New York Amsterdam News Issue: March 7-13, 2024

BLACK NEW YORKERS MORE LIKELY TO END UP IN A HOLDING CELL FOR SAME CRIME

Councilperson Yusef Salaam holds formal inauguration (See story on page 9)

Sharpton joins ‘Save SUNY Downstate’ rally (See story on page 3)

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NIGERIAN WORKERS ON STRIKE AS FUEL PRICES SKYROCKET

(GIN)—Recently-elected Nigerian President Bola Tinubu gave hope to a country in need of a miracle.

“The prospect of a better future merges with our improved capacity to create that future,” he promised a nation barely holding it together with ethnic and religious divisions, high unemployment. and a heavy reliance on dwindling oil revenues.

The economy would expand by at least 6% a year, the 71-year-old former governor of Lagos pledged, along with vowing to lift barriers to investment and create jobs.

The first-term president faced monumental challenges, including a struggling economy with record debt, shortages of foreign exchange and fuel, a weak naira currency, nearly two-decades-high inflation, skeletal power supplies and falling oil production due to crude theft and underinvestment— inherited from past presidents.

“I have a message for our investors,” Tinubu said confidently. “Our government shall review all their complaints about multiple taxation

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and various anti-investment inhibitions.”

But to hold back a flood from a leaking dam, Tinubu’s promises seemed hard to fulfill, if not impossible.

Still, on his first day in office, Tinubu went ahead and lifted the subsidy that used government funds to buy refined oil and keep gas prices low. Then, like a slow-moving tsunami, bad news rolled in and began to pick up speed.

Inflation is now running at nearly 30%, and food prices at 35.4%. The cost of imported goods has risen as the naira plummets.

“Removing subsidies was intended to improve government revenue,” said a local consultant with Financial Derivatives. “Revenues have increased, but they have not been efficiently spent. What happened to the money?”

In a country where half the population is younger than 18, spiraling prices are causing the greatest economic hardship in living memory.

Many are now questioning the wisdom of ending the subsidies without a shock-absorbing plan. Gasoline prices have more than doubled and inflation has shot up as a result, now the highest in nearly three decades according to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics. A pledge to roll out gas-powered buses for mass transit last year also failed to materialize.

“We’re hungry,” said Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigerian Labor Congress after the union called a two-day strike against the mounting hardship and insecurity.

“Things are getting out of hand,” a shop owner complained to the Voice of America. “Prices keep soaring, the aid the government promised has not been provided.”

Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill draws international condemnation after it is passed by parliament

By FRANCIS KOKUTSE Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana (AP)—A bill that criminalizes LGBTQ+ people in Ghana and their supporters drew international condemnation Thursday after it was passed by Parliament, with the United Nations calling it “profoundly disturbing” and urging for it not to become law.

In a statement, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner, said the bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people simply for being who they are, and threatens criminal penalties against those perceived as their allies.

“Consensual same-sex conduct should never be criminalized...The bill, if it becomes law, will be corrosive, and will have a negative impact on society as a whole,” she said.

The bill, which was voted through by Parliament in the West African nation on Wednesday, was first introduced three years ago. It criminalizes relationships, sexual activity, and public displays of affection between members of the LGBTQ+ community. It also targets their supporters and the promotion and funding of LGBTQ+-related activities.

Those convicted could face up to a decade in prison.

The bill has been sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

Ghana has generally been considered to be more respectful of human rights than most African countries, but since the legislation passed through Parliament, international

condemnation has grown.

The United States said it was deeply troubled by the bill, and that it threatens Ghanaians’ freedom of speech, and is urging for its constitutionality to be reviewed, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday.

In a radio interview, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame said he would not advise the president to sign a bill into law that didn’t abide by the constitution.

Audrey Gadzekpo, chair of the Center for Democratic Development, a rights group, said it will continue advocating to get the bill thrown out, including by going to court.

LGBTQ+ people in Ghana say they’re worried for the safety of those around them, such

as health providers, as well as for themselves.

“The passage of this bill—it demonstrates to me and all Ghanaians that our politicians do not respect our democracy. They do not respect our constitution, nor do they respect the many international rights treaties that Ghana has signed onto over the years,” a queer person who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal told the Associated Press.

“I don’t know how much longer I can continue to live in a country that has criminalized me,” she said.

Associated Press writers Misper Apawu in Accra and Sam Mednick in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

Speaker of Ghana Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin speaks at the Parliament House in Accra. Ghana’s parliament passed a highly controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill on Wednesday that could send some people to prison for more than a decade. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

(GIN photo)

Daughters say search for missing mom Neida Monge led to identifying Bronx Jane Doe from 1990 cold case

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

A Jane Doe who remained unidentified for more than three decades after her body was discovered in the Bronx got her name back just a week after her daughter, Jacqueline Velez, made a Facebook post inquiring about the fate of her missing mother, Neida Monge, late last March.

Almost a year later, Velez and her sister Brenda Vazquez said they are closer to closure thanks to what they call an online “network of angels”—social media users who volunteer their time to help find missing people. They didn’t get the answer they hoped for, but it was an answer that eluded

“Yes, it was the morgue picture that helped identify her, but that’s not the image I want people to see of my mom. Any picture you see of her, you see this bright smile and this woman who was just filled with light,” said Jackie Velez (front center). Velez is with her mom Neida Monge

them for three decades.

“There is a lot to unpack because she was, for all intents and purposes, missing for 33 years, so we are grateful that we know what happened to her,” said Velez. “But there’s a lot to unpack in terms of 33 years of not knowing what happened to someone…it’s a roller coaster of emotions, because you have the happiness of finding her, sadness [that] she’s gone, anger [for] what happened. There’s a lot of emotions that go with it.”

Monge’s daughters remember her as an awesome mom. They were adolescent girls when they last saw her, and too young to report her missing. Vazquez was 11 at the time. Velez was 10. Both ended up in foster care. The two aren’t shy about their mom’s

Rev. Sharpton joins massive ‘Save SUNY Downstate’ hospital rally in BK

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Union members showed up en masse last Thursday to demand that the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Hospital stay open, shutting down the block the hospital occupies. Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), joined them.

“I was born and raised in Brownsville and I’ve known central Brooklyn all my life,” Sharpton said at the rally. “We have had a [lack] of medical health places to take care of the needs of our community. Downstate has been one of the few. Now they want to blame the lack of funding on the folks that made little do much. This staff has taken little and kept lives going.”

Sharpton said that “shutting down Downstate” will not be tolerated.

The rally bookmarked the latest back and forth between the community and the state over the supposed closure of the hospital, which has suffered from decades of disin-

29.

vestment and a projected $100 million deficit in the current state budget. SUNY Downstate is a teaching hospital that serves primarily Medicaid and underinsured patients. It’s also where the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) medical device was invented.

Governor Kathy Hochul and SUNY Chancellor John King’s proposed plan involves moving inpatient services across the street to Kings County Hospital, among other things, to alleviate the hospital’s financial strain.

“After decades of disinvestment at SUNY Downstate, Governor Hochul is the first governor to focus on the healthcare needs of Central Brooklyn,” said Hochul’s office in a statement. “She has committed $400 million to bring high-quality health care to residents in a modernized facility while protecting healthcare jobs. At her direction, SUNY will continue to listen to the voices of residents as it finalizes plans to invest in and revitalize Downstate—not close it.”

Several groups and unions don’t support the state’s plan, such as United University

Gov. Hochul announces New York State reparations commissioners

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Governor Kathy Hochul officially launched the historic New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies on Feb. 29, the last day of Black History Month, and named its nine commissioners.

New York is the second state in the nation to pass a law in 2023 establishing a reparations commission that is slated to research the state’s role in perpetuating slavery in the U.S., study the years of racial discrimination after emancipation, create a report on their findings within a year after their first meeting, and make recommendations to remedy the harm done to descendants. This comes after decades of activism, demonstrations, and reports that underscore

disparities that impact Black New Yorkers.

“As Americans, we have a solemn responsibility to reckon with our history and that includes understanding the painful legacy of slavery in New York,” said Hochul. “We have assembled an extraordinary group of highly-qualified individuals to serve on the new Commission, and will review their final recommendations.”

Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewarrt-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie appointed the following leaders to the commission: Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA); Timothy Hogues, State Department of Civil Service commissioner; Linda Brown-Robinson, former President of the Syracuse Onondaga NAACP; Dr. Darrick Hamilton, director of the Institute on Race,

Power, and Political Economy at The New School; Historian Linda Tarrant-Reid; Seanelle Hawkins, president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester; Dr. Ron Daniels, founder of Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW); Lurie Daniel Favors, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College; and Rev. Dr. Deborah D. Jenkins from Faith @Work Christian Church. Senator James Sanders Jr. and Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages championed the reparations commission law, first introducing the bill in 2017.

“Today marks a monumental step towards healing and justice in New York. The launch of the Reparations Commission isn’t just about acknowledging the past, it’s about building a more equitable future for all. I believe this commission, with

its diverse expertise and commitment to truth-seeking, has the power to craft transformative policies that address the systemic harms inflicted on Black communities for generations,” said Sanders in a statement. Austin, in a statement, said she is deeply honored to serve on the commission and spoke to the immense responsibility they carry.

“Our work ahead is monumental,” said Austin. “It involves not only acknowledging the painful legacy of slavery and systemic discrimination, but actively crafting pathways to justice and equity. This commission represents a critical step forward in our collective journey towards civil rights and underscores New York’s leadership in what must become a national movement towards reconciliation and reparations.”

See REPARATIONS on page 36

See SAVE SUNY DOWNSTATE on page 36

See BRONX JANE DOE on page 36

Reverend Al Sharpton at a massive save SUNYDownstate rally in Brooklyn on Thursday, Feb.

(Ariama C. Long photo)

(center), sister Brenda (left), and brother Angel (back). (Courtesy of Neida Monge’s family)

SCOTUS and Haley’s victory—No surprises!

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Trump would remain on the ballot in Colorado and that Nikki Haley won the GOP primary in Washington, D.C. In the former news story, the Supreme Court voted unanimously (there were no dissents) in an unsigned decision and handed the former president a victory in his bid to return to the White House.

Haley’s victory in D.C., her first primary win, keeps Trump from his continuing sweep of the GOP primaries, giving her 19 delegates. Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley’s spokesperson, said “It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos.” She added that Haley is the first woman to win a Republican primary in history.

A statement issued by Trump’s campaign downplayed the victory, congratulating her sarcastically as being “Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and D.C. insiders that want to protect the failed status quo.”

The Court’s decision on Colorado assured that Congress and not the states have the final word on how the 14th Amendment impacts federal office contenders. Several minutes after the ruling, Trump hailed the decision on his social media site, writing in capital letters, “Big win for America!!!”

There was a time when such developments were critical to a presidential race on the eve of Super Tuesday, but there is no real contest in either party with President Biden, only faced with the “uncommitted” challenge and Trump on the verge of sealing the primary on Tuesday.

Voters and advocacy groups had filed dozens of challenges to Trump’s ballot eligibility in states across the country, claiming his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack triggered his disqualification.

The high court instead sided with Trump by ruling a singular state has no unilateral authority to enforce the 14th Amendment to disqualify federal candidates.

“Former President Trump challenges that decision on several grounds. Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse,” reads the unsigned opinion from the court.

Haley’s Sunday victory at least temporarily halts Donald Trump’s sweep of the GOP voting contests, although the former president is bound to pick up several hundred more delegates

The U.S. Senate border bill split

in this week’s Super Tuesday races.

In the video player above: Nikki Haley speaks one-on-one about her plans beyond Super Tuesday

Despite her early losses, Haley has said she would remain in the race at least through those contests, although she has declined to name any primary she felt confident she would win. Following her loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley remained adamant that voters in subsequent states deserved an alternative to Trump despite his dominance thus far in the campaign.

Washington is one of the most heavily Democratic jurisdictions in the nation, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city. Democrat Joe Biden won the district in the 2020 general election with 92% of the vote.

Election 2024: Trump wins caucuses in Missouri and Idaho, sweeps Michigan GOP convention

Haley held a rally in the nation’s capital on Friday before heading back to North Carolina and a series of states holding Super Tuesday primaries. She joked with more than 100 supporters inside a hotel ballroom, “Who says there’s no Republicans in D.C., come on.”

“We’re trying to make sure that we touch every hand that we can and speak to every person,” Haley said.

As she gave her standard campaign speech, criticizing Trump for running up federal deficit, one rallygoer bellowed, “He cannot win a general election. It’s madness.” That prompted agreement from Haley, who argues that she can deny Biden a second term but Trump can’t.

While campaigning as an avowed conservative, Haley has tended to perform better among more moderate and independent-leaning voters.

Four in 10 Haley supporters in South Carolina’s GOP primary were self-described moderates, compared with 15% for Trump, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,400 voters taking part in the Republican primary in South Carolina, conducted for AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. On the other hand, 8 in 10 Trump supporters identified as conservatives, compared to about half of Haley’s backers.

Trump won an uncontested D.C. primary during his 2020 reelection bid but placed a distant third four years earlier behind Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Rubio’s win was one of only three in his unsuccessful 2016 bid. Other more centrist Republicans, including Mitt Romney and John McCain, won the city’s primaries in 2012 and 2008 on their way to winning the GOP nomination.

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, along with U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton from Arizona, recently took a two-day trip to the southern border to learn about the current asylum seeker backlog from the frontlines last Wednesday. He favors the bipartisan Senate compromise bill on border security.

The federal government is fragmented when it comes to immigration reform. Republicans in Congress have been screaming to the heavens about the migrant crisis for a long time, which made it all the stranger when they came out against the recent $118 billion Senate proposal on border security that included Ukraine and Israel aid, according to PBS NewsHour. The bill passed in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support.

Meeks said he wants long term immigration reform and doesn’t feel like the answer lies in emergency executive orders from President Joe Biden. He condemned House Republicans for pulling a “political stunt” and not following through on actual reforms.

“MAGA Republicans and Speaker

Johnson don’t really want to do anything to stop it as we saw when the Senate came up with a bipartisan bill,” said Meeks upon his return at a virtual press conference. “We should do our job, and that’s why you saw Democrats putting people over politics and trying to work together with Republicans moving in the direction that Senator McConnell and other Republicans have said in a way that they’ve never seen before.”

He added that compassion and coordination is needed on state and city levels for migrants that are already here as well.

The Senate border bill is technically called Senate Amendment 1386 to H.R. 815, under the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024. Besides controversial wartime funding to other countries, the bill aimed to move most new asylum cases to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Citizenship and Immigration Services instead of through immigration judges under the Department of Justice (DOJ). The idea was to increase intake and speed up case reviews.

Other reforms in the bill include

clear proof of persecution from asylum seekers at the initial interview, possible rejection if an asylum seeker has a criminal history or was living safely beforehand, a shortened 90-day hearing and appeals process, new detention beds, the removal of detainment measure if someone arrives through an established port of entry, and a new “trigger” border emergency authority based on the average number of migrant crossings. Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans are still under the humanitarian parole program and unaccompanied minors will be permitted into the country.

“We need to stop the surge. There are too many people crossing the border but we should be able to do that. That’s our job as members of Congress,” said Meeks.

New York City has seen about 180,000 migrants and asylum seekers sent to the city over the last two years, according to city numbers. The situation has become so dire that dozens of migrants were found living on top of each other in an illegal basement apartment in the Bronx just last week. This comes after Mayor Eric

See

Kamala Harris leads Bloody Sunday memorial as marchers’ voices ring out for voting rights

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris told thousands gathered for the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, that fundamental freedoms, including the right to vote, are under attack in America even today.

Harris joined those gathered at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where voting rights activists were beaten back by law enforcement officers in 1965. The vice president praised the marchers’ bravery for engaging in a defining moment of the civil rights struggle.

“Today, we know our fight for freedom is not over, because in this moment we are witnessing a full on attack on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms, starting with the freedom that unlocks all others, the freedom to vote,” Harris said.

She criticized attempts to restrict voting, including limits on absentee voting and early voting, and said the nation is again at a crossroad.

“What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a country of freedom, liberty and justice? Or a country of injustice, hate and fear?” Harris asked, en-

couraging people to answer with their vote.

She paid tribute to the civil rights marchers who walked across the bridge in 1965 knowing they would face certain violence in seeking “a future that was more equal, more just and more free.”

Decisions by the Supreme Court and lower courts since 2006 have weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was passed in the wake of the police attacks in Selma. The demonstrators were beaten by officers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, as they tried to march across Alabama to support voting rights.

Harris drew parallels between those who worked to stifle the Civil Rights Movement and “extremists” she said are trying to enact restrictions on voting, education and reproductive care.

She said other fundamental freedoms under attack include “the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body,” a reference to state abortion bans. She also stressed the Biden administration’s support for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza to “get the hostages out and a significant amount of aid in.”

Under a blazing blue sky, Harris then led the crowd across the

Edmund Pettus Bridge in the march that concluded the annual commemoration. Thousands followed, sometimes singing hymns and anthems of the Civil Rights Movement including, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round.”

Earlier Sunday, Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke at a Selma church service marking the anniversary of the attack by Alabama law officers on civil rights demonstrators. He said recent court decisions and certain state legislation have endangered voting rights in much of the nation.

“Since those [court] decisions, there has been a dramatic increase in legislative measures that make it harder for millions of eligible voters to vote and to elect representatives of their choice,” Garland told worshippers at Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, the site of one of the first mass meetings of the voting rights movement.

“Those measures include practices and procedures that make voting more difficult; redistricting maps that disadvantage minorities; and changes in voting administration that diminish the authority of locally elected or nonpartisan election administrators,” he said. “Such See BLOODY SUNDAY on page 25

Soul Snacks: Bronx cookie creator Ralph Rolle

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The Soul Snacks Cookie Company, a Black-owned cookie empire founded in the Bronx, can definitely serve up a sweet mouthful of soul. The company’s founder and CEO, Ralph Rolle, 65, is a lifelong musician and a proud entrepreneur.

Soul Snacks offers 19 varieties of cookies, including vegan and gluten-free. Flavors go from familiar favorites, like Down Home Double Chocolate Chip, to new creations, like Sweet Potato Cookies. The company serves big-name clients such as Walmart, Kroger, and Great Performances Catering. Rolle said they easily bake upward of 10,000 cookies a week.

Rolle was born and raised in the Bronx. His family lived in Bronx River Houses. He grew up emulating his big brother—playing the drums and landing his first real job as a musician at 19. “I was a smart kid, kind of a nerd who got skipped [ahead a grade] in school, so I got teased a lot. I couldn’t meet girls,” he laughed. “So I’d bake cookies to get girls.” It was at his grandmother’s house that Rolle first encountered the art of baking. “The oatmeal

raisin and the chocolate chip are original recipes. They date back

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to the 1900s from my grandmother, who was born in Ocilla, Georgia,” he said.

Rolle excelled at school but opted to skip college, much to his mother’s dismay, for a chance to continue playing music. He has since played with big names in the entertainment industry, like Nile Rodgers and Chic, Sting, Bono, Aretha Franklin, Biggie Smalls, Queen Latifah, Chris Botti, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, and India. Arie. He was also a member of the band for NBC’s “It’s Showtime at the Apollo” for more than 15 seasons. It was during his regular gig at the Apollo that he would bring his cookie kit with him to sessions. During his lunch break, he’d give out samples to deli shops around Harlem. It wasn’t long before he was embraced as a cookie supplier for local markets.

“If you have a passion, there’s no expiration date. You can just start at any age,” said Rolle.

He founded Soul Snacks in 1996. The very first client he had was Melba’s restaurant, he said. His cookie factory has been located on East 134th Street in the Bronx since 2012. He’s slated to move his operation to a new facility at the

Peninsula in Hunts Point soon. Rolle hopes to expand his cookie brand to incorporate other tasty products in the future.

Cookie orders and gift boxes can be purchased at eatsoulsnacks.com.

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

Soul Snacks Cookie Company founder and CEO Ralph Rolle at his factory on East 134th Street in the Bronx. (Ariama C. Long. photos)

Soul Snacks owner Ralph Rolle preparing a batch of fresh cookies.

Soul Snacks owner Ralph Rolle (right) giving Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson (left) a tour of his cookie plant.

Black New Yorkers more likely to face pre-arraignment custody despite ‘shrinking racial disparities,’ says DCJ

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Desk appearance tickets (DATs), also known as universal appearance tickets, are not yet universal for Black New Yorkers arrested for low level crimes, finds the Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ) at John Jay College. And the alternative is usually a holding cell.

Mandates for police to issue DATs, which direct defendants to appear in court on their own after a misdemeanor or class E felony arrest instead of pre-arraignment detention, were passed through bail reform laws of 2019. But Black and brown New Yorkers receive DATs less frequently than white New Yorkers for similar offenses despite more uniform issuance criteria and legislative pressure statewide, the DCJ has found.

“Our question here that we were trying to answer is: are Black New Yorkers and Hispanic New Yorkers, basically non-white New Yorkers…being held after an arrest for the same charges compared to white New Yorkers?” said researcher Olive Lu. “We’re coming from the assumption that receiving a DAT is a better outcome than then being arrested and held. So are white New Yorkers receiving this better outcome compared to Black and Hispanic New Yorkers?”

To be clear, DAT issuance improvement rates for Black and brown New Yorkers were actually higher than for white New Yorkers between 2020 and 2022. Yet they are still 32 percent and 15 percent less likely to receive a DAT arraignment, respectively. The report questioned whether police were following the reforms properly given the disparities.

The statistics come from the New York State Office of Court Administration, which delineated arraignments from 42 of the state’s 62 counties between the start of 2019 to the end of 2022. Of the three regions examined, New York City issued the lowest rate of DATs. The Big Apple never surpassed the 50 percent threshold consistently held statewide and in the other two study areas. Suburban New York, classified as Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, boasted the highest rate at over 70 percent each year post-reform.

DAT issuance generally rose between 2019 and 2021, before ta-

pering in 2022. The drop was the sharpest in New York City, from 45 to 32 percent. The sharp increase came immediately after the reforms, although COVID-19 slowed progress a year later.

Lu says the research also examined racial disparities in leniency for DAT arraignment absences.

The findings suggest that while Black New Yorkers are the least likely to receive a DAT, they are most likely to receive a “failure to appear” warrant for a DAT arraignment. A provision was instituted shortly after the reforms, mandating an arraignment within 20 days after the DAT was issued, although the rule was suspended throughout the pandemic.

