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A Mets Mess

Eddie Castro
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A Mets Mess

By Eddie Castro
The 2025 New York Mets could very well go down as one of the biggest disappointments in Major League Baseball history. A team with so many expectations coming into the season especially with the addition of Juan Soto.

The team with a $340 million payroll has officially been eliminated from playoff contention with their loss against the Miami Marlins in the final game of the season. The Mets needed to win and a Cincinnati Reds loss to the Milwaukee Brewers to secure the final Wild Card spot in the National League. What plagues this Mets team pretty much the entire second half of the season once again reared its ugly head.

This disappointing season for Met fans has led to many questions about the team’s future. The biggest question of the season Met fans would ask Is how could this happen? Why did it happen? Entering the month of June, the Mets had the best record in baseball. There were 21 games over .500.


Since June 14, the season took a left turn as the Mets posted a win-loss record of 38-55. There were several factors that led to this collapse. Although the Mets pitching had the best ERA in baseball to begin the year despite missing key players Sean Manaea, Tylor McGill, Kodai Senga and Griffin Canning due to injury eventually those injuries caught up. When Senga and Manaea did come back, they did not perform well as both pitched to an ERA near 6.00 in the final months.

The mid-season acquisitions for the team did not pan out well as Manager Carlos Mendoza thought they would. Relief pitcher Ryan Helsley who was one of the players the Mets acquired at the trade deadline was not the dominant pitcher he was in St. Louis. Cedric Mullins an outfielder the team also picked up, could not replicate his performance at the beginning of the year he had with Baltimore. Last but not least was the team’s offensive production. Although Juan Soto had a slow start to his first year with the Mets, he eventually put together an MVP-like year as the season progressed.

However, it was the overall offense of the team that remained inconsistent all year long. In fact, the Mets were the only team to not be able to win a game in the 8th inning or later. They went 0-70 when trailing after the 8th inning.

To wrap it up in one word, the 2025 season for the Mets was simply inexplicable. The expectation is there are going to be many changes to the coaching staff and perhaps even the lineup. One of those changes could very well be the departure of former All-Star Pete Alonso. After the game against the Marlins, Alonso announced that he will opt-out of his three-year deal with the Mets and test the free agent market this winter.

Pitching should without a doubt be the team’s number one priority. It’s good to hit home runs as an offense, but you need a good pitching rotation to hold leads that the offense may produce. After the game, Mets Owner Steven Cohen issued an apology to Met fans that was posted on “X” simply stated “you (the fans) did your part with your ongoing support, we didn’t do our part.” To put it all in a nutshell, a team that had World Series on paper written all over it cannot have a repeat of what 2025 was. It was simply disappointing.


Sports Notes: (Baseball) As we go to press, the New York Yankees began their quest for a 28th World Championship this past Tuesday in a best-of-three Wild Card series against the rival Boston Red Sox in the Bronx.

Tonight, could perhaps be the deciding Game 3 or we could be talking about the Yankees divisional Match up against another division rival the Toronto Blue Jays. Tune in to tonight’s All-New episode of Sports Talk with Eddie tonight on the Our Time Press You Tube for an update on the future scenarios for the Yankees.

(FOOTBALL) New Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was electric in his first start against a tough Los Angeles Chargers team. However, the team received some unfortunate news as their top-receiver Malik Nabers will miss the rest of the season with a Torn ACL.

The Giants play the New Orleans Saints this Sunday. After another loss that was highlighted by bone-head penalties and turnovers, the Jets will head back home hoping to avoid an 0-5 start to the season as they battle the Dallas Cowboys.

Local Voices Drive Change

Editor, Our Time Press
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Local Voices Drive Change

Onward: On Sunday, according to news reports, a crowd of 900,000 turned up for the 56th African American Day Parade wending through the streets of Harlem, along Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard from 111th to 137th Streets.

Brooklyn’s Dr. Patricia Ramsey and Dee Bailey were among the throng of prominent leaders enjoying the marching bands, floats and revelry. Annually the parade celebrates the unity, culture, heritage and achievements of the African American community.

The theme of this year’s event — hosted by Parade chair Yusuf Hassan — spoke to these times and issues in its call for a recalibration of focus to make “Education” as “Our #1 Priority.”

This photo, sent by Ms. Bailey, captures public servants and community leaders who, as Ms. Bailey said, “work on the frontlines for law, justice, safety and community preservation.”

