The theme for this year’s New York Urban League (NYUL) gala is “Fight Today, Change Tomorrow: Voting & Civic Engagement,” which NYUL President Arva Rice said is in line with the work of each of this year’s four honorees.  

This year’s gala, which takes place on June 6 at Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, will honor 1199SEIU President George Gresham; Aurora James, founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge; and Renee McClure, director of DNY Customer Account Management, National Grid with Frederick Douglass medallions. Camille Joseph-Goldman, group vice president, government affairs, Charter Communications, will receive the 2024 Ann Kheel Award.   

The gala’s celebrity co-chairs are the actress Meagan Good, television and film producer Tonya Lewis Lee, and legendary fashion model and activist, Bethann Hardison. 

“The event is designed to honor individuals who in the spirit of Frederick Douglass know that there is no progress without struggle,” said NYUL President Arva Rice. The gala’s theme and the night’s honorees reflect the Urban League’s national campaign which is focused on “defending democracy, demanding diversity, and defeating poverty,” Rice adds.

Gresham’s work providing help and support for people in the labor movement ties in with Aurora James’s push to have more Black designers represented in major department stores. Renee McClure’s position as a director at National Grid put her in the position to be a strong advocate for bringing more African Americans into the emerging world of opportunities in the energy field, and Camille Joseph Goldman’s reception of the Ann Keele Award acknowledges her activist efforts throughout the city. Each honoree is doing what the national Urban League promotes. 

“Unfortunately, at this point in time, we have to defend democracy in a way that I never would have thought of with the rollback in voter rights, voter suppression, voter ID laws that have been introduced in the large majority of states,” Rice said. “The very, very core of what the Urban Leagues are about, which is to defend democracy, has become once again front and center. That’s one of the reasons why we have selected this theme about fighting today and changing tomorrow. 

“The second reason why we’ve selected it is because we need to demand diversity,” Rice added. “The fact that just less than [a few years] years ago, after George Floyd, people had a profound awakening and understanding of the African-American struggle in this country, and now we have completely gone full circle and are having to demand diversity: DEI programs are being dismantled around the country. People have even started to use DEI pejoratively, as in ‘didn’t earn it,’ which is just deplorable, and we saw the takedown of the president of Harvard University. Demanding diversity is a key component of the work that the Urban League must do now and do in the future. 

“And the last reason is because it’s what we do all the time, which is we’re working to defeat poverty. That’s the reason why we have our education programs, why we have our employment programs. Why we have investment in small businesses is that we’re trying to defeat poverty, because we know the crippling impact that it has on children, families, education, [and] employment. Those are our three prongs for defending democracy, demanding diversity, and defeating poverty.”

The post New York Urban League gala celebrates local activists, urges voting appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Representatives from all five families involved in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case met with President Joe Biden in honor of the landmark decision’s 70th anniversary this month. The decision, finalized May 17, 1954, struck schoolrooms across the nation with equal prowess in regards to the pursuit of adequate facilities and improved academic resources regardless of race.

“I welcomed the family of plaintiffs of that landmark case to the White House, to the Oval Office—their office. Once upon a time, they were excluded from certain classrooms. But 70 years later, they’re inside the most important room of all, the Oval Office, where they belong,” Biden said. “They’re a living reminder that ‘once upon a time’ wasn’t that long ago. And all the progress we’ve made is—still have more to do.  And there are still groups that are trying to erase it.”

According to PEN America, there were over 4,000 instances of book bans across the nation in the first half of the school year. Wisconsin experienced 481 bans across three school districts, Iowa had 142 in three school districts as well, and Texas reported 141 bans across four school districts. However, students in Escambia County School District lost access to 1,600 books in one year under the rule of Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis.

Biden is aiming to combat this trend by encouraging parents to enroll their children in school earlier. 

“Because of the nation’s legacy of discrimination, the Black children start school with an average of seven months behind their white peers in reading,” Biden said. “But one year of universal, high-quality pre-K could eliminate 98% of that gap.  Just one year.”

“Children who go to preschool are nearly 50% more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two-year or four-year degree no matter what their background is,” he added.

His laser-focused remarks were clear as he touted the American Rescue Plan’s efforts to ensure a viable education for all children, “regardless of their Zip Code.”

But there’s still more work to do. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson raised various concerns at the celebration ceremony which took place at the National Museum of African American History and Culture as he drew the audience’s attention to severe underfunding, teacher shortages and book bans. He emphasized that “we have yet to fulfill the promise of Brown.”

Statistics show high-poverty districts serving mostly students of color receive about $1,600 less per student than the national average, according to a 2019 report from EdBuild.

“The black community is well aware that progress is not possible without expending every resource at our disposal. So yes we litigate, we also advocate, we agitate, [and] we show up in the halls of power echoing the rally cries of our community,” Johnson said.

The NAACP President did commend Biden for taking note of the state of crisis many families are facing due to limited access to a strong culture of learning.

Seven decades ago, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling which upheld Thurgood Marshall, the chief legal counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) argument that separate learning institutions were inherently unequal. 

