New York Amsterdam News Issue May 4-10, 2023

THE NEW BLACK VIEW

STATE BUDGET LATE, NOT GREAT

HOCHUL’S NEW YORK STATE BUDGET FINALIZED A MONTH LATE

Narcisse, City pass NYPD bill to recognize more NYers with autism

Brooklyn parents rally against Navy Yard Clubhouse closing

(See story on page 28)

Community comes out for Alton Maddox homegoing

(See story on page 4)

(Bill Moore photo)

(Photo Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Officee) (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins gives closing remarks after the NYS Senate passed the 2023-2024 budget. NYS Senate Chamber, Capitol, Albany, NY. (Photo courtesy of NYS Senate Media Services)

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INDEX

Arts & Entertainment Page 17

» Astro Page 20

» Jazz Page 24

» Theater Page 22

Caribbean Update .........................Page 14

Classified Page 32

Editorial/Opinion Pages 12,13

Education Page 28

Go with the Flo Page 8

Health Page 16

In the Classroom Page 26

Nightlife Page 9

Religion & Spirituality Page 30

Sports Page 40

Union Matters Page 10

International News

dedication and generosity of spirit helped set a high standard for the role. He met with world leaders to secure support for the issues that affected children’s lives, said UNICEF director Catherine Russell.

“Kenya’s decision to abolish school fees is a shining example of just what can be achieved in the developing world by sheer political will,” Belafonte said.

“It is impossible to overstate the enormity of the loss of this icon of global entertainment and social activism, around longer than most of us have been alive. His story will be told many times and in many ways in the days to come, and most beautifully in his 2011 memoir, ‘My Song.’”

AFRICANS BID FAREWELL TO A HERO AND TRUE FRIEND

(GIN) — Yusuf Bangura will always remember the legendary calypso singer, actor, and social activist Harry Belafonte for “bringing happiness and hope to many people around the world.”

Although many Americans know of Belafonte’s activism to end apartheid in South Africa, the whole story of his no-holds-barred diplomacy is still to be told.

Kenyan independence hero Tom Mboya first met American stars Harry Belafonte, Jackie Robinson, and Sidney Poitier when he was coordinating an airlift of

81 Kenyan students to the United States. That was the beginning of a warm friendship between Belafonte and Mboya. With funds from an “African Freedom Dinner” and the help of Martin Luther King Jr. and other African sympathizers, Mboya was able to raise enough money to fund the airlift.

Belafonte made his first visit to Kenya in 1963, in time for Kenya’s Uhuru celebrations, along with the great South African singer Miriam Makeba. The two won a Grammy in 1964 for the concert record “An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.”

As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF for 36 years, Belafonte’s

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed deep sadness on the eve of the country’s Freedom Day Celebration. “He was an influencer of his time who spared no energy in supporting our liberation struggle and in campaigning for human rights in many other parts of the world,” he said of Belafonte. “We will remember him as a hero and true friend of South Africa that we must celebrate during our National Orders ceremony and for many years to come.”

Banning Eyre, lead producer of the Peabody Award-winning public radio program Afropop Worldwide, also shared a memory.

In 1987, Belafonte traveled to Dakar, Senegal, where he served as chairperson of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. In 1994, he went on a mission to Rwanda, and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children. In 2001, he visited South Africa to support the campaign against HIV and AIDS. In 2002, Africare gave him the Bishop John T Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa.

The Beninese-French musician Angélique Kidjo called Belafonte “the brightest star in every sense of that word. Your passion, love,

Puerto Ricans set to rename building after 20th century Black activist

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Residents of Puerto Rico’s southwestern coastal city of Cabo Rojo have been up in arms since finding out that the historic building that houses the former J.L.M. Curry school bears the name of a Confederate States Army officer from the United States.

The school was built in 1903 and now serves as a municipal building, but the name of Jabez Lamar Monroe (J. L.M.) Curry is still etched on the front façade.

Dr. Luis A. Ramírez Padilla has joined with people who live in Cabo Rojo, and other concerned Puerto Ricans, to push for the renaming of the building. As members of the Comité Pro Edificio Maria Cívico (Pro-Maria Cívico Building Committee), they want the name of J.L.M. Curry removed and to have the name of María Civico, a native from Cabo Rojo, put in its place.

María Cívico was born Jan. 4, 1860, in Cabo Rojo. Though born enslaved, she was granted an initial freedom in 1870 which, after 3 years

of required service, led to permanent freedom. Cívico was talented and smart; she became an advocate for the rights of Black workers and women. During her lifetime, she was able to earn her living as an haute couture fashion designer. Having the name of J.L.M. Curry, a prominent slaveholder and southern Confederate, on a street named after the Puerto Rican independence leader and slavery abolitionist Ramón Emeterio Betances––whose remains are buried in the nearby church––is a slur on Betances’ legacy, activists say.

Dr. Ramírez initially brought the subject of the Curry school’s name up in an online article he published in 2020. As an historian, he explained, the building of schools and other buildings in Puerto Rico began soon after the United States took control of the island in 1898. These buildings were a way of asserting cultural dominance—particularly when the name of a slaveholder with racist views about Black people was placed on the city’s central school building.

Curry never actually set foot in

Puerto Rico, so the idea of having his name symbolize the education system was also a promotion of U.S. values over those of the island.

“It is time to reassess and begin to correct and reconstruct our people’s true historical and cultural memory,” Ramírez wrote. “What

is the legacy we want to leave for posterity? For many generations, whether through ignorance or simply not wanting to know, we have continued to commemorate and perpetuate the values that J.L.M. Curry represents. His name

(GIN photo)

Cabo Rojo municipal building still has the name of J.L.M. Curry (Photo courtesy of Comité Pro-Edificio María Civico)

How to drag on your train: MTA’s Second Avenue Subway expansion dependent on breaking into East Harlem

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Even the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) wants to move to StreetEasy’s “second hottest neighborhood in Manhattan.” The public benefit organization is seeking multiple East Harlem properties along 125th Street and/or Second Avenue—both for temporary easements and permanent full taking—in the planned expansion of the Q line.

The MTA filed an eminent domain claim to obtain nine East Harlem lots on April 19. Such a process allows the power of the gov-

ernment to seize private property for public use without the owner’s consent in exchange for financial compensation.

“The filings follow the statutory process laid out in New York law to acquire these parcels, which will allow us to commence this important project for the community of East Harlem,” said MTA spokesperson Michael Cortez in an email statement.

Within the filing, the MTA specifically asks for compensation to be determined by the court instead of a jury. This isn’t necessarily detrimental to maximizing a payout for property owners, according to a 2019 Virginia Law Review study, because appointed commissions are reportedly just as prone to

Metro Briefs

Gun buyback

overvaluing condemnations as undervaluing them. But the right to a jury in eminent domain cases is historically contested as a constitutional issue.

Another attempt to acquire land for the subway line resulted in the Federal Transit Administration’s approval of $82 million in spending to acquire one lot and the space under another. It’s a middle ground. The asking price was more than $100 million. An independent appraiser contracted by the MTA assessed the value at around just $42 million. But this month’s Finance Committee Book admitted that letting such properties slip away jeopardizes the East Harlem

Narcisse, City pass NYPD bill to recognize more NYers with autism

By ARIAMA C. LONG and TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Members

Spearheaded by Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse, the City Council passed a bill last week to require the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to train officers to be better at identifying and engaging appropriately with New Yorkers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as rates have risen in recent years.

“Requiring our police force to undergo such training could quite possibly save a life. Traditional tactics and approaches that would work for neurotypical people may not work for people with autism spectrum

disorder,” said Narcisse, who had a career as a nurse before taking office, in a statement.

The bill, Intro 273, was approved in a City Council hearing on April 27. The NYPD training will be incorporated into the academy’s processes for new recruits and all uniformed members will have it every other year.

Christal Williams, the mother of two adult sons with varying forms of ASD, doesn’t think any training will ever be enough, especially when handling children of color. One son, Kaqwan, has Asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum. Williams recalled NYPD officers arresting him as a teenager and that the police did not inform his parents when he was detained. Williams only found out thanks to Kaqwan’s friend in-

forming her. When she went to retrieve him from the station, she recalls hearing an officer refer to her son by an ableist slur.

Kaqwan is now 31 years old, has graduated from high school, and hasn’t encountered the police in awhile. Williams remains anxious, however. She’s especially concerned about sweeps and involuntary hospitalizations resulting from Mayor Eric Adams’s mental health agenda.

“Every day is scary,” said Williams. “He’ll go to the store and I’m sitting here with bated breath waiting for him to come back. It’s just not something that anybody should have to go through because their child may be exhibiting behavior differently from what we

City appoints another czar for ‘lead–ing’ the end of NYC lead poisoning

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Lead poisoning is a frightening public health issue that continues to have an impact on New York City’s Black and disadvantaged youth, especially since New York State leads the nation in homes with leadbased paint: an estimated 5.3 million.

In response to this continuing issue, Mayor Eric Adams has released a report about the city’s efforts to combat lead exposure and announced the appointment of Jasmine Blake as the city’s new lead compliance officer.

The city banned lead-based paint back in 1960; tried to legislate against it in the 1980s and ’90s; and passed the Childhood Lead

Poisoning Prevention Act in 2004, which required building owners to get rid of sources of lead found in many pre-war houses across the city.

“Each attempt was met with steep resistance,” said Housing and Buildings Chair Pierina Sanchez at a City Council oversight hearing on April 25. “But [we were] bullish in the assertion and goal that lead poisoning in children is entirely preventable. New York City and its advocacy pushed forward. While these efforts have led to some success, lead poisoning is a hazard faced by a child in this city truly based on their ZIP code and their race.”

According to City Council stats, there were 111,509 lead paint violations in the city between January 2018 and March 2023. As of March 2023, 45% of all lead-related court

cases are concentrated in the Bronx. Brooklyn ranked second for cases. That burden falls mostly on Black and brown children in these neighborhoods.

At the City Council oversight hearing, five bills were reviewed and two new bills introduced. Altogether, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Bill Package included legislation that mandates the removal of lead-based paint on friction surfaces near children and in common areas, thorough records of investigations and objections, more identification and inspection, assessment of kids with elevated blood lead levels, and declaring lead hazards as a public nuisance.

“As nurses, we see firsthand the harm that lead poisoning causes children, especially low-income and Black and brown children

New York state’s gun buyback program saw more than 3,000 guns surrendered in exchange for gift cards last week. Nine buyback locations were set up in various regions of the state, with two in New York City.

Organized by State Attorney General Letitia James, this was the first-ever statewide gun buyback in New York history.

The gun buyback events were conducted in partnership with local law enforcement agencies and public officials. The attorney general’s office said it collected 185 assault weapons, 1,656 handguns, and 823 long guns. In New York City, 90 guns were collected in Brooklyn and 70 in the Bronx.

The NYPD has also established a Cash for Guns program that offers $200 to anyone who surrenders a gun. Individuals who choose to surrender their guns do not have to identify themselves nor will they be asked any questions by officials.

Unclaimed fund database

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is encouraging the city’s residents and former residents to check its unclaimed fund database at https://ouf.osc.state.ny.us/ to see if the state is holding any funds in their names. You might have utility deposits, old bank or investment accounts, insurance policies, or uncashed checks dueto you that you can collect.

Sugar Hill Nights ‘Thursdays on the Hill’

The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling is bringing back its “Thursdays on the Hill” program. Come uptown for an “Uptown Dance Party” for all ages, featuring Buddy of Uptown Vinyl Supreme, on Thursday, May 4, from 6–8 p.m. Explore Afro-Latin beats with Alexis Marcelo & Sanctuario on Thursday, May 18, at 6 p.m.

The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum is at 898 St. Nicholas Avenue at 155th Street in Manhattan. For more info, call 212-335-0004 or email info@ sugarhillmuseum.org.

South Africa’s Freedom Day

New York City Mayor Eric Adams raised the brightly colored South African flag high above Bowling Green Park as he proclaimed April 27, 2023, South Africa’s Freedom Day in the city of New York.

In his comments during the ceremony, Adams said, “This is the second time we’ve been able to come here to Bowling Green to raise the flag for South Africa, and my love and aspiration for the country. I still remember the days of driving from Soweto to Port Elizabeth to Jo’burg to Cape Town and just seeing a beautiful country and what it represents, and the spirit and energy that looking out from Robben Island, a place where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years…in prison, and the 29th year of acknowledging Freedom Day and what it means and what it represents. As the country continues to evolve from so many years of being under the grip of apartheid, that shows the resiliency of the country and what it represents.

“I am so proud to say that I am the second African American mayor [to make such a declaration].

On National Day of Prayer, President Biden evokes Dr. King

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

“Today, I pray that we can see each other as we should: not as enemies but as neighbors, and not as adversaries but as fellow Americans and human beings,” President Joe Biden wrote recalling his January visit to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta during the annual National Day of Prayer, which occurs the first Thursday in May. “Only when we see ourselves in each other will justice, as scripture tells us, ‘roll down like waters,’ righteousness become ‘a mighty stream,’ and America fulfill its true promise as a land of liberty and justice for all,” Biden continued.

As the country’s second Catholic to hold office, Biden called upon the people of the nation to give thanks “in accordance with their own faith and conscience.” Thanks, he added, should be extended to “our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God’s continued guidance, mercy, and protection.”

This was clearly a special appeal to members of the Republican Party, where so many of them are not owning up to their Christian practices. Each year, the president is required to sign a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. It was formalized and enacted in 1952 as part of the public reaction

to the threats perceived in the Korean War. It was established by former President Harry Truman.

Biden’s proclamation coincides with Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) encouraging Democrats not to cede the issue of faith and religious voters to Republicans before next year’s elections.

“In my district, my openness about my faith has been refreshing to a lot of people,” she told the 19th, a non-profit newsroom that focuses on issues of gender, politics, and policy. “They see what has happened to faith in politics on the other side, and they’ve been really, really eager to see something new and different.”

Muslim Heritage Month designated in the Garden State

January is now Muslim Heritage Month in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a joint resolution (SJR105/ AJR194), sponsored by Senators Joe Pennacchio and Brian Stack, and Assemblymembers Angela McKnight, Shanique Speight, and Annette Chaparro, to designate the month during an Eid celebration on April 29.

“I am proud to designate January of each year as Muslim Heritage Month, as it will shine a light on the rich histories, cultures, and shared principles of Muslim Americans,” said Murphy.

In a statement, Madina P. Ouedraogo, government affairs manager at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, New Jersey (CAIR-NJ), said: “New Jersey’s Muslim community has long awaited this moment, when the Muslim heritage month resolution is passed and signed into law. Today, the Garden State is proudly celebrating its rich religious and cultural diversity.

Hochul’s New

York State budget finalized a month late; bail reform rollbacks are in

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Governor Kathy Hochul finally announced this Tuesday night (May 2) that a budget agreement had been struck with the state legislature. They approved the $229 billion budget after the deadline was pushed back from the last month, mostly due to contentions over bail reform rollbacks.

“We needed to bolster an economy that builds from the middle out and pulls from the lowest rung to the top,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins on the budget floor. “That meant taking historic steps to ease the pain that everyday households have been enduring for years, and creating new paths for prosperity in every community and for every family.”

Stewart-Cousins hailed the state budget for prioritizing funds for public education, low personal income tax rates, $100.7 million to fund abortion providers, $1 billion in mental health services, efforts to combat climate change, $1 billion toward improving healthcare access, expanding the Child Tax Credit, affordable childcare, and free school lunches.

The budget also succeeds in allocating $1 billion toward aiding the asylum-seeker crisis in New York City and raising the minimum wage by $2 for workers over the next three years.

“We fought hard for the issues that are on the top of New Yorkers’ minds as we face a slowing economy and recover from the pandemic,” said Assemblymember and Majority Whip Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. “However, our work is not over in Albany.”

The enacted budget will hold state

operating funds spending under 3% and increase the state’s reserves to 15%. The 2023–24 budget is the largest in state history.

Of course, the budget fell short in a few areas, such as affordable housing and bail reform.

“I supported the fundamental premise behind bail reform to say that [when] two people [are] accused of the same offense, one should not go to jail and one [be] sent home because they didn’t have money. That was addressed years ago and I stand with that,” said Hochul in a PIX11 interview on Wednesday morning. “Now we have factors to look at.”

Hochul said she set out to restore judge discretion in bail reforms, saying that the “least restrictive means” caveat was tying their hands. She said she understands the “emotion” about the topic but her main concern is public safety, a move some lawmakers staunchly disagreed with.

The very vocal Assemblymember Latrice Walker went on a hunger strike during budget negotiations and said, in a statement via Twitter, that she voted “no” on the budget because it categorically failed to deliver on promises of public safety.

“I will not be among those subjecting more people to the trauma that comes with being locked up pretrial,” said Walker, “I will not be among those who send people to death’s door at Rikers, where people can wait more than a year for trial. I will not be among those who are content with sending our criminal justice system backward.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said that in addition to being late, the state budget is “disconnected” on the issue of public safety, housing, the cap on charter schools, and reviving zombie charters.

“It took a month to roll back bail reform yet again, ultimately imprisoning more Black and brown New Yorkers pre-trial rather than doing the hard work to actually produce lasting public safety,” said Williams in a statement.

Williams also said that all the housing support was removed from the budget, whether that meant the production of deeply affordable housing in collaboration with communities or the essential counterpart of tenant protections to keep New Yorkers in those homes, even as extreme rent hikes are still being considered.

Other big budget investments are $347 million in gun violence prevention initiatives and $170 million to support the implementation of discovery reform for prosecutors and defenders, among other things, said the governor’s office. There are provisions for cracking down on illegal gray market cannabis shops, including levying fines, closing those shops down, and more enforcement. It also puts $30 million toward combating hate crimes and anti-Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) violence.

By adjusting the “payroll mobility tax” for large businesses, the budget also assists the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in generating $1.1 billion annually and $300 million in one-time state aid. New York City will still have to contribute $165 million to MTA services.

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.

“American Muslims have and continue to be a pivotal foundation of this state, but they have long been stigmatized, marginalized, and underappreciated. This new law signals a new tide.”

According to CAIR, 3.5% of New Jerseyans are Muslim—the highest percentage of Muslim residents in the U.S.

The organization also noted that “Muslim Heritage Month started with a vision from the Honorable Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. The first Muslims to observe Ramadan in America were enslaved Africans who carried their faith with them and used it as a way to stay connected to their identities that were being brutally stripped from them while in bondage. It was their descendants, Black and African American Muslims, who would go on to later lay the foundation for the modern-day American Muslim experience. The Honorable Imam Mohammed sought to make sure that this history is acknowledged and celebrated.”

Eunice Dwumfour murder remains unsolved

The murder of Eunice Dwumfour, the Sayreville councilwoman who was horrifically shot and killed outside of her Central New Jersey home on February 1, remains unsolved and her family is calling for more action on the case.

“Authorities aren’t saying much,” the Associated Press recently reported. “Dwumfour’s parents and new husband Peter Ezechukwu, who hoped to join his wife in the United States this spring but instead came for her funeral, are frustrated by the ongoing silence. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said it recognizes their concerns but needs to protect the integrity of the investigation.”

But the fear left in the city after Dwumfour’s murder has now led to a decision by the current mayor, Victoria Kilpatrick, not to run for another term in office. Kilpatrick, who is white, said that she received an anonymous, swastika-filled hate letter in the mail that has made her daughters afraid for her safety.

“That letter was so heinous that it had to be See NEW JERSEY on page 27

Candlemaker Natasha Faublas’s Booming ‘Brooklyn Essence’

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

Brooklyn Essence LLC, an organic candle and skincare company based in Brooklyn, is bringing success to founder and creative designer Natasha Faublas.

“Starting your own candle business is a rewarding and worthwhile endeavor,” said Faublas. “I am always proud of every tiny achievement and how far I have come.”

Brooklyn Essence candles are designed to evoke comfort, joy, and relaxation. Faublas also sells natural oils, body soufflès, exfoliating body scrubs, washes, and healing skin candles with alluring scents. The products are 100% soy wax-derived soybeans that are eco-friendly, with wooden wicks or leadfree cotton wicks. Each candle is handmade and packaged individually with care.

“Our goal is to create products that will create a lasting impression for anyone who enjoys craftsmanship and a great candle,” said Faublas.

Faublas was born and raised in Brooklyn and her family is of Haitian descent. She always had a love for scented and unique candles. She would always have a candle nearby because it brought her tranquility. In her youth, she had brief aspirations of becoming a florist when she worked at a family-owned flower shop in Brooklyn for more than 10 years.

As an adult, Faublas became a paralegal at a Brooklyn law firm. When she was laid off from her job, Faublas saw an opportunity to have a flexible lifestyle to raise her large family and still have a

successful career.

One of her youngest daughters was battling a serious case of eczema at the time.

Faublas was inspired to create an all-natural candle—when heated, the wax could be applied to help soothe her daughter’s irritated skin. When the treatments worked, Faublas took the next step into entrepreneurship and by 2016, launched Brooklyn Essence from her candle-making shop in her converted garage. She was especially motivated to start a business and be a role model to her children.

Faublas can often be spotted selling her products at local artisan markets around the city, with her kids in tow, and dazzling customers with demonstrations of how the candles work.

“Consumers want to make their homes smell good and feel comfortable, and candles are an easy way to do so,” said Faublas.

“I love to hear my customers’ experience every time they light their candle. From how the scent fills the room every time, the strength is the same, and the burn is even and clean.”

Faublas still lives in Brooklyn, with her husband and children.

For more info about Brooklyn Essence products, services, and events, www.instagram.com/brooklynessence/.

