Yorkville Common Pantry volunteers and staff restock shelves for the next day's distribution. (Photo by Nate Rawlings)

Outside the pantry, a few minutes before the doors would open, Carlos Dominguez, 20, waited in line with 20 other. It was his third visit to the pantry within a week. He talked about why he came.

“Somebody told me, a couple of my friends. I come with three or four of them,” Dominguez said. “People come here to eat every day. I don’t have much money, and the food is free.“ He said the economy has hurt his business as a handyman and jack of all trades. “I’m a car mechanic for BMWs, Volkswagens, Toyotas, I paint, I make keys,” he said.

Dominguez has tried another free food pantry, although he couldn’t remember its name. He prefers Yorkville’s pantry because it offers so many different kinds of foods and services. “You can brush your teeth, wash your clothes,” he said. “There’s a lot of food—like every kind of food. I like the fruit, some oranges, apple juice.”

He described his favorite meal. “The one with the chicken, the rice, the beans and potatoes with cheese,” he said. “It’s real good.”

—Sam Petulla

The Yorkville Common Pantry, the city’s largest community pantry, provides food to more than 7,000 households. Clients receive weekly packages containing nine planned meals– three a day for three days – and usually purchase additional meals with food stamps.

The average client family used to visit the pantry 1.5 times per month, according to Daniel Reyes, the pantry’s program director. That number increased to 3.85 times per month at the recession’s height, but has fallen back to 3.2 times per month.

“The year before last, we saw a spike in the number of new clients,” Reyes says. “Low end workers lost their jobs at a greater rate than others.”

More than a million New York City residents require emergency food at least once a year, according to a study by City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City. More than a third of those residents will have to choose between buying food and paying rent. And that report was released in 2006, when national unemployment was 4.6 percent. It’s now 10.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So at the Yorkville pantry, where volunteers are preparing invitations for the big annual fundraiser, there are no plans for a black tie gala, theater excursion or cocktail party. This year, the pantry is asking its supporters to stay home and mail checks.

“In this climate, we didn’t feel it was right to have an event,” says Stephen Grimaldi, the pantry’s executive director. “This year we’re having a non-event event. Don’t rent a tux, go to the dry cleaners- –spend your money on yourself, and a little bit on us too.”

In the lingering economic downturn, organizations that feed the hungry are facing a two-sided crunch. As unemployment rises, more people need their services, but the corporations that traditionally support them have suffered large losses and contributed less money.

“It has dried up — more than a bit,” Grimaldi says of corporate donations. Since government funds only account for 13 percent of the pantry’s operating budget, private and corporate donations must cover the cost of feeding the hungry in Harlem.

Over the past three years, as Stein notes, the number of clients who come to the Yorkville Common Pantry has increased dramatically. In 2007, the pantry served 1.4 million meals, which rose to 1.7 million in 2008. This year, the pantry has served more than 2 million meals, 1.9 million of which were pantry food packages.

“Hunger’s on the front page, and it should be,” Grimaldi says. “People who didn’t traditionally need meal programs are coming.”

Such challenges have affected the vast majority of the city’s food assistance programs. Nearly 93 percent of emergency food sites saw an increase in first-time clients; more than half saw a greater than 25 percent increase, according to another report by the Food Bank of New York City.

The Food Bank, which is the city’s largest hunger relief organization and contributes food to nearly 1,000 assistance programs, including the Yorkville Common Pantry, had difficulty meeting the higher demand early in the recession. Almost 70 percent of its emergency food sites reported reducing the amount of food given to each family, 28 percent reduced distribution hours and days, and more than half reported having to turn away individuals for lack of food, according to its 2009 report, “NYC Hunger Experience: A Year in Recession.”

The Food Bank used several tax changes and increased unemployment benefits to enroll more eligible families in food stamp programs and turn away fewer clients. But these maneuvers have been temporary solutions, and the Food Bank is seeking more sustainable ways to serve the growing need.

“Last year’s response, however successful, was temporary, and leaves us with a tremendous gap in resources,” Food Bank President and CEO Lucy Cabrera said in a statement. “Only sustainable solutions will drive down food poverty.”

The Yorkville Common Pantry has never had to turn away any client for lack of food, according to Reyes. “Granted, the packages aren’t as full as they used to be,” says Reyes. “When we see a large intake of new people, it’s usually from a pantry that’s shut down or turned them away. We get them processed quickly and make sure they get a meal package.”

