OUR TIME PRESS | July 13 – 19, 2017

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OUR TIME PRESS THE L OCAL PAPER WITH THE G LOBAL VIEW

| VOL. 21 NO. 28

July 13 – 19, 2017 |

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Strength in Numbers: Broadway Triangle and Bedford Union Armory Protest and Band Together to Fight for Affordable Housing in Brooklyn

Demonstators advocating for affordable housing lined the stairs at Brooklyn Borough Hall ULURP meeting. Photo: Bernice Green ■■ By Kelly Mena/Kings County Politics

T

he room was small but their voices were many at Brooklyn Borough Hall Monday as hundreds of local residents and advocates banded together to fight for affordable housing and against displacement across Brooklyn.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Housing is a Right!" rang out through the halls of The People's House and echoed into the street.

Hundreds of members from Churches United For Fair Housing and Los SurosSouthside United were joined by another hundred members from the Crown Heights Tenants Association and union members from 32BJ who were protesting the Pfizer

Speaking Truth to Power

Chelsea Clinton speaks "real deal" to Trump.

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site (Broadway Triangle), rezoning and the redevelopment plan of the Bedford Union Armory, respectively, at the Brooklyn Borough President’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) Public Hearing at Borough Hall.

Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna presided over the meeting while Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams was away attending a service in memory of slain Police Officer Miosotis Familia.

The night’s docket included approval for an Emergency Management Warehouse in Bushwick, approval for an amendment to rezone the Pfizer building site and approval for the rezoning of the Bedford Union Armory site.

The meeting was going as planned until the announcement of the second item on the docket, the Pfizer site rezoning, at which point Juan Ramos, Chair of the Broadway Triangle Coalition, stood in protest of the submission presented by The Rabsky Group.

Ramos forced the meeting to an abrupt close, refusing to silence himself and claiming the Broadway Triangle rezoning plan serves to discriminate and push out the local Black and Latino communities of South Williamsburg.

“On behalf of the hundreds of people who came out today to this gathering, we firmly object to this meeting even taking place because we feel that this plan went through our community in a way that was unfair to our community, and the way the

"Legacy of Lynching" Exhibition Coming to Brooklyn Museum

O

Luz Myles, at site of her ancestor's lynching.

Shreveport, Louisiana, 2017. (Photo: Rog Walker and Bee Walker for Equal Justice Initiative)

ur nation’s history of racial injustice casts a shadow across the American landscape. This shadow cannot be lifted until we shine the light of truth on the destructive violence that shaped our nation, traumatized people of color and compromised our commitment to the rule of law and equal justice. We all must engage this history more honestly.”” Bryan Stevenson.

Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative.

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community saw no plan at the community board meeting. We firmly oppose the development at the Pfizer site and the Bedford Union Armory. Both of which stand to displace thousands of long-term community members,” said Ramos.

Other protestors within the community room then joined in chanting “El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido”, or “the people united will never be defeated”, as peace officers started forcing protestors out of the chambers.

City Council member Antonio Reynoso(D) stood united with the protestors and supported the actions of Ramos at the meeting. ➔➔ Continued on page 2

Tragedy in New York

The city stopped to mourn the loss of NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia, a 48-year-old single mother of three, shot and killed while sitting in her patrol car in the Bronx.

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 28

Strength in Numbers:

Broadway Triangle and Bedford Union Armory Protest and Band Together to Fight for Affordable Housing in Brooklyn ➔➔ Continued from page 1

The Rabsky Group, who were set to make a “They made the decidetailed presentation to the sion to shut this [public Borough President’s Office, hearing down] and it looks were blocked in their efforts like they did shut it down. for the evening. However, We had over 400 people they are still committed to from just Community the project and believe it is Board 1 here fighting the in the community’s benefit Pfizer site [rezoning plan] to move forward with their who took time out of their plan. day to volunteer and be out “While we are dishere marching and fighting. appointed that a small Do 400 voices like that group of people insists on have any value? We will stifling public discourse, Year 'round activist: Juan Ramos, Chair see through this process. I we will encourage key deof the Broadway Triangle Coalition, work on behalf of the concision-makers to follow the speaking at a Christmas demonstration lead of those closest to the stituents of my district and against the Broadway Triangle rezoning site – the Community Board if they decided that shutting proposal. down the meeting was the – which voted overwhelmbest thing to do, then that’s ingly to support this plan. the right thing to do,” said Reynoso. approval for the Pfizer rezoning plan We will continue to make the case Reynoso went on to note the with conditions. Reynoso’s district that this project, which will create lack of diversity in Community doesn’t include the Pfizer site but 287 new affordable apartments, and Board 1, claiming that the board he has been a staunch opponent of create well-paying jobs and open isn’t “demographically represen- the proposed plan, committing him- space, is right for the long-vacant tative of the community” of South self to blocking the project on the site,” said Tom Corsillo, spokesWilliamsburg. On June 21, CB grounds of its lack of community person for The Rabsky Group, the 1 issued a recommendation of input and affordable housing units. developer of the Broadway Triangle Project.

For the protestors, the early close to the meeting was a small victory in a bigger battle for the vacant lot. The project has been a contentious issue for local officials and community advocates, who have been fighting over the site for nearly a decade.

Community members, citing

Photo: Bernice Green

Alex Fennell, CUFFH Network Organizer (young woman) with Ausar Burke, community organizer. discrimination issues, sued the city for an earlier 2009 rezoning plan they claim favored the Hasidic community over Blacks and Latinos.

The case has yet to be resolved in the State Supreme Court and is in ongoing negotiations.

Shekar Krishnan, the lead attorney in the case, praised the united front presented by the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition and

other local residents and advocates.

“This was the community making their voice heard: about how we will not accept, at all, these discriminatory housing plans being pushed through that will only exacerbate residential segregation in an area that has been segregated for far too long.”

Krishnan continued, “The city cannot approve a rezoning ➔➔ Continued on page 4 DBG MEDIA Publishers of Our Time Press, Inc. 358 Classon Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11238 (718) 599-6828 Web site: www.ourtimepress.com e-mail: editors@ourtimepress.com Publisher DBG MEDIA Editor-in-Chief David Mark Greaves Consultant Bernice Elizabeth Green Legacy Ventures Contributors Victoria Horsford Selma Jackson Margo McKenzie Priscilla Mensah Aishamanne Williams Manager www.ourtimepress.com Liani Greaves Sports Eddie Castro Office Manager Joanna Williams

Photo: Bernice Green

Ms. Grace of 966 Senior Citizens Center, talking to Jack Hornickel: "Seniors who worked hard to build this country are on the streets, homeless or living with people who don't want them. I came here in 1959. Back then homeless shelters were temporary. Whoever thought it could come to this."

© 2015, DBG MEDIA Publishers of Our Time Press, Inc., printed in New York City.

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VOL. 21 NO. 28

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

Making Voting Accessible to the People

■■

By Akosua K. Albritton

O

n May 11, 2017, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

POTUS calls it the “Voter Fraud Panel.”

With increasing numbers of American citizens choosing not to vote in either local or national elections, would it not be more appropriate to establish a Presidential Advisory Commission to Drum Up Voters instead?

The Center for Law and Social Justice Founder and Executive Director Esmeralda Simmons said very recently, “The United States has the lowest turnout of all the developed nations.” Using New York--the Empire State--as an example, there may exist significant voter apathy or voter hostility. The New York State Board of Elections maintains databases on registered New York voters by county, election district, Senate District, Assembly District and Congressional District.

The latest information is as of April 1, 2017.

Besides segmenting the voters by party affiliation, there are the statuses of “active” and “inactive”. The statewide total of registered voters is 12,376,815, of which 859,226 are “inactive”, which leaves 11,517,589 “active” voters. Given New York State’s total population is roughly 19.865 million people, there are over 7.5 million who chose not to register to vote. Adding the “inactive” voters to that figure brings the number to roughly 8.359 million New Yorkers choosing not to participate in the election process.

So, New York State counts 11,517,589 “active” voters to participate in local, state and national elections. The reality is a drastic

drop in voting from the national level to the lower levels of government. We will use the 2016 56th Assembly District race between Ms. Tremaine Wright and Ms. Karen Cherry as an example. There are 88,821 total registered voters of which 79,718 are designated “active”. The voting results for the 2016 NYS Assembly election here were 3,679 for Tremaine Wright and 2,577 for Karen Cherry, which means 6,256 voters came out to the polls in this Assembly District. That is approximately 8% of local registered voters.

This reporter invited Center for Law and Social Justice Executive Director Esmeralda Simmons, League of Women Voters of New York City President Catherine T. Gray and The Black Institute Executive Director Bertha Lewis to respond to five questions relating to voter participation. Ms. Lewis was unavailable to comment.

Why is New York State and New York City falling short in voter turnout?

Simmons: Actually, New York City is a little lower than normal but on par with the 25-year trend in US low turnout. There are several options that aren’t being used to reverse the situation. The options include sameday registration and voting, online voting and absentee ballots. It’s strange that we’re not doing online voting. Then there is the oneand-a-half-year wait between changing party affiliations and voting.

A cause of the low turnout is that people believe that their vote does not matter because the politicians are bought. The American public is aware of the millions of dollars being distributed to have various policies carried forth.

Gray: People have feelings that their vote

does not count. For example, in Brooklyn, Council member (CM) Lewis Fiedler conceded to Storobin after several recounts and lost by a few votes, something between 17 and 21 votes. Registration takes work, New York has restrictive voter laws. Some examples include New York issues voter identification cards and only hard-copy registration forms are acceptable. There is the reality of a dislike of the candidates from which to choose and lack of information on what the candidates stand for or the impact of an issue in the voter’s daily life. Lastly, gerrymandering is problematic because it results in an advantage to one party.

What rules do you believe suppress the vote whether at the point of registration, processing or at the polls?

Gray: Voter identification laws, the closing of voter registration sites and the reduction of the hours that voters have to register [are just a few to mention].

Simmons: Every single step of the way there is suppression of the vote. Registration is difficult. Enrolling into a party is difficult.

Voting is difficult. (Dr. Simmons is referring to what actually occurs at local polling sites wherein voters form or go into existing long lines to sign a register, collect the paper ballot and another to submit the paper ballot or go

into a voting booth.)

There are unnecessary barricades. There are nine bills up in Albany now to improve the voting process that passed the Assembly but haven’t passed the state Senate due to the Republicans and the Independent Democratic Caucus. I would say these nine bills are designed to make New York State a voter-friendly state.

Will you suggest some measures for immediate implementation to correct this situation?

Simmons: Online registration and that registration occurs automatically. Assembly member Latrice Walker is sponsoring the New York State Voter Protection bill and federal Voting Rights bill. This federal bill would cover Asians and Latinos in this part of the nation. The Native American Voter Protection is included in other parts of this nation.

Gray: Early voting: 37 states have early voting; automatic voter registration: six states have automatic voter registration; electronic poll books: 34 states instituted electronic poll books and no excuse absentee voting.

What role can pre-collegiate schools assume to form strong positive impressions about voting and increase the probability ➔➔ Continued on page 10

Home Sharing in the Brooklyn Community

The Age Friendly Neighborhood Initiative (AFN) is a New York City Council-funded initiative that engages local older adults and stakeholders to leverage community assets to maximize the social and economic participation of older residents. The efforts of the AFN aim to make systematic changes that allow the entire community to benefit, including making improvements to the built environment, enhancing access to existing community assets for older adults and encouraging new programs and linkages across the community.

Executive Director Richard M. Trouth and Board Member Sundra Franklin of Brooklyn Neighborhood Services (BNS)- formerly named Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc.- are local stakeholders in Brooklyn’s 36th Council District Age Friendly Neighborhood Advisory Committee. The AFN Committee, organized by New York City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy Jr (D-36), serves to implement solutions to make the district age-friendly. Mr. Trouth is also a member of the AFN’s Housing Sub-Committee, that provides housing assistance to senior residents including The Home Sharing Program. This program matches senior citizens with compatible persons of any age, in shared-living arrangements in homes throughout New York. The program provides companionship, eases financial burdens and relieves feeling of loneliness.

For more information on the Home Sharing Program and MORE:

Brooklyn Neighborhood Services 1012 Gates Avenue, 1st Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11221 (718) 919-2100 | www.bnscdc.org

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

WHAT’S GOING ON ■■

I

By Victoria Horsford

attended the 90th Birthday Celebration for David Dinkins, 106th Mayor of the City of New York, which was hosted

by Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray at Gracie Mansion on July 10. Like the honoree, it was an elegant affair attended by about 400 members of the city’s gorgeous mosaic.

Muckady and Mayor David Dinkins mucks A-listers were ubiquitous. Public Advocate Letitia James, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Herbert Daughtry, former Congressman Charlie Rangel, Medgar Evers College President Dr. Rudy Crew, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, hedge fund titans Ed Lewis and Frank Savage, UNCF’s David Walker, Dr. Janet Bell, NYC Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop, Harriet Michel, Dr. Hazel Dukes, Attorney Wallace Ford, Faye and Karl Rodney, Jeanne Parnell, Dinkins’ wife Joyce and their children David and Donna were in attendance. Dinkins was in rare form, a happy but humble 90-year-old public servant who conjured up nostalgia for the Dinkins era. I thought about that memorable night on November 8, 1989 as I raced to the Sheraton Hotel to celebrate our first Black mayor-elect and all of the hope and promise that his new office would embrace. I also recommend the highly informative Dinkins memoir, “A Mayor’s Life: Governing New York’s Gorgeous Mosaic”. Happy Birthday Mr. Dinkins.

NEW YORK CITY NYC Mayoralty: According to the NY Daily News, Philip Banks, 54, former NY Police Department’s Chief of Department, is considering a NYC Mayoral run. Banks, a 28-year veteran of the NYPD who left after being appointed first deputy commissioner, which was the result of some falling out with

then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Last year, he was named in a federal probe about local businessmen who traded gifts for favors with NYPD Philip Banks brass, which seems to be commonplace in NYC. However, he was never questioned by the feds. Married with three children and living in Queens, if Banks decides to run for the mayoralty, it would be the first for a current or former NYPD member.

