June 2. Wear Orange. Stop the violence.
National Gun Violence Awareness Day
Category: Public Safety
Councilmember Jordan Will Not Seek Reelection
Harlem’s Council Member Jordan has decided to not run for reelection. Jordan’s name will remain on the ballot, and she will continue to serve out the rest of her term.
Jordan’s decision leaves Inez Dickens, Al Taylor, and Yusef Salaam in the race.
Harlem resident and activist, Syderia Asberry-Chresfield, said that The Greater Harlem Coalition — which has spoken out about the placement of supervised injection sites in the neighborhood — often found it difficult to work with the outgoing councilmember.
“We found it challenging to work with a politician who repeatedly viewed issues and concerns through a lens of ideology, rather than through the needs and wishes of constituents,” Asberry-Chresfield wrote in an email to THE CITY.
“Harlem wants a pragmatic and effective Council member. We’ve had two years of ideology, let’s aim for two years of results.”
Precinct Council Meeting Tonight
Harlem Neighbors, Organizers, and Activists Celebrated
Our neighbors, Eva Chan and Lilian Chow were recently celebrated and highlighted by Columbia University for their work and activism to support Harlem’s growing Asian community.
In the summer of 2021, we started distributing meals to Asian seniors with the help of Heart of Dinner. We’re looking for ways to expand that service because there’s a lot of interest. There is a real lack of groceries for these Asian seniors. They are forced to travel long distances to Chinatown to do their grocery shopping because they don’t know how to use the vegetables and produce that are in the markets near them.
We’ve been in conversation with grocery store owners in the area–some of which are actually Korean–and they cannot justify selling Asian groceries because there’s not enough demand to cover the cost. So it’s not an easy thing to solve. That’s why we continue our work with Heart of Dinner which gives out Asian vegetables—and the seniors love it.
Eva and Lilian have worked to empower the many elderly Asians and Asian Americans who call Harlem home through political activism, cultural events, and more.
Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
As seen, upsidedown, reflected in the Harlem River.
Harlem International Film Festival Coming
The 2023 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) announced it is teaming up with STARZ (2023 Luminary Partner) and unveiled films and events for its 18th edition – a hybrid event.
The in-person screenings will take place at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 Theaters (2309 Frederick Douglass Blvd), with the Harlem International Film Festival and Columbia University Zuckerman Institute’s free-to-the-public screenings at The Forum (601 West 125th Street), and the Maysles Documentary Center (343 Malcolm X Blvd.). With a music theme running throughout the festival, this year’s film lineup will once again celebrate and showcase relatively undiscovered international cinematic gems and local New York filmmaking talent with a special focus on Harlem artists. Hi’s lineup features 64 films, including 35 features (14 narrative, 21 documentary), 29 shorts (20 narrative, 9 documentary), 2 television episodes, and 2 VR projects. Other feature films making their world premieres are David Bell and Mecca Medina’s $ Broke Boi, Taylor Krauss’ BronX BandA: Arturo O’Farrill & The Bronx, and Patrick Heaphy’s The Sacred Place between Earth and Space.
Below, we highlight the Spotlight Feature, In The Weeds, premiering at the Harlem International Film Festival on May 19th at AMC Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem. At this premiere, Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Empire, Cool Runnings) will host a Q&A panel with the filmmakers following the screening. Starring Doug E. Doug (Cool Runnings, Shark Tale, Cosby), with music by ESG, the seminal funk rock Bronx band, IN THE WEEDS is an ode to a city and lives rising back up.
Build the Block June 6th
25 Precinct, Sector C
June 6, 2023, 5:00 PM
Ginjan
85 East 125th Street
New York, NY 10035
All meeting times, dates, and locations are subject to change. Please call your local precinct and speak to a Neighborhood Coordination Officer to verify correct meeting information.
Neighborhood Coordination Officers
| Rank/Name | |
|---|---|
| PO Sean Hackeling | [email protected] |
| PO Edwin Lau | [email protected] |
Stoop Sale Tomorrow!
Candidates’ Forum Tonight
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:
Amsterdam News
Commanding Officer Maisonet
A huge thank you to the 25th Precinct’s Commanding Officer Maisonet. His tenure has witnessed notable improvements and ‘good neighbor’ behavior at his precinct. Walking past the back of the precinct’s parking lot along Park Avenue shows a clean sidewalk – not the trash filled experience neighbors had witnessed for years.
Thank you.
Precinct Meeting Tonight
New Location – Hunter College – 3rd Avenue at 119th Street
This is a friendly reminder that tonight’s community council meeting is at 6pm.
We will be meeting at the Hunter College Silberman School, 2180 Third Avenue (Corner of East 119 Street & Third Avenue).
We are excited to see you and hear from you again.
Latino Theater Heritage
On April 20 (Thurs), The Harlem East Block Association will host Harlem’s own Award Winning Playwright Eugene Rodriguez to discuss his petition to create an El Barrio Theater District to spur economic development & to make use of East Harlem’s 4 beautiful public theaters. Join via http://shorturl.at/uOVYZ
April Community Council Meeting – Wednesday 19th
Community Affairs Officer Cosme Writes:
Good Afternoon!
