The Cartier Mansion

 

The Cartier Mansion stands out with its warm earthy tones against the dull grays of its surroundings. It was built originally as the home of railroad/hotel/steamship magnate, Henry Plant, and sold to Cartier Jewelers for $100 plus a $1,000,000 double strand pearl necklace for his wife in 1917.

Macy's 5k Race in Downtown New York

The Macy's 5k race to benefit the Ronald McDonald House started at a beautiful riverside park in Downtown New York.

 

The guy playing Ronald McDonald, I learned, is actually training for a full marathon, and he did all sorts of athletic feats on stage before the run. He was also quite entertaining as he heckled the runners coming in to the finish line.

Animals on the Subway

Celebrity Alert: Glenn Close!

 

Glenn Close was waiting to get on her plane at LaGuardia airport the same time we were waiting to get on ours heading to Cincinnati!

Rising Currents Exhibition at MOMA

 

I met these two designer/architects during a visit (my fourth) to MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's Long Island City branch. These two were creating an exhibit designed to rethink housing in an age where disastrous weather threatens our coastlines. I would write more, but I can't for the life of me find anything on the internet. MoMA's site has nothing that I can find, and googlling all sorts of phrases leads me nowhere. Can anyone help out?

Activism in New York

 

Relating to the Activism in New York exhibit I saw at the Museum of the City of New York, here is a large window display at Bloomingdale's outlining milestones in the LGBT movement.

Yarn Bombed Van in Williamsburg

What a spectacle! My husband and I spent an afternoon in Williamsburg in Brooklyn Saturday. The place was buzzing--the sidewalks were animated with 20-30 year olds looking like ads for Abercombie and Fitch. 

One thing about New York is that you cannot keep up with all the artistic activities going on, so you never know when you're going to stumble onto some big event. The crazy crochet-coverd van is part of an Absolute Vodka art-space-transformation. The artist's name is Olek. You may enjoy her website.

 

An Early December Noon in the Grand Concourse: A Painting by Stone Roberts

Do you think this is photograph? It's a painting! Its part of the larger painting below called An Early December Noon in the Grand Concourse. The painting is huge (next picture), and yet the tiniest of details are visible. Look at the woman's cell phone in her hands and the label on the trash can behind her. 

This stunning painting is on the 3rd floor of the Museum of the City of New York--a truly engaging museum that I highly recommend you visit. You can see the whole museum in three hours or less, and chances are you'll have the place to yourself. Be sure to have lunch there, and do take the docent tour.

 The young boy in the picture below moved out of the way when he saw I had my camera out, but I asked him to stay to help show the scale of the painting. He was fine with that and giggled with his mother about it afterwords.

Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York is located at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. The neighborhood a little troubling this far north. That is to say the sidewalks have a little more trash; the parks a few more weeds, and rusty shopping carts dot the alleyways. But once inside the museum, you're glad you ventured out. 

The stunning entrance was all white marble, lacy black wrought iron and bright tiny lights. I couldn't get enough of this mesmerizing light matrix. As I walked up the stairway, every angle begged to be noticed and photographed.

The exhibit I went specifically to see was well done and interesting: Activist New York. There was a lovely cafe on the second floor where I had soup for lunch before meeting a docent tour in the lobby. I love the unusual and artsy chairs at the cafe.

The docent was energetic, likable and knowledgeable. She gave us a choice of exploring one or two exhibits in detail or grazing over the entire three floors. The group wanted to graze. Here she talks about the exhibit: Making Room. There was a fully-funished micro apartment to experience here.

The most colorful exhibit was Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced where I learned that this designer did the most in the late 70s to move fashion in the direction of bright colors and slinky silhouettes. It was sponsored by Target. Do you think there might be a collaboration coming up?

  

I'd have to say this was one of the better museum experiences I've had since moving to New York. Unlike so many museums, the place was not crowded. The exhibits were brilliantly executed. Touring the entire place was manageable. The cafe menu items were interesting and filling. And the overall feel of the place was welcoming, yet seriously professional. Admission is a suggested $10 donation. Well worth it.

