Octavio Blanco (00:00)
Welcome to Uptown Voices. From Harlem to the Heights to the northern tip of Inwood, we're here to celebrate our people and together seek solutions for the difficult issues we're all confronting as neighbors. Regardless of what hood you represent, we share the same goal, creating the best community we can.

somewhere to enjoy, where we can build our lives and raise our children. We want to thank 181 Cabrini, located on the corner of 181st Street and Cabrini Boulevard, for its generous support for this podcast. It's your neighborhood bistro just steps away from the north walk of the GWB. Stay tuned for a discount code that you can mention to your bartender or server the next time you visit the restaurant. We also need financial contributions from listeners like you to produce, improve, and expand our content. To contribute, please scan

the QR code on the screen our visit www.livinamericana.com. That's LIVIN without a G.

Led Black (00:51)
What up, what up, what up everyone, it's Led Black and we're here for another Uptown Voices, another Black and Blanco experience, Led Black and Octavio Blanco, no guests, just chopping it up, the two of us. You know, and think it's important too because we know one of the things about Real House, about the podcast, we're like, how many episodes in now? 13, 12 episodes in?

Octavio Blanco (01:12)
It's

12. Yeah, this is ⁓ well we got one queued up that's going to be 13 and then this was B14

Led Black (01:18)
So

we got a bunch in and the thing is that we just jumped right into it with our guests, right? Cause it's really about our guests and the uptown voices and talking about what they're doing. So these kind of let us talk and chop it up, which I think is super important, man. But how you been brother?

Octavio Blanco (01:31)
Yeah,

yeah, I've been great. I've been great. I agree with you that it's like, love these black and black goes because we can we can just like talk about ourselves a little bit, which we don't get a chance to do. And I, know that I like to talk and I know that you like to talk. So this is a good opportunity for us to, blow us off Steve because, because I think we'd really do, we really do. We really do be respectful of the guests when they come on to, make it about them, you know, what they're doing. Cause there's such amazing guests that we've had on.

Led Black (01:46)
I do, I really do.

Right.

Octavio Blanco (02:00)
doing so many incredible

Led Black (02:01)
I agree.

Octavio Blanco (02:02)
things. By the time this airs, our interview with Calixto Chinchilla of the New York Latino Film Festival will have aired. That guy's a beast. mean, he's diesel, man. He looks diesel, but I mean, also just a beast in his industry talking about people who...

Led Black (02:07)
Calypso, yeah.

He's diesel, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Octavio Blanco (02:20)
pull themselves up by their bootstraps, that old refrain, I mean, that's Calixto right there. He made something out of nothing, and he's killing it right now with the New York Latino Film Festival, which you are an integral part of, right, Led?

Led Black (02:36)
Yeah,

yeah, yeah, I'm the social media director for the festival. I've been with the festival since it came back. There was a hiatus of like some years, but since it came back, I've been rocking with Calixto. But Calixto and I have been working together now over a decade. And it's a good relationship, you know what mean? I get to kind of like play the back a bit, watch him lead, learn, grow. And it's a lot, it's a...

I like to the festival is this like really heavy stress environment. Like you're not really sleeping well, you're working really hard. You're doing a lot of really cool with a lot of cool people, but it's a grind and you, but you develop a camaraderie. So the festival is one of the best things I do every year. I really, I really enjoy it. You know, it's one it's one of those things that like, again, it's super times, but super rewarding, super fulfilling. So I'm looking forward to it. Calypso, he's the man, you know, you know, we, we've, we've been in the trenches together, you know, we've done a lot of really cool things. We, like I said, we, we say in that episode, we,

I got to meet Juan Miguel. We did an event with Juan Miguel, who was a Dominican icon, arguably the greatest Dominican artist, musician of all time. So, you know, it was really cool and I'm really looking forward to September 13th to the 21st. And we end the 21st with a Black Men Block party. A bunch of really cool stuff that I just can't say yet, you know what mean? But stay tuned. We got a lot of stuff.

Octavio Blanco (03:48)
And if you're an aspiring filmmaker or...

If you're a filmmaker, keep an eye on Latino Film Festival on Instagram and all the other socials. And definitely get yourself tickets because it's affordable. It's made to be affordable for the people. And one of the things that I appreciated from our conversation with Calixto and one of the things that really I don't think often gets mentioned, but besides the representation side of things, which I think is super, super important.

props to you, props to Calixto, props to everybody, because representation is absolutely needed. But there's also this other facet that happens, which is business. Business is done, business is conducted. know, commerce, like people's films get picked up by HBO, by other big players, Paramount, you know, so it's not just about representation.

Led Black (04:29)
Right. Commerce.

Octavio Blanco (04:41)
Maybe in the beginning it might have been a little bit that way, but even in the beginning I think there was deals that were being made out of the film festival. But ⁓ that's one of the things that you'll see in the episode. If you haven't checked it out, definitely check it out because ⁓ you'll learn about what goes on at these film festivals. So props to you for your work on that, props to Calixto.

Led Black (05:01)
Thank you.

And I want to say one thing

I forgot to say. My oldest daughter, Imani Fuentes, has a film that will be at the festival. It's a short film. It's called Tijeronas. My daughter wrote it, directed it. And then my middle child, Leila, has the first song in that film. And then my youngest, Saraya, actually was the stylist for the whole, you for the film. And my mom makes a little cameo as well. So, you know,

It's gonna be an amazing night when the world premieres in New York City. So I'm looking forward to that. Yeah, for sure, brother. I'll let you know, like I said, August 18th, think the ticket's going on sale.

Octavio Blanco (05:34)
So I want to be there. want to check it out. So keep me posted for sure. I want to check it out.

Awesome and yeah, so I just came back from my vacation We we we be as soon I was in France two weeks We had queued up some episodes so that are are are

Led Black (05:47)
from Paris.

Octavio Blanco (05:56)
our listeners who are waiting at midnight every Tuesday for the next episode to drop every Tuesday at midnight with baited breath waiting for episodes. We're going to miss us. We're going to skip a beat. We're going to miss an episode. we had two or three, two episodes queued up while I was away. And I was having a really, really nice time in Paris with my wife.

Led Black (05:59)
That's Who baited breath.

Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (06:17)
And my son Dante is my wife's first time in Europe, obviously first time in Paris. And it was my son actually is kind of a globetrotter this year. He went with his high school to.

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Yeah, he did a whole ⁓ week during spring break with his high school and then came back for the first couple of weeks of summer, went to his summer camp. He goes to a veterinarian camp out in Missouri. And then we all went to France for two weeks and we had a blast. I mean, I don't know if you know this, but

Led Black (06:30)
My goodness, that's amazing.

Octavio Blanco (06:52)
You, traveling today, hadn't done real international travel in a long time. I mean, I go to Mexico quite often, but I don't count that as international travel. You don't really even need a passport to go there. But real international travel to Europe, it's not the same as it used to be. And I got caught out there, actually. I don't know if I told you this. So, I...

Led Black (07:00)
Mm.

How so?