“It follows that with education, this Court has made segregation and inequality equivalent concepts. They have equal rating, equal footing, and if segregation thus necessarily imports inequality, it makes no great difference whether we say that the Negro is wronged because he is segregated, or that he is wronged because he received unequal treatment,” Marshall argued before the court. 

Those words still ring true among many. The family members from the Brown decision remain hopeful that soon a powerful and permanent change will come in the field of education.

“We’re still fighting the battle over whose children do we invest in,” said Cheryl Brown, daughter of landmark plaintiff Oliver Brown, after her meeting with Biden. “Any time we can talk about failing underfunded public schools, there is a problem. There should be no such thing. Public institutions, where most of us got our education, should be world-class educational institutions.”

The post Nation celebrates 70 years of Brown v. Board of Education amidst new repeals appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz and shortstop Francisco Lindor have had some stellar seasons during their respective Major League Baseball careers—but this season isn’t one of them, and their grapples with playing well below their self-expectations and career standards have manifested in the Mets faltering. 

The team had lost seven of their previous nine games and were 21-27 before facing the Cleveland Guardians on the road in yesterday afternoon’s getaway game. The Mets had plunged to their lowest mark below .500 this season in dropping the first two games of the series, 3-1 on Monday and 7-6 on Tuesday. They were in fourth place in the National League East.

Diaz has been unable to pitch to the form that made him one of baseball’s top closers in past seasons.

“I won’t lie—my confidence, I feel, is down right now,” he lamented after taking the mound with the Mets up 9-5 versus the Miami Marlins on the road last Saturday and giving up four runs in the ninth inning. The Mets eventually lost 10-9 in 10 innings. 

“I’m making pitches, I’m throwing strikes,” Díaz contended. “I’m trying to do my best to help the team win [but] right now, I’m not in that capacity.”

After a 2022 campaign in which he was arguably the sport’s best at his job, posting 32 saves in 61 appearances with a record of 3-1, a 1.31 ERA, and 0.839 WHIP in 62 innings pitched, Díaz was out all of last season after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee in March 2023. He sustained the injury while jumping in celebration after his Puerto Rico squad defeated the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. 

Ironically, the injury occurred at LoanDepot Park in Miami, where Díaz was rocked last Saturday for his third blown save in his last four appearances before being removed from the closer’s spot by manager Carlos Mendoza the next day. 

“Right now, he’s going through it—he’s going through a rough stretch. Our job is to get him back on track. He’ll do whatever it takes to help this team win a baseball game,” said Mendoza after Sunday’s 7-3 win over the Marlins to close up the three-game series.

As for Lindor, the four-time All-Star was batting an alarming .198 and an OPS of just .620, which ranked 150th going into the series finale yesterday. His power numbers (7 homers and 23 RBI) were midlining. The Mets need Lindor to be effective in hitting out of the leadoff spot to generate offense for a team that has not produced runs consistently. 

The Mets will be at home to host the San Francisco Giants for three games tomorrow through Sunday, and then face the Los Angeles Dodgers for three Monday through Wednesday.

The Yankees were 33-17 and in first place in the American League East when they took on the Seatlle Mariners in the Bronx last night. They’ll end the four-game series with the Mariners this afternoon and travel to San Diego to play the Padres in a three-game series this weekend before three versus the Los Angeles Angels next Tuesday through Thursday.

The post Díaz and Lindor reflect the Mets’ collective slide appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Congestion pricing is set to go into effect next month in Manhattan’s central business district. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fund upkeep of New York City’s public transportation, clean our air and even reimagine traffic and pedestrian flows citywide.

Just after midnight on June 30^th, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) plans to switch on the nation’s first congestion pricing zone, which is expected to raise $1 billion annually for MTA capital improvements and encourage commuters to find a different way into central Manhattan, one of the world’s busiest commercial districts.

This sea change, expected to increase subway ridership, is also a great time for the New York City Council and Mayor Eric Adams to expand Fair Fares, the program that provides 50 percent discounts on Metro Cards for low-income households.  Let’s make the discounts available to households with annual incomes of up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), which is about $62,000 for a family of four.  Currently, the program’s income eligibility threshold is 120 percent of FPL, or $37,440 for a family of four.

Expanding Fair Fares would add to congestion pricing’s implementation in a way that emphasizes equity and fairness, particularly for lower-income individuals struggling to pay transit fares. The MTA offers congestion zone discounts for drivers making less than $50,000 a year, and an array of exemptions for emergency vehicles, commuter buses and drivers with disabilities.

Congestion pricing represents a huge opportunity for New York’s political, business and nonprofit leaders to hold hearings and take actions that transform the citywide coexistence of pedestrians, private cars, trucks and MTA buses. For instance, how about making outer-borough intersections more pedestrian-friendly, Manhattan sidewalks cleaner and reining in the explosion of package delivery trucks blocking the streets everywhere?

