Way to Go, Heather!

Time Out New York / Issue 681 : Oct 16–22, 2008
Great walks
The Inwood Peace Walk
How to align your chakras in less than four hours.

By Heather

According to many Hindu, tantric, Chinese and Western alternative-medicine models, chakras are energy focal points located along the spine and intersecting with the central nervous system. New Age enthusiasts believe that keeping one’s chakras balanced contributes to overall physical and spiritual health. For this jaunt, you’ll start at the bottom and work your way north—both corporeally and geographically.

1. Warm up your root chakra and its connection with the earth by wandering the grounds of Fort Tryon’s Heather Garden, named for the pinkish flower more commonly found in Great Britain. The terraced garden leads to the Promenade, which offers gorgeous vistas of the Hudson River, the Palisades and the George Washington Bridge.


2. Continue north along the pathway to The Cloisters (99 Margaret Corbin Dr in Fort Tryon Park, 212-923-3700; suggested donation $20), a medieval-European art museum. Your sacral chakra, devoted to creativity and emotion, will get a workout as you peruse pieces from the Romanesque to the Gothic periods.

3. Save your appetite for New Leaf Café (1 Margaret Corbin Dr at Fort Tryon Park, 212-568-5323), built in the 1930s and serving imaginative New American fare. Sit outside and activate your solar plexus chakra, the center of your life-force energy, by basking in the fall sunlight. Exit the park at Broadway and pick up litter; this engages your heart chakra, the center of compassion.

4. Walk north on Broadway and you’ll pass Dyckman Farmhouse (4881 Broadway at 204th St, 212-304-9422), the oldest remaining farmhouse in Manhattan, dating back to 1784. Adult admission is $1 and includes access to the back gardens and a tour of the lovingly restored interior.


5. Entertain your throat chakra at The Piper’s Kilt (4944 Broadway between Isham and 207th Sts, 212-569-7071). A simple brick facade gives way to a dark interior appointed with natural wood and Yankees memorabilia. Tap beers start at $4, but the throat chakra is more about communication; chat it up with regulars like Andy Macagnone, an Inwooder since 1961. “I was born on 190th Street, and christened and married in the same church on Broadway!”


6. The third-eye chakra is all about higher intuition; visit the outdoor Inwood Farmers’ Market (Isham St between Cooper and Seaman Sts, 212-788-7476) and let your psychic powers decide what to buy: just-baked apple turnovers, local honey or free-range turkey sausage.

7. Continuing west, you’ll stumble upon the 196-acre marvel that is Inwood Hill Park (184 Seaman Ave, 212-304-2365), Manhattan’s last primeval forest and its only saltwater marsh. While you’re there, snap a photo of the city’s most famous real-estate purchase: The Shorakapok Rock is across the soccer field near the salt marsh, and is believed to be where Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Lenape for $24 in trinkets.


8. Lastly, treat your crown chakra, responsible for spiritual consciousness, by enjoying the stained-glass sunshine at Church of the Good Shepherd (4967 Broadway at Isham St, 212-567-1300), a Roman Catholic wonder built in granite and limestone, with terra-cotta roofing and recessed buttresses. The hush that greets visitors provokes silent reverence, and it’s a fine way to revel in your alignment—even if it’ll take the MTA only 15 minutes to tie you back into knots.

Hola Barcelona - Bonjour Paris!

CAVA AND BRIE!
Just booked tickets for Barcelona and Paris trip, and feeling great to have another overseas vacation on the radar! Julie's wedding outside Barcelona being the catalyst - Heather and I are also heading to Paris on same jaunt. We plan to live dual lives while there - thoughtful American tourists by day and flirty girls who dance on discotheque platforms by night.
HELL'S KITCHEN HELL
Love how high-class nights can turn into low-class nights so quickly. Last night was a good example, as started at the very nice Market Cafe on 9th with Kenny and Alex and ended with Alex and I at a dive crap bar with what seemed like circus freaks - talking to a guy named Justice from Harlem for far longer than we should have, and screaming at the bartender to play Pink Floyd.
WINDSWEPT EFFECT
Windy walk to work today had my hair looking like I was in a Beyonce music video.
REAL ART
Yesterday, pang of sadness upon hearing news that famed satirist Art Buchwald had died. His columns were a big part of my literary diet. Loved his wit... even the humor he used to describe dying. For an instant smile, go to the NYTimes website and listen to the first line of his "Last Word" video. It's a pearler.
SID CALLS
Ex-boyfriend Sid from New Zealand keeps calling to catch up, but I keep missing him BECAUSE HE CAN'T DO MATH AND REALIZE THAT I'M EIGHTEEN HOURS BEHIND HIM - so his 3am rings go unanswered. I gotta get that guy an international time zone clock.