Tag: New York

Nude Year’s Eve photos and new party from YNA!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

So, as I announced briefly before the New Year, I joined Young Nudists&Naturists America as a DJ for their Nude Year’s Eve party. It was my first time to celebrate New Year in the buff at a social event and the first time I was DJing since 2007, so I was very excited!

I was there with my friend Jerry but I got to know a bunch of cool people, including Felicity, the PR of Young Nudists&Naturists America, and a couple of members from Florida Young Naturists, Kathleen and Mark. What they told me about naturist events and activities in Florida made me envious, but it looks like NYC has something to offer too 😉

naturist 0001 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

Mark seemed to be pretty much into my music.

naturist 0002 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

‘Music lives on’  – said his tattoo – that’s how we like our dancers 🙂 At some point I had to leave my ‘DJ booth’ (kinda) to join most of the crowd at the roof.

naturist 0003 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

It was quite chilly, but when I saw that we were right next to Empire State Building, I couldn’t care less about the cold!

naturist 0004 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

But I had to carry more though, namely Mark, as the roof was full of wet snow and he didn’t have shoes on him.

naturist 0005 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

Well, I might have missed the Times Square Ball, but being naked on a rooftop next to Empire State Building seemed like a good alternative!

This Saturday night (Feb 19) Young Nudists&Naturists America organize another party at the same spot and I will play a couple of hours set there, hope to see even more people there! Go totheir website to register for the party.

Swan Lake

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen something that impressed me so much, I couldn’t skip it on my blog, although it has little to do with naturist activities…

Swan Lake, Pyotr Tchaikovsky‘s masterpiece, has been arguably the most popular ballet for decades and has also become classics in modern dance thanks to Matthew Bourne‘s interpretation, first staged in 1995 in London’s West End and never having a break since then with several tours around the world.

I first saw their billboards in Athens where they were on tour last autumn, but finally got a chance to see the show itself last weekend here in New York.

I won’t pretend being an expert in modern dance (although I do like it), but I hardly can imagine any other show that can beat Bourne’s Swan Lake in both choreography and emotional message, so beautiful and powerful, romantic and tragic. There is an interview with Matthew Bourne on youtube where he talks about New York’s production specifically. In short, the Prince is struggling with his false and exposed life where he cannot get love and understanding neither from his mother nor girlfriend, and then he sees (dreams of?) a flock of swans…

He falls in love with their leader, who is a reincarnation of everything the Prince actually wants to be: strong and free…

One of the things that struck me was that the swans in the show moved and behaved pretty much like swans in reality. I tell you as a zoologist 😉 , and I’ve seen plenty of them at the Wannsee lake in Berlin.)

The swans in this performance were not only gracious creatures, typically portrayed in Tchaikovky’s ballet, but also vigorous and sometimes fierce.

naturist & swan 0001 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

They may come to you

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

and bow gently.

naturist & swan 0002 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

(oops! this one even slightly overdid it, putting his head underwater.) But they may also hiss and move menacingly if you come too close

naturist & swan 0005 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

or simply leave all of a sudden…

And don’t even try to catch them:

naturist & swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

you are lucky if they decide to escape, otherwise they can actually hit you!

But if you are even luckier, perhaps you’ll be able to find your way to a swan… A possible interpretation of Bourne’s Swan Lake is a desire to be one with nature, whose symbol in the story is a swan. Maybe Matthew Bourn should have staged some of the scenes in the nude, that would certainly make the connection even more powerful and dancers’ moves even more beautiful…

naturist & swan 0004 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

Anyways, this is how the Prince found his ultimate freedom…

Nu York, Nu York! (now you can see it!)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Well, I clearly underestimated New York’s naturist capacity! It’s pretty clear that it won’t beat Berlin (unless legislation changes), but still, thanks to my new nudie friend Christian, I’ve found another unofficial nudist spot, and he will show me even more, but probably I’ll have to wait for the next season… But I didn’t suspect that during this autumn I would find two beaches and even fulfill my fantasy of taking a nude pic with Manhattan skyline on the background!

