If your special beloved loves candy and/or flowers, then there is no shortage of choices of those standard gifts which will show you went out of your way to find something really special.

Max Brenner Chocolate

•    Chocolate by the Bald Man: At 841 Broadway you will find the very special chocolate home of Max Brenner, a company that does not balk at the chocolaty unusual, such as chocolate filled bagels, pizza topped with chocolate and even fudge! You can believe they will be going all out for Valentine’s with a Chocolate Love Box, Chocolate Spa Gift assortments, or how about Max’s Valentine Love. Give them a call, or just stop by. 646-467-8803, Union Square, Manhattan.

•    Starbright Floral Design: Much more than just a place to get flowers, on hand at 150 West 28th Street in Chelsea is a complete gardening department store with shrubs,

Starbright Floral Design

bamboo, outdoor plants, and flowers, too. They offer services such as plantscaping and custom arrangements. For Valentine’s pick from amazing bouquets of roses such as ‘Be My Love,’ ‘Always on My Mind,’ and ‘Make Me Blush’ are a small sample of what’s available. 800-520-8999, Chelsea, Manhattan.

•    Katrina Parris Flowers: At 191 Lenox Avenue you will find the beautiful, award-winning selection of boutique flowers designed by owners and husband and wife team of Katrina Parris and Mark Pinn. They create elegant and unusual arrangements for all occasions, and also for Valentine’s Day. Famous for their incredible attention to

Katrina Parris Flowers

detail they display their flowers for weddings, corporate events, and other times when flowers provide just the right touch. Also offered are free group workshops on the basic rules of flower selection, design principles and care. 212-222-7030, Harlem, Manhattan.

Shaolin Kung Fu

This year’s celebration of the Chinese New Year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of modern China. According to one opinion this year marks the 4709th year since the adoption of the Chinese calendar, and beginning on January 23rd, 2012, it is the year of the dragon. (Many hold that since the Chinese calendar is cyclical it is not relevant to give a number to the years that are passing.)

No matter which version of the Chinese calendar you adhere to, there is no question that the Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the

Year of the Dragon

traditional Chinese calendar, and is celebrated with great joy. The New York Chinese Cultural Center invites everyone to celebrate the coming year of the dragon on January 28th, 2012, from 1pm until 4pm at the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center.

This celebration will be the biggest of its kind on the entire East Coast. To make this day even more special, for the first time in history there will be an indoor family cultural day event on the Chinese New Year for all New Yorkers to share in.

The festival will begin with arts and crafts for children and their parents. For about 90 minutes participants will try their hands at paper cutting, making dough figurines, having their faces painted, and calligraphy workshops. There will be entertainment on stage, with the traditional lion dance, folk dances, Shaolin Kung Fu acrobats, and wonderful music ensembles. All the programs are free to the public.

The Winter Garden, World Financial Center is located at 220 Vesey Street in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park City.

Lobby of the Carlton Hotel

The Carlton was first opened in 1904, immediately before the opening of the New York City subway. Originally called the Seville, it is a wonderful example of the Beaux-Arts style which was all the rage in New York at the time. Harry Allen Jacobs designed and completed the elegant hotel, which helped to turn the area into one of New York’s swankiest destinations.

Recently the hotel has undergone a face-lift of unusual proportions, bringing the Carlton into the 21st century without sacrificing any of the old world class, or its unique, luxurious style. Designer David Rockwell executed the remake, successfully maintaining the historic hotel as one of New York’s grandest.

Come visit and view what the hoteliers believe is the pinnacle of the Carlton’s new look: the two-story modern waterfall flowing in the lobby which reveals a large, vintage black and white photo of the Seville Hotel as it was in 1924.

In the mood for some intellectual stimulation? There are a huge number of lectures available for New Yorkers to attend this coming week. One lecture of particular interest will take place at the 92nd Street Y, featuring the retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Stevens served for 34 as s Justice, and he now wrote a book about his experiences on the highest court in the land.  The book, Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir, describes some of the landmark decisions in which Stevens was involved.

