Positive Possibilities in Paterson Update

Volunteers prep Hinchliffe for painting.  Photo provided by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation

Seeing as how the website views have officially climbed over 3,000 views without much promoting over the past week, it's probably a good idea to update everyone on the latest positive news in Paterson as well as the progress of our mission and our next courses of action.

Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed citizens from all over the city buy in to this whole concept of working together toward a common goal.  It started with the Victor Cruz Parade (obviously things have been in motion since before that) but after that, the positive news just keeps flowing:

- Our launch was reported in the Paterson Press and we are currently exploring other promotional opportunities in local and national papers.

- The citizens elected two very promising new School Board Commissioners in Manny Martinez Jr. and Reverand Corey Teague.  A veteran board commissioner, Errol Kerr, also re-claimed his position on election day.  In my dealings with all of them, I can say for certain that all three men have an unquestionable commitment to helping build a better Paterson and will be giving their best effort in that venture.

- In addition to the exciting board member news, Paterson Public Schools also kicked off a new series of Positive Parenting Workshops that are likely to continue being an offered service for any citizens eager to attend and learn.

- Last weekend on Saturday April 21st and Sunday the 22nd, multiple youth groups took part in a variety of community service activities: a Mary Ellen Kramer Park Clean-up, a clean up in the city's 1st ward, and the NJCDC's AmeriCorps program led an initial Hinchliffe restoration effort as they painted the stadium walls.

- Inspiringly enough, the effort to paint Hinchliffe has prompted the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) to finish the job this Saturday the 28th.  All volunteers are welcome and DPW will be meeting at Overlook Part at 9AM to prepare for the day of work on our historic stadium.  Volunteers for a 4th ward clean-up effort will also be meeting at Overlook Park at around the same time.

- The school district held a community forum this week and everyone in the city is now on the same page that we will no longer promote our students to the next grade unless they meet all the requirements for promotion.  In the past, public pressure has allowed students to advance grades despite not being ready to do so.  This will no longer be the case and the city's children will be better off for it.  This new direction we are headed in ensures accountability, a trait we must exhibit daily in order to remain credible.  Another community forum will be held this Monday the 30th to discuss all the initiatives happening around the school district to improve academic performance.

- Last night, Wednesday the 25th, Mrs. Donna Ivy concluded her month-long Quality of Life evaluation of each ward in Paterson.  Citizens gathered together to discuss all the problems going on in each part of the city and proposed solutions and action plans were developed together.  Naturally, I found myself working alongside Mayor Jones as we bounced ideas off each other about the city's media promotion and awareness plans going forward.  It was a very productive session and again supports what this website is trying to accomplish.

- City Council debates were also taking place this week.

- There is more that I'm forgetting at the moment but I will make sure to update and/or have a new submission of positive happenings as soon as possible.

- Lastly, progress on our Facebook page since our first week of major promoting has been great.  We officially have 368 'likes' on our page and counting.  With that support, we have the potential to reach over 167,000 people and alert them to our cause.  Again, that number does not include support from Victor Cruz and most of our elected officials; once they are alerted to the cause and get on board, we can expect to make an exponential jump in visibility

I will be away for the weekend but come Monday I will get right back to work on the next phase of this project.  The plan is to produce a quick yet informative promotional video for the city that will hopefully assist our plans to catch people's attention on Facebook.  My goal is to have that finished by the end of next week so that we can begin one more major promoting period after I discuss our plans with city officials at the city council meeting on May 9th.

In other news as well, Cease-Fire Paterson will soon be launching a campaign for our fundraiser happening in June that will hopefully allow the proactive anti-violence program to continue operating in the city.  Cease-Fire is a highly effective model of violence prevention that has been proven to work in many cities across the country and it is imperative that Paterson continues this program.  More information will follow on that immediately once I receive the final details for the event.  We will have a page here devoted to these fundraising activities.

That's all for now so stay tuned for more updates and keep up to date with other news and events happening on the Facebook page.

The support for a positive Paterson has been in abundance and I look forward to continue promoting all the amazing happenings going on in the city.

Thanks to all once more for the support and please know that it is forever appreciated!

Victor Cruz Parade Brings Entire City Together

Victor dancing with his mother at the parade.  Courtesy of Victor's facebook page

Sunday, April 15th, 2012
Quotes pulled from patersonpress.com.  Please support their website as they support our mission here.

Amazing day.  Absolutely inspiring and just confirms everything I am doing here.

