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By Tammy Scileppi

TimesLedger Newspapers

Despite an always-changing world and the addictive draw of technology and social media, something as important as the arts should never be cast aside or forgotten. But behind the scenes, it seems that keeping the arts alive and relevant has been an ongoing challenge for creators, choreographers, artistic directors and producers, despite their best efforts – especially these days, with rising rents, a shortage of studio space, and changing audiences.

But for creatives like Kevin Albert and Nicola Iervasi, creating dance for all is their raison d’etre and a true labor of love. The Woodside residents have been partners, on and off stage, for 16 years. Albert graduated from the Boston Conservatory in Theater, and Nicola moved to the U.S. from Southern Italy as a scholarship student at the Martha Graham School.

As founders and directors of Emerging Choreographer Series (ECS), they have combined their expertise in theater and dance, and remain committed to promoting the arts locally through ECS and other imaginative programs, with the help of the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center.

The Queens Council on the Arts and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, have recognized the couple’s ongoing contributions to the borough’s dance scene.

ECS embraces all styles of dance, while providing artistic, logistical, and production support for the next generation of dance makers. In celebration of the program’s fifth edition, ECS is presenting its 2018 concert in The Little Theater at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC), located at LaGuardia Community College, 31-10 Thomson Ave., Long Island City on Monday, Feb. 26 and Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Promising a variety of “dance voices,” Albert said concert-goers will see the culmination of eight weeks of hard work.

“We will present a wide range of dance styles, including contemporary, experimental, modern, hip hop, tap and musical theater dance. Also, the level of dancing is very professional,” he said.

After choosing the choreographers, the directors organize auditions for dancers and help them make the best choice for their piece. This year, nine emerging choreographers from across the U.S. as well as Costa Rica and Italy are being presented.

ECS developed organically in 2013, after the couple had been teaching their unique training method, The Wave Within, for several years. “More and more, we would witness participants use material they had created in class to start a new piece or use the tools they learned to better share their ideas with dancers,” said Albert.

Feeling they were ready for this new adventure, Albert and Iervasi applied for funds from Queens Council on the Arts.

“The hardest part was finding venues to host such an intensive program. When we met with Steven Hitt at LPAC, we knew immediately we had found a home,” Iervasi recalled.

Starting this year, each participant is mentored by an established choreographer who provides feedback and advice for their artistic and professional growth.

“The support we are getting from the industry is almost overwhelming. The expertise of this year’s team of panelists, mentors and consultants has exceeded our wildest dreams,” Albert said. “This is the proof that we are doing something extremely important and needed in New York City and in Queens.”

According to Albert, choreographers are receiving less financial and practical support while also seeing greater demand for productivity and organization. The partners say their goal has been to create responsible, business-ready choreographers with hands-on experience in best practices. The program is completely free, and each choreographer and their dancers receive stipends.

ECS also connected with Spaceworks NYC, a non-profit in Long Island City, and or the last few years, has received the CASA grant from the city with support from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside).

Albert pointed to other programs ECS is involved in, like an after-school program for K-12, called The Young Wave based off of The Wave Within method.

This program partners with creative writing teachers at PS 11 and PS 152. Students write about a subject and their writing is used to put together a script. Then a director is brought in along with a choreographer to work with the kids to develop staging and choreography, according to Albert.

“We also bring in Queens-based composer, James Rubio, to create a song for the children to sing, based also off of their creative writing,” said Albert. “The creative team helps them develop the show and it is performed for friends and family.

At the end of the program, the students are treated to a Broadway show.

“We feel it is important, after all the hard work they put in to create their show, to see a professional production — offered free of charge to the kids — which always helps to spark magic and wonder in their eyes.”

Albert blames the dwindling of dance audiences on addictive technology and the battle for commodified attention, but also rising costs.

“I have a feeling what is playing into the decline is part of the commercialization of our consciousness,” Albert said. “We are always connected to a computer or phone, and we see as much or as little of dance as we wish by clicking here or there. The way the city is set up now, it is too expensive for young or established artists to spend time exploring something that is unknown.”

One of the main goals of ECS, Albert said, is to make dance more accessable.

“This is part of why we created the ECS,” he said. “We could see a future where young artists were no longer able to afford the experimentation and the art of choreography would be left to commercial dance or to those who have the funding. We felt a need to support the up and coming to combat this problem, to give them a chance to learn about the business and maximize their creative potential.”

