Gotham City #5: Monks with Waterguns
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SONGKRAN
Wat Buddhathai Thavornvanaram
76-16 46th Avenue, Elmhurst (Queens)
Sunday, April 13
11:30 am until ?
(subway: E, R, 7 )
GREAT WAY TO SPEND NEXT SUNDAY: Times Square has its ball drop. Lunar New Year has its dragon dancing. But the Thai new year celebration of Songkran has monks with waterguns! Celebration central is this buddhist temple in Queens’ Little Thailand, where you should arrive at 10:30 am - 11:00 am to enjoy the free homemade Thai food buffet. Live music and a beauty contest, but most importantly, go into the temple to witness prayers for the new year (sans shoes) and see the gorgeous shrine with the emerald buddha on the top floor. Expect to make offerings (i.e. cash) of about $10-15 by pinning it on trees and other locations.
WHY GO? Where else will you see a Thai rock band perform John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Road?”
MORE SONGKRAN ACTION: Acclaimed Thai restaurant Zaab Zaab will have young Thai pop band Moradok-Mai perform native and American rock hits (“Stand By Me!” The Bee Gees!) at both their Williamsburgh (4/8, 7 - 9 pm) and Elmhurst (4/12, 7 - 9 pm) places.
BALKANS TO THE MIDDLE EAST MUSIC FESTIVAL
DROM
85 Avenue A
DAY 1: April 20 (Mona Miari, April Centrone)
DAY 2: April 22 (Barakka, Yallah Yallah)
DAY 3: April 23 (Ahmed Moneka, NY Gypsy All-Stars)
DAY 4: April 24 (Romashka, Zlatne Uste)
General admission only; 6:30 pm start all nights
$20 for either set, $30 for both. Festival pass for all four days for $80.
This is the world music event of the spring at the best specialized venue for it (with a big bar). A phenomenal cross section of jazz, fusion, folk, dance, pop, and lots of great melodies, instruments, and percussion. You know The Balkans, Fred and Barbara? I have seen Yallah Yallah and the NY Gypsy All-Stars and enjoyed them both!
WHY GO? If it sounds like Peter Gabriel or Sting, don’t be surprised – both were influenced by these exotic rhythmic genres of music you can hear at all these shows. Arrive at least 30-45 minutes before showtime for best viewing.
BOROUGH BREAKS with ANIMAL CARE CENTERS OF NYC
Manhattan =323 East 109th Street, New York, NY 10029
Queens = 1906 Flushing Ave, Ridgewood, NY 11385
Staten Island = 3139 Veterans Road West, Staten Island, NY 10309
Ever want to borrow a cute dog for a few hours or even a day? ACC pairs members of the Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island communities for individual dog field trips. Anything goes, including a hike, a trip to the beach, a fun car ride, or even a long nap at home. Help shelter dogs get time outside in the real world to relax, socialize, and just be dogs! See foster dog influencer Isabel Klee’s post. Slots are posted on Tuesdays around noon and book very quickly.
WHY DO THIS? You are doing a mitzvah taking a homeless dog for a big day out in the city. Unconditional love for a day? You can’t even get that at Canyon Ranch!
TWO KICK-ASS FILM RETROSPECTIVES
THE LADY AT 100: COLUMBIA CLASSICS FROM THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
MoMA
11 West 53rd Street
April 16 - May 24
Members: Free, Non-Members: $14 (adult), $12 (senior)
Multiple screenings of 30 newly-restored classic films celebrating Columbia Pictures’ centennial. Including: It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, His Girl Friday, The Awful Truth, Cover Girl,The Big Heat, Gilda, The Last Picture Show, and Taxi Driver.
ACADEMY MUSEUM BRANCH SELECTS
Paris Theater
4 West 58th Street
April 4 - June 22
Tickets = $15 - $17
The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures’ 19 branches each pick a film representing a major moviemaking achievement. They’re not fooling around: Diner, Working Girl, The Elephant Man, Casino, To Live and Die in L.A., Midnight Cowboy, Shaft, Silverado, Das Boot - Director’s Cut, Network, Dog Day Afternoon and more.
