On Sept. 15 South of Prospect residents gathered for the very first workshop of a long-term improvement plan for the corridors of Coney Island Avenue & McDonald Avenue led by the Department of City Planning and three New York City Council officials. The workshop focused on community housing, economic development and local infrastructure of the large south of Prospect Park area, including the neighbourhoods of Kensington, Midwood, Ditmas Park and Borough Park.

Rita Joseph, a member of the New York City Council for the 40th district was one of the officials who opened the workshop, held at P.S. 889 on Hinckley Place. “I grew up just around the street,” Joseph said, “This is a long overdue meeting to start treating Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue as a community asset rather than just a place.”

She encouraged South of Prospect residents to ask questions and participate in the activities, “Make your voices heard,” said Joseph.

Almost a 100 people attended the workshop. Residents grouped at tables around the room participated in a visioning activity to help identify the key issues. They supported the idea of mixed-use buildings with small businesses on the first floor and apartments above them. Many of the attendees also called for more affordable housing, additional community spaces and better support for locally owned businesses, as one of the major priorities was keeping the economy local. According to the residents, mixed-used buildings would expand small businesses and create additional housing along both corridors.

The participants also discussed the need for better parking, more buses and bicycle lanes. Some of the attendees raised concerns about poor street lighting and the narrow subway stations, including limited entrances to the Beverley Road and Prospect Park train stations on Q train line, which causes unsafe conditions in the neighborhood.

These concerns also reflect the results of a survey provided by the Department of City Planning. According to 1,865 survey participants, 84% of which live in south of Prospect area, the main three priorities for the plan are street conditions, affordable housing and open spaces.

The September 15 th workshop was just the first step forward to building a better environment. There will be a virtual meeting held on Wednesday, September 23 rd for those who couldn’t participate in the opening event. As the draft of neighborhood plan comes together, community members will be able to view and share their thoughts about the process.

“Today is the beginning stage. We’re here to work hand in hand with you to make our neighborhood safer and more affordable,” said Council member Farah louis, “Good thing happen when neighbors get together!”

New York City Council members pressed Office of Technology and Innovation services (OTI) at a City Hall hearing on September 9 over a nearly seven-hour 911 disruption on August 18 that left 113 unique callers without confirmed emergency assistance, questioning how the failure went undetected for hours and why the public was not immediately notified.

The August 18 disruption followed a software upgrade performed by Motorola Solutions, the vendor that provides the city’s 911 call services infrastructure. City officials testified that the upgrade triggered the problem but said an investigation into the outage and responsibility for it remained underway.

“What happened last month at the Bronx 911 call center, a seven hour outage with very little to no notice to the public, is unacceptable,” said Council Member Oswald Feliz, chair of the Committee on Public Safety.

New York City’s 911 system receives more than 9 million calls annually and operates through two emergency communications centers: Public Safety Answering Center, PSAC-1 in Brooklyn, and PSAC-2 in the Bronx. Each is equipped to independently handle the city’s typical daily volume of approximately 25,000 calls.

According to testimony, Motorola began upgrading firewalls in PSAC-2’s routing environment at 9:45 pm Aug. 17. The work was completed at 4:13 am Aug. 18 and was initially believed to have been successful. Investigators later determined that problems with calls had begun at approximately 3:13 am.

The first indication of trouble came shortly before 6 am, when a call taker reported difficulty hearing some callers. Officials initially believed the problem was limited to two call taking positions.

As reports increased, it became clear that Motorola and Verizon were having difficulty interfacing. Officials eventually discovered that some people calling 911 could not hear emergency operators answering them.

By approximately 9:50 am, officials determined that calls routed through PSAC-2 were affected while PSAC-1’s routing system remained functional. Motorola redirected traffic through Brooklyn, and by 10:19 am, officials said service was operating normally.

The administration acknowledged that the problem should have been detected sooner.

“It wasn’t caught, and obviously it should have been,” Lisa Gelobter, the city’s Chief Technology Officer, testified.

Preliminary figures showed that 5,489 calls were made to emergency services between 3:13 am and 10:19 am, including 911 and alarm company calls. Approximately 3,800, or 70%, were handled without problems, while 1,696 encountered issues.

Of the affected calls, 742 were 911 calls originating from 319 unique phone numbers. Officials said 206 of those callers eventually connected with an operator, leaving 113 unique numbers that were not serviced.

The testimony reviewed for this story did not establish whether anyone was injured or died because of the disruption or what emergencies were associated with the 113 callers.

Council members also focused on why New Yorkers were not immediately notified about the problem or advised about alternative ways to seek emergency assistance.

“Failing to properly inform the public about something as important as the 911 system being out, that is not a technical glitch,” Feliz said. “That is a human choice, an unacceptable one.”

Council Member Joann Ariola, chair of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management said, “It is paramount that we, as a city, provide life-saving responses to fire and medical emergencies,” stating the outage threatened the city’s ability to provide timely emergency assistance.

Officials said Motorola’s upgrade triggered the disruption but stopped short of assigning final responsibility. A response from Motorola was not included in the portion of hearing testimony reviewed for this story.

The outage demonstrated the stakes of failures involving a system New Yorkers depend on during their most vulnerable moments.

Officials at OTI said they have introduced additional safeguards while conducting a root cause analysis. Normal redundant operations through both emergency centers were restored the following morning, and the city has increased monitoring of 911 recordings and potentially problematic calls.

