based on the more than 4,000 books and objects that had been part of the personal collection of bibliophile Arturo Schomburg.
One of the events from this past May 8 day’s events was a fireside chat between artist-educator Nashormeh Lindo and photographer Chester Higgins Jr. The two talked about Higgins’ iconic “A Dance of Rivers” photograph from 1991.
“A Dance of Rivers” features the poet Amiri Baraka dancing with Dr. Maya Angelou on top of the art installation “Rivers,” a cosmogram created by the artist Houston Conwill. The “Rivers” installation serves as a memorial to the poet Langston Hughes, whose ashes are entombed beneath the cosmogram.
Lindo is a former Schomburg Center staff member. Back when she was hired to work at the Schomburg, one of her first assignments was to purchase 12 small boxes. The boxes were so pretty, she later admitted, that she also used her own money and bought one for herself. Lindo later found out that the boxes were meant to house the ashes of Hughes. “What I remember,” she told the crowd in attendance,
“is that there’s a tributary from the Harlem River that runs along 135th Street. They were going to put some of the ashes in the floor that’s in the lobby there and [have] Houston [Conwill] put his cosmogram on it. The other boxes were sent to 11 locations around the world: four [of the rivers] were from the poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’…”
One of the boxes with Hughes’ ashes was officially sealed and buried in a vault under the Schomburg Center’s cosmogram.
In 1991, Schomburg employees gathered with cultural icons at the center to celebrate Hughes as his February 1 birthday neared.
Hughes’ good friend, jazz pianist Randy Weston, started playing the song Hughes had always said he wanted performed in his
memory: “Do Nothing ’Til You Hear From Me.”
As the music started, Baraka crossed the floor and asked Angelou to dance.
New York Times staff photographer Chester Higgins had asked his newspaper’s night editor to leave space for him to place a photo or two in the paper about the Schomburg Center event. “I wanted to make sure that that message and that reality was reflected in the New York Times,” he commented. The joy of that evening’s celebration and essence were caught in this one photo he took that night.
Higgins had captioned the photo by describing Baraka and Angelou as dancing on Hughes’
Its storied holdings include Coptic crosses, manuscripts from Malcolm X, papers of Langston Hughes, and sculpture by Augusta Savage.
On the evening of the first Wednesday in May, Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Malcolm X Boulevard at West 135th Street) gave a party to celebrate these holdings and more on its 100th anniversary. The event included a reception, buffet supper, and concert, and a grand time was enjoyed by all.
The focal point was a new exhibition, “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity,” curated by center director Joy L. Bivins. Accompanied by an audio narrated by Levar Burton, it features just a fraction of the treasures the Schomburg owns, gleaned from an archive of more than 10 million objects. It all started in 1925, when the New York Public Library opened the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints — the forerunner of today’s Schomburg Center — as a research branch. Its holdings grew exponentially the following year. That was
Commissioned by the WPA in 1934, Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas created a four-panel mural series—still displayed in today’s J. Max Bond-designed reading room— including this
when Puerto Rican-born, Black bibliophile, and scholar Arturo Alfonso Schomburg sold his collection to the library system for $10,000, becoming its founding curator. At 42, scholar Schomburg had spent all his youth in pursuit of rare books, manuscripts, and works of art that he amassed to document and celebrate the attainments and contributions made by Black people to world history and advancement. The Schomburg does tangibly what the film “Sinners” does metaphorically.
One of the most reassuring aspects of history can also be, at times, rather frightening: Without little change due to gained insight or greater prudence, things can seem to repeat over and over. Schomburg was only in elementary school when one of his white teachers categorically insisted, “Negros have no accomplishments, heroes, or history.”
Forming the nucleus of one of the world’s foremost repositories of materials devoted to African American and African Diaspor-
ic genius and genesis, led by academicians including Jean Blackwell Hutson, Ruth Ann Stewart, Howard Dobson, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, and others, the Schomburg Center offers assistance to tens of thousands yearly from throughout the globe in search of knowledge. If proof positive of Black greatness throughout all time were needed, this assuredly is one place it resides. Happy birthday, Schomburg, and many more!
For more info, visit nypl.org.
Sonia Mendez (seated), Van Vanable, and Judge J. Machelle Sweeting.
“God’s Child,” a 2009 color screen print on Crescent board by Chicago artist Barbara Jones-Hogu.
Thelma Golden, Ford Foundation director and chief curator of Studio Museum in Harlem. Dr. Brenda Akin and Dr. Rita Louard.
(R-L) Michael Henry Adams chatting with former Schomburg librarian Steven Fullwood.
panel, “The Negro in an African Setting.”
Schomburg archivist Mary Yearwood (left) chats with Schomburg Deputy Director Kevin C. Mathews.
Last Wednesday night’s 100th birthday celebration for Schomburg Center in Black Culture. (Michael Henry Adams photos)
Schomburg
Continued from page 17
ashes as a sign of African respect. But he reports that both artists later told him that was not the reason they were dancing.
“They talked to each other, and they said, ‘Well, is that what you were doing?’ And he
said, ‘No, I was doing the jitterbug!’”
Voiceover artist James Briggs Murray, founder of the Schomburg Center’s Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, added his own memory of that evening.
He recounted that he had been standing next to Baraka as the music began to play.
“I feel like dancing,” Baraka told Briggs
Murray, but he was hesitant to do so because he thought it might be disrespectful to Hughes. Briggs Murray reassured him, saying, “No, you know Langston — Langston would have loved it. Wherever he is, he would love that moment.”
Emboldened, Baraka said, “‘Okay, I’m going to do that.’ And that’s when he went
over to Maya and brought Maya to the middle of the floor.”
That was how Higgins was able to capture his photo of two cultural and literary icons connecting while in the presence of a third, at the Schomburg Center.
For more info, visit nypl.org/spotlight/ schomburg-centennial.
Crowds form line that wrapped down street and around block in anticipation of 11 a.m. opening of the Schomburg Center library’s doors. (Isseu Diouf Campbell photo)
Entrance to Schomburg Center exhibition, “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity. (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)
‘A Fool’s Errand’ by Lonnie G. Bunch lll., a crowning success
By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews
Three weeks ago, while my wife was undergoing a mammogram examination at Mt. Sinai, I took a stroll down the Museum Mile and visited the Cooper Hewitt Museum. In the museum’s shop I spied Lonnie Bunch’s “A Fool’s Errand” on the bookshelf. After I purchased it, I was told it was the last copy. Since then, the book has been part of my collection begging for attention. Now that the Smithsonian Institution, where Lonnie is the first African American to serve as its head, is threatened with closure by the Trump administration, I felt it was time to finish reading it and see how it anticipated some of today’s tumult coming from Washington.
The book is essentially about a success story, the realization of a dream Lonnie had after re-reading Albion Tourgee’s 1879 novel “A Fool’s Errand.” Lonnie said that he saw “the journey to build a museum that could help bridge” the nation’s divide. After many frustrating years, working at several museums and earning his degree in history, Lonnie began thinking again about a national museum to house and exhibit the artifacts and stories of African American history. What he envisioned was very much like the one Dr. Charles Wright conceived in Detroit where his remarkable museum began as a trailer in the back of a building. Lonnie was a tireless advocate for a national museum and after legislation was passed in 2003, the Smithsonian began searching to find leadership, he said that
he was less interested in the job but, alas, “the possibilities and the challenges of creating a national museum too alluring to resist.” In 2005, he was named director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). As founding director, he initiated programs of traveling exhibitions before the museum was officially opened. His book captures all of the events and circumstances leading up to this monumental achievement, as well as some of the troubling incidents on the path to success.
Actress Angela Bassett, in her blurb of the book, noted that it is “a fascinating depiction of a dreamer and his destiny as he works faithfully to bring to fruition a home not just for artifacts, but finally a resting place of memory and spirit.” I was particularly engrossed in his recollection of Emmett Till and the role his casket played in the museum’s drama. Since the book was published in 2019, there is no full account of his election as secretary of the Smithsonian, which he began in the summer of 2019.
There are several mentions of Trump, especially during his first administration, that Lonnie handles with delicacy, though clearly aware of the dangers he represented to the museum’s stability. “My first interaction with the Trump administration took place just prior to his inauguration,” Lonnie wrote. “...The incoming president wanted to tour the museum on the holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. I had no problem with the request until they added a caveat: the museum would need to be closed to the public. The notion that
we would shut out visitors on the first King holiday since the opening of the museum was not something I would accept. So the tour was canceled.” Eventually, Trump did visit, but Lonnie said there was little he could remember about that occasion. When Trump stopped and commented favorably about the display on the Dutch in the slave trade, noting how the folks in the Netherlands loved him, Lonnie said he was so disappointed “in his response
to one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history.”
That meeting was a harbinger, and things have become increasingly worse. Back in April, Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director, was asked how Trump was depicted in the book and the tour in 2017: “Lonnie Bunch is a Democrat donor and rabid partisan who manufactured lies out of thin air in order to boost sales of his miserable book. Fortunately, he, along with his garbage book, are complete failures.”
Lonnie said in a statement to his staff that “We remain steadfast in our mission to bring history, science, education, research, and the arts to all Americans. We will continue to showcase world-class exhibits, collections, and objects, rooted in expertise and accuracy. We will continue to employ our internal review processes, which keep us accountable to the public. When we err, we adjust, pivot, and learn as needed. As always, our work will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand our nation’s history, challenges, and triumphs.”
In the wake of Trump’’ executive order undermining the Smithsonian, Kevin Young, the director of the NMAAHC, stepped down from his position after four years at the helm. No matter what happens to Lonnie as Trump seeks to avenge all who have defied him, “the museum will be on the National Mall as a beacon that challenges, celebrates, and remembers. I had kept the faith. The ancestors are smiling,” he wrote at the close of his book.
‘Zora Awards’ renamed after famed Harlem Renaissance author
By JULIAN MICHAEL CALDWELL Special to the AmNews
One century after a career-defining year in the life of famed author Zora Neale Hurston, the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation is changing the name of its annual Legacy Awards for literature to the Zora Awards, in honor of the pivotal figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Beginning with this year’s awards ceremony in Washington D.C. in October, and going forward, the foundation’s Zora Award for debut fiction for early-career Black authors will also include a $20,000 cash prize, underwritten by an anonymous donor. The Zora Awards also include categories celebrating Black authors in general fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One hundred years ago, on May 1, 1925, Zora Neale Hurston had a pivotal moment in her literary career when she won four prizes at Opportunity Magazine’s literary awards dinner, including a second-place fiction prize for her short story “Spunk,” and second-place in drama for her play “Color Struck.” That moment is recalled as the night Hurston’s colorful personality
and outfit to match solidified her reputation as an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance movement.
Hurston passed away in 1960 after publishing four novels, including her most
widely known, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” in 1937. She also published dozens of short stories, plays and essays, and an autobiography titled “Dust Tracks on a Road.”
