[image via *Bitch Cakes* Flikr set]

Well, there's probably no diving, per se. Because these pools are only 8 x 22 feet; but they are indeed dumpsters. You've probably heard about these alterna-pools hitting Park Avenue during the Summer Streets program in NYC. I have vaguely, but totally forgot. Good news: if you want to check out this spectacle, you can do it this Saturday! I am rather excited.

There will be three pools just south of Grand Central on Park Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. Pool hours this Saturday, August 21, are 7am-1pm. Get there early if you want to take a dip because bracelets will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis. Swimmers (I think I should say "dippers" here because there's no room for actual swimming) enter in shifts, 10 per pool.

Talk about feeling packed like sardines in a can. Ah New York. You are so crowded and crowd-controlling.

This year's best value at Modell's! Just $27.99.
Ask for "American Athletic 522 Ladies Figure Skates"

Attention all you ice skating enthusiasts! The Pond at Bryant Park is open again, and the ice is glorious. I skated Monday (November 9) in the 70 degree weather, and pretty much giggled with joy the whole time.

I feel it is my duty to pass along my research, so I hope you will click

Skate!

my step-by-step guide to truly free ice skating at Bryant Park. (Note: last year's post, so last year's prices). Pics to follow after I skate! I have my camera today, and although they prohibit photography on the ice, I will attempt to sneak some for you. Shhh.

***
Here they are. It was a crazy crowded scene today due to Veteran's Day. Wall-to-wall kids off from school. Oh yeah. I think I'll come back tomorrow.

The hut.


This gives you an idea of the size of the lockers.


Crowded ice.

Me!

A strangely mesmerizing experience. Berryz Kobo (Berryz工房), or "Berryz Workshop."


I just entered a conveyor-belt sushi drawing (Yushi on 47th and Lex) on Midtown Lunch. I wrote a very heartfelt entry (scroll to the bottom). I hope I win!!!! Anyway, I found Berryz Kobo in the process.


***
If you have now become a fan of Berryz Kobo like I have, click for more videos here. And, if you speak Japanese, and want to make a Berryz Kobo song your karaoke number (which I totally do!!), click here for complete lyrics, both in Romaji and Kanji.

Cool! I really want to learn the words to Genghis Khan. Here it is! Along with the video. Sadly, the "Mongolian Dance Version" video is not online. But this will do nicely.

Jin Jin Genghis Khan
Hey Brother, Ho Brother
Nice Brother, Go Brother
Jin Jin Genghis Khan
Hey Rider, Ho Rider
Nice Rider, Go Rider

Take a look! This is totally going to be my karaoke song.

Here's what I would like to know. What are the various prices on a small (12 ounce) cappuccino in and around Midtown. Now that I would find useful. I think I will just have to compile a list myself. Excuse my while I do some research.

Okay, here is my list, starting with my favorites on down to ones I haven't tried yet. Note: all prices are before sales tax.

Macchiato Espresso Bar

141 E 44th Street (Lex & 3rd)
New York, NY
Midtown East

212.867.6772
small cappuccino $3.15

Pain Quotidien
Bryant Park
70 W 40th Street (btwn 5th & 6th Avenues)
New York
Midtown West
212.354.5224
small cappuccino $3.69

Pret a Manger
1410 Broadway @ 39th Street
New York
Garment District
646.572.0490
small cappuccino $2.79
BEST VALUE!

Macaron Cafe
161 W 36th Street (btwn Broadway & 7th Avenues)
New York
Garment District
646.573.5048
small cappuccino $3.75

Amish Market
240 E 45th St (2nd & 3rd Avenues)
New York
Midtown East
212.370.1761
small cappuccino $3.25

Joe The Art of Coffee
Graybar Passage
Midtown East
Grand Central Terminal
New York
212.661.8580
small cappuccino $4.00

'wichcraft
Bryant Park kiosk
11 west 40th street @ 6th avenue
New York
Garment District
small cappuccino $2.95*
Read about Coffee Happy Hour on Midtown Lunch!

