Out and About

Hip Hop Comes Home!

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Though most argue it hasn’t ever left, Hip Hop officially came home to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx with a special free block party and concert, marking its 50th anniversary at its birthplace on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Performers included KRS One, Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, The Sugar Hill Gang, Slick Rick, Talib Kweli of Black Starr, the Cold Crush Brothers, Chuck D, C.L. Smooth, Hakim Green, Wise Intelligent, Peter Gunz, and many more.

Documentary Film “1.5 Million” Deals with Illiteracy in The Bronx

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
There was outrage in The Bronx when the last general-interest bookstore, Barnes & Noble, shut down permanently in 2017. Many Bronxites saw it as evidence that the borough is not viewed in a positive light and is forgotten when it comes to its intellectual curiosity. For filmmaker Gregory Hernandez, the turmoil gave him an idea to tell a story about illiteracy in the borough. The result is the film “1.5 Million: A Bronx Documentary” which, as preadvised, screened at the Pelham Parkway-Van Nest branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) on Aug. 28.

UPDATE Friends of Devoe Park Launch Art Workshop Series Starting Sept. 16

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Friends of Devoe Park (FoDP), a volunteer group organized in 2017 by CATALYST, a City Parks Foundation subsidiary, is kicking off an art workshop series, coinciding with the back-to-school season. The series comprises two events, the first of which takes place on Saturday, Sept. 16. According to the organizers, around ten local children will receive “a paint and arts bundle” to learn how to paint and later to take home their finished visions of Devoe Park.