The Gates - Central Park

I'm back in Atlanta, sitting tonight by the fire--still cold from my weekend in New York! NYC and Atlanta are sharing the same mercury these days, but even with the added windchill, the place to be this past weekend was definitely The Big Apple. Matthew and I flew in to La Guardia on Saturday morning, and arrived at Central Park around 10:30am. We spent about an hour just walking around and snapping photos (with my new digital camera). We befriended a young couple from London who had become engaged in the park the day before, and took a couple of pictures for them (with their MUCH cooler digital camera). The park is a great place for people- and dog-watching, and Saturday was no exception. We saw a small dog in a pink coat, and a snowman ON a rock. It seemed like everybody (and their dog) was out enjoying the day, the park, and The Gates. The park was coated in pure, white snow, but the saffron-colored gates made the entire landscape seem glorious! Central Park's Glory! Saturday was a little overcast, but Sunday was clear, sunny and COLD! We had confirmed our bicycle tour with Joel from "Bike The Big Apple", so we put on every layer of clothing we had, hopped on the subway and met up with our tour on the west side of the park. Joel had a nice selection of comfort-type bikes, so it was easy to find one that fit. Our tour-mates included 3 other women who hailed from NY, Nevada and Seattle--all friendly and easy to talk to. I've always thought that, for the most part, cyclists are friendly and easy to talk to, so I was kind of surprised that none of these women considered themselves cyclists. One of them commented "well, I have a bike, but it's really for running around town, doing errands and grocery shopping"--that's what I use my bike for, and I consider myself a cyclist! Joel's the quintessential New Yorker, and I knew we were in for a real treat as I watched and listened to him get us all ready for the trip. He tours the city nearly every day, and his company offers routes all over the city--really, all over. Our group entered Central Park at 96th, and I was ready to get moving and get warm. We rolled on in and made it only about 300 yards before Joel stopped to share with us the first of many gems of wisdom about both The Gates and NYC. Joel - Bike The Big Apple Turns out that Joel had met Christo and Jean-Claude during Saturday's bicycle tour. Apparently, they spent a lot of time in the park, just watching people interact with their art. But the most interesting person we met was an official "GateKeeper". MaryAnn was watching (all day, in freezing weather) over a number of the gates and answering questions for visitors. I thought that she was pretty awesome, but she seemed to think that because we were out-on-bikes, in freezing weather, early on a Sunday morning, we deserved a souvenir. So she gave each of us a square of the fabric that the gates were made from! We're not ten minutes into the tour, and already I've got the keepsake of the century!
A View of The Gates We tour around the park for a little while, wending our way through the deserted pathways in the park. It's still early, and still very (very) cold. Joel is not a novice here--he guides us out of the park and over to a Hungarian bakery for a pastry, hot drink and the blissful warmth that only a small city bakery can offer. We place our orders, find seats, and start to thaw out. Life is good (again).
The Tour Just as I start to feel my toes again, we're bundling back up and are out the door. The sun feels good, but I don't think the mercury has budged--it's still freezing out here. But never mind, now we're in Harlem, and we stop at the Riverside Church. This is an astounding building, built with Rockefeller money and the motto "spare no expense". This, my civil-engineer-husband informs me, is the ONLY way that this building could have been constructed. It is wider and taller than any church I've ever seen, yet there are no structural supports inside the body of the church. It is awe-inspiring. The church also has a long reputation of being a very liberal and outspoken congregation. Services were in session when we visited--and we were outspokenly asked to leave . . . OK, I'm feeling the majority of my toes, so I'm ready to go on. We head on over to Columbia University, and stop for another story in front of the library. Joel tells us about helping one of the profs take students on a bicycle tour of the city--a tour that starts at 11:00pm and ends as the sun comes up. Over the years, word has spread on campus and in 2003, (the last year of the tour ) 350 students showed up! We head over to Morningside Park, a linear park that was designed by the same team (Vaux and Olmstead) that created Central Park, and from this vantage point can see up to 12 miles across the city. This is Harlem, and though Morningside is a neighborhood with a checkered history, their future now looks bright and bold. We're heading back to Central Park, though, because there are more gates to see, an official "The Gates" gift shop to visit, and official "The Gates" merchandise to buy (in support of the Central Park Conservancy). The day is beautiful, and there are more visitors out on the paths. This is the very last day that the gates will stand, and even cold weather will not discourage these last visits. I've filled my camera's SD card with photos to share with family, friends (and blog visitors), but I know that it will be hard for anyone who has not seen The Gates firsthand to really get the feel of the place and the installation. The park is gray and white--it's winter--and the sun infuses the fabric of the gates with a color that seems both perfectly natural and shockingly other-worldly. I look at my souvenir square again, and try to imagine how many fabric samples were rejected before this cloth was chosen. This fabric is perfect--in color, texture and hand. It is light enough to move with the park's breezes, but the weight of it seems to actually capture the wind and give it shape. This exhibit has brought millions of visitors to the city, who otherwise would probably chosen any other activity than walking through the park And we are all seeing the park in a new way--and maybe we're able to see other things in our life in a saffron-colored light, too. Even though we just stayed one night in the city, my husband found a great hotel right in midtown. The Park Savoy reminds me of an older European hotel. (Matter of fact, it seemed that most of the guests were older Europeans.) It's a block south of the park at 58th and 7th; Chris and Derek at the front desk will make you feel welcome. Don't expect a grand lobby or restaurant; the hotel's bonus is windows that actually open! Of course, the best part of NYC is the variety. You'll won't find a mall anywhere on the island of Manhattan, which makes everything different--sometimes really different. Enjoy it. You'll be going back to your comfort zone soon enough. Next week, I'm off to Hawaii. Honolulu, actually. I plan to do some cycling, so drop back by next week and I'll fill you in. Be safe. Share the Road. Gonecycling.