New York Amsterdam News E-Edition June 29, 2023

NEW DAY NYC

PRIMARY DAY UPSETS CITY’S POLITICAL

LANDSCAPE

(See story on page 6)

Mayor Adams vetoes ‘vetoproof’ housing voucher bill package

(See story on page 3)

‘Rent is too damn high,’ City rails against RGB vote

(See story on page 6)

MTA fare hikes: another symptom of a broken system

(See story on page 3)

(Ariama C. Long photo)

(Mayoral Photography Office)

(Ariama C. Long photo)

June Primary Election Day 2023 with Exonerated Five’s Yusef Salaam at Harlem Tavern on Tuesday, June 28. (Ariama C. Long photo)

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International News

INCREASE IN AFRICA BORN ATHLETES IN U.S. BASKETBALL LEAGUES

Hakeem Olajuwon or at least an up-and-coming NBA-level talent.

This week, the San Antonio Spurs selected Wembanyama No. 1 overall in the N.B.A. draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “One of the best feelings of my life,” the Parisian-born teenager known as ‘Wemby’ said. “Probably the best night of my life. I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. It’s a dream come true. It’s incredible.”

American sports, there was a delay in the integration of African-born athletes into U.S. sporting events, notes Jonah Samples writing for the DePaul Journal of Sports Law in his piece “Making It Rain Down in Africa: The Increase in AfricanBorn Athletes in American Basketball Leagues and the Uncertain Future of the Industry.”

Baseball are still growing their numbers of African-born prospects.

Arts & Entertainment Page 17

» Astro Page 20

» Film/TV Page 18

» Jazz Page 24

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

(GIN)––He’ll be playing basketball in Texas, he’s got a wicked grin, and he’s got a name almost as long as he is tall.

If you guessed Victor Wembanyama, give yourself a star. He’s the most hotly anticipated basketball prospect in a generation as the U.S. searches for the next

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich was thrilled but tamped down excessive expectations. “He’s not LeBron, or Tim, or Kobe, or anyone else,” Popovich told reporters. “He’s Victor.”

His father, Félix Wembanyama, a former track and field athlete, was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even as the Civil Rights Movement began integrating African American athletes into

The first NFL player born in Africa, Howard Simon Mwikuta, did not play until 1970. The Zambian’s career was short lived and he only appeared in one game with the Dallas Cowboys before being released from his professional team. Major League Baseball did not see its first African-born player until Gift Ngoepe of South Africa in 2017. Major professional sports organizations like the National Football League and Major League

At the start of the 2022-2023 season, NBA rosters included 16 players born in Africa, including Bismack Biyongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Josel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Christian Koloko from Cameroon, Serge Ibaka of the Republic of Congo, Gorgui Dieng of Senegal, Wenyen Gabriel and Bol Bol of Sudan. Also, Mamadi Diakite of Guinea, Josh Okogie Udoka and Azubuike Okechukwu of Nigeria, and Bruno Fernando of Angola. Compare that to Canada in the same season which produced the most foreign NBA players with 61. France produced 42 players, and Serbia produced 30. Oceania and Australia produced 33 players while

See INTERNATIONAL on page 29

VICTORY: NYC City Council passes resolution calling for removal of Cuba from list of state sponsors of terrorism

By JOAN P. GIBBS, ESQ.

On June 22nd, the New York City City Council, on a unanimous voice vote, passed Resolution 0285 calling upon the president and the United States Congress to end the Cuban embargo and travel ban and remove Cuba from the U.S.’s list of “state sponsors of terrorism list.” Introduced by Council Member Charles Barron, Resolution 0285 was also supported by Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. The City Council, thus, joined nearly 100 state and local legislative bodies, county boards, school boards, unions, workers and other organizations that have passed

similar resolutions throughout the United States. Other city councils that have passed similar resolutions include Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New Haven and Pittsburgh.

“It is critically important that the New York City Council joins with other city councils, national and local organizations across this country in calling upon the U.S. president and congress to end the cruel and inhumane Cuban economic embargo, travel ban and the insidious placement of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” Barron said after the Council vote. “It is time that our legislative body join with 185 countries from around the world who

yearly at the United Nations General Assembly condemn the United States’ actions as violations of international human rights.”

First imposed in 1960, during the Eisenhower administration, the Cuba embargo is the longest economic blockade in history and has been widely condemned. Indeed, every year since 1992 the U.N. General Assembly has adopted a resolution declaring the embargo a violation of both the U.N. Charter and international law. During the most recent vote in November 2022, 185 of the U.N.’s 189 members voted in favor the resolution, the U.S. and Israel voted against it, Brazil and Ukraine abstained.

The U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have also determined that U.S. sanctions on Cuba “constitute the most severe and prolonged system of unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country.” Other entities that have expressed their opposition to the Cuban embargo include the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, and various other non-governmental organizations. Designating Cuba as “terrorist” exacerbates the already devastating impacts of the 63-year-old embar-

See CUBA on page 29

NYC City Council passes resolution to end U.S. blockade of Cuba

By AMADI AJAMU Special to the AmNews

On Thursday, June 22nd, the New York City Council, by a unanimous voice vote, passed a resolution calling on the United States to: 1) end its “illegal” 60-year sanctions on Cuba, 2) remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list; and 3) end the travel ban to Cuba.

When Cuba gained its independence in 1959, it exercised its right to self-determination, establishing socialism as the system to improve its people’s quality of life. In 1960, the U.S. imposed sanctions in what some activists call an attempt to overthrow the government by “strangling” the economy and creating hardship for

the people, in addition to its alleged 600 unsuccessful attempts to assassinate President Fidel Castro.

Cuba: Friend of Black people

According to Kamau Brown of the December 12th Movement, “Despite the damage caused by U.S. sanctions, Cuba has proven itself a friend of Black people here in the U.S., in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. In sending 500,000 volunteer medical personnel and soldiers, it was instrumental in defeating apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Cuba offered to send doctors to provide free medical care. The U.S. government rejected the offer. And of course, Cuba has pro-

vided political asylum to members of the Black Liberation Movement fleeing assassination and incarceration by the U.S. government.”

The City Council Resolution was sponsored by Brooklyn Council Member Charles Barron, and aligns New York City with the United Nations which, since 1992, has overwhelmingly condemned the U.S. sanctions as violations of international law and the U.N. Charter. Along with over 90 other cities across the U.S.A., a number of organizations, including the December 12th Movement (D12), Cuba-Si, the National Council of Black Lawyers, Struggle La Lucha, IFCO Pastors for Peace, the Young Communist League and the Democratic So-

cialists of America, supported and fought for the resolution.

D12’s Vinson Verdree noted that “The Black community from its experience witnessing the U.S. sanctioning Zimbabwe for taking back its land from settler/colonialists, knows the devastating effect which they can have on a country and its people. This is why we support the end of the blockade on Cuba.”

On Tuesday, July 11th, the December 12th Movement will be holding a program on “Sanctions Kill: the U.S. campaign to overthrow the Governments of Zimbabwe and Cuba” at 7 p.m. at Sistas Place, 456 Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn. For more information, call 718398-1766 or

(L: Victor Wembanyam GIN photo)

Mayor Adams vetoes ‘veto-proof’ housing voucher bill package

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam

News Staff, Report

for America Corps Member

Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a four-bill package expanding the CityFHEPS voucher program this past Friday, June 23. But the decision might be null given the legislations’ passage is “veto-proof.”

The City Council passed the bill package in May with more than a two-thirds vote, making it “veto-proof” when it reached Adams’ desk. The quartet of legislation intends to eliminate barriers for obtaining CityFHEPS rental assistance vouchers which supplements low-income New Yorkers’ ability to

search and keep housing. All this comes at a time when the city’s median rent for a onebedroom apartment is reportedly over $3,000 and the shelter system is struggling to keep up with housing newly arrived migrants bused from the southern border.

A spokesperson for the mayor pointed to Adams’ statement, which argued the bill package “would make it harder for New Yorkers to move from shelter into permanent housing.”

“[The] option to provide vouchers to every person who would be eligible under the Council’s bills is far beyond what the city can provide,” said Adams. “The bills not only

create expectations among vulnerable New Yorkers that cannot be met, they also take aim at the wrong problem. Instead of tackling decades of exclusionary zoning policies that have prevented our city from building an adequate housing supply—which has left nearly 20,000 current voucher holders unable to find housing—these bills would remove the city’s ability to target limited resources for those most in need.”

Given the 41-7 supermajority vote behind all four bills, the City Council can override Mayor Adams’ veto. And seems like it will. Speaker Adrienne Adams said she and her colleagues are prepared

to overrule the mayor’s decision “to truly confront the rapidly deteriorating eviction and homelessness crises made worse by this Administration’s budget cuts and failure to enact solutions.”

While Mayor Adams long opposed the four bills vetoed in the package, he was on board with an emergency rule change ending the eligibility mandate tying CityFHEPS vouchers to a 90-day city shelter stay earlier in the month. Critics called the decision a cherrypicked “piecemeal solution.”

“New Yorkers who are experiencing homelessness

See HOUSING on page 25

Criminal summons are up and overwhelmingly issued to Black and brown New Yorkers, research finds

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Black and brown New Yorkers received 85% of the NYPD’s criminal summons last year, according to John Jay College’s Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ). And the number issued are up for the first time since 2017 when the Criminal Justice Reform Act funneled many such low-level offenses out of the criminal courts and into the civil justice system.

The findings, which highlight a larger, upcoming report, was released this month stem-

ming from a portion of 2021’s Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan dedicated to examining current criminal summons practices that disproportionately impact low-income communities and Black and brown New Yorkers. And there’s clearly more work needed.

Last year, Black New Yorkers were more than 9 times likelier to receive a criminal summons than their white counterparts. Often nicknamed a “C summons” or a “pink ticket,” the practice criminalizes “quality of life” crimes. For example, the top charges last year were

disorderly conduct and public consumption of alcohol.

“A summons is an appearance ticket for committing certain low-level, non-fingerprintable offenses,” said report author Anna Stenkamp. “The numbers shown within this research note are only for those issued by the NYPD to individuals. On the summons it instructs the person who received it to appear in criminal court at a specific date, time and location depending on where the summons was issued. And it can result in a conviction or penalties or fines.

“If an individual fails to

appear on their appearance date, then a warrant can be issued for that. Oftentimes the person will not be arrested, they are just [issued] this ticket and then instructed to appear and pay the fines.”

More than 61% of summons were issued to New Yorkers earning below the city’s median household income. But across the board, Black New Yorkers are disproportionately given appearance tickets—in fact, the $100,000+ household income bracket sees the highest percentage of Black New Yorkers

MTA fare hikes: another symptom of a broken system

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

Outside of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) headquarters last week, a group of transit advocates rallied against proposed bus and subway fare hikes. They demanded an expansion of the Fair Fares program ahead of the city’s public hearings on the issue.

“People are out here pennypinching. They’re struggling. They are literally rubbing their dimes and nickels together to get on transit,” said Rider’s Alliance Senior Organizer

Danna Dennis.

Basically, a train and bus fare in New York City will go up 15 cents, from $2.75 to $2.90.

Other increases include: the 7-Day Unlimited MetroCard going up to $34, the 30-Day Unlimited up from $127 to $132, the express bus will go from $6.75 to $7, and the 7-Day Unlimited Express Bus Pass would increase from $62 to $64. There will also be increases to Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North tickets.

The Fair Fares program is a city program currently that offers a 50% discount on subway and eligible bus fares for people making at or below

the federal poverty line. This means that right now you’d have to make $14,580 in a single-person household to qualify for a reduced fare MetroCard. Dennis and others are demanding that the program eligibility be expanded to include incomes at 200% of the federal poverty level, which would be closer to $36,420.

Dennis said that crippling MTA issues, like fare evasion and homelessness, are “crimes of poverty.” She doesn’t advocate that people steal fares at all, but that people pay what they can afford within their means which the fair fares program can help do.

NYC’s retail jobs shrank 11% since start of pandemic, threatening young workers of color

The number of retail jobs is on the decline in New York City.

According to a report from the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), the city’s retail sector is not recovering from the pandemic in the same way other city jobs have—and the retail sector is one of the main areas young Blacks and Latinos turn to for initial employment.

According to the CUF report, “More than 70 percent of the city’s retail workers are Black, Hispanic, and/or Asian, and over 20% of the retail workforce is under the age of 25,” the CUF report states, and yet there are 11.1% fewer retail jobs in the city than there were in February 2020.

“New York has largely made up for the retail sector’s extended job losses with new employment growth in tech, healthcare, finance, and a handful of other industries, but a permanent loss of roughly 40,000 retail jobs would disproportionately impact New Yorkers of color. The retail sector’s troubles have almost certainly contributed to the widening gap in unemployment among Black and white New Yorkers—10.4% compared with 2.5%.

“To address this employment crisis, city and state policymakers should invest in workforce training and continuing education programs that can help retail workers transition into other industries.”

Jazz legend Joe Wilder, Montford Point Marine, to be posthumously honored with Congressional

Gold Medal

The legendary jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Joe Wilder will soon posthumously receive the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his service as a Montford Point Marine, according to an announcement from James Carr, president of the New York Metropolitan Chapter No. 3 of the Montford Point Marine Association.

Jerome Nathaniel, director of policy and government relations at City Harvest, added that according to a 2023 City Harvest and United Way study that analyzes the “true cost of living” in the city, about 50% of working residents cannot adequately pay for housing, food, health care, and transportation due to the affordability crisis.

“That’s 3 million working-age New Yorkers that can’t afford the cost of food or transportation,” said Nathaniel, “so they’re trying to decide between food or a MetroCard.”

The study also found that

The Montford Point Marines were the first Black Americans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an Executive Order establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission in June 1941.

Wilder, who was known as a virtuoso landmark trumpeter, with a career spanning more than five decades, served in the Marines fr`om 1943 to 1946, during World War II.

The Congressional Gold Medal is bestowed by the United States Congress and is the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals and institutions.

The Congressional Gold Medal will be presented to the Wilder family during a ceremony at the Schomburg Center on July 17, 2023.

A surprise gambit for Biden

By HERB BOYD Special

to the AmNews

In several ways, the aborted mutiny in Russia by the Wagner Group was a surprise for the U.S. and its allies, another chink in the relatively invincible Putin war machine. President Biden wasn’t exactly crowing about the tumult last weekend in Moscow but he made “absolutely” clear that Putin and his army had been weakened.

“It’s hard to tell but he’s clearly losing the war,” Biden told re-

porters on the White House South Lawn, mistakenly referring to the war in Iraq instead of Ukraine.

“He’s losing the war at home. He’s become a bit of a pariah around the world. And it’s not just NATO, it’s not just the European Union, it’s Japan,” he added.

According to Yevgeny Prigozhim, Wagner’s leader, the rebellion was called off because he realized such a move would be a disaster. Even Russian military leaders agreed that such an uprising would be immediately crushed. At the center of the revolt was a compromise mea-

sure engineered by the president of Belarus, who offered an option to many Wagner Group members.

Biden’s comment on the recent developments in Russia and Ukraine was as measured as ever, careful not to give Putin any grounds to believe that the U.S. is part of a plot to remove him from office. In the spring, he’s up for reelection after serving as president for 23 years.

When asked again if Putin is weaker today than he was several days ago, Biden said, “I know he is.”

Immigrant students may face hardships in FY24 budget

By BRIAN DELK Special to the AmNews

The constant influx of migrant families, and subsequent increased student enrollment, alongside the disparity in funding in public school programs in Mayor Eric Adams’ Fiscal Year 2024 budget, has raised concerns from Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), an organization devoted to safeguarding access to education for children.

The AFC recently issued a brief for the public with three distinct demands directed at Adams’s new FY2024 budget: first, aiding the large influx of immigrants enrolled in school since last year: second, extend-

Newark houses for as little as $1

Newark is running a program that allows city residents to purchase properties that were seized by the city for non-payment of taxes, bills, or other public debts. Potential homebuyers can buy the houses for low prices, but to qualify for any purchases, they are required to have lived in Newark for at least five years or be able to prove that they have been displaced by gentrification.

Through the city’s “Home Ownership Revitalization Program,” in partnership with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), Newark’s homebuying program is designed to help more local residents become homeowners and help out homeowners who are in financial trouble and might need help trying to keep and stay in their homes.

“With one in four Newarkers owning their own home, the Homeownership Revitalization Program is a key strategy the city will execute to expand homeownership and promote housing stability and wealth-building among city residents,” a press release from Newark said.

The ordinance is a recommendation that grew out of the city’s work with its Equitable Growth Advisory Commission.

ing funding to Promise NYC, a government-subsidized childcare and early education program for low-income families, primarily for undocumented children who might be ruled out from traditional schooling; and third, creating more services to support English Language Learners (ELL) programs at transfer schools.

Relative to immigrant families, the AFC reported that the city’s public school system enrolled more than 18,000 new students in temporary housing.

The organization determined that immigrant student services are increasingly essential, due to the population of high schoolage students increasing by 76.5 percent in March 2023 com-

pared to March 2022.

The brief also reported that nearly 42 percent of students in New York City public schools live in primarily non-English–speaking households. Paired with U.S. Census information that finds thousands of students whose parents do not speak English fluently, many of the same families lack access to stable internet connection— access that provides crucial information about their children’s schools.

The organization said the city provided $4 million in the previous two years for immigrant family outreach that addressed language barriers through community-based organizations

See STUDENTS on page 31

Harlem Chamber of Commerce kicks off Harlem Week at Schomburg

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC) is celebrating its 125th anniversary and held its 49th annual Harlem Week kickoff at the Schomburg Center this Thursday.

To be clear, this pre-celebration bash, organized by the Chamber, usually happens at the mayor’s Gracie Mansion in July and Harlem Week itself takes place in August. The week began in 1974, originally as Harlem Day. It honors the very

best of Harlem’s Black, Caribbean, African, and Hispanic diasporic traditions, and showcases the community’s economic, political, and cultural history.

“This time, we decided to go small, local, because when we do Harlem Week, we have some really exciting big outdoor events coming up,” said Voza Rivers, first vice president of GHCC and cofounder of Harlem Week.

The evening’s program was hosted by NY1 anchor and author Cheryl Wills, with Harlem giants like Assemblymember Inez Dickens and NYS NAACP

President Dr. Hazel Dukes, in attendance. To include Black Music Month recognition, the Chamber invited rapper and author Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run DMC and singer Nona Hendryx, and honored the late Chuck Jackson.

McDaniels, an avid comic book lover as a child, was promoting his children’s book “Darryl’s Dream.” The book is a story about finding confidence and facing bullies—a reflection of feeling awkward growing up as a nerd alongside the advent of hip-hop music.

“All qualified Newark residents may submit an application to purchase a property in the program,” the statement said. “Prospective buyers must be Newark residents and must commit to reside in the properties for a minimum of 10 years. The properties will contain a deed restriction that states that the purchaser or any subsequent purchaser can have their property taken back by the city for any failure to comply. The minimum purchase prices of properties under this ordinance are flexible on terms that the city deems reasonable and could permit the sale of properties for one dollar with a mortgage covering the cost of construction or rehabilitation.”

To learn more about the program, contact NACA Newark at 973-679-2601.

Charles L. Blockson, historian of African American culture, transitions at 89

Black studies scholar Charles L. Blockson died at his home on Wednesday, June 14, at the age of 89. The author, historian, and bibliophile was the creator of Temple University’s Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, which features more than 700,000 material artifacts that detail the global Black experience. The Blockson archive includes information dating from the 1500s through the 21st century.

Blockson collected evidence of Black life and culture from throughout the globe. His work, which is similar to that of Harlem’s Arturo Schomburg, was also inspired by a rejection of the notion that Black people did not have a history worthy of being told.

After his white fourth grade teacher told him Blacks had no history, Blockson’s parents exposed him to books and lessons about Black history. He started collecting a lot of the information he came across and always said he was inspired by the establishment of New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Take charge of your health during National Men’s Health Month

As June closes out National Health Month, men are being encouraged to pay attention to their health. Small efforts, like scheduling routine medical check-ups, to larger efforts like quitting smoking, changing diet, and monitoring blood pressure are all changes that can help prolong life expectancy. “At a time when American men are living on average six years less than American women, it is vitally important that men take steps to prevent and treat health issues that can shorten our lives and take us away from our loved ones,” said Somerset County’s Commissioner Deputy Director Doug Singleterry, liaison to the Somerset County Department of Health. “I know from personal experience it’s sometimes hard to get to the doctor between work, family, and community activities, but it is vital that we make the time so we can be there for our families as long as possible.”

