Sovereign Associates, Inc.

NYC’S HALLOWEEN DAY PARADE 2024 Each year, more than 50,000 glorious ghouls, zombies, wicked witches, mummies, monsters, dogs in all sorts of disguises, robots, giant puppets, travelers from far-off galaxies, and more things that go bump in the night take to the streets for a night of costumed revelry. This year's theme Grab your cat ears because the theme is "Meow." As event organizers say, "We didn't ask for this fight, but when feline honor is at stake, Cats and Ladies will rise (…after a languorous stretch) to meet the moment," as parade officials said online. Cat ladies of "every purr-suasion" are invited to express their inner feline and flick those feline tails, twitch those ears & whiskers, and join the ball. It's free to march in the Parade, but only those in costumes are welcome to join, so start making your costume NOW! The procession lines up at Sixth Ave and Canal St and rolls out from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. By 6:30 pm, the north and west entrances to Sixth Ave will be blocked off. People can join the line from East Broome, Sullivan, and Canal streets east of Sixth Ave. We recommend gathering your fellow creatures of the night a few blocks away rather than trying to find your group in the middle of the chaotic lineup. What time is the Village Halloween Parade? It runs from 7–11 pm. The Parade starts at Canal St. and 6th Avenue and goes up 6th Avenue to 15th Street on 6th Avenue.

NEW BUS LANES ON 96th St. City officials announced Monday that new bus lanes have begun construction on 96th Street. Construction is expected to be completed later this year. The new lanes, stretching from West End Avenue on the Upper West Side to Second Avenue on the Upper East Side, will include dedicated bus lanes in both directions. This development is set to significantly improve the daily commute for the city's bus riders. "96th Street is one of the city's busiest crosstown routes for bus riders, yet at rush hours, it can be just as fast to walk as it is to take the bus," a spokesperson said. "Dedicated bus lanes is one of the best ways to make bus service faster and more reliable for the more than 15,000 daily bus riders on Manhattan's busiest crosstown bus routes," according to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT). Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. Despite the project's initial funding source being suspended, the DOT official reassured that it is one of 37 city projects that will continue. This commitment to the project's completion is a testament to the city's dedication to improving public transport.

THE DYCKMAN FARMHOUSE MUSEUM FALL FESTIVAL Join the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum on October 19, 11 am-4 pm, for a day packed with fun, creativity, and a touch of history. Fall Festival returns to the Dyckman Farmhouse with the favorite annual activities, balloon animals, games, crafts, musical performances, a cider press demonstration, and so much more. Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra and José Luis with serenade the visitors. Embrace your inner artist with our arts and crafts table and a paint-and-sip activity led by Art on the Avenue. The historic Hessian military hut will be open to visitors, and the iconic Dyckman Farmhouse will feature exhibitions from two local Uptown artists. Snacks and freshly popped popcorn will also be available for purchase. And that's just the tip of the haystack! There's so much to explore and enjoy. Details: Registration Required / Free Date: October 19 Time: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Organizer: Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Phone: 12123049422 Email: info@dyckmanfarmhouse.or Venue: Dyckman Farmhouse Museum 4881 Broadway New York, NY 10034-3101 United States

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY NEW YORK CITY 10th ANNUAL GATHERING & CELEBRATION OCTOBER 13th - 14th, 2024 RANDALL’S ISLAND   by Annie Hawkins of Sovereign Associates Inc.   24 hours of Cultural Performances, Music, Vending, Food, Spoken Word, Guest Speakers and an Evening Concert. FREE ENTRY to this drug and alcohol-free event. 10/13— Gates Open 10AM Grand Entry 12PM Intertribal Dancing Drum and Dance Specials with Prize Money Cultural Performances Indigenous Advocates and Activists 10/14— Sunrise Tobacco and Water Ceremony Indigenous Advocates and Activists Cultural Performances Visit https://lnkd.in/e_jgyh5g for more activities.

