Don Hoffman, a representative at Beth Israel, says the new Teladoc feature is the first “virtual doctor’s office” in the city, though there are similar programs popping up all over the nation.
This innovation comes just in time for the flu season. Doctors encourage people with flu-like symptoms not to wait to go to a doctor. Hoffman says that this eliminates waiting at a hospital or doctor’s office, and will hopefully encourage more people to get treatment during this especially dangerous flu season.

THREE LOYOLA STUDENTS GO TO NEXT ROUND OF MLK ART CONTEST
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be hosting a Dream@50 art contest award ceremony on Jan. 26 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Three students from Loyola School on East. 83rd Street have been selected as semifinalists in the contest: Lova Blavarg, Nicole DiTolla and Stephie Brack.

The Dream@50 contest is a nationwide art contest for K-12 students in 10 U.S. cities including New York, Boston and Los Angeles. Grand-prize winners from each city will be honored at a Capitol Hill ceremony and exhibit in August.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON NEW MET MUSEUM PLAZA
Government officials broke ground on Monday, Jan. 14, for the new David H. Koch Plaza at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The plaza is set to open next January.

The plaza will run along Fifth Avenue from 80th to 84th streets and will be named after the billionaire trustee who donated the money for the project. The plaza will feature new fountains, approximately 100 new trees, seating areas and energy-efficient nighttime lighting. The whole plaza will be environmentally friendly.

“It will give the Met a portal outside that is truly worthy of the masterpieces that grace our galleries inside,” Museum Chairman Daniel Brodsky said.

WINTER RESTAURANT WEEK BEGINS
Restaurant Week (really three weeks) kicked off on Monday, Jan. 14. Hungry customers can choose from a wide array of NYC’s best restaurants and eat a three-course gourmet dinner for just $38 per person ($25 for lunch). The deals end Feb. 8. Hungry Upper East Siders who want to stay in their neighborhood can choose from restaurants like David Burke Townhouse (61st and Lexington Avenue) and Park Avenue Winter (63rd and Park Avenue).

17TH PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING SET
Residents of Sutton Place, Turtle Bay, Beekman Place, Tudor City and Murray Hill are invited to the monthly Precinct Community Council meeting to discuss safety issues in the neighborhood on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place at Sutton Synagogue at 221 E. 51st St.

FATAL FLATIRON DISTRICT BICYCLE ACCIDENT
A female bicyclist was fatally struck Jan. 4 by a Citywide demolition and rubbish removal truck at East 23rd Street and Madison. The bicyclist was traveling East on 23rd Street when she was hit, according to several sources. Police said that she was pronounced dead on the scene.
Private sanitation trucks like Citywide Demolition actually have the highest pedestrian kill-rate of any truck vehicle according to a 1999 study produced by Right of Way. However, city law states that large trucks like these sanitation trucks must have safety convex mirrors on trucks that allows them to see in blind spots. On its website, Citywide Demolition emphasizes the company’s “safe, reliable service.”

This pedestrian death is especially relevant in the wake of the city’s fight to increase bike lanes across Manhattan.

LULEMON TEMPORARY STORE APPEARS ON 3RD AVENUE
Lululemon Athletica, a popular Canadian yoga and sports apparel store, will be opening a small pop-up for four months across the street from its flagship store on Third Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets.

The flagship store will remain closed for renovations during this time. But with the new pop-up, Upper East Siders will be able to stay in shape in style.

“Exercising and staying in good shape are inherent to the character of the Upper East Side lifestyle,” says Joseph Aquino, executive vice president of Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group that handled the transaction. “This brand resonates with people here.”

The temporary shop is replacing a Uniqlo store.

MIDTOWN LIBRARY SET FOR MAJOR RENOVATIONS
The New York Public Library’s main branch is getting a very expensive makeover. The work will begin this summer in a renovation worth $300 million. The project will create a multi-level atrium complete with views of Bryant Park inside the Fifth Avenue landmark.
The plan stirred up some controversy when it was initially proposed that mil

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

by Megan Bungeroth

Most New Yorkers don’t think about the Surrogate’s Court until it makes major headlines, but when it does, the cases are memorable. Here are some of the most famous and bizarre cases in recent memory.

1992- Woody Allen and Mia Farrow go to Surrogate’s Court to settle the custody battle for their three adopted children and biological son, Satchel.

1994-The court deems the total value of the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts collection to be $400 million, an amount three times higher than the foundation had placed its collection at. The jump resulted in a huge fee awarded to executor Edward Hayes, but the state Appellate Court reversed the decision four years later.

2002-Tobacco heiress Doris Duke died in 1993 and had appointed her butler, Bernard Lafferty, as executor of her estate of over $1 billion. But in 1995, the court stripped Lafferty of his role on teh basis that he was spending millions on luxuries for himself while living lavishly and drunkenly in Duke’s mansion. The court appointed several executors that had been named in one of the Duke’s previous wills, and they formed teh Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. In 2002, the court returned $12.1 million in legal fees to the estate.

2004-When East Village performance artist Jack Smith died in 1989 of complications from AIDS, fellow artists maintained his archives and restored many of his films, safeguarding his artistic legacy. But in 2004, the court awarded the entire estate to Smith’s estranged sister, 70-year-old Texas housewife Mary Sue Slater, on the basis that she was the sole legal heir.

