Travel eGuide for MMA Senior Field Trip 2020 ` Friday, March 20, 2020 New York, NY
Sightseeing, Shopping, Carmine’s Restaurant, and Broadway
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
9:00 AM Seniors, parents, and chaperones report to the dining commons for attendance 9:30 AM Departure from MMA on Krapf Coaches for NYC from the Convent side of building 10:15 PM Pit-stop at Wegman’s in Cherry Hill, NJ for pick-ups ***Tickets for the show will be distributed on the buses 12:15 PM Arrival in midtown Manhattan at 52nd Street & 8th Avenue Free time for lunch, shopping, and sightseeing; stay with parents or chaperones 5:00 PM Dinner at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant (midtown location) 200 West 44th Street 7:00 PM Departure from the restaurant (by foot) to the Music Box Theatre 239 West 45th Street 8:00 PM Curtains up! Performance of Dear Evan Hansen 10:45 PM Departure from Times Square for return to MMA 12:30 AM Pit-stop at Wegman’s in Cherry Hill, NJ for drop-offs 1:00 AM Approximate arrival back at MMA
DRESS CODE:
Remember that you will be going to the theater! Dressy casual, which means pants, longer skirt, or very neat jeans No sweatpants, pajama pants, flip flops, mini shorts, or short skirts Appropriate tops (no halters, tanks, spaghetti-straps, or bare-midriffs) Comfortable shoes (no high heels) Light jacket (waterproof, if possible, in case it is cool inside or wet outside)
OTHER NOTES:
Snacks: you may bring something to eat for the bus ride. Carrying a cell phone is important in case of an emergency. However, no cell phone may be turned on or used during the Broadway show. Texting is also prohibited at that time. Students must remain with a chaperone or parent at all times. Students may bring DVDs for the bus ride. R-rated movies will not be permitted, and films will be shown at the discretion of the chaperones. In case of emergency, call school at 610-664-6655 x.100 or x.156.
In order for this trip to be successful, we must adhere to this schedule. Anyone who is not on the bus by 9:30 AM will remain at school!
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REMEMBER:
Your signed permission slips were due to Dr. Pidot in the Office of Student Affairs back in fall term 2019. They’re all collected now; no worries about paperwork at this point. It’s 100% complete.
BUS ROSTERS:
There will be three (3) coach buses in our caravan.
There is an interactive Google spreadsheet for bus sign-ups (see below). You must verify that your name is on that spreadsheet by Friday, March 13th. If your parent is coming, too, then also add his/her name. Do not move or delete any name other than your own. Anyone who boards and disembarks in New Jersey must ride “bus A.”
Here is a LINK to view the bus lists and to add your names!
You may self-select a small group to travel with and a chaperone/parent with whom you’d like to tour Manhattan during the day. If you are not hanging out with a group of friends who have at least one parent with them, then you must stay together in your travels with one of the faculty chaperones.
USEFUL INTERNET LINKS:
Lunch suggestions
Shopping suggestions
Walking map of midtown area
A Google map that should also help
How to get around via taxi
How to get around via subway
Sneak-peek of Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway
o Some musical highlights, too
Preview of Carmine’s Italian Restaurant
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Our unique Merion dinner menu at Carmine’s on Friday night will feature…
o Garlic bread o Mozzarella & sliced tomato o Penne alla vodka o Spaghetti with calamari (red sauce) o Chicken parmigana o Chicken with lemon and butter o Chocolate cannoli o Tiramisu o Coffee, tea, and water o Soda is available, but there will be an extra cost incurred per table that orders sodas
The chef can accommodate students and parents who communicate to me in advance that they have a dietary constraint. The kitchen at Carmine’s will provide those travelers with special plates; it aids the restaurant staff and their efficiency of service.
***Although the meal is served family-style and the food is in great quantities, many ingredients and supplies are donated daily by the restaurant to city food shelters in need.
***While this is a Friday in Lent, the food is passed in a way that is self-serve; this is no obligation to eat the meat; it is part of the standard menu package and sometimes there are travelers’ dispensations.
