Category Archives: history

Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and President Obama’s Second Inauguration at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem

Posted on January 19, 2013 | Leave a comment

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Lots to celebrate this coming Monday. And if you need a place to celebrate in Harlem, Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem, 310 Lenox Ave, is inviting us all over. In celebration of Martin Luther King Day and President Obama’s second inauguration, Ginny’s Supper Club will host two special events.

The first is an inauguration watching party at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 21st. Guests can order from Marcus Samuelsson’s acclaimed upstairs restaurant and Red Rooster Harlem, while watching a live-feed of the inauguration downstairs at Ginny’s Supper Club. In 2011, the President Obama held a swanky fundraiser at Red Rooster Harlem and in 2009, Marcus Samuelsson was chosen to cook the Obama Administration’s first State Dinner.

The celebration of Dr. King’s dream continues into the evening of January 21st, with a two-set special performance by Amanda Brown of The Voice. Brown’s performance will be complemented by excerpts of Dr. King’s iconic “I have a Dream” speech. Ginny’s small plates and playful cocktails will round out the celebratory evening. Guests can make reservations by calling 212-421-3821 in advance. There is no cover. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

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Posted in 125th Street, art and culture, Bars, education, Events, Harlem, history, Lenox Avenue, music, New York, New York City, NYC, Red Rooster Harlem, restaurants

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Harlem’s Democracy Prep Public Schools to host ‘Inauguration of a DREAM’

Posted on January 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

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This January 21st, Democracy Prep Public Schools, which operates six charter schools in the Harlem area, will be hosting “Inauguration of a DREAM: a Celebration of Education, Service, and Democracy” from 10 am to 4 pm at the Harlem Armory. This event is free and open to the public. It will feature live music, guest speakers, food, door prizes, and community service opportunities to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This event will coincide with the second Presidential Inauguration of President Barack Obama.

If interested in attending this event, please RSVP by January 15 at Eventbrite.com.

Democracy Prep is a growing network of six free, open-enrollment, high-performing no excuses public charter schools committed to preparing scholars for success in the college of their choice and a life of active citizenship. Teachers and staff currently educate more than 1,500 scholars in grades K-12 at six schools across the Harlem neighborhood. To learn more about Democracy Prep Public Schools, visit their website.
Inauguration_Newsletter

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Posted in Community, education, Events, Harlem, history, kids, politics

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Read full statement on Lenox Lounge brand continuing in Harlem

Posted on January 6, 2013 | 5 comments

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Back from holiday vacation and going through gazillion emails on Harlem. The big Harlem story that happened over the holidays was the continuing saga on Harlem’s Lenox Lounge. Several news outlets reported recently on how the Lenox Lounge brand will continue by moving a few blocks up on Lenox Avenue in Harlem-333 Lenox Ave to be exact. Stories were generated due to Alvin Reed’s peeps releasing a statement on January 3. This blog did receive the full statement Jan 3 while on vacation and wanted to share it in its entity.

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Posted in Bars, business, Harlem, history, jazz, Lenox Avenue, Lenox Lounge, music, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurants

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Lenox Lounge will be renamed Notar Jazz Club, Richie Notar and Alvin Reed finally cross paths

Posted on December 20, 2012 | 8 comments

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If anyone thinks there is a grain of hope left for Lenox Lounge in Harlem, forget about it! Read the latest article from The NY Daily News. Richie Notar is now publicly speaking about his plans for the vintage Harlem establishment. Notar told Community Board 10 “he does not want to change much.” However, Notar confirms he will change the name to Notar Jazz Club.

By the way, Notar and Alvin Reed crossed paths for the first time according to the article. That had to be interesting.

After reading the article, all I could think about is “what a pity that Notar does not see any value in saving the Lenox Lounge brand?” There are plenty of smart business people who have taken on well-known brands and successfully lifted those brands higher. Say Fiat? Say Izod? How about Puma? Guess Richie Notar is a play-it-safe-kind-of-a-businessman?

The good things coming out of this story is that Notar plans to hire Franco the Great to do a mural and Harlemites will continue to have a jazz club to patron, which won’t be the same only the structure will exist. Buh-humbug.

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Posted in 125th Street, art and culture, business, commercial real estate, Harlem, history, Lenox Avenue, Lenox Lounge, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurants

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Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater to travel back in time

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 1 comment

According to The New York Times, our beloved Apollo Theater plans to take a trip back in time or better yet, is going back to its core.  The Apollo Theater plans to transform our famous venue on 125th Street “into an old-fashioned nightclub for a new revue evoking the Harlem music clubs of the 1930s and 1940s”

In its heyday, the Apollo Theater was a venue that featured a “variety programs, such as big bands, singers, dancers, female impersonators, acrobats and comedians.” The Apollo aims to recapture that era and offer it up to consumers who are interested in experiencing this particular part of the Apollo’s history.  The article states “seats will be removed from the orchestra level and the audience will sit at cafe tables, tended by waiters and waitresses.”

Go back in time in Harlem at the Apollo Theater in February 2013 with three nights of shows: Feb. 18, Feb. 22 and Feb 23. Tickets go on sale on Nov. 19.

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

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Listen up Harlem, go vote November 6

Posted on November 5, 2012 | 2 comments


The big day is near. Tomorrow, November 6 is election day. It is time of us to go to the voting booths to cast our vote! If you’re a registered voter and not sure where to go to cast your ballot, use New York City’s Board of Elections (BOE) Polling Locator. It will tell you where to go by typing in your building number and street name. The BOE also has an app that will allow you to find your voting poll. Go here to download the app.

Most of us online have been expressing our political views for weeks. I know I have. The day is here where it’s now time for us to do the walk, not just talk. Get out and vote tomorrow! See you at the voting booth!

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Posted in 110th Street, 116th Street, 125th Street, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., Community, education, Events, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Free!, Harlem, history, Lenox Avenue, New York, New York City, NYC

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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 | 8 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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