Author | Lightnews

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 18h

Continuing on more seasonal flavors with The Nog from Sugar Sweet Sunshine at #EssexMarket.

IMHO their 'teaser size' is more than enough to enjoy this successful translation of the rich holiday beverage into solid dessert format, skillfully mixing pumpkin cake & eggnog pudding.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 1d

A sugar-studded Apple Cider Bundt Cake from Poppy's on Henry Street in #BrooklynHeights hit all the right seasonal notes with subtle spicing and the classic combo of moist interior and crunchy surface.

www.poppysbrooklyn.com

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 2d

More exploration of the formidable smoked fish counter at the West Village location of #TashkentSupermarket.

Their Japanese-style cold-smoked salmon was rich, clean-tasting and full of flavor - very enjoyable on crackers accompanied by some Greek yogurt with fresh dill.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 3d

Soft, stretchy, wide rice noodles with tender & juicy boneless pork chops, all in peppery brown sauce at Lady Chow Kitchen (有口福) on Hester St.

Among their many varieties of Chen Cun Fun, a Cantonese specialty from a neighborhood in the city of Foshan.

ladychowkitchen.com

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks for following along on this update of recent #HighLine art! These are dynamic neighborhoods & the ever-changing curated sculpture program of the park itself, plus the works on display via the various art institutions that surround it, always make for interesting viewing.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 5d

At the High Line's south end, you can get a glimpse of more video on the Whitney Terrace. Marina Zurkow's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘴 𝘈 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 shows algorithmically-driven animated elements of the past & present environment from in a split view above and below the Hudson River.

Installation view of Hyundai Terrace Commission: Marina Zurkow (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 9, 2025-January 11, 2026). Marina Zurkow, The River is a Circle, 2025. Photograph by Ron Amstutz (detail) via whitney.org

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 6d

This snippet of the dream-like video did not want to come through with the original post..

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 6d

Tucked under a former meatpacking building that spans the High Line & part of their Channel video installation series, Frank WANG Yefeng's 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 blends wild landscapes & luminous primordial forms to create a poetic mediation that transcends boundaries.

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 7d

Adjacent to the High Line at West 21st Street, this evocative piece by muralist and painter ONUR was implemented by @StreetArtMkind in collaboration with the @UNEP as part of #ClimateWeekNYC, and explores the power of youth to shape a better future.

instagram.com/reel/DOv4EaOjd5C

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 8d

With all the new development in #Chelsea, one might overlook Swedish artist Klara Lidén's 𝘓𝘢𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘺 as part of the ongoing construction. But her site-specific piece combines a repurposed dumpster & streetlamp into a sailboat-like form, connecting to the area's maritime past.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 9d

Clearly something is off, and Roe Ethridge's familiarity with the world of lowbrow advertising shows in the intentionally-crude costuming & design of his 1-555-𝘋𝘐𝘝𝘖𝘙𝘊𝘌, which leverages the High Line's billboard location to further blur the lines between "art" & "reality".

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 10d

Cambodian-American artist Sopheap Pich transformed the shapes of three seedpods that twirled to the ground from trees common in his childhood home into diaphanous gridded forms in his piece entitled Kânh Chhrôôl (Gluta Usitata), Melembu, and Khlông (Dipterocarpus Tuberculatus)

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 11d

Had a beautiful day & a great time on our Chelsea Highline & Waterfront Art Walk this past Sunday for @FIT #AlumniWeekend. Thanks to the alums & staff who came along for some interesting discussion.

Over the next few days, let's check out some of the new art that was on display!

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 12d

More exploration of the formidable smoked fish counter at the West Village location of #TashkentSupermarket.

Their Japanese-style cold-smoked salmon was rich, clean-tasting and full of flavor - very enjoyable on crackers accompanied by some Greek yogurt with fresh dill.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 12d

Managed to nip in to the West Houston Street location of Morgenstern's #IceCream at the southern edge of Greenwich Village just before their recent closure.

They were out of many of their more distinctive flavors, so I sampled their pleasant chocolate and Madagascar vanilla.

