The rest of the trip

Theater didn't completely occupy me on this most recent trip to New York. The city was enjoying a burst of summer weather, so it seemed like a good opportunity to wander about outdoors, which also saved money...

 After the matinee Saturday, my friend and I went to dinner at one of my favorite places, Brasserie Les Halles on Park Ave. That's Anthony Bourdain's old stomping ground.  Then we walked it off by strolling across the Brooklyn Bridge and back at sunset. A beautiful time to see the city from that perspective:

Sunday was even warmer. A walk through Central Park before the matinee probably brought more sun exposure than was healthy, but it was a perfect day for people watching. Found out later that a new record high of 92 was set in the park. After the show, it was still nearly sweltering, so we cooled off by riding the Staten Island Ferry for a round trip. The sea breeze was definitely cooling - the water hasn't warmed up all that much yet.

I had Monday to myself. I had all kinds of plans, but when I saw it was another gorgeous day after sleeping in way late, I tossed them aside and went out to Coney Island. I don't eat hot dogs as a rule, but every couple years I'll make an exception for the original Nathan's there. A chili cheese dog, bacon cheese fries, and a soda...I rationalized that I was walking my butt off the whole time I was in NY. And then spent a nice time just sitting out on the boardwalk. I don't know what's going on with the amusement park there, but a lot of it seems to have been razed.

Later on I went back to the Redhead for dinner. That's a little neighborhood place I visited maybe a year ago and had good time. It's on 13th between 1st and 2nd Aves  in the East Village. I had a good meal, starting with some bacon peanut brittle. I had the chicken described in this review. Sadly, no biscuits for me either. The starch on this plate was a strange goat cheese and spring onion french toast.

I'd swear Neil Simon was at the bar about four feet away from me. He looked like him. And when he came it, everyone was greeting him and making a fuss. They called him Doc, and the bartender was talking theater stuff with him.

Then I went to a screening of An Englishman in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was its North American premiere. The story is basically a mildly dramatized version of the last years of Quentin Crisp's life. John Hurt had played him in The Naked Civil Servant years ago and reprised the role. Nice little flick. The director and all the lead actors were there for a Q&A afterwards: John Hurt, Swoosie Kurtz, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O'Hare, and Jonathan Tucker.

It was an interesting audience. Crisp's great-niece introduced herself and praised the movie. Someone else asked Nixon whether the woman she played (Penny Arcade) had really just walked into Crisp's apartment as portrayed. She didn't know. The next questioner said, "I can answer that. I'm Philiip Steele." That's the guy that Dennis O'Hare played, the magazine editor who befriended and cared for Crisp in the years in question. They hadn't met and apparently no one knew Steele was there.

Tuesday was theater stuff, as previously noted. I had most of Wednesday to occupy myself. Had a fun day before heading home. There's a Belgian waffle truck that tweets its location every day on Twitter. I had been hoping to catch up with it the whole time I was there, and they set up for the day a couple blocks from MoMA on Wednesday. Perfect! So I had a waffle with fresh strawberries on top for breakfast, then continued on to the museum. Took a bit of negotiation to get in, though. I had my laptop in my daypack. Well, they won't allow packs in the galleries, but they also won't accept laptops at the checkroom. Catch-22. We finally arrived at a compromise which required me to check the pack but carry the laptop around with me.

I hit several special exhibits. One was around printing of photographs, comparing various technologies for reproduction with original prints. Really interesting. A second was drawings for theater - sketches for planning of scenery, etc. Some big names were represented, including Marc Chagall. The last was an architectural themed display of drawings and scale models of a number of big projects showing how they fit into their environments.

Then I grabbed lunch at another rather famous street cart a block away from MoMA at 54th and 5th Ave. This cart, Hallo Berlin, won the first Vendy Award in 2005. Lots of yummy German food, focusing on a wide selection of wursts. They have a daily dictator special where you get no choice, or a democratic one where you can choose your own sausages. I had the dictator, which in this case was a "bowl" of a sliced frank and bratwurst, smothered in fried potatoes, red cabbage, slaw, and some sauces. It came with a crusty roll and a cup of hearty soup for $9.00. It was enough food for a whole day, actually. Certainly got me through the rest of the day, including the delayed flight home.

Comments

[weierd]

Jealous.

We missed out on Hallo Berlin on our last trip because of an airline delay(s)...and then they are closed on the weekend.

NYC *has* to do something about the bags policies in the buildings. In a walking town like it is - you can't do anything around there without a backpack - then we get to Yankee Stadium and they won't let us bring it in...the "storage locker" is blocks away. So we end up putting the contents in the damn clear plastic bag and then trying to hide the bag itself. Of course, when we got out it had been "found"/stolen. Idiotic.

I signed up for @waffletruck - thanks for the tip.

[Casey Tiedens]

Bummer! I am here this week, wish you were too!

[RMA]

Rats. Of course, they probably won't give you any time to have fun, will they?