“Zora Neale Hurston’s enduring impact on the world is a testament to her extraordinary talent and tenacious spirit,” Lisandra Green, trustee for The Zora Neale Huston Trust, said in a statement. “We are absolutely thrilled to partner with the Hurston/Wright Foundation and deeply honored to have the Legacy Award renamed the ‘Zora’ in her memory.”
The Hurston/Wright Foundation Foundation, named after Hurston and her peer, author Richard Wright, was founded in 1990 with the goal of enriching and uplifting the Black literary community through mentorship, workshops, and celebrations of authors. Since 2002, the Legacy Awards program has honored Black writers in the U.S. and internationally, and was the first national awards program honoring Black writers, coming from a national organization of Black writers. Previous honorees include Zadie Smith, Hanif Abdurraqib, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Finalists for all of the categories for this year’s Zora Awards will be announced in August before the awards ceremony in the nation’s capital on October 17.
Lonnie Bunch’s, “A Fool’s Errand”
(L-R): Executive Director Nichelle M. Hayes, and co-founders Clyde McElvene & Marita Golden. (Photo courtesy of Lois Hurston Gaston, Barbara Hurston Lewis, and Faye Hurston)
Halle Berry heads to Harlem after Met Gala … Diddy trial is underway … ‘Sistas’ star KJ Smith expecting first child
FLO ANTHONY
GO WITH THE FLO
Halle Berry stopped by Raising Cane’s in Harlem following the Met Gala for some ONE LOVE. Raising Cane’s also sponsored the Met Gala after party Gastro Lounge, which served late-night chicken fingers, tea and freshly squeezed lemonade to the party’s host Richie Akiva and guests like Colin Kaepernick and his wife Nessa, Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, New York City mayor Eric Adams and Cane’s owner & founder Todd Graves at Casa Cipriani in Midtown Manhattan......
Okay guys. Day 1 of the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking crime trial started May 12 with very graphic testimony. Combs’ six children and his mother were in attendance in the courtroom, and he blew kisses to them. Then the courtroom viewed the infamous tape of him kicking and dragging his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hallway at a hotel in Los Angeles. From there, a male sex worker, Daniel Phillip, testified that he thought that he was going to do a strip tease for a bridal shower, but was then paid between $600,000 to $700,000 to have sex with Cassie in front of Combs. He also said he heard what sounded like Combs slapping Cassie in another room. Combs’ lawyer described the sex as not a “freak-off,” but a consensual “threesome.” Meanwhile, Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, was seen outside of the courtroom, but would not speak to the media.........
Baby On Board Alert! “Sistas” star KJ Smith and her husband, “All The Queen’s Men” leading man Skyh Black, are expecting a baby after two years of marriage. According to multiple reports, the couple is elated. Smith and Black went to a fertility specialist to consider IVF treatments, but became pregnant on their own. KJ is five months pregnant. Congratulations to the expectant couple.......
IVisit Media Inc., a global leader in creating epic events, made its U.S. debut with an exclusive, invitation-only rooftop watch party during the Fatal Fury Times Square Boxing Event on May 2. There was a series of bouts that led up to the Ryan Garcia vs Rolando fight for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title. The first bout of the evening was the New York Police Department’s Joel Allen facing the NY Fire Department’s James Gennari. The night was hosted at the St. Cloud Bar atop the Knickerbocker Hotel......
‘Buena Vista Social Club’ is a love letter to Cuban culture
By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews
“Buena Vista Social Club” is a love letter to Cuban music, dance, traditions, and pride that you will want to open and reread again and again. This Broadway musical, which shook the theater world off-Broadway, is now shaking the Schoenfeld Theater on W 45th Street. The story of the Buena Vista Social Club, of its music, its artists, is a story that begins with words and is taken over by the vibration, sounds, and rhythms of a people. You will feel the vibrant rhythms deep in your soul. I dare you not to sway your body and rock your head to the beat.
The mesmerizing book by Marco Ramirez, with music by Buena Vista Social Club, takes the audience to a Cuba of long ago, just before the revolution. A Cuba where you have two sisters who have great success doing commercialized songs, and you have the local club where the locals go and perform. They play exciting music, perform dazzling dances, and feel the romance and rhythm of a proud culture.
The voices of this cast and these classic Cuban songs are sublime. While hearing these songs performed with power and love, you also get to know the history of these songs as you look through your playbill, where each song is named and its history shared.
The audience is introduced to Omara (Natalie Venetia Belcon) and Juan (Justin Cunningham). Omara is a beloved singer who prides herself on singing traditional Cuban music
to uplift and inspire her people, and Juan is a young producer who is attempting to create an album of her beloved songs with her after all these years. The story of Omara and her sister Haydee (Ashley De La Rosa) who were successful singers performing accepted Cuban music for the big clubs, is shared with the audience. We soon learn that Omara was not happy performing these types of songs, and when she found out about a club called Buena Vista Social Club, where the local musicians and singers performed, she found herself choosing to be there instead. She preferred singing the traditional songs of her people, even when political unrest took over the country. The story of Omara, the musicians and singers she got to know and care about, including Young Compay (Da’von T. Moody), Young Ruben (Leonardo Reyna), and Young Ibrahim (Wesley Wray), is a marvelous tale that is stunningly shared with the audience. While we see the story unfold, the constant in this musical is the performing of these fantastic, classic Cuban songs. We get to experience flashbacks of a young Compay, young Ruben, and Young Ibrahim and see what occurred that separated them from Omara. The adult versions of these three characters are performed by incredible actors. Juilo Monge being funny, charming, and a caring friend as Compay. Mel Seme has an amazing voice as he performs Ibrahim, a singer and the love interest of Omara. Jainardo Batista Sterling is stirring as Ruben, the former piano-playing
genius who could rock the keys on any piano. As we see Omara recalling moments in her life, Young Omara is preciously performed by Isa Antonetti, who has a remarkable vocal instrument, as does this entire cast. The energy in this show is phenomenal! You will not have this music, fun, and inspiration at a Broadway show again. In this musical, there are so many times when the music takes over, where band members get to shine and play their hearts out, which in turn fills the hearts of the audience. This production got a standing ovation from the time that the ensemble dancers came out, and the ovation continued until the stage was cleared! It is incredible to see how many generations of Latinx families were in the audience, just drinking in the spotlight on this culture, the songs, the stories, the traditions.
Everything about this production was meticulously done, from the stunning choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck to the music direction, orchestrations and arrangements by Marco Paguia, music supervision by Dean Sharenow, set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, vibrant costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Tyler Micoleau, sound by Jonathan Deans, hair, wig and make-up by J. Jared Janas, and the triumphant development and direction of Saheem Ali.
Ali is a gifted director, who always creates work that exudes his brilliance. “Buena Vista Social Club” will have you dancing in and out of the theater. For ticket information visit buenavistamusical.com.
Halle Berry stopped by Raising Cane’s in Harlem following the Met Gala. (Photo courtesy of Raising Cane’s)
“Buena Vista Social Club” (Matthew Murphy photo)
Alice Coltrane, Rene Mclean, Malcolm X Centennial
Mildred Dilling was showered in critical acclaim during her career (1911-1982) as America’s most prominent harpist. She hosted her own weekly NBC radio show and is credited with giving harp lessons to actor Harpo Marx. But it was the iconoclast harpist and composer Dorothy Ashby during the 1950-1984s, who elevated the dreamy orchestral instrument into the boundless skies of jazz improvisation. She played everything from bop to soul, African, Middle Eastern music and the outer limits of avant-gardism. Hip hop artists like Pete Rock, Rahzel, and Drake were inspired to sample her music. Her fearless work had some influence on Alice Coltrane’s career as a harpist, composer, and bandleader. Perhaps it was something in the water or just Detroit’s historical jazz scene that led its city natives Ashby (five years older) and Coltrane to totally restructure the art of harp playing and all its nuances. Coltrane’s debut album “A Monastic Trio” (Impulse! Records 1968) was a prerequisite of her music to follow that united her inner cosmic force with the spiritual world. She was given the monastic name Turiyasangitananda and became a spiritual director of the Shanti Anantam Ashram.
On May 16, Carnegie Hall presents Cosmic Music: The Celestial Songs of Alice Coltrane. Curated by Ravi Coltrane and the family of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the performance features world premieres of orchestral arrangements of Alice’s compositions. The dynamic freedom and magnitude of her artistic impact are showcased through performances by her family, including tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, her grandnephew Flying Lotus on turntables, and her daughter, vocalist Michelle Coltrane, who will lead the singers of the Sai Anantam Devotional Ensemble, pianist David Virelles, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist Robert Hurst, and Brandee Younger, the harpist in the tradition while creating her own path. She will perform on Alice’s recently restored harp.
Alice recorded a live album “The
Carnegie Hall Concert” in 1971; that recording was just released in 2024 by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by tenor saxophonists Pharoah Sanders (alto, flute and percussion), and Archie Shepp, double bassists Jimmy Garrison and Cecil McBee, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis. This album demonstrates her inventiveness to create her very own genre of global spiritual music.
Carnegie Hall is located at 881 7th Avenue, the concert begins at 8 p.m. For tickets visit carnegiehall.org. or call 212-247-7800.
After a two-year hiatus, the creative multi-reed player, flautist
and composer Rene McLean returns to Sista’s Place, the historic jazz oasis in the heart of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy community (456 Nostrand Avenue). Rene says, “after my kidney transplant, I am ready to get back to what I do.”
On May 17, the day of his iconic father’s birthday saxophonist, composer and educator Jackie McLean, Rene comes in with an all-star sextet to celebrate the legacy of Jackie McLean (known for his distinctive hard bop tone). He will be joined by trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist Antoine Roney, pianist Hubert Eaves III, bassist Matt Dwonszyk, and drummer Winard Harper.
Shows are at 8 p.m. and 9:30
era when historical truth is under threat, this gathering will affirm the legacy of Malcolm X through music, movement, and voice — anchoring his radical love and vision for justice in the heartbeat of the community he cherished. The streets of 116th to 125th will be activated from 4-7 p.m. as six poets and musicians (three each) will perform in duos with original spoken word and music at corners near 116th, 120th and 125th Streets and Malcolm X Blvd. Six orators will walk along the streets from 116th to 125th on Malcolm X Blvd., reciting Malcolm X quotes and engaging passersby in dialogue and reflection. Following the open street performances, a concert will be held at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, (201 Malcolm X Blvd. at 120th Street), from 8-10 p.m. The concert, a multi-media event, will feature a large ensemble of 20 musicians, four dancers with screen projected images, and a guest speaker. “Requiem for Malcolm” is anchored by original music composed and conducted by trombonist Craig Harris Arts & Education Continuum, Artistic Director.
p.m. For reservations, call (718) 398-1766.
As the current White House administration dismantles its fragile sandbox democracy, gears daily to eliminate Black history, and moves towards banning more books, it should be perfectly clear that Now! is the time to pay full attention to the explicit words of el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X).
