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In this engaging conversation, Carmen De La Rosa, a city council member, discusses her new role and responsibilities, the impact of ICE on immigrant communities, and the importance of community rapid response networks. She emphasizes the need for protecting journalists and the challenges of budget management in New York City. The discussion also highlights community wins, particularly in revitalizing local parks, and outlines future priorities for technology access and nonprofit support. Additionally, the need for warming centers during cold weather is addressed, underscoring the importance of community engagement in local governance.
Chapters
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:08 Carmen De La Rosa's New Role and Responsibilities
02:35 Addressing ICE and Community Safety
05:37 Community Rapid Response Networks
07:51 Protecting Journalists and Freedom of the Press
11:10 Budget Challenges and City Management
15:09 Community Wins and Park Developments
19:38 Future Priorities and Community Engagement
22:54 Warming Centers and Community Support
Carmen De La Rosa discusses her new role as technology chair.
The impact of ICE on immigrant communities is a pressing issue.
Community rapid response networks are essential for safety.
Protecting journalists is crucial for democracy.
Budget challenges in New York City affect community services.
Community advocacy has led to funding for local parks.
Future priorities include technology access and nonprofit support.
Warming centers are needed for vulnerable populations during cold weather.
Community engagement is vital for local governance.
The importance of documenting and reporting on community issues.
Creators and Guests
What is Uptown Voices?
A podcast focused on the Uptown neighborhoods of Inwood, Washington Heights and Harlem. Our neighborhoods have a voice and we want to be heard and felt. We love Uptown.
Each episode will elevate the people here who are making a difference in the life of this community. We’re also committed to “real talk” that seeks solutions that improve the quality of life in our beautiful Uptown neighborhoods.
Octavio Blanco (00:00)
Hahaha
Led Black (00:01)
What up, what up, what up everyone, it's Let Black. Happy Black History Month is day one of February. And like my brother Octavio just said, Black History Month is every day uptown. And we have a special guest, our council member, Carmen De La Rosa. Carmen, how you doing sister?
Carmen De La Rosa (00:16)
Hi, good morning. Happy Black History Month.
Led Black (00:20)
That's right, that's right. Octavio, what's up, brother? How you doing, man?
Octavio Blanco (00:23)
doing good, I'm doing good. Good to be here on Sunday. I hope everybody's staying warm, joining us from somewhere cozy, maybe with a nice cup of tea or cup of coffee. Welcome to Black and Blanco.
Led Black (00:36)
Yeah, and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. shows us love and spread that uptown love we need it. Keep spreading that love, y'all. But Carmen, let's get, Carmen.
Octavio Blanco (00:44)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not a root. I want to just remind you
if you haven't done it, let's go live on Instagram. I think you probably did. So welcome to everybody who's joining us on Instagram. Please make sure to join us in the comments. The comments are your friend. The comments is how we know where you're at. let's get it going because we've got limited time here with our guests.
Led Black (00:52)
Yeah.
Kalman, so talk to me, you know, this is a new year for you as well with the new mayor. How has it been so far?
Carmen De La Rosa (01:15)
Yeah, you know, we're adjusting to a new council. We have a new speaker of the city council. We have new committee assignments. We have a new mayor. So, you know, the last few weeks have been quick. You know, in the middle of all of that, we got a storm. We have, ⁓ you know, one of the most historic snowfalls the city has seen at least in the last decade. So making sure that city services are functioning and responsive.
We have been assigned our new committees. I just got elevated to be the technology chair at the city council. Something new for me. Yeah, something new, something different, but I'm excited to bring my little, you know, twist to it. And then obviously, you know, we're looking at the mayoral administration and they're getting their team together. I'm appointing commissioners, deputy mayors, and directors of offices.
Octavio Blanco (01:47)
Congratulations on that. Congratulations.
Led Black (01:48)
Nice, congrats.
Carmen De La Rosa (02:07)
And so we're definitely starting now to kick off with this end of administration sort of what the agenda is going to be that the council is going to focus on.
Led Black (02:15)
And I want to say one thing that at this historic time, at this historic juncture, it feels good to have someone like yourself, you know, representing us. But we got to get right into it. right now, what ICE is doing in Minnesota, you know, is eventually going to come here, you know, to New York City. How is the council and how are you preparing for that?
Carmen De La Rosa (02:35)
Yeah, I mean, it's here, right? Thankfully, we haven't seen any tragedies like the ones in Minnesota, but the tragedies are that communities in our city and families in our city are being broken up every single day. ICE and Homeland Security and ICE and enforcement are violent. We have seen, you know, what's happened in Minnesota and...
I personally send my deepest condolences to the people of Minnesota that have had to endure this in real time and real life with the taking of two lives already. In New York City, just last week, we overrode Mayor Adams' shady ass veto. He vetoed a bill that would have protected sanctuary cities as one of his outgoing gifts to the city council.
Octavio Blanco (03:14)
Mm-hmm.
Carmen De La Rosa (03:22)
a bill that had majority support. So just this week, we actually overrode that veto with unanimous, almost unanimous support in the council. Definitely unanimous from the Democratic side. And so we are prepared to one, make sure that our sanctuary laws stay and that they are robust and that they can protect people. We are also looking as the budget conversations begin.
on how we can augment things like legal services protections. One of the main tools that people who are showing up to courts need is legal representation. Without that, I mean, they're getting deported with that. Imagine if they don't have the opportunity to have legal services on their side. I myself am part of a rapid response network that has been developed sort of as a mutual aid model from across the city.
And anytime, anywhere we are, where ICE is, ⁓ we have groups of people that are showing up there. Because it is important for those of us that have the privilege of being able to put our bodies on the line to do so. And so between, you know, literally forcefully advocating for the resources to protect New Yorkers, to make sure that our hospitals, our churches, our schools remain sanctuary cities, to making sure that legal services protections are there, to just showing up.
Our neighbors need to see us showing up because in this moment, if they don't see that, they feel unsafe. And that fear is real. We've seen a decline in participation of people not wanting to come for services, not wanting to ask for help because they're afraid that if their information gets out there that they could be detained, that they could be deported. mean, we've seen that residents, citizens, black Americans, white Americans, this, this.
brutal force of ICE does not discriminate at this point. They are taking everyone and ⁓ they're doing so in a violent way. So we're here to continue to stand up for our immigrant brothers and sisters for sure.
Octavio Blanco (05:18)
A quick question on the rapid response. think those are such ⁓ useful tools for community members to alert one another and to be able to know where events are, where ICE is operating. If somebody isn't part of a community rapid response, how can they become involved? Where can they find information?
Carmen De La Rosa (05:37)
Yeah, I mean, every community, and this is part of the challenge, every community has like sort of their own little networks that are popping up. Literally neighbors are creating groups among each other's. Black associations are creating groups. There's bigger groups that have their networks. This is all done through like signal chat or WhatsApp or any of those, or even text threads, right? We're just texting people and letting them know where ICE is.
So, you know what I would say if someone is starting from zero and doesn't know how to get involved reach out on social media You could reach out to folks in your community that you see that are advocating that are showing up to protests that are going down to 26 Federal Plaza Reach out to nonprofit organizations uptown. We have for example the coalition for immigrant rights Which is the rebrand of the Northern Manhattan coalition for immigrant rights. We have mimic
We have the Dominican Women's Development Center. We have a bunch of nonprofits, the People's Theater Project that are immigrant-led and immigrant-centered. Reach out to those. Sometimes, you know, I know that there's some churches of worship that are also creating them. So if you're part of a civic association, the community board, you know, just get involved with a neighbor that looks like they're active and most people can plug you in. And if in doubt, reach out to me and I can certainly do that as well.
Octavio Blanco (06:54)
Yeah, and also as an individual to anybody who's watching and you have a network of people, you yourself can be a leader and create that type of network yourself. You can use the tools like the council members said, like WhatsApp and things like that and create your own. Cause those are all very powerful. And then you can find ways to link up with the community ⁓ organizations that are doing this. So thank you very much. I do have a question. You know, we just saw something that this administration
has been doing and is now like augmenting, which is very important to me. And me and Led sometimes joke about the way that we're gonna be broadcasting from Guantanamo one day, but that joke got pretty serious over the weekend when Don Lemon was arrested for ⁓ documenting a protest in Minneapolis. ⁓ You yourself have a very strong track record of protecting journalists. I know that you were
Carmen De La Rosa (07:49)
Mm-hmm.
