Posted inSmall Biz Spotlight

NYC’s Free Black Women’s Library

In 2015, OlaRonke Akinmowo sent out an email to her friends and family informing them that she was beginning a new project. She asked them all to answer the same question: What book by a Black woman do you think every person should read? Books from prominent Black female authors like Zora Neele Hurston, Jamaica Kincaid, and Alice Walker were sent to her. She took those books and some from her own collection out to a stoop in Brooklyn, and waited for people to come and trade books with her, thus the Free Black Women’s Library was born. 

Posted inFeatures

Permanent outdoor dining serves up opposing voices

New York City’s restaurants, known for their gastronomical delights, delivered to customers any time day and night, were hit, and hit hard, since the pandemic began. To alleviate the any time day and night, were hit, and hit hard, since the pandemic began. To alleviate the burden of restaurants that could only offer takeout and delivery and no indoor dining, NYC introduced outdoor dining at establishments that previously did not have that option. Outdoor dining helped many restaurants stay afloat prior to vaccines being available and when the lockdown forbade customers from dining indoors. Cars shared the road with sheds, yurts and plywood chalets. However, after nearly two years, the decision whether outdoor dining is here to stay is up for a very lively debate. 

Posted inArts

The brilliance of Maurice Hines shines through in film

​Maurice Hines is known as a triple threat: actor, singer, dancer. In celebration of Black History Month, the film, Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back recently premiered on STARZ and the STARZ app. Epicenter-NYC reporter Andrea Pineda-Salgado spoke to the film’s director, John Carluccio, about Maurice Hines’s extraordinary seven-decade career, his legacy and relevance today.