Come hear award-winning teen writers read their newest pieces;

The award-winning teen writers and rising stars of Writopia Lab will read excerpts from their newest prose at Barnes & Noble at 82nd Street and Broadway on Thursday February, 4th at 5pm.

This remarkable group of young people have revised and polished stunning pieces of fiction and memoir, and they are thrilled to share their work with you.

Buy Books and B & N Will Make a Donation to Writopia Lab

Also, please hold off on any book purchases you’re about to make–when you buy books the night of the reading (at that location), 10% of the purchase price will be donated to Writopia!

Just make sure to tell the cashier you’re buying books as part of the Writopia Lab book fair.

The Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery, which is our favorite West Side art gallery, is featured on the cover of Gallery Guide for their new exhibit called A Semblance: Paintings by Rachelle Krieger & Anne Sherwood Pundyk. Please click on the gallery site for further show details and be sure not to miss this.

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And we received this from WritopiaLab.

These young writers are always a great pleasure and surprise.

GothamGirl  is fortunate to receive many invitations, most are to film festivals, concerts, art openings, museum shows and restaurants. Recently we were surprised by an invitation from The Martha Stewart show asking us to join the audience  on January 14 in New York City.

The topic is bloggers and blogging, and they have requested that all of the invited bloggers come ready to blog live during the broadcast. This sounded like just too much fun to pass up and I will be there on Thursday all ready to blog live.

Rebecca-Wallace Segall, the founder and director of WritopiaLab will be there as well. The WritopiaLab’s blog is excellent: it is the spectacular work of the young writers of WritopiaLab. Rebecca is the  Scholastic Golden Apple National Award winner (2008 and 2009).

The snow has stopped: we seem to have  gotten about a foot of snow from the storm last night. The side streets seem not to have plowed, some traffic is moving slowly on the avenues, and my NY Times was  delivered this morning as usual. I do not see any side street car traffic,  people are walking in the streets, shoveling the sidewalks and running in Central Park. The skies are quiet, I assume that the airports are still closed.

Must be time to listen to the hysteria-filled weather reports on the TV, and enjoy fresh coffee with an omelet.

It is a lovely, quiet morning. All will be back to normal very soon.

There is quite a lot of interest in 535 West End Avenue if we judge by the traffic GothamGirl receives on the previous posts regarding this new construction. So here it is, the latest according to a very reliable source. The owners claim that the building is 65% sold, our source says that this is no way near the truth. This building, like so many others is having trouble with sales in this still poor economy. This is not surprising and it does not mean that this building is any worse off than any other, just that their claimed percentage of sales is not so accurate. Construction continues.

The same source says that they will consider bids which are much, much lower than the offering prices we have originally heard of in the past.  I do not think this is so surprising but either, but thought that you might like to know.

Reinventing Ritual at the Jewish Museum is a compelling, multi-media exhibit of artists from around the world, exploring Judaism and its symbols as a comtemporary vital force.

I will add details and photos to this post after Rosh ha Shanah ends on Sunday evening. 

The Jewish New Year 5770 starts at sunset today. How is this the year 5770? Don’t ask…I have to continue holiday preparations. Hopefully, by Passover I’ll have some time to answer.

I wish you a New Year of peace, health,  happiness and creativity to all.

The Jewish month of Elul, which preceeds Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur, is a time of reflection, self-evaluation and  and return.  I want to share with you this wonderful piece written by Hazzan (cantor) Natasha Hirschhorn of Congregation Ansche Chesed in Manhattan:

There is a story about Satan, known as an “accuser” in Jewish tradition, who gathered his assistants together one day to talk about the most effective method of destroying the meaning of people’s lives.

One said, “Tell them there is no God.” Another suggested, “Tell them there is no judgment for sin and they need not worry.” A third proposed, “Tell them their sins are so great they will never be forgiven.”

“No,” Satan replied, “none of these things will matter to them. I think we should simply tell them, ‘There is plenty of time.’”(Chasidic)

 
When I first read this story, I felt the proverbial finger pointing straight at me – an accomplished procrastinator…  But while I’ve always experienced a fair amount of guilt accompanying my shifting deadlines and to-do lists that never see their items crossed off, I felt the Satan’s judgment was too harsh… Can my delays in action truly be affecting the very meaning of my life?

