NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

A PremierPub – Tribeca

B-Flat / 277 Church st (Btw Franklin/White)

There are some places that are tough to find, then add a layer of mystery when you do find them. B-Flat has a nondescript, almost unmarked door at street level – today’s speakeasy vibe. Open this door and you face a dimly lit stairway down to their basement location. It almost takes a leap of faith to follow the stairs down to their interior door. But open that door and a pleasant surprise awaits you.

It’s a basement jazz spot all right, but not like any traditional jazz joint you may have been to before. This place looks as fresh as today, probably because it’s only been open for 6 years. Even though it hasn’t had a chance to age gracefully, the cherry wood accents and low lighting make this small space very inviting.

There is always jazz, often progressive jazz, playing over their very discrete, stylish bose speakers, setting just the right tone as you find a seat at the bar, or one of the small tables. There is wine and beer available, but this place has some expert mixologists making some very creative cocktails, which I’m told change seasonally, a nice touch.

Come at happy hour and tasty cocktails like the el Diablo or the lychee martini are $8 – not bad. I am a sucker for any drink made with lychee and how can you not try a tequila drink named el Diablo. There is also nice selection of small bites available at happy hour and a food menu that is as innovative as the cocktail menu, so this does not have to be a happy hour only stop.

It wasn’t surprising to find a tasty prosciutto and arugula salad with yuzu dressing, but I did not expect to find such a good version of fried chicken breast on the apps menu. Here it’s called “Tatsuta.” Best bet is to sample happy hour, then dinner on a Monday or Wednesday night, when you can finish with no cover live jazz that starts around 8.

This place is tough to find (look for a small slate sandwich board on the sidewalk out front advertising happy hour) and on some nights when there is no live music it may be a little too quiet for some. But I think it’s worth searching out if you want a place with good music, food, and especially drinks, away from the maddening crowd.

Website: http://http://www.bflat.info/index.html
Phone #: 212-219-2970
Hours: Mo-Wed 5pm-2am; Th-Sat 5pm-3am; no Sun
Happy Hour: 5-7pm every day; $8 cocktails + special prices on apps
Music: Mon/Wed 8pm
Subway: #1 to Franklin; walk 1 blk E to Church; 1 blk N to bFlat

===========================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================================

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2014
JULY 20 – AUGUST 10, 2014
Three jam-packed weeks of world-class music, dance, and spoken word take place July 20 through August 10, outdoors on the plazas of Lincoln Center. It’s absolutely free, but wraps up this week. Don’t miss:
Aug. 6, in the Damrosch Park Bandshell: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, friends and collaborators since the mid-seventies, released the album “Old Yellow Moon,” last year, with songs like the gentle waltz of the title track and Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful,” which muse on the passage of time. http://lcoutofdoors.org/

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 3 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Charles James: Beyond Fashion’ (through Aug. 10)
One of the Costume Institute’s most ravishing exhibitions argues for this American fashion designer as a great modern artist — a sculptor-architect with a keen but discreet appreciation of women and their bodies. Aided by the latest digital wizardry, the insuperably forward-looking garments, especially the ball gowns, do most of the talking. Their innovations in shape, draping, seam placement, texture and color coalesce into breathtakingly gorgeous couture and an important show. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith-NYT)
————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy’ (through Aug. 17)
Chinese calligraphy can seem daunting to viewers who are unfamiliar with the characters of this ancient art form. Some, stymied by the language barrier, tend to think about the physical act of the brushwork in the more familiar terms of dance or choreography, or to see the characters as abstract shapes. This smart and accessible show suggests a third option: appreciating calligraphy as a social art, and even an early social network. The emphasis comes partly from the collector Jerry Yang, a co-founder of Yahoo, who, with his wife, Akiko Yamazaki, has lent the works for the exhibition. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Rosenberg-NYT)
—————————————————————————————————————————
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Garry Winogrand’ (through Sept. 21)
Mr. Winogrand, who died at 56 in 1984, was the photographer laureate of urban and suburban middle-class life in the United States from the late 1950s through the ’70s and beyond. This ample retrospective focuses on his prime years, when he recorded a newly prosperous America while strolling Manhattan’s avenues and then followed it as it waded into increasingly troubled political waters. The result is a remarkable panorama of an era, with some terrific pictures, and some that Winogrand, who left a mountain of unprocessed film behind, never edited or printed. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Cotter-NYT)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org
—————————————————————————————————————————————-

‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through Sept. 1)
“This show — one of the first in decades in an American museum to address, on a fairly large scale, the Nazi demonizing of art — tells a complicated story. The basic facts of the narrative, which centers on Hitler’s grand plan to purify German culture of Modernist, Bolshevist and Jewish influence, are well known, and it culminated in the infamous 1937 “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich. The Neue Galerie sets examples of art from that show beside Nazi-approved work; addresses the persecutions of artists in Dresden; and touches on the suppression of the Bauhaus. There are gripping paintings and sculptures as well as complex and haunting personalities every step of the way. And in the end the links between aesthetics and disaster are clear.” (Cotter-NYT)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street,
212-628-6200, neuegalerie.org.
========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 08/08 and 08/06.

