UWS Weekend: Great Things To Do in (and Around) the Neighborhood

By Tracy Zwick

Let’s Weekend! 

October 11 – 13, 2024

Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Featuring Jazz at Lincoln Center: 99 Gansevoort Street, Wednesday to Monday 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., open till 10 p.m. on Fridays; free for members and kids under 18, $30 for adults, $24 for students and seniors; on view through February 9, 2025 (some dance performances require separate tickets)

I consider Ailey a West Side institution given their beautiful base on West 55th Street. It’s part of my family’s personal topography after years of taking my daughter to dance there, and I”m excited to see “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney. The exhibition explores Alvin Ailey’s life, artistry and impact on modern dance and culture, and includes performances. This Friday and Saturday there will be dance performances choreographed by Ronald K. Brown, and on Sunday at 11:30, musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center will be on the museum’s third floor to guide visitors through various musical inspirations that informed Ailey’s groundbreaking approach to dance and choreography.

Sushi Nonaka: 410 Amsterdam Avenue at 79th Street; open 7 days with lunch from 11:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. and dinner 5:30 – 10:30 p.m.

We are fortunate to have several excellent sushi outposts on the UWS, and Sushi Nonaka’s not new, but I tried it for the first time this week and am eager to go back. While I was there for lunch with a friend – we had a terrific pork katsu, edamame, and miso soup. I’m especially excited to return for dinner and eat at the modern downstairs sushi counter or in the delightful back garden. The weather this weekend should be perfect for it! Sushi Nonaka’s dinner menu features “Chef’s Selections” ranging from $55 to $160 omakase, sushi and sashimi sets as well as robust appetizer and à la carte options. Lunch Bento Boxes range from $17-$18 and there are also sandwiches: Tomato (Egg) and Katsu (Pork), both with fries. 

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

Last chance! The NYFF ends Monday, but before it’s gone you can still catch some buzzy films and talks. I’ve got my eye on “By the Stream” (in Korean with English subtitles), one of two films by prolific South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo in the NYFF lineup. This one tells the story of a young art professor who invites her long-estranged uncle, a once–accomplished director, to write a skit for her class after the original student-writer is accused of sexual misconduct. The festival calls it “a deeply affectionate rendering” of emotional kinship and creative passions. On a heavier note, there’s also “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (in Bemba and English with English subtitles), in which a young Zambian woman discovers the dead body of an uncle who sexually abused her and reckons with the past. What are you seeing? Add it to the comments, please!

See all Weekend Columns here.

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