I was there today, don't waste your time.

I was in the Park yesterday and today. What a waste. From a high position such as Belvedere Castle, it's mildly interesting, but not really. 23 miles of hanging bedsheets would probably be more entertaining.

I heard mixed reviews from tourists and a majority of negative reviews from New Yorkers.

(Disclaimer: I'm an art lover and member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, Frick & Guggenheim, so back off on the "ain't all art perfect" routine, okay?)

I'm with you on the stadium in Manhattan, we ALREAD have more traffic than we can handle and with a huge new stadium it will only be worse. I've alwasys been into recycling, like we already HAVE stadiums in the city, Yankee, Shea, Meadowlands that are being underutilized, have they not heard of rennovation?

I heard a newscast last night and Jeanne Claude said that the gates were done for their amusement, and if anyone else liked it, it was a bonus,,, it cost $21 Million dollars and lots of police to guard the gates at night, seems to me to be a HUGE waste of money.

Here's the URL, Howard. I'm glad you pointed that out. It's a good article and some interesting points are made. This will be helpful to enjoylife as well. Kimmelman writes about where he thinks are the best locations to view the exhibit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/ar...rtner=homepage

Well, I guess we were in a different part of the park than Gekko today. We heard and saw nothing but joyous reactions from both New Yorkers and tourists while walking through The Gates. Was it great art? Who's to say? (And, yes, we, too, are multi-museum members....but that doesn't qualify us for quality critic status.) I can say that my wife and I enjoyed the experience immensely and we're definitely going back. Our expectations were high and we weren't disappointed.
Other items:
*In response to Tandoori Girl, this is not an exhibit to view from above. In fact, we would recommend not wasting your time on the roof of the Met. That was a big nothing in terms of viewing The Gates. However, go to the Trustees Dining Room on the 4th floor and look out the windows there for a great view. Obviously, you can't go in during dining hours. We just strolled in at around 10 a.m. this morning and were allowed to go to the window.
*We started off at 9:30 at the Met, figuring we'd go up to roof before the crowds. After the brief trip to the roof, we spent about 2 hours walking through The Gates roughly between 90th and 70th Streets behind the museum.
*We've never seen the Met so crowded, nor 5th Avenue between 60th and 80th Streets.
*The mood was celebratory, near carnival like.
*I can't say what the best viewing spots are. However, the aforementioned appreciation in the Times does mention what he considers the best viewing spots.
*And, very important for me, it was a great photo op!

PS: If today was any indication, The Gates is a huge boost for tourism in the city!

I'm so surprised by the tone of some of the the criticism of "The Gates" .. . . as if the cost of creating art was somehow central to it's worth. Does that mean that pencil and paper sketches are the only worthwhile medum because it doesn't cost too much or "waste" anything? Where's the dollar cut-off point with this line of thinking? If it only cost 1 million? half a million? . . .

But I do agree that the best art evokes thought, controversy, reaction . . . Anyway, here's my SUBJECTIVE report.

Saturday afternoon we travelled uptown to 96th and Broadway on the train, then hiked east to the park. As we got closer the orange flashing thru the passing traffic and the bare trees could almost be mistaken for road work signs. But then the uniformity of line and form takes shape: the angles line up against the curves of the landscape, the curtains billow back and forth and curve against the rectangles of the metal stands. In terms of pure line, design and visual beauty, I think The Gates are stunning. Make a special effort to go to parts of the park that have water - the artists have paid special attention to contrast the angularity of the gates with soft curves of the ponds and streams.

Everywhere we walked Saturday and today, people were smiling, posing for pictures, talking and looking. It is another kind of New York experience - temporal, communal, urban. I find it hilarious that people are complaining about disturbing the "natural beauty" of the park - as wonderful as Central Park is, there's very little that's "natural" - it is a designed, man-made construct - in fact that's exactly the first sentence the docent from the Municipal Arts Society used in the tour I happened onto this morning.