OTI said the city has also frozen new technology deployments affecting the system. Critical updates must undergo additional executive review while the investigation continues.

“911 is not an ordinary computer system,” Council member Ariola said. “It is the number New Yorkers call on the worst day of their lives.”

Brooklyn’s Community Educational Council for District 20 opened the school year by debatingAI use and screen time, youth vaping, and enrollment issues for middle schools at its monthly
meeting on September 9.

The meeting was held at P.S. 310 – The School of Future Leaders in Sunset Park. The event was open to the public and via Zoom at 6 p.m. The meeting was run by District 20 president John Riccottone.

“I think we need to return to basics, you know, that we know works, which is live in person instruction,” Senator Andrew Gournades, Chairman of the Committee on Budget And Revenue said in regards to AI being used in the classroom.

He then praised school chancellor, Kamar Samuels and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s one year delay on students facing generative AI. “There’s no reason for young kids to have to be taught solely off of screens and solely off of apps.”

Superintendent of District 20 Dr. David Pretto added to this issue, displaying the NYC public school guidance on Artificial Intelligence and screen time. AI is to be banned from Kindergarten to 8th grade with varied screentime options. The high school curriculum has restricted use to specific software such as AI literacy, career readiness, and limited AI pilots.

“What we are really looking to make sure is being reduced and eliminated is passive, unstructured time on a computer in the classroom,” Pretto said

As far as teacher-facing AI policies, teachers are allowed to use AI for instructional planning and operational tasks. These include brainstorming, lesson planning, drafting emails, streamlining operations, professional learning, and translation.

“What is not allowed Teacher-facing AI cannot be used for grading, behavior monitoring, placement, promotion, graduation, or other decisions about students,” Pretto said.

All special education documents will be developed by qualified professionals and counseling, crisis intervention, and therapeutic support are provided only by qualified staff, all of which are exceptions to this policy in regards to teaching use.

E-cigarette use and distribution, punishment is given based on severity. Council member Alina Lewis discussed Districts 20 resolution to combat tobacco and E-cigarette use and distribution amongst students.

The initial possession of such products calls for education and intervention. A mandatory intervention conference must be convened with the student, parents/guardians, and the school guidance counselor. The student and parent must jointly complete a designated substance hazard education and cessation support program. A second offense calls for behavioral support and counseling. Repeated offenses shall be referred to the Principal and District Superintendent for administrative review.

Lewis also mentioned the District 20 solution to its declining enrollment, inviting the audience to read the online resolution. According to the District 20 council resolution, middle schools in this district have seen a 6.8% decline in admissions over the past five years and elementary school enrollment has declined 11.4%. The New York City Department of Education conducted an exit survey of parents who have left the system. The number one reason for leaving was “more rigorous education than possible in NYC.”

This is a citywide issue, with NYC public school enrollment falling nearly 12% between 2024–25. According to the New York Times, NYC Public schools could lose over 100,000 students over the next decade due to birthrate trends, migration patterns, housing production, home schooling and Charter schools enrollment increasing.

Middle schools have begun using academic screening, which examines students’ standardized test scores and report cards as opposed to being selected by a lottery or neighborhood based zoning. The proposals suggest that seats should be screened without affecting special education programs including NEST and IREAD.

As the 2026-2027 school year gets underway, these policies, both academic and safety, are set to bring out the best in student performance and growth.

Every Tuesday at 6 pm for the last year, a vigil organized by Indivisible Brooklyn, a civic engagement group, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has met outside Metropolitan Detention Center to protest treatment of people detained inside.

A group of around 30 people gathered on the corner of Third Avenue and 29th Street in Brooklyn for the most recent of these vigils. Some held handmade signs aloft as organizers took turns speaking through a small PA system.

A strange, hollow tapping sound was all that could be heard in the spaces between remarks. Those present could see dozens of vague human forms behind narrow, scrummy plexiglass windows in the holding cells above as detainees registered their existence by tapping on the glass. In a wordless exchange, the protesters below raised their hands in greeting.

MDC is known for housing Nicholas Maduro, the deposed president of Venezuela; Diddy, the disgraced music mogul; and Luigi Mangioni, who has pleaded guilty to gunning down a United Healthcare CEO. Since June of 2025, MDC has added to that population people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on immigration charges.

Although they have been arrested on federal felony charges, these new detainees often lack a criminal background.

According to the website of representative Dan Goldman, Congressman for the 10th district in Brooklyn, who has visited the site several times to inspect conditions, many of these detainees do not have criminal records.

Protestors hope their sustained presence outside the center will help to draw attention to the detainees’ situation.

“A lot of the time, people don’t see what’s happening,” said Michael Flynn, 72, who has been attending the Tuesday vigil for over a year, “unless you actually see someone picked up.” Flynn says he wants to build people’s awareness. “It’s a horrible facility. It’s important that these places gain notoriety.”

According to the official Federal Bureau of Prisons website, MDC holds 1,222 detainees on immigration related charges. Organizers of the vigils believe that as many as 1,200 could be people arrested by ICE arrests. MDC has yet to release exact numbers.

The figures reflect an increase in ICE arrests over the past month, as the Federal operation known as Operation Rotten Apple rocked communities between July 27 and Aug 29. In a statement last week, Homeland Security Officials announced that 2,197 people were arrested across the state last month. According to North Country Public Radio, which serves the northernmost area of the state, these numbers are the highest since the Trump administration began its crackdown, and represent a 40% increasE since the previous month, according to findings by The Deportation Data Project.

