By Hellen Zaboulani

The New York Blood Center’s plans for a new headquarters have Upper East Side neighbors in an uproar.  As reported by the NY Post, the proposed expansion includes a Bio Safety Level 3 lab to study dangerous microbes, which is frightening local residents.  Opponents also argue that the size of the new building would dwindle all other buildings in the area.

The Blood Center, the largest community-based non-profit blood bank which doubles as a research facility, has filed to rezone its 3-story headquarters on East 67th Street, hoping to construct a 334-foot tower, most of which would be rented out to for-profit companies as a “life sciences center.”  Local residents and some elected officials have voiced the opinion that the Blood Center does not even need all that space and that a tower that large would dwarf the neighborhood school and park.  Critics are also complaining that the non-profit initially failed to disclose that the plans include a BLS 3 lab.  These labs work with “agents that may cause serious and potentially lethal infections,” as per the city Health Department, which noted in 2016 that “an accident in a New York City-based high-containment research laboratory could have catastrophic consequences.”

Plans for the lab had been a total hush till it was included in a slide presentation to the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. The Center has responded that it has always had such a laboratory. It told The Post that the lab “is a necessary component for the research and development of new antivirals and vaccines.” It added that it has used the lab in the past for hepatitis and HIV research.

This counter has not really helped to quell the fears of anxious neighbors.  “I hate to think of what they’re cooking up in there,” said City Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the UES area.  He noted that the Blood Center has not been transparent about the lab, and that the Center has already tried unsuccessfully for a rezoning and expansion multiple times in the past.  As per city records, this time the Blood Center has hired the number one NY lobbying firm led by Suri Kasirer to push the expansion, paying $175,000 to Kasirer since 2020.

“We hear the community’s concerns, and we are committed to working together to bring this proposal to the Upper East Side,” said Robert Purvis, the Blood Center’s executive vice president.  He added that the research is “essential to bring its discoveries to patients as new vaccines, products, drugs and treatments.”

Edited by: TJVNews.com

NYC & Company, the official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau for the five boroughs of New York City, is encouraging New Yorkers, visitors and meeting delegates to safely enjoy a selection of new experiences and places to visit that have recently opened or will open later this year.

“From prominent new hotels and restaurants, to remarkable once-in-a-lifetime exhibitions, to new attractions and waterfront activities, New York City in 2021 is poised to demonstrate its reawakening and vibrant future ahead,” said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company. “We look forward to safely welcoming visitors back to the City they know and love, while also encouraging them to go deeper and explore more in the dynamic multicultural neighborhoods across the five boroughs.”

NYC & Company recently launched a new citywide selection of Neighborhood Getaways, with deals and savings on attractions, hotels, museums, restaurants, shopping, tours and more to take advantage of while exploring.

Below is a list of 10 ways to experience a selection of what’s new across the five boroughs in 2021 and beyond:

1. Fly into the newly-remodeled LaGuardia Airport or Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport:

LaGuardia’s redesigned Terminal B features 35 new gates, along with retail, food and beverage and amenities that more than doubles the previous offerings. With soaring ceilings and plenty of natural light, the new terminal has nearly 50 shops and restaurants including iconic NYC retailers Shake Shack and FAO Schwarz. By mid-2022, with the completion of the head-house for Delta’s new Terminal C, visitors will be greeted by a new, unified airport fit for the 21st century with its two new terminals connected by a magnificent Central Hall, featuring the Orpheus and Apollo sculpture formerly at Lincoln Center.

Additionally, construction at Newark Liberty International Airport is nearly 75% complete for an all-new Terminal A, with 33 gates opening next year.

2. Travel by train to NYC via the new Moynihan Train Hall:

Moynihan Train Hall, a spectacular 92-foot-high skylighted train hall, transformed the landmark James A. Farley Post Office Building into a 21st-century transportation hub serving LIRR and Amtrak passengers. The new station features 50% more concourse space, state-of-the-art wayfinding, information displays and is a welcomed expansion of the Penn Station complex.

