* Things to do This Weekend in NYC & Boros
Lorraine Hansberry's Play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music & Brooklyn Poets Readings in Brooklyn, the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College, Fresh, Fly & Fabulous Exhibit, Purim Celebration & the Harlem Blues in Manhattan, Cryptochrome at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center & Two St Patrick's Day Parades in Queens, Queer Nature Opens at Bronx Art Space & the Orchid Show in the Bronx, & Lisa & Lori at Historic Richmond Town and the last Remaining Homophobic St Patricks Day Parade in NYC on Staten Island
March 3, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.
NYC Weather. There will be about an inch of rain on Friday beginning between 5 - 8 pm, ending by Saturday 8 am. The rest of the weekend will be dry. The temperature highs will be in the mid to high 40's all weekend, while the temperature lows will be in the mid to high 30's. The winds will be 10 - 20 mph on Friday, 5 - 15 on Saturday and about 10 mph on Sunday. The humidity will be 50% - 80% on Friday, 70% on Saturday and 60% on Sunday.
The photo at right was taken late Monday night. It seems someone made good use of their time, and built what is likely one of the few NYC snowmen of this entire winter.
The Illusion of Winter
The photo at right shows NYC getting its first real snow of Winter 2023. I went out late Monday evening to capture the snowfall, as I didn't think the snow would last long in our increasingly warm and drier climate. As you know, the snow - unlike unwelcome guests - didn't stay long. For those who still think climate change is a liberal hoax, please think again.
I think the coming climate change scourge isn't going to be about having too much water, but rather about not having enough water, to grow food and drink. If I were in charge of infrastructure preparations for climate change, I would be planning to cover reservoirs, cover conduits moving water from one area to another [including possibly rivers] and maybe even some lakes. I would also be accelerating our transition away from dictator-controlled fossil fuels [Russia & Saudi Arabia], to installing solar on rooftops to power both homes and to charge the homeowner's electric vehicles by instituting a steady gradual increase in taxes on carbon fuels, the proceeds of which I would use, as incentives to install renewable energy alternatives including more widely available public transit. And I would accelerate the erection of windmill fields near large urban centers that can be protected from hostile enemy fire, to avoid experiencing what the Russians are doing to the Ukrainian power grid.
If you're under the age of 70 and in reasonably good health, you're going to be among those of us who will suffer the consequences of society allowing of the rich and powerful to prioritize profits ahead of doing the right thing for the general well being of the community. Click this link to view a report we did previously based on fact, with a blend of futuristic fiction - The Great Evaporation: An Ozone Hole Parable which conveys in greater detail my view of the coming catastrophe of climate change. In the meantime we can all do our little part, like re-using things as much as possible; walking, cycling or using public transit whenever feasible, keeping lights and appliances off or on low as much as reasonable, and making sure that the candidates we elect, prioritize the transition away from fascist-controlled fossil fuels, as fast as reasonably can be done.
Manhattan Things To Do This Weekend
From Thursday, March 2nd thru Sunday, March 5th, the Athena Film Festival is being held at Barnard College on West Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets on the Upper West Side. The festival is screening 12 feature films, 12 documentaries and 16 short films and they are hosting six panels. I believe most films are shown in the Held Auditorium, the Lehman Auditorium and the panels are held at either the Event Oval or the James Room. For further details, tickets [$18 general public / $7 for students] and locations see - https://athenafilmfestival.com/festival-info/directions/
Fresh, Fly and Fabulous is on exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Management at 227 West 27th Street in Chelsea from February 8th to April 23rd. The exhibit is dedicated to Hip Hop not just as music and fashion, but as a lifestyle and cultural statement. Hip Hop celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Wednesday - Friday from noon to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10 am - 5 pm. There's an all day symposium on Friday, February 24th. For details see - https://www.fitnyc.edu/
The photo at right shows that the city was prepared to handle the incoming snow. But given the light 1 - 3 inch dusting, and the warm temperatures forecast for the following day, mother nature had resourced the means to handle the snow removal herself.