Zest Cafe
1441 Broadway (40th & 41st Streets)
New York
Garment District/Times Square
646.572.0490
small cappuccino $3.00*

Europa Cafe
1412 Broadway (39th & 40th Streets)
New York
Garment District
212.398.9822
small cappuccino $3.25*



*Haven't tried these yet.
**FYI, a small cappuccino at Starbucks is $3.20





This post is featured on Midtown Lunch for December 12, 2008

I have been determined to skate ever since The Pond at Bryant Park opened on October 27. I checked out the scene the other day. Skate rental is a rather steep $12. Lockers are free. But make sure to bring your own lock! Otherwise it will cost you $9 there. Entry is free. Another fee: bag check is $7-10, so make sure to leave your bag at home.

So I thought, why not own, rather than rent? I found a pair of great figure skates at Modell's, just a short jaunt from the rink, at 42nd between 7th and 8th Avenues. The cost with tax was $32.50. I am so excited to skate today, I can hardly contain myself. FYI, Modell's is the only place I found which sells ice skates in-store. I investigated Kmart (same price) and Target ($10 more expensive), and found that they only sell ice skates online. I didn't want to wait that long. See you on the ice!

***
2009 Link Update:
Check out Modell's current selection of figure skates here. I see they have a pair for only $27.99!!

Stay. A brand new hotel at 157 47th Street near Times Square.

Okay the chandeliers drew me right in. But what else is new. I was walking on 47th on the way to my Y. Stay? What is this? And so I wandered in to check out the really beautiful lobby decor. I am a sucker for excellent hotel lobby decor. Just off the lobby, there is a place for drinks (around $14 for a specialty cocktail), called the Aspen Social Club. The atmosphere at rush hour looked pretty mellow and pleasant. Despite the close proximity to Times Square, it could be fun.

Stay, formerly the Quality Hotel Times Square, just opened in October under the new ownership of the super-posh and ultra-modern Vikram Chatwal Hotels (Dream, The Time, Night, Chopra Center and Spa, and Chatwal, coming later this year). The location, should you wish to investigate in person, is 157 47th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). I am definitely going to try Aspen Social Club for a cocktail. I'll let you know how it is.

"Winter" in Bryant Park.

I have noticed that the leaves on the trees in NYC do not really change much. We do not have a peak season to view the Fall Foliage. So how does a city dweller mark the passage of time from Summer to Fall to Winter, you may ask? By walking through Bryant Park everyday, and noting the changing landscapes, albeit installed by construction crews. Simulated nature.

In summer, Bryant Park is filled with cafe tables and chairs, lunch eaters, grass-lyer-oners (I think they call this sun bathing), a beautiful green lawn, ivy under the trees, potted plants, the outdoor cafe at the Bryant Park Grill, and the slatted movie screen which abuts the fountain for the Summer Film Festival. The fountain is off at this time.

In late summer, the lawn is entirely covered with rubber tarps, and New York Fashion Week, Spring/Summer 2009 Collections, is built on top!

In late late summer (perhaps you could call this early early Fall), after the tents are taken down and the rubber tarps which protect the lawn are pulled up, a brand new Lawn is immediately rolled out. New Lawn! In sod form. What was the purpose of the tarps if they were just going to put down New Lawn? It is a mystery, but I am not complaining. The New Lawn is breathtaking. And the fountain is at last turned on! It is glorious. It is Fall. It is my favorite season, next to Spring.

In Fall, as soon as Bryant Park is perfectly green with the New Lawn and the old ivy, the lawn is removed. Rolled up. Taken away. Now it is ice skating season.

Ice Skating Season construction begins at the end of September. It happened to be 80 degrees that week. I do love ice skating. And I can't wait to ice skate in Bryant Park. But what happened to perfect Fall in Bryant Park? I know. They have to put up the rink (and take it down) in time for New York Fashion Week, Fall/Winter 2009 Collections, which begins in February. But Monday, the 27th, was the Grand Opening Celebration for The Pond at Bryant Park. I will see you on the ice!