Octavio Blanco (07:15)
You have be really careful with the rules of what are the requirements, especially when it comes to your passport. And if you have a passport that is still valid, sometimes that's not enough to get into a country. So for example, this is what happened to me. I showed up at the airport with my American passport.

Led Black (07:29)
One.

Octavio Blanco (07:34)
And it was valid, but it was gonna expire like a few weeks after I get back from France. But I thought no big deal. It's gonna be valid while I'm in France, and when I get back here, I'll renew it, whatever. Turns out I should have been a little bit more diligent because your passport has to be valid for, I think it's at least six months past the date of your arrival in the country. And they didn't let me get on the plane.

Led Black (07:53)
Wow.

Octavio Blanco (07:59)
from JFK. My wife had her passport, my son had his passport, they were both good. But my passport wasn't good. Going to France. So what happens? Luck will have it. I'm actually a dual citizen with Mexico. So I have two passports. American and Mexican. But I hadn't brought my Mexican passport, I left it at home. So I did this mad dash on the day of...

Led Black (08:05)
So going to...

wow.

Octavio Blanco (08:23)
day of our departure. Took the Airtrain to the E-Train to the A-Train to 181st Street, sprinted to my apartment, grabbed my Mexican passport, locked up the apartment, sprinted back to the A-Train to the E-Train to the Airtrain, and I got to JFK like 10 minutes late. They had closed the gate and American Airlines

Led Black (08:45)
my God. ⁓

Octavio Blanco (08:47)
didn't let me onto the airplane. You know, it's in the rules and they were very helpful in terms of, so we didn't get on the airplane. So we missed a day of our vacation. We all trooped it back uptown. And then the next day, cause they only have one flight, American Airlines only has.

Led Black (08:51)
So you didn't get on the airplane?

⁓

That's Harbo.

Octavio Blanco (09:04)
One flight to Paris a day. That's the other thing if you're traveling to Paris or wherever you're traveling to You know, like you might want to check and see how many times that airline Flies to the city where you're going because if anything happens and you miss a flight, know, when's the next flight? Do you have to wait a day or do you just have to wait an hour or a couple of hours? So I didn't realize that it was just one a day American Airlines, but the next day I went with my Mexican passport

Led Black (09:13)
Right.

Right, that makes sense.

Octavio Blanco (09:31)
It was valid, no problem. I got on the plane, got to Paris, went through, went through, and I got, and I got a, yeah, you know, it's, I don't know why that is. It's a French rule. It's not a, it's not an American rule. I think it's like, they don't want people to get stuck in France if something happens, right? Like if you get, if you get to France,

Led Black (09:34)
But I don't understand, that's crazy, that's wild.

Right, right.

Octavio Blanco (09:56)
and your American passport expires, and then you're kind of like in a jam. How do you get back to the States? You have to go to the embassy or the consulate, and then that's like a whole rigmarole. mean, passports, you can renew them quickly, expedited, but that's very expensive, and I don't know really how that works overseas. story.

Led Black (10:05)
Right.

Octavio Blanco (10:19)
make sure that you know all the little rules about what's needed for passport requirements and things like that. I really should have been more diligent, but I was a little bit sort of overconfident because I've traveled internationally for many years. I've gone to France many times and I've gone to Europe all the time and I hadn't done it in years and I didn't realize just like how things how things change. But

I had a great time. had a great time. Everybody talks about Paris and they say, Parisians are so rude and they're so, they're so short. And I had a great time. They were all super nice to me. I didn't have any rude people. ⁓ I do speak French, you know, fluently.

Led Black (10:55)
Nice.

Octavio Blanco (10:58)
So I think they appreciate that. So I think there was a little bit of like gratitude there when when I was speaking to folks. But yeah, we did all the sites because it was the first time for my family. We did ⁓ the Louvre. We did Tour Eiffel. We took a boat trip on the on the River Seine. We went out to the Palace of Versailles.

Led Black (11:01)
Right.

Hold on, hold on, hold hold on, hold on. Wait

minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. The Eiffel Tower you said the French way, like that was very, you were flexing right there, like that was a flex.

Octavio Blanco (11:26)
What? La Tour Eiffel? Is that what you want me to flex my fridge? On a fait... On a fait la Tour Eiffel. On a fait le Palace de Versailles.

Led Black (11:28)
Yeah, yeah, you said it like, like all French instead of saying the Eiffel. Yeah, you got all fancy on me. I'm like, did you say the Eiffel Tower?

But you know, think the moral of your story is get a dual citizenship if you can. Because your dual citizenship saves the day, right?

Did your dual citizenship save the day for you?

So if you could get just dual citizenship, make sure you get one. I got mine. When the first Trump presidency, my wife was like, no, we're getting a dual citizenship, so we got it for the whole nuclear family. And look at how handy it came in for you, it was clutch.

Octavio Blanco (11:52)
absolutely.

absolutely, it's super important to do and yeah, like the political stuff also, it's important to have some additional safety in case it gets to that point where you have to hit the eject button. Which I hope we don't have to do, I still, I gotta say it was nice to be.

Led Black (12:17)
sure.

Octavio Blanco (12:27)
in France and not be in the overwhelming ⁓ news cycle of all the Trump bubble. I it's important. I'm not going to say that it's not. so important to know what's going on, but it's so overwhelming. mean, it's like...

Led Black (12:30)
right the the trump bubble the trump bubble

It really

is. It really is.

Octavio Blanco (12:44)
It is so,

and it was really nice to be out of the Trump bubble. There was a little bit of that. also sort of like stayed off of my socials as much as I could and I didn't tune into the news hardly at all. So I really did break away a bit. then for the second week, we actually went out to the countryside of France, ⁓ to the Loire Valley.

Led Black (13:06)
Nice.

Octavio Blanco (13:08)
And ⁓ and we did we we were in a small town about 20 minutes from a city called Angers We did this thing it's like the the French have been doing Airbnb for ages longer than Airbnb Existed it's called Gites de France GIT ⁓

Led Black (13:09)
Nice. Yeah, that.

Gotcha.

Octavio Blanco (13:29)
E S de France and it's French people who are

renting out like usually like a guest house or room or something. Long lines of Airbnb, but it's good deal. It's beautiful, beautiful homes. Our host, Sandrine and her husband. by the way, this is hilarious. We didn't rent a car while we were there. cause they've got a lot of trains and ⁓ we decided, we're not gonna rent a car. We're just gonna do the trains and gonna do the bikes. So we rode our bikes everywhere, rented bikes.

Led Black (13:38)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (13:59)
But we were at the train station in this little tiny town and we thought, well, let's get a cab. There were no cabs. It's like that in the middle of nowhere. There was like no cabs. So I had to call our hosts and she's like, yeah, it's no problem. I sent my husband. ⁓ This dude shows up. mean, know, French stereotype is like tiny little cars, right? Like little like Renaults or whatever.

Led Black (14:09)
Right.

Hahaha.

Right.

Octavio Blanco (14:24)
This dude shows up in a Dodge 1500 pickup truck, lifted with huge wheels. It's been tricked out for the Paris-Dracar car race, which this guy apparently does. So he shows up, he basically shows up in like a monster truck and we're like, my God, what are we getting into? But he was like, super nice. Sundream made us.

