Dyckman Fire, Class War & Uptown Power: Holding Bad Landlords Accountable | Black & Blanco / Uptown Voices

In this episode of Black & Blanco / Uptown Voices, Led Black and Octavio Blanco open on Mother's Day with love for the mothers who hold it all together — then get into the real issues facing uptown.

The Dyckman Street fire weighs heavy on this episode. Three lives lost, over 100 residents displaced, and a landlord — Jack Bick of Jan Jan Realty — who was already on the Public Advocate's list of the 100 worst landlords with over 1,000 fire and safety violations across his properties. Led and Octavio don't mince words: negligence this severe isn't just a housing violation, it's a matter of life and death. They play a clip of Council Member Carmen de la Rosa, who was on the ground within hours of the fire, and share resources for how listeners can still help displaced neighbors.

From there, the conversation expands into the class warfare playing out across New York City and the country — from the Mamdani pied-à-terre tax and Ken Griffin's $238 million penthouse, to Trump's billion-dollar White House ballroom while SNAP benefits and Medicaid are being gutted. Led and Octavio connect the dots between predatory landlords, billionaire tax avoidance, and the slow displacement of the people who built and sustain this city.

They also cover the rent guidelines board's upcoming public hearings — where a rent freeze is still on the table — and encourage listeners to make their voices heard before the June votes.

On a brighter note: the Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast was a hit, with hundreds in attendance at the Armory. Uptown Voices celebrates becoming a fiscally sponsored project of the Maysles Documentary Center. And Octavio gives a glowing review of the New York Philharmonic and Rubén Blades bringing salsa and symphony together at United Palace. Plus: Knicks playoff talk, bodega electricity bills, and why you should be buying your coffee at Boonie, not Starbucks.

In this episode:

• Remembering the victims of the Dyckman Street fire and how to help
• Landlord accountability: Jan Jan Realty and the city's response
• The Mamdani pied-à-terre tax and the billionaire backlash
• Trump's billion-dollar ballroom vs. cuts to Medicaid and SNAP
• NYC Rent Guidelines Board hearings — how to participate
• Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast recap
• Rubén Blades + NY Philharmonic at United Palace
• Knicks playoff fever

How to help displaced Dyckman fire residents:

• NMIC — 45 Wadsworth Avenue (call first)
• Holy Trinity Church (call first)
• Community Board 12 — 530 West 166th St, 212-568-8500
• Assemblymember Manny De Los Santos — 210 Sherman Ave, Suite A&C
• Congressman Adriano Espaillat — 720 West 181st St, 212-497-5959
• Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal — 431 West 125th St, 212-531-1609
• Council Member Carmen de la Rosa — 618 West 177th St, 917-521-2616
• State Senator Robert Jackson — 5030 Broadway, Suite 701, 212-544-0173

Rent Guidelines Board public hearings: rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us Hearing dates: June 4, June 8, June 11, June 16

Subscribe to Uptown Voices / Uptown Collective on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@uptowncollective?si=XIBtEAFy9VEo9ei4

Support Uptown Voices — a fiscally sponsored project of the Maysles Documentary Center. Your contribution is tax-deductible: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/CJ5HJSZ2JF97S

00:00 — Happy Mother's Day: Shoutouts & Love for the Mothers
03:00 — Dyckman Street Fire: Lives Lost & Community Response
06:10 — Carmen de la Rosa Clip: Leadership on the Ground
09:00 — How to Help: Donation Sites & Resources for Displaced Residents
13:50 — Led Speaks: The Reality of Being Displaced
15:30 — Landlord Accountability: Jan Jan Realty & 1,000 Violations
18:00 — HPD & the Mayor's Response to Unsafe Housing
19:40 — Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce Policy Breakfast Recap
21:30 — Jackie Aleman Clip: Chamber Leadership & 501c3 Restoration
24:00 — Small Business Struggles: Rent, Electricity & Tight Margins
27:10 — Uptown Voices Anniversary: Live Recording at the Hispanic Society
30:00 — The Sorolla Gallery & Hidden Gems of Washington Heights
33:00 — Buy Local: Skip Starbucks, Support Boonie
33:30 — Support Uptown Voices: YouTube & Tax-Deductible Donations
37:00 — Class War: Mamdani, Ken Griffin & the Pied-à-Terre Tax
40:00 — The Billionaire Exodus Myth: Who's Really Leaving New York
44:20 — Trump's Billion-Dollar White House Ballroom
48:45 — The Met Gala, Wealth & People Power
52:25 — NYC Rent Guidelines Board: How to Make Your Voice Heard
56:00 — Knicks Playoff Talk: Sweep Season & Joel Embiid's Flopping
1:00:40 — Rubén Blades & the NY Philharmonic at United Palace
1:03:00 — Closing: Spread Love, It's the Uptown Way

Creators and Guests

Host

Led Black

Host

Octavio Blanco

What is Uptown Voices?

Uptown Voices tells the stories of unsung heroes who are transforming New York City's Uptown neighborhoods from Washington Heights to Inwood to Harlem to the South Bronx. Each episode profiles an individual or organization making a positive difference. These social entrepreneurs, artists, and community leaders are navigating critical issues of affordability, public safety, and mental health. Through conversations rooted in journalistic integrity and genuine community ties, this podcast challenges negative narratives and celebrates the true spirit of the vibrant neighborhoods thriving north of Central Park.

Each episode features extended interviews in which subjects tell their stories in their own words. The series examines the interconnected challenges facing Uptown communities—gentrification pressures, resource scarcity, systemic inequities—while simultaneously showcasing the creativity and collective power emerging in response. While uplifting the people shaping Uptown’s future, the podcast holds local elected officials accountable for the promises they make. During this pivotal time, Uptown Voices is creating a unique audiovisual archive.

Uptown Voices is a fiscally sponsored project of the Maysles Documentary Center. Make a tax-deductible contribution to our program here: https://bit.ly/4eddiWT

Led Black (00:01.328)
Yo, yo, what up everyone? Welcome, welcome to another episode of Black and Blanco Uptown Voices. Happy Mother's Day first and foremost, right? Happy Mother's Day to my wife, to my mom, to my mother-in-law. know, I think, you know, before we even get into this, anything else, we just got, you know, without our mothers, you know what I mean? And our wives and our daughters and, you know, I mean, the mothers make the world go round. So we have to say that.

Octavio Blanco (00:11.0)
Happy Mother's Day!

