OUR TIME PRESS | August 31 – September 6, 2017

| From the Villa ge of Brook ly n |

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

| VOL. 21 NO. 35

Since 1996

August 31 – September 6, 2017 |

Seeking Higher Ground

(Credit Image: © John Glaser/CSM via ZUMA Wire)

Holding On: A tormented mother in Katy Grand Lakes, Texas, where according to The Washington Post, “the bayous run through the neighborhood, and when they flood, often the reservoirs flood as well,” attempts to protect a baby from the effects of Tropical Storm Harvey’s massive flooding and rains during rescue operations there. The floods of the active tropical storm have resulted in the displacement of more than 30,000 people. See Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice, on Effect of Social Inequality, Page 2; Dr. Laurel Nadel on Top Ten things We Learned From Superstorm Sandy, Page 15; Muslim Youth Group Hits Streets to Help Houston Residents, Page 16.

☞ INSIDE

Brooklyn …

“Cops Support Justice” – Part II Sgt. Edwin Raymond Speaks, ➔➔ Pg. 6 View From Here: Bklyn. Civil Court Judge Race ➔➔ Pg. 13 NYC Real Estate: Cracks in the System: Dorla Alleyne Speaks, ➔➔ Pg. 6

The Nation …

Who Came Before Columbus? To Those Who Lack Knowledge of the Black Experience in the Americas, A History Lesson from the late Ivan Van Sertima, ➔➔ Pg. 8 and more.

Central Brooklyn's Royalty

Lifelong friends Esther Cooper Jackson, 100 (seated), and Dorothy Burnham, 102, celebrated Ms. Jackson’s Aug. 21 birthday last Saturday, August 26 at the W.E.B. DuBois Research Institute at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center.

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OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 35

"I've lost everything I own!”

Houston's "Unrestrained Capitalism” Made Harvey Worse Dr. Robert Bullard Speaks

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’ve lost everything.” “I’ve lost everything I owned.” “Only the clothes on our backs.” These are the words of tens of thousands of Texans whose lives have been instantly changed forever by Hurricane Harvey, the storm the National Hurricane Center is now calling the biggest on record. Wet, hungry, tired and dependent on the army of officials and volunteers, life will now be marked and divided between pre- and post-Harvey. For now, they are in despair, facing rebuilding from scratch and standing as yet another warning of the future coming for millions more because as the seas get warmer, they evaporate faster, as the air gets warmer it holds more water and reports are that over 15 trillion gallons has already fallen on Texas and more will be coming in the years ahead.

Disasters strike especially hard on the poor and those who historically have had less. Dr. Robert Bullard, known as the “father of environmental justice”, was interviewed on Democracy Now! by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Dr. Bullard is a distinguished professor at Texas Southern University and former director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

Dr. Bullard was interviewed by phone from his home in Houston, which he was to be evacuating right after he spoke as the floodwaters were still rising at the Brazos River.

Below are excerpts from two interviews, seen in their entirety at: www.democracynow.org DG AMY GOODMAN: Professor Bullard, thanks so much for being with us. Can you talk about the situation you are in and so many people in Houston are in right now?

Describe the scene for us. And then, how you relate it to your life’s work, to the issue of climate change and environmental justice.

DR. ROBERT BULLARD: Harvey and the aftermath, the flooding of Houston and the surrounding areas, it’s of biblical proportions. This is a nightmare. And the images that you see on television and you hear the voices of people who have been just totally destroyed. And this is a situation where I think it’s telling us that we have to change.

We have to change the way we do business and the way that we as humans interact with our environment.

And this is basically the situation where this storm, this flooding of this city, tells us that there is no place that is immune from

devastation. I worked in New Orleans in the flooding after Katrina. New Orleans was only 500,000 people. Houston is 2.3 million people. And then you look at the surrounding areas. You’re talking 5.5 or almost 6 million people. It is historical proportions.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And Dr. Bullard, to what degree do you think unchecked development by Houston’s officials over the past several decades has created an even worse possibility for calamity when a natural disaster like this hits?

DR. ROBERT BULLARD: Well, Houston is actually—was a catastrophe waiting to happen, given the fact you have unrestrained capitalism, no zoning, laissezfaire regulations when it comes to control of the very industries that have created lots of problems in terms of greenhouse gases and other industrial pollution. The impact that basically has been ignored for many years.

And so the fact that—it is a disaster, but it is a very predictable disaster.

And those communities that historically have borne the burden of environmental pollution and contamination DBG MEDIA Publishers from these many industries at the of same time are the very communities Our Time Press, Inc. that are bearing disproportionally 358 Classon Avenue the burden of this flooding. So you Brooklyn, NY 11238 get this preexisting condition of (718) 599-6828 Web site: inequality before the storm, and this www.ourtimepress.com inequality in terms of how people are e-mail: able to address this disaster because editors@ourtimepress. of vulnerability. And I think what we com have to do is look at lessons—well, Publisher not learn from Katrina in terms of DBG MEDIA the rebuilding, redevelopment and recovery.

Editor-in-Chief JUAN GONZÁLEZ: There has David Mark Greaves been quite a bit of second-guessing Consultant of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s decision Bernice Elizabeth Green not to call for an evacuation of the Legacy Ventures city. I am wondering what is your take on that, especially given what Contributors happened with Hurricane—was it Victoria Horsford Selma Jackson Rita?—a couple of years ago when Margo McKenzie there was an evacuation effort made, Priscilla Mensah but more people ended up dying— Aishamanne Williams about 100 people—in the gridlock Marlon Rice that occurred as people tried to leave Web Manager a city as large as Houston. www.ourtimepress.com DR. ROBERT Liani Greaves BULLARD: Well, it is easy to second-guess, but the fact is that trySports ing to evacuate 2.3 million people on Eddie Castro these highways is almost a task that is impossible. And so I don’t think Office Manager Joanna Williams there was anything that you can say, “Well, why is it that the mayor and © 2015, DBG MEDIA the county judge decided to go this Publishers of way?” When you look at the probOur Time Press, Inc., lems of logistics and trying to move printed in New York City. this many people on these highways All rights reserved. getting out of the city, that probably No part of the publication may was not a good choice to make. be reproduced without So I think the decision to have prior permission people shelter in place—and no of the publishers. one could predict what happened Publishers are afterwards. So I think the best that not responsible for any we can do now, instead of pointing ad claims.

MBE Certified in NYC, fingers, is pointing to solutions and NYS pointing to ways that we can address and the Port Authority of the many problems and challenges NY & NJ that we face today. And having to Member: New York State evacuate and leave your home and Press Association go out there and not know what is

ahead of you. You have your life, and I am blessed that—when you see those images, you can see that this is pain.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Bullard, I want to talk about this issue of justice. You live in the fourth-largest city in the country, Houston.

The most diverse city in the country, Houston.

And it is the «petro-metro”. That’s right, the Houston area is home to more than a dozen oil refineries. The group Air Alliance Houston of warning the shutdown of the petrochemical plants will send more than a million pounds of harmful pollution into the air. Residents of Houston’s industrial communities already reporting unbearable chemical-like smells coming from the many plants nearby.

Yesterday, we interviewed Bryan Parras with the group t.e.j.a.s., the environmental justice group, who said, “Fenceline communities can’t leave or evacuate, so they are literally getting gassed by these chemicals”.

Can you talk about the significance of where people live and the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and poorer communities?

DR. ROBERT BULLARD: Well, the best predictor of health and well-being in our society, and including Houston, is ZIP Code.

You tell me your ZIP Code, I can tell you how healthy you are. And one of the best predictors of environmental vulnerability is ZIP Code and race. And all communities are not created equal. Houston’s people of color communities historically have borne the burden for environmental pollution, and also the impact of flooding and other kinds of natural and man-made disasters.

When we talk about the impact of sea level rise and we talk about the impacts of climate change, you’re talking about a disproportionate impact on communities of color, on poor people, on people who don’t have health insurance, communities that don’t have access to food and grocery stores. So you talk about mapping vulnerability and mapping this disaster and the impact, not just the loss of housing and loss of jobs, but also the impact of having pollution and these spills, and the oil and chemicals going into the water, and who is living closest to these hazards?

Historically, even before Harvey, before this storm, before this flood, people of color in Houston bore a disproportionate burden of having to live next to, surrounded by, these very dangerous chemicals. And so you talk about these chemical hotspots, these sacrifice zones. Those are the communities that are people of color.

Houston is the fourth-largest city, but it’s the only city that does not have zoning. And what it has is—communities of color and poor communities have been unofficially zoned as compatible with pollution. And we say that is—we have a name for it. We call that environmental injustice and environmental racism. It is that plain and it’s just that simple.

And so this flood in Houston is exacerbating existing disparities, so that is why I say we have to talk about—when we talk about moving past the flooding part and moving to cleanup and recovery and rebuilding, we have to build in environmental and economic justice into that formula. Otherwise, we will be rebuilding on inequity. We say that’s unacceptable.

VOL. 21 NO. 35

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

Get screened for colorectal cancer.

The majority of people who develop colorectal cancer have no family history of the condition. However, if found in its earliest stages, colorectal cancer is highly curable.

That’s why it’s important to get screened for colorectal cancer if you’re 50 or older, regardless of your current health, family history, income, or insurance status.

The Communities Partnering in Navigation in New York City Program can help connect you with affordable cancer screening services and resources. To learn more, contact 844.90B.WELL and BeWell@nyumc.org, or visit nyulangone.org/cancerscreeningnavigation

This project was funded by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through a contract with Public Health Solutions.

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OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 35

WHAT’S GOING ON ■■

By Victoria Horsford

NEW YORK NYC residents should know their September 12th Primary polling sites and should be reading the ELECTION AT A GLANCE booklet, which was mailed.

Life becomes unbearable for registered voters for the next two weeks. Look out for robocalls, TV commercials, text messages, media smear stories and all things that attend the September Primary circus. There are not primary elections for uncontested offices like NYC Comptroller and Manhattan Borough President.

when she did New York’s disco scene and fraternized with literati like Jimmy Baldwin, Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou in France, Africa and all over the United States.

Black Lives Matter advocate Shaun King leaves the NY Daily News as its senior justice writer, another name for resident Black Matters writer. He becomes a writer-in-residence at the Harvard University-based Fair Punishment Project.

EDUCATION NEWS Howard University appointed James Comey the 2017 Opening Convocation Keynote Speaker and the 2017-2018

ARTS/CULTURE The Harlem-based National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) was named a grant recipient of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support its 360 incubator + Fund and its newest initiative WOKE!--Broadening Access to Black Public Media. The $750,000 grant is from the MacArthur Journalism and Media Program. WOKE! is a NBPC initiative aimed at helping storytellers of color working in nonfiction and emerging media. [Visit blackpublicmedia.org] Biggest revenues champ last weekend was the Floyd Mayweather and Conor

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. McGregor fight which, according to conservative estimates, generated at least $500 million in pay-per-view USA sales.

Guestimates of Mayweather’s take from the fight is $150+ million. Mayweather retires again. His record of 50-0 eclipsed Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0.

The American Book Awards observes excellence in American literature. The Flores Forbes book, “Invisible Men: A Contemporary Slave Narrative in the Era of Mass Incarceration”, by Skyhouse Publishing, is one of the ABA’s 2017 awardees.