Led Black (14:29)
Wow.

That's pretty cool.

Octavio Blanco (14:49)
made us cookies and cakes like every day we have like cookies and cakes waiting for us. It was like awesome. The house was like a little cottage on their property which is like beautifully kept. They had a pool so every day we'd come back dead tired from from riding our bikes and we would swim in the pool for hours and just float around and enjoy this life that we have even though there's challenges as you know I'm like

Led Black (14:54)
That sounds amazing.

Octavio Blanco (15:16)
currently looking for work. But we decided, you only live once and work will come. We will get that taken care of, we really need to live. And part of living is traveling and learning about other cultures. And I think my wife has really, really got a lot out of it. She works her butt off. She's working and she's a...

keeping us afloat, you know? And she's the rock. Kathy Blanco, care manager. And she got a lot out of us. She got a new perspective on life. Yeah, we were.

Led Black (15:41)
Bye.

You guys look so happy in those pictures. Like I can see it,

like you guys all look really, you know, really, really content. And I agree with you, I think it's something about leaving.

then you come back and you come back refreshed, know, and it opens certain doors for you. I've always found that like whenever I've been unemployed a few times, you know, and every time I go away, when I come back, things happen, you know what mean? I think it's the way you look at it. Like I think ⁓ every time I've been unemployed, I've been unemployed like maybe three times. And every time it was a period of growth, you know what I mean? And you know, when you're working, you're so busy and then you still got so much, you know, no one could just work. You got side hustles. This is a side hustle.

We're doing so much. So those vacations are important. I'm going to DR next on, well, this coming Saturday. But by the time this air, I think I'll be back. So I'll be a little few shades darker with a nice tan. But yeah, man, yeah.

Octavio Blanco (16:39)
That's what happened to me. I came back. I came

back. I came back. I came out.

Led Black (16:44)
Yeah, no, those vacations,

they're for the soul. My mother liked to say, para votar el golpe, right? So to like, you know, if you got an injury, you know, to get rid of the soreness, you know what mean? And that's what that's for, like recharging the battery, so that's great. Right now I'm only going to DR right now. I don't want to go nowhere else, but it's great to get out of here for a little bit.

Octavio Blanco (17:05)
Absolutely and then you when you come back like you said you get refreshed and actually when you return especially if you're gone for like two weeks I don't think I don't know when the last time I did more than two weeks was but but you know When you come back

you feel like you're on vacation again because you're back and you're seeing everything that changed around you or you're like getting back acclimated to the pace of life where you live and the people. So yeah, like our first day back, we just like chilled, went up to the bakery on 181st Street and picked up a sandwich and went to the park and chilled out there and ate it. there was some like, it was weird. We were at Bennett Park having our sandwiches. There was like...

Led Black (17:29)
Mm-hmm.

Nice.

Octavio Blanco (17:44)
a of aerialists, literally like gymnast type people like with like a, I'm gonna kill this, I don't know what it's called, but it's a stripper pole. Let's call it what it is, guess. But it was a stripper pole with like a circle on top and they're like climbing on it and like, you know, they're not stripping, they're like gymnasts, aerialists. And they had like a group, know.

Led Black (17:57)
Right, right.

Right, right, right. Well, look at you, bro.

Octavio Blanco (18:10)
It

Led Black (18:10)
Yeah, that's interesting.

Octavio Blanco (18:11)
was cool, so I felt like we were like still on vacation and But ⁓ but then you know we saw some of the changes here on I don't know if you've seen there's like a new bake a new coffee shop on on on Cabrini between 180th and 181st the Yeah, it's called the it's called breakaway breakaway cafe

Led Black (18:28)
yeah, the bike store, like for bikes. I forgot what it Breakaway Cafe, yeah, yeah. ⁓

Octavio Blanco (18:36)
Yeah, and

we, me and Cathy and Dante popped in there and we met the, it's a family business. They're from, the owner lives on Fort Wash. The daughter was working and she's, I guess she just graduated high school. It was really nice. It's kind of cool. It's like, we got a lot of bikers here.

Led Black (18:43)
Nice.

Nice.

Nice. Because they repair bikes,

they repair bikes as well as a cafe, right? And that's great because the north walk is right there, so they should get some out of those clients. It's really, on that block, it's only 181 Cabrini, which is a restaurant. So that's a really smart idea.

Octavio Blanco (19:07)
Yeah Yeah, our sponsor when I do a cabrini ⁓ So yeah that they they they I don't think there be I don't think that they're a competition with the when anyone can bring I think it's like an add-on rather than a Because because like yeah, they do they do some food and they do some coffee You can you can get in there and you can go get yourself like some some some little eats But but mainly like they're also I think they sell they're a trek

Led Black (19:11)
That's right, James.

No, it's a zoo, yeah, exactly, agree 100%. It's more...

Mm, yeah.

Octavio Blanco (19:35)
Bike shop so the brand track they sell all their all their bikes so and their and their years and stuff Yeah, so it's cool. It's really cool It's really cool to see that. I was really psyched to see some of that some of that small business growth in the And that it's local, you know, like the guy who owns it lives on for Washington, you know I think that's really cool and his whole family was in there helping

Led Black (19:36)
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the repair as well. So that's awesome for people using their bikes. Smart business.

Octavio Blanco (20:02)
Yeah, check it out. Give them a shot. Give them a look. I think I think I think it's gonna be a great addition and like like you said while we were in there some guy came off the bridge and pulled right up on his on his bike he was all spandexed out like Seriously, you know they they annoy me when I'm trying to walk across the bridge and they're like all up my butt but ⁓

Led Black (20:02)
I agree.

The official, like the serious.

Yeah, some of them could be jerks.

Some of them could be jerks. They're so aggressive. For real.

Octavio Blanco (20:28)
Some of them they can be

it's like I know that I know that you're training for you know the tour de France, but We're trying to we're trying to get to Fort Lee for some

Led Black (20:35)
Yeah

for real. That's hilarious.

Octavio Blanco (20:41)
Led, I think now it's time to take a short pause so that we can pay some of the bills,

Led Black (20:45)
you want to tell them a little about donations and how they can help the show?

Octavio Blanco (20:49)
Absolutely, we can't do this without contributions from our viewers. you're going to see a QR code which you can

you can make a contribution towards uptown voices. It's going to be helpful for us to elevate our production. have dreams and aspirations of doing live shows. We have dreams and aspirations of being

on location at our various cultural institutions. And we can't do that without contributions from viewers and listeners like you. And we also can't do that without our sponsors. And this pilot season, we are lucky to have a great sponsor, 181 Cabrini. It's our neighborhood bistro. Both Led and I are just steps away from

181 Cabrini and and we love it 181 Cabrini is located right there on that corner of 181 and Cabrini just steps away just steps away from the bridge so yeah i love it led you you you and i were there the other night

Led Black (21:37)
Oney oney Cabrini.

Yeah, yeah. And we also met there for the first time, you and I, the first time we met, had we had like lunch there. And it's my local bar now, like since I live, you and I both live like right around this, my local bar. I spent a lot of times there. James Lee, the owner, is just an incredible restaurateur. Right. I think he he's a great guy. Super funny. But like the food is on point.

