I’m Talkin’ About New York Fuckin’ City Ya Ever Been There?
Ace Frehley will be very happy to know that I was finally able to get back in the New York groove with a whirlwind trip to NYC to visit my buddy D-Man. Here’s a little travel journal recap of my time in Alphabet City.
Friday, October 7th
9:45 AM - I hop off the tiny plane that brought me from Washington DC to LaGuardia airport. I flew out on the redeye from San Dingus and the trip was pretty easy except that my in-flight entertainment during the first leg was a string of lightning-bright ads that I couldn’t turn off. Alas, all’s well as I have arrived at my destination. I pick up my big orange bag from the baggage claim turnstile. D-Man meets me at the airport and we hop on the Q bus, then the subway, Manhattan-bound.
11:00 AM - We make it to my hotel on 57th and Lexington, right on the edge of the Upper East Side. Good news my room is ready or so I would be led to believe until we depart the elevator on the 6th floor and the cleaning lady meets us at the door. “No es listo” but at least I can drop off my bags before we hit the streets.
11:30 AM - No time to waste we grab a coffee and walk up to Central Park, past Eloise’s house, past the horse carriages, and into the green. We’re on a mission to the Met Museum, an ambitious first stop on our museum tour of the city.
12:00 NOON - We get into the Met, D-Man’s a New York resident now so he only has to donate whereas I, a California plebian, I gotta pay to play. We start off in the Egyptian wing. I love looking at all the sarcophagi, tiny carvings, makeup palettes, and statues. It all feels a bit weird since these people were buried thinking they’d be at rest for all eternity and here they are in some museum in NYC. It was nonetheless interesting and reminded me of my grandma who loved all things Egyptian. I was disappointed that there were no artifacts from the Amarna period. The Met is vast and has a little bit of everything, with each room being bigger and grander than the next. We looked at religious relics like Mary Magdelene’s tooth and pietas. We saw Native American costumes from Tlingit to Hopi. Then we found ourselves in the 20th century, gazing at Leger’s and de Kooning’s. I stood in front of a Jackson Pollock wearing an outfit he would have really liked. I also got to see Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni, a Futurist sculptor who embraced the coming world war as a natural development, one that would destroy the remnants of the past and bring humans and machines closer together.
3:00 PM - We speed through the rest of the Met. I underestimated the bigness of the museum and will need to plan my next visit more accordingly. We head into some bougie UES deli for some sandwiches. It takes 30 minutes for the deli man to put four ingredients on my french roll but we cop the food and some bandaids for my blistered feet. We head to the park and I munch through three vertical inches of turkey and dress my wounds. Our plan is to hit the Guggenheim Museum next. Unfortunately for us, the snail shell is closed, an exhibition of Alex Katz’s artwork is getting installed so only the three lesser galleries are open. And boy did they mean lesser. My feet are flayed and the Goog is a bust, so we grab the subway back to my hotel.
5:30 PM - After a nap and some Wild Things we were feeling ready to hit the town. My hotel had roof access so we had a little photoshoot with the city as our backdrop.
7:00 PM - We make our way over to Hell’s Kitchen for some dinner at an old-school French restaurant called Le Rivage. Who knew that a place named after Satan’s cookery would be so chockfull of cute ass restaurants? We had the pre-fixe, both of us getting steak frites. Our waiter seemed to take a shine to my California vibe and brought us a spot of Limoncello, gratuitement. After dinner, we headed to Rudy’s, a little dive bar down the way, to take in the Padres game. Padres were facing off the New York Mets in the Wild Card round, game one. We caught some looks as we cheered the San Diego Daddies on and I nursed an O’Douls. Between home runs and RBIs, we tried not to stare at the most awkward date of all time unfolding in front of us. The dude knocked his beer off the table, the whole bar went “ooooh”, her body language communicated her displeasure, he huffed that he’d just go home before adding insult to injury by making her shake his hand… twice. The cringe factor was through the roof so we left before the game’s conclusion, but the Pads managed to clinch a victory as Emma Stone cheered from the grandstands.
