Newly adorning the High Line on the West Side of Manhattan is a mural by artist Nina Chanel Abney, entitled NYC LOVE. The piece is an homage to and celebration of New York City via its iconography. Abney first moved to New York as a self-described Midwestern suburbanite in 2005, and found great comfort and joy in some of the city’s more tourist-oriented icons that many longtime New Yorkers take for granted. NYC LOVE brings these icons to the forefront, recreating the joys of first experiencing those stimulating sights and sounds in Abney’s signature bright colors and geometric forms. The work graces the High Line, an icon in and of itself, welcoming millions of New Yorkers and visitors alike to enjoy all that the city has to offer. Like Abney, we have only love and gratitude for this city we call home.
“NYC LOVE” by Nina Chanel Abney
Holidays in Miami
As people around the world celebrate Hanukkah, menorahs are lit daily. For over twenty years, Miami Beach artist Roger Abramson’s (@roger.abramson) Menorah and Dreidel made entirely of seashells have become a staple to celebrate the Festival of Lights on iconic Lincoln Road in South Beach. These beautiful sculptures are made up of seashells collected by the artist, who notes his art “represents respect, freedom, family and democracy.”
Happy Hanukkah!
A Somber Fact
“Your Voices” by Es Devlin
With more than 700 languages spoken in a mere 300 square miles of land, New York City is the most linguistically diverse place in the world, and a new moving sculpture in Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza pays homage to that diversity in a unique visual and auditory way. “Your Voices” by artist Es Devlin features 700 glowing cords to represent each of those 700 languages, positioned between glowing arcs which rotate while a multinational soundscape plays, adding to the Holiday landscape currently adorning Lincoln Center. Made in association with the Endangered Language Alliance, which has created an interactive map showing the locations across the city where each of the 700 languages are spoken, the piece intends to “evoke the way our perspectives are enriched and shaped by experiencing the linguistic structures and identities of others” while a soundscape composed by contemporary composers Polyphonia plays text from EM Forster’s 1910 novel Howards End in multiple overlaid languages, stating: “Only connect, and live in fragments no longer.”
USCIS Updates Policy to Automatically Extend Green Cards for Naturalization Applicants
As of December 12, 2022, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has updated its policy manual to provide twenty four month automatic extensions to Green Card expirations to Lawful Permanent Residents (“LPRs”) applying for naturalization when they properly file an N-400, Application for Naturalization. The automatic extension applies to those LPRs filing N-400s on or after the 12th of December 2022.
Read moreUS Naturalizations Rose to Record Numbers in the Last Fiscal Year
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) reported in its Fiscal Year 2022 (“FY 2022”) Progress Report that over one million immigrant adults were naturalized as US citizens in FY 2022. The Service “completed 1,122,300 naturalization cases and naturalized 1,023,200 new U.S. citizens” marking the highest number of naturalized citizens in “almost 15 years” and the “third- highest annual tally recorded in U.S. history.”
Read moreDHS Designates Ethiopia for TPS
On October 21, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the designation of Ethiopia for temporary protected status (“TPS”) for eighteen months, beginning December 12, 2022 through June 12, 20024 to help protect Ethiopian nationals in the United States from returning to unsafe conditions ”due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement.” The TPS designation has gone into effect with the publishing of the Federal Register Notice earlier this week. Eligible individuals may submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status along with Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization electronically as of December 12, 2022.
Read moreA Place for Us All
New York Palace Christmas Tree
After a hiatus last winter, the New York Palace Christmas tree is back and shining as bright as ever. A highly sought-out focal point of the holiday season in New York City, the tree usually stands at 35-feet-tall. However, due to ongoing major renovations which resulted in the hotel’s lack of tree last year, this year it is much smaller in size, but just as large in Christmas spirit. Donned in red and gold bow and ornaments with a halo-like light above for full dazzling effect, the tree is the centerpiece of a festive and well-decorated iconic courtyard which is open to the public. The hotel, a Madison Avenue jewel, is both a landmark and luxury retreat dating as far back as 1882, beloved by New Yorkers and visitors alike. The New York Palace Hotel is the city’s largest luxury hotel and is consistently highly rated – even the tree is, too!