In this crowd are NYPD Guardian President Patrick T. Gordon, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, NOBLE NY President Besemah Rogers, Deputy Commissioner Lisa White, Assistant Commissioner Kenneth Morgan, Assistant Commissioner Alden Foster, Deputy Chief Victoria Perry, Deputy Chief Aaron Edwards and Deputy Chief Hugh Bogle, among many others.

Trump Administration Targets NYC Magnet School Funding Over Transgender Bathroom Policy

Mary Alice Miller
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Trump Administration Targets NYC Magnet School Funding Over Transgender Bathroom Policy

By Mary Alice Miller
New York City magnet schools are the latest target of the Trump administration over transgender issues. The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to New York City, Chicago, and Fairfax Public Schools, Virginia notifying them that discretionary grants under the Magnet School Assistance Program are at risk unless those school systems become compliant with Title IX.

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school, university, or any other education program or activity that receives federal funding. The law prohibits sexual harassment, sexual violence, dating violence, stalking, and other sex-based misconduct that creates a hostile environment.
It also prohibits retaliation against any person who brings or participates in any complaint action such as discrimination or harassment under Title IX.


Athletic equality requirements under Title IX require schools make efforts to expand opportunities for females to participate in school sports proportional to male participation.
Exempt from Title IX are membership practices of YMCA, YWCA, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls.
At risk for non-compliance with the Title IX directive is millions of dollars in federal funding, specifically $15 million for New York City and a total of $67 million for all three school districts.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams had expressed agreement with sex-based school facilities and sports one day before the Office for Civil Rights letter was sent.
“We’re going so far away from common sense,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference. “My utmost importance is to ensure that when my children are in school, they’re in a safe environment. And I do not believe a safe environment is allowing boys and girls to use the same facility at the same time.”

Adams said he will look at his “authority and power to change that,” adding, “We have become so politically correct that we are incorrect.”
Democratic mayoral candidate Mamdani responded on X, “Awful and dangerous to hear the Mayor echo the transphobic bigotry coming from the Trump administration.”
New York State Education Department spokesperson JP O’Hare wrote in a statement, “Under the State Human Rights Law, transgender and gender expansive students are entitled to use the restroom or locker room that aligns with their gender identity.”

NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman responded to Adams position in a written statement that said, “Let’s be clear: the mayor has no authority to ban trans students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. Such a move would be illegal under New York State and New York City laws and an affront to our shared values.”

“Students are going to school to learn,” Executive Director of NEW Pride Agenda Kei Williams, said. “Having to mandate that you’re able to utilize the restroom of your gender identity, of your gender expression is the least that you can do. That is the floor.”
Williams called the Trump administration’s stance on transgender school policy “extremely reckless, callous and hateful rhetoric.”

New York City Department of Education requires that schools allow students to access bathrooms and the opportunity to compete in sports teams, among other activities, that correspond with the students’ gender identities.

The letter from the Office for Civil Rights noted that “Title IX’s commitment to sex-separated intimate facilities and athletics is based on immutable biological differences, well-established privacy interests, and ensuring the safety of all students when in enclosed and vulnerable spaces and engaged in the competitive, physical activity of sports.

This is not only permissible and advisable but often necessary to ensure equal opportunities for girls and women and prevent a hostile educational environment.”

The letter went on to state that “When recipients of Federal funding require schools to treat ‘Trans-identifying’ males as if they are ‘females’, including in intimate traditionally sex-separate facilities, they defeat the very purpose of Title IX: to ensure equal opportunities for women while not jeopardizing their privacy, safety or other rights.

Simply put, allowing males in girls’ sports, intimate facilities, or private spaces, such as with overnight sleeping accommodations or vice versa, violates Title IX by creating a hostile educational environment or denying females and males equal access to benefits of education programs or activities.”
The letter focused on Chicago Public Schools, but New York City and Fairfax Public Schools also received the letter regarding transgender policies.

The Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig W. Trainor wrote in the letter that he “will not certify” Chicago Public Schools grant and CPS’ MSAP grant “will be non-continued because it is no longer in the best interest of the Federal Government.”
In order to comply with the law, the Office for Civil Rights requires that Chicago Public Schools

-Adopt biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ pursuant to Title IX.

