Harlem Bespoke: We looked up a few more original 1940s New York City tax photos of Sugar Hill and got a better closeup of Jimmy’s Chicken Shack by 148th Street on St. Nicholas Avenue. The iconic hanging fowl-centric neon sign is the one image that always comes to mind but the storefront of the jazz spot was also quite interesting because it was actually a circular shack. Most in the neighborhood know that this is one of uptown’s historic district and the shop address still remains today but currently has a restaurant within: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: Harlem’s most followed blog on Facebook! Join our growing community of over 14,645 followers on the Harlem Bespoke Facebook site and receive daily to your account by liking our page: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: CRUX empowers members of the LGBTQ community to participate in rock climbing and outdoor recreation in New York. CRUX will host meetup nights at The Cliffs at Harlem on the second Tuesday of every month.
Tuesday, April 11th, 7:00PM-9:00PM, CRUX LGBTQ Meetup Night at The Cliffs climbing facility in Harlem located at 256 West 125th Street across from the Apollo Theater between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell. This is a great way to try out the sport and meet the community before signing up for a monthly membership. At 15,000 square feet, The Cliffs is Manhattan’s largest rock climbing gym featuring hundreds of climbs (refreshed weekly), and state-of-the-art climbing training equipment. $15 climbing pass with rentals. Learn more on the official Cliffs Harlem site: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: The renowned Amateur Night at the Apollo returns in 2023 after almost almost a two years absence and tickets are now on sale for November.
Wednesday, April 5th, 7:30PM, Amateur Night live at the Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. Local events have been selling out way in advance recently so those who want to get a head start on good seats should do so sooner than later. More details and advance online tickets at the official Apollo site:LINK
Harlem Bespoke: We were feeling very nostalgic for red velvet cupcakes lately and headed over to Loretta Alston’s namesake specialty bakery on Lenox by 120th Street. Red velvet was everywhere when we started blogging over the decades but has since become harder to find these days and most offerings are pretty basic. Not at L.A. Sweets! Everything at the boutique shop is baked freshly within hours and is hands down the most super moist cupcake we have had over the years. Our red velvet experience was absolutely on point with flavor and the cupcake was still warm with the cream cheese icing just whipped on top per order.
A salted caramel offering also caught our eye and this sticky sweet confection was also devastatingly decadent. The cube of caramel on top is absolutely extra and we would recommend to give it to your kids since we thought everything underneath was so rich in flavor already. We had a lackluster cupcake experience at Magnolia further downtown since everything was cold with that day-old taste and so would highly recommend to go out of the way for this under the radar Harlem shop which opened on the boulevard eight years ago: LINK
Harlem Bespoke also has a Twitter account with over 6,730 followers for those who want daily updates about stuff that is happening in the neighborhood. If you Twitter, check out our Harlem tweets and join here: LINK
Saturday, April 8th, 12:00PM-2:00PM, Annual Easter Egg Hunt on the James Baldin Lawn at St. Nicholas Park, 135th Street Plaza
St. Nicholas Park. The annual Easter Egg Hunt at St. Nicholas Park returns again this year and will usher in Spring with face painting, crafts,
kids activities, and more! All for FREE for uptown families so mark those calendars!
Brought to you by
Friends of St. Nicholas Park: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: Now open on Sundays!The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum at West 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue was only open for viewing on Saturdays recently but now has Sunday as another day to visit. Hours will be from 10:00AM to 3:00PM only on Saturdays and Sundays with art activities throughout the day. A new group show has recently debuted for Fall 2022 along with an exhibition of the works of Melvin Van Peebles. Note that the museum is just open for only two day during the week. More details and ticket sales on the current exhibit can be found at the Children’s Museum site: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: The Brown Sugar Comedy show has been bringing back stand up to the neighborhood and featuring some laughs from local black comedians. Live comedy night has been added to the lineup at Shrine at 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard by West 134th Street on Sunday nights starting at 6:00PM. Our favorite music venue in Harlem has been around for over 10 years and now has a regular in-person show schedule. Check out the updated calendar on the official website and drop by for some great local music and entertainment on the weekends: LINK
Carver Federal Savings Bank joined U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at a press conference at Settepani Bakery, a minority woman-owned business in Harlem, NY. She announce her support for $341 million in increased funding for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), $56 million for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) microloan program, and $10 million for SBA’s Growth…
