Gotham Gal

Literary Night at LREI

Literary Night is one of my favorite events at our kid's school, LREI.   Our school has tremendous amount of participation from the parent body and this is one of the events that is put on by the Literary Committee.  This is Book Week.  During the week, a variety of authors come through the classrooms and read from their books to the kids.  Depending on the age group, depends on the discussions that take place afterwards.  It is very cool.

Last nights event was called "True Grit: from suburbia to New York to Bombay".  Tom Slaughter, an author and artist and LREI parent, hosted the event. 

The first writer that spoke was Karen Shepard.  She is the author of 2 novels and is working on her third.  She teaches writing and literature at Williams College.  She chose to read a story that she had written for the Atlantic Monthly called "Popular Girls".  Karen had gone to Trinity growing up and she wrote about the 10th grade girls in 1982.  Not only was the story interesting, listening to her read it made all the difference in the world.  Her prose is moving and very modern. 

The second writer who spoke was Suketu Mehta.  He was born in Calcutta and is a graduate of NYU and the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  He is currently writing an original screenplay for Merchant-Ivory starring Tina Turner.  He read from his book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found.  Wow!  He had done research on the underworld of Bombay...thugs and such.  He reads about a young dancer who seduces a thug.  The thug spends money on her and continues to see her every night at the dance club but never gets to truly have a relationship.  It is like listening to boxers circle each other in the ring.  He also read about Bombay and the 16 million people living there.  It was fascinating.

The third writer was Rita Williams-Garcia.  She is the author of four novels for young adults.  She was recently given a Coretta Scott King Honor and was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.  She read from her book No Laughter Here.  She read as if she was an actress on stage.  Facial reactions, voice inflections, etc.  This part she read from was about 2 best pals going through sex education at school.  At one point, one of the friends reveals to the other that her clitoris (she called it her raisin) was cut out by her mother and aunts in a Nigerian ritual through a doctor, in the United States, under anesthesia.  I actually want to pick up the book and read it in its entirety.  Not only was her reading seductive but the story line really drew me in. 

The fourth writer to read was Jim Shepard (married to Karen Shepard above).  He also teaches at Williams.  Jim has written 6 novels.  He read from Project X which is a story following the nerdy misfit and his friend through 8th grade.  Jim's reading was great.  His insight into that teenage world is really good.  His writing is dark and quirky.  I laughed out loud.

The fifth writer was Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.  She is a journalist so for her speaking in front of an audience was not the most comfortable situation.  She did great and was honest about her anxiety attack up there.  She is currently doing research on Stand-up Comedians.  The book she read from was Random Families, her first and only book.  I read this book when it came out over a year ago.  It is an incredible true tale about families growing up in the Bronx amongst the drug trade and making their way through the system.  It is a must read.  As having worked with inner city schools, it is a real eye opener to how hard it is to break cycles of abuse and poverty in these neighborhoods. 

The last writer was Jim Carroll.  He is an author, poet, songwriter and performer.  He wrote The Basketball Diairies and several other books.  He is currently working on his first fictional novel.  Jim read from a story he had written for GQ about a young boy who went to camp and ends up working with bee catchers.  Funny enough, I had read this story before, totally random.  But, listening to Jim speak was a real experience.  He is funny and clever to say the least.  I am actually going to pick up Basketball Diairies again since it has been years since I read it.  He is a true artist.

That was it for the night.  Truly impressive group of people.  All connected in some way to parents at our school.  After hearing all of them read, I must now pick up each of their books because needless to say, they left me wanting more.

Washington Square Park

We hosted a fundraiser last night for the restoration of Washington Square Park.  The Parks department is working on what exactly will take place and what the park will look like upon completion. 

The conversations last night were not only about the private funds needed but concerned community members interested in the playground, the chess players, the greenery, the flow, a kiosk, bathrooms, etc.  It was great to hear the excitement and the ideas flowing.

Washington Square Park is the last park to undergo major renovation downtown.  Madison Square Park, Union Square, South Street Seaport, Westside Highway, have all been done.  The private associations linked to each area have truly made an impact in preserving the parks of their neighborhood.   

