El friso de 24 metros de Richmond Barthé, titulado “Éxodo y Danza”, ha estado expuesto en las viviendas de NYCHA durante 84 años, donde se le conoce cariñosamente como “El Muro”.

La recién restaurada “Éxodo y Danza”, del escultor del Renacimiento de Harlem Richmond Barthé, en Kingsborough Houses. (Victoria Moran Garcia/City Limits)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 11 de agosto. Traducido por Victoria Moran Garcia. Read the English version here.

La semana pasada, en las Kingsborough Houses, en Crown Heights, la Autoridad de Vivienda de la Ciudad de Nueva York (NYCHA por sus siglas en inglés) presentó la restauración del friso de más de 80 pies titulado “Éxodo y Danza”, obra de Richmond Barthé, financiada en parte por la alcaldía de Nueva York y la Mellon Foundation. 

“Sus esfuerzos, como todos sus esfuerzos, están impulsados por una pasión por las artes y la participación de los residentes, y el resultado final es un lugar para que esta comunidad se reúna y disfrute durante las próximas décadas”, dijo Lisa Bova-Hiatt, directora ejecutiva de NYCHA.

La restauración fue dirigida por NYCHA y el Public Housing Community Fund, creado en 2016 para apoyar a los residentes a través de programas dentro de los 335 conjuntos de viviendas de NYCHA en la ciudad de Nueva York. En enero de 2024, el fondo recibió $2 millones de dólares de la Mellon Foundation para ayudar a restaurar “Éxodo y Danza” y financiar futuros programas artísticos en Kingsborough Houses. 

El friso en bajorrelieve presenta diversas figuras que representan imágenes bíblicas y danzas africanas, y se completó originalmente en 1939. Barthé lo creó inicialmente para colocarlo en un teatro de las Harlem River Houses, pero finalmente se expuso en las Kingsborough Houses en 1941. Durante sus 84 años allí, la obra ha sido cariñosamente conocida como “El muro”. Evergreene Architectural Arts y Jablonski Building Conservation completaron la restauración, y la obra ahora se encuentra en una nueva pared de ladrillo. 

“Nos encontramos en un momento en nuestro país en el que están derribando monumentos de nuestra cultura, en el que están intentando borrar nuestra historia cultural, diciéndonos que no importamos”, dijo el senador del estado de Nueva York Zellnor Myrie. “Así que hoy es muy importante porque estamos unidos para decir que esta comunidad importa. Sí, nuestra historia cultural importa. Quiénes somos importa”.

En un esfuerzo por disuadir la delincuencia, el suelo frente al friso cuenta con luces incrustadas para iluminar la zona, lo que Myrie describió como “una herramienta de seguridad pública”.

“La única diferencia entre los disparos en una cuadra y la paz en otra es la gente y la cultura, y tener una cultura de paz. El arte hace eso. Nos hace pensar más allá de nosotros mismos. Nos inspira a hacer tantas cosas buenas y positivas”, dijo la asambleísta Stephanie Zimmerman. “Este es un anfiteatro de amor y alegría. Deberíamos sentarnos aquí todos los días, tocar música, hablar de nuestra historia, hablar de nuestros sueños”.

Funcionarios cortaron la cinta del recién restaurado “Éxodo y Danza” en Kingsborough Houses. (Victoria Moran Garcia/City Limits)

Durante la ceremonia de inauguración, los ponentes reconocieron a Larry Weekes, expresidente de Fulton Art Fair y artista residente de Kingsborough, como uno de los principales impulsores del proyecto de restauración. Weekes falleció a principios de este verano. 

“En el apogeo del movimiento Black Lives Matter, miré el friso y pensé, esto son vidas negras. Teníamos que hacer algo para restaurarlo y revitalizarlo”, dijo, según se cita en el programa del evento.

Weekes organizó programas de arte en el Centro para adultos mayores de Kingsborough Houses, en los que Eden White, residente de la vivienda para personas mayores en Kingsborough Extension, dice que participó. Ella dice que visitará el friso con más frecuencia. 

“Ahora se ve 100 por ciento mejor”, dijo Eden White. “Voy a decirles a mis amigos y a mis nietos que vengan. Cada vez que vengan a visitarme, les diré que bajen aquí para ver cómo se ve”. 

La subvención de $2 millones de la Mellon Foundation también se utilizará para futuros programas en las viviendas de NYCHA. Esto incluye un mural en la parte posterior del friso en colaboración con Fulton Art Fair y una serie de “Storywalks” —instalaciones artísticas que destacan historias y recuerdos compartidos, en colaboración con Creative Urban Alchemy.

Para ponerse en contacto con la reportera de esta noticia, escriba a Victoriam@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post Friso de famoso escultor del Renacimiento de Harlem vuelve a Kingsborough Houses tras restauración appeared first on City Limits.

By DAVID FISCHER and MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday over whether detainees at a temporary immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades have been denied their legal rights.

