As No Longer Empty’s residency and exhibition, ‘When You Cut Into The Present The Future Leaks Out’ at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse is coming to an end as it enters its final month, an open call is being issued to local Bronx artists to end the exhibition with a big celebration.
Landmarks
Yellow journalism is alive and well, folks.
Instead of reporting back on the real story, The New York Post decided to do what it does best: Yellow Journalism. In their piece on the opening of The High Bridge, they chose to seek out folks who saw it as a negative and went on to say that residents on The Manhattan side are “…worried about the bloodshed across the way…” and that Washington Heights residents, “…fear it would connect their neighborhood to a war zone.”
This was based on quotes from TWO individuals. That’s it. There was no evidence whatsoever that Washington Heights residents were in fear for their lives because of the opening of The High Bridge. These are two communities sharing strong, historical and ethnic ties.
This morning, thanks to NYC & Co, we arrived promptly at Highbridge Park in Manhattan just before 8am for a small, private and intimate walk along The High Bridge which was just hours away from officially opening.
It was a pleasant walk across to The Bronx as we enjoyed the panoramic vistas of The Bronx, The Harlem River, and Manhattan (no ‘The’ for you).
This Friday from 8PM to 11:30PM, join BAAD (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) in collaboration with No Longer Empty’s exhibition to kick off Pride month in what is being touted as the largest, “queer pride art and performance carnival The Bronx has yet seen”…along with Queer marriage vows being officiated for the first (and last) time at The Old Bronx Courthouse.
The Bronx has limited venues for the LGBTQ community to come together and this Friday may very well be the largest indoor gathering and event since The Warehouse off the Grand Concourse was open back in the 90’s.
No Longer Empty’s exhibition, ‘When You Cut Into The Present The Future Leaks Out’ isn’t just about the great artwork on display but it is also about the community engagement via the many programs surrounding the exhibition and this weekend will not disappoint with FIVE events!
After six years of filings with NYC’s Department of Buildings and construction delays, 500 Exterior Street is rising with the 11 story hotel slated to be completed sometime in 2016 and Holiday Inn Express has leased the building according to owner Harshad Patel. The property sits across from the Special Harlem River Waterfront District where a proposed waterfront park would go along with 4,000 units of housing (2.8 million square feet of housing, 2.3 million square feet of commercial space, 1 million square feet of community space).
Now that the Bronx General Post Office is in the private hands of developer YoungWoo & Associates, work has begun on restoring the 13 iconic and landmarked Ben Shahn murals in the lobby.
The building, which opened on May 15, 1937 after 2 years of construction, was the largest of the 29 New Deal Era edifices built in New York City. In 1976 the building received landmark status from NYC’s Landmark Commission and in 2013, after Welcome2TheBronx broke the news that the United States Postal Service was selling the property, the interior lobby was granted landmark status as well—a feat that is not easy to achieve.
This year, along with other organizations and residents from throughout New York City, Welcome2TheBronx™ will be receiving the Historic District Council Grassroots Preservation Award—the very organization who has been involved in the creation of almost all of the 110 historic districts in New York City.
According to HDC Deputy Director Nadezhda Williams, Welcome2TheBronx™ was chosen, “as the 2015 Grassroots Award Friend in the Media winner for your coverage of landmark and land use issues in The Bronx including the sad story of PS 31.”
For a community that has only in recent years emerged from the fires, blight, and civic neglect that once scarred the South Bronx landscape, the courthouse’s reopening felt a bit like a homecoming. “It’s like they are seeing an old family member, long lost,” observed Regine Basha, who curated the exhibit for No Longer Empty. “This isn’t our building—it belongs to the community. We just set up the structures through which we could listen to the stories.”
Hidden from plain view, Bartow-Pell Mansion has been sitting inside what is now modern-day Pelham Bay Park—New York City’s largest park at 2,772 acres—since 1842 after 6 years of construction.
You’ve probably passed right by it along Shore Road as you pass Split Rock Golf Course taking the back road into Westchester or simply on your way to Orchard Beach.
It is a place steeped with history that not only occupies the mansion but the land it rests upon and even Pelham Bay Park itself.
Bronx Week will officially kick of this Sunday, May 3rd at the Bronx General Post Office on the Grand Concourse and 149th Street in the Concourse/Melrose area of The Bronx.
The event will be filled with local food trucks and vendors, music, children’s activities and art presented by The Bronx Museum and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr will announcing the festivities surrounding the event.
Now that we had an amazing turnout last night for No Longer Empty’s opening reception for their exhibition at the landmark Old Bronx Borough Courthouse, “When You Cut Into The Present The Future Leaks Out”, here’s what you can do this weekend while you come by to take in the building and the art inhabiting it.
Programming for children, families and adults will be available!
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