2008 NEW YORK DANCE PARADE

It's the Second Annual New York Dance Parade celebrating diversity of dance forms. I took photos of a few of the participants as they danced their way through St. Mark's Place.

From danceparade.org:

On May 17th, thousands of us will dance in the streets of New York City, moving to every kind of dance music under the sun. Why?

To celebrate diversity as "One Parade with Many Cultures" 31 genres are represented:

African, Algerian, Ballet/Ethnic, Ballroom, Ballroom, Swing, Latin & Tango, Belly Dance, Break Dance, Cumbia, Disco, Ecstatic, Folkloric, Greek, Hip-Hop, Hooper, House, Hustle and Salsa, Jazz, Mambo, Modern, Roller Dance, Roller Disco, Sacred, Salsa, Samba, Swing, Tap Dance, Techno, Tinku, Tribal, West Coast Swing, Zydeco, just to start!

To honor Dance’s historical roots: 

New York has never celebrated the forms of dance that it has birthed until now: Voguing, Jazz, the Jitterbug, Punk, Gothic--even Salsa was birthed in the Cuban Communities in this great city. And it is now time for Dance. New York has enjoyed the last three years of a September Art Parade and since May 2007, we are finally honoring Dance in a similar fashion.

To unite in respecting Dance’s diversity: 

Dance is vital in healthy societies, helping people to communicate and affirm individual and collective identity. Dance Parade is a multi-cultural, multi-generational expression of the joy and value of these various forms of expression. It will foster cross-pollination of dance forms as it introduces audiences to novel styles and beats: teenagers to tango, clubbers to square-dancing, and seniors to hip-hop.

To support grass-roots organizations: 

As an umbrella organization, Dance Parade empowers and supports dance communities that do not have access to public funding yet have a communicative art form they wish to practice and promote. We help them build websites, get access to materials, fundraise, and reach broader audiences.

To legitimize Dance as a communicative, social form of expression: 

In the 19th century, ballroom dancing was deemed devil’s work. In the 1920’s, New York City enacted the Cabaret Law to stem interracial dancing from Harlem Jazz Clubs. The 1930’s had Nazi Germany quashing Swing Dancing because it was considered anarchistic. And in 2006, a New York State Supreme Court ruled that, unlike music, theater and painting, dance is not a constitutionally protected form of expression. In contrast, Dance Parade will highlight the diversity found in its many forms and showcase dance’s immense cultural and communicative importance.

To invoke joy and brotherhood: 

New York’s annual dance parade will reinstate New York City as the dance performance and nightlife capital of the world. We quote Dr. Motte, the founder of Berlin’s Love parade: “Dance is spreading rapidly and is unstoppable around the world. It is about LOVE and it is about FREEDOM. This represents a much wider personal, social and spiritual transformation-revolution which will utterly change our world over the coming decades.

CHRISTIE'S ART AUCTION: POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART

Post-War And Contemporary Art Evening Auction at Christie's, New York will be held tomorrow, May 13, 2008. On auction are the works of MARK ROTHKO, ANDY WARHOL, JEFF KOONS, LUCIAN FREUD, FRANCIS BACON, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, WILLEM DE KOONING, AMONG OTHERS. I took photos of a sculpture of ROBERT INDIANA'S LOVE series on display outside CHRISTIE'S.

LOUIS VUITTON FIFTH AVENUE FLAGSHIP STORE

This is the LOUIS VUITTON flagship store on Fifth Avenue with its colorful window display.
From the official website:

The 20-storey building is located at the corner of 57th St and 5th Avenue. The upper levels of the building are set back to create a monumental crystalline stalagmite, and multi-layered white glass wall reinforces this crystal-like form. The wall with its graduated transitions, from opaque to transparent, replaces the white marble façade at the lower levels and corners.

Since 1896, Louis Vuitton and its legendary gold monogram have been synonymous with luxury and timeless elegance. But while the line is best known for its durable, supple brown leather travel pieces, accessories and handbags, as well as the more colorful, artist-designed seasonal must-haves, one look inside the designer's flagship store, on 57th Street at Fifth Avenue—the largest in the world—reminds shoppers that Vuitton's style goes far beyond its carry-alls. Within the illuminated blue, white, purple and gold translucent glass walls are four floors—over 20,000 square feet—of classic men's and women's ready-to-wear, modern timepieces and jewelry, and uptown-chic footwear. Past the towering wooden grids that showcase the famed handbags lie the relaxed suits and ultra-feminine knee-length skirts that typify Vuitton's polished look, punctuated by bright colors and soft accents for a swank mix of tradition and modernity; this familiar style is echoed throughout Vuitton's designs, from the monogrammed canvas belts to the red ostrich-leather wrist watches. Black-suited sales associates are attentive, without being overbearing.