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In the second of two lawsuits challenging practices at the facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” civil rights attorneys are seeking a preliminary injunction to ensure that detainees at the facility have confidential access to their lawyers, which they say hasn’t happened. Florida officials dispute that claim.

The civil rights attorneys also want U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz to identify an immigration court that has jurisdiction over the detention center so that petitions can be filed for the detainees’ bond or release. The attorneys say that hearings for their cases have been routinely canceled in federal Florida immigration courts by judges who say they don’t have jurisdiction over the detainees held in the Everglades.

“The situation at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is so anomalous from what is typically granted at other immigration facilities,” Eunice Cho, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, said Thursday during a virtual meeting to prepare for Monday’s hearing in Miami.

But before delving into the core issues of the detainees’ rights, Ruiz has said he wants to hear about whether the lawsuit was filed in the proper jurisdiction in Miami. The state and federal government defendants have argued that even though the isolated airstrip where the facility was built is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district.

The judge has hinted that some issues may pertain to one district and other issues to the other district, but said he would decide after Monday’s hearing.

“I think we should all be prepared that, before we get into any real argument about preliminary injunctive relief, that we at least spend some time working through the venue issues,” Ruiz said Thursday.

The hearing over legal access comes as another federal judge in Miami considers whether construction and operations at the facility should be halted indefinitely because federal environmental rules weren’t followed. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing that wrapped up last week. She has said she plans to issue a ruling before the order expires later this week.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that his administration was preparing to open a second immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison in north Florida. DeSantis justified building the second detention center by saying President Donald Trump’s administration needs the additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants.

The state of Florida has disputed claims that “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees have been unable to meet with their attorneys. The state’s lawyers said that since July 15, when videoconferencing started at the facility, the state has granted every request for a detainee to meet with an attorney, and in-person meetings started July 28. The first detainees arrived at the beginning of July.

But the civil rights attorneys said that even if lawyers have been scheduled to meet with their clients at the detention center, it hasn’t been in private or confidential, and it is more restrictive than at other immigration detention facilities. They said scheduling delays and an unreasonable advanced notice requirement have hindered their ability to meet with the detainees, thereby violating their constitutional rights.

Civil rights attorneys said officers are going cell-to-cell to pressure detainees into signing voluntary removal orders before they’re allowed to consult their attorneys, and some detainees have been deported even though they didn’t have final removal orders. Along with the spread of a respiratory infection and rainwater flooding their tents, the circumstances have fueled a feeling of desperation among detainees, the attorneys wrote in a court filing.

“One intellectually disabled detainee was told to sign a paper in exchange for a blanket, but was then deported subject to voluntary removal after he signed, without the ability to speak to his counsel,” the filing said.

The judge has promised a quick decision once the hearing is done.

Harry Black, Bloomberg News

Artificial intelligence, touted for its potential to transform medicine, led to some doctors losing skills after just a few months in a new study.

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AI helped health professionals to better detect pre-cancerous growths in the colon, but when the assistance was removed, their ability to find tumors dropped by about 20% compared with rates before the tool was ever introduced, according to findings published Wednesday.

Health care systems around the world are embracing AI with a view to boosting patient outcomes and productivity. Just this year, the UK government announced £11 million ($14.8 million) in funding for a new trial to test how AI can help catch breast cancer earlier.

The AI in the study probably prompted doctors to become over-reliant on its recommendations, “leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without AI assistance,” the scientists said in the paper.

They surveyed four endoscopy centers in Poland and compared detection success rates three months before AI implementation and three months after. Some colonoscopies were performed with AI and some without, at random. The results were published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal.

Yuichi Mori, a researcher at the University of Oslo and one of the scientists involved, predicted that the effects of de-skilling will “probably be higher” as AI becomes more powerful.

What’s more, the 19 doctors in the study were highly experienced, having performed more than 2,000 colonoscopies each. The effect on trainees or novices might be starker, said Omer Ahmad, a consultant gastroenterologist at University College Hospital London.

“Although AI continues to offer great promise to enhance clinical outcomes, we must also safeguard against the quiet erosion of fundamental skills required for high-quality endoscopy,” Ahmad, who wasn’t involved in the research, wrote a comment alongside the article.

A study conducted by MIT this year raised similar concerns after finding that using OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write essays led to less brain engagement and cognitive activity.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

TREMONTON, Utah (AP) — Two police officers were shot and killed in a northern Utah city and a man was taken into custody, authorities said Monday.

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The officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday in a neighborhood in Tremonton. A sheriff’s deputy and a police dog who also responded were wounded and were hospitalized in fair condition, police said.

After the officers were shot, bystanders persuaded the man to put down his weapon, police said. SWAT teams responded to clear the home and verify that there was no further threat, police said.

“Upon arrival, they immediately began taking fire,” Police Detective Crystal Beck of neighboring Brigham City told reporters earlier. “They requested additional units. And then stopped answering their radio.”

The man was arrested on charges of aggravated murder, police said in a news release. His name was not immediately released.

Tremonton, which has about 10,000 people, is about 75 miles north of Salt Lake City.