** Things To Do This Weekend in NYC & Boros
Friday the 13th, Many Martin Luther King Day Weekend Events, Winter Jazz Festival & the January Arts Festival continue, Closing Reception, Play about Patriarchal Power & Skating
January 13, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.
NYC Weather. The temperature highs will be in the high 50's on Friday, the high 30's on Saturday and the mid 40's on Sunday and Monday. The temperature lows will be in the low to mid 30's all weekend. No precipitation is in the forecast. The humidity will be in the 60% range on Friday, the 50% range on Saturday, the 40% range on Sunday and Monday. The winds will be 12 - 17 mph on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, dropping to 5 - 10 mph on Monday.
The photo at right was taken a week ago at City Hall, where Mayor Adams opened himself up to a wide range of questions from the local press. This week the Mayor released the Preliminary Budget for NYC for 2024.
Friday the 13th - Origins of a Superstition
According to Wikipedia, the number 13 has been considered unlucky beginning with a Norse mythological story about how the 13th guest caused the death of a dinner host. They tell us that the connection between unlucky 13 and Friday didn't start until early in the 1800's, specifically citing an 1834 play called 'The Finesse of the Scribbles', wherein one of the characters says that he was born on Friday the 13th and that is the origin of all of his misfortunes. Greek and Spanish cultures cite Tuesday the 13th as the unlucky day.
Friday the 13th occurs at least once every year and there is no proof that it is any different from any other day. So while I'd recommend caution on any day, I wouldn't hesitate to do just about anything you normally do on this day.
Martin Luther King Day Weekend - NYC Parks Day of Service
The photo at right was taken of the back of City Hall in lower Manhattan. The foliage and ground are pretty brown and green for this time of year.
This weekend the City Parks Day Department is hosting a Day of Service. See details for times and locations at www.nycparks.gov.
There's outdoor skating at Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center in Midtown, and at Wollman Rink in the southeast corner of Central Park and at the Harlem Meer in the northeast corner of Central Park. Also in Prospect Park and Coney Island in Brooklyn, Cloves Lake on Staten Island, and in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. For details see https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/iceskating
Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in Manhattan NYC
On Sunday, the Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th Street in Harlem resumes its MLK Day program entitled, Uptown Hall" MLK - Blueprint for Culture. This event is free, but all tickets have been 'sold' as of Saturday morning. But if those ticket holders don't show up / pick up their tickets by 2.30 pm the day of the show, they will be released to the public waiting in line at the theater. See www.apollotheater.org for details.
On Sunday the Abyssinian Baptist Church on Striver’s Row located at 132 Odell Clark Place between 138th & 139th Streets and Frederick Douglass & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvds in West Harlem is hosting a King Day Worship Service beginning at 10 am. The featured speaker is Dr. Jelani Cobb who has become the Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism. The West Harlem neighborhood includes places where African Americans like author W.E.B. DuBois and civil rights activist Malcolm X spent some time. For details see - https://abyssinian.org.
On Monday, the eighth graders at Manhattan Country School organize an annual Commemorative MLK Day March beginning at 10 am until about 2 pm. This year the march is entitled 'The Power of Awareness: The March for Justice and Change'. The march route seems to vary with each year, but has generally been on the Upper West and Upper East Sides, stopping at historically signfiicant sites, where students give speeches and ending at the Manhattan Country School at 150 West 85th between Columbus & Amsterdam. This year the march starts at the Harriet Tubman Memorial where West 122nd Street meets Frederick Douglass Blvd and St Nicholas Avenue - makes five stops where 2 - 5 speeches are made by the students - and ends at Manhattan Country School. For details visit www.manhattancountryschool.org.
On Monday, January 16, 2023 there's a Harlem Gospel Choir performance at Sony Hall at 235 West 46th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The doors open at 12 noon and the show begins at 1.30 pm. Tickets run $41 - $59 at https://sonyhall.com.
All weekend there are jazz performances at the Birdland Theater at 315 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Tickets are $26 and $36 at https://birdlandjazz.com.
The United Palace at 4140 Broadway at 175th Street in Washington Heights doesn't have anything dedicated to MLK planned this weekend. But they are offering an historical tour on Sunday from 2 to 3.30 pm for $15. They describe the theater as follows: " ... The history of United Palace, Manhattan’s 4th largest theatre and now a landmarked building, began in 1930, when it was then one of five Loew’s “Wonder Theatres” across the boroughs and New Jersey. Designed by noted architect Thomas Lamb (Cort Theatre, the former Ziegfeld Theatre) with interiors overseen by decorative specialist Harold Rambusch (Waldorf Astoria, Radio City Music Hall), it was one of the region’s premier vaudeville and movie houses. Today, the United Palace hosts concerts, movies, and community events and provides spiritual and cultural programming ...". For tickets see https://www.unitedpalace.org.
