The Uptown Collective – The Recap 12-17 to 12-22

 December 17 – December 22

This is the last column of the year, so let’s get right to it familia. Happy belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year to you! Have you seen Mary Poppins Returns yet? Uptown superhero Lin-Manuel Miranda is one of the stars of the much-buzzed about Mary Poppins reboot. The downpour could not stop the community from coming out for an exclusive pre-screening of the film at the United Palace on Sunday, December 16. Hit up the Manhattan Times site for a cool story by Sherry Mazzocchi replete with awesome pics courtesy of Cristóbal Vivar of the special occasion.

The family and I will also be checking out the new Spidey flick, Spiderman – Into The Spider-Verse, which introduces the world to Miles Morales, an African-American/Latinx teen from Brooklyn who becomes the latest iteration of the iconic web-slinger.

Speaking of the New Year, I will be heading over to the Reyes Botánica (340 Audubon Avenue) to buy the concoction for what I jokingly like to call my brujeria bath. This has become an annual ritual for me. It helps me to get ready for the New Year and puts the past year in its proper perspective. Go to your nearest botánica and ask for their bath preparation, which comes already pre-prepared in most places. Back in the day, you had to buy the different herbs and boil them yourself. Then all you have to do is take a shower with the mixture while intensely visualizing the things you want to materialize in the coming year. The thing is that you are not supposed to dry off with a towel but let the amalgam air-dry. When I do my bath, I lock myself into the bathroom approximately an hour before midnight on New Year’s Eve and with some spiritual music playing in the background I take a trip inward with a laser-like focus on what I want for the next year. Hit up the site for a story on the first time I did the bath and how it helped me to become a better writer, thinker and entrepreneur.

For some the Holidays are all about presents but for me the season is all about the pasteles. My mom and a whole contingent of my family take part in making these delicacies. They are labor intensive, but boy are they delicious. I will be over-indulging.

Happy Holidays Uptown!

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.