New York Amsterdam News July 23, 2026- July 29, 2026

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Vol. 117 No. 30 | July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW BLACK VIEW

©2026 The Amsterdam News | $1.00 New York City

PETS, BIAS, AND GATEKEEPING HOW RACE PLAYS INTO ANIMAL ADOPTION (See story on page 6)

(AmNews / Amanda Ulloa Illustration)

Specialized High Schools Admissions Rigged Against Students of Color Urban Agenda by David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York - See page 5

2 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

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Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses residents lambast NYCHA & City for moving forward with planned demolition By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

A litany of litigation seems to have slowed the proposed demolition of New York City Housing Authority’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses in Manhattan, but the city is pressing forward with plans. A group of housing activists is still undeterred. “Public housing needs to be protected. You’re not going to see affordable housing like this built again,” said City Councilmember Chris Banks, who chairs the public housing committee, at the council’s Black media roundtable on July 21 at City Hall. Eighteen public housing buildings in Chelsea collectively make up Fulton and ElliottChelsea Houses, which were built between 1947 and 1968. After decades of disinvestment, the infrastructure is crumbling, similar to other developments across the city that were placed under a federal monitorship by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This led to talks of razing​​two 36-unit buildings and starting from scratch in 2019. The city and NYCHA have formally created a working group to discuss converting the two buildings into Section 8 PACT/Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) affordable housing. The city conducted resident surveys in 2023, and ad-

opted a development agreement in 2024. But a contingent of housing activists refuse to cooperate, fearing that a “privatization of NYCHA,” or the reclassification of Section 9 to Section 8 leases, will mean certain displacement from their community and rent hikes as well as rapid gentrification of public housing in Chelsea — which serves primarily low-income, Black, Brown, Asian, immigrant, elderly, and disabled New Yorkers. On July 9, the Appellate Division denied preliminary injunctions against NYCHA’s plan to tear down the FEC Houses. This lifts the temporary judicial restraint that had stopped NYCHA from advancing the project since 2025. In one case, the court determined that the challenge was filed too late. NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa BovaHiatt, said in a statement, “The project and engagement process will now resume as we work to deliver the new units, improved amenities, and state-of-the-art community spaces that NYCHA residents deserve.” The housing activists were deeply disappointed with the ruling and are already coming up with ways to appeal. “I think it’s very unfortunate that we continue to be faced with this false binary choice between tearing down the building and having tenants live in harmful conditions, when nothing else has been attempted. We can save

Photo of NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses signage. (Photo contributed by No Demolition NYCHA group)

Section 9 affordable housing,” said Layla LawGisiko, who ran for city council on the issue of public housing in District 3 and lost in the recent primary. “We know it’s ground zero. We know it’s the blueprint. This is the intended model they want to scale up.” “The Appellate Division ruling was very disappointing because they didn’t rule on the merits of the case, whether this violated our health, whether this violated the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) proSee NYCHA on page 21

Denise Oliver-Vélez, Young Lords leader and Black Panther Party member, dies at 78 By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Denise Oliver-Vélez, a famed member of both the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party and a prominent contributor to Daily Kos, died on July 15. She was 78. “Denise lived and encompassed this very special connection between Puerto Ricans and Black Americans in New York City that was forged out of struggle,” said Erica González, director of Power 4 Puerto Rico, who noted that Oliver-Veléz moved with a New York attitude that demanded respect. Oliver-Vélez was the first woman elected to the Young Lords’ Central Committee and later became the party’s minister of economic development. She also joined the Black Panther Party; helped establish Pacifica Radio’s first minority-controlled station, Washington, D.C.’s WPFW-FM; worked in AIDS research; and taught college-level classes. Toward the end of her life, she was a prominent writer for progressive news website Daily Kos. Born Denise Roberts Oliver on August 1, 1947, in Brooklyn, Oliver-Vélez grew up in a politically conscious Black family. Her father, George B. Oliver, was an actor, a Nassau See DENISE OLIVER-VÉLEZ on page 29

Denise Oliver-Vélez (left) was honored with “Best Ally” award, specially designed by artist Sylvia Hernández (with her), at 2024 “Boricuas Holding It Down” awards. Oliver-Vélez is wearing Yemaya colors; she was a priestess of Yemaya in Afro Cuban Lucumi Orisha tradition. (Angie Vásquez/Power4PR Education)

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 3

NYC targets ‘repeat-offender’ landlords with rental ripoff report By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff After a series of Rental Ripoff hearings earlier this year, the city has released its report detailing an analysis of current housing issues and policy actions to hold negligent landlords accountable. “New York City is home to the strongest tenant protections anywhere in the United States of America. And yet we know this work remains unfinished. Too many still pay soaring rents, only to live with kitchens full of cockroaches and bathroom pipes that leak and rust,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a press conference at the Tenement Museum on July 16. The hearings ran between February and April across the five boroughs with about 2,400 people in attendance. This is a part of Mamdani’s multi-pronged “Block by Block” strategy to tackle the city’s crippling housing crisis. The report identifies the most common concerns tenants testified about, such as pests and vermin, mold, leaks, landlord harassment, confusing interactions with agencies, deceptive fees, and surprise utility bills. The report also compiles tenant calls to 311, which is usually how investigations regarding housing quality start. This includes complaints about broken toilets, peeling paint, possible lead, plumbing and electrical problems, construction without permits, failure to make repairs, rent increases, eviction notices, broken elevators, air quality, asbestos, and sewer conditions. But during the last three years, heat and hot water complaints made up 35% of all reported 311 housing calls, the report said. Regarding New York City Housing Authority

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani released the Rental Ripoff Report, a package of 23 policy actions shaped by testimony from thousands of New Yorkers at Rental Ripoff Hearings held across the five boroughs on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.)

buildings, in a separate series of city events, residents reported slow response times to maintenance issues, inadequate repairs, poor communication with the NYCHA agency, and recertification and succession rights that have transferred in the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together program. “The Rental Ripoff Hearings and today’s report are writing a new chapter in tenant power in New York City. Governing is a partnership. By bringing tenants’ voices directly into policy and taking unprecedented steps to facilitate tenant organizing across the city, we are showing what governing with New Yorkers looks like. From legally recognizing tenant unions to coordinating enforcement days with tenants and owners, we are making clear that our city and our housing market is stronger when tenants are mobilized, engaged, and represented,”

said Cea Weaver, Director of Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, in a statement. Mamdani said that the city plans to improve housing quality by strengthening the enforcement of common housing code violations and complaints; modernize the city’s systems for cataloging building registrations and penalties; legally recognize tenant unions; and require the disclosure of AI or digitally altered images and video on misleading rental listings. City inspectors will also be slated to investigate every single heat complaint the city receives and residents will be able to reschedule visit times that are more convenient. Lastly, Mamdani said that the report’s recommendations include going after “repeat-offender” landlords through inspections, enforcement programs, and litigation. For the most part, the reception to the report has been positive from housing groups.

According to Barika Williams, executive director at Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, “the Mamdani administration’s Rental Ripoff Report findings validate what ANHD’s organizers and tenants have been raising for years about landlord abuses such as lack of heat, persistent mold and pests, neglected or poor-quality repairs, and concerns about increases in immigration-related harassment. “The report also makes an important distinction between “low-road” landlords, who speculate on tenants’ homes and rely on harmful practices to increase profits, and “high-road” landlords, who work with tenants to properly manage and preserve critical lowcost housing instead of prioritizing profits,” Williams continued. “By making this distinction clear, the city can better target resources to address tenants’ challenges.” However, the real estate industry is not as impressed. The New York Apartment Association (NYAA), representing the owners and operators of New York’s rent-stabilized housing, agreed that the report documents real housing issues that need improvement, but pushes back when it comes to restricting credit checks, strengthening tenant unions, higher fines, and penalties. “Let’s start with what we agree on. Everyone wants better housing,” said Kenny Burgos, CEO of the NYAA. “Here is what the report will not say. That distress has a cause. Buildings cannot be maintained on frozen revenue. Boilers, roofs, elevators, and facades do not repair themselves. The administration froze the rent, and now proposes new mandates, new fines, new fees, and new liens on the same buildings it admits are struggling. It is disingenuous to tell New Yorkers the poison is the medicine.”

New York man fights for medical parole over sentence stemming from $10 robbery as cancer progresses By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff Michael Boone, a Black man incarcerated in New York State prison for a crime he insists he did not commit, is awaiting medical parole after his throat cancer diagnosis progressed to stage four. His fiancée Nya Hubbard said he is not receiving adequate care while in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) custody. “It is very vital for him to have medical care outside of DOCCS because they have not been addressing his medical needs,” said Hubbard. “Michael has been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, stage two, on December 17, 2025. After he got diagnosed, DOCCS knew this [and] they [transferred him] abruptly. Michael has been changed to so many different facilities.” Boone, 61, has long challenged his incarceration and maintained his innocence for a first-degree robbery and third-degree weapons possession conviction for stealing $10

while brandishing a knife. The incident occurred in Harlem, but Boone claims he had recently returned from a Fire Island job and withdrew substantially more money from a Bronx bank before going to Manhattan. He faced a maximum of 16 years in prison and is otherwise not parole-eligible until 2030. Currently, Boone is receiving care at Westchester Medical Center, which is contracted by the state to care for incarcerated people. Before his arrest, Boone worked as a chef. “He’s very creative [with food],” said Hubbard. “That is one of the things that I loved about him: his passion for food. At the same time, he was the type of person that encouraged younger people to go into the field.” Medical parole exists as a discretionary release mechanism for terminally ill individuals held by DOCCS who are almost certainly incapable of re-offending due to their condition. Similar but not identical to a compassionate release, the process goes through a board and is specifically available for people who have not reached their conditional release date.

Michael Boone. (Provided by Nya Hubbard)

During the process, Boone and Hubbard reached out to advocates, including VOCAL-NY organizer Nick Encalada-Malinowski. He pointed to broader issues regarding aging and sick people in New York State prisons, particularly as DOCCS bemoans an alleged staffing shortage. “Michael is not unique. There are a lot of people that are going through the same situation that deserve relief,” said Encala-

da-Malinowski. “We continue to call, and have been calling, on the state to figure this out to get people home [and] get them the care they need as part of the solution to the ongoing crisis in New York State prisons.” DOCCS declined to respond to the Amsterdam News’ request for an interview, because the agency does not comment on an individual’s medical condition.

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National

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

How one teacher’s locs changed her classroom By NEENMA EBELEDIKE Word in Black

ence teacher in Stockton, California. ‘You won’t get a job’ As a teenager, Barrera admired successful Black women who wore locs, and she wanted to wear them herself. Her mother discouraged the decision. “‘Don’t do that. You won’t be able to get a job,’” Barrera recalled being told. She wore them anyway, but repeatedly faced questions about whether they were clean or if she had washed her hair. Later, as she experienced hair loss, Barrera said, she worried whether a shaved head would be acceptable. “I was afraid to show up at my job without any hair,” she said. “Those who wanted to say something negative stayed silent. Those who said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I love it’ helped lift me up.” Barrera said she has seen progress since California passed the CROWN Act in 2019. She no longer hears colleagues criticizing Black students’ hairstyles, but she believes schools still have work to do. Many campuses now have “care closets” stocked with hygiene products for low-income students, she said, but few include combs or products for Black hair. “Even if a [Black] child did need help with their hair, they have nowhere to go,” Barrera said. Hamilton said authentic change begins with shifting the messages children receive about themselves. She said one participant in her research intentionally wore cornrows to a job interview. “‘If they have a problem with my hair,’ Hamilton recalled the woman saying, ‘I don’t want to work there.’”

This story originally appeared in the Sacramento Observer. For years, Eghosa Obaizamomwan Hamilton believed she knew what a teacher was supposed to look like. For years, she regularly straightened her hair to blend into an educational system in which professional standards mirrored Eurocentric norms, and taught the standard curriculum, careful not to stray from the norm. Then the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools online. Away from the classroom and the daily scrutiny of institutional expectations, Hamilton began growing her locs. As they grew, she also found herself including more Black voices in her classroom. She became more willing to challenge traditional teaching methods. Most importantly, Hamilton said, she became more herself. “As I started wearing protective styles and eventually got my locs, I realized my pedagogy was changing with my hair,” Hamilton told attendees during an author talk focused on her new book, “Articulations, A Radical Methodology for Black Pedagogy: Redefining Education Through Black Women’s Hair Experiences” last month in Sacramento, California. “When I got my locs, I felt like I was fully loaded with having a very Black-centered approach to teaching.” Appearance and acceptance For Hamilton, every Black woman carries a hair story. The sting of chemical relaxers that burned their scalps. Being told their natural hair looked “unkempt” or “unprofessional.” Family, media, schools, or workplaces often deliver the same message: Their natural hair is unacceptable and must be changed. Hamilton argues that their stories are far more than memories about appearance. “They shape how Black women move through educational spaces,” she said. “How do students’ views of their hair impact their experience of school?” That message connected with many educators in the audience. Tiffany Herndon, an education consultant and founder of the nonprofit College Engine Inc., said Hamilton’s discussion captured a tension Black educators commonly navigate: motivating students to accept their identity while preparing them to succeed in systems that have not always embraced them. “How much do I ask you to assimilate for advancement?” Herndon said. “And how much of that means losing your identity?”

After years of conforming to professional norms, educator Eghosa Hamilton says embracing her natural hair transformed both her identity and her classroom. (Neenma Ebeledike/Sacramento Observer)

‘Blackness is greatness’ For Herndon, the challenge is helping Black students understand that they do not have to sacrifice who they are to succeed. “It’s that negotiation between self-love and survival,” she said. As a former high school teacher and Black Student Union advisor, Herndon said educators need to build spaces intentionally where Black students feel seen and appreciated. “You have to walk the walk,” she said. “You have to have honest conversations, and you have to instill cultural pride. My thing is that Blackness is greatness.” Hair, she explained, is connected with race, identity, history, and belonging. Before the transatlantic slave trade, African hairstyles communicated family lineage, status, and community. Enslaved Africans often had their heads shaved upon capture, stripping away those cultural markers.

Centuries later, Hamilton argues, Black women still negotiate messages about which hairstyles are acceptable. Those pressures continue despite growing legal protections such as California’s CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination based on natural hairstyles associated with race. Hamilton described hair as a “racial marker” that still influences how Black women are perceived in classrooms and workplaces. Her research explores “posttraumatic hair subversion” — the phenomenon of Black women regaining agency after years of hearing their natural hair is less professional, beautiful, or acceptable. Rather than framing Black women’s hair stories solely through trauma, Hamilton wanted to document the strength and creativity they bring to dealing with those experiences. Those experiences spoke to Rita Barrera, a seventh- and eighth-grade sci-

Hairstyle as self-determination For Hamilton, growing her locs was as much an act of self-definition as a hairstyle. She challenged families, educators, and communities to think carefully about the messages children receive about their hair. “If you’re altering your appearance because of outside pressure,” she said, “there’s danger there.” Instead, she hopes young people learn to make choices rooted in confidence rather than conformity. That lesson has become strongly personal. Hamilton, now the mother of a young daughter, said she is constantly aware of the words she uses while doing her daughter’s hair and the messages those words might carry. Every night, she gives her daughter the same affirmation: “I love my hair.” For Hamilton, those four words are part of a broader vision of liberation, one in which Black children enter classrooms already believing the parts of themselves that institutions have often questioned are worthy, beautiful, and enough.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Using tea, affirmations and self-care to transform Harlem

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 5

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones, Esq

Specialized High Schools Admissions Rigged Against Students of Color

Black

New Yorker

Numbers don’t lie. Only three Black students were among the 777 offered admission this fall to Stuyvesant High School. Just one was among the 300 offered admission to by Staten Island Tech. Overall, this year Black students received 3.5 percent of the 4,023 acceptance letters to specialized high schools, and Latino students received 6.5 percent. By contrast, Asian students were given more than half of all offers, followed by white students with 23 percent, school figures show. So few Black and brown kids in the hallways of specialized high schools send a message that their absence is normal, that they cannot cut it academically, and that maybe they’re just not smart enough. That thinking is shameful— and dangerous. We all know it is not the case. Several factors are in play. There is the controversial Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). Then there is the testprep cottage industry that allows wealthy households—and others who view specialized-school admission as a last-ditch opportunity for a better life—to game the system, training their kids from early adolescence.

Unique Samuel Figueroa. (Photos by Nafissatou Yattassaye)

BY NAFISSATOU YATTASSAYE Special to the AmNews As the tea brews in East Harlem, Becoming Unique Boutique is more than a wellness shop; it’s a sanctuary built by unique Samuel Figueroa. As an entrepreneur, mother, creative, and lifelong Harlemite, Figueroa understands the importance of community because she was raised by it. For years, Figueroa, 50, navigated life without fully recognizing her self-worth, a hurdle that impacted her confidence and held her back from reaching her potential. “Throughout my life, I’ve faced the challenge of not fully realizing my self-worth and recognizing my own power,” Figueroa said. “This struggle impacted my confidence and ability to pursue opportunities. It took time to understand my value, but overcoming it has been a significant part of my growth.” After graduating from New York’s St. Jean Baptiste High School and deciding not to attend college, she took a leap of faith to build a life on her own terms. Yet before creating a physical space for others, she had to navigate an internal struggle of her own. As Figueroa embraced self-acceptance, she felt called to extend that journey to others. She wanted to build a safe space where neighbors could step away from the city’s fast pace, reconnect with their inner strength, and feel valued. That vision became the blueprint for Becoming Unique Boutique, a self-care well-

ness and tea shop at 322 E. 117th Street. “To me, Becoming unique means embracing and expressing my authentic self,” Figueroa said. “It’s about being true to who I am, honoring my individuality, and recognizing my strengths, values, and passions, and allowing them to shine through in everything I do.” Breaking into entrepreneurship with a niche concept wasn’t easy. As the neighborhood’s first Black-owned tea shop, Figueroa had to introduce residents to a wellness-focused tea house while finding creative ways to draw people through the door. Building a loyal customer base took patience and persistence. Creating a Black-owned space in Harlem carries a meaning far deeper than business success for Figueroa. “When people discover that I’m the owner, I can see an immediate energy shift; they light up with excitement to see someone who looks like them running an establishment. It’s inspiring for them and breaks down barriers, showing that anyone can achieve their dreams.” Becoming Unique Boutique reflects Figueroa’s journey to self-love. Rather than offering standard menu items, her tea blends feature positive affirmations designed to promote mindfulness. Figueroa points to her signature blend, “I Am Open for Change,” made with butterfly pea flower, cinnamon, lemon, and agave. The tea visibly changes color as See BNY on page 24

What is more, Black students comprise a shrinking constituency in the New York City school system. They make up only 19 percent of students, school figures show. The majority of school children, 42 percent, are Latino, while Asian students make up 19 percent and white students 16 percent. As a result, the major racial minority groups hold equal or greater political sway than Blacks, which reflects the loss of nearly 200,000 Black city residents between 2000 and 2020, according to US Census data. That helps explain the lack of public outrage among our elected officials and education and racial-justice advocates about the current plight of Black specialized high school admissions. The biggest culprit in this mess is the SHSAT, the sole standard for admission to eight of the nine specialized schools. LaGuardia High School, a performing arts school, instead requires auditions or portfolio reviews. The test is not used anywhere else in the United States. I say dump the SHSAT and automatically admit the top three percent of all middle school students. At the very least, expand the criteria to include grade point average, extracurricular activities, and maybe even socioeconomic factors. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, himself a Bronx High School of Science alum, has changed his position on the crisis. On the campaign trail, he called for abolishing the SHSAT because, he

said, the exam was biased. More recently, the mayor told The New York Times that the issue is a “struggle” for him. Stuyvesant High School’s admissions decisions were the most striking. It’s arguably the city’s most sought-after specialized public high school and offers to Black students this fall have reached their lowest level since at least 2014, which is as far back as the city’s public data goes. In the mid-1980s, Black and Latino students made up approximately 15 percent of Stuyvesant’s student body. The scandal in plain sight is how the wealthy game the system. They invest tens of thousands of dollars and countless weekends in test prep. Worthy students from modest households cannot afford those classes while some households pay eye-popping amounts, from $3,500 annually to as much as $50,000. In fact, weekend SHSAT tutoring has become so ingrained in some cultures that they spare no expense to give their children the opportunity to achieve a top score on the grueling, high-stakes exam. It wasn’t always like this. Indeed, the specialized schools once enrolled in coming classes that were more representative of the broader school system. For instance, Black and brown kids comprised the majority of Brooklyn Technical High School’s student body from the early 1980s until the mid-1990s, with Black enrollment alone hovering above 30 percent. That began to change in 2002, when the Bloomberg administration expanded SHSATbased admissions — which instead of further integrating specialized high schools contributed to fewer Black students being admitted. The plight of Black and brown students matters because, nationally, it contributes to a drop in people of color at America’s elite universities, according to National Center for Education Statistics. In nearly all highly selective private and public colleges — the 85 that accept 25 percent or fewer applicants — Black and Latino enrollment in recent years has declined or remained flat. Separately, a new study published by Brown University found that high-scoring students from underrepresented minority groups were more likely to be “cascaded” into less selective colleges, which generally have lower graduation rates and postgraduate earnings. It’s unacceptable that Black students are effectively locked out of the opportunity to study at our premier specialized high schools. Something must be done, because growing numbers of them are being denied access to the springboard into the nation’s top colleges and highest-paying jobs.

