New York City

Saturday, October 18th, Manhattan -- The weather remained great, with temperatures ranging between 49 and 66 degrees.

The morning was spent catching up on the blog, with lots of editing and identifying of photos taken the day before at the Bronx Zoo.  We left at noon to walk to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, to attend a matinee performance of Ragtime.  It is a revival that restarted on October 16th, following a limited run in 2024 at the New York City Center.  Our friends Audrey and Ken saw it then and recommended it to us.  The show is fantastic and surprisingly relevant today with the current deteriorating situation in the country.  The original debut was in 1998.  

Briefly, it tells the "story of three groups of people whose lives and fortunes intertwine in NYC at the turn of the 20th century."  There is a Jewish immigrant, there is a rich white family, and there is a Black piano player and his girlfriend.  They are all striving for the American dream.  There are some triumphs and several tragedies, which are still resonant 100 years later.  It is based on a historical fiction book written by E. L. Doctorow, in 1975.  The production was terrific, with great imaginative scenery, a full orchestra, and wonderful singers, especially the actors who played Coalhouse Walker and the Mother.  We had splurged for seats in the Orchestra Row G, so we were very close to the action.  Like First (or Business) Class seats in an airline, this might get to be a habit.

We walked over to the theater and returned after the show, also by walking.  Here are a few photos taken along the walking route we followed.

A different side of the NBC Studios.

The corner for Radio City Music Hall.

"No Kings" March near Times Square - the crowds didn't seem that dense at this point.  There were also many people (mostly guys, often with selfie sticks and/or GoPros) ridng skateboards, bike and scooters across the city on 50th (not sure if it was connected, but they had a police escort on scooters and motorcycles).

Columbus statue at Columbus Circle.  Curious fact, this is the only traffic roundabout in Manhattan.

The entrance to the theater.  Ragtime is in neon at the upper left, in red.

A repeat photo of the Juilliard School in reflection.

More reflections.

On the way back to the apartment, we passed Carnegie Hall.  We got there (but not inside) by not practicing.

A very tall, very skinny building that was featured on a PBS show on great engineering challenges.  The construction involved creating a foundation which did not disturb the Steinway Building,  the light buff building to the left, and was able to  counter the projected sway of the new structure.

The Louis Vuitton Trunk building on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.  Note, for those interested (as I am), NYC roads are laid out in a regular grid pattern, with the distance between avenues equal to that of 5 streets.  Both of these distances measure 1/4 mile, so 1 mile equals 4 avenues or 20 streets.

Besides the points of interest shown in the photos above, we also passed through the furniture design and supply district, and an area of fancy watch stores.  Don't ask how much the watches cost...

We ate dinner in our apartment, finishing leftovers from previous dinners out, along with a salad bag.