On Sunday, March 5th from 10.30 am - 5.30 pm, Congregation Rodeph Sholom is celebrating PurimFest at 7 West 83rd Street in Manhattan. Free and everyone is welcome.
On Monday, March 6th from 6 - 10 pm, Phil's House of Blues at 300 West 116th Street [near Frederick Douglass Blvd] in West Harlem is hosting Silvana, featuring a number of blues musicians. Admittance is $10. For details see - https://www.newheritagetheatre.org/422-phil-s-house-of-blues
On Tuesday, March 7th, at 9.30 am at 250 Broadway between Park Place and Murray Street across from City Hall there's a Rally to Return the Landmarks Preservation Commission to its Purpose. The rally is being organized in tandem with the following organizations - Seaport Coalition, Humanscale NYC, Citywide Landuse Coalition and the Historic Districts Council.
Queens Things To Do This Weekend
Saturday, March 4, 2023. The Queens County St. Patrick's Day Parade in the Rockaways kicks off at 1 pm at Beach 130th and Newport Avenue. Church services at Francis de Sales Church [129th and Newport Avenue] will be held prior to the parade. The parade marches east down Newport Avenue to 116th Street, where it turns right / heads south one block to Rockaway Blvd - where it turns left and continues east down Rockaway Blvd to 102nd Street terminating near a shopping center parking lot. This parade is in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens and as of 2023, this parade is in its 48th year. For more details see - https://queenscountyparade.org/
On Saturday, March 4, 2023 from 1 - 4 pm there's a Hands on History lecture about the Irish immigrants coming to New York at the King Manor Museum in Rufus King Park in Jamaica. A sampling of what will be discussed is as follows, " ... to escape poverty and famine. With them, they brought their rich culture, which included symbols like the shamrock and their love of music, including the harp. Musicians were central to Irish culture, and the harp is the national symbol of Ireland. Many workers at King Manor in the 19th century were Irish immigrants ..." Free but please rsvp at - https://www.kingmanor.org/
This weekend at the Museum of the Moving Image at 36-01 35th Avenue in Astoria - Millers Crossing is being shown at 7 pm on Friday and 5.30 pm on Sunday, while Crooklyn is being shown at 1 pm on Saturday.
Sunday, March 5, 2023. The St. Pat's for All Parade in Sunnyside begins with speeches and music at 12 noon, and then kicks off from Skillman Avenue and 43rd Street in Sunnyside, Queens ending 15 blocks further east at 58th Street in Woodside. For further details on the St Pats for All Parade see - https://www.stpatsforall.org/
On Tuesday, March 7th [also on March 17th] beginning at 5 pm, there's a reading of Cryptochrome in tandem with the Rough Draft Festival at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center at 31-10 Thomson Avenue in Long Island City. The reading is described as follows, " ... Cryptochrome is a freewheeling ritual meditation on wayfinding and navigation. Named after a protein believed to be responsible for the ability to navigate using the electromagnetic field, the work explores forms of perception and intuition beyond the limited scope of the visible. As a visually impaired artist in the process of losing my own sight, its central questions are both urgent and personal. Incorporating a score of original music and text, the work invites audiences on a kaleidoscopic journey across the animal kingdom––from echolocating bats in pitch black caves to birds migrating across featureless oceans––to unearth new insights about how we move through the world in relation to other creatures and one another...". For more details and to rsvp a free seat go to - https://www.lpac.nyc/.
Brooklyn Things To Do This Weekend
On Friday beginning at 6.30 pm Brooklyn Poets at 144 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights is hosting a number of open mic readings. If you want to speak you have to rsvp a spot in advance. Featured speakers include Morgan Boyle and Joshua Garcia. For details and $7 tickets see - https://brooklynpoets.org/
The photo at right was taken late Monday night. We haven't seen snow all winter and its appearance on Monday was very fleeting ... or shall I say feeting?
