Maintaining cleanliness in large building complexes, such as commercial buildings, apartment blocks, and mixed-use developments, is a significant undertaking. These spaces often include common areas like lobbies, hallways, elevators, staircases, and recreational facilities. Ensuring these areas are clean and well-maintained is crucial for the safety, comfort, and satisfaction of tenants, employees, and visitors. In this…
Corbin Hill Food Project (CH), a New York City-based nonprofit, and the Central Park Conservancy, the non-profit organization responsible for the daily care, and maintenance. Including, restoration of Central Park, have launched a Central Park farm stand at 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard. Running every Saturday through November, the stand will deliver to Harlem locally sourced,…
On August 27th, City Parks Foundation (CPF),the largest independent nonprofit to offer free youth programs in public parks in the five boroughs. The event will hold its 26th Annual Tennis Benefit on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The benefit is co-chaired by Billie Jean King and John McEnroe. This year, CPF will honor former…
In light of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) recent decision to pass the resolution Support Decarbonization of Public Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Hospitals. Incluging, City Buildings Through Inflation Reduction Act Funds, which recognizes the importance of providing young people robust climate change and climate justice education to public school students across the country, New York Sun…
Caribbean leaders recently began two full days of meetings in tourism paradise, Grenada, whose two sister isles, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, were recently leveled by Hurricane Beryl. The meetings were convened amid cries that increasingly powerful Atlantic storms and climate change factors are forcing governments to redirect revenues toward rebuilding rather than developing economies.
Every speaker at Sunday’s opening ceremony referred to the plight of the region as a recurring victim of climate change, with host Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell expressing fears that storms and climate change factors are becoming more than an existential threat to the 15-nation bloc.
“If someone chooses to bomb your country, it’s existential but easy to stop. You negotiate, you call a truce. Explain to the citizens of Carriacou and Petite Martinique how we will stop these Category 4 and Category 5 hurricanes from hitting them. That is why Caricom must, shall, and will continue to advocate for climate justice. The stark reality that we may not have a country to pass on to future generations,” he said to applause from colleagues and invitees.
Regional member states have rallied to assist Grenada and its two sister isles to rebuild and recover from Beryl, with some sending cash donations, others sending soldiers to help rebuild schools and restore fallen power lines and personnel to help with security. The island was last badly hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which had destroyed about 80% of the housing stock on mainland Grenada. The summit was initially scheduled to be held from July 4 but had to be pushed back because Beryl had made landfall with devastating effects. Beryl had also touched on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica.
Mitchell, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, and Secretary General Carla Barnett all talked about the effects of climatic change on the region, with the host noting that Caricom cannot flinch from its efforts “to advocate for climate justice.” He said that he had initially believed that the bloc was a functioning talk shop but is now well aware that this is not the case given the level of cooperation among member states and the intense level of assistance states are prepared to render to each other in the time of crises.
President Ali, who at this summit turned over the chairmanship to Mitchell, asked “Where are the voices of the private sector and all those who profess immense love for the region, in helping the leadership of the region to call upon the international community to support the redevelopment and to support the rebuilding of the economies that suffered even from this latest hurricane?
“We have to now fight to ensure we build systems that work for us are not systems that are imposed upon us. We have to build systems that work for our region. We have to trust in ourselves. We have to have faith in each other and we have to have hope about the future. We can define ourselves or continue to allow ourselves to be defined.” Other key issues on the agenda include a review of the situation in Haiti. Regional leaders had played a key role in helping the bloc’s most populous member state to form an interim government to replace the previously collapsed one. The island is represented by Edgard LeBlanc Fils.
Progress in the operations of the single trading market and the free movement of people in Caricom are also on the agenda. At the opening ceremony, Curacao was admitted as the sixth associate member alongside the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, and Anguilla. The Dominican Republic has also made a bid to become a full member, but it is unclear if its bid will be examined by the full conference this time.
The New York City Council voted to pass two bills last week that would streamline universal dress code policies in city schools in an effort to stave off discriminatory practices, as a response to students’ and advocates’ concern that some existing policies can unfairly target LGBTQ+ youth and students of color.
Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement said inequities in the city’s dress code policies were brought to the council’s attention by youth advocates as part of the council’s Young Women’s Initiative 2.0. The initiative was first launched in 2015 by former Speaker Mark Viverito. “By requiring greater transparency and calling for inclusivity in the dress code, our legislation can help advance anti-discrimination protections that support all students,” said Adams in a statement.
