Tales of Two Cities

The Lower East Side

On a recent trip to New York City I enjoyed a brief but fascinating walking tour of the Lower East Side. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the area was inhabited largely by immigrant Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe living in crowded cold water flats. In 1900, the Lower East Side's 10th ward was reportedly the most densely populated area in the world. It was here that New York City's garment trade was born.  Here, too, that the terrible Triangle Shirtwaist Fire took place on March 25, 1911, killing 146, most of them young immigrant women. That horror galvanized the working class and reform-minded middle classes to push for labor reforms.

The makeup of the population of the Lower East Side has changed over the years. It is no longer primarily Jewish. Former synagogues have taken on new uses. (We saw one that was painted in garish shades of pink - its purpose today impossible to deduce from the limited signage.) Small, oriental shops sell clothing, furniture and other goods at bargain prices.  The tenements are gone. Now, attractive renovated buildings stand side by side with functional low income housing. New upscale cafés, restaurants and bars draw a young, hip crowd. Just recently, the area has become "hot."  It is gentrifying at a rapid pace.

Some things, however, haven't changed since the late 18th century.  One of these is Katz's Delicatessen (see photo).  Walking into this huge space that smells wonderfully of deli food, it is easy to imagine the scent of hot pastrami seducing the hungry over a hundred years ago as it continues to do today. Just as in the "old days," I could not enter Katz's without taking a ticket with numbers printed on it.  A sign at the entrance warned me that it would cost me $50.00 if I lost it!   Each purchase is recorded by a hole puncher to mark the cost. Upon leaving the delicatessen you check out through the cashier or return your unused ticket.  Or else!  Alas, hot pastrami was not on the evening's agenda, so I turned in my ticket sans punched holes and was allowed to go on my way.

In doing research for this entry, I discovered that Katz's Delicatessen, like Chartier in Paris (founded just 6 years after Katz's), is a popular set for film makers.  Meg Ryan's famously faked orgasm in "When Harry Met Sally" (original screen play by my Wellesley College classmate Nora Ephron) took place at Katz's.  Find out more of the delicatessen's film history here.  (Warning:  Probably only worth it for those of you with high speed Internet connections and a bit of time and patience. You have to navigate into the site from the cover page and endure at least part of an opening presentation in order to get to the good stuff.)

My brief introduction to a part of Manhattan about which I knew little moved me in unexpected ways. It made the cultural variety and social complexity of New York City and the lives of the people who contributed to its history more real.  It made me want to get to know the city and its ethnically rich history better.  I will no longer be able to think of Gotham solely in terms of Wall Street, Broadway shows, fine restaurants, world class museums, and the remarkable green space, Central Park.  Like Paris, I now recognize that it is challenging and fascinating in all of its aspects, worthy of endless visits.  Life just isn't long enough, is it?

Learn more about the history of the Lower East Side here. Here ae some suggestions from the New York Times of places to eat near the Lower East Side Tenement Museum on Orchard Street.  You can take a tour of the Museum at this web site.

Addendum:  The developments in the Lower East Side reminded me of ongoing changes in the 11th arrondissement where we live when we are in Paris.  It, too, is a neighborhood of immigrants and it, too, is undergoing "trendification" as it becomes popular with the affluent younger crowd. See my earlier blog entries here and here for more on that subject. 

Postcard from Home - Big Apple Adventure Part III

Around 4:30 Sunday morning, I was awakened by a flash of light followed by rumbling.  I opened my eyes and noted that snow was piled up against the window of our 35th floor hotel room.  I thought a minute, decided I must have imagined the flash, and went back to sleep.  Thunder and lightening do not go with snow storms, right?  But it happened again, and then again as dawn approached and there was no doubt.  The predicted blizzard conditions had arrived.