MEDIA MATTERS Everyone’s talking about the 8/22 NY Times story, MARTHA’S VINEYARD HAS A NOURISHING MAGIC FOR BLACK AMERICA, a glimpse into the lives of the islands’ elite African-American population, many of whom are my NY friends. The essay intrudes into a summer afternoon at culinary historian/author Jessica Harris, Ph.D., who hosted a “five to seven” soiree on her MV porch, which filled with local muckady mucks like Martha Mae Jones, a fashion designer and fine artist, and Abigail McGrath, founder of Renaissance House writer’s retreat on MV. McGrath is the daughter of Harlem Renaissance poet Helene Johnson and the niece of Dorothy West, who wrote the novel THE WEDDING, which was inspired by Abigail’s nuptials some 50 years ago on MV. Harris is the author of 12 books. Her latest, MY SOUL LOOKS BACK, A Memoir, revisits her life during the 70s and beyond

Jessica B. Harris

James Comey Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy. As holder of the King Chair, Attorney Comey will lead and conduct five lectures featuring speakers who will hold forth on a variety of topics. Comey will donate his entire King Chair $100,000 salary to a Howard University fund. Howard is one of America’s most prestigious HBCUs(Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The former director of the FBI, nominated by President Obama, who was dismissed by President Trump, James Comey has gotten several job offers by law firms and he has signed a book deal.

The Nigerian Higher Education Foundation will host its Annual Benefit Gala Awards Ceremony on September 20 at the Pierre Hotel, Manhattan. The 2017 NHEF honorees include Beatrice Hamza-Bassey, Atlas Mara Limited General Counsel; Teresa Clarke, Africa.com, Chairman/CEO/ Executive Editor; Jay Ireland, General Electric Africa, President/CEO; and George Ogedegbe, NYU College of Global Public Health Vice Dean. [Visit Thenhef.org]

Teresa H. Clarke

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR September in New York is synonymous with the West Indian Day Parade, Harlem Fashion Week, NY Fashion Week, the autumnal equinox, the Africa America Institute Annual Gala and birthday celebrations for zodiac natives of Virgo and Libra.

The month opens with the West Indian Day Parade on Labor Day, September 4 in Brooklyn along Eastern Parkway, which celebrates its 50th year. A rite of passage for the New York City Caribbean-American population, the parade attracts participants

from as far south as Guyana, Suriname and Brazil, and draws at least 2 million viewers. Carnival festivities usually begins in late August, on the Thursday before Labor Day, spilling over into local clubs where bacchanal and Caribbean culture hover over the proceedings. The Labor Day Carnival Parade, preceded by J’Ouvert, (which means “I open” or contextually, “daybreak” in French) where streets that border on the parade route are lined with vendors selling foods and Caribbean objets d’art, used to begin around midnight. J’Ouvert 2017 will begin at sunrise.

West Indian Carnival tradition began in Harlem in the 30s and was held indoors (coincidentally) with the actual Caribbean Carnival days, two days before Lent. In the 40s, the West Indian Carnival got a street permit and continued in Harlem through the mid-60s until it found a new home in Brooklyn. The real beneficiary of the West Indian Carnival is New York City’s hospitality industries. Carnival generates tens of millions of dollars during the Labor Day Weekend! [Visit wiadcacarnival.org] Celebrate the West Indian Carnival Culture in Harlem at the Cove Lounge, located at 325 Lenox Avenue on August 31 from 6 pm and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on September 1 at 6 pm.

Hold the date September 9/10 for HARLEM FASHION WEEK and enjoy many of the trappings of downtown’s NY Fashion Week somewhere uptown. HFW begins with an Opening Night Charity Gala at the Hamilton Landmark Galleries.

HFW also boasts a Business of Fashion Symposium.

HFW culminates with a runway fashion extravaganza at the Museum of the City of New York. HFW is the brainchild of indefatigable mom/daughter-style doyennes Tandra Birkett and Yvonne

Jewnell, who are founders of the fashion design company Yvonne Jewnell New York.

[Visit HarlemFW.com] The Black Women of Influence will host its 10th Anniversary Trailblazers Summit and Luncheon, a celebration of professional women “who are little-known but doing great things”, on September 23, 9:30 am to 5 pm at the W Hotel, located at 541 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. The 2017 BWOI Trailblazers include Thusand Duckett, Adrienne Gonzalez, Rhonda Joy McClean and Vera A. Moore, cosmetics entrepreneur.

[Visit Blackwomenofinfluence.com] The One Brooklyn Fund is a city-affiliated nonprofit which originated in the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, which promotes the collaboration and engagement among the borough’s diverse communities through events, programs and services. The One Brooklyn Fund’s Board of Directors will host its inaugural gala on Wednesday, September 27 at 7 pm

Eric Adams at the Brooklyn Museum and will honor achievements of the borough’s “cornerstone” businesses which has served the community for upwards of 50 years. [Visit onebrooklynfund.org]

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VOL. 21 NO. 35

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

Thinker's Notebook

The Sound of Our Society

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By Marlon Rice

n 1964, while performing at Carnegie Hall, Nina Simone introduced the crowd to a song titled Mississippi Goddamn.

The song was a response to the murder of Medgar Evers in 1963. The song was such a potent message of inequality that several Southern states banned the tune from playing on radio. In 1971, upset by the death of Tammi Terrell, horrified with the stories that his brother bought back from his deployment to Vietnam and after becoming sick and tired of the instances of police brutality he witnessed, Marvin Gaye, along with Obie Benson, penned the classic song What’s Going On. The intent of the song was to give language to the hurt and despair that people were feeling at the time. In 1969, Jimi Hendrix made an appearance on the “Dick Cavett Show”. He performed an unreleased song titled Machine Gun. The song discussed the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, but it also

discussed issues at home, such as the Black Panther Party. Sponsors wanted the performance cut from the show, but Cavett refused to give in.

Time and again, throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, musicians made music to express their feelings and concerns about the injustices and inequalities that our communities were witnessing. Artists and consumers both understood that music is a powerful form of communication. A song can bring you into a space of happiness and bliss, or it can bring about intense emotions of sorrow. Lessons and messages can be hidden in music. Oftentimes, slaves would use songs to explain escape routes, so as they were singing in the cotton fields the overseer never knew that they were educating one another on how to escape. The power of music is an important thing to understand. Followers of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras believed that music is the direct expression of human emotions.

In our communities, music has always been

Patriotic Millionaires Slam Trump Administration For “Selling Out” the Country

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ashington, DC – Earlier this month in a press event in Louisville, KY alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated that the Administration will not close the carried interest loophole for most Wall Street billionaires, including the vast majority of private equity and real estate fund managers. In those comments, Mnuchin parroted a widely-disputed claim of private equity industry lobbyists, saying the loophole will remain open open

for those funds who “create jobs.”

In response to Mnuchin’s comments Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former Blackrock executive, issued the following statement: “Secretary Mnuchin’s friends in private equity are rejoicing today, as the U.S. Treasury is now parroting industry talking points about their alleged benefit to U.S. workers. Hundreds of thousands of pink slips tell the real story.

Furthermore, there is no intellectually justifiable reason why fund managers - who do not

a reflection of our lives - the issues we were facing, the people that we loved, the things that made us happy.

The power of song is undeniable. And during the Civil Rights Movement our musicians and artists used that power to build the spirits of our communities. Iconic Nigerian artist Fela Kuti once said that “music is a weapon of the future”.

He was right.

In this new era of social interaction, we are still dealing with a lot of the old paradigms of injustice. Cops are still killing unarmed Black men and women. Racism still threatens to tear apart our common threads. And now we have a president that seems to accept being the accelerant needed to stoke the fires of our lesser selves, devolving our society back to the time where skin color and gender were treated as caste systems.

And even as the messages and lessons are needed now more than ever, most of our music today is deprived of any social or

moral responsibility. Love songs have been replaced with stripper music. Conscious rap has been set aside for mumble nonsense. And any composition that holds social relevance is now the anomaly and not the norm. Our most pertinent form of communication, the way that we taught one another about escaping the plantation or overcoming segregation, has been corrupted, controlled and co-opted by commercialism disguised as opportunity, to the point where our young men and women create songs about misogyny, violence, drugs and other ignorant motifs and this music sells unabated to our children.

And please do not buy into the excuse that our young artists make these songs because that is what they see in their community. The communities are experiencing these issues in part because we accept these ideals through the powerful communication of our music. Our youth go to clubs and accept nightly doses of this poison, only to play out the words in the ➔➔ Continued on page 13

actually invest their own capital - should pay HALF the tax rate of Americans who actually work for a living. Mnuchin’s statement either proves a profound lack of understanding of the difference between being an investor and being an investment manager (doubtful) or a calculated political ploy designed to appease BOTH Trump’s base and Wall Street billionaires like David Rubenstein. It is past time for this country to have a public debate on the carried interest loophole. If you want to know who will stand up for working Americans and who won’t, look no farther than the politician’s position on the carried interest loophole. It will tell you everything you need to know.”

Patriotic Millionaires around the country offered the following additional statements: “It’s past time for more tax fairness in our country, and it’s beyond past time for the demise of the grossly unfair carried interest tax

rule, which illogically and perversely rewards a few thousand money managers and costs all other taxpayers a staggering $10 to $12 billion a year,” said Patriotic Millionaire Leo Hindery, Jr., an investor and former CEO of AT&T Broadband.

“I have been the beneficiary of the carried interest loophole for private equity in the past. I can think of no better example of outright corruption in our tax code. It is wrong in the logic, disingenuously distorted in its rationale, and grotesque in its consequences. End it, full stop. Then let’s have a debate around intelligent and effective policies to encourage productive investment in the real economy, beginning with incentives and reduced regulatory burdens for small business, not undeserved windfalls for fund managers,” said Patriotic Millionaire John Fullerton, President of Capital Institute and former Managing Director of JPMorgan.

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OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 35

Speaking Truth: Why We Support Kaepernick (Part II of a series, Cops Support Kaepernick)

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embers of the NYPD, including retired police officers, gathered in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday, August 19 in support for Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

Organized by Sgt. Edwin Raymond, the rally featured speeches from City Councilman Jumaane Williams, the legendary Frank Serpico and others. They wore black T-shirts reading #IMWITHKAP, with Williams in the red Kaepernick “T” in their message to the world about “Kap”, who has been penalized by the NFL for sitting out the national anthem as a way of protesting police brutality and the oppression of minorities.

The football great told NFL.com in August, “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”.

At the Brooklyn rally, Sgt. Raymond said the cops who are in support of Kaepernick are also standing for the justice in America they have pledged to protect.

“What Colin Kaepernick did is try to bring awareness to an issue that this nation, unfortunately, has ignored for far too long, and that’s the issue of racism in America

and policing in America.

“We decided to gather because the way he’s being railroaded for speaking the obvious truth ... is not what America is founded on.

“Someone may argue … that this country was actually founded on challenging injustice.

“As members of law enforcement, we can confirm that the issues he is saying exist in policing throughout the nation’s criminal justice system indeed exist. That is why we support him. As a nation, we have this habit of vindicating people in hindsight. Ali was vindicated in hindsight. Rosa Parks was vindicated in hindsight.

With Colin Kaepernick, we have an opportunity to respect the work as it is happening in the present. We shouldn’t have to wait 20 years to understand the importance of what this man is trying to do. We shouldn’t even have to be here doing this.

When you see what’s transpiring in Charlottesville and throughout the

NYPD Sgt. Edwin Raymond nation, that’s the bigger version of what Colin Kaepernick is trying to fight against.

When you take that type of bigotry and the residue of bigotry and couple it with policing, every so often everything aligns itself and someone pays with their life.

