This Is Little Italy: Two Neighborhood Documentaries — Mulberry (2016) and Hey Vinny (2000)
Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden is delighted to present a FREE community screening of two documentaries that connect Little Italy’s past and present — Mulberry (2016) and Hey Vinny (2000), with introductions by Mulberry director Paul Stone and Hey Vinny actor Vinny Vella.
The Garden will remain open through the evening. Come early, cool down, bring a blanket and cozy up! Seating will be reserved for seniors.
Parental guidance advised as some material may not be suitable for children.
Mulberry, a cinematic portrait of Little Italy, explores how a working class neighborhood of tenement buildings transformed into the third most expensive ZIP code in the United States. Part funny, part sad, the film investigates how gentrification and rent control are affecting the neighborhood’s long-term residents. Will New York City lose another cultural touchstone to the forces of greed?
Written and Directed by Paul Stone
Documentary Short ‧ 20 minutes
2016 Tribeca Film Festival
Click to watch trailer.
Hey Vinny is an engaging and vibrant documentary about the life and times of Vinny Vella, a charismatic and lovable character known as the mayor of Elizabeth Street in New York’s Little Italy. Vella recants wild, improbable stories of growing up on the streets of Greenwich Village. Tales range from stealing his first police car at age 11 to being accused of stealing King Tut’s ring from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hey Vinny explores the love stories between Vella, his family and the city where he grew up.
Directed by John Huba
Documentary ‧ 51 minutes
Click to watch trailer.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Vinyasa Yoga, weekly
Get your stretch on with instructors provided by our neighborhood lululemon athletica. Please bring your own mat. Open to the public and FREE.
Garden Meeting — All Are Welcome!
Open to the public and FREE.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Natural Wellness Talk: Fertility
Learn natural ways to improve your chances of conceiving and overcoming infertility, including the most complimentary and lifestyle approaches and the latest nutritional advice.
Kirsten Tempel, licensed practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, returns to the Garden with a new talk series covering such topics as detox, insomnia, allergies, fertility, women’s health, pain management, weight loss and ancient Chinese home remedies.
Open to the public and FREE.
Vinyasa Yoga, weekly
Get your stretch on with instructors provided by our neighborhood lululemon athletica. Please bring your own mat. Open to the public and FREE.
Live Music Sunday: Richard Mistri and Beau
Our biweekly summer concert series continues. Richard Mistri and Beau a perform this weekend in the Garden.
Open to the public and FREE.
Public Press Conference, in Response to City’s Invitation to Developers to Submit Proposals to Destroy Elizabeth Street Garden
City Invites Developers to Submit Proposals to Destroy Elizabeth Street Garden:
Garden Supporters Vow to Fight!
Join Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden at a press conference from 1 – 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Elizabeth Street Garden to let the mayor and city council know that our community will not be ignored and that Elizabeth Street Garden should be saved!
Yesterday, NYC Housing Preservation and Development invited developers to submit proposals to destroy Elizabeth Street Garden, our beloved neighborhood green space in the heart of historic Little Italy. Garden supporters, who have worked tirelessly for the past three years to transform the beautiful garden into a virtual outdoor community center, vow to fight to save what many refer to as the “soul of the neighborhood.”
“The City has repeatedly threatened to move forward with plans to build on the Garden, and we knew this day would come,” said Jeannine Kiely, president of Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden. “We will not back down and allow real estate developers and elected officials to ignore us any longer. Council Member Chin has turned a deaf ear to her constituents, who overwhelmingly support saving Elizabeth Street Garden. Unfortunately, the administration is once again allowing politics to determine policy, despite receiving 4,500 community letters in support of saving the Garden and despite Manhattan Community Board 2’s recommendation for an alternative site with the potential for five times more affordable housing.”
Open to the public and FREE.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Vinyasa Yoga, weekly
Get your stretch on with instructors provided by our neighborhood lululemon athletica. Please bring your own mat. Open to the public and FREE.
Author Catherine Adami Reads From On Elizabeth Street, as part of the Fifth Annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Harvest Arts Festival
What if you had a weekend in New York City to pretend you were the person you always thought you could be?
Catherine Adami reads from her comedy On Elizabeth Street about two college friends and former lovers, now in their forties, who are given a second chance to connect with one another during a summer weekend at an apartment on Elizabeth Street. The couple’s adventures include visits to many downtown jewels, including Elizabeth Street Garden.