Octavio Blanco (07:51)
a key person in terms of protecting the daily news when their union was under attack. Are there any plans for the city council to take a look at the protections of journalists and people, especially like independent journalists like me and like Led, who are doing this on our own volition, on our own dime? We don't have a lot of money. So if we get sued or if somebody tries to take us to jail,
You know, we'd be very vulnerable when we feel that very strongly, even though we will continue to do this work as much as we have been and even more. So what kind of discussions, if any, have there been at the city council and in general about protections for journalism?
Carmen De La Rosa (08:33)
Yeah, like you said, you know, last year when I was a civil service and labor chair, I focused a lot on protecting media, specifically during the daily news struggle with ratifying work contracts, because that's what it was about, about making sure that, you know, freelancers, making sure that journalists have the ability to speak freely. You know, we call it the sixth state, right? If the press isn't free, we know what happens. That is a sure sign.
that authoritarianism is in play. And so we want to make sure that journalists are able to continue to do their work. You know, I think that this is why it's important that we do the linkups that we do when we talk, because as you're speaking, I'm thinking of ways that we can do that. You know, as the technology chair, one of the agencies that I now have the privilege of oversight over is MoM.
We got a new, actually a Dominicano who's the new commissioner of MoM, Rafael Espinall, my friend, and I wish him the best. So MoM is actually the agency that gives the press passes to the press. And so as you're speaking, I'm thinking of ways that we can leverage, you know, the oversight powers of the committee in order to do some of that.
Octavio Blanco (09:28)
Yes.
Carmen De La Rosa (09:47)
real granular work of protecting people. At the very least, we know that that agency should have a list of all the press, right? And maybe there are some trainings and maybe there are some roundtables that we can start to hold in order to make sure that the press is able to do their job. You know, for me, when Don Lemon was arrested, I immediately put out a statement. I immediately said something. And I think that that's just as important for us to be using our platforms and our voices to call it out.
Right? ⁓ It's like that, you know, they say like they came for him today, tomorrow they'll come for us. So it's important for us to model that solidarity. And so that's what we've been doing. I think there's way more to do and I'm looking forward to working with you all to try and get some of those conversations going for sure.
Octavio Blanco (10:20)
Thanks.
That's awesome. And as a ex president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, I'm sure that I can also be a good liaison into that community so that we can augment that discussion amongst practitioners of journalism and make sure that they understand as journalists and independent journalists and also journalists who are working in traditional media.
what their rights are and how they can protect themselves. So I thank you for always having journalism and journalists in your mind. It's so important, especially at a time like this.
Carmen De La Rosa (11:07)
For sure, that's how we protect democracy.
Led Black (11:10)
And Carmen, just to switch it up a little bit, Mayor Mamdani just recently announced there was like a $12 billion hole in the budget because of Mayor Adams going to having hookah every day. he was outside every day. Can you explain a little further? I think I had a hard time understanding what happened. Why is there a $12 billion hole in the budget?
Octavio Blanco (11:20)
Hahaha
Carmen De La Rosa (11:21)
Hey, we're not gonna knock the hooker now, but he definitely missed managed some stuff ⁓
Yeah, look,
think that anytime the problem and the problem is will continue, right? Anytime you have an executive and you have the city council, there's a two way negotiation that happens in order to ensure that we have a balanced or so-called balanced budget. One of the things that we saw happen under Eric Adams that, you know, I've been in government now for two decades. I'm not aging myself, but we're getting up there.
⁓ and nine years as an elected official. And I think that with Eric Adams, this was the first time that we kind of saw this type of action where we would pass a budget. He would try in the negotiations with the council to like say, not funding libraries and we'd get stuck on the library funding, library funding, library funding, and we'd have to fight him back. And then we'd get some money reinstated for the library budget. And then we'd move on to something else.
Led Black (12:00)
Mm-hmm
Carmen De La Rosa (12:28)
And he would, as the main negotiator of the city budget, hold on some things and say, we're not going to do this. We're cutting here. And then after the budget passed, after there was a negotiated position, after the council votes for the budget, Eric would come and reinstate monies for certain projects, for certain things, basically unilaterally. And so I think that the...
between that and some of the mismanagement that we've heard, obviously his administration had a lot of corruption in it. We're gonna call it what it was. There was a lot of pet projects and pet things that got priority. Those things add up. And I think that it's important for us to understand that every year we see holes in the budget. I think that what Mayor Mondani
wanted to highlight, and I think that it was a smart political move on his end as well, is that he's inheriting this $12 million hole. And he wanted to make that clear because it means that as we go into budget negotiations starting in February, you know, we're going to have to find that money to plug those holes. And that means that there's going to be certain programs that are not going to get the amount of money that they needed, right? You couple that with what's happening on the federal government level.
where the Trump administration has already threatened to take certain funding away from sanctuary cities or cities who say they're going to remain sanctuary cities. And there is a fiscal crisis that is looming. It is the job of the mayor and the city council, however, to make sure that we're doing our due diligence when it comes to balancing that budget and that the most vulnerable New Yorkers are not the ones who feel it the most. And that's what we're focusing on right now. You know, I am...
working with my colleagues in the Progressive Caucus. And we're going to be putting together a working group to make sure that, you know, we go up to Albany and that we get some of that tax the rich stuff that we need. And we know that, you know, the governor has been talking about taxing the rich and not being all the way on board with all of the tax increases. But I think that this is a moment where the fiscal crisis that looms dictates that we should be responsible and looking at creative ways to make sure that we're bringing that money back into
communities that most need it.
Octavio Blanco (14:42)
Yeah, thank you for that. And I think it's so important. And I think that you've been somebody who's really looking out for our community. And on that on that note, I wanted to hear a little bit from you about some of the wins that that you see coming down the pike. I know that there's been some, you know, wins in terms of money for parks in the neighborhood, especially, I believe, Gorman Park is something that is on a lot of people's minds. And I'd like to understand.
Carmen De La Rosa (15:09)
Yeah.
Octavio Blanco (15:11)
where that stands. And just for those who are just joining us right now, we're talking to District 10 representative Carmen De La Rosa. She is our city council representative here in Inwood and Washington Heights. So yeah, some of the wins and talking a little bit about some of the parks, particularly Gorman Park, if you could give us an update on what's going on there.
Carmen De La Rosa (15:32)
Yeah,
for sure. So all of these updates, you know, are reflective of the last budget that we passed. Obviously we have a new budget that we start to negotiate in February and passes in June, at the end of June. But we have had some wins due to the advocacy of the community and also us working together to make sure that the needs of the community are at the forefront of the work that we're doing in the city council. So, know, Gorman Park is that little park that is right next to
the 191st station, one train station, the tunnel, which is a pet project of mine as well, and across the street from the Ortiz funeral home for those that are geographically getting acquainted with that area. And so that park actually has had a history of needs that have been neglected for many, many years before I became the council member, right? At some point, a retaining wall within that park began to deteriorate and retaining walls, you know, are structural.
And that means that once that happened, Gorman Park was basically condemned and no one was allowed to go inside the park and sort of, you know, it was a throughway. It used to get people from Broadway to Wadsworth. And so no one's able to traverse the park right now. And so when we started having conversations with the Parks Department about Amelia Gorman Park, they told us it's gonna take $20 million in order to get this project.
funded and completed. Just for a sense of context, every council member gets $5 million, $5 million for the whole district. So I would have needed four years of giving all my capital funds for Amelia Govind Park to be fixed. ⁓ And so that number includes the work that needs to be done in order to remediate the wall, as well as the safety precautions in order for the workers to traverse the park as it is.
Octavio Blanco (17:08)
Mm, mm, mm.
Carmen De La Rosa (17:20)
last year in the budget, were able to secure $3 million, to begin sort of, ⁓ working through a first phase of cleanup and accessibility and, ⁓ rehab rehabilitation at a million Goldman park. The goal is to take this park in phases to make it so that people have access to it first and then begin to work on completely rehabilitating, redoing, making it nice.
and making it safe. One of the reasons why this park is a priority for me is because as you all know, unhoused people in our community, unfortunately, they have been seen congregating there. We've seen the use of needle syringes along that park for many, many years. And when you don't give TLC to our public spaces, they become very dilapidated and they become...
places that are unsafe for our community. We want people to be able to enjoy it. And you know, we are grateful that uptown we have so many great parks. I also was able to bring $1.3 million for creating a dog run at Fort Tryon Park that is much needed. We're working on redoing the entrance of Jayhood Ripe Park. There's some accessibility needs there and some ramps that need to be built. So that was 1.5 million.