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

Business owner Natasha Faublas

how far I have come.”

Much ado about libraries in mayor’s exec city budget

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

Mayor Eric Adams has released his $106.7 billion fiscal year executive budget 2024, which focuses on fiscal responsibility and remaining balanced in the coming years. Of course, it was met with immediate backlash from some advocates and a mixed bag from others, the biggest issues being with NYPD, education, and library funding.

“Great things are happening in New York City. We’re taking strides toward a greener, more prosperous and just future,” said Adams at the budget press conference on April 26. “Now it is our responsibility to maintain New York City’s forward momentum. Our Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget prioritizes our working people’s agenda and keeps our city working for the benefit of all New Yorkers. It does so while addressing some of the storm clouds gathering on our

horizon.”

The city budget must be balanced every year with a specific amount of revenue by law. If it looks like future years will be unbalanced, that means there’s a “gap” between revenue and expenditures that has to be corrected. How to do that is usually where all the hullabaloo comes in.

Highlights of the executive summary of the budget include earned income tax credits, more Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid benefits, more free legal representation in housing courts, free internet access for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, improving the city’s climate resiliency, supporting mental health services, and $4.8 million in investments in the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Inclusive Economy Initiative programs.

Adams said that the city is still facing billions in new costs despite “better than expected” tax

revenues. The executive budget for 2023 and 2024 remains balanced, with outyear gaps of $4.2 billion, $6 billion, and $7 billion in fiscal years 2025 through 2027, respectively. The budget grew by $4 billion from the preliminary budget because of asylum-seeker costs and funding labor settlements with the city’s workforce, according to the mayor’s office. Most can understand the need for a Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) and save the city money, but what to prioritize is the question.

Among the real fiscal challenges, Adams cited the asylum-seeker crisis as a primary factor. The city anticipates that the cost of providing shelter, food, clothing, and other services for asylum seekers will be $4.3 billion. Immigration advocates haven’t particularly disputed the costs of the “right to shelter” for more than 57,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in the last year, but many have started to push back against

the mayor for “scapegoating” migrants and asylum seekers during budget negotiations.

Library funding was also a huge rallying point when $36.2 million in cuts were initially announced in the preliminary budget last year, followed by an additional 4%, taking it up to $52.7 million in cuts this year.

Adams said that the city “did not cut a single penny from libraries or cultural institutions” and exempted them from those PEG saving targets to avoid cutting critical needs, meaning the city wasn’t going to enforce the additional 4% at all. This move seemed to pacify citywide library branch leadership, but librarians and some city council members are still upset about the remaining cuts.

“The Brooklyn, New York, and Queens Public Libraries are grateful to Mayor Adams, a longtime champion of libraries, for sparing us from the latest round of funding cuts announced in

Reynoso, City rally against traffic violence

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

New York City’s pedestrians and cyclists are more at risk on the streets as the city’s traffic fatalities reach record-breaking levels.

The Vision Zero plan, initiated under former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014, was intended to dramatically improve street safety through comprehensive data and engineering. According to Vision Zero data as of March 31, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx have the highest rates of traffic fatalities and injuries this year. Citywide there’s been a total of 51 deaths and 11,043 people injured so far.

“Behind every crash is a family and community impacted by traffic violence,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement. “The Council is taking major steps to secure safer streets and neighborhoods for all New Yorkers.”

In a city council hearing on April 27, safer streets legislation sponsored by Transportation Committee Chair and Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, Councilmember Rita Joseph, and Councilmember Amanda Farias, was approved under the Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic-related

deaths and serious injuries.

The bill would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to redesign and “daylight” street intersections beginning in 2025, install traffic calming devices to slow or reduce traffic near zones with seniors, and call on the state to invest in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

“We know that every traffic death is preventable if we make improvements and changes to street infrastructure and pedestrian safety,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at the hearing. “To meet the critical moment

in our street safety landscape we must invest in our communities, especially those in traffic corridors that for years have seen incalculable loss.”

After the package of bills was approved, community groups and elected officials rallied in the rain this past weekend for safety on major roadways, like Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. They demanded additional “traffic calming” legislation and said that 2025 was not soon enough to implement these recent laws since more “preventable” deaths would occur in the interim.

April. This is an important step toward restoring library funding,” said Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) President Linda E. Johnson, Queens Public Library (QPL) President Dennis M. Walcott, and New York Public Library (NYPL) President Anthony W. Marx in a joint statement.

However, Lauren Comito, executive director at Urban Librarians Unite, said Adams and his office are “intentionally being misleading” about cuts to library funding. Comito has been a city librarian for the past 16 years. She remembers a previous round of budget cuts under former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in which staffing efficiency and technology were critical to maintain adequate levels of client services. She said the city’s library branches are now an excellent example of efficiency if that’s the mayor’s concern.

“Libraries are the last space where communities can exist to-

CITY BUDGET on page 31

“For too long our city has not prioritized pedestrians,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso at the rally. “This city knows Atlantic Avenue has been a problem for a long time and they drag their feet because they don’t want to do the inevitable–which is we might have to take some lanes from vehicles, we might have to rethink the way we move around.”

Atlantic Avenue is a 10 mile long “major thoroughfare” that bisects northern Brooklyn and Queens. On April 16, pedestrian Katie Harris was killed by a driver crossing Atlantic near Clinton Street. “Imagine losing the person that means the most to you. The person that knows more than any other person, the person that loves you and all your faults unconditionally,” said a close friend of Harris’ tearfully. “It’s unimaginable until it happens.”

Amy Cohen, co-founder of Families for Safe Streets, also spoke about losing her young son to traffic violence. She said that change should not be so hard. She’s been advocating for a law to be passed named after her late son, Sammy’s Law, that would lower the speed limit.

Some at the rally have been

staunch supporters of traffic safety throughout their careers as elected officials. Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon pushed for the city’s first traffic calming study under former Mayor Rudy Guiliani. “In 1997, we finally got the Mayor to give us a traffic calming project,” said Simon. “Then the city DOT sat on the contract for a year and a half.”

The group advocated for the City to also install mid-block traffic lights to slow traffic and create more efficient pedestrian crossings, raised crosswalks for intersections, extended curbs, and redesigned sidewalk and pedestrian spaces near the BrooklynQueens Expressway (BQE).

“There’s no reason for delay. I think bureaucracy moves too slow and we should be pushing [the] DOT to go faster,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler at the rally. “Lives are at stake.”

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

See

Elected officials, community groups and residents rally for those impacted by traffic violence on Sat, April 29. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Affordable Housing for Rent

PACIFIC PARK APARTMENTS

240 NEWLY CONSTRUCTED UNITS AT 595 DEAN STREET BROOKLYN, NY 11238 PROSPECT HEIGHTS

Amenities: 24-Hour Attended Lobby, On-site Building Manager, Package Room Attendant, Co-working Lounge, Conference Rooms*, Screening Room*, Game Room*, Playroom*, Dog Grooming**, Clubroom*, Roof Terraces*, Sundeck*, BBQ Grills*, Outdoor Swimming Pool*, Clubroom*, Cardio Fitness Room*, Resident Exclusive Events & Programming*, Chelsea Piers**, Bicycle Storage, Laundry Room (*community fees apply, **3rd party fees apply)

Transit: 2/3/4/5/A/B/C/D/N/Q/R B65, B45, B69, B41, B67, B25, B26 Long Island Railroad

Introducing the latest residential and public park component of Brooklyn’s Pacific Park masterplan: 595 Dean Street. In addition to the masterfully designed Studio, 1-Bedroom, and 2-Bedroom layouts, this two-tower development is anchored by nearly 60,000 square feet of public park & plaza space, featuring interactive water features, a playground, dog run, and picnic & lounge seating. Pacific Park is also home to the latest Chelsea Piers Brooklyn, with discounted membership rates offered exclusively to residents of 595 Dean St. Residents who choose to opt into the community fee will also have access to building amenities such as an outdoor swimming pool, BBQ Grills, Sundeck, Clubroom, Game Room, Children’s Playroom, Screening Room, and an expansive co-working lounge with additional conference rooms available. No fee to apply • No broker’s fee • Smoke-free building • More information: www.PacificParkBKLYN.com

This building is anticipated to receive a tax exemption through the 421a Tax Incentive Program of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Who Should Apply?

Individuals or households who meet the income and household size requirements listed in the table below may apply. Qualified applicants will be required to meet additional selection criteria. Applicants who live in New York City receive a general preference for apartments.

AVAILABLE UNITS AND INCOME REQUIREMENTS

Apply online or through mail. To apply online, please go to https://housingconnect.nyc.gov/PublicWeb/ To request an application by mail, send a self-addressed envelope to: Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. Only send one application per development. Do not submit duplicate applications. Do not apply online and also send in a paper application. Applicants who submit more than one application may be disqualified.

When is the Deadline?

Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than July 3, 2023. Late applications will not be considered.

What Happens After You Submit an Application?

After the deadline, applications are selected for review through a lottery process. If yours is selected and you appear to qualify, you will be invited to submit documents to continue the process of determining your eligibility. Applicants are usually contacted from 2 to 10 months after the application deadline. You will be asked to submit documents that verify your household size, identity of members of your household, and your household income.

Español Presente una solicitud en línea en nyc.gov/housingconnect. Para recibir una traducción de español de este anuncio y la solicitud impresa, envíe un sobre con la dirección a: Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. En el reverso del sobre, escriba en inglés la palabra “SPANISH.” Las solicitudes se deben enviar en línea o con sello postal antes de 3 de julio de 2023.

简体中文 访问 nyc.gov/housingconnect 在线申请。如要获取本广告及书面申请表的简体中文版，请将您的回邮信封寄送至：Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. 信封背面请用英语注明“CHINESE”。必须在以下日期之前在线提交申请或邮寄书面申请2023 年 7 月 3 日

Русский Чтобы подать заявление через интернет, зайдите на сайт: nyc.gov/housingconnect. Для получения данного объявления и заявления на

русском языке отправьте конверт с обратным адресом по адресу Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. На задней

стороне конверта напишите слово “RUSSIAN” на английском языке. Заявки должны быть поданы онлайн или отправлены по почте (согласно

дате на почтовом штемпеле) не позднее 3 июля 2023 г.

한국어 nyc.gov/housingconnect 에서 온라인으로 신청하십시오 이 광고문과 신청서에 대한 한국어 번역본을 받아보시려면 반송용 봉투를 Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. 으로 보내주십시오 봉투 뒷면에 “KOREAN” 이라고 영어로 적어주십시오 2023년 7월 3일 까지

온라인 신청서를 제출하거나 소인이 찍힌 신청서를 보내야 합니다

Kreyòl Ayisyien Aplike sou entènèt sou sitwèb nyc.gov/housingconnect. Pou resevwa yon tradiksyon anons sa a nan lang Kreyòl Ayisyen ak aplikasyon an sou papye, voye anvlòp ki gen adrès pou retounen li nan: Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. Nan dèyè anvlòp la, ekri mo “HATIAN CREOLE” an Anglè. Ou dwe remèt aplikasyon yo sou entènèt oswa ou dwe tenbre yo anvan dat 3 jiyè 2023

ﺔﯾﺑرﻌﻟا ﻰﻠﻋ تﻧرﺗﻧﻹا رﺑﻋ بﻠط لﺎﺳرإ nyc.gov/housingconnect ] :ﻰﻟإ ناوﻧﻌﻟﺎﺑ

Polskie Aby złożyć wniosek online, przejdź na stronę nyc.gov/housingconnect. Aby uzyskać polskie tłumaczenie tego powiadomienia oraz wniosek w wersji wydrukowanej, wyślij kopertę z własnym adresem: Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. Wpisz słowo POLISH” w j. angielskim na odwrocie koperty. Wnioski muszą posiadać stempel pocztowy lub zostać przesłane online nie później niż 3 lipca 2023 r

Français Pour déposer votre demande en ligne, rendez-vous sur le site nyc.gov/housingconnect. Pour recevoir une traduction en français de cet avis ainsi qu’un dossier de demande papier, envoyez une enveloppe libellée à votre nom et votre adresse à l’adresse suivante : Pacific Park Apartments, P.O. Box 1543, New York, NY 10159. Inscrivez le mot « FRENCH » au dos de l’enveloppe. Les demandes doivent être envoyées par la poste ou soumises en ligne au plus tard le 3 juillet 2023, le cachet de la poste faisant foi.

Go with the Flo

FLO

ANTHONY

Tongues are wagging that Serena Williams is expecting her second child. Dressed in Gucci and sporting a new hairstyle, the 23-time grand-slam winner made the announcement as she walked the red carpet on May 1 with her husband Alexis Ohanian at the 2023 Met Gala. Williams told press, “I’m feeling good. I can breathe.” Williams and Ohanian are already parents to 5-year-old daughter Olympia…

The Prince’s Trust Gala, hosted by British Vogue Editor-In-Chief Edward Enningful, took place on April 27 at Cipriani South. Guests included Iman, Tommy Hilfiger, Broadway producer John Gore, and Windsor Primetime CEO L.Marilyn Crawford. Rita Ora stepped in to perform in place of Lionel Richie, who had to fly to the UK to rehearse for his performance at the coronation of King Charles III on May 3…

By popular demand, “Gladys Song and Verse” returns to New York City. On Mother’s Day, May 14, Roz Live will present excerpts from the musical at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem. The event will include dinner along with the show. Writer and director Roz said the show continues to bring back so many “precious memories,” with tunes like “Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Neither One of Us” that audiences sing and dance along to throughout the entire performance. The show features Priceless, Tyrice Harrell, Jazz E Matt, and Maurice Ellerbee, and is under the musical direction of Jeff Bolding. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. For further information, call 646-373-3690…

Boxing champion Hector Camacho Jr. recently returned home to his Spanish Harlem roots to make a special announcement: The world middleweight champion will join EntroBox, American Dream Presents, and Harrell Media Inc., in launching the Macho Cup Boxing event. Named in honor of his father, Hector “Macho” Camacho, the legendary Puerto Rican world champion boxer who lost his life in a senseless drive-by shooting, the Macho Cup is part of Camacho Jr.’s Gloves Up, Guns Down. The Inaugural Macho Cup will take place May 18 at the James Weldon Community Center in East Harlem…

NYCLU’s Museum of Broken Windows returns for budget season

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

“The Museum of Broken Windows”—officially called “29 Million Dreams” for the $29 million the city spends daily on the NYPD—doesn’t need jagged glass to cut deep. The pop-up art show of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) returned after five years in time for city budget season to address the NYPD’s daily price tag (and that number doesn’t include pensions) and how such spending affects over-policed groups like Black and brown New Yorkers.

Doors opened in Lower Manhattan last Friday, April 28, and the show will run until the end of the week.

“I think art is a beautiful component [that takes serious] issues like policing and police brutality [and] lightens the load [so] that message can come across,” said artist Russell Craig. “People become numb and this stuff becomes normal, but art makes you engage [with] these issues.”

He likened the process to putting medicine in ice cream.

The self-taught painter cofounded Right to Return, USA, a fellowship for justice-impacted artists. Many of their works are on display. Craig’s towering portrait of Breonna Taylor—who was killed in her own home by Louisville police—is probably the first piece visitors see when entering the Museum of Broken Windows.

“With ‘29 Million Dreams,’ the NYCLU and renowned artists invite New Yorkers to imagine what even a part of the fortune we spend on policing could do to create the thriving city we dream

of,” said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman in a statement. “As the Mayor and Council negotiate the city budget, they should break away from policefirst problem-solving, visit the Museum of Broken Windows, and make our dreams reality.”

Co-curators Daveen Trentman and Terrick Gutierrez told the Amsterdam News the exhibit connects a bloated police budget to issues like the killing of Eric Garner and the 19 detainees who died in or immediately after Department of Corrections custody last year.

“There’s human consequence to policy and to budgets,” said Trentman. “Art [creates] more compassion and [draws] out the human consequence of those policies and budgets. Advocacy and policy work is so critical, but there’s also a pretty profound limit to what statistics can communicate.”

“We came into curating this

space [with] love and care,” said Gutierrez. “From my particular lived experience [of] being stopped and frisked when I was just 13 from South Central LA—I held that for 10 years—that trauma that was never addressed and I never could tell anyone because that’s just something that happens to you.

“[We are] able to come into the space and have that informed experience to be able to ensure that we’re critical and careful about the way we diligently curate the shows.”

Columbia Journalism School professor Nina Berman—whose work was displayed at the inaugural 2018 Museum of Broken Windows—echoed the concept of art’s role in understanding the police budget.

“Are you really going to see when that flowchart is reported?” she said. “Is it higher or lower this year? It’s an easy thing to gloss over, so different approaches to

storytelling are really essential. Whether you’re working in an artistic craft exclusively or [a] journalistic practice, where you’re trying to get your audience not just to understand the data, [but] understand the impact of those decisions, I think an art exhibition is certainly a start.”

What’s different this time around? Berman said the space was smaller and commended this iteration’s partnership with Trentman’s Soze Agency.

“I like this collaboration. I actually would like to see more of it—when you have a civil rights group partnering with a PR firm that can actually curate a show,” she said.

But Berman feared the exhibit’s trendy SoHo location won’t reach the city’s most-policed populations. Even the short walk from the #6 train station requires trudging past chic boutiques and NYU-enrolled hipsters. Contributing photographer Kisha Bari said accessibility is the milliondollar question—or $29 million, and that word of mouth about the show is a start.

“We’re still working hard to try and get people [who] may not know about what’s going on,” she said.

“29 Million Dreams” runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until May 6 and is at 216 Lafayette Street. Admission is free.

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and 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.

Schomburg hosts memorial tribute for Thomas McCreary

The community came out to celebrate the life of Thomas “Blood” McCreary, Black Panther/Black Liberation Army member, at a tribute at the Schomburg Center in Harlem on April 28. Hosted by Dequi Kioni-Sadiki and Jamal Joseph, the event featured a libation by Cyril “Bullwhip” Innis, with remarks from family members, friends, and comrades; a presentation by Zayid Muhammad; and a cultural performance by Jamal Joseph’s Impact Theatre Company.

Cents to dollar per agency compared to NYPD spending (Tandy Lau photo)

(Bill Moore photos)

Belafonte celebrated at Lincoln Center

Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25, was celebrated outdoors at Lincoln Center on April 28, 2023. To the delight of fans of the beloved singer, actor, and

activist, Jamal Josephs’s Impact Theatre Group performed two of Belafonte’s best-known songs: “Day—O” and “We Are The World.”

April birthdays for “Golden Girls” at A. Philip Randolph Center

Every month, seniors at the A. Philip Randolph Center in Harlem celebrate birthdays. Here they are

honoring folks blessed in April. There was a jazz band, music, food, dancing, and raffles.

Belafonte Impact Group

Belafonte Rapper & Friends (Bill Moore photos)

(Bill Moore photos)

Union Matters

Protect workers from killer temperatures!

Extreme temperatures in the workplace can injure and kill workers. The recently introduced Temperature Extreme Mitigation Program (TEMP) bill, co-sponsored by Assemblymember Latoya Joyner and State Senator Jessica Ramos, is a first-in-the-nation move designed to protect New York’s workers from temperature-related illnesses.

The TEMP bill requires employers to mitigate extreme temperatures in the workplace by providing access to drinking water and places to shelter during winter and summer. TEMP will create a statewide workplace standard for heat and cold that will cover workers in agriculture, construction, landscaping, delivery, and food service; indoor and outdoor, including vehicles.

The bill is a much-needed response to the changing climate, and will save the lives of many working New Yorkers. It can also serve as a model for other states and the federal government to protect workers from temperatures that every year seem to become more extreme.

The TEMP bill requires that in the heat, employers would have to provide a quart of drinkable water per hour; 10minute breaks every two hours in the shade or a cool break room; and protective equipment such as hats, sunscreen, fans, and sweat-wicking clothes. In the cold, employers would be required to provide breaks in warmer conditions, as well as accessories that include hats and gloves.

Rising temperatures, rising danger

Climate change is causing more than extreme weather. These extreme temperatures, especially in the summer, are killing hundreds of New Yorkers every year. In New York City alone, there are an estimated 450 heat-related emergency room visits, 150 heat-related hospital admissions, 10 heat stroke deaths, and 350 heat-exacerbated deaths.

Recent data also shows that heat-related injuries at work are vastly underreported, and often not even recognized. The data, reviewed by a House Select Committee on the climate crisis in 2021, suggests that hotter work days can also increase the chances of injuries from falling, being struck by vehicles, or mishandling machinery. Researchers found that on days when the temperature is between 85 and 90 degrees, overall risk of workplace injuries, regardless of the official cause, was 5 to 7# higher for affected workers than on cooler days. When the thermometer tops 100 degrees, the overall injury risk rises as much as 15% greater.

As temperatures continue to rise, so do the risks for many working people. This is a particularly important concern for New York’s farmworkers, some of whom are now members of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) after recently becoming the first farmworkers in the history of the state to organize into a union. With summer just around the corner, New York needs to pass the TEMP bill now

See MOTHER on page TBD

LIU shamed with inflatable rats by Laborers Local 78

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Long Island University (LIU)’s Downtown Brooklyn campus has been the site of a labor union protest for the past four weeks.

The university, which has been actively enhancing and expanding its 11-acre campus, is now being plagued by 10-foot-tall inflatable union rats. Members of LIUNA Local 78 have set up an informational table in front of the entrance to the school at University Plaza on the Flatbush Ave. Extension.

Union members told the AmNews they believe the school is not following proper asbestos removal and disposal procedures. “Asbestos is a regulated material—it’s supposed to be disposed of in a very specific way, by rules and regulations,” one LIUNA member explained while standing at the leafletting table.

