BY Janel Bladow
Halloween was a big hit in the Seaport again this year, now we’re all prepping for Turkey and giving thanks for what we have. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Grill-tastic…
Vendors and patrons at the successful New Amsterdam Market enjoy learning and talking about foods, drinks and feasting every Sunday. But this week, (November 21) go a step further and join Grill-A-Chef at the New Amsterdam Market School (224 Front St.) for a seasonal cooking class. Learn how to whip up a tasty Winter Panzanella with butternut squash and kale. By the way, a panzanella is usually a summer bread salad and hails from the Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio regions of Italy. But with the addition of these tasty fall staples, it takes on a whole new life. Enjoy! Reserve a spot in the noon or 2pm demo by emailing info@newamsterdammarket.org and indicating your preference. You can pay the $15 (which includes ingredients) at the door.
Salty stories…
Also on Sunday, November 21, you won’t want to miss these tall tales! For one special occasion the Seaport is under the spotlight by a legendary writer, a popular bartender/historian and a fine artist.
The writer is long gone but his words live on with the talent of former Carmine’s bartender and Seaport Museum historian who will bring them to life. Jim Putnam will read from the works of writer Joseph Mitchell who memorialized his days downtown in the fish market during the 1940s and 1950s. If you haven’t read Mitchell, a noted contributor to The New Yorker and a founder of the Seaport Museum, be sure to read his collection of short stories “Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories.”
Additionally, Putnam, a neighborhood icon and character himself, will recount some of his own spirited experiences in the Seaport as a one-time all-night bartender at the century-long stalwart of the Seaport, Carmine’s, worker in a wholesale fish house and market tour guide for the Seaport Museum.
Where does the fine artist come in? At the fifth annual Remembering Fulton Fish Market Art Exhibit, of course, where the reading takes place. Artist Naima Rauam has captured the neighborhood’s fishmongers, lifestyle and quaint cobblestones for decades in watercolors and charcoal drawings, and her exhibit serves as a poignant reminder of our ‘hood’s colorful past.
Reading is Sunday, November 21, 3p and is free, SEAPORT Gallery, 210 Front St. at Beekman. The exhibit continues through November 28, Tuesdays – Sundays, noon to 7 pm, except Thanksgiving Day. For more information visit www.artpm.com.
A play of passion, the sound of samba… For those interested in the arts and history but with Latin American flair, check out the new production at the nabe’s Shooting Star Theatre. “Black Gold: The Passion of Aleijadinho,” is based on the life of the Baroque sculptor Brazil, Antonio Francisco Lisboa (1738-1814). It’s the dramatic account of a man born a slave and freed at birth by his Portuguese father, a master builder of churches. Winning Brazil’s Grand Prize at 18, Lisboa became the Michelangelo of his country, with his life paralleling the gold rush in colonial cities and the growth of Brazil’s arts, religious and political culture as it struggled for independence from Portugal. The story comes alive with music, dance, masks, puppetry, poetry and video projections. Actors and dancers reawaken the multicultural fusion and evolution of music and dance, at the heart of Brazil’s samba. Shooting Star Theatre, 40 Peck Slip, $18, Saturday, December 4, 7:30 pm and Sunday, December 5, 3p. Reservations are recommended and can be made by visitng www.ShootingStarTheatre.org.
Free range doggies…
The battle continues over Battery Park Big Lawn. Downtown dog owners have petitioned the Parks Department to continue the off-leash hours for dogs and made presentations to subcommittees of Community Board 1. If you have a dog and would like to have access to a grassy patch for morning and nighttime exercises, check out www.nycdowntowndogs.org. More letters from dog owners will get more action!