This year as I was doing physical therapy for my back, I discovered an unpleasant truth.  It turned out that the very exercises I found the most difficult and painful were the ones my body needed the most in order to heal and get stronger.  According to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, our souls going through Teshuvah, repentance, must operate on a similar principle – “To give money, for instance, is for some of us a molehill, whereas to apologize for having offended someone is a mountain. Now beware if you offer a sacrifice to God, make sure that you offer what really costs you dear, for God would not appreciate a fool’s deal”.

We may feel the need for a personal Teshuvah all year long, but our tradition really makes us face the challenge in the 40 day stretch from the beginning of Elul until Neilah* . This time period seems to highlight both a search for the meaning of it all, and a sense of urgency – the Book will be sealed, the Gates will be closed… In other words, our process of introspection must be honest and thorough, but it has a deadline!

The understanding that the task of true Teshuvah can’t be easy by definition, combined with the finite amount of time to accomplish it, can feel simply overwhelming.  The one Gate that is the most difficult for me to enter, may be the only one leading me to my higher self… Even with 40 days to go, how can I hope to find a way in before the Gates close?  

Perhaps, given the not uncommon propensity for procrastination, the very existence of a deadline ensures that we begin the process at all… The circular nature of the calendar reminds us that having made it at the last Neilah doesn’t guarantee us the coveted insider’s spot in the coming year.  Each time we must begin anew; to enter the last month of the year ready to challenge our souls and to seek the Gate – ever elusive and yet, ultimately, within our reach.  Each Elul, we must begin the spiritual labor with both a sense of urgency and a feeling of hope.  And, through this difficult journey, we pray, to rediscover the meaning of our lives.

Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn

Congregation Ansche Chesed of New York

* Neila is part of the end of the service on Yom Kippur

Shanah Tovah

It is terrible to see the amount of destruction that was done to so many trees in Central Park on August 18, 2009, Tuesday evening by the unusaul and wicked storm that roared through. Meteorologists called the storm a “microburst” which seems to mean that strong winds hit the ground (from cloud level?) and travelled straight, unlike the spinning winds of a tornado. These winds reached 60 to 100 miles per hour in Manhattan!

Remains of a Central Park tree knocked down by Microburst windstorm On August 18 2009

The West Side of Manhattan and Central Park were badly hit. There were trees and large branches down ont he streets blocking all traffic. Much of this has been cleared up but there is a great deal more to be done by the Park’s people who take care of the trees. Up at Central Park West and 105th, where there is a large outcropping of bedrock, trees were leaning and dangling over the traffic. Many old, lovely trees have been lost.

Here are a few photos of the damage by Jeff French Segall.

Clearing the Storm Damage in Central ParkRemains of a Central Park tree knocked down by Microburst windstorm On August 18 2009Street Tree Branches Gathered for RemovalStreet Tree Branches Awaiting Removal

Street Tree Branches Awaiting Removal

GothamGirl has been inundated with many thousands of comments over just a few days.

An ocean of comments. An avalanche of comments.

I think that this is now resolved but I will not re-open the site to readers comments until I am sure this flood is over.

Hmmm….maybe it was writing about the Golem that did it…..

GothamGirl received a comment from someone claiming that he worked on construction of 535 West End Ave which is attached to the to the previous post.

The author of the post, NYCGuy, absolutely stands by his observations about the (lack of) quality of the building construction of 535 West End Avenue and the truth of his article.

“ I just returned from walking around the Ariels & then observing 535 West End Avenue.

The Broadway-96th Street station, which was sloppily extended after WWII, is undergoing reconstruction.

The Broadway thoroughfare is being reconfigured to accommodate a station house in the expanded mall between 95th & 96th streets. This follows upon on the creation of a new station house between 72nd & 73rd streets, in the expanded Verdi Square. The structure there is a riff on the restored, landmark, 1904 entryway, that dramatically improved circulation, created a much used street level public space & somehow managed to visually anchor the Alexandria, David Child’s 1991 cartoon version of the beloved, eccentric Ansonia. Thank you Gruzen Samton.