The Department of Justice investigated MDC following the 2020 death of inmate Jamel Floyd. Advocates continue to call into question conditions inside the detention center.

Attempts to provide necessities to detainees remain ongoing. Anna Sugrue, 28, is a co-founder of The Remedy Project, a detainee advocacy group. She was onsite to encourage the donation of clothing for people inside. Among complaints received by the group are the conditions of the beds provided to detainees. “Imagine laundry lint, or the insulation in a wall,” said Sugrue.

According to Sugrue, the group has heard from loved ones of detainees that access to clean drinking water was limited over the summer, with some resorting to boiling whatever water was available in order to drink it.

Although Rep. Goldman has been able to visit the site several times, his website says that was only after repeatedly being “illegally denied” entrance to the center. This was in spite of the Bureau of Prisons ‘(BOP) previous promises to accommodate a congressional oversight visits.

“It’s like a black box,” said Sugrue. “It’s not like the guards go around saying, today I did this or that bad thing,” She added that the Remedy Project helps detainees to formally lodge complaints and grievances in order to create a paper trail of accountability.

“I feel kind of personally responsible,” says Rev. Juan Carlos, 57, of Good Shepherd, co-founder of The New Sanctuary Coalition, of his involvement, “because I don’t live too far from here.”

  Every year during Labor Day, people from all over flood Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the   West Indian Day parade. On Sept. 6 in preparation for the event, Prospect Park Alliance and Smorgasburg hosted “Islands in the Park: A Caribbean Jam”. The event featured different activities and food vendors to celebrate the Caribbean community.

  Smorgasburg is a food festival that takes place in Brooklyn, with two locations; Williamsburg and Prospect Park. Multiple vendors from various cultural backgrounds serve every weekend in the summer until October. 

  For the event Federation Sound, a popular Caribbean DJ collective, had their member, DJ Danglez, on the turntables playing a mixture of new and old Caribbean hits. 

  Greg Will, also known as DJ Danglez spoke about what these events mean to him as a fellow Caribbean.

  “So I grew up in a house full of DJ’s. My stepfather and his family were DJs before I was born, so I kind of grew up with it,” said DJ Danglez.

   This is Danglez second time deejaying the Smorgasburg event. He expressed how his sets go off of the vibes and how he uses music to cater to multiple demographics.

   “I think you could plug me in any room and I can play a set for whatever the room looks like,” stated Danglez. 

  Many individuals dressed casually wearing flags representing their countries for a pop of color. 

     Lawn chairs and blankets filled the area with different families who relished in the sounds of the Caribbean. New York City (NYC) has a large Caribbean community, concentrated in Brooklyn. An estimated 1 million people gathered at Eastern Parkway for the West Indian parade, from all different backgrounds on the day following Smorgasburg.

  Right outside the tri-state area, a group of friends from Connecticut came out to the Smorgasburg event to immerse themselves in Caribbean culture. 

  Keyla Casildo, who is stationed in Connecticut but originally from the city, attended the event to get a taste of home. She expressed how the cultural scene is different in Connecticut compared to the city.

 “We came for the vibes, great food because we are stationed in Connecticut and the festivals do not hit and we are from the city so we miss it real bad,” stated Casildo.  

   Angela Herrera, another resident from Connecticut talked about enjoying her favorite cuisine and finally being able to enjoy it at this event.  

 “I love oxtail, I had oxtail and cocoa bread from the vendor E Cocoa Bread. It was really good, it was a little spicy but I told them to go light on the spices.” stated Herrera. 

   Oxtail, Jerk Chicken and a variety of other Caribbean dishes were served during the event by multiple vendors. Jerk Chicken is a traditional Caribbean cuisine which features chicken doused in spices and peppers. Oxtail, aptly named, is the tail of an ox that is served with another Caribbean staple, rice and peas and gravy. 

A bill to honor African-American burial sites has finally moved forward after nine months in limbo, following a New York City Council committee meeting.

On September 9th, 2026, The New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations unanimously voted to activate a new bill to amend the NYC
administrative code on how to properly identify historical African-American burial sites. “New York cannot tell its complete story while the resting places of people remain unseen,” said
Councilmember Kamillah Hanks. Hanks, a Staten Island resident who focuses on youth-driven community outreach, is the primary sponsor of the bill. “Their lives deserve dignity, their resting places deserve protection, and their descendants deserve to know why their history matters.”

The Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) will now be required to provide a report to the public about these burial sites. This report would need to include a list of all known burial sites historically associated with formerly enslaved persons or historically African- American communities citywide, along with certain information about each site. This bill was initially introduced by Hanks on January 29th, 2026.

Hanks’ proposed bill also aims to identify additional historical African-American burial sites. “[This bill] gives the city a responsibility to locate, document, protect, and recognize the sites,” said Hanks. Each site on the proposed list would also include a description of any historical significance of each burial site, a description of the physical condition of each burial site, and who has jurisdiction or ownership over burial sites located on certain property types, such as a burial site on private property. The report would also include a plan to locate any currently unmarked historical African-American burial sites citywide. “This is quite a relevant piece of legislation,” said Dr. Nantasha Williams, Chairperson of the Committee of Cultural Affairs. “There is an active situation happening in Queens, where one of these burial sites was just paved over.” In Elmhurst, Queens, a private owner knowingly paved over their property to use as a parking lot after the remains were discovered. The initial plan by the owner was to develop condos on the property, but when the remains were discovered, the owner instead bulldozed the property, which law enforcement later deemed illegal and ordered the oner to shut down the lot by November 30th, 2026.

