The 14th Street Y, the community center in the East Village, is gearing up for its inaugural public menorah lighting scheduled for the second night of Hanukkah—Thursday, December 26—on the north side of Union Square.
Between 6pm and 7:30pm, attendees of the free event will get to partake in a variety of festive activities (think arts and crafts programs for kids, a dreidel spin-off and LED light juggling), listen to Yiddish music during a live performance by Broadway singer Joanne Borts of Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof fame, devour jelly donuts, snap pictures in a photo booth or dance and mizrahi music curated by DJ Jonathan Cohen.
“The 14th Street Y is hosting its inaugural public menorah lighting in the park, beginning a new tradition for the downtown Jewish community that brings light and joy amid a period of increasing tensions and divisions,” reads an official press release about the event.
Although admission is complimentary, we suggest you add your name to the list of would-be attendees right here, where you’ll also get to read through more information about programming.
The upcoming celebration is a big deal in more ways than one: as initially reported by New York Jewish Week, the current drought faced by the city of New York could actually prevent public menorah lighting ceremonies from happening this year.
“On Nov. 20, the mayor’s office, plus the city’s fire and parks departments, announced the cancellation of already-issued permits for fireworks displays and open flames across the entire city indefinitely,” reported the outlet. “The three offices also announced the suspension of new permits for open flames — meaning that, in addition to New Year’s Eve fireworks, public menorah lightings […] may be cancelled.”
The FDNY is going to review previously-issued permits on a case-by-case basis, so nothing is certain just yet—but this Union Square celebration suddenly sounds even more appealing.
