Here are all the slides from the HNBA power point presentation on redistricting of City Council seats.
Here is the Redistricting Commission website – The website will have the most up to date information on the process, as it unfolds.
The Staff memorandum has a good overview of why they chose the lines they did ten years ago
Here is a mapping software called representable, which allows you to create your own maps, including the population counter.
One tool that is user friendly for people already comfortable with Google is the google map software. That said, the google software does not include a population counter. There is also DistrictR
Click here to view the NYC population fact finder tool, which allows you to view demographic data for specific census tracts and other geographic parameters. It also allows you to create your own map, which can allow you to see the demographic data for any areas of interest.
Click here to see demographic data for your City Council district, and view how it has changed since the last census.
Click here to look at the website “redistricting and you”, which allows you to compare the old council lines with new proposals. It also allows you to look more at the dynamics of your district.
Click here to read Citizens Union’s full report on the council redistricting process.
Here is a recording of a training given to a group in Manhattan last month. It can be sent to people who missed HNBA’s training, but still want to find out more.
Here is Citizens Union’s NYC Council redistricting website which will include everything in this email, plus additional resources as the process unfolds.
Testimony Submission: If you would like to submit written testimony, you can do so by emailing [email protected] at any time.
Harlem and East Harlem have the chance to choose who is going to represent them in Albany and here (locally) – right now. Early voting is currently underway and ongoing until Sunday, June 26th. Primary election day is Tuesday, June 28th.
Your voice counts and choices matter. Over the last 6 months, we’ve had a number of candidates drop by our monthly meetings to advocate for votes. The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association appreciates every one of these neighbors who has taken the time to make the case for their chance to represent our great community – whether it’s in Central Harlem or East Harlem.
Of all the candidates, however, we want to highlight the extraordinary persistent and thoughtful engagement shown by Wilfredo Lopez, a Democrat running in the June 28th Primary to represent East Harlem, El Barrio, and Yorkville in the New York’s State Assembly. Wilfredo has been with HNBA throughout 2022, attending numerous meetings – answering our questions – and showing the responsiveness that we expect in our elected officials. This evident tenacity and focus on service have led us to recommend that you consider voting for Wilfredo Lopez.
Dedza Films and Kino Lorber have just released our latest title NEPTUNE FROST, which tells the story of a cosmic romance between an intersex hacker and a coltan miner that seeds revolution. Written and directed by multidisciplinary artists Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, the sci-fi musical features original music by Williams tackling war, identity, and independence.
“The future of Black film… Utilizes everything the medium of film has to offer — visually, sonically, and emotionally.”
— Jourdain Searles, The Hollywood Reporter
Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afrofuturist vision, a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that Williams has explored in his work, notably his 2016 album MartyrLoserKing. Co-directed with the Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, the film takes place in the hilltops of Burundi, where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. From their camp in an otherworldly e-waste dump, they attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region’s natural resources – and its people. When an intersex runaway and an escaped coltan miner find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. Set between states of being – past and present, dream and waking life, colonized and free, male and female, memory and prescience – NEPTUNE FROST is an invigorating and empowering direct download to the cerebral cortex and a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends.
In Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English with English Subtitles
Boundless: 10 Years of Seeding Black Comic Futures, is an exhibit at the Schomburg Library that celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s Black Comic Book Festival.
Make sure to check out the trove of photographs, memorabilia, creator highlights, comic book reading stations, and clips from past festival programs- all drawn from the Schomburg Center’s archival collections. The exhibition illuminates the long history of Black comics and sequential art creators and their motivations to render humor, justice, irony, and futurism in Black aesthetic and liberatory practices from the Golden Age of comic books (1938-1956) to the present.
The annual comic book festival attracts over 50,000 visitors and has created a huge platform for the diverse range of visual and written content produced by independent creators. In addition to exhibitors, the festival’s annual slate of talks contextualizes Black comics with the ideas moving through the currents of popular culture, mainstream politics, and the comic book industry.
