Latest news with #HighLine
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How a High Line Curator Keeps Up With Art in Multiple Cities
Since joining the High Line as the director and chief curator of High Line Art in 2011, Cecilia Alemani has steered the elevated park's public-art program, commissioning works and performances and helping to foster civic engagement along its 1.45 miles. But her reach extends beyond the wildly popular greenway. Alemani curated the exhibit 'Willem de Kooning: Endless Painting' at Gagosian's West 24th Street gallery, which is open through June 14. Moving past the New York City limits, she was the artistic director of the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, is curating the upcoming Site Santa Fe International and is working on a project for a new Paris institution slated to open in the fall of 2026. Alemani, 48, lives in the East Village with her husband, the New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni, and their 9-year-old son, Giacomo. These are edited excerpts from phone interviews over seven days in late April that took her from downtown Manhattan to Chicago and back. Wednesday: Hitting the Lower East Side After dropping off my son at school, I went to the gym, then spent the morning at home doing office work. In the late afternoon, I went out to galleries on the Lower East Side, including Participant Inc, Magenta Plains and Bridget Donahue. We ended up at Perrotin for an exhibition by the Colombian artist Iván Argote, who has a major piece on the High Line, this giant pigeon called 'Dinosaur.' His show at Perrotin brings together more kind of guerrilla actions in the public space, including videos of him repairing sidewalks or dressing up existing statues. Thursday: Art Marathon in Chicago I woke up very early to catch a plane and go to the art fair Expo Chicago, where I was invited to give a talk. I don't go to Chicago that often, so I went a day earlier to catch a million shows in a very short time. I started with the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, where they had an exhibition by a collective from Uganda called Wakaliga Uganda. They produce action movies on incredibly low budgets, like, $200. Then I walked across to the Neubauer Collegium, where there was an exhibition by Betye Saar. It showcased drawings and archival materials and dresses from the 1970s, when she worked as a costume designer. I then took a cab to the Arts Club of Chicago for a very nice show of a Lebanese artist called Huguette Caland, and after that I went to an exhibition by the filmmaker Arthur Jafa at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. I ended my exhibition day at the Art Institute of Chicago. There was a very lovely exhibition of Frida Kahlo's time in Paris in the late 1930s. It brought together art and also lots of archival materials, documents and photographs. Walking around, I stumbled upon probably de Kooning's masterpiece, a painting called 'Excavation' that brings together abstraction and figuration in a very innovative way. As I do all this, I basically spend half of my time on the phone, answering emails or text messages and trying to coordinate with my teams. I can never let go, unfortunately, of digital communication. But it's also the exciting part of my job, to actually produce things and see them realized. Friday: Talking Art I spent the morning and afternoon just doing emails and working from my hotel room. My job involves very immediate communications, but I also have to write a lot, and review essays and texts. Then I went to Expo. It was quite refreshing to see many great presentations from Chicago galleries but also international ones. We had our talk, which was myself, Myriam Ben Salah, the chief curator and director of the Renaissance Society, and Julieta González, the head of exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio. We discussed the role of international curating — I'm Italian, Myriam is from Tunisia, and Julieta is from Venezuela, so thinking about what it means personally for us to work in America, but also what kind of perspective we can bring that is slightly different from other colleagues', or what are the main discrepancies or distinctions between curating in America and in the rest of the world. Afterward I went to the airport. Saturday: Artless, Almost The weekend is for time with our son, but unfortunately I had to do some work as well. Maurizio Cattelan, a dear friend, asked me to write a piece for the catalog of a show that he's doing in Portugal. Sunday: Wizardry on Broadway My son and I went to 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' on Broadway. It was refreshing to do something that was not a museum! He was eating all those weird Harry Potter jelly beans with flavors like vomit and booger. Since we were in Times Square, we visited my friends Marco Boggio Sella and Paololuca Barbieri Marchi, who are curating a show, 'R U Still Painting???,' in an abandoned office floor nearby. It's what I love about New York — you can see exhibitions in galleries and museums, but then there are always these pop-up shows, more grass-roots initiatives, often put together by artists. Monday: Pounding the High Line Pavement I had a very nice walk with Alvaro Barrington, whom we're going to show next year. We often show the High Line to artists by walking it and seeing how people interact. I checked on two major commissions, Mika Rottenberg and Tai Shani, we're installing at the High Line, then I went to Gagosian, where we had to do shots for the catalog. After that I went to the New Museum gala honoring the gallerist Paula Cooper, at Cipriani South Street. Tuesday: Inside Voices In the early afternoon I had a public conversation with Rosana Paulino, a Brazilian artist who made a beautiful mural on the High Line and also has a new show at Mendes Wood. Then I gave a tour of the de Kooning show for participants in the Hill Art Foundation's Teen Curators program. Hill Art is a nonprofit in Chelsea, so they are very much our neighbors. We often collaborate, and I often give them tours. The rest of the day is basically doing a million emails [laughs].
