I’m a city person. Nothing against the country, but I’m happiest in a densely populated crush of humanity. I don’t care if no one is speaking a language I recognize, or if the subway station is dirty. I’m an extrovert. I like people.
So even though we kinda over scheduled our three-day getaway in New York, and my feet/knees were killing me by the end, I can’t say we wasted our time. The outline:
Thursday arrival, 3 p.m. Thursday night: “Oh, Mary!,” with John Cameron Mitchell in the title role. I really wanted to like it, but it left me meh. Food: Eataly. I know it’s touristy, but it was close to our hotel and honestly, the food was great. Italian is the easiest cuisine, IMO. Buy the freshest ingredients, don’t abuse them, enjoy.
Friday: Considered the Whitney Biennial, read a review, opted for the Met’s Raphael exhibit instead. I find his skin tones enchanting. The NYT did an exegesis on this painting in their review…
…but to cover the high points: This was probably an engagement or marriage portrait. The legend said only a virgin could tame a unicorn. The jewel around her neck bespeaks wealth, as does the richness of her garment. The blush on her cheeks — that’s just Raphael.
A word about modern museum behavior, something I first noticed in Italy, i.e. the visitor who scuttles directly in front of a painting, whips out a phone, takes one pic of the art, another of the title card, then scuttles off to the next one. Maybe they want to contemplate it at length later; maybe they’re on a scavenger hunt. Whatever the reason, they spend little time actually looking at the art. It’s all about bagging photographic evidence they were there.
These are 500-year-old paintings, and they look like they were painted last week. Truly amazing.
Then it was home to recharge before a two-banger of an evening — an early set of jazz at Zinc Bar, with Mingus Dynasty, then over a few blocks to a restaurant to catch Salty Brine, a cabaret artist we’ve seen three times now. He’s remaking one of his Living Record Collection shows, the one with Laura Nyro’s “Eli and the Thirteenth Confession,” wrapped with personal storytelling and a satire of the Nativity. This was advertised as an unplugged show, meaning it was just him and one pianist, and it was a work in progress.
Then back to the hotel. Watched Mayor Mamdani’s video on the new pied a terre tax.
On Saturday, a little light shopping, then to Death & Co. for cocktails. A slice of NY pizza before the subway, then an early night. Sunday, home.
I was texting with a friend, a Staten Island native, and he offered the advice his dad gave him whenever he ventured outside the borough: Keep your wallet in your front pocket. Ha ha. Doesn’t really apply anymore. We rode the subway and buses all weekend with little more than our phones, tapped quickly on the touch screen. No more MetroCards, a glimpse of our cashless future (or present). I still carry some for tips, but I arrived with about $80 in my wallet, and spent $70. That ain’t much.
Didn’t take one taxi. Even the airport transit was a breeze. One bus, one train, walk one block. It was great.
Random observations: The city looks great. Young women waiting in nightclub lines were wearing outfits that would embarrass a streetwalker. Too many tourists don’t know how to behave on a sidewalk, which is as simple as “keep moving.” Finally, I regret not moving here after college graduation, just to have my NYC era. But I did all right.
Other news at this hour: The Michigan Democratic Party had its state convention Sunday, and I gather it was wild. Lots of division over the Gaza/Israel wounds, with a strong showing by the progressive wing, who are arguing we’re tired of holding our nose and voting for moderates, let’s try it our way for a while. Haley Stevens, who was considered the frontrunner for the U.S. Senate primary, was booed and is now polling third, after a surging Abdul El-Sayed and Mallory McMorrow, who are in a dead heat. It’s going to be an interesting summer.
One last photo of an amusing subway billboard.
Oh, and a whole-ass baby grand piano for sale, on the sidewalk. I guess they dare you to steal it.
Jakash said on April 21, 2026 at 1:19 pm
Well, that’ll teach me to post something the day after the proprietress has stated clearly: “I’ll be back when I’m more rested.”
To wit: the time of my comment on the previous entry was 12:26. The time of NN’s new post: 12:24. D’oh!
But I think this “Ohio” meme is funny, so I’m reposting it, whether that’s frowned upon or not:
Re: Brandon referring to the number of people from Ohio in NYC.
