Art Beyond Measure

“Look, it cannot be seen — it is beyond form. Listen, it cannot be heard — it is beyond sound. Grasp, it cannot be held — it is intangible. These three are indefinable; therefore they are joined in one.”
– Tao Te Ching, Chapter 14

First identified by Chinese philosophers 3,000 years ago, Tao is “the infinitely powerful force containing the truth and existing before the world was created” — indescribable, beyond the constraints of time and space, sound and vision.

It is believed that each person imagines Tao according to his or her own nature. A wise person sees Tao as wisdom; a kind person believes that Tao is kindness; a merciful person understands Tao as mercy.

From December 7 to December 29, the Taipei Cultural Center is hosting an exhibit called Beyond Measure. The show features eight artists sharing their own visions and understandings of Tao, and each work is illustrated with a verse from the Tao Te Ching.

The artists come from Taiwan, Japan, China and the United States, they are all currently based in New York and they are united in their desire to show the invisible, define the indefinable and measure the immeasurable.

Works on mezzanine

ON Megumi Akiyushi’s “Flower Gallery”

ON Megumi Akiyushi’s “Flower Gallery”/Jon D’Orazio’s “Drala Crests III”

Jon D’Orazio’s “Drala Crests III”

Jon D’Orazio’s “Jade Mirror 41 CL1”

Hai Zhang’s “Culturally Appropriate”

Section of Yo Yo Xiao’s “Dance With Death”

Section of Yo Yo Xiao’s “Dance With Death”

Still from Cecily McKeown’s “Tao #204” video

Still from Cecily McKeown’s “Civilization #56” video

ON Megumi Akiyushi’s “Coffin for the Living”

Huang Shih Chieh’s “BSB-Side View”

Chin Chih Yang’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”

Chin Chih Yang’s “Blind Buddha”

Lobby with Chang Lishan’s “Light”

Taipei Cultural Center
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York
ON Megumi Akiyoshi
Jon D’Orazio
Hai Zhang
Huang Shih Chieh
Chin Chih Yang
Chang Lishan

Union Square Holiday Market

Over the past decade it has become a holiday tradition: late in November, the air is filled with the sounds of saws and hammers as red and white striped tents are hoisted, tiny lights and boughs of greenery are draped over fountains, lampposts and statues, and the southern section of Union Square is transformed into a bustling Holiday Marketplace.

Now in its 11th year, Union Square Holiday Market includes more than 100 vendors selling handicrafts, foods, holiday decorations, antique prints, jewelry, toys, clothing and more. During the month that it is open (November 24 – December 24), the Marketplace is busy night and day. On a clear night like this, passersby are enticed by the distinctive sights, sounds and aromas of New York during the holiday season. Hot apple cider, anyone?

Sitting on the fountain

Shoppers at a jewelry booth

At a booth selling decorations

Jewelry vendor’s booth  

Paper goods’ vendor’s booth

Examining handmade earrings

Crowding around a booth

Rack of knitted hats

NYC Parks Dept: Union Square Holiday Market
NYC Parks: Union Square Holiday Market

Music at the MetLife Building

Originally known as the PamAm Building, the 58-story MetLife Building is adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. During the holiday season, the building hosts a series of free concerts by high schools from the surrounding region.

I was passing through the lobby today when this group, which was visiting the city from Connecticut’s Stamford High School, began a performance that included songs about Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwaanza.

The Stamford High School choir

Part of the orchestra

The string section

Singers

Strings players

Two members of the choir

Harmonizing

The violinists

A singer

Two players

A singer

Stamford High School
The MetLife Building
Wikipedia: The MetLife Building

The Gift of Music

This afternoon, on my way to catch the 1 train, I ducked into the Duane Reade drugstore at the corner of Broadway and 50th Street to buy a roll of tape.

As I stepped through the entrance, I nearly tripped over a man who was fiddling with wires leading to a large speaker on the floor. The man adjusted the connection, shifted the speaker and a clear, high voice surged through.

Going inside, I couldn’t fail to notice the vivacious woman in bright red who stood beside a folding table covered with stacks of CDs. As I moved closer, the woman smiled brightly and told me that she was there to promote her new Christmas recording; her name was Lyza Wilson and she was the singer whose voice I was hearing.

I left the store with two of her CDs. It wasn’t until I was on the subway heading downtown that I realized that I’d completely forgotten the task that led me to the drugstore: I still didn’t have any tape.

