The Metropolitan Spirit
The Streets of Rome
The Metropolitan Spirt of the Eternal City is evoked in Bob Dylan's “When I Paint My Masterpiece.”
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The Streets of Rome are full of rubble . . .
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. . . ancient footsteps are everywhere.
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You could almost think that you’re seeing double . . .
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. . . on a cold, dark night on the Spanish Steps.
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Got to hurry me back to my hotel room, where I got me a date with Botticelli’s niece.
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She promised that she’d be right there with me, When I Paint my Masterpiece.
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Oh the time I spent inside the Colosseum, dodging lions and wasting time . . .
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Oh, those Mighty Kings of the Jungle, I could hardly see em . . .
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. . . It sure has been a long hard climb.
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Train wheels running through my memory, as the daylight hours do retreat.
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Someday everything's gonna be smooth like rhapsody . . .
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. . . When I Paint My Masterpiece.
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Celebrating the phenomenon of the Metropolitan Spirit breathing life into the City and nourishing its people.
Walks
Some of the most magical walks in New York begin at Cedar Hill in Central Park near 5th Av. and 79th St.
Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue at 82nd Street breathes life and joy to visitors from around the world.
Bandshell
Classical Music Concerts have been presented at the Bandshell in Central Park since 1905 as described by E. B. White in Here is New York.
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center annually presents the works of Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini.
Concert Reviews
The Who played Madison Square Garden and Jones Beach Theatre. Van Morrison returned to Forest Hills Stadium.
Films
Ric Burns’ film The Center of the World is one of the most graceful and moving responses to the events of September 1, 2001.
Writers
E. B. White and Paul Goldberger stand with F. Scott Fitzgerald as perhaps the most enchanting writers of New York.
September 11
In the days after September 11 thousands of flyers and bulletins went up in public places around New York City.
Women of the
Beat Generation
In the 50's a few high spirited women haunted the Beat cafes in Greenwich Village and went on to live as ex-pats in Paris.
Metropolitan Spirit
F. Scott Fitzgerald recalls his experience of New York, defining the Metropolitan Spirit and his three symbols of the city.
The Jazz Age
Fitzgerald reveals how sudden good fortune, flappers, and the midnight frolic belied the secrets of the Jazz Age.
The Roaring Twenties
Fitzgerald recalls how the uncertainties of the 1920’s were drowned in a steady, golden roar.
Fitzgerald's Lost City
Fitzgerald reveals the significance of the Empire State Building and how he came to take leave of the city he loved.
