The Manhattan Times

Shhhh!

Shhhh!

At one of the most elegant events of any social season, nonprofit Alianza Dominicana staged its fourth annual gala on Oct. 28 at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

This year’s bash, titled “Kaleidoscope,” included a host of honorees: Ed Lewis, Chairman, Latina Media Ventures LLC and Founder of Essence Communications, Inc., received the Orgullo award; Benny Lorenzo, Chairman and CEO, Kaufman Bros., L.P., received the Corporate Responsibility Award; the Founder’s Award was given to Douglas Nelson, President and CEO, The Annie E. Casey Foundation; the Community Service Award was handed to Denise Scott, Managing Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, NYC; and the Stewardship Award was presented to Jeanne Mullgrav, Commissioner, Department of Youth and Community Development.

Alianza, with 11 sites in Washington Heights, provides a host of community services, including health and mental health, youth development, education and employment, advocacy and community mobilization. It is building a new six-story headquarters and the Casa Afro-Quisqueya Cultural Center on St. Nicholas Avenue and W. 165th Street.

Shhhh!

If it was indoors the first ever Manhattan Kids Guide Trick-or-Treat Tour would have brought the house down. The event, organized by event planner and mother Alison Stamas attracted over 100 people on Halloween for an afternoon of safe trick-or-treating to businesses in Inwood.

The group met at Grandpa’s Pizza and started at dentist Evy Migadaki’s office on W. 204th Street and Cooper Street. Migadaki, dressed as the Tooth Fairy (what else?) instructed the kids to enjoy their candy, but to remember to brush their teeth. In all, the tour stopped at 11 businesses east and west of Broadway, ending at the appropriately named “End of the Line” firehouse of Engine 95 and Ladder 36 on Vermilyea Avenue where real-life fire fighters greeted them by sliding down fire poles and teaching about safety.

“It went really well,” Stamas said, but admitted to being overwhelmed by the number of kids that turned out. “We could have used a few more volunteers,” she said.

So many little ghouls and goblins turned out that one person had to run ahead to stores and warn them about the crowd approaching.

“It was kind of a stampede,” Stamas said.

Shhhh!

The Inwood Center at 5030 Broadway, including the office of the Manhattan Times, also hosted its first Halloween get together, which included visits by, among others, a frog, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bat Girl, one of the Three Little Pigs and, of course, the Big Bad Wolf, who thankfully liked our collection of candy enough that he decided against blowing the office down.

Shhhh!

It’s every aspiring musician’s dream – to sing or rap live on air and be discovered.

That came true for Washington Heights native Aldolpho “Fo” Onasis. He made the rounds in New York television and radio because of his original work “Here Come the Yankees,” a rap featuring the silky voice of Mina Shin. Onasis and Shin, who now live in New Jersey, could be heard on Fox 5’s Good Day New York the week of Oct. 19 and on WFAN sports talk radio 660’s The Boomer and Carton Show on Oct. 29.