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THE NYC VACCINATION INFO, P15 INDYPENDENT #262: MARCH 2021 THE FALL OF LEIA DORAN LEIA SEX SCANDALS, COVIDANDREW COVER-UPS, HIS LIKELY SUCCESSORCUOMO & MORE BY JOHN TARLETON, P8 2 IN THIS ISSUE THE INDYPENDENT THE INDYPENDENT, INC. 388 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11217 212-904-1282 EVICTION NOTICE, P4 www.indypendent.org Crown Heights residents are fi ghting to save a longtime local grocery Twitter: @TheIndypendent store that faces an April 7 eviction date. facebook.com/TheIndypendent WRONGFUL CONVICTION, P6 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Was the Brooklyn DA’s offi ce wrong about Ronnie Wright when they put him away on a murder rap? Ellen Davidson, Anna Gold, Alina Mogilyanskaya, Ann CRUELTY AS POLICY, P7 Schneider, John Tarleton Closing the subway system overnight to keep the homeless out is just one of the cruel policies the MTA has adopted during the pandemic. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Tarleton NO MO CUOMO, P8 Andrew Cuomo is the product of New York’s civic and media culture that CONTRIBUTING EDITORS elevates style over substance, attitude over aptitude. We deserve better. Ellen Davidson, Alina Mogilyanskaya, Nicholas WHO’S NEXT? P9 Powers, Steven Wishnia The governor’s departure would create new opportunities for a rising cohort of progressive leaders. ILLUSTRATION DIRECTOR Frank Reynoso TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE, P10 Take our Cuomo pop quiz and see how much you really know about DESIGN DIRECTOR New York’s chief executive. Mikael Tarkela TAX THE RICH, P12 Democratic socialists have been ramping up pressure on state legislators DESIGNERS to support higher taxes on the rich. And they’re getting results. Leia Doran, Anna Gold, Evan Sult VACCINES FOR ALL, P14 Community-based organizing and outreach is key to ensuring ensure OFFICE MANAGER racial equity in who gets vaccinated. Amba Guerguerian NYC VACCINATION INFOBOX, P15 GENERAL INQUIRIES: What you need to know, where to go and more. [email protected] AN OLD BIAS RESURFACES, P16 SUBMISSIONS & NEWS TIPS: Asian Americans have gone from a “model minority” to pandemic [email protected] scapegoats in one year’s time. ADVERTISING & PROMOTION: RUSH LIMBAUGH DOXXED ME, P17 [email protected] She was a college student when Rush Limbaugh targeted her. It took years to recover. VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTORS Linda Martín Alcoff, Eleanor TAKE A BREAK, P18 Your life should be about more than your work, labor journalist Sarah J. Bader, Bennett Baumer, Sue Jaffe writes in her new book. Brisk, Roman Broskowski, Emlyn Cameron, Rico Cleffi , REVEREND BILLY’S REVELATIONS, P19 Renée Feltz, Lynne Foster, Words of wisdom from our advice columnist on the coming post- Esteban Guerra, Theodore pandemic life and what our new, new normal should be. Hamm, Em Gage Hammer, David Hollenbach, Manvi Jalan, Rob Katz, Kenneth Lopez, Derek Ludovici, Gary Martin, Farid Nassif, Reverend Billy, Olivia Riggio, Natasha Santos, Steven Sherman, Maresi Starzman, Julia Thomas, Tyrone Wallace, and Matt Wasserman. VOLUNTEER DISTRIBUTORS Erik Anders-Nilssen, Eric HOORAY! Brelsford, Chris & Pam THANK YOU TO ALL OUR READERS WHO HELPED MAKE OUR ANNUAL WINTER March 2021 March Brown, Hank Dombrowski, Joseph Epstein, Lew Friedman, FUND DRIVE A HUGE SUCCESS. WE COULDN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU! Priscilla Grim, Laura Kaplan, Michael Korn, Ashley Marinaccio, Christine Miller, Saul Nieves, Tom O’Keefe, Caroline Rath, Norm Scott and THE INDYPENDENT Carol Smith. THE INDY 227 ABOLITION PLACE 3 SUE BRISK ed a landmark were unsuccessful. “You have to show that “I really don’t know where she got the strength, they were into many other CELEBRATION: or the courage,” says her daughter, Shawné Lee, very similar causes for which Brooklyn activists gather PRESERVING who r ecalls that her mother once had a gun pulled they cannot be imprisoned,” outside of 227 Abolition on her because of her work. You know, I think she Driscoll explained. “They Place, formerly known as was so strong in her conviction that it gave her the could never admit they were 227 Duffi eld St. (From left to fortitude to just keep going.” involved in the Underground right) Justin Cohen, Charlene The most recent push to save the house began in Railroad. … It means that the Allen, Shawné Lee and Aleah BLACK 2019, when the building’s owner, developer Samuel evidence about them being Bacquie Vaughn. Hanasab, fi led an application with the NYC Depart- Underground Railroad con- ment of Buildings to demolish it. Lee formed the ductors may be spoken evi- Friends of Abolitionist Place with the help of others, dence, but it may be true.” HISTORY including Aleah Bacquie Vaughn, executive direc- The basement of 227 also has architectural abnormalities, tor of the CJI Fund; Imani Henry of Equality for such as what appear to be sealed-up tunnels. Driscoll said