Decided to try a new brekkie spot today, Friedman’s. Lovely old spot. I didn’t realize the pic was blurry, sorry… but we went there without coffee first, so that’s probably how it looked to me, anyway.

Had a bowl of fruit, some fresh green juice, and a cup of what might be the worst coffee I’ve had in a decade. Went from there to the Broadway Museum, where I got to see a Tony Award up close (this one was for The Producers)

Not being a show queen, a lot of the stuff in there was a bit outside my sphere of interest. Some of the costumes were fun to see, such as this one from Moulin Rouge

More thrilling than that, for me at least, was a page of handwritten score from Little Shop of Horrors.

If you think of famous word/music duos, you’ll probably think of George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe… and you’d be right, of course, but I’m gonna stick Howard Ashman and Alan Menken in there, too. Granted, they’re never going to be remembered in the same way that the others are, but that’s because of the kinds of songs they wrote, not because of the songs themselves. Show music has a particular purpose, to entertain, develop characters, move the plot forward, and be memorable. To that end, I’d put Ashman/Menken up against just about anyone. Menken is still alive, and has eight Oscars for music. Think of a Disney movie whose songs you can’t get out of your head. Yeah. Odds are really good that he wrote those. Howard Ashman sadly died of AIDS at the age of 40, but he’s widely considered to be the single most important person in the revival of Disney animation, doing the lyrics for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid… and going back to Little Shop, dig through those lyrics. They contain some of the most clever rhymes ever written for a show. Absolute brilliance.

Went for a bit of a wander after that. Passed by the NBC studios, where The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, and others are filmed. Also passed Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes aren’t doing any shows until November, though.

Went up 5th Avenue, saw the iconic plaza by Rockefeller Center

Saw St Patrick’s Cathedral, which is way bigger than you expect.

Popped into Lego’s flagship store.

Just up the road was Trump Tower. Now, the common thing to do is to take a selfie flipping the bird at the name on the building. It’s been done thousands of times, it’s passé, it’s no longer funny. So when I passed…. oh, fuck it. Of course I did it.

The whole area around the building was blocked off by sanitation trucks, which seems absolutely fitting.

But on the next block, was something truly extraordinary. It’s the Louis Vuitton building… and have a look at THIS:

I looked it up, and it seems that this whole thing is a construction cover while the old building (fully contained inside the “luggage”) is destroyed to make way for a new flagship store. Bravo for making what could’ve been an eyesore into a jaw-dropping piece of public art. But now, it doesn’t matter how amazing the new building will be, it’s not going to be as cool as this.

Speaking of cool… check out this wild condo building.

It looks like the shard that Jor-El left for Kal-El back in 1978 that spawned the Fortress of Solitude. If you know, you know.

Popped into a pizza joint for a slice of NY Style pizza. A NY style pizza is huge, but sold by the slice. The crust has a bit of olive oil and sugar in it and the sauce is uncooked when applied to the crust. The dough and tomato sauce cook together in the oven. The thin crust is crispy, but foldable lengthwise, making it easier to eat. And yes, it’s as delicious as its reputation.

We went back to Prime Catch for dinner… we like that place.

Prime Catch is a great name, as it’s a steak and seafood house.

We both had pasta. (grin) Rob’s carbonara was made with grilled onions rather than peas and it was amazing. My bolognese was delicious as well.
A couple of espresso martinis in the hotel bar and that’s the evening done. Flying home tomorrow, so that’s this trip done as well.

Thanks for coming along!

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