New Year's Eve Confetti

Here is a very cool article about the man behind the confetti in Times Square!  We all pay so much attention to the ball that I fear   Treb Heining goes unnoticed!  Article is from mashable.com. Please enjoy!

http://mashable.com/2013/12/31/times-square-new-years-confetti/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link

105 years ago

This was Times Square 105 years ago.  Kind of fun to take a photographic tour back in time!

The photo is courtesy of this link: https://twitter.com/beschlossdc/status/417102270740701185

LaGuardia Airport

It's the busiest travel time of the year.  Thousands upon thousands of travelers will be passing through LaGuardia Airport.  In fact, I just passed through LaGuardia on my way home to Florida.  I thought it would be cool to learn a little bit about this travel hub.

The catalyst for LaGuardia being developed for commercial flights came from its namesake, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.  He is a very colorful character worthy of a novel, let alone his own blog entry.  In fact, a musical (Fiorello) was even written about him.  Check it out!  And read about the man here. 

At any rate, the story goes Fiorello La Guardia was flying into New York with a ticket that read "New York," but ended up landing in Newark as Newark Liberty Airport was the only commercial airport serving NYC at the time.  After being flown to Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, La Guardia held an impromptu news conference urging New Yorkers to support a new airport within their own city.  Construction on La Guardia airport began in 1937 with the help of the WPA and American Airlines. 

The airport opened for business December 2, 1939.  We have to remember in 1939, air travel was not nearly as common as it is today.  People were fascinated by the idea of air travel and were willing to pay just for the opportunity to watch the planes take off!  People paid a dime to watch this spectacle and in two years the airport raised $285,000 just in observation fees!  What was once considered a $23 million"boondoggle"* (Note: some price estimates were $40 million) quickly became a financial success!  Other airports, including Newark Liberty, were not able to keep up with La Guardia airports success.  LaGuardia soon won bids from the five largest airlines in the world before the airport was even entirely completed!  

LaGuardia wasn't used solely for commercial flights.  As you may have noticed, the opening date is ominously close to the start of WWII.  It was used as a training facility for pilots during the war.  

At the time LaGuardia airport was completed, it was considered a very large airport.  It soon became comparatively small.  By 1968 general aviation aircraft were actually charged fees to operate out of LaGuardia during peak hours!  Other laws and fines were put into effect to stop overcrowding.  In 1984, a "perimeter rule" was put into effect, banning non-stop flights to cities further than 1,500 miles away from LaGuardia Sunday-Friday.  The FAA also limited the number of flights and types of aircraft that could opera from LaGuardia.  In 2007, Congress passed an Act that revoked federal traffic limits to LaGuardia.  The biggest impact on reducing overcrowding, however, came from the 9/11 attacks.  Reduced demand for air travel to the NYC area greatly slowed LaGuardia's traffic growth.  Since then, the Port Authority has made several renovations and monetary investments to make the airport's operations more efficient  and improve the airfield layout.  Additionally, Port Authority created rail networks such as AirTrain Newark and AirTrain JFK to make LaGuardia's competitor airports more enticing to travelers and airlines.  Still, as every holiday traveller knows, LaGuardia falls victim to frequent delays.  (The lady who works the Hudson Newsstand at LaGuardia's terminal A informed that the morning flights are always on time, but as the day progresses more and more delays accumulate.  So if you are pressed for time, wake up for that 7 a.m. flight!)

If you should visit my friendly Hudson Newsstand friend in terminal A, be to sure to look for the 235 foot James Brooks mural entitled "Flight."  Business Insider published a beautiful article about the mural a few years ago, which I'm just going to link you to instead of rehash myself.  It's a wonderful little treasure of an article so please do yourself a favor and visit the link!  http://www.businessinsider.com/laguardia-airports-mural-has-a-secret-communist-message-2010-12    After reading the article, look up in terminal A as the author suggests and revisit a time "when air travel for the masses was a glittering promise, and then when it became a subversive idea."

*"boondoggle" is my favorite word of the week!

