Local access: brush up on NYC

Master the melting pot Ever wondered how you use that mysterious seafood sold by the barrel on Canal Street? Eileen in-Fei Lo’s Chinatown Shop and Cook, one of the Culinary Center of New York’s Culinary Wonders of New York courses (212-255-4141, culinarycenternewyork.com), is an adrenaline-packed shopping trip through Chinatown. The best part: The irrepressible instructor leads the class in turning it all into an unforgettable meal. Other courses in the series explore Japanese markets, Little Italy, Little India and Russian Brighton Beach.

Get street smart In Pace University’s Defensive Driving (914-773-3714, pace.edu), you’ll learn to deal with pressure-cooker congestion, cultivate iron-clad reflexes and maneuver through traffic (legally) like you’re in The Matrix. Completing the six-hour course saves you ten percent on insurance for three years and reduces four points on your driving record. Need help calming road rage? Enroll in the Taxi Yoga class offered on Saturdays and Monday nights by LaGuardia Community College’s New York Taxi & FHV Driver Institute (part of CUNY; 718 482-5335, ace.laguardia.edu). While designed to help taxi drivers deal with occupational stress and health issues, the course is “open to anyone that drives,” says Institute director Andrew Vollo (who also still drives a cab). Vollo incorporated the principles and movements from T’ai Chi, Ni Kung, Yoga and Feldenkrais into the program. Some of the exercises can be done right in the driver’s seat.

Multiculture club The Hispanic current runs deep through New York, including remarkable examples of history, politics and culture. Hispanic New York, offered by Columbia University School of Continuing Education (212-854-9666, ce.columbia.edu), surveys what makes NYC one of the leading Hispanic cities in the U.S. and a pivotal node of Latin-American culture. Explore the history, evolution, politics and culture of its Latino and Latin-American population, with readings in English and Spanish (English translations provided). Spend Tuesday afternoons considering what it means to be black in New York according to the city’s renowned Black artists and writers. Topics in the Black Experience: Writing Black New York, also at Columbia, surveys scholarly, literary and cinematic works that portray life in 20th-century New York, from Brooklyn to Harlem.

Sounds of the city From the Fluxus movement to Merce Cunningham, American composer John Cage was a major influence on New York’s avant-garde. His legacy comes alive in Media, Art and Music: John Cage at The New School, taught at the The New School for General Studies (212-229-5300, newschool.edu), where Cage offered his legendary Experimental Composition class (1956–1960)—a hotbed of multidisciplinary inventiveness that was filled with more artists and writers than musicians. Thursday-afternoon lectures focus on Cage and his work, as well as the colleagues and students he inspired.

Insider insights Meet the city’s movers and shakers in Susan Teltser-Schwarz’s New York Behind the Scenes at NYU-SCPS (212-998-7200, scps.nyu.edu). The cultural researcher and author crafted eight sessions with such luminaries as the chef of the Russian Tea Room (Marc Taxiera), the concierge of the Waldorf Towers (Michael Romei), the president of the New York Fashion Council (Alan Sealove), the archivist of the Old York Library (Madelyn Kent), and the backstage tour guide at the Apollo Theater (Billy Mitchell). Q&A sessions follow each presentation, and field trips are included as well.

Next »

Never stop learning | Get real | Local access: Brush up on NYC | Crash courses
Change is good | What a difference a day makes | Green lights