3. Attend an event or exhibition at the newly expanded Javits Center:

The Jacob K. Javits Center is completing a 1.2-million-square-foot expansion projected to open this spring, including a 54,000-square-foot special event space, the largest of its kind in the Northeast, a new indoor/outdoor rooftop pavilion that can accommodate 1,500 people, a one-acre rooftop farm to be used in the millions of meals served at the space, 90,000 square-feet of exhibit space, and much more. Although the Javits Center is currently serving as a vaccination site, it will soon welcome people from around the world for conventions, meetings and more at the expanded space.

4. Enjoy new attractions and tours:

The recently opened Friends Experience offers fans of the TV show two floors of interactive experiences including the iconic orange couch, show props and costumes. Visitors can also grab a coffee at Central Perk which is open to the public daily.

On Location Tours is now offering a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Sites Tour, a private tour of 1950’s NYC in a 1957 Studebaker Commander as seen on the show, highlighting iconic locations from the series.

The Phoenix Family Thrill Roller Coaster will rise this summer at Coney Island. Standing 68 feet tall, the new ride will reach speeds of 34 miles per hour and guarantees a thrilling new addition at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, celebrating its 100th season this year.

Opening in the fall, SUMMIT will be NYC’s newest observation deck and immersive experience at the crown of the iconic One Vanderbilt. SUMMIT will take visitors to the highest vantage point in Midtown with views of The Chrysler Building, Empire State Building and north to Central Park, and glass floor ledges that overhang Madison Avenue. The observation deck will also offer food and beverage options.

5. Visit iconic museums, cultural organizations and performing arts venues for new experiences and exhibitions:

The Frick Collection recently opened the Frick Madison, its temporary new home while the main building is under a years-long renovation. Located at the Marcel Breuer-designed building—the former site of the Met Breuer and the Whitney Museum of American Art—the Frick Madison features new acquisitions and highlights from the collection organized chronologically and by region.

Recently reopened after a two-year renovation, Dia:Chelsea follows Dia’s mission to commission single-artist projects, organize exhibitions, realize site-specific installations, and collect in-depth work of artists of the 1960s and 1970s.

Restart Stages at Lincoln Center launched earlier this month with a performance for healthcare workers by the New York Philharmonic on World Health Day. Restart Stages is an outdoor performing arts center with 10 outdoor performance and rehearsal spaces created to help kick-start the performing arts sector by featuring events by organizations from across the five boroughs.

The Landfill Fashionista at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden in Staten Island is currently on display through June 30 as a multimedia art exhibition by the Staten Island Urban Center’s Young Women’s Leadership Group highlighting the need for environmental justice.

For the first time in a New York museum, the work of sculptor, painter and filmmaker Niki de Saint Phalle is featured at MoMA PS1. On display through September 6, Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life features more than 200 pieces from the feminist artist dating back to the mid-1960s, including some work that has never been exhibited.

The Guggenheim Museum is the first place in New York to show Jackson Pollock’s famous “Mural” painting in more than 20 years, with Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural, on display through September 19. The mural marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of Pollock’s artistic style as he began to move into more abstract art styles and non-traditional painting techniques like his signature drip method.

On display through September 26, Estamos Bien—La Trienal 20/21 is El Museo del Barrio’s first large-scale survey of Latinx contemporary art, featuring works by 42 artists and art collectives from throughout the US, including Puerto Rico, and representing various cultures, from Chicano to Dominican.

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature premiered at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx earlier this month featuring new work by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, including two new outdoor monumental sculptures Dancing Pumpkin and I Want to Fly to the Universe, as well as Infinity Mirror Rooms and colorful flowers and floral sculptures that will change seasonally through October 31.

The Whitney Museum of American Art will debut Day’s End by David Hammons in May, as a permanent public art project located in Hudson River Park, directly across from the museum, that will pay homage to Gordon Matta-Clark’s 1975 artwork of the same name in the same location, and change with the light of day and atmospheric conditions. Day’s End will allude to the history of NYC’s waterfront from the heyday of the City’s shipping industry in the late 19th century to its role as a gathering place for the gay community in the 1970s.