Their lives.

Photo: Barry L. Mason

So we’re here to support Colin Kaepernick and to let people know that if you want to say he’s anticop, what do you have to say about all of these cops standing here in support of his message.”

Next week, Councilman Jumaane Williams, 45th District.

NYC Real Estate

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Cracks in the System: Dorla and Erma Alleyne’s Story

hree years ago, Our Time Press began publishing stories of Central Brooklyn property owners whose homes were damaged by contractor’s work on adjacent buildings.

We still receive phone calls from renters and owners, reeling from and sometimes fearful of, the power of dirty developers who break laws, get away with “accidentals”: holes in the wall, the busted pipe releasing water into basements, sometimes foot-long and inches-wide cracks running down interior and exterior walls; foundations loosed (due to hard drilling and massive pounding) from bedrock.

When city agents inspect damage done, the victim is asked if the problem was a fault of the owner’s own negligence. In other words, “prove it”.

Complaints about real estate developers’ “injustices” and misdeeds, they said then, were falling on deaf ears, and blame is still placed, quietly but squarely, as it was three years ago, on the politicians who rely on campaign support by big real estate interests.

Meanwhile, some complainants then still “live with” offenses to their residences.

Others resort to the contractor’s “sloppy repairs” or inadequate compensation of damages. Some have bowed to the last resort of selling their homes.

But not Dorla Alleyne, 67, and her mother Erma Alleyne, 91, owners of 434 Lafayette Avenue.

They are “very stressed and distraught about the {ongoing demolition and excavation activity started next door at 436} in 2015”. Here’s just a partial list of reasons: 1- Wall and floor separations from the cellar to the 1st and 2nd floors at the adjacent property at 434 Lafayette Avenue, 2- Water entering the cellar during rainand snowfall, 3- Gas line separation at the property line under the stove causing a leak for which we were responsible for the repairs, 4- Crater in the backyard causing the cement and soil to separate toward 436 Lafayette Avenue, 5- Inability to plant our usual crops and flowers due to a large crater in the backyard,

6- Some of the cracks in the wall appear too bewildering, 7- A large crater has not been repaired.

And that’s just for starters.

Dorla says she has “been verbally and physically” attacked by the manager at the 436 construction site. Although they are “intermittently housed by friends”, they will not give Photo: Barry L. Mason up on 434.

Crack monitor for basement floor.

The Alleyne women are not only armed with powerful lawyers ready to Lafayette. The Fire Dept.78 Ladder 102 was do battle, they are strengthened by a resolve contacted and they inspected 434 Lafayette grown out of their own family connection to where they witnessed the water flooding Marcus Garvey. But let’s start with Dorla through the wall into the basement. Upon Alleyne’s story, in her own words. later inspecting the lot at 436 Lafayette, Below is what she submitted to DOI on they indicated that the source was either a Monday, May 22, 2017 at 13:10:22 broken pipe at 436 or pooled water which they saw accumulated on said property January 27, 2015: Complaint which was coming through the wall into to the Department of 434. DEP rep Joe visited two days later Buildings: and witnessed men working in the 436 lot On 1/18/2015, water flooded into base- but they ran inside when he approached. He ment of 434 Lafayette from property at 436 inspected basement at 434 where he saw water marks on the wall and the ground at the 90-degree angle but none running through the basement. He stated that he could do nothing at that time as it was no longer running through. He advised that I should call once the water is running again through the basement again.

May 22, 2017: Complaint to the Department of Investigation:

Photos: Barry L. Mason

Water damage in basement

Crack monitor on the side of the building and compromised foundation.

Until a call to the excavation unit a week ago, no inspector from DOB has visited the site at 434 Lafayette Avenue to assess complaints related to damage to ➔➔ Continued on page 11

VOL. 21 NO. 35

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OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

BACK TO SCHOOL September 9, 2017 | 10 am – 3 pm

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OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 35

We Came Before Columbus

“Fake news,” if let to stand unchallenged long enough, becomes fake history and gets to be taught in school and taken as fact. Such is the case with the canard that Christopher Columbus “discovered” the North American continent. He was the second European after Viking explorer Lief Erickson, but he came later than voyagers from the African Continent. Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, author of They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America, has written about two periods of African influences in the early Americas. First came those who influenced the Olmec civilization, and the second period was probably the result of Mandingo voyages in the 1300’s. In these excerpts from an interview with the OTP publishers in October in 1997 at his home in Highland, NJ, he elaborated on his findings of evidence. (DG)

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hat startled me most and I think I have said that before, was to find that Columbus was the chief witness He actually wrote in his Journal of the Second Voyage that when he was in Haiti, the Native Americans came to them and told them that Black-skinned people had come from the south and southeast trading in gold-tipped metal spears.

Columbus may not have believed but he actually sent two of these spears back to Spain and they were inspected microscopically in Spain and found to be identical, not just similar, identical, in their ratio of gold, silver and copper alloys to spears being forged in Guinea. They were composed of thirty-two parts - 18 of gold, 6 of silver and 8 of copper.

And all the words for the spears had identical sounds that Africans were using on the other side of the Atlantic. Now how can you argue with that? And as I probed further into the matter, I discovered that it was not just Christopher Columbus but a dozen Europeans who claimed they saw, or heard from other Europeans who saw, these Africans. My critics claim this is just an Afrocentric theory.

Then Columbus and his son and all the explorers who came, who saw, who conquered, were all Afrocentrics, if one follows the logic of this silly argument.

Ferdinand Columbus, one of the four sons of Columbus, said, “My father told me he saw Negroes north of Honduras”. Then there is Vasco Nunez de Balboa coming down the slopes of Quarequa, which is near Darien, which we now call Panama. We have it down to the day -September 25, 1513. He sees two tall Black men among the Native Americans.

This is not the era of the African Slave Trade.

The Spanish were utterly startled (so startled that four of them comment on it) and they asked the natives from whence did these Black men come. They did not know. All that they knew was that they lived in a large settlement nearby and they were waging war with them and had captured these two. These Africans are described in detail. Exceedingly Black, a foot and a half taller than the average Native American, of military bearing.

Peter Martyr, the first historian of the European contact period, said that these Blacks must have been shipwrecked long ago from Africa (he called it Ethiopia, which was then a general word for Africa from the word aethiops, meaning burnt skin). You also have other commentators like Lopez de Gomara, who wrote that, “These Blacks Balboa saw were identical with the Blacks we have seen in Guinea”. Rodrigo de Colmenares reported that one of the captains of Balboa saw Blacks “east of the Gulf of San Miguel”.

Then Alphonse de Quatrefagos, author of “The Human Species”, presents us with a

map drawn by a French sea captain, Kerhallet, showing independent Black settlements in the area later called Brazil. Also at the tip of Florida and on the island of St. Vincent. This can account for the Charruas of Brazil, the Jamassi of Florida and the Black Caribs of St. Vincent. They were all pre-Columbian Black settlements. Captain Kerhallet presents a map of these settlements and that is the area, that very area, that is the endpoint or terminus of currents flowing in across the Atlantic from Africa. The Africans appeared exactly where the ocean current from Africa takes you.

Few people are aware that there are natural sea-roads, I call them “marine conveyor belts”. That is what they really are. Once you are caught in these currents and you do not have an engine (and no one had engines at that point in time), you have to come to America.

The better your ship and knowleOTPe of the ocean, the more likely you will come on purpose. The worse your ship and seamanship, the more likely you’ll come by mistake. It is clear when you look at this map.

OTP: That’s a very powerful map. That map of the currents. As soon as you see it, you say, “Yes, that’s right.”

IVS: There is also evidence in the form of a map which as early as 1448, roughly half a century before Columbus, shows both the outline of Brazil as well as the relatively exact distance of Brazil from the West African coast. So there you have it - eyewitness accounts, metallurgical evidence, linguistic evidence, botanical evidence, cartographic evidence (the map), oceanographic evidence (the currents that sweep you from Africa to America), skeletal, oral, documented, and above all, iconographic evidence; that is, paintings and sculptures of these people which show clearly, except to those who refuse to see, all the features we associate with the African. There is also, as I mentioned, the epigraphic evidence, the script I found on the rock at St. John’s in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

OTP: What about the boats they came in? Tarzan movies give millions of people the impression that African navigational development stopped at the canoe.

IVS: Both ancient and medieval African boats have been tested on the Atlantic sea routes to America and crossed the ocean successfully. Thor Heyerdahl, with the help of Buduma boatmen on Lake Chad, rebuilt a pre-Christian African craft - a papyrus reed boat- and crossed the Atlantic successfully.

Hannes Lindemann discovered that Africans had enormous dugouts as large as Viking ships. Lindemann tested one of these and made it to America in 52 days, 12 days less than Amerigo Vespucci, even though Vespucci left from an equally favorable starting point on the African-Atlantic coast.

D r.

Alain Bombard rode a life raft, L’Heretique, from Casablanca in North Africa via the Canaries to Barbados in 1952 without stocking up with adequate supplies of food and water, with only a cloth net for small sea fauna, a fishing line with hook for little tunny and two spears. He also carried a container for collecting water The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen when rain fell. He monumental stone representations of human heads survived in perfect sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads date from health. at least before 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the OTP: Apart Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. from the medieval journeys, you have presented a great deal of for these great stone sculptures were “mythic evidence for journeys long before Christ. beings”.

IVS: Yes, yes. That is the most important OTP: Unbelievable. Who in the archeosection of my new book - the section on the logical establishment supported you?

Olmec. The Olmec is the first major civilizaIVS: The only one who is old enough and tion in America. free of the constraints of his earlier position to OTP: Your critics claim that you said tell it like it is, to speak the truth without fear or African Egyptians founded the Olmec favor, Dr. Clarence Weiant. He actually headed civilization. the first expedition of the Smithsonian into the IVS: That is a naked and nasty lie, I have Olmec world. The New York Times, it seemed, never said so. The Native Americans created trusted no one here to talk about this matter. their own civilization. I pointed to contact But then came the most surprising thing of all. with Old World peoples - in this case, the Dr. Clarence Weiant wrote the Times in my Egypto-Nubian. I demonstrated a number defense. “As someone who has been immersed of remarkable coincidences between their in Mexican archeology for some 40 years, and ritual complexes and even a few of their who participated in the excavation of the first of technological developments. I spoke of an the giant heads, I must confess that I, for one, influence. All contacts between two peoples am thoroughly convinced of the soundness of lead to influences. But I never claimed they Van Sertima’s conclusions.” brought civilization to Americans. That is a OTP: To think that after all these years very Eurocentric type of claim. I pointed to and all the work you’ve done, these people specific elements in Nile Valley civilization are still trying to sabotage you. You defended (both Egyptian and Nubian) which are found yourself eloquently before the Smithsonian, as early as the era of Ramses III (circa 1200 you appeared before a congressional comB.C.) and persist as late as circa 700 B.C., era mittee and got them to delete the word “disof the Nubian Renaissance. covery”, decisively debunking the Columbus OTP: What of the Olmec stone heads? myth. You sat on the Nobel Committee of the IVS: About a dozen of these have been Swedish Academy for five years to advise on found. Now I want to make it clear at the the selection of Nobel laureates in Literature. outset of this discussion that not all of these You were even invited to join UNESCO. are foreign types. I lived among Native You are the compiler of the first Swahili Americans for the first 12 years of my life, I Dictionary of Legal Terms. You have edited know them better than my own nuclear fam- 12 anthologies on African civilizations. Your ily, half of whom I never saw again after my poems appear in English, French and German babyhood, not until the teen years of my life. anthologies. Yet there is a raging debate over De Montellano, chief of my critics, claims everything you have written. They are still that all the stone heads are “spitting images of trying to put you down. the Native American”. I do not like to attack IVS: Well, fighting for a new vision my critics personally. Arguments should be of man, a new vision of history, is worth it, met with arguments, but I have to say in this painful though it may be. The warrior’s courcase, this man is either blind or an idiot. age does not protect him from the wound of Apart from the unique combination of bullets. But I have found over time David, nose, cheek, jaw, lips, there is one unhel- that the negatives have been my greatest help. meted head with a tuft of Africoid hair and That is the one lesson I have learned over another one with seven braids. They are very the years. The negative is very important. realistically portrayed in spite of their size. Oftentimes, it is more important than the As the head of the first American expedition, positive. Sometimes if something is highly Dr. Matthew Stirling said of the first stone successful and meets no great opposition, it head he examined: “Despite its great size, can make you facile. If it meets with great the workmanship is delicate and sure, the negatives, it can be even better in the end. proportions perfect. Unique in character Unless it is destroyed, it is far better that it among aboriginal American sculptures, it is meets with negatives. The negative makes remarkable for its realistic treatment. The you go back to find and check out everything. features are bold and amazingly Negroid.” You find a whole lot of new things. If before He got into big trouble with his colleagues you came in with a revolver, the next time you for that. He is now saying that the models come in with a cannon.

