The forgotten model whose face is all over NYC
there ain't no party like my nana's tea party
It is the second week of March and I got my first sunburn of the year. I’m cat sitting Oscar, who lives in a fancy building with a fancy rooftop and I spent too much time outdoors with my pasty ass skin. This is why I can’t have nice things.
Over the weekend I made Lorenzo traipse around Soho with me to help plan out my route for the upcoming Jane’s Walk festival. This will be the first time ever that I’m running a walking tour and I’m going back and forth thinking “what if no one shows up” to “what if everyone shows up” and both scenarios are equally exciting and terrifying. I’ll keep you guys updated on when signups go live; I would love to see you IRL. You can submit a walk thru March 31 - let me know if you do!
Somewhere amidst the 24,000 steps I took that day, Lorenzo and I decided we wanted to get some piercings because we are grown up people with grown up money to spend and y’all, I can’t recommend Cherry Bomb in LES enough. Sylvie pierced my septum and when I tell you I did not feel a goddam thing. It was a very different experience from my last piercing experience at Whatever Tattoo on St Marks when I was 18, that’s for sure. Go see Sylvie, she rocks.
Finally, submissions for your NYC stories are still open! If you’re thinking “I have nothing interesting to submit” I promise you you’re wrong. That’s what I thought before I started writing BCLF and I hope that I’ve at least shared one fascinating thing in the almost two years that I’ve been writing. Your stories are compelling and necessary because it’s impossible for me to represent NYC all by myself. Tell me about your favorite bagel. Tell me about that time you stayed out all night and woke up at the end of the line at Coney Island. Tell me that Josie and the Pussycats is also your favorite movie and let’s be BFFs.
Brooklyn High Low 611 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Neighborhood: Prospect Heights Cuisine: Afternoon Tea Reservations: Required, not too hard to come by Open: Fri, Sat, Sun Order: Whatever tea makes you happy! I love the NOLA. Scones are fab.
Before the pandemic, my friends and I would go out for monthly dinners to catch up. During the pandemic, we pivoted to a monthly Cookbook Club where we’d pick a recipe from one of our cookbooks, cook on zoom, and then enjoy a socially distanced meal together. Eventually time marched on, some folks moved away, some had babies, and it just became harder to gather everybody in one place (virtual or physical). That’s why I was so glad when Danielle suggested we get our monthly dinners going again! You know I love a monthly excuse to eat food with friends (or brother Beef) and I was very excited when Danielle decided to gather the group for afternoon tea at Brooklyn High Low!
I’d been to BHL’s newer location, The Parlour in Park Slope, but this was my first time at their original space. Because we had such a large group (12ish) we were told the only place that would fit us was the back garden. Luckily, it’s completely enclosed and there are little heaters set up around so even on a 40 degree day it was cozy. The staff also brought over some of the fluffiest blankets I’ve ever seen, so rest assured that you’ll be comfy even if you’re seated “outside.” They have a few tables indoors, though, and those are equally cozy looking with mismatched sofas and fancy chairs arranged around cutesy coffee tables.
They have a few different tea services available at different price points with different options, so you can pick the one that works best for you. We did the Grand Vanderbilt package ($65pp) that includes a bottomless pot of one tea (another package allows for multiple teas), a delicious scone with clotted cream and jam, 8 different finger sandwiches, and 4 mini desserts. The staff was really helpful when it came to making sandwich substitutions, so don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t like/can’t eat something. When booking your afternoon tea, you’re also asked to select your tea ahead of time so that it’ll be brewed and ready to drink when you arrive. I kind of love that they brew the tea for you that way you know it was made using the proper temperature water and it isn’t oversteeped and bitter. One thing I learned during the pandemic when I really had the time to brew my own tea was that the time and temp of the brew actually does make a difference.
They have a very extensive tea menu to look through! Last time I was at The Parlour I got the NOLA tea and I opted to get it again because I loved it so much; it’s an Assam tea blended with chicory, cinnamon, yerba mate, and caramel. I think I just really like the flavor of chicory? I noticed that I really love Trader Joe’s Chai tea bags and wouldn’t you know it, they have chicory listed as an ingredient! Other teas that folks liked were the Mexican hot chocolate black/rooibos, coconut truffle green, and ginger pear white. Going with a large group meant that even though we only got to pick one tea each, we got to trade cups and try each other’s! So if you grab afternoon tea with a few people I recommend selecting a few flavors you all want to try that way you can sip sip pass. Once the teas started coming out our tables quickly filled up with lovely ceramic tea pots and mismatched cups and saucers.
