Category Archives: history

Inside Maya Angelou’s Mt. Morris Park home by The Wall Street Journal

Posted on October 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Mount Morris Park area of Harlem is home to several famous people. One of them is Maya Angelou, an American author and poet. The Wall Street Journal takes us inside Maya Angelou’s Harlem brownstone in a recent article.

As expected, Angelou’s brownstone has most of the original detail on display. Its colorful and gigantic! Her Harlem home is 3,500 square feet with 14 rooms. She also showcases on her walls works of well-known African-American artists, such as Romare Bearden, John Biggers and Charles White.

The interesting tidbit in the article is apparently Maya Angelou owns an apartment building 10 blocks away from her Mt. Morris Park home. She bought the building as an investment back in 2004. Imagine living in that building? Your landlord is Maya Angelou! How cool is that?

To read the full WSJ article and see slides of Maya Angelou’s Harlem home, go here.

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Posted in apartments, Community, education, Harlem, history, Mt. Morris Park

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Attend Maysles Members Night Out in Harlem

Posted on September 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Listen up! The Maysles Institute in Harlem will be hosting an exclusive event soon for its members. It’s one you don’t want to miss if you love Cuban history as I do (see blog post on visit to Cuba). And if you’re not a member, you may want to become one to meet fellow members from the Harlem and NYC area.

Maysles Cinema, which is located at 343 Lenox Avenue between 127th and 128 Street, is having a reception for members only on Monday, October 15 at 6:30 pm. After the reception, Maysles Cinema will be screening the film titled Cuba: An African Odyssey at 7:30 pm. “Cuba: An African Odyssey explores the 300,000 Cubans who fought alongside African revolutionaries: from Che Guevara’s military campaign to avenge Lumumba in the Congo up to the fall of apartheid in South Africa. Cuba, an African Odyssey is the previously untold story of Cuba’s support for African revolutions, one of the Cold War’s most vigorous contests over resources and ideology.” Click here to watch a trailer of the film.

As mentioned,  this event is exclusive to Maysles cinema members and requires a reservation to attend. To RSVP email member@mayslesinstitute.org and to become a member go to mayslesinstitute.org/membership.

Hope to see you there!

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Posted in art and culture, Community, education, Events, film, Harlem, history, Lenox Avenue, New York, New York City, NYC, politics

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Sylvia Woods, who founded famous Harlem restaurant, passes

Posted on July 19, 2012 | 2 Comments

This evening, Harlem lost a legend. Sylvia Woods, who earned the grand title: the Queen of Soul Food, has gone on to a better place.  The Wood’s Family announced on Facebook tonight that the women who founded and created one of the most famous soul food restaurants in Harlem and in New York City, Sylvia’s Restaurant, succumbed to Alzheimer’s. In their statement, the Wood’s Family said before she left, Sylvia was surrounded by the same environment she created at her Lenox Avenue restaurant: “a host of family and loved ones.”

As one person said on Twitter this evening, “they’re eating collards, fried chicken, and cornbread in heaven tonight…” Amen. :(

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Posted in 125th Street, Community, Events, food, Harlem, history, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurants

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‘Soul Train’ celebration is tonight in Harlem, event seeks to create world’s largest soul train line

Posted on July 12, 2012 | 7 Comments


Go back in time tonight to an era that brought us “soul” at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. Harlem-based non-profit ImageNation is celebrating all things “Soul Train” this evening (July 12) in Marcus Garvey Park. ImageNation’s 10th Annual Outdoors Festival will pay tribute to the late Don Cornelius with a screening of the VH1 documentary “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America,” as well as live performances of music from that famous era. Also, ImageNation is aiming to create the largest soul train line tonight here in Harlem. How else to pay better tribute to the man himself, Don Cornelius, than by creating one of the most famous and well-known dance lines: the soul train line? The event is FREE and starts at 7:30 pm. Check out the details below.

What: Soul Train! A Tribute to Don Cornelius w/ music by InJoy Enterprises
When: July 12, 2012 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Where: Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem
Directions: Take the 2/3 train towards New Lots Ave and exit 125th st near intersection of Dr. Martin L King Blvd and Lenox Ave. Walk down to 122nd St and turn left
Cost: Free

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Posted in 125th Street, art and culture, Community, entertainment, Harlem, history, music, New York, New York City, NYC

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Save the Date: Annual Mount Morris Park House Tour is June 10

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

For more than 20 years the community of Mount Morris Park has been opening its doors and inviting New Yorkers and visitors from around the world to come in and see all the beautiful homes that are in Harlem. The tradition continues with the annual Mount Morris Park House Tour, which is set for June 10.  The schedule is listed below and tickets are now available at the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association. Click here to purchase tickets.

11 AM to 4 PM: Follow the Self-Guided Tour of Homes at your leisure. Guests will visit 10 venues including inside brownstone homes, urban live/work apartments and landmark churches.

1 PM and 3 PM: Join the Architectural Walking Tour and explore this historic neighborhood’s rich architectural detail and history.