VOL. 21 NO. 35

9

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

Centennial Celebration of Esther Cooper Jackson A Living Legend “Art is only important to the extent that it aids in the liberation of our people.”

Elizabeth Catlett “There is no force equal to a woman determined to rise.”

W. E. B. DuBois “You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”

Maya Angelou “Yes, I want to know what will your legacy be? This is a question that I would like to put to each and every one of you?”

Margaret Burroughs "Your legacy is powerful and inspirational.

Founding Editor of the leading cultural, political and intellectual journal Freedomways magazine.

A tireless defender of civil rights, human rights, social justice and international rights.

An advocate for those who were “prophets in their own country”.

A documentarian for our historians, sociologists, educators, novelists, artists, musicians and poets.

Your work has created a legacy for our youth activists and underscored the embodiment of what it means to live the purposeful life.

Resistance has been in and defined your spirit.

You have demonstrated that struggle is a part of life and that we can all engage in what activist and hip-hop artist Talib Kweli calls, “A Beautiful Struggle”.

Dr. Brenda M. Greene & Dean Richard Jones

O

n Saturday, August 26, I had the privilege of attending the 100th Birthday Celebration of Esther Cooper Jackson, a longtime and tireless advocate for civil rights, human rights and social justice. Esther Cooper Jackson, born August 21, 1917, celebrated her 100th Birthday with family, friends and colleagues at the W.E.B. DuBois Research Institute located at The Hutchins Center for African & African-American Research at Harvard University, an appropriate place to host the celebration. W.E.B. DuBois, a friend and colleague of Esther Cooper Jackson and her husband James E. Jackson, Jr., was the inspiration for and one of the founders of Freedomways, A Quarterly Review of the Freedom Movement. Esther Cooper Jackson was managing editor of

Freedomways for 25 years, following the journal’s first general editor, Shirley Graham DuBois.

During the celebration, Ms. Jackson shared how Dr. W.E.B. DuBois was “. . . a humanist and mentor who instilled in me the commitment to social justice and equality”.

She underscored how Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Shirley Graham DuBois continued to have an influence on the life of her and her husband and how they corresponded after Dr. DuBois and Shirley Graham DuBois relocated to Ghana at the invitation of the late Kwame Nkrumah.

The Honorable Julian T. Houston, retired Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, Executive Committee member of the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, and nephew of Esther Cooper Jackson, in reflecting on her life, recounted how W.E.B. DuBois and Shirley Graham DuBois provided support for Esther and her daughters, Harriet and Katherine, when her husband, James Jackson, went underground during the McCarthy era for five years after being targeted by the government for his activities related to the Communist Party.

I had the privilege of meeting Esther Cooper Jackson in 2014 when the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College honored her as part of its National Black Writers Symposium on Audre Lorde. The center presented Ms. Jackson with an award for her lifelong dedication to literature and freedom. When I called Esther to confirm the time that I should pick her up from her home for the program, she held me on the phone while she wrote the information down in her appointment book. I knew that I was about to meet an incredible woman, a sharp and wise chronicler who regaled me on the drive to Medgar Evers College and later in her interview on my radio show, Writers on Writing, with stories of her work with the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC) and with the writers and activists with whom she had worked and/or who had written for Freedomways: people such as Alice Walker, John Oliver Killens, Dorothy Burham, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, James Baldwin, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and many others. She informed that she regretted that she could not attend as many intellectual, cultural and political programs as she desired and I specifically remember talking about how traveling to a program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture which featured David Levering Lewis, a close friend and colleague.

It was indeed an unforgettable moment when I later received a phone call from

Central Brooklyn's Royalty: Lifelong friends Esther Cooper Jackson, 100 (seated), and Dorothy Burnham, 102, celebrated Ms. Jackson’s Aug. 21 birthday last Saturday, August 26 at the W.E.B. DuBois Research Institute at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center. Ms. Jackson, a staunch civil rights activist, is a founding editor of Freedomways literary journal published in Brooklyn from 19611985. Ms. Burnham, a native of Brooklyn, made notable contributions to our public education system, the advancement of civil rights and the promotion of racial and economic equality. At the celebration, Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Professor of English and Executive Director, Center for Black Literature, Medgar Evers College/CUNY, presented Ms. Jackson with a poster rendering of the school’s Esther Cooper Jackson Book Collection.

Esther’s daughter, Harriet Scarupa, who informed me that Esther Cooper Jackson wanted to donate her collection of AfricanAmerican literature to the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College. The Esther Cooper Jackson Personal Book Collection on African-American Culture is now housed in the Charles Evans Innis Memorial Library at Medgar Evers College.

I presented Ms. Jackson with a poster and photos from the exhibit at her 100th Birthday Celebration.

In attendance at the Birthday Celebration were Ms. Jackson’s longtime friend and activist Dorothy Burnham (102 years old), who made notable contributions to public education, civil rights, women’s rights and the promotion of racial and economic equality; Margaret Burnham, University Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern University in the fields of civil and human rights, comparative constitutional rights and international criminal law, and founder of the School of Law’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project; Dr. David Levering Lewis, historian, Julius Silver University Professor of History at New York University and Pulitzer prize-winning author of the biography of W.E.B. DuBois; Dr. Mary Louise Patterson, pediatrician

and editor with Evelyn Louise Crawford of Letters from Langston: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Red Scare and Beyond; James Steele, Special Assistant to Congressman Meeks and his wife Brenda Steele; Bernice Green, co-founder of Our Time Press; and Claudia Loftis. Ms. Jackson’s daughters, Harriet Jackson Scarupa, a retired journalist; Katherine A. Jackson, a retired psychologist; her grandson, Dr. Mark Scarupa, a physician; and in-laws and nephews were also among those in attendance.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James sent a letter and proclamation in honor of Esther Cooper Jackson and those who could not attend sent remarks. Among them were Timothy Johnson, Director of the Tamiment Library at NYU which houses books on Marxism from the personal collection of Esther Cooper Jackson and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard University.

By Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature, Professor of English and Department Chair Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York

The Archives Presents May thru October 2017

THE ESTHER COOPER JACKSON Book Collection of African-American Culture

This exhibit presents select books from the personal library of pioneering civil rights activist Esther Cooper Jackson.

Medgar Evers College Library Archives • Lower Level • Room B0108 1650 Bedford Avenue

10

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

NEW BUSINESS FORMATIONS Notice of Qualification of EVINCO TERMINALS, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/17/17.

Office location: Kings County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 3/1/16.

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

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of SPICY PEOPLE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/25/2017. Office location, County of Kings. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 358 Macon St., Apt 1, Brooklyn NY 11233. Purpose: any lawful act.

LEGAL NOTICES SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS US BANK, N.A., V. SYED AHMED A/K/A A. SYED A/K/A AHMED SYED, et al. NOTICE OF SALE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated September 29, 2015, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of KINGS, wherein US BANK, N.A. is the Plaintiff and SYED AHMED, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the KINGS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ROOM 224, 360 ADAMS STREET, BROOKLYN NY 11201, on September 28, 2017 at 2:30 pm, premises known as 2298 ATLANTIC AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11233: Block 1435 Lot 29 ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, WITH THE BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS THEREON ERECTED, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN, COUNTY OF KINGS, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 21876/2012. Lee M. Huttner, Esq. - Referee. RAS Boriskin, LLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 106, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County of Kings MIDFIRST BANK, Plaintiff AGAINST TANYA T. BROWN, DELORES BROWN, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 7/3/2014and entered on 7/14/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on September 28, 2017 at 02:30 PM premises known as 849 Madison Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 1481, LOT: 52. Approximate amount of judgment is $399,821.50 plus interests and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 24545/08. Jeffrey R. Miller, Referee, FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP, 53 Gibson Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS MTGLQ Investors, LP, Plaintiff AGAINST Jason Dupree; Makida Tomlinson a/k/a Makida

MY PIELOW LLC Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 08/01/2017.

Office in kings Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to My PIELOW LLC 1353 Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11219. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Application for Certificate of Authority for Perry’s Prestigious Protection LLC was filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/08/2014. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Perry’s Prestigious Protection, LLC, 472 Harvick Circle Stockbridge, GA 30281.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Liturgy Pilates LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 7/19/2017 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 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 September 28, 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: August 9, 2017 47976

Debora Sandiford, 25 South Oxford Street, Apt 5, Brooklyn NY 11217. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

SOCIAL IMPACT CONSULTING LLC Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 06/21/2017. Office in Kings Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 1714 13th Avenue, Suite 202, BROOKLYN, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of TSI LUCILLE RALPH AVENUE, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/31/17. Office location: Kings County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/31/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful activity.

