Category Archives: NYC

Harlem to star in Lenox Avenue, a web series

The Huffington Post reports today that actor and filmmaker Al Thompson is working on a digital series “that showcases Harlem’s influential culture” in Lenox Avenue. According to the article, Lenox Avenue is centered on three friends as they navigate through the challenging dating scene in Harlem, which is a lot of territory to cover when it comes to “looking for the one.” And Mr. Thompson is from Harlem (born and raised), so he’s been witnessing its change and felt it was time for Harlem to be depicted in a positive light on the web other than the stereotypical TV series or films we have seen in the past, such as New Jack City or New York Undercover.

To read the entire article with Al Thompson, go here, or go to LenoxAvenueSeries.com to learn more about the web series.

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Attend Savor The Season-Uptown in Harlem September 18

Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Harlem’s Red Rooster and Maritza Wellington Owens, Chief Executive Officer, of Harvest Home Farmer’s Market have come together to create Savor The Season-Uptown. Savor The Season will showcase the ‘best of the best’ chefs who work north of 110th Street. Guests will enjoy tastings from eight different restaurateurs, bakeries, wines curated by The Winery and beers and spirits curated by the up and coming Harlem Public. The event will take place the evening of September 18 at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que banquet hall, located on 125th Street and 12th Avenue.

Participating restaurants will be Red Rooster Harlem, Creole, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Jin Ramen, Le Monde, Moby Catering, Melba’s, 5 and Diamond, Levain Bakery, and Tonnie’s Minis.

To learn more about the event and order tickets, click here.

See Esperanza Spalding, a new show added at Harlem’s Apollo Theater


If you were not able to purchase tickets to attend the October 26 performance of Esperanza Spalding, you’re in luck! There is another option! Due to overwhelming demand, a second show for Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music Society tour has been added on Saturday, October 27 at 8 pm at Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater on 125th Street. The presale is happening now and ends Wednesday, September 12 at 10 pm. Use the code ALIST. Tickets, which are going for $40 and $60, will be available to the public Thursday, September 13 at 10 am. Click here to purchase tickets.

September 11, 2001, a day to remember always

Today is a day to remember forever. We will never forget it. In honor of 9-11, I am posting pictures of The Freedom Tower. I have pictures of the World Trade Center Towers. However when I look at The Freedom Tower, it reminds me of the past, but it also makes me think of the future… I love you New York City!

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Harvist in Harlem makes NY Times Fall Restaurant Preview List

Around this time every year, The New York Times publishes a list of all the new restaurants opening up in the Fall and one Harlem establishment made the cut: Harvist. Harvist will be located at 40 West 116th Street in the My Image Studios and “will serve Cassandra Quinlan-Ashford’s rustic fare with Southern and Latin-American influences, including skirt steak with salsa verde, chicken and dumplings, and red velvet cake.” To date it is the only restaurant planned in this commercial space in Harlem, which is also home to the Kalahari Condominium.

Marcus Samuelsson also received a mention about another restaurant he is opening up in the City, but in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan.

Check out the complete list here.

Where to purchase a Harlem tee?

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A reader from Plano, Texas recently wrote HarlemGal Inc asking where can one purchase a t-shirt that says Harlem on it if one doesn’t live in Harlem? The answer: there are plenty of options to purchase a Harlem tee if you don’t live in Harlem!

The largest Harlem online community on Facebook known as Harlem NYC recently started to sell unisex t-shirts that say…what else, but Harlem NYC on it. Go here to purchase a t-shirt for $12.50. To get that price, more than 50 t-shirts have to be printed.

On twitter, several followers have told HarlemGal that a site called Harlem Lives sells men and women t-shirts that say Harlem on it. And apparently, there is a sale going on at this site according to a follower. Harlem Lives tees run from about $19 to $25.

Harlem Underground offers consumers the opportunity to buy Harlem t-shirts online and in stores as well. Harlem Underground has two locations. Their first is on 20 East 125th Street. And recently, they opened their second store in Harlem on Frederick Douglass Blvd between 119th Street and 120th. Harlem Underground tees cost from $16 all the way up to $30.

Harlem t-shirts are also offered in stores only at Swing Concept and Bebenoir in Harlem. And let’s not forget along 125th Street. Street vendors sell Harlem t-shirts for as low as $10!

If there are other places to purchase Harlem t-shirts, drop us line here in the comments section!

Harlem School of the Arts offers Free Class Week

Listen up parents! The Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) will be offering Free Class Week beginning Tuesday, September 4th thru Saturday, September 8th. Free classes will be offered in music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and musical theatre for all ages.

The HSA Free Class Week is open to the public and free classes are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.  HSA Free Class Week culminates with HSA Parent Orientation for all parents of registering students on September 8th at 10am (for ages 2-8) and 2pm (for ages 9-17). All interested participants should go to the HSA website for more information.

Additionally HSA will be holding open auditions September 11 and 12, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4:30 pm–7:00 pm for students Grades 3-8 who wish to participate in Disney’s The Lion King KIDS and The Lion King JR (its children’s version of its landmark Broadway musical) being held at HSA October 1 – March 18 culminating in student performances. Call backs will be held September 13.

The Harlem School of the Arts is located at 645 Saint Nicholas Avenue @ W. 141st Street. Close to A, B, C and D subway trains to 145th Street or M3 bus to 141st Street.

Harlem gas station in demand

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According to The New York Post this morning (Aug 20), the owners of the Harlem gas station on 110th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd have been busy fighting off the City of New York from taking over their property.

The article states that Carmie Elmore and a partner took over the gas station in 1981 when Harlem was seedy. Now that Harlem is hot and has been on an upward trajectory for a while, the city apparently owned it at one time and wants its gas station back. Each entity is heading to Manhattan Supreme Court to make its point.

When I first moved to Harlem and was looking at apartments to buy, I remember either my broker or another local telling me this farfetched, ridiculous statement about this corner…get ready for this, which was that it was being eyed by the Donald Trump himself. Did anyone else get fed this line when buying an apartment in South Harlem? I recall someone mentioning that Donald Trump was interested in the Harlem gas station because he wants to own property bookends on the westside of Central Park–one property already exists at Columbus Circle.

Crazy stuff huh? But now that I am reading this article, it makes me wonder what the City is really up to? If Mr. Elmore and his business partner own the gas station and they don’t want to sell it, shouldn’t that be the end of the discussion? Punto! What do you think?

The real social networking happens at Uptown Fridays in Harlem

Save the evening date of August 24! That’s when one of the best social gatherings in Harlem is happening: Uptown Fridays at The Studio Museum Harlem featuring DJ Reborn!

It’s more than the usual soirée. It’s a chance to have mental stimulation in a cool setting. It’s an opportunity to connect with artists, curators, collectors and critics at the center of black art and culture. And it’s all happening at our Studio Museum in Harlem, which is located at 144 West 125th Street between Lenox Avenue and ACP Blvd. Start time is 7 pm.

Tickets to Uptown Fridays are $15 for Studio Museum members and $20 for non-members. Admission includes a guided gallery tour of one of our current exhibitions, dancing in the courtyard and cocktails! Take the 2, 3, A, B, C, D @ 125th subway train!

For more information and to RSVP, contact UptownFridays@studiomuseum.org.

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Johnny Rockets in East Harlem expected to open soon

A little pajarito tells HarlemGal Inc that the Johnny Rockets we blogged about back in October is aiming to open in the next week or so. That’s if they pass inspection and can get their gas turned on. Whether its next week or not, they’re prepared to open in the immediate future in the East River Plaza, which is located at the end of East 116th Street. Stay tuned!

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