Walking around Manhattan’s East Side near the United Nations, there has always been a huge empty undeveloped (more about that later!) lot between E 38th and 41st Streets, from First Avenue to the East River. Beginning earlier this year, an enormous light installation has filled that space, Field of Light. I have been there twice and it is an unusual and charming experience.
The installation is free to enter, but you need to either have timed tickets or wait in a standby line. All of the procedures are pretty clear on their website. I have not seen long lines for standby, so even if you don’t have tickets I think your wait would be relatively short. You go through airport-style security, and then a few posters to set up the idea behind the installation and give information about the artist.
The artist, Bruce Munro, is drawn to creating large light installations, and this one in NYC is his largest to date. He notes that with buildings on three sides and the East River (and FDR Drive) on the other, the field is almost like a box filled with light.
From inside the installation, you can see the Chrysler Building, while the apartment buildings and the United Nations building surround the field, adding their own element of light.
Each bulb and stalk of light is interconnected to others in complicated tangles. The lights slowly change color over time as well.
There is a spider-web quality to the way the lighted strands snake around the bulbs on stalks.
This installation is sponsored by the Bjarke Ingels Group, which upon a little investigation, has plans for a megadevelopment in this space along the East River. A lot of it sounds good – affordable housing, a public park roughly the size of Bryant Park (the park behind the main branch of the New York Public Library), a museum (no idea what its focus would be), a dog run, play areas for children – but also a hotel … and an underground casino. See here for more details about the proposed development, which has to receive approval and licensing and hopes to by next year. The idea for the area shows a few tall buildings which would definitely impact views (and values) in Tudor City. Along with the proposed Times Square Caesar’s Palace Casino (see more about this here), and the question of whether a casino will be allowed in Hudson Yards, this casino raise the question of what NYC wants to be going forward. Proponents note the possibility of increased tourism and tax revenue, while opponents note that tourism based on gambling in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City potentially creates a different atmosphere and clientele in those neighborhoods with a casino.
New York City is constantly changing, and there is a casino near JFK airport. I do wonder though what allowing casinos in Manhattan will change about the city. At this point New York State as announced that it will grant three licenses for NYC and/or it’s suburbs, and there is significant pushback against having a casino in a residential neighberhood. But . . . stay tuned! I enjoyed Field of Light but feel we need a little illumination (haha) about whether Manhattan wants casinos.
The Hudson River Greenway along the Hudson River on Manhattan’s West Side is accessible for walking and biking from Battery Park all the way north to Inwood Hill Park at the top of the island. It keeps being expanded and is a destination for residents and visitors alike with recent additions like Little Island Park, Pier 26, and Pier 57. On the other hand, while the riverfront area along the East River has some lovely patches (like the John Finlay Walk next to Carl Schurz Park in Yorkville), there are also stretches where there is no waterfront access. There is a new plan to connect all of the East River waterfront, similarly to that seen on the Hudson River, and a new section of this was recently opened, beginning at East 54th Street and continuing up to connect an existing path at East 61st Street.
Entering the new stretch at East 54th Street, the views are instantly gorgeous. You can see south along the East River, as well as east to Long Island City.
The tiling on the walkway is inspired by diatoms, single-celled microscopic algae. They are the base of the food chain in the river, and convert sunlight into energy. There can be hundreds or even thousands of diatoms in one spoonful of East River water. For more details about the use of these diatom-patterned pavers, check out the description from the artist who was involved, Stacy Levy.
As you start to connect to Andrew Haswell Green Park at East 61st, you can’t help but notice the thing that looks like an abandoned steel roller coaster track. In fact, it is an artwork by artist Alice Aycock, called The Roundabout. A little more about that as we exit the new walkway next to it!
You get some thrilling views of the Ed Koch/Queensboro/59th Street Bridge, especially as you walk under it.
If you choose to exit at East 61st rather than continuing north to the existing Andrew Haswell Green park, you get an up close look at Roundabout. It covers the roof of a defunct Department of Sanitation Building, and was inspired by the weightlessness of Fred Astaire’s dancing! You can read more about this artwork here.
The eventual goal of the East River Waterfront project is to have a continuous loop around all of Manhattan next to the waterfront. It will likely help the livability (and hence the value) of the far east side of midtown Manhattan to have a waterfront park, and one that connects all waterfront areas in Manhattan will be even more appreciated. I look forward to seeing the East River waterway in Manhattan continue to develop and enrich the experience of New Yorkers and visitors to the city alike.
This time of the year, New York City is filled with holiday decor, the lights driving back the darkness a bit as we head into winter’s solstice. Not all the lights are specifically about Christmas, but images of Santa are plentiful. What if you are interested in seeing – or even meeting – Santa in the city? There are many opportunities, and I will describe a few, leading up to the “Miracle on 34th Street” pinnacle of seeing the “real” Santa at Macy’s Santaland (not for the faint of heart). I will also let you in on a few experiences where Santa is there but not necessarily the main event.
First, a new experience that I tried this year, Santa’s Winter Wonderland at Pier 15 in the South Street Seaport area. This is a fun experience that could work for a family with kids (there is Santa there for a visit with little or no line waiting, hot chocolate, snacks) or adults out for a fun evening (there are specialty cocktails, terrific views, etc).
This is a ticketed event, with timed entry. There is also an option for a sit-down meal at a specific time in an enclosed see-through hut, but I didn’t try that.
