Central Park Seneca Village Monument Will Honor African American Freed Slaves in NYC

A DOUBLE AMBROTYPE PORTRAIT OF ALBRO LYONS, SR. AND MARY JOSEPH LYONS. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.

NYC Monument Will Honor African-American Family Displaced to Make Way for Central Park

Before Central Park leveled it, Seneca Village was a thriving 20-year-old home to African American freed slaves property owners seeking sanctuary in New York City .

Many of its members owned their own property, set apart from the crowds—and discrimination—of the city’s more populated downtown area. But when local authorities began moving forward with plans to build Central Park, Seneca Village’s residents were forced to leave their homes.

A planned monument announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office earlier this month is set to honor a prominent African-American family that once lived in the bustling community. As Julia Jacobs reports for the New York Times, the monument will pay tribute to the Lyons family, a trio of abolitionists, educators and property owners made up of Albro, Mary Joseph and their daughter Maritcha.

NYC Restaurateur Camilla Marcus Partners with Vivvi for Employer Subsidized Childcare

Camilla Marcus’ Westbourne cafe in New York Soho has partnered with Vivvi, to offer flexible hours, employer-subsidized, education-based healthcare for her New York workers.

Worker-conscious restauranteur Camilla Marcus, the founder of Soho’s vegetarian cafe Westbourne, faced head-on the challenges her employees endured to find affordable and flexible hours childcare in New York. Formerly director of business development for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and the cofounder of TechTable, Marcus clearly has a “let’s get-it-done” mentality.

At first Marcus assumed research on finding affordable, flexible healthcare for her workers was primarily a “connecting the dots” job of finding realistic alternatives to the average $16,000 annual cost of having a family in New York as a working parent. Surely the mayor’s office could point Marcus in the right direction.

Frustrated and at the end of the road in her search for a worker-friendly childcare solution, Marcus was sent to Charles Bonello and Ben Newton, entrepreneurs who also saw the problem. Their checklist included a more affordable and accessible option that includes flexible hours, a robust early education curriculum, and back-up care options for those whose existing childcare is unavailable on short notice, writes Vogue US.

Vivvi, which is now open, partners with local employers to subsidize up to 100 percent of the cost of regular full-time care and backup care for working parents of infants, toddlers, and pre-school-age children. Thanks to Camilla, Vivvi's backup childcare is equipped to meet the needs of hospitality workers, with hours ranging from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and weekends.

"There are just not that many industries left where you don't need to have a certain degree," says Marcus. "You don't need to have a certain background and you can rise to a six-figure salary. We need to keep those pathways open and this [lack of accessible childcare] is a big barrier to that being possible."

For Camilla Marcus, she's leveraging her new partnership with Vivvi, now offering backup care to all of her employees at no cost. It's the beginning of a much-needed equalizing force in an industry that has long undervalued its workers.

"It isn't just a banker or a lawyer who is able to have access to this world class program," said Bonello. "It's also hospitality workers whose entire livelihood is tied up with being able to get to work and being able to get there during the times when it makes the most sense and it's most valuable. So it's empowering for us because our entire mission is honor the potential of work and families."

Read more details about this exciting project at Vogue US.

Statues For Equality by Aussie Artists Gillie + Marc Schattner Unveils First 10 Public Statues in New York

Zimbabwean scholar Tererai Trent has been immortalized in a bronze statue in New York

Life-size statues of 10 accomplished women across a wide spectrum of global life were unveiled in New York this week. Standing next to larger-than-life humanist-activist stars like Oprah, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett is Zimbabwean scholar Tererai Trent.

Trent grew up in Zimbabwe where girls were not educated. Determined to learn, Trent taught herself to read and relocated to the US in 1998 through the efforts of an American nonprofit that visited her village. This “dream” come true of getting a bachelor’s degree, a master’s, and a PhD was realized after she wrote down her aspirations, sealing them in a tin can and burying them deep in the ground.

Trent’s life in America was hardly a carefree, upwards climb, but like so many women, she is a survivor. Today Dr Tererai Trent is one of the world’s most internationally recognized voices for quality education and women’s empowerment. Distinguished as Oprah Winfrey’s “All-time favorite guest”, Trent is a prominent activist for equal rights to education. Read more about Dr. Trent’s story.

Where . . . oh where are the women?

The lack of representation of women in public spaces has long been associated with patriarchal attitudes and the general “invisibility” of women globally.