As people around the world prepare for May 19, Harlem will celebrate with a “Live on Lenox-X Marks the Spot-Celebration” honoring the Centennial of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. This immersive event brings the streets and spirit of Harlem alive through continuous public performances. In an
“As a result of the mentorship I received from my ancestors and cultural elders, I am fully prepared to produce Live on Lenox – X Marks the Spot. My only misstep was waiting for larger institutions to take the lead in honoring this great American. When no one stepped up, I knew it was time to act,” explained the event’s executive producer, Craig Harris. “We are now in a state of emergency. I remember when culture bearers like Amiri Baraka or Sekou Sundiata would call me and say, “What are we going to do?” and we would mobilize in a day. That spirit of urgency and collective responsibility once defined our community. People showed up without expectation of compensation, driven by purpose. My mentors taught me that lesson, and now it’s my turn to pass it forward. Malcolm went hard. My mentors went hard. Now it’s our turn. Resilience is the legacy. Now is the time.”
All events for X Marks the Spot are free and open to the public. On this centennial, Malcolm X is making one more call for action: Be there and be activated by any means necessary! For more info, email artseducationcontinuum. org, and access the Eventbrite link for the event.
Alice Coltrane, circa early 2000 (Mark Savage photo)
Alice Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, circa 1967 (Akiyoshi Miyashita photo)
Your Rights
Continued from page 14
6. Create a safety plan
At work:
• Talk with co-workers about remaining silent during ICE visits.
• If you belong to a union, coordinate with your union rep to create an emergency plan.
Mental hygiene
Continued from page 2
drew out budget talks in Albany, with Democratic state legislators pushing back due to a lack of psychiatric beds, particularly outside of New York City.
The budget reaffirmed Mayor Eric Adams’ subway safety plan, which directed law enforcement to employ Kendra’s Law. “I was one of the first — and loudest — voices to call for wider use of involuntary removals and commitments, when appropriate, to help people get help when they don’t recognize their own need for it,” he said in a statement. “At the time, our directive was portrayed as controversial. Many critics — some of whom are now supporters today — even said it was ‘deeply problematic’ and an ‘overreach.’”
In January, the city released incomplete data for involuntary transports recorded last year, as mandated by local law. Law enforce-
At home:
• Always carry valid U.S. ID, a green card or copy if applicable, a lawyer’s contact info, and a Know Your Rights card.
• Share key information — name, birth date, country of origin, and A-number — with trusted friends or family.
• Make arrangements for child or elder care, and set up a power of attorney for financial matters.
• Store all important documents —
ment initiated 7,060 transports while medical professionals initiated 661. More than half the individuals transported last year were perceived as Black or African American.
$16.5 million from the budget goes toward bolstering Kendra’s Law, the state’s official Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) law. The law allows civil court judges to mandate mental health treatment and employ involuntary commitment if individuals do not comply. Another $2 million will go towards monitoring AOT programming. Additionally, the budget updates AOT renewal policies under Kendra’s Law “so that new petitions can be filed within six months of an order expiring in instances when the individual becomes disconnected from care.”
“Now, a person who’s unable to provide basic needs and has had hospitalizations can be wrapped into a Kendra’s order,” said Haroules. “But the more dangerous piece of the budget as it relates to Kendra’s order is that without a hearing [or] due process, a person who has graduated off a Kendra’s order can
birth certificates, passports, immigration paperwork, legal contacts, home deeds, insurance, medical records — in a secure, easy-to-access location.
• Help your family locate you if detained by using the ICE Detainee Locator: locator.ice.gov.
• Save money for legal fees and living expenses in case you’re detained.
• Find and keep contact details for potential immigration attorneys: AILA
see that order reinstated within six months of the order expiration again — without a hearing, without due process, based on allegations that the person is deteriorating.”
Beyond involuntary commitments, the budget also funds mental health services.
$8 million will be provided to five new clubhouses and four Youth Safe Spaces program centers to bolster community-based care.
$1.4 million goes towards helping street teams provide immediate care to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Hochul maintains her budget’s involuntary commitment amendments will prevent individuals from cycling through emergency rooms. “Let me be clear: my administration has already invested $1 billion to rebuild our mental health system,” she said during a late April presser. “We have more inpatient beds, more clinicians and a more compassionate approach to care.”
And the budget also provides a small step toward divorcing mental hygiene from public safety — $6 million will go towards pilot pro-
and the Immigration Advocates Network.
Stay connected. Store CASA’s Raid Hotline (888-214-6016) and visit wearecasa.org for more resources.
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.
grams for Daniel’s Law, a bill championed by both Haroules and Lowenkron, ostensibly limiting law enforcement interaction by establishing, funding and connecting civil mobile response teams across the state to handle mental health calls.
“I’m very hopeful, we definitely see that as a win, what [happened] with Daniel’s Law,” said Lowenkron. “It is in a lot of ways 180 degrees the opposite of what we were seeing with the expansion of mental health commitments. It is a recognition that when an individual is in crisis, we want to send the best person there to resolve the crisis, and that the best person is going to be the team that Daniel’s Law proposes.”
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
Rep. Adriano Espaillat expounds on a slew of pertinent issues
By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews
The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC) sponsored a town hall luncheon meeting at Silvia’s Also in Harlem on Saturday, May 10, that featured a report by Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who had just returned from Mexico. As Lloyd Williams, president and CEO of the GHCC, told an assembly of city notables, the luncheon was the first in a series of meetings planned this year, including “The State of Congress,” “State of the State,” and “State of the City.” If the succeeding sessions are anything like the inaugural event, a storehouse of important information will be dispensed.
Even before Espaillat began his nearly 90 minutes-long speech, Williams said Rucker Park had joined the Morris-Jamel Mansion, Hamilton Grange, and U.S. Grant Memorial as historic sites in upper Manhattan. “Along with the congressman’s office, we’ve reached out to the NBA because hundreds of the NBA players have performed in the Rucker tournament over the years,” he noted.
At the table of dignitaries was former bas-
ketball great Bob McCullough, commissioner of Rucker Park and the Rucker Pro League for more than 60 years.
After thanking Williams for his introduction, Espaillat began his discussion by noting the condition of two undocumented parents and their four U.S. born children who had been deported to Mexico. “One of the children has brain cancer, and she needs daily and weekly treatment,” he said.
“Her older teenage brother has a heart condition. If you think for a moment that the mass deportation plan is about a hardened criminal that committed a crime and probably should be deported back to where they came from, well, that’s not what all this is about at all. This is about any of us.”
Espaillat also commented on the arrest of Mayor Ras Baraka and three members of Congress, which he said “will show you that this goes beyond … the expected response of somebody who may have broken the law,.” As for constitutional matters, he observed that “Dissent is patriotic; it’s the hard core ... the spinal cord of democracy. If you don’t have the ability to dissent, to have a different opinion than someone else, then democracy crumbles.”
Espaillat added that “what the Mayor of Newark and the members of Congress were doing yesterday was saying, ‘You need to get permits and you need to get everything right before you open up a detention center in Jersey that will house over 1,000 people. That will be the processing center for the northeast massive deportation plan.’”
There are three pathways in the state of affairs in America, Espaillat said: One is the legal, where the courtroom has jurisdiction; the second is legislative and budgetary; and the third is the public. “I represent 780,000 people, and 500,000 of them are Medicaid recipients;18,000 are Medicare recipients; 618,000 plus maybe another 10, 15 [%] out of 780,000 people I represent are either on Medicaid or Medicare, and you know why? Because the cost of health care is so expensive that you can’t get a Cadillac plan because it’s just going to hurt you in your pocket. It’s going to be $22,500, to $1,800 a month. You just can’t make it happen.”
There was a barrage of questions about the importance of Harlem as a transportation hub, artificial intelligence, education, arts and culture, as well as the future of the Hispanic Caucus that Espaillat helms in Congress. He indicated that the various caucuses had been betrayed by Democrats “at the last vote in the budget.”
Questions were still lingering as Espaillat took his leave and he answered only one more from a reporter who asked his opinion of the new pope. “I think he’s for the poor, the hungry and he’s going to be following in the footsteps of Pope Francis and Leo the XIII and maybe as long ago as Leo the First.”
The first Pope Leo defied Attila the Hun. Let’s see if Leo XIV will be a significant counterweight to Trump and take a similar stand against a menace.
Espaillat devoted considerable time to the accomplishments of his predecessor, former Rep. Charles Rangel, and the creation of the Rangel Center at City College, which must have pleased Vincent Boudreau, the school’s president, who was in attendance. “There is an agreement now made between the Rangel Center and the labor unions, who traditionally have not always been on the same page with our communities … where they are now going to be one of the training centers for the apprenticeships.”
Michael Garner, citywide chief business diversity officer (with, left to right) Lloyd Williams, president and CEO of GHCC; Rep. Adriano Espaillat; Karl Rodney, publisher of Carib News; and Rev. Jacques DeGraff. (Herb Boyd photo)
After the women withdrew services, employers conceded to their demands.
At 9to5, we continue the work of the bold women who, 50 years ago, banded together to call out sexism, harassment, disrespect, and inequitable pay. Waves of various women’s movements have since advocated for better conditions for women, their families, and their choice to have families. But there is much more work still to do as we continue to confront the pay gap, an assault on reproductive health, and harassment that remains pervasive in our society — all issues that affect women’s physical and mental well-being.
To achieve our goals, we must return to strategic, robust collective action that builds solidarity and attracts freedomseeking allies. We must center inclusiveness while organizing for various causes. A notable example is Ida B. Wells, a Black suffragette, journalist, and anti-lynching activist who insisted that the movement be intersec-
tional — calling for all women to win voting rights. Fannie Lou Hamer, who led movements for voting rights and food justice in the 1960s, famously stated, “Until I am free, you are not free either.” Her message still rings true today. Today, we possess technological tools that organizers before us did not have. Community activists can appeal to people on social media, podcasts, and TV broadcasts, or create their own space online. Whatever tools are available, we must remember not to underestimate our power. Organizing demonstrates that power resides within the people. A democracy cannot work without its people speaking truth to power.
Ashley Panelli and Mica Whitfield are co-presidents of 9to5, a member-based, grassroots organization advancing economic justice for women and nonbinary people of color to create better living and working conditions. For more than 50 years, 9to5 has been at the forefront of the fight for expanded childcare, pay equity, paid sick days, family leave, and discrimination-free workplaces.
NY State Budget
Continued from page 2
keeping,” Anthony said. “That’s not justice, either. Being in the wrong place or making a mistake [shouldn’t] cost them their access to healing.”
The bill also stops “private donations as a collateral source that the Office of Victim Services may consider when determining the amount of a victim compensation award,” allowing survivors to fundraise, including over GoFundMe, without affecting their claim.
The Survivors First Act would ramp up outreach by amending executive law language with a “duty of publicization,” mandating OVS to promote the agency’s existence to the public. Past research from Common Justice found just 11,000 claims were filed between October 2018 and September 2019, despite around 70,000 violent crimes recorded. Few qualifying individuals were aware or made aware of victims services.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle back the Survivors First Act, which was introduced by State Sen. Julia Salazar, a
Democratic socialist representing Brooklyn and proponent for criminal justice reform. Dean Murray, a Republican state senator from Long Island, said an understanding of the needs of victims unites the electeds.