Visit Wave Hill in the Bronx for The Shadow of the Sun: Ross Bleckner and Zachari Logan, an exhibition to be held May 22 through August 15, featuring the works of New York-based painter Ross Bleckner and Canadian artist Zachari Logan who have collaborated for the past decade using different mediums.

The completely redesigned Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals will open at the American Museum of Natural History in June. The halls will feature nearly 5,000 specimens from 95 countries—including two amethyst geodes that are among the world’s largest on public display—which will tell the fascinating stories of how mineral diversity arose, the environments in which minerals form, how scientists classify them, and how humans have used them throughout history.

Beginning June 6, experience Cézanne Drawing at MoMA, which will showcase more than 200 works on paper—including drawings, sketchbooks, and rarely seen watercolors— alongside a selection of related oil paintings, from modern artist Paul Cézanne. On display through September 25, this is the first major effort in the US to unite drawings from across the artist’s entire career, exploring his methods and revealing his most radical works on paper.

Two immersive art experiences will open in June celebrating the works of Vincent Van Gogh. Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit New York, opening on June 10, will feature Van Gogh’s work in a captivating digital art exhibit, giving guests the rare opportunity to “step inside” Van Gogh’s art at a location that will be announced in the coming days. The second, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, opening on June 21, will be a 360º digital art exhibition at the Skylight on Vesey in Lower Manhattan.

Beginning August 27, The Obama Portraits Tour will be presented at the Brooklyn Museum on its five-city tour. This special presentation enhances conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its role in engaging communities, and will be in display through October 24.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will bring back The Costume Institute’s next major exhibition in September, a two-part show on view from September 18, 2021 through September 5, 2022. Part one, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, will open on September 18 celebrating The Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary while exploring a modern vocabulary of American fashion. Part two, In America: An Anthology of Fashion, opening on May 5, 2022, will explore the development of American fashion.

For the first time in decades, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will allow visitor access to its pilot escalator, which has recently been restored, and later this year, visitors will have the opportunity to peek into one of Intrepid’s bomb elevators, which transported weapons to other parts of the ship where they were assembled, armed and loaded onto airplanes.

Broadway is projected to return this September with classics like Aladdin, Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera and more, and newer productions including Hadestown, Jagged Little Pill and Moulin Rouge. Brand-new shows will also debut, including Thoughts of a Colored Man, Diana and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Victoria Theater will open as an addition to the Apollo Theater this fall, marking the first expansion in its history. The theaters at the Victoria, located down the street from The Apollo, are two new and flexible performance spaces, one with 99 seats and the other with 199 seats. The space will be used by artists, students, audiences and cultural partners, extending The Apollo’s role and mission to support artistic creation and collaboration in Harlem. The Victoria Theater redevelopment project will also include residential units, retail space and a hotel, the Renaissance Hotel Harlem.

The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens is undergoing a physical and programmatic expansion for a New Center, projected to open this spring, that will increase the Museum’s capacity to fulfill its mission of sustaining and promoting the cultural, historical and humanitarian legacy of Louis Armstrong.

6. Stay at a new hotel:

Nestled between the Times Square, Garment District and Hudson Yards neighborhoods, Arlo Midtown will open in late May with a modern mix of 489 total guest rooms, ample communal spaces, and four food and beverage outlets by the award-winning Gerber Group. Guests can choose from King and Double Rooms with terraces overlooking Hudson Yards, or opt for luxury with the Penthouse and King Suites, a first for Arlo.

Occupying the Crown Building in the heart of Manhattan on Fifth Avenue, Aman New York is expected to open in June with 83 rooms and suites, 22 private residences, three restaurants and a spa spanning three stories and featuring an indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms, hot and cold plunge pools, as well as an outdoor terrace with cabana, daybed, and fireplace.

Opening in June, Margaritaville Resort Times Square will offer an island oasis at the crossroads of the world. Featuring 234 guestrooms and amenities such as an outdoor heated pool, retail store and fitness center, Margaritaville Resort Times Square will bring an island vibe to the bustling neighborhood.