David R. Jones, Esq., is President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.

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Documentary ‘Brown and Bonded’ shows how racism, classism keep shelter pets from Black and Brown families By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff Animal shelters are widely seen as places where adorable, huggable cats and dogs sit waiting for potential owners to adopt them and families to bring them into their homes, making them members. A new documentary, however, says shelters have quietly assumed the power to determine who deserves to love and who does not, and race weighs heavily in that determination. “Brown and Bonded: Against the Odds” points out the ways shelters have adopted the U.S.’s deep-seated race and class attitudes and used them to determine who gets to bring home and love an animal and who is rejected. The documentary shows viewers the regular stories about the desperate need for pet ownership and the responsibilities and joys that come with rescuing a pet, adopting it, and taking it out of overcrowded shelters, where animals are at risk. James Evans, founder and CEO of Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE), directed the feature documentary, which shows the differences between the heartwarming, empowering world of rescued animals and the harsh realities of animals locked behind steel doors in cramped shelter cages. He told the AmNews he is looking to challenge what he sees as one of the most persistent contradictions in animal welfare: Shelters say they are desperate to place animals in loving homes, yet many still require Black and Brown families to prove they are worthy of pet companionship, something other people are automatically assumed to deserve. “Being anything other than white within the United States adds an unnecessary burden to life. Even seeking pet companionship doesn’t prevent Black and Brown people from experiencing this hardship, as many assume it would,” Evans said. “Brown and Bonded” follows people of color in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Minnesota and documents the many ways they have been rejected during the animal adoption process. Evans said these are not isolated incidents but part of an established national pattern. Data from Shelter Animals Count, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)-affiliated organization that collects data about animal shelters in the United States and Canada, estimated that 5.8 million dogs and cats were in U.S. shelters and rescues in 2025, and 597,000 were euthanized. The ASPCA’s national shelter statistics also show that animals — especially large dogs — are staying longer in shelters than they did five years ago, making the space crisis in shelters worse every day. Evans said that while people of color are harmed by discriminatory adoption practices, the animals also suffer when or-

The rules for qualifying to become a pet owner often hide underlying biases. “Brown and Bonded” follows people of color in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Minnesota and documents the many ways they have been rejected during the animal adoption process. (Brown and Bonded photos)

ganizations insist on enforcing narrow definitions of the “perfect” adopter. “Animals really should not be in the shelter,” Evans said. “Think about what the animals are facing and their current condition: They could be in a 4x6 container, but the executive director will say it’s okay for this animal to live in this 4x6 container, even when they’re only walking 15 minutes a day. But if you happen to be of the wrong nature or born into the wrong class and you’re coming there, … and you’re in

ASPCA investigate abuse and make arrests. This law became a model for humane societies across the country. However, Evans points out that the animal welfare movement developed within specific class and race structures. “Animal welfare started in the 1800s, and it predates women’s rights; it predates emancipation,” he said. Formed during the 19th century, the animal welfare issue emerged as a field largely shaped by white wealth and social standing — and those roots continue to influence who serves as directors in shelters, who sits on executive boards, and who is left doing the hard manual labor. “This was always a field that was predominantly occupied by wealthy white women who were connected to industrialists, and so these women got together and informed the first animal welfare laws,” Evans said. Animal welfare tends to be viewed as inherently compassionate: a space where kind people only want to rescue and care for animals. “Brown and Bonded” asks those in the animal welfare field to look inward because Evans said the same forces that shape this nation’s problems with housing, employment, policing, healthcare, and education also shape the minds of people who work and volunteer at shelters. In the film, Maryland-based former police officer Leslie Miller and Philadelphia entrepreneur Felicia Williams explain that they were rejected for pet adoption a combined 20 times. Williams, founder of Ginger Tea and CEO of HiTouch Enterprises, recalled being denied when she tried to adopt a cat, even though she had a stable home and a young child, and had recently purchased property. “I felt like I was in a position to take in an animal, and I wanted to adopt. And I was rejected,” Williams said in the film, noting she was turned away by two separate shelters. “Basically, the lady at the center was saying they didn’t think that I could provide a stable home for the animal.” Evans said that the rules for qualifying to become a pet owner often hide underlying biases. “You fill out the forms, and what happens to many people of color is that they don’t get callbacks at all,” Evans told the AmNews. “For me, I was asked to show my criminal record, presuming that I had one.”

Systemic bias and neighborhood profiling The documentary shows how geographia 1,200-square-foot apartment, it could be considered small, but it’s much, much bigger cal profiling influences adoptions. Evans said shelters often characterize entire ZIPcodes than where the dog is currently living.” as bad areas for animals, especially when local animal control agencies focus on those Animal welfare’s gatekeeping roots The ASPCA was founded in New York City neighborhoods for enforcement. “Many shelin 1866 by Henry Bergh, primarily to pro- ters are connected to animal control,” Evans tect working horses that had to pull carts said, “so once an animal control officer perand livestock that faced abuse. Nine days ceives a certain community as being dangerafter the organization received its charter, ous, or criminalized, many shelters will not New York state passed one of the first strong adopt to that ZIPcode.” See story on next page anti-cruelty laws in the U.S., which let the

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

“People make assumptions that if someone doesn’t have significant means, they can’t be an effective pet parent,” an animal advocate said in the film. But there are programs that can help provide support so that pet parents can keep their animals in their homes. Continued from previous page

Two former shelter workers featured in the film also talked about observing colleagues actively blacklisting applicants of color without cause.“If you come in a certain way,” the former kennel workers states in the film, “nine times out of 10, Black woman or Black men, especially a Mexican man, they would just put you on a ‘Do not adopt’ off the bat. No questions asked, don’t check no history. They just automatically, when you walked in, something about you they didn’t like, you went on a ‘Do not adopt.’” Indigenous and rural communities also tend to be excluded from pet ownership. Awanookwe Kingbird-Bratvold, an Ojibwe educator and founder of the Minnesota-based rescue Awesiinyag (Animals) Are Loved, talked about how she had rescued and nursed back to health an injured dog she named Bubba on the Red Lake Nation. When she was quoted high veterinary costs to completely heal him, she was forced to surrender him to an outside agency. “I had to surrender him, and I never ever found out if he had medical care after that. I never knew where he went,” Kingbird-Bratvold said. “And even when I still talk about him today, I feel very emotional about it because I’ll never forget him.” Evans said another major issue in the movement is that when people of color are hired to work in the animal advocacy space, they are often assigned to manual tasks. “Most of

the tasks, as you can imagine, … on the East Coast, … you’re going to see Black and Brown people working in the kennel area, cleaning, euthanizing animals. On the West Coast, it’s more of a Latinx experience,” Evans said. “Where we exist in the field, it is literally in the field: doing manual things, doing things that are really, really hard and emotional things.” The premise of “Brown and Bonded” is not asking shelters to lower basic standards of animal care, but rather a call for the industry to evaluate which policies genuinely protect animals and which merely enforce class markers that frequently separate pets from the families who care for them. Expanding adoption access, the film asserts, is both an

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 7

“Brown and Bonded” suggests that the same forces that shape this nation’s problems with housing, employment, policing, healthcare, and education also shape the minds of people who work and volunteer at shelters. (Brown and Bonded photos)

steal anything. We just sort of borrow and vet and make sure that everything is okay, and then find good homes for it.” “There’s a scene in the doc where an animal rights advocate decides she is going to steal someone’s pet, and a lot of people don’t realize that this goes on literally all over the country, day in and day out,” Evans said. “People decide that they see something they don’t like, and they’ll take other people’s pets, put them up for adoption, and they often sell their puppies. It is one of those fields that has this unbelievably humane veneer, but in reality, it is a really, really dark field that needs to improve.” The film suggests that reform is possible; “Brown and Bonded” points to leaders like Jo-Ann Zoll, CEO of the Providence Animal Center in Media, Pennsylvania, who openly addresses how bias restricts adoptions. “People make assumptions that if someone doesn’t have significant means, they can’t be an effective pet parent, and I completely disagree,” Zoll says in the film. “I actually think that’s why we have important programs, right? We can provide support around food, support around medical care, but without a good person taking an animal in, we can’t find a home for that animal.”

issue of racial equity and a mathematical necessity for clearing overcrowded shelters. The film shows that a lack of diverse leadership reinforces paternalistic attitudes about low-income communities. It includes archival footage from a project called “Dog Borrower,” which shows an animal advocate sneaking into Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood in the middle of the night to steal pets from a home because she thinks she’s actually rescuing them. “We’re going to go ‘borrow’ a dog that isn’t CARE is planning a free private screening of healthy to make it better,” the advocate says in the clip, “and then we’re going to find a “Brown and Bonded” in a Brooklyn theater for home for that dog. Only because stealing late August. If interested in attending the show, someone’s property is illegal, so we don’t email equity@careawo.org.

8 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Menin, City Council address racial equity and housing to Black press at roundtable By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff City Council Speaker Julie Menin and elected officials hosted a Black Media Roundtable at City Hall on July 21, discussing big wins in the city’s budget and areas that still need to be improved for Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. After months of protests about delays, the city passed its budget at $125.8 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2027. The budget had several policy items and funding geared toward addressing some of these issues faced by Black and Brown communities. This includes finally expanding the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program; rejecting the proposed 9.5% property tax increase on homeowners; allocating $2.1 million for the Commission on Racial Equity (CORE); $7.5 million in additional funding to help NYCHA remediate vacant units; baseline $10 million for cultural institutions; and a $1,000 college savings program for public school kindergartners through NYC Kids Rise, among other budget successes. “We have created the largest college savings program. We are seating every public school, and charter school, kindergartner, in the City of New York with a $1,000 college savings program,” said Menin. “It’s invested in the state’s 529 (account). That $1,000 will grow and compound every single year, and upon graduation, can be used for vocation-

al school, two-year community college, four-year college. Why it’s so important: Studies show that a low-income child with a college savings account is three times more likely to go to college than someone who does not have one, and earns double wages in the course of their lifetime.” Despite these significant wins, the councilmembers acknowledged that the work is not done, especially when it comes to affordable housing matters, pathways to homeownership, and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing. “There was an article that came out four and a half years ago that talked about the 200,000 Black New Yorkers who have left, and that was around the last Census. I have a feeling that when we do the next Census, we’ll see another exodus of Black New Yorkers,” said Williams. Williams said in her Queens district, it’s primarily Black homeowners who have moved; and it’s the same when she inquired in neighboring districts that had large Black and Caribbean populations. The cause, she believes, is an “attack” on Black homeownership through predatory lending, foreclosure, deed theft, and general skyrocketing costs of living. “It’s not a thing anymore to want to become a homeowner in New York City, so while we need to protect and stabilize existing homeownership units, we also feel that we should provide resources for those who want to become homeowners,” said Williams.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin hosts Black Media Roundtable at City Hall on July 21, 2026. (John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit photo)

According to the mayor’s racial equity report, released earlier this year, Black New Yorkers in particular experience stark disparities when it comes to housing, health, environmental impact, employment, and income, among other issues. The report found that the median household net worth of white New Yorkers is nearly 15 times greater than that of Black New Yorkers, at $18,870. It also found that Black New Yorkers have the lowest life expectancy of any racial or ethnic group in the city. Menin added that there is a fight to keep Mitchell-Lama housing affordable as the NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) considers increasing rents by 31% across the city, but in particular at Tracey Towers in the Bronx. “We are very upset, and it’s not

acceptable, that we have situations like Tracey Towers in the Bronx, where there is HPD, which is threatening a 31% increase,” said Menin. Councilmember Chris Banks, who chairs the public housing committee, said he is focused on historically underserved communities and NYCHA’s affordable housing stock. “Ultimately, this budget is about expanding opportunity, strengthening communities, and making investments that allow families to thrive … and I just want to stress again, we can’t talk about affordable housing or affordability if you leave NYCHA in the background. If we continue to privatize public housing, which we have seen has a track record of displacement and aggressive evictions across the

board, [concerns will continue],” said Banks. “While no budget can solve every challenge facing our city, we must recognize that more work remains, particularly when it comes to protecting and preserving public housing in the traditional Section 9 housing, which is home to a predominantly Black and Brown resident population.” Councilmember Kevin Riley, who chairs the land use committee, spoke about preserving and revitalizing land in communities with vacant lots that could be used for residential and commercial space as part of the city’s Small Lots, Big Impact initiative. The proposed reforms to the city’s construction codes look at about 3,000 small lots across the city that are being underutilized, said Riley. “Councilmembers are taking our own proactive notion to go out there and produce as much housing as possible, but not only produce housing; preserve communities as well,” said Riley. “Time and time again, I’m in the Bronx, or I’m in Brooklyn, visiting my family, my in-laws, and you’ll see house, house, house, missing house. Within that missing house lot, you might have an abandoned car, you might have furniture there. “It just changes the whole dynamic of the character of the block,” he continued. “This ‘Missing Tooth’ — that’s the speaker’s name for this proposal — pretty much goes in and utilizes our proactive power as a [council] to pass legislation. That makes it more financially viable for people to build within those lots.”

Diplomats feed the Harlem community to honor Nelson Mandela By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff In 1990, Nelson Mandela famously touched down in Harlem alongside Winnie Mandela just months after his release from prison. An indelible connection formed over a shared struggle between Black New Yorkers living above 110th Street and South Africans living under apartheid rule thanks to the visit. The spirit of that connection continued July 17 as roughly 25 volunteers from the Mandela Foundation, the United Nations, and city government served lunch to the Harlem community at Free Food Harlem at Refettorio, a restaurant-style pantry operated out of Emanuel A.M.E.

Church on 119th Street. “The work is not complete — the work of fighting for justice for everyone,” Dr. Mbongiseni Buthelezi, Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO said, as he stepped aside from delivering plates from the kitchen this past Friday, July 17. July 18 marks Nelson Mandela International Day annually for the U.N., as well as the human rights icon’s 108th heavenly birthday this year. A day ahead, the volunteering diplomats put on hairnets and waited tables for 67 minutes, famously in honor of the former South African president’s 67 years of service. “That is an occasion to remind people of his legacy,” Melissa Fleming, U.N. Under-SecretaryGeneral for Global Communica-

tions said. “And his values that are very close to the values of the United Nations, what’s embedded in the charter that every woman, man, child, person should live in dignity and equality. And that is what he represents.” Mandela long shaped the U.N.’s global mission and an honorary award and human rights standards for prisoner treatment were created in his name. A lifesized statue stands on the General Assembly’s first floor. Local agencies like NYC Service and the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs also played a hand in putting together the event. “When we look at food insecurity, there’s so many networks that are in local communities that are already providing access,” said

NYC Chief Service Officer Laura Rog. “For us, it’s how do we get more volunteers there because they’re seeing an uptick in the need for their services. They’re also seeing cuts in their resources…and it’s really an opportunity to see how communities take care of each other.” Free Food Harlem at Refettorio built a reputation for high-quality meals over a classy dining experience weekly. Bob Wilms, the project’s director, said the lunch was put together over two weeks. “This is a space where everything equalizes,” Wilms said. “The billionaire is no more important than the person who has nothing and it’s a place where everyone gets connected around service.”

Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Dr. Mbongiseni Buthelezi serves food to Harlemites. (Photo courtesy of NYC Service and the United Nations)

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 9

Divine Nine News Greek love in action: Strengthening community through fellowship, service, and wellness By IRAINA WITHERSPOON Special to the AmNews For decades, the Burlington County National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) of New Jersey has upheld one of its most cherished traditions — Greek Weekend, a celebration rooted in fellowship, service, and the enduring bonds of the Divine Nine. Each year, members, families, and friends eagerly anticipate this special weekend that reinforces the Council’s commitment to unity, while giving back to the community it serves. This year’s Greek Weekend embodied the true spirit of Greek love from beginning to end. The celebration kicked off with a lively Meet & Greet at B-Unos in Florence, supporting a local minority-owned business while reconnecting with fraternity and sorority members through an evening filled with laughter, memories, and renewed friendships. Attendees demonstrated their commitment to service by donating more than $500 in nonperishable food items for families in need. In recognition of Men’s Health Month, the Council expanded its programming by introducing its inaugural Men’s Wellness Walk at Green Acres Park. The event brought together 35 men representing the Divine Nine and the surrounding community to promote physical activity, encourage meaningful conversations about health disparities affecting men of color, and inspire healthier lifestyles. The celebration continued with the annual Greek Picnic, where fellowship was paired with purpose. Participants generously donated more than $800 in school supplies to ensure local students will begin the upcoming school year equipped for success while strengthening the Council’s commitment to educational equity. The weekend concluded with worship at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington, where more than 80 representatives of the

Members of the Burlington County NPHC pose following service at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington, NJ. (Photo courtesy of Tabernacle Baptist Church, Burlington, NJ)

Burlington County NPHC gathered in unity and faith. The Council presented a $1,500 scholarship donation, reaffirming its investment in the educational aspirations of local students. Greek Weekend once again demonstrated that the Burlington County NPHC is more than an organization; it is a family united by scholarship, service, leadership, wellness, and an unwavering commitment to uplifting the Burlington County community. Iraina Witherspoon is the President of the Rancocas Valley Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Participants are pictured during the Burlington County NPHC Men’s Walk.

Rancocas Valley Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in fellowship at the Annual Greek Picnic. (Photos courtesy of Tempeste Johnson, Rancocas Valley Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.)