We're continuing to invest in our historic houses. know, the Morris Jumel Mansion is a mansion that is symbolic of the uptown story. And so we've been able to in phases working with then-Burl President Mark Levine bring some funding to actually redo the Morris Jumel Mansion on the outside, the structural. And this year we also were able to bring in $550,000 for the mansion. And then obviously like,
our public schools. have some of the oldest school buildings in the district. And I really do focus the capital funding from the district on parks projects and schools. And so all the schools got technology upgrades, they got auditorium upgrades, and we were able to bring $3.4 million for that.
Led Black (19:24)
Speaking of Gorman Park, I grew up like down the block from that park. When I was a kid, we used to call it the Devil's Cave, you know, because it was a really dangerous park and it had like a little bit of a rebirth for a little bit, but it's back to where it's at. You know, first of all, I want to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. What are some of your priorities in the coming year?
Carmen De La Rosa (19:30)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so I'm doing a few things. One, you know, we have this co-governance project that we've been trying to get off the ground. And we're finally at a place where we have the structure. And so we're going to be publicly launching that and starting to work in a co-governance way with a District 10 action plan that we hope to launch in the spring that basically is going to talk about all those areas of needs that our community has within District 10.
The goal is that not only on the council side we're able to make a difference, but that city, state, and federal are working in the council district to make sure that those needs are addressed. As technology chair, I'm excited. We're going to be bringing some tech companies to visit some of our schools uptown. want to make sure that, you know, technology is one of those issues where we need to use technology responsible, but there is so much opportunity there.
So I wanna be able to leverage some of the resources that come with being technology chair to bring capacity building to some of our nonprofits uptown. And we wanna do round tables across the city to talk about access to technology and put those round tables in places where technology is not really a conversation that we're having. Some communities get pigeonholed into just talking about services. Services are important, but how do we leverage opportunity? And so we wanna do that with the technology committee.
We're also working on making sure that we continue to fund our schools and our parks. So we'll be hosting another round of town halls that we do in the winter and spring. And then in the summer, we do our pop-ups, Carmen listens. So we'll be coming to blocks around the district to make sure that we're listening to constituents and bringing resources at the same time. And I'm also working on a series of
meetings that we're calling the state of nonprofits in upper Manhattan. One of the things that I'm so focused on is making sure that our nonprofit sector of town is fortified, that our legacy organizations don't disappear. And so we're going to be doing some workshops and trainings with our nonprofits. And obviously, last but not least, our small businesses. We're working on the creation of a new bid from 159th Street to 177th Street.
And we're also working with the Chamber of Commerce to bring some ⁓ much needed support to our uptown small businesses.
Octavio Blanco (22:00)
That's incredible. That's really great. And I want to be sure that me and lead are involved in the ⁓ technology discussions. We have ambitions up here for a uptown digital media community center, something that we would like to to create. And I'm in the process of making sure that uptown voices is part of the nonprofit world. So I'm making moves in that. So I really look forward to having you on the. ⁓
Technology Commission at the City Council. It's a wonderful, wonderful placement. think it's wonderful that you're there. And thank you, thank you so much for joining us. It's 1028. I think we have a couple more minutes. I just wanted to bring something up that ⁓ was a little bit concerning with the cold. Something that I learned was that there's only two warming centers
in New York City. when temperatures get very, cold, the only warming centers are in Midtown and then one in downtown when you're talking about Manhattan. I'm sorry that we saw, I think the number now is 14 deaths because of the cold. I would like to know, is there any discussion about maybe expanding warming centers so that the next time temperatures become so cold, ⁓ people don't...
Carmen De La Rosa (22:54)
Mm-hmm.
Octavio Blanco (23:22)
don't get, don't suffer as much. What are your thoughts on that? And is there any consideration for perhaps, you know, like city parks, rec centers, gyms, things like that to be opened up when temperatures, you know, get so, so cold for so long?
Carmen De La Rosa (23:25)
Yeah and for- go ahead.
Yeah, well, first I'll say that I did reach out to the city about the warming centers and the possibility of expanding. You know, I think that the responses that we're getting from the city, which makes sense, is that the warming center locations were the warming center locations that they were able to quickly put together. We've requested that Uptown be considered as one of those locations, and I'm sure we will have that conversation going forward as the winter weather continues. But the response is that, you know,
Every city shelter in the city of New York during the storm also became a walk-in center. So for example, we have a shelter on 168th Street, we have a shelter on 179th Street. Those shelters ⁓ for the remaining winter days where we have cold blues, the eligibility requirements to get a shelter placement were significantly reduced. So where people, when they wanna get into shelter, had to go downtown and register at the PATH office and then they get...
placed in a shelter, you could literally walk into any of those shelters and get shelter from the cold weather and from the conditions. We also made sure during the storm, and it was something that I was very adamant about, was that we were checking our train stations and making sure that the people who we know are using our train stations as homes, unfortunately, were getting the services that they needed. And so we did have, for me for Uptown, I did have sort of this network of folks that I'm working with.
between the MTA, BRC, the DOT, Department of Social Services, we kind of got on a call and were talking about the pressure points uptown where we know unhoused people tend to congregate. And so we made sure that we had people out there looking and talking to folks and offering services. And as you know, the mayor announced that forced removals were a last resort option.
But we are having the conversation as the entire city begins to debrief the services that happen during the storm. For example, I think that clearing of our bus shelters could have been done in a faster way. still am seeing piles of snow in some bus shelters. So that's something that we need to address. Also, our crosswalks, right? We have so many people in our community that are disabled, that are on walkers, that have strollers and...
our crosswalks were very hard to access. So the day after the storm, I walked around the district and I actually sent some locations and said, hey, we need reinforcements here. So that's how the debrief is happening. We're gonna continue to work with the city to make sure that uptown gets its fair share. And that's my responsibility and I'm committed to that. So we're gonna keep talking to them about the possibility of having more warming sensors. In the same way we have cooling centers in the summer. You know, our libraries become cooling centers and all of that.
Octavio Blanco (26:11)
Exactly.
Led Black (26:15)
Well, Carmen, thanks for being so responsive to the community and thank you for fighting a good fight with us. And you know you have open doors here, so whenever you want, you can come on and we have this, you know, this brief kind of catch up. I think it's important for the people of this community. So thank you for everything you do. Appreciate it.
Carmen De La Rosa (26:30)
For sure,
it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. It's always a dope time talking to both of you, seeing you all around the community. And I'm so grateful for the platform and for the friendship as well.
Octavio Blanco (26:41)
Yeah, yeah, you're welcome here anytime. And we're, you know, we're here for for you. We're here for the community. We're all about getting people connected, making sure that folks are not just hearing but also getting activated and taking part in their own community. And I think that's a good segue for our next guest who is Liz Ritter. Liz Ritter is well, she's
Led Black (26:41)
Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.
Octavio Blanco (27:05)
part of the community board for parks and culture, although she's here as a neighbor more than anything. She's not speaking for the community board, she's speaking for herself, but she's been a key person for many, years here making sure that...
that the people's voices are being heard from the community board level. So thank you, Liz, for joining us. And today I think is very important because for the folks who live ⁓ near the west side of Washington Heights in the 180s, we've got a park here right next to the entrance to the George Washington Bridge.
Led Black (27:40)
Liz.
Octavio Blanco (28:00)
That is a beautiful little pocket park. It's intended for children. But for the last, gosh, I don't know, is it like five years? It has been closed and Liz Ritter has been one of the key voices trying to make sure that this park, which is so precious to the community, is reopened. So Liz, welcome to the show. Tell us what...
Tell us a little bit about this park and update us on what the situation is there.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (28:32)
Well, thanks for having me on. Can you see me? Can you hear me? Because I can't tell from my screen.