VOCAL-NY organizer Neil Berry recalled the time long before desk appearance tickets were issued for low level crimes. He vividly recounts his arrest over Memorial

Day weekend in 1988, from wearing his summer outfit in the cold cell cramped past capacity to the bologna and cheese sandwiches spread across the floor.

“The pre-arraignment was probably the most traumatic part of all,” said Berry. “That trip from the police department to central booking, that was two days because it was the weekend of Memorial Day so [I] couldn’t see a judge until Monday…you talk about pre-arraignment, that’s where it all begins.

That’s the journey of trauma.”

But with DAT reform these days, the process is often handled differently. In Manhattan, those with arraignment dates arrive at New York County Court’s room 129. They drop off the physical desk appearance ticket into a basket in the courthouse. From there, a judge rattles off names from the arraignment calendar and for-

mally reads the charges against them. Inside the part, everyone is dressed appropriately for the cold weather and high rains. Some are confused about exactly what to do. One man asks a court officer how he can go about his DAT. But when asked whether he was held in a cell after his arrest, he shook his head. “Nothing like that.”

Sebastian Solomon, associate director for policy at the Vera Institute’s Greater Justice New York team, told the AmNews that criminal justice reform like the DAT policy removes barriers set by criminalization that often lead to recidivism. He added that those in pre-arraignment custody are innocent before proven guilty. “People who tend to get arrested can’t necessarily just call out sick for several days on end,” said Solomon. “Even if they bail out, or in other ways, resolve the case

quickly [like] pleading guilty, that can still have huge negative impacts on your life from loss of employment, to loss of housing, custody of children. To the extent that some of the population who are arrested are likely to have a mental health issue or substance use issue, you’re disconnected from that treatment and that instability can obviously exacerbate some of those symptoms.”

DCJ’s study is likely the most indepth look at DAT reform since the bills were passed. Yet the measure arguably impacts the criminal justice legal system as much as its more scrutinized bail reform siblings, which focus on pre-trial detention after the arraignment.

“Those charges, even though they make up the majority of things that people are arrested for on a daily basis, aren’t as sensational,” said Lu.

New York County Criminal Court (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura photo)

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Go With The Flo

FLO ANTHONY

Word on the curb is that Keke Palmer joined Eddie Murphy on the set of their upcoming film “The Pickup,” currently being filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. The two hot stars were dressed in identical uniforms as armored truck guards who are about to get caught in the middle of an ATM robbery. No one knows what Murphy and Palmer’s roles in the movie actually are, other than their security guard wardrobes. According to Deadline, the movie is a heist comedy. Other cast members in “The Pickup” include Eva Longoria, Marshawn Lynch and Jack Kesy. Meanwhile, Essence is reporting that Eddie’s exwife, Nicole Murphy’s boyfriend Warren Braithwaite, recently passed away after a battle with cancer. While Nicole hasn’t publicly commented on Braithwaite’s death, other friends have expressed their condolences on Instagram. Nicole and Braithwaite’s relationship became public in July 2023.......

Oprah Winfrey has broken her ties with Weight Watchers. Two months after revealing she used a weight-loss medication while dropping pounds, the billionairess announced she’s leaving the company’s board of directors after nearly 10 years of working with them. Winfrey said in a statement last week, “I look forward to continuing to advise and collaborate with Weight Watchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the conversation around recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, working to reduce stigma, and advocating for health equity.” The TV queen will still host Weight Watchers’ Weight Health event in May. The philanthropist also announced she is donating her financial interest in Weight Watchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Sources say the stock in Weight Watchers has plummeted following Winfrey’s departure...... New York City and Atlanta families got together in their respective cities on Feb. 24, for exclusive screenings of Apple TV+’s “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,” at AMC Theaters. Both screenings featured the heartwarming introductions of Franklin Armstrong, who became the first Black character in “Peanuts” almost 55 years ago. The exclusive screening in New York City was held at AMC Empire NY and was cohosted by Harlem’s Fashion Row owner, Brandice Daniel, and her daughter Sky. Attendees at the Big Apple screening included celebrity photographer Johnny Nunez, artist Panama Da Prince, ONE/35 agency CEO Shante Bacon, and their respective families.......

Emmy award-winning journalist, ABC News Live Prime Anchor and New York Times bestselling author Linsey Davis, released her new children’s book “Girls of the World: Doing More Than Ever Before,” on March 5. This is the television personality’s sixth children’s book. “Girls of the World” encourages children to use their voices, talents and intelligence to help the world and raise awareness of girls and all the amazing things they do......

Riverside Church honors Harry Belafonte with celebration of life service

movement to achieving unprecedented success as the first artist to sell a million-copy album, Belafonte’s contributions are unparalleled,” the church said in a statement.

“From providing crucial funding for the civil rights

“His trailblazing spirit extended beyond music, as he

made history as the first Black recipient of an Emmy award. Moreover, his visionary leadership gave rise to the globally acclaimed ‘We Are the World’ fundraising initiative, uniting artists worldwide for humanitarian causes.”

Open to the public, the service consisted of tributes, musical performances, and messages paying homage to Belafonte’s legacy.

A Harlem native, Belafonte died of congestive heart failure on April 25, 2023 at age 96.

Riverside Church hosted a public memorial service Friday honoring the life of late singer, actor, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte on what would have been his 97th birthday.

David Belafonte, Rachel Biesmeyer, Gina Belafonte, and Shari Belafonte attend Harry Belafonte A Celebration of Life Memorial at The Riverside Church in New York, NY on March 1, 2024. (David Warren /Sipa USA photos)(Sipa via AP Images)

George Gresham attends Harry Belafonte A Celebration of Life Memorial at The Riverside Church in New York, NY on March 1, 2024.

Whoopie Goldberg and Spike Lee attend Harry Belafonte A Celebration of Life Memorial at The Riverside Church in New York, NY on March 1, 2024.

A New Harlem Renaissance: The Inauguration of Yusef Salaam

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

In a full circle moment, new Harlem Councilmember Yusef Salaam was officially sworn into office last week. His inauguration was attended by heavy hitters like Reverend Al Sharpton, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and rapper Fatman Scoop.

“A city that once put me in a cage,” said Salaam, “has now put me on its city council.”

The inauguration was held at The City College of New York in Harlem. After a bit of a late start, attendees and elected officials packed the theater at the arts center and eagerly waited for the ceremony to begin. Sharpton kicked things off with a powerful invocation, followed by tributes from Imam Gabriel Nasir and Imam Talib Abdur Rashid to honor Salaam’s Muslim faith.

Youth Poet Laureate Kayden Hern, a 9-yearold Harlemite, read a poem and singer Letrice Cherry performed “Lift Every Voice.”

“Prayer and work helps change things,” said Sharon Salaam, Councilmember Salaam’s mother. At the podium, she emotionally recalled the moments she found out that her son and his friends had been falsely arrested during the Central Park Five jogger rape case in 1989. She dutifully worked to free her son and his friends, now known as the Exonerated Six, with overturned convictions.

Salaam was sworn in by Judge Jeanine Johnson, surrounded on stage by his children and family. He used a Quran that his mother had gifted him during the infamous case and his subsequent imprisonment.

Bragg is the first Black man to hold his position as Manhattan DA. He is the same age as Salaam and grew up in Harlem during the media frenzy around the Central Park case. He spoke at the inauguration about how he personally relates to Salaam’s story and was directly inspired by him as a youth to become a lawyer. “I just texted a childhood friend and told him I was here. He and I were stopped together two years after your prosecution on 137th Street. Police officers, [and a] SWAT team pulled one of our friends out and put a gun to his temple for about five minutes,” said Bragg. “They claimed we had stabbed some-

one in Central Park and we knew what that meant, that was intentional. So we talk about turning your pain into purpose, you’ve done it for so many other people. Because when I stood there and I walked home that day, I said I’m going to law school. I’m just one story.”

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who briefly attended the inauguration ceremony, said she was distinctly honored and grateful to see her esteemed colleague sworn into office.

“Councilmember Salaam is such an important voice in our council and in our city,” said Adams. “His story, his grace, and perseverance in the face of adversity is one of inspiration to the people of Harlem that raised him, really all of New York City. After seven years, as we know of being wrongfully incarcerated and demonized, Councilmember Salaam has used his voice to advocate and to fight for others.”

Adams, the former chair of the public safety committee, was proud to appoint Salaam the current chair of public safety this year. Salaam oversaw his first public safety council committee hearing reviewing New York City Police Department (NYPD) investigative procedures and wrongful convictions on Feb. 26.

“Yuseeeef!” exclaimed Public Advocate Jumaane Williams from the podium in proper Brooklynite fashion. Williams had testified at the public safety hearing a few days prior, noting the incredible providence that had led Salaam to his position. “That’s an amazing man. That’s amazing. Your story, your arc is simply amazing and there’s nothing else that can be said, but God using the ancestors to guide you here.”

A post-inauguration reception took place after the main event. Light refreshments were served by Harlem’s own Chef Quie Slobert of Charles Pan Fried Chicken on 125th Street. Coincidentally, Salaam’s birthday was also on Feb. 27, right before his inauguration. He turned 50 years old.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

Reverend Al Sharpton speaks at Councilmember Yusef Salaam’s inauguration on Feb. 28. Sharon Salaam speaks at her son’s inauguration on Feb. 28.

Councilmember Yusef Salaam on stage with wife, Sanovia, and his family at his inauguration.

Councilmember Yusef Salaam with his hand on the Quran at his inauguration at Aaron Davis Hall of The City College of New York on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Newly elected Councilmember Yusef Salaam on stage with his family at his inauguration at Aaron Davis Hall of The City College of New York on Wednesday, Feb. 28. (Bill Moore / Ariama C. Long. photos)

Union Matters

In honor of Women’s History Month, thanking the sisterhood

March is Women’s History Month and across the nation, there will be special events and tributes to mark the accomplishments of women in America.

In seminars and conferences, on TV specials and marathon runs, the accomplishments of women historically and today will be on full display. March is a time when the struggles, wisdom and unique perspective of women are recognized, analyzed and immortalized from the words of Maya Angelou ( “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”) to the words of Rihanna (“There’s something special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.”)

There are so many extraordinary women, past and present, who personify these sentiments: The unsung heroines, like a next-door neighbor who juggles two jobs and three kids to make a house a home. The unparalleled bravery of Harriet Tubman, Rosie the Riveter, who inspired a generation, and current women of valor—like the young soldier who left her family behind and stands guard in the Middle East. There’s women who took a sledgehammer to the “glass ceiling” like Vice President Kamala Harris, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson and New York State Attorney General Letitia James. There are also women who express such tremendous empathy and compassion for people they have never met, like the neonatal nurse tenderly caring for preemies, as well as Dr. Ruth Gottesman, who just made a historic donation of $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx to provide medical students with free tuition going forward.

In the labor movement, there are many women who have set examples of courage and determination to improve the lives of working women and families.

Some did so indirectly and regrettably, as in the case of the 146 young immigrant garment working girls killed and the 78 who sustained injuries in the notorious 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village. From exit doors chain-locked by their employers to Fire Department ladders too short to reach them, the findings in the aftermath of that horrendous fire led to our state and the nation to legislate safety and health measures to protect workers on the job. Women have in fact come a long way and played a significant part in building labor unions since those young sweatshop girls perished in a fire largely because they didn’t have a union. Today, Elizabeth H. Shuler is president of the national AFL-CIO, a federation of 57 unions and 12.5 million working people across all sectors of the U.S. economy. She is the first woman to hold that position.

At Local 237, we don’t have to look very far for fearless women with an extraordinary strength of character who exemplify “never take no for an answer.” They are the sisterhood, working with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Consider war correspondent Marie Colvin, who has a connection to labor. Colvin wrote about innocent women and children caught in the crossfire of civil war. Her bravery was legendary. A movie, “A Private War,” tells the real-life story of Marie Colvin, portrayed by Rosamund Pike. It depicts her life behind enemy lines covering stories of human suffering that many did not want told, in dangerous locations, where few would dare to go. It was actually a sentence in one of the movie’s reviews that caused us to wonder about a possible link to Teamsters Local 237. Our research paid off because we discovered that fresh out of college, she was hired by Local 237 to write our newsletter. Marie Colvin was a Teamster! Her family

Mobilization for Justice staff are working the picket lines

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Staff at Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), an organization that provides free legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers, have been out on strike since this past Feb. 23.

This week, MFJ’s attorneys, paralegals, support staff, receptionists, and front desk workers– have been picketing on the steps of the Bronx and Manhattan Housing Courts.

MFJ’s legal service workers are members of the MFJ Union, which is under the Legal Services Staff Association (LSA Local 2320) and part of the local United Automobile Workers (UAW) union. They announced a strike against MFJ management after being in negotiations for a new contract since mid-December 2023. Ninety-three percent of the MFJ Union’s 110 members voted to reject management’s last contract offer and declared an indefinite strike.

“The last offer that we received from management––which was one of the main, main points of contention before going on strike––was that they were not going to offer more than 2 percent raises for all staff,” MFJ tenant advocate and housing attorney Nikita Salehi-Azhan, who is part of the union, told the AmNews. “And with inflation that everyone has been experiencing, that is actually a pay cut for us. It’s unacceptable because we are fighting for industry-standard salary demands.

“I know that other nonprofits recently negotiated 7 percent raises, so to be offered 2 percent is, obviously, very disrespectful and not anywhere close to bringing us back to where we were pre-inflation,” she added.

The 2 percent raise offer came after MFJ management had reportedly initially offered a 0.25 percent pay increase for its staff.

Calls to the MFJ office for comment about the strike and contract negotiations went to a recorded message, and calls to the organization’s telephone intake helplines were not answered as

of March 5. “You have reached Mobilization for Justice,” a recorded message said on one intake helpline. “Our intake line is temporarily closed. If you need assistance, please get in touch with 311 or visit www.lawhelpny.org for support.”

Growing workloads, growing burnout

“We have not been touching work emails, work phones, and have just been on the picket line,” said Salehi-Azhan, who was clear that she was not speaking for all unionized staff but felt that she represented everyone on the picket line. She thinks management is most likely stepping in to pick up the work slack— maybe trying to delay most pending cases. But for now, MFJ offices are partially shut down because its unionized staff is on strike.

The MFJ Union says members have walked out on strike “for fair pay for all workers, improved healthcare benefits, increased work flexibility, and protections from unjust discipline. The MFJ Union developed these demands collectively to address the organization’s ongoing staffing crisis. In the past year, MFJ lost an unprecedented 23 workers, and it is struggling to fill 17 vacant positions. As a result, the remaining staff members have seen their workloads grow and are dealing with burnout on top of losing an estimated 10 percent of real wages to inflation over the last three-year contract.”

MFJ Union says that last year their offices “handled over 15,000 cases city-wide, with the majority of cases in the Bronx and Manhattan Housing Courts.” As a non-profit, the company receives individual and institutional donations; MFJ took in over $25 million, according to its 2023 tax returns. Union members say that management attempts to lowball salaries for company staff only hurts morale and could lead to more staff departures.

The MFJ Union’s last strike against management took place in 2015 and lasted for more than three weeks.

MFJ Union members have left their offices and walked out on strike. (Instagram: @mfjunion photo)

Gregory Floyd

President, Teamsters Local 237 and Vice President at-Large on the General Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Everyday dedication meets everyday appreciation

Our team is committed to delivering for our clients. We celebrate their commitment with initiatives like Sharing Success, which awarded 97% of colleagues additional compensation this year, nearly all in stock. This is the seventh consecutive year teammates received this award, totaling more than $4.8 billion.

We are committed to being a Great Place to Work for our teammates in New York City and around the globe. This includes providing industryleading benefits, minimum wage at $23/hr on track to $25/hr by 2025 and opportunities to build a career with us. These are a few reasons we’ve been named one of America’s Most JUST Companies.

José Tavarez President, Bank of America New York City

Go to bankofamerica.com/metroNYC to learn more.

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Opinion

The wisdom, counsel, and compassion that comes with age

Several presidential elections ago, Super Tuesday was pivotal in the race among candidates. What happens in this current political season, when the Democratic and Republican candidates appear to be shooins?

The other day, Nikki Haley put a momentary bump in Trump’s slated sweep of the primaries, and while that may boost her chances of victory in November, Super Tuesday will show how far she has to go to win the nomination. Haley is the first woman to ever win a Republican presidential primary. Still, she has only 19 delegates and this number will pale even more after Super Tuesday.

Nor does Super Tuesday alter the expected outcome in the Democratic race, although President Joe Biden will get another indication of the possible defections as in Michigan, with 13 percent of voters casting “uncommitted” ballots.

For Biden and his troops, Super Tuesday should be reveille—a call to step up the pace and marshal a strategy to keep young voters on the team, given the flagging numbers because of the Israel-Hamas war and the charges of genocide of the Palestinian people. An immediate cease-fire could be a temporary panacea, along with the release of hostages and a promise to provide more aid to Gaza as it faces a devastating humanitarian crisis.

This is not an easy situation for President Biden, to say nothing of the problem of age that comes with each day.

Neither the clock nor the calendar is on his side, but he is a gifted politician with a cadre of sagacious advisors. He, like many of us, is well aware of his dwindling popularity according to the latest polls. But the election is eight months away and history has shown on many occasions that there is still time to summon the counsel, compassion, and wisdom that often comes with the aged, and ageless.

A breath of injustice: demanding clear air for NYC's communities of color now

By BERTHA LEWIS

In New York City, our air is mired in inequality. This is a crisis that demands immediate and decisive action. For too long, communities of color have been suffocating under a cloud of vehicular pollution, inhaling 66% more pollutants than their white counterparts. Everyday, children, the elderly, and families in communities of color are exposed to air that exacerbates asthma and lung conditions and even contributes to premature mortality. This is not just an environmental issue; it’s a stark matter of racial justice and public health.

Amidst this dire situation, the Black Institute has emerged with a clarion call for transformative change. In partnership with the Clean Fuels NY Coalition, we are championing a future where clean air is a right, not a privilege. We can help realize this vision by passing a clean fuel standard in New York State.

producers of high-carbon fossil fuels) that would help communities of color get the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needed, so they aren’t left behind in the transition to electric cars. The current proposal would dedicate at least 40% of the program to communities of color.

There is momentum for a clean fuel standard this year. The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus has called on legislature to include the program in the State’s budget for 2024, and the State Senate passed a bill that would implement it last June. This month, Governor Hochul’s State of the State included a call to study the issue.

truck fleet entirely from fossil fuels and reduce harmful soot pollution from these trucks by roughly 30 percent. This is a step forward, but let’s be clear: it’s not the systemic change we need to fully confront the disproportionate air quality impacts faced by communities of color every day.

A clean fuel standard program would incentivize cleaner, low-carbon fuels and electric vehicles while disincentivizing highly polluting petroleum fuels. It would help combustion engine vehicles currently on our roads switch to renewable fuels now while also creating a revenue source (funded by refiners and

It’s time to move past studies and pass legislation. We know from states that have the program already that it works, especially in communities of color that have lived with disproportionate levels of air pollution for decades. In California, which has had a clean fuel standard program since 2013, particulate soot pollution has decreased three times as fast in communities with high levels of diesel pollution than in communities with less air pollution risk. That’s excellent news for asthmatic children in Los Angeles. Our kids deserve the same relief. Their program is a key reason California has more than ten times as many electric cars as New York. Passing the Clean Fuel Standard bill this year would be a bold stride towards a future where the air in every neighborhood is safe to breathe.

Last November, Mayor Eric Adams announced his initiative to transition NYC’s heavy-duty vehicle fleet to renewable diesel. This step will remove the City’s

Our ongoing air pollution and public health crises require bold, sweeping action that cleans up today’s diesel trucks and cars with cleaner fuels while laying the groundwork for the zero-emission electric vehicles of the future. We cannot sit idly by as our communities suffocate. Environmental policy must be intertwined with racial and social justice, recognizing the unique challenges faced by Black and brown New Yorkers.

Imagine a New York City where clean air is not a commodity but a fundamental right for all, regardless of race or economic status. Imagine a city where the health disparities wrought by polluted air are a thing of the past. This vision is not just a dream, but a necessity—an urgent call to action for the health and future of our city.

Passing clean fuel standard legislation would be a commitment to environmental justice, a pledge to the health of our city, and a promise to future generations. This program deserves our full support and swift enactment. With it, we can turn the tide, ensuring cleaner, healthier air for all New Yorkers.

Bertha Lewis is the President and Founder of The Black Institute, a Black-led policy and organizing institution dedicated to solving local problems and addressing the concerns of Black families and immigrants.

Communities of color have been suffocating under a cloud of vehicular pollution, inhaling

66% more pollutants than their white counterparts. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh photo)

The critical testimony of Robert Hur

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the New York Amsterdam News. We continue to publish a variety of viewpoints so that we may know the opinions of others that may differ from our own.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

In the days since Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report that highlighted concerns about President Joe Biden’s memory, described as “significantly limited,” there’s been a notable response from presidential appointees and allies. They have been quick to defend the president’s mental acuity, emphasizing his attention to “pertinent questions” and care for “minute details.” However, not everyone is convinced by this defensive stance; a former Democratic House member pointedly noted that the special counsel has merely stated what many have been hesitant to acknowledge openly.

As President Biden’s upcoming physical exam approaches, a key component appears to be conspicuously absent: his cognitive test.

This is the very test that former President Trump took and passed, much to the amusement and criticism of the media and late-night talk show hosts.

Yet, now, when it comes to Biden, there’s a stark silence on the matter.

This glaring double standard by mainstream media outlets and late-night per-

sonalities is deeply troubling. It reveals a partisan bias that not only misleads the public but also divides it, propagating half-truths and outright falsehoods.

Figures like Stephen Colbert, who once mocked the simplicity of the cognitive test, now remain silent on why Biden hasn’t taken one.

The anticipation surrounding Hur’s upcoming testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12 is mounting. It’s a crucial moment that not only scrutinizes Biden’s capabilities but also tests the principles of transparency and accountability that are fundamental to our democracy. This testimony is expected to delve into the significant concerns raised by Hur’s report and its implications for Biden’s presidency and potential reelection.

