Today’s “Fab 4” / Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, SEPT 04, 2013.

VolvoTango: Outdoor Dancing
The wooden surface out on the Pier is of an exceptionally good quality. A broad healed dance shoe works fine. In damp conditions a smooth soled rubber shoe is fine and some even like to dance barefoot.

The dance area is at the end of the pier under a large tent that both serves as an umbrella and a sound horn. Because of this protection and because of the polishing that regular VolvoTango events give it, the wood is silky smooth and because it’s not laid on concrete, the wood is soft, there is almost a sprung-like feel to the floor
Hudson River Park, Pier 45, off W. 10th St.
AT 5:00PM / FREE

Curator’s Tour – ‘The Woolworth Building @ 100’
Museum Director and Curator Carol Willis will lead a gallery tour of the current exhibit at 3PM. The exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of this Cass Gilbert-designed building — when completed in 1913 it was considered the tallest office building in the world — features blueprints, photographs, contracts and other items.

“Eighty thousand incandescent bulbs illuminated the New York night on April 24, 1913, when the Woolworth Building opened with a ceremony attended by 800 dignitaries. Witnessed by multitudes and wired to press around the world, …

The great Gothic tower-the Cathedral of Commerce-became the preeminent silhouette on the New York skyline and took the title of world’s tallest office building.”
Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place, Lower Manhattan
The exhibition can be viewed Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.
$5, $2.50 for students and 65+
(212) 968-1961 / skyscraper.org

U.S. TENNIS OPEN (through Sept. 9)
We are now in the second week of the tournament and the crowds are smaller and the matches fewer, but each match is a gem. On the outer courts this week you find the juniors tournament, where some players look good enough to have been in the main draw, while others look like, well, juniors.

Today’s tip: Find the doubles matches (men, women, and mixed). It’s very entertaining and a version of tennis that you won’t find covered on TV, which is fixated on singles.

Who to watch today:
It’s the Spanish men and the Italian women squaring off in the Quarterfinals.
» Rafael Nadal vs Tommy Robredo, the Spaniards, play in the BigHouse at night. Nadal has been playing lights out, so Robredo will have to be at his best to take even one set.

» Roberta Vinci vs Flavia Pennetta, the Italians, play in the BigHouse – first match of the day. They were roommates for four years when they were kids and have a 4-4 record head to head. This could be anyone’s match.

» Daniela Hantuchova vs Victoria Azarenka, who play the first match at night in the BigHouse. Everyone thinks this is today’s most lopsided match. I like the way Hantuchova has been playing and watched Azarenka play very sloppy tennis yesterday against Ivanovic. Maybe an upset in the making?

The best, most comprehensive review of the tournament and the current state of tennis can be found at the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/tennis/index.html

Eric Harland Voyager*
“Eric Harland, a drummer of superhuman abilities, reconvenes the vaulting ensemble heard on his 2010 debut, “Voyager: Live by Night” (Space Time/Sunnyside): Walter Smith III on tenor saxophone, Julian Lage on guitar, Taylor Eigsti on piano and Harish Raghavan on bass.”(Chinen-NYT)
Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village,
At 8 and 10:30 p.m., $25 cover at tables, $15 at the bar, with a $5 minimum.
475-8592, bluenote.net

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.
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Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater, and The Kitchen performance spaces,   there is no place like it anywhere in the world.

Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com)
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Top Photography Exhibitions – NYCity / Manhattan’s WestSide

  Museum of Modern Art
Walker Evans: American Photographs (through Jan. 26, 2014)
11 West 53rd Street / 212-708-9400

  Metropolitan Museum of Art
Everyday Ephiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969 
(through January 26, 2014)
1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street) / 212-535-7710

   ICP
A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial (through Sept. 22)
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street / 212-857-0000

  American Museum Natural History 
Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies          
(through May 31, 2014)
79th St. And Central Park West / (212) 313-7278 

  Staley-Wise Gallery
It’s An American Thing (through Sept. 14)
560 Broadway, Soho / 212-966-6223

One more photo exhibition, this one in a special setting – the lovely, new Bklyn Bridge Park with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, and of course, the Brooklyn Bridge.
(easy to get to via subway: #2 or 3 express to Clark St., the 1st stop in Bklyn.)

‘The Fence’ in Brooklyn Bridge Park (through Oct. 1)
“When is a fence not a fence? When it is the backdrop for a free display of over 200 jury selected images of people, animals and daily life by 39 photographers from the United States and abroad. Presented for the second year by United Photo Industries, a Brooklyn arts cooperative, as a showcase for young photographers, the display consists of a 1,000-foot-long waterproof mesh banner superimposed with color and black-and-white photos.

The banner stretches through Brooklyn Bridge Park, from Pier 15, at Joralemon Street and the East River in Brooklyn Heights, to Main Street in Dumbo.” (Anne Mancuso-NYT)
Pier 5, Joralemon Street and the East River
From 6am to 1am / FREE
(718) 215-9075 / fence.photovillenyc.org
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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (09/02) and (08/31).