NYC Then and Now

A Quiet Wedding....

in a Grand Central space.  Where was I when I spotted the happy couple?

This post is dedicated to the folks who come to the Trip Advisor New York City forum looking for interesting places to get married in New York and....

to my Texas dance tour by subway group who wanted/needed down time at their hotel after a wet soggy day taking a statue harbor cruise and visiting the 911 memorial and before going to dinner at Bubba Gump's and going to see Wicked.

I got to see Quartet at the Paris (a lovely one screen movie theater) while they were at Wicked. (I saw Wicked many moons ago). They saw a great musical. I saw a fun film directed by Dustin Hoffman who I saw  direct Death of a Salesman for a community theater in the next town in NJ and perform off Broadway before The Graduate.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - spring 2013

So many exhibits and so little time. I just want to mention 3 that will be very popular this spring.

Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity just opened. Before you enter, there is a quote from Manet that I will paraphrase. He said that when painting women (my addition...with their clothes on) they should be dressed in the most up-to-date fashion. Seriously, when the Met takes costumes out of the closet and displays them with relevant art, the results are always, fun, educational and exciting.

I said to a guard that this exhibit will draw great crowds when word gets out. She said it will be really crazy when both this exhibit and the upcoming Punk exhibit are on together and near each other in May.

While looking for links, I discovered the Street exhibit that is opening tomorrow. Must see it soon. Met membership has its rewards.

If you are visiting, remember that the Met opens at 9:30. That is my favorite time to visit.

 

Central Park - Black History - Seneca Village Saturday 2/23/2013

Seneca Village (from the NY Historical Society website) will hopefully be placed on next year's Black History Month tour. It was a free Black community that existed between 7th and 8th Avenue from about 82nd to 88th Street on ground that would become part of The Central Park after the owners were bought out. Two New York Times articles deal with the fascinating history and fascinating discoveries were made during a recent archeological dig.  I have no vintage postcards of the neighborhood.

Belvedere castle in the postcard to the left was built long after the settlement was destroyed. To find the area, head North and West. The area that is now the Great Lawn was a receiving resevoir that was built during the life of Seneca Village (I have no vintage postcards of the resevoir but I suspect some exist).

I had planned to lead an early morning walking/subway tour from midtown to the Seneca Village area in time for guests to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and/or the Museum of Natural History and/or New York Historical Society at opening time but the weather and low turnouts for Black History Month and International Tourist Guide Day convinced me to cancel my tour before even posting it.

HOWEVER, The Central Park Conservancy docents are doing a Seneca Village tour at 2:30 on Feb 23,2013 and other days in the future. Here is the listing. The tour starts inside the West Side of the Park at 85th Street. You can get there by taking the C train uptown to 86th and CPW or the 1 train to 86th and Broadway and walking or taking the crosstown bus to the Park. 

I intend to be at the tour. Perhaps I'll see you there.

Immigration Experience beyond Ellis Island

This post will be just as useful after Ellis Island re-opens. The histories and cultures of our immigrant population are celebrated in so many many places in the melting pot that is New York City. Here are just a few of them. As you explore the websites, notice that many of these places often have public programs and lectures after the museum spaces are closed to the public and some have later regular closing hours on different days. So there are things to do at night beyond Broadway. And, they all have GREAT gift shops.

I recently re-visited the Museum of the Chinese in America on a tour guide tour with the Guides Association of NYC. There is no better way to get an understanding of how when and why New York City's Chinatowns came to be and how the Chinese in America continue to add so much to American Culture. Then explore the shops and restaurants in Chinatown.

The Tenement Museum has great tours by day and assorted lectures and public programs in the early evening. Today's Lower East Side has great food, drink, galleries and shops.

If you are in Little Italy on the weekend, stop in at the Museum of the Italians in America.

The African Burial Ground tells an immigrant story that is not well-covered at Ellis Island. And the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art focuses on African (immigrant) Diaspora culture today.

The NY Historical Society and the Museum of the City of New York frequently have exhibits and lectures focused on the NY Immigrant experience. While you are uptown, also drop in to El Museo del Barrio for exhibits on Latin American culture in NYC.

This list is only a beginning. Contact me for more opportunities. Enjoy your visit. 

Black History Month tour 2013 so far (2) Queens and NOT Bronx

My Queens for a day visit to the Louis Armstrong House and the Langston Hughes Community Library was very enjoyable. After leaving the #7 I followed the bus route to the house in this very working class Corona neighborhood. It was not my first visit. I've been out there to a concert with grandfather granddaughter clients and took the house tour at least once before with some friends.

This time I learned that the Welcome Center is where Louis used to store his cadillac. I was not the only visitor doing the Black History month tour, there were couples from Germany and Belgium. It was a special treat to have the new curator David as my guide. Agelita's, the Dominican restaurant across the street, is still fun for a quick hot meal although there are other restaurants in the neighborhood.

Speaking of the neighborhood, this is what it looks like across the street. The house has a really find gift shop but it is not online yet. I picked up a book for my great nieces and nephews that I am reading first called Travels with Louis. It really gets to the soul of the man and of the neighborhood. The souvenir picture given to Black History Month visitors also has a story to tell about Louis's performance in New Orleans. Go visit any day but Monday.

The stroll through the neighborhood and along Northern Blvd to the Langston Hughes library was delightful and there were plenty of interesting looking food places along the way. The library was busy and there was an exhibition gallery on the second floor. I was too early for the evening program in the auditorium but you can get more information on upcoming events here.

The bus to the R train was fun. I really got a feel for the cultural diversity in this county when a group of school children got on to make their way home.

