Sure! I would.
I’m planning to do the dim sum lunch, but between then and our get-together at America I’d love to see some of the town. I’ve never been to NYC.
And hey. . .Fifth Avenue? For you, I’ll wear my high hat and Arrow collar. Maybe even some white spats.
I don’t know about the “lots of dollars” but I know I will be spending every dime for a wonderful time. ;^)
As I mentioned before, Acrylic Vessel and I will arrive in the city Thursday and meet LindyHopper at the Wolcott. We will then proceed to Kum Gang San.
We intend to partake in everything right up to the Bagel Brunch, and will leave the city afterwards.
Well done, Bill, though it looks like your apartment isn’t going to be all that comfortable this year. 
So, the little side jaunt Geobabe and I were planning for the Museum of Natural History has picked up some steam! psycat90, (and demo, I presume), Kyla, Banger, anyone else? Lise and I will be going for a not-too-early breakfast at a diner on W. 72nd Saturday morning, maybe 10:30-11:00-ish. Shall we meet in the lobby of the Hotel Olcott at 27 West 72nd at noon? We could walk the five short blocks to the museum.
Thanks, UncleBill for having volunteered yourself and GeoBabe to lead the Museum of Natural History trip.
(I was actually going to e-mail Geo and ask her if she wanted to help out on the trip and discuss rocks. I may also e-mail some other Natural Historians who may be coming and see if they want to discuss their area of expertise.)
I suppose I’ll join you for Saturday brunch, along with the folks staying at the House O’ Billdo. Perhaps we can meet at the Olcott lobby at 10:30 for those going to Brunch and at 12:00 for those interested in only the museum.
As promised, I’ll be there. Whenever Mne gets there. And whenever Laur gets there too.
Woo!
GAH!
I forgot to log lno out!
FEH!
Well, he’ll be there too.
E.
OMG, Green Bean, you married my mother! :eek:
I’ll be showing up for Saturday dinner, and quite possibly Friday drunkenness.
I will definitely be at America on Saturday. I’m a maybe for Bleeker Street and a no for everything else.
I will NOT have access to email so if anything changes I’m SOL. See y’all there!
Put Jersey and me down as “probably not, but would really like to” for the Saturday daytime stuff, and “definitely, barring unforeseen weirdness” for friday & saturday night.
Is the official headgear of the dopefest still the fedora? If so, I have an extra from my hat collection available for anyone who wears a size 7 1/4 (if your head measures 22 1/2 inches in circumference, you’re in). It needs to be blocked, which I may or may not do before the fest, but it looks fine anyway. And it’ll make you look right natty! Like Harley Earl! 
I’d like to be there for both the Dim Sum and the dinner on Saturday, with either a trip to the museum or a swing through the rumoured used book stores in between (anybody know any good used book stores? anybody else interested in going to a good used book store?). I’m not likely to be doing the bar scene since I’m horribly allergic to tobacco smoke.
The only problem is . . . well, I’ve been to NYC exactly once on my own and got thoroughly lost.
My current plan is to take NJTransit into Penn Station, but uhmmmm . . . could someone meet me there? Better yet (and MUCH more importantly) could someone make sure I get on the right train to go home? Please?
Yours in cowardice,
Morgyn
Morgyn, I’d love to find a good used book store. And a good vintage clothing store. And I’ll need someone to find me at Grand Central when I arrive via the Metro North. Count on me arriving around 11.
I usually go to the sidewalk vendors on the south side of Washington Square Park for used books. I have picked up a lot of good used paperback novels there. It’s on one of the NYU campuses, so you’ll find a lot of “classic literature” (including novels, plays and poetry) as well as pretty good non-fiction, especially books concerning politics and philosophy.
The Strand bookstore also has a large selection of books, but it is total chaos there, and I have trouble finding things among the stacks.
There are a couple other decent used bookstores in that area, although one of them I stopped visiting after an incident with a Mark Twain novel :mad:
St. Mark’s Place is good for used CDs, as is Generation Records on Thompson Street. Generation is especially good if you like punk rock or other types of alternative music. I used to visit Generation so often that the manager once offered me a job
However, these places are well south of the Museum of Natural History.
racinchikki, I’d be happy to meet you at Grand Central if you’re arriving on Saturday. My email’s in my profile if you want to work out the details.
