Tributes to Nick Ashford

Nick Ashford passed away last week. He and his wife Valerie Simpson founded the Sugar Bar, which is next to our home (and a stop on the Rock Around the Block tour of the Upper West Side). Here's some of the floral tributes that began to quickly appear after Nick's death was announced.

Yesterday we attended the memorial service for Nick at the Abyssinian Baptist Church up in Harlem, one of the most important religious institutions in the city. What a great New York experience. The evening featured lots of fervent preaching, a whole lot of good music, and a very moving set of eulogies, including one from Valerie, which was filled with love and laughter. It became clear that Nick was among the world's most blessed individuals - in love with his wife of more than 35 years, father to two lovely girls, possessed of a talent for writing simple, yet profound lyrics that are going to be sung for a long, long time, a true believer and a long-time member of a close church community (he and Val met at their church 47 years ago), and one of the most handsome, elegant men you will ever see.
 He and Val used the Sugar Bar to display their African art collection but, more importantly, to mentor dozens of young artists - many of whom formed a very special chorus last night. The evening ended with that chorus and the thousand or so people in the room belting out "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand."  Perfect.

Dance students invade Lincoln Center!



Every summer we are invaded by what seems like thousands of dancers of every ilk. A friend tells me he can tell what school they attend by the way they walk.



Beauty and the Bronx

There's a new Azalea garden at the New York Botanical Gardens up in the Bronx -eleven acres of wildly colorful azaleas and rhododendrons. It was dazzling on a rainy day - it must be ridiculous on a sunny one. Oh, and after you visit, stop at one of the terrific traditional Italian restaurants on nearby Arthur Avenue. The bakeries are not shabby either.

Early Spring View from Metropolitan Museum

Child steelwalking at Liberty Science Center "Skyscraper" exhibit

Wouldn't you have loved this as a kid?

Behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Museum

I recently began volunteering at the museum, which has given me the great privilege of hanging around when the public has not yet been admitted. So I get to see scenes like this - Alexander McQueen dresses being transported to the upcoming costume exhibit. Other advantages of volunteering - admission on closed Mondays with up to four friends and a chance to eat at the Trustees' Dining Room, with its drop dead gorgeous views of the park.

Like-new Roman mosaic from Israel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Workers stumbled upon this incredibly well preserved animal lover's floor from the first century while enlarging a road in northern Israel. It's now on a world tour - and the Metropolitan is the first stop. Please note the handsome elephant posing so nobly among all his fellow creatures.

Snow fell at the Met last Saturday night

Act 3 of La Boheme at the Met.

Santacon 2010

We bumped into the annual Santa pub crawl.

Proud Juilliard parents

We attended a Juilliard orchestral concert this week. The conductor was a young Chinese woman and one of the works was a Mozart piece with violin and viola soloists. The viola soloist was a strapping young woman who looked like she could've come from Minnesota. She towered above the violin soloist, a very gifted young Korean-American. They were both terrific - as was the whole orchestra. At the end of the piece we noticed two people wildly applauding and nearly exploding with pride. They just had to be parents of the violinist. It was a joy to share in their pride and delight, if only for a moment or two.

A veiled Dorilton

Some kind of renovation is under way at the Dorilton, the very French rock pile on the corner of 71st Street and Broadway. They've chosen to put up a sheer white covering and it has a certain loveliness of its own.

One heckuva big crane at Lincoln Center

There is a huge crane parked on 65th Street between 10th Avenue and Broadway. Apparently they are building a new theater on top of the Vivian Beaumont and the crane is used to lift the structural steel.

Rock Around the Block Tours launches!

If you’ve got the feet, I’ve got the tour. I’m thrilled to announced the launch of Rock Around the Block Tours – three fun-filled walking tours that showcase New York in a fascinating new way.

Discover the untold stories of the rock heroes you love most, and the places where they made music history – from Elvis to Lady Gaga.

As a music biz veteran, I’m eager to use my hard-won experience to provide an entertaining and illuminating new perspective on New York.

Please check out our brand new web site at www.rockaroundtheblocktours.com and forward this info to your family and friends.

And call or email to book your tour today.

Let the good times roll!

Seen at B.E.S - a fashionable restaurant in Chelsea

This place at 22nd Street and 12th Avenue has at least three very special things going for it: the best hamburger I've ever had (it might have to do with all the truffle oil), many interesting art pieces, and a member of my gene pool tending the bar.

The building facade in the back lets you look into the kitchen.

Most of the art works in the bar, like this boozy chandelier, are for sale.

Jon Sarlin at your service.

How do they clean manholes in NYC?

With one big mother of vacuum cleaner, that's how.

Music in the Times Square subway station

Ancient Professor Eduardo Alvarado has been performing his tinkly music in the subway as long as I can remember.

This time his audience includes both live passersby and the silent crowd in the mural behind him.

Flying Rhine Maidens at Lincoln Center

Part of a photo shoot about the Met's new Ring Cycle.

How to see a pink elephant without taking a drink

Antique store promotional truck spotted on Broadway

Aforementioned elephant

Serenading Eleanor Roosevelt

Ben Arthur was out this morning serenading passersby with a song about the history of the UN. It was  commissioned by the on-line University of Phoenix as part of some kind of promotion. Ben did a fine job - even finding a rhyme for Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Somali), not an easy task. I'm sure Eleanor loved it.

Sukkoh City

An organization of young Jewish professionals called Reboot, which includes our daughter, Kay, put together a contest to design a modern Sukkoh - the outdoor structure that is part of the holiday of Sukkohs, and a reminder of a time when Jews were wandering around the desert for 40 years and sleeping in temporary structures. 600 entries were received from around the globe, and a group of architects and critics picked twelve to be built and exhibited for two days in New York's wonderfully busy and vibrant Union Square Park. Readers of New York Magazine voted for their favorite and we were present as Mayor Bloomberg announced the winner - a bubbly contraption that was our least favorite. A number of the sukkohs were sold and the money passed along to Housing Works for their homeless projects.

The event was New York at its best - creative people presenting their cutting-edge work to a crowd of skeptics, fans, skate boarders, street artists, chess players, local politicians and a great variety of others. Everyone was taking pictures, talking with the architects, who had come from places as far away as Berlin and Idaho, and, generally putting in their two cents. People were meeting old friends, the Mayor's hulking security team was keeping their eyes on the crowd, and we even bumped into our Rabbi - on his way to a guitar lesson.
Here are some pix:

This log weighed a ton and was supported by glass panels

A sukkoh built from simple wooden shims

Based on a pineapple?

Our fave - every grommet hand carved with a Jewish star

The crowd was a typical NYC smorgasbord, especially when it came to head coverings