NYC Day 18: In Which I Give Macy's Annual July 4 Fireworks a Miss

A view from the Grand Central Terminal concourse (Click on images to view full sized)

Event of The Day: Macy's July 4th Fireworks (between E 24th and E 42nd streets).
I started the day with the best of intentions. My intention being to check out a few places downtown and then head over to the East River early to get a good viewing spot for the main event of the day: Macy's July 4 Fireworks Spectacular that was due to kick off sometime after 9.30pm. However, after being out and about for a good seven to eight hours, and after alighting from a bus at Fifth Avenue and starting the long walk down 42nd street towards the river, I dropped by the restrooms below Grand Central Terminal for a relief break, and on surfacing once more to street level and seeing the stream of people pouring down the road to the East River, I decided that enough was enough, and caught an M4 bus on Madison Avenue for the return journey to Washington Heights!

Somewhere along the Hudson River Greenway, a graveyard for discarded architectural remnants.

The Fireboat was going off without the need for fireworks of the explosive kind.

I know, I know. You are probably thinking, what is the point of this guy visiting New York City if he doesn't participate in one of the most anticipated events of the year?

The answer, dear reader, or answers, are pretty simple and straightforward, so for what it's worth: I was tired, for one. Secondly, it occurred to me that a sizable portion of the half million people attending the event would be trying to squeeze into every available type of transport for the ride to their homes or hotels, and most of those would be using buses or subways, and the thought of doing this brought to mind sardines packed into hot and sweaty sardine cans. And that's assuming it didn't take an hour or more to find transport that wasn't already packed to the gills (to continue the fish metaphor). No thanks.

The amazing Starrett-LeHigh Building use to dominate the skyline at this point along the river, but it is about to be eclipsed by the massive developments currently underway at the Hudson Yards site.

The butterfly unicorn at the Pier 62 Carousel

I approach my 69th year, I have to say I have seen more than my share of fireworks, including a Macy's July 4th event -- which took place during a change of location experiment on the Hudson River in 2010. Yes, it was spectacular and over the top as these events tend to be, but I figured that apart from the change in location back to the East River, the 2017 event probably wasn't going to differ all that much from the 2010 one.

Still, the day did not go to waste. Illustrating this post are a number of photographs from my peregrinations between 14th street and 42nd street, mostly along the Hudson River bordering the Chelsea neighborhood. They include images of Chelsea Market, the High Line (although I left that much acclaimed piece of architecture after only five minutes due to the heat of the day).

The logo on the door of this stunning piece of modern architecture has just three letters, IAC, which turns out be the home of "...a leading media and Internet company." 

Just a brief glimpse inside Chelsea Market. Apart from the thousands of tourists who flood the place every day, and the New Yorkers who serve them, do any other locals actually visit this complex, I wonder?

Best of all was my meal of the day; a Reuben sandwich with pastrami, and real Australian style hot chips, not those anemic looking fries that most restaurants and fast food chains dish up nowadays. Thanks to the Star On 18 diner on the corner of 10th Avenue and West 18th Street for this surprise treat.

The Reuben sandwich is described online as "...an American hot sandwich composed of corned beef (oops), Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, grilled between slices of rye bread." Oh well, I was offered pastrami as well as corned beef and an option and chose the pastrami.

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Tuesday 4, July | Expenses $38.00 ($49.85)

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 Any questions? Comments? Thoughts? Go on, you know you want to ask them or share them. Drop me a line via the comments box below or via my Twitter handle @jimlesses I won't bite, I promise.

NYC Day 17: The Rubin Museum of Art

The start of the spiral staircase that rises through the Rubin Museum

SENIORS FREE FIRST MONDAY'S @ THE RUBIN MUSEUM, 150, West 17th Street.
I caught a 1-train the 19th street station which was less than a couple hundred yards from the Rubin museum. The museum provides free entry to seniors (normally USD$10.00) on the first Monday of each month, and I was more than happy to take advantage of the offer. I have been to the Rubin Museum on previous visits to New York and enjoyed my visit enough to make a return trip today. The two new major exhibitions this summer are The World Is Sound, which is part exhibition, part sound installation. The second exhibition, Henri Cartier-Bresson: India in Full Frame, features sixty-nine photographs taken by this much acclaimed photographer during several trips to India from the late 1940s through until the early 1960s.

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room

Acoustic insulation in the Deep Listening room

The World Is Sound
This exhibition/installation juxtaposes sound art and Tibetan Buddhist ritual music cyclically, that is, from creation to death to rebirth. The work explores different dimensions of sound and listening and its many functions in Tibetan Buddhism. Some of the key concepts and terms explored through the exhibition encourage visitors to focus on ambient sounds, microtones, electronic music, drones (the musical type, not the modern flying craft), rhythm and polyrhythm, tone and timbre, and more besides.