How to Register to Vote
You can register in person, online or by mail.
By mail: visit the city’s Board of Elections voter registration page to download applications in five languages and send it to: Board of Elections, 32 Broadway, 7 Fl., New York, NY 10004.
Online: You can register on the internet if you have a valid driver’s license, Social Security number and your Zip code that’s currently on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles. For instructions, visit the state’s Board of Elections voter registration page.
In person: You can show up and register to vote at one of the city BOE’s offices, located in each of the five boroughs. The BOE recommends contacting the office before coming in to register.
Not sure if you’re registered? Search voter records from the city BOE to see your status.
As a consequence, Jordan’s 9th City Council district which covers much of Harlem will lose out on funding for council member proposals that would come from the “Speaker’s Initiative” funds.
While Jodan’s vote resulted in Harlem losing funding and programming in 2022-23, all of the Republican members received some of the money for their initiatives.
Summer Playstreet – West 124/Lenox – Is Back
A PAL summer playstreet is back in the works for this summer – July 11 to August 18.
If you’ve got kids or know kids, spread the word that safe, supervised, Summer Playstreet is on.
The Classical Theatre of Harlem announced casting for its upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Marcus Garvey Park – July 5-29. The play will be free to the public and reservations can be made starting today.
Continuing CTH’s mission to place diversity at the forefront of their performances, this interpretation of Twelfth Night will engage with the global conversation around equity and inclusion. It features a majority-Black team of artists lead by director Carl Cofield, CTH’s Associate Artistic Director.
“With its Afrofuturistic aesthetic and diverse team of artists, our production of Twelfth Night will tackle the global conversation around equity, diversity, and inclusion,” said Cofield. “I look forward to showing audiences what the magical world of Illyria can teach us here and now.”
Kara Young, who will be playing Viola in the production, adds, “This is for Harlem, this is for my place of birth, this is for the community, especially for the people who are still here.”
Harlem Blue – Now in Cans
The story goes that during Prohibition, there was a speakeasy in Harlem that made its own house beer in the basement. Whenever a new keg was tapped, they’d put on the blue light out front to let everyone know. This story inspired Julian Riley to start his beer company, Harlem Blue. “The pride and energy of beaming a blue light is what anchors everything we do,” says Riley.
Brewing for several years now, Harlem Blue has finally released its top-selling craft beers in cans for the first time ever.
Founder Julian Riley with new 6-pack
“There’s before COVID and after COVID,” says Riley, also CEO of Harlem Blue. “Before COVID, we were only available on draft and largely serving bars and restaurants uptown,” as Harlem’s top-selling local craft on draft. Hot spots like Harlem Tavern, Red Rooster, Harlem Hops and Corner Social, couldn’t pour the pints fast enough.
Like many other small breweries, the hospitality shutdown was very challenging. “We couldn’t sell kegs and that was 100% of our business,” says Riley. “So, I chose to overhaul our model, fix things that needed fixing, and re-startup Harlem Blue with the launch of our cans.” Riley is raising his young family in Harlem and started Harlem Blue to appeal to a wider demographic beyond the niche hipster stereotype. “We want to make a bigger tent. More of a casual craft beer, yet known for our flavor.”
Riley started his entrepreneurial road the old-fashioned way. “I depleted all my personal savings, maxed out credit cards, and raised every penny I could from friends and family, to bootstrap this effort. We’re just getting started and I love every sip of it.”
Harlem Blue Beer
The new 12oz cans are eye-catching and fastly finding placement throughout New York City. From bars, restaurants and bodegas all across uptown Manhattan, to retailers like Westside Markets, Key Foods, Pioneers, Foodtowns, and soon Wholefoods and Trader Joes. (There’s a retailer locator on the website.) This summer you can also find Harlem Blue at all five NYC locations of Luke’s Lobster. Plus, the brewery now offers direct-to-home delivery throughout New York and to select other states. The company is working on a Harlem based taproom -with promised updates soon.
