The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Category: News

Figure Skating in Harlem Wins The International Olympic Committee’s Women And Sports Trophy 2021 For The Americas

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Figure Skating in Harlem, a not-for-profit organization located in New York City that provides girls with innovative year-round health, education and fitness programs was (finally) officially presented with the IOC Women and Sport Award 2021 Trophy for the Americas.

The ceremony for this 2-year-old award took place during a side event co-hosted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) alongside the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which is currently taking place at the UN headquarters in New York. 

The ceremony had been delayed due to COVID.

At the heart of its success in transforming its young students’ lives has been figure skating. The confidence, resilience, and determination that come with setting and reaching goals on the ice are the cornerstone of the Figure Skating in Harlem’s model. In 2017, the NGO began a new chapter of its incredible journey by expanding its reach to Detroit. An increasing number of girls of color continue to see their lives transformed by the selfless contributions of Figure Skating in Harlem.

The IOC Women and Sport Awards are given to women, men or organizations who have made remarkable contributions to the development, encouragement, and reinforcement of women and girls’ participation in sport.

Harlem East Endorses Inez Dickens

Posted on by Harlem Shill

The Harlem East Block Association has run candidate forums, candidate surveys, and member polls, and the results are in!

60+% of the Harlem East Block Association voted to endorse Inez Dickens. The block association members appreciate Inez’s track record of preserving affordable housing & her willingness to address safety & quality of life issues in Harlem.

As a result, the Harlem East Block Association decided to endorse Assembly Member Inez Dickens as the City Council Member for District 9 in Harlem and they recommend rank choice voting in this order #1 Inez Dickens #2 Yusef Salaam and #3 Al Taylor. 

The Harlem East Block Association is urging everyone to vote as recommended in order to get the attention of these busy officials. To make their impact felt, everyone has been asked to to register to vote by June 17 and vote on June 27 for the primary election. Members are also urged to consider donating to Inez Dickens at https://www.inezedickens.com

For every $100 that is donated, $800 is matched by the Board of Election. 

Here is how you can spread the word on social media: twitter, instagram and facebook.

Still not sure whom you will vote for?  Checkout these questionnaires and recording of Harlem East Block Association’s extensive work on researching the candidates:

Other info:

As Seen In Harlem

Congress Member Espaillat Endorses Inez Dickens

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Harlem’s Council Member – Adriano Espaillat – endorsed Inez Dickens – the latest Harlem establishment figure to support Dickens in her bid for City Council on June 27th.

Espaillat stated that: “Inez is who we need… City Council needs her leadership, experience and passion.”

Inez Dickens is seeking to reclaim her seat on City Council (District 9). Dickens noted that:

“We have very serious issues in the district that require more than aspirational speeches.”

“With the support of my colleagues, the esteemed former Congressman Charles Rangel and Congressman Adriano Espaillat, as well as my neighborhood and constituents, I feel confident that better days are ahead for us.”

Remember, election day is June 27th!

Eater is Back With “Where To Eat In Harlem”

Take a look at Eater’s list of great places to eat in Harlem:

https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-harlem

And see if you agree, or think they’ve missed a gem.

$10,000,000 for East Harlem

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Pix11 has a report on a check for East Harlem from New York State to improve conditions.

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/east-harlem-receiving-10m-community-investment/

Hope in Harlem

The inaugural HOPE in Harlem Conference is taking place on Saturday May 13th.  The purpose of the conference is to celebrate the heroic efforts of mental health professionals and community members during the pandemic and shed light on mental health equity.

The conference will be followed by a Wellness Fair with resources, face painting for children, and other wellness initiatives.

Tricia Hersey, founder of the Nap Ministry and NY Times Best-selling author is our keynote speaker.

OMH Commissioner Ann Sullivan is a featured speaker. 

U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres is just confirmed to speak and share his wellness journey.

People can register for free at the conference website www.HopeInHarlemConference.com

HNBA Reaches Out to EastView Residences

HNBA gave a presentation on litter baskets in and the DSNY budget to residents of the Salvation Army’s East View Apartments, earlier this month.

Ranked Choice Voting – Get Ready for the Democratic Primary – June 27th

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Voters will use ranked choice voting (RCV) once again in the June 27, 2023 primary for most of the candidates shown on their ballots. Many Harlem residents (with party affiliation), will be able to vote for candidates for City Council.

Ranked choice is used only for primaries, not general elections; come November, we’ll go back to using traditional, top-choice-only voting.

Instead of choosing only one favorite candidate, voters rank up to five candidates in each race.

If one candidate gets more than 50% of the first-place votes, that person wins. If no candidate reaches that majority, however, instead of an expensive run-off election between the top two vote-getters, the ranked-choice method sorts out the best-preferred candidate for the most people.

If your top pick has the fewest first-choice votes among all voters, that candidate is eliminated from the race, and all of those voters’ second-choice picks are counted up. That process continues, with one candidate removed each round, until one candidate has more than half of the first-place votes. 

Here’s an explanation of that in less than 90 seconds by Minnesota Public Radio.

Remember: the first choice is the candidate you love. Your second choice is the candidate that you like. Your third and fourth choice is the candidate you like slightly less. And your fifth choice is the candidate you can stand.

Heart East Harlem

115 to 123

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Metro North is going to be completely replacing the elevated tracks between 115th Street and 123rd Street, starting in about 9 months or a year. However, not only are they going to do this massive task, but they’ll do it while the tracks are in use.