Though Yorkville Common Pantry serves anyone in the city through its hot meal program, which allows people to receive a single meal when they’re in great need, the core of its service is the pantry program. Individuals and families in 12 Manhattan zip codes can register to receive free groceries weekly. Seven of those 12 are in Harlem.

Candice Frawley has served as a volunteer since 2002, and chairs the pantry’s development committee. “My background, unfortunately, is professional fundraising,” Frawley says. “But I’d rather be stuffing boxes.”

Her dual role in the pantry’s operations has allowed Frawley to see donations ebbing during the recession.

“Last year was the toughest, but people have still been generous,” Frawley says. “Lots of corporations donate time through volunteer days and gifts in kind. It actually started getting tighter in the 90′s because of mergers and acquisitions. We might have three banks all donating, then they merge into one bank.”

Though corporate donations account for part of the pantry’s funding, Frawley says it has never relied on large donations for the weekly food distribution. “Thank goodness we weren’t heavily reliant on those that ran into problems when the you-know-what hit the fan last fall,” she says.

In the midst of the slowdown in funding and the increase in clients, the pantry has expanded its services for the most needy New Yorkers.

Its basement serves a variety of purposes: Homeless people living on streets or in shelters can use its showers and laundry machines. A counselor works with homeless clients to find them more permanent help. On Saturdays, the basement becomes a classroom where volunteers teach cooking and nutrition classes for adults and children, emphasizing a healthy lifestyle. Once a week, a volunteer barber gives free haircuts. “Food is the primary object, but it’s an engagement tool for other things,” Grimaldi says.

For instance, the pantry recently added a program, with the city’s human resources department and its housing authority, to help clients file electronic food stamp applications. Clients can bring their paperwork to the pantry, where a staffer will prepare an online form, so that clients don’t have to trek to another office for food stamps. This year, more than 500 people have received food stamps through this program. “That’s $1 million back into this Harlem community,” Grimaldi says.

To support such services, Grimaldi and his staff have found creative ways to cut costs while actually increasing service.

“We’ve cut every possible expense,” Grimaldi says. “Everything from turning off the lights to negotiating gas and electric rates, buying early at a locked in rate.”

The pantry operates with a staff of only 19 paid employees; volunteers provide 63 percent of the labor.

Roland Woodland, directing clients to the exit after they receive their food, began volunteering at the pantry when he retired after teaching special education in Harlem for 27 years. He has gotten to know many of the clients, but cautions “you have to keep it professional. No one can have more peanut butter or bags than anyone else. You have to treat everyone the same.”

The pantry recently received an award from the Robin Hood Foundation that included a $50,000 grant to continue servicing Harlem’s hungry. “We’re a professional organization with a professional manager,” Stein says. “You will much more directly help the needy by giving to the YCP rather than to a city-wide organization or a smaller one that doesn’t feature the professionalism, client relationship and case management we have.”

Before moving on to administrative tasks, the volunteers leave the shelves stocked for the next day, when clients will line up for food packages again.

Columbia University's proposed expansion into Manhattanville. (Graphic by Lisa Waananen)

By The Uptowner Staff

Note: this story was updated on Dec. 4, 2009.

Harlem was rocked by a state court decision today forbidding Columbia University’s use of eminent domain to obtain land for its planned $6.28 billion campus expansion. The ruling overturned last year’s decision green lighting the property takeover, which would transform 17 acres of warehouses into tree-lined promenades, high-rise dormitories and glass-walled science facilities.

“I personally was surprised because this was depicted as Goliath, being Empire State Development Corporation and Columbia, against David,” said Patricia Jones, chair of Community Board 9. “How often does David win?” Community Board 9 has been vocal in its opposition against Columbia’s expansion plans.

Columbia aimed to extend its campus into a section bordered roughly by Broadway, Riverside Drive, 129th and 133rd Streets, adding up to 6.8 million square feet of new facilities in 16 buildings. It has spent the past several years buying land in Upper Manhattan from dozens of property owners. A few are still holding their ground.

