ALL IN TUNE!
Make Music Day returns to Brooklyn
IBy Chandler Kidd f you can make it here; you can
make it — anywhere!
The streets of Brooklyn will ring
with music on the longest day of the
year. The 13th annual Make Music
Day festival on June 21 — the summer
solstice — will feature hundreds of free,
outdoor music performances throughout
the five boroughs. At many of the
shows, anyone who wants to can join
the music, said the event’s director.
“Every year we have about 1,000 free
concerts in over 400 locations in New
York City alone,” said James Burke.
“This event is special because it is open
to anyone who wants to participate.”
Some of this year’s most exciting
events are happening in Brooklyn,
including “Water Night,” a choral
piece with singers floating along the
Gowanus Canal. Members of the
Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club will
row along the polluted waterway, while
30 singers, one in each boat will perform
a piece written by Eric Whitacre,
according to Burke.
“His vocal composition is going to
be presented with singers on canoes
that will be paddling up the Gowanus
canal, starting at the Dredgers
Boathouse,” Burke said.
Those who want to hear the composition
can stand on the Third Street
Bridge over the canal, or along the
banks between Carroll Street and the
Fourth Street Basin from 8 p.m. to
9 p.m.
The festival has also teamed up
Ear buds: At last year’s Make Music Day festival, participants in the MP3 experiment charged
across Brooklyn Bridge Park. This year’s experiment will happen in Prospect Park on June 21.
Kris Connor
with the performance art group Improv
Everywhere to create a musical experiment
in Prospect Park. Those who
want to join “MP3 Experiment 16”
should download the app from the
Improv Everywhere site, put on their
headphones, and bring a small musical
instrument, a flashlight, and something
that glows in the dark to the
northern end of the Long Meadow in
Prospect Park. At 8:30 p.m., the app
will play instructions, sending people
dancing, playing, and meeting up all
over the Park.
This is the third time Make Music
has worked with the group, said Burke,
and it is always a fun time.
COURIER L 68 IFE, JUNE 21-27, 2019 24-7
“In the past over 1,000 have attended
this special event,” he said.
Elsewhere in the borough, musicians
and bands will perform on the
sidewalk on the evening of June 21.
Among the busiest thoroughfares will
be Flatbush Avenue between Grand
Army Plaza and Atlantic Avenue; and
Fifth Avenue between Union Street
and the Old Stone House.
“I just encourage everyone in
Brooklyn to hit the streets, open their
ears and listen to the music,” said
Burke.
Find a show near you at the New
York Make Music Day website: www.
makemusicday.org/location/new-york.
By Rose Adams We can almost taste the rainbow!
Kings County will
shine with rainbow lights during the
final week of June, as the city hosts
WorldPride, a month-long celebration
of the queer community.
The international event has come
to the United States for the first time,
in recognition of the 50th anniversary
of the Stonewall riots — an event in
Manhattan that kicked off the modern
gay civil rights movement. In addition
to parades, rallies, and parties,
and conferences celebrating the historic
half-century milestone, buildings
across the city will glow red, orange,
yellow, blue, green, and purple as part
of Project Rainbow, which literally
shines a light on the city’s role supporting
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and queer communities.
“New York City is the birthplace of
the modern LGBTQ rights movement,”
said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement
on Tuesday, June 17. “Lighting
our skyline will remind LGBTQ people
around the world that New York
City will always be a beacon of hope
and a place to call home.”
Several business in Brooklyn have
already lit up in rainbow lights,
including the Downtown Brooklyn
Partnership in MetroTech and the
Hilton hotels. The Barclays Center will
glow with technicolor hues from June
24–26 and June 29–30. Beginning on
June 26, the Coney Island’s Parachute
Jump will light up with rainbows
through the end of the month, as will
the dome of the Weylin, a luxury
events space in Williamsburg.
Brooklyn will also host
WorldPride’s opening ceremony on
June 26 at the Barclays Center. The
colorful celebration, hosted by Whoopi
Goldberg, will feature performances
by Cindy Lauper, Ciara, and Todrick
Hall, among many other artists. The
highlight of WorldPride will be the
Manhattan Pride parade on June 29,
but there are many other queer events
happening in Brooklyn — just check
this paper’s events calendar.
Grill, baby, grill: The “backyard grill party” Yaki Tiki serves
tropical drinks each weekend. Photo by Bill Roundy
Tiny tiki
IBy Bill Roundy t offers the bear
necessities!
A tiny tiki bar
is blossoming in a
Greenpoint backyard
each weekend this summer.
Yaki Tiki is an outdoor
bar and grill popup,
from the team behind
Williamsburg hot spot
“Sunday in Brooklyn,”
hidden behind the creative
space A/D/O. The
bar specializes in a handful
of tropical drinks,
including a tequila, sherry,
and grapefruit beverage
served in an adorable
bear-shaped honey
container.
Each of the bar’s three
$12 tropical drinks gets an
over-the-top presentation,
garnished with flowers,
palm leaves, and cocktail
umbrellas — which is
exactly what you want to
look at while lounging on
a sunny afternoon with
a refreshing concoction.
Beer and sake are also
available for your daydrinking
needs.
The pop-up’s name
nods to the Japanese yakitori
— grilled chicken on
a skewer — and it offers a
selection of mostly grilled
dishes. The small plates,
which range in price from
$3 to $7, vary by the day,
but might include grilled
summer squash with
almond miso, skewers of
tuna belly, the aforementioned
grilled chicken,
and potato salad.
The spot is hidden
from the street (follow
the chalkboard signs!),
and shaded from the sun
by strips of white canvas
that flutter overhead like
sails. Visitors can settle
on an inflatable flamingo
pool toy, stretch out on
long benches, or perch
on pillows set on overturned
milk cartons. The
vibe is casual, outdoor
fun — the spot dubs itself
“a backyard grill party,”
and it feels like a friend’s
back yard — if they were
really good at decorating.
Yaki Tiki plans to
return to this backyard
spot until the end of
the summer — but you
should go before the word
gets out!
Yaki Tiki (171 Banker
St. between Norman and
Meserole avenues in
Greenpoint, www.yakitiki.
com). Open Sat–Sun,
noon–8 pm.
Over the rainbow
Greenpoint pop-up is
cool for the summer
Un-bear-ably cute: Yaki Tiki
serves three tropical beverages,
including one served in
a honeybear.
Photo by Bill Roundy
Imperial colors: Manhattan’s Empire State
Building has lit up in rainbows as part of a
citywide celebration of Pride.
NYC & Company
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