Wine in Harlem

A few weeks ago I had a chance to go to a private wine tasting at a wine seller in Harlem. The event was only open to the GS class, and I had the chance to see a bunch of friends there I hadn’t seen in awhile. (Half the people in this picture are people I know) There are always a lot of events happening around campus at a school this big; one of the things you have to learn when you come to NYC is that you don’t have time to do everything you’d like to. But this event was important to me for three main reasons: because wine is good, because I needed to get out and see some friends, and because it was in Harlem.
My uncle Jon was the first person who really taught me to appreciate wine. I remember at a party he was throwing, he had opened a new bottle, but after tasting it he promptly took the bottle & poured it out. I was quite surprised but he just shrugged and assured me that “life is too short to drink bad wine”. I’ve tried to remember that maxim since then.
It had also been awhile since I’d gone out and done anything with my classmates. I’m realizing now that my time here at Columbia will be over far too quickly, and before I really know it. Especially as this was an event for GS only, being able to get out and do it was important to me, and I did have a good time seeing some folks I’d been a bit out of touch with.
The third important reason was because the wine shop was in Harlem. Harlem (which is just north of Columbia and the Morningside Heights neighborhood) is a neighborhood I’ve always wanted to know more about. It represents such an important & historic area for the development of black culture in America, and for New York City too. Harlem is another place that I’d wanted more of a chance to try and connect with while I have been here, and that has also been lacking. Part of it is due to time, but part of it is due to the historic tensions between Columbia & Harlem. I’m sad to say it, but this is one area our school falls way short; Columbia has historically not been at all a good neighbor to Harlem. When the neighborhood was in decline, the school really turned a cold shoulder to it, and recently as it has experienced a resurgence and boom in the real estate values, the school has moved to buy up a bunch of the land. Which doesn’t seem so terrible, until you consider that the community in Harlem fought through the tough times and invested into their land and their real estate, and much of the rest of New York didn’t want much to do with it, until it became valuable, and now they’re interested in annexing it. For all the smart people here at this school, they couldn't find a way to simply be a good neighbor to those near them; very unfortunate.
Even though I haven’t had the chance to connect with and get to do many events up in Harlem, I was glad to be able to do the things I could, such as this. Besides, how can you say no to good wine that's free? I’d still like to go to a show at the Apollo, the famous Harlem theater, where James Brown got his start, I still may go try and do that before I leave the city …