www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY August 23, 2020 2
Throggs Neck man fi nalist in fi lm festival
Filmmaker’s movie nominated for best drama in 2020 Hip Hop Film Festival
Bronx resident Jaylin Pressley is a fi nalist in the Hip Hop Film Festival. Courtesy of Jaylin Pressley
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 mobile-themed mural at 830
Union Ave. in the south Bronx
to celebrate the borough’s transit
expansion as well.
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.
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.
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