Led Black (28:36)
Yeah,
we can hear you and can see you Liz.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (28:39)
Fantastic. And also thank you for that disclaimer because I am not speaking for the community board, but obviously my 29 year membership on the board is a big part of my activism in this community. The Dolphin Park is this wonderful, wonderful, just really sweet, very special little space that was created
Octavio Blanco (28:57)
You
Liz Ritter (she/her) (29:06)
by the Port Authority as a gift to the community at the urging, some might say dragging of Jean Lee Poggi, who is no longer with us, but at the time was the founder and the executive director of the West 181st Street Beautification Project. They are called that because she was for many years a steward of the Step Street.
on ⁓ that connects Pinehurst Avenue. It's the step extension of Pinehurst Avenue from where it ends to 181st Street. And there are terraced gardens on either side. And part of what she was doing with those gardens was bringing people, members of the community, particularly children from the community, into civic engagement and public works and beautification.
as way of getting them onto the right path of like working in community with each other for something that made the community a better place. She saw two things happening at that area of Cabrini Boulevard between 181st and 180th Street. One was a lot of drug dealing and a lot of kids getting pulled into that. This would be in the 90s. A lot of kids getting pulled into like drug running,
and supporting that economy. She also saw an abandoned vacant lot that was part of the adjacent right of way of the GW bridge on ramp. And in her mind, she thought, you know, wouldn't it be great if this were a public park, a little toddler playground where we could have a safe space for children to play and also a place to bring
older children and teenagers into stewardship of a public area and supervision of small children. Brilliant. Brilliant. And she iron fist in velvet gloves, the port authority, she shamed them into doing the right thing. was a beautiful thing to watch. And ⁓ she was a Buddhist.
Octavio Blanco (31:07)
You
Led Black (31:15)
You
Liz Ritter (she/her) (31:17)
So she was really very good at very gently explaining to people why her path was the right way. So fast forward a bunch of years later, and she's continually making sure the Port Authority is funding this thing and maintaining this thing, and that our state elected officials are continuing to make sure the Port Authority does the right thing.
And then of course, the Port Authority has this, don't quote me on it, I want to say $80 billion 10 year program to fix the bridge, open up that wonderful bike path. So they closed the park while they were doing that construction. COVID happened, Gene Lee died. The 181st Street Beautification Project is not in the same structure that it is now. And so the Port Authority
Led Black (31:57)
of.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (32:13)
did not reopen the park. They maintained it, but they did not reopen it.
So now we have a whole bunch of people who want to see it reopened. The Port Authority had been waiting for a nonprofit community partner to step in in the same way that Jean Lee had done and that the beautification project had done. I don't know that that is necessary for the reopening of the park. It's probably an important part of keeping the park sweet the way it was before.
But at this point, through a lot of activism, a lot of back channeling, a lot of elected officials talking to their connections at the Port Authority, a lot of guys like Octavio ⁓ really goading public opinion to the right place, the Port Authority is on record as committing to reopening the park in the spring. So that's where we're at. That's a really long answer to a short question.
Octavio Blanco (32:59)
Hahaha
Led Black (33:10)
That's amazing.
Octavio Blanco (33:14)
No, it's great. It's really, it's really good. And what I know is that Community Board 12 has passed a resolution, am I correct, that they're going to distribute to the elected officials, both our state elected or city electeds, because this is a very sort of like complicated little
Liz Ritter (she/her) (33:26)
Yes.
Octavio Blanco (33:38)
part of city government. ⁓ The Port Authority is not a city agency. It's not exactly a state agency. Like, for example, it's not a New York state agency. It's this hybrid New York and New Jersey agency. But that allowed things to fall through the cracks. we have been here kind of in the past where we've been very excited that there's going to be a date.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (33:41)
Okay.
Octavio Blanco (34:03)
that when the park is going to open only to be sort of let down when it doesn't open. So what I what I appreciate about the community board is that they are asking for our electeds to think out of the box and to have some accountability for Port Authority to make sure that this that this actually does happen. Do you do see that as a have has this resolution been distributed yet? And what a
Do you know if you could speak to that?
Liz Ritter (she/her) (34:33)
⁓ yeah, so I'm not look, I'm not watching videos. I have two screens and one of them has the text of the of the resolution that that the board passed last week, which we passed, by the way, unanimously. So there was everybody is in agreement. So there were some edits to the to the resolution. I sent that to the office.
⁓ on Friday, I do not know if it has been sent out yet. Maybe it has, maybe it won't go out until, this week. There's a lot going on in the office and, and we are between district managers. Our new district manager hasn't started yet. So there's two people in the office kind of holding it down. but the, the reso gives some history, that I sort of recapped at the beginning of this segment.
Octavio Blanco (35:08)
Yeah, yeah.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (35:25)
And it calls on the agency, on the Port Authority. And by the way, you're right. It's not an agency, it's an authority. Authorities run a little bit differently than agencies. I've often said I have an authority problem. A lot of my government beefs are with the Port Authority, the Transit Authority, the School Construction Authority, the Housing Authority. Totally an authority problem.
but I digress. So we're calling on all of our elected officials to continue to work with each other and with the Port Authority, which is a little redundant because frankly, they've all stepped up. Al Taylor and many de los Santos have stepped up. Adriano Espeyat, who is a federal official but has a long history with the Port Authority and with the Dolphin Park.
from back when he was a state senator, Robert Jackson, they've all stepped up. There was a little conversation about it at a town hall on Thursday that was sponsored by Al Taylor and we were joined by Robert Jackson. They both restated their commitment to the park. So I think we do have all of our electeds on our side. One of the things that I wanna make clear and the resolution doesn't address this by design,
is that this is the Port Authority's property. It is not New York City Parks Department property. So it's not going to be maintained by New York City Parks. It's not budgeted for by New York City Parks. And Assemblymember De La Rosa, excuse me, Councilwoman De La Rosa has been a strong advocate for this park, but it's a state thing, not a city thing. So...
know, we always have to be mindful of which branch of government is responsible for the thing that we're complaining about or advocating for. This is a state thing. So we want to lean mostly on our state senator and our state assembly member. But we've requested, the community board has requested that consistent with the Port Authority's commitments that
They keep that commitment to open up in the spring, that they continue to update us as to what's going on. We would love for them to work with us to help fund a community partner who would provide some of that enhanced programming that the beautification project used to do. But the reopening of the park is not contingent on finding such an organization. And lastly,
Just as an aside, we would love for the Port Authority to rename this park in Gene Lee's memory.
Led Black (38:09)
That's amazing. This is a small park, but a big victory. And thank you for what you're doing. But again, one of the things is also how do you keep it from, there's a lot of intravenous drug users because of this whole corridor. How do you keep that from kind of defiling that little park?
Liz Ritter (she/her) (38:29)
Well, speaking personally, I think that's part of why, know, part of what Jean Lee's model really made work was that park was locked and then it was opened when it was staffed. So unlike other parks where, you know, it's open during the day and people do whatever they do, this was only open.
when there were adults and lots of children and teen supervising and dedicated programming. So there just wasn't really the opportunity for people to go and use or drink or publicly defile or behave inappropriately in a way that just is not what you should be doing around very small children. So I think that is why, that was the thinking.
that drove wanting to find a community partner to help provide some of that augmented programming. You know, the other part that keeps it safe is I want to go back to something that Carmen said when she was on in the earlier segment. She said, when you don't give TLC to public spaces, they become dilapidated. And she was speaking in the context of
financial TLC and capital funding that her office provides. But she and all of our elected officials and all of the people who live near the park, who have businesses near the park, they're providing the TLC, the eyes and ears, the, what are you doing? Don't do that. Let me go out there with a trash grabber and pick up some things that are flying around on the sidewalk out in front of it. We as a community, the them that takes care of these things.
is us. The them is us.
Led Black (40:16)
Right.
Octavio Blanco (40:16)
Yeah.
Led Black (40:17)
Yeah.
Octavio Blanco (40:18)
And there's a... Go ahead, you go ahead. I was just gonna...
Led Black (40:18)
I just want to say real quick. Go ahead. No, go ahead. Go ahead. I just want to say that area. That area is so interesting, right? Because you're so right about what you're saying that like we take care of that area, right? Because it's interesting on when you're looking at it, you know, you're looking at the North Walk, right? And on the side where where the park is, there's always like a group of like older ladies and older men and they're drinking alcohol, but they're having a good time.
They make sure they clean up, right? They have the music blasting, but it keeps it from other things happening there. And on the other side of the North Walk right there is where you have like a lot of like a little community of like Latino bike riders, right? And you're right, like that keeps that park from going, you know, from going the wrong way. So you're 100 % right about that. Go ahead, Octavio.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (40:57)
Mm-hmm.
