“When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.” -Fran Lebowitz

I recently spent a few days in NYC. It’s always a good time.

After taking the train in from Katonah, we plowed our way through Grand Central. I’ve been there a few times before, but I don’t think I’ve spent much time looking up. The Celestial Ceiling, finished in 1913, was accidentally painted backwards (switching the east and west). In 1945, the mural was entirely covered with boards made of cement and asbestos, painted with an updated, but still backwards, version of the heavenly ceiling. Zoom in and you can see the lines of each 8×4 foot asbestos board.

We also hit up New Museum, which was new to me. Their collection is small, but good. I included a few pieces by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Kaari Upson. (what up female artists!) The building itself is a work of art. Chris Burden’s, Ghost Ship, mounted to the front of the museum is the first thing to greet you. Before being installed, it made a 330 mile journey with no people on board. That was back in 2005, before the world was quasi-comfortable with self-driving vehicles. Burden passed in 2015. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, dig into it. In one performance piece, he was shot in the arm (on purpose) from a distance of 16 feet.

That night, we stayed at the Sheraton Tribeca, with all the good views.

Do you love NYC? Leave me some travel ideas for the next time I’m in town.

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