Catherine Adami grew up a pool hustler’s daughter with a VIP pass to subterranean America. A prolific essayist and screenwriter, she is a proud alumna of Francis W. Parker School, Tulane University and NYU’s Summer Fiction Writing Program. Her article “The Epitome of Cool,” about her late father Freddy ‘the Beard’ Bentivegna and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet, appeared in Billiards Digest Magazine. Her debut novel On Elizabeth Street began as a feature film script she penned while living in Little Italy to attend NYU and was inspired by iconic writers and cinematic goddesses Nancy Meyers and the late Nora Ephron. She is a descendant of both the Daughters of the American Revolution and Black Hand, her credo, passed down from her father, is “Life Ain’t on the Square.” She lives in Chicago with her husband and two children. Find out more on catadami.com and poolhustlersdaughter.com.
Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens is a nonprofit organization founded to promote, protect and preserve the community gardens on the Lower East Side.
The Fifth Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival will take place in 38 community gardens. Events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, painting, sculpture, puppets and comedy, as well as environmental workshops and yoga. Each garden designs its own programing, so the festival is as interesting and eclectic as the Lower East Side.
Open to the public and FREE.
Live Music Sunday: No Chaser, in coordination with Fifth Annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Harvest Arts Festival
No Chaser closes this season’s biweekly summer concert series in the Garden. The band is a cooperative effort by a group of musicians who are all leaders of their own jazz bands and plays music that can be fairly described as “post modern hard bop, with attitude.”
No Chaser includes:
- Wendell Gault — trumpet
- Drake Colley — saxophone
- Paul Bloomberg — piano
- Gary Smith — drums
For this performance, No Chaser will be joined by Clemente Cuevas on bass.
Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens is a nonprofit organization founded to promote, protect and preserve the community gardens on the Lower East Side.
The Fifth Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival will take place in 38 community gardens. Events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, painting, sculpture, puppets and comedy, as well as environmental workshops and yoga. Each garden designs its own programing, so the festival is as interesting and eclectic as the Lower East Side.
Open to the public and FREE.
SOWING THE SEEDS
2016 Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden
BENEFIT RECEPTION AND SILENT AUCTION
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
98 Kenmare St.
Vino, Bites and Tunes!
Ticket $100
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Vinyasa Yoga, weekly
Get your stretch on with instructors provided by our neighborhood lululemon athletica. Please bring your own mat. Open to the public and FREE.
Garden Meeting — All Are Welcome!
Help plan Oct. 6 protest and Oct. 22 Harvest Festival.
Open to the public and FREE.
Weekly Kids’ Yoga — Beginning Wednesday, April 20, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Kid’s Yoga has been designed especially for Elizabeth Street Garden to foster an appreciation for the Garden’s distinctive qualities. Kids will freeze in “strong statue” poses, learn about the life cycles of different Garden elements — seed to tree, caterpillar to butterfly, etc.; practice different “insect” poses; and explore the sounds and other sensory qualities of the Garden through minimeditations, aiming to provide an opportunity for kids to connect to this beloved neighborhood space in a unique and meaningful way.
Instructor: local parent and Twisted Trunk instructor Suzanne Monto.
Open to kids of all ages and their families. FREE. Please bring your own mat, if you have one.
Protest to Stop Developers
Elizabeth Street Garden needs you! Join our protest before developers’ meeting.
This is our first opportunity to show interested developers that we will fight to defend our beloved neighborhood green space. The Garden must be saved!
Wear green, bring signs and enjoy Baz Bagels and lox.
RSVP to Attend Protest.
Directions by subway: 6 to Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall
Exit at Nassau and Frankfort streets. Walk east downhill along Frankfort Street to 100 Gold St.
(To exit at Nassau and Frankfort streets, if traveling downtown: Exit train, take stairs at downtown end of platform. Do not exit first turnstiles. Instead turn left, then exit turnstiles. Follow hallway. Exit left stairs to Frankfort Street.)
Community Gardening, weekly
Open to the public and FREE.
Vinyasa Yoga, weekly
Get your stretch on with instructors provided by our neighborhood lululemon athletica. Please bring your own mat. Open to the public and FREE.