I was particularly interested to learn about the late Pauline Oliveros's concept which she called, Deep Listening. The brochure for this part of the exhibition contains four exercises that visitors can employ to help them focus deeply on tuning in to the sounds around them. One of these exercises she called, Ear Piece, and asks thirteen questions that encourage Deep Listening. Here are the first five and final two:

1. Are you listening now?
2. Are you listening to what you are now hearing?
3. Are you hearing while you listen?
4. Are you listening while you are hearing?
5. Do you remember the last sound you heard before this question?

And so on, until the final two questions: Are you listening to sounds now or just hearing them? And... What sound is most meaningful to you?

Even working through the first five questions is harder than I thought it would be. After all, we live in a world where it is virtually impossible not to be surrounded by sounds that are loud, intrusive and constant. Especially here in New York City!

Henri Cartier-Bresson: India In Full Frame
In 1947 Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), co-founded the renowned Magnum photographic agency. Later that year he went to India for the first time and was in Delhi in January 1948 to meet with and photograph Mahatma Gandhi, who despite his diminutive physical size was one of the towering political figures of the 20th century. While Cartier-Bresson was not present when Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist on January 30, 1948, he was certainly present to document the subsequent funeral and the massive crowds of mourners who gathered to witness Gandhi's traditional cremation ceremony.

Above and below; images from the Cartier-Bresson exhibition

Above: Mahatma Gandhi's funeral pyre 

These images, and many others cemented Cartier-Bresson's reputation as one of the great photographers of the last century, and a selection of images from that period form an important part of the current exhibition at the Rubin Museum.

Many of the other photographs from the late 1940s capture a country that was right on the cusp of major political change, as India struggled to get out from under British colonial rule, a campaign that Gandhi was heavily involved in. For students of history, and of British colonial history and how that impacted on the Indian subcontinent, these images will surely be of interest. However, I suspect that other visitors will mostly regard them as historical curiosities - though hopefully interesting ones.

But Wait - There's More!
Apart from these two major exhibitions, the Rubin Museum also has a permanent collection of fascinating drawings, paintings, statuary and more from Tibet and other nearby regions that make this museum worthy of a visit. Like similar institutions, the Rubin programs a full calendar of ancillary events ranging from free (and fee paying) musical performances across a range of genres, film screenings, classes, lectures, events for children and families, and an annual Block Party that also includes free entry to the museum. This year the Block Party (which takes place on West 17th street between 6th and 7th avenues), will be on Sunday, July 16, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

If You Go
Rubin Museum of Art...
150, West 17th Street, New York, New York.

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Monday, July 3 | Expenses $15.00

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NYC Day 16: Cassandra Wilson at The Blue Note Jazz Club

The very delightful and talented Cassandra Wilson

CASSANDRA WILSON AT BLUE NOTE JAZZ CLUB. 131, West 3rd Street, New York.
I have long wanted to see the Jazz chanteuse Cassandra Wilson in live performance, and on this date I finally did.

In a show that lasted barely one hour, Wilson and her five piece band presented a virtuoso performance that barely scratched the surface of her vast recording career. I have no complaints about the choice of songs (after all, I am almost completely ignorant about her musical career, other than to say that I have been aware of her as a much acclaimed artist for many years). And I certainly have no issues with the incredibly talented ensemble playing for her, especially the brilliant violinist whose surname I did not catch but whose first name was Charlie. But I would dearly have liked to have experienced a longer show from Ms Wilson.

Members of Ms Wilson's ensemble warm up onstage.

Photography during the show was strictly forbidden.

This was my first visit to this famed institution. The Blue Note Jazz Club. It has been located on West 3rd Street since it first opened in 1981. Wikipedia provides more information:

Blue Note Jazz Club is a jazz club and restaurant located at 131 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on September 30, 1981, by owner and founder Danny Bensusan, with the Nat Adderley Quintet being the featured performers for the night. The club’s performance schedule features shows every evening at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm and a Sunday jazz brunch with performances at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. 

History
Bensusan's belief was "that if he brought big acts into a comfortable environment with great food, he could pack the house night after night." The Blue Note was soon established as the city's premier jazz club, with Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Canadian-born drummer David Mendel, Dan Frieber, Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson and The Modern Jazz Quartet among prestigious regular performers there. Bensusan booked Ray Charles for a full week every year. It is still considered one of the world’s most famous jazz venues and one of the best known and most expensive in New York.

Well, it certainly wasn't cheap. To date, this event has been the most expensive during my current visit with a total upfront cost coming in at $126.60 (approx AUD$165.60). This includes the $55 ticket, meal+two beers, tip, and state taxes. I say 'up front cost' deliberately because my bank's foreign transaction fees still need to be added to this amount. Still, I can live with all that. I'm just saying, an extra 20 to 30 minutes from Cassandra Wilson would have made for a more perfect night. But thank you, Ms Wilson, it was a real pleasure -- while it lasted.

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Sunday, July 2 | Expenses; $144.86 (AUD$189.35)

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