The Mood Guide to Eating, Sleeping, Listening, Wandering, and Falling in Love With Uptown New York

By Mood Magazine NYC

There is a version of New York that asks you to hurry.

Catch the train.

Make the reservation.

Get downtown.

Stand in line.

Take the picture.

Get to the next place.

Harlem asks something different of you.

Stay awhile.

Give us 48 hours.

One weekend without treating Harlem like an excursion squeezed between Midtown and Brooklyn.

Check into the neighborhood. Put the phone away occasionally. Walk a little farther than you planned. Eat well. Listen closely. Look up at the buildings. Talk to somebody.

And perhaps, by Sunday afternoon, you’ll understand something New Yorkers have known for generations.

Harlem isn’t something to do while you’re in New York.

Harlem is New York.

Welcome to your weekend.

FRIDAY, 3:00 PM

Check Into Harlem

Your weekend begins at The George Manhattan, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

Drop the bags.

Take a minute.

You’re not rushing downtown tonight.

That’s important.

The George becomes home base for a weekend built around experiencing Harlem from the inside rather than commuting into it for a few hours.

Open the curtains.

Change clothes.

Put on WHRL Mood Radio while you’re getting ready.

Your New York weekend has officially begun.

5:00 PM

Walk Before You Google

Before dinner, go outside.

No elaborate itinerary yet.

Walk.

There is a particular pleasure in discovering a neighborhood before an algorithm tells you what you’re supposed to notice.

Look at the brownstones.

Notice the churches.

Find the murals.

Watch people coming home from work.

Step into a bookstore.

Stop when something interests you.

Harlem reveals itself slowly.

Let it.

7:00 PM

Dinner Should Feel Like an Occasion

It’s Friday night.

Act accordingly.

Tonight isn’t about eating because you’re hungry. It’s about allowing dinner to become part of the evening.

Choose somewhere with personality.

Order something you wouldn’t make at home.

Stay for dessert.

Have the conversation you’ve been postponing.

If you’re traveling alone, take the good table anyway.

One of the great luxuries of New York is realizing you don’t need a special occasion to create one.

9:00 PM

Hear Something

Now we get to the reason you stayed uptown.

Music.

Perhaps tonight brings an intimate Groupmuse performance.

Perhaps it’s Harlem Collective Opera.

Perhaps the Harlem Chamber Orchestra is playing.

Perhaps you discover jazz, a vocalist, a recital, or something happening in a room you didn’t know existed until this afternoon.

Don’t worry about whether you know enough.

Just listen.

Some of the best nights in New York begin when you walk into a room without knowing exactly what is going to happen.

11:00 PM

Don’t End the Night Too Quickly

The performance is over.

You could go back to the hotel.

But do you really want to?

Take a walk.

Have one more drink.

Find dessert.

Talk about what you just heard.

New York has an entirely different personality after the evening crowd starts disappearing.

Enjoy it.

Then head back to The George.

Tomorrow, we’re starting slowly.

SATURDAY

9:00 AM

Good Morning, Harlem

No alarm at 6:30.

No frantic sightseeing schedule.

This is Mood.

We’re trying to improve your life, not exhaust you.

Wake up.

Put on WHRL Mood Radio.

Get dressed.

Go find coffee.

Then walk until breakfast finds you.

11:00 AM

Meet the Harlem That Built the Harlem You Know

Today is about context.

Harlem didn’t become one of the world’s most recognizable Black cultural capitals because someone created a tourism campaign.

Writers built here.

Musicians built here.

Entrepreneurs built here.

Families built here.

Churches built here.

Activists organized here.

Artists experimented here.

Generations made lives here.

Spend part of your morning encountering that history.

Visit a cultural institution.

Walk past a landmark you’ve only seen in photographs.

Read the plaque.

Enter the building.

Ask a question.

The neighborhood becomes infinitely more interesting when you understand who walked these streets before you.

1:30 PM

Lunch, But Make It Harlem

Now eat.

Not because a list on the internet told you where everyone else is going.

Look for the places contributing to the life of the neighborhood.

Independent restaurants.

Black-owned businesses.

Places where food carries history.

Places where somebody still cares whether you enjoyed what was put in front of you.

Spend locally when you can.

Tourism becomes more meaningful when the neighborhood benefits from your presence.

3:30 PM

The Luxury of an Unscheduled Hour

Do absolutely nothing important.

