The Boathouse Restaurant is located on The Lake in Central Park. This is one of my favorite spots in NYC – when the weather is right, this spot is absolutely idyllic and bucolic. Tables on the terrace are a wonderful place to have a meal. Although a little pricey, I would highly recommend it if you can get a table. Rowboats are available for rent nearby, as are rides on genuine Venetian gondolas. Centrally located in the park at 72nd Street, it’s the perfect location for exploring Central Park, which is a world unto itself…
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The Boathouse Restaurant
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Totem
For graffiti Sunday, we have a view into a parking lot on a small street in the East Village, where it seems that a lot of different objects are being saved for some yet-to-be-determined future use.
The graffiti against the wall and up the iron stair is pretty indecipherable as writing, but the visual impact of the glowing color seems to tie everything together into a worn collage made of “found” objects. Almost like an art installation put together with elements hoarded by the neighborhood.
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Move Along, Nothing to See Here
On the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we have a continuation of the previous post on the theme of cruelty to reptiles in NYC. This sculpture, Move Along, Nothing to See Here by Cai Guo-Qiang, is one of two life-size crocodiles suspended on bamboo poles overlooking Central Park, with the exclusive residential buildings of Central Park West as a backdrop. They are stuck with sharp objects actually confiscated by airport security. Closeup photo here.There are many different ways to view this piece, so we will leave its interpretation to you. This roof garden is open late Fridays and Saturdays, and is something of a singles scene. Drinks are served…
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Snake Charmer
Here’s a character who suddenly appeared draped with a gigantic snake, a large macaw, and a small alligator in his suitcase. His schtick was that he would charge to have your picture taken with them, the prices based on what you wanted to have in the photo. He offered all three to a woman for $15; she seemed pleased to have the snake draped around her.At first charming, it soon became very exploitative of everyone concerned, including the animals; he was offering to sell snakes for $250. With concerns about exotic animals being taken from their natural habitats, this seems like a questionable livelihood, but we wanted to show you this as a classic, if extremely flamboyant, example of a typical big city hustle. There’s been much written about the classic NYC hustles and scams, some of which are still practiced today exactly the same way as in the 19th century on the same street corners. Perhaps in another era, this fellow would have been an organ grinder with a monkey…
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Snack Shacks
Lately, we have noticed various types of snack shacks downtown. These structures are frequently attached to another storefront, like a garden shed. One was next to a building with red climbing roses around it. They are like the roadside stands you used to see near the beach or in the country selling pies and flowers – a little piece of the country set down in town.Two such examples, Snack Dragon and Juicy Lucy (photo right) serve slightly more elaborate food. You can eat casually careening on your travels around town, especially if you don’t have time to stop for anything much, are on your way to work, or are visiting the city and want to keep your restaurant expenditures down. They make a variety of things: good strong American coffee, lemonade, tacos, breakfast sandwiches, etc. It’s interesting that people are finding ways to serve fast food in NYC that utilizes good ingredients and does not equate to “junk” food. It’s certainly a step in the right direction…
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Gem Spa
Gem Spa is one of those real classic New York places. In business for 70 years, located at St. Marks Place and 2nd Avenue in the East Village, this place would certainly not stand out as anything special to the visitor or non-resident (an online search will bring up numerous articles and reviews). It is a newspaper stand/magazine shop/soda fountain, and at one time, before the spate of magazine cafes and super bookstores, its extensive selection was a rarity. And they are renowned as the last place serving an authentic New York egg cream soda, the origins of which are still debated. If you haven’t had one, go there and have an unpolished NYC experience. Here’s a peek inside…
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Caught!
We’ve been having a lot of intermittent rain showers lately, and these folks got caught in a huge downpour and ran. Gray Line has been running sightseeing bus tours for over 75 years. They’re now offering over 40 Hop On Hop Off tours of Manhattan and Brooklyn in various package deals from $20 to over $100, some even including helicopter tours.The open upper level of the double decker buses appears to be the preferred seating, unless it rains – then you had better put on your free raincoat and run inside, because this is New York and there’s no refund for you 🙂
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ABC No Rio
This was taken in front of ABC No Rio, a large artist’s collective on Rivington Street, well-known for decades for political activism and its drive to be a community social center, combining art, music, poetry, and intense activism on many political and economic issues affecting local residents. They have been one of the major centers for the performance of spoken word/poetry slams and host a regular weekend matinee show of indie punk thrash metal music, amongst many other activities. We were passing by during one of the concerts and we could hear the music a block away.They are surrounded by the changing demographic of the neighborhood, which is now becoming a place of fashionable and expensive restaurants and designer stores, in spite of the deliberately grungy aesthetic that is embraced. The front of the building, whose ownership has been in dispute all along, is decorated with salvaged metal parts and murals depicting moments of nihilistic despair, somewhat ironic because the general aims of the organization are very optimistic – art studio access for everyone, fair and affordable housing, and educational outreach to the unfortunate, such as prisoners. More photos here…
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Graffiti
In some places in New York, such as the subway, graffiti is cleaned off and trains are guarded as much as possible against its recurrence of graffiti. In other places, such as the Lower East Side, as seen, for example, on this corner of 2nd Avenue and 1st Street, it has flourished in its present incarnation. The community seems to embrace it as a signal and an identifier of the neighborhood’s outlaw past. In the eighties, there were many small galleries in the East Village and they often showed graffiti artists, popularizing the aesthetic to where it has now become accepted by many as a classic form of art.
