Dear Neighbor,

Sidiki Conde was 14 years old when he lost his legs to polio. In his home country of Guinea in West Africa, a physical disability like that is a sentence for a life of loneliness and isolation. Now 59, Conde now lives in a fifth-floor walkup in the East Village.

“Happiness is about not being defeated, everything that comes, you can figure it out,” he told us. “Just think about how you can be happy, in any situation, even with what is happening now.”

Conde’s path to happiness came to him through a dream, during which he saw himself singing and dancing. He took it as a sign, and through much hard work and persistence taught himself to dance on his hands. Doing so allowed him to participate in his culture’s coming-of-age ceremony, which reconnected him to his community.

“I was so happy that day, I forgot all of my pain, all of my disability,” he said.

Conde began traveling around Guinea performing before becoming something of an international sensation. He settled in New York City about two decades ago.

Conde is among 54 immigrant artists featured in the Center for Traditional Music and Dance’s Beat of the Boroughs initiative, just launched this week. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through March, artists from around the world will be leading performances, workshops, lectures and more on the center’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

“We want to help the general public understand the incredible stories that these artists have and the importance of their presence in New York and the United States,” said Andrew Colwell, project director and staff ethnomusicologist at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance.

That includes: inner Mongolian long songs by Suvda Khereid, Haitian traditional songs by George Vilson and Régine Romain and Afro-Colombian songwriter Ronald Polo.

Beyond financial implications, the pandemic also hinders immigrant artists’ ability to ensure their culture lives on.

“One of their main goals is to pass on their music or dance forms and traditions to the next generation, and obviously the pandemic has made that especially difficult,” Colwell said. “There is a range of impacts we can barely understand right now.”

Conde plans to share the story of his ancestral masks — his grandfather and great grandfather were both village chiefs —  and perform on the drums this Friday, Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. Expect some words of wisdom on how to deal with hardship and thrive in the face of adversity  — something we can all use a little of right now.

The Center for Traditional Music and Dance is accepting donations, so if you enjoy a performance consider making a contribution. It hopes to be able to extend Beat of the Boroughs for the duration of the pandemic. You can check out the lineup of performers here.

HEY! WE NEED YOUR HELP… Hit forward on this newsletter, share its existence in your networks and ask folks to subscribe. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We also seek donations to pay our vendors and freelancers. 

OUT & ABOUT

Honoring those we’ve lost: This past Saturday, Epicenter live streamed a popup memorial event hosted by NYCNext and the Floral Heart Project in Rockaway Beach. It was a beautiful ceremony that brought the community together to grieve those we’ve lost to Covid-19, but also to create a space for hope and joy. You can watch the live stream here.

Black Restaurant Week: Support local businesses while celebrating African-American, African and Caribbean cuisine this week through Sunday, Nov. 22, during the first New York Tri-State Black Restaurant Week. Learn more and check out participating restaurants here.

Winter Village: Like it or not, cold weather is coming, and when it does, you can get into the spirit by heading to the Winter Village at Bryant Park. The major draw is, of course, the free-admission skating rink. It’s open daily, and this year requires advance reservations. The open-air holiday market will feature many new and returning vendors. Four minority-owned small businesses will be showcasing their products rent-free, thanks to a partnership with Bank of America. Learn more.

Calling all Yankees fans: We know it must have been hard not being able to attend any games this season. How about a virtual tour of the stadium as a consolation? The tours, which are led by a professional guide, are free and take place every Tuesday and Thursday. Space is limited, RSVP here.

Our Fair City: The Museum of the City of New York is hosting a virtual conversation about the state of housing in NYC — or lack thereof — this Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. The online event, which is first in the museum’s series, “Our Fair City: Building a More Equitable New York,” will feature affordable housing architect Jonathan Rose, Executive Director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development Barika X. Williams and New York Magazine’s architecture critic Justin Davidson. Learn more and reserve your tickets.

Pasta at home: Don’t feel comfortable dining out at the moment? (Or, you just haven’t been able to score one of the sought-after reservations?) The chef behind highly acclaimed Brooklyn restaurants Lilia and Misi, Missy Robbins, is now offering at home meal service and gourmet groceries through Misi Pasta. You can order the ingredients for Lilia’s famous mafaldini with pink peppercorn among other items like green garlic butter, olive oil martinis, whipped ricotta with fresh sourdough … go on, treat yourself. Delivery available for certain locations. Order here.

Last-minute Thanksgiving Meals: This holiday season is going to be a weird one, we know. Not sure what you’re going to be eating next Thursday? Too tired to really think about it? We feel that. Here are a few restaurants still accepting orders for Thanksgiving:

1. Bubby’s in Tribeca is accepting orders until end of day on Thursday, Nov. 19. for a full multi-course Thanksgiving dinner. We’re talking deviled eggs, pickled vegetables and buttermilk biscuits — and those are just the starters. $100 for two people. Order here.

1. Thanksgiving dinner by the Rainbow Room? How New York. The iconic Rockefeller center restaurant is offering dinner for six for $325, as well as a la cart options. Orders must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23. )

2. Who can say no to BBQ? Pig Beach wants to bring you down South for a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, coleslaw, mac and cheese, dessert and cocktails. Orders must be in by Saturday, Nov. 21. You can view their full menu and place your order here.

3. Little Chef Little Cafe in Long Island City is serving up big Thanksgiving meals. Their “Thanksgiving by the plate” option features holiday favorites for meat and veggie lovers alike. Orders will be accepted until Wednesday, Nov. 18.

