New data released by the Legal Aid Society on Thursday showed the distribution of households across the city receiving rental assistance through the pandemic-era Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) Program, which helped low-income New Yorkers stay in their homes through vouchers issued by New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).

Originally intended to last until 2030, the Trump administration announced in 2025 that the Biden-era EHV initiative would expire at the end of this year.

Judith Goldiner, attorney-in-Charge of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society, said that lawmakers must act fast to protect vulnerable families before the program’s funding expires at the end of 2026.

“The expiration of Emergency Housing Vouchers threatens to pull the rug out from under 5,218 NYCHA households who secured stable housing through this lifesaving program,” Goldiner said in a statement.

She pushed for state lawmakers to include $250 million in the state budget to expand a state-funded pilot program, the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP), to prevent thousands of New Yorkers from losing their rental assistance.

NYCHA said that it had intended to move EHV recipients to Section 8 vouchers but later announced that it would not be able to fund the transition. NYCHA asked tenants receiving the vouchers to fill out a public housing application online if they wanted alternative housing voucher options.

Without permanent funding, households across the city, especially in the Bronx, central Brooklyn, eastern Queens, and the north shore of Staten Island, are at risk of extreme rent burden and possibly eviction. The Bronx alone accounted for nearly half of all the EHV issued in the city.

The funding cliff approaches alongside a greater housing and financial crisis in the city, with alarmingly low vacancy rates, a multi-billion dollar budgetary shortfall and court challenges to a 2023 expansion of another beloved housing voucher program—City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS). 

With both the city and state budgets stalled, vulnerable New Yorkers still have no concrete answers about plans to fund rental assistance programs. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced a $95 million “cloudburst” project in the neighborhood, with infrastructure like porous pavement and underground water storage tanks to slow rainwater and reduce strain on the sewer system. 

Cloudbursts are sudden, intense rainstorms that dump up to two inches of rain an hour, more than the city’s sewers can handle. Those storms — which are becoming more frequent and more intense, thanks to climate change — often cause dangerous and damaging flooding, especially in low-lying and coastal neighborhoods. 

The city’s Cloudburst program, launched in 2023, uses a combination of “green” and “gray” infrastructure, like rain gardens and catch basins, to capture floodwater and keep it from overwhelming sewers and streets.

Officials said the Homecrest project will focus on several “hotspots” between Avenues O and U and East 9th and East 19th streets. Some locations, like Avenue P between East 16th and East 17th streets, are prone to “nuisance” flooding, with waters rising between 4 inches and 1 foot. Other spots, like the intersection of Avenue U and East 16th Street, suffer more frequently with “deep and contiguous flooding” of a foot or more. 

“For too long, every time a major storm rolls through, families throughout southern Brooklyn have watched their streets turn into rivers — and every year it's happening more and more due to climate change. We've dealt with flooded basements, damaged cars and roads that become impassable,” said state Sen. Sam Sutton, in a statement. “This $95 million investment in infrastructure is exactly the kind of serious, long-term commitment our communities need.”   

Though design has not been finalized, the Department of Environmental Protection is expected to install porous pavement on city streets and underground storage tanks beneath publicly-owned land like schoolyards and parking lots. DEP will work with the parks department, Department of Transportation, and NYC Public Schools to identify good locations for those tanks. 

A smaller Cloudburst project at South Jamaica Houses in Queens includes large water storage tanks underneath a basketball court. The tanks store massive amounts of water during storms, then allow the water to slowly disperse into the soil afterward. 

Officials said the project will also help to protect the already-polluted Coney Island Creek from being inundated with untreated sewage during storms. 

“The Homecrest Cloudburst project is a major step forward in protecting this community from the kind of extreme rainfall we know is becoming more common,” said DEP Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia. “By capturing and storing stormwater before it overwhelms local streets and sewers, we’re reducing flood risk, improving water quality in Coney Island Creek and building the resilient infrastructure New Yorkers deserve.”  

The NYC Tape Fair is back in Bushwick on May 3 with cassettes, VHS tapes and vinyl galore.

Founded just last year by Anthony Morton and Ricardo Marrero, the fair celebrates the glories of physical media in an increasingly digital age. 

Ahead of the inaugural NYC Tape Fair last year, Morton told Brooklyn Paper that he felt people were growing tired of endless streaming and music subscriptions, and yearning to return to a simpler time.

