The Voices Of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY) ​Gala for Healthy & Just Communities celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary of advocacy last Thursday, September 19. 

At a lively gathering at the Roulette Intermedium in downtown Brooklyn, community advocates and leaders came together to celebrate their collective mission to improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers impacted by HIV/AIDS, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness.

“I’m so excited to be here tonight to celebrate VOCAL New York’s 25th anniversary. We are so proud and grateful to be building on the legacy of our community organizing, our services that we’ve created together since 1999,” said VOCAL-NY Co-Executive Director Alyssa Aguilera.

For the last 25 years, the organization’s advocates have been instrumental in pushing criminal justice-focused legislation like the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act, the Fair Chance Housing Act, the Public Bathroom Reporting bill, the Homeless Sweeps Reporting bill, Daniel’s Law, and City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) voucher reforms. In recent years, it has expanded to include satellite offices in Kentucky in 2022 and Texas in 2023. 

This year they also launched a national chapter called VOCAL-US. “This is just one of the many milestones we’re celebrating here tonight,” Aguilera said. “Some others include celebrating our first year and our new permanent home that we own, which has allowed us to dramatically expand our drop-in center and the life-saving harm reduction services we provide to low income people who use drugs every day.”

The gala’s honorees included New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, former New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Chief Chris Alexander, and longtime HIV/AIDS advocate Tracie Adams with their Justice, Compassion & Love awards. The three awards are tributes to VOCAL founders Joe Bostic, Joe Capestany, and Jennifer Flynn.

Speaker Adams, who received the Compassion award, was praised for standing up to Mayor Eric Adam’s administration and backing advocacy-led initiatives in the face of immense pushback from City Hall. She’s helped pass the CityFHEPS program reforms, affordable housing, and the passage of the How Many Stops Act and the city’s ban on solitary confinement in jails. 

“VOCAL, we’ve come a long way and I’m just going to speak from the heart just to let you know that we do what we do in this first women-led majority in the city council in the history of the City of New York,” Speaker Adams said in her acceptance speech. “We lead very, very differently. We lead from the heart first.”

She briefly discussed the fight for elected officials to legislate from lived experiences as constituents themselves.

“The speaker is still fighting with us,” said Elizabeth Mackey, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union, “as we’re fighting to ensure that the current Adams administration implements the laws that we pass.”

Alexander, who suddenly resigned ​​as head of the state cannabis agency this May, was given the Justice award and received thunderous applause. Tracie Adams, 58, who has been a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Rochester chapter and has been living with HIV for 20 years, received the Love award.

“I’ve worked with VOCAL for years. I worked closely with the leadership to help secure the new headquarters and have been involved in many [of their] big fights,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who attended the event. “What inspires me about VOCAL is that they represent directly impacted New Yorkers, people who were formerly incarcerated, people who are living in our shelters, people who are struggling with substance use issues. VOCAL is them. And as the people who are directly impacted, they are closest to the issues. They are closest to the problem and they are best positioned to guide us on the right solutions.”

During the gala, organizers also took time to remember VOCAL members who have passed recently like Carl Stubbs, Felipe “Flip” Rodriguez, Curtis Jones, Craig ‘Primo’ Mack, and Greta Allen.

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There’s a new nightclub opening that promises to bring back old-school New York City vibes, with a modern twist, of course.

Petite Disco will open at 161 West 23rd Street by Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, in the space once occupied by the infamous celebrity hotspot Suede. It’ll feature luxe furnishings and a French-inspired design that celebrates the decadence of the disco era. 

“Luxurious velvet fabric tents the entire dance floor to capture a bohemian and sensuous vibe,” reads a press release. “Bespoke curved LED lighting that evokes Maxime’s sinuous decor, atop curved banquettes cloaked in plush merlot velvet.”

Disco chandeliers and curated art pieces add to the destination’s aesthetic as well. 

“The team is thrilled to reintroduce the missing pieces of New York nightlife,” said Cole Bernand and Yosi Benvenisti, two of the personalities behind the project, in a statement. “Our mission is to revitalize the scene with a fresh concept set in an iconic space. We’re bringing back the old-school New York nightlife vibe, with a strong emphasis on hospitality and a deep focus on emerging electronic music.”

Whether Petite Disco will revitalize the city’s pretty anonymous nightclub scene is yet to be seen, but it’s nice to feel like we’ve jumped back in time for even a little bit.

* This article was originally published here

It has become somewhat of a rite of passage that the Mets face their longtime National League East rival, the Atlanta Braves, late in the Major League Baseball season with the division title or playoff spot on the line.

