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Christmastime in New York City; celebrating the solstice

The scene in front of Radio Music City Hall was big, beautiful, glitzy and festive. BY DENNIS FORNEY
dennis_forney
December 23, 2015
Downtown Manhattan billboards are creative. An interesting juxtaposition to the massive buildings of the city.
We walked the High Line Park, a mile-and-a-half walkway along a former railroad bed that takes advantage of meadow-like plantings to bring a long touch of nature to the downtown area.
This billboard along the High Line uses nature and natural to get the attention of ecologically minded folks walking the linear park.
We rode the subway with Enoch, right, one of the original Coasters, and Del, left, who sang with the Platters.  We sang Yakity Yak and Under the Boardwalk together with beautiful harmony and appreciative applause from the riders.
A sculpture in the churchyard beside St. John the Devine Cathedral chronicles the triumph of good over evil, complete with the severed head of Satan held in the claw of a crab. On top is the Archangel Michael holding the head of a giraffe, considered one of the most peaceful animals in the world. The next two photos include the text explaining the sculpture and a detail of the severed Satan head.
At Lillie's Victorian Bar on 49th Street, hostess Rennie felt filled with the holiday spirit.
On the wall of Lillie's, a photograph of Lille Langtry, for whom the bar is named.
A blessing of being human is the capacity for appreciation. Here's our appreciative crowd outside Café du Soleil, complete with our friendly waiter. Shown are (l-r) Jonathan, Bruce, Annie, Albert, Becky, Jennifer, Karen, Chris and Tom.

A group of us trained and bused to New York City last weekend to witness Paul Winter Consort's 36th annual solstice celebration inside the massiveness of St. John the Divine Cathedral.  The good news is that as I'm writing this, days are officially getting longer once again. The sun is coming back and for tens of thousands of years people in northern climes have been celebrating its return. The celebration enlivened the cathedral with a gold gong heralding the returning sun, Brazilian singers, African American dancers, the thunderous chords of the cathedral's giant organ and the equally thunderous percussion from dozens of drums that shook  the massive stones of the edifice.  Paul Winter's soprano sax sewed the show together with silvery sinewy sounds.

It's been a while since I was in New York City.  We subwayed and bused here and there, from Battery Park on the south end of Manhattan Island to the nation's largest Episcopal cathedral - St. John's - on 110th Street at the northwest corner of Central Park.  We found the city to be clean, the people friendly (including the few homeless people we encountered), the parks beautiful, and security in Penn Station heavy.  New York State Police officers, New York City Police officers and Army Reserve officers armed with nine millimeter pistols and assault rifles were out in full force. Not everyone is full of love this Christmas.

Here are some photos of the adventure:

 

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