The talk will feature a discussion of some of those crucial decisions, including Gregg v. Georgia, which reaffirmed the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment for serious crimes.
Call the ‘Y” for more information and reservations: 212-415-5500.

Ground Zero Museum Workshop is Kid Friendly

This is an appropriate time to remember the events of September 11, 2001, now that it is exactly ten years after that horrific attack on New York’s World Trade Center, Washington DC’s Pentagon, and a downed airliner whose final destination can only be nightmarishly imagined.

In New York the Ground Zero Museum Workshop:Images and Remnants from the Recovery is the ideal place to spend some time, looking at stunning and rare photos taken by the “Official Ground Zero Photographer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association,” Gary Marlon Suson.

Visitors have described the one room exhibit as the “biggest little museum” in New York; with large content in a small facility.

Many photos are displayed in realistic 3D installations. Also on display are remnants from the towers and rare video footage.

There are daily two-hour long tours with your own tour guide for explanations. Entrance fees are donated to 9/11 and FDNY related charities. The images are non-graphic, making this memorial to the tragic day a kid-friendly venue.

Please note that the Ground Zero Museum Workshop is NOT located at Ground Zero, but in the meat-packing district just 7 minutes away on the “E” train from the site of the WTC at 420 West 14^th Street, 2^nd floor, 212-209-3370.

On most days there are two tours, and it is strongly recommended to buy tickets in advance, they sell out quickly since only 28 people can be on any one tour at a time. Follow the link for more information.

We’ve all seen the movies, read the books, watched the plays. We know New York can be as romantic as any European hot spot. But how, where, when?
Here are a few suggestions to experience some of the more tender New York moments that can be had in the big, beloved apple.

South Street Seaport

South Street Seaport District- Conveniently located walking distance from Chinatown; you will enjoy people-watching, relaxing and souvenir shopping in this lovely little area. South Seaport Pier 17 is a bustling touristy place which is the old fish market converted into wonderful shops and restaurants. This is a great place to get a fantastic view of the ever-impressive Brooklyn Bridge.

Saks Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue- For many people Fifth Avenue is the heart of New York’s classy reputation. Well known as one of the premium bits of real estate anywhere in the world, taking a walk down Fifth Avenue makes you feel fabulously wealthy just by osmosis. Some of the sites to be had on Fifth Avenue are of the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. The best of Fifth is all within about a one mile wonderful walk, from 34th Street to 59th Street, with lots of unbelievable, typically New York, shopping.

Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building- This building is a classy alternative to a visit to the Empire State Building. Its classic ArtDeco Style is an iconic symbol of New York and one of the city’s most renowned skyline features. Chrysler was the first building to reach beyond 1000 feet, but its role as the world’s tallest building was short-lived as only 11 months later the Empire State Building reached even higher towards the heavens. A visit to this gorgeous testament to 1930s architecture will not be in vain.

As one of the more venerable of US cities, New York has a lot to offer history buffs. Here are a few New York landmarks which you may have heard of, but my guess is more likely not.

•    The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel- This is officially distinguished as the ‘world’s oldest subway tunnel.”  Built in 1844 underneath one of Brooklyn’s busiest streets in what was then the City of Brooklyn, the tunnel is one half-mile long and carries two standard gauge railroad tracks.  The tunnel took only 7 months to build, using the ‘cut-and-cover’ method, using only hand tools and simple equipment. The tunnel was rediscovered by Bob Diamond in 1980.  In 1982 The Brooklyn Historic Railway Society was created in order to preserve, publicize and allow public access to the tunnel. The tunnel is found today within the Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights Historic Districts as well as within a U.S. Historic District. The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel is a landmarked and protected historic site.

