Jamaica

Your JAMAICA ME CRAZY T-shirt must’ve been funny at some point, but it’s time you gave this culture-rich country its due: Bob Marley’s birthday is this week (Friday 6), and New York is home to more than 250,000 Jamaicans. Everyting’s irie, mon.

EAT AND DRINK LIKE A JAMAICAN

There’s Caribbean fare aplenty along Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn (and who hasn’t ordered a Reggaefest Combo at Golden Krust?), but Sharon Gordon, a Kingston native and president-cofounder of TSO Productions, recommends Brawta Caribbean Café (347 Atlantic Ave between Bond and Hoyt Sts, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn; 718-855-5515) for “real Jamaican food.” Jerk chicken and ackee with saltfish are menu staples, but what we really love are the free condoms distributed at the door.

For island-inspired cocktails, bounce over to Negril Village’s Rhum Lounge (70 W 3rd St between La Guardia Pl and Thompson St, 212-477-2804), where the Appleton flows like water and the speakers buzz with reggae, calypso and soca. “It’s a lovely space with a great menu,” says E. Wayne McDonald, artistic director of the Caribbean Cultural Theatre and a native of Spanish Town, Jamaica. “They’re trying to broaden the Jamaican palate, serving classics with a Greenwich Village twist.” If you’re too macho for the Maracas Baytini, try a Jamaican Red Stripe.

SEE JAMAICAN ART

There aren’t many Jamaican artists in the highbrow visual-art world,” says Nicola Vassell, the Jamaica-born director of Deitch Projects, but one of our new faves is Ibn Kendall, whose show “Coon Alchemy” opens this week at the NY Studio Gallery (154 Stanton St at Suffolk St, 212-627-3276; reception Fri 6 7–9pm, free; through Feb 21). Many of Kendall’s pieces are inspired by 1940s–’60s family pics taken in Jamaica.

While you’re at it, keep an eye on Cavin-Morris Gallery (210 Eleventh Ave between 24th and 25th Sts, suite 201; 212-226-3768); codirector Randall Morris has a special affinity for self-taught Jamaican artists and has exhibited a boatload of their work in the past.

HANG LIKE A JAMAICAN

Get together and it’ll be all right at Friday 6’s Bob Marley Birthday Bash at B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grill (237 W 42nd St between Broadway and Eighth Ave; 212-997-4144, bbkingblues.com; 7:30pm; $25, advance $22). The reggaefest features the High Times Cannabis Cup house band covering “No Woman, No Cry,” “Jammin’ ” and more than 50 other Marley biggies. Will Mary Jane be there? “I’m not going to teach you how to be a criminal,” says Cannabis Cup drummer G. Moses. “You have to learn that on your own.”

If you want to buy genuine Rasta jewelry, art or wood carvings, head to Lionheart Cultural Variety Store (676 Nostrand Ave between Bergen St and St. Marks Ave; Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 718-778-3195). We especially love the wall of Obama pins and dangly, flag-themed earrings. That’s well and good, but if you really want to look the part, visit master locktician Randi at Dreadlocks by Randi (172 Rivington St between Clinton and Ridge Sts, 212-260-8118). Locking services start at $60 an hour, and Randi also handles cornrows and braiding. Just promise you won’t get all Adam Duritz on us.

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