The bill would also include recommendations for the preservation or commemoration of the burial sites as well as recommendations for sources of potential resources or support to preserve the sites, including from state or federal historic preservation programs. This has been done in the past, with the African Burial Ground National Monument located near City Hall in Manhattan. In 1991, while excavating for a federal office building, construction workers found “human burials,” and many African descendants and community members banded together to ensure the site was properly honored. The remains were carefully studied and reinterred near the property, and a memorial now exists at the original location.

“This bill is not the end,” said Hanks. “We will continue this work until every part of our history is seen, honored, and never forgotten.”

Members of Zorhan Mamdani’s administration spent almost four hours Wednesday responding to a cordial and primarily procedural line of questioning from the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings in regard to the Mayor’s new housing plan.

Committee Chair Piereina Sanchez, Councilmember Sandy Nurse and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams went as far as to compliment the proposal.

“I think this is one of the better housing plans I’ve seen across administrations so congratulations there,” Williams said.

Sanchez did voice concerns as well, questioning whether the city government had the staff to roll out and enforce some of the more labor-intensive aspects of the plan. The members of the administration reassured the committee that they are properly staffed and had made hiring efforts in the places where there may have been a deficit. 

Dina Levy, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), led the administration’s team through the questioning. She outlined a four-pronged approach focusing on protecting tenants, increasing the number of available homes, easing the path for first-time home buyers, and improving public access to programs such as the housing lottery and permitting procedures.  

“First, our administration’s commitment to ensuring that we are providing protections for tenants and significantly improving our code enforcement efforts,” Levy explained. “Second is our commitment to building a record number of affordable housing with a goal of building 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. We are also committed to converting and stabilizing an additional 200,000 units over the same period.” 

The plan introduces a series of stricter guidelines for landlords to adhere to, while making it easier for tenants to file complaints to the HPD. With an increase of staff and streamlined processes, the mayor’s office is aiming to address more housing violations and speed up response time.

Sanchez also asked for clarification on what will differentiate “high road” and “low road” landlords, distinguishing between landlords who will be given time to improve living conditions under city supervision and those who will have more severe legal action taken against them.  

“We are really looking to work with owners who want to work with their tenants. We are really putting an emphasis on dialogue with residents and resident associations,” responded Cea Weaver, Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.  

The effort to increase the quantity and quality of available rental units includes an expansion of existing tax rebates to incentivize homeowners to renovate and rehabilitate multi-family housing, while incentivising developers to convert non-residential buildings into homes. Any participating units will be subject to rent stabilization.

Under the plan, HPD would also increase the number of subsidy loans given to developers building new cooperative buildings and one-to-four-family homes. These homes would be sold at prices set by the HPD, to buyers of an eligible income range. The HPD will also expand its downpayment assistance program. 

According to the 2023 NYC Housing & Vacancy survey, 10% of households in the Bronx are subject to an eviction filing, while 26% reported three or more maintenance deficiencies. In response to these high rates, the housing plan looks to implement extra efforts in the Bronx by focusing on educating the community on renters’ rights, assisting building owners with improving conditions, and supporting quality of life through public space improvement.

Independent of the Mayor’s plans, members of the committee were also able to bring forward their own initiatives.. Both Councilmember Sandy Nurse and Councilmember Harvey Epstein introduced initiatives that other councilmembers  and mayor’s aides complimented. 

Councilmember Nurse’s Initiative 0905-2026 looks to give pre-approved housing non-profits early access to buy certain residential properties with the intention of turning them into affordable housing. 

Councilmember Epstein’s Initiative 0178- 2026 would establish an Office of Convergence Assistance. This new office would assist all entities, both public and private, with the conversion of non-residential buildings to residential buildings. 

“According to the Department of Buildings and Records, about one third of new housing permits came from these conversions this year,” Epstein said. 

A date for the final City Council vote on the housing plan or specific initiatives is yet to be set.

The New York City Council on Sept. 9 unanimously passed a resolution to call on the State Legislature to create a 9/11 Awareness curriculum for all New York State schools. 

“New York already requires a moment of silence in our schools each September Eleventh. That matters,” said Councilmember Rita Joseph of District 40 at the City Hall meeting. “But, a moment of silence is not a lesson plan. Silence remembers. Curriculum teaches.

There is no current national guideline for school systems to follow when teaching the topic of 9/11, according to a Committee on Education’s report on the resolution. A curriculum is a guideline of topics a teacher is required to include in their lesson plans

“My generation of teachers didn’t need a curriculum to explain that day; We lived it, and we improvised because we had to,” said Joseph, who was a fifth grade teacher on the day of the attacks. “But the teachers standing in front of the classroom today weren’t there, and neither were their students.”

The resolution calls on the State Legislature to pass Assembly Bill A 8347, which would require the new curriculum to be “age appropriate and developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade levels.” 

According to the bill, the curriculum would also include core tenets such as the “antecedents of 9/11; the events of the day and global impact of the attacks,” “the ongoing health crisis that emerged from toxins found in the air at Ground Zero,” and “Islamophobia and xenophobia, racism and religious intolerance, occurring after 9/11,” among others. 

