The city that never sleeps is currently taking a nap. All the things that make New York City the vibrant, exciting, and enchanting place that it is have modified their programming and reaching customers despite the current restrictions. There are plenty of the city’s finest haunts and jaunts available to enjoy virtually.
Social distancing, school lockdowns, and stay at home orders have made the days of the week virtually indistinguishable. Rosé Mansion makes sure you launch your weekend off right by offering virtual happy hours every week! They even have customized Zoom Backgrounds so you can feel like you are in your favorite mansion room. No happy hour is complete without a glass of wine, and Rose’ Mansion has got you covered. They will deliver a 6 or 12 pack of wine—produced by small businesses—right to your door. And while down your drink you can feel good about giving to charity too: 100% of the money from the online sales go toward paying the staff and reopening the bar.
If you are missing the sounds and beats of New York, you can check out the Music for the Soul of NYC’s Health + Hospitals Heroes. This new series brings inspiration and comfort to the 43,000 staff at NYC’s 11 public hospitals and their patients. It is providing paid work for musicians and features professional NYC musicians performing songs requested by health workers and patients at NYC public hospitals. Music for the Soul is livestreamed on NYC Health + Hospital’s Facebook page every day from noon-1pm.
Thought Gallery is live-streaming hundreds of talks, lectures, performances, and cultural events to enjoy. If you like to curl up with a good book, The New York Public Library is offering access to more than 300,000 FREE e-books and e-audio books during this crisis.
Last month the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College featured Harlem Children’s Zone – a charitable organization supported by Jeff Feig and his wife Michelle – in their community organization spotlight. This NPO “provides a comprehensive network of programs around education, culture, social and health services to more than 25,000 children and adults in Central Harlem.”
Located in Manhattan, in 2015 one of its programs – the Healthy Harlem Initiative – assisted over 7,000 students, ensuring they were engaged in daily physical activity as well as nutritional education. This comprised the “two bite” taste tests (for pre-schoolers) as well as nutritious recipe cook-offs for parents and older students.
To date, over 3,000 adults have benefitted from the programs offered by the Harlem Center Zone, such as: support groups, subsidized farmers market and more. Ultimately a staggering 1.5 million healthy, nutritious meals were prepared almost completely from scratch.
It is organizations such as Harlem Children’s Zone that successfully “provides comprehensive, critical support to children and families and reweaving the very fabric of community life,” which keeps our communities alive and well.
UPDATE (APRIL 4, 2017): I was doing my regular morning reading today when I came across an article which referenced Harlem Children’s Zone. Apparently, HCZ has had some staggering successes recently with 98% of their 2016 seniors at Promise Academy High School having graduated on time and headed off to college this past fall. Kudos HCZ, and kudos to donors like Jeff Feig for keeping this program running smoothly!