BROOKLYN ACTIVISTS SAVE Flatbush; activist Justin Cohen; and city expert and many Underground Railroad historians have debunked the amateur historian Raul Rothblatt. existence of actual underground tunnels connecting Under- FORMER UNDERGROUND RAILROAD “For better or worse, the threat of demolition is a ground Railroad stops, but there were rumored to be other very concrete and coherent organizing call,” Cohen stops on the block, so it’s more plausible that there were STOP FROM WRECKING BALL, PLAN told the Indypendent. tunnels connecting them. The basement spaces could have The idea that the City was about to allow a stop also been hiding places. NEXT STEPS on the Underground Railroad to be demolished The Friends of Abolitionist Place now plan to turn the seemed almost inconceivable to many community building into a heritage site that will teach visitors about members, especially children. Brooklyn’s abolitionist history and celebrate Black culture By Olivia Riggio “It really resonated with the children and young people,” — much like the space Chatel created in her home. There says Henry, “because it’s just like, ‘You don’t even care are also reportedly artifacts in the house, which the group eneath the imposing, angular structures of the luxury about me having this space. I now know what it is. And you can learn more about once they’re able to get inside. Friends high-rise apartments and hotels of downtown Brook- don’t want us to have it. Very simple. Why would you take of Abolitionist Place appealed to the city to help them re- Blyn sits an unassuming brick rowhouse, 227 Duffi eld this away from me?’” solve mold and structural problems in the house, caused by St, on a block co-named Abolitionist Place in 2007. In Feb- In a 2020 article for Bklyner, Cohen outlined Hanasab’s the nearby hotel which pierced the water table and caused ruary, the home, which was owned by abolitionists Thomas history of persuading elderly and disabled homeowners to fl ooding. Friends of Abolitionist Place just received 501(c) and Harriet Truesdell in the 1850s and 1860s, was recog- sell their properties to him for outrageously low-balled pric- (3) status and is hoping to form a public-public partnership nized as a historic site by the city’s Landmarks Preservation es. In 2012, Hanasab tried to purchase a $600,000 home with the city. The city will be purchasing the home from Commission for its likely connection to the Underground from an 84-year-old wheelchair-bound woman and her son Hanasab this month. Friends of Abolitionist Place will also Railroad, saving it from being demolished. for $6,000. A judge later nullifi ed the sale, saying it “reeked be reaching out to arts and historical organizations in the The movement to save the home began in 2005, when of fraud.” county and state for help restoring it. “Mama” Joy Chatel, who lived in the home and operated Typically, buildings are designated landmarks for their ar- “I think that this offers them a really wonderful opportu- a salon out of the bottom fl oor, found an eviction notice chitectural signifi cance, but 227 Abolitionist Place’s design nity — and also challenging their own institutions — to be taped to her door. Over the years, she had learned the his- was nothing special. Instead, advocates had to make the part of maintaining a role in history and a positive part of tory of the home and its connection to the Truesdells and case for the home’s historical signifi cance. The 13 historian our history,” Bacquie Vaughn said. the Underground Railroad. Her late husband’s ancestors peer reviewers who contributed to the EDC’s 2007 report Advocates are still trying to get nearby Willoughby Square had bought the home directly from the Truesdells. had recommended that it be preserved, but according to Park designated as a space honoring New York’s abolition- In 2007, Chatel sued to challenge the city’s eminent- Rothblatt, the agency buried that information in the report. ist movement, but that project is stalling. 2021 March domain eviction, with the help of Families United for Racial Proving a site was part of the Underground Railroad relies “There’s still a want and a need to preserve our history,” and Economic Equality. Later that year, a report commis- largely on circumstantial evidence, as aiding escaped slaves Lee said. “And I have to say ‘ours’ because it involves ev- sioned by the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) was illegal under the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The eryone. It involves white people, it involves Black people… concluded there was no strong evidence of her home having Truesdells would have faced jail if they spoke openly about it involves women, children. It involves everything. And been part of the Underground Railroad, despite the boards’ their work — and the people they were helping would have my mom put a human face and story and feelings to that, THE INDYPENDENT local historians reporting that it likely had been.