Uptown Voices

Can the Democrats afford to allow Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to step into majority leadership positions after historic midterm results? The stakes are high. Octavio and Led discuss how people on the ground feel about Democratic senior leadership, the importance of the moment, and what leadership today looks like. We're also giving away a pair of free tickets to the Sold-out Marcello Her...

Led and Octavio chop it up after a historic election which saw a blue wave wash away a slew of MAGA candidates. Whats' that feeling? Maybe it's a hangover, but it's also hope, my friends. Subscribe to Uptown Voices: https://www.uptownvoices.nycSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uptown-voices/id1816780785Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show...

Join the Uptown Voices team for our live Election Day evening broadcast! We were live from the official Darializa team watch party at Harlem Tavern to discuss day's events, the way forward and what all this means for Uptown and America at large. Subscribe to Uptown Voices: https://www.uptownvoices.nycSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uptown-voices/id1816780785S...

Join the Uptown Voices team for pt. 2 of our live Election Day noon broadcast! We are on the ground across Upper Manhattan to discuss the policies, candidates, and ballot initiatives that matter most to our community. Subscribe to Uptown Voices: https://www.uptownvoices.nycSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uptown-voices/id1816780785Subscribe on Spotify: https://ope...

Join the Uptown Voices team for part 1 of our live Election Day noon broadcast! We are on the ground across Upper Manhattan to discuss the policies, candidates, and ballot initiatives that matter most to our community. Subscribe to Uptown Voices: https://www.uptownvoices.nycSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uptown-voices/id1816780785Subscribe on Spotify: https://op...

Join the Uptown Voices team for our live Election Day morning broadcast! We are on the ground across Upper Manhattan to discuss the policies, candidates, and ballot initiatives that matter most to our community. Subscribe to Uptown Voices: https://www.uptownvoices.nycSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uptown-voices/id1816780785Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spot...

This Sunday at 10 a.m., Uptown Voices delivers a live, two-part special tackling the political stakes of the 2026 midterms and a boiling cultural controversy in Harlem. Part 1: The Midterms Uptown (10:00 a.m.)Journalists Maria Santana and Alejandro Rincon Agudelo join the stream to break down the upcoming midterm elections. As key members of the Uptown Voices election coverage team, Maria and Alej...

Join Led Black and Octavio Blanco for a crucial international edition of Uptown Voices! This week, we are going global to explore the front lines of democracy. Broadcasting live, we are joined directly from Sao Paulo by Brazilian journalist and "explainer" journalism specialist, Diogo Rodriguez, to break down Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's historic and highly contested presidential win....

Led Black and Octavio Blanco dive into a packed Sunday edition of Black and Blanco Live , covering everything from the start of NYC early voting to the intricacies of this year's ballot proposals. The hosts provide a step-by-step breakdown of the five NYC ballot measures—covering outdoor dining regulations, street safety projects, and the city's Rainy Day Fund—urging listeners to flip thei...

Welcome back to Uptown Voices ! Octavio Blanco and Led Black are celebrating the podcast's massive debut on Pix11 with a powerhouse interview featuring two legends of the Uptown creative scene: Oscar Pena (Super O) and Jean Shepherd (Navigante), the visionary founders of the multicultural agency DOF NYC. This episode is a masterclass in hustle, history, and community building. Oscar takes us b...

Led Black and Octavio Blanco return for a Uptown Voices edition of Black and Blanco Live to unpack a busy week of activism, community organizing, and local arts in Washington Heights. The hosts dive straight into the local No Kings march, analyzing the community turnout across the East and West Broadway divide and detailing the mysterious temporary suspension of the national No Kings Instagram acc...

Welcome to another inspiring episode of Uptown Voices ! Octavio Blanco (freshly back from North Carolina) and Led Black sit down with an Uptown neighbor who is actively transforming the streets of New York: David Clarke, the founder and driving force behind the viral sensation, Trash Talk NYC. What started as a one-man mission with a single piece of paper after a bad Washington Heights snowstorm h...

Welcome to a raw, urgent Uptown Voices episode of Black and Blanco Live. Led Black and Octavio Blanco bypass the usual banter to address the terrifying, reckless ICE shooting that just shook the Marble Hill community. NYC Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa joins the show to provide a boots-on-the-ground report of the incident—where plainclothes ICE officers shot a man in his car while his five-year-ol...

