Tag Archives: nyc

Diversions: Sveta in the City

January 12, 2020 Hobie Leave a comment

The next day, on Saturday, we checked out at 8am, and headed right into the city. The weather was unseasonably warm for NJ/NY in January, with the temps hitting the high 60s, which followed the prior days being in the 30s and 40s. It was a perfect day to show NYC to Sveta, as there was no traffic going into the city and very little tourist traffic in the city. We parked at 53rd & 6th, then walked up 6th to look for a breakfast place. Walked by Rue 57 and had to laugh as we were there around 8:45am and the hostess inside just glared at us while we futilely tried to open the door, realizing it wasn’t open till 9am. We strolled up another block to see that Jam’s Restaurant was open, so screw you Rue 57. It was a delightful breakfast and had mostly nice ambience to give Sveta a taste of fun NYC restaurants, although the shrieking toddlers in attendance made us want to do horrible things. Ah well, you can’t have it all it seems.

After a nice, leisurely breakfast, we continued walking up 6th and into Central Park, meandering around the lower section of the park, with me pointing out the area landmarks that I knew, and reminiscing about Larry’s love for running there. Seeing all the runners around made me miss him more. He loved his weekend runs there. Made it to Bethesda Fountain, then headed west to 72nd St, where we were able to see the Strawberry Fields area, the Dakota, my old apartment, and then turned south on Broadway to walk back to Midtown.

View from the hotel window

Sveta’s first NYC pic in Midtown

Super skinny building

At Jam’s

It was a nice, expensive breakfast

Back in Central Park, one of Larry’s favorite places

The skyline has transformed even in just 10 years

The main promenade

On the way to Bethesda Fountain

Nicki and Sveta at an empty Bethesda Fountain

Strawberry Fields / Imagine

Thinking of John Lennon

My old apartment, now with black exterior

Walking down Broadway

Hotel Empire, where Larry and I loved to stay

In front of the Time Warner center

Birds-eye Time Warner

On our way to Rockefeller Center

At 50th, we headed to Rockefeller Center to visit the Top of the Rock observation deck. I think it’s the most spectacular view of NYC over all the others. Got some great photos in. Saw the Rink, we went to Magnolia Bakery so Nicki could get some banana pudding, and by then our feet were exhausted. It was time for lunch by this point, and while sitting by a fountain out front of Rock Center, I realized Ippudo Westside was nearby, so we continued over there, enjoying the sights. Happily, no wait to get seated there for lunch, and dammmmn it was good. Didn’t have time for more activities as they were flying out that afternoon at 5, and we managed to get back to the car right at 2, with them dropping me off back at Fran and Joel’s around 2:30pm, and they headed off to Newark.

Radio City Music Hall from the visitors center

Not crowded today

Had to get the touristy pic

Up on the first level of Top of the Rock

These towers are crazy

Still can’t imagine living in that 432 Park building

Up a level and looking south towards the ESB

Always such a cool vista

Look at us all photogenic and shit in NYC

Panoooraaaammmaaa

Hi ESB

The big Vanderbilt One building near PwC

The unassuming PwC building is there

Chrysler Building hides

Hudson Yards looking crazy

On the very top level

Fashion Shoot

Capturing part of the Comcast & Peacock logo

Sveta and logo

Wild interiors

Dramatic interiors

The Rockefeller Tree was still there!

As is the Rink, but that sticks around for a bit longer until spring

Eating at Ippudo Westside, and pretty sure this was the same table from 2014

delicious….

The MOMA Tower

Bye NYC

At Fran and Joel’s I was pretty fucking exhausted, and I ended up taking a short nap while Fran and a bunch of her girlfriends were talking. Joel’s brother Herbie and his wife Aileen were also there, and I got to chat with them. Pretty much there was gabbing going on until about 10:30pm, and by that point I was done, D-U-N. Managed to sleep pretty great on the couch this time.

Today, Sunday, I was flying back home, but not until 4pm. Joel, Fran and I had a nice talk over breakfast about the future and what it holds – I do feel that I was wrong about my initial assessment and I feel terrible that I ever said it to Larry. This family is my family, and they’re not casting me out. I am relieved, as my own families (by blood) are just really not a big aspect of my life anymore, regrettably. Stacie called and during the call, got a chance to talk to Fran. I guess Larry’s watch is going to Trent. That’s good with me. A second shiva was being hosted today at Fran’s, starting at 2. But people came over earlier of course, with Herbie and Aileen coming over late in the morning, David & Donna stopping by briefly and then heading out as they were flying home to Florida today. Jon & Alyssa, Brad & Tina were over earlier too, and I was glad to get to say goodbye to them again. I headed out at 1:45pm and now I’m on a flight headed home. Some part of me is relieved for this weekend to be done, but I also can’t help but brace for what is to come in the months (and years)to come.