Men’s Health Month is observed every June in the United States. If interested in looking for a local physician to make an appointment with, check out the website BlackDoctor.org, which provides a free search for doctors in your area.

Jack Summers presents award-winning Sorel

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

Brooklyn’s Jack Summers, 55, has launched his alcohol brand Sorel , based on his homemade sorrel—a hibiscus flower-flavored drink native to the Caribbean. His version of a classic has become so popular that it has received dozens of awards and is ready to go global.

“The interesting thing about red drink is that there were no recipes for centuries because the people who kept the tradition alive weren’t allowed to read or write,” said Summers about sorrel’s cultural history. “If you didn’t have a grandparent or parent teach you how to make this thing from hibiscus flowers, then you didn’t know how to make it.”

Summers said it is a marvel that enslaved Africans and their descendants on the islands were able to hold onto their traditions, despite brutal colonization.

Summers credits his family’s roots in Barbados for the taste of Sorel. His grandparents

emigrated from the island to Harlem in the 1920s. His grandfather was a chef. By the time Summers was born, his parents had moved to Brooklyn.

“As a child, from the time I was 4 or 5 years old, my parents would go every year to the Labor Day parade. It was amazing,” said Summers. He remembers delighting in traditional Caribbean cuisines and red drink during the festive weekend. As he got older, he started making a version of his own in his kitchen, well before he thought of brewing, manufacturing, and selling it.

He studied art and illustrating then spent about 25 years in corporate finance, publishing, and marketing before launching his business. A health scare was the catalyst for him to make that move: In 2010, Summers’s physician discovered a spinal tumor the size of a golf ball that should have been a death sentence.

“And I lived, but the experience will adjust your perspective,” said Summers. “I had an opportunity to think about what was really important to me in life and how I wanted to spend

the rest of my days.”

Despite not having a food background, Summers decided to create a shelf-stable version of his home recipe for sorrel and pursue his dreams in 2012. He opened a micro-distillery in Red Hook, Brooklyn, soon afterward. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production of Sorel moved to New Jersey.

Summers said so far this year, they’ve made about 10,000 cases, delivered to 35 different states, and featured the drink at the I am CaribBeing Inaugural Best of Little Caribbean ceremony in Flatbush.

He hopes to grow the Sorel brand with other cultural drinks he can make shelf-stable in the future. “I’ve got the next four or five lined up. I just can’t tell you about them,” joked Summers.

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

Jack Summers holding a bottle of Sorel, an alcoholic beverage based on the hibiscus flower-flavored drink. (Contributed photo)

New Yorker

A Change Has Come: Salaam & Banks sweep in unofficial election results

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

Additional reporting by Nayaba Arinde Amsterdam News Editor

Voting for the Democratic primary was officially capped on Tuesday, June 22, leaving two prominent Black candidates advancing to the November election for City Council in Harlem’s District 9 and Brooklyn’s District 42.

According to the Board of Elections (BOE), there’s an unofficial total of 44,611 people who voted early in this primary election, with 14,355 Queens votes, 12,230 Brooklyn, 10,648 Manhattan, and 7,378 Bronx. A total of 15,435 absentee and military ballots citywide were found valid and scanned. And as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday night, a total of 149,484 votes were cast at the polls. All three totals are included in election night results.

District 9’s candidates were Assembly Member Inez Dickens and Exonerated Five’s Yusef Salaam, along with Assembly Member Al Taylor. They wrapped up campaigning heading into Election Night.

As of Tuesday night, Salaam took an early lead in the polls with 50.14% of the votes, or 5,540 votes. Dickens had 25.02% of the votes, or 2,764 votes while Taylor had 14.39% of the votes, or 1,590 votes. A gaggle of his friends, family, and enthusiastic supporters called the race for Salaam and celebrated at Harlem Tavern on Frederick Douglass Blvd. They rang a large cowbell in the middle of the restaurant and crowded around Salaam as he made his appearance. His mother and prolific activist, Sharonne Salaam, said that there will be

more “vision” for the Harlem community at city council.

“I am very, very proud, we’ve come a long way he is still standing tall and committed to this community,” Sharonne told the AmNews

The co-founder of the volunteer organization, Justice 4 The Wrongfully Incarcerated, continued by saying: “We are really excited about him winning. We are looking forward to him doing positive work and getting results for Harlem. He is going to focus on public works. His platform focused on education, housing, health care, and investment in workforce and economic development.”

Harlem has spoken

“I’m here because Harlem, you believed in me. Harlem has spoken,” said Salaam at his press conference.

In the last weeks leading up to the primary, after a series of candidate forums, Salaam’s campaign picked up steam. Much of the focus was shifted onto Dickens’ real estate background, painting her as a “slumlord” who had reportedly started the proceedings to evict at least 17 tenants since the 1980s.

Once again, Harlemites voted for change as they did when current socialist Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan unseated former Council Member Bill Perkins in 2021. Jordan had opted out of this year’s reelection campaign late in the race. Still, her name was on the ballot and she garnered 9.42% of the votes or 1,041 votes.

“I’m happy," said Assembly Member Taylor. "This is an exciting time for Harlem. When is the last time someone stepped from outside of the system and won

and ran with such a resounding mandate? I’m proud.

“As Yusef would say, it’s a trifecta: 'You guys let me come to City Hall and we (Taylor and Dickens) keep our positions.’ And he delivered on that. We get to keep our positions, and he’s in City Hall. And we will work together. I am so hopeful for Harlem, so hopeful for this city with a man like that stepping into place.

“I will continue to champion for Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood...and working on the city level with my brother Yusef Salaam and Assemblywoman Inez Dickens. And I will continue to fight for the residents of this community in making sure we’re bringing home the resources.”

The atmosphere at other Harlem watch parties was much more of a somber affair, but still goodspirited. Senator Cordell Cleare, who backed Taylor, said that she’s still glad to have a colleague and “fighter” in Albany.

Sharonne added, “Can you imagine, we went from being taken from Africa forced into en-

‘Rent is too damn high,’ City rails against RGB vote

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The Rent Guidelines Board’s (RGB) vote last week to hike up rents on rent-stabilized apartments by 3% has caused a major uproar among residents, housing advocates, and city council members.

RGB voted 5-4 to approve an adjustment of 3% on a one-year lease, 2.75% for the first year on a two-year lease, and 3.2% of the amount lawfully charged in the first year, excluding any increases

other than the first-year guideline increase. The board stipulated that the increases were necessary to cover rising costs and maintenance on buildings. These rent adjustments apply to leases starting on October 1, 2023, and go through to September 30, 2024.

Disappointed city officials and advocates continue to warn higher ups about the housing and affordability crisis while demanding more action.

“The Rent Guidelines Board’s vote to authorize rent increases, while on the lower end of the

proposed ranges, will only further exacerbate the homelessness and housing crisis in our communities at a time when New Yorkers can least afford it,” said City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement. “As our city grapples with a record-high shelter population, an affordable housing shortage that remains unabated, and rising costs, New York City tenants increasingly struggle to make ends meet. This will harm our communities, deepen the lack of affordability, and make it even more difficult for New Yorkers to

expected. However, Barron told the AmNews that he stands by his decades-long work in, as he often says, "my beloved East New York.”

From City Council to the Assembly in the last 20 years, the popular one-time Black Panther and Black nationalist said he has been an effective leader in the community and city.

“We transformed the community,” he said. “We built real affordable homes, new schools, community-based institutions, libraries, and parks. These accomplishments cannot be taken away. Our legacy remains intact. My commitment to the community, and my fire will continue.”

slavement, segregation, Jim Crow, and all things not good, prison as a child, education and beyond, then an inspirational speaker to many, and now a voice to the community he so loves.”

Banks in East New York

Meanwhile, candidate Chris Banks managed to lead in the votes over longtime incumbent Council Member Charles Barron, who along with his wife, has had a stronghold on elected positions in East New York for 22 years.

The unofficial election night results indicate Banks had 50.54% of the votes, or 3,011 votes, and Barron had 43.20% of the votes, or 2,574 votes.

“The last election I got 8,000 votes, but my people stayed home because they did not take the other candidate as a credible option, and that is how he was able to take the primary,” Barron told the AmNews

From the minute the result became clear, Barron and his supporters were shocked. It was un-

Full of energy the morning after the election, Barron said that he does feel for his staff and the community who still wanted the visions of his office fulfilled.

“My Deputy Chief of Staff Keron Alleyne was fired up on primary night, and told the crowd that we don’t have time to harbor our feelings. We’ve got to continue this fight for our people. We have to keep running. I might be back in two years. In the meantime I will continue to do the work.”

Banks could not be reached for comment by post time.

Additional reporting contributed by Amsterdam News’ Tandy Lau.

Additional reporting by Amsterdam News Jason Evan Ponterotto

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.

remain in their homes and work in the city they love.”

Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), said that history is cyclical and what the city is experiencing now is the poor housing policies and issues that led to the housing crisis in the 1970s. Martin, like many others, believes that city and state governments are not putting forth enough solutions to lower housing costs.

A 2023 report from the Fund for New York City and United Way

indicates that 50% of New York households are struggling to cover their basic needs, and that almost 80% of households spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Council Member Crystal Hudson, who chairs the Committee on Aging, said in a statement that residents are clear in their opposition to the RGB vote. Hudson said tenants gathered at public hearings across the five boroughs to testify about the material

Cordelle Cleare, Yusef Salaam and Al Taylor (Bill Moore photo)

Empowering the local workforce

We’ve invested nearly $100 million in workforce development. Alongside hundreds of other employers and community partners, we’re increasing the talent pipeline by helping our neighbors get the skills and experience to build careers that support families and fuel our economy. Here in New York City, we’re investing in our community by investing in people’s futures. I’m proud of the work we’re doing to help train and identify talent for in-demand careers by contributing to local initiatives through employer and academic partners.

José Tavarez President, Bank of America New York City

Harlem Week Kick-Off

It’s about that time when Harlemites, and all folks who love the historic neighborhood, are getting ready to celebrate August’s Harlem Week, which is actually a whole month! With fanfare and love, the recent Harlem Week Kick-Off showcased faves

including Darryl DMC McDaniels; WBLS alum G. Keith Alexander; news broadcaster and author Cheryl Wills; the Amsterdam News’ own Herb Boyd and Ron Scott; and writers Jared McAllister and Aurora Flores, Marko Nobles, and Debi Jackson.

Cheryl Wills

Ron Scott

Amsterdam News staff: Cyril Josh Barker, Ariama C. Long, Michael Bryant, and Herb Boyd.

Harlem Kick-Off (Bill Moore photos)

Jared McAllister, Aurora Flores, and Herb Boyd

Harlem’s Voza Rivers honored at Multicultural Fest

The Harlem New York Multicultural Fest granted special honors to local artistic legend Voza Rivers. He received an award from Nigeria, pre -

sented by Hon. Al Taylor and host Joyce Adewumi. As always at this wonderful event, groups from around the world performed.

Written by David Goodson

BUSTA RHYMES HONORED AS BET AWARDS SHOWS OUT FOR THE CULTURE

The 2023 BET AWARDS were delivered Sunday and upon the end of the celebration of the culture’s biggest night, it was clearly defined that Trevor Smith, professionally known as Busta Rhymes, is one of the most iconic figures in the history of Black Music.

That Rhymes, who garnered his fame and acclaim through his excellence in rap, received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the year that hip hop celebrates its 50th anniversary is apropos to say the least; for some, Busta is viewed as the physical manifestation of hip hop’s past, present, and future. In fact, he held that view unofficially for the past 30 years. Like the man credited with creating the hip hop movement, Kool Herc, Busta proudly flies the flag of his native country, Jamaica. During his acceptance speech, Busta declared, “Everything that Busta Rhymes embodies as far as going to get it and not taking no for an answer comes from being a Caribbean, raised in a Jamaican home.”

In his music, you can hear the homage delivered to early groups like the Fantastic, Romantic 5 MC’s; in fact, one was his early successes as a solo act, Who Haa, paid a debt to the Sugarhill Gang. His outworldly talent was so advanced that some of his rhymes and patterns are still used now, at least 30 years since his work was publicly consumed. Of his status as an elder, he emphasized to others of his tenure the importance of mentorship and collaboration.

“OGs, you still gotta look the part, you still gotta be the part because you don’t want the young G to say, ‘OG, you telling me how to do something but it don’t look like it work for you no more.’ A lot of us OGs look good!” he beamed. “It’s important. We want y’all to pull up and we want to give you the information because when I needed it, [Big Daddy] Kane let me come to his million-dollar crib, EPMD let me used to come to their crib and see all of their real estate, Chuck D used to sit me down and give me the jewels. I got the arm put around me to school me and show me how to be groomed and well-raised. Learn what to do, and take it and apply it and do it, secure the win. Y’all gotta do that now and we gonna do it with y’all ’cause we still bustin’ ass!”

Busta is now in preparation of going out on a global tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s 2003 debut album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

Speaking of securing the win, here is the complete list of honorees from the 2023

BET Awards:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR (*TIE!)

‘Renaissance’ - Beyoncé AND ‘SOS’SZA

BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST

SZA

BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST (*TIE!)

Chris Brown AND Usher

BEST GROUP

Drake x 21 Savage

BEST COLLABORATION

“Wait For U,” Future Feat. Drake & Tems

BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST

Latto

BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST

Kendrick Lamar

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

“Kill Bill,” SZA

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor

BEST NEW ARTIST

Coco Jones

YOUNGSTARS AWARD

Marsai Martin

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Angel Reese

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Jalen Hurts

BEST MOVIE

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

BEST ACTOR

Damson Idris

BEST ACTRESS

Angela Bassett

BET HER

“Break My Soul,” Beyoncé

VIEWER’S CHOICE: BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ACT

Libianca (Cameroon)

DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD

“Bless Me,” Maverick City Music & Kirk

Franklin

VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD

“Break My Soul,” Beyoncé

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT

Burna Boy (Nigeria)

Over and out. Holla next week. Til then, enjoy the nightlife.

BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST Latto (David Goodson photo)

Assemblyman Al Taylor presents award to Voza Rivers with Joyce Adewumi (Bill Moore photos)

Union Matters

Sleep-out for essential workers demanding higher pay

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

A coalition of organizers and the Human Services Council (HSC) spent a particularly chilly June night sleeping outside City Hall last week to demand “JustPay” for “underpaid, city-contracted essential workers.”

Human services are composed of more than 125,000 municipal employees who help run the city’s agencies, including afterschool programs, senior centers, legal services, food pantries, domestic violence and homeless shelters, foster care, and other essential services. Most human service workers in New York City are people of color or women—particularly Black and brown women, and over half of them qualify for at least one form of government assistance, said the coalition.

“Our human services workers are the civilian frontlines of the war on poverty and face the great challenges of our city head on,” said Councilmember Nantasha Williams in a statement. “Those most in need, the impoverished, the ailing, and more; all find help with these workers every day. Why does this city not care for the caretaker the same way? A real cost of living adjustment is the minimum we should be doing for these workers.”

The coalition is demanding a 6.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in this year’s city budget, due by July, and a multi-year deal of 16.5% to match the number of recently announced union deals. Low wages have resulted in high turnover rates and challenges in recruiting qualified workers, said the coalition.

“Thank you to the nonprofit leaders for leading with courage and going to the extreme by staying out all night on New York streets to try and get their staff equitable wages,” said Councilmember Althea Stevens in a statement. “This budget needs to give human services workers a step to real livable wages.”

Damyn Kelly, JD, PhD, president and CEO at Lutheran Social Services of New York, said it’s clear where city government is setting its priorities and values. Kelly is advocating

that human service get increases similar to the recently inked city multi-year deals with other unions, such as District Council 37 (DC37), the NYPD, and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

“I’m out here tonight because my workers stay awake all night won-

dering if they can pay the bills,” Kelly said at the sleep-out. He and others were bundled up in matching yellow and blue sweaters and scarves as they set up chairs and sleeping bags in a tight circle on the street outside City Hall Park. They snacked and chat-

ted happily despite the unusually cool and windy evening for this time of year. Bright and early the next morning, the group reconvened with a press conference and were joined by elected officials.

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

(Bill Moore photos)

Organizers stay up all night outside City Hall from Wed., June 21, through Thursday morning, June 22, to demand more pay for essential workers. (Ariama Long photos)

JustPay group stay up all night outside City Hall from Wed., June 21, through Thursday morning, June 22, to demand more pay for essential workers.

Organizers stay up all night outside City Hall from Wed., June 21, through Thursday morning, June 22, to demand more pay for essential workers (left to right): Marjorie Parker, Sharon Sewell, Na-ilah Amaru.

beres

hammond

louie culture

jammins reggae fest

aug 12

anthony

hamilton

Sep 7 @ 8PM

The GRAMMY®-winning singer mixes Southern soul with R&B swag in hits like “Charlene” and “You Made A Fool Of Me.”

jay pharoah

Fri, Sep 29 @ 8PM

Comedian, actor and impressionist Jay Pharoah (SNL, Family Guy) brings quick wit and high energy to the mic.

romain virgo

ranky tanky

with special guest Ms. Lisa Fischer

Nov 9 @ 7:30PM

Get in a Gullah groove with GRAMMY®winning band Ranky Tanky

gladys knight

Sun, Nov 12 @ 7PM

National treasure Gladys Knight shares songs and stories from her incredible 50+ year career.

patti labelle

Sun, Dec 10 @ 7PM

It’s a soul-stirring evening with “Godmother of Soul” Patti LaBelle (“Lady Marmalade”).

Horizon Sounds of the City is sponsored by:

@NJPAC • 1.888.MY.NJPAC • njpac.org

Groups of 9 or more call 973.353.7561 One Center Street, Newark, NJ

jul 13 – aug 24

Jul 13 Felix Hernandez Rhythm Revue Dance Party

Jul 20 Sugarhill Gang

Jul 27 Newark Salutes Its Own

Aug 3 Edgar Joel & Anthony Colón

Aug 10 Kurtis Blow

Aug 17 Kindred the Family Soul

Aug 24 Bilal

free! every thursday at 6PM njpac.org/soc for more information

Cali’s Reparations Report to drop this week

If the latest reports have any credibility, California’s reparations task force will release its final report in a few days. And California’s charge is given ballast by Don Tamaki, the group’s only non-Black member.

Of course, Tamaki’s passionate push for reparations comes as no surprise for many residents of the Bay Area, where he has established an enviable reputation fighting for redress and reparations for Japanese Americans.

While Tamaki saw definite links between the Japanese struggle for reparations and for Black Americans, he said it’s impossible to compare the two. His hope is to “remind others through his work that there’s a deep past of solidarity across the two movements, making Black reparations a critical issue to Japanese Americans and others.”

“Where would we be if it wasn’t for the Black Civil Rights Movement?” Tamaki told NBC News about the movement’s impact on the Japanese American community. “That whole movement changed the culture a lot. And it changed us. And so it began this movement toward redress and reparations.”

It’s been more than two years of hearings by the task force, and now they are prepared to announce a range of recommendations, which could be fodder for other

states and cities to mount their own campaigns.

More than his being an attorney in the historic case Korematsu v. the United States 40 years ago, Tamaki’s family was among those forcibly incarcerated during the war and later testified during the hearings on restitution for Japanese Americans.

Some of the points Tamaki has made to the press obviously were discussed among members of the task force, noting “that there continues to be a lack of understanding around how the racism and discrimination of slavery evolved into different modern-day forms.”

“It stems from this idea that reparations are for an aggrieved minority that’s undeserving, and this is a handout,” Tamaki said. “Rather, this is really a debt. This is a societal obligation resulting from when we go back to 1619—stolen wages, stolen property, stolen opportunities.”

Earlier, there were reports about large sums of money being distributed among qualified African Americans, but Tamaki dismissed that notion.

“We have not made a specific recommendation for individual compensation,” he said. “We have hired economists to shine a light on the depth of the economic harm because that’s never been done before, by anybody, and to basically calculate a number and put it before the American public.”

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Nayaba Arinde: Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Damaso Reyes: Investigative Editor

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

Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus

An open letter to New York 1 (NY1)

Dear NY1 Producers,

The June 23, 2023 edition of “Inside City Hall,” which had DC37 executive director Henry Garrido as a guest, was fraught with misinformation and erroneously characterized Council Member Charles Barron’s bill, which supports retirees right to choose their healthcare plan. At the outset, Mr. Louis said that “labor leaders” support Mayor Adams’ privatization plan. It is more accurate to say “some” labor leaders, because there are those leaders who do not.