The barrel vaulted structure envisioned for 96th Street seems to reference the suburban London Underground stations of the 1920s & 30s. Fingers crossed. There’s no stylistic context on the boulevard nor acknowledged pallet of colors or textures.

The interior tile work so far leaves everything to be desired. Whereas the past two decades of station modernizations have seen prefab tile panels hung over existing, deteriorated or missing stock or the older tiles scored before new are applied, neither format is being followed. Thin, low quality, rectangular  white tiles are being applied directly to the post-war tiles. There is no effort at evenness, a fact revealed by how light plays on the tiles + the grouting varies from dark to white. Some of the new tiles have been painted over. Most are filthy. On the west wall of the station, a section is already grease stained. This doesn’t bode well for a project of this scope & cost.

A section of the remaining 1904 Art Nouveau style terra cotta & tile banding was removed for storage & ostensible restoration before this section of old platform at the northeast corner of the station, was sealed forever. For the moment, an adjacent, perfectly intact section remains.

Given the haphazard installation of the white, evidently background tiles,  I was amazed this past week to first  notice new “96’s” & then a frieze pattern, actually two. That work is beautiful. Everything else is shit. …. There is a section of rebuilt staircase at 93rd St (w/s) where the tile changes from something really stolid to what looks like cheap, bathroom tile… It would seem no one is officially observing this. Where will the old tiles & terra cotta go? Why is the station being given a new, albeit necessary, entryway, for which the closest New York reference is what’s now Asphalt Green but with an interior that’s not IND ’30s, industrial modern nor does it speak to nearby Symphony Space’s De Stijl citation courtesy of James Polshek: Boogie Woogie Mondrian.

If you think it’s impossible somethings amiss, please take a walk or a ride up to the next station at 103rd, restored in 2004 & see the difference in craft & care for materials.

Nine blocks south& 1 block west, the so-called grand luxe 535 West End Avenue, has just applied, factory-made composite panels with 1″ inch thick, brick-like veneers to most of two floors.

Apparently, there will be only four narrow, vertical sections of raised pseudo-brick on the entire West End Avenue & West 86th Street facades. The color might be described as muddy brown. The pre-World War II West End Avenue from 70th to 107th streets is solid masonry. Not here. The brickwork on the adjacent buildings ranges in a pallet of beige, cream, tan andyellow. The more daring buildings are white – not the failed 1950s & 60s white or orange to red. Brown tends to be found on the side streets are much further north or south on West End.

All of those buildings have trim & ornamentation, even modest ones. A urbane building would reference that pallet & at least nod occasionally to vertical banding.

Not this one.

It towers legally above the surrounding streetwalls in a suburban manner, meaning it’s there by itself. Some commercial avenues in Midtown & Water Street Downtown are like this but this is one of the city’s great boulevards of apartments – broken here & there by preceding townhouse blocks. A really good International Style residential structure, like, yes, Morris Lapidus’ Presidential on West 70th Street might have interrupted things with flare.

Not here.

The developer – which has given the Upper West Side the unangelic Ariels  at Broadway between 99th & 100th streets (without the promised LEED certification for “greenness”) has made a big deal of their Chicago architect. That architect, it seems, is to the Windy City – a great architecture town – what Costa Kondylis & his late mentor Philip Birnbaum are to New York – a developer’s dream. Someone who can squeeze the last salable square inch out of the zoning envelope.

That’s very useful, but it doesn’t always yield great buildings. Developers will often pair that skill with an architectural firm known for stunning exteriors.

Humdrum would be a step up at this site.

Meanwhile, this building & threats to others, has yielded a grass roots movement to get the entire aforementioned stretch of West End Avenue covered by a New York City Historic District. Take that Extell& please take Mr Lagrange with you.

