by C.C. Long There’s never a dull moment on the Upper East Side, somewhere something is always happening, from art to shopping to restaurants and stores opening and closing, people coming and going and yes the ghosts of the famous still haunting old haunts and leaving the whiff of history, at least this is what I experience when I take a walk around the block and of course there’s always a soupcon of excitement waiting around every corner. Today I discovered one my favorite gift stores is literally taking flight, Flights of Fancy, is closing its doors on Third Avenue. A cold fate handed to a gift Mecca for many. And what of the corner of 86th and Third Avenue, with every shop closed or closing, the bell has tolled and what behemoth is going to end up growing in their place? What will rise up from the Manhattan schist and cast new shadows on the Upper East Side? We will wait and we will see and hopefully we will be pleased. But not everything is being closed or torn down some are just crossing the street. Like the new Agata Valentina Food Bar, which answers the question, “Why did the food bar cross the street?” Not only to get to the other side but to create an airy, heady not to mention tasty new place to nosh. Agata Valentina a fixture on 79th and 1st Avenue have moved their casual food bar across the street to where Bashar’s used to be. They spared no expense renovating the gallery to a modern foodies nirvana. The also restored the four-faced globe rococo clock that hangs on the corner outside so now everyone knows what time it is. The Food Bar maintains Agata Valentina’s usual quality with an up market feel but not price. That makes us all happy and hungry. Walking on 72nd street to check out the Robert Tuttle show at the Whitney Museum, one of what I call the three kings on the Upper East Side, that include, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. I walk by 206 and feel a quiver of John Steinbeck, who lived here from 1951 until his death in 1968. He used to walk his dog Charley on this street to Central Park. So in essence I am walking in his footsteps. I should have brought my dog. The Robert Tuttle Show at the Whitney is full of surprises and pushes me to see the Robert Raushenberg show at the Met. He is one of my favorite artists. The show fills the space at the Met with a whimsy and seriousness that defies imagination. The two shows are of great contrast; the minimalism of Tuttle soothing the soul and the rowdiness of Raushenberg, ramping up the inspiration. The Guge is setting up the new David Smith show that opens in February but still the feel of Russia is in the air from their intriguing Russian Masterpieces show that recently closed.
On my way home I stop in at the Brick Presbyterian Church on Park Avenue and 93rd street for a few moments of meditation. The Georgian architecture is buoyant. It was built in 1938 but the congregation has been in Manhattan since 1769 when they were located on Beekman and Park Row. They moved to 5th Avenue and 37th Street in 1858 and finally to the Upper East Side into the new church that brandishes the original weather vane. Like Andy Warhol, who used to stop in at churches in the city for the peace, I do too. It is a perfect place to take a moment of respite and to think about the walk around the block… |
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