I hope this email finds everyone well. This is a friendly reminder that our next community council meeting is on Wednesday, April 19 at 6pm. We will be hosting the meeting at the Hunter College Silberman School, 2180 Third Avenue (Corner of East 119 Street & Third Avenue). We are excited to see you and hear from you again.
If there are any upcoming events/announcements you would like us to display during the meeting, please feel free to send me the information. Have a great rest of your day and we hope to see you soon.
Respectfully,
Police Officer Jaylise Cosme
25th Precinct Community Affairs
New York City Police Department
Cell: 917-941-7672. Office: 212-860-6526 Email: [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter: @nypd25pct
Free Tree Giveaway!
NYRP is starting its annual Tree Giveaways this weekend and we still have many more trees available, for you, your garden members, your families and friends and your community!
Please visit our website and register here to pick up your free tree!
Tree Giveaways – New York Restoration Project (nyrp.org)
Thank you!
Karma
On April 30th, 1989, Donald Trump famously took out this ad in the New York Times that called for the Exonerated 5 (including Yusef Saalam) to be executed.
Now, in 2023, Yusef Salaam is running for City Council, and has published his own ad, explaining how Trump and the criminal justice system took years away from him and his unnecessary ordeal.
Being wrongfully convicted as a teenager was an experience that changed my life drastically. Yet I am honored when people express how deeply they connect with my story.
Salaam notes that when his name was splashed across the newspapers a generation ago — inadequate housing, underfunded schools, public safety concerns, and a lack of good jobs wracked New York City. Years later these issues only became worse during Donald Trump’s time in office.
Salaam writes:
Here is my message to you, Mr. Trump: In response to the multiple federal and state criminal investigations that you are facing, you responded by warning of “potential death and destruction,” and by posting a photograph of yourself with a baseball bat, next to a photo of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. These actions, just like your actions leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the U .S. Capitol, are an attack on our safety.
Thirty-four years ago, your full-page ad stated, in all caps: “CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS.”
You were wrong then, and you are wrong now. The civil liberties of all Americans are grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and many of us fight every day to uphold those rights, even in the face of those like you who seek to obliterate them.
Salaam concludes that:
And if the charges are proven and you are found guilty, I hope that you endure whatever penalties are imposed with the same strength and dignity that the Exonerated Five showed as we served our punishment for a crime we did not commit.
Rat Mitigation Zone
Harlem has been included in a group of NYC neighborhoods designated Rat Mitigation Zones.
According to a notice posted by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Monday, the “rat mitigation zones,” which are areas with “high levels of rat activity,” include Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and Chinatown, the East Village, the Lower East Side, and Harlem in Manhattan. These identified zones will be the focus of a multiagency effort to address the rats and the conditions that cause them, according to the city.
Image courtesy of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
The city selected these neighborhoods based on criteria that included the number of rat-related cleanup orders issued by NYC within the last year, rat-baiting visits by the city’s Health Department, rat-related 311 complaints, and NYC Parks-owned properties that have been considered susceptible to rat infestations.
Three of the designated zones, the Lower East Side zone, the Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Prospect Heights zone, and the Grand Concourse area, had already been the focus of city rat cleanup efforts that former Mayor Bill de Blasio led in 2017.
This is Harlem
From 1975, a TV report by Geraldo on Harlem.
A place where most everyone has heard of but where most outsiders have never been. Every urban problem that plagues this country is represented here and you can find it all within a few blocks of this rooftop. Broken families, rampant street crime, the worst housing this side of Calcutta, alcoholism, street gangs, and the worst plague of them all drug addiction. Come with us as we take a look at the streets of Harlem.
Good Night America: Season: 2, #13 Episode; Air Date: January 23rd, 1975
Does Your Water Taste Weird?
It’s likely you’re noticing NYC tap water tasting differently this week: As of Monday, the Department of Environmental Protection increased water coming from reservoirs in Westchester and Putnam counties, and different systems mean the potential for different tastes, officials told NBC News. The change in water systems is part of a plan to repair leaks in the Delaware aqueduct, and the system is shut down until March 19, according to the DEP.
25th Precinct Meeting – Wednesday, March 15th, 6:00 PM
Kioka Jackson, the 25th Precinct Community Council president writes:
Good Morning All,
Happy belated International Women’s Day to all the amazing women in our community. I hope you spent yesterday celebrating your awesomeness.
It is my hope that everyone is doing well. I just wanted to remind you all that our next 25th Precinct Council meeting is coming up.
As promised, I invited a few guests to help discuss our concerns. We have NYPD Chief Chell and Chief Obe joining us for this meeting.
As a reminder, please use the link below to send in your concerns. We will be using the information in the link to prep our guests so that they are aware of what information to be equipped with.
All questions and concerns will be read and we apologize in advance that everyone may not get to speak publicly but if you send us your concerns we will do our best to address them.
We ask that – if it is something that you expressed in a previous meeting that we make room for questions on new concerns. I promise you that notes were taken and we are doing our best to address everything. For instance we have submitted to CB11 and the Manhattan Borough President’s office Camera requests, Lighting etc….. We got you!!! Trust me!
Because of the large number of people we are asking elected officials and CBOs to send their flyers to me so that we can include them on the PowerPoint. You must let us know in advance that you would like to make an announcement so that we can include you on the agenda.
We are looking forward to having a working conversation and sharing our voices about the needs of our community.
See you guys there.