Westchester Square News

Spring Events Throughout Boro

Jazz standards to be performed at library

Spend an afternoon of music with Don Witter at the Pelham Bay Library at 2 p.m. on April 26. He will be performing works by Ellington, Rodgers and Hart, Legrand, Porter and Gershwin.

Don Witter, Jr. started musical life at 4 trained as a Classical Pianist and first performed in public at the age of 5 at Carnegie Recital Hall. He appeared on the "TED MACK AMATEUR HOUR" and graduated from the high school of Music and Art where he was known as an accompanist for the High School Chorus and Vocal Students.

All Public Library Programs are free of charge and are subject to cancellation without notice.

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Salsa legend holds final concert at Lehman

Photo by Allen Spatz Photography

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is proud to host the historic celebration Paquito Guzman “Great Farewell Concert” on Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 8 p.m.

After a long and fruitful musical career, with unforgettable hits and a loyal fan base around the world, Paquito Guzmán is retiring from the concert stage, with a farewell show at Lehman Center. Joining Guzmán for this concert are special guests direct from Puerto Rico, the legendary La Selecta orchestra with

Raphy Leavitt. Produced by Lehman Center and José Raposo.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468.

Tickets for Paquito Guzman “Great Farewell Concert” on Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 8 p.m. are $55, $50, and $45 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.

Paquito Guzman, one of the greatest Salsa Romantica vocalists, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1959, at the age of 20, he moved to the Bronx, NY, and went to work in a record shop, hoping to make connections in the music industry. Less than a year later he met Joe Quijano who hired him as the lead singer for his Caribbean pachanga band Joint Cachana, that also included Bobby Valentín on trumpet. Within three years, Joint Cachana recorded seven albums with Guzmán as vocalist including Dance to the Bossa Nova, the Mambo, the Cha Cha Cha and The World’s Most Exciting Latin American Orchestra and Revue, the latter record selling 1,000 copies in the first 6 months alone and has become a cult classic often referred to as “The Nostros Album”.

Firmly established as a bolerista in the new “salsa” movement, Guzmán returned to Puerto Rico in 1962 to sing vocals with Chamaco Ramirez in the Tommy Olivencia band, recording seven albums. Mintiendo Se Gana Mas (1977) marked his first of over twenty albums as a solo artist, and during the 1980’s he was widely popular singing in the Salsa Romantica style reaching a high point in sales with his 1986 album Salsa The Best Ballads. 2008 saw the release of Guzmán’s well regarded album The Greatest Salsa Ever and his latest record, Iconos: 25 Exitos, was released in 2013.

Raphy Leavitt, bandleader, pianist, arranger, composer, and producer, formed his first band, Los Señoriales, in his early teens. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, he taught business at the San Agustin College in his hometown of Puerta De Tierra. In 1971, he formed La Selecta, whose line-up of trombones and trumpets, rhythm section and voices included lead singer Sammy Marrero. With Borinquen Records, they released 10 albums between 1971 and 1979. Leavitt’s first composition, a bolero montuno called “Payaso,” was a smash hit. The single and La Selecta's self-titled debut album both went gold.

The following year the band had a huge international hit with “Jibaro Soy,” their second gold record. Leavitt’s tribute to his late trumpeter Luisito Maisonet, “La cuna blanca,” topped the charts in Latin America and the Latin charts in the USA, and he was named Puerto Rico’s Composer of The Year. In 1976, the single “El buen pastor” became another international hit and went gold. The band released three albums with TH Records from 1981 to 1983. Carlitos Ramírez joined La Selecta as co-lead singer on their tenth anniversary album. In 1987, La Selecta received the Puerto Rican music industry’s Diplo Award for Band of the Year. With over 30 albums, including five compilations, to their credit, the band’s latest release of new material is 2006’s two-DVD set 30 Aniversario: Live.

Lehman Center is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2013-2014 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, JPMorgan Chase, and through corporations, foundations and private donations.

