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Harlem electeds and housing advocates took to the streets for the Juneteenth holiday in continued protest against the expansion of Columbia University’s campus into Black and Brown neighborhoods—a grassroots student movement that has received legislative support from Senator Cordell Cleare. 

Fears of Columbia University gentrifying Harlem date back to at least 2008, when the state inked a $170 million West Harlem Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the university, known as the Columbia University Education Mixed-Use Development Land Use Improvement and Civic Project Modified General Project Plan. The plan allowed the university to develop 17 acres of land between 125th Street and 133rd Street. 

The school has since used eminent domain and the courts to acquire large swaths of property in the community, and has been highly criticized for its role in gentrification of the area and the decrease of affordable housing stock. 

In 2022, student-led groups such as United Front Against Displacement (UFAD), Student Worker Solidarity, and Columbia Housing Equity Project gathered on Columbia’s campus to protest the land development of Harlem. Many cited the intended closure of the Red Balloon Early Childhood Learning Center, a local low-cost preschool, as a clear sign that the university was no longer for the community. The preschool’s space was provided by Columbia free of charge back in 1972.

“I have heard from the community repeated concerns—rents are astronomical, families are finding it more and more difficult to live in our community and are rapidly being pushed out,” said Cleare. “Small businesses are failing because of rents. Not only is affordable housing disappearing; housing is disappearing, according to the (Community Service Society (CSS)) report. We are in a housing crisis and as we struggle to find ways to build affordability, one of the greatest tools in our toolbelt is to preserve the housing that we already have. This Columbia expansion is a direct threat to the preservation of affordability in Harlem.”

Cleare introduced Senate Bill 9028, which calls for a pause on further projects from the 2008 Columbia plan, last year. Other Harlem electeds chimed in with their support at the rally.

“I am supportive of what the senator is doing to demand on behalf of the entire diverse community to call for an investigation and a reopening of what was passed in 2008,” Assemblymember Inez Dickens said in a statement. “This deal was not inclusive and has not met the needs of our community, whether we are talking about affordable housing, small businesses support, and the availability of community space for programs such as the youth, senior, small business programs. Residents and businesses can no longer afford to stay in the community they were raised or started in.”

According to the CSS, Harlem’s demographics have changed drastically. Community District 9 lost about 14% of its Black population and 10% of its Hispanic population between the 2010 and 2020 census tallies. Conversely, the area has seen an influx of high-income Asian and white residents with incomes above $200,000 moving into the district, reported the CSS. 

Adding to the issue is a decline in affordable housing stock available for rent. The district’s private rent-regulated  housing stock has shrunk while residents grapple with the city’s Rent Guidelines Board’s (RGB) perpetual rent hikes on their units. Meanwhile, Columbia “bought out and emptied” at least two residential buildings in the neighborhood (602 West 132nd Street and 3289 Broadway), paying residents for relocation costs and moving expenses at about two months of median asking rents in the area, reported the Columbia Spectator. 

Harlem’s eviction rates for Black and Brown residents also remain statistically higher than in the rest of the city. The CSS reported that evictions were common in the northern part of Harlem near Columbia’s expanding campus in 2017.

“The demographic and affordability changes in Upper Manhattan, including in West Harlem, are alarming and moving in the wrong direction,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said in a statement. “Black, Hispanic, and lower-income residents whose families have weathered the toughest years uptown are being replaced, unable to afford rents uptown. We must protect vulnerable tenants, build much more affordable housing, and assist small Black and Brown-owned businesses that are also being displaced.”

Harlem advocates at the rally don’t think Columbia has lived up to the CBA’s promises to invest in the community. 

In response to “land grab” accusations, a Columbia University spokesperson said that the Manhattanville project has “benefitted from the strong support” of elected officials and residents. 

“We are exceedingly proud of the successes of this project to date and grateful for these partnerships[,] which have created thousands of jobs for the residents of Upper Manhattan, brought new local businesses and economic opportunity to an under-resourced and underserved community, and led to the development of new affordable housing as well as opportunities for long-time local residents to become first-time homeowners,” said the spokesperson in a statement. “But unfortunately, our community is not immune to the affordable-housing crisis playing out in neighborhoods across New York City, and we all bear the responsibility of helping to address it.”

The spokesperson said that the university’s CBA contains a historic $24 million investment in local affordable housing. 