Today, Paterson's own Super Bowl Champion Victor Cruz was honored in front of the entire city.  Everyone came out to celebrate and it was easily my favorite day here since I happened upon this city.  Here's a couple reasons why.

One reason is simply that everyone came out.  Usually in the city, parades have been held over the years in order to celebrate individual ethnic groups and such.  Essentially, the parades were never really a 'together' kind of thing.

Today was different.  There were no rivalries, just unity.  I really do not know how to express in words just how powerful it was to see.

Another reason is that today was a perfect example of the goal of this website being put into action.  Unfortunately for the city, having parades has become a very difficult thing to do with an underserved police force among other adverse conditions.  No problem.  NJ Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, coincidentally Victor's high school football coach at Paterson Catholic, arranged the entire parade with the help of local businesses.  No public dollars used at all.  Just donations and assistance from people who cared and wanted to work together to make this happen.  Isn't it a little frightening how perfectly this is all coming together for this idea?  Assemblyman Wimberly embodied this entire idea today and I'm eternally grateful for that.

Back to the parade itself.  The floats all began at the Great Falls, traveled down Spruce St. where the NJCDC offices are located, and down Market St. all the way to the front of City Hall.  I arrived at 2:00PM when it was beginning but I guess since karma is on my side these days, I was able to have VIP access for the whole ordeal.  Even got to meet Victor himself after so he can promote the cause here.  (And I was of course like a little kid in a candy shop meeting one of my favorite players from my favorite team)

I also had a great conversation with WNBA All-Star Essence Carson about all the great stuff that is happening.  She was very excited about it all.  Thanks for taking the time to speak to me, Essence.

Also had a pretty quick but insightful conversation with Congressman Pascrell.  Thank you again for that, sir.

I spoke with so many people about this website today and the support was amazing.  For those not mentioned here, I apologize profusely, you all deserve to be recognized but I'm only human.

Alright, so it was all a sight to behold, free t-shirts from Victor given to as many people as possible, all the local leaders throwing heaps of praise on this young, humble, and inspiring young man, the citizens together making it all happen.  It was all just so inspiring.  (I call Victor a young man like I'm old, Victor and I are the same age and hopefully he and I can work together from here out on making this city amazing)

I wish I could provide you all with quotes from all the leaders and everyone else but I was busy making sure all the kids around me could see Victor at the podium.  Here's some citizens and their thoughts however:

Patersonian  Lawanda Campbell attended the parade with her daughter and was especially thrilled about the parade’s impact on Paterson residents and the city itself, “The parade was fabulous,’’ she said. “Victor Cruz is Number 1. We have so many people from Paterson that are professionals. We are so proud of them. So keep up the good work Victor Cruz.”


“It’s cool because he’s (Cruz) coming from where he started, giving back to Paterson,’’ said teenager Zaier Williams. “A lot of people don’t give back to the community where they came from, maybe they don’t like the neighborhood.’’

Victor received the key to the city and rightfully so.  “This is a humbling experience,” said Cruz. “I am never afraid to tell people where I’m from and that’s Paterson.”  Here was a young man from the 4th ward in Paterson, who went to play at UMass in college, almost screwed it all up twice, (someone correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going off the stories I remember watching) then he realized fortunately thanks to his mother that he needed to get it together and work hard if he wanted to accomplish what he was hoping...

And then he made it all happen and then some.  Victor's story is one of the most inspiring I've ever witnessed and it should be told to all on a regular basis.

Paterson is going to be next.

It was truly an inspiring day.

Three Paterson Mayors Look For "Some Sign of Life" at National Park

Picture provided by patersonpress.com

This is good stuff.  A positive spin on a story that might otherwise not appear that way.  I have literally been in the process of collaborating with 3 of the NJCDC's youth programs, Paterson Youth Council, Great Falls YouthBuild, and the AmeriCorps Paterson Community Schools Corps, to begin having free guided tours of the Great Falls Historic District and the surrounding Mill Mile, the home of America's newest National Park.

I should actually a have a pretty good idea about when the tours will begin by the end of today so check back for more information later.  Especially all my friends and family from out of town, there is so much important American History here in Paterson that you owe it to yourself to get down here and see this beautiful city while you learn about how significant this city's development will be to America's future success.  (more on that to come later)

PATERSON, NJ – Three Paterson mayors on Thursday urged federal officials to move quickly to produce some tangible signs of progress on the new national park at the Great Falls.