In the past, asbestos was widely used to strengthen cement and plastics. Building contractors used it for insulation and fireproofing. But as research showed that asbestos fibers can be breathed in and cause various forms of cancer, its use became limited.

Removal of asbestos on construction projects is supposed to be regulated. “New York City building owners are responsible for having an asbestos survey performed by a DEP-certified asbestos investigator to determine if asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) may be disturbed during the course of work on their building,” according to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection website. “The size and scope of the abatement activity, with particular reference to the total amount of ACM that will be disturbed, determines the reporting or filing requirements.”

LIUNA union members claim they have seen pieces of construction material disposed of in waste containers. Their flyer has a photograph of one such item dumped in a nearby garbage bin by what the union claims are non-unionized workers. Having them handle this material endangers their lives, and the lives of students and others at LIU.

“Two days after we saw this, they switched containers,” the LIUNA member said. “If you try to do any kind of work inside the building, you should have a survey first. Somebody

AmNews has asked to speak with LIU Brooklyn about the construction project, but those requests remained unanswered as of press time.

“Local 78 is taking action against Long Island University for hiring JLS

Group, a company that has raised concerns about wage standards, working conditions, and safety for students and workers,” LIUNA wrote on its Facebook page.

“We demand LIU reevaluates their decision and hires a company that provides fair wages and benefits, [and] safe conditions, and follows labor laws. This highlights the ongoing struggle for worker rights and the importance of holding companies accountable for labor law violations. Join us in advocating for fair wages and safe working conditions for all workers!”

is just being very reckless here. This is a random approach to business.”

Stuart Appelbaum President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Twitter: @sappelbaum. www.rwdsu.org

LIU shamed with 10-ft-tall inflatable union rats (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

LIU shamed with 10-ft-tall inflatable union rats

LIUNA flyer with photo of what they claim are asbestos-laced construction pieces dumped in a nearby garbage

Farewell, Kwame—you did us some service and we know it

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

A massive turnout of activists, artists, and Pan-Africanists assembled at the Abyssinian Baptist Church last Monday morning, April 24, to pay their respects to Kwame Brathwaite, who joined the ancestors on April 1. He was 85. Most notable among the attendees was a large contingent of photographers, and that was perhaps in keeping with a man whose camera was as ubiquitous as it was calibrated to document the art and politics of the Black world.

One of the first tributes was from Dr. Rosalind Jeffries, who touched on his artistic brilliance and his formidable connection to several formations of cultural artists, including the National Conference of Artists (NCA), of which he was a longtime active member.

Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Rosalind’s husband, balanced her comments by noting Brathwaite’s political associations. “I stand with Dr. John Henrik Clarke and Dr. Yosef BenJochannan,” Dr. Jeffries said, citing Brathwaite as part of this “family” of distinguished cultural mavens dedicated to the fight for “Black power.”

Ambassador Neville Gertze, permanent representative of Namibia, repeated some of his profound and deepest sympathies contained in the funeral program. Brathwaite was an icon, and “through the lens of his camera and through his lifelong dedication to the Pan-African movement, Kwame leaves a rich legacy of a man who was uncompromised in spirit and his support to the Civil Rights movement, the struggles against apartheid colonialism, inequality, and injustice.”

Vocalist Dawn Joyner contributed three moving and beautifully rendered spirituals, her voice reaching a powerful crescendo on “Stand.” Several in the audience obeyed that invocation and rose from their seats with applause.

There were thoughtful testimonials from women who were members of the Grandassa Models, each noting Brathwaite’s imaginative vision and promotion of the “Black is Beautiful” concept. Much more needs to be said about the impact of the idea and how it spread from Harlem to the world—as one of the models declared, “We are not done!” That ongoing resolve echoed in

Copper Cunningham’s brief but deeply felt remarks.

Professor Tanisha C. Ford, a fashion maven who teaches at the Graduate Center at CUNY and provided the text for Brathwaite’s collection of photos in the Aperture publication, recalled when she first met Brathwaite: “He was my dream come true.”

In the book, she expanded on Brathwaite’s style and technique—that he let a “subject breathe…trusting his instinct to know when a moment had unfolded into full blossom was an acquired skill.”

Bernardo Mauricio Ruby praised Brathwaite and his photography for “enhancing the beauty of our race,” as well as educating a countless number of Americans on the merits of Carlos Cooks, the Black Nationalist from the Dominican Republic.

Mrs. Jacqueline Brathwaite, Brathwaite’s sister-in-law, offered warm regards. Her reflections included a prelude to Derrick Alston’s melodious “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

Veteran activist Omowale Clay of the December 12th Movement emphasized Brathwaite’s unbreak-

COUNCIL TOWERS III

Council Towers III, under the sponsorship of Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty will close its Section 8 assisted wait list effective immediately.

COUNCIL TOWERS III will NOT accept any NEW applications on or after this date. Currently there is no scheduled date to reopen the waiting list. When Council Towers III is ready to reopen the waiting list, an advertisement will be placed.

If you are already on the waiting list, you do not need to take any action at this time. Council Towers III will maintain your name, date and time you applied. You are still required to update your personal information by submitting changes in writing to Council Towers III, Management Office 99 Vandalia Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11239. While Council Towers III will not be taking new applications during the time the wait list is closed, staff will continue to process those currently on the list.

able connection to his brother and their dedication to not only Black is Beautiful but “the struggle for self-determination.”

Clay’s admiration for Brathwaite anticipated media stalwart Bob Law’s vivid memories from their school days when they first met and joined forces. In a subsequent conversation, Law was particularly satisfied with Dr. Raschaad Hoggard’s eulogy, which he deemed both personable and eloquent.

Taking his inspiration from the Book of Exodus, Hoggard placed Brathwaite in both a biblical and revolutionary context for his “opposition to racism and his fight

for liberation. And all of this took a lot of courage.”

Ademola Olugebefola affirmed Hoggard’s passionate words in his reading of the obituary. He too could speak with authority about Brathwaite since they spent many years as colleagues in the NCA. When all was said and done inside the church, the celebration of Brathwaite’s life continued outside, where a large contingent of his comrades, armed with their cameras, made sure the majesty of his days was properly documented, framed lovingly in their apertures and sealed forever on negatives, proofsheets, and hard drives.

Kwame Brathwaite, Self-portrait, African JazzArt Society & Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1964; from Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful (Aperture, 2019)

Black activists accused of sowing discord

Four leaders of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), including Chairperson Omali Yeshitela, were indicted on April 18 for allegedly working on behalf of the Russian government and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to conduct a “malign influence campaign” designed to “sow discord” and “advance Russian propaganda.”

Except for the latter charge, the indictment could be directed at members of the Republican Party in their campaign to undermine the democratic process and certainly to sow discord, which they have done malignantly since the January 6 insurrection.

The APSP members were charged by a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, along with three Russian nationals that the Department of Justice (DOJ) said recruited, funded, and directed them to act as unregistered (illegal) agents of the Russian government and that they covertly funded and directed candidates for local office in the U.S. They could receive 10 years in prison if convicted.

At the crux of the indictment is an organization called the AntiGlobalization Movement of Russia, whose agent contacted Yeshitela and sponsored his all-expenses paid trip from Florida to Moscow to attend a conference on separatism and allegedly discuss future cooperation with Russian plans.

All of these charges and the indictment have been denounced by the agent representing the Anti-Globalization Movement. He claims there is

The soul of Alton Henry Maddox

“no evidence of funding and no intelligible arguments.”

A tweet from Max Blumenthal, founder of the Grayzone Project, declared that “This fake and racist case [against the APSP] flows from the Russiagate hysteria that convinced millions of Americans that Russia was paying dissident groups to destabilize the U.S. political system. The FBI was unable to find anything real, so it went after the African People’s Socialist Party.”

Were Yeshitela and his comrades duped by a possible double agent who believed they could be used since they espoused anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist policies?

The indictment is hypocritical, given the extent to which the U.S. government carries out policies to foment coups and spread disinformation campaigns in the tradition of the CIA. If right-wing rhetoric against the U.S. government is tolerated, what about the free speech of those opposed to the government’s policies, particularly when those pronouncements coincide with some so-called enemy nation?

Just because you advocate programs that are not aligned with or approved by the U.S. government, siding with anti-racist, anti-colonial forces should not make you a target of U.S. cointelpro actions, raids on the homes of citizens, and humiliating arrests.

Judging from the outcome of past indictments against those charged with visiting and allegedly conspiring with Russia, Cuba, or any socialist country, this affair is not going to go well for the accused, nor will it be fair.

By REV. CONRAD B. TILLARD SR., M.DIV., TH.M.

This week at the venerable Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, we funeralized the “Attorney at War” Alton Henry Maddox. It was a glorious homegoing celebration, befitting a revered leader of weight and substance. It was well attended by an enthusiastic congregation that represented the gorgeous mosaic that our African American community is: nationalists, Pan-Africanists, conservatives, church folks, Muslims, etc.

The historic setting, the powerful tributes by our village elders, the insightful eulogy delivered by a former comrade in the courtroom all contributed to the profundity of this sacred moment of consecration of a life well-lived. Yet many of the people who benefited most from the bold and uncompromising advocacy of Attorney Maddox were not present, including New York’s Black political leaders—some of them probably don’t even know that he passed. He fought in this city and state, years ago, before many of them were born, so they could be in the seats that they are in now.

Alton Maddox came to New York at a hopeful time in America, particularly in the

South. In his native province, Blacks, under the leadership of mayors such as Maynard Jackson in Atlanta and Marion S. Barry in Washington, D.C., who were making tremendous progress both economically and politically.

Attorney Maddox and his wife Leola could have settled in Fulton County, the District of Columbia, or Prince George’s County, a few miles from where he earned his college degree at Howard University. Had they purchased a home in those southern communities, they would have become part of the growing Black elite that lived comfortable and meaningful lives, respected and safe in that region that had laid its racist soul bare during the Civil Rights Movement, repented and found redemption, finally sharing resources with Blacks who had been previously excluded.

Indeed, the “New South” was, by the time Maddox settled in New York, already a more hospitable place for Blacks and continues to draw thousands of Black New Yorkers today annually. Maddox would have been comfortable there. No doubt he would have been elected or appointed to the highest courts, or perhaps had a white-shoe law firm on Peachtree Street in Atlanta or K Street in DC. He

might have been in the Barry administration, he might have even become the Maynard or the Marion of those more hospitable communities had he settled there in the 1970s, but he decided to stay up north after his graduation from Boston College Law School.

Instead, they settled in a New York City that, in the 1970s, was a city with tremendous racial ethnic strife that masked virulent racism; a city unlike its southern neighbors that were healing from their histories of racial segregation and violence, largely because they had been forced to deal with them by the Civil Rights Movement 20 years before.

New York, on the other hand, had not made racial progress, because it would not even acknowledge it had racism, despite hundreds of years of evidence. New York preferred to view itself as the city that gave a lot of money to the Civil Rights Movement and was often a staging ground for New Yorkers to travel south to deal with the racial apartheid system behind the cotton curtain.

Yet, New York had ignored its own. In New York in the 1970s, the schools were the most segregated in America (and still are now). Black children were routinely beaten and run home

See MADDOX on page 29

Listen to your heart: Raising awareness of a serious heart condition

By OLA AKINBOBOYE, M.D., MPH, MBA Black Health Trust

We continue to live through a public health tragedy. If there is any hope to be drawn from so much hardship and loss,

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

it’s that COVID-19 has reignited new conversations about disease awareness and the inequality that still exists in our healthcare system.

aware of. It’s called transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM. ATTR-CM is a serious and often underdiagnosed cause of heart failure.

Member

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Nayaba Arinde: Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Damaso

Reyes: Investigative Editor

Alliance for Audited Media Opinion

Siobhan "Sam" Bennett: Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising

As a cardiologist practicing in New York City who has been treating heart disease for nearly 30 years, I’ve witnessed how delayed visits can affect care within our community. It is always upsetting when patients come to my office with advanced heart disease that potentially could have been diagnosed and treated earlier.

That’s why there is one condition I want every patient to be

ATTR-CM is a progressive disease, in which over time the heart muscle begins to thicken and stiffen. There are two types of ATTR-CM: the wild type, which is associated with aging, and the hereditary type, which is associated with a gene change (mutation) and can be passed down from a relative. The most common mutation in the United States, known as V122I, is found almost exclusively in African Americans. Approximately 3% to 4% of African Americans are thought to have the V122I mutation, although not all individuals with the V122I mutation develop symptoms of hereditary ATTR-CM.

While heart failure is common in Black communities, hereditary ATTR-CM in

these populations is often overlooked by doctors for several reasons. In fact, some patients with ATTR-CM say they visited up to five doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis.

This is why I am excited to be partnering with Pfizer on Voices for the Heart in Brooklyn—a community-based initiative bringing together physicians and trusted local organizations in Black, African American, and Afro-Caribbean communities around the country to increase awareness of hereditary ATTR-CM as an often-underdiagnosed cause of heart failure.

Early signs of ATTR-CM can include an irregular heartbeat, fatigue, shortness of breath, carpal tunnel syndrome, swelling in the hands and feet, and numbness and tingling in the hands. Some of these symptoms are not traditionally associated with

See HEART HEALTH on page 36

Blogger’s new book spotlights

worrisome trend that is chilling to free speech

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

A friend recently suggested I check out Tim Urban’s new book, “What’s Our Problem: A Self Help Book for Societies.” Its impact was chilling because it touched upon a critically important and ominous topic: the silencing of free speech by those with differing views.

The book was written by a leftwing progressive whose perspectives might seem unlikely to resonate with me. But the author’s observations and assessments resonated.

The popular blogger-turnedauthor explores some of the most worrisome trends that we are seeing in this country, including increased partisanship and a lowering of the intellectual bar.

Urban also does a good job of introducing an interesting concept where political thinking isn’t plotted along an x-y linear axis but extends up vertically as well. The extremes he discusses are not just far-left and far-right but lowrung and high-rung thinking.

It’s a compelling way of explaining how our country has been dragged down by people on both sides. Factions are cheapening public discourse and making it less about the arguments and a free marketplace of ideas and more about being beholden to the most extreme viewpoints.

Times are changing and not for the better. Years ago, Washington, D.C., was a place where legislators could disagree vehemently on the right path forward for this country and still be able to maintain friendships with those who held opposing views. The two sides could agree to disagree. No more.

I have always maintained deep and abiding friendships with people whose political philosophies and views differed from

Mental Health Awareness Month

my own. I have always been happy to engage in debate and discussion based on the merits of an argument. I never took our differences to heart. But increasingly, the free marketplace of ideas in America is being shut down by those who want to drown out everyone who does not fall into line with the loudest and most strident voices.

At the end of the day, I believe most Americans want to live in a country where we can openly debate issues and share beliefs—a country that celebrates the free exchange of ideas and thoughts so the best policies and philosophies can prevail. But that does not appear where we are headed.

Urban’s book warns very clearly against the nefarious influence that extremists are having in our colleges, universities, and schools. Take the recent student mob victory at Stanford Law School in March when a crowd of students shouted down a conservative U.S. judge because they disagreed with his stance on several social issues. The judge had been invited to present at the school, but was unable to speak due to students’ heckling.

Nothing is more un-American than imposing a specific viewpoint on others with little regard to the other person’s standing; failing to even respect their right to express themselves. This is being done every day by a group Urban refers to as the social justice fundamentalists.

Neither politics, current events, nor personal choices should be a zero-sum game where you are either on our side or you are not.

Urban’s book also does an excellent job of explaining shocking developments in our educational system, where an

orthodox viewpoint, highly slanted to the far left, is forced upon students, largely due to a lack of diversity in terms of viewpoint and one-sided political leanings among professors. True learning must come from all corners. We have to be unafraid to challenge students’ thinking and always be willing to open our minds and consider new information.

Studies have repeatedly shown that our campuses have become more stridently partisan. To that point, Urban recounts numerous examples of teachers who feel completely silenced and afraid to speak their minds or to share any perspectives that run counter to a hard-left radical viewpoint.

In fact, part of what makes this book so compelling that the author a lifelong Progressive takes issue with some of the very illiberal tactics being used by those who profess to champion liberal values.

It is a scary state of affairs anywhere, but particularly in America. Urban’s book highlights where we are, and paints a picture of where we should be and what it will take to get there.

The author simplifies complex arguments in ways that are relatable and understandable, whether you lean to left or right. However, I suspect it will be the high-rung thinkers who will get the most out of this book. The low-rung thinkers who may be quick to dismiss it and pay it no heed. Which is really the point.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www. armstrongwilliams.co | www. howardstirkholdings.com

Did you know May is Mental Health Awareness Month? As the semester and school year come to a close, I am keenly aware of checking in on my students’ wellbeing…as well as my own. The change of seasons always brings new, and sometimes a multitude of raw, emotions that can be overwhelming for many. As people try to check in on themselves, loved ones, and friends, it is imperative that we break down the stigma of mental health, addiction, and the myriad trials and tribulations people currently face.

I have had several conversations these past few months when friends and colleagues have both remarked that it seems like folks are living on a razor’s edge. We have observed tense interactions in stores and restaurants, and meltdowns by people who have suffered a slight inconvenience. I am unsure whether the entire world is going utterly mad, but I do know that medical providers and therapists have remarked about the increase in the need for people to check in, feel heard, and talk through solutions to help them adjust, survive, and possibly even thrive in their current environments.

I know I have definitely felt more overwhelmed since COVID began and I know I am not alone. I see it with people on the subway. I’ve witnessed my students, who occasionally shut down due to the pressure of school, life, and growing up in these uncertain times. I’ve also had far too many conversations with people from all walks of life who just feel exhausted…by everything.

What can we do to begin to address some of our mental health needs? First, we can acknowledge when we need help and when we need to speak to a licensed professional. Sometimes what is needed is a course of action from a licensed professional who is properly trained to assist you with your problems.

Second, we can spend time in nature. Study after study has shown that even just a few minutes outdoors can decrease your blood pressure and assist you in reorganizing your thoughts. Fresh air, looking at flowers, hearing the birds, and maybe even hugging a tree can do wonders for your overall mental wellbeing.

Lastly, you can visit the American Hospital Association at www. aha.org and review all of their resources on everything from addiction to suicide prevention to overall mental health.

It is important that we not suffer in silence. Be sure to check in on loved ones and use this month to educate yourself about the ways we can all build a more solid foundation for our mental health. We can also use this month to decrease the stigma about seeking help, seeing a therapist, and making changes in our daily lifestyles for the sake of mental health.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

(Adobe Stock photo)

Caribbean Update

Neighboring island spat over stranded Cameroonians

By BERT WILKINSON

Special to the AmNews

Late last year, authorities in Antigua made much ado about the commencement of an air charter service that would have helped the Caribbean realize a decades-old dream: to establish an air bridge to Africa.

On the charter’s inaugural flight to the Eastern Caribbean island, hundreds of passengers from West Africa, many of them from Cameroon, jumped on the chance to fly to the region, remain for a while, raise some money, and eventually find a creative way to head to the U.S. or Canada using the now-defunct Antigua Airways.

Local officials helped many of them find jobs and did nothing to force them off the island, but in the intervening months, many complained about destitution as their finances were depleted and life became increasingly difficult.

When some of them heard of a boat smuggling service to the not-so-far away U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), those with enough cash jumped at the chance and left the island to travel north to the U.S. territory. The idea of reaching the USVI while undocumented is fueled by the belief that a passenger might be able to board a domestic flight from there to the U.S. and land without a visa, because that would not be treated as an international service.

But tragedy struck off neighboring St. Kitts on March 28, when the severely overloaded vessel sank, killing about 15 people. A total of 14 were rescued by passing vessels and taken to St. Kitts, where they have remained, awaiting repatriation to Antigua as the government there had promised. Only three bodies have been found.

At the weekend, however, Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced that he is walking back on the promise to take back the Cameroonians, because they will eventually try again to leave the island for so-called greener pastures. His announcement has caused severe angst in St. Kitts, where authori -

ties say they will still try to persuade PM Browne to change his mind.

“Why bring them back when they are likely to smuggle out of the country again?” he was quoted as saying in a governing party publication. This is as the 14 are being held in a detention center in St. Kitts. Unhappy and frustrated, five of the group made good on their escape at the weekend, but four were recaptured and are back in detention, jobless and cashless.

Authorities in Basseterre, the capital, say they will follow international protocols in dealing with groups like the Cameroonians, even while clinging to

hope that Antigua will keep its promise.

“The government of St. Kitts and Nevis continues to pursue workable and diplomatic solutions as it is duty bound so to do,” said a national security ministry statement.

On landing on the inaugural flight last year, many passengers indicated that they were anxious to leave Cameroon to escape conflict between parts of the country that have Anglophone leanings versus those that are Francophone. The Anglos complain of deliberate marginalization by the Francophones, leading to political and ethnic tensions.

Meanwhile, PM Browne said it will make little sense to continue pursuing the dream of a Caribbean-Africa air service because undocumented migrants, rather than tourists and business people, are dominating the service.

“In essence, Antigua Airways is practically a defunct entity at this point as we are very gun-shy about continuing those charters because of what happened. We ended up with these opportunistic migrants who came into the country,” the prime minister told Antigua Newsroom recently.

In all, about 900 West Africans made the trip via the short-lived service. Officials say more than 600 are still on the island, many struggling to make ends meet, homesick, and stranded. Authorities have asked the UN’s refugee office for help in dealing with the migrants.

