A Night at the Museum A few weeks ago, as a surprise gift for our anniversary, my wife got us a night’s stay at the Revolving Hotel Room, part of theanyspacewhatever exhibition at the Guggenheim. Created by Carsten H�ller, the room is a remarkable art installation that...
Six Is Letting Go It’s the first year that the anniversary didn’t hang over everything I do. I’m still aware of it, I’ll always be aware of it, but time and distance and some amount of willful disbelief have dimmed the sharpness of the remembrance. On the afternoon of...
How to Visit New York: What You Can Skip Okay, this is the one that’s going to get me in the most trouble: A list of the famous tourist attractions that you can safely skip when you come to New York City. After covering the basics and the must-sees, it only stands to reason that there’s...
How to Visit New York: The Must-Sees After yesterday’s look at the basics of visting New York City, it’s time to move on to some more ambitious, and more contentious, topics. I’m going to start with my short list of the sights you simply must see if you get to the city. Knowing already...
After Five Years, Failure In 2001, I checked in with everyone on the morning of the attacks, and then again that night before I finally went to bed. In 2002, I reflected on what it is to be an American. And it was just as important to me to note that we’re all wrong. In 2003,...
Draw the Map, Draw the World The Sunday New York Times ran a fantastic article by Alex Mindlin, Win, Lose, Draw: The Great Subway Map Wars that details a battle that has brewed, off and on, for the past 30 years. There are, it seems, at least two distinct systems of belief...
I'm in the Time Shares Exhibition I’m flattered, somewhat amazed, and more than a little amused to point out that I’m part of Time Shares, a series of online exhibitions presented by Rhizome and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Alongside the works of geniuses like Golan Levin and...
Four Years I can’t see the date anywhere today without just stopping, freezing in my tracks. It surprises me it’s still that close to the surface, even after four years. Even after writing about it over and over and over and over. Even after being 3000 miles...
Thinking of You Dear New York, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there today. I feel guilty that I couldn’t be present to observe. I had to look up the weather there to find out it was, again, a clear, beautiful day in September. I almost wish it weren’t, because I know that...
New York Invented Christmas It probably comes as little surprise to most of my readers that I’m known for being something of a Scrooge. A healthy skepticism over the sincerity of holiday wishes when extended by complete strangers combined with a bone-deep contempt for...
Two Years I’ve never been mugged. I grew up in a town where the impression of New York City was basically either "That place you go to get mugged." or "That place you go to see a Broadway show, but be careful you don’t get mugged!" Still,...
Marathon-watching for lazy slobs Yesterday was the 33rd NYC Marathon. Every year since I moved to New York, I’ve tried to get out there to support the runners, but watching the race this year was even more fun in the past. So I’ve compiled a list of ways that people who are lazy...