WHAT TO DO IN TIMES SQUARE AND AROUND MANHATTAN:
Madame Tussaud’s 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues madametussauds.com/newyork
A little place (museum) where you can meet all of your favorite stars, even if they're all in wax form. Come armed with your camera and pose with everyone from Brittany to Denzel.
NBC Experience 49th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues nbc.com
Take some time out to tour NBC studios or catch a taping of "Saturday Night Live" or "Dateline NBC" (although you'll have to make reservations well in advance). You can also purchase some of your favorite TV show memorabilia at the building on 49th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.
Rockefeller Center West 49th Street and 5th Avenue rockefellercenter.org
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In the winter, you can ice skate with all of the other throngs of people. In the summer, you can enjoy outdoor dining, a stop at the Museum of Modern Art store or a sandwich from the legendary Dean & Deluca. If you're particularly adventurous, ride all the way to the "Top of the Rock" to enjoy breathtaking views of the city (although it'll set you back about $15 per person)
Bryant Park, “Le Carrousel” Park bounded by 40th and 42nd Streets, 5th and 6th Avenues bryantpark.org
Are you bringing children to see a show? It's not always easy to keep them amused before and afterwards without spending megabucks, but here's one attraction that's guaranteed to please the young (and the young at heart). “Le Carrousel,” as it is called, operates daily in the spring, summer, and fall from 11:30am to 7:00pm, and the price of a ride is a very affordable $2.00. Bryant Park is also notable for stately trees, a large expanse of lawn, a cafe, a restaurant, and a lovely fountain.
Toys ‘R’ Us, Ferris Wheel Broadway at 44th Street toysrustimessquare.com
After you've enjoyed your visit to Bryant Park and a spin on “Le Carrousel,” walk a few blocks northwest to Toys ‘R’ Us for another fun ride. The indoor Ferris wheel here is 60 feet tall, and it's quite a sight to see. Music plays and neon lights sparkle as you go round and round for a mere $4.00 per ride.
The Salvation Army Thrift Store – Hell's Kitchen 536 West 46th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues satruck.com
This is one of the Salvation Army's largest thrift stores. Occupying several different floors, it offers great second-hand deals on women’s clothing, men’s clothing, furniture, housewares, etc. Take a good look through each floor, especially the third, where you'll find furnishings. Recently, they had a lot of pianos and huge couches, plus some terrific retro lamps. Another man’s trash can be your home’s new conversation piece. The store is not open on Sunday, because this is the Salvation Army, but it is open Monday through Saturday, 9:00am to 5:30pm. So follow the fold and stray no more!
St. Malachy’s Church, a.k.a. “The Actors' Chapel” 239 West 49th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue actorschapel.org
Open daily from 7:30am until at least 8:00pm and sometimes later, the chapel is a lovely respite from the bustle of the surrounding neighborhood. Douglas Fairbanks and Joan Crawford were married here. Jimmy Durante and Don Ameche, among other notables, served Mass in the chapel, and many an actor, producer, and musician has lit a candle here for good luck on opening night. The bells of the church play “There’s No Business Like Show Business” every Wednesday and Sunday at 3:00pm for the Broadway matinees, and every Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm for the evening performances. Now, that's community spirit! Suggestion: This would be the perfect place to visit before seeing the long-running Off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz, which is playing just one block away at New World Stages.
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The Diamond District West 47th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues diamonddistrict.org
Here is home to some of the most extraordinary gems on earth. Both sides of the street are lined with stores and stalls. So many incredible rings, necklaces, and earrings are displayed in the street-level windows that there is no need to actually enter a single store, unless you are in the market to buy. More than three quarters of all diamonds entering the United States come through New York City, and this is the place to get your bling on. Remember, diamonds are a girl's best friend! If you are buying, decide in advance what you want to pay, and be prepared to bargain. Saturday is not the best day to go, as many of the traders are Jewish and don't work on the Sabbath.
International Center of Photography 1133 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue) at 43rd Street icp.org
With more than 100,000 photos in its permanent collection and an ever-changing program of shows and attractions, this is a really great place to pass time within a stone's throw from Times Square. In addition to its exhibitions, the ICP has a café and a museum store. Closed on Monday, but open Tuesday from 10:00am to 8:00pm, Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 6:00pm. Check the website for information.