So please hit up 181 Cabrini. It is really one of my favorite spots

181 Cabrini, pull up. That's my spot. Show them love and tip well.

Octavio Blanco (22:13)
And order the nachos, those are on point.

Led Black (22:16)
The sangria is amazing. Everything in it. and ⁓ you have to try the coconut bread pudding. They got coconut. got.

chocolate and now they got banana but the coconut outstanding. So like I said, they really, the attention to detail for me is a great neighborhood joint. And thank you to James and 181 Cabrini for sponsoring this episode. And you if you want to sponsor holla' at my boy you know what I mean? Let's make it happen. You know what I mean? But yeah, without further ado though, let's get to it.

Octavio Blanco (22:27)
Yeah.

But before we do that, I just want to say one thing. We're going to have a code, a redemption code at the end of this episode, which you can bring to 181 Cabrini for a special treat.

Led Black (22:52)
Let's go.

Octavio Blanco (22:53)
So what I miss in New York City there was like earthquakes there's like shooting in Times Square like

Led Black (23:00)
Yeah, was, you know,

it's New York and I don't really remember it so much. Everything happens. Yeah, New York stuff. Who knows? You know, we continue with the worst mayor ever in New York City, right? Like, and him and Cuomo fighting it out still, it's ridiculous. So I can't wait. I cannot wait for the election.

Octavio Blanco (23:03)
New York stuff.

I saw the recent polls.

Yeah, the recent polls had him at 7%. That's not good.

Led Black (23:26)
It's because

when we talked about it with Frey Nett, remember we was talking about it and how he was like, and I wrote a piece, I posted I think yesterday about how Eric Adams is good for New York, right? Except not as mayor, more like a court jester. If there was an equivalent of a court jester, he'll be perfect because he said he's the Biden of Brooklyn. He just says whatever, he just comes out his face.

Octavio Blanco (23:38)
⁓

Led Black (23:52)
So I don't think, and it's funny because he almost makes you look back at the Blasio with nostalgia, right? Like he has been so inept that you're like, man, like, wow.

Octavio Blanco (23:59)
Yeah.

I mean, being mayor of New York is, okay, I'm not making any, I'm not defending this guy at all. So more than anything, I might be defending DiBlasio but being mayor of New York is like the hardest job. I don't know, you it's, you're never gonna make people happy. So, know, anybody who wants to be mayor of New York either has a screw loose or, I don't

Led Black (24:15)
I could see that.

Octavio Blanco (24:25)
a giant heart. I'm not sure which ones it is, yeah, being mayor of New York is not the easiest job in the world.

Led Black (24:28)
Sure.

But

that's why I'm so excited about Zohran. We gotta get him on this show, man. You know what mean? I think it'll be great. It really does feel like he has the best of intentions, you know what mean? And it's funny because I talk to so many people and then they tell you, they act like New York is perfect right now. It's just a perfectly fine-tuned machine that there's no errors. And here comes Zohran, the communists have destroyed. And it's just such a stupid art. Have you seen New York City where it is right now?

Octavio Blanco (24:40)
Yeah.

Led Black (25:04)
It's the worst I've ever been that I remember, right? Like this goes back to my childhood when during the crack era, right? Like New York is not where it's like, so it's not running perfectly. Things are not good. There's, you know, I hate to say there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done. And I think we need to change things, especially with Trump in power, right? You know, talks, know, Zohran talks about Trump proofing New York and I think it needs to go beyond that. Like I think we need to provide like an alternative.

right, another way of doing things, right? So if Zohran could come through and with the people's help, you know, make those changes, you know, really make people's lives better, you know, without having to resort to being animals to one another like Trump wants to do, I think we could show a way forward, you know what I mean? I think that his victory could change, hopefully, if there is even a 2028, right? So election, so I'm looking forward to that.

Octavio Blanco (25:55)
Yeah, I mean,

I am too. I just saw on my socials some video of Staten Islanders against Zohran. I mean, you know, like, it's sad. It's sad. It's just sad that people are resorting to such like.

Led Black (26:03)
my god, I saw that too

Octavio Blanco (26:14)
Racism, first of all, just unabashed racism against Zohran. They don't understand what it means to be a democratic socialist. Like they're trying to paint it as communism, which it's not. even if it was, but it's not. But it's not though, like it's not. Like let's just like, I mean.

Led Black (26:19)
Honour bash, honour bash.

Even if it was though, even if it was. Yeah, even if it was, but it's not. Right, yeah.

Octavio Blanco (26:40)
You're right, even if it was, there's no call for it, but it's not. And they're just like using that, it's not even a dog whistle anymore. It's just blatant racism. They're telling him to go back to where he came from. I mean, the whole thing is ugly. you know, Zohran message is interesting because he speaks to that community, especially in Staten Island, who did vote for Trump and said, what's he doing for you?

And don't see what he's doing for them. And yet, there's this real visceral rage at seeing a person like Zohran

Led Black (27:07)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (27:18)
running for mayor, given the latitude to express himself the way that he expresses himself and to see the pickup that he's gotten. And so like one of the things that I challenge Zohran to do and maybe he's just, you know, so keeping his powder dry right now, but I really do want once he's, I want to see him and I want to see him call on people to help.

Led Black (27:18)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (27:42)
and to be a part of his campaign. And once he gets elected or when he gets elected, I want to see that grassroots coalition of people that he's been able to put together really come into play and really push some of the boundaries and some good ideas.

you're right, Led There's a lot that needs to be done in the city to improve the city. We can't just let things run like they're running.

Led Black (28:07)
Yeah.

And those videos you

talked about too.

You know, it reminded me like those videos of when King came to the North, you know, when he came to Chicago or even New York. You know, I think he got stabbed in Harlem, I think it was. But it reminded me of those kind of videos. And it's like, it's 2025. And these people are apoplectic about a person of color in the neighborhood when he's actually going out there to show solidarity, right? To say, hey, look, your plight and my plight are the same. Right. And it's weird, too. And I don't know if you know, it's

Octavio Blanco (28:37)
Yeah.

Led Black (28:40)
like

Cuomo's has been so disgusting, know, so that's why I say no Cuomo, you know what mean? Because he's been so disgusting the way he's been campaigning, you know, he's a rich boy. Like, who are you? Like, what are you talking about? Like, you're like, it's it's disgusting. I don't know if you saw he had a commercial, right, where this was before, like, and he's giving someone like a boost, like on the, the car dies, the battery dies, and he gets on his car and he connects the connectors, and I'm like, come on, man, he would never do that, like, please.

Octavio Blanco (29:08)
Look like look

what I can do. I Mean, yeah, the guy the guy is like the definition of nepotism He

Led Black (29:09)
Please, please, please.

Octavio Blanco (29:17)
whole argument of Zohran being a rich kid. First of all, I don't know how you run for mayor if you don't have money. And Zohran doesn't even come close to the kind of money that Cuomo had. Cuomo ⁓ spent, I think it was nearly a billion dollars or something crazy like that. Think about... ⁓

Led Black (29:29)
Como I spent them by magnitudes, by magnitudes.

