NYC Then and Now

Expect Amazing Herald Square

Herald Square in time to hear the statue bells. Macy's, the host of the Thanksgiving Day Parade,is also the inspiration for my favorite Thanksgiving to Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street.  Not far away, you will find the Third Madison Square Garden and the Post Office.

Then onto the Fashion District, which is formerly known as the garment district.

Statues to the workers....

 

and plaques in the sidewalks in honor of the designers. Remember to look down as well as up while exploring New York City.

While Betsey Johnson voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection last year, you can still buy her clothing through her website.

 

 

 

 

And there's a special exhibit about Stephen Burrows on at the Museum of the City of New York until the end of July. See it! And see the exhibit about teeny tiny apartments and the newest exhibit about Greenwood Cemetery. Actually, Greenwood could be another destination for a Weight Watchers walkabout!

On to Times Square and the Theater District.

 

 

 

WW Expect Amazing Times Square

My first post was about Times Square, the center of the NYC universe for some visitors. Most people love the crowds and lights in the evening but "my time of day" (see Guys and Dolls Frank Loesser) for Times Square is early in the morning.

I took this picture of the Armed Forces Recruiting Center because many many years ago on the bus home from a healthy weekend (near vegetarian food, fresh air and plenty of exercise) at the Omega Institute, I sat next to an amazing 80 something year old woman named Marie Runyon. I lost touch with her until I read about her in the New York Times trying to enlist here with the Grannies against the war. By then she was 91. We have remained in touch.

 

While doing the Tribeca Open Artist Studio Tour 3 years ago, I discovered an artist, Regina Silvers who was also taken by the Grannies. 

This picture was taken at Marie's 98th birthday this year.

Marie's healthy near vegetarian eating style has probably been a factor in the quality of her long amazing life.

 

 

 

 

The Expect Amazing instructions said that "this Musical's title, people might say, is the look our female members have today, because they changed their lifestyle the Weight Watchers way". Mama Mia the movie, should remind all of us that Mediterranean diets are healthy. (Now how many of you know that the Winter Garden used to be a horse trading arena?)

On to Rock Center, Central Park and the Finish!

 

May 2013 - so much is going on (1)

MOMA's Weimar festival continues until the first weekend in May. The Tribeca Open Artist Studio tour is the first weekend in May. It is a great opportunity to see how artists live.

For those of you who want to walk "all around Manhattan" the 2013 Great Saunter on May 4th provides you with that opportunity. More of my back story to this walk can be found here.

Sunday May 5th brings The Five Boro Bike tour from Bike New York. I volunteered on this for years and I even rode a 10 person bike in it once. (NOTE - the ride is still on although some pyro technics at the start have been cancelled and there will be increased police presence.)

On the 5th, I will be heading to the NY Botanical Gardens early in the morning to walk a 5k to raise funds for psoriasis research. I signed up for this walk last year but when I broke my wrist a few days before the walk, I didn't do it. This winter, I went to the Gardens for the Train Show with the Guides Association and I vowed to return and do the walk this year.  You can support my effort  on my personal page.

Speaking of Gardens, I recently went to visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden after a visit to the Brooklyn Museum with the Guides Association.  If you want to make your trip a day and an evening event, I would go to the Garden on Saturday May 4th and then continue into the Museum for First Saturday.

There is another (CRF) cause related fitness event on Saturday May 5th that will make Times Square busy early in the morning. It is the Revlon Run/Walk for Women.

If any of you locals want to volunteer and receive passes to New York Fringe Festival Performances or work (for little money) the Fringe NYC annual Job Fair will be held on Sunday May 5th. I was pleased to discover at a FODOR's New York Travel Board meetup that one of my readers has enjoyed volunteering at the festival for a few years. She found out about the festival from my many posts over the years. I may volunteer this year too.

More to come. I've only gotten to May 5th and I haven't even mentioned Cinco de Mayo.

 

April 2013 - Tribeca Film Festival - MOMA Weimar Touch

In March, I had more tour work and much less time to post. I hope work will get in the way of some of the movies I'd like to see this month but these festivals represent a small set of the great movies you can see in April that are not being advertised on your commercial TV screens.

The Tribeca Film Festival starts April 17 but single tickets will be available to American Express Card holders starting Tuesday April 9th. (If you can't make it to NYC some of the films will be streamed during and after the festival. I have written many posts about the Tribeca Film Festival in past seasons. Here is one of them. (NOTE - the Tribeca Open Artist Studio Tour aka TOAST will take place the first week in May this year.

