Chihuly at Night

Earlier this spring, I posted a bunch of pictures from the New York Botanical Garden's Chihuly exhibition. This past weekend, Ed, his sister Jean, her daughter Mary Elizabeth, and I went back to see Chihuly at Night. Whereas the daytime visit was about both the plants and the sculptures, the nighttime show is much more of an event. Bars were open all over the grounds, so you could explore with beer or wine in hand. A jazz band played periodically throughout the evening, and these stilt walkers floated and danced around the grounds. (Photo courtesy of Mary Elizabeth, since I stupidly left my phone at home.)

I did use Ed's to take a few shots. Here are some of the daytime photos I took contrasted with some nighttime ones...

This piece didn't look like much to me during the daytime, but it glowed at night.

Ann and I knew this one would look like it was floating in the air once it got dark.

Great reflections on this piece both day and night

Finally...

These pieces were the biggest surprise to me. When Ann and I visited, I was totally unimpressed. I didn't take a single photo of the installation. But this time, the reflections completely transformed the artworks. (The top half of the diamond is above the water; the bottom half is reflection. The sea green one behind the red is iridescent inside the right half.)

Mary Elizabeth is the photographer for this last one, too...

The show is at the NYBG until October 29th, 2017.

New York for kids

I don't have any of my own kids, but I'm asked a lot by friends and family who do what they should do with their kids when they visit New York City. I've never done some of the kid-iconic stuff (the American Girl Doll Store is a prime example--you couldn't pay me to set foot in there), but I've explored the city with lots of teen and tween visitors. As you're doing your research, there are lots of great websites you can check, like NYCGO and Kid101, but here are my thoughts...

Parks - New York has lots and lots of parks and playgrounds for playing and exploring...Central Park, of course, will be at the top of your list. Multiple playgrounds, the Alice in Wonderland statue (while you're there, don't miss the Ugly Duckling statue not far away), the Bethesda Fountain (you've seen it in many, many movies, including Enchanted and One Fine Day), rowing on the pond, the Central Park Zoo, ice skating in the winter...You could spend all day exploring.

Bryant Park is another wonderful park. They have a lot of programming throughout the spring, summer and fall, including movie nights, puppet shows, juggling, and a giant lawn (or ice rink) for working off any excess energy. (Not that you'll have any after walking all over town, but...) If you're a musical fan, stop by over the lunch hour Thursdays in July and the first half of August for Broadway in Bryant Park and see a few numbers from Broadway plays.

Finally (for my purposes), the High Line Park. This isn't a traditional park, but there are some fun features for kids. At 15th Street once the weather gets nice, there's a water feature for splashing around in hot weather and on the north end (30th Street and 11th Avenue), there's an exploration area for climbing, jumping and even popping your head up in a flower bed! One Saturday a month from April - October (generally the fourth Saturday, but check the website), the High Line sponsors a family day called Make It! It's good to pre-register for any events, but everything on the park is free of charge.

Times Square - Every tourist has this on his list, so I'm sure you do, too. Be warned: It's a madhouse all day and night. Here's what you need to know: 1. If you want your picture taken with Elmo, Hello Kitty, or any other character, you have to pay. Tips for pictures is the rule. 2. Keep a close eye (or a tight hand) on your small ones. It can get very, very crowded and easy to lose track of people. 3. If you really want to see it at its best, go at night. It's lit up like Christmas all year round.

The Statue of Liberty - You can pay to go out to Liberty Island (and Ellis Island) or you can take the (free) Staten Island ferry round trip and get a great view of Lady Liberty. Another fun option is to take a schooner out for a trip around the island. I've been up in the crown, and I was a bit disappointed. That, and I couldn't walk for a few days after all those stairs!

The Empire State Building / Rockefeller Center / One World Trade Center - You're going to want to go up in a skyscraper while you're here. Which one you choose is up to you. My favorite is One World Trade, aka Freedom Tower. It's expensive (check Groupon - you can almost always get a discount) but the views are incredible, and the elevator ride is a video history of Manhattan. The ESB and Rock Center are more centrally located, which provides a different view. If you do the ESB, get the express pass so you don't end up standing in line forever.

The American Natural History Museum - AMNH has something for everyone. Dinosaurs? Check! (Be sure not to miss the Titanosaur!) Butterflies? Check! (As long as you're here between December and May.) Giant blue whale suspended from the ceiling? Check! Planetarium? Check! (See photo below) Mummies? Check! (As long as you're here before mid-January, 2018.) I've taken multiple nieces/nephews here, and spent time here alone as well. I'd recommend against eating in their cafeteria, but the museum is incredible.

