Are YOU in my video?

Dear Friends,

The 14th Street is a community that our whole neighborhood counts on!

I decided to take to the streets to find out what our community was thinking about around the winter holidays, and learned that people have a LOT of questions about Chanukah.* Check it out:

*You can find some of my favorite Chanukah resources here: Chanukah 101 : Resources and Links

I met people of our community who are spending this season celebrating Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Mawlid-al-Nabi, other festivals, or none. For most of our community, as the days grow shorter and darker, and the news cycle dampens our hope, we are seeking opportunities to share light, hope, and generosity as a part of a caring community.

For many of us, our winter celebrations include giving to others. In my family, we dedicate one night of Chanukah to a family conversation about where we will give back, and invest in our values. We decide together, and then we make donations. I hope that you will join me in giving this year to the 14th Street Y.

Over the coming weeks you will hear from some of our supporters about what makes the 14th Street Y so much more than a Community Center. Please consider joining them, as well as my family, in donating this holiday season.

Your gift of $50, $100, $500 or $5,000 will have a real, tangible impact in the coming year. It will make the Y a community we all can count on.  

Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein
Executive Director
14th Street Y

of bones || hollye bynum

of bones || hollye Bynum starts their residency at the Theater at the 14th Street Y this Saturday! Check out the full list of events happening at the Y:

December 12: Dance Film Production Workshop at PAUSE/PLAY

December 16:  Master Class 12-2pm (Inter.- Advanced dancers)

December 17-19: RELEASE performances

December 19: Master Class 10-12pm  (Inter.- Advanced dancers)

December 20: International Dance Film Screening @2PM

RELEASE is the first production from ​of bones || hollye Bynum to include both filmed and staged contemporary dance in one full evening­length performance. RELEASE explores the nature of letting go and moving forward. Artistic Director, Hollye Bynum, draws from her personal experiences to create raw, honest, accessible inquiries of the human experience through movement. Her choreography transmits an emotionally charged quality, which seamlessly provokes audience members to feel, to inhabit their bodies with greater depth, and to open their senses to living in the immediate present. In collaboration with Brooklyn­based fashion magazine and production company, Beautiful Savage, as well as cinematographer Kyle Crichton, RELEASE integrates six new dance films and eight stage pieces with original music composition by Pedi Hashemian. Master Classes taught by company members will complement the three performances.​ The International Dance Film Screening​, which features films by local and international artists, ​will culminate ​of bones’ residency.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

 

 

Giving Tuesday: How the Y Community Gives… and Gives Back.

In our big, anonymous city, the 14th Street Y is much more than a community center. We are a true community, where we become friends with neighbors, celebrate together and help each other out in tough times.

 

We see the spirit of giving every day at the Y. Here are a few examples of how your support made a difference this year: 

• You supported your neighbors during their time of need. After an explosion leveled multiple buildings in the East Village, we offered six months of membership to every affected neighbor and invited them to enroll in select classes and programs at no cost. Thanks to your generosity, we also helped two Y families defray the costs of rebuilding their lives.

• You gave our children and community a new play roof. With more than $125,000 in donations, we built an innovative play structure that will inspire active and imaginative play while making community gatherings, movie screenings, rooftop yoga and live performances all the more exciting.

• You provided scholarships for families in our neighborhood. At the Y Parents Association’s annual fall fundraiser, 118 parents came together and raised over $22,000, giving more families the opportunity to experience the spirit of giving that we at the Y strive to share every day.

To all of you who give and encourage others to do the same, thank you. Your generosity is what makes the 14th Street Y a community we all can count on.

Make #GivingTuesday count. Make your gift today.