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HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

The COVID Theater Think Tank

The COVID Theatre Think Tank (CTT) announced that on Thursday April 1st at 2pm ET, they will host a national town hall for the theatre industry to address the current state of the virus, what lies ahead, and what it means for the reopening of theatre across the country. Key advisers to CTT including Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and Economist Blythe Adamson; CUNY Graduate School of Public Health Professor Bruce Lee; White House Senior Advisor for the COVID-19 Response Andy Slavitt; SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education Teresa Y. Smith and more speakers to be announced, will be on hand to discuss these matters and share the latest information and insights into the vaccination efforts, effect of the variants, and other important factors in the timeline to reopening.

This will be the first of several CTT Town Halls, which are intended to help the theatre industry hear directly from experts in order to move toward reopening with a common understanding of the underlying science and conditions. The Town Hall is free to attend and open to theatre industry professionals in all roles. Registration is now open at https://www.eventbrite. com/e/covid-theatre-townhall-tickets.

COVID-19 THEATRE THINK-TANK (CTT) is a self-organized consortium of theatre professionals across the nation, representing multiple disciplines and corners of the industry from Broadway to Off-Broadway and Regional theater makers, has joined forces with leading front-line health experts, including faculty from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health, to research the unique challenges facing the theater industry emerging from the pandemic. Through study and analysis, CTT aims to assess what the evolving scientific understanding of COVID-19 means for theaters, their employees, and audiences, and serve as a resource for theaters of all types and sizes nationwide, as well as individual artists, unions, guilds and organizations. www.covidtheatrethinktank.org

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Eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine?

If you’re 60 or older, a TLC licensed driver, a home health care aide, a restaurant or delivery worker, a grocery store or bodega worker, you are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines are available to eligible New Yorkers at no cost, regardless of insurance or immigration status.

Look for an appointment today!

Visit nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or call 877-VAX-4NYC to make an appointment at a City-run vaccination site.

Bill de Blasio Mayor Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc Commissioner

PONDER THIS! Respect for the Bottle Lady

By Hazel Rosetta Smith

Ido not know her name or nationality. Do not know where she lives. Do not know the reality of her plight through these trying COVID-19 months that turned into a year. I just know my heart is touched by her spirit of duty and diligence. She is an entrepreneur of self service by any means possible and necessary to survive and thrive. I have profound respect for the bottle lady.

I have watched her from my window doing what she does to earn a nickel. She gently unties each plastic bag from a pile of bags hauled out to the curbside of buildings on the upper westside. Each bag in turn is relieved of its contents and retied with precision and care as if it had not been disturbed.

Her jackpot is the stash of empty plastic bottles that were supposedly on their way for recycling by way of city sanitation department trucks. We have heard it said someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure. In this case, someone’s trash is cash, be it a mere 5 cents per bottle. And on she goes most of the day rain or shine, the bottle lady is out and about on the city streets to earn a living, quietly and legally.

If you watch her closely, you will see there is an art to how she stocks her cart with bottles of all sizes, equally balanced for weight consistency and space capacity. She holds every bottle in her hand as if it is a treasure of great value. The hunt is on, the count is rising, it takes 20 bottles to make one single dollar.

I began this writing by noting that I do not know her name, or other facts one might learn in conversation with another. However, I say to you, I know her voice. I have passed her on the avenue many times and our eyes have connected. Without bragging about my slim donation, I will admit I have given her a dollar or two whenever I could. The reason for revealing my moment of giving is to recollect and share her reaction.

Taking no notice of what I was extending toward her, the bottle lady does not look down, her eyes are focused on my eyes and in a soft, sweet melodious voice she says, “God bless you.” I imagine my response “God bless you too” must have sounded wimpy, because in just those few seconds, I am filled with emotion and unexpected teariness. And it happens, every time she blesses my heart.

I know this is what true thankfulness sounds like without using the words “thank you.” I sense that the bottle lady is asking God to bless me without knowing me or my circumstances. She reveals her belief and faith in three words that mean more than she could ever know. Maybe it is not the words, God bless you, that mean so much, as it is the request she personally delivers to God on my behalf.

The last time I saw the bottle lady she was moving gingerly up Columbus Avenue. I noticed her cart was not anywhere as full as I had seen it and it lacked the orderliness it usually exhibited. I was a distance away, but I quickly snapped a picture of her to place on my prayer altar, something I had not done for her though she has often come to mind in my daily meditation.

When I looked at the picture I had taken, in the shadow of the street post on the pavement it appears as a cross directing her steps under the protection of God. It is my hope that all is well on her life journey. It is my desire that more of us will be a blessing to others and inspired by the perseverance of the bottle lady. God bless you and yours. [Hazel Rosetta Smith is a journalist, playwright, artistic director of Help Somebody Theatrical Ministries and HRS Speaks! Retired, former Managing Editor and Woman’s Editor of the New York Beacon News and current columnist for Harlem Community News, Inc. Contact: misshazel@twc.com]

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HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

New Businesses Opened in Harlem During the Pandemic – Part 1

By Pat Stevenson Photos by Seitu Oronde

Harlem has lost a lot of businesses due to the Pandemic. However, we have also gained many new businesses which opened after March 2020. Some business owners had signed new leases and begun renovation just prior to the shut down. Others are taking advantage of the newly opened spaces available now due to the closing of businesses.

As many New Yorkers are getting vaccinated and feeling a bit more comfortable about outdoor and indoor dining, residents and visitors to Harlem will find there are many new restaurants and other businesses to explore. We will introduce you to these businesses in the next few weeks with a 4-Part series.

Tito’s BBQ Station opened in September 2020. Tito is the nickname of the owner who says this is his first restaurant. The restaurant is located at 348 Lenox Ave. Call them at 212-828-4867.

Harlem Biscuit Company opened in November 2020. they are located at 2082 Frederick Douglass Blvd (between 112th and 113th Streets). They serve house-made biscuit sandwiches featuring fried chicken, bacon, eggs and cheese and more. You can call them at 929-390-1472. King Barka opened a second location in Harlem January 2021. The restaurant specializes in Jamaican Cuisine. They claim to have the best oxtails in Harlem. They are located at 2733 Frederick Douglass Blvd. Call them at 646-952-0394.

Dolly’s 1st Cut Meat Market opened December 2020. They say the market is filling the void of meat markets in Harlem. Located at 2515 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. You can call them at 646370-6308.

King Barka Restaurant

Harlem Biscuit