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Tag: New York City

NYC: History Matters

In the West Village you can find a street that gone through many ups and downs over the years – Bleecker Street. Parts of the Street also sit in NoHo and the Bowery.

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History Matters

New York City

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

A Little Bit of Brooklyn

 

Headed back up to NYC for a short trip. The weather forecast for Mid- March promised to be only jacket weather. Angela’s son was coming along on this trip and we planned on hitting a Knicks game. We booked an AirBnb in Brooklyn in the Flatbush neighborhood in-between Prospect Park South and actual Prospect Park. It put us a block from the Parade Grounds as well and only a few blocks away from the Parkside subway station.For myself, since we usually stayed in the Upper East Side, I was excited about gaining a new perspective on the Big Apple.

Until this trip, all I knew of Flatbush came from a so-so low budget cult classic film from the 1970’s called the Lords of Flatbush. The movie was set in the 1950’s. The only reason I saved some memory in my head about such a movie is some trivia about Stallone and Richard Gere not getting along during the filming that resulted in Gere getting fired. Gere never appears in the finished film and to this day the actors dislike each other. Some useless knowledge I suppose but I thought it was an interesting piece of Hollywood history. Because of this odd bit of trivia and general knowledge from the film, I thought Flatbush must be a special place. Oozing history, it was originally settled during the Dutch era in 1651 under the name Midwoud (or Midwood). Today Flatbush is coming close to enjoying some of the renaissance and modernization that is going on throughout the borough of Brooklyn. Critics would call it gentrification. Although most of the growth is on the other side of Prospect Park, Flatbush is poised to make a big splash in the future. Large Victorian styled homes in Prospect Park South sat just a few blocks from where we stayed. The neighborhood is as diverse culturally as it is economically. Unfortunately, if gentrification gets its way, the area would likely lose some of the edge that makes it special and gives it it’s own personality.

Not far from where we were staying, albeit on the other side of Prospect Park, there’s Seventh Avenue and the neighborhood known as Park Slope. After unpacking, we headed there to find some authentic Brooklyn grub. The area is littered with restaurants and stores like the one we discovered called the Purity Diner. Having been established in 1929, the same year the stock market collapsed and the Great Depression began, it has a long history. The fact that it managed to survive starting up during the worst economic downturn in history and continues on all the way through to this day is in and of itself a major testament to the legacy of the diner. To me, that history is what makes it special. The diner is a survivor. 

The food at Purity is standard diner food. Breakfast is served all day along with solid burgers matched with decent fries. Nothing fancy but still pretty good and more important, it feels authentic. The service, once they found out we had never been there and were from out of town, was impeccable. We actually went there twice during our trip and on our second visit we needed to surprise Angela, since it just happened to be her birthday. Some how the staff managed to find a candle and brought out some very chocolate cake on the down low when she wasn’t paying attention. The kindly insisted the desert on the house. If we lived in Brooklyn I’m pretty sure we’d make the diner a regular stop. It’s simple, affordable and the staff makes you feel welcome. At least, they did that night.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

The Garden

Back in Pittsburgh, we don’t have a professional Basketball team, only college ball. Hockey, takes up the schedule at our local Arena. So at times, when we’ve gone out of town, we’ve tried to see a few games when we’re able. I had never been to Madison Square Garden but I knew I needed to go. The current version of the Garden opened up in 1968. There were three other versions in two other locations that bared the same name dating back to 1879. This version is the oldest major sporting facility in the city. It’s also the oldest hockey arena in the National Hockey League. The Rangers won the Stanley Cup there in 1994 and the Knicks won the NBA Finals in 1970 and 1973. Basketball Hall of famers Patrick Ewing and Bill Bradley (also known as former Senator and Presidential contender Bill Bradley) played there as well as NHL Hall of Famer Mark Messier.

The building itself feels like a bygone era. The biggest bands in the world have played here. Built above Penn Station, with minimum interference to the train schedule, it’s one of the most expensive sporting venues ever built. Walking in for the first time you can sense the history. 40 years ago when it was built it had the largest steel cable suspension roof in America and maybe the world. There are even two entire steel framed floors built above the steel cable suspension roof. The entire building is still an engineering marvel to this day. 

The Knicks lost the game that day but we still visited one of the most important arenas in the world so it felt like a win to us.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Garment District

The Knicks loss made us hungry so not far from the Garden we found the Tick Tock Diner nestled away at the bottom end of the Garment District. The food was adequate but the place was very bright and colorful. It had a good vibe. It was what we needed at the exact time.