So on the same shore where I visited a gay and partially nudist beach of Jacob Riis park (on the right photo above, you can see those towers of Jacob Riis Park), there is quite a long stretch of sandy beach to the South, which is surrounded by forested dunes in the area of Fort Tilden, an abandoned military fort. According to Christian, this beach gets crowded only on weekends during hot season, otherwise it’s rather empty and you can find quite a few people enjoying its quietness without any clothes.

But besides having a nice long beach, this area is also good for a stroll through a forest and visiting some abandoned bunkers. It may get quite spooky, actually! But one of the bunkers has a observation platform on top. Since the place is not frequented by too many visitors, we felt quite comfortable to disrobe and take some shots. But we had to be quite careful listening if any other visitor were getting closer. In any case, for at about an hour, there was no one around, and we totally enjoyed the view of Manhattan skyline

and surrounding forest up to the beach.

Although the city appears very far on the photos,

I actually felt like I could just fly there.

No, in the end we had to travel back by bikes and subway, and in the late afternoon it got really chilly too (it’s the end of October after all).

But it was a great and unique experience. For the lack of a better phrase, I felt as if New York was at my feet 😀

Nu York, Nu York! (Jacob Riis Park beach)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
As I mentioned previously, I was looking for a job and went for an interview in New York in May. Now, I am finally in the Big Apple and have been settling in quite good so far. At last, I feel I have some spare time to fulfill my promise to update my blog with the new stuff from this summer! First, however, I have an autumn surprise. I was worried there wouldn’t be a possibility to hang out naked outdoors within reasonable distance from NYC… Luckily, a good friend of mine told me about an ‘insider’ nudie spot within New York City Transit area; a picturesque beach where nudity is practiced too!
naturist 0000 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
I must add immediately, that the majority of people there are not totally naked , and many say one should be careful with police raids, but others convince me there is no problem with that. So, mostly, this beach attracts gay men, many of whom wear rather amusing (to my taste) kinds of swimming trunks – I have not seen such a diversity of swimwear anywhere else (probably not the best comment to a nudist beach). Nevertheless, it is probably as nude as it gets within New York City boundaries. Most of the people seem to be regular visitors who know each other, so it was difficult for a newcomer like me to stay unnoticed. Even though sometimes I felt like I got too much of unwanted attention, it was good to get to know locals. They are very friendly, and it is common to share food and drinks (or sun lotion) with your neighbors there. And ethnical diversity reflects the multicultural scene of Brooklyn and the whole New York City.
naturist 0001 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
It is Jacob Riis Park, a part of seemingly endless sandy beach line, but the gay and nudist-friendly part is at the border with the private sector section and with a former nursery home at the background.
naturist 0004 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
The ocean may be very rough at high tide but is usually calmer at low tide. I wouldn’t advice to swim too far if you are alone. Luckily, I’ve found a company of a good swimmer Hassan, who was also nicknamed as a mayor of the beach. naturist 0002 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
Be careful with a strong current at high tide, as it may bring you quickly westwards: it is difficult to swim back then, and there are remains of wooden pierce which may become a real threat if you get hit by a strong waive. Nevertheless, if you are careful enough and have a companion, it can be a great fun to swim under such high waves.
One day, there were also a lot of jelly fish, but it is not a problem for tough men 😉
naturist 0003 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
(well, the jelly-fish were all dead and did not sting, hehe)
So, I am happy to tell you yes, there is a place for naked beach time and swimming in New York City! And the weather was good enough even in mid-October, which is another good surprise after Berlin. (Though my first summer in Berlin, in 2006, was also amazing in terms of the weather: if you look at my post about Berlin and nearby areas, there are photos from Warnemünde at the Baltic Sea made in October! But I heard here in NYC it’s a norm unlike in Berlin.)
PS Did you notice what I was drinking on the photo above? The famous “Naked” smoothies 😉
Perhaps another candidate to sponsor this blog besides japanese “Kirin Nuda”
naturist 0005 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA