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| first stop, our favorite French bakery in NYC, Le Fournil |
Let's see if I remember how to do this...
my habit of documenting life via this blog
has fallen quite silent!
So...we returned to a favorite ~ New York City ~
for winter holiday 2024
...and this is what we did, ate, and saw!
after tumbling off the quick flight from Greensboro
(proudly carrying only a school backpack each!)
we grabbed a free shuttle bus to a Queens metro stop
then took a couple different subway trains
to our digs in ABC City!
(we most definitely stopped & picked up
an array of French baked goods
at Le Fournil on 2nd Ave
on our way to our airbnb)
everything in Manhattan is gentrifying,
and this area is no longer the highly sketchy
you-don't-want-to-go-there vibe
we were on the east side of Tompkins Square Park,
(1857, 1863, 1874, 1877, then again in the 1960's, 70's, & 80's)
it was finally closed for "renovations" in the early 1990's
we found the neighborhood to be perfect for us,
and we really felt quite safe even walking from
the 14th Street metro after dark
you truly are in a neighborhood,
without a hotel in sight -
just regular Manhattanites doing life!
if no hotel, you might ask,
where did we stay?
we were fortunate to find a listing
for an airbnb available in the
basement studio of a small apartment building,
hosted by the owner of the building
(NYC code is no sublets less than thirty days,
but this was the building owner -
so slightly more permissible?)
the building was well-renovated,
super-clean, quiet, with safe&easy access
to our studio apartment - perfect!
we arrived before lunch, and had plans
only in the evening - so we decided
to take advantage of the relatively good weather
and walk from ABC City to the splendor
of Fifth Avenue.
walking Manhattan is one of our
favorite things to do :)
 |
| Church of the Transfiguration, 1 E. 29th Street |
buried in the middle of a block
...we didn't try to go inside,
but they had a lovely garden courtyard
that we explored
~ hardly captures the scene of NYC intersections ~
you're missing out on the intensity of
lights, noises, and bodies!
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| Empire State Building |
we both love Art Deco buildings,
so stepping inside the lobby
of the Empire State Building
is a must! so sparkly!!!
one view of 30 Rockefeller Center
and the Christmas tree
we debated about trying to get day-of tickets
for a late night talk show
(taped in the afternoons)
but ended up not doing that this time
(no regrets!)
this is probably one of my least favorite parts of Manhattan...
all the stores & crowds are not anything i need,
but it definitely is pretty!
Saks didn't have an elaborate display
on their building this year,
but they still had glorious window decorations!
beautiful clothing that about 0.7% of the population
can afford & resemble these mannequins while wearing
but fun to look at, none-the-less!
(& super fun to design, i'm sure!)
5th Avenue Presbyterian Church for Evensong
we tried to find a few times to hear Christmas music,
and this Evensong was one of them
it's interesting to contemplate who are the
regular parishioners...surely they live nearby?
but it seemed possible that those in the pews
were, like us, mostly tourists
by the time we left the Evensong, the rain
(which had threatened all afternoon)
was upon us, so we had a VERY wet
walk/dash a couple blocks away
to the Majestic Theatre
to see the last preview night
of Gypsy - with Audra McDonald
boy were we dripping wet!
all the way through my
(clearly not rainproof)
coat...
so we sat in soggy splendor
at the very tippy-top of the balcony
(we eventually moved down a few rows,
when it was clear which seats did not
have ticketholders)
the next night was opening night,
and we read a few days later that they
had to cancel about a week of shows
due to cast member illnesses -
so we were glad to have seen it
ahead of that!
funny story...we had two seats
(like i said) at the very last row
of the balcony
and were soon joined by a
youngish man accompanied by
a youngish woman.
they quickly determined that,
in fact, his seat was next to ours
but her seat was at the far opposite corner
of the balcony.
so, away she went & he plopped down
next to us.
as the time slid away & the performance
was about to start, i saw that there were many
vacant seats around his companion
(sitting in lonely splendor in the far corner
of the balcony) and mentioned that,
perhaps,
he could even sit with her
seeing as there were all those empty seats.
he immediately popped up
saying "oh, yes! good idea!"
but then the lights went down
and he slid back into his seat.
he did move during intermission
& happily remained at her side
for the second half of the show.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
we didn't stray quite so far
on our second day,
but we usually still end up walking
way more than we anticipate
because there's always something interesting
in just a "couple more" blocks!
from our 8th Avenue abode, we set out
for breakfast items from Davidovich Bakery
a few blocks away
popping into open churches
was maybe a habit we gained
a couple of years ago on our Istanbul/Milan trip
***it's free art***
but a lot more challenging to find an open church
in our country than it is in other parts of the world
this one did not disappoint!
with its gorgeous blue ceiling!
