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Election Roundup De Blasio wins mayoral primary, if vote holds will avoid runoff

Stephen Witt
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Bill de Blasio

Ken Thompson elected as Brooklyn’s first African-American DA, Letitia James in runoff for Public Advocate

By Stephen Witt

In a stunning backstretch turnaround, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio emerged from a tight field of Democratic mayoral candidates to claim his party’s nod and run against Republican Joe Lhota in November and officially end the 12-year era of Michael Bloomberg as Mayor of New York City.

According to unofficial results, de Blasio garnered 40.2 percent to second-place finisher William  Thompson’s 26 percent of the vote, followed by Christine Quinn with 16 percent, John Liu with 7 percent and Anthony Weiner with 4.9 percent.

Citywide candidates with more than two people in a race must garner at least 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.

“We know there’s a long road ahead. That’s true for this campaign, but also in the job that we’re seeking to do,” de Blasio told supporters at his victory celebration.

Meanwhile, at press time, Thompson said he will not concede the primary race until all the paper and absentee votes are counted.

On the Republican side, Lhota received 52 percent of the vote, easily besting John Catsimatidis, who received 41 percent of the vote.

While the mayoral primaries were the most-watched races, Brooklyn voters made history in electing Ken Thompson as the borough’s first African-American District Attorney.

Thompson defeated incumbent Charles Hynes, who has been the DA for more than two decades. Thompson received 55 percent of the vote to Hynes’ 45 percent.

Thompson, a former federal prosecutor who during the campaign hammered Hynes on allegations of misconduct, preferential treatment and wrongful convictions, said he will keep Hynes’ successful programs, but also vowed to run the office more fairly.

“We will have a DA’s Office where there will be one standard of justice for all, no matter where you come from, no matter how much money you have,” Thompson told reporters.

In the race to succeed de Blasio as Public Advocate, Central Brooklyn’s own City Councilwoman Letitia James garnered 36 percent of the vote and now will face state Senator Dan Squadron, who garnered 33 percent, in a runoff next month. James won the majority of votes in the four-person race despite Squadron outspending her 3-1 and having the major backing of his mentor, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer.

“There were times when I wasn’t sure if I was running against a state senator from Albany or a senator in Washington,” said James. “We need a Public Advocate who will not cower away from a fight and someone who will be a powerful voice against the powerful in New York.”

In the race to succeed Liu as comptroller, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer won 52.1 percent of the vote in turning back a late challenge from former governor Eliot Spitzer, who garnered 47.9 percent of the Democratic electorate.

In Central Brooklyn’s other City Council races, incumbent Darlene Mealy easily won reelection in the 41st District covering East Flatbush, Brownsville and a small portion of Bed-Stuy with 66 percent of the vote over Kathleen Daniel’s 20 percent and Stanley Kinard’s 13 percent.

In the 42nd District, Assemblywoman Inez Barron won her term-limited husband Charles Barron’s City Council seat covering East New York with 43 percent of the vote. Her nearest rival in the seven-person race was Chris Banks with 24 percent of the vote.

In the 46th District covering Canarsie, Flatlands, Mill Basin, Gerritsen Beach and Marine Park, Assemblyman Alan Maisel handily beat Mercedes Narcisse 59 to 40 percent.

Among the big losers in Brooklyn’s City Council races was former Kings County Democratic boss Vito Lopez, who lost in his bid to win the 34th District covering Bushwick and Williamsburg, to Antonio Reynoso.

Laurie Cumbo wins 35th District City Council Primary

Stephen Witt
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Laurie Wins

Vows to engage developers to ensure that impoverished side of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill district is also lifted up

By Stephen Witt

Political newcomer Laurie Cumbo bested four other candidates and was a relatively easy winner in the 35th District City Council Democratic Primary election.

The district includes Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and parts of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights.

Cumbo received 6,836 votes or 35 percent of the electorate compared to 5,011 vote or 26 percent for her next closest challenger Ede Fox. Olanike Alabi received 25 percent of the vote followed by Jelani Mashariki with 6.5 percent of the vote and Frank Hurley with 6.2 percent of the vote.

“The first thing I want to do is express gratitude and thank all of the people that have contributed to this campaign on so many different levels,” said Cumbo the founder and former president of the Museum of Contemporary Diasporan Art (MOCADA), which is in the BAM Cultural District.

