By Tracy Zwick
Passover begins this weekend and so does Holy Week. Whatever your religious persuasion, how could it be wrong to enjoy matzo toffee or chocolate bunnies? Even if, like me, you don’t love matzo, there are Passover delights to enjoy on the Upper West Side over the next few days. There’s also an annual reading of selections from Dante’s “Inferno” and a celebration of dance culture right across the park.
Let’s Weekend!
April 11th to 14th, 2025
Celebrate Passover: Passover begins at sundown on Saturday April 12th and ends the evening of Sunday the 20th
If you’re celebrating Passover, you might attend services at one of our many UWS synagogues or seder at home, drink wine, recline and, relax in honor of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
This is a feasting, not a fasting holiday. I like to make chocolate-covered matzo and take advantage of the UWS’s festive culinary offerings. Breads Bakery at Lincoln Center has, among other items, haroset, matzo brei and flourless cookies. By the Way Bakery, the gluten and dairy-free bakery on Broadway near West 90th Street, is offering Passover-inspired desserts, from classic coconut and chocolate-drizzled coconut macaroons to a seven layer cake and cinnamon-walnut coffee cake. William Greenberg Desserts at 285 Amsterdam (between West 73rd and 74th streets) has rainbow cookies and black-and-whites, parve sponge and macaroon cakes, flourless Passover brownies, and more. Add your pesach faves to the comments.
Attend a Reading of Selections from Dante’s “Inferno”: Friday, April 11th from 7 to 10 p.m. at Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. at West 112th Street; free with RSVP here
The 31st iteration of this annual reading takes place tonight and will include Cantos from Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem describing his journey through hell. Listen to readings by a wide range of participants and, new this year, there will be added multimedia elements. Free and open to all, but please RSVP using the link above.
Urban Stomp: Dreams and Defiance on the Dance Floor: Opens Friday April 11th at Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at East 103rd Street; Monday to Friday 10 to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 to 6 p.m,; free to NYC residents
You’ll need to leave the neighborhood for this one, but barely. Stroll across the park or take the bus or a bike to the Museum of the City of New York for a groundbreaking exhibition celebrating 200 years of NYC’s dance culture – from 19th century ballrooms to discos and contemporary clubs and parks. Dance styles from the Lindy hop to hip hop will be explored in this show, which highlights how these movements in these spaces foster joy, resistance, and connection.
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Looking ahead to Easter, Epices Bakery (70th between Columbus & Broadway) has yummy pastries, cake, cookies.
I think that Passover ends on the 20th at sundown not the 19th.
Thank you both. Corrected.
Correction. Passover is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days elsewhere. So this year Passover begins at sundown on Saturday, April 12 and it ends at sundown on Sunday, April 20.