But I had something better; I’d received the gift of music — all the better because it came at such an unexpected time from such an unlikely place. And although she was singing in a drugstore instead of a theatre, this afternoon Lyza Wilson truly was a star on Broadway.

Lyza Wilson holding her recordings

Lyza Wilson
Duane Reade

Blood Diamond

New York is filled with famous, glamorous people leading exciting, glittering lives. I’m not one of them. However, on rare occasions, I manage to find myself in their midst. This evening was one of those times.

Tonight Marie Claire magazine held a cocktail reception and screening of the new adventure film “Blood Diamond.” The screening was followed by a discussion featuring Brooklyn native and star Jennifer Connelly, director/producer Edward Zwick and the magazine’s editor in chief, Joanna Coles.

The event ended when the star was reminded that she had to leave; she was due at a taping of the Conan O’Brien show. As the attendees went out into the cold December night, we were given copies of the January issue of Marie Claire featuring Jennifer Connelly on the cover.

Producer Marshall Herskovitz, Jennifer Connelly, Joanna Coles, Edward Zwick, Publisher Susan Plagemann  

Jennifer Connelly with Marie Claire cover  

Blood Diamond
The New Yorker: Review of Blood Diamond
Amnesty Magazine: Blood Diamonds
The Kimberley Process
Marie Claire
Conan O’Brien

The Independent and Small Press Book Fair

This weekend the Small Press Center, a non-profit educational organization for independent publishers, sponsored its 19th annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair.

A program of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York, the Small Press Center serves those “driven primarily by a desire to publish what interests them, what they believe in” regardless of whether or not large publishing houses consider it commercially feasible.

The Small Press Center is housed in a landmark Victorian structure at 20 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Built in 1893, it was designed by architects Hugh Lamb and Charles Alonzo Rich to house the Berkley School (at the time, a private school for boys). The General Society moved here in 1899 and designated its central space, a three-story, skylight-topped expanse, as the main reading room for their members’ library.

The library was the site of the Book Fair, with most of the 100 or so publishers in attendance exhibiting their wares in the main reading room or on the surrounding balconies. In addition to the books, the Book Fair included readings, talks and panel discussions with authors, editors, illustrators and publishers.

Author Emily Jenkins

Illustrator Tomek Bogacki

Poet/TV personality Ira Joe Fisher

Literary anti-hero Amiri Baraka

Author Colin Channer

Graffiti artist Savager

Graffiti artist Erni

Graffiti artist Smith

Graffiti artist Lady Pink

Small Press Center
Book Fair Schedule of Events
Emily Jenkins
Tomek Bogacki
Colin Channer
Amiri Baraka
Savager
Erni
Smith and Lady Pink
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen
The General Society Library
Lamb and Rich Architecture

The Rink and the Ring

At this time of year I’m always of two minds regarding midtown Manhattan: I’m anxious to see the fabulous, elaborate holiday decorations but I also want to stay far away from the hectic, bustling crowds that overflow the shops and stores and make the sidewalks impassable.

This evening I was in midtown, only a few blocks from Rockefeller Center, when I decided to take a short detour and get a quick look at its legendary massive Christmas tree (currently an 88-foot tall Norway spruce from western Connecticut) and fabled ice skating rink.

I slowly waded through the masses in the Channel Gardens that lead from Fifth Avenue to the holiday display, snapped a few photos of the tree, and moved forward towards the skating rink. Despite the patient, smiling security guards, the throng around the railing was at least 12 deep and many were trying to push and plead their way to the front (“We came all the way from India for this!” “We flew here from Texas just to see the ice rink!” “Please let my sick little boy through to see the skaters!”).

I extricated myself from the crush and started to walk towards the subways when I saw a spot, right near the elevator, where relatively few people stood. I headed there and squeezed in between a large family from Connecticut, another from Russia and an excited group from Italy.

As I leaned towards the railing to take some photos, the surrounding crowd jostled me and I concentrated more on keeping my balance than watching the action on the ice. When I looked up, I noticed an attractive young couple standing stock still in the middle of the ice. I took a couple of shots of them, a few more photos of the crowd in the rink, and left.

When I got home and looked through the images I’d taken, I realized what I’d inadvertently captured. Since they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let the photos (sorry for the poor quality) tell the story of the boy with the blond hair, the girl with the pink scarf, the rink and the ring.

