Travels in the 2nd half

I know that things are tough right now. Social distancing is the new normal and cultural institutions are closed. I hope that blogs like mine are helpful in providing a respite from the week’s news, and that they offer the foundation of your “After This is Over” to do list. This week I am highlighting a museum that is dealing with a double whammy. We all know that, in this time of the COVID-19 virus, all museums in NYC are closed, and looking at major financial issues. While the NY Times focuses on large institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, truthfully, these major museums will survive. But smaller spaces are having a tougher time, and the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is no exception. But MOCA has a further stress. In January a fire raged through the building at 70 Mulberry street. This former school was home to several local cultural groups. It was also the storage facility for MOCA’s 85,000-piece collection. Luckily, the fire was on the floors above the st...

Seen at Times Square I am taking a break from my usual travel blogs to share a little about what New York City looks like as the restriction die to the COVID-19 crisis take effect. Last Saturday I took a walk through Manhattan's Upper West Side. Line outside Trader Joe's I got to Lincoln Center around 11:00 AM and it was almost completely deserted. On Tuesday morning I went back down to mid-town. My first stop was at Grand Central Terminal Taking a break Erin works at Sweetgrass. "It is crazy, I have gone from serving customers to giving food away" Rachel was on her way to Connecticut to prepare for a Sept. wedding"I hope we will still be able to hold it." Margarita and her son were in NYC for medical treatment. They were spending one last day to see the sights before heading home. Clara, Leena, Georgina and Amber were visiting from Malaysia. I walked across 42nd street towards Times Square 42nd st...

Raise your hand if you think math is scary. I see you out there, your hand half raised, while you look over your shoulder to see if anyone else is raising theirs. Well, whether you love math, or are freaked out by it, there is a place in New York City that makes math fun, the National Museum of Mathematics. The National Museum of Mathematics (MoMATH) opened in 2012, and is the only museum in North America dedicated to “enhancing public understanding and perception of mathematics.” It was founded by the former president of the Goudreau Museum on Long Island, which was the country’s previous math museum. What MoMATH offers is an interactive experience, where visitors can put math to work in an effort to understand what all those letters and numbers mean in the real world. Mobius car track When you enter MoMATH, through doors with a π-shaped handles, you enter a gallery with life-sized applications of math. You can drive a remote controlled car along a mobiles strip, or ride...