The Amazing High Line Park

I've been able to visit the Highline three times since the first third of it opened in June.  The section of the Highline that opened runs half a mile, from Gansevoort to 20th Street, winding over Tenth Avenue and passing beneath the new Standard Hotel and through the Chelsea Market Building.  This innovative new public park is exactly 6.7 times more brilliant and awe-inspiring than I thought it would be.  I look forward to many, many more walks.

Besides the Highline, Diller Scofidio + Renfro are busy renovating Lincoln Center, dramatically reshaping public space on the west side.  Visit their beautifully interactive website for information and photos on these and other projects.

 

More pictures after the jump.

Auditions for The Biggest Loser at NBC

I was at Rockefeller Center on Saturday and saw a huge line on the sidewalk of Forty-ninth Street.  I knew Saturday Night Live was on hiatus, so I asked, "Why the crowd?"  They were holding auditions for The Biggest Loser.

A few minutes later, while standing on the plaza, the entire crowd started cheering for me and taking my picture.  I thought, "Sure, why not?" until I discovered three former contestants had walked up from behind me.

Pictured here is the winner of this past season.  Several people took photos with her and then told her how much they hated her while watching the show.  (How sweet.)  She was apparently very nasty and kept winning immunity, so she couldn't be voted out.  She explained that some of her bitchiness was because of the editing and part of it was because she had been very unhappy and hungry.

My favorite auditioner was one of the first in line.  She had been there since the night before, having taken the bus from Pennsylvania after work on Friday.  She was charismatic, bonded with those near her, and was briefly taken out of the line to be interviewed with last year's winner.  Not only was she comfortable in front of the camera, but she was able to break down in the middle of the interview.  (And let me tell you something:  if you want to get a spot on this show, you better be able to burst into tears on cue.) 

I've seen a few episodes and do think it's an important show that offers great advice and tips for a healthy lifestyle.  I have to say, and I don't mean to offend, but despite the hundreds of overweight people in queue for the auditions, Rockefeller Center didn't look much different from a typical afternoon during the tour season.

That said, I did start to think that everyone in the area was auditioning for the show and when I saw a very obese man downstairs on the concourse level headed towards the restroom, I almost told him, "Good luck!"

But then I thought, he might not be here for the auditions and I imagined him telling the security guards, "There's a freak downstairs wishing people good luck on their way to the bathroom."

Still Floating from a Beautiful Weekend

The spring was a moody, cold, humid, rainy one, but July has been about as perfect as they come. 

 

 

 

 

 

Acting Classes: Four Places in NYC to Hone Your Craft

PS 212--THE PROFESSIONAL PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL 

 

FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA HIGH SCHOOL OF MUSIC & ARTS AND PERFORMING ARTS

THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL

 

THE DAVID CARUSO ACTING CONSERVATORY

NYC Decade by Decade: 1750-1759...War, Wealth and Gentility

With each passing year, the French in Canada became a larger threat to life in New York.  During King George's War, in the 1740's, attacks were made on towns as far south as Albany, and in 1756, a much bigger war broke out.  Known in Europe as the Seven Years War, the battles engaged on this side of the Atlantic were called the French and Indian War.

Thousands of troops from England were stationed in New York, and this ultimately helped the city make a fortune.  People profited not only by doing business with the soldiers but by winning plum government contracts to supply goods and services for the military quartered in the city.

In addition, privateering made a comeback during this period.  At least seventy ships were financed in New York and sent out into the wartime waters to seize enemy vessels and bring back their loot.

From Gotham:  "All told, between 1739 and 1763 legalized plunder poured something like two million pounds into the pockets of two hundred or so investors--an immense accession of wealth at a time when, as Gerard G. Beekman observed, an income of three hundred pounds a year was sufficient to live 'Like a Gentleman' in New York." 

ALSO DURING THIS DECADE:

1750--Captain Thomas Clarke acquires land north of the city, currently a western strip of midtown.  He names it Chelsea.

1753--A new New Theater was built on the same site as the first which had closed 15 years earlier.  Theater in the city is becoming more fashionable with the rise of the new gentry and several major theatrical productions are produced here.  Many trace the first legitimate theater performance in New York to a production of Richard III during this year.

1754--New York's first school, King's College (now Columbia) is granted a charter and opens with eight students in the basement of the first Trinity Church.  Construction for a new home for the college commences immediately on Trinity land just north of present-day Ground Zero.

1756--George Washington writes a letter and uses the term "New Yorker."  This is its earliest known use.

1758--Bedloe's Island (now Liberty) is purchased to serve as a pesthouse (quarantine hospital) which opens two years later.

Sources:  Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace; The Blue Guide New York by Carol von Pressentin Wright, Stuart Miller, and Sharon Seitz.

Hudson Heights, Part Eight: Fort Tryon Park

Every other Monday, we'll be posting the newest byte in our walk through Hudson Heights, my neighborhood in Upstate Manhattan, the stretch on the western ridge between the GW Bridge and the Cloisters.  This is the eighth installment, which features one of the city's most scenic parks.

  This byte was directed by Nona Lloyd and featured Luis Villabon giving us the correct pronunciation.  Nona directed several of the Little Bytes up Broadway--between Madison Square and Columbus Circle.

Nona Lloyd is now the General Manager of the new hot lounge, WATERMARK, located on the Jersey Shore in Asbury Park.  While it may seem that she's left the theater world, she's still using all of her producing and directing skills, every ounce of her creativity, and is sure to jump into "show biz" again.

Luis Villabon is an NYC actor/singer/dancer/director.  He has appeared on Broadway in Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan as well as many Broadway National Tours, including A Chorus Line (Paul).  He is also Robert's Pilates instructor, so if you want that Westfield body, you know who to call!

COMING SOON:

The Cloisters--July 20

The Sculptor--August 3

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!!

The Statue of Liberty as seen from Battery Park.  The photo makes it look like I've hacked my way through a jungle to reach the shore, but the trees are just part of a small but verdant copse at the southern end of the park.

Albino Manca's East Coast Memorial, 1961

 

NYC Decade by Decade: 1740-1749...The Slave Rebellion (?)

By this decade, out of a population of ten thousand, one in every five was an African slave.  Racial tensions were understandably high and when several fires broke out in March of 1741, New Yorkers couldn't help but remember that their last slave uprising in 1712 had also begun with arson.  By the end of March, one slave had been observed running from a fire at his owner's warehouse and two more had been found in possession of objects from burned property.

The fires were soon attributed to what was called the "Great Negro Plot," but many historians now view the "plot" or the "rebellion" as an example of mass hysteria, not unlike the Salem Witch Trials which shared approximately the same number of arrests.

Most of the convictions came from the extremely biased testimony of Mary Burton, an Irish indentured servant, who pointed a finger at her master, John Hughson, a tavern keeper she claimed was one of the leaders of a conspiracy that included white as well as black residents.  John Hughson's tavern catered to blacks and poor whites and, when one of the original arrests was made there, the tavern became widely regarded as the epicenter of the plot.

To further sully the legitimacy of the trials, many of the arrested had been accused in fireside confessions--two slaves, sentenced to burn to death, named names while the sticks were laid at their feet.  (They were executed anyway, because it was deemed wise not to disappoint the crowd.)

In all, over 20 of the accused were hanged, 13 burned, and 70-80 transported out of the colony. 

For more about this largely forgotten episode, read Jill Lepore's 2006 history--New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan.

Sources:  Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace; Manhattan in Maps by Robert T. Augustyn and Paul E. Cohen; The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger; New York:  An Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders, with Lisa Ades.

The Yacht in the Bay: LE GRAND BLEU

Wondering about that enormous yacht in the Upper Bay?  Thanks to Doug Nervik for doing the following research:

"The ship is called Le Grand Bleu.  In 2008, it was the tenth largest private luxury yacht in the world.  Built in Germany in 2000, it is 370 feet long (that's 70 feet longer than a football field) and boasts two 3600 hp engines and a crew of fifty!

It's currently owned by Russian oil billionaire, Eugene Shvidler, and it was GIVEN to him by Roman Abramovich.  A 2006 article in The Sun claimed the gift was worth 75 million pounds (around $150 million), but today a boat like this would cost twice as much. 

It is one of the greenest boats out there--it features a system which can reuse wastewater rather than pouring it into the sea. 

It was originally built for one of the McCaw brothers of cellular phone fame and was then purchased by MicroSoft's Paul Allen.  (He traded it up for larger vessels, one of which carries two submarines.)

 

You can see two boats sitting on the deck of Le Grand Bleu.  These are called tenders.  One of them is a 74' sailing boat, which itself would cost well over $1 million!  The other is a 68' Sunseeker Predator, a $1.5 million yacht with three staterooms!!  This boat alone is a quite luxurious yacht which charters for thousands of dollars a day.

A helicopter is also on the deck.  You gotta get places, you know.

There's a "garage" on one side of the boat--open it and you will find four large jet skis, kayaks, scuba and snorkeling gear, and every toy imaginable.

And last, just in time for the Fourth of July fireworks, there's a wonderful little dock which has been affixed to the rear of the boat, so that others can pull up and park and where you can sit or sunbathe or jump off for a swim."

The Tour Season Ends: The Newest Statue in Central Park

The season ended yesterday, as usual, with Nelsen Middle School from Renton, Washington.

I placed my requisite bottle of Poland Springs on a pedestal in Central Park and waited for the late June sun to stream through the branches of the elm trees.

Thirty-seven groups have come to New York and returned to their homes in Arkansas, California, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Oregon, Canada and Ireland.

And now it's time for me to return to my home in Upstate Manhattan and concentrate on knocking my next novel into shape.  There is writing to do.

So I willed that one little part of my soul--that trivia-dispensing, Starburst-tossing, sidewalk-trekking piece of myself--into a frozen state.

And I left him there.  In the park.  Near the Mall.  That's where the statue will remain until the next wave of students come to the city singing their song:

What are we doing next?

What are we doing next?

Where are we eating lunch?

What are we doing next?

What are we doing next?

What are we doing next?

Where's the gift shop?

What are we doing next?