My reasons for traveling abroad include to visit big, unique museums so that I can examine that which a culture chooses to display in order to reveal itself --- its wealth, its history, its ‘state of itself’.
For Europeans or Asians to visit the Met Museum of Art and get a sense of that is problematic because so much of what the museum displays is of European and Asian origin. Why come here to see less of what is there?
There is more than one answer to that question, but something the museum does display that is rarely seen abroad (that I know of) is American ‘industrial and architectural’ art.
Such is the pair of staircases from the Chicago Stock Exchange building by D. Adler and the much more famous Louis Sullivan. Of course, in the American fashion, that building was demolished in 1972 to make way for something bolder and more brash. The sense of the past is sometimes less important than the sense of an even more prosperous future.
In fact, this building was among the first of the great American skyscrapers.
You’ll find very little of this type of artifact in museums outside this country.
The Bayard Building, at 65 Bleecker Street, is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York City.
On March 1, 2018, the Met instituted a $25 mandatory fee for patrons who do not reside in New York State. The ticket covers the Met (Fifth Avenue), the Met Breuer and the Cloisters.
Find your way with 304 Insider Tips from our Local Spotters
S&P Sandwich Shop, opened in 1928, serves Jewish classics like matzoh ball soup and latkes in a nostalgic setting that feels like stepping back in time. A must-visit!
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"Rubenstein Atrium" in New York's Lincoln Center has a free performance every Thursday night. I recommend you try to arrive around 18:30 to catch a seat.
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Games of Professional Baseball in New York doesn't just mean watching the Yankees play and paying 100s of dollars: watch a Class A game for much cheaper!
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"Gray's Papaya" in New York equals classic hot dogs. This place has been here at least 45 years, and it's easy to see why. Great people-watching spot too.
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"Revson Fountain" at the Lincoln Center in NYC is one of the results of the renovation that started in 2006. It's spectacular and a must-see!
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"Paris Cinema", est. 1948, is the last single screen cinema in NYC today; what irony that it was saved from closing by Netflix itself...
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The White Clam Sauce linguine is classic. So much is served that what can’t be eaten on the spot can be taken home and easily reheated the next day,
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At the "American Legion Post 398" in New York City I get to hear jazz played the old fashioned way, Harlem in the '30s, '40s and '50s...
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"A Great Day in Harlem" is an important photo of 58 jazz greats taken in 1958 in NYC. The building on 126th Street where it was taken is still there...
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The 13-mile Hudson River Greenway in NYC, which begins at the George Washington Bridge, is the most heavily used bike trail in the USA...
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"New Plaza Cinema" in NYC has one mission: to show independent, foreign and classic films. It is run by a grassroots group; how long will it survive?
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