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Hizzoner Eric Adams addresses resignation rumors at annual interfaith breakfast

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

At this year’s Interfaith Breakfast, an energetic Mayor Eric Adams emerged from his hiatus, addressed rampant rumors about resigning from office this week, and spoke about immigration concerns.

The 2025 Annual Interfaith Breakfast was held at the New York Public Library (NYPL) Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Hundreds of faith leaders and a handful of politicians from all over the city came together to break bread, pray, sing, meditate, and worship in the name of unity.

“Yes, I’m the mayor. Yes, I was the first Black borough president. Yes, I was a state senator. Yes, I was a police captain. Folks, that’s my glory; that is not my story,” said Adams. “My story fortifies me. And yes, last week was a scary week for me. It was hard. I’m not going to lie to you. And you got to trust in God. There are moments — and I’m not giving a speech, I’m talking to you because you’ve been with me — … where God has to be real.”

The looming topic of conversation was the mayor himself. The day before the event, the “New York Times” reported that senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, under President Donald Trump, were in talks with Manhattan prosecutors about possibly dropping the federal charges against Adams.

In September 2024, Adams became the

sitting New York City mayor to be indicted on federal criminal charges, prompting a deluge of calls for him to resign. He absolutely refused, posting a video statement maintaining his innocence. He later pleaded not guilty to a five-count felony charge, including bribery, conspiracy, campaign finance violations, seeking and accepting improper gifts, and accepting donations from a foreign national. If convicted, Adams faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison.

Rumors were also flying high on social media this week that Adams would resign on Jan. 29 in exchange for getting off scotfree. Posts speculated that Adams cut a deal with the DOJ in exchange for his resignation. Adams’ star lawyer Alex Spiro immediately denied rumors of a possible resignation as “completely false.” The mayor’s press office referred to his lawyer for comment on Wednesday.

See MAYOR ADAMS on page 25

NAN holds buy-in protest at Costco against Trump’s anti-DEI push

By JASON PONTEROTTO Special to AmNews

Rev. Al Sharpton and 100 members of the National Action Network (NAN) recently participated in a “buycott” — shopping at a Costco in East Harlem in support of the company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies despite pressure from Trump and other right-wing officials.

“We will support those who stand with us and hold accountable those who don’t. Justice is not just about marching, it’s about where we spend our dollars,” Sharpton said about the protest in an Instagram post.

A buycott or buy-in is a form of protest, and the act of intentionally purchasing products in support of the company and its policies. The protest came in response to the aggressive attacks against anything DEI made by the Trump administration, which has been its major focus since assuming office last week. The president

signed multiple executive orders aimed at rolling back DEI in the federal government, including putting all federal workers, many of whom are Black or Brown, on paid leave. Trump’s push has led to major companies in the private sector following suit with their DEI policies.

Less than five years after announcing policies to support these initiatives in combating systemic racism, in the wake of national protests from George Floyd’s murder, major companies — including Target, Walmart, Meta (parent company for Facebook and Instagram), McDonalds, Lowe’s, Amazon, and more — have quickly jumped on the wave to abandon those pledges.

“For Donald Trump to be able to cancel a commitment they made is an outright affront to the Black community … that they committed to,” Sharpton said at a press conference outside the East Harlem Costco on Saturday. “That is why we will stand with those that stand with us.”

first

New York City Mayor Eric Adams gives speech at Interfaith Breakfast at New York Public Library (NYPL) on Jan. 30. (Ariama C. Long photo)

To show support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, National Action Network members, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, went shopping at Costco in Harlem after a morning action rally. (Bill Moore photos)

U.S. Rep. Espaillat holds ‘Know Your Rights’ series

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

Congressmember Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been holding a series of “Know Your Rights” forums to combat fear-mongering and misinformation in immigrant communities.

The information sessions are both in-person and virtual for people afraid to leave their homes, and in both English and Spanish. They cover basic immigrant rights and offer resources for people seeking information about legal assistance for asylum, visas, naturalization, deportation, interactions with law enforcement, and more.

In the handful of weeks since President Donald Trump has been in office, thousands of undocumented immigrants have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies. In parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, other agencies were seen assisting with ICE raids, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Everybody’s very afraid,” said Espaillat, who is originally from the Dominican Republic (DR) and initially came to the U.S. on a visitor’s visa as a young child. His family overstayed their visas and had to return to the DR,

but were able to apply for green cards, and he became a naturalized citizen as an adult. He later pursued politics because of a passion for fighting for civil and immigrant rights, he said.

According to Espaillat, the most common question is “What happens if ICE knocks on your door?”

A panel of experts and officials try to answer in his forums with as much detail as possible. They also take questions and make sure resources are available to attendees who have more specific cases.

“The problem with all of this is that it’s not just undocumented people that are afraid or get swept up in the [ICE] sweeps,” said Espaillat. “It’s also U.S. citizens like Puerto Ricans and people [who] are legal residents as well. For them to know their rights — they don’t have to speak to ICE, they can ask for an attorney — [is] the most important thing, so that they don’t compromise themselves.”

Espaillat’s forums are joined by a coalition of other concerned elected officials, such as Assemblymembers Manny De Los Santos and Al Taylor; Councilmembers Carmen De La Rosa and Shaun Abreu; Senators Cordell Cleare and Robert Jackson; and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. The forums are supported by immigration nonprofits like Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, African Communities Together (ACT), the City University of New York (CUNY) Citizenship Now, Immigrant Arc,

America reacts to Trump’s DEI attacks

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

and the Legal Aid Society. Espaillat’s office is prioritizing the protection of Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAMers), which grants residency to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children or whose children were born in the U.S.; protection of farm and industry workers; and keeping families together. His office has begun distributing infographic cards with information about immigration rights and plans to hold forums at least twice a week.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

The basics

• You have the right to remain SILENT.

• You don’t have to sign anything or open the door to your home without a judicial warrant that’s signed by a judge and has your name on it.

• If you’re stopped outside your home, ask if you are free to leave or under arrest.

• Don’t carry false documents or papers from your home country, or another foreign country. If you must, carry a copy of your green card as opposed to the original document.

See ‘KNOW YOUR RIGHTS’ on page 33

Whether from the stage of the 2025 Grammys ceremony in Los Angeles, or from education leaders in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump is being assailed for his plans to demolish DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs. Acclaimed musician Alicia Keys, upon accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award on Sunday, voiced her support for the programs, stating that “DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift. This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices.

“The more voices, the more powerful the sound,” Keys continued, prompting applause from the audience. “When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix and as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all, it’s so beautiful.”

Keys, resplendent in an array of jewelry, did not mention Trump’s name, but that wasn’t necessary since she has criticized him in the past, and even called for his removal from office during his first term.

Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents hundreds of Education Department employees, echoed Keys’ concerns and noted earlier that at least 55 employees had been placed on leave as of Friday evening. She expected the number to increase as

more information was disclosed. Among the affected workers are civil rights lawyers, program analysts, loan regulators, and, most critically, employees who work to ensure that children with special needs in the nation’s schools are properly cared for. According to the letter addressed to the employees and obtained by NBC News, workers would continue to receive their full salaries and benefits and would not be required to do their jobs. Moreover, access to their emails would be suspended.

“It looks like they’re entrapping people because they encouraged people to take these trainings [which ironically had been created and organized by Betty DeVos, Trump’s former Secretary of Education] and are now maybe using these trainings as a basis to put them on administrative leave,” Smith surmised. These measures, Smith suggested, coincide with Trump’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education, and maybe, she added, with hopes “employees will eliminate themselves.

“They’re trying to make employees feel like they will soon get fired. And at the same time, they are trying to entice employees with an offer to pay them eight months’ salary if they just resigned,” Smith said. “So it seems as if you’re choosing between affirmatively resigning, where they’re saying that you might possibly get paid eight months’ salary and benefits, or eventually getting fired.”

Protesters hold banners during a rally in front of the Office of Personnel Management in Washington. The agency has offered millions of federal workers eight months of salary if they voluntarily choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Forum participants (l–r) New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh, Assemblymember Manny De Los Santos, Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa, and U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat. (Ariama C. Long photo)

National Dems elect new party leaders, Harrison’s parting thoughts

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

This past weekend the Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted in all new officers, including chair and vice chair positions.

“The Democratic Party is the party of working people, and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and outcompete everywhere, in every election, and at every level of government — and this new generation of DNC leadership is hitting the ground running to protect every American from Donald Trump’s agenda,” said Ken Martin, the newly elected DNC Chair.

Martin has served as the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party since 2011. He replaces former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who served from 2021 to this year.

After the crushing loss of former Vice President Kamala Harris to President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, news outlets reported that Harrison did not plan to run for another term as chair. Trump gained larger shares of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, when he lost those groups to Biden, according to AP VoteCast. In a parting interview with the Associated Press (AP), Harrison shared his thoughts on recapturing the Black and Latino vote, former President Joe Biden, and what Democrats could’ve done better.

“People think, well, it’s just about turnout in the Black community, right? It’s just

about turnout with this group. No, it’s not. It’s more than just turnout. It’s about persuasion. You have to persuade people why you are the best person for them,” said Harrison. “You have to talk to them about the issues that are important to them. You have to show them that you really are fighting for them, and that means having those individual conversations, but having targeted conversations specifically geared towards the people that you’re talking to.”

Harrison said that Democrats were “building a race for Joe Biden” before the inevitable switch happened, and although he did indeed have a “horrible debate performance,” he was prepared to stick by him as a candidate. He rationalized that despite

being federally indicted, Republicans didn’t collectively call for Trump to step down, so there was no reason Dems should’ve.

“That’s my normal default, is that you stick by your people, right, particularly people who have worked hard on behalf of the party,” said Harrison.

Harrison said Biden poured tons of money into making sure that he and Harris, as well as Democrats in all states, had support and resources. It felt like a betrayal to his “quarterback” when others called for him to drop out of the race, said Harrison.

“From ripping away access to health care, moving to raise the cost of prescription drugs, and destroying good-paying jobs, America’s hardworking families are

already feeling the pain of Trump’s agenda — especially in Black communities across the country,” continued Martin. “Democrats won’t let Trump get away with it. No matter what Trump and his billionaire cabinet throw at us, Democrats are not just prepared to fight the battles, but to win the war — never leaving the side of working families.”

There’s a few people of color elected to leadership positions at the DNC like Reyna Walters-Morgan, who is now the vice chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation (CEVP), and Malcolm Kenyatta, who is also in a vice chair role. Walters-Morgan is an organizer, attorney, and voting rights advocate. After law school, she spent time in private practice and as a senior attorney at the Social Security Administration. Later, she worked as a regional voter protection director in Ohio and managed North Carolina’s nonprofit voter protection efforts. For almost five years, she was the voter protection director at the DNC. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Kenyatta is currently the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color and one of the youngest people elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018. In 2022, he became the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color to seek a U.S. Senate seat in American history. In April 2024, he made history again as the first openly LGBTQ+ person ever nominated for statewide office by a major political party in Pennsylvania.

Queer advocates respond to Trump’s return to White House

By RAYMOND FERNÁNDEZ Special to the AmNews

The newly inaugurated administration has vowed to continue targeting the LGBTQIA+ community across the country. In conversations with the Amsterdam News, a community advocate and local politician shared messages of hope and resistance with queer folks living in New York City and the nation.

Jesse Havea, also known as Brita Filter, is a popular drag queen, as well as a community and LGBTQ+ rights advocate. Havea serves as National co-chair of Drag Out the Vote, a nonprofit organization that works with drag performers to encourage participation in democracy.

In 2024, Havea canvassed, traveled across several swing states, and volunteered at phone banks in hopes of electing Kamala Harris as the first Black female president of the United States, all while being in full drag. “This is the most involved I’ve been with an election specifically. I totally believed in Harris and Walz’s campaign.”

Brita Filter became the first drag queen of Polynesian descent to compete in RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 12). Havea explained how getting involved with politics helped them overcome “severe depression” after leaving

the show. “I think it is a gift to … have this platform that Drag Race gave me, so it feels natural for me to use it to give back to the LGBTQ community.” It took them two weeks to fully process the results of the election, but their experience was not unique.

According to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization aimed at supporting mental health and preventing suicide among young LGBTQ+ people, nine out of 10 young LGBTQ+ people feel that recent politics have negatively impacted their well-being. The

same study reveals that transgender and nonbinary youth experienced a negative impact to a greater degree (94%). The organization’s crisis hotline saw a 700% call spike after the 2024 presidential election results were announced.

“It honestly feels like, for a lot of us, we are taking a step back into the first Trump presidency and you know, it has a lot of us feeling really depressed,” Havea said. They expressed concerns that policies from Trump’s first administration could come back, such as “ex-

cluding transgender individuals from serving in the military.”

They were right to be concerned: On Monday, Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order barring transgender people from serving in the military, expanding on a series of measures targeting transgender and nonbinary Americans.

“It is really important that we pay attention to these local elections,” Havea asserted, emphasizing that people — especially LGBTQ+ individuals — must stay engaged with the democratic process at the local level, arguing the real change starts there. “I am so happy that we have someone like Sarah Mcbride in office who will be fighting for us. It is awful to see all the anti-trans rhetoric that is going on.”

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2024 State Equality Index report revealed that last year, 489 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures, of which 46 were signed into law. The same report found that 37 pro-LGBTQ+ bills were also adopted by states. Crystal Hudson, who became the first openly gay Black woman to serve on New York’s City Council, has a clear message for the LGBTQ+ community and fellow elected officials on Trump’s return to the White House: “We know that this presidential See QUEER ADVOCATES on page 29

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted to elect a new slate of officers on Saturday, Feb. 1. (Contributed by Democratic National Committee (DNC))

Protestors and Supporters attend the StoneWall March for Black Transgender Lives 2020 in the West Village. (mpi43/MediaPunch /IPX photo)

Spotlight on Janice James, dedicated tutor at Reading Partners NYC

New Yorker

By LEAH MALLORY

Special to the AmNews

Two sessions, approximately 35 to 45 minutes each, once a week is how long Janice James spends tutoring students at the Benjamin Banneker Magnet School of Architecture and Engineering in Brooklyn, but the impact she has lasts for far longer.

As a volunteer for Reading Partners NYC, a nonprofit providing young children (grades K–4) with individualized reading assistance, she meets with elementary school students to develop their literacy skills and boost their confidence in reading.

“I was always interested in trying to give back in a meaningful way,” she said.

James, 36, has no children of her own but said she has always been good with kids. Her day-to-day occupation usually involves working as a producer or assistant director on television and film sets. Despite her hectic schedule, however, she made it a priority to give back to the community, particularly due to her experiences with her sister growing up.

“My own younger sister fell behind when it came to reading, and I remember that the teachers were threatening to hold her back a grade, and our family just kind of came together and really spent a lot of time with my sister to make sure that didn’t happen,” she said. “I just wanted to be able to kind of step in and do that for other kids.”

James learned of the program through a Facebook group and became immediately interested. She filled out a short entry form on the Reading Partners website, passed the background check, and has been tutoring students since spring 2024.

“We read to them and ask them ques-

tions,” she said. “I love that part because I get to ask how does this character relate to you , or do you ever experience that, and they love to talk about themselves, the kids.”

Akilah Clarke, a program associate with the organization, explained that volunteers are provided with the necessary materials and curriculum to conduct tutoring sessions; all they need to do is bring themselves.

“You don’t have to come up with any kind of lesson plan. We create all of that for you,” Clarke said. “You just have to read off of it and just give it your own character. Give it your own personality and bond with the student pretty much.”

Schools will contact the organization to request the setup of reading centers — designated spaces in a school where students can select books and receive one-on-one tutoring.

While there is a virtual option for tutoring, James prefers to meet in person with her two students every Thursday. She commutes for 30 to 40 minutes from Flatbush to Bed-Stuy, taking two subway trains.

The most challenging part of tutoring is crossing the emotional, not physical, distance to meet her students. “Sometimes they come in and may not want to do this for various reasons, and I think it’s important to just ask them what’s going on — ‘how’s your day going?’ — and actually listen and relate to them,” she said. “It allows students to feel like they can trust you and that this will help them right now and in the future.”

She said connecting the texts to the children’s everyday experiences has been effective in sparking enthusiasm.

“I think it’s important to incorporate their See BNY on page 29

How to educate your kids now about creating long-lasting healthy money habits

Sponsored content by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

As you solidify your New Year’s resolutions, it’s a great time to start having a conversation with your kids — whether they’re in elementary school, high school, or college — about smart ways to navigate finances. Starting the conversation earlier on will help to create healthy money habits as they grow, ultimately benefiting their financial future.

To help you get started, here are tips that make it easier for kids of all ages to learn how to save, budget and begin managing their finances more independently:

1) Start the conversation

It’s never too early to start talking about money in a realistic way so kids can understand how it’s used to support your lifestyle and help you achieve your goals and dreams. Begin the conversation in an age-appropriate way that highlights ideas, such as knowing the difference between needs and wants, saving for something special, and tracking the money you earn, as well as the money you spend. For example, young children can understand the idea of saving up money from their allowance or lemonade stand to buy something they want in the future.

2) Take notes and use tools

As your kids get older, explain the budgeting basics – even as simple as listing what you earn and what you spend, so you can ensure you won’t spend more than you have. Any leftover money is best put in savings first, then they can consider working toward items or experiences they might want to buy. There are many budgeting resources out there, so you can find the one that works for you, including budget worksheets to track spending.

3) Get organized and go digital

Financial confidence starts with getting organized.

You can find easy-to-use budgeting tools that work for kids and parents both, with different levels of parental oversight and management suitable for different age groups. Whether it’s a first banking account, or an account geared towards a high school or college student, there are multiple options that can help students of various ages with firsthand digital transactions and account balances, assisting with budgeting and saving.

4) Plan for the future

According to Bankrate, 59% of Americans are uncomfortable with the amount of emergency savings they have, and 27% have no emergency fund at all. It’s important for kids of all ages to know that unexpected events in life can happen, so planning ahead may help reduce stress and better cope with whatever may occur. For this reason, building an emergency fund or saving for a rainy day is a crucial skill to learn.

Your kids can start learning and practicing vital money skills now that will stay with them for life, as well as how to use financial tools so they will be able to stay on top of their finances and achieve their goals.

Learn more about all the options available to get your kids started on the right financial footing at chase.com/studentbanking.

For informational/educational purposes only: Views and strategies described in this article or provided via links may not be appropriate for everyone and are not intended as specific advice/recommendation for any business. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but JPMorgan Chase & Co. or its affiliates and/or subsidiaries do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. The material is not intended to provide legal, tax, or financial advice or to indicate the availability or suitability of any JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. product or service. You should carefully consider your needs and objectives before making any decisions and consult the appropriate professional(s). Outlooks and past performance are not guarantees of future results. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates are not responsible for, and do not provide or endorse third party products, services, or other content.

Janice James does read-aloud with a student during a tutoring session. (Photo courtesy: Soph Le Goff Pollack, Regional Program Coordinator, Reading Partners NYC)

NYCHA residents approved for transfers due to gender-based violence endure lengthy delays, report finds

By SHANNON CHAFFERS Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

After New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident Elizabeth began receiving verbal harassment and sexual threats from a neighbor, she submitted an emergency transfer request for herself and her family to move to a new development. When NYCHA approved the request in the spring of 2022, about a month after she submitted it, she felt relief.

“That communicated to [me] that this will happen very quickly,” she said in Spanish.

But almost three years later, Elizabeth, who asked not to use her last name, is still waiting for a transfer.

“It has been really tough. In the beginning, I trusted that NYCHA would understand that I’m a woman and that I was threatened, and that they would get me out of here,” Elizabeth said.

Under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), NYCHA is obligated to facilitate transfers for survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, dating violence, and stalking. However, a recent report by the nonprofit Legal Services NYC found that these survivors have faced lengthy waits to move after being granted a transfer. According to statistics that NYCHA shared with the AmNews, the average wait time for a transfer is currently 799 days — more than two years.