Octavio Blanco (29:39)
you know, millions upon millions of dollars. Like think about all the good that that could have been done, that could have been used for rather than, you know, flooding the airways with Cuomo commercials and not seeing Cuomo in person anywhere. Just like, I guess he was chilling wherever he chills at. But yeah, I think.

Led Black (29:55)
And you know, it's funny you

say that because I remember, you know, during that, the primary, some of the commercials were crazy that I was getting. I saw one where it was like, it was animated and it was Zohran as like a Broadway singer and it was like so weird, but so like slick. And I'm like, they spent money, that campaign threw money upon money upon money at everything and they still got killed.

Octavio Blanco (30:19)
We got killed.

Led Black (30:20)
and then

to do it again, right? And then, you know, it's for Eric and Andrew to cancel each other out. Like it's just, it's like a clown show.

But it's amazing how if you look at the right-wing press, I think it was Laura Ingraham was saying, hey, New York, my leap money, get that money together. And the tyrant talking about nullifying it and deporting him. But even the Democratic Party, let's be honest. Let's throw some shade now. Where is the endorsements for the democratically elected

know, democratically chosen primary winner Zohran right? Where's Schumer? Where's Chuck Tumor Chuck Tumor is what I call him. Where's he at? Right? Where's, where's, where's APAC Shakur? Hakeem Jeffries? Where's he at? He hasn't said anything, right? All of them. I gave it to Espallat because he's the only, he came out and he endorsed him. But where's the rest of them? Barack hasn't done it yet. Right? So it's like,

Octavio Blanco (31:03)
He's been very quiet.

Yeah, they've been very, quiet and it's...

Yeah.

Yeah!

Led Black (31:21)
It's so funny that they could fight so hard supposedly against Trump, which they don't, and then they don't endorse the man that won the primary.

Octavio Blanco (31:29)
It's sad. I mean, it's more than sad. Sad is not a word that even comes close to describing the state of affairs of the Democrats, the top Democrats, who still are just like quaking in their boots to avoid endorsing somebody who is clear that the people of New York City

least the Democrats in New York City for sure, are interested in seeing become their mayor. know, those endorsements need to come. They can't stay quiet. Cuomo is running as an independent, and by staying quiet, you're basically endorsing Cuomo because that's your guy. And I don't know what he's got on these folks.

Led Black (32:11)
That's your guy.

Octavio Blanco (32:15)
that they're not coming out for Zohran or what they have against Zohran let's hear it. If you got something against Zohran let it be known. Don't just stay quiet, because this quiet is not gonna work. That's the thing, we were talking about Staten Island, and how horrible the reception was.

And how brave and how good it was for Zohran to go out there because he's trying to communicate with these folks and let them know, like, I'm here for you. So I guess what I would say is like, we also, rather than fanning the flames of hate and of...

Led Black (32:40)
Right, exactly.

Octavio Blanco (32:49)
misunderstanding and misinformation. It's true that that was horrible what we saw on social media. But at the same time, also there's still time, right? If Zohran can keep going over there despite what the reception was like and can keep fighting, hopefully he'll get through to some of these folks and they'll respect his chutzpah, you know, like that he's actually there for them. ⁓ So what I say is keep going to Staten Island, keep trying to communicate

these folks. I know that there's a there's a solid nexus of people that are just not ever going to hear it but that's not everybody and we I really it's hard sometimes for me to like stay with this in my heart and I try really hard to try to keep it in my heart. This loud group doesn't necessarily represent everybody. I think that when you factor in everybody who's out there

who's seeing what's happening, I think that there's a huge amount of people who are like, wait a minute, I got bamboozled and that's not really what I'm looking for. Now, you may disagree with this. I think you probably will disagree with that, I do think that there is hope for some of the folks who were sort of like thinking, let's see what this Trump guy.

what this Trump guy has or let's see what this like MAGA movement is all about. That they'll start to recognize that, you know what? It wasn't about what they said it was about. And we're getting hoodwinked here.

Led Black (34:12)
Yeah, I think it's going to definitely be some people that that's going to happen too. But I think, you know, a lot more people are to dig in. They're going to become even, you know.

the the more deplorable, right? And that's the thing we can't lie to ourselves either, Some of these things are awful, right? And for the cheerleading of ice raids, when you're Latino, right? That's hard to forgive, Like, well, that's what you put, you're good, are you happy about that? So I'm saying, yeah, I agree with you. I hope that some people could change their minds, that'd be great. But I also think that if you voted for this, I don't want bad things to happen to you, but you are responsible, right?

Octavio Blanco (34:37)
yeah.

Led Black (34:49)
Like we may not get out of this, right? Like that's not a given, right? Like we are at the beginning of a dictatorship. This is a dictatorship that has begun, right?

we don't know what comes next. We don't know there's to be a 2028. You know, and I say this right. So yesterday was my birthday. my wife, Eileen Fuentes, you know, my better half, she surprised me. We went to City Winery, like in Peer, whatever, like on 14th West Side. And I wasn't, I didn't know where we were going, but it was really cool event. It was like the Don Lemon show, live, right?

Octavio Blanco (35:18)
That's a spot.

Led Black (35:24)
Yeah, and then he had like special guests and it was him basically him and DL Hughley who I really love. really admire DL Hughley. I think he's super brilliant. You know, he went from just like a stand-up comic who was just one of the people that could kill you. Like, you know, just he could make fun of you, you right on the spot brilliantly. But he really evolved to be like a deep thinker. And, you know, I really do appreciate his takes on so many things. So it was really cool. You know what mean? And I think DL Hughley was amazing. I but it was interesting because

Octavio Blanco (35:32)
Yeah.

Led Black (35:53)
I didn't really know this but Don Lemon has like a following, right? Like when he got let go of CNN, he kept his money and he kept the show and he does like a daily show, right? So he has a following, they call himself Lemonheads, you know, and that's cool. And you know, and I'm not hating on Don Lemon. I'm glad, you know, that instead of like, he could have gone right, like Chris Cuomo did, right? Like he could have been coming a right wing asshole and he didn't do that, right? He went further left and I'm happy for that. But you know, what I'm trying to say like,

Yesterday, least listening to that, we had like a Q &A afterwards and to listen to the people talk like we got a temperature check, my wife and I, I feel like most of us, well-meaning people, the base of this party, right, are super unaware of what we're living through right now, right? And I think we keep thinking about, we got three more years of this.

don't worry to the midterms. And it's like, everything is being eroded, right? Like, who knows what will be when we get there, right? If this is six months in, what will be left then, right? And the gerrymandering, the redistricting, Like, the getting people rid of people, the DC, you know, having troops in DC, right?

I just think that it was a great event, I a great time, laughed, she bought me a nice bottle of wine, it was beautiful. But I felt like no one brought up, and I wanted to, I wanted to talk at the end, but I didn't get a chance to, you know, but...

that we're right now at the beginnings of a dictatorship. And Trump is an authoritarian, and Trump is the most powerful man on the planet right now. And that should give everyone like, what the What's happening to life in 2025? And I still think everyone's like, ooh, doo, doo, doo, doo. And that's my one thing. So I had a great time, but I also feel like I think things are way worse than people think they are.