On Friday at 7.30 pm, Saturday at 1.30 and 7.30, and Sunday at 3 pm there are performances of Black female author Lorraine Hansberry's epic drama entitled The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window in the Harvey Theatre at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at 651 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. They describe the play as follows, " ... Hansberry invites us into Greenwich Village in the 60s, crafting a razor-sharp portrait of a diverse group of friends whose progressive dreams can’t quite match reality. At the center are Sidney and Iris Brustein, fighting to see if their marriage—with all its crackling wit, passion, and petty cruelty—can survive Sidney’s ideals...". The play runs daily, except Mondays, through March 24th. For $35 & up tickets and details see - https://www.bam.org.
Bronx Things To Do This Weekend
A new exhibit entitled Queer Nature opened at Bronx Art Space at 700 Manida Street [near Spofford Avenue] in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx. The exhibit is described as, " ... One of the primary arguments against homosexuality is the belief that it is not deemed as "natural", therefore cannot be considered normal. Nature is often weaponized to justify homophobia and transphobia, falsely using biology as a means to enforce social constructs. Some cells reproduce asexually, same-sex behaviors occur in hundreds of species of animals, numerous plants and animals are hermaphroditic; many of them switching genders. How can one consider homosexuality unnatural when it is evident in nature? ...". We've been highlighting some of this information for years, as the links in the Staten Island section below, will show. The reason the discourse about gender, like race, is so messed up is that the mainstream media teleprompter readers seem as ignorant as their audiences. For details on the exhibit which also has a closing party on April 1st may be found at - http://www.bronxartspace.com.
OPEN CALL ARTISTS / CURATORS. Bronx Art Space has issued an open call to emerging art curators, with a deadline of March 19th, for an April Show. For details see - http://www.bronxartspace.com
MARCH 2ND CANCELLED DUE TO SPEAKER ISSUE. On Thursdays, March 2, 9 & 16, 2023 at from 7 - 8.30 pm, there's a lecture series, entitled 'Inspiring Beauty, at the Bartow Pell Mansion at 895 Shore Road in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The art, photography and curatorial lecture series is about Hudson River Landscapes and Country Estates by one of three different experts each week. For $20 / $30 tickets and details see - https://www.bartowpellmansionmuseum.org.
The Orchid Show has returned to the New York Botanical Garden and will be there until April 23rd. This year the installation was designed by Lily Kwong a landscape artist who explores Asian cultural themes.
Staten Island Things To Do This Weekend
On Saturday from 6 - 8 pm at the Historic Richmond Town at the Guyon Tavern at 441 Clarke Avenue there's a concert by Lisa & Lori Brigantino and the experience is described as an, " ... indoor concert series ... in the restored Guyon Tavern, located on Richmond Road. The Tavern boasts a wood-burning stove, flickering candles, live music and the true feel of a 19th century saloon. Beverage options harken back to the period and include hot spiced apple cider, scratch made mulled wine, as well as a refreshing selection of beers....". For $18 tickets and event details see - https://www.historicrichmondtown.org
Sunday, March 5, 2023 the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Staten Island steps off at 12.30 pm. They begin at Harts Blvd marching along Forest Avenue in the Westerleigh / Elm Park neighborhoods to Jewett Avenue, in the West New Brighton neighborhood of Staten Island. Members of the LGBTQ community continue to be banned from participating in the parade. If you are interested in the truth about human sexuality and gender identification please view two previous reports we posted on gender identification and LGTBQ sexuality to better understand how some people's gender identity differs versus those of us in the mainstream. On the first linked report be sure to click into the link to the Metropolitan Museum's Nadar exhibit done in 1860 in Paris, but be advised the photograph is a bit shocking and not for the faint of heart.
The Lighthouse Museum at 200 The Promenade in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island has ongoing exhibits about lighthouses and related subjects such as the equipment, the history and an exhibit about the first African American lighthouse keeper at Cape Henry Light, and another about another early African American Lighthouse keeper who played a role at the Pea Island Life Saving Station. For tickets and details see - https://lighthousemuseum.org.
Have a good one.