“So you’re a survivor of domestic violence, you experienced abuse, you request an emergency transfer, NYCHA approves that emergency transfer… but on average, you’re going to wait 800 days until you can reach a safe apartment,” said Legal Services NYC attorney Luis Henriquez, one of the report’s authors.

According to the report, roughly 2,000 survivors of gender-based violence — mostly Black and Latinx women — were waiting to be transferred as of September. The report included the stories of three other women who have faced significant transfer delays, including one who was hospitalized while awaiting a transfer after being attacked by a person associated with her abuser.

The backlog results in part from the fact that in NYCHA’s transfer ranking system, VAWA transfers are in the lowest priority category — 11 other types of transfers are prioritized above these transfers, meaning those tenants must be relocated first. In 2023, 3,624 people were on the waitlist for these higher-priority transfers.

Some of these transfers are for emergency situations, such as if an apartment has become uninhabitable due to health, safety,

or environmental concerns, but other transfer categories are often not emergency situations, such as when a tenant is living in an under-occupied unit.

In addition, VAWA transfers receive equal priority to a variety of other transfers, including those for non-emergency situations. For example, transfers for tenants who live more than 90 minutes from work, or who are having friction with a neighbor, have equal priority to VAWA transfers. In 2023, 16,374 people were on the waitlist for these categories.

As a result of this system, “2,000 — almost entirely Black and Latinx women — [are] waiting for [VAWA] emergency transfers in a group of 16,000 tenants waiting for transfers, most of which have nothing to do with emergency situations,” Henriquez said.

Because U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations require that public housing authorities give emergency transfers the same level of priority as transfers for other emergency situations, such as if an apartment becomes uninhabitable due to physical hazards, the report contends that NYCHA’s transfer priority rankings violate federal regulations.

NYCHA’s “vacant unit crisis” has also contributed to the delays, Henriquez said. In 2023, NYCHA had 5,000 vacant units. According to the report, the amount of time it takes NYCHA to re-rent vacant apartments increased from 98 days in 2020 to 424 days in 2024. A decline in staff responsible for turning over these units helps explain this sharp increase in turnover time. The report found that between 2018 and 2023, NYCHA accumulated a total of 6,000 vacancies among this staff.

“The combination of a ton of vacant units, plus an exceedingly low transfer priority, is really a double whammy in terms of what survivors of domestic violence have to go through,” Henriquez said. In a statement, NYCHA spokesperson Andrew Sklar said that “NYCHA continues to evaluate its transfer policies on a regular basis and strives to facilitate VAWA transfers as quickly and efficiently as possible — and with enhanced transparency — while aligning with applicable laws and regulations, consent decrees, and other requirements.”

The agency also noted that it saw an 87% increase in completed emergency transfers from 2023 to 2024, and that the average wait time for emergency transfers has gone down by 81 days from 2023 to 2024. The agency also said that it was working to revise the way it prioritizes transfers.

Henriquez said that Legal Services NYC had a conversation with NCYHA last summer in which staffers said they were considering increasing the priority of

New York City Housing Authority’s John Haynes Holmes Towers. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Plan unveiled that may shut out Harlem residents from promised affordable housing

By SURINA VENKAT Special to the AmNews

The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) has proposed a $98 million plan to convert the closed Lincoln Correctional Facility into the Seneca, a 22-story mixed-development building, including approximately 110 affordable homeownership units, but the plan has drawn criticism from Harlem leaders and residents for projecting prices above the affordable range for a majority of community members.

The plan, which was released on December 19, 2024, will offer “homeownership units for households earning 80% and 100% of the Area Median Income” (AMI). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which releases annual reports on the AMIs for all cities across the country, defined $139,800 as the AMI for a three-person household in New York City in 2024.

An analysis of 2023 American Community Survey data by the NYU Furman Center found that in Central Harlem, where the Lincoln Correctional Facility is located, the median household income is $51,990 — 37% percent of New York City’s AMI for a threeperson household. The plan’s proposed 80% income cap on affordable homeownership units in the Seneca would restrict the units to households earning approximately two times the median income in Central Harlem, a neighborhood that residents say is already grappling with a housing crisis.

“The fact that they’re so off in terms of these income levels is a scary thought,” said Kai Cogsville, founder of Defend Harlem. “It shows that they don’t really, honestly care too much about the actual community and the people that make this city thrive.”

The Lincoln Correctional Facility building has a storied history, beginning with its opening as a community center for young Jewish women in 1914, use as a rest center for Black soldiers during World War II, and conversion into a school in the 1940s.

In 1976, the building was converted into a low-security prison, which operated for decades until former Governor Andrew Cuomo closed the facility in 2019 as part of a state initiative to decommission state prisons. The building reopened in summer 2023 as a temporary shelter for asylum seekers.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced in March 2023 that the facility would be redeveloped, stating that it represented a “prime opportunity” to address “critical needs such as affordable housing.” In December 2023, Infinite Horizons, L+M Development Partners, Urbane, and Lemor Development Group won the bid to redevelop the facility into the Seneca.

Named after Seneca Village, a community of predominantly Black landowners whose properties were seized by the state through eminent domain for the construction of Central Park, the proposed site would include a combination of community spaces, so-called

affordable homeownership units, and residential amenity spaces. The project initially offered Harlem residents the possibility of owning property overlooking Central Park, a view that has gotten steadily more expensive over the past few decades.

“The transformation of the former Lincoln Correctional Facility will expand affordable homeownership in Harlem with 105 units for working New Yorkers, creating opportunities for working families to build intergenerational wealth,” an ESDC spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Amsterdam News. “ESD, in partnership with its development partner, remains committed to working with local leaders and to ensure this project serves the community and its needs.”

The ESDC plans to partner with Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, a coalition of interfaith organizations involved in supporting programs related to affordable housing and economic development, to make neighborhood residents aware of the future affordable homeownership units. However, several elected officials and community members have alleged that the ESDC has made minimal effort to engage with the community in its creation of the Lincoln Correctional Facility plan.

At the ESDC’s Jan. 23 virtual public hearing about its proposed plan for the Lincoln Correctional Facility, State Sen. Cordell Cleare, Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, District Leader William Smith, District Leader William Allen, and other community members testified their opposition to the development. More than 80 community members, including Cogsville, also attended the hearing, where several testified in opposition to

the plan as well.

At the hearing, Cleare and Smith criticized the use of AMI’s as a measure of affordability, due to it being significantly higher than the incomes of district residents.

“Many people in our community — our East Harlem community and lower Central Harlem community — are being priced out and dealing with [a] significant rise in rents,” Smith said at the hearing. “Rent inflation is a very big issue. The fact that we’re having a project that’s being built in our community — we want to ensure that local residents are getting the largest percentage in access to the units and also that the AMI levels are realistic.”

New York City’s AMI, which includes the median household incomes of New York City’s five boroughs and Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam counties, has been criticized by housing activists as unrepresentative of the economic realities of many New York residents, yet remains a key measurement to determine eligibility for city-financed affordable housing projects.

In a Jan. 24 letter to Empire State Development senior project manager Christopher Wasiff that was shared with the Amsterdam News, Cleare wrote that “prices put forward to address housing insecurity in Harlem must be adjusted to mirror the median income of Black residents from Harlem.

“I want to echo District Leader Smith’s testimony and urge the ESDC to halt any future action on this project until more community input is taken into account, and deeper affordability is finally promised.”

At the hearing, several community members also expressed concerns that the project would contribute to Harlem’s ongoing

gentrification. In Central Harlem, the population of Black residents has decreased by more than 20% since 2000. A similar situation has unfolded in West Harlem, where the population of Black residents has declined by 14% and the population of Hispanic residents has declined by 10% since 2010.

A 2024 report by the Community Service Society found that West Harlem’s demographic changes accelerated following the beginning of Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus expansion, a project authorized by the ESDC in 2008.

“I think the governor has turned her back on our community, and so has the ESDC,” said Cogsville, whose organization Defend Harlem protested against Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion.

Several Harlem residents echoed Cogsville’s dissatisfaction with the ESDC, noting the organization’s lack of meaningful community engagement at the Jan. 23 hearing.

“I feel like the state should have come to the community board and given us some information about what they were thinking, what was going on,” said Donna Gill, a member of Community Board 10, at the hearing.

She said that conversations about the Lincoln Correctional Facility’s redevelopment was “just all done in silos without community involvement,” and expressed a concern about the affordability of highrise building projects such as the Seneca for Harlem residents.

“I view it as a displacement for the people that have been in this community and continue to want to stay in this community, but the prices are pricing us out and we really have nowhere to go,” Gill said.

Looking north across 110th Street at Lincoln Correctional Facility on a sunny late morning. (Jim Henderson photo via Wikimedia)

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap’

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Back in 2019, a Federal Reserve study pointed out that “Black families’ median and mean wealth is less than 15 percent that of white families.” That frequently reported gap in wealth between Blacks and whites is a legacy that has come to define life in the United States.

Ebony Reed and Louise Story use that fact as the starting point for their 2024 book, “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap.”

“Fifteen Cents on the Dollar” highlights the importance of understanding racial wealth disparities throughout U.S. history. The book demonstrates that you can’t appreciate the differences in inherited or generational wealth without acknowledging what the authors call the “arc of the history of racial wealth inequities.”

The book tells the stories of a diverse group of Black people to illustrate its point: An NAACP activist; a workingclass Atlanta man who starts a BBQ stand and tries to purchase his own home; a North Carolina-based tech employee looking for financial security; and a Black man and his white wife who realize that their racial differences have influenced the trajectory of their work careers. It also features former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, rapper and activist Killer Mike, and BounceTV founder Ryan Glover who are co-founders of the online banking site, Greenwood. The platform bears the name of the historic Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma — also known as Black Wall Street — that was bombed and destroyed by a white mob in 1921.

Black Wall Street was one of several efforts to build Black wealth in the immediate aftermath of enslavement. Reed and Story reference the scholar Joy DeGruy’s assessment that individuals in the Black community experience “post-trau -

matic slave syndrome” because of the various economic challenges they have faced in the United States. “Following the trauma of slavery itself,” the book’s authors write, “the reneged forty acres and a mule, the biased Homestead Act grants, the collapse of Freedman’s Bank, the inequity of sharecropping arrangements, convict leasing, inequitable pricing in insurance policies, and the start of Jim Crow laws –– after all this, the disappointment of losing land was wrenching for many Black Americans.”

Today’s efforts to close the racial wealth gap bump up against systemic forms of racism which are like fortresses keeping Blacks at arms’ length from prosperity. Even cash reparations payments would not necessarily make a difference, the authors note: “If Black Americans were given an influx, the Black-white wealth gap would reemerge if it was still more difficult for Black people to get loans than it was for white people; if Black people were still arrested more than white people for the same alleged offenses; if Black people were promoted at work less than similarly talented white people; if Black people invested differently from white Americans; or, if Black people could not get access to the same types of relief as white Americans.” Even initiatives aimed at building Black community wealth, such as the creation of Greenwood Bank, may face challenges in achieving long-term stability without support from white-owned institutions. This highlights the difficulties that fully Black-owned banks encounter in maintaining independent financial stability.

Access to life-affirming health care, favorable tax policies, home ownership, education, and business opportunities remain limited for many Black people in the United States. These factors contribute to the economic spectrum of financial wellbeing, say the authors of “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar.” And these features continue to be challenging for

Divine Nine News

Member spotlight on William H. Oliver: Saluting an unsung hero

By KAYLYN KENDALL DINES Special to the AmNews

Meet William (Bill)

H. Oliver, a husband, father, grandfather, and friend whose life has been dedicated to serving people. He retired as a deputy chief of investigators in the Essex County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office and was a private first class in the U.S. Army; recreational football and basketball coach; and proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., to name a few of his af-

To some extent, this story is about the measure of a man who is known for his discipline, compassion, integrity, style, and wit. At age 84, Oliver exercises regularly and moves through life with a youthful spirit. How he treats others and the places where he continues to volunteer make him an absolute standout.

Oliver is committed to his church Fountain Baptist Church (Summit, N.J.).He is also an active member of six masonic organizations, as well as one of two special assistants to the president of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

“These organizations have given me the opportunity to give back through our general commitment to improve lives and uplift circumstances within our communities,” said Oliver.

His service does not end there. Oliver is also a deputy imperial director of the Shriners as Mentors Program for Region ll, which includes masonic temples in Michigan, Canada, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

For more than 50 years, mentorship has been a key part of Oliver’s Born in Montclair and raised in East Orange, N.J., Oliver enlisted in the military and returned home from service in 1964. Soon after, with a wife and a baby on the way, he became a corrections officer at a prison in Rahway, N.J. Over the years, a few more of his titles were patrolman, patrol sergeant assigned to the Detective Division of the East Orange Police Department,

and captain of investigators in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

In 1965, he added the title of coach when Lewis Miles, a former Port Authority police officer and friend, invited Oliver to start a sports team called the East Orange Tigers. Over the years, the name of the team changed to the East Orange Panther Football

Program. In later years, they changed sports from football to basketball and even added a cheerleading squad.

In thinking back to his 30-year period of coaching with Miles, Oliver mentioned another friend who helped run their youth recreational program: Jim Pitchford, Oliver, Miles, and Pitchford were united in

their commitment to youth in their hometown of East Orange. According to Oliver, “The most gratifying part of the whole deal was, we never made a penny and I’ll never tell you how many pennies we spent. We did it for the love of the children.”

While tending to family, educational pursuits, and professional responsibilities, the trio tried to raise funds to offset the costs for the team’s travels to tournaments in and outside of New Jersey. Although they lacked practice equipment, such as tackling dummies, they led with love, shared life lessons, and won many games.

That’s what Ron Harris remembers: “Mr. Oliver was building the pipeline of future football players for the high school,” he said. “We were young kids playing. We enjoyed it and he was tough.”

When Harris, an entrepreneur and now a resident of Atlanta, thought about being a sixth-grade student and running back, he paused and smiled. Then, he was 11 years old. Now, at age 66, Harris said, “Mr. Oliver was so disciplined with his preparation, you would have thought coaching was his full-time job. Now that I’m older, what really impressed all of us is he didn’t have a son on the team. He treated us like we were his sons.”

That’s how Oliver treated hundreds of boys in the City of East Orange. As a result, a brotherhood formed.

Just ask Ralph Jacob and Rob Davenport, former teammates who have been mentored by Oliver for more than 50 years. The 20-year age gap doesn’t matter to them. They see Oliver as their smooth, cool, sharpdressing friend.

A few years ago, about 100 of Oliver’s former athletes came together to surprise him at an appreciation dinner. His former team members reminisced, told jokes, talked about Oliver’s high standards, and shared dreams.

Davenport, CEO of a technology company who earned an undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University, sent a letter that said, “Unlike so many pretend leaders of young men, you walked your talk authentically, and in so doing, helped us

Mentees and friends at CIAA in Charlotte (l–r): Rob Davenport, Ralph Jacob, Bill Oliver, and Ron Harris. (Ralph Jacob photo)

Bill Oliver, pictured in December 2024, was part of team of NOBLE NJ members who held annual holiday celebration and toy and clothing drive for youth. (Kaylyn Kendall Dines photo)

Union Matters

Now Republicans want to put OSHA on the chopping block

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Republican Party efforts to dismantle the federal government have now shifted towards eliminating the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Trump administration is already attempting to shut down humanitarian U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, is reportedly scheduled to issue an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, and is reconstituting the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The New York Times claims the CDC has already scrubbed thousands of pages from the CDC’s website.

OSHA regulates workplace safety measures and has been targeted for dissolution by a new bill introduced by Arizona’s Republican Party Rep. Andy Biggs. The congressman’s “Nullify Occupational

Safety and Health Administration Act,” aims to dismantle the agency because, the representative said in a press release, of its “usurping [of] states’ authorities and forcing Biden’s vaccine mandate on the private sector.

“OSHA’s existence is yet another example of the federal government creating agencies to address issues that are more appropriately handled by state governments and private employers,” Biggs’ statement said.

“Arizona, and every other state, has the constitutional right to establish and implement their own health and safety measures, and is more than capable of doing so. It’s time that we fight back against the bloated federal government and eliminate agencies that never should have been established in the first place. I will not let OSHA push Arizona around with their bureaucratic regulations and urge my colleagues to support my effort to eliminate this unconstitutional federal agency.”

On its current website, OSHA lists the health and safety rights workers have in U.S. workplaces. If workers identify hazards at their work sites, they have been traditionally encouraged to report these issues to federal authorities. One part of their list reads: “You also have the right to:

Receive workplace safety and health training in a language you understand

Work on machines that are safe

Refuse to work in a situation in which you would be exposed to a hazard

Receive required safety equipment, such as gloves or a harness and lifeline for falls

Be protected from toxic chemicals

Request an OSHA inspection, and speak to the inspector

Report an injury or illness, and get copies of your medical records

Review records of work-related injuries and illnesses

See results of tests taken to find work-

place hazards”

Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League called Biggs’ proposed bill catastrophic. “Repealing OSHA would put workers at great risk by dismantling the very protections that have helped reduce workplace injuries and deaths for over 50 years,” she said. “Without OSHA, many workers will be left vulnerable to unsafe conditions, and it will be the most vulnerable — low-income and minority workers — who will bear the brunt of dangerous rollbacks. Additionally, OSHA plays a crucial role in ensuring children’s safety in the workforce by holding corporations accountable and enforcing laws against dangerous, illegal labor practices. We need to build on the progress made in workplace safety, not dismantle it.”

The bill introduced by Representative Biggs has been forwarded to the Committee on Education and Workforce for further review.

An employee walks through the U.S. Steel Granite City Works facility Thursday, June 28, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Trump devoid of common sense and human decency

The inevitability of Trump’s socalled common sense, which he first expressed in his conclusions about the fatal air disaster over the Potomac River, arrived again on Sunday when he claimed, again without an iota of evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land,” and that “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.” As expected, he announced that he would cut off funding to the country.

In response to Trump’s unfounded claim, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government had not confiscated any land and that he looked forward to talking to Trump to explain a policy that ensures equitable public access to land.

Trump’s aide-de-camp, Elon Musk, himself South African, said in a post on his social media platform X that South Africa had “openly racist ownership laws,” suggesting the whites there were the victims.

Let’s take a look at land ownership in a country that for years was governed by draconian laws of apartheid. Whites today possess three quarters of the freehold farmland in the nation, com-

pared to 4% of Black landowners. In the nation, Blacks comprise 80% of the population and whites only 8%.

What the nearsighted and wrongheaded Trump was possibly reacting to, though there is no way to determine how he configures his common sense, was the bill Ramaphosa signed into law last month to address the disparity by making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest.

Basically, and without any reservations, we agree with the African National Congress (ANC), who accused Trump of “amplifying misinformation propagated by Afriforum, a right-wing lobby group that promotes the views and opinions of white Africaners speakers.”

According to the ANC, Trump’s attack was a “direct result of the lobby group’s ongoing efforts to mislead the global community and protect apartheid-era land ownership.”

What is clearly at play here is Trump’s bias, his lack of human decency, and certainly one who, despite his claim, is devoid of common sense.

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

Damaso Reyes: Executive & Investigative Editor

The urgent need for greater access to HIV prevention and treatment in the Black community

By JOE PRESSLEY and SYLVIA COWAN

In observance of Black HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day (Feb. 7), we are called to reflect on the ongoing epidemic and its disproportionate impact on the Black community. The progress made in HIV prevention and treatment over the last two decades has been transformative, but for many in Black America, the promise of these advances remains out of reach. We are now in a new era of HIV care, and the time has come for a shift. Longeracting HIV prevention and treatment represent a groundbreaking opportunity to end the HIV epidemic by reducing stigma and eliminating pill burden. Now is the time to commit to ensuring access. Black Americans represent 18% of the New York State population, but account for 42% of new HIV diagnoses, according to the latest information from the NYS Department of Health. In 2023, the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Black people was 7.6 times higher than the rate of non-Hispanic White people — the same as in 2022. In New York City, Black men represented 39% of new HIV diagnoses in 2023, and Black women accounted for 51% of new HIV infections among women. Despite these disproportionately high rates of infection and although they could greatly benefit from the highly effective HIV prevention medication pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Black New Yorkers make up only 12% of PrEP recipients, while White New Yorkers are 43% of PrEP recipients despite making up only 19% of new HIV diagnoses, according to the (End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic) Dashboard.

