All you need to know about Manhattan culture and so much more...
The High Line Park is like New York City in many ways. It has a strong, blue collar past. It has fallen on hard times but also has had a glorious resurrection. It blends breathtaking views with a trendy, artistic atmosphere.
The area around the park is still being developed and when combined with the eclectic energy of the people in the neighborhood it makes for classic New York scenes.
Spring has (finally) arrived in New York, and one of the best ways to enjoy the newfound sunshine is to surround yourself with some of the free, outdoor art that’s popping up in many of the public parks and spaces around the city. Madison Square Park is now home to Red, Yellow and Blue, a massive installation by New York-based artist Orly Genger. By knotting over one million feet of nautical rope, covering it in primary colored-paint, and weaving it around the trees and lawn spaces of the park, Genger has transformed the landscape into a visual playground that brings the spirit of costal waves and sand dunes to the middle of Manhattan. Commissioned by Mad. Sq. Art, a program that brings free contemporary art to Madison Square Park, Red, Yellow and Blue will be on display through September 8, 2013.
When you’re done soaking up all that nature and free art, be sure to head across the street to Mad. Sq. Eats, an tiny outdoor market located in Worth Square, which is the name for that trapezoid of concrete directly north of the Flatiron Building. You’ll find your typical food truck fare – everything from lobster rolls, pulled pork sandwiches and mini meatballs to ice cream, macaroons, and a solid variety of local wine and craft beers. Best bets include truffle salami from Charlito’s Cocina, tamarind pineapple glazed chicken satay from Graffiti | Metaphor, and a tiramisu cannoli from Stuffed Artisan Cannoli. Mad. Sq. Eats is open daily from 11am-9pm and runs now through Friday, May 31.
Madison Square Park is located on 23rd Street between 5th and Madison Avenues; take the F/M, N/R, or 6 train to 23rd Street. Check out madisonsquarepark for more information.
Take a moment. Step back and think. How does a city the size of New York City function? Only through the hard work of those that fix the streets, collect the trash, clean the streets, work on the tugboats and barges on the river. Through the dedication of those that work the midnight shift so that when we wake up in the morning our city is all the more perfect. Without out any filters or fancy photography tricks this is the first of many journals I plan to post in their honor.
I love the variety of neighborhoods in New York City. Walk a few blocks and you can go from Little Italy to Chinatown. From Koreatown to the Garment District. In the upcoming weeks I will be spotlighting in photographs the mosaic of communities that make up New York. They will not be advertisements or real estate agent walking tours. Rather they will be what the communities look like from the street level. As if you took a stroll and simply looked around. The point is to draw the flavor out from what that neighborhood has to offer from the average point of view in every day life.
The first in this series is Sutton Place. A very small neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan. Sutton Place and Sutton Place South run from 53rd Street to 59th Street. It’s as far east as you can go on the island of Manhattan at that point. The numerous cul de sac parks offer sweeping views of the East River and Roosevelt Island, as well as the Queensboro Bridge.
Sutton Place is considered one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of New York City. The wealth is evident from the attentive doormen of the high rise apartments and the clothes of the women walking around on a sunny day.
It is a beautiful yet exclusive part of the city that certainly adds to the character of all New York.
As the sun goes down over New York you can feel a change coming over the city. It’s not that the city awakens because as we all know, it never truly sleeps. It’s more like a mood change. If you put a soundtrack to it, it wouldn’t be a full symphony orchestra or an operatic aria. It would a lone whining saxophone filling the gray night air (think an abstraction from The Love Supreme); much different than the frantic piano piece of the hectic work day. (think Flight of the Bumble Bee) It’s the sound of the endless possibility of victory, defeat, or both. When the night falls over New York City anything can happen and usually does.
New York City itself is known for being a prime area for some of the best events in the world. That rings true especially for events geared towards the gay community. The Black Party weekend is one of those annual events that bring men from around the world for a weekend of excitement, dancing, interesting wardrobe choices and above all a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the world.
Hosted at the legendary Roseland Ballroom, the Black Party Weekend starts on Friday night and doesn’t end until around Sunday afternoon. If you are into something that is a little outside of the norm, this is the event for you. Leather and gear enthusiasts are rampant at all of the events, as well as some of the most known names in the gay adult industry.
It starts out on Friday night around 7PM with the Black Party Expo. This gets the weekend going, with several different vendors promoting their fascinating lines. Whether it is a gay app that is hot right now (Recon, Mister), the best M4M night in the world (Adonis), or some of the biggest gay adult websites online right now (Cocky Boys, Lucas Entertainment) there was something for everyone there. It was set up with a fantastic light display that encompassed the look of a Ferris Wheel. It was something that I could definitely tell was going to be in heavy use for the party itself.
That same night was where The Hookie awards took place. This event was designed for rentboy.com, a site devoted to the personal enjoyment of a fellow gentleman. Hosted by Rupaul’s Drag Race season 4 winner Sharon Needles and comedian Cole Escada, the awards were presented in full to some well known names in the adult industry (Austin Wolff, Trenton Ducati, Rafael Alencar) and some of the biggest members on Rentboy. Some of the presenters included well known journalists like Paper Magazine Editor-In-Chief Mr. Mickey and Village Voice writer Michael Musto. The awards itself had some really great names to them (Best Top, Best Boyfriend Fantasy, etc) and above all everyone seemed to have a great time. Sharon and Cole did an amazing job themselves, and as a personal fan of Sharon’s it was great to see her perform live and prove why she won season 4.
The next days events were similar to Friday nights. There was an extended version of the expo that lasted from 12-7pm, so if you weren’t able to make it there Friday you had all day to see what the vendors were selling and get to meet and greet some of your favorite stars. Saturday night is what everyone was there for- The Black Party. I had a ton of friends who went, and said they had a great time. Some really unique performances took place but above all the music kept everyone going through the night into Sunday morning.
If you ever get a chance to have a once in a lifetime experience and you are local or visiting the New York City area, stop by next year’s Black Party weekend. It is one that you don’t want to miss!
William Shakespeare once wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…” If the world is truly a stage then the people of New York City are at the very center of it. The human story that unfolds here daily is so rife with drama that it fairly swallows you up as soon as you leave your front door to wade into it. As shown here, just by going a few blocks in any direction you can encounter: creativity, romance, sadness, ingenuity, desperation, heroism, despair, and solemn determination. Each New Yorker contributing an equal amount to City’s story. Walt Whitman summed it up best by saying, “The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.”
The rain in Manhattan creates an unique atmosphere. The clouds close tight around the buildings and the gray skies seem to drain the color from the city. It generates an almost nostalgic feel as if New York has taken a step back in time. It’s like the whole world has become black and white and the city’s mood changes completely. Umbrellas go up and the people shuffle up and down the avenues. For a photographer, it’s too good to pass up.
The Subway. It’s not the Underground. It’s not the Metro. And it’s not just any ordinary train ride in New York City. It can be stinky, crowded, noisy, sweltering hot or all of the above at any one time. Ask any New Yorker and you will probably get just as many that hate it, as love it. Since its inception in 1869, its hundreds of miles of tracks have stretched under the city like a web of veins carrying the people, who are the life blood of New York.
When people think of New York City, they think big. Big buildings, big places, big dreams. Landmarks like The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, The Chrysler Building, The Brooklyn Bridge. These are the iconic structures that people travel from all over the world to see today and, like my great-grandparents a hundred years ago, packed ships to cross the ocean to get a glance at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and taste the freedom that she represents to this day. These marvels of construction are just one more reason why New York is New York.