•    The Beacon Theatre- This theater, located at 2124 Broadway, seats 2,894 people in three tiers, and was opened in 1929. Although it was originally opened to present motion pictures and vaudeville shows, the Beacon is most famous as a music hall, which is what has been its primary function since the 1970s. An annual spring concert series which is still going on today featuring the Allman Brothers also had such classic bands as the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and others. The décor is ornate neo-Grecian with a trademark two-story, circular lobby. Both sides of the stage are adorned with statues of 30-foot-tall Greek goddesses.
•    St. Paul’s Chapel- built in 1766, St. Paul’s is an Episcopal church, and is New York’s oldest continuously used building. On inauguration day the first US President, George Washington, prayed here on April 30, 1789. Over the alter, in the chapel is the ornamental design of “Glory,” which is the work of Pierre L’Enfant, the designer of Washington, DC. The “Glory” illustrates Mt. Sinai in clouds with lightning; the word for God in Hebrew is in a triangle, and the tablets of the Law with the Ten Commandments.  More recently St Paul’s played an important role as a resting station for rescue workers during the days following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, due to its location right across the street from Ground Zero. Today visitors to St. Paul’s can view the exhibit, “Unwavering Spirit: Hope and Healing at Ground Zero” which chronicles the special history of St. Paul’s and its volunteer ministry during the weeks and months following September 11th.
•    The Little Red Lighthouse- no longer in use, it is still possible to see the Little Red Lighthouse next to the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. Considered the most ‘beloved of American lighthouses,” the Little Red Lighthouse was made famous by the children’s book, “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” by Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Ward in 1942. In 1921 the lighthouse was brought to Jeffrey’s Hook by the US coastguard to aid navigation along the Hudson River. It served well for ten years until the brighter lights of the George Washington Bridge made the lighthouse obsolete. In 1948 the lighthouse was decommissioned by the Coast Guard, and the light was put out. The Coast Guard planned to auction off the lighthouse, but a public outcry and an outpouring of support, inspired in great part by the book, helped to save it. In 1951 the Coast Guard gave the property to the New York Parks Department, and in 1979 the Little Red Lighthouse became part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Mark Twain was born in 1835, during a visit by Halley’s Comet, and he died 76 years later, in 1910, during Halley’s next visit. William Falkner said about Twain that he was “the father of American Literature” and others said that Twain was the “greatest American humorist of his age.”

Huckleberry Finn: Great American Novel

Mark Twain was christened Samuel Clemens, but took the pen-name Mark Twain as a nod to his days spent as a steamboat pilot on the great Mississippi River. Mark Twain wrote such famed works as Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Author’s Court, and what many call the first “Great American Novel,” Huckleberry Finn, hailed as Twain’s masterpiece of storytelling and wit.

If you love Mark Twain as much as I do, then you will probably get a big kick out of perusing some primary sources for Mark Twain memorabilia. One of the best places to find letters, manuscripts and other items penned by one of America’s most beloved humorists, social critic’s and writers is the Shapell Manuscript Foundation collection.

Page from Missing Notebook

One fascinating manuscript is a hand-written in pencil page which was torn from a notebook.  It is believed that the page was torn from Mark Twain’s missing notebook of 1867. The quickly scrawled page is a bare-bones autobiographical sketch.  The words describe a not very well known young man from the west, perhaps to serve as an introduction to a lecture. Within the sketch is Twain’s announcement that he will be travelling soon on the “General Sherman Pleasure Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land, and will set sail on the 8^th of June.”

Innocents Abroad Twain’s Big Hit

This trip led to the final and greatest success of Mark Twain’s career, after years of struggle. The book, entitled The Innocents Abroad, is an account of his journey, and that of the 65 others accompanying him on the “Quaker City” and is often quoted as a realistic portrait of the places he visited during the latter half of the 1860s.

Within the Shapell Manuscript Foundation collection are many other fascinating items. There is a description of Clemens’ last day in New York before embarking on his journey to Europe and the Holy Land, describing a day and night of drinking, in large part with other writers. This journey was the first such trip, organized as a ‘pleasure party’ for a transatlantic voyage, and to see in Twain’s own hand his description of his evening before is a thrill.

Another manuscript found in the Shapell Manuscript Foundation collection is a letter to Clemens’ publisher praising Dan Slote, Clemens’ roommate on the “Quaker City,” as an excellent promoter for Innocents Abroad, Twain’s book about his voyage on the “Quaker City.”

There is almost no end to the information and thrill which can be culled from investigating historical figures through their own writing. I recommend a visit to any manuscript collection containing the writings of your own favorite personalities.