Well, according to pseudotriton ruber ruber in the original MegaDopefest thread, the America restaurant is “only a block away from some of the best used book/cd stores in the city.”
pseudotriton, can you supply names and locations?
Is anybody else interested in a Dim Sum–Used Books–America program track?
Schedule confirmations have been rolling in. We are sticking with the final (as of now) schedule for the MegaDopefest, except we’re filling in some details of the Saturday daytime activities.
For all those planning to attend (or who are listed as attending but will not), please post in this thread confirming that you will be there (or won’t or are still not sure). Also, please mention whether you plan to come to the Thursday Korean Dinner and/or the Billdo Bagel Brunch so that we may make reservations and send directions.
Also, in order to keep this thread to a manageable length, we would appreciate it if you could keep posts in this thread to comments and questions about the Dopefest, the attendees, and arrangements. Also, we will be posting additional details about events, parking, transportation lodging and other items of interest. If you want to start a pre-Dopefest flirting or woo-hoo I’m going to New York thread, for pre-Dopefest chatter, feel free.
Thursday, January 2: The Pre-Dopefest Korean Dinner
For those in the City a bit early, we will be having dinner at Kum Gang San, 49 West 32nd Street., just east of Sixth Ave. at 7:00 p.m. 1/2/3/9, to 34th St/Penn Sta, B/D/F/V or N/R/Q/W to 34th St Herald Square.
Please post if you plan to attend so we can make reservations.
Friday, January 3: The Welcome to Dopefest Gathering
After an extensive search, we have identified a Friday Night base of operations. From 7:00 p.m. until at least 11ish, we will have New York dopers there to greet all visitors at The Bleecker Street Bar, 58 Bleecker Street, between Broadway & Lafayette Street. 4/5/6 to Bleecker Street, F/V to Broadway/Lafayette, N/R to Prince St. The Bleecker Street Bar is handicapped accessible, with a no-step entrance in the back. Dopers under 21 planning to attend, please e-mail me. We should have a sign saying “Friends of Cecil A.” or something to that effect.
Around the Bleecker Street Bar are tons of places to eat and other forms of entertainment. We may be sponsoring a group to go dancing later in the evening. Details to follow.
Saturday, January 4: Daytime Cultural Events
During the day on Saturday, January 4, we will be sponsoring three cultural events for dopers:
[ul][li]Dim Sum Lunch in Chinatown and an Art of the New York City Subways tour.[/li][li]The American Museum of Natural History. UncleBill and GeoBabe will be coordinating this event. Meet at the lobby of the Hotel Olcott, 27 West 72nd Street at Noon. We’ll be going out to brunch beforehand, meeting at the hotel at 10:30.[/li][li]The Children’s Museum of Manhattan[/li][/ul]
Saturday, January 4: The MegaDopefest Dinner
The MegaDopefest Dinner will return to America Restaurant on Saturday, January 4, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
America, 9 East 18th Street
New York, NY 10003, (212) 505-2110. 18th Street between Broadway and Fifth. 4/5/6, N/R/Q/W or L trains to 14th Street/Union Square.
[Official link with menus](http://www.arkrestaurants.com/section_home.cfm?section_id=1&location_id=1&restauran t_id=1)
Reservation for “Cecil Adams” party. According to the restaurant, it is handicapped accessible.
Following the Dinner, we will adjourn around the corner to the No Idea Bar. 30 East 20th Street between Park and Broadway, Official Link, where we have the back room reserved. No Idea is handicapped accessible. Dopers under 21 planning to attend, please e-mail me.
Sunday, January 5: Billdo’s Bagel Brunch
On Sunday, January 5, from 11:00 to 2:00, we will see how many people we can stuff into a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at Billdo’s Bagel Brunch. There will be bagels with all the trimmings and plentiful coffee and juice. My apartment is hung-over accessible (and we can get a ramp for the few steps in the lobby, if necessary). If you’re planning to attend, please post here so I may send you directions and have sufficient food. (If your e-mail isn’t listed, please e-mail me.)
Travel Arrangements:
For those flying in, we recommend you use LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark airports. Airport information, including ground and public transportation options, is available here.