New York is grappling with its own embarrassing dearth of female statues in Manhattan and the five boroughs, with a whopping 3% of public humans honored being female. Consider that one of those memorable female “beings” is Alice in Wonderland in Central Park, and you understand the scope of the problem.

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

There’s a note of irony in two Aussie artists seeking to remedy New York’s “no women statues” problem, but in the era of Trump, we’ll take any help we can get. Sculptors Gillie and Marc Schattner launched Statues For Equality to commemorate Women's Equality Day on August 26 under the "Sculpted for Equal Rights" banner.

Note that Sydney and London are also in the ditch with their own scores of 4% and 3% of historical women statues, suggesting that New York can be a global launchpad for their effort, a hunch confirmed by the Statues For Equality website.

The New York project is just the start of Statues For Equality and the initiative is now worldwide, with projects in many different countries, including Australia the UK and the US. Gillie and Marc are keen that the sculptures are representative of all women and know that the public are the best people to ensure this happens! 

“We hope that as the project expands, it will include a broader diversity of race, class, ability, sexual orientation and gender expression,” says Gillie.

Besides Blanchett, Kidman, Trent and Winfrey, other women honored with New York statues include Cheryl Strayed, Gabby Douglas, Jane Goodall, Janet Mock, Pink, and Tracy Dyson. Read their stories.

Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument Redesigned to Include Sojourner Truth

For nearly a year, the proposed Central Park statue honoring women’s suffrage in America has been plagued in controversy. It’s difficult to believe that in 2019, planners of the monument could be so tone-deaf to the race-related arguments swirling around America’s women’s rights history.

The Women’s March 2017, organized by a group of women who refused to honor legendary women’s rights Hillary Clinton, after her defeat by Donald Trump, signaled a new day for setting the record straight — the truth and also new lies and distortions — about the history of American feminism.

The original design by sculptor Meredith Bergmann visually elevated two prominent white women — Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — over a scrolling list of 22 other women, seven of them women of color. AOC disagrees with the complaint that Anthony and Stanton were metaphorically “standing’ on the other women.” But they certainly look like boss ladies at a time when younger people are rejecting hierarchy and white superiority, along with a nonexistent recognition of the contributions of people of color — and slaves specifically — in building America.

For context, there is NO statue of any nonfictional female of any skin color in Central Park and around New York, writes the New York Times. The park currently features no historical women but statues of fictional girls like Alice from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Juliet from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’

While a new visual of the proposed statue to be erected on Central Park’s Literary Walk by 2020 is not available, it’s a miracle that the proposed design was aborted at all. Women including Gloria Steinem helped turn back the design against the nearly insurmountable rules and regulations that defined its artistic creation initially and the legitimate controversy that ensued.

“Our goal has always been to honor the diverse women in history who fought for equality and justice and who dedicated their lives to fight for Women’s Rights,” Pam Elam said in a statement. The president of the Monumental Women’s Statue Fund, the group financing the sculpture, added: “It is fitting that Anthony, Stanton, and Truth stand together in this statue as they often did in life.” via Hyperallergic.

Related: Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument by Sculptor Meredith Bergmann Unveiled AOC She

New York Is the First City To Fund Abortion Directly. Let's Make Sure It's Not the Last

New York Is the First City To Fund Abortion Directly. Let's Make Sure It's Not the Last

Last week, abortion access advocates in New York made history. When the ink dries on next year’s budget, New York will become the first city in the country to directly fund abortion by allocating $250,000 to the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), which supports anyone who is unable to pay fully for an abortion and is living in or traveling to New York state by providing financial assistance and connections to other resources. This funding will help ensure that every person is able to decide when and whether to become a parent regardless of their income, type of insurance, or citizenship status.

In the face of increasing attacks on abortion access throughout the country, New York City’s commitment to funding abortion sends a powerful message—one that activists in other cities and states can push for.

This is an essential step as we work toward ending the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for most abortions. And we know it won’t be the last: Advocates in progressive cities like ours can seize the opportunity to turn supporters into champions, to advocate for policymakers who talk the talk about abortion access to also walk the walk. Even in progressive states, people face barriers to abortion access.

Madonna Kicks Off 50th Anniversary Stonewall Inn LBGTQ Gay Rights Events

Madonna launched her role as an ambassador for the 50th anniversary celebrations commemorating riots at New York’s Greenwich Village Stonewall Inn with a New Years Eve drop-in.

Accompanied by her son David Banda on acoustic guitar, the pop star welcomed 2019 in the iconic bar that jump-started the modern LBGTQ movement. Madonna led the crowd in a sing-along of "Like a Prayer" and covered Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love."