For those wondering about terra cotta, until 1960, a great New York City architectural medium, check out the books by Susan Tunick. For a look at the 96th Street station plans -albeit sans the tile work, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/mancb7/downloads/pdf/irt_96.pdf. In keeping with renderings for all too many public commissions hereabouts, the commuters & pedestrians drawn are all white. This is 96th Street?… Lastly, to learn more about & maybe join the efforts to landmark WEA, see http://www.westendpreservation.org/.

Editors Note: Please be sure to read the comments below. Lily

With so many wonderful places in New York City to have Tea with friends, I would recommend skipping the Mandarin Oriental Lobby Lounge in the Time-Warner building at Columbus Circle. We received dreadful service, they did not prepare correctly for our reservation, and the sandwiches were on the verge of being dried out. Go anywhere else.

New York has places with so much more warmth, character and lovely views than this disappointing spot.  The 35th floor view of Central Park does not make up for their poor service. Our host arranged well in advance for a table at the window for 9, when we arrived, it was set for 7 and could not be expanded. We stood and waited (at least a half hour, until we asked to sit while waiting) , while they put together a space for us. The manager and hostess were not in any way accommodating and the busy staff had no idea what to do. 

Instead of being welcomed guests we were “in the way”…

Considering that Tea service is $38 per person, this proves that they have no idea that their real business is hospitality. Just ridiculous.

We are adaptable New Yorkers so it takes much more than just stupid rudeness to stop us from having a good time–We had an excellent time in each other’s company,  enjoyed the lovely snow over the park,  and we will have an afternoon Tea together again,  though we will not be back to the Mandarin Oriental.

Gimpel Tam (Gimpel the Fool) by Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Isaac Bashevis Singer is being performed by the Folksbiene Theatre through December 28, 2008 and you would be quite smart not to miss it. This is a new production written and directed by Moshe Yassur.

Do not pass up a chance to see the work of the very beloved writer I.B.Singer, which is produced so well, and in his native language, and performed on the Upper West Side where he lived and fed the pigeons on Broadway for so many years. Take along a few friends…talk over tea on Broadway afterwards. Perhaps you will attract a few of IB Singer´s more social dybbuks to join you.

Gimpel Tam asks us to question what is truth, what is reality, and to examine our ideas about good and evil.  This moving production is well staged, an entertaining and is a funny klezmer musical in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles. Please go to the theatre´s site for many more details.

I saw this with five friends, including an UWS therapist who said that ¨Gimpel received love, but perhaps not enough from his mother, and that we see the story as through his eyes, that is, as if  everyone in town was against him¨ …oh, oh, oh…and just when you thought that you ¨got it¨.

I.B. Singer´s story of Gimpel Tam challenges the fool in all of us and in ordinary society.

The story of Saigon Grill seems to have an ending which may include jail time for the owners for charges stemming from their treatment of their employees and for submitting falsified information to authorities. Today The NY Times reports on the arrest of the owners of Saigon Grill for a variety of criminal acts and explains this in detail.

A GothamGirl correspondent has spoken with Richard Nget, brother of the owners Simon and Michelle Nget, and manager of Saigon Grill on 90th Street and Amsterdam Avenue,  over years and again this past week days before the arrests.

He asked Mr. Nget years ago, before the action and dispute with their employees, “How have you kept your prices so low for years? ” and he replied: “I am afraid to change prices, because I am afraid that if I do it will bring bad luck”. Bad luck? Bad business, as in treating employees like dirt,  rightfully should  make severe consequences.

Well it is very clear that their many actions have brought them much more  than bad luck. They face fines of over $4 million dollars, and criminal charges, and perhaps jail time.

Months ago, Mr. Nget insisted that “everything is lie” and that his ex-workers were “evil” and when asked if he would rehire them, he said  ”never”. Wait staff standing near by nodded in agreement, perhaps afraid of losing their jobs.

Sunday, just a few days before the arrests, our correspondent asked him what are your plans now? He said: “maybe close everything”.

Maybe go to jail, too.

Now, I would like to know if any authorities are investigating the treatment of employees in nail salons. It seems to me that these places are ripe for exploitation of their immigrant women workers and they seem to  ”smell” of abuse.  Any thoughts?