“There is growing doubt,’’ said former mayor Pat Kramer, speaking during a meeting of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Advisory Commission. “They need some sign of life. They need something that says it’s coming, it’s happening, don’t lose faith.’’

Former mayor Thomas Rooney agreed, saying that something as simple as weekly tours on a nature trail should be done “for the people to believe this is real.’’ Mayor Jeffrey Jones said there’s “living urgency with this notion of the park” and that some Patersonians have expectations that have not yet been met. “It’s not Disney? There’s no Ferris wheel?’’ Jones said.

Rooney said the park service ought to start some low cost services at the park, such as tours on nature trails that would take visitors to the bucolic area near the lower river. Rooney said that one one walk in the area he became caught up in the tranquility and felt he had gone back in time.


Please read the rest of the story and support our friends at patersonpress.com

Three Paterson Mayors Look For "Some Sign of Life" at National Park

4 Paterson Students Picked For Gifted Princeton Summer Program

One of my students from School #5 last year, Jiovanni LaBoy, was selected for this great learning opportunity.  Great job, Jio!  And great job to the rest of the students as well!  I'll try and get to Don Bosco, JFK, and School #9 on Monday and get some video interviews with all 5 students (one was selected as an alternate, a plenty worthy honor just as well) so you can hear about their great accomplishments directly from them all.

PATERSON, NJ – Four city students have received scholarships to the Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG) at prestigious Princeton University.


The students are Samar Al Khudairi of School #9, Melanie Hoyos of Don Bosco Tech,  Jiovanni LaBoy of  Don Bosco Tech and Frankcarlos Castro of Kennedy High (STEM). The alternate, who will attend if one of the four winners cannot go, is Maria Rios of Don Bosco Tech.


The program provides a “unique environment for gifted and talented students to connect with peers in a community of like-minded learners from all over the world who share common interests, abilities and goals,’’ according to a statement issued by Paterson Public Schools. “Together students learn responsibility, self-motivation, community participation, and respect for others.’’

Please read the rest of the story at patersonpress.com
4 Paterson Students Picked For Princeton Summer Program

With City in Financial Bind, Private Donors Will Pay For Sunday’s Victor Cruz Parade

PATERSON, NJ – Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly said he has raised more than $40,000 in private donations to cover the cost of Sunday’s parade to celebrate Paterson’s hometown Super Bowl hero, Victor Cruz.

Mayor Jeffrey Jones said the private contributions were necessary because the city government and its taxpayers could not afford to pick up the tab for the parade. In fact, the state on Tuesday sent Paterson a letter advising city officials to cancel all parades to avoid the overtime expense for police officers and public works employees.

Wimberly said in an interview on Wednesday that it wasn’t hard to sell local business leaders on the benefits of the parade to Paterson’s economy. “It’s going to bring 20,000 people to downtown Paterson,’’ said Wimberly. “It’s going to be an economic injection for the city. Our downtown will be crowded on Sunday and that’s a good thing.’’

Please continue reading at patersonpress.com
http://thealternativepress.com/towns/paterson/articles/with-city-in-financial-bind-private-donors-will

What Happened to the Great Falls? Just Some Spring Cleaning

Picture provided by the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commision

PATERSON, NJ - Tourists who came to Paterson on Tuesday to see the majesty of the cascading Great Falls left disappointed. They had picked the wrong day.

On Tuesday, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s began conducting its annual cleanup of the area.

Cleaning up the Great Falls is not as simple as it sounds. Sewerage commission crews diverted the flow of the Passaic River through an adjacent hydroelectric plant, which essentially shut off the 77-foot waterfall.

That allowed about 40 volunteers from Great Falls Youth Corps, Paterson Youth Council, Americorps, the New Jersey Youth Corps and employees of the sewerage commission to move into areas where the river normally flows to remove debris. Last year, they got rid of about 10 tons.

“Today we stand at the riverbank of the Passaic River as it approaches the Great Falls,’’ said Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission Executive Director Wayne Forrest. “Generally it is rapid flowing, but today it is pretty much dried up. It is our statutory mission since the creation of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission in the city of Paterson’s legislature of 1902 to get down to the riverbed and remove pollution.”

Support the wonderful reporting at patersonpress.com and continue reading the story.
http://thealternativepress.com/towns/paterson/articles/what-happened-to-the-great-falls-just-some-sprin

Come out to the Community Health Fair this Saturday

Paterson residents, use the opportunity this weekend to receive whatever services you and your loved ones may need!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Housing-Authority-of-the-City-of-Paterson/274797022562062

School District Now Offering Positive Parenting Workshops!