Situated on the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island, the Graduate Roosevelt Island will offer guests views of Manhattan and Queens upon opening in June. The pet-friendly hotel will feature futuristic themes with nods to Roosevelt Island’s history.

Ace Hotel Brooklyn is expected to open in July in Boerum Hill, on the cusp of Downtown Brooklyn. Designed by Roman and Williams, the 287-room hotel will feature a communal lobby, a verdant indoor garden room, multiple event spaces, a large-scale installation by artist Stan Bitters, and guest rooms that feature floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of Manhattan, Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Opening near Hudson Yards, the Pendry Manhattan West will feature 164 guest rooms including 30 suites, a signature restaurant, a lounge and open-air terrace bar when it debuts in July.

Expected to open this fall a few steps from Madison Square Park, The Fifth Avenue Hotel will boast high ceilings and a large ballroom, as well as a multi-level restaurant and a bank vault that has been transformed into a wine cellar.

Development is underway on the 210-room Renaissance Hotel Harlem, which is expected to open this fall above the historic 1917 Victoria Theater. Near the Apollo Theater on West 125th Street, the development also includes a cultural center, retail and apartments.

The 40-story Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad will be the City’s second Ritz-Carlton when it opens on 28th Street and Broadway later this year, and will include an outpost of the Mediterranean restaurant Zaytinya, by Chef José Andrés.

The Virgin Hotel will be the brand’s first NYC property upon opening in NoMad later this year. The new hotel will feature 463 guest rooms, multiple food and beverage venues and a rooftop pool and bar.

7. Attend large-scale events and commemorate historic anniversaries:

Premier art fair Frieze New York will take place May 5-9 for the first time at The Shed in Manhattan. Bringing together world-class galleries, collaborations, special projects and talks, this year’s programming will feature the much-celebrated section Frame, dedicated to solo presentations by emerging artists from around the world.

NYCxDESIGN will host Design Days, May 13-18, showcasing the latest in design through virtual events, open studios, exhibitions, talks, and more, including various events and self-guided journeys across the five boroughs.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the iconic Tribeca Film Festival will take place June 9–20, in a reimagined format with screenings at locations across all five boroughs, including Brookfield Place, Empire Outlets, Hudson Yards, MetroTech Commons, Pier 57 Rooftop and The Battery.

Known as the “World’s Most Famous Building,” the Empire State Building will celebrate its 90th anniversary as an iconic landmark in 2021.

September 11 will mark 20 years since 9/11 and the City is honoring those we lost with a citywide tribute of lights and additional cultural programming to be announced at a later date, to commemorate this important and never-to-be-forgotten day in history.

8. Dine at a new restaurant:

Melba Wilson, the chef and owner of Melba’s, will open a new seafood restaurant in August, Melba’s Mussels, located in South Harlem. The restaurant will offer mussel dishes inspired by notable icons such as Sophia Loren and Frida Kahlo.

Featuring Indian dishes from the subcontinent and beyond, SONA recently opened in the Flatiron District with dishes such as Malabar chicken biriyani and tandoor roasted beets. The elegant restaurant resembles Mumbai in the late 1930s with an art deco lounge that flows into a rear dining room.

Fieldtrip, by JJ Johnson, recently opened its newest location in Rockefeller Center. Fieldtrip embraces the heritage of rice focusing on sustainable rice grains in its prepared rice bowls.

Modern American steakhouse Charlie Palmer Steak NYC is now open at One Bryant Park, tapping into Times Square’s vibrant and dynamic energy.

Massive Midtown Seafood Restaurant Le Pavillon by Daniel Boulud will open in May at the base of One Vanderbilt with 100 seats, a 30-seat bar and a flowering garden with real black olive trees. The seafood establishment is a nod to the first haute French restaurant in NYC that opened in 1941 and closed in the early 1970s.

This fall, José Andrés will open an outpost of Mediterranean restaurant Zaytinya in the new Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. Bazaar will follow later in the year, also in the new hotel.