Cumbo said she would be interested in serving on the Education, Arts and Culture, and Finance Committees and said her priorities would be tackling the increase in crime in the community.

“I want to put in work on those circumstances that are creating those core conditions. It has everything to do with job creation and I want to create programming that will enable our young people to feel that their lives can move forward,” said Cumbo.

Cumbo noted that while James was an excellent city councilwoman and fighter for the community, the district has changed and she plans on putting a different style into leadership for the community.

“The district is very different district from when (current City Councilwoman) Tish James came here and it will require a different kind of leadership style. The fight to preserve our community has been the right one, but at the same time that the arena came, thousands in the community of color were displaced and dozens of African-American businesses were closed while large scale developers continued to build luxury condominiums even during that (Atlantic Yards) fight,” said Cumbo.

Cumbo said it would be considered non-proactive to be a councilmember and have no relationship with developers coming into the community and there needs to be a change in the mechanisms in how to engage developers.

“The same way we have to change the mechanism of what we do with the shooting of a young person in our community. Someone gets shot and killed we do a candlelight vigil and scream this is the last one until next week,” she said.

Cumbo said she agrees with Rev. Mark Taylor from the Church of the Open Door, who commented when two young men were shot and killed this summer in Fort Greene Park that these crimes often happen when you develop one side of the district and not the other side.

“When you create an environment where people see luxury and development and don’t see they are part of it they begin to lean on and attack one another,” said Cumbo. “And so it’s very important to create a dynamic so development happens organically and throughout the entire district.”

From These Roots: A Dream Realized

Bernice Elizabeth Green
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2

Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. Celebrates Completion

of $20 Million Revitalization Project

Part One of Two

The greatest example of Bedford Stuyvesant’s phoenix rise can be seen in the renewal of Fulton Street.  Today, new public plazas, public art, trees and plantings, public performance spaces and more have brought — what may have been considered — a desert to life, and a whole new set of possibilities to light.  “It’s been a long time coming,” as one speaker said at a celebration of the neighborhood and the strip, “but a change has come.”

Tuesday, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration), the nation’s first community development corporation, celebrated the ribbon cutting of a $20 million neighborhood revitalization project along Fulton Street with local Council Member Al Vann and commissioners from various city agencies of the City of New York.

The comprehensive improvements, championed by Restoration and financed by a $20 million investment from the City of New York, include the renovation and redesign of Restoration Plaza, mile-long streetscape improvements, and the creation of new wi-fi accessible public plazas with public art. The revitalization also generated an additional more than $100 million in housing and commercial investment by the private sector to create close to 300 mixed-income housing units and over 40,000 square feet of commercial space on the major thoroughfare of Brooklyn within Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“Restoration has always been at the forefront of improving Bedford-Stuyvesant and providing opportunities for its residents,” said Colvin W. Grannum, CEO & President of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.

“This neighborhood revitalization project will not only provide Bed-Stuy residents with an opportunity to enjoy the neighborhood’s beauty and culture, but will also provide housing, business opportunities and shopping destinations for the people of our community and its visitors. This is a great example of how a community institution can work together with various public and private sector partners to bring about positive results that improve economic vitality, health and wellness, safety and access to cultural programming, while bringing the entire community together.”

The multi-year revitalization effort was completed together with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the New York City Council, Brooklyn Community Board 3, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and four city agencies: NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, NYC Department of Small Business Services, and NYC Department of Transportation.

“The scope and success of this revitalization project exemplifies our community’s commitment to showcasing our many assets so that long-term residents, newcomers and visitors can experience Bedford-Stuyvesant at its best,” said Council Member Al Vann. “The investments and improvements that were part of this project were designed to benefit all segments of our community, from the entrepreneur and the property owner to the low-income renter and the transit-rider. I am proud to have been part of the creation of these prominent improvements to the face and future of our neighborhood.”

The streetscape improvement started as a project of the Mayor’s Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic Development, a partnership of the City’s economic development agencies with local stakeholders around a shared goal of building and revitalizing the residential and business communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant. The goal was to increase resident self-sufficiency and improve commercial markets to meet local retail needs through the enhancement of physical conditions along Fulton Street, spurring local economic activity.

The improvements created new green space, outdoor cultural and community event spaces, and expanded sidewalks with new benches, trees, plantings, bike racks and lighting to create public destinations and safer, more walkable, vibrant streets.