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| 173 E. 3rd Street, New York |
i got a warm everything bagel with cream cheese - yum!
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| Davidovich Bakery ~ 36 Avenue A |
after a breakfast repast back in our abode,
we hoofed it up towards Gramercy Park
for a free National Parks tour
Gramercy Park - the park itself - is behind locked gates
a small island of manicured green, pebbled walks, stone benches
we stumbled upon it a few years ago,
(just as we stumbled upon the nearby National Arts Club)
knowing the name but not seeking it
we were the only tourists for the 11am slot,
and i think the guide was happy to have an audience!
i soon learned to ask no questions,
as this seemed to derail his practiced monologue
and greatly increase the length of the tour
(though it was all interesting!
but i didn't relish two hours of this information)
as is the way, the rich shifted north in the late 1800's
(and shifted further north as the immigrant population
continued to grow in lower Manhattan)
well, indeed, they were all immigrants,
some just more newly arrived
(and more impoverished) than others!
so, the Roosevelts (that produced Theodore)
occupied this space near Gramercy Park
& largely seemed to have lived their life
(at least mother and children)
within these walls or in the forested garden
that used to be nearby
with the streets and air outside of this serenity
filled with smog, dung, and disease
the Roosevelt children were encouraged
to do all things with vigor & success
Theodore was apparently quite taken with taxidermy
from start to finish
our tour guide was a retired high school history teacher
from Staten Island
who volunteers as a guide once a week,
driving in from Staten Island
we soon discovered
(because it is truly a small, small world)
that his wife's sister and her family
live in Greensboro
from this tour (which also provided
warmth and restrooms), we popped into
our old favorite, the National Arts Club
because - truly - free art museum!
this might be an artist to keep an eye on - very interesting work
& zero online presence that i can find -
but a few pieces displayed at the National Arts Club
i'm really a fan of 3D art
there's just something visceral
though i do successfully restrain myself
from touching it...barely
small exhibit of work by John Scribner
then we popped into one of their larger galleries
where they display works from their collection
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| painted in 1917 - Woodland Idyll |
John F. Carlson (1875-1947)
very near the exclusive Club, from where we could hear
raucous male laughter
but could see nary a thing but sparkle & glitter
from one Arts Club to another!
we strolled back down towards Greenwich Village
to check out the Salmagundi Club
(5th Avenue & 12th Street)
and i highly recommend!
more free art in a cool building
what's not to love?
we're always in NYC a little after
these places have their glamorous winter openings,
so we usually see just the remains of decorations
rather than the full festive glory
in this Club, the mantels of one reception room
were decked out to celebrate various winter themes
there were several layers to this Club,
so we were able to wander quite a bit more
than in the National Arts Club building
& were surprisingly unsupervised
i saw another tourist coming out of
a storage closet when i strolled around
the lower level...indeed, even the storage closet
was of interest!
the ladies bathroom downstairs was, too!
hardly enough room to squeeze through
the door and rotate into the tiny stall
they had what appeared to be a working
restaurant and bar downstairs,
as well as a room with multiple pool tables
and small, inexpensive original artwork for sale around the walls
the stairwell was lined with gorgeous portraits,
completely unattributed or labeled
and one room upstairs was full of Ramona!
whose artist (from 2006 books) is a member of the Club
i believe we wandered through Greenwich Village
then Washington Square Park
(photo below)
on our way back to our place
a fun second day!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
we scampered uptown early the third day
to get $10 rush tickets (we hoped!)
for Holiday Pops at Carnegie Hall that night
we were successful and it snowed!
one place nearby that i had made note of
was the Art Students League,
as i was ever on the hunt for...
free art museums!
while not a museum, they were having
their winter art show -
and the art was for sale
for very (mostly) moderate prices
given that these were "students"
honestly, i had not precisely planned
to purchase art while in NYC
...but how could i not?
i circled around several times
& decided on this piece
Snowy Brook by Val Brochard
(who seems to do other art-related things
- mainly in metal -
but is not a full-time artist)
it is an encaustic painting
(& i have once again
restrained myself from touching!)
