I haven't really done much "here's what I am eating" blog posts, but this is our last Sunday brunch in NY. Pacifico's, a mexican eatery on the incredible Smith St (10 blocks of restaurants and bars in Brooklyn) served me roast asparagus, corn bread and black beans.

Perfect set up for the schlepp back to Newark, New Jersey, and then home.

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This is part of the costume exhibit at the wonderful wonderful Brooklyn Museum of Art. Brooklyn Museum have an innovative arrangement with the Metropolitan Museum of Art around their substantial archive of costume. They have given the archive to the Met for them to look after in return for the right to exhibit their archive from time to time.

The costume exhibit, a companion to the exhibition at the Met, is beautifully curated. I loved this doggy outfit for two reasons.

First - it dates back to the 1920's. So even 90 years ago people were dressing up their dogs.

Second - it completely reminds me of the New Yorker obsession with their dogs. They jog with dogs, they put dogs in little bags and travel on the subway. And they dress their dogs.

And it was like that back in the 20's too!

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I discovered these late on in my stay: black and white cookies.

I understand they are an NY institution. These are little ones. A big cookie is around 5 inches in diameter: these are easier to manage.

The base is like a crispy version of a jaffa cake base and the dark icing is chocolate and the plain has a tiny hint of lemon. V v good.

And do they represent the eternal struggle between good and evil? They are never around long enough for me to decide.

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So my trip ends in Florida - St Augustine and Jacksonville to be exact.

We sitting sipping wine on the rooftop of a winery and the jazz duo are playing and their music wafts over on a gentle summer breeze. The saxophonist is my brother-in-law from Sentropollis. That's the name of the band, not a planet, by the way. Rooftops. Bit of a theme. A season of rooftop film screenings started last week in New York. Now that Bar One Ten is in hibernation til better times, I can't think of a single rooftop bar in Birmingham. Come on Brum - step up!

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via historicfortgreene.org

Last Sunday we had a very hot but very interesting time wandering around a number of properties at the House Tour open day.

A number of house owners showed the innovative ways they had restored or renovated their historic brownstone houses. They provided musicians to play while we looked around and local arts organisations (of which there are loads here) put on demonstrations and recitals.

A great idea that I definitely want to steal - Open house tour of the Jewellery Quarter anyone?

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These posters were dotted about Brooklyn last Thursday. Hilarious because his many disguises in the photos really don't do much to persuade me that he can act! I love the "mad" look in the top right corner. Reminds me of that French and Saunders sketch when they are extras comparing head shots ("Look, glasses, no glasses and hands - shows my versatility").

Don't call us, Fabrice, we'll call you!

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Like I said, eye catching.

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After being held in a pen, we are told to go upstairs. Its like a school gym that's been draped for a dance. Back curtains, a large circle outlined on the floor in white. Wierdly, without being asked, we all gather in the circle. There's smoke and red lights and loud music with a dance beat. It's like being at a club where no-one dances. This is a non-verbal piece and frankly, a bit of a tourist trap. Around me polyglot groups chatter excitedly. More smoke. There's no telling where the show will start other than, I assume, above us. To one side and the other some rigging and large speakers, about 10 ft off the ground. Other than that, its had to make anything out. Its a very young crowd on the whole and the smoke and red light sweeping the space is punctuated by camera flashes. Unlike other shows, I sense cameras are not just tolerated, they are encouraged. This has the feel of an event to be seen at and share. Put it this way, I'm not expecting Strindberg!

Oh they have just told us not to use flash photography. We will be moved about the space and can touch the scenery, but only with the flat of your palm.

(Later)
This show is difficult. A spectacle, for sure but whatever spirit or Argentinian vigour or polictal message this piece may have had when it wowed the Edinburgh fringe a few years back, has been replaced with tourist trap cynicsm. It delivers some photo friendly moments but no soul, no heart. Part techno rave, part stomping about, part wet and wild show. Perhaps I should have realised that any show with a special "boys night" edition was going to lack subtlety!

I didn't pay $75 for the 62 minute spectacle but if I had, I would have felt truly ripped off.

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If you do want to catch a game at Yankee Stadium (you can get reasonably priced tickets from StubHub), their sponsors Delta have a free river taxi up to the game! First come first served, or check out the website. The Mets have a water taxi too, Delta sponsor both teams. Rivalry is high and it wouldn't do to favour just one NY team.

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They had a quick go to show us - the rotors are really powerful. You might see the jug at the front between the handlebars. It's $4 to blend your own.

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So, we finally made it to Havana Outpost. The picture shows the solar power cells from which the restaurants cooks and operates its fans and light. We shared an award winning Cuban sandwich (pork, ham cheese - not veggie friendly).

The restaurant only opened in April - most of the seating is outside and it needs sun to operate. Simon was going to blend his own smoothie on the blender bike, but it was too hot to sit on!

I love Fort Greene! Tomorrow we're going on a tour of the lovely houses of Fort Greene organised by the local historic society.

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There were 44,784 people watching a three hour ball game. The queue for the gents at the end of the game was enormous! So as they play Sinatra's New York New York for the 5th time after the match and they rake the sand and re-white the hitters mound we are waiting for the crowd to dissipate. We're in no hurry. Its a lovely warm evening and I really enjoyed the easy good natured nonsense.

In between innings there are silly games and prizes - surprise seat upgrades. Songs and dances that everyone - young and old does. There were men and lots of women, kids and lots of older couples. I haven't been to a big footie stadium recently but there were silly fun puzzles on the screen and little cartoons for the players (the Jeter jet flies round as Derek runs from base to base). I guess its no different at Villa Park or Highbury.

And they play the national anthem and America the Beautiful and everyone stands with their hands on their heart. As Brits we're none to comfortable with patriotism like that outside a cup final, but is all done with great heart here.

And we get a Subway home in minutes and its all done very slickly. The toilets were immaculate and our tickets about £25 each - so much cheaper that a Premiership match. Same old rip off catering though - some things are no different!

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Top of the 6th inning, score Yankees - 4 (thanks to legend Derek Jeter's home run) Chicago White Sox - 4. As you see the stadium is huge! And I'd say its 80% full. More updates later.

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Saw two Broadway shows on Saturday - La Cage Aux Folles - a transfer from the Chocolate Factory in London and Sondheim on Sondheim. The latter had some stellar names in it - the legendary Barbara Cook, now 80, Vanessa Williams (Wilhemina from Ugly Betty) and the bloke who was one of the Dukes of Hazard. It was more of a review than anything, but what made it stand apart was the film clips throughout of Sondheim talking about his life.

For me, the more moving show was La Cage Aux Folles. Kelsey Grammer in his Broadway debut was...well a singing Frazier to be honest. But Douglas Hodge was moving, gritty and funny - he hung out with drag queens in "a club in Birmingham" to inhabit the role of aging drag cabaret queen Albin (bet it was Glamourous!).

Saw this diner all lit up on the way home and thought it suitably atmospheric.

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Tip if you ever want to visit the Empire State - as its open til 2am, go real late at night. We got there around 10pm and just sailed through the two different lifts and transfers. But we passed loads of ropes indicating where the queues normally form. Pictures to follow.

My other tip would be to go at 8am as soon as it opens: I think it would be nice to see the sun rise over the city as it wakes up.

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A trip to MoMA is the best and the worst thing. It has a sublime collection of 20th Century art. If it were a CD it would be "Now That's What I Call Modern Art". But in that richness, not one Brancussi but six, Starry Night by Van Gogh

AND The Portrait of Joseph Roulin,

you get a bit blase.

Yes, there's some Warhol Soup cans next to the Lichtenstein and then Picasso's Les Demoiselles D'Avignon (in a room full of Picasso's)... And its one blockbuster artwork after another: right hook - Leger. Left hook - Chagall. Upper cut - Matisse. You get punchdrunk, giddy with the greatness.

People take photos of the work. I did. Why? Am I going to copy them? Print my picture, blow it up and frame it? I love the place but it turns me into a bit of a trainspotter, a collector of ticks on a fictional "To see" list.

But don't get me wrong - I love it. The depth of the collection - the expanse of space and resource. The Marina Abramovitch piece was on: she will sit in the space for 700 hours. 700!

 http://moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/96/567

And she was. Present. Or so it seemed to me. I didn't sit with her, but you could tell she was "with" whoever sat down in the space. It must be totally exhausting. It's a level of attention we rarely achieve in this switched on, plugged in existence.

It was a strange haven of stillness in the frenetic Art Tourism all around.

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In honour of Earth Day - another lovely tree in bloom, that is just by the Subway that I take when I don't walk.

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Madison Square Park and its surrounding buildings is venue for 60 Anthony Gormley statues. Based on his naked body, the iron figures are placed in the park, on streets and perched high aloft some iconic structures.

When I took this picture, a guy passing by asked me why? I showed him a number of the "watching" statues around. "Oh, I get it," he said, "It's like cock art!"

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Some were too far away for my Blackberry to get a meaningful shot.  But this one worked well.

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The barrel looking things are water tanks. Every NY building over a certain height has to have them to douse a fire.

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