While sitting in the diner I discovered the Bickford’s Building, or at least one of them, right across the street. Today it houses a pizza shop. Bickford’s luncheonettes were popular from about 1922 to the early 1950’s. They were a huge part of American Culture during that time period. Frequented often by the likes of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Woody Allen. The mood set in these often all night eateries found its way into many literary works by some of the greatest minds of the beatnik generation. Fortunately the buildings façade was exposed at the Bickford’s on 8thand 34thin 2000 or else I never would have noticed or therefore researched the history.

From the Tick Tock we went to check out B & H Photo. It’s like the Supermarket of photography stores. Founded in 1973, it’s incredibly massive. Whatever you need in photography, they’ll have it. We were able to find a decent used lens for Angela’s camera. 

Just outside of B & H we were able to get an amazing shot of one of the newer NYC skyscrapers, Hudson Yards. Not only is it the 4thtallest building in NYC but it also has the highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere at 1100 feet. Amazingly, it cantilevers straight out from the building. You’ll find that “thrill ride” on the 101stfloor. 



New York’s Garment District is named so because of its relationship with the world’s fashion industry. Home to well-known designers and major labels there’s maybe nowhere else it’s equal besides Paris, Milan or Hong Kong. While most of the manufacturing has now gone overseas so that American designers can stay competitive, NYC has created zoning districts so that the remaining manufacturing can enjoy more affordable rents. 9 Billion in fashion sales annually make New York the king of fashion in the United States. A role the city won’t be giving up anytime soon, nor should it. It’s done its job very well.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Down on Bleecker Street

In the West Village you can find a street that gone through many ups and downs over the years – Bleecker Street. Parts of the Street also sit in NoHo and the Bowery. Once home to such notables like John Belushi, Robert De Niro and Alicia Keys it’s managing to make a comeback. At one time it was one of the hippest 5 block streets in New York. Clubs like the CBGB (closed in 2006) and Café Wha?, where folks like Hendrix, Dylan and Springsteen started their careers once dotted the landscape. Lenny Bruce was famously arrested at Café Wha? in 1964 on obscenity charges. When Marvels Dr. Strange comics began in the mid 60’s, he lived at 177A Bleecker Street. Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song called Bleecker Street. So then something happened. It became too hip. Everyone wanted a piece of Bleecker Street. Higher end stores like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors moved in. Over commercialization helped it lose its coolness. What made it special… was gone.

Up until 2018 the street was dotted with vacant buildings still looking for that high-end rent but no one was biting. Many owners decided to sell to recoup losses, which let new developers move in who could re-think the historic street. The changes seem to have worked out in the neighborhoods favor. A company called Brookfield Properties came in and bought up a bunch of properties. So far they’ve seemed to be able to slowly bring back that eclectic vibe it once had. It has yet to make it all the way back to the coolness, edginess of the 60’s and 70’s but it appears to hopefully be on the right track. 

Bleecker Street has suffered through darker times in the past as well. Open prostitution and drug addiction chased a lot of potential customers away. So, sometimes it’s a fine line between edginess and darkness. Simon and Garfunkles song by the same name seems to capture that paradox better than I could. Written in a different era that I was too young to participate in.

Fog's rollin' in off the East River bank
Like a shroud it covers Bleecker Street
Fills the alleys where men sleep
Lies the shepherd from the sheep
Voices leaking from a sad cafe
Smiling faces try to understand
I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand
On Bleecker Street
A poet reads his crooked rhyme
Holy, holy is his sacrament
Thirty dollars pays your rent
On Bleecker Street
I heard a church bell softly chime
In a melody sustainin'
It's a long road to Cainan
On Bleecker Street

~ Paul Simon

Today Café Wha? still provides solid music entertainment. Retail has rediscovered the street and now has a more chic feel. At some point I’ll hopefully make my way back to the West Village. I’m anxious to check in on Bleecker Street in the near future to see if its ongoing metamorphosis can bring back the soul of a neighborhood. 

NYC: The Battery

The Battery is famous for its history. Because of its strategic location, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam on the site in 1625-26,

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New York City

The Battery

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

The Battery

 

Diving up to New York City is about a 7½-hour drive from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when you consider the need to stop a few times along the way. It’s not a terrible drive but by the time you get to your destination you’re definitely happy not be driving anymore. The trick is to not hit too much traffic going into New York City. If you time it wrong, and that happens, your 7½-hour drive could be extended to 9.