Look at the two-story structure they are building with the rounded roof.
I found out that it's going to be a (temporary!) seasonal restaurant.
Wow, that is a lot of work for temporary.

The Pond at Bryant Park
The Bryant Park Hotel & Empire State Building in the background.

My meditative Garment District Zen garden took a turn for the weird this week. Having seen two plays by Samuel Beckett this year at BAM -- Happy Days where Winnie is buried up to her waist in a post apocalyptic landscape,** and Endgame where Hamm's parents, Nagg and Nell, spend the duration of the play in metal trash cans, with only their heads visible on occasion -- I could not help but imagine these workers being trapped for all eternity in the planters...

I thought they said there would be trees, but I guess they decided to take the planters in this new direction.





*Or my alternate title: when 'Be Here Now!' turns into 'What's the Point?' it's probably time to just give up.
**or perhaps it was somewhere in Arizona, I am not sure.

La Baguette Cafe on 40th & Broadway turns it out
with an awning and eco-friendly hanging bulbs. How could you eat anywhere else?

I confess to having Olympic fever. Yesterday I ate three breakfasts. When I heard the news about Michael Phelps and his three egg sandwiches, I felt somehow inspired. Now there was a training regime I could get behind. And it was my day to go to the pool. Perfect.

My first breakfast was at home, a modest one. A half a piece of multi-grain bread, toasted with peanut butter, and a small iced coffee. My second was in transit, a cheese muffin and iced coffee from Le Pain Quotidien. They now know my order, so I can't very well let her down and not get the cheese muffin. My third, a two-egg sandwich, no cheese, from the Halal cart* on 40th and Broadway* for only $1.50 by the way, but today he indicated that I was getting a special price.

I got to the pool at 6:30pm. I thought I had packed my full-body high-tech Speedo suit with the stars all over it, but I opened my bag to find my light blue flowered one instead. With the ineffectual suit, my time for the 200 meter Free was 4:15. Michael Phelps' time: 1:42.96. I don't know what conclusions I can draw from this. Other than I should probably eat more egg sandwiches.


*a different Halal cart from my falafel guy on 39th and Broadway, but I imagine they know each other for some reason.

Peer through this great grate to find a hidden gem in Midtown...

A contemplative little "Zen alley"

I have told you before about my unlikely-but-pet meditation spot in the middle of the chaos of the Garment District. How was I to know that shortly after I wrote this post, my urban Zen garden would be ripped apart? The trees have been removed, the name, "Springs Building" has been removed from the concrete facade, and the great grate and little "Zen alley" as I like to call it (pictured above), likewise have been removed. What???

Well, last week I finally asked one of the workmen what was going on. It seems that they are creating four new raised planters from cement bricks and putting new trees in.

Well, at least there will be trees.

But so far, things do not look so aesthetically promising. More photos to follow, because now I am obsessed, which is not really good for trying to be all "be here now" about it.

Dine in a modern setting at The Modern

Staycation schmaycation. Maybe you simply LIKE the urban setting, and thus seek out urban things to do. Well, I have a civilized and very air-conditioned suggestion. Spend the entire day at the MoMA. There is a Salvador Dalí retrospective on view through September 15 which includes over 130 of his works and full-length films in each gallery. Believe me, you cannot digest this show in one day. All the better. You have to come back multiple times for more enrichment and enjoyment.

If you arrive hungry, fear not. You can opt for a savory crepe at the cart across the street from the museum (mushroom & cheese or spinach & cheese are each just $5). Or if you want to have an elegant meal and experience to remember, try The Modern, which is The Museum of Modern Art's fine dining restaurant, just off the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden on the first floor. The Bar Room at The Modern offers a excellent menu with entrees sized suitably for lunch, priced around $18. Here is the menu. My husband and I each had the Wild Salmon with horseradish crust, pickled cabbage, exotic mushrooms, and Riesling foam. For an appetizer we shared the Upsidedown Tuna Tare Tarte with fennel, Japanese cucumber and aioli. Yes, this was a meal to remember.