Octavio Blanco (00:30.176)
It's the, absolutely, I wanna definitely send out all my love to my wife who's an amazing mother, Kathy Blanco. She's our rock. She's the person who keeps us going. She keeps us on track. I wanna thank my mother.

in North Carolina, Joan Blanco. She is a beautiful human being. Without her, I would be nothing. I also want to shout out to my Aunt Mary. And she's like my mom here in New York City. She's the one who opened the doors of the city to me and made it so that I could arrive here and has supported me here in the city in all kinds of things.

Mad love to our mothers out there.

Led Black (01:18.701)
So yeah, so you said name, so now I gotta get name specific too, cause now I look bad if I don't do that. So first and foremost, I got to shout out Bernalda Moronda from Esperanza, Santo, the Republica Dominicana. know what mean? Shout out to my mom. you know, I'm August 13th, she's August 20th, you know, a week away. So, you know, my mom is everything, you know, like shout out to my mom, shout out to my wife, Eileen Fuentes, who's, you know, like a rock star in her own right.

You know, she really is the chief operation officer of the house. And she likes to remind me, you know, often, you know what mean? Nothing really does happen without her, you know? And even a lot of shit that I do with Uptown Collective, a lot of hers ideas, you know what I mean? She's like, she's the rock of a lot of things. So shout out to her and then to my mother-in-law too. And shout out to all the mothers, man. Like, let's go without mothers, really rocks. So mothers are the best.

So all love to the mothers. Mothers could do whatever they want today. No watches for moms today. Mothers could do whatever. Well, yeah, man. But now let's get to business. Make sure you subscribe to the Uptown Collective YouTube channel. Make sure you tell people about it. You know, that don't cost nothing. Also make sure you like it. You know, let's keep this going. We're close to a milestone, so let's keep rocking.

Octavio Blanco (02:13.922)
mothers.

Exactly.

Octavio Blanco (02:37.23)
That's right. Yeah, go to that YouTube page. I'm going to put it up. I'm going to put it up on the screen here. It's a it's a youtube.com forward slash at Uptown Collective. So you know, please subscribe there. We're close to a milestone. It opens up a few things. But the closer the more people we get subscribed, the better we can be. And the more we can do so yes, definitely please, please subscribe.

Led Black (03:00.084)
Thanks.

Led Black (03:03.922)
And then today, and again, we have to actually go from Mother's Day, Joy's thing to this fire that occurred last week. Three people lost their lives. Bunch of people were displaced and a super tragic, a beloved fashion and beauty writer for people in Espanol, Jolaine Diaz was 48 and her mother who was Ana Milta Lantrigo had died while trying to escape. There was also a 22 year old man that I think he's been identified by, I don't have his name.

you know, that's a horrible loss of life. And then all these people displaced. And it's interesting because that building where it happened, it's really right on the corner of Deichmann and Broadway, you know what mean? So there's a barbershop there, you know, it's a building that's almost like iconic because you always, you know, it's that corner. So I've been seeing that building for a long time. And it's a shame that, you know, again, what we realize like these things don't have to happen.

Octavio Blanco (03:50.114)
Yeah.

Led Black (03:56.041)
You know, and again, these landlords, you know, are just shitting on our neighborhoods. They only care about money. They don't care about our safety. You know, they're dying to get us out of here so they could take it and get other people in there. And it's gross. And I'm glad that the community has come together, you know, to find resources for the people that have lost so much. Dr. Octavio?

Octavio Blanco (04:18.742)
Yeah, it's a tragedy. It's awful. There's just a news report out fresh today from the Daily News that the landlord of that property, according to the Daily News, is a guy by the name of Jack Bick.

His company is called Jan Jan Realty and that company was already on the public advocates list of the hundred worst landlords and apparently the city believes that the Infractions they had more than a 1,000 fire and safety violations Across their properties not just that building but across their property

And the city believes that the infractions were part of a campaign to chase rent stabilized tenants out of their buildings. And so now we see this horrible, horrible event. And, you know, I got to say, you know,

these landlords need to realize that, I mean, they know this, they must know this, that they're playing with people's lives. And, you know, it's disgusting. But I do also have to give props to our local electeds. All the local elected officials in our area really have been stepping up to help and also our...

our community groups that we always highlight on our show, like Nimic, they've all been, there's been a lot of coverage and a lot of help. I wanna play a clip of Carmen de la Rosa where she was talking about.

Led Black (06:10.302)
Dykeman Diary has some good coverage too of it.

Octavio Blanco (06:26.014)
this week at this Wahee chamber policy breakfast. I just want to give her in particular some love because I do think that she's been like was on the ground there within hours of the fire. here's some of what Carmen de la Rosa had to say about this.

Octavio Blanco (08:57.166)
So there you have it. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. That really is. She's there on the ground. it's important to understand that these are real people. These are real people that are impacted. And they're dealing with things like going to work without having a home. Trying to figure that out. How do you do that?

Led Black (09:01.204)
That's leadership right there.

Led Black (09:18.495)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (09:21.002)
So, you know, it's important that we as a community and we have as a community, I'm so proud of this community. I'm so proud of uptown. I'm so proud of Dyckman. I'm so proud of Inwood. I'm so proud of Washington Heights. I'm so proud of Harlem. Everybody who's founded in their hearts to go and help these people. These people still need, they still need assistance. So as the councilman, as the councilwoman said, there's various places where you

you could give assistance. I'm going to put some of these places on the screen so you guys can see. Make sure you get your pens and pencils out because there's going to be some phone numbers here that you guys can take down and also addresses if you guys want to donate. So the first I'm putting it up is NIMIC. We know NIMIC is like one of the community groups here in Washington Heights and the South Bronx.

They really, really do a good job of helping out in the community. You can give them a call or you can just go to 45 Wadsworth Avenue. That's their main location here in Washington Heights. And you can bring your some whatever you want to donate, like gently used clothing, toiletries, things like that.

Led Black (10:46.088)
I would call first, I would actually call first before you go to see what, to get exactly what they need. Cause I think these things change a lot. And to your point about community coming through, you know, the Holy Trinity Church, think, you know, I've got a report that they were inundated, you know, with stuff, which is great. So just, will call first because it makes sense, I think.

