With the day off from school, spend some time deflating your anxiety by getting some help with an important piece of writing.

     High school application essays are one of the hardest writing assignments (and the least fun). Schools like Bacon, University Heights Secondary, Manhattan/Hunter Science High School and iSchool require these writing assessments.

     Here’s a workshop will take some of the angst out of the process!
     In just 90 minutes, you’ll use the tips and tricks of the trade that have been helping Uptown Writing students for years. You’ll focus on choosing a topic, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing, and getting as far along in the process as you can.
     Class size is limited to just 20 students to allow for as much personal attention as possible. It will meet via Zoom. Be sure to register to save your spot.

     Free. Monday afternoon, November 28, at 4 online.

     If you can’t wait to turn the page, the writer has succeeded in telling you a great story.

     What does it take to develop characters, settings, dialogue, and plot elements that have you on the edge of your seat? This workshop answers those questions and more.

     You’ll break down the parts of fiction writing each week and test out what you’ve learned with some on-the-spot writing. You’ll work with your peers, too – giving advice and feedback, while hearing what they have to say about your work.

     For ages 8 to 12.

     Monday afternoons from 4 to 6 starting at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Concludes today.

     With the Fort Washington branch of the NYPL closed for renovations, the library’s bookmobile provides access to the its riches.

     At the bookmobile you can sign up for a library card, browse a small collection of books for people of all ages, speak with a librarian to get reading recommendations, reference services, and return and renew books.

     What’s more, the bookmobile is proof that reading takes you places!

     Mondays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. near the YM & YWHA in Fort George at 54 Nagle Avnue. Also in Hudson Heights on Wednesdays.

     At the Young Men's Project, you can look for answers to questions many guys are wrestling with.

     What does it mean to “be a man” in the world?

     Can I be masculine and emotional?

     Fierce and kind?

     Athletic and artistic?

     Answers to these kinds of questions differ depending on who’s asking — friends, family, teachers. You don’t want to be judged, or bullied, or defined. You want to know: How do I just be me?

     The workship is where you’ll find some answers and camaraderie. You’ll channel your frustrations and anxiety into action and understanding. Your time will be filled with film, music, prose and poetry, movement, stillness, and urban hikes.

     Organized by Uptown Stories, this workshop is for participants ages 12 to 15.

     $25. Monday afternoons, starting from 4 to 6 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Concludes today.

     Here’s a call to the brave and bold for a writing adventure. Meet up with a group this autumn that will write stories that have multiple choices for the reader: different storylines lead them down alternative paths or to alternative endings.

     You can take inspiration from a few examples like Jason Shiga’s Meanwhile and Ryan North’s To be or not to be, then you’ll build worlds of our own.

     Dig into key writing techniques and learn some new approaches while we forge our own way, whether through fiction or nonfiction, the choice is yours. Which way will your adventure go?

     For ages 10 to 14.

     Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:30 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through December 6.

     Take a journey into the deepest, darkest corners of our mind, where your imaginations make us shiver, squirm, and silently scream. 

     Yes, you’ll be writing your own page-turning horror stories and screenplays, the kind that make your pulse raise and your hair stand on end.

     You’ll visit works by masters of the genre, like Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Stephen King, while discovering newer voices like Steven Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Carmen Maria Machado. And because horror can’t be contained to the written page, you’ll check out selected scenes from movies like Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, Shaun of the Dead, and Get Out.

     For ages 12 to 16.

     Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 7:30 starting at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through December 6.

     With the Fort Washington branch of the NYPL closed for renovations, the library’s bookmobile provides access to the its riches.

     At the bookmobile you can sign up for a library card, browse a small collection of books for people of all ages, speak with a librarian to get reading recommendations, reference services, and return and renew books.

     What’s more, the bookmobile is proof that reading takes you places!

     Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. near the Moriah Center in Hudson Heights at 90 Bennett Avenue. Also in Fort George on Mondays.

     For all you high school girls who have been sking about Girls Rising, the wait is over. In partnership with The Uptown Hub, Girls Rising X The Hub starts on October 6! 
     This semester you’ll get to change things up just a little bit when the amazing Stacy Davidowitz meets you at The Uptown Hub  to write, discuss, and revel in what you love, in what inspires you, and discover how you’re going to change the world. From politics to body image to #metoo, you’ll be tackling what it means to be an empowered young woman right now.

     If you’re in high school (grades 9–12) and are a girl (or self-identify as a girl), all you need to do is register.

     Free. Thursday afternoons from 3:45 to 5:15 at The Hub in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 168th Street. Through December 15.
 

     Tired of being inside? Do you want to be wild and break out of the limitations that are always being set?

