Poets speak out at Figment
"Poets can say whatever the fuck they want," Papoleto said as he walked out of a late afternoon antiwar poetry reading in the basement of El Barrio's Artspace at PS109 in East Harlem for Figment NYC 2026. He handed me a button reading "POW Poets Opposing War", which I immediately put on my hat. "But be careful wearing that button," he said, laughing. "It'll make service members angry."
A founding member of the Nuyorican movement and a longtime resident of PS109, Papoleto said the building often held special events for residents, like Friday night salsa classes. But he said this Figment, with all the music and popups, was the biggest thing to happen at PS109 in a long time.
The building was an NYC public school for over one hundred years, but was converted to residential housing in 2015. Papoleto was among the first cohort of residents to move into the building. He says the space has been very supportive for creative artists and poets, and he feels a strong sense of community in the neighborhood. "I love it. It's almost like a commune".
Papoleto's perspective can be seen and felt in his poetry, but I asked him if he wanted to say anything on the record for this story. He said that he wanted to say something about human nature. "When people want to do evil things, they conspire. They need to get together and hatch a plan, figure out what to do. But when a tragedy happens and people want to help, they just show up. There's no need to conspire." He took a pull on his wine bottle, and cackled a healthy laugh. "I think this tells you something about human nature."
A founding member of the Nuyorican movement and a longtime resident of PS109, Papoleto said the building often held special events for residents, like Friday night salsa classes. But he said this Figment, with all the music and popups, was the biggest thing to happen at PS109 in a long time.
The building was an NYC public school for over one hundred years, but was converted to residential housing in 2015. Papoleto was among the first cohort of residents to move into the building. He says the space has been very supportive for creative artists and poets, and he feels a strong sense of community in the neighborhood. "I love it. It's almost like a commune".
Papoleto's perspective can be seen and felt in his poetry, but I asked him if he wanted to say anything on the record for this story. He said that he wanted to say something about human nature. "When people want to do evil things, they conspire. They need to get together and hatch a plan, figure out what to do. But when a tragedy happens and people want to help, they just show up. There's no need to conspire." He took a pull on his wine bottle, and cackled a healthy laugh. "I think this tells you something about human nature."
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