Most interesting last night was listening to Adrian Benepe.  He is an impressive guy.  He grew up in NYC.  He cares about the parks and the city.  He thinks out of the box.  He listens and understands each community and how the Parks department needs to react to all of them.  His budget is half a billion dollars.  Pretty big.  Adrian will absolutely leave his mark on his town and I for one, will be thrilled to work with him and watch what he does.  He just gets it.

Romare Bearden

The Whitney is probably one of my favorite museums in New York.  The exhibits are generally small and powerful.  The size generally sticks to one floor per exhibit.  Sometimes I ramble through all the floors and other times I go just to see one exhibit which is just perfect.  Also, as I look back at years of exhibits I have seen at the Whitney, they curators have usually been pushing the envelope.  For instance, many years ago I went to the museum and on one floor was a Cindy Sherman exhibit, another floor was an Alex Katz exhibit.  Looking back, those artists are still making their mark on art today.  So, needless to say, pretty impressive.

Our oldest daughter is going up to the Whitney next week to see the Romare Bearden exhibit next week so I figured I'd get up there first so we can talk about it.   I admit, I knew nothing about this artist.  After seeing the exhibit, shame on me. 

What a truly inspirational exhibit.  If I was an artist, I'd probably go home and work for days on end in my studio.  Prolific is an understatement.  The exhibit takes you from the beginnings of his work to the end of his life.  He grew started his life in North Carolina and migrated to Harlem during the Jim Crow days.  His family was a very successful and educated but they were African American and a mixed marriage and living in North Carolina at one point wasn't so safe.  So, off to Harlem them went.  He continued to visit his Grandparents in the south on a yearly basis who made quite an impact in his life.

Through his work, you can see all of these parts of his life.  His influences come through.  He is probably best known for his collages which are cut out of magazines, newspapers and incorporated with paint and drawings but he also took the collages to another level with fabrics that he sewed together.  The watercolors are also magnificent.  Some of his works are obviously affected by living in Paris for a year.  You can see the abstract works of Picasso in his paintings. 

The pieces range in size from small to quite large.  The works represent modern.  They could have been made yesterday as easily as they could have been made 50 years ago. 

This was an exhibit absolutely worth going to.  I purchased the book of the exhibit as I usually like to keep books of the exhibits I have been to over the year.  I showed our 8 year old boy when we got home, he loved the work!  The musician pieces he oohed and aahed over.  I think another trip up to the Whitney might be in order before the closing on January 9th.

What's New on your Block?

New York City is such an ever changing place.  Who would have thought that the lower east side would be back and booming?  What is most interesting is the latest trends that seem to be cropping up in every neighborhood or block.

Juice bars, nail/spa salons, new pizza places and diet ice cream spots.  Diet ice cream spots and the nail/spa salon thing has been happening since last year but the juice bars and pizza places are the newest addition. 

It is just interesting to see how trends grow.  Jamba Juice is huge out in California.  There is a deli on every corner here, there is a juice spot on every corner in California.  Jamba Juice is starting to crop up with a vengeance in NYC.  The other new juice place, which just opened around the corner from me is Juice It Up!  Also a big California chain.   It is a franchise and you can buy one if you are interested.  It will be interested to watch how quickly these juice places spread through out the city and what other juice-like stores crop up to compete. 

Watching Tasti D-lite take over the city in the past year and the competitor Cremalita has been another wave.  Cremalita is far behind in the amount of stores but that is probably because it is owned by one group vs. a franchise.  All and all, they are both good but different.  I prefer Cremalita but there isn't one in my 'hood and they could add to the flavors.  Look out for Uncle Louie's.  I know the owner is interested in expanding and the place is over the top good. 

The nail/spa salon thing is too much.  I find it hard to believe that all of these places can stay in business.  Are that many people per block having manicures and pedicures and quick back massages?  Maybe I'm crazy but I don't think so.  I would venture to say that will see some closings soon.  Also, lots of the spa only store fronts all over the place.  In the west village there are so many spas.  Again, can't imagine the demand on a daily basis is filling the spots but I could be wrong. 