As usual, we were staying in the Upper East End. We arrived just after the sun went down and had just enough energy left in us to head out for a simple dinner somewhere. We accidently found a Mexican restaurant called Maz Mezcal on E. 86th Street. Either we were starving or the food was pretty good. The service was attentive and quick. Because the weather was uncannily warm for early November, we were able to sit outside in the evening and enjoy our meal, which we usually prefer. 

Our plan the next day when we got up was to explore the Battery Park area (known as “The Battery”) at the southern tip of Manhattan. For the first time in our relationship we’d be going to an area of Manhattan Angela knew very little about. She’d actually never been to Battery Park. It was cool to check out a place to explore that was new to us both.

From where we were staying in the Upper East Side we walked to 86thand Lexington to take the #4 Subway to Bowling Green which was the last stop in Manhattan before the train heads under the east River and over and into Brooklyn. I feel like the trip took about 30 minutes not during rush hour on a weekend. I’d expect it to take longer when it’s busier.

Once we got off at Bowling Green it was maybe only a 10-15 minute walk to The Battery. It was really a perfect day for a walk in another one of Manhattans iconic parks. At 24-acres, The Battery is a decent size by any standard unless you compare it to Central Park which is thirty five times larger. What makes The Battery special though and feel much larger is the New York Harbor it borders which feels like an extension of the park. 

The Battery is famous for its history. Because of its strategic location, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam on the site in 1625-26, later name Fort George by the British. The British, after taking over, installed an artillery battery in 1663. Another military installation, now known as Castle Clinton, was built prior to the war of 1812 between 1808 and 1811 just west of where Fort Amsterdam had stood. Castle Clinton, named after a mayor, has worn many hats over the years having been converted early on as a theater and later on as an immigration and customs center (prior to Ellis Island). At one point it even became an aquarium. Today Castle Clinton, now a National Monument, is considered one of the parks main attractions.

Restaurants within the park include a huge venue named Pier A Harbor House and a smaller more upscale Italian restaurant called Gigino at Wagner Park. Gigino, with its outdoor seating and vibe, was our choice to grab some dinner.  A sprawled out field in front of the restaurant where locals, tourists and families hung out gave us ample opportunity to people watch. We also had beautiful views of New York Harbor, Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty as well as both Governors and Staten Islands. From the restaurant, even as the sun was starting to set, one could still see ferries departing to those very destinations.

After dinner we got to take a walk around some of the rest of the park. The well-manicured lawn and overall park atmosphere make clear why so many flock to this park on a daily basis. 

Just north of the park World Trade Center One dominates the skyline. Wall street and the financial district are also just a short walk from The Battery so after we managed to find some coffee across from the park at a local Starbucks, we decided to take the 15-20 minute walk up to see the 9/11 Memorial. Because it was November it was starting to get dark early but the temperature was still warm enough for just a light jacket. 

The Memorial obviously was a somber experience. For me, besides being a reminder of all the lives lost, philosophically it will also be a memento of what life was like before 9/11 and how much life changed after 9/11. The deep holes left in the ground are but an admonishment of what cultural intolerance, bigotry and hate can materialize into. 

The entire 9/11 episode in human history will forever remain one of its worst. Even today many still struggle from PTSD and other health ailments from the cloud of debris nearly two decades later. To a degree, much of the world also still lives in that day. The decisions the US and its allies made soon after the attack influence a lot of decisions made today by governments and corporations the world over. The US choice to go to war with Iraq, the Taliban and Al Qaeda lead to power vacuums, which helped create new extremists and terror groups. Everyday people living in countries like Syria and Northern Iraq with no connection to terrorism or Islamic militant groups have been forced to flee their homelands now decimated by war. The resulting refugee crisis, now flooding through much of Europe, creates cultural clashes and only reinforces bigotry and hate that prior was maybe held back through more rational thinking. New prejudices are being born on both sides where maybe none or very little existed before.  Some believe the current refugee situation may ultimately permanently change Europe and its landscape forever. That fear drives governmental policy and elections. Some of those policies and elections create divides and even more hate. Most believe the circular issues each side face are powder kegs sitting in open wounds waiting for just the right spark to ignite.  

To me these issues are part of why I write. I believe the world needs to figure out how to get back to center. How we understand each other culturally only improves and enriches people. It doesn’t take away from who we are by learning about one another. Innately we all want the same things, to love and be loved. We all want to be able to protect and provide for our families. We all want peace.

Our last stop for the day before headed back up to the Upper East Side would be The Oculus at the New World Trade Center. Architecturally, (designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava) its one of the more incredible places you’ll maybe ever see. It’s basically the major subway station hub that was replaced after 9/11. We were already fortunate enough to see one of Calatrava’s other creations in Toronto called the Allen Lambert Galleria. In a way you can see the influence of his work on the other when you visit each location. Feel free to check out some pictures of the Galleria in my Toronto blog.

Feeling hungry we got off in Mid Town and walked towards Sutton Place To find an open diner to get a late meal. Angela had found some books along the way that she decided to start before we made it back to where we were staying. You can’t really skip out on a greasy spoon and authentic New York City hamburger and fries when you visit. If you do, then shame on you.

New York City and Manhattan isn’t just a place. It’s a collection of places and neighborhoods. The Battery and the Financial District have a completely different vibe than the Village, Central Park, the Upper East End or even Mid Town. Each one should be experienced separately and with a clean palate.

Eventually this particular short trip would come to an end the same way as we had arrived… with a magnificent sunset.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

NYC: A Day at the Met

Although there are many museums in NYC that you should visit, if you miss visiting the Met, that might be criminal.

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New York City

The Met (August 2018)

Temple of Denur

New York City

The Met

 

You shouldn’t really visit New York City without visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5thAve at about the mid-point of Central park. It’s an amazing institution that dates back to 1870 when it was founded. Being the largest museum in the United States it's also the 4thmost visited in the world. The museum is divided into 17 departments. It sports a large permanent collection and also holds numerous special shows and exhibits. It's also a great online source for history buffs. Visit www.metmuseum.org to find lots of great things to explore.

 

When we were there the special exhibition was the Heavenly Bodies show, which mixed fashion and religion. It went on to become the most visited exhibition in the history of the Met with over 1.6 million people cramming through the doors to see the artistic, fashionable show.

 

Personally, I was very fond of the Egyptian and Southeastern Asian collections. I had also never seen a Picasso in person before. The Met has numerous Picasso’s on display in its extensive art collection as well as so many other famous artists that it feels like you could spend days just in the department where most of the paintings are on display.

 

Although there are many museums in NYC that you should also visit, you cannot miss visiting the Met if you want to say you went Museum hopping. That would be criminal.

Ancient Egypt

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Southeast Asia

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Heavenly Bodies

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Pablo Picasso

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Paul Cadmus - 7 Deadly Sins

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Other Artist Paintings

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Statues/ Sculpture

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Arms/ Armory

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

NYC: Buffy the Dog walker

Decades ago, artists created the scene in neighborhoods. Now the newly gentrified areas bring much higher rents many artists can’t afford

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NEW YORK CITY

Buffy the Dog Walker (an argument against gentrification)

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero


Buffy the dog walker (an argument against gentrification)

 

So I don’t normally write like this. My writing is about travel. I’m not an expert in any location I travel to. If I were, then it would no longer really be a travel destination for me. It would become something else. Something I likely lost my wonder and curiosity for. After all, familiarity breeds contempt. What I am an expert in are bookings, research and problem solving (so I think). I can put together almost any trip no matter how complicated and I can do so reasonably without breaking the bank. That’s my talent. It’s also time consuming.

I’ve found myself in New York City several times. Angie actually has some roots there. While I haven’t lived in NYC, I’ve had the chance to do some decent exploration, albeit often through Angela’s eyes. NYC is a simple, complicated, cultural, antiquated, modern, alive and dead city. It’s where dreams are made and dreams are crushed. I’d be lying if I claimed I knew it intimately. Pittsburgh, where I come from, is a small country town by comparison. They call it the Big Apple because there’s supposed to be enough for everyone to take a bite from it but when you explore a little more deeply, it becomes apparent that the city bites back. Not everyone makes it out alive. Nowhere else I’ve visited compares. The city teeters in the light and the dark. It’s not just about the have and the have nots… that’s everywhere you go. It’s much deeper than that. The city is profoundly scarred from it’s past. While it’s made a lot of people stronger it’s also left quite a few behind. Maybe in my future travel I’ll find cultural and philosophical equivalents. Scars, after all, are not something I shy away from. In my own past, I’ve been through some dark times. I believe we can all make it through the darkest of times but I also had some help from people who I knew had my back. What happens when people stop helping and you lose everyone around you who ever believed in you? Not everyone is strong enough to make it through all that. Not everyone has large families. Some simply have no family left or they’ve long burned too many bridges for anyone else to risk putting out their hand in friendship and support. There’s a stark line between tough love - and fuck off.