Pics from the flight home to LA:

just a post, pictures

Recovery from the Hepatic Pump Surgery, Sept & Oct 2019

October 1, 2019 Hobie Leave a comment

Note: I’m writing this from April 2020 – I did not post much of anything at all on my site during 2019 as Larry’s illness, my mom’s issues, and just general malaise kept my website motivation low.

After Larry’s surgery in the beginning of September, and the time he spent in the hospital at Memorial Sloan Kettering for immediate recovery, I ended up having to go home. I left a day before he was finally released. It was shitty timing as I thought I had given myself enough time before flying back to ensure I’d be there when he went back to Fran’s, but his recovery just required more time. I hated to leave, but I knew he’d be surrounded by family and would be totally fine. Of course me being home alone and away from home sucked, but it was going to be okay as he needed that time to recover before coming back to LA. By all accounts, while he did have his moments of grouchiness and apathy, Larry kept fighting to get stronger and recover. I flew back at the end of September for another week or so to be there with him as he kept getting stronger. It did seem at this time that he was on his way towards the next phase of the fight, as what was going to happen next was after recovering enough from the surgery, the chemo treatments would begin through the hepatic pump, in addition to some chemo through the prior method. We had so much hope, and with this aggressive approach, there was every reason to think we were going to be able to take it on directly. We never let him think otherwise. We had to have hope and continue to believe in it. It really was our only option at that point, and to know that the new chemo basically did nothing just kills me. Larry went through a lot for this surgery. We all did. I just can’t understand how he didn’t get any luck at this point. He was 44.

I have all these photos on my hard drive and I can look at them whenever, but I want him present all over this site and this last year documented. September and onwards are hard for me to go through again, but I will. We had many fun memories earlier this year too, so I will continue to go backwards on this posting schedule and remember the love and the fun. I have to.

Pictures during Recovery:

September 29 in Fort Lee

Getting Larry’s strength back up with walking

Larry my love

The Rausches came to visit

I had gotten out there on Sept 28, and we spent time just hanging out and enjoying company and food. I did continue to work while there, and one day I did go in to the PwC NY office to just get a chance to see the crew. I took the Edgewater ferry again like last time, and this day I also had some after-work drinks with the gang (Gabriela, Wayne, Gracie and Sam). It had been raining like crazy so we didn’t go far, but it was still fun.

Oct 2 in NYC

View towards Hudson Yards

With the gang after work for needed drinks

New York Public Library

Looking east on 42nd

Taking the ferry back to Edgewater

Goodbye ferry terminal

Manhattan and Times Square

Hudson Yards

I don’t remember all the details of what we did the rest of my time there. Lots of walks in the park to help build up Larry’s endurance and strength, that’s for sure. On Sunday, Oct 6, Larry and I borrowed Fran’s car and we drove it to go see Judy at the AMC in Jersey, and then after that we went to the nearby mall (I do NOT know my Jersey geography, so I could not tell you where) where there was a Barnes & Noble and a Rosa Mexicano. It was at that Barnes & Noble that I picked up the Instant Pot cookbook before even having an Instant Pot! We then had one of our last dinners together at Rosa Mexicano. It was sorta early but it was nice. We both enjoyed Judy and it was a motivator to then listen to Rufus Wainwright’s take on “Judy at Carnegie Hall” on the car ride back to Fort Lee. I can still vividly remember sitting with him for dinner that day. We always just had such a nice easy way of being around each other. I miss him so much.

This is a pic from that day once we were home:

Together back at Fran’s – Larry’s so beardy

Looking back at my calendar, I see that I was there until October 10, flying home but Larry staying put for a little bit longer. He wouldn’t come home until Oct 19.

Here are some random pictures from the rest of October:

We went to Arby’s in Reseda!

Larry at Bloomingdales’ Central Perk set

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Pt 3: The Whitney, The High-Line, and More!

June 24, 2017 Hobie Leave a comment

A long line of picture posts has preceded this one, including the La La Land HBowl & the first few days back east, followed by the first half of our big day down at the WTC area. That post took a long time though and I had to end it so I could get some sleep – but let’s try to finish up these pics, why don’t we?