He seemed to prove himself right, as the 2025 fair drew more than 1,000 people in just six hours, which “way exceeded our expectation,” Morton said. 

This year’s fair is even bigger, with more than a dozen vendors slated to hawk their wares at Selva, a combination record store-art gallery-cafe on Willoughby Avenue. 

Sellers including Night Owl Video, Familiar Face Records and thrift shop Grandpa’s Digs will be selling everything from vintage and hard-to-find VHS tapes to used vinyl to “experimental” new tunes released exclusively on cassette. 

Independent collectors — including Morton himself – will show off their niche wares too. Last year, Morton’s biggest sellers were bootleg Bob Dylan VHS tapes he thought no one would want, he said. 

This year, the Tape Fair has some new vendors, like the Berlin-based Awesome Tapes from Africa.

“[Awesome Tapes] re-presses older Afro-rock stuff that is either not on tape, hard to find, or the records are hundreds if not thousands of dollars,” Morton said. “It kind of makes that more accessible, I’m really excited. Definitely going to spend a bunch of money there.”

He was also thrilled to welcome Academy Records, a massive Manhattan-based music and video shop he described as an “institution,” and cassette shop Tape Head City. 

“He has tons of re-presses of really classic stuff and vintage stuff, like a huge, huge massive collection,” Morton said of Tape Head. “We really wanted him in the first year, couldn’t work it out, but it did work out this year.” 

Returning vendor Found Footage Festival will be showing off part of their massive collection of old and obscure video, and the fair will have a soundtrack of live video on VHS tapes and music on cassettes. 

While physical media has been slowly getting less popular for decades — replaced by massive online streaming platforms with massive, instant collections of music, movies and TV — there has been a surge in demand for vinyl, cassettes and DVDs in recent years.

Vinyl and DVD sales are up among Gen Z and Millenials, respectively, according to the LA Times, and many Americans still regularly listen to CDs or watch movies on DVD and Blu-Ray. Streaming services are convenient but unstable. Movies and TV shows shift from platform to platform and are sometimes deleted altogether to save money, and a number of music artists have left platforms like Spotify either temporarily or forever. Many Americans would rather buy a single copy of their favorite movie or CD, rather than pay for multiple streaming services and risk losing access when something gets axed.

“I think that sentiment is continuing to rise,” Morton said. “The popularity of not tape, but the Criterion Collection, people are wanting to own their movies, own their music.” 

The NYC Tape Fair is perfect not just for seasoned physical media collectors, he said, but for newcomers too. Entry is free, and while prices of goods vary, there will be a pay-what-you-want section, he said. 

“You could walk in with $2 and walk out with a handful of things,” he said. “I think it’s going to be absolutely electric.”  

NYC Tape Fair returns for one day only on Sunday, May 3, from 12-6 p.m. at Selva, 1329 Willoughby Ave. in Bushwick. Admission is free, prices vary. 

The MTA will run regular and enhanced subway and bus service during the competition's eight local match days between mid-June and mid-July at MetLife Stadium, Lieber said during a press conference following the agency's April 29 board meeting.

"The MTA in New York is ready to run regular and some enhanced service and to accommodate everybody, whether they're going to work or they're going to a doctor or going to school," Lieber said. "Nobody needs to stay home because the World Cup is happening."

Lieber said the agency is still determining what enhanced service it will provide during the weeks-long competition.

"We're studying where the special events overlap with other special events, and how our service and the work and the construction work that's going on in the summer [overlap]," Lieber said. "We're active and we're making a plan to provide good service on those days."

The World Cup is expected to bring 1.2 million visitors to the region, according to the event's host committee. However, leaders in the hotel and tourism industries have said the competition has, thus far, not generated the boom in local bookings initially projected, reports indicate.

Nevertheless, the city announced earlier this week that it will host one free event in each borough on match days, where fans can watch the games. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul pitched the "fan zones" as a way for New Yorkers to watch the games without having to shell out exorbitant ticket and transportation costs to see them at MetLife Stadium.

Those events will be hosted at locations including Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, the Bronx Terminal Market, and Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.

The MTA chair said the MTA plans to run the kind of service it provides during the U.S. Open, which takes place each year at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Last year, the MTA ran five additional 7 trains and had four extra Long Island Rail Road trains make stops at the Mets-Willets Point station, by the tennis center, every day during the U.S. Open Fan Week.