Members of Kappa Lambda Iota Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

To share your Divine Nine News, please contact us at d9@amsterdamnews.com and at amsterdamnews.com/d9news

(Public Domain photo)

10 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Labor & Workplace Public defenders in Harlem could walk off job as July 24 strike deadline looms

Public defense workers at Brooklyn Defender Services began their strike July 16 after its union failed to reach a new contract with management. (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff Members of the Neighborhood Defender Service Union (NDSU) have voted to walk off the job and go on strike this Friday, July 24, at 8 a.m., if management does not agree to preserve employees’ nocost healthcare benefits and offer cost-of-living salary increases in its negotiations with the union. The possible walkout would be a first for NDSU, a chapter of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, UAW Local 2325. NDSU represents more than 230 workers, and a walkout would come on the heels of a current strike by public defense workers at Brooklyn Defender Services, which has over 500 public defense workers, including some 280 attorneys. NDSU workers represent lowincome New Yorkers in criminal, family, housing, immigration, and other court matters. Jahnavi Bhaskar, a senior attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and a chapter chair in UAW Local 2325, said the strike vote itself shows how far negotiations have deteriorated. “This is the first time we’ve even

gotten to the point of holding a strike authorization vote,” she said. “We had a 97% authorization vote among our members. And … we’ve never had to hold even a vote to authorize a strike. We’ve never had to set a strike deadline, so this is all unprecedented for us.” NDS members want to be able to continue having a no-premium, no-deductible healthcare plan. They also say management has proposed salary increases that would amount to a pay cut over time because they would not keep up with inflation, and that management is seeking to roll back post-retirement healthcare benefits for future retirees. NDS management has not responded to the Amsterdam News’ request for comment about these contract negotiations. NDS management was contacted by email and phone but they did not respond by press time. New York Amsterdam News Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Elinor R. Tatum sits on the board of Neighborhood Defender Service. NDSU represents public defenders and legal staff at offices in Harlem and the Bronx in New York, Detroit and Wayne County in

Michigan, and San Marcos, Texas. Nationally, the union members are part of ALAA-UAW Local 2325, which also includes the Brooklyn Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders, Legal Aid Society of New York City, New York Legal Assistance Group, Urban Justice Center, CAMBA Legal Services, Center for Appellate Litigation, Office of the Appellate Defender, and other nonprofit legal organizations. Members of the Brooklyn Defender Services began their strike July 16 after its union failed to reach a new contract with management; BDS has said supervisors and managers would cover cases during the work stoppage. The Harlem NDS union’s contract expired on June 30. That day, members marched and picketed outside their offices –– they were joined by newly elected congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Avila Chevalier is an NDS investigator and NDSU member and had also been identified as part of the unit whose contract expired. Bhaskar said the union has spent nearly 80 hours in bargaining sessions and is still willing to continue negotiating. “We have been in

bargaining since April, and we’ve had over, I think, 17 or 18 days of bargaining, and we’ve spent over 80 hours in bargaining sessions. Our core demands throughout that whole process have been consistent and the same, which is that we want a guarantee of our current health care plan.” According to the union, management’s latest proposal does not guarantee the no-cost healthcare plan for the life of a threeyear contract. The union also says management has proposed a tiered retiree healthcare structure under which current retirees would keep post-retirement benefits, while current employees who retire in the future would lose them. On wages, the union says management has proposed only a 1% cost-of-living adjustment over the entire three-year term. Management has previously said it was working to determine next steps in the event of a strike and remained in search of a bargaining-table solution. In a June report by City & State New York, management said: “We respect our employees’ legally protected right to peacefully express their views.” The same report said manage-

ment contended it could no longer afford the current premium- and deductible-free healthcare plan because of rising healthcare costs. The union argues that the explanation doesn’t match the organization’s finances. It points to almost $2 million in extra unrestricted funds it received in the New York City budget that ended on June 30. Union members say those funds should be used to support the workers in Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, the Bronx, Detroit, Wayne County, and San Marcos. The union says it does not want to leave clients without representation and hopes to settle before the July 24 deadline. If no agreement is reached, Bhaskar said members expect to be on the picket line at 317 Lenox Avenue, the location of the Harlem office, and would welcome community support. “We don’t want to have to walk away from our work, our clients, or the services we provide,” Bhaskar said. “So our hope and goal is to reach a contract this week. If we do not reach a contract this week, we will be on the picket line, and we’re definitely welcoming folks to join us there and support us.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 11

Notice of Class Action Settlement Authorized by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

— Notice of Class Action Settlement — Si desea leer este aviso en español, llámenos o visite nuestro sitio web. TO: All merchants in the U.S. who accepted Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards at any time since December 18, 2020. This notice (“Notice”) is authorized by the Court to inform you about an agreement to settle the equitable relief claims in a class action lawsuit, called In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 05-md-01720 (BMC)(JAM)(E.D.N.Y.). The lawsuit claims that Visa and Mastercard, separately, and together with certain banks, violated antitrust laws and caused merchants to pay excessive fees for accepting Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards, including by adopting interchange rules and rates, and other network rules, which the lawsuit has claimed constituted unlawful price fixing, unreasonable restraints of trade, and monopolization. The defendants say they did nothing wrong. They maintain that their business practices are legal, justified, and the result of independent competition, and have benefitted both merchants and consumers. The Court has not decided who is right because the parties agreed to a settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the Court on June 9, 2026. A. What Merchants Will Get from the Settlement During the lawsuit, the Court previously certified an Equitable Relief Class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and has now preliminarily approved a settlement of the Class claims (the “Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement” or “Settlement”). Under the Settlement, Visa and Mastercard have agreed to substantive changes to the Visa and Mastercard rules applicable to merchants who accept their cards as a form of payment. The Class includes all persons, businesses, and entities that accept any Visa-Branded Cards and/or Mastercard-Branded Cards in the United States at any time during the period between December 18, 2020 and the date of preliminary settlement approval, or June 9, 2026. The Court has set November 16, 2026 as the date for a final approval and fairness hearing (the “Fairness Hearing”) in connection with the Settlement, after members of the Class have had the opportunity to evaluate the Settlement and exercise their rights, as set forth in the Notice. Further information regarding the Settlement and the Fairness Hearing will be posted on www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com. Under the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement, Mastercard and Visa will modify certain rules to preserve, establish, or expand the circumstances in which merchants can, among other things, do the following: • Decline acceptance of Visa- or Mastercard-Branded Commercial Credit Cards and/or Premium Consumer Credit Cards. • Surcharge customers a fee for the use of any Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards, including based on the type of card used (e.g., a different surcharge for rewards and non-rewards cards). • Offer discounts to customers who do not pay with Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards, or based on the financial institution that issued the Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Card. • Decline acceptance of Visa or Mastercard-Branded Cards at all outlets that operate under the same trade name or banner, even if that merchant accepts those same cards at outlets that operate under a different trade name or banner. • Engage in Pilot Programs whereby they accept Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards at some but not all outlets operating under the same trade name or banner for a limited duration or test out various acceptance, surcharging and discounting options at some but not all outlets operating under the same trade name or banner, including not accepting Commercial or Premium Consumer Credit Cards, for a limited duration. • Accept some digital wallets at brick-and-mortar locations but decline others and enable some digital wallets for on-line transactions but not enable others, and “steer” among the cards within a digital wallet under the same rules that govern steering among traditional cards. • Receive the benefit of credit interchange rate reductions: Visa and Mastercard will reduce published and negotiated Credit Card interchange rates for U.S. merchants. • Receive the benefit of Credit Card interchange rate caps: The Settlement Agreement reduces and caps “Standard” Consumer Credit Card rates at a specified level and otherwise caps Credit Card interchange rates, such that neither Visa nor Mastercard will increase any of its published Credit Card interchange rates above the rates effective as of March 31, 2025 and each will reduce its network-wide average Credit Card interchange rate to or below the specified level. • Form Merchant Buying Groups that meet certain criteria to negotiate with Visa and Mastercard. • Receive access to a Merchant Education Program, established and administered under the Settlement Agreement, to help understand and maximize the benefits of the rule changes, including how to effectively “steer” in States that restrict surcharging.

• Attorneys’ fees and expenses, including any named Class Representative service awards, as approved by the Court. The money in this fund will be distributed only if the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, and the money for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards to Class Representatives, will be distributed only if the Settlement has become final and all appeals are exhausted, and the Court approves the application for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and Class Representatives’ service awards. Attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards to the Class Representatives: For work done through final approval of the Settlement by the Court, as well as any work they will be required to do in the future, Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of reasonable and necessary litigation expenses, and any service awards to the named Class Representatives that the Court may award, in an amount not to exceed $206,000,000. The Settlement Agreement requires Visa and Mastercard to pay these fees and expenses separately from the other Settlement financial obligations and they will not reduce any other benefits of the Settlement; members of the Class will not be required to pay any amount toward these fees and expenses. C. Legal Rights and Options Merchants who are included in this lawsuit have the legal right to Object to the Settlement. The deadline to object is: September 14, 2026. To learn how to object, visit: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com or call toll-free: 877-318-7713. Note: You cannot elect to be excluded from the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement. For more information about these rights and options, www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com or call toll-free: 877-318-7713.

visit:

D. If the Court Grants Final Approval of the Settlement If the Court grants final approval to the Settlement, members of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class will be bound by the terms of the Settlement and will release all claims against all released parties listed in the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement will resolve and release any claims by payment card acceptors against Visa, Mastercard and other defendants that were or could have been alleged in the lawsuit, including any claims based on interchange or other fees, no-surcharge rules, no-discounting rules, honor-all-cards rules, and any other network rules. The Settlement will also resolve any payment card acceptor claims based upon the future effect of any Visa or Mastercard rules as they were or are in place on December 18, 2020 and up to the Settlement Final Date (as defined in the Settlement Agreement), the modified rules provided for in the Settlement, or any other rules substantially similar to those rules. The release will not bar claims involving certain specified standard commercial disputes arising in the ordinary course of business. For more information on the release, see the Superseding and Amended Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement Agreement at: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com. E. The Court Hearing About This Settlement On November 16, 2026 at 11:00 am ET, the Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed Settlement, Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards for the named Class Representatives. The hearing will take place at: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201

You do not have to attend the Court hearing or hire an attorney, though you may do either at your own expense. The Court appointed the law firms of Hilliard Shadowen LLP; Grant & Eisenhofer There is no monetary payment to members of the Class in this Settlement. This Rule 23(b)(2) Class P.A.; Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; and Nussbaum Law Group, P.C. to represent the Class Settlement concerns only the Equitable Relief Claims set forth in the lawsuit. Claims for monetary (“Class Counsel”). damages arising out of the defendants’ alleged antitrust violations are the subject of a separate F. Questions? settlement for the Rule 23(b)(3) Class. For information concerning the separate Rule 23(b)(3) Cash Settlement Class, please visit the website: www.PaymentCardSettlement.com. For more information about this case (In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant The Settlement does provide for Visa and Mastercard to make certain payments into the Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1720), you may: Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement Escrow Account, which money will be used to pay: Call toll-free: 877-318-7713 B. Monetary Aspects of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement

• The cost of settlement administration and notice, as approved by the Court, • The cost of Merchant Education Program expenses, as approved by the Court, • The cost of an Independent Auditor who will ensure that Visa and Mastercard comply with the credit card interchange-rate reduction commitments, and

Visit: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com Write to the Class Administrator: Interchange B2 Class Administrator, P.O. Box 6340, Portland, OR 97228-6340 or Email the Class Administrator: info@InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com

12 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Opinion It may come down to ‘We the People’

Nolan Wells’ death should encourage introspection, safety discussion among Black families Americans are trapped in a

EDITORIAL

quagmire of lies by a president with nothing but conspiracy in his narrow mind, a government devoid of checks and balances, and a populace awaiting the outcome of midterm elections in November. What’s to be done is an existential question. We can hope there will soon come a time when the president’s prevarications no longer have a bearing on the nation’s politics, economy, or cultural affairs. The price of gas, groceries, rent, and healthcare are consequential things in terrible need of remedy. If the midterms provide us a glimmer of hope that Congress can be flipped, we get temporary relief to go along with the recent courage of a few judges blocking some of the current nefarious decisions by an administration with little regard for human decency. If all else fails, we may need “We the People” to be the clarion call — the boots on the ground to renew the “No Kings” rallies and revive some of the means of protest so successful in the past. Nothing is more disturbing than to witness the indifference of a president who beams at the World Cup while our soldiers are being killed and wounded in a war that he promised would never occur under his leadership. That is to say nothing of a Secretary of Defense with the audacity to ask Congress for $87 billion to continue the “forever” war with Iran. Those billions are vitally needed to shore up the nation’s crumbling infrastructure now menaced by global warming, wildfires, and research and treatment on the rise of unsuspected epidemics. Donald Trump’s lies, a spineless administration, and too many complacent people are not what hardworking, decent Americans deserve, and not what we should tolerate.

Member

Alliance for Audited Media

By CHERYL MCCOURTIE

The way to honor the death of Nolan Wells is to examine our own relationships with nonBlack people and to open a dialogue about the emotional and physical dangers our Black children face when they are in majority-white environments. In my own family, the rate of success of Black boys in particular — in white spaces — is abysmal. One of my cousins, who I will call “Abraham,” lived in a community where he and his immediate family members were among the few Black residents. My cousin’s spirit was under constant attack. He asked his parents if God and Santa were white. A teacher tried to destroy him by dishonestly labeling him as a troublemaker when he displayed curiosity. His parents placed him in a new school to disrupt the educator’s negative messages and restore the child’s self-esteem. As mental warfare encircled Abraham, I continued to dream dreams for him. I saw him as a Morehouse man who would make up for his years as an only one in white suburbia by meeting some of the best Black students from all over the country and the world at the HBCU: the sons of business owners, heads of state, preachers, civil rights lawyers, physicians, educators. Armed with this new, invigorated Black identity, he would choose a brilliant sister from Spelman and present her to me as his fiancée at one of our family gatherings. As I dreamed, I also encouraged and sometimes harangued Abraham’s parents to place him in environElinor R. Tatum: Publisher ments that celeand Editor in Chief brated his Black Madison Gray: Executive & Investigative Editor brilliance and Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor beauty. A family Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor friend once beDamaso Reyes: Editor at Large seeched the parSiobhan "Sam" Bennett: ents to move to a Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising flourishing Black Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): community where Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus both they and the

Nolan Wells. (Christine Wonsley/GoFundMe photo)

child could thrive. Our words did not resonate. I bought Abraham a Morehouse sweatshirt one holiday. He wore it for years until the threads unraveled and it literally fell from his body. Like the garment — the symbol of what could have been — Abraham deteriorated. After a series of tragedies and traumas, married with the death of a thousand cuts that is racism, he disappeared into the vortex of mental illness and has not been seen by our family for several years. Another distant relative, a few years older than Abraham, is a delivery driver in a majoritywhite community. His parents combined have four degrees, but — seemingly unaware of the twice-as-good mantra — this young man chose to be embraced by a gaggle of white youths with menial jobs who host keggers and watch sports on the weekends. His son has fallen to the same fate, dropping out of an Ivy League college after a semester to perform

menial jobs with a cadre of underachieving white males in whose favor the American system is rigged. The list of such failures, both within and outside my circle, is exceptionally long. Black adults must examine ourselves for the vestiges of inferiority that lurk in our hearts and rot our souls. Do we still think that white is right? Do we see it as a badge of honor that our children have many white friends? We must excise the selfloathing like the cancer that it is. Then we must raise children who are as calculating and deliberate as the systems designed to uplift people who do not look like them. We must also establish protocols to support and protect our children. Actress Gabrielle Union has spoken openly about allowing her sons to walk the family dogs and then radioing the security at the development near her home where she has Black friends to watch out for her boys. After Wells’s death, a Black travel

influencer said that she and her husband never allowed their son to overnight in the homes of white friends. Instead, all interracial sleepovers took place in her home, allowing the couple to control the environment for the safety of their son. Adults must have direct conversations with the Black youths in our lives about the country we live in and set up protocols to keep them safe without snuffing out their independence. Why Nolan Wells died and who may be responsible for his demise may never come to light. As we offer his family our heartfelt condolences and lift them up in our prayers, we must aggressively prepare our children for the racial inequality and legal double standards that are as American as apple pie and baseball. And hope that nothing like this ever happens again.

Cheryl McCourtie is a Bronxbased writer who is working on her memoir, “How I Became African American.”

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THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS O P I N I O N

Summer slide for NYC schoolkids can be answered by closing digital divide By LATOYA WILLIAMSBELFORT For kids from well-off families across New York City, summer means beach, camp, vacations, internships, and programs that mix recreation and learning — generally, a fun summer break. However, for many students throughout the Five Boroughs, summer break means the “summer slide.” That’s when learning accrued the previous school year slips away. For some, that means a little catch-up throughout the summer alongside reading lists, or some remedial work at the end of break. With no access to a computer, though, summer slide can be a season when opportunity slips farther out of reach for those who need it most. Research shows that children who spend their summers surrounded by books, enrichment programs, and internships that all depend on digital connectivity return to school with stronger academic skills, greater confidence, broader perspectives, stronger social networks, and experiences that shape their futures. High-quality summer learning programs

have been shown to improve math and reading outcomes for students who attend consistently, while participation in extracurricular activities is associated with higher college enrollment and greater future earnings. To access many of these resources, though, you need the resources. Barring family advantages, most of these beneficial factors are accessed over a device. Sadly, in New York City today, given the shared crisis in affordability and access, too many legs-up have become the purview of the privileged. Summer slide for children from under-resourced communities can be a permanent loss. However, something can be done that has already taken root in the Bronx, where I run a community foundation solely focused on changing outcomes for lower-income families in what is the country’s lowest-income urban congressional district. We’ve started to close the digital divide, which means more computers in the hands of kids for whom a basic learning and life tool that is taken for granted by most — but out of reach financially for many, with per-

nicious long-term effects. It is estimated that in the Bronx alone, more than 184,000 kids don’t have a device or regular access to one, and the borough continues to experience some of the city’s most significant gaps in reliable home broadband access. In today’s economy, digital access is no longer optional. It’s as fundamental to a child’s future as textbooks once were. Students now rely on technology to learn, explore careers, complete schoolwork, apply for jobs, communicate with mentors, and build the digital skills that every profession demands. Closing opportunity gaps means thinking beyond the traditional school calendar. Supporting children means investing in the entire ecosystem that helps them thrive, from literacy programs to healthy public spaces, and supporting the community organizations that sustainably give families a leg-up. We need to approach closing the digital divide, and putting a computer in the hands of every young person who doesn’t have one, as closing an opportunity gap. Recognition is growing. New York City has begun to understand that closing op-

portunity gaps also means closing the digital divide. The Mamdani administration’s $2 million expansion of the Neighborhood Internet program, announced in the Bronx, will bring free high-speed broadband to more low-income New Yorkers and directly addresses one of the barriers that keeps students disconnected from learning, jobs, and enrichment opportunities. That should be the goal for summer 2027: No student should lose access to learning simply because they do not have the technology to participate. By the end of the next school year, every family without a computer should know where to get one, and how to access broadband and digital support. Summer slide is not inevitable. For many lower-income students, it is the result of barriers we already know how to remove. If New York City wants more children to return to school ready to learn, it should start by making sure they can stay connected while school is out. LaToya Williams-Belfort is executive director of the Bronx Community Foundation.

Documentary opens viewers to a new view of Frantz Fanon and his lifelong struggle By HERB BOYD Recently, there were several celebrations around the globe of the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon, the legendary freedom fighter and revolutionary psychiatrist, who died in 1961. A coterie of activists and concerned citizens assembled at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on July 19 for Rico Speight’s “Rediscovering Fanon,” the latest documentary by the prolific filmmaker. A few film buffs may recall some of his previous works, such as “The People United,” “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight,” or

“Robeson and Dunham: Art & Activism 101.” The 101 also marks what would have been Fanon’s birthday and the cause for the various celebrations, and Speight has done a remarkable job capturing some of his considerable contributions. No one film can harness Fanon’s phenomenal achievements in medicine, politics, literature, and global affairs. Speight’s approach wisely chooses to focus on how violence played out in Fanon’s life and how it permeated so many killings of young Black men, including Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and George Floyd. Using archival film foot-

age, reenactments, and a collection of interviews, Speight has woven an engrossing tapestry of history. In many respects, it brought to mind Isaac Julien’s “Black Skin, White Masks,” which, when combined with Speight’s work, is a broad swath showcasing Fanon’s birth in Martinique, his fight against the island’s Vichy government during World War II, and his military commitment to end colonialism in Algeria. Both Julien and Speight are mindful of Fanon’s ingenuity in the medical realm, particularly his innovative treatments at the Blida-Joinville, Algeria’s largest psychiatric hospital. Where Stuart Hall is Julien’s expert on

camera, Speight finds great utility in the commentaries by Lewis Gordon, and their insights often converge most meaningfully with members of Fanon’s family, especially his daughter, Mireille, on Speight’s behalf. Dr. James McIntosh, Monifa Bandele, and Omowale Clay complemented the film with powerful afterwords and the points they raised about Malcolm X cries out for a film that would highlight the commonalities between the great thinkers. The event was sold out, but Speight and the producers promised a second screening in November. Like Fanon, it’s not to be missed.

Rashad Robinson talks social change strategy in new book, ‘From Presence to Power’

CHRISTINA

GREER, PH.D. I am so excited to announce the arrival of a new book from my dear friend and colleague Rashad Robinson. “From Presence to Power: How to Take on the Fights That Matter— and Win” is a must read in which he asks and answers the crucial question of this moment: What does it take to win social change, especially now? Many New Yorkers are feeling small glimmers of hope with certain congressionaland state-level electoral wins last month. However, far too many Americans are feeling beaten down and totally disgusted by this political moment and whether there is a possibility for change. “From Presence to Power” provides a practical and strategic roadmap for anyone trying to gain real power, rooted in behind-the-scenes stories from the frontlines of social change. Robinson provides stories from his wins — and losses — to help a new generation of leaders emerge prepared and inspired. For those who have been on the frontlines in their various communities, this book is also a reminder that our work is never in vain. Each fight is part of a larger collective. A loss on one issue never means the battle is over, ever. Rashad has spent his career in the actual fights. For years, he led and expanded Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. He helped transform GLAAD, the nonprofit organization focused on LGBTQ advocacy and cultural change in media and beyond. He has taken on corporate power and Big Tech, and built cam-

paigns where the odds often seemed impossible. In his book, he chronicles what he’s learned about how change really happens. It isn’t a memoir or a pep talk. It’s a practical guide to understanding power, building leverage, and winning the fights that matter.. If you care about your community and the collective, this book is a road map and a guide for change. It is written for people who care deeply about justice, democracy, and social change, but who also want a clearer understanding of why some efforts succeed while others fall short. I am constantly telling my eager students that so many social justice organizations and movements fail because people consistently recreate the wheel and don’t learn from the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of those who came before them. Robinson offers a framework for moving beyond good intentions and toward real impact. He provides a blueprint that others can learn from and take away varying levels of strategy and guidance. “From Presence to Power” is currently available for preorder and will be on the shelves July 28. As always, let’s support our Black authors and our local independently owned bookstores. Christina Greer, Ph.D., is a professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.

