| Notification issued 4/30/11 at 3:00 PM. Multiple street closures will be in effect citywide tomorrow, May 1, 2011 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM in support of the Five Borough Bike Tour. Route details and maps are available here: http://bit.ly/ikthbs. The sender provided the following contact information. Sender's Name: Notify NYC Sender's Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov Sender's Contact Phone: 212-639-9675 | ||
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African-American - News April 30, 2011Labor Dept. Honors Memphis sanitations workers (Las Vegas Sun) KC university supports lecturer in video flap (Athens Banner-Herald) In this Jan. 7, 2011 file photo, Philip Congdon speaks at a news conference at the State House in Augusta, Maine, after being introduced as the nominee to head the Department of Economic and Community Development. NAACP honors Kid Rock for being Detroit booster (Bradenton Herald) NAACP honors Kid Rock for being Detroit booster (News10) Ruben Navarrette: Reducing minority rivalries (Indianapolis Star) James McLurkin, Engineer Forges Fleet Of Robots (2010.thegrio) Dr. Agnes A. Day, Leading Microbiologist (2010.thegrio) Andre Fenton, Neuroscientist May Erase Painful Memories (thegrio) John Dabiri, Turning Jellyfish Motion Into Wind Turbine Technology (thegrio) Richard Bennett, Ex-Marine Builds $8M Construction Company (thegrio) Johann Hari: Frenzy Around Britain's Royal Wedding "Should Embarrass Us All" (democracynow) | ||
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| Join the Parks Greeter Corps! The newly launched Parks Greeter Corps is a team of motivated volunteers who are ambassadors of New York's park system in the community. Park greeters are a welcoming presence at the entrance to parks and playgrounds, inform patrons of the available amenities and programs, gauge the public's opinion and interests, and serve as eyes and ears for the park's condition and environment. We are looking for volunteers from all backgrounds in all five boroughs. If you are interested in volunteering as a greeter for Parks, please sign up at If you have any questions or cannot access the website, please contact Mahanth Joishy at Mahanth.joishy@parks.nyc.gov or (212) 360-8287. Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com -- | ||
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The first bill gives streets that achieve a 90 percent "clean" rating for two years in a row the option of having one less day of alternate-side parking per week.
The Department of Sanitation could restore a full cleaning schedule for any streets that fall in their cleanliness ratings.
"Sometimes less is more and if the streets are clean enough maybe we can divert those Sanitation resources to other neighborhoods,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
“It does make a difference. It is about quality of life,” said Brooklyn Councilwoman Sara M. González.
The alternate side of the street parking reduction would go into effect immediately, and almost half the city's 59 Community Board districts would qualify.
The second bill creates an online, interactive guide that gives users specific information on street closures and parking regulations. That includes parking problems because of block parties, movie shoots or even crane operations.
“When the city is planning street closures, there's no reason why the people on the block should be the last to know,” said Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick.
The council is also keeping the cap of the number of city pedicabs at 850.
There will be stricter regulations and more severe penalties for peddlers who do not have working seat belts and brakes. Pedicab drivers will also have to follow many of the same parking rules that regulate motor vehicles.
“We're at our saturation point,” said Garodnick. "The city created no parking zones for a reason and not so they can be free parking for pedicabs."
The mayor plans to sign the bills on all these changes.
NEW YORK — This past Monday, the Dance Theater of Harlem held its Inaugural Vision Gala in Lincoln Center.
The gala was hosted by actress, author and former dancer Victoria Rowell.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Next Generation Fund for scholarships and financial aid to students at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School.
The event also honored DTH Co- Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Arthur Mitchell with the first-ever Vision Award. The event included dinner, dancing and performances by students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble and special guest artists, Matthew Prescott and American Ballet Theater soloist Misty Copeland.
Dance Theater Of Harlem Honors Founder At Inaugural Gala
NewsOne Staff
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:28:16 GMT
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| African-American - News April 292011 Portland Racism and Rental Housing Report: BlackLatino Families Charged MoreTurned Away (The Skanner) Black and Latino Portlanders are treated differently than White residents when searching for rental housinga recent report foundand city officials say they're putting together a wide-scale plan to address the issue. Okla. Legislator slights blackswomen in debate (Santa Cruz Sentinel) An Oklahoma lawmaker who gained national notoriety with an anti-homosexual rant in 2008 disparaged blacks and women during a debate this week on an affirmative action billprompting the head of the state NAACP chapter to demand her resignation. Top County Republican to Ask for Two Minority Council Districts (Patch) Partly sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70s. Some blacks see racism in questions over Obama's birth (Hackettstown Weekly News) Shortly after President Barack Obama declared himself an American-born citizen with papers to prove itBaratunde Thurston declared himself a disgusted black man. Newspaperswebsites lacking diversity in sports (Myrtle Beach Online) Some 320 websites and newspapers that belong to Associated Press Sports Editors slightly improved their racial hiring practices last yearaccording to a study released Wednesdaythough they failed again to make any strides in gender hiring for key newsroom positions. Voice of the People for Apr. 282011 (NY Daily News) President Obama's certificate of live birthwhich he released on Wednesday. Still a birther? Then you're a racist Kew Gardens : As an African-American maleI am going to try to provide a possible answer to all the Voicers who continue to ask"If he really was born in Americathen why does President Obama keep having to fight the allegations ... | ||
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By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Parks officials unveiled a new visitors center at Grant's Tomb Wednesday, but for P.S. 153 fourth graders, the event was a chance to contemplate whether the 18th president was a happy man.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a refurbished pavillion at the General Grant National Memorial, students from Harlem's P.S. 153 peppered Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe with questions. One wanted to know how oldUlysses S. Grant was when he died (the answer is 63). Another asked how he died. Benepe said that Grant was a heavy smoker who died of cancer.