Octavio Blanco (11:06.446)
Yeah, yeah, before you go to Holy Trinity or any of these places, definitely call. The next place I want to put up is our community board, Community Board 12 of Manhattan. That's another destination where you guys can donate and make donations. That's 530 West 166th Street. And there's the phone number down there, 212-568-8500. And as Led says, it's very true. should please call before you go just to make sure you don't have like a waste

trip or you get there and they're like gonna send you somewhere else it's best to just go with with information and and and know where you're where you're going but there's all these places I'm gonna keep putting things up on the screen here the next one I'm gonna be putting up is New York State Assemblymember Manny de los Santos he's a 210 Sherman Avenue that's a

Led Black (11:45.608)
Exactly.

Octavio Blanco (12:02.35)
212-497-5959. There's gonna be somewhere that you can go to drop off your donations. I'll put his information up again because that was a little quick. New York State Assemblyman Nanny De Los Santos 210 Sherman Avenue, Suite A and C. And I'm gonna put up...

Our congressman Adriano Espayet, that's another place, again, you should call first, 212-497-5959, right here at 720 West 181st Street. 212-497-5959.

And if you're down lower, lower, near the near Harlem, near Harlem, the Borough of Manhattan President Brad Hoylman Segal's office is also taking donations. That's at 431 West 125th Street, 212-531-1609. I want to just make sure that I also put up Carmen de la Rosa's office. That's at

618 West 177th Street and you can reach them at 917-521-2616. And last but not least, New York State Senator Robert Jackson's office. That's at 5030 Broadway Suite 7012125440

173 I can't even read that font. What is that? 0173

Led Black (13:51.242)
Yeah, 0173, yeah. But thanks for that great information. And I wanna just speak to being displaced. Unfortunately, I've been displaced, the family, me and my family, my family and I, I've been displaced. And it really is hard, you know what I mean? Because it's like...

Octavio Blanco (14:06.147)
Mmm.

Led Black (14:09.512)
You know, you can't, you may not be able to have access to where you lived, right? And now you have to try to like still have a life, right? Children gotta go to school, you gotta go to work, people gotta eat and be fat and clothed and not having any of those things, you know? So I'm really proud, like you said, of the community, the way it stood up. But you know, again, it's not an easy thing. It is not an easy road for all this. you know, shout out to Carmen and all the elected officials who are doing, you know, who are doing good work. That has to be acknowledged as well.

Octavio Blanco (14:40.174)
Absolutely, absolutely. um, yeah, you know, I see it on, on, on our social media. And I think, uh, our community is very connected on social media. And it makes me so proud to see people using social media for good, using social media to inform one another, uh, responsibly. Um, and so, you know, I want to, I want to give everybody, I'm going to clap for everybody. Here we go.

Everybody gets claps. Everybody gets claps for here we go. Clapping. Let's go. Can we hear it? Can we hear some clapping? I guess not. It's not playing the clapping. Trying to get. here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Yes. the community. Yes. To the community for, for stepping up.

Led Black (15:11.348)
class.

Led Black (15:18.666)
You're getting fancy with it, but the clap didn't happen. No, but you know I...

Led Black (15:30.052)
yeah, yeah. Shout out to them. No, but you know, I think also, I think some of that also needs to turn a little bit towards anger, right? And towards the landlords, you know, and the underhanded tricks that they're doing. You know, I'll share something as well because like my mother's lived in the same apartment since 1979.

Wadsworth Avenue, 1979, she still lives there, right? She's almost 90, right? And they do these tricks all the time, right? Where for a long time, they weren't giving her her lease, right? We kept following up. Where's the lease? Where's the lease? Where's the lease? They finally gave it, but they didn't, because my mother lives in a rent controlled apartment, right? So because we didn't have the lease,

it stopped what the government ports towards the rent, right? And then they say, you owe us $1,000. But we were like, the only reason we owe you $1,000 is because you didn't give us the lease on time, right? And luckily, my brother helped her out. We have the wherewithal to do it, but this is the underhanded tricks that they do to our people. And again, not.

not dealing with repairs, not taking care of things that are very unsafe. That's what they're doing all across the city, but especially uptown in the Heights. This is a valuable uptown Harlem, watch heights, and with all that, the South Bronx, this is valuable. And again, we have beautiful buildings. There's just no upkeep, right? Because they know what they can get. And I think some of this grief, which is justified, I think needs to turn into anger and needs to say, hey, look,

Octavio Blanco (17:01.24)
Yeah.

Led Black (17:10.474)
No more of this. And I'm glad now we have a kind of a mayor that's on the side of the people, but we need to keep pushing, right? We need to say, nah, this is unacceptable. You know, someone that's been in a building since 79, right? Like, you my mother's, again, no one knows who my mother is. Benalda Moronta, shout her out. But she's like a pillar of her little, you know, 190s, Wadsworth community, know, cooks for everybody, shows love to everyone. It's a network, it's an ecosystem, right? And by them trying to push us out,

Octavio Blanco (17:15.49)
you

Octavio Blanco (17:19.959)
Yeah.

Led Black (17:39.016)
You have things like this horrible tragic fire, you know? So let that galvanize us to deal with the people that are doing the evil deeds, because this is evil.

Octavio Blanco (17:50.222)
Absolutely it is. And even the Housing and Preservation Department, according to the Daily News, says that that BIC, the owner,

is quote unquote, neglecting those unsafe conditions as part of an intentional and aggressive campaign to harass and displace rent stabilized tenants. And HPD and this mayor are coming hard for these landlords. They say the agency will use every tool in its toolbox to ensure tenants are safe and landlords meet their obligations. According to the Daily

News, the spokeswoman Natasha Kinsey said that the mayor has been clear that enforcing housing quality is a top priority of this administration and we will continue to take action against unsafe conditions and ban landlords.

wherever and whenever and wherever they exist. you know, the words are encouraging. I hope that the city steps up to what it needs to do and that these landlords are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including if this is on purpose, that's murder. You know what I'm saying? Like that, in my opinion, they should be

you know, there should be a, they should be, you know, being looked at for more than just the violations, you know, they've caused the death of people. So these landlords need to be on guard because I do feel that the city is gonna be coming down really, really hard on them.

Led Black (19:28.319)
Mm-hmm.

Led Black (19:40.36)
Yup. And I want to say, I'm sorry I missed the posse breakfast, man. Talk to me about that. How was that?

Octavio Blanco (19:47.15)
The policy breakfast was, I gotta say it was amazing. It was held in the armory here on 168th Street, which is.

If you've never been in the Armory, it's an incredible, incredible space. It's really wild in there and world-class. mean, honestly world-class. mean, literally they have world renowned track and field events at the Armory. But then the Armory is flexible. It can have things like this policy breakfast. There were hundreds of people that were in attendance and you know, was a testament to

Led Black (20:03.338)
It's a beautiful space. World class.