The “Inside City Hall” program did not have a discussion of the numerous shortcomings of the proposed change to a privatized retirees’ healthcare plan, Medicare Advantage Plan (MAP) in partnership with Aetna, which interestingly was the sponsor of that segment of the program.

The present healthcare plan, Senior Care, which is favored by many retirees, as evidenced by their overwhelming presence and testimony at City Council committee hearings on the matter, and the participation

of hundreds of retirees at the rally held Thursday, June 22, 2023, outside of City Hall in support of Council Member Barron’s bill. The Barron bill supports Article 12.126 of the New York City Charter, which says that the city will pay for retiree healthcare, as the city has done for the past 57 years.

It appears that Mr. Louis was not privy to many of the facts about the differences between the current healthcare plan and what the new plan proposes. When Mr. Garrido said that the proposed privatized plan, MAP, would cap out-of-pocket costs, this could have been a critical journalistic moment for Mr. Louis to have asked how that is an improvement, when there are presently NO costs, NO copayments, and NO premiums, and a wide array of healthcare services in the existing senior care plan. (A point of clarification, DC37 does not represent retirees, so they can’t “vote him out.”)

Most retirees favor being able to keep their preferred doctor and not have to change, which MAP would force them to do. The retirees should

have a choice to keep their Senior Care, if they prefer, instead of being forced into a privatized Medicare Advantage Plan with Aetna, which does not allow its employees to unionize. Additionally, Aetna has a history of issuing policies on enslaved Africans that benefitted the white slave owner. Interestingly, there was no mention of this during the entire interview. The Barron bill gives retirees that freedom to choose a healthcare plan that they feel is most beneficial to them.

We expect New York 1 to afford Council Member Charles Barron, the prime sponsor of the bill, the opportunity to present an opposing view. We request that Council Member Charles Barron be invited to be the guest on “New York 1” on Monday, June 26, 2023, to offer your viewers a timely, informed perspective of this critically important issue.

Looking forward to your response, Inez Barron, co-founder, Operation P.O.W.E.R. (People Organizing and Working for Empowerment and Respect)

Decision to cut community providers at Rikers Island is shortsighted and dangerous

By STANLEY RICHARDS

The city of New York is about to embark on a shortsighted, misguided, and dangerous path––one that could be remedied if it reverses course and does not sever vital lifelines that put incarcerated New Yorkers on the path to positive change.

The Department of Correction (DOC) recently notified providers that it will terminate all community-based provider jail-based service contracts effective at the end of next week. While this decision likely was not made lightly or haphazardly, it will turn back the clock to a time when people cycled through the criminal justice system without sorely needed resources.

We understand that the city needs to get its budget under control, but costcutting decisions should not put our most vulnerable, marginalized communities at risk. There is a longstanding history lesson that I’m afraid the DOC will repeat, and our elected leaders need to step up to reverse this illtimed and harmful action.

New Yorkers remember what our city looked and felt like when we had 22,000 people detained in city jails, and over 100,000 people cycling through

our courts and local precincts. We released people from jail without access to services, housing, drug and mental health treatment, and discharge planning, and that resulted in devastated communities, individual and family trauma, and generational damage.

But this changed when elected officials and jail administrators collaborated and invested in jail-based services, with a connection to community care to address the unsustainable, devastating path we had taken. They recognized that the DOC’s expertise wasn’t in being a service provider, so partnerships––fueled by budget allotments––were forged with community providers to engage with people in custody, and provide a range of services to support their transition to life after incarceration.

The result: we witnessed the number of people detained and incarcerated in the city significantly decline, communities become safer, and a smaller footprint of mass incarceration.

As the former first deputy commissioner of programs and operations at the DOC, I know that the DOC is wrong to insist it will pick up these services. That is wishful thinking at best. It truly underestimates the totality of the work that goes on every day by community

providers. Our experience during the COVID-19 pandemic speaks volumes about why this approach will not work.

Amid massive staff absences, we attempted to restructure the work responsibilities of some of the DOC’s non-uniformed staff to step in, as community-based organizations were not able to visit due to the pandemic. The workforce, though, resisted under the premise that the new functions were outside of their contractual responsibilities. So, leadership called community providers back to perform functions such as handing out toiletries, providing in-unit recreation, and even offering haircuts.

The city’s misguided decision also isn’t fiscally smart. The $17 million in cuts represent .015% of the DOC’s total budget. Instead, the DOC could shift some funds from its personnel budget––which represents 87% of its costs––and use those funds to continue contracting with community service providers. Remember, many of these positions are unfilled at present, so the funds are there.

We must not return to a time when our elected and appointed officials lay at the feet of our most vulnerable people

A tale of two boats

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

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

In the course of a single week, two tragedies unfolded, both exposing the stark, divergent responses by our media and governments based on the affected demographics and the narratives they spin. Intriguingly, both tragedies involved the ocean and rescue attempts, starkly underlining our inconsistent approaches to different crises.

One tragedy revolved around the implosion of a submersible vessel and subsequent deaths of five individuals in it who had invested $250,000 each for an underwater journey to explore the Titanic’s ruins. The other was a catastrophe at sea off the coast of Greece, resulting in the tragic loss of nearly 700 migrants in pursuit of better lives overseas.

Now, take a guess which incident garnered more media attention? If your instinct was to go for the event that claimed 700 lives, you would be dead wrong.

On June 13, a distress signal from a migrant vessel carrying 750 individuals was first brought to light by Italian activist Nawal Soufi, prompting a range of rescue efforts from different parties throughout the day. Differing narratives surfaced concerning the vessel’s readiness to receive aid and its overall condition.

Despite obtaining supplies from the Maltese-flagged tanker Lucky Sailor and Greek authorities, the boat’s occupants reportedly declined any further assistance, staying their course. Adding to the confusion, Soufi and Greek parliament member Kriton Arsenis alleged that the Greek coast guard attempted to tug the boat toward Italian waters, a claim vehemently denied by Greek officials.

Ultimately, the boat succumbed and capsized during the early hours of June 14, with further conflicting stories about whether it was a result of overcrowding and engine malfunction, or if it was because they were being tugged by a Greek coast guard vessel. Tragically, of the 750 souls onboard, a mere 104 survived.

On June 18, an underwater sub-

What are you doing this summer?

mersible designed to plunge to more than 13,000 feet below sea level failed to reemerge as planned.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, barring any immediate catastrophic incident that would have already claimed the lives of the passengers, the vessel had approximately 96 hours of oxygen remaining. The ensuing rescue operation was nothing short of colossal, featuring multiple aircraft conducting continuous radar sweeps of the surface and complex remote vehicles tasked with scouring the Titanic’s wreckage. The world was on edge, watching and waiting in anticipation, fervently hoping for the survival of the submersible’s passengers.

Regrettably, their hopes were in vain. The rescue efforts yielded no positive results. As it turns out, the reason why it never surfaced was because the submersible underwent a devastating implosion that, faster than the passengers’ brains could register the event, killed all five people onboard.

On June 24, I arrived in Greece to venture to its various islands, on a vessel with many close colleagues and friends on board. Witnessing what transpired over the past weeks has made everyone here wonder: What would have transpired if those migrants on the capsized boat had been a handful of Americans enjoying a yachting expedition instead— what if they were us?

Why the disparity in media coverage and rescue attempts? To answer that, we must first understand what we value in a story. Do we look for a compelling, easily digestible narrative or a complex web of differing accounts and foregone conclusions?

Unquestionably, the OceanGate incident provides an enthralling and absorbing tale. It creates a sense of urgency, akin to a countdown in a show like “24,” reminding us that the story and the fate of those involved is unfolding in real time as we carry on with our daily routines. Moreover, it’s a simple story—uncluttered and easily digestible. Five

people are trapped in a submersible at the bottom of the ocean with just 96 hours of oxygen remaining. It’s as straightforward as that.

In contrast, the migrant story is considerably more intricate, teeming with conflicting accounts of the events, critical policy considerations, numerous parties involved, a story that is already at its end, and overall, a narrative that requires a significant investment of time to truly comprehend.

Despite the relative captivation of the OceanGate story compared to the migrant incident, we must still question why the actual rescue responses were so dramatically different. Yes, different government entities were involved, yet I fervently believe that authorities would have acted differently had the occupants of the migrant vessel been different. Reading the account of what happened when Greek authorities initially made contact with the migrant boat, it remains baffling that, given the apparent overcrowding of the vessel, and the Greek authorities’ own admission that they believed the boat was on the verge of capsizing due to overcrowding, they still allowed it to continue on its perilous journey.

I have witnessed a consistent sentiment of outrage about the media and Greek Coast Guard’s handling of the tragedy. There is an outpouring of anger, a clamor for answers. The inherent value and equality of every single life is a principle that should never be overshadowed or forgotten. Yet, it seems that both our governments and the media have shamefully lost sight of this vital tenet; they value certain people over others, and captivating stories over what really matters.

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

It is officially summer and the hot weather is upon us. School has come to a close and things will seem to wind down just a touch during these next few months. What will you do differently this time of year to mark the changes in the seasons, where you can enjoy earlier sunrises and later sunsets, longer days of sunshine, and the hot weather bronzing your skin?

I have always said that I enjoy the East Coast because of the clear distinctions in the changing of the four seasons. Autumn in New York is so splendid and magnificent—it’s spawned a series of jazz ballads to celebrate the feeling one gets from strolling through various NYC neighborhoods enjoying the crisp leaves.

The cold, dreary winter months follow and the city begins to darken somewhere around 4 p.m. The cold winds whipping through tall buildings and sometimes blankets of white snow seemingly cover every crevice of the city.

Springtime in New York is filled with buds on trees and weather that can’t decide whether it wants to be an arctic tundra or a balmy afternoon.

These three diverse seasons lead us into summer, where the smells of the city come alive…as do the people. The city is filled with tourists, happy birds, children playing in the streets, men playing cards or dominoes on the sidewalks at night, and a sense of neverending days and evenings on the stoop. Summer is a time

to take stock of how the year has gone thus far and to plan for the next few months of an ever-rapidly moving year. It is a time to shift gears ever so slightly and do something that helps you slow down just a bit.

This summer, my niece and I are enjoying reading her mandatory summer books for school. We just started “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. I try to read more fiction during the summer months, maybe because I take a few days off from work and head to the local NYC beaches. Or maybe it’s because the days have longer hours of sunshine, so I feel like I have more hours in a day to do what I need to do as well as what I want to do. I have already read three novels and am looking forward to reading a few more in the next few weeks. I also hope to explore a few neighborhoods I have never seen in all of my years in NYC.

Whatever it is you plan to do this summer, make sure it is something that makes you feel grateful and fulfilled. I recently heard First Corinthians Baptist Church Pastor Mike Walrond say, “Consistent gratitude leads to unspeakable joy.” Let those words lead you into summer.

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

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

Caribbean Update

Former BVI premier seeks to ID confidential source in drug case

By BERT WILKINSON Special to

the AmNews

Fourteen months ago, federal agents in Miami, Florida arrested former British Virgin Islands (BVI) Premier Andrew Fahie, Port Authority Manager Olean Maynard, and Maynard’s son Kadeem for allegedly plotting to export large amounts of cocaine through the island chain to the U.S. The three were subsequently charged, placed before the courts, and ordered to prepare for trial this summer.

But there has been an important development in recent weeks as Maynard and her son have agreed to plead guilty, become federal witnesses against the former premier, and cop a lighter sentence in exchange. Fahie has already pleaded not guilty.

Left on his own with his defense team, Fahie has now switched his attention to asking the courts to reveal the source of

the confidential informant who had been recruited by the feds to compile evidence that the three had been plotting with Mexican drug dealers to allegedly funnel cocaine through ports in the BVI to the U.S. His trial should have started in mid-July, but his pretrial request for information about the confidential informant has forced a delay. He contends that he needs to know who that person is because that this would help in planning a proper defense against the slew of suspected drug trafficking charges. “The U.S. Government has not yet disclosed the identity of the confidential source. As previously noted, Mr. Fahie contends that he needs the information in order to file certain pre-trial motions. The court, without objection from the government, previously ruled that such motions could be made any time before trial,” said his attorney, Theresa Van Vliet, in court pleadings.

On the other hand, the state is awaiting

a court order as to whether the identity of the informant can and will be disclosed. It is also unclear whether that person will be called as a witness in the case. Fahie has asked for a November trial start date as adequate time to prepare, barring any other pre-trial motions either by the feds or the defense.

The trio were arrested by agents posing as Mexican cartel members offering to allegedly use the BVI as a transshipment point for cocaine to the U.S. The agents claimed that the ex-premier had agreed to accept $700,000 in payments as a reward for his cooperation and protection—allegations he has denied. His arrest sent shockwaves throughout the mini archipelago, the wider Caribbean, and in Britain.

Authorities quickly appointed Natalio Wheatley as Fahie’s acting successor even as British Governor John Rankin unveiled the contents of a commission of inqui-

ry report into poor governance practices in the BVI, urging the cabinet to implement a series of recommendations to improve public spending and to improve the checks and balances system for finance and other measures. The implementation phase is still ongoing amid criticism from both London and in the BVI that its pace is way too slow.

Wheatley has since won general elections held in late April, so he now has his own mandate in a multi-party coalition. The feds say they have many hours of audio recorded conversations with Fahie and the Maynards. The Fahie team says it needs time to wade through these recordings to determine what is on them. Opposition parties had made much of his arrests and his links to the government in the run-up to the elections, calling for the start of a new era. The electorate thought otherwise and gave Wheatley’s coalition a narrow majority.

Immigration update – Five immigration headlines making the news

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

Last week, the Supreme Court gave President Joe Biden a big win in a long-running fight with red states about how to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Many point to the disparity in the response to the sunken boat of migrants missing in Greece versus the frantic search for three billionaires and a self-proclaimed “submersible” pioneer. Here are five top immigration news headlines you may have missed.

1: The Supreme Court sides with the Biden Administration in a fight over immigration

The big news headline remains the surprising win by the Biden administration in the conservatively packed Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2023, handed President Biden’s administration a victory in a long-running fight about how to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.

The case concerned the Biden administration’s attempt to set guidelines for whom immigration authorities can target for arrest and deportation.Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines, arguing that they were preventing immigration authorities from doing their jobs. The Supreme Court held by a vote of 8-1 that the states lacked standing to challenge the guidelines in the first place. Writing for the

majority, Trump-nominated Justice Brett Kavanaugh described the legal challenge before the court as “an extraordinarily unusual lawsuit.” Both Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s liberals in the majority opinion.

The Supreme Court also upheld the federal crime of encouraging illegal immigration as constitutional in a ruling that also clarifies the law’s scope. In a 7-2 vote, the justices sided with the Justice Department in reversing a lower court’s decision that found the crime unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds for sweeping too far into protected speech.

2: A tale of two disasters

Amid a feverish multi-nation search for the passengers of the submersible tourist vessel Titan last week, before news of their death, NBC News surprisingly reported on the disparity in search and coverage of the capsized fishing boat crowded with migrants traveling from Libya to Italy that sank in Greek waters versus the search for the five people on board the Titan.

“As rescuers raced to find a handful of wealthy people and explorers who vanished after launching a mission to survey the Titanic, another disaster at sea that’s feared to have left hundreds of people dead has been swept from the spotlight,” Chantal DaSilva wrote for NBC News.

She also quoted Judith Sunderland, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division, as saying, “It’s a horrifying and disgusting contrast. The willingness to allow

certain people to die while every effort is made to save others...it’s a…really dark reflection on humanity.”

Greek authorities have so far recovered the bodies of at least 81 people, and more than 100 passengers have been rescued, including Pakistanis, Egyptians, Syrians, Afghans, and Palestinians. But survivors and the United Nations have said hundreds were aboard the boat and many are still missing and feared dead.

3: Florida law nearing effect

Florida’s draconian immigration law goes into effect on July 1 as Ron Death Santis flies around the country campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination. Many media in the state are reporting that immigrants are fleeing, and companies are worried about staff as Senate Bill 1718 nears effect. The new law imposes tough criminal penalties on human traffickers, restrictions on undocumented residents, and new employment requirements that will include random audits next ye of businesses suspected of hiring illegal workers.

Florida employers in construction, restaurants, landscaping, and many other service sectors already are struggling to fill jobs during what has been a post-pandemic, sustained stretch of low unemployment. The new immigration limits will compound that, many say.

4: DHS reinstates, extends TPS

designations

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken action to reverse the previous terminations of temporary protected status (TPS) for El Salvador, Honduras,

Nepal, and Nicaragua, and has granted an 18-month extension of TPS for these countries. This decision aims to provide relief and support to individuals from these nations who currently reside in the United States. In the coming weeks, the DHS will release official notices in the Federal Register detailing the eligibility criteria, timelines, and procedures that current TPS beneficiaries must follow to re-register for TPS and renew their employment authorization documents (EADs).

Once the notices are published, individuals who are currently covered under the four TPS designations will have the opportunity to re-register and maintain their TPS status throughout the 18-month extension period. The respective dates are February 13, 2001 (El Salvador); December 30, 1998 (Honduras and Nicaragua); and June 24, 2015 (Nepal).

5: Immigration helped increase white population

A new report from the Associated Press cites U.S. Census Bureau figures that show that without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year. Population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that the white population, including those who identify as more than one race, would have dropped last year by more than 85,000 people instead of growing meagerly by more than 388,000 residents, or 0.1%.

The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com – The Black Immigrant Daily News. She can be reached at felicia@caribpr.com.

Health

NYC Health + Hospitals Community Mural Project launches community paint parties

The NYC Health + Hospitals’ Arts in Medicine program has announced a new season of paint parties, where anyone can help paint murals using a “paint by numbers” format, and the resulting murals will be permanently installed at hospital sites as part of the NYC Health + Hospitals Community Mural Project.

The murals were designed by 10 artists selected earlier this year and developed through focus groups with patients, staff, and neighborhood residents.

The system also released the design of a mural by artist Kristy McCarthy that will be installed in the pediatrics department of NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health. Anyone can help paint the mural at the first paint party of the season:

Thursday, June 22, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The Community Mural Project is featured in the latest episode of “That’s So New York” on NYC Life (WNYE-TV/Channel 25), the flagship channel for NYC’s television network, NYC Media.

“We’re proud to partner with NYC Health + Hospitals to bring 20 more community murals to the system over the next two years,” said Laurie Tisch, founder and president of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. “The murals have created so much joy and beauty in facilities in every borough, involved staff in creative collaborations, and offered new ways for people to become engaged with the hospitals. It’s a pleasure to help expand this popular program.”

“The Community Mural Project is a tremendous opportunity to engage our patients, families, and staff in a collab -

orative and engaging process,” said Larissa Trinder, assistant vice president of Arts in Medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals. “Public murals reinforce a sense of pride and trust in one’s community. We continue to be grateful to Laurie M. Tisch and her Illumination Fund for

her deep awareness and advocacy of the significant role these murals have on public health.”

NYC Health + Hospitals serve communities in all five boroughs. The Community Mural Project is an opportunity to engage patients, families, and staff in a collaborative process. Decades of research have shown that the arts can play a role in “healing the healers,” as well as improving patient outcomes and creating community health awareness and partnerships.

The new murals will build on the 26

Community members are welcome to help paint a mural at the paint parties:

NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens

Friday, July 14, 12 p.m.–3 p.m.

82-68 164th Street, Queens, NY 11432

Artist Zeehan Wazed (@zeehanwazed)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Carter

Thursday, July 20, 12 p.m.–3 p.m.

1752 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10035

Artist Ji Yong Kim (@jiyongkim_art)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham

Health, Morrisania

Tuesday, August 8, 12 p.m.–3 p.m.