Resolution 292 calls for the Department of Education (DOE) to create more inclusive dress code policies for diverse cultures, gender expressions, and body diversity.
“The next step will be to engage in meaningful dialogue with our youth and the [DOE] to fine-tune the specifics of the dress code policy,” said Councilmember Althea Stevens, who sponsored the resolution. “It is vital for young people to shape the changes they want to see in their schools. I am committed to ensuring our city takes strides toward inclusivity, allowing the space for students to express themselves through their clothing.”
Bill 118-A, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, also requires the DOE to post dress code policies on its website, and aggregate data about each school’s violations and penalties by race and gender.
“Uneven dress code policies in New York City public schools have led to disproportionate discipline and consequences for students [who are] simply expressing themselves,” Ayala said in a statement. “Students and families should have the opportunity to easily access any school’s dress code policy in a central location on the Department of Education’s website and determine if their individual school’s policies are truly non-discriminatory and aligned with DOE guidelines. My hope is that this transparency will bring us toward consistent, inclusive, and fair policies across our school system that do not unjustly target our students.”
Some school leaders in the city are responding positively to the legislation because it aligns with their current rules.
“With the largest school system in the United States, having every school with their own dress code leads to unfairness across each school zone. This also leads to stronger safety measures in our schools to limit bullying, thefts, and other behaviors that may be tied to seeing what one student has on compared to another who may not have the access to wear whatever,” said Jermaine Wes, principal of Uncommon Bedstuy East Middle School and president of Brooklyn Young Dems. His school already implements a uniform policy, but he said he believes the legislation is a step forward for equity, social, and cultural fairness across all city schools.
“My current school is uniform-based—parents find it convenient for their scholars and it allows for parents to easily purchase items aligned to the dress code, ultimately leading to saving money. I believe a universal dress code leads to effective, focused learning,” he continued.
According to Janella T. Hinds, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) vice president for academic high schools, said the legislation seems to focus more on the need for “open communication” about dress codes with families and students than the enforcement of new policies.
Hinds teaches social studies at the High School for Public Service: Heroes of Tomorrow in Brooklyn, where school uniforms are mandatory. Sometimes students do genuinely push back against uniforms, she said, because they don’t like things that limit their self expression.
“The way we deal with it is to have conversations about the reality that in some professions, uniforms are mandatory and uniforms do serve a purpose,” Hinds said. “Even with the diversity of options we have available, students sometimes push back. They want to show who they are and express themselves, and being put into a box can be frustrating.”
Hinds is concerned about discrimination toward queer and disabled students, and students of color when it comes to clothing and expression. However, it’s the existing race and gender disparities of dress code violations and subsequent harsh punishments that she is really worried about, especially since there’s a systemic issue with overtly policing, sexualizing, and criminalizing young Black girls in many schools nationwide.
“We want to make sure there is even enforcement,” said Hinds. “We want to make sure this doesn’t become another vehicle for particular groups of students to be treated unfairly [or] for confrontation between teachers and students.”
At present, city schools have individual freedom to enforce their own dress code policies. There are, however, DOE dress code guidelines: Students have the right to determine their own attire, except where the clothing is “dangerous,” “interferes with the teaching and learning process,” or “violates the anti-discrimination policy.” The guidelines state that dress codes can’t prohibit students from wearing natural hairstyles, typically affiliated with Black and Brown students; can’t prohibit religious head coverings or du rags; and can’t require gender-specific attire or ban “distracting” clothing usually associated with girls.
“Per NYC Public Schools’ Dress Code Guidelines, dress codes are decided at the individual school level and require that schools examine their reasoning and justification for their respective policies, and schools must consider evolving generational, cultural, social, and identity norms,” said DOE Press Secretary Nathaniel Steyer in a statement. “Also, dress codes must be gender-neutral and cannot prohibit certain types of clothing that are stereotypically associated with one gender, and they must be implemented equally and in a non-discriminatory manner.”Wes
New York City’s 2025 local elections are shaping up to be fiercely competitive, with candidates already vying for donations. Such is the case for Khari Edwards, a former Brooklyn borough president (BP) candidate, who is hoping to win his second attempt at getting elected.
“Looking at the borough presidency and why I ran in the first place, it’s really because our community, everywhere from Coney Island to Bushwick—they need someone who’s really going to listen to folks, pay attention to them, and kind of do the things that are needed,” said Edwards. “Current leadership, I don’t feel, really goes throughout the borough.”
Born and raised in Crown Heights, Edwards was the first vice president of color for external affairs at Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville from 2013 to 2020. After losing the election in 2021, Edwards shifted gears entirely career-wise: He found success as head of corporate and social rResponsibility at AYR Wellness Inc, a multi-state cannabis dispensary company.
“I do so much social justice and restorative justice work around cannabis,” said Edwards about his current job still being relevant to public service. “And when you come home and people are still calling you about emergency room waits, someone’s friend got shot and we’re doing another burial.”
Edwards understands that the city has struggled to establish a legal cannabis market, which has led to an underbelly of illegal smoke shops and public safety issues. He wants to improve the platform and the benefits of licensed dispensaries, especially for Black and Brown justice-impacted communities.
Edwards said he intends to highlight other issues during his campaign, such as the impact of climate change on homeowners and rezoning, creating “true affordable housing” metrics, addressing increasing property taxes and displacement rates in Black and Brown communities, analyzing housing production, potentially abolishing the tax lien sale, forging relationships with the borough’s diverse ethnic and religious communities, and highlighting Brooklyn arts and music fests.
“The key to being borough president—a Howard Goldman, Marty Markowitz, Eric Adams—[is that] you go across the borough, you’re not a district,” said Edwards. “You can’t take care of just one district; how many other folks are suffering?”
Edwards filed his first fundraising disclosure for 2025 with the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB) on July 12. He has raised $68,150 in contributions from 306 individual donors and hopes to keep up the momentum into 2025, according to his campaign.
The Trump team is facing a prosecutor prepared to shatter the glass ceiling and her opponent’s alleged invincibility. It’s being reported that Trump will dredge up Harris’s so-called “radical” leftist background. With Biden no longer his contender, Trump is sure to charge that his vice president is merely a mouthpiece for Biden’s policies, particularly as they pertain to gun control, and the president’s plans on the southern border and immigration. Of course, Trump the denier also lost to Biden, and so he can’t claim that he’s undefeated.
Already Trump has released a video entitled “Meet San Francisco Radical Kamala” in caps, highlighting the so-called leftist policies she promoted during that run for the presidency. But Matt Bennett, the executive vice president for public affairs at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, said Vice President Harris’s tacking to the center was different during the primaries compared to what you might espouse “as you sprint to the finish of a general election.”
None of this will mean anything to Trump as he tries to make his case that Harris is a surrogate for Biden, especially on immigration, calling her the “border czar.” Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who rose to Secretary of Transportation, quickly stepped up to defend Harris. “Let’s be clear about this because there has been a lot of mischaracterization,” he said. “She was not in charge of the border. Homeland Security is in charge of the border. She did do something important, though. She was assigned to conduct diplomacy with Central American countries, knowing that that’s part of the bigger picture of what’s affecting the border. And you know what? Those Central American countries are among the few countries to see their numbers go down in terms of the source of immigrants who are seen at the border.”
Harris will also take some heat on the situation in the Middle East and the war between Israel and Hamas that each day brings another portent of spreading. It will be interesting to see how Harris deals with the lies and misinformation Trump and his team will throw at her, and how she as a former prosecutor will counter the onslaught. One thing is for certain, she has demonstrated on more than one occasion her ability to parry and thrust when it comes to dealing with an opponent as vulnerable as Trump. How Trump will deal with her relentless prosecutorial gambit, her ability to turn a debate into a courtroom drama is a major question that the nation is waiting to see.
So many issues remain on the agenda for both candidates, and we are still not certain if they will debate, and who their ultimate running mates will be. Rumors have it that Trump is not that happy with J.D. Vance, somewhat concerned about his comments about “childless cat ladies,” though it seems improbable that he will be replaced. But as always with Trump, the predictable is unpredictable. Meanwhile, the nation sits on pins and needles wondering who Harris will choose. Many pundits are suggesting she will probably lean toward a leader from one of the pivotal battleground states. But Mayor Pete in his defense of the presumptive Democratic nominee has made his call clear without stating his interest. Stay tuned.
People living in Downtown Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses have been burned before. They say they’re not so eager to trust any supposed good news coming from outside their housing complex.
And recent reports that Taj Gibson, the 6-foot-9, 15-year NBA veteran, wants to play a part in the reconstruction of the neighboring Navy Yard Boys & Girls Clubhouse, where so many generations of their kids have for decades attended afterschool programs, don’t move them.
“They want to put up more housing, but parents really just need a place for their children.”
“We’ve got so many new buildings down here already!”
“Why?!? We got so many new buildings around here; why would we need another one?”
“It’s going to be so expensive in there forever. Forever!”
