I really have nothing to add, I just wanted to be the 100th reply.

But you are certainly welcome on Flinder's Lane.

jennyr261 - delighted to read your reply. I must have been composing my post when you wrote yours as I missed it initially. I'm so glad the TR resonates, it does indeed seem we are hitting lots of the same places or have similar interests! Thanks to Sue for giving you a heads up.

I did see the subway tour and it's on my list, it looks really interesting. I did one in London which I enjoyed and it's a great plan for a wet day! Thanks for the mta art link. Loved that you made rugelach at the Eldridge Museum!

In terms of the Bronx I'd recommend a trip to the fascinating old Italian neighborhood around Arthur Avenue which combines well with the nearby Botanical Gardens which will be lovely in the Spring. We took a food tour with Susan Sez up there a few years ago and enjoyed it.
http://susansez.com

There are just so many tours we didn't get around to including a tour of the Hasidic community in Crown Heights which will have to wait for next time!

You can indeed tour the Chelsea galleries on your own but what I enjoyed about going with Merrily was the opportunity to talk to someone who is very informed about the art. She selected the galleries and was able to really educate is about the work and to engage our questions and comments. However, when we come back I'm looking forward to spending more time wandering the galleries.

If you are interested in Urban Design or space/identity there are two interesting shows on suburbia, first the one on Chinese immigrants in Connecticut at the Museum of the Chinese in America which I reviewed above and another on Black Suburbia at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem - I haven't made it to that one yet. Not sure if they will be running in the Spring.
http://www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg

Oh I loved visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture - we went there last trip with Sue...also saw Striver's Lane and oohed and aaggghed at the City Museum from afar. We went to Red Rooster for lunch with Sue....mac and cheese (with lobster from memory) I loved it.

The exhibition we saw at the Schomburg were videos of black men talking about the various issues they face. I remember writing in my TR at the time that it'd be great to put such exhibitions at the NYPL on 42nd and 5th as well. More people would see them (I think). I don't think they should only be shown at the Schwarzman Building - maybe at both sites simultaneously on occassion. I know I am happy to go to the Schomburg, but many aren't (or don't even know about it).

If you see Sue again, say hi and ask her about Helene Hanff and Apple of my Eye and Columbia University...I'm going to write a short story about it one day....if I ever get off these forums.

Oh, and re Merrily's tour, my partner wasn't keen, but maybe I'll do it anyway! Sounds great.

I forgot to ask you - did you have a shrub at Russ and Daughters. I cannot wait to go back and have another one.

Family around for a meal last night but a busy day today to make up for all the cooking and cleaning. STATEN ISLAND has been somewhere we've been meaning to go for ages and today was the day despite the dull weather. We subwayed it down to the tip of Manhattan where the only issue is running the gauntlet of very aggressive touts trying to sell trips to the Statue of Liberty, it reminded me of India for a moment! The Staten Island Ferry has a lovely new terminal right next to the subway and it's clear that they are putting a lot of money into upgrading the area which is still unfinished. We passed the charming new seagulls carousel which is gorgeous and the first modern interpretation of a carousel I've seen.

http://www.seaglasscarousel.nyc

The ferry to Staten Island is famously free (since the late 1990s) and this has to be the one great NY deal and as such it was packed with tourists who had no intention of staying on Staten Island. However, the ferry is large so there was plenty of space for everyone. The views over downtown as the ferry leaves Manhattan is fabulous and I can't believe it has taken us all these years to partake of this particular NY institution, but I guess I lived in the Bay Area for 16 years before I went to Alcatraz!
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/05/ny...s-reality.html

If Manhattan and Brooklyn have given the suggestion that all of NYC it gentrifying at a rapid rate and that you'll trip over an artisinal something-or-other or a pumpkin-spiced drink every other store, Staten Island provided a firm counterpoint. From what we could see in the area around where the ferry docks this is a resolutely working class community, incredibly diverse with lots of immigrants from a range of different places including Italy, Russia, Poland, Asia and the Caribbean. This area has a down at heel feel though the views over Manhattan are incredible, there are quite a number of attractive older civic building (listed in the AIA guide) and an historic district with quite a number of wooden shingle houses from the 1870's.