For general admission, you get a hot chocolate or hot cider, and a choice of snack (soft pretzel, chocolate chip cookie, or churro), and you can eat outside or in one inside dining area that has open seating (but was a little crowded when I was there).
For parents hoping for a Santa visit, I saw very little waiting time and plenty of interaction. I am sure adults could see Santa as well if they wanted!
The decor was festive, and the views around lower Manhattan, the South Street Seaport, and the Brooklyn Bridge were all terrific. You could purchase a s’mores kit and roast the marshmallows over a fire.
Interestingly, there is a rival Santa experience right next door at Pier 17, Disney’s The Santa Clauses’ Winter Wonderland! More expensive, but also more elaborate, this experience has a synthetic ice skating rink as one of the possible activities. Santa is also available for a visit and photos, but on specific dates and times, so if that is important be sure to check that out before purchasing timed tickets.
Not all Santa experiences cost money (although many might cost time!). Hudson Yards is decorated fabulously for the holidays and has signs up saying when Santa is available, free of charge. I haven’t been there during those times, but the place where Santa is looks like a lovely photo opportunity. Hudson Yards has also set up “twinkle spots” all over the building for you to set up your phone to get a photo of yourself with all the holiday lights.
Winter Village at Bryant Park has the best holiday market in the world (and I agree with this recent ranking) and Santa is there for free photo opportunities, see his schedule here. Bloomingdale’s also has an opportunity to meet Santa, reservations required, and a $25 booking fee is involved but you get it back in the form of a $25 gift certificate. The time for this has passed this year but if interested in future years the information about booking was here.
Finally the ultimate – visiting the “real” Santa at Santaland at Macy’s. The procedure now is via reservation only, and the reservations open up five days in advance. In my experience, they go very quickly. There is no entering the line without a reservation, but the reservation does not prevent you from waiting on a line. When I went this year, on a Saturday in early December, in the afternoon, we waited 90 minutes to see Santa! Some of the time was spent in the delightfully decorated line inside Santaland, but a fair amount was spent in a line in a hallway that wrapped back behind the entrance to Santaland. When I have gone before on a weekday, the experience has not been this difficult, but of course most people need to work during the week, making the weekends extremely busy.
You have to pack your patience for a wait like that, and it may be difficult to stay off Krampus Court and keep on Nice Street . . . but seeing Santa there is a special experience. Macy’s won’t charge anything unless you choose to purchase their photos (which I recommend, they are terrific photos with very cute digital borders) and you are free to take your own photos too. You will pay with time and effort, but isn’t that often the case with so many things in NYC? I was at Santaland with a child this year, but a few years ago was with another adult (on a weekday, without a huge line! see below for picture) and Santa was just as kind to us as he was around a cute baby. Even as I was walking out this year, having been there mainly to see this baby get first photos with Santa and to take candids, Santa stopped me to ask my name and what I wanted this for Christmas! We are never too old to be reminded of our inner child, in my opinion.
Whether we are going to see Santa this year, or whether we ARE Santa this year, this holiday season reminds us that in the midst of darkness there can be light, that babies and children represent hope, and that opening ourselves up to unlocking our own inner childlike wonder can let a little magic into our everyday experience. Happy holidays to all!
The night before Thanksgiving, a family member and I attended a show that has been a tradition for us going back several decades now – the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This was my first time going back to Radio City Music Hall since being able to experience a backstage tour earlier this fall, and I feel that I had even more appreciation for this very very special venue. Nicknamed “The Showplace of the Nation,” it certainly is that – but it completely belongs to New York City! Opened in 1932, this magnificent Art Deco masterpiece is entirely unique. Its interior was declared a city landmark by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1978, and the exterior was landmarked in 1985 (along with the rest of the Rockefeller Center complex).
Originally intended to be a venue for stage shows, the opening revue was so long and tedious (and badly reviewed) that within two weeks Radio City had been converted to a movie house (with almost 6000 seats!). The Rockettes (originally the Roxyettes after theatre impresario “Roxy” Rothafel) would perform between shows, and there were also an in-house orchestra and chorus. Many films received their premieres at Radio City, including King Kong (1933), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Mary Poppins (1964) and The Lion King (1994). In the 1970’s, Radio City’s attendance had dropped to the point where there was talk of it being torn down and the area redeveloped (this was before it was landmarked). But a shift toward using the venue as a concert hall improved the financial picture, finally turning a profit again by 1985.
Radio City has also been the venue for numerous award shows, including the MTV Video Awards, the Grammy Awards, and my favorite, the Tony Awards! Attending the ceremony in 2022 was the realization of a life-long dream (you can read more about it here).
Radio City Music Hall has a backstage tour (find out more about it here) but rarely can you go on the actual stage, as I was fortunate enough to do this fall. The reason why it is so unusual to go on stage is that the venue is busy and most days of the year a show is loading in or out, preventing you from being able to go backstage or on the stage itself. Standing on the stage, you really appreciate how enormous the stage is (and the auditorium!). I loved knowing that my feet were standing on the same stage as so many Rockettes had done throughout the years.
It was disconcerting – but also fun! – to see the auditorium with house lights on, and the stage revealing things usually covered by a set or screen.
Going away from the stage in the backstage area, there was always clear signage to show directions – Radio City Music Hall is massive, and covers 50th to 51st Streets, facing Sixth, and a considerable amount of the block heading toward Fifth.
