Each New York Electoral District has 2 to 4 representatives in the general membership of the County Committee
Unfortunately, a vast number of these seats are left unfilled in Harlem and East Harlem, undermining our goal of broad participation in county decision-making. Ideally, a full Harlem County Committee will have every seat filled and each Assembly District properly represented by its residents and District Leaders.
Tune in to a free NYC Open Data Week presentation on misleading maps from NYC’s Department of Homeless Services – Monday, March 7th, at 7:00 PM
On Monday (March 7th) at 7:00 PM, join HNBA’s Vice President – Shawn Hill – in a presentation exploring how the Department of Homeless Services produced and distributed misleading maps that purposefully distorted the distribution of homeless shelters in New York City.
With the release of the report “Turning the Tide on Homelessness in New York City” the Mayor and NYC’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) proposed a new approach to address the homeless crisis. Near the end of this landmark report was the map: “Cluster Sites and Hotels Used for Shelter by Community District” which served as evidence of shelter distribution in 2017 and as the baseline the administration intended to change.
This NYC Open Data Week presentation will examine the polemical subtext of this map by comparing it to contemporaneous maps produced by the New York City Council, a subsequent 2021 DHS map, as well as other maps created from New York City’s Open Data portal. By questioning and comparing the cartographic choices that shaped the “Cluster Sites and Hotels” map, this map can be better understood not only in terms of what it visualized but also what it obscured, and serve as a case study of how interrogating maps and cartographic choices should be part of the toolkit an informed citizenry brings to all received data visualizations.
The event is free and you are welcome to join. Click HERE to learn more and register.
Be The Change – Join The County Committee
You and your block neighbors are invited to run for County Committee in Assembly District 68 and 70. We recommend 4 members of each building or block associations to run together, as you only need to submit one form with ~30-60 signatures.
● There are ~70 Election Districts (ED) in each Assembly District (AD). Each ED has 4 country member seats. There are ~500 country committee members in AE 68 and 70, Central and East Harlem ● There are 12 Assembly Districts in Manhattan. ● Each Assembly District are divided into 4 parts, A, B, C, D. Each of them have a male and female district leader. For example the district leader of district 68 part D are Sharese Debouse and William Smith ● Only people who live in the election district can vote for the candidate of a specific election district, BUT, anyone registered as a democrat who lives in Assembly District (AD) can be a county committee member of any Election Districts inside the Assembly District (AD). For example, if I live on 125th Street and Park Avenue, I can run for the county committee seat on 110th street and Park Avenue
What is the responsibility of a county committee member? Very simple, when ask, come out to vote in special elections. You can do more if you like to help turnout voters, but there is no obligation. Many existing member do little work. Do you know Brian Benjamin, Cordell Cleare and Eddie Gibbs first became Democratic Party Nominee by votes at the county committee and not the primary election? About ⅓ of current NYC legislators are selected by the county committee!!
How to get elected? By end of March, on a petition form, produce 30 +signatures of residents of registered democratic party who live in the election district you want to join. Note, all 4 candidates can be on one petition form, so you and your block association or building neighbors can just collect one set of signature. You can collect signature right at your building’s lobby!
New Voices is a grass roots political action committee founded by local civic leaders in Upper Manhattan to promote greater participation and transparency in the local political process by registering new voters and providing members with the training, guidance, and resources needed for everyday New Yorkers to run for positions within the New York County Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is governed by committees of citizens who are registered Democrats, from the national level down to state and community-level. The County is the most local level of party governance in New York.
New York County positions such as District Leader, Judicial Delegate, and County Committee are unpaid elected positions that wield major influence to shape the local Party’s platform, hold elected leaders accountable, and elect leaders to state/federal office or judgeships.
The problem- hundreds of county committee positions are left vacant each year undermining the democratic process and allowing only a few people to have say in the political process for New York County (Manhattan).
New Voices is here to engage the next generation of Democratic leadership and allow everyday New Yorkers to make their voices heard in the political process.
The Studio Museum in Harlem on West 125th Street, across from the Adam Clayton Powell state office building, is currently a hole in the ground. For over a year now, the site of the museum has been silent as fundraising has been going on behind the scenes.
And, that fundraising, has been extremely successful. Raising $210m for the construction, endowment and operating fund for its new building.
The proposed David Adjaye-designed building (the architect who designed the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum building – pictured below):
will total 82,000 sq. ft and will feature a site-specific commission by the celebrated artist Theaster Gates. The work by Gates will include building materials extracted from the former museum, symbolizing the legacy of the old building and keeping alive the hand of J. Max Bond Jr, the influential Black architect who designed the original building.
The museum’s celebrated director/curator, Thelma Golden, says the building “will be a physical manifestation of our mission, supporting and enabling everything we do for artists of African descent, for our beloved community of Harlem and for New York City and our visitors from around the world”.
The new building is expected to open in 2024. The new building will include expanded outdoor, educational and office spaces. There will also be a roof terrace and spaces for artists in residence.
The museum holds more than 2,000 works in storage, awaiting the new building.
The current fundraising goal is $250,000,000.
Discussion on Democratic Process & Role of the County Committee
