Here we are, the last two [very full] days in New York.
I wanted Anna Marie to experience Robert, a restaurant at Columbus Circle. I knew she had never been, and honestly, I don’t know why more people don’t talk about it. It is on the 7th Floor of the Museum of Arts and Design building overlooking Columbus Circle, Central Park, and the Upper West Side. I am beginning to think only “locals” know about it.
Anna Marie and I took the bus (M20) from Battery Park towards Lincoln Center to 56th Street. From the drop-off, it was a 3-minute walk to Robert. So fun! As requested, we had a table right next to the window. I could not have been happier with everything: the food, the ambiance, the view. It was the perfect Saturday brunch. Or…was it? Unfortunately, the restaurant would be closing to the public at 4 p.m. for a private party, so we didn’t stay quite as long as we tend to stay at most places. Then again, who wants to stay inside on such a beautiful day? We walked through Central Park and made our way to Tavern on the Green. I so enjoyed sitting there with Cyndi and Pat, I thought Pierre and Anna Marie would as well. We had tickets for a Nathan Lane play later in the evening, so we did not want to veer too far off.
While enjoying our several drinks, our main topic of conversation was my upcoming business venture: “Marehattan Tours.” I actually have an outline of my Business Plan written on a Tavern on the Green cocktail napkin based on our conversation. Isn’t that classic? My plan is to take a handful of tourists through Manhattan. Once I know where their interests lie, I will make the reservations along with my recommendations and put together a plan to see NYC as they never have before. After all, this is what I have been doing for the past seven months. I will not only take them around, but I will also take care of the costs, etc. All they have to do is approve and pay most of the estimated costs in advance. I think it is nice for travelers to come to NYC for 3 to 5 days without worrying about making reservations or pulling out their wallets. “Marehattan Tours” has a nice “ring” to it, doesn’t it? I explained it within a few sentences; however, it took us several hours and several drinks to come up with this plan.
By the time we were ready to leave, we realized that our beautiful Saturday afternoon turned into a rainy evening. We called an Uber to take us to Studio 54. Yes, Studio 54. The one and the only. This is where Nathan Lane’s play, “Pictures from Home,” was showing, and we had tickets for the 8 p.m. show. What a quintessential New York day this was: lunch with a magnificent view, drinks in Central Park, and a play at the well-known 1970s nightclub. And, let’s just throw in Nathan Lane.
At the end of the play, I turned to both Pierre and Anna Marie; their eyes were red from crying. Actually, Anna Marie was sobbing. I don’t know where my mind was. I thought I was paying attention. Was I? After all, I had several drinks earlier; I knew I would only have one more day left before leaving NYC. What was going through my mind? All I know is that the play just went right over my head. I am sad because the acting was superb. I mean, Nathan Lane.
After the play, we walked around Studio 54. I tried to picture the place back in its heyday. I listened to Nathan Lane talk on a podcast a few days before this evening; he said he had only been there once, and it was for Eddie Murphy’s 21st birthday party. At that party, Nathan knocked over a bottle of champagne, had to pay for it, and was escorted out. It’s wild to think this happened in a space where presumably people were openly doing drugs.
The club was open from April 1977 until February 4, 1980, less than three years. The Club was hugely successful but completely mismanaged. One of the owners did jail time for tax evasion.
It was quite an event, quite a venue, and quite a Saturday!