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A new performing arts venue with a focus on immigrant stories is opening in Upper Manhattan this fall, giving The People's Theatre its first permanent home in more than 15 years.

In 2009, Mino Lora co-founded The People's Theatre, formerly known as the People's Theatre Project. As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Lora felt there was a need for more spaces where immigrants could tell their stories in their own languages and through their own culture, whether that be dance, music, or theatre.

The organization has put on shows and taught classes across New York City, including free special programming for kids in K-12.

Now, after a $37 million dollar investment from the city and state, their new Inwood venue and community center is finishing up construction that broke ground in 2023. New Yorkers will be able to use rehearsal space, take classes, and watch a film or show.

Lora hopes visitors take time to reflect on their own personal stories as well as those of the people around them.

"We all have a history, and no matter where that is, whether you were brought here, without choice, whether you came because of the situations in your country or your ancestors came. We want this space to spark curiosity and joy in, you know, and who am I? Where do I come from and where am I going?" Lora said while giving CBS New York an exclusive tour of the construction site on

The center's 19,000-square-foot space is located in a new, mixed-income, mixed-use building located at 407 West 206th Street, developed by a joint venture of LMXD, MSquared, and Taconic Partners. The Miramar Apartments has leased 50% of its units this year so far as part of Governor Kathy Hochul's $25-billion dollar housing plan to create more affordable housing across the state.

The theatre is expected to welcome audiences this September.

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Hundreds of Muslim delivery drivers who congregate outside an East Village mosque have transformed the area into a noisy, violent, trash-strewn junkyard while driving businesses and residents out, fed-up locals said.

At least three businesses near the Islamic Council of America Madina Mosque on First Avenue and East 11th Street have shut down in recent months, as longtime residents say the city has ignored their cries for help.

The Post witnessed no less than 100 deliverymen last week pouring in and out of the mosque, with hundreds of electric bicycles piled along the curb, fouling the tony neighborhood where a three-bedroom townhouse just sold for $14.8 million.

“I lived on that block for 13 years, it was very, very different,” said Francisco, 40, who moved to Stuytown in October with his 2-year-old child and wife because of the chaos. “The block itself changed incredibly since the second those guys came in.”

The city’s second oldest mosque operated for decades without incident, but things began to change about two years ago. Residents described a perfect storm of a surge in migrants, the city’s installation of bike corrals on the block, and the ever-growing popularity of delivery apps.

The drivers, who are mostly migrants from Islamic African nations, flock to the house of worship, which is under renovaiton, five times a day for prayer. But they also mill about near the side entrance, gab on their phones, scarf down food from a halal truck, and toss trash where they please — attracting a veritable army of rats, said locals.

Two men even set up an al fresco barber shop offering fresh cuts and shaves. During the warmer months, as many as six barber chairs are active all day, locals said. Some of the men also bathe outside.

The chaos is especially acute during Ramadan, which this year ended on March 18.

“It’s insanity. . . . Its not fair to the residents who live there,” area landlord Christine Renzi, who estimated she’s lost six residential tenants and one commercial tenant in the last two years because of the mayhem, told The Post.

And it’s getting worse.

“Tenants have been attacked by delivery drivers. They’re washing their clothes outside. During the summertime they actually shower outside,” Renzi said.

In August, a naked, bathing delivery driver allegedly threatened to assault a resident of one of Renzi’s buildings who objected to the shameless display, according to a formal complaint filed by the landlord on March 18 with the Manhattan Borough President’s office.

Former block resident Francisco said a similar encounter in front of the mosque finally prompted him to leave the nabe.

“I was walking by, and this guy in his underwear, pretty much naked, is taking a shower. And I wasn’t going to confront him but I pulled out my phone and started recording him,” the 40-year-old said.

“He looked over and he said, ‘Do you mind not recording me.’ I said, ‘You’re taking a bath in the middle of the street of a residential neighborhood,'” Francisco said, adding, “After that one I went home to my wife and said, ‘I’ve seen enough.'”

