The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: History

Precinct Meeting – Focus on The Rise in Crime

Posted on by Harlem Shill
Bullet in East Harlem Bus Window Frame

Kioka Jackson, the president of the 25th Precinct’s Community Council writes:

Good Afternoon Neighbors and Friends,
I hope you all are doing great. I wanted to invite you to join us IN PERSON for our February 2022 meeting.  I have been getting a multitude of calls and emails about the current events in and around our neighborhood and want to invite you to discuss what’s going on, what is being done, and how we can help.  
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss your public safety concerns with the Commanding Officer, his team of Officers, along with other community stakeholders with the mission to make our neighborhood safe.  Please be advised that the meeting will not be at the Precinct. In order to have the ability to safely socially distance we are using a space that can accommodate a larger number of people.  Details are as follows.

Meeting Details:

Wednesday, February 16, 20226:00 PM (Meeting will begin on time)at Bethel Gospel Assembly 2-26 East 120th Street (Between Madison and Fifth) – right across from Marcus Garvey Park
You will be required to wear a mask.  There will be some available at the front door if you need one.  Upon arrival, your temperature will be taken and you will be asked to sign in before being directed to the meeting room. Please click on the link and fill the questionnaire by Wednesday at 3:00PM.
https://forms.gle/y8icpU7NYm2Q56sH8

Hope to see you all next week.

Have an awesome day

Kioka Jackson

The Gay Harlem Renaissance

Scholars of the Harlem Renaissance point out that acknowledging the queer culture and nightlife of the Harlem Renaissance is essential in order to paint a full picture of the time, queer history, and Harlem itself.

Additionally, looking at the thriving LGBTQ+ scene in Uptown New York helps to reveal rich cultural contributions by (frequently) overlooked queer artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Read more about the gay Harlem Renaissance, see: https://time.com/6104381/lgbtq-histor…

CB11 Full Board Meeting

Posted on by Join HNBA

Tonight CB11 will have a full board meeting and discuss budget priorities.  Harlem Neighborhood Block Association is asking for two things to be highlighted in the budgetary report including:

  • We are requesting a City Council analysis of the distribution of addiction programs throughout the five boroughs, with a mandate to recommend how the rebalancing of these programs can be implemented. In conjunction, we are requesting a City Council agreement on a moratorium of any new or expanded addiction programs in CB11.
    • New York City must address how the persistence of OASAS and DOHMH licensed addiction programs in CB11 that exceed community need (and primarily serve New Yorkers from other communities) – is a form of systemic racism.
    • OASAS and DOHMH have quietly avoided acknowledging that their siting decisions are not based on their own data regarding proportionate community need, but are racially and economically driven instead, and along with indifferent city agencies and politicians, they routinely oversaturate Black and Latinx communities with the addiction programs that wealthier and whiter neighborhoods reject.
    • The impact of this decades-in-the-making form of systemic racism has been to brutalize the quality of life for East Harlem residents, degrade the economic viability of the East Harlem business community, and discourage tourism and development in the 125th Street and Lexington Avenue corridors.
  • Marcus Garvey Park is a jewel in our community. We ask that CB11 request and advocate for security cameras to be installed in this park to enhance public safety for the children, teens, families, and residents who enjoy it.

If you are interested in joining the conversation, tonight starting at 6:30 please follow the calendar link, here:
http://www.cb11m.org/pmcalendar/

Oral History

The Schomburg has an amazing collection of oral history of Harlem residents. Some names you’ll certainly know as big-name political and cultural figures. Others, are neighbors:

This is a neighborhood oral history project that works to both preserve and document Harlem history through the stories of people who have experienced it. This project will collect oral histories of people who have lived or worked in the surrounding Harlem neighborhood and train community members to conduct these interviews. Both longtime and more recent residents are invited to share their neighborhood stories, documenting Harlem’s past and present history. Interviews will be preserved at The Milstein Division, available in a circulating collection, and accessible here at the New York Public Library website.

Take a moment and listen to the voices:

http://oralhistory.nypl.org/neighborhoods/harlem