This Week In & Around Chelsea: September 30-October 6, 2024

Here’s What’s Happening (in order of appearance):

THIS WEEK & NEXT: Baryshnikov Arts’ Free Outdoor Performance / Movie Night at Chelsea Green Park / The Longest Table / Flu & COVID Vaccine Clinic / Older Adult Resource Fair / Shred Day! / 

WEEKLY & ONGOING EVENTS: Free Programming in Bella Abzug Park /  Music & Art at Verdi Cannabis / Down to Earth Farmers Market Chelsea / Pow! Bam! Wow! Art Exhibit at Hudson Guild Gallery / 

DONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: THIS WEEK’S MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENTS: NYC Council District 3 Participatory Budgeting Kickoff / Stop Project 2025! / The Full Board Meeting of Manhatttan Community Board 4 /

Free Outdoor Performance by Baryshnikov Arts’ Spring 2024 Artists in Residence, choreographer Imani Gaudin and visual artist Jakob Vitale: Thursday, October 3, 12pm-3pm & 4pm-7pm at Bella Abzug Park (btw. West 34th St. & West 35th St.) | Co-Commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance,  jakob & imani maximizes the wide-open space of its outdoor setting to explore the symbiotic relationship between contemporary dance and graffiti art–“investigating,” its creators tell us, “how movement can alter the perception of graffiti’s visual language, and how the visual elements of graffiti can inform and inspire a dancer’s physical expression.” For more information, see the below flyer and also click here.

Outdoor Movie Night at Chelsea Green Park (140 W. 20th St. btw. 6th & 7th Aves.): Friday, October 4 at 7pm | This free event sees the Muppets in top form, as their showbiz dreams take them to our own backyard–Manhattan, that is. The film begins just after sundown. Pack some snacks, bring a blanket, and prepare to sing along with Kermit and Miss Piggy, at this screening of 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan. And it’s not too early to plan what you’ll be wearing from 10am to 2pm on Sunday, October 20, when the park plays host to its annual Halloween Party. This year’s theme: Hocus-Pocus Harvest. To stay informed about what’s going on at Chelsea Green Park, join the Friends of Chelsea Green email list. Contact them via chelseagreenpark@gmail.com. To RSVP for October 4’s Movie Night (appreciated, but not required), click here.

The Longest Table: Sunday, October 6, 12pm-2pm on West 21st Street (btw. 9th & 10th Aves.) | Seen two years ago for the first time, the concept for The Longest Table grew out of the pandemic era’s yearn to connect with people in a setting other than Zoom. Its premise was simple: Fill a crosstown block with one very long table populated by friends and strangers brought together by the simple acts of breaking bread and sharing stories. Attendance was robust, and the response was over-the-moon positive. Last year, the event returned and proved its good mood mojo was no mere fluke. Now comes word from organizers that The Longest Table will be back on October 6–and if history repeats, we may well be looking at an annual event with real legs (lots and lots of them… because, you know, a table has legs, and that table is looooooong). So get in on the ground floor while there still is one: Claim your place at the table, or be one of the well-treated volunteers who help make the whole thing happen. For details, click here to visit The Longest Table website–and to view Chelsea Community News’ coverage of the event in years past, click here and click here. For a recently conducted Q&A that previews October 6’s The Longest Table, click here.

Flu & COVID Vaccine Clinic: Monday, October 7, 12pm-3pm |See the below flyer for details.

 

Older Adult Resource Fair: Sunday, October 8, 3-5pm at the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center (250 W. 65th St.) | See the below flyer for details (and also click here).

West Side Shred Day: Tuesday, October 10, 9am-12pm at 125 West 97th Street (btw. Columbus & Amsterdam) | NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and the NYC Department of Sanitation team up for this event centering around a seriously awesome piece of machinery that reduces your sensitive paper documents to ribbons. So bring those bank statements, decades-old expense receipts from years you’ll never be audited for, and that pair of shoeboxes full of poetry that flowed so freely from you right after last year’s painful breakup. Shred Day is your chance to drop it off, walk away and return to a much less cluttered home, office, and life!

WEEKLY & ONGOING EVENTS

Through October 30, Free Programming in Bella Abzug Park (W. 34th to 35th Sts., 10th to 11th Aves.) | Said a recent statement by the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, it’s “excited to extend the season for free outdoor yoga and kids concerts this year through October 30th. Join us in the park for free yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays with Veronica from Bien Good Well. On Tuesdays at the playground, stop by for a fun sing a long with Mike Messer Music. Our popular outdoor dance parties will also continue into October with two more events with DJ The Real on October 10th and 24th.” To register for yoga, click here. For other calendar info, click here.