I also got to go to a friends' apartment yesterday - they're lucky enough to have a new place on CPW and 101st street. From the 7th floor of the building, looking at the orange glowing thru the gray day and the bare trees, we tried to imagine what other color would have worked. The orange, somehow seems perfect. I was there with 5 or 6 New York City art teachers and photographers - they were all completely enthusiastic, making plans for bringing their students to the park this week to experience the work.

Most of us put up with a lot to live here. It's really expensive, and it's hard to get around sometimes and in the back our brains is the nagging idea that we're all targets for - well, for whoever. But then for 17 days, 2 artists kind of bring us up short, make us stop and look, once again and our great great city. I'm so happy to live here - and I'm so proud of my home that I'll even encourage more people to come see this work - even if you do walk too slowly.

mp, my profound compliments. You have so well expressed the true essence of The Gates experience!

Since Gekko made clear in his post two days ago that he wasn't looking forward to the "chaos" and made comments about soothing egos, etc., is anyone surprised he didn't love the end result?

I doubt if the actual experience will change many minds. Those who love the "idea" of art happenings will appreciate what's happening, whether they actually like the "art" itself or not. And those who begrudge such events aren't likely to enter the gates and suddenly change their minds or their attitudes. People who hate the idea are going to focus on the negative. People who love the idea are going to focus on the positive. Yes, it is pretty much that simple.

The local news Channel 4 said that NYC was packed like they had never seen before. They also said that Christo is paying for the extra security.

mp, thank you for your vivid and articulate description of The Gates - I am so looking forward to seeing it later this week.

It is so cool! I want to go! I am soooo jealous!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.

I've just returned from my book club and, needless to say, the topic was not <i>State of Fear</i> but 'the gates.'

The overall impression -- completely underwhelming and a colossal waste of resources.

I'm sure that's not as popular as &quot;oohing&quot; and &quot;ahhing&quot; over it -- take it or leave it.

If you plan to visit New York just to see the gates -- Thank you, and I apologize. Enjoy everything the city has to offer!

Interesting segment on 60 minutes just now about The Gates and about the Christos. It was sure obvious that the crowds they took pictures of were enjoying the whole thing. But of course most of the people who think it's silly, will probably stay away as they should.
To be honest, I agree there's something silly about the whole idea. Maybe that's exactly why I wish I were there to experience it.

Hi
there's a smaller discussion about this going on in the Europe forum, if any of you are interested

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34566953

I wanted to add, if the Gates were ever going to look good, today was the day, briskly cold, but sunny and a bright blue sky. I can't say I was overwhelmed with the sight (saw it both on ground level and from the roof garden of the Met museum) but it was so cheering, I thought. The ochre/saffron fabric just seemed to light up the leafless park. Everyone seemed in a good humor today, the cafes and coffee shops for blocks around were packed

I went today to see it and really enjoyed it. Once again, it's something that you have to walk through to appreciate. The fabric blowing in the breeze creates different patterns and the fabric turns a different color when it is hit by the sun. Really a great experience.

Silly is the right word for it. $20 million dollars? For two weeks? Shame on them.

I am reporting back too. I am sorry. I gave it my all. I just can't get into it. To me it looked like a huge construction zone with orange flags waving about. Based on conversation with some people I chatted up at the park, many of them felt the same way, but felt funny admitting it. Yes, light shining through fabric is pretty, but not worth the hoopla. Not saying that you shouldn't see it if you are interested or that it shouldn't have been done, I just don't care for it at all. And just curiously throwing this question out there--if your next door neighbor put a couple of those things in their backyard to see the pretty fabric in the sunlight, how fast would you insist they come down?

Saw the Gates on Saturday. Thought it was a lovely experience.

C and JC have said that the installation was not meant to be viewed from above, and like many, many people, I ignored that and went to the roof garden at the Met first. Not all that impressive. The Gates are not high enough to really see through the trees, and we only spent a few minutes.

But, from the ground, it is a whole different story. Central Park is not flat, and the views of the bright orange gates across the valleys and dips of the landscape was gorgeous.

But I think the best thing about the installation is that it brought both tourists and tired, hungover New Yorkers (or maybe that was just me?) together on a cold, gray February day to celebrate the Park, and the city.