Gotham City #4: No Monopoly Allowed
Better than $700 Prada t-shirts
“Guess who went to Blues Dance last night?! I had the best time. Danced with everyone. And I have Gotham City to thank for it!”
- Christina Poletto
Use a Gotham City recommendation? Let us know!
NEW YORK CITY FRINGE
April 2nd - 20th
Locations: UNDER St Marks and Wild Project in the East Village; the Chain Mainstage and Studio in Midtown and The Rat NYC in Dumbo.
$10 - $35
Are you the gambling type? This New York edition of the famous Edinburgh Fringe is a theater festival for emerging and established artists producing original work at several locations around the city. Microscopic budgets, all volunteers – 60 productions, none of them more than one hour. Fringe festivals are where Baby Reindeer, Hannah Gadbsy, Fleabag, Mr. Bean, and Flight of the Conchords got started.
WHY GO? Tickets are cheap and you may attend a show that launches a big career. Some of them have really unusual titles: The Phantom of The Opera’s Friend, EXES: The Musical, Adam Driver, Quacks and Whacks, Jaws: The Musical, and Bad Muslim.
SUMO
The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
Runs through March 30th
Tickets are $93, $65 for side seats (which are good)
$10 ticket fee waived if bought at the box office
Lisa Sanaye Dring’s play imported from the La Jolla Playhouse is a tale of two very different acts. Act One starts young Akio’s entry into the world of Japanese sumo (emphasis on the second syllable), allowing us to marvel at the sheer physicality of the actors as well as the stringent rules and lifestyle. Things get far more dramatic in Act Two, as Akio’s journey to the top changes him, tackling betrayal, masculinity, and moral sacrifice.
WHY GO? Despite a fairly predictable story, the depiction of sumo culture, numerous matches, actors with substantial girth, and ritualist costume design make it better than it should be. Added bonuses: Live taiko drumming and Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract.”
ART OF PLAY PRESENTS 69 ATLANTIC
69 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
7:15 pm and 9:30 pm
$125 - $200
Hidden in the back of a kooky Brooklyn Heights curiosity shop is a tiny venue where spectacular close-up magic shows are being held every weekend. With only 26 seats, 69 Atlantic books a very eclectic group of magicians, card sharks, illusionists and occasional mystical speakers! Run by former ad exec Adam Rubin, shows sell out at least two to three weeks in advance.
WHY GO? The opportunity to see the best magic performers from all over the world do their conjuring literally right in front of your face. And you’ve been warned: you will be spending a lot of time at the Art Of Play store the theater is located in.
NYC UNDERGROUND SUBWAY TOUR by untapped new york
Wednesdays (10 am), Fridays (10 am),
and Saturdays (10 am and 2 pm)
$39
untapped new york does some of the best city tours that even residents would love. I’ve been on two of them (this one and “Remnants Of The World’s Fair”). The subway tour is a trip back through NYC history, transit, and architecture where you hop around various stations to view original artwork and signs that are frankly both in plain sight and barely hidden. Find out why some train platforms (like Prince Street) are placed all the way over to one side in the station and where “ghost” subway stations are located and much, much more. Bring your Metrocard or OMNY!
WHY GO? Score points with your friends, family, and dates with your new subway knowledge. The trick of how to glimpse the beautiful hidden City Hall station with Italian tile ceilings built in 1904 will raise your cool factor 100 times.
VOCABARET
Caveat
21A Clinton Street
April 11th
Doors: 6:30 pm Show: 7 pm
$15 (up to 4/4), $20 in advance, $25 at the door
Improv meets wordplay at the long running “Vocabaret” at this scrappy LES theater. Competitors in “the comedy show for language lovers” go head to head in rounds of language challenges, quips, puns, and Mad Lib-type contests. They all probably aced the reading and writing section of the SAT. Hosted by NY Times wordplay columnist Sam Corbin. Buy a beer, a popcorn (sprinkle on the flavors), and have a blast.
WHY GO? Not as nerdy as it sounds – it’s one of the most clever on-your-feet nights of comedy in the city next to Littlefield’s Punderdome.
