Throggs Neck man fi nalist in fi lm festival
Filmmaker’s movie nominated for best drama in 2020 Hip Hop Film Festival
1000th Citi Bike docks put in south Bronx
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Citi Bike chose the south
Bronx to install its 1,000th
docking station within the
five boroughs and local
politicians were quick to
celebrate the news.
The docking station is located
at E. 160th Street and
Tinton Avenue and is part
of the company’s push to
expand into more parts of
the borough.
“This is a huge milestone
for New York City’s
Department of Transportation,
Lyft, Citi Bike and The
Bronx, opening the city’s
1,000th Citi Bike station in
our great borough,” said
Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr.
Diaz also spoke about the
communities that will benefit
from the new station,
particularly those on the
frontlines of COVID-19.
“Considering how important
the Citi Bike program
has become to the
city’s transportation grid,
especially helping our essential
workers and healthcare
workers get around
during this pandemic crisis,
I look forward to working
on helping this program
continue its expansion into
The Bronx and throughout
New York City,” he added.
Famed Bronx artist and
New York Yankees muralist
Andre Trenier was called
on to work up a mobilethemed
mural at 830 Union
Ave. in the south Bronx
to celebrate the borough’s
transit expansion as well.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,6 AUGUST 21-27, 2020 BTR
West Bronx councilman
Fernando Cabrera
also praised the 1,000th
station’s unveiling.
“Micromobility is New
York’s transportation future,
so I’m glad to see Citi
Bike’s 1000th station in the
Bronx,” he said. “We need
affordable, green and accessible
transit options,
especially in areas underserved
by public transit.
The Bronx has waited a
long time for Citi Bike to
expand into our neighborhoods
and I’m looking forward
to further expansion
into my district and other
Bronx communities.”
South Bronx councilwoman
Vanessa Gibson
called the opening “a milestone
for Citi Bike, but also
for the Bronx.”
“Since its expansion into
the borough, Citi Bike has
provided Bronxites with
affordable and accessible
transportation to safely
travel to their destination
in the midst of a global pandemic,”
Gibson said, commending
Citi Bike for being
a “fantastic partner” which
was worked with community
stakeholders upon its
expansion into the Bronx.
Since Citi Bike came
into the Bronx in early
May, riders have taken
more than 50,000 recorded
trips starting or ending
in the borough according
to the company.
The most popular Bronx
station has been in Mott Haven
at E. 149th and Morris
Avenue, while 450 critical
workers with free annual
memberships have taken
more than 4,000 rides to or
from stations in the Bronx.
“I look forward to our
continued work together,”
Gibson added.
Andre Trenier’s Citi Bike mural. Courtesy of Citi Bike
BY JASON COHEN
As a child, Jaylin
Pressley fell in love
with the big screen.
Today, the lifelong
Throggs Neck resident
is living his dream as a
movie director.
The 26-year-old recently
fi nished his
third fi lm, “Rest of Us,”
which was named a fi -
nalist in the best drama
category in the 2020 Hip
Hop Film Festival. On
Aug. 20, the fl ick will be
screened virtually.
The festival is worldwide
and features more
than 200 fi lms, but only
30 advanced to the fi -
nal round. If Pressley
wins, he gets a sit down
with Revolt TV who
will work with him on a
future project.
“Hearing I have the
opportunity for that
is truly amazing,” he
said. “As an independent
artist, you always
want people to see
your work.”
The movie deals with
a teen who receives
a scholarship for college,
but during his senior
year, he cuts class
and things spiral out
of control.
While the movie
involves racial tensions
between cops
and a Black person, he
stressed that there’s
deeper message. Pressley
said that he wants
people to see that all
young adults face peer
pressure and it’s important
to stay on the
right path.
‘This fi lm isn’t
about shooting a kid,”
he said.
Pressley fi nished the
fi lm in January and in
the spring, heard about
the festival while listening
to Hot 97. He
entered “Rest of Us”
in the contest and in
June, found out he was
among the selections. A
week later he received
an email saying he was
a fi nalist.
As the time for the
festival draws closer,
he reminisced about
how his love for the big
screen started around
the age of 7 when he
used to go the Magic
Johnson Theater in
Harlem every week
with his grandfather,
Edward.
This turned him into
a movie buff and one
of his favorite fi lms is
“Saving Private Ryan.”
“I was always fascinated
by movies and
telling stories,” he said.
Growing up in the
projects in the Throggs
Neck Houses, he was
surrounded by drugs
and violence. But
through becoming a director,
he is able to show
his 7-year-old daughter,
Janee, that anything
is possible.
“I always tell my
daughter she can be
whatever she wants to
be,” Pressley said.
Bronx resident Jaylin Pressley is a fi nalist in the Hip Hop Film Festival.
Courtesy of Jaylin Pressley