First order of business, after coffee, orange juice and a muffin from the purveyor in the lobby, was to confirm that the trains were running.  A decision needed to be made.  Should we take an earlier train, stick with our plan to take the 6 p.m. Acela. or stay over another night.  Charles, my loyal sherpa, fought high winds, snow banks and blowing snow to check out the situation at Penn Station.  Trains were running late, but ours was expected to make the trip -- sooner or later.  As we considered our options, the hotel's fire alarm went off.  At that moment, having a room on the 35th floor seemed like a really bad idea.  Quickly, we made our decision, packed our bags and checked out.

We lunched at the now familiar Tick Tock Diner and I took a few pictures through the windows (see above for one of them). Conditions were too wet and windy for me to use the camera outdoors, alas.  Fortified, we trudged through the snow to the subway for an easy trip back to the American Museum of Natural History.  Charles wanted to revisit the Darwin exhibit and we both wanted to spend time in other parts of this intriguing and unique museum.  We were pleased to discover that you can enter the Museum right from the subway.  Perfect!!

After a leisurely afternoon in the company of a large number of families who had had the same idea, we made the requisite visit to the museum shop to buy books and, of course, scientific funsies for The Adorable One. Here is one of the photos I was able to take looking at Central Park from the safety of the front steps of the museum before we hopped back on the subway.  Charles gallantly dropped me off at Penn Station so I wouldn't have to go outside then, as I relaxed with a warm cup of coffee, he went into sherpa mode to collect our luggage from the hotel.  His trek back to the station was arduous. He discovered the hard way that having wheels on luggage is useless in blizzards.

The end of our adventure was quite tame.  By late afternoon, New York City had received a record snow fall in Central Park (27 inches I believe). Our Amtrak train was the first of the day to leave on time and we arrived at Back Bay Station only 10 minutes later than scheduled.  Of course, our adventure wasn't quite over.  Boston, too, had received a substantial amount of snow (18 inches or so) and we had 4 short and 1 long, snowy, slippery  blocks to haul our luggage.  At least Charles had help this time.  We opened our door to find two warm and contented cats.  'Tis true.  There is no place like home.

Postcard from Home - Big Apple Adventure Part II

Saturday of our New York City adventure was all about extended family - the one all of us share with the animal kingdom and one that is more personal.

We woke on Saturday to gray skies.  Visibility was still good, however, and, even though the weather channel was warning of an approaching blizzard in DC, NYC and Boston, there was no evidence of it yet.  We took the subway to the American Museum of Natural History where we met our good friend (and extended family member) Barbara who had gotten us all tickets to see the Darwin exhibit that morning.  Barbara, my sister's sister-in law, was in New York to visit her son and his family, to see the Darwin exhibit and to attend a special event scheduled at the Museum on Sunday.  Barbara taught 6th grade for years and is passionate about science.

The huge dinosaur skeleton in the photo graces the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall as you enter the museum on the first floor.

No photography is allowed in the Darwin exhibit proper, but you can take pictures of the live Galapagos tortoises (mere babes at 2 to 3 feet long) just before entering.  The tortoises were lively considering that they are tortoises and it was wonderful to see youngsters with their noses pressed against the glass watching in fascination.

The Exhibit was extensive.  It took us 2 1/2 hours to get through it and, at that, we didn't see every detail.  It is comprised of large posters with photos and text chronicling Darwin's life and work. Excerpts from relevant correspondence with typed versions beside each were displayed in glass covered cases below the posters, which was a good thing because, as beautiful as the handwriting was, it was hard to read.  There was a life sized reproduction of his home library where he worked and wrote in the years following his voyage on the Beagle.

A huge, live iguana (the same kind as the one that Barbara keeps on her back porch) lounged behind glass, looking inert except when its eyes opened and followed those peering through the glass and, periodically, when its chest moved as it took a breath.  There were also live South American ornate horned frogs whose camoflage made them a challenge to spot among the rocks and moss in their display case.  Otherwise, the animals on display were either preserved specimens or models. Some of the smaller specimens, like beetles, were set up with microscopes of the type used by Darwin that allowed you to take a closer look.  For me, It was a particular thrill to see a tray of Darwin's finches and to be able to observe the differences in the beaks!

