'Swan' Start

Last week I saw my first ballet -- and how fortunate are we that it was performed by the legendary American Ballet Theatre, just a stone's throw from our apartment on the Upper West Side. 

It was also a reminder of how lucky New Yorkers are to have not only one of the world's great ballet companies performing every summer at Lincoln Center, but also the finest opera, orchestras and theater right in our own backyard.

I saw "Swan Lake" at the Metropolitan Opera House, where ABT presented the classic full-length production during its June and July season. Set to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's celebrated score, the ballet features lavish sets and costumes and includes some of the art form's most famous moments, including the Black Swan's dazzling 32 fouettés.

(Swoon.)

More photos including one of me in one of the four remaining phone booths in Manhattan BELOW.

SunMi Park and Thomas Forster

The four "Superman" booths left in Manhattan are all on the Upper West Side -- along West End Avenue -- and were preserved when New York replaced almost all public payphones with LinkNYC Wi-Fi kiosks. 

They are located near:

West End Avenue & 66th Street (mine)

West End Avenue & 90th Street

West End Avenue & 100th Street

West End Avenue & 101st Street

They were preserved for their historical and cultural significance -- even appearing in the 2002 film "Phone Booth."