MARCUS GARVEY PARK | HARLEM

The evening show at the open-air auditorium in Marcus Garvey Park was free for everyone. The play was a modern rendition of the Greek play 'The Bacchae' and was getting a lively reaction from the audience. The amphitheatre was buzzing, it was filled with community members who clearly knew the actors, it felt more like a pantomime than a classical play. It seemed like the amphitheatre was used often, it had a solid lighting and sound system, a professional set, and a reliable team of staff in charge of manning the gates and guiding people to their seats.

People of all ages sat in the crowd -- entire families, grandparents, teenagers, visitors from across Manhattan -- Marcus Garvey Park seemed both like a local gem and a growing citywide attraction.

At the end of the play, the producers of the play and those in charge of the park got on stage to emphasise the importance of community, diversity, and also policy change... The park manager took the moment to address the fact that after all these years, Marcus Garvey Park still has no toilets installed, with an abandoned construction area in place of where the facility should be. He recorded a video of the crowd shouting 'WE DEMAND RESTROOMS' hopefully to be sent to the relevant councilmember.

After the play, people gathered around the stage to drop donations for the theatre company. They milled around and took the opportunity to talk to each other and catch up, before heading out of the park in noisy, happy crowds. Harlem was easy to navigate even at night. The walk back to my friends' apartment was calm, a direct route from residential streets punctuated with the odd 'hip' tapas or pizza joint. This part of Harlem certainly seemed different to the area north of 125th, where local stores, street vendors, and fast food shops still dominated.