Octavio Blanco (41:07)
No, I was just going to say, and there is ⁓ a community group that's been forming. It's very grassroots Friends of Dolphin Park. You know, maybe ⁓ with the help of the of the Port Authority there, there could be funding so that the Friends of Dolphin Park might be able to become a 501 C3 and an official kind of kind of thing. But I know that there's a lot of people on that on that chat and I'm in that group that are very interested in.
in participating. So the fact that there are a lot of, there is a lot of community support for this little park. And I think that if it were to be reopened and there was life there again, we would see a lot of that come to life as well. It will be a net positive for the neighborhood.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (41:52)
Yeah, I mean...
Money is a factor here, but what constitutes a little bit of money or a lot of money really depends on who you're asking. So the Port Authority is an enormous, enormous agency with a huge budget. So what for them is like not even pocket change, but the penny you throw on the ground, not the, you know,
Octavio Blanco (42:17)
Yeah, it's the lint in their pocket.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (42:21)
Yeah,
it's really the lint in their pocket. That very small amount of money directed to a nonprofit organization once it's founded, or if there's an existing one that's interested in some stewardship of the park, pays for coloring books and crayons and little stipends to kids to babysit other kids or read them stories or whatever. mean, whatever the programming is.
$5,000, $10,000 is a lot of money to a small organization that's entirely volunteer run and is just buying the stuff and providing small stipends, whereas it's nothing to a big agency. And I imagine there are, as in the days of the beautification project, there are neighbors such as ourselves who are happy to contribute 10, 20, 100 bucks to an organization that's doing this work.
So I don't think money is the primary obstacle. think starting an organization and keeping an organization going is a lot of committed work. And I think we're just about there. But it's a lot of work. And I think that if we have buy-in from the Port Authority,
the support of our electeds, the collective support of a community, I think we can get there.
Octavio Blanco (43:42)
Definitely.
And speaking of volunteers, I just wanted to thank you, Liz, and I want to thank all of your colleagues at the community board because one thing that folks may not know is that the community board is run by volunteers. Everybody there has their day job or their day life, and then they go and they take care of business after hours, making sure that the community's voice.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (44:06)
Mm-hmm.
Octavio Blanco (44:08)
is being represented, advocated for, there so that there's accountability for what happens in our neighborhoods, whether it be parks, whether it be transportation, whether it be homes, whether it be public safety. So I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank you for your volunteering and your citizenship. And I encourage all of our viewers, this is one thing that I encourage, me and Led encourage on every episode is like,
Get involved in your community. And one great place to do that is at the very granular level at the community board. Even if you're not gonna be a member, attend some of the meetings, whether it be virtual or in person. In person is better, I'll take it from me. It goes a long way when they see you in person. But yeah, they have all the meetings are available on Zoom, on YouTube. So please be informed, stay informed, stay alert, especially now as our communities
are being attacked by our own government. It's so important that our citizens stay informed and stay alert. It's not just about immigration. That's a huge issue. But our funding is being cut from the federal level. Our education is being threatened from a federal level. So it all starts on the local level by participating and being a voice. And then it trickles up. So thank you, Liz.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (45:31)
I want to say just give a thank you for the plug for the community board. I do want to say that we have, in this case, people are wondering like, what exactly do we do? We have an advisory role. We don't have power, but we have, we don't have a lot of authority, but we do have soft power, bringing people together to have conversations like the organic conversation that happened around the dolphin park that moves.
people into action. have a Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee, aging, licensing that takes care of bars, restaurants, taxis, and cannabis shops, traffic and transportation, housing and human services, youth and education, land use, health and environment, public safety, and then we have an executive committee that consists of the six officers of the boards.
of the board and all of the chairs of the committees. Applications for community board membership are open. If you go to nyc.gov and go down to the borough president, Manhattan borough president's link, you can go to Brad Hoylman Siegel's office link and then there should be a link there to learn more about community boards and to join a community board.
And yes, you are 100 % correct that decisions are made by the people who show up. And while I think I can comfortably speak for my fellow community board members that we do our best to represent not only our own perspectives, but the things that we hear as we're out and about in the community, we also need folks to just come to the meetings. There's no way you're not going to be interested in something. And it's a...
It's great human theater and it's democracy at the most local level. And I'm just sick. Can you see my mug? We the people. That's what it's about.
Octavio Blanco (47:21)
I see it, yes.
Led Black (47:21)
We the people,
we the people.
And Liz, thank you so much. And you really do be out and about. I run into you everywhere. I run into you at 101 Cabrini. I run into you in the massage place that my wife and I go to like weekly, Undykement. So thank you for being, you know, this kind of person that just really does father. So thank you so much, Liz. And you can come back anytime soon as well. So you know, you got open doors here as well. Thank you.
Liz Ritter (she/her) (47:40)
Thank
Sounds good.
Right on. Thanks so much.
Octavio Blanco (47:49)
Thank you, Liz.
Led Black (47:50)
You got it.
Octavio Blanco (47:50)
All right, lead. the comfort the conversation continues Liz. Thank you very much. I We're about to hit the hour and five minutes, so we are gonna continue chatting ⁓ Instagram is gonna shut us down because it only gives us about an hour. I've put up the link for our YouTube page that's where you can go and ⁓
Led Black (47:51)
So one thing I, what are you gonna say? Yeah, go ahead.
Octavio Blanco (48:15)
and continue the conversation with us. It's youtube.com slash at Uptown Collective. And while you're there, please subscribe. That's where we're gonna be continuing this conversation from 11 on. But Led, thank you. Thank you again. How are you feeling after that?
Led Black (48:38)
Thank you, brother. Thank you.
It feels great. had like two important guests, and it's important that we have these conversations on a weekly basis. Shout out to everyone on tuning in. And like Artagas said, we're gonna keep talking, so make sure you hit up the YouTube. And there's a lot to talk about still, you know what I mean? Like it's funny because I went with the wife on Thursday to see a movie called, the Story, Please. It is the story of democracy now.
And I think, you know, Democracy Now needs like a uptown voice as PSA. Democracy Now is the most important news show ever. It comes on at eight o'clock every weekday, Monday through Friday, and it's Amy Goodman as well as Juan Gonzalez and Nermy Shake, they're the anchors. But again, it is the most important news source in the world, and it's gonna be 30 years this April, and the movie's gonna come out in April, but I got to see it, so it's in the film circuit run.
But again, like, it's funny, a few years ago, my wife said she got me, she got us tickets to go see Amy Goodman at, I think the theater, the museum of the theater, the museum of city of New York. And I remember I told my wife that morning, said, listen, don't get mad, but when I see Amy, I'm gonna tell her I love her. You know what I mean? And I did, you know, Amy Goodman is just such a hero to journalism, to, for Americans. And the movie really illustrates that, right?
She talked about, for example, East Timor. Indonesia had been in there like 17 years, just basically pillaging and oppressing those people in East Timor. And the mainstream press did not cover it for 17 years. And then Amy went there with Alan Nurn and they got beat up by the Indonesian military. And all of a sudden it became this cause.
she put it on the national radar. There was also a story before Democracy Now when she was working at WBI and there was a black man who was arrested in the 30s because the Klan came to his house and he killed two Klan members and he was given like life sentence and he was languishing there until Amy put it on the air and the man ended up being freed and he went on the show and spoke to her and he cried. And again, this is so important as we enter.
this phase of authoritarianism that we stay informed. So I just gotta say Democracy Now is the most important show to watch every day Monday through Friday, eight o'clock. It goes on live at eight o'clock, but you could always watch it on their YouTube or on their website. So democracynow.org is super important and I just wanna keep emphasizing that. I watch it every day. If I miss it, I go back and watch it. Super important.
Octavio Blanco (51:29)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and, well, me and my wife, Kathy, are fans. Kathy and I, Kathy is actually the biggest fan in the house. I mean, I'm a big fan, but Kathy watches it every day as well. And we were lucky enough this past summer, we went to Maria Hinojosa's birthday party. Maria Hinojosa is a luminary Latina journalist.
Lives, she used to live in Washington Heights. She lives in the Upper West Side now. She operates out of Harlem. And she had Amy Goodman at her party. So we actually sat with Amy Goodman for a while at her table with her dog. She was the sweetest, most down to earth person we, yeah, it was, it was, it was really, really great. We got it. We even got our selfie with her.
Led Black (52:12)
Sazu, Sazu's the name of the dog.
Octavio Blanco (52:20)
and all that good stuff. you know, it's when you talk about independent journalism, Democracy Now is the original gangster independent journalism. You know, we're doing our thing here, trying to trying to bring independent journalism to uptown. And we're doing it little by little, one step at a time. And we're going to keep expanding our efforts. But Amy Goodman and Democracy Now definitely have been has been doing it for a minute.