In the lead-up to this testimony, there’s a palpable effort to shore up the president’s image, with allies emphasizing his mental sharpness. Yet, these efforts seem inadequate against the serious questions raised about his cognitive health.

The omission of the cognitive test from Biden’s

exam is not just an oversight; it’s a significant concern that echoes past criticisms aimed at Trump, highlighting a disturbing bias in media coverage. This selective outrage and reporting by the media and entertainment industry undermine public trust and highlights a concerning divide in our national discourse.

As March 12 approaches, the nation is poised to witness a pivotal moment. Hur’s testimony is more than a procedural formality; it’s a test of our democratic values and the commitment to fairness and equality. It’s a time for the American people to demand transparency and impartiality from our leaders and the institutions that represent us. The testimony represents a critical examination of our democracy’s health and the integrity of our public discourse.

The situation underscores the urgent need for a media landscape that prioritizes truth over partisanship and for political leaders who are held accountable to the highest standards of transparency and integrity. As the nation watches, the testi-

Women’s History Month

mony of Robert Hur before the House Judiciary Committee becomes a pivotal moment for reflection on our collective commitment to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and the pursuit of a more perfect union.

In this charged environment, it’s incumbent upon every American to engage critically with the unfolding events, to demand accountability from our leaders, and to advocate for a public discourse that elevates truth, fosters unity, and respects the dignity of all citizens. The testimony on March 12 is not just a litmus test for President Biden or the Democratic Party; it’s a crucial moment for American democracy, challenging us to confront the disparities in our political and media ecosystems and to reaffirm our commitment to the values that define us as a nation.

Armstrong Williams (@ ARight-Side) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.armstrongwil liams.co | www.howard stirkholdings.com

Every March for Women’s History Month, I think of the dynamic women who have shaped who I am. Since Women’s History Month comes on the heels of Black History Month in February, I always feel like I have two months to celebrate the Black women in my life and throughout history who have made this country and this world a better place.

It is easy to think of trailblazing women in the science and medical fields. As an academic, I am well aware of the calcified and systemic misogyny and racism that still permeate far too many professional occupations. One need only think of the ways former Harvard president Claudine Gay was treated, or the ways the former president disrespects New York Attorney General Letitia James. The idea of brilliant, bold, unapologetic Black women truly frightens some and enrages others. Yet, we persist.

This March, I want to be sure to be more attuned to the women in my daily life who are making everyone’s lives move forward, without much fanfare—or gratitude. I am thinking about the security guards and cafeteria ladies who work late hours to make sure everyone in the building has what they need. I am thinking about some of my students who have young children at home, but are taking night classes to earn a degree to give their families a different trajectory in the future. I am thinking about the various women who do my hair, standing on their feet for hours, to make sure every woman who comes in their

shop leaves feeling beautiful and seen.

Women’s History Month is about celebrating women from all walks of life. The courage of women like Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, or Barbara Jordan. It’s also about celebrating women like Elinor Tatum, who has kept this historic newspaper afloat during turbulent shifts in the publishing industry. It is also about seeing and thinking more deeply about the contributions of women in service professions who may not ever have their names in the annals of history.

So, what do you plan to do to celebrate Women’s History Month this March? Maybe you can interview a woman in your life, find out their story, and chronicle it. I am always amazed when I ask older women questions about themselves. Often they tell me no one has ever asked them about themselves and the lives they’ve lived. The women among us have tales, some tragic and some titillating—all we must do is ask. As we move forward in March, let’s keep the spirit of Black History Month going and think about the dynamic Black women who have laid a foundation for us, and also, the Black women in our lives who continue to carve a path. Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and cohost of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio. She is a 2023-24 Moynihan Public Scholars Fellow at CCNY.

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

Caribbean Update

Haiti’s situation worsens just as Caricom thought there were encouraging signs

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

Just when Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations dared to think that they were seeing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel regarding Haiti, heavily armed gangs broke into the main state prison over the weekend, freeing nearly 4,000 prisoners in what local media houses have described as an attempt to block embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s return from a key trip to Kenya.

Henry, sworn in as prime minister shortly after the early July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, left for Kenya in the middle of last week after attending a summit of fellow Caricom trade bloc leaders in Guyana, where he was severely roasted for his reluctance to share power with opposition and civil society groups to form a transitional council that would organize fresh elections in a bid to stabilize the strifetorn nation of more than 11 million. At their meeting last week, the leaders boast-

ed that they had pushed Henry into agreeing to make concessions and share power with other groups that oppose his continued presence in office—he is an unelected leader clinging onto power while heavily armed gangs try to oust him, and opposition parties refuse to recognize him as PM. They had even ordered him to ensure that elections will be held by the end of August next year. Once this is set in motion, the region and the international community would continue working together to land a multinational peacekeeping or stabilization force on the ground to drive back gangs.

Henry had gone to Kenya to sign a reciprocal agreement to deploy 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti as the lead nation in the force.

The Haitian Times newspaper said the jailbreak was “an apparent move to bar Henry’s return from Kenya.” More than 30 people were killed in the prison-related violence, including several police officers, and thousands of already struggling citizens were displaced.

The latest developments mean it is unclear

whether plans by Caricom to organize a multistakeholder meeting with politically warring factions in Jamaica next week will still take place. The meeting is to be facilitated by the eminent persons group of former prime minister Bruce Golding of Jamaica, Perry Christie of the Bahamas, and Kenneth Anthony of St. Lucia. The group has held several rounds of talks with all the key sides since mid-last year, but the PMs have complained that Henry’s previous refusal to share power with other groups was a major stumbling block, even though they had made progress in nearly all other areas.

An electoral needs assessment team is to be assembled to help Haiti by the end of March, involving Caricom, the Organization of American States, Canada, the U.S., and France as well, the leaders said.

Delayed elections in recent months mean that the terms of nearly all parliamentarians, senators, mayors, and other officials have expired. As a result, the international community hopes to put a transitional government

What would Jesus do?

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

If you were to inquire among many Republican lawmakers about their religious beliefs, you would often receive a consistent response: professed love for Christ and the Church. According to a 2020 PRRI American Values Survey, 54% of Republican voters identify as evangelical Protestant Christians, with only 18% being Catholics. Additionally, an investigation by the Pew Center revealed that 80% of Republicans claim to believe in Heaven.

Yet, isn’t the fundamental commandment across all religions love? Love of one’s self and others?

During this Lenten season, I found myself breaking my pledge to refrain from cursing aloud when, on February 28, I read about a bill proposed by a Senate Republican in the pivotal state of Arizona, known for its contentious “Show me your papers” act. Now, even that racially charged act pales in comparison to the newly proposed bill from Republican Representative Justin Heap.

Heap’s bill suggests granting farmers the legal right to fatally harm individuals

crossing their properties and escape consequences. Although the bill doesn’t explicitly mention killing immigrants, Heap, a Mesa Republican, indicated to the House Judiciary Committee on February 14 that his House Bill 2843 aims to close a supposed loophole that he argues has led to “increasingly larger numbers of migrants or human traffickers moving across farm and ranch land.”

This bill, currently progressing through the state House of Representatives, seeks to amend the state’s existing “Castle Doctrine” law, allowing Arizonans to use deadly force against individuals trespassing or breaking into their homes.

The timing of Heap’s proposal coincides with an incident in which an Arizona rancher stands accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man on his property near the U.S.Mexico border. Rancher George Alan Kelly allegedly began shooting at a group of migrants on January 30 without issuing any warning or request to leave.

Kelly, 73, now faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of one of the individuals, identified by the sheriff’s office as Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. Representative Analise Ortiz, a Democrat from the Phoenix area, condemned the bill

as “disgusting” and “inhumane,” asserting that it would effectively declare “open season on migrants.”

“It’s terrifying. It would give people free rein to execute somebody and it would broaden extrajudicial killings,’ Ortiz said to NBC News. “This is part of a broader anti-immigrant movement that we’ve seen coming from the right, which aims to dehumanize and vilify people who are coming to this country seeking asylum.”

On February 28, the state’s GOP-controlled senate passed the Arizona Border Invasion Act, further illustrating a hardline stance on immigration. The legislation aims to penalize migrants who enter the United States illegally. It would empower local, county, or state law enforcement officers to arrest any non-U.S. citizens entering Arizona from anywhere, except lawful entry points, as well as those previously removed from or denied entry to the country, and those refusing to comply with deportation orders.

Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs is expected to veto the bill. Arrests for illegal crossings have surpassed 2 million for the first time in each of the government’s last two budget years, with Arizona recently emerging as a prominent area for illegal crossings.

in place representing various factions that would help smooth the way for elections in the coming months.

Speaking at the end of the Guyana summit, Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis said Haiti is “hemorrhaging” and needs help urgently. “The Caricom heads and the key partners recognized the depth of the suffering of the Haitian people. This has been exacerbated by the lack of consensus among the political stakeholders, civil society, the private and religious sectors, and the government of Haiti.

“In this regard, the Caricom heads called on all concerned to make the necessary concessions to arrive at a resolution of the political impasse. They urged that each stakeholder must recognize that they will not obtain all that they want, but Haiti must obtain what it needs. Against this background, Caricom will extend an invitation to the stakeholders to participate in a meeting urgently to address and settle the critical political path that is participatory and inclusive.”

“I think we are seeing an effort in these bills to advance an inflammatory immigration agenda,” remarked Noah Schramm, a policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona. “They seem to be trying to force Hobbs into a situation where she has to say ‘no,’ and then they can say she is unwilling to do anything [about] the border.”

Monica Villalobos, CEO and president of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the potential economic repercussions of the act on the state.

“We are opposed to any legislation that may re-introduce SB1070 consequences, disrupt business operations, hamstring workforce advancement, and tarnish our state brand once again,” she said. “Immigrants in Arizona have a spending power of $26.4 billion and have paid more than $8.7 billion in taxes, regardless of legal status. And immigrant entrepreneurs contribute more than $2.2 billion in business income.”

Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, a proimmigrant group, criticized the procedural maneuvers as undemocratic.

“Silencing the public and constituents has become as fundamental to the Republican Party’s approach to governing as

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to NJPAC with three performances on Mother’s Day weekend.

alvin ailey dance american

Two-time GRAMMY® winner — breakout star of vocal jazz competition — returns to NJPAC.

lawson preacher

My New Normal Tour Sat, Apr 13 @ 8PM

One of the smartest comics working today, the star of Black-ish, Grown-ish and Barbershop can make anybody laugh.

deon cole

70’s soul jam

musiq soulchild & eric benét apr 12

Health Fact Check: False: Long COVID is a rare occurrence in the U.S.

By ELIZABETH MCDYER and MEGAN SPINELLA

Special to the AmNews

Nearly four years after the first confirmed COVID-19 case, the world has now seemingly returned to “normal.” However, there are millions of people for whom COVID-19 continues to rear its ugly head in the form of Long COVID. A persisting myth around Long COVID is that it is a rare occurrence, but according to the experts that we interviewed and recent data, that is not true. Understanding the true prevalence of Long COVID is vital for ensuring that there are enough resources available to those who are suffering—particularly those from marginalized groups at higher risk—and that future research is adequately funded.

Journalist and Long COVID patient Laura Weiss was first hit by COVID-19 during New York City’s first wave of infection early in 2020. Her symptoms dramatically worsened later in 2020 to the point where even walking was exhausting for her. Since then, she has seen multiple doctors, tried several medicinal and alternative symptoms management strategies, and eventually enrolled in a private Long COVID clinic, Real Time Health Monitoring (RTHM).

Laura pays out-of-pocket to access clinic services and still relies heavily on herself to serve as her own advocate to find care that works best for her. Having gone through it all herself, Laura knows first-hand how the perception that COVID-19 is over can affect people’s health, especially, she said, when people “don’t want to hear about [Long COVID] at all.” Whether due to a lack of understanding, compassion, or just a simple desire to be done with COVID-19, people across the country, health care professionals included, have been hesitant to recognize the urgency of Long COVID, leading to the common belief that it’s not there at all.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Long COVID as, “the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least two months with no other explanation.” Despite this definition’s marker of three months, millions of patients have had symptoms for up to two years after being infected with COVID-19.

According to data from the WHO collected in 2022, 6.9% of adults had suffered from Long COVID at some point, and 3.4% were dealing with Long COVID at the time of survey collection. While this is a relatively conservative estimate, there are many other studies that cite much higher statistics. A sys-

Factcheck: False: Long COVID is rare so you don’t need to worry about it. COVID-19 is more prevalent than people think and can have a serious impact on your health.

tematic review of studies conducted in adult populations in Europe and Asia prior to January 2022 found that 45% of those who had COVID-19, regardless of their hospitalization status, were experiencing at least one unresolved COVID-19 symptom after four months, particularly fatigue. Another study utilizing data from the 2022 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System found that more than one in five (21.8%) of adults who ever had COVID-19 reported symptoms of Long COVID. In 2023, the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy estimated that over 18 million Americans had ever had Long COVID. Long COVID is a difficult disease to track for many reasons, not the least of which is how common the symptoms are. Long COVID can also range in severity, meaning there could be millions more than researchers estimate with a mild form of Long COVID who think they have a persistent cold or other form of sickness. Regardless of the true prevalence, we can see from recent data that Long COVID is likely more

common than we think. It certainly surpasses the Orphan Drug Act’s definition of a rare disease—meaning it affects fewer than 200,000 people in the US—which is used as a benchmark for most federal health agencies.

Sasha Tabachnikova, a fourth year PhD student studying Long COVID at the Yale School of Medicine, explained in an interview with the AmNews that “when you read [the] literature on this topic it’s a very wide range of estimates of how many people are [experiencing] Long COVID. That is absolutely a challenge to give a number.”

Tabachnikova added that while interviewing those who had acquired COVID-19 during the first wave but had not reported living with Long COVID, many participants identified with some of the Long COVID symptoms.

This points to complications both in identifying study participants and diagnosing this complex collection of symptoms. Tabachnikova’s study cites yet another estimate of Long COVID prevalence, stating “prospective studies suggest that about one in eight individuals

with COVID-19 experience persistent somatic symptoms that are attributable to past SARSCoV-2 infection.”

Not only is Long COVID not discussed as often as it should be, but Black and brown communities are often left out of the conversation. Communities of color have higher rates of preexisting conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and HIV, compared to their white counterparts, which can increase the risk of long COVID development. These disparities amongst certain groups are concurrent with data from the 2022 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which found that Long COVID was more prevalent amongst adults under 65 years, women, American Indian, Alaska Native, multi-race and other groups, smokers, and people with a disability, depression, or obesity. A beacon of hope recently came in the form of a Senate Committee Hearing in January hosted by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Titled “Addressing Long COVID: Advancing Research and Improving Patient Care,” the hearing included testimonies from two panels of witnesses. The first panel focused on first-hand experience with Long COVID and heard from two Long COVID patients and the mother of a pediatric Long COVID patient.

The second panel included researchers with professional expertise in studying Long COVID. The hearing was an encouraging sign that long COVID patients are being heard. There was agreement on both sides of the aisle that the federal government needs to be more involved in addressing Long COVID. HELP Committee Ranking Member, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), in his opening remarks, referred to addressing Long COVID through policy-based solutions a “crucial” issue and emphasized the need for “improving research into preventing long COVID and creating effective treatments.” Though there is still a long way to go, the senate’s renewed focus on long COVID is a step in the right direction to ensuring that Long COVID’s effects are recognized and that increased efforts are being placed on ensuring that patients may eventually find relief.

For additional resources about COVID-19, visit www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/index. page or call 311. COVID-19 testing, masks, and vaccination resources can also be accessed on the AmNews COVID-19 page: www. amsterdamnews.com/covid/. For those that may be suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19, a list of post-COVID clinics in NYC can be found here: nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/covid/covid-19-care-clinics.pdf.

People protest in the hallway during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine addressing long COVID, focusing on advancing research and improving patient care, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Arts & Entertainment

Your Stars

The Year of Alice: Celebrating the life and legacy of Alice Coltrane

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews

In a long-awaited, timely, and historically grand gesture, spiritual leader, composer, and musician Alice Coltrane is being honored with 2024–2025 being declared “The Year of Alice.” Her family and estate, alongside partners such as Impulse! Records, Detroit Jazz Festival, Hammer Museum, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and the New York Historical Society have combined their resources and influence to uplift the memory and legacy of the spirit and contributions of Alice Cotrane, also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda and simply Turiya, for her impact in forging a path that altered the course of musical history.

As a trailblazer, she created works that radiated universal love and spirituality. Her prolific career includes iconic albums such as “Journey in Satchidananda” and “A Monastic Trio,” each contributing to her legacy as one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz.

Beyond her musical achievements, Alice Coltrane was a beloved spiritual leader, a savvy businesswoman, and a compassionate humanitarian. Her emphasis on charitable giving, education, and spiritual guidance added depth to her legacy.

“We are honored and delighted to offer insight into the legacy of my mother…Alice, Turiya Coltrane,” said Michelle Coltrane, her daughter. “My mother engaged herself in the spiritual process known as God-realization. Her life on Earth consolidated artistic expression, spiritual principles, and charitable giving. She emphasized selfless service that uplifted the giver as well as recipients of the giving. She understood well the relevance of all life in terms of universal consciousness.”

Her younger brother, Ravi, said, “Alice was ahead of her time— one of the first people to move

outside the mainstream, and certainly one of the first female, Black, American jazz musicians to record her own music in her own studio, and to release music on her own terms. There is something to be said about timing. It can take a moment for people to recognize where the energies are, where the weight is... But now people across all generations are finding their way to Alice’s music in a myriad of different ways. It’s hard to pinpoint what makes her music so powerful, but there’s something in her spirit, in her intention that is very clear—and people can feel that immediately.”

To kick off The Year of Alice, Impulse! Records is set to release “Alice Coltrane—The Carnegie Hall Concert” on March 22. This performance from 1971 features an ensemble including Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, and Ed Blackwell. Later in June, UMe/ Verve will re-release her first solo album, “A Monastic Trio,” originally recorded in 1968. A third Impulse! release is also slated for the holiday season.

Programming also set to take place this year includes “An Oral History of Alice Coltrane,” a unique program led by Michelle Coltrane and harpist Brandee Younger. This initiative combines panel discussions, performances, and oral histories to bring the extraordinary life of Alice Coltrane to universities, colleges, and museums across the country. The program will unfold at institutions like the Center for Women’s History at the New York Historical Society, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Oberlin College, University of Michigan, and more.

In early 2025, the Hammer Museum at UCLA will host an Alice Coltrane-inspired exhibit, spanning 10,000 square feet. This multimedia showcase will feature architectural installations and works from new artists inspired by Coltrane’s creative legacy.

In 1967, John Coltrane gave Alice a harp that became the instrument on which she recorded seminal works. Lyon & Healy, a Chicago-based instrument manufacturer, is restoring this historic harp to its peak condition. After the restoration, the harp will be on loan to Brandee Younger, who will use it in special performances throughout the year.

Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles, three cities pivotal to Alice Coltrane’s life, will host largescale concerts curated by Ravi Coltrane in 2024 and 2025. The Detroit Jazz Festival will kick off the celebrations on Labor Day weekend, featuring a world premiere performance. In addition, Alonzo King LINES Ballet of San Francisco will present two world premiere dance works inspired by Alice Coltrane’s music during the 2024–2025 season.

For the first time, the John & Alice Coltrane Home will present community programming in Brooklyn. This initiative includes lectures, performances, and more at ShapeShifter Plus, in partnership with the School for Improvisational Music. The series will commence with a listening party and conversation with Ravi Coltrane and Reggie Workman about Alice Coltrane’s album “Transfiguration.”

To complement the musical celebrations, plans are underway to re-release Alice Coltrane-Turiyasangitananda’s 1977 devotional text and autobiography, “Monument Eternal.” A previously unreleased devotional literary work by Coltrane entitled “Endless Wisdom III” will be unveiled during The Year of Alice.

As The Year Of Alice unfolds, it promises to be filled with previously unreleased treasures, insightful discussions, mesmerizing performances, and captivating exhibits. This celebration invites music enthusiasts, art aficionados, and spiritual seekers to join in commemorating the life and legacy of an extraordinary artist.

Alice Coltrane (Photo courtesy of the Coltrane Family)

Alice Coltrane in a publicity photo promoting her album “World Galaxy” (Public domain photo)

Why Black country music matters, and not just because of Beyoncé

By AARON FOLEY AmNews News Editor

The ascendance of Beyoncé the country music singer—following the rise of Beyoncé the dance music preservationist, Beyoncé the diaspora, and Beyoncé the feminist— has been criticized as everything from a marketing ploy to claims of inauthenticity, all while pointing to the pop music star as an unwanted interloper in Nashville’s otherwise lily-white space.

But critics unaware of entertainment history should know that singers of her stature are never the first to traverse across genres—and would also be surprised to learn that Nashville isn’t the sole determinant of who can make it in country music.

“There has never been one way that people entered the country music sphere—that’s a misconception,” says Alice Randall, author of the forthcoming “My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future.” “Some of them come up playing on the road. In the more recent era, we have Lil Nas X; people come up on TikTok and come up on Instagram. And truly, in this era, people are being discovered on these television competitions. So these are the real roads to country.”

Randall is a professor at Vanderbilt University and the author of several novels. “My Black Country” is a nonfiction work following her efforts to bring more attention to overlooked Black figures in country music, tracing a path from early pioneers like DeFord Bailey and Herb Jeffries, to her own career in the genre as a songwriter. Randall made history as the first Black woman to co-write a song to hit No. 1 on a Billboard country chart, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s.”

The book, out April 9, will have a companion soundtrack with new music from Black artists who have touched all subgenres of country, including Rhiannon Giddens and Rissi Palmer. The goal of both the book and music is to course-correct the narrative of just who can break through country’s gatekeepers—or perhaps argue whether there should be any gatekeepers at all.

“A lot of people have a lot of misconceptions, and they’re the same kind of conversation that happened when Lil Nas X entered into the world of country and people were saying, ‘Why is he wearing those jeans? Why is he wearing that hat?,’ and not knowing that 20 to 30 percent of 19th century cowboys were Black and brown. A lot of people just aren’t knowledgeable about the actual history of cowboys in America, are not knowledgeable about the actual history of cowboy singing in America and the long roots of Black people in country music within and without Nashville.”

