Sure, if we want to get technical, Cinco de Mayo is one single date on the calendar. But, joyfully, it looks like the Stone Street Historic District didn’t get that memo: instead of relegating the fiesta to just one day, the pedestrian-only street (located between 85 Broad Street and Hanover Square) is highlighting all things Mexico with a three-day Cinco de Mayo celebration this weekend. 

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From today, May 3 through Sunday, May 5, the margaritas will be flowing, the mariachi bands will be jamming and the vibes will be good at one of the city’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The Financial District street fest will feature festive activities spearheaded by Mad Dog & Beans Mexican Cantina, including complimentary tastings of tequilas, mezcals and Mexican beers, as well as giveaways and raffles with big prizes like AirPods, beach gear, bicycles, and a $1,000 gift card!

Other participating restaurants and bars will set up tents in the street during the Stone Street Cinco De Mayo Street Fest, pouring out frozen drinks, tequila shots, Mexican beers and shareable 100-ounce margarita towers. With all of that free-flowing fun, you’re going to need to pad out your stomach with Mexican favorites like tacos, street corn, chips and guacamole, empanadas, burritos and more. Along with the great Mexican grub, there will also be American BBQ, British and Irish pub fare, Italian classics and more available. (Though the event is free to attend, food and beverages will be for purchase.) 

Every day will be soundtracked by traditional Mexican mariachi bands and DJs playing Latin beats, including Mariachi Sol Azteca De NYC, Hot Lava, Kicking Nash and Uptown Royalty. 

Officially, the fiesta will be held rain or shine on historic cobbled street between noon and midnight on all days (“If you want to bring your kids we’d suggest coming between noon-3 pm, before it gets too rowdy,” advises organizers), but pace yourself because some of the bars and restaurants on the street might keep the party going later!

* This article was originally published here

This is the final entry in Cinco to Celebrate, a series highlighting five Mexican businesses in New York City that are worth your time and money this Cinco de Mayo—and beyond. Here’s more about the importance of the series and where you can read every article. 

Cumbia is a genre that incorporates basses, flutes, accordions, maracas, whistles, and typically hovers around 100 BPMs with clear staccatos, ideal for a sexy two step with a partner. But there’s an infinite range of creative individual flair that exists within cumbia, and that’s where many people get lost.

Growing up in Queens, Mark Saldana was surrounded by cumbia music. Although the genre originated as a folkloric dance in the coast of Colombia, it’s beloved by many throughout Latin America, including in the Mexican state of Puebla. In a neighborhood like Jackson Heights, where hundreds of cultures are packed within a few blocks’ radius, the lines are often deliciously blurred: Ecuadorian culture becomes Colombia culture becomes Peruvian culture, and so forth.

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Growing up, Saldana’s mom collected cumbia CDs from the stores along Junction Boulevard, which Mark refers to as the “Mexican and Ecuadorian Times Square.” He mostly danced cumbias at quinceñeras, but he was so good at it that his aunt told him she’d buy him a trip to Mexico if he really focused on learning the dance moves. For months, Saldana watched YouTube videos and practiced in parks and streets with friends he calls his “cumbia sisters.” When he showed his family what he could do, they were very impressed and bought him a flight to Mexico. 

When Saldana went to Mexico, his cousins danced cumbia differently than he did, and he picked up moves from their own versions of cumbia sonidero, a branch of cumbia that was developed in Mexico and tends to involve more instruments, faster rhythms, and more synths than its Colombian counterpart. 

Violeta, a woman in the neighborhood who taught cumbia classes, saw Saldana dance at parties and approached him to teach a class. At first, he was hesitant. “I’m not a professional dancer or choreographer,” he tells Time Out. But Violeta was certain that he had what it took to teach—and since then, he’s been teaching free classes to New Yorkers every Saturday.

They’re keeping the music alive for us. 

One of Saldana’s primary goals is to bring awareness around the genre and its rich history in New York. Many of the places where sneaked in to dance cumbias when he was underage, namely one place called El Tucanazo on Roosevelt Avenue, have closed since the pandemic. There’s really only a handful of places that play cumbias sonideras regularly now, including Queens Place, El Patron Lounge, and El Dorado Lounge. “These last remaining places are really important because they’re keeping the music alive for us,” he tells Time Out. 