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NOTE: Received a reply from labor attorney Christopher Marlborough,  on these issues, please be sure read his note below! Especially you lovers of nail salons!

I am a labor attorney in NYC. I was not involved in the Saigon Grill case, but I am glad to see some employers being held accountable for their egregious crimes. Hopefully, a few criminal convictions can serve as a wake up call to employers everywhere. You had better start paying your workers what they deserve, or at least what you are required to pay them by law.

Regarding your questions about nail salons, a few years ago, the Brennan Center published a report about overtime violations in NYC and noted that nail salons are some of the worst offenders. The report, Unregulated Work In The Global City, is available online at this location: http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/unregulated_work_in_the_global_city_full_report/

There has been help for these exploited workers. The organizations Justice Will Be Served! (a coalition composed of the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association, National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, and 318 Restaurant Workers Union have worked with nail salon employees in NYC to fight for their rights. In addition, The Asian American Legal Defense Fund has taken on several nail salons and gotten significant recoveries for exploited salon workers. See http://www.aaldef.org/article.php?article_id=345.

I just finished reading a fantastic new book on the subject of employment exploitation called titled Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid and What You Can Do About It by Kim Bobo. Kim is the Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice, Inc. a non-profit organization that works to improve working conditions in America on all levels. Her testimony before the U.S. Senate can be found here: http://www.wagetheft.org/

The evening before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,  the giant balloons which fly during the parade the next day, are inflated on West 81st Street and West 77th Street which are streets surrounding the Museum of Natural History, this happens  between  Central Park West and Columbus Avenues from about 4 to about 8 pm.

The balloons are held down by sand bags as crews of workers fill the balloons. This becomes a family street party. Vendors sell small balloons and food, there is absolutely no parking nearby unless you come very very very early in the day, and ¨driving by¨to see this is absolutely not an option.

Try to come early, at about 4 or 5 pm because it does become very crowded, but it is fun. Bundle up it will be cold.

Attention Suburbanites. Vehicle traffic crawls along Columbus Avenue and you will see nothing from your car, plan to come into town early, visit the museum, and stay for the balloons and you will not be frustrated but have a good time instead and please do not try to drive down Columbus Avenue between 4 and 9 pm.

After this coming election our society will have many profound changes and since I am optimistic, I believe these will be clearly positive changes. I would like us to consider the following very positive possibility:

One unexpected effect of their campaign may be that after being repulsed by an unqualified, uneducated  Palin on the public stage, when an accomplished, capable woman does come forward for public office in the future, the voters may accept her with  more respect than in the past.  Just try to imagine that she will be judged by her accomplishments and talents and not by her gender or gender roles.

Yes, I do mean that she could be treated with more respect than Hillary received and perhaps the future female candidate will receive much less derision for being a strong person. 

Perhaps the public will have had not only enough of the extreme right wing and the mess they have made of America, but the votes for the very capable and positive ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, may turn out also to be a vote against derision and abasement based on color, and surprisingly, even the gender issue will have been advanced.

We are on the verge of a possitive new chapter.

Barack Obama should consider Hillary for an important role in the new administration based on her qualifications, ability and support in America.

It would be a very welcome step in a new future.

* NYCGuy suggested that this post, originally titled “After The Lipstick Fades”, might be better called After “The Lipstick Smears”, considering the behavior of Sarah Palin during this campaign…he is right! Thanks, NYCGuy.

The Days of Awe are,  thankfully, not another US government military project, and they are not an advertising campaign for “Fashion Week”. The 10 days between the Jewish New Year, Rosh ha-Shanah and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, are called the Days of Awe. This is a time for introspection, apologizing to those we have hurt and “paying our debts”, both financially and personally. The purpose of this is to be able to be personally “renewed”, free of past mistakes, ready for a positive future.

This year, these days have also been a reminder of the fragility of personal finances and of the fragile nature of truth in public discourse. Yes, I am referring to the presidential campaign and McCain/Palin’s desperate descent into lies and fabrications meant to work up a deep fear of “otherness”, that is at the core, completely racist.

Shame on them.

