MLK Day in NYC

This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Monday, January 20th. One great way to mark the holiday is with a gospel performance at Sony Hall. The Harlem Gospel Choir is the most renowned gospel choir in America. You can see them live for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Matinee on Monday, January 20th. Expect a concert full of “sounds that are unfettered, joyous, and inspirational.”

Jazz is another central element of New York’s Black heritage and the best place in the city to experience it is Jazz at Lincoln Center’s intimate Dizzy’s Club. On Monday, versatile pianist and composer Willerm Delisfort leads Delisfort with Strings Presents: The Black Diary Suite, a deeply moving composition created during the pandemic lockdown that reflects the struggles of Black, Brown, and Beige communities. Delisfort honors these voices through a suite of strings and jazz.

2022 Sing Harlem Choir performs onstage at the 36th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Brooklyn Academy of Music on January 17, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music.)

Also on Monday, the Brooklyn Academy of Music will host its 39th Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This free public event takes place at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, where artists, activists, civic leaders, and community members celebrate Dr. King's life and mission. This edition will feature an inspiring speech by Carlotta Walls LaNier of the Little Rock Nine, a very special solo presentation by Ailey II, and vibrant music with The Fire Ensemble led by Troy Anthony. The celebration continues with a free screening of Ernest Cole: Lost and Found at 1pm at BAM Rose Cinemas and family-friendly activities presented by BAMkids in The Adam Space. 

Jackie Robinson will be forever immortal for breaking baseball’s color line, and for an all-star career that included bringing a world championship to Brooklyn in 1955. The Jackie Robinson Museum tells the story of his life and legacy through pictures, artifacts, and multilayered storytelling. On Monday, guided museum tours will highlight the close friendship and collaboration between King and Robinson, in addition to activities like crafts, scavenger hunts, and a civil rights music workshop.

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) will be celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Saturday, January 18th through the 20th. On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend, CMOM will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day through various art mediums to express the importance of inclusivity and togetherness in building a beloved community inspired by Dr. King’s vision.

The Brooklyn Children's Museum, Winston Williams.

The Brooklyn Children's Museum will celebrate King through interactive performances, protest marches, community art programs, and volunteer projects. On both Sunday, January 19th and Monday the 20th you can find shadow puppet performances created by Nehprii Amenii, music and protest marching with Brooklyn-based musician Fyütch, Our Skin storytime with author Megan Madison, and community art-making projects. On Monday, Repair the World will also be organizing a volunteer service project to give back to the community.

Other MLK 2025 NYC Celebrations

On MLK Day, the Broadway Inspirational Voices will lead a celebration of joy, hope, and love at The Riverside Church. The Reclaiming the Dream Concert begins at 2pm. Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV) is a diverse community of Broadway artists united to change lives through the power of music and service.

Sunday services are a famous part of Harlem and tour companies can help you navigate the scene. The Harlem Gospel Walking Tour, led by Harlem Heritage Tours & Cultural Center, takes place every Sunday morning, with a live gospel service followed by a multimedia sightseeing walk through the neighborhood. On Sunday afternoon, the Apollo Theater will explore Dr. King’s enduring legacy through the panel discussion MLK & The Search For Belonging.

Queens College’s Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration "We Have and Shall Overcome" takes place on Sunday at 3pm. The honoree of this year's celebration is Arva Rice, President and CEO of the New York Urban League. The performance will feature NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, who will be joined by quartet. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. will also participate.

On Saturday, the world-renowned Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) joins forces with the Harvard Glee Club and baritone Lester Lynch for an inspiring concert celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The concert explores themes of belonging and inclusion, taking place at the Brick Presbyterian Church on the Upper East Side.

The Museum of the Moving Image celebrates MLK's. birthday with activities, talks, tours, and screenings on Monday. Sunday is a family day featuring a talk, guided tours, hands-on digital media-making activities, and a scavenger hunt. On Friday the 17th and Monday the 20th, look for special screenings of Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed, Shola Lynch’s powerful documentary about New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American to seek a major party’s presidential nomination.

Enjoy a reading from the book of John (and Paul, George, and Ringo) by Strawberry Fields on Sunday mornings at City Winery. On Sunday, January 19th, catch the Strawberry Fields Brunch: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Installation view of Edges of Ailey (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 25, 2024-February 9, 2025). Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, A Knave Made Manifest, 2024. Photograph by Jason Lowrie/BFA.com. © BFA 2024.

The Whitney Museum of American Art shows off a range of recent U.S. art from an architecturally ambitious home along the Hudson in the Meatpacking District. Among current shows is Edges of Ailey, the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences, and enduring legacy of choreographer Alvin Ailey (b. 1931, Rogers, Texas; d. 1989, New York City). The exhibition is divided into two parts, live performances and fifth-floor galleries that feature revelatory archival Ailey material as well as work by more than 80 artists, including superstars Jean-Michel Basquiat, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker, and Jacob Lawrence.