And we have our first positive announcement! (Some more to come later as well)

Kudos to the school district and Early Childhood Education Department for doing this.  A fantastic idea for any school district.  Early childhood education is one of the most important efforts that we have to focus on.  Children's brains develop most during the ages of 0-5, that means that is THE prime time in a child's life for cognitive growth to occur.  Please share this with ANY parent.  Understandably I can see how someone might be hesitant to think they need this but I can say with 100% conviction, after having done countless hours of studying early childhood development in college, EVERY SINGLE parent out there, in Paterson or elsewhere, would benefit from something like this.  Great stuff Paterson Public Schools!

Click the flyer to download a larger PDF.
http://www.paterson.k12.nj.us/

Paterson's First Website Dedicated Solely To Positive News Launches

To the Citizens of Paterson, New Jersey,


Welcome to Positive Possibilities in Paterson.  This website's purpose is simple.  I wish to broadcast only positive news taking place in Paterson.  For far too long, Patersonians have been subjected to an unhealthy barrage of negative press clippings about this city.  As a result of this, far, far too many positive stories have been swept under the headlines by news of shootings, poverty, and just all too often, only the failures of the community.  I would imagine at this point in time, everyone within the city is well aware of all the bad that occurs.  Today's entry will be the only time this blog ever mentions the negative headlines.


Now as an educator who wishes to transform this city in the most positive fashion, I sometimes feel as though the classroom constrains my ability to affect wider change across the city.  This leaves me with a burning desire to make my mark outside the classroom as well.  So I do.

I recently began researching the subject of 'community' in order to see what else I might be able to do.  One of the first things that really stuck out to me was a common theme that we have to figure out a way to change the conversation that has left us in our current state.  That negative, crime ridden conversation pollutes our papers, our daily conversations, and most obviously, the city culture itself.  With this new website, I am here to begin changing that conversation by showing Patersonians the entire scope of positive possibilities that can be achieved by banding together as a true community.


I ask today, that everyone in the community join with me in making a commitment to ourselves, to our families, to our neighbors, and to our city.  Let us make a commitment to take control of today and our future by ushering in a new era of positive possibilities in the city of Paterson.  I ask you to join me because quite frankly, I do not have the ability to transform this city by myself.  I wish I did but the reality is not a single person in this city can go and transform it with no help.  We all must come to this realization.  From this point on, we as Patersonians must come together and prosper.  That is the only way.  We must come together as a community.  The only other choice is to suffer as individuals.  In my humble opinion, that is not a viable option at all.


To begin this new present and future, I ask that any person with a positive story to share, to please share it with this website so that we can spread the word and inform everyone about all the good that really is possible in Paterson.


We will show the amazing possibilities of Paterson by showing people the proof that is in the proverbial pudding.  Negative press will be thrown to the back pages while the headlines become overrun with positive stories.  No longer will we allow selfishness and violence to grace our headlines. No.  Those negative headlines no longer deserve our attention.  Just as we would ignore a child acting up for attention, from this point forth, we are going to ignore those who wish to bring our city down with negativity.  We are going to ignore those who tarnish our reputation.  We are going to ignore those who take our brothers, sisters, cousins, and fathers away from us.  Yes, they may still exist for the time being, we are not going to eradicate the tragedies in one fell swoop, but their days of negativity will soon be coming to an end.  Together we will make it so.


Positivity is contagious and before long, our negative contributors throughout the city will begin to see the possibilities that they are holding all of us back from.  They may round up their crews one day in preparation for a fight or conflict, only to find out that there are so few of them left that still see value in violence.  At that point, they will be left with two choices, choose to keep fighting with themselves until every last one of them ends up in jail or dead?  Or will they decide to join the rest of us in the community as we choose to live...


The photo at the top of this post was taken on Saturday, March 31st, 2012. (courtesy of the Paterson Cease-Fire Facebook page)  Cease-Fire Paterson, with the help of other various community organizations, held a prayer march for peace to speak out against all the shootings that have taken place in the city.  It was a great turn out.  Despite poor weather, around 100 concerned citizens gathered together to show their fellow residents that the violence must end.  It was a most promising sight to see the unity and desire for peace in action..


