December 21 – December 26 It looks like Inwood Hill Park has a new artist in residence. For the record, Inwood Hill Park in the last real sliver of nature left in Manhattan. Like I have said before, the rest of the parks in Manhattan are nature in a suit. Not Inwood Hill Park, it is an urban oasis, as undiluted, raw and pristine as it gets on the island that the Lenape once called Manahatta. For sometime, until he passed away a few years ago, Young Jee held court in the park concocting magnificent art installations from twigs, grass and detritus. Now, it looks like we may have another artist using the park as his or her canvas. Employing chalk of many colors to create simple but powerful messages, the artist in question has created art that is essentially ephemeral. I came across the artwork in mid-December and when I went back just a few days later it was gone, washed away by the elements. Let’s hope it was not a one time thing and there will be more. I will keep you posted. Even though it has been unseasonably warm lately, you and I know that the cold is coming. When it does you are going to need ramen. Tampopo Ramen (1 Bennett Ave @ 181st Street) to the rescue. Tampopo is the real deal. Check out the UC’s review of Tampopo by our resident gourmand A.J. Sidransky and then hit up Tampopo to get your ramen on. By the way you do know that the aforementioned A.J. Sidransky has a new book out? That’s right, the frequent UC contributor has recently released Forgiving Mariela Camacho, the 2nd novel in the Forgiving series. It is an engrossing and intelligent read. Check out my review of the novel and then spread that Uptown Love and buy yourself a copy or two. Matt Vasilogambros of The National Journal, penned an excellent article on John Henry, the brilliant 22-year-old founder of Cofound Harlem, a non-profit start-up accelerator. Jacqueline Raposo of The Village Voice gave us the scoop on Laurie & Sons, which is a family owned and run company that is producing toffee with a lot of love. Happy New Year Folks! Thanks for your continued support of the Uptown Collective. See you in 2016. 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.
