TIME OUT NEW YORK

By Rosilynne Skena Culgan

Grab a set of headphones and get ready to dance at this silent disco at the 125th Street & Park Avenue underpass in Harlem. You’ll hear original, commissioned sonic soundscapes from five artists that’ll be incorporated into a three-hour mix session by DJ Stormin’ Norman. When you need a break from the dancefloor, take a moment to have your picture taken by a pro photographer as part of a portrait photography series.

The event is led by the National Black Theatre with Uptown Grand Central. It's a part of the Turnout NYC initiative, a project of the Design Trust for Public Space and SITU. It's all about creating equitable arts access across the five boroughs.

THE AMSTERDAM NEWS

By Tandy Lau

This summer, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office will hand out $20,000 to up to 10 nonprofits each for employing at-risk youngsters on projects pertaining to gun violence prevention. The fund was announced last week by Bragg at a press conference and applicants can send in proposals to CJII@islg.cuny.edu until June 27.

The plan is to put New Yorkers ages 15-26 to work from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, with at least three-fourths of each community organization’s fund going toward paying them. These summer jobs can be anything gun violence prevention-related, but one example floated by the DA was beautifying “hot spots,” or places where shootings statistically happen the most.

AM NEW YORK

By Dean Moses

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg selected Monday ten community-based organizations he plans on funding in hopes of reducing youth gun violence.

Bragg made the announcement at the 301 Henry Street Settlement’s indoor basketball court and says he plans on awarding each pick $20,000 to aid their battle in gun crime prevention. For Bragg, this means teen engagement, after-school programs, youth employment, religious teachings, and more designed to keep at-risk young people off the streets and a part of a nurturing group.

“They are essential threads of our public safety network. We need them, all our mentors, counselors, and clergy are incredible messengers and the work that you all do every day is an inspiration,” Bragg said. “I mean that’s public safety work in action, and we want to salute that.”

PATCH

By Nick Garber

Chronically-filthy blocks of 125th Street look cleaner than ever thanks to a city cleanup program — but new cuts may mean "going backwards."

EAST HARLEM, NY — A cleanup effort that has transformed the once-filthy blocks along 125th Street near the Metro-North train tracks has come to an end, as the demise of a citywide sanitation program threatens to undo what residents say has been the corridor's biggest improvement in years.

A series of blocks long strewn with trash, drug paraphernalia, and sometimes human waste have been spruced up, power-washed and given some much-needed love. The new look is thanks largely to the City Cleanup Corps: a New Deal-style pandemic initiative fueled by federal stimulus money, in which the city hired thousands of workers to wipe away graffiti, pick up rubbish, plant flowers, and more.

Now, as those federal funds dry up, the city says it is planning a smaller cleanup program to replace the Cleanup Corps — but Harlem residents fear that months of progress will still be undone.

In East Harlem, up to 40 Cleanup Corps workers have posted up since October on five blocks surrounding the intersection of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, spending seven days a week cleaning the chronically-grimy thoroughfare — and collecting up to 350 trash bags each week.

CRAIN’S

By Caroline Spivack

An arts initiative at the nexus of improving public space and creating new platforms for smaller arts organizations will roll out across the five boroughs during the summer.

The Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with architecture firm SITU, will launch Turnout NYC, a program that will work with community groups to transform five underused outdoor spaces into venues with programming to support artists, particularly those who are historically marginalized.

The venture, funded by a $2 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to help small organizations in recovery from the pandemic produce public programming while simultaneously expanding arts access to underserved neighborhoods.

One organization in each borough — Uptown Grand Central in Manhattan, the Point Community Development Corporation in the Bronx, the Brownsville Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, the Queensboro Dance Festival in Queens and the Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island — will each steward an outdoor space at or near its organization.

PIX 11 NEWS

By Steve Kuzj

The pandemic has been crushing for so many businesses, perhaps for none more than local restaurants, which have always depended on customers dining in. 

When health departments shut down indoor public spaces across the country, enormous amounts of business dried up immediately for our local restaurants.

Last year, New York State lawmakers put together a $25 million fund aimed at helping restaurants replace some of that lost business by paying them to provide meals to citizens in need. It was called the Restaurant Resiliency Program.