Not so promising, was the two shooting victims brought to St. Joseph's later that night.  They fortunately had non-fatal wounds.


I recently attended a Cease-Fire meeting where someone mentioned what a shame it was that the only news reported on the Cease-Fire Facebook page was negative.  That stuck with me after the meeting and it stuck with me that Saturday even more.  On a day where citizens around the city gathered around with each other to promote peace, other selfish citizens chose to promote death.  When reading a story about a peace march, who wants to read about someone being shot immediately after?  How can that promote hope for a citizenry?  How can we  have faith in our optimism when reality smacks that very optimism right in the face?


The answer is we must not waste our energy on the negative story.  Now, this must not be mistaken for ignoring the reality that negative stories exist, they still do.  But we must recognize that those stories are done and cannot change now.  We must instead focus on the very next story.  The positive story.  And the next positive story.  And the next one, and so forth.  And eventually we will be overrun by positive news while we continue kicking the negative news to the back pages.


Then maybe.. Just maybe...  That news happening on those back pages... Actually will start disappear.


Wouldn't that be something?  I honestly believe the citizens of this city can make that happen.  You should too.

I know the majority of Paterson's residents seek a good life.  I just know you all do.  So let us see just how much power our majority actually has.




This is my mission and I hope you will all join me in it.  I cannot do it without you.  If you have a positive story you wish to report please send it to: patersonpositivepossibilities@gmail.com

About The Editor

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” 

- Theodore Roosevelt

‎"Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away."

- Indira Ghandi

"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."
- Abraham Lincoln 

If I could sum up who I am today, I believe these three quotes would provide a fairly accurate description.

My name is Lyle Silverman and I arrived in Paterson last year as an AmeriCorps Member at the New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC).  Though I cannot pinpoint the exact moment, at some point during this volunteer experience, my entire life was transformed in the most amazing ways.


I decided that, in my time here on this earth, I would dedicate myself to making a positive impact on anyone that I come into contact with every single day.  The teaching profession provides that opportunity for me to make this positive impact daily basis.  I know I possess tremendous value to this world and as such, I try my best to expand my positive influence wherever I can.


But why Paterson?  Simple.


From my first drive in to work, I fell in love with the Great Falls in an instant.  On any given day, I can literally sit down at Overlook Park and stay for hours while I admire the beauty of this natural wonder.


Then, as I made my way up the stairs at School #5 for the first time, I looked down at the desolate Hinchliffe Stadium and wondered how something like this could happen?  But that negative feeling quickly disappeared.  What I really saw was an opportunity to be a part of something special.  I knew in my heart that Paterson had immense potential.  


As a historian, I then discovered something even cooler.  Paterson was one of the most significant cities, if not the most, in American history.  We became the most advanced modern economy the world had ever seen and Paterson was literally where it all began.  How cool is that?  What a source of pride that must be for this city I thought, this is a remarkable characteristic to rally around.  The rich history only added to my belief in the potential of what Paterson could be.


Looking beyond the history, I saw a youth population that was eager to learn, parents that just wanted the best for their children, and leaders who were trying their best to make all that happen.  In all, I saw a population that just wanted the best for their city.  But something was off, it just seemed that no one knew exactly how they could achieve that greatness.  All this and more is exactly what has motivated me to bring this city whatever value I possibly can.


Fast forward to today, I work for the NJCDC as an Academic Instructor for Great Falls YouthBuild.  YouthBuild is an alternative school program focused on giving young people, ages 16-24, the skills to acquire their high school diploma and/or a trade of their choice.  I absolutely love my job and the difference I make in my students lives.  Still though, I always feel that I can do more, not just for my students, but for the whole city.  And so I do.


I recently began researching the subject of 'community' in my quest to make the most positive impact that I can.  One of the first things I uncovered was that potential was the wrong word to be using to describe why I chose to dedicate myself to Paterson.  I do not see potential in Paterson anymore.


Instead, I now see what is possible for Paterson.  Notice the difference?  


For these possibilities to be realized and experienced however, we must change the conversation that has left us in our current state.  The conversation amongst the community, prior to now, has focused only the negative.  That will never allow us to move forward, we have already seen the results of this conversation.


With this website and the help of the citizens of Paterson, the conversation will morph into something positive.  We will change the conversation by showing other Patersonians the entire scope of positive possibilities that can be achieved by banding together as a true community.


Soon enough, we will not have to discuss the possibility of rejuvenated Paterson.  Soon enough, the possibility will become reality.