Mayor Eric Adams, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer discuss KungFu Kickball with local NYC game developer Jonah Wallerstein of the GUMBO Collective at the “Made in NY” Arcade, as students from Thurgood Marshall Academy demonstrate the game.

On May 16, New York City Mayor Eric Adams took steps to transform the city into a global hub for the digital games industry by announcing that The City University of New York (CUNY) is creating and funding a Bachelor’s Degree program in Digital Game Design at City College of New York (CCNY). 

Mayor Adams — joined by Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer, MOME, CUNY leadership and members of New York City’s digital games community — also introduced the first-ever Game Development Industry Council created to advise the city’s policies and programs in the games development sector. The event also included a “Made in NY” arcade, featuring game designers from the GUMBO Collective in Brooklyn and a cameo from NYXL’s Excelsior Team winners of two season conference titles in the Overwatch League. The team members  named Mayor Adams an honorary member during the event.

Said Mayor Adams about the event, “New York City has always been the center of innovation, but it is time that New York City level up and finally became a leader in the digital gaming space. It’s time to take advantage of all the talent we have here in New York by investing in the future of gaming. This $2 million investment will help us reach more than 1,000 students over the next three years and diversify the gaming field. This is how we get stuff done for our young people and for New York City!”

For more information, please see the full press release. 

Members of NYC's music industry participate in panel discussions and provide presentations on topics such as The Future of Live Music in NYC, Music Royalties and Social Justice.

On June 1, MOME proudly kicked off NY Music Month (NYMM), its signature month-long celebration of the city’s vibrant music scene! NYMM provides NYC’s musical artists with free rehearsal space, workshops, master classes and songwriting camps, and offers a live concert series throughout Queens and the Bronx to audiences of all ages. This year’s celebration began with its annual conference, which featured speakers Paul Shaffer, Michael Dorf, Joaquin Waah Dean and Natalia Nastaskin discussing the future of NYC’s music industry.

For more information on NYMM, please see this article in Variety. 

On May 20, MOME and the New York City Department of Education revealed the selections of the 4th Annual New York City Public School Film Festival, which celebrates the talent and diversity of student voices, at nyc.gov/nycpsfilmfestival. Audiences were also invited to attend live screenings of the festival at two NYC locations as part the city’s Movies Under the Stars series, currently taking place throughout the five boroughs, thanks to a partnership between MOME and NYC Parks.

A record 152 films were submitted in 2022, a 66% increase over last year, from NYC middle and high school students at 50 schools throughout the five boroughs. A total of 37 short films were selected for inclusion in the festival.  The films covered a range of social and justice issues such as violence in the AAPI community, the influence of new technology on daily life, mental health, Ukraine, racial profiling, and more, all from the unique perspective of NYC students.

For more information, please see this article from the Staten Island Advance. 

The GRAMMY Museum, in partnership with MOME, is launching the signature program series, “A New York Evening With…” presented by City National Bank this month. The series is an East Coast extension of the museum’s renowned education and public programs, which will be kicked off with a performance by GRAMMY Award-winner Jon Batiste at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center on June 17. The GRAMMY Museum will present six programs in 2022 at various venues throughout New York City.  

For more information, please see this article in Vibe, which features a quote from Mayor Adams.  

On May 13, MOME, The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) were pleased to announce an open captioning requirement at NYC movie theaters, encouraging all New Yorkers to return to and enjoy the moviegoing experience. The requirement details that any theater open to the public, with ten or more movie showings per week, will be required to show a portion of their movies with open captions. This is the result of a new law that was passed by the City Council in December 2021.

Open captions are the on-screen display of a movie’s dialogue, speakers’ names and sounds.  This policy creates a more inclusive environment for moviegoers, including individuals who are D/deaf or Hard of Hearing, or are learning English. Moviegoers can find the dates and times of movies that will be shown with open captions wherever a theater advertises movie times. 

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said: "This important initiative shines a spotlight on our administration’s commitment to strengthen and diversify New York City’s film industry, which means creating a more equitable way for audiences to experience film across the five boroughs. These new open caption requirements ensure a more inclusive viewing experience so that all New Yorkers can get back to the movies.”

For more information, read the press release. 

Carla Hoke-Miller, Director of Theatre Programs and Partnerships at MOME; Blythe Danner, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and TRC alum and Gale Patron; TRC President attend the Rehearsal Club dedication ceremony.

On May 11, MOME was on hand at the 53rd street branch of the New York Public Library for the installation and dedication of a plaque commemorating the original location of the Rehearsal Club on West 53rd street. The plaque was generously donated by the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and TRC alum Blythe Danner. TRC President Gale Patron introduced a Letter from the Mayor of the City of New York, Eric Adams, read by Carla Hoke-Miller from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

For more information, read this article in Broadway World. 