About Harlem Blue
Launched in 2016, Harlem Blue is a Harlem-based, locally brewed, Black-owned, premium beer company that seeks to reimagine craft beer to reflect the hustle of living in New York City. www.HARLEMBLUE.COM
Uptown Grand Central’s Clean Team has been doing an amazing job in keeping the area around Park/Lex and 125th Street tidy. But now, this funding is being threatened!
Now that the City just passed its next budget, we’ve heard that the Corps’ time with us will end June 30. The CCC has put thousands of people to work in cleaning and greening across the city, as part of COVID recovery — but its funding has now been cut to a fraction of last year’s.
We’ve been hearing from longtime residents and small businesses that it’s been decades since they’ve seen East 125 looking this good.
You’re looking at about a third of our City Cleanup Corps members — a.k.a. Jason, Bryan, Christian, Deja, Nyaja and Tiereecha.
They joined our Positive Workforce Clean Team last fall to be aforce multiplier here along East 125th Street, increasing our Clean Team size from 5 to 40 people — and have been keeping our sidewalks cleaner than ever before.
Rat Academy
You can sign-up for an in-person Rat Academy now.
DOHMH will be raffling off rodent-resistant garbage bins and if you are interested in attending, please visit the rat academy website for more information on upcoming Rat Academy events.
Thank you, Rat Academy Staff NYC DOHMH Pest Control Services www.nyc.gov/rats
On May 25, 2022, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), NYC Health + Hospitals, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray, and community members broke ground for a new flood protection system project at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in East Harlem.
The project includes a perimeter flood wall and an upgraded storm water pumping system. The wall will vary in height from eight to twelve feet, and includes resilient floodgates of up to 35 feet wide. The system is designed to keep out water from the hospital campus, which will allow for minimized damage and continued operations in the event of a major storm. Additional improvements will be made to protect loading docks, and to lighting, erosion control, fire protection and security. The basement walls will be hardened and areas of the hospital campus will be reconfigured to support these new features.
Local artist Miguel Luciano was selected by a committee from NYCEDC, Health + Hospitals, the Department of Cultural Affairs and community members to create artwork for the design of the flood wall. The artwork will integrate infrastructure improvements into the community.
The project is expected to cost $120 million and will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Construction is expected to go until summer 2024. For updates on the project, click here.
Mayor Eric Adams stated, “The climate crisis is here, and we must ensure that New York City is ready for more frequent and more extreme weather events, especially at critical infrastructure sites, like our hospitals. This flood resiliency project shows federal, state, and city government partnership at its best — getting stuff done to protect New Yorkers. This flood wall will ensure the health care heroes at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan can continue fully serving their patients and helping them get better for generations to come.”
NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan Chief Executive Office Cristina Contreras stated, “We are grateful for the partnership with both the federal and local government to build a stronger and more resilient protection for our hospital. This comprehensive and innovative infrastructure project will mitigate the weaknesses exposed by Superstorm Sandy and provide our staff with the peace of mind of knowing that if we should experience any future natural weather disasters, the hospital and the community will be protected, and they can focus on what they do best – providing high-quality care for our patients and their families.”
Fathers’ Day is Harlem’s Skyscraper Classic Day
On June 19th, come out to Marcus Garvey Park to watch top talent in cycling do fast-paced loops in Harlem’s Skyscraper Classic Race.
This will be the 47th running of this cycling race.
The excitement starts at 9 and goes to 4pm
Say Their Names 2022
KICK-OFF THE JUNETEETH WEEKEND AT MARCUS GARVEY PARK!
Friday, June 17th 12-3 PMon NW lawn New York Public Library, Harlem Branch and Studio Museum in Harlem, with children’s storytime, giveaways and tour/talk about the Thomas J. Price sculpture curated by the Studio Museum.