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Caribbean Update Caricom experts reiterate demands from British for reparations By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews Buoyed by a recent United Nations designation of slavery as a crime against humanity, the Caribbean’s umbrella reparations group was in London in the past week for a series of meetings with top officials as it steps up pressure on Britain to pay reparations for the TransAtlantic Slave Trade. Noting that it has seen growing evidence of an uptick in international support for reparatory justice, the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) said it had engaged British parliamentarians, government officials, and civil society advocates as it “underscores its commitment to building international alliances and fostering dialogue on reparatory justice, historical accountability[,] and socio-economic transformation.” For most of the past decade, the commission has been build-

ing a case and researching the horrors of slavery committed by European nations, including the Dutch, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, among others, demanding they prepare to pay for enslaving Africans without any compensation for hundreds of years. The commission, in a statement, said the regional effort has drawn significant encouragement from a recent U.N. General Assembly meeting in March in Ghana, where a resolution declared slavery and the trafficking of enslaved Africans, as well as chattel enslavement, as “the gravest crime against humanity and a historic turning point for Africans and People of African descent.” Regional leaders say they have already sent demand payment letters to European capitals, asked for a Caribbean-Euro summit on the issue, and engaged a top British firm for an opinion about their chances if

the matter is taken to court. The firm, which had won millions for [families of ] Kenyan tribesmen who were slaughtered by racist British soldiers during the colonial era, had said it is anxious to get going because the Caribbean’s case is very strong. It is not clear what has prevented the region from moving forward, but the commission has said that while monetary payments are important, restoring dignity to people of African descent and forcing the Europeans to formally apologize are also important facets of the struggle. The reparations issue was discussed at length at this month’s regional leaders’ meeting in St. Lucia. The London trip was undertaken as Antigua prepares to host the Commonwealth summit in November, when regional leaders will have a chance to confront Britain about its intentions regarding the issue. “This is our time, our duty, our responsi-

bility to honor the legacy of all our ancestors who demanded justice,” Commission Chair Sir Hilary Beckles said recently. The trip also comes just days after British, Indian-descended former Home Secretary Suella Braverman had said Britain should not pay for slavery because it had occurred years ago and those alive today should not be held responsible. “Of course, slavery was abhorrent, but to expect the British people of the 21st century to pay for actions that took place in the 18th century has no basis in law.” In reaction, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she had been flummoxed by Braverman’s remarks. “I cannot believe we are being asked to respond to the suggestion that the descendants of the enslaved should pay for the machinery that oppressed them. The Caribbean does not owe Britain for slavery, for colonial extraction, or for laws that treated African people

as chattel. We are not asking for charity. We are asking for justice, and history itself has already told the truth. I am not sure that you want me to reply to things that are asinine, and certainly the notion that we should pay the United Kingdom for oppressing us, for enslaving us, and for treating us as chattel [is asinine],” Mottley said in response to questions at the Caribbean summit in St. Lucia earlier this month The region, and the Commonwealth, Britain in particular, last faced off at the 2024 summit in Samoa where then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer again suggested that Britain has no intention of paying reparations for slavery. The summit did acknowledge in its final communique that “the time has come” for meaningful and respectful conversations regarding reparatory justice for slavery. The region says it is awaiting the Antigua summit to have another go at Britain.

Who will keep America working? FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER This week, hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are confronting a frightening reality: Their legal authorization to work is set to expire as the Trump administration moves to dismantle the decades-old humanitarian program. For many Americans, that may sound like another immigration story. But it is also a healthcare story; a hospitality story; a construction story; a retail story; and, perhaps most importantly, a caregiving story. Because while the national immigration debate has focused almost exclusively on who should remain in the United States, it has largely ignored another question: Who will do the work if they cannot?

According to new economic data, approximately 330,000 Haitians currently live in the United States under TPS, with 200,000 already participating in the American workforce. Together, they contribute an estimated $5.9 billion annually to the U.S. economy, while paying $805 million in federal and payroll taxes, and another $755 million in state and local taxes every year. Those are impressive numbers, but numbers alone do not tell the story. The real story is found in the jobs these workers perform every day, according to FWD.US data. Across America, Haitian TPS holders prepare nearly 880,000 meals daily as cooks and restaurant workers. They care for 65,000 patients each day as nursing assistants. They deliver 900,000 packages, serve 1 million retail customers, clean 60,000 hotel rooms, care for 12,000 children and aging Americans, harvest

crops, repair vehicles, manage apartment buildings, and help keep businesses operating across the country. In Florida, where the nation’s largest Haitian TPS population resides, the impact is even more significant. Nearly 158,000 Haitian TPS holders call Florida home, including approximately 93,000 workers who contribute $2.6 billion annually to the state’s economy while paying more than $600 million in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes. They include 16,000 restaurant workers, 12,000 agricultural workers, 8,000 warehouse and stock employees, 5,000 security guards, and 4,000 nursing assistants. These are not abstract statistics; they are the people preparing meals in our restaurants. They are the caregivers helping elderly Americans remain in their homes; they are the workers stocking grocery shelves, cleaning hotel rooms, delivering packages, and

helping build our communities. If their work authorizations expire, the consequences will not be limited to immigrant families. Hospitals will still need nursing assistants; hotels will still need housekeepers; restaurants will still need cooks and servers; construction companies will still need workers, and the elderly will still need caregivers. Employers already struggling to fill many of these positions will once again find themselves searching for workers. The ripple effects extend beyond the workplace. According to the same analysis, 50,000 U.S.-citizen children depend on parents with Haitian TPS, and without that income, an estimated 25,000 American children could be pushed into poverty. Every nation has the sovereign right to determine its immigration policy. Reasonable people can disagree about how long TPS should continue. However, public policy should also confront prac-

tical reality. If hundreds of thousands of experienced workers lose their legal authorization to work at once, what is the plan for the industries that depend on them? Who will care for the elderly? Who will staff the nursing homes? Who will prepare the meals? Who will stock the shelves? Who will keep America’s hotels, farms, warehouses, and construction sites running? Those are not rhetorical questions; they are economic questions, and they deserve answers, because this debate is no longer simply about who gets to remain in America. It is also about who keeps America working. Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily syndicated newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 15

Arts & Entertainment AfroLatines and the Making of Black New York

Flier for the “Afrolatines and the Making of Black New York” walking tour. (Courtesy image)

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff Dash Harris Machado will be leading a walking tour through Harlem on Tuesday, July 28, that calls on people to view our famous Black cultural mecca as an archive — one composed of streets, ballrooms, libraries, and former clubs where Afro-Latinos helped shape Black New York. The two-hour tour, “Afro Latines and the Making of Black New York,” starts at 6 p.m. at West 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue and heads south through Harlem. Harris Machado will lead the tour just after the close of this year’s July 22–26 AfroLatino Festival NYC, where she’s scheduled to take part. She shared that since she’s coming to New York for the festival, it was the perfect time to plan a Harlem tour. “I’ve been wanting to do a tour like this for a while, like, for years, but I live in Panama,” she said. “And so, this was actually the perfect timing for it.” Harris Machado is an awardwinning multimedia journalist and co-founder of AfroLatino Travel, an organization that leads travel tours through Latin America and the Caribbean. She also produced “NEGRO,” a documentary series about Latino identity that looks at how colonization, anti-Blackness,

The Cotton Club, circa 1930. (Public domain photo)

and colorism shape Afrodescendant and Latino identity. Her Harlem walking tour will highlight cultural sites like the Cotton Club, the Savoy Ballroom, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Elks Rendezvous. “It’s about public space and public sites and public memory,” Harris Machado said. “Although people traverse through public spaces, they still hold a lot of memory in terms of the people who also traversed there historically and what that means for the current day.” The haunts of famous people like Afro-Puerto Rican bibliophile Arturo Alfonso Schomburg; AfroCuban bandleader and arranger Mario Bauzá; Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo; pianist Luis Russell; performer Princess Orelia Benskina; musician René Endreira; and vocalist Graciela Pérez Gutiérrez will all be incorporated into the tour. Harlem became a mecca for Black culture in the 20th century because it concentrated Black political organizing, publishing, nightlife, scholarship, performance, and everyday community life in one neighborhood. The Great Migration brought African Americans from the South, and mixed them with Caribbean, Afro-Latin, and African immigrants from across the seas.

That diasporic togetherness is often ignored now. “When people think about Black Harlem, they think about the Harlem Renaissance, they think about certain figures,” Harris Machado said. “I’m emphasizing that Afro-Latins were part of the cultural fabric because what we know today as Afro-Cuban jazz came out of Harlem, came out of those collaborations.” Schomburg may be the most prominent example. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874, he dedicated his life to collecting books, manuscripts, art, newspapers, and documents that documented the depth of African and African diasporic achievements. In 1926, the New York Public Library acquired his collection, which later became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture — one of Harlem’s most important institutions. But someone like Mario Bauzá is another example. Born in Havana, he was one of the main architects of Afro-Cuban jazz in New York. He worked with Machito and his Afro-Cubans, helping bring clave, big band swing, and Afro-Cuban rhythm to jazz innovations. Bauzá also connected Dizzy Gillespie with Chano Pozo, whose conga rhythms transformed modern jazz before his death in Harlem at only 33 in 1948. Harris Machado said the tour is

Portrait of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg. (Public domain photo)

also a response to gentrification and erasure. “In this type of environment where people are being actively physically disappeared, their memory cannot also be lost,” she said. “And so, yeah, it’s through this kind of resistance against gentrification or this insistence that these places emerged from Black world making, diasporic Black world making specifically.” The Harlem walking tour is rain or shine, Harris Machado said, and geared toward anyone interested in Black people and the African diaspora — community members, students, teachers, professors, and travelers. “What I’m seeing with this new generation [of Afro-Latins] is this kind of longing for belonging,” she noted. “And I’m like, you don’t have to long: we’ve been here, we have our own stuff. It’s just about plugging into the historiography because it’s really gorgeous when you look into it. You find that connection there, and there’s been a connection for a very long time among Black people. “People are like, oh, Afro-Latino is a new thing. But I’m like, ‘actually, we were talking about this for a long time.’ And people have been, historically, just saying that they’re Black. The Latino part wasn’t even necessary. Some people may still need that, but there are lots of us

who never needed it because we weren’t really interested in that. There wasn’t this longing for belonging. People were already belonging. The fact that Afro-Cubans could just come up on the scene, be integrated, create these genres of music, and be in community with other Black people –– like, when you have two Black people or more, you have a community.” Harris Machado’s hope is that by walking Harlem, people will understand that Black New York was made not by one migration or one people, but by overlapping Black worlds. For more info on the walking tour, visit eventbrite.com.

Dash Harris Machado. (Courtesy photo)

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Sound and Fury: Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Stills from “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan. (Universal Pictures photos)

By MARK WINSTON GRIFFITH Special to the AmNews Lovers of contemporary mainstream film fall into two camps: Those who, like me, love Christopher Nolan’s work, and those who are routinely irritated by the BritishAmerican director’s movies. I’ve always been less impressed with Nolan’s trademark grand scale. Yes, “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Dunkirk” are sumptuous indulgences, but “Oppenheimer” was an over-hyped bore. One man’s opinion. I’m far more fascinated by Nolan’s mindand world-bending explorations of time, e.g. “Memento,” “Inception,” “Interstellar,” and “Tenet.” Considering the collapsing of inner and outer space in those films, “The Odyssey” is a relatively conventional and linear piece of Nolan filmmaking, even when much of its story moves backward through intermittent retrospection. The built-in cunning of “The Odyssey’s” cinematic achievement is that its oversized proportions are wholly justified by its literary source material: Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the ancient Greek, 24-book, epic poem that many of us loved to hate in high school. “The Odyssey” follows the twenty-year-long sojourn of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. In Homer’s poem, Odysseus leaves his wife, Penelope, and young son, Telemachus, to wage a 10-year war in Troy, only to be waylaid for another ten years in his return home by legions of ornery creatures, conspiratorial gods, the annihilation of his men, and the affections of the sea nymph, Calypso. And then there are those 108 suitors that Odysseus finds thrashing about in his house with conquering designs on Penelope and his throne. How’s that for a homecoming? Not only does Homer’s poem sweep across global land and sea and decades of high-body count warfare and assault, but it also enlists gods and monsters to bring moral clarity to humankind’s frailty. To

that end, the most fitting modern vehicle for “The Odyssey” would be a “Game of Thrones”-level mini-series, or a “Dune” or “Lord of the Rings”-like trilogy. Although Nolan is relatively faithful to the original text, some of Homer’s juiciest plot points and themes are given short shrift or are lost altogether in service of a roughly threehour theatrical release. Either way, to spare any expense or excess in bringing the likes of the Trojan War, the land of Hades, Sirens, Cyclopses, and Zeus’ hijinks to the big screen would itself be an epic fail. Clearly, Nolan got that studio memo. Or maybe he wrote it. “The Odyssey” is a noholds-barred, audio-visual siege on our nervous systems. Shot entirely with IMAX film and sporting a half-billion-dollar production and marketing budget, “The Odyssey” demands to be experienced in an IMAX theater or in a comparably enhanced big screen movie house where it promises to give new sensory meaning to the term full battle rattle. In keeping with its blockbuster mandate,

Nolan populates the screen with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. My initial fear was that the rather vanilla Matt Damon was badly miscast as the fast-witted, giantamong-men,Odysseus, but that concern eventually gave way to an appreciation for Damon’s layered, sober performance and his battle-worn visage and physique. Damon’s sea weariness and detachment from humanity are so visceral that they serve to make us painfully anxious for Odysseus’ labored return to Ithaca. Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland portray Penelope and Telemachus; Zendaya skulks about as the goddess Athena; Lupita Nyong’o does double duty as twin sisters, Helen and Clytemnestra; Robert Pattinson plays the creepiest of plotting suitors, Antinous; and Charlize Theron is the literally intoxicating Calypso. Few of these marquee players make us fully forget their individual star personas, but their performances are nonetheless effective, and at moments, powerful, especially Hathaway and Pattinson.

Himesh Patel as Odysseus’ first mate, Eurylochus, Elliot Page as the soldier Sinon, and a mostly masked Benny Safdie are unburdened by their less familiar faces and, as a result, work harder to be more memorable. Nolan smartly avoids demanding that his cast put on British accents as a way of denoting antiquity, but the use of some modern day informalities, like “dad,” is a bit distracting. While Nolan treats us to some wonderfully rendered monsters, he is surprisingly restrained in his reliance on supernatural elements. In particular, the gods are high profile, fully personified antagonists in Homer’s poem, but, with Nolan, the likes of Helios, Poseidon, and Zeus hover unseen beyond the onscreen action. The otherworldly pleasure of “The Odyssey” is found less in the pantheon than in the surreality of images: A naked giant with a face conceived by Picasso, entranced soldiers voraciously slurping their way through mounds of slop, ghosts intoning from the mud. What actually makes “The Odyssey” so magical is that, for all its Hollywood spectacle, it doesn’t sacrifice Homer’s lyricism. Odysseus’ introspection about violating “Zeus’ law,” and his remorse for the murder, rape, and pillage left in his wake, come 19 years too late, but it’s a grounding mediation on what might otherwise get mistaken for the glory of war. Even the film’s Tarantino-esque climax somehow avoids, at least by today’s standards, feeling gratuitously violent and manages to capture the gratifying mayhem that I imagined when I first read “The Odyssey” (or at least the “CliffsNotes”) as a teenager. Like the oral histories and myths that animate Homer’s poem, “The Odyssey” is a triumph in storytelling, with haunting narrations and cinematic flourishes coming together to carry us on an adventure that builds momentum with every frame. With Nolan’s telling, however, be advised to keep earplugs at the ready.

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PHILADANCO returns to the Joyce with a bang By ZITA ALLEN Special to the AmNews PHILADANCO’s distinctive brand of charisma will be on display at the Joyce Theater, July 29-Aug. 2, when the company that has won the hearts of audiences and critics alike since it was founded in 1970 comes back to New York. PHILADANCO has been among the most influential forces in American concert dance, and the tradition continues. During a recent conversation with the Amsterdam News, founder and Artistic Advisor Joan Myers Brown says the company of talented 18 dynamic dancers, with Kim Bears Bailey as co-artistic director, will be bringing an exciting program to the Joyce. “We’re presenting four ballets, including two premieres. There’s the world premiere of a work by one of the most influential voices in street dance and hip hop theater, the celebrated choreographer Rennie Harris who has created “TO PHILLY...LOVE, RENNIE.” It’s a work inspired by the soulful energy of The Sound of Philadelphia, the enduring music of Kenneth Gamble, Thom Bell, and Leon Huff. The dance celebrates this amazing city, its neighborhoods, its resilience, its history, and its people with Rennie’s special way of blending street dance traditions with jazz, soul, funk, and contemporary movement. It’s the kind of love letter to Philly and an affirmation of that Philly soul that has that special Rennie Harris umph. The company is really excited about it.” But, judging from Brown, there is plenty of excitement in the works being presented at the Joyce to go around as she describes the rest of the upcoming program. There’s the New York premiere of “Promise Me You Won’t Call” by Tommie-Waheed Evans which is an intimate exploration of love, memory, and longing. Set to the unforgettable voice of Patti LaBelle, including

PHILADANCO back in 2001 — Enemy Behind the Gates. Set to the driving score of Steve Reich, this celebrated work was created in response to the aftermath of September 11 and remains strikingly relevant today. With blistering athleticism, razorsharp precision, and relentless momentum, Huggins examines fear, conflict, and resilience through a physical language that exemplifies PHILADANCO!’s defining repertory aesthetic. Myers Brown is quick to remind any and everyone that seeing PHILADANCO is not only being treated to a dynamic performance by some of the most talented young dancers around today, but invariably one also has an opportunity to see dancers who represent an amazing legacy. She is quick to say that for decades, PHILADANCO has launched the careers of many of today’s leading talent. Ticking off the names of folks whose careers PHILADANCO helped launch, Myers Brown says, “This is the company’s 56th year and my school, which is the foundation of PHILADANCO, started 10 years before the company. A lot of people have come through PHILADANCO, including the Joyce Theatre’s Danni Gee who danced with us before going to PHILADANCO founder and Artistic Advisor Joan Myers Brown. (Courtesy photo) the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Artistic Direc“If Only You Knew” and “Love, Need and by acclaimed Vietnamese choreographer tor Robert Garland, who I had since he was Want You,” it features an immersive sound Thang Dao. Quietly mesmerizing and phil- 17 years old, Lee Daniels, what’s that boy’s design by Uwazi Zamani, with which Evans osophically rich, the work traces a journey name, Leslie Odom Jr. who rose to fame in creates an emotionally charged landscape from inherited constraint toward embod- Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit “Hamwhere vulnerability and virtuosity exist ied freedom. Through breath, rhythm, and ilton,” Ailey dancers Deborah Manning and side by side. The work reveals the quiet deeply attentive physicality, Dao creates a the late pioneer Debora Chase-Hicks, and heartbreak and profound beauty found in meditation on liberation that invites audi- of course our current Co-Artistic Director human connection, separation, and re- ences into movement as an act of listening Kim Bears-Bailey. And the list of choreognewal, and Evans, whose works deal with rather than declaration. raphers who’ve worked with PHILADANsocial injustice, spirituality, and human Then, last but by no means least, com- CO is equally impressive as she ticks off passion, said, “Promise is part of a larger pleting the program is a work that Myers names like Talley Beatty, Walter Nicks, Ron work which will celebrate the music of the Brown says folks have been clamoring K. Brown, Camille Brown. All of them have Philadelphia International Records.” for, so back by popular demand is the been here, so if you want to see the future PHILADANCO’S program opens with the 25th anniversary of Christopher Hug- of dance, especially Black dance, come to New York premiere of “Without Witness” gins’ landmark work that he created for PHILADANCO.”

PHILADANCO returns to the Joyce Theater July 29-August 2. (Julieanne Harris photos)

18 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

AmNews FOOD Queens Night Market: One last chance to travel the world, $6 at a time KYSHA HARRIS

FOOD EDITOR, @SCHOPNYC Last week, I got lost in Inwood. This week, I’m looking forward to finding myself in Queens, a borough that has long been one of New York City’s most rewarding culinary destinations. If you’re looking to eat your way around the world, there may not be a better place to start. One neighborhood. One community. One extraordinary meal at a time. There’s Astoria for Greek food, Jackson Heights for South Asian cuisines, Flushing for some of the country’s best regional Chinese cooking — and that’s only the beginning. You could easily spend a day exploring just one neighborhood, hop aboard the 7 train for an unforgettable food crawl (which I highly recommend), or let Queens Night Market (QNM) bring culinary traditions together in one place. Every Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight, dozens of independent food vendors transform one corner of Flushing Meadows Corona Park into one of the world’s most accessible culinary destinations. I got a preview of Queens Night Market this past April at the Institute of Culinary Education, where select vendors showcased what New Yorkers can expect this season, running Saturdays through Aug. 22 and returning Sept. 19 through Oct. 31. I started in India before moving to Vietnam for bánh khọt — savory mini rice pancakes wrapped in lettuce and dipped into sauce, one of my favorite bites of the night. From there, I found myself in Kazakhstan sampling beshbarmak, a hearty dish of meat, noodles, potatoes, and onions that was completely new to me. Dominican specialties from Baez Flavor Co., Panamanian hojaldres and carimañolas, Nigerian meat pies and moin moin, and flavors from St. Lucia rounded out my evening. In just a couple of hours, I traveled from India to Vietnam to Nigeria to Panama without leaving Lower Manhattan — or taking off my shoes for TSA. Every stop offered more than something to eat. Vendors demonstrated how dishes were prepared and traditionally enjoyed, and family recipes became stories about heritage, migration, and home. That’s what makes Queens Night Market unlike so many other markets. You leave having learned something. What impressed me most beyond the food was learning that 2026 is the final year every food item is capped at $5 or $6. That decision wasn’t made by the organizers alone. Eighty-five percent of participating vendors anonymously voted to keep the

Queens Night Market, Indian street food sampler. (Kysha Harris photos)

QNM Tastes of the Silk Road.

