Category Archives: 116th Street

The Fourth Annual Spring Harlem Restaurant and Retail Month starts February 15

Harlem Park to Park kicks off its fourth annual Spring Harlem Restaurant and Retail Month tomorrow (Feb 15) with an impressive list of restaurant and retail establishments in Central Harlem. With food options like Ristorante Settepani’s Braised Monkfish, and the Chicken and Red Velvet Waffles at 67 Orange Street; along with services that include a week’s worth of Unlimited Led Classes from Land Yoga, and the popular Men’s Razor Relief Treatment at Harlem Skin Clinic, Harlemites and visitors alike can experience a variety of options and opportunities to sample Harlem’s finest offerings from February 15 – 28.

Twenty businesses are participating, including:

Restaurants
67 Orange Street, Bleu Violin, Chez Lucien, Chocolat Restaurant and Lounge, Corner Social, Cove Lounge, Harlem Food Bar, Harlem Tavern, Lenox Coffee, Moca Lounge, Native Restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem, Ristorante Settepani, Sylvia’s/Sylvia’s Also Lounge

Retail Services
Brownstone Fitness, Doggedly Devoted, Franz James Floral Boutique, Harlem Flo – A Floral Boutique, Harlem Skin Clinic, Land Yoga

For more information about Spring Harlem Restaurant and Retail Month and a full list of offerings, visit Harlem Park to Park on Facebook or link below for prix fixe menus and retail/service items.
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Standing Tall, Inc. moving to 101 West 116th Street in Harlem

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New Street Realty Advisors, LLC announced today the successful lease transaction between Standing Tall, Inc., a school for non‐verbal children with physical impairments, and Mitchell Enterprises, the owners of 101 West 116th Street Realty, Corp. The site, located at the northwest corner of West 116th Street and Lenox Avenue in Central Harlem, is composed of a 10,000 square foot on the second floor with a dedicated entrance on the ground floor, fronting West 116th Street. Standing Tall will take occupancy of the space immediately and anticipates an opening this spring.

Since its inception in 1997, Standing Tall is a special education school that provides the unique environment, experts, technology, and experiences needed to provide non‐verbal children with physical impairments a path of true communication and learning. Standing Tall serves all non‐verbal children, ages 5 through 21 with a brain injury, neuro‐motor disorder and neurological disease.

Standing Tall has been on the hunt for a new space for the past two years, having outgrown its location at 200 Riverside Blvd. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The board was on the verge of closing the school until New Street Realty Advisors stepped in, helping the school create a leasing strategy and securing the new location in Central Harlem.

Harlem’s Make My Cake makes a cameo on Season Finale of NBC’s 30 Rock

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It’s a known fact to some of us locals in Harlem that actress, author, comedian Tina Fey has always liked the sweet delicious goods from Harlem’s Make My Cake. Tina Fey has been ordering cakes from Make My Cake in Harlem for years for things like wrap parties. I believe a Harlem local even works on her production staff, wink, wink. But back to my point. Tina Fey is so loyal to the Harlem product that she included them in the last episode of her TV hit series, 30 Rock. Just look at Make My Cake’s Facebook page for all the details.

And sorry to hear Tina Fey’s TV show ended, but Make My Cake in Harlem is here to stay! If you want to try one of their delectables, head to 121A St. Nicholas Avenue at 116th Street or call 212-932-0833.
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Ramy Ashour, professional squash and ’10 world No. 1 player, visits Harlem

A reader sent in a wonderful picture to share with us all of professional squash player Ramy Ashour visiting Harlem “for the first time” Jan. 28 to meet with StreetSquash.org participants from Harlem. How cool/international is this? Totally cool, in my book!

Why is Ramy Ashour in New York? According to our source, he had just won the Tournament of Champions (TOC), which ended on Thursday, the 24th. It’s a huge tournament that is held every year in January in Grand Central Station with the top players, both male and female, coming from all over the world. The purpose of Ashour’s visit to Harlem was to speak with StreetSquash kids about his life and then do a Squash clinic. Ashour won the TOC and then went to StreetSquash in Harlem.

According to Google, Ramy Ashour, a pro from Egypt, reached world No. 1 in January 2010 after beating Nick Matthew in the final of the 2009 Saudi International Squash Tournament. To learn more about Ashour online, follow him on Twitter.

StreetSquash is on 116th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenue!

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Harvist Restaurant in Harlem featured in NY Mag, set to open this week

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Who is going to go check out Harlem’s latest restaurant called Harvist? We are! According to New York Magazine, its opening this week inside My Image Studios Harlem at 46 West 116th Street. MIST tells us via Twitter that they’re opening this Thursday for dinner. Cassandra Quinlan-Ashford will be the chef. She plans on serving dishes, such as shrimp and grits, red-velvet soufflé, berbere filet mignon, osso buco and a raw-kale salad. Yummy!

Harvist is located at 46 West 116th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenue. Call 646-738-3050 for reservations.

And to learn more about Harvist Restaurant, go here.

MIST Harlem launching new series this month

MIST Harlem (My Image Studios, LLC), the country’s first minority-owned entertainment center, has released their schedule to us announcing new series this month. Check out the details below on the upcoming series:

Uptown Thursday Nights Comedy Series
This series will begin Jan 17 with a headline event that launches a 16-week series of premiere local comedians. To purchase tickets, go here.

