Uptown To Do List - Week of March 10, 2025
An ever changing list of things to do above the park
Hello and Happy Monday! As always, our key for events:
👋 - We are going to this event, so come by and say hello!
🌟 - We wish we could go, but you should go and tell us how it is!
EATS AND DRINKS
March Madness inches ever closer. Here are some more spots to catch all of the games.
Harlem Tavern (2153 Frederick Douglass Blvd at West 116th Street): Harlem Tavern is fun. Eater even says it is one of the best sports bars in NYC. The inside is spacious and the outside is even spacious-er. Like Inwood Bar & Grill, Harlem Tavern loves a drink special. And while they do not appear to celebrate National Egg Day, Harlem Tavern is open on Mondays, which is not nothing Uptown. That and we have it on good authority that Malcolm-Jamal Warner drinks there. Maybe soon Malcolm Gladwell will too! (That’s just wishful thinking….we don’t have any inside info.)
Inwood Bar & Grill (4892 Broadway between West 204th and 207th): like the Fort Washington Public House, Inwood Bar & Grill looks like a bar but a few things distinguish this Inwood outpost—a ton of specials, including specials for two like BBQ Wednesdays (BBQ for two for $40) or Couple’s Thursdays (2 cocktails or a bottle of wine, one app, two entrees and one dessert for $49.95). Also they sell beer by the bucket (and a bucket is only $15). Even more interesting, they love a reason to celebrate, so they want you to celebrate St. Patty’s Day and Cinco de Mayo with them—but also National Egg Day (and if that comes with a bucket of eggs for $15, we should all get there because the New York Times hasn’t found this place yet).
Fort Washington Public House (3938 Broadway at West 165th Street): looks like a bar and serves a lot of bar food, including vegan wings in a variety of flavors (here’s hoping they’re Blackbird!). But also all bars should have a non-chicken wing option to include our diet-restricted friends!
HAPPENINGS
Head up to the Inwood Library (4790 Broadway between Dyckman and Academy) on Wednesday, March 12th at 4:30 pm and R.E.A.D. to a New York Therapy Dog. Unfortunately, you have to be between ages 5 and 12 to participate—but if you are, you can read to a certified therapy dog for 15 minutes! Register before you go (though the NYPL site doesn’t make it clear how to do that, so maybe call the library branch).
From 9am on March 10th to 9pm on March 12th, registration will open for Girls Science Day at Columbia University. This is a super fun day for girls in grades 5-8, which will take place this year on Saturday, April 5th. Kids will get to do hands on experiments, see science demos, eat free lunch (which, let’s face it, is probably some kind of delicious pizza) and get a cool t-shirt. Registration doesn’t guarantee you entry but it guarantees you a spot in the lottery (this event is 3-4x oversubscribed). Register here.
Wake Up the Farm Volunteer Day is coming to Randall’s Island on Sunday, March 16th from 10am-1pm. The plan is for volunteers to work for two hours to help clear the straw-covered garden beds to prepare them for planting and then to enjoy some hot cocoa by the firepit with some karaoke and singalongs. Two things to note: the rain date is March 23rd and you must register ahead of time.
If you’re dying to get to Randall’s Island but you don’t want to garden, consider Cirque de Soleil instead. Performances will run through April 27th and you can get discounts here. This year, the show is called LUZIA and it is inspired by the people, places and stories that define Mexico.
Gentle reminder that the Women’s Jazz Festival opens tonight at the Schomburg Center (515 Malcolm X between West 135th and 136th). If you can’t make it tonight, your next chance to go check out some groundbreaking jazz at the Schomburg Center will be next Monday, March 17th at 7pm when Sarah Elizabeth Charles will be performing a project called Liberating the Bird, which infuses the poetry of Maya Angelou with melody, rhythm and harmony. If that sounds right up your alley, you can get your tickets here. Same pricing as opening night: $35 plus a fee of about $4.
Speaking of notable Harlemites, Lana Lagomarsini of Lana Cooks in Harlem will be on season 22 of Top Chef on Bravo! The season premiers on Thursday, March 13!
Saturday, March 15th is a day filled with dance in Harlem! First up—as part of Teen Arts Week, Dance Theater of Harlem (466 West 152nd Street between Amsterdam and Convent) will be offering some free youth classes. African Dance is at 11:30 and Open Ballet is at 12:30. Register here.
If you happen to not be a youth, consider the National Jazz Museum (58 West 129th Street between Malcolm X and 5th Avenue) on Saturday, March 15th from 4-6pm when Jazz Power Initiative will present Dancing Women in Jazz. (If you miss this show, check back in next week because there will be a second performance on March 19th at the Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center.) This week’s event is FREE but you should RSVP and can do that here.
Since the weather is finally turning…maybe…it seems like the right time to plug Wave Hill up in Riverdale, which is a very cool garden space in the Boogie Down. On Thursdays, you can experience it for free! (Or log into your CulturePass account with your library card number and go for free once a year on any day!) Garden hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10-4 and there is parking if you need to drive, though you can always take MetroNorth if you want to feel like you’re going on an adventure but don’t need the traffic.
Harlem Library (9 West 124th Street between 5th Ave and Malcolm X) has launched a Play Club! The play is to provide those with a passion for theater an outlet through monthly gatherings involving a variety of plays and some acting. The next meeting will be on Monday, March 17th at 5pm when the group will be reading Death of a Salesman (copies available at the Harlem Library). Be sure to register here before you go because space is limited.
This Sunday—and every Sunday—you can check out some pretty cool jazz in Marjorie Eliot’s Parlor (555 Edgecombe Ave just south of the Morris-Jumel Mansion, 3F Buzzer #107). There are a handful of write ups about this weekly jam. The BBC has a pretty comprehensive one. You have to get there early (music at 3:30pm) and likely wait in the hallway of Ms. Elliot’s apartment but it will be worth it. Truly a hidden gem of New York City.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first Black-owned, all Black professional basketball team in history was formed in Harlem in 1923. They were called the New York Rens, because their manager made a deal with a Harlem real estate developer who owned the Renaissance Casino. The Rens played their home games at the Renaissance ballroom up on Adam Clayton Powell and West 137th. If you’re uptown, you have probably heard of The Rennie development, but maybe you didn’t realize it was named after the Renaissance Casino, which sat on the very same spot back in the day.