Editor’s Pick

EVENTS

The 4 Bronx Project and Female Fight Club are sponsoring a contest to Celebrate Women in the Community who are actively making the community a better place. The organizers of the event are asking for nominations of outstanding women in Riverdale, Norwood, Wakefield, Van Cortlandt and Marble Hill.

 

The celebration will be hosted by 4 Bronx, the Fight Club, and the Women of Reform Judaism at Riverdale Temple on March 8, International Women’s Day. An awards ceremony will be held for seven of the nominees, and a film and picture displays will feature the work of all nominees. All are welcome to nominate and attend. Links to the flyers with more details are attached above and below.

Hunger Solutions New York and No Kid Hungry New York have announced a “No Kid Hungry New York School Nutrition Funding Opportunity.” See attached flier below for more information.

 

 

Greg and Cheryl Clarke will be hosting a Valentine’s Day Comedy Night on Feb. 11, at Sankofa Haus on 3rd Avenue. See attached flier below for more details.

NYC Parks presents a Children’s Book Festival at the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center, located at 3225 Reservoir Oval East in Norwood, on Feb. 15. See attached flier below for more information.

 

 

The latest Programming Schedule for the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center, 3225 Reservoir Oval in Norwood, is attached below.

 

A number of citywide events highlighting Black Excellence can be found on eventbrite.

 

Van Cortlandt Park Nature Center is open every Saturday and Sunday. See attached flier below for more information.

 

New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)’s Bronx Neighbors Program is now offering free Grounds-Only Admission to Bronx Residents Tuesday to Sunday and Monday federal holidays, offering the local community access to nature in their backyard, programs for the whole family, and more. Get your tickets online now, or learn more about other ways to receive your FREE Bronx Resident Grounds-Only admission ticket. Up to 6 tickets per transaction.

• 250 acres to explore year-round
• The largest surviving old-growth forest in New York City
• Two family gardens for hands-on exploration
• Free mobile guides with audio tours, videos, and special content!

 

BronxWorks and Twin Parks West Older Adult Center invites residents to come join some fun classes Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. See attached flier below for details.

Want to work with other writers? Commit to a writing schedule? Practice your craft through writing prompts? Receive and discuss information and tips on writing, reading, editing, and revising? Join the weekly meetings of the Kingsbridge Writing Circle, held online at the Kingsbridge Library every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. Share your unpublished drafts in an intimate setting. Get and give feedback. Writers of all genres and styles are welcome to participate. The program is for those aged 18 and up. You must register to receive the Google Meet meeting code which will be emailed the day before. Register here.

 

INCLUDEnyc fosters positive futures and enhances the quality of life for young people with any disability from birth to age 26 and their families in New York City. The organization promotes access to educational, employment, and independent living opportunities for young people, and advocate with families for meaningful inclusion in the broader community. Share your experiences, struggles, and successes as parents of children with disabilities. For a list of upcoming workshops and events, both online and in person, click here.

 

Norwood Community Library, a mobile library, arranges pop-up library booths around The Bronx. It also has a permanent library box located in front of the Keeper’s House at 3440 Reservoir Oval East, Bronx, NY 10467. For more details, check out our previous story on the group. The library also meets regularly as a book club.

 

Norwood Farmstand Compost sessions are held in conjunction with Grow NYC on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at East Gun Hill Road and Dekalb Avenue in Norwood. See attached flier below for details.

 

DANCE

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts 2022-2023 season continues with Merengue con Amor, featuring Rubby Perez, Ramon Orlando, Pablo Martínez, Carlos David, Ravel, Charlie Rodríguez, and Dioni Fernandez on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at 8 p.m. Coming together for a night of the most romantic voices in merengue, faithful fans will be treated to their favorite love songs. For more information and for tickets, visit https://www.lehmancenter.org/.

 

Bronx Arts Ensemble (BAE) String Quartet presents “BAE Virtual Concert Hall: Caribbean Music and More,” performing works by Black musicians in the Americas on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m., a free virtual event. From the folk songs of Jamaica and Haiti to Florence Price’s monumental Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, this online show is not to be missed. For more information, visit https://www.bronxartsensemble.org/events/.

 

The Bronx Opera Company is proud to present a rare NYC production of the landmark musical “Lady in the Dark,” based on the book by Moss Hart, music and lyrics by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, in two weekend performances on Saturday, Jan. 28, and Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7.30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 29 and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2.30 p.m. The shows will be performed at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College,  located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West. Click here for more details.

 

Riverdale Choral Society presents The World Beloved A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Burnett on Sunday, May 7, 2023, and is looking for singers to join the society. Rehearsal dates and more details can be found in the attached flier.

 

As reported, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop with a number of events taking place throughout the City to celebrate this milestone. We will keep you posted on any upcoming events in this regard as we hear about them.

 

As also reported, a new Hip Hop show, KWIK2ROK, has premiered on BronxNet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop this year.

