Residents & Business Owners of Sector Charlie! Join Neighborhood Coordination Officers Lau & Hackeling for their Build the Block on Mar. 16 at 5pm, @ 85 East 125 Street. Not sure this is your sector? Visit http://ow.ly/iUc250MZFC2 & type in your address to find out.
Set Out Times
Dear Fellow New Yorker,
As part of our commitment to keeping our streets clean, the NYC Department of Sanitation is implementing:
A new rule to reduce the time that trash, recycling, and curbside composting will sit on sidewalks. The new rule goes into effect April 1, 2023.
We invite you to join us for an upcoming Info Session to learn more about these exciting changes! Please register at the link below. If you are unable to attend, you can learn more at nyc.gov/SetoutTimes and nyc.gov/curbsidecomposting.
At our January HNBA meeting, the issue of increased street trash on our streets was raised. That week, we reached out to DSNY’s Community Affairs Liason, and asked if a DSNY representative could attend our March HNBA meeting. No answer came.
Today we sent a 2nd email, and received this message back:
Good afternoon,
I apologize for the delay.
Unfortunately, DSNY will be unable to attend your meeting.
Please send me the businesses and locations to flag for enforcement and I will do so.
A new 99-person supportive housing building is slated to be built on the parking lot next to the 25th Precinct. Workers were seen cleaning the asphalt and cars were banned from the parking lot:
Not Sure How To Get Rid Of Your Stuff? Paint, batteries, electronics—even clothing—there’s always something we don’t need taking up valuable space. Some items can live a second life with someone else, or may need to be safely disposed. We can help!
If you didn’t receive our June mailer highlighting all our disposal programs, you can download a PDF.
It’s available in English, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and Yiddish.
Park Avenue Metro-North Viaduct Replacement Contract Awarded
The MTA will be awarding the Design-Build contract for the Park Avenue Viaduct Phase 1 Project to Halmar International, following yesterday’s MTA Board Meeting. The Phase 1 Project will replace the existing viaduct in its entirety from the north side of E. 115th Street to the south side of E. 123rd Street along Park Avenue in East Harlem.
Halmar International was selected by the MTA for providing the overall best value solution that also minimized impacts to the surrounding community. Proposals were evaluated against several criteria such as their plan and ability to minimize impacts to the public, including the surrounding businesses, residences, and community gathering facilities, as well as the pedestrian and vehicular traffic through and adjacent to the project, while also minimizing impact to Metro-North Customers, and the Harlem–125th Street station. The project is expected to reduce local noise and vibration levels compared to those from the existing viaduct by utilizing modern design and materials.
Additionally, as part of the Project Labor Agreement, the MTA and Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) are working together to provide meaningful training and job opportunities for the local residents of Harlem. With partners in the Apprenticeship Readiness Collective (ARC), the MTA and BCTC commit to providing pre-apprenticeship training for Harlem residents that have real pathways into union jobs created by the construction of the project.
MTA and Halmar International will work together to uphold MTA’s commitment to minimize disruption to the surrounding community and deliver the project as safely and quickly as possible.
We currently anticipate construction to begin in the second quarter of 2023, and expect it to be complete in 2026. The community can also expect regular communication, during construction, including regular updates and at key milestones on the project’s webpage https://new.mta.info/project/park-avenue-viaduct and dedicated email address ([email protected]) to field concerns.
We appreciate your continued partnership on this as we deliver this vital infrastructure project as safely and efficiently as possible.
Thank you,
Park Avenue Viaduct Project Team
The Park Avenue Viaduct is an elevated steel structure built in 1893 (128 years ago) which carries four Metro-North Railroad tracks above Park Avenue in East Harlem.
98% of all Metro-North trains use the viaduct
750 trains and 220,000 customers use the viaduct on a typical (Pre-Covid) weekday
The viaduct served 5.3 million customers at Harlem-125 Street Station in 2019
Harlem-125th Street Station is 3rd busiest in Metro-North system (PreCovid)
New York City Council bill 632 – a “local law prohibiting housing discrimination on the basis of arrest record or criminal history” – if passed, will prohibit owners, managers and brokers from inquiring about criminal record information in rentals, leases, subleases, or occupancy agreements at any stage in the rental application process in New York City. Councilmembers Jordan and Ayala support this measure.
