New York Day 10, 11, 12

The show on Saturday

Bring me your huddles masses. West Village

-Ralph


So after that cafe au lait donut lived up to expectations, I got through that Break Up on Saturday! There was quite a lot more laughter and absurdity in this one than the others. It's always an alarming moment when you first dare to look at the clock in the show- this time I did it at three and a half hours, at which point two and half more felt quite daunting. This break up ended after revelations of infidelity and secrets involving baby clothes. I think we all cracked up a bit more than usual because we are all so tired. Hope you enjoyed what you saw of it, if you saw it. 

Sunday meant cleaning out the air bnb where we've been staying the previous ten days. It was a nice place, but not only did the gas not work but the shower drain also completely failed, which was not fully fun. Took our luggage to the gallery and I explored the East Village a bit with Karah. We got brunch at a busy place which seated us because we were crazy enough to sit outside. Its been clear and fine here but the air is still very chilly. It was funny because the people who were waiting outside were still waiting outside while we ate, only they had no food. We walked all the way over to the East River and saw the joggers on the waterfront and ate a piece of fudge that looked like steak but was actually mint. Went back north and saw the madness which is Styuvesent Town, a gigantic brick development which stretches forever and is also insanely expensive to live in apparently.Then back down first avenue to the gallery.

Joel led the final Future Guidance session and did a great job. We've packed that show away for now, and he is focussing on his role in Wants and Needs, while I have a bit more time. The others are busy heading home or doing other things.

Karah and I are staying three nights with some friends of hers in Queens, in a big old brick apartment building, on an improbably comfortable air mattress. On Monday we did a giant walking mission down the west side of Manhattan. We started with the High Line, which is a whole section of abandoned elevated train track turned into a park. You get great views down the streets and there's places to rest, and art and performances. Nothing really green growing yet, but there were big crews getting ready for spring, when it will be amazing. 

From there we zig zagged through the West Village and then Soho- lovely old buildings and European style streets. Looked over the Hudson toward Jersey, but its very cold by the river. Headed on down to the financial district, where we came across the memorial to the thousands of black slaves who's burial ground the discovered back in the 1990s, beyond the palisade of the old city. Couldn't help comparing the size of the memorial to the WTC one, and appreciating to some extent why people are angry about the invisibility of black history. I read it framed interestingly somewhere- I've thought of Britain and the USA as being to some extent built on slavery- but you could also think of it like this: slaves built America. So a memorial would not only acknowledge the wrong but also the contribution (?). Out of my depth a bit here, but there are a lot of memorial down that end of town and you can't help but be a bit of a critic and compare one to the next. The firefighters one near the WTC memorial is weirdly and kind of disturbingly literal- a wall of bronze relief showing the entire scene of 9/11, buildings and explosions and all.  Its a very different approach to the simplicity and restraint of the main memorial. They've also got the original ruined globe from the plaza down in battery park, with its scars still visible. 

Then back up to Hell's Kitchen where we found a South American place where I had my first empanada and also plaintain chips with guacamole. Then back to Queens by 10pm. Lots of walking makes for good sleeping.