Lee’s Art Shop 220 West 57th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue leesartshop.com
Art isn't easy, but this department store for the artist makes it easier. Open Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 7:30pm, Saturday from 10:00am to 7:00pm, and Sunday from 11:00am to 6:00pm -- hours that perfectly accommodate a theatergoer's schedule. Much more than just an art supply house, Lee's has three floors of gifts, furniture, books, accessories, paint, paper, writing implements, etc. At holiday time, the shop has the most plentiful and unique Christmas ornament selection.
Mood Fabrics 225 West 37th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, 3rd Floor moodfabrics.com
Located just around the corner from Parsons, this is the fabric and fitting shop frequented by the designers on Project Runway. If you've never visited the wholesale market in the fashion district, you'll be astounded what goods are offered -- and what types of people are there shopping for them. This is not your Joanne Fabrics at the mall! Mood Fabrics is open every day except Sunday.
Marriot Marquis, Glass Elevators
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Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets marriott.com
Built in 1985, the Marriot Marquis boasts what is billed as the largest indoor atrium in the world. Step into one of the glass elevators for an exhilarating, stomach-tilting ride -- free of charge. Access to the upper floors is limited to hotel guests unless you happen to be headed to The View restaurant at the top of the building. If not, you can always stand in the middle of the atrium on the eighth floor lobby level and watch those elevators zoom up and down nearly 50 stories.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral 46th Street and Madison Avenue saintpatrickscathedral.org
While her cornerstone was laid in 1858 and her doors swept open in 1879, it was over 150 years ago, when Archbishop John Hughes announced his inspired ambition to build this “new” Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Check out the website for tour, music, and worship information.
Holographic Studios 240 East 26th Street http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/holographic-studios-inc http://www.holographer.com
Your group will get to see amazing 3D illusions close up and learn the secrets behind them. Typical tours last between 45 to 60 minutes depending on the questions and answers that your guests ask. Your tour guide will show you a variety of types of holograms from small to large and some special ones that are not on display to the general public. At the end of the tour, all guests receive a complimentary hologram as our way of thanks. Weekend tours incur a one hundred dollar surcharge. There is a one hundred dollar deposit required to book the tours. It is refundable up to 48 hours before the tour with written notice via email. The balance is due upon arrival.
The tour costs $350 per group (not to exceed 35 people at a time – larger groups can be split into two). The gallery is about the size of a small boutique. There is a wide variety of types of holograms on display. Your guide will give a brief talk about the holograms you see and explain how holography and 3D works.
You will see:
Images that jump right out of the hologram. Celebrity portraits including Andy Warhol, Phyllis Diller, Isaac Asimov among others. Holographic sculptures from Russian museums. The world’s largest collection of motion image holograms. Cylindrical holograms with fully moving images that are visible from all sides. Computer generated holograms. Multi-channel holograms that change from one image to another as you walk past.
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The tour includes a short visit to our subterranean the laser laboratory. A brief talk also is given about the history of the studio and how history has repeated itself here from the time this was a blacksmith’s forge to its current incarnation as a state of the art holographic studio.
A group of eight to ten people at a time are escorted down to the subterranean laser laboratory beneath the gallery where they get to see how holograms are actually made. The labs are an underground labyrinth illuminated in a dim green photographic safe light with the brilliant primary color of the laser accenting the holographic process. It is a very surreal environment and an experience no one will ever forget. Principles of laser physics are demonstrated in a manner that borders on science fiction. Yet it’s all real.
Holographic Studios’ proud founder, Jason Sapan, has been creating, selling, displaying and teaching holography since the 1960s, when he worked with Bell Laboratories to demonstrate new advances in laser technology for Time Inc., the very first public exhibition of holography in America. Working as the portrait holographer for New York’s (now closed) Museum of Holography for years, Sapan has had a slew of celebrity commissions; Andy Warhol, Bill Clinton, and Isaac Asimov are amongst the impressive list of people who have posed to have Sapan’s holograms made in their likeness.
Today many of these celebrity portraits are on display within the holography gallery, along with the world’s largest collection of motion image holograms, cylindrical, multi-channel and computer generated holograms, novelty items and stickers.