QNM G&G Cuisine.

QNM cookbook, “The World Eats Here,” recipes and stories inspired by the market’s vendors.

QNM foods of St. Lucia.

QNM from Mamala.

price cap in place despite inflation, tariffs, and rising operating costs. Whenever I attend a food event, I have the same internal debate: How should I spend my dollars and, just as importantly, my stomach real estate? At Queens Night Market, $6 well-spent means you can sample your way across continents instead of committing to one generic $24 lobster roll and calling it a day. “With affordability at the top of everyone’s mind, the $5/$6 price cap seems more important than ever for New Yorkers,” founder John Wang said. “So, we’re keeping it in place for one last year.” That decision has already been tested this season by rain-soaked Saturdays and smoke-filled skies, yet the market — and its vendors — continue to show up. That resilience says as much about New York City’s small-business community as any press re-

lease could. Queens also celebrated a milestone this year when Meju in Long Island City became home to the borough’s first James Beard Award, with Chef Hooni Kim earning Best Chef: New York State. During my tenure on the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards committee, my committee partner and I worked to broaden the conversation beyond Manhattan because New York’s food story has always belonged to every borough. Seeing Queens receive that recognition felt less like a surprise and more like overdue acknowledgment. Over its first 10 seasons, Queens Night Market has welcomed more than four million visitors, helped launch approximately 500 businesses, and represented more than 100 countries through its vendors. Let’s show up for them as they have shown up for us.

If this preview was any indication, Queens Night Market is worth the trip. This is not the summer to keep saying you’ve been meaning to go. Now gather some friends. Bring your cash and your curiosity — and wear something with a little give. I’ll see you there. Thanks for reading and happy eating! Kysha Harris is a chef, culinary producer, and food editor for the New York Amsterdam News. As a consultant and owner of SCHOP!, a personalized food service in NYC for over 23 years, she remains on the hunt for the city’s next great bite. Follow her on Instagram and on Facebook, @SCHOPnyc. Questions, comments, requests, feedback, invitations! Email us at AmNewsFOOD@ SCHOPnyc.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, @NYAmNewsFOOD.

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Your guide to Newport Folk Fest: Whom to see By JOHNNY KNOLLWOOD Special to the AmNews The annual Newport Folk Festival returns to Fort Adams State Park from July 24–26. The event, which began as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival by founder George Wein in 1959, has hosted iconic performances by a slew of artists including Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, and boasts a diverse lineup this year. In the past, the festival has featured performances by esteemed Black artists like the Staples Singers and Odetta, whose contributions to folk music have been historically overlooked in favor of their white counterparts. This year’s lineup is a testament to the breadth and diversity of folk music. Here are some highlight artists to check out this year.: Lauryn Hill Lauryn Hill is a trailblazer in the world of hip hop. Releasing groundbreaking records with the Fugees before her debut solo masterpiece “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” the NJ native singer/ rapper/songwriter has consistently used her voice to uplift the community. She will be performing at the Quad Stage on Friday, July 24, at 5:55 p.m.

Lauryn Hill, performing in New York’s Central Park in 2005. (Lisa Liang / Creative Commons photo

Tom Morello Tom Morello is best known as the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine, and his work has always been at the intersection of art and activism, often a central theme of folk music. Morello recently joined Bruce Springsteen for a politically charged tour, and he can frequently be seen at protests combatting injustices by ICE and beyond. He is performing at the Quad Stage on Sunday, July 26, at 4:25 p.m.

Tom Morello. (Adriangregori / Creative Commons photo)

Kirby Kirby, who recently released the single “Miss Black America,” is fusing hip hop and soul for the modern age. You can catch her at the Quad Stage on Saturday, July 25, at 11:05 a.m.

William Tyler + Yasmin Williams The only “traditional” folk artists on this list, Yasmin Williams is a unique and emerging voice in guitar and William Tyler was recently featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk series and uses finger-tapThe Fearless Flyers ping and percussion techniques The Fearless Flyers are a funk to add a different dimension to supergroup that features drum- the style. You can catch the duo mer Nate Smith, who was recent- at the Harbor Stage on Saturday, ly named creative director of the July 25, at 1:20 p.m. Newport Jazz Fest. The group will bring groove and rhythm to Brittany Davis & Black Thunder the festival at the Quad Stage on Singer/pianist Brittany Davis Sunday, July 26, at 3:05 p.m. is bringing avant-garde soul and jazz to the fest, foreshadowBrother Wallace ing the festival to come. You can Brother Wallace is an emerg- catch Davis and her group Black ing artist with a killer voice. The Thunder at the Harbor Stage on Georgia-native singer, who re- Sunday, July 26, at 11:00 a.m. cently signed with ATO Records, will bring retro-soul vibes to the For the full lineup, waitlist Quad Stage on Friday, July 24, at tickets, and more info, visit 11:05 a.m newportfolk.org.

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This week: Ron Carter at 92NY, Christian McBride at Blue Note; Jazz Boxx, Keystone Korner, and more

It’s no secret that Philadelphia native, drummer, and composer Christian McBride refuses to be enveloped in some tiny category. After all, the great composer and pianist Duke Ellington noted “there’s good music and bad music” — that’s it. Hitting closer to his Philly roots, the O’Jays sang, “I love music/any kind of music just as long as it’s grooving.” In his career spanning over two decades, and still rising like a stratospheric comet, McBride has led several groups, including Inside Straight, a trio; his 18-piece big band and the experimental funk group A Christian McBride Situation; the New Jawn; and, most recently in 2022, Ursa Major. Ursa Major, his primary band, swings into the Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street) on July 23–26. “I call Ursa Major a “hybrid” band — straight-ahead, avant-garde, funk, fusion, acoustic, electric, all wrapped up into one sound,” said McBride. “We are going to be previewing the music from our upcoming album on Mack Avenue Records called ‘Points of Light,’ which will be released in October.” His recent album “Christian McBride Big Band: Without Further Ado, Vol. 1” (Mack Avenue, 2025) captured the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, which marked the fourth Grammy win for his big band recordings and his 11th Grammy overall. The album featured a glittering lineup of guest vocalists, including Sting, Andy Summers, Jeffrey Osborne, Samara Joy, José James, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dianne Reeves, and Antoinette Henry. McBride, who proudly shares his love for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, has appeared on more than 400 recordings as a sideman, and has performed and recorded with such royalty as Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, George Duke, Eddie Palmieri, Sting, Queen Latifah, Celine Dion, James Brown, Kathleen Battle, The Roots, and Ray Brown. For this Blue Note outing, McBride will lead Ursa Major — four rising young instrumentalists: saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King, and drummer Savannah Harris. For reservations, visit bluenotejazz.com. Jazz in July: Echoes of Miles at 92NY (formerly 92nd Street Y) blazes on July 23, celebrating the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane and featuring NEA Jazz Master Terence Blanchard and his E-Collective, along with the brilliant Ravi Coltrane. Terence Blanchard’s E-Collective began

Ron Carter and his Foursight grace the stage 92NY on July 25. (Adam Cantor photo)

as a project in the early 2010s. They came out with all instruments smoking during a memorable performance in Cuba some years ago, taking the international audience into a realm of jazz they had never experienced. E-Collective’s debut album “Breathless” in 2015 featured a full ensemble of Blanchard on trumpet and keyboards, Charles Altura on guitar, Fabian Almazan on piano and synthesizers, Oscar Seaton on drums, and David “DJ” Ginyard on bass. This unit continues to swing in the trenches, acknowledging social and political issues. Years ago, I witnessed saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane at the old Iridium, then located across from Lincoln Center on 64th Street. The drummer was Jeff “Tain” Watts. Tain was the fuel and Ravi was working it out. Since that time, at least 30 years have passed by, and Ravi has distinguished himself as one of the most important artists of his generation. Ravi is soft-spoken and doesn’t say a lot similar to his father, but when he picks up that saxophone, look out, people — you will definitely hear his keys. He’s been mentored by such notables as Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Wallace Roney, Joanne Brackeen, and Steve Coleman. Ravi has blended the movements of avant gardism into a jazz sound that represents his own unique voice. As the son of icons John and Alice Coltrane, he is solidifying his family legacy

while moving the music forward. This evening is most important for Ravi as he celebrates his father’s centennial, playing his treasured music in a new context with inspiration from his mom. What more can be said about NEA Jazz Master bassist, composer, and innovator Ron Carter? If you research “acoustic bass” in Webster’s dictionary, there will probably be a photo of Carter. His more than 2,500 studio recording sessions earned him the title of the most recorded bassist in history. Oh, yes — and he was a member of Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams. On July 25, the maestro with the influence of Miles graces the halls of 92NY with his revered group Foursight, featuring master musicians saxophonist Jimmy Greene, pianist Renee Rosnes, and drummer Payton Crossley. The evening will be a night to remember: magical, emotional, radiant, with spirited echoes of Miles and improvisational subtleties. For tickets, visit 92ny.org. Jazz is the fabric of Harlem, a piece of Black American Music that is rooted deep in the cultural history of Harlem, swinging and shoutin’ loud. The nonprofit organization Jazz Boxx has presented the most invigorating elements of jazz for more than 15 years, not just in the pocket music, but those bent notes, fragmented phrasings

that rocket beyond the moon’s shadow. Every week, Thursday–Saturday, Jazz Boxx presents rousing talent to the Harlem community — some names not readily known and others who helped create the artform. On July 24, AACM master percussionist Reggie Nicholason performs. His fearless rhythmic vision has powered the adventurous music of Amina Claudine Myers, Henry Threadgill, Charles Gayle, Leroy Jenkins, Don Pullen, and Ernest Dawkins. On July 31, alto saxophonist and composer Jordan Young takes the stage. He’s loaned his sound to such established artists as Wallace Roney, Antoine Roney, Nia Love, Craig Harris, Nasheet Waits, and DJ Logic. He brings fire and deep swing to every performance. All music is at Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church (16 Mount Morris Park West), 7 p.m. For more information, visit harlemjazzboxx.com. Baltimore was a major regional jazz hub during the early 20th century, making it a significant East Coast stop on the chittlin’ circuit. It was the city where Eubie Blake was born, and that Billie Holiday and Chick Webb once called home. Floyd Bartz, father of NEA Jazz Master Gary Bartz, owned a popular jazz club called the North End Lounge. The town is still jumping with Keystone Korner Baltimore. The owner of Keystone, NEA Jazz Master Todd Barkan, re-established his Keystone Korner from San Francisco to Baltimore in 2019. The club has drawn some of the most significant jazz and R&B artists on the scene, carrying on the city’s music legacy. On July 26, NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award-winner, saxophonist, and composer Branford Marsalis’s Quartet appears at Keystone Korner (1350 Lancaster Street, Baltimore, MD). Two shows at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. His tight-knit band includes pianist Geoffrey Keezer, bassist Barry Stephenson, and drummer Justin Faulkner. Marsalis formed his first quartet in 1986 with pianist Kenny Kirkland, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, and bass player Robert Hurst. His musical journey has crossed many fences, from stints with Sting, the Grateful Dead, major symphonic orchestras, and film scores such as “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In 1988, Marsalis co-starred in the Spike Lee film “School Daze.” In Lee’s 1990 film “Mo’ Better Blues,” he played the tenor saxophone for Wesley Snipes’s character and appeared on the film’s soundtrack. Two years later, he became the leader of the Tonight Show Band on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” He then formed the soul group Buckshot LeForque (Sony Music, 1994) that roared with hip hop, rock elements, funk, and spoken word. Baltimore jazz is in a new era and Marsalis is the wind in its jazz sail. For more info, visit keystonekornerbaltimore.com.

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 21

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Continued from page 2

cess,” said Marni Halasa, who is with the FEC Tenants Against Demolition group. “There is going to be an appeal. It’s procedurally complicated but we believe protecting affordable housing is a unique situation. Basically everyone is watching what happens in Chelsea, and we can’t allow for-profit developers to squeeze thousands out of 18 buildings into six, and then give the rest away. We need the Court of Appeals to weigh in.” The buildings must be empty before demolition begins, and some tenants continue to refuse to be removed, she said. Residents also maintain that the city and NYCHA were waging a “raging harassment campaign,” which included repeated telephone calls, threatening letters, and pressure applied particularly to elderly, disabled, immigrant, and nonEnglish-speaking tenants. Senior residents of Chelsea Addition, a seniors-only building within the FEC complex, recently filed another lawsuit in State Supreme Court. The tenants are represent-

ed by tenants’ rights and housing attorney Thomas Hillgardner. “This leads me to believe this is a get-rich-quick scheme, and the truth is many of the elderly may die because of the trauma and not make it through the relocation process,” said Banks. Banks has done a walkthrough of FEC’s campus and believes that a rehab of the buildings would suffice in improving housing conditions. He worries that a demolition route will lead to future demolitions that see whole communities displaced across the city. He’s engaged House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose congressional district is in Brooklyn, to prioritize NYCHA funding. He also introduced a resolution calling on the state legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul to thoroughly investigate the effects of RAD/PACT program conversions on tenants’ rights. FEC residents, joined by housing activists, confronted Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s housing officials at a “NYCHA in Your Neighborhood” event on June 17 at the Ethel Battle Velez Community Center in East Harlem. The Mayor’s Office to Protect Ten-

ants leader Cea Weaver confirmed that the plans for demolition are going forward, despite concerns. Leila Bozorg, the city’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning, was also present. In response to the Appellate Division ruling, Bozorg said in a statement that this was “a meaningful milestone” for the redevelopment to deliver muchneeded housing for residents. Renee Keitt, president of the Elliott-Chelsea Tenant Association, said that the response from Mamdani and his team was “very disappointing from a democratic socialist.” While some tenants maintain that the plan represents a land grab, other longtime tenants are happy to see the building go. “I know what this place looked like compared to back then,” said Fulton Houses resident George Figueroa, 80, a retired transit worker who’s lived in the building since 1974. “NYCHA has become a slumlord. No elevators. No hot water this last cold spell, a pipe burst this year. These buildings are corroded.” Figueroa added that he’d rather not suffer with construction and rehabilitation efforts that could

lead to poor air quality and a disruption in quality of life as an older adult. “They have to go in the walls and rip out plumbing. These buildings were built in the 60s; there’s probably all kinds of asbestos and pests. No clear air once they start for the next 5 or 6 years versus a new building with amenities. Most of us approve,” he said. NYCHA said that it will begin reengaging residents who remain in Fulton Houses building 11, one of the first slated to be demolished in the complex, and senior Chelsea Addition, and work to complete the remaining lease signings and relocations. When Fulton 11 and Chelsea Addition are fully vacant, demolition of the existing buildings and construction of the new homes for NYCHA residents will begin. The redevelopment project promises to replace all 2,056 existing NYCHA apartments at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses with “new and permanently affordable homes,” said NYCHA. Then construction on up to 3,454 new mixed-income units will start, for a total of 5,510 units overall. “Since 2019, residents have

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helped to outline a plan that addresses over $900 million in mounting physical needs at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea while maintaining their rights and protections. The plan puts NYCHA residents first, delivering a more equitable living experience for them, inclusive of the modern amenities and accessibility features enjoyed by their neighbors in Chelsea,” said NYCHA’s office in response to an Amsterdam News query. “A small group of activists, including some who do not live in NYCHA, are spreading misinformation about the project and attempting to disrupt the relocation process. The reality is nearly every resident — 94% of households — will be able to remain in their existing apartments until their new homes are built while just over 100 households are being temporarily relocated to refreshed units within the campuses.” The Mayor’s Office will be holding more NYCHA in Your Neighborhood events this Fall. The office also plans to conduct more engagement between NYCHA, its partners, and residents as part of the Block by Block housing plan.

22 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Independent autopsy of Nolan Wells finds ‘undetermined’ cause of death

Christine Wonsley, center, walks with Rev. Al Sharpton, right, her husband Elmore, second from left, and attorney Ben Crump, left, during a memorial service for her son Nolan Xavier Wells. (Gerald Herbert/AP)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO (AP) — An independent autopsy commissioned by the family of Nolan Xavier Wells found the 18-year-old's cause and manner of death to be “undetermined" pending further investigation. The civil rights attorney Ben Crump,

who is representing the Wells family, announced the preliminary findings Wednesday in front of a standing-roomonly crowd at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago. Reading from a report prepared by forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Mitchell, Crump said the report showed no evidence of

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fractures or bruising, but also did not rule out the possibility of foul play. The board-certified pathologist found “red discoloration” in the soft tissue in the back of Wells’ head, but no underlying skull fractures or lacerations to the skin around the area, Crump said. He noted that the decomposition of the body, along with other limiting factors, had made it impossible to make a determination. Without further information, the pathologist wrote he “cannot rule out if any intervening nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” according to the attorney. The autopsy is part of an independent investigation led by Crump into the circumstances of the teenager's disappearance, which followed a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off the coast of Mississippi. Wells did not return to the mainland with his friends. His body was found floating off the island’s coast two days later. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted its own autopsy but has yet to release the results. The second autopsy was arranged by the family and Crump, and paid for by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. It did not include a toxicology report. “This is only another part of the puzzle, and even though it tells us significant information, we still have more questions than we have answers at this time,” Crump said of the results. The still-unknown circumstances around Wells’ death have touched off rampant online speculation and prompted calls from Black leaders for transparency from

local authorities. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white. A reward of $125,000 — jointly funded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, actor and producer Tyler Perry, and former NFL player Terrell Owens — is now being offered in exchange for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with the death. The autopsy announcement comes two days after Wells was laid to rest in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In his eulogy, Sharpton lamented the “inconsistencies and unanswered questions” that had placed a dark cloud over the grieving family. He questioned why Wells’ friends had left him behind, taken his phone and keys, and failed to report him missing. And he suggested local investigators had spoken prematurely in statements to the news media indicating no crime was suspected. “The reason that a lot of people across the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is because we’re looking at the history in Mississippi,” Sharpton added. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said initial interviews suggested Wells chose to stay on the island and that his friends believed he would get a ride with someone else. He has said the friends were cooperating with the investigation, which remains ongoing. “We are trying to be respectful and collaborative as much as we can,” Crump said. “But it’s always troublesome to all of us when these investigations just take forever.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 23

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24 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

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Man charged with hate crimes after confrontation with ‘Today’ show’s Melvin at NBC studio NEW YORK (AP) — A 40-year-old New York man faces hate crime charges after a confrontation with “Today” show host Craig Melvin at NBC’s studio in Manhattan. The man was arrested Thursday morning inside 30 Rockefeller Center in Midtown by an officer responding to reports of a disorderly individual in the building, police said Friday. NBC News has said in a statement that an individual approached Melvin after entering an unauthorized area in a vestibule near Studio 1A. Melvin notified security, who held the man until police arrived, according to NBC. No altercation occurred and no injuries were reported. NBC did not say how the man gained access to the area. “We are reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios,” the network said in a statement. Police did not say what led to the hate crime enhancements on the charges. Police

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records show a court date has been scheduled for Wednesday. The man has been charged with burglary, menacing, and criminal trespass as hate crimes, as well as harassment. It was not clear Friday if he has appeared in court or whether he has an attorney. Melvin, who is Black, discussed the incident on-air on July 17. “Unfortunately, an intruder made his way into an unauthorized area here at Studio NBC “Today” host Craig Melvin. (NBC/TODAY)

es our willingness to embrace change and adapt to new environments, just as this tea Continued from page 5 transforms with the ingredients added to it.” Beyond tea, the space operates as a wellmilk is introduced, serving as a metaphor ness hub. The boutique offers event servicfor transformation. es and self-reflection experiences such as “People love its delicious taste, but they “I Am Love,” guiding guests through jouralso resonate with its powerful meaning,” naling, positive affirmations, and mirror Figueroa explained. “The name symboliz- work, where they speak uplifting words to

1A,” he said. “Thankfully, he was apprehended quickly. He was placed under arrest. We are just very happy that everyone is safe.” Melvin also posted about the incident on Instagram. “Hey everyone. I’ve heard from so many of you over the last few hours,” he wrote on Thursday. “I’m doing just fine. Thanks for reaching out.” Longtime “Today” show meteorologist Al Roker also took to social media to thank everyone for reaching out to

check on Melvin. “We are both okay,” Roker posted on Instagram. “It’s moments like these that serve to pull us together. You all, like Craig, said ‘You come after one of us, you come after all of us.’” Melvin and Roker are among a relatively small group of prominent Black journalists and anchors with regular, highly visible roles on national broadcast network news programs. Melvin joined NBC and MSNBC in 2011, according to the “Today” show’s website. He replaced Hoda Kotb in 2025 as co-host of the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. hours of “Today.” He had been hosting the show’s third hour while serving as news anchor during the first two hours. Roker also is a feature anchor on “Today” and co-host of the show’s third hour. He joined the show in 1996. Roker also cohosted the “Wake Up with Al” morning show on the Weather Channel from 2009 to 2015.

themselves. Over time, the boutique has evolved into a place where customers gather to share stories, process life’s challenges, and uplift one another. Looking ahead, Figueroa cherishes every part of her journey as a stepping stone to who she is today. She hopes to continue growing alongside her community, expand-

ing her knowledge, and encouraging those around her. Printed on her tea packaging is a simple reminder that captures her philosophy: “These teas may be saucy, but you are the secret sauce,” Figueroa said. “Everything we need is already inside us. When we embrace that power, we can achieve amazing things.”

