City Snapshot: Little League in the Big City
Manhattan Chowder is back in the Big Apple after a wonderful year in DC. (More on that in future posts.) In the meantime, I've been spending the last week or so I've been home falling back in love with New York. She has been putting on her freshest face for me with beautiful September weather (mostly). A walk through busy Riverside Park yesterday revealed this photo: City kids playing baseball as only they do--under the Westside Highway with Trump's Towers looming above.
Labels: City Snapshots
City Snapshot: The Human Rights Campaign
I live not far from the Human Rights Campaign Headquarters here in Washington. One of my instructors here at school told me that he was an intern many years ago for HRC back when their offices consisted of two rooms in an old building down near Eastern Market (then an unfashionable neighborhood) where space was so crowded they kept a file cabinet in the bathtub of the restroom. As you can see, they've come a long way. The HRC is one of the biggest gay rights lobbying groups in the country right now but they haven't lost some of their old grass roots ideas.
On one of my first weeks in town I passed a guy on a corner wearing a sandwich board. Yes, an old-time advertising sandwich board with the message "Human Rights Campaign Bake Sale! 1 Block. Vegan baked goods!"
At first I thought the idea was quaint. But then it also explains why they don't seem to have much power if this is one of their fundraising tactics. (Otherwise Don't Ask Don't Tell would have been repealed long ago!) And selling vegan baked goods? Yeah, ought to get the dough rolling in. (pun intended)
But I kid. I believe in the HRC and what they stand for. I haven't always been thrilled with the way they operate or some of the candidates they've endorsed in the past, but in the struggle for LGBT rights, every organization we have advocating for us is deeply needed and appreciated.
Labels: City Snapshots, Gay Politics
City Snapshot: The Gayborhood
My apartment in DC is only 3 and a half blocks from Dupont Circle, the big gay neighborhood down here. I'm even closer to Logan Circle which has begun eclipsing Dupont's gay reputation in recent years. The two neighborhoods are right next to each other and much like the West Village and Chelsea (or Chelsea and Hells Kitchen for that matter) once we came in and gentrified the neighborhood we priced ourselves out and had to move on to the next one.
Believe it or not, I did not choose the apartment based on the neighborhood (I didn't even know about Logan Circle at the time), I just got lucky. I have to say I really like living in a gay neighborhood again. There is a very nice sense of community here. It's a different feeling from the gay neighborhoods in New York which seem centered around gyms, bars and restaurants. Here there are still things like gay bookstores (Note Lambda Rising in the second photos) which have all but disappeared from New York. In addition to supplying specialized literature, Lambda Rising provides a brick and mortar meeting place for social and political activism. This being DC there are constant reminders of politics whether its the Human Rights Campaign gift shop or volunteers for the DNC or Greenpeace on every corner. Oh, and I never forget my earth-friendly reusable grocery bag down here. They give you the stink eye if they see you walking down the street with a plastic bag.
The photos above are a couple of boys in Dupont Circle, the stretch of Connecticut Avenue just north of the circle which includes Lambda Rising, and the fountain that graces the center of the circle. It's usually surrounded by people taking time to read a book, friends catching up or those just looking to get some sun.
Labels: City Snapshots, DC, Gay Culture
City Snapshot: The National Gallery of Art
One of my favorite museums in Washington is the National Gallery of Art. I spent the morning there taking advantage of one of my last days of freedom before school starts on Tuesday and my life is taken over by my rigorous class schedule. I even took a tour, a kind of introduction to the Gallery examining the trends in Western Art from medieval religious art to the 19th Century. Mostly stuff I already knew, but it's always fun to hear what the guides have to say. I treated myself to a hot dog and a mocha frappucino on the mall before heading home all the while wishing Scott were here to share the day. I miss him.
Labels: City Snapshots, DC, Personal
City Snapshot: No Pissing!
Always considerate, Scott sent me this photo in case I was homesick for New York. He has the
distinct pleasure of walking past this "No pissing or Sh*
tting--People Live Here!" sign (complete with graphic for the illiterate and non-English speaking) in the little alley known as Jersey Street between Crosby and
LaFayette Streets on his way to work in "trendy"
Tribeca--or is it the Lower East Side? I try not to go down there.