Seeing the mechanicals that allow the orchestra to rise up from below the stage to stage level, as well as travel from the front of the stage to the back, was amazing. This hydraulic mechanism is original to the building, and is a Mechanical Engineering Landmark (the first I had heard of such).
Heading to the rehearsal room, I passed interesting artifacts and posters.
The rehearsal room for the Rockettes had practice blocks for the number where they have seemingly random letters on blocks that end up spelling a phrase (I won’t spoil it for those yet to go!), a huge full-length mirror, and a way to measure to see if you are tall enough to be a Rockette (you need to be between 5’5″ and 5’10, reduced from 5’6′ before – but I’m still too short!). By the way, the illusion of all the Rockettes being the same height is accomplished by carefully tailoring the costumes so that they line up exactly the same at the waist, and by putting the tallest in the middle and very gradually reducing height as the line continues on each side.
In the private VIP suite, there is a book that everyone who plays Radio City signs.
If you’ve ever wondered, this is the view from the top row of the top mezzanine (there are three of them, all stacked above the rear orchestra). From this distance, you can really see that the design around the stage was intended to look like the setting sun.
Another amazing thing about Radio City Music Hall is that there are two mighty Wurlitzer organs to either side of the stage, the largest instrument built by the company with 58 ranks of pipes and 4,178 pipes. For the Christmas Spectacular, two organists play before the show begins, play as the show ends and people depart, and occasionally during the show. My friend Trent Johnson is one of the organists and was kind enough to let me use these photos showing the organ (and himself!).
The Christmas Spectacular famously features live animals for the living nativity scene, and if you live in the neighborhood you might be lucky enough to catch the animals coming in the morning of a show. I took these photos after seeing the camels out on the street on the way to a morning meeting – proving once again that you never know what you will run into walking in New York City!
The Christmas Spectacular is always enjoyable, and yes – spectacular! For my family, it’s a yearly event, but most attendees seem to be visiting based on the surprised reactions you hear at many parts of the show that are nostalgic for those of us who may be going for our 10th or 25th time.
The last public performance I attended before everything shut down for the Covid-19 pandemic in March of 2020 was seeing Riverdance come back to Radio City for its 25th anniversary performance on March 10th (I still marvel at how we sat there in the crowded orchestra, all unmasked, with no idea of what was about to happen). By March 13 the remaining Riverdance shows had been canceled (Broadway shut down a day earlier, March 12). That pandemic time was tough on me, and on New York City in general (I wrote about it in some detail in this blog post). But as I walked past Radio City during the shutdown, the famous marquee declared “Together Better. Together as One. Together Stronger.” Radio City Music Hall is an icon of New York City, and has had its ups and downs. But it’s still here, rising up again after any setback. How emblematic of this complicated, exciting New York City that I love!
Going through Chelsea Market recently, I tried to remember what my blog post about it had featured. I mean, I had done multiple posts about High Line Park (see here and here), the nearby parks, Little Island and Pier 57, and I love Chelsea Market! So imagine my surprise when I searched my blog only to find that I had never posted anything about it. I generally post in October about the fantastic Halloween decorations in New York City (some previous examples are here specifically about townhouse decorations, here about decor on the Upper East Side, and here about a special Halloween event on Governors Island) and since Chelsea Market goes all out to decorate for Halloween, the time seems ripe for a post about Chelsea Market this time of year.
First, a little history about Chelsea Market. The building that the Market is in, the entire block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, and between 15th and 16th Streets, was once the factory of the National Biscuit Company – Nabisco – and the iconic Oreo cookie was developed and manufactured here in 1918. If you look, you can find reminders of the building’s history scattered around the current Chelsea Market, including the medallion above and a mural showing Oreos on the lower level. Nabisco moved manufacturing to the suburbs in the 1950s, and in the 1990s the building was repurposed as retail space on the lower floors and office space on the upper floors. Alphabet (Google) now owns the Chelsea Market building (it paid over $2 billion in 2018!) as well as the building across Ninth Avenue.
Chelsea Market is part of a revitalized far west Chelsea neighborhood, with neighbors being the Whitney, the High Line (the section of it between 15th and 16th Streets actually runs through the second floor of the building, one floor above Chelsea Market), and several new innovative public parks along the Hudson River. Because of this, it is often crowded with groups of tourists. Going early in the day is usually the best way to enjoy all the shopping and eating opportunities without being impeded by slow-moving groups.
Chelsea Market has many iconic NYC businesses, like Little Witch Bakery, LiLac Chocolates, Sarabeth’s, Pearl River Mart, and Amy’s Bread, as well as some completely unique to Chelsea Market. I particularly like the Chelsea Market Baskets store near the 10th Avenue entrance. Yes, you can make up a gift basket – and that is fun – but it is also a great place to get and try little food and toiletry treats from around the world at surprisingly reasonable prices. Across from it is the Posman bookstore that has a huge selection of very unique greeting cards. I would say that I go to these two places fairly often for gifts and highly recommend them both.
Neighborhood Goods is a very unique shop, with many items (snacks, toiletries, home goods, clothes, candles, and more) from many different small businesses all in one place. There is also a small bar there (Tiny Feast) there that serves pastries and light bites as well as alcohol.