If you are a planner, then by all means make a reservation to be seated in the main dining area of The Bar Room. If you are a spontaneous type, you will be seated along the comfortable black leather sofa at one of the small cafe tables on the perimeter. Not the best seat in the house, but still most definitely in the middle of the excitement, and quite enjoyable.


The Modern
The Museum of Modern Art
Reservations for the Bar Room
accepted 28 days in advance
212.333.1220
9 West 53rd Street (5th & 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10019

Let's face it, New York can be overstimulating. After the exciting day I had today, I need to stare at a wall for awhile. Or contemplate my favorite urban Zen garden in the Garment District of all places. The funny part is, I don't really find it very Zen, nor serene. Just around the corner is the throng of Sixth Avenue and Bryant Park. But if I crop the picture just right, I can pretend for now. Ahhh.

Crisp, a brand new place for lunch with plenty of light and plenty of design,
on the corner of 43rd Street & 3rd Avenue

There are those Onda stools again!
Available at DWR.

I passed Crisp last night at around 6pm, soon after it opened, as it so happened. I started to take pictures, and a small crowd gathered around me, asking me what kind of place it was, and if it was open yet, and what they served. So I read the menu to them, and told them it was open. (I saw people ordering inside.)

Crisp certainly packs a lot of design into a small space. The popular Onda stools we saw at El Beit in Williamsburg, beautiful wood-grain counters, other-worldly torchier-meets-world's fair lamps, and flat screen electronic menus. Crisp offers an all-vegetarian menu of "handbag sandwiches" in (what I imagine will be fluffy Israeli) pita and "hummus bowls" with a small variety of vegetable toppings like eggplant or sauteed mushrooms. Sounds right up my alley. Prices are around $7-$10. The house-blended iced teas look tempting too: lychee red, gaucho mint, and apple mango, to name a few.

After reading a few articles and early reviews about Crisp, I found out that a "crisp" is a falafel which comes in all the "handbag sandwiches" and with the "hummus bowl." Why all the mysterious language? I think "pita sandwiches" in this day and age would suffice.


Crisp
684 3rd Avenue (corner of 43rd Street)
Midtown East
New York, NY
212.661.0000

Creston's American Grill. This is new.

A sneak peek for you. Along with my hand, at left.
The decor is a little on the Frank Lloyd Wright side of things.

This photo is a bit hard to read. In the foreground, the first floor
with a railing and a view to a spacious floor below. Perhaps the lounge area.

This looks interesting. A new restaurant opening at 319 E 53rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Creston's American Grill. Steaks and American Food. Lots of beautiful dark wood in the interior. I took a peek. Arts and Crafts meets traditional Japanese decor. Elegant. Ordered. Visually pleasing. So when will it open? What will the menu be, besides steak of course.

Slated to open this month, according to ZagatBuzz, Creston's American Grill will be a new venture for restaurateur Laurence Cresci who previously ran Manhattan Grill in the same space. Cresci's other restaurant: Portofino Grille. The menu will feature steak and American favorites. There is not much more pre-buzz than that. Like a Website. Or an online menu. We'll just have to wait and see.

I call it, Still life with Smoking Cell Phone Talker Somewhere in Midtown. This is as Zen as New York gets.

The Lindt bunny extends towards the heavens in Midtown.

Don't miss the larger-than-life chocolate Easter bunny on display in the courtyard of The New York Palace Hotel. The golden sculpture, composed of nearly 1000 actual-size Lindt chocolate bunnies arranged on a 12-foot wood structure, is on display through Easter. The Swiss chocolatier hosted a Lindt gold bunny hunt for kids on Saturday, March 22nd.