WHY GO? Seeing some of the greatest films ever on the big screens of Netflix’s refurbished Paris Theater or MoMA’s screening rooms is a no-brainer. DREW’S UNDER THE RADAR PICKS: Anthony Mann’s The Man From Laramie (MoMA) and William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. (Paris).
JAN CHECKS OUT THE HOT OFF-OFF BROADWAY SCENE
Adventurous productions from emerging artists, raw and intimate venues, low ticket prices, hanging with the performers afterwards – just a few reasons why the off-off Broadway, or “indie” theater scene is surging.
LaMaMa, in the East Village, is one of the oldest and best known venues in the genre, having nurtured Blue Man Group and early work by Sam Shepard. A new production to check out is “Class Dismissed”, a rollicking, interactive (and timely) tale of academia unraveling, with music, dancing, and rum! (April 16 - May 4)
Just a few blocks south of the Broadway theater district is The Tank, two intimate black box theaters booked solid every month with new productions. ] Running from April 18 - 26 is “She Said She Said, Or The Fucking Beatles Play”, a coming of age story of three teenage Beatlemaniacs in the 60s.
Demand for indie theater has exploded in Brooklyn where venues in the basement of a house in Bushwick and a commercial loft in Greenpoint are getting buzz and staging exciting new productions.
The Brick in Williamsburg, located in a former garage/auto body shop, has been an innovator on the scene for over 20 years. From April 8 - 26 they’ll be presenting their annual “?!:New Works” festival, where each night features a split bill of four or five pieces ranging in length from one to 20 minutes each.
ONE-WORD DINING REVIEWS
BREAKFAST/BRUNCH/LUNCH:
Kopitiam, Cafe Mado, NoMad Diner = YES
LUNCH/DINNER/DRINKS:
Mayahuel, Vanguard Wine Bar UWS, NR, Sushi Hatsune, Daesung Korean Noodle = YES
Ji Bei Chuan (Chinatown) = NOODLEMANIA
(the best cucumber salad too)
Karazishi Botan = SPICY 🔥
K.O. Burger = UNDERWHELMING
Jan recommends cocktail bar/jazz joint Midnight Blue in Gramercy/Flatiron: “You’ll want to hang in the entrance bar with its floor-to-ceiling Japanese whisky library, but the action is behind a black curtain where a vibey, yet intimate room is the perfect setting for some top-tier jazz, where I saw a groovy organ trio. There’s 3 sets a night with a $10 cover, $25 per person minimum.”
Joel reports on the secretive The Little Shop: “I stumbled upon this speakeasy hidden in a Seaport grocery shop with my friend Josh. Alyssa, the ‘proprietor’ behind the cash register, ushered us past the display of Planters Peanuts and behind the sliding door in the wall. The place was pure magic. The lighting was so perfectly dim that everyone glowed just enough to look like a million bucks, with just the right music, atmosphere, and impeccable décor and taste. Put The Little Shop on your must-do list.”
RUN, DON’T WALK
Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves is giving a free concert at Trinity Church on May 11th (Mother’s Day) at 4 pm.
Brooklyn Glass offers three different glassblowing workshops, including 3-hour versions two Saturday nights a month (bowls), 5-hour versions on Sundays (paperweights and tumblers), and a 5-hour neon tube making version every other Saturday afternoon.
Exchange books and vinyl records for pickles (that is not a typo) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Sweet Pickle Books at 47 Orchard Street.
A new 35mm print of Fellini’s masterpiece 8 ½ opens at Film Forum on April 25th for one week (but may be extended). H/T Adam Wiener
The Photography Show runs at the Park Avenue Armory from April 24-27.
LES ceramics store/studio Mellow has two-hour clay workshops Sunday mornings at 10 am and Thursday evenings at 7 pm.
FIT is offering “Learn To Sew Like A Pro” this summer for those who are prone to losing buttons or tearing pajama bottoms.
THE GOTHAM CITY ORIGIN STORY
Every superhero has an origin story, so why not a super newsletter? Sit right back while Joel Roodman tells the tale of this fateful domain.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass’ sold-out concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center inspired this issue’s bonkers 1966 video. People forget their albums outsold The Beatles in the 60s. Nothing like musicians with mustaches and sombreros completely defining an era’s sound.
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Gotham City is published every three weeks.
NEXT ISSUE: April 27, 2025