Livin’ in New York City Post 19: Still Experiencing Firsts

Marsha P. Johnson State Park provides an amazing view of Manhattan from the edge of the East River. I wouldn’t recommend swimming there though.

This month, I’m celebrating 10 months of living in New York and now the weather is truly beginning to turn towards the summertime heat that greeted me when I first moved in. The weather is in the 70s and 80s, the sun is shining and, whenever you go to the parks, you can find people in bathing suits tanning. And why not? After all, the beaches are far away and there’s not a ton of public pools to meet the needs of 8 million. I suppose you could venture to Coney Island but, when you have so many parks near your home, perhaps it’s just best to go down the street to tan. 

With the weather warming up, I’ve been venturing to different parks throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan just to get out of the house and enjoy the sun. One of the best parks I found was Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg, which runs along the East River. In 2020, this park was renamed in honor of Marsha P. Johnson, a gay rights activist and drag queen who was one of the founders of the Gay Liberation Front and led protests in the days following the Stonewall Uprising in Greenwich Village. They also fought for the rights of AIDS victims and led many marches and memorials during the late 80s and early 90s. 

Sadly, in 1992, Johnson was found dead and floating in the Hudson River. While it was initially ruled a suicide, the case has been reopened and is still being investigated as a homicide. Given the time period when Johnson died, the fame they had and the testimonies of Johnson’s closest friends and family, I have no doubt that Johnson was murdered and that the police either maliciously or apathetically tried to cover it up. 

Now, Johnson’s memory is enshrined in a park and what a beautiful park it is. Not only are there so many places to relax on the grass, but the park has a small beachfront on the East River with a small wooden pathway leading straight into the river. You could see people taking off their shoes and sticking their feet into the East. So, I figured I’d join them. I felt the cold water on my feet and was tempted to get the hell out of there. But I stayed anyway, risking potential hypothermia and, since it was The East River, hepatitis. 

But I don’t need to venture to Williamsburg to find a good park. Just down the street from my apartment is Herbert Von King Park where I found the perfect reading tree. The trunk perfectly fits the arch of my back, the spot faces away from the sun, the tree provides plenty of shade and the ground is mulch instead of grass so there’s no risk of staining my jeans.
What are the odds? 

At this point, I think I’ve assimilated quite well into the lifestyle of a New Yorker. I mean, when you leave the house at 1:45 a.m. to get a slice of pizza, I think it’s safe to assume you’ve been converted. However, there’s one milestone that I haven’t crossed. I’ve never had a New York City bagel. Along with pizza, New York has taken complete ownership of bagels claiming that it’s the water that makes them so good. Well, wanting to have a bagel after months of procrastination, I asked my coworker Andrew where he would recommend I eat my first bagel. 

After screaming at me for 15 minutes for never having eaten a New York bagel in the many months that I’ve lived here, he recommended a spot he used to go to on the Lower East Side when he was in college. So, after work, I went to Tompkins Square Bagels on Avenue A. Not wanting to go overboard, I got a plain toasted bagel and a bagel with lox on it. After eating them, I then internally abused myself for holding off for so long on eating bagels. Now, I’ve had bagels before but nothing as good as what New York has to offer. The bread is much softer and the toppings you can get are far more interesting than the basic cream cheese smear you can get at Panera. 

As for the lox, it was such a fantastic combination of savory with the natural sugar of the tomato I also had on the bagel. Now, at last, I have seen the light. I know why New York bagels are so beloved and I am completely hooked. 

Pat Irwin on piano is one third of the group SUSS, which performed four shows at the LIC Culture Lab every Friday from March 31 to April 21.

In April, I spent every Friday down at Long Island City’s Culture Lab to see all four gigs by country ambience group SUSS. Not only is their music fantastic, but I also know one of the guys in the band, Pat Irwin, whose wife is one of the cafe’s owners. By the time the fourth and final show played, I was starting to be recognized by most of the staff since I had been coming to the Culture Lab so much. All four of the shows were so fantastic with incredible atmosphere and music that just took you on a journey through the abstract American landscape. But the final show on April 21 was my favorite. Not just because of the show, but also who attended.

Along with composing music for film and television and working with his band, Pat also teaches at Brooklyn College and many of his students turned out for the final show. This increased presence of youthful energy brought even more excitement to the performance. When the show wrapped up and SUSS left the stage, Pat’s students just kept clapping and wanted even more. Feeling as if they had no other choice, the group returned and performed one more song despite SUSS’s policy that they never do encores. But some rules are meant to be broken. 