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ings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Residential Unit (The "Unit") known as Unit No. 11F in the premises known as the Vanderbilt Condominium and by the street number 240 East 41st Street and 235 East 40th Street, Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, said Unit being designated and described as Unit No. 11F in the Declaration. Together with an undivided .210026% interest in the general common elements.

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 25

CLASSIFIED ADS 100 PUBLIC NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES REFEREE'S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE

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SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK ROCKET MORTGAGE, LLC F/K/A QUICKEN LOANS, LLC F/K/A QUICKEN LOANS INC., Plaintiff - against - NAKIYAA RYANS AS ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF ANN DAVIS AKA ANN M. DAVIS AND INDIVIDUALLY, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on May 8, 2026. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007 on the 4th day of August, 2026 at 2:15 PM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York. Premises known as 221 West 148th Street, New York, (City of New York) NY 10039. (BL#: 2034-1106) Approximate amount of lien $471,442.92 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 850470/2024. Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee. Davidson Fink LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 400 Meridian Centre Blvd, Ste 200 Rochester, NY 14618 Tel. 585/760-8218 For sale information, please visit Auction.com at www.Auction. com or call (800) 280-2832 Dated: May 26, 2026 During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6-feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. ROBERT WALDEN, Deft. - Index # 850171/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 18, 2026, I will sell

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. ROBERT WALDEN, Deft. - Index # 850171/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 18, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0171734803822393% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $62,445.21 plus costs and interest as of April 14, 2026. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Harvey Steven Mars, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

101 LEGAL NOTICES

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. ROWENA VILLAMAR, Deft. - Index # 850088/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 28, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the NY County Courthouse located 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.07412762675592057% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase II of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $58,196.37 plus costs and interest as of December 30, 2025. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Christy M. Demelfi, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY. SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. TRACY C. MATTHEWS and STACY L. MATTHEWS, Defts. - Index # 850162/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 14, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the NY County Courthouse located 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 10,000/28,402,100 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as Phase I of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Approximate amount of judgment is $118,875.42 plus costs and interest as of January 23, 2026. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

Block 1314 Lot 1096 Unit 11F.

101 LEGAL NOTICES SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. DONALD CHANNELL and SALLY LEWIS, Defts. - Index # 850157/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 14, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0137327137830400900% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as CENTRAL PARK VACATION SUITES located at 101 West 57th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $139,318.19 plus costs and interest as of January 26, 2026. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY. NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR STRUCTURED ASSET INVESTMENT LOAN TRUST MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-BNC3 Plaintiff, Against MAY Q. MANGOSING; et al Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered 03/13/2025, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction, in Room 130 at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on 8/18/2026 at 2:15PM, premises known as 240 East 41st Street a/k/a 235 East 40th Street, New York, New York and described as follows: ALL that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Residential Unit (The "Unit") known as Unit No. 11F in the premises known as the Vanderbilt Condominium and by the street number 240 East 41st Street and 235 East 40th Street, Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, said Unit being designated and described as Unit No. 11F in the Declaration. Together with an undivided .210026% interest in the general common elements. Block 1314 Lot 1096 Unit 11F. The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $1,281,897.89 plus interest and costs. The Premises will

The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $1,281,897.89 plus interest and costs. The Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 850124/2015

101 LEGAL NOTICES

Bruce N. Lederman, Esq., Referee. – Please note: Referee does NOT accept cash. MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, LLC, 10 Midland Avenue, Suite 205, Port Chester, NY 10573 Dated: 6/5/2026 19-300840 CA

File Number:

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. MARIO J. PUJOL and VALESCA C. PEREZ, Defts. - Index # 850224/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 18, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.0343469607644787% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $31,009.11 plus costs and interest as of May 20, 2026. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY. SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTYHILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. TALIA N. PLAUT, Deft. - Index # 850015/2025. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 28, 2026, I will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 2:15 pm, an interest of an undivided 0.047201260419194% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 48TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $23,658.41 plus costs and interest as of March 4, 2026. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Jeffrey R. Miller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY. M/WBE bids sought for 1119 Edison Avenue, Bronx, NY construction project. A scope meeting will be held on July 27th .Contact bidding@taxaceny.com for details.

101 LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Plaintiff AGAINST Allison Scollar; Brook Altman; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered May 20, 2026 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, see posted location outside room 130, at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on August 11, 2026 at 2:15PM, premises known as 59 John Street, Unit 11A, New York, NY 10038. The Condominium Unit (“the Unit”) in the premises known as Five Nine John Lofts and by the street Number 59 John Street, Borough of Manhattan City, County, and State of New York, Block 78 Lot 1667. Approximate amount of judgment $1,264,998.16 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 850317/2024. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: June 2, 2026 90393 Notice of formation of Brookdale Farms LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/02/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Matt DeGraw: 2 Brookdale Place, Rye, NY 10580. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of C&R Prestige, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/16/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to LEGALZOOM USCA, INC: 45 Main Street Suite 238 Brooklyn NY 11201. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. NOTICE Notice is hereby given that a license, number #NA-0267-26119338 for Beer &Amp; Wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Beer &Amp; Wine at retail in a Tavern under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 27 Whitehall St., , NYC, 10004, New York County for on premises consumption. Cozy Food Market Corp., Cozy Food Market Corp. M/WBE bids sought for 4011 Rockaway Beach Blvd, Queens, NY construction project. A scope meeting will be held on July 27th. Contact bidding@taxaceny.com for details.

26 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

101 LEGAL NOTICES INDEX NO.: 850399/2025 Date Filed: 5/26/2026 SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS WITH NOTICE MORTGAGED PREMISES: 131 Bank Street, Unit 3, New York, New York 10014 BL #: 635-1103 fka BL 635-1 Plaintiff designates NEW YORK County as the place of trial; venue is based upon the county in which the mortgaged premises is situate. STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT: COUNTY OF NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Plaintiff, vs. Otsego County Treasurer, as Limited Administrator of The Estate of George Cangialosi, deceased; Unknown Heirs of the Estate of George Cangialosi and all the heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, devisees, grantees, trustees, lienors, creditors, assignees and successors in interest of any of the aforesaid defendants, next of kin, distributees, devisees, grantees, trustees, lienors, creditors, assignees and successors in interest of any of the aforesaid classes of person, if they or any of them be dead, and their respective husbands, wives or widows, if any, and all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to plaintiff, except as herein stated; Shira Small Cangialosi, as Heir to The Estate of George Cangialosi, deceased; Donna Boscolo, as Heir to The Estate of George Cangialosi, deceased; Steven Cangialosi, as Heir to The Estate of George Cangialosi, deceased; David L. Zinsser a/k/a David Zinsser, Individually and as Heir and Next of Kin of The Estate of John S. Zinsser a/k/a John S. Zinsser, Jr., deceased; Salisbury Bank & Trust Company n/k/a NBT Bank, as Trustee of the John S. Zinsser a/k/a John S. Zinsser, Jr. Revocable Trust u/a dated June 7, 2007; Stephen W. Zinsser, as Heir and Next of Kin of The Estate of John S. Zinsser a/k/a John S. Zinsser, Jr., deceased; Amanda Z. Moffat, as Heir and Next of Kin of The Estate of John S. Zinsser a/k/a John S. Zinsser, Jr., deceased; Ann C. Zinsser, as Heir and Next of Kin of The Estate of John S. Zinsser a/k/a John S. Zinsser, Jr., deceased; Cathy Austrian, as Co-Executrix of The Estate of Joan Kadushin, deceased; Rachel Kadushin as Co-Executrix of The Estate of Joan Kadushin, deceased; Matthew Kadushin, as Co-Executor of The Estate of Joan Kadushin, deceased; United States of America o/b/o Internal Revenue Service; New York State Department of Taxation and Finance; Board of Managers of 131 Bank Street Condominium; New York City Transit Adjudication Bureau; New York City Environmental Control Board; New York City Parking Violations Bureau; New York State Department of Taxation and Finance; United States of America o/b/o Internal Revenue Service; John Doe #1 through #6, and Jane Doe #1 through #6, the last twelve names being fictitious, it being the intention of Plaintiff to designate any and all occupants, tenants, persons or corporations, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises being foreclosed herein. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or,

closed herein. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the attorneys for the Plaintiff within 20 days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Amended Complaint. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE MORTGAGE COMPANY WHO FILED THIS FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME. SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY OR GO TO THE COURT WHERE YOUR CASE IS PENDING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW TO ANSWER THE SUMMONS AND PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY. SENDING PAYMENT TO YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY WILL NOT STOP THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure $100,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York on December 5, 2007, as CRFN 2007000599788, covering premises known as131 Bank Street, Unit 4, New York, NY 10014, BL #: 635-1103 fka BL 635-1. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. The Plaintiff also seeks a deficiency judgment against the Defendants and for any debt secured by said Mortgage which is not satisfied by the proceeds of the sale of said premises. TO the Defendants Unknown Heirs of the Estate of George Cangialosi and all the heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, devisees, grantees, trustees, lienors, creditors, assignees and successors in interest of any of the aforesaid defendants, next of kin, distributees, devisees, grantees, trustees, lienors, creditors, assignees and successors in interest of any of the aforesaid classes of person, if they or any of them be dead, and their respective husbands, wives or widows, if any, and all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to plaintiff, except as herein stated, the foregoing Supplemental Summons with Notice is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Hon. Francis A. Kahn, III, J.S.C. of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated May 19, 2026 and filed May 21, 2026. Dated: June 10, 2026 /s/ Deborah M. Gallo Deborah M. Gallo, Esq. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLP

101 LEGAL NOTICES

NY 10007 on August 11, 2026 2026 and filed May 21, 2026. NEW YORK AMSTERDAM at 2:15 PM,NEWS premises known Dated: JuneTHE 10, 2026 as 163 EAST 64TH STREET, /s/ Deborah M. Gallo NEW YORK, NY 10065 F/K/A Deborah M. Gallo, Esq. 10021. All that certain plot, McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, piece or parcel of land, situate, LLP lying and being in the Borough 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite of Manhattan, County, City and 840 State of New York, Block: 1399, New York, New York 10170 Lot: 25. Approximate amount Phone: 347.286.7409 of judgment is $10,653,559.26 Fax: 347-286-7414 plus interest and costs. PremisAttorneys for Plaintiff, es will be sold subject to proviJPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. sions of filed Judgment Index # HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS IN 159315/2017. FORECLOSURE If the sale is set aside for any NEW YORK STATE LAW REreason, the Purchaser at the QUIRES THAT WE SEND YOU sale shall be entitled only to a THIS NOTICE return of the deposit paid. The ABOUT THE FORECLOSURE Purchaser shall have no further PROCESS. PLEASE READ IT recourse against the Mortgagor, CAREFULLY. the Mortgagee, the MortgagSUMMONS AND COMPLAINT ee's attorney, or the Referee. YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME. IF DORON LEIBY, Esq., Referee YOU FAIL TO RESPOND TO THE SUMHalliday, Watkins & Mann, P.C., MONS AND COMPLAINT IN 6851 Jericho Turnpike, Suite THIS FORECLOSURE 185, Syosset, New York 11791, ACTION, YOU MAY LOSE Attorneys for Plaintiff YOUR HOME. PLEASE READ THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT CAREFULLY. YOU SHOULD IMMEDINOTICE OF SALE ATELY CONTACT AN ATTORNEY OR YOUR LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE TO SUPREME COURT ‑ COUNTY OBTAIN OF NEW YORK. ADVICE ON HOW TO PROHNY CLUB SUITES OWNERS TECT YOURSELF. ASSOCIATION INC., BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Plaintiff ‑against‑ SOURCES OF INFORMATION UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DIS‑ AND ASSISTANCE. TRIBUTEES OF THE ESTATE The State encourages you to OF THOMAS A. FITZGERALD, become informed about your if living, and if they be dead, options in foreclosure. etc.., et al Defendant(s). Pursu‑ In addition to seeking asant to a Judgment of Foreclo‑ sistance from an attorney sure and Sale dated June 18, or legal aid office, there are 2026, I, the undersigned Refer‑ government agencies and ee will sell at public auction at non-profit organizations that the New York County Supreme you may contact for Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY, in the courtroom information about possible opdesignated by the posting out‑ tions, including trying to work side of Room 130, on August with your lender during this 18, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. premises process. being an undivided ownership To locate an entity near you, interest as tenant‑in‑common you may call the toll-free with other owners in the Time‑ helpline maintained by the share Unit in the building lo‑ New York State Banking Decated at 1335 Avenue of the partment of Financial SerAmericas, New York, NY; known vices at 1-800-342-3736 or as The NYH Condominium. visit the Department's webTogether with an appurtenant site at www.dfs.ny.gov. undivided 0.0381% in common FORECLOSURE RESCUE interest percentage. This is a SCAMS foreclosure on ownership inter‑ Be careful of people who est in a timeshare unit, a studio approach you with offers to penthouse on a floating use "save" your home. There are basis every year, in accordance individuals who watch for nowith and subject to declara‑ tices of foreclosure actions in tions. Declaration of Covenants, order to unfairly profit from a Conditions and Restrictions homeowner's distress. You dated October 27, 2003 and should be extremely careful November 3, 2003 as CFRN # about any such promises and 2003000442512 as recorded in any suggestions that you pay the Office of the City Register, them a fee or sign over your County, City and State of New deed. State law requires anyYork. The Timeshare Unit is also one offering such services designated as Block 1006 and for profit to enter into a conLot 1302. tract which fully describes Said premises known as 1335 the services they will perform AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, and fees they will charge, and NEW YORK, NY 10019 which prohibits them from Approximate amount of lien taking any money from you $23,067.72 plus interest & until they have completed all costs. such promised services. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850036/2020. NOTICE OF SALE PAUL SKLAR, ESQ., Referee DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff SUPREME COURT COUNTY 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, OF New York , CAPITAL ONE, NY 11590 N.A., Plaintiff, vs. KENNETH DLG# 38644 LAUB, ET AL., Defendant (s). {* AMSTERDAM*} Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered Notice of formation of Anil on October 7, 2022 I, the underR Shah Medical NYC PLLC. signed Referee will sell at pubArts. of Org. filed w/ Secy. lic auction at Room 130 of the of State of NY (SSNY) on New York County Courthouse, 11/26/2025. Off. loc.: NY Cnty. 60 Centre Street, New York, SSNY designated as agent NY 10007 on August 11, 2026 upon whom process may be at 2:15 PM, premises known served. SSNY shall mail proas 163 EAST 64TH STREET, cess to: 519 E. 87th St., Apt. NEW YORK, NY 10065 F/K/A D, New York, NY 10128. Pur10021. All that certain plot, pose: Any lawful activity. piece or parcel of land, situate,

101 LEGAL NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK 392 CENTRAL PARK WEST CONDOMINIUM BY ITS BOARD OF MANAGERS, Plaintiff -against- PERRY KNIGHT, et. al., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 28, 2026 and entered on June 8, 2026, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on August 18, 2026 at 2:15 p.m., at the New York County Supreme Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY, in the courtroom designated by the posting outside of Room 130, or at such other location within the Courthouse as may be designated by the Clerk of the Court and/or the Office of Court Administration, the premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, known as Unit No. 16-H in the condominium building known as "392 CENTRAL PARK WEST CONDOMINIUM " together with an undivided .21667590 percent interest in the common elements as described in the Declaration of 392 Central Park West Condominium. Block 1833, Lot 3312. Said premises known as 392 Central Park West, Unit No. 16H, New York, New York. Approximate amount of lien $27,392.92 plus attorney’s fees and costs as awarded in the judgment, along with interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 160092/2025 GREGORY M. LaSPINA, ESQ., Referee Levin & Glasser, P.C., Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, 551 Fifth Avenue, Ste. 1200, New York, NY 10176 {* AMSTERDAM*} SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR LSF9 MASTER PARTICIPATION TRUST, -againstMOSHE RAHIMI, ET AL. NOTICE OF SALE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York on June 10, 2026, wherein U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR LSF9 MASTER PARTICIPATION TRUST is the Plaintiff and MOSHE RAHIMI, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the NEW YORK COUNTY CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on August 4, 2026 at 2:15PM, premises known as 627 WEST 42ND STREET, UNIT 38 AKA UNIT 38-H, NEW YORK, NY 10036; and the following tax map identification: 1090-1330. THE CONDOMINIUM UNIT (THE "UNIT") IN THE PREMISES KNOWN AS THE ATELIER CONDOMINIUM AND BY THE STREET NUMBER 635 WEST 42ND STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK, SAID UNIT BEING DESIGNATED AND DESCRIBED AS

42ND STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK, SAID UNIT BEING DESIGNATED AND DESCRIBED AS RESIDENTIAL UNIT NO. 38H IN THE DECLARATION ("DECLARATION") ESTABLISHING A PLAN FOR CONDOMINIUM OWNERSHIP OF SAID PREMISES UNDER ARTICLE 9-B OF THE REAL PROPERTY LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (THE "CONDOMINIUM ACT"),

101 LEGAL NOTICES

TOGETHER WITH AN UNDIVIDED 0.17879% PERCENTAGE INTEREST IN THE GENERAL COMMON ELEMENTS (AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN THE DECLARATION): THE LANDS ON WHICH THE BUILDING CONTAINING THE UNIT IS LOCATED ARE MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No.: 850246/2019. Jeffery R. Miller, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY TOORAK CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC, Plaintiff against MGM PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, et al Defendant(s) Attorney for Plaintiff(s) Margolin, Weinreb & Nierer, LLP, 575 Underhill Boulevard, Suite 224, Syosset, NY 11791. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered June 8, 2026, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at Room 252 at the Supreme Court, New York County, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York on August 4, 2026 at 2:15PM. Premises known as 517 West 158th Street, New York, New York 10032. Block 2117 Lot 48. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judgment is $2,129,890.06 plus interest, fees, and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 850090/2024. The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's Covid-19 Policies and foreclosure auction rules. The Referee shall enforce any rules in place regarding facial coverings and social distancing. Referee will only accept a certified bank check made payable to the referee. Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee File # 22-0783 ANNITA RETAIL GROUP LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/02/2026. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: 845 United Nations Plaza, Apt 53A, NY, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful.

