No news is good news. Free AmNews is great news. The “Community Matters” pilot program wrapped up last Thursday, March 28 at the Frederick Douglass Houses in Upper Manhattan, marking the first step for the initiative to distribute the city’s oldest and largest Black newspaper throughout New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments—on the house.
“Douglass Houses [are] always making history so to get into the hands of our residents the Amsterdam [News] is the ultimate—it represents us, it looks like us,” said Carmen Quinones, the development’s resident association president. “And now, just reaching out and saying ‘we want to do this pilot program with you’ was an honor. For me to extend it to [the South Jamaica Houses] and other developments…is what we’re doing.”
Quinones, who recently announced candidacy for the 69th Assembly District, talked about growing up with the paper, joking that other “legacy” newspapers were banned in the house by her mother.
Bill Moore photos
Financial vertical for the pilot comes from unions Teamsters Local 237 and 1199SEIU. And special shoutout to the AmNews’ distribution manager Benita Darby. As for what’s next, the papers hope to find their way throughout public housing citywide.
“Now that the pilot has been so successful, we look forward to the continued success of this ‘Community Matters’ initiative on an ongoing and continuing basis,” said Publisher Elinor Tatum. “Our hope is that we can expand ‘Community Matters’ to other New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Developments, and their predominantly Black and minority residents.”
“Today is a symbolic day where we have the ‘fourth division of government’—the press—making itself available to one of the most leveraged populations in the country [and one of] largest Black and Hispanic [communities] in the nation: NYCHA households,” added Manny Martinez, resident council president of South Jamaica Houses.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.