Labels: City Snapshots
City Snapshot: Cowgirl Hall of Fame
The popular West Village eatery Cowgirl Hall of Fame has been a fixture in the West Village at least as long as I have lived in New York. The food is good old fashioned white trash fare from the delicious chicken fried chicken to Frito pie. The place is full of kitschy western memorabilia, vintage photos of actual cowgirls plus a few of fake ones, as well as western themed paint by numbers paintings. Capitalizing on both Gay Pride month and Tony Award season, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame has decked its windows out for June in old style Playbill covers of classic Broadway Musicals with a gay twist. Below are
Tranny Get Your Gun, Oklahomo, Peter Pansy and
Gays and Dolls.
Despite it being perhaps one of the gayest restaurants in the village with a decidedly in-your-face gay attitude, Cowgirl attracts tons of families with kids. Scott and I stopped in to have dinner here tonight and there were no less than a dozen children under 10 with their families. (I counted.) Their website includes a section for children's parties and among Cowgirl's most prized possessions is a thank you note to the staff from then First Lady Hillary Clinton for hosting one of Chelsea's birthday parties.
Labels: City Snapshots, Gay Culture, Only In New York
City Snapshot: PROGRESS
Scott and I met for dinner in NoHo last night and on the way from the Subway I spied this bit of graffiti art. I couldn't help but think that this image on a wall covering gang tags and spray paint doodles perfectly symbolizes Obama's candidacy. The artwork is that of Shepard Fairey. To call him a graffiti artist is an understatement. With his own design agency and his work gracing album covers and movie posters alike, Shepard has found a way to turn street art into a viable commercial product. Street art is, by its essence, often political and indeed this is not Shepard's first foray into political art as he participated in an art campaign called "Be the Revolution" in 2004 which was a series of anti-Bush, anti-war posters.
You can check out more of Shepard's latest New York street art images
here. Also, on his website he credits editor-in-chief of
Kotori magazine, Wasim Muklashy,
for perfectly putting into words his own feelings on the upcoming election. Among other things, Wasim says:
A man like (Obama) only comes around once a generation…if we’re lucky. A magnetic personality that has been able to inspire an entire new generation of voters, as well as excite children in record numbers that are not even yet of voting age about the possibilities of public service…basically, our senators, our congressmen, mayors, city council-persons, for the next 30-50 years...(snip)...We have a chance and an opportunity here that may never ever come again. An opportunity that can revolutionize this country and modern humankind as we know it. An opportunity to show the citizens of this country and the citizens of planet earth that, no matter how dark, how dismal, how fucked up things can get…there’s always…ALWAYS…hope. You just have to seize the moment…seize the opportunity… take a chance.
As you know I've been sold on this message for quite some time now. Yes, we can.
Labels: Art, City Snapshots, Politics
City Snapshot: Barber Shop Quartet
A few years ago when I worked out of town a lot I had occasion to visit much of small town America. While this sounds quaint, and sometimes was, very often it was depressing: Main Street after Main Street lined with vacant store fronts, the businesses all moving out to strip malls by the highway or vanished completely due to corporate super-stores. Yet there always seemed to be a handful straggling mom & pops that remained–the local barber shop often among them. To me the survival of the barbershop is hope that as a society we still crave a kind of familiarity, service and sense of community that cannot be found on the Internet or be recreated by Wal-Mart. Barbershops have become a cultural icon preserving a unique a form male bonding in which men actually talk to each other. We trade stories, seek advice, give opinions, brag, lie, or just listen.
