historical seventh ave

recently, we have been working with our condo's board to oversee a renovation for our building's entrance, lobby, and hallways. as a result of some research, we found some pretty interesting images of the neighborhood going back 100 years.

1914: streetcars and horse drawn carriages adorn seventh ave. this photo was taken from the intersection of 23rd street looking up seventh avenue, and on the left side you can see the chelsea mercantile building and on the right side, the chelsea atelier. the chelsea rental building across 24th street has not yet been built, nor many of the other high rise apartment and office buildings which now dominate seventh avenue north of 23rd street. there is an antique-like street lamp at the NE corner of 23rd and seventh.

1915: on september 22, 1915, there was an explosion during construction of the 23rd street subway station that caused the tunnel to collapse. that's our building at the top right corner of the following photo.

1974: american muscle cars fill the paved south-bound avenue. a series of buildings have gone up on both sides of seventh avenue, filling up the manhattan skyline and earning the city its reputation as a city of skyscrapers. the streetlamp at the corner has been replaced by a more modern one.

source: these photos were acquired from the NYPL archives.

harper lee & factoids

i learned today that the state of alabama started an investigation last month to the complaints of potential elderly abuse with regards to harper lee, 88, and her unexpected endorsement of her new book "go set a watchman." 

maybe i wanted to believe that people have the ability to change their minds. and maybe i wanted to believe in the goodness of people - that her attorney and literary agent would find it impossible to take advantage of this accomplished, elderly individual. but after reading this article and giving it a bit more thought, i'm not too sure if i'm just delusional. 

i'm rethinking my pre-order of the prequel, which is slated to arrive on july 14, 2015, and eagerly awaiting the results of the investigation.

best: we finished the last two episodes, including the finale, of gilmore girls. it was great to see the series in completion over the frigid months of winter, and share my adoration for these quirky, loquacious, loving characters with kevin.

worst: learning about the authenticity debate around the falling soldier photograph, arguably robert capa's most riveting and famous photographs taken during the spanish civil war. capa was well-known for embellishing and at times even making up stories, as he did with with the adoption of his name and image when he was a penniless, unknown hobby-photographer.

smile: stumbled upon a steinway & sons at the corner of 45th and sixth ave on my way home after work drinks. apparently it is an interim location, in anticipation of the third flagship showroom in nyc which will open in late 2015 at the former icp museum, one block south. it was closed when i stopped by, but i can't wait to pay them another visit and slide my fingers across the ivories.

factoids: i learned that the first steinway & sons flagship showroom was next to our previous apartment building at 71-73 east 14th street, between university place and fifth avenue. i wonder if it was in the building which currently houses reebok, and formerly, diesel. what a rich history new york city has!

the second interesting factoid: robert capa's brother, cornell capa, was the founder of icp. 

it feels nice to connect the dots.

the heidi chronicles

tuesday was a drizzly, but relatively warm day.

after quick work drinks at 44, the royalton hotel bar a couple blocks at my office, i rushed over to danji for dinner with daisy, who had arrived early to secure seats from the potential broadway rush crowd. as i arrived 15 minutes late to dinner, we were a little tight on time and had to push the pace a bit. the food was, as we both remembered, very flavorful and tasty. danji's dishes are tapas style, however, so you're not left feeling overly full afterwards. we had the hamachi sashimi, bulgogi beef sliders, lightly fried tofu with ginger scallion dressing, and bossam (braised pork belly) - it was all delicious! their cocktails are pretty good too, though dais was getting over the flu and my pinot grigio from the royalton was quite enough for the night.

we arrived at the music box theatre, where i'd previously seen one man, two guvnors starring james corden, just minutes before the play began and were sitting at the edge of our seats for the next three hours. we were watching the heidi chronicles, starring elizabeth moss, jason biggs, and bryce pinkham, during its previews before its march 19th opening night.

more and more these days, i enjoy watching a play or film without knowing too much about the plot, and tonight was no different. 

the heidi chronicles is a well-scripted, witty zeitgeist-play about the changing role of women in the 60s-80s chronicled through the life of  baby boomer, heidi holland. elizabeth moss did an excellent job portraying a young woman seeking a career through her passion, art history, and dealing with society's expectations for the role of a woman (and a number of other important themes, including homosexuality) during the 3 hour play. my second favorite character was peter patron, played by bryce pinkham, who is heidi's best friend over the twenty year period. he emits brightness, solidarity, and a lightness which is much needed in the life of heidi holland.

during the play, there are numerous vignettes with set changes, which are seamlessly integrated with a rotating set design. the dialogue is peppered with historical references and intelligent allusions which really set the scene for each period of heidi's life. 

