Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
For other useful and curated NYCity event info for Manhattan’s WestSide check out:
♦ “9 Notable Events-August”and “Top10 Free” in the header above.
♦ For NYCity Sights, Sounds and Stories visit out our sister site: nyc123blog.wordpress.com
♦ For NYCity trip planning see links in “Resources” and “Smart Stuff” in the header above. ==================================================================================
Meatpacking Summer Series
The Meatpacking Summer Series, which concludes tonight, has been a four-night series of live music, comedy and improv on Gansevoort Plaza. Free and open to the public, the events run nightly from 6-9pm.
Tonight:
An evening of jazz and improv, with Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), String Noise, 75 Dollar Bill, and Karlie Bruce & Chris Parrello.
RSVP now: meatpackingsummer.eventbrite.com
Gansevoort Plaza is located on Gansevoort Street between Hudson Street and Ninth Avenue. General seating is available and is limited. RSVP does not guarantee a seat.
Dave Douglas (through Aug 23)
“Always ready for challenging musical experiences, the trumpeter Douglas juggles bands the way others change shoes. A favorite ensemble seems to be his quintet, stocked with exciting younger players, including Jon Irabagon, on saxophones; Matt Mitchell, on piano; Linda Oh, on bass; and Rudy Royston, on drums. Douglas never panders to his audience, but this astute ensemble—which has recorded the albums “Be Still” and “Time Travel”—displays the agreeably accessible aspects of his artistry.” (NewYorker)
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
8:30 & 11 PM / $40
212-581-3080
LOT 180
“Collector, art enthusiast and private dealer Ron Kosa is pleased to present “LOT 180” a carefully curated exhibition and sale, featuring an exciting compilation of rare and unseen Vintage Art, Signed Limited Edition Photographs, Vinyl Art, Poster Art and Ephemera that focuses on mid-1970s and early 1980s New York City and captures the creative whirlwind which so radically influenced the face of American art and culture.
The six-week long exhibition features remarkable imagery by a line-up of artists whose collective archives immortalize the cultural and social landscape of New York City during the period which so highly influenced the popular culture movement.” artfixdaily.com
Check out a collection of Fernando Natalici’s Times Square snaps alongside Robert Herman’s 1980s street portrait series “The New Yorkers.” See also Andy Warhol’s album covers designed for Debbie Harry, The Rolling Stones and Diana Ross.
Noon to 7 p.m. / FREE
LOT 180, 52 Kenmare St., Nolita
X (through Aug. 24)
In the late 1970s, X shoved Los Angeles punk rock into the international eye with its blend of raw speed, taut riffs and the voluble sparring of the singers John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Their vitriol has barely aged a day. Next week they perform their first four albums in full and sequentially, one per night: “Los Angeles,” “Wild Gift,” “Under the Big Black Sun,” and “More Fun in the New World.” (Anderson-NYT)
City Winery, 155 Varick Street, near Spring Street, South Village,
212-608-0555, citywinery.com
At 8 p.m. / $45 to $55.
33RD ANNUAL DOWNTOWN DANCE FESTIVAL
This festival, which concludes tonight, included free performances by Tangaj Dance (Romania), Entomo (Spain), Vanaver Caravan, Dorrance Dance, New York Theatre Ballet, Mazzini Dance Collective, Lori Belilove and Isadora Duncan Dance Company, Logan Kruger & Adam Weinert, Indo-American Arts Council’s Erasing Borders of Indian Dance and Battery Dance Company in a new commissioned work by South African choreographer Theo Ndindwa.
Tonight:
@6PM / EntomoEA&AE, Tangaj Dance
@7Pm / Battery Dance Company presenting choreography by Theo Ndindwa
The Downtown Dance Festival (DDF) is one of lower Manhattan’s most highly anticipated summer events. Initiated in 1982 by Battery Dance Company (BDC), the Festival has thrilled audiences in the hundreds of thousands and showcased great dance companies from around the world as well as the best New York City has to offer, all free-of-charge to the public.
WAGNER PARK, Lower Manhattan
beautiful location, just north of Historic Battery Park, off Battery Place.
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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors, where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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A PremierPub – West Village
Corner Bistro / 331 W. 4th St.
Sometimes you just need a beer and a burger. If so, Corner Bistro is the place you want. Located just outside the hip Meatpacking district, this corner bar and grill is decidedly unhip, but it’s not uncrowded, especially at night. Seems that everyone knows this place has one of the better burgers in town.
In the maze of streets known as the West Village, where West 4th intersects with West 12th (and West 11th, and West 10th, go figure), you will eventually find Corner Bistro on the corner of West 4th and Jane Street. An unassuming neighborhood tavern, it looks just like dozens of other taverns around town. The bartender tells me that the Corner Bistro will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary next year. The well worn interior tells me that the place itself is much older.
Corner Bistro has outlasted many of those other taverns around town because they know how to keep it simple — just good burgers and beer, fairly priced. The classic bistro Burger is only $6.75, and should be ordered medium rare, which will be plenty rare for most folks. Actually, it will be a juicy, messy delight – make sure you have extra napkins. I like to pull up a stool and sit by the large front window in the afternoon, where I can rest my burger and beer on the shelf, and watch the Villagers walk by.
Corner Bistro seems to attract very different groups of patrons depending on time of day. While it’s crowded with locals in the evening, in the afternoon you hear different foreign languages, and watch groups of euro tourists wander in, led by their guidebooks and smartphones.
For the classic Bistro experience, order your burger with a McSorley’s draft, the dark preferably. This is the same beer that you can get over at the original McSorley’s in the East Village, the pub that claims to be the oldest continually operating bar in NYCity. The only difference is that this McSorley’s ale is served with a smile by the bartenders here. Or you can get a Sierra Nevada, Stella, or Hoegaarden on tap if you want to go upscale a bit. Either way this is a simple, but quality burger and beer experience that is just too rare these days (sorry for the pun).
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Website: cornerbistrony.com
Phone #: 212-242-9502
Hours: 11:30am-4am Mon-Sat; 12pm-4am Sun
Happy Hour: NO
Music: Juke Box
Subway: #1/2/3 to 14th St. (S end of platform)
Walk 2 blk W. on 13th St. to 8th Ave.; 1 blk S. on 8th Ave. to Jane St.
Update:
NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide 