it’s been a busy time in Gotham but I admit that the Summer stories grabbing a goodly portion of the headlines - waterfalls, budgets, and baseball - are not what have caught my attention.

Oh I admit that the waterfalls as an idea intrigued when they were first proposed. I looked forward to them - and they still, as an idea, have been the thing that caught my attention - but in reality, during the day, the falls aren’t exactly all that and a bag of chips. At night they are lovely, exciting and ethereal at the same time. Night does that. Daytime is different. It’s like - well, have you ever eaten at the Water Club? It’s that kind of difference. At the Water Club, the view at night out the windows is magnificent. Lights move slowly past, their reflections sparkling and dancing on the waters as it parts, ebbs and flows. “Another glass of wine? Of course - isn’t the night magical? Let’s order coffee as well. I can’t bear for the night to end.” During the day? It’s more like, “Gosh, look at the traffic on the FDR. Getting home is gonna be a bitch? Is that a garbage barge?”

See? Time of day is the key here - and the key to enjoying the waterfalls. As for the others - there’s almost no reason for me to pay attention to the fact that a budget deal was brokered. Not that the budget isn’t important. It is. But there is always a budget being considered or passed or amended or being shot to hell. And baseball? Listen, no offense but baseball is a subject on which I am ‘meh’ at the best of times. Yes, I get it, I get it - local baseball teams slugging it out is special this time. Both teams are playing their last seasons in their respective stadiums. ‘Fans on the street’ are celebrating their teams and their team history and while ‘The Powers That Be’ don’t mind as such, they don’t seem to care either - as they don’t have to waste time doing the same. They are too busy pricing the average joe out and ignoring him in favor of big ticket corporates. Go team!

But the Summer stories I am excited about are

• Summer Streets No-Car Zones coming in August and which, according the New York Times, “. . . will run north-south along Centre Street, Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue to 72nd Street. The southern half of 72nd Street from Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue will also be shut to vehicles, to link to Central Park. ” I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. I am a walker by habit as well as necessity and the longer the walk, the better as far as I am concerned. The comments on the Times article were overwhelmingly positive (oh there are always gripers) but some made excellent points about keeping the street vendors from taking over. This is not - after all - intended to be a street fair. Oh and to whoever it was that thought Manhattan was flat? Dude. There’s a reason Lenox Hill is called Lenox Hill. Flat? Not hardly.
• Summer Restaurant Week starts July 21 and runs through August 1 (not valid on weekends). With a choice of 235 eateries and both lunch and dinner offerings to choose from, two weeks may not seem like nearly long enough. But it’s all you have so start planning now. There is a city of three-course, prix-fixe meals - lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35 - awaiting you! (Oh and that reminds me - you know how I mentioned the Water Club earlier? Well, they have a $24.00 pre-fixe lunch and offer a $39.50 pre-fixe dinner every evening 5:00 pm till closing all year long so if you miss SRW this time around, you can still go and have a fabulous and very special meal for a great price.. On a clear, bright day even the tug boats shine.
• Shakespeare in the Park - well, Hair anyway. OK- Hamlet was vile. But I admit to loathing the play as a rule anyway so I have only myself to blame for that lost chunk of my life. Never mind that. The rest of the day was fab. Beautiful weather, congenial neighbors in line (note to self - buy folding chair) and a drink lakeside afterwards. Who cares what happens to the Dopey Dane? Let him go back to Wittenburg if he’s such a pill! Bring on Hair! Lots of folks must be saying the same ’cause they’ve extended to run before the show even opened.

With so much going on this summer - this as well as the other stuff I’ve been covering in my NYC Summer Fun Series - it’s a wonder I have time to do any real work at all. And yet, real work beckons so I leave you all to your planning for now. Back soon with my promised Westchester report