“The improved streetscape along Fulton Street, along with enhanced and new public plazas, will make the neighborhood safer and more useful for pedestrians and residents, attract diverse new businesses, and ultimately spur economic growth in this historic heart of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President Kyle Kimball. “I want to thank the many partners whose collaboration has made the revitalization of this great neighborhood possible, including the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the City Council, and the City agencies involved in this project.”

The Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District (BID), which covers the area of the revitalization, was established during the project in 2009. Derived from the Nostrand-Fulton Merchants Association, the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID served as the principal liaison between EDC, Restoration, Brooklyn Community Board 3, city agencies and other stakeholders for the Fulton Street Beautification Project. The BID, under the oversight of SBS, provides a number of services to ensure the viability of its commercial corridor, including public safety, cleanliness, marketing/promotion and retail attraction. It is also responsible for maintenance of many of the amenities installed as a result of the project.

“Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s support of the BID’s maturation has further exemplified its mission of creating vibrant, safe, and self-sustaining commercial corridors in central Brooklyn,” said Bed-Stuy Gateway BID Board President Joyce Turner, the owner of Cross Borough Realty. “This multi-million dollar streetscape beautification project further supports the dream of making the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID a safe and inviting commercial thoroughfare for all visitors to the area to enjoy.”

“The Bed-Stuy Gateway BID has worked hard to keep the neighborhood’s commercial corridors clean, safe, and attractive, and the new public plazas and streetscape improvements will continue to enhance the area and draw residents, visitors, and business to the neighborhood,” said Rob Walsh, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services.

We also created the commercial corridor’s first public plaza – Marcy Plaza – with additional support from the NYC Department of Transportation and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. It includes new benches, bike racks, trees and plantings, as well as a beautiful mosaic commemorating several Bedford-Stuyvesant area landmarks.

“The new Marcy Avenue Plaza reawakens a tired patch of asphalt to create a vibrant community destination for generations of Bed-Stuy residents to enjoy,” said Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “With attractive, safe space to see your neighbors, to enjoy cultural events, to stop by a local business or just to take it all in, this project brings world-class public space to a close-knit neighborhood.”

“The plaza is further testament to what can be achieved for extensive public benefit when agencies like the BID, BSRC, NYC EDC, NYC Dept. Of Small Business Services, DOT, Community Board #3, elected officials, and other community development stakeholders come together with a common vision and purpose,” continued Turner.

The public art installation in Marcy Plaza called “Mathematical Star” by local artist Ellen Harvey was commissioned by DOT, EDC, and Restoration through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art program. The 22-foot diameter circular mosaic is designed in a quilted pattern of diamonds called the Mathematical Star. The piece contains eighteen different “fabric” patterns, each based on a photograph of significant landmarks in the Bedford Stuyvesant community, each site selected by members of the Art, Parks, and Culture Committee of Community Board 3. Some of the architectural details on which the artwork is based include stained glass windows at the Bridge Street African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church and Concord Baptist Church, the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration emblem, the Boys High School door, and exterior molding at the Alhambra and Renaissance Apartments, checker table tiles at Saratoga Park, and Akwaaba Mansion’s flag, among others.

“Said New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin. “This inspiring installation is a terrific example of what is possible when contemporary art, community participation and smart landscape architecture come together, enhancing Marcy Plaza the way Percent for Art projects do in so many public spaces across the City.”

The renewal helped produce an additional investment of $15 million from Citigroup to renovate the iconic Restoration Plaza to include a wall of fame paying tribute to the founders of Restoration and other distinguished figures and additional outdoor spaces. The wall of fame includes President Barack Obama, Shirley Chisholm, John Doar, Jacob K. Javits, Thomas R. Jones, Robert F. Kennedy, Elsie Richardson, Benno C. Schmidt, Sr., and Frank Thomas. The outdoor spaces provide performance venues for local artists and organizations, opportunities for outdoor film screenings, and health and wellness programs that include a farmers market and weekly exercise programs. The redesigned plaza won an award in the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Brooklyn Builder Awards for open space in 2012.

The Fulton Street public revitalization effort has leveraged other private sector investment on the bustling commercial corridor. With financing from Goldman Sachs, BRP Development – an African-American-owned and New York City-based real estate firm – and Restoration have worked together to generate an additional $100  million in housing and commercial investment to create almost 300 mixed-income housing units and over 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

These additional investments, along with the revitalization, are expected to spur additional economic activity within Bedford-Stuyvesant by cultivating additional businesses for residents and visitors to patronize.