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2014
JULY 20 – AUGUST 10, 2014
Three jam-packed weeks of world-class music, dance, and spoken word take place July 20 through August 10, outdoors on the plazas of Lincoln Center. It’s absolutely free, but wraps up this week. Don’t miss:
Aug. 6, in the Damrosch Park Bandshell: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, friends and collaborators since the mid-seventies, released the album “Old Yellow Moon,” last year, with songs like the gentle waltz of the title track and Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful,” which muse on the passage of time. http://lcoutofdoors.org/

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

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).

=========================================================
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:

===========================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================================

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2014
JULY 20 – AUGUST 10, 2014
Three jam-packed weeks of world-class music, dance, and spoken word take place July 20 through August 10, outdoors on the plazas of Lincoln Center. It’s absolutely free, but wraps up this week. Don’t miss:
Aug. 6, in the Damrosch Park Bandshell: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, friends and collaborators since the mid-seventies, released the album “Old Yellow Moon,” last year, with songs like the gentle waltz of the title track and Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful,” which muse on the passage of time. http://lcoutofdoors.org/

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW: Special Exhibitions @ 4 MUSEUMS (Manhattan’s WestSide)

Museum of Modern Art:
‘Lygia Clark: The Abandonment of Art, 1948-1988’ (through Aug. 24)
‘Jasper Johns: Regrets’ (through Sept. 1)
‘Robert Heinecken: Object Matter’ (through Sept. 7)
‘A World of Its Own: Photographic Practices in the Studio’ (through Oct. 5)
‘Designing Modern Women 1890-1990’(through Oct. 5)
Here’s what the NYT said about ‘A World of Its Own: Photographic Practices in the Studio’
“This mostly lively if repetitive overview traces the history of photography as the Modern never has — with images taken in the studio rather than out in the world. Its roughly 180 works span 160 years and represent some 90 portraitists, commercial photographers, lovers of still life, darkroom experimenters, Conceptual artists and several generations of postmodernists. Including film and video, it offers much to look at but dwells too much in the past, becoming increasingly blinkered and cautious as it approaches the present. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Smith-NYT)
Museum of Modern Art: 11 W 53rd St. (btw 5th /6th Ave.)
(212) 708-9400 / moma.org.

Designing Modern Women 1890-1990:

American Folk Art Museum: ‘Self-Taught Genius: Treasures From the American Folk Art Museum’ (through Aug. 17)
This exhibition is not only an enthralling display of about 100 works from the museum’s permanent collection; it’s also an intellectually provocative effort to rethink the nature of artistic creativity. There are paintings and drawings, quilts, ceramics, handmade books, pieces of elaborately decorated furniture, duck decoys and weather vanes dating from the mid-18th to the early-21st centuries, all produced by people from many different walks of life who had no formal training in art. The inspirationally democratic message is that potential for creative genius is wired into the consciousness of everyone.
American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street, 212-595-9533, folkartmuseum.org. (Ken Johnson-NYT)

International Center of Photography: ‘Urbes Mutantes: Latin American Photography 1944-2013’ and ‘Caio Reisewitz’ (through Sept. 7)
It’s a Latin American summer at New York City art museums, with a high number of shows of work from South America and the Caribbean. This institution, as usual one step ahead of the curve, has two. The larger, “Urbes Mutantes: Latin American Photography 1944-2013,” is a roomy survey of some 200 small, mostly black-and-white pictures that fit, with trimming and squeezing, into the genre of “street photography.” The second is a solo devoted to a single artist, the contemporary Brazilian photographer Caio Reisewitz, whose big color images of threatened tropical rain forests offer a lush antidote to urban grit — Manhattan’s included.
International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, 212-857-0000, icp.org. (Cotter-NYT)

Museum of Arts and Design: ‘NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial’ (through Oct. 12) This plunge into the biennial format makes a big, messy splash sampling the visual culture across the city — whether opera set design, art or new technologies. An expansive, invigorating move, it still contains too much that is fun, cute, clutter-making or useless, aimed at those with plenty of disposable income and homes to decorate.
Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle,
212-299-7777, madmuseum.org. (Smith-NYT)

The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya (ongoing)
This exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit is the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and features brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. This show was named ‘One of CNN’s Ten Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
Discovery Times Square, 226 West 44th St. (btw 7th/8th ave)
866.987.9692 / http://www.discoverytsx.com

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (08/06) and (08/04).