The Manhattan congestion pricing zone, which will charge a base rate of $15 a day for motor vehicle access to Manhattan below 60^th Street, makes businesses and well-heeled commuters who drive into lower Manhattan pay the higher tolls. It will give the MTA badly needed revenue to improve train and bus services for students, workers, the poor and low-income people who depend on the system.

The proposal is not a sure thing.  Although the MTA expects the plan to go forward, there are ongoing legal challenges from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, as well as a consortium of public-sector unions and city residents. U.S. District Court Judge Leo Gordon, who is presiding over New Jersey’s congestion pricing lawsuit, has said he will rule on the case in early June, just days before the MTA hopes to turn on the tolling system.  The lawsuits –– they should fail –– falsely argue congestion pricing is unfair to drivers because public transit isn’t robust enough to serve their needs.

Ample evidence overseas suggests otherwise. New York City is following in the footsteps of London in 2003, Singapore in 1997 and Stockholm in 2006, which have all shown that congestion pricing is effective.  In those cities, it encouraged carpooling, use of public transportation and traveling at off-peak times.  It also resulted in shorter travel times, improved air quality and less traffic, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation study. 

Small businesses are sure to benefit from less traffic and an increase in the number of pedestrians riding buses and subways.  It will make their locations more attractive by driving foot traffic to pre-pandemic levels, which in turn increases sales and employment.

Another concern of opponents –– that congestion pricing would unfairly impact the poor and low-wage essential workers –– is misguided. A study by my organization, the Community Service Society of New York, found the impact on poor and low-income people is not as severe as naysayers suggest. The study showed 57 percent of outer-borough residents depend on MTA commuter bus and rail service, and would directly benefit from system repairs and upgrades. 

Moreover, the CSS study found only four percent of outer-borough workers (about 128,000 people) would pay congestion fees as part of their daily commute, and only two percent of those workers living in poverty (about 5,000 people) would be asked to pay congestion fees as part of their daily commute. This is also a target audience for expanded Fair Fares.  It would help their transition to public transportation.

There are, indeed, legitimate concerns about gridlock in Harlem and the Bronx as some drivers inevitably maneuver outside the congestion zone.  But this is nothing the New York Police Department traffic division cannot handle.

It’s not a stretch to believe New Yorkers want congestion pricing.  If the MTA delivers better service, NYPD protects the Bronx and Uptown and it includes steps to improve traffic in the boroughs, city dwellers will overwhelmingly support Manhattan tolls that improve mass transit and reduce traffic choking New York City streets.

David R. Jones, Esq., is President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years, and a member of the MTA Board. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer.  The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.

The post URBAN AGENDA: Pros of Congestion Pricing and Expanded Fair Fares Outweigh Cons appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

The Catskills are already one of our favorite options for a daytrip from New York City, but a gonzo, one-week-only Cheez-It diner pop-up has officially made it a must-visit for May. Running from now through Sunday, May 26 at 261 Tinker Street in Woodstock, NY, the “Cheez-In Diner” will serve all of the nostalgic American dishes you’d expect from a good old greasy spoon, but with a seriously cheesy twist. 

RECOMMENDED: The 21 best diners in NYC right now for sandwiches, burgers, egg creams and more

Following the brand’s Joshua Tree Cheez-It Stop outpost last year, this year’s pop-up will dole out Americana classics inspired by the beloved cheese cracker. Some seem natural pairings, like “The Extra Cheezburger” (a pimento Cheez-It smashburger topped with lettuce, pickles and an Extra Big Cheez-It cracker), the “Mac & Cheez-It” (pasta baked in a creamy White Cheddar Cheez-It cracker sauce with a crunchy White Cheddar Cheez-It cracker crumble on top) and the “Cheezy Chicky Tendies” (chicken tenders breaded in Original Cheez-It crackers and available with Hot & Spicy Seasoning, hot honey or Hidden Valley Cheezy Ranch). 

But other concoctions are more confounding, like the array of Cheez-It-inspired desserts like the “Sweet-N-Salty Cheezcake” (a creamy cheesecake dessert with a Cheez-It cracker pie crust topped with caramel and Extra Big Cheez-It crackers) and the “Deluxe Cheez-It Milkshake” (a creamy vanilla shake blended with Cheez-It crackers, a caramel and crushed Cheez-It cracker rim and topped with whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate sauce, garnished with a chocolate-dipped Cheez-It cracker).

After you’ve filled up on all that absurdly cheesy food, you can check out the fun diner details like the World’s First & Only Cheez-It Jukebox—the only jukebox that accepts Cheez-It crackers instead of coins to play from its catalogue of retro records—the vintage Cheez-It memorabilia littered throughout the space and the red-hot Cheez-It convertible parked outside waiting to be captured in your latest selfie. There’s also a Cheez-It Taste-It Station dispensing a wide selection of rare and fan-favorite flavors so you can mix and match your very own blend of crackers. 

The Cheez-In Diner will be open from 4pm to 9pm until Thursday but will expand its hours for Memorial Day travelers until midnight Friday through Sunday. Check out the extra-cheesy space and food-and-drink offerings below:

* This article was originally published here