Jose McKinney, 46, lives in a building at 133rd and Broadway. He’s been there since 1999, and said he’s not against the expansion because some landlords can’t pay taxes or take care of their buildings and plan to leave anyway. “If you don’t take care of your neighborhood, someone will come in and take care of it for you,” McKinney said. However, he didn’t like the idea of evicting businesses that don’t want to leave.

Yoisha Salazar, 37, a manager at Floridita, a restaurant at 126th and Broadway in the swath of land Columbia wanted, was relieved by the news. “I’m happy because we’re not going to lose our jobs,” she said.

Ramon Diaz, Floridita’s owner, said, “What I think the Appellate Division did was make themselves look good, throw a bone at the little guy.” Diaz, who has only five years left before he pays off his mortgage, said he thinks a higher Court of Appeals will eventually overturn the decision.

“Columbia is not a party in this litigation and the ESDC has issued a statement of its intent to appeal this matter,” wrote Victoria Benitez, senior public affairs officer at Columbia.

December has been a fateful month for Columbia University in each of the past few years. On Dec. 20, 2007, the New York City Council voted to rezone the planned expansion area from light manufacturing to mixed use, clearing the way for Columbia to proceed with the project. And one week before Christmas last year, the state approved eminent domain. A resounding victory for the university, the declaration was met by instant retaliation from a few Manhattanville property owners’ lawyers.

Nick Sprayregen, who owns several properties in the area, has been battling Columbia’s uptown conquest for years. His business is one of the petitioners in the case against the university, and he has declared the issue a “crusade,” going as far as accusing the university and New York State of collusion. “I feel unbelievable,” Sprayregen told The New York Times today. A call from The Uptowner to Sprayregen was not immediately returned.

According to ESDC, the expansion project is financed entirely by Columbia. It would create 14,000 construction jobs and 6,000 university jobs. The court decision today is not catastrophic to construction plans. The university owns 61 buildings in the zone and can build around the 6 buildings it doesn’t own.

The planned Jerome L. Greene Science Center, for example, is on land Columbia already owns.  “It will continue to move forward,” Benitez said.

Benitez said that site demolition and other pre-construction work has already been initiated. “This new academic building will focus on research that will unlock the mysteries of the human brain and lead to cures for neurodegenerative diseases,” she explained.

An owner of a nearby gas station was “practically in tears” as he rushed over to tell Diaz the news of the decision, Diaz said. “It’s been a very long process,” he said, “and people are tired.” Meetings that used to bring in 150 people now bring 40 or 50 people. More and more people have moved out or been evicted, but Diaz says he still has faith.

Reporting contributed by Sarah Butrymowicz, Cecile Dehesdin, Andrew Keshner, Tim Kiladze, Nate Rawlings, Shane Snow, Joshua Tapper and Lisa Waananen

The Harlem Hellfighters march up Fifth Avenue at the start of the Veterans Day Parade. (Photo by Nate Rawlings)

As nearly 20,000 active troops, reservists and veterans assembled at Washington Square Park in the pre-dawn chill on Veterans Day, listening to praise for their sacrifice from dignitaries as they double-checked uniforms, flags and banners for the parade up Fifth Avenue, the Harlem Hellfighters of the 369th Sustainment Brigade stood ready. Their preparations were complete before the speeches began.

“I wasn’t assigned this, I just took it,” Spc. Richard Figueroa, a soldier with more than 10 years in the unit, said of the brigade’s banner. Behind the Figueroa, more than 200 Hellfighters got set to march.

The 369th Sustainment Brigade, headquartered at 142nd Street next to the Harlem River, has soldiers from all over the city and upstate who do a myriad of complex missions. It includes two transportation companies in Staten Island and New Windsor, a communications unit in Peekskill and a finance company in Whitestone.

The 369th shoulders most of the combat support for the 53^rd Troop Command, one of the two largest commands in the New York National Guard. The Hellfighters added units as part of an Army-wide reorganization after the start of the Iraq War that moved many different jobs into the same brigade.

“The unit’s changed, it’s a lot bigger now,” Figueroa said.  “It was a lot more comfortable before — now we’re bigger, so it’s going to take a little bit of getting used to.”

While the 369th plays a supporting role today, the unit descends from the Harlem Hellfighters of the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit that fought in both World Wars. The original Hellfighters deployed to France in late 1917 under the command of future U.S. Congressman Hamilton Fish III and fought as part of the 16^th French Infantry Division. The Hellfighters spent more than six months on the front lines, fought in four major campaigns and suffered more than 1,500 casualties, according to the New York State Military Museum.

