August 18, 2025
Harlem Week is always an Uptown Summer highlight, and this year’s installment was another home run. Thousands of people came out to support vendors and organizations that have a Harlem connection. This year’s theme was “Celebrate Our Magic.” There was a enormous array of things to eat, to buy, and to wear. Plenty of high end, hand-made items were on offer, as well as tee-shirts, ball caps, and items imported from Africa. Three stages were set up for performances and there was even a mini karaoke stage.
A few vendors noted that while attendance was very good, it still felt a bit less packed than usual in recent years. Among the theories proposed to explain it were the heat. It was really hot! Dramatic TV news coverage of a local outbreak of Legionnaires Disease may have also kept some people away. And, in a fundraising pitch from the stage near St. Nicholas Avenue, reference was made to diminished corporate support amid government hostility towards anything vaguely deemed “DEI.” Not all of them backed away though. JP Morgan was cited for its support. Other big names, including Amazon Prime Access, a program that offers discounted membership in the shopping app also had a booth set up. TDF, the Broadway (and Off-Broadway) theater support organization had a line of stalls featuring some of the shows currently running,
Additionally, a group of men and women were honored on the 5th Avenue stage with Official Proclamations from State and City governments. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine honored Lloyd Williams, President and CEO of The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and Co-Founder of Harlem Week, who passed away this week age 80. Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani paused at the corner of W135 and 7th Avenue to chat with reporters and some local residents before climbing into a black SUV and heading farther Uptown. Back on the St. Nicholas stage the Harlem Choir belted out a classic set that included “Amazing Grace” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” that the audience met with standing ovations.
