Hold the Ball, a Farmer's Market and Goodbye Blue Monday

Today is the “tip off” (kick-off) of the “Hold the Ball” series in honor of Trayvon Martin and Antonio Wilson, sponsored by the National Action Network. The tip-off ceremony will be held at the First AME Church, from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., with candles and balloons, and where Rev. Dr. Marvin D. Hooks, Sr. will read the names of those killed by gun violence.

Also, don’t forget that Restoration Plaza is jumpin’ on Wednesdays. Now through September, the folks at Restoration are hosting farmers markets every Wednesdays 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Marcy Plaza (Marcy and Fulton) and neighborhood bike rides and runs every Wednesday 6pm registration and warm up, 7pm walk, run and rides meeting up in the West Plaza

Also today, the Azerbaijan A/V Club begins its residency at Goodbye Blue Monday, where they'll perform in the outdoor sculpture garden on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month for August-September-October. Azerbaijan A/V Club creates a unique fusion of free jazz, progressive electronics, and live visual art, bringing you on a "synaesthetic" trip through inner space.

Finally, don’t forget: Bed-Stuy residents will preserve their history today, with the Stuyvesant Height Oral History Project at Akwaaba Mansion, located 347 MacDonough St, at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by and benefitting the MacDonough-Macon-Lewis Block Association, the Stuyvesant Heights Oral History Project, will present five new oral histories by some of Bed-Stuy’s most venerable “griots.” Cost: $25; wine and supper included.

Weather: Expect dry, cloudy conditions over the next six hours, then scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High near 75F.