The Hellfighters became one of most decorated New York units in World War I. Pvt. Henry Lincoln Johnson was the first American to be awarded the French Croix de Guerre for valor after fighting off 24 Germans in close, hand to hand combat.

In World War II, the Hellfighters fought as part of the all-black 93rd Division that saw action in New Guinea, Jolo and Morotai in the Pacific Theater.

Despite the change in the 369th’s mission, current troops remain well versed in the unit’s history and decorations. Before a soldier in the 369th can wear the unit’s crest, a blue shield with a curled rattlesnake, he or she must memorize and answer questions about the Hellfighters’s battle accomplishments.

“Once you can relate the history back to the higher rank officer, then you get pinned,” Figueroa said. “And that’s the way we keep our history going.”

Eight years after the 9/11 attacks and six years into the Iraq War, many reserve units are short-handed, but the 369th sees no shortage of reserve soldiers.

“We’re actually over strength right now,” said Staff Sgt. Jaime Lino, a former active duty paratrooper in the 82^nd Airborne Division who left the regular Army to become a personnel specialist in the 369th. “We’re authorized 2146, and we have 2190-something, so we’re doing OK.”

“But that kills reenlistment bonuses,” Spc. Rafael Hernandez added.

The modern day Hellfighters see themselves as an important part of the community and keepers of Harlem history.

“A lot of money’s been brought into Harlem,” Figueroa said.  “A lot of the brownstones have been fixed up now, a lot of new businesses. But they gotta keep their culture, their own culture. That’s why I think it’s real important for the unit to keep it going.”

At the call to attention, the Hellfighters straightened up. Behind the parade’s grand marshal, legendary actor and World War II Navy veteran Tony Curtis, the Hellfighters marched through a canyon of cheering crowds up Fifth Avenue toward Central Park.

Ydanis Rodriguez speaks at a campaign rally before Tuesday's election. (Photo courtesy of Ydanis2009)

Ydanis Rodriguez, the long standing favorite to win the 10th District seat on the City Council, spent election day canvassing Inwood, trying to rouse support at the polls. His message was clear — get out and vote for Bill Thompson.

“Today, I am asking that you remember to cast your vote down the Democratic line!” Rodriguez told supporters in email messages and postings on his campaign web site.

Nearly two months after winning the Democratic primary with a landslide 60 percent of the vote, Rodriguez slammed independent Ruben Dario Vargas in Tuesday’s general election, getting 95 percent of the vote. In the 10th District, 10,672 residents cast votes for Rodriguez, compared with 592 for Vargas.

“I’ll bring the voice of our community to City Hall,” Rodriguez said in a recent interview. “I’ll work with anyone who will bring resources to the community.”

After his primary victory in September, Rodriguez continued to work out of his campaign headquarters on 177th Street, meeting with community leaders and campaigning for Thompson.

“I would like to thank you for all the hard work and dedication to this campaign and our community,” Rodriguez said in a message to his supporters on his web site Tuesday.

Rodriguez ran unsuccessfully for the District 10 seat in 2001 and 2003, narrowly losing to Miguel Martinez on his second try. Martinez represented the district for eight years until, in July, he resigned and pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 in public funds.

Despite his two narrow defeats and Martinez’s resignation, Rodriguez insists his campaign success had its roots in classic political principles.

“Two years ago we decided our slogan would be ‘Honesty, Dignity, Transparency,’” Rodriguez said. “We put it in writing two years ago. I got my values from my parents and that’s how I’ll conduct myself as the City Council representative for this area.”

What Rodriguez did do better than any of his opponents was raise money. The Rodriguez campaign raised $122,986, more than three and a half times the amount raised by any other candidate in the District 10 race, according to the City Campaign Finance Board. Six unions donated $2,750, the maximum allowed from an outside source, and Rodriguez contributed $3,000 of his own money.

One of 11 children born to farm workers in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez immigrated to Washington Heights at 18. He worked as a taxi driver while earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from City College and a master’s degree in bilingual education from the City University of New York. Rodriguez was a founding teacher of Gregorio Luperon High School, which specializes in the education of new immigrant children. He has taught at the school for 14 years.