These disparities are the result of a complex interplay of factors, including inequities in access to quality healthcare, underfunded health education and awareness efforts, and the impact of systemic racism. Structural barriers such as socioeconomic inequalities, the stigma surrounding HIV, and a legacy of mistrust of the medical community contribute to higher rates of transmission, late diagnoses, untreated in-

fections, and preventable deaths. Longer-acting PrEP and antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatments that are administered via intramuscular injections are currently available, and the advent of new, longer-acting HIV treatment and prevention options that are easier to administer, such as microarray patches or under-the-skin implants, for example, offers a new ray of hope for communities that are most at risk. Many of these products, including pills, can be administered every six months — much less often than taking a daily pill. The result is the potential to be a game-changer by improving adherence and enhancing quality of life.

Yet, while these treatments show enormous promise, we must ensure removal of structural barriers that could continue to prevent access to HIV prevention and treatment breakthroughs in Black communities. These barriers, such as limited access to healthcare providers who are familiar with these newer options, potentially high copays and deductibles, lack of culturally competent care and mistrust of the medical system, and general lack of awareness due to absence of culturally relevant education campaigns, may prevent many from benefiting from these advances. For many, the fear of discrimination or judgment from healthcare providers — and even from their own families — can be a significant deterrent from seeking prevention or treatment.

The underfunding of public health programs, particularly Medicaid, which is the largest insurer of people living with HIV in the U.S. who are low-income, and other programs that serve low-income and less-resourced communities, will further limit access to HIV prevention and treatment. Federal and state healthcare policies often fail to prioritize innovative interventions, and insurance coverage remains inconsistent, which could leave many without the ability to afford or access longer-acting HIV medications. Black Americans, particularly those who are uninsured or underinsured, find themselves caught in a web of exclusion from the latest, most

effective HIV care.

In the spirit of Black AIDS Awareness Day, we must call for community, healthcare, and policy leaders to get involved so systemic changes are made and equitable access to HIV care is available. Culturally relevant, community-centered education campaigns are also needed to raise awareness about longeracting HIV medications. Engaging trusted community leaders and healthcare providers in this effort is key to combating misinformation and stigma.

The O’Neill Institute issued a policy brief in partnership with Amida Care and CAI, calling on Medicaid to make critical changes to embrace the potential of longer-acting medication for HIV prevention and treatment. The brief includes several federal- and state-level policy recommendations.

Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is not just a day of remembrance; it is a call to action. The HIV epidemic is far from over for Black Americans, but with the right investments, education, and support, we can ensure that the advances in HIV prevention and treatment reach those who can benefit the most. The introduction of longer-acting HIV prevention and treatment products has the potential to bring us critical steps forward on the road to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but these innovations must be made accessible and affordable for Black communities. Only through sustained commitment to equity and action can we hope to end the HIV epidemic and ensure a healthier future for all.

Joe Pressley is vice president of public policy and government relations at Amida Care, a Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan providing expert HIV, sexual health, and gender-affirming care, and has been a committed HIV and community health advocate throughout his career.

Sylvia Cowan is vice president of customer experience, growth, and retention at Amida Care and has worked in the Medicaid/Medicare arena for decades, facilitating access to care for New Yorkers.

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

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

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

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Gage Skidmore photo via Wikimedia)

Why Kamala lost and what it means

By BENJAMIN P. BOWSER, PH.D.

I have read all the explanations for why Donald Trump won and Kamala Harris lost last November’s election. The pollsters, journalists, Democratic Party operatives, the New York Times, NPR, CNN, and, of course, Fox News and the Republican Party gave every explanation but the most obvious. The 600-pound gorilla sitting at the table was ignored: the November 2024 election was the most blatantly racist election since Republican George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign.

In that campaign, the image of Willie Horton — a Black man convicted of murder and rape — was used very effectively to stoke White racial fear to discredit Democrat Michael Dukakis. Bush won because of that campaign ad. Last November, the number of such ads on television and social media was staggering. And, of course, Trump was not even subtle. The November campaign was also the most misogynistic; it went way beyond the hatred aimed at Hillary Clinton in 2016.

How did they all miss the obvious — friend and foe alike? Well, they didn’t. Trump and the Republicans put the gorilla at the table. They played the race card and do not need to say anything about it. It is in their interest to say nothing. Racism and sexism are how they won.

But the real inside story of the refusal to call the Republican campaign racist and misogynistic was entirely on our side of the table. Despite the big-tent enthusiasm for Kamala, the ground game in neighborhood after neighborhood was half-hearted or non-existent, notably in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Campaign workers complained that they did not have the support they needed to get out the vote.

There was also naiveté at the top of the Democratic Party and among pollsters. Suppose you are going to run a Black woman for president. How many percentage points ahead must she be to discount racism and misogyny among American voters? If you knew the election would be close even before you had your candidate, how could you not anticipate lost votes due to the nation’s oldest flaws — racism and sexism? If she cannot be ahead by the points expected, she should not be put up for election. Otherwise, anyone could tell you the outcome: You are going to lose!

What was with Joe Biden declaring Americans “are better than that.” They are not. Former President Lyndon Johnson’s description of white Americans was more accurate: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored

man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

When you forget that racists and sexists exist, the consequences become painfully apparent, as it was in the MSNBC commentary on election night. While they were comparing Harris to Biden, she was coming up short across the board — something they had not anticipated — and it was clear that she was losing. They ignore deep-seated racial and gender hatred at our peril. The Democratic Party will continue to lose elections until they account for and figure out how to counter racism and sexism in future elections. This miscalculation was a monumental and historical failure.

We played our part in the disaster. Some of us insisted that Black support for the Democratic Party in the 2024 election was contingent on running Kamala Harris for president. Anyone who offered an alternative was quickly eaten alive. It was Kamala’s turn, and we put our moral and historical capital on the line to see to it.

Of course she was qualified — that was never the point. However, we forgot who the majority of the electorate is. They are not Black voters in Brooklyn, DC, or Chicago, or people who look like us. Think white people, rural, middleaged, white-white, smile-in-your-face nice people, who are increasingly fearful of everything and everybody, especially people of color. Putting a Black woman up for president was like throwing double portions of bloody red meat at hungry animals. Record numbers of white folks came out of every mansion, backwoods, and trailer park in America to vote for Trump, even if it means

losing their Social Security and Medicare, increasing their poverty, continuing destruction of the environment, and having their children (and ours) killed in some future war he will need to declare to cover his domestic failures.

We forgot how strong racism is among white Americans. Lyndon Johnson called it right.

Now that the felon has been crowned King Trump, don’t think you can lie low and watch weekday football for the next four years while he messes over immigrants. If you think the king and company have a thing only for immigrants, you better think twice. Yes, immigration is broken and needs fixing — but the real reason King Trump and his Trumpettes hate immigrants is that they are people of color he can scapegoat. The people he is going after today are just a warm-up for coming after us. This may be the most dangerous moment in African American history. Let me explain. Yes, we have dealt with racists since slavery, but now we have to deal with racists who are also fascists. What does that mean? “Fascism is a farright form of government in which most of the country’s power is held by one ruler or a small group under a single party. Fascist governments are usually totalitarian and authoritarian one-party states” (Wikipedia). Isn’t that what we have now? The Democratic Party has collapsed and is exhausted. Scholars who have studied fascist regimes, notably Nazi Germany, have shown what fascists can and will do. They are like a viral disease: They keep going until strong medicine stops them. First, they neutralize institutions that might oppose or control them, and then they exterminate people they hate, like us. If King Trump has his way, there will be no election in 2028. The only question left is: Where will the strong medicine come from, and who will apply it?

Benjamin P. Bowser is a native Harlemite; was an A. Philip Randolph’s youth leader, a student of John Henrik Clarke, and a mentee of Loften Mitchell; and now resides in Oakland, Calif. He is an emeritus professor of sociology at California State University, East Bay, and the author of 17 books and 60 journal articles about racism, AIDS, drug abuse, and white Americans.

Black History Month

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

Welcome to Black History Month! What a complicated time we’re in. I want to celebrate and preserve the legacy of Black excellence and greatness, despite the blatant attempts to erase Black history and Black people from the larger American narrative.

I have always said Black history is American history. Our histories are inextricably linked. As my grandmother would say, “It’s a sin and a shame” more Americans do not know the larger story of America … the good, bad, horrific, and glorious.

As we worry about book bans in the 21st century, we must remember that the erasure of Black people and culture has always been part of the American project. There is a reason why most kids only know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks from the civil rights era. It is by design that most schools mention watereddown versions of Frederick Douglass and Harriett Tubman. What about the thousands of other leaders who organized, mobilized Black people, dedicated and sometimes lost their lives in their quest for freedom and equality?

I recently wrote a book, “How to Build a Democracy,” about Fannie Lou Hamer, Barbara Jordan, and Stacey Abrams, and have been astounded at the number of people who have no clue about the contributions and organizing prowess of Fannie Lou Hamer or the legislative acumen and oratory skills of Barbara Jordan. People of all ages don’t know how these two women held presidents to account and changed the course of American history for the better … and these are just two of the names. There are thousands.

This Black History Month, we must take the time to educate ourselves and preserve our rich history. We must support Black-owned bookstores and Black authors. We must be sure to support institutions like the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem and the Brooklyn and Queens public libraries — institutions that are celebrating and educating their communities about Black history. What is your plan for this February? Will you support the National Black Theatre and attending the four plays being staged this year? Will you donate to the Studio Museum so when they reopen in the fall, you can have your membership at the ready? Will you treat yourself to the talent at the Dance Theater of Harlem for their April show? If you can’t make it to Philly, will you go online and buy books and dope sweatshirts from Uncle Bobbie’s Bookstore? However you choose to spend your Black History Month, be intentional about your dollars, your time, and the information you choose to digest. And as always, you can spend time researching and supporting Black candidates who are working diligently to make our cities and communities better places.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.

Benjamin Bowser

Caribbean Update

Caricom to discuss deportations at summit

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders meeting in Barbados later this month will have the usual full plate of issues to discuss, including the continuing situation in strife-torn Haiti, but U.S. President Donald Trump has put an additional topic on the table: deportations of thousands of regional nationals in the coming weeks.

In the early stages of planning for the Feb. 19–21 summit, the issue of mass deportations to the 15-member bloc was not on the agenda, but influential leaders like Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent now say the heads of government have no choice but to deliberate on the issue.

The warning from Gonsalves comes as Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness is already sounding a warning to some of the more than 5,000 Jamaicans with final deportation orders awaiting forced repatriation. He said the island will be intolerant of deportees who dabble in crime, because the country already has enough problems in this area, while opening its arms to those with good intentions.

As expected, Jamaica tops the list of Caricom nations, with 5,120 awaiting flights, followed by Guyana with 1,236; Trinidad with 1,197; Belize with 899; and the Bahamas with 709, according to published figures. Haiti, with thousands benefiting from temporary protective status (TPS), it is being treated differently by the Trump administration: It is not included in this particular list.

“Let me be clear to you that this is not the Jamaica that you left 10 or 20 years ago,” Holness told reporters. “It is not the Jamaica Constabulary Force that you left 10 or 20 years ago. You will either meet a judge or your maker if you come back to Jamaica and violate our laws and create havoc. Come back with a good heart and a good mind, come back willing to work, come back with your resources, [and] you will be able to make life here, but don’t come back here to undermine and destroy what we have built.”

As Holness dished out his warning, Gonsalves suggested that the issue is big enough to make the agenda in Barbados. “Of course, heads [of government] and other officials are communicating with one another on this particular subject, naturally,” he said during a

weekly radio program. “You’ll be silly not to be communicating, either at the political level, or both cases at the level of officials who would have to administer any particular matter arising from any possible deportation.”

Like other government leaders, Gonsalves wants the deportation flights and the process to be dignified. It would also help if governments have biographical information about deported nationals to make it easier for authorities to deal with them.

“You may deport somebody — let’s say somebody who is in jail for burglary. They finish their sentence, or even if you commute their sentence for deportation, you send them home. All the information we have is that John Brown was serving five years for burglary, armed robbery, or whatever it is, but we do not know the history of this person — how long that person was in the United States of America, his or her skills, educational attainment, what is his or her criminal record. We have not received anything formal about that.”

Just last week, the first batch of 56 deportees to Jamaica arrived on the island, fueling speculation that these were part of the new

U.S. policy on deportees, but Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith was forced to remind citizens that that batch was part of the regular, routine monthly repatriation of Jamaicans from U.S. prisons. Of the 56, four were convicted murderers. She said preparations are being made in earnest for any large group of arrivals in the coming weeks.

“While new immigration enforcement measures will result in an increased number of Jamaicans being repatriated, there are several processes involved,” Johnson Smith added in a statement. “The government of Jamaica is actively monitoring the situation and will continue our historically close engagement with U.S. authorities. We also wish to make clear that Jamaica, like most, if not all, countries, has international obligations requiring us to accept the return of our citizens who are subject to deportation. As a responsible member of the international community and a respectful bilateral partner, we have always honored these obligations, with appropriate attention to due process and human rights, as do other nations regarding the repatriation of foreign nationals who have violated our laws in Jamaica.”

The Proud Boys are back — and now they want to help ICE deport immigrants

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER

Well, it didn’t take long. The white supremacist Proud Boys have officially declared their return, thanks to Donald Trump’s mass pardons on January 20. And with his second term now in full swing, they’re not just celebrating — they’re actively looking to get involved, including in immigration enforcement.

According to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), the Proud Boys are already positioning themselves as potential enforcers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Tracking their activity on Telegram, GPAHE has reported that Proud Boys PDX fantasizes about being “deputized as ICE under Trump’s second term” to aid in mass deportations.

It doesn’t stop there. Proud Boys in Upstate New York are ecstatic about rumors circulating on their platforms, suggesting that ICE is allegedly offering “$750 per illegal immigrant” reported through its tip form. They’ve boasted about having a “network set up” ready to deliver information. Meanwhile, in Northern Nevada, the group shared an ominous image depicting a swastika rising like a sun with the

caption, “A new day is about to dawn in America … it’s going to be glorious.”

From immigration bounties to threats against the LGBTQ+ community

The Cape Fear and Columbus Proud Boys chapters have taken things a step farther, reportedly offering to take on “independent contracts” to collect “bounties on illegals.” Their threats don’t stop with immigrants; they’ve also issued warnings to drag queens — one of their frequent targets of harassment — suggesting that Pride Month in June will be anything but peaceful. The same chapter was responsible for intimidating pride events in 2023, proving their threats aren’t just talk.

As Trump signed executive orders targeting immigrants on his first night back in office, the Hell Valley Proud Boys took to social media, calling for the previous administration and federal government to be “hung for treason.”

The Proud Boys’ long history of hate

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has long classified the Proud Boys as a right-wing extremist group with a history of using violence and intimidation to push their white nationalist agenda. Their targets? Immigrants, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and anyone who doesn’t align with their so-called “Western chauvinist” ideals. Their ideology is deeply rooted in misogyny, anti-immigrant sentiment, Islamophobia, and anti-LGBTQ+

hatred; opposing multiculturalism, feminism, and anything they perceive as “woke.”

The group, which claims to have 146 recognized chapters across the U.S. and international branches in Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia, has consistently framed immigrants — especially non-Western ones — as a threat to the “American way of life.” To them, immigration isn’t just a policy issue; it’s a cultural war, one that they believe justifies their extremist rhetoric and actions. They view immigrants, particularly from “non-Western” cultures, as threats to the American way of life, and immigration as a critical issue facing the U.S.

Often, the Proud Boys frame this as a “cultural” issue, pointing to differences in religion, language, and (in their view), morality as signs of inferior and dangerous groups. Like other extremist groups, many elements of the Proud Boys regularly refer to non-Western (or non-white) immigrants as “invaders.”

The Trump administration’s heavy-handed immigration crackdown

While the Proud Boys rally behind Trump, his administration is wasting no time in issuing harsh new directives. A recently leaked Department of Homeland Security memo revealed plans to fast-track deportations for immigrants who entered the U.S. through Biden-era legal pathways. Under the directive signed by acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman, ICE has been

granted unprecedented authority to deport immigrants who arrived via the CBP One app or the parole program for specific countries. These programs allowed more than a million immigrants to enter legally since 2023, providing temporary protection and legal pathways — but now, they face rapid deportation with little recourse.

Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, recently proudly declared on social media: “Deportation flights have begun,” accompanied by official images of people being loaded onto military-style aircraft. While deportation flights are nothing new, the administration’s messaging and militarization of enforcement efforts are clear signals of their intent.

What comes next?

The Proud Boys’ return, coupled with the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda, paints a grim picture for immigrant communities and marginalized groups in the U.S. The threat they pose is no longer just rhetoric — it’s becoming reality. For those who thought the Proud Boys were gone or irrelevant, think again. They’re back, they’re emboldened, and they’re eyeing new ways to enforce their hateful agenda — this time, with the backing of the White House. Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on positive news about Black immigrant communities from the Caribbean and Latin America.

International News

D.R. Congo is being bathed in blood

By JESÚS CHUCHO GARCIA Special to the AmNews

Translated by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

At the Berlin Conference of 1885, European powers convened to partition African territory. England, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal were involved in this colonial division, which occurred approximately 140 years ago.

Today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was, at that time, brutally taken over by the Belgians and King Leopold II. During Leopold’s rule, more than ten million Congolese lost their lives when they were forced to work in the rubber and ivory industry.

In 1960, anti-colonial leader Patrice Lumumba took on the struggle against colonial rule. Declassified documents show that after Lumumba became the first prime minister of Congo, he was assassinated in a plot involving the Belgians and the CIA.

Mobutu Sese Seko came to power soon after and led the country through a oneparty system from 1965 to 1997; during his rule, he renamed the country the Republic of Zaire as part of an Africanization campaign. In 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, with support from Rwanda and Uganda, overthrew Mobutu during the First Congo War (1996-1997). Kabila assumed the presidency and changed the country’s name to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabila was assassinated in 2001.

Cobalt, coltan, gold, and copper: 6 million deaths per year

With the assassination of Kabila and Joseph Kabila’s assumption of the DRC presidency, the Second Congo War (19982003) began. Once it was revealed that the DRC’s North Kivu and South Kivu provinces contained vast deposits of coltan and cobalt (alongside significant reserves of gold and copper), the conflict escalated into a struggle for these strategic minerals that are essential for digital communications, electric cars, and power vehicles and used by companies in the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Rwanda, China, and Uganda. The nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations says the militia fighting in the DRC has led to a death toll of nearly six million people and the displacement of two million more.

The 1994 Rwandan massacres drove many Hutus to take refuge in the DRC’s Kivu region. This led Rwanda to create the March 23 (M-23) Movement, a paramilitary militia made up of mostly Tutsis to fight the Hutus in Congolese territo -

ry; they frequently raided the North and South Kivu provinces. In response, the Patriotic Alliance for a Free and Independent Congo (APCLS) allied with the Congolese army and other regional paramilitary groups to resist the M-23. The APCLS allied with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and the Congolese army to fight against the M23 militia. They joined with paramilitary groups from Burundi and Uganda and hundreds of other paramilitary gangs to also seize Kivu’s various coltan, gold, and cobalt mines.

African Union, U.N., and SADC

“The origins of this war are varied, as there are many people, institutions, and states that profit from this situation, from the riches of the soil,” said Dr. Steve-Régis “Kovo” N’Sondé, a researcher affiliated with CIRECK, Congo-Mioa

(Centre International de Recherche-Éducation sur la Civilisation Kôngo/ International Research Center - Education on Kongo Civilization) when he was asked to analyze the DRC situation.

