7 World Trade Center – Downtown Magazine

Summer and music go hand in hand. Like a cold drink and rooftop-sitting or a good book and poolside lounging, music and warm weather is the ideal combination. This week at World Trade Center 7, get ready for a serving of both.

The #MyWTC Summer Concert Series kicked off June 8 and continues this Thursday with performances from Jimy Graham and Eleanor Dubinsky. The series is bringing local musical acts to the Downtown area this summer, and performances are free to the public. Each performance is held at the Silverstein Family Park, right in front of 7 World Trade, located in the heart of Downtown at 250 Greenwich St.

Photo by Isabella Gervasoni

Thursday’s forecast promises sunny skies and sweet tunes at the series’ second performance. The series will continue with performances on July 7, July 20, August 4 and August 17. This Thursday also features a #MyWTC raffle, in which anyone who attends the show at 5 p.m. and posts a photo on Instagram using the hashtag #MyWTC will be entered to win a gift basket full of WTC and MyWTC merch. You must also follow World Trade Center on Instagram to be entered to win. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of Thursday’s performance, at 6 p.m.

At the series’ latest performance, Midtown Staxx treated after-work crowds to a fun and lively set. The group, who also performed at the WTC summer concert series last year, was excited to be back.

“It’s really cool to be exposed to a bunch of people who may not come out at midnight on a Tuesday,” said Lisa McQuade, the lead singer in the band. “We get the after work crowd and just people who may not be exposed to our music, may not be on social media. Tourists, people from around the world frankly, are here.”

A project nearly a year in the making, 4 World Trade’s street-art inspired gallery on the building’s 69th floor is finally finished. The exhibit will feature the work of over 50 artists from New York, and around the world, in a variety of mediums.

ART4WTC is a dramatic and shift in style for the Silverstein Properties artist residency program, which they have used to decorate their unleased spaces for around the past 15 years. The idea for the art project was born when Silverstein Properties Chief Marketing Officer, Dara McQuillan, viewed a display of similar work at World Trade Gallery, and offered curator Doug Smith the opportunity to turn the 69th floor into a giant canvas.

Layer Cake + Belowkey, Joe LaPadula, Jenna Krypel, *Beautiful Cleanup*

Smith jumped at the chance, and since June 2016, the space’s barren cement interior has been transformed into a kaleidoscope of color propelled by each artist’s enthusiasm for their craft. The project not only seeks to revitalize the Lower Manhattan art scene and elevate street art from its humble beginnings, but also celebrate the Financial District’s progress since 9/11.

Some of the artists featured in the gallery include Bradley Theodore, Layer Cake, Rubin451, Logan Hicks, Stickymonger, Sonni, Cern, Hugo Bastidas, Lauren Ys, L.E.G., Itaewon and Ron English, and WhIsBe. His piece, Vandal Gummy Blue & Red, is a playful nod at street art’s past life as acts of vandalism, while Ron English’s piece, No Brain No Pain, is a powerful punch of reality and color.

Fans of Hamilton can even find quotes from the hit musical in the very fabric of David Hollier’s $10 Bill, which faces the direction of the Trinity Church cemetery where the Founding Father himself is buried. Fortunately, Spotify — who will eventually occupy the space — plans to keep as many of the pieces as they can. Downtown recommends art fans of all ages check out the 3D tour available online to see the work of those keeping New York creative and colorful.