A protest against this bill is scheduled for December 7th:
Harlem Schools’ Trash
You’ve likely encountered this. Piles of trash near NYC Schools and filth that the Department of Education seems to get away with. Now members in Harlem are calling for cleaner streets around New York City public schools and are asking the DOE to follow the same rules enforced on their neighbors in the community.
The MTA’s customers have spoken. Harlem and East Harlem have some of the dirtiest stations, with the most open drug use on the platforms, and begging in the mezzanine.
In the spring survey of MTA riders, Harlem riders expressed frustration that their departure stations looked so much worse than the ones they exited.
Get a Job
We Need You! Now Hiring Emergency Snow Laborers 2022-2023 Season
The New York City Department of Sanitation has announced that registration is now open for those interested in working as Emergency Snow Laborers for the 2022-2023 winter season. Emergency Snow Laborers are per-diem workers who remove snow and ice from bus stops, crosswalks, fire hydrants and step streets after heavy snowfalls. Snow Laborers earn $17 per hour to start, and $25.50 per hour after 40 hours are worked in a week.
Snow laborers must be at least 18 years of age, be eligible to work in the United States, and capable of performing heavy physical labor. Additionally, candidates must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. All applicants must bring the following items at the time of registration:
Two small photos (1 ½ square)
Original and copy of two forms of identification
Social Security card
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination
Those interested in becoming a Snow Laborer must register for an application appointment at nyc.gov/snow. Registration appointments take place at the Department’s 59 garages. Applicants should not attend the appointment if they have any COVID-19 symptoms.
Jessica Elliott, chair of the environment, open spaces and parks committee for Community Board 11 in East Harlem, argues that the neighborhood is oversaturated with sanitation facilities. It also hosts a garage for Manhattan District 10, the Manhattan Cleaning Lot and various parking lots.
The lot on East 123rd Street is taking up land that the city promised to consider for affordable housing. The District 10 garage on East 131st Street is not fully functional, so workers park trucks beneath the nearby Metropolitan Transportation Authority tracks instead. “We have to smell that foul stuff,” said Derrick Taitt, 60, president of the non-profit Community Association of East Harlem Triangle.
An interesting map that looks at how much of a chain a given restaurant is. The national dataset shows which communities have independent restaurants and which ones are saturated by chains.
In Manhattan, the ‘chainiest’ neighborhood I noticed was around 34th Street:
By comparison, Harlem has chains but they aren’t the dominant kind of restaurant:
IMPORTANT: Batteries cause fires in recycling facilities.Do not place any batteries* or items that contain batteries in the trash or recycling – it is illegal!Batteries must be removed and disposed of properly.Bring to a SAFE Event, Special Waste Site or Call2Recycle. Staten Island residents can find additional options here.
While everyone, even disgruntled drivers, acknowledges that the return to twice a week alternate side parking reduces the trash on our streets, reduces the rat population, and adds to community pride, who knew that it also impacts the presence of guns in our community?
While alternate side parking may seem like an annoyance to those who own cars, but all New Yorkers want cleaner streets. To that end, DSNY’s mechanical brooms are the best tool to clean the most trash, filth, and feces. As DSNY says, “We just want people to follow the law so that we can get the streets clean.”
And those street sweepers? Their mechanical brooms can pick up to 1,500 pounds of trash each go-around. And cleaner communities are safer communities.
The Amsterdam News reports that:
“Some of the spaces I’ve seen [trash is] overwhelming, to the point where you can’t even vaguely consider using the space, because of overgrowth of vegetation and the accumulation of trash—small trash items become massive trash items, they’ll become abandoned cars, and abandoned appliances and abandoned furniture,” said Dr. Charles Branas, chair of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “So to the extent that that can be changed, that’s a real structural change of benefit to communities that brings people closer to their local spaces in their neighborhood and to each other, which lead to all kinds of benefits down the road.”
Branas refers to it as the “busy streets theory,” a counter to the “broken windows theory” that argues that bustling neighborhoods indicate safety and comfort for the locals. Clean streets play a part in encouraging residents to leave their homes to participate in community efforts.
Additionally, Branas mentioned the practice of alternate side parking could potentially offer an inadvertent byproduct for flushing out illegal firearm stashing.
