City Council calls to reinstate Kehlani and Noname SummerStage performances
Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Dr. Nantasha Williams sent a joint letter to the City Parks Foundation on Tuesday urging leaders to reverse the cancellation and condemning New York City Mayor Eric Adams for what they're calling political pressure.
More Local News
'When political pressure leads to threats against a permit that could impact an entire season of public performances, it puts our civil liberties at risk. Free speech is not optional,' said Williams.
'It's a right and it must be protected, especially when the voices being targeted are the very ones most often pushed to the margins.'
More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State
R&B singer Kehlani was originally set to perform on June 26 in honor of Pride but was canceled due to 'concerns for security and safety' from the Mayor's Office, according to a social media post from SummerStage.
The cancellation came shortly after Kehlani was pulled from Cornell University's Slope Day festival for comments related to Gaza.
Noname, who has similarly been outspoken about Gaza, was scheduled to headline a Juneteenth show.
'These cancellations are not about safety, they're about silencing. Black and brown artists have always spoken honestly about the world as it is and as it should be. That's what Pride and Juneteenth demand of us: truth-telling, not retreat,' said Williams.
In a statement provided to PIX11 News, City Parks Foundation Executive Director Heather Lubov said:
'To clarify – City Parks Foundation SummerStage did not cancel the Juneteenth/Noname benefit concert. This cancellation is a matter between Live Nation, the producer of the concert, and the artist. A reason for cancellation was not provided to SummerStage.
City Parks Foundation made the difficult decision to cancel the Kehlani concert in response to the security concerns raised by City Hall. The concerns also suggested that our license to operate SummerStage would be in jeopardy if we let the concert go on. The Mayor's Office cited the controversy surrounding Cornell University's decision to cancel Kehlani's concert at the University, as well as security demands in Central Park and throughout the City for other Pride events during that same time period.
We strongly and emphatically believe in artistic expression of all kinds. However, the safety and security of our guests and artists is of the utmost importance and in light of these concerns, the concert has been cancelled.
SummerStage is proud to be a platform for artists from around the world to perform and make arts accessible for all New Yorkers in their neighborhood parks. While artists may choose to express their own opinions, their views may not necessarily be representative of the festival. SummerStage events are intended to bring together all sectors of the New York City community and we look forward to welcoming more guests throughout the summer.'
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Sick of online dating, NYC singles are looking for love via PowerPoint presentations
They've got some hot pitches At the buzzy new dating event Pitch & Pair, Gothamites try to sell the audience on their single friends with three-to-five minute PowerPoint presentations. 'I have a lot of shy friends who are single who are really great catches, and they kind of don't flourish in the typical dating apps or speed dating because they're introverted,' said the event's founder, Joe Teblum, a 33-year-old who lives in Chelsea and works in tech marketing. 'I also saw that there was this trend of people wanting to meet in person especially after Covid.' 8 At Pitch and Pair events, New Yorkers pitch their single friends to potential mates. Emmy Park for NY Post At an event last week at Slate in the Flatiron District, 16 locals gave presentations to a few hundred in the audience. There were bullet points, short videos and tickers. 'He can explain things without making you fall asleep,' Kedar Venkataramani's cousin told the audience of the 30-year-old, 5-foot-8 intellectual property lawyer who lives in NYC. 'He has a sharp mind, a sharp suit, and zero ego.' The cousin also praised Venkataramani as a soccer enthusiast and tasting menu aficionado. 'He will take you to a Broadway show including 'Hamilton' or 'Book of Mormon',' she said. 'He also Citi Bikes everywhere like it's his personal Tour de France.' The crowd was especially excited about the presentation for Chris Puch, a 33-year-old firefighter who lives in Staten Island and is a pseudo-celebrity on Tik Tok for being a hunky public servant. 8 Joe Teblum launched the events last year. They now attract hundreds and quickly sell out. Emmy Park for NY Post 'He will cook healthy for you even though I've seen him eat $50 worth of Taco Bell in one sitting, so you don't have to worry about him being too healthy,' said his matchmaker friend, laughing. 'If you guys like to travel, he loves it. He's a world traveler, and he's been all over the world, and he's looking for someone to go with besides himself.' Anand Tamirisa, a 33-year-old who lives in Chelsea and works in investment banking, was another one of the singles on offer. He admitted that he had authored much of the presentation himself, even though it was given by a dating guru buddy. 'I'm working in PowerPoint all day so it's easy for me,' he said. 'I made it in two hours. I even have a ticker on the top and stuff.' 8 Firefighter Chris Puch (with Caroline Busch) was a crowd favorite. Emmy Park for NY Post 8 Puch's presentation touted his love for travel and Taco Bell. Emmy Park for NY Post His deck included information such as 'Moved to NYC in 2018 after being inspired by Jay-Z,' 'Works in investment banking but doesn't wear a vest,' and, 'Has performed stand-up comedy at world-class dive bars.' It proved effective. By the time he walked off stage, Tamirisa had five new 'follow' requests on Instagram. (At the end of each presentation the matchmaker friend tells the crowd how to reach the single, whether it's via Instagram, email or text.) 'If I end up with one of them it would be a really good story,' Tamirisa said. Pitch & Pair takes place twice a month at venues round town, including City Winery in the Meatpacking District and Second City in Brooklyn. It costs $40 to $60 pitch — with two tickets to the event included — and $15 to $25 to sit in the audience. The next event is August 4th at Caveat on the Lower East Side. 8 Anand Tamirisa (left, with Jaspreet Mini Hanjra) authored much of his presentation himself, he said. Emmy Park for NY Post Events regularly sell out shortly after being announced — in as little as 34 hours. When Teblum first came up with the idea about a year ago, interest was limited. 'Only one person wanted to do a presentation,' he said of the first event, which was held at Kilo Bravo bar in Williamsburg and only attracted a few people beyond his friends. 8 The night's PowerPoint presentations displayed the fluency many young professionals have with the medium. Emmy Park for NY Post 8 Pitch and Pair is held twice a month, at various locations. Emmy Park for NY Post ts some early iterations, people tended to roast their friends in an attempt to be funny. Audiences sometimes erupted into 'boos.' Now, Teblum tells participants to keep it positive. 'The crowd gets so into it,' he said. 'Like the matchmaker shows a picture of someone's dog or hobby and everyone breaks out cheering.' 8 Sophia Demetriou said being pitched was a bit akward. Emmy Park for NY Post Still, Sophia Demetriou, who was the first single presented at last week's event, said the experience was slightly uncomfortable. Her former roommate extolled her virtues, including the fact that she has never lost a game of backgammon, can 'serve looks' and is a Pizza Hut connoisseur. 'It was terrifying,' said Demetriou, a 26-year-old fashion designer. 'But I do think this is how people are going to date in the future. It just makes sense.'
