My sweet friend treated me to see “Straight Line Crazy” starring Ralph Fiennes. It was incredible! He played the role of Robert Moses–an urban planner for 40 years and considered among the most powerful men in New York. An iron will and a vision. A blurb from The Shed: Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s working class, he created new parks, new bridges, and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. However, Moses often achieved these public works at the expense of disempowered New Yorkers, particularly people of color, living in the way of and near his projects. In the 1950s, groups of citizens began to organize against his schemes and the prioritization of cars over public transportation, campaigning for a very different idea of what a city should be.
It was pouring rain that day and my commute was not easy. There were soaked cardboard boxes flying between buildings on 9th Avenue. Kind of surreal. Anyway, we had a lovely dinner at Tavola and enjoyed some nice wine and Italian food. I love sitting in the window there and watching people walk by. The city is always inspiring and the reflections in the street were beautiful.