The 88 foot tall tree at Rockefeller Center  

Looking onto the skating rink

The ice is crowded

A couple skates to the center of the rink

He drops down on one knee

The clinch; looks like she said “yes”

He presents the ring

They don’t even notice the gathering spectators

They skate off as the crowd applauds

The Rink at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
WNBC’s Tree-Cam

Behind the Gates of New York Marble Cemetery

Every day thousands of people pass the thick stone walls and tall iron gates but few step behind them. New York Marble Cemetery is open to the public only a handful of days each year; from March through November, the gates generally open (for a few hours) the last Sunday of each month. However, since the Cemetery lacks both staff and shelter, if the weather is inclement or no volunteer is available, the entrance to this secret garden will remain locked.

Today was the cemetery’s last scheduled opening for 2006. A stream of curious visitors came, encouraged by the open gate and the unusually mild weather. A volunteer provided literature and information about the cemetery, its founders, the current state of repair (a section of the 12-foot high walls recently collapsed) and the trustee’s efforts to protect and restore it.

New York Marble Cemetery (also known as the Second Avenue Cemetery) is the oldest public non-sectarian cemetery in New York City. Established in 1831 to serve the city’s gentry, more than 2,000 interments have taken place here. Unlike most American cemeteries, this half acre patch of green has no gravestones, ground markers, mausoleums, lamps, flower arrangements or monuments. Although the setting is stark, this isn’t a place where the original decorations have been lost or stripped away; by design, the cemetery is simple, unadorned and restrained. The original landscape consisted of a level stretch of lawn marked only by shrubbery and white sand paths.

Founded during an epidemic when in-ground burials were forbidden, interments are 10 feet underground in solid white marble vaults, each the size of a small room. The 156 vaults are arranged in a grid and access provided by removal of stone slabs set below the lawn’s surface. The numbers of the vaults and names of the original owners are on marble plaques set into the surrounding walls.

Although the most recent burial was in 1937, New York Marble Cemetery is not simply a place of historic interest; despite appearances, it is a working burial facility. Each vault belongs to the heirs of the original owners and descendants retain the right to be interred here. In fact, some have made plans to ensure that this cemetery, the last place in Manhattan where a person can still be legally buried, will be their final resting place.

Visitors at outer gate

Alley leads from the outer gate to the inner gate

Visitors enter cemetery through inner gate

Vault of publisher Uriah R. Scribner

Vault of Elisha Peck

Visitors on the lawn

Volunteer answers vistors’ questions

Visitors and plaques along the south wall

View to west wall

Shrubbery and east wall

Broken stone awaits repair

New York Marble Cemetery

Cemetery Schedule and Map

Letter Regarding Construction Behind Cemetery

14th Annual CANstruction Competition

Fourteen years ago the Society of Design Administration created CANstruction, a philanthropic competition for architects, designers and engineers. The challenge is deceptively simple: these creative professionals must transform cans of food into sculptures and constructions.

The nutritious entries were assembled on site at the New York Design Center, a building devoted to interior designers and furniture showrooms. From November 9 through 22, the exhibit was open to the public during normal business hours; the entry fee was a single can of food.

At the end of the exhibition, the structures were disassembled; this year, one piece, a Mobius strip, collapsed during the competition. The packages of food (generally about 100,000 cans) are donated to the Food Bank for New York City, which distributes it to feed New York’s hungry.

Space Shuttle by National Reprographics

Subway Car Interior by Guy Nordenson

Trojan Horse by Arup

Tango Dancer by Thornton Tomasetti

Rabbit in Hat by Robert Silman Associates

Campfire by Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Lion by Perkins + Will

Candy Apple with Bite Taken by Pei Cobb Freed

Dragon by Robert A.M. Stern

Sushi with Chopsticks by DeSimone Consulting

Empty Can by Helpurn Architects

Frog by diDomenico + Partners

Can as Skyline by Fradkin & McAlpin Assoc.