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 12d

Hong Kong-style milk tea with sugar and a large-ish roast pork bun in a risged paper wrapper, all from the reliable M&W Bakery on Bayard street, and enjoyed in Columbus Park.

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 13d

Continued my Christopher St. exploration of Indian-inspired offerings in the W. Village to nearby Malai #IceCream, just a few steps from Fonty's.

Their menu changes daily & included roasted walnut as well as hibiscus sorbet with chaat masala seasoning.

malai.co

2

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 14d

Finally made it in to much-hyped West Village sandwich shop #Fontys Deli + Dukaan for their Indian-inspired offerings, on a weekday free of the long lines they've had. Checked out their pleasant beef 'Naanini' pressed sandwich and lamb kebab meatball sub.

instagram.com/fontysdeli_dukaan

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 15d

Picked up this bag of Chin Chin - a simple snack of sweetened fried dough - from Titi's Kitchen at the recent Nigerian Independence Day celebration along Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

titiskitchen.com

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 16d

Thanks for coming on this journey through NYC to see some of the Dutch names that got altered over the years to familiar places in our city of today. These are just a handful - take a look around & you can find many more, some of which came through the process almost unscathed!

Place names of Dutch origin in the NYC metropolitan area. Base map image via The Welikia Project.

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 17d

Further out in what would become Queens, the Dutch founded a village in a pretty spot on the shore that reminded them of a coastal town back home called 𝘝𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯, which suffered perhaps the most at the hands of Anglicization, coming into our language as Flushing.

Chinatown in Flushing, Queens in New York City. Image by chaddavis.photography via Wikipedia.

1 1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 18d

Beyond Manhattan, the Dutch settled the western end of Long Island, including a level, forested area in today's Brooklyn they called 𝘝𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘴 (wooded plain). This became the town of Flatbush, whose prominence is also reflected in the major avenue of the same name.

Victorian Flatbush, looking north in springtime from Ditmas Avenue at a treelined street, a couple blocks east of Coney Island Avenue. Image by Jim.henderson via Wikipedia.

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 19d

With the village of Niew Haarlem far up the island, the Dutch named the area south of it 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘢𝘭 (valley of flowers) after a town near Haarlem in the Netherlands. The British called it Bloomingdale & the stretch of Broadway leading to the UWS The Bloomingdale Road.

Bloomingdale Road at 59th Street, 1861: Lithograph by George Hayward for D.T. Valentine’s Manual, 1862
Museum of the City of New York, Print Archives

This view north corresponds to the intersection of Bloomingdale Road & Eighth Ave at 59th Street seen on Randel Farm Map no. 29. On the left is Bloomingdale Road, and on the right are Eighth Ave & Central Park, the green space then under construction beyond the rail fence. The triangular property at the V, owned by John H. Tallman according to the Randel map, remains a farm in the 1861 view, which conveys the rural nature of the Upper West Side in the Civil War era. Attractive public improvements like the park led many to believe that the Upper West Side was ripe for a construction boom, but high carrying costs such as property taxes, assessments for public improvements, and mortgage indebtedness discouraged owners from building on their lots. The area would not see full-scale development until the 1880s. (Via MCNY The Greatest Grid)

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 20d

At first glance, the name of Turtle Bay near the UN building might seem to refer to animals that once roamed the area. But in fact, the Dutch thought the rounded shape of an inlet of the East River there resembled a dowel commonly used in woodworking known as a 𝘥𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭.

NEW YORK CITY: View of the United Nations building in Manhattan, New York from the East River. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. The top of the Empire State Building can be seen in the center background.

1

Erik Hodgetts @eriktheguide.bsky.social · 21d

Manhattan was once home to many wetlands, including one on the east side that the Dutch called 𝘬𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘫𝘦 or ‘crooked little swamp’. In 1831, developer Samuel Ruggles filled it in to make a genteel new neighborhood in the area that had come into English as Gramercy.

Photo of Gramercy Park via Legion Investment Group