Octavio Blanco (20:30.432)
the vitality that our local businesses have and also to the, again, the unity that we have in this community. Let me see over here.

a clip that I want to play for everybody of Jackie Aleman addressing the crowd at the policy breakfast this week on Thursday. Here we go.

Led Black (21:34.058)
Shout to Jackie.

Led Black (21:49.725)
I'm not hearing anything.

Octavio Blanco (21:52.367)
you don't hear it? I hear it over here.

Led Black (21:53.482)
I don't see it. really? I don't see it. here I see it. You're good. I'm sorry. My apologies.

Octavio Blanco (22:14.382)
Well, there you go. There you have it. I think Jackie has been leading the chamber for the last two years. And she's really made great strides at the chamber. The chamber, if you guys don't know, had lost its 501C3 designation, which meant that it could no longer receive

tax deductible contributions. But under Jackie's tenure, they have regained their 501c3 status, which is a huge deal, which means that they can now receive grants and also take in contributions from individuals and others to help them in their work. And it's important work. I should say one of the cool things is one of your

One of your friends, John Olman, was there because he was, you know, he was honored.

as at the event for all the work that he's done at the the Wahee Chamber. He was in charge of a lot of their graphics, their website, video, all kinds of things. So he was there. He gave a nice little speech. I don't have a clip of his speech, but also another friend of the podcast, Tuto Tavira, who runs Loliko Productions and works at United Palace. He was also honored

at the event. And there were tons of local businesses there and local elected officials. And if we could do more of these, that's gonna be great for the community. Businesses are really what keeps our community going and they're struggling. mean, there's real issues that the businesses are confronting and...

Octavio Blanco (24:15.798)
you know, we need to be aware and the city and the state and the federal government need to help our businesses instead of making things harder for them with like, you know, unwanted wars and stuff like that that's driving prices higher and higher.

Margins are tight. Margins are tight. if you're struggling, and if you're having difficulty paying for the food, paying for your rent, paying for your electricity, one of the things that was interesting was bodegas, for example. You go into a bodega, they have tons of refrigerators, right? Usually it's like a bodega is like one giant refrigerator.

Well, electricity is like super expensive for bodegas. It's like a giant piece of, you don't think about these things, but when you just really do start thinking about it, like you can see how difficult these things are. And rent, some of the rents out here are outrageous. Uptown rent is the same as paying, you pay the same rent uptown as you would pay on 42nd Street. You're huge, huge amount of money.

Led Black (25:07.921)
Yes, true.

Led Black (25:27.39)
Yeah, for sure.

Octavio Blanco (25:30.646)
Shout out to Jackie, shout out to the chamber, shout out to John Olman, shout out to Tuto, shout out to everybody. The whole board of the Washington Heights Chamber, they really, really are making, are doing what they can to bring the community together and to help the businesses. And if you haven't become a member, become a member. It's relatively inexpensive. It's a hundred bucks. The chamber also has all kinds of like,

educational resources and things like that that can help small businesses. So not to mention it's a community. Let's not forget that. It's a real community. It's a real community.

Led Black (26:09.202)
Right, exactly, exactly. And it's important when you get people in the room together, right? And hey, look, I have this problem. Do you have the same problem? Let's find ways together to solve them. And I think that they do important work in bringing that together, having the community coalesce, right? Our businesses mean a lot.

And, you know, like I always say, it's important to keep those uptown dollars uptown. So shout out to them for the work they're doing. And you talked about the refrigeration, you know, in the bodegas. There's always like, the bodegas also have like a secret nevera with the really cold beer, you know what mean? So it's like, you go there, the beer is down, like how we say in DR, vestido de novia, like it's perfect. It has like a little slight white ash around it, but it's not frozen.

Octavio Blanco (26:46.028)
Hahaha

Led Black (26:54.718)
So those are expensive, man. Like, we got to think about that, too. We want the ice cold beer, you know what mean? But it's true. We got to support our local businesses, all jokes aside. And shout out to them for the work they do.

Octavio Blanco (26:55.773)
Ahem.

Octavio Blanco (26:59.732)
Yeah man,

Octavio Blanco (27:06.082)
Yeah, it was a beautiful thing. It was a beautiful thing. It really, really was. I was really happy. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do.

Led Black (27:10.472)
Now we got something special coming up Tuesday. You know what mean? Super, super special that if you're listening, you you could be a part of, right? We're doing a live, first of all, it is our anniversary, right? In a sense, right? We kicked off this dream of ours, this project of ours, Uptown Voices, you know, exactly a year ago, right? With interviewing Noma, you know, Nerea.

And Martin, you know, that's how we kicked it off. I think like you told me yesterday, that was on at least, you know, just in audio wise, it's our number one podcast. But now we're bringing it back a year later, live at the Hispanic Society, not just the Hispanic Society, but at the Sorolla Gallery, which is this beautiful, majestic, magnificent gallery that just has Sorolla's vision of Spain. It is beautiful.

Octavio Blanco (28:08.012)
Yeah.

Led Black (28:08.722)
And now we're doing it live a year later again with Nerey and Martin talk about the uptown, the upcoming uptown North stroke. Man, this is amazing, brother. Like how excited are you?

Octavio Blanco (28:20.204)
I'm super excited. And just to clarify, we are gonna be recording it live. So that's what's key. If you wanna get behind the scenes and see how these things get put together and you wanna be in an amazing space, you can come and be a part of it. I'm gonna share my screen right now so that you guys can see.

how you go about getting to be a part of this. So all you need to do is go to the Noma website. Let me see if I can bring. Are you guys able to are you able to see?

Led Black (29:01.084)
I can see the website and I also put it in the link in bio of the Uptown Collective. So go to the link in bio and click the link and just RSVP, because it is free, but you need to RSVP.

Octavio Blanco (29:13.58)
Yeah, that's the easiest thing to do. Go to Uptown Collective on Instagram, link in bio. But if you wanna do it online, you can just scroll down. You'll see us down at the bottom right corner here. You click on that and then it'll take you to the page where you guys can be a part of it. It's gonna be from three to 4 p.m. It's free. It's in the Sorolla Gallery.

The gallery isn't even open like for the public on that day. It's, so you're going to be getting a real exclusive access to what I would consider to be one of the biggest jewels in the Heights. Hidden gems, hidden gems that is in the Heights. So please.

