Miss Manhattan Hangs Out with Chris Bittar
In this house, we do not question the moon landing.
When I ask Chris Bittar to do a Miss Manhattan Hangs Out, deep in the back of my mind I wonder if he’ll choose the American Museum of Natural History. He does, and adds that he wants to get a hot dog afterward.
Chris loves space. We came here on an early date, nearly four years ago (!) and have returned many times since, ambling past its exhibits, winding our way up its stairs. Today, Chris directs us toward a semi-secret gate on Central Park West to enter the museum campus. It’s the same entrance he used when he snuck into the Spider-Man 2 set in high school.
A lifelong film lover, he’d take the train in from New Jersey whenever he’d learn about a movie filming in the city and try to get onto set–he made it a few times, too. I think of Chris in many lights–filmmaker, musician, astronaut, graphic designer, cat dad, Lebanese Jewish Italian hottie from Brooklyn via New Jersey. I love seeing all of his facets. It’s like looking at a diamond sparkling under a lamp, the way it sends color flying in every direction. But he sparkles as a person; it’s one of many characteristics that drew me to him. As my friend Stephen says, Chris is decidedly “not a muggle.”
Inside the planetarium entrance, there’s no line in sight. Chris bops around the ground floor of the space section, pressing buttons; weighing himself on different planets with the scales provided; watching footage from the Artemis mission and chuckling when one of the astronauts says “Amaze amaze amaze!” like Rocky in Project Hail Mary, which he recently watched a second time. I love watching him enjoy it, listening to him share space facts even though I can’t recall any of them, hearing stories about how he’d learn about the planets as a boy. A light in his eyes twinkles and his cheeks spread into a smile.
I also love asking him if the images from the moon landing are from the film Stanley Kubrick directed. He narrows his eyes at me. In this house, we do not question whether or not the moon landing was real.
Our next stop is the gift shop, where we ogle bits of meteorite, NASA jackets, DNA encased in glass, and lots and lots of dinosaurs. Chris hunts for a meteorite necklace, which we find at the tip top of the gift shop. He tries it on. That same smile spreads ear to ear as he purchases himself a treat and it continues after we leave. No matter why I’m seeing it, it always makes me smile, too. The new meteorite hangs from his neck.
We’re off to find a hot dog, and carts are numerous outside the museum. Chris once told me hot dogs were one of his favorite foods and, perhaps the way some people feel about pizza, he’s hard pressed to find a bad one. In front of the Nathan’s cart he chomps down. That’s a happy boy.