Saturday, October 8th
9:30 AM - I head down to the lobby to get some coffee and a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast. D-Man is gonna meet me here. I notice that one of my favorite local artists, Cheryl Sorg, has a piece hanging on the wall directly above my head. A good portent. D-Man meets me and we head up to Bloomingdales so I can get some socks to protect my battered feet from more blisters. We take the escalators up to Hosiery and Lingerie on the 4th floor and I cop some socks. I put two pairs on over my tights in the Ladies’ Lounge. After a brief stop at the Byredo counter to smell some perfume, we descend to the subway because we are Brooklyn-bound.
11:00 AM - We get off the subway in BK. We’re in Park Slope and we hope to see Steve Buscemi. Our first stop is the Brooklyn Museum which is huge. We walk through the Panamanian Day Parade as we make our way to the entrance. We decide to focus on the permanent collection and skip the Virgil Abloh retrospective. The museum started with more artifacts from Egypt, although still nothing from the Amarna period. We walked into a huge open area that had some local abstract artists on display and took some photos.
We took the elevator up to the next level of the museum and I was so excited to find out that The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago was on display. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew that the installation was housed at the Brooklyn Museum but I didn’t connect the dots before my trip. Seeing The Dinner Party was definitely worth the price of admission and one of the highlights of my trip. I also got introduced to a new artists named Nellie Mae Rowe who I absolutely adored. “Born in Fayette County, Georgia, at the turn of the twentieth century, Rowe discovered her passion for art-making early on, producing drawings and cloth dolls as a child. However, the demands of her family farm, an early marriage, and decades of employment as a domestic laborer made it difficult for Rowe to create for many decades. After the deaths of her second husband and her longtime employers in the 1960s, Rowe wholeheartedly returned to her art, devoting the rest of her life to realizing her creative calling. Her dedication resulted in a practice that was immersive, idiosyncratic, and joyous.” Being surrounded by her colorful works on paper, sculptures, and even a scale model of her home “The Playhouse” was a highlight of my trip.
Did I mention that the Brooklyn Museum is huge? Lots more to see. One part I especially loved was the open storage where you can browse through displays of things “not on display”. The Brooklyn Museum has an extensive collection of furniture from the 1800s through midcentury. I like thinking about how design influences our experience and interaction with the world so looking at the furniture was inspiring.
3:00 PM - After a few more floors of paintings it was time to get some lunch. We stropped into Sweet Chick and I got some chicken and waffles. We also refueled with some cold brew before checking out a few thrift stores in the area. I didn’t find much but I did get a pretty vintage dress for a wedding I’m going to.
5:00 PM - As the sun started to set we went to Prospect Park to relax and take in the people, dogs, and performers. There was a reggae band playing and everyone was hanging out. There were good vibes as the sun set over Brooklyn. Alas, we didn’t see Steve Buscemi.
7:30 PM - We headed back to Manhattan and after a little bit of a rest and another rooftop photoshoot we headed back to Hell’s Kitchen for some pizza and to watch a little bit more of the Padre’s game at Rudy’s. I had another O’Doul’s as we watched the game. Padres weren’t looking so hot so we headed out during the 7th inning. We walked back home through Times Square and I headed back to Hotel 57 for some shut eye.
Sunday October 9th
9:30 AM - Sunday was going to be a busy day so we needed some fuel. We headed to the East Village because I wanted to go to Enchantments and we could get some breakfast at Black Seed Bagels. The bagels were delicious and we sat outside to enjoy them. Enchantments didn’t open until 1, so we sat in Tompkins Square Park for a little bit and then decided to head to Chelsea to go to the Whitney Museum.
10:30 AM - We get to the Whitney and buy our tickets. There’s a Edward Hopper show but unfortunately, it’s not opening for another few weeks. Another museum bust. We head inside and check out a few selected works from the Biennial. The walls are painted black and the art is just as dark. I’m over looking at pandemic art because baby, we’re living it. I go to a museum to escape not to be submerged further in Bummer Times. We go upstairs and check out selected works from the permanent collection which are a bit better but not that exciting since we’ve seen them all over the city. A couple of my favorites are pictured below.
3:00 PM - After we finished up at the Whitney we walked across the street to check out this interesting public park that was over the water. It was really crowded but we got some good pics. We left there and headed to one of the biggest bucket list items of my trip, the Hotel Chelsea.
The Hotel Chelsea is massive and it was so exciting to be there. So many of my favorite writers, artists, and musicians had lived in the Hotel Chelsea over the years. It had magic. We snapped a ton of pics in front of course.
4:30 PM - We headed back to the East Village so I could put in a request for a custom candle at Enchantments. Before Enchantments opened we got ice cream at the cutest ice cream shop called Alphabet Scoop that gives teenagers valuable job experience. We sat in Tompkins Square Park again and watched a few pickup games of basketball. It inspired me to get back on the court when I got home. Enchantments finally opened and it was going to take a few hours to finish so we decided to head back to Hotel Chelsea and go to the El Quijote bar. We were really racking up our subway miles!
5:30 PM - We got to the El Quijote and took our places at the bar. I couldn’t believe I was sitting at the very bar that so many of my creative idols like Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Arthur C. Clarke, Bob Dylan, and Stanley Kubrick had sat at. I ordered a mocktail and we hung out digging the atmosphere.
7:00 PM - Back to the East Village, crossing the island yet another time. We got to Enchantments just in time to pick up my candle. I had to use the bathroom and asked where the closest one was and was steered to Lucky’s across the street. We went inside to find a charming little dive bar, mostly empty, with a killer jukebox selection. We sat soaking in the atmosphere, Halloween decorations, and R&B Soul classics. It was time to get dinner and we ended up grabbing some corn dogs and eating them next to a pile of garbage. Ah, wonderful New York!
8:30 PM - We headed back to my hotel to catch the rest of the Padres game, full of corn dogs and tired from the day. Before we watched the game I headed up to the roof to snap a picture of the full moon in Aries over Manhattan. Padres ended up winning the wild card round to advance to the playoffs. A great end to a great day.
Monday, October 10th
9:30 AM - My last day in New York City and I decide to dress like Ace Ventura. We made the decision to check out the Fotografiska New York because they are hosting a David LaChapelle take over and David LaChapelle is hands down my favorite photographer. I’m so glad we decided to do this because after the Whitney was kind of a dud I knew I wanted to go out on a museum high note. We were not disappointed with David LaChapelle: Make Believe. I love his work. Photos of celebrities, homages to his mentor Andy Warhol, and religious imagery abound. His work is so painterly and expressive. I love that all of the photographs have titles like paintings which add so much to the story.
We turned the corner in the museum and I saw my favorite photos of all time, that I had no idea were LaChapelle’s work. They’re a series of photographs depicting wild parties and there’s something about them that seems surreal. I learned that LaChappelle found photographs at estate sales and thrift stores and then photoshopped in models to add to the story. These photos are amazing and I should’ve known they’d come from LaChappelle’s genius.
12:00 NOON - We finish up at the museum and I spend my last few hours in NYC in the Upper East Side, poking around the nine-story Bloomingdales, walking through Central Park, and just enjoying the buzz of the city. We grab some lunch and just enjoy a more leisurely pace before I have to head to the airport.
All in all, it was a great trip full of art, great weather, cool outfits, and friendship. I’m so proud of D-Man for making it in the big city which is no easy feat for a SoCal boy. Although I miss our weekly coffee walks, it’s comforting to know we can always pick right back up where we left off, and it’s pretty great to have such a close friend in a place like NYC. I’ll never forget this trip and I can’t wait to get back in the New York Groove just like Ace Frehley tells me to.