Time Out
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A pigeon festival may be coming to the High Line, complete with a "pigeon impersonation pageant"
New Yorkers are known for strutting their stuff, but on Saturday, June 14, it's the pigeons' turn. The High Line is hosting Pigeon Fest, an all-day celebration of NYC's most divisive bird in honor of National Pigeon Appreciation Day. From 12pm to 8pm, the elevated park's 30th Street section and Spur will transform into a feather-filled playground of art, science, dance and bird-themed hijinks—including what may be the city's first Pigeon Impersonation Pageant. Inspired by Iván Argote's Dinosaur — the giant 17-foot aluminum pigeon sculpture that currently looms above 10th Avenue—the festival will explore the complicated relationship New Yorkers have with their most common avian neighbor. 'Love them or hate them, people are fascinated by our feathered friends,' said Alan van Capelle, the High Line's executive director. 'This festival felt like a fitting way to celebrate New Yorkers' dynamic relationship with art, nature and, most specifically, pigeons.' Expect pigeon-themed carnival games, family-friendly art workshops, a hands-on Discovery Fair and appearances from more than a dozen urban ecology organizations. But the real showstopper is the 2pm pageant, where contestants will channel their inner city bird and be judged on costume ("plumage"), physicality ("strut") and vocal performance ("sound"). Hosted by NYC legend and costume designer Machine Dazzle, the pageant will also feature a special appearance by Argote himself. Before the pageant, attendees can warm up with a Zumba-style Pigeon Dance Party at noon or catch Mother Pigeon's Impeckable Puppet Show at 1pm—a delightful mix of animal rights activism and sing-along storytelling. Later in the day, there's a panel on building bird-friendly cities (3:30pm), a talk with Argote and High Line Art curator Cecilia Alemani (4:15pm), and a musical finale (5:30–8pm) presented in collaboration with the Birdsong Project. Whether you're a lifelong pigeon defender or someone who dodges them on your daily commute, Pigeon Fest promises a new perspective on the birds that have been part of NYC's ecosystem—and personality—for more than a century.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Celebration of Pigeons? They Have Their Fans.