Noon and 2 PM: Inside Historic Harlem begins with Yale-trained architect and historian, John Reddick.

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Posted in art and culture, Community, Events, Harlem, history, New York, New York City, NYC, real estate

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Marcus Samuelsson and Maya Gate Haile of Harlem featured in June issue of Vogue magazine

Posted on May 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

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I was flipping through my digital copy of Vogue-June 2012 edition and came across a sharp-looking photo of Marcus Samuelsson and his wife Maya, who reside in Harlem. They are in the most recent issue of Vogue because the mag is featuring Marcus’ latest book titled Yes, Chef, a memoir. (I didn’t even know Marcus had a memoir out until now. I guess he does not want to do an autobiography?) The Vogue writer characterizes the book as “moving and sometimes harrowing.”

To read an excerpt of Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson, purchase the June edition of Vogue magazine or to read the entire book, pre-order online. It is coming out next month!

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Posted in art and culture, fashion, food, Harlem, history, Lenox Avenue, music, New York, New York City, Red Rooster Harlem, restaurants

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Dream Deferred Opens April 20 at 133rd Street Arts Center in Harlem

Posted on April 16, 2012 | 1 Comment

Written and directed by the award-winning playwright Marcus Dargan, Dream Deferred puts a spotlight on racial tensions and social action, as African-American residents of an apartment building in Harlem struggle against the looming commercial dominance of a newly built condominium, just across the street. Dream Deferred is drawn from Dargan’s conversations and observations of Harlem residents. “It’s a historical document, artistically expressed to reflect the experiences of a people who may someday vanish from Harlem’s landscape without having had their final stories told. This play represents the beginning of their untimely end.”

Dream Deferred will run 13 performances from April 20-29 at the 133rd Street Arts Center located at 308 West 133rd Street in Harlem. General tickets are $20 at the door and are available at the box office one hour before curtain or by calling the box office at 347-855-7281. Advance online tickets are $18 for adults, and $15 for seniors, students, and artists at www.brownpapertickets.com.

For complete ticket and schedule information, visit www.nuafrikantheatre.org/dream-deferred.

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Posted in art and culture, Community, education, entertainment, Events, Harlem, history

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Harlem’s Amateur Night at The Apollo heading across the pond to London

Posted on March 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

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America’s first, original, true singing competition, which started in Harlem and pre-American Idol, is heading East to London. According to the Associated Press, the Apollo Theater in Harlem “is exporting its Amateur Night to London for a limited engagement. The London show on July will pit aspiring artists from the United States and Great Britain.”

“Manhattan auditions will be held March 31 and April 1. Four winners of the May 23 New York semifinals will get expense-paid trips to London. Semifinals to pick four amateurs in London will be held in June.”

If you know of anyone who would want to compete against a Brit in singing, pass this information along. And congrats to Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater on exporting their Amateur Night to London! Way to go!

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Posted in Harlem, New York City, New York, NYC, Community, history, entertainment, art and culture, music, 125th Street, The Apollo Theater

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Several Harlem named/themed songs make Time Out New York’s 100 Best Songs about New York City

Posted on March 9, 2012 | 1 Comment


Time Out New York recently released a ranked list of 100 songs dealing with the subject of New York City and several Harlem themed or named songs top the list, such as Take the A Train by Duke Ellington, Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack, Harlem Blues by Nat King Cole, Harlem Shuffle by Bob&Earl, Angel of Harlem by U2 and more. The list of 100 covers 50 years of tributes to the city that is known all over the world for inspiring artists across every musical genre.

In addition to the tracks, videos and commentary, Time Out New York is offering a Spotify playlist, so that readers can follow and stream the ranked songs on their own devices. Users will also be able to rerank the top 25 selections on the list by voting their choices up or down in the Readers’ Poll.

The Top NYC Song List can be seen at Time Out New York or go directly to Spotify, if you have an account.

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Posted in art and culture, education, entertainment, Harlem, history, jazz, music, New York, New York City

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OMG…Lenox Lounge in Harlem could close. Please no!

Posted on March 8, 2012 | 6 Comments


According to The New York Daily News, Harlem’s famed music establishment Lenox Lounge “could be on its last set.” The current owner, Al Reed, says the landlord of the property wants $20k a month from the prior $10k. The article states Reed is shopping the place around and that there are interested parties, such as Harlemite and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. I hope that is really true about Samuelsson.

Overall, this is sad news to hear. Closing Lenox Lounge would be like closing the Apollo Theater. These establishments are Harlem/American icons. Our community and New York City needs to desperately try to hold on to these treasures. It’s part of NYC’s fabric of life. Lenox Lounge is so special cause of its long history. It’s vintage. I will go as far as saying it should be a landmark and should be preserved. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that an investor views it that way…soon!

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Posted in 125th Street, Bars, business, Community, drinks, entertainment, food, Harlem, history, jazz, Lenox Avenue, music, New York, New York City, NYC, Red Rooster Harlem, restaurants

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