so, i now had a package to carry around
with me for the rest of a long day
(as we expected to be out-and-about
all the way through the Carnegie Hall event
that evening)
but it was a light burden!
with maybe lunch in sight,
we meandered a little east, then north
just enjoying the varied architecture
& some Christmas decorations
W. 58th Street
Petrossian is a caviar bar
candy cane on the Solow Building, W. 57th Street
Dior at Fifth Avenue, on SE corner of Central Park
it was starting to rain-snow, so we eventually
popped into a cozy looking restaurant
on Lexington Avenue,
along the east side
of Central Park, called Le Botaniste
where (as usual) i ordered something
that sounded delicious but was not
...and my sweet husband
(who as usual ordered something
truly delicious) let me eat his food
(and, when we swapped plates.
told me my food wasn't bad)
the light snow was far preferred
over the drenching rain two days prior,
so we strolled to the NY Public Library
to spend some time indoors
(warmth! bathrooms!)
viewing their terrific exhibits
(along with hoards of other tourists)
we split up with a time to reconvene,
and i headed to an exhibit on
activism and art in Greenwich Village,
which featured wonderful graphic art
Alfred Kreymborg 1883-1966 / poetry book published 1916
he called his poems "mushrooms"
this ^ is by Marguerite Zorach,
though they were both artists
modern art in America
(fauvism & cubism)
published from 1911-1917
as a monthly Socialist magazine
worker's rights, birth control,
racial equality, woman's suffrage,
& the protection of civil liberties
you know...little things like that
we may have to start having these kinds of rallies again
the anarchist journal, Mother Earth
which may or may not have caused
the Espionage Act of 1917
to be passed by Congress
due to this journal encouraging men
to defy recruitment into WWI
Margaret Sanger was a nurse
and worked in the slums of NYC
where she took care of women
who did not want more children
but had few alternatives
she founded Planned Parenthood
& eventually persuaded philanthropists
to fund the development of the first
birth control pill
a lovely couple taking wedding photographs
in the beautiful foyer of the NY Public Library
i moved on to an upstairs exhibit
of art on paper (printmaking)
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| True Image of our Lady of Atocha, 17th century |
Etching & Engraving with Collage, 1675-1700 / Madrid, Spain
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| Sonia Delaunay Poem Dresses c. 1925 / French, born Ukraine / 1885-1979 prints for the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts 1925 in Paris, France |
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| Jacquelyn Strycker, American, b. 1981 Arrival (2023) collage of risograph prints on handmade Japanese paper |
i saved the large exhibition hall for last
and discovered hubby already there
this was full of the NY Library's
permanent collection, of which
the highlight was the original pooh, piglet, tigger, and eeyore
of a.a.milne, but i did not take a photo!
instead, i took these three pictures
wish i could recall to whom & from whom, but alas...
all i can guess is - it's from Sid
ever-ambitious, we headed towards
for their pay-what-you wish night
while we didn't spend lots of time, it was well worth it!
portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942)
she was a sculptor & founded the Whitney
initially as a studio in Greenwich Village
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| Florine Stettheimer Liberty 1918-19 |
the clear exhibition highlight
was a retrospective on Alvin Ailey
(with a great coincidence that we would
see this dance company perform later in our visit)
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| Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Te Adoremus Domine 1921 |
by Romare Bearden (born in Charlotte, 1911)
two from the Bayou Fever series
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| The Buzzard and the Snake (The Conjur Woman) 1979 The Conjur Woman is enemy to the Swamp Witch |
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| Star (Star from the Heavens) 1979 to do a cleansing dance |
we were told there was a great view from
one of the balconies, so we ventured
into the wet, cold evening
to view the Hudson River
i always like imagining the lives behind each glowing window
at one, the silhouette of a person stood staring back at us
it was time to scoot back up to Carnegie Hall
for our rush tix seats!
climbing to our upper balcony seats
was reminiscent of the climb at La Scala in Milan
up and up and up and up
no elevator for the cheap seats!
we folded ourselves into our perch
& i felt sorry for the guy next to me
who looked well-over six feet tall
(he left at intermission)
our main objective was seeing the inside
of Carnegie Hall & enjoying a performance
...definitely achieved!
enjoyable NY Pops holiday music with an exuberant
Broadway performer as the vocalist
(a little over the top for me, but hey)
a good, good day!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
and we woke up to
SNOW!!!