When the gig ended for real, I got to talking with several of Pat’s students who all wanted to work on music for film and television. Later on, we went down the street to The Gutter, a bar and bowling alley, to hang out and I felt a real connection to these people. These guys understand cinema. They understand ambition. So, it was refreshing to be able to have some beers, eat some hot dogs, roll strikes and talk about film and music with them. 

The next day, I ventured out to another performance after work, albeit in a different part of Queens. My boss Annie has a cousin who plays the harmonica in a blues band and they had a gig at the PanIcarian Brotherhood, a Greek community center in Elmhurst. With nothing else to do that night, I figured why not go see some good blues music. As soon as I walked in the door, I was surrounded by a plethora of Annie’s very Greek cousins, aunts, uncles and other assorted relatives and every one of them insisted that I eat something. As far as I’m concerned, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is a documentary. 

The band was amazing with original songs as well as covers by B.B. King, Elmore James and the great Muddy Waters. At one point, a young guitar player (about my age) got onto the stage and shredded the guitar as the group paid homage to the great Jimi Hendrix. This was definitely worth the journey to Elmhurst. 

The rebeitko band played music that was slow, low and atmospheric with beautiful dancing accompanying it.

After the blues band took down their gear, a traditional Greek band came up and started to play rebetiko music. The lights got dimmer, the crowd got more quiet and the band just took control of everyone in attendance. When a member of the band started to sing, so many joined in. People of all ages were connected to this music and then the dancing started to erupt. I even joined in for a few of the simple steps. Other dances I just looked at because it was obvious that this dance was meticulously crafted with the moves passed down from generation to generation. You just felt this powerful sense of togetherness throughout the room. Eventually, I had to go home because, in Annie’s words, Greeks will party until the sun comes up. 

I’ve also had the opportunity to go see a few Broadway shows recently including the smash hit musical “Hamilton.” At this point, who hasn’t heard of “Hamilton?” Between winning 11 Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize and having the soundtrack consistently rank high in Billboard’s Hot 200 List, “Hamilton” has become a phenomenon not seen on Broadway since “Rent.” In 2020, Disney+ also released a filmed performance of the musical from 2016 which has the entire original cast. This is how I was able to see the show and I fell in love with it. However, seeing it live was something else altogether. 

My seat was up in the mezzanine balcony which meant that I had a more aerial view of the performance. Having this vantage point allowed me to see the intricate ensemble choreography and truly appreciate the technical side of the production. Seeing how the spinning stage and the background performers impact the story was something that you just couldn’t see in the Disney+ film. The three hour performance went by too fast. I wouldn’t have minded if the show just kept going on and on. 

Despite having listened to the cast album many times, this music still felt so fresh to me with a fantastic combination of hip-hop, R&B and traditional showtunes. At one point, when George Washington calls his cabinet together for a debate, he hands two microphones to Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson for a rap battle/cabinet debate. When one of the secretaries would lay an insult into the other, the entire crowd went “ohhhh.” I distinctly recall a man behind me saying “damn, boy” when Hamilton called out Jefferson, who opposed the nation taking on states’ debts, for being a slave-owner and to “keep ranting, we know who’s really doing the planting” in response. While some shows on Broadway can be seen as over-hyped and not worth the build-up, I assure you that “Hamilton” does not have this distinction. 

While the musical is set from the years 1776 to 1801, there’s so much about this story that people can be inspired by and relate to. I myself think the song “Non-Stop” is pretty applicable to my life especially for one lyric, “why do you write like you’re running out of time?” There’s rarely a day where I don’t sit down with my computer and write and it gets pretty insane. 

For instance, in the space of a week, I watched several new horror films including “The Pope’s Exorcist,” “Evil Dead Rise” and “Beau is Afraid.” After going home one night, I had a splitting headache and I took two Advil before going to sleep. I then proceeded to have the most scary nightmare of my entire life that I couldn’t wake up from until, from my point-of-view, the terrifying entity slashed at me and I woke up. It was like the intro of the most terrifying horror film. 

After I woke up, I looked around to make sure I was safe and then I instantly grabbed my phone, opened the Google Docs app and wrote down, in excruciating detail, the events of my nightmare. Now this terrifying dream is just staring at me in my web browser and I have no idea what to do with it. Perhaps I’ll turn it into a short film one day. If I’m going to have the shit scared out of me, I might as well take everyone else with me for the ride. 

Tragically, on April 25 New York City lost one of its favorite sons: Harry Belafonte. This titan of civil rights and music was responsible for so much social change. This was a man who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., bailed him and many other activists out of jail, marched on Washington in 1963, organized the musicians for “We Are The World,” was an ambassador for UNICEF and who worked with Nelson Mandela to overthrow apartheid. 