     Poetry is the answer. Join a group that’s strapping on their shoes and grabbing their pens and going on a poet’s adventure.

     Poetry is a way of seeing things outside the boxes they are always being put in. You’ll be renewed by the nature of Ft. Tryon park and emboldened by our resilient neighborhood as you explore the wilds of language out in the world, allowing a stream of poetry to flow from the river of possibility.

     For ages 8 to 13.

     Friday afternoons from 4 to 6 starting. Meet in the school yard of P.S. 187. No meeting on November 25. Concludes December 2.

     Yeshiva’s storied men’s basketball team returns to Fort George to continue conference play.

     Tonight the Macs’ Skyline League opponent is Mount Saint Mary College.

     Saturday night at 8:30 at the Stern Athletic Center on Yeshiva University’s Uptown Campus on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

     Where are you going?

     Use a compass rose to help you get there. A video from the Hispanic Society will show you how to make one with a potato, some paint and a few more household objects.

     You’ll also learn a bit about maps through the centuries and how explorers used them to travel to places they’d never seen.

     Here’s a way to make your next outing with the kids a little different.

     Print out a family scavenger hunt booklet and take a walk through Fort Tryon Park’s historic estate remnants.

     Find, draw, and map natural marvels and constructed treasures while you explore the path network that leads from Billings Lawn to the Palisades Overlook.

     The booklet is provided by the Fort Tryon Park Trust.

     Need something new for the kids to do?

     The Hispanic Society of America offers several coloring pages, each based on one of the most famous paintings in the museum’s collection. Recognize the Duchess of Alba? Download the pdf below.

      And here’s a recap of the Society’s summer camp for kids.

      For adults, the society has posted several lectures here.

¿Necesita algo nuevo para que hagan los niños?
      La Hispanic Society of America ofrece varias páginas para colorear, cada una basada en una de las pinturas más famosas de la colección del museo. ¿Reconoces a la duquesa de Alba? Descargue el pdf a continuación.
       Para los adultos, la sociedad ha publicado varias conferencias aquí.

     Join the festivities when the Columbia Medical Center and New York Presbyterian light their Christmas tree.

     Free. Thursday evening, December 8, at 5 in Duarte Square Park in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 170th Street.

     Back in 1765 when the Morris-Jumel Mansion was built, electric lights didn’t exist. After nightfall, the Morris family and their enslaved and indentured servants would light candles to find their way in the darkened house.

     Candles were made by hand by dipping a wick (or string) into hot wax until the cooled layers of wax formed a candle. Create your own handmade candle in the eighteenth-century kitchen, and choose which kinds of wax and scents you want to use.

     The drop-in program continues as long as supplies last. Masks are required for all visitors over the age of two, and proof of vaccination and I.D. are required for all visitors aged 5 and older to enter the historic house for the workshop.

     Free. Saturday afternoon, December 10, from 1 to 3 at the mansion in Lower WaHi on Jumel Terrace.

     After a week on the road the Macs are back home.

     Catch Yeshiva hosting St. John’s University of Long Island.

     Saturday night, December 10, at 8:30 at the Stern Athletic Center at Yeshiva University in Fort George on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

     The late autumn is a prime season for stargazing as the cold air clears the night sky of clouds and creates ideal conditions for seeing the stars, planets, and other celestial highlights.

     Dress for the weather and take a bottle of water—or a thermos of cocoa.

     Free. Sunday evening, December 11, from 6 to 7 in Inwood Hill Park near Seaman Avenue and Isham Street.

     The Yeshiva Macs close out their pre-holiday-break schedule with a non-conference game against the Mighty Macs of Immaculata University, in Pennsylvania.

      Wednesday night, December 14, at 8 at the Stern Athletic Center on Yeshiva University’s Fort George campus on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

    Do some digging, then get in some riding with your BMX buds.

      Meet up for a day of work and play in the woods and learn what it takes to build, maintain, and ride the most progressive urban bike park in America, with the help of the New York City Mountain Bike Association.

     There will be light trail maintenance tasks for all ages in the morning. Every volunteer receives a free 20-minute clinic and, in the afternoon, a guided ride throughout the trails from 12:30 to 3. Even better, bikes and helmets are provided, so you don’t need your own.  

     Uptown is the home of the city's first mountain biking course, 3 miles of trails of varying difficulty and a free-ride trail that includes drops, steeps, and berms. The park also features a dirt jump park and pump track, making it a good place to develop different skills at all levels.

     Updates on trail work posted are on the New York chapter’s web site.

     Free. Saturday morning, December 17, from 10 to 3 in Fort George at the BMX trailhead in Highbridge Park, on Fort George Avenue, just northwest of the Buczek Ballfield. Monthly on the second Saturday.

     Learn to identify the year-round birds found in Upper Manhattan and find out which evergreen plants support them in the forest.

     Then, create bird feeders for your home with the artist Jessica Maffia to help our feathered friends during the cold winter months. Kids can make a holiday gift for a loved one as well.

     Best for kids ages 5 to 12. Space is limited so a reservation is required.

     Free. Saturday morning, December 17, at 11 at the recreation center in J. Hood Wright Park in Lower WaHi on Fort Washington Avenue at 175th Street.

     Runners, vaulters, throwers, jumpers and more get to show their stuff at the U.S. Marine Corps Holiday Classic on the New Balance Track.

     High school athletes from around the region will turn up for competition on what’s regarded as the world’s fastest track.

     $25 and $35 for reserved seats; general admission, $5 and $12.Thursday, December 29, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and and Friday, December 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Armory on Fort Washington Avenue at 168th Street.

     The Yeshiva cagers’ final game of 2022 sees the Tufts Elephants (yes, really) visiting the Macs on their Uptown stomping grounds.

     Thursday night, December 29, at 8 at the Stern Athletic Center on Yeshiva University’s Fort George campus on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

    The U.S. Air Force hosts the Hispanic Games, the region’s top competition in track and field for high school athletes.

     Racing on what’s regarded as “the fastest indoor track in the world,” the runners, relayers, vaulters and throwers compete for medals and a little glory.

     $25 and $35 for reserved seats; general admission, $5 and $12. Friday night, January 5, from 5 to 10, and Saturday, January 6, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Armory on Fort Washington Avenue at 168th Street.

     Get ready to run faster and jump higher, one frame at a time, as you take your stories and transforming them into comics.

     Choose an ordinary day (or the wildest story you can imagine) and use comic book language, illustration, and frames to share with everyone the next super adventure.

     You don’t need to be an artist to join us—just bring your best ideas. You’ll learn all the steps to comics illustration and development, including pin-ups, single-frame and multi-frame pages, using any pencils, pens, paints and other art materials.

     For ages 10 to 14.

     $600 or pay what you can. Saturday afternoons starting January 21 from 1 to 3 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through April 1.

     If you can’t wait to turn the page, the writer has succeeded in telling you a great story.

     What does it take to develop characters, settings, dialogue, and plot elements that have you on the edge of your seat? This workshop answers those questions and more.

     You’ll break down the parts of fiction writing each week and test out what you’ve learned with some on-the-spot writing. You’ll work with your peers, too – giving advice and feedback, while hearing what they have to say about your work.

     For ages 8 to 12.

     $600 or pay what you can. Monday afternoons starting January 23 from 4 to 6 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through March 27.

     Uptown Writers are calling on the brave and bold for a writing adventure. This semester you’ll be writing stories that have multiple choices for the reader: different storylines lead them down alternative paths or to alternative endings.

     You’ll get inspiration from a few examples like Jason Shiga’s Meanwhile and Ryan North’s To be or not to be, then you can build worlds of our own.

     With key writing techniques you’ll learn new approaches while forging your own way. Fiction or nonfiction, the choice is yours.

     For ages 10 to 14.

     $600 or pay what you can. Tuesday afternoons starting January 24 from 3:30 to 5:30 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through March 28.

     Take s journey into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind, where your imaginations make you shiver, squirm, and silently scream. 

     Yes, you’ll be writing your own page-turning horror stories and screenplays, the kind that make your pulse raise and your hair stand on end.

     You’ll visit works by masters of the genre, like Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Stephen King, while discovering newer voices like Steven Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Carmen Maria Machado. And because horror can’t be contained to the written page, we’ll check out selected scenes from movies like Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, Shaun of the Dead, and Get Out.

     For ages 12 to 18.

     $600 or pay what you can. Tuesday evenings starting January 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 179th Street.

     Girls, we’re facing challenges we haven’t seen in more than two generations. Our roles as women—in the home, at work, as citizens—is all at once advancing and retracting, driven by forces that may seem beyond our control. In the face of all that is going on around us, we can say this with all certainty: your voice is the answer to what comes next.

     Take your unique perspective to the writers’ table, and be surrounded by girls who have opinions, dreams, fears, and frustrations, just like you. Come get inspired by women writers and artists, past and present, who speak truth to power and each other. You’ll get in-depth on how far women have come, where we are now, and what you want your future to be. Using whatever writing style suits each of us best, we’ll unflinchingly take on a world that often underestimates our individual will and collective might.