CLIMATE WEEK SUMMIT 2024 Climate Week NYC, the largest annual climate event of its kind, is a celebration of diversity and inclusion. With over 600 events and activities across the City of New York, it brings together business leaders, political change makers, local decision-makers, and civil society representatives of all ages and backgrounds. This diverse collective from all over the world gathers to drive the transition, speed up progress, and champion change that is already happening. Climate Week NYC is hosted by theclimategroup.org, an international non-profit whose goal is to drive climate action fast. Climate Group hosts the official program during the week, which brings together the most senior international figures from business, government, civil society, and the climate sector. They will stream key sessions on their "on-demand" page. This year, Climate Week NYC will be held from September 22 to 29, 2024. The event is organized in coordination with the United Nations General Assembly and the City of New York and takes place every year in partnership with the United Nations. The events calendar can be accessed at https://lnkd.in/g-Ge9ypQ

September 12th to September 22 Immigrants from Naples and the Campania region of Italy were numerous among Mulberry Street residents, and they brought with them devotion to Saint Januarius—San Gennaro, in modern Italian—a third-century Roman martyr who is the patron saint of Naples and whose feast day is September 19th. The Franciscan friars supplied the church of the Shrine of The Most Precious Blood with a relic of San Gennaro’s. The San Gennaro Feast, initiated in America as a religious tribute, was observed with a Mass and with great solemnity. Over the years, the event grew to include a procession of the statue through the streets of Little Italy followed by a street fair, which now spans eleven days. Most Precious Blood Church at 113 Baxter St, is home to the National Shrine of San Gennaro, which is contained in a magnificent chapel. If you missed the floats this weekend, you can still enjoy the balance of the week with all things Italian. Event schedule below: Monday Sept 16th Jessa Quartet                                                      4-6pm Annual Enrico Caruso Opera Night 7-9pm Tuesday Sept 17th Louis Vanaria & JoAnn Robertozzi    4-6pm Karaoke Night with DJ Bob Rettino  7-10pm Wednesday Sept 18th Angelo Venuto and Friends                    4-10pm Thursday Sept 19th Giglio Band                                                            4-5pm Friday Sept 20th Mike Sergio Sings Sinatra                         3-5pm Vanessa Racci                                                   6-9pm Saturday Sept 21st Midnight Dream with Wendy Watt   5:30-6pm Ricky Tinelli                                                           7-10pm Sunday Sept 22nd Eric DeLauro of The Rat Pack Band 11-4pm Jenna Esposito                                                   6-9pm

THE HISPANIC SOCIETY MUSEUM & LIBRARY HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 to October 15, celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library has planned a series of exciting events and activities to celebrate this month visit at https://lnkd.in/ehTGFFtm Mission Statement: The Hispanic Society of America was founded by Archer Milton Huntington in New York City on May 18, 1904, as a “free public library, museum and educational institution, containing objects of artistic, historic, and literary interest,” for the purposes of the “advancement of the study of the Spanish and Portuguese languages, literature, and history, and advancement of the study of the countries wherein Spanish and Portuguese are or have been spoken languages.” With over 900 paintings and 6,000 watercolors and drawings, the Hispanic Society offers a comprehensive survey of Spanish paintings and illustrations, including masterworks by El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, and Sorolla. The library offers unrivaled resources for researchers interested in the history and culture of Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines, with more than 300,000 books and periodicals, including 15,000 volumes printed before 1701, along with over 250,000 manuscripts, letters, and documents dating from the 11th century to the present. Admission to the Museum, Library Reading Room, and all special exhibitions at The Hispanic Society are free. Address: Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets, New York, NY 10032

THE DOMINICAN CULTURAL CENTER IS COMING TO INWOOD By Annie Hawkins of Sovereign Associates A first-of-its-kind cultural center will be coming to Inwood on West 207th Street. The Dominican Center for Arts and Culture was announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday, August 11th, during the National Dominican Day Parade, as the parade returned to Manhattan. The parade celebrated the culture of the Dominican Republic and its diaspora in New York. The center will be located at 307 West 207th St, next to a subway train yard, on the banks of the Harlem River. The Dominican Studies Institute at CUNY will run the center and will have an exhibition space to display Dominican and Latino artists, as well as a theater space for performances and lectures. The state has dedicated some of the funds to help get the center off the ground. This center will also host a children's library focused on preserving the Spanish language and an oral history project focused on preserving the cultural history of Upper Manhattan. According to the City College of New York Dominican Studies Institute, Dominicans make up New York City's largest foreign-born population, with more than a million people living in the New York City metro area. The institute calls the city a "hub of the Dominican population in the U.S.," where a third of the entire country's Dominican population lives. At her announcement, Gov. Hochul also stated: "Through this first-of-its-kind arts and cultural center, New York will celebrate and preserve the history of the Dominican Republic as well as the countless contributions Dominican Americans have made to help shape our Northern Manhattan community into what it is today." Meanwhile, if you haven't already, pay a visit to the beautiful 2-level Inwood Library that opened this summer, housed in the Joseph and Sheila Rosenblatt building on the ground floor of The Eliza, the new affordable housing building at 4790 Broadway.