The Stonewall

A few months ago I blogged about the Pride March.   It was while researching the Pride March that I first discovered the Stonewall Inn.  On June 28, 1969, the night/morning following Judy Garland’s funeral), an openly gay club known as the Stonewall Inn was raided by police.  Police often raided gay clubs, especially the Stonewall as it was the largest openly gay club in the U.S. at the time.  On June 28, 1969, however, the Stonewall fought back.  They fought back for six days and nights, and fought so mightily that the police fought back and the gay rights movement was born. 

I assumed that the Stonewall Inn I frequently walked past when strolling in the Village was the same Stonewall Inn involved in the riots.  The truth is, the Stonewall Inn was actually closed later in 1969, and the space was used for various shops ranging from a shoe store to a Chinese restaurant!  In the 1990’s the space returned to a gay club, simply known as “Stonewall.”  In 1999, it was registered in the National Register of Historic Places for its historic significance to gay and lesbian history.  It thrives for a few years, but was eventually neglected and closed again in 2006.  A year later, in 2007, the club reopened under the supervision of Bill Morgan and Kurt Kelly.  The club regained popularity and continues to pay homage to its rich history steeped in LGBT cultures.

This week I actually had the opportunity to perform at the Stonewall Inn.  I had never set foot in the establishment, but once I did it did not let me down.  It was everything you could want from the Stonewall.  The club is two floors.  The bottom level is a basic bar with a billiards table.  The upstairs is a cabaret space!  I was performing in “Lavinia and Chocolatina’s Laugh Lounge.”  

This cabaret was everything you would expect from the Stonewall Inn. Lavinia Draper is a character played by the brilliant Susan Campanaro.  Lavinia is an oversexed “hot mess” of an emcee who does impressive splits while doing hilarious renditions of well-known songs.  She also tap dances and plays the ukulele!  Chocolatina is a drag queen character played by Erik Kraft.  Chocolatina is a wonderfully impressive character who sings and dances her ways into audiences’ hearts.  Perhaps more importantly, Erik Kraft is a professional chef who specializes in chocolate.  At the end of this particular performance, Chocolatina pelted the audience with delicious homemade artisanal chocolates!  The audience was also treated to eggnog shots and cookies.  What more could one want from a holiday performance at the Stonewall than drag queens, chocolate, cookies, shots, and Lavinia Draper singing “They know that Saaaaanta’s on his way.  He’s loaded lots of chains and whips and paddles on his sleeeeeiiiiigh….”

I was performing with a group called “Bad Kitty the Series.”  They are a burlesque dance company with a cat theme.  We danced to “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Santa Baby” - at one point starting a conga line snaking through the audience.  Through this, I got to a dance with a gentleman dressed as Santa who seemingly managed to wander to the Stonewall’s cabaret space by accident.  He was thrown off guard but seemed to be having the time of his life.  In all seriousness, who couldn’t.

I’ve had trouble recommending places to visit in the Village.  I spend shamefully little time there.  Well, from now on I will seriously recommend that everyone goes to the Stonewall and enjoy a bit of history as well as really whacky off-beat wonderful cabaret performances!

  

SantaCon

It's the most traumatizing day of the year!  SANTACON was yesterday, traumatizing good little boys and girls the world over.  Adults dress up like Santa and go huge drinking binging.  Sure, the official website says some SantaCon events are for children/kid friendly, and ask that Santa does not make children cry - but this does seem to be what happens in reality.  In New York at least, rowdy barely legals dress up as various winter characters and get so drunk they are already puking in the street by 10:30 a.m.  It really captures the holiday spirit.  And I definitely saw children crying as a crazy group of Santa and elves drunkenly sang Feliz Navidad.  In NYC authorities tried to shut SantaCon down this year, but as we all now, the Grinch cannot steal Christmas.  The one rule was Santas were not allowed to wear fake beards INSIDE of bars.  At any rate, here are photos I took of Santas from SantaCon braving the blizzards and the East Village.  My favorite is the Hasidic Jewish Santa...

