Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, New York
Our expedition to the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum began at 3:30 am in D.C.'s Chinatown. The blustery, sub-freezing temperature did not deter our spirits as we searched for the appropriate alley where our Chinatown Express bus made its home.
We rolled into NYNY around 7am. The museum opened at 10. What were we to do? We took in many of Manhatten's famous early-morning sites, such as the Dunkin' Donuts, the lavatories of the Jewish Community Center, Central Park (shown above), and the cafe of the Guggenheim.
To maximize postcard sales, the Cooper-Hewitt instituted a strict no-photography rule. We were reminded of this about 90 times by the museum's staff, but nevertheless we were able to smuggle out photos such as this one (highly illegal, don't tell anybody!).
Opinions of the museum were mixed. While the items on display were of high quality, most were very modern. We were expecting a more thorough history of design (cave paintings of the first font, some sort of old printing press, perhaps an Eames chair), and were disappointed that the museum was a showcase of mostly modern talent and several iPods. We agreed that the United States could really use a better National Design Museum. We enjoyed the gift shop and the flooring in the basement gallery, however.
Our spirits were lifted when we made our way back outside. We then had pizza and decided to take in more of NYNY's artistic offerings. The Guggenheim was too expensive, so we walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art instead.
Our WhatWorks digital photographer, Maggie, makes it clear that she is a lover of minimalist modern art. This particular gem was blue, and no two sides of the canvas were parallel. Fascinating.
Our night ended with an exciting mad-cap dash to our bus. The F train, the subway line that would have made our return to Chinatown easy and straightforward, does not run on Saturday evenings. Nowhere was this fact stated clearly, much to the chagrin of ourselves and a subway platform full of natives. And so, after a verbal attack by a genuine NYNY hooker, we managed to secure two cabs that whisked us back to Chinatown with about 3 minutes to spare. The ride back to D.C. was thankfully uneventful.
Despite the general sense of disappoint felt by the group over the Cooper-Hewitt, our day in the Big Apple was nevertheless enjoyable.