UNKNOWN HEIRS; DEVISEES AND PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF LUKE BOYKIN AND ANY OF HIS OR HER SUCCESSORS IN RIGHT; TITLE AND INTEREST; PERCIVAL V. WILLIAMS, IF HE BE LIVING, AND IF HE BE DEAD, HIS EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, DISTRIBUTEES, LEGATEES, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, JUDGMENT CREDITORS, RECEIVERS, TRUSTEES IN BANKRUPTCY, TRUSTEES, COMMITTEES, LIENORS AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST AND THEIR HUSBANDS, WIVES OR WIDOWS, EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, DISTRIBUTEES, LEGATEES, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, JUDGMENT CREDITORS, RECEIVERS, TRUSTEES IN BANKRUPTCY, TRUSTEES, COMMITTEES, LIENORS AND NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST, IF ANY, COURT: KINGS COUNTY GREENTREE AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING SERVICING LLC; Plaintiff(s) vs. DAVID BY, THROUGH AND UNDER ANY ZOIMEN; et al; Defendant(s) Attorney OF THEM, ALL OF WHOM AND (s) for Plaintiff (s): ROSICKI, ROSICKI WHOSE NAMES ARE UNKNOWN TO & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 2 Summit Court, PLAINTIFF; et al., Defendants. TO THE Suite 301, Fishkill, New York, 12524, DEFENDANT(S): ALL UNKNOWN 845.897.1600 Pursuant to judgment of fore- HEIRS, DEVISEES AND PERSONAL closure and sale granted herein on or about REPRESENTATIVES OF LUKE May 17, 2017, I will sell at Public Auction BOYKIN AND ANY OF HIS OR HER to the highest bidder in Room 224 at the SUCCESSORS IN RIGHT, TITLE AND Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams INTEREST and PERCIVAL V. WILLIAMS, Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. On September IF HE BE LIVING, AND IF HE BE DEAD, 28, 2017 at 2:30 pm. Premises known as 9 HIS EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, W 9TH STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11231 HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, Block: 534 Lot: 46 ALL that certain plot, DISTRIBUTEES, LEGATEES, DEVISEES, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, JUDGMENT being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County CREDITORS, RECEIVERS, TRUSTEES of Kings, City and State of New York. As IN BANKRUPTCY, TRUSTEES, more particularly described in the judgment COMMITTEES, LIENORS AND of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST AND THEIR the terms and conditions contained in said HUSBANDS, WIVES OR WIDOWS, judgment and terms of sale. Approximate EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, amount of judgment $852,493.88 plus in- HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, terest and costs. INDEX NO. 7136/10 M. DISTRIBUTEES, LEGATEES, DEVISEES, Randolph Jackson, Esq., Referee GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, JUDGMENT CREDITORS, RECEIVERS, TRUSTEES SUMMONS, NOTICE AND IN BANKRUPTCY, TRUSTEES, BRIEF STATEMENT OF NATURE COMMITTEES, LIENORS AND OF ACTION CONSUMER CREDIT SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST, IF ANY, TRANSACTION SUPREME COURT AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK THROUGH AND UNDER ANY OF COUNTY OF KINGS Index No. 3477/16 THEM, ALL OF WHOM AND WHOSE STATE OF NEW YORK MORTGAGE NAMES ARE UNKNOWN TO PLAINTIFF AGENCY, Plaintiff, -against- JEROME YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and BOYKIN; TIFFANY HUNTER; DE JUAN required to serve upon plaintiff’s attorneys HUNTER; MICHELLE J. WILLIAMS; an answer to the complaint in this action NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT within twenty (20) days after the service OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; ALL of this Summons, exclusive of the day of

VOL. 21 NO. 35 GO GREEN BIKES LLC Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 06/02/2017.

Office in kings Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to GO GREEN BIKES LLC United States Agents, 1510 OCEAN PKWY APT F2, BROOKLYN, NY 11230. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

CAD4DENT, LLC, Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 07/14/2017.

Office in kings Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to CAD4DENT, LLC 6813 21ST AVE APT 6F, BROOKLYN, NY 11204 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

HUSH HOUSE LLC Art. Of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 04/28/2017.

Office in kings Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to HUSH HOUSE LLC United States Agents, 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. service, or within thirty (30) days after service is complete if the Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. In case of your failure to answer, judgment will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the complaint.

Trial is desired in the County of KINGS. The basis of venue designated above is that the real property, which is the subject matter of this action, is located in the County of KINGS, New York. NOTICE: YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE MORTGAGE COMPANY WHO FILED THIS FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME. SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY OR GO TO THE COURT WHERE YOUR CASE IS PENDING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW TO ANSWER THE SUMMONS AND PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY. SENDING A PAYMENT TO YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY WILL NOT STOP THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE New York State Law requires that we send you this notice about the foreclosure process. Please read it carefully. Summons and Complaint You are in danger of losing your home. If you fail to respond to the summons and complaint in this foreclosure action, you may lose your home. Please read the summons and complaint carefully. You should immediately contact an attorney or your local legal aid office to obtain advice on how to protect yourself. Sources of Information and Assistance The State encourages you to become informed about your options in foreclosure. In addition to seeking assistance from an attorney or legal aid office, there are government agencies and non-profit organizations that you may contact for information about possible options, including trying to work with your lender during this process.

To locate an entity near you, you may call the toll-free helpline maintained by the New ➔➔ Continued on page 12

VOL. 21 NO. 35

The Playoff Push

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11

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

By Eddie Castro

W

ow! Is it me, or did summer literally breeze right by us?

With tomorrow marking the first day of September, it also means that the Major League Baseball season is winding down. September 1st, all 30 big league teams will be allowed to expand their active rosters from 25 players up to 40 players. The usual for most teams is 30-35 players. Either way for the New York Yankees, it could very well decide their playoff fate. The team’s starting ro-

tation has truly been a roller coaster. I do not expect the Yankees to bring up one of their top pitching prospects to accommodate their playoff run. Masahiro Tanaka has made two straight starts in which he has greatly improved and C.C. Sabathia is usually effective when the playoffs roll around. Although he had a rough night against the Cleveland Indians, Yankee fans can very well expect the young pitching phenom Luis Severino to pitch a deciding Wild Card game or a Game 1 series, for he has been the most consistent starting pitcher for the Yanks.

On offense, players who have struggled of late must get back on track. Aaron Judge was basically running away with the Rookie of the Year Award the first half of the season.

The second half, he is hitting an abysmal .179 (not to mention he set a league record by striking out in 37 straight games). Not to fear, reinforcements are here! Catcher Gary

Cracks in the System ➔➔ Continued from page 6 its exposure 4 wall, chimney and cellar during demolition and excavation work at 436 Lafayette Avenue. Water continues to drain into the cellar at 434 Lafayette from 436 Lafayette Avenue during rain and snow. Stop work orders were lifted and new permits were issued for resumption of excavation and construction activity. This has caused an additional separation of the soil and concrete which are sliding towards 436 Lafayette adjacent at the back wall of the house extending more than 25 feet into the backyard as well as a wall separation at the southern border of exposure 4 wall.

Complaint to Congressional Representative: 434 Lafayette Ave. compromised foundation and walls Your assistance is requested in addressing the following damages to property of senior citizens 91 & 67 yrs. old: - Since demolition of adjacent property at 436 Lafayette, water has consistently drained in my cellar when there is snow or rain, - Sunlight can be seen from the cellar along that exposure 4 wall, -When 911 was contacted re:damages, the owner came and offered to buy the property and blasted us for making the call,

- Increased accumulation of mold along damaged wall, - Wall cracks along wall have not been repaired, -DOB has been notified since initial damage and during water drainage … into cellar, - Sunlight can be seen from the cellar along that exposure 4 wall.

Please assist us in preventing further damage to our property and achieving appropriate repairs and remuneration.

Respectfully, Dorla and Erma Alleyne

August 8, 2017: Complaint to the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Re: Failure to Repair Seniors’ Property Damages My name is Dorla M. Alleyne, 67 yrs. old, and my mother, Erma Alleyne, 91 yrs. old. Together, we own and live at 434 Lafayette for the past 22 years. Because of your observable interest in the well-being of the community you serve, we are requesting your assistance with the following: First, I want to thank P.O.’s Rivero and Santos (79th Pct.), who after a 911 call, the workers at the 436 site admitted to them that they had entered our premises and removed the cement blocks to another site.

They ordered them to return them (the cement blocks) to the original site and advised

Sanchez’s bat and defense was so bad in the middle of the year Manager Joe Girardi had to bench him. Since that benching and since the calendar hit August, Sanchez has been tearing the cover off the ball with 11 homers this month. He did the same thing last year when he was called up around this time. Greg Bird, who has missed most of the year due to an ankle injury, is finally back. Not only does he finally give the team a natural first baseman, but when healthy, he can be dangerous on offense as well. Starlin Castro (no relation to me) made his return to the Yankees lineup and Matt Holliday is sure to follow within the coming days.

The Yankees currently hold the first Wild Card spot in the American League with the Minnesota Twins holding the second spot. Now here’s the somewhat downside to that. There are five other teams who are breathing down their necks to take away one of those Wild Card spots. Expect the

Yankees to make “minor” moves when it comes to their September call-ups in hopes of players like Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro to catch fire with the bats down the stretch. If the pitching rotation can give Joe Girardi length without burning the bullpen, it will make things a lot easier should a Severino or a Tanaka get through six innings and hand the ball over to dominant relievers such as David Robertson, Aroldis Chapman (considering he can get back on track) and Dellin Betances, this Yankee team could very well surprise themselves come playoff time!

Sports Notes: September is here, which means the return of some good old local Brooklyn high school sports as well as the NFL season for the Jets and Giants.

On behalf of myself and everyone here at Our Time Press, we would like to extend our deepest prayers and support to the entire state of Texas after Hurricane Harvey.

We are with you all Brothers and Sisters #Texasstrong.

them of having trespassed on our premises.

5/9/17 Also thanks to P.O.’s Calhoun and Chatterton (79th Pct.), who after a 911 call, upon seeing the destruction, which now included my backyard and separation of the kitchen floor and walls, Chatterton placed a call and DOB inspectors came to the premises. 5/31/17 On 6/6/2017, Dorla was physically and verbally assaulted by the manager of the construction site at 436 Lafayette Avenue while I stood at the entry door speaking with my neighbor Mr. Pinnock. This occurred moments after building inspectors had left the premises. He stated during the assault: “What do you want out of this, what do you think you are going to get out of this; if you think this building is not going up, I have news for you, it is going up, you people think you control this place.”

911 was contacted, Officers Navarro and Manley responded. However, they did not submit a report to the 79th Pct. per Desk Officer on 6/7/2017. They had stated then that, “This is harassment, not an assault, where is the injury”? Upon submitting her report of injury, Detective Moody took the case. He took photographs of property damages. The perpetrator was ultimately arrested and charged with a felony.

- Several of their building managers, including the owner, David Snir, have entered our premises at different times and took photographs since the damages began in 2014.

They made promises to repair them “after we are finished with our construction”.

-Since 2014, several 311 and 911 calls, visits to the DOB on Joralemon, as well as e-mails to the DOB and the commissioner were made, however, none of the DOB inspector visits included premises at 434 Lafayette. Police officer interventions in May 2017 were instrumental in securing active inspector visits to our site.

-After the initial complaint in 2015, David Snir came to our house and while in the foyer stated, “What the f..k are you calling the city for, you are not getting anything out of it, only call us”. He was asked to leave and while going down the front steps asked, “How much do you want for your building”?

DOB inspector Annam of 2 Lafayette St. informed us that, “We cannot force them to do the repairs to your building or comply with our order to waterproof your exposure 2 wall as they were directed in one of the violations. If they don’t agree with your engineer’s report you will have to fix it and then litigate”.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR OFFICE’S INTERVENTION TO ENSURE JUSTICE IS SERVED AND WE ARE NOT DISPLACED AS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR OTHER SENIORS. RESPECTFULLY, ERMA AND DORLA M. ALLEYNE My attorney, Leonard Stewart, has contacted the owner David Snir’s attorney and has not received a response.

(Next week: Dorla Alleyne offers a message to the public.)

Community Group Combats Rezoning ■■

F

By Akosua K. Albritton

lower Lovers Against Corruption (FLAC) is one group dedicated to preserving the architectural, commercial and socioeconomic integrity of Crown Heights (south of Eastern Parkway).

FLAC came into being in the fall of 2015 during the time when the NYC Department of City Planning (City Planning) was studying the merits of rezoning Franklin Avenue to permit construction of much taller buildings.

FLAC member Janine Nichols explained, “A bunch of us came out to an event where [NYC Council candidate] Ede Fox was discussing what she wanted to do for the community. Her agenda was in alignment with what we wanted”.

After that event, the group continued to talk about such real estate issues as how the height of “Tivoli Towers intruded on the sight lines of the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

and how Cornell Realty methodically acquired land parcels on Montgomery Street’s north side”.

