Snow In New York City In November
By
Leonard Zwelling
The BW and I made our annual trip to the Big Apple, mostly to see Bryan Cranston in Network. That’s tomorrow, November 16. Today is our first day in Midtown and it starts to snow. And I don’t mean flurries. This was real stick on the ground and turn to slush snow. It is yet another reminder of why I live in Houston, Texas. We play golf in Houston in November. We do not shovel snow.
Central Park was beautiful under the carpet of white, but the traffic snarls on Fifth Avenue were a sight to behold—only if you aren’t driving in them. Then there is the slushee on every corner. One misstep and you sink in over the top of your boot into the frozen muck.
As per usual, the first day here was spent flitting from store to store to see what we can purchase here, including Christmas gifts, that we cannot acquire in Houston. There ain’t much any more. Going from floor to floor in Barney’s is always amusing as the fashions there are more art than clothes, but who buys this stuff? Rock and rap stars mostly, I suspect. Certainly not I.
Saks Fifth Avenue was trying to get a jump on amazon by offering gift cards for about 10% of any purchase over $250. That’s the sense of what is hanging over all of the stores—amazon. Now amazon will be in their backyard in Long Island City in Queens. Barbarians at the gates of Fifth Avenue.
Still, having an omelet at Fred’s Bar at Barney’s is always a New York state of experience and we did not forego the opportunity, even if we bought nothing in the rest of the store. I guess it was the t-shirt with the collar and front panel of a dress shirt sewn on the front that made me sure there was nothing at Barney’s I needed—or wanted.
The first Broadway show was The Lifespan of a Fact with Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe along with Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale. It explores the difference between facts and truth through the eyes of a young fact checker, the author of the “essay” whose facts he is checking, and the editor who has to make the final decision as to when artistic license exceeds what is a fact in search of the truth. Quite amusing and with three characters likely to transfer well to regional theater like the Alley. I’d see it again. In the age of Trump, this is a very germane play—well-written and well-acted, but you expect nothing less on Broadway.
We were fortunate in that our first show on the night of the snow storm was only a few blocks from the hotel. Mushing back through the ice and sleet was not as big a chore as it would have been from a ten block-slog through Times Square as is usually the case after a Broadway show.
It was a rugged first day and made us both aware and appreciative of life in Houston. The Alley isn’t Broadway, but it’s pretty good and you must factor in the lack of snow. More later.
