Was in NY for a week, and no, I won't go into my usual gentrification rant yet again. It was the yearly excursion to visit: moms in the nursing home (and a dear friend in the ICU), the post Covid Mermaid Parade, The Bronx Documentary Center and last and not least, to chow down on as many slices of Two Boots pizza as I possibly could in the time allotted. Located at The Jane in the Meatpacking District, I started each day on The High Line by gandering at the guy above, art as it should be: free, multifaceted and humorous; how can you not start you're day on the good foot looking at that mug and all it stands for!
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| All Photos: © Stan Banos |
On the other end of the The High Line was our old 'friend,' The Vessel (or if you're Eastern European- "The Wessel"), the $200 Million doodad of everything art shouldn't be- gaudy, ginourmous and the centerpiece for NYC's currently most expensive neighborhood. (Un)fortunately, it just may have to be... dismantled. Closed since July of last year due to its penchant for attracting those with a penchant for jumping off its higher levels, including one guy who supposedly first murdered his mother- the latter which has pretty much become the de rigueur, signature statement of mass shooters everywhere. You'd think they'd have a plaque for this guy right next to it for breaking the mold and just offing himself after the fact- bloody saint he is! Anyway, they only let you walk into the middle of The Vessel these days, and on the ground floor only- climbing any of its 16 stories, 80 landings and 2,500 Escherian steps is strictly Verboten! It's now been rendered almost Banksy...est!
Walking about certain parts of the city, I noticed how something was kinda... off, actually couldn't explain it at first. Of course, foot and car traffic seemed well below 'normal." Duh-uh! Plum forgot that little pandemic thang; apartments must be really cheap then- right? Anyway, walk I did- at one point I heard my train arriving and proceeded to run up the subway platform stairs as I have countless times since childhood. My body from the waist up lunged forward and upward, while my legs emphatically rejected the go message and remained glacially stationary! My body was Reed Richards waist up, Ben Grimm waist down. First time that has ever happened, and at 66, I had no choice but to laugh it off and just be thankful- it was 5pm, and had been walking since 10am.
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Brooklyn in the foreground; Queens in the back.
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Managed to get a snap here, a snap there, but didn't think the lot amounted to much of anything, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I actually did manage to score a few keepers (even if only one at the parade), and... ten slices of pizza overall. Most regrettably, a standard, everyday jelly donut of perfection at The Donut Pub now costs A Whopping... $2.50!!! I had once thought that our known universe could not possibly support a donut that cost over $1.00; I thought much the same of a movie costing over $10.00.
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