From Title 42 to Title 8 — Here’s what you need to know

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

On May 11, the Biden administration is expected to end the controversial Title 42 pandemic policy—the public health law invoked during the Trump administration to prevent border authorities from holding migrants in congregant settings, ostensibly to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Trump era rule, kept by the Biden administration, has allowed immigration authorities to rapidly turn back hundreds of thousands of people without giving them a chance for asylum. According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Title 42 has been used as of last month to expel more than 2.8 million migrants and asylum seekers.

Now, as the Biden administration pre -

pares for the end of Title 42 and a possible surge of migrants seeking entry at the border, the U.S. laws will revert back to those covered under Title 8.

“Title 8: Aliens and Nationality” of the Code of Laws of the United States, is the body of federal law dealing with immigration and nationality, comprises relevant statutes adopted by Congress, and contains all of the country’s immigration laws. Under Title 8, border authorities will have to return to following the laws created by Congress.

Among its numerous chapters and sub-sections, Title 8 includes tougher rules about who is admissible to the country or eligible for a visa; criminal penalties for crossing the border without inspection or re-entering unlawfully after deportation; expedited removal of migrants who are deemed inadmissible and the nation’s asylum laws.

Simple put, under Title 8, any immigrant who crosses the U.S. border ille -

gally, between the ports of entry, and who is determined not to have a legal basis to remain will be processed for removal. Title 8 allows for the expedited removal of all individuals who are ineligible for asylum due to criminal backgrounds or are not able to prove their legal basis to enter to stay on U.S. soil. Further, those who are repeatedly caught attempting to enter the U.S. without authorization could be prosecuted criminally, as they frequently have been in the past.

However, under Title 8, migrants typically can seek asylum in the U.S. by citing a credible fear of persecution or other threats in their home country. However, a return to Title 8 enforcement practices will not necessarily mean that migrants would be allowed to enter and remain in the country. Many of them would still have to wait in Mexico until their asylum claims can be decided— the result of a Trump administration

policy that the Biden administration has kept in place under court order.

Title 8 guided the Border Patrol’s enforcement strategies at the southwest border pre-pandemic and is expected to underpin enforcement after May 11.

It’s a tough law. “When you are removed from the country (under Title 8), you are removed for five years or up to 20, depending how many times you enter illegally,” said El Paso Border Patrol spokeswoman Valeria Morales. “If you want to apply for admission, you can’t.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reiterated this in a press conference last week. “The return to processing migrants under Title 8 authorities will be swift and immediate,” he said. “Let me be clear: Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11.”

The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com – The Black Immigrant Daily News.

“On landing on the inaugural flight last year, many had indicated that they were anxious to leave Cameroon to escape conflict between parts of the country”

NEXT ISSUE

Find out what the end of the Federal health emergency on May 11th means for you

Health

Protect yourself from Medicare scams

of unsolicited emails, phone calls, text messages, social media posts, and phony websites. Scammers often claim to be from the Medicare office, an insurance company, or a government office. They’ll ask for your personal and financial information, such as your Medicare or Social Security Number, so they can submit false claims for payment.

Remember that Medicare will never call, text, email, or contact you through social media and ask for your Medicare Number.

These are some common Medicare scams to watch out for.

Offers of “free” genetic testing

Calls or emails about free medical equipment, such as a knee brace, walker, or cane.

Solicitations for other services, such as offers of “paid” clinical research trials. While this is not a comprehensive list, these examples give you an idea of how to spot potential Medicare fraud. Scammers will do their best to present these services and products as genuine in exchange for your Medicare number.

IF YOU SMOKED, GET SCANNED.

Since 1965, Medicare has provided healthcare coverage to millions of Americans. More than 65 million people in the United States were enrolled in Medicare as of February 2023, with more becoming eligible and enrolling each year.

Unfortunately, anyone on Medicare is at risk of Medicare-related fraud, so the Medicare program continues to warn people to watch out for scammers who steal Medicare numbers and other personal information to exploit beneficiaries’ benefits.

Broadly speaking, Medicare fraud occurs when someone makes false claims for healthcare services, procedures, or equipment to obtain Medicare payments. Medicare fraud costs taxpayers billions of dollars and puts the health and welfare of beneficiaries at risk. The impact of these losses and risks is expanding as Medicare serves a growing number of beneficiaries.

“Anyone on Medicare can be a target of Medicare fraud,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “But there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones by using CMS’s fraud tips to recognize and report potential scammers. Let’s all work together to make sure you’re not a victim of Medicare fraud.”

How to spot Medicare scams

Medicare scams can take the form

How to protect yourself

Now that you know how to spot Medicare fraud, you’ll need to know how to protect yourself from potential fraudsters. Remember to:

Guard your Medicare number just like your Social Security card and credit cards. Share your Medicare number only with trusted healthcare providers. Review your Medicare statements, watch for services billed that look suspicious, and ask questions if something looks wrong.

If someone calls and tries to get your Medicare number, hang up right away.

How to report scammers

Reporting Medicare fraud protects you and millions of other people with Medicare and those with disabilities. If you or someone you know have experienced Medicare fraud or suspect an offer you’ve received is a scam, report it as soon as possible. You will never be in trouble for reporting fraud.

To learn more about Medicare fraud, visit Medicare.gov/fraud. To report potential Medicare fraud, you can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Thanks to a new scan, lung cancer can now be detected early when it’s more curable.

Talk to your doctor or visit S aved B y T he S can.org

(Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com)

Arts & Entertainment

Dance Calendar May 2023

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN Special to the AmNews

Celebrate South African and Ghanaian dance on the stages of New York with South African choreographer Dada Masilo at the Joyce (May 23–28), and the National Theater of Ghana’s National Dance Company as part of the annual DanceAfrica Festival at BAM (May 26–29).

The Sacrifice, Masilo’s ritual expression of Tswana, the traditional dance of Botswana, was inspired by Pina Bausch’s “The Rite of Spring” and “…expands upon the concept of sacrifice, building a unique narrative by fusing ballet with modern and traditional dance to reimagine classic tales. The Tswana dance is both rhythmic and expressive, rooted in storytelling and healing practices—a fertile base on which Masilo expertly melds disparate styles,” according to the press release. For more information, visit https://www.joyce.org/ performances/dada-masilo.

For the 46th year, BAM’s DanceAfrica Festival returns under the artistic direction of Abdel R. Salaam, with the theme “Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua” and featuring traditional Ghanaian dances and music, including the royal court dance kete and fontomfrom drumming in their BAM debut.

Also on the program is a club scene with Ghanaian and Nigerian highlife music performed by the 10-piece ensemble Arkestra Africa with Afropop vocalist Amma Whatt, plus the DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers and

BAM/RestorationART Dance Youth Ensemble. For more information, visit https:// www.bam.org/dance/2023/danceafricagolden-ghana.

Also this month:

May 4–6: nia love’s multimedia performance work UNDERcurrents comes to Harlem Stage as part of the WaterWorks series and asks: “What remains of the Middle Passage as force, gesture, and affect?” The production “explore(s) the question through the themes of water and doors, as the point of departure for captive Africans into the Middle Passage is often described as ‘the door of no return,’” said the release. For more information, visit https://www.harlemstage. org/nia-love.

May 4–7: At BAC, Miguel Gutierrez’s newest work, “I as another,” is a duet performed with Laila Franklin. It “takes place in a future/present dystopia and explores the virtual architecture of memory, what it means to be alongside one another, and how existential despair has come into public view,” said the release. For more information, visit https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/miguel-gutierrez.

May 5–12: Performance artist Autumn Knight will be at Performance Space New York in in NOTHING#122: a bed, a suite of performances for three weekends described as “an ongoing investigation into the sweetness of nothingness,” according to the release. Part one is a social experiment, transforming the Keith Haring Theatre into a host club. Part two is a choreographic and

installation-based work that pares down and formalizes Nothing #122’s approach to intimacy, using the bed as a site for all things beginning and ending—where everything and nothing happens. Part three sees Knight alone onstage, responding improvisationally to the space, its architecture, its audience, and more.

For more information, visit https://performancespacenewyork.org/shows/nothing122-a-bed/.

May 7–21: Malcolm-x Betts is part of the May lineup at Cathy Weis Projects’ Sundays on Broadway, featuring evenings of new and in-progress works by 12 artists with varied movement practices. For more information, visit https://cathyweis.org/calendar/ may-14-2023-malcolm-x-betts-factressand-dance-explosion-iris-mccloughanand-jessie-young/.

May 9–12: Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and Chitrasena Dance Company come together at the Joyce with Odissi, classical dance from India, and traditional Kandyan dance from Sri Lanka in Āhuti, meaning “offering.” For more information, visit https:// www.joyce.org/performances/nrityagramchitrasena.

May 10–13: Join the Dancing While Black community as they continue to celebrate their 10th anniversary with timeless events, virtually and in-person, with their partners BAAD!, NYU’s Hemispheric Institute, and the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University. For more information, visit https://angelaspulse.org/.

May 11–13: At Gibney Dance, the New

York City-based dance and social justice organization will present the world premiere of Kazunori Kumagai’s Tap Into the Light with a list of guest artists. For more information, visit https://gibneydance.org/ event/kazunori-kumagai/2023-05-11/.

May 12: The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, in collaboration with Flushing Town Hall, returns for the 10th CrossCurrent Dance Since. This year, the company will celebrate its own history of cross-cultural collaboration by featuring the new work Between, in progress by Jacek Luminski and PeiJu Chien-Pott, the company’s director of New and Contemporary Dance, plus more. For more information, visit https://flushingtownhall.org/2023-crosscurrent

May 12–14: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, led by artistic director Robert Battle, returns to NJPAC with “New Jersey Premieres,” including Kyle Abraham’s Are You in Your Feelings?; In a Sentimental Mood by Jamar Roberts; and the “Classic Ailey” program with Survivors (1986), Reflections in D, Night Creature, and Revelations. For more information, visit https:// www.njpac.org/event/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater-2/.

May 18: As part of the Works & Process series at the Guggenheim, “The History of Waacking,” a dance form born in the ’70s by Black, gay underground clubs of Los Angeles, will be presented with Princess Lockerooo. For more information, visit https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2023/05/18/works-process-history-waacking-princess-lockerooo.

Dance pg 17 |

Art pg 18|

Theater pg 22 | Jazz pg 24

Pg. 20 Your Stars

Dada Masilio (John Hogg photo)

DanceAfrica (National Dance Company of Ghana) (Tony Turner photo)

Bronx artist’s work speaks a “Language of Touch”

By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews

Caribbean immigrants growing up in New York City have opportunities exceeding their parents’ initial perspectives. One is to pursue life as an optimistic creator with various possibilities. Passion and creativity were on display at the Bronxlandia building in Hunts Point during a recent art exhibition titled “The Language of Touch,” the first show from Dominican Bronxbased artist Judany Sanchez.

“The Language of Touch” is a suitable name since art can be felt beyond a physical painting. Sanchez believes his pieces convey powerful messages and, “evokes a range of emotions in those who view them.”

One piece, “Within a Prism,” caused unexpected reactions from a few visitors. “When looked at from an angle, some viewers saw a face when, in fact, it was just the petals of a flower,” said Sanchez. He described the responses to “Prism” as his favorite moment.

Sanchez’s favorite piece, “No. 0: Untitled,” is a breakout creation that redefined what he considers art. “My artwork before this painting was very rigid,” he said.

He challenged himself to paint images

as they were. He confronted and changed his creative process by painting with more freedom. His first show was the perfect opportunity to introduce his re-envisioned art. “Art is all-encompassing; art is everything we see, everything we touch,” said Sanchez.

Sanchez’s choice as an aspiring artist wasn’t immediately embraced by his family. As a Dominican, Sanchez understood why his mother encouraged a conventional career path. “I know she only wants what is best for me and my sister, but [her mindset is] in the traditional ways of creating success,” he said. Sanchez’s mother was proud of her son’s show, especially when seeing that three of his artworks were purchased.

According to www.zippia.com, about 14% of fine artists are Latino. A Demographic Snapshot: NYC’s Latinx Immigrant Population report from www.nyc.gov said 46% of Latinx workers are in service and sales occupations and 73% of Latinx immigrants in the workforce are defined as essential workers. Based on these numbers, representation from the Latinx communi-

ty is important. This is why Sanchez aspires to create and be heard. “My goal as an artist is to create work that resonates with people on a deep level,” said Sanchez.

As a Baruch College alumnus, Sanchez considers himself a “high intellect” who finds it difficult to captivate an audience through speech. He said he felt “overwhelmed” at his show while proving his ability to have one. “I am lucky to have such a strong support system that helped me through it,” he said. He recognizes his family and friends as his main encouragers. “Their support was instrumental in deciding to do this again,” said Sanchez. Sanchez plans to host a second art show

by the fall. In the meantime, he will be working on new paintings and commissioned pieces. In a thank you email, he wrote to attendees of this show, “I hope that the experience of attending ‘The Language of Touch’ touched your heart and soul in a profound way.”

For more information about the artist and his work, visit Instagram pages @judany.s and @aestheticstorm.

Sources: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/ immigrants/downloads/pdf/HispanicImmigrant-Fact-Sheet.pdf https://www.zippia.com/fine-artistjobs/demographics/

“Like Mike” painting, which was sold at the show (Brenika Banks photos) “Sometimes” painting

“Within a Prism” piece

3D piece “Look Closely,” sold at the show

Attendees at the show

Artist Judany Sanchez in front of his favorite piece, “No. 0: Untitled”

Ronah Harris’ ‘Dolls & Quilts’ opens at TAWCS

hand-stitch sewing techniques.

“I sew, I paint, and I make quilts,” Harris said in her artist statement. “I learned the techniques of sewing and painting when I was about 6 years old.

Sewing was the magical tradi-

tion in my family, and undoubtably this skill was used to escape poverty by multiple generations of women.”

To see Harris’s work, visit TAWCS or the artists’ website at www. ronahharris.com.

(Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

Ronah Harris’s art opening was an opportunity for kids to learn 3D printing and hand-stitch sewing techniques with the artist

Marcy Duvert, director of operations, and Denise Dixon, chief development officer at Showing Hearts Foundation, attended the exhibition opening and spoke with kids about becoming future entrepreneurs

Ronah Harris in front of “Untitled, 2023,”one of her quilted pieces.

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By SUPREME

GODDESS KYA

May 4, 2023—May 10, 2023

Rebirth of a New Nation: Pluto is in retrograde as of May 1, 2023, at 0 degrees Aquarius. It will remain at 0 degrees until June 10, then switch into Capricorn at 29 degrees, ending the Pluto retrograde in Capricorn at 27 degrees on October 10. What a magical ride this summer will be. May 1 until June 10 is a testing period, like test-driving a car. Information from all sources and all four directions is signaling like a national emergency alert. Dreams are very vivid and strange, holding information from past lives and things upcoming. When the spirit inspires you to speak or deliver a message, follow through without a doubt. “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” —

Edgar Allan Poe

Information is flying to you like birds soaring in the sky. The serendipitous messages this week are all mixed with the ancient, old school, and unorthodox to reap rewards from the ancestral realm. Pay attention to the signals like when the streetlights are red, green, and yellow. Know when to apply caution and discernment before the light turns green. The trailer of the movie is playing and is coming to a location near you. The evening of May 8 until 10 p.m. on May 10, take notes like you are in the classroom preparing for finals for graduation. Headaches may be on and off due the upgrade from Pluto and Mercury plus the full moon on May 5.

A cycle where the physical and spiritual realms have specific messages with instructions. Follow the instructions exactly because they are given to reap the benefits or rewards to claim at the end. Forgive, release, let go of what’s in the back of your mind. A brand-new quest is ahead. Complete any outstanding work before publishing and find a place to retreat, relax, rejuvenate for the upcoming assignment. Use the resources in sight. In the days leading up to the 10th, you will inner-stand your position and why those resources were needed.

Can you say “order in my courtroom”? As a matter of fact, why are we here and the judge is a no-show? Do not reschedule when you need something done; do it yourself. Take control of your affairs for old, new, and what’s in process right now. Financial obligations, romances, and professional and family circumstances are on the table all at once. Know your boundaries and limits before making a move or accepting any offer. Mentally and emotionally, get it together without anyone calling your bluff to catch you off guard. May 4 until 4 p.m. on May 6, join the meeting with the executives, or schedule one.

What’s all this talk about this and that? If you didn’t hear it directly from the source, it’s gossip. Go directly to the source to see for yourself. A special meeting with someone might occur, be it by phone, in-person, or with someone in your partnership who has intel on a new project. A weekly cycle to promote anything new. Follow your spirit and the intuition given at birth for the answers you seek. May 6 until 7 p.m. on May 8, get trained and taught by others and do your own homework.

Everything you need to know for this cycle month is in every step you take, every breath you take, down to the silent conversation you have with yourself. The feeling you receive is the feeling of a warrior calling you to fulfill a mission—no matter the cause, you are here to represent. This is definitely a slow-motion week, so know what you feel is right and will lead you to where you need to be at the appointed time. The evening of May 8 until 10 p.m. on May 10, the news you receive this week is a preview for the last week of May.

Yes, you are the creator of self, yet there is a higher boss than you in the spiritual and physical realm. What occurs on ground level is occurring above in a different way. May is a month of advancement, so position yourself in the driver’s seat with a destination. No need for plan A, B, C, or loopholes you can navigate. The process is the process, and you are in process until you are notified it’s complete by the end of May. In the days leading up to the 10th, carry on with the lesson plan and do what’s in your best interest in your wellbeing.

A cycle where you need to do a double take to confirm what you are seeing. The change that is taking place now is a shake-up that will be brought to light at the end of May and in September. There is no time to be ready or prepared. When the universe sends you a curveball, it’s for a reason: to put you on notice. Disregard the warning if you want. Spiritually, you have been warned and now it’s time to take action based on your decisions. May 4 until 4 p.m. on May 6, what are your dreams showing you as you prepare for the changes in your personal and business partnerships?

If this isn’t a story you heard before with more details, you can either disregard or investigate. The universe aligns you with incredible magical people whose frequency is higher than or similar to yours. The main key is who you meet and acknowledging what you feel. The universe will send you messages through feeling, not sight, to ensure you are in the right place. Get whatever you need off your chest before entering a space of business. May 6 until 7 p.m. on May 8, not everyone who hears the calling follows suit; only a few do.

What business do you need to address, solve, or complete? You can feel the greatness in the air from your ancestors sending you a vibe and a message. The message is clear and direct, so follow the prompt; it’s time to turn on the water sprinkler. Grand rewards—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, financially—are on the way. The mother bird has sent out her bird call and the 411 is floating like lightning strikes. On the evening of May 8 until 10 p.m. on May 10, note your location to describe what you are sensing and feeling. Mentally, you are equipped like the game of Monopoly.

You can smell the aroma of a finished product making its debut. You are getting closer to one of your dreams. The universe always sends a test your way to see if you are ready for the adventure ahead. Listen to the signals your body is sending you. One may totally catch you off guard, as if you receive a whiff of something unpleasant. The answer you seek is in the details and the writing is on the wall. Days leading up to the 10th, things that were veiled reveal their true nature.

Don’t shoot down the messenger; if the shoe fits, wear it. When something is not right, you can smell it, feel it, sense it, and know a liar is a liar. The truth will always reveal itself, even when it seems no one is looking. Follow the lead you receive because a special meeting is taking place spiritually and manifesting physically. Making public appearances to offer your services and developing your spiritual growth is essential. May 4 until 4 p.m. on May 6 is all spiritual, nothing personal.

The ancestral realm has a mission for you to journey. During this journey, know you are guided divinely on ancient grounds. The mission will feel like a reward, along with a hefty assignment to complete. Once you complete the mission, reflect back on the pictures, conversation, feelings, and elderly folks you meet along the way: Those are the wise people from a past life, making connections to pass something on to you. On May 6 until 7 p.m. on May 8, when you look to the sky, what constellations do you see? Both old and new business are being addressed.

| CONSULTATIONS 866-331-5088

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AmNews Food

Little Caribbean’s Sweet Catch brings southern charm to BK

By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews

Southern-inspired seafood is not typically available around the Little Caribbean area of Brooklyn. Other southern restaurants are a few miles away, yet there’s something special about having this cuisine in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Sweet Catch—owned and operated by Kawana Jefferson, who opened the place in September 2022—brings a unique edge to the neighborhood as the only southern food establishment on the block.

Jefferson owns a corresponding lounge, Sweet Brooklyn Bar on Nostrand Ave. in Crown Heights, that showcases up-and-coming and highprofile DJs as well as other entertainment. The concept of brunch service at Sweet Brooklyn Bar inspired a restaurant atmosphere, leading to the conception of Sweet Catch. “I really love food,” said the Virginia State University graduate.

Sweet Catch once only offered dinner and now offers brunch service every Saturday and Sunday. It will eventually give customers a patio dining experience during the summer.

Jefferson describes herself as a people person due to her background as a school psychologist for seven years. “I’m at a point now where I’m learning so much more of my culture and my ancestry; that desire peaked when I had my [two] boys,” said Jefferson. Being a mother encouraged her to understand the importance of ancestry and legacy, especially being of African descent. Jefferson wanted a place of business that was meaningful, resonated with her spirit, and where she could share her South Carolina culture.

For the decor of Sweet Catch, Jefferson wanted the atmosphere

and menu to complement each other. The light, refreshing country aura is reflected through tiles that mimic water and the teal color of the seats. Jefferson said this intended ambience was created to replicate “cracking crab legs in South Carolina by the ocean.” The combination of brick and wood with decorative plants enhances the feeling of being away from New York City. “We wanted to teleport [our visitors] to someplace else, outside of Brooklyn, even though you’re on Nostrand Ave.,” said Jefferson.