Last big trend.  Pizza.  First there was Lombardi's, Patsy's, then Grimaldi's  and John's.  All brick oven pizza.  Lombardi's has always been my personal fave.  I was at John's last week and it has gone way way down hill.  Patsy's was big when we lived in Brooklyn and they have expanded and it has never been the same.  Grimaldi's are the original owners of Patsy's redoing their thing.  Mario Batali saw the trend coming when he opened Otto.   Then around the corner came Pie.  After that, I have literally seen new "brick oven pizza" places open in every neighborhood. Someone told me about their new fave the other night on East 10th street between 1/2nd which just opened (can't remember the name).  There is a Pie liked place on Park Avenue in the 30's.  Why pizza, why now?  Who knows but it would be really fun to plot out a map by neighborhood and go stop by all the new pizza places and do a taste testing.  There must be 10 new places in the village alone.

Question is, what is the next trend to come in NYC at the store that is "to rent" on your street?  I wish I had that magic ball and could get on the band wagon at the start and not the tail end.  But then again, don't we all?

A Night in the 'Hood

I had a very hot day last night with my 8 year old son.  We stayed in the 'hood which is always great.  It opens his eyes to the wonderful happenings around the corner from his home.

We started out at Craftbar for dins.  I am a huge fan of Tom Colicchio.  He has built a small empire on east 19th street near Grammercy Tavern where he got his legs.  There is Craft, Craftbar and Witchcraft all in a row.  Craft is the more serious of the 3 restaurants.  We thought about going to Craft but opted for the bar next door.  Witchcraft is the spot for lunch.  I believe my husband eats there about 3 out of the 5 days of the week.

Dinner was delicious!  We started with a grilled octopus salad accompanied with a lemon cream and grilled lemon.  Huge pieces of octopus grilled perfectly.  Then we split 2 main entrees.  The portions are really the perfect size.  We split the veal ricotta meatballs.  3 large meat balls that sit in a deep bowl with red sauce and shaved parm.  The meat balls are so light and airy that they almost fall apart when you cut in.  We also split 2 pieces of sirloin (cooked to your liking and in our case that would be rare, very rare) over sauteed greens and root vegetables.  Delicious on all fronts.  Also, the vibe in there is warm and inviting.

After wards, we ventured over to Paragon sports.  I am not a fan of this store at all.  Lame is an understatement.  Also, they rarely carry what u are looking for even though the store is packed to the gills with merchandise.  But, we needed a hockey stick.  My son played roller blade hockey all summer and is totally into it.  He spent hours this past weekend hitting the ball out at the beach so I figured he should keep up the activity in the city.  We found what we were looking for.  I was going to pick up a goal but it was too heavy and the cost for messenger service the next day was going to be $125.  God knows what service they are using but obviously not a good one b/c that is ridiculous.  So, they lost the business and I will buy it on line somewhere else today. 

We still had some time to kill before our big event of the evening so we rambled around the small shops that are erected at the bottom of Union Square during the holiday season.  It is reminiscent of Faneuil Hall in Boston or Baltimore Harbor or even South Street Seaport.  Small booths set up with wares for the season.  It is fun to walk through.  Lots of schlock but still a real seasonal event.

Then our big outing.  We went to see Slava's SnowShow.  I have heard rave reviews.   It is a production of clowns but basically performance art.  The creator and performer, Slava Polunin is from Russia and is passionate about mime and clowns.  He has put together a very alternative, visual and interactive show.  At the beginning I was thinking, ugh but as times goes on the performance is truly captivating.  My son loved it.  He had the same reaction as I did from the onset, hmmm should we stay through this?. 

The clowns don't talk but perform around music.  They interact with each other in a comical yet serious way.  Their movements are clever.  The music is intertwined with their physical acts.  The whole show lasts about 80 minutes.  There is an intermission but it is not really an intermission.  In our supposed intermission, the clowns came out and they climbed around the audience on the back of the chairs.  I was the lucky one that got pulled on stage.  It was fun.  The reason for the name snow is from small bits of white paper cut up and used during the performance.  It is everywhere.  The grand finale is a huge wind tunnel of these small white pieces of paper. Literally, the entire theater is covered with the stuff. It is pretty impressive. We were in the front row and had to duck our heads.  When we left,  we had paper in our hair, our coats, our pants and in my purse.  It was quite a production.  It is different and I'd recommend bringing the family.  This is a definite one of a kind event.

Homeward bound after that.  But all and all, a fantastic date!