4. Don’t think too much about choosing sides everyone likes. Marina Del Rey in Throgs Neck has three full-course Thanksgiving dinner menus to pick from. If you and your family aren’t turkey people, we suggest “Everything But the Bird.” Order by Monday, Nov. 23.

1. Pulkies Jewish Style BBQ has all of the comfort food, but none of the kosher. Their Thanksgiving dinner options are perfect for smaller gatherings of two to four people. Orders are for pick-up only on Wednesday, Nov. 25 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., or Thanksgiving Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. )

2. Build your own multi-course Thanksgiving dinner with Nuhma NYC in Long Island City. They have veggie and vegan-friendly sides and those classic pies that really make the holiday. Check out their menu here and place your order here by Wednesday, Nov. 18.  BBQ lovers, we have one more for you. Queens Bully in Forest Hills has a Thanksgiving takeout menu with turkey (smoked or fried), plenty of sides, and fresh apple pie for dessert. Place your order here before Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Have you subscribed to our spin-off newsletter, The Unmuted, yet? Written by two veteran education journalists, it focuses on everything schools. In this week’s edition, they speak with a parent on how they have been dealing with their child’s special education schedule and as always, give you the ever-changing scoop on what’s going on in schools.  We know these are crazy times for parents and students alike. Let us know how we can help.

3 percent: Parents, teachers and administrators have been waiting with bated breath to see if the city-wide coronavirus positivity rate climbs above 3% over a seven day average, at which point Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed he will shut them down. The positivity rate is currently hovering around 2.77%, and schools are set to be open at least through Tuesday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on the other hand, said over the weekend that he believes New York City should take into consideration the positivity rate of specific schools when deciding to halt in-person learning.

What’s going on in schools? The New York City Department of Education is hosting an info session about remote and blended learning, grading policies, and health and safety protocols this Thursday, Nov. 19 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Register here.

GIVE & GET HELP

Small biz ambassadors: North Brooklyn mutual aid has created a pilot program that will connect “ambassadors” — people from the community with social media and marketing experience — to neighborhood businesses to help amplify them during the holiday season. Spread the word and sign up — either as a small business or an ambassador.
Help Astoria Food Pantry spread thanks: The neighborhood org is hosting a pie-a-thon now through Nov. 25.. Love baking? Donate a homemade pie (or two!) and it will give them out to community members in need for Thanksgiving. Not a baker? You can pledge a $ amount for every pie that is donated. Sign up here. The food pantry is also accepting Thanksgiving kits (one can cranberry, one can of corn, one box of stuffing, one packet of mashed potatoes and one packet of gravy), which can be dropped off Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. or Thursday Nov. 19 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at its location at 28-14 Steinway St.
Help save the arts: The pandemic put the discipline of dance on the back burner, causing the Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center to cancel classes until further notice. Highly acclaimed dancer Dwana Adiaha Smallwood, the founder of the dance studio who is devoted to serving the Bed-Stuy community, says that without a monetary boost, she may have to close the center’s doors within three months. Smallwood is currently taking donations that will allow her to stay open and continue to invest in the community by giving its children access to participating in performance art. So far, over $104,000 has been raised out of the $1 million goal. You can donate here.

DAY TRIPPING

Looking for the path that’s off the beaten path? That seems more key than ever these days. The North Fork of Long Island has so many destinations, it’s easy to miss this hidden treasure just before the turnoff for downtown Greenport. Inlet Pond County Park Preserve is maintained by the North Fork Audubon Society. Its 1.6 miles of trails wind through 55 acres of bird and butterfly filled woods. You’ll pass through a Middle Earth-like canopy toward a viewing deck of the pond, and then out onto a stretch of Long Island Sound shoreline that has an untamed beauty. Before you get back on the path to the entrance, check out the big boulder formations a little further down the shore. When you return to civilization, the delicacies of Greenport are right around the corner… more about those in a future post.

LAST WORD 

We want to see, hear, feel, support your art and response to this moment. To submit a poem, short story, artwork or any shareable experience, email us.

This week, we welcome New York City-based artist Samanta Batra Mehta. Mehta’s work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and art fairs internationally including at the Queens Museum of the Arts, Hunterdon Museum, Taubman Museum of Art, Fondazione Fotographia and Artopia in Milan, Shrine Empire, Sakshi Gallery and Tarq in India, Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Dubai and Salon Du Dessin Contemporain in Paris, among others. Mehta was nominated for the Forbes India Art Award. She was also awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant and Wave Hill’s Winter Workspace Residency in the US. More of her work can be viewed on her website and Instagram page.

Mehta says “My artwork explores the human condition and the environment we inhabit. Themes in identity, memory, personal history, the body and the socio-political are depicted and debated in my multi-layered works that employ drawing, found objects, text, photo and installation. I re-purpose collected antiquarian objects, imagery and texts along with my own drawings to render a reimagined history.  In my visual vocabulary, the human form and anatomical imagery is intertwined with foliage and nature.

Nature/land/landscape is seen as a metaphor for the body (and vice-versa) and as a site for germination, nourishment, degradation, trespass, plunder, colonization and transgression. Migration has spanned the last four generations in my family. I spent my early childhood living on a ship sailing across the world and have lived on three continents since then. The theme of migration appears often in my work where I examine what it means to be rooted in a constant state of flux. As an incorrigible collector, my collections (of antiquarian maps, books, engravings and vintage objects) and my resultant artworks, give me a sense of permanence and points of reference in my shifting physical and emotional geographies.”

This originally appeared in the Epicenter-NYC newsletter. Subscribe here to get this right in your inbox.