“Along with our partner, the West Harlem Development Corporation, we welcome the input of elected officials and other local stakeholders to help maximize and leverage the impact of that investment,” said the Columbia spokesperson. “Beyond the CBA, we have always seen the need and opportunity to do more to address the needs and priorities of the local community. To that end, we engage daily with elected officials, government partners, community leaders, and local groups and we will always welcome any opportunity to engage with additional stakeholders to hear their ideas for how the university can address the needs and priorities of the local communities, including through the development of affordable housing, improvements to public transportation, support for local small businesses, and improved quality of life.”

The post Defend Harlem: Locals push back against Columbia University “land grab” at Juneteenth conference appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Before there was “B-Boy Blues,” there was an admirer of “The Color Purple” who was so put off by an AmNews reader’s misogynistic critique of the film after its 1985 release, he clapped back in a letter to the editor. A few months later, the letter-writer became an AmNews contributor, expanding the letter into a full-fledged commentary reminding Black consumers of film and TV that there’s more than one way to tell a Black story—and earning his first published byline in the process.

“The AmNews was the only newspaper I purchased; I looked forward to it every Thursday,” says James Earl Hardy, the letter-writer, the commentator, and then-future author of “Blues,” a bona fide classic in Black gay literature. “I loved how the paper covered us and made no apologies for that, so seeing my byline in it was a big deal to me, as well as my family. It felt like I had arrived as a writer, both professionally and culturally.”

Hardy grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant a block away from where Spike Lee filmed “Do the Right Thing,” but has called Kips Bay home for the past 30 years. He’s written for several publications and published book after book along the way, but earned a permanent place on bookshelves with his debut: “B-Boy Blues,” first published in 1994, which is noted as the first hip-hop love story centering Black gay characters. 

It hit like a hurricane with young Black gay readers at the time; 30 years later, it still finds its way into the hearts of the generations of readers that came after.

“Back then, I received hand-written letters mailed in envelopes with stamps of Ella Fitzgerald and MLK; today it’s social media posts and DMs,” he said.

Not that it was easy. The 1990s were an uneasy time for Black authors; Alice Walker, “Purple” author, publicly beefed with Terry McMillan after the success of “Waiting to Exhale,” dividing Black readers of more literary-minded works aligned with the former and the rush of contemporary storytelling associated with the latter that came to dominate the decade. Hardy entered the sphere and would go on to be one of the most visible gay authors of the era.

“You were expected to walk through one door—Black or gay—and the novel unapologetically embraced and celebrated both,” he said. “For them, as well as the rest of society, ‘gay’ was a white thing while ‘Black’ was specifically seen through a prism of heterosexuality. ‘B-Boy’ was too gay for some heteros, too Black for some whites—as well as the wrong kind of gay for certain white gay folk and the wrong kind of Black for certain Black hetero folk.” 

Hardy added that “The question was always, ‘Who is going to read a Black-on-Black gay love story?’ The answer, it turns out, was everybody. I knew something special, transcendent was happening when I’d travel to Brooklyn and there were sistas reading ‘B-Boy’ on the A train. Many folks who aren’t Black and/or gay and/or male have told me that they got 50, 60 pages into the novel and totally forgot it was about two men.” 

“Blues” has spun off into a series penned by Hardy, a film adaptation that debuted on BET+ in 2021, and a stage adaptation off-Broadway in 2022.

Black gay representation in the media is having a little bit of a moment, but is far from saturation. While “Blues” marks 30 years of shelf life, few Black gay authors have been presented alongside Hardy in the same timespan.

“We’ve definitely moved from the ‘Invisible Men’ era of the ’90s; it truly was a desert back then,” he said, referencing his late counterpart, E. Lynn Harris, and Harris’s debut novel, “Invisible Life.”

“Today, we’re featured more in corporate entertainment, but too often we’re the sidekick—if not an outright accessory—to a heterosexual woman. I’m interested in seeing us at the center of our own narratives, where we’re not only presented but represented.”

The post Looking back at 30 years of ‘B-Boy Blues’ appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Before the year 1867, Flatbush and Ninth Avenues were separated by an unusually large, clumsy section of grass—a scene that hardly benefitted those commuting toward Prospect Park. With funding from the New York State Legislature in the early 1860s, the city of Brooklyn embarked on a project to create an entrance that would effectively separate the bustling downtown city from the borough’s largest natural attraction. 

This monumental task fell on the shoulders of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, known as the “Father of Landscape Architecture.” Their mission was to design a “wide and picturesque approach to the park, (complete with) ornamental roads free of commercial traffic”—a sanctuary introducing a section dedicated to peace and tranquility. However, over the following century and a half, Grand Army Plaza underwent numerous renovations, often commemorating progressive political leaders and movements throughout American history.

