Whether or not you feel lucky, as long as you have $12 you can go to one of the dozens of Eastwood movies being shown at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center over the next three weeks. From Dirty Harry to Million Dollar Baby, the full Eastwood retrospective runs from July 9 to July 27. A full access pass costs $129, and this Saturday (July 10) you can see three films for $27.

Impromptu concerts, with dancing and group sing-alongs began to pop up all over the neighborhood.

The “Play Me I’m Yours” project was devised by British artist Luke Jerram. Sadly, it ended yesterday.  Tipsters sent us photos and accounts of the events, and the project’s website has dozens more, as well as some great videos.

Here’s one of the best emails we got about the project, from Harriet Flehinger, who runs Aging in Action UWS:

Photo by Harriet Flehinger.

Thursday night, coming home from Avery Fisher Hall shortly after 10:00 PM, I stopped at the “Play Me, I’m Yours” pianos in front of Alice Tully Hall. One happy man played show tunes for almost an hour, everything from Porgy & Bess to Mamma Mia. Gradually a crowd gathered around him and began to sing. A few had superb voices, perhaps neighborhood Julliard students?

We couldn’t tear ourselves away from this feel-good spectable, all of us old enough to remember the bad old days, when NO ONE walked up Broadway after dark for fear of being mugged or worse. Hooray for the “new” New York.

We’ve posted a few of the best videos and photos (all uploaded to the project website) from the Upper West Side below:

Piano acrobatics in Central Park.

As my wife likes to remind me, anniversaries are important. And it’s bad to miss them. One year ago today, I posted an article about the July 4 fireworks on the Hudson River entitled “Why Not Have Fireworks Here Every Year?” (Macy’s must have heard me, given that they set the fireworks on the Hudson again this year)

Since then, we’ve written almost 800 posts. 800! We’ve covered some intense development battles, the impending arrival of Trader Joe’s, a lonely coyote in Central Park, and the openings and closings of more than 100 businesses in the neighborhood. We also had a poll about a pig on a spit that inspired some serious passion. Our columnists have vomited while trying to do yoga, followed pigeons up to a roof, and reminisced fondly about the transvestite prostitutes who used to make money here in the 1970’s.

Many of our posts came from tips and ideas sent in by you, our readers. Interacting with people on the site, and on twitter and facebook, has been one of the most rewarding parts of running the Independent. So please keep sending us tips, comments and suggestions, and we’ll come up with new ways to make the site more interactive. The more people from the Upper West Side express themselves on the Independent, the better it will be.

So…to thank our readers (and to meet you!) we’re going to open up a tab at Dive 75, the bar on 75th Street just west of Columbus, on Thursday night starting at 7 p.m.

Until our money runs out, drinks (beer, wine, soda, water) are on us. We’ll probably announce other deals throughout the week too, so stay tuned. And thanks for reading.

- Avi

(flickr photo by KrisnFred)

1. Riverside Park above 59th Street: Last year, the view was pretty good from the park North of  59th Street, as long as your view wasn’t obstructed. I took the picture above from the baseball field in the park at about 71st Street, though to be fair the view is probably more like the picture I took at the bottom of this post. In fact, we’ve heard people could see the fireworks from as far North as 170th Street. As long as your view to the South along the Hudson isn’t obstructed, you should be able to see the fireworks. And the atmosphere is nice and relaxed. People brought their dogs and kids and ate picnics last year.

2. Dewitt Clinton Park: This park between 11th and 12th Avenues and 52nd to 54th Street has grassy areas and playground equipment, but it could get crowded early, Mommy Poppins says. Bring a sheet or blanket to lay out.

3. Someone’s roof or Hudson-facing apartment building: If you’ve got friends who live in midtown or Riverside South near the river, now’s the time to give them a call and mention casually that you miss them.

Send us your pictures of the fireworks and we’ll post them. Happy Fourth!

Cheryl (also oddly enough the name of Larry David’s estranged wife on Curb), snapped a picture of David sitting at an outdoor table at Isabella’s. In the picture, Larry appears to be surrounded by cups of tea, and someone out of the frame is holding a baseball out in front of him. What could the plot be? Something about Larry having a sore throat and going to a Mets game, and then offending Jose Reyes with a racist comment? We can only dream.

Anyway, a film hand turned to Cheryl and yelled: “Move along! You can watch him on the show.”

And her reaction? “Um, no. I don’t have HBO.  Jackass.”

If she was on Curb she would have actually said it out loud.

(photo by Cheryl Wischhover)

Over the next three weeks, bands will be playing swing and other kinds of music, including Bhangra and tango, in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, just off of 62nd Street. Individual tickets cost $17. A six-night pass costs $90 and the full season pass is $160. Lessons start at 6:30 and the dancing starts at 7:30. Check out the full calendar here. (flickr photo by I.M. Bitter)

David will be shooting scenes for the show on Monday and Tuesday on 77th Street near Shake Shack and on 64th Street between Broadway and Central Park West, blog My Upper West reported. The eighth season of the show is set in New York and will include an appearance by Ricky Gervais, according to Movieline. The new season comes out next year on HBO.

(Update: Check out a picture of LD filming at Isabella’s here.)

This is the closest thing to the return of Seinfeld that we can hope for. (Sigh.)

If you see David or any of his co-stars, please try to get him to harass you and then tell us about it. (Film shoot notice via My Upper West. Image of Larry David by David Shankbone via flickr)

Upper West Side photo of the day by Isefire.

Tinariwen, Omar Souleyman, Toubab Krewe 
Energizing rock rhythms and unexpected up-tempo dance beats from Africa and the Middle East will make you rethink party music. At Summerstage in Rumsey Playfield. 3 p.m. FREE.

Ronn McClure Jazz Quartet
McClure has done everything from playing with saxophonists such as Charles Lloyd to being part of pop recordings by the Pointer Sisters and Blood, Sweat and Tears. At Riverside Park’s Tennis Lawn at 97th Street. 7-9 p.m. FREE.

The New York Asian Film Festival
Enjoy some of Asian cinema’s latest and greatest pop masterpieces including blockbusters from Thailand to Taiwan, romantic comedies from China, mutant battle girls from Japan, kung fu epics from Hong Kong and tourist-eating giant pig movies from Korea. At Walter Reade Theater. Check schedule for showtimes. $12.

Family Fishing Celebration
Celebrate fish and learn about aquatic ecology at this family event free for all ages. Featuring storytelling performances by Play Me A Story at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., an ongoing fish mobile-making craft, catch-and-release fishing and microscopic explorations of the Meer with the New York Microscopial Society. (Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27, 2010 are designated New York State “Free Fishing Days.” During these days, no license is required to fish at the Harlem Meer.) At Central Park’s Harlem Meer. 1-3 p.m. FREE.

Shakespeare in the Park presents The Merchant of Venice
With Al Pacino. At the Delacorte Theater. 8 p.m. FREE.

We Be Women
We Be Women is an original dramatic, musical and dance performance about the joys, trials, humor, strength and visionary splendor of womanhood. It features Loretta Abbott, Regina Larkin, Rondy Miller, Dr. Glory’s Youth Theatre, University of the Arts Dance Company (PA) and Dr. Glory Van Scott. Written and directed by Dr. Glory Van Scott. At Symphony Space. 7:30 p.m. $16.

Richard III
Enjoy one of Shakespeare’s most praised historical plays in a scenic outdoor setting. West 103rd Street and Central Park West (in Central Park). 7 p.m. FREE.

The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women is the third tragedy of a trilogy of dealing with the Trojan War by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos and the subsequent subjugation of its populace by the Athenians earlier in 415 BC, the same year the play premiered. (Trojan Women deals with adult themes. Parents are advised it may not be suitable for children under 13.) At the North Patio of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Riverside Park. 6:30 p.m. FREE.

Kayaking on the Hudson
Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim. Riverside Park South is located on the Hudson River between 59th and 72nd Streets. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. FREE.

All prices quoted are for non-member adults. For up-to-the-minute drink deals, cultural events, nightlife and more check our Events and Deals page.

Do you want your photos featured on the Westside Independent? Join our flickr group (it’s remarkably easy) and add some photos to the pool!

Lauper never really topped her infectious 1983 album, “She’s So Unusual,” but she has remained a quirky presence in the New York music scene, and is now working on a new blues album. But her thirst for fame has recently sent her to the netherworld of reality TV after she took a gig on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

Now she is bringing that netherworld to us! 

Check out all of our Apthorp coverage here.

(Photo illustration by Ben Zapp. Lauper photo by Jim Davidson.)