Tag Archives: East Village

Labor Day etc.

Tomorrow is Labor Day in The Big Apple and since you won’t be laboring you should check out some of the awesome events that will be taking place in this fine town!

On Eastern Parkway The West Indian Day Parade will be one great big party! The parade will be followed by dance and musical performances at The Brooklyn Museum!

West Indian Day Parade 2008 (in front of the Brooklyn Museum)

If you feel up to some cooking whip up something local and bring it to The Bell House for their ‘Lunchin’ Local on Labor Day Potluck.’ Your dish gives you free access to the festivities, which include “4-square, hopscotch, hula hoops and more!”

As the day draws to a close head uptown to Lincoln Center Plaza for the last free opera of the season! The Metropolitan Opera’s outstanding performance of Madama Butterfly will be broadcast in HD; get there early to snag a seat and enjoy the show!

Also, in case you missed my last post, let me reiterate…

On Monday skip the amateur BBQs and get BBQ done right at Marfa in the E. Village:

From 5pm onwards, East Village rib joint Marfa is hosting the West Texas All You Can Eat Labor Day Barbecue on their roof deck. For $15, fill your plate with BBQ ribs, pork, beef, salmon and all the fixins. And for an extra $2, you can add some wild boar or shrimp to that plate. Drinks include $5 Margaritas, $3 PBR and shots of the house-infused tequila.

If you’re a fan of Manolos and Cosmo’s get your tickets now to the “lecture” of the season: Sex and the City and Best Friends Forever: Candace Bushnell and Jennifer Weiner, at Kaufmann Concert Hall this Tuesday!

On Wednesday join me at Comix to pay tribute to John Hughes in the best possible way- by watching the Raspberry Brothers make fun of The Breakfast Club! Tickets are only $5 if you buy them online in advance using the promo code RASP. It’s going to be hilarious and rumors say that a sing-a-long will also be part of the evening… Here’s the trailer to whet your appetite:

Enjoy the start of a new season and stay tuned for additions! Also don’t forget- for the latest updates follow The Big Red Apple on twitter!

The Big Red Apple is BACK!

It has been a long time since my last post, for which I sincerely apologize; I’m afraid while I was in Boston I had trouble looking at NYC events without feeling homesick and in an effort to enjoy my time there with G I neglected you… Now I am back and ready to announce a spread of fabulous events for those of us staying in the Big Apple for Labor Day weekend!

Tonight Q and I are seeing Emanuel and the Fear at Joe’s Pub. I’ve written about them several times in the past and what with L Magazine’s enthusiastic recommendation I sense that they are about to hit the big time- get out tonight so you can say ‘you saw them when!’

Also tonight Art Four Life is having a snazzy opening for their new photography exhibit, Egotrip, at M2 Ultralounge:

m2gallery

This weekend there are several festival style events worth checking out; if you missed Figment on Governors Island you have another chance to see art with a view- starting this weekend the Governors Island Art Fair will be dressing up the island! There are over 150 artists participating in what is sure to be an art show with something for everyone. Try to make it out this weekend when the weather is perfect for wandering! Also, if you’re on the island be sure to stop into the Poetry Brothel, which will be in operation on the island every Saturday and Sunday afternoon during the fair. The Poetry Brothel, as I’ve told you in the past, involves poets as ‘whores’ and listeners as ‘johns’: “The Madame presents a rotating cast of both male and female poets engaged in a night of literary debauchery and private poetry readings.” If you can’t get enough poetry for free you can always pay for it (heh heh).

Then again, you may not want to pay for it this weekend since the Howl Festival will be taking over Tompkins Sq. Park:

The annual Howl! Festival named in honor of the groundbreaking poem by Allen Ginsberg and produced every summer celebrates the East Village and Lower East Side’s role as a preeminent locus of culture. Centered in Tompkins Square Park, the festival attracts more than 100,000 visitors bringing to the clubs, galleries, parks, streets, and theaters of Manhattan’s Lower East Side an explosion of dance, film, food, music, performance, painting, poetry, sculpture and theater.

The events include readings of the poem, theatrical productions, video installations and all sorts of beat style madness!

For madness of an even more absurd variety head to Coney Island for the Rockabilly Festival; there will be sideshow acts, tons of musical performances and of course Burlesque on the Seashore!

rockabilly

Saturday is the last Warm Up of the season at P.S.1 so if you haven’t made it out there hop on a 7 and finish the summer off in style! (Special Tip: For the best brunch in Long Island City check out Tournesol, which is a short walk from P.S. 1 and boasts snooty French waiters in a relaxed bistro.)

Saturday night there are two great dance parties to consider. First, The Bell House will be on the wild side for Release the Beast:

The NRG DJs present Release the Beast, a new rock, funk and R&B party premiering September 5th. Get primal with DJs Fucci and Brian Blackout as they blend everything from ELO to Heart to Earth Wind & Fire to Can. We’ll be featuring video and masks themed around a different beast- this time come its that stripey feline that loves breakfast cereal and kerchiefs-the tiger. PLEASE NOTE: No furries were harmed in the making of this party.