The Weimar Touch festival at MOMA is another reason to think about buying a MOMA membership.

On April 22nd the 9th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival begins. It is a less expensive off the beaten track very NY alternative to Tribeca.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is honoring Barbra Streisand this month.

For uptown edgier films near some great dining visit the Maysles Cinema.

In Brooklyn, BAM has one of many great independent film centers.

For great films in Greenwich Village head to Film Forum or the Independent Film Center.

Enjoy!

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.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Commemoration - March 2013

March 25, 2013 will be the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. One of the ways people are remembered is via the Chalk Project. The name of each person lost in the Triangle Fire, their age and their address is written in front of their building (or where their building formerly was).

Last year I watched my friend Charlene Weisler chalk remembrances of two people who lived in the East village.

 

 

Then, I searched for some of the sites up in East Harlem. What was once a tenement in East Harlem is now a community garden. The woman in the 2nd picture, Malinda Futrell, is the head of the garden behind her. She did not know the history of the fire. Now she does.

The official commemoration will take place at noon on March 20th Washington Place near Washington Square this year. Chalking will happen on or just before the actual anniversary on March 25th. If you are here exploring look at the Chalk map and find some of the sites. Pause. Say a prayer. If people wonder what you are up to, explain. They probably do not know or do not remember.

For more information, see my posts from the Hundredth Anniversary and my account of the day in 2011.

 

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.

 

The NYC Black History Month tour might be over for 2013 but...

 all the places on the route and many more are available to be seen year round.

First the end of my visits. I did show up for the Seneca Village tour in the pouring rain and there were 2  Central Park volunteer docents  waiting for me and quite willing to do the tour. We waited for others but when no one showed and I told them I could do the tour at another time. Shortly after they left, fellow tour guide Kevin showed up but we will each do the tour another day.

On Tuesday, I encouraged tour guide Gordon L to join me on my journey to Sandy Ground (this link will also get you to many more African American history sites in NYC) in Staten Island . I took my first ride on the Staten Island Railroad and we did get to see some effects of Hurricane Sandy along the way and we chose to walk 1.5 miles from the train to Sandy Ground. Parts of the road had no sidewalks. Staten Island was a visit to the burbs. Many homes, many cars and no one on the streets.

But, the Sandy Ground Historical Museum is a gem and Sylvia (see left), our guide, is a descendent of the orginial settlers of the first free Black community in the U.S. The pictures around her are members of her family. We also saw a video segment that had recently been broadcast on ABC's Here and Now about Sandy Ground. There were special exhibits about the Underground Railroad and Sandy Ground's connection to it. I am really tempted to return for their annual barbecue festival but you should visit sooner.

We took the S74 bus for the very long ride back to the Ferry Terminal. We passed Historic Richmondtown and several interesting parks and cemeteries. We also saw an incredible variety of Staten Island housing. Garages are important. Sidewalks are less important. We went over highways and passed shopping centers. It was almost like being in New Jersey.

Wednesday I headed for a program at the Schomburg library given by artist and children's book illustrator Bryan Collier. His talk about becoming an artist and creating children's books touched the children and the adults in the audience. I would love to use his book Uptown as the basis for a family tour of Harlem. Visit in the next couple of weeks to see the current exhibit about Emancipation. The exhibit about Africans in India will be on until July. After the lecture, I spoke to a woman outside about my trip to Sandy Ground. She was planning to go too after seeing the piece about Sandy Ground on Here and Now.

I will provide more warning if this special Black History Month tour is repeated next year. NOW on to March!

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.

Loew's Jersey - off Island Field Trip with view (2/23/13)

For those of you who love a) love movie theaters the way they used to be  b) love old movies and/or c) need to leave the Isle of Manhattan every so often to remember we live on an Island and appreciate the view, a trip to the Loew's Theater in Jersey City is perfect for you! The directions to the theater and great places to eat are all listed on the website.

This weekend they are showing one of my favorite old movies One Two Three with James Cagney as well as a couple of others that I haven't seen.  The cuckoo clock from  One Two Three appears several times in my most recent favorite movie - The Clock - by Christian Marclay. I have flexible other plans for Saturday night but.....let me know if any of you are planning to go.  I may change my plans if I will be able to catch up with friends and blog readers "over there" in NJ.

I often write about film and film festivals here. My favorite NYC theater is the Ziegfeld and my two favorite film festivals (there are many many more) are the Tribeca Film Festival and the Jewish Film Festival.