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Friendship
This doorway over La Maison Francaise on Fifth Avenue at 50th Street symbolizes the friendship between America and France. It was created by the French sculptor Janniot and finished in 1933 during the depths of the Depression era. Gilded and intricate, it is one of the many decorations incorporated in the building facades. It was designed with the hope of attracting overseas investment and to entice tenants to newly built Rockefeller Plaza complex. Now it graces the opening of a somewhat generic retail space, but we are still reaping the benefit of the past’s ambitious and very individual aesthetic depicting as much beauty and amity possible to pack into the finite area over an office building entrance. Full view here.
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I Love New York
Unexpectedly, I ran into this film crew shooting a new commercial series for an I Love New York PR campaign, a slogan which the city has been using to promote itself since way back when. They say they intend to put more emphasis on celebrating the “ordinary people’s” New York. This particular one will show a breakdancing group, Full Circle, performing in front of the Washington Square Arch, referring, we suppose, to the many performers that use Washington Square Park as a stage, who all attempt to be compelling enough to stop traffic. Luckily, the timing was right, and I was able to capture some video of the dancers…
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Bigelow
Bigelow Chemists is the oldest pharmacy in the country, located in the Village on 6th Avenue near 8th Street in a Beaux-Arts building (here’s a link with photos, history, and story). It’s a pleasure to go in – they specialize in very high quality and hard-to-find products for the skin and hair, fragrance for the home, and small luxury items for everyday life. They continue as a true apothecary, making their own line of remedies and filling prescriptions.They cultivate relationships with their customers over years, an unusual practice in this type of business nowadays – getting to know the local residents. People come in to browse, take in the atmosphere, and try on the samples. Perhaps this is overly enthusiastic for a simple drugstore, but they have preserved an atmosphere that opens the door to the past and the senses simultaneously.
Note: Here’s a link to Indieperfumes, which goes into these sorts of topics in depth…
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Petanque
I love watching petanque in the shade on a warm sunny day. It’s so relaxing, and I feel transported to Provence, where the game originated. These courts in Washington Square Park are quite busy in nice weather and are home to La Boule New Yorkaise, a local club which also plays in Bryant Park and Central Park. What’s interesting is that although they are centrally located in a such a small and heavily used park, it is easy to overlook them, and most people are probably not aware of their existence. I know nothing of the game, but in observing, I have noted a lot of French being spoken, so I would imagine that this is quite serieux…
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Dog Dating
LeashesandLovers is a group that puts on events for NYC dog owners – singles looking to meet other dog owners, or social events for dog lovers who want to meet each other on a friendly networking basis. Seems like they run an event in the downtown area every other weekend. Here’s a link to their organization with upcoming planned events, including videos of their parties. They appear to draw a rather attractive young crowd. They also have indoor events at various bars and restaurants that permit dogs, as well as hiking events and other outdoor socials.This event was held in Washington Square Park – see more photos here. This lady’s dog is the soul of patience, permitting her to put shoes and socks on along with the sailor suit. Some much prefer to go au naturale…
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Missionaries Meet Their Match
For me, this was New York at its best. An organization called the Catholic Evidence Guild had set up in the park with a table, literature, a podium, bibles, and a crucifix to spread the word and convert. However, even though this was the street and one would not expect to be confronted with any real challenge to the seasoned Christian, this is New York, and you had better be prepared for anything – eccentrics, cranks, derelicts, students, academics, etc. And anything they got.Ira, who it turns out was a Jewish professor, studied at Fordham University, spent several years in Israel, was fluent in Hebrew, and knew the Bible inside out. An Ecuadorian, whom I also spoke with, was also extremely articulate and knowledgeable. And there were others in the mix, all holding their own. All with a rock group performing nearby. As the afternoon wore on, the dialog became very spirited, but the Catholics became less vocal, and I started wondering, who was converting whom? Enjoy the video!