101 LEGAL NOTICES SUPREME COURT ‑ COUNTY OF NEW YORK. BOARD OF MANAGERS OF OT SUN MANSION, Plain‑ tiff ‑against‑ FUJIAN XI BIAN QIAO LIAN INC., et al Defen‑ dant(s). Pursuant to a Judg‑ ment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion dated June 4, 2026 and entered on June 10, 2026, I, the under‑ signed Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Supreme Courthouse, 60 Cen‑ tre Street, New York, NY, in the courtroom designated by the posting outside of Room 130, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, ly‑ ing and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, known and designated as Unit‑Office C in the condominium known as "Ot Sun Mansion Condomini‑ um" together with an undivided 9.46488% interest in the com‑ mon elements. Block: 292 Lot: 1007 Said premises known as 1‑3 ELDRIDGE STREET, OFFICE C, NEW YORK, NY Approximate amount of lien $64,843.84 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 160534/2023. TOM KLEINBERGER, ESQ., Referee Law Office of Allison M. Fur‑ man, P.C. Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 260 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10016 {* AMSTERDAM*} SUPREME COURT ‑ COUNTY OF NEW YORK. SIG CRE 2023 VENTURE LLC, Plaintiff ‑against‑ 161‑21 JAMAICA HOLDING LLC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered and dated on June 2, 2026, I, the under‑ signed Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Supreme Courthouse, 60 Cen‑ tre Street, New York, NY, in the courtroom designated by the posting outside of Room 130, on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being at Jamaica, Borough of Queens, City of New York, County of Queens and State of New York, the Condominium Unit known as the Retail Unit known as "161‑21 Jamaica Av‑ enue Condominium" together with a 27% undivided interest in the common elements. Block: 9760 Lot: 1001 Said premises known as 161‑19/161‑25 JAMAICA AVE‑ NUE, RETAIL UNIT a/k/a 89‑74 162ND STREET, RETAIL UNIT, JAMAICA, NY 11432 Approximate amount of lien $6,830,564.65 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850180/2025. DORON LEIBY, ESQ., Referee Holland & Knight LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 787 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor, New York, NY 10019 {* AMSTERDAM*} NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Plaintiff AGAINST Pedro Domingo Arevalo Alvarez Arenas a/k/a Pedro Domingo a/k/a Pedro Arevalo a/k/a Pedro Alvarez a/k/a Pedro Arenas, if living and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees,

dro Arevalo a/k/a Pedro Alvarez a/k/a Pedro Arenas, if living and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and successors in interest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, by purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise of any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and their respective husbands, wives or widows, if any, and each and every person not specifically named who may be entitled to or claim to have any right, title or interest in the property described in the verified complaint all of whom and whose names and places of residence unknown, and cannot after diligent inquiry be ascertained by the Plaintiff; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered March 22, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on August 4, 2026, at 2:15PM, premises known as 15 William Street, New York, NY 10005. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block: 25 Lot: 1503. Approximate amount of judgment $792,245.73 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 810049/2012. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: June 2, 2026 90395

101 LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York, U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee for the Registered Holders of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp., Multifamily Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2019-SB62, Plaintiff, vs. 419 East 114 LLC, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Consent Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered on May 12, 2026, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, room assignment will be posted outside of room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on August 4, 2026 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 419 East 114th Street, New York, NY 10029. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, Block 1708 and Lot 11. Approximate amount of judgment is $1,514,907.96 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850240/2025. Matthew D. Hunter III, Esq., Referee McCarter & English, LLP, 250 W 55th Street, 13th Floor, New York, New York 10019, Attorneys for Plaintiff SUPREME COURT ‑ COUNTY OF NEW YORK. TICO INVESTMENT VEHICLE VIII, LP., Plaintiff ‑against‑ GO‑ JKO BARICEVIC, MARCIA BARICEVIC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Fore‑ closure and Sale entered herein and dated June 15, 2026, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York

BARICEVIC, et al Defendant(s). NEWofYORK Pursuant to THE a Judgment Fore‑ AMSTERDAM Please takeNEWS notice that this closure and Sale entered herein foreclosure auction shall be and dated June 15, 2026, I, the conducted in compliance with undersigned Referee will sell at the Foreclosure Auction Rules public auction at the New York for New York County, and the County Supreme Courthouse, COVID 19 Health Emergency 60 Centre Street, New York, NY, Rules, including proper use of in the courtroom designated by masks and social distancing. the posting outside of Room 130, on August 25, 2026 at 2:15 All that certain plot piece or p.m. premises situate, lying and parcel of land, with the buildbeing in the Borough and Coun‑ ings and improvements thereon ty of Queens, City and State erected, situate, lying and being of New York, bounded and de‑ in the Borough of Manhattan, scribed as follows: BEGINNING County of New York, City and at a point on the southerly side State of New York. Block 1171 of 32nd Avenue, distant 100.75 and Lot 4741. feet westerly from the corner formed by the intersection of the Approximate amount of judgsoutherly side of 32nd Avenue ment $1,373,438.59 plus inwith the westerly side of Jordan terest and costs. Premises Street; being a plot 100 feet by will be sold subject to provi23.25 feet by 100 feet by 23.25 sions of filed Judgment. Index feet. Block: 6024 Lot: 15 #850454/2024. Said premises known as 198‑32 32ND AVENUE, FLUSHING, Scott H. Siller, Esq. , Referee, NY 11358 Aldridge Pite, LLP - Attorneys Approximate amount of Judg‑ for Plaintiff - 40 Marcus Drive, ment $3,739,319.68 plus inter‑ Suite 200, Melville, NY 11747 est & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Tru Arrow Technology Partners and Terms of Sale. CIV XI, LP Auth. filed w/ SSNY Index Number 453275/2022. 5/15/26 w/ fict. name Tru Arrow TOM KLEINBERGER, ESQ., Technology Partners CIV XI, Referee L.P.. Off. in NY Co. Cert of LP Offit Kurman, P.A. filed w/ SSDE 5/13/26. Process Attorney(s) for Plaintiff served to SSNY - desig. as agt. 590 Madison Ave, 6th Floor, of LP & mailed to the Discern New York, NY 10022 Registered Agent Inc., 1252 Forrest Ave, Dover, DE 19904. {* AMSTERDAM*} Add. Maintd. in DE: 1252 Forrest Ave, Dover, DE 19904. NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME Names & address of general COURT COUNTY OF NEW partner(s) available from SSNY. YORK LAELIA, LLC, Plaintiff Name & add. of auth. officer in AGAINST LUIS ROYER, HEIR where Cert. of LP filed: SSDE, TO THE ESTATE OF LUIS A. Div. of Corp., John G Townsend ROYER; ET AL., Defendant(s) Bldg., 401 Federal St, Ste. 4, Pursuant to a Judgment of Dover, DE 19901. Any lawful Foreclosure and Sale duly enPurpose. tered March 20, 2026, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, see posted Notice of Qualification of AI Inlocation outside room 130, at frastructure OpCo II, LLC 60 Centre Street, New York, NY Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. on August 25, 2026 at 2:15 PM, of State of NY (SSNY) on premises known as 68 Brad07/01/26. Office location: NY hurst Avenue, Unit 8D, New County. LLC formed in DelaYork, NY 10039. All that certain ware (DE) on 03/04/26. Princ. plot piece or parcel of land, with office of LLC: 500 Howard St., the buildings and improvements San Francisco, CA 94105. erected, situate, lying and being SSNY designated as agent in the Borough of Manhattan, of LLC upon whom process City, County and State of New against it may be served. SSNY York, Block: 2045 Lot: 1136. shall mail process to CorporaApproximate amount of judgtion Service Co., 80 State St., ment $771,297.43 plus interest Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE and costs. Premises will be sold addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., subject to provisions of filed Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Judgment Index #113514/2009. Form. filed with Secy. of State, Georgia Papazis, Esq, Referee DE Div. of Corps., PO Box 898, Fein, Such & Crane, LLP 28 Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any East Main Street Rochester, NY lawful activity. 14614 LHFJC040 90091

195LEGAL HELP WANTED 101 NOTICES

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR RCF 2 ACQUISITION TRUST , Plaintiff, AGAINST MUGE MA, FENGXIANG MA , et al. Defendant(s) Pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale duly entered on May 7, 2026. I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre St, New York, NY 10007 on August 11, 2026 at 2:15 PM premises known as 1 West End Ave, Unit 9L, New York, NY 10023. Please take notice that this foreclosure auction shall be conducted in compliance with the Foreclosure Auction Rules for New York County, and the COVID 19 Health Emergency

101 LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Qualification of Alexander White Agnecy, LLC. Certificate of Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/01/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). Limited Liability Company (LLC) formed on 07/30/2013. SSNY designated as agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Alexander White: 12 E 49th Street, Floor 11, New York, NY 10017. Articles of Organization originally filed with Secretary of State (SOS). 999 Peachtree Street NE , Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30309 Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Qualification of QUIETT LUXURY FOODS GROUP L.L.C. App. for Authority filed with NY Secy. of State (SSNY) on 05/13/2026. Office: NY County. Formed in CA on 04/05/2024. SSNY designated agent for process; mail process to 167 E 111ST APT 5F, NY, NY 10029. CA office: 4082 BAKMAN AVE, STUDIO CITY, CA 91602. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

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101 LEGAL NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Qualification of Asymmetrical Management LLC. Certificate of Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/23/2025. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). Limited Liability Company (LLC) formed on 5/22/2022. SSNY designated as agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to LEGALZOOM.COM, INC.: 228 PARK AVE S, SUITE 708 NEW YORK, NY, 10003, USA. Articles of Organization originally filed with Secretary of State (SOS). 401 Federal Street, Suite 4, Dover, Delaware 19901 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of CHARTBOOST, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/06/26. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/10/24. Princ. office of LLC: 26 O'Farrell St., 10th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94108. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Mobile in-app programmatic advertising and monetization platform.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ATEA PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/12/26. Office Loc. New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 6/9/26. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: ATEA Property Management, LLC at 16027 Ventura Blvd., Ste 301, Encino, CA 91436. Reg. Agent: eResidentAgent, Inc.1 Rockefeller Plaza Ste 1204, NY, NY 10020. DE address of LLC is 500 Delaware Ave., 903, Wilmington, DE 19801. P/B/A: 16027 Ventura Blvd., Ste 301, Encino, CA 91436. Cert. of LLC filed with Secy. of State of DE located at 401 Federal St, 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity Notice of Qualification of 5FLR23, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/10/26. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/09/26. Princ. office of LLC: 211 S Main St., Joplin, MO 64801-2307. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of Highmark Building Systems LLC. Certificate of Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/02/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). Limited Liability Company (LLC) formed on 11/26/2025. SSNY designated as agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Highmark Building Systems LLC: 49 West 45th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Articles of Organization originally filed with Secretary of State (SOS). 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware 19801 Purpose: Any lawful purpose. VESPER HOSPITALITY STUDIO LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 03/12/2026. Office in New York Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Reg Agent for SOP: Kristen Mitchell, 180 Pearl St Apt 609, New York, NY 10005. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of CRITERION ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/08/26. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/29/26. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. HIGH FALLS PARTNERS LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 02/09/2026. Office in New York Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 500 W 30th St Apt 18C, New York, NY 10001. United States Corporation Agents, Inc. desig. as agent for SOP 7014 13TH Avenue , Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of Aura Medical Management LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/09/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Zhaonan Wang: 9 SHADETREE LANE, ROSLYN HEIGHTS, NY, 11577. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of HENRY JACQUES NEW YORK LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/11/26. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, Attn: Emily Ayoob, Esq., 1350 Broadway, 11th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity. YS NEXUS LAW PLLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 05/28/2026. Office in New York Co. SSNY desig. agent of PLLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 1608 Nogales Street, Suite C13, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. Any lawful purpose.

28 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

101 LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Formation of JOANNA VARGAS MANAGEMENT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/08/26. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 501 5th Ave., Fl. 3, NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of formation of MACLLAREN & CO. BARBERS N.Y. LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/19/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to New York Secretary of State: 35 E 1ST ST, WEST STOREFRONT, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Qualification of SAKS EQUITY ACQUIROR LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/10/26. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/05/26. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of The National Guitar Museum, LLC. Certificate of Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/12/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). Limited Liability Company (LLC) formed on 10/06/2008. SSNY designated as agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Trini C. Newquist: trini@newquist.net. Articles of Organization originally filed with Secretary of State (SOS). 303 E. 83rd Street 31A, New York, NY 10028 Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of Salt & Story, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/57/26. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to LEGALZOOM USCA, Inc.: 45 Main Street, Suite 238, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of Julia Stevens LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Julia Stevens: 82 IRVING PL, 6A, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

101 LEGAL NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES

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Notice of Qualification of MONICA VINADER SPRING STREET NY LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/18/26. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/18/26. Princ. office of LLC: 151 Spring St., NY, NY 10012. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Retail sales of jewelry and related services.

Notice of Formation of 130E6312B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/26/26. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

HOMES AND MORE LLC. App. for Auth. filed with the SSNY on 06/25/26. Originally filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware on 06/22/26. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 122 East 42nd Street, Ste 2405, New York, NY 10168. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of Platinum Lux LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/26/26. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Jose David Mora: 2600 Marion Avenue. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of PHIPPS SOLAR I, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/04/26. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Phipps Houses, 257 Park Ave. South, 12th Fl., NY, NY 10010. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of NOW SHE SPEAKS TRAINING AND CONSULTING LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/18/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to LEGALCORP SOLUTIONS, LLC: brian.johnston@swyftfilings.com. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. NOTICE OF FORMATION OF STUDIO JONES DESIGN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/12/26. Office Loc. New York County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: Studio Jones Design LLC at 340 E 66th St, Apt 3G, NY, NY 10065. Reg. Agent: eResidentAgent, Inc.1 Rockefeller Plaza Ste 1204, NY, NY 10020. P/B/A: 340 E 66th St, Apt 3G, NY, NY 10065. Purpose: any lawful activity. Notice of formation of Imagine F&B NYC LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/07/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to REGISTERED AGENT SOLUTIONS, INC.: 99 WASHINGTON AVENUE, SUITE 1008, ALBANY, NY, 12260. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of Sutra Sangha. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/04/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Florence Homolka: 110 W 86th St # Apt 5D. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 108 HIGH POND RD LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/03/26. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 251 Central Park West, Apartment 8A, New York, NY 10024. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice is hereby given that Application ID Number NA-041526-104323 for a On-Premises Bottle Club license has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the service of beer, wine and spirits in a bottle club under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at Boots & Beer located at 89 North 6 th Street, Brooklyn in Kings County for on-premises consumption. Boots & Beer LLC, 89 North 6 th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249. Notice of Formation of CANNON MADISON LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/26/26. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of formation of Douceur from the heart LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/1/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Secretary of State of the State of New York: 356 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of formation of Verse Architecture PLLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/01/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Dyuthi Prakash: 1350 Ave of the Americas, Fl 2-1047. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of Yellow Artemis, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/16/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Yellow Artemis LLC: 108 W 39th Street, STE 1006, #2511 New York, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Authority of RLB Official LLC. App. for Auth. filed with SSNY on 12/3/25. Offc. Loc: NY Cty. SSNY desig. for service of process. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, c/o Square Seven Management, LLC, 15 E 26th St, Ste 602, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: any lawful purpose

Notice of formation of KW Consulting LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/19/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Kaizheng Wang: 500 W 120th St #419, New York, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of LUCID MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/10/26. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 1 Saint St., Apt. 2, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of formation of Manvi Mittal PR. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/19/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Manvi Mittal: manvimittal.pr@gmail.com. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. GALLIUM PRESS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/03/26. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 15 West 67th Street, Suite 4FW, New York, NY 10023. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of DATAMINER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/18/26. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Dr. Albert Sebag, 145 East 76th St., Apt. 5A, NY, NY 10021. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of Revolutionary Therapeutic Services, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/30/2026. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Shakeem E. Holmes: Shakeemh@ yahoo.com. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of STRETCH WANNIGAN 2, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/30/26. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 97 Perry St., Apt. 4, NY, NY 10014. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at SKYLARK TALENT MANAGEaddr. of princ. office. Pur• February - February 26,its 2025 MENT, LLC Articles 1of Org. 20, 2025the pose: Any lawful activity. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 07/16/2024. Office in New York 101 LEGAL NOTICES 101 LEGAL NOTICES Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process may be Notice is hereby given that a Notice of Qualification of AP served. SSNY shall mail license, copy ofserial #NA-0340-25CREDIT SOLUTIONS HOLDfor beer, wine & liquor INGS (AIV) II, L.P. Appl. for process to 192 East 3rd 103028 Street, has been applied for by the Auth. filed with Secy. of State of Notice of Formation SWIRL Apt, 4A, New York, NY undersigned 10009. to sell beer, wine NY (SSNY) on of 01/08/25. Office & liquor at retail in PROJECTS a restaulocation: LLC NY County. LP formed Purpose: Any lawful purpose. rant under the ABC Law at 994 in Delaware (DE) on 12/26/24. Columbus Ave., New Arts. York, NYof Org. Princ. filed office of with LP: Attn:Secy. General 10025 for on-premises Counsel, 57th St., 43rdon Fl., of conState of NY9 W.(SSNY) sumption; Limone LLC NY, NY 10019. Duration of LP 06/26/26. Office location: NY is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agentoffice of LP upon proCounty. Princ. ofwhom LLC: Notice of Formation of VCW JV, cess against it may be served. 41that Fifth Apt. NY, toNY LLC NOTICE is hereby given a Ave., SSNY shall15A, mail process the license, number NA-0370-24Partnership at the princ. office 10003. SSNY designated as Arts. of Org. filed with135212 Secy. for liquor, wine, beer & of the LP. Name and addr. of agent whomareproof State of NY (SSNY) onbeen applied cider has for by of LLC each upon general partner availthe undersigned to sell liquor, ableitfrom SSNY. DEserved. addr. of LP: cess against may be 06/10/26. Office location: NY wine, beer & cider at retail in a c/o Corporation Service Co., mail to IsCounty. SSNY designated as under the SSNY bar/tavern Alcoholic shall251 Little process Falls Dr., Wilmington, Beverage Control Law at 4371 DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with abelle D. Conner at the princ. agent of LLC upon whom pro3rd Ave; Bronx, NY 10457 in The Secy. of State of the State Bronx County for on office premisesof theof LLC. DE, Dept. of State, Div. Purpose: Anyof cess against it may be served. Zion Restaurant Corps., John Townsend Bldg., lawful SSNY shall mail processconsumption. to Lounge the Corp and d/b/a Zionactivity. Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Restaurant lawful activity. LLC, 370 Lexington Ave., 23rd and Lounge Fl., NY, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

M/WBE bids sought for 3069 Barker Avenue, Bronx, NY construction project. A scope meeting will be held on July 27th. Contact bidding@taxaceny.com for details M/WBE bids sought for 2923 Bruckner Blvd, Bronx, NY construction project. A scope meeting will be held on July 27th. Contact bidding@taxaceny.com for details.

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Notice of formation of Afterglow NYC LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/09/2026. Office location: New York County (Manhattan). SSNY designated as an agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to Katie Rue: 45 Orchard St, Storefront, New York, NY, 10002. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

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July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 29

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Denise Oliver-Vélez Continued from page 2

Community College professor of dramatic literature, and a Tuskegee Airman; her mother, Marjorie Roberts Oliver, was a New York City public school teacher. Activist poet and educator Mariposa Fernandez told the AmNews that she had known Oliver-Vélez since around 2009, when they met at the 40th-anniversary celebrations and activities of the Young Lords. She remembers Oliver-Vélez always spoke of having been raised to know about the history of Black resistance. That grounding shaped how she taught, wrote, and organized. At age 16, Oliver-Vélez joined the 1963 protests in South Jamaica, Queens, that called for hiring Black workers at the all-white construction site developing Rochdale Village. Fernandez said one of the stories Oliver-Vélez loved to tell was that she met Fannie Lou Hamer when she came to New York City on a fundraising tour. Hamer’s persona was so influential that it pushed Oliver-Vélez to leave Hunter College’s then-Bronx campus and enroll at Howard University, where she became active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Oliver-Vélez, Fernandez said, faithfully defended voting rights and, for the rest of her life, had little patience for those who would say voting was meaningless because she knew what people like Hamer had gone through to be able to vote. “She was very adamant that we use the ballot and that we fight to protect our voting rights,” Fernandez said. “She was very concerned about everything that’s going on around voting, and she didn’t have patience for anyone suggesting that we not exercise our right to vote or that voting was a waste of time. That drove her crazy. She was very adamant that that’s not the answer, and she would often point to Fanny Lou Hamer as an example of this. “Everything that we’re facing, that we’re seeing now — the gerrymandering and the other types of interference we’re seeing with this administration, she would want people to just be vigilant and to really put their energy into what we’re going to do to fight for the future in this country.”

