John Leyva has lived in his two-bedroom apartment at 63 Tiffany Place in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn for over 30 years. He moved into the building in 1994 under a tax agreement between the city and the landlord to maintain the apartment’s affordability for the next 30 years. But Leyva now says his home may soon become too expensive for him and many of the other tenants in the 70-unit structure. He formed SAVE 63Tiffany to advocate for the building, and from that has become a true community leader. He has recently been elected Vice President of the Columbia Street Waterfront Association and smoke Cuban cigars when he can get them.
Peyton is an intern at the Star-Revue. She is a senior at Depauw University, and in addition to her editorial duties on the college paper and here, she is a starting pitcher on the softball team. Her repertoire includes a big drop curve ball.
I am a native South Carolinian and a reporter at The Post and Courier Spartanburg, mainly covering local government and business. I've also reported on politics, education, sports and more. I have been in this role since Jan. 2024.
In 2025 I moved to NYC and have been freelancing at a number of community and trade newspapers.
I graduated from the University of South Carolina in December 2023 magna cum laude with a 3.93 GPA, where I majored in political science and minored in both English and journalism. For all but one semester in college, I was a member of the university's student newspaper, The Daily Gamecock. I was an assistant news editor from Dec. 2021 - Dec. 2022 and served as the news editor in spring 2023. I also interned with The Aiken Standard newspaper and The Nerve investigative news outlet in 2023.
