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His Last Words Were Calling for His Mother, a Statement on Police Brutality and the Murder of Tyre Nichols
Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was beaten so severely by Memphis police officers on January 7 that he died three days later. The following quote is from his mother, RowVaughn Wells.
“When my husband and I got to the hospital and I saw my son, he was already gone. They had beat him to a pulp. He had bruises all over him, his head was swollen like a watermelon, his neck was busting because of the swelling–they broke his neck. My son’s nose looked like an S. They actually just beat the crap out of him. And so, when I saw that, I knew my son was gone then.”
It is nothing short of heartbreaking to hear Ms. Wells speak of her son. It is another level of misery to watch the bodycam footage as his life is beaten out of him. In Mr. Nichols’ final moments he called out for his mother three times. “You’re going to see acts that defy humanity,” says the Memphis police chief. What we see is heinous, inhumane and a total disregard for life.
We condemn the pack behavior and brutality of these five police officers, and see this as a time of reckoning for every police department in the country. It is time for police officers to be held accountable.
The historic and systemic degradation of Black and Brown people by police officers has been protected for far too long. As long as we support the myth that police officers are inherent heroes, they will see themselves as infallible superhumans who can do no wrong. We raise our children to see others as worthy of respect and dignity, and to do unto others as we’d have others do unto us. Shouldn’t our police officers be expected to live up to this standard?
We are heartened by the indictments all five police officers are facing, but we need to fix the culture of police departments from top to bottom, year one to retirement. We can’t breathe.
As Bronx residents and parents, what do we do with this most righteous anger? Use this moment to protest peacefully. VOTE for elected officials who hold police officers to the same standard as every citizen. Attend meetings of our local community board, and have our voices heard. Call our city councilmember and demand action to support more transparency and wide sweeping police reform. As a community-based organization, New Settlement will work with partners who uplift people of color and build healthy communities. There is no short-term solution, but together we can change the status quo and never stop fighting for our civil rights.
In solidarity,
Executive Director, Rigaud Noel
Associate Executive Director, Allison Palmer
Bronx Times | Bronx’s ‘Most Influential’ named to the Schneps Media Bronx Power List
Hundreds of supporters celebrated as the 2022 Bronx Power Listers were honored at Maestro’s Caterers on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
The ultimate networking event celebrated extraordinary individuals from a broad spectrum of the business and nonprofit world who were recognized for their continued commitment, impact, and influence they have sustained on the Bronx’s existence over the past year.
On hand for Wednesday’s celebration was state Sen. Jamaal Bailey — who represents a host of North Bronx communities — who said 2022 was all about the Bronx’s trademark resilience from the throes of COVID-19 and was optimistic for the borough’s upward trajectory, particularly in economic development, in 2023.
“Whether it was COVID-19, asylum seekers seeking refuge in our borough, I’m proud of our borough for our resiliency because we don’t give up and rise to challenges,” said Bailey, who is also president of the Bronx’s Democratic Party. “But just because you’re doing good, doesn’t mean you can’t do better. Doing better doesn’t mean you’re doing bad. In 2023, we want to do better and I think we’re going to get there.”
The event was hosted by Schneps Media, publishers of The Bronx Times, Caribbean Life, El Correo and amnyMetro, which is proud to bring together the most extraordinary individuals to connect, support one another, do business and build community.
Building community is so important for groups such as Black Trans Nation, a non-profit working to advance the rights of all trans and gender non-conforming persons, and they are using events like the PowerList to continue to amplify their visibility and voice heading into 2023. For others, like Elizabeth Macias, senior vice president of Ponce Bank, building community is an social investment that can empower communities they serve.
“With our Bronx communities, we’ve taken on so many programs and have made so many contributions to the communities we’re in,” said Macias. “That could be anything from informing our members how to use digital services like mobile banking to empowering them to make financial decisions, it’s all a piece of providing as much as you can for our Bronx communities, who rely on these partnerships and working relationships.”
For leaders in the Bronx’s healthcare infrastructure, much of the evergreen work to keep the borough healthy relies on partnerships and an effort to drive down all the interrelated systems affecting the health Bronx residents.
“We’re not just helping our community members get healthcare, but we’re also trying to think about all these interconnected systems that affect our borough such as travel times to a doctor,” said Dr. Errol L. Pierre, senior vice president at Healthfirst. “Getting patient care to our members is our number one objective, and much of that is in partnerships and sponsorships with groups and healthcare workers being honored tonight.”
Steven Mitchell, senior director of sales administration at Metro Plus, said that health insurance agency was able to meet the needs of 10,000 asylum seekers this year, and 2023 includes tackling systemic issue such as food inaccess and housing insecurity that are posing health risks for the Bronx.