East Harlem anti-poverty organization Real Great Society after leaving Howard. The two later attended what is now SUNY Old Westbury, where Puerto Rican and Black students organized politically and eventually helped build the New York Young Lords. “I had no political consciousness when I met her, but I will tell you that Denise Oliver was the first feminist I met,” Melendez told the AmNews. “Whatever you had in your head, it was very clear that you had to respect this woman.” Demanding respect was a feature of Oliver-Vélez’s leadership. The Young Lords challenged city neglect, police violence, inadequate healthcare, poor sanitation, and housing injustices in East Harlem and the South Bronx. They organized free breakfast programs,

brilliant, and you couldn’t get away with any bullsh*t toward her, because she would just throw it back in your face.” By 1970, Oliver-Vélez had become one of the highest-ranking women in the Young Lords. She helped frame how the organization dealt with a range of issues, particularly in Pa’lante, the Young Lords’ newspaper. “She had artistic skills,” Melendez said. “Without her and Richie Pérez, our paper would not have come out as consistently as it did.” He compared her to Emory Douglas, the famed Black Panther Party artist, who helped shape the Panthers’ visual language. Oliver-Vélez had trained as an art student at the High School of Music & Art and drew many of the cartoons and graphics that circulated through Young Lords campaigns. The artwork connected to the Lincoln Hospital struggle, like the “Lin-

in communications and political education. Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, a historian who has written extensively about Black women’s leadership in the Black Panther Party, said Oliver-Vélez’s wider impact was in her ability to be present across generations. “She was somebody who was from the generation that [my students] venerated or had questions about: the civil rights/Black Power generation,” Spencer-Antoine said, “but she was someone that you could engage with. I think that made her a unique figure. I think that kind of communication was part of her legacy, for sure.” At one point, Spencer-Antoine brought Oliver-Vélez to speak at Lehman College for a Black History Month event about health activism and community-building in the Bronx. She wanted to show students that the Young Lords and Panthers fought against police brutality and

“She (Denise Oliver-Vélez) was somebody who was from the generation that [my students] venerated or had questions about: the civil rights/Black Power generation … but she was someone that you could engage with. I think that made her a unique figure.” —Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, professional historian and author of

The Revolution has Come: Black Power, Gender and the Black Panther Party

health initiatives, tenant actions, and major protests like the takeover of East Harlem’s First Spanish United Methodist Church and the 12-hour takeover of Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. Oliver-Vélez’s role in the push for militant change in impoverished communities also led her to demand changes in the organizations she was part of. The original Young Lords platform had featured language about “revolutionary machismo,” but Oliver-Vélez and other women rejected that. “Machismo will never be f---ing revolutionary,” she famously said. Melendez said one of his favorite memories of her comes from the documentary “Takeover,” where Oliver-Vélez described the Young Lords’ approach to community Building a new movement struggle. Mickey Melendez, co-founder “‘We came from a place of love and former head of security for the and respect, but we didn’t take any New York Young Lords, said he met sh*t from anybody,’” he recalled her Oliver-Vélez before the Young Lords saying. “That really captures who were formed, when she joined the she was. She was beautiful, she was

coln Hospital Butcher Shop” image, was signed “D.O.” or “D. Oliver.” She stepped away from the Young Lords when leadership decided to move toward a Puerto Rico-focused strategy, objecting because she thought it was a political mistake for New York organizers to enter Puerto Rico with a ready-made agenda instead of letting the leadership on the island direct their own struggles. “You can’t parachute into someone else’s community with your own agenda for their salvation,” Fernandez said Oliver-Vélez pointed out. Melendez agreed that history proved Oliver-Vélez’s analysis was right. The move, he said, was “almost like this chauvinist paratrooping into our homeland — like, ‘We’re going to save you!’” The Young Lords ran through their resources trying to organize in Puerto Rico and ended up crippling their offices. Oliver-Vélez then joined the Black Panther Party, continuing her work

U.S. foreign policies, while working on issues like air quality, food, and access to hospitals. “We brought her to campus to represent that history, and she did so powerfully,” SpencerAntoine said. Later years After participating in 1960s and 1970s movements, Oliver-Vélez helped start WPFW-FM in Washington and later led the Black Filmmaker Foundation. She also taught anthropology and women’s studies at SUNY New Paltz and studied HIV/AIDS programs in Puerto Rican communities. In 2008, she became a contributing editor at Daily Kos, where she wrote about Black politics, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, music, women’s history, elections, and the continuing responsibilities of movement work. Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas wrote in a July 15 tribute that because she was a movement veteran, important

editorial and political decisions often came down to one question: “What is Denise going to think about this?” Fernandez said Oliver-Vélez treated blogs, social media, video, music, cartoons, and comment sections as extensions of the movement press. After Hurricane Maria, Fernandez said Oliver-Vélez posted daily about issues in Puerto Rico, such as the ongoing lack of a hospital on Vieques. Oliver-Vélez used new media to reach younger audiences and teach the need for political consistency. González said that discipline was at Oliver-Vélez’s core. “What I think we take away from Denise is consistency, urgency, and honesty,” she said. “She was very candid, consistent — this wasn’t work that she took a pause from.” In 2024, Power 4 Puerto Rico Education Inc. recognized Oliver-Vélez with its “Best Ally” award at the “Boricuas Holding It Down” ceremony. The award, made by artist Sylvia Hernández, was accepted by Oliver-Vélez wearing Yemaya colors to symbolize her role as a priestess of Yemaya in the Afro-Cuban Lucumí Orisha tradition. González said choosing OliverVélez for the award was obvious because she was constantly writing about Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican issues. “I don’t think a week went by where she wasn’t writing about Puerto Rico or mentioning issues for our community here,” González said. Oliver-Vélez was able to receive the award with former Young Lords and Black Panthers members in the audience. “She was so elated,” González said. “I’m glad that we were able to do that while she was fully able to be present because she deserved to enjoy that moment.” Melendez said Oliver-Vélez’s final instruction to her husband, Phillip Nadhiyr Vélez, was about making arrangements for her eulogy to be held at the People’s Church. The final details are still being worked out, but the service is expected to take place later this September. “I really want people to know that she was unapologetically feminist,” Fernandez said. “She would often talk about the work they did with the Young Lords — because she was a Young Lord and a Black Panther, and she had the context of being a woman and being in leadership in both of those organizations — and that the work they were doing to challenge sexism and so-called ‘revolutionary machismo’ predates second-wave feminism.” A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with funeral costs for Oliver-Vélez.

30 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS S P O R T S

Should the floundering Mets trade five-time All-Star Francisco Lindor? By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor Francisco Lindor isn’t the problem. The Mets should not prematurely trade one of their best players ahead of the August 3 Major League Baseball trade deadline despite the team being an abject disappointment this season. They entered yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon’s game on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers with a record of 43-59 — on pace to win just 70 games in the 162-game schedule. Only the 41-62 Colorado Rockies had a worse mark among the 15 National League clubs. The Mets weren’t expected to be a World Series contender, although they had the highest Opening Day payroll ($357.62 million) in MLB this season. Neither were they projected to be non-competitive. (Note: The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers actually had the highest payroll in MLB at $417.3 million when the season started, but because much of the money owed to the players on the collective 40-man payroll is deferred, only the money being paid this season was counted.) Francisco Lindor isn’t the problem. The five-time All-Star is not the singularly polarizing figure and primary cause of the Mets’ ongoing descent that some members of the media and segments of the fan base have made him out to be. The Mets won just 83 games and missed the playoffs last season even with outfielder Juan Soto in year one of

Lindor’s supposed liberal political positions and those of his three aforementioned teammates, specifically Nimmo, were in conflict. The rumors were further fueled by the association between Lindor’s wife, Katia Reguero Lindor and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mrs. Lindor, a classically trained violinist, served on Mamdani’s transition team and is an outspoken advocate of various progressive political candidates and policies. Whether ideologies divided the clubhouse remains unclear, but what is not is Lindor’s performance on the field — with the exception of this season due to injuries. Lindor had appeared in only 43 of the Mets’ 102 games before yesterday’s game and in 172 at-bats was hitting .233 with six homers and 16 RBI, and an OPS of .717, well below his career OPS average of .815. However, besides his 2015 rookie season and the 2020, 60-game COVID-19 shortened New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor waves as he signs autographs for fans before the MLB season, Lindor has played in at least Mets faced the Milwaukee Brewers on the road on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash) 152 games seven times, four of those seasons his 15-year, $765 million deal, the most lucra- ership severing ties with three of the franchise’s with the Mets. He has arguably outperformed tive individual contract in sports history. longest tenured and popular white players. his contract or at minimum equaled its value. When Mets owner Steve Cohen and David Nimmo, 33, McNeil, 34, and Alonso, 31, While he understandably would have Stearns, president of baseball operations, were homegrown, drafted by the organiza- embraced being named the Mets’ captain, traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas tion in 2011 (first round), 2013 (12th round), an honor Cohen said in February during Rangers last November, dealt infielder/out- and 2016 (second round), respectively. spring training he would not bestow on fielder Jeff McNeil to the Oakland A’s last De- Lindor, 32, who was born in Caguas, Puerto any player as long as he is the team’s owner, cember and decided to part ways with free Rico and moved to Florida with his family Lindor has been a leader without the offiagent first baseman Pete Alonso, who signed when he was 12, was acquired from the cial designation. a five-year, $155 million contract in December Cleveland Indians by the Mets in a trade in He should remain a cornerstone of the with the Baltimore Orioles, conjecture on radio January 2021 and signed a massive 10-year, team for the time being while Cohen and airwaves and social media pointed fingers at $341 million contract two months later. Stearns surround him and Soto with the reqLindor for being the catalyst for the Mets leadThe unsubstantiated accusations are that uisite talent to be a World Series challenger.

The cultural weaponization of Caitlin Clark is a tired playbook By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor The appropriation of Caitlin Clark as a cultural weapon by those on the right of this country’s ideological spectrum is a timeworn tactic. Her elevation as a widely known sports figure both in the United States and internationally is the product of her immense skills on the basketball court — as well as her ethnicity. There have been many electric women basketball players that preceded Clark, but none have approached her enormous stature as a prolific driver of ratings and revenue for the sport. The through line of the substantial increase in WNBA salaries, which began this past off-season with the inception of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), is Clark’s meteoric ascendance as a star college player for the University of Iowa and to her record-breaking early WNBA career with the Indiana Fever. Clark’s league marks include most assists ever in a WNBA game (19) and the only player to post a 40-point, 10-assist game. She achieved the latter last Friday with 45 points and 10 assists in a 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm. But her play must ultimately translate to the Fever being a championship contender. Indiana was No. 6

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past New York Liberty guard Marine Fauthoux (4) this past Saturday in the Fever’s 108-88 win in Indianapolis. (Jeffrey Brown/ Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

overall in the standings at 16-10 when they hosted the Connecticut Sun last night. Every game the 24-year-old Clark plays has become a litmus test of white privilege and a referendum on race. On whether she is being targeted by Black players allegedly jealous of her gravitational pull on brands — Nike, Xfinity, State Farm and Gatorade among them — which combined pay her more than $16 million annually. Or on whether those same players hold grievances against the fac-

tions of the media that anointed Clark the WNBA’s preeminent personage before she had earned the accolade. Clark’s ardent supporters have accused her opponents of being overly physical with her and even playing dirty. In late June, the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas was suspended by the league for one game for pushing down on Clark’s neck while Clark was lying on the court during a loose ball scramble. Thomas, a well respected 13-year WNBA veteran, insist-

ed the act was without malicious intent and accidental. But to those who subscribe that there is widespread animosity toward Clark by her peers, it was compelling evidence. There should be no debate that the Las Vegas Aces’ A’Ja Wilson, with her signature Nike basketball shoe, is the best women’s player in the world. The Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, the WNBA’s MVP runner-up last season to Wilson, who was set to make her season debut last night after having surgery on both of her ankles this past winter, is another player in addition to several more ahead of Clark on the list of the league’s best players. But Clark is a convenient tool of right-wing activists even after they nearly abandoned her after Clark liked global music star Taylor Swift’s 2024 Instagram post endorsing thenDemocratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in her race against Donald Trump. Clark later clarified her liking the post was not an implicit endorsement, but her encouraging people to register and vote for their preferred candidate. Clark, on the surface, has appeared to be socially center-left, but knowing a core of her fanbase is center-right or even far-right, is careful not to alienate those demographics. Until she explicitly rejects their racist and repressive principles, she will be a human armament deployed in their culture war.

July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026 • 31

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS S P O R T S

Michaela Edenfield brings representation and glamour to AU Softball By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews Check out Michaela Edenfield’s Instagram and TikTok and you will see depictions of her elaborate eye makeup styling. With her second season in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) concluded, the Florida State University alumna relishes her unique expression. “I do the razzle dazzle typically for game days,” said Edenfield, a catcher. “It became something throughout college that I’ve been able to connect with fans over. It’s allowed me to really be myself.” The AUSL launched in 2025 as a touring league. This season it has six teams with a city-based format. “You can kind of see a shift in the league as we’ve created our home bases and our fans; it’s giving the culture of softball that community,” said Edenfield, who played for the Texas Volts. “Every team in the league has really leveled up this year. … The ESPN contract and the exposure that we’ve been able to get

late mother and late grandfather both played huge roles in her softball journey. “I think about what the sport of softball has done for me and my family and allowed me to grow into the confident version of myself.” Among the VIP guests this summer was former softball player turned Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, who was inspiring. Edenfield comes from a small town and said she was bullied growing up. She dreamed of being on a big stage. “The opportunity to put on the uniform and play with Olympians and people that have brought the sport so much good has been incredible,” she said. “I think of all the things that happened this year. I caught a pitch in Times Square. Michaela Edenfield, a catcher for the Texas Volts in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, displays her There are so many things I will trademark eye makeup. (AUSL photo) continue to talk about for the rest as a league has been amazing.” senior year. Having a professional earn a living. Being part of this next of my life. It’s a pivotal moment to Edenfield had an illustrious stu- career in softball often feels beyond chapter of the sport has been ful- be a part of.” dent-athlete career at Florida State, her wildest dreams. She comes filling. The Volts finished the season receiving numerous accolades, in- from a family of softball players and “I lost my mom going into this 7–18. The AUSL 2026 Championcluding Second Team All-ACC her grew up thinking it wasn’t a way to summer,” said Edenfield, whose ship will be decided on Monday.

Veteran pro Schaquilla Nunn is enjoying playing near home with UPSHOT League By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews After almost a decade of playing professionally around the world in Australia, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Lebanon, Poland, Portugal, and Hungary, professional basketball player Schaquilla Nunn is reveling in the U.S.-based playing opportunity provided by the UPSHOT League. She plays for the Charlotte Crown, currently in second place in the standings as the teams push toward the new league’s first playoffs. “I came a little later on into the season because I still had obligations overseas, but once I was able to come here, I have enjoyed it,” said Nunn, a 32-year-old post player. “Some of the girls I either played against overseas or you hear about. It’s been a good experience.” Nunn played three years at Winthrop University in South Carolina, redshirting her senior year due to injury. With a year of eligibility remaining after completing her bachelor’s degree, she became

Edgar Berlanga Continued from page 32

Sunday’s Zuffa Boxing 09 will mark the promotion’s New York

single one of them,” Nunn said. “I’ve loved learning different cultures. I’ve loved meeting new people. Learning how to play with different styles of play…but the goals were the same. Everybody is competitive. It’s finding how to work in that system or make a system that works well for all of us.” The WNBA remains a goal for her professional career. She noted her family would “go crazy” to see her in a WNBA uniform. That said, she absolutely offers praise to the UPSHOT League for giving her the chance to share her hardwood journey with her family. “Playing in the U.S. is one of the experiences I love to have for my family, where they can see me,” said Nunn, who is from Georgia. “They came to visit me in Savannah and Charlotte. The fact they’re able to see me in person is just different. They watch my overseas games online, but it’s Schaquilla Nunn, a forward/center for the Charlotte Crown of the UPSHOT basketball league and native of different where they’re in person. Fayetteville, Georgia, is enjoying playing close to home. (Charlotte Crown/UPSHOT League photo) I hear them in the stands, I see a Lady Vol at the University of Ten- Draft but did not make a roster. tunities to play the game she loves. them and after games and I’m nessee. The spring of 2017, she was That began her global travels, “They’re all different experienc- able to spend time with them. a third-round pick in the WNBA where she appreciated the oppor- es, but altogether I’ve loved every I’ve loved that.” City debut and will feature another Brooklynite, undefeated former super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs), versus Mexican Ricardo Salas (242-2, 18 KOs) in a 12-round wel-

terweight contest. Hitchins will move up to 147 pounds after he was a late scratch in February in his IBF super lightweight title defense against Óscar Duarte due to an undisclosed illness.

The 28-year-old Hitchins also signed with Zuffa Boxing in April. The promotion made arguably its biggest signing earlier this month when Newark, New Jersey’s, undefeated, four-division world cham-

pion Shakur Stevenson joined its roster. Stevenson’s last fight was on January 31, 2026, when he dominated Teofimo Lopez to win the WBO super lightweight title in arguably the best victory of his career.

32 • July 23, 2026 - July 29, 2026

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Sports With 2026 World Cup over, what is the future of USA soccer? By TONY PAIGE Special to the AmNews

Now that the World Cup is over and Spain has thwarted Argentina’s dream of back-toback titles, we fans can go back to rooting for our version of football: the NFL. The 2026 World Cup was a blast, with the passion of countries from all around the world and watching some of the most gifted players ply their craft, from the Group stage to the Knockout stage to the Cup final. However, is there a future for USA soccer? In a word, no. Don’t get me wrong: There will always be some kind of pro soccer in this country, although Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA will never be as huge as Europe’s Premiere League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, or South America’s Copa America. Money is the reason. USA soccer could never get a David Beckham or Lionel Messi in their prime to play here because the MLS is not on par with those major leagues. To build soccer in this country, you have to start on the grassroots level, but that level here is all about making money for the coaches and youth leagues. Soccer in America is a country club, suburban enterprise. The beautiful game, as the great Pelé called it, has always been an inner-city sport. It is tough

ball. Nice thought, but the youth baseball ship sailed out of the inner cities long ago. After playing for fun at the Rec level, there’s the travel level and the elite travel level above that. Plus, there’s the cost of the equipment. Guess who’s paying for the travel and hotel stays and food and gas? When my youngest was playing travel baseball and soccer, the costs shocked me. When I told him I’d buy him a new metal bat for an upcoming out-of-state tournament, I made sure he didn’t see the bat under lock and key that cost $500 — and that was 10 years ago. Travel soccer is the same, with tournaments all over involving hotel stays and food, expenses, etc., that put parents on the hook. However, soccer is a very lucrative sport. For instance, 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal made $300 million this year; Team USA midfielder Malik Tillman (17) and Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans (8) $235 million on the pitch and $65 million off. battle during Round of 16 World Cup 2026 match between USA and Belgium on July 6 in The billionaires footing the bill for the future Seattle, Washington. (Cal Sport Media via AP Images) of USA soccer better start throwing money and relentless. The USA’s version of gritty soccer If you want to find the next Lionel Messi toward the creation of inner-city teams/acadis expensive shoes, home and away uniforms, or Kylian Mbappé, you’re going to have to emies across the country. Then you’ll find and smart-looking sports bags, and hiring various look to America’s inner-city parks and play- develop the next Messi and Mbappé right trainers to bring out the best in the kids. grounds. That’s where the talent is. here. If not, we will become delusional fans A video showed kids in a Brazilian favella At the recent Home Run Derby during every four years, rooting for a team that has playing futbol on a concrete basketball court baseball’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, no chance of ever capturing a World Cup. — in their bare feet. USA kids don’t have that 24-year-old Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Saying “Just Do It” or “We’ve Got Now” kind of toughness. If Christian Pulisic is the Cardinals captured the title. He hoped to beNews are nice marketing ploys, but jingles don’t AM face of USA soccer, then I’m Michael Jordan. a beacon for more Black kids to play base- score goals.

06/25/26

Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga seeks ring redemption at the Garden By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews Brooklyn native Edgar Berlanga will seek boxing redemption this Sunday at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden when he fights Steven Butler (38-5-1, 32 KOs) of Montreal, Canada, in a 10-round super-middleweight clash. The bout comes after the Puerto Rican power-puncher (25-2, 18 KOs) suffered a crushing loss to British boxer Hamzah Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs) via a fifth-round knockout last July at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. “Working hard, like always,” Berlanga said to the AmNews while still in training camp. “It feels good to be back and getting ready to headline in my city again.” The match with Butler will be his 11th fight in New York City. Berlanga signed with newcomer Zuffa Boxing in April, whose CEO, Dana White, became a global sports figure as a central architect of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. The company staged its first profes-

Brooklyn native Edgar Berlanga (right), fighting Hamzah Sheeraz at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens last July, will meet Steven Butler this Sunday at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden. (Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda Photos)

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fighters, it happens to all the champions,” he reflected. “Manny Pacquiao, one of the greatAM News

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est, got knocked out bad by [Juan Manuel]

07/02/26 Marquez, still came back, still became a

world champ. The list goes on, with a lot of fighters that got stopped. “Óscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto. All these guys bounced back. Rolly Romero, a current champ right now, he got AM News knocked out twice by Gervonta Davis and 07/09/26 Pit Bull (Isaac Cruz), and people thought his career was over, and he came and beat Ryan Garcia. You can never count out [any] fighter.” It would be a mistake to count out a boxer who just turned 29 in May. With a new proAM News moter and new marketing opportunities on the table for Berlanga, his boxing career ap07/16/26 pears to have several chapters left to write.

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See EDGAR BERLANGA on page 31

sional promotion in January. “Everything had made sense, businesswise,” Berlanga said. “Even before [White] was going into boxing, I always gave him his props because I felt like Dana knew how to build a fighter, how to build a brand. I feel like he’s very, very legendary when it comes to that.”

Berlanga, who was raised in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, lost the first two fights AM News of his career in consecutive summers, falling to all-time great Canelo Alvarez in September 07/23/26 2024, then last July to Sheeraz. “I wasn’t getting t oo emotional about the situation, because it happens to the best

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