July 14 is Bastille Day- Sooo to honor the day that Parisians stormed the Bastille and the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 I decided to check out the French influences a la NYC.
What’s with NYC’s fascination with France? I guess the “French Connection” goes way back. It can be attributed to the role the French played in the American Revolution and the Marquis de Lafayette. He was George Washington’s “adopted” son and aide de camp. In 1824 he returned to NYC and toured the U.S. and was treated as a rock star. He was feted with parades wherever he went and Congress voted him a gift of $200,000 and a large tract of land. Marquis de Lafayette, the statesman and general, maintained the convictions of democracy, social equality, and religious freedom throughout the remainder of his life.
A larger-than-life-sized statue of Lafayette stands in Union Square – It was sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), the designer of the Statue of Liberty (1886). The granite pedestal designed by H.W. DeStuckle was donated by French citizens living in New York. Lafayette appears in another Bartholdi sculpture at Lafayette Square in Upper Manhattan that depicts him shaking General George Washington’s hand. Lafayette is also honored in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with a bas-relief on steel by Daniel Chester French. Lafayette has all sorts of places named for him in the US-Lafayette St-Lafayette H.S. in Brooklyn –Lafayette College and numerous towns throughout the US. Mid-nineteenth century New York had about 18,000 French immigrants. It was the largest French-speaking community in the United States. At that time the French immigrant populations of both Louisiana and Missouri were only 15,000 residents. These immigrants even fielded units for the Union Army during the Civil War. They lived in SoHo and it was home to small businesses, restaurants, charcuterie shops, bakeries, and cafes. By 1894 they moved uptown to Chelsea.
Today, New York City is home to around 60,000 French ex-pats and more than 81,000 French speakers. French people and culture have long played an important role in the city. For many years E 60th St between Park and Madison Ave was a hub of French Culture. It is home to the French Institute Alliance Francaise where you can take in a lecture, attend the Cinema, or take French lessons. In fact, the Le Temple du St Esprit, a church that was founded in 1687 for French Hugeonets, held services in their auditorium in 1926. They remained there until a former school was purchased by the congregation in 1941. Today the church is located at 109 East 60 St.
Bastille Day celebrations have traditionally been celebrated on 60th Street for many years. This year on Sunday, July 10 the celebration will be on Madison Ave between 58 St and 63 St. It includes wine and cheese tastings, French food, arts and crafts, puppet shows, and other live performances.
5th Ave between 78 St and 79 St
Another “piece “ of France is located on 5th Ave between 78 St and 79 St. The French Embassy is located in the former Payne Whitney Mansion. Within the cultural Services of the French Embassy is the Albertine bookshop. The Albertine bookshop is the only bookshop in New York devoted solely to books in French and English with more than 14,000 contemporary and classic titles from 30 French-speaking countries. In partnership with the Cultural Services, Albertine hosts lively debates and discussions exploring popular and classical culture through a modern and global lens.
In the past few years, another NYC neighborhood has been identified and dubbed Little Paris.” “Little Paris'' is located on Center Street between Grand and Broome Streets not far from Lafayette Street. Its centerpiece is the former NYC Police Headquarters ( a building where my Dad worked in the late 1940s. It was built in the manner of a French hotel de Ville (town hall). It was converted to residential use in 1988. According to the AIA, it is ornate Renaissance Revival architecture and is laced with Baroque bits.
Little Paris is home to CouCou - a French-language school and more. It is a place where you can immerse yourself in French language classes as well as cultural events. Cousins Lea and Marianne Perret founded the school and are now supporting the “cause” to name the area Little Paris.
Another shop Posterati has a great selection of Movie Posters and it provides framing services.
Clic General Store and Gallery is a great place to visit- it has something for everyone-clothing, home decor, toys, and more.
Maman is a fabulous pastry shop that has a great garden and yummy pastries. The cornmeal waffles with vanilla mascarpone and the nutty chocolate chip cookies are highly recommended.
The La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels Wine Bar offers a great selection of wine and Mediterranean small plates.
Stay tuned- efforts are underway to “officially” name the area Little Paris. Signage is already there. French food has played a big role in familiarizing folks with French culture. So now let’s talk about French Food.
French dining in NYC started with Delmonico’s – the first “restaurant” in NY- Although the brothers were Swiss the cuisine was French. It was very posh and gave us such things as the “Delmonico Steak” and the idea of a separate wine list
At the 1939 World’s Fair The Restaurant du Pavillon de France run by Henri Soule gave Americans a taste for French food. After the fair closed Soule and his chef Pierre Franey stayed in the U.S. as refugees and opened Le Pavillon at 5 E 55 St. It was a big hit and operated from 1941-1971. New York’s love affair with French food continues and today Zagat’s Top 5 restaurants are French. They are all recognized by the Michelin Guide -Le Bernardin, Daniel, Per Se, Bouley, Jean GeorgesEach provides a fabulous dining experience although quite pricey.
In addition to these top-rated restaurants, NYC has a history of more modest French fare. Many years ago the West 50’s was an enclave of small French restaurants and I recall being very adventurous and ordering venison at Le Champlain- Larre’s was another go-to place when you wanted something sophisticated and delicious. But alas they are gone.
