The storied Storefront Academy https://www.storefrontacademycs.org/ has changed to a Charter School and is now struggling to come online in the COVID-19 era.
The Children’s Storefront was a tuition-free private school in Harlem, founded in 1966 by the poet Ned O’Gorman. It was the subject of a 1988 documentary film, The Children’s Storefront, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
The mural on their east wall (behind the BP gas station at 129th Street and Park Avenue) is wonderful and inspiring, albeit marred somewhat by the “Now Enrolling” sign.
The Fred R. Moore School between 5th and Madison, and 130th and 131st, is restrained mid-century gem of New York City’s public architecture. This school and the associated playground take up a whole city block: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M133
When you walk on Madison between 131st and 130th, just inside the playground’s gates, you’ll see a wonderful bas relief of schoolchildren racing towards school and their future:
The school is named for a prominent Black journalist and publisher who wrote for and ran the New York Age during the Harlem Renaissance.
Moore was an editor and publisher who became closely associated with Booker T. Washington until 1915 when Washington died. He worked to promote the National Negro Business League founded by Washington in 1900. He became editor and publisher of the Colored American Magazine in 1905, through Washington’s influence. He had the reputation as one of the most important newspaperman in the US.
Again through Washington who bought New York Age, Moore became editor and purported owner in 1907, a position he held until his death
The Parks department notes:
In October 1949, community members, government officials, teachers, and students gathered to dedicate the new Fred R. Moore School/P.S. 133 at Fifth Avenue and 130th Street in Harlem. Mrs. Marian Moore Day, youngest daughter of the late editor, spoke at the ceremony. The site of the neighboring playground had been acquired by the City of New York in 1946. It was developed with basketball and handball courts, as well as a softball diamond and a large open area for rollerskating. The playground opened on December 22, 1951.
Former Council Member (now Manhattan Borough President) C. Virginia Fields funded the $885,000 reconstruction of Moore Playground in 1998. As they enter the playground from the northeast, pupils at P.S. 133 and community members encounter a granite and cast-stone replica of the front page of the New York Age, announcing the achievements of Fred R. Moore. The playground features new play equipment, safety surfacing, benches, spray shower, climbing turtles, drinking fountain, drainage and water supply, and resurfaced tennis and basketball courts. The entire site is enclosed with new fencing adorned with steel silhouettes of turtles, birds, and marsh plants.
Howell Binkley died from lung cancer. Howell was a two-time Tony award-winning lighting designer, most notably for his work on Hamilton.
From Playbill:
Two-time Tony winner Howell Binkley, one of Broadway’s most prominent contemporary lighting designers, passed away August 14, 2020, at the age of 64. The cause was lung cancer. His wife, Joyce Storey, confirmed the news to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Among his designs were the original Broadway productions of Jersey Boys and Hamilton, both of which won him the Tony Award in 2006 and 2016, respectively, along with an Olivier Award for the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical’s staging in London’s West End in 2018. The recently released Disney+ capture of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre immortalizes Mr. Binkley’s work for generations to come.
Howell Binkley
The designer made his Broadway debut as the lighting designer for Kiss of a Spider-Woman in 1993, earning a Tony nomination for his work on the John Kander-Fred Ebb-Terrence McNally musical set in an Argentine prison. His additional credits include Avenue Q, In the Heights, Come From Away, and Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, all of which also earned Tony nods. In total, he competed nine times for Broadway’s highest honor.
Born in Winston-Salem, Mr. Binkley attended East Carolina University before moving to New York City in 1978. In 1985, choreographer David Parsons and Mr. Binkley founded the Parsons Dance Company, a modern company that has toured all over the world.
By end of the ’90s, Mr. Binkley was firmly established as one of Broadway’s most sought-after lighting technicians. In addition to original productions like Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Escape to Margaritaville, Prince of Broadway, Allegiance, Memphis, and The Full Monty, the designer handled a number of revivals on the Main Stem, including Gypsy in 2008, West Side Story in 2009, and Jesus Christ Superstar in 2012. In total, Mr. Binkley designed lighting for 52 Broadway shows.
What originally started as a one-day tribute to one of the most culturally rich neighborhoods in the world has now become a month-long celebration enjoying its 46th year. Recognizing this year, 2020 is unlike we have ever seen HARLEM WEEK this year will take place from August 16 – 23 and it will take place virtually. For many years people have planned their vacations around the dates HARLEM WEEK to travel to Harlem to participate in our festival. This year HARLEM WEEK goes to the world as a virtual event sharing the culture, history, resilience and strength of Harlem.