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Mamdani won, but ranked-choice voting lost
For many, New York City's recent mayoral primary was a sign of a healthy democracy — New Yorkers showing up, organizing and making their voices heard. It was also seen by many as a validation of ranked-choice voting. With Zohran Mamdani's historic win, there's renewed enthusiasm for ranked choice as a way to elevate consensus candidates, open the door to new political voices and avoid polarizing outcomes. But that is not quite what happened. Dig deeper and the picture gets more complicated. The mayoral race didn't elevate a broadly supported candidate. Instead, it turned into a binary contest between two deeply polarizing figures — Mamdani, a democratic socialist and vocal critic of the Democratic establishment, and Andrew Cuomo, a scandal-plagued former governor who resigned from office just a few years ago. Ranked-choice voting is often pitched as a system that lifts up candidates acceptable to the broadest number of people — not necessarily anyone's first choice, but the one most voters can get behind. In theory, it helps avoid scenarios where deeply unpopular or fringe candidates win because the majority splits its vote. In practice? The Mamdani-Cuomo face-off shows us something very different. You couldn't find two candidates further apart within a political party than Mamdani and Cuomo. Neither really fits the mold of a consensus candidate in a typical Democratic primary, and yet they were the two leading contenders. The race turned into a straightforward binary: Are you for Mamdani or Cuomo? The ranked ballots became secondary to the first-choice battle between two deeply polarizing figures. Ranked-choice voting didn't mitigate polarization. It only masked it. Voters may have technically ranked more than one candidate, but the outcome, and the entire narrative of the race, boiled down to who was ranked first. There is little evidence to suggest that large numbers of voters were thoughtfully ranking across ideological lines. If anything, the illusory promise of cross-ranked camaraderie kept nonviable candidates in the race and prevented consolidation of money, staff and messaging behind alternative candidates to the big two. And we shouldn't forget the real-world challenges of ranked-choice voting implementation, particularly in New York City. Studies showed that in the 2021 mayoral election, ballot errors and incomplete rankings were significantly more common in communities of color. A Politico analysis found that low-income neighborhoods had higher rates of invalid ballots and lower rates of full ballot usage. That's not just a paperwork problem. It's a representation problem. If a voting system makes it harder for certain communities to fully make their voices heard, we should be asking hard questions. None of this is to say ranked-choice voting can't ever be useful. In some places, under certain conditions, it absolutely can help break through toxic partisanship and offer voters more voice and choice. But it's not a plug-and-play solution for every jurisdiction, and it certainly didn't deliver a clean, consensus-building outcome in New York City. Instead, it fueled a head-to-head showdown between two candidates. We should not treat ranked-choice voting like a one-size-fits-all fix for what ails American elections. States and cities considering this system should move very carefully and demand a strategic case-by-case plan that considers the impact of the change in their political geography. Real democracy reform isn't just about changing how votes are counted. It's about whether more communities are truly being heard. That requires tailoring systems to fit local contexts, investing in voter education and implementation, and measuring success by inclusion and trust. Let's not mistake innovation for progress or let trendy electoral reforms make us lose sight of the end goal: true representation and a strong democracy.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thousands attend major Cambridgeshire LGBTQ+ festival
Thousands attended a major Cambridgeshire LGBTQ+ festival. The Peterborough Pride event took place on Saturday, July 19, and saw many people attend and take part in the parade. Stagecoach East's bus was a central part of the parade, providing a dry space on a wet day. The company offered a 20 per cent discount to everyone attending the event on DayRider tickets, ensuring that everyone had a chance to join in the fun. Peterborough Pride is an annual event that aims to create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all members of the LGBTQ+ community. David Boden, commercial director of Stagecoach East, said: "It was such a pleasure for us to be able to attend Peterborough's wonderful Pride Festival. "We are so proud to be part of our local communities, and Peterborough Pride is a highlight of the year. Recommended Reading: Water park and paddling pool re-open for summer "The people involved are so dedicated in what they do and so passionate to provide a Pride event that truly represents our local community." David Boden on the Pride Bus (Image: Stagecoach) He added: "It is in the very heart of what we do, as the region's largest operator, that we want everyone to feel welcome on our local buses, that they can get on board and get about in safety and respect, and being at Pride is just a small token of that." Stagecoach East has been proud to support the festival, which is important for the local LGBTQ+ community. The bus company is dedicated to making everyone feel welcome on their buses and believes that being part of Pride is a small token of this. The company also offered a dry space on its bus for those taking part in the parade, ensuring that everyone could participate despite the rain. Keep up to date with the latest news across Peterborough by signing up to our newsletter email alerts here Have you got a story you want to share with us? Get in touch at: newsdesk@