“To propose 1885, the year of the Berlin ‘conference’ on the Congo, would be to give too much importance to the colonial era and its duration. But at the same time, the borders of the territory now called Democratic Republic of Congo, which was called Zaire (a deformation of Nzadi or Nzari which means the Congo river) during Mobutu’s time, were born in that ‘conference’ … So, one cannot reduce the current war or the actions of paramilitaries like the M23 to the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus in 1994, as if it was just another tribal war between ‘ethnicities’ as people always think happens with Black people.”

Dr. Steve-Régis “Kovo” N’Sondé is a researcher affiliated with CIRECK, Congo-Mioa (International Research Center - Education on Kongo Civilization). (Courtesy photo)

The United Nations has 14,000 of its blue helmet soldiers in the Kivu region, and this past December, 14 blue helmets were killed. The countries that make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC), met last Jan. 31 in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare to urgently analyze this “third Congo war.”

N’Sondé believes that resolving the war means looking at who is selling arms to the M-23, and looking at which countries financed Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s rebellion. In the DRC, protestors have blamed Rwanda for initiating the conflict.

The African Union met on Feb. 1 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to seek a political solution to the DRC crisis. As of Feb. 4, M-23 rebels have captured the gold, tin, and coltan-rich city of Goma and petitioned for a ceasefire and safe corridor for area residents. “The Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M-23),” the rebels wrote in a statement, “informs the public that in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the regime in Kinshasa it declares a ceasefire starting February 4, 2025, for humanitarian reasons.”

The only response from the DRC government to the ceasefire calls was made to CNN. Military spokesperson General Sylvain Ekenge told CNN that he didn’t trust that the ceasefire calls were genuine. “Have you seen the Rwandans do what they say?” Ekenge told the outlet. He called the ceasefire call “[a] communication for international consumption and to put the international community to sleep on its feet.”

M-23 rebels declared their willingness to declare a ceasefire starting February 4, 2025. (Photo credit: @LawrenceKanyuka/x.com)

chris tucker apr 19 & the four tops the temptations 40th anniversary tour

Fri, Feb 14 @ 8PM

Prudential Center | 25 Lafayette St., Newark

Mark your calendars for A Night of Love, the ultimate R&B experience featuring Fantasia, Trey Songz and Tamar Braxton a night of love

Funny as Bleep Tour

Fri, Mar 7 @ 8PM

Come meet the hilarious comedian and TikTok sensation who first made his mark as a finalist and fan favorite on America’s Got Talent lawson

Fri, Feb 14 @ 8PM

Anything can happen when the iconic actor-comedian Chris Tucker (Rush Hour, Friday) unleashes his unstoppable energy.

Fri, Apr 12 @ 7PM

You know him, you love him — it’s comedian and rising social media star Mojo Brookzz (Wild ‘n Out, We Them Ones).

Sat, Mar 1 @ 8PM

“Raucously funny” (Esquire) comedian Aida Rodriguez will have you “laughing, crying and begging for more” (Decider).

alvin ailey american dance theater

Fri, May 9 @ 8PM

Sat, May 10 @ 8PM Sun, May 11 @ 3PM  “Movement that’ll move you” (New York Magazine) is guaranteed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Mother’s Day weekend engagement at NJPAC.

Arts & Entertainment

Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar led one of the best Grammys in years. Has the awards show transformed?

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Grammy Awards have long been criticized over a lack of diversity, with a history of artists of color, women, and rap and R&B musicians being snubbed for top prizes. Sunday’s edition suggests something may have shifted.

Beyoncé, the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammys history, finally won Album of the Year for her country-andthen-some album, “Cowboy Carter,” furthering her dedication to recentering Black art in popular culture. Kendrick Lamar took home two of the top four prizes of the night, celebrating hip-hop on a show that has historically neglected the genre. The Grammys placed young pop performers in the spotlight at the moment of their ascent, meeting the contemporary music moment.

The Recording Academy has made concerted efforts to diversify in recent years. Could it be that those strides have already paid off in a course correction? Or were the 2025 Grammys simply a one-off?

A feud squashed

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. appeared onstage to address “some real criticism” facing the organization behind the Grammys.

“Artists were pretty vocal with their complaints,” he said, reaching back to 2020: “The Weeknd called out the academy for lack of transparency in our awards. He went so far as to announce he was boycotting the Grammys.”

Five years can make a world of difference. At the end of his speech, Mason introduced The Weeknd as a surprise performer, making his first appearance at the Grammys since 2017.

His return suggested approval of a new voting class — several presenters took care to note that the awards were decided by more than 13,000 voting members.

Peter A. Berry, a music journalist with work in XXL and Complex, believes that reading might be too pat, though. “He performed to promote his new album,” he said, referencing The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” That timing aligned with the Grammys’ need to highlight its reform.

“I can’t remove my cynical music industry lens,” he said. “Time heals all wounds when you need promo.”

A more diverse voting body

Of the Recording Academy’s current voting membership, 66% are men, 49% are white and 66% are over the age of 40.

But the academy announced last year that 3,000 female voting members had been added since 2019. Two-thirds of the total voting body joined in the last five years. In that same time, the academy has increased the number of members who identify as people of color by 63%, with 100% growth in Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, 90% growth in Black voters and 43% growth in Latino voters.

At the 2024 Grammys, women dominated the major categories and as a result, every televised competitive Grammy went to at least one woman. It appeared to reflect contemporary interest in female pop performers — Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Monét, and Karol G, among them. In 2025, that trend continued. Women received every single televised award on Sunday night with the exception of Lamar’s and one shared between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. “They got it right this year,” Berry said. “Maybe it is that the voting committee changed.”

Nominees and winners reflect contemporary interest

The nominations announced in November acknowledged the artists who led the conversation in 2024. Beyoncé was celebrated with 11 nominations, what Kinitra D. Brooks — an academic and author of “The Lemonade Reader” — said was the result of voters finally recognizing that “this is clearly someone who deserves the respect of her peers.”

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, experiencing breakout years, received six nods

each. The ubiquitous, discourse-dominating “Not Like Us” from Lamar and Charli xcx’s “BRAT” also received recognition. And that translated to awards. There were a number of first-time award winners, many women and people of color like Doechii, Carin León, and Sierra Ferrell. In the relatively new songwriter of the year, non-classical category, Amy Allen became the first woman to take home the trophy.

A move in the right direction for hip-hop

“Not Like Us” was an early winner at the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony, receiving trophies for music video, rap song, and rap performance. It marked Lamar’s seventh time winning in that last category. But it was his presence during the main broadcast that really made a splash. One of the biggest global hits of 2024, the Drake diss track won song and record of the year — only the second hip-hop single to ever win record of the year. By the end of the night, “Not Like Us” had won all five awards for which it was nominated.

Lamar’s recognitions arrived the year after Jay-Z criticized the Grammys for ignoring the rap legends before him — those who brought hip-hop to the preeminent music award show, only to have rap categories not make the official broadcast.

“We want you all to get it right,” Jay-Z said last year. “At least get it close to right.”

Berry describes Lamar’s wins as “a layup,” a celebration of one of the great rap records of recent history.

And though Lamar’s wins meant more hip-hop on the broadcast, Berry said the

Grammys’ hip-hop picks tend to be predictable. He says there's a “cookie cutter” formula for the kind of rappers the Recording Academy recognizes.

“The more esoteric and abstract rap,” as well as “the mid-level street rap,” goes largely ignored, he said.

Course-correcting the biggest blind spot Beyoncé’s album of the year victory was widely thought long overdue. The superstar had four of her albums nominated in the category before winning on her fifth. She seemingly alluded to it in her acceptance speech: “It’s been many, many years,” she said.

“I Am... Sasha Fierce” lost to Taylor Swift for “Fearless” in 2010. In 2015, her self-titled album “Beyoncé” lost to Beck’s “Morning Phase” and Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” beat “Renaissance” in 2023. Perhaps most infamously, though, was the loss of “Lemonade” to Adele’s “25.”

“I can’t possibly accept this award. And I’m very humbled, and I’m very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé,” Adele said in her 2017 acceptance speech, holding back tears. In winning album of the year Sunday, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century. The last was Lauryn Hill with “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” 26 years ago. Before her were Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston, and the list ends there.

Brooks believes “Beyoncé reflects that Black women can be excellent and still ignored in very particular ways — because this is a top honor in her field.”

Emily Lordi, a Vanderbilt University professor whose focus is African American literature and Black popular music, describes “Cowboy Carter” as “an album with a capital A — one that explicitly aims to restore the Black roots and routes of country, a genre long coded as white. It is the kind of historic intervention the academy could not fail to recognize — it was undeniable.” Berry points to the fact that the record’s country influence may have aligned with the academy’s traditionalist voters — but also appealed to those inspired by its break with convention.”It is some cosmic justice being done,” said Berry. “It might not be the best Bey album, but it was the best of the category.”

Even Grammys’ host Trevor Noah couldn’t help but acknowledge the milestone: “We finally saw it happen, everyone,” he said. That, we did.

For more on the 2025 Grammys, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards

Beyoncé accepts the award for best country album for “COWBOY CARTER” during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Theater for the New City presents ‘The Shine Challenge, 2025’ through Feb. 16

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

The creatively tireless artist and advocate for the oppressed Ishmael Reed has taken a bawdy slice of Black folklore— a toast about the sinking of the Titanic — and expanded it into a courtroom drama, a veritable trickster concerto, in “The Shine Challenge, 2025,”currently playing at the Theater for the New City.

Not many of even the best students of African American history can recall, let alone recite, the “Sinking of the Titanic,” which Langston Hughes revised and sanitized. “It was in 1912 when the news got around/ That the great Titanic was going down.” It ends with “When all them white folks went to heaven/Shine was in Sugar Ray’s in Harlem drinking Seagrams Seven.”

In the afterword of “Black Fire,” an anthology written by Larry Neal and edited by Amiri Baraka, there’s a vivid stanza of sexual promise from the daughter of the ship’s captain, pleading with Shine: “Shine, Shine, save poor me, I’ll give you more … than a n***** ever see.” But Shine swam on.

This scene is integral to Reed’s play, and Jordan Barringer (Helen Smith), when she is called to the witness stand about her encounter with Shine (Brian Anthony Simmons), lets the audience (the jurors) know that she never made such an offer. “I would have died rather than have had him put his Black hands on me,” she said. “Shine, your witness,” said the prosecutor (Carmen Noelia). “No questions,” Shine said.

At the crux of the play and the trial is the accusation that the Titanic didn’t sink on

that April night in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, but because of Shine’s negligence, who is defending himself in a kangaroo trial overseen by a judge (Malika Iman). She seems to derive pleasure sustaining the prosecutor’s objections. Even her barely

audible aside with the judge before the trial begins indicates that the deck is stacked against Shine.

Not only does Reed use the injustice of the courtroom to mirror what African Americans have endured for years in this

country, but he includes brilliant strokes of satire, political chicanery, lying, and misinformation to show how Shine’s conviction was orchestrated. Among the highlights of the drama is Shine’s challenge to the so-called perfection of the Titanic “that it may have been done in by structural weaknesses” — a direct reference to the original toast and boast by the captain that he had enough pumps to keep the ship afloat whatever the damage.

There were moments of absolute hilarity, particularly when the audience was prompted, in almost burlesque style, by signs from the bailiff (Audrey Shon) for when to laugh, applaud, and even boo.

Monisha Shiva (the announcer) provided context and appearances by several witnesses (Jesse Bueno as Captain Edward Smith; Maurice Carlton as Jack the Shark; Rob Fulton as Jake “The Cat” Watson; Emil Guillermo as J. Bruce Ismay), all ably assisted in making real the racism and discrimination that may have occurred, if not on the Titanic, certainly elsewhere.

Only at the end of the play, in a heartfelt coda by Joy Renee LeBlanc, in a form-fitting slinky gown, did the audience know that Polar Bear Sam was portrayed by the play’s director, Rome Neal. He, as ever, kept the lines flowing and the play never sinking, but arriving and assuring, in Reed’s words, that “our writers can be like the monks who protected the sacred texts from barbarians.”

To learn the outcome of the trial, see the play, which will run at the Theater for the City until Feb. 16, 2025.

For more info, visit theaterforthenewcity.net.

Scenes from “The Shine Challenge, 2025.” (Hollis King photos)

Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 1, 2023. (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Beyonc%C3%A9_-_Tottenham_Hotspur_ Stadium_-_1st_June_2023_(47_of_118)_ (52946286530)_(cropped).jpg photo)

Eddie Murphy at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eddie_ Murphy_Tribeca_Shankbone_2010_NYC_(2). jpg photo)

Trends

Black-owned laser hair removal studio in BK meets melanated skincare needs

BY LEAH MALLORY Special to the AmNews

When it comes to unwanted hair, laser hair removal is one of the most popular solutions for long-term hair reduction.

Sometimes the process may require specialized care, especially for those with darker skin tones, as they are more likely to experience hyperpigmentation, scarring, and inflammation due to higher melanin content.

PeachFuzz Laser Studio in Brooklyn is boosting women's confidence through laser hair removal, catering to a variety of shades — and melanated skin is their forte.

"We try to make an environment where you can feel comfortable and not have to worry about if we don't have the right machinery for you," said Keisha Lynn Wagner-Gaymon, nurse practitioner and CEO of PeachFuzz Laser Studio.

Wagner-Gaymon opened the studio with her sister, Kristin Wagner, who serves as the company’s COO, in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, they operated out of an empty apartment in a brownstone where Wagner-Gaymon lived "with a hope and a prayer" that people would come.

"We just opened up, and my sister was the receptionist, and I was the only tech. We just plugged the phone in and said, 'We're going to get started,'" she explained.

"People started coming, and we were like, 'Wow.' It was like the bat signal went off, and all these people were like, 'Oh, my God, thank you. Finally, there's somewhere I can go where I feel comfortable or where I can talk about this here.'"

By April 2021, they secured a commercial space in Bedford-Stuyvesant. WagnerGaymon said they see approximately 500 women a month – a turnout she claimed is a testament to their quality service.

"This is not even a storefront, so it just goes to show, through word of mouth, that this is a place where you are really going to see effective treatments and feel good about yourself," she said.

Kimberly Mack-Leveille has been a client at PeachFuzz since its days in the brownstone. She said she has always struggled with facial hair and learned of PeachFuzz through a friend's recommendation.

"[My friend] said, 'Oh, I think someone is opening a laser studio that is going to focus on everybody, but also specifically Black women.' And I was like, 'Oh, give me that information,'" said Mack-Leveille. "After like four or five sessions, I didn't have hair, and it stayed off for, like, I want to tell you, almost eight to nine months."

She admitted that she was hesitant about laser hair removal due to the fear of being burned or hurt, but that Wagner-Gaymon changed her perspective.

"Keisha helped educate me about this too — it's that every laser is not meant for every skin type. So, a laser that specifically focuses on darker skin tones is a game-changer," she said. "It means that you possibly won't get burned, or that they actually know how to treat your skin because you hear of people going to laser studios, and they have lasers that are not for us. So, I want to go to [somewhere] that's going to be able to cater to who I am."

Wagner-Gaymon explained that they serve many women with experiences similar to Mack-Leveille's, some of whom struggle with deeper insecurities.

"We've had women who go to sleep with makeup on because they're hiding from their husbands, or young women who don't want to date because they're dealing with a lot of intense facial hair, and we've helped them," said Wagner-Gaymon. "And we feel so good about it. We feel lucky and blessed that we're able to have this business and support these women as well."

Her interest in laser hair removal comes from her own experience as a teenager dealing with unwanted hair.

"I started having facial hair at sixteen, which was devastating to me. I was like, 'Oh my God, I've got to figure out what to do about this.'"

She learned about laser hair removal through an online forum and decided to

give it a try, but then the worst happened — she got burned.

"I got my hair cinched to my face. It was a crazy experience," she said.

"And I thought to myself, what if there was a space that was centered on skin of color? Where you didn't have to worry about if they had the right equipment or if they knew nuances for our skin? We know all of that here, so it's like a safe space we created."

The sisters recently opened a second location in Valley Stream on Long Island, bringing culturally competent laser hair removal services to current and prospective clients out east.

Their goal, Wagner-Gaymon said, is to expand their business nationally.

"We've gotten emails and [direct messages] from people in Texas, Florida, Iowa, asking, 'When are you coming to my state?' So we know that there is a need, and if we could do this in New York, where there's so much competition, we strongly believe that we can do this anywhere in the nation."

But wherever they go, their purpose remains the same.

"We are just so proud to be able to serve women of color, and our mission is to make women feel confident and their best selves, empowering them from the lightest of shades to the darkest of shades."

Visit www.peachfuzzlaser.com for more info.

Sisters Keisha Wagner-Gaymon, CEO and Nurse Practitioner, and Kristin Wagner, COO of PeachFuzz Laser.

Inside PeachFuzz Laser Studio at Valley Stream. (Pictures courtesy of PeachFuzz Laser Studio)

AmNews FOOD

Talking SCHOP! Black Food-story Month

As of today, we have only 22 more days to celebrate our rich, storied history and culture? No mass hysteria, please. We live and celebrate who we are every day, and rightly so. That said, February is our official nationally celebrated heritage month, so let’s show out.

Starting today, the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD.org) begins their Black History Month programming with Pioneers to Innovators: Honoring Black History and Shaping the Future of Food Entrepreneurship, a panel discussion about the journeys of Black culinary entrepreneurs, moderated by Tenyse Williams, CEO & Founder of Verified Consulting. Amongst the panelists is Harlem’s own Chef Lexis, who, with Christina Thomas of Brown Girls Brew, will offer a tasting.

On February 13, meet Jackie Summers, owner of Sorel hibiscus liqueur and the first Black person in America to receive a distilling license since Prohibition, at Sip the Caribbean. With culinary historian Ramin Ganeshram the evening promises great stories, historical recipes plus bites and sips.

Finally, on February 25, meet me at MOFAD for a history lesson like none other, featuring the critically lauded comedy show from comedian and writer Brandon Collins. It’s Drunk Black History, where prominent Black historical figures of food and cocktail lore will get their due with drunken anecdotes by comedians and personalities. Must be 21+ to attend. I cannot wait for this one.

This month, we at AmNewsFOOD have queued up two pieces by our chef, Eileen Barett. She talks with Dr. Ian Smith about

his latest book, “Eat Your Age,” and being more strategic about the way we eat. Eileen also interviews Omawale and Nadia Adewale, founders of Liberation Farm, a NY State Black-owned vegan farm, about their mission, food justice, and community.

Lastly, NYC Winter Restaurant Week 2025 ends this Sunday, Feb. 9, with an assortment of Harlem restaurants offering prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner. Participating restaurants include Bar Goyana, Con Migo, and Archer & Goat. Go get it!

eating and

Kysha Harris is a chef, food writer, and editor; culinary producer; consultant; and owner of SCHOP!, a personalized food service in NYC for more than 22 years. Follow her on Instagram, @SCHOPnyc, and on Facebook, @SCHOPnyc. Questions, comments, requests, feedback, invitations! Email us at AmNewsFOOD@ SCHOPnyc.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NYAmNewsFOOD.

Happy

thanks for reading!

KYSHA HARRIS FOOD EDITOR, @SCHOPNYC

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Filmmaker Rashad Frett wins at Sundance for ‘Ricky’

By DWIGHT BROWN NNPA News Wire

What is life like after being locked up in prison from age 15 to 30? How do you adjust to an outside world without the human development skills your contemporaries have?

Writer/director Rashad Frett has a clue and explores it, along with co-screenwriter Lin Que Ayoung, in his intense, harsh reality, post-incarceration drama.

