Posts Tagged ‘New York Botanical Garden’

Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope and Orchid Nights Burst With Color at The New York Botanical Garden’ Annual Orchid Show

After a nearly two-year hiatus and a pause of one of the most beautiful orchid shows ever, Jeff Leatham returns to The  New York Botanical Garden with his lavish Kaleidoscope show. Running through May 1, The Orchid Show: Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope decorates the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with orchids from above and below with species and color as vibrant as the decorator himself.

Pink exotics ©Meryl Pearlstein

Perfectly timed to complement the blooming cherry blossoms and daffodils outdoors, the orchid show attracts visitors from all over the world with both its artistic and educational bent.

Orchids and Cherry Blossoms ©Meryl Pearlstein

Jeff Leatham’s original orchid extravaganza at the NYBG was cut short in 2020. But even if you caught part of that experience, Leatham promises that this year’s version is quite different. Reflecting his many years of experience as artistic director of the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris and floral designer to the stars (think Oprah and the Dalai Lama),“Kaleidoscope” evinces Leatham’s evolving view of colors that twist and turn. Establishing the theme at the beginning of the exhibit, orchids reflect off a multi-dimensional mirrored sculpture creating a kaleidoscopic effect as you move around it.

The Mirror ©Meryl Pearlstein

Look up and down as you walk through the halls of orchids and the psychedelic tunnel – your journey is a non-stop burst of color.

The Tunnel ©Meryl Pearlstein

The arches and rooms in the Conservatory are decorated with thousands of orchids, some dangling overhead, some forming dramatic towers, and others lined politely along the garden edges. Micro orchids, rare orchids, slipper orchids and species of all colors fill the glass building, with cherry blossoms visible outside.

Orchids Above and Below ©Meryl Pearlstein

Returning this year as well, the NYBG’s after-dark program “Orchid Evenings” adds a special dimension to the delicate blooms indoors. Cocktails, stage performances by Princess Lockerooo and Harold O’Neal, and refreshments from the Bronx Night Market create a festive party from 7pm-10pm on April 22 and 23. You must be 21 to attend the evening showings and a reservation to enter the Conservatory is required.

Purple Exotics ©Meryl Pearlstein

Plan your timing so you can explore the gardens outdoors by day, enjoy the orchids in their indoor setting as dusk falls, and then indulge in the outdoor fun that will have you smiling until late. You can also reserve an early-evening table at the Hudson Garden Grill on Saturdays (last reservation is at 5:30pm).

Slipper Orchids ©Meryl Pearlstein

Tickets can be purchased online for all orchid programs and for day entry to the garden.

The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory ©Meryl Pearlstein

The NYBG’s gift shop continues the experience with books, gardening information, and a wide range of orchids for sale from “beginner” easy-to-grow varieties to more demanding “diva” types. (For non-flower items, you can also order online). If you miss the show or wish to learn more about orchids, the Botanical Garden is offering an online class on May 11 that will teach you all about orchids. Register here.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Where to See the Holiday Sparkle in New York City

Bundle up for a stroll along the streets, inside the malls or at the parks to see New York City’s acclaimed holiday lights.

Manhattan

Holiday Windows and Sidewalks

Saks Fifth Avenue © Meryl Pearlstein

Take a walk down Fifth Avenue where you’ll see some of the department stores’ most elaborate holiday windows. Plan to spend some time in front of Saks Fifth Avenue where this year’s windows were inspired by drawings from children. The windows in front of Bergdorf-Goodman, as always, are a stylefest of imagery with adventure, fashion and fantasy themes, strikingly arranged in tones of black and white, red and white, and rainbow montages.

Bergdorf-Goodman © Meryl Pearlstein

Individual stores like American Girl and the Lego Store have their own window displays decked out with all kinds of merriment. And the exteriors of stores like Cartier twinkle with fully lit décor all wrapped up in red ribbon.

American Girl © Meryl Pearlstein

Additionally, park yourself in front of the glorious Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and watch the music-and-light spectacular that happens every 15 minutes on the façade of Saks Fifth Avenue. For about 3 minutes, the entire façade changes with lights and decorations with music that will entice and have you humming “So Happy Together” or Beethoven’s Ode to Joy over and over again.

courtesy Rockefeller Center

And this year, there’s a special bonus. A variety of stores have created magic displays right on the sidewalk in front of their establishments. There’s a Microsoft cube in front of the Microsoft store, a giant teddy bear in front of FAO Schwarz, gift packages in front of Cartier, Christmas ornaments across from Tiffany’s and much more. You’ll need to walk up and down both sides of Fifth Avenue to see them all.