1901 First Avenue, New York, NY 10029

Artist Yukiko Izumi (@yi_design_jp)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County

Friday, August 18, time to be determined

451 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203

Artist Jodi Dareal (@jodidareal)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Sydenham

Friday, August 25, 10 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

264 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10026

Artist Stephanie Costello (@stephcostelloart)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem

Date and times to be determined

506 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY 10037

Artist Tijay Mohammed (@artoftijay)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln

Date and times to be determined

234 East 149th Street, Bronx, NY 10451

Artist Dister Rondon (@dister)

NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx

Date and times to be determined

3424 Kossuth Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467

Artist Roy Secord (@roysecord)

murals created in the first wave of the Community Mural Project and recently featured in a new book, “Healing Walls: New York City Health + Hospitals Community Mural Project 2019–2021.” The Community Mural Project and other Arts in Medicine programs at NYC Health + Hospitals are made possible with support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

The Community Mural Project has been the country’s largest public hospital mural program since the 1930s, when the depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) commissioned murals in public buildings, including virtually every hospital in New York City’s public healthcare system. The WPA murals were the start of NYC Health + Hospitals art collection, which now is the city’s largest public art collection and includes more than 7,000 pieces of art in multiple disciplines. The art collection is used to enhance the healthcare environment, inspire creativity, promote wellness, increase access to the arts, and engage staff.

NYC Health + Hospitals’ collection of more than 7,000 artworks includes historic murals commissioned through the WPA, paintings, mosaics, photographs, sculptures, installation art, and murals by both emerging and established professional artists. The collection includes works by some of America’s leading artists, such as Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Helen Frankenthaler, Mary Frank, Betty Blayton, Candida Alvarez, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and Keith Haring. More than an art collection, these works create a healing environment, activate spaces, engage staff, promote visual acuity, and expand access to the arts for 43,000 employees and more than 1.2 million patients who receive care at NYC Health + Hospitals facilities.

Painting a mural at a Community Mural Project paint party at NYC Health + Hospitals/ Elmhurst in 2020.

Mural designed by artist Kristy McCarthy will be installed in pediatrics department at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health.

Arts & Entertainment

Resmaa Menakem talks relationships, control, and new book

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews

It is always a pleasure to talk to world-renowned therapist Resmaa Menakem whose bestsellers, “My Grandmother’s Hands” and “Quaking of America,” have taken the world by storm. With Menakem’s newest book, a reworking of a relationship book he’d written some years ago, now titled “Monsters In Love,” the author takes a new route and pivots to focusing on his extensive knowledge and expertise as a relationship coach and therapist. He has worked with some of the most powerful Black couples on the planet, including Jay-Z and Beyoncé, giving deep and eye-opening advice about keeping a Black relationship strong, communicative, and healthy.

Resmaa spoke with the Amnews about this captivating new book, “Monsters In Love.”

AmNews: There’s a lightness to the writing, meaning it’s relatable in its language.The content seems to be a reflection of a shadow in expressive relationships. What do you know about the shadow, and was that something on your mind while writing this?

Resmaa Menakem: What was on my mind when I wrote this was having a sense that there was nothing out there. One of my mentors—[one who] looked at how things functioned, not how we wished they functioned—my training underneath him really helped to shape the way that I work with clients, particularly with people who were in long-term relationships, or married, or been together for some time.

I don’t know if it’s the shadow as much as what I was trying to do with, say, “This is how it works.” In the working of it, if you can have some sense of what works a little bit better, then you can sense how you want to be in a relationship and how you want to be, how you want to grow up. Or not. I don’t know if I was actually writing from the shadows; I see myself as writing from a place of emergence, to go back to creation and pregnancy. Just because it’s in the Blackness doesn’t mean that there’s not other things going on. I wrote this book trying to get people to understand that there are things going on that really are not about you being defective, or you not being a match, or not being this-that-andthe-other.

AN: These issues at the forefront of the book...why do you think there are many books that don’t confront these issues?

RM: I think it’s a problem with the field. We’re talking about [the collective of] psychology, social work, psychiatry—created mostly by white men who don’t have an anti-racist or anti-misogyny bone in their body. As a collective, white people don’t have a good understanding of depression—of what it takes to live in an anti-racist culture. The tempering of what the fields churn out, thinking of the people who started those fields, was negligible when it comes to growing up.

Some of these fields that we put so much trust in really are very immature, in a variety of ways. They’re immature about race; they’re immature about sex. They confuse genital crime with sexual crime. A lot of these fields did not take people who look like you and me, or anything that wasn’t heterosexual—none of that was taken into account.

[The fields] have their own bottleneck. Many of the people they churn out can’t tolerate the level of heat that it takes to hold people in a room when those people are

supposed to “love each other” and particular pieces of their lives are actually juxtaposed with one another.

AN: How do you help people adopt and function [via this book]?

RM: This really isn’t intellectual. A lot of what I’m laying out in the book, people have an experience with it that is not necessarily cognitive, and getting people to do anything just because they have cognitive awareness is a fool’s errand. There are a lot of people who know they should be wearing condoms, and they don’t. A lot of people know they should not be smoking and they keep smoking. Appealing to people’s cognitive intelligence to get them to do something doesn’t necessarily work, especially when you’re talking [about] long-term relationships, or relationships where there is investment and time, so I don’t really try to convince people to do something. What I say is there are certain things in your relationship—the longer you stay in it—that are going to avail themselves.

This book is designed to help you go, “Oh, s—. Availing doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something wrong with me, but I need to grow the f— up.” And that, “I’m at a

place where my not growing up and my partner not growing up is creating a bottleneck in the relationship.”

I write books to give people a road map, so that when things emerge, [they] slow down long enough to be able to read what is starting. They condition themselves to tolerate through [repetitions]. I say early on in the book the only thing that makes you ready for a long-term relationship or marriage is marriage (or a long-term relationship!).

What I’m trying to do is really talk about energies—things I call “projective” energy and “receptive” energy. I try to operate like, What am I saying? What’s the function of it: individually and as a couple? And then go from there.

AN: Because behaviors, as in manipulation and control, come from either partner...

RM: It usually does. Many times, therapists are looking for the demonstrative pieces that are showing up between the couple, and then want to hand the couple the “tools” to work with. I think in terms of “toys.” Sometimes people are trying to see what things fit, how they can be used. We usually don’t talk about difficulties in relationships, in a way of people inquiring. As therapists, we usually think, “Let’s give these people some tools to fix what this is,” not, “Let’s help people be conditioned so that whatever is going on in the relationship, the resource that’s also in there can emerge forth to help address some of the things that are happening.” We don’t usually talk in those ways.

AN: This book deals with control. How do you deal with controlling people?

RM: When I’m working with couples, one of the things I do is access where people are at. My book is not for acute energy. I talk about violence...that’s the acute place. Trying to do couples work in that acute energy usually doesn’t work, because you’re having people who have an invested interest in keeping the levers operating around control and power, and it supersedes love.

This book isn’t about how you get some insight to help a partner. It really is [about] how you begin to make decisions about your purpose, through inquiry. What are the barriers between the assets and the aspirations? I’m really careful about telling people who are in acute situations to “work things out.” It is no longer a couple’s issue. It’s an issue of your own growth, understanding, safety, purpose.

(Nancy Wong photo)

‘I’m a Virgo’ is captivating, groundbreaking fare

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

Boots Riley’s brilliance shines through in the sensational and thought-provoking series, “I’m a Virgo.” This dark comedy fearlessly challenges society’s perception of eccentric billionaires as heroes, delivering a scorching critique of the corporate establishment. Streaming on Amazon, Riley’s masterful creation ingeniously packages its anti-capitalist message within the enthralling framework of a superhero drama and allegorical satire.

Prepare to be captivated by the abundance of groundbreaking ideas that “I’m a Virgo” presents, provoking a diverse range of responses and compelling viewers to engage deeply with the world around them. At the heart of the story is the extraordinary Cootie, portrayed with perfection by Jharrel Jerome, renowned for his Emmywinning performance in “When They See Us.”

Living a sheltered life in progressive Oakland, California, Cootie, the towering giant, is nurtured by his caring aunt and uncle (Carmen Ejogo and Mike Epps). Refusing to feed him processed food, they shield him from the corrupting influences of the outside world, allowing him only a glimpse through television and comic books.

But curiosity burns within the 13-foot-tall

Cootie, and he gains confidence from absorbing countless hours of infomercials, convinced that he’s ready to face the world. It is through an encounter with a group of teenage activists, led by Kara Young’s Jones, Brett Gray’s Felix, and Allius Barnes’ Scat, that Cootie finds himself thrust into the spotlight.

Enter Jay Whittle, the creator of comic book hero The Hero and a publishing magnate strikingly resembling Amazon’s founder, portrayed with compelling presence by Walton Goggins. Whittle’s statement, “All art is propaganda,” invites contemplation, setting the stage for the unapologetic originality of “I’m a Virgo.”

The remarkable writing team, including Riley, Tze Chun (“Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai”), and Michael R. Jackson (“A Strange Loop”), deserves accolades for crafting a narrative that effortlessly blends childlike whimsy with the richness of folklore. Their storytelling prowess transports viewers into a world where being a

13-foot-tall African American male in America becomes a captivating lens through which to examine life’s complexities.

Riley and his team channel their well-earned anger into the series, vehemently addressing the failings of the healthcare system driven by profit, the oppressive burden of soaring rents, the criminalization of poverty, the detrimental impact of processed food and predatory chain restaurants, and the deeply rooted inequalities perpetuated by a capitalist system that thrives on homelessness and incarceration.

While the seven-episode format offers a satisfying coming-of-age narrative, “I’m a Virgo” falls short of fully exploring Riley’s broader concerns. Some important aspects, like the allure of professional sports for someone like Cootie, receive only cursory attention, as the focus tends to shift toward more superficial themes like modeling. Although the decision to film in

Louisiana for cost-saving reasons diminishes the series’ connection to the Bay Area, it does not dampen Riley’s passionate agenda. Despite budget constraints, “I’m a Virgo” maintains a visually stunning aesthetic. Resourceful effects, employing forced perspective, miniatures, and puppetry, replace unnecessary CGI polish, adding an authentic and raw quality to the portrayal of Cootie’s colossal stature. Riley’s signature rough-hewn charm successfully weaves together seemingly disparate elements, such as clever commercial parodies, glimpses into a rough animated TV show, and the Brechtian visualization of Jones’ impassioned Marxist speeches, delivered with fervor by Kara Young.

Yet, beyond Riley’s powerful ideology, it is Jharrel Jerome’s exceptional performance that truly binds the series together. Jerome infuses Cootie with a mesmerizing blend of innocent joy, authentic physicality, and the smoldering passion of an untapped revolutionary. Alongside Olivia Washington, their portrayal of an unconventional love story, handled with meticulous care, transcends potential pitfalls of silliness or discomfort. While Riley and “I’m a Virgo” tackle weighty topics head-on, it is the profound emotional depth conveyed by Jerome and Washington that captures the hearts of viewers invested in their remarkable journey.

‘And Just Like That’ redefines itself with diversity

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

In an exceptional episode of the highly anticipated new season of “And Just Like That,” the continuation of the iconic “Sex and the City” franchise, a powerful moment unfolds as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) grapples with a profound challenge. She reluctantly agrees to record the audiobook of her memoir, delving into her experiences as a new widow. Yet, unexpectedly, the once-vocal and unfiltered Carrie finds herself unable to articulate her thoughts.

This emotionally stirring scene resonates deeply, tapping into the viewers’ strong connection with the character while showcasing Parker’s remarkable talent. It also celebrates the vibrant presence of women of color in the series, who infuse it with an exuberance and richness that adds a whole new dimension of excitement.

“And Just Like That” is a captivating and unconventional show that fearlessly embraces its occasional imperfections, transforming them into moments of genuine power. It skillfully navigates the intricate dynamics of friendship, presenting a realistic portrayal of the ebb and flow in relationships.

Carrie, in a state of transition, grapples with the uncertainties that lie ahead, and Parker masterfully captures her restlessness, delivering a compelling performance. Gone are the overtly dramatic markers of Carrie’s past strug-

gles—the series allows for a more nuanced exploration of her desires and aspirations.

Miranda, brilliantly portrayed by Cynthia Nixon, confronts the disquieting notion that she may have made misguided choices, while Charlotte, played by Kristin Davis, unfortunately takes a backseat in terms of plot development. This disparity can be attributed to Nicole Ari Parker’s magnetic performance, which effortlessly outshines the material written for her. While the introduction of a new ensemble cast was a commendable effort to diversify the show’s core, it encounters some hurdles along the way. The newer characters often feel more like ideas than fully realized individuals. Showrunner Michael Patrick King, constrained by time limitations, seems less invested in their character development. However, the series truly comes alive when it delves into Carrie’s world, highlighting her unwavering presence as the protagonist. This juxtaposition between Carrie’s steadiness and the show’s expansion creates a fascinating dynamic.

Despite its rough edges, “And Just Like That” captivates viewers by fearlessly exploring real pain and examining the irreversible consequences faced by Carrie and Miranda. The tender and delicately portrayed scenes between Carrie and Aidan, portrayed by John Corbett, demonstrate the show’s ability to evoke genuine emotions and showcase profound character growth. This season delves into the complexities of navigating life after the age of 50, defying ex-

pectations, and delivering a narrative that mirrors the unpredictability of real life.

The original “Sex and the City” indeed had a lack of diversity, which was surprising considering its vibrant setting in New York City, a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. The decision to introduce women of color in the reboot, brings a much-needed breath of fresh air to the series. It is truly their presence that adds a sparkling quality to the show.

While it would be wonderful if the focus

could solely be on these BIPOC women and their stories, it’s understandable that Sarah Jessica Parker, as the face of the franchise, maintains a central role. Nevertheless, it is the BIPOC women who have injected new life into the aging framework of the series, giving it renewed vitality and authenticity. They have become a vital force that elevates the show beyond its previous limitations.

These characters are Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), and Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury).

Showrunner King’s decision to reimagine “Sex and the City” rather than replicate its original form is commendable. Acknowledging the passage of time and the impossibility of improving on the iconic episodes of the past, the show takes a bold and fresh approach. “And Just Like That” confidently carves its own path, reflecting the growth of both the characters and the ever-changing world around them. Its narrative is refreshingly messy, mirroring the spontaneity of real life.

While active recommendations may not be necessary for dedicated fans who are probably already eagerly watching, the show undoubtedly contributes to a larger storytelling project that explores the transformation of cities, relationships, individuals, and narratives over time.

The first two episodes of “And Just Like That” debuted on Max on Thursday, June 22, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly on Thursdays.

Nicole Ari Parker, Ellie Reine (Photo courtesy of Max)

(Photos courtesy of Amazon)

Happy, happy, Harlem Pride

The LGBTQ+ community came out to celebrate Harlem Pride 2023 on Saturday, June 24. The neighborhood’s Pride events stretched along 12th Ave. and featured food, music and informational vendors. Electeds also joined with community members to celebrate the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and its achievements.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, D.A. Alvin Bragg, Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs, and Council Member Gale Brewer were all noticeably in attendance. “I could not be prouder to be the governor of a state that is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement,”

Gov. Hochul said in an address to the crowd. “And when people in other states are trying to take away the rights of our friends, we have to stand up. We have to stand up and show them who we are in New York––that we will not tolerate that. We’ll call it out, and we’ll shut it down because New York leads and what we’re

talking about is moving forward together fearlessly.

“That’s how you get along in New York. You have to be fearless every single day. You have to be tough. You have to stand up to the hatred and the bigotry, and that’s what this celebration is all about.”

— Karen Juanita Carrillo

(Amanda Ulloa photos)

HOROSCOPES BY

KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By SUPREME GODDESS KYA

June 29, 2023—July 5, 2023

There is a full moon in Capricorn at 11 degrees at 7:39 a.m. EST, and to inner-stand what’s in store for you reflect from Dec 23, 2022 through July 3, 2023. What circumstances stand out within your life? What growth took place in your life? The full moon will trine Jupiter and the Sun conjunct Mercury, Jupiter sextile Saturn, Saturn sextile moon. This blend of sextile and trine brings growth, expansion, balance, protection, opportunities, and the pursuit of happiness when you apply yourself. Although the world is changing secretly yet openly felt within humanity due to Pluto in Capricorn at 29 degrees handling unfinished business back and forth until 2024 in phases. Pluto will soon square the north in Aries on July 18 indicating a new beginning and a release of the old patterns keeping you stuck in the mud. This a renewal upgrade of activation within one D.N.A. identity and the restoration of the heart plus the law of the land. “No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.” Theodore Roosevelt

Hold tight Cappy, you’re entering a cycle month where most odds are against you, yet you stand your ground. There is always a repetitive cycle that wants to keep you hitting 4 walls knowing there is a door between all 4 walls as an out. You are very aware of the lesson/energy coming from all 4 walls and now it’s time to walk through that door stronger, wiser, and more equipped than when you entered that door before. Around 1 p.m. on July 2nd until 1 p.m. July 4, reflect on your life from Dec 23, 2022 through July 3, 2023; there you will find the messages in plain sight.

In the midst of your solar return, deep within you are experiencing metamorphosis of a growth spurt, like a baby to toddler, teen, then adult. This one is unique due to the areas of your life that need a shakeup, like that offered by the planet Uranus; a great awakening of a quick flash that will push you forward while aiding in a release from the old way. It’s time to cross over the bridge of what awaits you on the other side. Enter the days leading up to July 6th with vision, structure, faith, commitment, and application, and you can position yourself as you envision your dreams to manifest.

A cycle where something is ending as you are building a stronger foundation within your personal and professional development. Whatever is pulling on your heartstrings, let it go so you can fly and soar away to rebrand, rebuild, reconstruct yourself to a higher version of self. At some point this week, something is grabbing your attention for you to see. When the question of what, why, where, who, when pops up when you are in the energy field, just listen and sit back. Around 1:30 p.m. on July 4 until 1:33 p.m. on July 6, what did you discover?

A new direction, location, with new alliances, is ushering you right into a new cycle. Get in the position of gathering all your things and thoughts, and give and donate things to make space for the new. Let go of whatever you need to and also forgive and forget those who do not know better, including yourself at some point. It’s a cycle week to travel, study, and to explore parts of your talents, skills, gifts, and expertise that have not been used. The time is now to apply your gifts. In the days leading up to July 6, just because your heartbeat is beating faster, don’t neglect the decision you decided to hold firmly, and know we the people are always tested by the almighty Divine Creator.

What is your favorite thing to do? Where is your heart leading you? What style complements your skin tone, energy, frequency, and makes you pursue your happiness every sunrise and sunset? July is all about exciting changes, and currently you are in preparation before takeoff. Set aside time for a family fun night, as your personal and business life get more and more occupied. Around 11 a.m. on June 30 until July around 1 p.m. decisions, options, and opportunities present themselves, so choose the best offer that aligns with your heart.

Who doesn’t like to be catered to and treated like royalty after putting in work? July offers you the chance to slow down a bit and smell the essence of nature. If you need something, ask and you shall receive it in the first week of July. Nurture yourself with water, fruit, vegetables, exercise, rest, rejuvenation, and anything that brings harmony to your life. Women will be a resource to you for the advice you seek. Around 1 p.m. on July 2 until 1 p.m. July 4, the details are within you reflecting your outside world and environment.

July is about new opportunities: ideas that make you dance and make your soul speak, elevating you higher. After an achievement it’s time to roll up your sleeves to adventure on to your next mission/project. Although you are not alone and never alone spiritually, there are some missions where you have to journey alone without your team. Mentally build your strength getting the job done; the right people will come to aid in your endeavors. Around 1:30 p.m. on July 4 until 1:33 p.m. FAITH without work is dead.

WWW.KYAFRENCH.COM |

July is a fulfillment month with the assistance of Mars, with Venus’s transit in Leo increasing your willpower in aspects of love, work, romance, and embarking on new ideas for a project. July themes are weddings, births of children, grand openings, improvements of health, community events, family gatherings etc. Whatever you envision, you will find a way to make it a reality. Continue to stay focused, as July is a slow-moving month, intentionally on purpose. From around 11 a.m. on June 30 until July 2 around 1 p.m., service through tithing is rewarding, especially when you are called on or tested by the Divine Creator.

Since the first week of September last year, you have been embarking on a new path, setting the course of your life in a new direction. The last week of May was an eye opener to see some progress. As the month ends, what foundation do you stand on emotionally, spiritually, mentally, financially, physically, and within your health as you build forward on your foundation? Grab your to-do list, review your goals, plans, etc. to innerstand your strategy to see results. Around 1 p.m. on July 2 until 1 p.m. July 4, allow your passion to encourage and ignite your spark from within.

The seeds you planted usher in a new alliance, a new journey with new opportunities and a new perspective on life. July is a month to do something different, out of the ordinary: for instance, change your appearance and hairstyle. The key this month is collecting all the intel, signs, signals, even down to the conversation and the tone of them. It will all add up towards the end of July. Around 1:30 p.m. on July 4, partnerships with women are significant and allow time to nurture your energy.