When last we met, Larry & I had just left the One WTC Observation Deck (and 2 glasses of wine each), so we were a bit hungry now. Across the street is a mall that has something similar to Eataly (Mario Batali’s high-end take on an Italian-based food market) but for French food, and that sounded amazing. Thanks, Stuart, for the recommendation! So we went there to get some delicious rotisserie chicken and then took a seat at the wine bar and savored the food with some beaujolais. mmm….

After that, we then walked back to the Oculus to get on the subway and head back up north a little bit, close to the Meatpacking district. Took a few more photos of the Oculus as the sun was out in full force by this point.

Wed, May 31 – Lunchtime and the Oculus revisited

The Brookfield mall that housed our fancy French lunch place

World Financial Center downtown

Wine bar

The Oculus gleaming in the sunlight

It really is a like a monster

Up at the Meatpacking district area, we walked west towards the hip parts, walking through and noticing some places weren’t there any more (goodbye Black Market, White Market?), before getting to the site of the new Whitney Museum of American Art. I hadn’t been to this new location yet, as it had moved from the Upper East Side a few years back. Larry had visited it and was up for seeing it again, and it has some pretty great vistas for just the surrounding area. Happily, our LACMA membership got us free admission, and we were near the end of their opening hours, so we did a very quick run through of just a few floors, while also making sure to take in some of the rooftop sights.

The Whitney Museum

There’s the Standard Hotel

The cobblestone streets of the Meatpacking District

Outside the Whitney

It’s art to just see a silhouette

View out to the Hudson

This actually is art

The Whitney is mostly modern art

Up on the roof, the view during a beautiful day is pretty amazing

The Standard

Looking south from where we’d just come

1WTC

The Observatory is part of the top 3 floors

So NY

Hi Empire State Building

We’ve been to that bar in the Standard

More art

The location of the Whitney is also a fantastic spot for walking the High Line, NYC’s elevated park, which has an end point right there and allows you to meander north through 20-30 great blocks of NYC. It’s a very rich area and while the park itself is very narrow, it’s a fun thing to do. Although by that point, it must be said, our feet were killing us by the end of it.

Walking the High Line

Saruon awaits

The southern end of the High Line

It’s a great public space to wander through

Larry

You go under the Standard

Looking back to the Whitney

10th Avenue can be looked at as it goes underneath

10th Ave can be looked at as it goes underneath

As can the people watching

Lots of architecturally interesting buildings to gawk at

Back on teh ground as make our way back to our hotel

That was our day of sightseeing! It was quite exhausting but the day was gorgeous and totally worth doing. Back at our hotel, we took a well-deserved nap to get some energy, as we weren’t exactly done with going out and doing stuff. That night, Larry found us a cool ramen place that we could get reservations at in the Lower East Side called Ivan’s Ramen. Larry even navigated us there successfully over subway and sidewalk! There was a threat of rain, and while it did sprinkle a little, no biggie. And our reservation actually was useful, as we only waited a little bit of time before getting seats at the bar. It was a fun meal, with a very friendly waiter (and some particularly attractive waiters elsewhere in the restaurant). The ramen was a unique take on it, and good, but it definitely varied from what you’d expect a ramen to taste like. We ended up being one of the last few people there before closing (this was a Wednesday, so it’s not staying open until 2am), and we then had a nice journey back before crashing at the hotel for a well-earned rest.

Ivan’s Ramen

We had a seat at the bar at Ivan’s Ramen

My beer was a Ramen beer from Europe

Larry (and hot waiter in the background)

And that concludes that epic day and this post. More to come from that week o’ fun.

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Pt 2: Our World Trade Center Day

June 19, 2017 Hobie Leave a comment

Because this series of pictures could go on forever, I had to take a break yesterday and thus break up the posts (the latest Twin Peaks was on and it isn’t gonna watch itself, people…twice). The previous post was about the first few days of our week off, and so this one will focus on the remainder…

Wed, May 31, 2017: Starting the day off

Unimpressed with our hotel’s breakfast

Cool view of the ESB though!

Me, with a super genuine smile

The subway we took to get down to the WTC

So this day, the plan was to visit the area down by the World Trade Center. We were there when the project finally started getting built, but even by 2010, it was still not very much higher up than above ground level. But in the last 6-7 years, definitely lots of progress was made:

Back in 2009 – just a large pit:

Then in 2011 – a giant amount of height achieved:

And in 2012 – we got a bit closer to see the progress:

By late 2013, the building had been topped out, but it still took a while before everything inside opened up, and it wasn’t until the last year or so that the observation deck and the 9/11 Museum were open, although by this point, the memorial waterfalls were open:

Anyway, it’s been a long road for this complex to be all open. Beside the construction of One WTC (formerly the “Freedom Tower”), there is also the construction of the Oculus, the other-worldly train station adjacent to 1WTC. It’s kind of stunning to see and very hard to describe, so here are the pictures I took when we exited the subway right into the Oculus….

