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Rivalry Renewed

Eddie Castro
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Rivalry Renewed

By Eddie Castro
For the first time in 25 years, the New York Knicks have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the reigning defending champion, the Boston Celtics, in six games. This past Friday night, the city was absolutely electric. In baseball, you had the first Subway Series of 2025 kick off between the Yankees and Mets, which marked Juan Soto’s first visit back to the Bronx after leaving the team in the off-season in favor of the cross-rival Mets.


Then you had a parade-like celebration all over 34th Street and 7th Avenue as Knick fans celebrated the only way Knick fans know how to. There was even a Knick fan sitting on top of a huge billboard. Now the Knicks turn their attention to a team they are quite familiar with when it comes to playoff matchups, the Indiana Pacers.

When you think of the history between these two teams, how can you not think about the times Reggie Miller broke the hearts of Knicks fans and Spike Lee, or why didn’t Patrick Ewing dunk the ball with a clear path to the basket in Game 7 of their 1994 series? More recently, the infamous 4-point play by Larry Johnson, which ultimately carried the team to their last NBA finals appearance in ‘99.


This series will bring the fireworks. It is the best storyline you can possibly put together. To be quite frank, these two teams do NOT like each other. Since last summer, these two teams seemed destined to meet each other again.

There was even a brief confrontation between Knicks star Jalen Brunson and Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton in an episode of WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown last June, which took place at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks won the season series against Indiana 2-1, but as we all know, the playoffs are a much different atmosphere.

The Pacers, led by Haliburton have a win-loss record of 42-17 since January 1st, the second-best record just behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. Indiana is coming off an impressive series win against the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Haliburton has averaged 18.6 points and just over nine assists in these playoffs thus far. For whatever the reason, he has had some of his best performances against the Knicks. Forward Pascal Siakam has also had a great 2025 playoffs as he is averaging 20 points and close to 7 rebounds.


You can’t have asked for a better movie-like script than this. The Knicks will look to avenge their seven-game playoff loss to the Pacers in last year’s playoffs. Karl Anthony-Towns will be a key player to watch this series. In three games against the Pacers in the regular season, Towns averaged 30.3 Points to go along with 12 rebounds. Although the Pacers may not have a guy to score 30 points a night like the Knicks do in Brunson, the Pacers roster can beat you in many ways with contributions from different players, which makes them not only unique but dangerous.


34th Street will once again be rocking as the first two games of this series will be at Madison Square Garden. If you don’t remember those intense playoff match-ups between these two teams back in 1994 and 1999, you will surely be reminded of them in Game 1. Let’s get the popcorn ready New York!


Sports Notes: (basketball) As we go to press, Game 1 of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers will already be in the books. Game 2 will take place tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. (Baseball) The Yankees will head to the Mile-High City to begin a three-game set versus the Colorado Rockies. The Mets will welcome the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The first meeting between these two teams since their National League Championship Series last year.

Our Stories, Our Lives, Our Institutions Matter, Yet …

Editor, Our Time Press
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Our Stories, Our Lives, Our Institutions Matter, Yet …

Funding Terminated for Historic Center for Black Literature (CBL) at Medgar Evers College

Dear Friends and Family of the Center,
As many of you may know, on Friday, May 2, 2025, arts organizations nationwide receiving grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) were informed that their grants had been terminated or cancelled. The Center for Black Literature was one of the organizations whose grant was terminated.


The Center for Black Literature’s role and impact in sharing, educating, enlightening, and advocating for the advancement and uplifting of Black literature and its artists across the Diaspora has been a labor of love for more than two decades. Support from the NEA was a major pillar that upheld our important work. Without that support, programming that has become a staple of the literary world and to our constituents will be curtailed at best and ended at worst.


For more than twenty years the gathering during the National Black Writers Conference, and its Symposium, John Oliver Killens Reading Series, Writers on Writing radio show, the Killens Review of Arts and Letters, Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers of Color, monthly Book Club, the Dr. Edith Rock Elders Writing Workshop and Re-Envisioning our Lives Through Literature (ROLL) our youth program, the Center for Black Literature has been an intergenerational beacon of knowledge, fellowship and community building.


