Summer Break: NYC! - Week One
So excited! The great DAAP grants us shore leave for three glorious weeks at the end of summer, so I packed up my bags, left on a jet plane and landed in wonderous NEW YORK CITY for 17 days and 16 nights of urban delight and debauchery. I'm staying at Isak's deluxe pad at Columbia University - 196 square feet of sunlight and high ceilings overlooking the bustle of upper Broadway. In fact, directly across the street is the famous Tom's Restaurant, the iconic diner immortalized in the Seinfeld TV series. Don't ask what it's like on the inside, however...local horror stories of health violations and mice droppings have kept me at a voyeur's distance.
All roads lead to Rome, as they say, and so it's not surprising that I've ran into many friends since arriving in the City. Yalies abound! I met up with Kevin Quinn on his last night in his upper west side apartment...he's moving back to Windsor, CT to teach at Loomis Chaffee. (Give my regards to Jane Austen and James Baldwin!). Tony Melson just got back from the european publicity tour for his first independent film, Camp. (see Tony on Letterman, Aug 05 entry)The film is showing all over the city, and Tony promises to take me out for a special screening tomorrow night. I ran into Joelle Jaffee on the subway in Astoria. She seems as busy as always, managing a production company and running a loft household where roommates are apparently cheaper by he dozen. DAAPsters also have managed to find their way across the plains to New York...This weekend Anna Boskovski was lucky enough to stay at the new Westin Times Square. Last night Anna and I found ourselves wandering the streets of Chelsea at 2:30am in search of "someplace cool," only to land in Peter McManus's Irish Sports Bar (the straightest place in Chelsea!) to knock back a few over tales of gouache paint and form projects. Next weekend Shawn Ormsby will be around to represent the 'Nati here on the east coast. Just send over 1,358 more students and one Peter Eisenman building, and we can relocate DAAP to Manhattan!
Of all items on my New York itinerary, my visit to Coney Island stands out as a pilgrimage years in the making and decades to be remembered. The 90 minute subway ride was made worthwhile, when I stepped out of he train to be bathed in sunlight and salty sea air. The history of the seaside resort is haunting and epic, and so to see the few remaining original relics still standing was breathtaking, eerie, and envigorating. I enjoyed a Nathan's Famous Original Hot Dog and lemonade, sat on the boardwalk and did a few sketches. To make my visit complete, I took a spin on the Wonder Wheel, rode the rails on the Cyclone roller coaster, and took in an eyeful at the world's only 10-in-one, Sideshows by the Seashore. The dormant tower of the Parachute Jump, hailed as Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower, oversaw the events of the day, standing tall and gleaming brightly after recently being disassembled for rehabilitation. I breathed it all in, burnished the images in my mind, and swore to return someday.
I love NY!