Sapan is passionate about his craft and loves discussing the science of laser physics with visitors as well as showing off his work. The very lucky tourist may just get a special invitation to experience where all the holography magic occurs: beneath the shop in Sapan’s basement laboratory, a sci-fi lover’s dream world of labyrinthine passageways and beaming streams of laser light.
Explorers’ Club 46 East 70th Street https://explorers.org/about/history/a_gathering_place
Visitors are welcome during opening hours. Group tours can be scheduled by contacting reservations. Regular talks with exploration greats are held in the Clark Room from September through June.
Reservations are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Please contact the Club's receptionist at 212- 628-8383 or [email protected]
Founded in 1904 by seven leading polar explorers of the era, the Explorers Club fosters the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space. The 1910 Jacobean revival mansion was originally built for Stephen Clark, grandson of the co-founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The Explorers Club purchased the building from the Clark family in 1960 after Stephen’s death. It became the international headquarters in 1965.
It is known as the Lowell Thomas building, named after the famed writer, broadcaster and Explorers Club member best known for making Lawrence of Arabia famous.
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A century’s worth of exploration treasures fill the floors. The ground floor member lounge houses a few of their polar artifacts. On your way up to the second floor, you won’t be able to miss the giant globe used by Thor Heyerdahl to plan his famous Kon-Tiki expedition.
Percy, the polar bear, greets you on the second floor. As you head into the library, you will see The Rescue of Greeley, painted within hours of their rescue in 1884. The library holds a tiny fraction of the 13,000 books that make up the research and archives collection.
All lectures and events are held in the Clark room. The walls proudly display a few of the retired expedition flags from historic explorations. A sled from the 1909 North Pole expedition and an extremely rare set of double elephant tusks from the Congo can also be found here.
The uppermost floor is home to the research archives, holding the club’s impressive collection of 13,000 books, 1,000 museum objects, 5,000 maps and 500 films.
The Gallery on the top floor is the room everyone wants to see. In the early days of the Explorers Club when travel was difficult and field photography was relatively new, hunting and taxidermy were thought to be the best way to preserve animals for education and research. Here you will find animals from many decades past. Objects from the far corners of the world, including a narwhal tusk, wooly mammoth tusk (ask about the famous 1951 Explorers’ Club dinner) and the famous yeti scalp.
Grolier Club 47 East 60th Street http://www.grolierclub.org
Open to the public free of charge, Monday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, with the exception of holiday closures. Established in 1884, the stately Grolier Club is a center for the celebration of the beauty and art of books. As the oldest bibliophilia club in North America, the private club has been in its current home on the Upper East Side since 1917 and regularly hosts public exhibitions on the literary arts, with past shows focusing on wunderkammers, microscopes, and symbolism, always concentrating on books as art objects.
The Grolier Club also holds a research library packed with texts on the literary arts, such as bookbinding and illustration. Its name is a tribute to Jean Grolier de Servières, a 16th century French bibliophile and collector.
For further information: please contact Exhibitions Manager Jennifer Sheehan at [email protected] or 212-838-6690; or PR Consultant Susan Flamm at [email protected] or 212-289-2999.
"Vive les Satiristes: Caricature during the Reign of Louis Philippe, 1830-1848" March 23 to May 27, 2017 From the Collection of Josephine Lea Iselin
A fascinating overview of the Golden Age of social and political satire in 19th-century France, focusing on the role of controversial and wildly popular journals such as La Caricature and Le Charivari, and the
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great illustrators — Daumier, Grandville, and others — who captured in these pages the foibles of those around them with unmatched humor, skill, and style.
“Images of Value” February 22 to April 29, 2017 The Artwork behind U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-1980s
The paper money we handle every day depicts familiar portraits of presidents and statesmen, but how many people know that a woman's portrait was once a standard likeness on federal currency? Or that a notorious showgirl's portrait was engraved for bond coupons? Or that a portrait of one of Queen Victoria's daughters was turned into "Young America" for use on stock certificates? The exhibition Images of Value: The Artwork behind U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-1980s, on public view at the Grolier Club from February 22 to April 29, 2017, presents a rare look behind the images that appeared on bank notes and securities produced in the United States for over 150 years.
