The Waterfallsexhibit on the East River consists of four artist-made artificial waterfalls on the East River. It is a  work by the artist Olafur Eliasson and is the largest public art installation since the Gates marched and waved through Central Park and attracted many thousands of viewers. Olafur Eliasson’s work is also currently on exhibit at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and PS1.

Link for The Daily Plant of the New York Park Department information is here. This links to photos of the construction of the waterfalls and the waterfalls in the evening.

The spectacular New York waterfalls that are upstate in Niagara  are dramatically, enormously larger and louder than the really lovely East River installation, so these waterfalls, as large as they are, are a bit like a painting of real waterfalls…a representation of waterfalls, made of metal and diverted naturally flowing river water, and therefore a large collage of the idea of waterfalls. Nice!.

One Waterfall is under the very beloved Brooklyn Bridge, a masterpiece in it’s own right.

Hopefully many people will go to the river to enjoy this exhibit- certainly on July 4 when the fireworks take over the river,  many more thousands of people will enjoy the Eliasson’s waterrfalls and hopefully the TV media will include some shots.

Also: For those  of you not very familiar with New York geology, the  East River is actually a tidal canal and does not have any natural waterfalls…does have lots of water traffic, birdlife and underwater life. The only natural waterfalls I know of in New York City are in the Bronx Zoo on the Bronx River.

The Actor’s Temple (339 West 47th Street in New York) is in an 90 year old, long narrow building on West 47th St in the Theatre District. This congregation was founded in 1917 by local business owners in what was then a very tough area of Hell’s Kitchen. The Rabbi and Cantor of that time, reached out to others working in the area-the theatre community of actors, comedians, writers working on Broadway,  in vaudeville, cabaret, nightclubs etc.  The membership also included singers, dancers etc.

These individuals made an enormous contribution to show business and the  shul was truly an “Actor’s Temple” at that time. The stained glass windows in the little shulare dedicated in memory of many famous performers, such as Sophie Tucker, and signed photos of the former members who were stars line the walls in the synagogue building. Just imagine spending the High Holidays with the Three Stooges, Edward G. Robinson, Red Buttons, and Sandy Koufax.

Now, the front of the shul has the traditional ark holding the Torahs,  and the eternal light, and stained glass dedication windows, but the shul also has a stage light scaffolding for performances held by the congregation as part of their programming. There is also a  long wall of mirrors for the dancers who rent the space for rehearsals during the week. These mirrors are covered by curtains during services.

The shul was full this past Friday with over 100 people for an eclectic evening.  First an excellent  Shabbat buffet dinner open to all which also drew some local residents who were happy to have a meal offered. This was held in the worn social hall below the sanctuary level and was sponsored by friends celebrating their anniversary.  

These friends can celebrate anywhere they choose but selected this community and this authentic old space which does not have one true right angle, has that awful old time faux “wood paneling,” an ¨improvement¨of the 1950´s and the autographed photos of the stars. In a few more years these odd historic spaces of New York City will have been eliminated and all replaced by modern condos. We have to relish them while they are still here.

After dinner, we went to the sanctuary for the Shabbat service led by a Rabbi-Cantor with a longer resume in opera and voice than in Rabbinics and a personal warmth con molto dramatic flare.

After the service, the aisle was suddenly transformed into a long, very narrow stage and two modern dancers performed Luxxury Suite by Heidi Latsky,  with Meredith Fages. Surprising and nice.

An extended family donated a baby grand piano to the shul and were thanked and celebrated. Very warm and really nice.

A cantata, The Seven Golden Buttons, written by the Rabbi Ira and Judith Eisenstein, and based on a Hasidic story attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, conducted by Jeanne Krausman, was performed with excellent spirit and fun by about a dozen singers and the newly dedicated piano was used for this performance, as well. This is one of six cantata´s that the Eisensteins wrote. Judith Eisenstein was a musical prodigy and the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan the founder of the Reconstructionist movement. In 1923, she was the first woman to be Bat Mitzvah in America.

The Seven Golden Buttons is a story about true love and real value. Very nice and especially fitting for the anniversary celebrants.

This was not yet enough of an evening…after the cantata,  we all had kiddush (and more food) at the back of the sanctuary and some more time for schmoozing. Perfect.

The formal name of the congregation is Ezrath Israel, which means Helper of Israel.

Perhaps a bit too much relaxation and extra oxygen confused the writers and editors of the NY TImes Escape section. This morning’s article about meditating while on a day-trip to Monroe, NY is a great example of myopic vision by a new York City based writer.  Perhaps they thought that since Monroe is north of the city it must be the Catskills, amazing they did not think it was in Westchester County. How does something as incorrect as this get printed? Monroe is about 54 miles north of New York City the Catskills are about 2 hours north of the city.

The Times article puts Orange County NY, the home of Monroe, in the Catskills Region. The great and beautiful Catskill Region consists of Sullivan, Greene, Ulster and Delaware Counties.  If you have not visited the Catskills or the Daks (Adirondaks) which are much farther north, and are spectacular, you should research them and plan a trip.

The region the writer visited is called the Hudson Valley or sometimes the Hudson Highlands.  There is  a great deal to do and see in this area which is quite close to the city and very worthy of more than just a day-trip. If we stay awake instead of letting our minds go to mush, we can enjoy the landscape and sites.

It was the home and inspiration of the Hudson River School of painting and  is now home to the Storm King Art Center, Sugar Loaf, West Point, Bear Mountain, Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall, Harriman State Park, lovely organic farms, boat trips on the Hudson etc, etc, etc.

The vast majority of of New York State is made up of mountains, wilderness and small towns, then add in the the (really) upstate lakes such as Lake George, Schroon Lake,  Saranac, etc, and world class beaches of Long Island, the great lakes and Niagara and you have a tremendous variety and beauty close to home. Ok, you are correct, the Niagara region is a long drive and not so close to the city.

Real New Yorkers should venture outside of the city and visit our beautiful state.  The The NYState’s site, I Love NY State,  is an excellent source of information. 

If you look carefully at your tax return, you may notice that even though you live in NYC, you pay NY State taxes as well.  So, you have paid for many of the parks and sites, perhaps it is time to go visit your truly gorgeous real estate.