The film introduces Ricardo “Ricky” Smith (Stephan James, “Race”) as he walks nervously around his old Hartford, Conn., neighborhood, disoriented in a place where he once ran the streets. Hoodlums threaten him. People are standoffish, wondering where he’s been. The little self-esteem he musters comes from his hair-cutting skills. He’s a barber. He can make a living. And he must. His parole officer (Sheryl Lee Ralph) is on his case, and he has to attend group therapy meetings, get on someone’s payroll, and rehab himself.

Fortunately, Ricky has a great camaraderie with his younger brother James (Maliq Johnson, TV’s “The Equalizer”). Unfortunately, a testy relationship with his strongwilled Caribbean mother (Simbi Kali) keeps him off-kilter. He has reconnected with old friends and bad influences like Terrence (Sean Nelson, “Fresh”); flirts with Jaz (Imani Lewis), a young single mom from around the way; and is hotly pursued by the older woman (Andrene Ward-Hammond) from his ex-offender’s support group. It would all be much easier to navigate if Ricky had parental training, a strong father figure, positive role models, and friends he could trust. He doesn’t.

He tries to pull his life together and stay out of the pen despite lacking coping tools, maturity, and basic discipline — like being on time. Ricky’s a man/boy living in a man’s world that has passed him by. He’s a vulnerable novice in dealing with technology (smartphones), dating etiquette, rules of the street, and sexual interludes. The script sets the character’s persona and situation well. You know where his heart and ambitions are, but that doesn’t negate his lack of abilities. For every good choice he makes, there’s a bad one. It’s easy to blame the system or his home life, but it’s really on him. Holding it down for formerly imprisoned young men who’ve done their time and sought salvation is the intuitive actor Stephan James. In his hands, Ricky’s inner turmoil feels real. It’s a pity that the character’s anxiety is too often depicted with visual tricks and the filmmakers didn’t trust James’s angst to do the job. His approach to Ricky is more like a subtle Ice Cube roaming the neighborhood than a Denzil Washington imposing his strong-willed character. James doesn’t overact; he inhabits the role. Ralph is the exact opposite: Her performance is showy, and she isn’t helped by cumbersome dialogue. Love the natural

portrayals by Johnson as the jovial sibling, Lewis as the love interest who gives Ricky hope, and Ward-Hammond as the lecherous witch who abuses him.

Frett’s direction is unobtrusive. Very casual. Involving. Like you’re just hanging out with the good and bad angels on Ricky’s shoulder, tagging along for the ride. No wonder his cinema verité style won Frett a 2025 Sundance directing award.

Frett can share accolades for the film’s pacing with editor Daysha Broadway. Sam Motamedi’s cinematography deftly captures faces in cars, sex scenes by lamplight, and the awkwardness of car crashes. Production designer Aariyan Googe’s taste in

interiors and exteriors reflects a workingclass neighborhood. Everyone’s clothes look like they’re off the rack from T.J. Maxx, thanks to costume designer Ari Fulton. Any musical score that includes Nat King Cole singing “Fallen Leaves” and the hip trio of Alex Isley, Masego, and Jack Dine jamming on “Good & Plenty” sets a nice cross-generational vibe.

The footage cruises by in an hour and 49 minutes, and the rhythm doesn’t die until the audience has exhausted all hope for Ricky taking charge and turning his life around. If he doesn’t, what’s the point of the film? If he does it too fast, will it feel too Hallmark-greeting-card easy? The former is

more the case. It’s easy to feel like the plotline slams too many heavy, negative incidents against the protagonist — Ricky, “I never thought I’d live this long.” Neither will the audience. Ricky finding redemption becomes a sticking point that will stymie audience appeal.

Frett and the script will pay a price for not taking Ricky out of his failure spiral soon enough, although anyone watching this ex-con in the ’hood tale will appreciate Frett’s directing — an instinctive sense of guidance to an everyday reality that feels lived in.

For more information about the Sundance Film Festival, visit https://festival. sundance.org.

Scenes from “Ricky.” (Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)

‘Death Becomes Her’ is sexy B’way riot

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

“Death Becomes Her” is one of the sexiest, funniest experiences you will ever have in a Broadway theater.

This clever musical comedy will have you dying laughing — forgive the pun. It has a book by Marco Pennette, and amusing music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, and is based on the hilarious movie of the same name.

The musical stars Megan Hilty as actress Madeline Ashton and Jennifer Simard as Helen Sharp, her old friend, although they seem to be anything but friends. Neither of these women wants to age — they want eternal beauty, but they find out there is a price to pay for that. When you make a deal that involves your immortal soul, you better read the fine print.

“Death Becomes Her” will slay any audience and have you coming back for more. These actresses take physical comedy to the hilt — Hilty and Simard are absolutely marvelous. They both get to make a deal with Viola Van Horn, gorgeously played by Michelle Williams, who lights up that stage in every one of her scenes. She can give them eternal beauty — for a price. Williams’s vocals are on fire; she is dynamite.

The musical presents the combative relationship between Madeline and Helen. Toss in Ernest Menville (amusingly played by Christopher Sieber), Helen’s fiancé, and fireworks are sparked. Of course, Madeline only wants Ernest because he’s with Helen but ruining another person’s life is not a good reason to marry a man. And guess what: It does not

make either of you happy.

There is a crazy, sensational amount of physical comedy in this musical that will leave you with your jaw dropped, stunned, and amused.

There are so many dazzling, sexy scenes

in this musical, especially every time that Viola and her followers are on stage — young people with perfect bodies who know how to move them. Taureen Everett does a sensational job as Chagall, Viola’s sexy assistant. Another character who is hilarious to watch is Madeline’s assistant Stefan, portrayed by Josh Lamon. His reactions to Madeline are hilarious.

Every aspect of this production is mesmerizing, from the songs to the fallingdown-the-stairs scenes; to the elaborate, vibrant sets by Derek McLane; the seductive costume designs by Paul Tazewell; lighting by Justin Townsend; sound by Peter Hylenski; hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe; make-up by Joe Dulude II; fight direction by Cha Ramos; music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell; orchestration by Doug Besterman; music direction by Ben Cohn; and direction and choreography by Christopher Gattelli.

The fantastic leads in this cast are supported by a wonderful ensemble of actors, including Marija Abney, Lauren Celentano, Sarita Colon, Kaleigh Cronin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Michael Graceffa, Neil Haskell, Kolton Krouse, Sarah Meahl, Ximone Rose, Sir Brock Warren, Bud Weber, Ryan Worsing, Warren Yang, Kyle Brown, Lakota Knuckle, Johanna Moise, and Amy Quanbeck. For tickets, go to http://www.deathbecomesher.com.

Joy Behar brings ‘My First Ex-Husband’ to MMAC Theater

BY LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Comedian Joy Behar will make you laugh out loud with her new comedy, “My First ExHusband,” playing at MMAC Theater (248 W. 60th Street). This play is the result of her interviewing divorced women and getting them to share their personal stories, simply changing the names.

Behar not only wrote the play, amusingly arranging the women’s stories, but performs it with three other actresses. The cast, which will rotate in the future, begins with Behar, Adrienne C. Moore, Susie Essman, and Tovah Feldshuh. These actresses do a marvelous job of telling the stories of two women as they share hilarious, ridiculous scenarios of men’s betrayal, domineering personalities, selfishness, stupidity, and so many other things that a husband can do to get a wife to become his ex. This 80 minutes of sharing one woman’s plight after another will have you engrossed and highly entertained. Each of these actresses delivers the stories of these women with humor, heart, empathy when needed, and drama. The stories they tell let the audience into the lives of women from various racial, economic, and religious backgrounds. This is not the type of production I want to give

too many hints about because the joy is in the experience firsthand.

Suffice it to say, Behar did her homework and is generous with the types of stories she presents. There’s some sex in there — some men are too quick on the draw, if you know what I mean, and some that just think of their wife as a trophy. Well, I’ve said too much!

Behar is delightful as both the playwright and the performer. Moore is hi -

larious and captivating as she shares the stories of her characters. Essman and Feldshuh deliver amusing and memorable performances with their two characters. One of Feldshuh’s characters is not very funny, but is revealing as someone who belongs to a religious sect in which women are completely undervalued. It’s a religious group most of us don’t know that much about, but after this, you will. This production is very much worth

your time — it’s a blast and a great time at the theater, with charming direction by Randal Myler.

The current cast will be there through Feb. 23. From Feb. 26–Mar. 23, the cast will feature Judy Gold, Susan Lucci, Cathy Moriarity, and Tonya Pinkins. The final group of actresses, from Mar. 26–Apr. 20, will feature Veanne Cox, Gina Gershon, Jackie Hoffman, and Andrea Navedo. For tickets, visit www.myfirstexhusband.com.

Scene from “Death Becomes Her” with (l–r) Michelle Williams, Megan Hilty, and cast. (Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman photo)

Scene from “My First Ex-Husband” playing at MMAC Theater with (l–r) Joy Behar, Adrienne C. Moore, Tovah Feldshuh, and Susie Essman. (DesignContact photo)

Claudia Acuna, Bluesology, the Shine Challenge

What makes jazz so engaging is the unique experience that each artist contributes to its ever-broadening sound.

The Chilean song stylist Claudia Acuna has infused her native Latina uniqueness to this music since her debut album “Wind from the South” (Verve, 2000). After paying her dues in the Big Apple since arriving in 1995, Acuna will finally make her way to Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall Center Stage (881 7th Avenue), on February 7, at 9 p.m.

She will perform her personally selected gems from the Latin American Songbook, some of which became famous to American listeners by Nat King Cole’s trio of Spanish-language albums. “The Latin American standards are important songs that Nat King Cole recorded and Frank Sinatra — ‘What A Difference a Day Makes,’ which I recorded on one of my albums. The original is actually in Spanish,” said Acuna during our phone interview. “I picked a set of songs … [that] represent what I call the Latin American standards. This whole concert is dedicated to something I have been very passionate about and trying to represent as a jazz singer. I always dreamed [about making] a mark and expand[ing] this music.”

Acuna’s ensemble will include piano and keyboards Manu Koch, bass and charango Carlos Henderson, and drums and percussion Yayo Serka, with special guest pianist, composer, and producer Pablo Vergara (also a native of Chile, who, like Acuna, studied with pianist Barry Harris).

“Right before I moved to this country, I saw Dizzy Gillespie in Chile with the United Nations band and I saw how he embraced himself in the Afro Cuban music,” said Acuna. “His joy and connection made me realize there are more layers to jazz. It’s like a tree that keeps giving fruit. I was very inspired by that experience. It feels like this tradition welcomed me to bring whatever I had to offer. That’s why I’ve been attracted to this music since [I was] a young child. I didn’t have an opportunity to attend music school. My school was listening to records at home and singing in whatever key.”

Her latest recording, “Duo” (Ropeadope, 2022), features Acuna

singing a mix of South and Central American folk songs and standards, a Chick Corea tune (“Crystal Silence”), and an original composition. Each cut features a string of renowned musicians, including bassist Christian McBride, violinist Regina Carter, guitarist Russell Malone, and pianists Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch, Carolina Cavache, and Arturo O’Farrill.

“This concert is a great moment for me and I have had so many amazing people around me, it’s such an honor,” said Acuna. “What a great way to begin the year” performing at Carnegie Hall!”

For tickets, visit carnegiehall.org.

During these dubious times, the words and music of Gil Scott-Heron are needed as America moves forward in the midst of this ongoing battle. His sharp truth will consume the SoHo Playhouse stage (15 Vandam Street) during the New York Off-Broadway premiere of Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology from February 3–23.

Poets Jazz House presents the award-winning production that features Gia Scott-Heron, co-producer and daughter of the revolutionary political poet. It was written and co-produced by poet and actress Tuesday Conner and directed by Phylliss Bailey Brooks. Artists will include Father Amde Hamilton of the Watts Prophets, Yawo Watts, Conney Williams, the Oracle, and Conner.

Bluesology is a theatrical reinterpretation that celebrates the legacy of Scott-Heron, covering his revolutionary work of music and poems from 1970 to 2010 and featuring his daughter Gia, offering insightful and heartfelt remembrances of her father, who spoke out in the face of America’s whirlwind of injustice.

Scott-Heron’s voice invoked a syncopated rhythm similar to Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr., or the stern-direct flow of Malcom X (Malik el-Shabazz), Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), and poet, author, activist Amiri Baraka, who like Heron, also recorded with a live band, the Blue Ark.

Heron called his ensemble the Midnight Band, explaining, “We are convinced that midnight is the first minute of the new day … and we are further convinced that we are entitled to a new day … and we are further convinced that we are going to have to establish the new day by communicating a little bit closely with one another.”

For tickets and more info, visit sohoplayhouse.com.

When it comes to satire, Ishmael Reed is a genius — just read any of his many novels, including “Flight to Canada” (Simon & Schuster, 1976) or “Mumbo Jumbo” (Simon & Schuster, 1972), or perhaps his last play, “The Conductor.” The poet, musician, and composer believes in keeping the establishment under the microscope for its constant trickery and greed. He uncovers the butt-naked truth of this American colony, which might be why his brilliant works never find their way to Broadway.

Reed is on the march again this time with his new play, “The Shine Challenge, 2025,” playing at the Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue) through February16.

Reed said during last week’s premiere that members of three generations of Black people had never

stas, but most often by the cats just released from time upstate. They had this smooth, melodic rhythm thing happening — even their curse words melted like butter. Listening to them, we could very well say hip hop came from those oral street stories or rhythms.

At any rate, Langston Hughes’s earlier version of 50 lines was extended by Reed into this now 100page script. This version begins with “It was 1912 when the news got around / That the great Titanic was going down.” It ends with the couplet “When all them white folks went to heaven / Shine was in Sugar Ray’s in Harlem drinking Seagrams Seven.”

In this “Shine,” Reed takes that left witty turn, staging the courtroom as the site for the play with Shine on trial as the accused and his own defense attorney. What is outrageous here is that Shine (superbly played by Brian Anthony Simmons), the only Black person on the ship, was actually being blamed for the disaster. (It seems that just a few days ago, a certain red baron accused people of color or DEI initiatives for another disaster.)

Reed expounds on those issues that never seem to get resolved: immigration, class, race, and Edwardian morality. And what would a toast be without Polar Bear Sam (played by the play’s director, Rome Neal) and Jack the Shark (played by Maurice Carlton).

heard the story of Shine. He calls the play “The Shine Challenge 2025” because he expects a future playwright to expand on what he’s accomplished.

Legend has it that the only Black man on board the Titanic was a laborer called Shine; of course, “Shine,” like “boy,” was a derogatory term for Black men. Because he worked below deck, Shine observed early on that the Titanic was sinking, and was able to escape while more than 1,500 passengers perished in the April 14, 1912, disaster.

The Shine saga came in the form of “toasts” or “the dozens” — an improvisational oral narrative popular in Black communities from the 1920s to the early 1960s. A form of street poetry, usually spoken out of hearing distance of young ladies and often boosted in pool halls, bars, or — in my neighborhood — the projects by pimps, hustlers, drug dealers, and wanna-be young gang-

In his book “The Signifying Monkey,” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discusses the significance of such signifying figures and a vernacular tradition that came with Black slaves to a new country.

The Shark, by far, stole the show — his fast-talking slickness and attempt to finesse judge Georgia St. Clair (played by Malika Iman) were hilarious.

What did that so-called virtuous white woman Helen Smith (played by Jordan Barringer) offer Shine for her rescue? No, she didn’t.

Reed has created an incredible acting troupe, who transform his scripts into unforgettable masterpieces. They should be called “The Real Players.”

“The Shine Challenge 2025” is shining on the Lower Eastside. Don’t miss this sunlight of truth. Reed gives us a dose of reality now in America — but wait, that was in 1912!

For ticket information, visit theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212254-1109.

Claudia Acuna (Photo courtesy of claudiaacunamusic.com)

Mayor Adams

“I was blown away with all that I’ve gone through with this journey in this life that I am so blessed to have — who started this stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday? Are you out of your mind?,” said Adams at the podium. “How do you print the rumor that I’m resigning on Friday, but don’t print the fact that we have more jobs in the city’s history on that same page?”

Adams’ arrival at the breakfast was his first real public appearance in about a week, due to an undisclosed illness, according to his office. He has never been shy about expressing his faith and often leans on the church and interfaith community, especially as his legal troubles escalated in the last year.

The last time he had been in the limelight was his attendance at Trump’s second inauguration and his lengthy interview at Gracie Mansion with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, none of which exactly painted the mayor as a loyal Democrat. He was slammed by many for “cozying up” to Trump and Republicans in a bid to get a presidential pardon, so the possible timing of his case being dismissed was uncanny.

Nevertheless, he received a warm reception at the event and the crowd gave thunderous rounds of applause as Adams told stories about his embattled mother, his and his administration’s efforts to help migrants during the influx, and his confirmation that he had no intention of resigning.

Gilford Monrose, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnership (OFCP), lead pastor at Mt. Zion Church of God Seventh Day in East Flatbush, and previously Adams’s faith di-

“How do you print the rumor that I’m resigning on Friday, but don’t print the fact that we have more jobs in the city’s history on that same page?”

—Mayor Eric Adams

rector in the borough president’s office, said he hadn’t heard anything on the news about the DOJ and Adams’s case, and that “the lawyers deal with that.”

“Mostly today is a thank you for faith leaders who have done an amazing job in their local communities, and it’s a way for us to just be together in a room and pause for a minute to take a collective breath,” added Monrose. “So much is happening in our city, so much is happening in our country. People have anxiety. We’re hoping to be able to share a collective moment of prayer.”

Buy-in protest

Continued from page 2

At a shareholders’ meeting last week, the Costco board of directors unanimously urged shareholders to vote against a proposal of the right-wing group the National Center for Public Policy Research, which proposed the company evaluate risks from their DEI practices. They claimed DEI was “weaponized language concealing a radical Marxist agenda.” However, 98% of shareholders rejected the proposal.

The NAN members, led by Sharpton, shopped at the Costco at 517 East 117th Street in a show of economic protest and support for the company for not bowing down and following suit with the other major companies. Members bought food items and took photos with Costco workers.

In a press statement, NAN said Sharpton will announce a complete protest campaign against two specific companies for abandoning DEI and racial equity practice.

“Companies that think they can renege on their promises to do better, bring in new voices, or abandon us will see the impact of Black buying power. That’s why, in the next 90 days, we will begin to send a message that we will not go back, and we will bring this issue to the top line by going after their

bottom line,” Sharpton said.

Over the last couple of weeks, there has been much discussion about effective economic protest and using the successful strategies and organization that worked for the Black community during the civil rights period.

Despite their sizable Black consumer base, Target is one of the latest major retailers to drop their DEI practices, ending their Racial Equity Action and Change program. On his show “Roland Martin Unfiltered,” journalist Roland Martin outlined how Black shoppers generate roughly $29.9 million per day in revenue for Target and that a 30-day boycott from Black customers would cost the company $897 million.

Nineteen Republican attorneys general have sent a letter insisting that Costco follow through with other major companies in eliminating DEI, citing it as “illegal” and “discriminatory” despite the intended purpose of these programs being about racial equity in business for marginalized groups.

NAN members have also been engaged in protesting billionaire hedge funder and right-wing leader Bill Ackman’s anti-DEI campaign outside his Manhattan offices for more than 50 straight weeks.

Companies that have not given in to right-wing pressure are Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Delta, Cisco, and Microsoft.

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Christian Culture Center Choir performed at Interfaith Breakfast on Jan. 30. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Peter Romero

Nancy Leftenant-Colon, the first nurse to break the U.S. Army color barrier CLASSROOM IN THE

By HERB BOYD

Special

to the AmNews

Each day, as we have learned, brings new information about another first for Black Americans. It is something that may go on for generations. Last week, it was brought to my attention an obituary on Nancy Leftenant-Colon, the nurse who broke the U.S. Army’s color barrier. She was 104 when she died on Jan. 8 in Amityville, N.Y., on Long Island. Her death in a nursing facility was confirmed by her greatniece, Gilda Leftenant.