"The projections about the numbers of people who are going to be here are not inconsistent with our tourists, the volumes of tourists that we deal with on a regular basis," Lieber said. "We're ready, and we're excited, and we're determined to provide good service. And we have the capacity."

The April 25 event connected volunteers with at least 35 local nonprofits hosting service projects ranging from food distribution and urban farming to park cleanups, advocacy work and youth programming. Organizers at Brooklyn Org said the effort is designed to give Brooklynites hands-on opportunities to engage with organizations across neighborhoods. 

"Brooklynites want to be engaged in making their borough even better and Brooklyn Org Volunteer Day is just one way we are helping people be part of the civic fabric of Brooklyn,” Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, president and CEO of Brooklyn Org, said in a statement. “From volunteering to community events, to giving and donor-advised funds, we are excited to connect Brooklynites to all the ways they can play a bigger part in strengthening our communities.” 

Volunteer sites included a wide network of community partners such as Mixteca, Asiyah Women's Center, YVote, The Campaign Against Hunger, Red Hook Initiative, CHiPS, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, Sure We Can and Black Trans Femmes in the Arts.

At one site in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the B.R.O. Experience Foundation hosted a three-part volunteer project, in its headquarters known as the BRO Space. Participants worked on a collaborative mural, assembled 200 wellness kits for distribution to men in the community — particularly for those who are unhoused — and created affirmation placards for young men involved in the foundation’s programs. 

Barry Cooper, founder and executive director of the B.R.O. Experience Foundation, said the day was about bringing people together from “all sides of Brooklyn.” 

"Folks who were inspired to give their time decided to come and hug the B.R.O. space and give their talents, their energy, their love and their compassion to do for others who need it. Not only did they do that creatively, they did it in community,” he said. “They were able to connect with some of the young men who are part of our different programs."

The foundation’s event was one of several hosted by 2026 Brooklyn Org Spark Prize recipients, highlighting the role of local nonprofits in shaping community-based solutions.

"Working with Brooklyn Org was flat out amazing!” Cooper, a volunteer with the B.R.O Experience, said. "The ideas and the ways they love supporting non-profits in Brooklyn, giving us access to such a wealth of information and of financial resources that they support us with, has been amazing and it has allowed us to impact a number of young men in Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn Org officials said they plan to continue expanding volunteer opportunities and partnerships, urging residents to remain engaged beyond a single day of service.

More information about future volunteer opportunities can be found on Brooklyn Org's website.

The parade, scheduled for June 20 at 1 p.m., will once again wind through the streets of Coney Island, marking what many consider the unofficial start of summer in New York City.

Adam Rinn, Coney Island USA’s Artistic Director, said that the selections are a “dream come true.” 

“There’s no other working artist in New York at the moment that’s more deserving to lead this parade than Jesse. Not only is he a talented musician and an incredible songwriter, he’s given artists of all disciplines venues around the city in which to showcase their art.”

On Jones, Rinn said she is “one of the best singer-songwriters ever! Rickie has influenced a generation of artists with her beautiful voice and her genre-defying blend of rock, jazz and pop.”

The announcement comes after a challenging year for the nonprofit organization behind the parade. Rinn acknowledged financial difficulties tied to economic pressures, development in Coney Island, and a GoFundMe campaign that amplified the cause, in a statement.

“Financially, we’ve been hit hard this past year, with the economy the way it is, the harsh winter and the battle to save Coney Island from a dreaded casino, we found ourselves tapped out. It got to the point that we had to open up a crowdfunding campaign,” he added.

At the April 16 State of the Borough address, Borough President Antonio Reynoso allocated funding to ensure the Mermaid Parade lives on.

‘Thanks to the public and a generous allocation from Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso, the money has been coming in so we’re able to start getting the ducks, or in this case, sea creatures lined up in a row,” Rinn said. 

Reynoso echoed the Mermaid Parade's cultural significance and the borough’s support.

"Nothing captures the magic of summer in Brooklyn better than the Mermaid Parade,” says Reynoso. “When Coney Island USA came to us in need, there was no question we had to step up.” This parade belongs to the people of Brooklyn and to the thousands of artists who pour their hearts into their costumes, floats, and performances every year. With Jesse Malin and Rickie Lee Jones as King and Queen, the 44th Annual Mermaid Parade is going to be an unforgettable celebration. I'm proud to help make it happen."