"I stand here proudly at the place where pride began, the legendary Stonewall Inn, on the birth of a new year," she said. "We come together tonight to celebrate 50 years of revolution.”

The singer called for peace and understanding in her speech, saying, “If we truly took the time to get to know one another we would find that we all bleed the same color and we all need to love and be loved. Let’s remember who and what we are fighting for — ourselves, for each other, but truly and most importantly, what are we fighting for? Let’s take a minute to reflect on how we can bring more love and peace into 2019, let’s look at how we can bring random acts of kindness. Maybe we can find an opening to bring the light in. Are you ready to do that?"

Inside Tommy Hilfiger’s New York Penthouse

Inside Tommy Hilfiger’s New York Penthouse

Tommy Hilfiger’s New York City penthouse is as glamorous and elegant as you would expect it to be. It overlooks Central Park and 5th Avenue, which makes it among the most coveted spots in the Plaza Hotel. The celebrated apartment also has access to one of the only two domes in the building. The four-bedroom duplex covers 6,000 square feet of pure luxury. 

Upon entering the unit, you'll be greeted by a spacious salon that has a view of the city skyline via its floor-to-ceiling glass windows. There's also an alcove library with animal-print walls, custom bookcases, and a comfortable reading seat flanked by plants. The home office has paneled bookcases, a leather chair, and an animal-print carpet – the perfect setting for creating artistic work.

Street Art Pilot Comes To New York's Never-Ending Scaffolding and Protective Construction Structures

Street Art Pilot Comes To New York's Never-Ending Scaffolding and Protective Construction Structures

In a moment of utter foolery, I once asked myself if I could live in New York and walk my neighborhood just one month without dealing with the pervasive scaffolding and protective construction structures that litter the city with boring, nondescript ugliness.

There are over 300 miles of construction fences and sidewalk sheds across the city, but New York City construction codes currently prohibit anyone from posting on them, writes artNet News.

Think again. What if all those ugly construction-related walls could be repurposed as canvasses for public art, a showcase for NYC’s world class artists? This is the vision of City Canvas, the latest program from the New York City of Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Department of Buildings and the Office of the Mayor.

Glamping Sweeps America, Embracing Gaia With Soothing Natural Refuge In Trumplandia

Glamping Sweeps America, Embracing Gaia With Soothing Natural Refuge In Trumplandia

New Yorkers are increasingly desperate to get back in touch with nature, writes The New York Times. If that means 'glamping' at a $650-a-night campsite on Governor's Island, let the Gaia connection begin. 

Arriving by ferry boat only enhances the magic of Manhattan's twinkling skyline and Lady Liberty's torch nearby. In that moment liberal New Yorker's can reflect on all the the Statue of Liberty has meant in America's DNA without stressing over the whereabouts of children separated from their parents at the Mexican border.

Phones are off and a family game of Scribble is in. Roasting marshmellows in the community firepit plays homage to hunting and gathering forbearers, while other pampered New Yorkers are found eating $120 prix fix meals in the permanent Three Peaks lodge. Who is game for beanbag toss?

According to a report by Kampgrounds of America, 2.6 million more American households camped last year than in 2016. A major reason was to relieve stress. Nearly all millennials surveyed (93 percent) said they would like to try camping this year, many gravitating toward glamping.

Bette Midler & Michael Kors Open Solar-Powered Essex Street Community Garden In Brooklyn

Bette Midler & Michael Kors Open Solar-Powered Essex Street Community Garden In Brooklyn

Mega talent Bette Midler and designer Michael Kors, joined by his husbandLance LePere, reminded New Yorkers Thursday night that wonderful gifts to humanity can come in small packages. Honoring the summer solstice, the trio joined New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Executive Director Deborah Marton in a ribbon-cutting for the newly restored green space, called the Essex Street Community Garden.

Attending an old-fashioned, New York block party, the global citizens celebrated the 3,200-square-foot green space is the first New York community garden that is entirely solar-powered, featuring Wi-Fi, a projection screen, and greenery that was planted by Kors and other community members themselves. The garden, one of 52 that NYRP installed around the city, will be an intended haven for weddings, yoga classes, movie screenings, and more celebrations to come, bringing together locals into a shared space, writes CR Fashionbook. 

The activist and philanthropy players have worked with NYRP for the last 21 years, after Midler brought Kors and LePere into the organization. 