“[In] a couple of the studies we did, one of the mechanisms for the storage of illegal guns is to park a car—often an abandoned car as well—in front of abandoned buildings or lots, and to put illegal firearms in that car,” he said. “So to the extent that you can regularly move that car, there’s opportunities to also disrupt illegal guns in neighborhoods.”
The Moth x Daughters of the Movement Date and Time Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM End times are approximate. Events may end early or late. Location
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Fully accessible to wheelchairs Free Event Register Event Details Tinted headshots of Gina Belafonte, Hasna Muhammad, Dominique Sharpton and Suzanne Kay.
Join us for an evening of storytelling and conversation with The Moth, featuring Gina Belafonte, Suzanne Kay, Hasna Muhammad, and Dominique Sharpton.
ABOUT THIS EVENT | IN-PERSON
The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes. Gina Belafonte (daughter of Harry Belafonte), Suzanne Kay (daughter of Diahann Carroll), Hasna Muhammad (daughter of Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee), and Dominique Sharpton (daughter of Al Sharpton) are Daughters of the Movement. They represent a group of women who sat at the feet of those who were on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. They carry the oral history, cultural values and wisdom passed down to them by some of the revolutionary leaders who turned the tide of American history. Join us at the Schomburg Center for an evening of Moth-style storytelling and a conversation illustrating a legacy of sisterhood.
PARTICIPANTS |
Artivist Gina Belafonte is the Executive Director of Sankofa.org a non-profit which educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change. An award-winning producer, director, and cultural organizer, Gina is driven by the most urgent social and political issues of our time using art as a tool to fulfill the mission of Sankofa.org. As a visiting professor, lecturer, and public speaker, Gina works with diverse artists, activists, and organizations worldwide to promote cultural and civic engagement and has assisted in mobilizing one of the largest cultural gatherings of artists in the world.
Suzanne Kay is a writer and filmmaker currently working on a documentary about her mother, the late actress Diahann Carroll, among other projects. She produced and co-wrote a feature film, Cape of Good Hope, which won numerous awards and nominations, including Honorable Mention for the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, National Board of Review, and NAACP Image Awards. She has been published in Huffington Post, the Southampton Review and BigCityLit.
Hasna Muhammad is a visual artist, writer, and educator whose work focuses on family, social justice, and the human condition. As an advocate for education as justice, Hasna provides professional preparation for executive leadership, diversity management, and community engagement for the purpose of diversifying educational and political leadership forces. Hasna was a 2018-2019 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Fellow.
Dominique Sharpton is an actress, producer, and activist. As the National Director of Membership for National Action Network, one of the nation’s oldest legacy civil rights organizations with more than 100 chapters and 40,000 members across the country, Dominique works to activate and engage the next generation of community activists and impact systemic change through local community development. She also produces live cultural events to activate and inspire change.
The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes. We celebrate the ability of true, personal storytelling to illuminate both the diversity and commonality of human experience. Our work allows people all over the world and from all walks of life: astronauts, students, a dental hygienist, a hotdog eating champion, a mechanic, exonerated prisoners, veterans, Nobel laureates and everyone in between, to share their stories on stage in front of a live audience. Through live and virtual shows, storytelling workshops, a podcast, Peabody Award-winning Radio Hour, and The New York Times best-selling books, The Moth brings the power of personal storytelling to millions of people each year—creating community and building empathy around the world.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER
IN-PERSON | By registering for this event, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending an in-person program at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold The New York Public Library, its Trustees, officers, agent and employees liable for any illness or injury. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.
FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED | Events are free and open to all, but due to space constraints registration is requested. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. After the event starts all registered seats are released regardless of registration, so we recommend that you arrive early.
GUESTS | Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed anywhere in the Schomburg Center.
AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.
And, to accomplish this, they’ve produced a pamphlet highlighting what can be recycled, composted, and donated.
