We happened to be in NYC when temperatures plunged to record lows with wind child’s even worse. Shiver. The Big Apple felt  like the North Pole on the Friday and Saturday early in Feb. when we arrived in the city eager to have some fun.  

All plans for meandering the Highland  or Central Park were immediately scuttled in favor of indoor activities. Not only were the temperatures very low but the wind shrieking down the skyscraper canyons was biting and fierce. 

But there’s plenty of indoor activities in NYC.  

I’ve already written about Fotografiska and Museum of Broadway but here are some more great indoor activities we enjoyed. 

I loved heading to Saks Fifth Avenue, the grand dame of high end retail shopping on Fifth Avenue across from Rockefeller Center.  Many stores like her have gone out of business, not kept up with the times, satisfying their customers with the latest fashions.  

Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks, with windows on the Fifth Avenue side to enjoy,  has done a major redo on the main floor. The centerpiece is  new escalator created by OMA and designed by Rem Koolhaas. 

Iridescent film in vivid colors coat the escalators changing colors as visitors travel between floors. Both stairwells form a diamond shape making the effect even more dramatic.  

One of the first escalators was installed at Harrods in 1898 in London. Since then the escalator has been a crucial element in department stores around the world.

Playing with the effects of the lighting was quite fun.  

We ate in the new restaurant, L’Avenue, designed by Philippe Starck.  It’s lovely, the service was superb and I was surprised with a delicious birthday desert. A cozy bar and gathering space has been added on the floor below the restaurant for late afternoon relaxing after some heavy duty shopping.  

The Whitney Museum

We did head to the Whitney to see the Hopper exhibit but only got a brief glance before a fire alarm went off and it was wise to leave. We learned that it was a false alarm fortunately.  

Farther down the street we encountered sunlight on the old warehouse buildings in the former Meat Packing District that made us think of a Hopper painting.  

Museum of Modern Art

But most memorable was the AI generated exhibit—a huge screen—in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art.  You could see it from a variety of levels.  As I understand it, the artist collected artworks available digitally on his computer and unleashed Artificial Intelligence on it.  

The ongoing visual display of art was mesmerizing.  

A little less compelling but worth seeing was the Powerful Women mural at the Hudson Yards.  

Guggenheim Museum

My final stop was the Guggenheim where I enjoyed an Alex Katz exhibit who worked in a variety of styles and media over his long life. This was contrasted with Nick Cave and his Soundsuits.   

Mr. Cave is one of those artists who seem to be popping up everywhere. We learned that he has a tile installation on the 42nd  Street subway and I got a kick out of his drapery fabric at the Knoll showroom. It costs just under $1000 a yard.