With these intentions, or perhaps in defiance of them, Grand Army Plaza has over the years doubled as an assembly point for protesters and demonstrators, spreading awareness of movements for equality throughout the city and the nation.

On Saturday, June 15, hundreds of protesters gathered around the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch at the Plaza, demonstrating in solidarity with pro-Palestinian support. The arch, originally built in 1892 to commemorate the Defenders of the Union during the Civil War, now stands as a symbol of unity among American civilians from various backgrounds amid unrest in other parts of the world.

Among the attendees was Joseph Khon, a Jewish rabbi and pro-Palestinian activist, who frequently joins protests at the plaza. “It’s important to be out here for those who can’t,” Khon declared.

Brooklyn’s history is steeped in activism, with issues of gender, race, and identity equality often at the forefront. As the community grappled with these challenges, public voicing of opinions became crucial. Grand Army Plaza, designed as a space for heightened awareness, has played a pivotal role in these expressions. Suffragists fought for voting rights in the 1910s, with protests continuing until passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Civil rights leaders later blocked off the same intersection, advocating for racial equality until significant progress was made in the mid-1960s.

The plaza’s significance as a site of protest continued into modern times. A protest in the Abner Louima case drew 7,000 protestors and began at Grand Army Plaza before proceeding across the Brooklyn Bridge to New York City Hall in Manhattan. In 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, supporters gathered at the plaza, showcasing unity and resilience in the face of adversity.

“For generations, Grand Army Plaza has been a platform for voicing unheard issues,” said Jean-Louis. 

The elephant in the room rears its head—issues of public safety have been of concern from the city during these protests, which are often met with forced limitations presented by public authorities such as the NYPD. The most recent case occurred about two weeks ago on May 31, when more than 200 protestors were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest led by the Wolpalestine organization. The protest was met by police officers who reportedly “brutally kettled, tackled, and brutalized protesters at random against the backdrop of the museum’s land acknowledgements, leaving several individuals bloodied and bruised.” 

As important as the need to vocalize public opinion on certain matters is, there have been instances where the goal of these demonstrations gets lost within heightened emotions. However, in the 21st century, technology has provided efficient communication outlets. It is in the best interest of all parties that these demonstrations maintain the support and safety of public authority. This is possible, as Jean-Louis remarked, through “securing permits, communicating with public safety about protest routes… and in some cases even police escorts.” Coordination and cooperation between protesters and authorities at Grand Army Plaza can ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and effective, allowing voices to be heard without compromising public safety and vice versa.

Grand Army Plaza was not originally conceived to honor progressive activists like Abraham Lincoln or JFK, nor was it intended as a venue for protests and demonstrations against inequality. However, as the fight for equality among all races, genders, and identities remains an ongoing struggle, Grand Army Plaza has evolved into maintaining a profound social significance in Brooklyn and beyond. It now stands as a symbol of hope and peace, emblematic of what can be achieved through perseverance and bravery.

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* This article was originally published here

April Verrett, the newly elected international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is ready to come out the gate running––or, at least, organizing. 

Verrett says she plans to lead SEIU in a campaign of helping to unionize up to a million new workers over the next 10 years.

Talking with people about unions and helping them to understand that joining a worker’s organization is a way to build collective power is part of Verrett’s progressive stance. She said that “ultimately, as an organizer, I want to be able to say I did something to help end poverty and poverty-wage work in America.”

She told the Amsterdam News that “I believe we are in a moment of transformation. To be able to build enough worker power to end poverty-wage work calls on us to transform our labor movement—to organize like never before, and to make sure we take advantage of the newfound interest that many working people have in unions, particularly young people, and focus our effort on organizing everyone, particularly organizing those of us that have been the most marginalized: low-wage workers, workers of color, Black workers, women workers. That is how I’m choosing to use my time—to really lean in and focus us on this goal.”

Verrett comes from an organizing background. After her parents died, she was raised on the South Side of Chicago by her grandmother, who was a union steward at SEIU Local 46. As a steward, her grandmother guided other employees and showed them how they could unite to gain better pay and benefits.

Verrett took the example of her grandmother’s organizing zeal and has spent decades supporting community organizing. In addition to helping found Chicago’s United Working Families organization, Verrett has worked within the SEIU as president of California’s SEIU Local 2015, chair of the SEIU National Home Care Council, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana (HCII), and most recently for two years as SEIU’s secretary-treasurer. 

