Friday 18th June (New York City):
Weather – hot and humid
Noise levels – intense
Apartment - Eldridge Street - see above
Left - 'American Idiot': http://americanidiotonbroadway.com/
Myself and Celia were sad to leave Cambridge and Boston, particularly after the fantastic time we had had staying with our friends at Cambridge Co-housing.
We took an afternoon train from Boston South Station to New York Penn Station and in one four hour journey, the outside temperature must have increased by at least 10C. We arrived into Penn Station and immediately fell foul of the notorious NYC taxi drivers – we inadvertently caused an argument between two drivers due to our hesitation about whether it was necessary to queue... (very English). We arrived to our apartment at about 8.30, having already been sent the keys by Yasmine our landlady. The apartment is available to view at: http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5114 and is located on Eldridge Street in East Village near to Chinatown, The Bowery, Little Italy etc. The surrounding neighbourhood has lots of very cool clubs, bars and shops nearby.
We spent Tuesday orientating and sight-seeing, so we had breakfast in an Italian coffee shop, before going to see the American Folk Art Museum: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/
We had lunch in the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station, before heading around the New York City Library (scene of many famous films including ‘The Day After Tomorrow’) before heading towards Battery Park to look at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We headed back via the World Trade Centre site which is in the process of being redeveloped – eventually the site will include a memorial but is presently a building site. In the evening, we went to see the musical version of ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day (based on their 2005? Album). The show is currently playing at ‘St James’s Theatre’ on 42nd Street and is fantastic. Later we met up with cast-member Mary Faber who is the daughter of some long standing friends of Celia’s family and who very kindly arranged for some complimentary tickets – thank-you Mary! http://americanidiotonbroadway.com/ . As might be expected of a punk-rock musical about disaffected young people, the show is very intense and explicit so be warned...
On Wednesday I spent time working in New York Public Library and visited the Museum of Modern Art Alzheimer’s Project which I will write about in more detail in due course. http://www.moma.org/learn/programs/alzheimers On Wednesday night we spent time wondering around The Bowery. On Thursday, I went to Brooklyn to meet Jennie Smith-Peers at Elders Share The Arts, again I will write a separate posting on this in due course. (
Finally – just a brief ‘heads-up’ – I was informed by Sean Caulfield at ARTZ (see previous postings) that a fundraiser had been organised in NYC and that the ARTZ team would be in town on Thursday afternoon and evening. Therefore last afternoon, I returned from Brooklyn, changed into my suit and high-tailed it across town to JC Penney’s on 33rd and Sixth to provide morale support. The event turned out to be ‘meet and greet’ plus album signing with Mick Jones (from the 1980s rock band Foreigner) and his step-daughter the fashion designer Charlotte Ronson, (sister of Sam and Mark). My role was to hand-out flyers and publicity and wander around JC Penney’s making people aware of the event. Those attending were able to purchase T-shirts from the new Charlotte Ronson range as well as CDs of the latest Foreigner opus ‘Can’t Slow Down’. The purchase price of all CDs was kindly donated to ARTZ with Mick Jones matching the total with a donation. Suffice to say I had my picture taken with both Mick Jones and Charlotte Ronson by the attending paparazzi... As soon as I am able, I will post the photos...
Foreigner website: http://www.foreigneronline.com/
And: http://www.thefabulousreport.com/0616/charlotte-ronson-and-mick-jones-appear-at-jcpenney.html
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