Microsoft © Meryl Pearlstein

Hudson Yards

Shine Bright at Hudson Yards © Meryl Pearlstein

If you can tear yourself away from outside plaza at Hudson Yards or down from The Edge (which is also decked out with holiday lights and a garland), you should venture inside the Hudson Yards mall where Shine Bright at Hudson Yards, a twinkling, floor-to-ceiling display of more than two million lights illuminates The Shops, Public Square and Gardens, The Edge and The Vessel. Floating hot air balloons and Christmas trees add to the twinkling magic.

Brookfield Place

Luminaries courtesy Brookfield Place

The mall’s annual Luminaries tradition invites participation with an interactive installation in the Winter Garden. Each hour, you’ll enjoy a special light show featuring music by groups like The Bird and the Bee and Pentatonix. A canopy of colorful lights is formed from hundreds of lanterns suspended among the palms. Below, contactless wishing stations let you send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns prompting a magical display of lights and colors. And you’ll be doing a good deed, too. For each wish that you make, Brookfield Place will donate $1to an organization that’s near and dear to me, ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants), which supports New York City restaurant employees facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic. This year, a new experience called Maestro! allows you to conduct the canopy with a gesture-controlled instrument.

The Lights of Manhattan

courtesy Empire State Building

And here’s a little bonus. You can watch the changing colors of the Empire State Building and the lights of downtown NYC at home on their ESB Live Cam. Two cameras give you two always-changing views. I could watch these for hours.

Brooklyn

When it comes to decorating houses, New York City is “top of the heap.”

The Lights of Dyker Heights

The Lights of Dyker Heights © Meryl Pearlstein

It’s hard to imagine a Christmas without the over-the-top lights displays of the houses in Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Started in 1986 by Lucy Spata as a give-back to brighten up the neighborhood, the decorated homes and yards have attracted busloads of tourists to the streets each year. Due to COVID, you may have an easier time viewing the inflatable Santa’s, motorized displays and thousands of candy canes and elves, as walking tours are replacing buses.

The Lights of Dyker Heights © Meryl Pearlstein

It’s an immediate way to lift your spirits as you marvel at the passion and creativity here. The main area is 83rd through 86th streets between 11th and 13th avenues. Plan for crowds as this is one of the most popular highlights of the Christmas season in New York City.

New York City has two lantern festivals that you’ll want to put on your holiday lights calendar.

Staten Island

Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens has an awesome display of more than 1000 winter lanterns, sculpted into figures of all sorts. It’s a party, too, with a live DJ, lots of food, interactive display amid the eight acres of luminaries. You’ll also come away with a holiday gift, your own personal wish lantern. Tickets are required.

Queens

courtesy Queens Country Farm Museum

For the first time, Queens Country Farm Museum is transformed into another lantern and figure wonderland with luminaries taking on shapes appropriate to the farm: flowers, farm animals and tractors. A festive atmosphere reigns throughout with music, food and lots of space to enjoy the lights. Tickets are required.

The Bronx

The Bronx outdoes itself each holiday season with lighting displays and characters that appeal to all ages.

NYBG Glow

NYBG Glow © Meryl Pearlstein

Each year the New York Botanical Garden schedules its beloved train show for the holidays with New York City vignettes and buildings created out of flora and fauna foraged from nature. Further brightening up the landscape, NYBG Glow shines bright into the night with its outdoor Glow color and light experience. The glowing world surrounds the Haupt Conservatory. As you explore, colors, dazzling lights and nighttime illuminations in the reflecting pool and area create a winter wonderland that might conjure up visions of Disney’s World of Color. Adding to the festivities are ice carving displays, roaming dancers and musicians. Expect a Hip Hop Nutcracker performance of the re-imagined Tchaikovsky classic as well. Timed-entry tickets are required for entry.

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights @ Julie Larsen Maher

Around the corner, the Bronx Zoo doesn’t disappoint with their seasonal celebration of lights. Through January 10, you’ll see illuminated animals and flowers, ice sculptures, a decked-out Christmas tree and light-strung buildings as you wander along “a safari” path through Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and the Ocean. Costumed characters, stilt walkers and projections onto buildings add to the sparkle. A returning favorite, the Luminous Garden is filled with larger-than-life plants and animals.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Where to See New York City’s Cherry Blossoms

Put Your Passport Away. You Don’t Need to Leave the Big Apple to See the Glorious Trees.