For a moderately priced French experience, today try:
- Chez Napoleon- a family-owned restaurant with grandmere in the kitchen
- La Bonne Soupe - wonderful onion soup(what else) and more.
- Café Luxembourg- a great place on the Upper West Side for celebrity watching- good food also.
- Le Gigot- delicious duck and attentive service right on Cornelia St in the West Village.
- Of course, French art is all over NY but I will leave that for you to discover on your own-hint MOMA the Met or maybe another Blog.
I could go on and on but I won’t. As you can see you don’t have to fly off to Paris for a great French experience.
For inquiries and questions about tours ( In-person or Virtual ), you can send an email or call. Stay tuned for Susan's next new blog!
It’s not too late to experience one of New York’s Holiday wonders – The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. It ends this Sunday, Jan 23! Get tickets here.
This year I attended the Holiday Train Show with my 3-year-old granddaughter Maya Shayne.
To call the Holiday show a “train” show is really a misnomer. The Botanical Gardens has created an incredible collection with the help of the visionary artist Paul Busse and his fabulous team. The trains are interesting but for me, the real “hook” is the amazing replicas of New York City Landmarks. All the iconic “New York” buildings and sites are there- made of pine cones, twigs, berries, and all sorts of natural materials.
Each year it is updated and the 2021 addition is the New York Botanical Gardens own LuEsther T Metz Library. It was founded in 1899 and is the largest botanical library in the USA.
I believe we went to the first “train show” in 1991. It consisted of a large table- just like a train board, you would set up in your living room. It was outdoors in front of the administration building (the same building in which I won an “honorable” mention for my begonia dish garden in a competition for NYC school children when I was in the 6th grade at PS 91).
HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITES!
The Chrysler Building (Image by Wally Gobetz)
TWA Passenger Terminal (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Maya with the Statue of Liberty (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Yankee Stadium (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Grand Central Terminal (Image by Wally Gobetz)
Macy's (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Radio City Music Hall (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Rockefeller Center (Image by Susan Birnbaum)
Brooklyn Bridge (Image by Wally Gobetz)
New York has so many interesting and festive activities during the Holiday Season sometimes it’s hard to choose, but I know The New York Botanical Gardens Train Show never disappoints.
Let us know which interests you!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! We wish you a rocking Year. ????
Times Square has been having New Year’s celebrations since 1904 when the New York Times moved uptown and opened its headquarters at what is now 1 Times Square. The original celebrations were lavish firework displays from the top of the building from 1904-1906 but stopped by city officials because of the danger of fire. Fireworks are dirty and dangerous soooo the ball was substituted in 1907. Jacob Starr designed it and it was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds and was decorated with 100 light bulbs. On that night in 1907, hundreds of thousands of people congregated to watch the ball being lowered on a pole atop the building, marking the start of the new year.
The long tradition continues today. Since 1908, and for more than one hundred years thereafter, Times Square sign maker Artkraft Strauss has been responsible for the ball-lowering. FYI they were also responsible for the iconic “Camel” Man sign which had smoke coming out of his mouth and many others throughout Times Square. They were the kings of neon. (Fun SusanSez Fact: My Mom worked for them for many years!)
First New Years Ball in 1907 via Vintage Culture
The first ball, dropped on December 31, 1907, was made of wood and iron but it is now the famous Waterford Crystal 2014 NYE Ball to be feature new elements via Times Square you see today. On that night in 1907, hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the ball being lowered on a pole atop the building, marking the start of the new year.
Over the years the ball was tweaked and changed for various reasons. To celebrate the centennial of the ball drop, a new energy-efficient LED ball debuted to bring in 2008. Just one year later to bring in 2009 a larger ball was used and has become the permanent installation as a year-round attraction, used for celebrations such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
NYE Ball 2008 which became shown to the public year-round via Times Square
On average, about one million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. However, for the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, published reports stated approximately two million people overflowed Times Square, flowing from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue and all the way back on Broadway and Seventh Avenues to 59th Street.
2007 celebrated 100 years since the first ball dropped and a new ball was designed by Waterford Crystal and Phillips Lighting. LEDs enabled the lights to change color. It became known as the centennial ball.
NYE Ball 2008 (photo by Times Square Ball)
2021 NYE Ball (photo by Times Square ball)
Last year sadly Times Square was closed to the public due to CoVID. The ball received a facelift It was covered in 2,6888 Waterford crystals and 32,256 LED lights in 16 million vibrant colors. It weighs 11, 875 pounds.
This year the ball will be updated-it as part of Waterford’s Gift of Wisdom design for 2022.
As of this writing, a press release indicates that due to the Omnicron surges in NYC the crowd will be greatly reduced. Instead of 58,000 people, it will be scaled back to 15,000. Proof of vaccination will be required for everyone over 5 years old and Masks will be required.
2022 NYE Ball (photo by Waterford)
I made it down there once – mostly as a result of a dull party with a dull date. I organized a group and we made our way downtown to Times Square. It was fun and exciting and at 11:59 p.m., the Ball began its descent as thousands of voices united to countdown the final seconds of the old year. The most amazing part of it was how quickly the crowd scattered and within a few minutes, there was no sign of the festivities.
If you’re interested Times Square Association has pulled together some fun facts about the ball, click here to see them!
I hope to see you this year of 2022! Subscribe to our mailing list and Share. ????
