New York City Things to Do Tips by BeatChick

William Bennett Art Gallery in SoHo Soho District Review

Megs deigned to let me look around in an art gallery (William Bennett) in SoHo for 20 minutes where they are doing a retrospective of Picasso, Joan Miro (the dude who did the huge blue whimsical curved mural in our Cincinnati Art Museum), Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Matisse. LOVELY - some of my favorite artists. Saw some works by Dali for as little as $1,450 and some by Matisse for as much as $48,000! I love art galleries; not nearly as overwhelming as some art museums can be, plus they've a smaller focus. Told the proprietor at the gallery that I don't really care for Picasso but that I LOVE Chagall, perhaps it has something to do with his blues (my favorite color). He asked me if I'd heard the saying that "God gave yellow to Van Gogh, red to Matisse, and blue to Chagall". Cool.

Gardens at the General Theological Seminary

While at La Bergamote, we met a lady who strongly suggested a visit to the beautiful gardens of the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. They are beautiful indeed and peaceful to boot; one of the buildings is the Bishop Desmond Tutu Center. Apparently, Clement C. Moore (who authored "'Twas the Night before Christmas") donated the grounds which fills the entire block. How ironic that a man who supported evangelical causes should also popularize Santa Claus (the very notion damned in some churches as taking away the true meaning of Christmas). To get inside you walk halfway down the block (21st street between 9th & 10th avenues), find an iron gate, ring the bell, and let them know you'd like to visit the grounds. The cloistered surroundings remind me of the gated area in Notting Hill.

Met Life Building

Oh, and Ian was excited to see the Met Life building down Park Ave. Apparently, the Grand Theft Auto games are set in New York but aren't allowed by the city to identify it as such. They get around that by renaming things, such as this building which is known as the "Get Life" building. And yup, according to my son, it looks just like the game!