In these uncertain times and under an administration whose policies differ from the mission of many arts organizations, now more than ever, we need strong and sustained support from you. When books are being banned, speech is censored, up is down, and right is left, organizations such as the Center for Black Literature must continue to do the work that our community has come to know, respect, and expect from us.

Unfortunately, we can no longer count on the NEA in the future, and without its financial support, our work will be that much more challenging to achieve. However, we remain committed to continuing the business of enriching communities, providing a space to amplify seasoned and rising voices in the arts, and advancing knowledge. We are asking for your help to continue our necessary work.

What can you do?
Contact your representatives and let them know how important the arts are to unifying communities, providing jobs, supporting local businesses, and improving academic performance

Support writers—buy their books
Visit your local library
Share our newsletter with friends
Attend our events
Contribute to the Center for Black Literature. No amount is too small

With your support, the Center for Black Literature will continue to stay on course and remain a respite for our community and beyond.

In solidarity,
Donna Hill, Associate Professor, Medgar Evers College, Executive Director, Center for Black Literature Centerforblackliterature.org
Be a part of our journey. Your contribution creates opportunity.

A Letter to Brooklynites: Protect Your Home from the Tax Lien Sale

Editor, Our Time Press
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A Letter to Brooklynites: Protect Your Home from the Tax Lien Sale

Dear neighbors,
As we celebrate the arrival of Spring and the sense of joy and optimism it brings to our city, I am sorry to write with a dire warning.


On June 3rd, in just a few days, the City of New York will hold a tax lien sale on properties with unpaid debts such as property taxes, water/sewer bills, and other City charges. Once sold, homeowners will be on the hook to pay off debt with astronomical interest rates to private investors looking to make a quick buck.

And if the debt remains unpaid after one year (or even sooner in some cases), the owner of your debt is entitled to foreclose your property and force you out of your home. People who have lived in the same home for generations, who have built lives and legacies in their communities are now at risk of losing everything.


The threat to Brooklyn is massive. In Brooklyn alone, over 7,000 properties are on the sale list. Working-class communities with high homeownership rates like Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, East New York, and Flatbush are especially at risk. While many residents in these communities are fortunate to own their homes, we know they are struggling enough as it is to make ends meet. The added burden of the lien sale will simply put countless homeowners over the edge.


For months, I’ve heard from too many families who are at risk of losing their homes. According to the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Black homeowners are six times more likely to be on the tax lien sale than a comparable white homeowner. But let’s be clear, many of the folks on the list are not negligent property owners. We’re talking about older adults, first time homeowners, and working families who’ve fallen behind on bills as they try to stay afloat in the most expensive city on the planet.


The tax lien sale is not new. For decades, the City has relied on the tax lien sale to balance its books and, in the process, put often unwitting New Yorkers’ housing stability and generational wealth at risk. The last tax lien sale took place in December 2021, as the Mayor and City Council paused the practice amidst the economic turmoil from the pandemic.

Since then, the sky has not fallen. The City’s finances have not collapsed. We created a reality where the tax lien sale was not necessary, and yet the City wants to bring us back to the past.
Fortunately, there’s good news. Homeowners at risk have until May 19 to act and have their properties removed from the sale list.


First, visit the NYC Department of Finance website to find out if your property is on the list. If your property is on the list, there are multiple avenues for relief.
For long-term relief, you can sign up for a payment plan for up to 10 years to ensure you’re on track to pay off your debt. There are three kinds of payment plans that are designed to meet the unique circumstances of varying homeowners.


There are also several property tax exemptions that can keep your property out of the lien sale. If you are aged 65 or older, a person with disabilities, or a veteran, the NYC Department of Finance lists several applications for exemptions.


Finally, New York City recently created the Lien Sale Easy Exit Program to remove qualified homeowners from the lien sale for one year. To qualify you must own a one-, two-, or three-family home or condominium unit. The property must have been your primary residence for the past 12 months and you must not own any other properties in New York City. The combined annual income of all owners (whether they reside at the property or not) and of spouses who reside at the property must be no greater than $107,300.


