Mayor Eric Adams voiced support for extending Harlem’s safe injection site’s hours to a 24/7 operation in May on Twitter. Since then, OnPoint (the provider that runs the Harlem injection site) has maintained a steady lobbying effort to operate around the clock.
10 months later, while there is still no data showing any decline in overdose rates in Harlem or East Harlem, proponents of the site tout that overdoses occurring inside their facility have been reversed.
Expanding the injection site before any evidence of success emerges seems reckless – especially when peoples’ lives and a vulnerable community are at stake.
Perhaps the 24/7 experiment could be tried in wealthier New York neighborhoods first?
You may be aware of the upzoning plan that De Blasio has for Soho – to bring more affordable housing into a neighborhood that is rarely affordable today. You may also know that the landmarking of many properties in Soho was done to call out the use of gorgeous cast iron that allowed builders to admit more light with lighter (and less brick-ey) facades. It also, of course, helped that it was faster and cheaper.
You don’t, however, need to go to Soho to see cast iron used in construction. These photos were taken at a pedestrian building on Madison Avenue at 132, where beautiful pillars hold up the upper floors so the lower one (ground floor) could be a more economically viable commercial space with plenty of space and the potential for plenty of light and doorways.
The Museum of the City of New York has a new exhibit about the New York response/experience of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests. This timeline is worth watching and remembering just how fraught 2020 was (oh, and it had, perhaps, the most consequential presidential election in our lifetime…?).
FIELDTRIP in Harlem will be serving hot breakfasts daily for children between the hours of 7 am – 8 am. The program runs from May 26, and ends on June 25. Breakfast will be served from FIELDTRIP weekdays M – F from 7 AM – 8 AM Please reserve your breakfast 3 days before pickup. Breakfasts must be reserved by an adult and require an adult signoffBreakfasts must be reserved to pick up. No walkups will be accommodated. Breakfasts are free to all children who sign up. For questions, please email: [email protected]alincpr.com
Michelle Obama, First Lady of The United States of America:
An American Street Mural in Harlem
Harlem Park to Park – https://harlemparktopark.org/ – has a great teaser video out on the project to create the Black Lives Matter mural on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd this past summer.
The plan is to expand the project to produce a 40 minute video for the film festival circuit
As Patch.com notes:
While the film mostly follows the mural as it is created in real-time, Okera said it is informed by Harlem’s creative legacy stemming from the Great Migration, in which thousands of Black people settled here in the early 20th century after fleeing racial terrorism in the South — a process that led to the neighborhood’s flourishing during the Harlem Renaissance.
“We belong to that legacy — those refugees from terror that became Harlem residents,” Okera said. “The legacy they left was to enjoy that rich cultural mecca that has been Harlem for the last 100 years.”
The film’s launch will coincide with a yearlong series of programming that will be announced on the documentary’s website, americanstreetmuralinharlem.com. Those interested in supporting the film can donate online, where they can receive memorabilia including posters and T-Shirts of the mural.
The goal of the film is simple, Evans-Hendricks said: “to show our community matters, Harlem matters, has always mattered.”
LISC Small Business Relief & Recovery Program – East and Central Harlem
Apply for the New York City-based small, minority-owned businesses seeking direct relief grant funding through the LISC NYC Small Business Relief & Recovery Fund.
Each grant is limited to one grant per individual and business tax ID. Awards will be made to qualified businesses, and eligibility is based on accurate and complete submission.
This business grant application requires that business owners of at least 51% ownership identify as minority owners. Note: Certification as a minority and/or women owned business enterprise (MWBE) is not required to apply.
All awardees will have to certify that they are promoting the best interests of the community and are negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Nonprofit organizations are ineligible for this application.
Craig Schley is running for 70th Assembly and invites you and any of your neighbors to meet him at a social distanced gathering on Saturday in Marcus Garvey Park.
Lydia’s Magic Garden (Park Avenue, east side, between 117/118th Streets has a new crocheted mural:
Project as described by one of the children (Sulaf):
“Our crochet class started in the middle of the nation’s grieving for George Floyd and other innocent victims of racially charged police murders. So when we were deciding what project we should do, the clear choice was to do an homage to the Black Lives Matter movement.
This crochet project consisted of us all crocheting several pieces on our own, with our teacher Carmen Paulino’s expert virtual help. Then we sent our pieces to Carmen, who combined them into a beautiful quilt spelling out “BLM.” The quilt was unveiled at Lydia’s Magic Garden, a local community garden Pono has partnered with for years. Our piece of art will now reside in a beautiful place, spreading awareness about this extremely important issue for years to come.”
Names and ages of children who created the project:
Sulaf Hatab (age 12)
Willa Sullivan (age 11)
Sophie Hurtado (age 12)
Hannah Rivner (age 12)
Info on artist:
Carmen Paulino is a visual artist, who works on providing community art programming in hospitals, community centers, and senior centers in and around New York City. Carmen was raised in El Barrio neighborhood of New York City, where she developed her love for the arts with inspirational murals from around her neighborhood. Carmen has crafted and created many crochet pieces, artwork, and murals, which are displayed in New York City and are inspired by her upbringing in Spanish Harlem.
Info on class:
This class is designed for students to learn, interact, and participate with each other to make fiber art. Children will learn simple knitting and crochet techniques and patterns to make a fiber art piece. They will also have the opportunity to participate in a group project with members of the Pono community to make a crochet mural that will be publicly displayed at Lydia’s Magic Community Garden, Pono’s community garden partner, in Harlem, New York City.
The New York Police Department didn’t have a warrant to arrest Derrick “Dwreck” Ingram, a prominent organizer of Black Lives Matter events. So instead, on August 7, they brought dozens of officers, a helicopter, riot gear, and police dogs to his front door, in a five-hour-long siege, attempting to coerce him into leaving his home.
Make no mistake: this is a clear attempt to intimidate Black Lives Matter protesters and chill free speech. The NYPD aimed to mislead Derrick about his rights, threatened to break down his door, attempted to interrogate him without counsel, and stationed dozens of officers in his hallway, on his fire escape, and in positions in and around nearby buildings. The police left onlyafter Derrick livestreamed the events, a large crowd of protesters gathered, and the media began asking questions.
This wasn’t simply a case of police misuse of power: it was a signal to all would-be protesters. Derrick is a co-founder of Warriors in the Garden, a collective of activists dedicated to non-violent protest propelling social and legislative change. The group was a prominent organizer of Black Lives Matter protests in New York City following George Floyd’s death, and received wide national and international media coverage.
Amnesty International interviewed Derrick for our June 2020 report, The World is Watching, which documents 125 incidents of human rights abuses by police in the U.S. over the course of one week of Black Lives Matter protests. During the interview, he observed that the police seemed to be seeking ways to disrupt Warriors in the Garden events. “They find ways to intimidate and inconvenience us,” he shared with us.
After being the target of the NYPD’s intimidation tactics, Derrick said, “I have never been as frightened, intimidated, and anxious as I was on that day.” The next day, he went to the local police station accompanied by his attorney and a crowd of supporters and allies. He has been charged with two misdemeanors: an alleged assault on an officer by shouting loudly into a megaphone, and obstruction of government administration during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 14.
Even if it weren’t part of a pattern, we’d need to speak up against this police intimidation. But in the past few months, police violations of human rights are regularly documented and watched by millions. It’s impossible to see the NYPD’s conduct as anything other than retaliation against this prominent protester, and we are gravely concerned about the due process Derrick has been and will be afforded. While the District Attorney of New York has just revealed his office has opened an investigation into his case, he must ensure it is prompt, impartial, independent, and transparent.
