When the Works Progress Administration commissioned murals for Harlem Hospital Center in 1936, it easily approved the sketches submitted by seven artists, which depicted black people at work and at play throughout history. The hospital, however, objected, saying four of the sketches focused too much on “Negro” subject matter and that blacks “may not form [...]
The Admin
Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:40:07 GMT
SummerStage Kids: Nubian Folklore & More with Mama Akanke
Date: August 13, 2012
Special guests opening the show from Harlem School of the Arts Artscape Student Dancers, Singers and Poets!
Start time: 10:30 am
End time: 11:30 am
Contact phone:
Location: Courtney Callender Playground
SummerStage Kids: Nubian Folklore & More with Mama Akanke
Sun, 12 Aug 2012 04:00:03 GMT
Fernando Cabrera: Rename Bridge For Dinkins
Ed Koch has a bridge named after him, so why not David Dinkins? City Councilman Fernando Cabrera wants to know. Our Dan Beekman reports: Cabrera is introducing a bill to rename the Willis Avenue Bridge after New York’s first -- and only -- African-American mayor. “David Dinkins was a ...
Fernando Cabrera: Rename Bridge For Dinkins
Thu, 28 Jun 2012 17:00:35 GMT
The legendary Apollo Theater is opening its doors for free this weekend in honor of Black History Month. From Friday, Feb. 3, to Sunday, Feb. 5, visitors will have unparalleled access to the historic Harlem theater, including presentations on the theater's history, Apollo memorabilia exhibits and a host of performances by previous winners of Apollo's famed Amateur Night.
The weekend kicks off with a concert entitled "Community Sing" Friday at 7 p.m., hosted by the Apollo in collaboration with Carnegie Hall, and featuring Christian jazz ensemble Take 6. To learn more about the weekend's festivities and to RSVP for Friday's concert, visit the Apollo's website.
Previous recommendation: Roberta Flack's Creative New Album.
Apollo Theater's Black History Month Free Open House
Joshua R. Weaver
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:41:00 GMT
Date: January 14, 2012
Environmental educator Robin Sanchez will lead kids on an investigation into the source of New York's delicious and safe drinking water. Kids will consider:
- Who used water today? How did you use it? Where did it come from?
- Why was the High Bridge built?
- What is a watershed?
- What does it mean to conserve water?
Activities will include discussions, creation of a watershed model, and water color painting.
This is part of the series of six programs for children aged 8 to 12 years. Using a playful approach and the investigative method, kids will learn about their local parks and their flora and fauna. Programs will be presented in Fort Tryon Park, Highbridge Park, and Inwood Hill Park. Kids may attend individual programs or the complete series.
- January 7 - Eco Investigation - Meet outside the Nature Center in Inwood Hill Park
- January 8 - Spread The Word! An Urban Park Exploration - Meet at Anne Loftus Playground, Fort Tryon Park
- January 14 - Where Does Our Drinking Water Come From? - Meet at W. 173 Street & Amsterdam Avenue, Highbridge Park
- January 21 - Plants' Survival Strategies - Meet at the Nature Center in Inwood Hill Park
- January 22 - Animal Adaptations - Meet at Margaret Corbin Circle, Fort Tryon Park
- January 28 - Nature Scavenger Hunt - Meet at Margaret Corbin Circle, Fort Tryon Park
These are outdoor programs so please dress accordingly. In the event of the following weather conditions, the programs will be rescheduled for a later date.
- More than 3 inches of snow
- Heavy rain
- Temperatures less than 20 degrees F
This series of programs was made possible through the generosity of the Greenacre Foundation and the Fort Tryon Park Trust.