9/11 produced a significant amount of PTSD. At the time of this writing (I post the date I visited at the top of a post) the COVID-19 epidemic has killed more people in NYC than anywhere else in the U.S. By the time it’s over, NYC may hold the distinction of more deaths than any country in the world. Odds are more than one person there just lost their only family member or their only real friend. To make it worse, the medical professionals are often the last person the sick see before they pass. That’s additional PTSD for those medical workers and families in a city already scarred… and yet New York City is still proudly America’s powerhouse.

New York is like the fighter you haven’t fought yet. Sure you’ve beaten everyone else but you haven’t beaten the champ. You know you’ll never be the best until you’ve beaten the best. It’s like scoring the big clients at work but the biggest still remains elusive. Sinatra sang, “If I make it there, I’ll make it anywhere”. New York holds that legendary distinction. It makes or breaks you. 

Most of the pictures I’ve taken of the city are not as intimate a portrait of the city as I wish. I’ll try and change that in future trips. I can only share in words my understanding of my experiences in the city. I've never lived there but as I mentioned earlier, Angela lived there back in the 90’s when she attended NYU. That was long before Giuliani cleaned up much of the city. The 90’s were a just a much different time. You had your nice areas and your bad areas and if you lived in the nice areas you didn’t go into the bad areas. Now, so much of those questionable areas have been gentrified. The strip clubs, punk hangouts and seedy bars are now replaced with trendy shops, gyms and $8.00 a cup coffee shops. Needle parks now all cleaned up so nicely that you can confidently have family outings. Solid places you can safely bring your children. Now people talk about areas in New Jersey as the place you might not want to walk at night although maybe they always talked about Jersey to be fair. The Bronx, certain areas of Brooklyn and upper Manhattan still have rough reputations, but even those tough areas keep getting slowly modernized essentially pushing those that can't afford the new reality into a neighborhood they have no attachment to. There's a lot of money to be made in revitalization projects. Greed and compassion don't often share the same bed.

Decades ago, artists helped create the scene in many neighborhoods. They don't call artists starving for no reason. The newly gentrified areas bring much higher rents that many artists can't afford. There are not too many artists left in the communities they helped influence, at least not the grittier ones. Coffee shops don’t make an area trendy when every corner has one. Eclectic bookstores can actually help with the coolness factor but Amazon now delivers them right to your home or electronic device so those too are disappearing. The few remaining locations where you still find unique art are now found mostly in the newly pristine parks. Musicians will come on the weekends in the summer, small artist stands will set up where permitted to hock their goods but you'll still never bring back the infamous punk scene of the 80's and early 90's. Even if you could, punkers wouldn’t be able to afford living anywhere even close to St. Marks Place and the East Village today. It's ironic that many places that artists make trendy seem to eventually get swallowed up forcing the artists to move into more affordable locations while simultaneously the suckers who buy in at premium prices, move in expecting that same eclectic flair only to find out their new neighborhood lost its identity and is now just a carbon copy of the last gentrified formula neighborhood. Without neighborhood input and foresight, developers will follow where the money leads them. I've seen very few revitalization projects that do a good job maintaining a neighborhoods soul and identity. There are examples out there, if everyone is willing to compromise between money and compassion. Finding the right development companies and having sound planning with good neighborhood participation is vital for neighborhoods to maintain reasonable identity.

 

There will be ongoing debate and varying opinions if gentrification changes communities for the better or for the worse. The truth may be a little more complicated than that. It’s all about perspective. Pushing out entire communities so Buffy can walk her dog in a safe manner and her dog can shit on the few patches of grass left in an otherwise concrete city might be appealing to some, but what happens to everyone that got pushed out? The people who couldn’t rise up in a city that always beat them back. The only thing familiar to them was the neighborhood they grew up in. It was like another family member and while some people see the newly gentrified neighborhood as coming back to life, for many that grew up there, we just killed off a family member. It’s like someone put an Invasion of the Body Snatchers type of pod outside their community and by the time they finally woke up something clearly seemed off and felt wrong... but it was too damn late. Those smiles now seem too plastic. The pain and wisdom that once oozed from its pores is still there but seems more foreign and is much more camouflaged. It’s like the soul had been ripped out of the community and its now been replaced by Buffy the dog walker who doesn’t care if you step in her dogs shit because she doesn’t have time to clean it up. She still has to get to the new trendy gym that just opened up to show a rental unit to a new prospective client. A property that’s now 4-5 times the cost that it was just a few short years ago. I’d argue that the more diversified a community is, the stronger it is. It shouldn't always be about how much money you have or don't have.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero