30 January 2017

A Lazy Sunday with the Family
An Art Preview, Niketown and a Picnic in Central Park

I haven’t contributed much to the blog lately; this makes me sad as I love to post my tips and the many interesting places for my readers. The day I’m chronicling occurred several months ago, but it’s a typical day in New York for us as we often love to visit Central Park.

Some of the best days are when we don’t really have a plan, but just move throughout the city and see what’ll happen and what we’ll bump into. This Sunday in October, the weather was inviting for a walk in the nice warm autumn sun, observing the colors of the fall foliage in Central Park. We took the green line to 59th street as we had an errand at Niketown on 57th Street, between 5th Avenue and Madison. On the way, we stopped at Phillips Auction House, where they had a preview of various artists: Stella, Picasso, Serra, Miro, and Judd, among others. It was such an amazing collection of art that even the kids found it interesting, though that was after their first impression —“Oh no, not again. . . .”

As we often do, we picked up a sandwich and a coffee to have a picnic in the park, this time at the Plaza Food Hall (in the basement level under the Plaza Hotel). We found a nice spot on one of the many boulders that my son, Emil, loves to climb on. Coincidently, it happened to be where a lot of people look for this little bolt that represents some of the city’s history.

The bolt was hammered by John Randel Jr., the surveyor and brains behind the Manhattan Grid. In 1808, he was given the task of planning — and commencing — the huge project of transforming the as-of-yet-piecemeal New York City into the modern gridded metropolis we know today. For years, he surveyed and mapped his vision for the young city. Finally, in 1811, he submitted his designs to the city of New York.

The weather in New York can be very unpredictable, but many days in October are very nice like this day was. It's a great time of the year to visit New York with many Indian summer days and especially to see the colors of the trees in the burned autumn sun.