They certainly look delicious. But don't get any ideas about free-sampling. The sign on the display reads, "Bunnies Not Edible Please Do Not Touch."


The New York Palace Hotel
455 Madison Avenue (50th Street)
New York, NY
212.888.7000

Having recently had a nice time at Ribot in February, I was hoping the papered-over windows at this Midtown Mediterranean bistro on 3rd Avenue and 48th were due to a remodel. The decor didn't need revamping in my opinion. But alas, Ribot will not return. Their official closing date was March 12 after three years in business.

Ribot's Website suggests trying Lea, a wine bar, restaurant and lounge at 230 Park Avenue and 45th Street, under the east walkway of the Helmsley Building.

Since the Lever House font is the font that started my Fontastic! series on the blog, it surely deserves an inclusion here. Remember when the Lever House used to have this site-specific painting? I loved walking under that painting. Why did it have to be painted out? Yes, temporary art is beautiful, but I wish it would just become permanent. Read more about what it was and why it's gone.

The Lever House in March 2007. This site-specific painting, Robert Towne,
by Sarah Morris was on view from September 12, 2006-March 12, 2007.
I happened to be walking by the day they were painting it.
That was pretty neat. I really loved this painting.

a seat on the V train

I am always pleased when I can ride the V instead of the E train in the morning, not only because it is less crowded and cooler, but because it has a better color scheme. Yes, that may sound strange. That I love the color scheme of a subway.

But think about it. The orange and the faux woodgrain color scheme that you can find on the V and a number of other lines is gloriously modern. Take a look at the lobby (pictured below) at the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel in Midtown.

You may remember that I have written about this hotel before, singing the praises of the mosaic door handles on the 51st Street side. There are many nice juxtapositions of orange and woodgrain in the lobby, recently redone to reflect the Mid-century modern look in which the hotel was originally designed in 1961. And when the lobby gets crowded, it looks somewhat like the V. Except I can always get a seat on the V.

the Doubletree lobby in a rare calm moment, bathed in warm orange tones

the orange George Nelson clock against the woodgrain wall


the lobby at rush hour, and not a seat to be had

I visited the Chanel store on E 57th Street this afternoon. It was fabulous. After seeing the Karl Lagerfeld documentary, Lagerfeld Confidential, two or so weeks ago, I felt compelled to explore the store. When I reached the third floor, I got the chills. Please don't forget, I am a big fan of Karl.

Karl Lagerfeld's creative presence is palpable in the design of the store. That Chanel remains a designer-driven brand today is precisely what appeals to me. Karl's distinct vision for the brand is well-translated on all three of the floors: in the products of course, in the black and white stairs (oh the stairs! it's like ascending keys on a grand piano), in the oversized Murakami-esque black patent camelia sculptures (so modern and strange and otherworldly), and in the lighting (the place was positively luminous like beautiful glowing skin).

But the third floor was my favorite translation of the specialness of the Chanel brand. The third floor captures the spectacle and excitement and headiness of the runway presentation. Which detail did my eye take in first? The cluster of black spotlights arranged in a long narrow row that runs the length of the store, as if to light a catwalk below? The 30 to 50 outfits that seem to float all around the perimeter of the spacious room? The stately seating area that is the room's focal point, aglow in white chiffon and looking like something from Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio made modern and minimal?

I spent a rejuvinating thirty minutes walking around the store with a pleased grin on my face. Karl had breezed past me in Paris in 1994 when I was there for the Spring shows, and I spent the subsequent three hours calming down from being in his presence. And at the Chanel store on 57th Street, I felt like I was in his presence again.


Chanel
9 E 57th Street
New York
212.355.5050

The Chanel store on 57th, one November day.

At this large size, the signature Chanel camelias take on an otherworldly quality.

The oversized Takashi Murakami-esque black patent camelia sculpture.


The black and white stairs at the back of the store,
reminiscent of keys on a grand piano.


The seating area on the third floor is the room's focal point,
aglow in white chiffon and looking like something from
Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio made modern and minimal.