The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: Playstreet

Harlem Loses Funding Because Kristin Jordan Votes Against NYC Budget

Posted on by Harlem Shill

City and State New York is reporting that Council Member Kristin Jordan voted against the city’s latest budget:

Richardson Jordan voted against it, saying she objected to its increasing the NYPD’s budget

https://patch.com/new-york/harlem/harlem-got-millions-nycs-2023-budget-heres-where-its-going

As a consequence, Jordan’s 9th City Council district which covers much of Harlem will lose out on funding for council member proposals that would come from the “Speaker’s Initiative” funds.

While Jodan’s vote resulted in Harlem losing funding and programming in 2022-23, all of the Republican members received some of the money for their initiatives.

Summer Playstreet – West 124/Lenox – Is Back

A PAL summer playstreet is back in the works for this summer – July 11 to August 18.

If you’ve got kids or know kids, spread the word that safe, supervised, Summer Playstreet is on.

Protest Tomorrow @2:00 PM

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Join tomorrow’s March on Gracie Mansion.

We are marching for housing for the homeless because we are disgusted at the ineffectiveness and the cost of New York’s current shelter system.  Every day the residents of Harlem see shelter residents discharged onto our streets without adequate support.  As a result, our streets and our parks have become part of the Department of Homeless Services shelter system – failing shelter residents and failing the communities that house them.

The gross mismanagement of Harlem’s homeless shelter system, coupled with the oversaturation of shelters in our community reflects decades of systemic racism and closely follows the patterns laid out by redlining.  Wealthier and frequently whiter neighborhoods in New York do not carry their fair share of New York’s shelter system.  Our proud village of Harlem demands that all communities help to shelter our homeless neighbors and we have united behind a “Housing Not Shelter” policy.  

We have 4 demands of our current and future mayor:

  1. Oversaturated communities’ shelters must be redistributed to neighborhoods that are not sheltering their fair share of homeless New Yorkers
  2. The shelter system’s budget must transition from shelters to market-rate rent vouchers.
  3. Large congregant shelters must be downsized immediately and adequately staffed and supported
  4. Shelter residents should be supported on-site with drug treatment, mental health, education, and job training programs directly located in the shelters.

Play Street This Summer on West 124