Forgot to mention: I went to the Rubin Museum for the first time last Wedsnesday and fell in love with the place.
2 very good shows are up. The permenant collection is also very beautiful. everyone should go there at least once or twice a month. I also went to the Roof of the Met which I always threaten to do but like the Rubin then forget to go -- well this time I did that too. Now I can say I had a summer other than just taking classes for my second teaching license for the NYC DOE

I'm looking for the comment and song by Jerry Siegel who went canoeing on the Bronx River.

Due to a relentless July heat wave, I ran my air conditioner non-stop for a full week. I hate summer.

I brought the first ever SkateBoard Spike™ pat pend to market and actively began coaching people in the new Sport of SpikeBoarding™ The Sport of Balanced Strength™.

I set a new world record by going up Bear Mtn using only arms and no legs on a longboard. I put a $1000 challenge out to the entire world for any man to win the prize if they can best me in the same fashion up Bear Mtn.

I rolled to Nyack and back to 14 street in SUS/ Stand Up Spike and never touched the ground to push with my legs.

I blew the mind's of thousands of tourists and natives SpikeBoarding throughout the city every day this summer. I am the father of SpikeBoarding™ and Stand Up Spike™.

I went camping without a car!

Took the train to Beacon, with a lovely stop over at DIA:Beacon. Then hiked right through town, up to trail head, and about four hours later, arrived at an amazing hike-in only camp spot.

I made my first visit to the Rubin Museum of art, http://www.rmanyc.org/, a gem focused on the art and civilizations of the Himalayas. The most fabulous aspect of this beautiful Chelsea museum is the permanent exhibit that explains Buddhist and Hindu art and iconography. So many things that were mysteries to me finally made sense. There's a great little gift shop and cafe, too (though I'd drink tea there, not coffee).

went to the Jacques Marquais Tibetan Museum on Staten Island. Heard about it for 30 years- a wonderful story.

Dined at the New Leaf in Fort Tryon park, and passed about 25 skunks on the way to the subway. They were pretty blasé about it, luckily.

Here is how to get to Sandy Hook, Jersey Shore, from Manhattan, by ferry.

https://vimeo.com/45448560

We went to the Sept. 11th memorial for the first time, taking out-of-town relatives from Illinois and England. The out-of-towners were moved but surprised by the lack of info/exhibits compared to, e.g., the Newsmuseum exhibit they had just viewed in D.C. (I explained to them that the WTC museum was still in development, leaving out the stories of infighting which have delayed it.)
What surprised me: upon finding the name of one of my neighbors, discovering that he was adjacent to the son of a friend from my high school. I did not know that they had worked together, and all of a sudden that awful day was very real again.

Since I have paid vacation for the 1st time since I moved to New York 11 years ago, I indulged in an NYC tradition by getting away from the city for as much of August as possible: 10 days upstate and beginning Sunday, 10 days in California.

Walked the 32 mile rim of Manhattan with the Shorewalkers on May 5th.

re: Grand Central Oyster Bar

Go at lunch time, sit at the counter (super cool) and ask for the separate sandwich menu!!

Forget about the "main" menu!!

That's the key to the Oyster Bar!!

LOVE that place!!

The only Smithsonian museum in NYC, I visited the Museum of the American Indian in the old Custom House on Bowling Green - it was great, especially the Indi-visible exhibit about American Indians and African heritage groups.

This summer, my family walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We have lived here 7 years and we finally got to it. It was great fun and really beautiful. We loved it!

after 32 years in nyc I swam in my first public pool in the Gowanus area - no comment.

Walked the High-Line and it was extraordinary. From the beauty of the park itself with all its water features and interesting plantings to the many beautiful vistas, especially in the evening.

After 10 years in the city, I finally bought an air conditioner. It exceeded the hype.

I took some time to learn about that obelisk in Central Park. Well, the Wikipedia page is completely wrong. Wikipedia claims the damage is caused by the NYC climate. Wrong. The damage to the base happened when Cambyses II sacked Heliopolis during the Persian invasion of Egypt, this is documented in the writings of Greek explorer Strabo. Then further damage on the sides happened some time after the Romans transported it north to the Egyptian coast. There are photos from the 1800s (all easily accessible via Google Books) showing the obelisk in Egypt before being moved and the damage is clearly visible. So beyond learning what the real story of that obelisk is I also learned Wikipedia is very crappy to put it mildly. I mean everybody knows Wikipedia is bad in theory but here is a real example.

For the first time I sent my son to a sleep-away camp upstate. Three weeks. He hates it and he hates us and we're trying to tough it out, waiting for the moment when he starts to like it. A low point in parenting.

The summer ain't over yet!!!! short list:

[a] the beach [any one will do at this point]

[b] Governors Island

[c] Coney Island [haven't been back since the renovation began 20+ yrs ago]