Natural History Museum

After seeing Regis and Kelly, we went to lunch at Zabar's (quintessential NY deli and grocery). Once we re-fueled, we were ready to take on the museum. The museum building itself is bigger than you can imagine. It takes up a whole block and is 5 stories tall. We had to refer to the building map more than once!! It primarily focuses on people and animals of the world. There is more there than you want to hear about.....so I will tell say that as we explored several areas, certain people came to mind, and I'll mention those. In the dinosaur area I was surprised at how many bones they had excavated, and how complete the skeletons were. My nephew John LOVES the dino's and I couldn't help but wish he were there to enjoy it with us (and explain everything!) Then I thought of our adventurous friend, Cameron Roberts as we walked thru the various displays about people of the world. She collects hand-crafted masks (collected while living abroad) and I noticed that in several areas - Africa, American Indians, Near East , Mexico -- masks were an integral part of the displays. Lastly, I thought of all our Demery Hill (Seattle) friends as we toured the section on NW Indian Tribes. While we had seen many totem poles out west, I don't think I had ever seen this large of a collection in one place. Wednesday was a great day with great memories.

Chatting it Up with Regis & Kelly

I can't believe it, but Wed we got up at 6 AM for the purpose of seeing Regis and Kelly. Ok, I admit it, we do seem to find ourselves having a cup of coffee at home around 9, and "host chat" is on. Not the highlight of our day, but it's on. So off we are to the Upper Westside to get in the stand-by line. Lady Luck was with us. We were # 22 & 23 in the stand-by line and about 28 or so got in, so we made it! And they were taping 2 shows that day. One to air on Wed, the other to air on July 5. Here is the scoop: Guests were Dolly Parton (WAY WAY too much botox and makeup), but she was nice. Vern Yip (yes, I watch HGTV!) and US World Cup Soccer scorer -Langon Donovan. For the 2nd show, we saw Dennis Leary (Gary saw him smoking a cigarette out on the street, cool dude) and Yankee's pitcher Andy Pettit (tall, dark, and handsome). What you don't know: Regis literally lives diagonally across the street from the studio. His next door neighbor is Alan Alda. He leaves his apartment every am at 8:20 (on the air at 9AM not much of a commute) and has a body guard walk with him down the street to the ABC studio. That's where I had my photo with him (I should have put on makeup and fixed my hair but it was 6 am!!!). When Gary was taking the photo, Regis said "Hurry up Buddy!" because he was running a little late and needed to get inside. They are very nice to you there. They had a coffee truck on the curb and they gave everyone in line free coffee and doughnuts. Regis and Kelly were both very friendly to the studio audience at commercial break. Kelly is skinnier than you can imagine and has 2 tattoos. Someone asked about the tatts....she said the one on her wrist it says "Consuelos" and she said the one on her ankle represents "stupidity". Then she told all the girls in the audience : never get a tattoo. She also told us where she gets her hair done, and said she was in "desperate need of a touch up". Regis was very comfortable, and you could tell he was a pro. He thought some of his jokes were really funny and you could tell he enjoyed it when he said something funny. He wanted to get the taping done, he kept saying "get it rolling".

The Kissing Post

Ellis Island was both an interesting and heartwarming experience. These are a few of the things that made an impression on me.

The Kissing Post refers to the spot where people already in US were united with their relatives that were newly arrived via Ellis Island.

" I saw this man coming forward...I didn't know he was my father...Later on I realized why he looked so familiar to me. He looked just like I did. But that's when I met him for the first time. And I fell in love with him and he with me." Katherine B., a Russian Jewish Immigrant in 1910, interviewed in 1985.

When people had medical or mental problems that would cause them to be rejected (deported) a big "X" was written in chalk on that individual's coat. In one display an immigrant stated that their companion got marked with an "X" but one of the Ellis Island officials advised them to turn their coat inside out, thus they both gained entry to US.

The paper tags pinned to these men in the photo here indicated which train the men were to take once they left Ellis Island. Most people entering didn't speak English and so these tags told the train conductors how to process people in the direction they were to go to meet family that was waiting for them.

The ticket to sail from Europe to US (3rd class) in early 1900's cost between $600-$700 in today's $$. So people coming over may have been really poor when they got here, but certainly everyone who wanted to come wouldn't have been able to raise this considerable amount of funds.

Lady Liberty

Tuesday was another day of 90+ degree weather, and we decided to head out to the water to catch a cool breeze and a view of the Statue of Liberty. Everyone knows the statue is made of copper but amazingly, it is only the thickness of 2 pennies. It was wonderful to get off the boat, see her up close and from all angles.