Beyoncé joins a handful of Black artists who found success in other genres before

reaching milestones in country; the song

“Texas Hold ‘Em” currently sits atop Billboard’s Hot 100. A simultaneously released single, “16 Carriages,” Randall says, falls in line with more traditional country songs of the past.

“It is a song that is in conversation with other country songs. For example, it’s in conversation with ‘16 Tons’ [Tennesse Ernie Ford], ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken’ [various artists but notably The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band], ‘Strawberry Wine’ [Deana Carter], and my own ‘XXX’s and OOO’s,’” she said.

“And what I mean by that is that it’s a country labor song. ‘16 Tons’ is about the

Ray Charles turned heads with the “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” album, which sat at the top of the albums chart for 14 weeks. Charley Pride became a Black icon of the genre and one of three Black musicians allowed membership at the Grand Ole Opry. Lionel Richie wrote and produced with country artists after notching hit after hit with The Commodores and his own solo career. Darius Rucker came to prominence leading the jam band Hootie and the Blowfish before embarking on a solo country career.

But Black women’s achievements in the genre have been few and fleeting, even though they have always been there—even before the current crop of Giddens, Palmer, and Mickey Guyton, the latter two of whom having gained more attention in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Randall points to Lil Hardin Armstrong, a granddaughter of an enslaved woman who became a songwriter and bandleader in jazz and married Louis Armstrong. Randall informs readers that Hardin Armstrong was an uncredited musician on Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel #9,” considered one of the foundational songs in the entire country genre.

“She played on every bar of it. So did Louis Armstrong. So there were three musical geniuses that played on the record. One was Louis Armstrong, one was Lil Hardin Armstrong, and one was Jimmie Rogers. Two thirds of the people playing on the records were Black people. And the only person who played on every bar of the record was a Black woman.”

What Beyoncé is doing with her country music is “deconstructing the genre, making things visible that have been invisible, reconstructing it with her own genius in relation to her own audience, but also in relation to existing country songs,” Randall says. And in this case, it does take an artist with her reach to call attention to the Black artists who have contributed to the genre— and music fans from the Beyhive to the Opry should take notice.

world of coal mining, but this is about working, making money in the world of music. But it’s a labor song. It’s rural elegiac. It is concerned with everyday difficulties. I saw Mama praying. I saw Daddy grind. The mother is involved with the religious world. The father is involved with the work world, and the daughter is having to define a life for herself independent of these two and independent of their limitations, because there’s later a line in which she sees the father lying and the mother crying. So it’s rural. It’s elegiac. It’s complex, haunting. That’s what I love about ‘16 Carriages.’

“We should engage all Black brilliance, beauty, and wisdom everywhere we find it. Joy is radical, and I am a radical, joyful woman. And when I listen to this new Beyoncé song, I feel very joyful listening to ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’” Randall says. “I also say I like to evade cultural redlining… So Rissi Palmer’s, ‘Summerville,’ Rhiannon Giddens’ when she was singing with the [Carolina] Chocolate Drops, Ray Charles’ entire ‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,’ Aaron Neville’s ‘The Grand Tour.’ These are songs you can stretch out in and rediscover your love of the planet in.

“One of the things in Black country is that it connects us to Black genius. It reconnects us to God. It connects us to nature when it is at its best,” Randall adds.

Alice Randall (John Partipilo photo)

Unieke Mode NY revamps for Autumn/Winter 2024

By BRENIKA BANKS

Special to the AmNews

Models and designers work in harmony at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) assuring the audience fully experiences their aurora and brand. A Black woman walking the runway may be met with discriminatory comments, yet models like Skxttles Wanders bask in the opportunity to shine with their strut. She’s very confident in Black models even when fashion shows aren’t, and said that these forums are “going to have [no] choice but to put us up there [on a runway]; that’s the mentality I keep every day.”

Wanders, real name Averi Higgins, enjoys romanticizing living life on a runway. The 20-year-old shared that when people utter, “Oh, she thinks she’s on a runway or something?” her response is, “Yeah, why don’t you?” The Buffalo State University student was thrilled to do her second NYFW event with Unieke Mode NY on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center in Manhattan.

Unieke Mode NY has significantly revamped since its Winter 2023 NYFW. Previously called, “Cosmopolitan NYFW,” the company’s founders went from a duo to Monique Obeze solely managing the brand. Wanders praised Obeze for her patience and effectiveness with the models and designers backstage. “She really was able to effectively dedicate time to approach sudden issues on top of making sure the show flowed,” said Wanders. “Monique did spectacularly!” Obeze, with nearly 18 years in the fashion industry, proved her distinct eye for fashion by featuring designers at her NYC show with completely different flairs. Her involvement as a stylist before becoming a full-time show producer inspired her guests to, “experience something different … each time.” This season, Obeze ensured

a plethora of brands from different places graced her runway. “We had designers from New York, all the way to the Philippines,” said the fashion founder. There was a 3 p.m. show and 6 p.m. show for primetime creators. Although Unieke Mode NY is a very new brand, Obeze emphasized, “I’m not new to the business.”

One of Obeze’s main goals was delivering on promises to the designers. She completely understood the importance of branding at Fashion Week. “I get joy from that, from helping others, putting smiles on a designer’s faces,” she said. Obeze enjoys standing with the designers, watching their outfits on the models coming down the runway. “That’s the joy that I get by helping them see their dreams come to life.” One designer Obeze was happy to have on her platform was Denná Latrice Designs.

Denná Latrice Clark, entrepreneur, creator and fashion designer, made her NYFW debut this February. “Definitely an accomplishment made, considering these showcases in New York are something I really thought about when I was a kid, and I finally did it,” said Clark. She describes her brand, Denná Latrice Designs, as youthful with a high school vibe. Additionally, she customizes prom dresses. “Nowadays, prom is almost equivalent to like getting married.” Clark does a lot of custom work for her clients, while keeping her brand “sexy.” On the runway, her line was very creative and distinct.

Clark’s brand’s philosophy states: “Fashion is an expression of identity and personality.” Clark associates this with her clothing because she loves standing out. She participated in a competition show from Tulsa, Oklahoma, bypassed their bootcamp, and won. Although the pace of New York City is faster than Tulsa, she felt right at home. “New York Fashion Week was overwhelmingly exciting,” said Clark.

“I loved every bit of it.”

Denná Latrice Designs stood out to Wanders during Unieke Mode casting. Wanders said she anticipated the opportunity to walk for Clark after seeing her clothing. “Her pieces look straight out of a fairytale book almost, definitely gives prom vibes,” said Wanders. She described her pieces as “nice to walk in,” and called Clark a sweetheart. Wanders was pleased during her exchanges with Clark, despite the chaotic background. “I love people who know how to work under pressure and she’s one of those people,” said Wanders. “Monique, too.”

Clark reveled in working with Wanders and added that the model represented her brand perfectly. Clark was relieved not having to give much direction on the runway approach. She was also pleased working with Monique Obeze. “She’s a blessing, she’s super sweet,” said Clark. “If I could do her show again, a million times, yes, I’ll do it over and over.”

Obeze said she was honored that Denná Latrice Designs first NYFW showcase was through Unieke Mode NY. “I think her collection was very sexy yet elegant,” said Obeze. “I enjoyed seeing her perspective come down the runway.”

This season, Obeze honored select individuals in the fashion industry, including highlighting those during philanthropic work. One of her honorees, Timothy Marshall, does a lot of work drawing attention to breast cancer survivors. Obeze, as a breast cancer survivor herself, was thrilled to celebrate him during Unieke’s show. “We cannot let these things get to us where it prevents us from pursuing our dreams,” said Obeze. She finds it rewarding when everything comes together, es-

pecially after surviving cancer. “I’m able to grab my designers and say, ‘look at what you just did!’” Her passion and love for fashion keeps her moving forward. “I will go above and beyond, and my team is a reflection of that.”

For more information, please visit https://www.uniekemodeny.com

Unieke Mode NY’s founder Monique Obeze and fashion designer Denná Latrice Clark at Autumn–Winter 2024 NYFW. (Brenika Banks photos)

Denná Latrice Designs’ owner Denná Clark with two models during NYFW 2024.

Models walking during Unieke Mode NY Autumn–Winter 2024 NYFW.

Skxttles Wanders walking the runway during Unieke Mode NY Autumn–Winter 2024 NYFW.

A model walking in Denná Latrice Designs during Unieke Mode NY Autumn–Winter 2024 NYFW.

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

It’s a phenomenal time to connect with CEOs, managers, directors, or folks with similar positions. Apply for a higher position within your field of work or expand on your own creative, artistic talents. Ask, pray, shout, and demand for what you need, and apply the footwork to get what you ask for. From March 12 around 8:28 p.m. until March 14 around 10:38 p.m., dream big time about your accomplishments, growth, and where you need to be. Get involved with events within your community and attend one of them, be it online or in person. Schedule a wealth spa day to rejuvenate your body, mind, soul.

Do the money dance this week. Finances may start off slow and end with a hefty compensation. You are game to assist the community with your gift, talent, skills, and expertise. Your energy will be very sensitive from March 6 around 7:38 p.m. until March 8 around 7:41 p.m., so if you wear perfume or oils, apply less if they already have a strong lingering effect. Remember, at the end of the day do for self first before you aid and assist others. Duties and responsibilities are in high demand, so include balance and boundaries while holding yourself accountable.

Being brave, confident, smart and meticulous is fine yet how often do you take a quest within yourself? There you will find all the jewels, wisdom, records, and vivid detailed information that can aid you in your due diligence and direction in life. From March 8 around 8:03 p.m. until March 10 around 7:45 p.m., soulful and insightful as you are, take a trip away from the hustle and bustle of life to find hidden treasures within to regain and get back your focus. A lot is moving and shaking up in your environment this month. Being still is the best answer at times before making a move; similarly, think before you act. Take time in nature to reflect. Nature has its ways of showing you signs and symbols for what you need to know or to inspire you.

How many roadblocks do you have to meet before you notice you create the same cycles, patterns, and habits over again? Stop, think, and ask yourself what benefits you are receiving and whether they are worth the results later. If yes then keep at it; if no, then change up your routine. From March 10 around 8:19 p.m. until March 12 around 7:41 p.m., when you change your routine and habits, you yield different results. March brings slow steady change. Make sure you follow up on the follow-up and pay attention to the clues, details, messages, and folks within your environment.

March is a grand-slam, power-move cycle to be and act your best. Take inventory on all resources, including partnerships obligations, and your responsibilities as well. This cycle week is a boss move where your mental capacity and leadership skills are your strongest assets to deliver from within to position yourself in a higher rank. From March 12 around 8:28 p.m. until March 14 around 10:38 p.m., “think, do, and ask” is the motto. On your mark, get set, go like a plane on the runway, flying into the air. Folks like to be messy and will deliver you gossip, but refrain from it all. Your agenda is the best option in play.

What a protective and spiritual cycle for you. Reflect on the second week of January and first week of February to see what’s in store for you in March. Things are occurring on both physical and spiritual levels more than you notice. What has changed in your daily life? Have you been traveling more than usual and suddenly meeting people? How about within the social media forum? From March 6 around 7:38 p.m. until March 8, around 7:41 p.m., there are signs, symbols, folks, and energy in place to transform your life on a different level. Think in terms of universal or worldwide. Be sure to stay calm, keep your cool, and allow no one to raise your temper. Folks will inspire and encourage you to follow your passion or leave an impression that leads you into higher thinking.

Rebirth of A New Nation: This new moon on March 10, 2024 in Pisces at 20 degrees at 5 a.m. EST is a quiet, silent walker that abruptly wakes you with a zest full of energy. Some will feel, sense, see, hear, or experience a change of mood or behavior to elevate you into a higher state of mind. Your comfort is being shaken up in order to adjust and learn new systems and forthcoming global changes. Whenever a planet is in the sign of Pisces, it emphasizes an ending of something, preparing for the new beginning ahead. As off and unusual as things may get, it’s time for self-preservation mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, and adaptably. “From every ending comes a new beginning.” —Lurlene McDaniel

What’s being played or broadcast to you isn’t all it’s hyped up to be. Change allows folks to be in unconventional, uncomfortable situations to spark a jolt in them to move them forward in life. In which direction is the air blowing you? Wherever it is there is something for you to recognize and receive, be it spiritual, physical, or mental. From March 8 around 8:03 p.m. until March 10 around 7:45 p.m., a protective energy of finance is hovering over you for when you need it. Just ask and wait to receive. It usually shows up when you need it or when you do a good deed. Have a spoonful of patience with water to keep you cool.

Shine bright like a diamond and be as free as a bird flying in the sky. Wait, that bird may have a message for you. When the bird appears, speak to it and see what it does. Sometimes the not-so-great words come out of our mouth and it was actually meant to come out that way. From March 10 around 8:19 p.m. until March 12 around 7:41 p.m., no need to overthink how you said it; it’s what you say that needs to be heard. Break free when you need your space, especially for your mental peace. Mentally control the habits you digest or consume to ease the tension. Relax, meditate, take a walk or something instead. Explore your options as plenty of opportunities are dancing at your feet and ready to grab you with their fingers.

Something is pulling you to a certain direction and choice of words when you speak. When you feel you are evolving, go for the ride. Your past is your past. What you gain from here on forward will equip you and mold you into what you are becoming. From March 12 around 8:28 p.m. until March 14 around 10:38 p.m., you have a plethora of resources in your environment; all you need to do is apply for it, especially when you meet the requirements or criteria. Why not go for it or spin the Wheel of Fortune? Your fortune is forthcoming. Do right by folks and watch the universe send folks your way to motivate you or teach you something and possibly put you on notice.

Be focused on the task at hand, both mentally and physically. Utilize your brain power and physical energy to keep you motivated to achieve that thing you are currently working towards. Leave no details out or out of place. This week indicates a new beginning; something that’s been lagging since December is finally coming to an end. From March 6 around 7:38 p.m. until March 8, around 7:41 p.m., you have everything to gain; request, petition, or apply for what you need. Your response will come in the last week. So make it happen for yourself. Balance your mental energy. No need to get mad, get glad about the new journey ahead. It’s time for takeoff.

Back and forth is necessary to put you in a position after you gain the needed insight. Now you are ready to move forward with the same back and forth to keep things steady and afloat. What you do in the night shines in the day and vice versa, so give it your best chance to yield high results. In this weekly cycle, people are for and against you like pros and cons; not everyone will agree with or assist you. From March 8 around 8:03 p.m. until March 10 around 7:45 p.m., rely on yourself to get you to point A-Z. You are in the driver seat. Life is already a spiritual simulation or replica of something. It’s the same as when a child is birthed through the mother’s birth canal. It develops from something. It’s a spiritual connotation playing out for you. That ah-ha moment will reveal itself later.

There are cycles where we are expressive, creative, and talkative, then suddenly we are quiet as a church mouse. Within your quietness, information comes to you and the things you utter come into fruition. From March 10 around 8:19 p.m. until March 12 around 7:41 p.m., an inner change is being sparked from within that will reveal snippets to you by the last week of March and a bit in May. There’s more unfolding. Be patient as what you seek you will find, and what it seeks will find you. Allow your fire to stimulate and motivate you into higher realms of creative thoughts to fulfill a mission.

A seat at the table: 5 Black-owned restaurants to visit in New York State

By TRACY E. HOPKINS

Special to the AmNews

According to an international travel study, African American travelers are more likely to visit destinations that promote diversity and inclusion in their marketing and that are deemed welcoming and safe.

“America’s history of slavery followed by repressive Jim Crow laws, segregation, institutional racism, and continuing police brutality has made Black [American] travelers cautious,” said Ursula Petula Barzey, research committee chair of Black Travel Alliance, in a press release.

“It’s why Victor Hugo Green’s ‘The Negro Motorist Green Book’ published from 1936 to 1966— and now modern-day online communities where Black travelers gather—are so important. We have an increasing desire for leisure travel and love it when destinations actively market to us but want to make sure that the experience will be a positive one.”

When we travel, we are also invested in supporting Black-owned businesses, particularly Blackowned restaurants. And throughout New York State there are plenty of opportunities to find a seat at the table and to support and savor the flavors of Black chefs from diverse diasporic backgrounds.

Here are five Black-owned eateries to add to your New York City-area daytripping or to your upstate New York getaway itinerary. First stop, Brooklyn.

Fat Fowl (Brooklyn, NY; https:// www.thefatfowl.com/)

Shorne Benjamin, executive chef and founder of Fat Fowl, had a vision for his stall inside downtown Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market Hall. The native of St. Lucia has maximized his small space that has a chef’s kitchen vibe where you can see your food being prepared, and a countertop with a few seats where we recently spotted Food Network star Carla Hall. On any given day, the foodie hotspot often has folks lined up to snag one of its viral oxtail grilled cheese sandwiches.

Benjamin discovered his passion for cooking in his grandmother’s kitchen. His cuisine is rooted in the traditional Caribbean cuisine he grew up with, but with a “new age” twist.

His path to cooking professionally, however, wasn’t as clear cut. In 2004, Benjamin earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and worked on Wall Street. But when the financial crisis hit in 2008, he went to culinary school.

“As a chef you evoke feelings in someone when you prepare a dish,” the handsome and humble chef says on the restaurant’s website. “For me, I put my heart into every dish, which has led me to become the chef I am today…You have to respect the food and the art that it brings.”

Another Fat Fowl staple is its honey lavender chicken, which is marinated for over 24 hours in a signature brine made with lavender, rosemary, sage, garlic and ginger, then slow roasted in a rotisserie oven. And don’t miss the yummy sides like creamy mac and cheese, sweet plantains, garlic string beans and jerk tamarind mushrooms.

Clover Hill (Brooklyn, NY; https://www.cloverhillbk.com/)

Clover Hill is a 20-seat restaurant nestled on a quiet, cobblestone block in the Brooklyn Heights historic district. Executive chef and co-owner Charlie Mitchell is a trailblazer and has the distinct honor as the first Black chef in New York City and the second in the U.S. to achieve the esteemed Michelin star rating.

According to the restaurant’s website, the elegant eatery seeks to blend the best elements of old and new school fine dining, with a focus on refined seafood dishes.

Owners Clay Castillo, Gabriel Merino, and chef Mitchell say, “We believe that eating should be fun. Our intent is to deliver an experience that feels like home.”

La Talaye (Haverstraw, NY; https://www.latalaye.com/)

At La Talaye, located in the picturesque Hudson Valley, chef Michelle Timothee artfully combines the vibrant flavors of her native Haiti with influences from French, Spanish, Creole, and Indian cuisines.

The cafe and catering company’s name is a nostalgic nod to SaintMichel-de-l’Atalaye, the agricultural region where Timothee spent time with her grandparents as a child. Following in her grandmother’s farm-to-table tradition, she carefully sources fresh ingredients from local farms and farmers’ markets, infusing her dishes with a medley of spices with both flavor and health benefits in mind.

Highlights of La Talaye’s menu featuring international cuisine with a Caribbean twist include the curried lentil soup with organic local vegetables, Louisiana Creole-style chicken gumbo over jasmine rice, and freedom soup (soup joumou), a Sunday special prepared with pumpkin, beef, and vegetables.

My Father’s House Southern Cuisine (Nyack, NY; https:// www.mfhsc.com/ )

Featured on “America’s Best Restaurants” in 2023, when you head to My Father’s House, one thing for sure is that you won’t go home hungry.

Owner and chef Adrienne Cromartie-Wolf specializes in traditional soul food staples like pork chops and collard greens, chicken and waffles, hush puppies and fried okra, and heaping sides of mac and cheese and potato salad. There are also plenty of vegan and vegetarian options.

Come Sunday, pop in for the

soulful brunch menu accompanied by live gospel and jazz.

Allie B’s Cozy Kitchen (Albany, NY; https://alliebscozykitchen.llc/)

At Allie B’s, every plate is prepared with love. The restaurant is named for the late Allie Bee Bethea, a native of South Carolina who began catering and selling food on the streets of Harlem in the 1960s.

While in New York City, Allie’s tempting and not so lean cuisine was a hit with the city’s prominent religious and political figures. Now her daughter Kizzy carries on her tradition with mouthwatering recipes and Southern hospitality at Allie B’s Cozy Kitchen in Albany.

Choose from the “all day” menu, which includes barbecue pork ribs, fried fish, fried chicken, and baked turkey wings, each coming with a choice of three classic sides like cornbread, collard greens, candied yams, and macaroni and cheese.

Chef Shorne Benjamin of Fat Fowl in Brooklyn (Photos courtesy of Fat Fowl)

Chef Michelle Timothee of La Talaye in Hudson Valley (Photos courtesy of Finn Partners)

Fat Fowl’s tempting “new age” Caribbean menu options

Freedom soup from La Talaye in Hudson Valley

‘Sunset Baby’ is sensational!

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

When we think of revolutionaries who fought for the rights of Black people in this country, many names may come to mind. We know people who took on roles in the Black Power Movement and who often faced arrest and imprisonment for taking a stand. There are people on whom books are written, and while we may know about their commitment to the movement, what about their personal lives as partners, fathers, and mothers do we truly know?

Dominique Morisseau gives audiences a penetrating look into the back story of a revolutionary, Kenyatta, who served time as a political prisoner, leaving his lady, Ashanti, to raise their daughter Nina in “Sunset Baby,” playing at the Signature Theatre on West 42nd Street.

Once Kenyatta is imprisoned, Ashanti is left to face life without him physically being there. Ashanti was also involved in the movement, but after Kenyatta was incarcerated, she realized that life without him was too difficult. Morisseau gives us Kenyatta, a revolutionary member of the Black Panther Party. While he was incarcerated, they wrote letters to each other; Kenyatta’s letters demonstrated his continuing commitment to the revolution, but lacked the same amount of passion for his family. With the death of Ashanti and his release from prison, Kenyatta comes to East New York to see his grown daughter Nina and ask about letters her mother wrote that he did not get to see. The letters have a great deal of monetary value, as Ashanti was a force in the movement. Nina harbors a great deal of anger towards a father, who left her life at a very young age, an action she believes led to the death of her mother.

From the time the play starts, Kenyatta is recording videos for Nina. He explains the problems one can face during fatherhood, the fears, the worries of abandoning one’s family. Kenyatta often makes these videos to speak to his daughter, something he has great difficulty doing when they are together. He and Ashanti were devoted to the revolution and were loved and respected by many. But being part of the revolution came with a huge personal price, as he shares.

