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2018-NYBG Train Show


A Guide Named Sue took a tourist guide's daze off to visit the train show at the NY Botanical Gardens. It will continue until Jan 15th. Truly excellent. All the buildings are made of plant matter. You should go sometime! (I bought my ticket a while ago and today was my first day out after being house bound with a bad cold for the holidays). Glad I went but I'm staying home tomorrow. Pictures speak louder than words.

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NY Botanical Gardens.                                       

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Grand Central Terminal.

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Macy's.

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NYPL.

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JFK TWA.       

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Belvedere Castle.    

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Gracie Mansion.
 


June 5, 2017 Pianos and Taste of Times Square

IMG_0786The Sing for Hope pianos opening event takes place downtown at noon. Join A Guide Named Sue for a subway/walking tour to the event. Details here. Many Broadway shows have designed pianos this year and cast members will be performing.

Later in the day, you can work up an appetite for Taste of Times Square on this Central Park Walking Tour

Two great NYC events for New Yorkers and visitors. Come on along. The more the merrier. One tour or both!

 

 

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National Tourism Week FREE Tour May 12, 2017

In honor of  National Tourism Week, NYC Guides Association member A Guide Named Sue invites visitors on a "tourist guide's daze off" FREE tour from Grand Central Terminal  to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.

Scanned Image 100980000The tour will meet  in Grand Central  at 12:30. After  a brief introduction to Grand Central, we'll visit the Transit Museum Annex to see the latest exhibit  and buy MetroCards if needed.

We'll travel by subway to Queens and make a brief visit to the Fisher Landau Art Center. Then we will bus and/or walk to the museum on 35th Avenue. 

The tour will end sometime between 3 and 3:30. Sue has a ticket for the 4PM performance of Peter and the Star Catcher at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts . You can  buy tickets here if you wish.

Sue will provide an overview of after tour possibilities and directions. The Moving Image Museum is open FREE after 4PM. There are great places to eat and drink in the neighborhood including the Astor Room. You can visit the Murals at Welling Court  and the sculptures at Socrates Sculpture Park . If you cut out early, you can visit the Noguchi Museum  before 5PM. You can take a bus to Roosevelt Island and return to Manhattan on the Tramway .

The tour is FREE. Participants will pay for their own transportation and any pre or post tour expenses.

To RSVP for this tour, please email [email protected]  for the meeting place.

If you wish to do a similar but custom tour on another day, here is my AnyGuide tour.


CANstruction TCS NYC Marathon EXPO Opening Day Nov 3, 2016

Sue 84  Last year, we had Halloween, the NYC Marathon and the World Series on the same weekend. This year, it is CANstruction and the Marathon EXPO. I have written lots about both the Marathon and CANstruction on this blog. This year, I have posted some Lower Manhattan tours to CANstruction on AnyGuide starting on November 4th.

On November 3rd, A Guide Named Sue is doing a Tourist Guide's Daze off journey from Grand Central to CANstruction via the new Hudson Yards 7 train stop, the Marathon EXPO, the Highline, Chelsea Market, the new location of the Gansevoort market and my favorite Tom Otterness Subway stop.

If I have the time and energy, I will head to Brooklyn to see friends and attend the Guides Association meeting.

 

If you would like to tag along for some or most of this, contact me and I will tell you where to meet me in Grand Central around 10AM.



 


OHNY 2016 (2) - My plan

12513806_10153959060562236_1464101873933207599_oYou can find me volunteering at the Open House New York Info Hub at Union Square Greenmarket from 10 AM-1PM. After that, I will check on the line at Jefferson Market Library and might go to Westbeth before heading Uptown. I need to be at the Museum of Art and Origin by 5. There might be time to stop in to see my 101.5 year old friend Marie. Afterward, I'll check the line at Hamilton Grange. I've never seen it at night.

Sunday, I am off to the tour of Freshkills Park  in Staten Island. Before leaving the Island, I want to eat brunch at Lakruwana, a Sri Lankan restaurant on Bay Street. Then I'll check on the progress of the Lighthouse Museum. I haven't been there in over a year. (OR I'll rush off of SI immediately and try to get to The Little Red Lighthouse! Oh the possibilities.)

 

IMG_1294I'll end this year's Open House New York by heading way Uptown to the United Palace to see Mary Poppins introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda. I can't wait! (You can see the interior of the United Palace as part of OHNY for free on Saturday but it's no fun without a movie). (I have yet to see Hamilton but the book HAMILTON the REVOLUTION is a wonderful read).

NOTE: If you are new to OHNY, be sane. Pick sites that are near each other and have a GREAT time. There are way too many great sites. See what interests you! There's always next year.


NYC Fringe Festival 2016 - 20th Anniversary

Fringe Ambassador Sue is at it again. My role is different. Change happens. So this year let's focus on how to pick a few plays to see as inexpensively as possible. Basic price for a Fringe ticket is still 18 dollars (plus a convenience charge if you order by credit card). Cash can only be used at Fringe Lounges. Seniors (65 plus) can buy 13 dollar seats at Fringe Lounges or at performance venues 15 minutes before performances. Children under 12 can buy 13 dollar tickets for Fringe Junior shows at performances, Fringe Lounges or On line. Passes and group tickets (for same performance) provide additional discounts.  Details here.