France presented the statue on July 4, 1885, as a gift from the French people to the American people. Eiffel (of the Eiffel Tower) was the project engineer. She stands 302 feet tall, and greets you at harbor entrance. Broken shackles at Liberty's feet signify escape from tyranny; the torch symbolizes truth and justice illuminating the world; the spikes of her crown denote the 7 seas and 7 continents; and the tablet bears the date of the Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776.

Regrettably, security has been tightened since 9/11, and we noticed this fact. After 9/11 the stairs that go up in the torch were closed. It is now open, but only 300 people per day can have access. Torch tours are sold out till October. We had to go thru airport security to get on the boat, then when we got off the boat, we saw 2 officers in swat gear (machine guns) watching the crowd.

The Highline - rail road gone green

Here we go again...New York has really created some unique gathering spaces. The Highline is a new park space that opened about a year ago. A group has taken over the old elevated rail road track (kinda like how the "L" is overhead in Chicago) and turned it into a park. They've left the train tracks in some places, and in others they've covered the tracks and created walkways out of concrete or steel. The Hudson River comes into view in some places, in other places you see buildings from a raised perspective -- rather than from the ground. In some places you can look down and see the restaurants/traffic/pedestrians below.

The clock in the photo is to remind me of how "art" is built in to the space. There is one section that you walk thru that has a different "bell" ring...but there is only one "ring" per minute. We stood there for 3 minutes and we heard a cow bell, then a bicycle bell, then a clock chime...various "rings" like that go on for an hour. You couldn't see them, you could only hear them. Then on the hour (in our case, at 9:00) ALL 59 bells ring at once. It sounded like a one man band kinda clangy thing. Anyway, it was quite interesting and just another example of how art is incorporated all around the city in many creative ways.

I thought storing cans in the oven was an original idea until...

Our "studio" is SMALL...especially the "kitchen", so I thought it was an original idea to store our recyclable cans in the oven.
But NO, we've discovered this local TV show (kinda like HGTV but just about " all things new york" And today we saw an apartment where the girl stored shoes in her refrigerator . Purses were in her kitchen cabinets.
The interviewer asked her what she did when she wanted to serve company a drink, and the girl responded "there's a nice cafe down the street!".

(my Grandmother, "Granny Lou" used to store things in her oven, because she had so few kitchen cabinets--that's where I got the idea)

Edgy East Village

We had to stop for a pick me up at the Yaffa Cafe. I was too embarrassed to take a photo inside. Let your imagination run with this:


On the Walls - Elvis was competing with Jim Morrison on top of black and white flocked wall paper.
On the ceiling - Tiki lights, chinese lanterns and classic diner signs
Around the bar - big photos of grass
Around the window - little alters with all kinds of kitsch on top of each other
Quite the colorful spot! Like Asheville on STEROIDS!

One thing that was nice, when we got up to leave the girl sitting in the booth behind us stopped us and said "I was hoping you'd never leave. I just love hearing you talk - I was listening to every word". So guess we aren't the only voyeurs in the neighborhood.

Another day we stopped in Criff Dog. They have a wood/glass full size phone booth in there that is the secret entrance to a supposedly swank martini bar. I read somewhere that you have to make reservations just to enter the bar.

A Picture is Worth A 1000 Words

Isn't this a sweet picture. Doesn't a window sill make a good spot to create art? I took this yesterday as we were walking around our neighborhood.

It's All About the Hat!!!

Besides seeing Harry, the other highlight of the day was seeing the girls preen. These New Yorkers certainly have style and it is such a treat to people watch. The polo match had everyone coming out in full form. Sophisticated sun dresses, high heels, and parasols ruled the day. These photos are a few of my favorites. Mind you, we were on the "free admission" side of the field....wonder how good the women on the other side of the field looked? Tickets over there cost a mere $250 pp.

On the ferry ride home we had a very nice encounter with a native NY'er and her 2 young adult daughters. I had already noticed the lady was dressed upper east side all the way, with a diamond ring that was seriously big and blindingly sparkly. She wasn't flashy, but you could tell she had class and $$. They liked the fact that we were here on an extended stay and said "welcome to our city". They gave us some pointers on things to see, such as the Strand bookstore and a cabaret show in a ritzy hotel. She said the cabaret was what real New Yorkers do. The mother really was quite nice even though she is in another social class for sure. While discussing the match, she mentioned that in "another time in her life, she had "access" to the royal family and had sat with them in their private box at Wimbledon. She regretted that the dress code had slipped from prior days".

The Prince and the Ponies

Number One - Never saw a prince before
Number Two - Never saw a polo match before
Sounds like a good reason to head over see what it's all about.