Led Black (30:02.366)
Hidden gems, facts, facts. And you know, someone who's lived in the neighborhood my whole life, I didn't find out about the Hispanic society until I was an adult. Shout out to my brother, Ramon Reyes from Happy Monkey. He went to, I was with him the first time he went. He's like, yo, I grew up down the block and I had never been in here. And it's one of those things similar to the United Palace that when you enter, you're like, wow. And it's just amazing.

art world, like again, they have the best collection of Spanish, meaning Spain, art from Spain in the world outside of Spain. I you have Goya's, have Alaska's, you have the Sorolla Gallery. There's nothing like this really in New York City, right? It's an important outpost of art. Like it's an important institution. And the fact that we get to do like anniversary there is going to be very special to bring in the uptown art shows. And again, when we talk about community and art.

It's like, know, can't just stand on the sidelines. You have to be a part of it, right? So just be involved, right? Like support the artists, buy from each other. Like things are only gonna get worse, right? With this dumbass in power, right? So we have to, community becomes even more important. So support our arts, support our institutions, support our artists. I can't say that enough.

Octavio Blanco (31:20.291)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (31:29.368)
And you know, like, yes, support to help everybody thrive, but also support to help you thrive, support to be.

a part of this community, which get to know it, get to know your neighbors, get to be a part of, get to caring about where you live. know, like I think that that's the most important thing is that we don't realize how easy it becomes. We become isolated from one another and we really have to make an effort to be united. It does take effort. And so I encourage everybody to take a minute and consider

the effort that you're gonna make. And it can be as easy as attending an event. It can be as easy as following the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and the Uptown Arts Troll. It could be as easy as going to a concert at the United Palace Theater or volunteering at one of these offices that we put up earlier in the show to help your neighbors who are struggling through this terrible fire. But definitely, I think it's so important for us all to

find a way to contribute and sometimes and to connect with each other and to be into know your neighbors you're talking about your mom I mean I think that's so cool that your mom would cook for the whole like building you know and have people come coming over and you know you hear these stories and it's like wow I'm really really impressed when I hear stories like this

Led Black (33:02.654)
Yeah, and it's like another simple one, don't buy Starbucks, buy Boonie. If you're in the Heights, don't buy Starbucks, go to Boonie. There's a Boonie close enough, both Starbucks that you can find, or another cafe that's local. Like why give that money to some nebulous corporation that doesn't really care about you? We have to rethink the way we do things, especially now. And again, we have power, we have agency, we need to exercise it.

Octavio Blanco (33:07.168)
Exactly.

Octavio Blanco (33:15.585)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (33:31.566)
Yeah, yeah. And I wanna, you know, I'll tag along, I'll tag in on that one and just say, again, you know, please subscribe to Uptown Voices and Uptown Collective YouTube page. Get us over that 500 follower hump and do that. You can also, you know, one thing that I'm very, very proud of is that we have become a fiscally sponsored project.

by the Maisel's Documentary Center. And if you don't know about the, yeah, shout out to Maisel's who, you know, we applied to become a fiscally sponsored project. you know, Maisel's deals with documentary filmmakers mostly. And the fact that our show, our podcast is a fiscally sponsored project just goes to show.

Led Black (34:04.042)
Shout to Mazels.

Octavio Blanco (34:26.09)
The seriousness that both that me and lead Are taking this with with the seriousness that we're taking that's like what we're creating here is not just this This sunday show that's live to talk about issues, but every tuesday We we drop an episode that features an individual who is an artist who?

maybe is a community worker. Maybe they're just your neighbor that's doing something that's incredible. We have one dropping on Tuesday that I'm so excited about with the Bronx native. That's going to be awesome. So definitely be on the year. Give our bodies a year. But that's going to be dope. That's going to be on Tuesday. I felt like that one was going to be like.

Led Black (35:02.61)
Yes, that's gonna be a big one. A Maltese, y'all. For real.

Octavio Blanco (35:17.614)
Like what you said it was podcasting magic. So yeah, you know subscribe so you don't miss any of these things and if you want also like if you've got if you've got it to to give You know, definitely consider

contributing to our show because it's tax deductible. So I'm going to put this up on now. You can scan this QR code and you can make a tax-deductible contribution to Uptown Voices. And it would help us and it would help you with your taxes. And it's something that we just really are hoping can

can we can get going and get some get some contributions from our viewers and from our fans so that we can continue to do these these great things so we can continue to improve our show so that we can do more live in person recordings at some of the institutions that we have around town it's not free we're not we we got a you know I don't want to hit you over the head with all of our our woes and trials and tribulations but you know

to get out there and to be on site and recording. You got to have cameras. You got to have camera people. You got to have all kinds of things. You got to have insurance. And we have all those things, but it's expensive. And so right now we're coming out of our pockets. We would really appreciate the help of our audience so that we can we can do more of this good stuff.

Led Black (36:56.83)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Spread love is the uptown way, like we always say, so.

Octavio Blanco (37:01.332)
Absolutely, absolutely. So you know that's a little bit of the sort of upcoming events. There is a topic that I wanted to discuss because it actually does tie into the housing issue and the class warfare that we're actually experiencing in the city. And we talked about this a little bit yesterday and what I'm referring to is

is basically the Mamdani versus Ken Griffin saga, the Mamdani versus the billionaires and the Mamdani Pieta tear tax that he's that he has got all these billionaires with their panties in a bunch. And and and all the rhetoric that's out there that's like, no, the the billionaires are going to leave the city. What are we going to do?

And that's the kind of framing that we're seeing is like, the billionaires are leaving the city. But, know, know, Led, you say it best. It's not about the billionaires, right?

Led Black (38:11.966)
Yeah, no, again, like who gives a fuck about the billionaires? First of all, the billionaires are not going anywhere. And if a few of them leave, leave, where are you gonna go to? Again, what we should be concerned is the regular New Yorker, right? The person that is actually leaving New York, right? Those that have gone, fled because they can't afford to live here. Yeah, I love New York. I love the energy of New York, but I can't afford to live here even though I've

I've lived my whole life here. So that's who we should be concerned with. If the billionaires wanna go, let them go, you know. I think we need, again, we need this fighting stance because they're fighting against us, right? So we need to join the fight. And I liked there was like a little video on Instagram where, know, Zoran came closer to camera and knocked.