The bill also states that all educational resources to be used by the curriculum “must be age appropriate, factually accurate, sourced from reputable sources such as the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and aid in students’ understanding of what happened on 9/11 and in its aftermath, and the continuing importance of the attacks today.”

A study done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017, found that New York’s then-current standards for teaching about 9/11 did not include certain key historical details, such as identifying Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, a group that was deemed responsible for the attacks. Other key topics not included were Guantanamo Bay – which holds a detention camp established by then President George Bush to house Muslim militants and those suspected of terrorism– or the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.  

“If we don’t require this history to be taught deliberately and well,” said Joseph, “it simply won’t be.”    

The Little Apple has just opened its first daycare center in the DCAS building at 1 Centre St. New York’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and Imagine Early Learning Services have partnered together to run the first free childcare center for municipal workers.

Childcare costs are skyrocketing, and prices for infants to toddlers are going as high as $1,850 per month. Mayor Mamdani, DCAS, and Imagine have set out to pilot a program that is a 100 percent free childcare assistance for the DCAS municipal workers in the same building. But this is just the start for the program. The project, called “ The Little Apple,” opened its doors this Thursday September 10, 2026 with the enrollment of tiny apples from six weeks up to three years of age.  Backed and operated by their partner Imagine Early Learning Centers, the program will consist of  40 tots and run between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and provide meals. 

Walking in a visitor can see the former mail room for the DCAS agency now turned into a kiddie wonderland. Sensory walls and small books fill the nooks that are lit by the pastel walls. The small  tables and chairs are intended to make the kids feel at home. 

The project has already finished under budget and in a record seven months. Brandon Haynes, a DCAS worker and his wife Shani were amongst the first to enroll little Jackson into the inaugural program. When the cost of childcare came up Brandon Haynes also shared his thoughts, “the realization of childcare while having a child I was flabbergasted[…]so having this here to cover the cost is a great stress reliever.” Shani, who also had doubts about who was watching the children, weighed in on what she thought about the workers of Imagine at the facility. “ They’re extremely good at communicating,  they have reached out to us at every point[…], so handing him over to people who we trust is really great for us.”

Marina Gutierrez, the director of The Little Apple, an educator and mother herself, added, “Childcare is the infrastructure for our kids,” she said, “and great childcare starts with great educators.”

 Having adequate  childcare has been an issue that has plagued parents for some time. The aim for this pilot program, Gutierrez explained, is not only to alleviate the stressors that come with finding adequate help but also to give accessibility to those who really could benefit from this program while building a community and village that many often need.  In 2025 childcare for infants to toddlers was $1,550 to $1,800 per month, over a 33percent difference to the national average.

As the pilot gears up to open to the children one thing that Jenny Cha, another member of Imagine says is, “the point here is that we’re not just investing in childcare, but the future of New York City, it’s the families and the next generation of the city.”

On Sept. 8, Brooklyn College community and faculty members gathered at the Woody Tanger Auditorium to honor Dr. George Cunningham – A Brooklyn College professor for 48 years and a former chair of the Africana Studies Department.

During the memorial, Cunningham was remembered as a father figure who advocated for his colleagues, offered personal support to students and challenged them intellectually. According to his former students, his lectures extended beyond literature into resistance, responsibility and fighting for freedom.

Cunningham, born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Baltimore, earned a doctorate in American Studies from Yale University. In 1978, he joined Brooklyn College’s Africana Studies Department. Along with his service as Deputy Chair and two terms as Department Chair, Dr. Cunningham co-edited Representing Black Men and co-founded the Black Filmmaker Foundation.

Robert Jones Jr., a former student of Brooklyn College, described Cunningham as one of his first Black male professors during his time in Brooklyn College, that fundamentally changed his life. Professor Cunningham believed reading books was one of the most important things in life. Through his course “Reading Race,” he deepened Jones’s love of literature and taught him to approach reading and writing with a critical eye.

“He gave me a passion for resistance that I’ll forever pass on,” said Jones. According to him, Professor Cunningham also taught his students about civil responsibility, literary gatekeeping and the importance of education. He gave the students a path to run free. “Professor Cunningham was one of the very few people who knew the importance of freedom and to protect it, every hour, every minute, every second.” As he fought back tears at the end of his tribute, Jones described Dr. Cunningham as someone who “had his neck pressed bravely on the blade, daring them to cut.”

Former students described Professor Cunningham as a demanding teacher. Despite all other courses, responsibilities and deadlines, he expected all students to read multiple books during the semester and come to class prepared to discuss it all. “Pick up the damn book,” he would joke.

While he demanded rigor, he also offered support. Dr. Cunningham’s efforts continued outside classroom, as he helped his graduates find their direction in life, encouraged them to pursue higher degrees and offered them various job opportunities. “He’d remember to call you on your birthday,” said a former Brooklyn College student, Zinga Fraser, “He called me when my mother passed and talked to me for hours.”

Professor Cunningham shaped the lives and careers of his colleagues as well. The faculty members remembered him as a presence who knew how to light up the room. Linda Day of Africana Studies Department remembers her first encounter with Dr. Cunningham. “Are you an activist?” he asked Day during her interview in Brooklyn College in 1991, and her answer sealed the deal. “Throughout my career, he was the one who fought for my job and made sure I stayed at Brooklyn college,” Day said.