Welcome to a critical Uptown Voices episode of Black and Blanco Live. As ICE operations visibly escalate in the Bronx and Washington Heights, Led Black and Octavio Blanco sit down with an unparalleled expert on the front lines of the fight: Raquel Batista. An attorney, activist, and former NYC Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, Raquel brings decades of institutional knowledge to Uptown Voices as s...

Octavio Blanco and Led Black are back for a packed episode of Uptown Voices , bridging the gap between local Uptown community news and deep historical analysis. The episode kicks off with a powerful interview featuring Cliff Matias, founder and organizer of Indigenous Peoples Day NYC. Cliff details the incredible 7 AM sunrise ceremonies on Randall’s Island, unpacks the troubling legacy of Christop...

Welcome back to a special Uptown Voices episode of Black and Blanco Live! Octavio Blanco (fresh off a trip to North Carolina for his dad's 90th birthday!) and Led Black are holding it down with a classic, unfiltered, one-on-one conversation about the biggest issues currently facing Washington Heights and Inwood. The guys start by addressing the elephant in the room: the escalating presence of...

When art is accessible to everyone, it transforms our neighborhoods! On the latest Uptown Voices podcast, we chat with artist Pablo Caviedes and Andrew Genn about activating the public spaces along Broadway. Pablo shares the beautiful, overwhelming community response to his artwork installations right in the middle of the neighborhood. We also recap the incredibly moving 26th annual Brides March t...

On the latest Uptown Voices podcast, local creator Ron Kain shares an incredibly raw and emotional look at his upbringing. With his mother incarcerated when he was just eight years old and a father who worked himself to exhaustion, Ron saw firsthand how the system was designed to keep our communities down. From schools implementing metal detectors overnight to algorithms pushing negative narrative...

Breaking down the complex web of NYC housing laws, the Uptown Voices podcast dives deep into rent stabilization, the impact of Albany legislation, and the terrifying rise of "self-evictions." In this episode, Octavio Blanco speaks with advocate Joanna Garcia about the predatory business models of corporate landlords, the power of real estate lobbyists like REBNY, and why tenants must org...

After years of performing in schools, libraries, and restaurants, the People's Theatre Project finally has a permanent, state-of-the-art home on 206th Street! On this special on-location episode of the Uptown Voices podcast , Led Black and Octavio Blanco sit down with Mino Lora to discuss the massive impact of this new Immigrant Cultural Center. Mino shares the incredible journey of building t...

In this episode, Armani Ortiz, Calixto Chinchilla, Led Black, and Octavio Blanco explore the evolution of Latino culture in film and music, the challenges of independent filmmaking, and the power of storytelling to unite communities. They discuss the making of the innovative one-shot reggaeton musical Otra, the importance of cultural representation, and the future of Latino musicals in Hollywood....

Welcome back to Uptown Voices ! Riding high on their recent Pix11 broadcast debut, Octavio Blanco and Led Black sit down with a true Uptown powerhouse: Willy Rodriguez. Born and raised in Washington Heights/Inwood, Willy has built a staggering resume that spans the highest levels of both the music and television industries. In this episode, Willy traces his journey from a five-year-old classical p...

Welcome to a raw, emotional, and fiercely debated episode of Uptown Voices ! Octavio Blanco and Led Black are back to close out the summer with an episode that perfectly balances deep community love with hard-hitting cultural critique. Led kicks off the show with a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to his late father, Rafael Helmán Cabreja, for his 90th birthday in heaven, reflecting on the sacrifices...

Crisis and Community Response: Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa on Street Safety, ICE, and the Dyckman Takeover Welcome back to a hard-hitting, deeply important episode of Uptown Voices . This week, Octavio Blanco and Led Black are joined by NYC Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa to address the most urgent crises currently facing Upper Manhattan. From the miraculous near-miss traffic accident on Sherman...

It's a massive day for the culture and for Uptown Voices ! Broadcasting live from a North Carolina lakefront (and surviving on decaf Earl Grey), Octavio Blanco reunites with Led Black for a special Dominican Republic edition. The hosts celebrate Dominican Restoration Day ( El Día de la Restauración ) and a huge milestone for the podcast: making their official broadcast debut on Pix11 during th...