By Vinette K. Pryce
A standing room only crowd
of bipartisan Jamaicans packed
into the Tivoli Gardens Community
Center nine nights after
the May 28 passing of the island’s
fifth Prime Minister Edward Phillip
George Seaga who died on his
89th birthday.
Held in tradition with a ritual
based on African ceremonial procedures
following a death the
Nine Night ceremony was held
inside a venue and community
once maligned with a name Back-
O-Wall until Mr. Seaga transformed
the west Kingston slum
into an area boasting its own
Drum & Bugle Corps, a dance
company, One Love recording
studios, sports complex, high
school, respectable housing and
reliably, loyal voter turnout for
the Jamaica Labour Party.
Reportedly, thousands packed
into Tivoli Gardens Square before
the official start of the celebratory
farewell tribute.
According to reports, supporters
of the People’s National Party,
showed solidarity with their rival
political opponents to pay tribute
of a legacy to a leader dedicated
to nation building.
Politics seemed to have paused
with the absence of partisan
recall of a loan the fifth prime
minister obtained and later said
he did not recall; his alliance
with US President Ronald Reagan
Older New Yorkers Demand (and Need) Rent Reforms
Caribbean L 32 ife, June 14–20, 2019
who was allegedly credited
with speeding the flow of ammunitions
to the country.
Nor was the nickname CIAga
inferred.
On a night when the current
Prime Minister, Andrew Holness
as well as Desmond Mckenzie.
former mayor of Kingston and
now a member of parliament
joined residents of the area as
well as many from Denham Town
and other areas, PM Seaga’s role
in returning the remains of Marcus
Mosiah Garvey to his birth
island, the West Indian Record
Label (WIRL) he steered to
prominence and the revolutionary
spirit he engendered to the
most under-served were among
the topical overtures for conversation.
Hailed with reverence
throughout the island from the
arrival of his remains from Florida
on Caribbean Airlines in a
flag-draped casket, public viewings
in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios
and Kingston seemed to have
dominated the news landscape.
Gospel and reggae music provided
entertainment amid an
atmosphere of rum drinking,
food and dancing in celebration
of the longest serving parliamentarian
and one who dedicated
most of his life to the west Kingston
constituency.
Social media trended photos
of the event with immigrants
acknowledging how grateful they
were to live through PM Seaga’s
tenure.
“I’m an orange man,”
an avowed PNP comrade
explained. “I eat out of an
orange bowl, I wear orange
clothes I am an orange man,
he declared. “But I have to pay
tribute to the green man,” he
said about PM Seaga’s party
color-association.
“Nuh feel no way, he did nuff
fi Jamaica.”
It is a sentiment shared by
expats living in England, Canada,
Edward Seaga’s casket lying in state. Jamaica Information Service
and throughout the USA
and Jamaica where party loyalty
takes precedence — sometimes
over family and religion.
Candle light vigils in Ocho
Rios, Montego Bay and Kingston,
lying in state tributes,
arts and cultural events — featuring
National Dance Theater
Company’s Jamaica Folk
Singers, Tivoli Dance Troupe,
speakers from the University of
the West Indies and University
of Technology and a special sitting
of both houses of Parliament
will be held on June 19.
Tivoli Gardens Invitational
football match against Premier
League All Stars is slated for
June 16.
And an all-night “Set Up”
in Tivoli Square is slated for
June 22.
An ecumenical service at
Kingston’s Cathedral of the
Most Holy Trinity will precede
interment at National Heroes
Park on June 23.
According to Olivia Grange,
minister of culture, gender,
sports and entertainment,
the last of the shapers of the
island’s constitution will be
regaled daily until July 1, which
is annually commemorated as
International Reggae Day.
‘Nine Night’ in Tivoli Gardens
honors JA Prime Minister Seaga
No one needs more convincing
that living in New
York City is expensive – especially
when it comes to
rent. We need to do something
about it, and with
current rent laws about to
expire, now’s the time.
Older New Yorkers
may know better than anyone
about the struggles
and worries of rising rent
costs. Many live on fixed
incomes and face escalating
expenses for health
care, utilities and food,
while many pay for costs to
care for loved ones.
Our older residents are
often one health or family
crisis away from breaking
the bank. As it is, a study
by the Center for an Urban
Future commissioned by
AARP found that one in
five older New Yorkers is
living in poverty – up 11
percent during the past decade.
And the number of New
York City residents aged 65
and over grew twelve times
faster than the city’s under
65 population over the
past decade, with a record
1.24 million adults aged 65
and over now living in the
five boroughs.
One source of stability
– and comfort – for many
older New Yorkers is their
home and their community.
It’s not unusual for seniors
to live in their apartment
and community for 20, 30,
even 40 years or more.
Their friendships and
support systems, shop owners
and pharmacists, and
their doctors are in the
community. They attend
local senior centers for allimportant
socialization
– and often meals. They
have routines crucial to
people as they age.
But seniors face the
risk of losing their apartments
to rising rent costs.
Current loopholes allow
landlords to convert rent
regulated units to market
rate apartments or game
the system - at the expense
of tenants - for their own financial
gain.
Many older New Yorkers
already report having trouble
paying their rent; 54%
of city voters ages 50-plus
– including 67% of Hispanics
- said affordable housing
was a major concern,
according to a 2014 AARP
survey - far surpassing
other concerns.
As the City’s population
continues to age, affordable
housing concerns are likely
to grow. We need to ensure
safe, quality and affordable
housing for older New Yorkers
now and in the future. A
strong rent-regulated housing
program is essential to
this goal. Over two million
households in NYC live in
rental housing and over
one million households live
in rent-regulated or rentcontrolled
apartments.
We need to ensure more
than the renewal of existing
state rent laws; we need
the Governor and state legislature
to work together
to enact comprehensive reforms.
AARP supports three
basic principles: ending
high-rent vacancy decontrol,
restoring preferential
rent protections, and
ensuring the Vacancy Allowance,
Major Capital Improvements
and Individual
Apartment Improvements
initiatives protect tenants
while allowing landlords to
address problems.
This is our opportunity
to ensure that New
York does not lose affordable
housing options for
our seniors – and all our
residents. The seniors who
have built our communities
deserve as much.
Marilyn McMichael and
Debra Robles have lived in
their same rent regulated
apartments in New York
City for 30 and 20 years,
respectively, and are active
AARP advocates for rent reforms.
Beth Finkel is AARP
New York State Director.