The jury is still out about the fine print that accompanied the final NYS Legislature vote in favor of extending NYC Mayoral Control of the schools. There were concessions made that satisfy the charter school advocates, which have not been formally disclosed by Mayor de Blasio’s office. More on the school deal next week.

NEWSMAKERS The May issue of Essence magazine’s cover story, “100 WOKE WOMEN: How We Rise Up, Speak Out and Push the Movement Forward”, is a good read which includes bios and pictures of the elite, distaff multigenerational group.

Essence says that “these women are change agents as part of a new guard of activists, educators, Joy Ann Reid journalists, thinkers and creators who are more than conscious – they are ever-vigilant about creating a nation in which we all have seats at the table”.

Joy-Ann Reid, Shonda Rhimes, Tamika D. Mallory, Opaki Tometi, Sybrina Fulton, Linda Sarsour, Brittany Packnett, Michelle Alexander, Viola Davis, Yamiche Alcindor,

Demanding Housing for Current Crown Heights Residents ➔➔ Continued from page 2 like this because it is then culpable also in violating fair housing laws, in perpetuating this pattern of housing discrimination in the Broadway Triangle. Our community is not going to accept a plan like that where, truthfully, there was no plan for this area and what was produced will only force out more residents of color in one of the most heavily gentrified neighborhoods in New York City,” said Krishnan of Brooklyn Legal Services, Corporation A. The plan, located on a two-block section site between Harrison and Union Avenues, from Walton Street to Gerry Street, and will include 1,146 mixed-income residential units, 65,000 square feet of neighborhood retail, a half-acre of public open space and 405 parking spaces.

Though the protestors against the Bedford Union Armory redevelopment project weren’t able to make their voices heard within the chamber, they did join in with the Broadway Triangle Coalition to demand the “deal be killed” and lent their numbers to the cause.

United on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall before the meeting both groups chanted

together, “If we don’t get it, shut it down!” and shared in their plight for affordable housing.

“They got a developer in Williamsburg in the Broadway Triangle called Rabsky.

You know what I call them, ‘Rob-sky!’ You know why, because they are trying to rob you and me! Robbing us of our home! Robbing us of our jobs! Segregating us! Injuring us!

Displacing us! These guys are as bad as BFC!,” said Bertha Lewis, affordable housing advocate and founder of The Black Institute.

Lewis went on to state, “We want to show that our coalition is growing and that more and more groups are coming on. We also want to send a message to other groups around the city. Brooklyn is ground zero and if they can do it to us, they will do it to you”.

Adams will be expected to make a recommendation for approval or denial within the coming weeks for both the Pfizer site rezoning and the Bedford Union Armory. In the past, Adams has already stated his lack of support for the Bedford Union Armory deal but will be expected to make a formal recommendation during the ULURP process.

After Adams, both plans will move onto the City Planning Commission and then to the City Council for a final vote.

VOL. 21 NO. 28

Ava DuVernay, Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama and Maxine Waters are some of the 100 WOKE WOMEN, an informative essay.

CARIBBEAN JOURNAL The twin island nation of Antigua/ Barbuda is poised to host the Caribbean’s biggest summer carnival, which runs from July 28 to August 8. This year is also the 60th Anniversary of the Antigua Carnival, a multigenerational tradition which taps into the island’s culture. Since its 1957 debut, the Antigua Carnival had a twofold purpose. It was a tourist attraction and a commemoration of emancipation from slavery. Calypso, Antigua’s indigenous music, dominates the carnival season, as does its carnival royalty, its dukes and lords, steel pans and drums.

Beauty pageants, music competitions and nonstop cultural immersion are some of the Antigua Carnival trappings. [Visit Antiguacarnival.com] NY Carib News will host its 22nd Annual Caribbean Multinational Business Conference in the American Virgin Islands from November 9-12. Conference brings together more than 300 American business and corporate leaders, elected officials and thought leaders to brainstorm and develop strategies for economic and social empowerment and how to make the world a better, more sustainable place. E-mail rodneyfaye@ aol.com or call 212.944.1991.

SUMMER 2017 The David Dinkins Tennis Club is held every Saturday from July 1 to August 19, from 9 am to 11 am, free for children under 10 years old, at the tennis courts of Fred Johnson Park, aka The Jungle, on Seventh Avenue at 150th Street in Harlem. Balls, racquets and books are provided. An initiative to honor David Dinkins, tennis enthusiast, and to honor the late Dr. Bernadette Whitley Penceal, co-founder of the DDTC, with her husband and educator Sam Penceal. [Call 917.301.9303 to register] D a n n y Simmons and the Rush Philanthropic A r t s Foundation presents ART FOR LIFE: Midnight at Danny Simmons

Oasis, its annual summer fundraiser in Bridgehampton, NY on July 15 at 6 pm.

The benefit calls attention to the Rush Foundation’s mission and the fine artists who bring its work to light. Gala honorees are Sanford Biggers as the Art for Life 2017 featured artist, as well as Essi Eggelston Bracey, Chuck D and Bozoma Saint John.

Cocktails, dinner and a special performance by “The Color Purple’s” Tony Awardee Cynthia Rivo are some of the benefit highlights. [Visit artforlife.rushphilanthropic.org] JAZZMOBILE 2017 is up and running at a NYC park near you.

The music festival runs from July 5 to August 25.

Music virtuosos Alyson Williams Wycliff Gordon, TK Blue, Solomon Hicks, Alyson Williams, the Jimmy Heath Big Band and Allan Harris are among Jazzmobile 2017 headliners. Jazzmobile was founded in 1964. For more info, visit jazzmobile.org.

HARLEM WEEK 2017 is a “Celebration of Harlem Continuum, its past, present and future” which includes a series of family-friendly summer events, indoor/outdoor music concerts, an Upper Manhattan Auto Show, a film festival, a health fair, 5K run sporting event, fashion shows, youth programs, an HBCU Fair and Expo, and much more. Harlem Week 2017 opens on Sunday, July 30 with its “A Great Day in Harlem” marathon festivities at the US Grant National Memorial Park and continues through Saturday, August 26. Launched in 1974 as “Harlem Day”, a one-shot promotion to bolster the spirits of local residents, Harlem Week has evolved into a monthlong cultural festival which attracts millions of people, locals and tourists. Harlem Week is a permanent fixture in the NYC summer festivals calendar. [Visit Harlemlocal.com/ harlem-week] RESTAURANT WEEK/NYC Summer 2017 runs from July 24 to August 18. At participating restaurants, lunch is $29 and dinner is $42, which includes a three-course meal. For Restaurant Week directory, visit nycgo.com/restaurant-week.

A Harlem-based management consultant, Victoria Horsford is reachable at Victoria. horsford@gmail.com.

People

Ms. Edna Fulton, RestorationART's Bursar and Registrar is also active in her Bed Stuy community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center. She continues to provide support with a smile. Our Time Press thanks you, Ms. Fulton.