And it's so important. And thank you for for bringing that up to our audience. If you're not watching it, please tune in. You'll learn a thing or two because she covers topics that are not often covered by traditional media like East Timor and other places that, you know, you you don't realize there's a lot happening in this world beyond what you're seeing on the traditional media. So, yeah, man.
Led Black (53:10)
Yep. And then we
got it. We only got like two minutes left on this IG live. So make sure you go to our YouTube channel. You could go to the link and buy an uptown collective because we got a lot to talk about still. You know what mean? I want to talk about Latinos for Trump again. Right. Like so there's a lot to talk about. You know, I want to say this about Latinos for Trump. I think Latinos for Trump has to be one of the stupidest things in history. Right. It's like it's like Jews for Hitler.
It's like chickens for McNuggets, right? It is the stupidest thing in history. it's cut right exactly, you know what mean? It's one of those dumbest things that have ever, transpired. And I think now, you know, we're feeling the effects of it and, you know, I will vote for Donald Trump, right? Like that fucking really silly shit, you know what I mean? There's a guy I saw, a Cuban guy who had a Trump tattoo on his neck.
Octavio Blanco (53:37)
Yeah.
Cockroaches for raid.
Led Black (54:06)
Right. Trump, he took a huge, well, he just got deported to Cuba. And he's going to be in Cuba, with a fucking tattoo of Trump in Cuba. Right. So it's like, you know, I think again, back to how stupid it was, it's, you know, I think the first law of nature is self-preservation. Right. So I'm so disappointed, you know, that we did this to ourselves. Right. We chose this, you know, and that's what really bothered. But I'm also heartened by the fact that
Octavio Blanco (54:11)
Get the hell out of it with the tattoo.
Led Black (54:35)
You know, people are regretting now. You know, that regret is starting to set in. People are finally starting to wake up. And I think that's a good thing. And like I said before, I'm not closing the doors to anyone that was a Trump supporter. But again, I'm just not trusting your judgment. You know what mean? Your judgment was off. You know what I mean?
Octavio Blanco (54:52)
You know what I got to say though, and I said this the other day and I'm going to say it again, let you have been on point and right about all of this stuff that's been going on. People, think originally in the beginning of this administration thought, it's not going to be so bad. it's not going to happen to me, especially Latinos for Trump. They're like,
Led Black (55:02)
Thank you.
Octavio Blanco (55:16)
this is happening to those other people. I'm Cuban, so I'm safe. I've been in this country for 20 years, so I'm safe. It's those other people. It's those other people. I think I saw something that you posted about people with green cards, how they see themselves versus people without it. That was hilarious. But it's so true. People think, I'm above this. I'm...
Led Black (55:34)
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's true.
Octavio Blanco (55:41)
I'm safe and guess what? It's coming around and you're not safe. And guess what? Nobody is safe. doesn't even matter if you're beige, you know, or it doesn't even matter if you're white. It doesn't even matter if you're black. It's anybody who stands up to the regime is fair game. And we've seen it now with the tragic consequence of people being murdered on the street by their own.
Led Black (55:47)
Yeah.
No one.
Octavio Blanco (56:09)
freaking government. It's ⁓ if you don't, you know, if you're somebody who's right wing, who's on the right wing, and you're not shocked by what you're seeing on the streets of America today, then you are living in a delusional state of mind. Because all those things that the right wing supposedly, supposedly stands for freedom,
Led Black (56:11)
Mm-hmm.
That's fine.
Octavio Blanco (56:39)
freedom of expression, freedom to bear arms, freedom, all these things that they say that they are for, they're seeing them being infringed upon and they're not up in arms, then you are deluded.
Led Black (56:54)
Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah. And you're not safe in your churches, you're not safe in your schools, you're not safe in hospitals, no one is safe. You're not safe if you're undocumented, if you have some type of status, or if you're a citizen, right? And you're not safe if you're a child. Look at Liam Ramos, right? Like, this kid is five years old, you know what mean? And he's basically despondent, right? Like, he's uncommunicative. He's a little kid with all this energy. When they went to visit him not too long ago, he slept the whole time.
This is a crime against humanity. And I think that we're finally waking up. And I think it's important to understand history, because I think that's the big problem, right? Unfortunately, too many Latinos don't have a sense of history of this country. They don't know what's happened in this country, right? And for example, there's a film on Netflix that I saw with the entire family. It's actually a documentary series. I think it's The Rise of Hitler and the Nazis. I'm not sure of the exact name.
But it's important to watch because you see how Hitler went, know, capitalize on a society that was somewhat liberal, somewhat progressive, but just kind of like, you know, not being vigilant and how quickly, how quickly, you know, he took over and rammed his horrible ideas down the throat. But another thing that people want to, you know, sometimes people think, ⁓ the Nazis.
you know, that it's foreign, but actually the Nazis got many of their ideas from America, right? The genocide, yeah, the genocide of the Native Americans, the basically apartheid of black Americans, all those things come into play. so, you know, when people say it can't happen here, it's had always happened here. It has always been fascism for people of color. It's now just coming for everyone. And someone said, you know, it's...
Octavio Blanco (58:24)
Yeah, they were using, yeah.
Led Black (58:47)
it's people being niggerized, right? The whole country is being niggerized. And I can say that I'm a black person before you get upset, you know what mean? But not you, Tommy, but other people. But that's what's happening is like everyone is, the system is showing its true face. And we have to now more than ever, solidarity is super important and understanding history, understanding that these things can happen here. And also that the,
the oppression and the bad faith politics that we exported abroad, right? The installation of dictators, the completely destroying of economies. We did that around, I don't even wanna say we, America did that around the world and now it's coming back here and we're living in really perilous times.
Octavio Blanco (59:35)
Can you can you unpack a little bit what that means the what you were you were describing or just a second ago where you were talking about that that with that word that I don't like to say? What does that mean that we're being?
Led Black (59:49)
Mm-hmm.
Well, what I'm saying is that, for so long, you know, Black and brown people have felt the impact of Americanism. We felt it, and we've been in the front lines, right? You know, the prisons are full of us, right? And, you know, we would kill... We could get killed indiscriminately any day, you know what I mean? Like, how many people, George, feel like... You start forgetting the names of Black people that have been killed by the police, right?
But we've entered a new phase of this, right? I've always felt that the system really never cared about white people either. It doesn't care about any of us. It cares about profit and control. And I think that's becoming obvious, right? It's becoming obvious. They killed two white people, two white American citizens, like within weeks of each other, right? And one was, it was interesting, they're both 37 years old, but they were young, idealistic people looking out for their community.
Right? And what's interesting with Alex Preti, he actually had an encounter with them a week before where they broke his ribs. Right? So if you look at it that way, he was already being followed. Right? They knew who he was. And to me, it seems more like an assassination than something that just kind of transpired. Right? He was on their radar and they got rid of him. But what I'm trying say is like, and they were called domestic terrorists. Right? So it just shows you that this kind of thing is spreading.
And also they have apps now where they take a picture of you, right? And not only are you in the database, right? But I saw a story today actually where a woman, you know, she had like an encounter because she was following them. They said, don't unfollow me. And they took a picture. Within a few days, she got a letter saying that her, like her early, the TSA like early screening thing was canceled, right? So it's not theoretical anymore. Like the government.
Octavio Blanco (1:01:38)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. And also,
and also, and also the, uh, the, the, the investigations into what's going on are being swept under the table, something that our community also understands very well, that you get accused of something and then it's just true, you know, they don't get investigated. And that's what they're trying to do with both of these people who, that they, the government is, is apparently opening an investigation.
against, you know, in the pretty situation. But ⁓ in the good situation, I don't know that that investigation has gone anywhere. I think we saw in both cases that before there was any kind of investigation, the government was already saying what had happened, right? They had already there was no investigation. There was no there was no due process. Christine Noem and the rest of her ghouls were out there spreading lies and misinformation.
And if it wasn't for our cell phone cameras that were capturing all of this, most of Americans would have believed them because most Americans think that their government speaks truthfully. And maybe it did in the past, but as people of color know, that's not the case. So think about the times when so many African-Americans were complaining about being brutalized by police after their
being pulled after being pulled over for, you know, having a light out or for speeding. It was only with the with the prevalence of of of of phones, smartphones with cameras and then that we started to see that this was actually true. This was actually happening. But unless we had that evidence, most people in America weren't going to believe that individual and they would believe the government's
story. So now we're seeing that this government definitely is lying to us, that they are not investigating. And I think, ⁓ again, this should be a wake up call for people to get involved and to stand up because it's just not right. And unless we do stand up, it's going to keep happening. We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines anymore.