Trust me, I know this is complicated. Fortunately, the City has partnered with the Center for NYC Neighborhoods which is offering free, one-on-one sessions with certified housing counselors and attorneys. You may call their Homeowner Help Desk at 1-855-HOME-456 for additional guidance and personalized support.


While I’m glad there is more support for homeowners, the tax lien sale should simply not exist. New York City should not be in the business of displacement. We can’t afford to balance our books on the backs of our most marginalized communities. The properties at risk aren’t just houses and Brooklynites aren’t just line items on a spreadsheet. This is about protecting the well-being and stability of the families who’ve built this city and preserving what limited pathways to generational wealth exist.


Please take action to make sure your home is protected. On my end, I will continue to fight displacement and the many ways it arrives in our communities whether it’s gentrification, deed theft, or the lien sale.
Sincerely,
Antonio Reynoso
Brooklyn Borough President

Adams and Cuomo’s Independent Line Choice: Shrewd Move or Panic Decision?

Nayaba Arinde
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Adams and Cuomo’s Independent Line Choice: Shrewd Move or Panic Decision?

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
Independence is a great thing. But switching lanes in a two-party system can have either positive rewards or drastic consequences.
Mayoral candidates, incumbent Eric Adams and high-polling former Governor Andrew Cuomo, are about to find out. Perhaps.


Cuomo created a new buzz in the race when he announced that, like Adams, he would now run on the Independent line. Was this political savvy, desperation, or a certified chess move?
Will November be a Brooklyn–Queens showdown? Or will it be a Queens versus Queens mayoral candidate face-off with Adam, Cuomo, Speaker Adrienne Adams, or Assemblyman Zohan Mamdani?


“Whoever wins the Democratic Primary will win the General Election,” predicted former Assemblyman and City Councilman Charles Barron. The primary occurs on Tuesday, June 24th, 2025.
A leading Brooklyn clergy member told Our Time Press, “Cuomo knew he was in trouble on the Democratic line. Zohan Mamdami is high in the polls, and he could not guarantee the win, so he thought he would increase his chances by running on a second line.”

In declaring that he was also running as an Independent on his “Fight and Deliver Party” line, Cuomo said, “Over the last several months, as I’ve been out talking to New Yorkers, one thing has become clear: there is a disillusionment with the Democratic Party by some—a feeling that the party has been hijacked, that it doesn’t produce real results, and that it doesn’t fight for working people anymore”


As “proof” of his electioneering theorizing career-long Democrat Cuomo statement continued, “in the election in 2024, when, right here in New York City, 500,000 Democrats stayed home rather than vote for Kamala Harris; and in 2022, when we had the closest gubernatorial election in nearly 30 years.”
“This November, in addition to securing the Democratic nomination, my campaign will work to build the largest possible coalition and secure the biggest possible mandate…by starting the Fight and Deliver Party to appeal to disillusioned Democrats, as well as to independents and Republicans.”


Mamdani retorted, “I guess ‘Close Hospitals, Neglect Transit and Cut Taxes for Billionaires’ line was too many words for the ballot?”
Mayor Adams has repeatedly said that Cuomo is simply copying his ideas and playbook.
As he runs on his “Safe & Affordable” and “EndAntiSemitism” line, Adams shrugged off the move. “I mean, it just seems like he’s just going through the motions. Isn’t it strange to you that he now wants an independent line like Eric?”
Criticizing Cuomo’s similar housing strategy and questioning his similar patronizing of Black churches, Adams quipped, “I thought the word was ‘I’m going to be like Mike, not I’m going to be like Eric.’”


Operation POWER co-founder Charles Barron is not impressed with any of the candidates: “New Yorkers don’t have any good choices. It seems that with Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, and Trump, crime pays. These are corrupt individuals who shouldn’t even be in politics.”
Investigated by Attorney General Tish James during his third term, then-Governor Cuomo resigned after 11 women accused him of sexual harassment. Then there was the question of the actual number of fatalities during the COVID-era scandal of seniors sent back to nursing homes from hospitals.


