Manhattan Moments: Addicts & Immigrants

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As I’ve walked around the West Village, I’ve been struck by the variety of wrought iron railing and fence designs.  Some examples here plus notes on David Carr’s memoir and the Tenement Museum.

 

RECENT READING
The Night of the Gun by David Carr
At the Aspen Ideas Festival several years ago, I saw Andrew Rossi’s film, Page One, a documentary about the New York Times. Then I experienced seeing and hearing journalist David Carr on a panel following the screening. Mr. Carr was featured prominently in the film and was both articulate and a character. My curiosity piqued, I added his 2008 memoir to my to-be-read list. The book lingered on a wish list until finally I loaded it onto my Kindle and decided its time had come.
Sadly, Mr. Carr collapsed at work in February 2015 and died. His memoir is raw, graphic, sometimes tedious, and ultimately hopeful. A risk taker and addicted to crack cocaine, he, nonetheless, managed to hold down good professional jobs by day while hanging out with some of the less savory elements of society by night. In and out of detox facilities and arrested numerous times, mistreating one girlfriend after another, he was ultimately saved by being needed to care for his twin daughters.

Unlike the standard recovery memoir, this one takes the form of the author going to interview the people he hurt in the past to hear their account of events and how it tallied with his memory. Not an easy book to read, but I felt I learned a lot about David Carr and appreciated even more what he was able to accomplish.

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IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

Thanks to a great recommendation from my friend Patricia, we visited the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in the Bowery. It was a lovely morning and so we walked the mile and a half, passing through less polished neighborhoods and lots of grafittied buildings. The museum purchased 87 Orchard Street, a 5-story tenement built in 1863, in 1989 and soon thereafter began offering tours of selected apartments.

Parts of the building are unrestored to preserve for visitors something closely akin to the residents’ experience. Other apartments have been restored to look like and be furnished like they were when real people lived in them. The building had 22 apartments and a German beer saloon on the ground level and was occupied by residents from the 1860’s until 1935. In that year, new legislation mandated changes to meet stricter building codes that the owner opted not to implement.
We did the “Hard Times” tour led by the very knowledgeable Rachel Wetter which introduced us to two apartments; one inhabited by the German Jewish Gumpertz family in the 1870’s and 80’s, and the other by the Italian Catholic Baldizzi family who resided there from about 1924 until 1935. The apartments were small and early on without electricity, running water or indoor toilets. Mr. Gumpertz was a shoemaker who disappeared one day and never returned to his family. His wife became a dressmaker for a time. Mr. Baldizzi was a carpenter. One day his daughter who spend some of her childhood years in that apartment just showed up at the museum. She subsequently gave the museum artifacts to add to “their” apartment.

There are several other tours offered each day and we plan to return. And next year, new stories of Puerto Rican and Chinese immigrants will be featured.

[All photos copyright JWFarrington]

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Manhattan Musings: Movies & Museums

A week seeing Equity and Deepwater Horizon and visits to two museums. The abstract art by centenarian Carmen Herrera is bold, colorful and arresting.

FILM
Equity
Written, produced and directed by women, Equity, is a fascinating film about women on Wall Street and bringing an IPO to the trading floor. Starring are Anna Gunn as the seasoned older managing director, skilled, but tainted by a more recent failure, and Sarah Megan Thomas, as her up and coming vp who is better equipped to handle the Facebook-like founder of privacy company Cachet. Portrayed here are women with power and women admitting they like money along side the chicanery, manipulation, and cheating that is part of this financial milieu.  And unlike traditional films where good prevails and the bad guys get it, the ending may surprise you. Both the Chief Penguin and I liked this film and would recommend it. Later we learned that Sarah Thomas was one of our son’s high school classmates. For the record, she is very good.

Deepwater Horizon
While any reasonably aware person knows about the oil rig disaster that was the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, few of us can appreciate how horrific an event it was. If for no other reason than seeing the catastrophe develop and play out, this film is worth seeing. It is amazing to me that more men didn’t die. By choosing to focus on a couple of key players, the technician Mike Williams; Andrea, an operator in the control room and the only woman; and Jimmy Harrell, who is in charge and essentially “the captain” of the rig; the creators provide a strong emotional link for the viewer. Two BP execs are also on board; needless to say, they and the company do not come off well. Scenes of the engulfing fireball may haunt you, but I still recommend it.

ABSTRACT ART
The Whitney Museum of American Art is close by, and, as members, we can go as often as we like. Last week we explored the Carmen Herrera exhibit, “Lines of Sight.”  At 101, Ms. Herrera is still actively creating art and now getting some long overdue recognition. A Cuban immigrant and female, she was mostly overlooked during the 1950’s, 60’s and beyond until fairly recently. Her colorful geometric canvases make me think somewhat of Rothko and Jasper Johns. They are bold and bright and stunning in their simplicity. Here are a few samples.

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SPIRITUALISM
We also stopped into MOMA briefly, mostly to enjoy lunch in their café, but did spend a few minutes wandering in an exhibit of books, posters, clippings and other items relating to Fulton Oursler and the spiritualism movement.img_0666

Spiritualism attracted the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote a book about the existence of fairies (based on some photos taken by two cousins which they decades later admitted were bogus), and even those who debunked it such as master magician Houdini.

 

 

 

 

 

Note:  All photos by JWFarrington

Manhattan: Arts & Flowers

PORTRAITS

Bad pun in the title of this post, I know, but couldn’t resist. A new exhibit at the Whitney, Human Interest, contains 200 portraits —paintings and sculpture from its extensive collection.  Lots to see and a lot to take in on one visit, including a larger than life-size sculpture that is a candle, so we went twice. First on Sunday when it was fairly crowded and then again on Monday morning when most of the visitors were school groups and for the first hour it was delightfully calm. I had a long conversation with a volunteer, Pamela, who is a dancer, writer, lover of art, and especially passionate about the Whitney and the excellence of its curators. Here’s a sampling from the exhibit:

Artist Cindy Sherman portraying herself in yet another guise
Artist Cindy Sherman portraying herself in yet another guise
Self portrait, Beauford Delaney, 1965
Self portrait, Beauford Delaney, 1965
One of several spider women by Liz Craft
One of several spider women by Liz Craft
Synecdoche by Byron Kim; each square is a different person's skin tone including his
Synecdoche by Byron Kim; each square is a different person’s skin tone including his

BLOOMS

We didn’t get to the New York Botanical Garden last fall so it was a high priority for this visit. We got rained out a few days, then delays at Grand Central and on Metro North made waiting wise. Finally, all seemed propitious and we made the trek. Long walk from our apartment to the 6 Line at Union Square, subway to Grand Central, then a search for the ticket vending machines (they are tucked back against a recessed wall and initially we walked by), followed by a quick dash to just make the 9:25 train.  Stated time to the Botanic Garden stop in the Bronx is 20 minutes, but more like 25 or 30. Nonetheless, we crossed the street from the station and were at the garden entry gate just at the 10:00 am opening.2016-05-27 10.55.19

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Lovely expanses of green lawn and many trees. We first toured the small art exhibit on Impressionism in the garden in the Mertz Library, then walked areas of the grounds (think lilacs, peonies, and roses), ate a simple sandwich in the café, and ended our inaugural visit admiring the gorgeous traditional flowers (poppies, lupine, foxglove, and iris) in the Impressionism garden display in the historic domed conservatory. A relaxing way to while away a morning or afternoon. Looking forward to an encore visit in September.2016-05-27 10.55.42 2016-05-27 00.19.32 2016-05-27 12.08.18

 

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Note:  All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Manhattan Meandering: Fashion & Food

AT THE MET

A good friend came into the city for the day and she and I were engrossed for several hours viewing two exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a rainy Friday and the corridors were packed with people. Fortunately, the first exhibit hall was less crowded so we could get a close up view of the paintings. Vigee le Brun was a French artist who lived from before the French Revolution into the 1840’s. Initially dismissed because she was female, she became popular in her day and was portrait artist of choice for many royals including Marie Antoinette. After her death, her work seems to have been overlooked or ignored for many years. Certainly, she was unknown to me until this exhibit. Some of the portraits were really stunning and I also enjoyed seeing the several self-portraits she painted over the years.

The Costume Institute exhibit, Manus ex Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, was dense with museumgoers which made seeing the gowns occasionally challenging.  It is a fascinating study of the hand crafts (embroidery, pleating, beading, feathers, etc.) involved in the creation of haute couture over the years along with the use of the latest 3D printing to create nylon mesh and other unusual fabrics. Gowns by the Houses of Chanel, Dior, and Lagerfeld shared space with very edgy ones by the likes of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.  The alcove spaces and the ethereal background music gave the whole experience a church-like feel. This exhibit runs until August and is definitely worth seeing.  For more info see The New York Timesreview article which also includes photos.2016-05-06 15.35.11

Flying Saucer Dress
Flying Saucer Dress

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FASHION IN FILM

Following on the fashion exhibit, we went to see Andrew Rossi’s new film, First Monday in May.  Note that Rossi also directed the compelling documentary, Page One: Inside the New York Times, about the challenges of staying relevant in the age of the Internet.  First Monday is a sumptuous, gorgeous look behind the scenes at the creation of the Met’s 2014 costume exhibit on China and the extravaganza of a gala that precedes the opening.  Stars here are Anna Wintour (her dresses and suits are almost as much fun to see as all the historical and contemporary gowns) and curator Andrew Bolton.  Running through the film is the idea that fashion equals art, and that it is only in recent times that fashion has been recognized and accepted as such. Visual treats!

 

DINING

Three new places for cozy dinners.

Café Loup on West 13th St. We sampled the chicken with tarragon and the fish and chips and were happy with both at this white-walled French bistro.  Also good were the mesclun salad and the house green salad.  It was crowded the night we were there with what looked to be lots of academics.2016-05-08 19.25.04

Doma na rohu.  A rustic German restaurant on 7th Ave with wood tables and an inviting bar.  Happy hour specials include the usual beer and wine and also pretzels with sausage and mustard.  Skip the veal schnitzel (dry and unadorned), but do tuck into the great sides—German potato salad, reminiscent of my grandmother’s version; very tasty browned spaetzle; and the so-called bowl of greens—a salad with cubes of beets, cherry tomatoes and a few slices of cucumber.

Trattoria Pesce Pasta.  On Bleecker Street, this is comfort food incarnate and perfect when you’re tuckered out from a long day—for us, said long day included a bus trip to Bethlehem and back.  We skipped salads and just enjoyed the sole with artichokes and sundried tomatoes (very saucy and not fancy) which hit the spot.   Sides were a choice of sautéed broccoli or spaghetti with red sauce. One of us was healthy and the other couldn’t resist the pasta which was surprisingly good!

 

All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Header photo:  Jackson Square