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Trees are among the most captivating natural citizens of Wave Hill. Rather than offering clusters of one type of tree or another, the landscape offers a stately elm just east of historic Wave Hill House, a soaring copper beach beyond Glyndor Gallery, conifers north of Armor Hall, flowering cherry and lilac along the edge of the Lower Lawn—each an individual that captures the heart of visitors. No surprise, then, that Arbor Week at Wave Hill branches out into a three-day celebration. From a bike tour and an arborist station to Tai Chi and Hath Yoga on lawns that are ringed by these graceful, tall companions, it’s a fine time to celebrate as our trees leaf out and blossom in all their glory.

No less important, however, is the culminating performance of our current concert season, on Sunday, April 27. The focus is a jazz suite commissioned by Wave Hill and performed by composer/pianist Daniel Kelly, it promises to be a thrilling event.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 25-27- Arbor Weekend

Arbor Day extends into a weekend celebration with a tree giveaway, tree walks and talks, a bike tour of trees in the Bronx, a tree-themed Family Art Project and a junior arborist station sponsored by Almstead Tree, Shrub & Lawn Care.

Friday, April 25- Tree Giveaway

Thanks to a partnership with MillionTreesNYC, Wave Hill welcomes families, individuals and community groups to pick up a free tree for planting on private property within the five boroughs of New York City. Staff horticulturists will be on hand to help you make your selection and simple tree planting and care instructions will be available. At home, all you’ll need is a spade, a place to plant and access to water. Trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Arbor Weekend event.

Friday, April 25- Garden Walk

Don’t miss this special tour of Wave Hill’s magnificent living collection with Assistant Director of Horticulture Brian McGowan. Wander among centuries-old trees and newly-planted specimens and see first-hand how our tree planting and maintenance plan will provide shade and beauty for future generations of visitors. Free with admission to the grounds. Arbor Weekend event.

Saturday, April 26- Family Art Project: Buds, Buds, Buds

Explore Wave Hill’s many budding trees and observe the myriad shapes and sizes of these flowery beginnings. Then, using a wood base, paper and a variety of natural materials, make a sculptural tree—and even add a nest of eggs or a plaster-of-Paris flock of birds. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon. Arbor Weekend event.

Saturday, April 26- Tai Chi Chuan

Quiet like a mountain, moving like a river, Tai Chi is a sequence of gentle movements based on images found in nature. In this beginner-level class, Irving Yee, a member of the William CC Chen Tai Chi School, introduces students to the internal martial arts and promotes an awareness of its benefits. Sessions are held outdoors as weather permits. Session fee: $25/$15 Wave Hill Member. Register online and, day of, onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center. (Reservations may not be made by telephone.) Online registration closes at 8AM on the day of the session. Cancellations must be made by 3PM the Friday before; after that, refunds will not be made. Drops-ins will be accommodated as the limited space permits. Participants must present a Member’s ID card or a printed program registration form at the front gate.

Saturday, April 26- Trees of the Bronx Bike Tour

In celebration of Arbor Day, join professional photographer Benjamin Swett, author of New York City of Trees (April 2013), and Boogie Down Rides, a Bronx-based bicycling and art project, on a bicycle tour of significant trees in the Bronx. Explore the connections between the urban forest and the rich cultural heritage of our borough. Tour begins at Woodlawn Cemetery and ends at Wave Hill. Snacks and water provided. $20/$10 Wave Hill Member. Registration required, online at www.wavehill.org, onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center or by calling 718.549.3200 x251. Arbor Weekend event.

Saturday, April 26- Junior Arborist Station

Kids ages seven and up are invited to don tree-climbing harnesses and hardhats and ascend into the canopy of our old sugar maple tree to get a birds-eye view of Wave Hill. Arborists from Almstead Tree and Shrub Care—who have generously sponsored this free program—are on hand to assist budding arborists and answer questions about the big old trees at Wave Hill. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon. Arbor Weekend event.

Saturday, April 26- Garden Walk: Best Trees for the Small Garden

Are you thinking about planting a tree for your yard but overwhelmed by the choices? Enjoy a spring walk around Wave Hill as a garden interpreter highlights some great trees with four seasons of interest, suitably-scaled to the smaller garden. Free with admission to the grounds. Arbor Weekend event.