Octavio Blanco (37:42)
Well first of all, happy birthday. ⁓ It's like a mixed bag there because I mean think you're right. I think you're right in that we're in a really, really dangerous place in history right now for democracy. I don't know where we're going to be at the end of the Trump administration.

Led Black (37:44)
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Octavio Blanco (38:03)
I think that Trump taking over the DC Police Department is like a he's doing like a trial run of how would this how would this all work where would I plug where would I plug things in where I were but I don't from what I've seen he can't legally do it in other cities he can do it in Washington DC

Led Black (38:14)
Exactly. It's a smaller, right, small area.

Octavio Blanco (38:27)
But Congress does have the opportunity to stop it if they vote on it. But who cares what he can legally do or what he can legally not do? He does so many things without having legal authority that I think for everybody who's sort of like sitting back thinking, this can't happen here, well, maybe that's true. But what if he tries? What are we going to do about it?

I don't have the answer. I really don't that's beyond my Beyond my Abilities, I don't know what the answer is But like we say here on the show on uptown voices its community I guess that's that's the only answer that we can bring to it And that's the reason why we're doing this this show is because we want to make sure that at least

We're strengthening our community and that we're giving air time to the people within our community that are strengthening their community, making it better.

people that are looking for ways, looking for solutions to improve it, whether it's housing, whether it's drugs, whether it's people picking up their dog poop, like come on, what's the deal with that? We gotta do better, man. That's like, you know what, that's like one of those little things that, I'm not a broken windows kinda guy, but for me, that's like one of those little things that you just should be able to do as a dog owner. That's probably your responsibility.

Led Black (39:28)
Yeah, it's true.

You know it's funny you say that.

I was, you know, I saw a walk, I have a dog, Izzy, little Havanese, right? So I was walking him, right? And I always pick up the poop like you're supposed to, right? And this old school Dominican man goes to me, Usted es el unico hispano que hace eso. And I was like, oh, like it was just funny because it's true. Like, you know, we should be picking up the poop. That's gross. You know, it just brings more vermin and you know, to the area and it's nasty. Yeah, for sure, man.

Octavio Blanco (40:09)
And so, okay, you got me on this dog poop thing. And then this guy tells you, you're, I'm his final, I would pick it up too. But do you think that it actually is like a cultural thing? Do you think that it's actually, or do you think it's like something else?

Led Black (40:26)
I think it is

a little cultural, yeah. Like I think some of it for sure, you know what I'm saying? But it is what it is. I try to pick up, be model, good behavior. But people need to pick up off their dogs. Stop the nonsense. You know what mean? We need to get real with that.

Octavio Blanco (40:40)
Yeah

Yeah, and and and and and you're littering and littering and all that stuff, you know all that stuff We need to we need to do better. I do know that there's been that there was like There are groups out there. I think there was like a Dyckman a Dyckman cleanup thing that happened

Led Black (40:56)
Yeah, so yeah,

that's what's really cool. There's a bunch of different cleanups that happen, different groups put them together. We always share them on social media. So that's super important that the community gets involved, for sure.

Octavio Blanco (41:08)
Maybe we should bring them on. We should bring them on and talk about what's the next one and what's going on and how can we do it. Because you know what, it's it's one of those things that like, it makes you feel better when things are like not, you know, with dog poop all over the place.

Led Black (41:15)
Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, and I think, then

we gotta get those, we gotta start working those community muscles now, right? Because again, it's funny because I feel like for the last 10 years, for the Trump era, I've been ruining people's, the coolest parties ever talking about doomsday shit with Trump, right? Because I knew he was gonna win the first time, I knew he was gonna win the second time, and I knew how bad it was gonna be, you know what mean? But, but, but.

Octavio Blanco (41:47)
We're just trying

to have a good time.

Led Black (41:49)
Right. But it's like, that's what I do on this podcast. But I coined the phrase on our last Black and Blanco, right, where I said, enjoy it before Trump destroys it. Right. And that's really like, that's not a lie. Like one thing I want to do when I come back from the Dominican Republic is I want to go to the African-American Museum in D.C. Right. Because, you know, that shit is going to get shut down. Right. You know, that whole thing is an insult to to to Trump and to MAGA. Right. So that you had the Latino Museum, all those museums.

that exists for people of color, go to them now. Enjoy those things now, because they will not be the same, they will change, and you're to be like, damn, I should have gone when it was a thing. Even the Smithsonian had an exhibit about impeachment, and they were forced to remove about Trump's two impeachments. That's crazy. That's dictatorship. That's what that is.

Right? That's where we're at. So enjoy it before Trump destroys it.

Octavio Blanco (42:47)
Yeah. And

the national parks, he forced the national parks to take down anything that was disparaging of American history. There's plenty to be disparaging about with American history, especially when you talk about national parks and Native Americans, indigenous Americans. Yeah.

Led Black (43:07)
It's anti-truth. It's anti-truth. It's so ridiculous

how they made the word woke and DEI. It's ridiculous. those are the barbarians are not at the gate. The barbarians are in power. And they're not going to lose that power easily. So I just think that's why community is the answer. Let's build those community muscles. Let's do things together. Let's, hey, you're doing this. I do this. Let's do this together. I think that's going be more important than ever.

Octavio Blanco (43:20)
Yeah, they're...

Yeah.

Well, let's start. Yeah, we're doing this, but let's get those, let's go, let's get those Dyckman cleanup guys and gals on the show, or at least connect it to us so that we can start talking about this. Because it's like, we are trying to talk about a lot of the issues and we talk about the drugs and I mean, gosh, you know, like, but maybe.

Led Black (43:51)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (43:55)
another place to be maybe a lower bar is like, let's connect on just like garbage. Like clean up your garbage, pick up after your dog and let's get started there. And then we can move on to let's try not to become Philadelphia. You're about like, you're talking about like mayors and leadership. I mean, I see what's going on in Philadelphia with the drugs in Kensington. And I'm like, how are they just letting that...

Led Black (44:18)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (44:20)
What the f***

It's...

Led Black (44:22)
I think

you reach a point where it's too much and you lose control.

Octavio Blanco (44:25)
I've seen those videos on social. I don't know what's I know that that's real but I don't know when you know like social can be so so odd like sometimes they show things from like years ago sometimes they show things from right now but that's it's it's just I mean it's I don't mean to demean it but it is like the walking dead it does look like scenes from the walking dead it really does it's it's crazy and I really really hope that

Led Black (44:36)
No, but that's Kensington right now. Kensington right now is destroyed.

Octavio Blanco (44:51)
we can get a hold of the situation uptown before it turns into something that's like that because it's starting to look eerily, eerily similar in some parts of our neighborhood.

Led Black (45:03)
I agree.

I agree. I saw someone's video, I forgot who was, and it was in the Heights on Instagram, and it was a picture of one of the drug addicts out here, just laying, knocked out on the floor, but when you come out the building, it's almost like you have to almost step over him to go about your day. You have very little space to walk around, and I seen the guy, and was almost naked, and it's like, you feel like...