The scenes between Kenyatta and Nina show that they are both strong-willed people and that Nina has a lot of reasons to despise her father, since he played no real part in her life that she can recall. He comes to her as a stranger, and she does not hesitate to tell him where he can go. Nina and her boyfriend, Damon, are doing what they have to do to survive, living in a rundown apartment in East New York. Nina is angry and quick to tell Kenyatta about his lack of rights to have any part in her life. Kenyatta, meanwhile, is on a mission to get the letters that Ashanti wrote him, which

she willed to Nina. Damon is a hustler and a drug dealer who tries to control her, but she is not someone to be underestimated. Nina goes on a painful journey of self-discovery, which is incredible to witness.

The three actors deliver explosive performances. “Sunset Baby” is sensational! For 100 minutes, it packs a tremendous punch.

Russell Hornsby is stunning as Kenyatta, a man trying to understand what being a part of the movement has resulted in for himself and his daughter. Long ago, he decided that being a force in a movement meant putting the movement first and separating yourself from your family for their sake. He had not weighed the negative impact that this decision would have on their lives.

Nina is powerfully played by Moses Ingram. This young woman is angry, and rightly so. She consistently lets her father know he has no right to even utter her name. She also blames him for her mother’s decline while he was in prison; she was heartbroken. Ingram lights up the stage with a spirited performance that makes you respect, understand, and sympathize with the life that she has had to lead. This character, though she despises her father, is actually like him in many ways. Both keep up their guard and don’t want to be vulnerable with anyone. Damon is played beautifully by J. Alphonse Nicholson. His character is a manipulative, moneyhungry user, but he also has a vulnerable side. Nicholson is always a pleasure to see.

I love how this production spotlights the importance of the Black Power Movement, but also lets the audience consider the personal sacrifices families inevitably had to make during that time. I love how the title represents a tender moment shared by Kenyatta and Nina. Morisseau shares in the playwright’s note in the program that her father was part of the revolution and he raised her to believe in our people. This is a play that will move you. I felt such a great deal of pride as I sat in the audience at the Signature Theatre. Steve H. Broadnax III’s direction is spot-on. Everything about this production is fluid, including the costume design by Emilio Sosa, scenic design by Wilson Chin, lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, and sound design by Curtis Craig and Jimmy Keys. For tickets, visit signaturetheatre.org.

Moses Ingram and Russell Hornsby in a scene from ‘Sunset Baby.’

Alphonse Nicholson and Russell Hornsby in ‘Sunset Baby.’ (Marc. J. Franklin photos)

‘The Connector’ questions importance of truth in journalism

By LINDA ARMSTRONG

Special to the AmNews

“The Connector” is a captivating new musical, playing at MCC Theater’s Newman Mills Theater (511 W. 52nd Street). It is a musical about journalism and the lengths that a journalist will go to for success.

With a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman, “The Connector” tells the story of Ethan Dobson, an ambitious young writer who has long read and loved the Connector magazine and wanted to be part of it. When he gets an opportunity to meet the magazine’s publisher, Conrad O’Brien, he makes the best of it and, before you know it, his career has taken off.

A copyeditor at the magazine, Robin Martinez, has been with the magazine for some time. She has repeatedly submitted stories to the publisher but, as a woman and a minority, she finds that her work is not even looked at.

The magazine has been around for decades and has a good reputation and loyal readership. The publisher sees in Ethan the journalist he used to be and encourages Ethan to challenge himself. Not only does Ethan write stories that capture the readership, but the magazine issues that contain his stories sell better than those without. But something about Ethan seems just

too good to be true.

Other journalists at the magazine, such as Robert, a Black journalist, and Muriel, a fact checker, have been at the magazine since it began. Muriel boldly questions the facts of Ethan’s stories, but her opinion is not respected when it comes to his work.

The questions come up: What is the truth?

Can a journalist decide that something is true without having facts to back it up? Is sensationalism more important than truth?

This musical puts a spotlight on the integrity of journalists, and what some may resort to doing to become famous and succeed.

This musical features wonderful music, lyrics, orchestration, and arrangements by Jason Robert Brown; is conceived and directed by Daisy Prince; and has marvelous choreography by Karla Puno Garcia.

The cast delivers quite memorable performances. Scott Bakula was engaging as Conrad, and Ben Levi Ross was captivating as Ethan—it was especially interesting to watch the development and downfall of his character. Hannah Cruz was magnificent as Robin—her voice was amazing and she played this role with such spirit and heart!

Fergie Philippe gave dazzling performances in dual roles of Robert/Willie.

Jessica Molaskey shined beautifully as Muriel. Mylinda Hull was a stunning comic relief as Mona Bland, a loyal reader

to the paper, who often sent critiques and praise for its stories.

The other capable cast members included Max Crumm, Ashley Perez Flanagan, Danielle Lee Greaves, Daniel Jenkins, Eliseo Roman, Ann Sanders, and Michael Winther.

‘Jonah’ is jarring theater

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

The Roundabout Theatre Company is presenting a new play called “Jonah” by Rachel Bonds that looks at the way that writing and fantasy can help to sustain a person enduring horrific situations. At times cute, at times amusing, and at times startling, “Jonah” invites us into the world of main character Ana (stunningly portrayed by Gabby Beans) as she navigates sadness, abuse, loss, inappropriate relationships, and death—all the while still finding a way to survive. The mind is truly an amazing instrument.

This play presents a storyline that jumps from the past to the present, and from the imagined to the real. You won’t know until the end which is which, a testament to the true power of writing. There is something very special in being able to create a story and to tell your own. Ana has been through much and writing is her saving grace. There is something very deep about a person sharing their pain in a way that inspires others to not only understand it, but to also be inspired to share their own circumstances.

“Jonah” looks deeply into the idea that people in desperate situations question

God. They find themselves feeling abandoned, confused, and guarded. The play also shows that as human beings we do desire to have someone who understands us, cares about us, and wants to engage in a deep conversation with us.

“Jonah” is a powerful play to experience. The cast delivers memorable and, at times, disturbing performances. Beans, again, is brilliant as Ana. Hagan Oliveras brings a charming innocence to the role of Jonah. Samuel H. Levine is interesting and poignant as Danny. John Zdrojeski is engaging and captivating as Steven. Director Danya Taymor takes the audience on an entertaining journey and leaves you riveted.

The production, playing at the Laura Pels Theatre Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 W 46th Street through March 10 only, has set design by Wilson Chin, costume design by Kaye Voyce, lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker and sound design by Kate Marvin. For ticket information visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

The technical team includes scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Marion Talan de la Rosa, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, and sound design by Jon Weston.

For more info, visit www.mcctheater.org.

A scene from “The Connector” (l-r) Fergie Philippe, Hannah Cruz, and Ben Levi Ross. (Joan Marcus photo)

Opening Night of “Jonah” (l-r) Hagan Oliveras, Gabby Beans, John Zdrojeski and Samuel H. Levine (Marcus Middleton photo)

Village Vanguard, TransArt, Room 623, Book/Albums

Guitarist Peter Bernstein’s crisp, punctuated melodies are what caught the ear of organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, earning him a regular chair in his band. Dr. Smith often referred to Bernstein as his favorite guitarist. His masterful playing has earned him stints with Lou Donaldson, Mike LeDonne, and Larry Goldings, having recorded more than 30 albums as a leader and more than 50 more as a productive group member.

The Bernstein Quartet will make its way to the Village Vanguard stage for what will be an exciting five-night stand from March 5-10. He will be joined by pianist Sullivan, whose visions continue to expand; Sullivan Fortner, bassist Doug Weiss, who through his accentuated comps opens the groove; and Miles Davis alumnus drummer Al Foster. The threesome, with the exception of Fortner, are familiar band mates.

For tickets visit villagevanguard. com.

TransArt presents for March, a month of Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. in the Gallery @ 107 for Rhythm Salon, a new weekly live music series featuring their artists in residence with special guests. March 10 features trombonist and composer Craig Harris Trio with bassist Melissa Slocum and poet Zakiyah Modeste; March 17 is the Duo of Double Bass with Christopher Dean Sullivan and Ken Filiano; March 24 will feature the Firey String Sistas: pianist Mala Waldron, cello Nioka Workman, violinist Marlene Rice, and bassist Beldon Bullock; and on March 31, master percussionist Chief Baba Neil Clarke Trio Plus.

The Sunday afternoon Salons take place at 107 Henry Street in Kingston, New York. Granted it is not Manhattan for such groups of this caliber, but the excitement is well worth the drive, train, or bus ride.

RSVP: info@transartinc.org or call 845-943-2900. Cover charge is $10 at the door.

The iconic saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins chose to lead piano-less groups out of expressive creativity. But out of necessity, Harlem’s little speakeasy

jazz club Room 623 at 271 West 119th Street has been using its small electric keyboard donated by the club’s creative director, host, and MC Marcus Goldhaber.

Most recently, that little keyboard was upgraded to a brandnew Yamaha U1 PE upright piano, gifted by Harlemite and arts patron Stuart Holland. The unveiling and celebration was a big deal that summoned a varied list of invited guests and members of the press. In addition to remarks by the club owner and manager and the Holland family, the evening also highlighted performances by three of Harlem’s prominent pianists: Bertha Hope, Danny Mixon, and Luther S. Allison.

The story of how the club got the piano is an excellent example of, in Goldhaber’s words, how “Harlem works when Harlem works together.” Some time ago, Goldhaber put out the word that the club needed a piano. He received several messages from people offering second-hand instruments, but from experience, he felt that “secondhand pianos don’t always hold the action, they can’t sustain

the tune.” About nine months ago, another email came from a patron who was willing to donate a piano. Goldhaber asked to see the instrument, but to his delight, Holland said he was thinking of purchasing a new piano for the space.

Holland, a member of Room 623 and a self-described student of history, was “impressed by the club’s efforts to keep jazz alive in Harlem, and he was inspired to give the piano to the club by his musical family: the Greenes, Hollands, Jacksons, and Teasdales.“My mother attended the High School of Music & Art when it was affiliated with City College of New York in Hamilton Heights,” Holland proudly recalls.“My Uncle Richard was heavily influenced by classical music. His daughters played violin when they were young.He compiled a list of Black classical composers and supported their careers in classical music. He was also an avid jazz fan and introduced me to some wellknown artists. My great Aunt Thelma was a music teacher and piano instructor, and my cousin

William Moore Jr. was an arranger for Tommy Dorsey in the 1940s and later wrote songs for The Peters Sisters from 1953 to 1960.”

With that background of music running through his family, it’s easy to see why Holland would consider such a generous donation. It is a perfect example of how Harlemites join forces to keep the musical legacy of the community alive and thriving.

“The piano is well-miked and mixed, and everyone’s really feeling this uplift of a dream come true,” Goldhaber says. “There’s a legitimacy that an upright acoustic piano lends to a jazz club. Having the acoustic sound spells out what people come out for. It becomes more palpable, and that joy is elevated for everyone.”

The club is underneath Brunch Harlem (formerly B Squared/Billie’s Black), owned and founded by Harlem-born restaurateur Adriane Ferguson and now co-owned by Joseph Bailey.

For more information on events, dining, membership and ticket prices at Room 623, please visit

https://www.room623.com, connect on social media @room623nyc, call (212) 589-8979, or e-mail bluelight@623.com.

This week’s book is “Black Manhattan” by James Weldon Johnson (Alfred A. Knopf, 1930). When reflecting on the Black history of New York, and Harlem in particular, this may be the best book ever written on the community by a Black scholar, writer, resident, and, most importantly, a witness. As Johnson notes in the preface, “It has not been my intention to make this book in any strict sense of a history. I have only attempted to etch in the background of the Negro in latter-day New York, to give a cut-back in projecting a picture of Negro Harlem.”

Since we are wading in the history of Harlem, let’s go with suggested albums: anything by pianists James P. Johnson (composer and a pioneer of stride piano playing) and the legendary Art Tatum. You can refer to him as a genius, master, or even God, and that still doesn’t describe his masterful playing—maybe he was just pure magic.

Three of Harlem’s finest pianists: Bertha Hope, Danny Mixon and Luther S. Allison ar Room 623 (Keith Rogers photo)

BP Reynoso, CM Bottcher push for a new Housing League

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Council Member Erik Bottcher are joining forces to promote a new pro-housing development group.

The two sent out invitations to some 160 other elected officials for an inaugural meeting of what they’ve deemed a Housing League. On March 1, they spoke about their new grouping with 16 other elected officials and 18 representatives of electeds at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The Housing League will be an assemblage of state and city elected officials who support pro-development policies and land use actions.

The meeting offered a chance to those who are pro-development and those who may have some qualms about it to come together and discuss the issues, BP Reynoso said at a press conference following the meeting. “We really want to have a meaningful conversation. So, this was like a big tent approach that allowed for a lot of people to come regardless of their position on housing.”

“Historically,” Council Member Bottcher added, “this is a topic that elected officials have run away from. So, to have as many folks as we had here today is very encouraging.”

The meeting introduced the Housing League to the other electeds and gave them a chance to talk about what the

Bloody Sunday

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measures threaten the foundation of our system of government.”

The march and Garland’s speech were among dozens of events during the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee, which began Thursday and culminated Sunday.

The commemoration is a frequent stop for Democratic politicians paying homage to the voting rights movement. Some in the crowd gathered to see Harris speak about the upcoming November election and what appears to be a looming rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Khadidah Stone, 27, part of a crowd gathered at the bridge Sunday in light rain before the march, said she sees the work of today’’s activists as an extension of those who were attacked in Selma in 1965. Stone works for the voter engagement group Alabama Forward, and was a plaintiff in the Voting Rights case against the state that led to creating a second Alabama congressional district with a substantial number of Black voters. Voters will cast their first ballots in that district on Tuesday.

“We have to continue to fight, because they [voting rights] are under attack,” Stone said.

Nita Hill wore a hat saying “Good Trouble,” a phrase associated with the late Rep. John

League wants to do.

BP Reynoso and Bottcher did not go into detail about the discussions that took place inside the meeting. But, so far it’s clear that one central goal of the Housing League is to promote planned and directed housing development that spreads the growth of neighborhoods across all five boroughs.

Promoting planned housing is a crucial item Reynoso pointed to in the “Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn” his office produced in October 2023. Low levels of both affordable and market rate housing and a lack of tenant protections have led to higher rents in some neighborhoods. And while developers will often zero in on building in one neighborhood, other city neighborhoods have remained practically construction free. “When comparing across community districts,” Reynoso’s Plan states, “CD 1 [Greenpoint, Williamsburg] added 18,500 units of housing [between the years 2010 and 2020] while CD 18 [Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Marine Park, Georgetown, and Mill Island] added only 500 units.”

Both New York’s renters and owners are cost-burdened due to the city’s high cost of housing, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in his recent report, “New Yorkers in Need: The Housing Insecurity Crisis”: “Between 2012 and 2022, New York added 462,000 hous -

Lewis, who was beaten on the bridge during Bloody Sunday. Hill, 70, said it is important for Biden supporters to vote in November.

“I believe Trump is trying to take us back,” said Hill, a retired university payroll specialist.

Decades ago, images of the violence that at the bridge stunned Americans, which helped galvanize support for passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law struck down barriers prohibiting Black people from voting.

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat of South Carolina who is leading a pilgrimage to Selma, said he is seeking to “remind people that we are celebrating an event that started this country on a better road toward a more perfect union,” but the right to vote is still not guaranteed.

Clyburn sees Selma as the nexus of the 1960s movement for voting rights, at a time when there are currently efforts to scale back those rights.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 became a reality in August of 1965 because of what happened on March 7th of 1965,” Clyburn said.

“We are at an inflection point in this country,” he added. “And hopefully this year’s march will allow people to take stock of where we are.”

Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Stephen Groves in Washington, D.C.; and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

ing units, an increase of 5.7 percent that was far below other states, with New York ranking 32nd in the nation. Owner-occupied housing grew by 8.3 percent compared to 6.4 percent for renter-occupied housing. Monthly household costs grew more rapidly for renters (39 percent) than for homeowners (28 percent) between 2012 and 2022.”

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson attended the Housing League meeting and spoke about the various new buildings going up in her borough. In Brooklyn, Borough President Reynoso talked about neighborhoods like East New York where there are nearly 40 active construction cranes while there has been a lot less development in a neighborhood like Bay Ridge. “What happens there is that maybe Bay Ridge doesn’t know that they’re not contributing to the greater good, but now they see it,” Reynoso said. “They see they have seven [new units] and East New York has 13,000 units of housing that they built. And it’s just like, okay, we can see how the perception could be that we’re not assisting in this crisis.”

The Housing League believes that, if the city plans to meet its goal of providing enough housing for everyone, construction cranes should be as commonplace in the Bronx as they are in other neighborhoods.

The electeds who showed up to attend the March 1 Housing League meeting

were Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson; City Council Members Chi Ossé, Julie Menin, Chris Marte, Shahana Hanif, and Pierina Sanchez; State Senators Jabari Brisport, Julia Salazar, and Brian Kavanaugh; and Assembly Members Emily Gallagher, Jo Anne Simon, Harvey Epstein, Yudelka Tapia, Alex Bores, Grace Lee, and Linda Rosenthal.

One part of the Housing League’s program is that it plans to be a vocal supporter of politicians and community groups who want to promote housing development.

“We have a housing crisis and the goal of this group is to solve the housing crisis in a meaningful way,” BP Reynoso added. “We have hundreds of thousands of people in our homeless shelters, we have people that are paying significant amounts of rent––they may be one paycheck away from becoming homeless. So, the goal overall is to address the housing crisis with a crisis level response. We want the group to grow. We had meaningful players in the meeting: I think the chairs of all the housing in the state, city and the assembly, the senate and the council housing chairs were all there. They did a great job expressing what issues they think are meaningful for us to get to a place where the general public feels like the housing crisis is being addressed in a fruitful way. But the goal here is to come together as one to solve this crisis.”

CLASSROOM IN THE

Alton A. Adams, a trailblazing bandmaster

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

Researching the life of Max Roach, the iconic percussionist and composer, we stumbled on Alton Augustus Adams, another significant Black musician unknown to us.

Thanks to the phenomenal work and legacy of musical educator Samuel Floyd, who will be profiled in the future, we learned of Adams’s achievements, first and perhaps foremost as a pioneering bandmaster. Born in St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands, Adams’s history was recounted by Floyd in the “American Music Research Journal,” including how he connected with Adams and continued many years of friendship and music history.

Adams was born November 4, 1889, and was the son of parents who aspired to be artisans. Their aspirations imbued him with a similar passion, though he initially apprenticed to become a carpenter and then a shoemaker. Even as he worked diligently at these trades, his love for music and literature was not ignored.

He learned to play the piccolo since it was less expensive than a flute and later in 1906, joined the St. Thomas Municipal Band. With an aim toward perfecting his skills, he began taking correspondence courses with Dr. Hugh Clark at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1910, he left the Municipal Band and formed his ensemble—the Adams Juvenile Band. It wasn’t long before the band was a popular fixture on his island’s main city, Charlotte Amalie. One vital way Adams nurtured his musical career was by reading music magazines, mostly from the U.S., including “The Dominant,” where in 1910 he contributed an article on the Black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Five years later, he became the editor of The Herald, labor rights advocate D. Hamilton Jackson’s St. Croix newspaper, and subsequently the band columnist for the “Jacobs’ Band Monthly.” In his column, Adams often emphasized original works and they soon caught the attention of John Philip Sousa and Edwin Franko Goldman. He expressed himself in a very stylish manner with a flair for social idealism. On the eve of World War I, the U.S. purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark, an event that gave

Adams considerable advantages and opportunities.

When the Adams Juvenile Band was inducted into the U.S. Navy, Adams, fortuitously, became the first Black bandmaster in the U.S. From this unique post, Adams helped to defuse the racial tension and hostilities between Blacks and whites, and it also gave him a formidable position to improve his status as a community leader on the islands. In his capacity as chief petty officer, he served as a leader of the local chapter of the Red Cross and helped to found the library in Charlotte Amalie, all the while continuing his musical endeavors and developing an educational program on the islands.

In 1922, he traveled to the U.S. for the first time to do research in music education, and two years later led his band on a tour in the U.S., winning honors and praise for the band’s style and sound reminiscent of the Sousa bands. Among his best-known works were “Virgin Islands March” (1919), “The Governor’s Own” (1921), and “The Spirit of the U.S.N.” (1924), dedicated to President Calvin Coolidge. He also made an unforgettable impression on Harlem residents and is possibly the most significant place his band appeared in the U.S.

After the unit was transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Adams’s life began to spiral into one setback after another, most devastatingly a fire that took the life of his daughter and destroyed his home in St. Thomas in 1932. Lost in the fire, too, was a sizable collection of his scholarly writings and unpublished compositions. Upon his return to St. Thomas, he resumed his educational pursuits and journalism at The Bulletin but this was soon interrupted by the onset of World War II. Called back to active duty, Adams was back on the Bay where under his leadership the first racially integrated band was sanctioned by the U.S. Navy. There would be two more relocations of the band before Adams retired from the service in 1945.

Two years later, the indefatigable Adams became a charter member of the Virgin Islands Hotel Association and was elected president, a position he held until 1971. This duty did not interfere with journalism, where he was a stringer for AP and the Associated Negro Press. His musical reputation rose even higher when the Virgin Islands accepted his “Virgin Islands March,” for rededication. In 1982 it became the official territorial anthem, two years before Floyd brought Adams to the

U.S. to receive an honorary degree from Fisk University.

“By that time,” Floyd said, “I had sent the Navy enough material that they invited him to come and conduct their band. I asked Mr. Adams about giving his collection to Fisk, but he had already promised it to the University of Arizona. I didn’t know why, but that’s what had happened. So I forgot about it. Then, I think it was 1990, I was in the Caribbean again and I stopped by his son’s firm—he’s an engineer. We talked a little bit, and when I got ready to go he said, ‘Wait a minute, what are we going to do about my father’s collection?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?

I thought it was in Arizona.’ He said,‘No way.’ I said, ‘I’ll tell you what we’re going to do with it.’ [laughter]

‘Well, it’s in Chicago now, after having been sent straight to Michigan to this real deep-freeze place to kill all the larvae and bugs that were in the collection. It took three years to process it all, but it’s now in shape.’”