Start time: 1:00 pm
End time: 2:30 pm
Contact phone:
Location: Highbridge Recreation Center (in Highbridge Park)
Where Does Our Drinking Water Come From? Part 3 of Your Park Is A Natural Classroom for Kids
Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:06 GMT
Social Hour: Seneca Village Unearthed
Date: November 17, 2011
Discover what was uncovered at the site of this lost 19th Century African American and Irish immigrant community (once located where Central Park is today) during The Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History's recent archaeological dig with the professor who co-founded the Institute. Ages 18+
Provided at no cost to you! No advance registration. More details, including rain plans and directions, are on our website, centralparknyc.org/calendar.
Start time: 6:30 pm
End time: 8:00 pm
Contact phone: (212) 860-1370
Location: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (in Central Park)
Social Hour: Seneca Village Unearthed
Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:00:09 GMT
Date: November 2, 2011
Holding the Park's northern highlands was key in the American Revolution and the War of 1812 because armies could see their enemies approach as they sailed down the East River. History buffs will love this tour of the Harlem Meer and its strategic environs. For directions, please call (212) 860-1370.
Groups of seven or more people should call (212) 360-2726 or email tours@centralparknyc.org to schedule a custom tour.
Accessibility level ***
Tour accessibility is rated as follows:
* Easy to negotiate; paths and few stairs - mostly accessible to people with disabilities
** Moderate inclines and stairs, paths clear and negotiable - only parts accessible to people with disabilities
*** Hilly, stairs, and a few Park-related obstacles to negotiate - not recommended for people with disabilitiesStart time: 12:30 pm
End time: 1:30 pm
Contact phone: (212) 860-1370
Location: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (in Central Park)
A Road Once Traveled
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:00:07 GMT
September 20, 2011 4:26pm | By Ben Fractenberg, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — Community leaders and descendants of Frederick Douglass gathered at 110th Street Tuesday morning to dedicate a statue honoring the escaped slave and abolitionist leader.
The bronze statue — located at the northwest corner of Central Park — shows Douglass staring contemplatively toward Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
"This will serve as a powerful space," said East Harlem City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito during the ceremony. "The gateway to Harlem."
Douglass' great-great-great-grandson, Kenneth Morris Jr., traveled from Los Angeles to New York for the event.
"I feel proud, humbled," said Morris, president of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, "that I could stand for such a great man."
Joshua Bright for The New York Times
Hamilton Grange Alexander Hamilton's house is reopening at its new site, in St. Nicholas Park in Hamilton Heights. The structure, built in 1802 and relocated twice, has undergone a $14.5 million renovation.
When you look at Alexander Hamilton’s home comfortably nestled on the sloping hillside of St. Nicholas Park in an area of northern Manhattan that has long been known as Hamilton Heights, it almost seems to be ... well ... at home.
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Alexander Hamilton's Grange with its new neighbors in Hamilton Heights.
Items in the dining room, painted the original yellow, include a silver plateau, meant to reflect light from the candles it held, from Hamilton's time.
Admittedly there are a few jarring juxtapositions with nearby buildings, none of which can claim anything close to its 1802 vintage. And there is the sense you often have in New York City when a free-standing house looks as though it should have far more space surrounding it than it does.
And originally this two-story house did indeed sit atop a plot of land — a little over 32 acres — that Hamilton purchased here and named the Grange. That elevation allowed views of both the Hudson and Harlem Rivers from the house’s capacious windows and from the long piazzas that stretch along its sides. Those porches still give its Federalist-style solidity a faint hint of more Southern climes, thoroughly appropriate to its original owner, who was born, after all, in the West Indies.
But with its reopening this Saturday under the auspices of the National Park Service after a relocation and five years of renovations costing $14.5 million, this house may have finally found a home.
The building has actually been moved twice, the first time in 1889 (Hamilton’s widow had sold it in 1833), as the Manhattan street grid was creeping north. A developer donated it to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which moved it 250 feet from its original hilltop to Convent Avenue at 141st Street, where it was used for worship. Over time it became hemmed in, by St. Luke’s new Romanesque building and by an apartment house that hugged its opposite side.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/arts/design/alexander-hamiltons-renovated-grange-review.html
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