The speakers remembered him as a campus leader that always stood up for his co-workers, advocated for fairness and often took responsibilities nobody else wanted to take. Dale Byam of Africana Studies department mentions “If I needed help, everybody would tell me to call George, and he would always respond “Why not? Let’s do this!”

Cunningham is survived by his four first cousins along with many other relatives and friends. After nearly 5 decades in Brooklyn College, Professor Cunningham’s legacy continues through the students and faculty that he mentored. “He’d fight for you till hell freezes over,” says Fraser, “And when it does, he’ll fight on ice.”

New York City union members gathered in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan for a Labor Day Rally and then marched to Foley Square to stand in solidarity with one another and to honor those who suffered during the 9/11 attack.

Organized by the New York City Central Labor Council, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the “Our City, Our Fight, Our Future” Labor Day Rally and March was described by organizers as an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of NYC’s labor force.

While the rally does traditional spotlight unions and their workers, the platform and attention has been used to shine a light on and educate the public on other issues like the growing presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States or increased violence and control over women’s autonomy.

There were keynote speakers from many different representatives of the unions present like 32BJ SEIU, NYSNA, and TWU. For many participants, the rally was an opportunity to support their unions and to recognize how different struggles facing New Yorkers can be connected.

Rebecca Lurie, a member of several unions, most notably the Professional staff Congress and Carpenters’ union, said that she attended the rally primarily to show her support for the labor movement. “I’m feeling like all of our struggles are interconnected,” Lurie said.

For Lurie the rally was less about a single issue or even a single union’s goals but about showing the connection and community unity of the workers across NYC.

That same sense of unity was shared by Tamoya Norwood, an administrator and organizer at 1199SEIU United Healthcare. “All the unions come together, you know, and show our union pride”, Norwood said. “to show our union force.”

For some workers, being part of the rally was a way to encourage other union workers to become more involved and make their voices heard. Evelyn Lanzo, a member of the Organization for Staff Analysis, said, “Other union members should come out to represent themselves because I’m only one person, and there’s so many of us”

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” former South African President Nelson Mandela once said. But what happens when education becomes a weapon against you, and complicates your life by testing your mental health, with depression as a result?

Genesis Vancebi, a psychology major at Marymount Manhattan College, is a college student facing depression. “I think what has caused my depression is the amount of adjusting I had to do to fit in,” she said. “I was transitioning from high school to college. So, I wasn’t mentally prepared for the work I would be doing for just two classes during my first semester.”

Ayodele Floyd, a psychology student at Brooklyn College, said that work and social pressures add to the workload burden. It’s “not only the workload but the life surrounding that student” that can trigger depression, she said.

A 2010 study by Laura W. Perna found that nearly half of college students work an average of 34.5 hours per week. “I work and have a social life and attempting to arrive at deadlines can be quite overwhelming,” said Floyd.

Christopher Alvarez, a marketing student at Baruch College, points out another factor that can lead students into depression: the lack of socialization. “In a college in the city, with no campus, there is a lack of social life, and this is what sparks any sadness or depression any student may have,” said Alvarez.

Julie Wolfson, outreach and research director at Fountain House’s College Re-Entry program, believes that there isn’t an exact factor that leads students into depression, but the big college transition plays a significant role. “There can be a lot of things that go along with it. In addition to the academics that are rigorous, they might also now be responsible for their own meals and their own laundry and maintaining a living space,” said Wolfson.

As Alvarez commented, socialization is big part of the college experience and Wolfson agrees that a student’s struggle to fit in or find a social circle might affect their mental health. “If a student is isolating a lot, if they are not getting out, if they aren’t meeting people that kind of fulfill that need for social community,” she said, “those can be factors leading to students feeling depressed.”

On the other hand, people like Marymount’s Vencebi can become socially anxious when around too many people. “I’m transitioning from a public to a private school which means it is more intimate than public schools, and I have always been one not to socialize,” said Vencebi.

One other crucial factor that can lead students into depression is financial instability. According to a study by Feeding America, 31% of people decide whether to pay tuition or eat. In addition, Federal Student Aid reports that about 44 million Americans have taken out student loans. According to statistics from the Education Data Initiative, student loan debt is over $1.61 trillion.

It is uncertain  whether President Biden will cancel or reduce student loan, debt, although he promised student debt forgiveness during his election campaign.

Cleyding Lopez took a break from her studies because she couldn’t afford her tuition. “As an illegal immigrant who wants to improve her life, going to college is a more difficult challenge because I don’t get student aid as other people whose legal status is different from mine,” said Lopez, who was in her second semester at Kingsborough Community College.

Brooklyn College’s Floyd sympathized. “I can only imagine for those who don’t receive aid, not only would you have to worry about succeeding in classes, but also struggle to remain financially eligible to take these classes,” he said.

In recent years, many students have seen Covid-19 as one of the causes of poor performance, which has emotionally and financially affected their careers.

“Covid destroyed my GPA,” said Baruch’s Alvarez. “Sure, cheating was the wave, and it did seem like easy A’s, but without motivation to go to class and do classwork I just slumped hard,” he added.

Other students started college during COVID, and don’t know the difference between going to college pre COVID or during COVID. The amount of work required can be surprising. “I never have experienced college without Covid. However, I anticipated the amount there was to come and was somewhat prepared for it,” said Floyd.

Although coming back to campus won’t be the same for students, Floyd is glad for the new experiences. “I am excited to be here,” said Floyd.