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VOL. 21 NO. 28

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM SCORES NEA GRANT National Endowment for the Arts Award, one of 1,029 new grants supporting arts projects nationally, to help back ‘AfroPoP’ TV series, 360 Incubator + Fund

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EW YORK (June 27, 2017)— The Harlem-based National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) has been awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for its signature public television series and incubator for broadcast and Web series. The NEA is the only funder in the country to support arts activities in all 50 states and five U.S. jurisdictions, helping Americans to connect with creativity.

The grants of $40,000 for the 10th season of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange and $45,000 for the third 360 Incubator + Fund are among the more than $84 million that NEA Chairman Jane Chu has approved to fund local arts projects across the country in its second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017.

The NEA will make 1,195 grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. This is the sixth

year the NEA has supported AfroPoP and the third year it has supported NBPC’s 360.

“The arts reflect the vision, energy and talent of America’s artists and arts organizations,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support organizations such as the National Black Programming Consortium in serving their communities by providing excellent and accessible arts experiences.”

“The NEA is vital to the American artistic landscape. It is a key partner in ensuring that diverse stories about the Black experience are shared with the American public, building tolerance and inclusion,” said NBPC Executive Director Leslie FieldsCruz. “Through its vital support of our 360 Incubator + Fund, the NEA is also helping to train the next generation of AfricanAmerican storytellers, ensuring that these accounts continue long into the future.”

Anthony Mackie, one of many celebrity guest hosts for AfroPoP. Produced by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and distributed by American Public Television (APT), AfroPoP is the nation’s only public television series of documentaries on contemporary life, art and culture across the African Diaspora. Hosts of the series have included Idris Elba, Anika Noni Rose, Gabourey Sidibe, Wyatt Cenac, Anthony Mackie, Yaya DaCosta, Jussie Smollett and Nikki Beharie.

The 360 Incubator + Fund is a competitive initiative offering producers

development funds of between $50,000 and $150,000 for their innovative pilots of broadcast and Web series or transmedia projects.

To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEASpring17.

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts. gov. For more information on the National Black Programming Consortium, visit www.blackpublicmedia.org, or follow us on Twitter @BLKPublicMedia, or on Facebook.

New York City and the Port Authority Want Your Business ■■

By Margo McKenzie

M

Minority or Women Business Enterprises Asian-American Black American Women Hispanic

Total Amount of City Contracts $535.27 million $51.02 million $400.42 million $111.42 million

ayor de Blasio wants the city to clink glasses and offer a toast to his administration; it helped over 100 Women and Minority Business Enterprises(W/ MBE) win $93 million dollars in contracts.

Total M/WBEs The mayor is now steps closer to achieving Total Non- M/WBE contracts his ten-year plan of 16 billion dollars in contracts with W/MBEs. (www.checkbooknyc.com) His predecessor initiated the program in 2005, and Mayor de Blasio augmented it. Joslin Johnson, Founder and CEO of (Joslin Johnson, Founder and CEO of So, is a celebration in order? Let’s take a Where to Get It Services, LLC Where to Get It Services, LLC) look at the details found on a NYC Web site.

Johnson added that her previous exThe data at right, from the Checkbook maintaining her own business and qualify- perience as project manager and her two NYC Web site, shows NYC contract distri- ing for a city contract. She wasn’t surprised master’s degrees in administration and bution among M/WBEs: to learn that so few Black Americans project management, respectively, provided Women and minority business owners benefited from the program. “You need a a strong foundation. Ultimately, she admitsecured slightly over 1 billion dollars in city godfather, somebody with deep pockets to ted “entrepreneurship is in my DNA.” Her contracts, providing a variety of services help you over the hurdles.” She was able mother, now deceased, ran a variety shop. “I for a wide array of departments run by to get a line of credit when her money ran learned to be a risk-taker; a $300,000 conthe city. These businesses run the gamut: short. tract should be completed within schedule electric, construction, computer and within budget, but there’s so networking, painting, building much training and opportunity maintenance, graphics, cleaning out there,” [to help that happen], and more. If a company wants she said. Her participation in the to sell its business services to the NYC Construction Mentorship city, the door is wide open. and Bonding programs offered by By 2021, the mayor’s goal NYC Small Business Services, an is that M/WBEs comprise 30% MBA-type training and education of the distribution pie, and to experience has provided some of increase these partnerships his adthe structure needed to get over the ministration has established a vadifficult hurdles. riety of training programs to help Archie Cauley, co-owner of companies bid and win contracts.

Cauley Coach, Inc. in Queens, Of the broad categories of the M/ was equally baffled by the low WBEs listed in the chart above, representation of Black businessAsian-Americans were recipients es participating in the citywide of contracts with the highest value program. He and his wife Patricia followed by Hispanics; Black have owned their charter bus serAmericans won the least amount. vice business for over thirty-two Joslin Johnson, founder and years. He has scaled down his CEO of Where to Get It Services, regular charter bus service to focus LLC, located in Brooklyn, credits more on using his buses to shuttle the New York City M/WBE proconstruction workers from their gram for her current contract with parking site to their work site. In the city’s Build It Back Program the past that work site was JFK. to restore homes destroyed by In two months, he will provide Hurricane Sandy. During a phone that service for 400 workers at La conversation, she explained that Guardia Airport. years of preparation equipped her The Port Authority conducted for the challenges she encounters Archie and Patricia Cauley, Cauley Coach Line an information session to inform

$1.10 billion $16.60 billion

Percentage of total contracts 30% 0.3% 2.3% .6 % 6.2% 93.8%

businesses about the $10 billion-dollar project at La Guardia Airport. “The session was well-attended. I had a front-row seat. At the end of the session, I took a quick scan of the audience. Maybe twenty-five of us were there out of approximately 200 people.”

Cauley emphasized businesses need “ready access” to assistance. He used the term “liaison” and “contact person,” and “intermediary” during his phone conversation.

These connections provide needed support for his small businesses. His company is listed among a digital, yellow page-type list of M/WBE firms ready to do business with the city. Listing does not guarantee a contract. Thousands of other businesses are also listed.

The Port Authority, with whom Cauley also has M/WBE status, helped to establish the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors(RASC), which Cauley has an easier time navigating. “I can call them from time to time and ask if there are any agencies that could use my services. They keep businesses abreast of opportunities.”

In an attempt to make up for the traditional lack of opportunity for businesses owned by minorities and women to sell their services, NYC and RASC, respectively, have developed extensive programs to train and support the development of businesses and training for procurement of contracts.

(Archie and Patricia Cauley) For anyone with a business or an idea for a business, NYC and the Port Authority can potentially serve as counselor and customer.

Go to www.nyc.govsbs and www.regional-alliance.org to find out how so more can participate in de Blasio’s celebration.