Sea Serpent by HOK Architects

Piggy Bank by R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband

Typewriter by Coburn Architecture

Apple with Sliced Wedge by Handel Architects

Crocodile by Arquitectonica

Lady Bug by Ferguson & Samamian

Hand Cradling Can by Ted Moudis

Monopoly by Mancini Duffy

Lion & Lamb by Butler Rogers Baskett

Connect Four Game by Magnusson Architecture

Snail on Leaf by GACE PLLC

Whale Tail by Weidlinger Associates

Can with Electric Can Opener by Bovis Lend Lease

Sombrero by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Frog by STV

Cornucopia by Earth Tech

Ant at a Picnic by Severud Associates

Dripping Faucet by Gensler

Earth Viewed from the Moon by Beyer Blinder Belle

Lady Bug by Urbitran Group

Leaning Tower of Pisa & Italian Flag by Dattner Architects

Bobsled on Track by Gilsanz Murray Steficek

Can with Can Opener by Conant Architects

Sushi Platter by NELSON

Dragon & Castle by Perkins Eastman

Grand Piano by ads Engineers

Remains of Mobius Strip by Platt Byard Dovell White

Canstruction

Society for Design Administration New York Chapter

SDANYC Canstruction 2006

NYC Canstruction Rules

Images From Past Canstruction Competitions

Food Bank For New York City

Spring Awakening on Broadway

I love the theater but rarely attend Broadway shows.

Why? Well, have you seen the prices of tickets lately?

Thinking about going to Beauty and the Beast? Orchestra and front mezzanine seats — if you can find them — will cost you about $132 each. Dying to watch the Lion King? One ticket now sells for $135. Want to see the award-winning Jersey Boys? You’ll have to wait until March and pay about $150 for a seat.

So when I had the opportunity to see a new musical on Broadway, I jumped at the chance. I ran to the theatre without even pausing to read reviews or learn anything about the show and frankly, I’m glad I did. I just saw Spring Awakening with no preconceptions or expectations and from the opening scene, I was completely enthralled.

This rock musical is based on a 19-century German play of the same name that was so controversial, it was banned from the stage for more than 70 years. In this adaptation by singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik and playwright Steven Sater, a dozen small town teenagers struggle towards maturity, trying to make sense of the conflicting messages they receive from the repressive, dictatorial adults in their lives and the urgent, confusing stirrings within their own bodies.

It sounds like a typical, stale coming-of-age story, but Spring Awakening is fresh, vibrant, exciting, intense and still packs the power to shock. This isn’t a show for the kids or blue-haired Aunt Hilda, but I can’t remember the last time any theatrical performance kept me on the edge of my seat the way this one did. And the music … I never thought I’d walk out of a theatre humming tunes about incest, abuse, rape, abortion and suicide, but I did, I did, I did.

Spring Awakening poster

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening Music Video

New York Times review

New Yorker review

Michael Musto Interviews Duncan Sheik

Apple Store Soho

The Grand Tour

“Most real New Yorkers wouldn’t be caught dead on a tour bus or walking around with a group of tourists.”
— Margot Adler

Once upon a time I wanted to visit an historic spot located far outside the city. Although it was possible to make the trip using public transportation, doing so appeared to be extremely complicated and time consuming. With all the transfers and waiting involved, just getting there and back would have taken up most of the day, leaving little time to actually see the place.

However, while researching transportation alternatives, I learned that a few private companies offered one-day guided excursions. The price was about twice that of public transportation, but the tour sounded great — instead of spending most of the day in train stations, I’d have hours to explore my destination, plus a knowledgeable guide. Although I’d never been on a guided tour (and didn’t know anyone under retirement age who had), it appeared to be my best option, so I went ahead and bought a ticket.

The distance involved required us to board the bus early in the day for what was advertised as a four-hour drive. Two hours later the bus pulled into a particularly charmless roadside restaurant and souvenir shop while the guide explained that, for our convenience, we were now going to stop for an hour.

We finally arrived more than five hours after leaving the city. As soon as we stepped into the parking lot, our guide announced that we must stay together; she didn’t want anyone wandering off during the tour. As she hustled us from spot to spot, reeling off names, dates and numbers, along with frequent shrill admonitions that we “stay together!,” we soon realized that quite a bit of the information she spouted differed from the accounts most of us had learned in school. When a few members of the group questioned her version of the facts, she grew querulous and strident, insisting that she knew what she was talking about, “Or I wouldn’t have this job, would I?”

An hour after we arrived, the guide announced that we were going to have lunch and led us to a small caféteria where the food was inedible and the prices shockingly high. We stayed there for more than an hour, returned to the site for a brief visit, and were then herded back onto the bus. The return trip to the city included another extended stay at the souvenir stand we’d visited in the morning. A more experienced traveler attributed the forced stops for our convenience to the tour company having a financial interest in the place.

As it turned out, we who participated in the outing would have been better served had we traveled on our own and carried good guidebooks. After that waste of time and money, I vowed to avoid all guided tours.