Several months before LeftenantColon joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order ending segregation in the military. Had this stroke of a president’s pen come seven years earlier, it would have saved her the ordeal and struggle of trying to serve her country. She tried to enlist in 1941, fresh out of

nursing school, but her application was rejected because she was a Black woman. Undaunted, she continued her quest; only after the number of wounded soldiers reached a critical mass was she granted entry in the Army Reserve.

“She was one of just 500 Black nurses to serve during World War ll, out of a total of 50,000 — a result of government caps that kept thousands more Black women from serving,” Clay Risen wrote in the New York Times.

Born on Sept. 29, 1920, in Goose Creek, S.C., on a farm not far from Charleston, Nancy Carol Leftenant was one of 11 children whose parents were an enslaved mother and father. The family eventually moved to Long Island, where Nancy was known as “Lefty.” She graduated from the Lincoln School of Nursing in the Bronx, one of first institutions of its kind to open its doors to Black women. In a “News-

day” article in 1997, she recalled seeing a picture of an Army nurse with her cape: “She looked so good — straight and tall. I wanted to do my part.”

Her tenure in the Army began at a hospital in Lowell, Mass., that conducted an experiment in desegregation. After a brief stint there, she was transferred to Lockbourne Army Air Field in Columbia, Ohio, where she was attached to a unit of the 332nd Fighter Group, part of the famous Tuskegee Airmen. Ironically, one of her brothers — Samuel G. Leftenant — was a Tuskegee airman who was shot down over Austria and declared dead, although his remains were never found.

Leftenant-Colon was a model nurse, ever mindful that the smallest misstep might end her military career. She made sure her decorum and dress were immaculate, with nothing that might bring her special attention. This was especially

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

Clay Risen’s obit in the Times was the first notice of Nancy Leftenant-Colon’s career, and other information about her can be found in various military publications.

DISCUSSION

More about her relationship with her brother and the memories they shared as members of the Tuskegee Airmen would have been interesting.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Nancy Leftenant-Colon’s military career, particularly during World War ll, places her in the vortex of military and world affairs, and her autobiography would be splendid.

true during her time in Alabama; even when in uniform, she had to abide by segregation laws. Once, while traveling through the South, a white woman spat in her face.

Five years after the U.S. Air Force was created in 1952, LeftenantColon joined and became a flight nurse. “I got to travel all over the world,” she said, including places in Europe and Asia. During various military events, she met a number of celebrities, such as Bob Hope and Marilyn Monroe.

When she was commissioned an officer in the Army Nurse Corps, another first, it was global news. In 1955, she retired with the rank of major, and devoted much of her time in Amityville as a nurse in the school system. She also became an active volunteer with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. In fact, she served as the president of the organization — another first for her. In 1960, she married Bayard Colon; he died in 1970.

Feb. 3, 1943: R&B singer Dennis Edwards was born in Birmingham, Ala. He died in 2018.

Feb. 4, 2007: Tony Dungy becomes the first Black head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Baltimore Colts defeat the Chicago Bears.

Feb. 5, 1950: Vocalist Natalie Cole was born in Los Angeles. She died in 2015.

Nancy Leftenant-Colon, eldest sister of United States Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Samuel G. Leftenant, holds American flag after it was presented to her during a memorial service for Leftenant, Jan. 14, 2016, in Arlington, Va. Leftenant was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen (U.S. Army photo by Rachel Larue/Arlington National Cemetery/released)

figure out how to chart our journeys with confidence. Apart from my parents, no other elder of mine had more influence on me than you. You modeled professionalism, uncompromising integrity, high expectations, accountability, and collaboration that I know I have drawn on over the course of my life, particularly when my challenges have been greatest. Thank you.” Davenport, 65, also reflected on how Oliver would inspect their uniforms right before a game and then say, “All right, bring it in.” “We cemented our bond and common purpose in battle by touching hands together before asserting our will on opponents.”

Jacob, 68, also had vivid memories. Jacob, who retired two years ago as a principal in the East Orange school district, remembers the friendship his father and Oliver shared. “Outside of my father, Bill was probably one of the first role models outside of the home,” Jacob said. Oliver was straightforward and disciplined — characteristics Jacob adopted during his 36-year career in education. He was also straightforward and constantly finding ways to instill discipline in his students, Jacob said. Davenport, Harris, and Jacob plan to travel to the 2026 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) basketball tour-

nament, just as they did a few years ago when the CIAA was in Charlotte. “Mr. Oliver is a well-respected guy. We saw it firsthand when we were with him at the CIAA,” Harris said. They thought they would have to help him feel comfortable. Instead, Harris said, it was the other way around.

Harris, who believes Oliver is worthy of Hall of Fame recognition in East Orange, knows Oliver is not motivated by accolades. Instead, Oliver keeps his eyes focused on service. He was initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in the fall of 1988 by the Upsilon Phi Chapter, Newark, with three sitting mayors and other successful professionals. “The Line of Excellence” included former mayors: The Honorable Sharpe James, Newark; Honorable Samuel T. McGhee, Hillside; and Honorable Robert Brown, Orange.

Excellence is the foundation of Oliver’s legacy. When paraphrasing a popular quote, he said, “The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” According to Oliver, “When it’s all said and done, I would like to be remembered as having been a good person — someone who had a good heart and was always willing to help.”

Mission accomplished, sir. Thank you for, undoubtedly, making sacrifices that helped you build a legacy that transcends time. This column was created to salute you.

East Orange Little League Sports Team highlighted in “Sunday Star-Ledger.” (Ron Harris photo)

Bill Oliver (Photo courtesy of the subject)

Health

DOC commish discusses new wellness center for staff at Rikers Island

By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews

The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) recently opened a new wellness center at Rikers Island for staff that features a gym, serenity room, and business center.

NYC DOC Commissioner Lynelle MaginleyLiddie spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q & A about the new center, as well as the importance of health and wellness support for staff. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

AmNews: You seem to have a real commitment to this project. Could you talk about that?

Lynelle Maginley-Liddie (LM-L): It is very much a priority initiative for me in

particular, because I think staff is our most important resource and in Corrections, we ask a lot of our staff. They are teachers, mentors, caretakers, supervisors; providing safety and security to everyone in our care. That can be challenging, it can be stressful. Our staff spend a lot of time on the job … and I think it’s important as a department to invest in the staff so they can be better versions of themselves — giving them these resources, giving them the time to take a break, take a breather, so they can continue to provide the public safety that we need. [To make] sure all New Yorkers are kept safe, we have to prioritize their mental health. We have to prioritize their physical health and well-being so they can continue to do their work and do it well.

AmNews: Can you describe the wellness center?

LM-L: In deciding what type of equipment we placed in the gym, we got feedback from staff — what are the things that they would like to see — so we have an elliptical, we have pull-up machines, we have kettlebells; all the things that you would see in a normal gym. That’s what’s there in the serenity room. That’s a big initiative for me because I think sometimes working in Corrections can be very busy and can consume your day. I think staff need a place where they can go and decompress and practice mindfulness, give themselves a break from what it is that they’re doing on a daily basis. In addition, we have the business center. Typically, our officers are on posts throughout the day — they’re in housing areas, they’re pro-

viding care and resources to our people in custody, so they don’t get a chance to go turn on a computer. The business center offers them the ability to do that whether it’s before or after their tour. We wanted to make sure that the staff have those resources available to them.

AmNews: Have you gotten any feedback from staff about the program?

LM-L: I spend a lot of time talking to staff. I tell staff all the time that my role as commissioner is to serve them and it’s not the other way around. I went around and solicited a lot of feedback about what they thought about the program, and a lot of them were excited about the opportunity — the fact that they can work out before their tour, after the tour. Having this resource right on the same property, right next to where they’re going to work, is a lot more beneficial.

We’ve had a number of events, including a Women’s Conference. We just had our first Men’s Conference [where] we tackled [issues] that people have questions about and don’t necessarily know whom to ask. I had a lot of psychiatrists at the conference. I also believe in a holistic approach. It should be physical, mental, spiritual, and financial; focusing on the whole person and making sure staff know that these resources are available to them.

I’ve heard great feedback. I am big on talking to staff, getting their input before we do anything. It’s very important for us here at the Department of Corrections to get feedback from staff before we make decisions, because their input is critical to making sure these things are successful.

AmNews: Could you talk about how the center focuses on women and women of color?

LM-L: A wide majority of our staff are women. [Some] of the people who work here come from the same communities. That moment that you have with that individual in custody can actually change the trajectory of their lives. Our staff do a very important job in the public safety arena.

AmNews: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

LM-L: We’re expanding this program throughout all of our facilities because, again, it is critical that we invest in the wellbeing of our staff, so they can show up and do their jobs better. The job of corrections officer is very challenging but rewarding, and it’s important that readers know they will continue to keep all New Yorkers safe.

New staff gym at Rikers Island. (Photo Courtesy of

Queer advocates

administration and this president do not give equal value to each and every life. I think it is our responsibility as elected officials to make sure we are continuing to fight for the rights and protections that this president is actively trying to tear down.”

According to the same report by the Human Rights Campaign, 21 states are in the highestrated category of LGBTQ+ policies and legislation that are “Working Toward Innovative Equality.” Although New York is one of them, the state could still be subjected to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation coming directly from the federal government.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Dec. 17, 2024, NCAA president Charlie Baker revealed that out of “510,000” athletes in U.S. NCAA schools, “less than 10” are transgender. Despite the NCAA presi-

BNY

Continued from page 5

daily lives into the content they’re reading — asking them questions so that they begin to grasp the idea that a lot of the joy of reading is being able to relate to the characters in these stories, be they fiction or nonfiction,” she said.

Experts believe that individualized read-

dent’s comments, however, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act for a second time. It passed the chamber with 218 votes, with two Democrats joining the measure. The bill would restrict transgender students from competing in team sports that align with their gender identity.

Congress’s passage of H.R 734 establishes that “a recipient of federal education funding violates Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination if the recipient operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities and allows a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.”

The bill is set to face some challenges to achieve the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate, but it exemplifies how federal funding could be withheld from schools that refuse to comply with the mandate.

“Folks living here in New York are protected,” said Hudson. “While Trump may have

ing support is the best for addressing childhood literacy disparities. James mentioned that teachers have stressors that may prevent them from providing specialized assistance to every child.

“These teachers are doing a wonderful job, but they have a lot of stressors from the state, their own school boards, and school leadership. They’re instructing many kids at a time and doing a wonderful job, given the challenges they face, but

been elected president in the recent election. New Yorkers across the state also voted for Prop. 1, a ballot amendment to change the Constitution to include protections for everybody based on ethnicity, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), folks who are pregnant, and reproductive healthcare. We are protected here in New York and that’s exactly what New Yorkers voted for.”

Crystal Hudson, co-chair of the council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus, and co-author of “The Marsha & Sylvia Plan,” highlighted the importance of representation in government, saying “It’s been women who’ve led the fight for Prop. 1 and reproductive rights. It’s been queer elected officials who’ve led the charge for LGBTQIA+ rights and legislative wins in budget investments in our communities. And It’s been immigrants and the children of immigrants, the grandchildren of immigrants who have fought fiercely for immigrant rights. When

at the same time, these children need that extra support,” she said.

She also discussed the pressures on parents. “Other things kind of take precedence, like feeding their kid, making sure they get to school on time, and making sure they’re safe. (They) have all these other worries.”

Clarke said the need for Reading Partners NYC grows each year, which is exciting for new volunteers, but she also sees the real achievement as when reading support is no

you have that full representation, you get those protections, you get those rights.”

On Jan. 21, Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunity” that revoked the Equal Employment Opportunity law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. In Section 2 of the Executive Order, Trump commanded federal agencies to fight against diversity, equity, and inclusion. “I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities,” he wrote.

In response to Trump’s Executive Orders, Hudson told the AmNews, “The thing that I take solace in knowing is that we have been here before — our communities, our ancestors, our people have been through this before and they got through it. And we are here only because of what they were able to accomplish, and achieve, and withstand.”

longer necessary.

“Each year, we grow into more schools, which is a double-edged sword, because while we are going into more schools, and that’s great, it’s also (that) there are a lot of schools that need us, and that’s the problem. Why do so many of these communities need us even to go in and do this work?” she said. “But if we are not needed, I think that is when I’m like, ‘We did it — this is what we came here for.’”

Education

East Harlem STEM landmark gets long-overdue makeover thanks to 600 volunteers

By CHRISTIAN SPENCER Special to the AmNews

Thanks to City Year, the Isaac Newton Middle School in East Harlem is bringing new life to the historical landmark through its beautification project on campus. City Year is one of many national service organizations receiving AmeriCorps funding in New York State.

Volunteers from the international nonprofit, which helps institutions enhance their facilities to serve their communities better, visited Harlem recently.

Final touches at the school have transformed it into more than just a good school with a laboratory; it is now a creative space for the highly educated and diverse. While the public school is known for academic excellence, ranking high for its rigorous STEM curriculum, the building’s interior design would have been flunking if it were a student.

The school is physically spacious, with high ceilings, a ballroom-like library, and a classical architectural style; on the exterior, it resembles a church. However, its muted color palette and aging infrastructure did not match the brilliance represented by its sixth- to eighth-grade students.

“This is an incredible school. City Year has been a partner of Isaac Newton for a long time,” New York State Chief Service Officer Matt Schaffer told the Amsterdam News. “We have a strong partnership in a school like this.

It’s a great opportunity to host volunteers. Of course, schools across the city need more support with these volunteer days. Every school should have a volunteer day like this. But we’re very happy to partner with Isaac Newton Middle School, and the initiative aligns with the broader New York State commitment to volunteerism and education equity.”

Shaffer attended the kickoff day, where volunteers participated in initiatives aimed at guiding Hispanic and Black students at Isaac Newton Middle School toward potential careers in STEM fields.

“I think that this type of partnership between the nonprofit sector and educational institutions, public schools — there’s a lot of potential there,” Shaffer said. “There are a lot of folks who want to do good, and City Year is the type of organization that empowers them to make a difference in public schools and to add that value — to add extra people power.”

That is where City Year’s more than 600 volunteers enter the conversation. With the help of sponsors like Starbucks, Santander, Wells Fargo, HMH Publishing, and First Sentier Investors, as well as board members, AmeriCorps members, and Student Success coaches, the group assignment to make the school more visually inspiring took only a day to complete.

The beautification plan is to hang handtraced and painted murals throughout the school.

“We work with partner principals to identify schools that want to take on a beautification project, and Isaac Newton Middle School was eager to participate,” said Annie Kessler, senior vice president and executive director of City Year New York. “One of the biggest goals today [was] to get a lot of art up on the walls — volunteers [painted] 30 to 40 murals that align with the school’s STEM focus.”

The beautification project plan began in the summer of 2024, with Principal Florin Purice, or Principal P, as the kids call him, aiming to enhance the school’s reputation and engage with the community.

“When we were asked to participate in this project, we really didn’t know how this entire thing was going to go, so it was like this gift bestowed upon us [for them] to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a whole bunch of volunteers that are willing to come in and help you with what you need,’” said Purice. “When we said, ‘Hey, [here’s] this long list of things that we wanted to address,’ we knew that the main recipient was the students because we wanted them to take pride in what they have, and this is such a great asset to the community.”

The murals represent learning and symbolize the importance of dreaming big. Drawings of Earth adorned with multinational flags are displayed in the cafeteria, accompanied by the phrase “Unity in diversity.” A cartoon ribbon microphone

bursts with musical notes, and a collision of ancient relics can be seen alongside the well-known quote from George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

City Year participants were enthusiastic about being part of the project. “I think just bringing more joy to the school, bringing happiness to the school, bringing color to the school, having something different for our students to see — to me, it just brings education to life in a way,” said Anya Warner, lead team manager at City Year.

Warner, who has been involved with the school for two years, said the murals are designed to align with the school’s curriculum. “Each mural is tied in with the subject,” she said. “For instance, we have a chorus class, and one of our murals is based [on] the chorus class in itself. We also have our ELA classes, and our ELA murals are tied into the curriculum of what they’re doing in that class.”

Such projects add new dimensions to education. “Kids learn in books, but when you see what you’re learning, like on a mural, it just shows that you’re not the only one who cares,” Warner said. “The students and the teachers aren’t the only ones that care … those who come into the school and actually do the murals also took their time to make it happen. They also care.”

Volunteers from around the city came together to improve a Harlem middle school. (Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Abreu)

NYCHA transfers

emergency transfers. However, NYCHA has not yet provided any concrete plans.

“They haven’t given us a timeline as to when that will happen,” Henriquez said. “We’re still waiting, but I think it is safe to say that NYCHA understands that this is something that they can and should fix.”

The report pointed to Boston and Oakland public housing authorities’ transfer systems as potential models for NYCHA. Both cities put VAWA transfer applicants at the top of their waitlists, as highlighted by a recent Government Accountability Office report on emergency transfer systems across the country.

The other recommendations from Legal Service NYC’s report include addressing the vacant unit crisis, hiring a VAWA transfer coordinator, and allowing residents to qualify for a Section 8 voucher immediately after their transfer is approved. Currently, applicants are required to wait for three years.

Elizabeth said securing a Section 8 voucher is now her main hope. It is approaching three years since she submitted her transfer request, and her neighbor has continued to harass both her and her children.

“I’ve just been left to deal with this situation myself, so I have tried to be as tough as I can to protect myself,” she said.

Shannon Chaffers is a Report for Ameri-

Resident and granddaughter smile as Nico Ramos, volunteer with Grant Houses Tenant Association, leaves after delivering food to them at NYCHA Grant Houses in 2020. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Religion & Spirituality

What in the hell are we going to do now?

On Inauguration Day, my colleague and sister womanist the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney was part of a panel on NPR’s All Things Considered, talking about comparisons between President Trump and biblical kings. The piece, as reported by Jason DeRose, discussed how “… since the advent of Donald Trump onto the political scene, a number of religious leaders have turned to more obscure biblical figures for models of leadership.” Wil said that in her introduction to biblical interpretation class at Brite Divinity School, she asks the question, “What does it mean to read scriptures that are set in the context of monarchy as inspirational and authoritative in conversation with our system of government?”

That’s a good question. Another is, “Why do some people believe God saved Donald Trump from two assassination attempts because he is a messiah, sent to save America and make us great again?” My colleague and friend Robert P. Jones had a conversation on NPR about that in January of 2024. It isn’t so much that these folks think of Trump as like Jesus (because he is not)

but, according to Jones, “… it really does hinge on this idea of Trump as the protector of this worldview. We have majorities of white, evangelical Protestants telling us that they believe that God intended America to be a promised land for European Christians. Even when we put it that starkly on a public opinion survey, we have majorities of evangelicals affirming that view.”

As a person who does religion for a living, I am stunned when people think of Trumpism as a religion, or as Christianity itself. In his 2016 inauguration speech, Trump did not mention God or religion at all, except to say “God bless America” at the end. But now, in the good-vs.-bad, in-vs.-out, rightmeans-might, new Republican Party (which is a cult of Trump’s personality), there has been a conversion to the perversion of the faith of Jesus. In this new religion, Trump, who some Republicans call “Orange Jesus,” is messianic, supposedly here to save his supporters from the progress America has made and take us all back to the good-oldboy-days in which my Black, female life didn’t count for anything.

In the new religion, the liturgy these folks are reciting goes like this: Trump got shot but did not die because of all the people praying for him. Strong prayers from strong people saved the day. Trump did not die because God Almighty had his hand on Trump and is not finished with Trump yet. In this new Republican Party, whose theology is a smash-up of white Christian nationalism and racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/antiwomen/anti-immigrant rhetoric, Trump is messiah, preacher, and prophet. Trump is the singular vehicle for saving America. He knows how the system works, and he alone can fix it.

Alex Wagner did a great job in her reporting on this topic in July 2024.

Is there a world in which anyone really believes that the same God who chose a poor, Jewish, Afroasiatic baby — born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, who was once homeless, and once a refugee — to save us from ourselves would also choose Donald J. Trump to be the new messiah? I hope not.