Prince Harry is in town to do a charity polo match. Can you believe....he is #1 for the white team - The Black Rocks. I think he did the Queen proud...he scored the first point and then later in the first half he also scored a go ahead point. It was lots of fun to be there. Fast paced, nice looking horses, and a very aristocratic feel to the event.

Saturday, in the Park

We actually were at the park again on both Saturday and Friday. Friday was a shut out!! Alicia Keys was playing in Central Park for Good Morning America. We got up at 6 am and shlepped up there, but were beat by the early risers. We heard people started lining up at 4 AM. There were about 150 people in front of us when they cut off entrance into the concert area.... If only we hadn't stopped for that cup of coffee--we would have made it!! Oh well, it wasn't a total loss as we got to see a very cute Marley dog. Saturday sights and sounds included the white face bugler, and this historical victorian dairy bar which is now a gift shop. While at the carousel we saw a little girl celebrating her 5th birthday. She had a cake in the shape of the carousel that spun around. It was sweet to see.

The Hudson Promenade

Dinner Friday night was wine & cheese, with a beautiful sunset view and cool breezes. You have to give NY credit for making every square inch of land count, and creating park/green space where ever they can. They made the narrow strip of land between the road and the river into a promenade (wide walking path with benches, trees etc) that runs the entire length of the city (from way above Central Park to the tip at Battery Park) along the Hudson River. What is so great for us, is that this is only about a 5 min walk from our studio. It is a breath of fresh air! Across the river is New Jersey -- so 2 of these photos are the buildings we see as we looked out toward NJ . The skyscraper is, of course, the Empire State Building, which came in to view as we looked back toward the city. We had seen it a couple times during the day, but it was quite stunning as the sun went down. Hudson Promade - we'll be back.

A Mad Scientist, I mean Mad Historian

I mean SERIOUSLY, if I told you a 3 1/2 tour with an historian/architect was INTERESTING, would you think I'm crazy or I'm a nerd? But our tour Friday was fascinating. I want to look into more about exactly who our guide guy was, but am certain he must be a college professor who LOVES his job as tour guide on Fridays. He has been doing it for 35 years!! And he didn't want to stop!! It was a tour of Grand Central Terminal (NOT Station!) and surrounding buildings. He was passionate about architecture/history/philosophy and it was INFECTIOUS. Basically, he told us all the decorations on the buildings were the "building talking to us". For example, we went to a bank building (you wouldn't believe how grand it was), and he told us about the symbolism in the carvings around the door - the Owl -- you would want to invest your money with smart people, right? The Squirrel - represented the whole story about saving up. He showed us a huge marble table in the bank, and said that was the origin of the saying "cold hard cash". In Grand Central, he crawled on the floor to show us that the size of the floor tiles were based on the human measurements of your arm and leg. The floor where you enter the main terminal, is built on an incline-- the architect designed it that way because is that your body reacts with your head looking "up" - so that you see the beautiful custom painted soaring ceiling......No way can I condense 210 minutes of theatrics and history here, but just let me say, if you're in NY on a Friday, his tour is a "must do". Plus it is free!

Later, I did "google" Justin Ferate. Sure enough, he is "architectural historian extraordinaire". He is quite famous, a leader in the NY Architectural Society and has studied in Europe.

Calm Amid the Storm - St. Paul's Chapel

It really hits you when you see that that the ONLY thing that separated ground zero and this chapel is one single city street--and yet, not a single window in the chapel was broken. God's Hand in Evidence. This church became a place of refuge for the firemen and ground zero workers for a full 9 months following the attack. A few of the many things that touched my heart: ** 500+ musicians played in the 9 months that followed 9/11. Amazing Grace and Danny Boy were played at least one time every day. ** The volunteers who served at the Chapel had to sign a log each day as they arrived, and provide a phone number. The log was maintained for the purpose of having contact info in case of another attack. 14,000 people served. ** At one point the priest's mother made him a robe and put one patch on it. As the priest served, a fireman pinned his patch to the robe, and then one by one more patches were added. To this day, firefighters who visit the site add patches to the pile. The patches came to represent solidarity between the chapel and the ground zero workers.

9/11

We spent Thursday at Ground Zero. It is hard to write about. The destruction and loss of lives becomes so much more personal when you are here. All during the week, we had seen reminders of 9/11, though out the city.






The fire vehicle in the photo was driving through our neighborhood and has names of fallen firefighters from that station painted on the window. The fire station in Brooklyn had a memorial display - they lost 12 men. The firehouse closest to WTC had the photos of all 343 who died posted outside the station. The plaque there said "Dedicated to Those who Fell and to Those Who Carry On".

Sing Me a Song, You're the Piano Man!