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2014
JULY 20 – AUGUST 10, 2014
Three jam-packed weeks of world-class music, dance, and spoken word take place July 20 through August 10, outdoors on the plazas of Lincoln Center. It’s absolutely free, but wraps up this week. Don’t miss:
Aug. 6, in the Damrosch Park Bandshell: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, friends and collaborators since the mid-seventies, released the album “Old Yellow Moon,” last year, with songs like the gentle waltz of the title track and Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful,” which muse on the passage of time. http://lcoutofdoors.org/

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

===============================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

A PremierPub – Upper West Side

Dinosaur / 700 W125th St. @ 12th ave.

Walk only five minutes from the 125th st. station on the #1 line to find this authentic honky-tonk barbecue joint. Some folks think Dinosaur is just a place to eat ribs. Au contraire. With 24 carefully selected taps, this is a place to drink beer, and eat ribs.

No food goes better with American craft ales than American barbecue. Dinosaur may be the best combo of good beer drinking and hearty eating in town, which makes the trip to Harlem totally worthwhile.

This second incarnation of Dinosaur in Harlem is in an old brick warehouse near the Hudson River. Don’t let that run down exterior fool you. Inside it’s a large space with huge, rough wooden columns and unfinished wooden floors and brick walls – just right for a bbq joint. As soon as you open the door you are hit with that tantalizing aroma of barbecue coming from the large open kitchen. Reminds me of all those great rib joints I frequented when stationed in North Carolina all those years ago. If your stomach wasn’t grumbling before, it is now.

Head to the bar, sit down and try to decide on a beer. It’s not an easy decision – a good problem to have. This is a pretty damn good beer list to choose from, one that most beer bars should be jealous of. I love that they feature NY craft beers. You may want to try the four beer sampler, which is always fun, and in this place may be necessary.

The Mississippi blues music playing in the background will get you in the mood for their North Carolina style barbecue, and even when it’s a full house your order shouldn’t take too long. The food is all slow smoked, so it’s already mostly done and ready to go. I always start with an order of their giant, spice rubbed wings, so good they may make you give up Buffalo wings.

Unfortunately, a place this good does not fly under the radar. There can be some humongous waits for a table at dinnertime. So you need a strategy – avoid prime time, and try not to arrive with your entire posse, which will limit your seating options.

A seat at the bar, a small table in the bar area, or in the summer, an outside table, underneath what’s left of the elevated West Side Hwy, all may open before a table inside the main dining room. Otherwise, try Dinosaur for lunch, or come very late for dinner.

Website: http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/
Phone #: 212-694-1777
Hours: M-Th 11:30am-11:00pm; Fr-Sa 11:30am-12:00am;
Su 12:00pm-10:00pm
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day; $1 off all drinks
Music: Fri / Sat 10:00pm
Subway: #1 to 125th st
Walk 2 blk W on 125th to Dinosaur Bar-B-Q,
just past the elevated highway

===========================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================================

Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events is on hiatus Aug 6-16.
We follow the European custom and will be taking our August holiday.
Return here on August 17 to plan your day in NYCity with our “Fab 5”, carefully curated, Selected Events for Manhattan’s WestSide.

In the interim this site will continue to provide essential travel resources for visitors to NYCity. Be sure to check out the info linked to in the header above:
➢ “9 Notable NYCity Events-August”,
➢ “onBroadway”,
➢ “Top10 Free”
We are especially proud of “onBroadway” which features “The Best of Broadway on Sale”, and important links for the most up to date Broadway theater info.

In addition, we alternate the following features on a daily basis:
– On odd days we feature one WestSide neighborhood, highlighting our fave “Premier Pub”, and a few of our fave casual dining options; think “Fast Food NYCity Style”
– On even days we highlight museum and gallery special exhibitions in the world’s cultural capital (5th avenue museums, WestSide museums, or Chelsea galleries).

And don’t forget these hot summer festivals in NYC:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2014
JULY 20 – AUGUST 10, 2014
Three jam-packed weeks of world-class music, dance, and spoken word take place July 20 through August 10, outdoors on the plazas of Lincoln Center. It’s absolutely free, but wraps up this week. Don’t miss:
Aug. 6, in the Damrosch Park Bandshell: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, friends and collaborators since the mid-seventies, released the album “Old Yellow Moon,” last year, with songs like the gentle waltz of the title track and Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful,” which muse on the passage of time. http://lcoutofdoors.org/

Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 14)
This series of lunchtime performances continues
on August 7 with musical numbers from “Jersey Boys,” “50 Shades! The Musical,” “Cabaret” and “Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter,” which is in previews at the Minetta Lane Theater.
on August 14 with musical numbers from “Matilda,” “On The Town,” “Mamma Mia!” and “MOTOWN The Musical”
At 12:30 p.m., Avenue of the Americas, at 40th Street, 212-768-4242. http://www.bryantpark.org / free.