Right, so hey, we're coming for that, right? And you know, I saw this billionaire, one of these, you know, money TV shows and everything saying, felt personally offended, I felt attacked. Someone was saying it's like the new, it's like the N word, like get the fuck out of here. you know, if you're gonna be a billionaire, you should just pay your fair share of taxes, that's it. So much of what passes for conservatism is just people not wanting to pay fucking taxes.

Like they just want to be, they want the money. They want to benefit off of America, but when it comes to contributing, they don't want it and that's bullshit. know what I mean? Taxes are high for some people and not high enough for some. And if you're a billionaire, need to begin. There's plenty of housing stock. There's just basically just you, it's a pit of tear, right? I just have this here because my money is gonna be saved there, but I don't live here. I don't contribute anything to this place. It's just a little asset.

But this is not a city, this is a city of people living and working. We need to make it work for the people that made the city what it is and they continue to make the city what it is. That's the exodus that we be worried about. Not about a fucking billionaires. Where are you gonna go? Where are you gonna get this kind of energy? Where are you gonna get this kind of flow? There's nowhere in the world like New York City.

Led Black (40:10.866)
So, you know, you want to leave, we got the Knicks now too, man. We got Zoran. Like we're just getting better. New York is just getting better. And now we're going to push our agenda and we are taking on the billionaires because they need to be reined in. It needs to be about people power, not about rich people power because it's been too long for that. And look where it's led us. have, if we're being honest, you know, and again, it's just a lot for Zoran to come to because this is in so many ways.

Octavio Blanco (40:11.437)
Yeah.

Led Black (40:38.42)
There's been so much disinvestment in regular people's lives in this city. Like the comments have shrank, you like you take the trains and every day you're like, what the fuck was that? That was harrowing. And it's Monday at seven o'clock, right? And it's just too much. You know what mean? So again, and things are too expensive and everything's getting more expensive. So again, the billionaires are gonna have to pay their share. That's it. And Kathy Hoku, Kathy, hey Kathy, let's talk a little bit.

Octavio Blanco (40:49.56)
You

Yeah. Yeah.

Led Black (41:05.918)
your people, your sponsors, they're have to pay their share. And again, it's not crippling, it's not debilitating, it's not even sweat off their back, right? Is that they just wanna pay as little as they can. They wanna take as much as they can and give as little as possible. And that equation is no longer gonna work going forward.

Octavio Blanco (41:23.82)
Yeah, know, Ken Griffin was pissed because

I'm Donnie filmed that that video out front of his outside of his building where he has his penthouse. And I guess I can understand like why you'd be you know, pissed about that, right? you know, somebody's like, putting you out there. But it's not like he lives there. Like, that's his piano terrace. Sometimes he's there. Sometimes he's not there. And you know how much that that penthouse costs?

cost $238 million. One penthouse.

$238 million. Now I don't want to shame you for spending $238 million because it's your money and you can do what you want with it. Like I would and will continue to shame you if you're paying $238 million for a penthouse, but then don't want to pay your fair share in taxes and are getting pissed because right now we have a $5 billion budget gap in the city budget.

And this pied-a-terre could go a long way to filling that budget. cry me a river, pay your fair share. That's what it is. And it's just like...

Led Black (42:44.458)
This is the thing, actually.

Octavio Blanco (42:48.03)
stop it. You know, like, you're part of you're part of this community, you're part of this society. We've made it so easy for billionaires and millionaires to sort of like disengage from their society. They have their own schools, they have their own transportation, they don't have to deal with the things that we have to deal with. So it's easy for them to say like, I don't want to pay taxes. You know, it's easy.

But you know, have to, we have to shake it up. We have to shake them up and to make them realize that you're part of this too. Yeah, you might have your, your, your, your Gulf stream and you can, you can fly in and out of Teterboro. You don't have to deal with, with, with us, people at LaGuardia and JFK and Newark where airplanes seem to be like getting closer and closer to, to, to tragedy every day and where planes are having tragedy every day. You don't have to care about that because you're, you got your own thing going. You know, you've created,

your own rich person's bubble. But that's just not right. It's not American. And I think that there's that there's a time that and this is the time that we're going to need to be shaking that up. mean, look,

I wanted to, I think we can, I want to talk about the rent guidelines board and all that. But also I think since we're talking about billionaires and how this is happening, where we're talking about a billion dollar bill that's coming up for the ballroom at the White House. Like this wasn't supposed to cost us, We need, I know, you know what?

Led Black (44:21.354)
Super important. We need that ballroom. We need that ballroom. That ballroom is so important right now. I don't know why you're hitting on that ballroom. We need that ballroom.

Octavio Blanco (44:29.614)
I wake up in a cold sweat when I think that we don't have a ballroom in White House. It's like, just don't know what we're going to do without it. And it's terrifying that we don't have a ballroom. You know, I'm fine with, you know, with...

Led Black (44:46.462)
But you know, yeah, exactly. But that ballroom at first was gonna be paid by him and his friends. And now there's a billion dollar fucking bill that's making his rounds so we can pay for it, right? And that's the thing that I think that goes to the whole, like, I think Donald Trump in so many ways is, he is America in a sense.

There's no reason for this. And again, I'm just he's the it just speaks to white privilege, right? That Trump could could do and say things and and and just no one really, really gets upset about it. Like he tore down the East Wing. Right. He tore it down, just destroyed it. It is no longer there. And then he's going to on its on its thing, he's to build this ballroom bunker.

that he's already fired people and no one gets upset about it. Like that's what's so crazy. Like we live in a crazy time. Like this man has said, I'm gonna end the civilization tonight. Those are war crimes. That's crazy.

Octavio Blanco (45:52.342)
Yeah, but let me just let me just say before before we even get into that is like not only that. So supposedly, like, it was all about a technicality. I think it was just bad planning. I think he just decided let's do this and didn't look into what it was actually going to cost. He was like, Yeah, I don't have we I can just have my friends build it. And then later on, somebody was like,

Oh, excuse me, sir. But if we build it, we're gonna have to make it secure and safe. Oh, we didn't think about what goes into that. What is it? Anyway, it's gonna cost a billion dollars. Yeah, he did. Absolutely.

Led Black (46:27.786)
He came in with a grift in mind, I'm sorry. He came in there with grift in mind. He's like, this is something we can milk to high heaven and I'm gonna make, me and my friends are gonna make tons of money off of it. Grift is part of the calculation.

