Jersey City's council chamber was instilled Wednesday night with the "Spirit of Life" by the man who created the musical ensemble bearing that label and who established the Community Awareness Series.
Members of the city governing body-- and much more-- paid tribute to the 80-year-old Daoud-David Williams by connecting his name to the auditorium of the Miller branch of the
Jersey City Public Library, 489 Bergen Ave.
It will now be referred to as the Daoud-David Williams Cultural Arts Center.
A formal dedication is anticipated to be arranged at some future time.
Williams, who grew up on Orient Avenue, went to the former
Jersey City State College and St. Peter's College before serving with the U.S. Army's 8th Infantry Division 1960-63.
However he is perhaps best understood for leading the project to save the Miller branch from demolition, developing a public parking for library customers and for restoring the defunct library branch auditorium "as a first-rate location for the performing arts," according to the City Council resolution passed in his honor.
The council also commemorated Williams for his role, dating from 1977, as the "founder, previous director and presently the cultural arts organizer of the Community Awareness Series of the
Jersey City Public Library."
Daoud David Williams, left, with Sam Pesin of Friends of Liberty State Park
In that function, according to a JCPL resolution, Williams is credited with having actually produced more than 10,000 public events, consisting of the "longest-running yearly program in
Jersey City that pays tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, the longest-running yearly Kwanzaa celebration in
Jersey City and several other yearly programs for jazz appreciation, Women's and African-American history and world cultures."
The City Council likewise singled out for appreciation New
Jersey City University athlete Sandy Guerrero as the "first-ever National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Individual Champion in the history of New Jersey" and the members-- of NJCU's Women's Basketball Team record 19 success for the 2023-24 season.
In addition, the council honored the Rev. Wendolyn Rivers, pastor of Trinity Church of the Living God, 1944 Kennedy Boulevard, and cops chaplain for her work as in Women's Ministries, as head of Limitless Strategies LLC, in connection with National Women's History Month.
And the governing body paid its respects to the now-defunct Hudson Reporter newspaper which closed its print edition in January 2023 and which was represented at Wednesday's conference by two former staffers Jordan Coll and Daniel Israel.
Ward C Councilmember Richard Boggiano, who recalled its founding in 1983, was sorry for the shrinkage of print news around the U.S. Ward B member Mira Prinz-Arey recalled how her moms and dads and grandparents typically check out 5 newspapers every day. Saleh and Ward E member James Solomon were confident that reporters like Coll and Israel would take up the difficulty of creating a brand-new generation to represent their craft.
As part of its routine business agenda, the council voted to:
- Authorize the payment of $572,107 "to fix a tax conflict" between the city and KKF-5B, the ground lessee of home "at or near 33 University Place Boulevard ... that kinds part of New Jersey City University's West Campus."
- Pay Hudson County $1 million under a shared services contract "to offer rental help services to city locals of moderate or low income that earn 80% or less of the location average income and are dealing with the danger of eviction.
- Pay Netta Architects, of Mountainside, $158,625 for preliminary designs, design advancement and construction files and administration for the city Fire Department's Engine 10/Ladder 12 rehabilitation job which will supply upgrades to the structural, electrical, plumbing, outside and interior of the existing building at 283 Halladay St.
- Contract with Tectonic Engineering & & Surveying Consultants, of Mountainside, for $62,120 to total environmental removal of the Reservoir 3 website in the Heights.
- Authorize the use of $318,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to replace windows at St. Ann's Home for the Aged, a non-profit nursing home for the elderly, at 198 Old Bergen Road, "that will create a more secure living environment for susceptible elders."
- Contract with Millennium Communications Group, of East Hanover, for the installation of an "add-on electronic camera" for the outside of City Hall for $310,717 for the city's Division of Information Technology.
The City Council also approved a procedure setting the city approximately adopt ranked option ballot. Go here for the story.
Support our work
As an independent publication, we depend on contributions from readers like you to money our journalism.
One-time
Regular monthly
One-time
$ 25.
$ 50.
$ 75.
Other.
Donation amount.
$.
Monthly.
$ 2.99.
$ 5.99.
$ 9.99.
Other.
Donation amount.
$.
Thanks for your contribution!
Contribute Now.
Comments
Leave a Reply