9. Discover the waterfront and outdoor activities:

Circle Line, Classic Harbor Line, Statue Cruises and City Experiences by Hornblower sightseeing and leisure tours have reopened for the season with updated offers.

With the recent Inwood and Washington Heights expansion, Citi Bike is now one of the largest bike share systems in the world next to China.

A statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg was unveiled last month at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn and is available for public viewing daily.  Created by contemporary artists Gillie and Marc, the bronze statue underscores the importance of gender equality in public art. The artists said of the statue, “With the two steps on its large base representing the Supreme Court and the climb she made to get there, the work is designed to provide the public with an opportunity to stand at her side, and gain inspiration from her journey fighting for equal rights.”

Expected to open as a public park on June 1, Phase 1 of Pier 76 will include a walking area and outdoor flexible space, as well as benches with waterfront views.

Marsha P. Johnson State Park (formerly East River State Park) will reopen this June after undergoing extensive renovations. The waterfront park in Williamsburg will include a new park house with public restrooms, classroom space, new park furniture, and a public art display honoring Marsha P. Johnson, an advocate for gay rights, and the LGBTQ+ community.

The NYC Ferry will add new routes and stops this year to serve more waterfront communities, including a Staten Island route (to Battery Park and Midtown West) this summer and a Coney Island route (to Bay Ridge and Wall Street) later this year along with the Ferry Point Park/Throgs Neck extension of the Soundview route.

10. Shop at newly opened retail storefronts:

Madison Avenue has welcomed recent and upcoming developments by luxury brands, including a newly opened Montblanc flagship as well as a Manolo Blahnik flagship opening this spring. Other expansions currently under construction include Brunello Cucinelli; Fendi; Giorgio Armani; Graff Diamonds; and Hermès.

The RealReal recently opened in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, making the location its third NYC store. The luxury-consignment store offers gently used adult and children’s clothes, jewelry, fine art and home decor at a fraction of the original cost.

Loeffler Randall recently opened its first storefront in SoHo and will use the inaugural shop to showcase the brand’s unique shoes, handbags and accessories in the trendy neighborhood.

The world’s first official Harry Potter flagship store, Harry Potter New York,  will open on June 3 in the Flatiron District. The store will feature the largest selection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts merchandise under one roof, as well as 15 themed areas, interactive displays and photo-ops.

Century 21 is expected to make its return to the five boroughs later this year, though the specifics of where and when are still being finalized.

For a list of recent reopenings across NYC, visit nycgo.com/whatsopen.

Visitors to the five boroughs are encouraged to wear masks, practice physical distancing and frequently wash/sanitize hands, as indicated in NYC & Company’s Stay Well NYC Pledge. Check with individual businesses for current operating status and hours, as well as health and safety protocols, prior to visiting. For more information on safely exploring NYC, visit nycgo.com.

About NYC & Company:

NYC & Company is the official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For all there is to do and see in New York City, visit nycgo.com.

Rachel Holliday Smith, THE CITY

This article was originally published
on Apr 22 at 9:14pm EDT
by THE CITY

Sure, air conditioning is nice. But after the year we’ve had, who wants to stay indoors this coming summer?

Much more of city life is expected to take place in expanded public spaces in upcoming weeks — with coronavirus infection rates slowing, vaccinations growing and a year of creative thinking setting the stage for a cautious outdoors rebirth.

Plans are already rolling out for new outdoor venues, events and a return of some classic summertime rituals. At the same time, expect that warm weather crowds will likely exacerbate tussling over New York’s most ubiquitous public spaces: our streets and sidewalks.

“The pandemic really invited us to recognize that fresh air is everywhere and New York has amazing open spaces,” said Fatima Shama, executive director of the Fresh Air Fund, one of the many groups looking to squeeze more sunshine out of the Big Apple this summer.

Grab a hat and sunglasses, here’s what’s good with New York’s great outdoors this summer.