2008-Real estate mogul Leona Helmsley bequeathed $12 million to her dog, a Maltese named Trouble, in her will, while leaving nothing to two of her grandchildren. The court later knocjed down the pooch’s cut to $2 million, to be managed by his caretaker for expenses like security and grooming costs, redirected the rest to charity. Poor Trouble died in 2011 as the world’s wealthiest (and most envied) four-legged friend.

2012-The Westchester County Surrogate’s Court settled one of the most contentious and famous cases in recent memory this year when it finalized the distribution of Brooke Astor’s estate. Astor, who died in 2007 at age 105, was an extremely wealthy philanthropist and socialite, and her son Anthony Marshall was accused of gutting her fortune in her waning years, taking advantage of his ailing mother to get his hands on her millions. The court ultimately directed more than $100 million of the estate to charities, cultural institutions and education funds, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and the New York Public Library, and slashed the amount that Marshall was entitled to inherit.

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel. Photo Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Plus, some really good alternatives!
By Eric Messinger

I guess you could think of this as a list of greatest hits—the New York City places, institutions and experiences that offer children the biggest wows, the most fun and some truly impactful and inspiring learning moments. Of course, our children are so lucky to have all these things within a commute’s reach. Hopefully, they’ll get to check off many of them over the course of their childhood.

Central Park
With the carousel, the zoo, picnicking, row boats, statue climbing, playgrounds galore, ice skating and simply walking around and enjoying the grand parade of humanity at its leisure, Central Park is our great green oasis of recreation and calm—and our best retort to questions about living in a city without a backyard. centralparknyc.org

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The City Parks Foundation
If you live in New York City with kids, you’ve probably been to a City Parks Foundation event. This organization is everywhere, hosting free events like sports clinics, concerts, puppet shows and educational programs for kids and adults to enjoy in the great outdoors. cityparksfoundation.org

The Bronx Zoo
The great animal exhibits and attractions vary in geography and species, but all are full of jaw-dropping wonder—whether it’s the Congo Gorilla Forest, Himalayan Highlands or the Butterfly Gardens. On weekends, the zoo usually features special programming for kids that marries education and fun. bronxzoo.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The Staten Island Zoo
The zoo is a good reason to hop on the ferry and spend more time on Staten Island. It’s small, perfect for little kids who like to wander around its pretty environs. It has a petting zoo, pony rides and lots of fun animal facts posted all around the property. statenislandzoo.org

The American Museum of Natural History
From the stars above us to the beginning of man, the Museum of Natural History takes kids on amazing journeys to the heart of our natural world, while bringing to life (so to speak) such incredible figures from our past and present as tyrannosaurus rex and the big blue whale. The museum also does a great job of planting the seeds of wonder and care for the environment in children. amnh.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Speaking of the natural world, Jamaica Bay is the only wildlife refuge in the National Park Service. It is the place to observe migrating birds; its unique landscape contains rare native habitats like salt marshes, woods, several fresh- and brackish water ponds and an open expanse of bay. There are a variety of ranger- and partner-led programs, including presentations on seasonal wildlife, sunset tours, hikes, boat trips and family programs. nps.gov (search for “Jamaica Bay”)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met’s collections are so vast and diverse that one of the best approaches is to let children roam around with you. The museum offers a bunch of free drop-in programs for families and, for many children, the most fun spot to drop in on is the museum shop. But at least you know that by the time you get there, they’ve gotten a world-class dose of art and culture! metmuseum.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
The Rubin Museum of Art and The Museum of Arts and Design
Almost all museums have some kind of programming for kids and families these days. Both the Rubin Museum of Art, which focuses on the Himalayas, and MAD, the Museum of Arts and Design, have become especially popular among families because of their commitment to kid-minded programming. rmanyc.org; madmuseum.org

Coney Island
It may not look or feel like Disney World, but Disney doesn’t have a genuine ocean, beach or a historic boardwalk at its front door. With the aquarium, new rides and amusements, classic oldies like the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel, Nathan’s, the Brooklyn Cyclones and the holy troika of beach-boardwalk-ocean, a day in Coney is the best. coneyislandfunguide.com; wonderwheel.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative: Carousels
There’s been an influx of new carousels around the city, including Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO and Flushing Meadows Park and Forest Park in Queens. Add to those the old regulars in Central Park, Prospect Park and Coney Island, and round and round we go! janescarousel.com; nycgovparks.org

FAO Schwarz/Toys “R” Us/
American Girl Place
Being enveloped by larger-than-life stuffed animals at FAO Schwarz! Going for the Ferris wheel ride at Toys “R” Us! Having a mommy and me lunch date at American Girl Place! For a child, every day is a holiday day at our grandest mega-toy stores. fao.com; toysrus.com; americangirl.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
Madame Alexander Doll Company
There’s something about seeing how stuff is made that can captivate a child. During a visit to Madame Alexander, you’ll see a gallery of dolls and storyboards that span almost 100 years, and then comes the real fun: a behind-the-scenes tour that takes you through the design and production lines as well as the doll “hospital.” madamealexander.com

Big Apple Circus
The circus that bears our name and is our fun ambassador to kids all around the world makes it all—the clowns, acrobats, jugglers, contortionists and absurdly well-trained animals—happen in just one ring, under one tent, where every seat in the house is a good one. There’s something so small-town about the experience; we just love it! bigapplecircus.org

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
Another New York City-born spectacle, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus offers a truly unique hybrid of circus arts-vaudeville-Wild West-burlesque that they fine-tune in age-appropriate ways for the audience. bindlestiff.org

