Sketchbook: Library Bar At the Nomad Hotel (2018)

Eavesdrawing at my favourite time of year...

I don’t know if they were on a date or not, but it sure looked like one…

Around the fourth Thursday of November, a beautiful phenomenon occurs in New York City: Everyone vanishes.

The mass exodus completely empties the streets and sidewalks. It is the absolute best time of the year to live in Manhattan. Thanksgiving is the one truly non-denominational holiday we have. During Christmas, a large portion of the non-observing population ends up eating Chinese food and going to a movie. (Another of my fave holiday traditions tbh). Thanksgiving is entirely different. Absolutely everyone in America seems to celebrate it.

Ghost Town, America.

Being from Australia, I’m not exactly a Thanksgiving traditionalist. Instead of basting a massive turkey, I used to practice my own highly specific annual ritual: I would pack up Morris and book a room at the old NoMad Hotel for a couple of nights and ghost the world.

I always requested the specific room with the freestanding bathtub positioned in the actual bedroom, directly overlooking the Empire State Building. I would bring the massive stack of articles and books I’d been banking up for the previous year and get through my reading list, submerged in hot water and a stupid amount of bubbles.

It was completely glorious. Readers familiar with my predilection for working in bathtubs will know how ridiculously happy this makes me.

When my skin was eventually pruned like an octogenarian pearl miner, I would head downstairs to the library bar. I would sit in a leather lounge for hours with my sketchbook and just people-watch. (Or, as I call it: Eavesdrawing.)

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The patrons staying at the hotel were almost entirely people from out of town who were forced to visit their families for the holiday. Naturally, they were hiding in the bar to actively avoid said families. The pained expressions on their faces were absolutely fantastic to draw. I really miss doing it.

The Library Bar at the old Nomad Hotel

Nowadays, the historic Johnston Building has been converted into a members-only club and hotel called The Ned. I went to their sister (brother?) hotel in London a little while back, and it has the same new vibe as this one.. That vibe has shifted dramatically from the old one. (Not in a good way).

I sometimes MC comedy shows at the exclusive bar at the top. The audience is populated almost entirely by Russian oligarchs and their emaciated model girlfriends. They absolutely refuse to laugh at any jokes. I am fairly certain it is mostly because they are completely malnourished and terrified.

But I digress.

Anyway, above is my sketchbook. I hope you enjoy it.
Have a great week!

‘til next time!
Your pal,

PS. Look, if this actually did something for your brain (or at least distracted you from the creeping dread of your own inbox for six minutes), please consider restacking this and sharing it with your people. It’s the only way the word spreads.