Jefferson believes food is the central part of any culture. “You live it every day and you need it to survive.”

Her favorite item on the menu is the signature boil. “It’s really meaningful to me,” she said. “It’s really the core of the inspiration behind this space; we initially started off wanting to be strictly a boil restaurant.”

Jefferson patronized many seafood boils and felt there was little representation of them in NYC. She wanted to change the lack of seafood boil places owned by people of color. “I love boils and…I wanted to do a business that I love and a cuisine that I enjoy.”

While seafood boils are associated heavily with New Orleans and Cajun food, Jefferson believes there’s even more depth to this dish. She also didn’t want her second business to have limitations, and determined that having a variety of items on the menu would boost her business to success. Menu choices such as Holy Trinity, which is candied yams and collard greens with macaroni and cheese, are highly recommended. “This essentially ended up being a seafood restaurant tied into soul food,” said Jefferson. Sweet Catch has suggestion cards that Jefferson said receive positive feedback from customers.

Jefferson originally planned to open Sweet Catch in Harlem, a neighborhood that has established southern cuisines. Fate would have it for Sweet Catch to open near its sister venue. “We took the opportunity with the pandemic, and with us getting so much support in Brooklyn, we diverted and ended up in this location,” said Jefferson.

Wade Appleton, born in Toronto, Canada, and raised in Florida, has bartended and helped Jefferson with other staff duties since day one. Appleton said he feels the southern vibes while working.

“There’s definitely a lot of southern influence here; you can see it and feel it,” he said.

Appleton has a great amount of respect for Jefferson as a Black woman entrepreneur. She is one of his favorite bosses he’s ever had because she’s understanding and down to earth.

“She knows what she wants and has great vision. I respect that,” he said.

Jefferson is a powerful believer in ending up where you’re meant to be. She is also pleased to provide Little Caribbean with this southern food experience. “This neighborhood deserves [Sweet Catch], and people are really excited to have something that feels like it could be in the city or Park Slope—and it’s right around the corner.”

Jefferson has learned how to navigate the business world, especially the workload attached to owning a business. She anticipates franchising on the East Coast. In addition, “Ms. Sweet Catch” will provide a learning environment to aid future entrepreneurs. “It’s important to do something that you love in business because you’re going to work; it takes time to build a legacy,” Jefferson said. For more info, visit www.sweetcatchbk.com and follow the business on IG @sweetcatchbk.

Inside décor of Sweet Catch (Brenika Banks photos)

Kawana Jefferson and Wade Appleton making Nassau Bay Punch

Holy Trinity platter

Black-Eyed Pea Fritters and Maryland Style Crab Cake Seafood Pasta

“Me Too” movement stunningly comes to B’way with “Prima Facie”

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Never have I seen such a brilliant, powerful representation of the “Me Too” movement on Broadway as I did with the new one-woman Broadway tourde-force “Prima Facie,” starring Jodie Comer, playing at the Golden Theatre (W. 45th Street).

This is the thoughtful, clever, witty, devastating, captivating work of Suzie Miller. The playwright gives us the riveting story of Tessa, a lawyer (barrister) who is a defense attorney to men who commit sexual assault. For 100 minutes, Miller takes the audience on a stirring journey of a girl who came from a humble background and found herself gifted and able to excel in Ivy League settings. She found herself propelled and determined to succeed and view the world only through the law. She learned exceptionally well how to play the legal game and detach from what she was doing.

Everything in the character’s life seemed logical and going well. She didn’t see the law as a patriarchal system that could impede her in any way. She didn’t acknowledge the side of the law that attacks women who are victims

of assaults to both their physical bodies and their emotional stability. She didn’t acknowledge that those women were metaphorically raped again by a court system that places no value on their word and testimony, but instead moves to humiliate and shame them all

over again, ripping their dignity, self-respect, and sense of self from them and letting their offenders cheer their own victories.

Miller’s play depicts a woman who was brilliant, confident, well-versed in the law, but made a victim of the crimes she has

defended others for and finding herself humiliated and degraded as she had done to so many women before. She finds herself coming to the realization that the system is tragically broken. This play is a clarion call to say that laws and the courts

Broadway’s “New York, New York” disappoints

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

I was so excited to hear that “New York, New York,” with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, was coming to Broadway and playing at the St. James Theatre (W. 44th Street). It was billed as a new musical, so I expected to be dazzled, but as I sat through the mediocre, cheesy production, I felt not only disappointment, but boredom.

Written by David Thompson, co-written by Sharon Washington, with additional lyrics by LinManuel Miranda, the story is all over the place. Scenes do not flow smoothly and the characters and storyline do not have enough development to make you care.

There are no showstopper numbers except for the signature, final song—the performance of “New York, New York” by Anna Uzele, a Black actress who is cast in one of the lead roles as Francine, a singer who

has come to make it big in New York City. Uzele demonstrates throughout the production that she has a wonderful voice, but

really takes it home at the end.

I’m sorry, but a musical called “New York, New York,” performed in New York, should have

are built against the victims of sexual assault, and that a man’s ability to dominate a woman and do what he will to her without any consequences is considered acceptable. Sitting in that theater, you watch this character undergo a devastating metamorphosis. You hear graphic details of all that she experienced and how the system was turned against her.

Comer gives a spellbinding performance; her Broadway debut is truly award-worthy— indeed; as of press time, she received her first Tony Award nomination for best performance by an actress in a leading role—and the unrelentingly powerful direction by Justin Martin is tremendous.

You will leave this production realizing the statistics on rape for women and knowing that something has to be done to protect the rights of women from the predators that the laws and courts choose to protect. The sustained energy, physicality, and sharing of the journey of this character is a powerful testament to the phenomenal acting chops of this dynamic actress. “Prima Facie” is a must-see! For more info, visit www.primafacieplay.com.

lines and scenes are corny and predictable at best.

While I found myself impatiently getting through the show, I did enjoy the choreography by Susan Stroman, who is also the director. The male lead, Jimmy, is played by Colton Ryan, who gives an adequate performance. Performers like John Clay III put their best vocal feet forward, but again, the material is very dull, sometimes nonsensical, and definitely uneventful.

Other featured performers included Clyde Alves, Janet Dacal, Ben Davis, Oliver Prose, Angela Sigola, and Emily Skinner.

Although I did not find myself applauding very much, I did enjoy the vibrant, colorful period costumes by Donna Zakowska and elaborate, detailed, creative scenic design by Beowulf Boritt. But I really can’t say much more about this show.

been a showstopper throughout.

The production highlights many other characters, but nothing is done with much depth, and both

“New York, New York” is not so nice; I wouldn’t say it twice.

For more info, visit www.newyorknewyorkbroadway.com.

Jodie Comer in “Prima Facie” (Bronwen Sharp photo)

Scene from “New York, New York” (l-r) Clyde Alves, Colton Ryan, and Anna Uzele (Paul Kolnik photo)

PBS doc highlights tale of unheralded Black women’s fight for welfare rights

By NADINE MATTHEWS Special to the AmNews

At the time of his death in April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had turned his focus to poverty in America. Groups like the National Welfare Rights Organization had helped heighten King’s awareness of these issues.

Led by chemistry professorturned-activist George Wiley (father of 2021 New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley), the National Welfare Rights Organization was a coalition of welfare activists from across the country, the majority of them Black women.

The documentary “Storming Caesars Palace” grippingly details the host of indignities visited upon welfare recipients that prompted the rise of these organizations and the outsized (and sadly unheralded) impact they came to have in promoting the rights of poor women.

Directed by Hazel Gurland Pooler and based on the book “Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty,” by Dartmouth professor Annelise Orleck, the film puts much of its focus on Ruby Duncan. An African American divorced mother of six, Duncan moved to Las Vegas from rural Louisiana in 1952, searching for work. She found herself unemployed in 1966 after being injured in a fall at her job as a cook at the Sahara Hotel on the Las Vegas strip.

Duncan and her children appear in the doc, recounting how hard life was after she had to stop working and go on welfare. All seven family members once shared one hamburger, and Duncan used petroleum jelly to fry food. They lived,

along with most Black people in Las Vegas at that time, on the Westside, aka “The Mississippi of Las Vegas.”

Orleck herself appears in the doc and explains how the increased presence of Black women on the welfare rolls in the 1950s brought a harsh backlash. Welfare had been around since the 1930s, but was originally envisioned as the province of white women. States devised numerous ways to restrict or limit the benefits for Black women.

In addition to inadequate benefits, Duncan and other Black mothers on welfare endured multiple indignities. Their homes were routinely raided in the middle of the night by caseworkers (often armed) looking for evidence of jobs, unreported income, or men. Women were taken off welfare if there was any indication that there was a man in the home.

Duncan was elected president of the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization in 1968. Despite her initial hesitance to wear that mantle, Duncan, with nothing

but a ninth grade education, grew to distinguish herself as an astute strategist and organizer.

Guided by the principle that women on welfare were the best arbiters of how to govern themselves, Duncan, along with other activists who appear in “Storming Caesars Palace” like Mary Wesley and Alversa Beals, halted the de facto war on the poor being waged on communities like the Westside in the late 1960s and early ’70s. The film includes shocking audio of President Nixon decrying “little Negro bastards” on welfare.

The film’s title refers to one of the watershed moments in the history of the welfare rights movement:”

Thousands of welfare activists stormed the famous casino in 1971 to protest the state’s 30% reduction in Nevada’s welfare rolls as part of a pilot program the federal government hoped to roll out nationally.

Archival photos and videos in “Storming Caesars Palace” show the women were supported by the likes of Jane Fonda, Sammy Davis Jr.,

and Donald Sutherland. The move shut down the vaunted casino for hours. A week later, welfare activists attempted to do the same at another popular casino and hotel on the Strip, the Sands. However, owners of the hotel locked the doors before activists arrived.

The activists weren’t thwarted. Stunning archival footage shows they instead sat in the streets, cutting off access to venues on the Strip. Within weeks, Duncan and her cohorts saw the fruits of their labor when those taken off the welfare rolls were restored to their benefits.

Duncan went on to fight for Nevada to add food stamp benefits, cleverly overcoming the resistance of lawmakers by motivating local supermarkets to join the welfare mothers in the fight.

Duncan and the other welfare mothers also staged an “eat-in,” bringing their children to the Stardust restaurant and encouraging them to order whatever they wanted. When it came time to pay the astronomical bill, the

mothers refused, giving themselves up for arrest. They achieved victory here as well: Nevada implemented a food stamp program in 1972, the last state to do so.

Still guided by the principle that welfare mothers were best suited to determining their own lives, Duncan launched Operation Life in 1972 out of the deserted Cove Hotel. The organization saw Duncan and the other welfare mothers skillfully and successfully launch a number of significant initiatives. The documentary shows footage of the first library and health center in the Las Vegas Westside neighborhood. Eventually, a jobs program, day care center, the first swimming pool in the Westside, and a drug program were also created.

Operation Life also came under attack by the state. In the film, Duncan, Beals, and Wesley recall that the program was accused of welfare fraud in an attempt to shut it down. However, after a lengthy investigation, the state found no evidence of wrongdoing. Operation Life carried on until 1992, when it was finally folded after Duncan’s 1990 retirement and a lack of funding.

Photos in “Storming Caesar’s Palace” document Duncan’s rise from her humble beginnings to national prominence. Interviews with her children, fellow welfare activists, and public figures such as Gloria Steinem illuminate that she did so through deep intelligence, strong will, and a passionate dedication to justice.

“Storming Caesars Palace” is streaming on PBS.org and the PBS

app. For more information, visit the pbs.org/stormingcaesars page on INDEPENDENT LENS.

A portion of Operation Nevada crowd marching down Vegas Strip. Ruby Duncan walks beside Ralph Abernathy. George Wiley is also featured (Clinton Wright Collection)

Ruby Duncan addressing a group, with Jane Fonda seated and listening on eve of Strip march in 1971 (Images or footage used under license from Shutterstock.com)

Welfare rights leaders (including Johnnie Tillmon and Beulah Sanders) put their hands together, celebrating passage of their National Plan of Action item at First National Women’s Conference in Houston, Texas (Diana Mara Henry Photography)

FRIENDS REMEMBER ACTIVIST, HUMANITARIAN HARRY BELAFONTE

When activist, humanitarian, philanthropist, producer, and singer Harry Belafonte died on April 25, at the age of 96, the drums of the ancestors could be heard around the world. He was a warrior for social justice, and for the empowerment of Black people throughout the African diaspora. Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” comes to mind; when you speak of rivers, speak of Harry Belafonte.

Belafonte in his travels touched many hearts, many souls, many minds. Here are a few of those who were honored to be called his friends, students, and associates.

Percussionist Chief Baba Neil Clarke had the pleasure of working in Belafonte’s band for 15 years (1979-1993). “It was Chief Bey, my African percussion instructor, who originally connected me with Belafonte’s band. Soon after my audition we went on a European tour. While in Germany, Harry took us to the Dachau Concentration camp. That visit was very impactful, it gave me a better understanding of Harry and his commitment to the struggle. He wasn’t only about civil rights, he was about human rights. His fight was against man’s inhumanity to man. His commitment was dedicated to making this world a better place and the empowerment of Black people.

When we were in Las Vegas, Harry took me to all the hotels who refused him rooms even though he was performing there. He had been at the forefront of dismantling the barriers of segregation and he made sure all the band members enjoyed the fruits of our elders’ fight. He made sure we always stayed in five-star hotels. Harry’s musicians and singers were multicultural with textures of authentic sounds from Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, and Cuba.

He was like a father to me, from discussing music, to giving me business advice and just talking about life. We would spend hours talking about his experiences with Paul Robeson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussions about Toussaint Louverture.

Harry and Randy Weston, with whom I worked for 30 years until

his transition, were both masters of the music, intent on escalating the artform and using their platform to advocate for social justice.”

Voza Rivers, the executive producer and founding member of the New Heritage Theatre Group, had the pleasure of working with Belafonte on a variety of projects.

“My relationship with Harry Belafonte was filled with trust, admiration, integrity, humility, and incomparable achievements. Harry’s outstanding contributions to the civil rights initiatives are well documented.

Harry represents the embodiment of what is good, fine righteous and admirable.

As I reflect back to 1985 when Harry visited New Heritage Theatre Group in Harlem, two years earlier [1983] I had assumed leadership upon the death of the theatre’s founder Roger Furman, who along with Harry, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Gertrude Jeannette, Rosetta LeNoire, and Alice Childress, were members of the famed American Negro Theatre, located in the basement of the 135th Street Library (now the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture).

Harry attended the premiere production of New Heritage’s South African play “Asinamali!” The play featured five South African actors portraying Black prisoners, whose activism was a crime under the country’s apartheid regime. Harry was so impressed with our production, he joined in partnership with Miriam Makeba, Paul Simon, and Hamilton Fish among others in producing “Asinimal!” On Broadway. Harry’s vision for supporting New Heritage was a welcome affirmation that we were following in the footsteps of his beloved American Negro Theatre of the 1940s.

Harry was also impressed with New Heritage’s Youth Theatre,

Impact Repertory Theatre, cofounded by Jamal and Joyce Joseph, Arlen Courtney Bennett, Raymond Johnson and myself. During visits to our workshops, Harry stressed combining artistic endeavors with a commitment to public service. On several occasions, he commissioned Impact to create new works. I will miss Harry Belafonte, a man fully committed to social justice and human rights.”

Sipho Kunene was the drummer for Belafonte for six years, from 1987-1992. “I had many memorable experiences with Harry Belafonte. The one that electrifies me the most, is our concert for the “Children On The Frontline Festival” in Harare, Zimbabwe in Southern Africa in 1988. It wasn’t the fact that it was a brand new 80,000 seat stadium, or that our segment was filmed for PBS. It was that I, South African born, USA raised from 5 years old, the son of parents exiled to the United States in the 60’s, was going “home” to play music in the backyard of

my home country, South Africa. And we were doing a lot of South African music with Harry, so all those things combined had me extremely excited. What made this an indelible experience for me was that the way we always started the show was, the band and singers would get into position first, then Jose Neto, our guitarist would jump into the intro lick of our opener. Then our music director, Richard Cummings, would cue the rest of the band and I’d kick us off. But this time after we were in place and all set, out strolled Bishop Desmond Tutu! I was on stage mere feet away from this warrior for peace, fighter for the civil rights of my people, my cousins, grandparents, uncles, and aunties. After he addressed the crowd, Neto set us up, Richard cued the band and off we went. That is a personal experience that I found hard to explain or describe to my bandmates. I didn’t even try. So I put that memory in my box of “magic moments” and keep it close to me. Rest in peace Mr. B. I love you! I miss you! Amandla!!”

Drummer Will Calhoun was one of the youngest to join Belafonte’s band as a recent graduate of The Berklee College of Music (in 1986).

“Chief Baba Neil Clarke recommended me to Harry, who hired me after my nervous audition. I started working with Living Colour shortly after being hired. I was just out of school and didn’t want to be the one making mistakes but all the band members were helpful.

On a flight to a Living Colour gig, Harry happened to be on the same plane. We discussed my association with Living Colour and I gave him a tape. After hearing the tape, he said to me, ‘your band is extraordinary, you must

do this project!’ After that I never had any thoughts about the band and our success because of what Harry told me. He said, ‘You guys are Black, focused and from New York don’t ever forget that.’ Years later, he continued to check on me and called after both my Grammy wins. He was talking about the AMC, Mandela, and Paul Robeson. Talking with him was like conversing with a hip uncle except I was looking directly at Harry Belafonte! His conversations prepared me for everything that was ahead of me, both positive and negative. He helped many musicians from other countries get U.S. citizenship. For his entire life, he made this world a much better place, especially for people of color. Working with Harry was a remarkable experience for me; nothing will ever come close.”

Pianist Richard Cummings was Belafonte’s music director (19781995). “Percussionist Steve Thornton recommended me for the music position with Harry’s organization. At the time, Harry was interested in recreating and dressing up his repertoire with new feeling and the exuberance of the Caribbean experience. That was the best job on earth for me, at 21 years old. He also had choral conductors, who worked with the ensemble’s vocalists. Harry didn’t attend many rehearsals but left it up to us to work things out for his final approval. Everyone in the band had input. It was a unique workshop with all of us hashing it out together.

Traveling on the tour bus was the most fun, we were on the road six months out of the year mostly in Europe and Canada. That comradery of going around the world was like a large family traveling together. I must have worked with over 100 musicians during my tenure. The two greatest universities for Black music in the latter half of the 20th century were Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers and Harry Belafonte’s organization. Harry was unwavering in his dedication to theater and the creation of what we disseminated to the public. I was fortunate to have a 45-year relationship with Harry, he even became friends with my father. I organized the Harry Belafonte Alumni Group Musical Historical Society whose purpose is to continue Harry’s cultural and musical legacy.”

Harry Belafonte (Hakim Mutlaq photo)

extension and would cause “significant incremental project delay and expense.”

Currently, the expansion is in the second phase, which involves building up stations on 106th, 116th, and 125th Street. The project, dubbed the Second Avenue Subway, offers to connect uptown residents to Lower Manhattan, taking them as far south as the Financial District.

Such an expansion would provide more subway coverage in East Harlem and ease congestion on the existing 4, 5, and 6 lines. Connections to the Metro-North Station at 125th and Park, along with proximity to the M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport, allow New Yorkers to commute out of town more easily. The three new stations are all ADA-accessible—East Harlem’s percentage of the disabled population sits around 13%, according to a 2019 NYU Furman Center tally, slightly higher than the citywide average.

Carey King, who directs East Harlem’s Uptown Grand Central nonprofit, said community members her organization encountered are still digesting the information.

Eva Chan, one of the Harlem East Block Association’s managers, says members are excited about the extension, although most do not live on Second Avenue and cannot speak about the direct effects of the land acquisitions. But given 125th Street’s role as a transportation hub, she said expanding on the eastside is a commonsense move.

“We’re certainly happy that MTA is moving forward,” she said. “It’s not just the MTA; historically, there has been a lack of investment in East Harlem. We see investment in Hudson Yard, we see investment in [downtown] Brooklyn…any sign of progress, we appreciate.”

According to Chan, the area is often cut off from the rest of Harlem. She’s currently unsure whether the train extension will

connect the neighborhood with its West and Central counterparts or further independence from them.

The proposed East Harlem station will also serve as the end of the line. Such stops are commonly used by city agencies and independent advocacy groups for homeless counts, due to the propensity of unhoused New Yorkers to sleep on the trains, especially during the colder months. East Harlem is also home to the country’s first government-sanctioned safe injection site, where drug use is supervised to prevent overdoses—a process that can be lifesaving, with overdose-reversal medication naloxone on hand.

But the site has faced stiff community pushback since opening its doors over a year ago, with drug use in nearby subway stations after operating hours pointed out by both the city and the MTA, according to reporting by The City.

Despite the higher rates of addiction disorders among those experiencing homelessness, VOCAL-NY housing coordinator Joseph Loonam said the train extension should actually democratize who visits such Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC).

“The standard profile we have in our head of someone who is directly impacted by the drug war is often incomplete,” he said. “People have been coming in for services [who] are not necessarily street homeless or are not even necessarily impoverished. Time will tell, [but] what we really want to see [are] OPCs as a normal part of the physical infrastructure in New York. It wouldn’t be super-controversial to have an emergency room [or] clinic next to a subway station.

“There is a real connection between ‘end of the line’ stops and folks who sleep on the train sort of being in those areas, [but] we’ll be surprised to see who is accessing OPCs as they grow and expand.”

