Manhattan Happenings
BY GABE HERMAN
AND ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
COMMUNITY
Building the Block: The Fifth Police
Precinct will hold a “Build The Block”
meeting on Thurs., Sept. 12, at the St.
Patrick’s Youth Center, at 268 Mulberry
St. Ask local police about crime and
quality-of-life issues and hear about
what police are doing about it. Doors
open at 6 p.m. with refreshments, and
the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Everyone
in the Broadway/Soho/Chinatown
community is welcome.
HEALTH
9/11 health and benefi ts info: A free
9/11 informational seminar will be
held Mon., Sept. 16, at 6 p.m., at Borough
of Manhattan Community College’s
Tribeca Performing Arts Center,
Theater 1, at 199 Chambers St. Were
you living, working or a student in
Lower Manhattan on 9/11, or any time
during the eight months that followed?
Congress has extended the free World
Trade Center Health Program and the
9/11 Victim Compensation Fund for 72
years. Barasch & McGarry attorneys,
Lila Nordstrom of Studentsof911.org,
John Feal of the FealGood Foundation,
and WTC Health Program doctors will
answer audience questions. Tickets are
available at tickets.tribecapac.org.
Actor Chazz Palminteri was the grand marshal at the San Gennaro
Festival two years ago.
POLITICS
Warren in Washington Square:
Democratic presidential candidate
Elizabeth Warren will speak in Washington
Square on Mon., Sept. 16. Entry
to the space starts at 4 p.m. The
event runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. According
to the event’s Facebook page:
“Elizabeth will deliver a speech on how
corruption in Washington has allowed
the rich and powerful to grow richer
and more powerful.” RSVP’ing, at
my.elizabethwarren.com, is advised.
EVENTS
San Gennaro: The Feast of San
Gennaro will enliven Mulberry St. from
Thurs., Sept. 12, to Sun., Sept. 22. Festivities
FILE PHOTO
start at 7:30 p.m. every night.
The festival, which takes place between
Canal and Houston Sts., features food,
live music, parades and food-eating
contests. The event started in 1926 to
honor the Naples patron saint on Sept.
19. Although the festival still has religious
roots, it has grown into 11 days
of food, drink and free entertainment.
Crowds will be blessed by Monsignor
David Cassato on Thurs., Sept. 12,
at 6 p.m. The solemn High Mass celebrating
the patron saint of Naples will
take place Thurs., Sept. 19, at 6 p.m.,
at the Shrine Church of the Most Precious
Blood, followed by a procession
with the statue of San Gennaro. The
grand procession will take place Sat.,
Sept. 14, at 2 p.m. This year’s festival
grand marshal is actor Steve Schirripa,
known for his role as Bobby “Bacala”
on “The Sopranos.” For more information,
visit cititour.com/NYC_Events.
THEATER
On Broadway: It’s NYC Broadway
Week, and Mon., Sept. 16 is the last day
to get 2-for-1 tickets to see Broadway
hits like “Wicked,” “Harry Potter and
the Cursed Child,” “Mean Girls” and
“The Lion King.” For more information
about shows and to purchase tickets
visit nycgo.com/broadway-week.
EXHIBITS
Mai, oui, FIT: The Museum at FIT,
will host the exhibit “Paris, Capital of
Fashion” from Fri. Sept. 6, through
Jan. 4, 2020. This special gallery exhibition
features roughly 100 objects dating
from the 18th century to the present
that explore how the City of Light
gained its reputation as the most glamorous
and competitive fashion capital
of the world. For more information, see
fi tnyc.educ/museum/exhibitions.
Underground art: “Graffi ti Warriors:
Bama and Pistol, Pioneers of Subway
Art,” will be on exhibit at City Lore, at
56 E. First St., through Fri., Sept. 13.
The free exhibit celebrates the past and
current work of graffi ti artists Richard
Admiral Jr. and Lonnie Heller a.k.a.
Bama and Pistol. The pair helped pioneer
the art form of subway graffi ti before
it was chronicled by photographers
Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper in
the late 1970s. For more information
visit citylore.org.
Cornelia stars’ free Meatpacking concert
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Cornelia Street in Exile returns
Downtown as Cornelia Meatpacking
with an end-of-summer
celebration — a free outdoor concert
in the Meatpacking District on Sun.,
Sept. 15.
The event is a collaboration between
Cornelia Street and Aurora Capital,
William Gottlieb Real Estate and the
Meatpacking Business Improvement
District. Aurora and Gottlieb are partners
on the “Gansevoort Row” redevelopment
project that is rebuilding — and
raising building heights, to neighbors’
chagrin — along the south side of landmarked
Gansevoort St.
Gansevoort Plaza, at Ninth Ave. and
Gansevoort St., will be the venue from
3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Host will be Robin
Hirsch, the former owner of the Cornelia
Street Cafe, the landmark West Village
bistro and performance space that
closed its doors this past January after
41 years in business.
The afternoon will feature music,
poetry and performances by an array
of distinguished performers from
the café’s long history — plus surprise
guests.
Jared Epstein, principal at Aurora
Capital Associates, is credited with
pushing the idea to create the Meatpacking
District outdoor festival, along
with helping broker the partnership
between Hirsch and William Gottlieb
Real Estate, with the backing of Jeffrey
LeFrancois, the Meatpacking BID’s executive
director.
“This event is dedicated to the incredible
community that frequents the
Meatpacking District and the patrons
of the beloved Cornelia Street Cafe,”
Epstein said. “The Meatpacking District
has become a thriving hub for
business, retail and tourism, and we
want to pay homage to the Cornelia
Street Cafe, which was an important
mainstay of the downtown scene for
decades.”
Hirsch has taken the lead in curating
the event. Renowned composer David
Amram, whose connection to the Village
extends back to the Beats, will kick
off the festivities with his personable
blend of musical improvisation, spoken
word and scat.
Also on hand will be Arturo O’Farrill
— six-time Grammy-winning pianist,
composer and music educator — and
his trio, bringing their brand of Afro-
Latin-infl uenced jazz to the plaza.
In addition, the Bond Street Theater’s
Shinbone Alley Stilt Band, an eclectic
group of musicians, will entertain with
a unique brand of swing, jazz and Dixieland
music — all while towering over
the crowd, on stilts.
And fans of Brazilian jazz will enjoy
the smooth stylings of Rogerio Souza
and the Billy Newman Quarteto.
Hirsch has also called on a list of
gifted artists and performers who
called Cornelia St. Cafe home to drop
in throughout the afternoon and surprise
the audience with their artistry,
including poets, singers, violinists, possibly
dancers and more.
In April, Cornelia Street did six
shows at Brooklyn Commons, on Atlantic
Ave.
“Jared Epstein has been very, very
supportive of this,” Hirsch said. “He
approached me initially. The outdoor
festival may have been my idea. We’re
Cornelia Street in Exile. There’s no idea
where we’ll pop up next.”
“Last month, the Meatpacking District
opened three new public plazas in
the neighborhood after many years of
construction,” said the BID’s LeFrancois.
“These plazas will bring dynamic
programming into the community, and
we’re thrilled to be launching with Cornelia
Street in Exile, and their amazing
roster of musicians and performers.”
The concert’s organizers hope it becomes
an annual tradition.
Schneps Media TVG September 12, 2019 21
/NYC_Events
/tickets.tribecapac.org
/my.elizabethwarren.com
/Studentsof911.org
/broadway-week
/tnyc.edu
/citylore.org