On the education front, many Bronx schools continued their adjustment to post-remote or hybrid learning curriculums brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the South Bronx, the New Vision Charter High School received one of the nation’s highest educational recognitions from the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
“The biggest highlight was being the only Bronx high school this year to receive a Blue Ribbon recognition, and it’s the representation of a true community effort among staff, family and our students,” said New Vision Charter’s Principal Sandy Manessis. “It’s a community effort. I’m also a product of Bronx schools, born-and-raised, and it took the people who educated me to get where I am today. And we’re hoping to d do the same for all our students.”
In addition to the ultimate networking and joyful celebration, one hundred percent of the raffle proceeds went to the nonprofit Phipps Neighborhoods.
Bronx Power List Honorees
Plinio Ayala, President, Per Scholas
Hon. Jamaal T. Bailey, State Senator, New York’s 36th State Senate District
Diya Basu-Sen, Executive Director, Sapna NYC
Stivin Benedith, Auxiliary/Explorers Coordinator, Transit District 11
Larry Scott Blackmon, Vice President, Public Affairs, Fresh Direct
Michael Brady, Executive Director, Third Avenue Business Improvement District
Dr. Susan R. Burns, President, College of Mount Saint Vincent
Dr. Fernando Cabrera, Senior Advisor, Faith Based and Community Partnerships for the Office of the Mayor
TS Candii, Executive Director, Black Trans Nation LLC
Hon. Darcel Denise Clark, Bronx District Attorney
Ariana Collado, Executive Director, Bronx Democratic Party
Dr. Candice Crawford, Owner, Clarity and Wellness Mental Health Counseling, PLLC
Juan G. De Jesus, President & Founder, The Bronx Community Partnership Council, Inc.
Abdourahamane Diallo, Geopolitics-Firm Macro Scenarios-Risk Management for Morgan Stanley,
Hon. Nathalia Fernandez, NYS Assembly Member, 80th District
Dawn M. Florio, Esq., Founder & Managing Director, Dawn M. Florio Law Firm PLLC
Clair Francis, Development Manager, American Cancer Society
Hon. Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President
Hon. Carl Heastie, Assemblyman, 83rd District, Speaker, New York State Assembly
Eric C. Henry, Director of NYC Government Affairs, Altice USA
Joseph Hladki Jr. Esq., Partner, Faga Hladki LLP
Minister Dr. Philip Jordan, President of the Bronx Chapter of National Action Network and Founder, Strong Enough Achievers Foundation
Bharati Kemraj, Senior Associate, Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates
Michael Max Knobbe, Executive Director, BronxNet
Jason Laidley, Founder, London House
Chaplain Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief Advisor for the Office of the Mayor
Elizabeth Macias, SVP, Chief Information Officer, Ponce Bank
Sandy Manessis, Principal, New Vision Charter High School Advanced Math & Science II
Haizel McIntyre, Creative Producer, Bronx Fashion Week NYC
Steven S. Mitchell, Senior Director, Sales Administration for MetroPlusHealth
Jorge Montalvo, Chief Operating Officer, Physician Affiliate Group of New York
Flora Montes, Founder & CEO, Bronx Fashion Week NYC
Shanequa Moore, CEO, I’Raise Girls & Boys International Corp
Fatuma Murray, CEO, Life Bridge Therapeutic Consulting Services, LLC
Zaid Nagi, Co-Founder & Vice President, Yemeni American Merchants Association
Fernando Nuñez, Senior Vice President Region Executive, Bank of America
Allison Palmer, Associate Executive Director, New Settlement
Hon. Janet Peguero, Deputy Borough President of The Bronx
Lilliam Perez, Vice President, Government & Community Relations, Montefiore Einstein
Dr. Errol L. Pierre, Senior Vice President of State Programs, Healthfirst
Savina P. Playter, Esq., President, Bronx Women’s Bar Association
Dr. Meisha Porter, President & CEO, The Bronx Community Foundation
Dr. Karamchand Rameshwar, Medical Director of Psychiatry, Sun River Health
Bernie Ramirez, Director of Alumni Relations, All Hallows High School
Tomas Ramos, Founder & President, Oyate Group
Dr. Beverly Raudales, Chief Program Officer, Comunilife, Inc.
Daniel Reingold, President & CEO, RiverSpring Living
William Ricigliano, Partner, Ricigliano & Filopei, P.C.