Loonam added that new government infrastructure is often used as a cudgel against long-time residents of such low-income, traditionally Black and brown neighborhoods with rapidly changing demographics—remember, East Harlem is “Manhattan’s second hottest neighborhood,” according to

Metro Briefs

Continued from page 3

Sometimes when I say I am the second African American mayor, we only focus on the ‘American’ part. But let’s be clear: I am African. I am African, and we should not allow ourselves to be ripped apart from the success.

“When you look up and you watch me speak and stand on and fight for what is right, something special should come between what you are feeling and our ancestors [who] lie on the bottom of the ocean floor. This is a proud moment for them because although you can take away the physical presence, the anatomy of our spirits and our heritage and our lineage—it goes throughout time. It doesn’t end and it doesn’t conclude. It is always here, so you can hear the cries from Fort Elmina in Ghana, you can hear it from Gorée Island outside of Senegal when we visit there in the Door of No Return.”

––Compiled by Karen Juanita Carrillo

StreetEasy. Loonam said in a nutshell, such a line boasts nearly universal benefits, but resistance may arise due to fears of displacement and higher rents.

“Poor folks also deserve access to big transit,” said Loonam. “Poor folks also deserve good schools, and all that stuff is dependent on their ability to stay in a community when resources are comfortable.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and 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.

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William C. Chase: writer, publisher, and Republican Party leader

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

William Simmons’s “Men of Mark” is a trove of information about significant Black men and has served my purposes on several occasions for this column, including the entry for William Calvin Chase.

Chase, the man of the moment from the U.S. Treasury, was born free in Washington, D.C., on February 2, 1854, four years after the dreaded passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. He was one of five siblings whose father, William H. Chase, an expert blacksmith, was shot and killed in his shop in 1863. The children were left to be raised by their mother, Lucinda Seaton.

After his father’s sudden death, William was forced to leave the private school he attended and help his mother. He began selling newspapers, which brought him into contact with various newspaper reporters and editors. He was 11 when he was hired to sell hats for Holley & Brother in Methuen, Massachusetts, although it’s not clear how this arrangement affected his relocation. But he was soon back in the nation’s capital and resumed selling newspapers.

Chase continued his education at the Howard University Model School B, and then on to the university proper. While a student, he worked as a clerk in the Government Printing Office, a position he held for two years. When he was passed over for a higher position because he was Black, he quit the job and filed charges against the public printer, Almon M. Clapp. The outcome of that lawsuit is unknown.

In 1875, Chase became the Washington correspondent for the Boston Observer, which went out of business four years later. Later, he was employed by the Washington Plain Dealer and began seeking a political appointment.

William contacted Frederick Douglass, then U.S. marshal, who had made overtures to employ him in his office. When Clapp heard of this, he contacted Douglass and asked him to block any possible appointment, which Doug-

lass did. This prompted Chase to launch a campaign attacking him, but they later set aside their differences. Chase was hired as a writer for the Argus, edited by Charles N. Otey, and when Otey retired, Chase became the editor.

There were some bitter encounters between William and the managing editor and by 1882, he had moved on to the Washington Bee He would hold this position until his death in 1921.

Throughout his tenure with the

higher education, and by 1883, he was attending Howard University Law School.

Three years later, he married Arabella McCabe and they had two children, both of whom later worked at the Bee. His attendance at the school, did not lead to a law degree, but he continued to study the law privately. He was admitted to the bar in Virginia and Washington, D.C., in 1889 and practiced law thereafter in D.C. His background and credentials served him well and he was soon playing a pivotal role in the Republican Party and was named as a District of Columbia delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900 and 1912.

There was, as we might expect, a vital link between Chase’s work in the Republican Party and editing the Bee , where his editorials were charged with ferocity against the retrenchment of white nationalism and the countless lynchings of Black Americans. He was also outspoken against Booker T. Washington and what Chase saw as his compromising of Black aspirations.

By this time, Chase was a leader of the Colored Press Association, an organization of Black journalists. His opposition to Washington’s policies changed after the leader began funneling resources to the paper, which he needed to keep it afloat. When Washington sought to remove certain political appointees from the Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft administrations and spy on W.E.B. Du Bois and the Niagara Movement, William was unwaveringly aligned with the purposes.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

Several publications, along with previously mentioned “Men of Mark,” have resourceful profiles on Chase, including Rachel Kranz’s “Dictionary of Black Americans.”

DISCUSSION

As noted, there are a few missing facts about Chase’s life. Perhaps one of the readers can fill in the blanks.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Although he was born during the slave era, Chase was born free and fought assiduously to maintain that status.

CLASSROOM IN THE THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

April 30, 1961: NBA great Isiah Thomas was born in Chicago.

Bee , Chase continued to seek a public appointment. After Douglass became the Recorder of Deeds for D.C., he was assigned a clerk in Douglass’s office. Even so, Chase resumed his nettlesome writing, criticizing George Washington Williams’s book History of the Negro Race and businessman Robert Purvis—attacks that assured his notoriety.

Editing the Bee and working for Douglass apparently did not interfere with Chase’s dreams for

Chase also was in and out of court on a variety of charges, including a libel suit against him, and in the last days of his life, attempted to forge an alliance with the NAACP. On January 3, 1921, he was found slumped at his desk in his newspaper office, having died of a heart attack. Within a year, the paper was no longer in circulation.

Chase was honored by the D.C. City Council in 2006, specifically for the role he played in the preservation of Douglass’s residence at Cedar Hill.

May 1, 1950: Poet Gwendolyn Brooks is the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize.

May 2, 1920: The National Negro Baseball League was inaugurated.

William C. Chase illustration from The Afro-American Press and Its Editors in January 1, 1891 (Public domain)

know as the norm. And he gets it. But then he says to me, ‘Well, why should I have to?’

“Because we’re your parents. We love you. And we don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Then there’s the matter of how young Black men are already policed. Kaqwan is over 6 feet tall and weighs around 230 pounds. Williams said his encounters with the police stem from having a friend.

“If somebody accepted him, he would be willing to go along with them,” she said. “If they did certain things, his judgment wasn’t what it should have been, so he would just follow them and when things would happen, he would get the brunt of it because he didn’t know how to express himself.”

For those unfamiliar with it, ASD is considered a “developmental disability” where a person is limited in social interactions, has repetitive patterns of behaviors, and can be impaired in how they communicate with others, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). According to the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, the prevalence of ASD has been trending up in the U.S. since 2000.

National CDC data from 2020 also suggests that autism is more prevalent among Black and Hispanic children than white children, and among households with lower incomes. These disparate gaps have narrowed over time, though, mostly due to more equitable identification of ASD.

An education and mental health study from the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD),

Lead Czar

Continued from page 3

in environmental justice communities, where environmental hazards contribute to unacceptable health disparities,” said New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) President Nancy Hagans in a statement. “Fortunately, the New York City Council has the opportunity to address this injustice and improve the life-long health of residents by closing the loopholes in existing lead laws. The time is now.”

Over time, the threshold standard for lead exposure has been lowered to 0.5 milligrams of lead per square centimeter (mcg/cm2) for paint and 5 milligrams of lead per square foot (mcg/ft2) for dust. In March 2022, the health department further reduced the blood lead level threshold from 5 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) to 3.5 mcg/dL. But even low exposure can cause lasting health impacts, such as permanent neurological disorders, kidney and hearing damage, and concentration problems, as well as lower IQs. Electeds and advocates firmly believe that zero lead exposure is the only acceptably safe level.

Lead piping exposure is also an expensive and hazardous issue that could affect people’s drinking water, said Lonnie Portis, New York City policy and advocacy manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and a member of the New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning (NYCCELP), which are among the groups that have been advocating for an oversight hearing because progress has not been swift enough to meet the original deadline of eliminating lead by 2010. “They’ve identified where [some of] the pipes are, and you have a potential unknown, where you have no idea if they’re lead or not.”

Portis said the city council needs to close the loopholes in existing lead laws and start effectively enforcing the current Local Law 1 of 2004 for landlords to inspect and remediate lead paint hazards.

The LeadFreeNYC plan, released in 2019, invests in lead testing and removal from public housing, rental units in one- and two-family homes, and 600 low-income and privately owned

published in 2022, noted a rising trend of New Yorkers on the autism spectrum between 2015 and 2020. The number of adult people in the state with an ASD diagnosis can’t be totally quantified, said the study, because there is no requirement that a person report their diagnosis to the government. However, based on self-reported data, the instances of autism among individuals increased from 20,789 to 27,434 in that five-year span.

“The rate of autism diagnosis is on the rise, including on Staten Island,” said Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, who cosponsored the bill. “Many of us, including myself, have family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues who are autistic New Yorkers, and it is a priority of mine to ensure their safety and well-being. This bill will provide the NYPD (with) training tools to maximize safety and respect for all autistic New Yorkers, as well as our police officers.”

Scott Karolidis, director of government relations for YAI: Seeing Beyond Disability (previously known as the Young Adult Institute), said he was honored to have worked with the City Council on making the initiative a reality. YAI supports and invests in programs, like New York Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment Resources and Treatment (NYSTART)/ Crisis Services for Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (CSIDD), that help prevent interactions between people with disabilities and police in the first place, he said.

“We are eager to see the police department implement comprehensive, effective training to ensure that all their officers are appropriately equipped with the skills and sensitivities needed to respond to people with autism,” said Karolidis in a statement.

The NYPD training will include enhancing an officer’s awareness and building a practical understanding of autism and how to respond safely to calls involving these potentially “vulnera-

New Jersey

Continued from page 4

immediately turned over to authorities in order to be processed for forensics and so forth to find out where it originated from,” Kilpatrick told MyCentralJersey.com.

“I was called an ‘n-lover.’ Sentences were punctuated with swastikas. The letter included comments like ‘I heard that one of your [racial slur] was murdered’ and something to the effect that ‘more of you need to go,’” she said.

––Compiled by Karen Juanita Carrillo

ble” individuals.

“While the NYPD currently does have trainings for officers on interacting with individuals with autism spectrum disorder, we were pleased to work with the City Council on this important legislation that will expand our training by requiring that officers receive it biennially, ensuring that they are up to date on the latest best practices,” said a police spokesperson by email. Police SUVs were recently spotted with a decal celebrating neurodiversity for Autism Awareness month, which was in April.

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

lead service pipelines. It also focuses on ramping up enforcement efforts against landlords who aren’t meeting lead-related obligations.

“Thanks to these efforts and the intensive work of our city agencies, lead exposure in children has been reduced by 93 percent since 2005,” said Adams in a statement, “but there is still more work to be done.”

On the state level, NYCCELP has continued to advocate for strong legislation against lead. This year, none of the bills made it into the state executive budget recently released by Governor Kathy Hochul. The bills mostly center around buying and selling of pre-1978 housing, compensating victims of childhood lead poisoning, and water utilities properly identifying lead pipes. However, the Landlord Insurance for Lead-Based Paint Act recently passed in the State Assembly and the Lead Pipes Right to Know Act recently passed in the State Senate.

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 con-

sider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

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Brooklyn parents rally against Navy Yard Clubhouse closing

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Downtown Brooklyn parents were recently informed that a neighborhood staple, the Navy Yard Madison Boys & Girls Club, has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 and will be closing at the end of the school year.

After it was originally scheduled to close on May 12, recent announcements are that the clubhouse site will stay open through June 27 and close at the end of the school year. After that, nearly 100 area children will be left without needed extracurricular services. Teenagers will no longer be able to take part in club programs and local families who have used the Navy Yard Clubhouse for generations (many parents say they attended the clubhouse when they were young and now have children in attendance there) will have to search elsewhere for services.

The Navy Yard Clubhouse is one of the six Madison Square Boys & Girls Club Foundation clubhouses throughout the city: there is one in Manhattan, two in the Bronx, and three clubhouses are in Brooklyn. These are afterschool spaces where 6- through 18-year-olds can find daily enrichment programming at no cost to their families.

Many of the kids attending the Navy Yard Clubhouse come from the nearby NYCHA Farragut Houses. The clubhouse is directly across the street from Farragut, which made it a convenient location for parents to pick up their children.

The imminent closure of the clubhouse and sale of its building are making families desperate to find some way to either put the clubhouse building into the hands of a different nonprofit or have the city step in to save it for the community.

“This is a safe haven,” one parent declared. “I’ve got six kids; all six of my kids went here.”

Another parent, David Banks, reached out to the Amsterdam News to raise the alarm about the situation. Banks, a DJ and house music producer who goes by the stage name DJ Disciple, said his daughter attended the clubhouse for years. He explained that Far-

ragut parents are trying to get the word out about the clubhouse’s closing. They’ve started using #savenavyyardbandgclub on social media so people know about the situation.

The parents want elected officials “to let us have a seat at the table,” Banks said. “The residents don’t want the building that has been an institution for many of us to become private. With the city’s help, it won’t have to be.”

This all comes on the heels of hundreds of child sexual abuse lawsuits having been filed against a former Navy Yard Clubhouse volunteer.

Dr. Reginald Archibald, now deceased, was a former volunteer at the clubhouse and is recorded to have been a child sexual abuser. A venerated pediatric endocrinologist at Rockefeller University Hospital, Archibald apparently was also abusing kids he volunteered

to work with at the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club’s former lower Manhattan clubhouse on 29th Street. Archibald volunteered with that clubhouse from 1941 through 1985 and served on the Madison Foundation’s board from 1964 to 1985.

Some 141 complaints were filed against Archibald and the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club under the New York State Child Victims Act (CVA); claims were that he abused children beginning in 1948 and continued doing so until 1984.

So far, the Foundation claims to have already spent $22 million in litigation on the Archibald case. It filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in June of 2022 to save itself. To finally settle their claims, the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club Foundation found that they could get the most money from selling their Navy Yard Clubhouse. The

the majority of our existing Navy Yard Clubhouse staff into similar positions at our other Clubhouses located in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. We are immensely grateful for the Club’s staff, volunteers, and community for everything they did to make the Navy Yard Clubhouse in Brooklyn a special and welcoming place for our members.”

Some parents are hoping that a celebrity might be able to step in and help save the Navy Yard Clubhouse. Former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is a known major supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America through his nonprofit Shaq Foundation. In the past, O’Neal has donated millions of dollars to support Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the nation. He has said it’s his way of giving back, since the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Newark did so much to provide him with opportunities when he was young.

Because both the Navy Yard Clubhouse and Farragut Houses fall within Councilmember Crystal Hudson’s District 35, Hudson told the AmNews she has been speaking with local stakeholders about options to help local families who may have no other safe space for their children.

building could be sold for $15 to $25 million.

In an April 24 statement, the Foundation said, “The agreement provides for monetary contributions to be made to a trust for the benefit of the abuse survivors, which respectfully and equitably addresses their claims.

“Unfortunately, in order to provide the funds required for the agreement, we had to make the very difficult decision to close and sell our Navy Yard Clubhouse in Brooklyn.”

Madison Foundation’s Executive Director Tim McChristian said, “We are deeply saddened by the need to close the Navy Yard Clubhouse in Brooklyn—a decision which was not made lightly. We will work with our members’ parents to identify alternative local afterschool programs for their consideration as appropriate. We also are planning to place

The call from some parents to have the city take over the property is even being weighed. “There are many possibilities––how likely of a possibility that might be, I couldn’t really say,” Hudson said, but there is a search on for an organization or for the city, through various city agencies, to take over the spot. “We’re exploring all options, which might include working with a nonprofit organization to acquire the property or exploring other options in terms of making sure that the facility remains intact. It could be bringing on other nonprofits who have the capital. We’re currently exploring every option.”

Since the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club is under contract with the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), there is a possibility that the Navy Yard Clubhouse could move some of its youth programming to another location in the neighborhood and continue to provide services to area kids.

Brooklyn parents are rallying to save Navy Yard Madison Boys & Girls Club from being closed and sold (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Continued from page 2

knowledge, and respect for Africa was unlimited.”

Finally, Ittu Aba Farda contributed this to Ethiopian ZeHabesha.com: “To us above all he was a friend of the country that produced us all. He was by her side during her deadly rainy days. May he rest in eternal peace!!!!”

ZAMBIAN ACTIVIST WHO FOUGHT MINING GIANT WINS GOLDMAN JUSTICE PRIZE

(GIN) — The San Francisco-based Goldman Environmental Foundation announced six recipients of its 2023 Environmental Prize, the world’s foremost award for grassroots environmental activists.

The Africa prize was awarded to community organizer Chilekwa Mumba of Zambia, who confronted a major UK-based mining company linked to the devastation of the Kafue River—the primary water source for thousands of local villagers.

In 2011, an internal company letter revealed that the Kafue river water and local aquifers had become so polluted from toxic discharge from the Konkola Copper Mine that it was not safe

Maddox

Continued from page 12

for human consumption.

The water supply, contaminated from toxic waste spills and discharges, left villagers unable to drink, bathe, or irrigate their farms. Crop yields were decimated; animals were sickened; and villagers suffered from headaches, nose bleeds, rashes, abdominal pain, blood in urine, and burns.

Lawsuits against Konkola were routinely dismissed by the local courts, as were suits against the parent company, Vedanta Resources, in the UK.

Mumba sought help from the law firm Leigh Day and persuaded them to take the case against Vedanta.

From 2015 to 2021, Mumba served as a facilitator between the communities and Leigh Day lawyers. He translated materials for non-English speakers and gathered information about how each of 2,000 villagers in the lawsuit was affected by the pollution. He gathered water quality samples during the rainy season, braving encounters with water cobras, crocodiles, and hippos.

Mumba faced harassment from the mining company, including being arrested at a public gathering while speaking with villagers about the lawsuit. Police arrived in a Konkola company jeep.

from so-called integrated schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens. The New York that Alton Maddox settled in during the 1970s had radio talk show hosts like Bob Grant who daily, publicly, loudly referred to Black women as brood sows, Martin Luther King Jr. as a scumbag, and the death of Robert Nesta Marley as something to celebrate. Willie Turks was brutally murdered in Bensonhurst and, worst of all for Alton Maddox, was the fact that no New York City police officer had ever been prosecuted for murdering a Black citizen. Even though Maddox had come north, he had gone back in time, and for him—a race man—this state of affairs was unacceptable.

Maddox decided that his life would be dedicated to leading a civil rights struggle in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s in New York City, a place that was supposed to be too cosmopolitan to need one. Eleanor Bumpus, Michael Griffith, Central Park 5 (Exonerated 5), Cedric Sandiford, Yusef Hawkins, and many others were proof to him that, indeed, New York needed its own civil rights struggle.

From the streets of Howard Beach and Bensonhurst to the courtrooms in lower Manhattan, Alton Henry Maddox was a force to be reckoned with—a Black man so traumatized by the southern racism of his youth that he simply couldn’t allow the palpable institutional racism he observed

The court’s judgment—that Vedanta owed the villagers “a duty of care”—was successful and set a legal precedent: For the first time, an English court ruled that a British company could be held liable for the environmental damage caused by its subsidiary-run operations in another country.

This precedent has since been applied to hold Shell Global—one of the world’s 10 largest corporations by revenue—liable for its pollution in Nigeria.

With the victory, 2,500 Zambian villagers are to receive an undisclosed settlement from Vedanta Resources for their pollution claims, although Vedanta and Konkola were allowed to agree to a settlement “without admission of liability.”

This year’s other Goldman Prize winners were Zafer Kizilkaya of Turkey, Alessandra Korap Munduruku of Brazil, Tero Mustonen of Finland, Delima Silalahi of North Sumatra, and Diane Wilson of the U.S.

AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO PARTNER WITH DRUG COMPANIES TO END SHORTAGES OF CRITICAL VACCINES

(GIN)—African leaders have begun exploring the possibility of building manufacturing facilities for critical vaccines in their countries

in New York go unchallenged. Indeed, because of his sensitivity to the racism of his native region, he could easily perceive the unacceptably high levels of racism that far too many Black New Yorkers had come to accept as simply life in the Big Apple. He demonstrated a level of fearlessness that gave heart to many to fight back against systemic racism in America’s so-called bastion of liberalism and progressivism. Our legal system demands that attorneys vigorously defend the interest of their clients. Alton did that, even losing his license to practice in the process. For a legal eagle like Alton, losing his license was an assuredly great blow. He was a lawyer personified—it was his self-identity, it was his core. Yet his irreducible essence, even more fundamental than lawyer, was a Black man!

He would not surrender his dignity, he would not even play by the rules, because he concluded that the rules themselves were unjust. He suffered; he paid a very high price. His head was bloodied, but not bowed. He showed us integrity, strength, dignity, and how to advocate uncompromisingly against systemic racism. Sometimes you just can’t play ball. Many disagreed with his stance, but we must acknowledge it, and respect it.

Today, at anti-police brutality rallies across the city, it is not uncommon to hear young Blacks, whites, Asians, people of every political ideology, lifestyle choice, gender identity, shouting the slogan of the New York movement: “No justice, No peace.” Oh, if only they could have heard

and ending their reliance on foreign countries for high-priced drugs.

Moderna Inc. said this week it would set up a facility in Kenya—its first in Africa—to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including COVID-19 shots.

Moderna expects to invest about $500 million in the Kenyan facility and supply as many as 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines to the continent each year.

It took a pandemic to expose the fact that African countries import 99% of their vaccines. Africa has around 10 vaccine manufacturers, but most do not make a vaccine’s active ingredients, and instead “fill and finish” imported products.

Late last year, a South African drugmaker announced a deal to make the first Covid-19 vaccine in Africa for Africa. The company, Aspen Pharmacare, agreed to produce its version of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 shot. At the time, the continent’s immunization rate lagged well behind Western countries almost a year after their vaccines were first rolled out.

African leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, were tired of being at the mercy of other governments for shots during the pandemic and

Alton Maddox proclaim it— no one did it like him!

Today is clearly a better place for Blacks, with unprecedented political empowerment in the courts, in the legislature, in City Hall, in the City Council. Young African Americans and their allies of other races frequently demonstrate and can be heard shouting “No Justice, No Peace.” Had more of them been present at the Abyssinian Baptist Church on Monday to honor the man who, through his sacrifice, made that statement real, they would also have learned that it is far more than a mere chant. It is a commitment that Alton H. Maddox made and one he remained wedded to, for better or worse, for richer or for poor, and in sickness and in health, ’til death did he part.

Admittedly, it will be hard for them, for us, to be quite like Brother Maddox, but by acknowledging his commitment, he remains a North Star for us to weigh our efforts by. Rest in peace, Attorney at War, Alton H. Maddox.

hailed the agreement as a milestone in the continent’s effort to set up its own vaccine-production facilities.

A lack of manufacturing is one reason that only 11% of the continent’s people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. At their annual summit in Addis Ababa last week, African leaders reiterated a target of vaccinating 70% of their populations this year.

So far, only Mauritius and Seychelles have met the 70% target, and COVAX, an initiative to provide vaccines for low- and middle-income countries, is running out of money.

Currently less than 1% of vaccines administered on the continent are manufactured locally, leaving countries unable to quickly respond to pandemics and other crises. Vaccines currently needed in Africa include those for chickenpox, diphtheria–tetanus, flu, measles, mumps, polio, and shingles.

Strive Masiyiwa, African Union special envoy on COVID-19 and head of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, commented about the new developments. “It gets us one step closer to securing Africa’s future vaccine production and ensures that the gross vaccine inequality we witnessed in the early part of the pandemic is not repeated,” he said.

Religion & Spirituality Community comes out for Atty. Alton Maddox Harlem homegoing

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews and NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

Whoever was responsible for selecting “I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord,” as the congressional hymn for the services celebrating the life of Alton Maddox, Jr., who joined the ancestors on April 23, was intimately in touch with his spirit and his nom de guerre “Attorney-at-war.” Also called the “People’s Legal Warrior,” Maddox, who was born on July 21, 1945, in Inkster, Michigan, on the outskirts of Detroit, was the son of an evangelical preacher. Reference to this was made by retired NYPD detective Graham Witherspoon, during his tribute, noting Maddox “ministered through the law the way his father ministered from the pulpit.” In an emotional and organic moment he kissed the closed casket, and spoke on his grief-spurred rush to get from Atlanta that very morning.

The Scripture readings and prayer of comfort calmed things until Keesha Gumbs lifted her voice in song, and it was a melodious, heartfelt version of “Precious Lord.” Her beautiful rendition morphed into the wonderful words of Inez and Charles Barron as they recalled the commitment and courage of the legendary lawyer. Substituting for the Rev. Herbert Daughtry who was unable to attend, the Barrons are a dauntless duo and they raised their voices in praise of Maddox, someone they had marched and fought with for equal justice. “He was indeed our attorney-at-war,” they said almost in unison.

Former Assemblywoman Inez Barron gave praises to “ Alton H. Maddox, our great Warrior, our Attorney-at-War. He understood that we are constantly at war, and I read that when he proposed to Leola, he told her ‘I’m here for the people,’ and that’s what he did. That’s what we saw in the work he did for the people… that great work… that effective work that he did was in fact for the people and at no cost to the people.”

Current Brooklyn City Council Member Charles Barron boomed, “Alton Maddox was an African warrior. [He] stood up to this system. [He] was a brilliant, brilliant

attorney…Don’t let no news media tell you that Tawana Brawley was a hoax. It was the truth. They abused Tawana Brawley, and Alton Maddox stayed with her to the end while others departed.”

Barron continued, “I am a beneficiary of his pro bono work, when we took over the Schomberg library and got arrestedAlton got me off. I would be in jail today if it wasn’t for Alton.”

Then Barron echoed a familiar refrain that is going all around the community.

“You can not talk about Alton Maddox without talking about Leola Maddox. [They] took our youth to Peg Leg Bates up there and taught our youth. Alton Maddox would bring the greatest minds in the African revolutionary world to the Slave Theater and made sure that we were educated.

“We came here to pay our respects to Alton Maddox. And to the system - you stole his license from him, and you asked him to come back crawling to you. and he said ‘No, keep your license because I’m keeping my dignity, my self-respect, and I’m gonna fight for people.’”

There was a seamless flow of reflections on Maddox’s eventful life and Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, recounted eloquently the role the attorney

played in defending them from being accused of raping and assaulting a white female jogger in the park. “He was always ready to go to trial,” he told the audience at Abyssinian Baptist Church Monday morning, who had given Salaam a standing ovation. “I am here today because of him... and he was right, we are at war!” He even summoned the fictional Matlock to compare with his lawyer, declaring we need a “Maddox” show.

Professor James Smalls, who had toiled in the trenches with Maddox throughout many struggles in the Movement, told the audience, “Alton was on mission. He fought for justice because that was the way of God…He understood purpose, and he knew that all content had intent. He was content and his mission to do justice was intent.”

The Abyssinian Baptist Church has funeralized many of the great activists and community organizers including, many noted, their own Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts, Elombe Brath, and just last month his brother Kwame Brathwaite. There is a certain reverence in that famous church.

Rev. Gloria Taylor spoke on her long time relationship with Maddox, and his 100% commitment to the people.

Minister Conrad Muhammad also acknowledged that “greatness of Alton Henry Maddox,” came as he drew inspiration from the “traumas of his youth facing racism in Georgia,” utilizing those experiences to create an unwavering dedication to the community and the pursuit of justice for the people. “Lord, we are just grateful that you produced such a marvelous race man.”

“[The] National Action Network…[was] born as an organization after our working history with Alton,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, Attorney Michael Hardy, and Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson in a statement. “We remember Attorney Maddox as a fierce fighter for what he believed was right and just for his community and the causes he believed in.

Attorney Maddox was one of a kind. Brilliant in so many ways and unrelenting in his fights and struggles down through the years. To say that he was an Attorney-atWar is an understatement. Alton spared no one when it came to seeking justice for the causes and clients he believed in.

“Alton knew… history and would teach it,” Rev. C. Vernon Mason spoke in thundering tones about the commitment and dedication of Alton Maddox.

“One of the liberation’s life lessons that Alton taught us is that systems and people who want to oppress you and want you to stay in your place, can’t stand it when you talk about history, so let’s hear some historical facts from our phenomenal professor.”

Mason started his eulogy by quoting scripture and then history from when “Our African ancestors were kidnapped to this country, labored for 246 years without a payday, and were the economic foundation for what became the United States of America.”

He continued that a “masterful” Maddox drew from the “200,000 Black soldiers who fought for their freedom in the Civil War...to the 12 years of Reconstruction,” to the deal cut with fellow enslaved African holder southern Democrat Samuel J. Tilden to allow northern Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to become president; to the 1857 Dred Scott Decision; to 1896 Plessy versus Ferguson; to Mamie Till Mosley and Emmitt Till; to J. Edgar Hoover and COIN-

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Graham Weatherspoon kisses casket (Solwazi Afi Olusola photo)

City Budget

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gether without paying for it. The people, the staff who guide the library, work really hard to make sure that they’re meeting the life and recreational needs of the people coming in,” said Comito. “People come in to check out books, use computers, access social services, look for jobs, do their immigration paperwork.”

She said communities of color especially have organized and galvanized libraries, and every library system takes care to reflect the cultural history of the neighborhood it’s in.

Comito, who declined to say which library she worked in, said there are already short-staffing issues and she is worried about pending cuts to programs.

“It feels like sort of a mean game,” said Comito. “Those are still in the executive budget. Whether or not the City Council stands up for us like they usually do and helps mitigate the problem is really more the issue at this point.”

In a joint statement, Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan pledged to support essential city services while taking into account potential budgetary risks and economic challenges. They said that even though the mayor did make adjustments to PEGs to scale back on

Homegoing

Continued from previous page

TELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) against Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Black Panther Party; to Eleanor Bumpurs.

Mason said, “Alton was extremely competent, courageous, and confident and had an uncompromising philosophy that Black lives matter. He would never back down in fighting for justice for Black people.”

With thousands of marches and rallies as the backdrop, the Black church and Black faith community were instrumental in supporting the Movement, said Mason, citing people like; Rev. Dr. William Augustus Jones, Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry, Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts,III, and Rev. Dr. Timothy Mitchell.

Judges and other attorneys would come and sit in the courtroom to observe Maddox in action, said Mason. “Alton loved Black people and we knew he was not afraid. The Black press: the print media and Black radio, the City Sun, the Amsterdam News, the Daily Challenge, Big Red, Caribbean News, Inner City Broadcasting WLIB/ WBLS, WWRL, weekly rallies - Slave Theater in Brooklyn and the Cotton Club in Harlem… marches and ‘Ain’t gonna be no justice - ain’t gonna be

cuts, libraries are still affected.

“The Executive Budget still leaves our libraries facing significant service cuts, agencies that deliver essential services harmed, and programs that deliver solutions to the city’s most pressing challenges without the investments needed,” they said.

Councilmember Crystal Hudson said in a statement that the exec budget was a “halfhearted attempt to restore the cuts proposed in his Preliminary Budget––namely, those to the City’s public libraries and cultural institutions, and to vital agencies like the Departments of Sanitation, Parks and Recreation, Youth and Community Development, the Human Resources Administration, and the Department of Homeless Services.”

Hudson said investing in these agencies is an imperative. She has heard library leaders express concern about their remaining gap in funding and that there will be reduced operational hours and fewer programs for communities. “The budget makes no concerted attempt to meaningfully address the priorities laid out in the Council’s budget response,” said Hudson.

On the more extreme side of the pendulum, the People’s Plan coalition analysis claims that Adams is making “damaging” cumulative cuts to education ($1.3 billion), CUNY ($60 million), the 3–K program ($568 million), and libraries ($36.2 million). Zara Nasir, executive director of

no peace’ rallies; politics and the fight Alton waged against the powers and principalities.”

The tributes continued. Assemblywoman Inez Dickens sent a proclamation, Mason announced.

“We have lost a great man,” said John Beatty, the proud owner of the world-famous Cotton Club. He sent a statement to the AmNews which said in part, “There are many stories told about my friend, brother Maddox in newspaper articles, TV shows, highlighting his achievements, and some criticizing his methods, depending on the narrator and his audience. But his private thoughts and personal character were known by a few, and I feel privileged to have had a close relationship with him.”

The longtime Harlem businessman and loyal supporter of the UAM and the Maddox family added, “He was a man who lived focused on the uplifting of his own people, willing to sacrifice compensation and personal safety, and fearlessly using his professional skills in the courtroom to defend his own people in a legal system skewed against them.”

To this end, Beatty noted, “When Brother Maddox was prevented from using the Slave Theater in Brooklyn for his weekly forum advancing his work to educate our people in law, I opened the doors of the Cotton Club

the People’s Plan, said there have been anecdotal reports about how city functions have slowed because of vacancy rates and staffing issues, namely longer wait times for benefits and housing vouchers, and people living in the shelter system for longer times.

“This budget fails New Yorkers in almost every way imaginable,” said Nasir.

Nasir, as well as plenty of other criminal justice advocates, are also livid over Adams’s NYPD and Department of Corrections overtime budget, which, according to city Comptroller Brad Lander, was 90% above budget in fiscal year 2022 for uniformed officers and $69 million higher in fiscal year 2023.

“Essentially, there’s a lot of money on the table that the mayor’s not factoring in,” said Nasir, “and partly it’s like a negotiating tactic, partly it’s because I think the mayor just has different values. When you look at his donors, it is a lot of people who support charter schools and privatization. When you look at his background, he values policing over a lot of these essential services.”

Lander said in a statement that the mayor was right as far as spending significant resources to provide shelter for asylum seekers goes, but the budget fails to take steps toward moving people from shelters into permanent housing. He noted that it would be more beneficial to think of long-term savings to address the outyear budget gaps as federal emergency funds run out rather

than “forcing agencies” to make up savings.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said the outyear budget gaps have grown and projected savings from PEG will not be enough to offset new costs. Dinapoli predicted budget gaps could reach up to $10 billion in fiscal year 2027. Furthermore, he said it will be difficult to maintain balance since the state budget was late this year and couldn’t be reflected in city budgets.

“The delay in the state budget has created additional fiscal uncertainty for the city, which will have to be remedied in the city’s adopted budget, expected in June,” said DiNapoli.

Governor Kathy Hochul released the state budget for fiscal year 2024 on April 27, shortly after the city’s budget release. The next steps in the process will be a series of executive budget hearings held by City Council from May 8 to May 24, where committees will review the mayor’s proposed exec budget and hear testimony from the public before voting on an adopted budget.

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.

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

WALTON AVENUE APARTMENTS

1181 Walton Ave, Bronx NY

to give him a Harlem venue to continue his work.”

Speakers at the funeral for the attorney included: long-time UAMUnited African Movement member Sarah Russell, Mumia Abu Jamal, activist Pam Africa and husband Razakhan Shaheed, reporter Peter Noel, and Christopher Griffith, brother of race murder victim Michael Griffith.

Attendees included: former politicians Keith Wright and Larry Seabrooks, and activists Nova Felder, Eric Ture Muhammad, and Umar Johnson.

Former UAM moderator John Walker told the Amsterdam News, “There’s talk of naming a street after him, perhaps Harlem at 127th Street between Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.”

Walton Avenue HDFC is accepting application for eligible independent senior citizens Conveniently located, elevator equipped, 24hour security, emergency call system, laundry room, garden terrace, community room, social service available.

Federally financed Section 8. Final selection of applicants will be based on meeting the requirements established by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Applications may be obtained by mailing a self-addressed & stamped envelope to:

Walton Avenue HDFC P.O Box 524130 Stadium, P.O. Bronx New York, 10452-1291

Please provide us with your name, address, Date of birth, Type of Income, and telephone number by 6/30/2023

Homegoing (Bill Moore photo)

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HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- SHEILA G. SCOTT, CRANFORD L. SCOTT, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 1, 2022 and entered on November 9, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on May 24, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302. The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $93,944.86 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850031/2022.

SCOTT H. SILLER, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- DEIDRA B. CIZON, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 1, 2022 and entered on November 14, 2022,

I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on May 24, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 1.4182% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1305.

The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $66,705.42 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850053/2022.

HAYLEY GREENBERG, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. SHEILA G. SCOTT, CRANFORD L. SCOTT, Defts. -

Index # 850311/2018. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated March 2, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 9,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $55,796.05 plus costs and interest as of April 22, 2018. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- LOUIS L. GIORDANO, ANTOINETTE R. GIORDANO, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 21, 2023 and entered on February 23, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on May 17th, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises being an undivided ownership interest as tenantin-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Together with an undivided .015171% interest in the common elements. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008 as CFRN # 2008000426142 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1009 and Lot 37. The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 102 WEST 57TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY Approximate amount of lien $53,650.70 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850079/2022.

JERRY MEROLA, ESQ., Referee DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- CHARLES LEO FONAROW, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 5, 2022 and entered on April 19, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on May 31st, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302.

The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $38,120.82 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850106/2020.

HAYLEY GREENBERG, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK

ConnectOne Bank, Plaintiff against PAL Real Estate Holdings II, LLC, MTB AMG, Inc., PAL AMG, Inc. and Arthur H. Nelson, Defendant(s)

Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in NY County on Dec. 5, 2022; Referee will sell at public auction to highest bidder on the Portico, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY10007, at 2:15 p.m. on May 31, 2023; premises:144 West 27th Street, Unit 6R, New York, NY 10001, described as: condo unit in building known as 144 West 27th Street Condominium and street address 144-152 West 27th Street, New York, NY; designated Unit 6R in Declaration of12/8/1992 by 276 Street Associates, Parcel ID: Block 802, Lot 1023. Approx. judgment $2,303,702.84, plus int. and costs. Subject to provisions of Judgment Index No. 850120/2022. Conducted under NY County Auction Part Rules; Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee. Jonathan P. Vuotto, Esq., Attorney for Plaintiff, 1 Blue Hill Plaza, Ste. 1509, Pearl River, NY 10965 (212) 382-2208

All Season Fit LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/16/2023. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 228 Park Ave S #402852, NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: To provide fitness and eating coaching or to engage in any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ZM88 LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/07/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/28/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Seward & Kissel, Attn: Hume R.Steyer, One Battery Park Plaza, NY, NY 10004. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of TRAVEL THE ARTIST WAY, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/05/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 200 Park Ave. S, Fl. 8, NY, NY 10003. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Josh Work at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-AR19, V.

SUSAN PROCTOR, ET AL.

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated April 27, 2020, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-AR19 is the Plaintiff and SUSAN PROCTOR, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE at the PORTICO OF THE CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on May 17, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 350 WEST 42ND STREET, UNIT 35C, NEW YORK, NY 10036: Section , Block 1032, Lot 1340:

ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, COUNTY, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850039/2015. Mark Arthur Berman, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- JEREMIAH J. TYRRELL, TIMOTHY TYRRELL, JR., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated November 15, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on June 7th, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-incommon with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 1.4182% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated September 22, 2014, October 6, 2014 as CFRN # 2014000330111 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1303.

The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, UNIT HU2, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $35,267.20 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850036/2022.

BRUCE N. LEDERMAN, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. DARRELL GLENN PORTER, Deft.- Index # 850194/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated July 21, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 11,000/16,783,800 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase 2 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $73,674.97 plus costs and interest as of March 22, 2022. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Agency: COMMENTS:

COPIED from AD 3189

Notice of Qualification of EMPASS MANAGEMENT, LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/28/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/14/23. 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 DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION MORTGAGE ASSET BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2007-PA, V.

PAULA RICE, ET AL.

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated November 9, 2022, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION MORTGAGE ASSET BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2007-PA is the Plaintiff and PAULA RICE, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE, at the PORTICO OF THE CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on June 7, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 316 W 116TH ST, UNIT 3A, NEW YORK, NY 10029: Block 1848, Lot 1107: THE UNIT KNOWN AS RESIDENTIAL UNIT NO. 3A (THE "UNIT") IN THE BUILDING KNOWN AS 374 MANHATTAN CONDOMINIUM, 316 WEST 116TH STREET, IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850130/2018. Joseph F. Buono, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Level Engineering, PLLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/7/22. Office address: 575 Lexington Avenue 17th Fl, New York City and County, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 320 Cleveland Avenue, Loveland, CO 80537. Purpose: any lawful act.

Application for Authority of Men of Steel Enterprises, LLC filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/22/2023. Formed in NJ 7/21/2004. Office Loc.: NY County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address SSNY shall mail copy of process to and the principal office address is 2500 State Rd., Unit A, Bensalem, PA 19020. Cert. of formation filed with the State Treas., 33 W. State St., 5th Fl., Trenton, NJ 08608. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of ALTO NEW YORK FLEET 6 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/23/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 141 Manufacturing St., Dallas, TX 75207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Plaintiff AGAINST Pedro D. A. Alvarez Arenas, 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, purchase, inheritance lien, or otherwise or any right, title or interest in and to the premises…; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered March 28, 2022 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre St, New York, NY 10007 on June 7, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 15 William Street, New York, NY 10005. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block: 25 Lot: 1503. Approximate amount of judgment $792,245.73 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 810049/2012. The auction will be conducted pursuant to the COVID-19 Policies Concerning Public Auctions of Foreclosed Property established by the First Judicial District. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 4304792

Dated: February 7, 2023 75149

Notice of Formation of ALTO NEW YORK FLEET 5 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/23/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 141 Manufacturing St., Dallas, TX 75207.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of MIPH HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/22/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Yekaterina Poyarkova, 524 E. 72nd St., Apt. 37F, NY, NY 10021. 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: To hold real estate.

Notice of Qualification of PENNBRIDGES TRANSPORTCO LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/23/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/21/23. 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, 401 Federal St., Ste.4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of NONNAS PRODUCTIONS D&S, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/27/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/16/23. Princ. office of LLC: 9560 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. 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, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Film and television production.

KnowledgeGuru LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/28/2023. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 250 W 94th St, Apt 9C, NY, NY 10025. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of SKHH HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/11/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 270 W. 17th St., #20A, NY, NY 10011. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: To purchase, own and sell real estate in New York.

LEGAL NOTICE

KRISTIN RENEE LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State (SSNY) on 12/28/2022.

Office Location: 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 LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, 228 PARK AVE S #624872, NEW YORK, NY, 10003, USA. R/A: UNITED STATES CORPORATION AGENTS, INC. 7014 13TH AVENUE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY 11228, USA. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Co ntinuum s Strategies LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/30/20 22 Office location: New York Coun ty SSNY designated as agent of LLC upo n w hom proces s agains t it may be serv ed & s hall mail to: 440 W. 34th St., #5A, New York , NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. c ontinuumss trategies.com

PUB ZONE EDT TP AN A 97 S

Under this agreement event of a cancellation rate charged will

Firstbase Agent LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 8/9/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 447 Bdwy, 2nd Fl 187, NY, NY 10013. Purpose: any lawful act or activity

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COMMENTS:

COPIED from AD 3999

DATES AN A 97 S 05/04

Under this agreement rates are subject event of a cancellation before schedule rate charged will be based upon _____________________________________

Name (print or type) .

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Cabo Rojo

Continued from page 2

has remained untouchable. It is time to rename the school.”

