City Council debates ‘community media’ and BSA records
BY DEAN JAMIESON
As upper-class New Yorkers
fl ed New York City
last spring, many others
had no choice but to stay, work
and hope for the best. Many of
them had only their local ethnic
media outlet to turn to for guidance
and support.
Whether Spanish, Bangladeshi,
Chinese, or Mexican, these outlets
were crucial in many neighborhoods.
Now Councilman Ydanis
Rodriguez is sponsoring a bill to
support these outlets with half
of the city’s advertising budget,
keeping ethnic, non-Englishspeaking
communities informed
while at the same time giving ad
revenue to local newspapers that
are, more often than not, free.
“It’s time for the City to give
respect to all New Yorkers,”
Rodriguez said at a City Council
hearing Tuesday. “Including those
35% that have been born and
raised in other countries.”
Introduction 2313 will codify
an executive order issued two
years ago that ensures that 50%
of the city’s advertising budget
fl ows to local newspapers. This
proposed Offi ce of Community
and Ethnic Media would ensure
that city agencies place advertisements
in local, non-English
publications as well as in more
mainstream outlets.
These local publications are
integral towards keeping New
York’s diverse ethnic communities
informed and safe, according
to testimony from Rodriguez and
a number of speakers.
The people in these communities
“speak a different language,
but they work. They pay taxes,”
said Rodriguez, who was, notably,
the only council member to repeat
his remarks in Spanish. He argued
that these communities deserve
reliable, affordable news sources
– in their language. Compared to
its advertising support of other
publications, the lack of support
the City has given these papers
amounts to “an institutional
SCREENSHOT
injustice,” said Council Member
Fernando Cabrero.
Other speakers were no less
emphatic. Without these papers,
“all of New York City’s diverse
communities will suffer,” said
Gail Smith, CEO of Impacto
Latino.
And it’s not just non-English
outlets that will benefi t from the
legislation – so too will papers
such as the Red Hook Star-Revue
and The Rockaway Times.
“The internet’s free, except
people need access to the internet,
and they don’t necessarily have
it,” said Kevin Boyle, publisher
of the Rockaway Times, a local
paper that is wholly reliant upon
advertising – including that which
the City can partially provide.
“During the pandemic, we
cried together, but we have never
stopped bringing in information,
understanding that this was our
duty,” said Luciano Vasquez, head
of Aloha Luciano Live.
The hearing also discussed
Introduction 2257, a piece of
legislation that aims to record,
and make more readily accessible,
all decisions made by the Board
of Standards and Appeals. This
legislation would make it easier
for property owners to check their
title against the Board’s records.
Some on the Council objected.
“We pass laws that are solutions
in search of problems,” said
Council Member Kalman Yeger.
“Is this really necessary?”
To this, Margarey Perlmutter,
Chairman of the Board of Standards
and Appeals, answered,
unequivocally, “Yes.”
NYC Dyke March for Black Dyke Power slated for June 26
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Under the theme “Black Dyke
Power,” the NYC Dyke March is
returning on June 26 to bring attention
to the diversity of queer and gender
non-conforming individuals and combat
the harassment and violence facing the
community.
The march on June 26 will kick off at 5
p.m. at Bryant Park on the southwest corner
of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. The
march will travel south along Fifth Avenue
and conclude at Washington Square Park.
“In the fi ght for Queer and Trans liberation,
the contributions of People of Color
have been systematically minimized and
ignored,” the organizers wrote in a press
release. “Since the inception of the Dyke
March, dykes of color, especially Black
dykes, have played an essential role in
organizing. The hard work and dedication
that dykes of color have contributed every
year to ensure that thousands of dykes
can express their First Amendment right
to protest should be acknowledged and
celebrated. To all the current and former
dykes of color organizers on the NYC
Dyke March planning committee — we
Members of the Dyke March Committee produced a Break the Chains with
Love Juneteenth March last year. That event is returning this year.
acknowledge and celebrate you.”
Organizers are heading back to the
streets with a focus on racial justice one
year after organizers with the Dyke March
Committee produced the Break the Chains
With Love Juneteenth March last June 19
FILE PHOTO
to shed light the Black Lives Matter movement
and anti-trans violence. That march,
separate from the June 26 event, is returning
on Juneteenth this year as a “Justice is
Love March” beginning at Brooklyn Bridge
Park at Jane’s Carousel at Dock Street and
Water Street. That march will proceed over
the Brooklyn Bridge before stopping at the
African Burial Ground and ending at City
Hall Park.
Organizers of the June 26 event further
noted that the Black dykes of color spearheading
this year’s march opted to utilize
the theme “Black Dyke Power” “not only
because centering Black Dykes, both cis
and trans, at the March is long overdue, but
also to honor the long time contributions
of Black Dyke organizers to the March.”
Per the organizers’ accessibility guidelines,
there will be entering and exiting
spots along the route, access to wheelchairs,
among other tools available from marshals.
Since the New York City Dyke March
started in 1993, organizers have held the
rally without permits or sponsors. Last
year Gay City News published a gallery
featuring photos of the annual march over
the years.
Organizers are still seeking marshals for
the demonstration. Those who are interested
can sign up to become a volunteer
marshal on the event’s website.
The June 26 event’s afterparty will be
held at 7 p.m. at 3 Dollar Bill at 260 Meserole
St. in Brooklyn.
30 June 10, 2021 Schneps Media