Many of the city’s cherry trees were gifts from Japan, some coming from the original batch that was given to Washington, DC and adorns their Tidal Basin. The sakura come in a variety of colors from white to pale pink and vivid fuchsia. They stand tall, they spread wide or they droop like weeping willows. For just a few months through the end of May, the varieties of cherry blossom trees bloom on varying schedules, with timing dependent on the weather. Now is the time to see the trees at their most brilliant – like the daffodils and tulips adorning the gardens, the petals will soon be lining the streets.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Esplanade © Micheal Stewart

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The queen of private gardens when it comes to hanami, the Japanese tradition of celebrating the transient beauty of flowers, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden takes the guesswork out of when the cherries are blooming with their Cherry Watch. The schedule is updated frequently so you can see which trees are blooming in which areas, especially helpful if you prefer pink Kanzan ones to whitish Yoshinos, or an allee of trees where you can sit, paint or just meditate.

Japanese-Hill-and-Pond Garden Courtesy Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The two main draws are the aforementioned Cherry Esplanade and the Japanese-Hill-and-Pond Garden. It’s easy to envision yourself swept away to Japan when you look at the lovely trees and a beautiful vermillion torii set against the pond. Adding to the Japanese-inspired setting, the waters are filled with koi as you might see in the Imperial Palace gardens in Tokyo. Through May 9, weekends are enhanced with outdoor pop-up music and dance performances in lieu of the Garden’s traditional Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival) postponed this year due to COVID-19.

Courtesy New York Botanical Garden

New York Botanical Garden

More than 200 cherry trees are scattered throughout the expansive New York Botanical Garden beginning with the entry walkway leading to the first of many colorful sculptures by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, “I Want to Fly to the Universe.” The mix of Japanese art and Japanese cherries creates a transportive effect as you roam the grounds.

Courtesy New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden’s Cherries Tracker will help guide your visit so you’ll know where and when to focus your time. Stop to admire the weeping cherries trees and the “Dancing Pumpkin” sculpture in front of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory before meandering along the path in the Cherry Collection. Daffodil Gardens is a beautiful area to admire the season’s varied yellow and white flowers along with the pinks of the cherries.

Central Park Cherry Hill Courtesy centralparknyc.org

Central Park

Central Park has an area called Cherry Hill on 72nd Street but that’s not the only place you’ll find the white-to-pink Yoshino and bright-pink Kwanzan sakura in the elegant park. A map of the cherry trees will help you as you search out your favorites. Central Park’s Yoshino cherries are also a gift from the government of Japan and can be found in abundance on the east side of the Reservoir and behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art as you head towards the Great Lawn. The area is perfect for picnicking with lawn areas and plenty of benches and you’ll see a parade of camera buffs posing against the showy pink and white blossoms.

Visit frequently as the intensity of the petals changes from week to week. For a shaded, dramatic walk, the bridle path from East 84th Street up to Engineer’s Gate flanks you on both sides with lush blooms.

Riverside Park Cherry Walk Courtesy nycgovparks.org

Riverside Park

Notable gifts from Japan to the US in 1912 and later from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York have created Riverside Park’s gorgeous Cherry Walk. Finally re-opened this winter after a massive reconstruction project, the stretch of the park from 100th to 125th streets is named for the Prunuc cherry trees that line it and is again filled with cyclists and strollers. Reflections off the Hudson River make this an exceptionally beautiful area to spend time and contemplate how lucky you are to be in New York City during this glorious season.

Courtesy Tastings NYC

A Pink Pause

Create a moment to celebrate the trees with food and drink – pink, of course.

Tastings NYC is the master of the portable picnic. To celebrate this beautiful time of the year, the Manhattan hospitality specialists have created the “Cherry Blossom Picnic,” a pretty-in-pink box of cherry blossom-influenced treats. Setting the stage are spring quinoa and roasted chicken, both with touches of pink. The final act is an adorable bag of mini strawberry pound cakes along with a pink beverage, your choice of  a rosé Champagne or a rosé wine.

Courtesy Croteaux

For a touch of pink romance and some virtual hanami, pour a bottle of rosé from New York’s rosé-only vineyard Croteaux. Born on the North Fork of Long Island, Croteaux is perfect for a cherry blossom toast. If you’re not near the North Fork, you can order their varietals online. Then grab a corkscrew and sit back to watch the sunset under the pink petals.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Where to See the Best Holiday Decorations in NYC

It’s a different kind of year for holiday spectaculars, but New York City doesn’t slack when it comes to showing off the joy and sparkles of the season.

Holiday Windows

Saks Fifth Avenue Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

While the department stores may be emptier than usual this year, they haven’t turned down the volume when it comes to creating a festive holiday showcase on their exteriors. Barneys is missing. Lord & Taylor is no longer. But there’s still plenty to see and love.