Good morning. It's Thursday. Today we'll look at pigeons and the High Line's plan to celebrate them. We'll also find out why the cap on deductions for state and local taxes has become a stumbling block for the $3.8 trillion federal spending bill in the House. New York celebrates its nuisances. That's one way to explain why a birder and a lawyer have been fighting to save nests of Canada geese in Central Park. Federal workers had been destroying the nests under a government program to reduce the possibility of bird strikes that affect airplanes. Hazards at 5,000 feet are not the only problem. Canada geese honk noisily, and they foul lawns in parks and fairways on golf courses. And then there are pigeons. The High Line, the rail line turned park that threads its way through the Far West Side, put a statue of a 16-foot-tall pigeon on a pedestal last fall. Now the High Line is planning something called Pigeon Fest. It may not be for everyone. The executive director of the High Line, Alan van Capelle, acknowledged that New Yorkers had 'a complicated relationship with pigeons.' How complicated? Van Capelle said he could not think of another event where you could see 'a pigeon impersonation pageant and a panel on urban ecology and bird conservation.' Tina Piña Trachtenberg, who is known to many New Yorkers as Mother Pigeon — and feeds flocks of pigeons while dressed as one — was one of the first people who was invited to the festival, a daylong celebration on June 14. The all-pigeons-all-the-time theme will include swag bags by Iván Argote, the artist who created the giant pigeon. Van Capelle said that Pigeon Fest would be 'whimsical and fun and avant-garde,' and also serious. 'Our big theme this year is urban ecology and the many different ecosystems you can find on the High Line,' he said. And that meant 'paying homage to icon of the city.' 'People love them or hate them,' van Capelle said. A hater turned lover, or at least liker, is Christian Cooper, the author of the memoir 'Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World,' who will take part in the panel discussion at Pigeon Fest. (In 2020, he was reported to the police by a white woman who falsely claimed that 'an African American man' was threatening her after he asked her to put her dog on a leash. The criminal case against her was dismissed in 2021 after she took part in a therapy program that included sessions on racial biases.) Cooper told me last week that he was 'into the real birds — the birds you've got to search for' and that he had been 'very dismissive of pigeons for the longest time.' But he said he had come to see pigeons as 'the gateway bird to the world of birds, and birds are the gateway to understanding nature.' Some pigeons, he said, are 'spectacularly beautiful.' He described an encounter in Central Park when he was looking for migrant warblers. 'Instead, I'm being distracted by this pigeon,' he said. 'It's almost all white, with three flecks of gray and a slight, delicate rose wash across the breast. I was like, I've never seen that before.' He said he thought he saw the same bird a couple of days later on the very block where he lives, but no. That was a look-alike. New Yorkers can read up on pigeons, he said, or just observe them. 'Like, watch their courting behavior,' he said. 'Watch those males puff up their necks and fan their tails and strut around, and remember that the next time you're in a singles bar.' Or, he said, remember a line from the Spike Lee film 'She's Gotta Have It': 'Please, baby, please, baby, please, baby, baby, baby, please.' That is not what van Capelle thinks of on the deck of his apartment on the Lower East Side, where, he said, he has learned the hard way why New Yorkers feel like pigeons are a nuisance. Soon after the giant pigeon was installed on the High Line, real ones descended on his deck. 'They're extremely resilient,' he said. 'They're very resourceful. They don't shy away from a New Yorker who tries to chase them away. I'm learning to coexist.' Expect another cloudy day with chance of showers and thunderstorms, and a temperature high of 71. In the evening, there will be fog and clouds, and the temperature will dip to about 62. In effect until May 26 (Memorial Day). The latest Metro news Republicans at odds over state and local tax deductions Some House Republicans, mostly from New York, have gone to war with party leadership over the push to raise or abolish the $10,000 cap on the so-called SALT deduction. That has made the SALT deduction, the amount of state and local taxes that can be written off on federal returns, a stumbling block for the $3.8 trillion tax proposal in the House. House Republicans can afford to lose only three votes if they are to pass the tax package, but six House Republicans have insisted on a higher SALT cap. Among them are three congressmen from New York — Representatives Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota, whose districts are on Long Island, and Representative Mike Lawler, whose district covers Westchester County and parts of Rockland and Dutchess Counties. Their determination became apparent during a Republican caucus meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, when they asked Representative Nicole Malliotakis to leave the room where the session was taking place. Malliotakis, who represents a district that takes in Staten Island and a part of Brooklyn, supports raising the cap to $30,000, while the other three New York Republicans want a much higher cap. SALT is a touchy issue for those three, especially Lawler, who is considering running against Gov. Kathy Hochul next year. SALT seems to cross party lines, and voters may blame officeholders if they do not deliver sufficient relief to communities that pay some of the highest local and school taxes in the country. 