NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray Kicks off New Season of Gracie Book Club

2017 marks the 75th anniversary of Gracie Mansion, the official New York City mayoral residence and New York City's First Lady Chirlane McCray took the opportunity to use her book club to give readers a crash course in the New York City of the 1940's. McCray kicked off the new season the Gracie Book Club recently at the historic Schomburg Center with a reading followed by panel discussion of Ann Petry's breakthrough novel, The Street. Petry, who grew up in a family of longtime business owners in Old Saybrook Connecticut was a New York City transplant. She used her keen journalist's eye to create a host of compelling characters in The Street. The novel's main character is Lutie Johnson, an ambitious single mother looking for a way to escape her economic and social trajectory and form a new life for herself and her son Bub. Petry was the first black female bestselling novelist. The Street sold over a million copies on publication.

The evening began with First Lady McCray reading a passage from the book followed by a panel discussion moderated by Schomburg Center Director, Kevin Young. Panelists were Dr. Farah Griffin, William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies at Columbia University and novelist Dr. LaShonda Barnett, author of the 2016 Lambda Literary Award finalist “Jam on the Vine”.

The rest of the books for season two include: “City of Ambition,” the 1952 novel “Invisible Man” and the 2010 nonfiction book “Helluva Town.” A book will be read each season, about every three months, with in-person discussions that are livestreamed.

Free tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at nyc.gov/graciebookclub or by calling 311.

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