Pics from our Arrival at the Oculus

From the floor of the Oculus

A multi-billion dollar train station? Sure, why not.

It is mesmerizing to behold

It was a little cloudy, but you can see 1WTC through the roof

Outside you can see the sci-fi aspects that much more

We had reserved tickets for the morning to explore the 9/11 National Museum, which is quite an experience. It’s built underground and includes quite a few artifacts from Ground Zero, as well as a lot of meaningful displays around that day. Eerily, it has the footprints of the original towers as something you walk around, and a few galleries are within that original footprint. The main gallery, and by far the most intense, is that which walks you through the day as it began, as it occurred, and the immediate and long-term aftermath. They advise children not to enter this and I can’t see anyone under 10 ever going in there, as it’s quite intense to have everything brought back to you. There are some quite graphic displays that make you mad and sad all over again. Throughout the museum as a whole, it’s a combination of awe at how well designed and presented the museum while experiencing it with tears in your eyes.

The 9/11 Museum

Entrance to the 9/11 Memorial Museum

You continue to walk down a ramp to get to the main floor of the museum

This is an original, in-place surrey wall that kept water from the bay flooding in to the foundations

Looking down at the last support beam

Part of the lattice frame where one of the airliners crashed into one of the buildings

These blue panels are artist interpretations of the color of the sky that day

This is the footprint of the original towers

And in the ground, you can see where the building bolted in

This became a last remaining place to craft memorials for those lost

The escalator out

Some of the exterior frame

Afterwards, it was a nice thing to go from remembering the horror of September 11 and then visit what has been built since…One World Trade Center. It’s a quite impressive feat of engineering. We had purchased a timed priority pass, so we could pass by the main line and go straight to the elevators. And man, that elevator ride alone is worth the price of admission as it’s completely covered in video screens that show a chronological evolution of NYC from before the 1600s. As you go higher (and you get to the top in a VERY short amount of time) you catch up to current time, with a brief view of the original Twin Towers.

At the top, you then line up against a railing looking at a video screen of NYC activity, and then triumphantly, a stunning reveal is made at the end of the video. I won’t completely ruin it, but it really must be seen to be believed. It was a fantastic, jaw-dropping moment before heading out to the main observatory floor.

The sun had finally come out by that point – happily, that was the case as the days before were gloomy and rainy. So yeah, getting a view was a relief, although it wasn’t crystal clear. But the view? Amazing. I need to find my pictures from when my dad and I walked all of Manhattan and visited the top deck of the old WTC, as this is quite a spectacular view. I won’t bombard this post with every pic I took, but a few highlights are in order. Before we left, Larry & I had to go and get a few drinks on the top of the world – so we grabbed 2 glasses of the exclusive ONE white wine each. It’s a unique feeling to just drink and look down over a thousand feet to the world.

Visiting One World Trade Center’s Observation Deck

Jersey City

LIberty Island

Mouth of the Hudson

Larry with our guided iPad experience

Looking down at the start of the West Side run

Still not sure what the Sky Portal was

Inside the Observation platform

The city silhouette to keep you from sitting on the grill

Lots of development around Port Imperial

My old apartment complex

Ah, Manhattan

Midtown!

Some of these buildings are just crazy

ESB and 432 Park

30 Rock

So High Up

Towards the Bridges

Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges

Brooklyn

The Oculus from above

Closer view

The memorial waterfalls

Better pics of us

At our perch in the bar

So high up

At the bar

The stunning view

Looking up the building

The Oculus looks like a Pokemon from here

At the memorial waterfalls

And the day was not over – but I think I need to get ready to go to bed. So yeah, this is Pt 2 of my pictures posts, but really, it’s just the first part of this one day as we walked a LOT that day.

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A Pictures-palooza From the Last Month – Pt 1

June 18, 2017 Hobie Leave a comment

Normally, I’d insist on showing absolutely every picture I took….but I realize that will take a lot of time and effort. So we’ll have to do a bit of editing, although I’m pretty sure it’ll still look as if I posted every picture I took. What can you do?

It has been a busy month or so, since last I posted, whether it was work or vacation. Work was especially intense and I can actually see a finish line for this engagement, if that can be believed. Probably shouldn’t jinx myself though, so I’ll leave it at that.

