Last night I slept. When I leave the apartment its midday. I know this because as I walk out the door there's a big African guy cycling on the sidewalk heading straight towards me. He has a big smile of white teeth and asks politely "Excuse me what is time?". Since I arrived, New York has constantly surprised me.
I've brunched early at Cafe Orlin for the past 3 days. It's been quiet. Today is different. There's a queue outside 20 minutes long. I ask the hostess outside if there's "Room for a little one?". There's one seat left at the bar. As I open the door dub reggae mixes to rave. The barman tells me this is the place to be on a Sunday. Cafe Orlin has come alive.
I'm scrolling through my Facebook messages as I eat. My eyes well up and I'm overcome with how amazing this experience has been and his grateful I am for what I have.
I can't help thinking how lucky I've been to meet Winston. Chance ? Or fate? Either way ill take it
Today I have no films to watch. No Q&A. Today I will walk.
There's a free tour for Equus filmmakers at the Clinton Park Carriage Stables in Midtown West. I'd seen a film about the carriage drivers the day before. Property developers are lobbying to ban the carriages from Central Park so they can take over the plot. There's a huge swell of public support for the carriage drivers. I'm also interested in the stables as I have friends who are cabbies in Blackpool so I take Midtown as my destination.
A few things have struck me while I've wandered the streets. Half of New Yorkers are walking down the street looking like they're crazy but talking to themselves into cell phones. The other half are walking down the street talking to themselves and just crazy. Sometimes it's hard to know who's who.
And there's a Laundromat on every block. It seems that New Yorkers have no washing machines in their apartments, there's no room. Everyone has to visit the laundromat.
I've been walking for an hour. I'm on 7th Avenue heading towards Madison Square Garden when I see the most amazing chromed up Lamborghini. The owner is standing on the sidewalk on his cell phone. He looks like Tom Cruise. I wonder if he's really on the phone or just using it as an excuse to be seen standing with his car. Other people are taking photos. He kindly opens the door and let's a little girl sit in the drivers seat. I ask him for a ride - he smiles but he keeps taking into his phone.
Like much of Manhattan, I've seen Times Square in the movies but the imagery is overpowering. There are screens the size of buildings. I've stepped right into Blade Runner. The horizon never seems to get closer. Each block is like another layer in a computer game.
I'm finding shots everywhere. I see a group of foreign sailors walking in a line. They are completely incongruous. I run back down 7th Avenue to try and find a shot. Coming the other way is a line of foreign pilots. They pass almost brushing shoulders. I kind of expect someone to salute but they walk past as if neither group had seen each other. That's New York for you.
There a pro-Israel demo. A whole block has been cordoned off and the police are heavily armed and scanning people for weapons before they’re let through the crowd barriers. Though I like the music (an old guy is playing on a stage) I decide to move on quickly.
I've been walking for 2 hours now. I haven't seen a Starbucks (free wifi) for a few blocks so I'm not sure how far I have to walk. I ask a couple of people where the stables are. Just another block. In the middle of a crossing I bump into Nathan and Dave. They are flying home in a couple of hours but making the most of the exchange rate and stopping off to buy camera gear first. I'm pretty sure we'll cross paths again. Along with Winston it's been worth the trip just to meet these guys. There's a mutual respect for each other's work.
The stables have around 80 stalls for horses and parking for nearly 40 carriages. Horses are stabled on the 1st and 2nd story.
I get a tour by the lady that was in the Q&A the day before. I'm struck by the value of horses. It's like in the UK. A carriage horse that can drive through central Manhattan is on the one hand priceless but on the other has a value of maybe only £2,500.
Most owners have 3 horses which rotate shifts and then every few weeks go to a farm in Pennsylvania for a holiday. The cabbies buy feed and harness from the Amish horse people in Pennsylvania.
An hour later the cabbies are changing shifts and coming back to the stables to swap horses and charge batteries for the night shift. I share a cab back to East Village with a Swiss filmmaker. It's the first time I've been in a car since I arrived. It's warm and my legs are glad of the ride.
Winston arrives home soon after me. We have a beer then go for some food. it's my last night and I want to eat something I wouldn't get at home. Winston's from Georgia. BBQs are big in the south and his favourite eatery is round the block. Winston insists on paying. We've moved well beyond me being a guest on Air B&B. We're friends.
Outside the apartment we stop and talk about the new graffiti. I realise that the group of kids outside the doorway the night before were blocking the sidewalk so the graffiti could be painted without being seen. It had all been happening as I walked past.
This is a really clever piece of work. The kid in the scene is showing off the graffiti behind him. The spray cans are tagged #replaynyc. Back home it doesn't take us long to find out it's a collaboration with international artist Ernest Zacharevic and Martha Cooper where he recreates some of her most iconic photographs from the 70s/80s.
We talk about Winston's Game of Thrones jackets he's been making and call a friend to see if she'd come over and model his jackets (they call them vests out here) by the graffiti before I go in the morning.
Then Julie arrives. She's Winston's new guest staying in his 2nd bedroom. Julie is a musician studying improvisation. Within 10 minutes we've persuaded her to model the vest. It's after midnight already. Julie says she'll give us 40 minutes. It's now or never. The only lighting we have to counter the sodium street lights is a small head torch. We grab a pair of headphones and a blow torch for props and now we're doing a fashion shoot. Job done. Seize the day. We struggled with the light so we decide to shoot again before Julie and I fly in the morning. It's 2 o'clock before I get to bed. But it's been another amazing day.