Broadway musicals - Resign yourself now to the fact that Hamilton is not going to happen, unless you're willing to drop about $4000 for tickets. That said, there's a lot of fun to be had on Broadway, with or without kids. Aladdin, Anastasia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Lion King, School of Rock, and Wicked are all current family-friendly options. Tickets vary by show and by showtime / date. If you're willing to take a risk and wait till you get here, you can save up to 50% on your tickets. Stop by TKTS at Times Square or the South Street Seaport (usually less crowded) or use the TodayTix app to see what's available day-of. (If you're going to a matinee, those tickets are available the day before at the TKTS windows.) Many shows (including Hamilton) also have a lottery, which allows you to pay $20 each for up to 2 tickets if you win. Not much use if you're here with your whole family, but if it's just you and one child, why not try?

The New York Public Library - The library has storytelling and other events for youngsters all year round, but stop by the main Schwartzman Building (on Fifth Avenue, between 41st and 42nd) and visit the original Winnie-The-Pooh toys that belonged to Christopher Robin Milne.

Carousels - Bryant Park's Le Carrousel. Battery Park's Seaglass Carousel. Central Park's Carousel...There are 7, if you want to make it a scavenger hunt.

Ground Zero and the 9/11 Museum - Bring a box of Kleenex if you decide to visit the museum. The grounds of the memorial are powerful as well. The infinity pools, the Tree That Lived...Download the app before you go, especially if you're looking for someone's name.

Zoos - The be-all-and-end-all is the Bronx Zoo. But if you just want to see a few animals and watch the sea lions, you can make do with the Central Park Zoo.

Museums - If you have a budding artist, or if you just want to expose your child(ren) to the arts, you have hundreds of choices, and many (if not most) have activities geared toward children. Here are links to the family-friendly programs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and MoMA. If you're here with an older child or two, I'd highly recommend the Intrepid. You get to explore an aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine, and there's a space shuttle on site as well. Get the audio guide, and don't miss the Kamikaze Experience.

Riding the Subway - The subway is (usually) the most efficient way to get from place to place, especially during rush hour. And unlike the DC system, you pay one price no matter how far or when you're traveling. Depending on your child's height, he may get to ride for free. Cabs limit you to 4 people per vehicle, which can be a problem for Catholic families like mine.

Food - If you can, try not to eat at places you can find at home. I know that some kids are all-McDonalds, all the time - I'm related to them. But if you have an adventurous kid, you can find every possible cuisine here. Here's a list of some fun, kid-friendly places you might want to check out. Have lunch and take a (free) ride on the North River Lobster Company boat. Oh, and be sure to visit either Serendipity or Dylan's Candy Bar for dessert, and grab some Baked By Melissa cupcakes at least once--they're my favorites.

Tours - Circle Line and CitySights buses and cruises are a great way to see New York. The tour guides are well-versed in New York history, so you'll learn a lot about the city. The hop-on-hop-off buses are great, but I'd recommend the cruises. They leave from the west side (around 43rd Street and the Hudson) and take you around the tip of Manhattan up to the Williamsburg Bridge and back again.

Finally, my favorite instructional video about how to be a good visitor to the city (any city, really): Johnny T's Tourist Tips. He's a puppet with an attitude, and he gives good advice. My nieces and nephews can recite it by heart. :)

Enjoy!!

May (so far) - Chelsea Gallery Hopping, Flat Lulu, Wave Hill, Rei Kawakubo at the Met, GT, Belmont

One of the things I love about Chelsea is that you get to see museum-quality art for free in the galleries here. The Chelsea Gallery Map (you can get the app on your iPhone) is wonderful. You can search by artist or by location. Or you can just scroll through and see what catches your fancy. I spent a little time this morning scrolling and found myself a walking tour.

I started out at the Henry Moore show at Maxwell Davidson Gallery on 26th Street. (NB: You have to go to the 9th floor for this one. I walked right past the building, thinking it'd be at street level.) Henry Moore is one of the sculptors I've been familiar with for ages, because I've been driving past his massive works outside the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City for decades. The views from this gallery are worth it, even if they're not showing anything you're interested in. 

If you zoom in, you can see the Chrysler Building as well as the Empire State.

Next stop was the Pace Gallery, which is showing Robert Mangold until June 17th. I don't know much about him, or about his art. I just kept trying to figure out what photos I have that I'd stick in the holes in these frames. (His title as well as mine. By the way, that thing is the length of my couch.) 

Next stop: Taglialatella Galleries on Tenth Avenue. If you're into street art, you have to stop by when you're in the neighborhood. They show Banksy, Mr. Brainwash (if you haven't seen Exit Through The Gift Shop, stop reading this and watch it immediately), Kaws, Damien Hirst...Right now, there's an Invader show. Some of the works require a camera for you to be able to see what he's doing. Like this Rubikscubism one: 

The little space invader is invisible until you look through your camera.

That said, I'm still not sure what this one is supposed to be. Ed sees someone hugging himself. I think it looks a bit like a hand on a video game button or ball. If you have other ideas (or if it's completely obvious to you what I'm missing), let me know.