There have been at least 30 complaints to the city’s 311 hotline since July, including three for noise, nearly a dozen for dirty sidewalks and street conditions, and others about the horde of e-bikes, according to city data.

There have been 105 inspections for rat activity on the block in the last five years, according to NYC’s Rat Information Portal — far outpacing neighboring blocks, including the entirety of nearby Tompkins Square Park.

Rats regularly crisscross the sidewalk, even during the day, because of the trash problem, according to Francisco. “Got to the point where we wouldn’t walk on the sidewalk,” he said.

The problem feeds on itself, with the huge corral of e-bikes preventing the Department of Sanitation from properly cleaning the area, Renzi said in her complaint.

The e-bikes also take up parking spaces, forcing motorists to double-park. On Tuesday, an ambulance with sirens blaring was stuck behind a double-parked car for nearly 10 minutes, said Renzi.

Yet Democratic City Councilman Harvey Epstein and Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer have done little to get the bikers off the corner, and instead have pushed for more parking stations for the e-bikers — and even shifted some blame to residents.

“This is a failure of government as there is no infrastructure to accommodate the workers and the bikes,” Stetzer wrote in a Feb. 19 email to Renzi. She said the board “is continuing to advocate for sustainable infrastructure to accommodate the bikes and workers as long as the community continues to order food.”

“This is not an anti-delivery worker issue. It is a public safety, sanitation, and zoning issue,” Renzi said. “Tenants are leaving. Businesses are struggling. Quality of life has declined sharply.”

Three storefronts on the corner of First Ave. have shuttered for good — including a Black Seed Bagels, Uz Grill House, and vintage shop Revampd, which closed its doors last month.

“I had really high hopes. I invested a lot,” Revampd co-owner Mary Fadrowski told The Post. “The fact that the bikes are there making us look like ‘Sanford and Son’ is what blocked the money.”

“It was shocking to see so many people just hanging on the street. It was scary,” said a 27-year-old shopper who was only there to patronize Revampd. “If I wasn’t looking for Mary’s store I would avoid the block completely.”

Chris Ng, the owner of Bananas restaurant on First Ave, has repeatedly reached out to 311 over the course of a year.

“I have not heard back,” Ng said.

The mosque meanwhile, is in the midst of a fundraising effort to pay for renovations that include facade work, an expansion of the prayer hall, and the construction of community spaces, according to the group’s website.

They’ve raised $285,000 towards a goal of $500,000. A special permit obtained by the mosque allowed it to stay open during Ramadan and through April 5, according to the Department of Buildings.

The mosque’s imam, Mufti Mahdi Chowdhury, did not respond to a request for comment.

A ramen-loving fifth grader’s original hand-drawn artwork will soon grace hats, tote bags and T-shirts around Greenpoint after the trendy nabe chose her design to represent a popular grocery store.

Rosemary “Rosie” Burgess’ ramen-eating seal won the design contest this month by Jubilee Marketplace as it searched for inspiration for its next merch collection and a way to bolster community in the trendy nabe.

“I was surprised. Now I feel good!” Rosie, 10, told The Post after taking home the prize, adding that the initial shock mostly came because she “forgot about” the contest.

The competition was only open to fourth- and fifth-grade students at PS 31, but invited the entire neighborhood to cast their votes for what Jubilee should plaster across its next merch collection.

Shoppers slapped stickers on their favorite designs — which included some of Brooklyn’s iconic water towers and the view of Manhattan’s skyline from Newtown Creek — on a massive banner that hung in the supermarket throughout February.

After the competition was whittled down to seven designs, Rosie took home 25% of the 822 votes.

Rosie learned of the good news last week when she was called down to the principal’s office, but the 10-year-old swears she wasn’t nervous that she was called in trouble.

When asked about her inspiration for the artwork, Rosie said: “Because I like seals! They’re cute.”

Although there’s no explicit mention or reference to Jubilee in the drawing, Roise drew from her favorite memories in the supermarket when it came to what meal the hat-wearing seal is munching on.

Spicy ramen is her favorite after-school snack to get at the shop, which her mom called the family’s “hangout.”