B tells me he’s “getting [his] funkiest, most outrageous cuts ready” and I’m super excited to hear them!

If that’s not your style perhaps you’d be interested in Back to School, an art and music event at the Old Red School House. Exhibiting artists include: Elisha Zeitler (mixed media clay sculpture), Anjia Jalac (installation), Mariette Papic (photography/ graphic print), Vanessa Porter (photography/ graphic collage), Chris Chludenski (sculptural mobiles), Ebony Yizar (mixed media), Erin Oldynski (photography), and Bari Langbaum (clothing sculpture).

On Sunday be part of the art with Freestyle Art Events; the event will start at the Mets Citi Field North Entrance and then move to the Queens Museum of Art.

Also on Sunday discover Mrytle Avenue, where, amongst other things, Five Spot is having a Philly Cheese Steak eating contest.

On Monday skip the amateur BBQs and get BBQ done right at Marfa in the E. Village:

From 5pm onwards, East Village rib joint Marfa is hosting the West Texas All You Can Eat Labor Day Barbecue on their roof deck. For $15, fill your plate with BBQ ribs, pork, beef, salmon and all the fixins. And for an extra $2, you can add some wild boar or shrimp to that plate. Drinks include $5 Margaritas, $3 PBR and shots of the house-infused tequila.

On Wednesday join me at Comix to pay tribute to John Hughes in the best possible way- by watching the Raspberry Brothers make fun of The Breakfast Club! It’s going to be hilarious and rumors say that a sing-a-long will also be part of the evening… Hope to see you there!

Have an excellent weekend and stay tuned for additions! It’s good to be back!

July 20-23 What to do?

Happy Monday everyone! I actually woke up at 5:45 and went to my 7am yoga class today so I’m already feeling hugely accomplished, plus since I’m funemployed I got to nap all morning afterwards! Hurray! I hope you are off to an equally good start this week! I wrote about a couple of events for tonight in an earlier post, so be sure to check that out.

This is the last week to check out Hiding Behind Comets, a play by Brian Dykstra that the NYTimes calls “a dark, gritty story with its full measure of sex, violence, profanity and general nastiness.” Check it out at the Spoon Theater!

David Tully, Rebecca Challis and Kiran Malhotra in Hiding Behind Comets

Tomorrow night celebrate Good Beer Month at the Local Grill-Off to benefit Slow Food! The event will be taking place at Water Taxi Beach, so you can check out the skyline while enjoying excellent food and beer! Get your tickets here.

In celebration of Good Beer Month, watch contestants show off their grilling skills using locally sourced ingredients in the Local Grill-Off to benefit Slow Food ($35). After sampling the entries, try locally sourced feasts from some the city’s top ‘cue joints (including Fette Sau, Rub BBQ and the soon-to-open Fatty Cue) and beers from Six Point Brewery.

Also on Tuesday you can embrace your inner geek at the launch party for a new weekly movie night at Teneleven– Classic Kung Fu Movie Night!

teneleven

On Wednesday those of you who are amongst the funemployed can further your education with a walking tour of the East Village focusing on the grittier side of its history:

This exciting walking tour covers everything from the Golden Age of the American gangster at the turn of the century to prohibition-era gang wars to the bohemian arts and drug culture of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Some of the most influential and colorful criminals and characters in American history have called the East Village home — organized mobsters, social-political organizations, radical activists, religious cults, and everything in-between.

Trace the steps of everyone from Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, and Lucky Luciano to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, The Hells Angels, GG Allin, and many many more. Riots, squatter evictions, cannibals, street gangs, kidnappings, shoot outs, assassinations, grave-robbers, hangings, bombings; we cover it all…

For a look at more recent history you can join the hipsters in McCarren Park for a screening of 24-hour Party People, a comedy documenting Manchester’s golden age of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. Check out the trailer:

On Thursday celebrate the great Jazz music written for piano at the 92Y Tribeca. Performers include pianists Mulgrew Miller, Eric Scott Reed, Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap.

If it’s dancing you want head out to Hugs for another addition of Excess Energy‘s much lauded Love Machine party! DJs Brian Blackout and Fucci will be spinning the tunes while you connect with that hot stranger in the crowd through interactive messaging! The UK Magazine Grazia Daily will be there checking out the action; go show them what Wburg is all about!

Excess Energy

If you want to add some art to your week head over to the Soho20 Gallery in Chelsea for the opening of their new exhibit Boxing Gloves and Bustiers! The exhibit explores different concepts of female identity through video art. Here’s a still from one of the pieces:

Under My Skin by Valerie Garlick

Have an excellent week and stay tuned for additions!