State officials say 175 New York City restaurants were approved for the program, but less than half that number, only 64 restaurants, was actually given a portion of the money. For those who were lucky to get funds, it was transformative.

“The RRP really helped Uptown Veg in a big way,” Jasmine Myrick, an entrepreneur at Uptown Veg, said. “We were able to feed a lot of NYCHA residents.”

A group of New York City restaurants, the food relief organization Food Stream Network, along with the state and local leaders are calling for the restaurant resiliency program to be refunded with another $25 million in the new state budget.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Ana Ley

Residents have been waiting almost a century for new stations. Some aren’t sure they’ll be built.

Politicians have long promised to bring East Harlem a new subway line that would give this historically neglected community better transit access to the rest of New York and shift passengers away from some of the country’s most crowded train lines.

The idea appears to have gained renewed momentum, with Gov. Kathy Hochul vowing to finish the project within a decade and transportation officials saying the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill passed last year can help cover half the estimated $6.3 billion cost of what would be one of the world’s most expensive transit projects.

Funds from the bill could help finance a more than $3 billion grant request from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subway, that the Federal Transit Administration is moving closer to approving. Transit officials hope to break ground by the end of the year.

“Things never looked better for getting the Second Avenue subway to East Harlem,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and the majority leader.

Still, given the long-awaited project’s many starts and stops, the latest announcements have been met with skepticism in a heavily working-class neighborhood where 71 percent of residents use public transit to get to work, compared with a citywide average of 56 percent, according to Census Bureau data.

“I think that it’s sad that it’s taken this long,” said Princess Jenkins, who owns The Brownstone, a clothing store on East 125th Street a short walk from the subway line’s proposed path. “We want people to be able to access this community.”

The Second Avenue subway line was envisioned to stretch north along the Upper East Side of Manhattan to East Harlem, and south to Lower Manhattan. So far only one part of the plan, along the Upper East Side, has been completed. Here is a look at where the project stands.

STREET ART NYC

By Lois Stavsky

The Grandscale Mural Project, one of my favorite public art projects in town, brings vitality, color and intrigue to East Harlem. Since this past summer, I’ve revisited its current reiteration several times, always delighted by its diversity and charm.

PIX 11 NEWS

By Greg Mocker

HARLEM, Manhattan — Everyone’s invited to the party this weekend at La Marqueta in East Harlem.

From pies to bow ties, small businesses are showing their merchandise and foods at the Harlem Night Market on Saturday and Sunday.

Local music and DJs keep the energy up at the complex along Park Avenue, underneath the Metro-North tracks — dancing isn’t required, but plenty of attendees couldn’t help but bust a move Friday night.

Artist and vendor Jocelyn Marie Goode created original portraits for people on the spot.

“I believe everyone should have art,” she said.

PIX11 News also caught up with chef Maryam Boodie, the owner of Maryam’s Yum Yum.

“Times are difficult,” she said. “Being together is important.”

Harlem Night Market is one of the newer markets across the city. which are popular during the summer and holiday season. It was first held in 2019 and scaled down last year because of the pandemic.

This year, 75 vendors are participating.

“Myself and others vendors pride ourselves on being in the community,” Sean Perez, the owner of King Beard Care, said.

The market is checking vaccinations and identification at the door. Masks are required inside, except when eating and drinking.

The event runs from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, and on Sunday it begins at 3 p.m.

PIX 11 NEWS

By Greg Mocker

EAST HARLEM, Manhattan — Kitchens are always busy this time of year, but there’s no such thing as too many cooks at La Marqueta.

It’s a make-or-break season for small businesses trying to survive during the pandemic, and La Marqueta’s shared kitchen helps keep some chefs going. Businesses lease space there at the complex under the Metro-North railroad tracks.

It’s also a place that’s hosting some preparations for the return of the Harlem Night Market Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Maryam Boddie, the chef and owner of Maryam’s Yum Yum, said her business made it through 2020 with connections to community groups ordering meals. She said she looks forward to expanding more next year.

The staff at La Fonda, a restaurant on East 106th Street, has also been using the space to prepare its unique Puerto Rican specialties.

Maryam’s Yum Yum and La Fonda were just a sample of the dozens of vendors ready to return to the market at East 116th Street and Park Avenue.

Uptown Grand Central started the event in 2019, but it was scaled back last year.