New York Botanical Garden/Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Who says urbanites can’t get in touch with nature? Our two magnificent floral oases, the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and Brooklyn Botanic Garden are not only pleasant to look at, they offer all sorts of kids’ classes in gardening and science and family-minded special events. Mini green thumbs will love losing themselves amongst lush mazes, gargantuan flowers and other green curiosities. nybg.org; bbg.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
Flower District and The High Line
Blink and you might miss the leafy greens, bright blooms and creative containers in Chelsea’s Flower District on 28th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. But the true urban hideaway is 25 feet above ground, along the train track-turned-park High Line. Over 200 species of plants thrive in the first section alone; see if you can guess which 161 are native to New York. thehighline.org

New York Hall of Science/Liberty
Science Center/ Intrepid Museum
Young Einsteins have a lot of local inspiration. Both the 450-exhibit New York Hall of Science and the 300,000-square-foot Liberty Science Center hold a lifetime’s worth of sensory adventures and interactive programs. For astronaut hopefuls, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum just became the new home for the Enterprise space shuttle. nysci.org; lsc.org; intrepidmuseum.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
Sony Wonder Technology Lab and Museum of the Moving Image
The whole family can channel their inner geeks—for free—at midtown’s Sony Wonder Technology Lab, where cutting-edge software lets you make your own computer game and project dance moves into cool animation. In celebrating the history of movies, the Museum of the Moving Image has a lot of engaging exhibits about the technology that produces light and sound. sonywondertechlab.org; movingimage.us

“In 2006, when the mayor reauthorized the marine transfer station, he did so under a false pretense. They made it seem like they were flipping a switch and reopening a facility,” Kellner said. “When the City Council approved the Solid Waste Management Plan, they only did an environmental impact statement studying what 1,800 tons of trash would bring. They need to amend their plan and do a supplemental environmental impact statement.”

The lawsuit, which also names the Department of Sanitation and the State Department of Environmental Conservation, demands that the city stop all planning for the new MTS and draft a revised impact statement, which would then need City Council approval. Kellner is the lead plaintiff in the suit; other plaintiffs are the Gracie Point Community Council, Residents for Sane Trash Solutions, Inc. and a handful of individual residents. State Sen. Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Dan Quart and Rep. Carolyn Maloney have all voiced their support of the lawsuit.

“[The MTS] will permanently and negatively impact the Asphalt Green athletic fields, which are adjacent to the site and used every day by thousands of New Yorkers,” said Jed Garfield, president of Residents for Sane Trash Solutions. “It will be a terrible environmental and health hazard for all nearby residents, including over 2,200 low-income New Yorkers and seniors residing just a couple of hundred feet away in the Holmes and Stanly Isaacs development.”

New Elementary School for Yorkville
Next year, Upper East Side tykes will get a new elementary school at the Our Lady of Good Counsel building on East 91st Street. The Department of Education has signed a 15-year lease with the Roman Catholic archdiocese to lease the school for P.S. 527, which will open this fall with two kindergarten classes and will eventually hold students through the 5th grade.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Assembly Member Dan Quart joined by his young son Sam, a future student of P.S. 527, and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott visited the building last week to commend the opening of the new school that they say will help alleviate the overcrowding that plagues the neighborhood.

Art Goodies on Sale
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store is holding a summer clearance beginning June 28. Art fans can pick up eclectic jewelry, home décor items, toys for the sophisticated tot and art books with enough breadth to cover any coffee table on the East Side. Many items are on sale for 25 to 75 percent off the original price. It’s a great place to stock up on cool gifts for the people who have everything. Visit store.metmusuem.org or call 800-662-3397 for information.

Catch the Fireworks
While some may still be roiling over Macy’s giving the East Side and the outer boroughs the shaft by displaying their famous fireworks on the Hudson River this year, it’s still a display worth schlepping for. If you’re planning on seeing the fireworks, a game plan is mandatory. Macy’s recommends that patriotic attendees head over to 12th Avenue below 59th Street at access points every few blocks along 11th Avenue. Parking will be severely limited. There will be no access at the Hudson River piers or the Hudson River Park promenade or bike path between 59th and West Houston Street. DeWitt Clinton Park is reserved for people with disabilities.
Plan to arrive at any of the viewing spots by 5 p.m., and don’t try to bring lawn chairs or large objects with you. The 25-minute show of 40,000 synchronized fireworks begins around 9 p.m.

UES Murderer is Sentenced
Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced the sentencing of Alujah Cutts, 30, who was convicted of a cold-blooded robbery and murder that he committed on the Upper East Side in 2009.
Cutts broke into the home of 90-year-old Felix Brinkmann on July 30, hoping to make off with a hefty haul. He demanded that Brinkmann give up the combination to his safe, and when he refused, Cutts brutally attacked him, strangling and killing him. He then phoned a friend, who is also being charged, to come help take a safe out of the apartment.
The district attorney condemned the cruel attack and applauded the sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

Public School Agreement
Assemblymember Dan Quart with his son, Sam, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Rep. Carolyn Maloney announce the signing of 15-year lease between the DOE and the Our Lady of Good Counsel parish ensuring the location of P.S. 523, a new public elementary school in Yorkville. Sam will be a student at the school.

