A Very New York Saturday

Most days in New York are uniquely New York. It's a rush and a bump, an odd random smell, and then sweet relief when you finish your work and finally get to go home. There are other days in New York that are equally, uniquely New York. The sun shines, your obligations are few, and you are able to take leisurely allowance of the wealth of exceptional opportunities that are individually New York. Saturday was just such a day.

After a wine indulgent Friday night we rolled out of bed and caught the F train to the 6 train and headed to the galleries on the Upper East Side. First we went to Gitterman Gallery to see the exhibit of Charles Traub's vintage black and white photographs from the 1970s. Charlie is an amazing photographer who is enjoying a small renaissance of popularity with concurrent New York shows at Gitterman and Daniel Cooney Fine Art. The photos at Gitterman are the very best example of what street photography should be: voyeuristic, immediate, and uncomfortably intimate.

© Charles Traub

We then made are way up the street to Skarstedt Fine Art to see Gregory Crewdson's Fireflies exhibit. The Crewdson photos were taken in 1996 and share the same mystical and mysterious qualities as his large scale cinematic explorations of spaceship suburbia, but with Fireflies there is a romance and humanism that is missing from his later work. Do yourself a favor and see these photos.

Later in the evening we traveled down to Tribeca for Charles Traub's holiday party. The evenings festivities were organized around a toy drive for the Delmont Service Center in Baton Rouge and the The Good Shepherd School in New Orleans. Good people, good booze, and a good cause. How can you go wrong?

The party ended and we made our way to the subway for the long journey back to Jackson Heights for some late night street tacos. It was truly a great day in the greatest city on earth.