On Tuesday, the teams, both in an intense and consequential battle for a wild card spot, began a three-game series in Atlanta. The Braves took the opener 5-1 and were breathing down the Mets’ necks with the Arizona Diamondbacks elbowing their way toward one of the two bids still up for grabs. The trio was each separated by only one-half game, with the Mets up on the Braves by a full game before Wednesday night’s MLB schedule.  

The Mets held the second wild-card position at 87-70. The Diamondbacks, who played the San Francisco Giants, were right behind them at 87-71, and the Braves were practically even at 86-71. The San Diego Padres, 91-66 when they took on the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, have already clinched the No. 1 wild-card spot.

Prior to Tuesday’s game, Atlanta’s 26-year-old, 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee in May, and his younger brother, Mets’ 24-year-old rookie shortstop Luisangel Acuna, swapped jerseys in their first encounter as MLB players. The younger Acuna has been filling in at shortstop  admirably for Mets star Francisco Lindor, who has been experiencing back issues and has only played one inning since Sept. 13.

“If I play this year, I don’t think it’s going to be pain-free,” said Lindor following the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on Sunday. “And I’m OK with that. I just don’t want it to be constant pain where I can’t bend over. Then I put my teammates in a position where I’m not helping them as much as I can. That’s not fair to anybody.”
Lindor, who has 31 home runs and 86 RBI, leads the Mets in hits (163) and batting average (.271). 

After the series finale tonight against the Braves, the Mets will close their regular season schedule with three games against the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. The Brewers have clinched the NL Central title.

The Yankees have also cemented a place in the postseason and will finish a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles tonight in the Bronx. They fell short of clinching the AL East title on Tuesday, losing 5-3 to the Orioles, but hoped to celebrate last night with a victory. Baltimore’s victory on Tuesday earned them a wild-card invitation after they won the division last season.

The Yankees will play the Pittsburgh Pirates three games this weekend — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — before beginning the start of the postseason next week. 

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* This article was originally published here

In 2020, we all fell in love with chef Eric Huang’s chili-spiced, fried birds. While billed as an “underground” operation, during the peak of the pandemic, the takeout and delivery pop-up generated lines and a waitlist that nearly topped 10,000 people. Its fried fowl, spiced in a bath of Tianjin chilies, Szechuan peppercorns and MSG, earned them a spot in our best new restaurants list, even when they technically didn’t have a home base. After two years on the pop-up circuit, Pecking House came to roost in Brooklyn back in 2022. But Huang’s birds couldn’t stay in the coop too long. This month, the fried birds are flying over the East River, landing in one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods.

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Opening tomorrow, Pecking House (83 Henry Street) is coming to Chinatown. Parked right under the Manhattan Bridge, the newest locale is much smaller than the original coop with only 10-seats at his disposal. Intentional about his next space, chef Huang sees the newest locale as a homecoming, hoping to “reclaim Chinatown’s narrative, honor our heritage, and shape its future.”

“While the first generation of Asian Americans were known for running restaurants, the second generation was pushed to pursue careers in more stable fields like medicine, law and engineering,” said Huang in a press release. “Now, it is time for us, as second-generation chefs, to reclaim Chinatown’s narrative, honor our heritage, and shape its future.”

And in a world where prices continue to go up, Huang is doing the opposite. At both locations, Pecking House’s quarter fried chicken with a side will be priced at $15 (previously $18 for a two-piece chicken with a side) and the half-fried chicken with a side will be set at $23 (previously $27 for a three-piece chicken with a side). New items to drop include a non-fried Blackened Chicken Sando, two salad options, and a Coconut Rice Pudding to sweeten the deal.

* This article was originally published here

We’re all more than a little bit excited about the extensive work that’s being done to beautify parts of the Manhattan river front, including the brand new Italian built and ADA accessible pedestrian bridge that just opened on the Lower East Side.

But, let’s be honest, all the improvements come with a series of headache-inducing setbacks and closures that we’ll continue to endure for the upcoming few months—including the shuttering of a stretch of the Uptown Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.

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Earlier this week, the pedestrian and cyclist path between 100th and 125th Streets along the Hudson River closed down for repairs. Anyone trying to go through the area will be rerouted to Riverside Drive, according to Gothamist. 

The $1.5 million repair work being done will address bumps and potholes that make navigating the area difficult for cyclists for years, per NY1. 

The portion of the path that’s currently closed is commonly referred to as Cherry Walk because it’s home to more than 3,000 cherry trees that the Japanese government had gifted to the city back in 1912. It’s still undoubtedly one of the most popular spots in the city to visit during cherry blossom season.

Speaking of: the path will likely be back open in time for the next cherry blossom season. If everything goes according to plan, the city will reopen the path in March of 2025 (cherry blossom season usually peaks in early April). Here’s to hoping we’ll have a nicer, smoother path to walk through soon.

* This article was originally published here