So I'm here in NYC-what should I do?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I am here…I scored the coolest place to stay, a fantastic little ancient NY apartment in Tribeca, quintessential New York, could not be more perfect. The street is industrial, the windows open onto the rooftops (I can see Don Corleone dropping gun pieces down pipes as he hops from roof to roof), the rooms are teeny, teh plumbing is exposed and the woord floors are patched pine. I would buy this in a heartbeat and NOT renovate it! The room I’m actually sleeping in is so tiny that my luggage does not actually fit in it!

I love the whole minimalist mentality required for this kind of living. You MUST be neat, you MUST confine yourself to only those things which you truly care about…no room for extra crap. Considering that I manage to fill up 1700 square feet at home, plus a 400 square foot garage, I can’t even imagine how I would pull this off. But my little space is bitchen and sweet.

Not so great about the whole walk 7 blocks to buy a bag of groceries then walk back thing, but hey, for a visit it’s no big. And it explains two seemingly contradictory things: the paucity of fat New Yorkers and the surfeit of restaurants.

So, anything in particular I should make sure to check out? And where is the truly spectacular pizza? I’ve had one slice so far and the sauce and cheese was pretty pedestrian, but the crust was indeed remarkable…that perfect crispitude on the bottom was astonishing…never had such a thing in LA, ever.

I’m here til Friday afternoon, so I don’t have that much time. I’m mostly into things that I can just walk around and see, as opposed to plays or shows. I just want to soak up the New Yorkness of it all. Although it’s greedy of me to ask for more than I got last night at the Halloween parade! Perfection! I got some wonderful video, at least I hope I did, i haven’t seen it yet. And how many people participate in that thing? When I arrived at it, it had already been going on for 2 hours! Seriously! What’s the story with that?
Oh, and back on the topic of food: the foods that I most wish to experience here because New York is reputed to have the best: the pizza thing, fantastic deli (specifically a good tender corned beef on chewy rye), and truly delicious Chinese. Sarah Jessica Parker also mentioned Primeburger as being one of her favorites… is it really good?

And is anyone living or working near Union Square? Going to be around this evening? Drop me a line and I’ll direct you to an interesting event you might like. (keyword: porn stars)

One last observation: evidently in New York traffic lights are not actually legal directives, more like government sponsored suggestions.

2

Check out The Strand bookstore at 12th & Broadway. If you’re into sci fi/comics, Forbidden Planet is one block up.

3

For Pizza, I would recommend Grimaldi’s under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Heights (either walk over the bridge or take the A/C train to High Street) or John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street in the Village (A/B/C/D/E/F/V to West 4th Street or 1 to Christopher Street). Both are thin-crust whole pie only places, so bring a friend.

For Deli, I would try the Second Avenue Deli, Second Avenue (duh) and 10th Street in the East Village (6 to Astor Place or R/W to 8th Street). This is not far from Strand and Forbidden Planet, which are just below Union Square.

For Chinese, my favorites are Ping’s and Sweet-n-Tart, both on lower Mott Street just above Chatham Square in Chinatown. They’re not far from Tribeca, and it’s probably best to use the maps from the link to find them, because they’re a bit hard to get to from the subway.

Good luck, and enjoy the City.

4

Another deli option is Katz’s Deli, corner of Houston St. and 1st Ave. Its cool and old-timey in an odd, somewhat rundown way. It is famous for being the location of the famed “Orgasm scene” in “When Harry Met Sally.” They send their salamis to US Presidents as gifts-- they have quite the collection of White House Thank You notes.

On the same block as Katz’s are two other important New York Food landmarks:

  1. Yonah Shimmel Knishes. You think you’ve had a knish. You’re wrong. You have eaten no knish until you have eaten one at Yonah Shimmel, a tiny, dumpy, hole-in-the-wall on Houston St… According to my grandma, Jewish immigrants talked about how good the knishes were at Yonah Shimmel while they were still in Poland. (For the record, I like hot dog stand knishes too. But they are a different animal.)
  2. Russ & Daughters. One of the city’s greatest emporiums of smoked fish, caviar, herring… all things good, in other words. If you’re feeling flush, a few slices of lox and smoked sturgeon make a pleasing appetizer to any meal. On a budget, grab a tub of whitefish salad or smoked salmon salad and some cream cheese. Spread both liberally on a bagel and enjoy.

Also, around the corner from either the 2nd Ave Deli or Katz’s you’ll find Veneiro’s Italian Bakery and Cafe. It’s between 1st & 2nd Ave, on 11th street I believe. Screw Little Italy, this is the place to find the best canolis and other divine italian pastries and cookies.

5

Do take in a few Museums and Central park. I would recommend the Empire State Bldg as the obligatory tourist thing. It is the Heart of NYC in a way.
For unlimited great food, I really like the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. Old fashioned neighborhood. Can’t walk more than a ½ block on 3rd Ave in Bay Ridge without finding a good place to eat or a great Bakery.

This is a great Subway map online: http://www.onnyturf.com/subwaymap.php
If you want to go to Bay Ridge take the R to 77th. That puts you on 4th. Walk West 1 block to get to Third.

If you have time the Bronx Zoo is even better then the San Diego Zoo and a lot cheaper.
The Museum of Natural History is my favorite. (Kids call it the Dinosaur Museum).
Call Yankee Stadium and see if they are running any tours this week. If you’re a baseball fan this is great.
Easy to get to by Subway. 161st St-Yankee Stadium by the 4, B or D trains.
Hidden Secret of NYC. Go visit the Cloisters.
http://www.metmuseum.org/events/ev_cloisters.asp take A train to 190th Street, exit station by elevator, and walk north along Margaret Corbin Drive for approximately ten minutes; to avoid walking, transfer to M4 bus and ride one stop north.