What up, folks? I am hoping that old man winter has made his departure from us for the time being. Even though it was a mild winter, it is high time to really get out there and enjoy all the awesomeness that Uptown has to offer. You never know, if Donald Trump becomes President we might all have to leave Gotham and the United States for greener pastures elsewhere. Anyway, let’s keep it positive and hope that will never happen. For our Flashback Fridays post, Kelefa Sanneh of the New Yorker took us back to the 1980’s when Dapper Dan was the undisputed king of urban fashion. Dapper Dan’s boutique in Harlem literally changed haute couture and he was the designer of note for the early Hip-Hop era, styling everybody from Eric B & Rakim, to LL Cool J to Mike Tyson. The problem was that he liberally used the logos of such fashion mainstays as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Fendi in his products. The beginning of the end came when Mike Tyson had his infamous incident with disgruntled former boxer Mitch Green on 125th Street in front of the boutique in the late 80’s. The press frenzy led to increased attention on his clothing and eventually to a raid on the boutique. Here we go again. Just a few weeks after a contentious community meeting over the proposed 23-Story Building at 4650 Broadway, permits have been filed for a 19-Story building at 4566 Broadway. Rebecca Baird-Remba of YIMBY fills us in on the details. Lauren Glassberg of 7online takes us to Chaiwali in Harlem for a healthy and delicious meal. Chaiwali is a teahouse serving some interesting Indian and vegetarian fare in a beautifully restored brownstone on Lenox Avenue. Art in FLUX announces its newest exhibition, “Dreamers,” which will open on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 in the Harlem Properties sponsored art gallery space at 163 Lenox Avenue between 118th and 119th Streets. Shout out to Uptown’s own Dave Dar for his collaboration with the iconic and enigmatic Kool Keith of Ultramagnetic fame. The tune is the secret song from the Deluxe Edition of A COUPLE OF SLICES by Ray West and Kool Keith. The Fix comes to us from Eckz featuring Luvegas, Over Me. Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com. Led Black Editor-in-Chief The Uptown Collective The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
March 7 – March 12
