Autumn in New York

How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will."

- Albert Einstein

A famous playwright once suggested that the only thing missing from the Statue of Liberty is Dante’s inscription from the gates of hell: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." Can you believe that?! What nerve! I‘m not going to diminish myself by launching into a defensive tirade, and I won’t even dignify the author by naming him publicly. I will begin and end my rebuttal thusly: Pygmalion was a pile of offensive, smoldering refuse until Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn got their hands on it.

I feel better.

Evidently, George Bernard Shaw never visited New York City in the Fall.

Autumn in New York means opening night at the Met, where no fewer than three complete Ring cycles will be staged this season. It marks the end of SummerStage and Shakespeare in the Park, but the beginning of a new season of the Ballet and the Philharmonic.

Autumn in New York means George the Monkey will help Professor Budick demonstrate the wonders of projectile motion to a new battalion of postbaccs, and a new film by Woody Allen will magically appear. (Note: Soon-Yi’s husband has been unusually productive of late. Following the release of Sweet and Lowdown, his 1999 fall project, he will star in Picking Up the Pieces and Company Man before directing Small Time Crooks, set for release in the spring of 2000.)

And for those of you raised outside the tri-state area, we have this little thing in October called the World Series.

What once was cotton and silk and tangerine is now copper and plaid. The city is draped in corduroy, painted in rust and wool, and the soundtrack is John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Helen Merrill. The streets are rolling with ghosts.

New York is more than crowded subway cars and stuffy classrooms, swarming masses and car alarms. Until you’ve seen Central Park in Fall, you haven’t seen it in its glory. The air is crisp, the leaves are ablaze with color, and the Soup Nazi is open for business.

Columbia University Updater: Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 1999