In the Christian tradition, we say they will know we are Christians by our love. As I write this, 67 human beings have died due to a tragic crash involving a Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial airplane. Our president, rather than expressing compassion and mercy for the victims, used the opportunity to blame diversity, equity, and inclusion programs for causing this crash. God help us. We are two weeks into this administration and look at the hellraising!

I’m often asked what in the hell are we

going to do now?

I was at an interfaith breakfast today in New York City. We were Rastafarians, Quakers, and Buddhists; we were Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians. We were Orthodox, Reformed, and Conservative Jews. We were Muslims, Nation of Islam, Sikhs, and Unitarians. We were female, male, and non-binary. We were each other’s people, and we were beautiful. We are beautiful! Our love and mercy are stronger than the hate that wants to ignore the call to love neighbor and stranger. Our neighbor-love is stronger than the violent urges that dehumanize anyone who is not white, straight, rich, and so-called Christian. What we can do now is find our people; wrap our arms around the most vulnerable of us; have honest conversations; lean into mutual aid and kindness; and curate moments of joy and fierce love. Good people of moral courage are deciding to stand up for each other, in the name of neighbor love, and resist the tyranny and bigotry this administration is stoking in the name of white Christian nationalism.

Good people everywhere are leaning into love. All the world’s major religions teach us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Christianity teaches us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Islam teaches that we are not to withhold from a neighbor what we need for ourselves. Judaism teaches to love the stranger because we were once strangers in a strange land. The Sikh religion teaches not to do anything to break anyone’s heart. As this campaign of hate rolls out, I was reminded once again today of how many loving and kind people are on the planet. How will we survive this moment? Look left and right, and hold hands with our neighbors. Strap in; pray with our heads, hearts, and feet; and hang on to each other for love and life.

If you are looking for some revolutionary lovers, come to the Fierce Urgency of Now Conference at Middle Church, Oct. 31–Nov. 2, 2025. Dr. Wil Gafney and Robert P. Jones will be there.

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is senior minister and public theologian at Middle Church in New York. She champions racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQIA+/gender rights, and has been featured on MSNBC, PBS, NBC, CBS, and NPR. She is the author of several books, including “Fierce Love” and the “Just Love Story Bible”; host of the podcast, “Love Period”; has

in

‘Know Your Rights’

• Memorize or carry the contact numbers for an immigration lawyer or organization.

• If arrested, you have the right to contact your consulate.

• Remember that NYC agencies, including NYPD, are not allowed to ask about your immigration status.

• Beware of “notaries” while filing asylum applications.

Where can you legally be detained?

• At the border, an ICE check-in, work, and other community locations

• At a court hearing — if you have a criminal history, even if that case or situation was dismissed or already dealt with in court

• In the event that a loved one or friend is detained, use an online ICE Locator: www.ICE.gov/locator

º Allow 24 hours for their information to appear on the website.

º Enter the person’s first name, last name, native country, and Alien Registration Number (A-Number), which begins with an A and has nine digits.

• It’s important to note that you don’t have to be detained near family, your home, an accessible lawyer, or in New York.

• “In New York, generally speaking, they detain people at an Orange County jail in the Hudson Valley. Also in Moshein and Valley Processing, which is located in Western Pennsylvania, although under this new administration there have been rumblings that new detention centers will be opening,” said Nicole Johnson of the Legal Aid Society.

• You should be able to use the www. ICE.gov/detention-facilities to find where a loved one or friend is being held.

Will you be deported immediately?

• No

• If you are in court proceedings, that will continue while you are detained.

• If you aren’t already in court proceedings and detained, then they have to begin.

• Having a criminal conviction as a permanent resident (once that status is achieved) can be detrimental depending on the nature of the crime, no matter how long ago it was. It can lead to deportation, block a pathway to naturalization, or make you inadmissible to the U.S. if you travel outside of the country and try to return.

º Convictions dealing with drug offenses, assault,

murder, rape, or any aggravated felony can result in removal proceedings.

º Minor crimes, like petty larceny (shoplifting) or disorderly conduct (being drunk in public) may not warrant consequences as severe, but that is not guaranteed.

Plan ahead for your kids in case you are detained

• Get a passport for your child.

• Make sure your child’s school has up-to-date emergency contact information.

• Get them travel permission.

• Find a trusted person who can have power of attorney, guardianship in court, standby guardianship, or status as a custody petitioner in family court for your child or children.

Applying for asylum (brief version)

• Tell authorities you are scared to return to your country because of a credible fear of persecution based on:

º Race, religion, nation of origin, membership in a certain social group, political origin.

• You must apply for asylum within one year of arrival to the U.S., with some exceptions.

• Whether you’re detained or not while you’re filing for asylum can affect your court proceedings.

º Affirmative (not arrested) filing means your case will be reviewed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

º Defensive (arrested) filing means your case will be reviewed by an immigration judge.

• If granted asylum, you can apply for a green card after one year.

Visa overstays

• Permanent stays in the U.S. include green card holders or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) refugees

• Non-permanent stays in the U.S. with limited time include those with a visitor’s, student, or work visa

º A visa is issued in the form of an I-94 document, which can be looked up online on the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website at cbp.dhs.gov/search/recent-search.

º There will be a pop-up. Click acknowledge and then go to the “Get Most Recent I-94” tab near the top of the screen.

• Before you go out of status or overstay your indicated duration, you usually have a grace period of 60 days.

• If you exceed the grace period, work with an immigration attorney to reinstate or extend your visa status.

• “The biggest factor to take into consideration here is how long you chose to overstay your visa, because that can have an impact on any other options you choose to go with,” said ACT’s Nils Kinuani. “If you stay in the U.S. without authorization, then you start accruing what we call an unlawful presence. Then you might be ineligible to change status in the U.S.”

• You can also pursue an immigrant visa through a family petition, ideally from a U.S. citizen who is a family member, through an employer, or through a special visa if you’ve been a victim of crime or violence.

Check out the Legal Aid Society for more information about immigration and deportation at legalaidnyc.org/get-help/im-

migration-deportation/.

Individuals detained by ICE may be eligible for representation through the New York Immigrant Family Unit Project (NYIFUP) if the Immigration Court case is in New York City or if you are a New York City resident and your case is in New Jersey. For more information, email the NYIFUP team at nyifup@legal-aid.org. For help with legal immigration matters or information, referrals, or resources related to an immigration matter, call the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365, or call 311 and say “Immigration Legal,” between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday–Friday. Visit MOIA’s website for a list of nonprofits and organizations that can also help with immigration and deportation issues (www.nyc.gov/site/immigrants/index.page).

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NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, FLUSHING BANK, Plaintiff, vs. CABRERA REALTY CORP., ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on September 23, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room 116, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on February 26, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 2184 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10032. 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 2125 and Lot 47. Approximate amount of judgment is $944,009.39 together with interest at the note rate from May 22, 2024 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850134/2019.

Matthew D. Hunter, III Esq., Referee

Lynch & Associates, 464 New York Avenue, Suite 200, Huntington, New York 11743, Attorneys for Plaintiff

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

JG FUNDING CORP., Plaintiff -against- 1363 FIRST OWNER LLC; 453 EAST 83RD STREET LLC; PERL WEISZ; CHESKIE WEISZ; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; SHARESTATES INVESTMENTS, LLC; LEVON CAPITAL LLC; “JOHN DOE #1” through “JOHN DOE #99,”, Defendant(s). Pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale dated October 4, 2024 and entered on October 15, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 at the portico of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on March 12, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., the premises known as 1363 1ST AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10021; Block 1448, Lot 24 and 453 E 83RD STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10028; Block 1563, Lot 121 as more fully described in the complaint and Judgment. Approximate amount of lien $7,490,500.00 plus interest and costs

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

Index Number 850430/2023

ELAINE SHAY, ESQ., Referee MENASHE AND LAPA LLP, ATTORNEY(S) FOR PLAINTIFF 400 RELLA BLVD., SUITE 190, SUFFERN, NY 10901

DATED: January 27, 2025

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, MCLP ASSET COMPANY, INC., Plaintiff, vs. VANESSA D FIGEUROA A/K/A VANESSA DULALIA FIGEUROA, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on August 27, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room 116, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on February 19, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 76 Madison Avenue, Unit #7A, New York, NY 10016. 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 857 and Lot 1118 together with an undivided 3.41 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $2,094,393.23 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850247/2023. Cash will not be accepted.

Allison Furman, Esq., Referee

Knuckles & Manfro, LLP, 120 White Plains Road, Suite 215, Tarrytown, New York 10591, Attorneys for Plaintiff

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, EMIGRANT FUNDING CORPORATION, Plaintiff, vs. HERSHEY CHAN REALTY, INC., ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to an Amended Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on July 14, 2023, an Order Amending Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated September 22, 2023 and a Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on October 4, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room 116, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on March 5, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 44 Bowery, New York, NY 10002. 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 202 and Lot 28. Approximate amount of judgment is $4,103,570.52 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850215/2021.

Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee

Borchert & LaSpina, P.C., 19-02 Whitestone Expressway, Suite 302, Whitestone, New York 11357, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Notice of Formation of MACONDO 520 FIFTH, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/24/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 200 S. Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 1860, Miami, FL 33131. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY U.S. BANK TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR VELOCITY COMMERCIAL CAPITAL LOAN TRUST 2023-3, Plaintiff against SUGAR HILL 473, LLC; BIAGIO BELMONTE, et al Defendant(s) Attorney for Plaintiff(s) McMichael Taylor Gray, LLC, 28 Corporate Drive, Suite 104, Halfmoon, NY 12065. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered December 12, 2024, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at Motion Support Room 130 in the New York Supreme Court, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on March 12, 2025 at 2:15 PM. Premises known as 453 West 140th Street, New York, NY 10031. Block 2057 Lot 138. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judgment is $2,648,459.02 plus interest, fees, and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 850143/2024. The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's Covid-19 Policies and foreclosure auction rules. The Referee shall enforce any rules in place regarding facial coverings and social distancing. Referee will only accept a certified bank check made payable to the referee. Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee File # 24-000687-01

Notice of formation of RMG PRODUCTIONS, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/15/2025. Office located in NEW YORK. SSNY is designated for service of process. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process served against the LLC to 10 TIMES SQUARE 3RD FLOOR, SUITE 3101, NEW YORK, NY, 10018, USA Purpose: any lawful purpose.

THE DONTZIN LAW FIRM LLP Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on December 19, 2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 31 East 62nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10065. Purpose: Any lawful act. Name changed to DONTZIN KOLBE & FLEISSIG LLP on January 7, 2025

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

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

WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR SEQUOIA MORTGAGE TRUST 2020-MC1, Plaintiff, -against- KATHERINE G. VOSTERS; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF 444 EAST 57TH STREETCONDOMINIUM; any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or generally or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of defendant, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff and JOHN DOE AND JANE DOE #1 through #7, the last seven (7) names being fictitious and unknown to the Plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or parties, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the mortgaged premises described in the complaint, Defendants. INDEX # 850092/2024 Original filed with Clerk March 25, 2024. Plaintiff Designates New York County as the Place of Trial. The Basis of Venue is that the subject action is situated New York County. Premises: 444 E 57th St 4A New York, NY 10022. TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff’s Attorney(s) within 20 days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); the United States of America may appear or answer within 60 day of service hereof; and in case of your failure to appear or answer judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. The supplemental summons and amended complaint are being filed pursuant to Court order dated November 19, 2024. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this Summons and Complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR SEQUOIA MORTGAGE TRUST 2020-MC1 AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: November 22, 2024 Uniondale, New York, Respectfully submitted, Pincus Law Group, PLLC. By: Margaret Burke Tarab, Esq., Attorneys for Plaintiff, 425 RXR Plaza Uniondale, NY 11556, 516-699-8902

Notice of Formation of JOBIM ENTERPRISES LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 157 W. 106th St., #5D, NY, NY 10025. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Altman Greenfield & Selvaggi, 200 Park Ave. South, 8th Fl., NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of MAGOON, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/08/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Colorado (CO) on 07/14/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. CO addr. of LLC: 50 S Steele St., Ste 420, Denver, CO 80209. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of CO, 1700 Broadway, Suite 550, Denver, CO 80290. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of GALLERY FOLLY, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/25. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Lowenstein Sandler LLP, 1251 Ave. of the Americas, 17th Fl., NY, NY 10020. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of RKF RETAIL HOLDINGS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/13/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/15/05. Princ. office of LLC: 125 Park Ave., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Wilmington, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AS TRUSTEE FOR HARBORVIEW

MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-2, Plaintiff, Against HARVEY LEVINE, CAROLE LEVINE, ET AL

Defendant(s)

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered 09/13/2024, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction, in Room 130 at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on 2/26/2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 455 Central Park West, Unit 17B, New York, New York 10025, And Described As Follows:

ALL that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Condominium Unit (Hereinafter Referred To As The "Unit") Known As Unit No. 17B In The Premises Known As 455 Central Park West Condominium, And By The Street Number 455 Central Park West, Borough Of Manhattan, County City And State Of New York. TOGERTHER with an undivided 0.625% percent interest in the Common Elements. Block 01841 Lot 1276

The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $3,088,341.91 plus interest and costs. The Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 850318/2014

Roberta Ellen Ashkin, Esq., Referee.

MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, LLC, 10 Midland Avenue, Suite 205, Port Chester, NY 10573

Dated: 1/6/2025 File Number: 17-301350 CA

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: COUNTY OF QUEENS. THE JY 4 L.P., Pltf v. 78-19 JAMAICA AVENUE LLC , et al., Defts. Index No. 711940/2016 . pursuant to the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated December 12, 2024 and entered on December 18, 2024 , I will sell at public auction public auction at the Queens County Courthouse, 88-11 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, New York, Courtroom 25, on February 14, 2025 at 11:00 a.m., prem. k/a 78-19 Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven, NY 11421 (Block 8842, Lot 147). Approx. amt of judgment is $ 853,984.28 together with interest, plus costs, attorneys’ fees and interest, less any payments received. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment , Queens County Foreclosure Auction Rules and terms of sale , Martha Taylor, Esq ., Referee. Jacobowitz Newman Tversky LLP, Attys. for Plaintiff, 377 Pearsall Ave., Ste C, Cedarhurst, NY.

Julie Christie LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/20/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 29 Cooper Street Apt 3D, New York NY 10034. Purpose: Any lawful act.

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

WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-5, ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-5, -against-

DONNA FERRATO, ET AL.

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York on May 26, 2022, wherein WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-5, ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-5 is the Plaintiff and DONNA FERRATO, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the NEW YORK COUNTY CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, ROOM 130, 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on February 19, 2025 at 2:15PM, premises known as 25 LEONARD ST, APT 3, NEW YORK, NY 10013; and the following tax map identification: 179-1003.

THE CONDOMINIUM UNIT (HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE “UNIT”) KNOWN AS RESIDENTIAL UNIT NO. 3 IN THE BUILDING (HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE “BUILDING”) KNOWN AS THE SIMON & MILLS BUILDINGS CO DOMINIUM AND THE STREET NUMBER 25 LEONARD STREET, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK, TOGETHER WITH AN UNDIVIDED 13.50% INTEREST IN THE COMMON ELEMENTS

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No.: 850294/2017. Ronald Zezima, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

MTA REAL ESTATE Request for Proposals

RFP No. TG02032025: Opportunity to license concession space and storage at MNR’s White Plains Station Building, White Plains, New York For information on this RFP, please go to https://new.mta.info/ agency/real-estate/

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-7, Plaintiff, vs. AYSE SULAN KOLATAN, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure duly entered on August 7, 2024 and the Decision + Order duly entered on December 9, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on February 19, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 50 Pine Street, Unit 2, New York, NY 10005. 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 41 and Lot 1004 together with an undivided 7.16 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,338,016.35 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850179/2022. Cash will not be accepted.

Christy M. Demelfi, Esq., Referee Knuckles & Manfro, LLP, 120 White Plains Road, Suite 215, Tarrytown, New York 10591, Attorneys for Plaintiff

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NEW YORK STATE 2026-2030 CONSOLIDATED PLAN

To participate in certain federal community development and housing programs, the State of New York must prepare a 5-year Consolidated Plan and an annual Action Plan and provide opportunities for citizens to participate in its development. As part of this process, the State will conduct public hearings to obtain the views of citizens, public agencies, local governments, and other interested parties on the housing and non-housing community development needs of the State before a draft Consolidated Plan for 2026-2030 and a draft annual Action Plan for 2026 are prepared.

The Consolidated Plan and the annual Action Plan focus principally on five federal programs: the New York State Community Development Block Grant Program; the HOME Investment Partnerships Program; the Housing Trust Fund; the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program; and the Emergency Solutions Grants Program.

The Consolidated Plan will be a five-year strategy for addressing the housing and non-housing community development needs of New York communities. The Consolidated Plan will set forth long-term goals for the development of viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons. New York State must submit a completed Consolidated Plan to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development by August 15, 2026.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, LOAN FUNDER LLC, SERIES 31312, Plaintiff, vs. 236 WEST ONE ENTERPRISES INC., ET AL., Defendant(s).

Microassets LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/21/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 422 ST Nicholas Ave 4S, New York, NY, 10027 . Purpose: Any lawful act.

LaTeca Hub LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/3/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 408 E 73 Street, Apt 3B, New York, NY 10021. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Capture Create LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 31/10/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 1595 Lexington Avenue, #5C, New York, NY, 10029. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Dream Spirits LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/7/24 Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 74 W 47th St #400, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Emma Havighorst LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/12/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 264 Lexington Ave Apt 3B, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Homebody Enterprises LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/30/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 230 E 30th St, NY, NY 10016 Purpose: Any lawful act.

The State of New York seeks to obtain the views of citizens and interested parties on the development of the 2026-2030 Consolidated Plan. As part of this process, the State will conduct a series of virtual public hearings on February 18, 2025, at 2:00 pm and February 19, 2025, at 11:00 am to give a brief overview of the program objectives and timeline for Plan development. Interested parties may participate via computer, telephone, or in person. Information on how to participate in the virtual public hearing may be found at https://hcr.ny.gov/pressroom or by requesting a direct link through HCRConPln@hcr.ny.gov . For any person that wishes to present testimony in person, the following HCR locations will be connected to the virtual hearing via Web- ex; 641 Lexington Avenue in New York City; 38-40 State Street in Albany; 620 Erie Boulevard West in Syracuse; and 535 Washington Street in Buffalo. Reservations are required for individuals wishing to attend hearings in person Interested individuals must RSVP by calling (518) 486-3452 or sending an e-mail to HCRConPln@hcr.ny.gov no later than 5:00 pm Friday, February 14, 2025. Attendees must present a valid driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID upon entry to any of the facilities.

Each site is accessible to individuals with mobility impairments. Every effort will be made to accommodate persons with other special needs. To do so, it will be necessary to receive any requests no later than February 12, 2025. Individuals seeking additional information regarding the hearings may call (518) 486-3452.

All speakers are urged to provide a written copy of their community needs testimony. Individuals who are unable to attend in real time may view the recorded presentation on our website: https://hcr.ny.gov/pressroom and submit comments to NYS HCR, Attention: Rachel Yerdon, 3840 State Street, Albany, NY 12207, or e-mail them to HCRConPln@ hcr.ny.gov. All comments must be received no later than Friday, March 28, 2025.

PEPPAS AND PARTNERS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/29/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 90 Morton Street, Apt. D5, New York, NY, 10014. Purpose: Any lawful act.

ROLLO DAIRY BAR LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/06/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 190 E 7th St Apt 113, NY, NY 10009. Purpose: Any lawful act.

OGT CHELSEA LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/27/2024. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o David Dobesh, 36 Fairview Ave, Madison, NJ 07940. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #NA-0340-25101606 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 503-505 E. 12th St., New York, NY 10009 for on-premises consumption; MM East 12th Street

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on September 17, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room 116, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on March 5, 2025 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 236 West 136th Street, New York, NY 10030. 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 1941 and Lot 49. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,541,954.90 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850683/2023.

