By Led Black
August 26 – August 31
On a simply glorious Saturday night, August 24th to be exact, folks from the neighborhood and beyond gathered at a hard to find spot in Riverside Park for an old-fashioned and slightly clandestine celebration. I’m talking about a generator powered by park lights and people having a damn good time grooving to the tunes of yesteryear. The event was put together by world-renowned DJ/producer, Hex Hector and his longtime partner, Julio Rodriguez. Friend to the UC and the director of Trouble In The Heights, Jon Ullman, was there and penned an excellent recap of the night.
The good folks behind MTV’s Washington Heights are looking for female twins, age 16-22, Latina and bilingual for a short film, Venus in Verano, which takes place in Washington Heights. The project looks very interesting. If you fit the criteria or know someone that does, hit them up at VenusInVerano@gmail.com. Also, The Collective Advocates for Social Change & Development, Inc. are calling all poets, actors and spoken word Artists to submit their work for a MONOLOGUE SLAM! This will be part of a contest during their fundraiser this October to raise awareness about domestic human trafficking in at-risk communities. For more info: www.TheCollectiveAdvocates.com
Guess what people? Our friendly neighborhood bookstore, Word Up Books, is having a Summer Clearance Sale. That’s right, from now until September 13th, Word Up Books is slashing prices on a plethora of new fiction and new nonfiction titles, so get there and get your read on.
This week also saw the reposting of an engrossing read from New York Magazine. Entitled My Roommate, The Diamond Thief, the article tells the story of how one Washington Heights resident found that his mysterious roommate was a wanted jewel thief. Kudos also goes out to Brett Brownell, Tasneem Raja, and Ben Breedlove of Mother Jones for an eye-opening article and 3D info-graphic on inequality in Manhattan.
Our Monday Mood Music column featured the latest video from Perrion entitled Superfly. Our Pics From The People post comes to from artist Lynn Lieberman. The Best of the Boogie Down column by Jenni Ruiza highlighted musician David Manzano. Being that August 29th was the birthday of Michael Jackson, we posted a poignant poem on the King of Pop by the seriously talented Lemon Andersen.
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.