 

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present the return of Grupo Niche for an unforgettable concert to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. The best-known Colombian salsa group, Grupo Niche, is known for both up-tempo and vigorous dance music as well as slower-paced salsa romántica numbers. Musical director Maestro José Aguirre oversees every small detail in keeping with the Grupo Niche style created by the late Maestro Jairo Varela. For more information, call the Lehman Center box office at (718) 960-8833 or visit https://www.lehmancenter.org/events/grupo–niche.

ART 

NYC Department of Transportation Art invites artists to apply to the 2023 Asphalt Art Activations open call. Selected artists may receive up to $20,000 and will be called to implement projects between spring and fall 2023. Apply by Feb. 1 at https://bit.ly/AsphaltActivation23

En Foco, Inc. located at 15 Canal Place, Bronx, NY 10451, is hosting an En Foco Media Arts Fund: Virtual How-to-Apply Session on Tuesday, December 20, from 6 p.m. to 7p.m. ahead of the deadline for the En Foco’s Media Arts Fund: Work in Progress (WIP) Initiative grant on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at 11.59 p.m. The grant is to support New York City based, early-career artists of color who engage with digital media technologies in their art-making processes.

 

In collaboration with BronxNet, these $2,000 awards will focus on applicants needing support for the completion of a quality work in progress, as determined by a panel of professionals. The session will focus on the application process and feature a Q&A Session with En Foco staff. First time applicants are encouraged to attend. To register visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/483892524567.

 

 

Spanning over a decade of work, Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens exhibit has been extended through April 9, 2023, at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, located at 1040 Grand Concourse and 165th Street, and examines the myths and realities of local, familial, and ancestral histories and the convoluted notion of freedom. The Bronx has served as a sanctuary for immigrant and migrant communities, including for the artist and several generations of her family who have lived in the area and were part of the Great Migration. DeVille’s work unearths forgotten narratives of communities of color and explores issues of identity, culture, and class.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corp (KRVC) is advising Bronxites that “Nature Close Up” is the current exhibit showing at Gallery 505, 505 West 236th Street, and is open on Fridays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning in the early 2000s, in addition to taking photos to record his travels with his wife, Leah, in the U.S. and abroad, photographer, Herb, began to take pictures of nature, scenery and landscapes. In recent years, he has become more interested in the visual effect of the pictures he takes, moving much closer in to capture the mystery, the intimacy, and the sensuality in nature.

 

His photographs have been shown at his synagogue in Manhattan (SAJ), Gallery 18 at Riverdale Y, Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, and at the KRVC Art at Amalgamated annual exhibit. Herb grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, received an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In between, he served two years in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant (jg) aboard an aircraft carrier. He then pursued a career in business, both in the corporate world and as an independent consultant. He now lives in Riverdale.

 

An exciting fall season at En Foco, the photography center, located at 15 Canal Place Bronx, NY 10451, is highlighting four of its past photo fellows and are actively in search of the next cohort. It will also share all four sessions of its successful “Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community” series for free, at https://enfoco.org/immtech/.

 

En Foco, Inc. is currently spotlighting the work of Lisa DuBois, a Bronx-based, artist-curator and photojournalist. DuBois is a socially conscious artist who describes herself as “an inquisitive spectator exploring subcultures in the world.” A 2017 Fellow (Nueva Luz, Volume 21:1), DuBois is now the photo editor and diversity advisor for Social Documentary Network. As curator and creative advisor, she helped launch the first “Art on the Ave,” the first large-scale outdoor exhibition on Manhattan’s West Side, and she is also a Loupe Art artist. Loupe Art is a channel that provides streaming art on multiple cable stations. DuBois curated the 2021 En Foco group exhibition, Deep Roots, which tells visual stories on traditions and the connections between the photographer and his or her beloved heritage.

 

From Nov. 1, 2022 to Jan. 1, 2023, En Foco Inc. is also showing, “George Malave: A Collection of Photographs from 1968 – 1979, which features a selection of works from prolific photographer and original En Foco member, George Malave, including: Varet Street Kids, Third Avenue El, and other historic images of the Bronx.

 

KIDS 

The Bronx Children’s Museum has officially opened. See our latest story on the opening here. The museum recently welcomed its first children for a preview of the brand new facility with special guest, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. When asked how they enjoyed it, the children reportedly responded, “A-MAZ-ING!” The 2023 opening hours for the museum, located at 725 Exterior Street near Yankee Stadium along the Harlem River, as of Jan. 3, are now Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the museum’s website here.

 

The Nest Music Conservatory, a non-profit organization providing music education to youths in the Bronx through out-of-school programs, has reopened. The organization is dedicated to creating a nurturing environment that contributes to the social and emotional growth of students, their families, and our communities through classes, events, and concert series. The center suffered severe damages due to the recent hurricane, and had intended to be open for regular after school programs in time for the beginning of the school year but was delayed during repairs. The center, located at 3636 Holland Ave, The Bronx, NY 10467, USA is open daily, Monday to Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Call 718-994-6378 for more information. 

 

SPOKEN WORD & STORY TELLING 

Neighborhood Stories is a storytelling initiative by the NYC Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) to gather and preserve the stories of NYC neighborhoods. Learn more about the project, and how to share memories of your neighborhood and community here.

