NY Video Friday: Episode Lucky 13

FYI: ALL the Video Fridays represent the opinion/expertise/vision of Cayce Crown, not Robert Westfield. So if I LOVE something don't assume he loves it.

We're on the eve of another new year and how better to enjoy the transition but with a lovely song written by a local boy and performed at a local venue by a not-so-local boy. The song is "Out In The Cold" by the award winning composer Bob Levy. The performer is the exquisitely talented Dane Vannatter. The venue is the ever popular Laurie Beechman Theater in Manhattan. Perhaps in 2011 we'll be so fortunate as to hear those great Bob Levy songs performed live by Mr. Vannatter. What do you say, gentlemen?

A bit melancholy, yes, but so beautiful...

Episode 12: The Christmas Eve Episode....

...or Ryan Seacrest birthday episode, depending on what you celebrate.

So, it's the "HOLIDAY SEASON" and there are a lot of great, old movies that get replayed at this time of year. One of the greatest to New Yorkers is our local story, Miracle on 34th Street. In honor of that tradition, we bring to you the 1947 trailer for the movie. Times have certainly changed, but this is fabulous.

Who knew "groovey" had been around so long?

How many times have you watched?

New York Video Friday: Episode 11

In case you haven't had the time to check out this year's holiday lights around New York, we've made it easy for you.

Light up your holiday season.

Let us know your lighthearted thoughts...

special thanks to MyCatFlamingo

Layers of NYC #31: Now...and Then?

Today's Layer Trivia is from Doug Nervik, one of my favorite guides of the city: 

 

At the northwest corner of Second Avenue and 6th Street there is now a sign for Emigrant Savings bank. It's a typical 25 foot wide lot, but it used to be the entrance to a _________________?

Layers of NYC #30: Then...and Now?

William Kissam Vanderbilt and his wife, Alva, moved a few blocks south of the Marble Row into the first house equipped with electricity.  (Thomas ALVA Edison--bizarre coincidence--furnished the technology.) 

What Fifth Avenue store (that sells magic, thunder, and heat) now occupies the lot where that Vanderbilt mansion once glowed?

NY Video Friday: Episode 10 on the Tenth!

Robert is not going to like this, BUT these cats could be in New York. Anyway, this is GREAT.

OK, I'm swamped and this is the best I could come up with.

It's still GREAT.

Meow. Would love to hear your comments.

Layers of NYC #29: Then...and Now?

When Mary Mason Jones and her sister moved uptown and built Marble Row near Central Park, they were considered pioneers--the wealthy lived downtown near Washington Square and Gramercy Park.  The fringe of the park was considered the Wilderness.  It wasn't too long, however, before the wealthy followed the sisters uptown and this move, according to legend, is where we get the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses."

What store stands where the Marble Row once did?  (Hint:  to purchase something here is to keep up with the Joneses in the modern sense.)

Layers of NYC #28: Then...and Now? (And Actually Then)

This was New York's first grand auditorium.  Castle Garden was a massive opera house from 1840-1855 when the venue became America's first official immigration station.  From 1855-1890, the state and federal governments worked together to process the immigrants.  When the feds took over the job, New York State promptly evicted them.  (In 1892, Ellis Island opened.)  This building became the New York Aquarium until the 1940's.

What kind of edifice stands there now? 

(Hint:  it was also the original structure whose walls were part of the opera house, immigration station, and aquarium.)

Layers of NYC #27: Now...and Then?

Arguably, the ugliest of the four Madison Square Gardens, our present-day arena replaced what famous Beaux Arts structure? 

(Hint:  Its loss is one of the city's most infamous demolitions.)

NY Video Friday: Episode 9!

Sometimes great video can just be so simple.

In honor of the holiday season, as we await the first snowfall, let's look at this lovely video from the Bronx.

 

See? I'm not just about Manhattan!

Layers of NYC #26: Then...and Now?

The third Madison Square Garden (1925-1967), whose boxing ring was donated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, was the MSG where Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to JFK.  This was also the arena whose construction crew included aspiring author, John Steinbeck. 

What building now stands where the third Madison Square Garden once did?

Layers of NYC #25: Now...and Then?

Cass Gilbert (architect of the Woolworth Building and the Custom House) built the beautiful headquarters for the New York Life Insurance Company from 1926-1928. 

 

But what famous structure had to be razed in order for the New York Life to rise?