For the first time visitors can see a remarkable range of original wash drawings and paintings, period photographs and prints used to engrave the images on documents of value for the United States and countries ranging from Argentina to China to Spain, along with the documents on which the resulting engravings appeared. The exhibition is primarily from the holdings of Mark D. Tomasko, a private collector, scholar, and researcher who documents the engravers, artists, designers, and bank note firms. Exquisite miniature drawings by Asher B. Durand, George W. Hatch, Henry Inman, and Thomas Birch illustrate the era when artwork needed to be drawn in the (often very small) size to be engraved. Photography later liberated the artwork from the miniature size; the art could be photo-reduced to the size to be engraved. The result was the golden age of wash drawings, 1850s-1870s, with marvelous allegorical and genre drawings by American artists including the outstanding F. O. C. Darley, whose drawings of the American scene set a high standard. Featured in the exhibition are Darley's drawings of Union Civil War soldiers and some of his genre subjects. Other noted artists shown for this era include James D. Smillie and Walter Shirlaw.
American and European prints of the mid- and late-nineteenth century include several remarkable mid- century French chromolithographs of female heads, an art engraving of one of Queen Victoria’s daughters (turned into a security engraving entitled “Young America”!), a large theater poster, and a large print of Rosa Bonheu’s Horse Fair (one of the largest paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at 8’ x 16’). Horse Fair became an engraving 1 ½” x 3 ½” and was used on documents as diverse as an 1870s Bolivian bank note and an 1880s New York City street railway bond.
By the twentieth century, photographs became more commonly used as the artwork source for bank note picture engravings. On view are photographs of Chinese subjects turned into engravings on bank notes for China, but produced by American bank note firms. Other period photos used for engravings include a large panorama of Lower Manhattan in 1904 and a portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, the “girl in the red velvet swing” who became a decorative engraving for coupon bonds.
Alonzo E. Foringer, a muralist who worked for Edwin Blashfield, is a star of the show, with his large oil paintings of allegorical females produced from the 1910s to the 1940s. The finest picture engravers created the best allegorical engravings of the twentieth century from Foringer’s work, a marriage of engraving and art that has never been equaled. Known today primarily for a World War I Red Cross
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poster, Foringer’s real achievement is his bank note art, which graced the stocks and bonds of hundreds of U.S. companies and at least 50 bank notes of foreign banks and governments.
Robert Lavin followed Foringer and became the second greatest security engraving artist of the twentieth century, working in the 1960s-1980s. His allegorical paintings and paintings of working people (perhaps best described as “Capitalist Realism”), became the leading picture engravings for stocks and bonds in the later twentieth century. Some examples of other artists’ works of the 1950s and 1960s are also shown in the exhibition.
MoMath: The Museum of Mathematics 11 East 26th Street http://momath.org
A Pythagorean funhouse that tries, successfully, to prove that math is the coolest thing ever.
A very unique playground for both the young and the less young, the MoMath is a place curated to satisfy both sides of your brain. Conceived as a two-story-tall tech fair, the MoMath might open your eyes to how mathematics underpin so much of our daily life, from the shapes of nature to architecture, technology and art.
But the museum doesn’t try to bog visitors down under deep layers of complex formulas and algebraic nightmares. Instead, the objective is to give people a sensory experience of what mathematical abstractions look and behave like in real life, presenting concepts of rational interaction to the extreme limits of intuitive delight and visual wonder.
Bicycles with square wheels, sculptures of light and sound reacting to your touch, and other exhibits that would make Dr. Who’s droids seriously jealous await patrons at every turn. An immersive video set that will turn your slightest movements into dynamic fractal fun, and other tricks of perception await and also educate the curious.
So if you want to spend a memorable afternoon in a never-ending realm of numeric functions, enhance your Rubik’s cube solving abilities, or just fool around with lasers and calculating machines, don’t waste time (Math doesn’t like it)! Go to MoMath, where the densely rational becomes fun.
6 ½ Avenue in Manhattan http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/6-1-2-avenue-manhattan-s-secret-street
Too mysterious to discuss; it must be visited.
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