Sit in a park.

Browse a bookstore.

Find a gallery.

Shop.

Have another coffee.

Go back to The George and take a nap if you want.

Luxury is not always access to more.

Sometimes luxury is finally having nowhere you need to be.

6:00 PM

Get Dressed

Tonight deserves an outfit.

We’re not telling you what to wear.

We’re simply reminding you that there is something wonderful about getting dressed because you’re excited about where you’re going.

Put the music on.

Pour something.

Take your time.

New York is waiting.

8:00 PM

Let the Arts Take Over

Tonight belongs to culture.

Opera.

Orchestra.

Theater.

Dance.

An intimate concert.

A gallery event.

A conversation with an artist.

This is where the Harlem Collective philosophy becomes tangible.

We believe the arts shouldn’t exist somewhere outside ordinary life.

They should be woven into it.

Dinner and a concert.

A hotel and a performance.

A weekend and an unexpected encounter with a composer you’ve never heard before.

The arts don’t have to be intimidating.

Sometimes you simply need someone to open the door.

Consider this your invitation.

10:30 PM

One More Harlem Night

You know the neighborhood a little better now.

That’s when something interesting happens.

The streets you walked yesterday don’t feel quite as unfamiliar.

You recognize the corner.

You know which direction the hotel is.

You have a favorite building.

Maybe even a favorite table.

You’re no longer simply visiting.

For a moment, you’re participating.

SUNDAY

10:00 AM

Take Your Time

Sunday morning in Harlem deserves room to breathe.

Breakfast.

Coffee.

Music.

Perhaps church.

Perhaps a walk.

Perhaps absolutely nothing.

Whatever you choose, resist the temptation to turn the final hours into a frantic checklist.

You didn’t come here to conquer Harlem.

You came to experience it.

NOON

Buy Something From Somebody Who Lives Here

Before you leave, support the neighborhood.

Buy the book.

Buy the art.

Buy the coffee.

Buy the clothes.

Tip generously.

Discover the business you’ll tell somebody about when you get home.

The most responsible form of cultural tourism isn’t simply appreciating a neighborhood.

It’s participating in its economy.

2:00 PM

One Last Thing

There is always one last thing in New York.

One more block.

One more photograph.

One more conversation.

One more place you didn’t get to visit.

Good.

Leave something undone.

That’s how the city gets you to come back.

4:00 PM

Check Out. Don’t Leave Harlem Behind.

Your bag is packed.

Your camera roll is considerably fuller.

But hopefully, something else happened during these 48 hours.

You stopped seeing Harlem as a collection of famous places.

You experienced a neighborhood.

You heard its music.

You tasted its food.

You encountered its history.

You supported its businesses.

You met its people.

And perhaps you discovered something about the way Mood believes travel should work.

We don’t want to send you somewhere merely to look.

We want you to participate.

Because the best travel changes your relationship with a place.

And sometimes…

it changes your relationship with yourself.

So check out.

Head home.

Return downtown.

Catch your flight.

But remember:

You still haven’t seen everything.

That’s the point.

We’ll see you next weekend.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

If you had only 48 hours in Harlem, what is the ONE thing you absolutely couldn’t leave without experiencing?

The food?

The music?

The history?

The nightlife?

The art?

Sunday morning?

Or simply sitting somewhere and watching Harlem go by?

Tell us your essential Harlem experience.

STAY IN THE MOOD

Don’t just read New York.

Live it.

Let Mood Magazine NYC be your cultural concierge to the city, helping you discover where to stay, what to eat, what to see, who to know, and the experiences worth leaving home for.

Listen to WHRL Mood Radio and let us soundtrack your day with music, culture, conversation, and stories from Harlem to the world.

Watch Mood Television for original programming, performances, interviews, and conversations with the people shaping our culture.

Experience the arts with Harlem Collective Opera, Harlem Boys Choir, and Harlem Chamber Orchestra.

Discover intimate musical experiences through our growing relationship with Groupmuse.

Make Harlem your home base with The George Manhattan and discover what happens when an overnight stay becomes part of the cultural experience.

Eat here.

Listen here.

Celebrate here.

Stay here.

And most importantly…

experience here.

Read. Listen.Live Your Mood. Watch. Experience. Go.

Mood Magazine NYC

Mind. Body. Spirit. Culture. Harlem to the World.