'Fearless Girl' Is Movin On Up To the NY Stock Exchange | Charging Bull Is Still Sulking

'Fearless Girl' Is Movin On Up To the NY Stock Exchange | Charging Bull Is Still Sulking

'Fearless Girl' is on the move, and as usual, Charging Bull is making himself the center of attention. Like Trump, the mere thought of being upstaged by a little woman is way more than his fragile male ego can handle, and 'Fearless Girl' is running out of patience. 

New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that 'Fearless Girl' will soon be moving to a spot facing the New York Stock Exchange. And even though theirs is a love/hate relationship the mayor would like Charging Bull to shut his whiny mouth and do what's best for the city by going with her. 

After all, Charging Bull never bothered to get a permit when his owner, the artist Arturo Di Modica, dropped the 7,000-pound bronze bull into lower Manhattan in the dead of night and without permission. 

Since 'Fearless Girl' arrived with permits and official papers -- after all, Charging Bull is an illegal -- ‘Fearless’, who played by the rules, should have the upper hand in my mind. Isn’t that what Trumplandia says about illegals?

In an act of totally Trump, over-the-top ridiculousness, both egos -- the bull’s and Modica’s -- demanded that his illegal beast be turned around, so he didn't even have even to look at 'Fearless Girl'. Meanwhile, Modica’s suing the city over his illegal bull’s alleged mistreatment for goddess knows how many New York bucks.

Related:

Cynthia Nixon Announced New York State Governor Run With Zero Experience, Not Even School Board

Cynthia Nixon Announced New York State Governor Run With Zero Experience, Not Even School Board

After the epic problems associated with Donald Trump, I don't know if an activist with no experience serving in office is qualified to be governor of New York. But Cynthia Nixon of 'Sex and the City' fame is undaunted, announcing on Monday that she's running for New York governor, declaring herself as a progressive alternative to incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo. 

On Tuesday, former Manhattan City Council speaker and one-time mayoral candidate Christine Quinn slammed Nixon as an "unqualified lesbian." Ouch!

“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” Quinn told the New York Post. “Now she wants to be an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have experience. She isn’t qualified to be the governor.” (Quinn is a lesbian and Nixon is bisexual and currently married to a woman.)

The comment was generally perceived as payback for Nixon choosing to back current New York mayor Bill de Blasio when Quinn was leading de Blasio in the polls. Quinn lost the election and in 2015, she was hired by Cuomo as a special adviser. Note that Cuomo and de Blasio have a particularly difficult relationship. 

Fearless Girl Will Get A Permanent Home In New York, Taking Charging Bull With Her

Fearless Girl Will Get A Permanent Home In New York, Taking Charging Bull With Her

Great News! Fearless Girl is staying in Manhattan permanently, probably inseparable from her nemesis statue, Charging Bull. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the duo seem even more joined at the hip. Such a decision will surely prompt wine-vinegar words from Charging Bull's, men are the masters of the universe, artist Arturo Di Modica. 

Because Fearless Girl has brought so many tourists and visitors to her small location in Wall Street, officials have traffic and safety concerns around her permanent residence. Negotiations are underway between the Mayor's Office and State Street Global Advisors, who birthed Fearless Girl in time for International Women's Day 2017, regarding her long-term future plans . 

“The message of the Fearless Girl statue has resonated with New Yorkers and visitors alike,” a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio told Adweek. “Its enthusiastic reception has been heartening, and we are discussing various approaches to ensure this statue continues to be a part of the city’s civic life.”

Millions of tourists and natives have indeed flocked to see the statue since its March 7, 2017, debut, and other cities want to clone her -- sort of pink pussyhat sorority sisters. 

Related: 

ArtNet Interviews New York Philanthropist Agnes Gund, Founder of Studio in a School

AGNES GUND AND SADIE RAIN HOPE-GUND BY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ FOR PIRELLI CALENDAR 2016.

ArtNet Interviews New York Philanthropist Agnes Gund, Founder of Studio in a School

The daughter of an Ohio banking magnate, Gund has expressed guilt that she was given so much more in birth than others. Her fervor for philanthropy saw her on the boards of some 20 charitable and cultural organization as of a few years ago.

Gund is especially proud of her project Studio in a School, the nonprofit program founded in 1977 to bring art lessons, taught by real working artists, to New York City’s public schools. Forty years later, Studio in a School has reached nearly one million children in New York alone, with 90 percent of its activities benefiting students from lower-income families.