-Issue a public statement to parents, students, and staff stating that CPS will comply with Title IX and specifying that it will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs or occupy intimate facilities designated for females.

-Specify that CPS must provide sleeping arrangements during overnight activities ad athletic trips to its students strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.
-Specify that CPS must provide intimate facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms accessible to students strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.

-Specify that Title IX forbids schools from allowing boys or men to participate in any athletic program designated for girls or women, ensuring that only female students are eligible to join, participate, or be categorized or counted as a member of Girls’ Team(s)/Category(s) and that all male students are ineligible to join, participate, or be categorized or counted as a member of Girls’ Team(s)/Category(s); and

-Rescind any guidance that violates Title IX, remove or revise any internal and public-facing statements or documents that are inconsistent with Title IX, and notify all parents, students, and staff of such rescissions and revisions.

In May 2021, a 14-year-old trans-identifying boy sexually assaulted a girl student in a locker room at Stone Bridge High School, Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia. The girl’s father, seeking redress for his daughter, was arrested at a school board meeting in what was thought to be an attempt to cover up the transgender student’s crime.

The transgender student was transferred to another school where he sexually assaulted another girl student in October of that year. The male student was found guilty in juvenile court of two counts of sexual assault for the attacks at both schools in 2022. The father was later pardoned. The family of the first victim filed a $30 million lawsuit against LCPS for its failure to protect the student and its mishandling of the case.

In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found the Loudoun County Public Schools violated Title IX by retaliating against two male students who complained after a biological female who identified as male recorded audio and video of two boys in the Stone Bridge High School locker room.

Mamdani’s Mayoral Maneuvers -Black Dem Bigs line up behind the NYC nominee

Editor, Our Time Press
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Mamdani’s Mayoral Maneuvers -Black Dem Bigs line up behind the NYC nominee

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large

“I support the Democrat in the race,” said former Vice President Kamala Harris, of NYC Mayoral frontrunner Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
In a somewhat lukewarm endorsement, not dissimilar to what she herself endured from some party faithful leadership during her 2024 presidential run, speaking on MSNBC on Monday, Harris stated, “As far as I’m concerned, he’s the Democratic nominee, and he should be supported.”

She added though, that the flex was limited, “I hope that we don’t so over index on New York City that we lose sight of the stars throughout our country, who are right now running for mayor and many other offices.”

Speaking in the cable station’s Manhattan studio, Harris proclaimed, “He’s not the only star. He’s in New York, and I know New Yorkers think they’re the center of the world … There are people like Barbara Drummond in Mobile, Alabama. Helena Moreno in New Orleans. They’re all running for mayor, too, and they are stars.”

Following Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, last week Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins both backed Mamdani.

Clarke, who represents New York’s 9th congressional district, over much of Central Brooklyn, heartily gave Mamdani the nod. The leader of the Congressional Black Caucus praised him saying, “Assemblyman Mamdani’s historic primary victory in June proved the effectiveness of a people-powered campaign, that centers the issues that matter to most New Yorkers: lowering the cost of living, making the billionaire class pay their share and securing equity for all communities.”

Congress member Yvette Clarke, leader of the Black Caucus, endorsed Mamdani. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)


Thankful, Mamdani hailed, “Our agenda is an ambitious agenda, no question about it, but it’s an agenda that looks to match the scale of the crisis.”
The candidate faces criticism however, that he has not responded to the grassroots Black community, that he has not engaged in prolonged conversations to learn about their particular issues, requests and general concerns.

Mamdani, 33, has been berated by determined critics for surrounding himself with mostly white politically inexperienced 20 and 30-somethings, and energetic Gen Zers. He sees it as tapping into a vocal, but ignored young vote.

Comfortably dancing in Black parades, and glad-handing in Black churches and at Black events such as this past weekend’s African American Day Parade, notwithstanding Ugandan-born Mamdani faces a persistent charge, that he has not held meaningful meetings with every-day Black community members, from that population–to discuss on-the-ground-topics from ramped-up gentrification, quality-of-life policing, the spectre of crime, to youth under and unemployment.

“As the Assembly Member for the 56th District, I believe endorsements must be grounded in accountability and vision,” Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman told Our Time Press. “I approach endorsements thoughtfully and consider each candidate after meaningful discussions about the progress and future of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. Our community deserves leaders who listen, collaborate, and remain committed to advancing equity and opportunity.”

