The Downtown Alliance has just unveiled Light and Sound, the latest series of its Art is All Around campaign.

The campaign consists of two interactive and luminous public art installations which will come together with music to bring a lunchtime concert series to Lower Manhattan starting later this month.

Optik features 10 movable gyroscope-like rings that produce their own sounds along with a spectrum of reflective colors. Visitors can rotate the installation’s rings to create ever-changing lights and tones.

Optik was created by the Urban Conga in collaboration with Serge Maheu and will be displayed on Cortlandt Way.

Roseaux brings together 15-foot illuminated reeds that continuously emit pulsating lights and audible tones. Visitors can stand on the base to change the spectrum of colors, making the installation personal to each viewer.

Created by 1ToMn in collaboration with UDO Design and Serge Maheu, Roseaux will be located at 200 Water Street.

A weekly concert series will complement the installations. Programmed by esteemed New York musician and producer Svetlana Shmulyian, performances will feature interactive music and dance performances provided by some of the city’s most exciting jazz and blues bands.

“Grab your friends, grab the kids and come play! These art installations and concerts will bring joy and fun to our streets,” said Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin. “Late spring is a fantastic time to be out exploring Lower Manhattan, and ‘Light and Sound’ will add extra excitement and entertainment for those enjoying the fresh air and warm weather.”

The art installations will be on view from Wednesday, May 10 through Wednesday, June 21. Starting Wednesday, May 17, the concerts will take place each Wednesday at 12 p.m. at alternating locations between 200 Water Street and Cortlandt Way.

The light and sound performance schedule is as follows:

• May 17 – Alphonso Horne and His Gotham Kings (200 Water St.)
• May 24 – Charles Turner and Uptown Swing (Cortlandt Way)
• May 31 – Christopher McBride & The Whole Proof (200 Water St.)
• June 7 – Svetlana & The New York Collective (Cortlandt Way)
• June 14 – Kalí Rodríguez-Peña Mélange (200 Water St.)
• June 21 – Willerm Delisfort Project (Cortlandt Way)

Learn more on Downtown Alliance’s website.

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ALBANY — Legislation expected to be adopted as part of a new $229 billion state budget does nothing to alleviate a home care staffing shortage that has reached crisis levels, advocates for those workers said Monday.

“We are going to continue to lose workers,” Bryan O’Malley, director of the Consumer Assisted Personal Assistance Association of New York State, told CNHI. “We are certainly not going to get the influx of new workers we need to offset the damage that has already been done.”

O’Malley’s non-profit association is one of several organizations that formed a united front called the New York Caring Majority to push for higher wages and benefits for home care workers.

Ilana Berger, director of the Caring Majority, said the Hochul administration is cutting $1.55 from the hourly wages of more than 300,000 home care workers.

Members of Hochul’s public relations team did not respond to the criticism.

Hochul did go on a New York City television station Monday night to put a positive spin on changes to the controversial bail law, saying she expects legislation in the emerging budget to expand the discretion judges have to remand defendants to jail at their arraignments.

The advocates for home care workers argued the budget bills allow private insurance companies to legally “siphon” hundreds of millions of dollars that should be going into the paychecks of home care aides.

“As long as New York State continues to underpay home care workers, more older adults and disabled New Yorkers will be left without care or forced into nursing homes,” Berger said.

With inflation continuing to take its toll on paychecks, advocates for mental health aides are also arguing that workers are being shortchanged by the emerging budget bills.

“Where is the fairness and equitability for human service providers?” said Glenn Liebman of the Mental Health Association of New York State.

Liebman’s group had been pushing for an 8.5% cost of living adjustment for mental health workers, but the spending plan advancing at the statehouse will leave them with a total of 4%, translating into what he said amounts to a pay cut given the pace of inflation.

He argued more robust state investments in mental health could reduce waiting lists for services, result in less incarceration, slash emergency room visits and “most importantly less deaths of despair due to overdose and suicide completion.”

Lawmakers said the bulk of the remaining budget legislation is expected to be approved Tuesday following weeks of tense negotiations between Hochul’s representatives and aides to the Democratic leaders of the state Senate and Assembly.

