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Read the press release here.

Uptown Gentrification Panel to Feature Adriano Espaillat and Others

By Carolina Pichardo | August 23, 2016 2:02pm
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The "Broadway Blues" panel will feature State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, historian Robert Snyder and author Raquel Cepeda.
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Uptown Collective

INWOOD — An upcoming panel discussion on race, class and gentrification is aiming to help prevent Northern Manhattan from becoming yet “another shiny but soulless community.”

The “Broadway Blues” panel, which is taking place on Monday in the Washington Heights Academy at 202 Sherman Ave., will feature award-winning author, Raquel Cepeda, State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and director of American Studies at Rutgers-Newark University, Robert Snyder.

“I think we have a crucial, small window of opportunity to maybe change the trajectory of what’s coming northward,” said Led Black, editor-in-chief of the Uptown Collective, who organized the panel, adding that because there’s a lot of “big money and play” happening uptown it's up to those who live in the community to get involved.

The meeting comes on the heels of a City Council committee's unanimous vote against the Sherman Plaza rezoning bid — which followed vocal opposition to the project from the community. The project, which was the first private project to apply for affordable housing under the mayor's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) project, would have allowed developers to build an up to 17-story tall building in exchange for including additional affordable housing.

Uptown is now looking forward to the next rezoning plan, the city's Inwood NYC Neighborhood study, which is currently in the planning stages.

READ MORE: What is MIH?

Black said that by bringing people like Espaillat, the first Dominican-American Congressional candidate, Cepeda, who is working on a book about the Broadway divide, and Snyder, whose work on gentrification has been featured in several publications, the community will be able to come together to discuss the most pressing issues.

The event, Black said, will include a brief discussion amongst the panelist on issues like noise and the division of race and class, followed by questions and comments from the public.

“Let’s get together, let’s talk, let’s discuss,” Black said.

The free “Broadway Blues” panel will take place on Monday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m.