Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2014.

The Ultimate Science Street Fair
Drop in at Washington Square Park anytime this Sunday, June 1, for The Ultimate Science Street Fair, our annual free outdoor extravaganza celebrating science! We’ve packed the day with hundreds of hands-on experiences for families and kids of all ages, with big focuses on Space, Weather, and Robots. Working closely with partners like NASA, the Liberty Science Center, NOAA and many, many more, we’ve created interactive experiments and installations, simulators and performances, and lots more designed to delight and inspire your family with a day of science they’ll never forget. For all the details: worldsciencefestival.com/programs
Washington Square Park
10:00am – 6:00pm

Blue Note Jazz Festival
“The fourth Blue Note Jazz Festival kicks off tonight, presenting more than 150 artists in June at more than 15 venues throughout New York City. Highlights include Sérgio Mendes (June 7), Bobby McFerrin and Questlove (June 13) and Aretha Franklin (June 14-15).

The Festival begins with Harlem singer Vivian Sessoms at the Festival HQ — The Blue Note Jazz Club — with two performances (at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.). Also today, The BB King Blues Club & Grill is presenting the Harlem Gospel Choir at 1:30 p.m. and the Belfast Community Gospel Choir at 3 p.m. in early afternoon brunch performances.

This evening at The Blue Note Jazz Club Joe Lovano’s Village Rhythms Band plays sets at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.” (DNA Info)
For the full schedule and individual show pricing check bluenotejazzfestival.com

HOUSING WORKS STREET FAIR AND OTHER EVENTS
(also Monday and Wednesday)
“Books — and the people whose lives revolve around them — are the stars of several events at this SoHo bookstore at 126 Crosby Street, near Houston Street. Thousands of donated books, records and CDs can be scooped up for $1 each at a street fair, a fund-raiser for outreach programs run by Housing Works, on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The book beat continues on Monday at 7 p.m. with a discussion about women and writing with Jill Lepore, Rebecca Mead, Salamishah Tillet and Ruth Franklin. On Wednesday at 7 p.m., cocktails, food and literary thoughts will be served up during Dish, a reading series featuring authors who love to cook and cooks who love to write. The participants include the authors Maureen Petrosky (“The Cocktail Club”); Alyssa Shelasky (“Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs in and Out of the Kitchen”); the blogger David Gutowski (“Largehearted Boy”); and Kimberly M. Wetherell, a baker and cocktail maven.

More details: 212-334-3324, housingworksbookstore.org; free, but there is a suggested donation of $5 for Wednesday’s event. A literary feast beckons.” (Anne Mancuso-NYT)
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street, (btw Houston/Prince St.)
subway: 1-2-3 to TimesSq; transfer to N/R to Prince St; walk 1 block E, 1 block N

Takashi Murakami (Jellyfish Eyes)
In conjunction with the New York premiere of his first feature film, Jellyfish Eyes at 4PM, renowned Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami will present a collection of his animated works and discuss his signature artistic style. Known for founding the postmodern art movement “Superflat,” which blurs the line between the “high” and “low” arts, as well as for his collaborations with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Louis Vuitton via Marc Jacobs, the work of Murakami is deeply rooted in Japanese popular culture and draws inspiration from classic anime and manga.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center, 70 Lincoln Square #4
212-875-5610 / filmlinc.com/films
6:30pm/FREE – Complimentary tickets will be distributed at the Film Center box office starting one hour prior to this event. There is a limit of one ticket per person.

The Eels
“The Eels have been around for a while, making a name for themselves as one of those iconic movie soundtrack bands, playing reflective, scuzzed out, multi-genred interpretations of alternative rock jams that have shown up in popular films ranging from American Beauty and all three of the Shrek movies, to Holes and Jim Carrey’s Yes Man. Their sound is a recognizable one, yet after releasing 11 albums since their debut in 1996, they can’t be pinned down to one style, phase, or production approach.

Keeping things even more exciting are the weirdo characters frontman Mark Oliver Everett portrays with every album, singing through the perspective of others as a means to share with listeners the lessons people usually have to learn the hard way–until now, that is. Eels’ recent release, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, is a character-less, more transparent approach, revisiting mistakes of Everett’s youth while exploring obligation and indebtedness, regret and denial, and ultimately hope as an after-effect of learning from his poor decisions. They just embarked on their North American tour, so be sure to catch them at one of their upcoming performances and enjoy wallowing in Everett’s enlightening, electrifying misery.” (Erin Manning, VillageVoice)
Apollo Theater, 253 W 125th St.
btw Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd (7th Ave) and Frederick Douglass Blvd (8th Ave)
800-745-3000 / apollotheater.com
7:30 p.m. / $35-$55
===============================================================

♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==============================================================================

Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater, and The Kitchen performance spaces, there is no place like it anywhere in the world. Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com) Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (05/30) and (05/28).