Bronx teen poets compete in Parlé Endeavors Teen Poetry Slam
Nine teens — including six from the Bronx — showed off their creativity and performance skills in the preliminary round of Parlé Endeavors’ second annual Teen Poetry Slam on June 15. The citywide competition for teenswas created by Kevin Benoit, founder of Parlé Endeavors, a nonprofit focused on youth opportunities for creative expression and entrepreneurship.
The young writers’ poems covered a variety of personal topics, including the power of poetry (“What kind of poet doesn’t do a little saving?”), self-worth (“I matter, don’t I?”), sleep as an escape from pain (“pushing it away on the farthest shelf”) the feeling of vulnerability (“concave inwards, trapped within myself”) and gender transition (“never again ‘insert dead name’”).
The June 15 event at the Parkchester public library branch — hosted by Sobeana Woodley-Sobers of Brooklyn, who placed second in last year’s contest — was one of the competition’s preliminary rounds held in each borough.
The five winners who advanced to the semifinal rounds, which will be held in Brooklyn on July 13, are Shaniya Allison from Baychester, Kenya Knox from Crown Heights, Paule Jena Silatchom from Williamsbridge, and Nora Kouyate and Yaiden Perez Cabrera from Grand Concourse.
Also competing were Troy Thomas from Edenwald, Red Permaul from South Ozone Park, Matilda Yorke from Tremont and Kylie from Yonkers.
Incumbent Benedetto, challenger Soto debate for second time in Assembly District 82 race
With the primary election just a week away, incumbent Assembly Member for the Bronx’s 82nd district, Michael Benedetto, joined familiar challenger Jonathan Soto for a spirited debate on June 17 at the BronxNet studios at Lehman College.
The debate was moderated by veteran BronxTalk host Gary Axelbank, who has moderated 96 political debates in the Bronx.
This is the third time that Soto, a progressive, will challenge Benedetto, a moderate Democrat who has served since 2005 in the Assembly seat representing east Bronx neighborhoods of Co-op City, Throgs Neck, Morris Park, Edgewater, Westchester Square, City Island, Country Club and Pelham Bay.
Samaritan Daytop Village, Bronx pols raise awareness about overdoses
Overdose deaths have soared in the last decade. In 2022, 3,026 people died from an overdose in New York City, according to data from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
A total of 831 purple ribbons were placed in Joyce Kilmer Park to represent the Bronx residents who lost their lives to overdose.
“Opioid abuse creates harm beyond the individuals experiencing addiction,” Gibson said. “It affects our neighborhoods, communities, families and loved ones. The high levels of opioid use and deaths in our borough are alarming and are a call to action. I want to thank Samaritan and the peer-led support network for their commitment to supporting our most vulnerable residents.”
Dais presents $2 million to District 9 schools
Bronx Assembly Member Landon Dais presented $2 million in checks for funding STEM labs in ten District 9 public schools on Tuesday at P.S. 11 in Highbridge. This is the largest individual grant ever given to school District 9, according to Dais.
Awarded schools include P.S. 11 Highbridge, I.S. 229 Roland Patterson, Taft Campus, I.S. 232 The Alexander Macomb School, I.S. 117 Joseph H. Wade, P.S. 64 Pura Belpre, P.S. 53 Basheer Qusim, P.S. 90 The Family School, I.S. 166 The Richard Rogers School, and J.H.S. 145 Arturo Toscanini. Each school received $200,000 in grant funding.
“I’m hoping that today that we’re providing a tool that will give you another tool in your box that will allow [students] to have better success metrics,” Dais said. “The reality is, if we are not preparing the kids for science, math, and technology of the future — specifically artificial intelligence, comp engineering — they will be behind, and I’m hoping what we’re doing today will help me allow y’all to get them in the right direction.”
Bronx banker convicted of stealing COVID relief funds: Feds
A 52-year-old Bronx banker was convicted by a federal jury of fraud and money laundering on June 18 related to COVID-19 pandemic federal aid, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Anuli Okeke — the former vice president and manager of the 125th Street New York branch of Popular Bank — was booked for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy by a federal jury in Brooklyn on June 18. The DOJ said the charges arose out of the Bronx woman’s scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $3.4 million of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program dollars during the “height” of the pandemic.
In the statement about Okeke’s conviction, Breon Peace — the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York — said the verdict “reaffirms” the agency’s commitment to crack down on people “who took advantage of a global crisis to commit crimes.”
“While the global pandemic caused widespread economic and personal harm for so many, the defendant abused her trusted position at a bank to steal millions of dollars from programs designed to keep small businesses afloat and workers on payroll,” Peace said.