Stephen Ritz, Founder, Green Bronx Machine
Miriam Rodriguez, President, Innovative Property Management & Dev., Inc
Kencle Satchell, Director of Marketing & Communications, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
Dr. Sonia Toledo, President & CEO, Dignity of Children
Angela Torres, Executive Director, Throggs Neck Community Alliance
Valerie Vazquez, Deputy Commissioner of External Affairs, NYC Mayor Community Affairs Unit
Hon. Majorie Velázquez, NYC Council Member, 13th District
Xiomara Wallace, Director of Managed Care and Guest Relations, NYC Health + Hospitals
Adam Weinstein, President & CEO, Phipps Houses
Andre D. White, Executive Director & CEO, Phipps Neighborhoods
John Zaccaro Jr., NYS Assembly Member-Elect, 80th District
The Riverdale Press | Bronx tenants on rent strike
Tenants at 1187 Anderson Ave. in Highbridge announced a rent strike in December, joining their neighbors at 1230 Woodycrest Avenue to demand their landlord immediately repair hazardous conditions in their building.
There are currently 169 housing violations at the Anderson Avenue building. In May, the tenants sued for repairs.
“We have decided as a building that we will be withholding rent from the landlord because we will not be paying for something that is not to our living standards,” said Samantha Diaz, a longtime resident in the building.
Earlier this year, the New York division of homes and community renewal — the state’s affordable housing agency — denied real estate investor Isaac Kassirer of Emerald Equity Group’s application to deregulate hundreds of tenants in six Bronx apartment buildings and ordered the owner to issue rent-stabilized leases to all of them.
Tenants came together through New Settlement’s organizing project, Community Action for Safe Apartments, and were represented by Bronx Legal Services’ Tenant Rights Coalition. Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner also pushed for the state agency’s action in March.
They have since continued to fight for Emerald Equity Group to fix chronic leaks, mold, holes in the walls, damaged floors, bedbugs, and a lack of security in their homes.
“Tenants should never find that – despite paying their rent – they are deprived of the most basic services that their families need and deserve,” Joyner said when the rent strike began Dec. 6. “I strongly support the tenants of 1187 Anderson Avenue as they assert their rights and stand-up against the unscrupulous practices of Emerald Equity Group.”
Originally published by The Riverdale Press, 12/16/22
BronxNet, Mission BX: Creative Workforce Development
Mission BX sits down with Assistant Director Dinorah Castillo and Chris Garcia from New Settlement’s Young Adult Adult Opportunity Initiative, and Evelyn Fernández-Ketcham, Vice President of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY). The segment gives background on the innovative Workforce Recovery Hub training partnership, funded with support from the New York Community Trust.
The Golden Hour – December Newsletter
WABC | Residents of 2 Bronx buildings go on rent strike against landlord for unsafe living conditions
BRONX, New York (WABC) — Residents of two buildings in the Bronx are on a rent strike, refusing to pay their landlord until the landlord fixes problems in their buildings, including rodent and cockroach infestations, peeling paint, leaking pipes, broken cabinets, refrigerators, outlets and stoves.
Samantha Diaz is a resident of 1187 Anderson Avenue. She showed Eyewitness News investigative reporter Kristin Thorne paint peeling from the walls in her apartment, a leaking radiator pipe and a video of dead flies coming from her bathroom ceiling and a rat scurrying across the lobby floor.
“These living conditions are hazardous,” Diaz said. “You can smell, like, the dead rats in the walls.”
In May, 22 residents of the building filed a lawsuit against the landlord to try to get them and the city to address the issues in the building.
Residents brought the suit against Living Emerald NY LLC, Isaac Kassirer, Gary Kassirer, Fransisco Breton, EEGMW LLC and various entities of Anderson LLC.
The lawsuit contains affidavits from the tenants about the conditions in their apartments.
Resident Margaret Adarkwa said she has a leak under her kitchen sink which is rotting the kitchen cabinet. She said some of her outlets don’t have power, her bathtub is peeling, her intercom doesn’t work and she has mice and roaches.
Resident Aaron Asiedu said his toilet moves and leaks from the bottom.
According to the New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the building has 169 open violations with 42 of them being time-sensitive. The agency said it will send inspectors to the building this week to reinspect those violations.
HPD said it had to hire contractors to make emergency repairs at the building and they plan to charge the owner the $9,500 it cost to make the repairs.
“HPD has issued violations for unsafe building conditions and conducted emergency repairs when the owner failed to correct immediately hazardous conditions in a timely manner,” the agency said in a statement.
HPD said it is considering additional enforcement actions against the owner.
Last March, Con Edison threatened to turn off service to the building because the landlord hadn’t paid $12,797 in gas bills. Eyewitness News obtained the letter which the utility provider put in the building as a notice to residents.
Diaz said she, along with about 20 other residents of the building, have agreed not to pay their rent until the landlord fixes the problems.
Eyewitness News has learned that residents of another building owned by the landlord in Highbridge, 1230 Woodycrest Avenue, have already gone on a rent strike.
Last summer, the landlord tried to raise rents on the rent-stabilized buildings. A judge denied the move.
New York Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner (D-Grand Concourse) stood with the tenants in that fight and said she has tried to get the tenants help with the buildings, but she said at one point the landlord denied owning the buildings.
