Sunday Morning in Stuyvesant Town: Easter Breakfast by the Oval

We were so excited to see the sun actually come up this Easter morning that we got out of the house by 7 a.m. after exercising to Classical Stretch on NYC-TV and took the L train a couple of stops to First Avenue.

At Starbucks we got a free iced tea thanks to our Gold Card rewards and bought some oatmeal with dried fruits and nuts and took them over to Stuyvesant Town, where we found a comfy couch just waiting for us.

Actually we sat at a bench by the Oval, which will open to residents in late May once the grass is all grown in beautifully.

One of Stuy Town's many officious gray squirrels came over and threw us for a loop when he asked to see our ID.

Luckily we have pull with this kindly one-of-a-kind black squirrel, who gave us permission to hang out. What a pal.

We'd put up a statue in his honor were there not one already.

On our way back to Brooklyn to get ready for church, we admired the cityscapes painted by fifth graders decorating the Oval Study.

We're grateful to Stuyvesant Town for letting us trespass. It won't happen again. Definitely not.

Wednesday Night in Stuyvesant Town: Summer Art Battles Jam at The Stuy Town Oval

After leaving Lincoln Center, we hopped on the subway (1 to Times Square, Q to Union Square, L to First Avenue) and made it to Stuyvesant Town to watch the final hour of tonight's Summer Art Battles jam at the Oval.

Four young artists duked it out obstage in a Realistic vs. Abstract competition.

The beats of drums and other instruments, as well as the music of DJ Stephan, provided the soundtrack for the evening.

There were also full-on dance performances by four hyperenergetic young dancers and some of the (nonprofessional) younger members of the big crowd gathered on the grass.


The four artists, armed with creativity and encouraged by dancers and the energy of the crowd, had a total of two hours to create a piece of art based on the theme of Gaia (Greek mythology for Mother Earth). They all had canvases of the same size to work on, the two realists on the audience's left, the abstract artists on the right.

At the end, the audience decided the champion, who will be given a one-person exhibit at the Stuy Town Oval Lounge, by applause.

First we voted among the two paintings in the categories of realist and abstract.

Finally we applauded again to determine the final winner, this happy abstract expressionist.

It was a fun night.