(which we thought was glorious
without knowing it would be surpassed
later in our trip)
morning walk on our street
the snow melted quickly from the sidewalks
but was very scenic in Tompkins Square Park
we walked around a block or two
and i was interested in this graffiti
on a specific building
quick research led me to El Bohio Murals
on what appears to be a boarded-up school
which had, apparently, become
a community center in 1979
only to be evicted in 2001
...the fight continues...
around the corner was one of the many community gardens
some more well-tended than others
this one is touted as La Plaza Cultural
we were out early with the shoppers
who appeared to primarily be
older Asian Americans pulling or pushing
their rolling shopping carts
there were Christmas trees of varying sizes
for sale at sidewalk stalls, but this one
was decorated and outside of an interesting bar
that we never tried called
(the stars just never aligned)
then we rounded the corner & saw
home-sweet-home
which is this stacked building
with red/steel facing
so interesting that we never
...not ever...
saw or encountered anyone else
living in the building
(though we saw shoes outside a door once
& i once heard someone doing recycling
in the middle of the night...or late, at least)
there were names on all the mailboxes, though
(just one condo per floor, i think)
and a bicycle was occasionally locked up in the lobby
and delivery packages that were there at one point
in the day were gone the next time we passed by
it was a nice, quiet building
(and did i mention clean & new-looking?)
after a breakfast break, we geared up
to head out for a bit of (maybe)
thrifting and wandering on the upper east side
before getting in line for the Guggenheim
pay-what-you-wish evening
on the way along the north side of
Tompkins Square Park, we stopped in
the local library (which was, of course,
in a nice historic building)
the children's area always seems to be upstairs,
and we encountered a woman attempting to get a stroller
up the stairs...only to discover, inside,
that the elevator was out of order
i enjoyed the snowy day scene
through the upstairs window
i fondly remember Ezra Jack Keats books from my childhood
my other favorite of his was Peter's Chair
we gave our feet a break & took the subway
to the upper east side, which we'd never explored
with no particular agenda or destination,
we popped in a few thrift stores
& i nabbed a festive blouse at one
(that google says i could have bought at target)
hubby, much later, told me he saw a wee mouse
scurrying along a ledge towards the back of the store
he knew i would have screeched
(or at least eeeked)
but let me shop in peace,
oblivious to the rodent nearby
Upper East Side scenes
we were surprised by the hills!
since lower Manhattan is so flat
on our food list was NY pizza
- which is my favorite kind -
& we found it at Mimi's Pizza (E. 86th)
yum!
it was time to truck over
to the Guggenheim & get in line
for the pay-what-you-wish tix
luckily, they took pity on us
(there was a bitter wind)
and got as many people in on each wave
as possible, so we were fairly soon
in the warm and wonderful Guggenheim
we were mainly there for the building
we took the elevator to the top
to start our art journey down.down.down
& used the incredibly tiny upper-level
single stall bathroom carved out of the circular waves
(i used one of the lower bathrooms before we left,
and it was much larger making me surmise
they possibly increased in size at each level)
view from the top!
installations on sound
(museums are a good place to rest)
i had never considered Orphism
& am not drawn to Cubism,
but the art was colorful and pleasant
Stanton Macdonald-Wright Conception Life-Cycle Series No. II:
Tinted Sketch for Synchrony in Blue-Violet, 1914
Alexander Archipenko Carrousel Pierrot 1913
(applying Cubism to sculpture)
Jean Metzinger Dancer in a Cafe' 1912
(this was my favorite - sorry it's askew!)
Frantisek Kupka Complex 1912
towards the lower levels of the Guggenheim,
we were delighted to discover an exhibit
of some works from their permanent collection
the artists should be familiar!
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| Vasily Kadinsky Blue Mountain 1908-09 |
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| Camille Pissarro The Hermitage at Pontoise 1867 |
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| Pablo Picasso Bird on a Tree 1928 |
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| Pablo Picasso The Fourteenth of July 1901 (he was about 20 years old when he painted this) |
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| Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec In the Salon 1893 |
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| Pierre-Auguste Renoir Woman with Parakeet 1871 |
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| Edgar Degas Dancers in Green and Yellow 1903 |
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| Edouard Manet Before the Mirror 1876 |
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| Pablo Picasso Woman Ironing 1904 |
oh, we're not done yet!
the night is young(ish)
it's pay-what-you-wish night at the
right up the street!
so off we went!
once again, a way to get inside a gorgeous building
& also see some great art!
