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.

Images from the Israel Day Parade

A perfect day for the biggest Israel Day Parade in the world. All kinds of folks showed up, including a group of very loud teenagers from a school in LA. Perennial attendee Congressman Anthony Weiner didn't show up - the speculation was that he thought he had been "overexposed" lately.

Marchers from Upper West Side

Marchers from MOMA

Living the high life by the High Line

I enjoyed a totally satisfying birthday lunch with a bunch of totally delightful family members at Del Posto, which is right next to the High Line. Their prix fixe lunch ($30 for three courses) is one of the city's gastronomic bargains. Great service, a beautiful space, and just enough perfect food to leave you in a state of muddled euphoria. We followed up the lunch with a stroll on the High Line, which has to be one of the most pleasant park spaces in NYC, if not the whole world.

Amazing performance!

I just saw Mark Rylance in "Jerusalem" on Broadway and it was one of the most dynamic performances I have ever seen. How this guy finds the strength to play this powerful, complex and larger than life character once a night is beyond me - but to do it two times a day is just over the top. The play is well written and deals with recent English history - the playwright obviously feels something mythic has been lost.

If you get a chance - go see this play!

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.