Here’s What’s Happening

This Week In & Around Chelsea

Programming In, Around Bella Abzug Park / ¡Arriba! Celebrates the High Line’s Birthday / The Puccini Jukebox / Super Sidewalk Fest / Buy Black Marketplace / Down to Earth Farmers Market Chelsea / PRIDE Month Events: Chelsea Community Church PRIDE-Themed 1pm June Sunday Services

The Hudson Yards/Hell’s Kitchen Alliance Presents May Through October Free Programming In & Around Bella Abzug Park | Another season of free, all-ages programming is underway in and around Bella Abzug Park (W. 34th to 35th Sts., 10th to 11th Aves.). For the complete schedule, click here—and in the coming weeks, see this listing’s updated versions, as we feature a rotating collection of fitness, music, movies, and dance events.Bien Good Well offers free yoga classes Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm and Saturdays at 10:30pm in Bella Abzug Park. To register, click here. Every other Thursday in June, July, September, and October, Vinyl  Nights fills Bella Abzug Park with dance-demanding classics of the 70s, 80s, and beyond, as spun by veteran NYC DJs working with, yes, real vinyl records. For more info, click here. Looking ahead, the public space programmers from Street Lab will be popping up in Bella Abzug Park for six weeks in July and August, bringing interactive activities for kids of all ages.

¡Arriba! Celebrates the High Line’s Birthday: A Free Event on Thursday, June 13, 6pm-9pm On the High Line (btw. W. 15th & 16th Sts.; enter at W. 14th St.) | The High Line’s longest-running, free, all-ages public program—¡Arriba!—has long been the elevated public park’s calling card for spirited moves and celebratory vibes. So it’s appropriate that June 13’s edition of the salsa-centric dance party will pull double duty: First, by delivering the aw. Secondly, it serves as an appropriately high-energy birthday bash marking year #15 for host venue, the High Line. Here’s the action-packed evening’s breakdown: 6pm-6:15pm, Salsa music set by DJ Mickey Pérez; 6:15pm-6:45pm, Salsa dance lessons by Fuákata; 7pm-7:15pm, Salsa music set by DJ Mickey Pérez; 7:15pm-8:15pm, live salsa performance by queer and trans salsa band Las Mariquitas; and 8:15pm-9pm, an international dance music set by DJ Mickey Pérez. To RSVP, click here. Note: Although advance registration is full, walk-up attendees are welcome if ¡Arriba! is not at capacity.

The Opera Next Door Presents The Puccini Jukebox: Saturday, June 15, 3pm on West 21st Street (btw. 9 &10th Aves.) | See the below flyer for details.

Super Sidewalk Fest: Saturday, June 15, 12pm to 4pm on 54th to 56th Streets & Ninth Ave. | Celebrate the NYC Department of Transportation’s transformation of a strip of Ninth Avenue into one of their so-called “Super Sidewalks” (created when a creative paint job reclaims a vehicle lane in the name of mitigating bike and pedestrian congestion). On the afternoon of June 15, the activities and “pop-up spectacles” appearing somewhere between W. 56th and W. 54th Streets (and probaly all the way down to W. 51st)will include a marching band, a stilt walker, and one-of-a-kind creations from street tape artist Kuki. See the below flyer for a visually enticing approximation of what to expect from a sidewalk gone “Super.”

Down to Earth Farmers Market Chelsea: Satudays, 9am-2pm | Seasonal, local food by vendors you can rely on for the basics and trust when it comes to embracing new cuisine and ingredients is the great strength of this weekly Market that pops up Saturdays, 9am-2pm, on West 23rd Street Off of Ninth Ave. A tip worth taking: Click here to sign up for their newsletter, and every week you’ll get a preview of what’s so special about the next Market. This week’s newsletter arrived on Thursday. With June 16’s Father’s Day looming, the newsletter noted its Farmers Market offers “a cornucopia of edible gift ideas that are sure to delight and make the shop for pop a breeze this weekend.” Among the offerings: Cheeses, sweets, savory things, pasta, and pie. Also a source of food for thought in advance of each Saturday’s Market: A visit to its online presecce (click here to do so). A new addition for 2024: Textile Recycling! Bring your linens, old clothes, shoes, torn, stained, or new to recycle (look for the green bin). Also Note: Food Benefit Programs are welcome. Go to the Manager’s Tent to use your SNAP EBT card and get tokens to spend with the vendors. Matching Health Bucks are available ($2 for every $2 withdrawn, up to $10). FMNP vouchers can be used June-November. For a full explanation of benefits, visit this link. NYC residents who have questions about the FMNP program can dial 311.

—JUNE PRIDE MONTH EVENTS—

Chelsea Community Church PRIDE-Themed 1pm June Sunday Services at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. 8th & 9th Aves.) | For a half-century, the non-denominational Christian Chelsea Community Church (CCC) has, they note, welcomed “people of all faiths and those who are uncertain about their faith” by providing a safe and inclusive space. That space—physical and spiritual—devotes its weekly 1pm Sunday services in June to the theme of “Pride,” in its many colors-of-the-rainbow variations.

The June 16 service, led by congregation member Scott Barbarino, is a loving tribute to the late CCC member Jerry Scott. “Jerry was an extraordinary Manhattan entertainer and consummate musician whose stellar renditions over a span of 40 years encompassed every genre of music from show tunes to standards; from pop to operetta to ragtime,” recalls Barbarino, who notes the honors amassed by Scott include “MAC and BISTRO awards for Best Piano-Bar Performer and the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Piano-Bar Performance.” Fittingly titled A Celebration of Jerry Scott, the service features music by Michael Beau, Pam Palmieri, Colm Reilly, Steve Ross, and Marcus Simeone, with special speaker Tree Sequoia. On June 23, Revd John Magisano (Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches) will be the speaker at The Blessing of Drag Artists, a service celebrating the contributions and resilience of drag artists within the LGBTQ+ community. “Drag artists have been pivotal in the fight for equality, from the Stonewall riots to the AIDS crisis, and today, they remain a vibrant and integral part of the LGBTQ+ community,” noted CCC in its preview material, adding, “This special service is an opportunity to show appreciation and solidarity with a community that has long supported others.” Showing their love will be a community choir, vocalists Nina Blue and Cameron Mitchell Bell, special speaker Ruby Rims, and a special blessing by Revd Joe (DollFace) Nicholson focusing on themes of love, acceptance, and unity. The series concludes on June 30 with the nondenominational Revd Diane Trinkaus and vocalist Jeanne MacDonald. Then, from 2:30pm-6:30pm, all are invited to stop by, as the church is adorned with “images from the AIDS Memorial Quilt and other important parts of LGBTQ+ history.”

All services take place at 1pm, at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. 8th & 9th Aves.). To visit the Chelsea Community Church website, click here. To send an email, click here. To leave a voicemail, call 212-886-5463.

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