During a recent interview at his campaign office, Rodriguez appeared ready to make the transition from educator to legislator.

“As soon as I take office I’ll continue supporting bills that make sense for all New Yorkers,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll be putting a lot of energy into bills for quality education, for more money for legal services for tenants, more money for tenants associations.”

Rodriguez plans to draw on his experience as a teacher to improve education in his district. “Education is my top priority,” he said. “I’ll work with other elected officials for early education, zero to 5 early education programs with art, music, gymnastics. Programs other communities take for granted don’t exist in Washington Heights. I’ll work with my colleagues to bring them here.”

One of the many challenges facing educators in District 10 is teaching a large Spanish-speaking population.

“At some schools at the neighborhood level, 70 percent or more children in the city are Spanish speaking,” said Maria Torres-Guzman, professor of bilingual education at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

To address the large number of children requiring bilingual education, Rodriguez said he plans to explore all available options. According to Torres-Guzman, one of the most successful programs has been “dual immersion,” in which native Spanish and native English speakers learn both languages concurrently and become fluent in both.

“There’s a misconception that dual language is for the middle class,” Torres-Guzman said. “You don’t have to transition out of anything, and the results have been fabulous.”

“There may be a place for that in our community,” Rodriguez said, asked about dual immersion programs. “I’ll support any program that guarantees a quality education. We must be open to creative change. Change what’s not working, bring in new programs.”

Despite his excitement, Rodriguez is saddened to leave his teaching career. “Education is what gave me the opportunity to be what I am today,” he said. Yet, in the midst of the long transition, he appeared ready to get to work. “This is an opportunity for me to continue what I’ve been doing my whole life. Now I have a staff and an office. I’m excited.”

Michael Bloomberg thanks supporters at a victory party in midtown Tuesday Night. Photo: Associated Press

By Andrew Keshner and Nate Rawlings

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won a narrow victory over City Comptroller Bill Thompson to earn a third term as mayor, according to Associated Press precinct reports. Credit uptown voters for making this a closer race than expected: preliminary results show Thompson winning more than two-thirds of the northern Manhattan vote.

Citywide, Bloomberg won by a 51 to 46 percent margin, according to Associated Press figures. With 96 percent of districts reporting, the two-term incumbent took more than 530,000 votes compared to Thompson’s roughly 486,000 votes. Bloomberg’s five-percent margin victory tonight is noticeably smaller than the 2005 win ushering in his second term. He slammed Democratic challenger Fernando Ferrer that year , 58 to 39 percent  Four years earlier, in 2001, Bloomberg squeaked by Mark Green with a 49 to 45 percent margin.

Thompson made a strong showing north of 125th Street, taking 67.8 percent of the local vote, compared to Bloomberg’s 30 percent. Uptowner interviews earlier today revealed both Thompson support and anti-Bloomberg sentiment.

“I wanted to definitely vote for Bill Thompson,” said Milagros Genera-Rochet, a Harlem resident, citing the mayor’s position on term limits. “I think that Mayor Bloomberg has the arrogance of adding himself four years, changing the law to suit him.”

Meanwhile, Josmat Rojas of Inwood called Bloomberg “a very dirty politician,” adding, “I don’t know Bill as much as I would like to but I know I didn’t want Mike Bloomberg there anymore so I voted Bill.”

Despite support for the challenger, preliminary turnout in upper Manhattan was sluggish and in step with low turnout rates during other mayoral elections. In uptown precincts, between 20 and 25 percent of registered voters went to the polls, about half the turnout during last year’s presidential vote. The figures may not include all absentee ballots.

Bloomberg touted continuing drops in crime and gains in public education during his victory speech at his midtown campaign headquarters just before midnight. He made other pledges, from planting a million trees to creating jobs from the South Bronx to Coney Island. “If you think you seen progress over the past eight years, I got news for you: You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Bloomberg said to a wave of cheers.

Addressing supporters a little earlier, around 11:30 p.m., Thompson made no mention of how close the race was in the end and tried to put a good face on the situation. “I leave tonight feeling exceedingly proud of the work we did together,” he said, pledging to put aside differences with the mayor and get back to work on city issues.

