UC Recap – July 31 – August 5
74 years ago this week, an uprising erupted in Harlem after the shooting by police of an unarmed black man. Sound familiar? “The riot lasted two days and resulted in six deaths, 600 hundred arrests and an estimated $5 million worth of damage.” The NY Daily News put together a slideshow of the events that shook up Harlem almost 100 years ago. It is a shame that those problems still bedevil us to this day! In fact, now that you-know-who is in power, we are actually moving backwards at a pace that is unsettling. Speaking of rebellions, 25 years ago I happened to be an eyewitness to the little-documented 1992 Washington Heights Riots. As I look back now on those days, I realized that what had begun as a visceral response to the killing of José “Kiko” García was really the culmination of the utter madness that Crack had wreaked on our neighborhood. Crack changed everything; Washington Heights went from a poor but mostly peaceful place to an outright war zone almost overnight. The lawlessness and outright thuggery had turned Washington Heights into the East Coast’s most active drug market in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The money that flowed into the neighborhood corrupted everything it touched. Please hit up http://bit.ly/The1992HeightsRiots for my account and pictures of the unrest. Mexican telenovela star and singer Maite Perroni came Uptown recently for a fashion shoot for the September issue of People en Español. She stopped by 181st and Dyckman and showed love to her adoring fans and onlookers. Abigail Savitch-Lew of City Limits brought us up to speed with what is happening with the African Burial Ground project in El Barrio. The city proposes to create a memorial site as well as a cultural center, commercial space and nearly 1000 units of housing. Catherina Gioino and Larry Mcshane of the The NY Daily News reported on the latest efforts by elected leaders to deal with the commuting Summer of Hell. Politicians hopped aboard a train at 168th Street to talk to straphangers about how they are coping with the troubled transit system. You have until August 21 to catch Films Works Alfresco, which is a free series of films at Gaelic Field in Inwood Hill Park. 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.
July 31 – August 5