On their website ‘how to get rid of…’ you can type in the thing you’d like to get rid of, and the engine will return suggestions. Here’s what you get when you type in “books”
Here’s the latest list of what can be recycled, and what shouldn’t:
Metal (all kinds) metal cans (soup, pet food, empty aerosol cans, empty paint cans, etc.) aluminum foil and foil products (wrap and trays) metal caps and lids household metal items (wire hangers, pots, tools, curtain rods, small appliances that are mostly metal, certain vehicle license plates, etc.) bulky metal items (large metal items, such as furniture, cabinets, large mostly metal appliances, DOES NOT INCLUDE electronic devices banned from disposal)
Glass glass bottles and jars ONLY
Plastic (rigid plastics) plastic bottles, jugs, and jars rigid plastic caps and lids rigid plastic food containers (yogurt, deli, hummus, dairy tubs, cookie tray inserts, “clamshell” containers, other rigid plastic take-out containers) rigid plastic non-food containers (such as “blister-pack” and “clamshell” consumer packaging, acetate boxes) rigid plastic housewares (flower pots, mixing bowls, plastic appliances, etc.) bulk rigid plastic (crates, buckets, pails, furniture, large toys, large appliances, etc.) Note: Rigid plastic is any item that is mostly plastic resin—it is relatively inflexible and maintains its shape or form when bent.
Cartons Food and beverage cartons Drink boxes Aseptic packaging (holds beverages and food: juice, milk and non-dairy milk products, soup, etc.)
Paper newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books, mixed paper white and colored paper (lined, copier, computer; staples are ok) mail and envelopes (any color; window envelopes are ok) receipts paper bags (handles ok) wrapping paper soft-cover books (phone books, paperbacks, comics, etc.; no spiral bindings) (schools should follow their school book recycling procedures)
Cardboard cardboard egg cartons cardboard trays smooth cardboard (food and shoe boxes, gift boxes, tubes, file folders, cardboard from product packaging) pizza boxes (remove and discard soiled liner; recycle little plastic supporter with rigid plastics) paper cups (waxy lining ok if cups are empty and clean; recycle plastic lids with rigid plastics) corrugated cardboard boxes (flattened and tied together with sturdy twine)
Not Accepted Batteries “Tanglers” (such as cables, wires, cords, hoses) Electronic devices banned from disposal Paper with heavy wax or plastic coating (candy wrappers, take-out and freezer containers, etc.) Soiled or soft paper (napkins, paper towels, tissues) Hardcover books (schools should follow their school book recycling procedures) Printer cartridges Glass items other than glass bottles and jars (such as mirrors, light bulbs, ceramics, and glassware) Window blinds Foam plastic items (such as foam food service containers, cups and trays, foam protective packing blocks, and, and foam packing peanuts) Flexible plastic items (such as single-serve food and drink squeezable pouches and tubes such as toothpaste, lotion, cosmetics, or sports balls such as basketballs, bowling balls, soccer balls, footballs, yoga balls) Film plastic (such as plastic shopping bags and wrappers.) Bring plastic bags and film to participating stores for recycling Cigarette lighters and butane gas lighters Cassette and VHS tapes CDs and DVDs Pens and markers Rigid plastic containers containing medical “sharps” or disposable razors Containers that held dangerous or corrosive chemicals
To keep up to date with all things trashy, go to nyc.gov/dsnynews
Wanna talk trash with us? The NYC Department of Sanitation will roll with resources for a community cleanup this Saturday, July 30, from 12-2 p.m.
DSNY will bring their van full of brooms, trashcans and trash-pickers — and we’ll have the chance to not only pitch in, but talk trashcans and basket collection with Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. Plus learn about needle pickup & the new needle pickup hotline (718-415-3708) with the New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE).
Join Mattaya and the Hi-ARTS community on August 5, 2022 from 12-3 pm for the Reveal and Celebration of Musa as well as a Planting Workshop with artist Tasha Dougé.
This July we welcomed Mattaya Fitts as our inaugural ONE WALL MOVEMENT muralist. All month she worked on Musa,a mural that now adorns Cherry Tree Park in Harlem, NY. Free & open to the public. Just show up!
Musa Reveal & Celebration August 5, 12-3 pm
Planting Workshop with Tasha Dougé 1:30-3 pm
A creative planting and community intention setting exercise curated by Tasha Dougé. Tasha Dougé is a Bronx-based, Haitian-infused artist, artivist and cultural vigilante. Her body of work activates conversations around women empowerment, health advocacy, sexual education, societal “norms,” identity and Black community pride.
Workshop capacity is limited to 20 participants. No registration necessary.
Free & open to the public. Just show up!
“At a time when much feels heavy and uncertain, I am interested in conveying themes of personal growth, rest, joy, and transformation. This mural addresses self-care as an extension of community care.” — @mattayafitts
