Still Busy

New York City has a lot to offer and we have been taking full advantage of it.

On the weekend, we traveled with friends to Little Italy for the annual San Gennaro festival.  It was hot, crowded and New Yorkers were everywhere.  In other words, it was great.  San Gennaro is the Patron Saint of Naples and a marty.  The Saint's statue made an appearance during a slow procession up Mulberry Street.  The festival is a weeklong celebration of Italian-American culture.  That translates to great food (hot and spicy Italian sausage, at least 10 different flavors of canolli's and plenty of Italian beer and wine), plus great music--live and recorded, including The Chairman of the Board (recorded, not live unfortunately).  The festival has grown over the years.  20 years ago, the festival stretched a couple of blocks along Mulberry.  Now, the festival stretches along Mulberry nearly the entire length of Little Italy--from Canal St. to SOHO--with side streets hosting some of the action.  A must-see.

San Gennaro--In Solemn Procession up Mulberry Street

Mulberry Street during 2015 San Gennaro Festival

Cannoli's are plentiful during the San Gennaro Festival

We mentioned friends joined us in Little Italy.  Eric and Vicki from Florida were our first guests here in New York and we think they had a good time.  The proof will be if they return during the next year.  They are already invited.

Eric and Vicki hit many of NYC's highlights, including Lady Liberty, Ground Zero, Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Times Square, and more.  They discovered a wonderful specialty bakery nearby--Baked by Melissa.  The bakery sells miniature cupcakes with many different flavors--PB&J, Deconstructed Cookie Dough and Vanilla Cookies & Cream.  We recommend them highly.  The Fall Collection was released on Greg's birthday (just a coincidence since his birthday usually occurs on the first day of Fall).  Greg personally sampled and recommends the Fall Collection.

Yum!

The Fall Collection

Eric and Vicki also discovered the Stardust Diner where Broadway hopefuls serve and perform.  (Photos below.)  While the concept might seem touristy, the food was respectable diner fare and the singing was extremely professional.  We wondered why some of the staff was not already performing in a Broadway show.  It turns out that turnover is high, with servers departing frequently for roles in NY or national tours.  If you get a chance to visit Stardust, you will have a very good time.

The Stardust Diner on Broadway

Two talented singers performing a Les Miserables number

Highlights from this week include a bridge, a tram and a first preview.  The Brooklyn Bridge is a wonderful walk.  The day we walked the weather was perfect and the views of Manhattan were amazing.  The surprise was visiting the park and waterfront on the Brooklyn side of the bridge.  The area is being transformed from a long-forgotten shipyard and warehouse district to a retail, commercial and residential mecca.  Plus, the ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Company is worth the walk.  

The Brooklyn Bridge and Downtown Manhattan Skyline, plus some random hottie photobombing the shot.

Midtown Manhattan Skyline from atop the Brooklyn Bridge, plus some random dude.

Downtown Manhattan Skyline from Brooklyn waterfront.

Another day, we took the tram to Roosevelt Island.  We did not see King Kong attack the tram or Spider-Man swing by.  We did see more amazing views of Manhattan.  Roosevelt Island once housed a prison and a lunatic asylum.  (It was actually called the Lunatic Asylum.)  Today, Roosevelt Island is a sleepy oasis of residential towers and a long-term care hospital.  

The tram

View of Manhattan from Roosevelt Island

Lighthouse at the North End of Roosevelt Island

A shot of two tugboats on the East River from the tram

A shot of our building from the tram

The first preview was the revived Broadway play The Gin Game starring Cicely Tyson (now 80 years old) and James Earl Jones (now 84).  Their ages were surprising because they seemed much younger.  Their talent is amazing.  They easily transifxed the audience and made us understand what it must be like to be forgotten in a decrepit nursing home.  Lots of drama and comedy throughout.  The audience was especially lively, at times talking back to the action unfolding on the stage.  And of course, the voice of Darth Vader is as deep and powerful as ever.

James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson

You know who