7 BRONX WEEKLY May 10, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Sesame Street actress pays virtual visit to Bronx middle school
BY JASON COHEN
Bronx middle school students
had a chance to virtually
meet a homegrown celebrity
last month.
On April 27, Sonia Manzano,
who was Maria on
“Sesame Street” from 1971
to 2015, spoke virtually
with students at Highbridge
Green School, 200 W 167th
St., about her book and growing
up Hispanic in the neighborhood.
The visit was thanks to
education nonprofi t Meet
the Writers, which supports
literacy and fosters a love
of reading in New York City
students by bringing authors
and artists to their schools.
“The idea is to inspire
the school kids about their
power to craft stories, especially
when they’re stuck indoors,”
said Meet the Writers
founder Michele Weisman.
“Now is the time to fi nd a passion
for writing, to escape the
confi nement of small apartments,
and elevate each other
with the power of words.”
Weisman, who was in
publishing for many years,
started the nonprofi t in 2015.
It has reached more than
20,000 students at more than
150 school visits citywide.
Manzano, 69, spoke to
the Bronx Times about the
virtual visit. She is not tech
savvy, so it was a bit weird
at fi rst. They used Google
Hangouts and after numerous
suggestions from the
kids she was able to use audio
but could not fi gure out
how to do the video.
“It was an adjustment doing
it through the computer,”
she said.
She discussed her book,
“The Revolution of Evelyn
Serrano,” “Sesame Street”
and how Latinos were invisible
in the 60s and 70s in the
Bronx. The youngsters asked
her why she felt self conscious
and she said “society
told her she wasn’t worthy.”
Manzano told the students
her views about being
a Latina in the Bronx
changed in 1969 when the activist
group the Young Lords
became popular. The Young
Lords is a civil and human
rights organization whose
mission is to fi ght for neighborhood
empowerment and
self-determination of Puerto
Ricans, Latinos and colonized
people.
“I don’t think they’re Latinos
invisible now,” she
stressed. “We’re in the media
and we’re really active now.”
She told the Bronx Times
that the kids seemed in good
spirits, were polite, inquisitive
and smart.
Highbridge Green Principal
Kyle Brillante said the
students enjoyed meeting the
“Sesame Street” star. He said
learning virtually has not
been easy but was impressed
that 81 kids participated in
the event.
Brillante said Manzano
had a powerful impact on the
children because many of
them are Latino.
“It was a really a fantastic
program,” he commented.
“Personally, when I was a
kid growing up in Texas we
got to meet authors and they
were powerful experiences
for me. I wanted to bring that
experience here for the kids
in the Bronx.”
On April 27, Sonia Manzano spoke virtually with students at Highbridge Green School
Photo courtesy Meet the Writers
Governor appoints two Bronxites to task force for reopening of state
BY JASON COHEN
As the state slowly
is taking steps to return
to normalcy, Governor
Andrew Cuomo
announced the creation
of a task force
this week that will
help with the process.
On April 28, Cuomo
outlined additional
guidelines for the
phased plan to reopen
New York on a
regional basis. Each
region of the state,
Capital Region, Central
New York, Finger
Lakes, Mid-Hudson
Valley, Mohawk Valley,
New York City,
North Country, Long
Island, Southern Tier
and Western New York
must follow these rules
as part of the reopening
plan.
The advisory board
will be chaired by former
secretaries to the
Governor Steve Cohen
and Bill Mulrow and
includes more than
100 business, community
and civic leaders
from industries across
the state. He selected
just two people from
the Bronx, Lisa Sorin,
president of the Bronx
Chamber of Commerce
and Lourdes Zapata,
president and CEO at
South Bronx Overall
Economic Development
Corporation.
“We’ve come up
with a phased plan to
reopen New York so every
region in the state
has the same opening
template as we begin
this process,” Cuomo
said. “We have to be
smart about this. Emotions
can’t drive our
reopening process.
We’ve come up with
factual data points
that each region must
monitor as they begin
to reopen.”
Sorin spoke to the
Bronx Times about being
selected amongst
such prestigious people.
She has not been
informed of a date of
when the economy
will reopen, but knows
things will not be easy
when it happens.
While it is her goal
to make the transition
smooth and painless,
she doesn’t know what
the future holds.
According to Sorin,
businesses are hurting
in the Bronx. She fears
that when the dust settles,
the landscape of
the borough will be forever
changed. Far too
often the Bronx is forgotten
and left behind,
hopefully, now it can recover
and fl ourish, she
said.
“I was incredibly
honored that the Bronx
Chamber was selected,”
Sorin said. “My fi ght
has always been that
the Bronx doesn’t have
a voice at the table. We
have to fi gure out a way
to put our voices together.”
She is still awaiting
word from the state
about what the next
steps are, but is ready to
hit the ground running
and work with her task
force colleagues.
Sorin noted that the
Bronx has a high undocumented
immigrant
population who were
not helped by the federal
government stimulus
packages and the
small businesses only
received one percent
of the city Small Business
Service loans and
grants.
These numbers paint
a bleak picture, she
said.
“I expect that large
percent of our businesses
will be closed and not be
able to reopen,” she commented.
“I’m terrifi ed to
see what happens when
things reopen.”
Lisa Sorin, president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce was named to the reopening
task force. File photo
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