Lincoln Center Festival 2014
JULY 07 – AUGUST 16, 2014
The Lincoln Center Festival looks outside the Western European canon and broadens notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. The last performance this season looks very special:
“The Maids”
/Sydney Theatre Company (Aug. 6–16)
New York City Center
Sydney Theatre Company returns with Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, and Elizabeth Debicki in Jean Genet’s absorbing play. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/

Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival 2014
JULY 25 – AUGUST 23, 2014
Inspired by the genius and brilliance of Mozart, Lincoln Center presents an expansive calendar of concerts, dance, opera, late-night recitals, and world premieres. http://mostlymozart.org/

SummerStage 2014 — Central Park and Manhattan
JUNE 03 – AUGUST 24, 2014
SummerStage’s Mainstage events in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield are an eclectic mix of the finest musicians, dancers and spoken word artists from around the world, in both free and benefit performances. Beyond the mainstage, other Manhattan SummerStage events take place in Lower Manhattan and Harlem. http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/concerts/summerstage-festival.html

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

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) Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (08/04) and (08/02).

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events  – TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2014.

Harold Mabern (through Aug. 10)
“Mabern is the kind of old-school crowd-pleasing pianist who, in the course of an evening, can find room for interpretations of “Cherokee,” “Seven Steps to Heaven,” and “Making Our Dreams Come True,” the theme song from “Laverne & Shirley.” That he has a firm grasp of the blues helps it all go down smoothly.” (NewYorker)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village,
212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. / $25 and $30 cover, with a one-drink minimum

Arturo Sandoval (through Aug. 10)
“Mr. Sandoval is a Cuban trumpeter best known for stratospheric bravado: He is capable of subtlety, but not predisposed toward it. His most recent album, “Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You),” reaffirms his allegiance to Dizzy Gillespie, the bebop patriarch who took him on as a protégé.” (Chinen-NYT)
Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village,
At 8 and 10:30 p.m. / $35 cover at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum.
212-475-8592 / bluenote.net

Django Reinhardt NY Festival (through Aug. 10)
“This annual celebration of the music and influence of the unparalleled Belgian Gypsy guitarist celebrates its fifteenth year with a solid run. It features such acolytes as the French guitarist Samson Schmitt, as well as guest soloists, including the clarinettist Anat Cohen (Aug. 6-7), the singer Jane Monheit (Aug. 8), and the harpist Edmar Castaneda (Aug. 9).” (NewYorker)

I have said this before, I’ll say it again. Anat Cohen is one of NYCity’s Jazz treasures playing at an iconic NYCity Jazz Club. You gotta go.
Birdland, 315 West 44th St. (btw 8/9 ave)
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
At 8:30 and 11 p.m. / $45 cover, with a $10 minimum.

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts
“This series continues with the twins Christina and Michelle Naughton in a concert for two pianos. The program includes Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” Ravel’s “La Valse” and John Adams’s “Hallelujah Junction.” The final concert in the series, on Aug. 12, will feature the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in works by Haydn, Paul Schoenfield and others.” (Tommasini-NYT)
Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, midpark, enter at 72nd St.
naumburgconcerts.org / 7:30PM / free.

Puddles Pity Party (through Thursday)
“Up to now, you probably thought that the only thing that YouTube was good for was the cheap-thrill laughs derived from watching cat videos, but lately the much-watched website is to be commended for informing the world about this amazing performer from Atlanta. The artist known as Puddles is actually a 7-foot Ringling Brothers-style circus clown who opens his mouth only to sing, and when he does, he unleashes a resplendent baritone voice that is even bigger than he is.

Though the visual aspect of his act is admittedly surreal, the singing itself is gloriously straightforward, enabling him to extract the melodic center from such unlikely material as “My Heart Will Go On” and Lorde’s “Royals” (the latter nearing 10 million “views” on YouTube). This three-night stand marks the premiere New York solo appearance of the original clown without pity.” (WSJ)
Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place
at 7:30PM / $25 cover, with a $12 minimum.
(212) 539-8778/ joespub.com

===============================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

A PremierPub and 3 Good Eating Places – Greenwich Village

Caffe Vivaldi / 32 Jones Street (btw. Bleecker/W4th St.)

Café Vivaldi is a classic, intimate club located in Greenwich Village on Jones Street, the street featured on the cover of Bob Dylan’s second album, “Freewheelin’ ”.

Each night Ishrat, the long time proprietor and impresario, carefully curates and schedules an eclectic series of musicians. You can often see him at his table in the corner, hard at work reviewing music videos and listening to cd demos on his laptop, scouting out future bookings. Musicians come from all over to play and sing in a club in Greenwich Village. Some are local New Yorkers, others are just passing through, in town for a few days.