Led Black (1:03:57)
You know, it's funny, I saw a thing on Instagram that said, no one thought the revolution would start in Minnesota except for Prince. you know, I think that's funny, you know, in a sense, because it does feel really true, Minnesota and the way Minnesotans have looked out for one another, right? And that's why I think that like, Renee Good and Alex Pretti should be like almost like revered in that sense, right? Because,
Octavio Blanco (1:04:04)
Yeah.
Led Black (1:04:22)
They didn't say, hey, I'm white, this doesn't concern me. They said, no, I'm white and I care about this country and I need to change things. I need to protect my neighbors. So I want to shout out everyone in Minnesota who's really pushed the envelope, really showed us what is happening in this country. I saw on Think Today, said Trump orders federal agents to stay away from protests in Democrat cities. I think that's.
solely because of what happened in Minnesota. That doesn't mean that they're gonna stop doing whatever they're do. They're gonna do, you know, what they do. But again, I think it's a big victory and I think something that needs to be applauded. think it's super, super important. And so thank you to Minnesota. Thank you for leading the way and showing us what can be done and how we do it. And again, I think, you know, Los Angeles has been a flash point as well. You know, and that's LA, you know, Chicago and New York. think New York has been kind of,
Octavio Blanco (1:05:10)
Chicago.
Led Black (1:05:15)
more, they've done some public stuff and I think it backfired tremendously. So they've been, it's been a little bit more, more measured, but still I think it's important for us to stand together for the onslaught that's got to come.
Octavio Blanco (1:05:23)
Yeah.
Yeah, this is this is not over. It's clear that they're that that they've done something that they are that they got called up called out on and they're recognizing it and they're pulling back a little bit in some areas. But the actual like, you know, initiatives, the arrests, the going door to door
That's going to continue. In New York, there is a New York for All is a state bill that looks to protect New Yorkers of all types from ICE and from federal incursion. Even our governor Hockel, is, although she hasn't fully gotten behind New York for All,
She has moved to the left on a lot of issues dealing with immigration, more to the left than she had been previously. So there is a bill in the state assembly, which our district senator, Robert Jackson, is pushing for. He's going to be on the show, not live, but we're going to be speaking to him.
this week and we're to be publishing that piece on Tuesday and I'm sure he's going to be speaking about New York for all in that interview amongst other things. So please tune in on Tuesday when we'll have Robert Jackson for the full hour talking about his story and his representation up town and also how he's going to be, what he's pushing in Albany.
to protect immigrants and to protect New Yorkers. So we're on top of this. We're gonna keep being on top of this. And our audience, hope that you will find time to get involved in some way, whether it be through volunteering at a nonprofit in your community, or it be attending a community board, or it be going to a protest. Please do that because...
together we are strong, but when it's just one of us, we feel vulnerable. when you go, so I'll tell you this, I did go to a protest, a No Kings protest. It was me and my wife, and we went, not last weekend, but the weekend prior, it was down Fifth Avenue. It was a No Kings. And I went there because I support the movement, to be clear, and also to document the movement.
And I will say this, it was a really, really nice experience. And I got to scream and yell and get that anger out in a constructive way. Sometimes we feel so much anger and we don't have a way to let it out in a way that's not violent, in a way that's not destructive.
Led Black (1:08:14)
destructive.
Octavio Blanco (1:08:16)
⁓ going to a protest is really cathartic. You'll go out there and you, you scream and yell your head off and you tell them what you, what you want to say. And then at the end of the day, you know, you feel better because number one, your voice literally was heard. And number two, you've got a lot of that energy out of your system. So you can think clearly about what's the next thing that you need to do. How is it that you're going to be involved next? So I encourage anybody who's interested to go.
to a protest peacefully, but to make sure that your voice is heard and scream your head off.
Led Black (1:08:51)
Yeah, I agree. think, you know, now is the time to coalesce and activate and organize. I think the way you spoke about earlier, the rest of Don Lemon and there was another black journalist from Atlanta. I think her last name is Fox. She was arrested too. And again, they're just there in Minnesota covering.
Octavio Blanco (1:09:04)
Yeah. Yeah.
Led Black (1:09:10)
the protests, right? So think about that. And I think he's being charged with something to do with the Klu Klan, which is so ironic that a black gay man, right, is, you know, they're using this against him. But I think the regime is flailing. And I think that the end game is to suspend elections. I think that's what they're going for. They don't want the midterms. And I think that's super serious. So we have a few months. You know, these things happen quickly. Trump has...
Octavio Blanco (1:09:17)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Led Black (1:09:38)
No, he doesn't believe in any. He said like a week or so ago that the only limits are his own morality. Right. That's a dictatorship. Right. We're we're basing life in this on this planet. Right. Because the United States is that important on Trump's morality. Right. That's a bad place to be. And I think more people are waking up every day and realizing that we're in this really tough place. Like when you're arresting Don Lemon. Right. Like Don Lemon.
Like he's not Che Guevara, right? He's Don Lemon, right? You know what mean? Like he's just a journalist and he went to a church. Cause the head pastor is like the rector of ICE in that region.
Octavio Blanco (1:10:08)
Yeah.
Well, well, he he
he went to the church because he was covering protesters who were going into the church. He didn't go to the church. If those protests. Yeah. If protesters hadn't gone to the church, Don Levin wouldn't have barged into that church and asked all those questions. He was covering the protesters. We have to be clear. So, you know, because because he was doing journalism, he wasn't doing
Led Black (1:10:27)
to protest, right?
Yeah.
Octavio Blanco (1:10:43)
And, know, journalism now, know, everybody has their bias and we know, you know, obviously Don Lemon has his advocacy voice and so do we, but that's clear. But he didn't go to that church of his own volition. He was covering a protest.
Led Black (1:10:58)
Right.
And it's interesting that they went after independent journalists, right? Because the more established ones, it will be more of a issue. So he went for like low hanging fruit. But again, that shows you what they're willing to do. Right. They are willing to do whatever and, you know, consequences be damned. So I think that his arrest, it should really, you know, light a fire on the people that this regime is not playing.
and it has an end game in mind and we could all, we've already lost so much and they want to, still they wanna take away more. I think that's super serious.
Octavio Blanco (1:11:34)
Yeah, and one of the ways that people can get involved if they want to protect the election is to volunteer at your polling booth. You you can work the polls, you know, and you can be in there and you can make sure that your own eyes and ears and our own eyes and ears and that you're making sure that no funny business happens. you know,
many elections are going to be close and congressional control could come down to a handful of races. So local disruption in our local elections would, could impact who gets into the White House. So, you know, that means if you can work the polls, work the polls. That also means going groups.
If you have neighbors and you guys want to go together, go together. Don't go just by yourself. Make sure that you're reporting what you see at the polls, if you see some malfeasance. This is a little while ⁓ in the future, but it's definitely something to be aware of, because it's going to be here before we know it. And we need to start thinking about making sure that we're
Led Black (1:12:33)
Mm-hmm.
Octavio Blanco (1:12:47)
that we're aware. I think in New York City, obviously, we're insulated. So this is more so for our listeners in places like North Carolina, South Carolina, our listeners in Texas, listeners in Florida, places where the congressional races are very, very tight. know, make sure that you're out there documenting.
And if you can volunteer to work in the polls, do that. way, that way you yourself are in there making sure there's no there's no funny business.
Led Black (1:13:21)
Yeah, you know, and I wanna, because we're talking about really heavy topics like authoritarianism and fascism. So I wanna go for a feel good, the feel good story of the week. It's gonna make you, you know what it is? Is the $75 million flop of Melania's fucking movie. I'm so happy that shit flopped. Like, it's so fucking bad, right? What's funny was, right, they paid, and she, so I think she gets like 60%, right, because she's the producer.
Octavio Blanco (1:13:27)
Yeah.
Do it.
Tell me.
Yeah.
Led Black (1:13:51)
So they pay Amazon, it gets to show you how bad things are, right? Jeff Bezos, right, is just trying to curry favor with the administration. So she got 40, it's a bribe and a half. So she got, they got $40 million for the film. I think she got 60 % of that 40 million, right? And then they got a third, ever, ever, ever, ever. And then they're spending 35 million, right, on marketing.