There are so many terrific places to eat in Chelsea Market that I always have a hard time deciding what to choose when I want to have lunch or dinner there. Saxelby Cheesemongers not only has cheese to buy and the ability to create cheese boards for events, but you can have incredible cheese sandwiches there with excellent cheese – my favorite is a truffle grilled cheese. Friedman’s has elevated American classics from breakfast to dinner, and cocktails as well. Creamline has fantastic milkshakes. Buon Italia is a market for Italian pantry items as well as serving fantastic pasta dishes. If you go to Chelsea Market, don’t forget that there is a downstairs, as that is where you will find Buon Italia, Saxelby, and a wonderful fruit market (as well as the bathrooms).
The bathrooms have a series of very old-fashioned looking sinks in double rows.
Chelsea Market has a very unique appearance overall simply because of its history as a factory and the clever ways the repurposing of the space was accomplished. The building itself is timber and wood, covered in brick. There are vaulted ceilings, exposed pipes and vents.
Something I always particularly enjoy about the Market is the way it decorates for holidays throughout the year, and Halloween is perhaps the most elaborate.
I often wonder if little children get afraid of the decor! They have pretty scary figures hanging from the ceilings, around every corner, and some are even audio-animatronic (see here for an example of one talking).
Paula Guran, author of multiple fantasy books including New Cthulhu, has said “The farther we’ve gotten from the magic and mystery of our past, the more we’ve come to need Halloween.” I do think that New York City, ever-modernizing and looking toward the future, does also give us plenty of magic and mystery when decorating elaborately for the holidays. I believe Chelsea Market is worth visiting for the decor in addition to all the shopping, drinking, and dining opportunities. Maybe I will see you there!
I love walking, and especially walking in New York City, and have written about it often (see old posts here, here, here, and here – among many), and have even compared walking in NYC to walking in London and Paris (see it here) and described walking in the ultimate car city, Los Angeles (see it here). Soon I will be going on a very long walk – I plan to hike Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with a family member (and will be writing about the preparation for that as well as – hopefully – an account of the trip afterwards). (POSTSCRIPT: read about the Kili Climb here, about preparation for it here, and the safari afterward here.) As part of my training as I headed into the final weeks before leaving, I recently did something I have wanted to do for a while – I walked the entire length of Broadway from Battery Park to the tip of Inwood, about 13 miles, with my fully loaded daypack for Kili (including 4 liters of water), wearing my hiking boots, etc. Here’s what my day was like!
Broadway is the only avenue in Manhattan that runs its entire length (and in fact, continues north for two miles into The Bronx and then runs for 18 miles through Westchester County, through the towns of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, and Tarrytown). It is also a street that does not follow the grid in Manhattan above 14th Street. Much of it follows the Weckquaesgeek trail, a major thoroughfare long before Europeans arrived. It was then widened by the Dutch, and named the “High Way.” When the British took over it was renamed Broadway because of its unusual width. In the 18th Century, Broadway ended just north of Wall Street, and the section below that was Great George Street, but since 1899 Broadway has begun just north of Battery Park, so that is where I began my walk, on a Saturday in late July that was finally not too hot or humid to contemplate such a long walk.
I took the subway to South Ferry (I had thought about biking down but decided not to test my endurance too much!), and began my walk at One Broadway, just north of the Museum of the American Indian. Before too long I encountered the famous Wall Street bull at Broadway’s intersection with Wall and watched people line up to take photos.
Not too far north from there I began reading the markers for the Canyon of Heroes. This is the section of Broadway where ticker tape (from when the financial district had tons of ticker tape paper as a side effect of doing business) parades have celebrated heads of state, winning local sports teams, and special occasions like the end of World War II or the return of Americans who first walked on the moon. It is fun to read these although you will only read those on one side of Broadway if you are trying to make good time. I stayed on the east side of the street for much of the day to take advantage of shade. I also started from the southern end of Broadway and walked north, rather than starting from the north and walking south (I found out later there is a “Broad City” challenge that starts at the northern tip of Manhattan because it was done in an episode of the show). If you do start from the south, you can read the Canyon of Heroes markers more clearly because they aren’t upside-down, and the sun will be more behind you near the middle of the day rather than in your eyes. On the other hand, as I will describe later, the Inwood section of the hike is much more hilly so you might want to get that over with earlier in the day.
Still in the Canyon of Heroes, be sure to appreciate Trinity Church to your left. Trinity’s first church in Manhattan was built in 1698 and was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1776. There was a second building on Wall Street until Trinity Church as we see it now was built in 1846. It was the tallest building in the United States until 1869, and the tallest in NYC until 1890.
Continuing north, if you look to your left, you can catch a glimpse of the Oculus, first on its own and a block later, with One World Trade rising behind it. (I have written before about the Oculus and about One World Trade.) They aren’t actually on Broadway, but St. Paul’s Chapel, which somehow survived 9/11 and was used as a staging area for helping rescue and recovery workers after 9/11, is on Broadway at Fulton. After George Washington was sworn in as President, he went to St. Paul’s for services and the pew he sat on has a plaque noting this.
Continuing north, I passed the Woolworth Building, which was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet. Perhaps more impressively, over 100 years after it was built, it is still one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States. It has been converted to residential condos, and the penthouse – which is pretty spectacular, to say the least – recently sold for only $30M (down from over $100M when first listed!) in “white box” state, ready for finishing out to the buyer’s taste and use, but is a very unique space. After passing City Hall (which, built in 1812, is the oldest city hall in the US still used for its original governmental functions) and City Hall Park, I couldn’t resist a smile as I passed Zero Bond. This was the location of my work as a background actor for the final season (as it turned out, the final episode) of Succession, and I had scarfed down some craft services for lunch just outside that building standing next to Matthew Macfadyen (“Tom”). You can read more about that experience here.
