Representing Amoeba Music and being in New York City, I am often asked by record collectors and music fanatics if Amoeba might ever open a store in New York City. While I would have answered that question with "Unfortunately, probably not" before, I can now cheerfully reply that Amoeba Music has a scaled-down but impressive record shop inside the recently-opened new Urban Outfitters in Herald Square across the street from the flagship Macy's. There inside the three-level, 57,000 square foot flagship Urban Outfitters the California-based Amoeba has proudly set up shop and curated a diverse assortment of over 400 vintage vinyl titles. Ranging from classic rock and punk to jazz and soul and more, these vinyl titles (mostly first pressings) are in excellent condition, shrink-wrapped, and all come with a bonus Amoeba sticker inside. They are priced at $20 an LP. You will find the Amoeba section conveniently located on the street level of the new store that opened in June, sharing space with Urban Outfitters own impressive music section (new vinyl, turntables, headphones, etc.) and other shops such as Intelligentsia cafe, Hairroin Salon, and a Bikestock bike repair station. Urban Outfitters is located at 1333 Broadway between 35th and 36th Streets. Open 9am - 10pm Monday to Saturdays and Sunday 10am to 10pm.
 

For this week's installment of the New York State of Mind Amoeblog I have included a bunch of photos (above/left/below)  that I took all round town (mostly Manhattan and mostly over the past week or two - but some other times/boroughs too including the one in the Bronx above) and if you drag the mouse icon on top of each image you will see embedded text that accompanies the respective images.  Meanwhile some of the events and happenings in NYC in the week ahead include later today (July 30th) Lisette Melendez, George Lamond, and Coro who are masters of the hip-hop/disco born genre known as freestyle: the synth-based dance music which combines the influence of Afrika Bambaataa’s electro-funk flavor (note that Bambaataa is presenting this concert today) with Latin rhythms, and European Hi-NRG vocals.  Free. All ages. 7pm to 9pm sharp. At Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island. Part of the NYC Summerstage series. Free ferry ride from lower Manhattan to Staten Island takes about half hour including wait for boat, followed by short bus ride. More info. 

On Saturday afternoon in the same Summerstage series will be a killer free show in Central Park at 3pm with Dr John & The Night Trippers. Opening for the New Orleans legend will be the New Orleans influenced Hurray for the Riff Raff which is the creation of frontwoman Alynda lee Segarra, a 26-year-old Bronx native who traveled to New Orleans to hone her musical chops. This is a free show but arrive an hour or more before the official 3pm opening time to ensure admission. More info.

After closely dodging a major public transportation strike of the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) earlier this week (which would have trickled down to affect MTA buses and subways, thereby affecting all New Yorkers and not just those who commute into the city from suburban Long Island), folks here are still breathing a sigh of relief in this city where, it seems, nearly everyone takes public transportation. Speaking of which, the Citi Bike program has expanded its service to embrace more tourists by making it more accessible for casual one-off users. Compared to typical bike rental outlets Citi Bike's $10 for a 24-hour period seems like a deal. However the drawback is that is you only get the bike for 30-minute increments before having to re-check it out - or suffer heavy fines. More info here.

Continuing in the bike loving NYC theme, this month 122 metal bicycle sculptures (see below) have been rolled out around Manhattan and Brooklyn as part of a grand scale sculpture exhibit by 83-year-old bicycle-loving Mexico City artist Gilberto Aceves Navarro. He first created the cycle themed sculpture exhibit entitled "Las Bicicletas" in his hometown with the stated goal of celebrating both art and bike riding. Supported financially by the Parks Department and the DOT (Dept. of Transportation) the public art installation can be seen all over lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, with many strategically installed near the Citi Bike share racks. More detailed info.

The bevy of free outdoor movies continues with a wide range of choices of movies and locations to view them that include tonight (July 16) at Pier 63 at Hudson River Park (near 23rd Street) where the award winning 2013 film American Hustle will screen for free. This is a great location and does not get as packed as some of the other spots like Bryant Park but note that the front half of the lawn, which is damp most of the time so bring a plastic sheet, is on a backward slant from the screen so try to avoid sitting there or you will keep falling backwards. More info.   Meanwhile at the aforementioned Bryant Park's (42nd Street at Sixth Ave.) weekly HBO sponsored screening this Monday (July 21s) will be National Lampoon's Vacation. More info. Over in Brooklyn at McCarren Park tonight (July 16) SummerScreen presents Ben Stiller's silly but fun Zoolander. What  makes this free outdoor movie series extra special is that they also  have a live concert beforehand. This evening that will be the must-see double bill of two hot new NYC hip-hop acts Ratking and Princess Nokia. 6 pm start time with film screening at sundown (8:30pm approx). McCarren Park is at N. 12th St. at Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg. More info. Then on Friday evening at Pier 46 (again on Hudson River Park) "Ghostbusters (trailer above) will screen at  part of the summer movie series' Family Fridays with free popcorn to accompany the free movie.  Pier 46 is along West St. at Charles St. More info.

Summer is officially well underway here in New York City with proof being that there are simply too many things going on simultaneously to possibly attend them all -  a good thing because every day there is a myriad of fun events (mostly free, and mostly outdoors) to chose from ranging from music concerts of all genres, to films in fun locations, to dance productions, and art shows, etc. These include the must-attend annual summer tradition of the Tools of War grassroots hip-hop produced Park Jams which take place in parks in the Bronx and Manhattan over the three main summer months on either Tuesday or Thursday late afternoon/early evenings. Since it's now July that means that the Park Jams, with the focus on the DJs, are happening at Crotona Park up in the Boogie Down Bronx - bringing the phenomenon, that gave birth to hip-hop four decades ago, back full circle. 

Last week, up until the summer thunderstorm kicked in the last quarter of the four-hour event, those entertaining included 1980's DMC champ DJ Cheese, "forever" host Grandmaster Caz, and legendary hip-hop DJ Jazzy Jay who is pictured top care of Ignacio Soltero. (Soltero also took photo above from one of last month's Spanish Harlem Tools of War Park Jams at White Park). Tomorrow (Thursday July 10) at the Crotona Park, Bronx location at the same time (4pm-8pm) the lineup will include DJ Cash Money, DJ Jazzy Joyce, and DJ Looie Loo. For full listings see flyer below or click here.