There are a lot of people in Chicago from Ohio, as well. I’m one of them. Since there are a fair number of Buckeyes and native Buckeyes among the nn.c crew, I’ll just mention this meme that I recently became aware of. (I hope it wasn’t here — if so, sorry!)
“Ohio is used (mostly on the Internet) to describe something that is weird, awkward, cringeworthy, or otherwise undesirable or bad in some way. It can also be used to mean ‘boring’ or ‘foolish.’ … The Gen alpha slang use of Ohio as an insult originated on the Internet shortly after a series of memes about the US state of Ohio began circulating in the late twenty-teens. … Ohio is sometimes used by itself to describe things as in “that’s so Ohio,” but it is often found in combination with other Gen alpha slang terms such as skibidi and rizz.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/ohio
Meanwhile, we enjoyed some $7 neighborhood margaritas last night in Chicago. It was “Margarita Monday” and I believe they’re normally $13, but still… Uh, caring about that bargain is so Ohio! 😉
1489 chars
Jakash said on April 21, 2026 at 1:33 pm
Deborah,
Just wanted to be sure you saw this, after your and your husband’s many dedicated efforts picketing the Muskrat’s Chicago Tesla dealership in the upscale Gold Coast neighborhood.
Uh, you may well know this, but they appear to have moved! “Their new location is in a ghost town. They sacrificed visibility to thousands/day–& proximity to the other luxury car dealerships–to get away from us, because we’d turned their brand ambassador location into a liability.”
Whatever their other reasons, that seems like quite a move. Congratulations, I think!
https://bsky.app/profile/teslatakedownchi.bsky.social/post/3mjuekto3c22g
652 chars
Deborah said on April 21, 2026 at 1:37 pm
Nancy, may I ask the hotel where you stayed? We’re probably going to spend a few days there in the fall, before or after we go to Boston. We haven’t been for a few years, Trump was indicted for the stormy situation one of the days we were there last. Seems like a lifetime ago.
281 chars
nancy said on April 21, 2026 at 2:44 pm
We stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn on W. 28th Street. Absolutely nothing fancy, but clean and functional and well-located.
120 chars
susan said on April 21, 2026 at 1:46 pm
That baby grand pyano….500-600 lbs. Bring truck, and burly friends.
169 chars
Colleen said on April 21, 2026 at 3:42 pm
I’ve only been to NYC a handful of times…but I love it. Particularly memorable was the year we did the 5 Boro bike ride. We made it to the last bridge into Staten Island and took one look at the hill we’d have to climb, and waited for the sag wagon. Husband refers to it as “that time I almost died”, while I have warmer memories of the weekend….
350 chars
Icarus said on April 21, 2026 at 4:54 pm
I’ve been to NYC three times. The last time was 2003 when I humblebrag ran the NYC marathon.
It’s actually an interesting story. Back then, they had sort of a lottery where if you didn’t get in that year, you got in the next (I think). My running crew applied, thinking we’d get in for next year. Instead, all but two of us got in. Most of us had just run Chicago a few weeks before.
It was unseasonably warm for November in New York, and there was a steak restaurant that offered a free bottle of wine if you wore your medal. Our table probably taught them not to do that again.
609 chars
Julie Robinson said on April 21, 2026 at 7:23 pm
Is Eataly touristy, though? We saw a lot of office worker types, and people picking up dinner to go. You could go there every day for a month and not repeat yourself. We’ll be back.
I like to stay within easy walking distance of the theater district. My crummy feet, ankle, and knee don’t always allow long distances, and steps, oy veh. But I’ve been working out hard and think I can do more for this next trip.
I am not a city person so I love going for a few days, then coming back to where I can sit on my lanai, look over the lake, and listen to the birds, squirrels, and peepers talking to each other. Best of both worlds.
Just got back from a party for a 90 yo who expressed joy for every day of her life. She hasn’t had it easy, lost her husband a few years back, and had a nasty hip break while visiting her sister last year. I thought it might do her in but she worked hard at her therapy and is getting around great and gardening each morning. I need more of her attitude in my life.
