central park west

Food Carts To Set Up Shop In Front Of Tavern On The Green

Filed under: Dining

Food carts are coming to one of New York City's most famous dining establishments. The Tavern on the Green in Central Park was shut down on New Year's Eve and the interior decor was sold off last Januaray. But the restaurant will be a food destination again when four food carts start selling upscale fare at the Tavern's outdoor terrace on October 15. Ladles of Love will serve soups and stews with a whole grain roll. Pera Mediterranean Brasserie will feature Turkish tacos. At Rickshaw Dumplings you can fill up on dumplings stuffed with pork and Chinese chive or chicken and Thai basil. For dessert head on over to the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream truck to enjoy high-end ice creams and pastries. The four vendors were selected from a pool of 15 applicants.

The carts will be located in the area that originally housed Tavern on the Green's Crystal Room. The restaurant was originally expected to reopen this year but the new manager, New York restaurateur Dean Poll, could not agree to terms with Local 6, the labor union representing Tavern's 400 former employees and so his contract with the parks department was terminated. At this point it's unclear whether or not the parks department plans to open up a new request for proposal for the site and start the whole process again. Until then however, the new food carts will turn Tavern on the Green back into a dining destination for this willing to dine alfresco.

Tags: central park west, food carts, food trucks, new york city restaurants, tavern on the green

Artist Michael Varley at 25CPW

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

I snuck a peak into 25CPW over the weekend while taking my son for walk down Central Park West. Having been jammed for the past few weeks, I'd lost track of what's been passing through the unique gallery space on the Upper West Side. So, it was nice to have a chance to catch even a glimpse of the latest collection.

The action inside the art gallery caught my eye. New pieces were hanging, and gallery executive director Bess Greenberg was moving through the pace with a purpose, and a man I hadn't seen before wielded a paint roller at the end of a long handle. Not wanting to give up the perfect day, I pushed the stroller forward and back toward Central Park, but the curiosity stayed with me.

It turns out the new show contains selected works by Michael Varley and is on display until May 5, 2010. It can be viewed only by appointment, and the work is certainly interesting. Don't worry, there are more events coming.

Tags: art galleries, Art Gallery, artist, Artists, central park, central park west, manhattan, new york, new york city, Upper West Side

Met Museum's Guards Show Don't Just Watch: They Paint, Too

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Charity

The Upper West Side of Manhattan was once again home to an exciting and unique art exhibition last week. 25CPW, a temporary art gallery occupying a vacant retail space on Central Park West hosted an art show for a unique group within the Metropolitan Museum of Art: the guards. It turns out that some of the people protecting the masterpieces on the other side of Central Park also like to create, and from what I saw on Thursday night, when I attended the opening, they are pretty damned good at it.

The Thursday night opening also included the launch of Sw!pe Magazine: Guards' Matter, an art journal that accompanied the exhibition.

On display were paintings, drawings, photographs and other pieces. The styles varied but were displayed intelligently, preventing contrasting styles from crowding each other and leaving each artist enough space for his work to stand out. Nelson Diaz, an artist and friend who attended the how with me, was as electrified as I was – both by the works on display and the energy in the 25CPW space.

You can view the NY Times photo gallery here.

The next 25CPW event is on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 night at 6:00 PM, when the Afghan Art Auction will be held to benefit the George Dritsas Anthropos Fund. The fund was created to help refugees in transition, so do find a way to open your wallet. The money raised will also be used to help the Afghan Women Council, which seeks to assist women and children inside Afghanistan.

From the inaugural event at 25CPW:

Gallery: 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography

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Tags: art exhibit, art exhibits, art galleries, Art Gallery, art show, central park, central park west, drawing, drawings, manhattan, metropolitan, MetropolitanMuseumOfArt, new york, new york city, painting, paintings, Upper West Side

25CPW: Artists Turn Empty Upper West Side Space into Den of the Aesthetic

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Ten artists found a way to make vacant commercial space incredibly exciting. I wandered by 25 Central Park West on a walk in my neighborhood a few days ago and saw artists inside. They were hard at work cleaning, preparing and hanging their pieces. Tapping on the window was one of my smartest moves this week. By doing so, I learned of a new exhibition, which opened Wednesday night. The show, 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography, is set to run through December 13, 2009. It includes flat art and video, bringing to life an empty space in a part of Manhattan generally forgotten by the art community.

The artists, including Bess Greenberg, who gave me a tour of the space as she and the other artists prepared for opening night, have created an integrated show that doesn't sacrifice the message of each of the participants. So, in addition to a group exhibition, visitors are treated to 10 individual efforts, in which one can appreciate a specific style without having to cope with the intrusion of other pieces on his experience.

Gallery: 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography

Tags: art, art exhibit, art exhibits, art show, ArtExhibit, ArtExhibits, Artists, ArtShow, artwork, central park west, CentralParkWest, manhattan, new york, new york city, NewYork, NewYorkCity, photographic art, PhotographicArt, photographs, photography, Upper West Side, UpperWestSide

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Partagas to Award Greatest Home Cigar Spot

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

When I fire up a cigar, I'm relegated to the front stoop or the benches over on Central Park West. Many people with basements wind up converting them to makeshift home cigar lounges ... with varying degrees of effort. As a result, what should be an incredibly relaxed, enjoyable experience is tainted by a substandard environment. So, Partagas has decided to raise the bar for cigar smokers across the country.

The Dominican cigar manufacturer will award $10,000 to the cigar smoker who needs it most – to create the "ultimate Partagas Cigar Cave. Do you have ideas? Put them together. If you can demonstrate that you need a pimped out cigar space most, Partagas will deliver.

Implied, of course, is that you need to have somewhere to put it. That leaves me out of the running before it gets started, but I wish all who enter the best of luck.

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Tags: central park, central park west, CentralPark, CentralParkWest, cigar, cigar lounge, CigarLounge, cigars