The name FLAC is actually a reference to the “flack” this concerned body of residents want to give to Council member Laurie Cumbo. They view the Council member as too conciliatory to real estate developers.

In their study of the city’s current and future zoning plans, the group uncovered of the communities surrounding Prospect Park—Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights—it was Crown Heights that was designated for upzoning, the others would hold their current zoning.

“I believe Crown Heights was targeted for upzoning because it has a high Black population that abuts the park. [People of color] have lived in Crown Heights for sixty years. (Note: This area has had a Black presence longer than 60 years. It is within the past 60 years that the area’s predominant

racial group is of African ancestry.)”

FLAC has a “core of more than 25 people” who follow the real estate trends— Cornell Realty’s activity in particular—ask people to sign petitions to oppose upzoning in Crown Heights, outreach to other Brooklyn Community Boards and other organizations.

In regard to making FLAC a formally organized entity, Nichols explained, “We are not going to incorporate. We are just people talking around the coffee table in someone’s home. It is more so about getting active, having a mission and taking a stand for preserving the community. Our focus is on Crown Heights. [The immediate issue] is the rezoning of Franklin Avenue”.

It would be a mistake to interpret an informal structure to mean lack of planning.

The group has been contacted by a Pratt Institute Urban Planning Department professor about the validity for concern about possible shadows resulting from upzoning.

Many FLAC members are regular attendees at Brooklyn Community Board No. 9 (CB9) general meetings. It is common to find a member standing before a CB9 meeting audience to read a position statement.

FLAC’s name not only has a creative origin, so does the image on the group’s T-shirt. FLAC members participated in a community envisioning session held at the main Brooklyn Public Library, sponsored by City Planning. After the event, some FLAC members interpreted the session as a means to placate the public while moving forward with its zoning agenda. The conversation had someone say, “Starve the beast!” The beast is the representation of real estate developers and their cohorts.

It is Janine Nichols who drew the scene of the huge dragon eating the Brooklyn Bridge. The dragon is modeled after a Disney dragon. The image is meant to “fight against the selling-off of property, upzoning, increased rents and housing prices.

12

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

LEGAL NOTICES ➔➔ Continued from page 10 York State Department of Financial Services at 1-800-342-3736 or visit the Department’s website at www.dfs.ny.gov. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEAVE YOUR HOME AT THIS TIME. You have the right to stay in your home during the foreclosure process.

You are not required to leave your home unless and until your property is sold at auction pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale. Regardless of whether you choose to remain in your home, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR PROPERTY and pay property taxes in accordance with state and local law. Foreclosure rescue scams Be careful of people who approach you with offers to save your home. There are individuals who watch for notices of foreclosure actions in order to unfairly profit from a homeowner’s distress. You should be extremely careful about any such promises and any suggestions that you pay them a fee or sign over your deed. State law requires anyone offering such services for profit to enter into a contract which fully describes the services they will perform and fees they will charge, and which prohibits them from taking any money from you until they have completed all such promised services. The foregoing Summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of Hon. Noach Dear, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, signed on the 25th day of July, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York and to be duly entered in the KINGS County Clerk’s Office, in Brooklyn, New York. The Nature of this action pertains to a note and mortgage held by Plaintiff on real property owned by the above named defendants as specified in the complaint filed in this action.

The above named defendants have failed to comply with the terms and provisions of the said mortgage and said instruments secured by said mortgage, by failing and omitting to pay the balance due and owing and the Plaintiff has commenced a foreclosure action. Plaintiff is seeking a judgment foreclosing its mortgage against the real property and premises which situates in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York and is commonly known as 84 Amboy Street, Brooklyn, New York 11212 and all other relief as to the Court may seem just and equitable. DATED: August 18, 2017 SCHILLER, KNAPP, LEFKOWITZ & HERTZEL, LLP BY: WILLIAM B. SCHILLER, ESQ. Attorneys for Plaintiff 950 New Loudon Road Latham, New York 12110 Telephone: (518) 786-9069 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: KINGS COUNTY WELLS FARGO BANK N.A.; Plaintiff(s) vs.

ELEANOR L. BROWNE; IVOR A. CLARKE; et al; Defendant(s) Attorney (s) for Plaintiff (s): ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 2 Summit Court, Suite 301, Fishkill, New York, 12524, 845.897.1600 Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on or about March 17, 2016, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder in Room 224 of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. On September 28, 2017 at 2:30 pm. Premises known as 1458 E 87TH STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11236-5138 Block: 8083 Lot: 32 All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. Approximate amount of judgment $699,184.36 plus interest and costs. INDEX

NO. 5383-13 Steven H. Richman, Esq., Referee NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK — COUNTY OF KINGS —Pursuant to an Order of the Court of the State of New York, County of Kings, signed and dated on December 29, 2016, and entered on December 29, 2016 (the “Order”), in the action entitled Rodeo of New York, Inc. v.

Elliot Shelby, et al – Index No. 21412/2007 – I, the undersigned Referee, duly appointed in this action for such purpose, will sell at public auction to the highest bidder, at the Kings County Supreme Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Room 224, on September 14, 2017, at 2:30 p.m., the property described and directed to be sold in such Order, which is briefly described as all that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the State of New York, County of Kings, with address of: 811 Avenue S, Brooklyn, New York 11223 (SBL # Block 6684, Lot 48); (the “Premises”). Such Premises will be sold subject to the terms of the filed Order and the Terms of Sale. LISA BREIER URBAN, ESQ., Referee. ALL INQUIRIES TO: Law Offices of Kishner & Miller, Attorneys for Plaintiff, 420 Lexington Ave. Suite 300, New York, NY 10170, Attn: Ryan O. Miller, Esq., tel. no. 212-297-6268. Dated: New York, New York August 14, 2017 LISA BREIER URBAN, ESQ., ESQ., Referee Supplemental Summons and Notice of Object of Action Supreme Court Of The State Of New York County Of Kings Action to Foreclose a Mortgage Index #: 521070/2016 U.S. Bank National Association, Not In Its Individual Capacity, But Solely As Trustee For The RMAC Trust, Series 2013-1T Plaintiff vs Leonard Gibson, Yona Gelernter Gibson If Living, And If He/She Be Dead, Any And All Persons Unknown To Plaintiff, Claiming, Or Who May Claim To Have An Interest In, Or General Or Specific Lien Upon The Real Property Described In This Action; Such Unknown Persons Being Herein Generally Described And Intended To Be Included In Wife, Widow, Husband, Widower, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assignees Of Such Deceased, Any And All Persons Deriving Interest In Or Lien Upon, Or Title To Said Real Property By, Through Or Under Them, Or Either Of Them, And Their Respective Wives, Widows, Husbands, Widowers, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assigns, All Of Whom And Whose Names, Except As Stated, Are Unknown To Plaintiff, Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. Successor By Merger To Mortgageit, Inc., Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Leocadia A. Duncan, Marina District Development Co Llc, New York City Transit Adjudication Bureau, New York City Parking Violations Bureau, New York City Environmental Control Board, United States Of America Acting Through The IRS, People Of The State Of New York, John Doe (being fictitious, the names unknown to Plaintiff intended to be tenants, occupants, persons or corporations having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the property described in the complaint or their heirs at law, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, guardians, assignees, creditors or successors.)

Defendant(s) Mortgaged Premises: 1305 Park Place Brooklyn, NY 11213 BL #: 136565 To the Above named Defendant: You are hereby summoned to answer the Complaint in this action, and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Supplemental Summons, to serve

a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff(s) attorney(s) within twenty days after the service of this Supplemental Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this Supplemental Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. The Attorney for Plaintiff has an office for business in the County of Erie.

Trial to be held in the County of Kings. The basis of the venue designated above is the location of the Mortgaged Premises. TO Yona Gelernter Defendant In this Action.

The foregoing Supplemental Summons is served upon you by publication, pursuant to an order of HON. Noach Dear of the Supreme Court Of The State Of New York, dated the Twenty-Eighth day of July, 2017 and filed with the Complaint in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Kings, in the City of Brooklyn. The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage dated December 22, 2006, executed by Leonard Gibson by the attorney in fact to secure the sum of $600,000.00. The Mortgage was recorded at CRFN 2007000164201 in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County on March 30, 2007. The maximum aggregate principal balance secured by this mortgage is $660,000.00 which is 110% of the original Principal note amount.

Said Mortgage was recorded as follows and mortgage tax paid on the total maximum obligation of $660,000.00. The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed November 14, 2007 and recorded on February 27, 2008, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County at CRFN 2008000079630. The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed January 28, 2008 and recorded on February 27, 2008, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County at CRFN 2008000079631.

The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed June 10, 2009 and recorded on September 10, 2009, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County at CRFN 2009000292235. The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed July 14, 2010 and recorded on September 17, 2010, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County at CRFN 2010000315018. The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment executed December 27, 2012 and recorded on July 24, 2013, in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York, Kings County at CRFN 2013000290934. The property in question is described as follows: 1305 PARK PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY 11213 NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home.

Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. DATED: August 11, 2017 Gross Polowy, LLC Attorney(s) For Plaintiff(s) 1775 Wehrle Drive, Suite 100 Williamsville, NY 14221 The law firm of Gross Polowy, LLC and the attorneys whom it employs are debt collectors who are attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained by them will be used for that purpose. “The mortgage was subsequently assigned by an assignment

VOL. 21 NO. 35 executed January 28, 2008 and recorded on February 27, 2008, in the Office of the City Register of the City.”

NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County Of Kings U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee for the Structured Asset Investment Loan Trust, 2006-3, Plaintiff AGAINST Cecilia Boodhoo, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 11/7/2014and entered on 1/12/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on September 14, 2017 at 02:30 PM premises known as 293 Schenck Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 3996, LOT: 104. Approximate amount of judgment is $793,304.94 plus interests and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 4390/08. Steve Cohen, Referee FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP, 53 Gibson Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 Supreme Court County Of Kings Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as Trustee for HASCO 2007-WF1, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007WF1, Plaintiff AGAINST Corine McLean, Paulette McLean, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 10/8/2014and entered on 10/14/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on September 07, 2017 at 02:30 PM premises known as 3110 Snyder Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11226. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 4902, LOT: 4. Approximate amount of judgment is $771,210.52 plus interests and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 8391/2008. Domenick Napoletano, Referee FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP 53 Gibson Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County Of Kings US Bank National Association as Trustee for SASCO Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-WF3, Plaintiff AGAINST Victor Inwang, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 11/13/2014and entered on 11/21/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on September 07, 2017 at 02:30 PM premises known as 31 Monaco Place Brooklyn, NY 11233. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 1570, LOT: 2. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,049,420.70 plus interests and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 36334/2007. Scott Harris Klein, Referee, FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP, 53 Gibson Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS NATIONAL LOAN INVESTORS, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, Plaintiff against KWESI FRASER, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on December 21, 2015. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the ➔➔ Continued on page 14

VOL. 21 NO. 35

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

View From Here ■■

Kings County Civil Court Judge Primaries Look Like a Battle

By David Mark Greaves

Because if we don’t come out to vote, unlawful conviction and overturned 20 some other community will come and years later by the Conviction Review Unit ne of the facts that’s brought to snatch the office away from us. and finalized by Acting DA Eric Gonzalez. light in “Black Brooklyn: The O’Hara told the Daily Eagle that being a Politics of Ethnicity, Class and convicted felon for 20 years has given Gender” by John Flateau is the recurring him an unusual “perspective”; it’s “an instants of increased white voter turnout experience that you bring to the bench”. when there was a white candidate opFrederick C. Arriaga posing a nonwhite person and the overall Arriaga received his B.S. from the Thomas Kennedy power of ethnic identity in voting. This University of Florida and his JD from Thomas Kennedy, an associate at suggests there should be considerable the Brooklyn Law School (1992). Glancy Prongay & Murray, represents concern on the part of the Democratic Arriaga began his career in 1992 as plaintiffs in white-collar fraud cases.