As tradition dictates, this year’s king and queen will ride in a 1923 antique wicker rolling chair along the boardwalk route.

For Malin, a New York native long associated with the city’s rock scene, the honor follows a period of personal and professional resilience. After suffering a rare spinal stroke in 2023 that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he returned to the stage the following year. His career spans decades of critically acclaimed music, along with recent ventures into theater and literature.

Jones, widely regarded as one of the defining voices of her generation, brings a similarly storied legacy. A two-time Grammy winner, her career spans genres, blending jazz, rock and pop, alongside acclaimed memoirs and ongoing projects.

Malin and Jones join the likes of Lou Reed, David Byrne and Queen Latifah as former kings and queens. Registration for participants is now open, with full details available at coneyisland.com.

Lieber, during a news conference following an April 29 MTA board meeting, insisted that there has been widespread compliance among bus riders who have been approached by civilian fare agents with handheld devices scanning their phones, credit/debit cards, or fare cards to ensure they paid via the OMNY to-and-pay system.

NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow announced on Monday that the agency would be equipping civilian fare agents — who serve on the agency's Evasion And Graffiti Lawlessness Eradication (EAGLE) teams — on local buses, after piloting them on Select Bus Service (SBS) routes.

"We've been testing it out, as Demetrius has described, and it's working fine," Lieber said. "I think that there is a very high rate of customer compliance."

The MTA chair did concede that some riders may not be eager to brandish their phone or bank card to fare agents on demand. But he said the system of fare enforcement is necessary for the agency to implement, as it is common amongst countries in Europe and beyond.

"We haven't gotten a lot of pushback. It may happen," Lieber said. "But this is the right way to validate fares in the 21st Century in the Western world. So we're comfortable with it. We've been testing out the technology, and the EAGLE teams have been implementing this methodology successfully."

Crichlow said the EAGLE teams are being trained to interact with riders who refuse to show proof of payment.

"Employees are being trained how to deal with customers, what to say in instances where they encounter a customer that may not necessarily be readily willing to present their information," Crichlow said.

At the same time, he said the MTA is trying to educate transit users about the new fare enforcement method to avoid such situations.

"We're also doing the work up front, having the teams go out there and do leaflets, talk to customers in advance of implementing this," he said. "We're having customer information screens changed to be able to tell customers. We're adding signage to buses so that people know that this change is coming. So it is our goal to be as informative as possible. So this is not a surprise to the public."

Crichlow also emphasized that the devices are strictly for verifying payments and do not store riders' personal information.

The MTA is moving toward the new fare enforcement model on buses now that it has fully switched to the OMNY system and has mostly phased out the use of MetroCards, which it stopped selling at the end of last year, and coin payments.

The agency lost $568 million in revenue to fare evasion on its buses in 2024, according to a 2025 report from the Citizens Budget Commission.

Lieber has said the rollout of the scanning devices to fare agents across the system will allow the MTA to finally introduce all-door boarding on its local buses, which have had dormant back-door OMNY readers for several years.

The MTA and artist Christopher Myers unveiled the pieces, titled “If you don’t want your children to know the truth about life don’t send ‘em to the theater,” at the Church Avenue station on April 24.

Myers, a prolific artist whose work explores culture, art, history and displacement, said he was inspired by the “intersecting histories” of Flatbush. 

“A lot of my work is research-based. It’s based in the stories of communities, the ways in which our very local history affects and is part of larger world history,” he said. 

In the 20th century, Flatbush was a theater district, filled with movie houses and vaudeville theaters long since closed. The Kings Theater is a lone relic of the time.

Myers’ mosaics are a callback to that time, featuring draped red velvet curtains adorned with stars and framed in gold. In front of the curtain stand life-size depictions of beloved performers of old – vaudeville actress Bessie McCoy Davis, singer Lottie Collins and comedian Jackie ‘Moms’ Mabley.

But the theater wasn’t his sole inspiration. Myers said he sees theater as “any place in which cultures meet.” 

“When you go to the theater, you’re going to expand your world, do something other than yourself,” he explained. “You come to find yourself in that thing that is other than yourself.”