Head upstairs, to see Mr. Brainwash's Mickey, as well as some Banksy prints.

On my way down 22nd Street, I happened past the Danese Corey Gallery, which is showing an artist I've never heard of: Deborah Butterfield. These photos don't do her justice. The horses are larger-than-life sized. They look like driftwood or charred wood sculptures, but they're cast bronze and weigh about a ton each. They're amazing, not that I could imagine having one in my home...

My original destination on 22nd Street was the Ellsworth Kelly show at Matthew Marks. They were just big blocks of color, so I didn't bother taking any pictures. Next stop, David Zwirner on 20th Street.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres is an artist I'd never heard of until I started volunteering at the Whitney two years ago. They installed one of his pieces in a six-story stairwell. It was removed recently to be replaced by a (very bizarre) piece for the Biennial, but it was a bit similar to the stairwell installation at David Zwirner:

The fun thing about this show is how much of it is meant to be touched or taken. You walk through this beaded screen to get from one room to another...

 And you're welcome to take a piece of candy from this giant pile...

There's a stack of papers that say "Nowhere is better than here" next to a stack of papers that say, "Somewhere is better than here." Feel free to take one of either or each. 

On Monday, I had to return Flat Stanley to Virginia. He'd been visiting me for about ten days, courtesy of my six-year-old niece, Lulu. Here's Stanley/Lulu and me:

You can't see her uniform in that shot, but you'll see it soon.

Flat Lulu and I didn't do a whole lot that I hadn't done before. She had to visit the High Line, the Met, the Natural History Museum, the New York Public Library (and Winnie-the-Pooh)...But she and I did explore Wave Hill together. It had been on my list for a couple of years, and I'd never gotten there. I have to say, I was a bit underwhelmed. It's a beautiful property, and the gardens and the views are gorgeous. But I prefer the NY Botanical Garden and the High Line, personally.

View of the Hudson

Flat Lulu in the flower bed (don't tell anyone!)

Flat Lulu with the Devil's Tongue which is an Amorphophallus, just like the Corpse Flower, and stinky like it, too.

They do art at Wave Hill, too. So if you were wondering what to do with all of that caution tape...

Even though I've been to the Met a million times, I hadn't see the Rei Kawakubo show that's there now. I am now convinced that I will never understand high fashion. Ever.

I mean, what the hell is that? A dress with what look like tighty-whiteys attached to it?

Flat Lulu in her plaid uniform with some other plaid dresses...

How is this in any way flattering? You couldn't pay me to wear it.

Bows

The other thing we saw at the Met that I'd never seen before is the Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties exhibit that's there through July 16th. I don't have a great appreciation for Asian art, but it was very cool to see the terracotta warriors.

My cousin, GT, and his lovely wife, Susan, came to the city for her brother's graduation from NYU. They brought along their youngest, Thomas. We had a nice day doing some exploring in the unseasonably hot (90+) May weather. Of course, I had to take them to St. Patrick's Cathedral...

And finally, last weekend, Ed and I headed out to Belmont Park for the first time. We were going to watch the Preakness, but it wasn't the loveliest day, so we headed home early. I made a friend while we were there. I just wish there hadn't been a wall of glass between us...

It's Memorial Day weekend this weekend...More to come soon, I hope!

New places to explore, events to attend, and restaurants to enjoy

I wrote a stuff-I-love-to-do-in-NYC blog post a few years ago, with my list of things that aren't necessarily on every tourist's list. (You can see it here.) But since I wrote that back in 2015, I thought I'd post an updated list with some cool stuff I've discovered since then.

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden
Our good friend, Larry, introduced me to Dale Chihuly's gorgeous blown glass back in 2001. The Chicago Botanic Garden was filled with art that looked like it was naturally growing from the gardens or hanging from the trees. I fell in love instantly. Since then, I've seen his work installed at the St. Louis Botanical Garden, and Ed and I saw a show in Montreal a few years back. In April, his latest show opened here in NYC. I'll be going back in June with Ed, his sister, and her daughter, for the Chihuly at Night show, but here are a few images of what you'll see if you head to the Bronx between now and October.

Detail of the piece above it

Visit Governor's Island 
This had been on my radar for awhile. I finally made it out there last fall, just before it closed for the season. There was a private event that evening, so all of the vendors were closed, but the beer garden would be a great place to sit in the sun on a summer afternoon. It's a fun place to explore as well, with old buildings, giant slides, art installations, hammocks, and amazing views of the city. And the ferry is only $2 round trip.