Octavio Blanco (1:13:59)
It's a bribe. It was a bribe.
The most ever that they paid for a documentary.
Led Black (1:14:19)
That shit got a theatrical release. What? Like, you know how much great movies never get a theatrical release? It's a filmmaker, and they got Brett Ratner, who's been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. I I think that goes in line with Trump and all that, but it's one of those things, he's in the air, he's to chill with Epstein like Trump, right? So that's one of the, that flop.
Octavio Blanco (1:14:25)
Yeah.
Epstein, he's in the Epstein files.
Led Black (1:14:43)
why it doesn't change anything. I saw on Instagram they were calling a flopiana or flopania or whatever. It was just so funny. It was such a flop. No one is buying it. South Africa said, no, you're not even putting you in theaters. Again, this shows you that there is overreach. And I'm so happy for this one story, this one silver lining of everything that was just happening. I'm so glad it flopped. Melania's a stupid bitch. I'm sorry I said she's dumb. And, and.
Octavio Blanco (1:14:49)
You
Led Black (1:15:10)
She met Trump on Epstein's plane. Apparently, Epstein had it before Trump did, right? So all this shit, yeah, they met on the plane, on Epstein's plane, and they had a little sneaky link on that plane, supposedly the first time they met, and Epstein had it before. So I'm glad that fucking movie, she's horrible human being, so is the rest of them, they, ⁓ my God, so I'm glad that it flopped, but it still goes to show you though that.
Octavio Blanco (1:15:16)
Really?
I did not know this.
Led Black (1:15:38)
that these tech billionaires do not give a fuck about us. You know what mean? They care about themselves and their profits. So one of the things that like protests are super important, but we need to organize and how do we take money from these behemoths that don't give a fuck about us?
Octavio Blanco (1:15:54)
Yeah, man, it's very, true. On Friday, we had the we had a national strike and a lot of people, you know, were were were on that. I think that's important. We need to really think our our our organizations need to think long and hard. How can they help us as individuals to to to redirect our our money? How do we avoid using
Amazon and things like that. I Amazon Web Services is a huge, huge, they're one of their biggest clients is ice, you know, so Amazon Web Services is sort of like the back end of the internet. They're the ones that manage all the data and everything. And, ⁓ you know, lot of companies use Amazon Web Services, and including ice, one of their biggest one of their biggest clients. We've got, I think, on the Upper East Side,
There's a there's a assembly race and one of the one of the candidates and I don't remember his name, apologies for that, but used to work for Palantir, you know, and he's out there talking about how bad ice is, but he's a, you know, he's part of the problem, you know, so, you know, make sure that you are reading up if you're on the Upper East Side and you're adamant about
about these issues, make sure you know who you're voting for. you know, it's in all of, it's inside of our lives. It's not something that we can ignore. We ignore it to our own peril.
Led Black (1:17:33)
100 % and people say, know, I don't get involved with politics. That's a political stance. You know what mean? That's a political stance, you know? And I always say this, you're either at the table or on the menu and we've been on the menu for far too long. You know, and again, just get out there, support, document, right? If you see, you know, you see Ice doing some type of activity in your community, stay from a safe distance, but record, right? Like if, you know, if we hadn't captured some of these things on camera, we'd
be so, we would be so some other place. If you didn't see that Renee Good was killed in cold blood, you wouldn't even know it, right? So I think it's important that we stay involved, stay recording and stay looking out for each other.
Octavio Blanco (1:18:13)
That's right. Led, what else you got for us? Anything else? Or are we reaching the end of our morning chat here?
Led Black (1:18:18)
I think we're done.
Yeah,
yeah. Yeah, I think we're reaching the end. I gotta do some things, some errands. I gotta run some errands. Plus the wife is making breakfast in the other room. So I'm gonna go take that up. How about you, brother? What are you doing today?
Octavio Blanco (1:18:33)
Yeah, man.
I think, you know, in my little home studio here has sort of taken over our dining room. And it's time for me to organize some things over here because ⁓ you can't see it from your end. But on the other side of the camera, it's looking kind of it's looking kind of crazy. And and it's time to make sure that it gets organized and put away. So that's the big thing on my agenda today. But beyond that, it's been so cold. I've been I've been like.
I don't want to go outside, but I feel like I've been cooped up. So I've been in this like, in that weird in this weird space where I'm like, I want to go outside, but it's so cold that I don't want to go outside.
Led Black (1:19:12)
Yeah, it's so, yeah, my wife was saying the same thing. don't
wanna, but I will say one thing that I did, I think I felt afterwards, I felt like the smartest man in Babylon, right? So before the snow storm hit, right, Saturday night this past weekend, I went on Spot Hero and I felt like I spent $90 to park my car from Saturday night to Tuesday morning, right? But it was the best $90 I've spent.
Octavio Blanco (1:19:22)
Okay, okay.
Led Black (1:19:40)
I didn't have to struggle through the snow. I didn't have to clean out my car. Tuesday morning, just pooped. I basically requested my car to be ready 10 minutes prior to getting there. Then when I got there, was there. I parked on 180th, right by the radio hotel. And it was just like beautiful. My car was clean. I was like, man, I felt so smart and brilliant for doing that. So I mean, again, cause the snow is a problem. The snow is, if you have a car in the city, getting that car out, getting the parking spots. But I want to say again, I've been very lucky the last few days. I found street parking.
Octavio Blanco (1:19:43)
Yeah
huh.
You were.
Led Black (1:20:09)
Park your car in the garage with the next big snowstorm. It's a pro tip right there.
Octavio Blanco (1:20:14)
Pro tip. Yeah, you got somebody you got you got a you got a parking angel on your on your on your shoulder there Led led. I just want to thank you again, man. I really I'm enjoying this I think this is great. This is a great opportunity where we're able to have Important important people in the community that come on our show and talk about the issues. That's that's that's That's really really great. I want to say this YouTube we have reached 400
Led Black (1:20:20)
For real.
Thank you, brother. Me too.
Yeah.
Octavio Blanco (1:20:41)
Subscribers on our on our YouTube page. So that's a good that's a good and let's keep on going we have a goal of 500 500 is when we can start to actually Monetize in some ways, you know, YouTube doesn't make it easy to do all this but 500 is one of the Parameters that we have to meet. I think that for our audience. It should be easy
Led Black (1:20:42)
Nice. Nice. Keep it going.
Octavio Blanco (1:21:08)
for us to meet that 500 goal. We already hit 400. And so I thank you everybody who has subscribed. This has been great. it makes me feel proud of what we're doing. And it makes me feel like people care about what we're doing, because they're getting up there and they're subscribing and they wanna hear from us. So I thank you, Led, for letting me be a part of your network. Uptown Collective has been something that you've built through the years, that you've...
Led Black (1:21:15)
Thank you.
Lagos, brother.
Octavio Blanco (1:21:38)
been and you and yours have been, you know, ⁓ feeding and representing. You are the voice of Uptown. And I'm just, you know, super happy that I was able that I've that we've been friends for a long time and that I've been able to do this with you and take part of this and be a part of your network. Your your credibility goes a long way. And so to share that with me is it's a true honor. So I thank you for that.
Led Black (1:22:04)
Likewise, brother, thank you for making this happen, for making this happen, for really saying, yo, we gotta do this, because this has been, we've been doing this without a podcast for a long time. So thank you for making it happen. And this has been a tremendous journey. And I think as important as it is now, in the future, people are be able to look and see.
Octavio Blanco (1:22:15)
Yeah.
Led Black (1:22:25)
who was doing what of town and we're documenting, you know, really important conversations because this is an important community. So thank you for making this happen. Because again, you know, I mean, you do really a lot of the heavy lifting here. You know what mean? I do. I just talk a lot of shit, but that's my that's my forte anyway. So it's not a stretch for me.
Octavio Blanco (1:22:39)
Hahaha
Led Black (1:22:45)
But no, but thank you so much. And we're gonna keep rocking like to the subscribers, know, like, you know, tell your peoples about it. Say you'll subscribe. Listen, tune in, right? If you care about Watch Heights, Inwood Harlem, the Bronx, you care about New York City, you know, this is an important, you know, every week we, at least once or twice, we hear in you, right? So this takes a lot of time, a lot of commitment. So just spread that love, give us a subscription, tell your people about it. And spread love is the uptown way.
Octavio Blanco (1:22:51)
Yeah, yeah.
That's right. All right.