Reading Rocks! Join Dance Party NYC and Check Out Book Giveaways at The New York Public Library

Media Contact: Sara Beth Joren | sarabethjoren@nypl.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 28, 2022— One day, five boroughs, more than 80 dance parties!

On Saturday, August 6, The New York Public Library, in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library, presents Dance Party NYC, a joyous citywide celebration of music and movement. As part of the Festival of New York—a trailblazing movement comprising diverse organizations across the city with the aim of celebrating New York—more than 80 dance parties in all five boroughs will take place across the city, featuring live salsa bands, silent discos, block parties, family dance classes, and more. 

The Library will be hosting dance parties at 30 of its locations, alongside parties at libraries, museums, cultural organizations, plazas, open streets, and more. Patrons can discover all dance party venues through our interactive map, and get into the dancing mood with the official #DancePartyNYC playlist, curated by librarians at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

In midtown there will be dancing all day across locations including The New York Public Library’s iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, MoMA, and Pershing Square. Starting at 11 AM in Times Square, New 42 is offering family dance classes. From 3 to 5 PM, the Library is hosting a large-scale K-pop dance party featuring I Love Dance NYC and DJ Gamma Vibes between the Library lions on the plaza outside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Dancers can also join parties in the sculpture garden at MoMA from 4 to 6 PM and in Pershing Square, where a DJ will be spinning from 12 to 5 PM. Meanwhile, Rockefeller Center is hosting a day-long block party featuring break dancers from Emphasis Entertainment, double dutch artists the Jazzy Jumpers, Jamaican food from Treat Yourself Jerk, and DJs spinning into the night at Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace.

Dance Party NYC is a major pillar of Summer at the Library, NYPL’s biggest ever summer program. As part of the Library’s mission to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen communities, the Library is delivering a wide array of free programs and services to New Yorkers of all ages, including outdoor storytimes for babies and toddlers, our all-new “Make Waves” program for kids and teens, special events for adults, and an unprecedented giveaway of 500,000 books for kids and teens to take home and keep. Members of the public who attend Dance Party NYC at NYPL locations will be welcome to take away books for kids and teens, get a library card, and find out everything the Library has to offer. 

Additional partners hosting dance parties include: 

• Alliance for Coney Island 
• BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance 
• Battery Park City Authority 
• Bindlestiff Family Circus
• Black Iris Project
• Bronx Music Heritage Center/Bronx Music Hall 
• Bronxlandia
• The Bronx is Reading
• Brooklyn Children's Museum
• Brooklyn Public Library 
• Bryant Park 
• City Parks Foundation / Summerstage
• Columbus Amsterdam BID
• DOT Open Streets / Plazas (multiple locations) 
• Flatbush Nostrand Junction BID
• Goethe-Institut New York
• Governors Island 
• Grand Central Partnerships
• Hudson River Park
• Hudson Yards 
• Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning 
• Joyce Theater 
• Kaufman Music Center
• Korean Cultural Center
• Lincoln Center 
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) 
• MoMA 
• The National Arts Club
• New 42 
• Poster House 
• Queens Public Library (multiple locations) 
• Randall’s Island 
• Rockefeller Center 
• Salsa Stories
• Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden 
• Summer Streets
• Times Square Alliance 
• United Palace
• Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center

The Book Giveaway is supported in part by a generous grant from the Gray Foundation. Major support provided by the New York Life Foundation, the 2022 city-wide sponsor for Summer Reading and Learning Programs. Additional support is provided by The Rona Jaffe Foundation; New York Yankees Foundation; anonymous donors; and the continuing major support of the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences.

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Festival of New York (FNY) is a citywide collaborative movement featuring 300+ diverse organizations across all sectors spanning from Memorial Day to Labor Day 2022. All five boroughs will host events and activities spanning from world-class performances, concerts, film screenings, and family fairs to community service opportunities, participatory arts and culture experiences, and career expos. Participating organizations include Apollo Theater, Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Queens Night Market, Coney Island, USA, New York Botanical Garden, Staten Island Children’s Museum, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and many more. For more information, visit festivalofny.com

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.