Whenever I get frustrated about how cold, or dirty, or loud, or impersonal the city is, it helps to take a moment to reflect on what drew me here- great art! The wonderful thing about New York City is the fact that art, visual and performing, both great, questionable, and small is all around.
Today was a great art day. I didn't have to go to a concert hall, a theatre, or seek out a gallery, I simply went about my business and the art found me.
My subway commute this morning was full of extraordinary music. There were jazz trumpets at Fulton Street, a Vivaldi violin concerto at 86th street, 96th street featured a stirring blues electric guitar performance and on the way back home, I was serenaded with bells and a lovely chorus of Hare Krishna devotees singing a round of mantras at Atlantic Avenue.
Ah, New York...
Impromptu music isn't New York's only artistic virtue, the city is layered in colorful paint (and I don't just mean graffiti ).
Artists make use of abandoned spaces.
You can find paintings and murals everywhere. It's a lovely thing...
My favorite is this collection of portraits that bring the otherwise dull abandoned buildings in my neighborhood to life.
Up and down Fulton street in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, the artist Alan Aine's expressive portraits are part of the neighborhoods permanent collection.
I love his work! There's a whole story behind the eyes of his subjects. And I, lucky me, get to view his creations for free.
Although this writer and former actor is no longer an eager and helplessly enthusiastic new to New York, New Yorker, taking a moment to consciously bask in the city's art brings back some of that magic.
Because, after all is said and done, despite the grit and grime, the noise, the rats and the smells, this is a magical place.
This is the city that art built; a place buzzing with inspiration, creativity, and "I'm going to make it happen!" dreams.