Adams composed a volume of songs, including one dedicated to the Roosevelts, “Welcome to Our President” in 1934.

Around 1983, Adams closed his guest house in St. Thomas. He died on November 23, 1987, in Charlotte Amalie, a few weeks after his 98th birthday.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

As you can see, the words of Samuel Floyd were indispensable in posting this profile, and he also wrote a foreword to a book edited by Mark Clague on “The Memoirs of Alton Augustus Adams, Sr.” in 2008.

DISCUSSION

It is great to learn that his compositions are experiencing a round of tributes and performances.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

When the U.S. purchased the Virgin Islands at the start of World War I, it offered Adams an opportunity to make his contact with the U.S. more substantial than via magazines.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

March 3, 1962: Track immortal Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born in East St. Louis, Illinois.

March 4, 1877: Inventor Garrett A. Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky. He died in 1963.

March 6, 1923: Jazz great and guitarist, Wes Montgomery, was born in Indianapolis, Ind. He died in 1968.

Immigration Korner

Continued from page 14

their hateful policy agenda,” she asserted in a written statement. “This is not the leadership our state deserves, and further proves that this policy package does not represent Arizona’s people.”

These developments in Arizona coincide with Republicans in various states, notably Texas, championing stringent immigration policies in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election, fueled by figures like Donald Trump.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas and a self-professed devout Christian, declared in an interview earlier this year that his state was employing all possible means to prevent migrants from illegally crossing the border, stopping short of endorsing lethal force, “because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.”

Federal law already prohibits unauthorized entry into the U.S. Yet, Republicans in Arizona and Texas argue that the federal government’s efforts are insufficient, necessitating additional state authority.

Fortunately, a federal judge recently blocked a new Texas law granting police extensive powers to arrest suspected migrants entering the U.S. illegally, rebuffing Abbott’s immigration enforcement endeavors. This injunction coincided with President Joe Biden and his likely Republican challenger’s recent visit to Brownsville, Texas.

Biden›s visit, however, drew criticism from activists who lamented his failure to meet with immigration attorneys, nonprofits, and advocates, instead conferring with elected leaders, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), and local law enforcement officers.

Biden reiterated his call for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill, which he touted as the “toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen in this country.” The proposal includes a “Border Emergency Authority” allowing summary deportation of individuals entering between ports of entry without asylum application opportunities. He also pledged more resources for Border Patrol recruitment, while U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas claimed increased removals or returns compared to previous fiscal years.

Nevertheless, the Texas Civil Rights Project criticized Biden for prioritizing meetings with CBP officials over engaging with immigration advocates, accusing him of neglecting immigration reform and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis at the border.

As the political discourse around immigration intensifies, particularly targeting immigrants of color, I pose a simple question this Lenten season to all self-professed Christian, right-wing lawmakers, and voters alike: What would Jesus do?

Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focusing on Black immigrant issues.

Border Bill

Continued from page 4

Adams started sending out 30- and 60-day eviction notices to migrants in the city’s shelter system.

Local organizations and the city are split on their views on the Senate border bill. Most nonprofits on the frontlines of the migrant crisis are dead set against the bill, while Adams is all for it.

African Communities Together National Policy Director Diana Konaté said that the organization is flat-out opposed to HR 815. She said they will oppose any attempts to restrict asylum at the borders. “While we were pleased that the border language ultimately failed to move out of the Senate, we were very disappointed to see many of our allies in the Senate support those cruel border provisions,” Konaté said in a statement. “We are now alarmed at reports that the Biden administration is considering executive actions as a way to accomplish what it couldn’t do with Congress.”

New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) Director of Immigrant Rights Policy C. Marlene Galaz explained that the Senate border bill continues a troubling pattern of “elected officials scapegoating immigrant communities” and failing to provide humane solutions. She said the bill would virtually eliminate due process for asylum seekers by completely removing the asylum system from the judicial system. Additionally, she

said it would dramatically raise the standards of asylum, making it virtually impossible for people seeking protection to qualify.

Galaz suggested that immigration reform should create pathways to legalization and permanence for newly arrived asylum seekers and established immigrant communities. She championed more humane treatment for those at the southern border.

“What is needed now more than ever from the Biden administration is to ensure that any border security executive actions protect due process for asylum seekers and provide resources for a fair, efficient, and humane asylum system,” said NYIC Executive Director Murad Awawdeh. “The cruel measures being proposed collectively create a government mandated asylum ban, which even border officials contend will only create more chaos at the southern border, while failing to address the real issue at hand.”

Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said at a press conference on March 5 that “far-right Republicans” refuse to do anything on immigration reform because it’s a presidential election year, echoing Meeks’ sentiments.

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

Education

Programs for high school students at risk of dropping out face ‘catastrophic’ funding cliff

By ALEX ZIMMERMAN Chalkbeat New York

Note: This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletter.

After one of Clara Delgado’s students gave birth late last year, she quickly arranged a home visit.

Dalgado, a staffer at Downtown Brooklyn’s Young Adult Borough Center—one of the Education Department’s evening programs for students who are behind in credits or can’t attend school during the day, arrived with a counselor in tow, donated baby clothes, and made sure the student could log in to Google Classroom to complete assignments remotely.

Delgado hoped the message was clear: The school would do whatever it could to help the teen finish the two classes she needed to graduate.

But staff like Delgado—along with funding for about 3,000 paid work slots—could soon disappear from a network of Young Adult Borough Centers and transfer schools that collectively serve nearly 15,000 students who have struggled at traditional high schools, are behind in credits, and are at risk of dropping out. That’s because a bevy of counselors, social workers, and internship coordinators are paid through a city initiative called Learning to Work, which is predominantly funded by federal dollars that will expire at the end of this school year.

Educators and advocates say the services provided through Learning to Work are a lifeline for high-need students who enroll in transfer schools and evening classes. They include students who have struggled to pass classes at traditional schools, are caught up in the criminal justice system, are parents themselves, or are living in temporary housing.

To help get those students back on track, Learning to Work pairs alternative schools with community organizations that provide

If proposed budget cuts go through, they could add to an existing funding threat to the city’s network of transfer schools, which serve older students who are off-track to graduate, and schools might face smaller budgets next year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

extra staff who help ensure students show up to school, get connected to social services, and even craft college and career plans. It also funds thousands of paid internships, which can give students valuable work experience and create an incentive to attend school rather than drop out to support themselves.

“A lot of [our work] is social-emotional,” said Delgado, a program manager at Good Shepherd Services, a nonprofit organization that partners with the Brooklyn night program. “They need somebody to take that off their plate so they can be successful with the academics.” The student who gave birth earned a diploma last month and plans to enroll at the Borough of Manhattan Community College this fall.

If the program’s funding is cut, Delgado said it will be a blow for students who have already struggled with the city’s education system. “It’s just someone writing them off again—they’re getting another back turned on them,” she said.

Jobs for students and staff could be lost Learning to Work has existed since 2005, unlike other programs funded with federal dollars that were intended to address the pandemic’s fallout, such as Saturday programming for students with disabilities or expanded summer school.

The city began using federal money to finance most of the program two years ago. Nearly 70% of Learning to Work’s budget, or about $32 million, now comes from one-time federal pandemic relief funds, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office. (The program faced a 25% cut in 2020, but its budget has since returned to pre-pandemic levels.)

Without an infusion from the city, “on July 1, these young people lose their support system and lose money they’re paying their bills with,” said Michael De Vito, Jr., executive director of the New York Center for Interpersonal Development, which operates three Learning to Work programs in Staten Island and Brooklyn. “This is also going to cause layoffs of hundreds of nonprofit workers.”

Ariana Rivadeneira, 22, said the paid work experiences helped her re-engage with school and ultimately earn a diploma. Before the pandemic hit, she took on a job working at a veterinary clinic to help her mother pay rent after her parents split up. She began missing school and fell behind academically. After she switched to West Brooklyn Community High School, a transfer school, the staff helped her line up paid work experiences and training, including solar panel installation. There was suddenly less of a tradeoff between school and work.

“I was able to focus and redirect my whole education path to school,” Rivadeneira said. She graduated a year ago and now works as an EMT.

The work experiences helped Rivadeneira and her peers “experience what life could be for them—not just school, not just this responsibility of, ‘you have to graduate,’” she said.

Transfer schools could be hit hardest

New York’s previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, made the decision to use one-time federal funding to support the Learning to Work program, but it’s unclear how current Mayor Eric Adams will proceed. Adams and schools Chancellor David Banks have made career education a centerpiece of their agenda, and many advocates hope city officials will see the program’s connection to that work.

Still, community organizations worry that the program is not on the city’s radar, because Adams said in January that he “had no clue of the extent of how many programs were being funded by stimulus dollars” until he was briefed by Banks. While Adams has restored some initiatives that were funded with one-time federal money, many remaining programs are competing for city dollars, including preschool for 3-year-olds.

“We constantly have to remind people that we even exist,” De Vito said. “It seems like the network [of alternative programs] at large is just an afterthought.”

The city has not made a final decision about the program’s future, Education Department spokesperson Chyann Tull wrote in an email. “We are engaging with Learning to Work providers as we plan for the future and recognize the importance of this impactful programming for our city’s young people,” she said. “We continue to advocate to our state and local partners to identify new funding to sustain these programs after this year.”

But even if the funding is restored in the city budget, which is finalized in June, some staff are already heading for the exits, as workers realize that funding for their jobs is uncertain, De Vito said.

If the cuts go through, they could add to an existing funding threat to the city’s network of transfer schools, which serve older students who are off -track to graduate, and schools might face smaller budgets next year. Enrollment at transfer schools was roughly 12% lower last school year compared with pre-pandemic levels, while traditional high school rosters fell just 2%. Federal relief funding that kept school budgets afloat despite enrollment losses is also set to expire.

With the possible cut to Learning to Work, one Brooklyn transfer school principal said the consequences could be “catastrophic.”

The principal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the community organization that partners with the school and is funded by Learning to Work helps students with everything from getting clean clothes to lining up a paid internship “so they don’t have to choose between school and earning a living.”

Without those efforts, the school would have to entirely rethink its approach. “From the beginning, our school has been designed with a [community organization] partner—not just as an appendage,” the principal said. “You can’t tear off a chunk of your school and assume that there’s some way to replace it.”

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York and covers NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, added: “Tinubu’s thoughtless fuel subsidy removal triggered fuel scarcity and price gouging all over the country… Plus, the President failed to announce a new national minimum wage as promised from US$9.50 monthly to US$158 monthly.”

“Anyone can remove subsidies or ban something,” said Adedayo Ademuwagun, a consultant at Songhai Advisory. “But it takes real skill to plan for the big picture. How do you minimize the adversity for ordinary people?”

Meanwhile, state prosecutors have added 14 new criminal charges against Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in the most high-profile corruption case under President Tinubu to date.

In January, Emefiele was charged with fraud, including obtaining $6.2 million in bank funds under false pretenses, all part of 20 charges leveled by prosecutors. He denies the charges.

Nigeria’s petrol subsidy saga is a lesson about the fragility of reforms in an economy pushed to the brink, said Michael Famoroti, an economist and head of intelligence at data firm Stears.

He added: “The decision to implement a market-driven pricing system for petrol before restoring confidence in the exchange rate market was an unnecessary policy risk.”

U.N. OBSERVES ‘ZERO DISCRIMINATION DAY’ WHILE ANTI-GAY LAWS SPREAD ACROSS AFRICA

(GIN)—Forced evictions, loss of jobs, increased vio lence and other human rights abuses are being reported across Africa, worrying U.N. agencies and other watchdog groups around the world.

Since a harsh new bill was passed in Ghana, 12 U.N. agencies issued an unprecedented joint statement on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender & intersex people.

“There is an urgent need to remove laws which harm people’s rights and bring in laws which uphold the rights of every person… The recent global pushback against the human rights of LGBTQ people, against sexual and reproductive health and rights, against democracy and against civic space is not only a threat to everyone’s freedom, but a threat to everyone’s health,” declared the founders of Zero Discrimination Day at the United Nations.

The day of activism was established by UNAIDS a decade ago. But despite improvements in some societies, attacks on the rights of women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized communities are increasing.

“Gender equality is still a long way off, but we know that progress is possible,” said the U.N. group. “Only 60 years ago, the majority of women globally could not vote or even have a bank account in their own name.”

Zero Discrimination Day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014, when it was launched by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé with a major event in Beijing.

“Through upholding rights for all, we will be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and secure a safer, fairer, kinder, and happier world,” said Winnie Byanyima, who has held the executive director roles at UNAIDS and Oxfam International.

Some 31 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity, despite the clear contradiction with established African Union and international human rights standards.

In Uganda, for instance, the situation has worsened with passage of the draconian AntiHomosexuality Act in 2023. One of the harshest of its kind in Africa, the bill still has to be validated by the president before entering into law.

But the legislation is widely supported in Ghana, where President Akufo-Addo has said gay marriage will never be allowed while he is in power.

Commonly referred to as the anti-gay bill, it was sponsored by a coalition comprising Christian, Muslim, and Ghanaian traditional leaders.

A human rights coalition known as the Big 18, an umbrella group of lawyers and activists in Ghana, has condemned the bill which imposes a prison sentence of three to five years for the “willful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities”.

“You can’t criminalize a person’s identity and that’s what the bill is doing and it’s absolutely wrong,” said Takyiwaa Manuh, a member of the coalition.

But opposition lawmaker Sam George, the main sponsor of the bill, urged AkufoAddo to approve it.

“There is nothing that deals with LGBTQ better than this bill that has been passed by parliament. We expect the president to walk his talk and be a man of his words,” George said.

Amnesty International is calling on African states and governments to publicly acknowledge and protect the human rights of all people equally without discrimination. They must also repeal or refrain from efforts to criminalize consensual same-sex conduct, as such legislation cannot comply with international or regional human rights standards and basic principles of human dignity and equality.

Building a more inclusive economy: Q&A with JPMorgan Chase’s Thelma Ferguson

All communities should have the resources they need to strengthen their economic futures. This Black History Month, JPMorgan Chase is affirming their commitment to breaking down barriers -- including the racial wealth gap -- and promoting opportunity for all.

In recognition of Black History Month, we connected with Thelma Ferguson, Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Vice Chair, Commercial Banking at JPMorgan Chase, to get her insights on how she’s celebrating Black History Month, how JPMorgan Chase is advancing equity and inclusion and what she hopes to achieve in the year ahead.

Tell us a little about yourself and your role at JPMorgan Chase?

The majority of my 25-year tenure at JPMorgan Chase has been in Commercial Banking, providing clients with the financial solutions they need to grow their businesses. Yet, no matter what my role was, I have always been focused on driving inclusion and equity.

Today, as the Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, I’m proud to look after our leading strategies to uplift employees, clients and the communities we serve as the bank for all. I also continue to serve as Vice Chair for Commercial Banking, building and managing key client relationships from coast to coast.

What does Black History Month mean to you and how are you celebrating?

Black History Month is an important opportunity to reflect on the achievements and struggles of our Black communities. To me, this means honoring the immense reach, depth and richness of Black communities’ global history, in addition to its connection and intersection with other communities. At JPMorgan Chase, we organize events and activities to honor the designation, highlight Black history and culture, and enable impactful conversations and opportunities to continue our commitment to help create more equitable pathways for all.

How is JPMorgan Chase working to advance a more inclusive economy?

We believe that we are only as strong as the communities we serve and the economies they support. We also understand that our company can play a role in helping communities grow, driving local economies, and helping people build their prosperity.

We’re helping to power economic growth by breaking down barriers and creating opportunities in communities across the globe. We do that through a focus on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our own workforce, as well as through business and community investments and policy advocacy.

How has your company’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy evolved over the past couple of years as the spotlight has been put on the country’s lingering racial inequality and social injustice issues?

We’re working to address inequities, including the racial wealth gap, in a meaningful way. Our efforts to support inclusive growth dates back decades. One more recent example is our $30 billion, five-year Racial Equity Commitment (REC) focused on advancing sustainable homeownership, driving small business growth, bolstering financial health and expanding access to banking. Through this commitment, we’re helping to create greater access to affordable home loans, low-cost checking accounts and financial health education workshops in the communities we serve and particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods. Our goal is to help close the racial wealth gap and ensure all members of communities – including our own employees – can access the resources they need to strengthen their economic futures.

How should other companies and individuals be thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion as it relates to the growth of their business?

Inequity stifles economic growth. If you start with that fact, it becomes clear how engaging more communities and helping to create more equitable opportunities is just smart business. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are not buzzwords. Their tenets should be core ingredients in the design and execution of your business strategies and run with the same commitment and rigor as other parts of your business.

What are your goals for this year and what are you looking forward to in 2024?

This year, my goals include deepening our culture of inclusion for our 300,000 employees, across all backgrounds and geographies and perspectives. I’m also focused on further embedding inclusive practices and solutions within JPMorgan Chase to inform our business, gain efficiencies and deepen impact. I am optimistic about the road ahead and continued progress in helping to lift all.

(GIN Photo)

Thelma Ferguson

Religion & Spirituality

MXCC founder, New Afrikan pioneer Iyaluua Ferguson dies at 91

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

The Malcolm X Commemoration Committee (MXCC) announced the passing of Iyaluua Ferguson on the morning of Feb. 27. Ferguson was 91 years old.

An education leader and one of the initial founders of the provisional government of the Republic of New Afrika (RNA), Ferguson is remembered as a noted activist as well as the wife of Black Liberation Movement proponent Herman Ferguson.

“They became Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson because they were both revolutionary educators who brought out the best in each other,” said their longtime press officer and now lead organizer Zayid Muhammad.

Back in 1968, Iyaluua was an RNA founder alongside her husband, Herman, and with other activists like Queen Mother Moore; Dr. Imari Obadele and his brother Gaidi Obadele; Mutulu Shakur; and Robert and Mabel Williams. From March 29-31 of that year, RNA members came together to hold a national convention in Detroit, Michigan, where they drew up a Black declaration of independence. The RNA demanded $400 billion in reparations from the United States for African enslavement. The group wanted to use the funds to create a Black-led country on lands currently occupied by the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina and in Black-majority counties in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida.

The MXCC notes that, “After facing a COINTELPRO-orchestrated conviction in 1969, Herman Ferguson defiantly opted for exile in Guyana the following year. Mama Iyaluua, as she was so affectionately called, sacrificed all of the possibilities of her professional life in New York without hesitancy and joined her husband there in 1972. In their nearly 20 years in Guyana, they both played groundbreaking roles in establishing that new nation’s educational infrastructure.”

Both returned to the United States in 1989, and though Herman was still

forced to do time in prison, afterwards each continued their Black Liberation work. Iyaluua is remembered for having served as lead editor of the New Afrikan Independence Movement newspaper Nation Time !

In an interview I conducted with both Herman and Iyaluua after their return,

they talked about how their Black Liberation Movement activism brought the fear that fighting for the human rights of Black people could get you killed. In the 1960s, Ferguson had created the Jamaica Rifle and Pistol club. The club was part of his wider circle of activities––which included study groups, promot -

ing Black Nationalism, and working for the community control of area schools.

“People were concerned about selfdefense,” Iyaluua said during that interview. She said that with urban riots, the FBI’s COINTELPRO and the CIA’s Operation CHAOS infiltrations, and shootouts between police forces and Black Nationalists, the summer of 1967 was written up as one of this nation’s most violent. “We knew we had a right to selfdefense, but I think that in the back of our minds, many felt there was now a need for self-defense.”

The MXCC statement on Iyaluua’s passing says that: “For many years… Mama Iyaluua oversaw the educational work of MXCC, including their Malcolm X In The Classroom project and the organization’s essay contest whose winners were feted at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Educational Center, which was once the Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm fell.

“She also conceptualized what became the organization’s legendary Annual Freedom Fighter’s Dinner Tribute, in support of Black political prisoners and their families, something the organization did for 25 consecutive years until the advent of the COVID pandemic. The Dinner will be renamed after her upon its resumption in future months in tribute to her vision and commitment.

“‘Do we realize that when we are looking at Herman and Iyaluua Ferguson that we are looking at atleast 120 years or more of a lifetime commitment to our struggle in its most radical expression?’ said Zayid Muhammad.

“‘She meant everything to my father,’ said her son-in-law Michael Ferguson, now the organization’s treasurer. ‘She was his partner and confidant in all of his revolutionary activities.’”

Homegoing Services for Mama Iyaluua will be on Saturday, March 9 at the Steven Lyons Funeral Home, located at 1515 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina. Viewing will take place from 1:30 to 2 pm. Memorial Service will take place at 2 p.m. and will be streamed via their website at www. stevenlyonsfuneralhome.com

Announcement of funeral services for Iyaluaa Ferguson

Newark First Lady launches financial freedom program for women

by LEAH MALLORY Special to the AmNews

Newark First Lady Linda Baraka is spearheading a new financial literacy program empowering 1,000 women across the city. The program offers financial education and tools to achieve personal independence at no cost.

Baraka launched the Newark Women Forward Financial Initiative (NWFMI) with a news conference last Thursday at Krueger-Scott Mansion, introducing key collaborators and providing a detailed overview of the program.

“We know that women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Their wages have been historically less than their male counterparts,” she said. “[The program is] something that starts with the women, but it transfers into our whole community because we know that if our women are taken care of, our community is taken care of, because at the end of the day, the women are the backbone of our community.”

Partnering with the Dfree Financial Freedom Movement and other organiza -

Sisterhood

Continued from page 10

told us that she wore our lapel pin proudly. One could easily imagine her today, condemning the bombing of innocent women and children in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza— if she were still alive. Marie’s journalistic diligence caused her to lose her eye at the hands of Sri Lankan terrorists in 2001, then her life, at age 56 in 2012, killed by a senior Syrian military officer to silence her. As proud as we are of Marie, there are several other Teamster women who have done remarkable things on different battlegrounds. In March of 2010, Local 237 sued New York City on behalf of our 5,000 School Safety Agents, 70% of whom were women, mostly African Americans and Latinas. Many were single mothers. Their annual salary was about $7,000 less than their counterparts with similar titles working in other mostly male city agencies. Some called this just a coincidence. It was discrimination!