Then, today, I ran into Justin Ferate, who changed my mind about what a tour could be. Justin, a charming, erudite, hyperkinetic storyteller, leads walking tours around New York, including a free, weekly excursion in midtown Manhattan dubbed The Grand Tour.

Today I joined the crowd following Ferrate while he led a Grand Tour. Although it begins near Grand Central Terminal, this isn’t simply a walk through the famed train station; it is a jaunt around the storied neighborhood with a man who is clearly in love with his subject.

He regaled his audience with a narrative that effortlessly wove together stories and trivia about subjects as diverse as the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, how to buy a great cheesecake, the delicate sensibilities of Victorian traveling women, Barbra Streisand’s unsuccessful attempt to buy an apartment on Fifth Avenue, the history of Spanish tile-making, instructions on making an egg cream, fine points of Greek mythology, the architecture of modern airports and the best cleanser for removing tobacco stains from a painted ceiling.

Of course, the tour appeals to the out-of-towners who make up most of the crowd, but the depth and breadth of Ferate’s knowledge, combined with his rapid-fire professorial/comedic style, is guaranteed to impress even know-it-all real New Yorkers, including me.

If you ever find yourself in midtown on a Friday afternoon, do yourself a favor and join one of Ferate’s excursions. Um, did I mention that the Grand Tour is free?

Dapper tour guide Justin Ferate

Justin Ferate

Margot Adler interviews Justin Ferate

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Partnership

Altria Group, Inc.

The Village Halloween Parade

In 1973, Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer Ralph Lee staged a house-to-house puppet show to entertain his neighbors, children and friends. Thirty-three years later, Lee’s show has evolved into the nation’s largest public Halloween celebration.

This year more than two million people lined Sixth Avenue to watch the Village Halloween Parade while another four million watched a live broadcast on local TV station NY1. Many of the people standing behind the barriers watching were as elaborately costumed as those who were marching, dancing and riding up the street.

Hometown boys (well, at least they are former New Yorkers) Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss served as the Grand Marshals of the four hour event which included elaborate floats, choreographed dancers, dozens of marching bands, hundreds of puppets and more than 50,000 costumed marchers.

The sheer numbers make the event sound overwhelming but (unlike many other Halloween celebrations) the Village Halloween Parade isn’t raucous or rowdy; it remains a good-natured, friendly outdoor party for vampires, zombies, superheroes and kids of all ages.

Strawberry & big brother  

Man carrying skeleton puppet  

Captain Morgan  

MTV VJ & “David Letterman”  

Naughty cop & naughty maid  

Reporter & “Paris Hilton”  

Desperate housewife  

Stay-Puft marshmallow man  

Man in a pink tuxedo  

Martini girl  

Catwoman and Psycho Santa  

“Paris Hilton”  

Spoon man  

Lobster boy  

Beheaded man  

Blue-haired lady  

Corpse bride  

Zombie barista  

Elf  

Cheerleader

Raccoon  

The Riddler  

Religious guy  

Devil & Zombie  

Masked man  

Cow  

Spongebob Squarepants  

Bearded bumblebee  

Sock monkey

Man with a headache

Acrobats  

Viagra man  

Zombie  

Banana boy & friend  

Scooby Doo  

Easy chair  

Can-can girl  

First-class mail  

Hot dog girl  

Edward Scissorhands  

Orange feathers & red hair  

Woman with live parrots  

Puppeteers  

“Pamela Anderson” & “Kid Rock”  

Bagged spinach with E Coli  

Wolf & wizard  

Vampires  

Autumn leaf  

Little nurse  

“Borat”  

Little dinosaur in a stroller  

The Munsters  

Gilligan & palm tree 

Real cop & zombie cop  

Dia De Los Muertos  

Jack O’Lantern puppets  

Scary implants  

“Prince” & “Madonna”  

On the Mannheim Steamroller float  

Grand Marshals from Kiss  

Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons  

New York Village Halloween Parade

Kiss

NY1

Strawberry Fields Forever

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peaceYou may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Had he not been killed by Mark David Chapman in 1980, this would have been his 66th birthday. Today his admirers gathered at Strawberry Fields, the teardrop-shaped space in Central Park created as a memorial, to remember John Lennon.

Throughout the day, dozens of musicians brought their instruments to the circular black and white mosaic that says, simply, Imagine. There, accompanied by fans from around the world, they sang and played in honor of the man, his music and his memory.