By Mona Molarsky

As celebrities trouped up the red carpet to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute gala on May 7th, it was hard to imagine anything subversive could be happening anywhere in the museum. Paparazzi clicked and video cameras live-streamed, while Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, led a parade of stars who showed off their designer dresses. They were there for the opening of the exhibit, “Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations,” that celebrates two of the most influential designers of the last hundred years.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Crossroads of the World
You don’t have to head south to the Carribean to the beach this summer, just take the subway up to the El Museo del Barrio. It, along with The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Queens Museum of Art, is presenting the culmination of the decade-long collaboration of research and scholarship Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, which includes more than 500 works of art spanning four centuries from the Caribbean islands and coasts. The exhibit covers topics such as politics, pop culture, language, the various cultures and history, among many others.
June 12 – Jan. 6, 2013, El Museo Del Barrio, 1230 5th Ave., elmuseo.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940
An artist searching for his muse is a theme that reverberates back to Greek mythology. French artist Edouard Vuillard found inspiration in his career stretching from the 1890s to the 1940s in a variety of sources, from experimental theater to urbane domesticity. This exhibit at The Jewish Museum looks at six periods of the artist’s career and the impact his friends and patrons had on his work, from his artistic beginnings to his later portraits.
Through Sept. 23, The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Ave., thejewishmuseum.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Women Work
With conservative politicians intent on rehashing decades-old debates that everyone thought were long settled, it’s fitting that the National Academy Museum & School has chosen now to kick off its new exhibit, Women Work, featuring the artwork of women from the 19th century to present day. The series brings together works by Mary Cassatt, Colleen Browning and May Stevens, as well as female sculptors.
Through Aug. 26, The National Academy Museum & School, 1083 5th Ave., nationalacademy.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Activist New York
New York City has always been a city that thrived in the midst of social change and progress. Activist New York, the new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, brings that history into focus, exploring the history of social activism in the city from the 17th century right up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. From picket lines to civil rights, the exhibition uses artifacts, photographs, audio and video to tell the history of agitation in the city.
Through the summer, The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave., mcny.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Rineke Dijkstra: A Retrospective
The Guggenheim hosts this mid-career retrospective of Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra. The artist, best known for her striking portraits of humanity in transition—adolescents and new mothers have been prime subjects for her lens—has been working for more than two decades at her craft. Like all great portraitists, Dijkstra’s work captures fleeting moments and fills them with meaning. “I make normal things appear special,” she said in an interview for the book Image Makers, Image Takers. That this is not a brag but a statement of successfully fulfilled artistic intent says it all.
June 29 – Oct. 3, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Ave., www.guggenheim.org.

UPPER WEST SIDE
Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History
New York has a rich (albeit unheralded) history of brewing that stretches back to colonial times. The New-York Historical Society hopes to rectify this with its new exhibit. With artifacts and documents that showcase the city’s long-lived love of suds, Beer Here covers what the soldiers were drinking in the Revolutionary War, famous hometown brewers and the Prohibition era. When you are finished, step on over to the beer hall for a taste of New York City and state’s best local brews.
May 25 – Sept. 2, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park W., nyhistory.org.

MIDTOWN
Josef Albers in America: Painting on Paper
What better way to spend your summer than hanging out in a library, especially if you’re going to see the Morgan Library & Museum’s Josef Albers exhibit. Albers, the iconic 20th-century artist who died in 1976, is best known for his painting series Homage to the Square, in which he explored color relationships in concentric squares. This exhibit displays the less well-known studies and sketches for these paintings. The materials in this exhibit were never shown during Albers’ life and are rarely displayed since his death; The Morgan is the only U.S. stop for this exhibition before it heads back to Europe.
July 20 – Oct. 14, The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., themorgan.org.

MIDTOWN
Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets
Filmmaking identical twins the Quay Brothers—or The Brothers Quay, in their preferred nomenclature—end the summer with a major retrospective of their work at the Museum of Modern Art. Born in Philly but developed as European surrealists in the grime of London, the Quays have been conjuring up their creepy-crawly, stop-motion animated work since the late ’70s. Featuring repurposed doll heads and other unsettling motifs of mold and decay, the Brothers’ oeuvre became a major aesthetic touchstone for the burgeoning industrial goth movement of the late ’80s and ’90s. This collection promises a rare view inside their work, with never-before-seen images, moving works, installations and artistic output, as well as screening of their best shorts and filmic output.
Aug. 12 – Jan. 8, 2013, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., www.moma.org.

DOWNTOWN
The Parade: Nathalie Djurberg with Music by Hans Berg
Bird is the word at the New Museum’s Studio 231 space as Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg, known for her nightmarish animations, and videographer Hans Berg show off five trippy animations and an unnerving menagerie of more than 80 free-standing bird sculptures. These hybrid, sometimes monstrous forms speak to the artist’s interest in physical and psychological transformation, as well as pageantry and perversion.
Through Aug. 26, The New Museum, 235 Bowery, newmuseum.org.

Entering its 82nd season, the annual Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit is one of those New York traditions that just never gets old. The art isn’t flagrantly modern, for the most part, but it doesn’t feel tired, either. The exhibitions run the gamut; the same block may feature landscape photographs from Southeast Asia, abstract paintings of electric guitars and clocks made from scrap metal. That’s the show’s beauty, really: Despite its large cast of regulars, you still never know what you’ll find. Everything is for sale—although it may cost you an arm and a leg—but it’s well worth the trip just to browse.
May 26-28, June 2-3, Sept. 1-3 &  8-9. University Place betw. 3rd & 12th Sts., wsoae.org.