“We don’t do a good enough job [of] letting victims know what type of help [and] what type of services are available to them,” said Murray. “At the time of a crime, it’s a very difficult time. It’s a very hectic time for them. They don’t want you handing them a little packet [of information]. We must do a better job of letting them know what’s available, what types of services [and] what types of programs are available to them.
I think this bill goes a long way in doing that, but I don’t think we took those steps in the budget.”
Last year, the AmNews reported on how gun violence survivors lacked a safety net while recovering from their injuries and unable to work. Victim services often pitched in for their costs when they could not claim disability.
There is some overlap between the bill and budget, most notably raising the burial reim -
bursement cap from $6,000 to $12,000, which Anthony said is fair based on other states and average funeral expenses; $3.8 million from the budget will cover the increase.
A spokesperson for Hochul pointed to the budget including sexual assault survivor services including a funding increase to rape crisis centers for the first time in a decade. $9.2 million will go towards increasing funding for New York State Child Advocacy Centers for younger survivors.
In 2023, Hochul signed another bill into law championed by Common Justice allowing victims to claim compensation without reporting to law enforcement if they could produce alternative evidence proving the crime occurred. That legislation goes into effect at the year’s end.
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
Health
Ulysses Johnson talks about saving a life on a plane and diversity in CRNA schools
By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews
Ulysses Johnson, III, PhD(c), MSN, CRNA is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who saved the life of a passenger during a medical emergency on a flight and spoke about it on “SHERRI” show. He spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q&A about his life-saving efforts during the flight, the work of a CRNA, and getting students of color into CRNA school. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AmNews: Could you tell us about your amazing story on the flight?
Johnson: I was on a flight that I was not originally supposed to be on because my flight was cancelled the night before ... so as soon as I sit down I [put] my earbuds in and I’m asleep ... all of a sudden I hear “grab the AED” and I’m thinking I’m dreaming about work … and I open up my eyes then I see all the commotion on the plane, most times I usually just mind my business, but I had actually had on scrubs because I was actually coming from a conference. I went up to the front, introduced myself, and saw a guy in distress. I saw that he was already blue cyanotic so he was in acute distress. I [said] “get him on the floor let’s start CPR.” So we got him down. I said to [a] physician that was there “you start compressions I’m going to keep the airway open.” I told the rest of the [crew] to give me whatever first aid [equipment they had] … [We] got the AED there hooked that up to him, shocked him twice … then a trauma nurse [arrived] … and [the plane] turned around to do emergency land[ing]. [The patient] woke up very disoriented. He was by himself so really couldn’t get much history from him but I just kind of laid there on the ground with him so he wouldn’t hurt himself until we made a landing and then got him off the flight. I’ve been nursing now for [about] 19 years and that’s the first time I’ve ever had to “code”someone out in the field so it was a different experience totally.
AmNews: How did people react to what you did?
Johnson: People really [focused on] being at the right place at the right time and it gave me an opportunity to just inform the public what a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist [does]. This is an advanced practice nurse that’s backed by the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists
which is our professional [organization] that is there to advocate for us as far as lobbying and mak[ing] sure we’re practicing safely. CRNAs aren’t something new but the public still doesn’t know about us. This shows that we’re always ready to spring into action. Really show[ed] people this is who we are. This is what we do and this is how some of the people look like that do it. It’s not that many people look like me in the profession. Out of almost 70,000 CRNAs, [a small percentage] are people of color.
AmNews: Please tell our readers more about your work and specialty?
Johnson: Your heart is a big electri-
cal device. When electricity gets off, your rhythm gets off and so sometimes we do interventions where we burn different parts of the heart on the inside to kind of get things firing back in the right direction so that’s where I come in … While the surgeon is doing their job it’s our job to keep that patient comfortable, safe and hemodynamically fully monitored throughout the entire procedure. I worked as a cardiac ICU nurse for 13 years before I went back to the anesthesia school so that’s niche and I kind of stumbled into the realm of colonoscopies and I’ve actually lost three family members to colon cancer so I try to do my part to make [colonoscopies] a more pleasant ex-
perience and try to inform people.
AmNews: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers about the work you do as a CRNA?
Johnson: I just want the public to know that [CRNAs are] here for every beat, every second, every minute. We’re there to get you through it; we do have that nursing background, so we are going to take the extra. I have no problem with holding your hand or you, taking the time to break things down to where you understand and you’re not feeling like you’re another body going through the assembly line so that’s why I really advocate for my profession.
Ulysses Johnson
Religion & Spirituality
Art frees our minds
One Sunday, I was called to do Jonathan Capehart’s show. In that beautiful chance thing that happens, I was leaning against a wall talking to Katie Phang and the force that is Min Jin Lee joined us. She is the warmest, kindest, most brilliant light. We had a conversation one Sunday about “Mothering the World into Healing” during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. You can see our talk here. Her books are stunning, including “Pachinko,” my favorite; it widened my heart and mind to her experiences as a Korean immigrant. Her art changes me, changes us.
Min said, “We cannot help but be interested in the stories of people that history pushes aside so thoughtlessly.”
Of course this is true. So maybe the way this administration is pushing aside the stories of BIPOC and queer people will have some positive impact despite the POTUS’ intent. Maybe because Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is banned from the U.S. Naval Academy library, those sailors will run to read it. Maybe summer programs and community centers will stock their shelves
with banned books that tell diverse stories and increase our sense of belonging to each other. Maybe because the National Endowment of the Arts has cut funding from artists, we who know these stories matter will rush to fill the financial gaps.
We need art to stretch us, to encourage and inspire us, to help us envision worlds in which we are all well and thriving. Art frees our minds. Resisting this moment means sustaining what we care about with our attention and our resources. Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, led by my friend Otis Moss III., and our congregation — Middle Church — joined others to make donations to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I’ve belonged since it opened and now my church does, too.
Maya Angelou wrote a powerful poem, “Caged Bird.” One strophe reads The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.
Fearful people, bigoted people, trapped in their bigotry, biases and privileges, want to erase our stories, cancel our art, and silence our freedom songs. They hope we will forget the power of stories to heal us and transform our world. We resist. We keep making art, and art makes us remember. Artists tell the stories that create a global neighborhood in which we all belong, in which we are all connected.
There are stories to be told, to quote my artistic friends Bil Wright and Dionne McClain-Freeney, and we must go out and tell them. My community at Middle Church is full of artists like Kaliswa Brewster, chair of the board of Moliere in the Park. Though her funding was deeply cut, she is moving forward with “The Imaginary Invalid,” named by The New York Times as one of 13 mustsee Off-Broadway plays. She offers free theater in Brooklyn to foster empathy and unity within the diverse communities there. Art does that.
Our Parron Allen is a fashion designer who makes wearable art, designing inventive collections that incorporate fabric remnants, discarded textiles, and thrifted garments. It’s been amazing to celebrate his rise from designing lovely clothing for this author to styling Rosa Lander for the Met Gala. He created a striking ensemble that honored the legacy of garment workers, masterfully crafted from deadstock fabric with purpose. Art puts justice on the table.
In this Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month I am also celebrating our Shanta Thake who produces incredible art at Lincoln Center, where she has increased
free and pay-what-you-can programming so art can reach more hearts. Art promotes accessibility.
Thank God for the art, and the artists who use their imaginations to help us see better. See them, listen to them, watch them move on a stage and in the cinema. Support them with such subversive intent that we heal our souls and the world with art.
Here are some folks telling important stories that are on my heart today. Join me in supporting what moves you!
The Public Theater
The Classical Theater of Harlem
National Public Radio
The Schomburg Center
The National Museum of African American History and Culture
And always, Middle Church, where art and justice live side by side. I’m shouting out to more of our artists: John Del Cueto, Drew Wutke, Lars Swan, Matthew Johnson Harris, Charles Randolph Wright, Tituss Burgess, Fabienne Doucet, Aly Palmer, Shari Carpenter, Joy Lau, Patti Carpenter, Lyn Preston, Elizabeth Stanley, Karen Pittman, Natalie Renee Perkins, Erica Hunt, Jamia Wilson, Branch Woodman, Mark Rehnstrom, Antwayn Hopper, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael Dinwiddie, Mary Jo Lombardo, Elisabeth Rodgers, Dawn Davis, Caelyn Osbern, Ellington Tanner, Christian Unthank, Gary Posner, Adrienne Hurd, Lutin Tanner, Jonathan Dudley, Dean Hubbard, Deborah Berg McCarthy, Angie Dykshorn, Patrick Mulcahy, Peter Calderon, Lulie Haddad, Genesis Be, Peter Hedges, Lauren Ashcraft, Ivan Anderson, Macky Alston, Isaac Bush, Harold Slazer, Carol Wierzbicki, and Tiq Milan — and that’s just a FEW of our talented artists!
Come through Middle Church at any time, a place where art is celebrated and love boldly works to create a just society. To get involved with how we are Join us this October for Freedom Rising: The Fierce Urgency of Now. Fill your life with (he)art on. Let it move you to flourishing!
Love, Jacqui
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is senior minister and public theologian at Middle Church in New York. Celebrated internationally for her dynamic preaching and commitment to justice, she champions racial equality, economic justice and LGBTQIA+/gender rights. Featured on MSNBC, PBS, NBC, CBS and NPR, she is the author of several books, including “Fierce Love” and the “Just Love Story Bible.” Countless individuals and communities have been inspired by Lewis’ transformative work on her podcast, “Love Period” ; in columns and articles; and on stages, in churches, on the street and in digital spaces around the globe.
Pope Leo XIV’s Creole heritage highlights complex history of racism and the church in America
By JACK BROOK and DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press/Report for America
NEW ORLEANS — The new pope’s Frenchsounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy. All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal greatgrandparents were “free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found. As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures in Louisiana, the pope’s maternal ancestors would be considered Creole.
“It was special for me because I share that heritage and so do many of my friends who are Catholic here in New Orleans,” said Honora, a historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter.
Honora and others in the Black and Creole Catholic communities say the election of Leo — a Chicago native who spent over two decades in Peru including eight years as a bishop — is just what the Catholic Church needs to unify the global church and elevate the profile of Black Catholics whose history and contributions have long been overlooked.
A rich cultural identity
Leo, who has not spoken openly about his roots, may also have an ancestral connection to Haiti. His grandfather, Joseph Norval Martinez, may have been born there, though historical records are conflicting, Honora said. However, Martinez’s parents — the pope’s great-grandparents — were living in Louisiana since at least the 1850s, he said.
Andrew Jolivette, a professor of sociology and Afro-Indigenous Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, did his
own digging and found the pope’s ancestry reflected the unique cultural tapestry of southern Louisiana. The pope’s Creole roots draw attention to the complex, nuanced identities Creoles hold, he said.
“There is Cuban ancestry on his maternal side. So, there are a number of firsts here and it’s a matter of pride for Creoles,” said Jolivette, whose family is Creole from Louisiana. “So, I also view him as a Latino pope because the influence of Latino heritage cannot be ignored in the conversation about Creoles.”