The ribbon-cutting was preceded by a breakfast where NYC Human Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar and Community Service Society Executive Director David Jones discussed how their pioneering fathers – civil rights attorney John Doar and Judge Thomas R. Jones – influenced them personally and professionally.  Part II of From These Roots: The Dream Restored appears next week.

About Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation was established by Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Jacob K. Javits in 1967 as the nation’s first community development corporation. It partners with residents and businesses to improve the quality of life in central Brooklyn by fostering economic self-sufficiency, enhancing family stability and growth, promoting the arts and culture, and transforming the neighborhood into a safe, vibrant place to live, work and visit.

 

Brownsville Searches for Meaning in 1-year-old Antiq Henner’s Gun Death

Mary Alice Miller
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5

By Mary Alice Miller

It was a shooting death that rocked an entire community used to shooting deaths. On Sunday Sept. 1, 16-month-old Antiq Henner was in his stroller with his parents when gun shots rang out. Though Antiq’s father – an admitted “supergang banger” with a lengthy criminal record – was the intended target, little Antiq was shot in the head and was rushed to nearby Brookdale Hospital where he died.

The shooter was 23-year-old Daquan Breland, who lived down the block from Antiq’s Marcus Garvey Houses residence. Daquan Wright allegedly gave the gun to Breland. After the shooting, both fled the state. On the day of Antiq’s funeral, Wilkes-Barre, Penn. Law enforcement found Breland and Wright at the residence of Wright’s sister who was also Breland’s girlfriend.

NYC detectives believe the shooting was in retaliation for a drive-by shooting that took place in July 2012 on Riverdale and Bristol.

Back at the Marcus Garvey Houses, the anger and outrage grew daily. Three days after Antiq’s shooting hundreds of women and children filled Bristol Street chanting “No shooting! No Babies!” as they marched toward the location of the shooting. The women are hurt and angry. But the women don’t seem to have yet processed how they can organize among themselves to address the situation.

The reasons are complex. The women give birth to and raise everybody, including the young men who are engaged in protracted retaliation shootings. These young men and their victims are the women’s sons, intimate partners, and baby daddys. The women and children are under siege and inundated with the gang culture surrounding them.

But there is hope. A few years ago in Columbia the women conducted a Lysistrata-type sex strike to firmly persuade their men to stop the drug-related gang killings. In Liberia the women actively confronted Charles Taylor and those engaged in that country’s protracted civil war. And most recently in India, the women took to the streets demanding prosecutions and more severe penalties for brutal public rapes. The shooting of Antiq might be the spark that ignites the women of Brownsville to engage in changing the violent culture of the community.

In the meantime, Brownsville’s male activists are doing what they can.

Daniel Goodine, a long-time community activist in Brownsville whose son was also killed in a senseless shooting said there used to be a street code: a person was given a pass when he was seen with his family and children. “The women are saying that was a cold m***** f***** who did that,” said Goodine. “The women are saying that he should have never shot at that baby. Everybody is saying the same thing. It was a punk move.”

Goodine explained further. “I don’t know if these cats have a code anymore,” said Goodine. “We allowed this to get out of hand. Somewhere along the line men didn’t take care of young men to tell them what was right and what was wrong. We had a code. Who passed that code down to these cats? Nobody apparently did because it happens.” Goodine may have pinpointed one of the problems. Nobody deals with the emotional life of young men growing up in Brownsville. “I hope that we can change the hearts and minds of people who think an eye for an eye. But self-preservation is law #1. It’s every man and woman for themselves.”

“We are in the process of trying to save some other people’s children so they don’t have to go through what that baby went through. There is a group of concerned members of the community from various developments who have been trying to bring the violence to an end,” said Anthony Newerls, CEO of the Brooklyn Blizzards Youth Organization. These men volunteer their time after work and during the dead of night to diffuse tensions before they erupt into violence. “Sometimes it takes going to the father of troublesome young men to help mediate problems or resolve issues,” said Newerls.

 

Vote for the Future Democratic Primary Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Vote for what matters, Vote for who cares!

Editor, Our Time Press
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Your vote celebrates the lives of pioneers and strivers who came before us, who loved and empowered us, and filled our world with vision, wisdom and joy.