First up were the scones! When I went to The Parlour for their opening weekend they were only serving tea and scones and let me tell you, I just about ate my weight in these. They’re warm, they’re light, they’re buttery, they’re flaky, they’re goddam perfect. Accompanying the scones were little dishes of jam, clotted cream, and lemon curd. I’m a clotted cream/jam bitch all the way, but I tried a little bit of lemon curd for the plot and it was actually surprisingly good! I hate lemon in sweet applications (lemon bars, lemon sorbet, lemon poppy muffins 😝) but this was some good curd. If this place added an option to drink unlimited tea and eat unlimited scones, I’d be here every day.
Once we devoured those delicious scones, our sandwich towers began to arrive! Our server described what was in each sandwich and left a little sign with us so we could tell them apart which was really nice. Of the 8 different sandwiches we got, my favorites were the apricot jam with thyme and mascarpone, cucumber and dill cream cheese, and truffle chicken salad. The bread was super soft and fluffy and I probably ate the equivalent of 3 actual sandwiches if you combine all of the minis I consumed. I do wonder what happens to all of the bread crusts though! I hope the staff has a side gig selling croutons, and if they don’t, I would like to volunteer as tribute to eat all of the crusts.
The top tier of our tower had a small selection of desserts: chocolate mousse, sugar cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, and little cherry tarts. The desserts were probably the weakest part of the spread, but that didn’t stop Lorenzo from eating 5 mini chocolate mousses. I definitely housed a bunch of the strawberries, but I also went across the street and got a pistachio pudding from Little Cupcake Bakeshop after 😏
The whole experience was really nice and I think this is a great spot for a group or just a catch up with a couple friends! They did mention that our reservation had a 75 min time limit, but luckily there wasn’t a res immediately after ours so we weren’t rushed out at all. NYC tends to be a very coffee-centric city, so I love that this little tea oasis exists. If any of you want to go in on some tea and scones, hit ya girl up!
Audrey Munson Born: June 8, 1891 - Rochester, New York, U.S. Died: February 20, 1996 (aged 104) - Ogdensburg, New York, U.S. Known for: "Miss Manhattan", Civic Fame, Three Graces, Star Maiden, Descending Night
NYC is home to tons of sculptures; unfortunately many of them are of men and many of those are of shitty men (looking at you Christopher Columbus). However, if you’ve ever walked through the city and seen a sculpture of a beautiful woman, it’s likely that the artist used Audrey Munson as a model. Throughout the early 1900’s Audrey acted as a muse and model for countless artists and her likeness can still be seen across NY and other cities in the US. Although Audrey’s success would reach the highest of highs, the end of her life was quite tragic and her name is barely remembered today even though The Sun wrote in 1913 “over a hundred artists agree that if the name of Miss Manhattan belongs to anyone in particular, it is to this young woman."
Audrey came to New York from Providence, R.I., as a teenager between 1907 and 1909 with your classic big city dreams. She had a couple small roles on Broadway, but her big break came when photographer Felix Benedict Herzog spotted her while she was window-shopping on Fifth Avenue with her mother. He asked her to pose for him at his studio in the Lincoln Arcade Building and went on to introduce her to many of his artist friends because he knew he had found the decade’s new IT girl; Audrey was 17 years old. The early 1900s saw a resurgence of Beaux-Arts architecture that drew inspiration from Ancient Roman, Greek, and Italian Renaissance sources and Audrey had the soft features of a classic beauty. Eventually she met sculptor Isidore Konti and her career as an artists’ model would really take off from there; Konti was her first sculpture gig and also her first time modeling nude. Audrey posed for Konti’s Three Graces sculpture that would reside in the Hotel Astor’s Ballroom - she was all three graces.
After posing for over a dozen sculptures in NYC, Audrey set her sights on the west coast. The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco and the Director of Sculpture, Alexander Stirling Calder, fell in love with Audrey’s figure. She ended up posing for 60% of the sculptures at the expo and earned the nickname "Panama–Pacific Girl."
While in California, Audrey also began her brief career as a silent movie star. Audrey is largely regarded as the first American leading lady to appear nude in a non-pornographic film, titled Inspiration, the first of three silent films which contained her nude scenes. I think it was a close call, but apparently Margaret Edwards appeared nude in the film Hypocrites ever so shortly before Audrey’s debut. Unfortunately for Audrey her acting left a bit to be desired and a lookalike named Jane Thomas was hired to do the acting scenes, while Munson did the scenes where she posed nude.
Audrey’s film appearances didn’t do much for her career and she returned to NYC, but by then the Beaux-Arts craze was over and she was no longer “young and desirable” because beauty standards for women are disgusting. She was also blacklisted for accusing “a man prominent in the theatrical world” (she never named names, but it was likely a producer for the Broadway play The Fashion Show) for purposefully ruining her career after she resisted his advances; a tale as old as fucking time. By 1919 she was living with her mother in a boarding house at 164 West 65th Street owned by Dr. Walter Wilkins and this is where her story gets even darker. Dr. Wilkins fell in love with Audrey but unfortunately for him, he was married, so he decided to take care of that little “problem” and make himself available by murdering his wife. Audrey and her mom got the fuck outta there after the murder, but the police sought them for questioning. Whatever they told the police was never released publicly, but it was enough to exonerate them and send Dr. Wilkins to the electric chair. He never made it though because he hanged himself in his prison cell.