The Joyce Theatre American Dance Platform begins Tuesday, January 10th and the Winter Jazz Festival begins on Thursday, January 12th. It's all part of the January Arts Festival - https://www.janartsnyc.org/ which runs through most of this month of January 2023.
Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in Brooklyn NYC
Saturday through Monday January 14 - 16, 2023 from 10 am - 5 pm, the Brooklyn's Children's Museum at 145 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights Historic District, is hosting events celebrating the life the Martin Luther King with a day of service, as well as arts and crafts, games and storytelling. For details go to www.brooklynkids.org.
On Sunday, January 15, 2023 from 11 am - 12.30 pm the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture at 53 Prospect Park West in Park Slope is hosting a program that will discuss MLK's 'I have a Dream' speech. In prior events such as this one they also include musicians. Free. For details see - FB - https://www.facebook.com/EthicalCultureBrooklyn/ or their website at - https://bsec.org/
On Monday, January 16, 2023 from 10.30 am to 3 pm in the Fort Greene neighborhood, the Brooklyn Academy of Music at 30 Lafayette Street in Brooklyn, hosts its 37th Annual Celebration of MLK's life in the Peter J. Sharp Building. There will be musical performances, speeches by renowned scholars and civil rights activists, a film screening and more [culture / free]. For details and an rsvp see www.bam.org.
On Monday, January 16, 2023 in Prospect Park in Brooklyn the Prospect Park Alliance is hosting two MLK Day events. The first runs from 10 am - 1 pm at the Music Pagoda, where folks can help enrich the park by doing some work on it. The second event runs from 12 noon to 4 pm at the Prospect Park Audubon Center [near the Boathouse which is accessible via the southeast side of the park from Ocean Avenue at Lincoln Road] where there will be outdoor nature activities, an animal encounter and a wilderness walk. For details see https://www.prospectpark.org.
This isn't a MLK related event, but on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at City Point Brooklyn at 415 Albee Square West there's a Wine Fest from 1 pm - 4.30 pm. Tickets cost $19 at https://winefestnewyork.com/.
Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in Queens NYC
On Friday, January 13th, from 5 pm - 9 pm there's a closing reception at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning at 161-04 Jamaica Avenue in the Jamaica section of Queens. The exhibit is called The Art of Women and the Sacred Landscape of the Divine Feminine. It's free but you should rsvp at https://www.jcal.org/.
On Friday & Saturday, January 13th & 14th beginning at 7 pm there's a performance by Compass [dance group] about the evolution from patriarchal power at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center . Tickets are $15 at http://lpac.nyc.
On Sunday beginning at 3 pm, there's a talk by an NYT journalist, musical performance by a top jazz singer as well as other speeches in the LeFrak Concert Hall at the Queens College Kupferberg Center, located at 65-30 Kissena Blvd off Harding Expressway on the Queens College campus. Admission $20 at https://kupferbergcenter.org
On Monday, from 11 am - 1 pm there's a MLK Day event at the Queens Botanical Garden at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing. It's designed for kids and there's a $5 suggested donation.
Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in the Bronx NYC
On Saturday January 14, 2023 from 10 am - 1 pm there's a workshop entitled Freedom Quilters of Gee's Bend at Wave Hill at 4900 Independence Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. It's Free w/ admission to the grounds. For details see www.wavehill.org or call 718.549.3200 x251.
On Monday, January 16, 2023 from 9 am - 4 pm, there's an MLK Day of Service at the Riverdale Y. While the Riverdale Y is located at 5626 Arlington Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, the day of service efforts to tackle various social and community problems is not only there, but done in collaboration with three other organizations / sites in the Bronx. For details see - https://www.riverdaley.org/are-you-in-for-mlk-day-of-service-2023/
This weekend between January 14 - 16, 2023 there are multiple opportunities to help with food distribution through non-profit panties throughout many neighborhoods in the Bronx. Here are a couple of suggestions - https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/ny-bronx AND https://www.foodbanknyc.org
Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in the Staten Island NYC
There's an MLK Day event on Monday, January 16, 2023 at the Staten Island Children’s Museum in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center at 1000 Richmond Terrace on Staten Island. Some of the events are paid [from 9 am - 4 pm] and some are free with admission [from 11 am - 3.30 pm].
Coming Next Weekend
Next weekend begins the Chinese Lunar New Year in celebration of the year of the rabbit and the Winter Show at the Park Avenue Armory.
Best wishes for a good day of community service and have an enjoyable / productive Martin Luther King Weekend .