Margo McKenzie writes about issues which shine light and hope

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VOL. 21 NO. 28

NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia, Killed in the Bronx, is Mourned Throughout the City

xcerpted from reporting by Jennifer Smith for Dailymail.com and the Associated Press NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia, a 48-year-old single mother of three, was shot dead in The Bronx as she made notes in her patrol car in the early hours of July 5. Her killer, paranoid schizophrenic Anthony Bonds, 34, was gunned down by other

police officers as he tried to flee.

On Tuesday, thousands packed World Changers Church in The Bronx to lay Familia to rest.

Outside, scores more stood beneath screens and speakers which broadcast the service. When de Blasio appeared onscreen, some turned their backs on him in a show of protest over his decision to go

to Hamburg last week in the immediate aftermath of the officer’s death, the New York Post reported.

Taking aim at protesters and the media for what he sees as too much criticism of officers, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said Familia’s death “should remind everybody that the civility of our city rests on a knife’s edge”.

“Where are the demonstrations for the single mom who cared for her elderly mother and three children?” he asked to a thunderous, extended standing ovation from an audience packed with officers.

“There is anger and sorrow, but why is there no outrage?” De Blasio went on to call Familia a “beautiful New York City story” and said she “embodied the American spirit”.

“She embodied the American dream,” de Blasio said Tuesday, calling Familia a hero who “lived life the right way”.

A fearless former First Daughter rises … … as Trump heirs reportedly err Chelsea Clinton politely shuts down Trump’s G-20 tweet

As reported on ABC News: After President Donald Trump responded to criticism of his daughter Ivanka Trump sitting in on a meeting at last week’s G-20 Summit by tweeting about Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, the former First Daughter tweeted a reply of her own on Twitter Monday morning.

President Trump wrote that if Chelsea Clinton had been “asked to hold the seat for her mother, as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!” The president was referring

to the attention given to Ivanka Trump’s presence alongside G-20 leaders when she occupied his seat after he left for bilateral meetings.

In response, Chelsea Clinton tweeted, “It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me,” adding, “Were you giving our country away? Hoping not.”

While members of a leader’s delegation are occasionally called upon to sit in during such summits if the leader must be elsewhere, Ivanka Trump’s presence amplified the ongoing criticism by some of the role of the president’s family members in his administration. Both Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, serve the president as unpaid employees as an adviser

Chelsea Clinton received her doctorate from Oxford University last Saturday. and senior adviser, respectively.

Last week, a White House official told ABC News, “Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out and the president of the World Bank started talking as the topic involved areas such as African development, areas that will benefit from the facility just announced by the World Bank.”

Trump defends ‘innocent’ son Donald, Jr. over Russia meeting

Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr.

Dee Bailey's "Watchful Eye" organization kicked off Cornerstone Baptist Church's Centennial Celebrations with this commemorative banner, last week.

According to the BBC: Donald Trump has defended his son over a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, during his presidential campaign, calling him “open, transparent and innocent”.

He tweeted hours after Donald Trump,

Jr. spoke to Fox News about the meeting he was told would offer Kremlin-linked information about Hillary Clinton.

Critics accuse Mr. Trump, Jr. of intent to collude with the Russians, and believe he may have broken federal laws.

Mr. Trump, Jr. told Fox News the meeting was “such a nothing”.

However, he accepted he should have handled it differently.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump, Jr. had released the e-mail exchange that brought about the meeting after being informed the New York Times was about to publish it.

US officials are investigating alleged Russian meddling in the US election.

Since he was elected, President Trump has been dogged by allegations that Russia tried to sabotage Mrs. Clinton’s campaign.

He has denied any knowledge of this and Russia has also repeatedly denied interfering.

(Compiled by BG)

Dee Bailey, left, and Public Advocate Tish James celebrate with Rev. Lawrence E. Aker, III (center), pastor, and family members, Cornerstone Baptist Church's 100th year of doing great things in the community and beyond.

VOL. 21 NO. 28

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America, July 26 through September 3

Exhibition features groundbreaking research on racial terror and its effect on the nation today

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acArthur Foundation “Genius” recipient Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director, Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, has joined forces with The Brooklyn Museum and Google to present a timely exhibition: The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America.

On view from July 26 through September 3, the exhibition presents EJI’s groundbreaking research on the history of racial violence in the United States and its continuing impact on our nation to this day.

The exhibition will include video stories featuring descendants of lynching victims, a short documentary, photographs, an interactive map presenting EJI’s research, and informational videos featuring Bryan Stevenson.

The content on display in the museum can also be viewed on http://lynchinginamerica. eji.org, an interactive platform that EJI recently launched with support from Google that digitizes their research on the more than four thousand racial terror lynchings of AfricanAmericans between 1877 and 1950. This work underscores the profound effects of the racial terror committed against Black people and Black communities, which continue to shape our nation today.

To deepen the conversation, a team of Brooklyn Museum curators selected more than a dozen artworks from its collections

by African-American artists whose practices respond to racism in the United States in several forms. Artists include Sanford Biggers, Mark Bradford, Elizabeth Catlett, Melvin Edwards, Theaster Gates, Rashid Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Jacob Lawrence, Glenn Ligon and Kara Walker.

The exhibition also presents materials from the Museum Library and Archives on the institution’s support for efforts against lynching. They include a 1935 pledge by Museum Director Philip N. Youtz supporting the NAACP’s anti-lynching art exhibition as well as documents from a benefit art auction and exhibition for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund that the museum hosted in 1963. More recently, the museum presented Bryan Stevenson in a conversation with death row exoneree Anthony Ray Hinton in 2016 as part of the ongoing program, “States of Denial: The Illegal Incarceration of Women, Children and People of Culture”, organized

by Elizabeth A. Sackler and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. The museum has also

Vanessa Croft, Gadsden, Alabama, 2016. (Photo: Rog Walker for Equal Justice Initiative)

Shirah Dedman, Phoebe Dedman, and Luz Myles visiting Shreveport, Louisiana, where in 1912 their relative Thomas Miles, Sr., was lynched.

2017. (Photo: Rog Walker and Bee Walker for Equal Justice Initiative)

Bryan Stevenson is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. held numerous exhibitions on related topics including Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties, Agitprop! and Sanford Biggers, among others, including We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, currently on view.

The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America will include a special public program featuring Bryan Stevenson, artists Glenn Ligon and Sanford Biggers, Elizabeth Alexander, poet and Director of Creativity and Free Expression, Ford Foundation on Tuesday, July 25 at 7 pm.

Admission is $25.

By highlighting the historical impact of systemic racism in our country, the exhibition is conceived to raise awareness for EJI’s forthcoming Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Opening in 2018, the memorial will be the country’s first-ever national monument to commemorate the more than four thousand black men, women and children who were lynched and murdered between 1877 and 1950. EJI also plans to open an accompanying racial justice museum that will trace a direct line between slavery and mass incarceration.

To approach this topic respectfully, the exhibition focuses on personal stories. It does not contain explicit photos. In order to appropriately acknowledge the subject of racial violence with the utmost care and sensitivity, the museum will provide a space outside the gallery for visitors to explore reading material and to reflect.