Sample Sales - a true NY Shopping Experience

I have a problem.  I LOVE expensive clothing.  I mean - I LOOOOOOOOOVE it.  Burberry, Alice + Olivia, Carolina Herrera, Dolce and Gabbana, Loro Piana, anything that is sparkly with ornate beading and soft delicate material fills me with happiness.  I am also an out of work actress who tour guides for a living.  This is not at all conducive to buying designer brands.  So what is a girl to do?  GO TO SAMPLE SALES!!!!!

Sample Sales are always happening in NYC.  You can read about upcoming and current sample sales on http://ny.racked.com.  What are sample sales you ask?  They are sales used by retailers to discard excess merchandise.  Here’s the thing, designers don’t actually like donating their clothing to places like homeless shelters because it isn’t good for their brand image to have homeless people walking around in their clothing. It’s a cruel truth.  Often what these designers will do is just send leftover products to an incinerator.  They destroy the clothing.  It breaks my heart to imagine all those beautiful Burberry coats just being burned alive. Occasionally designers will send the merchandise to outlets stores or department store discount branches such as Saks off Fifth or Nordstrom’s Rack.  If you are in NYC, however, and want super discounts, you can make your way to a “sample sale.”  They can be found at pop-up store locations throughout the city.  Designers will put up left over merchandise at extreme discounts for people to buy.  Occasionally they will also sell damaged goods to be sold “as is” at even greater discounts. 

I discovered the wonder of sample sales after I fell in love with a $1000 Alice + Olivia outfit at Bloomingdales.  Looking for ways to purchase this outfit without spending a month’s salary, I fortuitously stumbled upon a five day long Alice + Olivia sample sale happening in the city that week.  I had no idea how sample sales worked.  Boy was I in for a shock!

First of all, these pop-up stores are NOTHING like Saks Fifth Avenue.  They are essentially warehouse spaces with racks and racks of barely organized products.   They are somewhat organized by size.  However, ravenous shoppers scouring the racks quickly devoid the sale of any sense of order.  You are only allowed to bring ten items into the “dressing room” at a time, and if you need another size, you’re out of luck.  There is no friendly sales lady to help you.  You will have to leave the dressing room, and wait in the dressing room line again.  These dressing room lines are unlike any lines you see in department stores. The lines wrap around the store.  You can wait up to 20 minutes to get into the dressing room.  When you finally do get into the “dressing room” it’s a crowded communal area where approximately 20 people are basically on top of each other trying on cloths and fighting for a peek in one of four mirrors.    You are so cramped together you often get elbowed, poked, and prodded by other sample sale vultures.   The brave people working the sample sale constantly run into the dressing room area and shout at you to hurry up, reminding you there is a long line outside.  The environment could not be more stressful.  For many, the stress is worth it.  Why you ask?  Well, because you can buy a $500 dress for $129.  A $1747 ball gown for $200.  A $400 skirt for $40.  The discounts are unbeatable.

I went to the Alice + Olivia winter sample sale yesterday.  This was my second Alice + Olivia sample sale so I knew what to expect.  I’m not necessarily the best at putting outfits together, and usually depend on friendly department store workers to help me figure out which skirt goes with which shirt.  At sample sales there is none of that.  So I studied up on Alice + Olivia outfits. Every sample sale you go to will be different, but with Alice + Olivia they offer clothes from the current season, last season, and the season before.  I went on their website and saw how they put outfit outfits together so when I got to the sale I would know what to look for on the racks.  I also tried on several items from this season’s collections at Saks Fifth Avenue, so I knew what size to look for.  I recommend anyone going to any sample sale do this.  When you get to the sale, people will be pushing you out of the way to find clothing on racks, and the better you know what you are looking for the better you will fare.  I also knew I had to myself zen in the dressing rooms and to not let people yelling, pushing, or trying to steal clothing off my rack bother me.  At the end of the day, I left with four new outfits, the total cost being less than one regularly priced Alice + Olivia skirt.  It took three hours with all the waiting in the dressing area lines, but I would say it was worth it.

