Category Archives: business

Harlem Shake goes viral, real Harlem Shake coming to Harlem at 124th and Lenox Avenue

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The Harlem Shake by New York deejay Baauer has gone viral twice over. It’s everywhere! While everyone is doing the Harlem Shake, don’t forget the Village of Harlem is actually getting a Harlem Shake, which will be a restaurant that will serve “burgers, shakes and good times, [the] Harlem way.” The restaurant will be located on the southwest corner of 124th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. It’s in construction right now, but progress is being made and will open soon. Just follow them on Facebook or Twitter to view their progress.

And if you haven’t seen what the Harlem Shake looks like under water, here’s a view.

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.

NYC Green Market looking to make Harlem its home, feedback needed

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A reader dropped us a line over the weekend we found interesting. Apparently there is a NYC Green Market movement actively discussing bringing a farmers market to the vacant lot in Harlem at West 117 Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd. This is the space where the Harlem Pop Up Green Market was held last year. In order to help make it a reality, Grow NYC needs to gain enough community feedback to demonstrate a strong need and desire for the market. They are looking to hear from us.

If interested in providing feedback, send Margaret Hoffman, Green Market Regional Coordinator, an email stating your interest and support of the market in this part of Harlem. Word is they need to get community responses soon to even consider the market. Here is Margaret’s email: mhoffman@greenmarket.grownyc.org.

Harlem’s Marcus Samuelsson upgrades, buys Harlem townhouse on West 120th Street

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According to Curbed.com, Celebrity Chef and Harlemite Marcus Samuelsson and Maya, his gorgeous wife, have some new digs in Harlem. They’re moving on up as 3494879-6the saying goes from West 118th Street to West 120th Street. The socialite couple have purchased a townhouse at 30 West 120th Street for the asking price of $2.895 million. Curbed reports that the deed hit public record yesterday, Feb. 8 and the sale closed in late January. The 4,650-square-foot Harlem townhouse includes five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a garden, and a second entrance that allows the garden level to be a separate apartment.

Curbed takes a jab at the kitchen shown in the listing pics saying “it looks little smaller than we’d expect for a professional chef.” Have any of these folks been in his prior home? Some of us have when the Samuelsson’s hosted the Horn of Africa fundraiser. The kitchen in the new Harlem townhouse is twice is big as what they had in the old Harlem apartment on 118th Street. Not sure what Curbed is basing their comments on, but the new kitchen in the townhouse is perfect for a celebrity chef.

Anyhow congrats to Marcus and Maya on their new Harlem home. It’s crystal clear from the recent home purchase that they plan to stay in Harlem for the long-term! Good for them!

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Tweet of the Week: Visit Grandmas Place in Harlem

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This weeks Tweet of the Week belongs to Grandmas Place in Harlem and @Schopgirl. Recently, I posted a photo on Instagram of Grandmas Place, located at 84 West 120th Street in Harlem, saying “there’s nothing better than Grandmas Place” to shop for great gifts for kids! Out of the blue, the owners daughter of Grandmas Place tweets back “that’s my mom! 40 plus years in education, literacy, and passion for toys and books.”

This is a classic example that when you tweet something out about Harlem, you are bound to come across family! Luv it!

To shop at Grandmas Place, take the 2/3 subway to either 116th or 125th Street. They’re located right behind Settepani!

And join us on Twitter to receive the latest information about Harlem!

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Made in Harlem: Uptown Soap Co. featured in February issue of Vogue

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I love it when I see Harlem-based companies in the news, specifically in glamorous places, such as in lifestyle magazines. This month Uptown Soap Co. received another nod from Vogue in their beauty section called Made in NY, aka Made in Harlem! Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get notice by Oprah too, which the Harlem based company has on their milestone belt as well.

Uptown Soap Co.’s Silvia Dontcheva tells HarlemGal Inc that “they make all of their products by hand in a small brownstone on 123rd Street in Harlem. The company started 4 years ago and although it began with solely soaps, they now specialize in bubble baths, soy candles, perfumes, body scrubs and more.”

No need to go downtown for these Made in Harlem products. Dontcheva says their products can be purchased in Harlem at the wonderful Harlem Flo on Frederick Douglass Blvd and 122nd Street. Owners Stefan and Louis have reordered from Uptown Soap since they started. Very cool. I know where I’m buying me some pretty soap! See ya at Harlem Flo!

Want to know NYC health inspection grades on Harlem restaurants in one click? Try BiteScore

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Maison Harlem, the French bistro located on 127th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, recently posted a picture on Facebook of their sanitary inspection grade they received from New York City’s Health Inspection Department. It was good news. The new Harlem restaurant received a big fat “A.” Now what if you wanted to keep track of that grade, know their rating, and every time their graded by the NYC Health Inspection. BiteScore allows users to conveniently access restaurant health inspections when ordering food, making reservations, and browsing reviews online. Currently integrated with Seamless, OpenTable, Zagat and MenuPages users are able to view current health ratings when accessing restaurant pages.

To test how BiteScore works, I choose Red Rooster Harlem as the guinea pig. I went to the search function at the top right hand corner of the page. Hit return and the restaurants current grade is posted. Click on the highlighted area of the restaurants’ name and it shows their rating and grading history by the health inspection department.

Check out BiteScore and comment here on whether this online tool is useful in knowing how Harlem restaurants make the grade.

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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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Harlem’s Park Wine Bar adds exterior wood work

Has anyone noticed the nice exterior wood work on the Harlem building where The Park Wine Bar will be located? It’s on Frederick Douglass Blvd between 112th and 113th Street. I like it! It gives the upcoming Harlem establishment a warm and comfortable look. Let’s hope the wine selection is on par with the decor!

What do you think? Do you like the exterior wood work at The Park Wine Bar?

To view prior blog posts on The Park Wine Bar, go here!
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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.