this magic moment

one of the questions i dread most is “what is it you love so much about new york?”. i’ve been there so often i now have something of a stock answer: “i just love to wander through all my favorite neighborhoods and stare at everything”. this is usually met with a trying-to-be-excited-but-blank look and a resounding “oh…?”. i know its a totally general and unsatisfying response, but its impossible to put into a few words what a visit to nyc is like for me. there’s the obvious reasons: the intense energy, the iconic sights, the history, the architecture, the culture, the food. but one overarching concept says it all: the sense of possibility. the feeling that around any corner you’ll find a great store, a fantastic restaurant, a gallery, an amazing building or landmark. or you’ll realize you’re standing next to janet jackson in the prada store, or elliot gould on the subway platform. there is always something random and unexpected waiting to happen.

on a beautiful warm and sunny saturday afternoon last may, i walked south from midtown on 10th avenue. the first few blocks were a bit of no-mans land, and then i began to recognize the tree-lined streets of chelsea, with row after row of picturesque brownstones. it felt as calm and serene as it ever gets in new york, and i thought, “okay, this is exactly where i want to live” – a sincere statement i make about 50 times per visit, in every neighborhood in the city. the possibilities.

i walked further south to the twisting puzzle of streets in the meatpacking district and stepped through the crowds into the west village. then down bank street, so european, to bleeker. this is one of my favorite routes, because it is also exactly where i want to live.

on the corner of bleeker and west 11th sits the magnolia bakery, a teeny-tiny shop famous for its amazing cupcakes and a cameo role on ’sex and the city’. in a town full of them, it has become a destination in its own right. there is almost always a line out the door and down the block – even as late as midnight. this is the city that never sleeps, after all, and apparently everyone stays up eating cupcakes. again, the possibilities.

across the street is a small park, and i could see something going on there. 6 girls in fuchsia satin dresses doing a kind of modern dance. slowly i realized they were performing some sort of homage to the magnolia bakery cupcake. i stood dumbstruck for a moment and then grabbed my camera.

there was music from a boombox but i have no memory what it was – i was too bowled over by the complex choreography. this was no unrehearsed, fly-by-night troupe. there was a crowd gathering by now, and everyone clapped and cheered. the dancers raised their cupcakes high, they bowed down to them.

there was a battle scene, as they paired off and fought over their cupcakes.

then, a peaceful resolution…

…followed by a chirpy celebratory dance around the statue in the park.

it was hilarious, and everyone knew it, but the dancers took it very seriously. its the worst cliche in the book, but…only in new york. and only in new york could one dancer be massively pregnant while another rather hefty girl turns out to be a beefy guy, all tarted up in fuchsia dress and the biggest pair of black pumps known to man. or, uhh, woman.

was this a marketing move orchestrated by the bakery? a neighborhood group obsessed with cupcakes? unemployed broadway actors dying to put on a show? a performance project by a student at nyu? so many possibilities, and an answer that doesn’t matter. it was silly, it was art, it was deadly serious – or was it? for me it was a fantastically random moment of magic that needed no reason. warm may afternoon, sunlight thru the bright green leaves, shiny fuchsia dresses, soft pink and yellow cupcakes held up to the cloudless blue sky. the possibility, the unexpected. is there a better reason to love new york city?

my glamorous life

a couple of months ago, the bandleader i’ve been working with called to ask if i’d like to do a charity gig. we would be playing at a ‘make-a-wish foundation’ fundraiser, and most of the people attending would be directors of other country clubs around town – a good way for people to see us play live, and for a good cause. since it was a charity gig we wouldn’t get paid, but the rest of the band was on board so i agreed to it as well. i’ve been enjoying working with them and it seemed like a good deed, too. my friends were impressed i’d been invited to perform at such a prestigious event. a sweet thought, but none of them have been to these functions to see the real, sordid truth.

the evening unfolded at a suburban country club that is so architecturally similar to the grade school i attended i can only think of it as “the little elementary school that could”. granted, it has been glammed up a bit – a lot of bad molding and fake ceiling beams to detract from the popcorn texture, but it really is the worst excuse for ‘ritzy’ in town. when i played there 10 years ago, dinner ended, they turned off the lights in the dining room, and the waitstaff paraded in carrying trays laden with flaming baked alaska. fancy. the fire department was there because they’d had to disable the sprinkler system for fear the dessert would set it off. i remember thinking “wasn’t this an episode of bewitched?”

this time around, the grand ballroom (and i use that term loosely) was lined with long tables, and chefs from every country club in town had set up stations and were offering up an entree. the band was set up in the corner (note: i said ‘corner’, not ’stage’) about 5 feet from one of the buffet lines. right after i arrived, i noticed the room was getting very smoky, and there was a seriously pungent smell in the air. several maintenance people were running around the room carrying large fans, flinging them down in every open doorway hoping to draw the smoke out. the chefs doing the ‘asian stir-fry entree’ must have overheated their griddle or something. that kind of atmosphere is horrible for a singers throat, so i went outside to find some fresh air, and hopefully avoid going home with my clothes reeking of burned cooking oil. i noticed most of the large crowd was doing the same. and i couldn’t help but wonder why there was always something on fire when i was at this club.

much of the big crowd arrived sooner than expected, so the bandleader decided we should start 25 minutes early. most of the musicians had come straight from their day job to the gig, so there was much panic and disorganization as they all hurried to get set up. i think the keyboard player was still plugging in his amp when the first song started. i have to say it was a very odd sensation to spend the entire evening facing a line of chefs busily heating and plating up ‘italian pot roast with mushroom risotto’, though on our first break i had some, and it was delicious. of course, they were from the high-end country club across town. no burning oil there, i bet.

as the evening wore on the smoke cleared, people ate and drank and i enjoyed myself as best as possible. apparently there were many nice compliments about the band, though i would never have guessed it since the crowd mostly acted as though we were invisible, even as they went through the line for their italian pot roast. before i left i heard the event raised $20,000, to be used to send underprivileged kids to culinary school, hence the food theme for the evening. i got in my car and realized i was starving. it was too late to go somewhere decent, so i stopped at 7-11 for food. when i got home i was sorry my well-wishing friends hadn’t been there to see it – the billowing smoke, the (largely sub-par) food, the crowd that didn’t know we were there even as they practically tripped over our cables. and here i was, ending the evening at home with a turkey sandwich, reeking of burned oil and asian seasonings. not really the life of a star, i’m afraid. the sandwich tasted pretty good, though. i hope one of the ‘make-a-wish’ kids learns to make something so delicious.