Mayor Eric Adams has signed a new bill requiring the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to provide officers with training on how to recognize and interact with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The bill, sponsored by New York City Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse, will equip officers with the tools to better engage with individuals…
Harlem Bespoke: Google has cancelled the previous email subscription format so we have switched tofollow.it for the newsletter. All current subscribers will be getting an updated feed confirmation link via email this week but if you want to switch right away to follow.it then just type in your email address below and press the subscribe button.
Harlem Bespoke: Our go to recommendation for last minute floral arrangements in Harlem used to be Harlem Flo but the shop has since moved north and has become La Fleur d’Harlem. The storefront at 203 West 144th Street is just west of Adam Clayton Powell will be open all weekend for Mother’s Day deliveries. All arrangements ordered before noon can be delivered on the same day. Drop by to see the special arrangements for the season if you have the time or just check out the website to get more details on how to make an order for delivery: LINK
The Broadway Junction station has always been a functional yet rhythmic chaos of transfers between the A/C, J/Z, and L trains. Mayor Eric Adams, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is sinking $500 million in investments to revitalize the station into an inclusive and accessible space for commuters.
“I fought to bring investments to this community when I was Brooklyn borough president, and as mayor, I am proud to say that we are getting it done,” Adams said in a statement.
The large subway station serves six largely residential, predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, and Ocean Hill.
As part of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) plans, the city will create two new public plazas on either side of Van Sinderen Avenue and Fulton Street. The city will invest $95 million into better lighting, signage, benches, and bike infrastructure, and the plan aims to make the junction more Americans with Disabilities Act- (ADA-) friendly with $400 million toward upgraded elevators and escalators. The plan also includes a new entrance with direct access to the L train on the east side of Van Sinderen Avenue.
“At one of Brooklyn’s busiest transit hubs, commuters deserve a fully accessible Broadway Junction complex that is surrounded by welcoming, attractive public spaces and safe infrastructure,” said Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez in a statement. “We’re working closely with the EDC and MTA to support their vision for the neighborhood and look forward to building on the street safety work DOT has done in the area.”
Deborah Williams, a nine-year Community Board (CB) 16 member, resident of Ocean Hill, and previous transit worker, said that the changes were a long time coming and widely welcomed.
“Today’s historic commitment to Broadway Junction is a victory and a direct result of the years of organizing and advocacy by East New York residents,” said Councilmember Sandy Nurse in a statement. “These investments are decades overdue.”
Nurse said that the process has been led by the people who live nearby, and her administration is completely committed to keeping the community’s residents front and center.
Supposedly “affordable” housing will be constructed near the station, as well as a business district.
The city said more than 433 homes have recently been completed or are under construction, with more than 1,700 additional homes projected or permitted. Nearly all of the 433 homes are meant for families earning less than 80% of area median income (AIM), and nearly 60% will be for families earning less than 50% of AIM.
At least 35% of design and construction contracts for the public space around the junction will be set aside for Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) businesses. The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) will also partner with NYCEDC, the MTA, and other employers on targeted outreach and marketing through upcoming training and recruitment events at the East New York Workforce 1 Center and throughout the Workforce1 system to meet hiring goals.
Planning and design will kick off this summer with community workshops. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2027 and completion by 2030. Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visitinghttps://bit.ly/amnews1.
If President Biden’s numbers continue to plummet, and the Gallup and more recent Washington Post-ABC News polls offer no relief, even the Black vote will not rescue him as it did in 2020. The ABC News poll showed that 56% of adults disapprove of Biden’s job performance while only 36% of adults approve of what he’s been doing.
More alarming, 54% percent of adults say Trump handled the economy better than Biden did. Okay, who are these people responding to these polls, where do they live, and what race or ethnic group do they belong to? To be sure, if these are respondents in red states, then we know what to expect. Even so, the numbers should be of concern for Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which hasn’t yet revealed a campaign strategy to offset the terrible numbers.
You always take polls with a grain of salt and a recognition of the margin of error, and we’re still a number of months away from when they begin to truly matter. Of deeper concern for Democrats is the diminishing support from potential African American voters.
It must be distressing for Biden to learn that if the election was held today, Trump would trounce him. But this may just be the kind of alert he and the party needs to rally the troops and begin pushing an agenda to convince the nation’s electorate of how wrong they are about the current polls.
Biden, of course, can point to several positive developments over the last year or so, particularly on the economic and employment front, and certainly when it comes to reaching out to comfort struggling marginalized communities. The rash of mass killings is disturbing, but he can point to the reluctance on the part of GOP members to do anything about background checks and other measures to keep assault weapons out of the hands of mentally distressed citizens.
It’s no time to relax, with even more trouble having loomed on the horizon with ending Title 42 and the confusion at the southern borders. And where is Vice President Harris, who has to step up her game in dealing with a multitude of pressing issues?
Nope, the polls are not good, but they are only a momentary barometer of a relative pool of pollsters, and as candidates know so well, all you need to turn things around is the next poll or intensification of the ongoing conflict in the GOP.