NEW YORK ICON TIMEPIECE: TIFFANY CLOCK ABOVE GRAND CENTRAL ENTRANCE GRAN

One of the architectural features of Grand Central Terminal is the 13-foot, century-old Tiffany clock above the entrance.

The METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

This is the Information Center at the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, taken last April 26, 2008. The Met is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street.

From Wikipedia:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, often referred to simply as "the Met," is one of the world's largest art galleries, and has a much smaller second location in Upper Manhattan, at "The Cloisters," which features medieval art.

Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine and Islamic art. The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened on February 20, 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum, served as its first President, and the publisher George Palmer Putnam was its founding Superintendent. In 1873, occasioned by the Met's purchase of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot antiquities, the museum took up temporary residence at the Douglas Mansion on West 14th Street; after negotiations with the City of New York, the Met acquired land on the east side of Central Park, where it built its permanent home, a red-brick Gothic Revival stone "mausoleum" designed by American architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. 

As of 2007, the Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet, more than 20 times the size of the original 1880 building. 

Cycling Through The City - THE COMMERCE BANK FIVE BORO BIKE TOUR

May is Bike Month NYC in celebration of the fun, convenience and ease of cycling in the city. Today is the annual Commerce Bank Five Boro Bike Tour with more than 30,000 cyclists traveling though the five boroughs of NYC. This is the largest bike tour in the country. Above are some images taken at or near the Queensboro Bridge (59th Street Bridge) early this morning.

Route Description (from www.bikenewyork.org)

The Commerce Bank Five Boro Bike Tour travels through the five boroughs of New York City on car-free roads, thanks to the cooperation of City agencies and officials. At 42 miles, the route is doable for cyclists of all levels. The most significant hills are at the bridges. Experienced cyclists can challenge themselves at these climbs, while beginning cyclists and not-quite-in-shape riders can relax and refuel at the rest areas and spend the whole day enjoying the Tour and Festival. Whatever your plan, be sure to follow the directions of Tour marshals as you ride. They will warn of spots where you should slow down or exercise caution. 

Riders enter the start lineup from Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan. We travel up Church Street and the Avenue of the Americas through the skyscraper canyons of Midtown Manhattan, and then it's on into Central Park, which is in full bloom this time of year. Continuing north out of the park, the Tour travels through Harlem and then over to the Bronx and back on bridges spanning the Harlem River. 

Back in Manhattan, you'll ride down the FDR Drive, a highway where bicycles aren't usually allowed. The first rest area is about half a mile down FDR Drive, at 116th Street. 

After continuing on FDR Drive a couple more miles, you'll cross the Queensboro Bridge (aka the "59th Street Bridge") to borough #3, Queens. The next rest area is in Astoria Park, along the East River with beautiful views of Wards and Randall's Island and the Manhattan skyline. The route hugs the river and travels through industrial neighborhoods, passing Roosevelt Island. A third rest area is in Queens at the Con Edison Learning Center. 

Before you know it, you'll be crossing the Pulaski Bridge into the venerable neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Soon you'll reach the fourth rest area at Commodore John Barry Park, adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Your ride continues to downtown Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Bridge, where you'll enter the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, miraculously clear of its usual traffic jam on Tour Day. Now you can fly over the Gowanus Canal and along the South Brooklyn waterfront, reaching the shoreline park in Bay Ridge. One more rest area at John Paul Jones/Cannonball Park awaits you. 

Leaving the final rest area, you'll circle round the ramp leading up and over the iconic Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. A final long climb up and long downhill brings you to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Treat yourself to a relaxing break at the Festival--buy lunch, have a massage, check out the vendors and exhibitors, and rest for a while on the grass while you enjoy the live music. 

When you're ready to go, it's 3 more miles to the Staten Island Ferry for a free ride back to Manhattan. Wave at Lady Liberty as you pass and celebrate your accomplishment: 42 miles in the greatest city in the world!