Over the past week, the New York Liberty has won three games, clinched a spot in the WNBA playoffs with a month still remaining in regular season play, and set several franchise landmarks. This includes a stunning 82-63 win over the Las Vegas Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup, showing that a long-elusive WNBA Championship may actually come to fruition.

While the in-season Commissioner’s Cup tournament games are not included in the standings, it was a significant event for the players, with notably each of the Liberty earning a $30,000 winner’s share. 

“Things have been coming better and better for us after the All-Star [break],” said Sandy Brondello, now in her second season as the Liberty’s head coach. “We knew we were going to be a good team. We knew it would take some time to get the chemistry together.”

In defeating the Indiana Fever 100–89 this past Sunday, the Liberty established a new franchise record with its 24th win of the season. The victory also marked the Liberty’s fifth 100-point game and set a franchise record road winning streak of seven consecutive games.

“I was getting some good looks, they were switching a lot, just continuing to read what the defense gave me, and that just kind of continued throughout,” said Breanna Stewart, who is making a strong case for MVP with her third 40-point performance in the win over the Fever. “I’m really happy with how we all played in general.”

Jonquel Jones described Stewart as a leader on the team. 

“We look to her to talk to us and share her insights…You see where we started as a team and the way the season has been going for us. She’s never wavered in what she’s brought to this team and her professionalism and her belief in what we’ve brought together. Definitely our MVP, and hopefully at the end of the season, we can be where we need to be because I think she definitely deserves it,” said Jones.

As stellar as Stewart’s play has been, the Liberty’s success has been a collective effort. Jones had a double-double—15 points and 12 rebounds—against the Fever. Sabrina Ionescu continues to put on an offensive show, and Betnijah Laney has also been outstanding. Stefanie Dolson has returned from injury and put up 7 points versus Indiana.

“We’re playing at the right pace, and we understand where we all need to be and how the other team is obviously defending us,” said Brondello. “[Low turnovers] means we’re playing really selfless and finding the best shots possible and we’re making them.”

The Liberty are on the road this week and next week, facing the Phoenix Mercury tomorrow, the Connecticut Sun next Thursday, and the Minnesota Lynx on August 26. They return to the Barclays Center for a rematch with the Aces on August 28.

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Harlem’s Food Bank for New York City’s Community Kitchen and Pantry held its second annual block party and food giveaway in celebration of Harlem Week this past Sunday.

The Food Bank (116th St and Frederick Douglass Boulevard) has been a lifeline for Harlem residents since 1984. A food bank distributes emergency free meals. In the New York City area, there are about 800 food programs across the city that serve 1.8 million New Yorkers facing food insecurity on an annual basis. 

It was sunny and hot for the 2023 block party, with music playing to entertain people as they sought refuge in the shade with weighted-down plates of food. Community members lined up in front of the triple-plated outdoor grill or the fresh produce stand, waiting eagerly for their turn. Kids played with chalk in a sectioned-off activity station. 

Chef Sheri Jefferson, a 59-year-old Bronxite, has led the Food Bank’s culinary team for the last seven years. She and her crew were poised over the hot grills for hours, preparing cole slaw and cooking hamburgers, franks, barbequed chicken, and baked beans for anyone who wanted a treat. Jefferson, smiling widely while surrounded by wafts of smoke and soaked in sweat, said that was where she was meant to be.

“I believe [in] everything we do here every day,” said Jefferson. “Food is life.”

She was happy that the vision for the event had come to fruition and was quite ecstatic about this year’s turnout.

“We want people to know that the community kitchen is here for them and we have services for them,” said Food Bank Director Sultana Ocasio. 

Ocasio, who was at the block party with her young daughter, said Food Bank also runs a pantry with free groceries, helps with anti-hunger solutions and budgeting ideas, prepares hot meals, and assists residents with applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at their Harlem site. For the block party, Ocasio estimated that they distributed about 400 meals with the donated produce and food.

“It means for [a family] that they are not alone and uncared for,” said Ocasio. “When you have a food program that is open to the public that is easily accessible, you’re acknowledging the humanity in the next person. You’re human, I’m human. I have to eat, you have to eat.”

The Food Bank has helped the city weather numerous crises, said Ocasio. During the COVID pandemic, there was an allotment increase for SNAP benefits nationwide to address the sharp rise in food insecurity. For almost three years since then, families of all class backgrounds came to rely on benefits or supplemental groceries from food pantries to get by. The allotment ended in March 2023, decreasing as food prices inflated. Ocasio said the end of the allotment affected a lot of residents and the emergency food network as a whole.

“Folks [who] had those benefits, they were dropped, so we immediately saw our numbers spike,” said Ocasio. The numbers are not like the height of COVID, but the Food Bank is still seeing a need for its services, she said.

Ocasio said in disadvantaged communities and even in objectively “wealthy” neighborhoods in the city, there are residents who live in pockets that lack access to food, especially with the onslaught of the migrant crisis that began last year. According to recent city numbers, there are more than 57,000 asylum seekers in the city, in addition to the homeless population, who need shelter, food, and services currently. The Food Bank is already a crisis management agency when it comes to food, so it was able to adapt to support food programs that saw more migrants, said Ocasio.

“I know that we have seen migrants come to the community kitchen, and there were times in the winter when [although] we don’t typically take donations of clothing, some Venezuelan migrants had come in literally in flip-flops and T-shirts. They were unprepared for the weather and it was very frigid,” said Ocasio. “Luckily, we had some new coats from a partner…realizing that it was a crisis situation.”

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 visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

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