The good news from New York City this week is that, following a few false starts of promising good weather following an elongated winter that cut into spring weather, the warm weather has finally arrived and looks set to stay. The bad news of the past week is that, despite all of the advances in human rights especially in this incredibly diverse heavily populated city, that hate crimes are reportedly on the rise - a sad reality that was brought to light over the weekend when a gay man was shot and killed in Greenwich Village in an apparent hate crime. The tragic irony of this unprovoked cold blooded murder was that it occurred just a few short blocks from the Stonewall Inn - the landmark of the beginning of gay rights revolution - when, according to NYPD, 32 year old Harlem born Brooklyn resident Mark Carson was fatally shot in the face with a .38 caliber revolver by homophobic slur throwing 33 year old Manhattan ex-con Elliot Morales who has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime. This hate crime, according to NYPD records, is the 29th (reported) anti-gay bias attack this year in the city - a startling statistic since that is over double the number for the same period in 2012. In reaction to this fact, and following this latest hate crime, on Monday (May 20th) thousands of New Yorkers, including some Pols, took to the streets to march in protest. The rally was organized by openly gay City Council Speaker/mayoral candidate Christine Quinn who promised both a new anti-hate initiative in NYC public schools and increased NYPD presence in both the heavily gay populated Greenwich Village and Chelsea districts.

Since the NY State of Mind Amoeblog #29, in which I previewed a bunch of the concerts and events (mostly outdoor and mostly free) over the coming months in New York City, was posted a couple of weeks ago, several more concerts and events have been announced for the fun summer season ahead. These include the lineup for the concerts in Prospect Park and the Rooftop Films series, which just kicked off last weekend and runs through August with a non-stop program of great movies screened on rooftops round the city. The mission statement of the oft-lauded non-profit who present the Rooftop Film series is "to engage diverse communities by showing independent movies in outdoor locations" and this they do each weekend to everyone's enjoyment. This weekend, for example, they'll screen the New York premiere of the Reuben Atlas-directed documentary Brothers Hypnotic about the collective lives of the eight members of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble who will perform a live set following the 9pm screening. This free event happens Friday night (May 17th) at Outdoors at MetroTech Commons, Bridge Street & Johnson Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The following night (also in Brooklyn but only two subway stops from Manhattan) will be New York Mayhem - a series of short underground films by local filmmakers about their city. Unlike the previous night however there is a charge for this one of $13 general admission. Saturday, May 18th between 8pm and 1am at The rooftops of Industry City, 220 36th Street at 3rd Avenue, Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY 11232. For more information, visit the Rooftop Films website.

Meanwhile, the Prospect Park concerts will include such outdoor shows as Big Boi, Phony Ppl, and D-Nice on June 20th, The Tiger Lillies on July 18th, and The Waterboys on July 19th. Most are 7pm shows and free or charge a minimal (few bucks) entrance fee. More info here. In Prospect Park this weekend, but not part of the aforementioned concert series, is the music, food, and drink weekend festival known as the Great GoogaMooga. The outdoor weekend-long event includes performances from hometown funk/soul heroes Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, The Darkness, Jovanotti, Matt & Kim, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more acts who will provide musical entertainment between all the food and drink (beer and wine primarily, but they have whiskey and some other hard liquor too) being served up from the likes of such participating restaurants as Brooklyn's Pork Slope and Manhattan's Pig and Khao. For full eatery information, concert schedules, and tickets click here.
  

Compared to Bay Area, the weather in NYC of late has been overall pretty crappy with some nasty rainy days like today: overcast, wet, showery with highs only hovering around the 60 degree mark. Yep, for spring coming into summer this is not the most desirable weather, but it is another needed reminder for anyone living in or visiting that it is always good to carry an umbrella with you anytime in NYC (summer or spring) because it can switch up from sunny to stormy in an instant. Last Saturday, when the weather was mostly nice, warm, and sunny, outdoor events included a big free hip-hop jam at the season re-opening (after the winter) of NYC graffiti mecca 5 Pointz (pictured above), which was simultaneously the kick-off of the all summer long, four-month hip-hop event accurately titled Celebrating 40 Years of Hip-Hop. Yes, believe it or not is now four full decades since that fateful day back in 1973 in the Boogie Down Bronx when DJ Kool Herc's block parties would kick-start the global music and cultural movement of today known as hip-hop. The always impressive, decade old 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center, which has been rumored to be facing eviction for some time now but reportedly is not in any danger for the next year, will continue its celebration of hip-hop between now and September 14th with most entertainment taking place on Saturdays (but note the area is open to public 24/7. Entertainers will include influential, legendary NY hip-hop DJ/producer Marley Marl spinning music and local emcees and beat-boxers holding informal battles - and, of course, lot and lots of graffiti art being done live. 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center is located near the E and 7 train stops at 45-46 Davis St at Jackson Ave, Long Island City, Queens; 317-219-2685, 5ptz.com).

Pete Rock with DJ Premier, Flatbush Zombies, Ty Segall's new band Fuzz, Femi Kuti, and Ben Howard (video above) are among the many artists performing for free in the parks around New York City this summer. Yes, it's the beginning of May and that means that all the upcoming summer music concerts and other fun outdoor events for Summer 2013 in New York City are being announced around this time. So for this New York State of Mind Amoeblog I will preview and list many of these great NYC summer (mostly all outdoor) events, which are usually free and typically with artists that you'd happily fork over good money to see. That all follows below. But first a note on something happening this weekend that prequels an event in August.

Since the recent official confirmation by NBC folks here including City politicians have been talking excitedly about the return to New York City of The Tonight Show with new host Jimmy Fallon. The show, which will move cross country from Burbank CA to take up residency in NYC next year after NBC wraps up its coverage of 2014 Winter Olympics, will be yet another of many TV shows recorded and broadcast out of New York. As well as Fallon's current show (Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC) other live studio TV shows made in New York City include Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart (John Oliver will take over this summer when Stewart takes a break) and Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, Dr Oz, The Early Show, Good Morning America, The View, The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, and The Rachael Ray Show - to name but some of the long list.

Then there are the numerous comedy and drama TV shows shot in NYC including NBC's long running popular series Law and Order SUV, CBS's Elementary and Person of Interest, HBO's Girls and Empire Boardwalk, and FX's The Americans - to name-check but a few.  Add to that the return of MTV's VMA's this year when it will be broadcast for the first time out of Brooklyn's Barclay Center on August 25th - after being held/broadcast out of LA the past two years. In short a lot of TV shows are already shot in New York and that number is exponentially growing. Part of the reason for the increasing number of TV shows being made in New York has to do with - you guessed it - money; namely the attractive tax breaks that the State and City of New York offer television producers. Couple that with ample facilities for TV (and film) producers, not to mention NYC's famous backdrops and locations, and you have a winning formula for New York as the perfect location for television shows.