Octavio Blanco (46:39.086)
And so now we have and so now we have a billion dollar bill. In the meantime, our Medicare is being cut. In the meantime, our SNAP benefits are being eliminated. So it really is a class war. It really is a class war. And we can see it from the president on down. You know, he ran as a

somebody who is going to protect our interests as little people. And that is the furthest from the truth. got to point to a cool article, a cool opinion story in the USA Today. I'm going to share my screen again so you can check it out. It is by a woman named Sara Pequeño.

And it's on the USA Today. was published today. Republicans don't care about spending if it's to please Trump. And it's absolutely true. know, it's like, if you look at this, things that we've been talking about for the longest time, know, Trump said that not one penny is being used from the federal government. Excuse me.

now we're going to have a billion dollars that's going to be spent from the federal government. That's our money. I didn't vote for that. I don't want that to happen. you know, in the meantime, like I said, we're losing our our our snap benefits. We're losing our Medicare. Not only that, we're losing our we're getting cuts to housing and urban development programs. We're getting cuts to the Department of Education. We're getting cuts to the National Institute of Health. You know,

People can't afford groceries. People can't afford gas. And yet we're still, you know, the president is out there talking about how he's got to, you know, do this for, you know, for whatever reason. I don't know what the reason is, but it's all BS.

Led Black (48:48.906)
But again, and you know, that's what I'm saying. Like, I think Trump is the epitome of all this, right? He takes the corruption that already existed and just, you know, he didn't drain the swamp. He enlarged the swamp and became the swamp. Like, him and the swamp just merged, right? But the swamp, he is a swamp thing, but again, I think that also the whole system is fucked up.

Octavio Blanco (49:09.73)
He is the swamp thing.

Led Black (49:17.01)
Right. It's not set up to work for regular people. Right. Like, you know, and I think the ballroom, like you said, there's so much, you know, the term that I coined, the grain punishment, right, that we're living through right now.

Everything is more expensive and this motherfucker is building a ballroom. But again, it's not just Trump, right? Let's be honest. The Democratic liberal establishment is also at fault, right? We have a lot of, the whole society is geared to rich people. So let's talk about the Met Gala. Why the fuck are we doing a Met Gala in this way, right? Why is Jeff Bezos?

putting his money and kind of whitewashing all his crimes because this is the Met Gala. So rich people dress up and they have their fucking balls and masquerades and shit. And then the regular people starving. So what I'm saying is the ballroom and the Met Gala are two different, it may be different groups within it, but it's the same thing. It's like this, this, this just the rich and the billion is elevated to this different status. And we all put up with it, but we don't. There's more of us than there are them. So it's like, it is like time to, to.

assert our class dominance because it's being asserted against us. And that's why you have these fires. That's why you have this inequality. That's why you don't have a good standard of living. Like, know, I'm not a communist, but you look at China and what they've been able to do for their people is invest in their people. They're not investing in wars.

Right? So they've lifted the, you know, I read a story. There was a guy who was a bureau chief of one of these Western media outlets and he he he's an avid bike rider, you know, like a regular, like a bonus, not as motorcycle bicycle. And he went to travel in the the most the least, you know, province of China that's that's developed. And he's like, and I found.

Led Black (51:06.826)
amazing roads, great airports, great public transportation. And he's like, this is the most remote part of the Republic of China, right? And he's like, and they had world-class amenities for their people. And this isn't to say that they're perfect. That's not the point. The point is what have we done with all this fucking money, right? How come the Pentagon didn't figure out that Iran was gonna...

remove their infrastructure bases and attack and control the straight horror moves. When you get so much fucking money, right? This is a country that's the richest empire the world's ever seen. How come the regular person is going through so much? We need to regulate and that's what this is all about. It comes back to it again. I agree with Trump is horrible, but we need to look at the overall system, right? That brings about the elites that are part, like again, that's why I like Ro.

And if Roe is running for president, he should, because I'm rocking with Roe, right? Well, he says we have an Epstein class, and we do. We have these elites that are both, that are dominant in the leadership of both parties, and they are the ones that leading us down this path. Let's choose a different path. Let's create a different path. And I think that what we've done in New York City could be a beacon going forward.

Octavio Blanco (52:06.478)
you

Octavio Blanco (52:28.096)
Yeah, and to that point, I think that we have an important thing coming that we're in the middle of in New York City, which is the rent guidelines board trying to determine how much are they going to increase our rent by for rent stabilized apartment and, and there's good news on that front that that right now, the the range of what they're going to be voting on is it could be from zero like

zero increase to 2 % on one-year leases and from zero to 4 % on two-year leases. So that means that it's that at a rent freeze is still on the table. But you know what, let me have the mayor explain it for us a little bit better. let me just bring him on. I've got him on here.

talking to us about this vote. So here we go. I'm gonna play this clip.

Octavio Blanco (53:59.864)
So that means that right now, it's May 14th when the public hearings are going to start.

You should be going to the, you should be looking for opportunities to speak up about what a rent hike would mean to you and what you want to see happen. If you can do that, you can help to shape what the board, the rent guidelines board determination is. I'm gonna share my screen again here.

because this is the page where you guys should be going to. It is...

Here we go. It is rentguidelinesboard.cityofnyork.us. That's where you're going to be seeing the, on May 14th,

that's where you're gonna be seeing where the hearings are gonna be. The hearings are gonna be on June 4th, June 8th, June 11th, and June 16th, all over the city. So go to that page, that's where you sign up for these hearings, and that's where you can make your voice heard about making sure that the...

Octavio Blanco (55:43.64)
that the guidelines boards freezes the rent. It's on the board. That's part of the range from zero to 2 % for one year leases and from zero to 4 % on two year leases. So if you want them to freeze the rent, make your voice heard. Go to that page.

Led Black (56:01.768)
Make your voice heard. Make your voice heard. You know what I wanna say that I think the brooms are coming out today at 3.30, you know what I mean? I think it's time to sweep sixes into the dustbin of the playoff run. You know I mean? I think ever since that Atlanta game, right where we came back and we had a historic, it was the biggest halftime lead in NBA history.

Octavio Blanco (56:08.278)
Yes!

Octavio Blanco (56:21.857)
God.

Led Black (56:29.45)
Brunson had more 30 point game in the playoffs than any other Nick. You know what mean? This feels historic. It feels special. And ever since that game, it feels like the Knicks have turned the corner where they just kind of like enter the different state and they all just clicking as a team and as a machine. And it's beautiful thing to see. And it was such, it's Mother's Day today. So I'm going to one of our favorite restaurants at three. The game starts at 3.30. So I'm gonna try to chew fast, try to get home to see the game.

