Myrtle Avenue Plaza Kicks Off Summer

CLINTON HILL – While celebrating the summer solstice with Make Music New York Thursday, Clinton Hill officially opened the new Myrtle Avenue Plaza and began the three-month Move On Myrtle series. Locals can look forward to free fitness programs, music performances, and kids’ activities scheduled on the plaza through September.

The busy schedule of performances on Thursday began at noon with a strong sun overhead. In the afternoon New York hip hop artist Squala Orphan, joined onstage by the very young Hetep, sang about a time for change and the trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal. During a brief pause he introduced his young protégé who is learning the elements of hip-hop from the artist in an after-school program in the Bronx.

The performance was a fitting segue to the opening ceremony with its emphasis on the future of this community. As speaker Emily Weidenhof of DOT put it, “It’s people who transform streets into plazas and it’s plazas that transform people into communities.”