1003 chars
Deborah said on April 21, 2026 at 7:39 pm
I enjoy the best of both worlds going back and forth to Chicago and northern New Mexico. Getting the hustle and bustle of the city and then the clean, dry air and quiet of the mountainous landscape is hard to beat. I’m going to be going back to NM in about two and a half weeks, I always start to look forward to the other place a few weeks before I get there, so I’m ready.
We have an Eataly near us, we go there often for fixings, we rarely eat there, it’s noisy to us, but buying items to take back home and cook is what we use it for. The products are high quality and delicious but pricey.
Thanks for the hotel info Nancy I will keep it in mind. Who needs fancy when you leave in the morning and don’t go back until late, fancy is just a waste then.
760 chars
Julie Robinson said on April 21, 2026 at 9:51 pm
We ate at the tables outside Eataly. It was a grand day and prime people watching spot.
I do have a little fantasy that involv living in NYC for a month, seeing every single piece of theater, ballet, and classical event available, going to museums and churches in between. Someone want to front me 10 or 15K? And come to my house to take all my caregiver duties?
The 90 yo was telling us that her 25 yo grandson just ditched his smartphone for a flip phone. And he works in tech!
488 chars
Heather said on April 21, 2026 at 10:28 pm
Last time I was in New York I got a nasty case of plantar fasciitis from all the walking, so if all you had was aches and pains, consider yourself lucky! But it was wonderful. I too regret not moving there as a young person. Sounds like a great trip.
250 chars
alex said on April 22, 2026 at 12:09 am
I summered in NYC during college and had hoped to locate there but ended up in Chicago instead. I love the hyper stimulation of being in an urban jungle but equally love the quietude I find in the country, which is where I’m living now.
I have a few upcoming visits to Chicago and I’m looking forward to them, mostly for liberal affirmation, which is quite lacking around here.
I’ve been to Eataly but never eaten there — I simply found the choices too overwhelming. It’s one of those things I’ll have to try stoned, when I’m more hungry than picky, I guess.
On my next trip, I’m going on a historic homes tour at the Indiana Dunes, then attending a Kentucky Derby party where much drinking and gambling will be taking place.
738 chars
Jeff Gill said on April 22, 2026 at 7:43 am
My father went to New York City directly from Ames, Iowa on his graduation in the summer of 1956; he got a job in Jersey City & lived not far away in a third floor walkup. He had a forestry degree, had been to Medicine Bow, Wyoming and the northern Cascades in the summers during his degree work, with the Forest Service (we watched “Lassie” with extra attention in the mid-60s when she was with Ranger Corey Stuart), loved the mountains, but after growing up in Anita, Iowa, felt like he had to try the big city.
His Jersey City job was with Eugene Munsell & Co. and their shipping business, which involved a great deal of timber cribbing for loads of mica from Brazil & India, a mineral involved in national defense contracts & stockpiles. Something happened that resulted in years of litigation, but Dad’s job ended a year after it began as Munsell got out of the mica business, at least on the Jersey City docks.
Almost all of that information I pieced together myself, because Dad didn’t like to talk about it. He was 22, had high hopes, and felt nearly crushed by the experience. Once he said, as I was trying to pry a bit more context out of him: “You know when I told you I spent the night on a peak in the Cascades by myself, waiting out a rain storm to get back to the logging camp? Jersey City was the loneliest I have ever been or ever hope to be.” He never found friends or even acquaintances there, and what forays he made across the Hudson into Manhattan he never mentioned — and being largely deaf, with an early hearing aid, he wouldn’t have gone to concerts or shows, and art was never his thing. A friendly guy, at least when I knew him, but Jersey City represented a defeat of sorts, and he talked as if his real life began when he go the job with Edward Hines Lumber Company and came back to Chicago, where he would work in one lumber sales job or another for the next forty years.
“Chicago is a nice town,” Dad always said. “New York? Ehhh.” He loved Portland, and had multiple chances to move there in his first decade or so, but Mom couldn’t move that far from her family and that was that.