So far, the people of America have not bought into this and I hope that they do not during the next short weeks to the election.

I wish there was a constitutional way we could start the transition to the new government before January 20. 

We neeed renewal and change so deeply.

Update: The building crews have been at work on 535 West End Avenue (see previous postings) and there is now visible construction above street level.

Can’t help but wonder how will they sell these $14 Million  dollar apartments during this economic downturn and crisis?

Perhaps they will have to redo their plans and make more apartments that are smaller than 10 bedrooms with 7 baths…time will tell.

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The new Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night exhibit now at the MoMA is a lesson in the beauty and skill of painting- like notes from one painter to all others. The show has a small number of works and is in small galleries, and although I saw it at a member’s preview, it was still crowded. But go, and have some patience, it is so worthwhile. 

Each  inch of canvas seems alive. The incredible emotion and color of his work are still, and always, so moving. It is there until January 5, 2009.

If you are not a MoMA member, order your tickets on line in advance and you will be able to see the show on the day of your visit, otherwise you need to get a special timed ticket when you enter the museum and you can not be sure to get in to this special exhibit.

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Put this on your go see list:

on Sun, Oct 5, 3 pm

Performing Arts: Sin: A Staged Reading

Starring Academy-Award winning actor F. Murray Abraham
Based on a work by Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer and adapted by Mark Altman from The Unseen. Directed by Robert Kalfin.

A hilarious and moving tale of devilish deeds by a master storyteller who has dwelt in both the old world and in modernity. Co-sponsored with Highbrow Entertainment.

Sun, Oct 5, 3 pm at the JCC of Manhattan

This date is always a sad day in NYC and a difficult day of painful memory and so much loss.

I always think of how we felt on September 10, 2001. That evening we were with a happy group of a dozen friends in a favorite neighborhood restaurant, Fred’s on Columbus Avenue, and we laughed and lingered over dinner. Fred ’s is named after a dog, and it’s motto is “Come, Sit, Stay”- we did.  An old friend was in town and at about 11pm we dropped her off to catch the train back to Boston. We were happy and light-hearted and safe.

The next day our world profoundly changed.

I do not want to write at this time about the specific people we lost, the exact events of the day or following days and not about our government or politics.

Each year just before September 11, just before the official events,  a small circle of friends has gone to the WTC site together to remember quietly together. Today, on the 11th,  I listened to the names, especially for certain names, and then joined up with a friend to do errands and try normal life.

Both presidential candidates were in town and a convoy made up of police cars, probably a secret service bus (?), and an ambulance (just in case, I guess) passed us by on crowded 57th Street with spinning lights and sirens blaring… perhaps it was them… someone in the crowd waiting for the light said, “boy, do I feel safe”, and the NYers in the crowd laughed.

It was a beautiful, crisp clear morning.

As I write this, NYers are about to exit the city in huge numbers for the Labor Day Weekend and tourists have been streaming into the city for the weekend. Where do the NYers go?  To the great beaches of Long Island and Jersey, to the countryside north and west of the city and all over the country and world.

But something much larger happens at this time of year. Many people move into the city to live at this time of year. Some come to attend the universities and other specialty schools, and others to start new chapters of their lives. The city has a history of accepting new comers, of course, and the idea of re-inventing oneself for a totally new direction life is considered exiting but quite normal.

My friend who owns West Side Movers says that business is BOOMING. Since many people move into the city at this time, many leases are up at the end of August, also, families try to get settled in before the school year begins for their children. People are moving into upper Manhattan, Harlem and Brooklyn especially.

Next week the school year begins, people have returned from their summer vacations, myself included, and the focus on work intensifies.

The Fall is the most beautiful season in New York. Crisp clear air, trees will turn colors, perfect temperatures and the start of the “season”: new exhibits in the galleries and museums and the new schedule of concerts, etc. and for us personally, the Jewish High Holidays which is a  full month of holidays, not just a day or two,  starting the evening of September 29 with Rosh Ha- Shanah, the New Year.

This Fall will be dominated by the Presidential election. New York State is solidly in the Democratic camp supporting Barack Obama, and  NYers are very intensely watching the campaign.