The local landscape has community political observers torn between being ardent loyalists, cautious-go-with-what-you-know moderates, and excited idealists. Five recent polls have Mamdani leading by 20%, with Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa following, with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams at a steady 9%.

Meanwhile, neither Brooklyn’s House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries nor Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer have yet endorsed their party’s nominee. This past weekend Jeffries said, “I’ll have more to say about the Mayor’s race sometime soon.”
City & State described Adams, 65, as a “Conservative, pro-business Democrat who is now running as an independent candidate. More likely to criticize progressives than the Trump administration.”

Denied campaign finance matching funds 11 times, Adams blamed not the political residue from Trump squashing of his 5 federal indictments, but his opponents spreading rumors–as preventing him from raising money for his campaign.

Zohran
Mamdani



While a non-attendee at any public events this past weekend, even despite the 56th African American Day Parade being held in Harlem on Sunday, Adams has dismissed widespread speculation that he is indeed abandoning his bid for a second term. “I am in this race, and I am the only one that can beat Mamdani,” he said previously.

The city electorate is watching the 2026 mayoral contenders bicker, name call and scramble feverishly for the spotlight, political point scoring and policy claiming. Mamdani opponents have warned that a four man race is splitting the vote, and somebody, anybody, in the immediate for-seeable needs to put their ego away, and drop out of the race for the good of the city. And City Hall. They all said they would not.

However, even Trump has acknowledged that the Democratic nominee with his 20-point lead, will probably be who he called “My little communist mayor.”
Mamdani is running on his affordability campaign, addressing more income-related housing, free fares and city-owned grocery stores. He also said that he would be apologizing to police in private for calling them out as racist back in 2020.

Then, two weeks ago a Texas man was arraigned on a 22-count indictment in Queens Criminal Court. His anti-Muslim hate crime charges against Mamdani included four counts of making terroristic threats.


Unusual for a candidate, Mamdani now has a police detail. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “As alleged, the defendant threatened an elected official by leaving a series of increasingly alarming anti-Muslim messages with the office of Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. The defendant told the assemblyman to go back to Uganda before someone shoots him in the head, to keep an eye on his house and family, to watch his back every second until he leaves America, and that he and his relatives deserve to die.”

“We are thankful for the security measures in place for both the Assembly Office and the campaign, and we want to reassure the community that Zohran and the team are safe,” said his campaign.

“There’s almost a level of irony to this,” Adams stated. “Here you have a person who has spent his life bashing the NYPD.” He continued, “There’s something ironic about a person who calls for protection for his life, but don’t understand why we don’t want to defund and disband our police department.”

Back on Main Street, NYC, there is a perception by some political observers that the Democratic Party cannot get out of their own way, and this mayoral election is exposing the divided underbelly over Mamdani’s nomination, in the run-up to the November 4th, 2025, mayoral election. This division, talking heads speculate, may be the disconnect which decides whether or not folk go to the polls. Or, paradoxically, drive them to it.

But, leaning into his famed movie, Brooklyn’s Spike Lee encouraged, “Do Da Right Thang On Nueva York Election Day November 4th, 2025. You already know who I’m casting my ballot for da man with da plan, My Brother–Mr. Zohran Mamdani.

A Brooklyn political operative told Our Time Press, “The Black community must form an effective political powerhouse. We should show candidates that they do not get our support without a detailed agenda being addressed. We can have an alliance, but only with a mutual understanding of what our communities need, and planned pathways to achieving those goals. We have demands which must be articulated and met.”

Ayesha Williams: The Laundromat Project Creatively Creates Change

Editor, Our Time Press
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Ayesha Williams: The Laundromat Project Creatively Creates Change

Fern Gillespie
When the arts nonprofit, the Laundromat Project, was launched 20 years ago, it was at an intimate performance space in Harlem where people of all walks of life gathered—the neighborhood laundromat.

“In the early days, we did projects in laundromats or adjacent to laundromats as a way of being in a space where folks naturally came and connected with their neighbors and community members,” Ayesha Williams, Executive Director of the Laundromat Project, told Our Time Press. “Everybody has to do their laundry.

There are laundromats on almost every corner. So, it was it was an active space for engagement and connection. Folks come together in dialogue with one another. That’s what started us doing things in laundromats.”