By the 1920s Audrey was living upstate with her mother and working as a ticket-taker in a small museum. At some point she conducted a nationwide search for the perfect man to marry via the United Press, but when the man she chose failed to show up she attempted suicide by swallowing a solution of bichloride of mercury on May 27, 1922. Audrey survived this attempt, but was never quite the same. Her mother committed her to a mental asylum on June 8, 1931 - her 40th birthday. She remained in the St. Lawrence State Hospital for the Insane in Ogdensburg, New York, where she was treated for depression and schizophrenia. After her mom died in 1958, Audrey had no visitors for over 25 years until her half-niece, Darlene Bradley, rediscovered her in 1984, when Munson was 93. Despite likely being unwell mentally (rightfully so as our girl experienced some shit) Audrey was pretty healthy physically and would apparently escape to a nearby bar every so often. When Audrey died on February 20, 1996 only one newspaper reported the death of Miss Manhattan. In a horrible twist of irony, Audrey was buried in an unmarked grave in New Haven Cemetery. Thankfully, multiple people fought for her and she received a headstone on June 8, 2016, 20 years after her death and on what would have been her 125th birthday.
Audrey’s career literally had her bare everything for the world to see; her face and figure can be found atop buildings, on fountains, and on 30+ statues inside The Met. And yet, her name was virtually unknown until recent years. Do you recognize any of these works that Audrey inspired:
I’m gonna start with some bad (but important) stuff this week. Over the weekend ICE agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and prominent pro-Palestine campus activist. For days, federal authorities refused to disclose to Khalil’s attorneys where he was being held and we now know he’s in a sketchy immigration center in Louisiana. Khalil’s wife is a US citizen and he has a green card. Whether you are pro or anti anything or somewhere in between, this action by ICE could set a very bad precedent. Please stay informed, know your rights, and take care of your fellow New Yorkers. Two of my favorite local politicians, Chi Ossé and Zohran Mamdani, made great Tik Toks with more info.
Ok, deep breaths, let’s do some good stuff. The 2025 Street Vendor Scavenger Quest is taking team submissions now! The game itself will run from April 5-25 and your goal will be to earn points by completing missions. These missions will get you out and about trying food from NYC’s smallest businesses!
Fellow Landmark nerds - please join me in attending CBH Talk | What to Save? Landmarks for a New New York at the Center for Brooklyn History on March 17. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NYC Landmarks Law a panel will discuss the history of landmarked buildings and what this process might look like going forward. Registration is free, but seating is on a first come first served basis.
I missed the Brooklyn Seltzer Fest last year, but I’m happy to say that I’ve already got my ticket for this year’s event! I loved visiting the Seltzer Museum and this Sunday I’m very excited to see who will win the golden siphon award for best egg cream. Use discount code MarchNews25 to get $5 off adult tickets!
If puppety is more your jam, grab a ticket for Sunday’s Explorations in Puppetry: Giving Form to the Fantastic. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll design and build masks, costumes, puppets, and set design based on collaborative fantastical drawings. Very cool.
It’s Stoop Sale Season y’all! Chef Lottie of @stayforsupper_ is selling her stuff and it all looks way to cool for me so you should probably buy something. Sunday from 11-5 in Greenpoint!
It turns out my type is “graphs” and no one is doing them like
! Joe recently explored the Chop’t/Sweetgreen dichotomy and I’ve never been so interested in salads by way of data before.NYC might get to see a Lunar Eclipse tomorrow! Peak eclipse will be at 2:58 a.m. Friday, but the weather is currently supposed to be pretty cloudy so visibility might be meh. In any case, we won’t get another one for a year so keep an eye on the skies in case things clear up!
Did you know that bodega cats are actually illegal? Some bullshit about hygiene or whatever but here in NY we love our bodega cats and one hero has risen above to create a path to legality for our furry friends. The person behind @bodegacatsofnewyork would like you to sign their petition to help create a certification program for our beloved kitties. If I go into a bodega and there isn’t a cat lounging in the ramen box, I don’t want it!
I’ve had Brooklyn High Low saved in Google Maps for ages!!! I need to go!!! Please take me? 😍
Great post! I had just finished writing about the Lincoln Arcade before reading this. It really does seem like early 20th century version of the McKibbin Lofts. I had never heard of Herzog before, but I read that he was planning to marry Audrey before unexpectedly dying in surgery. An unfortunate turn of events for both of them!