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

Activists and elected officials are not letting Christ the King High School off the hook after a black student was told he could not use the name “Malcolm X” on a school sweater.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James and state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn) rallied at the Middle Village Catholic school Wednesday to pressure the administrative staff to allow 17-year-old Malcolm Xavier Combs to use the name of the controversial civil rights leader after they have repeatedly denied the request.

“Leaders are oftentimes born out of a crisis and I want to thank this young man for being a leader,” James said. “I’m prepared to have a meeting with the administrations of this school to talk about an inclusive curriculum.”

Combs also spoke at the rally, again questioning why he was not allowed to use the “Malcolm X” name on his sweater.

“I need to know if you teach Malcolm X, why it is not OK for me to have it on my sweater?” Combs said. “I need to know why does everyone else have their names and initials and nicknames on their sweaters, but I can’t have my real name? Today is the day Malcolm X was assassinated in physical [form], but I will be here to make sure he is not assassinated in name.”

Stringer called for change and applauded Combs for speaking up.

“We are not going to keep these high school kids down any more,” Stringer said. “It’s happening all over America. We’re not going to allow our kids to get shot up anymore, we’re not going to let our kids get discriminated against any more, and quite frankly, if we adults haven’t figured it out by now, then the next generation is going to educate us.”

Combs ordered the sweater through the school, but was later called out of AP English class to the office of Assistant Principal Veronica Arbitello, where he was told he should not be associated with the name of Malcolm X, who has been labeled a terrorist by his detractors.

Combs was a guest at Rev. Al Sharpton’s weekly rally in Harlem on Feb. 10, where he and his family spoke about the incident.

“[She] told me she could not put my name on the sweater,” Combs said. “She said I did not want to be associated with that name. She asked me if that was my real name and I said yes… Her husband walked into the office and she said, ‘This is the new Malcolm X,’ and she laughed at me… I was silent the whole time because I was in shock that in this year that she would say something like that.”

The Sharpton rally was attended by Combs’ mother and father, who said the school gave them the runaround when they tried to speak with the staff directly.

Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, also delivered remarks on the incident at the podium of Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters.

The notion of Malcolm X as a terrorist stemmed from a fiery speech given days before his Feb. 21, 1965 assassination in Washington Heights, in which he condoned black retribution against hate groups and bigots such as the Ku Klux Klan, according to news reports at the time. Stringer’s rally took place on the 53rd anniversary of the assassination.

Christ the King’s chairman of the board, Serphin Maltese, who once served as state senator in the district now represented by Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), said in a statement a week prior to Stringer’s rally that the order form for sweaters only allowed for first and last names and sometimes nicknames. He said this had been misconstrued by the family and in media reports.

“The recent articles about one of our students and Malcolm X has, unfortunately, been taken out of context and has been misconstrued,” Maltese said. “When this student’s family raised the issue about the name he wished on the sweatshirt, the school readily agreed to meet and discuss the matter. Unfortunately, before that meeting took place, this became a media issue.”

Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Naeisha Rose

TimesLedger Newspapers

Community education council leaders, School District 29’s budget director and its deputy superintendent were at Lorraine Hansberry Elementary School (PS 118) last week at 190-20 109th Road in St. Albans to discuss the $32.5 billion 2018-2019 fiscal budget for New York City’s 1.1 million students, as well as pensions for teachers.

Before the meeting started, fourth and fifth-grade students at PS 118 performed an African dance for Black History Month, followed by a step dance, then mimed to gospel music while dressed in black and adorned in colorful African wraps.

According to Principal Lezly Buchanan, the school does not have a formal arts program and fifth-grade teacher Michelle Lopez volunteers her time to help the students with choreography for dance routines.

Buchanan hoped with a representative of the superintendent’s office in attendance that the performance highlighted PS 118 and perhaps helped the school, which was named after a playwright, receive funding towards dance, music, theatre and writing programs.

The panel of CEC leaders and the deputy superintendent then rolled out their agenda, which was to remind parents about the city’s school survey meant to help institutions learn how they could improve, and another survey for questions to give to Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña for a town hall meeting at PS 32 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 26 at 171-11 35th Ave. in Flushing.

Deputy Superintendent Shawn Rux also reminded parents who had fifth graders to consider looking at the honors program at Jean Nuzzi Middle School — located in Queens Village — which will be starting in September, and to remember that if their child was born in 2014, they could apply for preschool for their tots.

Afterwards, the district’s budget director broke down how the massive budget would be allocated.

Districts 1 to 32, 75, 79 and 88 will receive approximately $14 billion to support educational services, according to the District 29 representative.

$10.4 billion was allocated for non-controllable costs. Approximately $6.9 billion of that went towards retirement pensions and paid benefits for education personnel. The remaining $3.7 billion will go towards centrally funded services on behalf of schools and students.

Those services included transportation, food, facilities, custodial costs and electrical bills.

An estimated $3.7 billion will be allocated towards special education, private schools, charter schools, and non-public schools, while another $3.7 billion will go towards support systems for schools.

An additional $700 million will go to superintendent officers, field support centers, family welcome centers and committees on special education.

Through the Fair Student Funding initiative, all public schools will receive $225,000 in foundational funding, approximately $4,100 per student weight. Schools in need of academic intervention that have special education programs, English Language Learners courses and that have extra sessions (Nursing, Health, Theater, Economics, Arts, etc.) will receive even more funds per student in those programs.

Kindergarten to fifth-grade students have a 1.00 weight ($4,100), middle school kids have a 1.08 weight ($4,428) and high-schoolers have a 1.03 weight ($4,223), according to the budget.

Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4573.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

Astoria Houses received new rooftop generators for surge protection from storms on Feb. 14 purchased with FEMA funds awarded to NYCHA following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which affected up 60,000 residents living in homes managed by the city agency.

The December 2015 FEMA grant of $3 billion has so far funded $1.85 billion in contracts to make NYCHA buildings and their inhabitants less likely to experience the hardships of future storms to come through structural reinforcement, storm surge protection and infrastructure upgrades.

“Our Sandy recovery work shows that NYCHA can be a leader in rebuilding stronger, more resilient cities,” NYCHA Chair Shola Olatoye said. “This unprecedented public investment will provide the almost 60,000 NYCHA residents who were affected by Superstorm Sandy with safe, stable homes in the face of future storms and the undeniable consequences of climate change.”

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) took credit for securing $75 million in federal funds for the NYCHA recovery effort.

“Additional work needs to be done, but these resiliency improvements, along with the rooftop generators, are a step in the right direction and will go a long way to protect our residents during future storms and hurricanes,” state Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood) said.

But state and other elected officials have been critical of the extended wait time on NYCHA housing improvements and repairs.

Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his administration against claims from the state that the city was not acting fast enough to bring reliable heat and hot water to NYCHA residents over the course of the winter.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo had proposed issuing a state of emergency for NYCHA buildings in the face of a harsh winter, but de Blasio countered by telling the “Brian Lehrer Show” the state had never followed through with delivering promised recovery funds.

“First of all the state has not provided us with the funding from several budgets ago, let alone the $200 million that was allocated in the last state budget back last April, 2017des old, we would welcome that conversation, we would try to work together. But if the state’s trying to score political points, and deal in simplistic ideas that are not really going to help the people of the public housing buildings in our city who are 400,000 New Yorkers, you know, then let’s be honest about what’s really going on,” de Blasio said. “If the state really wants to sit down with us and say how can we play a constructive role in addressing some of the challenges in NYCHA that are decades old, we would welcome that conversation, we would try to work together.”

De Blasio said his administration has recently committed $3.7 billion to NYCHA facility improvements and for day-to-day operations.

But city officials led by Councilman Robert Cornegy (D-Brooklyn), the Housing and Buildings Committee chairman, have taken the governor’s side on the issue, calling on the state to declare a state of emergency in terms of lead paint and other conditions at NYCHA facilities.

“The appalling state of disrepair in NYCHA buildings both in my district and across the city is a serious health and safety hazard for residents. Too many parents and children have been exposed to either moldy conditions or dangerous lead paint, while families have suffered in the cold this winter without heat and hot water,” Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) said.

Councilwoman Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) said NYCHA residents are paying rent to the city and in return are forced to live in subpar conditions.

“There are thousands of New Yorkers living in substandard NYCHA housing,” Adams said. “These residents are paying rent like every other tenant and they deserve to have heat and hot water. NYCHA buildings are in crisis and a more profound investment is needed. An immediate declaration of emergency is necessary to make these urgent repairs.”

Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Henry Euler

TimesLedger Newspapers

There are no words to express the horror and shock over the killings and injuries sustained by those at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Valentine’s Day. Wonderful people, most of them children, were victims of this act of terror. The lives of the families of the victims and the community at large are forever changed by this terrible event.

This is not the first time that such carnage has taken place. There were the church killings in Texas and South Carolina, the murders that took place at the theater in Aurora, Colo., the Las Vegas and Orlando massacres, and the many school killings at places like Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The list of tragedies goes on and on.

There seems to be no end in sight. Many school districts are now conducting student drills on what to do and where to go should a shooter invade school grounds. Students and parents live in fear. This is America?

Most of these shootings follow a familiar pattern. A deranged person uses firearms, oftentimes assault-style semi-automatic weapons, which can kill and injure a large number of people in a short period of time. This type of weapon is for use by the military, not for everyday citizens and certainly not by people who have severe mental problems. These sick individuals often carry enormous supplies of ammunition at the time of their attacks as well.

After a tragedy, there follows a loud public outcry for steps to be taken to stop these heinous acts. Unfortunately, the powerful gun lobby in our country, which contributes large amounts of money to certain candidates for elected office, manages to derail any proposed common-sense gun safety measures.

Many politicians fear for their jobs because of the power and money represented by the gun lobby. In the 2016 election cycle, the National Rifle Association contributed $54 million to candidates for public office that supported their views, including over $30 million to President Trump. Do you think that these particular officials are going to buck the NRA in any meaningful way?

I admire and support the students who are standing up and are calling for strong measures to be taken in the wake of the tragedy that they have experienced. This includes advocating for sensible gun control measures, like enhanced background checks and the banning of bump stocks.

Yes, it is important as well to ensure that people who are severely mentally ill to the point where they want to harm and kill others get treatment for their disease. However, additional measures must be taken to ensure that these people have no access to any type of firearms. We must also adequately fund help for these troubled people and intervene as soon as we see signs of inappropriate and/or psychotic behavior. Don’t wait until it is too late!

In the 2018 election cycle, the issue of how to prevent future episodes of gun violence will be a crucial issue for Americans to consider. The media must continue to keep this issue front and center and not allow it to fade until another tragedy occurs.

Our elected officials, as well as new candidates for office, must be held accountable. It is time to vote against those politicians who are dragging their feet and not supporting common-sense solutions to this most serious national problem.

Henry Euler

Bayside

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Bill Parry

TimesLedger Newspapers

The city’s health department confirmed that an 8-year-old LeFrak City girl’s death last week was flu related, but it was unclear if Amely Baez had received a flu shot.

Baez is the fourth child believed to have died from the flu outbreak that has swept the city in recent weeks, with more than 13,000 laboratory-confirmed cases. Queens has been the hardest hit of the five boroughs with more than 4,000 cases to date, according to the state health department.

State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) went to the sprawling residential complex in Corona Tuesday and offered free flu shots in cooperation with Elmhurst Hospital Center and LeFrak City Maintenance Services, warning that the outbreak still poses a danger.

“Unfortunately, this flu season is not over. The tragic deaths of Amely and three other children reminds us of how dangerous the flu outbreak is,” Peralta said. “I urge New Yorkers to protect themselves, and their children, and get vaccinated if they haven’t done so already. We need to ensure we do everything possible to combat the spread of this deadly virus as the number of hospitalizations is increasing. The influenza vaccine can be the difference between life and death. Nationwide, 63 children and teenagers died from the flu.”

Israel Rocha, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, agreed with Peralta.

“The best line of defense continues to be the flu shot, which helps to prevent the flu or, just as important, to minimize the flu’s symptoms for those who still catch it. It can save lives.”

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Mark Hallum

TimesLedger Newspapers

Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) reintroduced a bill to City Hall which will mandate an animal shelter be built in Queens as part of the advocacy work he began in 2016 to bring relief to overburdened receiving centers and reduce euthanasia.

Vallone received the green light to build a shelter in the Bronx and Queens in May 2016 along with $10 million from the city’s FY 2017 executive budget, but with the Bronx center already in the works, he claimed his new bill ensures an adoption facility is established in his home borough.