it was a light-hearted and interesting night for a couple city girls. for anyone looking for a little direction, some affirmation, or just some interesting food for thought, i would highly recommend this play.

bryant park

my office is located in the seagreen glass metlife building at the southwest corner of 42nd street and sixth avenue. directly across the street is the gorgeous bryant park, which houses a number of tasty restaurants, food stands, and public seating, and hosts a variety of activities throughout the year, including and ice skating rink and holiday shops in the winter and yoga and movies on the great lawn in the summers. 

last summer, i actually took a week-long photography class at the international center of photography, located just a block north of the park, and we visited the park daily for our photo assignments. there are local new yorkers taking a coffee break, mothers pushing their young children in strollers, tourists looking for a place to rest, vendors peddling their handmade goods, and homeless people scattered throughout the public spaces at bryant park, all contributing to its life and colorful atmosphere.

i decided to do a little reading up on the park which i walk through almost on a daily basis. it turns out it's existed much longer and endured many more milestones than i could have imagined.

1686: the area known as bryant park was wilderness 

1823-40: designated a potter's field (a graveyard for the poor), after which the bodies were excavated and moved to ward's island

1847: renamed reservoir square, named after the neighboring 4-acre man-made croton distributing reservoir located at 42nd st and fifth avenue. the croton distribution reservoir was new york city's foremost watersource surrounded by 50 ft high and 25 ft wide granite walls which served as public promenades providing panoramic views of the city.

1878: construction of the sixth ave elevated railway began, casting a shadow over the park

1884: renamed bryant park to honor the new york evening post editor william cullen bryant

1899: reservoir structure was removed and construction of the new york public library building began

1930s: park suffered neglect and considered disreputable

1933-34: redesigned as a great depression public works project and the great lawn, hedges, and iron fence were added

1938-39: the sixth ave el was was closed on december 4, 1938 and razed in 1939

1969: 40,000 person rally held as part of the nationwide moratorium to end the war in vietnam

1970s: taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes, and homeless, and considered a "no-go zone" by ordinary citizens and visitors

1979-83: coordinated program of amenities, including book and flower markets, cafes, landscape improvements, and entertainment activities was initiated by the parks council

1988: bryant park restoration corp privately funded a redesign and restoration of the park

2000s: bprc added a custom-built carousel and revived the tradition of an open-air library, the reading room

and finally ..

josephine shaw lowell memorial fountain: the black granite memorial commemorates social worker, josephine shaw lowell, who founded the charity organization society. it is made of stony creek granite and bronze and was installed at the east side of bryant park in 1913. it was relocated to the west side of the park in 1936. in 2009, the fountain was winterized with the installation of an internal electric heating system, enabling it to be left on in subzero temperatures and gather icicles.

happy lunar new year!

magnum photos

we took the RER (suburban paris rail) to la vallee outlets this morning, and good thing we got there when the stores opened because within two hours, there were lines just to get into half the shops! in order to cover the most amount of relevant shops in the least amount of time, we split up at the outlets and met two hours later at starbucks. kevin had picked up a pair of loafers and i had a shirt and a scarf. score! :) while there were lots of european designer outlets, we've both been trying to be more careful to avoid compulsive shopping so we were pretty happy with our purchases!

headed back into the city and were seated relatively quickly at le comptoir du relais, a cute french bistro at the hotel relais st-german that came highly recommended by a number of friends. kevin had the nicoise salad and i had the joues de boeuf confites (red wine-braised beef cheeks). the salad was very good, and quite similar to the maison kayser one we get for lunch in the states actually. the beef cheeks were super tender and the flavor was robust, but not heavy. the service, however, was as i'd read on reviews online - our waiter could not muster up even a hint of a smile for us. oh well.

walked around rue de rivoli and stumbled upon building 59, a six floor building dedicated to (squatted by) local artists. pretty cool building and reminded me of the artist studios we visited in gowanus in october.

it was dark by the time we finally made our way to the hotel de ville for the magnum photos exhibit, and after a 60 minute wait, we finally made it in! i'd heard of robert capa and henri cartier-bresson, mostly from kevin, but this was my first time seeing a large collection of their works, and a very extensive collection it was, ranging from the 1930s to present day. it's a little sad that black and white film photography, and photojournalism, in general, will be another relic of the past with the development of color photography and video. 

what happened next? after the exhibit, we headed over to frenchie to learn that it was closed until january 12th. sad! fine, off to the next restaurant of choice, josephine chez ducomet in montparnasse. fully booked! shizer! tired of wandering around the city, we decided to go to les deux magots, a famous cafe by our flat with a rich history of writers frequenting the establishment. kevin had the veal and i had the duck breast. i thought mine was tastier :) but actually the highlight of the meal was not the entree or the wine or the pierre herme 2000 fuilles dessert, it was the amiable and attentive personality of our waiter, olivier. what a treat!

blurrrrrrr

work: blurrrrrrrr

mood: busy, distracted by work, looking forward to getting back to the apt

history of donuts: http://nyti.ms/1rZBAkO

highlights: used the microwave for the first time to heat up leftovers for dinner! yay. ran the dishwasher for the first time ~ works like a charm. hoping for no leaks. ran two loads in the washer and dryer for the first time ~ yay! a bit lonely in the apt without kevin and with only a quarter of our stuff unpacked, so rose came over after her mani-pedi to keep me company yay! *lucky* introduced her to my auntie's delicious sun-dried persimmons. moved all the boxes in the master bedroom against the wall and moved our bed into the center of the room. heavy, but was able to remove all the floor protection and lean them against the wall for easy contractor disposal the next day. zzz ... long day.

best: LYLAS - love you like a sister. recalling how i used to write this all over my gfs' yearbooks growing up :)

worst: realizing i didn't know how to operate any of our appliances yet. had to read manuals to use the microwave, dishwasher, and washer & dryer! yes, i know, #firstworldproblems

worst#2: band next door (or in the next building?) that practiced throughout the night - singer, guitarist, drummer, the works. luckily i sleep like a rock ...

smile: girlfriends who come to your rescue on the drop of a dime.

b-e-a-utiful saturday!

after two consecutive saturdays of raining cats and dogs, we were blessed with a gorgeous saturday today! given we had absolutely no plans for today other than an exhibit at the ny historical society, it was not surprising that we ended up spending the entire day walking and biking through nyc. lol. it's always those slow, unsuspecting days that are the most fun!

we started the morning with a blue bottle coffee, and then a dough lemon poppyseed at the new dough flatiron location! i had no interest in these bad boys when i saw them at smorgasburg in may due to their ginormousnous, but one of kevin's coworkers had claimed that dough donuts were far superior to doughnut plant and last week one of my friends mentioned they were "heavenly". so i took the challenge!

although i was told that the exotic flavors (passionfruit, hibiscus, etc) were the most popular, i was craving something a bit more simple, so we went for the lemon poppy. it was pretty tasty and we finished it before we reached the end of the block, although i think it was the sweetness of the icing and not in the bread part of the donut. in fact, it was a bit like the texture of a bun, not nearly as light and fluffy as the yeast donuts from doughnut plant.

i think i will try a couple more flavors before i make my final call on dough donuts =P

dough donut spread

our next stop was the ny historical society for the "chinese-american inclusion exclusion" exhibit, which opened this weekend. i went with little to no expectations, and really enjoyed the exhibit. i think it would be an interesting exhibit for anyone, but it was definitely helpful to have some understanding of the sino-american relations and events during the 1800-1900s. kevin and i both learned something new - neither of us had known about the chinese exclusion act of 1882, which was sad to learn about ... the exhibit also depicted the events within three generations of a family which immigrated to nyc in the early 1900s.

although my parents' immigrated to the US from taiwan, their parents were raised in china and so there were many parallels between the stories described in the exhibit and in my parents' lives. it's humbling to learn about the struggles and challenges our ancestors overcame for future generations.

brief introduction to the chinese exclusion act

two of the earliest chinese scholars with us degrees

we caught two other short exhibits afterwards: "selections from a history of ny in 101 objects" and "madeline in new york". the former was awesome! there were so many unexpected iconic objects, some of which i recognized and some i learned about, at the exhibit. the latter exhibit was sweet and a blast to the past from all the madeline books i poured over at the library. bemelmans is genius!

selections from a history of ny in 101 objects

madeline in new york

finally a trip to soho to look at dining tables, couch fabric swatches, rugs, and media consoles. nothing purchased, but we are narrowing down our options! it's a start.

don't half of these look the same?

best: the ny historical society was two blocks from levains! woohoo ~ picked up two chocolate chip walnut and oatmeal raisin puck-sized cookies :) and we finished BOTH already.

worst: kevin raved about these delicious veggie dumplings from ny noodletown, but when we ordered them tonight, they were sooooo bitter. i usually like bitter - i love bittermelon! but these were the mooost bitter watercress-mushroom dumplings ever. blehh.

smile: as we were leaving the gym, we saw an SUV unload with a handful of costumed kids! one minion, one purple batman (?), and one elise from frozen. i totally wanted to follow them to see the probably hundreds of other adorable = rugrats in costume! if there's a halloween kids parade, i want to be there! they are THE CUTEST.