With approximately 900 Baha’is in the metropolitan area, the New York City Baha'i Center is a happening place. Housed in a refurbished theater on a street lined with antique dealers and four-story apartment buildings in lower Manhattan, the center offers programs that attract the community at large as well as Baha’is.

A musical gathering at the NYC Baha'i Center For the last three years, the center has been offering live jazz at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays in its John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, dedicated to the late jazz great -- and Baha'i -- Dizzy Gillespie.

Coordinated by Mike Longo -- Gillespie’s pianist, music director, friend and fellow Baha'i -- the series features the likes of pianist Don Friedman, saxophonist Dave Glasser, drummer Charli Persip’s big band Supersound and Mr. Longo’s big band and jazz and blues combos.

“Most of the people at the concerts are not Baha'i, so we have Baha'i literature available and members of the Faith on hand to answer questions,” says Alemash Asfaw, a member of the City of New York Baha'i community. “And we’ve just started offering complimentary refreshments so people can spend more time here.”

Other activities at the center are Open Mike, where audiences can hear enterprising singers, actors, poets and performance artists from 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, and the highly praised Children’s Theatre Company, which holds classes from 2 to 6 p.m. every Saturday.

The Children’s Theatre’s productions, which resume this fall, present a range of offerings. Past shows include “Yertle the Turtle,” “Stone Soup” and “SpoKEn WoRd ReVoLUTion: Poetry of a New Generation.

Devotional programs for children and youth are held on Sundays. Devotional programs for adults and families are held at 11 a.m. Sundays, including a Latino program on the second Sunday of the month and the Hush Harbor Devotional on the last Sunday of the month.

The Hush Harbor Devotional, which features a drum circle, takes its name from meetings held by slaves who hung wet fabric on tree branches to stop their voices carrying while they were praying and planning escapes. People from a variety of ethnic backgrounds participate in the program, said Lloyd Lawrence, one of the organizers.
Hush Harbor has proven to be a striking example of a new and growing feature of Baha'i community life: community devotional meetings designed to engage the world at large through uplifting and inspirational prayers, music, readings and more.
“People are always pleasantly surprised at how much goes on here,” says Ms. Asfaw.