All posts by Paul Mason Fotsch

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About Paul Mason Fotsch

I teach media at NYU and College of Staten Island.

Ho Tam at Carriage Trade

History, Museums, NYC

Yesterday I saw Ho Tam‘s exhibit “Haircut 100” at Carriage Trade on Grand Street.  The exhibit is based on his 2015 book (Ho Tam #7) and focuses on the barbershops of NYC Chinatown, which in his map extends roughly from Delancey to Madison and Baxter to Essex.  This makes the gallery location ideal for access to current community members (with approximately 100,000, it is likely the largest concentration of Chinese outside of East Asia), and Tam has usefully posted an exhibit description in Chinese on the door.

Make Music New York 2024

Music, NYC

I have never been to Coachella , but every year I find more joy than I can imagine ever having at one of these mega music fests strolling through Make Music New York on Summer Solstice. This year’s highlights: First, a group of Middle school students from WHIN Music Community Charter School performed for an audience of mostly pre-schoolers in the Children’s Magical Garden on the Lower East Side.  The toddlers enthusiastic comments after each song were a riot.

childrensgarden

Next I saw a tribute to Billy Strayhorn by several groups of musicians in Freeman Plaza East.

strayhorn

And, finally I saw Wyatt McManus perform Broadway Show tunes in Bella Abzug Park.

wyatt
I adore Taylor Swift, but I would rather see Wyatt McManus perform Sondheim among a dozen passersby in the canyon of Hudson Yards skyscrapers than be packed into an arena of sweaty swifties with iphones swaying wildly to catch a glimpse of the super songstress of West Reading PA.