BK Reader

09/16/2026

Wyclef Jean performed for a star-studded crowd before bringing out Lauryn Hill, whose surprise appearance sent an already energized audience into a frenzy. Hill performed songs like “No Woman, No Cry” and the 1996 Fugees hit “Ready or Not.” Hill celebrated 30 years since the release of the Fugees’ landmark 1996 album, “The Score” in a painted KidSuper coat.

Figures in the crowd ranged from Beenie Man, Lil Mama and YG Marley, to Ellie the Elephant, the Brooklyn Nets mascot.

The distinction between runway, concert and civic gathering briefly dissolved. And that collapse is exactly the point.

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Video by Kimberlean Donis for BK Reader

09/09/2026

Brooklyn’s West Indian American Day Carnival returned to Eastern Parkway on Labor Day, bringing together Caribbean communities from across the borough and the wider region for a day of music, masquerade, food, dance and cultural pride.

The celebration began with J’Ouvert in the early morning before the main parade filled Eastern Parkway. Now in its 59th year, the event remains one of Brooklyn’s most important cultural traditions and one of the largest Caribbean celebrations in North America.

For many participants, the day is as much about identity and community as spectacle: families return year after year, first-time attendees are welcomed into the celebration, and flags from across the Caribbean move side by side through Crown Heights.

📷: Howard Weiss for BK READER

09/03/2026

Visitation Monastery has been a staple Bay Ridge location since its founding in 1855. Located at 8902 Ridge Blvd., the 7.5-acre campus had been a pre-K-8th grade all-girls Catholic school since 1903. Its Renaissance Revival-style church stands out along with a 30-foot stone wall circling half of the block. Devout Catholics would spend the weekend on a retreat there, while a small pond sat on Visitation's grounds.

But now, those grounds may be changing for good. Early last month, it was announced that Visitation had been sold for $42 million to private equity firm Integritas Capital and investment and development firm Heights Advisors.

This was two years after its school permanently closed its doors, citing low enrollment and having only two nuns left in its monastery. News of the sale sent both shockwaves and dismay through Bay Ridge.

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Author: Megan McGibney

08/31/2026

On the evening of Aug. 26, The New York City Sikh Council held an interfaith rally and candlelit vigil in honor of 27-year-old Gurdeep Singh and 44-year-old MD Yousef. Attendees and organizers called for an immediate end to gun violence.

The gathering brought together Black and Brown leaders, local elected officials and neighborhood residents at the intersection of Crescent St. and Stanley Ave. in East New York.

Singh, a food delivery driver, was working near Crescent and Stanley when he was fatally shot in what police say was a road rage incident on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

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Author: Kris Julien for BK READER

08/26/2026

What happens when young people who are often defined by the systems around them are given the opportunity to define themselves?

At the Center for Art and Advocacy in Brooklyn, the answer is taking shape through "Keeping Community," a summer exhibition bringing together artists, organizers, formerly and currently incarcerated creatives and young people navigating New York City’s juvenile justice system. At its center is the Youth Art Space, a pop-up gallery featuring works created by youth at the ACS Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brownsville.

The Youth Art Space similarly asks audiences to reconsider the assumptions they may bring with them when encountering young people involved in the justice system.

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Author: Kimberlean Donis

08/24/2026

This month, the famous The Brooklyn Brewery will serve its last rounds at 79 North 11th St., reported 6sqft. After operating out of the original Williamsburg location for nearly 30 years, the company is moving to 1 Wythe Ave. at a space nearly four times the size.

To say goodbye to its original spot and celebrate the move, the brewery is hosting its “Farewell Party: One Last Night at 79 N 11th” on Saturday, Aug. 29.

The new location’s soft opening is expected to come later this summer, followed by a grand opening into the fall. The new facility will include a rooftop terrace bar, expanded facilities, event spaces and a full kitchen to accommodate a full food menu.

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08/18/2026

08/18/2026

On Friday, Aug. 18th, multiple generations of longtime hip hop fans and listeners gathered in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to celebrate Lyricist Lounge's 35th anniversary at the Lena Horne Bandshell.

The pioneering hip hop platform was founded in 1991 by Anthony Marshall and Danny Castro. It started as an open mic event to showcase artists in a small apartment on Manhattan's Lower East Side and quickly became an underground platform for some of the genre's most influential voices.

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Author: Kris Julien for BK READER

08/14/2026

Haiti Cultural Exchange is preparing a new season of programming that will support Haitian artists, preserve cultural history and create opportunities for Brooklyn communities to engage with Haitian art and traditions.

During the nine-month Lakou NOU artist residency, artists will collaborate with community members on projects addressing issues including traditional practices, forced migration, foreign occupations and revolution. Applications for the 2026 residency cycle are open through Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

Now entering its 10th year, the residency supports Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush and Flatbush — neighborhoods home to generations of Haitians and Haitian Americans.

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08/11/2026

On Saturday, Aug. 8, Decatur Street in Bed-Stuy became something of a living cultural commons. Brownstone stoops, sidewalks and storefronts were transformed into stages and gathering spaces as artists, residents, families and local businesses came together for the 13th annual STooPS Summer Festival.

This year’s theme, “Joy as Resistance,” offered more than a slogan for the free neighborhood festival. For STooPS Art & Community Founder and Director Kendra J. Ross, joy has become a way of thinking about what it means to preserve community that has undergone profound change.

The festival allows artists to encounter art in spaces that already belonged to their everyday lives. Rather than placing the work inside a traditional cultural institution, STooPS brings performances and exhibitions directly into the streets, homes, stoops and businesses of Bed-Stuy.

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Author: Kimberlean Donis