DOWNTOWN
Hester Street Fair 

This annual street fair, an urban version of its country counterpart, is thankfully free of carnies and scary looking rides. Stroll through the outdoor market on the Lower East Side and support local artisans selling vintage threads and baubles, original art, handcrafted jewelry and homemade jams and pickles. Munch alfresco on summertime staples from Pies ‘n’ Thighs and Luke’s Lobster, then grab a gourmet ice pop from La Newyorkina or build your own gourmet gooey s’more at S’amore.
Saturdays through the summer,
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Hester St. at Essex St.,
hesterstreetfair.com. 

DOWNTOWN
HOWL! Festival 

Indulge your inner beat at the annual HOWL! Festival. Named after Allen Ginsberg’s celebrated poem, the festival kicks off with a group reading of “Howl” on Friday night. The rest of the weekend promises plenty of musical performances and dances. Be sure to check out one of the key attractions: 140 artists in action as they transform an 8-foot-high, 900-foot-long blank canvas into a mural of art encircling the park. HOWL! is kid-friendly, too, with carnival games, face-painting and story-telling.
June 1-3. Tomkins Square Park, 7th-10th Sts. betw. Aves. A & B, howlfestival.com. 

DOWNTOWN
Summer in the Square 

Union Square is the focal point every Thursday as the Union Square Partnership hosts its annual Summer in the Square, including a series of free activities and concerts in the park. “Fitness in the Square” starts at 7 a.m. and features yoga and cardio classes, while “Kids in the Square” begins at 10 a.m., offering activities for children. Starting at 6 p.m., local musicians regale listeners with everything from rock and jazz to folk and Latin music.
June 14-Aug. 9. Union Square, 14th-17 Sts. betw. Broadway & Park Ave. S.,
unionsquarenyc.org. 

DOWNTOWN
River to River Festival 

Watch Colombian Harpist Edmar Castaneda perform, take a walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge or learn how to tie a knot. Or, do all three. This Lower Manhattan performing arts festival offers an array of free events every day at venues including Castle Clinton, Governors Island, South Street Seaport Museum, Wall Street Plaza and more. Featuring music, dance, art, film and theater events, the festival began as a way to revitalize the downtown area after 9/11 and is now celebrating its 10th year.
June 17-July 15. Various locations,
rivertorivernyc.com.

DOWNTOWN
Swedish Midsummer Festival

Scandinavians are hot. That’s a fact. Male or female, these high-cheekboned wonders will be running rampant at the Midsummer Festival at Battery Park. The festival, starting at 5 p.m., is meant to celebrate the summer solstice, or some pagan jazz like that. For some reason, the solstice makes people want to dance around trees with wreaths on their head. We don’t know why, but who cares when you can munch on waffles and herring and pretend you’re a Viking against the backdrop of the New York Harbor? OK, we could do without the herring part. Go summer!
June 22, 5-8 p.m. Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, off Battery Place, bpcparks.org.  

DOWNTOWN
Gay Pride Parade

With the passage of gay marriage in New York last year and President Barack Obama coming out in support of same-sex marriage, expect this year’s Gay Pride Parade to be one big love fest. This über-fun event takes over the entire west side of Manhattan, with a parade down Fifth Avenue, parties on the pier, performers, a street fair and fireworks.
June 24. Begins at 36th St. & 5th Ave., ends at Christopher & Greenwich Sts., nycpride.org.

DOWNTOWN
Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival

A great way to enjoy the late sunshine after work, this weekly festival brings musicians as diverse as the Portland Cello Project and Marshall Crenshaw together with a full bar and wonderful (yet affordable) wines in the courtyard behind City Winery. It’s an eclectic celebration of the melting pot of New York City.
June 26-Aug. 28, Tuesday nights, 5:30 p.m. City Winery, 155 Varick St., www.citywinery.com.

DOWNTOWN
Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival 

Celebrate the blues with old and new artists at the second annual Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival at the World Financial Center Plaza. Buddy Guy, ranked in the top 30 of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, will headline the show on July 11, and Grammy-nominated singer Neko Case will perform July 12. Other performers include Charles Bradley and John Mayall.
July 11-12, 6-9:30 p.m. World Financial Center, 220 Vesey St., betw. North End Ave. & West St., artsbrookfield.com. 

MIDTOWN
India Day Parade 

Celebrated to commemorate Indian independence from Britain, there is usually a Bollywood star or two in attendance at this glittery parade to which Indians from all over the tristate area come to party like it’s 1999. There’s food and goodies sprinkled along the parade route, so you can chow down on your favorite goodies like samosas and kebabs.
August (date TBA). Madison Ave., from 38th to 28th St., fianynjct.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Museum Mile Festival 

For those who want to explore a few of New York City’s most famous museums for free, the 34th annual Museum Mile Festival is the event to attend. Known as New York’s biggest block party, Fifth Avenue will be closed to traffic from 82nd Street to 105th Street, and 10 museums will open theirs doors to the public free of charge. The event will also feature live music and outdoor art activities for kids. Participating museums include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, El Museo Del Barrio, Museum of the City of New York and more.
June 12. 5th Ave. betw. 82nd & 105th Sts., museummilefestival.org.

UPPER EAST SIDE
Bastille Day 

If you secretly wanted to protest at Zuccotti Park but didn’t want to deal with the lack of showers and that whole sleeping outside thing, Bastille Day on 60th Street is for you—it’s like the sanitized, more fun version of protesting. After all, it was the poor French who decided they weren’t going to take it anymore from that bossy monarchy. The good news is no one is going to be guillotined at this Bastille Day. Instead, visitors can play pétanque, sip on kir royales and eat some smelly cheese.
July 15, 12-5 p.m. 60th St. betw. 5th and Lexington Aves., www.bastilledayny.com.
 