2140 chars
basset said on April 22, 2026 at 12:22 pm
That’s about how I expect my NYC time would have gone if I’d tried it, which I didn’t – always thought of it as a scary and dangerous place full of rude and aggressive people, and excepting one plane change at JFK a few years ago, I’ve managed to avoid it.
I like Portland, but it was a lot dirtier during my visits than I expected; first trip there we got on the commuter train in from the airport and the first time the driver hit the brakes a puddle of vomit rolled down from behind and went between my feet.
520 chars
Deborah said on April 22, 2026 at 2:01 pm
Unfortunately vomit is something you encounter in cities more often than you’d think, something you learn how to step around, same with dog poop. Although stepping in dog poop has gotten better because of those plastic bags that dog owners carry around now, or some parks provide on rolls for public use. Maybe we need to provide vomit bags on street corners, I’m sort of kidding, but of course the people who need them would never use them.
441 chars
Sherri said on April 22, 2026 at 2:13 pm
I don’t think of Portland as an especially dirty city, certainly no dirtier than Nashville. Portland is a much more walkable city than Nashville, though, so you more likely to see the dirt up close and personal rather than whizzing by in your car. Portland’s extensive public transit and smaller blocks make it easy to get around without a car; when we drive to Portland, we park our car and don’t use it again until we leave.
Which is how I prefer to visit cities, without using a car. Southern cities are more difficult to do this way, though, since many of them are allergic to public transit.
605 chars
Mark P said on April 22, 2026 at 4:09 pm
I’m not sure what to make of this. A Baptist church in Cedartown, Ga, just down the road from us, is offering firearms training. They call it “securing sacred spaces.” On the one hand, it seems strange that a church is offering firearms training. On the other hand, it says something about how common mass shootings are here and now. I’m pretty sure it will never occur to anyone there that maybe they ought to consider supporting some kind of gun control, when everyone and his wacked out Nazi MAGAt brother has a semiautomatic with a high-capacity magazine.
568 chars
Sherri said on April 22, 2026 at 4:34 pm
There’s a whole industry around church security. I remember looking into after I saw an advertisement at a church in my husband’s hometown for a similar training probably 6 or 7 years ago.
And it’s my understanding that many, if not most, Jewish synagogues have armed security these days.
297 chars
David C said on April 22, 2026 at 4:34 pm
I visited my uncle in NYC in 1984. Don was the perfect host and showed me all the seedy places like Times Square when it was full of porn shops and three card monte dealers. The streets were full of cars with “Radio already stolen” signs. It was exactly what I wanted to see. I was there the week that Indira Gandhi attacked the Sikh Golden Temple. The street was full of pissed off Sikhs. It was also hotter than hell that week and Don lived in a forth floor walk up. We hauled his window air conditioner up from his locker in the basement and found out it didn’t work anymore. But we toughed it out. It was a great week.
622 chars
Jeff Gill said on April 22, 2026 at 4:44 pm
Church security is a booming business, and something increasingly difficult to hold back. And yes, I’d say all but the smallest synagogues have armed security on High Holy Days, and most Sabbath services.
In my last two or three years as a parish minister, 2017-2020, we got strong pitches most years from at least one and up to three programs which would get ahold of a lay leader and force a long discussion in a leadership meeting about a) whether we would have a “Security Team” (the church down the road where lots of people go has one, we just need to buy some vests), and b) whether we would have designated, accepted people carrying firearms.
Our local law enforcement was reaching out to churches in general leading up to Easter this year asking if we wanted a “safety review” by a deputy/patrol officer of our place of worship. It gets harder to decline every time there’s a well-publicized attack on a service, and people in local church leadership get increasingly skittish.
993 chars
alex said on April 22, 2026 at 6:28 pm
We have a local insurance company, Brotherhood Mutual, that’s in the business of insuring churches. I remember when one of Nancy’s former colleagues, an LCMS doofus, was simply giddy with delight when this company made some noises about refusing coverage to LGBT-friendly churches and other “controversial” denominations that might be at high risk of violent attacks, and he wrote a nanna-nanna-boo-boo column about it.
While there have been a few high-profile incidents at synagogues in the years since, it seems that there have been a lot more mass shootings at rural evangelical houses of worship than anywhere else.