As for Adams, he saw his five-count federal corruption and bribery charges dropped, after an alleged quid pro quo deal with President Trump’s administration and his immigration deportation policy.


This past Monday, while Cuomo received $1.5 million in matching funds, the Campaign Finance Board threatened to withhold $622,056 from his campaign, as they investigated the charge Gothamist reported “for breaking campaign finance rules by improperly coordinating with a super PAC dubbed Fix the City.”


At the same time, the campaign finance board determined that Mayor Adams once again did not qualify for matching funds. He faces several Independent candidates on November 4th, 2025, including Cuomo, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and lawyer Jim Walden.
Fusion voting will add to two-line candidate totals, Barron pointed out, so “Anything can happen, but it seems like Cuomo is ahead in the Democratic race. They have fusion voting in New York. So whatever Cuomo gets on the Democratic line, plus the Independent line, will be added up to his overall vote.”


As for Cuomo extending his political range, Barron said, “It doesn’t make a big difference at all. He is selling out his own party by going on another line to take away from what Eric Adams may take away from him on his Independent line.”


Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa told Our Time Press, “They may be running as an Independent because more people than ever before in NYC consider themselves to be Independent,” plugging his own campaign, and saying that his numbers were running at “30% on the Independent line.”


“Cuomo deciding to run as an Independent was a shrewd move. He is making sure that he can play in the General Election,” said political strategist Basil Smikle.


However, the Professor of Practice and Director of Columbia’s M.S. in Nonprofit Management Program, told Our Time Press, “Rank choice voting makes figuring out a definite winner at this point complicated, but, I think Cuomo has a lot of number one votes, but, I don’t know if Cuomo has a number two, and I don’t know anyone who has Cuomo as number one – who they have as a number two. I don’t know ideologically who that would be. It would have been Eric Adams, but he is no longer running in the Democratic Party. Adrienne…Mandami…Landers are a lot of people’s number one. There are a lot of twos in play, so it is really hard to say. The rank choice voting makes for a very uncertain environment.”


Roger Toussaint, the former President of Transport Workers Union, told Our Time Press, “It is hard not to get excited about and behind Mamdani’s campaign. His ultra progressive program – free buses, rent freezing, free childcare, $30 minimum wage–would be considered farfetched, but his success speaks volumes, especially in this political climate, and to me indicates the populace is saying no more pussyfooting, go hard or go home. He should be supported.”


The one-time head of Local 100 New York, who helped coordinate the December 2005 MTA strike, which shut down public transport for 3 days, added, “Cuomo is the father of Tier 6. Tier 6 was the first rollback of pension progress in some 35 years, since the 1970s. He did more damage to labor than any governor in the past several decades, imposing layoffs to extract historic concessions across the public sector.

Those were his commitments to real estate and business interests in New York to whom he was completely beholden. And now he is willing to say anything to get back in the business.”

“The Black Tax” Puts NYC Property Tax Lien Sales in Historical Context

Mary Alice Miller
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“The Black Tax” Puts NYC Property Tax Lien Sales in Historical Context

By Mary Alice Miller
With New York City’s impending tax lien sale scheduled for May 20, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker hosted Professor and Historian Andrew W. Kahrl at Mt. Ararat Church to put New York City’s tax lien system in historical context. Professor Kahrl is the author of “The Black tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America”.


Attorney Yolande Nicholson moderated the event and began by declaring, “It is imperative that they get off the tax lien sale list,” referring to owners whose properties are on the list. “The tax lien list includes charges that remain against a property for at least 12 months. Properties are put on the list by the NYC Dept. of Finance, the Dept. of Environmental Protection, and the NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development.”


Nicholson noted, “This year, a significant number of properties are on the list just for water bills. Over the course of time before they become a lien, those charges bear interest, from as low as 3-9% up to 18%. Once they become a lien, they are eligible to be sold by the city, and once sold, they will start earning interest at 18% compounded daily. Once they are sold, additional costs and fees are added, including legal fees, collection costs, and penalties.”
Nicholson spoke of one of her clients, “who started out with a $5,000 lien and by the time it entered the trust, it was close to $15,000 in less than two years.”