“We’re not dealing with a partner in this fight,” she said.
Tenant organizing group Community Action for Safe Apartments is helping the tenants in both buildings.
Eyewitness News reached out to the management company for the Anderson Avenue building, Living Residential. We were told no one was around to take our call. We also attempted to reach out to the landlord.
Bronx Times | 500 Benefit From Community Food Giveaway
Support Needed to Help Combat Bronx’s Food Desert
As we quickly approach Thanksgiving and the holiday season and families prepare to enjoy feasts with one another, we must remember that there are thousands of people in the Bronx and across New York City who won’t be having that same experience, and do not know where their next meal is coming from.
The Bronx is one of the many food deserts around the country, with some of the highest rates of food insecurity nationwide; one in four Bronx residents face food insecurity, which is 1.7 times greater than the state average, according to a United Hospital Fund and Boston Consulting Group December 2021 report.
In the heart of the Bronx, New Settlement’s rooftop garden sits atop our Community Center and serves as an oasis for community members, growing fresh produce that are rich in nutrients, including mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard, various herbs, carrots, broccoli, and more. This season, we have harvested 160 pounds of fruits and vegetables, which help to supply our food pantry that is located a few floors below and also supported by other local organizations.
Through our food pantry, we’ve distributed more than 123,563 pounds of food through weekly giveaways and monthly and holiday pop-up events in 2022 so far, providing 8,000 individuals with nutritious foods. Recently, we hosted a Thanksgiving Community Giveaway in partnership with New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Senator Luis Sepulveda, NYC Council Members Althea Stevens and Pierina Sanchez, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, Ponce Bank and United Way, where we distributed whole chickens, fresh produce and more food items to over 400 community members.
Additionally, our 170 Farm Stand located on 170th Street and Townsend Avenue is a vibrant youth-led market that offers a selection of high quality and fresh seasonal food from local farmers, such as fruit, vegetables, herbs, eggs, dry goods, and more.
These initiatives are part of New Settlement’s mission to fight the hunger crisis in the Bronx, and provide a space where community members can not only gain access to affordable, quality foods that will feed their families, but also learn about nutrition and how to prepare balanced meals, ultimately helping them to lead healthy lifestyles.
While we have made great strides to address the hunger epidemic in the Bronx, there is much more work to be done, and before we gather around our tables with our loved ones this holiday season, it is vital that we come together to help our fellow New Yorkers who are experiencing food insecurity.
Whether you are donating to New Settlement’s food pantry or volunteering at a local food drive, we encourage all New Yorkers to join our efforts and help to ensure individuals and families never have to question how or when they are going to eat.
Noel is the executive director of New Settlement; Cataquet is the organization’s director of community health initiatives.
Original article by: AMNY
Bronx Times | Allison Palmer Honored in 2nd Annual Bronx Power List
Schneps Media is thrilled to host the 2nd annual Bronx Power List on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Maestro’s Caterers.
The most influential movers and shakers in the Bronx will be named to the Power List. The event recognizes those named for their continued commitment, impact and influence these individuals have sustained on the Bronx’s existence over the past year.
In addition to honoring these outstanding individuals, the event will feature a raffle with one hundred percent of the proceeds going to a local cause.
The Bronx Power List, the ultimate networking event, serves to connect these power players to do business and to do good for the community while celebrating their achievements.
The 2022 Bronx Power List, in formation, is currently as follows:
-Larry Scott Blackman, Vice President, Public Affairs, FreshDirect
-Michael Brady, Executive Director, Third Avenue Business Improvement District (BID)
-Dr. Susan R. Burns, President, College of Mount Saint Vincent
-Hon. Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President
-Michael Max Knobbe, Executive Director, BronxNet
-Chaplain Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief Advisor, Office of the Mayor
-Elizabeth Macias, SVP and Chief Information Officer, Ponce Bank
-Sandy Manessis, Principal, New Vision Charter High School Advanced Math & School II
-Flora Montes, Founder & CEO, Bronx Fasion Week NYC
-Allison Palmer, Associate Executive Director, New Settlement
-Hon. Janet Peguero, Bronx Deputy Borough President
-Dr. Errol L. Pierre, Senior Vice President of State Programs Healthfirst
-Dr. Rameshwar, Sun River Health
-Tomas Ramos, Founder & President, Oyate Group
-Daniel Reingold, President, RiverSpring Living
-Kencle Satchell, Director of Communications and Marketing, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
-Xiomara Wallace, NYC Health + Hospitals
Learn more about the honorees at BronxPowerList.com. For tickets, sponsorship or to learn how to be named to the Power List reach out to Demetra Mattone, Director of Corporate Events at DMattone@SchnepsMedia.com or at (718) 260-4512.
Original article posted by Bronx Times.
