BY: DIVYA NAIR

In January we, County Committee Members Joyce McMillan, Leah Deleon, and Divya Nair, and DL Ortega held a Town Hall meeting to bring community members of the 500-527 block of W 134th St together and hear the attendee’s concerns and wishes. Today, Saturday, April 28, 2018, we reconvened with the community members and DL Ortega to appoint block association leadership and prioritize the issues raised at the Town Hall in order to work systematically towards achieving solutions. In the coming months, the executive board of the 500-527 W 134th St Block Association will be organizing a block clean-up party, instituting a noise curfew to ensure community members can relax at home and get a good night’s sleep, as well as putting up signs reminding dog owners to clean up after their pets in order to keep the block clean.

Tackling these issues is just the beginning. More broadly, the formation of this block association demonstrates what can be accomplished when community members come together for the good of their neighborhood. Taking pride in and ownership of one’s block can lead to changes for the better, both big and small.

Meet the Executive Board of the newly formed 500-527 W 134th St Block Association:

From left to right: Adriana Almanzar, CC Joyce McMillan, Rademes Moreno, DL Corey Ortega, CC Divya Nair, Francisco Garcia Rodriguez, Naomi Deleon, Ana Hernandez

West Harlem’s diversity is its strength but that also means that concerns and wishes will mirror that diversity from block to block. As such, District Leader Corey Ortega and the rest of the County Committee Members of West Harlem will continue to organize tailormade Town Hall Meetings across every block so unique concerns can be documented and addressed. Our next Town Hall will be on Wednesday, May 2nd @ 6:30PM for residents of 135th St. from Amsterdam to Riverside. The meeting will be held at 3332 Broadway (Pediatrics 2000).

Our County Committee is excited to push the boundaries of community organizing and empower our citizens to be leaders! If you’d like to learn more about our block association program please email us at [email protected].  

Click here to learn more about the West Harlem Progressive Democratic Club.

We are #WestHarlemStrong!