There is a small bar, seating maybe 10. It’s close to the stage and I find it’s a perfect spot to sip a glass of red wine while listening to the music. The room itself has the performance area at one end and a cozy fireplace at the other. The performance area here is small, dominated by a large black Yamaha Grand piano. Tables are bunched together and most people at the tables are eating lite meals or sampling the wonderful desserts.

There is also a good selection of wines and lite meals, fairly priced, but you are here because of the music. You can never be quite sure what you’re going to find, and that’s half the charm of this place. It’s not a home run every night, but many nights it’s pretty special.

I remember the night I saw the most talented bossa nova group, just in from San Paulo. As I listened, I wondered if there was any better music playing anywhere else in New York City that night. And at Caffé Vivaldi there is never a cover charge. I should note that their recently redesigned web site does give you a better idea of the type of music playing each night.

At one time Greenwich Village was filled with clubs just like this, but times change. Real estate interests have impacted the village, and not for the better. Even Caffé Vivaldi had a rough time recently, when a new landlord raised the rent exorbitantly. Fortunately, Ishrat has built a loyal following over the years, and a fund raiser and slightly more reasonable rent has kept Café Vivaldi in business.

When Woody Allen and Al Pacino wanted to make movies featuring the timeless quality of Greenwich Village they came to Vivaldi. It’s important that we keep this special place alive, for if we lose Cafe Vivaldi, NYC will have lost a piece of it’s soul.

Website: http://caffevivaldi.com/
Phone #: (212) 691-7538
Hours: Music generally 7:30pm – 11pm, but varies
Lunch/Dinner 11am-on
Subway: #1 to Christopher st
Walk 1 blk S on 7th ave S to Bleecker st, 1 blk S/left on Bleecker to Jones st, 50 yards E/left on Jones st to Caffe V

===========================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================================

3 Good Eating places

It’s not difficult to find a place to eat in Manhattan.
Finding a good, inexpensive place to eat is a bit harder.
Here are a few of my faves in this neighborhood:

Fish – 280 Bleecker St (just a bit S. of 7th ave South)
This was an easy pick – the best raw bar special in town. $8 gets you 6 of the freshest oysters or clams + a glass of wine or beer. Don’t know how they can do it, but I tell everyone I know about this place. And it’s located right in the heart of some of the best no cover music in town.

Bleecker Street Pizza – 69 7th ave S (corner of Bleecker)
The place is tiny and not much to look at, but this is one good slice. They like to brag that they have been voted “Best pizza in NY” 3 years in a row by the Food Network. I believe them. I would have voted for them.

Num Pang – 21 E 12th st (btw. University place/5th ave)
This is a Cambodian banh mi sandwich shop that kept me well fed while I was in class nearby recently. It’s cramped, even for NYCity, but usually there is room up the spiral staircase to sit down and eat. In good weather carry your sandwich a few blocks to Union Sq park. You may have to wait a few minutes, because everything is freshly made, but it’s worth it. Can you believe – an unheard of 26 food rating by Zagat.

================================================================================
“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”

That covers a wide range of food – pizza, burgers, food trucks/carts, vegetarian/falafel, ramen, chopped salad & salad bars, hot dogs, bbq, soup & sandwiches, picnic fixins’, raw bars & lobster rolls. No reservations needed. ================================================================================

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places and descriptions of my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods (plus 27 casual dining places with free Wi-Fi) order a copy of my e-book: “Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($3.99).
(available Fall 2014)

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events  – MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2014.

Old Crow Medicine Show
“This act, based in Nashville, Tennessee, blends old-timey bluegrass sounds with the high-energy attitude of punk. The fiddle-touting collective earned a stamp of approval from Bob Dylan when it took “Rock Me Mama,” a half-baked outtake from Dylan’s soundtrack sessions for the 1973 film “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid” and transformed it into “Wagon Wheel,” in 2004.

Pleased with the rendition, which was a hit (first by Old Crow, and more recently by Darius Rucker, who sent it to the top of the country charts), Dylan asked the band to have a go at another one of his rough cuts from the same period. The band was thrilled, and with some arrangement advice from Dylan himself fashioned “Sweet Amarillo,” the country-radio-friendly lead single from its new album, “Remedy.” (NewYorker)
SummerStage, Central Park, Rumsey Playfield, mid-Park at 69th St.
6:30pm / $40
Proceeds from this concert help make possible the free programs of SummerStage
summerstage.org

The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy (August 4–September 21, 2014)
This exhibition begins on the 100th anniversary of the day World War I began in earnest, at a time when cinema, still in its infancy, offered an especially effective means of recording events. The movies have provided a great wealth of related material over the past century, far more than this series can encompass.

It is difficult to structure this material, but for this series—which comprises some 50 programs—we have tried to break it down into “sub-genres”: prewar activities; espionage; the battlefields in the trenches, in the air, and on and beneath the sea; actualités; and the various homefronts before, during, and after. The August section of the program is predominately drawn from the early years, either during the war or in the succeeding decades. And although many of these films are familiar, there are also some rare gems.

