Here’s some street art for your Tuesday. A surprising collection from a little unassuming spot on 2nd Avenue and Houston, at the corner of the F train subway and Avalon Chemists. To the left of the photo is my favorite little East Village secret garden.
Fall was about as late to the party this year as a New Yorker taking the MTA on a weekend. But just like your friends do when you stumble through the door, 40 minutes late after a subway trip from hell, we are greeting this season with all the enthusiasm, cheer, and clichés!
Come now, could I really call myself a New York Cliché if I didn’t visit a pumpkin patch and go apple picking this weekend? Read More
Every Friday I feature some fleeting moments from my week that made me stop and think, “I’m so lucky to live in NYC!” And maybe some that made me think, “Bahaha this city is ridiculous and I love it.” Here we go for this weirdly long (just me?) week of October…
Maybe the week felt especially long for me because I worked on Monday, while many Americans had the day off. I walked outside my office in Midtown and heard blaring pop music- what the hell is going on!? The Columbus Day Parade was less than a block away on 5th Avenue. I pretty much forgot people celebrate what we officially call “Indigenous People’s Day” in my hometown. Of course, NYC is known for Italian-Americans, so it really shouldn’t have surprised me. Read More
Originally posted in September 2016. Today, in 2018, two of my best friends have dipped their toes into online dating for the very first time. They needed this post. You might too.
Come child, come sit on my knee and I’ll tell you a story of the olden days.
Long ago- before Ubers roamed the streets, when only rich nerds had iPhones- way back then, people got excited for first dates.
I imagine telling this story to my 21-year-old co-worker who is fresh out of undergrad. She’d probably shriek and fall off my knee, “OMG LOL no way! That never happened IRL, only in the movies!”
Here in 2016, first dates are chores. “Ugh, tonight I have to pick up toilet paper and go on a first date.” Let’s be honest, sometimes the choice between two-ply and extra soft is more stimulating than first date conversation.
With the explosion of online dating, first dates are nothing like what they used to be. Now you’re meeting someone for the first time, after only seeing pictures and typed communication. Chances are they’ll be to short, too tall, too quiet, too annoying, too little chemistry, talk too much, etc, etc. All things you realize within two minutes meeting someone.
I propose a complete re-branding, a drastic name change for the meeting-for-the-first-time-in-real-life date. I’ve got some ideas.
Problem with Idea #1: It sounds too serious. This meeting should absolutely not be taken too seriously. When shorted, “VI date” sounds like “Very Important Date”. No! It’s the opposite! I needed a better idea…
Problem with idea #2: “Meet and Greet” typically refers to paying money to meet a celebrity. Maybe that translates to dating for some dudes? Hm…we still need something more original…
That pretty much covers 90% of first offline meetings. Let me know what I’m missing? Pass it on to your friends: “Going on a Drink n Wink tonight!”
I want to save the “first date” for when I know I actually like someone. Bring back first date butterflies! Bring back the thrill of picking your outfit because you want to impress your date.
Let’s leave the, “Tonight may very well suck,” for Caf ‘n’ Laughs and, “Tonight might be amazing,” for actual first dates.
Six evenings last week, one thousand singers took over the NYC’s High Line from start to finish: 12th Street to 34th. They sang a world premier piece called “The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock”. The performance was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Overwhelming and weird, ambitious and awesome- emphasis on the awe.
After waiting in line for our timed entrance at 8PM, we entered the High Line at its most downtown entrance on Gansevoort Street.
We couldn’t hear any music as we ascended the stairs. It was impossible to imagine what to expect, even though I knew the basic premise.
We would be walking from 12th Street to 34th, the full length of the High Line. Along this path, singers would be performing. Each singer would be singing the same small portion of the piece over and over. The only way to take in the entirety of the opera was for the audience to keep moving forward.
There’s a little park between 1st Street and Houston on 2nd Avenue in NYC’s East Village that has no benches. The flowers grow kinda wild, there’s clearly no landscaper. The park is barely bigger than its path way. There’s next nothing in First Street Green Art Park besides a gallery’s worth of art.
The paint on the walls changes frequently. Go once a season and you’ll see completely fresh street art.
A British blogger I follow recently moved to NYC. It’s been so very fun for me to read his tweets, watching someone see NYC with fresh “alien” eyes. I asked him if I could share his most recent post. Thanks for saying yes, Dan!
By Dan @French84
So I’ve made the move to New York City. Nearly 3 weeks in, I’ve actually started to settle a bit, despite moving to 3 different places in 3 totally different areas of NYC. I’m now staying put for 2 months in the East Village whilst I work out the longer term plan which will probably involve me getting my own place. By “place” I mean something the size of your UK living room, places here are tiny unless you pay a huge amount.
I want to outline some of my New York observations that I’m sure you’ll be aware of already but still worth a bit of a ramble!
So here’s some things I’m either very slowly, or will simply never, come to terms with:
I know we can account this to cost of living, and it’s simply just what you have to pay, but I don’t think I’m going to get my head around how expensive simple grocery shopping is. They just seem to mark everything up, and no matter how you look at it, I’m not best pleased about paying £3 for a bag of Doritos. £3 for a simple Orange Juice. £3 the going starting rate for basically anything. Might not seem like a huge amount, but multiply that for every item you buy and it certainly adds up! Read More
