My Urban Sherpa

Walk on Water

If you weren’t lucky enough to create your own Exodus from the steamy apple today, create your own miracle by keeping cool.

Cool your feet in the fountains behind the Hayden Planetarium, or your entire self in the wonderfully air-conditioned and endless halls of the American Museum of Natural History.

Suggestion for a sunny day

As the ladies who lunch have long known, nothing compliments a sunny day better than a fabulous hat.

Stylish and lovable hats, these hats are handmade, reversible, machine washable, and one of a kind. Extravagant enough to be the perfect gift, practical enough to justify purchase, these hats are available from David Rodriguez, milliner and mayor of Stanton Street.

Casa Rodriguez is located at 156 Stanton Street.

The stars will be out at Yankee Stadium

We already told you about this being the last hurrah for Yankee Stadium…so what could be better than Major League Baseball bestowing the annual All-Star Game upon the House that Ruth Built?

Starting with the Home Run Derby on Monday, July 14 right up to mid-season classic the following night, baseball’s royalty will descend on the Bronx. Legends like Reggie Jackson and Whitey Ford will mingle with some of today’s pinstriped heroes (e.g. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Alex Rodriguez) and for one night, we’re all ten years old again.

Looking for some sunshine?

Head to Dylan’s at the corner of Third Avenue and 60th Street for candy in every color and fun for every fun-lover. Children will delight at the dazzling selection of sweets. Adults indulge in the nostalgia of long ago coveted penny candies – Pop Rocks, Sugar Daddies, Fizz, Mary Jane. All enjoy a respite from a gloomy day at the closest visit to Willy Wonka’s this side of the television.

Lizards & Snakes: Alive

Squamates at the American Museum of Natural History. Through January 25, 2009.

Manhattan’s first real estate deal

Did the Dutch really buy Manhattan for $24? According to historian Kenneth C. Davis, “the first Dutch settlers to arrive on the narrow, twelve-mile long island of Manhattan didn’t bother to pay the Indians for the land they chose for their settlement.” However, when Peter Minuit became leader of the settlement in 1626, he decided it would be salutary to meet with the local chiefs and make it official.

The deal involved two boxes of goods (believed to be hatchets, cloth, metal pots, and bright beads) that were worth 60 Dutch guilders. Sixty Dutch guilders, in 1626, were worth 2400 English cents and that is where the infamous $24 figure comes from.

(Mickey Z. can be found here)

Welcome to the melting pot (and we don’t mean the weather)

The first black setters in NYC were some 10 or 12 Angolan men who disembarked as slaves in 1625. By 1644, they were granted freedom.

The first Italian settler in NYC: Pietro Cesare Alberto in 1635.

The first Jewish settler in NYC: Jacob bar Simson in 1654.

The first Chinese New Yorker was Ah Ken, a Cantonese who set foot in NYC in 1858.

The first sign of a melting pot: In the 1643 words of Jesuit missionary Father Isaac Jogues, “On the island of Manhate, and in its environs, the Director General told me that there were men of eighteen different languages.”

Mark Morris’ Romeo and Juliet at BARD Summerscapes

Through June 9, Bard Summerscape presents Mark Morris’ choreography of the original Prokofiev 1935 interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. Relying on documents discovered by Princeton musicologist Simon Morrison, this production is the first Prokofiev ballet to be performed according to the composer’s instructions. The accompanying American Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Leon Botstein. This unique interpretation holds a happy ending, for the young lovers, and the audience.

Fourth of July Weekend: Coney Island

Located some nine miles south of Manhattan and covering a space 16 blocks long and two blocks wide is Coney Island (”Coney” for the type of rabbits originally found there, “Island” because it was once an island). While its first hotel, the Coney Island House, was erected in 1829, it wasn’t until 1895 that the amusement park era began in earnest. As a testament to Coney Island’s irresistible and universal appeal, consider that the resort attracted millions of visitors a year—well before the first subway was built to reach it in 1920.

As difficult as it may be to imagine in the age of the space shuttle, many of the famed playland’s rides were originally inspired by some rather mundane modes of transportation. For example, historian John F. Kasson cites the Switchback Railroad as the forerunner of the roller coaster. “The creator of the Switchback, LaMarcus Thompson, had discovered an abandoned coal mine where people eagerly paid to coast down the shafts in gravity-powered coal cars,” writes Kasson. Next stop: the Cyclone.

Today, Coney Island still attracts sun worshippers, fun seekers, baseball fans, and anyone in search of real-time NYC history.

(Mickey Z. can be found here)

Looking for a $22 glass of Pinot Grigio?

The rooftop lounge, Mad46, a hip new addition to the Roosevelt hotel, offers a sunlit space where you can enjoy a Mojito in style. Well-dressed men and scantily dressed women mingle with Madonna’s newest songs wafting in the background. With limited hours - and limited space - reservations are recommended.

212.885.6095
Madison Avenue at 46th Street