After walking through Greenwich Village, the next big event is Union Square, where Broadway begins to cut across the Manhattan grid, creating interesting little parks or “squares.” I was doing this on a Saturday, so the excellent Green Market was in full swing. I had been hydrating up to this point, but decided to buy some fruit and enjoy it (raspberries and red currants) for my first snack of the day.
At 23rd Street, Broadway intersects with Fifth Avenue, and you get a great view of the Flatiron Building (unfortunately scaffolded right now for some facade repair). Completed in 1902, at 20 stories it was considered dangerous and a “folly” for the builder. A National Historic Landmark, The Flatiron Building is now universally adored – it was the fourth most loved building in the United States in a survey in 2019 (behind Falling Water, the Empire State Building, and Coit Tower in San Francisco).
Broadway intersects with Seventh Avenue at 34th Street, home of Macy’s flagship store. The real Santa (of course! come on, watch Miracle on 34th Street) hangs out in Santaland every holiday season, and the Thanksgiving Day Parade ends in front of the store. This building was completed in 1902 and is a National Historic Landmark.
When Broadway crosses 42nd Street, you are at the “Crossroads of the World,” Times Square. Full of screens, neon, costumed performers, street theatre, hordes of confused tourists, and surrounded by Broadway theaters, Times Square is a lot, no question. There’s also no place like it. I actually successfully timed my day to avoid the pre-matinee crowds.
Speaking of Broadway theaters, a few blocks north of Times Square you can see the simply named Broadway Theater, currently the home of Here Lies Love, and the Ed Sullivan Theater, currently home to the Colbert Show. Did you know that most Broadway theaters are not actually on Broadway? There are 41 Broadway theaters (theaters with 500 or more seats, generally between 41st and 54th Streets, with the exception of the Vivian Beaumont a bit north in Lincoln Center at W 65th) but only the Broadway, Winter Garden, and Palace (currently undergoing a multi-year renovation) have addresses on Broadway itself.
When Broadway crosses Eighth at 59th Street, you are at Columbus Circle, looking to your right at the Southwest corner of Central Park. Broadway will continue to move west on the diagonal, intersecting W 66 (at Lincoln Center), and heading through the relative quiet and residential nature of the Upper West Side.
At some point in the W 90s, I stopped in at a random pizza place for a classic NY slice. Around this point I was beginning to tire a bit, but the pizza helped. Later on I stopped at a Mister Softee truck, but as you will see from the rest of this blog post, as I became more tired I took fewer photos.
Continuing north along Broadway into Morningside Heights, I passed Columbia University on my right and Barnard College on my left. Columbia was established as King’s College in 1754 on the grounds of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, and moved to the current campus in 1896. Columbia is the 5th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States (after Harvard, William & Mary, Yale, and Princeton).
After Morningside Heights, Broadway seemed to get very hilly, and although there are plenty of lovely things to see – Inwood Park deserves its own blog post – I began to get more interested in finishing the trip than in taking pictures.
At the very tip of Manhattan Broadway swung east again, preparing to continue into The Bronx after a bridge over the Harlem River. After trudging to 218th Street, not wanting to go across the bridge, I considered myself to have done the walk, and backtracked to the 215th Street MTA station to catch the 1 train. I felt strong the next day, with no sore muscles, so felt good about the trek in terms of trying out my Kili gear on a long hike. The entire trip, including stops here and there for food, or bathroom breaks, took just under 6 hours. I feel the day would be more fun if you did it with someone over the course of an entire day, took more breaks, didn’t mind veering off Broadway now and then, and considered stopping at 125th Street (or starting there if you want to do the trip heading south instead of north). The most interesting thing to me was how different Broadway is in all its varying incarnations and neighborhoods. Walking it was like a microcosm of Manhattan itself; constantly different, never boring, not a city but more like a series of cities. The length and many-sidedness of Broadway illustrates the thing I love most about New York City – its constant variety and reinvention. Samuel Johnson once famously remarked that if you are bored with London you are bored with life – and to me that is true (I would say, even more true!) of my beloved New York City.
The piers along the Hudson River have a long history of adaptation, from being a major series of docks for commercial and passenger ships (the survivors of the Titanic were brought to Pier 54 where Little Island Park is now rather than the Cunard-owned Pier 59 where the ill-fated vessel was intended to conclude its journey – and Pier 59 itself is now part of Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex), to rundown areas to avoid, to the current series of vibrantly reimagined public places (Chelsea Piers was first, but see my previous posts on the more recently opened Little Island Park and Pier 26 ). I recently checked out Pier 57, next to Little Island, which has been in the process of transformation since the fabulous City Winery (terrific food and wine – and concerts!) moved there from farther downtown but now is completely finished, with a fantastic Market 57 area for food and drink, and a two-acre rooftop park with spectacular views.
You find Pier 57 by going to West 15th Street and heading west – if you go past it, you will find yourself in the Hudson River! Close to Chelsea Market, The High Line Park, and Little Island, and also part of the wonderful walkable and bike-friendly Hudson River Park, Pier 57 is unassuming on the outside.