July is a month of spontaneous events, adventures, and sudden changes within your profession and personal lifestyle. This cycle week, get into a steady routine to restore balance in your personal and professional development. Review your agenda and check your voicemails, emails, messages, and calendar before doing things on the fly. Financial and professional growth opportunities are within arm’s reach. Use your words this month to get results. In the days leading up to July 6, the keyword is “short-term;” do things in increments in a short period of time. You mean business.

July is about thinking outside the box. After you develop the plan it’s time to make a move on the chessboard. Which piece are you moving first? How are you in position? What is your posture along with your attitude? When pressure is applied, your adrenaline pumps up, and sweat begins to flow and the excitement kicks in. As onerous or inconvenient as a situation may be, you weather the storm and know victory is on the other side. You had to be there at that moment to experience the experience. From around 11 a.m. on June 30 until July 2, every program needs a system with strategy.

CONSULTATIONS 866-331-5088

Vinateria

Blacks are beautiful and abound at 67th Annual Drama Desk Awards

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

At this year’s 67th Annual Drama Desk Awards, which recognize excellence in Broadway and Off-Broadway Theatre, Black performers, producers, playwrights, and more took home numerous honors.

The top winner was the Broadway musical “Some Like It Hot,” which earned eight Drama Desk Awards, including outstanding musical, which anyone who has seen it knows it lives up to. J. Harrison Ghee won for outstanding lead performance in a musical and is stupendous in the role of Daphne. Outstanding book for a musical went to Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin. Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen were recognized for outstanding orchestrations. The musical also won outstanding choreography, outstanding lyrics, outstanding costume design, and outstanding featured performance in a musical.

Outstanding revival of a play went to August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” In the category of outstanding lead performance, Alex Newell received the Drama Desk recognition for the role of Lulu in “Shucked.”

Suzan-Lori Parks’s “Plays for the Plague Year,” which was at the Public Theatre, received the Drama Desk Award for outstanding music in a play. This playwright writes music as well— something I had not realized.

“Ain’t No Mo’,” the short-lived Broadway play written by and starring Jordan E. Cooper, earned two Drama Desk Awards: outstanding costume design of a play for Emilio Sosa, and outstanding wig and hair for Mia M. Neal.

The Drama Desk Awards also gave a special Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award to the one and only Stephen McKinley Henderson, who was recently seen in “Between Riverside and Crazy” on Broadway in the role of Pops, which was created tailored for him. Henderson was honored for a career well done and still happening.

The Drama Desk awards are always about inclusion and fairness, rising to the occasion of welcoming everyone who is part of the industry to the table and saying, “We see you, appreciate you, and honor you.” This year, for the first time, the Drama Desk Awards dropped the categories of actor and actress, and just referred to people as performers. This was done for thespians who are part of the LGBTQIA community and are nonbinary, like two of this year’s winners: Ghee and Newell.

Please see whatever Broadway and offBroadway shows you can, and support theater.

Alex Newell proudly displays Drama Desk Award

Emilio Sosa with Drama Desk Award

Jordan E. Cooper at Drama Desk Awards

Suzan-Lori Parks proudly displays her Drama Desk Award (Barry Gordon photos)

Bryan Carter holds his Drama Desk honor

Black artists make history at 76th Annual Tony Awards

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell made history at the 76th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, when they became the first non-binary performers to win a Tony Award. They did so with beauty, grace, and a lot of PRIDE!

Ghee won for his lead performance as Jerry/Daphne in “Some Like It Hot.” When he took the stage at the United Palace Theatre on Broadway and 176th Street in Washington Heights, he reached new heights as he said, “My mother raised me to understand that my gifts weren’t about me. For every trans, non-binary who was told you couldn’t be seen, this is for us. Thank you for my company. As we say in the show, ‘Some Like It Hot and that ain’t bad, Honey’—that’s the gospel according to J.”

Later in the evening, Ghee was asked how he feels about knowing that with each performance, he is an example to others to be their true self as he is being his true self as a non-binary performer. “It’s all in how I live my life with intention, with purpose, and with love,” he said. “…when I saw the script and saw the journey that I got to take, I saw the opportunity to be that representation, to be an inspiration. To be someone that can be a part of people’s lives in a way that they can see themselves and grow and live and expand. It’s not something I take lightly. It is something that I cherish and I am honored and it’s a dream come true truly.”

Regarding winning a Tony on his first nomination, Ghee said, “It’s so mind-blowing and yet grounding at the same time. It feels so aligned, it feels so intentional, and I am just humbled by the opportunity at this moment. It’s wonderful to walk every day and give myself the grace to grow. You have to free yourself to see yourself! You have to give yourself that permission to walk into who you are and what makes you happy in life. And so, every day, I find ways to walk into my freedom and my joy, and I love playing Daphne.”

When asked what he is saying to young people of the LGBTIQ+ community about how they should live their truth, Ghee responded, “Doing what aligns with you and allowing life in circumstances to stretch, really allowing yourself to show up in a moment and respond. Not allowing using someone else’s label on you to departmentalize you, to keep you bound. To allow freedom. Find the freedom and lean into it. Every night, I get to sing ‘You Could Have Knocked Me Over with a Feather’ and it is a daunting task, but at the same time, I…get into the joy and that’s what brings me joy and power and grounds me every night— that I can get into this moment and find such expansion in my own life.”

Taking the stage to accept the Tony for featured performance for the character of Lulu in “Shucked,” Newell said, “I have wanted this my entire life and I thank each and every one of you in this room. Thank you

for seeing me, Broadway! I should not be up here as a queer, trans, fat person on Broadway. To anyone who thinks they can’t do it, you can do anything you put your mind to!”

“Topdog/Underdog” by Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks won the Tony for best revival of a play. “Look at what the spirit can do,” Parks said. “I want to thank you, brother Kenny Leon [director] and Yahya and Corey [cast]. I thank our brilliant producers, like LaChanze. Theater is the great cure. Thank you for acknowledging our contribution.”

Parks later said that inspiring performers is her job. “That’s my thing—I’m here to remind us that the spirit is a real thing. We

are all sacred agents. We’re not just doing entertainment; this is about reminding people that the spirit exists, that we’re all in one family, we’re all in one group and we should love each other as much as possible. Wake up to the love, people.”

Parks said that when she originally wrote “Topdog/Underdog” more than 20 years ago, she was feeling a lot of despair and hoped it would take her out of that. She wasn’t seeing plays that resonated with her, not just as a Black person in the world, but in her experience as a human being. “I wasn’t seeing enough plays that made me say, ‘Yeah, we’re alive,’” she recalled. “This play is an opportunity to remind people that we’re alive and

we’re here and that we mean something to each other…It’s an important story to tell.”

The play is a story about two Black men who are brothers, living in one room. “It’s about people who don’t have a lot of opportunities, so it’s specifically that, but what happens when you tell a story with that authenticity and you have it directed and acted so brilliantly is that it resonates far and wide,” Parks said. “Suddenly, you have people who don’t look like those two men on stage feeling their own vitality. Feeling the possibilities of their own life, even though we’re watching two men with limited possibilities, because it has the currency

J. Harrison Ghee (Linda Armstrong photos)

Suzan-Lori Parks

LaChanze Tony Awards 2023 Red Carpet LaTanya Richardson (L) Samuel L Jackson (R)

Yvonne Wells featured at Fort Gansevoort gallery

By MELISSA STERN Special to the AmNews

The Fort Gansevoort Gallery in the Meatpacking District (5 Ninth Ave., NYC) has just opened a new show by Yvonne Wells, a selftaught quilter from rural Alabama. Born in 1939, Wells started quilting later in life, after working as a physical education teacher in the public schools during the turbulent era of integration in the South. She turned to quilting first as a utilitarian hobby and eventually as a means of personal storytelling.

Using scraps and found fabric yardage, she began to tell stories of the civil rights struggles in the South as well as document, with a wry sense of humor, her views of American popular culture heroes. Elvis, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, and Louis Armstrong all appear in this exhibition. The gallery has opted to present some of these lighter-themed pieces in a way that is delightful in its creative and amused view of pop culture icons.

Entitled “Play the Hand That’s Dealt You,” the show covers the time period from 1990–2022. It really shows the evolution of Wells’s style and technique. The earliest piece—my favorite—is “Satchmo” (1990).

In this work, a tribute to jazz genius Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, Wells quilted a sheet of Armstrong’s music that dances across the surface of the quilt. Using a pink-patterned backdrop, she portrays the man through the energetic rhythm of his notes. The bold black silhouettes of the musical notation read as both “music” and strong abstract design. This music is going to rock your world.The actual portrait of Satchmo is small, as if to say “the music is the man.”

Wells’s love of music and pop culture is whimsically addressed in the many portraits of musicians in the show. Her stitched portrait of B.B. King is a great example of how successfully she marries the medium of quilting to her sense of design and color.

playful combination of fabric patterns to set a sense of place and time. She creates a sky using blue and white patterned cotton on the top and left side; green and floral prints on the right side and bottom create the park. The lines of white quilting stitches look like pathways through the bucolic scene. These elements are both literal and abstract, as are the color blocks within the quilt. The bandshell, a man in a hammock, and a small bike rider all set the tone for a day in the park, listening to the master bluesman. As with most of her quilts in this show, there is a pervasive sense of joy and celebration. Having looked into Yvonne Wells’s body of work, I admit that I am most taken with her political pieces. Commenting on the Civil Rights Movement and the Southern history that she has lived through, these pieces are potent and have an urgency about them. However, the pieces in her current show are delightful, beautiful, and well worth the trip to the gallery. It is nice to get a view into an artist’s full oeuvre, and Wells shows her obvious delight in music and her life in this exhibition. You will leave with a smile on your face.

“B.B. King Concert in the Garden” shows the musician playing an outdoor concert in Memphis (as stated in the wall label). This quilt uses the juxtaposition of scale and a

Continued from page 22

“The greatest act of love I can muster is putting characters in a play, and I love Lincoln and Booth so very much. I think audiences are feeling love and power, and possibility and life.”

Parks noted that plays on Broadway usually “play it safe, because there’s a lot of money involved, but ‘Topdog/Underdog’ on Broadway was very raw and very immediate. I’m so proud of us in the theater community for accepting the story of these two men who most people would

just discount.”

Yvonne Wells, “Play the Hand that’s Dealt You,” Fort Gansevoort gallery through August 8. https:// www.fortgansevoort. com/exhibitions/yvonnewells#tab:slideshow. of a spirit. That play came to me and it was a story I had to tell.

Parks said she loves that Broadway has embraced her. “This win tonight is a win for inclusion and excellence!”

LaChanze, who won a Tony Award for her performance in “The Color Purple,” made her producing debut with “Kimberly Akimbo,” which won Best Musical.

“I am so honored to receive this Tony,” said the first-time producer.

What makes this producing Tony special for LaChanze is that, she said, “when you talk about media and inclusion and having a seat at the table for everyone, I believe that the most important thing is belonging, so what’s exciting for me about

being a producer and winning a Tony as a producer is that it lets so many other young women and women of color know that they belong in this space. That’s why it’s really exciting to me because I’m hoping to be an example to so many [who] wonder if they can do this—yes, you can!”

LaChanze said her next project will be to produce “Here Lies Love” on Broadway with a largely Filipino cast.

“Kimberly Akimbo” came away with a total of five Tonys, also winning for best book of a musical, best original score, best performance by a lead actress, and best performance by a featured actress.

“Some Like It Hot” won additional Tony Awards for best choreography, costumes, and orchestrations. Collaborators on orchestrations were Charlie Rosen and African American Bryan Carter.

Carter said that two years ago, there was a different environment when it came to inclusion. “In the last two years, there’s been a reckoning on how we treat people of color, how we treat people who are trans and non-binary, and we make sure that we create spaces that feel safe for everyone.”

The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

B.B. King Concert in the Garden, 79 x 64, assorted fabrics, 2019

Installation view of the gallery (Melissa Stern photos)

Satchmo, 65 x 60 inches, assorted fabrics, 1990

Play the Hand That’s Dealt You, 81.5 x 65, assorted fabrics, 2011

Ravi Coltrane, ‘Ain’t But a Few of Us’

Pursuing a career as a jazz musician is challenging enough, but public and critic expectations escalated when the aspiring musician happened to be Ravi Coltrane, the son of jazz beacons Alice and John Coltrane. Ravi once explained to me that early on, there was no pressure from his mom, only encouragement. Most important in what he learned from his mother and her reflections on his father (who transitioned when Ravi was only 2 years old) was their spiritual love for the music and its endless pursuit in all directions.

The Ravi Coltrane Quartet arrives at the Birdland jazz club (315 W. 44th Street) from June 27–July 1. The saxophonist’s quartet will feature some of his frequent band members: pianist David Virelles, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Johnathan Blake. Having played together on many occasions, these established musicians, once known as young guns, have all become influential jazz travelers. Through their journeys, they are consistently developing new music paths and moving the sound of jazz in varied directions. Aside from performing original compositions, Coltrane will honor the legacy of his parents John and Alice Coltrane with his powerful, free-spirited excursions—a family trait he inherited.

Shows are Tuesday–Saturday at 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. (6/27–29); 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. (6/30–7/1). For reservations, visit www.birdlandjazz.com or call 212-581-3080.

“Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story,” edited and conceived of by Willard Jenkins (Duke University Press, 2022) should be considered required reading for high school and college students, particularly those pursuing careers in music or journalism. Jazz journalist, broadcaster, and artistic director Jenkins has brought together 49 noted Black music writers whose primary focus is jazz, as well as other music genres. As the title notes, they tell their engrossing stories—their spirited individual journeys through the sorted maze of jazz writing in America.

“The goal has been to include Black writers from several different perspectives and stations in the media pursuit,” Jenkins explains in

his introduction. “This book represents a variety of viewpoints and vantage points, but inevitably the dialogue leads back to considerations of that specious, man-made construct known as race.”

It’s unfortunate that just days after celebrating Juneteenth, here we are still discussing race and hiring equality. But then again, it wasn’t until the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the riots that forced editors of magazines and daily newspapers to begin hiring Blacks (which led to affirmative action). “The problem of the 20th century is the race problem,” stated W.E.B. DuBois. And here in this 21st century, the race problem is still America’s most serious domestic problem, which only substantiates the timeliness and significance of “Ain’t But a Few of Us.”

But let’s understand: “Ain’t But a Few of Us” is not an African American commentary on race. This large ensemble of experienced writers, from A.B. Spellman and Greg Tate to Eugene Holley, Jr., Herb Boyd, Jordannah Elizabeth, Robin James, and I are discussing their triumphs in jazz writing, their great love for the music, and how they got started and why, despite various barri-

ers. The book also serves as a brief encyclopedia listing of America’s Black jazz writers. They share an intimacy with the music and their lives as music writers and how they navigate these waters ruled by white men.

“When I first started writing about jazz, of course I was aware of the shortage of Black writers covering the music. There was me, LeRoi Jones (not yet Baraka), some of the belles lettres pieces of Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray, and not much else,” wrote A.B. Spellman. “I’m not sure why that’s still such a disparity: the number of significant Black musicians making serious music versus so few Black writers on the subject.” Jenkins organized his chapters based on the writers’ professional orientations; authors, magazine editors and publishers, contributors to Black community publications, freelancers, columnists, and online writers. Most importantly, they discuss how race colors the creation and coverage of the music. Writers like Farah Jasmine Griffin, Robin D.G. Kelley, and others offer a historical and cultural context; Playthell Benjamin adds a classical music concept; and Bridget Arnwine outlines the complexity of

many of these contributors have written for the publications mentioned, so their talent has been recognized, even though total acceptance has been another issue. With so much deception and divisiveness in the world, we should be able to come together over the music—the universal language!

Recently, Jenkins received the ultimate recognition when “Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story” was named Book of the Year About Jazz: History, Criticism and Culture by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Jenkins collaborated with griot pianist, composer, and NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston on the latter’s autobiography, ”African Rhythms” (2010). Here, he is the editor of this brilliant book bringing together a host of Black music writers to tell their story. This seldom happens; music/jazz writers are never given an opportunity to tell their personal stories. Many readers know writers by bylines, authored books, and maybe a panel or two.

being a woman writer of color.

Overall, Black writers bring another perspective, emotion, and texture to the coverage of jazz or any genre being covered; it’s unthinkable such a contribution is being challenged on a regular basis.

“Ain’t But a Few of Us” concludes by compiling some of the important journalistic discussions of jazz and race, including Amiri Baraka’s “Jazz and the White Critic” and Stanley Crouch’s “Putting the White Man in Charge.”

Hopefully, “Ain’t But a Few of Us” will serve as a road to conversation—a bridge to diversity and inclusion among white-dominated socially structured publications. But it should be noted that

For students, each writer offers a personal history of their lives with shared commonalities in their insights, the importance of inclusion and diversity, and, regardless of barriers and disparities, giving up is never an option. As James Brown sang, “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing, open up the door, I’ll get it myself.” Reading this book just once isn’t enough.

As we come to the close of Black Music Month, we honorably once again pay tribute to our ancestors whose addictive rhythms, hollers, call and response, and melodic cadences became the fundamental elements of Black music, and to today’s warrior musicians, who have kept the ancestors’ traditions while expanding it in all directions. Playing in the midst of a pandemic, chaos, civil disobedience, American terrorism, happiness, sadness, and 50 years of hip-hop. Without Black music, where would America Be? Grooveless!!!

Black Music lives 24/7/365. “Say it Loud/I’m Black and Proud.” We Insist: Freedom Now!

Author Willard Jenkins

(Photo courtesy of Willard Jenkins)

Housing

Continued from page 3

are not fooled by the mayor’s lackluster endorsement of the 90-day rule reform,” said VOCAL-NY Homelessness Union’s Milton Perez. “Time and time again folks in my community have laid out the problems with CityFHEPS for this mayor and his administration, and they go beyond a 90-day waiting period. The fact that this mayor would consider vetoing legislation, but adopt changes to the 90-day rule—something that he could have done in his first days in office—proves that this move is a petty, political distraction.”

This veto also coincides with Adams’ recent attempt to scale back the four-decade-old Callahan consent decree—better known as the city’s established legal right-to-shelter—

street homelessness. And advocates see the vetoed bill package as an alternative way to take care of people who are here. I think nobody wants to see people sleeping on the street.”

Metro Briefs

Continued from page 3

Annual Marcus Garvey Parade in Harlem coming Thursday, Aug. 17

Bring your banners and drummers to participate in the Marcus Garvey Parade on Aug. 17. Assemble at 3 p.m. at Marcus Garvey Park (West 124th Street and 5th Ave. in the village of Harlem.) The parade starts at 5.30 p.m. Call 718-570-7350 for information.

A reception celebration with a Black business expo and vendors, and a red, black, and green banquet will take place at the Alhambra Ball Room (2116 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.) from 7 p.m. to midnight. For reception tickets, call 929-624-4142 or 347-528-4479.

Mount Vernon Police Department is recruiting

The Mount Vernon Police Department will offer its Police Officer Examination on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, at Mount Vernon High School. If you’re interested in taking the exam, you must complete an application and return it to the Civil Service office at City Hall by 3 p.m. on July 31, 2023, at Applications are available at City Hall (1 Roosevelt Square N.; 914-665-2300), Mount Vernon Police Department (2 Roosevelt Square; 914665-2500), or online at www.cmvny.com.

––Compiled by Karen Juanita Carrillo

Mayor Adams

CLASSROOM IN THE ACTIVITIES

Don Blackman, credited and uncredited roles in many films

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

Over the course of years, we’ve seen “On the Waterfront” (1954) numerous times, but never knowing who the Black man was often seen among the dock workers. Well, after a little research, we discover that Don Blackman was born May 12, 1912, in Alabama. Among his several credited and uncredited films, his role in “On the Waterfront” may have been his most significant one.

Watching the film a few days ago on Turner Classic Movies revealed that Blackman has three speaking lines during various confrontations on the waterfront, most memorably when he characterizes Marlon Brando’s beating by Lee J. Cobb and his henchmen as “a massacre.” For the most part, he and one other Black stevedore are merely faces in the crowd.

