UWS Weekend: Great Things To Do In (and Near) the Neighborhood

By Tracy Zwick

Let’s Weekend!

October 4 – 7, 2024

“Shifting Shorelines: Art, Industry and Ecology Along the Hudson River” at The Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, Lenfest Center for the Arts, 615 West 129th Street, 6th Floor; Wednesday to Sunday 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. (opening tonight only, 6-8 p.m.)

The gallery’s major fall exhibition opens tonight from 6:00-8:00 p.m., and it focuses on the natural and industrial character of the Hudson River from Albany to the Atlantic. Using historic and contemporary artworks by artists from Thomas Cole and Alfred Steigletz to David Hammons and An-My Lê as well as scientific documentation, the show lays out how the Hudson and its environs have moved through phases of discovery, exploitation, damage, and reclamation. The curators hope it will foster a more complete understanding of the Hudson River estuary and “cycles of human existence, commerce, and industry” along the river’s edges. On view through January 12th, 2025.

Jazz at Miller Theatre: Saturday October 5th at 7:30; 2960 Broadway at 116th Street; Tickets start at $25

Grammy-winning singer and composer Luciana Souza joins fellow Brazilian-born guitarist Chico Pinheiro for an intimate evening of music at UWS treasure The Miller Theatre at Columbia. Souza has performed with Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, and James Taylor, as well as the New York Philharmonic and other world-renowned orchestras and ensembles. This is a super bargain and UWSers can’t ask for an easier commute!

The New York Film Festival: September 27th to October 14th at multiple Lincoln Center venues; for times, locations and tickets visit the website

 Don’t sleep on the NYFF! We discussed our neighborhood international film fest last week and it’s still going strong. Let this be a reminder to check out the busy schedule and find a talk or flick to hit up at Lincoln Center. “Oh, Canada” is on my to-see list. It reunites director Paul Schrader with Richard Gere for the first time since “American Gigolo” and casts Gere as a documentary filmmaker dying of cancer who makes some late-in-life confessions. I’m also interested in “Compensation,” a 1999 film playing in the festival’s “revivals” section. It’s a two-part portrait of a deaf Black woman in Chicago, set initially during the Great Migration of the early 20th century, then at the end of the century after some significant historical and political events.

Please add your recommendations to the comments!

Honor or Learn about the High Holidays and October 7th: October 7th commemorations at the JCC on West 76th Street & Amsterdam, free and open to all; High Holiday celebrations and services at synagogues throughout NYC, ongoing

 It’s been one year since the atrocities of October 7th. On Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m., the JCC is offering an opportunity for those affected or moved by this anniversary to come together with spiritual leaders and musicians for a Havdalah service to honor the victims of October 7th and pray for the release of the hostages. On Monday, October 7th, there will be a video art installation in the JCC’s lobby and music sessions, “Harmony of Remembrance: Music for the Fallen,” aimed at reflection, respect, and remembrance.

The Jewish New Year began this week, with Rosh Hashanah, the holiday when Jews eat apples and honey to signify the wish for a sweet new year, and when believers think God opens the book of life and the book of death and decides who belongs in each this new year. It’s a period of reflection about our actions over the past year and aspirations for the new one, and, really, we could probably all benefit from some such reflection, regardless of our faith. As Bari Weiss wrote a few years ago, you don’t have to be Jewish to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

One tradition my family enjoys is Tashlich, which means “to cast away” in Hebrew. We take some bread into Riverside Park, all the way down by the water, and tear off little pieces, each one representing a sin we committed during the past year. We toss these little pieces into the Hudson and watch them float away, symbolically emptying our souls of sin. We apologize to one another for the wrongs and slights we’ve committed on purpose and by accident, and set a few goals for the new year. It’s never the wrong time to seek and grant forgiveness, or to wish one another well!

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