Most Creoles are Catholic and historically it was their faith that kept families together as they migrated to larger cities like Chicago, Jolivette said.
The former Cardinal Robert Prevost’s maternal grandparents — identified as “mulatto” and “Black” in historical records — were married in New Orleans in 1887 and lived in the city’s historically Creole Seventh Ward. In the coming years, the Jim Crow regime of racial segregation rolled back post-Civil War reforms and “just about every aspect of their lives was circumscribed by race, extending even to the church,” Honora said.
An American story of migration
The pope’s grandparents migrated to Chicago around 1910, like many other African American families leaving the racial oppression of the Deep South, and “passed for white,” Honora said. The pope’s mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, who was born in Chicago, is identified as “white” on her 1912 birth certificate, Honora said.
“You can understand, people may have intentionally sought to obfuscate their heritage,” he said. “Always life has been precarious for people of color in the South, New Orleans included.”
The pope’s grandparents’ old home in New Orleans was later destroyed, along with hundreds of others, to build a highway overpass that “eviscerated” a stretch of the largely Black neighborhood in the 1960s, Honora said.
A former New Orleans mayor, Marc Morial, called the pope’s family’s history, “an American story of how people escape American racism and American bigotry.”
As a Catholic with Creole heritage who grew up near the neighborhood where the pope’s grandparents lived, Morial said he has contradictory feelings. While he’s proud of the pope’s connection to his city, Morial said the new pontiff’s maternal family’s shifting racial identity highlights “the idea that in America people had to escape their authenticity to be able to survive.”
African American influence on Catholicism
The Rev. Ajani Gibson, who heads the predominantly Black congregation at St. Peter Claver Church in New Orleans, said he sees the pope’s roots as a reaffirmation of African American influence on Catholicism in his city.
“I think a lot of people take for granted that the things that people love most about New Orleans are both Black and Catholic,” said Gibson, referring to rich cultural contributions to Mardi Gras, New Orleans’ jazz tradition and
brass band parades known as second-lines. He hoped the pope’s Creole heritage — emerging from the city’s “cultural gumbo pot” — signals an inclusive outlook for the Catholic Church.
“I want the continued elevation of the universal nature of the church — that the church looks, feels, sounds like everybody,” Gibson said. “We all have a place and we come and bring who we are, completely and totally, as gifts to the church.”
Shannen Dee Williams, a history professor at the University of Dayton, said she hopes that Leo’s “genealogical roots and historic papacy will underscore that all roads in American Catholicism, in North, South and Central America, lead back to the church’s foundational roots in its mostly unacknowledged and unreconciled histories of Catholic colonialism, slavery and segregation.”
“There have always been two trans-Atlantic stories of American Catholicism; one that begins with Europeans and another one that begins with Africans and African-descended people, free and enslaved, living in Europe and Africa in the 16th century,” she said. “Just as Black history is American history, (Leo’s) story also reminds us that Black history is, and always has been, Catholic history, including in the United States.”
Hope for the future
Kim R. Harris, associate professor of African American Religious Thought and Practice
at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said the pope’s genealogy got her thinking about the seven African American Catholics on the path to sainthood who have been recognized by the National Black Catholic Congress, but haven’t yet been canonized.
Harris highlighted Pierre Toussaint, a philanthropist born in Haiti as a slave who became a New York City entrepreneur and was declared “Venerable” by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
“The excitement I have in this moment probably has to do with the hope that this pope’s election will help move this canonization process along,” Harris said.
While it’s not known how Leo identifies himself racially, his roots bring a sense of hope to African American Catholics, she said.
“When I think about a person who brings so much of the history of this country in his bones, I really hope it brings to light who we are as Americans, and who we are as people of the diaspora,” she said. “It brings a whole new perspective and widens the vision of who we all are.”
Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, the only historically Black Catholic university, said he was “a little surprised” about the pope’s heritage.
“It’s a joyful connection,” he said. “It is an affirmation that the Catholic Church is truly universal and that (Black) Catholics remained faithful regardless of a church that was human and imperfect. It also shows us that the church transcends national borders.”
Reverend Ajani K. Gibson, pastor of St. Peter Claver, a Catholic Church in the 7th Ward neighborhood where the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV lived. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
SUMMONS AND NOTICE
Supreme Court of New York, New York County, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Yvonne M. Murphy and Beacon Eldercare, Inc., Index No.: 650816/2025. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable Robert R. Reed, J.S.C., dated April 30, 2025 and duly entered on April 30, 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 and required to serve upon the Plaintiff's attorneys an answer to the Complaint within 20 days after the service thereof, exclusive of the day of service, or within 30 days after service is complete if service is made by any method other than personal delivery to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. NOTICE OF THE ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT: The nature of this action is breach of contract. The relief sought is money damages and specific performance. Upon your failure to appear, judgment will be taken against you by default in the sum of $4,638,183, with interest, plus the costs and disbursements of this action.
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 OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR GSAA HOME EQUITY TRUST 2004-10 ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2004-10, -against-
JACQUELINE MORROW A/K/A JACQUELINE CREIGHTNEY, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE AND EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF TYRONE MORROW, ET AL.
NOTICE OF SALE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York on February 6, 2025, wherein DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR GSAA HOME EQUITY TRUST 200410 ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2004-10 is the Plaintiff and JACQUELINE MORROW A/K/A JACQUELINE CREIGHTNEY, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE AND EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF TYRONE MORROW, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the NEW YORK COUNTY CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, ROOM 130, 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on June 11, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 301/311 CATHEDRAL PKWY, APT/UNIT 2 A/K/A 2 FREDERICK DOUGLASS CIR A/K/A 7 FREDERICK DOUGLASS CIR A/K/A 300/318 W 111 ST A/K/A 2031/2039 FREDERICK DOUGLASS BLVD A/K/A 301/311 W 110 ST, APT/UNIT 2V, NEW YORK, NY 10026; and the following tax map identification: 1846-1038.
THE CONDOMINIUM UNIT (THE "HOME”) KNOWN AS HOME NO. 2V IN ONE OF THE BUILDINGS COMPRISING TOWERS ON THE PARK CONDOMINIUM AND BY THE STREET ADDRESS OF 301 CATHEDRAL PARKWAY, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK, SAID HOME BEING DESIGNATED AND DESCRIBED AS HOME NO. 2V IN A CERTAIN DECLARATION DATED MARCH 2, 1988, MADE BY FREDERICK DOUGLAS ASSOCIATES UNDER ARTICLE 9-B OF THE NEW YORK REAL PROPERTY LAW, TOGETHER WITH A .1349 PERCENT UNDIVIDED INTEREST IN THE COMMON ELEMENTS OF THE CONDOMINIUM HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED IN SAID DECLARATION.
THE LAND UPON WHICH THE BUILDING CONTAINING THE UNIT IS ERECTED IS DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
PARCEL 1:
ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, COUNTY, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No.: 850190/2019. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. 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.
Archie's Handy Works LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on Feb. 28, 2025. Office location: Manhattan County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 228 Park AVE S #608669, NY, NY. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Blood Dynamics, LLC. LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/20/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 450 Riverside Drive, Apt 94, New York, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful act.
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
BOARD OF MANAGERS OF TOWERS ON THE PARK CONDOMINIUM, Plaintiff, — against —
BOARD OF MANAGERS OF TOWERS ON THE PARK CONDOMINIUM, Plaintiff, — against —
ROGER WILLIAMS, Defendants.
ROGER WILLIAMS, Defendants.
Index No. 152565/2023
NOTICE OF FRANCHISE AND CONCESSION REVIEW COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING ON AGENCY ANNUAL CONCESSION PLANS
Notice of a Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) Public Hearing on Agency Annual. Concession Plans for Fiscal Year 2026 pursuant to Section 1-10 of the Concession Rules of the City of New York (Concession Rules), to be held on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 255 Greenwich Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10007, commencing at 2:30 P.M.
At this hearing, the FCRC will further solicit comments about the provisions of the Concession Rules from the vendor community, civic groups, and the public at large. The FCRC shall consider the issues raised at the Public Hearing in accordance with the procedures set forth in the New York City Charter under the City Administrative Procedure Act.
SUTTON TOWER LIN HOLDING LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 4/3/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 430 East 58th Street, Unit 41B, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Tristate Healing Strategies LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/28/25. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 380 Malcolm X Blvd. #J7, New York, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Index No. 152565/2023
PUBLICATION OF SALE
PUBLICATION OF SALE
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered December 18, 2024, as amended on January 10, 2025. I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse Room 130, 60 Centre Street. New York, New York on the 4th day of June 2025 at 2:15 p.m. the premises known as Unit 12E of the Towers on the Park Condominium, 301 Cathedral Parkway, New York, NY (Block: 1846, Lot: 1191) Approximate amount of lien $ 131,156.53 plus any additional common charges, assessments, late fees, legal fees, and interest that may accrue up to the date of sale. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale and subject to the prior mortgage lien of record. Ronald Zezima, Esq., Referee. Edi Ebiefung, Kellner Herlihy Getty & Friedman, LLP Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff, 470 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10016
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered December 18, 2024, as amended on January 10, 2025. I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse Room 130, 60 Centre Street. New York, New York on the 4th day of June 2025 at 2:15 p.m. the premises known as Unit 12E of the Towers on the Park Condominium, 301 Cathedral Parkway, New York, NY (Block: 1846, Lot: 1191) Approximate amount of lien $ 131,156.53 plus any additional common charges, assessments, late fees, legal fees, and interest that may accrue up to the date of sale. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale and subject to the prior mortgage lien of record. Ronald Zezima, Esq., Referee. Edi Ebiefung, Kellner Herlihy Getty & Friedman, LLP Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff, 470 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10016
MONTEVIDEO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/27/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 418 Broadway, STE R, Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful act.
MK WILKINS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/23/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 482 E. 74th Street , 3D, New York, NY 10021. Purpose: Any lawful act.
RAJAB COLLECTION LLC
Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/13/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 172 W 127th Street, 705, New York, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Notice of Qualification of SIXTAV VENTURES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/14/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/14/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 20 Sullivan St., NY, NY 10012. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
The following agencies submitted an Annual Concession Plan for Fiscal Year 2026: the Department of Parks and Recreation; the Department of Citywide Administration Services; the Department of Environmental Protection; the Department of Corrections; the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; the Department of Transportation; the New York City Fire Department; the Department of Housing Preservation and Development; NYC Tourism + Conventions on behalf of the Department of Small Business Services; the New York City Economic Development Corporation on behalf of the Department of Small Business Services; the New York City Administration for Children's Services; the New York City Department of Records and Information Services; and the New York City Police Department.
The portfolio of Agency Annual Concession Plans covers significant and non-significant concessions expiring, continuing, and anticipated for solicitation or initiation in Fiscal Year 2026. Furthermore, the portfolio covers, inter alia:
• Department of Parks and Recreation: mobile food units, food service facilities, golf courses, driving ranges, marinas, tennis professionals, athletic facilities, Christmas trees, parking lots, markets, fairs, restaurants, concerts, newsstands, stables, gas stations, amusement venues, ice skating rinks, carousels, ferry services, bike rentals, sailboat rentals, souvenirs and gifts, beach equipment, and event programming.