MIST Inspirations
The first and third Mondays at MIST will be reserved for Monday Inspirations. This series will launch similarly with a headlining Gospel artist in a full MIST house, Monday, Jan 21. The bi-weekly series will then run for 16-weeks on first and third Mondays, in the center MIST Theater from 7:30-9:30 pm. Gospel artists for the series will be booked from premier local artists (tri-state) and special guests who may be in the area for other engagements and promotions. For tickets, click here.

Creatively Speaking Film Series
Creatively Speaking is a curated film series offering a diverse forum that highlights independent film by and/or about people of color. The film series began early December 2012 and will run monthly at MIST Harlem with a collection of shorts, documentaries and narrative films that tell stories that present realistic portrayals of people of color rarely seen in the media, and appeal to varied audiences, crossing multiple cultural, geographic and socio-economic divides.

Hue-Man Bookstore Pop Up at MIST
Hue-Man enjoys the reputation as a top-flight organization and was the go to place for any and every author of Color. Visit the Pop Up inside MIST on West 116th Street between Lenox Ave and Fifth Avenue.

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Is a new fish market coming to Harlem on St. Nicholas Avenue?

A reader recently dropped in a tip on Twitter saying that the space where Obama Chicken on St Nicholas Ave and 116th in Harlem is being worked on. Our reader asked a worker on site “what’s up?” and the worker responded with “a fish market is coming.” Interesting! Isn’t there another fish market store on 116th closer to Lenox Ave? Either way, if a fish market does open in the old Obama Chicken location that would be another nice option to have in this area of Harlem! Yes or no?

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Latest Manhattan Rental Market Report, how does Harlem make out?

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I came across an interesting clip from Brick Underground about renting or selling during the Winter months, which then lead me to a Manhattan rental report and from there I tripped over housing stats about Harlem. If you’re an owner of property in Harlem, you’ll enjoy this news. If you’re a person looking to rent in the Harlem area, this is info could be bad news for your endeavor.

According to the 2012 November issue of Manhattan Rental Market Report, “Harlem is the only neighborhood that saw increases,” which is unusual because during the cold season the real estate market typically slows down for both selling and renting; and numbers are flat. But not for renting in Harlem. The numbers are up, according to this report. Here are the Harlem stats:

Non-Doorman Studios (3.1%)
Doorman Studios (4.4%)
Non-Doorman One-Bedrooms (3.5%)
Doorman One-Bedrooms (2.6%)
Non-Doorman Two-Bedrooms (2.0%)
Doorman Two-Bedrooms (1.2%)

To learn more about the Manhattan Rental Market Report, go here.

Harlem’s Frederick Douglass Boulevard goes mainstreaming says NY Times

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Harlem’s restaurant row, aka Frederick Douglass Blvd between 110th and 125th Street, is back in the news again. The New York Times recently IMG_2762spoke with Leon Ellis, the owner of Moca Lounge, Chocolat Restaurant and Harlem Underground, about how this part of Harlem has gone through a complete transformation since he first opened Moca, which was back in 2003.  Ellis told the NY Times that his friends thought he was crazy for opening up a restaurant back then. Since 2003, Ellis has expanded his business presence in Harlem on FDB with Chocolat opening about two years ago and then Harlem Underground, a Harlem-themed clothing store.

The owners of bier international were also interviewed for the article and stressed that while this area is going mainstream, they emphasized “we need to find a balance and not forget what was here” in Harlem.

To read the full article, click here.

My Image Studios Harlem officially opens November 28, view upcoming events


The New York Times reports today (Nov 26) that MIST Harlem, aka My Image Studios, located at 40 West 116th Street will open Wednesday, November 28. MIST Harlem is the “20,000 sq. ft. cultural entertainment center that features a 130-seat restaurant (Harvist) and three performance spaces presenting the best in film, live music, spoken word, comedy and more-performed by top established and emerging black & Latino artists from around the world.” Here’s an immediate list of upcoming events , which starts tomorrow, November 27. Take a look .

11/27 Middle of Nowhere Film Event
Special private screening and Q & A for the NY Women in Film and Television of Sundance Award winning director Ava DuVernay film, Middle of Nowhere.

11/28 Otelo Film Premiere
Otelo Burning directed by Sara Blecher, an award-winning documentary director and producer. Somewhere between City of God and Blue Crush, the film tells the story of a group of township kids who discover the joy of surfing. Filmed in Zulu with English subtitles, the film also includes music from South African Hip Hop artist Reason.
http://www.charged.fm/userevent/item/637/otelo-burning-premiere-event-at-mist-harlem

11/29 Elza Film Premiere
Elza, by Mariette Monpierre, is the first narrative feature film by a female filmmaker from Guadeloupe, the West Indies. It tells the universal story of a family in turmoil. Filmed in French with English subtitles, the film also includes music from French neo-folk-soul artistStévy Mahy.
http://www.charged.fm/userevent/item/642/elza-film-premiere–november-29-at-mist-harlem

12/3 Vaughn Harper Toy Drive and Benefit Concert
Celebrity toy drive and jazz concert fundraiser for Harlem Downing, a foster care agency. It is set for Monday, December 3. It is being organized by WBLS 107.5 radio personality Vaughn Harper.