Party in this year’s judicial Democratic a senior attorney for South Brooklyn primary where there are ten candidates Legal Services. He then worked in 1996 David C. Pepper running for five judgeships and the five and 1997 as a senior attorney for the Pepper is the Principal Law Clerk to highest vote-getters win. Five of those Legal Aid Society›s Brooklyn Office Civil Court Judge Martin M. Solomon running are backed by the Democratic for the Aging before returning to South where he participates in all aspects of Party and five or not.

Brooklyn Legal Services in 1997. He trials, hearings and proceedings. He is fully How will first-time Kings County served there as a senior attorney until responsible for conducting and scheduling white voters make their choices? How will 2004 when he became counsel to the discovery conferences for an inventory of longtime white residents, uncomfortable Brooklyn Borough President. over four hundred commercial cases and with the increasingly diverse judiciary, conducted and participated in settlement vote?

Patria Frias-Colon conferences in commercial, civil and Voting for city, state and federal Frias-Colon currently serves as the landlord-tenant matters. He is a graduate offices are very different from voting for Brooklyn Borough Chief for the New of the State University of New York at civil court judges that the voter and the York City Law Department’s Family Binghamton and also holds a J.D. from voter’s community will be standing in Court Division where she supervises Brooklyn Law School. front of. All of the candidates insist they and oversees the juvenile delinquency will administer justice fairly, but the tribal practice. Prior to that, she served the Sandra Roper instinct still asks, “Will this person be fair NYC Department of Education as Born in Panama, Sandra Roper’s to me and my community?”

Agency Counsel in 1998 and later pro- father was Costa Rican and her mother, A reading of Flateau’s “Black moted to Assistant Deputy Counsel to Panamanian. She immigrated with her Brooklyn” suggests looking at identifica- the Chancellor. Previously, Patria served grandparents, UAW member Lionel Scott, tion with the community, which may be as Assistant District Attorney in Kings and 1199 member Cecilia Scott, and lived different than the party, and it is that which County and an Adjunct Professor with St. in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on Pacific motivates the voter. In terms of gender, John’s University School of Education.

Street. Roper has won many academic we can expect the women in the race and public service awards. She attended to do well. And because the contest for Patrick Haynes Sheepshead Bay High School, Long Island District Attorney features Eric Gonzalez, Patrick Haynes is a former Brooklyn College University and received her Juris we can expect the Hispanic candidates to prosecutor now in private practice at Doctor from Brooklyn Law School and a do well also. The problem for the county the Law Office of Patrick Haynes.

Masters of Law from New York University Democratic machine is the presence of (NYU). Roper was a member of 1199 Thomas Kennedy, John O’Hara and Isiris Isella Isaac member for 37 years and was a candidate Patrick Haynes, whose names signal Principal law clerk to Brooklyn for Brooklyn District Attorney in 2001 white heritage to the 17.8% of the county Supreme Court Justice Shawndya that voted for Donald Trump, as well as Simpson; NOTE: Approved by the New Hon. Robin K. Sheares the white supremacist-lite community York City Bar. After graduating from Brooklyn who decry the privilege while they lap it Technical High School, Sheares continued up. And insurgent Isiris Isella Isaac may Connie Melendez her education at Ithaca College in Ithaca, also be helped by the possible increased Melendez is the Principal Law New York where she received her Bachelor Hispanic turnout, now only enhanced Clerk for Justice Marsha L. Steinhardt of Arts in Political Science. Years later, by the pardoning of Arizona Sheriff Joe at New York State Supreme Court, Kings she earned a Juris Doctor degree from St. Arpaio, while Sandra Roper is emphasiz- County. In this capacity, she researches, John’s University of Law, and in 1986, she ing her Caribbean heritage. analyzes and resolves issues of law, passed the New York State Bar Exam.

On the plus side for the party, candi- procedure and evidence arising from Upon receiving her law degree, date Patria Frias-Colon may also benefit medical malpractice, negligence and Sheares found work as a court attorfrom an increased Hispanic vote, but foreclosure actions. Melendez grad- ney, assisting judges on legal matters they’ll have to go down a bit to find her-- uated from Rutgers University magna regarding landlord-tenant laws. During she’s on the 14th ballot line. cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in this time, she also worked on Dunaway Judge Carolyn Wade is unopposed and Psychology, received a Juris Doctor from hearings, which are hearings conducted to safe, and incumbent Judge Robin Sheares Brooklyn Law School in 1986. determine whether the evidence used in a from Bedford-Stuyvesant is number one case was obtained from an illegal arrest. on the line for the judges.

John O’Hara Sheares continued to work as a court No one should feel that their candi John O›Hara, a Brooklyn attorney attorney for nearly twenty years before date is safe or doesn’t have a chance. who made headlines when he became deciding to start running for Civil Court This is a vote for the people who one the first person to be convicted of illegal Judge. After two unsuccessful campaigns, day may determine the direction of voting since the 19th century by then-Dis- she was elected in 2007, becoming the your life or of someone you know. trict Attorney Charles Hynes. It was an Honorable Judge Robin K. Sheares.

O

Civil Court Judge Candidates

The Sound of Our Society ➔➔ Continued from page 5 streets of our neighborhoods. Would community violence be lower if the music fed to our youth was more empowering and positive in nature and less self-degrading? Fela said that music is a weapon of the future, but I don’t think he could have foreseen that we would be pointing that weapon to our own heads and freely pulling the trigger. We must begin (again) to hold our musicians and artists accountable for social and moral responsibilities.

Plato said that music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. What virtues does our popular music educate our soul?

13

14

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

Classifieds

LEGAL NOTICES

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➔➔ Continued from page 12 Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 14th day of September 14, 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, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the corner formed by the intersection of the northerly side of Church Avenue, as legally opened and now existing, and the easterly side of East 56th Street; Running thence easterly along the northerly side of Church Avenue, 40 feet; Thence northerly parallel with East 56th Street, 45 feet 3 ¾ inches to the southerly side of Lot No. 20 on “Map of Rugby” Map No. 1446, filed August 2, 1904; Thence westerly along same and at right angles to East 56th Street, 40 feet to the easterly side of East 56th Street; Thence southerly along the easterly side of East 56th Street, 45 feet to the point or place of beginning. Said premises known as 5601/5603 Church Avenue a/k/a 181 East 56th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11203. (Block: 4682, Lot: 51).

Approximate amount of lien $ 278,455.61 plus

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interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 006251/13. Aaron Tyk, Esq., Referee. DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP, Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, One North Lexington Avenue, 11th Floor, White Plains, New York 10601. (914) 681-0200 SUPREME C O U RT OF THE STATE OF NEW YO R K COUNTY OF KINGS SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS Mortgaged Premises: 38 E 91ST STREET BROOKLYN, NY 11212 Block: 4593 Lot: 18 Plaintiff designates KINGS as the place of trial situs of the real property INDEX NO. 500682/2017 FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (“FANNIE MAE”), A CORPORATION ORGANIZED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. HEIRS AND DISTRIBUTEES OF THE ESTATE OF WAYNE GRIFFITH; any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; MURIEL GRIFFITH, HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF WAYNE GRIFFITH; PETER GRIFFITH, HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF WAYNE GRIFFITH; MELLISA GRIFFITH, HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF WAYNE GRIFFITH; SHILAH GRIFFITH, HEIR AND DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE OF WAYNE GRIFFITH, NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – INTERNAL REVENUE S E RV I C E ; JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; SARAH GRIFFITH; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME); “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME), “JOHN DOE #1” through “JOHN DOE #12,” the last twelve names being fictitious and unknown to plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or corporations,

if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises, described in the complaint, Defendants. To the above named Defendants YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the Plaintiff’s Attorney within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York) in the event the United States of America is made a party defendant, the time to answer for the said United States of America shall not expire until (60) days after service of the Summons; and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $145,900.00 and interest, recorded on February 23, 2004, at CRFN 2004000106580 of the Public Records of KINGS County, New York, covering premises known as 38 E 91ST STREET BROOKLYN, NY 11212. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

KINGS County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to the mortgage company will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND

BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: April 6, 2017 RAS BORISKIN, LLC Attorney for Plaintiff BY: HEDVA D. HAVIV, ESQ. 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 106 Westbury, NY 11590 516-280-7675 N OT I C E OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS HSBC Bank USA, National Association as Trustee for Nomura Asset Acceptance Corporation, Mortgage PassThrough Certificates, Series 20071, Plaintiff AGAINST Merwyn Fraser; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated August 26, 2015 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County

VOL. 21 NO. 35 Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on September 7, 2017 at 2:30PM, premises known as 220 Nichols Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208.

All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City n and State of NY, Block 4134 Lot 44.

Approximate amount of judgment $966,696.08 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 6045/2013. Anthony J. Lamberti, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 759-1835 Dated: June 26, 2017 47057 REFEREE’S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff – against – MARIA BURGOS, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale filed January 19, 2016. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in room 224 of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on the 7th Day of September, 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, City and State of New York. Premises known as 640 Belmont Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207. (Block: 4030, Lot: 118). Approximate amount of lien $205,577.44 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.

Index No. 11589-11. Bernard M. Alter, Esq., Referee. Davidson Fink LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 28 East Main Street, Suite 1700 Rochester, NY 14614-1990 Tel. 585/760-8218 Dated: July 6, 2017 N OT I C E OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, DBA CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT AS TRUSTEE FOR PRETIUM M O RT G AG E AC QU I S I T I O N T RU S T, Plaintiff, vs. KALI GUMBS, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on July 06, 2017, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on September 14, 2017 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 15 Vermont Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 3487 and Lot 40.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 2131/14. Gregory Laspina, Esq., Referee Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy & Fenchel, P.C., 100 Garden City Plaza, Garden City, NY 11530, Attorneys for Plaintiff

VOL. 21 NO. 35

15

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

Special for OTP:

Top Ten Things We Learned From Superstorm Sandy

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Laurie Nadel, Ph.D.

n October 29, 2012, my Long Beach, NY home of 18 years was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

A Category One weather event, Sandy’s storm surge destroyed the sewage treatment plant on the barrier island, leaving us with a contaminated water supply and homes covered in raw sewage, oil and feces.

Since the house was unlivable and there was no electricity on the island, I spent about a month as a FEMA refugee, moving five times until I landed in my friend’s basement in Brooklyn. When electricity came back, I was able to stay in my mother’s apartment a few blocks from the house where the pile of soggy sheetrock and plumbing fixtures was higher than the roof line. As I walked through town, talking to people, I could see and sense the need for a safe support group where people could share resources and experiences. As a specialist in acute stress and trauma issues with experience leading support groups for family members with direct loss from the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, it was my privilege over the next four years to run two long-term support groups on the island for Sandy survivors: one in the Long Beach City Hall courtroom; the second, at St. James of Jerusalem Episcopal Church.

