Photo by Anthony Amato
Zone 1 Police hold meeting at Arnold’s Tea On Thursday, August 18 the Zone 1 Police held a meeting at Arnold’s Tea, 502 E. Ohio St., to answer questions and concerns of Northside residents. Over 20 people were in attendance, the most that Commander Chris Ragland has seen at similar events. The meeting included how to deal with dangerous drivers, how to report neighbors involved in illegal activities, and the issue of police becoming parents. Ragland mentioned that officers are looking into ShotSpotter’s for Zone 1. A ShotSpotter uses highly specialized microphones to identify the direction and location of gun shots in high crime areas. Video cameras also accompany the devices so police can respond appropriately.
Alphabet City prepares for grand opening By Ayne Terceira After months of preparation and anticipation, City of Asylum is moving into its new permanent home, City of Asylum @ Alphabet City–formerly the site of the historic Masonic Building, located on the Garden Theater block of Pittsburgh’s Northside. To mark this momentous occasion, City of Asylum is hosting a public Grand Opening event on September 10th with Guest of Honor 2015 Nobel Laureate in Literature Svetlana Alexievich. After delivering the “Inaugural Address” to launch City of Asylum @ Alphabet City, Alexievich will engage in a public interview and conversation with New Yorker writer Philip Gourevitch. The Grand Opening ceremonies will be followed by a month of free Jazz Poetry events, an expansion of their popular annual Jazz Poetry Festival programming.
Jazz Poetry Month will feature American jazz musicians as well as poets from around the world performing both together and individually. The month-long festival commences with a performance by saxophonist and poet Oliver Lake on September 15th, 2016 and will feature weekly jazz and poetry events until October 9th, 2016. The new acoustically-tuned performance space promises to be an ideal venue in which to showcase the work of international poets whose work has been censored or banned in their homelands. “The expansion of our Jazz Poetry Festival at City of Asylum @ Alphabet City will provide more opportunity to international artists and local audiences alike.” said Silvia Duarte, City of Asylum’s Assistant Director. “This is a perfect way to inaugurate this fantastic space and celebrate all together: Pittsburghers, local legends and international performers.”
Featured musical performers of this series include local jazz favorite, Roger Humphries, recent City of Asylum artists-in-residence Thumbscrew, and international jazz sensation Jack Sooäär. Spoken word performers include nationally renowned poet Richard Blanco (who read at Barack Obama’s second inauguration), Yona Harvey (known most recently for her collaboration with Marvel Comics), and ICORN exiled writer-inresidence at City of Asylum Tuhin Das. (A complete list of performers is included as part of our press kit below.) As with all City of Asylum events, festival performances will be free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to register for each event online at AlphabetCity.org to reserve their seat. The $12.5 million City of Asylum @ Alphabet City project is the culmination of eight years of work and determination on the part of City of Asylum.