So here’s the thing – people come to New York and constantly ask me where they can find outlet malls or great shopping deal.  They are often directed to Woodbury Commons in NJ.  Now it always strikes me as silly that you would fly from Australia in NY to go to an outlet mall in NJ, but people love a bargain.  If you want the best bargains, and a true unique New York experience, get thee to a sample sale!  You will see crazy New York personalities (there was a woman who spent the entire three hours I was there standing in front of one of the mirrors in a silver shiny coat and was still there when I left!), you will get designer brands at unbeatable prices, and you can’t get this experience any place other than NYC.  For the savvy shopper, sample sales are the way to go.  However, if you want lovely helpful sales ladies who offer you water and fashion advice while you shop to pleasing elevator music in flattering lighting, just go to Saks.  

Preview of the dresses I bought at the Alice + Olivia Sample Sale.

Lord & Taylor Holiday Window Champions!

During the holidays, Fifth Avenue transforms into a mystical winter wonderland.  Every store competes with the next to have the most spectacular holiday window displays.   Attention is usually focused on Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co, and Cartier.  Venture slight further south, however, to 39^th street and you will be rewarded with my favorite window display of the year – Lord & Taylor.

As a store, Lord & Taylor is full of New York firsts.  Of the stores currently on Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor was the first.  Founded in 1826, it’s actually the longest continually operating store in NYC!  It will be celebrating is 100^th year at it’s Fifth Avenue location in 2014. It was also the first major store on Fifth Avenue to name a woman (Dorothy Shaver) president.  She brought in many innovative retail concepts, some of which may seem outdated today, but during her tenure made sales rise.  One seemingly outdated marketing ploy was to have two sets of elevators in the store, one set operated by beautiful female redheads, and one set operated by beautiful female brunettes, each of whom had their hair and makeup done at the beginning of the day at the Lord & Taylor salon.  These lovely elevator ladies were the talk of the town.

Lord & Taylor has a first that is very important for the holiday season.  It was the very first Fifth Avenue store to present Christmas windows that feature purely holiday displays and not merchandise.  Walk along Saks, you’ll drool over the Oscar de la Renta gown shimmering beautifully in a winter wonderland.  Bergdorf Goodman will have a Loro Piana cape making a splash at a holiday party beckoning you to buy it.  While some of these stores have a few dresses designed specifically for their holiday windows, most of the merchandise you see can be bought in the store.  Saks Fifth Avenue even posts on their windows on which floor you can find each dress/bag/accessory.  Lord & Taylor’s are all pure holiday magic.

Today’s Lord & Taylor’s window displays are actually made in a workshop underneath the Fifth Avenue store and are brought  up to street level when it’s time for them to be revealed!  Currently, the windows are the only in the city that operate purely on hydraulics.   This year’s displays celebrate New York City and Christmases of yesteryear.  There are retro scenes of Lord & Taylor shoppers, men being fitted for suits, spectacular Christmas parties with waltzing couples, and a delicious New York Christmas feast worthy of the final scene of "A Christmas Carol."  My very favorite figuring in the windows is a twirling girl in a pink dress.  I think she reminds me of my last opera costume that I got to wear, but watching this figurine twirl in the window filled me with happiness.

The detailed holiday windows are incredible visual displays worthy of any Broadway or Metropolitan Opera set.  The cherry on top, and what really makes the window displays soar, is the music accompanying the.  Lord & Taylor plays symphonic holiday happiness outside their stores to delight shoppers admiring their windows.  If you need to get into the Christmas spirit, get thee to Lord & Taylor.  You won’t have merchandise thrown in your face, you’ll have sparkly holiday displays celebrating wonderful New York Christmases past, and rich full music to help you celebrate Christmas present.  Lord & Taylor, I declare you the holiday window display winner of 2013!

1 WTC rising from the clouds

For today's entry I just wanted to share a series of photos I took from the top of the Empire State Building today.  It was the most spectacular view of 1 World Trade Center that I've ever seen.  Wish I had my real camera and not just an iPhone!

Winter's Eve

Last night I went to a wonderful New York event known as Winter’s Eve. 