Bloomingdale's Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

The holiday windows at Bloomingdale’s turn and sparkle with colors and glitter. Macy’s windows pay tribute to the many heroes of the year including our frontline workers.  The music and light show on the façade of Saks Fifth Avenue is a must-see, too, if you’re in the vicinity of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Support the stores, if you can, by shopping in person and acknowledging their good work for the year.

Hudson Yards

Hudson Yards

If you can tear yourself away from The Vessel or down from The Edge (which is also decked out with holiday lights and a garland), you should venture inside the Hudson Yards mall where Shine Bright at Hudson Yards is a brand-new twinkling, floor-to-ceiling display of more than two million lights. Floating hot air balloons and Christmas trees add to the twinkling magic. The display will be up through January 1.

Brookfield Place

Brookfield Place Luminaries

Through January 3, the mall’s annual Luminaries tradition invites participation with an interactive installation in the Winter Garden. Each hour, you’ll enjoy a special light show featuring music by groups like The Bird and the Bee and Pentatonix. A canopy of colorful lights is formed from hundreds of lanterns suspended among the palms. Below, contactless wishing stations let you send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns prompting a magical display of lights and colors. And you’ll be doing a good deed, too. For each wish that you make, Brookfield Place will donate $1to an organization that’s near and dear to me, ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants), which supports New York City restaurant employees facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic.

Lights from Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center - Photos by Sachyn Mital

While the theaters of Lincoln Center remain shuttered until 2021, the exteriors are still ablaze with lights. The gateway to Lincoln Center, Josie Robertson Plaza is illuminated in purple, red and pink tones. Adding further holiday merriment, lanterns float on the reflecting pool and lights adorn the trees in the back campus.

The Lights of Dyker Heights

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

It’s hard to imagine a Christmas without the over-the-top lights displays of the houses in Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Started in 1986 by Lucy Spata as a give-back to brighten up the neighborhood, the decorated homes and yards have attracted busloads of tourists to the streets each year. Due to COVID, you may have an easier time viewing now, as walking tours are replacing buses and only private groups of 20 or less are allowed.

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

It’s an immediate way to uplift the spirits as you marvel at the passion and creativity here. Most displays stay up through January 1. The main area is 83rd through 86th streets between 11th and 13th avenues.

NYBG Glow

NYBG Glow - Photo Courtesy Of: NYBG

Each year the New York Botanical Garden schedules its beloved train show for the holidays with New York City vignettes and buildings created out of flora and fauna foraged from nature, but this year the show is limited to NYBG members and Bronx community partners. Don’t despair, though, NYBG has something else for celebrants in 2020. The  general public event shines bright into the night with a new outdoor Glow color and light experience. Through January 16 on weekend nights, you’ll see a glowing world around the Haupt Conservatory.  As you explore, colors, dazzling lights and nighttime illuminations in the reflecting pool and area create a winter wonderland that might conjure up visions of Disney’s World of Color. Adding to the festivities are ice carving displays, roaming dancers and musicians. Expect a Hip Hop Nutcracker performance of the re-imagined Tchaikovsky classic as well . Timed-entry tickets are required for entry.

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

Around the corner, the Bronx Zoo doesn’t disappoint with their seasonal celebration of lights. Through January 10, you’ll see illuminated animals and flowers, ice sculptures, a decked-out Christmas tree and light-strung buildings as you wander along “a safari” path through Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and the Ocean. Costumed characters, stilt walkers and projections onto buildings add to the sparkle. New this year, the Luminous Garden is filled with larger-than-life plants and animals.

LuminoCity Festival

LuminoCity Festival

Randall’s Island turns into a trippy light extravaganza again through January 10. Sculptures, mushrooms, characters, and towering light displays will keep the entire family entertained as you walk through the expansive LuminoCity Festival park area . Masks are required as you explore the imaginative adventures of Lumi, a character hailing from a universe created from a unicorn’s horn. Timed entry keeps the crowds moving through the narrative journey of love, loss and life.

The Lights of Manhattan

Empire State Building

And here’s a little bonus . You can watch the changing colors of the Empire State Building and the lights of downtown NYC on their ESB Live Cam. Two cameras give you two always-changing views. I could watch these for hours.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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You Still Have Time to See the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden

You have just one more week to see The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, and this year you can get closer to it than ever because of the show’s layout in a new space while the Palm Dome is undergoing restoration. The 28th version of the Holiday Train Show® at The New York Botanical Garden showcases Central Park, the most popular urban park in America, along with some of the city’s favorite landmarks. The beloved holiday event continues through January 26 and is a don’t-miss for architecture fans, city fans and train fans of all ages.