If it would this be allowed downtown, right? Right? Or is it just us? Right? That's that's the thing that's kind of annoying. Is it just us? There has to be the victims of this. You know what mean? It feels like that sometimes.

Octavio Blanco (45:37)
It's interesting that you put

that because it's interesting that you asked that because when the Lower East Side in the 70s was going through its horribleness, that was us. That wasn't the Lower East Side that it is now. That was us, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, immigrants, brown people living in the Lower East Side getting burned out of the buildings and dealing with the drug addicts that again weren't...

necessarily brown people, you know? I one of the things that we need to recognize is that what we're dealing with here is also the ills of other communities that are being...

Led Black (46:06)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (46:15)
transplanted to us. A lot of these folks come from outside of New York City and their small towns don't want them there. And they're putting them on a bus with bus fare and sending them to New York City and sending them to Philadelphia and sending them to other cities because they don't want to deal with it. And I don't want to make this an us versus them situation in terms of like dealing with health, but I think small towns and rural communities

are also disadvantaged, but they need to step up somehow.

Led Black (46:48)
Yeah.

It's you know, I spend a lot of time in my car driving looking for parking, know at all times I'm always driving and I'm always walking in this neighborhood like people know me they see me out here I'll be outside and you know, if I've seen the changes, you know, really in the last ten years Right you see where like it's a lot of lot of heroin addicts in this neighborhood now that you didn't see You know, it's it's it's hordes and it's and it's changing and we're at the beginning of something right and it's

funny like I like as a kid I was a little kid when crack came about right I kind of noticed the differences right because it was like we went from being like graffiti writers and all the leaders of the graffiti writers became crack dealers you know and it was like a abrupt switch but I was a child right I understand you know what's happening but you saw the neighborhood deteriorate in front of your eyes right

That's what's happening right now. It's deteriorating, like right before our eyes. And there's this explosion. if, and you know.

If nothing is done, if the fences are not put up to keep the neighborhood what it is, you can lose a lot of chunks of this, right? Like it's a process, but it's happening. know, like I always have my beef with, know, the only two safe injection sites in the country being uptown, right? I think that's crazy. But there's one that's right here, 180th, and it's created basically a heroin corridor.

door from 180th and Amsterdam all the way to to Cabrini. Right? So there's people coming to buy you know heroin all times of day and night. It wasn't like when I was a kid when if you were to buy a bag of weed you had to go in a basement you know talk to a window and say you know like a secret password and and you know now the dudes sell out their car. They parked in a parked car for heroin. Right? Like there's a dude that knocks on the he gives him the money so they're not even

Octavio Blanco (48:34)
Yeah. Yeah.

Led Black (48:39)
scared, right? So it's created this incentive for people to sell heroin, right? Because you have a captive audience of addicts. So yeah, I think it's a real problem. And I think it needs to be addressed and it needs to be a multi-pronged address where if this is going to be here, if you're not going to put harm reduction everywhere, then have more policing. Have more rules because it's out of hand.

Octavio Blanco (49:02)
⁓ Or even or even

or even more funding so they could stay open longer because when they they close whatever time they close Those folks aren't going anywhere. They're staying right here

Led Black (49:13)
But again,

if it's so important to have, put them everywhere. Put them every 10 blocks. If they're so important, why put them here with very little community input, done at the stroke of midnight by the Blasio as he left his term, right, we learned on this podcast. And that seems very underhanded, right? So it feels underhanded too now and it feels like what happened, right? Like this is the result of.

Octavio Blanco (49:15)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, and, ⁓

Yep. Yep.

You know, we've talked a lot about housing in this podcast, and you've brought up the theory that I think it's plausible, I think it's possible, that the heroin epidemic is a Trojan horse for gentrification.

Led Black (49:53)
I think, not the heroin,

but it's harm reduction is a Trojan horse for gentrification, right? So it's the idea of harm reduction, but then, so you know, I just think harm reduction in theory is how could you be against harm reduction, right? But harm reduction for whom, right? The problem with the approach, right? So again, you only have two safe injection sites in the whole country. Only two.

Octavio Blanco (49:59)
So yeah, explain that a little bit.

Led Black (50:17)
One in El Barrio and one in Washington Heights, right? So there's only two of those. So if that's the case, then you're creating only here. There's no more anywhere else.

Right? So the fact is that by creating it here, you create a lot of pressure, you know, to move people, right? Like if you live there, if you're an old person that's paying $600, they want to get rid of you, right? So I think that once you get rid of the people, then they'll get rid of that place, right? It won't be necessary, right? And again, it's doing tremendous damage to the community. Every day on my corner, there's somebody's going

Octavio Blanco (50:49)
So.

Led Black (50:56)
that garbage just chucking like this. Right? So even if you are like you're in the car like even if people are doing the right thing and throwing away the garbage in the right place someone is going through it like this you know what mean? And that happens every day on my corner.

Octavio Blanco (51:04)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And just tossing it up.

⁓ But walk me,

Led Black (51:10)
And I always say,

like, I grew up on Wadsworth. I used to look across the way from my window, and I used to look towards Fort Wash. And I could see Fort Tryon Park, and I used to always look at, like, Fort Wash. You live in Fort Wash. You made it. You know what mean? And now I live in Fort Wash, and it's not the Fort Wash that I used to see. It's really getting bad. And I think it's something that we're on the cusp of something, where this is the new, the beginnings of something like the crack era.

to be, especially as people get poor, especially as they cut snap, especially if things get leaner, you need to focus on this. And there's also a lot of young addicts from here too. There's young dudes that were into the lean or the opiates, and then now they can't afford the opiates anymore, they can't afford the OxyCine, the $75 a pill, they can't afford that. A hit of heroin is 10, so let me do that. So there's a lot of young dudes out here too

They look like they don't even know who they are. So it's heartbreaking every day. So I feel for them too, but we're not helping them by creating these, we're not helping any, I think it needs to be not a addict-centric approach, it needs to be a community-centric approach.

Octavio Blanco (52:10)
Yeah, they don't know.

Led Black (52:24)
If you're focused on your clients and they're the addicts, and that's your moment, well yeah, so what does that mean? For example, one of the stats at the on point always says, we reversed 500 overdoses, right? But what does that really mean? Because some of those overdoses are the same person multiple times, right? But they never give you the stat of how many people have stopped doing heroin. They're not stopping you from doing heroin.

They're encouraging, it's counterintuitive. And again, if this is the right way of doing things, do it everywhere. Don't just do it in my hood. Don't just do it uptown. You know what mean? That's where it feels weird.

Octavio Blanco (52:57)
Yeah, yeah.

