❄️ February Recap
A new record! I served 479 (!!) cups of free tea in February, more than I ever have in a single month! Tracking cups served is a proxy for actual impact – it says little about the quality of the interactions – but I can confirm that many meaningful connections were made. I'm proud to have offered so much warmth in the coldest month of the year, when people need it most.
In February, I served 479 cups of free tea. Also...
🍎 I was named the "New Yorker of the Week" by local news network NY1!
🐉 I served tea at a food distribution for Lunar New Year!
📀 I hosted two Steeped in Sound events; one was at a local nightclub!
More on these updates in the recap below!
But first, some announcements:
✏️ Please consider filling out this survey! I'm gathering input for a soon-to-be-launched membership program and I'm also seeking volunteers for future events!
📹 I created a "February recipe" video – some raw, behind-the-scenes footage of my month's work for the tea stand. It's only 100 seconds long and sheds some new light on my day-to-day.
... and some upcoming events:
🎁 Distro | Fulton Plaza
Serving free tea at a food and clothing distribution hosted by Riders4Rights. Reach out to volunteer!
🗓️ Saturday, March 9 / 10am - 12pm
⛩️ Popup | Maria Hernandez Park
I serve free tea every Second Sunday of the month in Maria Hernandez Park! Come on by and enjoy a cup!
🗓️ Sunday, March 10 / 11am - 4pm
All events can be found on the Calendar.
Updates are shared via Instagram.
Now, to the recap!
🍎 Honored to be named the New Yorker of the Week
Following the BK Reader profile of the tea stand in January, a reporter from NY1 – a longstanding local news network – reached out to produce a story of their own about this curious tea project. Following a quick phone call, we coordinated the reporter's visit to the ⛩️ Popup at Herbert Von King Park on February 7th.
To be honest, I had never heard of NY1 when they initially reached out – it wasn't until I mentioned the media opportunity to my Dad that I understood their significance. "When I was growing up in New York City, that was the network. Every barber shop in the city was playing it all day long," he explained. Friends of my Dad's made similar comments, helping me grasp the institutional status of NY1.
On a sunny Wednesday, the reporter arrived as I was serving my first cup of tea, which felt like a good omen. She got me mic’d up, whipped out a mega camera, and got to shooting. About fifteen minutes into her visit, she dropped the news, “Oh, I forgot if I told you already, but you’re gonna be the New Yorker of the Week.”
I did a little dance and imagined my face being broadcasted around all the barber shops, pizza joints, and diners across New York City. How would people to react to a project like this? Would it make sense? You tell me!
I'm thrilled and honored to be the New Yorker of the Week. The video segment is well-produced, has a clear narrative, and captures some of the fundamental values of the tea stand – trust, warmth, and curiosity.
🐉 Free tea and food for all on Lunar New Year!
Part of the tea stand's regular programming are 🎁 Distros – I serve free tea to folks waiting in line for community food distributions hosted by local mutual aid groups. Fun fact: I did not come up with this idea. (If you haven't yet realized, few ideas related to the tea stand are my own, it's inherently a collaborative project!)
All the credit belongs to Collective Focus, a mutual aid group run by a group of artists on the Bushwick/BedStuy border. They asked me if I'd be willing to serve free tea at their Lunar New Year (LNY) food distribution back in 2023. I accepted and had an incredible time.
When Collective Focus reached out to replicate last year's success, I had zero hesitation. With an additional year of experience and several 🎁 Distros under my belt, I was delighted at the opportunity to reconnect with the volunteers there and serve the local Asian community during such an auspicious time of year.
Friend Archie volunteered for the event (reach out if you're interested in volunteering at a future 🎁 Distro!) and together we served about 50 cups of tea to those waiting for the food distribution to begin. We practiced our Mandarin and Spanish when taking orders (hong cha? té negro?) and handed out cup after cup.
Beyond the simple joy of having something warm to sip on while waiting in the cold, the tea stand's presence during 🎁 Distros is truly about dignity. Our society discourages asking for help, which leads to people feeling embarrassed or ashamed when they do so. Embedded within the act of taking someone's order and serving them tea is a sense of respect. Service feels less like charity and more like a humanitarian exchange, as it should.
📀 Steeped in Sound: warm tunes, free tea, lovely people
For those unfamiliar, 📀 Steeped in Sound is a bimonthly* DJ + tea event which I co-host with LEEJAY. The event series started back in May 2023 and has been a fan-favorite since. With LEEJAY's beautiful Greenpoint loft as the venue, we create a space of comfort, calmness, and connection. Free tea flows all event long, handmade mugs are available for use and sale, and melodic tunes fill the air.
*Bimonthly is a tricky term – it can either mean once every other month OR twice a month. In this context, I'm using the former definition. HOWEVER! This February, we invoked the latter definition of the word, as for the first-time since 📀 Steeped in Sound's inception, we hosted two in one month!
The first of the two "volumes" was on February 4th and it was beautiful as always. Friend Taylor started us off with a guided meditation, local business Unfound blessed us with their foraged herbal goods, Friends Noel and Shamile helped me serve almost 200 (!!) cups of tea, and DJ sets by Antmang, LEEJAY, and again&again struck all the right chords. The sense of community was palpable throughout the day!
Then, on February 28th, we hosted another 📀 Steeped in Sound – but we took it "to-go." For the first time, the venue was not LEEJAY's Greenpoint loft. Instead, local nightclub Mood Ring welcomed us in on a rainy Wednesday evening.
We framed this "to-go" edition as an experiment – would the event still feel like 📀 Steeped in Sound? Would people still want tea? Would enough people come to make the space feel relatively full?
Happily, all the answers were in the affirmative. Without the need to restrict capacity, many who had been unable to attend previous volumes made their 📀 Steeped in Sound debut. Others had never been to Mood Ring and felt warmly welcomed by a friendly crowd, a healthy dance floor, and unlimited free tea!
Perhaps the biggest takeaway was the great demand for nightlife spaces which are not centered around alcohol. Having served tea in nightclubs prior to this, this wasn't a new lesson, but several attendees expressed great excitement at finally finding an event where their sobriety felt celebrated. Teetotalers, unite!
Thank you for reading! Some final notes:
Once more, please consider filling out this survey regarding the future of the tea stand (and your involvement in it!). It should only take a few minutes and will be INCREDIBLY helpful for me as I plan for the year and beyond.
I'll be headed to Turkey for a couple weeks in March; I expect to drink as much tea as I normally serve. Stay tuned for some big things coming in April!
Thanks to all those who donated tea which I served in February: Shamile, Juliet, Unfound, my Dad, Parker, Kiran, and my Grandma!
As always, upcoming events can be viewed via the Calendar and announcements are made via the Instagram.
Keep Steeping,
Miles 🍵
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