Discounts. The first way is to take the Find Your Fringe Quiz. This will give you a subset of plays that you might like and a 10 percent discount on passes. Last year each Ambassador was assigned meet ups based on Quiz results lists. None of my selections were on my top ten list but you know, they all turned out to interesting if not great shows. The second discount comes if you go to a show's post show meet up. A Fringe Ambassador like me can give you a discount to the next show of your choice if you surrender the coupon from your program. If your performance does not have a meet up , just score your show at Show Score  for a discount for your next show.

How do you figure out what to see? This year, the descriptions are better than ever. If you need hard copy in advance, pick up the Aug 10th Time Out New York. The Quiz gives you an interesting subset of shows. Show Score has come up with their own categories. You can use the Slice O Matic on the show listings in a variety of ways.  My favorite way is to start with a date and time range that I have available and see what shows are performing during that time. For a busy New Yorker, this is a great way to focus on what is possible.

More posts to come (including where to find me) .... in the comments section...


June 2016 is...(part 1)

IMG_1124busy says A Guide Named Sue! On the Shakespeare front, Something Rotten  has some new stars.  Taming of the Shrew in Central Park is gender bending to say the least. Get on line EARLY and enjoy the experience. Contact me for an early morning Central Park tour..

Sunday June 5th is the Israel Day Parade. I used to get stuck in traffic on detoured HO HO  buses. Now I march in it.

Monday June 6th is Taste of Times Square. You can buy tickets here. If you want some exercise before eating, come along for a special late afternoon tour to the festival.

Saturday June 11th is the celebration of new mural art at Welling Court. Would happily do an early morning custom tour as long as it ends before I start heading to Queens around 11.

If you wish to join me on the 11th at 11, let me know in advance. This will be a meet up or FAM visit. You can see where we might go here.

Sunday June 12th 11 AM is the Mount Morris Open House Tours. I already have my book reserved. This is a great day in Harlem for those who want to skip the Puerto Rican Day parade. OOOPS Mt Morris was canceled 6/2.

June 14th is Museum Mile. Join me for a tour to the top here.  More to come.....

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Brush Up Your Shakespeare 2016

You'd think Shakespeare was a New Yorker by the way we are celebrating the 400th Anniversary of his death this year!  The Royal Shakespeare Company recently visited BAM and the Globe Shakespeare company and the National Ballet of Canada are coming to the Lincoln Center festival to perform Shakespeare.

It is not too late to see the Shakespeare Binge performance 1599 at Irondale. It is superb.

NYC-ARTS has a list of Shakespeare related events around town past and future.

My favorite...Shakespeare in (the) Central Park starts previews of  The Taming of the Shrew  on May 24th . As always, A Guide Named Sue is offering early public Central Park walks  that end at the Shakespeare in the Park line for the first two previews of each show via AnyGuide. If I see the show the first night, I will still lead the 2nd day tour.

The Drilling Company will be doing Shakespeare "in the Parking Lot" and at Bryant Park this summer as well.

New York Classical Theatre has another great season of FREE Shakespeare in the great NYC outdoors.

A Guide Named Sue will happily arrange custom private tours  that end at any Shakespeare performance or event this season.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare  by Cole Porter for the musical Kiss Me Kate based on The Taming of the Shrew by (see above).


1599 - Irondale May 2016 - Binge Shakespeare

A Guide Named Sue crossed the East River (on the C train to Lafayette Avenue) to get in shape for the ongoing Shakespeare season in NYC by seeing 1599 at Irondale in Brooklyn. Imagine binge watching 4 Shakespeare plays live up close and personal (the 4th wall is broken on several occasions). The cast moves. The audience moves. But, by Hamlet, cast crew and audience are one under the set lighting. It is quite an experience. A young girl in the audience was mesmerized by it. It was her first meeting with the Bard.

IMG_2423This mega production was inspired by a book called A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. The book, by James S. Shapiro, explores Shakespeare's life and the history happening around him during the year in which the 4 plays were written. I will read it some day. (Pic is one tiny piece of the production space before the event.

Tickets for this absorbing Shakespeare experience are easier to obtain than tickets for Shakespeare in the Park. (See 1599 link above). The Naturally Delicious dinner box is tasty and worth the investment if you buy your tickets enough time in advance. If you decide to go at the last minute bring food and buy wine or soda at the theater. You will not have enough time to leave and return during the break.

Irondale is a hidden theater gem in Brooklyn. For those of you who never leave the Island of Manhattan, the C train journey is easy. One warning: the production definition of 4 hours is really NOT 5 hours. Take a nap in the afternoon if you are not a night owl.  You might also want to review the plots of plays beforehand.  ENJOY the show.