The traditional Harlem 5k Run will this year be a virtual event taking place throughout HARLEM WEEK 2020!AUG165:01 AM – 11:59 PMVirtual Exhibitor Vendor Village
Shop, get information, win prizes, get free gifts when you visit the HARLEM WEEK Virtual Exhibitor Vendor village. Shop with local businesses from around the world and visit with reps from Fortune 500 corporations. The HARLEM WEEK Virtual Exhibitor Vendor village has something for everyoneAUG166:00 AM – 11:59 AMHARLEM WEEK/Imagenation Film Festival
Enjoy Films that speak to our HARLEM WEEK Theme of “Movement of The People”, celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Negro Baseball League and the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.AUG1610:00 AM – 11:00 AMChildren’s Corner
Parents, have your kids join us each morning of HARLEM WEEK in the Children’s Corner. Our daily space just for kids up to age 12. Youngsters can enjoy book reading, performances, cooking classes (done with adult supervision) and more.AUG1611:00 AM – 12:00 PMDance Workshop Presented by NJPAC
Every day during HARLEM WEEK take time to dance, move and groove with us and our partners at New Jersey Performing Arts Center with special guest instructors .AUG163:00 PM – 7:00 PMA Great Day In Harlem
Join us online and celebrate A Great Day In Harlem, featuring performances and appearances from local, national and international performing artists including Hezekiah Walker, Erica Campbell, Dance Theater of Harlem, The Harlem Music Festival All Star Band led by Ray Chew and much more!AUG167:00 PM – 7:10 PMA Taste Of Harlem
Harlem has some of the worlds most iconic restaurants and we invite you to experience them virtually throughout HARLEM WEEK 2020. See how some of the mouth watering dishes and delicious beverages are made, join us and enjoy “A Taste of Harlem.”AUG175:00 AM – 11:59 PMSupport Harlem Now Virtual Harlem 5K Run Honoring Percy100 and Charles Rangel 90
The traditional Harlem 5k Run will this year be a virtual event taking place throughout HARLEM WEEK 2020!AUG175:01 AM – 11:59 PMVirtual Exhibitor Vendor Village
Shop, get information, win prizes, get free gifts when you visit the HARLEM WEEK Virtual Exhibitor Vendor village. Shop with local businesses from around the world and visit with reps from Fortune 500 corporations. The HARLEM WEEK Virtual Exhibitor Vendor village has something for everyoneAUG176:00 AM – 11:59 AMHARLEM WEEK/Imagenation Film Festival
Enjoy Films that speak to our HARLEM WEEK Theme of “Movement of The People”, celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Negro Baseball League and the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.SEE FULL CALENDAR
Historian Michael Henry Adams leads a virtual tour of Lesbian and Gay life in the historic African American cultural capital, where we’ll meet personalities living and lost and see landmarks long gone and still standing that illuminate the a fabled part of New York. Past and Present LGBTQ+ Harlemites have played a leading role in defining Harlem’s artistic significance.
If you’ve ever been curious about internal race relations within the Jewish community (in Israel and here in in the US), 400 Miles to Freedom is a great introduction. I’m including it here because of some wonderful shots of our neighborhood in the film:
In 1984, the Beta Israel, a secluded 2,500-year-old community of observant Jews in the northern Ethiopian mountains, fled a dictatorship and began a secret and dangerous journey of escape. Co-director Avishai Mekonen, then a 10-year-old boy, was among them. 400 MILES TO FREEDOM follows his story as he breaks the 20 year silence around the brutal kidnapping he endured as a child in Sudan during his community’s exodus out of Africa, and in so doing explores issues of immigration and racial diversity in Judaism.
Carto has a map of NYC building heights where red is tall, and blue is short:
As you would expect, the lower half of Manhattan is mostly red, and Brooklyn is mostly blue.
If you zoom in on our neighborhood, you’ll typically see a mix of red and blue, with the projects being almost purely red areas:
Zooming in even more, you can see how the taller brownstones along Madison Avenue between 126/127 are taller (by one story) than the brownstones on 126th Street:
The Library of Congress has a great short of horse racing on Harlem River Drive. Note the Aquaduct Bridge with its full complement of masonry arches before the center arches were replaced with a steel span to permit boat traffic:
Note the people on the Aqueduct Bridge, taking the parade of wealthy families and their horses.
