I'm working.

A conversation between Lena Herzog and Lawrence Weschler, and a rapt audience including me. Historical references, (e.g. Peter the Great) quotes (e.g. Sartre and Nabokov) , poetry (e.g.Wislawa Szymborska) were all flying, and we ate it up.

KAMP, by Hotel Modern, at St Ann’s Warehouse

I only caught the last half of the last day. This picture is from the web. There is no need for me to take pictures like these when I can find better ones on the web.

This is my building, my neighborhood. My home. People all around. People who do and do not look like me. Are like me, are not like me.

I woke up hearing the news on the radio.  Last night in Times Square, the police defused a car bomb. It was in an SUV filled w fireworks and gasoline and electrical wires and something else that would have caused a big explosion and fire. It was at 45^th and seventh.

So of course I think, yesterday I was at 46^th and between Bway and seventh having walked up from 43^rd. So, of course I was there mere hours and steps away from a near disaster. And of course everyday I am hours and steps away from a disaster, of course. But then, I thought this:

My iconic New York is not just about culture and monuments and world class arts and all of that. It is also abut being a target. Iconic New York is as much about the absence of the Twin Towers as it was about their existence. More so? Probably. So my New York is a target. Why? Mostly because of its density. It is an “easy target.” Yes, symbolic, it is important that a target is also symbolic. But most of all — and here is the perfect phrase — This is where you get the most bang for your buck.

Spur of the moment with Ally, in from California. A few hours free, and it was between Bill T Jones and Twyla Tharpe. Chose Twyla. She is the brilliant combination of Broadway and modern. For me, a perfect New  York experience: at 10 am, I am in a cafe in Brooklyn thinking I will spend the day working; at 1pm I  am on the subway , 1:30 coffee and cheesecake at Sofia, and at 2 I am watching a Broadway musical. The last number was Sinatra’s New York New York. Perfect.

First picture: me and Statue of Liberty. Second picture: stranger and my building in the distance, from Ellis Island. In other words, I can look at Liberty and Ellis Island from my windows. I do, every day.

going on Thursday: Ellis Island National Monument – Plan Your Visit (U.S. National Park Service)

What is New York? For one thing, it is iconic public (visit-able) institutions, such as:

New York Public Library/Brooklyn Public Library

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Staten Island ferry

Statue of Liiberty

Ellis Island

Empire State building

Brooklyn Bridge