5 POINTZ

I'm getting lazy. I'm going to use the copy from the 5 Pointz website to explain this outdoor art space. I live eight blocks from here and frequently pass it to get on the M train.

From 5POINTZ website: "5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc. is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building.

Legendary writers from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States have painted on the building walls, including Stay High 149, Tracy 168, Cope2, Part, and Tats Cru.

On any given day, 5Pointz visitors can expect to find prominent artists, musicians, deejays, Emcees (rappers), and B-boys (break dancers) on site, in addition to filmmakers, photographers, and entire tour buses full of admirers soaking in the more than 350 Technicolor murals."

Using the Bus in New York City

After two years of living here, I decided to take a shot at riding the buses. Bus schedules confuse the heck out of me, but I use "Hopstop"--a subway and bus app--which gives step-by-step directions for NYC public transportation. 

My first step was to catch a bus at Queens Plaza in Long Island City. I found the bus stop just fine, but after waiting 23 minutes, no bus ever crossed my path. According to Hopstop, there should have been two busses in that time frame. So, I took the subway into Manhattan.

By the way, the signs at the bus stops say this: NO STANDING. What? Excuse me, I'm waiting for a bus. . . what am I supposed to do, a yoga pose?

Turns out NO STANDING refers to vehicles, not people. (I found this out when I came home and looked it up.) Unoccupied, as well as occupied, vehicles--not people--will be ticketed if they "stand" in that zone. Seems like they could have come up with a little better phrasing.

In Manhattan, it was easier to fine the bus stop because several people were actually STANDING near the NO STANDING sign. I got my pre-paid card out but noticed people weren't swiping them to board. So I asked the person in front of me me if this bus was free. He retorted, "Hardly!" So, I asked the driver how to pay, and he started giving me instructions so fast, I had no idea what he he meant. I said, "I'm sorry?" (I think that's a Midwestern phrase only that means "huh?") Then he said, "You didn't listen to a single thing I said, did you? You have to get a paper pass to get on. Use your card over there," and he pointed to a little machine on the sidewalk. As I stepped off the bus passing others trying to get on, he shouted, "You gotta press the start button to begin!" 

I got my paper pass and boarded that same bus, and minutes into the ride, the driver starts ranting loudly so that everyone could hear how "Nobody reads! Nobody listens! People don't pay attention!" and on and on. Well, that made everybody in the bus look at each other with their eyebrows raised. Then they started yelling back, "That's right! You tell 'em! Let it all out!" 

A woman next to me said that there are periodic searches by the NY police for people trying to ride the bus without a paper pass. She said the fine was about $100.

Just then the driver gets on the loud speaker and announces, "Ladies and gentlemen! We have the distinct honor at the next stop of being searched for people without paper passes." So the next stop we were indeed boarded by two cops asking to see our paper passes. They kicked two people off the bus.

There's more to this story, so ask me next time you see me. Anyway, I was glad to get home and have my favorite evening drink, Coors Light in a wine glass. 

Fireworks on the East River

Daily Observations in Long Island City

"I teach lawyers how to write."

A woman sitting next to me at the park yesterday leaned over and said, "This must be the best place in the city to be right now--or even in the world." She was right--it was a perfect day: 72 degrees and sunny.

We were at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan at the Southwest Cafe, an outdoor eating and drinking spot in the south west corner of the park sponsored by Southwest Airlines. Cute, right? Anyway we talked a little while and I learned she was a consultant to law firms. She gives one-on-one advice and conducts seminars on writing skills. Soon my husband and two of his co-workers arrived and I invited her to join us. That's what I love about New York: conversation with strangers is easy. Actually that may be more related to drinking, but I digress.

I took her business card home and looked at her web address. I liked it so much that I subscribed to her blog! You may like it, too. Here's a good article about the simple but powerful colon. And here's her picture from her website.

Image from roskylegaled.com