A famous photograph of Mulberry Street at the turn of the 20th century shows a neighborhood brimming with life. The street is packed with recent Italian immigrants, young and old. Carts and buggies crowd the streets like cars do today, with merchants selling products out the back. Produce stands are in front of buildings in the same way that outdoor dining patios have extended onto Mulberry today– except there are no tourists around them, just locals. More →
For performance artists across New York City, today is a turning point in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Cultural institutions and entertainment venues can now begin applying for Open Culture, an initiative to revive performance arts after a year of shutdowns. “Although the COVID-19 [pandemic] has impacted the entire arts sector, nowhere has the effect been more direct, deep, and immediate than on the performing arts,” stated a COVID-19 impact analysis conducted by Argonne National Laboratory. Open Culture is a long-awaited step for the sector widely noted as the first to have closed and the last to reopen. More →
Just last week, New York’s cinema scene looked like, well, something out of a horror movie. Movie theaters had been dark since March, and– even as New York City’s casinos, gyms, and massage parlors were allowed to operate– cinephiles had to drive to Long Island or New Jersey to watch a movie the old-fashioned style, making for a virtually unprecedented reverse bridge-and-tunnel situation. More →
The pandemic has been rough for museums and art galleries. The Met is on the brink of selling masterpieces to keep the lights on, and galleries — small, intimate spaces — are largely empty because of capacity-limiting social distancing guidelines. All of this makes the buzzy start of Leo Fitzpatrick’s new gallery on St. Marks Place, Public Access, twice as exciting. More →
“It’s very spiritual for me to be . . . on these grounds where my ancestors walked and struggled. It’s amazing to be here on this tour,” Brooklyn native Michael Garrett said Saturday as he followed the wide-brimmed hats of New York City park rangers through Brooklyn Heights. More →
After witnessing the extreme stress on health care workers, you might wonder if the pandemic is discouraging prospective doctors and nurses from pursuing such careers. For Joanne Santiago, the opposite was the case. Santiago, a Brooklyn native, graduated from nursing school during the early stages of the pandemic, last spring. The challenges presented by COVID did not intimidate her, but rather catalyzed her to remember that such crises are what she and her peers had signed up to combat. With no second thoughts, Santiago began her first health care position as a registered nurse in the emergency department (ED) of Bellevue Hospital this past November. More →
Outraged activists, distressed renters, proud union leaders, mayoral campaigners, assembly members, state senators, and at least one reporter attended Brooklyn’s Tenant Town Hall last night. The participant list blossomed around 6:45pm, and neared 270 at its pinnacle. On the virtual discussion table was a package of nine bills to address New York City’s growing housing crisis, a crisis that mass unemployment throughout the pandemic has exacerbated. As many as one million current renting households in New York are at risk of eviction if moratoriums are lifted—or if housing bills aren’t passed to protect vulnerable tenants. More →
Julia Copeland, a celebrity stylist and wholesaler, didn’t see herself opening a boutique in 2020. Then came the pandemic. “When COVID hit, obviously red carpets and events just weren’t really happening,” Julia explains. “And then my mom got terminally ill, and was given three months to live.” More →
Last February, Middle Church gathered at their 128-year-old sanctuary in the East Village to observe Ash Wednesday. Like churches around the world, Middle Church administered ashes on their congregants’ foreheads. But quite unlike other churches, the community considered the finitude of human life by commemorating the full import of the date, February 26—the anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death. More →
The Lunar New Year usually draws thousands to Manhattan’s Chinatown to watch the annual parade and partake in cultural festivities. Participants and spectators questioned whether they’d be able to celebrate this year, but a muted version popped off in Chinatown this afternoon — with confetti in lieu of fireworks. More →