CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE

Ayo Harrington – Community Activist

By Brian and Joy Pape

We met Ayo Harrington in the Orchard Alley Garden on East Fourth Street, a pleasant, well-cared-for oasis in the old Lower East Side (now East Village) neighborhood.

Tell us about yourself
Growing up as an African American in the Civil Rights era, I was shaped by activism and volunteering. My first volunteer experience was with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which instilled in me the importance of service and advocating for others. Over the years, my focus has been on issues affecting marginalized groups—people of color, low-income families, seniors, and immigrants.

Raising my son and co-raising my granddaughter in the Lower East Side/East Village has been an incredible journey. The neighborhood’s rich artistic culture, diversity, activism, and progressive politics have been an invaluable experience for us.

In the 1980s, I helped homestead an abandoned building, gutting and renovating it into affordable housing—almost 40 years later, families still live there, aging in place. I was also involved in rehabbing nine other buildings. On the same block, I led the transformation of several rubble-strewn lots into a thriving community garden, which has benefited thousands over the decades.

Where were brought up?
I was born on Westover Airforce Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut. My parents sent me to live with an older sister, who now lives in the West Village, but had just graduated from college believing it would lead to better educational and other opportunities for me. She taught me everything from how to grab one’s attention when writing to how to organize and build a platform around issues of concern. I have lived in the East Village since the late 1960s, currently residing on my block for 37 years.

How do you feel about the Village?
I feel a deep sense of ownership and connection. I’m actively involved in many aspects of the community, such as leading my local block association, being a member of several community gardens, and serving on several boards, including the Lower East Side Girls Club Center for Happiness and Well-Being and Rod Rodgers Dance Company. I’m also a member of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Community Advisory Group, and co-chair of LES Ready!, a CB3-based coalition of 38 organizations focused on disaster preparedness and long-term recovery. Politically, I co-chair CoDA (Coalition for a District Alternative), which has served as the Democratic political action club for the Lower East Side since 1992.

What was it like for you at the beginning of the pandemic?
I was prepared due to my work with LES Ready! So when the pandemic hit, we immediately sprang into action, holding meetings to educate the community, distributing PPE, and volunteering at resource sites. For three years, I served on the city’s Test and Trace Community Advisory Board to ensure a coordinated response.

What is different now?
More communities are building resilience with mutual aid groups and stronger local networks. The key is preparing communities to support each other long before and during a disaster, ensuring coordinated responses and mobilizing resources when needed.

What is your favorite thing about your work?
I am retired from nonprofit and government work. Outside of occasional civic duty based work most of what I do now is volunteer based. I enjoy learning how to improve things and collaborating with others to make positive change happen.

What is your least favorite thing about your work?
It can be challenging to align differing opinions and priorities before moving forward, but the effort is always worth it.

Tell us about your passion.
I’m a proud former member of “Sweet Honey in the Rock,” an all-female a cappella group whose music is deeply rooted in social justice, African American history, and culture. It was an incredible privilege to perform with them again, this past February, at the Blue Note. Personally, one of my greatest passions is singing. I love to sing anywhere, with anyone, and any kind of music. Sometimes, I can’t help but to sidle up to someone singing in public and harmonize with them – if they give me the signal that it’s okay. When my granddaughter was a child, I sometimes insisted that she sing rather than speak for hours but the song had to have structure. Now she’s an amazing singer and artist!

What is your best memory?
About 20 years ago, I was at Key Food without money and yelled out I needed a few dollars. Not to my surprise, several friends rushed from aisles to pay for me, and it’s a memory that still brings a smile to my face, especially when my friend claims, and always publicly, that I still haven’t paid him back.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
In 1991, the remains of 20,000 enslaved and free Black people were discovered at a federal construction site. I founded Friends of the African Burial Ground to ensure the site was properly researched, honored, and preserved. It was a long and challenging struggle, but seeing this crucial part of slavery in colonial New York acknowledged and preserved is something I’m incredibly proud of.

Your favorite restaurants?
My favorite restaurants include Omar’s Kitchen, Pigs and Butter, Miss Lilly’s, and Casa Adela. I also enjoy any good pasta!

Parting words?
The fight for affordable housing is personal to me. Gentrification is rapidly displacing longtime residents, and profit-driven policies are eroding our community’s culture. The issues go beyond policy; they concern preserving the heart and soul of our community.

I used to bike around the city but now rely on public transportation after an eye injury. I love my Lower East Side/East Village community and cannot imagine ever calling another community my home!

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Learn more about Ayo.
Learn Village Preservation-Oral History-Ayo Harrington