On Monday, November 9th, AYON Studio Principal Angel Ayón and members of our team joined New York Amsterdam News for its Electeds and Community Leaders Breakfast, where the paper officially launched the Citadel of Black Truth, a $44 million capital campaign to transform its historic Harlem headquarters at 2340 Frederick Douglass Boulevard into an immersive public space and cultural institution.
The morning brought together elected officials from Harlem, including State Senator Cordell Cleare, along with Assemblymembers Al Taylor and Jordan J.G. Wright, Council Member Yusef Salaam, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and leaders from the Mellon Foundation and the National Urban League.
Angel spoke alongside our collaborator on the project, architect Jerome Haferd to share with funders, officials, and community members insight into how the project will give Harlem a place to honor the paper’s 117-year legacy and the wider history and impact of Black media.
The reimagined headquarters will feature a two-story digital portal, to be known as the Citadel of Black Truth, a café inspired by the lunch counters of the civil rights era, and a rooftop event space overlooking the Harlem skyline. The project will also include the restoration of the building’s façade, neon sign, murals, marble staircase, and mosaic floors, and will preserve the 1940s publisher’s office and the original newsroom.
Read more about the event in the New York Amsterdam News.