Blackman is vaguely remembered as Umgala in “Bomba and the Jungle Girl,” in 1952, perhaps his earliest film. In one scene, Blackman has Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) in a chokehold, which recalls his days as a professional wrestler. The Bomba films, picking up on his role as Boy in the Tarzan movies, are typically a white man overcoming hordes of so-called African savages. Blackman is the lieutenant to the beautiful Queen Boru, portrayed by Suzette Harbin, and neither gets as much screen time as Kimbro, the chimp.

In “The Old Man and the Sea” (1958), Blackman’s prowess as a wrestler is once again highlighted when he demonstrates his strength as an arm wrestler. He is matched against Spencer Tracy, their arms locked in a contest in which they try to pin the other’s hand to the table (see the film to learn the outcome). Blackman, decked out in a beret, appears to be an artisan of some sort, although that may just be his way of dressing.

In “Black Tuesday” (1954), starring Edward G. Robinson, Blackman is Selwyn, but mainly an uncredited role. There is a stock photo from the film where Blackman is standing next to Robinson,

Peter Graves, and Jack Kelly.

In “The Egyptian” (1954), Blackman shares the screen with Victor Mature, Gene Tierney, Edmund Purdom, and Jean Simmons, portraying a Nubian prince, unlike his extra role in “Jungle Drums of Africa” (1953). In this adventure, an intrepid explorer and a missionary’s daughter set out on a perilous journey through Africa, seeking the rights to a uranium mine (umm… shades of “Wakanda”). En route, they encounter spies, angry natives, lion attacks, and a brush with voodoo, and we needn’t tell you where Blackman appears.

Blackman was a busy actor in 1954. In “Serpent Island,” he portrays Jacques and makes another appearance in a voodoo context. Oddly, he made no movies with Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), although he would have been a perfect physical counterpart to the great swimmer and swinger through the jungles.

“Scream Blacula Scream” (1973) is one of Blackman’s last films, made with the stars were William

Marshall, Bernie Hamilton, and Pam Grier. Blackman’s character is Doll Man, and once again there’s the voodoo connection.

“Gunmen for Laredo” (1959), “The Birds and the Bees” (1956), “Champ for a Day” (1953), “Desert Legion” (1953), “The Royal African Rifles” (1953), and “Joe’s Apartment” (1996), round out Blackman’s filmography.

Blackman was a versatile and busy actor, and we are sure that some of our more informed film buffs will fill in the blanks about this often-neglected actor.

Blackman died on September 11, 1977, in San Fernando, Calif., after accumulating an impressive record of roles in Hollywood films. He was 65.

FIND OUT MORE

It is our hope that informed movie historians and buffs can provide us with more information about Don Blackman’s early years.

DISCUSSION

We are not sure why Blackman was featured in so many voodoo and jungle films, although that question may be an easy one to answer.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Blackman arrived in Hollywood presumably as more roles were being offered to African American actors, although many of them were demeaning.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

June 26, 1974: Yankee great Derek Jeter was born in Pequannock Township, N.J.

June 27, 1872: Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio. He died in 1906.

June 30, 1917: Singer and actress Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn. She died in 2010 at 92.

Don Blackman in “On the Waterfront.”

Blackman arm-wrestling with Spencer Tracy in “The Old Man and the Sea.”

issued criminal summons, although there’s a significantly smaller sample size to pull from.

So does the data indicate Black and brown New Yorkers are overcriminalized? Or are white New Yorkers undercriminalized? The researchers say there’s little proving a higher volume of summons feeds into public safety.

“[We] are not aware of any evidence that issuing a large number of summons through

low level infractions reduces serious crime,” said Stenkamp. “It’s better to focus on tackling the disparities that we do see, by reducing the number summonses issued to Black and brown Yorkers.”

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.

across different types of families, educational backgrounds, and occupations, Black and brown people are more likely to lack higher incomes due to latent impacts of a systemic and racist structure. Nathaniel said fair fares are a viable solution to making the city more affordable to live in.

MTA leadership has held four public hearings on the proposed fare and toll hikes. The increases are meant to keep up with inflation and were paused briefly during the COVID-19 pandemic, they said. This year, Governor Kathy Hochul’s state budget approved a 4% in fares and 5.5% in tolls increase every other year to help with revenue costs.

In the hearings, MTA leadership said that the increases are there to help balance the budget over time fairly. They also touted their Fair Fares program as a discounted solution for low-income commuters, but didn’t mention an expansion.

Obviously the fare hikes are a mixed bag among commuters. Some in the hearings were appalled and some were in support. Many who signed up to testify had more questions than comments about how this

would affect them.

Christy Tolbert, a commuter from Long Island who represented the LIRR Commuter Council, said in the public hearing that no one likes increases but people can understand maintaining quality service and supported caps on increases at 6%.

“Without investment in this year’s budget, riders will be facing far greater fare hikes and potential service cuts,” said Tolbert.

Nicholas Reyes, state committee member for Assembly District 68, was definitely not in favor. He adamantly said that it was “disgusting” to offload a faulty system’s costs on the backs of everyday riders in the city.

“I come from an underserved community,” he said in the hearings.

“To impose any kind of fare increase does not make sense with the current infrastructure of our trains [and buses] and I just wonder how many people who are responsible for these fare hikes actually take the train because if you did, you’d know how absurd this sounds.”

A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said that the enrollment for the Fair Fares program has steadily increased since its inception and has historically been “underutilized.”

She said that the city has never spent more than $75 million currently allocated for the program. The city is

looking to do more outreach, education, and increasing enrollment for Fair Fares, she said.

Rightsizing a budget to meet demand doesn’t mean fewer people are taking advantage of a program, said the spokesperson.

“We want as many New Yorkers as possible to take advantage of Fair Fares and we will evaluate additional needs through the budget process,” said the mayor’s spokesperson. “As for proposed fare hikes, the state budget included a funding package for the MTA to stabilize its finances, but also to enhance services, establish a fare-free bus pilot, and lower the proposed fare increase. We applaud those rider-centric enhancements, and while the decision on increased fares is ultimately up to the MTA board, we encourage the board to focus on fare products that will not disproportionately impact low-income riders and essential workers.”

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.

NYC Department for

Aging is recruiting volunteers for age-inclusive opportunities including,

WE WILL BE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR QUALIFICATIONS WILL BE BASED ON THE SECTION 8 GUIDELINES. ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST. EXPECTED VACANCIES CAN OCCUR AT ANY TIME. INTERESTED PEOPLE MAY OBTAIN AN APPLICATION BY WRITING TO:

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IF YOU HAVE A DISABILITY AND NEED ASSISTANCE WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PLEASE CONTACT LOURDES ORTIZ AT 914-833-2600 EXT. 117.

Student holds up sign protesting arrests and summons at schools in 2019 (Jeff Reed New York City Council photo)

This summer break, let’s combat education delays

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Summer officially started on June 21, which means the last day of school for New York City students was June 27. But what will the summer school break season mean for area kids who, according to recent test scores, are suffering academically?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that New York State’s fourth and eighth grade students have fallen behind on their reading and math scores. New York saw its most pronounced drops in fourth grade math scores, where students average a score of 227 out of 500: “lower than their av-

erage score in 2019 (237) and…not significantly different from their average score in 2000 (225),” NAEP summaries show.

“The percentage of students in New York who performed at or above the NAEP Basic level was 66% in 2022. This percentage was smaller than that in 2019 (76%) and was not significantly different from that in 2000 (66%).”

Pandemic-related learning loss

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted the nation-wide student test assessments for the NAEP. “We are observing steep drops in achievement, troubling shifts in reading habits and other factors that affect achievement, and rising mental health challenges alongside alarming changes in school climate,”

NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr claimed in a statement.

“The mathematics decline for 13-year-olds was the single largest decline we have observed in the past half a century. The mathematics score for the lowest-performing students has returned to levels last seen in the 1970s, and the reading score for our lowestperforming students was actually lower than it was the very first year [this] data [was] collected, in 1971.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is pointed to as having a devastating effect on children’s learning abilities. NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli noted that because the state was hit early by COVID-19, schools moved quickly to using remote learning, but remote learning was a luxury that not all students were able to use in New York, or the world. COVID-19-related lockdowns and disruptions led to a global learning loss; at one point during the pandemic, 94% of the world’s student population was subject to school closures.

“It is critical to understand the extent to which learning progress has changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors of an analysis of evidence on learning during the COVID19 pandemic wrote in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. “We use the term ‘learning deficit’ to encompass both a delay in expected learning progress [and] a loss of skills and knowledge already gained. The COVID-19 learning deficit is likely to affect children’s life chances through their education and labor market prospects. At the societal level, it can have important implications for growth, prosperity, and social cohesion.”

A problem Black kids need to solve

Yet even before COVID, educators had found that students have been less interested in learning. Academic knowledge has been separated from people’s everyday ideas about how to live, so when school’s out, learning tends to stop. That’s a problem Black kids need to solve, say local educators.

Sam Adewumi attended Brooklyn Technical High School and later returned to his alma mater to work as a teacher for 12 years. Now Adewumi operates CAS Prep, a tutoring program that teaches academic fundamentals to first through sixth graders. CAS Prep also has a Test Prep Program that prepares seventh and rising eighth grade students for the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT) and helps high school students practice for their Regents examinations. Adewumi said CAS Prep students are best prepared when they’re part of the test prep program for at least a year; students need that amount of time to familiarize themselves with formal academic assessments.

Many parents are not even aware of what the academic tests require, Adewumi said. One recent student took an assessment at CAS Prep and scored 15 out of 57. His mother was shocked; she claimed that her child was a “level four student.” Adewumi explained to her that those levels have nothing to do with potential test performances. “...those levels just give you a pathway to let you know that your child has the fundamentals. But a test like the SHSAT is geared to test students at a higher level—it’s the same concepts, but the level of questions [is] deeper and more challenging.

“You can regurgitate information for months and your child will get a four on the state tests because it’s just the same information you’ve been regurgitating for months. As opposed to on the SHSAT where you’re not going to find the same question across four years’ worth of tests.”

Most students are able to meet the demands of the higher test assessments, the CAS Prep founder assured, it’s just that most kids don’t get the support they need so that they can take on that kind of academic challenge.

Adewumi believes in having students work beyond the grade levels set for them. Just because your child is in fourth grade it doesn’t mean that they should only work toward completing fourth grade tasks. Once those tasks are completed, children should familiarize themselves with being able to work on materials designed for higher grades.

“We have to be able to accelerate students to beyond the grade level that they’re in. For example, eighth grade students learn algebra, or that’s when they get into algebra deeply. They need to be doing that in seventh grade and be comfortable with it in seventh grade so by the time the eighth grade class comes, it’s not something that will be a challenge for them.”

Adofo Muhammad, the principal at Brook-

lyn’s Bedford Academy High School, said his students have maintained a high level of math and reading proficiency because the school administration gives kids programs designed to engage them. The school ranking and review site Niche.com placed Bedford Academy High School as No. 178 out of 2,878 high schools on its list of “Niche Standout High Schools in America.” The website said the school has “87% of students [who] are at least proficient in math and 95% in reading.”

“Our summer bridge program really is based on English and math,” Muhammad told the AmNews. “There’s a STEM-based program that we institute, and we have what we call a male empowerment and female empowerment program––which is really character education––where they set long-term goals and aspirations. We let the children figure out what they want to do, what college they want to go to, what majors they might get into. And then they kind of draft a long-term process—a long-term plan—and look at how to implement that.”

All of this work takes place in the summer and continues into the school year. Muhammad said it’s the school’s way of “acclimating students to our norms, our values, our demands, and our non-negotiables.

Muhammad is not opposed to the summer break, he told the AmNews, “as long as the students have some summer program, whether it be academic intervention services, or any other program that can kind of sustain some level of competency in certain areas that they had difficulties in.”

Reading for fun

When NCES released the nationwide student test assessments, NCES Commissioner Carr noted that a dearth of readers is one reason for the lowering of student academic scores. “Reading for fun is strongly associated with higher achievement,” Carr said. “Yet fewer students, especially lower-performing students, are reading for fun compared to a decade ago. Aside from its academic effects, reading opens the mind and the heart to new ways of seeing and thinking about the world. Many of our young people will never discover latent passions or areas of interest without reading broadly on their own time.”

Adewumi agreed that reading and learning have to be part of every student’s makeup. He said he’s on board with the idea that students need their summer breaks, “but not necessarily a break from learning. I think maybe it’s on us as parents and community groups to think about what are the different ways we can give students a break.

“The whole issue of social emotional learning and being aware of where students are emotionally and mentally is important, right? But I don’t think that means that they don’t need to continue to learn. I think you can do both—you just diversify your activities.”

It’s the readers who become leaders (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Cuba

Continued from page 2

go which has cost Cuba an estimated $144.4 billion from the early 1960s to 2020, according to the United Nations. Cuba’s “terrorist” designation restricts American foreign assistance, exports of dual-use items, and loans from the World Bank. It has also prevented Cuban Americans from transferring money to family members in Cuba, stopped faith-based groups from shipping humanitarian supplies, and inhibited American universities from working with Cuban academics and institutions. Non-U.S. citizens who have traveled to Cuba because of its designation a “terrorist” country also have restrictions on visas to enter or visit the United States.

Despite being a list created and maintained only by the U.S., because of the U.S.’s enormous power over the global financial system, the inclusion on the “state sponsors on terrorist list” inhibits the ability of Cuba as well as the other countries listed to trade normally with the rest of the world. Banks are reluctant to risk giving loans to a country labeled as “terrorist” by the U.S. The United States has also sued foreign companies and banks for hundreds of millions of dollars for violating U.S. sanctions on Cuba. Hence, many major international banks no longer provide services to Cuba for fear of retaliation.

International

Continued from page 2

New Zealand produced 3 players. Figures show there are over 500 African soccer players in European leagues. The number of players playing abroad is far higher if other nonEuropean leagues, like the Middle East and China, are factored in.

Now, African-born athletes competing in the U.S. are beginning to thrive. Nine of the top 100 collegiate prospects for the NBA from 20112013 were from Africa and their success has turned the historically ethnocentric focus of American scouts and coaches away from the tradition of recruiting only American athletes, and towards recruiting basketball players from Africa.

Still, the sport has not been able to erase the vestiges of white supremacy and racism. In January, an effigy of Black soccer star Vinícius Jr., a 22-year-old Afro Brazilian who plays for Real Madrid was hung from a highway bridge in Madrid prior to the match.

In Italy, monkey chants swirled around the stadium in April as a Black player celebrated a goal. In England, where a banana peel thrown from a hostile crowd during a game in north London landed at the feet of a Black player after he scored a penalty.

Racism is a decades-old issue in soccer, predominantly in Europe but seen all around the world.

Prior to designating a country on the “state sponsor of terrorism list” the U.S. Secretary of State must first “determine that the government of such country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.” Once so designated, a state remains in that category essentially until the country’s leadership, laws, policies and practices satisfies the dictates of U.S., remanence of the long- discredited Monroe Doctrine. The other countries on the “terrorist list” are Iran, Syria, and the North Korea.

Cuba was initially placed on the list of state sponsors of terrorism during the Reagan administration in 1982 because of its support for anti-colonial struggles around the world, most notably in Africa. In 2015, former Pres. Obama, after a thorough review of the reasons for Cuba’s inclusion on the list concluded that Cuba should be removed from it. The Obama administration removed Cuba from the terror list, saying, “we will continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.” Following a historic meeting between Obama and thenCuban President Raúl Castro on the sidelines of the Summit of Americas in Panama, Obama traveled to Cuba.

Obama’s rapprochement had positive effects for the Cuban and U.S. people, especially

Vinícius is emerging as the leading Black voice in the fight against racism, which continues to stain the world’s most popular sport.

“I have a purpose in life,” he said on social media, “and if I have to keep suffering so that future generations won’t have to go through these types of situations, I’m ready and prepared.”

TROUBLED ECONOMY DRIVES SIERRA LEONEANS TO THE BALLOT

BOX (GIN)––Presidential and parliamentary elections are under way in Sierra Leone amidst a crippling cost-of-living crisis. Soaring food prices have sparked deadly riots and are a key issue for many voters in the import-dependent nation of eight million people.

Some 3.4 million people are registered to vote, 52.4 percent of whom are under 35 years old.

renewed travel and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. All of this was undone by Donald Trump. Trump tightened the blockade and added an additional 243 sanctions on Cuba. Then, just four days after the January 6th insurrection, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo redesignated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

The irony of the U.S. labeling Cuba “a state sponsor of terrorism” cannot be overstated.

The U.S. is the only country with over 800 foreign military bases and spends more on its military than 144 countries combined. The U.S. has also launched 251 foreign military interventions since 1991. A report recently published by Brown University shows that the post-9/11 wars the U.S. waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan killed at least 4.5 million and displaced 38 to 60 million people.

While campaigning for the presidency, Biden promised to reverse the draconian sanctions imposed on Cuba by Trump, including the placement of Cuba on the terrorist list in the waning days of his administration.

Contrary to his promises, Biden has continued the majority of the nearly 250 sanctions on Cuba that Trump imposed.

Ending the Cuban embargo, lifting the travel ban and removing Cuba from the “terrorist list” would be beneficial to both the United States and Cuba, particularly in the areas of medical and biotechnological research, education,

This year’s general elections will be held with over 11,000 ballot boxes borrowed from Guinea.

Mohamed Turay, director of operations at the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, confirmed the unusual arrangement. “It’s free and loaned, and after the elections, we are going to return them to Guinea again.”

The election comes months after a landmark law which says women must make up 30% of all positions in both the public and private sector––including in parliament.

But according to Sierra Leone’s Institute for Government Reform (IGR) not enough women placed high enough on the lists to make sure the 30% threshold is crossed. Out of the 13 candidates running for president only one is a woman––the little-known Iye Kakay nominated by the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP).

healthcare, the arts, sports, tourism, economic opportunities. Cuban medical researchers, for example, have a lung cancer vaccine. For Cuba, opening up relations with the U.S. would allow it to access essential medical equipment currently inaccessible because of the embargo. Ending the embargo would also open up trade between Cuba and many other countries by lifting embargo stipulations that currently make it difficult to have relations with both the United States and Cuba.

The campaign for the passage of Resolution 0285 was initiated by the Legislative Committee of NY-NJ CubaSi. The other local organizations supporting the passage of the resolution included the December 12th Movement, National Conference of Black Lawyers, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Young Communist League, the Communist Party and the Professional Staff Council, the union of City University workers and retirees. The June 22nd vote was followed three days later by protests in front of the White House, in New York and elsewhere in the United States demanding the removal of Cuba from the terrorist list. Copies of the Resolution were sent by Barron’s office to the White House, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Joan P. Gibbs, Esq. is a semi-retired constitutional, civil rights and immigration attorney, writer, avid reader.

While poverty is rampant in the country, Sierra Leone is known for its vast endowment in minerals including diamonds, rutile, bauxite, gold, iron ore, limonite, platinum, chromite, coltan, tantalite, columbite, and zircon, as well as promising petroleum potential, according to the International Trade Administration. The country is also home to what is considered to be one of the world’s largest iron ore deposits at the Tonkolili mine, which contains an estimated 12.8 billion tons of iron ore deposits. A major producer of gem-quality diamonds, the country has struggled to manage its exploitation and export.

Experts believe that four primary factors contribute to Sierra Leone’s levels of poverty: government corruption, a lack of an established education system, absence of civil rights and poor infrastructure. These factors make poverty difficult to beat, according to The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization that addresses poverty and hunger and works towards ending them.

The absence of funding for educational programs contributes to gender inequality and the marginalization of women. The effects of gender inequality include women’s inability to join the workforce and a cultural view of women as servants for men. These ideas inhibit Sierra Leone’s development in a world that values education and women’s rights.

Thirteen candidates have tossed their hats into the ring, including incumbent President Julius Maada Bio. However it’s likely to be just a two-horse race between President Bio — elected in 2018 and fighting for his second term — and Samura Kamara, the head of the All People’s Congress Party, Sierra Leone’s main opposition camp.

“We have one chance, the chance to drive away this difficult regime that has put us through suffering in the last five years and added to our misery,” said candidate Kamara in a video message released by his campaign team.

This would mark the country’s fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war more than two decades ago which left tens of thousands dead and destroyed the country’s economy. Violence is again on the rise, according to the West Africa Network for Peace-building Sierra Leone which has counted 109 violent incidents since April.

“All I want is peace,” a student from Freetown told the Reuters news service. “I am scared by the high level of hatred I see being exhibited on social media by political extremists on both sides.”