Absolutely. No, I'm with you. You know, I used to be I'm still I still like you I think we both sort of like really do feel for for for the addicts and what they're going through it's not like Casting shame or anything or accusations, you know people become addicts because of bad

Decisions or whatever the case may be maybe they're hurt and they have to take painkillers in the past and they no longer have insurance or whatever the case may be that they're addicts, right? Maybe they did get high off their own supply and they became addicts, you who knows but I'm with you that it should not just be an addict centric

way of doing approach. It should be community centric. But I wanted to, I just wanted to get back to the, your idea of the Trojan horse for gentrification. Cause I look, I was looking at, I'm looking at Lower East Side, New York City, Manhattan, Lower East Side, Manhattan. And I think that that's like a very good, possibly a very good comparison to what my, when you're talking about the Trojan horse for gentrification. Cause Lower East Side,

Led Black (53:52)
think that that's

Octavio Blanco (54:01)
Manhattan was a heroin like hot spot in the 70s and it was a danger. It was a terrible neighborhood worse than we are currently but going in the direction of where we could be headed if we don't really get together. But nowadays Lower East Side is trendy, expensive.

Led Black (54:08)
Right.

Octavio Blanco (54:21)
That's where the models and the musicians and all the rock stars and also the bankers live now. They're downtown. So how does that happen? Because what do you think is the trajectory? It gets to that horribleness where buildings are burned out and there's vacant lots everywhere and people are...

Led Black (54:27)
Yeah.

get to that horrible place where buildings are burned down and there's vacant lots of

No, I mean, don't think it

has to have to get that far. I just think that that you get you disgust people enough to get them out of here and it accelerates the displacement. Right. Because it is it you at some point people are to get tired. Like, why am I living like this? Like, why am I like I grew up in this neighborhood? I never had to step over even during the crack era I didn't have to step over people's bodies. You know, I mean, this has never been this bad. So it's going to make people leave. You know, it accelerates that.

And again, it's funny, right, because...

I'm gonna tell you a little quick story that happened to me yesterday. So yesterday, I went to go get my car, right? And a heroin addict came up to me, right? And he was asking for, he said he was super hungry. He hadn't eaten. I knew he was a heroin addict, right? But I was kinda like, I felt really bad for him. He's an older man. He said, I'm 71, you know? I haven't eaten, I'm so hungry. And right now, I was like, I didn't really have much money. I had two fives, so I gave him one.

Yo, I gave that dude that money, right? He took it like, it was not even a... It was like... And he didn't even say thank you. And he was walking with a cane, slow. told me the story. As soon as I gave him the money, he took that. He wasn't even using the cane. He was like, I'm gonna get heroin. I'm happy. And I felt like a sucker. You know what mean? I felt like... Because he just gave me the, I'm hungry. And like, oh wow, you're hungry. Let me help. I've eaten. me... And then he just... You could tell it wasn't about food.

Octavio Blanco (55:55)
sprinting.

Led Black (56:06)
You know, it's just another example of what life has become up here, you know what mean? And and that's a great example I never thought of that right with with the Lower East Side, right? Like what it was and what it is now and I do think that the hollowing out is allowed Right, it's allowed it's let's get these people out of here Let's clear this out whatever it takes and that's how it feels like it just this feels like a plan and things are deteriorating

Octavio Blanco (56:29)
Well it's already

happening with the housing prices, right? Rent up here is ridiculous for a one bedroom you're paying damn near $3,000 I think is a good rate for somebody who's just arrived, who's not rent stabilized or any of that stuff.

So lot of people are already moving out to the Bronx and to upstate. People are getting out of the city, going out to Jersey. A lot of folks leaving, going out to Jersey. So it's already happening. And then when you add onto it the discomfort that is happening, least in this general area with the drug addiction, it does make it so that people don't.

Led Black (56:47)
So then.

Octavio Blanco (57:08)
are not gonna want to live here because why would you want to live here? It's a shame. And I think there's plenty of reasons to want to live here. And I still want to live here. I love it here. And I know you love it here too. So.

Led Black (57:14)
I love my hood. I love my hood. I love my hood. But I'll say

this, I kind of want to get out of this little chunk. I want to get out the heroin zone. You know what mean? Like I want to move like further up.

You know, I lived in Inwood before. I really liked the Seaman area. Like, I liked that whole, you Inwood Hill Park area. Because this is a little too much right here right now. Like, I feel like too much in the thick of things. But yeah, I love the hood. I don't want to leave the hood. I want to stay here. I want to continue to build community. But I just want to get away from it. Because again, I don't think, just like we were talking, people just don't know the severity. People don't have the edge of the street in the way they should. Because we all kind of live disconnected lives, you know what mean? And we're stuck in our own world.

but I think we need to open our eyes for the whole locally, nationally, globally. Open your eyes. Like, look at the world, where we're going.

Octavio Blanco (58:08)
Talk to each other. That's one of the things that I hope that people who are listening will push themselves out of their comfort zone and talk to your neighbors. Really, just make an effort. Whatever you can do to just have conversations, say hi, good morning. know people in New York, they always say, we don't even know our neighbors. That is not true. That is not true. When I first moved uptown, exactly, man.

Led Black (58:09)
For real. ⁓

That's right.

That's right, spread love is the uptown way. That's for real,

Octavio Blanco (58:34)
That's the way it

Led Black (58:34)
for real.

Octavio Blanco (58:34)
is. like if all this stuff that we're talking about is terrible and you know, is problematic and it's scary, but the solution is in front of our eyes. We just need to, you know, be brave and talk to one another and try not to be scared of each other and just like reach out to each other. Make sure that your neighbors are okay, you know.

We, when we were away for two weeks, one of our neighbors took care of our cats, you know, like, and we take care of her cat, you know? And we have a little chat, actually this is where like, we were talking about social and real life. We have a WhatsApp building chat and it was on the chat that she was like, is anybody available to watch my cats? And we volunteered. And then when we left, like, hey, you know, we can watch her.

Led Black (59:04)
Nice. Nice.

That's awesome.

Octavio Blanco (59:25)
And so, you know, if you are able to organize something like that in your own building, do it. Get your people, get your building together and that. Community is the answer and it's hard and it takes, it's like, especially after being locked up, you know, in the pandemic for two or three years, you know, those muscles of atrophy. ⁓ But we need to exercise them.

Led Black (59:32)
make it happen. Community is the answer, for real.

Octavio Blanco (59:51)
and whatever we can do here we're gonna do definitely like drop us a line on social comment on our podcast we want to make sure that we can know who you are what's important to you and that we can elevate those those ideas and include you if we can and the things that we're doing so

That's my invitation to everybody, just like.

Led Black (1:00:14)
That's it. All right, y'all.

Another black and blanco in the books. All right, y'all. Thank you, brother. We'll talk soon. Thank you, brother. We'll talk soon.

Octavio Blanco (1:00:20)
happy birthday. Enjoy your vacation.

Octavio Blanco (1:00:29)
Thanks for joining us in this episode of Uptown Voices brought to you by 181 Cabrini, your neighborhood bistro just steps away from the North Walk of the George Washington Bridge. Use the code Uptown Voices season one for your discount. And to stay up to date on the latest in Uptown, you can follow Uptown Collective on Instagram, Facebook, and X. If you're watching Uptown Voices on YouTube, don't forget to smash the subscribe button and to give us a like.

Octavio Blanco (1:00:58)
And don't forget, we also need financial contributions from listeners like you to produce, improve, and expand our content. To contribute, please scan the QR code on the screen or visit www.livinamericana.com. That's L-I-V-I-N without a G.

Octavio Blanco (1:01:15)
Until next time, this has been Uptown Voices.