Upstate Republican lawmakers have been highly critical of the process. They are expected to vote against the budget bills, pointing out the latest fiscal blueprint increases total state spending by $8 billion since last year.

Sen. James Tedisco, R-Saratoga County, called the budget “not only pie in the sky, it’s pie and pork in the sky.”

Tedisco said the spending plan represents the fourth successive year the state will have failed to produce an “on-time, fiscally responsible budget,” contending policies enacted in Albany has led to New York capturing “the dubious distinction of being Number One in out-migration of all 50 states.”

Hochul, meanwhile, told WCBS that having a late budget was necessary in order for her administration to get the changes it wanted in the state bail laws.

But one district attorney, Michael McMahon of Staten Island, said even with the changes there are still too many criminal offenses that will be ineligible for bail.

“I vehemently disagree with that assessment,” Hochul told the television station in a Manhattan interview.

The post Advocates decry budget impacts on home care workforce appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

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A popular New York City Pride celebration is expanding in a big way.

Stonewall Day, which Pride Live launched in 2018 to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, is relocating to Hudson Yards to accommodate more guests at the development’s public square. The event is also a fundraiser for the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center (SNMVC), which will be the first LGBTQ+ visitor center within the National Park System, slated to open next June. Tickets are free, but VIP access starts at $82. 

And for the price of $0, you can enjoy a great show! Christina Aguilera will be headlining the concert, with additional performances by pop recording artist Mila Jam, the indie pop trio BETTY, and drag artist Mariyea. Actress Angelica Ross, Founder and CEO of TransTech will host, and Lina Bradford will be the resident DJ.

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“I am excited to join Pride Live and Stonewall Day and be a part of this historic event,” Christina Aguilera said in a news release. “The community has supported and uplifted me throughout my career, and I love showing up to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility. I’m honored to represent Pride Live at Stonewall Day 2023.” 

In 2022, Stonewall Day took place on Christopher Street, near the site of the historic resistance event, which still operates as a popular gay bar today. With the festivities moving to the controversial taxpayer-subsidized $25 billion dollar development off the Hudson River, questions about the increasing corporatization of Pride events in New York City arise. 

“We are proud to partner with Pride Live and support their integral mission to fight for equality for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Jeff T. Blau, CEO of Related Companies. “Hudson Yards sits at the center of the most culturally vibrant LGBTQ+ community in the world and we look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors from around the globe to our neighborhood to honor the Stonewall Day legacy.”

It’s no secret that Related’s Chairman Stephen Ross is a major GOP supporter: A major fundraiser for Trump’s reelection in 2019, a super PAC to oust New York’s democrats and recent public donations to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are a few recent actions. Blau himself has political donations to both major parties on the record.

Pride Live itself is a nonprofit organization, founded by a diverse set of activists and sponsored by some of America’s largest corporations including Google, Chase, Amazon, the NFL, Target and more. 

* This article was originally published here

Funeral services were held Monday for late attorney Alton Maddox, Jr. at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. A viewing was held before the service. Maddox’s son Charles said Alton’s body will be taken back to Georgia.

RELATED: Alton Maddox, Jr., the ‘People’s Lawyer’ and Attorney-at-War, dead at 77

Photos by Nayaba Arinde, Amsterdam News Editor

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* This article was originally published here

Funeral services were held Monday for late attorney Alton Maddox, Jr. at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. A viewing was held before the service. Maddox’s son Charles said Alton’s body will be taken back to Georgia.

Photos by Nayaba Arinde, Amsterdam News Editor

The post Attorney Alton Maddox, Jr. laid to rest appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Harlem Bespoke:  The renowned Amateur Night at the Apollo returns in 2023 after almost almost a two years absence and tickets are now on sale for November.

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Harlem Bespoke:  Uptown has the usual coffee chains like Starbucks available for early morning brew but what are local shops that are open at 8:00AM?   Below are the mom and pop shops to check out for all those early risers out there in the neighborhood with a few new additions including Harlem Cafe and Sojourner Coffee.

* This article was originally published here