When you go to one of Saldana’s free classes, you can expect to see a variety of skill levels but mostly beginners. He likes to remind people that he’s still learning, too. “We’re all stumbling at the same time. I’m not a professional, I’m a social dancer,” Mark says. “If I mess up, we mess up together.” Hour-and-a-half long classes start with an introduction to the dance, and he’ll incorporate one or two more advanced dance moves towards the end.

It’s clear when I talk to him that cumbia has been a connecting thread for Saldana throughout his life—to his parents’ hometown in Mexico, and to a larger community of Latinos in Jackson Heights. Because he owes so much to cumbia, he wants to help younger generations be as passionate about the genre and continue the colorful legacy of the genre in New York, which is the product of so many cultures that came together to create something that feels fluid, dynamic, and like it belongs to no one and everyone at the same time—kind of like New York itself.

We’re all stumbling at the same time. I’m not a professional, I’m a social dancer. If I mess up, we mess up together.

“Cumbia culture has always been big but it’s never been top tier like salsa, merengue, bachata,” Saldana says. But with the help of initiatives like his, people are starting to pay attention. “Cumbia is exploding, it’s getting its recognition, but it’s always been amazing. We’ve always been here.”

Check out the free classes every Saturday from 12pm-1:30pm on 34th Ave in Jackson Heights. You can follow Saldana for more information on classes or check out the Open Streets events calendar. 

* This article was originally published here

For more than four years, the COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects have gripped the world and changed so much. During that time, nearly 1.2 million people across the country—including 83,000 in New York City—have lost their lives to the virus.

To honor their memories, there’s a new installation at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery called A Big Slow, Majestic Covid Memorial. It’s on view now through Friday, June 3, and consists of tributes made by 22 community groups from across New York City.

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The memorial took over a section of Green-Wood’s historic wrought-iron fence, near the main entrance at Fifth Avenue at 25th Street. The monument stretches horizontally for 200 feet and includes a dedicated space for public participation where New Yorkers can add nameplates to remember their lost loved ones. Pieces include paintings, drawings, floral displays, and words like “not forgotten” interspersed with names of the deceased.

The artwork also pays tribute to those suffering from long COVID. “The mounting toll of death and diminished health has inflicted immeasurable pain but also brought communities together to provide support and comfort to those suffering the reverberating effects of the virus,” event organizers said in a press release.

The theme of this year’s memorial comes from disability justice writer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, who wrote in The Future is Disabled, “Everyone is holding so much grief right now, and it’s so hard, but it’s kind of created this bigger, slower, majestic space to be real with what’s going on and organize from that space.”

To create the memorial, Naming the Lost Memorials collaborated with City Lore, Great Small Works, Mano a Mano, and The Green-Wood Cemetery. The team worked with 22 community groups from across the city whose constituents have suffered significant losses from COVID-19. Some of those groups include: Bronx Documentary Center, Casa Yurumein, Vishnu Mandir Hindu Temple, Guyana Cultural Association, The Bklyn Combine, West Indian American Day Carnival Association, Yaffa Cultural Arts, Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts, Jews of Jackson Heights, and La Colmena.

This is the second COVID memorial Naming the Lost has presented at Green-Wood. Last year’s memorial was called The Many Losses from COVID-19.

“Naming the Lost Memorials aims to create an annual, tangible wall of memory that does not allow the lives and souls of the many thousands of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic to escape our thoughts—thoughts which are needed to remember, grasp our losses, and find ways to create healthier and more compassionate communities,” Steve Zeitlin, co-director of City Lore said in a press release.

As the months go on, Naming the Lost and City Lore will continue to help communities create COVID-19 memorials through 2025. As part of The Monuments Project, its nationwide initiative to rethink the meaning and creation of monuments, the Mellon Foundation provided a major grant to support this work. Some artifacts from the memorials will be archived at the New-York Historical Society for future exhibitions and research into the impact of the pandemic. 

All are invited to join in a dedication and activation ceremony at Green-Wood’s historic chapel on Sunday, May 19. Register here for the in-person event or watch a livestream here.

* This article was originally published here