As La Colmena’s N360° Project Manager, Evelin leads commercial revitalization initiatives in Port Richmond. She joined La Colmena’s team to conduct the Commercial District Needs Assessment (CDNA) of Port Richmond and, through this assessment, was able to determine community priorities for the neighborhood. Following the CDNA, she implemented La Colmena’s Neighborhood 360° (N360°) and Public Realm initiatives which included the installation of the Welcome to Port Richmond mural. Born and raised in Staten Island’s North Shore, she graduated from Wagner College with a B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Civic Engagement.
In addition to being an Upper West Side resident, Becca has been working at Landmark West! since 2021. She obtained a Master’s of Architecture Degree and a Minor in Design and Urban Justice at Parsons School of Design, teaching her the importance of social justice in design. Whether working in school with community groups or remembering a neighborhood that is gone, people are the driving force behind her work. She believes preserving the neighborhood she inhabits will also preserve community.
Quinn is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer, and community liaison. At Central Astoria, she has planned and executed the Steinway Street Art Walk with more than 40 local artists and 12 participating stores. Prior to Central Astoria, she has worked as a production designer for a global advertising firm, a pitch deck designer for a financial services firm, and as a volunteer Events Manager for the service industry-centered 86 Logic Magazine. In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature, collaging, sewing, and exploring the city on foot. See more of her work at quinnthecreative.com.
Jamila was born and raised in the Bronx, and her passion for community development has always been rooted in her neighborhood. Before joining WHEDco, she served as Assistant Vice President of Community and Economic Development at the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) and as a Director at John Jay College’s Institute for Justice and Opportunity. Throughout her career, Jamila has worked closely with City, State, and Federal partners to create opportunities for underserved neighborhoods across the Bronx and Manhattan. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (Urban Policies), with minors in Sociology and Economics, from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Jamila is also a proud alum of the Coro Leadership Fellows program.
Built in 1930 as one of Loew’s “Wonder Theatres,” the United Palace was one of the region’s premier vaudeville and movie houses. Designed by noted architect Thomas Lamb (James Earl Jones Theatre, Ziegfeld Theatre) with interiors by decorative specialist Harold Rambusch (Waldorf Astoria, The Roxy Theatre), it was described by The New York Times as “Byzantine-Romanesque-Indo-Hindu-Sino-Moorish-Persian-Eclectic-Rococo-Deco” and a “kitchen sink masterpiece.” With more than 3,000 seats, it is still the fourth largest venue of its kind in Manhattan.
The theatre’s first 40 years as a home for engaging storytelling and transformative experiences came to an equally storied end in 1969 with a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yet while many of the city’s grand movie theatres were slated for demolition, the organization now known as the United Palace of Spiritual Arts, purchased the building to continue its mission of providing uplifting, transformative cultural experiences. Staying true to its founding values, the United Palace remains a center for beauty, creativity, performance art, and spiritual development, welcoming all to share in the splendor of its restored majestic design, blended with state-of-the-art audio and video technology, culminating in one of New York’s most spectacular theatre experiences.
More than 90 years since it first opened its doors, the United Palace of Spiritual Arts continues as the place where spirituality, art, and community unite. We continue to honor our history by producing and presenting both sacred and entertaining experiences touching audiences from around the corner to around the world.
The Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) is a non-profit arts service organization whose mission is to cultivate, support and promote the works of artists and arts organizations in northern Manhattan.
NoMAA’s story begins in 2006, when the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone recognized Northern Manhattan’s need for a more cohesive cultural community in which artists and arts organizations have the resources and support necessary to maximize their artistic, social, and economic potential. NoMAA obtained its official 501(c)3 status in 2007, and was incubated by the Hispanic Federation until becoming fully independent in 2011.
NoMAA facilitates the creation of new works by both emerging and established artists; strengthens the infrastructures of local arts organizations; encourages public dialogue, engagement, and collective reflection around issues that affect upper Manhattan’s cultural community; and fosters the region’s economic development and overall vibrancy.
NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare systems, dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and around the world. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in innovative, patient-centered clinical care, research and medical education.
JPD Foundation is unique in the specific services it offers and in its mission of serving as a resource for underfunded community groups, artists, and students. JPD Foundation helps make it possible for formal and informal groups to fulfill their missions and for students and artists to live up to their potential to benefit the Northern Manhattan community and society at large.
The project will serve the low-income Latinx and other communities of Washington Heights/Inwood by providing critically-needed free or affordable space for a range of youth-focused, cultural, and civic activities and gatherings. Event and activity space of all kinds is in extremely short supply; this has been exacerbated by gentrification of parts of the Heights/Inwood and associated the rising rents and increased stress on spaces currently available for non-profit and informal community use.
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Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a clinical, research, and educational enterprise located on a campus in northern Manhattan. We are home to four professional colleges and schools that provide global leadership in scientific research, health and medical education, and patient care, including:
Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
College of Dental Medicine
School of Nursing
Mailman School of Public Health
We are proud of our relationship with the surrounding Washington Heights community, of which many members have roots in the Dominican Republic and other Spanish-speaking countries. The CUIMC Office of Academic & Community Partnerships serves as the primary liaison between the medical center and the community. Our medical center has many active research and clinical programs in northern Manhattan, including Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
Born and raised in Queens, Yazan’s passion for public spaces and placemaking was cultivated by the community he grew up in. This led to him studying Public Affairs at The Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College. He was inspired to pursue a career in the public sector, with hopes of working to better the lives of his fellow New Yorkers.
Throughout his career Yazan has acted as a communicator and placemaker, working as a liaison for the New York City Council before joining the Grand Street BID as a Community Engagement Manager. Yazan has brought his experience in community building and his passion to improve New York City to the BID, where his work focuses on cultivating the BID’s connections with both the businesses and the community of Grand Street.