“New York City’s tax lien system is designed less for equitable enforcement and more for financial extraction, disproportionately harming homeowners in historically Black and Brown neighborhoods, destabilizing communities, and accelerating displacement. A significant percentage were properties in Bed Stuy/Crown Heights and East Flatbush/Flatbush,” said Nicholson.


In NYC, tax liens are claims the City places on properties when owners fail to pay charges like property taxes, water bills, or emergency repair costs. These liens are sold to private investors, transferring collection rights, often leading to foreclosure.
NYC’s last lien sale was in 2021, during the pandemic. The sale included 2,841 properties citywide, 1148 of which were in Brooklyn.
Many of the properties in 2025 are single-family homes, 1-4 family homes, and small buildings, many of which are owned by families.


In 2025, approximately 18,000 properties on the 90-day list are queued up to go into liens. Over 65% of those properties are in Bed Stuy, Brownsville, East New York, Flatbush, East Flatbush, and Canarsie.
There are 3,479 properties listed on the 2025 30-day Notice in Water Debt Only. Of those, 2562 are located in historically Black neighborhoods and are to be sold on May 20, 2025. This accounts for 73.64% of all water debt only liens.
“The intensity and propensity for tax liens in historically Black communities correlates to ten years ago, which showed a propensity and intensity of subprime loans that were going into foreclosure,” said Nicholson.


Professor Kahrl said he commenced writing his study to understand the past and the present and ultimately change the future.
“My work examines the history of racial discrimination and inequity in local tax systems,” said Kahrl. “The Black Tax looks at how these local patterns and practices undermine and stall [Black people’s acquisition and retention of] land, property, and wealth.”
Some of Professor Kahrl’s findings are familiar to Black New Yorkers, particularly the higher tax rates that Black homeowners are assessed compared to White homeowners.


“This was the case in the rural South at the turn of the 20th century, it was the case in post-War Northern cities African Americans migrated to, and it remains the case today,” Kahrl said. “For all the taxes that African Americans pay, they have been systemically and grossly underserved when it comes to the public goods and services that their tax dollars support. We are discussing public education, local infrastructure, water and sewer services, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds, and fire and public safety.”


Kahrl continued, “Black Americans, especially the elderly and the poor, have been disproportionately victimized by tax-delinquency laws that allow private investors to purchase tax debts for profit, charge them exorbitant interest and fees, and take people’s homes and land if they don’t pay. This has resulted in massive amounts of land, homes, and wealth that have been taken from African Americans over the past 150 years. We are talking about no less than $600 billion by the most conservative estimates.”


He asked, “How does this happen, and how does it continue to happen?”
“In the aftermath of Reconstruction, African Americans have been stripped of their rights and denied equal protection under the law. Black landownership acquired critical importance. Land ownership became a shelter in the storm. It became the means of gaining a measure of freedom.

During the late 19th century, African American land ownership increased rather rapidly and dramatically. By 1910, African Americans owned 16 million acres of land in the U.S. Owning property became synonymous with citizenship and gaining the ability to make claims on the state because they were paying taxes on that land,” said Kahrl.


He added, “But at the same time, owning land made Black people more vulnerable to other forms of discrimination, such as those being carried out in the form of local taxes.”
“Professor Kahrl’s book will make you angry,” said Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. “It will force you to think about how the tax system was used to steal billions of dollars in property from Black people in America. For more than 150 years, there has been a systemic campaign to rob people of the chance to attain generational wealth.”


Walker continued, “The stories in the book are compelling and infuriating, but they are also timely. New York City’s controversial tax lien sale is scheduled for May 20. This is a program that disproportionately targets Black and brown residents, including here in Brooklyn. It can lead to increased debt, foreclosure, and the loss of property over unpaid water bills or property taxes. This well-researched book is a must-read.”

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