Thursday, August 17, 2006
New York, Day One
Arrived early morning, after a red-eye flight. Traveled by subway, coping with the rush-hour crowd, to midtown Manhattan, to meet my brother at his office.
After freshening up in the office men's room, I commenced my day's activities. First up was the International Center of Photography. It has a small exhibition space, but it packs a punch. The two highlights were exhibits on a Korean named Atta Kim and Weegee, a mid-20th-century photojournalist. Weegee's work, which appeared in New York tabloids, has a proto-Arbus sensationalism. Weegee wrote his own captions, too; my favorite is "Cop who looks like Gary Cooper books blind man for murder".
After gulping a timely Starbucks iced coffee, I met a college friend for lunch. I walked a few blocks to his office in East Midtown, the JP Morgan building. Waiting outside for him, I was fascinated by droves of finance types, most younger than 30, pour out of skyscrapers for lunch on a sunny day.
Central Park
After lunch I hung out at the Apple Store on Fifth Ave and 58th St. (Hint: great place to check your email for free.) Then I walked a couple blocks north to Central Park. I sat down on a bench and relaxed for a while. There were a lot of foreign tourists in the park that day.
In the evening I went back to my brother's office, just north of Times Square. We took the subway back to his home in Brooklyn. We had dinner at a cozy, reasonably priced Middle Eastern restaurant named Zaytoons, on Smith St. in the Cobble Hill neighborhood. After dinner we caught a movie. I chose World Trade Center. (I was sleepy and I thought it would keep me awake.) I didn't think twice about my decision at first, but shortly after the movie began I realized that we were watching it in New York City. One man a couple rows up totally lost it; he sobbed throughout the film.