We had a walk around but our destination was a Sri Lankan restaurant SAN RASA which had been recommended on the wonderful blog Eating with Ziggy - thanks Sue for the heads up. Anyway Ziggy's recommendation was spot on and we really liked this place. We had string hoppers which we hadn't had since we were in Sri Lanka. They were supper friendly and the place was empty when we arrived at 2:30pm and so we had a long conversation about Sri Lanka which enhanced the whole experience. in fact they even got me to video a short review for them, thank god I'm to on Facebook and don't have to see this stuff!
http://www.sanrasa.com
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/search/label/Sri%20Lanka

After eating we headed back to Manhattan and enjoyed a great view of the Statue of Liberty which was lit up and as impressive as always.

From there we headed up to the Met for their late night Friday opening which is fun. I'm continuing to make my way through some lectures on the Met (currently on 19th century art) so I spent my time walking through the galleries of European painting. It is incredible what you can see here and that the galleries are relatively quiet. It's just a treasure trove of paintings, Degas, Manet, Monet, Millat, Gaugin, Courbet, Van Gogh, Ingres and LOTS more. It's much more enjoyable to see paintings here than at MOMA as the crowds are much more manageable.

On Friday nights they have lots of special programs and tonight they had a Byzantine Pop up concert with a half hour of male choral music from the orthodox tradition sung in Greek, Armenian and Arabic. What a pleasure and fascinating for us as we'd spent sometime walking the Armenian quarter in Aleppo in 2011.Standing around the Met's Christmas tree listening to the music, I finally felt a little bit Christmasy!

We stopped for pizza at TAPPO on the way home and I can recommend it if you're looking for something simple in the Flatiron. The pizzas are Roman style, super thin crust, which is how I like my pizza and it's not expensive. They also have lots of lunch specials and deals on a Monday night.
http://www.tappothincrust.com My Brother-in-Law recommended the place and I'd go back for a quick meal.

So, all in all another good say, there's just so much to see and do. I didn't make it to the new Gilded Age Furniture exhibition at the Met which has just opened but it's still on my list.

--------------
Jenny my husband had one of the Russ and Daughters "shrubs" and liked it. I'm used to shrubs used in cocktails but his was non-alcoholic.

What I most appreciate about your stay in NY, besides the considerable energy, is the fact you want to go past the veneer and understand the history and the current quirks and situations. Thank you for taking the time to do so.

What IMDonehere says!

"The Staten Island Ferry has a lovely new terminal right next to the subway and it's clear that they are putting a lot of money into upgrading the area which is still unfinished."

Actually, since you want to know backstory...the terminal was beautiful and finished and opened a few days before Hurricane Sandy and then it was under 10 feet of water for a really long time.... It will be better prepared when it re-opens.

If you haven't already done so tweet your review to Ziggy - He doesn't hang out on this forum.

Next time on SI -- Go to Borough Hall for the history of SI in 13 WPA murals and also visit the new Lighthouse Museum. Have fun out of town today.

Thanks IMD - to be honest trying to get behind any veneer (or see more of NY) has exhausted me, I can't quite believe I'm going to Colombia an Saturday and may need a holiday from my holiday, yeah I know "don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

Sue - thanks for your reply, I did write a comment on Ziggy's blog and I clearly should have posted here BEFORE going to Staten Island, I'm sorry we missed the WPA murals, but thanks for the heads up for next time.

Well yesterday we were in PRINCETON to see friends though I'm not sure how that fits into a NYC trip report. Lets just say the whole place is a facsimile of England. It's all of a piece and the University is clearly designed to awe, so I hope you are impressed by Neo-Gothic because that's what you'll be seeing if you go. I prefer the Gothic architecture of Oxford or Cambridge to the "neo" version in Princeton. I preferred the Columbia campus (or Berkeley where I went) both of which have a more "lived in" feel! However, I'm sure others would prefer the grandeur (or hauteur of Princeton). I guess my own bias is obvious here!

However, the University Art Museum is a gem. It's really very good with an interesting collection ranging from ancient Egypt to Motherwell. I enjoyed the lovely special exhibit on the Pearlman bequest. Lots of Cezannes, Modiglianis, a Sisley, a Van Gogh and more all bought with the proceeds of a refrigeration fortune and donated to Princeton.

Today I really did run around a little too much - so no surprise there! We started the day with a FOOD TOUR OF ASTORIA with Susan Sez . We took an Arthur Avenue Tour with Susan a few years ago which we very much enjoyed and it was good to go out to Astoria with her.
http://susansez.com

What I liked about this tour was how easy it was to get out to Astoria, where you can see a whole range of immigrant influences including Greek, South American, Middle Eastern and Easter European. It was enjoyable to walk around tasting the food and hearing about the neighborhood. Susan is a New York guide and knows the city very well and so there's a bit of history woven through the trip. She has been running these tours for over ten years and has a sense for how the neighborhood has changed which was interesting too.