Winter’s Eve is a large and delightful outdoor performance festival and tree lighting ceremony put together by the Lincoln Center Square BID. (The BID stands for “Business Improvement District.  Their mission is to make Lincoln Center cleaner, safer, and more beautiful, and to undertake various improvement projects.)   The festival just celebrated its fourteenth year and I certainly look forward to the fifteenth! 

My friend Eva and I just wandered into the festival not doing a whole lot of research or knowing much about it.  I just consider Lincoln Center my “happy place” and consider anything happening in the area to be happiness inducing. Winter’s Eve did not disappoint.  As soon as we entered the festival, Eva was accosted by a pair of friendly human sized lemurs running around and hugging festival-goers.  I was distracted by two beautiful princesses on stilts walking their pet triceratops.  Turns out these were performers from the Processional ArtsWorkshop.    It doesn’t matter how old you are, watching giant puppets parade down the street is always magical.  These puppets and costumes were so creative and whimsical you couldn’t help but follow them up Broadway. 

They led us to Dante Park. So many fabulous performers were scheduled.  Eva and I missed most of them because I was tied up giving a holiday tour, which was super fun in and of itself.  It does turn out though that I missed one of my favorite performers, Brian Stokes Mitchell, singing in partnership with The Actors Fund.  The Actors Fund is a wonderful organization that helps actors in their times of need.  They are very much the reason I work as a tour guide now.  After living on unemployment for a year, I went to their “Work Program” and they helped me find a “parallel career” that I feel passionate and excited about.  No worries though.  Eva and I did manage to see the quirky, off-beat, and lively Frank London’s Klezmer BrassAll-Stars.  I am attempting to upload a video of them playing the "Dreidel Song," but thus far lack the technical capacity to achieve this.  So - coming soon!  

We then decided to move over to Lincoln Center to “take fun photos by the fountain,” but were distracted by the “High and Mighty Brass Band” who danced and played and delighted many a passerby with insurmountable enthusiasm.  I also soon hope to have video of them performing.  In the meantime, please enjoy this photo that I took.  

After the High and Mighty Brass Band danced away, Eva and I decided to take in the temporary art installation know as “Melt to Earth” by Aaron Curry that has been taking over Lincoln Center for the past few months.  Apparently we looked like we were having fun and a lady passing by asked if we wanted a photo of the two of us together.  After she took the photo she said, “Enjoy your youth ladies…while it lasts.   It’s gone all too soon.”  Ominous…

All along the path of “Winter’s Eve” were white tents that served tasting sized portions of food from local businesses.  We decided to gorge ourselves.  Naturally our first stop was Bar Boulud were we got cream puffs, because it totally makes sense to eat cream puffs before dinner.  We followed these by lamb sliders, rice balls, pasta, soup, guacamole, and chocolate mousse.  We probably would have inhaled more food, but it was nearing the end of the event and most of the stands were sold out by the time we arrived.  Everything we ate was delicious.  It’s worth checking out Winter’s Eve purely for the food.

We then got to see the tree being lit in Dante Park.  All of the performers conglomerated in Danted Park to celebrate the lighting of the tree.  An a cappella group sang Christmas Carols across the street near Café Fiorello.  Then the sound of drumming emerged in the distance.  I love drumming.  I actually have an unhealthy obsession with drumming.  We ran to find out where the drumming was coming from.  It was a group known as Batala.    They are an all AfroBrazilian Samba Reggae drumming band.  One very nice member let me play her drum.  Happiness abounded.

Next year I plan to return again, but I will definitely peruse the program and plan my festival. Everything I experienced was super fun, but there was so much more that could have been tasted, explored, and bought.  There were arts and crafts workshops, local store discounts, concerts, dance performances, and many more food tents we missed.  I wanted to imbibe it all.  Word to the wise, arrive at 5:30 when the event begins so you can enjoy every aspect of the festival.  It is one of the most unique holiday events I’ve experienced in the city and it’s perfect for all ages.  It’s very family friendly and will be something you can brag about to your friends at home.  The Lincoln Center Bid has a true winner with Winter’s Eve.