• Department of Citywide Administrative Services: maritime/non-maritime occupancy permits, merchandise and marketing, vending machines, and restaurants.
• Department of Environmental Protection: gas purification.
• Department of Corrections: commissary services and vending machines.
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: drug discount card program.
• Department of Transportation: vending machines, pedestrian plazas, food courts, café, markets.
• New York City Fire Department: fire museum.
• Department of Housing Preservation and Development: café.
• NYC Tourism + Conventions on behalf of the Department of Small Business Services: marketing, advertising, intellectual property and trademark merchandising.
• New York City Economic Development Corporation on behalf of the Department of Small Business Service: events/installations, parking lots, maritime and non-maritime occupancy permits.
• New York City Administration for Children's Services: vending machines.
• New York City Department of Records and Information Services: licensing representation.
• New York City Police Department: vending machines and cafeteria.
Written testimony may be submitted in advance of the hearing electronically to fcrc@mocs.nyc.gov. All written testimony can be submitted up until the close of the public hearing and will be distributed to the FCRC after the hearing.
Interested parties may obtain a copy of the Agency Annual Concession Plans by contacting MOCS' FCRC Team via email at fcrc@mocs.nyc.gov. Upon request, a PDF version of the Agency Annual Concession Plans is available free of cost.
The agenda for the hearing will be posted on the FCRC website at: https://www.nyc.gov/site/mocs/opportunities/ franchises-concessions.page
A recording of the hearing will be posted to the MOCS YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/user/nycmocs
For further information on accessibility or to make a request for accommodations, such as sign language interpretation services, please contact the Mayor's Office of Contract Services (MOCS) via e-mail at DisabilityAffairs@mocs.nyc.gov or via phone at (212) 298-0800. Any person requiring reasonable accommodation for the public hearing should contact MOCS at least five (5) business days in advance of the hearing to ensure availability.
Notice of Qualification of GreshamQuant Trend Intermediary Fund, L.L.C Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/16/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/10/25. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Gresham Investment Management LLC, 19 Union Sq. West, 11th Fl., NY, NY 10003. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
ACLM GROUP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/13/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 99 Wall Street, Ste 1020, New York, NY 10005. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Clay Bridges LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 4/17/25. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 601 W 149th St 67, NY, NY 10031 Purpose: Any lawful act.
Notice of Qualification of RCPRE I 729 7TH AVE LLC
Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/28/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/12/25. Princ. office of LLC: 590 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10022. 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, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
SMZ International Group LLC LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/27/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 2804 Gateway Oaks Dr # 100 , Sacramento, CA 95833. Purpose: Any lawful act.
TCC 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, NEW YORK, 14411. Purpose: Any lawful act.
Notice of Qualification of P. DREAMS 8805 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/29/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/03/25. 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 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NUSYSTEM SERVICES LLC, filed Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 04/02/2025. Location: New York County SSNY designated as agent for service of process on LLC. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: 121A, Nassau Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
State of Now York
Unified Court System
SURROGATE'S COURT OF THE COUNTY OF NEW YORK
31 CHAMBERS STREET NEW YORK, NY 10007 (646) 386-5800
NOTICE TO CITED PARTIES
You have been served with a citation for a matter that is scheduled to be heard at a New York County Surrogate's Court calendar. The citation that you have received contains a return date. Please do not appear in the courthouse on that date. The following choices are available to you:
If you do not object to the relief requested, you do not need to contact the court or do anything else. If you do object to the relief sought on the citation, you or your lawyer must send a document to the court signed by you or your lawyer indicating that: 1. You object to the relief or you are requesting discovery; OR 2. You are requesting the opportunity to appear in person or by using Skype for Business or by telephone conference; OR 3. You are requesting an adjournment to consult with or retain counsel.
Your written response must be received by the court three (3) business days before the return date and must include either an email address or telephone number, or both, where you or your lawyer can be reached during business hours. Your communication to the court may be sent by email to: Probate General@nycourts.gov or by mail addressed to the Probate Department of this court at the address listed above or you may bring it in person to the court. The attorney for the petitioner must be copied in your communication. If your written communication to the court indicates that you would like to proceed as described in choice number 1 above, your case may be referred to a court attorney-referee for a conference. The case will be adjourned to a future date, if you request the opportunity to appear in person or by electronic means or to consult or retain counsel (choices number 2 and 3).
If you do not contact the court by the date on the citation, the record will reflect that you do not object to the relief requested. If an attorney plans to appear on your behalf, he or she must file a Notice of Appearance. This Notice may be filed by delivering it in person to the Probate Department of this court or mailing it addressed to the Probate Department at the address listed above or through the e-filing system (NYSCEF), at www.nycourts.gov/efile.
If you have questions about responding to the citation, you may contact the Probate Department at Probate General@nycourts.gov. Please note that court staff are prohibited from giving legal advice but they are available to answer any question about procedure. The Probate Department of the New York County Surrogate's Court PROBATE CITATION
File No.
2024-2532/A SURROGATE'S COURTNEW YORK COUNTY CITATION
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, TO TIFFANY C. GRAVES, if living and if dead, to her heirs at law, next of kin and distributees whose names and places of residence are unknown and if she died subsequent to the decedent herein, to her executors, administrators, legatees, devisees, assignees and successors in interest whose names and places of residence are unknown and to all other heirs at law, next of kin and distributees of GREGORY GRAVES, the decedent herein, whose names and places of residence are unknown and cannot, after diligent inquiry, be ascertained.
A petition having been duly filed by Daryl K. Harris who is domiciled at 322 Millies Road, Hopkins, South Carolina 29061
YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the Surrogate's Court, NEW YORK COUNTY at 31 Chambers Street, New York, on June 16, 2025 at 9:30 o'clock in the FOREnoon of that day why a decree should not be made in the estate of GREGORY GRAVES lately domiciled at 15 West 127th Street, New York, NY 10027
November 10, 2007
(Codicil(s) dated _________,
GREGORY GRAVES
admitting to probate a Will dated. copy of which is attached, as the Will of_ Gregory Graves deceased, relating to real and personal property, and directing that [X]
Letters Testamentary issue to:_
[ ] Letters of Trusteeship issue to:_
[ ] Letters of Administration c.t.a. issue to (State any further relief requested)
DARYL K. HARRIS
*To all Parties: No in person appearances shall be made at the return date. If you wish to object to this matter, you may do so in writing in accordance with the annexed New York County Surrogate's Court Notice to the Cited Parties May 5th 2025
HON.
Rita Mella
Surrogate
Diane Sinebria
Chief Clerk
Dated, Attested and Sealed
Christopher J. Donadio, Esq., Gair, Gair, Conason, et Attorney for Petitioner
80 Pine Street, New York, NY 10005
Address of Attorney
212-943-1090 Telephone Number cdonadio@gairgair.com E-mail Address of Attorney [NOTE: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to appear it will be assumed you do not object to the relief requested. You have a right to have an attorney appear for you.]
P-5 (10/96)
LYYNC MEDIA LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/28/25. 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, c/o Liu, Yiyi, 4357 Union Street, Unit 5C, Flushing, NY 11355. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
DAR REALTY COLLECTIVE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/25/2025. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 1 West End Avenue, Unit 21F, New York, NY 10023. Purpose: Any lawful act.
DOMINIQUE ANNAMARIE CONSULTING & STRATEGY
LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/18/2024. 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 #272012, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.
HOMEWRIGHTS DEVELOPMENT, LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/24/2025. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: The LLC, 380 Riverside Dr, Apt 7J, NY, NY 10025. Purpose: any lawful act.
Notice of Formation of OT22O, LLC
Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/03/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o The Board of Managers of the Olympic Tower Condominium, 641 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
PARK AVE ELECTRICAL LLC.
Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/02/25. 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, 2 Park Avenue, 29th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
POPULAR BANK FKA BANCO POPULAR NORTH AMERICA, -against-
PATRICK REGAN A/K/A PATRICK B. REGAN, ET AL.
NOTICE OF SALE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York on January 21, 2025, wherein POPULAR BANK FKA BANCO POPULAR NORTH AMERICA is the Plaintiff and PATRICK REGAN A/K/A PATRICK B. REGAN, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the NEW YORK COUNTY CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, ROOM 130, 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on June 4, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 4260 BROADWAY, UNIT 306, NEW YORK, NY 10033; and the following tax map identification: 2164-1036.
THE CONDOMINIUM UNIT (THE "UNIT") KNOWN AS UNIT 306 IN THE BUILDING (THE "BUILDING") KNOWN AS "THE 4260 BROADWAY CONDOMINIUM" LOCATED AND KNOWN AS BY THE STREET NUMBER 4260 BROADWAY IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, COUNTY, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK, DESIGNATED AND DESCRIBED AS UNIT NO. 306 IN THE DECLARATION ESTABLISHING A PLAN FOR CONDOMINIUM OWNERSHIP OF SAID BUILDING AND THE LAND UPON WHICH IT IS SITUATE UNDER ARTICLE 9-B OF THE REAL PROPERTY LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (THE "NEW YORK CONDOMINIUM ACT"),
TOGETHER WITH AND SUBJECT TO AN UNDIVIDED 0.8527% INTEREST IN THE COMMON ELEMENTS;
THE PREMISES WITHIN WHICH THE UNIT IS LOCATED ARE MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No.: 850663/2023. Elaine Shay, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. 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.
Notice of Qualification of VELOCITY ELEVATE LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/23/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/23/24. Princ. office of LP: 1 Penn Plaza, Ste. 4420, NY, NY 10119. NYS fictitious name: VELOCITY ELEVATE L.P. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LP at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of 240 WILLOUGHBY GL, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/29/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/15/25. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Maritime Management, LLC, One Maritime Plaza, Ste. 2100, San Francisco, CA 94111. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Purchase of real property.
Notice of Formation of 160 EAST 84TH STREET ASSOCIATES LLC Cert. of Conversion filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/23/06, converting 160 EAST 84TH STREET ASSOCIATES to 160 EAST 84TH STREET ASSOCIATES LLC. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: The Feil Organization, Inc., 7 Penn Plaza, Ste. 618, NY, NY 10001. 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. The regd. agent of the company upon whom and at which process against the company can be served is The Feil Organization, Inc., 7 Penn Plaza, Ste. 618, NY, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Formation of OT22N, LLC
Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/03/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o The Board of Managers of the Olympic Tower Condominium, 641 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
315 WEST 92ND STREET LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/06/25. 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, c/o BDO, 200 Park Avenue, 38th Floor, New York, NY 10166. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
368 WEST 46 STREET, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/04/03. Latest date to dissolve: 12/31/2053. 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, 372 West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
LUXWORA LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 4/02/2025. Office location: Ny County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, 20th Fl , New York, NY 10111. Purpose: Any lawful act.
BK community
According to current DOE policy, superintendents technically serve “at the will” of the Chancellor and are not union-represented. But as a courtesy, an adequate reason is provided when one is let go. Electeds claimed that after numerous inquiries, they were first told that it was a “personal matter” by Avilés-Ramos, then that Mims was being “unresponsive or unwilling to engage” with support teams, and now there were simply “personnel changes” needed as to why he was fired.