“What a shame for Sierra Leone,” Mohamed Kamara wrote on SierraLoaded. “A small populated Country like Sierra Leone to borrow ballot boxes from another nation. What a shame.”

(GIN photo)

Religion & Spirituality

Drowning victim Alfa Ousmane Barrie funeralized in the Bronx

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

It was a somber, sometimes tearful scene on Friday, June 23, 2023, as friends and family gathered at the Futa Islamic Center in Morrisania in the Bronx to funeralize 11-year-old Alfa Barrie.

The Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School student was last seen in Harlem on May 12, 2023, with 13-year-old Garrett Warren. The city was put on alert as a search was launched for the two boys.

On Thursday, May 18, Warren’s body was recovered from the East River. On Saturday morning, May 20, 2023, it was announced that Barrie’s body was recovered under the Madison Avenue Bridge over the Hudson River. Multiple media sources stated that the boys climbed through a hole in a fence close to the 145th Street Bridge.

Reportedly, the medical examiner determined that both died from accidental drowning.

The NYPD said that they are continuing

to investigate the case.

Warren was funeralized on June 1, 2023, at Unity Funeral Chapel in Harlem.

Barrie’s family held up his funeral as they unsuccessfully pushed for immigration authorities in Sierra Leone and electeds in the U.S. to grant an emergency visa for the drowned boy’s father, Abdoul Barrie, to return for the burial services.

Electeds joined the grieving community on Friday for the janaazah. Speakers included Alfa’s brother Ibrahim Diallo, Sheikh Musa Drammeh, and family

spokesperson Ahmadou

Elected officials offering words of comfort and support were State Senator Cordell Cleare, Bronx D.A. Darcel Clark, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School Public Schools CEO Natasha Trivers. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams sent a proclamation for Alfa’s mother, Fatoumata Diallo, and the family.

The service was followed by the maqbarah at Marlboro Muslim Memorial Cemetery in Morganville, N.J.

Diallo.

(Nayaba Arinde photos)

Continued from page 4

(CBOs), and that this funding does not exist in the coming fiscal year budget.

The AFC also said that the Promise NYC program, which mainly helps young children regardless of their immigration status, will expire at the end of June. The program, subsidized by the city and run by four CBOs partnered with the city, has helped more than 600 children.

“It would be unconscionable to pull the rug out from under the hundreds of immigrant families who are currently benefiting from this program; if anything, the City should be increasing funding to meet the demand,” the brief read.

Rita Rodriguez-Engberg, director of AFC’s Immigrant Students’ Rights Project, said removing such a program would cause cascading failures for children and parents. Parents lacking affordable childcare options could lose employment options to care for their children full-time, resulting in less income and less engagement for their children, on top of their asylum or other immigration status.

While the AFC wants a $20 million investment for the program in the upcoming budget, the New York City Council urged the administration to reinstate the $10 million in previous funding to Promise NYC in its Preliminary Budget Response in May.

A spokesperson for the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) said the initiative achieved its objective of enrolling 600 children and is working to address the problem further.

“We are very appreciative of the work done by the four CBOs. Through the budget process, we are working with the Council, the Mayor’s Office, and (Office of Management and Budget) (OMB) to de-

Rikers

Continued from page 12

the full and unchallenged burden of carrying budget cuts that will cause damage in the short term and generational damage and trauma for decades to come.

We all must lean in and determine how to better manage our resources so that we live up to the words of the City Charter’s preamble, “We strive to be a city where the value, talents, and contributions of every

termine the future of the program,” the statement read. “ACS is in discussions with OMB, the Mayor’s Office, and the City Council about the future of this program and we look forward to the outcome of the budget negotiations.”

The statement read that while the ACS does not keep a waitlist for families, it is aware that its partners still have interest in the program from families.

The final demand from the AFC was a $3 million investment in English Language Learning (ELL) programs in current transfer schools. Transfer schools give those ages 16–21 who dropped out or fell behind on credits in high school a chance to earn their diplomas.

According to the AFC, the current five ELL transfer schools with sufficient support staff for older immigrant students primarily serve lower Manhattan. There are 40 other transfer schools in the city but those lack support, especially for ELL students. This centralization of schools also doesn’t align with where these recent immigrant students live—many are in the outskirts of Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn.

The organization also stated that approximately 3,015 immigrant students did receive diplomas from their home countries and were not currently enrolled in a school.

Rodriguez-Engberg said the points raised in this brief address immediate concerns regarding Adams’s executive budget, and the organization hopes to work with the city to set these demands into action to help families in need.

“Investments in immigrant students and families are investments in the future of New York City, and right now, the need is greater than ever,” said RodriguezEngberg. “This year’s budget must restore funding for programs that are on the chopping block, and ensure schools have the resources they need to support older newcomer youth.”

June 29, 2023 - July 5, 2023 • 31

New Yorker are recognized and embraced, and where equity and inclusiveness, community empowerment, accessibility, and opportunity for every New Yorker are the unwavering standards to which we are held accountable in all aspects of governance, business, and service delivery. We endeavor to ensure that every person who resides in New York city has the opportunity to thrive…”

Stanley Richards is deputy chief executive officer of the Fortune Society.

HCOC

Continued from page 4

“These kids are looking at images in hip-hop that are negative and thinking that if I’m not that I’m not cool. Or they’re looking at Instagram, [thinking] if I don’t look like that, I’m not worth anything,” said McDaniels at the event. “I said, ‘How do I communicate to the younger generation before they get to high school?”

The Chamber also held a panel discussion about their feature book “Harlem’s Evolution,” by journalists Jared McAllister, Aurora Flores, and the Amsterdam News’ own Herb Boyd. The book documents the journey of the Chamber since its establishment in 1896 as the Harlem Board of Commerce, and of Harlem’s neighborhoods.

“And you know, I’ve lived almost as long as we talk about the 125-year celebration—I guess that’s one of the reasons they have me here. Someone who has some personal connection to this project,” joked Boyd at the event.

Boyd said coming together to write the book was enjoyable, and that he found profound significance in examining the various socioeconomic, cultural, and political situations throughout the generations of Harlem.

“Past is prologue,” said Boyd, “and we’ll continue this right into future endeavors because it’s an ongoing, everlasting project.”

Harlem Week will run August 9–20. For more information, visit www.harlemweek.com.

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.

Mrs. Louise Colman Bunn

The daughter of the late Eloise Crichlow and the late Marshall Colman, was born January 5,1922, in Brooklyn, New York. She passed away on June 19, 2023, at the age of 101.

Mrs. Bunn earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. She is survived by her five devoted and loving children; Ronald, Tony, Wayne, Michael and Gainelle.

The funeral service was held on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at Volk Leber Funeral Home, 789 Teaneck Rd., Teaneck, NJ 07666. Interment at Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, NY.

For more information or to visit Louise’s tribute page, please visit www.volkleber.com.

The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC) celebration on Thursday, June 22 (left to right) journalist participants Jared McAllister, Aurora Flores, and Amsterdam News’ own Herb Boyd. (Ariama C. Long photo)

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HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- TERRY DILLARD, BARBARA DILLARD, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 3, 2023 and entered on January 6, 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 July 12, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Together with an undivided 0.00986400000% 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 $87,687.22 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850065/2022.

CHRISTY M. DEMELFI, 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 A. SCHAEFFER, KATHY L. SCHAEFFER, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 3, 2023 and entered on January 6, 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 July 19, 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 tenantin-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 $36,327.64 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850066/2022.

JOSEPH BUONO, 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, 75 STREET SERVICING LLC, Plaintiff, vs. CLST ENTERPRISES LLC, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on December 8, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on July 26, 2023 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 19 East 75th Street, New York, NY 10021. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 1390 and Lot 14. Approximate amount of judgment is $7,346,196.91 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850001/2021. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale.

Jeffrey R. Miller, Esq., Referee Glenn Rodney, PC, 368 Birch Road, Wallkill, New York 12589, Attorneys for Plaintiff

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. CHARLES G. IVEY and FRANCES W. IVEY, Deft. - Index # 850183/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated August 13, 2021, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 10,000/16,783,800 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 $31,168.78 plus costs and interest as of March 18, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. MARK E. ELSENHEIMER and JILL R. HUGUET, Deft. - Index # 850034/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 19, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $19,080.61 plus costs and interest as of March 27, 2020. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. SKUBY AND COMPANY, LLC, A NEW JERSEY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, Deft. - Index #850191/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated July 21, 2021, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00986400000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $34,716.44 plus costs and interest as of April 6, 2021. 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, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. MERCEDES MATTIE CATHERINE DEXTER, Deft.Index #850160/2022. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 15, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 5,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY CLUB SUITES – PHASE I located at 1335 Avenue of Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $31,266.68 plus costs and interest as of January 4, 2023. 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, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. VERNDELL H. GILDHOUSE and NIHAT A. SURGUT, Deft. - Index #850093/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated March 22, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.0519144314871446% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY CLUB SUITES – PHASE I located at 1335 Avenue of Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $120,199.18 plus costs and interest as of October 21, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. BEVERLY DWIGGINS MAYHEW, Deft. - Index #850157/2022.

Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 15, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Monday, July 17, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $13,244.33 plus costs and interest as of January 4, 2023. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Doron Leiby, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK

U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., as Trustee for LSF9 Master Participation Trust, Plaintiff

AGAINST

Llewellyn C. Werner a/k/a

Llewellyn Werner Individually and as the sole member of Hawkes AP,

LLC; et al., Defendant(s)

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered December 7, 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 July 12, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 160 West 66th Street Unit 46-G a/k/a 160 West 66th Street, Apartment 46G, New York, NY 10023. 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 1137 Lot 1272. Approximate amount of judgment $2,290,728.13 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 810045/2010. The auction will be conducted pursuant to the COVID-19 Policies Concerning Public Auctions of Foreclosed Property established by the First Judicial District.

Edward H. Lehner, 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) 430-4792

Dated: January 4, 2023

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1364817 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 3 Allen Street, NYC 10002 for on-premises consumption; Tortillas and Caviar LLC

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1365018 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 85 Avenue A, NYC 10009 for on-premises consumption; Somtum Der NYC Inc.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1364900 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 681 Washington Street., NYC 10014 for on-premises consumption; Violet Force LLC

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. GINETTE JACKSON and DAVID G. GONZALEZ, Deft. - Index #850152/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 4, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $22,085.00 plus costs and interest as of October 6, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. AGNES STOLZER ALBRECHT and BRUCE EDWARD ALBRECHT, Deft. - Index # 850146/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 19, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00986400000% along with a second undivided 0.01286500000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $57,016.71 plus costs and interest as of January 26, 2022. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Joseph F. Buono, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK 57TH ST. VACATION OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Plaintiff -against- CASPER MOLLER, MALENE AARSO NIELSEN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 3, 2023 and entered on January 10, 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 July 26, 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 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Together with an appurtenant undivided .009864% 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 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 $16,016.85 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850066/2020.

TOM KLEINBERGER, 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

57TH ST. VACATION OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Plaintiff -against- BASSEY AKPAN ALBERT, NKEIRU AKPAN-ALBERT, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 3, 2023 and entered on January 10, 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 July 26, 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 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Together with an appurtenant undivided .01995% 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 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 $23,219.23 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850068/2018.

TOM KLEINBERGER, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

Notice of Sale of FBH and FBT Collateral

NOTICE OF DISPOSITION OF COLLATERAL: Reference is made to the Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note issued by Debtors Founders Bay Holdings (“FBH”) and Founders Bay Technologies, Inc,. (“FBT”) (collectively “Debtors”) to Leonite Capital, LLC (“Leonite”) dated April 6, 2021. Reference is also made to the Securities Purchase Agreement (“Purchase Agreement”) between the same parties dated April 6, 2021, and finally, reference is also made to the accompanying Pledge and Security Agreement dated April 6, 2021 (“Security Agreement”), collectively known as the Loan Documents, between Leonite and Secured Parties and FBH and FBT as Debtors, in which Debtors granted Leonite a Security Interest in collateral including the Subject Collateral as defined below.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by Leonite that, acting in its capacity as a Secured Party under the above Security Agreement, it will sell the following collateral (the “Subject Collateral”), consisting of all of the assets of FBH and FBT, including but not limited to tangible, intangible, and intellectual property.

The Sale is pursuant to Section 9-610, and any other applicable section of the Uniform Commercial Code, other applicable law, and the provisions of the operative documents creating and evidencing the Leonite’s interest in the Collateral, including but not limited to the Loan Documents. Leonite will sell said Collateral publicly to the highest qualified bidder. The Disposition will be held virtually through the law office of Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP on July 18, 2023, at 11:00AM prevailing Eastern Time via Zoom. If you wish to participate in the Sale, you must provide your e-mail address to Harvey D. Mervis, Esq. at hmervis@ hhk.com and Andrea Gregori at agregori@hhk.com by 5pm on July 14, 2023. You will receive bid qualification information and, if appropriate, an e-mail invitation and link to the Sale Zoom meeting. Any interested bidder may contact Harvey D. Mervis, Esq. at Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP, 80 Exchange St., P.O. Box 5250, Binghamton, New York 13902, Telephone: (607) 231-6739, e-mail: hmervis@hhk. com or Andrea Gregori at (607) 231-6779, agregori@hhk.com . The Secured Party reserves the right to bid for and purchase the assets being sold, and to credit the purchase price against Debtors’ obligations under the Loan Documents.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HNY CLUB SUITES OWNERS ASSOCIATION INC., BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF MANAGERS, Plaintiff -against- DOUGLAS C. CLARK, CAROLINE A. KAPLAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated January 3, 2023 and entered on January 10, 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 July 26, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises 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 0.0381% in 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 # 2003000442512 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Section: 4 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 AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $30,784.82 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850112/2022.

TOM KLEINBERGER, 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. MARILYN YVONNE DUNN and CHARLES BARRYAN DUNN, JR., Deft. - Index # 850011/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 28, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00986400000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $25,614.25 plus costs and interest as of February 8, 2023. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Jerry Merola, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1364342 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a bar under the ABC Law at 126 Hamilton Pl., NYC 10031 for on-premises consumption; Little Street Lounge LLC

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1365426 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a bar under the ABC Law at 134 Eldridge St., South store, NYC 10002 for on-premises consumption; Waiting Room 134 LLC

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- JANET MCCORMICK, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 15, 2022 and entered on November 16, 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 August 2nd, 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 0.0381% 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 $38,930.44 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850016/2015.

ELAINE SHAY, 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. THERESSIA L. WASHINGTON, Deft. - Index # 850050/2019. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 10, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 18,000/16,783,800 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase II HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $150,348.79 plus costs and interest as of December 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, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. LOUIS RUSSELL RECORDS and SANDRA DROBIARZ RECORDS, Defts. - Index # 850170/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 27, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 7,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $31,012.53 plus costs and interest as of January 28, 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, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. GRACE KING, Deft. - Index # 850221/2022. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 17, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 8,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $21,555.88 plus costs and interest as of January 4, 2023. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Notice of Qualification of SyBridge Digital Solutions LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/01/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/30/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of SOUND BODY LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/24/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/14/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 220 5th Ave., 17th Fl., NY, NY 10001. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. ANNA PRESTEL VEACH a/k/a ANNA PRESTEL HORWATH, Deft. - Index # 850154/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated March 22, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00986400000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $159,086.61 plus costs and interest as of October 6, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Hayley Greenberg, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. JON HUTCHESON AS TRUSTEE OF HUTCHESON FAMILY TRUST, and JON HUTCHESON IN HIS INDIVIDUALLY CAPACITY, Deft. - Index # 850271/2017. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 26, 2023, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 8,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $107,511.37 plus costs and interest as of March 28, 2023. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Hayley Greenberg, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Notice of Qualification of IV5

NEWBURGH SOUTH LOGISTICS CENTER LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/05/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/29/23. Princ. office of LLC: 1180 Peachtree St., Ste. 1575, Atlanta, GA 30309. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with State of DESecy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of DARTMOOR LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/22/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of GINDI GRAMERCY MEMBER LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/02/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 19 W. 34th St., 11 Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of Kumar and Kumar LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secy. of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on 5/1/2023. Office Location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Thittamaranahalli Kumar, 564 1st Ave, Apt 22F, New York, NY 10016. Name/address of each member: available from SSNY. Term: Continuous. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Aesthetics Babe LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 03/01/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail process to: 322 W 52nd Street #1944, NY, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Panchal LLC. Filed: 5/19/22. Office: NY Co. Org. in IL: 5/3/22. SSNY design. as agent for process & shall mail to: 555 10th Ave Apt 47E, NY, NY 10018. Foreign add: 27 Olympic Dr, South Barrington, IL 60010. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy of State, 501 S. Second St. Room 350, Springfield, IL 62756. Purpose: General.

Notice of Formation of ECC 33 PR LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/16/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 575 Lexington Ave., Ste. 3120, NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

REFEREE'S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR DEUTSCHE ALT-A SECURITIES MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST, SERIES 2007-1, Plaintiff - against - ELIZABETH LOWE, et al Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on December 19, 2022. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the portico at the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on the 19th day of July, 2023 at 2:15 PM. 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 known as 231 East 62nd Street, New York, NY 10021 a/k/a 231 East 62nd Street, New York, (City of New York) NY 10065. (SBL#: 1417-14)

Approximate amount of lien $5,713,762.85 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.

KANAWA CIRCLE, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/10/23. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, P.O. Box 507, Nyack, NY 10960. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Annitta Juice Bar LLC Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 01/24/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 1 Audubon Ave Store #6, NY, NY 10032. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

The Cleanest Crew LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the SSNY on 2/07/2023. Office Loc.: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 65 East 112th Street, Apt 14K, NY, NY, 10029. Purpose: any lawful activity.

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Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC).

Name: Blue Storage, LLC. Articles of Organization filed by the Department of State of New York on: 02/13/2023. Office location: County of New York.

Amendment filed 02/16/2023 changed county to Westchester. Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: The LLC 50 West 17th Street. New York, NY 10011.

Purpose: Any and all lawful activities

Notice of Qualification of NATIONAL BLOCKING ASSOCIATION LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/08/22.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o 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. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PIVOT ADR LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/06/2023. Office: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to U.S. Corp. Agts., Inc., 7014 13TH Ave BK, NY 11228. Business Add: 228 Park Ave S #701467 NY, NY 10003, USA. Purpose: Any lawful activities or acts.

Notice of Formation of RAPP FAMILY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/15/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Alvin H. Rapp, 210 W. 90th St., #10B, NY, NY 10024.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

TEE N' TINGS LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the SSNY on 3/30/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 217 WEST 140TH STREET #197, NY, NY, 10030. Purpose: any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of Presser Compliance LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 1/24/2023.

SSNY designated as agent for service of process on LLC. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: Steven Michael Presser, 140 Wadsworth Ave, Apt. 43, New York, NY, 10033. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Vette GPS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 01/21/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail process to: 20 River Road, Apt 22H, NY, NY 10044. Purpose: Human Resources Consulting or any lawful activity.

4929NY LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/15/23. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Young Ok Park, 100 Old Palisade Road, Fort Lee, NJ 07024. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Index No. 850029/2019. Joseph F. Buono, Esq., Referee. Davidson Fink LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

400 Meridian Centre Blvd, Ste 200

Rochester, NY 14618

Tel. 585/760-8218

Dated: January 4, 2023

During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6-feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale

Notice is hereby given that a license, number 1358459 for beer and wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer and wine at retail in a restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 295 Madison Avenue, Suite 101G, New York, NY 10017 for on-premises consumption (Shogun Omakase Inc.)

ALPHA PRISTINE CLEANERS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 03/23/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail process to: United States Corporation Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY, 11228. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1365136 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 514 3rd Ave., NYC 10016 for on-premises consumption; 514 Restaurant Corp.

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relief and public housing protection. Because of complications during the pandemic, an estimated 71,341 NYCHA households are at risk of eviction, despite an Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) program that was supposed to help.

“New York state was alone in deciding that public housing residents were less important than other renters. In my own home, the Polo Grounds, nearly 800 families could be evicted. But we aren’t gonna let that happen,” said Community Voices Heard Member Leader Barbara Williams. “As the city finalizes its budget, I call on Mayor Adams and the City Council to invest 400 million dollars to cover back rent and keep NYCHA running. We won’t be put at the back of the line anymore!”

Council Member Charles Barron, who attended the rally, said he grew up in “the projects” on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. “We got some of the greatest people living in public housing,” said Barron.

