The Uptown Collective – The Recap 12-9 to 12-14

By Led Black
December 9 – December 14
The holidays are here folks and if you haven’t completed all your shopping yet, please make sure you shop local and keep those dollars Uptown. In keeping with that sentiment, Bread and Yoga’s annual holiday market returns and will take place on Saturday, December 21st from 2 to 8 pm at Bread and Yoga’s new location (5000 Broadway – Suite A).
Mass Appeal teamed up with a few New York City-based sponsors (Red Bull, Zoo York, Shut, 5Boro, AM, Sleep, Mosaic NY, The Rat Collective, Affluent Clothing and Mira CoNYo) to host the Work In Progress skate jam at the unfinished Alexander Hamilton Bridge Skatepark. Check out the video that features a multitude of skaters from far and wide, including Zoo York’s Dave “Black Dave” Willis and Shut’s Pat Hoblin.
The latest installment of Arlene Schulman’s Its About Time video series features Yokarina Duarte, community liaison for Councilman Ydanis Rodríguez, and her commute/make-up routine. My childhood friend, Carl L. Clemons, penned a poignant Op-Ed about growing up African-American in Washington Heights. We also re-posted a powerful Op-Ed from Lorgia García-Peña that appeared in The New York Times about the suffering that was caused by the unprecedented ruling from the Dominican Republic’s highest court that rendered thousands of Haitian-Dominicans stateless. In addition, we featured a touching video from the #EsoNoSeHaceRD organization about the implications of the malicious ruling.
Our Monday Mood Music selection was the latest mixtape by DJ Ric Roc featuring DJ Lu entitled Uptown’s Towers. The genre-bending group Los Gambinos released their latest, the super infectious Mambo University. Based on the success of the Casablanca screening at the United Palace, another classic black and white film, It’s a Wonderful Life, will be shown on Sunday, December 22nd.
Social media has changed, literally, everything. It has toppled governments, upended regimes and cast much-needed light on atrocities and bad behavior across the globe. Events that take place halfway around the world are beamed almost immediately to our computer screens and smartphones with a speed that borders on the magical. Social media’s reach, proliferation and importance will only become more pronounced. With that in mind, we put together a handy WHIN (Washington Heights and Inwood) Social Media Guide. Please enjoy and share. Happy Holidays!
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.