Floyd thought online school was going to be easier but was proved wrong. “Professors got creative and made the workload harder; due to this, my grades slowly began to decrease, and I was losing my mental stability,” she said.

Counseling is a service offered to all students in colleges, but not all take advantage of it. “They always say, ‘We understand,’ but they don’t. They are not in our shoes currently to understand what we feel,” said Vencebi.

If you don’t want to go to counseling at your college, there are other options like U ARE HEARD virtual counseling.

Marc Lehman, founder of U ARE HEARD, developed this platform as he noticed the lack of engagement between students and college counseling centers.

“Unfortunately, the statistic right now is that only 11% of students on campuses engage in assistance. In addition, students that are depressed and anxious are extremely on edge,” said Lehman.

As well as U ARE HEARD, Fountain House’s College Re-Entry offers a core semester to help students that are struggling with mental health challenges that wish to re-enroll in school. They also help those who transitioning to college for the first time. If you would like to get more information here is the link.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain information on how the Brooklyn College Counseling Department handles students dealing with mental health challenges post COVID. The Department did not make anyone available for comment.

CUNY faculty, staff, and students called on the Bronx State Assembly and State Senate delegation to support an increase of $500 million in CUNY funding ahead of the final state budget at a loud rally at Lehman College on March 30.

Students and faculty rallied alongside Councilmember Eric Dinowitz and Ruth Wangerin, Lehman chapter chair of Professional Staff Congress, calling on the NY Senate, Assembly leadership, Bronx assembly members and state senators to support raising CUNY’s funding by $500 million. Governor Hochul’s proposed budget increases funding to CUNY and SUNY by $150 million each. They argue that CUNY has been underfunded for years.

Everyone in attendance chanted “a New Deal for CUNY” as they held signs that stated, “CUNY is about racial and economic justice” and “Invest in CUNY, Invest in New York.”

Declan O’Boy, a Macaulay Honors student at Lehman College studying history and political science, found it ridiculous how legislators have to think twice about funding CUNY.

“This New Deal program will give us the necessary funding to hopefully reduce tuition and help more low-income students. I go to class with people who are parents taking care of their children while getting their degree, on top of that having to work too,” said O’Boy.

According to a 2021 University Faculty Senate study, colleges that serve predominantly Black and Hispanic students had the lowest full-time faculty to student ratios.

The study found that since the early 1990s, per-student state funding for CUNY senior colleges has fallen 38% and has contributed to the university’s current staffing crisis. More than 75% of CUNY students are people of color.

“More than half of our students come from families with incomes less than $30,000,” said Councilmember Dinowitz during the rally.

“CUNY has provided them an incredible opportunity to do better for themselves and their families. And it’s time our state budget reflects that, with $500 million extra dollars for our students, professors, counselors, and everything our students need to succeed,” said Dinowitz

The New Deal for CUNY would require 65 full time faculty and one mental health counselor per every 1000 students, plus one academic advisor for every 250 students.

According to Inside Higher ED, in 2008, CUNY senior colleges had 41 full-time faculty per 1,000 full-time equivalent students; in 2019, there were only 34 full-time faculty per 1000.

The top concern for the PSC, the faculty union for CUNY, and the CUNY Rising Alliance, is getting an increase of $500 million to fund faculty lines, advisors and mental health counselors, adjunct parity, and make CUNY free for students, said PSC spokesperson Fran Clark.

Part-time counselors were hired with time-limited stimulus funding, CUNY has a mental health counselor ratio of 1:1,876, far less than the 1;1000 ratio called for by the New Deal for CUNY, which the International Accreditation of Counseling Services describes as a minimum to serve students’ needs.

English and Journalism professor, Jennifer Mackenzie, a full-time faculty member at Lehman College is outraged by the conditions that faculty members and students have to work.

“New York City has made millions and billions of dollars off this pandemic and the burden of not knowing how they’re going to eat, how they’re going to pay rent and where they’re going to sleep is being born by the students here,” said Mackenzie.

“What this state and city could do to relieve just a little bit of that burden and that’s unfairly being born by the students who are having to pay for something that used to be free,” she added.

During these last days of the budget negotiations, the challenge is that other worthy and not-so-worthy expenses are on the budget negotiating table and legislators are deciding final priorities.

Ruth Wangerin, adjunct faculty member and PSC Lehman College Chapter Chair, underscored that there are outstanding students in CUNY.

“Tell the Governor that we have talent here in the Bronx just waiting for a fair chance to shine. They deserve the best and their teachers want the best for them. Now let the state government in Albany do its best for them,” said Wangerin.

For decades, the United States has been the epicenter of higher education, attracting generations of students from around the globe. However, in more recent times, the US is witnessing a steady decline in interest from foreign students. In fact, the US government reported an 18% drop in overall international student visa holders and a whopping 72% decrease in new enrollments even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decline in enrollment rates can be attributed to factors such as competition from countries like Canada and Australia. A recent study conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), found international student enrollment rates dropped by 7% at US institutions but rose 52% at Canadian colleges during 2016-2019.

“I always dreamed about studying in America,” said 18-year-old Mana Rai, who resides in Kathmandu, Nepal. “But with little to no hope of being able to stay in the country after graduating, Canada is starting to seem like more of a better option,” she added during a phone interview.

Unlike the United States, Canada offers visa and immigration opportunities, allowing international students to remain in the country immediately following graduation through its Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), which is commonly seen as the first major step towards obtaining permanent resident status.