In 2020, the Laundromat Project moved to a permanent storefront in Bed Stuy. It became the primary space for gathering and convening. However, new creative spaces still became unique performance sites like pop-up projects in Bed Stuy, Harlem and the South Bronx. “We’ve moved away from doing programs and laundromats a couple of years ago,” she said.

“We expanded to public spaces where folks are with one another like gardens and community spaces, even sidewalks on blocks. Anywhere where folks might naturally cross paths with one another, is a space where our artists are active.”

Ayesha Williams, Executive Director of the Laundromat Project


Through grants and special projects, the Laundromat Project’s mission is to advance artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. “We see arts and culture at a catalyzing force to bring folks together to drive action in the community. The Create Change Fellowship is essentially an artist development training program.

It is creative artists and producers of all disciplines–visual arts, theater, photographers, actors, writers. It’s any kind of artistic medium that folks are engaged in,” Williams said. “If they want to get a better understanding of how to take their creative practice and use it as a force, folks can learn various strategies and tools to better understand how they can leverage their creative practices to engage within their communities.”

Since 2011, over 300 creatives have been involved with the Create Change Fellowship and the Create Change Artist-in-Residence. The Laundromat Project Create Change program awards multicultural artists, critical thinkers, and cultural leaders a $1,000 to $25,000 fund. This includes professional development, critical mentorship, and peer-based support to develop and realize artistic projects in neighborhoods across New York City.

This year, Create Change Fellows presented special arts and advocacy projects for community partners: BLIS Collective (Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty, One Brooklyn Health, Magnolia Tree Earth Center and GrowHouse Design + Development. For the Create Change Artists-in-Residence, the artists and projects included: Briana Calderón Navarro, a Community Fridge Restoration Tour; Keshad Adeniyi, healing artwork inspired by youth demographics; Leslie Mejia, a Bronx wellness and healing playground; photographers Russell Frederick & Dahkil Hausif focused on Bed Stuy with “Dark Room Diaspora: Giving Old Images A New (A.I.) Life and Zakiya Collier created the exhibition “Collective Remembrance: For the Art of Preserving Bed-Stuy Restoration History.”

Each summer, the Laundromat Project distributes small grants to Bed Stuy block associations for financial assistance. This summer, the Laundromat Project had resource tables and a partnership with One Brooklyn Health for healthcare outreach and screenings. “It’s a way to celebrate block party culture within Bed Stuy,” said Williams. “It’s the opportunity for neighbors to get to know one another more deeply or to just be in celebration over the summer months. It’s one of my favorite programs.”


The Laundromat Project is a Black, multiracial and multi-generational cultural organization that is citywide. “The age of folks who come through our program are little babies all the way to our highly regarded elders. It’s a beautiful to just watch dialogue and exchange multi-generationally across ages and across experiences,” she said.

“It’s important transferring and translating knowledge and information across generations. It’s critical to have spaces where conversation and dialogue can happen for a greater understanding about our roots and our history.”

For the 20th anniversary, the Laundromat Project is holding a year-long celebration through August 2026. “The Laundromat Project is centered in the experiences of people of color. It informs us of our work. We’re founded by a Black woman. Even the citywide work that we do is predominantly focused in communities of color,” said Williams.

In September, the Schomburg hosted a special presentation on the impact of the Laundromat Project that featured Williams and founder Risë Wilson, the visionary who took community performance arts directly into laundromats in the city’s Black neighborhoods.

“I think through a lot of our programming and projects that our artists develop and activate, conversations that are sparked in those moments and then go on to impact even greater change in the neighborhoods in their communities,” she said.

Williams’ career has focused on the arts. She holds a master’s degree in visual arts administration from NYU and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining the Laundromat Project nine years ago, she was Visual Arts Manager at Lincoln Center and an art gallery director.

“I’m from New Orleans originally, which is a mecca of arts and culture. So, arts and culture have always been a part of my life. My father is a painter, sculptor, and photographer,” she said. “Growing up, I went to museums on a regular basis. I would go to concerts. Jazz music was playing every moment of every single day. In my house, I was constantly surrounded and inundated by all things arts and creativity.”

For Williams, being a part of the Bed Stuy creative community is pivotal to the Laundromat Project. “It’s just incredible being a part of the Bed Stuy cultural community. To uplift and highlight about how incredible the culture community in Bed Stuy is,” she said. “I think of Bed Stuy as the cultural capital. I think arts and culture is Bed Stuy.”

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