• The Apollo Theater is opening two new venues in the Victoria Theater redevelopment project that's rising a few doors east "to incubate works by up-and-coming artists, particularly performers of color, who might not be ready for the main theater’s 1,500-seat auditorium," according to Apollo executives. [NY Times]
• Speaking of the Apollo, it's New Jack Swing time at the legendary theater this Sunday when Teddy Riley and Keith Sweat headline two shows. "I'm performing around the corner from where I was raised. And all the guys can say that—Kool Moe Dee, Doug E. Fresh and Keith Sweat," said Riley. [AP News]
• Two Harlem art shows just made big year-end lists: Times co-chief art critic Roberta Smith picked “Posing Modernity: The Black Model From Manet and Matisse to Today,” as one of the year's winners. Her husband, Jerry Saltz, senior art critic at New York Magazine, chose the LaToya Ruby Frazier show at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in Harlem as one of the year's ten "best art achievements." [NY Times, Vulture]
• The Times reviewed the Classical Theater of Harlem's new production of "A Christmas Carol in Harlem," and enjoyed the "lovely" carols and the "eye-catching" dancing. [NY Times]
• Alvin Ailey's artistic director, Robert Battle, says he thinks better when he's moving, so on weekends he likes to walk uptown from his home on the Upper West Side. He'll stop by Sylvia's for the tangy ribs or Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster down the street. [New York Post]
• New Harlem spot Ruby's Vintage made it onto this list of "NYC's Hottest Cocktail Bars, December 2018." [Eater NY]
• Thanks to Solar Uptown Now, solar panels are coming to 11 buildings in Harlem and Washington Heights. They will provide energy for common spaces like hallways, lobbies, elevators and laundry rooms. [Patch]
