Click on photos for a larger image and on red underlined phrases for further info, pics and websites.
From a top the Empire State Building
Click on photos for a larger image and on red underlined phrases for further info, pics and websites.
From a top the Empire State Building
Sunday, May 5, H&H Bagels, Crafts on Columbus, Central Park, MoMA, Empire State Building.
Our last day. My goal for the day was to visit the American Craft Museum and maybe if there was time, the Met or MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). Best laid plans, and all that....
CRAFTS ON COLUMBUS, H&H BAGELS
Almost every review we read said that they were the best in NYC - so we decided to go to H&H Bagels on 80th and B'way. We would do a Sunday Bagel Brunch in Central Park. When we got off the subway, we happened upon an arts and crafts fair - Crafts on Columbus on Columbus Ave and 78th. It was about 3 blocks long, filled with craftsman selling their wares. We walked through a bit of it, until hunger forced us to go to H&H. They weren't kidding - they do have good bagels. We walked back to Columbus, sat on a park bench to eat our bagels and watched New Yorkers enjoying a nice Sunday morning. After cruising through the rest of the Crafts show (I resisted buying, but Diva couldn't) we made our way back through Central Park. (Oh, file this under "It's a small world" ....as we were walking through the booths, I noticed a booth with masks that looked familiar. That's because last year, I bought a handmade mask for a masquerade party via the Internet from the same artist. Who knew?)
My Gosh! It felt like every New Yorker was in Central Park that day. It was a very warm and sunny day so obviously they were taking advantage of the (rare?) beautiful day. They were riding bikes, working on tans, walking, jogging, listening to street musicians, etc. etc. There were also an inordinate amount of Jews (yamikas were a dead giveaway) in the park. I know there is a large population of Jews in NYC, but really... When we approached 5th Ave. we found out why! It was the annual "Support Israel Parade" along 5th Ave. With the current events in Israel, tens of thousands turned out. (Click for a Newsday article) There also seemed to be every policeman, police vehicle and mounted police in NYC - standing around "just in case". It was wall to wall people along 5th Ave. so visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art was out. By the time we basked in the sun, munched on hot dogs and made our way though the park it was late afternoon and time for Terry to gather her stuff at the hotel and catch her plane back to Dallas. Diva and I said our good-byes to Terry and we continued on to the American Crafts Museum on West 53rd
Art on Columbus |
Upper West Side |
Sunday in Central Park |
MoMA
Crud! Did you know that the American Crafts Museum is closed for one week every year, when they install the year's main exhibit? So of course we hit it during this week and only the gift shop was open. Oh, well, all was not lost. We went across the street and visited MoMA.
One of the major exhibitions was Gerhard Richter: 40 years of Painting. An amazing German artist with an array of styles and subjects. His work ranges from art photography, photo realism to abstract paintings. Unlike most artists, he works in diverse mediums simultaneously. It felt like we were viewing the works of collection of artists rather than a single man. The NY Times called him "An Artist Beyond Isms" I don't know why but I really liked his three enormous, wall-filling, abstracts entitled January, December, and November. A few of his paintings, and the NY Times article.
Another of the exhibitions was "Life in the City".
Life of the CityThis is an experimental exhibition composed of three distinct but interrelated parts. The first presents more than 150 pictures from the Museum's collection that explore the richness, diversity, and power of the tradition of photography in New York, and which together evoke the vitality, grit, and beauty of the city. The second element is a changing display of photographs contributed (one per person) by New Yorkers and visitors that express their relationships to the city. Completing the exhibition are monitors displaying a continuous stream of the thousands of photographs of the events of September 11, 2001, and its aftermath that have been collected by the remarkable project.
A celebration of New York City and it's inhabitants - in everyday life to the recent tragic events. The photographs from the museum collection were from the 30's or earlier to present. Anybody could contribute a picture to the second part of the exhibit, so most were obviously amateur snapshots. These photographs were so diverse - from old photos of family, friends, and lovers, to everyday life, to abstract artistic, to 9/11. It was interesting to try to speculate why the photographer chose to contribute that particular photo.
CC Magnet
Financial District
Top of the Empire State Bld.
Towards Upper Manhattan (I think)
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
This was my third visit to the Big Apple and would you believe I still hadn't seen the Empire State Building? Terry recommended visiting at dusk or evening - and she was right! When we finally got to the observation deck (surviving the maze of lines and elevators) the sun was just going down. What an amazing view on such a clear evening. Luckily, it didn't take too long for me to figure out the manual settings for my digital camera, so I was able to get some shots before it got too dark.
We walked around the ESB area to find a restaurant for dinner. Turned out much of this area was Koreatown and neither of us were in the mood for Korean food. So we ended up going to Brasserie Centrale on B'way near our hotel. We ate out on the patio enjoying the pleasant evening and we ended the day - the vacation - sharing a NY cheesecake at Lindys.
BACK TO REAL LIFE
The next morning we shared a scary cab ride to JFK - Diva returned to Miami and I to San Diego.
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