THE CHINATOWN NIGHT MARKET & NEW YORK RESTAURANT WEEK For the second time this summer, the Chinatown Night Market will return with beloved vendors serving banh mi, tea, sugarcane juice, and much more. It's back on Friday, July 26, from 8 to 11:45 p.m. at the gateway of Manhattan Bridge at Forsyth Plaza and Forsyth Street. The Chinatown Night Market began in 2021. The night market brings a lot more than delicious food to the streets; it also celebrates Chinese culture and community through performances and art. Artisans of traditional folk-art crafts like paper cutting art, sugar painting, and braided straw figures demonstrated their art form, all of which were available for purchase. Food vendors include an array of Chinatown favorites, including Bánh Mì Cô Út, Grand Tea & Imports, Sugarcane Daddy, Kabisera, Mrs. Jiang's Sweet Soups, Whistle & Fizz and Pho Master. For details, copy the link: https://lnkd.in/esrS3YDv To compete with the delicious offerings in the surrounding summer street markets, New York City Restaurant Week's summer edition is also upon us. Reservations for the summer session are available at more than 600 restaurants with prix fixe specials citywide from July 22 to August 18. This year's price points are $30, $45, and $60 for brunch, lunch, and dinner menus on the days of each venue's choosing. There is so much to choose from. Enter "Restaurant Week New York" into your browser, and you will find several sites with helpful reviews to help you make a choice.

DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS PART 2—THE 4 TYPES By Annie Hawkins of Sovereign Associates Inc As I wrote in my previous post, down payment assistance (DPA) for first-time buyers can be important in helping more buyers become homeowners. Outlined below are the 4 types of DPA: 1.   Downpayment and closing cost assistance (74% of all DPA). ·     81% of all DPA programs have deferred payments: These are second mortgages that must be paid in full only when the borrower moves, sells, or refinances. ·     53% are forgivable: These second loans are often structured over 5 years. Each year the borrower stays in their property, the loan amount is reduced by 20% until the entire 100% is forgiven after 5 years. ·     50% are forgivable loans with deferred payments: These second loans may be reduced to zero if the borrower stays in their property for the 5 or 10 years specified in the loan terms. If not, the payment on the remaining loan is deferred until the borrower moves, sells, or refinances. ·     Grants: Money or gifts that do not have to be repaid. ·     Second mortgages: Very low or 0% interest rate loans that may be deferred or forgiven incrementally over time. ·     Combined first mortgage and DPA programs: For example, pairing a low-interest-rate first mortgage with DPA. 2.   10% are low-rate first mortgages. These can include below-market interest rates, lower or no private mortgage insurance, or up to 100% financing. 3.   3% have mortgage credit certificates (MCCs). MCCs offer up to $2000 in a tax credit, which is a reduction off your federal income tax due. This program allows you to claim this tax credit for the entire time you own the property until you pay off your loan. Also, if there’s an MCC available on a property, you can usually layer it with other types of DPA. 4.   13% are matched savings programs. Sometimes known as “lease-to-own matching programs,” these are available nationally and help renters become homeowners. The buyer saves money for the down payment, and the amount saved is matched with DPA. The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) offers the following options: ·     The Individual Development and Empowerment Act (IDEA) ·     The Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) ·     Housing Choice Vouchers. This is a major federal program for assisting very low-income families, senior citizens, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. This category includes Section 8 Housing. If you are looking to explore your options for DPA, a committed broker can assist you in finding a knowledgeable mortgage banker and fulfilling the sometimes arduous but ultimately rewarding steps toward your new home.