Imagine mosaic

Musicians gather at Strawberry Fields

Fans sing along

Imagine – click on the arrow above to view

Central Park Conservancy: Strawberry Fields

John Lennon: Official Site

Is That a Smile I See?

While walking past a house on Manhattan’s Upper East side, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I stopped, went back and photographed this architectural detail. I think it looks as though the stone is smiling. What do you think?

In front of 38 West 76th Street

Mirror, Mirror

Anish Kapoor’s monumental Sky Mirror is now on display in the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller Center. The massive, tilted piece, assembled from sections of highly polished stainless steel, stands three stories tall. The Indian-born artist describes the work as a “non-object,” a work of art that suggests a window or void and seems to disappear into its surroundings.

Despite its size, the combination of its reflective qualities, the curving surfaces and the angle at which it is displayed distort the viewer’s perceptions. The closer one stands, the more difficult it is to discern the edges and boundaries and to see where Sky Mirror begins and ends.

Walk around it and you’ll see the effects of the changing light and angle; one moment the sculpture stands out distinctly from the nearby buildings, the next it appears to blend into its surroundings, and finally it almost completely vanishes.

Sky Mirror will remain at Rockefeller Center until October 27. See it soon — before it disappears.

As seen from Fifth Avenue

Reflecting the office towers

Standing close to the base

Banner at Rockefeller Center

Viewed from Fifth Avenue at dusk

About Sky Mirror

Rockefeller Center

Public Art Fund: Kapoor

The Hidden Garden in the Sky

Yesterday I participated in the 4th Annual OpenHouseNewYork Weekend by taking a tour of the Wallabout section of Brooklyn. Today I took advantage of the weekend-long event to visit a legendary space that has been closed to the public for more than 60 years: the Rockefeller Center Rooftop Garden.

Located atop the British Empire Building, this garden offers exceptional views of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Saks Fifth Avenue, its neighbors across the street. The compact, formal space, smaller than a city block, includes meticulously clipped hedges, a shallow pool with a small fountain, a few perfectly matched cypress trees, a border of pink geraniums and a raised platform of fastidiously manicured sod.

Peeking around the corners provides rare glimpses of the rest of the Rockefeller Center complex including Radio City Music Hall and the skating rink which just reopened for the season.

This is a hidden spot of greenery high above the city, a retreat usually reserved for private moments of the rich and powerful, but for four hours today, it was a beautiful space open to all who came.

Saks Fifth Avenue across the street

The frog fountain

The garden pool and lawn

The spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

A glimpse of Radio City Music Hall

A glimpse of the skating rink

OHNY donation box

OHNY

Rockefeller Center

Newyorkology: Rockefeller Center Roof Gardens

Dancing up Fifth Avenue for 41 Years

By definition, the word Hispanic refers to people from the Spanish-speaking areas of the Americas and the Caribbean.

For 41 years, New York’s United Hispanic-American Parade has brought together people whose origins are in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Dressed in their national and regional costumes, thousands of men, women and children mambo, salsa, merengue, cha-cha and tango up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. The dancers’ energy and joy is contagious, the drummers hands are frenetic, and the massed spectators smile, sway and wave flags in time to the relentless beat.

Girl with yellow pom-poms

Girls in orange

Girl with blue eyeshadow

Puerto Rican woman

Dancers waiting for their cue

A dancer and her beau

Men with bells on their boots

Girl in ostrich feathers

Girl in pink and green

Boys and girls in pink and green

Men with skulls on their chests

People in Peruvian costumes

Drummers marching up the avenue

New York Hispanic Parade

Galos Corp.: New York Hispanic Parade History

How About a Little Seoul Food?

Some people call it Koreatown, some say K-Town. But unlike the Koreatowns in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Manhattan’s Korean enclave isn’t much of a neighborhood; in fact, it is just a single block of 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

Few Koreans actually live here. There isn’t much residential space on the block or in the surrounding area. But K-Town has become the cultural center for New York’s growing Korean population.

At ground level you will find an assortment of shops, newsstands, banks and hotels, but the street is dominated by dozens of Korean restaurants and cafes. This area is busy 24/7 and if you are in the mood for an inexpensive prepacked lunch box, a stylish sweet snack, a traditional barbecue or an elegant dinner – regardless of whether you are a vegetarian, a seafood fan, a calorie counter or a lover of bloody red meat – you’ll easily find something to suit your taste and your budget.