this is the former Carnegie Mansion,
and i would have enjoyed a little bit
of history about the rooms,
but there were only security guards
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| Lenape Center Welcome to Territory by Joe Baker |
this one was striking...it didn't occur to me
that blood samples i (or my family) provide
for medical appointments would be kept
(is this true?) and available for use in research
 |
| carnival mask (can you imagine wearing this?!?) |
the woodwork on the walls and ceiling
was amazing!
i enjoyed this inventive furniture!
the security guard in the library
was talkative, which was nice
it was time to get to Lincoln Center!
we had tickets to see a vocal concert
which meant crossing Central Park
(well, that was one way to get there)
so we did.
i'm sure we were safe,
but it was probably the least safe i felt
just because there was no one around
looking south
unintentional but pretty
this was another modestly-priced concert,
and we were in good company with almost
the entire audience as old or older than we are
i, actually, really enjoyed this concert
it was quite unusual
and the vocalists were incredibly talented
& called, as a group, The Crossing
that's David Lang in black on the left with his arms
raised towards the choir
this one ^ has some singing & some talking about the music
this one ^ has no video (except a mesmerizing visual)
& lots of singing (but i don't think it's poor hymnal)
throughout the concert, a young woman
a couple of rows in front of me
appeared to keep nodding off to sleep.
slowly, slowly her head would tip backwards
so that she was, basically, nose to the ceiling.
when this happened, the woman (unrelated)
sitting to her left would turn and stare.
inevitably, once the music grew stronger or irregular,
the young woman's head would return to normal
only to go sliding back to nose-up again.
the moment the concert finished and
the clapping started, she slid big headphones
onto her ears.
we headed back to ABC City
well-satisfied with our day
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
today was low-key and
C O L D
i wanted a yummy breakfast
not consumed in our studio apartment,
so we (in usual fashion) tromped around a bit
rejecting options for one reason or another
until i was good and hangry (not really)
then we went back to the first place
we sat at the bar & it was scrumptious
walked a different street back to our place
& hung out for awhile before
heading to the upper west side
we were, actually, going to connect
with my sweet fairy godmother, Jo,
- but, alas, she was unwell & abed
(she and my mother are friends from childhood,
and Jo lives outside the City having had a career
as a nurse...early in her career, she served
the lower east side!)
we ended up still doing what we
were going to do with her, which was
Evensong at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
(later, my parents told me i had been there before,
even spending the night literally in the cathedral
as part of a church trip. i have absolutely
zero recollection of this, even though
it sounds as if i was surely a teenager!
my father recalls an amazing tightrope act,
taking place inside the cathedral -
how could i not recall that?!?)
it is a cavernous, unfinished space
that is confusing at times
and familiar all the same
it would begin a series of ah-ha's
related to these odd sculptures
(which the artist titles Life and Death)
on the column in the photo above
& throughout the cathedral
they are by Tom Otterness
(more coinkydinks to come!)
and hubby reminded me that he
did the frieze inside UNC Greensboro's
Weatherspoon Art Gallery
(ah-ha!)
after the service, we strolled around the nave
finding all sorts of treasures
 |
| Keith Haring The Life of Christ tri-fold screen, 1990 among his last works | he belonged to this church |
strikingly typical chapels
 |
| Tom Otterness elephant skeleton |
a very interesting space!
p.s. on our way out, we caught
someone rehearsing
now time for some dessert
(no idea what we had for dinner)
we had spied on the map
a Hungarian pastry shop
(creatively called
...who knew it was THE hangout
for Columbia University students!
we managed to squeeze ourselves
into a two-top after we placed our order
the photo below belies the stream of customers
and usual line along the counter
(i caught a quiet moment)
the bathroom graffiti
we got some to take with us!
wrapped in a box they tied
with string pulled from
overhead spools hanging
from the ceiling
the night was still relatively young, so
i suggested we get off at Chelsea Market
to see the scene
lo-and-behold, we started seeing
Tom Otterness sculptures
in the 8th Avenue subway station!
turns out, it's an installation of his
from 2004 called Life Underground
(ah-ha!)
i'm sure we looked like crazy tourists
exclaiming with excitement
and hustling around the underground
taking photos of all these
wee sculptures
an ah-ha ... ha-ha
we finally got to Chelsea Market,
which was underwhelming,
commercial, and a fizzle to end the day
but it was warm & we sat for a while
look at that, it's 8 o'clock
time to mosey on back
to ABC City
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