“Our nation’s history of racial injustice casts a shadow across the American landscape. This shadow cannot be lifted until we shine the light of truth on the destructive violence that shaped our nation, traumatized people of color and compromised our commitment to the rule of law and equal justice,” said EJI Executive Director Bryan Stevenson. “We all must engage this history more honestly.”

Bryan Stevenson continues, “Art has always been a powerful tool in getting a society to think more honestly about human rights and human dignity. Our great artists have often found critically important ways to speak truthfully about history and the human condition. It’s energizing to take on a difficult topic like racial terrorism surrounded by the bold insights of brilliant African-American artists”.

Anne Pasternak, the Brooklyn Museum’s Shelby White and Leon Levy, Executive Director, states, “When Bryan Stevenson

and Google approached us in late May to co-produce this exhibition, we didn’t hesitate.

Throughout its nearly two-hundred-year history, the Brooklyn Museum has never shied away from difficult but important conversations--- the very conversations our audiences are having every day--- including racial exclusion and inequality. We are proud to work with the Equal Justice Initiative in their fight to confront America’s painful past in order to educate and heal, and to contribute to a more empathetic and just society”.

The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror has been assembled and organized by a team of Brooklyn Museum curators, librarian and archivist, educators, designers in collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative and Google.

About Bryan Stevenson Bryan Stevenson is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Stevenson is a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally

ill and aiding children prosecuted as adults.

Mr. Stevenson has successfully argued several cases in the United States Supreme Court and recently won an historic ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are unconstitutional. Mr. Stevenson and his staff have won reversals, relief or release for over 130 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row. Mr. Stevenson has initiated major new antipoverty and antidiscrimination efforts that challenge the legacy of racial inequality in America, including major projects to educate communities about slavery, lynching and racial segregation. Mr. Stevenson is also a Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. Mr. Stevenson’s work fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system has won him numerous awards including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Prize, the National Medal of Liberty from the American Civil Liberties Union after he was nominated

by United States Supreme Court Justice John Stevens, the Public Interest Lawyer of the Year by the National Association of Public Interest Lawyers and the Olaf Palme Prize in Stockholm, Sweden for international human rights, among others.

He is the recent author of the critically acclaimed New York Times best-seller Just Mercy, which was named by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Best Books of Nonfiction for 2014, and has been awarded several honors including a 2015 NAACP Image Award.

About the Equal Justice Initiative

Anthony Ray Hinton, Quinton, Alabama, 2017. (Photo: Raymond Thompson for Equal Justice Initiative)

Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced or abused in state jails and prisons. The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America is organized by the Brooklyn Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative with support from Google.

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VOL. 21 NO. 28

Trump’s stake in Starrett City complex raises conflict of interest questions ■■

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By Root 7/10/17

resident Donald Trump’s stake in the nation’s largest federally subsidized housing complex—Starrett City in Brooklyn, New York—has raised questions from two congressional Democrats about a potential conflict of interest, as first reported by the New York Times.

Trump has a four percent ownership in the housing complex, which offers 3,500 lowerand middle-income apartments subsidized through a rental assistance program. The deteriorating complex has generated Trump at least $5 million of income between January

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2016 and April 15, 2017, as reported in The Washington Post. The federal government has paid more than $490 million in the complex’s rent subsidies since May 2013, with nearly $38 million since Trump took office.

In a letter sent on Friday by Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the lawmakers expressed their concern that Trump could increase his profits through his involvement with the complex, despite leading the federal government (which operates the subsidies through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, known as HUD).

The letter was addressed to HUD Secretary Ben Carson and those managing Trump’s

trust of business assets (namely, Donald Trump, Jr. and Allen H. Weisselberg of The Trump Organization); it was also sent to Representative Trey Gowdy of The House Oversight Committee.

“Many real estate companies receive government subsidies to support affordable housing, but unique conflicts exist with regard to Starrett City because the president is on both sides of the negotiations,” the letter read in the Times. “He oversees the government entity providing taxpayer funds and he pockets some of that money himself.”

The letter also raised issues with Trump’s proposed budget cuts to federal housing programs. The administration has proposed

The Talented 18: Imagine Me Leadership Charter School Fifth-Grade Students Take Ninth-Grade Regents Exam

magine Me Leadership Charter School is an all-boys K-5 school located in East New York, Brooklyn with Black and Hispanic boys. Bright-eyed, focused and in test mode, eighteen highly intelligent 10- and 11-year-old boys sat eager to take the Living Environment Science Regents exam, which is a required test for New York State. When asked what their area of specialty was students such as Nathan Soler,11, said “biology and genetics”, while James Livingston,10, expressed an affinity for genetics.

Many of the Talented 18 come from underserved communities such as East New York and Brownsville, which proves children can excel under the right conditions. Under the care and guidance of Principal Bevon Thompson and George Leonard, Director of Curriculum & Instruction, the Talented 18 took the test at Boys and Girls High School in Room 329 where Leonard first taught Biology

Regents as a first-year teacher under the leadership of Principal Frank Mickens, known as the “Chancellor of Fulton Street”.

Leonard worked for the Science Skills Center at PS 9 where he prepared students from grades 3-6 for the Biology Regents for six consecutive years. The youngest student to pass the Living Environment Science Regents under Leonard’s instruction was eight years old. Many of these students are now doctors and scientific researchers. Fast-forward, decades later and he has done it again with the Talented 18. It was a full circle moment for Mr. Leonard, indubitably one of the best science teachers in the country.

Dr. Katherine Corbett, IMLCS’s Executive Director, is responsible for supporting the efforts of both Leonard and Thompson for many years. As a catalyst, she helped get the Talented 18 to this amazing point in their lives.

Thompson gave the boys a final

motivational talk as their assistant teacher, Ms. Vanessa LaBranche, cheered them on. A testament to the hard work and faith the staff have in these young boys, Thompson candidly uttered, “Good luck, even though I know you won’t need it”.

A year earlier, Thompson and Leonard took a pilot group of eight fourth-graders where five passed the exam. In 2017, they prepped the students as if they were in high school. This year it was decided to make the program longer and stronger to get the best results. Pastor David Brawley of St. Paul’s Church, was the founder of Imagine Me Leadership Charter School and the visionary for the foundation and theme of the all-boys K-5 school. He believed wholeheartedly in the school’s future success.

The Nelson Mandela High School for Social Justice, run by Principal Tabari Bomani, is a small school located in Boys and Girls

Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction Already Underway

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Scientists warn in a new study that Earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction that is “more severe than perceived”

ot only that, human activity—including pollution, deforestation, overpopulation, poaching, warming oceans and extreme weather events tied to climate change—is to blame for this massive loss in biodiversity, according to an analysis published Monday in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For the study, researchers from Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico analyzed data on 27,600 species of birds, amphibians, mammals and reptiles, comprising nearly half of known terrestrial vertebrates.

The results were shocking—about onethird of the species decreased in population size and range. Even common species are in decline.

“We find that the rate of population loss in

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terrestrial vertebrates is extremely high—even in ‘species of low concern’,” the authors wrote.

Ecologist Gerardo Ceballos, an author of the study, explained to the Atlantic how barn swallows, for instance, still number in the millions but are declining in many parts of their range.