'Folks should not be penalized because they live in a high-tax state,' said Lawler, who had earlier supported raising the cap to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples. Raising the cap to $20,000 for individuals or $40,000 for couples filing jointly would cost the federal government about $600 billion in lost tax revenue over the next decade, according to the Tax Policy Center. Even with the cap, New York had the highest average SALT deduction in 2023 nationally, according to an analysis of I.R.S. tax data by the National Association of Realtors. Tumbling Dear Diary: My husband and I were in New York to see 'Good Night and Good Luck,' and I had gotten done up for the occasion: dress, hair, makeup, jewelry, a stunning but impractical white coat and an infrequently worn pair of kitten heels. As we walked to the theater, the promise of spring was in the air, and I was feeling upbeat. I was gliding along. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling in slow motion onto the dirty pavement at Broadway and 44th Street. My coat and my ego were a bit tarnished as my husband rushed to help me up. To my surprise, two young men also stopped to help. As I turned to thank them, one of them smiled. 'Hon, it was totally worth it!' he said. 'Those shoes are fabulous.' — Suzanne Schneck Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Stefano Montali and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@ Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
Japan Today
11-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Tokyo expressway undergoes redevelopment into elevated green walkway
The Tokyo government has begun work to redevelop a two-kilometer expressway which encircles the capital's Ginza shopping district into an elevated greenway for pedestrians by the 2040s. The Tokyo Sky Corridor will replace the Tokyo Expressway, commonly known as the "KK Line" built on the rooftops of buildings and fully opened to traffic in 1966. Taking place in stages, almost the entirety of the expressway is scheduled to become an elevated promenade. The KK Line was closed in April as part of the broader project to redirect portions of the Shuto Expressway, which covers the greater Tokyo area. The plan for the walkway is modeled after the similar "High Line" project in New York City and is hoped to become a tourist attraction. According to the plan, part of the walkway surface will be covered with soil and be planted with trees and flowers. While benches and public bathrooms will be installed, some sections which are over 30 meters wide will be used for rest areas and events, with cafes and food trucks are also planned to be brought in. But the project faces several issues, such as doubts over countermeasures against summer heat and whether the elevated structure can withstand the weight of the soil and plant life. Costs for the project are expected to amount to 14 billion yen, but could rise further due to factors like soaring raw material prices. "There are many unique areas along the line, including Ginza, Yurakucho, and Shimbashi," said a Tokyo government official involved with the project conducted together with the KK Line operator. "We hope to make an attraction that brings attention from around the world." The KK Line had been toll-free thanks to rental income from tenants in buildings underneath the expressway. © KYODO
Kyodo News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Kyodo News
Tokyo expressway undergoes redevelopment into elevated green walkway
KYODO NEWS - 8 hours ago - 11:52 | All, Japan The Tokyo government has begun work to redevelop a two-kilometer expressway which encircles the capital's Ginza shopping district into an elevated greenway for pedestrians by the 2040s. The Tokyo Sky Corridor will replace the Tokyo Expressway, commonly known as the "KK Line" built on the rooftops of buildings and fully opened to traffic in 1966. Taking place in stages, almost the entirety of the expressway is scheduled to become an elevated promenade. The KK Line was closed in April as part of the broader project to redirect portions of the Shuto Expressway, which covers the greater Tokyo area. The plan for the walkway is modeled after the similar "High Line" project in New York City and is hoped to become a tourist attraction. According to the plan, part of the walkway surface will be covered with soil and be planted with trees and flowers. While benches and public bathrooms will be installed, some sections which are over 30 meters wide will be used for rest areas and events, with cafes and food trucks are also planned to be brought in. But the project faces several issues, such as doubts over countermeasures against summer heat and whether the elevated structure can withstand the weight of the soil and plant life. Costs for the project are expected to amount to 14 billion yen ($97 million), but could rise further due to factors like soaring raw material prices. "There are many unique areas along the line, including Ginza, Yurakucho, and Shimbashi," said a Tokyo government official involved with the project conducted together with the KK Line operator. "We hope to make an attraction that brings attention from around the world." The KK Line had been toll-free thanks to rental income from tenants in buildings underneath the expressway. Related coverage: Land prices up in half of Japan's rural areas for 1st time in 33 yrs New Tokyo nightlife spot blends crane games with DJs, club fun