This past May, SEIU members elected Verrett to serve as their international president, making her the SEIU’s first Black female leader. She is serving as president after the 14-year reign of Mary Kay Henry, the union’s first white female and LGBTQ president. 

With nearly 2 million members, SEIU is one of the largest unions in the country. Its workers are employed in more than 100 occupations throughout the United States and in Canada. The union traditionally organizes healthcare workers; public service employees; and people who work in property maintenance jobs, such as janitors and security guards. 

An SEIU spokesperson said that, demographically, more than half of its members are women: They “are just roughly about a quarter Black, a quarter Latino, and just under 10 percent Asian American and Pacific Islander.” 

SEIU’s retiring union president was a major backer of the Fight for $15 and a union movement that helped organize fast-food workers across the nation. Verrett said she wants SEIU to continue to bear down on its core industries, and to further its inroads into industries where workers don’t have representation. 

“Our goal is to organize those who have been the most marginalized, and that’s often folks who work in the gig economy,” Verrett said. “Today, we represent over 700,000 caregivers, workers in home care—it’s the fastest-growing job classification in the country. It will continue to be a big area of focus for us. And we will continue to organize folks in the fast-food industry, in airports.

“We are an organizing union, whether it’s organizing not-yet union workers or organizing voters. It’s all about how we are organizing workers, putting workers in motion to have agency and self-determination over their own lives. We’re organizing to build power, whether it’s to build power in the workplace or build a new power at the ballot box. And we are a union that’s very invested in electoral politics. Across our union, we’re going to spend over $200 million in this [national election] cycle, leading up to November, to make sure we contact 6 million [of what] I call…high-opportunity voters—others call them infrequent voters or most simply voters, but we are going to contact 6 million voters, largely voters of color, in eight key battleground states, to make sure we elect pro-union champions up and down the ballot.”

The post SEIU’s new international president looks to help end poverty-wage work in America appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

By day they work as doormen, as property cleaners, in daycare centers, and as security officers. But once that work is done, these members of 32BJ SEIU (Service Employees International Union) realize their other life as fine artists.

Last Saturday, 100 union members came together to display their work at the 17th Annual 32BJ Art Show. Under the theme “Nothing is Impossible,” the artists shared paintings, photographs, drawings, and poems that gave their take on the world’s possibilities. Their artwork was spread across the fourth floor of the auditorium of the union’s headquarters at 25 West 18th Street in Manhattan and will remain on view for one month.

Ed Bochnak, who is originally from Poland, has been working as a superintendent for 21 years now. He was on a break from his job and took the time to talk about his work. “I have three pictures; this is from different parts of the Earth; I went to Ethiopia, Burma, and India…Last time, I went to the Zanskar in Tibet, climbing, hiking, making a movie, writing stories––this is all my adventure.” 

Bochnak said that he saves money all year and uses up his three weeks of vacation time to go on mountaineering and photography trips. He has traveled to Asia, Africa, South America, and throughout North America. His expeditions are documented in books and on his YouTube channel, “EdsAdventures.” 

“This is my hobby; this is not a job. This doesn’t make me money,” he said. “I have to pay; I have to spend my money to be there.”

Bochnak takes his art seriously. He’s one of the original founders of the 32BJ Art Committee, which was established in 2006. Committee members take part in monthly meetings and try to help promote the union and the concept of organizing with their art. In 2013, the committee invited members of 1199 SEIU to also display their artwork in the annual show.

Naja Quintero, another 32BJ Art Committee founder, works in a Jersey City childcare center with children who range in age from six months up to 12 years old. A 20-year union member, Quintero said she is privileged to be able to teach children that they can make art with recycled materials. 

“I also try to introduce them to the idea that it’s not just the paint, the oil, the brush, but that we also must look for inspiration in simple things, in things that someone else might think is garbage,” she said. “We can use coffee grounds, seeds, nuts, rice, wheat and dry them and assemble them for art.”

Practicing art is therapeutic, said Quintero, who is originally from Ecuador. “When I’m angry, I try to calm myself down: I go to my room, and I have my studio there. I stay there for a few seconds; then I say, ‘I need to create.’ It’s like a pressure relief. I suffer from lupus, and the doctor told me that I have to do something that fascinates me, that relaxes me. And that, to me, is art. 

Karen Juanita Carrillo photos

“When I paint, that’s what really relaxes me, it’s what makes me connect. If I had enough money, this is who I would be: someone who had the time to create what I like.”

