Brazilian Samba Reggae drum line Fogo Azul | Photo via NYCDemocracy
NEW YORK – To promote the Primary Election and Ranked Choice Voting, DemocracyNYC and NYC Civic Engagement Commission were hosts to a “Countdown to Vote” event held at Union Square today, June 16, and engaged the community to an early evening fun-filled entertainment. It featured performances by local artists. A retired Dept. of Correction bus, called The People’s Bus, has been transformed into a community-led, intergenerational mobile civic engagement center.
The People’s Bus, designed by Yazmany Arboleda, a Colombian-American artist known for creating living sculptures, was parked on the plaza at Union Square. It served as an information center for New Yorkers of all ages to learn about voting and an opportunity for them to provide feedback for the development of the bus.
Local performers include rapper Kosha Dillz and Friends, Tony Glausi’s jazz trio, Broadway dancers Annelise (of “Jagged Little Pill”) and Kyle (of “Beauty and the Beast”), the Street Beat Brass Drum Line, stilt performer Brianna, NYC-based all-women Brazilian Samba Reggae drum line Fogo Azul, and Harlem-based youth poet Fanta Ratty.
The Illuminator, an NYC-based artist-activist collective, projected a large-scale illumination that presented Ranked Choice Voting-focused artwork by diverse NYC-based artists featuring Ruben Dario Ramirez, Bernardo Rodriguez, and Suzanne Ruzzo, among others.
DemocracyNYC is a nonpartisan mayoral initiative focused on increasing voter participation and civic engagement in NYC. They organized the event to encourage voters to participate in the local elections and educate New Yorkers on Ranked Choice Voting. (JD/PDM)