Michael Bloomberg buys a snack from a school fundraiser after voting on Tuesday. Photo: Associated Press

With tonight’s win, Bloomberg becomes just the fourth three-term mayor in New York history, along with Fiorello LaGuardia (1934-1945), Robert Wagner (1954-1965), and Ed Koch (1978-1989). But tonight’s victory may not pave the way to New York City political immortality.

Bloomberg’s re-election begins amid controversy over term limits that could result in a much thinner mandate. In 1993, New Yorkers voted to limit all elected officials to two terms, and in 1996, voters struck down a City Council attempt to allow officials to extend those limits. The issue arose again in October 2008, when Bloomberg introduced legislation that would allow him and all elected officials to serve a third term. The City Council agreed, by a 29-22 vote, to allow officials to seek office a third time.

“It says that their votes and their voice do not matter,” Thompson said on the day of the City Council decision, according to the New York Times. “Bullying and heavy-handed threats are more powerful than democratic ideals.”

Tonight was the public’s first chance to weigh in on the term-limit extension that set the stage for third-term runs by Bloomberg and, locally, City Councilman Robert Jackson.

Today’s election also showed that Bloomberg’s $85.8 million was well-spent. That’s the amount Bloomberg, who made his fortune building a financial information and media company, spent on his campaign, according to New York City Campaign Finance Board filings. By contrast, Thompson had a war chest of just $4.4 million.

During his speech, Bloomberg congratulated newly-elected Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio – who have had their differences with the mayor in the past.

Bloomberg tried to look past disagreements tonight.  ”At the end of the day, we all agree on a heck of a lot more than we disagree on,” Bloomberg told his supporters. “Especially our love of New York City.”

Additional reporting by Sarah Butrymowicz, Lisa Waananen and Suzanne Weinstock

Jets of Harlem founder Jamel Wright (Left) confers with an assistant coach at a recent practice. (Photo by Nate Rawlings)

Two Jets of Harlem teams remain undefeated six weeks into play in the Big Apple Youth Football League.

The Jets’ Pee Wee team, for boys under 11, boasts an 8-0 record; the younger Might-Mite Green team, its members under 9, is 7-0-1, with its only blemish a 0-0 tie.

“The kids are looking really good so far, and we’re playing some great football,” said Jets of Harlem founder and head coach Jamel Wright.

Wright established Jets of Harlem five years ago. It now fields seven youth football teams for boys 7 to 18 who play and practice at Harlem River Park in East Harlem.

“For me, this whole thing is about much more than football,” said Wright, who works as an MTA administrator. “I’m a firm believer that if you don’t give kids something to do, they’ll do something, and it’s not always good.”

Wright has applied his philosophy to the entire organization, requiring all players to present monthly school progress reports to their coaches and parents. “About 90 percent of our guys are at or above grade level,” Wright said. “If they’re struggling in school, instead of one practice a week, they’re required to go to the El Faro Beacon Tutorial Center and get help. They can also go on off days, anything they need to do better in school.”

The Jets of Harlem Superprep team practices at Harlem River Park. (Photo by Nate Rawlings)

Wright has long run the day-to-day operations out of his apartment on First Avenue. Although the organization rents a storage locker, the paperwork associated with keeping track of more than 130
players takes up a great deal of space, he said.

But in July, real estate developer Hans Futterman provided the Jets with a 2200 square feet office space on the second floor of a condominium at 2280 Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

“I’m a huge fan of the program,” and a Jets parent, Futterman said in an email. “The team has signed an extended 10-year lease with zero rent and the option to extend for another 10 years. They will move in around April,” he later added.

While Wright hopes the new office space will help with his logistical work, practices remain hectic with seven teams — more than 100 players — practicing on a single field. “This is controlled chaos, that’s what this is,” Wright said at a recent practice as he spent a full hour distributing game uniforms to dozens of players.

Across the field, as players ran blocking drills, parents gathered to yell instructions and encouragement.

Two of the organization’s seven teams have dominated the competition this fall. The Pee Wee team defeated five of its opponents by an average score of 48-0, including a 56-0 rout of the Downtown Giants in September, and have only surrendered six points all season. The Mighty Mite (Green) team played two close games before winning the next three by 49-0 and 40-0 and 28-0 respectively.

“That’s my son, Steven,” said Steven Umlauf, a managing director for Morgan Stanley and father of an 8-year-old offensive tackle. “Steven, don’t jump offsides!” he yelled, then resumed the conversation. “Coach Mel runs a great organization, and we’re just excited to be here to help.”

Glenn Wright, 1988-2009 (Photo courtesy of Blondie Rodriguez)

In the early summer of 2006, Glenn Wright went to midtown Manhattan, taking a cab to ensure he was on time. In a Bank of America conference room high above Central Park South, Wright spoke, quietly but eloquently, to an audience of banking executives about how his life had changed in the previous six months.

“We were all wide eyed, “ remembers Kris Breton, Wright’s robotics coach and mentor who accompanied him that day. “I already had an appreciation for all the kids, but there was a special light on Glenn.”

On September 12, Wright was stabbed to death at the Lower East Side Baruch Houses, where he was helping his grandmother wash her apartment windows. Police believe his death was a case of mistaken identity and have arraigned two suspects on manslaughter and gang assault charges. (See accompanying chart on gun violence in New York) Next month, the East Harlem Tutorial Program, where Wright mentored young students, will announce a college scholarship in his name.

Wright was one of the standout members of the East Central Park High School robotics team that competed in the 2006 FIRST Robotics World Championships. Two months after returning from the world competition, Wright spoke to the executives about how much he learned by building a robot, by traveling to Atlanta to compete against the world’s best teams, and by spending time with Breton.

“That was his first time speaking publicly,” remembers Wright’s sister, Blondie Rodriguez. “I was surprised he spoke; he was a back of the room kind of guy.”

The robotics competition, which changes every year, has involved maneuvering robots in stacking games, races and obstacle courses. The 2006 competition required robots to play dodge ball. The robot the East Central Park team crafted stood about three feet tall, moved on wheels and featured a pitching mechanism for throwing balls.

The team fought its way to the second round of the regionals before forming an alliance with Morris High School in the Bronx. They won the finals to advance to the world championships in Atlanta, surpassing even the team’s expectations. “Winning was outside of my scope of what was possible,” Breton said. In Atlanta, the team found “a dose of reality,” he added, losing in the second round. Still, the teammates were amazed at what they’d achieved.

“For weeks Glenn carried around the medal,” Breton said. “It was such a source of pride that he was part of something that was successful.”

“Getting into FIRST was an outlet for his creative and technical skills,” said Wright’s brother, Peter Wright Jr. “The confidence he gained translated into all parts of his life.”

The 2006 East Central Park High School Robotics Team with its winning robot. Glenn Wright is standing back row left. (Photo courtesy of Kristian Breton)

Although Wright wanted to continue to study science and engineering, “his grades weren’t that good, maybe B-,” said Breton. Still, Wright enrolled at Borough of Manhattan Community College, took prerequisite courses and planned to study graphic design. For the past three years, he volunteered at the East Harlem Tutorial Program where he tutored students after school.

When he wasn’t working with youth in East Harlem or caring for his 13-year-old brother Isa, who has Down syndrome, Wright immersed himself in a number of hobbies. “He was always interested in photography,” said Peter Wright Jr., “but it became more than a hobby.”

“His look was a skateboard and a camera,” added Rodriguez.

According to his friends, Wright was a fervent skateboarder who spent long hours learning new tricks and teaching them to his buddies. “He was an inspiration for us in skateboarding,” said Wright’s friend Alberto Inamagua. “He was the last one to learn, but he was the first one to do new tricks. That was one of the strong things about him — he wasn’t scared to try new things.”

To honor Wright’s memory, his family hopes that the scholarship with the East Harlem Tutorial Program will assist a student who blossomed the way Wright did. “Glenn was in a stage of becoming a man,” Peter Wright Jr. said. “He was really coming into his own.” After the program announces the scholarship at a fundraiser in November, a board will choose a recipient, to be named in April. “What we’re looking for in a scholarship recipient is someone who’s really found their voice, the way Glenn did,” Rodriguez said.

Planning the scholarship has helped Wright’s family deal with its tremendous loss. Of nine siblings, “he was every sibling’s favorite brother,” Rodriguez said.

“He was nothing but good,” Wright’s father, Peter Wright said. He hopes that the scholarship will become a lasting tribute to his son. “He wasn’t famous enough,” Peter Wright said. “A lot of people forget.”