Museum of the city of New York – Ci siamo entrati per sbaglio e per fortuna. Decisamente piccolo rispetto ai giganteschi Gughnaim e Metropolitan, ma deliziosissimo. Abbiamo apprezzato la ricostruzione storica, economica e geografica dell'evoluzione e crescita della citta'. Un video di 30 minuti esaustivo e informativo al punto giusto da non stancare. Abbiamo visto altre due belle mostre: Activist New York, un persorso multimediale denso di manifesti, video e interviste, sulle lotte sociali avvenute nella citta'. Un reportage storico ma molto attuale dei movimenti a favore dei diritti umani, integrazione raziale (come si sa ebrei, italiani e neri non erano ben voluti!), diritti delle donne e omosessuali. Una mostra su Mac Conner, un illustratore che con i suoi disegni e lavori ha aiutato a ridefinire lo stile degli americani nel secondo dopo guerra: dallo stile d'abbigliamento sia degli uomini che donne, alle abitazioni e scenari cittadini riproduce, indirizzandoli, i bisogni e desideri degli americani di quegli anni. Ora conta piu di 20 studi fotografici e design, agenzie pubblicitarie e di comunicazioni. Bella recenzione di Marc Mayers su Wall Street Journal. (link)
Brooklyn – appena fuori da Manhattan c'e' questo quartiere vibrante e colorato, che abbiamo potuto visitare solo di corsa (7 giorni a NY non sono per niente bastevoli!). Atlantic Avenue e' la via principale, piena di negozi e ristoranti mediorientali, graffiti sparsi e un'impressionante penitenziario proprio nel mezzo. Consiglio la famosa passeggiata sul ponte di Brooklin per poi gironzolare nel quartiere tra mercatini e nel nuovo distretto culturale di cui fa parte il Polonsky Shakespeare Center.
Highline – un progetto di riqualificazione di una vecchia rotaia ferroviaria nella zona ovest di Manhattan. Una passeggiata in sopraelevata tra piante e fiori, fontanelle e coffee shop. Uno spazio espositivo riuscito e geniale. Ci siamo andati una sera e ci siamo tornati di giorno, portando con noi Pablito el bruto (Nella foto). Abbiamo anche visto che vendono appartamenti tra i 2 e i 20 milioni di $ con il design di un certo Thomas Juul-Hansen.....ne prendiamo due da 20 dai, sono cosi a buon mercato 🙂
Cibo – Buono. Una metropoli multietnica offre tutti (o quasi) i cibi del mondo. Poi anche tante zozzate come dunking donuts per le ciambelle piu zozze del pianeta e Shake Shack per gli hamburgers e patatine. Posto carino corner bistro dove c'e' un registratore di cassa anni 50 – ovviamente nel village. Importante info storico-culinaria: la prima pizzeria a Nueva Yorke l'ha aperta nel 1895 tal Gennaro Lombardi, sicuramente ci sara' un errore. Hanno confuso Lombardi con Esposito!
Basement – I basement di New York hanno una storia ed un fascino tutto loro. Sono dei magazzini/ripostigli sotterranei posizionati a terra davanti ai locali e ristoranti, a cui appartengono. Le ante/porte di ferro si aprono dal marciapiede e li sotto si apre un mondo fatto di ex-locali illegali dai tempi del proibizionismo, una fauna pericolosa e geneticamente modificata – coccodrilli a parte, o semplicemente casse di birra e pacchi di tovaglioli. C'e' chi dice ci siano tunnel sotterranei in tutta NY dove tra treni misteriosi e cadaveri di cinesi vittime di bande rivali si possanotrovare curiosi tesori. Chissa'? Comunque la puzza di muffa che viene da li sotto e' sconvolgente.
Continua...
What a city! Don't go to Times Square as soon as you land in NY, it could cause devastating effects for days. I don't know where to start, I will proceed logically in a random order:
American Museum of Natural History - we needed to start from somewhere, why not the origins!? The museum is huge and really interesting. Science, astronomy, animals species grouped together by geographical areas, all well-exposed throughout the three levels of the museum - where you expect to have Ben Stiller popping out any second (this is the location of the 'Night at the museum' movie). I appreciated, as one of the best bits, the Big Bang's History video. This was created by a collaboration between professors and lecturers of Princeton and Columbia universities. The result is a nice intro to the astronomy section and it has the great approach of 'quenching one's thirst with salt water', making visitors curious by providing just a few but important bits of info to people like me (ignorant!).
There was also an expo of live spiders and, living in Australia, we decided to skip it without even considering it.
Museum of the city of New York – We found out about this museum by mistake, a fortunate mistake. Definitely a 'minion' considering the gigantic Guggenheim and Metropolitan, but delightful. We appreciated the video (another one?) about the historical, economical and geographical city's growth and evolution. This was just an overview of 30 mins - so exhaustive and informative as to not annoy the audience. They were showing two exhibits: Activist New York, a multimedia journey dense with posters, videos and interviews about how the social riots happened in NY. There was historical reportage that seems quite actual to us, showing people striking on the streets for human rights, racial integration (we all know that Hebrews, Italians and black people were not really welcome in USA in the '50s!), women’s rights and homosexuals’ rights. Another exhibit was about Mac Conner, an illustrator that helped to define the American style with his drawings and pieceworks in the 50s: from men and women's clothing, to the city landscapes and buildings he reproduced, offering a direction, the needs and desires of the Americans in those years. Now the gentleman has more than 20 photographic and design studios, plus advertising and communications agencies. A man with an eye in a blind world! Great review of Marc Mayers on Wall Street Journal. (link)
Brooklyn - just out of the island is this colourful and vibrant area, that we visited in a hurry (7days in NY are not enough!). Atlantic Avenue is the main street, full of shops and middle eastern restaurants, graffiti and an impressive penitentiary right in the middle of the street. A must do: the walk on the Brooklyn bridge so you end up going for a stroll in Broccolino (made up nickname, it is so cute!) between the markets and the cultural district where the Polonsky Shakespeare Center is, that made a great impression on me.
Highline – a project of re-qualification of an old train rail in the west of Manhattan. This is a long-'high' promenade with plants, flowers, little fountains and coffee shops. It is also a clever area for exhibits. We went in the evening and came back the day after, taking Pablito el bruto with us. We noticed that they are selling apartments for between 2 and 30 million, with Thomas Juul- Hansen design... we decided to take two considering the price is a real bargain! 🙂
Food - really good! A multi-ethnic metropolis offers all (or almost all) types of food. Not to mention all junk food such as dunkin donuts for the most greasy donuts in the planet (there is different level of greasiness when considering the Italian ciambella and an American donut!) and Shake Shack for chips and burgers. A place that we liked is the Corner Bistro where you can find a vintage atmosphere including an old wooden bench and a cash register from the '50s – obviously in the village. Important historical-culinary info: the first pizzeria in Nueva Yorke was opened in 1895 by an Italian guy named Gennaro Lombardi. There must been a mistake, it was definitely an Esposito!
Basement – NY basements have their own history and charm. They are underground storage units placed on the pavement at the front of the restaurant and shops, to which they belong. The iron doors open from the ground like gates to a different world consisting of ex-illegal pubs from the prohibitionist era, dangerous and genetically modified fauna – excluding crocs!, or simply beer barrels and napkins boxes. It seems there are hidden tunnels everywhere in the big apple, where, between mysterious trains and corpses? of Chinese people murdered by rival gangs, you can find curious treasures. Who knows? Anyway the stink of mould that comes from down there is disconcerting.
To be continued...