Long Island Latinos Devastated by Wave of Home Foreclosures

A study by the New York Communities for Change found that Latinos in Long Island are among the state's hardest hit group for home foreclosures.

"The Suffolk and Nassau counties in Long Island...were ranked first and second among the highest foreclosure rates in the state during the first quarter of this year. From 2006 to 2010 Suffolk registered 30,552 foreclosures and Nassau registered 22,376." 

HuffPost article by David Ramirez

Richard Gutierrez: 1st Latino president of Queens Bar Association

"It's significant for young Hispanic attorneys to see that there is a president of a mainstream bar association who is Latino because then it becomes something they can hopefully achieve if they want because someone else has achieved it.

It gives us all hope, because diversity is so important in the legal community; inclusion is important." Richard Gutierrez

 

Full Daily News Article

Benny Torres and Ricardo Montano Partner to Serve Latinos in Hampton Bay

The Latino population has exploded across the Hamptons of LI -- +94.2% in the Town of East Hampton; +140.3% in the Town of Southampton; and +118.9% in the Town of Shelter Island -- so it's no surprise that Latino businesses are growing as well.

Fiesta Auto in Hampton Bays (+154.7%) is one of the new businesses catering to the area's growing Latino community. The entrepreneur is local resident Benny Torres. According to the 27east.com story, the enterprise is unique because it offers a full menu of services -- insurance, tax and legal assistance -- in partnership with Ricardo Montano's law firm Ferruggia and Calisto, LLP.

Seeking a new venture, [Benny] Torres decided in October to open a branch of Fiesta Auto Insurance—a national chain with 74 locations across the United States—close to his Hampton Bays home. The West Montauk Highway location opened in January.

Looking to further bridge the language gap for Latinos by also offering them access to bilingual legal representation, Mr. Torres said he reached out to an old friend, Suffolk County Legislator Ricardo Montano, a partner with the Hauppauge law firm Ferruggia and Calisto, LLP.

Full Article

US Census: 1,551,629 Latinos Live In The 4 Counties of Long Island

‎1,551,629 Latinos live in the 4 counties situated on Long Island: Kings (Brooklyn) 496,285, Queens 613,750, Nassau 195,355 and Suffolk 246,239. That's 45% of NY State's Latino population! 

Briarcliffe College President Santiago Receives Honors

Dr. George Santiago Jr., president of Briarcliffe College (Long Island City, Bethpage & Patchogue N.Y.) and a prominent advocate of advanced education opportunities within the Hispanic community, received the 2009 Nassau County Hispanic Heritage Award and was named Educator of the Year by the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Alarmed by the underrepresentation of Hispanics in America's colleges, Santiago has committed to reaching out, including financial support through the Briarcliffe College Hispanic Scholarship Program.

Source: The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine

East Elmhurst -- 11369

"For a class assignment, I was asked to study one particular zip code. I chose the zip code just north of where I live in Jackson Heights. That zip code is 11369, which coincides with East Elmhurst. I knew nothing about it, except that it is close to where I live. But the more I looked into it, the more interesting I found it." Kristin Graves

Suffolk County Forces Homeless Immigrants into the Cold

Suffolk County in Long Island has a dark tradition of hate crimes and violence against Latino immigrants. The County government has long turned a blind eye, even fostering an atmosphere in which the color of your skin can get you attacked with a baseball bat or BB gun. Now, the town of Huntington has taken another, active step in the abuse, what a New York Times editorial deems "an exercise in needless cruelty": destroying a makeshift camp where homeless immigrants found shelter from the bitter New York cold.

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Vigil for Jose Sucuzhanay - Bushwick, Brooklyn, 11AM, 12.12.2009

Hello Friends and Allies,

We are writing to you to invite you to observe the one year anniversary of Jose Sucuzhanay's death.

In December of last year, Bushwick resident Jose Sucuzhanay was brutally murdered in an anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT attack on Bushwick ave. This unfortunate incident has fortunately given space for a conversation to begin between many communities who are suffering the consequences of hate violence.

Join us for a morning of community healing and to invoke the memory of those family members, friends and community members who have been victims of hate violence and to look at the solutions we have developed with community members in response to the outburst of violence that has hit the LGBT/Latin@/Immigrant communities.

Sincerely,
Diego Sucuzhanay & The Sucuzhanay Family

What: 1 year Anniversary of Jose Sucuzhanay's Death
When: Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 11am
Where: Make the Road NY- Bushwick: 301 Grove Street (between Myrtle ave. and Knickerbocker Ave.) Brooklyn, NY 11237
Directions: Take the L or M train to Myrtle-Wycoff
Who: The Sucuzhanay Family, The Lucero Family, The Price Family (to be confirmed), Office of Councilwoman Diana Reyna, James Garci­a- Director of the Film 'Taught to Hate', Make the Road NY, Latinoamericanos Unidos, International Ecuadorian Alliance, other LGBT community organizations and Bushwick Community Members.

For more information contact Karina Claudio-Betancourt at karina.claudio@maketheroadny.org or at 718-4187690 ext 1278.

Taught to Hate - a film by James Garcia Sotomayor

The Long Island Latino Film Festival is this week -- Nov. 6,7,8 . Coincidently, it opens exactly a year and a short drive from the place and time of Marcelo Lucero's murder by a racist wolf pack. That senseless and evil murder shocked the immigrant communities across Long Island, the United States and even across the world.

It also exposed an ugly, deadly vein of hate typically veiled behind the leafyscapes of American suburbia, a vein mined by nativists politicians like Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio, Hazelton PA's Lou Barletta and Suffolk County's Steve Levy.

Now comes what may be the first of its type, "Taught to Hate,” a 27 fiction film based on the Lucero killing and the American sub-culture shaped by hate. The filmmaker is James Garcia Sotomayor, a local filmmaker and Latino immigrant who funnelled his life savings into making the film. He did so because, "I had to do something."

It's been noted that Marcelo's surname name means 'Shining Light'. The memory of Marcelo Lucero and the works of people like Garcia Sotomayor are our Luceros.

The Long Island Latino International Film Festival Nov. 6-7-8, 2009

The Long Island Latino International Film Festival

Nov. 6-7-8, 2009

This year LILIFF is screening several premiers and world premiers including the film “Stereo Typed” produced on Long Island and features actor Frankie G. who has been in films such as “The Italian Job”, “Manito” and the upcoming film the “Devils Tomb”.Read more

Box Office
Festival Tickets: LILIFF offers 8 Screening Programs throughout the festival. Each program features a group of films for one price.

3-Day Festival Pass Price: $40
Festival passes allow access to ALL Screening Programs.Get your tickets
Individual Programs Price: $10Get your tickets