Black Cafe aka Cafe Noir

I really like their burgers and cheese plate. I have been here a few times and its simple. No muss...no fuss. Good to go with a friend to chat and just be somewhere. It is a very local spot. Meaning you really dont deal with all of the idiots on the street reading the menu and blocking the door. They almost lost their amazing location but just resigned their lease for another 2 years! Yippie Skippy!

Cafe Noir

32 Grand St. Manhattan, NY 212-431-7910

Rare View at the Shelburne

Me...a girl took a guy on a date here because he lived right around the corner. I scored some serious cool points. Random crowd but worth dealing with them for the view. The crowd being typical Murray Hill. Think either jewish guys trying to hard or the really dorky finance type that is probably from Boston or Penn. This also means bring your own crowd or date so you dont have to deal with these blue button down shirt wearing fellas. Go during the week so its not too crowded!

Rare View

303 Lexington Ave., rooftop(37th St.)Manhattan, NY212-481-8439

Calling ALL Smokers

For a nonsmokers...this place is still a great time. The music selection is on point. Its a great place to meet friend after work to grab a drink. Their mini menu of munchies also provides something to nibble on while you are partaking in one of their concoctions! I recommend the spinach dip or filet mignon crossiants! Amazing!

Circa Tabac

32 Watts St.(bet. 6th Ave. & Thompson St.)Manhattan, NY212-941-1781

Zoos: Bronx vs. Central Park

The Bronx Zoo is the largest urban zoo in the world. It's like the Louvre of Zoos -it could take several visits to see it all! Whether you have kids or just like jungle animals (kevin) -the zoo is a great way to spend an afternoon and we often have guests asking about them. The set up of the viewing is exceptional -right over on the rock are lions sunning. Walking tall right next to you, giraffes and the indoor exhibits are amazing as well -obviously the baboon, ape exhibit being exceptional.

The Central Park Zoo is a faaaaar second. You could finish the entire thing in 20 mins, starting with the seals, then the penguins (lots to see but the enclosed viewing area is cramped and really hot. There's like one polar bear who you're lucky to catch and the red pandas are clandestine and you're lucky to catch a glimpse of their red hair. The bird section is well done and pretty large.Both places have amazing zoo shops that are ridiculously overpriced but you actually can't leave without buying some stuffed animal replica of your favorite animal of the day.If the guests are willing to take the extended trip the Bronx Zoo is much more of a sight to see. The Central Park Zoo is an extremely edited zoo suitable for those who are mainly headed to the park and want something quick to entertian the kids.

Courtest of M.E.

Brooklyn Museum

This was my first trip to the Brooklyn Museum and I must say I totally loved it. It was a Wednesday and I arrived around 2pm. It wasn't crowded at all, very spacious and easy to take in the work. It felt much different than the overly populated Met or MOMA. The foyer welcomes you with multiple Auguste Rodin bronze sculptures before you get to the ticket kiosk.

Admission: Suggested Contribution: $10; Students with Valid ID: $6; Adults 62 and over: $6; Members: Free;
Children under 12: Free
Hours: Wednesday–Friday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Get detailed hours
Subway: Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum Get detailed directions

There is a substantial spread of art from all over the world. I didn't get a chance to check out the Chinese art but the African art section is full of tribal masks, headdresses and figures from all over the continent. There are also a few looping videos of tribal dances where you get to see the head pieces in action. These are fun to watch.

Decorative Arts floor was really intriguing. There were renovated parts of old homes from the late 1800's on display. The Moorish Room was one of my favorites. It was a section of an old 1860's New York town house with many intricate Victorian/Moroccan looking details on the ceiling and moldings. Another piece that blew me away was an old French iron gate from 1900. Wrought by hand these Art Nouveau styled butterfly wing gates are so complex I was thoroughly amazed with the precision.

Highlight now thru Sept. 20th
Yinka Shonicare MBE:British born Nigerian artist (1962) works with diverse artistic mediums exploring ideas about African contemporary identity & the legacy of European colonialism. There are headless mannequins wearing traditional European colonial dresses & suits made from brightly colored fabric in an African palette. The opening piece is a headless female mannequin adorned in a vibrant dress with a big bustle, lead this headless mannequin are 3 ocelots on leashes.
Another remarkable piece is the The Swing: inspired by Fragonard's 1767 painting the swing. It' basically a 3D sculpture version of the painting with a headless woman in mid swing hanging from a lush tree branch kicking her shoe off.

The Museum of Natural History

Obviously all is still the same and awesome as far as the permanent exhibits -to be honest, I didn't even get through a 1/4 of them. I thought I should try and see the special exhibits.I saw the exhibits Climate Change and Journey to the Stars. Climate Change was somewhat boring -especially for kids. I thought it would have some sort of impact but it fell short. The most interesting thing was the globe of the world that turned and you could press a button to see the world at night. Not surprisingly the US shined brightest and it made me feel sad. They explored the polar bears and how global warming is melting the ice caps which makes the swim too long for them and they drown :(naturally they showed many large flourescent charts that highlight the warming of the earth as a whole and how that makes for more typhoons, hurricanes and overall storms. toward the end of the exhibit they gave the spectator a chance to commit to making efforts to improve these deteriorating circumstances by decreasing their carbon footprint. they also showed how we can use other means to create energy like wind turbines and how productive they are, etc.Journey to the Stars was much more interesting. What's not interesting about stars? This particular 'journey' (narrated by Whoopie Goldberg, who is great but I think Morgan Freeman would have been much more effective/appropriate) made you feel as if we humans were like The Who's in 'Horton Hears a Who'. It seriously opened your mind to the concept of us being tiny little specs in this grand universe the expanse of which we haven't even touched upon -our minds, are not even capable of comprehending. It absolutely blew my mind! It's not that I haven't explored this notion before and been blown away by it but seeing it in this exhibit just really reminds you that all of this is so insignificant. It's great and a great recommendation for those of all ages.

Courtest of ME

The American Museum of Natural History

http://www.amnh.org/

Flying Trapeze

I had a guest request two spots for a flying trapeze class this past week, so I thought it would be a great time to try it out! If you visit the website, it's pretty simple to book the class, they have various types per which level acrobat you are. They have about 10 people per class- and you can see how many spots are left on the schedule. There's a bunch of information to fill out- billing address, email, phone numbers, emergency contact..yadyada.. this also pertains to the "one time registration fee" which is 22$- you only have to fill this info out once, as well as pay that fee once.

They suggest to wear longer pants- more like spandex or yoga pants or my pants? And tight tops- anything loose on your body has the possibility of getting caught-so you have to take off jewelry too. The long pants are for not getting to banged up by the net- which I was bruised by.

The duration of the class is two hours, and you are with three instructors. The class begins with doing a simple swing across, tuck, and land. The whole class takes a turn going- so this takes about a half hour- you watch and cheer and the time passes- it's fun- but also because there is so much downtime, it makes a great date or friendly activity. The second go you get to do (or try) a back flip. This is fun because you get to actually just feel the power of the gravity you're playing with on the trapeze- some of the class wasn't able to do this, but everyone comfortably moved at their own pace. The last "trick" was the catch- they had the more advanced people in the class go first, about three of us were successful out of ten. The catch is when you have an instructor swinging on the next pole synchronized to when you swing, at a point, he grabs your wrists, your grab his, and release from the bar with your legs. It was a blast!

I think this is a great lil activity for a beautiful day- where you can go to their outdoor facility on houston/west st, or a rainy day one on 30th/west st. For a very active couple or an adventurous friendship, for experimental athletes, or has been dancers-I really think it could be a great challenge for any type of body- someone that isn't agym buff could still do very well- I wouldn't want anyone not to try this because they were afraid. There was one student who couldn't go up the ladder- so if you're afraid of heights, it may be a waste of money. Or if you're preggers- I wouldn't do it than either.

Flying Trapeze School
http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/

Courtesy of KH