Cooper theorized that Mims’ firing may be because of the discord between him and CEC16 President and Borough President Appointee NeQuan C. McLean. He said that their “visions were not aligned.” The Amsterdam News reached out to McLean via email but didn’t receive a response by post time.
Bernard Placide
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president of the North Jersey Black Caucus for Social Justice (BCSJ), has been a vocal advocate for justice in the Placide case. He insists that the city of Englewood doesn’t necessarily have to have the attorney general’s report, but he thinks the family’s civil rights case hasn’t moved forward because Englewood’s lawyers want to use the attorney general’s determination to justify any settlement offers.
‘He doesn’t know what he’s doing’ Placide had grabbed a kitchen knife and lashed out at his family members that morning. His mother, Myrlene Laurince, called 911 for assistance: She needed urgent help in subduing him since he had already cut her; his stepfather, Obed Hilaire, who had barricaded himself in the bathroom; and his grandfather.
Laurince wanted to ensure everyone’s safety: “I don’t know what happened to him; he’s acting crazy lately,” she is recorded as saying to the police dispatcher. “You have to come right away; I don’t know what happened to my [son] … He doesn’t know what he’s doing … He’s crazy.”
Police bodycam footage shows that officers arrived, went to the rear entrance of the house, and began methodically looking for Placide with their guns drawn. As
The Chancellor has to follow the steps outlined in the C-37 process to hire a new superintendent. Once qualified candidate interviews are completed, the Chancellor must then consult with the district’s CEC and Presidents’ Council, as well as certain union reps. Zinerman, and other nearby electeds, claim that this process was not properly followed.
“The superintendency is an appointed position and an at-will hire,” said the DOE’s press office in response to AmNews . “New York City public schools [NYCPS] follow Chancellor’s Regulation C-37, which outlines the eligibility criteria and application process, including consultation with the district’s Community Education Council. NYCPS has selected an interim acting superintendent and will begin the selection process outlined in the Chancellor’s Regulation C-37.”
The interim Superintendent Fabayo McIntosh is, by all accounts given to
they entered the apartment, they found Hilaire wounded in the bathroom that was near the front door. After continuing down the hallway and searching other rooms, they found Placide, who had returned to his bedroom.
“Put your hands up now, or you’re going to get shot,” officers yelled as they demanded Placide drop the knife he was holding. “Put your hands up now, or you’re going to get shot — I’m not playing!”
Placide was either confused or unwilling to cooperate; he held onto the knife with his hands. When the police saw the knife, they demanded he drop it. When he ignored them, Officer Brian Havlicek tased him, and Officer Luana Sharpe ran into the bedroom to try to subdue him. As Placide fought with Sharpe, her gun went off, and she ended up shooting him.
In October 2022, the attorney general’s office wrote in a press release about the incident that: “When Mr. Placide failed to comply, Officer Brian Havlicek deployed a taser. Officer Luana Sharpe discharged her firearm, fatally wounding Mr. Placide. Police and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid. Officer Sharpe was also treated for an injury to her hand from the knife.
“Investigators recovered a knife near Mr. Placide. Mr. Placide was transported to Englewood Hospital and pronounced deceased at approximately 9:17 a.m. The three wounded individuals were treated and released from an area hospital.”
AmNews, another beloved figure in the Bed-Stuy community and considered a strong Black woman in leadership. She was well-received at CEC16’s meeting at the Whitelaw Reid Academy of Arts and Business on April 28. Zinerman said it wasn’t fair that the mayoral administration and DOE mishandling of the situation essentially “painted a target” on McIntosh’s back.
Mayor Eric Adams, who still has mayoral control over the city’s public schools, and the DOE convened a private virtual meeting with Zinerman, Cooper, Easterling, and other community leaders to discuss the superintendency matter on April 30.
The Bring Back Mims coalition then sent a letter on May 5 to Adams further detailing their grievances about AvilésRamos’ decision to remove Mims before the school year finished for seemingly unsatisfactory reasons. They sent a subsequent letter on May 7 to the State
Investigative report on the case remains delayed
The Placide family claim in their lawsuit that EPD officers were trained to de-escalate situations like this by calling in a Rapid Response Team, which is composed of individuals trained to work with life-threatening healthcare emergencies. Instead, they say, the police who arrived appeared determined to confront Placide in a domineering way, which led to his death.
“Officer [Luanna] Sharpe, in a heinous and indefensible spontaneous act that proves Sharpe had immediate and unvarnished consciousness of guilt, failed to render any medical aid to Bernard, and instead callously and capriciously fled the scene[,] ignoring her first responder duties as a police officer, leaving Bernard for dead; stopping and delaying Bernard from receiving treatment in a life and death moment,” their lawsuit claims.
Because Sharpe immediately ran out of the room after shooting Placide, her fellow officers handcuffed him and searched him for weapons. Placide’s family said this delayed his being transported immediately to the hospital and lowered his chances of survival.
On April 22, 2024, a grand jury voted not to pursue criminal charges against Sharpe for her actions. Kleiner has expressed doubts about the strength of the case that the attorney general presented to the grand jury. Now, he and Placide family advocates are also asking why it’s taking so long for the office to submit its investiga-
Board of Regents calling for immediate oversight or an independent monitor to scrutinize the C-37 process until a permanent superintendent is selected in CEC16.
“I think we met for a little over an hour and we shared, we engaged, they shared their thoughts,” said Adams at his in-person presser on Tuesday, May 13. “Termination was not what was in the plan. He made some decisions that led to that… And there were some personnel issues that I shared with the group that counsel told me we could not go into, and I did not, nor am I going to go against the advice of the counsel.”
Adams said that they left off with an agreement to continue the C-37 process and find a replacement for Mims.
“And I was very clear. I didn’t mislead them. I said he cannot come back. Some issues are not going to allow him to come back, and I can’t go into those personnel issues,” said Adams.
tive report on the case.
New Jersey attorney general guidelines specify that internal affairs investigations, like this one, must be completed within 45 days, BCSJ’s Jenkins pointed out. That means the report was due by June 6, 2024.
“If investigators are unable to complete an internal affairs investigation within 45 days of receiving a complaint, they must notify the agency’s law enforcement executive on or about the 45th day,” states the Internal Affairs Policy and Procedures (IAPP) handbook. If the investigation can’t be completed within 180 days, the attorney general is required to submit a report to the state legislature explaining why the report is being delayed.
“The attorney general’s Office of Public Integrity (OPIA) took it and has not yet issued anything — no disclosure of the results of the investigation,” Jenkins said.
“The family is being victimized every moment of the intentional delays and failures of the attorney general. We mustn’t forget the fight for Bernard Placide Jr. and all the other victims of senseless police shootings and brutality.”
The Amsterdam News reached out to A.G. Platkin’s office to ask about the status of its report on the investigation into the killing of Bernard Placide Jr. The attorney general’s office replied by noting that it is obligated to do an “administrative review of a fatal police encounter after the grand jury has acted. The administrative review here is ongoing,” a spokesperson said.
Continued from page 5
“Before I said a word, it felt like I fit in. In appearance, you couldn’t tell I was from Africa,” he said. “The moment I said something, [though, people were like], ‘Oh, you have an accent,’ ‘Oh, where are you from?’
and they don’t look past that. Every other thing about me doesn’t matter.”
Eventually, he and Otuyelu moved to Harlem, allowing him to channel all that emotion into his art. After experiencing microaggressions, a language barrier, and a different lifestyle, his immigrant experience trickled onto the canvases. The effort he put into his work led him to
be chosen for his work to be displayed at Gallery Petite in Brooklyn in 2022 for an art show. More than 400 people attended the event.
“It’s like hearing a child tell you what they want to be, and then you watch them become what they want to be,” said Otuyelu.
Since then, Nwadike has gone on to have various sales of his paintings and have cov-
erage of his art. He has reconnected with his mother through the success of his work and has built his identity in his paintings. Most of all, he has realized the importance of art in today’s society.
“Being an artist or doing art or the true value of art lies within truth — the truth of the artist and the art,” he said. “If the art is true, then it is timeless.”
The Nets add another key asset for their rebuild with the No. 8 draft pick
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
The Brooklyn Nets, like the 13 other teams that ultimately wound up with picks in the NBA Draft Lottery held this past Monday, were hopeful their fortunes would land them in the No. 1 overall spot. After finishing with the sixth-worst regular season record in the league at 26-56 under promising first year head coach Jordi Fernandez, who represented the franchise at the lottery held in Chicago, the Nets had the sixthbest odds at 9% to win the top pick.
Unfortunately for them, luck wasn’t on their side. The Nets fell to No. 8 and the Dallas Mavericks, with only a 1.8% chance, found themselves in the coveted No. 1 position. But the draft, set to be held on June 25 and 26 at the Nets’ home at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, is never certain in terms of which players will become All-Stars or even Hall of Famers, and which players will only have marginal careers. Sam Jones (1957), Robert Parish (1976), Andre Miller (1999), Jamal Crawford (2000) and most recently Franz Wagner in 2021 are some of the notable No. 8 selections.
Add the No. 19 and No. 26 picks to the Nets’ bucket and they have the opportu -
nity to secure three players that could be key building blocks as they remain in the reconstruction phase. Restricted freeagent Cam Thomas, who had the Nets’ highest scoring average this season at
24 points per game but played in only 25 games due to injuries, was the 27th pick in 2021.
It goes deeper. Future Hall of Famers Kawhi Leonard (No. 15, 2011), Giannis
Antetokounmpo (No. 15, 2013) and Nikola Joki ć (2014, 2nd round, No. 41 overall) have four championships, four finals MVPs and five league MVPs between them. All-Star point guards Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey were taken with the 12th and 21st overall picks respectively in the 2020 draft. Two other All-Stars, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (No. 12) and the Houston Rockets’ center Alperen Ş engün (No. 16) are gems of the 2021 and 2022 drafts respectively.
So the Nets have to do their due diligence on the prospects still expected to be available when they select at No. 8 or package the picks in a trade for an already established young impact player.
Among the draft candidates are 6-10 University of Maryland freshman forward/ center Derik Queen, a skilled offensive standout who had a strong showing in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Texas shooting guard Tre Johnson, who is viewed as a potential top-six pick, Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakucionis; and a pair of Duke Blue Devils, guard/ forward Kon Knueppel and center Khaman Maluach, are firmly in the mix. Although the Nets’ wish did not materialize on Monday, fate may still gift them a special player.
Has the NBA already gone all in on Cooper Flagg’s potential stardom?
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Social media was abuzz with excitement Monday night, just seconds after it was revealed that the Dallas Mavericks had won the annual NBA Draft Lottery held in Chicago.
The Mavericks, specifically its general manager, Nico Harrison, has been under relentless condemnation from fans and media across the vast global basketball landscape, most intensely ardent Luka Doncic fanatics, after he crafted the trade this past February of the five-time AllNBA First-Team star — who turned 26 just three weeks after the deal — to the Los Angeles Lakers for five-time (four first-team selections) future Hall of Famer Anthony Davis, who reached his 32nd birthday in March.