Atlas Obscura
This isn't an NYC-specific thing, but I think it's very cool. The founders are collecting truly odd and unusual places all over the globe and posting them online. (The Bone Church, rope bridges, Galileo's finger bone...) I decided to see how many of them I could find in New York one afternoon and ended up walking over 10 miles. It was a fun scavenger hunt though some of the places/things had already disappeared. (You can keep track of which ones you've visited on their website.) One of my favorites was the Hess Triangle. The city used eminent domain to take possession of Hess's property, then later realized they'd missed a spot. So they went back to Hess and asked for it.  He refused, and installed this mosaic onto his small remaining piece of Greenwich Village property.

Check out Archtober!
Each October, the AIA invites members of the public to take behind-the-scenes tours of a building a day. The choices are varied, and all five boroughs are represented. I managed to get a ticket to tour the new Zaha Hadid condo that's going up in my neighborhood. After a visit to the leasing office for a promotional film and a look at the model, the site foreman took us up to one of the apartments. (Hard hats, protective glasses, and vests required!) Tickets are only $10, so if you find yourself in NYC in October, check out your options.

Architectural model of the building

The hooks that hold the swooping curves in place

View of Hudson Yards from the terrace

Open House New York weekend
This is one of my favorite events in the city. Also held each October, generally on or around Columbus Day weekend, OHNY gets the public free access to over 250 sites across the five boroughs. (This year's dates are October 14-15.) All you have to do is stand in line. You can also buy a passport which jumps you right to the front of every line. Or volunteer! If you work one shift, you, too, can jump to the front of the line. They also offer programming throughout the year, some just for volunteers, some open to the public, with discounted tickets for members. (They're a non-profit, so consider joining!)

I've toured the Bronx (Edgar Allen Poe's house, Gould Hall and the Great Americans Hall of Fame at BCC, Lehman College), Brooklyn (the Brooklyn Navy Yard), and Manhattan (City Hall, the Surrogate's Court, the cupola of the Manhattan Municipal Building, Mmuseumm...) It's a great way to see parts of the city that generally remain hidden.

The Music Building at Lehman College

EA Poe's Cottage

A mosaic on the ceiling of the Surrogate's Courthouse

Yours truly in the cupola of the Manhattan Municipal Building (US Courthouse in the background)

The dome of City Hall

Mmuseum

Explore Subway Art 
My friend, Julie Richey, is a mosaicist. She came to town this spring for a visit, and we did a little exploring. It was a rotten day, weather-wise, so it was a perfect day to go in search of mosaics in the NYC subways. I knew there was lots of art below-ground, but I had no idea how much of it was mosaics. And we didn't even make a dent in the list. But here are some from the new 2nd Avenue Subway:

Chuck Close from a distance and up close (ha ha)

Another Chuck Close

 Vik Muniz

Jean Shin

We found a lot of them in the 42nd Street ACE/123/7 station as well.

If you want to spend some time in a huge, inexpensive underground art gallery, download the MTA app. It'll show you what's around you and exactly where to find it.


Food and Drink
Speaking of art, there's a cool new installation/restaurant here in Chelsea. Hauser Wirth Gallery on 22nd Street has recreated Roth Bar by Dieter and Bjorn Roth. The menu changes weekly, and they'll be adding beer and wine soon (if they haven't already). They close at 6pm, so plan to eat lunch or have a happy hour drink on your way to someplace else.

One of our new favorites is Cafe Riazor, a little tapas place that's been around since the 1970s. The tapas are incredible. This isn't a great photo, but it's better than nothing. 😊

Fine and Rare is a new place in midtown. When my friend, Janine, and I stumbled in this spring, they still didn't have a working kitchen and we were two of about six people in the place. But they did have good raw food, and the music was unbelievable.  (You can check out Yaala Ballin on YouTube if you don't trust my musical taste.) I can't wait to go back.

Rooftop Reds is a small vineyard right here in NYC. This lovely little spot with tasty wines and amazing views is a bit of a trek, as it's located on a roof in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but well worth it on a warm summer night.

Rolf's is the worst-kept secret in NYC. Every fall, they decorate the restaurant for Christmas ($60,000 worth of decorations, mind you), and the decorations stay up until some time in May. It has to be seen to be believed. I hear the eggnog is amazing, not that I drink that stuff. But it's definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in the Flatiron/Gramercy area. Around Christmastime, it's a mob scene, so go early or you'll have to stand in line to get in.

Dinner and a Movie
If you're at a loss for something different to do on a Sunday night, check out the Film Club at the Crosby Street Hotel. My friend, Jessie, and I saw Miss Stevens in the screening room. It was followed by a Q&A with Timothée Chalamet, a member of the cast. The ticket is a two-fer--Your ticket includes a visit to The Crosby Bar - a 3-course meal and the movie for $55 or a cocktail, bar plate, and the movie for $35.

If that's not enough for you, here are my free-in-NYC-in-the-summer and the stuff-to-do-on-the-water posts, which have links to cool stuff you can do when the weather is nice.