In general, I do not care for exhibits that are mostly made up of posters, but this one worked well and it is hard to imagine how all of the information could have been conveyed otherwise.  Nevertheless, I have two complaints.  First, the lighting was way too dim making it really hard to read the interesting materials.  Second, I thought that there was too much proselytizing.  The force of the exhibit was enough to make the point and the film clips and other materials emphasizing the legitimacy of evolution felt to me like protesting too much. 

Exhausted and exhilarated, we walked to the nearby Ocean Grill for lunch.  By the time we finished, it was sleeting lightly.  Still, the mild temperatures lured us into believing that the forecast blizzard would not happen.

Saturday evening we took the subway uptown to Broadway and 72nd street to the home of Barbara's son and family.  Sipping on a glass of wine we chatted with know Scott and Mariela and enjoying the antics of Jack and Allie, their two very bright and active children  Then it was into the subway again for the trip downtown to one of Mariela's favorite restaurants, Landmarc in TriBeCa.  There the five us us enjoyed a wonderful dinner with stimulating conversation in a high energy environment.  Ah New York!

The snow was beginning to stick a bit as we left the restaurant for the subway ride to the hotel.  But temperatures were still on the warm side and we thought perhaps that the forecast blizzard would not happen.  Wrong!!

Postcard from Home - Big Apple Adventure Part I

On Friday, February 10, we boarded the Amtrak Acela at the Back Bay Station for a three day weekend adventure in New York City.  The meteorologists were talking about a possible blizzard on Saturday and Sunday, but the mild weather and bright sun as we rode through Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut to our destination promised otherwise. Besides, we figured that the trains would operate even during a blizzard. Which isn't strictly true, of course.  The trains don't run if the winds get too high.  But more about that in Part III.

Our room was ready for us when we arrived at the Ramada New Yorker Hotel located a conveniently short walk from Penn Station.  After a quick consultation with the concierge, we had booked good seats to see Wicked that evening at a much better price than I had been able to find on the Internet. 

After a leisurely lunch at the Tick Tock Diner (pictured above), we took the subway downtown to the Chelsea district to see two photography exhibits that interested us.  First stop was the Hasted Hunt Gallery located in a giant warehouse building on West 20th Street near the Chelsea piers where the Dutch commercial photographer, Erwin Olaf, was having his first US show. New York Times art reviewer, Ken Johnson, described the works this way:  "The large, carefully staged photographs of people in midcentury American clothes and environments ... look like the dreams of a deeply depressed Norman Rockwell."  The picture at the beginning of this paragraph is one of the more evocative and disturbing on display at Hasted Hunt.  You can visit Olaf's web site to see other pictures that were in the show (the "Hope" and "Rain" series) as well as samples of his other work, including edgy advertising images which Mr. Johnson described as "irreverent, sexy, funny and surrealistic."  Be warned that Olaf's photographs are unsettling and many are sexually explicit.  The exhibition closed on February 18.

Next we strolled along 12th Avenue by the Chelsea piers to West 24th Street where the Gogasian Gallery was exhibiting the most recent work of Alec Soth, a series called Niagara. The gallery press release says:  "Throughout NIAGARA Soth emphasizes various motifs associated with romance, ranging from newlywed bliss to heart-broken agony, the innocent and sacred to the perverse."  While there were many arresting images, including two of the falls, overall we didn't find Soth's work compelling.  You can can take a look at the pictures on Soth's web site and judge for yourself. This exhibition runs through February 25th.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow ...

The first time I saw Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz was in the 1940s.  I was excited about its being in color (something special in those days) and was very disappointed when it began in sepia.  Then - what a magical moment it was - Dorothy opened a door and found herself in the full-color land of Oz.