By that definition, he said, the tradition of theater is alive and well in Flatbush. 

“It continues in the kind of small moments in which we all are with each other on a subway, or in the larger moments, like the history of the Caribbean diaspora and African-American diaspora that run through Flatbush,” he said. “At the Labor Day parade, when you see the carryovers from Carnival in Flatbush, that is also a kind of theater. The kind of place in which we go to meet ourselves and each other.”

Moving between the curtains are three Moko Jumbies, masked stiltwalkers serve as symbols of celebration and protection at Carnival celebrations in the Caribbean, said Tina Vaz, director of MTA Arts & Design. The figures weave Flatbush’s past and present together in one tiled piece. 

“I wanted to see all of this theater history — the quotidian theater of everyday life, the history of Carnival and the red velvet curtain, gold-leaf theaters of days gone by — to see it all as part of one continuity,” Myers said. 

The pieces, commissioned by MTA Arts & Design as part of the “Art Everywhere for Everyone” anniversary celebration, felt particularly special for Myers. Fabricated by Mosaicos Venecianos de México, they are his first mosaics and his first permanent public work.

Myers was born and raised in New York City and has lived in Brooklyn for decades. For lifelong New Yorkers, the subway is a fixture of the imagination, he said, and he sees the system as a “miracle” despite its many shortcomings. 

He still remembers his parents calling the lines by their old times — the IRT, BMT and IND. The Church Avenue B/Q station, where his mosaics were installed, was part of the BMT and first opened in 1878, though the current station was rebuilt in 1907. 

“I love when my work is acquired by museums and public institutions,” Myers said. “The subway feels somehow more permanent. It feels like a part of the archeology of the city, and it’s such a gift to integrate my own work, my own little moment, into that long, long history.”

He was thrilled to finally unveil the mosaics to the public. His works aren’t finished until they land with an audience, he said, especially one as broad and diverse as subway commuters.

“At Arts & Design, we believe art has the power to transform a daily commute, to interrupt the ordinary with moments of recognition, connection, and beauty,” Vaz said. “This work does that.”

Myers said he hopes commuters can take a pause and use his mosaics to see themselves and their lives. 

“One of my goals is everyone should be able to see themselves on that stage,” he said. “The figures are life-size figures, and ideally people will stand in front of the red velvet curtains that are made in tile and imagine what kind of theater are they making.”

Footage from inside the event showed Mamdani and Charles shaking hands and briefly conversing before the king’s press secretary pushed cameras back. A source familiar with the exchange said the pair “exchanged pleasantries."

Earlier Wednesday, Mamdani was asked what he would say if he had a private moment with Charles at the memorial. After saying the focus of the wreath-laying was honoring those killed on Sept. 11, Mamdani added: “If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.”

The Koh-i-Noor, now part of the British Crown Jewels, originated in India and passed through Mughal, Persian, Afghan and Sikh rulers before the British forced 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh to surrender it in 1849, along with his claim to sovereignty, after annexing Punjab.

The wreath-laying ceremony honored those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks nearly 25 years after the day of infamy. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani, along with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who now serves as the 9/11 Memorial chair, accompanied Charles and Queen Camilla to the somber ceremony.

Yet it was difficult for local press to get a view of the event. Hochul’s office issued RSVPs for the event, while Mamdani’s office advertised the crossover as open to the press. But local reporters were ultimately kept from viewing the ceremony itself after the British Embassy had final say.

A spokesperson for the Embassy did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Traffic enforcement agents and NYPD officers lined streets around the memorial as the royal visit locked down parts of Lower Manhattan. The 1 train skipped WTC Cortlandt in both directions from 5:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., with riders directed to Rector Street or Chambers Street.

Charles and Camilla had arrived in New York on Wednesday after stops in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Their New York itinerary included the 9/11 Memorial and the New York Public Library, where Camilla was expected to donate a “Roo” doll to the library’s Winnie-the-Pooh collection.

In Washington, Charles addressed Congress and attended a state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump. As reported by The New York Times, the British King used his congressional remarks to highlight the trans-Atlantic alliance while emphasizing themes such as checks and balances and environmental protection, amid tension between the two countries over the war in Iran. At the dinner, the two leaders praised the “special relationship,” with Charles joking that it was “an improvement on the Boston Tea Party” and presenting Trump with a bell from a British World War II submarine.