The program in September will concentrate (though not exclusively) on later, more contemporary films. One hopes that this series will supplement the vast array of literature on the subject, and will perhaps help us to better understand why, as Roger Cohen recently wrote in The New York Times, “The war haunts us still.”

Today’s Film (a silent with musical accompaniment):
Hearts of the World
1918. USA. Directed by D. W. Griffith. With Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Dorothy Gish, George Siegmann. Griffith’s great epic focusing on the brutal treatment of the French following the German invasion—shown here in a newly restored, tinted print—was released in America eight months before the armistice. Approx. 140 min.
7:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Silent with musical accompaniment by Ben Model)
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 11 West 53 St. (btw Fifth/Sixth avenues)
(212) 708-9400 / moma.org

Bob Log III
“Taking the stage in a shiny jumpsuit and a motorcycle helmet (with a microphone inside), playing fast slide guitar, the Tucson-born bluesman is ready for any obstacle. Whether balancing men and women on his knees as his bouncing feet kick a cymbal and bass drum, or composing songs about people’s rear ends (“For a limited time,” his Web site advertises, “Bob Log III will create a masterpiece for your own personal butt”; it costs $199.99 plus shipping),

Log is a one-man band with dexterity, ingenuity, and a touch of insanity (he’s been known to surf the crowd on an inflatable raft). He’s irreverent, too—his song “Boob Scotch” is an audience-participation ditty during which he invites both males and females from the audience to stir his Scotch with a part of their body that’s not their finger. With Tucson’s party band Pork Torta.” (NewYorker)
McKittrick Hotel, 530 W. 27th St. (btw 10/11 ave)
boblog111.com.

‘MetroStar Talent Challenge’
“For the seventh year running the room has made a July-August point of ferreting out up-and-coming cabaret talent. Sometimes you wonder why anyone would want to make a career doing this. It’s that difficult and often only intermittently rewarding. But still they come, the gifted and the not so gifted, to vie for a chance at a week’s engagement in the venue if they win and some guaranteed performances if they finish in second or third place. There’s a panel of judges who know what’s what or should, and the audience gets to vote, too. So go pick a winner.” (David Finkle, VillageVoice)
Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St. (btw Fifth and Sixth Aves)
subway: F, M, N, R (all transfer from 1-2-3 at Times Sq.) to 23rd St
At 7PM / $20 + 2 drink minimum
212-206-0440 / metropolitanroom.com

Nikki Yanofsky
“After coming on strong as an Ella Fitzgerald-inspired jazz-vocal whiz kid, Nikki Yanofsky has rejiggered her image as a pop singer, with an assist from the producer Quincy Jones. She draws here from her new album, “Little Secret,” with an opening set by another of Mr. Jones’s young charges, the Hungarian guitarist Andreas Varady.” (Chinen-NYT)
Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village,
212-475-8592, bluenote.net
At 8 and 10:30 p.m. / $25 at tables, $15 at the bar, with a $5 minimum.

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 3 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Charles James: Beyond Fashion’ (through Aug. 10)
One of the Costume Institute’s most ravishing exhibitions argues for this American fashion designer as a great modern artist — a sculptor-architect with a keen but discreet appreciation of women and their bodies. Aided by the latest digital wizardry, the insuperably forward-looking garments, especially the ball gowns, do most of the talking. Their innovations in shape, draping, seam placement, texture and color coalesce into breathtakingly gorgeous couture and an important show. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith-NYT)
————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy’ (through Aug. 17)
Chinese calligraphy can seem daunting to viewers who are unfamiliar with the characters of this ancient art form. Some, stymied by the language barrier, tend to think about the physical act of the brushwork in the more familiar terms of dance or choreography, or to see the characters as abstract shapes. This smart and accessible show suggests a third option: appreciating calligraphy as a social art, and even an early social network. The emphasis comes partly from the collector Jerry Yang, a co-founder of Yahoo, who, with his wife, Akiko Yamazaki, has lent the works for the exhibition. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Rosenberg-NYT)
—————————————————————————————————————————
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Garry Winogrand’ (through Sept. 21)
Mr. Winogrand, who died at 56 in 1984, was the photographer laureate of urban and suburban middle-class life in the United States from the late 1950s through the ’70s and beyond. This ample retrospective focuses on his prime years, when he recorded a newly prosperous America while strolling Manhattan’s avenues and then followed it as it waded into increasingly troubled political waters. The result is a remarkable panorama of an era, with some terrific pictures, and some that Winogrand, who left a mountain of unprocessed film behind, never edited or printed. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Cotter-NYT)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org
—————————————————————————————————————————————-

‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through Sept. 1)
“This show — one of the first in decades in an American museum to address, on a fairly large scale, the Nazi demonizing of art — tells a complicated story. The basic facts of the narrative, which centers on Hitler’s grand plan to purify German culture of Modernist, Bolshevist and Jewish influence, are well known, and it culminated in the infamous 1937 “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich. The Neue Galerie sets examples of art from that show beside Nazi-approved work; addresses the persecutions of artists in Dresden; and touches on the suppression of the Bauhaus. There are gripping paintings and sculptures as well as complex and haunting personalities every step of the way. And in the end the links between aesthetics and disaster are clear.” (Cotter-NYT)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street,
212-628-6200, neuegalerie.org.
========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 08/02 and 07/31.