Central Park, designed in 1858 by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, occupies not only the middle of Manhattan but also a special place in the hearts of New Yorkers and in the American imagination. Visited by more people than any other urban park in the United States, it has been featured in hundreds of movies. Perhaps even more important, Olmsted and Vaux’s “Greensward Plan” inspired cities across the country to set aside large open spaces as public parks. A striking feature of their design was the wide variety of buildings and architectural elements they included to complement the natural setting.

The miniature Central Park wonderland at the Holiday Train Show is made of natural materials including birch bark, lotus ponds, twigs, stems, fruit, seeds, fungus, pine cones, acorns and cinnamon sticks with mind-boggling creations of buildings, bridges, landscapes and train tracks, artistically crafted by founding visionary Paul Busse’s team at Applied Imagination. Model trains zip through an enchanting display of more than 175 New York landmarks.

New replicas of Central Park’s iconic architectural features include Belvedere Castle, the Dairy, the Old Bandstand, the Angel of the Waters sculpture atop the Bethesda Fountain, and two graceful pedestrian bridges. You’ll also see famous New York buildings that are either adjacent to the park or just inside it including the Plaza Hotel, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, part of the American Museum of Natural History.

In addition to the Central Park area, emphasis this year is on representing buildings that haven’t been highlighted in previous displays or in other ways in the city. Painstakingly recreated from old photos and records, many buildings long gone from the city’s landscape are presented. It warrants considerable time to ruminate on New York past and the architectural wonders that have been replaced by today’s skyscrapers and you’ll have a chance to view them virtually side-by-side with the city’s newest icons like The Oculus, looking almost like a mini-bug with its winged architecture. Plan on spending at least two hours to thoroughly enjoy the displays of each borough, the iconic city buildings, and watch the trains meandering throughout the exhibit.

Train lovers will enjoy more than 25 G-scale model trains and trolleys that hum along nearly a half-mile of track past re-creations of iconic sites from all five boroughs of New York City, the Hudson River Valley, and other locations in New York State. American steam engines, streetcars from the late 1800s, and modern freight and passenger trains travel underneath overhead trestles, through tunnels, across rustic bridges, and past waterfalls that cascade into flowing creeks. Thomas the Tank Engine™ and other beloved trains disguised as large colorful insects add additional fun to the displays.

The New York Botanical Garden is a museum of plants located in the Bronx. The Holiday Train Show is very busy, so buy your timed tickets in advance at www.nybg.org .  The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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New Year’s Day Fun in New York City

The evening’s festivities are over; here are some activities to consider for the first day of 2018.

Are you a daredevil?  The weather promises to be freezing on New Year’s Day, but that doesn’t deter these folks from plunging into the icy cold water at Coney Island in Brooklyn. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year’s Day Plunge is free with and begins at 1pm at the Stillwell Avenue boardwalk entrance. Participants get free admission to the New York Aquarium and a post-dip warm up at Coney Island Brewing Company and Steeplechase Beer Garden. A $25 donation is suggested to benefit local Coney Island organizations including the New York Aquarium and the Alliance for Coney Island.

Train lovers still have time to catch the annual Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx where model trains travel through a miniature landscape of 150+ iconic city structures. This year’s version spotlights Midtown Manhattan, with a new Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, General Electric Building and more on view through January 15. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as tickets do sell out. https://www.nybg.org/event/holiday-train-show/.

In Queens, the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®—hockey’s highest profile regular-season game—will be held at Citi Field on New Year’s Day.  January 1, 2018 will mark the first time the game is held in New York City. Even if you don’t have a ticket, there will still be fun activities outside of the stadium starting at 9am including a DJ, giveaways, refreshments and more.

If you plan to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue between 49t5h and 50th streets, here’s what you need to know to book a reservations through VIP igloo if you’d like to avoid the lines and also get complimentary skate rentals (although general admission does not require a reservation.)  https://therinkatrockcenter.com/vip-skate-rink-reservations https://therinkatrockcenter.com/reservations.  Hours are 8:30am until midnight daily.

Warm up after with Maison du Chocolat’s fabulously, thick and perfectly sweet chocolat at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and also on the Upper East Side at 1018 Madison Avenue. http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.us/en_us/ Or at Jacques Torres, aka Mr. Chocolate, also at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. http://www.mrchocolate.com/

And no matter where or what the New Year’s celebrations have been, the potato powered FryGuys, www.fryguysnyc.com will be ready to soothe your hunger or hangover  with their new boat load of OG twice fried frys, topped with scrambled eggs, bacon an cheese, then crowned with a fried egg and fried chicken. Dubbed the Brunch so Hard, this will satisfy your hunger as you enter the New Year.  FryGuys, 150 2nd St.

For more NYC info, check out https://www.nycgo.com/.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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