“Receiving centers are not enough! They do not provide shelter or medical care for homeless animals, nor do they provide a place to recover lost pets before they’re euthanized,” Vallone said. “Most importantly, since animals brought to these receiving centers in Queens must be transported to a full service shelter in the other boroughs, their continued absence places insurmountable pressure on the existing facilities, which already operate at maximum capacity. In the end, homeless animals are the ones that face the consequences of this pressure, as many otherwise healthy pets are lost to euthanasia.”

Under the leadership of Vallone’s father, former Council Speaker Peter Vallone, a 2000 law required the city to add an animal shelter in every borough in the city. This, however, was repealed by a 2011 bill known as Local Law 59, Vallone said.

“Throughout the last four years, [City Council] Speaker [Corey] Johnson and I have fought to make full service animal shelters a reality for Queens and the Bronx. I applaud the administration for moving forward with the new Bronx shelter as it reflects their commitment to this important issue,” Vallone said. “If it were its own city, Queens alone would rank as the nation’s fourth largest and it is unacceptable that no animal shelter currently exists.”

Projections released at a May 2016 news conference by Vallone and Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens), as well as NYCLASS Executive Director Allie Taylor, showed that New York City pet adoptions could more than double from installing new animal shelters. In 2016, adoptions from city shelters numbered at 7,158. The number is estimated to reach 16,000 by 2018.

“It really is a scandal that we don’t have a full service shelter in Queens,” Grodenchik said in 2016. “To get to Brooklyn, which is the nearest shelter, it begs the question of why this has taken so long. This has been a quest for so many civic leaders and animal lovers for so long. We will hold this administration’s feet to the fire. We do want to thank Mayor de Blasio for taking this step.”

Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.

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Source: Times Ledger

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By Gina Martinez

TimesLedger Newspapers

City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) is praising a landmark decision that determined that judges should consider a defendant’s ability to pay before setting bail.

Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice Maria Rosa ruled that setting cash bail for a defendant without considering his or her ability to pay violates the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.

The decision came after a New York Civil Liberty Union lawsuit on behalf of Christopher Kunkeli, who spent three months in jail in Poughkeepsie on a petit larceny charge after a judge set his bail for $5,000. According to the NYCLU, Kunkeli only earned $10,000 a year, making his bail half of his yearly earnings. Kunkeli pleaded guilty to the petit larceny charges and was released on time served last month.

Rosa ruled that the bail was set at an unreasonable amount, saying freedom should not depend on an individual’s economic status.

“Protection against discrimination is never more important than when a person’s freedom is at stake,” Rosa wrote. “Since one accused of a crime in the United States is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the setting of bail is supposed to be limited to those defendants who are either a danger to a specific individual or to the public or who pose a flight risk.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that imprisoning someone solely because of their poverty violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.

Despite this, tens of thousands of New Yorkers like Kunkeli who cannot afford bail are kept in jail simply because they cannot afford to pay. The NYCLU said it is seeking a ruling that could set standards for state courts and lead to large reductions in the numbers of New Yorkers held before trial.

New York’s bail statute allows judges to consider alternatives to restrictive forms of bail, according to the NYCLU. Alternatives include unsecured and partially-secured bond and pretrial release services, which are available in most counties and have been successful at ensuring participants appear in court.

The NYCLU said the judge in Kunkeli’s case set his $5,000 bail and $10,000 bond without considering his ability to pay, and ordered him jailed in Dutchess County when he could not come up with the money.

In Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s annual State of the State Address last month, he proposed ending the use of cash bail in low-level cases. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and Westchester County DA Anthony Scarpino Jr. have all announced that their prosecutors will no longer be requesting monetary bail in most low-level or misdemeanor cases. Queens DA Richard Brown has stated that the numbers in the borough show that the current policy on bail in misdemeanor cases when a defendant has a history of not showing up to court works.

Lancman, who also serves as the chairman of the Committee on the Justice System, has been at the forefront of the bail reform movement in New York City. In 2015 he convened a Courts & Legal Services Committee hearing to examine the current bail system and he is also the prime sponsor of legislation to provide judges with defendants’ financial information at arraignment.

He said this ruling is a step in the right direction

“This landmark ruling sets an important standard for our judges that setting bail without first considering a defendant’s ability to pay is a violation of both the United States and New York Constitutions,” he said. “As chair of the Committee on the Justice System, I will continue to support programs that provide judges with defendant’s financial information prior to setting bail, like the Vera Institute’s Bail Project.”

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.

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Source: Times Ledger