ONE-WORD DINING REVIEWS
FOR BREAKFAST
Edith’s Sandwich Counter - West Village, Agi’s Counter, George’s = YES
Rigor Hill Market = YAWN
LUNCH AND DINNER
Mari.ne, Kyma Hudson Yards,1915 Lanzou Hand-Pulled Noodles, Don Antonio = YES
Iron Chef House = F**KINGAWESOME (verbatim Joel quote)
Ajisen Ramen Chelsea = MID
RUN, DON’T WALK
Josh Horowitz interviews comic actor Nathan Lane about his career and new Hulu series at Symphony Space this Thursday, March 20th (7:30 pm), for his Happy Sad Confused podcast.
NYC’s legendary Urban Park Rangers is holding their annual Signs Of Spring Hike in Central Park on Sunday, March 23rd starting at 1 pm.
Speaking of Central Park, the Central Park Cookbook Club chooses a cookbook, you post your chosen recipe on their Google Sheet, and bring it to their monthly dinners! Follow them on their Instagram for announcements.
Bring Scattergories. Bring Pictionary. But at the monthly board game social club “No Monopoly Allowed” at Pine Box Rock Shop in Bushwick, the Parker Brothers are verboten.
NEW NEWSLETTER ALERT! Joe DiStefano, the Grand Wazoo of Queens Ethnic Food, has launched a delicious newsletter named after his long-missed blog = Chopsticks and Marrow.
Camera shop Photodom conducts free “photo walks” in different locations around Manhattan and Brooklyn. You can use your mobile phone camera too. Look for announcements on their Instagram.
Friday nights are free at The Morgan Library and Museum and live jazz begins at 5 pm. Reservations are required and tickets are available one week in advance.
Strike a pose: FotoLab is NYC’s first self-portrait studio, which includes lights, backdrop, umbrellas, etc. Up to two people per shoot. Book 20 minutes ($80) or 50 minutes ($160), color or white backdrop.
Severance fan? If you love the eerie theme music, the Song Exploder podcast did a 20-minute interview about it with its composer, Theodore Shapiro.
The Losers Lounge Tribute to Dusty Springfield will be at Joe’s Pub from April 24 - 26 with six shows. “Son Of A Preacher Man” indeed!
Tickets are now on sale for the NY Philharmonic performing the music of film score master John Williams on May 7, 8 and 9 at 7:30 pm at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. Raiders Of The Lost Ark and more!
CELEBRATE WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Stop by Locavore Variety Store at 434 Sixth Avenue in the Village, devoted solely to products made in this very city. Say hello to proprietor Caroline Weaver and pick up a copy of her excellent Locavore Guide To Shopping New York City.
Visit exhibitions like Christine Sun Kim (The Whitney) or “200 Years Of What Women Wore” (NY Historical Society). Attend the Women’s Jazz Festival at the Schomburg Center.
Dine at woman-owned restaurants such as Zaab Zaab (Thai), Pig and Khao (southeast Asian), Dirt Candy (vegetarian), Tanoreen (Middle Eastern), Saigon Social (Vietnamese), and Melba’s (southern).
DO YOU HAVE A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST TO SHARE WITH READERS?
Let our community discover your pet sounds and favorites, no matter what genre(s) or themes. Send the URL along with a sentence about your playlist inspiration to whaddyawant@gothamcity.com and we will share them in a future Gotham City issue. We will share ours too (even if it means confessing our love of Latvian disco).
BETTER THAN $700 PRADA T-SHIRTS
Not everybody can own $700 Prada t-shirts but you, dear readers, can own the new 100% cotton Gotham City t-shirts! Fashionable, well-made, and ready to wear at formal dinners. And you can get yours for free! The first 25 readers who send us 10 legit e-mail addresses to be added to our mailing list will receive a free Gotham City t-shirt of their chosen size.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
We lost some true icons these past few weeks – Gene Hackman, Roberta Flack, Chris Jasper of The Isley Brothers, Lynn Marie Stewart (“the most beautiful woman in Puppetland”), and one of New York’s beloved music legends, David Johansen. This priceless 1988 interview with Johansen as “Buster Poindexter” on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson underscores what a charismatic master raconteur he was.
Official Gotham City inbox: whaddyawant@gothamcity.com
Gotham City is published every three weeks.
NEXT ISSUE: April 6, 2025