The transition has been made even better in the newly published digital transfer made from restored film and available on DVD in a three-disc collector's edition.  (If you have broadband Internet access, click here for the Warner Brothers site.)  It is a feast for the eyes. The scenes in Kansas are in rich sepia and the Technicolor© is vibrant without being over saturated.  None of which makes me like the movie's ending any better.  I believed that there really was an Oz and the idea that Dorothy's adventure was only a dream diminished the magic for me. Well, maybe not entirely. Sometimes, even today, part of me believes that there is a somewhere over the rainbow.

Speaking of Oz, we recently saw Wicked on Broadway.  What a fabulous extravaganza of song, dance and special effects it was, all enacted on an amazing set.  Based on a book of the same name, the musical is the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.  The tale has a decidedly modern, tongue-in-cheek twist.  Think Glinda as Valley Girl and the Wicked Witch as a misunderstood do-gooder demonized by those in power. As Kermit the frog sang: It isn't easy to bein' green. 

Postcard from Home - To New York City with the 5D

Last Wednesday, Charles and I walked a few short blocks to Boston's Back Bay Station and hopped aboard the 6:20 a.m. Acela to New York's Penn Station to take in the Fra Angelico exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We also planned to check out the Cloisters, which we had never visited, before catching the 5 o'clock train back to Boston.  I had Chris' Canon 5D in tow with my 50 mm f 2.5 compact macro lens.

Less than 3 1/2 hours later, we had arrived.  We did our usual thing and grabbed a cab to the MET.  This is a photo taken out of the cab window on 8th Avenue near West 57th street.  The variety of architecture that assails the eye hurts the brain.  Our Haitian cab driver turned out to be an art aficionado who talked non-stop and intelligently during the 10 minute drive. His favorite Picasso is the portrait of Gertrude Stein.  Very interesting choice on his part.

The Fra Angelico exhibit, which closes on January 29, was well worth the trip.  Most of the works were painted between 1427 and 1444 and feature beautiful detail work (a lot of gilt), lovely skin tones and gorgeous colors. It is always fascinating to see the faces on art work from many centuries ago.  They could belong to today's New Yorkers - well, some of them.  I was taken with the architectural details in the backgrounds of many of the pictures and I also particularly liked "St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata." a tempera on wood, which had the look of a wood cut because of the stylized manner in which the walls of a cave are represented.  Alas, no photography was allowed in the special exhibit.

Next on the agenda was The Cloisters. We had each done a quick check on the Internet to see how far away it was from the MET and gotten the mistaken impression that, while not in walking distance, it was fairly close-by.  We checked with some folks to find out the best way to get there and decided to take the M4 bus from Madison and East 83d to the end of the line, figuring it would take us maybe 20 to 25 minutes.  An hour later we arrived at Fort Tryon on the northern end of Manhattan island wondering how we were going to get back to Penn Station in time for our train home.

With time at a premium, we headed first for the collection of early tapestries, one of the best outside the Cluny in Paris.  Because the colors are so sensitive to light, these centuries-old artworks are kept in very low light conditions and provide a real challenge for hand-held, no-flash photography.  (It turns out that you can get a permit to use a tripod at the MET and The Cloisters.  Next time.) The picture of the unicorn was taken with the 5D using ISO 3200 and my 55 mm lens.  Because the lens was essentially wide open, there are some depth of field issues, but there was almost no noise from the high ISO, even in the blues.  I am really pleased with the quality of the photo under all of the circumstances.  Wow.  The full-frame sensor of the 5D really does make a difference.

Another things we wanted to check out on our short visit was the vaunted view of the Hudson.  Alas, fog totally obscured the river.  Oh well.  It is always good to have a reason to return.

We figured that we had better try the subway for our trip to Penn Station.  We grabbed the bus to take us through the park one stop to the subway station (the driver didn't make us pay), then took line 8 directly to Penn Station.  We were there in 20 minutes.  So, the lesson here is that it is most efficient to take the subway to the Cloisters -- unless you have a car or want to pay $20 or so for a cab. 

The trip home was uneventful and the train was on time.  Long day.  Great time.  Impressive performance by the 5D.