Today’s “Fab 3″/ Selected NYCity Events  – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014.

Johnny O’Neal Trio
A pianist in the Art Tatum-and-Oscar Peterson lineage and a singer of gruff erudition, Johnny O’Neal has a standing engagement at Smalls, on Sunday nights, that has become a local institution. Next week he also surfaces uptown, again with his trio.
from 10 to 11:30 p.m.,
Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village,
smallsjazzclub.com; $20 cover.

Willie Jones III Sextet
The highly accomplished drummer has long been the go-to guy for bandleaders who want to get a classic hard-bop groove going, and that includes not only musicians of his own generation, like Roy Hargrove and Eric Reed (heard in Mr. Jones’s group this week), but many of the now-legendary originators of the genre, like the late pianists Cedar Walton and Horace Silver. This week, Mr. Jones and Mr. Reed are joined by fiery veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Steve Davis, saxophonist Stacy Dillard, and bassist Dezron Douglas in a program that will likely include works by his inspirations (some heard on his most recent release, last year’s “The Max Roach Songbook”), his mentors (probably by Walton, on whose final three albums Mr. Jones played) and by the percussionist-composer-bandleader himself.
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway,
212-258-9595, jalc.org;
At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m./ $35 to $45 cover, with a $10 minimum

Jane Monheit’s Jazz Party (Sundays through Sept. 28)
“Jazz’s need to create on the spot never really goes away–testing moves in front of an audience is always a consideration for performers who truly want to know how an arrangement or an approach will play to a crowd. Jane Monheit is an intrepid soul; starting tonight she’ll green-light this notion for the next three months, hosting a Sunday-evening “Jazz Party,” which affords audiences a chance to peek behind the curtain and enjoy the looseness of a jam session while basking in the talents of a very tight band.

The singer and her trio, including pianist Michael Kanan, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer Rick Montalbano, will be opening the doors to guest instrumentalists and giving new ideas plenty of elbow room–a spotlight on spontaneity. The boss lady and her seductive coo ain’t shy–Monheit is a natural charmer. Whether she’s tweaking her take on “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart” (there’s a Judy Garland tribute in her future) or embedding herself in a boo-hoo opus such as “Two Lonely People,” prepare for charisma around every turn.” (VillageVoice-Jim Macnie)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
At 6 p.m. / $30 cover, with a $10 minimum.

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

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).

=========================================================
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:

===========================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================================

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events  – SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014.

Patti LuPone
Last night of  a two week residency. Two-time Tony Award winner and 54 Below favorite Patti LuPone returns to 54 Below with her critically-acclaimed show The Lady with A Torch. Patti performs an eclectic collection of torch songs by such composers and lyricists as Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Billy Barnes, Harold Arlen, George and Ira Gershwin, and Cole Porter.

Enjoy what Don Heckman of The Los Angeles Times described as “a beautifully paced, marvelously delivered torch-song exploration of the pleasures and pains of love; LuPone’s remarkable, larger-than-life qualities and stunning musicality are distilled into the pure essence of her art.”
54 Below, 254 W 54th St., (btw Broadway and Eighth Ave)
(646) 476-3551 / 866-468-7619 / 54below.com
8pm & 11pm / $85-$155

SummerStage: Dr. John and Hurray for Riff Raff
“A session musician from the late 1950s, it was when pianist Mac Rebennack reinvented himself as a “hoodoo man” named Dr. John that his solo career began in earnest. His earliest albums from the late ’60s are eerie, hazy affairs, as if recorded during a “True Detective”-esque ceremony. But on a run of popular ’70s hits, Dr. John embraced the bright, buoyant side of New Orleans music.

His career spans from the Rolling Stones to the children’s program “Curious George.” In 2012, he worked with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach on his comeback album “Locked Down,” which found Dr. John adding Ethiopian rhythms to his sonic bouillabaisse.” (WSJ)
Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, midpark at 70th St.
At 3 p.m./ FREE
212-360-2777, summerstage.com

Henry Threadgill Zooid
“The composer and multi-instrumentalist’s most recent album, the 2012 “Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry,” has two titles, so perhaps it’s significant that his set at the Vanguard is divided into two halves: the comparatively contemplative sounds he makes with his flute and the more aggressive, rough-and-tumble music he plays on the alto sax.

It’s a unique sextet, together now for 14 of the bandleader’s 70 years, in which he and guitarist Liberty Ellman, cellist Christopher Hoffman, bassist Stomu Takeishi, drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, and Jose Davila on trombone and tuba often sound like pieces from six puzzles that somehow, inexplicably wind up fitting together. The direction of this challenging music isn’t always clear, but it’s always going somewhere.”(WSJ)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th St., West Village,
212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com;
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. / $25 and $30 cover, with a one-drink minimum.

Elsewhere, but worth the short detour:

Summer Streets (through Aug. 16)
For three consecutive Saturdays, starting this weekend, a seven-mile stretch of city streets — largely Lafayette Street and Park Avenue, from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street — will be traffic-free zones in which visitors can ride bicycles, walk, dance, attend crafts workshops or just people-watch. A venture of the city’s Department of Transportation, this free event, which runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., also features a climbing wall, a zip line and an art installation. More information is at nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets.
Open House NY Architectural Cruise
On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., an annual motor yacht cruise sponsored by Open House New York will give visitors a bird’s-eye view of construction projects along the East River, with commentary by architects and others.
It costs $40 ($30 for members), and leaves from Pier 15 at the East River Esplanade (east of South Street, between Maiden Lane and John Street, Lower Manhattan). Information: 212-991-6470, ohny.org.

=============================================================================
♦ 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.
==============================================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW: Special Exhibitions @ 4 MUSEUMS (Manhattan’s WestSide)

Museum of Modern Art:
‘Lygia Clark: The Abandonment of Art, 1948-1988’ (through Aug. 24)
‘Jasper Johns: Regrets’ (through Sept. 1)
‘Robert Heinecken: Object Matter’ (through Sept. 7)
‘A World of Its Own: Photographic Practices in the Studio’ (through Oct. 5)
‘Designing Modern Women 1890-1990’(through Oct. 5)
Here’s what the NYT said about ‘A World of Its Own: Photographic Practices in the Studio’
“This mostly lively if repetitive overview traces the history of photography as the Modern never has — with images taken in the studio rather than out in the world. Its roughly 180 works span 160 years and represent some 90 portraitists, commercial photographers, lovers of still life, darkroom experimenters, Conceptual artists and several generations of postmodernists. Including film and video, it offers much to look at but dwells too much in the past, becoming increasingly blinkered and cautious as it approaches the present. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Smith-NYT)
Museum of Modern Art: 11 W 53rd St. (btw 5th /6th Ave.)
(212) 708-9400 / moma.org.

Designing Modern Women 1890-1990:

American Folk Art Museum: ‘Self-Taught Genius: Treasures From the American Folk Art Museum’ (through Aug. 17)
This exhibition is not only an enthralling display of about 100 works from the museum’s permanent collection; it’s also an intellectually provocative effort to rethink the nature of artistic creativity. There are paintings and drawings, quilts, ceramics, handmade books, pieces of elaborately decorated furniture, duck decoys and weather vanes dating from the mid-18th to the early-21st centuries, all produced by people from many different walks of life who had no formal training in art. The inspirationally democratic message is that potential for creative genius is wired into the consciousness of everyone.
American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street, 212-595-9533, folkartmuseum.org. (Ken Johnson-NYT)

International Center of Photography: ‘Urbes Mutantes: Latin American Photography 1944-2013’ and ‘Caio Reisewitz’ (through Sept. 7)
It’s a Latin American summer at New York City art museums, with a high number of shows of work from South America and the Caribbean. This institution, as usual one step ahead of the curve, has two. The larger, “Urbes Mutantes: Latin American Photography 1944-2013,” is a roomy survey of some 200 small, mostly black-and-white pictures that fit, with trimming and squeezing, into the genre of “street photography.” The second is a solo devoted to a single artist, the contemporary Brazilian photographer Caio Reisewitz, whose big color images of threatened tropical rain forests offer a lush antidote to urban grit — Manhattan’s included.
International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, 212-857-0000, icp.org. (Cotter-NYT)

Museum of Arts and Design: ‘NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial’ (through Oct. 12) This plunge into the biennial format makes a big, messy splash sampling the visual culture across the city — whether opera set design, art or new technologies. An expansive, invigorating move, it still contains too much that is fun, cute, clutter-making or useless, aimed at those with plenty of disposable income and homes to decorate.
Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle,
212-299-7777, madmuseum.org. (Smith-NYT)

The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya (ongoing)
This exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit is the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and features brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. This show was named ‘One of CNN’s Ten Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
Discovery Times Square, 226 West 44th St. (btw 7th/8th ave)
866.987.9692 / http://www.discoverytsx.com

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (07/31) and (07/29).