I’ve still Got It! My New York walk that is. I wasn’t a half block from my friend Jerry’s apartment on Ninth Avenue when I was accosted by a group of German speaking tourists. They’d seen my bright striped hat and flagged me down for a Fringe Festival show. I was already on my way somewhere else so declined but when one spoke to the others in German and I spoke up in German they jumped in delight to hear a "New Yorker" speaking German. Funny! They were surprised to learn that I too was a visitor. Two of them were from Germany and the girl with the blood red hair was Swiss. It’s good to know I can still speak ein bischen Deutsch after being back in the States for two years.
I was in NY visiting my friend Jerry who had some work to do for some of the weekend so I set out on my own dodging a lot of European tourists on August holiday in my former home town.
Times Square was jammed as was Macy’s. Quite a bit has changed since I moved out in 1990. For one thing, Times Square and the parks are beautiful and safe now.
So is Hell’s Kitchen where I once worked in this theater. Hmmm! Might have to come back to catch this show by the Ephron sisters.
Cameron McIntosh once lived in this building - wonder how many millions he sold it for?
And here is the famous Actors’ Studio just down the street from where my pal Jerry lives. Paul Newman once had a flat just across the street.
Central Park is especially lush after plenty of rain with landscaping and restoration by the Park Conservancy. Here is an old favorite, Bethesda Fountain,
with water lilies.
The graffiti is gone from this beautiful old passageway and look at the gorgeous ceiling and
walls. Even the restrooms are safe now - not so when I lived here in the late 70's and ‘80s and people thought me brave to walk my dog in the Park.
I snagged a ticket for Saturday to Next To Normal an amazing Broadway musical which I’d missed at Arena Stage in Washington. This rock musical (and I don’t usually like rock musicals!) won several Tony awards and is probably the best show I’ve seen in years. Difficult material - the effect of mental illness on a family - but brilliantly handled and surprisingly entertaining. Wow! Theater as it should be.
Saturday morning I walked down to what’s left of the millinery district on 38th Street between Fifth and Sixth and was sad to see that so much is gone now. Even Manny’s Millinery Supply’s store front is open only 11 to 6:00 TWTh and 11-4:00 on Fridays. Hyman Hendler is long gone but So Good Ribbons (cash only) remains. I didn’t buy anything as most were closed on Saturday in this neighborhood. I was glad to see that an old favorite, M&J Trim, was still open for business in the same spot on Sixth Avenue @ 38th Street. (I once desiged a suede fez around a glitzy Spanish tassel I bought here!) M&J is full of goodies and has added a large section of beading supplies. In fact, many of the old millinery store fronts are now bead shops. The way of the world, I guess (sigh!).
I popped into Lord & Taylor on Fifth at mid-day to find it still expensive but nearly empty of shoppers. That’s not all that was empty either. For the first time in memory I saw apartment buildings advertising apartments for rent. There are many empty storefronts and offices too. Yes, Virginia, there is a recession on but New York is still full of vigor. I was happy to see pedestrian zones on Broadway for us walkers but my pal Jerry says these have made traffic on Ninth Avenue a nightmare.
Love the planters too.
The good news is that old favorites like Zabar’s, Fairway Market (which now has a restaurant upstairs) and H&H Bagels are still going strong in my old neighborhood.
Fiorello’s is still here across from Lincoln Center where, with Jerry, I had my first taste of Pasta Primavera after my performance on Broadway. I went home and tried to recreate the recipe and have been enjoying it ever since. Vivo Fiorello!
My pal Juli and I had dinner at another old favorite, The Cottage Chinese restaurant, where I ordered my "fix" of Szechuan dumplings in hot oil. Juli doesn’t eat pork so I enjoyed all 14 of them - just as good as ever - and still with the free cheap wine. You might want to check it out next time you are near 77th and Amsterdam. Dinner for two with more food than we could eat and plenty of that wine was $23.00. Tasty!
That’s not all that’s affordable either. I made my way to NYC and back for only $43.50 on the Bolt Bus. It was air conditioned and a straight shot from downtown DC to downtown NYC in just a few hours. The only snag was that I’d forgotten to bring my iPod and was subjected to incessant cell phone conversations - yeesh!
New twin towers at Columbus Circle. Another NY cheap thrill has always been window shopping.
Glad to see Coach is adding hats to their collection here at Columbus Circle Galleria.
And check out these great striped raffia hats on 44th Street (store closed for August). Wonder if Judith M carries the striped raffia? Cheery!
It was great to see good friends and my old hometown looking fine! I will definitely be making this trip more often. Poco scolded me something awful when I got home Monday but I happen to know he was plenty spoiled by my housesitter Mary Frances and is just fine!
K Q:-)