Saturday, April 26- Gallery Tour

Join a curatorial assistant for a tour of Wave Hill's spring exhibition, Prickly, Tender and Steamy: Artists in the Hothouse, which assembles artworks that were created during Wave Hill's Winter Workspace program over the last five years. During their residencies, Gabriela Albergaria, Carrie Beckmann, Susan Benarcik, Matthew Burcaw, Asuka Hishiki, Nick Lamia, Lina Puerta, Naomi Reis, Anne-Katrin Spiess, Linda Stillman, James Walsh and Marion Wilson closely examined, and were inspired by, the living collection in Wave Hill's Marco Polo Stufano Conservatory. Representing a wide variety of mediums, the works on view give visitors multiple ways to observe the plants in the Tropical, Palm, Cactus and Succulent Houses. In the Sunroom Project Space, Brandon Neubauer's installation incorporates video projection, photographs and recorded sounds to create a portrait of the Wave Hill site that engages time, optical phenomena, topography and found objects. Tours take place Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m.. Free with admission to the grounds.

Yankees Honor Mandela, Jackie Robinson

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, APRIL 17- On April 15, 1997, the 50^th anniversary of the first game played by Jack Roosevelt Robinson in the major leagues, Baseball Commissioner Allan “Bud” Selig announced the retirement of Robinson’s #42 from Major League Baseball. On that date in every year since 1997, all players in a scheduled game wear the #42 to honor Robinson’s accomplishment of breaking the color barrier. With the retirement of Mariano Rivera at the close of the 2013 season, there are no longer any active p[layers wearing #42.

Inclement weather in the Bronx forced the delay of the April 15 game between the Yankees and Cubs, the ceremony and the press conference for the one day, but did not in any way lessen the meaning of the day of remembrance.

This year’s special Robinson ceremony took place at Yankee Stadium to honor not only Robinson but former South African President Nelson Mandela. The New York Yankees added a plaque honoring Mandela in Monument Park. Many remember Mandela’s appearance at Yankee Stadium on June 21, 1990, shortly after his 27 year imprisonment in South Africa ended. On that day, wearing a Yankee jacket and cap, Mandela remarked to the crowd, ‘’You know who I am. I am a Yankee.’’

That day and Mandela’s subsequent accomplishments as South Africa’s president were recalled in a press conference that featured many prominent speakers who paid tribute to his deeds.

Zondwa Mandela, the grandson of the world leader who died at the age of 95 in December 2013, expressed his gratitude to the Yankees, and referred to himself as ‘’just a custodian of his [Mandela’s] legacy.”

Also present were South Africa’s Consul General, George Monyemangene, and Sello Hatang, Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO. The latter asked the Yankees to honor Mandela on July 18, Nelson Mandela Day.

Others who spoke in honor of Mandela included former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, the Reverands Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte, New York Yankees President Randy Levine and Robinson’s daughter, Sharon.

Yankee Managing Partner Hal Steinbrenner presented a matted copy of Mandela’s plaque to Mandela’s grandson and wife. The plaque will join those of Robinson, Yankees immortals and world leaders such as Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in Monument Park.

The centerpiece of the annual ceremony was, as always, a recognition of Robinson’s deed. His widow, Rachel, and daughter, Sharon, were present to enhance the remembrance of their loved one.

To put the achievement of Jackie Robinson in historical perspective, we should recognize that he integrated MLB before it was accomplished in the NFL or NBA, seven years before the Supreme Court decision on Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 16 years before the memorable March on Washington and 17 years before Congress passed the Civil Rights Acts during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson.

In his introductory words at the informative, inspirational and educational press conference, New York Yankees Executive Director of Communications and Media Relations Jason Zilo linked the legacies of the two honorees, “Bringing people of all backgrounds and demographics together.”

Westchester Square News

Friday, April 18, 2014

Westchester Square News: Spring Events Throughout Boro

Spring Events Throughout Boro

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Westchester Square News: Yankees Honor Mandela, Jackie Robinson

Yankees Honor Mandela, Jackie Robinson

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Westchester Square News: Cops on Lookout for Perv

Cops on Lookout for Perv

Westchester Square News: Cardinal Dolan Visits Sick in Bronx

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