Easter Break in Manhattan

 I missed the earthquake by a day and a half and could have flown back to Rio with a specially printed t-shirt boasting that “I survived NYC earthquake”! These t-shirts are a tribute to the resilient city and to the capitalistic dynamism of its quake survivors! By West Coast standards, an earthquake of 4.8 magnitude is small fry.  California’s San Andreas fault presents a far major earthquake risk because it forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American plates.  On the other hand, in the New York and New Jersey region, earthquakes are mild but common; they are linked to the Ramapo fault line which sits far from plate boundaries.  Although a tectonically calm region, a 5 to 6 magnitude earthquake could occur.  A rattle of this magnitude could cause major damages to the aging infrastructure of the very densely populated region.  Anyway, the locals should keep their cool, April 5 earthquake was the strongest in 139 years.

                                                    Manhattan skyline from my flat

I also survived four flights on different Boeing planes, but not without hitches.  New York City (JFK) is 10 hours away from Rio de Janeiro (GIG).  In order to get a cheaper business class ticket, I flew American Airlines with stop-overs in Miami and Sẩo Paulo.  The first glitch took place on the morning of my departure.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had been checked in on the non-stop flight to JFK airport.  However, at the airport counter, I was checked in my former Miami flight.  I was not pleased by the change.  Apparently, my business class seat on the Miami plane was broken and to assure my timely departure, AA had rebooked me on the non-stop flight.  Unluckily for me, the seat was repaired during the twelve-hour long GIG stop-over. 

No one seemed to be worried about flying on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which poorly assembled body could break into three bits according to the recent claim of a whistleblower.  I did not dream, but I managed to sleep throughout the flight.  The second hitch occurred in Miami airport, and was far more serious: it caused a 3-hour delayed arrival at JFK.  Our 737 Max (dreaded plane) had been towed from the gate to the taxi area; after sitting idle for a while the captain told us that we had to be towed back to the gate.  He could not crank up the plane engine (he used a more sophisticated wording).  These recent experiences support my views that Boeing has safety concerns (well publicized in the media) and the airlines have grave maintenance shortcomings (less exposed).  

Stuck for three hours at Miami airport, I had plenty of time to read.  An article in the Economist attracted my attention because related to my impending “culture vulturing” in Manhattan.  A different Sort of Art Heist, (March 30^th) disclosed that major capital’s museums are raising ticket prices to sky-high levels and that Americans are going less to museums, minus 26% between 2017 and 2022.  In NYC, MOMA is now charging US$ 30 for a visit.  My museum budget is high but thanks to the generosity of friends who are museum members and some old UN perks, I manage to keep it financially affordable.  I have no such contacts in Paris where, in spite of generous public grants, museums have been upping their prices as well.  Staff expenses are ballooning because European museums cannot use like in the USA, an army of volunteers to keep costs down.  I guess museums want people to become sponsors and members.

My UN retiree ID allows me to visit MOMA for free; I like to look around its collections and discover artists I never heard of.  On Easter day, I spent 5 hours at the Met, often alone in its remote rooms.  I paid $20, suggested price for senior residents.  My expired NY State driving license is still a valid ID.  I also went to the American Museum of Natural History, AMNH ($28 general admission) for free, thanks to complimentary tickets given by a friends who works as a volunteer. The Neue Galerie is old-world, but a rip off, the most expensive ticket per exhibit of the lot.  It costs $28 to see less than 25 Klimt paintings.  Its Café Sabarsky offers Viennese food at exorbitant prices, I paid $30 for a small dish of humble Spätzle!  Fortunately, there are still museums worth visiting and worth the money.  A friend and I discovered the Bard Cultural Center, homed in an Upper West Side brownstone.  We enjoyed a very creative exhibition of the multi-faceted work of Sonia Delaunay.

                                                             Subway (tile) art.

In Manhattan, I ride the subway a lot, even after night shows.  Though, the stations are derelict, often dirty and populated by foul-smelling homeless people (I read somewhere that some 4000 people call the subway home), I feel quite safe contrary to the perception of many New Yorkers.  Crime perception is becoming reality.  Apparently state troopers have been deployed by the governor, I haven’t seen them, may be because I ride in the most gentrified parts of the city. 

My return flight also on a Dreamliner was uneventful.