Clark Whitsett, Esq., Referee

McCarter & English, LLP, 250 W 55th Street, 13th Floor, New York, New York 10019, Attorneys for Plaintiff

NYC M&S TRANSIT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/08/2024. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 2133 MADISON AVENUE APT 3C, NEW YORK. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Quintessence Commerce LLC LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/14/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 100 Riverside Blvd Apt 11P, New York, NY10069. Purpose: Any lawful act.

ReZolve Skincare LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/1/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 533 E83rd St, Apt 3A, New York, NY 10028. Purpose: Any lawful act.

New York's Finest Logistics LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/17/2025. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 7014 13TH Ave Suite 202, Brooklyn NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court, State of New York, New York County. PV EAST 106TH STREET LLC, Plaintiff, v. 308310 REALTY, LLC, et al., Defendants. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered in the New York County Clerk’s Office on September 4, 2024 (the “Judgment”), under New York County Index No. 850087/2023, Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee, will sell at public auction in Room 116 of the New York County Supreme Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 2:15 p.m., the premises known as 308-310 East 106th Street, New York, New York 10029. 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 1677, Lots 45-46 (the “Property”). Approximate amount due per Judgment is $9,136,090.11, plus interest and costs. The Property will be sold subject to provisions of the Judgment and the Terms of Sale. Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee. Farrell Fritz, P.C., 400 RXR Plaza, Uniondale, New York 11556, attorneys for Plaintiff.

Notice of Qualification of AP CREDIT SOLUTIONS FUND II AIV (DC), LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/08/25. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/26/24. Princ. office of LLC: Attn: General Counsel, 9 W. 57th St., 43rd Fl., NY, NY 10019. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with The Secy. of State of the State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of VANTAGE EQUITY PARTNERS LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 12/10/24. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 1/5/24. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 1907 Back St, Sullivans Isl., SC 29483. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St, Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of limited liability company (LLC).

Name: JUSTIN STONE INVESTORS LLC f/k/a JONATHAN STONE INVESTORS LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/20/2024. Office location: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and address SSNY shall mail a copy of process is 435 East 65th Street, #12C, New York, NY 10065. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of AP CREDIT SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS (AIV) II, L.P. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/08/25. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/26/24. Princ. office of LP: Attn: General Counsel, 9 W. 57th St., 43rd Fl., NY, NY 10019. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with The Secy. of State of the State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of KATLIN MONTALI CONSULTING LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/13/25. 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. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #NA-0340-25100540 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 23 W. 39th St., New York, NY 10018 for on-premises consumption; Pizza Park LLC

Notice of Formation of CYRIL COURT IL PRESERVATION, L.P. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/10/25. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LP: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. Latest date on which the LP may dissolve is 12/31/2124. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of NONIGHTER LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/24/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/21/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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The reinvigorated St John’s men’s basketball squad takes over first in the Big East

By DERREL JOHNSON

Special to the AmNews

When New York City-born and Long Island-raised Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino was hired in March 2023 to lead the St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball program, expectations were high. After the nationally ranked No. 12 Red Storm defeated the No. 11 Marquette at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in front of a raucous crowd of 16,521 for their eighth-straight win, it’s safe to say those expectations are being met.

The win placed St. John’s atop the Big East Conference at 11-1 and 20-3 overall, and it was their first victory in a top-15 matchup since 1991. The Red Storm have not won a Big East regular season championship since 1992. Marquette dipped to third in the conference at 9-3 and 18-5 overall.

South Shore High School product Kadary Richmond, a fifth-year, 6-6 senior guard from Brooklyn who attended Syracuse and Seton Hall prior to transferring to St. John’s, scored a game-high 18 points, and added 11 rebounds and eight assists. RJ Luis Jr., a 6-7 junior guard from Miami, Florida, had 17 points and 11 boards, and 6-9 junior forward Zuby Ejiofor from Garland, Texas, posted 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm.

win over Marquette at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

“You come in at halftime, and they’re [Marquette] shooting 56% from the field, 50% from the three, and you’re probably down 14 to 16 points, and [yet] you’re down one,” Pitino said of the team’s 31-30 deficit after 20 minutes of play.

“This is a very unique team,” Pitino added. “They deny statistical data. They just defy all statistical data almost every single game. Their effort level, though, is so incredibly high. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something like this effort level wise, [a] long time. Real proud of that. Great win, great team that we beat.

“You know, we shoot 17 of 31 from the foul line, but we get 50 rebounds versus a hell of a basketball team that just play so hard. As a coach, I can’t appreciate [them] any more than this. I’m so full of gratitude to see players play this hard. It’s exciting.”

The blanketing defense of the Red Storm suggests they could make a deep run in the postseason. They are top 20 in the nation in field goal percentage allowed, holding teams to only 39.4% before Tuesday’s game.

Pitino said the team studies the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, the league’s best defensive unit, and have incorporated some of their concepts and principles. The results have been palpable for one of the country’s upward trending programs.

Women’s professional basketball making major moves on multiple courts

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

This initially was going to be an article about Unrivaled, the six-team, 3x3 league currently taking place in Miami. The action is hot. The TV exposure is fantastic. The Lunar Owls — made up of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Napheesa Collier (Unrivaled co-founder), Courtney Williams, Cameron Brink, and Shakira Austin — are dominating.

Some team rosters feature players very familiar with each other, like Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart on the Mist — two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm and two Olympic gold medalists — while others, like the Lunar Owls, have players who haven’t shared the court, other than Collier and DigginsSmith on the 2021 Olympic team. But first, we need to discuss the wild WNBA roster changes that have gone down. After playing her entire WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury, Brittney Griner has signed with the Atlanta Dream. Kelsey Plum has left the Las Vegas Aces, with whom she won two WNBA titles, for the Los Angeles Sparks. Lloyd, who made it known that she wanted out from the Storm, is headed to the Aces as part of a three-team trade. In one of the most stunning team shake -

ups, the Connecticut Sun shed its entire starting lineup and signed, among others, Queens native Tina Charles, who began her WNBA career with the Sun, winning both Rookie of the Year in 2010 and WNBA MVP in 2012, while in a Sun uniform.

Back to Unrivaled. Several players in the league have considerable 3x3 experience, among them Gray, Jackie Young, and Stefanie Dolson, who were members of the 2021 Olympic gold medal team in Tokyo; Rhyne Howard and Dearica Hamby from the 2024 bronze medal-winning Olympic team; and Katie Lou Samuelson, who made the 2021 Olympic roster but was unable to travel to Tokyo due to a positive COVID-19 test. However, this is not traditional 3x3. It is played full court, albeit a little shorter, with a more traditional point structure. Overall, the players seem to be thriving, but it’s definitely an adjustment from 5x5.

“Everybody was learning real quick how intense it is,” said Adam Harrington, coach of the Phantom. “It is a shorter court lengthwise, but you’re involved in every action, so I think the physical shape you have to be in to kind of be effective is important. … It’s really getting everybody on cue of reading quickly what the defense is doing, how do we counter it, and how do we keep it moving.”

St. John’s Red Storm guard Deivon Smith scores a breakaway basket in his team’s 70-64

Despite being on different teams during the current inaugural Unrivaled season, Brittney Griner (front) strikes a pose with future Atlanta Dream teammates (l-r) Allisha Gray, Jordin Canada, and Rhyne Howard. (Unrivaled photo)

The level of bench support could ultimately define the Knicks’ season

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

The 34-17 Knicks, at the No. 3 spot in the East, have one of the best starting lineups in the NBA. Two are All-Star starters this season.

Point guard Jalen Brunson and center Karl-Anthony Towns have been among the best players in the NBA and were voted to the Eastern Conference AllStar starting lineup announced late last month. Knicks forwards OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, and guard Josh Hart, the team’s other three starters, are All-Star caliber players.

However, the team’s bench isn’t as deep and versatile. Forward Precious Achiuwa (19.9 minutes) and guard Miles “Deuce” McBride (23.3 mins) are the only Knicks reserves that average more than 15 minutes per game. Guards Cam Payne and Landry Shamet have been assigned limited roles. When Anunoby sprained his right foot versus the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday in a 128-112 loss, and missed Monday’s and Tuesday’s games versus the Houston Rockets at MSG and the Toronto Raptors on the road, Achiuwa replaced him in the starting lineup, further stress testing the Knicks bench.

Up until Monday, the 27-year-old Anunoby played in every game this season, a notable milestone as he had only played

in more than 70 games of the NBA’s 82game regular season schedule just once in his career, appearing in 74 games during his 2017-18 rookie campaign. Achiuwa, who was traded to the Knicks with Anunoby from the Raptors last season for

former Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, has filled in solidly.

He scored seven points and had nine rebounds in 34 minutes in a 124-118 win over the Rockets and a season-high 17 points and eight rebounds on Tuesday

in the Knicks’ 121-115 victory against the Raptors. Achiuwa augmented Brunson’s game-high 42 versus the Rockets and Towns’ 27 points and 20 rebounds against the Raptors.

In the absence of Anunoby, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau called on 22-yearold rookie center Ariel Hukporti, who prior to Monday had played in just 17 games this season. Hukporti has forged ahead of center Jericho Sims on the depth chart and provided the Knicks quality minutes this week. He logged eight minutes against the Rockets and 19 versus the Raptors.

“Great energy. That was the biggest thing,” said Brunson of Hukporti following the Rockets game. “Obviously, he is young and the flow of the game is different than he is used to, but he gave us great energy, good minutes. He used his fouls and made sure he was going to use them, but it was great energy for us.”

Help may be coming soon as center Mitch Robinson has been cleared by Knicks medical staff for contact activities for the first time since undergoing left ankle surgery last May. But ahead of today’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline, unless a move is made or has been made prior to AmNews press time, the Knicks’ thin bench remains a liability.

The Knicks will host the East’s No. 2 seed Boston Celtics on Saturday at MSG and play the Indiana Pacers on the road next Tuesday.

Ahead of the NBA trade deadline, what moves could help the Nets’ future?

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

The Brooklyn Nets were 17 games under .500 at 16-33 when they hosted the Houston Rockets at the Barclays Center on Tuesday. They were tied with the Toronto Raptors for the third worst record in the Eastern Conference and were 13th in the East standings with only the Charlotte Hornets (12-35) and Washington Wizards (8-41) — whom they hosted last night at Barclays — below them when the league’s slate of games tipped off.

The Nets are indisputably rebuilding. They are what a ground up project looks like. It began when team owner Joseph Tsai and general manager Sean Marks hired Jordi Fernandez as their new head coach last April and then traded their best player in forward Mikal Bridges to the Knicks to acquire five first round draft picks.

Then, in December, the Nets dealt their former starting point guard, Dennis Schröder, to the Golden State Warriors and forward Dorian Finney-Smith to the Los Angeles Lakers. Both have played extensive minutes for their new teams.

So with the NBA trade deadline today at 3:00 p.m., what more moves can the Nets make that would position them better to

construct a future playoff team and the larger goal of becoming a championship contender? The three most likely Nets players on the market are also players that are dealing with injuries: Cam Johnson, Ben Simmons, and Cam Thomas. Johnson, the most valuable asset of the

trio, was averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game and shooting over 49% for the season when he sat out Tuesday’s game. Johnson could return the Nets more draft picks and a young rotation player in a deal.

The 6-foot-8-inch tall, 28 year old has been out with a right ankle sprain since Jan. 21

and had missed 14 of the team’s 49 games as of Tuesday’s Rockets matchup. Point-forward Ben Simmons’ expiring contract is appealing for teams that want to clear cap space. The 28-year-old three-time NBA All-Star had been sidelined 18 games this season after sitting out Tuesday with a lower back issue. Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas, 23, is a young dynamic scorer who can be a key piece coming off of the bench for a playoff contender but has played in only 19 games this season and is still nursing a left hamstring strain. In the time that he has been on the court, Thomas is averaging 24.7 points per game.

The Nets are likely still several years out from becoming a team in the upper tier of the league. It’s doubtful they will use the same concept of trying to microwave a contender the way they did with signing superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and then trading for James Harden — a plan that famously failed.

Taking the approach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs — all with bright futures — and focusing on drafting and/or trading for young talent and making them the core of the team, and then rounding out the roster through free-agency, is how the Nets will move forward.

Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa has been a valuable rotation player for the Knicks since being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Raptors last season. (Bill Moore photo)

Cam Johnson (No.2), facing the Milwaukee Bucks at the Barclays Center earlier this season, could be an ex-Net by Thursday’s 3:00 p.m. NBA trade deadline. (Jamir Dickens/Fence Boy Media photo)

Bobsledder Simidele Adeagbo expands her repertoire to the 2-woman sled

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

History-making Nigerian Olympian Simidele Adeagbo is taking on a new challenge: piloting a two-woman bobsled. She continues in monobob, which she has done for several years and in which she recently made her World Cup debut. She and brakewoman Kewe King are working toward qualifying for the World Cup in the 2-woman division.

“The driving is slightly different,” said Adeagbo, who competed in skeleton in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, which marked Nigeria’s first appearance in the Winter Olympics. “You’re in a heavier sled. There are two of you and the mechanics of driving are a little bit different, but overall, more piloting experience is a good thing.”

Adeagbo and King debuted in two European Cup races in 2024. Earlier this season, they made history as the first Nigerian two-woman team to earn a medal finish in the North America Cup races in Park City, Utah. King is a former track and field athlete of Nigerian heritage, raised in the United Kingdom.

“It’s great to have a teammate, that feeling of ‘we’re in this together,’” said Adeagbo. “We’re still relatively new to it, still trying to

learn a lot. Even loading into a two-person sled versus a monobob sled is something that I’m learning — the timing, the rhythm, and being in sync as a team. We’re getting up to speed as quickly as we can.

“I do want to acknowledge that we have some very talented athletes that are based in Nigeria that also are ready, willing, hungry to be part of the sport, and we want to continue to bring them in as much as we can as well,” she added. Bobsled is an expensive sport to pursue, particularly the equipment.

At 43, Adeagbo is achieving both on and off the ice track. “There is more history to be made,” she said. Last month, she made her World Cup debut in monobob, a first for Nigeria. “Every step motivates me.”

She also continues to impact women’s sports with her Simi Sleighs Foundation. Friday, Feb. 7, is the deadline to apply for this year’s Athlete Grant Program. Among the 2024 cohort was Olympian Helen Maroulis. Paralympian Tatyana McFadden was a grant recipient in 2023.

“Through my presence on the ice, I can continue to also shine a light on those things that matter to me…like empowering women and girls through sport,” she said. “I’m going to continue to give those things I care about visibility.”

Black Student-Athlete Summit to convene in Chicago this May

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The Black Student-Athlete Summit (BSAS), a four-day conference that brings together student-athletes, university professionals, and leaders from various industries, will take place in Chicago from May 21-24. The summit was launched in 2015 by Dr. Leonard Moore, the George Littlefield Professor of American History and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The event provides student-athletes with professional and personal development resources to promote success after graduation, and helps them foster community.

When Moore was a doctoral student at Ohio State University in the mid-1990s, a friend invited him to tutor some of the school’s student-athletes. “The more time I spent with student-athletes on the basketball, track, and football teams, I began to realize there was a whole other world that I wasn’t aware of — the stress, the anxiety, the pressure to perform…and also pressure from community and family,” said Moore.

After completing his PhD and becoming a faculty member in 1998 — first at Louisiana State University and now at UT Austin — Moore has made it a point to connect with student-athletes. About 12 years ago, he began to envision a summit. The first BSAS was held at UT Austin.

“We had 70 people,” Moore recalled. “Initially, it was designed for administrators and professors who worked with the athletes,

but it became clear we had two audiences: administrators and students.”

Despite the growing attendance — this year may reach 2,000 participants — the goal for the BSAS is to maintain a family-type culture. Moore said that overall, college athletic administrators have been extremely supportive. Among the notable speakers and par-

ticipants expected at this year’s BSAS are former NBA All-Star Baron Davis, journalist Jemele Hill, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer Lesley Slaton Brown, former WNBA standout and current broadcaster and Atlanta Dream Vice President Renee Montgomery, and former professional basketball player-turned-educator and actor,

Dr. Solomon Hughes.

The student-athletes are surrounded by Black professionals, many of whom played college and pro sports, and hear stories about how to translate the student-athlete experience into the work world.

“Our goal is to help prepare them to be globally competitive when they graduate,” said Moore. “Whether it’s D II, D III, or Division I, their sport requires a year-round commitment, and a lot of them are on campus in the summer, so they don’t have time to study abroad, do internships, connect, or be a regular student. So, for these four days, we try to hone in on mental health and wellness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship, social action, and professional development.”

Bobsledder Simidele Adeagbo (r) and brakewoman Kewe King. (Photo courtesy of Simidele Adeagbo)

Last year’s Black Student Athlete Summit attracted 1,700 attendees. (James Willis photo) Black Student-Athlete Summit founder Dr. Leonard N. Moore. (Photo Courtesy of BSAS)

Sports

The Super Bowl remains this country’s most popular and galvanizing social event

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Super Bowl is the United States’ preeminent sports presentation. It has become this country’s most galvanizing social event over its nearly 60 years of existence, bringing together family, friends, and strangers.

This Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, when the twotime defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (17-2) take on the Philadelphia Eagles (17-3) at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, the game is expected to attract a viewership of over 100 million. Last year, when the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers clashed, the game, broadcast by CBS, averaged over 123 million viewers across all platforms, which included Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, and CBS Sports and NFL digital properties, becoming not only the most watched Super Bowl in history, but the highest rated U.S. program ever of any genre.

More than 202 million viewers tuned in to all or part of the game. Some broadcast analysts project this year’s numbers to exceed last year’s. It is why a 30-second television advertisement cost between $7.5 and $8 million

“Last year, ... the game [the Super Bowl], broadcast by CBS, averaged over 123 million viewers across all platforms, … becoming not only the most watched Super Bowl in history, but the highest rated U.S. program ever of any genre.”

compared to the $7 million price last year.

According to Forbes and confirmed by this writer, on the ticket marketplace Gametime, as of AmNews press time, the cheapest seats for the game were listed at $4,627, with the most expensive selling for $21,123. It reflects why the NFL generated nearly $14 billion in revenue for the 2023 season and has a goal of $25 billion by 2027 as stated by its commissioner, Roger Goodell.

Super Bowl LIX (59) is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII played two years ago. The AFC champion Chiefs defeated the NFC champ Eagles 38-35 in a gripping back-and-forth affair that was decided on a 27-yard field goal by the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker with just eight seconds remaining. No fran-

chise has won three straight Super Bowls, which the Chiefs are endeavoring to accomplish and cement themselves as the greatest NFL dynasty of all time.

The Super Bowl holds different meanings and visceral significance for its participants. For Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, the former New York Giants star who felt shunned by his team when he entered freeagency last winter, it is validation that he is one of the most talented players in history at his position and a culmination of one of the most remarkable individual campaigns by a running back. The 27-year-old, Bronx-born Barkley had a league high 2,283 yards from scrimmage, rushing for 2,005 and amassing 278 receptions, and rushing for 242 yards in

two postseason games heading into Sunday. Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, like Barkley, will be playing in his first Super Bowl.

The 32-year-old NFL veteran, who overcame tumultuous years as a youth growing up in the Clemson, South Carolina, area, posted this message on the social media platform X.

“To all the kids out there living in small towns, in small houses, with single parents. To the kids who see violence, who see loss, who don’t get the resources they deserve, but who still have big dreams. Know that I was a kid in your exact shoes and this week I’m playing in the Super Bowl. Don’t give up, work hard, keep believing. Where you start doesn’t determine where you end up.”

My Super Bowl prediction? Eagles 27, Chiefs 24, in what will be another captivating season finale between them.

Kansas Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (holding camera) and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will be playing in their first Super Bowl on Sunday.  (AP photos/ Matt York / Brynn Anderson)