That prompted a zinger from a student near the front of the crowd. "If you smoke does it mean you have low self-esteem, and does that mean that Grant had low self-esteem?"
Benepe responded, "It probably went up and down. When you're the leader of a country in a war and many young men are dying, you don't feel good about that. He may have smoked to feel better."
That wasn't the only history lesson the school kids got at Wednesday's event, which also marked the 189thanniversary of Grant's birth.
Students learned that the city shut down the pavillion at Grant's Tomb during New York's fiscal crisis in the 1970s.
The pavillion, which overlooks the Hudson River, deteriorated into a "falling down wreck," Benepe said, until it was restored recently by the National Park Service. Now it has new public bathrooms and a gift shop that sells Grant knickknacks like mugs and paperweights, as well as copies of Grant's memoirs.
Civil War re-enactors from the Oneida Indian Nation's First Allies Living History project showed off a 2,000 pound cannon for the students, firing a thunderous blast that set off car alarms up and down Riverside Drive.
"Something stinks," shouted a P.S. 153 student, as a cloud of sulfur-scented smoke drifted away from the artillery.
By Leslie Albrecht, DNAinfo.com
Follow Leslie on Twitter @ReporterLeslie
By Jeff Mays
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM— Barbara Askins, president and CEO of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, was meeting in her office with the General Manager of Aloft, Harlem's first new hotel in 40 years, when the hotelier spotted one of Askins' abstract paintings that had just returned from the frame shop.
General Manager Daniel Fevre had been looking for an artist to kick off a series of exhibits by Harlem artists in a dedicated art space in the hotel's lobby and decided instantly that Askins' abstract painting, "Love of Light" would fit the bill.
"He said: 'I have an idea. Let's open the hotel with Barbara's artwork' and I said: 'Oh my God,'" Askins recalled.
"I wanted to showcase artists of Harlem because there is so much culture and so much art here," Fevre said. "Barbara's work is incredible. The colors are amazing."
Not many of Askins' colleagues know about her work as a painter. Most just thought of her as the hard-working head of the BID whose main focus was the marketing and branding of 125th Street, Harlem's most famous thoroughfare, she said.
"People that I work with have been amazed. They ask why I didn't tell them," Askins said.
In fact, Askins has a degree in fine arts with a concentration in fashion and only a minor in business. Askins refers to her apartment as an "art studio with a bed."
Over the last few years, Askins has completed more than 40 paintings, but she hesitated to put her work on display, delaying her response to Fevre about whether she'd participate in his exhibit until just before the hotel's opening, when he demanded an answer.
After sitting down with some of her work, Askins noticed a theme and put together "Choices" — which is currently on display in the hotel's lobby for another several weeks.
"I had a fear of the art because I didn't think I was good enough," Askins said. "The last thing you need is negativity when you are trying to create."
The paintings, which Askins describes as abstract, spiritual works, feature the use of texture and rich color. With names such as "God Is," "Sacred Sun," "Love of Light" and "Perfect Peace," Askins says her paintings focus on the paths people travel in their lives and the things they discover about themselves and life along the journey. The show is dedicated to her mother who encouraged her to continue painting before she passed away three years ago.
Askins sometimes sits at the bar at Aloft and watches how people interact with the work before she goes over and introduces herself as the artist.
"it's so interesting to see which works people are attracted to. They'll look around and they often keep coming back to one piece that's about what's going on in their lives at the time," said Askins.
Askins said her ultimate goal is to become well known as an artist before she retires. She doesn't want to give up her day job because she enjoys the challenge of improving 125th Street.
"The art is not paying for my living so I get to create how I feel. If I'm painting I'm happy or if I'm working with the BID I'm happy," Askins said.
Fevre said his goal is to exhibit three to four different Harlem artists per year in the space. Requests to exhibit in the space have been flooding in since Askins' exhibit launched. Aloft is partnering with the Harlem Arts Alliance to help choose which work to exhibit.
"I'm glad my work has been received well and I hope i set the bar high," Askins said, with a nod to her artist side.
"But I want someone to come and outdo what I've done because this is good for the community and good for 125th Street," she said, with her CEO hat firmly in place.
By Jeff Mays, DNAinfo.com
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffCMays
