Sightseeing at the Big Apple!

Before 9/11/2001 - The TWIN TOWERS in 1982.

 

I was there back in 1982, when I just carried a cheap little Kodak pocket camera, hence the poor resolution image.

    

"Any fool can blow something up. Any fool can destroy. But to see these guys, these firefighters, these policemen and people from all over the country, literally, with buckets rebuilding. That’s extraordinary. That’s why we’ve already won." - Jon Stewart 

                                                       One World Trade Center in 2022

Another one for Murphy's Law

Now the big question is: how did they get up there?

 

AL HIRSCHFELD

One of my most admired cartoonists has always been Al Hirschfeld.

His way of capturing likenesses and translating them into simple, flowing and dynamic lines is absolutely amazing and even poetic.

His caricatures are widely known and renowned, and almost every self-respecting cartoonist has learned part of his craft by studying Hirschfeld's renderings.

                                       

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the famed Algonquin Hotel located at 59, West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan and was greeted by some framed examples of Al Hirschfeld's artwork.

  

The story of the Algonquin Hotel is part of New York City's folklore and so is Mr. Hirschfeld.
Al Hirschfeld was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 21, 1903 and died January 20, 2003 at the age of 99.           

In 1943, Hirschfeld married famous European actress Dolly Haas and they had one daughter, Nina, born in 1945. After her birth, Hirschfeld developed the habit of hiding her name, spelled in capital letters, on most every drawing he did thereafter. The number of NINAs concealed in every drawing was shown next to the artist's signature.  It quickly became a favorite pastime to try and find out the hidden NINAs in the cartoons.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

SEINFELD!

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is comedian Jerry Seinfeld's SEINFELD which originally ran on NBC from 1989 to 1998, created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld himself. I recently had the chance to swing by and visit the actual location of the celebrated diner where Seinfeld and his three friends, George Costanza, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer used to hang around. The interior of the restaurant is nothing like the one depicted in the series but the atmosphere is very nice, the prices are reasonable and the surrounding neighborhood is quite pleasant.  Jerry and George were nowhere to be seen during my visit but all in all, it was a memorable experience!

ONE FINE DAY AT NEW YORK'S MUSEUM OF MODERN ART