“María Cívico represents the opposite of J.L.M. Curry,” said Comité member Ana Troche. “No one knew about María Cívico. She is part of that un written history of Puerto Rico. Now it is written because recently Dr. Luis Ramirez wrote the biography of Maria in a pamphlet that we are distributing so that everyone knows about her. She was born on Betances street in Cabo Rojo which at that time was called Mirasol, she was born on the same street as Betances himself, but about two or three houses down, and as a slave.”

The Cabo Rojo Municipal Legislature stated in an email to the Amsterdam News, “We approved a bill ordering that the Municipal Public Works Office change the name of the aforementioned building. We are in the process of purchasing the lettering in accordance with the permit given by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.”

And the city’s press contact, Victor Matos, assures that this month they have put workers in place and set funds aside to make the necessary name change. “It’s important that we herald the true contributions of

African descendants in Puerto Rico. Imagine, in Cabo Rojo, where the father of Puerto Rican independence, Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances, was born, where he stood in front of the Catholic Church, bought enslaved children and freed them on the spot. ….

“We didn’t know about Curry before.

But thanks to the work of Dr. Ramírez and the committee, the people of Cabo Rojo wanted to come to a decision about this jointly. We’re just waiting for the go-ahead from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture —as soon as that comes, we are going to get rid of the name of this confederate, slaveholding, racist Curry on the building.”

José Escabí, the great-grandson of Maria Civico, is a retired chemistry professor. He told the AmNews his family would be honored to have the school building carry the name of his great grandmother. “Of course, she died long before I was born, like 20 years or so before. But her name was always mentioned a lot in my house, almost every day.

“She was trying to get us, the whole family, to better ourselves and be better people, educated people. My grandmother was an agent of God.”

THE PANDEMIC HAS SHOWN THAT SUPPORTERS LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL NEWS AS A SOURCE OF RELIABLE INFORMATION.

YOUR DONATION TO THE BLACKLIGHT INVESTIGATIVE UNIT, VIA THE LOCAL MEDIA FOUNDATION, WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT THIS JOURNALISM.

SCAN the QR Code to donate. Or TEXT “blacklight” to (202) 858-1233

https://amsterdamnews.com /blacklight-donate/

María Civico (in the back, right) in a family photo (Photo courtesy Dr. José Escabí)

Old photo of the J.L.M. Curry school (Photo courtesy of Comité Pro-Edificio María Civico)

Heart health

Continued from page 12

heart disease, which may contribute to multiple doctors’ appointments and a delayed or incorrect diagnosis.

I’m committed to spreading awareness of hereditary ATTRCM because I have seen firsthand how a delayed diagnosis can adversely affect a patient (and their loved ones), making it essential to inform our community about this condition—including everyone from patients to caregivers to local healthcare providers.

If you’re experiencing seemingly unrelated signs and symptoms (e.g., irregular heartbeat, fatigue, shortness of breath, or carpal tunnel syndrome), have a family history of cardiac issues, and have been diagnosed with heart failure, talk to your primary care doctor or an experienced cardiologist. Whether they seem related or not, it’s important to share your symptoms and health history. This will allow your doctor to provide the care you need and to make an appropriate diagnosis.

Family members and caregivers also have an important role to play because they sometimes notice or remember health symptoms that the patient may forget or neglect to mention. They also can help people with hereditary ATTR-CM manage their disease.

As part of the Voices for the Heart effort, former NBA basketball player and coach Don Chaney, a hereditary ATTRCM patient himself, and I will be featured speakers at a virtual event hosted by Hands of Excellence, Inc. on May 11, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Don will share his personal story of being diagnosed and living with hereditary ATTR-CM. I will share more information about hereditary ATTR-CM symptoms and diagnosis, and there will be additional educational resources about hereditary ATTR-CM available to the community.

For additional information about the event, visit www.voicesfortheheart.com.

Working together, we can

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overcome the challenge of low awareness and raise our collective voices to help educate family members, friends, and neighbors at risk of developing hereditary ATTR-CM.

For resources on hereditary

ATTR-CM, including a discussion guide to help conversations with your doctor, visit www. yourheartsmessage.com/don.

*A seven-year study in London, UK, found a gene mutation (ATTR V122I) was the cause of

heart failure in 211 out of 1392 Afro-Caribbean patients.

Content developed by Pfizer in collaboration with Dr. Ola Akinboboye. Dr. Ola Akinboboye is a consultant on Pfizer’s Voices for the Heart program.

Sweetwater chronicles pivotal time in basketball history

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

A journey that spanned more than two decades reached a joyful moment last month with the release of the film “Sweetwater,” which tells the story of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the second African American player to sign an NBA contract. The film, written and directed by Martin Guigui, covers Clifton’s journey from a star with the Harlem Globetrotters to his historic career with the New York Knicks.

In the mid-1990s, Guigui, an acclaimed musician, composer, and producer, was in his car, listening to a Knicks game on the radio. “The idea just hit me,” he said. “I love stories I’ve never heard about before. I asked myself, ‘Who was the Jackie Robinson of basketball?’”

His research took him to libraries, particularly at Columbia University, which Guigui was told had exten-

sive historical archives related to New York City. On a visit to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, he discovered the 1989 NBA Encyclopedia, which referred to three players: Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Clifton.

“I met with journalist Pete Hamill, who shared a plethora of information related to this story and it kept pointing at the NBA and the team owners battling in the late 1940s to break the color line,” Guigui said. “It also pointed to Joe Lapchick [coach of the Knicks, 1947–56]. I did more research and I was able to track down Dr. Richard Lapchick, Joe’s son, and he shared incredible stories. I was a sponge.”

Clifton died in 1990, but Guigui spoke to Lloyd about that time in the early 1950s. Cooper’s widow and son also provided information, as did Clifton’s daughter. “As soon as I had enough material, I felt it was more of a cultural story

than a basketball story. That’s when I decided this is meant for cinema,” Guigui said.

He wrote a preliminary treatment in 1996 and the first draft of the script in the early 2000s. The final script went through 62 drafts as the project garnered interest over the past two decades, but it took until 2022 for it to actually be filmed.

Actor Everett Osbourne plays Clifton. In his initial audition tape, he dressed and moved like Clifton. He subsequently proved his acting chops and connection to the role.

“We received hundreds of submissions, including NBA players, former NBA players, and wonderful actors,” Guigui said. “I felt it had to be a physical and a spiritual connection. It had to either be an athlete who had acting chops or a talented actor who could really play basketball. I didn’t want a standin or a stunt double…Everett was meant to be.”

Lakers vs. Warriors Part 6 gets off to dramatic start

By JERALD L. HOOVER Special

to the AmNews

Back when the now 38-year-old LeBron James was younger, he attended one of Stephen Curry’s games while the future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer was playing for Davidson College. James, forever the historian and visionary, knew then that Curry was different. Their mutual respect and admiration began to take shape. James was already a superstar, averaging 30 points per game at only 23 during the 2007–08 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Curry was a deadly marksman who put Davidson on the map during the 2008 NCAA Tournament, carrying them to the Elite Eight as a 10th seed.

“Wasn’t some kid to me!” James tweeted in December 2019, recalling the day. “I knew he was SPECIAL that’s why I went to see it up close and personal.”

Today, 15 years later, the approbation continues. “He puts in the work,” James said of Curry this past Monday, one day before his No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers were set to play the No. 6 seed Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal at the Chase Center in San Francisco. “And when you put in the work, nine times out of 10, you’re going to see results. And he’s done that through

his entire career.”

James said he has “nothing but the utmost respect” for Curry and “everything he’s been able to accomplish, not only on the floor, but also off the floor, too—it’s great to have people like that in this league, setting an example for the generation to come.”

This is the sixth time James and Curry have met in the postseason. They have battled four times in the NBA Finals when James was a Cavalier and once in the 2021 Play-in Tournament. Overall, Curry holds a 1–8 edge over James in postseason play after the Lakers’ dramatic 117–112 victory to open this postseason series, led by forward Anthony Davis’s 30 points and 23 rebounds.

Curry topped the Warriors with 27 but shot just 10–24 and James had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Given the familiarity James has with Golden State, the Lakers stealing Game 1 on the road was unsurprising. “One of the first things I learned about LeBron the first time we played him in the [2015] Finals was just how smart he was,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr earlier this week. “Coming out of timeouts, he knew what we were doing.”

The series has the makings of being a classic as well as nostalgic, and is filled with irony. James and Curry were both born at Akron General Medical Center in Akron,

Ohio; James in 1984 and the 35-year-old Curry in 1988. Warriors guard Klay Thompson is going up against his father’s (Mychal Thompson) old team. James and Warriors

faced each other in six playoff series

forward Draymond Green are not only close friends, but business partners. On the surface, there’s no bad blood. However, that could change as the series unfolds.

Everett Osborne stars as the NBA legend Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (Courtesy of the Filmmakers

Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry have now

(Bill Moore photos)

LeBron James Steph Curry

Mets and Yankees find wins hard to secure SPORTS

By RASHID MCDONALD Special to the AmNews

The Mets’ 5–3 victory over their National League East rival Atlanta Braves on Monday night was just their third win in the previous eight games. They began a three-game series on the road on Tuesday night versus the Detroit Tigers with a record of 16–13. The second-place Mets were three games behind the 19–10 first-place Braves in the NL East. They dropped the opener of Monday’s daynight against Atlanta 9–8.

Due to heavy rain this past weekend, the Mets’ scheduled games against the Braves on Saturday and Sunday were canceled. Their current struggles are the result of underwhelming starting pitching and inadequate production from players such as outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte. Meanwhile, the Mets’ highly touted rookies, Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez, are trying to find their way in the big leagues.

In Monday’s loss, Denyi Reyes started Game 1 for the Mets and pitched only one inning after giving up five earned

runs—three on a home run by Braves catcher Sean Murphy. The Mets’ bullpen tried to keep the team in the game but in the top of the seventh, reliever Jeff Brigham gave up Murphy’s second threerun homer, which extended the Braves lead 9–5. The Mets went on to win the nightcap as starter Tylor Megill did just enough, allowing four hits and three earned runs in 5.2 innings.

After the game, good news came when it was announced that 2022 AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander will make his Mets debut tonight versus the Tigers, the team with which he broke into Major League Baseball in 2005 after being drafted by the Tigers with the second overall pick in 2004. Starter Max Scherzer was scheduled to return last night after serving a 10-game suspension for having what was deemed an illegal substance on his glove in his last start on April 19.

The Mets will come back to Citi Field this weekend to host the Colorado Rockies for three games and travel to Cincinnati to face the Reds next Tuesday through Thursday.

The Yankees lost three out of four games

against the Texas Rangers on the road last Thursday through Sunday, where they were outscored 24–8, the most lopsided coming on Sunday afternoon as starter Nestor Cortes delivered his worst start of his Yankee career. The 2022 All-Star went 4.2 innings, surrendering seven runs, including three home runs in a 15–2 bashing.

The Yankees began a three-game series Monday in the Bronx, playing the Cleveland Guardians with a 3–2 defeat—their fourth in a row. Righty Domingo German was stellar, pitching an 8.1 inning gem, holding the Guardians to one run on two hits. But reliever Clay Holmes couldn’t hold the 2–0 advantage and Cleveland scored three runs in the top of the ninth.

On the same day, as if being in last place in the AL East wasn’t bad enough, the Yankees placed last year’s American League MVP Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list due to a hip strain. Conversely, the team activated outfielder Harrison Bader. The 28-year-old Bronxville (Westchester County) native injured his left oblique in spring training on March 8 and had been recovering since.

The Jets and Giants build on Super Bowl aspirations

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

The Jets and Giants are clutching Super Bowl aspirations. Both teams took major steps forward last season. The Jets fielded one of the league’s best defenses and although they finished last in the competitive AFC East with a record of 7–10, they were, by most close observers of the NFL, simply missing a capable quarterback to be a serious championship threat.

They filled that need by ac-

quiring four-time league MVP

Aaron Rodgers in a trade with the Green Bay Packers last Monday, three days ahead of the annual draft. Then on draft night, the Jets improved an already formidable defense by selecting edge rusher Will McDonald IV from Iowa State with the 15th pick.

“This is a surreal day for me. After spending 18 years in the same city, it’s been a lot of introductions today and meeting a lot of people, but there’s a lot of excitement,” said Rodgers at his inaugural Jets press conference last

Wednesday at the team’s facilities in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“I’m here because I believe in this team, I believe in [head] coach [Robert] Saleh, I believe in the direction of [general manager] Joe Douglas. Obviously, he’s drafted well in recent years, having the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year.”

Rodgers, who will turn 40 in December, somewhat quipped, “I’m an old guy, so I want to be part of a team that can win it all, and I believe that this is a place we can get that done.”

The Giants made the playoffs for the first time since 2016 last season. They were 9-7-1, third in the NFC East and defeated the Minnesota Vikings 31–24 in a wildcard game before losing 38–7 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round. They addressed three areas of need in the draft by taking University of Maryland defensive back Deonte Banks with the 24th pick in the first round, offensive lineman Michael Schmitz in the second round (No. 57) and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt

from the University of Tennessee in Round 3 (No. 73).

“I feel like I’ve got a mentality just for me to try to be better at every play,” said 6-foot-1inch, 197-pound Banks about his style of playing cornerback. “I try to be aggressive, and I try to use my superpower, which is my physicality.”

The Jets and Giants will meet in the 2023 regular season at their shared home, MetLife Stadium, at a date that will be revealed when the full NFL schedule is released later this month.

The Jets and Giants selected Iowa State edge rusher (L) Will McDoanld IV and Maryland defensive back Deonte Banks respectively with their 2023 first round NFL Draft picks (New York Jets photo)

Maryland defensive back (C) Deonte Banks (University of Maryland Athletics photo)

On Monday, the Yankees place outfielder Aaron Judge on the 10-day disabled list due to a hip strain (MLB.com photo)

Brittney Griner holds first press conference since return from Russia

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

In the months after Brittney Griner’s December release from a Russian penal colony, she kept a relatively low profile. While she and wife Cherelle have made a few public appearances, attending the Super Bowl and the NAACP Image Awards, Griner has not sat for a televised interview or held a press conference. On April 27, with WNBA training camps about to kick off, she faced the media for the first time.

The press conference was hosted by the Phoenix Mercury, the team for which Griner has played since 2013. She wore a shirt indicating the Mercury’s support of Bring Our Families Home, an organization focused on bringing attention to individuals wrongly

detained overseas. This mission will be part of the team’s platform this season.

Griner noted that there was more media in attendance than what she normally sees at a Mercury press conference, and she encouraged the media to cover the WNBA throughout the 2023 season. “I expect to see this same coverage because we have a great product,” she said.

“I’m no stranger to hard times,” said Griner about her resilience in the face of an overwhelmingly negative situation. “Just [keep] digging deep, honestly. You’re going to be faced with adversities throughout your life. This was a pretty big one, but I just kind of relied on my hard work [for] getting through it.”

Being prepared to play professional basketball again after nearly 10 months with no play or serious training has been challenging. “It’s

still a process,” Griner said. “As an athlete, you always want to be where you left off, and I left off playoffs, finals in Chicago. I wanted to be that player when I started back, and everybody was telling me to give myself grace and it’s going to take time, but that’s the hardest thing to a pro athlete because we always want to be right back at our tip-top shape. It’s liberating as well, just getting back to my craft.”

As was discussed repeatedly during Griner’s detention in Russia, she was there to earn money in the WNBA’s off-season. Asked if she’d play overseas again, Griner’s answer was decisive. “I’m never going overseas to play again unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics,” she said. “I’m hoping that our league continues to grow, and…I hope you continue to cover our league and bring exposure to us.”

St. John’s DaShena Stevens inducted into Connecticut Women’s Basketball HoF

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

On April 23, DaShena Stevens, a member of the St. John’s University Athletics Hall of Fame, received another honor, this one tied to her home state: She was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (CWBHOF) in recognition of her outstanding play at Trinity Catholic High School and with a nod to her incredible accomplishments with the Red Storm, scoring 1,515 points during her collegiate career.

“It was amazing,” said Stevens. “A lot of my family was there and some of my friends. It was a reunion in a sense. Then, being able to meet some of the individuals from the selection committee and others from the CWBHOF was exciting.

“Both of my parents played high school basketball; they went to Stamford

High School,” she added. “To have both of them there was excellent.”

As a standout high school player, Stevens received a lot of attention, but always remained focused on team success.

“From a playing standpoint, I had to play every single position—the one through five,” she recalled.

“In college, I had my position, maybe a hybrid position, but in high school, I played them all. That was cool…also, keeping everyone involved and making sure it was still fun. These were all your best friends.”

Coming into college, Stevens had insight into each position, which she said made her a better teammate. She was instrumental in making St. John’s a national presence, including being part of the Red Storm team that broke the University of Connecticut’s 99-game home court winning streak. She was excited to see St. John’s do it again this year.

After graduating in 2012, Stevens played professionally, and eventually returned to St. John’s as assistant coach for three seasons before turning her attention to athletics administration. Today, she is the deputy director of athletics at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to the contingent of parents, sibling, uncles, cousins, and long-time friends, Stevens’s daughter Aria was in attendance. “As she’s getting older, I think she’s realizing that when everybody talks about me and basketball, they’re talking about me playing,” she said. “She said, ‘I think you were kind of good. Can you still play?’

“She’s starting to know that side of me,” Stevens added. “She Googled me the other day when we were at home. She saw all of my basketball pictures. That was a proud moment.”

Brittney Griner is eager to get back to playing the game she loves (Phoenix Mercury photo)

DaShena Stevens being presented her award by her mother, Debbi Cotterell (Ilene Omerso photo)

Knicks snatch Game 2 from Heat as series moves to Miami

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

On Sunday afternoon, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson unwaveringly took full accountability for his team’s 108–101 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Madison Square Garden.

“Today, I was horrific,” he bluntly self-assessed. “Very uncharacteristic by me, and this one’s on me. I gotta be better.”

Brunson’s stats belied his words, though. He shot 11–23 for 25 points, had seven assists and four rebounds. However, a deeper dive into the numbers supports his assertion. Brunson, who shot 41.3% on 3-pointer attempts during the regular season, was 0–7 and atypically unsteady during fourth-quarter crunch time as the Heat’s swarming defense in the paint suffocated the 6–1 imaginative shot creator.

Without Julius Randle, the Knicks’ regular season-scoring leader at 25.1 points per game, who was sidelined in Game 1 recovering from a left ankle sprain, the Heat lasered in on slowing down the Knicks’ most versatile offensive force.

“You can’t be discouraged,” Brunson made clear. “Playing in the NBA, a lot of it is all confidence. You have to stay confident, you have to stay poised, and you have to stick together as a team. We just have to come back hungry, be better, fix our mistakes, and then move forward from there.”

In just his first season as a Knick, Brunson has been one of the most transformative figures for the franchise over the past three decades. After being signed as a free agent last July after four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, the 26-year-old Villanova product was the key element in the Knicks’ plus-10 win turnaround from last year’s campaign, when they ascended from 37–45 and 11th in the East to 47–35 and the No. 5 seed this postseason.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau has invariably raved about Brunson’s mental makeup, among other laudable traits, and

was steadfast in his belief that in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series, the cerebral playmaker would alter what failed him.

“They are going to make him work,” he said of the Heat’s physical, disciplined defense, “but that is what he faces every game. He didn’t make his threes, but for the most part, I thought they were great looks. We have a lot of confidence in him shooting the ball.”

Yet, Game 2 on Tuesday night at the Garden had a similar result, at least for the opening half. Bunson was 1–6 for seven points and couldn’t solve Miami’s troublesome zone defense. Of note, he was also fighting through a sore right ankle that flared up late in Game 1. Seizing on the circumstances, the Heat held an unexpected 54–51 halftime advantage.

What made it both startling and concerning for the charged-up

home crowd was that they did so minus their superstar forward Jimmy Butler, who was on the bench in custom-fit clothing, resting his right sprained ankle suffered when Knicks forward Josh Hart inadvertently kicked it in the game’s closing minutes on Sunday. Butler has been spectacular this postseason, averaging 35.5 points and imposing his massive will on whoever has endeavored to oppose him.

With Randle back and registering 18 points in the first half and RJ providing an efficient offense, scoring 19 by hitting six of 10 shots, Brunson’s subpar play was mitigated. Still, he and his teammates were acutely aware they would need him to play at his customary high level to avert the ramifications of going to Miami for Game 3 this Saturday down 2–0. It would place the

Knicks at long odds to take four of the next five.

Brunson heard the call and responded. He put up 23 crucial points in the second half, ending the night with 30, including going 6–10 on 3-pointers, and carried his squad to a critically important victory.

“He’s our leader, he’s our allstar, so you know we get from him every night and he showed up like we expected,” said Randle, who posted 25 crucial points.

Thibodeau echoed Randle’s viewpoint: “That’s who he is. A great leader, great toughness. He never disappoints you. Sometimes, we can fall short, but there’s no quit in him. He never quits on a play so I can’t say enough about that. He keeps everyone connected.”

Brunson deflected the credit and directed his praise toward the collective.

“That is what we do,” he maintained. “We get into things together; we get out of things together. This is very much a together group that has great chemistry on and off the court. I think because we really care about each other, we are able to stick together during tough moments like that.”

Game 4 will be in Miami on Monday night and the series will head back to New York for Game 5 next Wednesday.

Jimmy Butler Jalen Brunson

The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, with Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler sitting out with a sprained ankle, led Knicks to a 111-105 win on Tuesday night in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series (Bill Moore photos)