Night of a Thousand Stevies!

Downtown Manhattan's legendary spectacles come in all shapes and sizes, but the annual celebration dedicated to Stevie Nicks has a flair like none other.  The event, called Night of a Thousand Stevies (NOTS), celebrated its 23rd birthday on May 3, 2013.

I tagged along with the HoHo's - a duo that has been rocking NOTS since 1999 and I got an inside peek into their shape-shifting interpretation of Stevie's song "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You".  I wrote about the event in my New York Press column: http://nypress.com/the-hohos-taking-a-twirl-with-two-of-downtowns-gold-dust-divas/

As you can see, they went over the rainbow for their inspiration. 

The cast of this year's HoHo extravaganza took the show down the yellow brick road.

And the HoHo's(Jill as the Witch and Cathy as Dorothy) were at the center of it all.

From Dorothy and three Munchkins (yes, one of them is pregnant), 

to a gathering of everyone in OZ, this was a slice of white cloud meets yellow brick road mayhem

Cathy Ho's side stage costume brought Stevie to life.

I don't know who this lady was, but she looked cool.

Some of the other performers included Heather Litteer,

 downtown design legend Machine Dazzle,

and dancer Darrell Thorne.

Mother Nature and the Metropolis

As those of us in New York (and the entire tri-state area) wake up today to the stunning effects of flood, wind, and rain after Hurricane Sandy slammed into us, it’s hard to ignore the power of Mother Nature.  

If you have ever walked the streets of Manhattan, you can appreciate the imperious influence of man; from towering skyscrapers to bustling subway lines, this is a confident metropolis. Our lights blaze through the night and we come and go without any concern for time or tide.

But we’ve been humbled by water today.

View of East River and Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Promenade
10/27/2012
The pier is being transformed into a public park.

View of East River and Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Promenade
10/29/2012
(as the storm and the high tide arrived)

A view of East River and Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Promenade
10/29/2012  (high tide).
The river run through the park and over the piers.
Most of downtown
(but for the new World Trade Center building) have gone dark.

A view of East River and Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Promenade
10/29/2012  (high tide).
The river runs through the park and over the piers.
 Much of downtown has gone dark.