NEW YORK (AP) — A top official representing a suburban New York county where New York City’s mayor wants to send asylum seekers vowed to fight the plan Monday by enforcing the state of emergency he declared over the weekend.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day, a Republican, planned a news conference to discuss New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to bus up to 300 single adult male migrants to hotels in Rockland and Orange counties.

Adams, a Democrat, announced the plan Friday to bus migrants to the two counties north of the city on a voluntary basis. He said the program would help the city handle the more than 37,500 asylum seekers already in the city’s care.

Adams said the migrants would be provided with meals and other services during their time in the hotels.

Day responded by announcing a state of emergency Saturday.

The county executive said Rockland County already has an “extreme” housing crisis and sending busloads of migrants “will only compound that issue tenfold while straining support systems that are already at a breaking point.”

Day said in a news release that the state of emergency will prohibit other municipalities from bringing people to Rockland County and will prohibit hotels and motels from housing immigrants without a license.

He said the state of emergency will remain in effect for at least 30 days and include fines of $2,000 per migrant for the hotels and for any municipality that sends migrants to Rockland.

Day planned a news conference later Monday with other opponents of Adams’ plan including U.S. Rep. Michael Lawler, a Republican.

Asked for a comment on Day’s state of emergency, a spokesperson for Adams referred to the mayor’s Friday news release about the migrant plan.

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Harlem Bespoke: The largest black-owned jazz club in Harlem was probably Small’s Paradise at the corner of West 135th Street at 7th Avenue and we recently found a 1940 government photo of the legendary address.  Most of the speakeasies nearby were in modest brownstone storefronts a couple of blocks south or big white-owned establishments like the Cotton Club on West 142nd Street and Lenox.  Out of all the large club buildings of the Harlem Renaissance years, only the Small’s now stand and has pretty much been restored after much community activism a few decades ago.  There is school on the added upper levels now and and IHOP now resides as the anchor commercial tenant.  More on Small’s Paradise can be found in our past post: LINK

* This article was originally published here

Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick has confirmed that President Joe Biden will deliver the commencement address at the historically Black university’s 155th ceremony.

Officials have scheduled commencement activities for 10 a.m. on May 13 on the Upper Quadrangle of the main campus.

Erica Loewe, the White House’s Director of African American Media, stated that in addition to Biden’s address at Howard University, administration officials plan to attend commencements at HBCUs nationwide.

According to the White House, President Biden’s impending visit to Howard, the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris, follows the administration’s record-breaking investment of nearly $6 billion through the U.S. Department of Education to support HBCUs since 2021.

“Securing funding for the more than 100 HBCUs in the United States has been a prominent feature of Biden’s domestic agenda,” Loewe wrote on Twitter.
In addition, the visit coincides with the publication of new data showing the lowest Black unemployment rate in U.S. history.

“It is an honor and privilege to welcome President Biden to deliver the 2023 commencement address and celebrate the 2023 graduating class,” Dr. Frederick said.

Biden will also receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree during the commencement.

“This honorary Doctor of Letters is much deserved for his years of transformational service as U.S. Senator, Vice President, and now as President of the United States,” Dr. Frederick stated.

“We are excited to receive the president as this year’s distinguished guest and recognize him for his relentless work uplifting our communities that have been historically left behind.

“I look forward to honoring President Biden, our honorary degree recipients, and graduating seniors at the Commencement Convocation.”

Biden was the first of four children born to Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden and Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr., in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The Biden family relocated to Claymont, Delaware, in 1953.

Biden attended the University of Delaware and Syracuse University School of Law and served on the New Castle County Council.

The Wilmington, Delaware, Amtrak station bears Biden’s name.

The president was among the youngest individuals ever elected to the United States Senate at age 29.

At 80, Biden has confirmed his candidacy for re-election, and a victory would make him the oldest elected president in American history.

Harris became the first African American and female vice president.

Biden would be the seventh incumbent U.S. president to deliver Howard’s commencement speech.

The post President Biden to deliver Howard University’s commencement address appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

We all have a secret, but are you ready to spill yours? Well, now you can at contemporary painter Sonya Sklaroff’s new exhibition Secrets of New York, which portrays the little-known treasures of NYC.

The exhibition invites New Yorkers to turn away from the city’s iconic landmarks and instead take a look at some of the city’s lesser known gems.

A series of oil-on-canvas paintings depict locations around the city that aren’t immediately recognizable, giving an almost behind-the-scenes look at NYC’s many clandestine happenings.

Think: a small garden oasis tucked away in the heart of SoHo, a tennis court on a garage rooftop on the East Side, and a dead-end street overlooking the East River 4th of July fireworks.

And, if you’re willing to spill a secret of your own, Sklaroff may just bring it to life!

A box at the exhibition allows guests to drop their own secrets in to then be pulled out and painted by Sklaroff. The painting will be on display for the second half of the exhibition.

“Through my Secrets of New York series, I wanted to show the unfamiliar spots in New York that people tend to overlook. There are not only places that are hidden in plain sight, but also at every moment secrets are happening around us” said Sklaroff.

Through the exhibition, Sklaroff takes viewers on a tour through the city’s ephemeral scenes, presenting a vibrant yet esoteric look at New York–a look that many of us miss out on as we go about our hectic lives.

“Making art is my purpose.  More than just what I do, art is a big part of who I am.  Painting is how I express my true self, the authentic me,” reads Sklaroff’s website.

Secrets of New York is running now through Tuesday, May 30 at the Algonquin Times Square, Autograph Collection (59 West 44th St.) You can check it out Tuesday through Saturday, 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. or by appointment.

You can learn more about the artist and her work on her website.

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* This article was originally published here