I traveled to New York for a “Spring Fling” of lessons and a tournament organized by Bridge and Beyond. I loved seeing again in person my favorite teachers: John, Giorgia and Christopher.
As an entertainment journalist, I had been to this American metropolis countless times during the past few decades, usually when invited by movie studios to press interviews, but not since COVID, and I missed it.
I wore out my feet walking for hours along those long avenues, visited museums (my main objective was the Guggenheim and I will write about that in an upcoming article), I went to the movies, ate tasty treats, did a lot of people watching. And, of course, I snapped photos with my iPhone.
The first stop out of my Hilton hotel was St Patrick’s cathedral. The bells were ringing, reminding me of my Catholic upbringing in Italy, and I had to go inside. I saw a painting of my father’s favorite saint, Padre Pio, a Pietà sculpture by William Partridge that echoed the famous one by Michelangelo, stained glass windows, a painting of “Jesus, I trust in you” illustrating Divine Mercy, the mosaic of a Lebanese monk, Saint Sharbel.
Across the street, at Rockefeller Center, loomed the imposing bronze statue of Atlas, the Titan who defied the Gods in Greek mythology.
I sat down in Central Park, observed people walking by, most of them clutching their cellphone, as if they didn’t know where to go without it. I looked up at the all golden statue of Civil War General Sherman.
I dove into the crowded mess of Times Square, flashing with billboards advertising movies and TV series.
I saw a poster for Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning inside the AMC theaters on Broadway.
At Columbus Circle, I noticed a tasteful ad for the Amazon series Ètoile.
I spoke to some students from NYU who were having their graduation ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, across from my hotel.
I perused a street market along 9th Ave, saw some eateries.
I am not a shopper but I like looking at shop windows, such as the Ferragamo at Bergdorf Goodman.
I descended into the Apple store on Fifth Avenue.
I had fabulous gelato at Angelina on Broadway, in my two favorite flavors: coffee and pistacchio (spelled with two Cs, the c sound is hard because followed by an h).
I was delighted to discover that the Paris theater had reopened, thanks to Netflix, and was featuring a Alfred Hitchcock retrospective curated by the New York Film Critics Circle. I watched The Lady Vanishes (1938) that I had seen before, but it was fabulous to see it again in a 35mm print with other cinephiles.
L.A. Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats is presenting this movie, in a double bill with The 39 Steps (1935) on Saturday afternoon June 14 at the United Theater on Broadway. I am proud to say that this yearly series of classic films held in downtown movie palaces has been sponsored for years by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and now by the Golden Globes Foundation.
On my last evening, Sunday, around 6pm I passed by the Winter Garden and asked if they had any tickets for the play Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney from the 2005 movie he directed with David Strathairn as Edward Murrow. They did have one available, but it cost $477, so I passed. I already knew that CNN would videotape the play and air it live on Saturday June 7 at 4pm Pacific Time.
In December 2021, for my weekly column on the Golden Globes website, I had written a post of archival quotes with George Clooney speaking about the importance of journalism. Click here to read.
Interviewed by Anderson Cooper June 4 on CNN, Clooney said about Donald Trump: “Most news organizations are currently under fire by the White House. That usually happens with demagogues. The first thing is attack the news because that’s the way we inform ourselves.”
But he remains hopeful: “What’s fun about doing the play, is it reminds people that we have been through difficult times, challenging times. And that we survive it as a country. And we do find our better angels along the way. We always do.”