Octavio Blanco (56:46.795)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (56:57.326)
Hahaha!

Led Black (56:58.858)
But yeah, man, like this is really exciting as a Nick fan to be here. Like, you know, I don't consider myself a spring chicken, but the Knicks haven't won in my lifetime. You know what mean? Like that's wild when you think about it. You know what mean? so I mean, this feels like the year and there's love for everyone. know what I mean? Like I gotta say though, Joel Embiid is the biggest fucking baby and he's super talented. He could do it all. He's a great player, but he's on the floor like a hundred times a game.

Octavio Blanco (57:08.59)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Octavio Blanco (57:20.65)
Yeah, his flopping was ridiculous.

Led Black (57:27.336)
And then he's always crying, he's always pushing, he's super dirty. So I like that Robinson posterized that motherfucker forever with that thong, like on his head, like here take that, take that, you know what mean?

Octavio Blanco (57:30.615)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (57:33.97)
Yeah, that dunk was sick. And Kat has been, I've loved, I have loved to see Kat and Mitch going after Embiid. Like those two bigs just like have been crushing him. And yeah, they've exposed his, his babiness, his like his total flopping every time, every chance he gets, they pushed me down. Like, shut up.

Led Black (57:47.528)
Yeah.

Led Black (58:00.872)
And off the court too, shut the fuck up. And off the court too he was complaining about there's too much Nick fans in the Philly, in their arena. What the fuck? And then also, you know that they put a restriction that you had to have like a Philly residency or something to buy tickets or in this. But we found a way, like after yesterday's game, mean last Friday's game, you could have seen Philly look crazy. Like I know Philly fans were tight. Because New York was, New York fans were vocal.

Octavio Blanco (58:03.927)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (58:28.096)
Yeah, vocal. Yeah. I just like, please keep it, keep it peaceful. I don't want to have like, I don't want that to over. Yeah. I don't want to mess with Philip. Yeah. No, no, no. Have fun. Have fun. Yeah. know, 330. That's going to be, that's going to be the, that's going to be.

Led Black (58:30.108)
I saw a lot of mayhem in Philly with New York fans, which is crazy.

Led Black (58:38.142)
Keep it, yeah, don't Philly's no joke. Philly's no joke. Like I wouldn't, you know, I think that shit could get out of hand, you know. Let's be peaceful, yeah, no, but we got, I think it's a sweep today. Yeah, let's win, let's go, you know, let's go.

Octavio Blanco (58:57.762)
That's gonna be good. I'm really, you know, we're Knicks fans in this household. We try to watch every game that we can. All the whole season, you know, the whole season, we watch, we try to watch every game that we can in this household. you know, we love it. You know, it's also like sentimental in a way.

when I, you I got sick years, it's about six years ago. And, and one of the things that my wife recognized was that I really liked watching the Knicks games. And so, so she would make it like, Hey, let's watch the Knicks game together. Even though I think at that, at that stage, she didn't really care, but she was doing it for me. But now she's like the most avid Knicks fan that I know. Like she's like,

Led Black (59:44.936)
That's it's beautiful.

Octavio Blanco (59:51.456)
all in the game and she's like, you know, like more than I am. And so it's usually me and my son and my wife and we just like, that's our, that's our time where we get to be together. We get to watch the game and we get to cheer for our home team. So yeah, 330 watch that, you know, it's going to be, this could be it. This could be it.

Led Black (59:56.905)
That's awesome.

Led Black (01:00:11.45)
Yeah, Whoever comes next, you know, it don't even matter. You know what We rolling. I want to see Cleveland put more of a hurting on Detroit, to be honest. You know, I think, in my opinion, in my opinion, I think Detroit has underperformed. You know what I mean? And they won that first series, but they had a scratch at the seventh series, right? Like, so I think there's talent on paper. I think it's a great team. But I think what we have this year is special. So we're not going nowhere. But let's talk about what you did yesterday. You did something special yesterday. Tell us about that.

Octavio Blanco (01:00:40.942)
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I went to United Palace and I checked out the New York Philharmonic.

and maestro and not just a maestro Gustavo do the mail who like did such a fun, fun, show, it was salsa and he confessed. He told us not to tell anybody, but here we are telling everybody. He confessed that when he was a kid, he wanted to be a salsa player before he was like into, into classical music. He wanted to be a salsa player. So

Led Black (01:00:51.9)
El maestro.

Octavio Blanco (01:01:19.724)
The event that we went to last night was not just the New York Philharmonic, it was also the Barrio Orchestra, Salsa, with a very, very special guest. Ruben Blades was in the house. mean, Blades, el otro maestro. And they did this incredible sort of...

Led Black (01:01:39.242)
El otro maestro

Octavio Blanco (01:01:48.638)
mix, I would call it, know, a mashup of salsa and, you know, symphony music. And the whole stage was like full of the symphony. And then the center stage was the salseros. And it was just like an incredible night.

The whole place, I don't know, I think it was sold out because the whole place was just like full. know, sometimes you go and you can sit here, but maybe you can move and sit in a better place. No, this place, this evening, was like every single seat was sold out. You had to sit where you had to sit. And it was just like a beautiful night. The rain had passed, you know, the air was nice and crisp and the people there was just like, they were just loving it.

And there was kids and there was old people, there was young people. It was really, really great. We had a really good time. and it's right. And I loved it. I could just walk there from my apartment, five minute walk and I come right back home. No subway, no bus, nothing. It was just like, yeah.

Led Black (01:02:39.114)
That's awesome.

Led Black (01:02:45.162)
So there you have it, folks.

Led Black (01:02:49.716)
and then come right back home.

Led Black (01:02:55.082)
Shout out to United Palace. Shout out to United Palace. You can't beat like world-class entertainment, like a few blocks away. But my brother, another Sunday under the belt, we did it. Mother's Day now, let's go enjoy Mother's Day. Shout out to all the mothers. Spread love, it's the uptown way. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast. He already told you how you could donate. Show love, right? We coming here, we spending our time showing y'all love. Just reciprocate.

Octavio Blanco (01:03:03.736)
Yes sir. Yes sir.

Led Black (01:03:19.626)
All right, man. My brother, see you soon. Shout out to your wife, to your mom, to everyone, all the mothers. All right, brother. Talk to you soon.

Octavio Blanco (01:03:25.934)
Likewise, likewise. All right, bye bye.