622 chars
nancy said on April 22, 2026 at 6:32 pm
The synagogue that was attacked here last month had plenty-plenty security.
75 chars
Jessica W. said on April 22, 2026 at 7:57 pm
My synagogue has various types of security. When lots of people are in the building we pay for an (unarmed) security guard. Also, trained congregants stand at the locked doors and let people in. We have security cameras and have reinforced many internal walls and doors and external windows. There are unobtrusive barriers that would, probably foil someone trying to drive into the building. We offer regular active shooter training to congregants. This means we all know where to hide and how to get there – there are non-obvious staircases.
We are across the street from another synagogue (thereby hangs a tale). DC police drive by regularly on Saturday mornings and sometimes park conspicuously on the street between the two buildings.
Some of this is grant-funded (from the DC government), some is free because done by volunteers,. But it does affect our budget.
880 chars
susan said on April 22, 2026 at 9:20 pm
What a sad and infuriating country we live in.
46 chars
Suzanne said on April 23, 2026 at 8:00 am
The rural church we used to attend had a meeting maybe 6 or so years ago about safety including what to do in case of fire, tornado (a real concern in rural Indiana) and active shooter. One member is a state trooper who was at one time part of the SWAT team. He strongly cautioned members against bringing weapons to church. He stressed that in the heat of the moment, people other than the shooter would likely be shot and when law enforcement showed up, they wouldn’t be able to tell the good guy with the gun from the bad guy with the gun.
544 chars
LindaG said on April 23, 2026 at 8:48 am
Eataly is owned by Lidia Bastianich and son Joe. Lidia’s cooking show is on PBS Create channel regularly. She sometimes has her grandkids on with her. They are all young adults now. She has an interesting life story–coming here as a refugee and her mother crying every day at first. “My American Dream” is the name of her book.
334 chars
alex said on April 23, 2026 at 9:53 am
I found it interesting that both Lidia Bastianich and Pati Jinich, Italian and Mexican respectively, have Eastern European surnames. Both have interesting life stories. Lidia was born in a former sliver of Italy that was taken over by Yugoslavia, and Pati was born in Mexico to a family of Jewish refugees. And both have great cooking shows that I discovered after I cut the cord.
380 chars
Deborah said on April 23, 2026 at 10:16 am
Off topic, last night we watched the movie The Master, we’re on a Paul Thomas Anderson kick, have been watching his movies lately. It was very hard not to associate Trump with the character that Philip Seymour Hoffman played, a quasi-religious cult leader. It was creepy to see the similarities and disturbing to realize how so many humans can be duped into cults. The character played by Joaquin Phoenix was so insanely violent which is also not uncommon nowadays, was hard to watch. Some have attributed the movie to be about L Ron Hubbard and Scientology but because of current events now it’s similar to the cult of Trump. Trump is just as out of his mind and exploitative as the Lancaster Dodd character. The acting in the film is terrific.
745 chars
susan said on April 23, 2026 at 3:20 pm
These are 500-year-old paintings, and they look like they were painted last week. Truly amazing.
I guarantee you that this painting has been “cleaned” at least once in the last 500 years, removing old yellowed varnish/linseed oil glaze.
247 chars
Icarus said on April 23, 2026 at 3:32 pm
Am I the only one who couldn’t care less about the Mike Vrabel – Dianna Russini Affair?
87 chars
Sherri said on April 23, 2026 at 4:20 pm
I may be the biggest sports fan on here, and I don’t care about Russini-Vrabel. I mean, given her job, she shouldn’t be sleeping with him, but she resigned, so I don’t care. I don’t particularly like what her job was; she was an “insider”. Her job was all about access and bringing tidbits of info from the people she was covering. Which also means that the people she was covering were using her to get out the story they wanted.
Things I care about more:
-the new Acting Secretary of the Navy thinks that Monterey, CA has been taken over by witches.
-Eric Trump’s company got a $24 million contract with the Pentagon. I guess it’s okay if you’re not Hunter Biden.