Do check online for discounts on the tour which can be very good. Highly recommended for those who like food and need the incentive of a tour to get you out to Astoria!

After the tour we headed back into town and my husband went to Strand bookstore and then a concert at the Guggenheim. I went to a lovely carol concert at St Francis of Assisi. It's a lovely parish church on W31st attached to a Franciscan friary which does a lot of outreach to the homeless in the area. The carol concert was lovely with all the old favorites and a wonderful choir. They even dimmed the lights and passed out candles for "Silent Night". Given the ubiquitous and ghastly renditions of carols blasting out of every shop at this time of year it was so nice to connect with a non-commercial spirit of the season and the church was liberal and inclusive.

Afterwards I hopped on the subway and headed down to Culture Project in the village to see MOTHERSTRUCK a wonderful monologue by StaceyAnn Chin. Recently reviewed in the Times this monologue directed by Cynthia Nixon got a Critics Pick.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/th...nant.html?_r=0

I'm not a great fan of monologues, particularly since 2008 when theatre seemed to increase the number of monologues to bridge any fiscal gaps - obviously they are a lot cheaper to put on than a full production of a frame, tragedy or comedy. The increase means we've seen more of them and the quality has been variable. However, I have to say StaceyAnn Chin's monologue was very well done and I swayed from laughter to empathy and pathos. I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in female voices, a feminist perspective, humor or a heartfelt personal narrative that isn't saccharine or sentimental in any way. I enjoyed it very much.

I'll certainly keep an eye on the venue CULTURE PROJECT which is self described as a venue for "socially conscious" theatre.

We leave on Saturday so we only have a few more days in NY and there are lots of things that will remain on the "to do" list for our next visit. I'm still hoping to make it to the Merchant House, the Whitney, the Neue and back to the Met-but who knows what we will manage. We may be derailed by family or friends but that's not a bad thing either! Apparently it will be around 70 degrees on Christmas Eve which seems inconceivable for NY in December so crazy things are happening here this week!

I vote for you all to see the Whitney -- love to hear your views on it. I quite liked Princeton when I visited many moons ago...no doubt appealed to the snob in me. I didn't think of it in comparison to Berkeley or Columbia so will need to think about it in that perspective. Enjoy your last week and see you soon in Colombia (that's with an -o-!)

You're right Princeton is impressive and objectively there's no good reason to compare it to Berkeley or Columbia, they were just foremost in my mind.

We haven't made it to the Whitney yet but I will try to go this week!

Today I went to the Farmer's Market at Union Sq (mainly to drop off my compost!) and then down to the MERCHANT HOUSE. I've been meaning to come here since I arrived in NY as I love small house museums.

http://merchantshouse.org

It's a very nice small museum and the rooms were nicely decorated for the holidays. However, do make sure you have cash if you come on your own as they only take cards for $20 plus charges (two entrance fees), rather old school in this day and age! The house reminded me of 18 Stafford Terrace in London which was saved in part because a family member had lived there for so long without marrying or changing anything.

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2015/...sambourne.html

Though the Merchant House is earlier, the process was rather similar as the house and furnishings were kept until the daughter of the family died at 93 in 1933. At this time a cousin had the idea of turning their home into the museum. While this will give you a sense of the life up and downstairs in a mid nineteenth century home the museum is clearly stretched thin and could make more of the place with additional funding. However, it's a great place to go to get a sense for the history of the city and the merchant class on which so much of the city expansion was built.

After this I headed uptown to the NEUE GALERIA on the Upper East side a few blocks north of the Met. We've been here several times and it's a delightful small gallery for anyone interested in 20th century Austrian or German arts and crafts. They have an excellent room of decorative arts as well as a Klimt room with the famous portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer which was featured in the wonderful film Woman in Gold. Right now they're running a special exhibit entitled Berlin Metropolis 1918-1933.

http://www.neuegalerie.org

Having been in Berlin this summer we really enjoyed the exhibit but it's a little abstract. They point out interesting links and connections but there's very little historical context, hopefully you know it before you come in and can draw the conclusions on your own. For example a room on the "New Woman" but nothing much about the about the transformation in sexual practices. It is however well worth getting the audio guide which is included in our entrance ticket.

We ate at Café Sabarsky which we always stop at. It has the feel of an historic cafe you'd drop into in Vienna and is quite lovely. This afternoon they had someone playing the piano though it was a bit dirge like! The food it interesting but traditionally German, the cakes are delicious though you should prepare for sticker shock, $8 for tea, really!

Tonight we went back to SPICE MARKET with some of the family who are in town for a couple of days and had a very enjoyable meal. Again the pork vindaloo was a hit and the appetizers were good too. I have to say it's an excellent venue for a group as the food is good to share and everyone enjoyed both the food and the over the top ambiance.
http://spicemarketrestaurants.com/spice_market_new_york

Love the Neue Galerie and also the cafe . Glad you found Spice Market . I'll visit the Merchants house next visit.

Welltraveledbrit, still following along with your NYC adventures. Like you and a few others, we really liked the Neue Galerie, as we noted in our recent TR. Sabarsky's does make you feel like you're in Vienna.

Glad you're still following along Northie and Tomarkot, sound like we have enjoyed lots of the same things..

The city is HEAVING this week and you can see it in the museums, remind me not to come at this time of year if I propose it again!

The museums are packed and even the Member Hours (9:30-10:30 am) at the MOMA were busy. I decided to drop by the Picasso Sculpture exhibit a second time and it was FAR busier than when I first went in November, no surprise really but a reminded nonetheless. I tend to be far too optimistic about such things. this week would have been a much better week for more obscure destinations. I very rarely venture to the permenant exhibit at the MOMA, not because I don't appreciate their holdings (after all they are incredible) but because the galleries are often so packed that it's hard to enjoy the art.

So here's my tip. Today I was exiting the Picasso Sculpture just as the main galleries were opening at 10:30am. I went up to the fifth floor where I immediately entered the last gallery (on your left) everyone else went right to follow the collection chronologically. This allowed me to explore entirely on my own for about ten minuter, what bliss to see the Monet room with none else there except the security guy. AS I made my way back through artistic time the rooms started to fill and when they became intolerable I headed straight for the cafe on the Fifth Floor. They close the balcony in the winter so I wasn't able to sit out and enjoy the view over the sculpture garden but it's a lovely retreat from the madness and they serve an excellent cup of tea!

Today was a museum greatest hits loop so you can immediately guess the next stop was THE MET. This is the place I spend the most time whenever I come to NY, and this trip has been no exception. I love this place and I could visit it daily, yes I'm a museum geek what can I say? I'm still making my way through lectures on the museum and today was all about the decorative arts. First I started off at a new exhibition in the American wing entitled "Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age"

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions...the-gilded-age

I don't spend enough time in the American wing and I very much enjoyed this small exhibition. I'm not a great fan of furniture from this period but it was fascinating to see such opulent examples, they really were quite incredible and I loved the photographs of the original rooms. The exhibit is being mounted because the met has opened a new small interior room (donated by one of my favorite places the City Museum of NY) the opulent Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room. If this was the dressing room one can barely imagine the rest of the house. What is fun about the exhibit is it helps you do exactly that. Most of the decorative interiors at the Met are not placed in much of a context so this is a refreshing change. The exhibit is also next to the small Tiffany gallery which is ALWAYS worth visiting. I'm dreaming of a vintage Tiffany necklace for Christmas. Too bad we're having a "no gifts" holidays and my husband doesn't read Fodors!

The very best money I've spent on this trip has been joining the Met at a level that gets me into the wonderfully quiet and tasteful members lounge and after a reviving cup of, you guessed it - tea, I was ready to brave the crowds.

Laughing at your Tiffany desires. I remember the first time we came to NY in 1978
Our friends who live on Long Island told us to get a pack of playing cards as you get the the coveted blue bag so we bought lots to give as presents . Of. Course now my daughters buy the jewellery there. I love Lalique and did lash out and buy a piece of jewellery and a small (very) bowl in France.
I don't much about American Art but remember going to a fab exhibition at Brooklyn Art Gallery in the 80's of Eastman Johnson and a Childe Hassams exhibition at the Met.
I usually get my Xmas cards at the Met .
My fav gallery in NY is the Frick . Put city of NY museum on my list . Must be up near the English garden of The park .

Yes Northie the Museum of the City of NY is very close to the Park Conservancy Gardens. I haven't visited yet but the Museo del Barrio is nearby too. I must admit my only interest in Tiffany is the old L.C. Tiffany pieces. if you like Lalique jewelry (which I do very much too) I highly recommend seeing the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon where they have a wonderful Lalique room with a nice collection of his jewelry.

I agree the Frick is delightful, though I haven't made it there on this trip, it's my aunt's favorite museum too! I really need to make it to the Brooklyn Art Museum, six weeks has not been enough time!

On this trip I've been delighted with the painting galleries at the Met which I'm getting to know a little better but this afternoon I really spent a decent amount of time on the Department of European Decorative Arts. I've walked through these galleries before but haven't given them the time they deserve.

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-m...ecorative-arts

In the lecture series I've been listening to he says that the Met's approach of showing decorative arts along with fine arts was in many ways an American innovation and had much to do with JP Morgan an early trustee of the Met. Apparently Morgan felt that Americans should be able to see the milieu of the cultures they came from and was very supportive of, and generous in funding, the installation of rooms illustrating the decorative arts of a time and place. the french rooms, now described as the Wrightsman Galleries are incredible. You move from the Kign's bedchamber to small private sitting rooms, from grand public spaces to private card rooms. It's just so delightful and it's a very immersive and visceral part of the museum. I particularly love the magical studio from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio with the incredibly trompe-l'œil woodwork.

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/.../search/198556

I have to say that visiting these rooms is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and a great way to explore the museum as you could combine the European examples with the American wing rooms which includes a Frank Lloyd Wright interior.

BAR BOLONAT in the West Village - I highly recommend this place particularly if you don't end up with the screeching coven of sorority sisters at the next talk. Ok with that complaint I am now officially middle aged! The place was great and to be fair I think our next door neighbors were not typical of their clientele. If you like Ottolenghi in London this place is a good option.

We've eaten at Baalaboosta which is run by the same Israel chef and we really enjoyed the food at Bar Bolonat this evening. It's a modern restaurant with a Middle Eastern accent, lots of veggies and fresh, interesting preparations. We loved the Japanese eggplant, the fatuosh salad and the pasta with wild mushrooms. We will definitely return on our next trip and we look forward to trying their new place Combina which is a Spanish/Isreali influenced tapas place.

http://barbolonatny.com

Well "happy Christmas" everyone! if you're her in NY you know it's warm and raining. The rain is the perfect send off as it makes me want to leave, yes I'm a weather wimp, I don't mind the cold but I do require sun!

Today I finally made it over to the Whitney which means it has taken me six weeks to go about ten blocks and two avenues south! The day was dull and it was rainy heavily so I didn't make great use of all their wonderful outdoor space over looking the Highline.

I was never a great fan of the Whitney's permanent collection when they were on the UES and i guess that hasn't changed. It's hard for me to get overly excited about a Museum of Modern and contemporary American Art. In a global world it seems modern art should be seen in a broader perspective. I guess I think of regional art museums as depositories of the patrimony of a country like the Prado, the Louvre or the National Gallery Gallery in London none of which are restricted in regard to the art of only their countries.

So, for me the draw at the Whitney as it probably is for most was the architecture (of course this is a famous Piano building) and the special exhibits. I came to see the Frank Stella but left having enjoyed the Archibald Moteley exhibit in which he is described as a Jazz Age Modernist.

Lets be honest the new building and the location at the end of the Highline is a big draw and the museum is filled with people, particularly this week when the city is heaving. I don't have limitless patience for modern art and I find in general that crowds break your concentration and appreciation for art as I mentioned above with regard to the permanent exhibition at MOMA. Anyway, I went through the Stella exhibit with the crowds but returned right before the museum closed and found the galleries almost empty and it was SO much more enjoyable. All of a sudden you could see the drama and scale of the works when they had space around them and I wasn't agreeing with Art news who said "all style and no substance" about this exhibit. I'd recommend for anyone interested in sculpture as well as painting, abstraction, geometrical design and contemporary art.

The Archibald Moteley exhibit was very interesting and I knew nothing about this artist who trained at the Art Institute in Chicago, lived for a time in France but was best known for his representations of African American life and the Jazz Age. This was an interesting contrast to Jacob Lawrence's Migration series which we saw at the MOMA last summer. Moteley's work was much more fluid and played with stereotypes while also taking on the class divide in African American communities which you can also see in Lawrence's work. I'd recommend this exhibit for anyone interested in representation painting, music, portraiture, Black history, The Harlem Renaissance or social commentary in art.
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/ArchibaldMotley

For both shows go close to closing if you want the galleries to be quieter or sometime other than a holiday period or a weekend. After all the Whitney is a tourist destination these days. In terms of value it costs $22 to get in (free for those under 18 and $!8 for students and seniors) but it's another $6 for the audio guide.

I know you are leaving for home and I apologize for being remiss in offer some holiday advice.

When our family went to the Christmas Extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall, we would have a pool which animal would crap on the stage first.

The smart money was always on the elephant.