     For middle school students.

     $600 or pay what you can. Wednesday afternoons starting January 25 from 4 to 6 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through March 29.

     With winter break ended, the Macs’ rest is over and Skyline Conference play resumes.

     Yeshiva gets back on the court to host Privateers of Maritime College, traveling from Throggs Neck, to take on the storied Uptown squad.

     Wednesday night, January 25, at 8 at the Stern Athletic Center on Yeshiva’s Fort George campus on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

    For many of us, picture books are what first sparked a lifelong joy for reading and crafting stories. From Max's wild rumpus to Sam-I-am's obsession with green eggs and ham, these books stay in our hearts long after the last page has been read.

     In this bilingual workshop, you’ll revisit your favorite children’s books through the eyes of a writer and illustrator, getting to the bottom of what makes them so memorable. Then you’ll develop and write your own book, mapping out characters, plot and narration.

     You can create a story from scratch, explore a cultural children's story that has been shared with you, or dive into a timeless fairy tale, transforming it into a fascinating page-turner that's all your own.

     For ages 8 to 11. This is a bilingual workshop: all Spanish and English speakers are welcome.

     $600 or pay what you can. Thursday afternoons from 4 to 6 starting January 26 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through March 30.

     Tired of being inside? Do you want to be wild and break out of the limitations that are always being set?

     Poetry is the answer. Join a group that’s strapping on their shoes and grabbing their pens and going on a poet’s adventure.

     Poetry is a way of seeing things outside the boxes they are always being put in. You’ll be renewed by the nature of Ft. Tryon park and emboldened by our resilient neighborhood as you explore the wilds of language out in the world, allowing a stream of poetry to flow from the river of possibility.

     For ages 8 to 13.

     Friday afternoons from 4 to 6 starting January 27. Meet in the school yard of P.S. 187. Concludes March 31.

     You are invited to Snobby Poetry, should you be up for the challenge. Join a band of self-motivated, über-supportive misfits who read, write, and share poems.

     It’s a group who loves words, rhyme (only when used sparely, thank you), observation, and Walt Whitman (obviously.)

     Poetry is an illogical measuring device, filled with seemingly impossible comparisons and instructions; that is why you are called to write it. Poets are the liars who tell the truth. If this sounds like you, or if you’ve already taken a class with Jane LeCroy and want more, Snobby Poetry is the workshop for you.

     For ages 14 to 16.

     Saturday afternoons from 1 to 3 starting January 28 at the Cornerstone Center in Hudson Heights on Bennett Avenue at 189th Street. Through April 1.

     In the middle of its conference season, the Macs return home to host the Sarah Lawrence Gryphons.

     Tuesday night, January 31, at 8 at the Stern Athletic Center in Fort George on Amsterdam Avenue at 184th Street.

     College basketball’s regular season is coming close to its end but you can get in a few games before the touraments begin.

     This week the Macs host the Panthers of SUNY Old Westbury.

      Saturday night, February 4, at 8:30 in the Stern Athletic Center in Fort George on Amsterdam Avenue and 184th Street.

      It’s the end of another season for Uptown’s hottest basketball team. The Skyline League game features an intra-city rival.

      Bid farewell to the Macs as the host the Dolphins of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, visiting from the Bronx.

      Saturday night, February 11, at 8:30 in the Stern Athletic Center in Fort George on Amsterdam Avenue and 184th Street.

     The annual Drums Along the Hudson began in 2002 as a traditional Pow Wow to celebrate Native American heritage and culture, and also to commemorate the Lenape people who first inhabited Inwood Hill Park, or Shorakapok (“edge of the water”).

     The twentith anniversary event features dancers and drummers from around the world, combining Native American heritage, culture and art with the diversity of New York City. Activities include a Tree of Peace planting, international cuisine, Native American storytelling, a Pow Wow and crafts.
     The event has attracted a growing audience, numbering from 400 in the first year to over 8,000 in pre-Covid years.
     Free. A Sunday in early June in Inwood Hill Park at Indian Road and 218th Street.

    The Medieval Festival is the most famous event in the Heights, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the neighborhood.

     Lords, ladies, knights and commoners bring to life the customs and spirit of the middle ages, transforming a slice of Upper Manhattan into a medieval market town decorated with bright banners and processional flags. Visitors are greeted by period music, dance, magic, and minstrels, as well as jugglers and jesters. The day concludes with a joust among four knights on horseback.

     The festival brings tens of thousands of people to the neighborhood, so expect crowds and limited parking.

     Free. A Sunday in late September or early October from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Fort Tryon Park.