May 31, 2026
On my third day in New York City, I met A & M at my new favorite bakery, Elbow Bread, then we took our morning treats to a park about a block away. It was really fun to sit on a bench and watch the residents of New York's Chinatown doing their morning exercises. One man was doing tai chi off to the side, a couple was playing badminton, and a group of about ten wommen were following a leader in a synchronized dance routine. See a short video here.
M had an art opening that evening, so we said goodbye to her so that she could go do all the last-minute things that needed to be done, and A and I headed off for an artsy day.
We had gotten an early start because it was Memorial Day, and we knew the city would be bursting with the energy reserved for holidays. We made our way past massive St. Patrick's Cathedral, which takes up a full city block on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st street. However, I am not one to walk past a church when its doors are open, so I made a quick stop to take a look.
There was a service in progress, so we couldn't walk around inside, but I appreciated even this glimpse of St. Patrick's lofty Gothic Revival ceilings.
About this time we realized it was going to be very, very difficult to get to MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), which we had planned to be our first destination. The Israel Day on 5th Parade was slated to move up Fifth Avenue between 62nd and 74th streets, starting at 11:30 AM. Activities were scheduled until 4:00 PM. The theme of the parade was "Proud Americans, Proud Zionists."