School Safety Agents have a tough job to do. They help to protect other peoples’ children. All they wanted was to put bread on the table for their own children. So I called for a meeting of School Safety Agents to tell them about plans to sue the City. I told them that we needed some volunteers to sign the papers and be the official plaintiffs. Of the 25 women in the room, 22 left. But three remained: Patricia Williams, Bernice Christopher and the late Corinthians Andrews. And for four years, these three women gave testimony after testimony. They refused any settlement that did not include retirees. They took days off from work. They took time

tions like Prudential Financial, Audible, and the PNG foundation, the 12-week program is available for free to Newark women through churches, community organizations, and women’s groups.

Participants can join instructor-led or self-paced classes through the Dfree online academy where they'll receive financial education through both virtual and live events, cost-free solutions to economic concerns, connections to licensed professionals. The women will be provided with books, resources, and support to ensure successful completion, concluding with a graduation ceremony.

Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., the chairman and CEO of Dfree, said that the program curriculum is based on a workbook he created titled “12 Steps to Financial Freedom.” His hope, he said, was to witness the women of Newark achieve multiple financial milestones.

“We're hoping that a thousand women in Newark will reduce their use of costly credit. We're hoping that one thousand women will pay down $5,000,000 collectively of debt. We're hoping that women that don't have bank accounts will open

away from being with their families. They worked on the case despite health issues and attended our rallies. At times, we felt pretty much alone, but then we received support from several luminaries, including Dr. Hazel Dukes, president of the NYS NAACP; Sonia Ossorio, president of the NYC Chapter of NOW; and Lilly Ledbetter, who learned firsthand about gender-based pay discrimination when an anonymous note left in her locker on her last day at work before her retirement, let her know that she was earning much less than her male coworkers. She took that fight all the way to the Supreme Court! Lilly Ledbetter came from her home in Alabama to stand in solidarity with Local 237 on the steps of City Hall for our protest rally.

Finally, after years of rallies and legal wrangling by the city, judgment day came. I still remember Pat, Bernice, and Corinthians walking into the courthouse and kneeling in prayer before they took their seats. Perhaps there was a little divine intervention, but with the help of Hazel, Sonia and Lilly an historic settlement was reached. Clearly, the words of Vice President Kamala Harris ring true: “You’re going to walk into many rooms where you may be the only one who looks like you or has had your experiences. So, use that voice and be strong.” And that’s exactly what these women did! Throughout the pandemic and hard economic times, our women members have played and continue to play an integral part helping to keep the city functioning. Women’s History Month is the time organizations single out extraordinary women to honor. For us, at Local 237, it is not a difficult task. We are especially blessed to have

up a bank account and stop using alternative financial services. We're hoping that women will begin saving for emergencies. And so when, when an emergency happens, they're not desperate and therefore driven to use some predatory financial product,” he said.

Soaries Jr said that these aspirations are grounded in the foundation's data, which indicates that people who have completed the entire process over the last 12 years have accomplished these financial goals. He also expressed his wish for women to implement what they learned into their spheres of influence.

"And then we're hoping that the one thousand women will finish this and then decide to start groups in their churches, in their families, in their sororities, in their civic organizations. After these thousand go through the process, we hope that they will, in turn, influence others the same way they've been influenced." he said.

Baraka also emphasized the importance of making NWMFI accessible.

"The women are able to do the program in person at one of our local com -

among our own members so many who have distinguished themselves through acts of integrity and humanity. So, while we thank the historic and heroic women who

munity partners or virtually, whatever is more comfortable for them." she said. "In addition to that, what we wanted to make sure was that every person, no matter what language you spoke, was able to access this program. So, we have worked very closely with our community partners to get the program translated into different languages that reflect the diversity of our city."’

Other partners include Industrial Bank, RWJ Barnabas Health, and Invest Newark.

NWMFI originated from a survey conducted during Baraka’s monthly women’s meetings, aiming to address the needs of local women. Survey results highlighted finance as a major concern, leading to the launch of the new city wide initiative, NWMFI.

By fostering financial independence with this program, Baraka hopes that it will lead to overall improvement in the lives of women and the lives they touch.

“It's a ripple in the pond effect," she said. "So as an individual, you're better. Your family is better, and that also will play out into our community and overall, our city to be more financially stable and financially empowered as a city."

made headlines, we take pride in acknowledging our own Pat, Bernice, Corinthians, and Marie and the sisterhood of Teamsters Local 237.

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NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME

COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK US Bank National Association as Trustee for CMSI REMIC Series 2008-02 - Remic Pass-Through Certificates Series 2008-02, Plaintiff AGAINST Paul Mihalitsianos a/k/a Paul Peter Mihalitsianos, Corrinne Borges a/k/a Corrine Borges, et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered August 28, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on March 27, 2024 at 2:15PM, premises known as 309 East 105th Street, Unit 1N, New York, NY 10029. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the City, County and State of New York, BLOCK: 1677, LOT: 1102. Approximate amount of judgment $823,969.95 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850147/2019. The aforementioned auction will be conducted in accordance with the NEW YORK County COVID-19 Protocols located on the Office of Court Administration (OCA) website (https://ww2.nycourts. gov/Admin/oca.shtml) and as such all persons must comply with social distancing, wearing masks and screening practices in effect at the time of this foreclosure sale. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee Frenkel Lambert Weiss Weisman & Gordon, LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 01-087595-F00 78581

Application for Authority of PRIVATE LENDER PARTNERS LLC filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) 2/12/2024. Formed in FL 1/29/2024. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The principal business loc. and address SSNY shall mail copy of process is Sergey Smirnov, 17475 Collins Ave., Unit 603, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160. Arts. of Organization filed with the Secy. of State, Div. of Corporations, 2415 N. Monroe St., Ste. 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

234 West 123rd Street Apts, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/25/2015. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 234 W. 123rd St., Apt. G., NY, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Joshua Engle MD PLLC dba ExciteMD Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/31/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 501 5th Ave, Ste 1203, NY, NY, 10017. Purpose: Any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, 75 STREET

SERVICING LLC, Plaintiff, vs. CLST ENTERPRISES LLC, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on December 8, 2022 and a Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on December 7, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on April 10, 2024 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 19 East 75th Street, New York, NY 10021. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 1390 and Lot 14. Approximate amount of judgment is $7,346,196.91 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850001/2021. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale.

Jeffrey R. Miller, Esq., Referee

Glenn Rodney, PC, 368 Birch Road, Wallkill, New York 12589, Attorneys for Plaintiff

216 EAST 47TH STREET, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/05/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 312 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

AOIFE REDDAN PHOTOGRAPHY LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/04/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 200 North End Avenue, Apartment 9A, New York, NY 10282. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Corrente Medical Care PLLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/5/2024. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o The DeIorio Law Group PLLC, 800 Westchester Ave, Ste S-608, Rye Brook, NY 10573. Purpose: Medicine.

Annah Mayer Fine Jewelry LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/2/2024. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 108 Leonard Street, #7F, NY, NY 10013. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Supreme Court-New York County Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. v. IKENNA ODIKE AND OMOMENE ODIKE, if living, and if they be dead, any and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or generally 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, et al., Deft. - Index # 850300/2017. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 5th day of February 2024 and duly entered the 28th day of February 2024 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVE- NAMED DEFENDANTS:

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

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 5,000/28,402,100 in the premises at Block 1006, Tax Lot 1302 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of December 24, 2015, executed by Ikenna Odike and Omomene Odike to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $33,750.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on May 19, 2016, in CRFN 2016000171807. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

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

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York , U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR VRMTG ASSET TRUST, Plaintiff, vs . Avi Sivan , Defendant(s). Pursuant to an Amended Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on January 5, 2024 , I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 3, 2024 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 635 West 42nd Street, Unit 45H, New York, NY 10036. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 1090 and Lot 1337 together with an undivided 0.17879 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $734,925.62 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850226/2019. Cash will not be accepted. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale. Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff

William Farrington Photography LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/16/2023. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 160 Parkside Ave #6A, Bklyn, NY 11226. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Soft Lighting LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/16/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 110 West 90th St, Apt 3B, New York, NY 10024. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

LITTMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/18/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 368 Briarcliffe Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Purpose: Practice of psychology.

HELL'S KITCHEN PICKLE

BALL LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/04/23. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Robert Iacono, 660 12th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Supreme Court-New York County - Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. v. UKOHA OLUGU IGWE AND GOSPEL OLUGU IGWE, if living, and if they be dead, any and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or generally 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, et al., Deft. - Index # 850036/2018. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 2nd day of February 2024 and duly entered the 6th day of February 2024 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVE- NAMED DEFENDANTS:

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

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 16,000/28,402,100 in the premises at Block 1006, Tax Lot 1302 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of July 31, 2015, executed by Ukoha Olugu Igwe and Gospel Olugu Igwe to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $96,150.00, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on January 5, 2016, in CRFN 2016000002039. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK –

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

INDEX # 103164/2008 FILED 01/17/2024

SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

Mortgaged Premises: 158 West 130th Street, New York, NY 10027 Tax Map ID: 1914-55 U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE CERTIFICATEHOLDERS OF BANC OF AMERICA FUNDING CORPORATION, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-6, Plaintiff, GREGORY STEPHENSON AS HEIR AT LAW AND NEXT OF KIN OF DEBORAH A. STEPHENSON; VINCENT STEPHENSON AS HEIR AT LAW AND NEXT OF KIN OF DEBORAH A. STEPHENSON; DWIGHT STEPHENSON, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS HEIR AT LAW AND NEXT OF KIN OF DEBORAH A. STEPHENSON, if living, and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and successors in interest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, by purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise of any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and their respective husbands, wives or widow, if any, and each and every person not specifically named who may be entitled to or claim to have any right, title or interest in the property described in the verified complaint; all of whom and whose names and places of residence unknown, and cannot after diligent inquiry be ascertained by the Plaintiff; "JOHN DOE" AND "JANE DOE" 1 THROUGH 50, INTENDING TO BE THE UNKNOWN HEIRS, DISTRIBUTEES, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, TRUSTEES, LIENORS, CREDITORS, AND ASSIGNEES OF THE ESTATE OF DEBORAH A. STEPHENSON, WHO WAS BORN IN 1964 AND DIED ON MARCH 25, 2011, A RESIDENT OF NEW YORK COUNTY, WHOSE LAST KNOWN ADDRESS WAS 605 WEST 147 STREET NY, NY 10031, THEIR SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST IF ANY OF THE AFORESAID DEFENDANTS BE DECEASED, THEIR RESPECTIVE HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF THE AFORESAID CLASSES OF PERSON, IF THEY OR ANY OF THEM BE DEAD, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE HUSBANDS, WIVES OR WIDOWS, IF ANY, ALL OF WHOM AND WHOSE NAMES AND PLACES ARE UNKNOWN TO THE PLAINTIFF; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC; GREENPOINT MORTGAGE FUNDING, INC; NYC PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; AMERICAN EXPRESS CENTURION BANK; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA O/B/O INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, Defendants. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the Plaintiff's attorney within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a Defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. Jn case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. NEW YORK County is designated as the place of trial. The basis of venue is the location of the premised encumbered by the mortgage to be foreclosed herein. 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 home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. This action was commenced to foreclose a mortgage against property located at 158 W 130th St., New York, NY 10027. McCabe, Weisberg & Conway, LLC, Attorneys for Plaintiff, 1 Huntington Quadrangle Suite 4N25 Melville, NY 11747. (631) 812-4084. (855) 845-2584 facsimile. File# 19-300697 HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE. NEW YORK STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT WE SEND YOU THIS NOTICE ABOUT THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME. IF YOU FAIL TO RESPOND TO THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION, YOU MAY LOSE YOUR HOME. PLEASE READ THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT CAREFULLY. YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONTACT AN ATTORNEY OR YOUR LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE TO OBTAIN ADVICE ON HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE The State encourages you to become informed about your options in foreclosure. In addition to seeking assistance from an attorney or legal aid office, there are government agencies and non- profit organizations that you may contact for information about possible options, including trying to work with your lender during this process. To locate an entity near you, you may call the toll-free helpline maintained by the New York State Department of Financial Services at 1-800-342-3736 or visit the Department`s website at www.dfs.ny.gov RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEAVE YOUR HOME AT THIS TIME. You have the right to stay in your home during the foreclosure process. You are not required to leave your home unless and until your property is sold at auction pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale. Regardless of whether you choose to remain in your home, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR PROPERTY and pay property taxes in accordance with state and local law. FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS Be careful of people who approach you with offers to "save" your home. There are individuals who watch for notices of foreclosure actions in order to unfairly profit from a homeowner`s distress. You should be extremely careful about any such promises and any suggestions that you pay them a fee or sign over your deed. State law requires anyone offering such services for profit to enter into a contract which fully describes the services they will perform and fees they will charge, and which prohibits them from taking any money from you until they have completed all such promised services. § 1303 NOTICE

Supreme Court-New York County - Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. v. Any unknown heirs to the Estate of ALAN S. RAFTERMAN, next of kin, devisees, legatees, distributees, grantees, assignees, creditors, lienors, trustees, executors, administrators or successors in interest, as well as the respective heirs at law, next of kin, devisees, legatees, distributees, grantees, assignees, lienors, trustees, executors, administrators or successors in interest of the aforesaid classes of persons, if they or any of them be dead, all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to the plaintiff, et al., Deft. - Index # 850207/2019. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 13th day of February 2024 and duly entered the 15th day of February 2024 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:

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

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of a fractional interest of 0.00986400000% in the premises at Block 1009, Tax Lot 37 located at 102 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of August 6, 2015, executed by Alan S. Rafterman to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $40,920.23, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on January 4, 2016, in CRFN 2016000000603. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON

FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

INDEX NO. 850554/2023 COUNTY OF NEW YORK

U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR RCF 2 ACQUISITION

TRUST

Plaintiff designates NEW YORK as the place of trial situs of the real property SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

Mortgaged Premises: 46 MERCER STREET, UNIT 4W, NEW YORK, NY 10013

Block: 474

Lot: 1407

Notice of Qualification of GREYSTONE MONTICELLO

FUNDING SH-73 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/13/24. Princ. office of LLC: 600 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Engaging in and exercising all powers permitted to a limited liability company formed under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act.

BERTRIS ENTERPRISES, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/08/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 299 Broadway, Suite 1405, New York, NY 10007. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Plaintiff,

vs.

GIANLUIGI TORZI, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PRESIDENT OF SUNSET U.S. CORPORATION, if living, and if she/he 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 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; SUNSET U.S. CORPORATION; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE SOHO APARTMENTS; PARADIGM CREDIT CORPORATION II; NEW YORK CITY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE; PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

"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 the above entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the plaintiff’s attorney within twenty (20) days of the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete where service is made in any manner other than by personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service. Your failure to appear or to answer will result in a judgment against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. In the event that a deficiency balance remains from the sale proceeds, a judgment may be entered against you.

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 $2,557,750.00 and interest, recorded on September 05, 2018, in Instrument Number 2018000296942 , of the Public Records of NEW YORK County, New York, covering premises known as 46 MERCER STREET, UNIT 4W, NEW YORK, NY 10013.

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.

NEW YORK 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: February 1st, 2024

ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ, SCHNEID, CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC

Attorney for Plaintiff Jinghan Zhang, Esq. 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310 Westbury, NY 11590 516-280-7675

Notice of Qualification of HYDROGEN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/11/22. Princ. office of LLC: 205 Detroit St., Ste. 200, Denver, CO 80206. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

pursuant to Supreme Court, New York County Auction Park Rules for Outdoor Auctions.

Craig J. Albert, Esq., Referee Dated: February 9, 2024

Harris Beach PLLC

Kevin Tompsett, Esq.

Attorneys for Plaintiff 99 Garnsey Road

Pittsford, NY 14534

Notice of Formation of Law

Office of Brett J. Nomberg, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/31/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against PLLC to: 600 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. Purpose: any lawful activity.

RPM & COMPANY, LLC filed with the SSNY on 01/18/24 under the fictitious name of RPMUMBY LLC. Originally filed with the Secretary of State of Louisiana on 05/21/2012. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 41 5th Avenue, #4F, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of GTK CREATIVE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, Attn: Gina Piazza, Esq., 1350 Broadway, 11th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of 2 CROSBY OWNER LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/28/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 105 CGD LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/26/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 111 E. 88th St., Apt. 4A, NY, NY 10128. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Nicholas W. Burke at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ESRT 1400 TOWNHALL TRS, L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/25/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Step Change Coaching LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/04/24 Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 8 Spruce St, NY, NY 10038.

Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of GREYSTONE MONTICELLO

FUNDING SH-69-A LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/04/24. Princ. office of LLC: 600 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Engaging in and exercising all powers permitted to a limited liability company formed under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NYCNCC SUB-CDE 22, LLC (the “LLC”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on 11/16/2023. Office location: New York County. The principal business address of the LLC is: One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006. SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail service of process to c/o New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006, Attention: General Counsel. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NYCNCC SUB-CDE 21, LLC(the “LLC”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on 11/16/2023. Office location: New York County. The principal business address of the LLC is: One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006. SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail service of process to c/o New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006, Attention: General Counsel. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of STRETCHD WORLDWIDE, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/17/24. Princ. office of LLC: 12636 High Bluff Dr., Ste. 200, San Diego, CA 92130. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty St., NY, NY 10005. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CT Corporation System, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Stretching services.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NATASA KENNEDY CONSULTING LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/12/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 228 Park Ave S. #178498, NY, NY 10003. R/A: US Corp Agents Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

Falafel & Crepe LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 9/8/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 265 West 114th St., Ste. 521, NY, NY 10026. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of CVE US NY WELLSVILLE 362 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 109 W. 27th St., 8th Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of SHELBY MULLER LCSW PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of PLLC: 401 E. 80th St., Apt. 17K, NY, NY 10075. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the PLLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Licensed clinical social work.

Notice of Formation of GOLD TOP MANAGEMENT, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of PC NYC PROPERTY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

TESLA SKY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/29/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 28 LIBERTY ST, NEW YORK, NY 10005. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of FORTHILL MOXY HOLDER, LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/15/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State, 820 N. French St., 10th Fl., Wilmington, DE 19801. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Evey Gallery New York LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/01/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 240 S County Rd, Palm Beach, FL, 33480. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of RGNNEW YORK C, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/16/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of SPECIAL PRODUCTION AGENCY

LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/19/21. Princ. office of LLC: 545 W. 25th St., 11th Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of MIDTOWN ESTATES PRESERVATION GP, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/05/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of BENNY BRONCO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Mama Naya LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/29/2024. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 182 Bennett Ave., #1H, NY, NY 10040. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Mobile Medicine, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 2/16/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 228 Park Ave S, Ste 20769, NY, NY, 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of MIDTOWN ESTATES DEVELOPER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/05/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Alan's Blow Clear LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/14/23. Office: Albany County. Registered Agent Inc. designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to United States Corporation Agents, Inc 7014 13th Ave Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

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REGIONAL GOSPEL CARAVAN

Bronx Jane Doe

Continued from page 3

struggle with substance abuse—like many New Yorkers of color, she was a victim of the racist 1980s crack cocaine epidemic. Yet no challenge was big enough for Monge to provide for Velez, Vazquez, and their brother.

“To know her was to love her,” said Vazquez. “She was funny. She was helpful. She had a heart of gold. It didn’t matter how little we had—and we had very little. She would share with everyone.”

Decades later, Monge’s daughters had left New York City and started their own families. They now live in Connecticut. Yet the question of what happened still crossed their minds. Velez said she would run the occasional cursory search on her mom’s name. She never found anything.

Then on March 22, 2023, Velez posted in a group named “Missing people of NYC,” asking about her mom. “I know this is a long shot but my mom, Neida, has been missing since 1990,” she wrote. “She was 28 at the time of her disappearance and is 61 years old today.” She attached photos of

Monge to the post.

Within three hours, a user suggested Monge could be the 1990 Bronx Jane Doe. Velez was unfamiliar with the case: a murdered woman who was found on May 2, 1990, in Morrisania’s Claremont Park and remained unidentified up until then. The Jane Doe’s photo, description, and timeline matched up. The daughters reached out to their aunt, Monge’s sister, who they say also saw the resemblance. They moved quickly, calling local NYPD precincts and the medical examiner. Vazquez said authorities confirmed her mom was the Bronx Jane Doe the following Wednesday, exactly a week after her sister posted to the Facebook group. The police contact did not respond by press time.

Velez and Vazquez also credit Los Angelesbased entertainment journalist Erika Marie Rivers and her website Our Black Girls for spreading awareness about the Bronx Jane Doe. The platform takes on cases of women listed as Black in databases of missing people who are disproportionately neglected.

“I believe law enforcement and federal authorities already [know] their shortcomings at this stage, and any that don’t make the necessary changes to create equity in their de-

Save SUNY Downstate

Continued from page 3

Professions (UUP), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), New York State AFL-CIO, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), Public Employees Federation (PEF), and New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA).

Five hospitals have closed in Brooklyn since 2003, said UUP.

“It is a travesty that we are here again at SUNY Downstate fighting for this hospital’s survival. I was there in 2012 and 2013, when Governor Cuomo wanted to privatize it,” said PEF President Wayne Spence.

“Seven years later, he designated it a COVID-only hospital. The healthcare heroes at Downstate helped hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers survive the pandemic. They are amazing public servants, and they deserve better. If the state really wants to transform Downstate, let’s work together now, when there’s a budget surplus, to fund and staff it, so that anyone who needs quality, affordable health care in Central Brooklyn can get it.”

AFT President Randi Weingarten said that

Reparations

Continued from page 3

Hamilton added that he is “humbled, proud, and grateful to be selected to serve on this historic Reparations Commission.” He said the commission is a first step for the state to begin to formally acknowledge and take responsibility for its well-documented sordid history and ongoing legacy of state-sanctioned economic and even violent exploitation of Black people from full

shuttering a hospital in a predominantly Black and brown community that also trains healthcare professionals “is a slap in the face.”

The unions were joined by a group of faith leaders and several elected officials, including Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Latrice Walker, who have loudly opposed the state’s plan.

“Brooklyn needs SUNY Downstate,” said Walker. “It is a vital safety-net hospital that treats everyone who walks through their doors regardless of their ability to pay. Ninety percent of the patients there are on Medicaid, uninsured, or underinsured. Most of them are people of color with limited access to quality health care, which ought to be a basic human right. The failure to save SUNY Downstate will only exacerbate the health disparities that already exist in the Brooklyn neighborhoods served by the hospital. The failure to save SUNY Downstate will decrease life expectancy and send the message that some

participation in the economy.