UPPER WEST SIDE 
Midsummer Night Swing

If you’re looking for a fun new way to dance away a hot summer’s night in New York, consider Lincoln Center’s outdoor dance party. Midsummer Night Swing offers a one-hour dance lesson followed by live music and dancing at the bandshell and elevated dance floor in Damrosch Park. Opening night features music from the ’50s and ’60s, and subsequent nights features such genres as jazz, salsa and rock ‘n’ roll.
June 26-July 12, 6:30-10 p.m.; $17, passes for multiple nights are available. Damrosch Park, at 62nd St. betw. Columbus & Amsterdam Aves., www.midsummernightswing.org. 

GOVERNORS ISLAND

The Seventh Annual Jazz Age Lawn Party
A free ferry to Governors Island lets you slip away to a Gatsby-inspired refuge. Come to the best 1920s outdoor summer party of 2012, featuring live music, a 50-foot-square real wood dance floor (with dance lessons), delightful and refreshing cocktails, fun summer foods and desserts, an old-fashioned DJ spinning records on an antique phonograph, vintage booths and so much more. 
June 16-17 & Aug 18-19; $15, kids are free. Governors Island, dreamlandorchestra.com.

Do women have to be naked to get into the museum? The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s latest photo show suggests that—in 2012—the Guerilla Girls are still on target.

From kitschy Victorian peep show prints to mid-20th-century studies of the body’s geometry, there are memorable images in the show. Several of the finest photographs here are also among the best known. Two of Edward Weston’s pictures of his lover Charis Wilson, sprawled naked in the sand dunes at Oceano, Calif., (1936), have been admired for more than half a century. Despite their familiarity, they remain fresh, fierce and sensual.

But ultimately, The Met’s assembly of more than 60 photographs from the museum’s big collection serves up a narrow slice of a very wide field, heavily favoring male photographers and female models. “Naked before the Camera” is a survey that pays more attention to soft porn and peep-show imagery than you might expect from an art museum. Any claims that the show offers a social history of the photographed nude are belied by the sparse information provided about the context of these images, including the photographers, their models and the market for these works.

The show is divided into three sections, each addressing a different topic. The first concentrates on 19th-century photographs made as aids for painters. The second focuses on medical, ethnographic and erotic photography. Only the last focuses on 20th- and 21st-century images that would generally be considered art in their own right.

In all three groups, the vast majority of pictures were posed in studios or studio-like settings and present the nude body detached from the world beyond. In many, the face of the model is partly or completely hidden.

All too often, what remains are studies of anatomy and composition, some more beguiling than others. A beautifully composed “Ariadne” (1867), by English photographer Oscar Gustave Rejlander, recreates a pose from Titian’s “Venus and Adonis”—an attempt to measure the painter’s anatomical accuracy, according to wall notes from the curator.

Irving Penn’s intriguing “Nude No. 57” (1949-50) plays with foreshortening to highlight both the elegance and awkwardness of a female torso, knees and thighs, while Bill Brandt’s “South Kensington” (1979) offers an extreme perspective on two long legs—from shins to buttocks—stretched out like the evening’s dinner on a matte black sofa.

The few male nudes in the exhibit are treated with similar detachment. “Arm” (1935), by Man Ray, frames a masculine shoulder, bicep and elbow like a piece of abstract sculpture. A wasp-waisted male torso from the 1930s by fashion photographer George Platt Lynes twists toward the viewer to display his perfectly muscled back—a pretty pin-up picture if ever there was one, high on design value, low on content.

Most disturbing is “Sharkey” (1980) by a photographer named Jim Jager, who published soft-porn magazines featuring black men. Jager posed his African-American model with a large, wooden staff, as if he’d just emerged from the jungle with his spear. Strangely, the curator’s wall text provides no information about the race of the photographer or his clients, nor any comment about the racism inherent in the image.

One of the things missing from this show are images of naked people going about the everyday activities of their lives—swimming in lakes, diving into fountains, sunbathing, getting dressed for parties or changing out of costumes backstage. With a few notable exceptions—which include one Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish-Bentinck Morrell’s blurry shots of 10-year-old girls frolicking in her garden (circa 1916); Garry Winogrand’s memorable image of a streaker, “Easter Sunday, Central Park, New York” (1973); and John Goodman’s compelling 1976 portrait of a naked couple standing in front of their Commonwealth Avenue apartment building in Boston—there is little to suggest the wide variety of situations in which photographers have recorded people naked.

But the show’s most glaring omission is one of gender. Only eight of the more than 60 photographs in the show were taken by women.

Predictably, Diane Arbus is represented by two images, including her sourly satirical “Retired Man and his Wife at Home in a Nudist Camp One Morning, N.J.” (1963), which shows a self-satisfied, middle-aged couple sitting naked in an ordinary American house. The sags and wrinkles of their flesh offer stark contrast to the airbrushed curves of a girly picture hanging on their wall. If ever a black-and-white photo embodied a grayness of spirit, this is it.

The dramatically lit torso of a slender woman with her head thrown back, by French-Polish photographer Germaine Krull (1897-1985), offers a tantalizing glimpse of one female photographic vision that flourished in Europe between the world wars. But without other images by the artist, we are unable to make sense of the work or get an idea of what Krull might have been up to.