'My king'

The colonial history invoked by the mayor earlier in the day was also on the minds of protesters across the street from the memorial, where a small group of Sikh demonstrators rallied in support of Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh homeland in Punjab.

“We want the British to right the wrong, the mistake that they made in 1947,” said Jagdeep Singh, a New York-based protester.

Singh said Britain should have restored Sikh sovereignty when it left India, rather than making Punjab part of the Indian Union.

“The only solution that we have is independence,” he said, adding that the group wants Britain to support Sikh self-determination and a Khalistan referendum.

The Khalistan movement first gained global attention in the 1980s after years of unrest in India’s Punjab region and armed conflict with the Indian state. While support for the movement is heavily suppressed within India, it has persisted among parts of the Sikh diaspora through rallies and nonbinding referendums.

Outside the security perimeter, the royal visit drew a mix of curious onlookers, devoted royal watchers, and frustrated spectators trying to traverse the locked-down streets.

One Anglophile waving a Union Jack, Maria, came from Connecticut before dawn to see the monarch she called “my king.”

“Well, ‘see’ being a relevant term,” she said from behind the barricades. “I doubt I’m going to see him, but that was the plan.”

She said she left Connecticut around 5:45 a.m. and had been waiting in Lower Manhattan since about 8:30. But like other spectators and members of the press, she was too far away to see the ceremony unfold.

Speaking to amNewYork, adorned in royal paraphernalia, Maria described herself plainly: “I’m an Anglophile.” She said she still considers the late Queen Elizabeth “my queen.”

“Politicians, to me, tend to divide people,” she said. “Whereas royalty is just so much god-like majesty that tends to unite everyone, because they’re not political.”

Asked about the recent spate of “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration, Maria was unmoved.

“I don’t really know what they’re protesting, since America technically does not have a king,” she said. “So I think they’re kind of wasting their time.”

Then, mid-interview, someone appeared to mistake a passerby in the distance for the monarch.

“Charles!” Maria screamed, causing the cameras around her to snap to attention.

“No,” Maria said. “It’s just an old guy.”

Created by Move Forward Music, a live events agency focused on emerging artists, the festival will transform a one-block stretch of Scott Avenue into a hub of music, culture, and creativity from May 15-17.

Performances will be hosted at five different venues, Brooklyn Roots Collective, the Chocolate Factory, 99 Scott, SILO Brooklyn, and Honey’s; and the festival is set to feature headliners like Saba, Hope Tala, Mark William Lewis, Sango, Tyler ICU and DJ Habibeats. 

The festival will also feature panels, workshops, live showcases, late-night DJ and club programming, and a multi-day free vintage fashion market by Thrift2Death.

 “For the last decade, festivals have grown bigger, but they haven’t necessarily felt more connected,” said Al Damashek, founder of Move Forward Music. “We wanted to build something that feels curated, community-driven, and rooted in New York.”

The festival’s lineup aims to reflect New York City’s diversity, with a wide range of genres and everything from indie and alternative showcases to global “club nights” with genre-shifting dance floors. 

Across its five venues, the festival will also feature independent programming, artists performances and showcases curated by partners like Pigeons & Planes, Indie Hourzz, Grey Area, and That Good Sh*t with Annabelle Kline. Industry panels on culture and media include New York luminaries in fashion, such as Emma Rogue, and music industry trailblazers, including Indify, Even, B.A.K., and oneRPM.

“Scott Avenue is a completely unique block where multiple major venues exist side by side, and it gives us the opportunity to bring the city together in one place — artists, media, venues, and fans — all moving through the same space,” Damashek said. 

 Event organizers expect up to 23,000 attendees for the block party-style event. Festival tickets are available  online, with tickets for individual events starting at $29 and day passes available for $79. The Weekend Wristband is $199, and includes priority access to all music events, panels, and workshops, expedited entry, VIP areas, and discounted merchandise.

Move Forward Music has played a vital role in the early live moments of music stars like Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat, Juiceworld, Tems, Ravyn Lenae, Shaboozey, and Post Malone, creating platforms across live touring, digital content, and brand partnerships that help shape broader cultural conversations, and the festival continues Move Forward Music’s tradition of highlighting emerging artists, curating intentional spaces for artist discovery and diverse community, and building culture-forward brands.