STooPS

Hi STooPS Community,

We are writing to share that our Art In Bloom fundraiser, originally scheduled for this Saturday, April 11th, has been cancelled.

While we were excited to create with you all, we’ve decided to step back and refocus our energy on our upcoming community initiatives and the STooPS Summer Festival on August 8th!

For current ticket holders:
Refunds are being processed automatically through Eventbrite. You should see the funds back in your account within 5–7 business days. You don’t need to take any action!

Thank you for your continued support of local art and storytelling in Bed-Stuy. We can’t wait to see you at the festival this summer!

With gratitude,
The STooPS Team

We are saddened to have have attended the farewell (for now) ceremony for Stuyvesant Mansion affectionately called the People’s Mansion this past Saturday hosted by

Stuyvesant Mansion has been a space of refuge and rescue for the community. When we first encountered it, it was a vibrant community hub housing Breadstuy, Gather Brooklyn, , and Ancient Songs Doula, a full circle service network where folks could get support from pre-birth to youth to adult to elders.

What we later learned about Dr. Josephine English- first black woman gynecologist in New York State, community organizer, philanthropist, and arts advocate-that space was perfectly aligned with her legacy.

For STooPS, we were honored to host our very first community arts event at Stuyvesant Mansion, the culmination of the STooPS Art Crawl. We hosted an array of incredible artists, including Grammy nominated duo Les Nubians, for free for our community. Art that some folks had never been able to encounter before.

Now STooPS is a non-profit organization hosting programs throughout Brooklyn, but none of it would’ve been possible without Stuyvesant Mansion as a community support.

We say goodbye for now but the fight continues! Call and demand that the city purchases Stuyvesant Mansion and sells it to the Black Community Land Trust. We need to keep it as a space for community. It is one of the few spaces that has housed small organizations that are truly doing the grassroots work. Folks like with humble means really trying to have an impact in the community without the capital for their own space. And as BedStuy continues to gentrify, these spaces are steadily disappearing, so it is even more urgent we retain community control of Stuyvesant Mansion! It is an essential part of the historic legacy of Black community organizing and care in Bedford Stuyvesant. We cannot let it become just another apartment building. Save Stuyvesant Mansion!

But for now, farewell ☹️