I have to babysit at 5:15, so I make it out of the door at about 12:30. Banana, check, Map, check, Sunglasses, can't find them. I decide to squint. The F and G trains are literally right below me, so I hop on the G and take it to Court Square in Astoria. I have to get out of the subway station to transfer to the 7, and as I walk there I see a big sign that says "PS 1 MoMA". I had read about this "Contemporary Art Museum", and since it was right there, as clear as day, I decide to go on in and see some art.
Here's the thing with me and art museums - I can't spend hours at different exhibits, poking into different rooms. I usually focus on one exhibit, sometimes even one or two paintings, I stare at it, take it in and leave. It's easier for me to appreciate one piece than glance at hundreds, and have no memory to leave with. This isn't the most cost effective way to look at art, (which is I was a frequent visitor of the Chicago Art Institute on Thursdays evenings when it is free!) but luckily they are installing a new exhibit today, and they're only asking for donations. I donate the student rate: $2. (General Admission is $5)
The museum is in an old public school, and as I walk through the hallways, it feels like I am in a nightmare, or a horror film that takes place in an old public school. (See the picture below) It is very raw, desolate, and institutional, and there aren't many signs directing me, so I end up on the 3rd floor where there is an exhibit called "100 years version #2". This is a sort of multi-media history of provocative, groundbreaking performance art spanning the 20th century, including videos of Martha Graham's "Lamentations", Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (in which she sits motionless on a stage while audience members cut pieces of her clothing off until she is almost nude) and a Cuban artist (whose name escapes me) painting with her body as the tool and blood as the paint.
(a stairwell in the museum/creepy school)
I let that marinate and find my way out of the museum. (It's so cheap (and quite close to home) that I'm sure I'll be back for more) I hop on that 7 to Vernon Blvd, get out and walk through an industrial area that is turning up condos everywhere. Here I find the most wonderful spot called Gantry Plaza State Park! This is a beautiful green spot with 4 piers that stretch out into the East River. On this sunny Saturday afternoon, there are families playing, and couples strolling the boardwalk, but it's not nearly as crowded as I'd thought. I sit, eat a banana, wish that it was Chris' day off, walk the boardwalk, watch two little girls fight over a doll, and then I get up and go look for a tea shop that is in my guide book. I fail miserably at deciphering addresses in Queens, (It really is a different language) and I just get back to the train, happy to have found such a lovely treasure!
(you can lay down on those wooden benches)
I'm on the 7, to the N, and I'm back in Astoria (Gantry Plaza State Park was in Long Island City) at Ditmars Ave. I am super excited to find this cafe called Freeze Peach (my book says it's very vegan friendly). I'm at the exact spot, I'm checking my address reading rules... this is it, right? Why is there a bank here?????
My poor, unsuspecting Columbia Guide to New York 2007
was written before the "economic downturn" (later that night, a cab driver tells me that it closed in the fall) . Lesson learned. Double check before you hit the hot spots! I settle for a tiny cafe called Bistro 33: Side Door. I can't eat much there, so settle for a salad.... it's a salad. (They don't take plastic, so I have to find an ATM) Then I rush around the corner to "pretend to play Super Mario Brothers" with a 4 and a half year old, and snuggle a chubby 6th month old.
A lovely day!
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