“Even these common species are declining,” Ceballos said. “Eventually, they’ll become endangered, and eventually they’ll be extinct.”

Furthermore, in a detailed study of 177 mammals, the scientists found that all of the mammals have lost at least 30 percent of their geographic ranges between 1900 and 2015.

More than 40 percent of those mammals—including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats—have seen the land they once roamed shrink by more than 80 percent.

Without mincing words, the scientists

described Earth’s ongoing loss of wildlife as “biological annihilation” that will have “negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization”.

Earth has witnessed five mass extinctions in its geological past during which the majority of living species were wiped from existence. The most well-known and recent extinction killed the dinosaurs. But instead of a massive asteroid, volcanic activity or other natural causes kicking off such an event, researchers in the new study argue that humans are to blame.

“In the last few decades, habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive organisms, pollution, toxification, and more recently climate disruption, as well as the interactions among these factors, have led to the catastrophic declines in both the numbers and sizes of populations of

reducing HUD’s budget by $7 billion, however, the project-based rental assistance program—which Starrett City falls under—is one of the few programs that will be spared major cuts to funding.

Trump’s recent nominee to lead the HUD’s New York region, Lynne Patton, an event planner with no experience in housing, has also been a source of controversy. Her appointment would mean that she would be directly involved in policies related to Starrett City. “We have serious concerns that her self-described loyalty to the president and his family could influence HUD’s discretion on issues related to Starrett City,” Cummings and Jeffries said in the letter.

High School. They opened their arms to sponsor the Talented 18 so they could take the test on high school grounds. With stringent grading imposed, twelve of the eighteen fifth-graders passed the ninth-grade Living Environment Regents exam, which is a groundbreaking feat with such a large group.

Leonard said, “If we are going to be able to compete with other nations we have to examine how we teach our children”. He added on by saying, “These boys have practiced every Living Environment Regents from 1990 to the present. These students are going to specialized middle schools and high schools. In their minds, they know how important this is and they are only 10 and 11 years old. They already have bright futures ahead of them where they will avoid the prison pipeline”.

The Talented 18 include Kevin Kearney, Thierry Smith, James Livingston, Damani Williams, Jordan Blake, Allen Greene, Tristan Dildy, Alexander Adames, Levi Bennett, Preston Kittrell, Joseph McMichael, Nathan Soler, Jahisiel Lopez-Soto, Marquise Alleyne, Sterlin Rutherford, Christopher Underwood, Tekhi Robinson and Christopher Battle. both common and rare vertebrate species,” the study stated.

“Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered,” such as cheetahs, lions and giraffes, it said.

Biologist Paul Ehrlich, one of the scientists in the study, told the Guardian that their paper serves as a serious warning to humanity’s own survival.

“The serious warning in our paper needs to be heeded because civilization depends utterly on the plants, animals and microorganisms of Earth that supply it with essential ecosystem services ranging from crop pollination and protection to supplying food from the sea and maintaining a livable climate,” he said.

“The time to act is very short,” Ehrlich added. “It will, sadly, take a long time to humanely begin the population shrinkage required if civilization is to long survive, but much could be done on the consumption front and with ‘Band-Aids’—wildlife reserves, diversity protection laws—in the meantime.”

An iceberg way bigger than Singapore just broke off Antarctica

Delaware-sized iceberg, one of the largest ever seen, was set adrift after snapping from a West Antarctic ice shelf that will be closely watched for signs of collapse, scientists said Wednesday.

A crack in the Larsen C ice shelf, a drifting extension of the land-based ice sheet, finally broke through after inching its way across the frozen formation for years. It created an iceberg of about 5,800 square kilometres, with a volume twice that of Lake Erie, one of the North American Great Lakes. In comparison, the island of Singapore measures only 719.1 square kilometres.

“The iceberg weighs more than a trillion

tonnes, but it was already floating before it calved away so has no immediate impact on sea level,” said a team of researchers from the MIDAS Antarctic research project. The gargantuan ice cube will probably be named A68.

“The calving of this iceberg leaves the Larsen C ice shelf reduced in area by more than 12 percent, and the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula changed forever,” the team added.

Separation occurred somewhere between Monday and Wednesday, and was recorded by a NASA satellite.

The calving of ice shelves occurs naturally, though global warming is thought to

have accelerated the process in some regions.

Warmer ocean water erodes the underbelly of the ice shelves, while rising air temperatures weaken them from above.

Icebergs calving from Antarctica are a regular occurrence, and there are thousands of them.

The latest behemoth will be closely watched for potential risk to ships.

“The big ones are easier to spot in the ocean. This one, for sure, will be tracked very easily by satellite,” Mark Drinkwater, a European Space Agency (ESA) ice expert, told AFP. “The concern is whether the thing breaks

up into a myriad of smaller bergs.” There is also a risk that smaller, loose pieces which stayed behind when the main chunk broke off will now calve away.

“There appear to be a number of fractures that might indicate that other pieces might break away later,” Drinkwater said.

The fate of A68 is hard to predict.

Drinkwater said it could “hang around” for some time before the tides and wind force it further out to sea.

According to an ESA statement, ocean currents could drag the iceberg, or pieces of it, as far north as the Falkland Islands, posing a hazard for ships in the Drake Passage.

VOL. 21 NO. 28

NY Black Media 2” x 2”

Acting Brooklyn DA Moves to Vacate the Conviction of Jabbar Washington For his Role in 1995 Homicide inside Brownsville Apartment Deprived of Fair Trial when Defense not told Eyewitness Disavowed Identification before Trial; her ID Repeatedly Mentioned to Jury

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cting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that following a thorough investigation by his Conviction Review Unit, he will move to vacate a second-degree murder conviction against Jabbar Washington, 43, who was convicted of the charge and has been incarcerated since 1996. An analysis of the jury trial revealed that, despite the fact that an identifying witness recanted her identification within days, the jury was improperly given the strong impression that she did identify the defendant as a perpetrator and a crucial document in which she disputed the identification was not turned over to the defense.

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “It is critical that all defendants receive a fair trial and I am fully committed to reviewing and correcting miscarriages of justice in Brooklyn.

Following a thorough and fair investigation by my Conviction Review Unit, it was determined that Mr. Washington did not receive a fair trial and crucial information that would have been useful to the defense was withheld. Therefore, I am moving, in the interest of justice, to have his conviction vacated. Given the unresolved issues of credibility in this case, we cannot prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt so we will not seek a retrial and move to dismiss the indictment.”

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www.ourtimepress.com To date, the work of the Conviction Review Unit has resulted in 22 convictions being vacated, making Washington’s vacateur the 23rd. In addition, the CRU has found that of the cases reviewed thus far, 58 convictions are just and will not be recommended to be vacated. Approximately 100 cases are pending review.