I had one friend from Atlanta and another from Seattle email me to see if we had seen the pianos on the street. So it's been in the national news. An artist guy had the idea of putting 60 pianos all over the 5 boroughs in public places to encourage interaction among strangers. We have seen 2 - and anyone can sit down and perform. The pianos are painted brightly, and this one was labeled "Play Me, I'm Yours". We were serenaded Thursday in City Hall Park by this talented gent. In this instance, I don't know that you'd say that there was a lot of "friendly interaction" going on. There was another guy who obviously thought our guy had overstayed his welcome. He was really ready for his turn to show off how well he could play. By the way, our guy here should have gotten together with "the Donald" after his performance. They could have exchanged some hair styling tips (or not!).

(Later I came back to this post and added a couple more photos. We stumbled upon the pianos all over the city.)

Walls CAN Talk - Tenement Museum

SUPER INTERESTING Day. We toured a tenement building in the lower east side. Historically this is where immigrants first lived upon arrival in US.

When the landlord of 97 Orchard Street died in the late 1980's, the five unused stories of the buildings above the storefronts he controlled were opened for the first time in 50 years. Inside this time capsule were twenty tenement apartments, left exactly as they were when the landlord closed up the residenitial part of the building. (he didn't have the $$ to pay for fireproofing to make the building "meet code"--so he simply boarded the apartments up). The museum has used oral histories (interviews from children who lived there), city records (such as photos from police arrests), and research to restore the tenement to look as it did during various periods in time. We couldn't take photos inside. The inside was dark, narrow. But it also had tin roof panels and decorative paintings on the wall -not what you expected. The building we went in had 22 apts - each was about 3 rooms in 300 sf - BR, Kitchen, and Living area, with typically 4-6 people living in each. No bathrooms in the building in 1860's--outhouses on back. Later, in the 20's the city mandated 1 toilet for every 2 apartments, and toiletss were added. The tour was a naration of 2 families that lived in the building. Over the course of the years, they figure 7000 people have lived in the building. Around 1900 they said 2000 people lived in this single square block in lower east side--the highest density of people in the world.
Of interest:
One family was of German descent. At the time they lived there, this was 4th largest city of German speaking people. So that means this area had a concentration of more German speaking people than many cities in Germany. At the point the family earned enough money to move to a better area, they moved to upper west side where there was a large German community--just a higher class.

The goal of the museum is to make history come alive but also for us to see that we are ALL immigrants and need to see people as individuals.

My Favorite Memory Today

We started out this morning at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (FREE!!! on Tuesdays--one of the perks of being here and not being on a tight schedule) They are celebrating their 100th Anniversary, and the grounds were bigger and more peaceful than you would expect in the middle of the city.













One part of the gardens was a "Walk of Fame". It was made up of people who were born in Brooklyn, or made themselves "famous" in Brooklyn. There were tons of famous names on the walk (Barbara Streisand, Neil Simon, Sandy Koufax, Woody Allen etc etc ) but Gary's fave was the 3 Stooges. After we left the gardens, we walked thru the "Park Slope" neighborhood in Brooklyn. It has a very "neighborhood feel" as opposed to being in the city. The brownstones were very elaborate with picture windows and ornate carvings/trim. We ended up in a crossroads area that seemed like you were in Paris. There was a big Arc Monument (saluting the victory of the North in the Civil War), then on the same piazza was the Brooklyn Public Library, and some tall tower monuments marking in grand style the entrance to Prospect Park. We found it notable that these impressive structures are so close to Manhattan..... in any other US city they would be huge tourist attractions on their own, but because they are here, they seem to be a bit overlooked. It just makes you think about how many people live in this area, and how much there is to see.

But even though the day was fun, my favorite memory was back here in our neighborhood. ( I have no photos, cause I'm trying not to look like a tourist.) First, we had dinner at a great place called Extra Virgin. Sat on the sidewalk and just had the perfect perch to "people watch". Mostly, I notice how the girls are so "smartly" dressed. It isn't like high fashion, but they just look very put together and "smart" is the best way to say it. Also, EVERYoNE has cute dogs, and it is simply fun to watch them walk around in this environment.

When is the last time someone on a Razor Scooter ran into you in the grocery store ????? After we ate we stopped in "Gourmet Garage" grocery store (just like the name implies) and this little girl nearly scooted into Gary. As we left the store, we saw this same girl, and her dad --- he was also on a Razor Scooter--. They had come in to pick up a ready made dinner, and then were taking it home to eat.....The scooter was their means of transportation. It is so interesting to see how differently the people in our neighborhood here live differently than anywhere else we have lived. This is why I feel lucky to be doing this whole thing.