Weekend in Brooklyn Heights and Lincoln Center and Times Square-

1834 Federal Home at 134 Joralemon

This weekend Greg and I participated in three of our favorite activities.  Friday evening we went to dinner at Cafe Luxembourg for steak frites and profiteroles (hot fudge Sundae for Greg) followed by a concert at Lincoln Center featuring Ricardo Muti and the New York Philharmonic.  The concert was good, but not great and Greg was tired so we left at the intermission.  This was a fortuitous decision because the 1-2-3 line was totally shut down going downtown and it was pouring rain.  We were able to find the single cab that was available.  Had we left at 10 with the regular crowd we might still be wandering forlorn and waterlogged on the Upper West Side.

Saturday I went (solo) to a matinee performance of Next to Normal.  This musical won several Tony's last year and just won the Pulitzer Prize this week.  I got my seats from the convenient Brooklyn office ofTKTS and had fantastic third row seats.  The plot involves the highs and lows of a family of four whose mother suffers from bipolar illness as well as other mental disabilities that are slowly revealed during the play.  Alice Ripley won a Tony for her portrayal of the mother, Diana, and she was electric in this performance as were the entire cast.  Watching the entire family deal with the pain and uncertainty that accompanies this illness hit home for me and I had teary eyes and a tight throat from the opening scenes.  I can't imagine how Alice Ripley exposes Diana's emotional roller coaster 8 times a week; her performance was amazing.

1893 Queen Anne-Hicks Row

Sunday Greg and I went on a guided walk of Brooklyn Heights with an architect who provided us with both explanations of the different styles that can be found in BH, the history of the neighborhood, and an appreciation for the efforts of the historic preservationists who saved this neighborhood during the mid 20th century from both Robert Moses' plans for the BQE expressway and real estate developers' goals to tear down the history and build up new apartments. So now on our cigar walks we'll be able to compare the authentic Federal with the Greek Revival, Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Queen Anne, Romanesque and ultimately the dreaded "re-muddled" Brownstones.

 Greek Revival 120 Willow