“We can’t get in it; it’s just going to be sold to white people.”
“We never knew anything was going on with the Boys & Girls club until all this happened.”
The Navy Yard Boys & Girls Clubhouse, located at 240 Nassau Street, was purchased for $15 million by Alloy Development, a real estate development firm, in November 2023. The Clubhouse had serviced families who live directly across the street––at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Farragut Houses––and other kids in the Downtown Brooklyn, Navy Yard, Fort Greene, and DUMBO neighborhoods, for decades before it was abruptly shuttered in June of 2023.
It was one of six Madison Square Boys & Girls Club Foundation clubhouses to offer daily enrichment programming for 6- through 18-year-olds across the city. The Clubhouse was forced to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 because it faced hundreds of child sexual abuse lawsuits filed under the New York State Child Victims Act (CVA) against a former Foundation volunteer.
Claims were that the volunteer abused children beginning in the year 1948 and that he continued doing so up until 1984. The Foundation filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in June of 2022 to save itself and said it found it could get the most money to pay claims against it by selling its Navy Yard Clubhouse.
Once Alloy purchased the property, they heard about the anger and distrust so many neighboring
NYCHA families felt towards anyone taking over the building. Alloy re-opened the Clubhouse and brought the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club Foundation back to manage it for the next few years. Alloy also began making efforts to meet with Farragut and nearby Ingersoll Houses tenants: it has held meetings with community representatives and contacted local Council Member Crystal Hudson, it even held an open house on June 1 to introduce itself to the community.
Now, Alloy is also bringing on Taj Gibson and his recently formed community-driven development firm GFB Development (GFB) to serve as co-developers of the Clubhouse. Gibson, who earlier this month signed a 1-year, $3.3 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets, is known to be serious about giving back to the community he came from. Raised in Ingersoll Houses, Gibson recalls playing basketball with his friends at the Navy Yard Clubhouse.
Back in 2020, the millionaire athlete used his non-profit Taj Gibson Foundation to partner with Scotch Painter’s Tape and Project Backboard for the refurbishing of deteriorating blacktops at the Ingersoll Houses’ playground. Now he has created GFB as a vehicle so that he and his childhood friends, Tameek Floyd and Malik Brown, can have an impact on development projects like the transformation of the Navy Yard Clubhouse.
“GFB and Alloy have committed to providing a permanent community space, continuing the longstanding tradition of neighborhood programming on site,” a press release about the new partnership announced. “That space will be run by a to-be-determined operator based on local resident feedback and include tailored programming for neighborhood children, seniors, and families.”
Plans are for Alloy and GFB to begin holding a series of meetings with tenants from the nearby NYCHA communities of Farragut, Ingersoll, and Walt Whitman. The developers say they want to listen to what locals think about rezoning the site, upgrading the community center, and building more affordable housing.
Farragut residents who spoke to the AmNews outside of the building at 202 Sands Street already had a lot to say about the prospects for the redeveloped Clubhouse and any added affordable housing units. Five women and one man—a few of whom gave their names as Tracy, James, and Priscilla––spoke adamantly against the encroachment of luxury housing developments near their long-term, low-income apartment homes.
“This development is so that white people can come in here and take over. Or so the Chinese can come in here.”
“When they said affordable, it starts at $70,000 a year, so it’s not affordable. What’s affordable? Affordable is not $100G’s because we don’t have that, Mr. Taj. Affordable is not even 20G’s because we’re on welfare Mr. Taj.”
“All the affordable buildings out here, we can’t go in there. We can’t even afford them. And when they do allow you in, you got a low income––a different entrance than regular paying motherf–ers. All them buildings they’re doing downtown and they let low income in there? Low income coming through the back. Oh no, you don’t know? That’s a whole other world.”
“We don’t need no new apartments down here. We need community-based programs out here that’s what we need; we need something for the youth.”
“They ain’t had sh– in there for the kids to do back in the day: y’all don’t have no swimming pools, y’all don’t have no activities in that building for the kids. Y’all just want them to come after school and they don’t even get homework help. It’s like they’re in daycare.”
“We don’t want them here. We don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t want them here. No. And they’re here. You’re not bringing up programs here for us. How many apartments are going to be for Section 8 and people with regular incomes?”
“There’s a lot of things we need down here that they’re not investing in. But then they’re building all these high-rise buildings and it’s hard for us to get in those. You can’t even live down here no more. People want to relocate down south, which, that’s probably their plan to make it hard for us to live here because this is like a prime area, and they didn’t start building these coops and condos for nothing.”