New Spaces to Stretch Out

A number of new outdoor spaces are set to open at the start of summer, giving citydwellers extra options to spread their wings while social distancing.

Manhattan’s West Side is getting two major new parks within weeks. At Pier 76, work is ongoing to convert the dreaded old NYPD tow pound into a 5.6-acre open space set to open to the public by June, the governor announced in March.

The conversion had been on the drawing board for years. The tow pound will ultimately be demolished and turned into a more permanent park, according to plans from the Hudson River Park Trust. For now, the sped-up renovation will remove the pound’s roof so people can hang out underneath its steel beams.

Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY

About a mile away, Little Island at Pier 55 — once nicknamed Diller Island for its media mogul benefactor, Barry Diller — is just about ready to launch.

The hilly park, built over the river with concrete pylons at various heights, will debut by “late spring,” said Danielle Ruff, a spokesperson for Little Island. Live performances at a 700-seat outdoor amphitheater are set to begin there in June, according to the governor’s office.

Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, dropped a cool $250 million to build the island, one of the largest philanthropic donations for park space in the city’s history.

The Hudson River Park Trust will own and maintain the man-made island’s structure, while the the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation will pay for its staff and operation, according to Claire Holmes, a spokesperson for the Trust.

If you’re looking to stay on the mainland, Lincoln Center is converting its 16-acre campus into public park-like space with new outdoor performance venues this summer.

The idea is to turn the venue’s plaza and open areas — which were not designed for recreation — into much more accessible spaces, said Jordana Leigh, Lincoln Center’s senior director for artistic programming.

“We have this amazing land, but it’s not the most welcoming feeling to just come in — where are you going to sit?” she said.

Over the summer, the famed arts center’s plaza will become “The Green,” a 14,000-square-foot open space covered in artificial turf designed by Tony Award-winning set designer Mimi Lien.

“She’s going to transform this into a space that’s green and lush, and really welcoming,” said Leigh. “You can just come and hang out and have another space to relax in New York City.”

From the Woods to the Concrete Jungle

City kids will also have new opportunities for outdoor play through the Fresh Air Fund.

Last year, the pandemic forced the 140-year-old nonprofit — born during a tuberculosis epidemic to give the city’s youth access to the rural outdoors — to figure out new ways to operate when it cancelled its in-person 2020 season.

Included in the shut down were the fund’s Hudson Valley sleepaway camps and all visits by kids to host families in rural areas.

“[W]e creatively used all that we know about doing what we do in the woods to just do it here,” said Shama.

Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY

The group is building off its pandemic-inspired Summer Spaces program, begun last July to create play areas in city streets, serving children in lower-income neighborhoods and areas most affected by the COVID-19 crisis, Shama said.

The program will offer three-hour blocks of time four days a week for kids ages 5 to 12 to participate in activities like dancing, arts and crafts, outdoor science, tech, math and music lessons — all socially distanced.

“I’ve never seen such creativity with hula hoops,” Shama said of the program, which last summer used the circular toy for both fun and spacing.

Struggle for Street Space

Street space, meanwhile, is poised for a repeat as New York’s hottest commodity this summer.

Yes, indoor dining is growing. But Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York Hospitality Alliance, doesn’t expect the pandemic-era al fresco dining experience to dissipate any time soon.

“Outdoor dining will continue to be an enormous part of the city’s streetscape,” he said, especially since “some people still aren’t comfortable eating indoors.”

This season may bring even more creative and beautiful outdoor dining set-ups as new eateries set up shop — dozens of restaurants opened in April alone, according to Eater’s running list. The ones that have survived may have a bit more cash flow to further spruce up the spaces owners built out in a hurry last year, Rigie predicts.

Around many of those outdoor dining set-ups, the Open Streets program will run through the summer as city government figures out how to make the pandemic-induced traffic-stopping program permanent.

Courtesy Sunset Park BID

Going into Year Two of the initiative, a number of challenges to keep the street clear have cropped up. THE CITY reported Thursday that struggling restaurateurs are having a tough time making it work without funding and support from City Hall.