Several of those who participated in the post-Sandy support groups have asked me to write to express our support and concern for everyone, including pets, who are coping with the acute stress of surviving a major catastrophe. We know what it’s like to lose everything and we also know that you have a long road ahead. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. As you are now forced to make survival decisions while still in shock, we hope that the Top Ten Things Hurricane Sandy Taught Us will be helpful as you prepare for the next phase of survival.

10. Get all dollar estimates in writing.

Yes, there are angels who will come to your aid but the vultures are about to descend.

Demolition companies from out-of-state will quote you a price for stage one demolition but they will not write that number on the paperwork, telling you that your insurance company will pay them directly. Not so. To protect yourself, get all dollar estimates in writing! If the demolition company tells you that is not their policy, find a local company and get it in writing or you will get a bill

for double or triple the price quoted. If you attempt to negotiate for a lower price, some companies will threaten to put a lien on your home. Seriously: Get all dollar estimates in writing. If possible, get the name of a local lawyer who can assist you when needed.

These companies are not your friend.

9. Reach out. Don’t isolate. The tendency to isolate post-disaster can be dangerous.

People who stuff down their feelings and don’t talk about what they are going through are more likely to develop alcoholism, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. Don’t let yourself slide down that chute. Keep telling your story. Ask a friend or family member for a few minutes of their time and keep talking.

(If you would like to speak to someone from the Hurricane Sandy community, please contact me at drnadel@laurienadel.com. We are here for you.)

8. Keep records. At some point, FEMA and the insurance company will need to see receipts for every item and service you have paid for since #Harvey. Ask someone for a ziplock bag to store paper receipts. Take lots of pictures of the damage. Get a notebook or start a document file on your phone and write your story and the names and phone numbers of everyone to whom you speak for the first year after the storm. It’s going to get complicated and you will be grateful for your phone log.

7. Know the signs of acute stress. No, you are not going crazy. You are a normal person having normal reactions to an abnormal situation. Expect changes in sleep patterns, appetite and breathing. There may be dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, digestive issues and rapid heartbeat. Internal emotional responses may range from a “deer in the headlights” paralysis to numbness, shock, fear, depression and guilt. You may feel sorrowful, lonely, vulnerable, frustrated or angry. Or all of the above. Behaviors— how feelings get expressed—can range from crying, outbursts of anger, irritability, substance abuse, loss of self-worth, a sense of hopelessness and withdrawal from others.

These patterns are usually short-lived and resolve naturally. The American Red Cross has excellent disaster mental health services and there will be post-disaster counseling available. If you are having trouble coping after a few months, please seek out professional help.

Superstorm Sandy's devastation in Long Beach, October, 2012.

6. Practice Emotional First Aid. When you get overwhelmed, breathe in a calming color and feel it traveling to any part of your body that is holding tension. After a few breaths, release that tension by exhaling a different color. Inhale a calm color. Exhale tension and pain as a different color. This technique is Safe, Effective and Quick (SEQ).

It works in less than a minute.

5. Stay hydrated. Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Drink lots of water. Nap whenever you can. Eat regular meals. Alternate exercise and relaxation. Avoid a lot of sugar and appreciate being able to choose what you eat. Disaster takes away your sense of control. A simple step like choosing meals helps reaffirm that although you were helpless to prevent this tragedy, you still have control over your food choices. It may sound simplistic but it works.

4. Focus on one positive moment a day.

Keep a “News and Goods” log where you jot down one nice thing that happens every day: someone smiled or charged your cell phone or offered you some peanut M&M’s, for example. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

The important thing is to notice it and keep a record for yourself. It will help you in the months to come when the financial trauma hits.

3. The help cycle lasts two months. For the first eight to ten weeks, people will come from all over the country to offer help and support. People want to be generous in the wake of a disaster. It’s inspiring and comforting. But they tend to go after a couple of months, leaving you to struggle with the day-to-day mechanics of survival. You will learn who your real friends are and it will surprise you. People whom you did not know well will come through for you while others

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whom you thought you could count on will step away, leaving you disappointed. Disaster shakes up the social foundation of your life and at some point, it will be hard for you to spend time with people who don’t get it.

Find people who are in the same boat or who have gone through something similar. Keep sharing information, resources and experiences. Giving of yourself when you think you have lost it all is the best way to nurture and replenish yourself.

2. Get ready for the long haul. Nobody likes to hear this but healing from a catastrophe usually takes from three to five years.

The first year is all about shock and survival.

Take good care of yourself and your family.

Don’t lose faith. Don’t give up. It will get better but it’s going to take time. You will need five gifts: humility, patience, empathy, forgiveness and growth.

1. Your life will be changed forever. As you move into the long, complicated and frustrating process of seeking funds to rebuild, you will wonder what happened to your old way of life. You will grieve it and miss it.

That’s normal, too. There’s good news and bad news. Bad news first: it’s not coming back. That knowledge will hit you again and again. Good news: you will discover that you are stronger than you realize; you will learn who your real friends are; and, in time, you will move forward into your new life with appreciation for all you have learned, all who have helped you, and for others who are hurting when disaster strikes.

Laurie Nadel, Ph.D., is the author of The Five Gifts: Discovering Healing, Hope and Strength When Disaster Strikes. Foreword by Dan Rather (Health Communications, Inc.) (Available on amazon.com.) https://tinyurl. com/yaswxme5

Chess Mates

embers of the Medgar Evers College Preparatory School Chess Team took part in the Brooklyn Chess Festival this past weekend, hosted by Parks and Recreation. Elisha Amadasu, 8th-grade member of the chess team, is seen here with team member Jasmine Williams going into the 12th. The next tournament is on September 16th , which is a Chess-In-The-Park tournament, hosted at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. They will be playing in a Rapid Open, which is a tournament which anyone can play in, without invitation, and each side will have 25 mins. to complete a game.

Elisha Amadasu and Jasmine Williams

Kyrel Burnett and Demola Ogunnaike

16

OUR TIME PRESS August 31 – September 6, 2017

VOL. 21 NO. 35

Muslim youth group hits streets to help Houston residents during storm

More than 100 young men turned out to pass out food and water in their neighbourhoods ■■ By Emily Shugerman, www.independent.co.uk

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s Hurricane Harvey hit Texas with devastating floods, a group of young Muslim men hit the streets to help their neighbors.

More than 100 members of Muslim Youth USA, and 40 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, passed out food, water, and other supplies in Houston, according to organizers. Both groups expect to gain more volunteers from surrounding cities when the roadways open up.

Madeel Abdullah, director of humanitarian affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth

Association, said more than 700 members of his organization have been affected by the storm. But the volunteers, he said, are “helping anybody else that’s in distress”.

“We’ve already provided basic supplies such as food items and water bottles,” Mr. Abdullah told The Independent, “and we have a few members who have boats who are going around making sure everyone is safe.”

Both youth groups were assisted by Humanity First, an Ahmadiyya Muslim charity dedicated to disaster relief. First founded in England, the charity has expanded to more than 40 countries in the last 25 years.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spokesman Qasim Rashid told The Independent the groups had mobilized both their

Volunteers for Muslim Youth USA assist in relief efforts during tropical storm Harvey Courtesy Muslim Youth USA

Volunteers pass out supplies in Houston during tropical storm Harvey (Courtesy Muslim Youth USA) local and national chapters before hurricane Harvey even began. They started sending volunteers into Houston neighborhoods as early as Sunday – just two days after the storm first hit. All three groups identify as Ahmadiyya Muslim – an embattled branch of Islam that originated in India in the 19th century.

According to Mr Rashid, the groups follow the teachings of Caliph Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who preaches empathy for their fellow Americans.

“Your faith as Muslims and your identity as Americans needs to hold you accountable,” Mr. Rashid said the Caliph told them.

“Whenever your fellow Americans are in need, you need to be the first ones on the ground to help them.”

To that end, Humanity First USA has aided recovery efforts in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, in New York after hurricane Sandy, and in Texas after hurricane Rita.

So far, they have raised more than $18,000 to benefit the victims of hurricane Harvey.

It’s a notable feat for a Muslim charity, in a year in which anti-Muslim hate crimes have spiked 91 per cent and the President has proposed a so-called “Muslim travel ban”.

But Mr Rashid said he’s seen no drop-off in enthusiasm.

“If anything, it has had the opposite effect that people might think,” he said of the current political climate. “If anything it’s emboldened our youth to work even harder to exemplify what Islam means.”

Sierra Leone mudslide: What, where and why?

On August 14 a mudslide killed hundreds on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. Here is what we know.

■■

Al Jazeera

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n August 14, a mudslide killed more than 400 people in the mountain town of Regent on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, sweeping away homes and leaving residents desperate for news of missing family members.

Here is what we know about it so far:

What happened and when?

A hillside collapsed on Monday at 6am local time (06:00 GMT), causing a mudslide on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown.

The mudslide occurred after three days of torrential rain.

The mudslide and rain overwhelmed Freetown’s drainage system, creating waterways that churned down steep streets across the capital.

Mudslides overran several houses killing hundreds of residents, many of whom were trapped inside their homes.

Military personnel have been deployed to help rescue those still trapped.

According to Sierra Leone’s president, an emergency response centre has been established in Regent.

Where did it happen?

The flooding took place in the mountain town of Regent, on the outskirts of Freetown.

Located about 16km from the capital, the town of roughly one million people sits between the Atlantic Ocean and a range of hills.

Many people in Regent live in informal settlements on steep hillsides.

View image on Twitter

Could it have been prevented?

A mudslide triggered by torrential floods is typically considered a natural disaster. The uprooting of trees for construction on the hillside is also known to have made the soil unstable and more vulnerable to collapse.

Many have questioned why the government has not done more to tackle the illegal construction of the overcrowded hillsides.

In Sierra Leone, storms and torrential downpours are common in August and

Residents save belongings in floodwaters after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone on August 14, 2017 [Ernest Henry/Reuters]

September. In 2015, floods killed 10 people and left thousands homeless.

This year, Sierra Leone has seen 104cm of rain since July 1, which is three times more than expected during the rainy season according to the US National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center.

Sierra Leone’s meteorological department did not issue a warning to hasten evacuations from danger zones before the torrential rainfall between August 11 to August 14, AFP news agency reported.

The country’s officials have warned against unregulated construction on the hillsides.

Is it safe now? What is the latest on the ground?

Aid agencies have warned that there is a risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid spreading as more flooding is expected.

A local state of emergency has been declared.

Satellite images show extensive damage, with hundreds of buildings destroyed.

About 3,000 people are estimated to be homeless.

The Red Cross is struggling to excavate families buried deep in the mud that engulfed their homes.

How many casualties?

What happened next?

The death toll has risen to nearly 500. At least 109 children are among those who have been killed.

It is estimated that at least 600 people remain missing.

The morgue at Freetown’s Connaught Hospital has been so overwhelmed by dead bodies that many of them have been left on the floor for lack of space.

On Wednesday, President Ernest Bai Koroma’s office promised “dignified burials” in the coming days.

The first of which is expected on Thursday at 3pm local time (15:00 GMT).

However, according a local Freetown city council official at least 150 burials took places on Tuesday.

A week-long mourning was declared.

The International Organization for Migration released $150,000 in emergency funds.

The government of Sierra Leone promised relief to thousands of people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and four registration centres.

The UN said it was evaluating humanitarian needs in the country and that “contingency plans are being put in place to mitigate any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea”, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Turkey, the UK, Israel and the UAE vowed to send aid, including clean water, medicine and blankets.

A woman mourns for her son at the entrance of Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone August 16, 2017 [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]