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Emily Gogolak

By Emily Gogolak 6/28/12 9:30am

Bird brain

A male of the high American literati variety in its natural habitat.

Birdwatching with Jonathan Franzen in Central Park

Tuesday afternoon was a particularly outdoorsy one for The Observer. Donning binoculars, sneakers, sunscreen, and shorts, we set off to Central Park to get in touch with nature and to go bird watching. Among our avian sightings? A Red-tailed Hawk, a Black-crowned Night Heron, two Eastern King Birds, and a particularly interesting bespectacled male of the American high literati — Jonathan Franzen.

Mr. Franzen is to birding what David Byrne is to cycling. An up-and-coming spokesperson for the hobby, he was in Central Park to help launch the new HBO documentary, Birders: The Central Park Effect. Airing on July 16, the film follows seven urban birdwatchers as they literally schedule their lives around the rhythms of bird migration passing through New York. Unabashedly among them is Mr. Franzen. Read More

By Emily Gogolak 3:45pm

outdoor concerts

Philip Glass on stage TKTKTK.

Philip Glass Broke His Piano Mid-Performance Last Night

Yesterday was hot — miserably hot. We were loath to go outside. We lingered in the doorways of air-conditioned restaurants and corner delis (we even bought things we didn’t want from those delis just to bask in a brief respite of cool). The number of passersby on the street The Observer heard mutter, “It’s so fucking hot”? Nine.

The number of music aficionados, free-outdoor-concert enthusiasts, and liberal artsy types of all ages willing to brave the heat for a concert by Philip Glass in Rockefeller Park on Wednesday night? As many as 5,000. Read More

By Emily Gogolak 6/15/12 5:00pm

fundraising

10 Photos

Charles Street

Outside Sarah Jessica Parker’s House Last Night: Obama Protestors, Gawkers and Angry Residents (Photos)

It might have been lights, camera, action inside Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Wintour’s private fundraiser for President Obama last night, but outside, on the corner of West 4th and Charles Street, it was more dogs, barricades and disgruntled neighbors.

The night was warm, the police were plentiful, and The Observer waited on the curb for the president to arrive. Standing behind the police line on Charles and West 4th, it felt like a spontaneous summer block-party.

A group of longtime West Villagers reminisced on the state of the neighborhood pre-Magnolia and Marc. “I remember when Bleecker was all mom and pop shops. When there were actually artists in the Village.” Another resident chimed in, “Yeah. I remember —”

Nostalgia was cut short when a small tour group from Hong Kong, marching down West 4th toward Charles, eyes wide and cameras in tow, stopped and asked The Observer, “What’s going on here?” “President Obama is having dinner at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house,” we answered. In disbelief and in unison, they turned to one another and shouted, “Carrie!” Read More