As you enter, with one of Google’s NYC offices on your right and City Winery to your left, if you proceed forward you will enter Market 57, an eclectic group of food and drink vendors.
Eclectic and bustling, the choices are varied and there is plenty of seating with great views of Little Island Park and the view south down the Hudson River. The largest seating area, in keeping with the community feel of Pier 57, is called the “Living Room” (but 7400 square feet of living room!).
Market 57 was curated and developed by the James Beard Foundation, and there are daily cooking demonstrations, culinary arts programming, and classes led by experts (see their schedule here).
Heading back past Market 57, you can either take stairs or an elevator up to the public rooftop, free of charge and open from 6am-1am every day. You can see up to Hudson Yards, west to the Empire State Building, and south to One World Trade and even the Statue of Liberty.
Pier 57 has ten bookable, tech-enabled spaces which can be reserved at no cost thanks to Google (see here for booking information) and an educational interactive exhibit about the Hudson River and the animals that live in it, called The Discovery Tank. As part of the ongoing development of Hudson River Park led by the nonprofit Hudson Park Trust, Pier 57 adds to the series of wonderful public spaces along Manhattan’s far West Side. I say it constantly, but one of the most wonderful things about New York City is that it is constantly evolving. The phrase may be “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere,” but I will add emphatically to that “If you are bored here, you will be bored everywhere!” Come and check out this new addition to the city I love, whether you are a resident or a visitor – New York City, in all its ever-adapting glory, is here for everyone.
I am always looking for new and enjoyable things to do in New York City, and also love a special spa experience (a favorite go-to is Aire Ancient Baths in Tribeca, but no photos allowed there!). So imagine my delight when I discovered there is a new day spa experience on Governors Island, a place already so special in that you feel as though you are in the country away from NYC, all the while experiencing incomparable views of lower Manhattan (see my previous blog post about Governors Island here). Having spent a lovely and unique day there recently, I can say that the experience is highly recommended. Here’s what my experience was like.
In my previous post about Governors Island, I describe what it is like to get to the island, and the process is no different to get there for a day at QCNY. The spa requires advanced reservations, and when you reserve they send you a link to reserve your ferry trip there at no cost (to get there usually requires a small fee unless you show your IDNYC as a resident). The cancellation policy is fairly generous, allowing you to cancel any time up to the time of your appointment, and there are several packages at different costs depending on how many hours you wish to stay and whether you want to add on a massage. My own recommendation is to get the all-day pass, as there is plenty to do for multiple hours, and that the massage – although delightful – is not necessary to enjoy the day. Currently they have only a few massage treatment rooms so booking that well in advance is important, although they are expanding and will have additional space soon.
When you get off the ferry, you will see a sign straight ahead directing you to the right, and it’s a very short walk to the spa, which is well signposted. After a quick checkin, you are given a key on a wristband with your locker number on it. Payment is taken in advance so that leaving is easy – you simply turn in the key. At this point everything is covered except for any food or drink (more about that later!) which can be paid for by any credit card or apple pay, no cash. In the locker, you find a robe, slippers, and a towel in a themed tote bag. Most people wear the robe and slippers over their swimsuits, and carry the bag. You are absolutely allowed to keep your phone with you, take a book, or snacks, and all of those can be carried in the tote. When you are in a sauna or pool, there are always plenty of hooks to hang your robe and tote. I always put my slippers inside the tote if taking them off to go in a pool, because they really do all look alike.
There are three main spa areas, a dry Wellness Path, a wet Aquatic Path, and the outdoor pools with views of lower Manhattan. The Wellness Path is the first you experience as you come down from the locker rooms. The first room has individual beds to lounge on with large infrared lamps above, which are supposed to be good for collagen production and reducing inflammation. The next room is a olfactory sensory experience with four different scents to experience, and you are encouraged to write in journals words that each scent bring to mind.
Next, there is a dry sauna, the Mountain Stube, and you are encouraged to go in to open your pores, then use the facial scrub provided, followed by a cool wet washcloth to remove the scrub. In the Fireplace Room there is a moisturizing facial mask to apply while you relax. All these extras are included, and twice while I was at the spa an employee came around with complimentary facial and eye masks as well.
Next to the Mountain Stube sauna is a Cocoon room, where you can swing and relax in these wicker hanging cocoons while listening to bird song.
The Jukebox Room plays classic rock (I heard Talking Heads a few times!) and designed as a place to relax, talk to your companion if you aren’t alone, and rest with a facial mask if you happened to get that recently.
The Upside Down Room provides a way to look at the world in a different way, and is a lot of fun to relax in. If you get a photo taken as I did, you can flip it and appear to be resting on the ceiling!
The Close and Yet So Far sauna had stunning views of the city, looking over the outside pools.
Going down another level to the aquatic experience, I took fewer photos there because of all the steam and water! However, there were multiple steam saunas, each decorated and scented to go along with a given theme – one was Scottish, another like being inside as a storm raged outside, and my favorite, A Thousand and One Nights, with lovely music and feeling a bit like being in a Turkish bath. There was a steam shower, a foot bath area with bubbling tubs, and body scrub provided to exfoliate before lying on a steel table and having water flow over you in a Vichy bath. On this same level was an area with different facial moisturizers and a large screen showing you how to do a facial massage.
The outdoor pools!!!! As much as I loved the entire spa, I think these were my favorites. It is surreal to be lounging in heated outdoor pools while looking at spectacular – and close! – views of the Manhattan skyline. There are two main pool areas, both of which have multi-levels and various places to rest and turn on bubbling action. There is one section with music piped underwater that you can only hear if your ears go below the water line. Behind the pools are rows of loungers and chairs.
If you do happen to have a massage booked, that area is just off the locker room area, and features a lounge area to rest before or after your treatment, as well as a generous supply of snacks.
And what of food and drink, if you are making a day of it? There is plenty of water infused with citrus or mint, and apple cider, on every level of the spa, and apples and coffee are also complimentary. An employee might come around at some point offering a healthy treat such as slices of apple dusted with cinnamon. There there are also two main areas to order food and drink – and a selection of wines and fun cocktails! The food and alcoholic beverages are for purchase, and the costs are about what you would expect for a facility that knows it has a captive audience. There are a series of hefty salads (the one I had featured field greens, pecans, and goat cheese), as well as a charcuterie and cheese tray. I will note that later in the day I heard people trying to order food and some of the selections were no longer available, so keep that in mind and order lunch on the earlier side (needless to say, it is not easy to get supplies to Governors Island!). I sampled two of the cocktails – an Aperol Spritz with the salad and a Cosmo later with the charcuterie platter – and both were generous pours and delicious. You are not allowed to come and go from the spa, though, so don’t plan on leaving and getting something from one of the food trucks on the Island and coming back.
I’d like to add that the spa is open year-round, and the outdoor pools are heated so you really could enjoy even on very chilly days. A visit where it rained the entire day would make the outdoor pools less appealing, but everything else is inside. The generous cancellation policy ensures that people don’t need to worry about the forecast when making a reservation. I happen to love immersive theatre (I wrote a blog post about Punchdrunk several years ago) and the thing that struck me while I was at QCNY Spa was that this was the first spa experience I have ever had that feels in some ways like immersive theatre. I believe it could be enjoyed solo (especially if you brought a book) but is ideally suited for a day spent as a couple or for a group of friends. As always, New York City keeps providing new things to do and experience, and this is one I will definitely revisit.
Every spring in New York City, there is a flurry of new plays and musicals opening on Broadway to beat the deadline for Tony Award nominations. Of course productions do also open other times of the year, but the spring opening season is the busiest time of the theatrical year. Broadway’s importance to the culture and economy of NYC cannot be emphasized enough – in the last year before the pandemic shutdown, 14,077,000 tickets were sold, bringing in $1.83 billion in direct and an estimated $14.7 billion in indirect money into the city’s economy. NYC tourism in general and Broadway theatre specifically continue to rebound since reopening, but estimates are that Broadway revenues are still down 8-10% compared to pre-pandemic numbers. In a business where only one out of every five productions that open on Broadway recoup the investment put in by producers, every move that can increase the probability that a given show will succeed will be taken.
I have watched the Tony Awards on television for decades now, and last year had the thrill of being able to attend. I have been to the Drama Desk Awards before, and really enjoyed, but the Tonys are another experience altogether. How did I manage this? A good friend was involved with the revival of Company (which did in fact win best revival) and was able to get me two tickets to the 2022 Awards – which were also the 75th Anniversary of the Tony Awards. As we approach the 2023 awards, I am looking back on what that experience was like. Spoiler alert: it was fantastic!
Now this year (2023), the televised ceremony – which serves as a way to publicize the new shows in a season in addition to giving out the awards – was in peril due to the WPA (Writers Guild of America) ongoing labor strike. Even though Broadway playwrights are members of The Dramatists Guild (which is a professional organization, not a union), many of them are also members of WPA from working in television or film. Some Broadway performers have written for TV or film and are members of the WPA. In addition, most members of the Broadway community are in their own unions (Actor’s Equity for performers, or Local 802 AFM for musicians, for instance) and would be unlikely to cross a picket line from another union. At one point it was announced that the Tony Awards would not be televised this year. But several writers who work both on Broadway and in TV/film (Martyna Majok, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner and Jeremy O. Harris among them) reached out to the WPA and asked them not to picket the ceremony – and they were successful (see this New York Times article for the details). It’s still not clear how the ceremony will be impacted by the strike, as members of the WPA who are nominees (and there are quite a few) have been asked not to attend and to pre-tape acceptance speeches. But there will be performances by nominated shows, and the awards will be given out.
Even before the strike, there were going to be some differences between this year’s ceremony and those in the past. It has been held at Radio City Music Hall for a long time, with a few interruptions (the Beacon Theater in 2011 and 2012, the Winter Garden Theatre when the first post-pandemic awards were handed out in September of 2021), but this year will be held far uptown in Washington Heights. The United Palace Theater, where it will be held on June 11, 2023, has far fewer seats than Radio City (3400 vs. 6000) but more than the Beacon or the Winter Garden. On the plus side, though, covid restrictions are much less rigorous than the procedure in place last year.
Last year, there were two sets of protocol in place. Those of us in the orchestra section, who could potentially be seen on camera, had to prove vaccination status, get a PCR covid test in advance and upload to get a digital health pass that would allow us into the venue. Then masks were optional for those in the orchestra (and from what I saw, most were not masked). For those in one of the mezzanines, proof of vaccination was acceptable, and masks were mandatory.
Also – and I only know this because I saw someone’s ticket who was trying to get in the main entrance but was in the mezzanine so was instructed to go along the side – not all the tickets were like the ones I had. The tickets for those in the orchestra were thick heavy embossed tickets in a black and silver envelope! The ticket I saw for someone who was going to the mezzanine looked like a regular Ticketmaster print out with a bar code. It was so exciting to get the fancy tickets a few days before the ceremony. Most years there are a limited number of tickets available for purchase by the way, but they are expensive (I looked, and for this year they were $775 and $575 – not scalped prices, the actual tickets from the Tony site) and you will be far away from the show. The orchestra level was for people directly involved in the nominated shows, or for presenters.
In addition, those in the orchestra had a required dress code – as our fancy ticket said, “Black Tie Only” – and a separate entrance (the main front entrance of Radio City) from those going to the mezzanines. Only those in the orchestra were allowed in the main lobby or the (really spectacular!) lower level bathrooms. There are bathrooms in the mezzanine, but not as opulently Art Deco, or as fun to pose in front of.
The section of the orchestra I was in was in the middle but far house right. The cast of A Strange Loop was in front of our Company section, and MJ the Musical behind us. Nominees from any show were seated closer to the stage, but would occasionally come by to say hi to their cast mates. Three rows in front of us, in a kind of Spring Awakening reunion, were Steven Sater, Jonathan Groff, and Lea Michele. I took a screenshot of the opening when The Music Man cast marched in, and circled my location:
I have been to other televised shows, so some of the aspects of how that works was familiar to me. But the Broadway-specific nature of the entire evening was a dream come true. Before the show began, they were playing Broadway songs. In commercial breaks they would show montages of things like this year’s shows, past Tony acceptance speeches, past Tony dance numbers, etc. They would then count down and when they got below five ask for applause as we came back live. People watching was so much fun, as during breaks people would get up to see their friends. It’s also a chance for people in the industry to meet or express appreciation for those they haven’t worked with. For instance, Philippa Soo and Renee Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton OBC) came and took selfies with some of the performers from A Strange Loop.
We all received a thick souvenir Playbill and there was merchandise you could only get there. I bought a tote bag and t-shirt that had the 75th Anniversary logo on the front and all the shows that had opened that season on the back, as well as sweatpants with the Tony Awards logo.
This year I will be watching at home again. I don’t know if I will ever be able to attend the Tony Awards in person in the future, but I certainly hope so! But if not, I will always have the memories of what it was like to be a part of that special crowd on the most important night of the entire Broadway season in June of 2022.
A highlight of the current Lincoln Center Theatre production of Camelot comes at the beginning of the second act, when Lancelot (a magnificent Jordan Donica) sings “If ever I would leave you.” When walking through Central Park lately, I have been singing (inside my head, not aloud!):
If ever I would leave you How could it be in springtime? Knowing how in spring I’m bewitched by you so?
Spring in Central Park is bewitching, indeed. After the austere beauty of bare tree branches creating stark contrast with the greyish winter sky, against hard brown soil, it seems that in mid-March and through April into early May, the park becomes vibrant seemingly overnight with carpets of flowers and spectacular flowering trees. The juxtaposition of the glories of nature with the iconic Manhattan skyscrapers and stately apartment buildings is truly unique and makes Central Park a very special place to experience in spring.
Flowers that grow from bulbs show up first – generally cheery daffodils are the harbinger of the spring blooming, followed later by tulips. Later you can find black-eyed Susans, violets, and bluebells.
Cherry blossom season is famous in Japan and in Washington DC, and there are terrific cherry blossoms in both the Bronx and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. But Central Park is underrated, I think – cherry blossom season in the park is unforgettable! Most of the cherry trees in the park were a gift from Japan in the early 1900s, and there are three main types: Okame, Yoshino, and Kwanzan. For instance, look for Kwanzan on the east side of the Reservoir, Yoshino near Pilgrim Hill on the east side near 73rd Street, and Okame on the west side of the Reservoir. Okame are the first to bloom and are deep pink. Yoshino bloom next and are so pale they are almost white (I have been walking beneath these when the blossoms are being blown off by the wind and it looks like you are in a warm weather blizzard!). Kwanzan bloom latest and are thicker clusters of bright pink. The timing varies each year depending on the temperature and precipitation, but once a tree has bloomed, the blooms are only on the tree for 7-10 days (and can come off all at once if there is a rainstorm or high winds). The transience of this beauty makes the experience of being around it even more magical and meaningful. When the cherry blossoms first begin to bloom, the branches of most trees are still bare, but by the time the last of the cherry blossoms fall, the park has greened with pale new leaves and bright spring grass everywhere you look.
Most years there is little or no overlap between the timeline of the three types of cherry blossoms, so use this as a general guide:
Okame Cherry Blossom Dates: Mid March (most already gone as I post this)
Yoshino Cherry Blossom Dates: Beginning / Mid April (ending now)
Kwanzan Cherry Blossom Dates: End of April / Early May (coming soon)
If it sounds like spring is my favorite season in Central Park, it is – at least right now! On a sultry summer evening coming back from Shakespeare in the Park, a spectacular autumn day with the fall foliage ablaze, or after a gorgeous fresh winter snowfall, those seasons will then be my favorites. As the song eventually decides, I agree that in my love for Central Park:
Oh, no! Not in springtime! Summer, winter or fall! No, never could I leave you at all!
Julie Brannan, NYC residential real estate 