Living for the city: City Parks programs

The City Parks Foundation is pretty amazing. Last summer I mainly marveled from afar at their music programs...though I did make it last August to the 2nd day of the Charlie Parker jazz festival in Tompkins Square park, which was one of the best days in NYC last year for me.

This year, I've started to actually attend some of the City Parks concerts. Last Wednesday we took the train out to Crown Heights to see Bahamadia at Brower Park, which was a good, intimate show--just 40 or so people there, very mellow, so we could get up close. Then Thursday I wandered through the LES and the E Village and finally found the bandshell in the E River Park, in time to see about 30 minutes of KRS-One. By contrast, there were lots of people (a thousand? more?), and they were amped.

I'm planning to make it back to the E River bandshell this Thursday to see Willie Colon. I might even venture over to Queensbridge to see the Delfonics this evening. Then there's Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, and Rashaan Patterson, all in August, all in Harlem.

All that I was aware of..but now just realized there's a whole CityParks Theater schedule I need to work in...3 different plays being performed at different parks over the next few weeks. Got to try to see at least one or two..

Though I already missed the showings in our borough, which were at Von King Park--which has become one of my favorite parks in the borough. Biked out there a couple weeks ago, which was my first visit this year. (I guess there were only 2 visits last summer, which means a grand total of 3 visits in my life..) That was at the beginning of my 2nd Brooklyn bikeabout, which I'll have to write up in detail sometime soon.