3:15 – 7:30 PM“Say Their Names” by Poet Gold, Suprina & Sounds of Heritage In recognition of the lives taken by racism including those recently lost in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, Texas. Interactive workshops, Silent Processional through the park, and on-stage performance preceding film screening. Co-sponsors Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and NYC Parks
SPECIFIC DETAILS FOR JUNE 17
3:15 – 4:00 & 4:15 – 5 PM Walkway outside NW Lawn – Look for Themis the 9 foot Puppet. Poet Gold’s Dream Out Loud poetry workshop designed to explore how one can be a “Beacon of Change” in the face of oppression and to create poetry that fosters empowerment and raises the voice for social equity. Participants are encouraged to address loss by adding the names of those lost due to racist acts to the cape of Themis, a giant 9 ft. living sculpture created by artist, Suprina.
6 – 7 PM DJ Boogie Blind
7:00 PM Procession line-up Walkway outside NW lawn Community members line-up for silent procession through the park with Themis wearing the cape on which names from the workshops were added led by Poet Gold, Suprina, and Sounds of Heritage.
7:25 PM PROCESSIONAL arrives in orchestra pit of the Amphitheater
7:30 PM Pre Performance on stage by Poet Gold and Sounds Of Heritage
8 PM at Amphitheater Outdoor screening of Questlove’s Oscar®-winning documentary, “Summer of Soul,” presented by Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage.
Saturday, June 18th
12-3 PM at NW lawn NYPL Harlem and Studio Museum with children’s storytime, giveaways and tour/talk about the Thomas J. Price sculpture.
5:30 – 6:30 PM at Richard Rodgers Amphitheater Pre-show conversation with the Federation of Black Cowboys and come meet their horses
7 PM at Amphitheater CROSS THAT RIVER Join the Federation of Black Cowboys and the Federation of Black Cowboys and then Harlem’s own star Allan Harris – globally- renowned for his jazz vocals, guitar and songwriting in the music & theatrical storytelling of Blu, who runs away from slavery to become a cowboy out west. Did you know that 1 in 4 cowboys were Black men? Presented by NYC Parks, City College Center for the Arts, Jazzmobile and Love Productions.
Take a stroll around East and Central Harlem above 125th Street, straddling Fifth Avenue, the traditional dividing line between East and West. Kathy Benson Haskins of Landmark East Harlem (LEH) will introduce you to the treasures of the second historic district that LEH has proposed for listing on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Featured sites include 19th-century wood frame houses, Victorian-era rowhouses, landmarks associated with James Baldwin and Langston Hughes, former church buildings that have been given new purposes, and the brownstone stoop that served as the site of the iconic 1958 photograph of jazz musicians by Art Kane for Esquire magazine.
Juneteenth Celebration
25th Precinct Community Council, Tonight
Precinct Council Meeting will be held tonight, Wednesday, June 15th at 6:15 PM. This meeting will be in-person. We look forward to discussing the public safety concerns in the community.
As summer approaches and the many holidays, big barbecues and basketball games let’s discuss as a community how we can work together with law enforcement to promote safety. We have some ideas that worked in the past so maybe we can try it again – but we absolutely need you to be involved.
See you at the Precinct located at 120 East 119th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues.
We’ll hear from the Citizens Union about what is on the horizon for redistricting City Council that could change whether or not you are considered part of (central) Harlem or part of East Harlem. Dan (from Citizen’s Union) will talk about what’s on the horizon and how you can add your voice to the mapping changes that are coming.
We’ll also get a follow-up from Wilfredo Lopez on the DSNY’s budget – one that gives significantly more money to the UES compared to East Harlem.
Lastly, we’ll hear from Shawanna Vaughn who is challenging Inez Dickens for State Assembly from her base in Lincoln Houses.
Summer of Soul in MGP
On Friday, June 17, 7:30 PM, head to Marcus Garvey Park to see a screening of “Summer of Soul (….or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