The Green Room, a Live Music and Arts Series at Verdi Cannabis (158 W. 23rd St. btw. 6th & 7th Aves.) | Having opened in January, legal cannabis distributor Verdi Cannabis gets down to the business of regular event programming “We are doing this to bring the community together through music, arts, and cannabis; to make Verdi a safe, comfortable, fun place for people to come to and experience culture,” says Green Room co-curator Kenny Cunningham. The music part of the series happens every Thursday and is already booked through the end of the year. October’s roster is as follows: 10/3, Nice Time,  7pm-9:30pm; 10/10, Winter Strum,  7pm-9:30pm; 10/17, also a 7pm-9:30pm happening, will feature talent TBD. On 10/18, 3pm-7pm, it’s Must Love Dogs and a Comedy Halloween Painting event. On 10/24, Breakneck Boys appear from 8pm-9:30pm; and on October’s biggest night, 10/31 (Halloween!!!), OG’s noise plays OCM (Original Cannabis Music) from 7pm to 9:30pmThe art by Jelly Stay Gucci that’s spent several weeks on Verdi’s walls will remain there through the beginning of this weekend. On October 6, painter and vocalist Susan Saar will be installing works “created mostly while listening to live jazz.” To keep up with what else is up with Verdi, click here to visit their website.

Jelly Stay Gucci is the artist whose work, seen here, is on view at Verdi Cannabis through October 5. | Photo by Kenny Cunningham

Down to Earth Farmers Market Chelsea: Satudays, 9am-2pm And on Saturday, October 5, the Market Celebrates 10 Years in Chelsea! (see the below flyer) | 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.  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.

 

DONE WITH BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: EVENTS FROM EARLIER IN THE WEEK (this column updates on Thursday, to highlight upcoming weekend activities)

Pow! Bam! Wow!  — An Exhibit On View Through October 2 at Hudson Guild Gallery (441 W. 26th St. btw. 9th & 10th Aves.) | Contemporary comic strip art is the subject matter for this exhibit curated by Danny Simmons and featuring the work of Eric Battle, N. Steven Harris, Shawn Martinbrough, Raphael Tiberino, and Vincent Zurzolo. The weekly viewing hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10am-6pm and Saturday, 12pm-3pm.  / There is an Artist Talk on October 1 at 4pm; Admission is Free.  See the below flyer for more info.

NYC Council District 3 Participatory Budgeting Kickoff: Monday, September 30, 6pm at Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre (227 W. 42nd St.) | A fall tradition returns on the final day of September, as the District 3 (D3) Office of NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher invites D3 folks to the kickoff of Participatory Budgeting (PB). The process–which plays out now through spring of next year–begins with this kickoff event, where you’ll learn about each step that takes PB from September 30’s group brainstorming sessions all the way through the public voting period that determines what idea (or ideas) will be funded by the $1 Million set aside for PB! RSVP at bit.ly/pbkickoff2024.

Stop Project 2025! Monday, September 30, 6:30pm at Penn South Community Room 8A (343 Eighth Ave.) | See the event information directly below…

Community Board 4’s area of coverage. | Image via CB4

The Full Board of Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4): Tuesday, October 1, 6:30pm to 9pm Online via Zoom & YouTube and In-Person at the Hotel Trades Council (305 W. 44th St. btw. 8th & 9th Aves.) | The full membership of MCB4 normally convenes on the first Wednesday of the month–but with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) beginning at sundown on Wed., Oct. 2, MCB4 convenes one day early this month.  Click here to view the agenda and background materials, including letters generated by individual committees and voted on by the Board’s full membership (approved as is, pending changes per Full Board discussion or, rarely, returned to committee for more work). Of particular interest on October 1 is Agenda Item 17, a letter generated from the Transportation Planning Committee (TPC) addressed to the MTA and concerning MCB4’s support of the need for elevators on the West 23rd Street subway stopsat Eighth and Sixth Aves. Also on the Agenda, in the meeting’s upfront portion: Reports from local elected officials or their reps; a report from MB4 District Manager Jesse Bodine; and a report from MCB4 Chair Jessica Chait. A Public Hearing—this time, on the topic of District Needs and Budget Requests—lets you speak directly to the Board, as does the Public Session, during which you can opine on any topic(s) of choice. To attend via Zoom (and register for the Public Hearing & Session), click here. There will also be a sign-up sheet at the meeting for those attending in person. To view it live via CB4’s YouTube channel, click here. (Note: that’s where you’ll also find archived recordings of all MCB4 meetings.) To attend via phone, call 646-518-9805 (when prompted, the Webinar ID s 986 0945 5541). For info about all things MCB4, their website can be found by clicking here.

-Listings compiled by Scott Stiffler


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