JFK

The end…almost

Well, I’m finally home and at the end of my first week back at work. It now feels like I never left…

For those of you that remeber my story about the mouse that came to visit me, check out this story about rats in Greenwich Village!

My last photos will be posted ASAP.

My boys, and my girls!

Me, Donna & Mitch (Shayna is the photog)

Charles & Taras

Today, was my last full day in New York, and it was lovely.

I’m so glad I got to meet me email buddy Mitch and his amazing, and incredible wife, Donna and their beautiful daughter Shayna.

The boys above, are from Liquiteria, the juice bar I frequented, frequently while I’ve been here. These boys have been great. Not only helping me keep various colds and flu away, but making me smile each and every time I’ve gone to see them!

I’m gonna miss those hot killers!

More Snow & Whitney (No, not her!)

St Marks in the Bowery

Looking north up 2nd Avenue (My street)
(Claire, NYC has taught me direction, but don’t know how I’ll go when I get home)

Today is my last full day in New York, and I have taken my time.

I took my time getting up this morning and making my breakfast, then had to dash out to get my washing (I had no clean knickers left!), then a long, hot shower, before I set off to the Whitney Museum.

I had tried to go to this museum on Tuesday, unfortunately for me, my Lonely Planet was slightly out of date, as the Whitney is closed Mondays/Tuesdays.

So I managed to get back there today, and I have to say, it was pretty much the least inspiring museum of my visit. Even the overwhelming, huge Metropolitan Museum of Art was better than this.

There were a couple of interesting pieces, but the bag I bought and the Andy Warhol fridge magnets I bought were far more interesting, as was my hot chocolate.

So dinner with my friend Mitch, and his wife Donna and their daughter Shayna, and then packing (and re-packing) before I head home.

I can’t wait!

Snow

Intersection of Broadway & Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan

Grey days in New York make me happy. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, blue, clear days are often eye wateringly cold, and greyness means that some heat is trapped and therefore not so cold.

Today was not only grey, but muddy, and icy and slippery with snow and sleet, and rain and wind. Foul, foul weather. But, eh, not so cold.

Today, I accompanied my lovely lawyer friend Mitch to Court in Brooklyn. This involved me being up at the ungodly hour of around 7am. Something that I haven’t done the entire time I’ve been away.
Court in Brooklyn was funny, and involved a lot of sitting around waiting. At one point, we went upstairs to have a peek into another court, to see a security guard asleep in the Judge’s chair. Was very funny.

Headed back to the office to participate in a little farewell for the very lovely Asena (The bar wench from an earlier post), who is going back to Slovakia.

Am currently at home, where after having gone to a movie have realised it’s Valentine’s day, (hard to miss with all those roses and smooching couples) and my Valentine is at home in warm Sydney, while I’m in slushy New York!

Happy Valentine’s!

Lazing Around & Counting Down

A very chilly glimpse of Central Park

My Favourite building

The mouth of the Beast!

On my way to Broadway

I stumbled across this in the subway (Needs Sound):

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Lower Manhattan (and my story about a mouse)

Federal Hall

Trinity Church, Broadway

New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street
(Wall St is actually really tiny, not main road size at all)

The Bull on Broadway

A big, old, nasty rat
I think this has something to do with strike breakers on a picket line

South Street Seaport
Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Tall Ships at the South Street Seaport

Now, that I’ve kind of done the things that I really wanted to do, and am mostly over my cold, I thought I’d dive back in to New York.

I took a walk around lower Manhattan. I started at City Hall and walked down past Ground Zero, down Broadway, past Wall Street, and then on to the South Street Seaport where they have an exhibition on called “Bodies“. Now this, exhibition isn’t for the faint hearted. It’s actual human bodies, preserved and stripped down to muscle, bone veins and arteries. The bodies are from a university in China. It was interesting if not a little weirdly gruesome.

I then grabbed a ticket to go see Rent tonight, and headed back into Soho.

Katz’s Deli
This is Harry & Sally’s table

On the way home I stopped at the legendary Katz’s Deli. I had a huge sandwich and pickles, and met an Aussie girl from Melbourne working behind the counter.

The Story of the Mouse

It was three in the morning and everyone was asleep. Reem, mouth breathing because of her cold, was sound asleep and dry of throat. Suddenly, Reem heard an odd rustling sound coming from the bin in her room. “What is that? ” she wondered to herself. Drowsy but alert, she rolled over and switched on the light. At first, she saw nothing, but continued to hear the odd rustling noise. Then as she sat up, she saw a small brown mouse in her bin! her breath caught and she leapt from her bed. The mouse, however, was faster and jumped out of her tissue strewn bin and headed for the door.

As you can imagine, Reem was rather put out by this mouse, but she did her best to get back to sleep.

Twenty minutes later, she heard a familiar noise. This time, she made as though to get out of bed, though the thought of sharing the same floor as the mouse grossed her out more than words can say. The mouse bolted.

Again, Reem attempted to sleep. And again, the mouse zeroed in on the bin. (Reem had no idea what the mouse was after, as the bin, to her memory was filled with snotty tissues from her cold). This time Reem removed the bin altogether and put it in the kitchen.

The mouse returned no more. Fingers crossed!

Harlem Shuffle

Convent Avenue, Harlem

This might be Striver’s Row

The Abyssinian Baptist Church

The Apollo Theatre

Those of you who have known me since my days at uni, would know that I focused primarily on studying African American culture and history. Essays about Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, The Black Panthers, the development of hip hop, and the progression of the Civil Rights Movement.

Coming to Harlem was really significant for me, and probably, emotionally (as wanky as that sounds) the core of the trip for me.

I have to admit to getting teary as I walked down Malcolm X Boulevard. The things that really struck me about Harlem, was how obviously poor it is in comparison with downtown. Where I’m staying is a hip, studenty area, full of boutiques, restaurants and cafes with a really diverse mix of people. Harlem, I saw two white people when I was off the main strip. On the main strip of W 125th Street, there was a little more of a mix, with some Hispanics/Latinos thrown in, but not much.

I went to the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture. Oh, how I wish I’d had access to this treasure trove when I was at university! They are in the middle of a major renovation, so they only had one exhibit open on the discovery of the African Burial Ground in downtown NYC. The Centre has a range of amazing things there, from African artifacts to the papers of some of the most recognised African Americans, such as Malcolm X. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see anything else. If I’d been better prepared I would have come with a list of things to request (It’s a research library).

As an aside, there was a gorgeous female security guard, she must have been from the Caribbean somewhere as she had an accent. She loved that I was from Australia and warned me about the upcoming weather and the hazards of snow in the city. When I was on my way out, she insisted that I put on my hat and gloves before I left the building. She was a gem!

I continued to wander and ended up at the Studio Museum Harlem. This is an innovative little museum/gallery that presents work by African American artists. I got to see the exhibition about Africa Comics, a range of hand drawn comics from around Africa addressing issues such as human rights, female circumcision, education and crime. It was really fascinating.

Then, I headed home, thinking that I would get a ticket to see a show tonight. I’ve been very lucky so far. When I got to the ticket booth at Times Square, the queue was enormous!!!! So, I came home instead! Will try for Sunday and Monday nights instead. Methinks that’s where my luck lies!

8 more days till I leave New York, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I can’t wait to leave the house without having to carry a coat, and a hat and gloves and scarves!

The Tenement Museum

No photos today.

The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, has preserved the history of the Lower East side and it’s waves of migration for the 20 years.

It has preserved an actual 20 apartment (I think) tenement building at 97 Orchard Street.

Check out the tour, I really enjoyed it.

Another low key evening at home, with my cold.