Exploring Black Heritage in NYC

Visiting Harlem

Although diverse and evolving, Harlem remains synonymous with African American culture. The neighborhood’s first wave of prominence came a little over a century ago as the Harlem Renaissance flourished, bringing global acclaim for Black achievements in music, literature, drama, and art. 

Image: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Louis Armstrong became world-famous names, with a Harlem continuity running through James Baldwin and on up to Doug E. Fresh and Azealia Banks. Long-time resident Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man, is honored with a memorial plaza at Riverside Drive and 150th Street.

Visitors today can experience a mix of locals, along with great dining and nightlife, live performances, history, and architecture. Harlem extends across the top of Central Park and blends with the Upper West Side around West 110th Street, where a statue of statesman Frederick Douglass stands. On the east side at the uptown tip of Central Park you’ll find the waters of the picturesque Harlem Meer. Outside the park is Spanish Harlem, known for its Puerto Rican presence. El Museo del Barrio (above) on Fifth Avenue celebrates Latino and Caribbean art from the precolonial period to the present. It’s just a block north of the Museum of the City of New York, which explores the city’s past, celebrates its present, and imagines its future. Among ongoing exhibitions you’ll find Activist New York, which explores the drama of social activism in NYC from the 17th century right up to the present. On Malcolm X Blvd. between 119th and 120th, you’ll find the retail flagship of online lifestyle brand NiLu, where you can browse thoughtful gifts, accessories, and home goods.

Many will tell you Harlem proper begins at 125th Street, a busy thoroughfare that gives a good sense of the neighborhood’s vibrancy. The legendary Apollo Theater is here, inside an ornate structure that dates to 1914. The famed Amateur Night at the Apollo brings aspiring performers to a big stage in front of a lively crowd. This classic talent competition has launched the careers of countless legendary artists, including Ella Fitzgerald,  Lauryn Hill, H.E.R, D’Angelo, and Machine Gun Kelly. A resident “Executioner” stands by to sweep off talent that doesn’t measure up—after all, at the Apollo it’s “be good or be gone.” 

The Apollo has a decades-long tradition of serving as a convener for its community as well as people from across New York City. That tradition continues as the Apollo explores Dr. King’s enduring legacy through the panel discussion MLK & The Search For Belonging on Sunday.

One of the city’s most impressive stretches of housing stands along Striver’s Row. Formally known as the St. Nicholas Historic District, it spans West 138th and 139th Sts. between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The genteel structures here represent the height of 19th-century urban design.

Sunday services are a famous part of Harlem and tour companies can help you navigate the scene. Welcome To Harlem is a great place to start, with a wide range of tours that include gospel, jazz, and the Harlem Renaissance. Every week (including January 14th) you can join their 4-hour Sunday Harlem Gospel and Brunch Tour. It begins at the Apollo Theater, explores the 125th Street area, and then carries through to Mount Morris Park Historic District area, full of prominent churches. Many well-known musicians and entertainers started their journeys here, and much of the music that started here is now immortalized in American pop culture.

The Harlem Gospel Walking Tour, led by the Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center, takes place every Sunday morning, with a live gospel service followed by a multimedia sightseeing walk through the neighborhood.

Dining in Harlem

Sylvia's Restaurant. Photo by Su-May/Flickr.

Sylvia’s Restaurant, the “The Queen of Soul Food,” has been serving authentic Southern-inspired cooking for six decades. Enjoy down-home favorites like bar-b-qued ribs, fried catfish, mac ‘n’ cheese, and the iconic Harlem combo of fried chicken & waffles. Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has made a big splash in the neighborhood with Red Rooster, serving elevated takes on favorites like shrimp ‘n’ grits, fried chicken with hot honey, and steak frites. Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 110th and 125th streets has become known as Harlem’s Restaurant Row. Melba’s is a top pick here, serving comfort food classics in a retro setting, while Lido brings Italian charm to a busy corner. For an upscale cocktail experience, Sugar Monk pays homage to the speakeasies of the neighborhood’s past. Perhaps the best among the many great Harlem Ethiopian spots, family-run Benyam often relies on locally sourced ingredients, like the lentils in the sambusa, a savory stuffed pastry. Beef dishes like the tibs wot and kitfo are tender, flavorful favorites as well.

Other Black Heritage Highlights in Manhattan

Seneca Village 
Once the largest community of African American property owners in New York, between West 82nd and 89th Sts., Seneca Village was displaced by the construction of Central Park. On Sunday, January 19th, you can join the Central Park Conservancy for a walking tour of the site. (Tours are also offered throughout February and beyond.)

African Burial Ground
Discovered during construction of a federal office building, the African Burial Ground is the largest of its kind in North America. Some 15,000 intact skeletal remains of enslaved and free Africans from colonial New York are interred at this National Monument, which is just uptown from City Hall.

Weeksville
In 1968, the discovery of a section of historic buildings, the Hunterfly Road Houses, led to a rebirth of interest in Weeksville. Today the area is part of Crown Heights, where the Weeksville Heritage Center keeps alive the memory of a historic Brooklyn neighborhood founded by free African Americans.

Looking for more? Here are 8 Powerful NYC Landmarks to Visit this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.