Ariel Palitz, Executive Director of the Office of Nightlife, at the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, speaks on the steps of City Hall to announce the 16th Annual Dance Parade.

On May 18, Ariel Palitz from the Office of Nightlife participated in a press conference on the steps of City Hall to officially announce the 16th Annual Dance Parade and Festival. Three days later on May 21, the Dance Parade successfully saw thousands of participants dance in the streets from Union Square to Tomkins Square Park, celebrating the diverse dance styles of NYC, including disco, belly, samba, Caribbean, hip-hop, Bolivian tinkus, modern, funk, salsa, Irish, house, tango, Korean, trance, Chinese folk, Brazilian, kathak, pom and freestyle.

For photos of the Dance Parade, see this photo spread in Gothamist. 

Alia Jones-Harvey, MOME’s Associate Commissioner of Workforce Development and Educational Initiatives and Representative from the Gumbo Indie Collective at the NYCxDesign Event.

On May 10, MOME was thrilled to sponsor and attend NYCxDesign’s 10th anniversary celebration at 1 Pennsylvania Plaza. The special anniversary edition of the festival showcased the immense talent and diversity of the city’s designers, creators and manufacturers, along with cutting-edge design businesses and districts and world-class cultural and academic design institutions. MOME presented the first-ever “Made in NY” Arcade, that celebrated NYC’s local and indie gaming developers and designers, including the GUMBO Collective. The event helped to spotlight the contributions of the Digital Games industry in NYC, which brings $2B to our local economy.

For more information on the GUMBO Collective, please visit here. 

On May 11, longtime NYC Media and MOME collaborator, the 92nd Street Y, rebranded itself to 92NY and will premiere a new season of their world-renowned “Talks” on NYC Media’s flagship channel NYC Life this Fall. First established in the 1870s as the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, the 92nd Street Y has offered New Yorkers diverse culture, arts, and entertainment programming for the last 150 years. For the past decade, its widely acclaimed celebrity and newsmaker “Talks” have been airing on NYC Media and its flagship channel NYC Life. 

This September, NYC Life will premiere 10 new episodes of the series featuring Larry David, Padma Lakshmi, John Mulvaney, late-night host, Ziwe and many others.

Previous seasons of 92nd Y on NYC Life can be watched online here.

Photoville NYC, New York’s favorite photo festival, has returned for its 11th year to Brooklyn Bridge Park and beyond, June 4-26. In addition to publicly displaying more than 65 curated visual stories in all five New York City boroughs, the festival’s assorted programming — bursting with over 30 outdoor and virtual offerings — offers events for photo lovers, festival goers, families, and New Yorkers at large. Photoville is also bringing back its Education Field Trips in partnership by MOME and PhotoWings, catering to New York City educators and students.

The Bronx is Reading is celebrating the 5th Annual Bronx Book Festival June 9-12, 2022 at Fordham Plaza with dedicated in-person and virtual programming. On Saturday, June 11 from 9AM - 6PM, the festival will feature in-person programming with authors Tarana Burke (Unbound) and Daniel Jose Older (Ballad & Dagger).  On Sunday, June 12, the line-up  includes virtual events with Sister Souljah (The Coldest Winter Ever), Sonia Manzano (Coming Up Cuban: Rising Past Castro’s Shadow) and others.  Visit www.thebronxisreading.com for more information.

The NY International Children’s Film Festival will host its third annual Industry Forum, with a series of three free and public panels on June 14, 21 and 28. Panels in this year’s series will place particular focus on the business of kids’ media and the inherent value of engaging historically excluded voices in all aspects of media production. MOME is proud to be a founding partner of the Industry Forum. More information available here. 

The BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival’s opening night is on Wednesday, June 8 at 6:00pm at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park. This event kicks off the MOME-supported, free summerlong concert and performance series in NYC. More information and the season’s calendar of events here. 

The Tribeca Festival is back and better than ever. Created by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to celebrate the vitality of New York City, Tribeca Festival 2022 offers a host of star-studded events, film premieres, celebrity talks and more. Running June 8-19, you can catch talks and retrospective screenings with Pharrell, Tig Notaro, and Common Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ewan McGregor, and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as free open-air film screenings of world premieres and classics, family favorites, musicals and more at Pier 57 and Brookfield Place. Additionally, the festival will feature a series of Masterclasses, including one on Youth Workforce Development on June 16, 5-6PM. Full schedule here.

The New York City Mayor’s Office invites New Yorkers to participate in a socially distanced, community celebration block party in acknowledgement of Juneteenth with free performances, music and resources on Friday, June 18 at 6pm at St. Nicholas Park in West Harlem. More information here.

Follow the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment on social media for the latest on our upcoming events, initiatives, and programs: Twitter: @MadeinNY, Facebook: @MadeinNY, and Instagram: @Madein_NY. 

Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment
nyc.gov/mome

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