According to data collected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), from January to October 2021, 97.5% of international students who applied for permanent residency following their graduation were successful and were awarded legal permission to stay and work in the country.

By contrast, following the Trump administration’s short-lived immigration directive, over one million international students in the United States were barred from residing in the country if their school offered a fully online schedule for the Fall 2020 semester. Students already in the United States were to be deported and the remaining students that had already left the country were denied re-entry.

“I was shocked,” said Rai. “How can you deport someone with a valid visa? It was purely racist and the message was very clear– we [international students] are obviously not welcome in the States,” she said.

Although the Trump administrations immigration directive rescinded the directive after facing eight federal lawsuits and the opposition of hundreds of universities, it still prohibited new international admission from entering the United States if their school was conducted entirely online, inconveniencing thousands to attend classes with major time differences and limited physical resources.

Similarly, denial rates for employment-based Green Cards increased by 15.5% in the last quarter of 2019, again under the Trump Administration, making obtaining permanent residency in the United States more challenging than ever before.

Other foreign students ponder whether the tuition costs and additional fees that come with obtaining an American education are truly worthwhile.

“Simply put, it’s just too expensive,” said 21-year-old London resident, Naomi Harris. “I don’t see the point in spending tens of thousands of dollars on tuition alone, with no guarantee of getting a job or any possibility of being able to stay back in the country,” she said.

Educators also ascribe the decline in foreign enrollment rates to what they are calling the ‘Trump Effect,’ in which anti-immigrant rhetoric has caused a general concern over the safety and security of international students in the United States.

“After the 2016 election, there was a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment,” said Jesus Perez, who is Director of the Immigrant Student Success Office at CUNY Brooklyn College. “People [International Students] felt not welcome or that being here [the United States] would be an uphill battle,” he said.

Despite the hardships and overall foreign disinterest, international students already in the United States are eager to complete their degree and accredit American education for its financial power.

“I left India knowing I would have more of an opportunity making more money here in the same field,” said 24-year-old Brooklyn College marketing student, Yajat Mahjan. “I’m also a chef, but I wasn’t making enough money in India to live in the city, whereas in New York I am able to make enough money to sustain myself,” he said.

As of 2019, Brooklyn College was home to 578 international students from over 50 countries, largely from China, South Korea, and India. The Brooklyn College International Student Services Office was unable to provide comparative data on international student enrollment rates from pre-pandemic years to the present day, despite repeated efforts to get in contact with them. However, the campus community heavily relies on its international community and recognizes their usefulness at Brooklyn College.

“International students bring value to the campus,” said Perez. “Especially with college and academia, we want to be able to look at things from a different perspective, so they [International Students] enrich our community,” he said.

The 16th National Black Writers Conference opened on March 30th, gathering writers, scholars, and literary activists to discuss the emerging themes and pressing issues in Black American and African literature.

The first-day keynote for the four-day event, hosted by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, featured a discussion on the “beautiful struggles” of authorship in Black and African communities, through an interview of author Haki Madhubuti, with Keith Gilyard as the interviewer. The conversation was moderated by English Professor Joanne Gabbi.

Gilyard, professor of English and African American Studies at Penn State University, helped initiate the event at Medgar Evers back in 1986.

The National Black Writers Conference aims to spotlight stories of the contemporary and the past struggles of Black and African writers. Their messages help enlighten younger authors on the meaning of persistence, so as to inspire them to overcome their obstacles as Black writers.

Guest speaker and poet Nikki Finney set the stage for the discussion, opening with her poem called, “There is a poet brother standing in the middle of a circle reading to black people.” Her verse continues, “he is draped in African fabric, in Malcolm X Shabazz Park. Nobody has a cell phone in their hand and their eyes are watching him, staying near his words.”

Haki Madhubuti, who was dressed in African fabric, spoke to the 202 livestream viewers about his rocky past growing up poor, losing his mother at 16 years old, then leaving his home a year later to pawn everything he owned and go to serve in the U.S military from 1960 to 1963. He served despite having a heart condition.

“I went in, and was not supposed to actually be in the military, but it was a poor boy’s answer to unemployment,” he said.

The writings of Madhubuti, as seen in works like “Don’t Cry, Scream” (1969) and “Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?” (1990), center on the theme of Black struggle. He was inspired by his time in the army, but the poet says his passion for Black literature was ignited after numerous altercations with his White and intransigent fellow soldiers.

He almost received a dishonorable discharge for fighting, but changed the course of his experience after being sent to Fort Sheridan in Illinois, where he began to read in his free time.

The author recalls, “Langston Hughes was the person, a great poet, that helped me through those days. I began my process reading Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes’ anthology: Poppo and Fifina, and their words fed me each day as I was in between the Korean and Vietnam Wars.”

Born Donald Luther Lee, Haki Madhubuti changed his name after traveling to Africa in 1974. Haki means “justice” and Madhubuti means “precise, accurate, and dependable.”

After serving, Madhubuti began to focus on writing, specifically on themes of Black struggle. He was awarded the American Book Award, the Kuumba Workshop Black Liberation Award, the Broadside Press Outstanding Poet’s Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.

The future days of the four-day program will focus on topics of Black identity, sexuality, and feminism, and will also feature a poetry slam by the Green Earth Poets Cafe organization and readings by more authors of Black struggle and African Diaspora literature.