By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
Keep your head up, and on a swivel, could be hardy advice as New Yorkers enter 2026 with all the local, national, and international concerns.
As Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani took office on January 1, 2026, he is facing a panorama of citywide problems including: housing issues, education concerns, conflicting crime rate reports and community perception, public safety reality-based anxiety, burgeoning NYC homelessness–with around 100,000 people sleep in shelters, including over 35,000 children, striving for effective youth engagement, addressing economic and political tribulations, and handling these increasingly frequent weather emergencies.
As he named key members of his cabinet in this last few days, Mamdani said,
“The rule-of-law is the bedrock of good governance, effective leadership, and a city that works for working people.”
New Yorkers are bracing for New Year changes.
In the city, affordability is the latest top of mind.
Some healthcare premiums will double or triple as of January 1st, 2026.. After last year’s government shutdown, and Congress failing to come up with a workable solution, and the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, more than 20 million people who have the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace may lose their coverage.
There will be big changes for recipients of SNAP benefits too, with expanded work requirements, and new purchase restrictions.
With the sprawling housing crisis amid avenues filled with new million-dollar condos, Mamdani says he is committed to creating new housing and rent freezes for those in rent-regulated homes.
Then there are the young people shooting each other in broad daylight on busy streets, with complete and total disregard for theirs or anyone else’s life or safety. Camera Jackson, CEO of Elite Learners Inc., told Our Time Press, “The path to safer communities runs directly through our commitment to our youth…We will expand our advocacy for policies that ensure every young person has access to the resources they need to succeed. And we will continue to demonstrate that when we invest in our youth—truly invest in their whole well-being—we create lasting public safety.”
On New Year’s Eve eve (Tuesday, December 30, 2025), Jackson told Our Time Press, “As we stand on the threshold of 2026, I am filled with both pride in what we’ve accomplished and determination for the work that lies ahead.
Yesterday’s recognition from Mayor Eric Adams, receiving a key to the city alongside 28 other dedicated organizations, validates what our communities have long known: that violence is preventable when we treat it as the public health crisis it truly is.”
Like Jackson, Man Up Inc., founder A.T. Mitchell-Man also received a key to the city from outgoing Mayor Eric Adams on Monday morning. However, he is wrestling with monitoring the recovery of his niece, who was shot three times while waiting for an Uber last month, outside her friend’s sweet 16th birthday party in East New York.
‘It is bittersweet because today is my niece’s 16th birthday,” said the Cure Violence leader and Adams administration Gun Czar. “She is the worst of the six victims,” said Mitchell-Mann. “She got shot three times. She got struck once in her chest, once above her waist, and another bullet in her knee.”
He told Our Time Press that everyone is distraught and trying to handle the situation in a strong, supportive family manner.
“This hits home,” he said. “My thoughts are with the other victims too. Our community should not have to worry about allowing our children to go out to a Sweet 16 birthday party, and it turns into a mass shooting. My niece is asking why did it happen to her. But even though her complete recovery may take time, she is strong and has her family and community to see her way back to normalcy.”
Camara Jackson declared, “Effective violence prevention requires addressing root causes. Young people don’t need just conflict mediators; they need stable housing, nutritious food, quality education, and accessible mental health support. These aren’t luxury services; they’re fundamentals that underpin safe, thriving communities.”
Looking toward 2026, Jackson stated that Elite Learners is calling on all New Yorkers to join in as Crisis Management work has shown to be effective continuously. “The historic low numbers in homicides and shootings this year didn’t happen by accident,” she proclaimed. “They happened because organizations like ours, working in partnership with communities and city leadership, chose to see young people not as problems to be controlled but as individuals deserving of support, opportunity, and hope.”
Grassroots activism will be increasingly active in 2026.
Dr. James McIntosh, co-founder of the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People, in the wake of their victory to have Netflix cancel the “offensive” reboot of ‘Good Times,’ told Our Time Press, “Every time you feel tired,defeated or even pessimistic, say to yourself, ‘Harriet Tubman and Nat Turner wouldn’t feel sorry for me.’” The retired psychiatrist declared, “Remember our Ancestors during the enslavement period would pray for our worst day. We are blessed with the freedom to fight.”
It is thick and pressing in the field of fighting for justice, equality, and recompense.
“Courage is free to all those who want it,” professor and author Gloria Browne-Marshall, told Our Time Press. “Don’t be a freedom freeloader. What can you give to help the cause of justice for our community?”
Seemingly channeling the same energy and community advice as the veteran community activist McIntosh MD, the author and CUNY educator continued, ““We must hope for the future we need to have. That’s what our Ancestors did. They had less, worked against worse opponents, with less. Yet, we are here because they fought the good fight.”
Professor Browne-Marshall concluded, “I remind myself (and others) that God does not reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
“Ask yourself. What would Harriet Tubman do??”
As America launches its 250-year anniversary celebrations, alongside the about-to-be historic midterms, folks are going to be inundated with agitprop.
Art activism has always been an option.
“As we move into 2026, dance, music, and art continue to be powerful ways to bring people together centered around a common interest and shared goal,” said Zakiya Harris, Artistic Director, School of the Arts, Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation.
She told Our Time Press this week, “Through dance and music, we move in rhythm, build discipline, and experience joy collectively. Through art appreciation, we learn to observe, reflect, and value perspectives beyond our own. These practices remind us that connection happens not just through words, but through shared experiences.”
Art is an integral, moulding, and informing part of people, a city, and indeed the globe.
As Asase Yaa celebrates 25 years of dynamic creativity, “Harris continued, “We are reminded that arts education, especially for young people, creates a lasting sense of belonging and purpose.
In community-based arts spaces, students learn collaboration, focus, and care for one another. When we gather to create, rehearse, and perform, our minds become clearer, our relationships stronger, and our community more unified. Art helps us move humanity forward together with intention, balance, and hope.”