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Classifieds

NEW BUSINESS FORMATIONS

Attorney/ Legal REAL ESTATE Attorney. Buy/Sell/ Mortgage Problems. Attorney & Real Estate Bkr, PROBATE/CRIMINAL/BUSINESS- Richard H. Lovell, P.C., 10748 Cross Bay, Ozone Park, NY 11417 718 835-9300 LovellLawnewyork@ gmail.com

WELL NETWORK SOLUTIONS MSO LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/12/17. Amended to NETWORK SOLUTIONS MSO, LLC on 05/24/17. Office: Kings 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 Inessa Sable, 3165 Emmons Avenue, Suite C2-C3, Brooklyn, NY 11235

Realty LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 6/5/17.

Office location: Kings County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 187 Wolf Rd, Ste 101, Albany, NY 12205. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is Business Filings Incorporated, 187 Wolf Rd, Ste 101, Albany, NY 12205. Purpose: any lawful activity.

563 Grand Street, LLC, Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 02/01/2017. Office in QUEENS Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 563 Grand Street, BROOKLYN, NY 11211 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of AMOROSA 5, LLC, a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Certificate of registration filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/06/2017. NY office location: Kings County. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the United States Corporation Agents Service Inc., 7014 13th Avenue , suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228 Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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Notice of Formation of EASTERN OBESITY ASSOCIATES, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/15/17. Office location: Kings County. Princ. office of LLC: 1162 Eastern Pkwy., Brooklyn, NY 11213.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of JL & MT

LEGAL NOTICES Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the Supreme Court of King County on the 21th day of January 2017, bearing Index number 232/17, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the county clerk, located at 360 Adams Street, Room 189, Brooklyn, New York, grants me the right to assume the name of Ashley Daseana Duncan.

The city and state of my present address are Brooklyn, NY; the month and year of my birth are November, 1993. My present name is Desean Ashley Duncan.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS MTGLQ Investors, Plaintiff AGAINST Jason Dupree; Makida Tomlinson a/k/a Makida S. Tomlinson; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated March 4, 2016 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on August 3, 2017 at 2:30PM, premises known as 592 Powell Street, Brooklyn, NY 11212. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block: 3847 Lot: 140. Approximate amount of judgment $358,898.41 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 10075/2013. Calvin J. Simons, Jr., Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 759-1835 Dated: June 8, 2017 46582 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC AUCTION Supreme Court of New York, Kings County.

SRMOF II 2012-1 TRUST, U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE, Plaintiff, -againstCLEO CHARLES-PHILLIPS; ROBERT PHILLIPS; CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; CITY OF NEW YORK TRANSIT AUTHORITY

TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION & FINANCE; SOPHIA JOHNSON, Index No. 2713/2013. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated, February 21, 2017 and entered with the Kings County Clerk on April 6, 2017, Gregory Laspina, Esq., the Appointed Referee, will sell the premises known as 553 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, New York 11203 at public auction at Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, New York 11201, on June 15, 2017 at 2:30 P.M. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New York known as Block: 4845; Lot: 28 will be sold subject to the provisions of filed Judgment, Index No. 2713/2013. The approximate amount of judgment is $1,047,226.32 plus interest and costs. FRIEDMAN VARTOLO, LLP 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS EMC MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Plaintiff against VALERIE ISOLENE RUTHERFORD, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on November 29, 2016. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 27th day of July, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Said premises known as 632 Vermont Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11207.

(Block: 3824, Lot: 48). Approximate amount of lien $ 570,241.54 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 10380-11. M. Randolph Jackson, Esq., Referee. McCabe, Weisberg & Conway, P.C. Attorney(s) for Plaintiff145 Huguenot Street – Suite 210 New Rochelle, New York 10801 (914) 636-8900

SAMARKAND SERVICE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/04/2017. Office location: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 1656 E19TH APT 1G, Brooklyn, NY 11229 . Purpose: Any lawful activity.

VOL. 21 NO. 28 GREENE AVENUE NATURAL WINES LP Cert. of Limited Partnership filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 5/18/2017. Office in Kings Co. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 292 Carlton Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11205, which is also the principal business location. Name and address of each general partner is avail. from SSNY. Purpose: food and wine service. Latest dissolution date: 5/18/2117.

Integrated Bodywork Center of Brooklyn, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/17/2017. Office location: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 488 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215 . Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of SMORKIN FAMILY MANAGEMENT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/24/15. Office location: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 1169 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230. As amended by Cert. of Amendment filed with SSNY on 08/29/16, name changed to SMORKIN-EVERS MANAGEMENT LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Making Voting Accessible to the People ➔➔ Continued from page 3 of doing so as an adult in New York City’s youth?

Gray: I suggest education on why their votes/voices are much needed in the political dialogue and semester-long civics class. The League of Women Voters of the City of New York has voter registration drives in Green Markets around the city. [Schools may contact] the Voter Services Unit to get trained… to run their own drives.

Simmons: 1) High schools could ramp up voter registration of 17-year-olds who would turn 18 by the end of the year or before the November election. 2) Do mock elections within the classrooms, starting in grammar school. Get the students aware and informed of the voting process, the candidates and their issues. This would have a tremendous impact on teens. Right now, it is our seniors who are the most reliable voters. Young voters have a poor record of turning out to vote in New York State. It somewhat improved during the 2016 Presidential Election.

Will you share your views on the formation of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity which President Trump calls “Voter Fraud Panel”?

Simmons: I think it should be called The Voter Suppression Panel. There is scant evidence of voter fraud. This Presidential Commission is an attempt to manufacture fraud, thereby having an excuse to create and suppress voter registration. There is no validity at all in its creation.

The fraud we should be concerned about is people tampering with voter registration.

Look at the New York State and New York City Board of Elections: the company that supplies the software to manage the voter databases was compromised by people in Russia—not the Russian Government.

However, neither the NYC Board of Elections nor NYS Board of Elections have made a statement about the compromise.

This silence concerns me.

A comment from this writer is that when called on June 10, 2017 to obtain voter statistics for this story, the NYC Board of Elections employee fielding the call stated the computer system had been down since July 7, 2017 and had not received a estimate of when the computer system would be operational.

Gray: From the National League of Women Voters: President Trump’s ‘Election Integrity Commission’ is an unnecessary distraction from the real work to protect against foreign hacking and interference in our electoral process. The real purpose of this effort is to justify President Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election.

“This effort begins with a deep credibility gap. Commission members’ views on elections are well-known and have been discredited as political ideologues with dangerous agendas. This is part of a wider effort to suppress the vote, keep certain politicians in power and undermine our elections by spreading falsehoods.

“Today’s announcement is just another distraction from the real issues and we expect that any findings or recommendations from this commission will only be used to make it harder for people to vote in the future.

“The White House is attempting to bury this commission at a time when the nation and Congress are consumed with this administration’s own Russia scandal.

“The real problems with our electoral system are the suppressive laws that prevent eligible voters from access to the ballot.

False claims of voter fraud have been used to push through more restrictive voting laws including voter ID, proof of citizenship requirements and limiting or reducing early voting opportunities.

“This administration is laying the groundwork to usher in widespread discrimination in our systems of voting and manipulate our democracy.”

VOL. 21 NO. 28

OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

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OUR TIME PRESS July 13 – 19, 2017

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