But on Monday, divine intervention Harrison seemingly extended basketball executive a reprieve, as he now has the fortuitous opportunity to secure Cooper Flagg, the most celebrated white American college basketball player since another Duke standout, Christian Laettner, entered the NBA as the No. 3 overall pick in 1992 behind No. 1 selection Shaquille O’ Neal and No. 2 draftee Alonzo Mourning.
The reference to Flagg being white is relevant to how he is viewed by those who acknowledge the significance of the NBA having a white, American-born star. Doncic is also white but from Slovenia. The Denver
Nuggets’ sensational center Nikola Jokic, the reigning and three-time league MVP, is from Serbia. The last American-born white player to be selected to an All-NBA team was Kevin Love in 2024, 11 long years ago. An American-born white player has not been voted All All-NBA First Team since John Stockton in 1994. That’s 31 years ago!
Flagg, born and raised in Newport, Maine, is deserving of the hype and hope. He was this past season’s national college player of the year and led Duke to the Final Four, where the Blue Devils lost 70-67 to the Houston Cougars. More importantly, by all accounts, he is a wonderful, hgh character young man and model teammate. He officially measured 6-7 3/4 at the NBA Combine that is taking place this week in Chicago. Flagg possesses the physical traits and mental characteristics to become an NBA All-Star. Many are labeling him a transformative talent. That remains to be seen.
What is unequivocal is that his value to the NBA marketing machine is enormous. It is why countless users on social media and a sizable number of mainstream media voices explicitly accused and alluded, respectively, that the lottery was rigged. The reasons vary. While there is no definitive or irrefutable evidence to support this claim, it is plausible even for this writer, who isn’t a fervent sports conspiracy theorist.
While the Mavericks had just a 1.8% chance to win the lottery with the Wash-
ington Wizards, Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets each holding a much higher 14% probability to gain the No. 1 overall pick, which undoubtedly will be Flagg, could the NBA powers that be, namely commissioner Adam Silver, a man of deep integrity, and the league’s corporate partners, most prominently television networks and streaming partners, afford to have one of basketball’s biggest names languish for the next three or four years on a small market, losing team, possibly being exposed as a very good but not historically special talent? The question begs serious consideration.
Instead, Dallas, the league’s fifth-largest market, is an ideal landing spot. They are a playoff team with established stars Davis and Kyrie Irving. There will be no pressure on Flagg to carry the burden of franchise savior as he would be with the bottom-tier organizations. He can immediately be integrated into the Mavericks as a franchise cornerstone and not the centerpiece.
Popularity and perception are significantly associated with a player’s success in winning titles, more so than their accomplishments. History views champions with lofty resumes more favorably than those without a ring. There is still the possibility that Dallas will look to trade the No. 1 pick in a package for Milwaukee Bucks megastar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But for now, Flagg is a unique golden goose the league will be carefully curating.
Duke University’s 18-year-old freshman forward Cooper Flagg is the presumptive No. 1 pick in next month’s NBA Draft. (AP Photo/ Nam Y. Huh)
Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach, working out at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago on Tuesday, is one of the top prospects in this year’s draft. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Equestrian Hazel Pratts continues her impressive rise in the sport
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
As equestrian Hazel Pratts, 15, prepared for sophomore-year final exams at the Pennsylvania boarding school she attends, things didn’t slow down in the competitive realm. Each weekend brings a new horse show, with Pratts posting some impressive results. At the 2025 Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) National Finals in St. Louis, Mo., she finished second in the novice dressage seat equitation individual event and third in team novice dressage seat equitation, bringing valuable points to the team from her school.
Her IEA events had a draw-based format where riders are assigned a horse, rather than riding a horse on which they have been training. “You get a random horse at every single horse show, and you have to work with what you have,” Pratts said. “It’s exciting that you get a different ride every single time. You can get a horse that’s very experienced or you can get a horse that’s very young. The hard part is you do not get to school the horse.”
For the flat phase, you get on the horse and go. Pratts admitted it’s scary because sometimes a horse will connect with one rider
but not another. “It was challenging, but also fun,” said Pratts. “I’m a very competitive person. I’m not hard on myself, but I always think of improvement every step of the way.”
Passionate about riding, Pratts has seen progress in her skills over the past year. Dressage was new, and she described it as interesting and a great experience. She learned how much flat work (training on flat ground) can improve a rider’s skills and knowledge.
“In dressage, I really learned about the different qualities of horses and what I can do to make the horse look so much better,” she said. “Last year, I did hunt seat; I still do it now. Hunt seat is more based on my look and presentation, and how well I work with the horse instead of how well my horse will work with me.”
Determined, Pratts is pushing to reach higher ranks of competition. “I really enjoy and love that I learn a new thing every single day with every lesson that I have,” said Pratts, who studies and analyzes videos of herself in training and competition.
She’s also intent on continuing to excel in school, noting her love for chemistry and math. This summer’s plans are still being made, but she will definitely train and compete.
Chris Evert
Continued from page 40
“[I love] the community. Everyone wants to grow together and be better,” said Lula Brown-Bann, who will be attending and playing tennis at SUNY New Paltz. Lena Waterman will be attending Morgan State University and hopes to join the tennis team. “I’m looking forward to meeting new people,” said Waterman, who will study
nursing. “This program helped me push myself and become better.”
Nyla Ferdinand is bound for Xavier University of Louisiana, an HBCU known for its many graduates who become physicians, which is her goal. “The student aspect [of HJTEP] is very much included. We have a classroom upstairs (at Harlem Armory). When it comes to my schoolwork, it’s easy to be a student-athlete, which I love,” said Ferdinand, who will play tennis in college.
Patrick McEnroe was the evening’s emcee. Morgan Stanley received the HJTEP Corporate Award. Broadway and television star Norm Lewis performed. HJTEP alumna Vashni Korin, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, spoke about how HJTEP impacted her life and career.
“What this organization stands for, we need more of in the world,” said Will Reeve of ABC News. “Getting kids active, finding their passion and purpose, should be celebrated and supported.”
Continued from page 40
champion for the Celtics.
“I’m not going to lie, [Jayson] Tatum was hitting some shots. Shout out to him too,” said Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 23 points and a game high 11 rebounds.
“I’m praying for him. If you saw me on the court, I just wanted to pray for him — it looked bad. Prayers to him and his family. You never want to see anybody in the NBA get hurt like that and hope it’s something minor and not something major.”
“I was … just shocked with that,” said Celtics veteran big man Al Horford. “[We are] just waiting to see what the results are.”
Unfortunately, the injury is severe. Tatum was diagnosed with a ruptured right Achilles tendon and had successful surgery to repair it Tuesday. Now an arduous recovery awaits. The average timetable for an NBA player’s return from the injury according to some orthopedists is 10 months.
Game 6, if necessary, will be tomorrow at 8 p.m. at MSG with Game 7 at Boston on Monday night.
Equestrian Hazel Pratts displays the reserve champion ribbon at IEA National Finals. (Photo courtesy of Hasoni Pratts)
HJTEP seniors. (Lois Elfman photo)
Teenagers to compete in the First Annual Spring Skyline Beach Slam
By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews
Beach volleyball is an immensely popular sport in warm weather cities such as Los Angeles and Miami. But in the New York City area, while participation in organized competitive and social volleyball among youth and adults has rapidly risen, engagement in beach volleyball is still relatively limited to small circles. One woman aims to change that at the First Annual Spring Skyline Beach Slam, taking place this Saturday and Sunday, on 66th Street at Riverside Park on Manhattan’s Westside, featuring boys and girls ages 12 to 17.
“We partnered with NYC Parks, and from the kids that we had last year when we founded the company, they wanted to compete and learn,” NYC Beach Volley Ventures (NYCBVV) founder Barbara Miranda Winkler expressed to the AmNews.
“It is just like a full experience of how tournaments (are structured), kind of like a sneak peek of the Olympics,” said Winkler. “The name reflects New York.
Our logo, you can see it’s like the sunrise or sunset with the skyline, and the bridge and the water, and they are all happy colors.” The visual is intentional as NYCBVV strives to provide physical as well as social-emotional development to its participants.
“Our holistic approach blends drills, fundamentals, and gameplay to build confidence, mental readiness, and sportsmanship,” Winkler, a Harlembased mother of a 12-year-old, explained.
“At NYCBVV, I had an amazing experience, met great people, and I am incredibly inspired by both of my coaches,” 14-year-old Jovana said of her experience last year. “My coaches not only taught me the game, but also taught me resilience and self-confidence.”
“At NYCBVV, playing and learning with friends feels like it’s family, and the coaches are open-minded and kind,” said 12-year-old Ayla.
The tournament has eight divisions with a maximum of 10 teams in each. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and play starts at 8 a.m..
Season 2 of ESPN’s ‘Full Court Press’ spotlights stars of women’s college basketball
By LOIS ELFMAN
Special to the AmNews
Just last week Flau’jae Johnson of LSU walked the red carpet at the iconic Met Ball. A first round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Kiki Iriafen, formerly of USC, is focused on helping the Washington Mystics return to league supremacy. Hannah Hidalgo is wrapping up her spring semester at Notre Dame and planning her training for the summer. The 202425 college seasons of each of the three is chronicled in season two of the ESPN original series “Full Court Press,” which premiered earlier this month and is now available on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+.
“Casting for ‘Full Court Press’ was extremely difficult,” said series director Nikki Spetseris. “There is so much talent out there and so many good stories to follow. We really felt that with these three women — Flau’jae, Hannah and Kiki — we ended up with a good balance of different locations, different types of programs, different personalities and women at different
stages of their college careers.
“All these women are so inspiring in different ways,” she added. “I think what stood out immediately for me was Flau’jae’s star power, Hannah’s ferocity on the court and Kiki’s poise.”
ESPN’s commentary team of Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike, and An -
draya Carter play a big role in this season’s episodes, adding context to each player’s story as well as narrating the game action featured. Hidalgo and Iriafen’s teams are even shown facing off against each other. Each team’s head coach: Kim Mulkey of LSU, Lindsay Gottlieb of USC and Niele Ivey of Notre
Dame let cameras in the locker rooms to provide behind-thescenes action. “It was interesting watching how all three programs operate differently,” said Spetseris.
At the conclusion of the college season, Hidalgo’s teammate Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal as rumors swirled that Hidalgo would as well, but she is remaining with the Fighting Irish. “For Hannah, we filmed a meeting with her and Coach Ivey talking about what the team will look like next season,” Spetseris said.
All three players allowed the cameras considerable access, even understanding that there would be difficult moments, such as after a loss, which would be necessary to film to give viewers a true understanding of what goes into a season. Communication between production and the players made that possible.
“As storytellers, we really just encouraged the women to be who they are, and I think they all bought in and their personalities really shone through in an honest way,” said Spetseris.
Barbara Winkler, founder of NYC Beach Volley Ventures, is striving to grow the sport in New York City.