…Godmother of Central Brooklyn Jazz; grand lady of community activism; tireless warrior for aging populations; in the pantheon of great women visionaries who placed Bedford-Stuyvesant on the global map … departed this life on August 29, 2013.

 

Services are Today, Thursday, Sept. 5

The Viewing

2:00p-7:00p

DeKalb Funeral Home

491 DeKalb Ave, corner of Franklin

Brooklyn, New York

 (718) 230-3147

 

The Celebration and Memorium

7:30p – 10:30p

Fort Greene Center/966JAZZ

966 Fulton Street, near Grand Avenue

Brooklyn, New York

(718) 875 1016

 

Mr. Clarence Barber

March 16, 1934 – August 10, 2013

… Collector, Antiquarian,

Community Philanthropist, Entrepreneur,

Real Estate Investor …

 

 

Mr. Richard
P. Habersham-Bey

 

EULOGY

ALMA ROSEBORO DUKE CARROLL

 

 

The sun rose on December 16, 1925 when Alma was born to Macon and Gertrude Roseboro in Asheville, North Carolina.  Raised in Harlem, New York, Alma began community organizing at an early age by marching with Adam Clayton Powell Jr., while attending Sunday School at Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Alma later moved to Brooklyn where she resided for over 55 years.    During those years Alma would continue her civic activism by founding the Pulaski/Nostrand Block Association and the Jazzpazazz Preservation Society. Alma has served as President of the Bedford Stuyvesant Interagency Council of the Aging, The Bedford Stuyvesant Beautification Association, The Magnolia Tree Earth Center, the Tompkins Park Recreational Cultural Association and the 79th Precinct Council.

Alma was also  a producer who started out producing local shows at P.S. 54 headlining the then unknown Persuasions and later becoming a  founding member of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, which has been “keeping our music alive” since 1999.

In between all of her civic endeavors, Alma was a dedicated involved mother.  If her children were involved, so was she.  From being a scout leader to running a summer camp, there was nothing that she wouldn’t do for her children. And there were a lot of children, she was always adopting —  just one more sister or brother for her two bio children.  There are so many that we lost count many years ago.

Of course there were her other true loves, Joe Carroll and Jazz.  Together they founded the Jazzpazazz Preservation Society to give tribute to the Jazz greats of yesteryear.  Over the years many were honored at their annual Billie Holiday Jazz festival such as, Ms. Etta Jones, Mr. Houston Person, Ms. Betty Carter and Ms. Flo Kennedy.  Jazzpazazz also spawned the annual Sagittarius Ball that celebrated the birthdays of Alma Carroll, Joe Carroll, Etta Jones, Scoby Stroman, Kitty Chavis and all Sagittarians.

Alma has received honors, tributes and acknowledgements, to numerous to list individually, from every notable office, agency and politician in New York.  From the Governor of New York State, for her work with the Office of the Aging, to local dignitaries for her tireless efforts to empower seniors, youth and family and  while preserving the rich history  of her beloved Central  Brooklyn.

The sun set on Alma on August 29, 2013 and we know she is already organizing, promoting, producing and working to improve her new community.

Alma is survived by her children, Elliott (Skipp) and Loyce; grandchildren, Loyce Melodee, Danier and Simone; great grandchildren Jameka, Ki, Jazmin, Dj and Diviya.

OOH SHOO

BE DOOBY ALMA!

And be called Thy children, and to dedicate our lives to the service that extends through willing hearts and hands to the betterment of all mankind. We send a cry of Thanksgiving for people of all races, creeds, classes, and colors the world over, and pray that through the instrumentality of our lives the spirit of peace, joy, fellowship, and brotherhood shall circle the world. We know that this world is filled with discordant notes, but help us, Father, to so unite our efforts that we may all join in one harmonious symphony for peace and brotherhood, justice, and equality of opportunity for all men. The tasks performed today with forgiveness for all our errors, we dedicate, dear Lord, to Thee. Grant us strength and courage and faith and humility sufficient for the tasks assigned to us. (Mary McLeod Bethune)

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical and self centered.  Love them anyway!

If you do good, people will accuse of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway!

If you are successful, you will win false fiends and true enemies. Succeed anyway!

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway!

Honesty and frankness makes you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway! Fight for some underdogs anyway!

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway!

People really need help but may attack you if you help them.  Help people anyway!

Give the word the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you’ve got anyway!

Karma@1971

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