Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island

Get all dolled up Gatsby style this summer at the upcoming weekend Jazz Age Lawn Party taking place on New York's car-less summer idyll, Governor's Island. Presented by Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, the Jazz Age Lawn Party is in it's fifth year and is one of the most swell events a New Yorker can attend this summer, especially given the yesteryear ticket price of $7 per person in advance, $10 at the door. Pearls, straw boaters and two tone oxfords will be de rigueur at the outdoor event which runs this weekend from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm Saturday, July 17th and Sunday July 18th. Free ferries to Governor's Island leave Manhattan from the Battery maritime building boat slip and Brooklyn at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6. Past years have seen faithful recreations of the roaring twenties' flapper style among the ladies while dapper gents of all ages eagerly don bow ties, pomaded hair and cheeky red suspenders to kick up their heels to authentic renditions of Charleston era dance tunes. Governor's Island, with it's stately buildings and rolling green lawns unmarred by the sooty chaos of city life provides the perfect backdrop for a summertime affair. Drinks provided by Brooklyn Brewery and sparkling cocktails made with St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur will set the tone for adult daytime revelry while the bake sales, open lawns for picnicking, tug o' war games and more encourage family attendance as well. Whether you go in full twenties regalia to down a few fancy cocktails and do the Lindy with your sweetheart, or bring the kiddies for an old fashioned picnic, there can be no better reason to brave the sweltering heat of New York City in mid summer! For those who can't attend this weekend's festivities there will be one more weekend party, Saturday August 28th and Sunday, August 29th before the summer's end. Tickets, ferry schedules and additional information are available at www.brownpapertickets.com, www.govisland.com and www.dreamlandorchestra.com. See you on the dance floor, old sport!

Earth Day 2010

Earth Day celebrates our planet as well as the conservation efforts to keep it green, clean and going strong for another 40 billion years…give or take a few years! Today in New York our Earth Day started off as one of those delightfully sunny and mild spring days where heading outdoors and enjoying the parks in the city seems only natural. While Earth Day events are being held all day long at Grand Central Terminal as well as at numerous other locations throughout the five boroughs, one of the best ways to celebrate is simply to head out for a stroll. No taxi, car, subway or bus needed! The cleanest way to travel, walking or riding a bicycle, can be done all over this great city and our parks, bridges and bustling sidewalks provide the means to do it while surrounded by some of the greatest sights imaginable! Central Park is always a tourist favorite and the Great Lawn beckons to thousands of tourists and residents alike in warmer months as our own sunbathing "beach", sports field and favored picnic spot. Further north in the park, at the 90th street entrance lies the Jacqueline Onassis reservoir as well as the bridle path which encircles it. The bridle path is nearly always less populated than other popular running paths in the park and provides a more natural and sometimes quite bumpy trail through the park. The bridle path is, as it’s name suggests, a path for horseback riders as well and therefore additional rules which require all dogs to be held on leashes should always be followed to avoid frightening horses which may be on the path. The bridle path is particularly picturesque at this time of year as the magnolia trees lining the path are starting to lose their pale pink and white flowers, creating flurries of flower petals along the path whenever the breeze picks up. Of course Mother Nature can be fickle, giving us snowstorms in April and balmy days in the middle of winter and so too today as the sunny skies of this morning and afternoon are giving way to clouds and rain. Ah well, if you can’t make it out to one of the parks or other outdoor spaces today, spend the time taking a look at some of NYCfoto’s pictures of places to go in New York City for that unique blend of nature and city and plan your next outdoor excursion, weather permitting, in honor of our earth!

Cherry Blossoms — Brooklyn Botanic Garden

This past weekend signaled the start of a centuries old tradition in Japan which is celebrated in New York as well; the annual cherry blossom viewing season known as Hanami. Hanami literally translated means flower viewing but has come to be identified almost solely with the springtime ritual of quiet enjoyment of the short lived cherry blossom season. Japanese history is varied as to the exact beginnings of the cherry blossom festival but the intense beauty of the sakura, as it’s called in Japanese, together with the ephemeral nature of the blooms have become a poignant metaphor for life, death and for many a symbol of Japan itself. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has the most diverse collection of cherry blossom trees on it’s grounds outside of Japan and celebrates the season until May 1st when a final weekend festival will cap the month long observance of nature’s transient beauty. In Japan where stricter codes of propriety and decorum are routinely observed, the cherry blossom season is a rare occasion for more casual behavior with crowds of Japanese in Tokyo heading outdoors with picnic blankets and refreshments for daytime parties underneath the canopy of pink cherry blossoms. The stoic nature of the Japanese, their history and their sincere reverence for nature lends a certain poignancy to this observance of trees whose blooms will only last for a ten day cycle. New Yorkers wishing to take part in an age old tradition and view the cherry blossoms should head first to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website, www.bbg.org, which has a detailed map and description of the trees along it’s cherry walk. The blooms range in color from paper white to the rosiest of pinks and often appear on otherwise bare branches. The absence of leaves on most cherry blossom trees until after their bloom only adds to their appearance of gossamer-like delicacy. Following their much heralded display the cycle will too soon come to an end. In a waterfall of petals the blossoms will all eventually float to the ground, ending our brief glimpse at the favored blossoming tree of emperors, poets and Japanese countrymen and women alike.

2010 New York Auto Show

The 2010 New York International Auto Show opens to the public at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 2nd, and for the eleventh year in a row NYCfoto will be right there covering the event with special sneak preview access on Wednesday. The Auto Show is not just for car geeks and motor heads, in fact a celebrity studded crowd will attend Thursday night’s premiere Gala at the Javits center with an Aston Martin sponsored auction, a special showing of New York City’s finest privately owned custom cars and of course, music, dinner and cocktails. For those who wish to rub shoulders with the city’s elite, dinner and/or cocktail tickets are still available at www.galapreview.org. For those more interested in the main event, some of the cars to look out for include Chevrolet’s latest and greatest eco-conscious car offering, aptly named the Cruze Eco. The Cruze Eco’s manual transmission model is advertised as achieving 40mpg on the highway and most importantly in this economy will be a lower priced alternative to costly, though environmentally friendly, hybrid vehicles. A concept car worth checking out is the Subaro Hybrid Tourer, a hybrid offering that actually looks sexy and has already been winning rave reviews from Tokyo to Geneva. The Tourer features gull wing doors which swing up and open to reveal a luxuriously roomy interior and a completely flat floor. The technology behind the concept is the latest in Subaru’s offerings with a direct-injection, turbo-charged 2.0-liter, horizontally opposed engine connected to two electric engines, one in the front and one in the back. Regenerative braking, similar to the technology used on New York City subways to create usable energy when braking, as well as EyeSight camera technology for collision avoidance are among the tech-y highlights. The show runs through Sunday, April 11 with giveaways, special hands-on exhibits, classic car shows and ultimately something for everyone. Go to www.autoshowny.com for more details. If you can’t make it to the Javits center NYCfoto will be posting our sneak peek photos from the show. Happy motoring!

Spring Time in New York

It may not be officially spring for another day, but here in New York City spring has certainly sprung! Daylight savings, which robbed Saturday night revelers of a full hour of late night debauchery has proven it’s utility as New Yorkers stepped from their offices and workplaces out into a soft blue evening sky. The longer daylight created a perfect twilight complete with the mildest of breezes and the scent of hot dogs from a neighboring street cart evoking summertime barbecue memories. Coming on the heels of a rain and windstorm in the tri-state area which downed powerlines and trees and was dubbed the ‘worst storm in 30 years’ by ConEdison, the springlike weather gives New Yorkers a literal breath of fresh air. For residents and visitors alike the suggestions are clear; take the long way home, walk those few extra blocks instead of taking the subway, be an early bird at one of the city’s outdoor dining hot spots and relish the milder weather. Restauranteur Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack in Madison Square Park has been operating all winter long with the aid of heat lamps and hardy New Yorkers but spring time is when the park really starts to shine and you can indulge in creamy milkshakes, locally sourced burgers and quintessential crinkle cut fries amid the leafy surroundings. For a more haute experience, swing by Bryant Park Cafe for an outdoor pre-dinner cocktail with the midtown after work crowd and fashion industry insiders. This is the perfect weather for a stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan into Brooklyn to explore the variety of outdoor cafes and restaurant gardens in the neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens. Just make sure you stay on the designated pedestrian pathways while crossing the bridge and avoid the fast and sometimes furious cyclists who whiz by, catching camera toting tourists unaware.