I still get my hair cut at a real barbershop, although I wasn’t always keen on them. As a kid my father used to take me to a shop in our town where all of the barbers were Italian and had names that rhymed and ended in "o": Lino, Dino, Nino and Lee. (Lee didn’t rhyme but he was the shop owner and the best looking of the lot.) When I was very young, I didn’t mind going so much because it meant a piece of Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum at the end. But as I got a little older, the hairdos of the 70s did not lend themselves to barbershop stylings and I often felt out of place in this shop with its car publications and girly magazines, where my father chatted away to the barbers in Italian, where the accents I struggled to understand reminded me of everything foreign and strange about me. By time I was about 8 or 10 I put up a real fight when it was time to get my hair cut. Eventually my mother agreed to let me go to one of those then new "unisex" hair salons. And so these traditional father/son outings ended for me.
After I moved to Christopher Street in the early ‘90s, strapped for money, I gave barber shops another chance. I found one in the neighborhood and eventually my own regular barber, Richard, who still cuts my hair to this day. What I found there was the sense of community that caused men to literally harmonize with each other 100 years ago. Like I said, the conversations are quite different than my father’s barber shop (although those were in Italian, so how do I know?) Instead of sports, women and cars, at my barber shop it’s Black Party, Broadway theatre and who we’ve checked out in the locker room at the gym. I always joke that I’ve been with Richard longer than any boyfriend, and indeed, he knows intimate details of all my relationships, and I his. He’s acted as my therapist, confessor, and gossip girl. I always get kiss hello, a good laugh, a sympathetic ear and leave feeling and looking great. All this for $15 a cut.
Below are some shots of barber shops around Manhattan where they seem to thrive. Perhaps this is because even in the big city we still need some small town familiarity.
(Above) Mr. Joseph's on Greenwich Avenue between Christopher and 10th with a facade untouched for probably 40+ years.
Sammy's on Amsterdam at 106 Street. Note the Spanish signage catering to the Morningside Heights neighborhood.
Chelsea Gardens on West 23 Street, one of the storefronts in the notoriously gay, art deco garden apartment complex of the same name.
Reamir on Columbus at 74th Street caters to a yuppy crowd. Note the crystal chandeliers inside.
Labels: City Snapshots, Personal
City Snapshot: Riverside Drive Overpass @ 125th St.
Labels: City Snapshots
City Snapshot: Crocus, Riverside Park
After the weekend's tragic accident, the promise of Spring and new life: crocuses in Riverside Park.
Labels: City Snapshots
Weekly Photo Challenge: Slogan
Okay, this is a bit of a cheat, but here's my entry in
Glenn and
Dave's Weekly Photo Challenge for which the topic was "Slogan". I originally posted this photo
about a year ago, but these ads for Manhattan Mini Storage are still up around my neighborhood, so I guess it still counts, right? And you can't beat the sentiment.
Labels: City Snapshots, Weekly Photo Challenge
Weekly Photo Challenge: Hazard
A TrainThis is my first entry in
Glenn and
Dave's weekly photo challenge. The theme was "Hazard". I chose this photo for the many hazards in it, not the least of which is that this happens to be the 125th Street Subway Station.
57th Street Newstand
Because I'm a Libra and can't make a decision, I also decided to include this photo. You'll notice that cigarettes in New York are not only hazardous to your health, but to your pocketbook as well.
Labels: City Snapshots, Weekly Photo Challenge
City Snapshot: The Spanish & Portuguese Jewish Cemetery
So I've been loving
Glenn and
Dave's weekly photo challenge. Each week they choose a topic or category and any blogger who cares to participate goes out and photographs their interpretation of it then posts it on his blog. So far the topics have included graffiti, barrooms, neighborhood grocers and today's which was breakfast. I love visiting the various blogs and seeing how people in different cities and environments handle the challenge. Unfortunately, I've been a little busy this month to participate, plus I don't have one of those credit card sized cameras I can just carry around with me all the time. But I happened to have mine with me yesterday and photographed what I would have posted for the week of January 18. The topic was cemeteries.
This is the Second Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Cemetery which is located just east of 6th Avenue on 11th Street in the Village. It's a tiny, triangular tract of land dating from 1805 tucked between a Georgian townhouse and what was once an old tenement facing 6th Avenue. These are the little gems that make strolling the side streets of New York truly fascinating. Enjoy.
Labels: City Snapshots, History
City Snapshot: Xtreme Dreidel '07
For this week's city snapshot, more Hanukkah fun: Xtreme Dreidel '07! What is that, you ask? Dreidels as nunchucks or something? Well, not exactly. After doing a little research online, apparently
Xtreme Dreidel involves spinning dreidels all at the same time--upside down. Yes, that's right--
upside down! It can degenerate into something of a free-for-all with dreidels spinning out of control all over the room. Sounds like some madcap fun.
Labels: City Snapshots, Only In New York
City Snapshot(s): The Street Where I Live
I took these photos about a month ago and filed them away to save for a rainy day post. It's not rainy here, but I thought I'd post them before the weather changes too much and the photos are no longer current. When I took these photos I was inspired by
Matterday's 12 of 12 posts in which he can find beauty in the most common every day sights. (Matt credits
Chad for his inspiration.) These are the sights I see every day on the street where I live.
Labels: City Snapshots
City Snapshot: Thanksgiving Eve
A tradition on the Upper West Side on Thanksgiving eve is to watch the inflation of the balloons for the famous Macy's parade. Baracades are set up along 81st Street and Central Park West, where the parade route begins, for spectators to gawk, snap photos and watch these characters come to life. I'll admit they look a little gruesome face down under netting like this and Shreck and Mr. Potato head appear to be eating people in the crowd below, but I assure you no one was harmed here last night. I particularly like the shot of the parade workers enjoying a break for during what I'm sure is a very long night for them.
Labels: City Snapshots, Only In New York
City Snapshot: Times Square Recruiting Station
For Veterans Day here's a city snapshot of the US Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square. Such a station has existed on this spot since the end of World War II. Situated at the crossroads of the world, the Times Square Station has out recruited every other station in the country over the years and has also served as a target for many anti-war protests. The current station was redesigned in 1998 to include flashy neon siding to match the then "new" Times Square. Happy Veterans Day to all our veterans.
Labels: City Snapshots, History
City Snapshot: The 79th Street Boat Basin
The view from Riverside Park.
Labels: City Snapshots
A Sunday in Pictures
Some of the cool things about living in New York is that you can have breakfast at an iconic greasy spoon like Tom's Restaurant of both Suzanne Vega and Seinfeld fame, where they haven't let their notoriety go to their head as is evidenced by the fact that they haven't redecorated since the late '80s.
And where if there's a wait for a table you can always enjoy a view of St. John the Divine just around the corner.
And after breakfast you can wander through the Farmers Market.
Where the apples look particularly good.
And the tomatoes are locally grown.
Then you can stroll through the quad of venerable Columbia University where hundreds of families and children have turned out for The New York Times' "Great Read" sponsored by Target to promote children's literature and admission is free.
And if you're lucky, maybe, just maybe, Julie Andrews will be there doing a Q & A with her daughter, Emma Walton on their collaboration of children's books which you can read more about at the
JulieAndrewsCollection.com.
And that's what's cool about New York.
Labels: City Snapshots, New Yorkana, Only In New York
City Snapshot--Westend Avenue
Westend Avenue is the tree-lined thoroughfare that continues down the western edge of the Upper West Side where Broadway veers to the east at 106th Street. From the very beginning of the development of the West Side, Westend Avenue was reserved for the elite, with fancy hotels and high rent apartment buildings. To this day commercial traffic is not allowed on Westend Avenue and luckily while developers in the '60s and '70s were tearing up the East Side building boxy "deluxe apartments in the sky," the west side was largely ignored leaving us with block after block of pre-war buildings that retain some of the grace of old New York.
Living on a block between Westend Avenue and Riverside Drive, my fancy address sounds impressive and belies the humble brownstone studio flat I call home.
Labels: City Snapshots, New Yorkana
Manhattan Chowder is back in the Big Apple after a wonderful year in DC. (More on that in future posts.) In the meantime, I've been spending the last week or so I've been home falling back in love with New York. She has been putting on her freshest face for me with beautiful September weather (mostly). A walk through busy Riverside Park yesterday revealed this photo: City kids playing baseball as only they do--under the Westside Highway with Trump's Towers looming above.