The same can be said for the photographs of Hannah Wilke, who is represented by two prints of herself posing in an abandoned building in Queens. Both are part of her “Snatch Shot with Ray Gun: So Help Me Hannah” (1978) series. Wilke, as the wall text in the exhibition informs us, “was one of a number of artists in the 1960s and 1970s who began manipulating their own bodies in photographs and performances to call attention to rituals of self-presentation.” However, the two images chosen for the show aren’t enough to convey the context or the radical nature of what she was doing.

“Maybe female photographers simply aren’t interested in the naked body,” an elderly woman standing next to me at the exhibit mused, when she heard me exclaiming over the pitifully small number of female artists in the show.

“Do you believe that?” I asked. “No, not really,” she conceded, laughing.

Imogen Cunningham. Ruth Bernhard. Eve Arnold. Lola Alvarez Bravo. Susan Meiselas. Nan Goldin. Sally Mann. Francesca Woodman. These are just eight of the hundreds—probably thousands—of accomplished women who have photographed nudes. Each has her own, individual vision of the human body. Yet none of these important artists were included in The Met’s history of the nude in photography.

Rarely has that famous 1989 observation by the Guerrilla Girls been more apt. Women, it seems, still have to be naked to get into the museum.

Naked Before the Camera 
Through Sept. 29, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., 212-535-7710, 
metmuseum.org

By Paulette Safdieh

It takes a lot to impress a New Yorker. Out-of-towners and tourists, newly transplanted co-workers from the West Coast (and, at times, even our Uptown counterparts) get excited about seeing the latest Broadway show or MoMA exhibit, but we shrug our shoulders like we’ve seen it all before. We have our own idea of what’s cool.

Downtown thrives on the charm of unconventional culture—which is why a haunted house museum finds its home on Bowery and not on Museum Mile. Unbeknownst to a lot of us, our exclusive hub south of 14th Street has its own fair share of museums—depending on what your definition of museum is. Some travel from location to location setting up pickle exhibits, some cater to house ghosts and some showcase comic books like the Metropolitan Museum of Art does Rembrandt works. So what if you intentionally missed the Alexander McQueen exhibit this year? There’s a different kind of viable culture thriving in our own quarters that you don’t need to wait two hours in a line to experience.

Skyscraper Museum

Across the street from the Jewish History Museum and down the block from the Museum of the American Indian, this tribute to our city’s favorite form of architecture is yet another reason to hop off the train at Bowling Green. A small, one-floor space, The Skyscraper Museum showcases an array of historical documents (including newspaper clippings and World Trade Center floor plans) and an impressive wall exhibit of the world’s tallest buildings.

Black-and-white photographs of New York City construction sites line the ramp leading from the gift shop entrance to the one-floor dedication to our city’s—and the world’s — most famous high-rise buildings. Tall glass windows and overhead mirrors give the illusion of walking through an indoor skyscraper park, allowing visitors to navigate between the pillared cases that hold model buildings, including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest at 2,717 feet, and the Kingkey Finance Tower in Shenzhen, China.
Interactive touchscreens and wall-mounted television screens teach about skyscraper form and history—did you know there are jumbo skyscrapers (surface area up to 2 million square feet) and super jumbos (up to 4 million square feet)? The museum’s collection also includes a replica New York Times front-page story from 1947 announcing the proposal for the World Trade Center site and the letters exchanged between famed architect Minoru Yamasaki and the paper’s architecture critic.

The Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Pl. (at Little W. St.), 212-968-1961, www.skyscraper.org; Wed.–Sun., 12-6 p.m., $5.

NY Food Museum

Because everyone loves food (although not everyone loves museums), the NY Food Museum opened in 1998 with mass appeal, giving New Yorkers a new way to celebrate tasty grub and learn a thing or two while they’re at it. Since originating the city’s annual International Pickle Day nine years ago, the NY Food Museum has continued to give us reason to believe that New York’s tastebuds enjoy food beyond the realm of red velvet cupcakes and Halal food from a cart.

The NY Food Museum is not a sight to be seen one afternoon and never revisited, mainly because of its traveling status. Sans a permanent home, the museum hosts discussion panels, film showings, traditional exhibits (including their first How New Yorkers Ate 100 Years Ago) and the upcoming Lower East Side Pickle Day this spring. Beware of the crowds; pickle day draws tens of thousands of visitors every year.

NY Food Museum, 59 Orchard St. (betw. Grand & Hester Sts.), 212-266-9010, www.nyfoodmuseum.org; call for exhibition dates, times and prices.

Italian American Museum

Appropriately nestled on the corner of Mulberry and Grand streets among the Italian bakeries and aroma of freshly cooked pasta, the Italian American Museum pays homage to the first Italian immigrants to come to New York City.

The museum’s director, Dr. Joseph Scelsa, an extremely knowledgeable—you guessed it—Italian-American sociologist, bought the building in 2008 from the Italian-American Stabile family, with the hope of archiving community artifacts from the last century and a half. The Stabile family emigrated to New York in the 1860s and first opened the space as a bank.

The museum’s interior is built around the actual glass booths where the tellers sat, and includes an array of artifacts from the 19th century through today. The collection ranges from Italian-American currency printed in New Jersey during World War II (when the U.S. occupied Italy) to the first vendor plates from the annual San Gennaro festival. Old passports and luggage tags are showcased beside community photographs, marriage certificates and even a restored wedding dress. The very back of the museum holds an organ that dates back to 1898, a 6-foot-tall bank vault and hand-cranked calculators used in the space years ago.

Welcoming about 100,000 yearly visitors, the museum preserves a culture unique to our city’s Little Italy—“the most famous Little Italy in the world,” according to Scelsa.

Italian American Museum, 155 Mulberry St. (at Grand St.), 212-965-9000, www.italianamericanmuseum.org; weekends, 12–6 p.m., $5.

Merchant’s House Museum

Celebrating its 75th year in business, the Merchant’s House Museum welcomes between 50,000 and 100,000 curious every each year to explore the supposedly haunted, 139-year-old row house on East Fourth Street. The museum first opened in 1936, three years after the death of Gertrude Tredwell, the last person to live at 29 E. 4th St. The Tredwell family lived in the house for over 100 years, and a visit to the museum suggests they—or their ghosts—still do.

Once you walk up the wsix steps from the sidewalk and step through the white marble door, be prepared to hear strange sounds of nonexistent footsteps and catch yourself looking over your shoulder in fear. Through the display of 3,000 untouched possessions from the Tredwell family and their four Irish servants, including old clothes and a wooden piano, the museum evokes a creepy sense of abandonment. Throughout the two floors, stationed amongst the roped-off furniture, fully dressed mannequins of the Tredwells appear more authentic than any sculpture at Madame Tussaud’s.

If you can get past the spookiness, the Merchant’s House Museum also serves as an educational opportunity to learn about New York City architecture and lifestyle history. A double parlor room on the ground floor showcases mahogany chairs, hanging gasoliers and paintings, all dating back to the early 1900s. The intricate mouldings lining the ceilings and brick exterior helped earn the building landmark recognition as the only historic house museum south of 14th Street.

Merchant’s House Museum, 29 E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & Lafayette St.), 212-777-1089, www.merchantshouse.org; Mon.–Thurs., noon–5 p.m., $10.

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art

Some of us have a greater appreciation for the brilliance behind Charles Schulz comics than famous Renaissance paintings. The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art lets you know you’re not alone, presenting a collection of the best graphic arts, classic comics and cartoons from around the world. Located amid the tourist frenzy of Broadway in Soho, the museum has its own discreet, quiet space on the fourth floor of an office building.

Though small, the museum offers a collection of newspaper funnies, Japanese anime, comic strips and gag cartoons to bring back feelings of childhood nostalgia and leave you asking why you ever stopped reading Archie comics. It examines how issues of the First Amendment and censorship have tangled with graphics over time and how the images on display reflect the period in which they were created. Should a visit awaken your creative flair, offered classes include the Craft of Comics Writing and Writing for Animation. A gallery-style museum, rotating exhibits are set up every few weeks, so always call ahead to confirm whether the museum is open.

Leave time after your visit to head over to Animazing Gallery on Greene Street, a 26-year-old gallery featuring artwork from greats like Tim Burton and Maurice Sendak, to keep in the spirit of the day.

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, 594 Broadway Ste. 401 (betw. Houston & Prince Sts.), 212-254-3511, www.moccany.org; Tues.–Sun., 12-5, $6. 

Museum of the American Gangster

Scarface fans, rejoice! This museum, hidden behind a 10-foot black gate on St. Mark’s Place, is home to some great gangster paraphernalia. Established just over a year ago in a onetime speakeasy, the museum showcases the scandalous and violent years of the Prohibition era with artifacts ranging from 100-year-old stills (the vesssels used to make moonshine) to the infamous bank robber John Dillinger’s death masks.

A visit to the museum, which more closely resembles a small schoolroom than the MoMA, starts with a showing of a 15-minute video about American history in the early 20th century. Simply furnished with a bench and four wooden chairs, the museum teaches about the history of the building itself and the gangsters who operated out of it, Walter Scheib and Frank Hoffman.

After purchasing the building in 1964, the current owner discovered a copper safe filled with $100 gold notes (equivalent to millions of dollars today), cigarettes and beer bottles left by Scheib and Hoffman. Over the years, the owner’s decision to gather these and other relics and expand the collection into a full-fledged museum came to fruition last spring.

The safe, now covered in rust, sits at the museum’s entrance filled with replica bills and the bottles found inside years ago. Wanted posters, newspaper clippings and Pat Hamou paintings line the walls of the museum, which has a special Valentine’s Day Massacre section and hand-drawn diagrams of American history. Although visited by local school groups and gangster enthusiasts, the museum has some days when nobody walks through the door. Make sure to visit the theater and bar on the ground level to cap off your visit and celebrate the legality of alcohol.

The Museum of the American Gangster, 80 St. Mark’s Pl. (betw. Ave. A & 1st Ave.), 212-228-5736, www.museumoftheamericangangster.org; 1-6 p.m., $15.

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Across Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently announced it is in the early design stages of a complete overhaul of its famous Fifth Avenue plaza.

One of the main features of the project is the design and installation of all new fountains, replacing the present fountains that have been in place since 1970.

Harold Holzer, senior vice president of external affairs, said another goal of the project is to improve access to the museum’s 81st Street and 83rd Street entrances.

“We have more than 5 million people visit a year and they all walk up the front steps,” Holzer said. “It’s difficult to direct people to 81st Street.”

“This exciting new outdoor environment will provide the perfect complement to the majestic spaces and exceptional collections found within the building,” said Thomas P. Campbell, director of the museum, in a statement.