Retired security officer and Harlem native Gerald Timberlake used the “Nothing is Impossible” theme to paint a fictitious gathering of famous Black female entertainers. He used markers to draw depictions of Tina Turner, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Phyllis Hyman, Whitney Houston, Minnie Riperton, and Nina Simone. In another piece, he looks at the representation of Black women in the fashion industry—particularly in the 1960s, when they were rarely seen as fashion models. His third piece shows that there’s nothing impossible in love.

Connie Brown also exhibited paintings at the 32BJ Art Show. Brown, who is retired now, has been creating art since the age of 6. He said that when he initially moved to New York City, he spent his first five years just staying at home after work, lying on the floor, doing his artwork, and listening to music. “And I said, you need to get out and meet people,” he told himself. “Nobody knows you’re in here.” 

He did start socializing, but continued making art in his spare time.

Julius Gaston Sr., started painting after he came home from the military in 1981. He lives in Pennsylvania and works as a porter, taking care of three buildings in Queens. Five days a week, he does a two-hour round trip drive to and from work. 

Once he’s home, he spends time with his family. “After I shower and have dinner, I’ve got to help the children with their homework and talk to the missus. And then I paint as much as I can until it’s time to go to bed. And then on weekends, when I’m off, I try to paint as much as I can when I’m not cutting into time with the family.” 

Gaston paints in a style called traditional realism, and has been commissioned to do portraits, landscapes, and nudes.

Jamaica-born Ricardo Buchanan has worked as a maintenance/handyman in a Harlem residential building since 1985 and has been a vocal member of 32BJ for the same amount of time. His charcoal drawing of the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse is on display at the 32BJ Art Show alongside a poem he wrote based on this year’s art show theme. 

“Nothing is impossible and with faith and hope, we learn to cope to defeat the impossible,” one part of his poem says. “Organize and centralize and we will compel the world to realize that nothing is impossible, just give yourselves a try. Nothing is impossible.”

The post Union members display talents at 32BJ art show appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

The key decision makers for the New York Knicks, led by team president Leon Rose, watched the Boston Celtics, the newly crowned NBA champions, sweep through the regular and postseasons in near historic fashion with a cumulative record of 80-21, driven by a bevy of elite two-way wing players.

In a league where matching up with opponents, particularly the NBA’s best, is schematically vital, the Knicks moved to counter the Celtics by agreeing to a deal that had social media ablaze on Tuesday night, acquiring multiskilled forward Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for what was first reported by ESPN to be forward Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks (2025, ‘27, ‘29, ‘31), a 2025 protected pick from the Milwaukee Bucks, a pick swap in 2028, and a 2025 second-round pick. In addition to Bridges, the Knicks will receive a 2026 second-round pick to the deal. The Knicks, as of AmNews press time, still held the 24th and 25th overall picks in last night’s NBA Draft held at the Barclays Center. 

The trade for Bridges signals that Rose, Knicks’ executive vice president William Wesley, general manager Gersson Rosas, and head coach Tom Thibodeau had strong conviction the team could be a title contender next season with the attainment of Bridges, at 27 one of the best two-way wings in the world, and that he was equivalent to or exceeded the assets they relinquished. The Knicks have reached the Eastern Conference semifinals the past two seasons. For the Nets, who are in rebuilding mode, they now have draft capital, which they severely lacked prior to swapping Bridges. 

A 2022 All Defensive First Team selection, Bridges also averaged 26.1 points as a member of the Phoenix Suns and Nets two seasons ago and 19.6 last season. The Philadelphia native will be rejoining former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. A durable player, Bridges has appeared in 474 of his teams’ 492 games over six seasons. He has two years left on his contract at $23.3 million next season and $24.9 million in the 2025-26 campaign.

Now the Knicks will look to secure forward OG Anunoby, who declined his player option for next season, to a long-term contract at an average annual salary of roughly $37 million. Locking in Anunoby is immensely important to constructing a championship core that would be composed of Brunson, Julius Randle, and now Bridges.

Re-signing center Isaiah Hartenstein, who had a career year this past season, seems unlikely due to the meteoric rise in his value. The Knicks inked the 26-year-old Hartenstein to a two-year, $16 million deal in July 2022. He markedly outperformed that number and the league’s collective bargaining agreement limits the Knicks to offering Hartenstein at most a four-year, $72 million contract. He will be enticed by significantly more from several bidders. 

The post Knicks move to strengthen their championship aspirations acquiring Bridges appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here