-Brain Worm Bobby thinks that if a drug costs $100 and goes up in price to $600, that’s a 600% increase (it’s not, it’s a 500% increase.) He also thinks if the $600 drug comes down in price to $100, that’s a 600% decrease (again, wrong, it’s a 83% decrease). I’d like a cabinet secretary who could understand 6th grade math.
1034 chars
Dorothy said on April 23, 2026 at 4:48 pm
Young Woman with Unicorn bears a resemblance to my niece Isa, who is about 6’1” (her dad, my younger brother Jim, is 6’6”) and played volleyball in college and now has a full time job as a college volleyball coach. Isa’s nose is not quite as long as YWWU.
I’d go back to NYC in a New York minute. We went in December 2018 after Mike’s scary thyroid-removal-rush-back-to-the-hospital-the-next-morning in September that year. Got tickets to two shows ahead of time and bought tickets to a third show while we were there. I am not sure why strangers approached me (twice) to ask me how to find a place in the city, but I was delighted that they did. Maybe I had an air of confidence about me, I don’t know. All I know is that we had so much fun and next time I go, I’ll be spending some time in the garment district to buy fabric that is exotic and fun (i.e. not quilt fabric which I own in abundance). We ate at a diner on Sunday morning that weekend and it turned out to be one of several that were used in Law & Order scenes. Mike really loved chatting to the waiter there about that topic.
I’m sorry I don’t live in Pittsburgh anymore. The coverage of the NFL Draft has been off the charts, and we’re soaking up as many stories as we come across on social media. I still have family there so they tell us stuff, too. I hope it all goes off without any serious complications. Well, the traffic will suck. Pittsburgh has the worst traffic. And God forbid if you’re unfamiliar with how to get around.
1537 chars
Sherri said on April 23, 2026 at 5:41 pm
The geology of Pittsburgh makes it ridiculous to get around. You can see where you want to be, and not have any clue how to get there, because those streets which cross on the map are actually several hundred feet apart in altitude. Learning how to navigate Pittsburgh in pre-GPS days was quite a challenge.
307 chars
Dorothy said on April 23, 2026 at 6:00 pm
Sherri my former sister-in-law Mary was from Chicago. She once said “If you can drive in Pittsburgh, you can drive ANYWHERE.” Maybe so, but I’ve never been to Boston and I think I would not dare to try to drive there.
223 chars
Julie Robinson said on April 23, 2026 at 6:51 pm
In 1985 we were visiting my SIL in Glendale, CA, and had to take her to the airport at 2 am for a flight to Hawaii. And damn if the traffic wasn’t backed up even then!
Sherri, you may care more about sports than anyone here, but D cares A LOT about the NFL draft tonight. St. Fernando of Bloomington is expected to go very high, maybe even #1. I’ve heard the story of his life so many times I’ve started reciting it back to him. I’ll be leaving the room.
457 chars
Sherri said on April 23, 2026 at 8:06 pm
Pittsburgh is definitely a unique place to drive. The Pittsburgh Left Turn, where you’re expected to let the first oncoming car make the left turn in front of you when the light turns green, makes a lot of sense but takes getting used to. Will that oncoming car take the turn, or are they unaware of the convention? Freeway entrance ramps with stop signs at the end of the ramp, because the entrance is short and almost blind, as the freeway suddenly narrows to two lanes to go through a tunnel. And it was eventually finished while I was there, but for many years, there was a half-built freeway that just ended way up in the air above the parking lot at Three Rivers Stadium.
Julie, is D prepared to become a Las Vegas Raiders fan when his favorite young QB is drafted by them number 1?
794 chars
Julie Robinson said on April 23, 2026 at 8:19 pm
It is finished, He is drafted. Don’t think he knows anything about the Raiders, and he’ll need to watch them out of my presence.
128 chars
Deborah said on April 23, 2026 at 8:55 pm
I flew into the Pittsburgh airport once and I thought it was terrifying, it didn’t help that there was a big thunderstorm too. It was only a layover, turbulence was bad. I’ve never been in the city.
198 chars
Jeff Gill said on April 24, 2026 at 7:08 am
Kennywood is a holy place. That is all.
39 chars