The engineering behind this is all predicated on closing off parts of Park Avenue and side streets and using a massive gantry system to hoist sections of track into place, once new supporting pillars are ready.

The replacement of this section of the elevated track is urgently needed to replace a 130+ year old structure that has far outlasted expectations.

Sugar Hill Arts Festival – Tomorrow!

Click here to learn more:

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NY Post Raises Councilmember Jordan’s Council Attendance Record

https://nypost.com/2023/05/03/harlem-pol-richardson-jordan-misses-half-of-council-votes/

The NY Post notes that Councilmember Jordan has missed 46 percent of her council committee and caucus meetings since last year, records show.

She’s been recorded absent 53 times and present 61 times with one entry listed as “conflict” since taking office in January of 2022.

“I wish she would be more active on the committee and the council,” said Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), who chairs the veterans committee.

This year alone, she’s missed five meetings of the Aging Committee she serves on, four Youth Services and Sanitation Committee meetings, two Veterans Affairs Committee meetings and two full Council Committee meetings.

The councilwoman also skipped two meetings of the committees on Civil and Human Rights and Women and Gender Equity.

Richardson Jordan, 36, also was recorded as absent from the Council’s Manhattan delegation meeting on April 27. 

Life Expectancy

Posted on by Harlem Shill

A fascinating map showing where people live longer, and where people die sooner:

America is seeing the greatest gap in life expectancy across regions in the last 40 years. While most people will live to 78, some Americans are likely to die more than a decade earlier if they happen to be born in a handful of other counties in the US.

Money has become an increasingly strong determinant of who will live longer. People in wealthy counties outlive their poorer counterparts by as much as 20 years now, the greatest gap that in ages that America has seen in 40 years. In South Dakota’s Oglala Lakota county, for example, the average life expectancy is 66.8, making it the worst county in America. The median income in Oglala Lakota is $30,347, which stands in stark contrast to Colorado’s Summit County where life expectancy is 86.9, making it the highest in the country. Median income in Summit is more than 2.5x higher than it is in Oglala Lakota. 

Diving deeper into the bottom five worst counties for life expectancy yields some interest results. Four of these five counties all have Native American populations higher than 80%. The remaining county, Union in Florida, is not majority Native American, but instead is home to the state’s largest prison population. On average, none of the 31,000 people in these five counties will live past the age of 70.

While lifespans have generally increased since 1980, a few pockets in America have actually seen decreasing life expectancy. 13 counties in the US have had falling life expectancy, 8 of which are in Kentucky and all of which are in the South. These counties are overwhelmingly white and have a high incidence of heart disease, cancer, and drug overdoses.

See the full article, here:

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/life-expectancy-and-inequality-7eb4d58617b8

The Triboro Bridge

In the photo below, the Queens Tower of the Triborough Bridge is in the foreground. Behind it is the Wards Island tower, and beyond (a little bit in the bottom right of the photo) is Harlem. The photo was taken in 1934.

Stoop Sale – Sunday!

MMPCIA-STOOP-SALE-New-Date-5.7.23-4Download

Our Council Member – AWOL And Not Representing Harlem

Posted on by Harlem Shill

CM Kristin Jordan has been absent for 48 of the last 100 City Council meetings

See:

https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=259827&GUID=61B9728A-A6E0-4485-9CA1-2588BB542C3B&Search=

Councilmember Jordan’s no-show record at City Council is adding up:

And the official record showing her lack of attendance is disturbing:

Over the first three months of this year, Kristin has attended only 5 out of 23 City Council meetings during budget season, arguably the most critical time of the legislative calendar. This lack of involvement is concerning, as it demonstrates a disconnection from the issues that affect our community.

Additionally, Kristin has missed nearly half of her committee meetings since taking office. To provide some perspective, Councilmember Perkins, who faced significant health challenges, ranked 49th out of 50 council members in attendance rate. Despite these challenges, Councilmember Perkins still maintained a better attendance record (64%) than Kristin Jordan (55%).

CM-Richardson-Jordan-ATTENDANCEDownload

To see her current record, visit:

https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/new

DS Diana Ayala’s Attendance Record

Over the last 100 City Council meetings, DS Diana Ayala has had a 90% attendance record.

See:

https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=189402&GUID=E5EBF667-78E9-4653-9D0D-7DDAEBB926ED&Search=

Candidates’ Forum Tonight

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Join MMPCIA and The Greater Harlem Coalition tonight at 7:00 PM by registering HERE and attend Harlem’s 2023 City Council Candidates’ forum.

If you have questions for the candidates, please fill out THIS FORM.

Candidate Yusef Salaam’s Position on Defunding the NYPD, Addiction Treatment, and Background Checks for Tenants

Candidate Yusef Salaam met with the Harlem East Block Association and wrote the following responses to that block association:

Yusef-Salaam-HEBA-Supplemental-ResponsesDownload

Get Ready. Get Registered

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Check your registration here:

https://vote.nyc/page/register-vote

or register if you’re not yet.

Free Mammograms on Thursday

Cayuga Centers is working with the American-Italian Cancer Foundation to bring their Mobile Mammography Van to Cayuga Centers for a 2nd year on Thursday, April 27th! 

To register for an appointment, email [email protected].  
This event is FREE and Open to the Public.  
Location: 1900 Park Ave (Parking Lot on the corner of 129th)

No insurance, no problem! The American Italian Cancer Foundation is supported by funds from New York State, and you will be able to have this important health screening completed at no charge.

If you have any questions, please contact Jasmine Lawrence at [email protected].