Don’t miss the eggless scallion pancakes at Woorijip, the cold acorn noodles (yes, they’re made from acorns) at Hangawi, the freshly-baked cakes and buns at Koryodang Bakery or the green tea frozen yogurt (so addictive it is affectionately called crackberry) at Pinkberry. If the day is sunny, you might prefer to sit outside at the tables on the plaza to watch the busy social scene.

Once your craving for Seoul Food is satisfied, remember to look up. The higher floors of the buildings on this block are packed with businesses that cater to the needs of the Korean community, offering herbal medicines, spas and beauty treatments, tutoring and language lessons, employment and travel agencies, tattoo parlors, internet cafes and raucous karaoke bars.

On 32nd Street

Animated billboard with Korean subtitles

Pinkberry yogurt shop

Girls on the plaza

On the plaza

Korea Way sign

Newspaper stand

Looking in to Woorijip

Nightlife on the upper floors

Hangawi Restaurant

Woorijip Restaurant

Koryodang Bakery

Pinkberry

Village Voice: Close-Up on Koreatown

K-Town Comes of Age

New York Times: Beer For Breakfast

Where the “big stuff” is

Mission: To discover, interpret, and disseminate – through scientific research and education – knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.

In 1871 The American Museum of Natural History mounted its first exhibit in the Central Park Arsenal. Within one year, the institution had outgrown its home at the Arsenal and was busily engaged in building a bigger facility.

One hundred and thirty-five years later, the Museum is still expanding, adding new halls, exhibits and laboratories. The current facilities include 45 permanent exhibition halls spread across 25 interconnected buildings all located on 18 acres across the street from Central Park.

Regardless of the latest additions, for many people the museum will always be the place where the “big stuff” is — the monumental, the outlandish, the extraordinary all lie within these stone walls.

Whether you are on your first visit or your thousandth, at some point a trip to the Museum will make you stop in your tracks, look up in awe and say, “Wow!”

The five-story tall Barosaurus at the main entrance

A 300 foot wide slice from Giant Sequoia tree

The 94 foot long blue whale

American Museum of Natural History

Barosaurus

Giant Sequoia

The Hall of Ocean Life

A Tiny Taste of the Silk Road

The Silk Road is an ancient trading route that stretches over high mountains and arid deserts to connect Europe with China. Just the words Silk Road conjure up visions of fearless nomads, dauntless explorers, isolated villagers, exotic cities, extraordinary landscapes and rare treasures.

It is still possible to follow the storied course; you can fly to Rome and go East, or start in Beijing and head westward. But if a long, expensive journey isn’t possible, you can find a small sample some of the sights and sounds found along Silk Road without leaving the city.

Tonight’s journey began in a curtained niche at Khyber Pass, an Afghani restaurant on St. Mark’s Place, where diners sat on tapestry-covered cushions. While sitars, ouds and drums played, the low table was covered with fragrant, steaming platters of mantoo (steamed dumplings filled with minced beef, onions, herbs and spices, served with a yogurt and meat sauce), fesenjan (boneless pieces of chicken cooked with walnuts and pomegranate juice), boulanee kadu (turnovers filled with pumpkin and served with a creamy yogurt dip), quorma sabzee (spicy spinach, coriander, scallions, lamb and rice), a basket of dense, golden Afghani bread and cups of Turkish coffee and shir-chay (a traditional pink tea brewed with mik, sugar, cardamom and rose petals).

Dinner was followed by a short walk to Chelsea. There the Rubin Museum of Art, dedicated to the art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, offered another step along the Silk Road: an exhibition entitled I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion. The show presents the history, art and culture of the Sikh religion, which was founded in northern India in the 15th century.

The museum, located in a 70,000 square-foot building that once housed a chic department store, opened less than two years ago. It includes a steel and marble staircase that spirals dramatically through the seven-story gallery tower and, surprisingly, a dimly-lit cocktail lounge on the ground floor.

Admission to the Rubin Museum of Art, normally $10, is free Friday evenings from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. Dinner at Khyber Pass is about $20 per person. Budget tours of the Silk Road start at about $1,700, not including air fare from New York to China.

I See No Stranger

Rubin Museum of Art

New York Times: Wonders of Sikh Spirituality

AM New York: The World of the Sikh

Khyber Pass Restaurant

Menu Pages: Khyber Pass Restaurant

Tours of The Silk Road

The Silk Road Project