Alas, Woodlawn was not meant to be because of icy conditions in the cemetery. It is such an interesting place to explore. I went one summer when they were unveiling a monument to Illinois Jacquet and you could here the joint jumping from the music provided by Julliard and the other Jazzmen upstairs who were all buried nearby. Contact me privately if you want to make a trip some other day. We would make stops at Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Museum and maybe Harlem on the way back.

 

Black History Month tour 2013 so far (1)

First stop Wednesday was the African Burial Ground National Monument. The visitor center has expanded since I was last there in about 2010. Sometimes the outside monument area is closed due to icy conditions but this place is well worth a visit. The burial ground is part of a much great story of the role of African Americans in building New York and is certainly a part of the U.S. immigration story not covered by Ellis Island. The price is free and there are frequent ranger lead tours and the rangers are very available for questions. Many of the gift shop choices will not be found elsewhere. And if you have a National Parks passport you can get it stamped there. Open Tues thru Saturday indoors and 7 days a week when the ground allows outside.

 

Thursday was my day in Brooklyn. The journey to early free African settlement Weeksville is a bit over an hour by subway (and optional bus) and some walking. But, this look back in time at a settlement that was actually demapped from the grid structure is fascinating and educator Nia does a wonderful job of telling the story. I was in fact the first non-group visitor to mention the Black History Month promotion. I hope more of you follow in my footsteps or come later in the year when their new visitor center opens.

From Weeksville, it was a bus ride and a short walk to MOCADA on Hanson Place. MOCADA is an outstanding museum that captures the vibe of the largest African Diaspora county (Brooklyn) in the country. While, I knew they were having an opening in the evening - their openings are great fun. I didn't realize that the museum was closed until the party but I will be back. I have been to MOCADA before several times.

My last stop in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Museum, was not part of the Black History Month tour although it could have been. They have a fabulous collection of African Art. I went to see the winners of the Go Brooklyn Art Open Artist Studio event that I attended in August. I think the crowd of visitors made great choices. I didn't make it to these artists but all of the works selected were awesome.

When going to a specific exhibition in a museum, it is hard NOT to enjoy the art along the way.

 

This particular sculpture reminded me of a recent New York Times article about pianos being taken to recycling dumps.

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: While some of you don't do subways because there is "nothing to see". There is some great art underground thanks to the MTA Arts for Transit program. This is from the Brooklyn Museum stop. You can tour some of the Manhattan subway art on friend Darryl Reilly's subway tour.

My Brooklyn itinerary can be done on any day although Thursdays are good because the Museum is open late. The nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden can also be visited.

You don't have to wait until next year to go to these places!

International Tourist Guide Day NYC Feb 21, 2013

This year's full International Tourist Guide Day in NYC FREE Tour list for Feb 21, 2013 is out. Many of my fellow Licensed NYC Tour Guide Guides Association of NYC members and I are exploring great places and spaces on the day.

You can find more about my tours here.

I hope some of my guide friends will describe their tours in more detail in the comments section.

 

February 19, 2013 Jazz Museum in Harlem

UPDATE: I have had no response from anyone so I am still heading to the Jazz Museum in Harlem program but will not meet anyone in Grand Central. Come on up town. I know the program will be good. I will see you there.

We will meet at Grand Central on the South Side of the Clock at 4:30 and head up to the Jazz Museum in Harlem which these days is a Museum without walls. I have seen their programs at the Museum of the City of New York.  After a brief wander, we will eat locally and regroup at the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church to see the program about Abbey Lincoln.

After the performance, directions will be given for public transportation (subway or bus) back to wherever you need to go.

Note: Applebee's is a sponsor of this 5 boro Black History Month challenge.  I intend to thank them by getting a bite at the nearby 1 West 125th Street location. You are welcome to join me or eat at other local restaurants.

Cost: Suggested donation to A Guide Named Sue is $10 dollars. 

Other Costs: MetroCard with at least 2 fares per person. Money for your own food, drink and a donation to the Jazz Museum.

If you are planning to attend please email me at:  suenyc@aguidenamedsue.com  so I know to expect you.

For other Jazz tours in Harlem, you might want to contact Gordon Polatnick at Big Apple Jazz tours.

Next stop Sandy Ground Staten Island - Feb 26, 2013.

 

Feb 26, 2013 Sandy Ground

I have managed to miss some wonderful Guides Association of NYC trips to Sandy Ground because I was working. Please join me on this Tour Guide's Daze off exploration of Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy enroute to the early African settlement known as Sandy Ground.  We will take the 11:00 Ferry from Battery Park or meet at the fish tank in the SI Ferry terminal at 11:30. Then we will head off on the s74 bus to Sandy Ground. The ride is just over an hour.

Tour guide Sylvia will meet us for a 1 o'clock tour. The cost is $5 for seniors and $7 regular price. She hopes that I get some of you to make the journey. It should be a fun journey.

If anyone wants to head out to Staten Island earlier to see the 9/11 memorial, the WPA murals in Boro Hall and/or the St George theater let me know.

Email me at suenyc@aguidenamedsue.com if you plan to attend. Have at least 4 fares on your MetroCard.

Last stop - the Schomburg Center - Wed Feb 27, 2013.

Feb 27, 2013 Schomburg Center

The last stop on my Black History month challenge will be the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library. I have already registered for a lecture at 2PM called I, Too, Am America with illustrator Bryan Collier.

If any of you are interested in joining me, register for the lecture and send me an email at suenyc@aguidenamedsue.com  . The Plan is to meet in midtown and have a wander through the neighborhood. I would like to do lunch at Miss Maude's if we have a group and I have indeed made it to all 9 sites.

Estimated midtown start time is 11 AM. Plans will be finalized when I know I have company.