‘Stand by Me’ is the pick for Thursday’s NYC sing along

Now in its third week, Peace of Heart Choir‘s city-wide sing along is encouraging New Yorkers to open up their windows this Thursday and belt out Ben E. King’s 1961 classic “Stand by Me.” The first event kicked off with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” and last week was Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.” As always, the sing along will start at 7:02pm, just following the nightly #ClapBecauseWeCare ritual.

“Peace of Heart is a tight-knit community, and we’re very committed to our mission — to bring a little joy into the world of people who are often in very challenging circumstances,” said Gary Baker, New York Sings Along co-founder. “When the global pandemic forced us to stop rehearsing and performing as a group, we began thinking about how we could fulfill our mission in other ways, and continue our service to New York City. New York Sings Along is the result, and it’s already been more successful than we could have possibly imagined. Each week we help people lift their spirits and come together as a community, while showing appreciation all essential workers everywhere. The response from people across the city and around the global has been overwhelming.”

The organization says that more than 20,000 people have participated in the events over the past two weeks, with more than 250,000 people reached via Facebook.

Local radio stations WKCR (89.9 FM or wkcr.org) and WBAI (99.5 FM or wbai.org) will help synchronize the event; it will also be live-streamed on the Choir’s Facebook page.