The 'Fearless Girl' vs 'Charging Bull' Faceoff Is About Far More Than Women In US Boardrooms

The 'Fearless Girl' vs 'Charging Bull' Faceoff Is About Far More Than Women In US Boardrooms

Oh wait!! The mayor tweeted: "Men who don't like women taking up space are exactly why we need the 'Fearless Girl'. 

That blast surely got the Arturo di Modica's attention, especially with the Charging Bull artist adamant that he is not sexist and neither is his bull. Perhaps for di Modica; nada for the bull. Christina Cauterucci writes for Slate today that until 'A Fearless Girl' faced off against 'Charging Bull', the sculpture was an "encouraging representation of a booming economy. Now, charging toward a tiny human, it’s a stand-in for the gendered forces that work against women’s success in the workplace. "

I'm not one to quote a woman's age, but Cauterucci got her journalism degree in 2013. That makes her about 15 years old in the midst of America's major financial crisis in 2007/2008. It makes her ready to graduate from high school in the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement that began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district. 

No symbol of Wall Street was more directly tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement -- so much so that it was protected for well over a year by the NYPD, wrote the New York Times in September 2012.  For those who believe Occupy accomplished nothing in its core arguments, I refer you to the recent Democratic presidential party between Sanders and Clinton -- and the presidential election itself. 

'A Fearless Girl' stands for far more than making more women executives in business.  In the minds of many, 'A Fearless Girl' is a moral symbol of standing up for the little people as America becomes an increasingly story of the very rich and the rest of us. As defined by Princeton University prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University prof Benjamin I Page is no longer a democracy and is increasingly an oligarchy. 

Anne of Carversville has written about 'Charging Bull' for years, and always within the context of raging testosterone untempered by estrogen. 

'Charging Bull' Artist Arturo Di Modica Charges 'Fearless Girl' With Copyright Violation

'Charging Bull' Artist Arturo Di Modica Charges 'Fearless Girl' With Copyright Violation

Fearless Girl's Standoff With Wall Street's Charging Bull Will Continue Thru February 2018

The standoff between 'Fearless Girl' and Wall Street's Charging Bull will continue for another year. With large numbers of New Yorkers seeking a permanent home for 'Fearless Girl', New York Mayor de Blasio's office gave her a lease through February 2018.

“In her short time here, the Fearless Girl has fueled powerful conversations about women in leadership and inspired so many,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Now, she’ll be asserting herself and affirming her strength even after her temporary permit expires — a fitting path for a girl who refuses to quit.”

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Gowanus Brooklyn Batcave Set For Herzog & de Meuron Transformation To Support Creative Economy

Gowanus Brooklyn Batcave Set For Herzog & de Meuron Transformation To Support Creative Economy

The Pritzker Prize-winning Herzog & de Meuron will transform the Gowanus Batcave into a manufacturing center for the arts. Commissioned by the non-profit Powerhouse Environmental Arts Foundation, which acquired the building in 2012 for $7 million, the property will support Brooklyn's expanding creative economy, with facilities for metal and woodwork, ceramics, textiles and printing. Other spaces will support exhibitions and events at the Powerhouse Workshop. 

That need has been growing more acute, as gentrification pushes out artists, artisans and the small manufacturers who work with them in this highly-specialized boutique sector. The foundation anticipates that the project will create more than 100 jobs and open in 2020.

Pro Planned Parenthood Counter Protests Dwarf Anti-Forces | New York State Moves To Codify Roe v. Wade In State Constitution

Pro Planned Parenthood Counter Protests Dwarf Anti-Forces | New York State Moves To Codify Roe v. Wade In State Constitution

Abortion rights are front and center on Saturday as pro-life activists launch protests across America. Waiting for them were supporters of Planned Parenthood -- and it seems the pro-Planned Parenthood forces dominated. 

In St. Paul, Minnesota, a "dozen feet of empty street separated a police-estimated 6,000 pro-Planned Parenthood protesters from an opposing, defund PP group of 250-500 people. 

Gregory Locke Leads New York Subway Riders In Scrubbing Nazi Hate From Cars

I got on the subway in Manhattan tonight and found a Swastika on every advertisement and every window. The train was silent as everyone stared at each other, uncomfortable and unsure what to do.

One guy got up and said, "Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need alcohol." He found some tissues and got to work.

I've never seen so many people simultaneously reach into their bags and pockets looking for tissues and Purel. Within about two minutes, all the Nazi symbolism was gone.

Nazi symbolism. On a public train. In New York City. In 2017.

"I guess this is Trump's America," said one passenger. No sir, it's not. Not tonight and not ever. Not as long as stubborn New Yorkers have anything to say about it.