New liability and permitting requirements for this year’s Open Street program have become hurdles. Transportation Alternatives is leading a coalition demanding changes from City Hall, as well as more funding, “to bring this program to the next level,” an open letter from the group reads.

“Right now, the city is heavily relying on volunteers to operate and maintain Open Streets without providing a clear source of funding for those groups to maintain those Open Streets,” said Erwin Figueroa, director of organizing at Transportation Alternatives.

“Just imagine, you get to dance in the middle of the street.”

And a small but vocal number of neighbors at various Open Streets locations have fought or sabotaged the system by ripping down or driving past barricades, ignoring “No Parking” signs and harassing volunteers.

Longtime Sunnyside, Queens, resident Roz Gianutsos, a psychiatrist who is one of those volunteers and self-described “barricade lady” maintaining the Open Street on 39th and Skillman avenues.

She’s had run-ins with aggressive drivers, she said. But, “more often, we get support” from locals, said Gianutsos.

“The original conception of the Open Streets was because of physical distancing … but the reality is, it does a whole lot more,” she said. “It brings you out in connection with neighbors.”

The Arts Outdoors

New York is nothing without culture, so artists and entertainers have been finding creative ways to perform publicly for months. This summer, that effort will go into overdrive.

Broadway stars have already shown up in storefront windows and in public plazas giving surprise performances as part of NY PopsUp, a state initiative to bring music, dance and theater back to New York.

The project began in February with a performance at the Javits Center for healthcare workers by “The Late Show” bandleader Jon Batiste and will run through Labor Day. There will be hundreds of events — but because of their “impromptu nature” not all performances will be announced in advance, a press release for the program said. You’ll have to follow on social media for alerts.

The city has also begun to allow artists to apply for permits through the new “Open Culture” program that brings socially distanced performances, arts events and public rehearsals into New York’s streets.

Naomi Goldberg Haas has used the program already to bring free dance classes to seniors. She is the founding artistic director of Dances For a Variable Population, a nonprofit that promotes creative movement and dance for older New Yorkers.

Her group took part on “day one” of Open Culture — with dance lessons on a block on East 103rd Street in East Harlem that had been closed to traffic — and said it’s been “immediately popular,” she said.

“People get really excited by it. Just imagine, you get to dance in the middle of the street. There’s room, and also they feel protected,” she said.

Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY

The events tend to draw a crowd, though they are not necessarily meant to be performances.

“People come by just because the sight of older people dancing is very inspiring,” she said. Some want to join in then and there, but for safety reasons, they have to register first.

“Then they come the next week,” Haas added.

Meanwhile, some major outdoor performance classics are coming back in 2021, including the Tribeca Film Festival, which is slated to take place partially outdoors in June. SummerStage will offer live music events in city parks this summer, though exact performers and dates have yet to be announced.

At Lincoln Center, the Restart Stages program will bring a number of cultural organizations to the venue’s new outdoor performances spaces. A number of cultural organizations, including the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance and the Harlem Arts Alliance, are set to perform and tickets will be free on a first come, first served basis.

And, forsooth, Shakespeare in the Park will be back after its 2020 season cancellation. The Public Theater will stage “Merry Wives,” adapted from “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” directed by Saheem Ali. As always, tickets are available only through a daily distribution in Central Park and in a lottery at the Public Theater.

Return of the Classics

Splashing in the pool, eating a hotdog in the stands, riding the Cyclone — rejoice! Your New York summertime favorites are coming back. Here’s more of what you have to look forward to:

• City kids can cannonball once again: Nearly all public pools are opening on June 26, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month. That’s a big change from last year, when most pools were shuttered all summer and only a handful opened for the last half of the season.
• City zoos will roar back with 50% capacity as of late April.
• Baseball has stepped back up to the plate, with Yankee Stadium and Citi Field cleared to fill ballpark seats up to 20% capacity for now.

Coney Island’s amusements at Luna Park are back in business — though some rides set to open in 2019 are still not cleared for takeoff, as THE CITY reported earlier this month.

THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.