The following day, at the Lincoln Center, Belafonte’s civil rights organization, Sankofa, held a memorial service which I attended. Surrounded by hundreds of others, we all paid our respects by hearing the speakers as they talked about the importance of Belafonte’s life and how he thought of himself as an activist first and a musician second. It was a reminder to carry on the work that he devoted so much of his time to. When the speeches ended, we took out our lyric sheets that had been passed around beforehand and joined a chorus in singing “We Are The World” followed by “Day-O.” It was a beautifully cathartic scene and I was so glad to have been a part of this. 

And then came the rain. A lot of rain. 5.2 inches of rain over the course of three days and it completely flooded the streets. It was as if April just wanted to get its precipitation out of the way all at once. Some puddles in the park or in the street wound up being eight to nine inches deep. However, it eventually subsided and New York found itself in the month of May. 

Since May is the month I was born in and the one year anniversary of my college graduation is quickly approaching, I’ve decided to just try and have as much fun as possible for these 31 days. I started out the month by going to an exhibit at the International Center of Photography which showcased the work of Catherine Opie, Brigitte Lacombe and Tacita Dean. All three artists use portraiture to convey the overall spirit of people. Opie’s portraits were absolutely beautiful in how they captured the subjects emerging out of the darkness with subjects like Miranda July and John Waters. 

Dean’s portraits were not still photographs but were 16mm films that captured their subjects tenderly with beautiful cinematography. While these films were shot recently, they looked so much older given the lower quality of the film stock. Watching Dean’s work is also a rare pleasure given that she’s never allowed her work to be digitized. Instead, I went into a dark room where a film projector screened Dean’s work. As the gentle hum of the projector filled the background, you became entranced by the bright picture amidst the dark room. 

But my favorite work on display was the work of Brigitte Lacombe. With a simple white background, Lacombe’s square portraits showed the likes of Patti Smith, Maya Angelou and Fran Lebowitz. On a big wall, giant prints of Lacombe’s work with Martin Scorsese showed the great master behind the scenes of films like “Gangs of New York,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Departed” and “Shutter Island.” 

Brigitte Lacombe’s portrait of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese is a simple yet effective showing of their relationship as an actor and director.

Following the exhibition, I decided to go all over the island of Manhattan to find filming locations from one of my favorite shows “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Currently in its fifth and final season, this Amazon Prime Video show is one of the funniest new series out there with incredible performances by Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Marin Hinkle and Kevin Pollack as well as brilliant writing and direction by Amy Sherman-Palladino (the creator of “Gilmore Girls”) and her husband Daniel. 

Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the series revolves around Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), a Jewish American housewife on the Upper West Side who pursues a career in stand-up comedy after her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) leaves her. Alongside her talent manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), Midge takes on the industry, determined to make her mark. The series also focuses on the personal lives of Midge, Joel, their parents and the incredibly bizarre cast of characters that the main characters encounter. 

Through this journey, I made my way to Albanese Meats and Poultry (where Midge Maisel and her mother announced that “we got the rabbi”), the Up & Up (where the Gaslight Cafe once was) and The Village Vanguard (where Midge smoked pot with some jazz musicians and legendary comedian Lenny Bruce). Through Washington Square Park, you can feel the excitement of finals as NYU students gathered to celebrate the end of the semester along with the usual roster of chess players, artists, musicians, dancers, skaters and a group of spiritualists singing the “Hare Krishna.” 

Continuing on the Maisel tour, I visited, for the first time, the Music Inn store in the Village. This store was this grungy and welcoming shop where you could scavenge their collection of records, buy an instrument or even have your instruments repaired. If you are a music lover, you must check out the Music Inn. Especially since, in the show, Midge Maisel’s first set was distributed on bootleg records from this store. 

Feeling hungry, I made my way to a local diner called La Bonbonniere which, in the show, was renamed The City Spoon. What I love about this restaurant, and others like it, is how unpretentious it is. I like the kind of place where I can just get a BLT and a milkshake without unnecessary pageantry. This is definitely the environment where Midge Maisel, Suzie Myerson and Lenny Bruce would hang out in between being arrested by the cops for using the word “fuck” and another set at the Gaslight. 

La Bonbonniere is a fantastic old fashioned diner that is worth checking out the next time you’re in the West Village.

I also made my way up the island to the Upper West Side to view two more spots that are significantly featured in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel:” the Maisel’s Morningside Heights apartment building and Columbia University, where Midge’s father Abe taught mathematics. When I made it to Havemeyer Hall, I wondered if I could get inside when a student just let me in, thinking that I was on my way to a class. But through this little adventure, I remembered all of the funny moments of the series that happened at all of these spots. I have no idea what to do once this series has concluded. 

The next day, I awoke to an interesting situation. You see my mom entered me an a few ticket lotteries and, on May 2, I was supposed to be in the studio audience at 30 Rockefeller Center for a taping of “The Tonight Show” hosted by Jimmy Fallon. However, this was the first day of the Writers Guild of America strike which meant that all late-night television shut down in solidarity. So, this meant my plans for the evening opened up. Not that I was mad because I’m fully behind the WGA and support their demands. When I texted my mom the situation, I got a call a few minutes later with my mom asking “would you like to see ‘The Book of Mormon’ for $55?” Of course, I said hell yeah and I found myself looking for the right kind of tie for that evening’s performance. 

Unlike “Hamilton,” I think I need to explain the plot of this show. Written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind “South Park,” and Robert Lopez, the musical tells the story of two Mormon missionaries: the pious Elder Price and the goofy pathological liar Elder Cunningham. The two are sent on assignment to Northern Uganda to convert as many people as possible to the Mormon faith. However, this will not be easy as they have to contend with the brutality of a local warlord and also think about whether their faith makes any sense at all. 

At this point, this is my sixth Broadway show and, out of all of them, this one was the most hilarious. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. It’s not hard to believe that the creators of “South Park” also made “The Book of Mormon.” It has their usual brand of humor while also having such spontaneity. From the likable characters to the incredible music to the overall energy, this is an exciting production that you should definitely see if you want to laugh at how these three guys could have gotten away with this kind of humor. “The Book of Mormon” is a show that’s made to offend everyone which is why everyone in the theater was howling. 

However, like on “South Park,” “The Book of Mormon” also has a pretty powerful message to it. At the end of the day, the show does not say to not follow religion and it is not an anti-Mormon production. Don’t get me wrong, they ruthlessly mock the hell out of Mormonism, organized faith and the existence of God but the overall theme is pretty simple. If you have a faith that teaches good morals and the people that practice it want to help others and themselves lead peaceful and well-meaning lives, then who gives a shit what they believe? The real villains of the show are people who either take faith and morality way too seriously and people who have cast aside morals. Of course, it might be hard to see all of that when you’re watching a show where one of the characters has a nightmare where he’s in hell with Hitler, Genghis Khan and Johnnie Cochran, but that’s what I saw. 

Perhaps that’s what the Mormon church saw as well. For several productions, including the show’s Broadway run, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints took out advertisements in the playbill encouraging people to read The Book of Mormon if they were interested in the church. Now, I don’t know about you, but for a religion to have that as their response to a musical that parodies their faith is unbelievable. If you made a musical about any other religion, I guarantee that they wouldn’t take out playbill ads. 

When I chatted with some of my fellow theatergoers, they remarked how this show gained some controversy (shocking, right?) because it came out around the time when Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon, was running for President. Remember when being a Mormon was the weirdest thing a Republican running for President could be? Those were simpler times. Can you imagine if Romney was elected? I personally think that he would have invited the cast to The White House just like President Obama did with the cast of “Hamilton.” Because when you look at Mitt Romney you say to yourself, “that man clearly loves musical theater. Maybe I should invite him to go see ‘Kinky Boots.’”

But the biggest question I had while watching the whole show was this: why haven’t they made this into a film? After all, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have made movies before, including multiple musicals, and this story just seems like the right fit for a movie screen. I can understand why a musical like “Company” hasn’t been made into a film yet. It doesn’t follow a typical linear storyline which would make it difficult to adapt into cinema. As for “Hamilton,” there’s hardly any dialogue. Instead, every character speaks through song. That’s great for an energized stage show or for the Disney+ film but making a cinematic version of “Hamilton” feels unnecessary. But “Book of Mormon” has the right kind of story, pacing and imagination for film. Don’t get me wrong, it would be controversial as hell but do the guys who made “South Park” really care about that? Hell, if they’re having a hard time finding a director, I’ll gladly do it. 

In other news, work has been going quite well. Work at the café is as entertaining as always and I’ve still been working on assignments for my filmmaker boss Karl. For one of his many jobs, Karl works with the Tribeca Film Festival by supplying and installing the computer equipment that they use for editing and keeping the festival running. As a filmmaker and a genius with building computers, Karl knows exactly what is needed and has created some excellent machinery. However, one day he needed someone to oversee the transportation of the equipment from Long Island City to Tribeca. Enter me. 

