New York sports venues re-opened in February, in time for the stretch run NHL and NBA seasons and ahead of the 2021 baseball season.
In the Bronx, the Yankees will open the season on April 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mets home opener will be April 8 at Citi Field in Queens.
Like other sporting venues in the city, attendance will be limited to 10 percent of capacity. At Yankee Stadium, that means 5,400 fans per game. In Queens, entry will be capped at 4,200.
The reopening coincides with a feeling of enthusiasm for New York fans. For hockey fans, up-and-coming players such as Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Igor Shesterkin are the brightest stars in a lineup filled with promise.
Same could be said for the Devils, across the Hudson in Newark, headed by newly-named captain Nico Hischier. And out in Uniondale, the Islanders currently sit atop the East Division following an appearance in last year’s conference final.
As usual, however, all eyes will be on the Yankees as the team heads north to try to put an end to a 12-year World Series drought. Following a second-place AL East finish and a hairsbreadth from a berth in the AL Championship Series, the team is loaded with power-hitters including Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, as well as Gerrit Cole, who is expected to anchor the pitching staff.
Even the Mets, while not expected to contend for a playoff spot, have shored up their lineup with shortstop Francisco Lindo.
“I feel like we’re in a good place starting out,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman toldThe New York Post.
A Croatian immigrant by the name of Mario Skaric has announced he will reopen the Figaro Café, once the beating heart of the beatnik movement at the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal Streets, Forbes reports.
Like the signature Yellow Cab, Figaro was a New York landmark for decades
Walking through Greenwich Village nowadays can sometimes feel like a movie set portraying the old neighborhood. Like many of the 1960s-era landmarks, the original Figaro closed in 2008, and the neighborhood has gentrified in the years since. Washington Square Park, at the heart of the Village, has undergone a facelift since the 1970s and 80s; it is now a safe, comfortable environment for families with small children or for teenagers to get together on a warm summer’s evening.
Of course, some of the neighborhood’s historic landmarks like The Strand and Three Lives & Co. bookstores remain from the heyday of the Village. But they are outliers: Apart from those examples there is precious little remaining from the days when Allan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac wrote poems in local coffee shops and recited them on the spur of the moment. Gone are the days when Lou Reed just might turn up for an open-mic night, or Sam Shepard would read a script for whoever was in the bar that night, just to gauge the audience’s reaction.
While it may be true that Greenwich Village circa 2021 is a far cry from the vintage model, the neighborhood’s historic vibe has not been forgotten: Skaric expects to open the new venue by June or July.
For millions of people around the world, nothing says “New York” more than the theater district. Together with London’s West End, Broadway is rightly seen as the global standard for live stage productions.
That’s not going to change any time soon, but whenever live performances are able to resume it will take the theater industry time to recover from The Year of Corona.
Broadway will come back, but change is on the way
Significantly, the recovery process could actually benefit locals and international aficionados, Lively McCabe Entertainment’s Michael Barra told Fortune magazine.
Barra’s predictions include consolidated performers’ unions and more Broadway-style content available online (think Disney+’s production of Hamilton). Barra also said the theater industry will become less centralized on traditional hot spots as industry patrons and professionals -actors, producers, musicians, directors – become less willing to migrate to New York or London and focus rather on creating quality performance opportunities in previously off-the-beaten-track locations
For New Yorkers, who previously accounted for just 35 percent of theater audiences, decreased global travel and a years-long period of economic recovery is likely to mean that local theaters will choose to shutter some big-name, long-running musicals in favor of plays and shows that locals have yet to see.
In order to reach out to local audiences, Barra said theaters are likely to shutter… some of the biggest shows of recent years in order to re-start with fresh content.
“[Local theaters] long-running musical productions, which may have exhausted their tristate audiences, in favor of recently opened musicals, star-vehicle plays, and special limited-run and concert events,” he said.
Musicians all across Manhattan are playing al fresco in the hopes of earning some money and lifting morale. For many New Yorkers, the sounds and sights of musical ensembles on city streets and in parks is a much-needed sign of promise and resilience.
Since June, for example, Prospect Park’s entrance plaza has been the regular stage for Wayne Tucker and Bad Motha’s. They started playing outside because they missed the thrill of playing for crowds.
All of the city’s 2,400 indoor performance spaces have been closed since March when the pandemic began and New York issued lockdown orders. The improvised outdoor shows are kindling a connection and comradery that is healing for both the musicians and the city dwellers.
Everyone could use a little magic and relaxation in their lives right now. New York is full of spectacular castles that give you that get-away feel without going too far.
Only half an hour from Manhattan, Castle Hotel & Spa is located on one of the highest points in the region, with remarkable views of the historic Hudson River. Renovated and reimagined in 2013 by Evan Metropoulos and his family, the award-winning estate is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and Historic Hotels of America. The grounds, including the ten acres of serene tranquil woods, offer the perfect combination of respite, style, and indulgence.
Evan Metropoulos, left, recommends NY’s castles and rivers for quality fishing
Located on Heart Island, this 120-room Rhineland-style castle was built at the turn-of-the 20th century. It is only accessible by tour boat, water taxi, or private water vehicle.
In the Hudson Valley, this Gothic revival mansion is a National Historic Site sprawling across 67 acres of the Hudson River. The estate includes numerous lush gardens, a greenhouse, and a carriage house. When planning your next self-care pampering moment, or fanciful event, consider any of these locations.
They all offer the enchantment and splendor of medieval times, just a drive away.
Metropoulos says NY’s castles are perfect for green and gorgeous getaways with friends
Major League Baseball has joined the NBA and NHL in operating major retail stores in Manhattan. The opening in early October 2020 follows the transfer of the commissioner’s office from Park Avenue to the upper floors of the Midtown Manhattan building. Baseball Advanced Media also moved to the new facility from the City’s Meatpacking District, as did the umpires’ video review control room.
The flagship store, on the street level of a revamped television studio building, is 10,000 square feet of MLB merchandise displayed on two floors. There is also a customization station, game-used gear on display and for sale, and a photo booth.
MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden related to the timing of the opening and said, “It’s a challenging environment out there. But certainly, as it relates to this store, there’s no better city for retail in the world than this one. And it’s going to come back, and as it does, we’re going to be here to service the fans and the folks that are traveling in the streets.”
Being stuck in a city due to lockdown can be dismal. But when that city is New York City the lockdown may not seem all that bad. Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in “the center of the universe” would have to agree that is one of the most buzzing places in the world. As famous fiction prize winning author John Updike said: “The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.”
Photographer Mozes Victor Konig had gone to visit some friends in New York in between lockdowns and got “stuck” there for some time. He decided to make the most of it. In the evenings he would go out when the streets were empty (so as not to inadvertently see anyone outside of his bubble) and snap pictures of New York city in lockdown.
“What I found,” recalls Konig, “was that New York’s allure is the people and activity. During lockdown you get to see the nuts and bolts of the place. Really it’s extremely ugly. Well, not exactly ugly but certainly not pretty and archaeologically there is nothing to get excited about.”
“Once lockdown ended, I ventured out a little more – still socially distancing and avoiding crowds. And that’s when I saw the New York I had fallen in love with on my first visit more than two decades ago. That’s when the spirit of NYC came back to life for me. And it was then that I concluded that New York is not its city, it is its action.”
New York is known as “the city that never sleeps.” Well, what happens when people don’t sleep? They look tired and worn out and not that attractive. The same with the city. But as Konig witnessed, when it is locked down and no one is out, it doesn’t have any of its traditional character, just a city like all others…
Let’s hope that New York soon gets back to its original buzzing character and good health returns to all!
New York’s tourism board recently reported that they are looking for volunteers to scout out the state’s most colorful and vivacious foliage.
After the long winter and summer months, and with the almost urgent need to safely escape the confines of pandemic imposed lockdown, New York State is offering foliage-infatuated residents a great opportunity: an official voluntary position as a I LOVE NY Leaf Peeper.
Only full time New York state and city dwellers can apply. Volunteers must commit to to tracking leafy areas from September to mid-November. The position also requires the submission of weekly detailed foliage reports that include location, percentage of leaves expected to change within the coming days, and vivid color descriptions.
Contributions made by Leaf Peepers are collated and included in I LOVE NY Fall Foliage Report, the official state and city guides on the best autumn foliage spots. Leaf Peepers are also featured on the tourism board’s website and have their photos shared on related social media platforms.
As many performances have migrated to virtual spaces since the coronavirus took hold across the world, it has not been easy to keep up with the sheer quantity of cultural opportunities. Particularly the digital dance world has commissioned all kinds of works and adapted countless choreographies for screens new works for the screen.
But some establishments have chosen to reflect on the talents already existent in their mist, finding archival materials and unaired footage of past shows. The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s website now features a section entitled Love From the BAM Hamm Archives which includes more than two dozen interviews, routines, recitals, and presentations since 2008.
Among the featured dance acts are John Jasperse’s “Remains,” which debuted in 2016 at the Next Wave Festival, and “Expressions and Encounters: African, Cuban, and American Rhythms,” a DanceAfrica 2011 show. The credits for each video lead viewers to related archival materials including billboard posters, photos, program books, etc.
While official tourism data suggest a bleak summer, some brave visitors are making their way to the Big Apple. After months of being cooped up indoors, cooking countless meals, tourists are eager to experience new tastes and culinary favorites.
New York City’s Broadway and the museum scenes might be closed, but the sidewalk and rooftop dining options are booming.
There are also open street fairs, verdant parks, breathtaking architecture on every block, bridges, ferries, and bike-riding trails throughout all the five boroughs. If you can get to New York safely, and don’t come from a state requiring quarantine upon your arrival, a fun, food-filled, relatively affordable vacation is still possible.