The overall reparations community reported excitement at the appointments.

“The New York State Reparations Commission has the opportunity to study and redress the horrific past of slavery and racist laws that have negatively impacted Black New Yorkers for generations. In employment, housing, education, and the criminal justice system, Black New Yorkers currently face disproportionate challenges that stem from institutional and structural racism rooted in chattel slavery and discriminatory government policies,” said David Wheaton, Economic Justice Policy

partments are then, purposefully and plainly, stating that Black women and girls are not, and won’t be, their priority,” said Rivers. “I also believe that we, and everyday, hardworking folks, can enact change within our own communities. The 1990 Bronx Jane Doe case is a perfect example of people being aware and having their ears to the ground. That was connected through community, and hopefully, Our Black Girls can help more families receive closure.”

The same disparities that inform Our Black Girls’ mission also fuel the anger of Monge’s daughters. Velez said she was “tossed aside” as a young Puerto Rican woman battling addiction. Vazquez says she was dismissed by the whole system.

Even now, Velez isn’t exactly sure what compelled her to post to the Facebook group. She joined roughly two years beforehand and never really engaged with the page, but on further reflection, she provided an armchair theory.

“[Our mom’s] mom passed December of 2021 [and] coincidentally, [the] Our Black Girls article was published November 2021, so we feel it was divine intervention that led us to the site,” she said. “…I’m happy my

people in Albany don’t care if poor people live or die.”

Rev. Kirkpatrick Cohall, senior pastor of Lenox Road Baptist Church, said the proposed changes to SUNY Downstate have created nothing but anxiety and concern from within the hospital system as well as in the community.

“Downstate has been on the forefront of fighting for equity and access to the best health care in this city for many years,” Cohall in a statement. “The COVID pandemic revealed the enormous disparities in our healthcare system and confirmed that those disparities are deeply rooted in racism and discrimination. Consequently, the proposed changes are viewed with great suspicion and concern that vital services, jobs, and economic stability for the residents will be severely diminished. Keeping Downstate open and viable will continue to address the inequities and disparities in our healthcare system.”

Mayor Eric Adams also weighed in with his support for the hospital at a press conference on March 5.

“I represented Downstate as a State Senator, and for far too long, there was no real investment in Downstate. And what

Fellow, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (LDF). “We are hopeful that the Commission will work diligently to help pave the way for reparative justice to Black New Yorkers.”

Congressmember Jamaal Bowman said, in a statement, that he is “incredibly proud as a Black man and a New Yorker” and looks forward to continuing to fight for reparations policies at the federal level.

“From Massena to Seneca Village, every zip code should be engaged in this path to reparations. Our collective healing must happen not just here in New York but across the country, so that we can truly root out

grandmother passed before she found out, because I think it would have absolutely devastated her to learn that her child was murdered. I don’t think any parent would be easy with that information.

“But because we found her, we were able to bury her ashes with my grandma and reunite them.”

Vazquez said her mom lives on whenever she looks at her own daughters. And in her own reflection.

“Once we found her and we gave her back her name, we were able to give birth to her again and bring her back to us, which I think is the most amazing thing,” said Vazquez. “It gives me hope, not only for [my] family, but for others out there as well, who are still holding on or even losing that hope that they will ever get reunited with either the name or the actual individual.”

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

they did during Covid was remarkable,” said Adams. “If we were to close Downstate, it’s going to have an impact on King’s County, an impact on Brookdale [Hospital] and some of the neighboring hospitals. We had a conversation with Chancellor King to share our concerns, and we’re going to be meeting with the unions and the local electeds in the area.”

Adams said that the state has to come up with a real plan for central Brooklyn in terms of healthcare as well as other state-run hospitals in other parts of the city. “We’re asking the governor’s people to sit down and come up with a real plan for healthcare in New York City,” said Adams. “But I’m a supporter of Downstate. The issue of seeing Downstate close is going to have a major impact. We’re going to do everything possible to stabilize that healthcare situation in central Brooklyn.”

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

the lasting impact of slavery. In Congress, we are working on transformative legislation to create a reparations commission, and we are grateful to the grassroots efforts like those here in New York for setting an inspiring example,” said Bowman.

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

Starting pitching may determine the Yankees’ World Series aspirations

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Yankees should have more than enough offense, anchored by outfielders Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to be one of the best, if not the best team in baseball this season.

Pitching not so much.

Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (San Diego Padres), who was also the American League Cy Young recipient in 2018 (Tampa Bay Rays), is a freeagent. Should the Yankees go all in to try to win their first World Series since 2009 by making an offer to Snell he can’t refuse?

Represented by powerful agent Scott Boras, reports surfaced weeks ago that Boras was seeking a nine-year, $270 million contract for the star hurler. Spotrac.com lists the Yankees as having the highest payroll in baseball as of today at about $290.5 million. Signing Snell would lift it well over $300 million. The general consensus within Major League Baseball circles is the Yankees will not be the team to surrender to the high asking price for Snell. As their starting rotation is currently constructed, three weeks from opening the

season on March 28, in a four-game set against the Houston Astros on the road, the Yankees have the fourth best odds to become World Series champions among the 30 Major League Baseball teams according to Las Vegas sports books. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros are all above the Yankees.

Each of those teams boasts a better starting rotation, statiscally and empirically, than New York. While the Yankees have their own 2023 Cy Young winner in Gerrit Cole, who was sensational last season, the reliability of those behind him is suspect. Cole, a unanimous selection, became the first Yankee since Roger Clemens in 2001 to capture the Cy Young—an honor bestowed on each league’s best pitcher as voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

In 33 starts, he went 15-4 with 222 strikeouts. Cole’s 2.64 ERA was the second lowest in all of baseball, trailing only…

Yes! Snell’s 2.25.

Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes were expected to be cornerstones of the Yankees rotation last season but experienced injury plagued campaigns. Rodon, who was signed

to a six-year, $162 million deal in December of 2022, was hampered primarily by a left forearm strain and made just 14 starts. Shoulder issues limited Cortes to only 12.

Long Island native and former Met Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt round out the top five in the rotation.

The Yankees will ultimately need more.

National champion Alexis Morris joins the Harlem Globetrotters

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

As the world famous Harlem Globetrotters approach their centennial in 2026, their ranks are gaining more and more woman power. In February, point guard

Alexis “The Show” Morris, a member of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship team from Louisiana State University (LSU), became the seventh current woman to join the organization. She was in the thick of the action for the team’s recent stops at Barclays Center and at Madison Square Garden, where they set a record for the highest grossing single season game in Harlem Globetrotters history.

“I want to give props to the people in history who came before to make Madison Square Garden what it is,” said Morris. “It was my first time playing there. I was super excited. Our team energy was amazing. I know the fans loved it; the kids loved it. We had so much fun out there.”

Morris joined the Globetrotters mid tour after playing in France. Playing for the Globetrotters requires stellar basketball skills and the ability to entertain audiences, which she said comes from a player’s personality.

“I’m still competing and playing,” Morris said. “I’m engaging with the

fans, entertaining. I’ve always been a wizard with the ball. This is a perfect transition for me. I’m still learning the Harlem Globetrotter ways. I’m immersed in this process.”

Playing professionally has given Morris the chance to reap some hard-earned rewards. Her college career was a journey— beginning and ending playing for Coach Kim Mulkey. In between her time with Mulkey at Baylor and LSU, Morris also played at Rutgers and Texas A&M. At LSU, she found a home and great success.

“It’s OK to do things the unconventional way,” said Morris. “I have interactions with little girls every day and they say they didn’t know women could be Harlem Globetrotters. I want to get out there that you can be a female Globetrotter, you can play in the WNBA, you can go overseas. The opportunities are there. Hopefully, one day we’ll have an all-female Globetrotters team.”

She cherishes the fan interactions and the chance to inspire kids. Morris looks forward to going full out in the Magic Circle. Also, she and fellow Trotter Cherelle “Torch” George want to perfect the two-ball dribble.

“It will be the first ever in history that two women would do a two-ball dribble for the Harlem Globetrotters,” Morris said. “That’s one of my goals to stamp the history here.”

Former LSU basketball standout Alexis Morris is on tour with the Harlem Globetrotters. (Photo courtesy of Harlem Globetrotters)

Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge, tracking a fly ball in a spring training game versus the Toronto Blue Jays last Friday in Tampa, Florida, looks to lead the franchise to its first World Series since 2009. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

St. John’s builds momentum ahead of the Big East Tournament

St. John’s men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino has motivated his team to a strong. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

It seemed as if the St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team’s hopes for making the NCAA postseason field of 68 were lost when they went 2-8 from January 13 through February 18, dropping to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in the Big East.

Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino publicly ripped his team after the last defeat of that stretch when they blew a 19-point lead and fell 68-62 to Seton Hall.

“We are so non-athletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling and really is not about losing because even in winning, when we watch the film, I see unathletic plays,” Pitino said after that game. “I see people that don’t handle the ball that’s just interested in taking quick shots. So it’s been a disappointing year.”

Pitino, who has coached since 1978, went as far as to say that it has been the most unenjoyable experience he’s ever had coaching.

But the joy of coaching has returned.

The Red Storm responded, winning

four in a row, besting Georgetown, No. 15 Creighton, Butler, and most recently DePaul on Tuesday night. Pitino’s oldschool criticism of his team after the loss to Seton Hall caused backlash as many fans of the program and media felt he was too harsh. Days later Pitino issued an apology. But the play of the team since suggests his tactic, if calculated, worked to get St. John’s improbably back in the mix for an at-large NCAA Tournament. They still have work to do between now and Selection Sunday 10 days away when the field of 68 is chosen.

The Red Storm will close out the regular season Saturday at Madison Square Garden against Georgetown. The Big East Conference Tournament begins next Wednesday with the final taking place next Saturday.

It was once thought that the Red Storm would need to win the Big East Tournament to make the field of 68. But a win against Georgetown and another next week in the conference tournament may solidify a bid. It would be a remarkable turnaround for a team that was plummeting less than a month ago.

Men’s DI college basketball is lacking a singular star

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

For sports fans who don’t closely follow college basketball, this season has been devoid of a singular star to grab their attention. Unlike past years, such as 2019, when Duke’s Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, and Murray State’s Ja Morant had star drawing power, and went on to become the top three picks in the NBA Draft in 2019, there are no galvanizing players heading this class.

None of the projected first three picks in this June’s draft play college basketball. All are professionals in leagues overseas. Alexandre Sarr, an 18 year old, 7-1 power forward/center from France, showcasing his talents in Australia and New Zealand’s National Basketball League, is expected to be selected No.1.

Fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher, also 18, a dynamic 6-8 small forward doing his business in France’s Pro A league, is gradually cementing himself as the second pick.

Nikola Topic, who like Sarr and Risacher is only 18, had been slotted in at No. 3 in numerous mock drafts and at 6-6 is widely viewed as the most complete point guard entering the draft. Topic is from Serbia playing in his country’s preeminent pro league.

With no Anthony Edwards (Georgia), Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State) and Paolo Banchero, (Duke), the No. 1 picks in 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively, college basketball lacks a signature figure.

The closest may be Purdue’s 7-4 senior big man Zach Edey, last season’s Big Ten and National College Player of the Year. But because basketball has become by and large an open court perimeter game, traditional big men such as Edey, who operates almost exclusively foul line down, can’t quite move the television ratings needle and his stock as a potentially high-impact NBA player is moderate.

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Edey played at IMG Academy in Florida before moving on to Purdue. He opted to return for his senior season after a stellar junior year to improve his draft position. Most scouts had him as a high second rounder in last year’s draft and have widely varying perspectives on where he should go this June. Some have him as high as the mid to late teens while others still predict he’ll fall to the second round.

With some conference tournaments already underway and the NCAA tournament beginning on March 19, with the First Four opening games, a player that could emerge as the star of March Madness is North Carolina’s point guard RJ Davis, a native of White Plains, NY and product of the CHSAA’s Archbishop Stepinac High School.

Davis and the Tar Heels lost 72-69 to the Kansas Jayhawks in the riveting 2022 championship game. The 6-1 senior has authored a First-Team All-American campaign this season for a UNC squad

for another deep run.

built

North Carolina Tar heel and White Plains, NY native, point guard R.J. Davis, could emerge as the star of this year’s NCAA college basketball tournament.

(Photo by Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

Annual Harlem Gymnastics Invitational was a celebration of the sport

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Over 800 athletes gathered at the Harlem Armory the last weekend of February for the ninth annual Harlem Gymnastics Invitational (HGI). Athletes ages seven to 18 from New York City and as far away as Florida and California came to compete in artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline & tumbling. This year marked the inaugural New York City Gymnastics Championship where residents of the five boroughs vied to become New York City Champions.

“For the New Yorkers, if they won their di-

vision then they were the New York City Champion,” said pioneering gymnast Wendy Hilliard, founder of the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation (WHGF). “I talked to the mayor’s office last fall to see if we could do that. … It was really big for those that live in the city and really exciting.”

This is the largest gymnastics competition in New York City, and in addition to gymnasts, coaches and family members, fans also came out to cheer. Champion athletes and WHGF students, including BJ Mensah, ZaQuae Carter and Aries Wickham, performed routines in the foundation’s signature Showtime in Harlem.

“New Yorkers appreciate having a meet right in New York City and people from other places want to come to Harlem,” Hilliard said. “The Armory is so beautiful—high ceilings, it’s very open—a lot of gymnastics meets are not held in that kind of facility. … There’s really yummy food; it’s a Healthy Harlem location, so we serve healthy soul food.”

Accommodating hundreds of athletes takes a lot of organization. Multiple disciplines take place simultaneously around the venue. The Armory was divided into zones with different people managing each zone.

Over 50 WHGF athletes competed. Hilliard said the HGI is a big deal because team

members compete as well as young gymnasts working to be on a team. “They get to experience a gymnastics meet, and all their family and friends can come see them because it’s a free event,” said Hilliard. “Also, for our kids, I want them to see other athletes. It’s definitely more inspiring to see kids that are very close to your age doing great things. It shows them the possibilities that are out there.”

Lastly, there was the clean up. Around 20 members from Columbia University’s football team came to take down and move various equipment. “They were so helpful,” said Hilliard. “It was fun to have their support.”

Olympic skater Vanessa James pursues another championship

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

Four-time Olympic figure skater Vanessa James has taken on an exciting athletic and artistic challenge as a professional skater on the British television series “Dancing on Ice” (DOI), which matches celebrities with professional skaters. Although James is best known for representing France and Canada in Olympic competition, she has British roots on her father’s side, and won the British women’s title in 2006.

She is partnering with two-time Olympic medalist in the long jump, Greg Rutherford, and they are headed to Sunday’s finale. Given Rutherford’s athleticism, James has worked with him on difficult pairs moves, some never before seen on DOI.

“I’m lucky, because I have an athlete partner who is very tall, very strong,” said James, the first Black professional skater on DOI. “It’s about getting him comfortable on the ice, learning how to turn, learning how to catch me and not freak out. It was a whole out of body experience at the beginning. Now that he’s feeling comfortable and confident on the ice, we’re just going for everything. He’s creative and very motivated.”

Rutherford learned quickly that James is a seasoned competitor. A bad fall on practice ice just prior to a performance left him rat-

tled, but she assured him she was ready to go. She has had to adapt to DOI’s elaborate hair, makeup and costumes.

“[As a competitor] I wore sleek and streamlined costumes, and short hair slicked back,” said James, who has worn wigs for her DOI performances. “I’ve never had hair on my face, not being able to see sometimes during a lift.

“When I came to the show, I wasn’t sure if they’d have people that could do my hair and makeup,” she added. “A lot of shows, it’s an afterthought. Here, they have makeup artists that are experienced in doing ethnic skin and they have two fabulous hair stylists that know how to do my hair. They even have tights for me. It feels warm and welcoming.”

Although retired from competitive skating, something from James’s career remains unresolved. Skate Canada has recently filed an appeal of the International Skating Union’s decision regarding the figure skating team competition at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games where James and pairs partner Eric Radford competed but did not place. Although James has no expectations, she certainly would welcome adding Olympic medalist to her competitive history. Should Canada’s appeal prevail, James would be only the third Black figure skater to earn an Olympic medal, joining Debi Thomas (USA) and Robin Szolkowy (twotime medalist from Germany).

Gymnasts of the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation at the annual Harlem Gymnastics Invitational. (Photos courtesy of Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation)

Vanessa James and Dancing on Ice partner Greg Rutherford. (ITV/Matt Frost photo)

The Knicks reach survival mode without their downed stars

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Only 47 seconds into the Knicks’ meeting on the road with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team they are battling for playoff seedings in the Eastern Conference, Jalen Brunson, their All-Star point guard went down with a left knee contusion. It initially appeared to be much worse. But an X-ray and subsequent MRI revealed no serious damage to Brunson’s knee.

The Knicks persevered and gave a valiant effort in defeating the Cavaliers 107-98, including a marathon-like 47 minutes and 16 points from backup point guard Miles “Deuce” McBride, who was never taken out by head coach Tom Thibodeau once he entered the game to fill in for Brunson.

However the Knicks couldn’t overcome a lineup without Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Aunoby, Mitchell Robinson—four of their regular season starters—on Tuesday night

in losing to the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden, 116-110.

Since Feb. 3, the Knicks have gone 4-9 in their last 13 games, after they had gone 15-2 from Jan. 1 through Feb. 1, the best record in the NBA during that stretch.

Injuries have decimated the Knicks. They have accepted it as a reason, not an excuse. But they are also realistic about their ability to compete, even with the league’s lower rung of teams, without four of their best players.

“We are doing everything we can,” said McBride. “Doing as much as we can recovery-wise and guys who are playing big minutes, we are working on the chemistry of guys coming in and out. It is tough but you have just got to keep moving forward.”

His teammate Josh Hart echoed McBride’s viewpoint.

“The margin for error is small, obviously with all the guys that we have out,” said Knicks guardforward Hart after the loss to the

Hawks. “We can’t have those slow starts and then spending so much energy to try to get back even and tie the game, get back in the game. We just didn’t have it in that fourth, we just got to find a way.”

Thibodeau is trying to find the right balance of offense and defense to win games while altering his disadvantaged roster. It has proven unsuccessful over the last month as the Knicks have been distinctly outmanned in most of their match ups.

They are 36-26 heading into tomorrow’s game at MSG versus the Orlando Magic. When Wednesday night’s NBA schedule tipped off, the Knicks were the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference but just .5 games ahead of the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, which were both 35-26.

Hart said he tries not to focus on seedings with the Knicks having 20 regular season games remaining.

“Sometimes when it pops up.

I don’t, I’m not thinking about it too much. At the end of the day, I feel like when this team gets healthy, we can make noise,” Hart observed optimistically. “Obviously, you don’t want to be in the play-in. Want to have that little three, four, five days of rest right into that first round, but the cliche tip is just take it one game at a time and obvious -

The Nets close the gap in the race for a play-in spot

By DERREL JOHNSON

Special to the AmNews

The Nets took a positive step in their push for a spot in the NBA PlayIn Tournament on Tuesday night with a 112-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center. The win put the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference at 25-37, 2.5 games behind the No. 10 seed (27-34) Atlanta Hawks. The No. 7 through No. 10 seeds will take part in the play-in.

Nets head coach Kevin Ollie said his team showed the mental and physical attitude necessary to keep pace as the regular season comes down to the final five weeks.

“Philly came out and I think they were up about 14 points or something like that and we just dug in, stayed together, stayed connected, [and] challenged the guys,” he said. “Nobody was pointing their fingers and we just hunt better when we’re in a pack, not individually. And I’m going to keep saying it like a broken record. We hunt better when we are in a pack and we stayed in a pack today.”

Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV as-

sessed his team’s development through their struggles.

“I think at the beginning of the season, I have continuously said that we’re figuring it out and we’re growing and we’re improving and we’re learning from it,” Walker said after Tuesday’s win. “This is a clear example of all that growth and all the trials and tribulations that we’ve been through, and we stepped up as a team collec-

tively. Everyone did their job. This is something that you expect and you get down the stretch.”

With an unbalanced roster, the Nets have not found a formula for long stretches of consistent winning this season. They are heavy on guards and forwards who primarily play on the perimeter and lack scoring and physicality in the paint. The victim of their up and down performanc-

es, mostly down, led to the firing of former head coach Jacque Vaughn during last month’s All-Star break.

Vaughn was replaced by Ollie, who was hired by the Nets last June to be an assistant on the coaching staff. Ollie was the head coach for the University of Connecticut from 2012-2018 and led them to NCAA title in 2014.

He earned the first winning streak of his pro coaching career over the weekend, as the Nets rallied to overcome a 13-point deficit to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 114-102 Saturday night. Brooklyn, who also topped the Hawks two days earlier, have won three of their last four games and four of their last six. The team is .500 after eight games with Ollie at the helm going into tonight’s game versus the Detroit Pistons, the start of a six-game road trip, all but one against Eastern Conference opponents.

Nets starting small forward Cam Johnson left Tuesday’s game after playing less than nine minutes with what Coach Ollie described as a right ankle

ly we’re going to get guys back soon. But we got to keep pushing. At the end of the day, wherever we are, I like this team.”

Following the Magic, the Knicks will play the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday and Tuesday night at the Garden before going on a fourgame Western Conference road trip starting next Thursday versus the Portland Trailblazers.

sprain. Johnson, whose status for the upcoming road trip was unknown at AmNews press time, joins guard Cam Thomas and forward Ben Simmons, both of whom have missed the last five games, Thomas with a right ankle/midfoot sprain and Simmons dealing with a left lower back nerve impingement. Center Day’Ron Sharpe also missed Tuesday’s game with a right wrist contusion.

The Nets have only 20 games remaining in the regular season, and following the Pistons will face the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, the Indiana Pacers on March 16, and the San Antonio Spurs on March 17 in a special Spurs home game in Austin, Texas.

The Knicks are relying on forward (r) Bojan Bogdanovic to provide much needed scoring off the bench. (Bill Moore photo)

(R) Nets guard Cam Thomas has missed the team’s last five games due to a right ankle/midfoot sprain. (Bill Moore photo)