Sat, May 27, 2017: Starting Memorial Day Weekend with La La Land @ the Bowl

During Memorial Day weekend, Larry & I were heading out to New Jersey & NYC to spend the week with friends and family and to be able to attend our niece’s baby naming ceremony. But before we headed back, I had bought us tickets to the La La Land in Concert @ the Hollywood Bowl….and it was great and a wonderful way to kick off the Hollywood Bowl season. The kicker in this concert was that the orchestra would play the entire soundtrack while the movie played, and for this, they also included a jazz band, and there was a fantastic piano player who quite deftly played all the Sebastian music. Pretty great experience, and aided by fireworks that kicked in at various moments in the movie. Gotta love fireworks!

Sun, May 28: Flying to Newark

Happily, flying out of LAX in the middle of a long holiday weekend isn’t a complete shitshow, and even while you can’t ever escape traffic at the terminal, we were still able to get in and to the gate pretty easily. Pro-Tip: Get yourself Pre-Check. Everything is easier once that’s accomplished.

I liked these pictures I took right after take-off, looking back at Los Angeles and the area around Rancho Palos Verdes.

Ready to leave at LAX

Arrival at Newark

That first night, we got picked up by Fran & Joel and hung out at their place, eating some delicious New Jersey pizza. Then it was time to pass out and hope we could get some sleep.

Mon, May 29: A Day with Jon, Alyssa, Stacey & Rachel

Our first full day back was going to be spent with the Rausches as we never get to see them. Plus, the baby naming ceremony for Rachel was the following weekend and that was going to be a hectic, stressful day for them. So here, we could just relax and have a nice day. Which we totally did, as we hung out at their house for a while, chatting, having a few drinks, eating lunch, and getting to play with Stacey & Rachel. We then went to the local zoo! It may have been kind of dreary and rainy, but it was still fun. It was back to the house for some more Lego Batman movie watching and games directed by Stacey before we then went to a wonderful dinner with just Jon & Alyssa as Fran & Joel picked up babysitting duties. In other words, it was a really fun day.

Larry feeds Rachel

Joel & Stacey

Time for the Carousel!

Jon, Larry, and Stacey

All aboard!

I’m not the one who put that other sign above this one

Yay!

They have a giraffe paddock at this zoo

Larry & Rachel continue bonding

Awwww

Chilling out

Fun at the table

Yay for self-timers

At dinner

Jon & Larry

Me & Alyssa

Me & Jon

Great pic of Larry & Alyssa

Tues, May 30 – Larry’s Birthday!

So this day was a day with Fran in NYC as well as us starting a temporary hotel stay in the city for a few days to be tourists and enjoy the old neighborhoods a bit. First on the agenda was heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the UES, as hello, it’s awesome there. After Fran fearlessly navigated her way there – btw, the city seems to be a whole lot more crowded as lots of streets are under refurbishment? – we walked the few blocks to the Met and took in a few exhibits before heading to the roof. It’s got a spectacular view of Midtown framed by a tree-top view of Central Park. See for yourself!

Back in Larry’s old hood

Mom and son

Out front of the Met

We were NYers, once

Inside the Rei Kawakubo exhibit

Lots of art as fashion

Some you could see as wearable

Up top

Looking west to the UWS

Panorama

There’s art up top too

432 Park is super tall – and was lost in clouds today

Mesmerizing Midtown – ever more tall buildings going up

You’re a very wealthy millionaire if you live there

Inside the Egyptian wing

hadn’t been here since we left NYC at the end of 2010

We then had lunch at the Atlantic Grill, which was the restaurant that Larry literally lived right above when he used to live on 76th St. When you’d walk up to his place, you’d walk right by the windows of the restaurant that faced his building’s little courtyard. So we were back! It’s a great seafood restaurant and was a very nice way to celebrate his birthday.

At this point, Fran dropped us off over on the UWS as she headed back to New Jersey, and we then grabbed an Uber to take us to our hotel in Chelsea, the Hyatt House. It was a fairly new building with just a few rooms per floor as the building is quite narrow, and it didn’t seem very crowded. Also, it’s in a great location as you’re near Midtown but not quite in it, while also handy to a few subway lines. Anyway, after checking in and getting settled, we had a show to catch, as Fran had gotten us tickets to see “Kinky Boots” on Broadway. It’s a fun show about a British shoe company that is down on its luck until it realizes there’s a market for drag queen shoes. It’s an enjoyable, fun musical with some standout performances, notably by the main queen, Lola, as well as the young owner of the shoe factory, played here by the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco. A lot of catchy numbers made for a very fun show – definitely recommended.

Afterwards, we walked over to Hell’s Kitchen to grab a meal at one of our favorite places, Five Napkin Burger…so goood.