Mayor Eric Adams, in a statement, thanked the RGB for “extremely difficult work” protecting tenants from unsustainable rent increases while also ensuring small property owners have resources. He seemingly agreed that the real solution to the affordable housing crisis was building more housing and office conversions among other things. In a contrary move though, Adams decided to veto CityFHEPS housing voucher bills recently passed by City Council and homeless services providers. The bills included provisions for the 90-day rule, which deals with non-immigrant work visas.

Mayor Adams was categorically slammed by council members and advocates who had touted the legislative package as a critical resource to transitioning asylum seekers out of the shelter and emergency site system and into permanent housing.

According to city data, the average length of stay in shelter was 802 days for adult families, 485 days for families with children, and 441 days for single adults, which costs the city about $8,773 per month for a family of two in 2022. A CityFHEPS voucher for the same family would significantly lower the cost, said city council.

“The mayor is only hurting the city by delaying solutions and contributing to the eviction crisis that leads more New Yorkers to lose their homes, become homeless, and join the already-high shelter population,” said Speaker Adams in a statement.

“The Council is prepared to override

the mayor’s veto to truly confront the rapidly deteriorating eviction and homelessness crises made worse by this administration’s budget cuts and failure to enact solutions.”

Mayor Adams said in a response to criticisms of his veto that the city council bills legally exceeded their “authority” and would make it harder for individuals to move into permanent housing, while costing city taxpayers billions of dollars per year.

“Though the Department of Social Services has steadily increased the total number of CityFHEPS vouchers distributed, the option to provide vouchers to every person who would be eligible under the Council’s bills is far beyond what the city can provide,” said the mayor. “The bills not only create expectations among vulnerable New Yorkers that cannot be met, they also take aim at the wrong problem.”

He said that he sincerely hopes, going forward, to work with the City Council to advance practical and fiscally responsible efforts to support New Yorkers in danger of homelessness, including an aggressive citywide effort to build more housing in every neighborhood.

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

Councilmembers Carmen De La Rosa (right), Charles Barron (with mic), and Alexa Avilés (left) at the rally for public housing rent relief at City Hall Park on Thurs, June

Members for Community Voices Heard at the rally for public housing rent relief at City Hall Park on Thurs, June 22. (Ariama C. Long photos)

Real Housewives star Sanya Richards-Ross juggles multiple careers

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Bravo TV’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” is about midway through its current season. While second-year housewife Sanya Richards-Ross fields comments about the show’s drama and conflict, she is also busy with commentating track and field for NBC Sports, which is revving up for next year’s Olympic Games. The World Athletics Championships are this August in Budapest.

A four-time Olympic gold medalist in track, Richards-Ross’ transition to commentary was seamless thanks to colleague Ato Boldon. “It was such a joy for me to transition from competing to being in the booth,” she said. “Right away, Ato saw me as a teammate and realized the stronger that I was, the better we would be together.”

The segue into the world of Real Housewives was a bit more challenging. Viewers don’t know the nuances behind the scenes. For example, Richards-Ross did not know her castmates until a few weeks before filming her first season in 2021. She has literally been getting to know them on camera.

“This fearlessness that I learned from sport is what allowed me to say yes; I can try this and see what it’s like,” said RichardsRoss. “I felt very blessed to have this opportunity to be on this great platform and try to bring something different.

“However, it has certainly been a lot different from sports,” she added. “This is a very individual situation. … All the women have

different angles and different things they’re trying to accomplish. It feels like you’re thrown into this fire and you try to figure it out on your own with no coach.”

Looking forward, Richards-Ross hopes she comes back for a third season so she can become a memorable housewife and make an impact. She laughed at the suggestion that the cast should attend something akin to the relay camps that U.S. sprinters take part in to learn how to run as a team, but also sees her

ability to bring that sensibility. “I uniquely have experiences that we are a team,” she said. “I try to bring that sisterhood and camaraderie. There’s been a lot of resistance to that because I feel on that platform they’re not used to someone who is so optimistic and genuinely wants things to work out. Slowly but surely, I have been able to permeate that old way of thinking.”

Women’s Basketball Coaches Association dives deep into microaggressions

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

This week, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) presented a workshop in partnership with RISE, a national nonprofit organization that educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice, and improve race relations. The topic was microaggressions, which are small insults, putdowns and invalidations that can have serious, long-lasting impact.

“Coming out of the pandemic and a lot of the social justice initiatives, conversations, activities and the events that were happening around that time, especially in college sports, the WBCA doesn’t want that momentum to get stopped,” said Coquese Washington, head women’s basketball coach at Rutgers University and co-chair of the WBCA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee.

“We’re a very diverse coaching

community, so we want to always make sure we are having conversations that help our coaches coach these diverse teams knowledgeably and successfully,” said Washington. “Understanding how microaggressions happen. Often, they’re unintentional or you’re unaware, but can impact camaraderie and the chemistry on teams.”

During the RISE-facilitated workshop, which was held twice, participants learned about the subject and how to be aware of microaggressions in their programs as well as how to help their student-athletes who may encounter them in their classes or on campus.

“It might not be within the program, but when our student-athletes come back to us and say, ‘This happened to me,’ we have to be knowledgeable and educated enough to know that’s a microaggression and not just laugh it off or downplay it,” Washington said. “As coaches we have to be ready to help

navigate our student-athletes through these moments.”

During her undergraduate days at Notre Dame, Washington wrote a paper in a first-year course only to have her professor tell her he wasn’t going to specifically accuse her, but he was not sure she’d actually written it. From then on, she often downplayed her writing, doing well enough to get good grades, but not showing her full ability. Washington said today’s studentathletes want the coaching community to address issues such as racism and sexism that impact their daily lives.

“I hope to contribute an awareness that there are so many ways coaches can continue to grow, so that we can serve our studentathletes on the highest level possible,” she said. “That growth doesn’t always have to come from an on-court basketball perspective. There are areas and ways that each of us can continue to be better leaders.”

Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington (Rutgers Athletics photo)

Sanya Richards-Ross with husband Aaron Ross at his 40th birthday party

(Photo courtesy of Bravo)

Sanya Richards-Ross is on the road this summer covering track and field (NBC Sports photo)

With limited salary cap flexibility, Knicks look to level up

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sport Editor

The NBA free-agency period officially begins tomorrow at 6 p.m. Teams can begin to negotiate with free-agents, but are subject to the Free Agency Moratorium period from July 1–6. During that time, teams cannot sign free agents or make trades. Players will be allowed to officially sign contracts as of 12:01 p.m. Eastern standard time on July 6.

This is one of the more clandestine, anxiety-ridden, and consequential stages of the NBA calendar. Some teams attempt to circumvent the rules and are penalized. Last July, the Knicks signed then freeagent Jalen Brunson, prying him away from the Dallas Mavericks. But in December, the NBA, after concluding its investigation into the contact between the point guard and the Knicks, determined the latter had violated tampering rules by having discussions with Brunson before the permissible date and announced they were rescinding the Knicks’ 2025 second-

round pick as the penalty.

The Knicks are certainly more discerning now. Their desperation to acquire Brunson was palpable and proved to be one of the best decisions in the franchise’s history, because he was the catalyst in transforming them from a 37–45 No. 11 seed two seasons ago to 45–37 and the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference this past season.

To level up and become a certified championship contender, the Knicks must obtain another player with capabilities as equally effective as Brunson’s.

While a plethora of Knicks fans are vociferously urging team president Leon Rose to trade All-NBA forward Julius Randle, spurred by his two sub-par playoff appearances (2021 and this past season), the Knicks need to add to the tandem of Randle and Brunson. Moving Randle for a player of similar production while essentially maintaining the same roster as last season will not fundamentally improve the team.

The Knicks did not have a pick in last

Thursday’s draft, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but six of their own first-rounders over the next four drafts are as valuable and appealing assets for procuring a high-impact player via a trade. However, the Knicks have just a little over $23 million in salary cap space entering the summer free-agency phase and thus have little flexibility to sign leading available players. Their needs are an athletic two-way wing and efficient perimeter shooting.

Rumors still abound that they have their eyes on the Minnesota Timberwolves 6-11 power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, a 27-year-old three-time All-Star from Piscataway, N.J., as well as the Toronto Raptors’ 25-year-old, 6-7 forward O.G. Anunoby.

Names that have been mentioned for the Knicks to package for Towns or Anunoby are a combination of Randle, forward Obi Toppin, and guard Immanuel Quickley. In the coming days, there will be more clarity and definitive actions by a franchise that last won a title 50 years ago.

The Nets take Clowney, Whitehead, and Wilson in the NBA Draft

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks and the rest of the organization have the task of building around their budding star Mikal Bridges, who averaged 26.1 points per game in 27 regular season games for the team last season after being acquired from the Phoenix Suns in February in the trade involving Kevin Durant.

They began that process last Thursday at the NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, their home arena, by selecting center/ forward Noah Clowney with the 21st pick in the first round, swingman Dariq Whitehead with the 22nd pick in the first round, and forward Jalen Wilson with the 51st overall pick in the second round.

The 6–10 Clowney is an 18-year-old who played at the University of Alabama as a freshman last season. He averaged 9.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and shot 48.6% from the field. Dariq White is a 6’7’’ swingman from Duke who was projected to be a top-5 pick coming into the 2022–23 college season before undergoing foot surgery last year and again last month, hampering his overall performance. He earned the 2022 Naismith High School Player of the Year honors as a senior at Montverde Academy in Florida, where reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, former Net D’Angelo Russell, and current Net Ben Simmons, among many other NBA players, attended.

The 18-year-old Whitehead, a local product from Newark, N.J., relishes the oppor-

tunity to play in front of his family. He was a spectator at many Nets games when the team played their home games at the Prudential Center in Newark.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “Being away from home at a young age, going to high school in Florida, this is the first time where my family is going to be able to fully watch me play with everybody—friends and family—so like I said, I’m excited and thankful for the opportunity.”

Whitehead, who wasn’t one of the group of players formally invited by the NBA to attend their draft at the Barclays Center, said the snub will drive him to be the best version of himself.

“I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason,” he said, “and God has everything set in the right path; so…it’s definitely gonna fuel the extra motivation, but, like I said, I’m just here to think about what’s here now.” Whitehead added what’s ahead of him that is most important.

“I’m here to focus on the future, so I’ve gotta put that behind me and…help try to contribute to this team and win basketball as much as possible.”

Wilson, who is the oldest and most experienced of the Nets draftees, helped the Kansas Jayhawks win the 2022 NCAA championship. The 6–8 22-year-old was a consensus First Team All-America this past season and Big 12 Player of the Year, averaging 20.1 points and 8.3 rebounds.

The Nets begin NBA Summer League play next week. Whitehead will sit out while recovering from foot surgery. Clowney and Wilson are expected to be in the lineup.

Knicks forward Obi Toppin may be peeking over his shoulder as subject of ongoing trade rumors (Bill Moore photo)

(L) Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn Nets’ budding star, will now join Alabama center/forward (R) Noah Clowney, selected in first round of NBA Draft by the team last Thursday, to help him build franchise (L: Bill Moore photo, R: rolltide.com photo)

Mikal Bridges

Noah Clowney

Rod Strickland Summer Basketball League tips off another season

By JAIME HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

New York City basketball luminary Rod Strickland has continually remained connected to his Bronx hoops roots, paying his good fortune forward in various ways. One aspect of his altruism has been the Rod Strickland Summer Basketball League, which is now in its 26th season.

The program is the brainchild of longtime New York basketball figure and youth development professional LaMarre Dyson, who has run the league since its inception. It began as the Rod Strickland-Steve Burrt (former Iona College basketball icon) Summer Basketball League, and then bore the name Kyrie IrvingRod Strickland. The league, held at St. Mary’s Park (148th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in the Bronx) is a galvanizing

community endeavor that promotes mental and physical wellness, socialemotional growth, and the spirit of cooperative achievement.

Games are held on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring 32 teams in four divisions: 8u, 10u, 12u, and 14u. The rain site is I.S. 584 (600 St. Ann’s Avenue). The championships will take place at LIU on August 20.

Dyson is the founder of Young

Athletes Inc. (YAI), a Bronx-based nonprofit organization operated out of I.S. 584 that is dedicated to serving disadvantaged youth. YAI offers school- year, Saturday, and summer programs. School-year classes include digital photography, journalism, magazine publishing, robotics, chess, and art. Strickland, who is in the beginning stages of his second season as the men’s head basketball coach at

LIU, which plays in the Northeast Conference, was drafted by the Knicks in 1988 with the 19th overall pick in the first round out of Depaul University. He went on to play 17 seasons in the NBA, retiring in 2005. The godfather of Kyrie Irving, Strickland was All-NBA in 1998, currently is No. 13 on the league’s all-time career assists list with 7, 987, and is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga defeats Jason Quigley at MSG

By DERREL JOHNSON

Special to the AmNews

Brooklyn-born super-middleweight Edgar Berlanga earned a unanimous 116–108, 118–106, 116over Ireland native Jason Quigley Saturday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Berlanga (21–0, 16 KOs) dropped Quigley four times in the 12-round match, including twice in the final round, to seal the victory. Berlanga, who began his career with 16 straight firstround knockouts, has now gone five straight without a KO. Nevertheless, after defeating Quigley, Berlanga is looking ahead to more prominent opponents.

“I’m going to fight the best now,” said the 26-year-old aspiring champion. ”I feel like it’s that time.”

Berlanga could soon be paired with either 41-year-old Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (42–2–1, 37 KOs), who hasn’t fought since his second loss to Canelo Alverez last September, or Jaime Munguia, who is 42–0 with 33 KOs.

In other boxing news, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), led by boxing manager Al Haymon and the Showtime television network, reportedly generated 1.3 million pay-per-view buys for April’s Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Ryan Garcia match. It also produced the fifthhighest boxing gate ever at $22 mil-

lion. Davis defeated the previously unbeaten Garcia with a seventhround knockout.

The long-anticipated clash between the undefeated unified WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence and undefeated WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford will

take place on July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (59–2–2, 39 KOs) has agreed to a three-fight deal with PBC and will face Jermall Charlo (32–0) in midSeptember. This would be Canelo’s biggest test in the ring since he lost

for the second time in his career to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022. Saturday, young heavyweight star Jared Anderson will face former world champion Charles Martin in Toledo, Ohio. The fight will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

On July 8, UFC 290 will have Alexander Volkanovski defend his featherweight championship against Yair Rodríguez. It will be a stacked card that will see former champions such as Robert Whittaker and top prospects, notably Bo Nickal, compete at T-Mobile Arena.

In Atlantic City, Jaron Ennis will defend his IBF interim welterweight title against Roiman Villa from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. If victorious, look for Ennis to take on the winner of Spence vs. Crawford if the loser doesn’t seek a rematch.

On July 15 in Detroit, Alycia Baumgardner will defend her WBC, IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO, and the Ring female super-featherweight titles against Christina Linardatou.

Brooklyn native Edgar Berlanga (right) defeated Ireland’s Jason Quigley by decision in their supermiddleweight match-up at Theater at Madison Square Garden last Saturday

(BCC photo)

Rod Strickland Summer Basketball League is now in its 26th year (Bill Moore photos)

New York Liberty keeps on winning, including an OT nail-biter

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

The Liberty keep stacking up wins and continuing to affirm their standing as one of the best teams in the WNBA. Their thrilling comeback victory over the Washington Mystics on Sunday improved their record to 9-3: third best in the league when they faced the Connecticut Sun Tuesday night on the road.

“This was a team effort [where] everyone played their ass off,” said Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu after New York’s 89–88 overtime win against the Mystics.

“Sabrina made a lot of plays to help us win this game,” said veteran Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot. “We’re happy we won, and we have a lot to work on still, obviously. We don’t like the way we started. We didn’t play our best game, but man, we dug deep, made plays when it

was important. That’s something we can definitely grow from.”

Last Friday, the Liberty not only notched a win over the Atlanta Dream, but also posted more than 100 points for the third time this season.

In other Liberty news, Breanna Stewart was voted a starter and team captain for the AT&T 2023 AllStar Game to be hosted by the Las Vegas Aces next month. A’ja Wilson will captain the other team. The Liberty is now on a two-game West Coast road trip, taking on the Aces tonight and the Seattle Storm on Sunday. The team returns to their home arena, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, next Wednesday to host the Phoenix Mercury.

Also in New York basketball news, Abbey Hsu, who is entering her senior year at Columbia University, has been named to the USA Basketball team that will compete at the

FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in Mexico July 1–9. The team includes NCAA Champion Angel Reese of Louisiana State University.

This was Hsu’s first time attending USA Basketball trials, so she didn’t know what to expect. She performed well enough at the trials in May to be invited back last week as the team filled the final spots on the 12-woman roster. “It was a tough process,” Hsu said. “You’re competing against the top players in the country.”

Columbia coach Megan Griffith was a sounding board and voice of encouragement throughout the process. “Happy that the end result is me being on the team,” said Hsu.

“To be able to step on the same court [with these players], compete against them, and play on their same team—first of all, you’re learning so much and it gives you this reassurance that I could also play with

these players. It’s an exciting time.” The U.S. opens pool play against Venezuela on July 1.

Major changes may be ahead for the underachieving Yankees and Mets

By RASHID MCDONALD Special to the AmNews

Before the crack of the bat on Opening Day in March, the Mets and Yankees were strong betting favorites to go to the World Series. Three months later the Mets were 36–43 and 16 games behind the Atlanta Braves (52–27) in the National League East when they hosted the Milwaukee Brewers last night (Wednesday) at Citi Field. They were fourth overall in the division and looking up at eight teams ahead of them in the NL wildcard race.

As for the Yankees, they are unstably hanging on to the second wildcard spot in the American League. They were 43–36 and in third place in American League East, 9.5 games below the Tampa Bay Rays (54–28) and trailing the Baltimore Orioles (48–30) by four heading into last night’s matchup with the Oakland Athletics on the road.

Entering this season, the Mets and Yankees chief decision makers believed they had built championship teams based on the returning players from last season and the new additions. The Mets signed Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86.7 million deal after he helped the Houston Astros capture the World Series and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner. After posting a record of 18–4 with a 1.75 ERA a season

ago, the 40-year-old Verlander began this season on the injured list and is 2–4 with a 4.11 ERA in 10 starts for the Mets.

The franchise had the highest opening day payroll in the league’s history at $353.5 million, spending $500 million in free-agency last winter. Getting highly disappointing returns on his investments, Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeted on Tuesday that he would be holding a press conference before last night’s game, “You will get it from me straight.”

Prior to Tuesday’s 7–2 victory over the Brewers, just as the Mets had in their previous 10 games, general manager Billy Eppler said the team had no immediate plans to fire manager Buck Showalter or drastically shake up the team’s roster.

“We’ve got a decent amount of runway before the deadline,” said Eppler, referring to MLBs August 1 trade deadline. “We hope that we can change the story. If we can, then we can add. If it doesn’t, then we’ll just have to create other opportunities and see what else exists out there.”

The Yankees on the other hand have a little more breathing room. However, Aaron Judge’s return to the lineup is a primary concern and a critical factor in how the Yankees will move forward. The reigning AL MVP hasn’t played since tearing ligaments in his right big toe crashing into the outfield wall in Los Angeles on June 3 making a sensational catch against the Dodgers.

Another issue the Yankees must address

is what they will do with infielder Josh Donaldson, who’s batting .125 with 14 strikeouts and a .641 OPS being paid $21 million this season. The Yankees, which began the season with baseball’s second highest payroll ($276.9 million) have been without lefty starter Carlos Rodon all season. He has yet to make his Yankees regular season debut after signing a six-year, $162 million deal in December. Rodon is working his way back from a forearm injury sustained in spring training then subsequent chronic back complications.

The Mets end their four-game series at home against the Brewers today then will play the San Francisco Giants for three games tomorrow through Sunday before facing the Braves in Atlanta for three next TuesdayThursday. The Yankees end their series in Oakland this afternoon, will be in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals tomorrow through Sunday, and head to Baltimore for a fourgame series Monday-Thursday.

Betnijah Laney played a big role in the Liberty’s victory over the Mystics (Brandon Todd/New York Liberty photo)

Columbia’s Abbey Hsu has been named to USA Basketball’s AmeriCup team (USA Basketball photo)

Pitcher Justin Verlander, who is scheduled to make his 11th start for the team this Saturday at Citi Field versus the San Francisco Giants, is just 2–4 with a 4.11 ERA this season (Wikipedia photo)