My neighborhood is extreemly diverse demographically, ethnically, in income, and by age but my election district generally votes about 92% Democratic.  Senator Pat Moynihan once said that this is the only neighborhood with it’s own foreign policy. Very clever.

The bars and clubs here had the convention on their screens instead of the usual sports or gossip and this is the topic everywhere. The interest started during the primaries has remained very high.

This is truly seen as the most crucial election for the direction of our country, this is not just some kind of rhetoric but there is a great deal of anxiety over the election. People express over and over again the terrible damage done to our country and constitution by GW Bush and his presidency and how we must win this election and start the repairs.

People also express how they believe America is resilient enough to do these repairs.

We drove 90 miles west from Manahattan to Nazareth, Pa in to visit the CF Martin Guitar Factory. Our mission was to pick up the custom made guitar which was made for one in our group, meet the people who used their considerable skills to create the guitar, and to take the tour of the factory. If you are a musician, especially a guitarist, you know why this is a type of pilgrimage and  you would appreciate how this is an extremely exciting event. We had waited eight months for the guitar to created. Over 60 skilled craftspeople worked on it. Only about 30 custom made guitars are produced by Martin each year, and about 200 regular instruments each week.

We were greeted by Dan, the wirey and warm and charming head of the custom department and he took us through the large building which is divided into sections and cubby work stations, into the section of the factory devoted to custom production. 

Dan put the case on the table and our guitarist opened and saw his new instrument for the first time. Love, love at first sight and love, love at first play. A new instrument actually improves with time which is amazing to consider since this guitar has such a rich tone and is so responsive. The guitarist’s signature and date of birth are in-laid on the head and neck of his new guitar.

Then we took the tour of the factory. We started at the beginning, we passed the many different woods which are used in guitar making, ready to be cut , shaped and glued, and finished into an instrument. We passed through all of the different stages of the process.

The most moving aspect were the workers. The majority seemed to be women, although there were plenty of men as well. All focused on the particular skill. Making bridges, shaving interior braces, bending the pieces for the sides, assembling and gluing pieces, gluing in the carefully cut slivers of Mother-of-Pearl for decoration, sanding, finishing, etc.  Some looked up for a moment as we passed and smiled. The last people in the process test the guitars by playing them. This is their job…to play guitars all day…it is considered the best of all of the jobs. The factory is one of the two largest employers in Nazareth and some families have worked for generation at this factory.

Photos of famous guitarists holding their Martin’s line the factory walls, and the tour ends at a display of guitars that visitors may play and try out.

The factory building has a museum on the history of guitar making and the history of Martin guitars. There is also a shop selling lots of Martin paraphanalia but no guitars which are only sold through dealers and not directly from the factory. 

It is wonderful to see that skill and craft still exist, and that such a wonderful pleasure-giving instrument is made of a precious natural material, wood. The Martin factory believes that many woods used in guitar making will not be available in just a few years and they are developing instruments made of composite materials…

The Martin Guitar and the Martin Guitar Factory are an American treasure.

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 Charles Street Shul, also known as Congregation Derech Amuno is located at 53 Charles St at West 4th in the Village, and they will again host the Andy Statman Trio -Andy on clarinet and mandolin, Jim Whitney on bass and Larry Eagle on drums and percussion. They will appear on Thursday May 22nd at 8:30. And thereafter, perhaps.

This historic, small synagogue has hosted the Andy Statman Trio for about 5 years.

If you haven’t been there before, you can expect absolutely transporting klezmer and blueglass by Brilliant Andy Statman, (my official title for him), and his trio in a warm, charming, real and unique setting, that is: a completely non-commercial setting.

This means that the time schedule isn’t so perfect, so if you arrive a bit early give a hand and help set up the chairs,  and check the performance dates as well on Andy’s website.

See my archive entry for a detailed discription and a photo of the outside of the little shul. Also, links.

If you attend, please let me know how it was since I will not be there tomorow. I will  be at a different concert of Sephardi and Mizrachi music, see my “upcoming events” for details. 

I will hear the Andy Statman Trio on a different evening.