 

NYC Veterans’ Veteran Voices Project records the stories of NYC’s veterans and preserves their legacy. Learn more at nyc.gov/vetvoices.

DYK? @nycveterans launched the Veteran Voices Project (VVP) to record the stories of NYC's veterans and preserve their legacy.
🎙️ Learn more about this oral history initiative at https://t.co/k6d4WfIHIW#VeteransDay #NYCVeteransDay21 pic.twitter.com/FTKKjI2R0Z

— NYC Consumer and Worker Protection (@helloDCWP) November 11, 2021

 

MOVEMENT

Learn to become a lifeguard. Make summer happen for NYC! Becoming a lifeguard is a rewarding experience. You’ll work outdoors in some of New York City’s most iconic locations, playing a critical role in helping New Yorkers of all ages and abilities have safe access to beaches and pools. Click here for more details.

 

BronxWorks and Twin Parks West Older Adult Center, 355 East 183^rd Street, Bronx, NY 10458, invites residents to come join some fun classes Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Running group, Bronx Nomads, generally meet at the Williamsbridge Oval track on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6.30 p.m. to run together safely.

The New York Knicks, YMCA of Greater New York, and NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) are expanding their existing partnership, launched in February 2022, of providing safe, high-quality sports programs at no-cost to teens across the City. Beginning on Saturday, Dec. 17, from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. at Castle Hill YMCA, 2 Castle Hill Avenue in The Bronx, the Knicks will host a series of five basketball clinics for YMCA teens between the ages of 11 and 18 as part of the Saturday Night Lights program. The Knicks Saturday Night Lights Basketball Clinics will be held at four different YMCA branches through April, in addition to a special marquee event this coming spring. For more information, contact Matt on (919) 500-1146 or email mferraguto@ymcanyc.org.

 

NYCHA residents are encouraged to enter for free in the 2023 NYC Marathon. See attached flier below for more information.

 

Elected officials, City agency partners, community-based organizations and foundations relaunched the citywide “Saturday Night Lights” program on Saturday, March 26, 2022 in Mott Haven. The groups work together to keep 100 gyms across the City open for free, high-quality sports programs for kids on Saturday nights, ensuring no indoor gyms are closed on these nights – the time when they are needed most by kids in city communities. Click on the following link to watch a video extract of the Saturday Night Lights Relaunch, where Mayor Eric Adams can be seen observing some of the kids in action.

 

Each Saturday evening, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., children and youth, aged 11 to 18, are able to enjoy an array of indoor sports, including basketball, soccer, volleyball, dance, martial arts and more. According to the organizers, a key component of the program is bringing cops and kids together. Teams of youth coordination officers from NYPD precincts are at each of the 100 gymnasiums every Saturday night, helping to coach, and joining members of various community based organizations to interact with young people and help make a lasting and positive impact in their lives.

 

Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, located at 3450 Dekalb Avenue, is the local venue for the program in Norwood, while the Fordham Heights program is run at 2255 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10457. For a list of all venues, scan the QR code in the below flier. (If you cannot access the QR code from the attached flyer, click on this link.

 

As reported, an additional 25 city gyms and an additional $1.25 million investment in the Saturday Night Lights program was announced on July 9 to ensure public gyms will continue to remain open Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Aug. 20, and during the school year from September 10, 2022 through June 24, 2023. To find a gym near you, visit https://www1.nyc.gov/site/safestbigcity/keep-nyc-safe/saturday-night-lights.page.

Bronx Buccaneers football club meet on Saturdays in the Williamsbridge Oval, located at 3225 Reservoir Oval East, in Norwood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Monday to Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Understanding there is more to football, the Buccaneers strive to develop the students/athletes, and the hope is that the players will use the program not only as a stepping stone to advance to upper level sports in High School and college, but also as a means to engage in positive behavior and as a healthy distraction from idleness which the group says can lead to poor decisions. The Buccaneers accept kids from any community, boys or girls, ages 6 to 14. Contact Tasha Andrews at (917) 662-3632 for further information.

 

Bronx Panthers Youth Football & Cheer save lives through football, and are recruiting all age groups. Call the numbers in the attached flier, above, for more information.

 

Gotham City Panthers is a new amateur basketball team founded by Eric King. Click on the link for more information.

 

A Mid-Winter Extravaganza: Winter Olympics event is taking place at the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center, located at 3225 Reservoir Oval in Norwood, from Monday, Feb. 20, to Friday, Feb. 24. See attached flier below for more details.

New York City of Parks & Recreation has announced that registration is now open for the winter season “Learn to Swim” classes at its indoor pools. The department is offering swim lessons from Jan. 9 to March 24, for toddlers, kids & teens, adults, and seniors. Enter the draw for a chance to join a class: http://on.nyc.gov/3yGeFYz.

 

NYC DOT has provided information to New Yorkers on riding E-bikes in NYC.  Click here to learn more about riding an e-bike and other micromobility options in NYC.

 

 

Editor’s Note: We will update this feature article as more events become available.