Corona Park

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

Long before the virus, there was the park.

It was here, at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park that the 1964 World’s Fair took place. Most of the futuristic structures created for the fair survive only in vintage photos. Yet, there are still a few remnants so striking they have become iconic symbols of the borough of Queens.

Like the New York State Pavillion, designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, which stayed because it was too expense to demolish.

Or the Unisphere, dedicated to “Man’s Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe”. Designed by Gilmore Clarke and made of stainless steel so it would never rust, its three rings represent the orbits of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (the first Russian), Astronaut John Glenn (the first American), and Telstar 1 (the first communications satellite that enabled the first transatlantic television transmission, linking the United States and France).

Finally, the Rocket Thrower, a 43-foot bronze figure designed by sculptor Donald De Lue; a giant launching a rocket with the one hand and reaching for the stars with the other.

Imagine what it would be like to step out of the subway and see these gigantic structures, all new and fully functioning, for the first time!

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens N.Y.

November 4th, 2018

The House of Jazz

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

“We’re right out here with the rest of the colored folk and the Puerto Ricans and Italians and the Hebrew cats. We don’t need to move out in the suburbs to some big mansion with lots of servants and yardmen and things.”

And so it was in 1943 that Louis Armstrong and his wife Lucille came to live in this modest house in the working-class neighbourhood of Corona, Queens. They lived here for the remainder of their lives.

Today, the Louis Armstrong House Museum & Archives is open to the public, offering guided tours while audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings are played, and visitors hear Louis practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal, or talking with his friends.

No one else has lived in the house since the Armstrongs passed away; the rooms, furnishings, ornaments, the all-mirrored bathroom and that lovely show-stealing turquoise kitchen reflect their personalities, taste and times they lived in. I tried to stay behind every time our guide moved on, to take a better look at each room. I was sure that if I touched the walls I would hear the echo of Louis’ trumpet playing – and not from the audio clip.

The Museum is expanding across the street from the House. The new Education Center will complement the existing experience with an exhibition gallery, a jazz club where musicians will rehearse and perform their music, and a store. The museum’s research collections, currently housed at Queens College’s library, will move into an Archival Center on the second floor.

The anticipated completion was pushed back to 2021 (pre-Covid-19).

With the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives currently closed because of Covid-19, the Museum has launched “That’s My Home,” their first online exhibition – absolutely worth a visit.

November 4th, 2018

Boarded up

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

New York City bracing against more unrest on Day 6.

Curfew in effect between 8 p.m. – 5 a.m. extended through Sunday.

Vehicular traffic in Manhattan below 96th Street is banned during curfew.

New York protests over George Floyd’s tragic, untimely, unnecessary death in police custody.

Manhattan, N.Y.

June 2nd, 2020

Old Westbury Gardens – The Mansion

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

It could be no less gracious than the magnificent gardens surrounding it, could it? And yet it was designed by an artist with no formal degree in architecture.

One of the glorious Gold Coast Mansions, home of John S. Phipps, his English-born wife, Margarita Grace Phipps and their four children, the mansion we know today as ”Old Westbury Gardens” was designed by George A. Crawley in the style of a Charles II Restoration manor house, and completed in 1906.

Following the deaths of Margarita and John S. Phipps in the late 1950s, their daughter Margaret Phipps Boegner – or Peggie, as he preferred to be called, inherited the Old Westbury estate and opened the gardens to the public to honor the memory of her mother.

Today, one can visit the house and gardens for guided tours, view exhibitions or attend a number of family events, talks or gardening classes. Or just take a leisurely stroll up and down the stairs and out and about in the gardens, taking in the little details and trying to decide which room would be their favourite.

Mine was the bathroom.

Old Westbury Gardens – Long Island, NY

October 28th, 2018

Shit Happens

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

One hundred thousand. Shit that could have been avoided.

Images from Disappearing Acts, a Bruce Nauman retrospective that was presented in two parts, in MoMa and MoMA PS1.

”Disappearing Acts traces what Nauman has called “withdrawal as an art form”—both literal and figurative incidents of removal, deflection, and concealment. Bodies are fragmented, centers are left empty, voices emanate from hidden speakers, and the artist sculpts himself in absentia, appearing only as negative space. The retrospective charts these forms of omission and loss across media and throughout the decades, following Nauman as he circles back to earlier concerns with new urgency. Presented in two complementary parts, at The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1, this is the most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work ever assembled.” [source: MoMA]

Last photo (not) showing the Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh; I wonder when (or even if) will we ever see crowds like this anymore…

October 19th, 2018