So, there I am, loading computer equipment into an Uber and making my way to the headquarters of the Tribeca Film Festival. For those who don’t know, the Tribeca Film Festival was founded by film producer Jane Rosenthal, real estate developer Craig Hatkoff and actor Robert De Niro in 2002 to not only gather filmmakers and cinephiles but also to bring back economic and social prosperity to Lower Manhattan in the wake of 9/11. To this day, it continues to be one of the most prestigious American film festivals and is a cultural hub for advancements in film technology and storytelling.

When I made it to the headquarters, I met with Karl’s contact, Fred, and we quickly and carefully took all of the supplies in with help from Nell, another Tribeca employee. And it’s a good thing they were there to help because my Uber driver had pulled into a parking spot which pissed off a cab driver something awful. As it turns out, Uber drivers and cabbies are like the Sharks and the Jets and hate each other immensely. 

As I helped bring the equipment up to the room where Karl would later assemble it, I was in awe of where I was. This was just a place where I felt at home. Everyone was wearing clothing with film references, the atmosphere was focused yet relaxed and the walls were adorned with film posters including titles like “Cape Fear,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Blow-Up.” As much as I just wanted to hide out there and stay for hours, I owed it to myself and to Karl to be a professional. So, I thanked everyone for their help and, on my way out, I showed an employee, who was wearing a “Pulp Fiction” hat, my wallet. For those who don’t know, my wallet is a replica of the wallet Jules Winfield, played by the legendary Samuel L. Jackson, brandished in “Pulp Fiction.” It’s a pretty recognizable piece of pop culture because, on the side of the wallet, are the words “Bad Mother Fucker.” While my mother would like it if I had a more professional wallet, I have to constantly explain that, for my field of work, this is a professional wallet. 

Speaking of professional settings, later that week I got to have a pretty exciting experience involving one of my favorite films: “Dazed and Confused.” In honor of the cult classic’s 30th anniversary, the Lower East Side Film Festival held a special screening in the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue which I attended with my coworker Andrew. Included with our tickets was an open bar which is always a good idea to have when seeing “Dazed and Confused.” So, after getting properly buzzed on two beers apiece, we sat down to watch the film with a full house. This crowd we saw the film with was truly fantastic. They knew every line and joined in with some of the most iconic moments in the film. When Matthew McConaughey first said “alright, alright, alright,” it was hard to hear because of how many people, myself included, said it. 

Before the film was screened, we were greeted by a very special person. It was Richard Linklater, the film’s writer/director who would go on to make the “Before” trilogy, “Boyhood,” “School of Rock,” “Waking Life,” “Everybody Wants Some!!!” and so many other good films. In a taped introduction, Linklater reported from Austin, Texas and thanked us all for showing love to his second film. He also asked us two questions: “have you gotten high today” and “have you beaten a freshman” while displaying one of the paddles that the senior boys used to initiate the incoming freshmen. The first question got a resounding roar from the crowd while the second got a more muffled but still enthusiastic response. 

After the next hour-and-forty-minutes of pure bliss, we were leaving the theater when we noticed that the festival staff were handing out gifts for the audience to take home. It turns out that they were joints from Private Jet, a cannabis company located right in New York, which was one of the festival’s sponsors. Andrew took one of the gifts and, along with most of the other attendees, lit and smoked outside of the theater in celebration of the first summer of pot being legal in the city. To answer your questions about marijuana in New York, it’s basically like John Travolta said in “Pulp Fiction.” “It’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to own it and, if you’re the proprietor of a hash bar, it’s legal to sell it.” So, if you love cannabis, marijuana, pot, reefer, weed, bush, skunkamola, white widow super cheese, sweet Mary Jane, joints, dope, grass, bud, doobies, boom and roach, you’re going to love New York. 

As I stood among the film lovers and their newly created fog of smoke, Andrew made a basic and understandable observation: “I’m hungry.” So, we made our way to the nearest Joe’s Pizza, at 3rd Ave. and 14th St. for multiple slices, ending the night. 

But you don’t always have to pay for good entertainment. Starting this past weekend, the LIC Culture Lab has been hosting free concerts every summer weekend at their outdoor stage. Having nothing else to do and wanting to satisfy my curiosity, I went to see the free music and I’m glad I did. With so much diversity, energy and well-priced beer, it was incredible to see groups like an Italian hip hop dance troupe called The Lunatics, The L Train Brass Band and a salsa group.

So, as things get even brighter and more exciting in New York, I’m just going to be soaking it all in and trying like hell to continue making things happen during this incredible time.

The L Train Brass Band perform at the LIC Culture Lab as part of the center’s free summer concert series.