The blue hat was added simply because seals live in the cold, said Rosie, who said her hobbies are “painting” and “animals.”

The contest was dreamed up by Jubilee owner Young Kim, who was “trying to do something cool with the community.”

“What better artwork than from elementary students?” said Kim, who opened his Greenpoint location back in 2023 and credited his neighbors with helping him get it off the ground.

“We got tremendous support from the community, so I just thought it was good to give back.” continued Kim, who has made a name for himself for keeping grocery prices low in the expensive and trendy nabe.

Kim first released Jubilee merch in 2025, which was incredibly popular — and rivaled the virality of Trader Joe tote bags on a local level, prompting neighbors to beg for the new merch line in the new year.

Rather than paying the $1,000 to a designer, Kim donated the same total to PS 31’s culinary arts program, the first-of-its-kind extracurricular that allows students to chef up within the school.

He also awarded Rosie a $500 gift card to the local book shop, Word — which she plans to use on “stickers.”

The other six finalists didn’t go home empty-handed, however, and each was gifted a $100 voucher as well.

He’s also working with a local print shop to produce the tote bags, hats, T-shirts and more, he added, noting that he expects the line to drop in the next six weeks.

Kim’s generosity will continue even as the contest draws to a halt — he doesn’t plan to keep any profit, instead splitting it between a continued donation to PS 31 and a rotating list of local charities and food pantries.

“My philosophy on everything is to have a win-win situation for everybody, where we get to give back to the school and other organizations,” Kim explained.

“We’re providing something the customers will like, and at the same time, we’re also going to support another local business by doing this.”

The hardest part of the process for Kim was choosing the winner — a mission he punted off to school administrators and his very own customers.

Dozens of fourth and fifth-grade students submitted designs for his contest, but Kim left it to the school to pluck the top seven contenders that the shop owner blew up and posted on the wall of his grocery store.

Customers cast their vote by placing a star-shaped sticker next to their favorite and by voting on social media, with the majority closing in on Rosemary’s ramen-eating seal.

“I wouldn’t have been able to pick to be honest — they were all so good! If I were the one picking, we would have probably launched next year,” Kim said.

Periods of heavy rain, along with strong winds, and severe thunderstorms are expected across the New York area today.

The CBS News New York First Alert Weather Team issued a First Alert Weather Day due to the potential for flash flooding and a tornado risk in the Tri-State Area.

A Wind Advisory will be in effect for all of New York City, Long Island, Connecticut and eastern New Jersey, as well as Ulster, Dutchess and Westchester counties, from 2 p.m. Monday through 4 a.m. Tuesday.

A Flood Watch has been issued for Fairfield County from tonight through Tuesday morning.

Monday AM commute conditions

As a potent cold front and its attendant low-pressure system approach the Tri-State Area, conditions will rapidly go downhill in a hurry on Monday. Overnight, temperatures will gradually rise into the 50s by dawn.

While temperatures are rising, pockets of heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms will also be moving in. This may impact the morning commute.

Severe storms possible

After a brief lull in activity during the mid-morning hours, rain and thunderstorms fill back in for the afternoon and evening hours.

A squall line of storms then barrels through between 8-11 p.m. Some of the storms are likely to become severe, containing damaging winds and torrential downpours.

Flash flooding is definitely a concern, given that 1-2 inches of rain may fall. Locally higher amounts are possible as well.

Slim tornado risk

Although not very high, there is also a slim chance of tornadoes developing. This would mainly be for locations well to the west of the city.

Outside of strong winds contained within individual thunderstorms, high winds are anticipated throughout the day on Monday and could be damaging. Wind gusts could approach or exceed 60 mph, especially at the coast. This may contribute to coastal flooding along Long Island's South Shore as strong southerly winds pile water onshore.

Highs on Monday will be very mild, topping out in the low to mid 60s, but as the cold front eventually passes through on Monday night, the rain could end as a period of light snow.

That sets us up for a cold and blustery St. Patrick's Day in which highs will only reach the low 40s.