Intercity rail service is available through Amtrak to New York’s Penn Station. Commuter rail service is available through Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and New Jersey Transit. Bus service is available to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
People have mentioned they’re staying at the Hotel Olcott, 27 West 72nd Street, (212) 877-4200; Hotel Wolcott, 4 West 31st Street, (212) 268-2900; and Red Roof Inn Manhattan, 6 West 32nd Street, (212) 643-7100.
Once in the City, you can get around by New York City Transit buses and subways.
Folks, please remember that is New York City, with big city prices here. If you come into the City with just a few bucks in your wallet, it won’t stretch far, much less through a whole weekend. Also, we have an 8-1/4% sales tax and tipping is an important additional cost on the price of food and drinks here. America will include a 18% gratuity on the bill, and that’s about the standard percentage tip here. We’ve had problems with some that didn’t realize this before, and we don’t want to have similar problems this year.
Driving directions and parking information will be provided soon.
Current List of Expected Attendees:
Please post here to confirm whether you will be attending, will not be attending, or still aren’t sure. We have confirmations from those listed in italics, and a ‘k’ means we’re expecting you for the Thursday Korean dinner and a ‘b’ means we’re expecting you for the Sunday brunch.
Coming down the chimney (83 - 47 confirmed): Acrylic Vessel kb, Alphagene, Ace of Swords, andygirl b, Banger, beerchick, biggirl k, Billdo kb, Bluesman, bouv, Cajun Man, Canby, Ceejaytee (with Mr. Tee & BabyTee), Colibri, Cosmopolitan, Daerlyn, dalovindj, DAVEW0071 k, delphica, Demo b, Dewey Cheatem Undhow, DrMatrix, DynoSaur, Elenfair b, Eonwe b, Eutychus b, friedo, fizzestothetop b, *Geobabe * b, GingerOfTheNorth b, Gorgon Heap kb, Green Bean (and the Bean Sprout) kb, Hamadryad b, *iampunha * b, JerseyDiamond, Jessica2 b, Joe_Cool, JoeyHemlock, JohnBckWLD, Kyla, LaurAnge b, LindyHopper, lno b, LolaCocaCola, Lucretia, Maeglin, manhattan, MannyL b, matt_mcl, Morgyn, Morrison, Mnementh b, mrblue92, Nacho4Sara, Overengineer b, OxyMoron, *Persephone * kb, psuedotriton ruber ruber b, psycat90 b, Pucette, racinchikki, Rasa, ResIpsaLoquitor, Ringo b, RTFirefly b, scott evil b, SmackFu, slowhand53, Soda, SuaSponte b, Sue Duhnym, thinksnow, typo mna, TruePisces b, UncleBill b, Verrain b, vix kb, waterj2 b, Weirddave b, whatmove, Wisest Novel b, Wonko the Sane, Zappo b
Checking their list (20): BluesKids, CrazyCatLady, DoctorJ, Ell, imthjckaz, Jadis, JavaMaven1, JustPlainBryan, MandaJO (& Mr. JO), monstro, Morgyn, MsRobyn (& BabyDoors), Queen Of Hearts, pravnik, samclem, Scotticher, Sophie, Spider Woman, ultress, zette
Lump of Coal (17): Acrylic Gorgon Heapette, Airman Doors, Arden Ranger, Anahita, bristlesage, CasperQ, Eve, Francesca, Hastur, Honey, Miss Creant, Mr. Cynical, New & Improved Scott, Rebound Guy, Sakura, Skerri, Tripler
Special Thanks to the volunteers on the New York Dopefest Planning Committee: canby, Cosmopolitan, delphica, Green Bean, Geobabe, vix, manhattan, OxyMoron, UncleBill, Pucette, TruePisces, and everyone else that helped.
All the booksellers and stores I mentioned in my thread are inside of a 15 to 20-minute walk from America. Note that each is within a 15/20-minute walk: going from place to place would take a bit more time, as St. Mark’s is southeast of America, the Strand is south of America, Washington Square Park is south of the Strand, and Generation is south of Washington Square Park. Of the two bookstores that come to mind, one is just northwest of St. Mark’s Place, and the other is southeast of Generation (I don’t recall the stores’ names).
I wish, VERY much, that I was going to be able to join you all. However, it is not going to happen.
So, I send you my very best wishes for a wonderful occasion and …please give each other ““huggles”” from me, should you happen to remember to do so.
My Love,
Cheri
LaurAnge is coming, too. Everyone wants to see the coelacanth.