Mace is the only thing that comes to mind right away.
I am also looking for restaurant recommendations for:
(1) The best Vietnamese food (best means most authentic. In other words, there better not be any salt & pepper shakers on the table, and no forks & knives anywhere in site!).
(2) The best place to get a Reuben (a grilled sandwich, for those who didn’t know). Last time I was disappointed at the Carnegie Deli’s attempt at reuben making (cold kraut & too dry).
(3) The best Napoli-style pizza. The kind where the grease/oil has saturated the crust, making it necessary to carry a beach towel with you to the restaurant. Here in DC there used to be a place called Vesuvio Pizza that made the kind of pizza I’m looking for, in case anybody has heard of them.
(4) Anything else you think I shouldn’t miss while I’m there.
I’m going to be staying at a little B&B on west 14th Street (meat packing district, I think) in Chelsea.
Cash, backup cash, emergency cash, bail cash, and quarters for the laundromat.
All kidding aside, though, last time I was in Manhattan (the city, not the mod), it was a bitch to find a restaurant or store that’d take a card or a traveler’s check.
Katz’s is what I was thinking of too. And it’s a fairly pleasent walk (yes you need good walking shoes) down Broadway (or 5th if you want to go through Washington Square) from 14th. Quite a bit worth seeing in between.
I don’t know from Napoli. I think the best pizza is Two Boots, kind of the opposite. Thin, crispy, spicy. I dunno, people seem to like Famous Ray’s (here I am refering to the Famous Ray’s on the corner of St. Marks and 3rd). It’s pretty gloppy.
West 14th street? Then you don’t want to miss the transvestite prostitutes.
What else shouldn’t you miss? Ummm…the Met? Coney Island? CBGB’s? What do you like?
If you’re going to Katz’s, don’t miss Russ and Daughters down the street. A major Lox Citadel of the Western World.
As for accoutrements, this place has a selection of essential items for your trip. I especially recommend the Plasma Force Defender and the Spec Forces Night Vision Scope - perfect for those outings on the town.
Nah, Two Boots pizza is too damn weird. It’s good if you have a sudden craving for jalapeno-andouille (Two Boots is named after Italy and Louisiana, two boot-shaped geographies with distinctive and yummy cuisines), but not for your standard NY Neapolitan slice.
I’d recommend Ben’s, a dive on the SW corner of West 3rd and Macdougal, in the central Village. Or another storefront pizzeria coincidentally called Ben’s at the NE corner of Prince and Sullivan in SoHo.
The Famous Ray’s that actually made people get excited about Famous Ray’s back in the early 1980s is on the NW corner of 11th (or is it 10th? 12th? Somewhere around there) and Sixth Avenue, and it’s not bad.
For Vietnamese, go down to the corner of Canal and Mulberry and walk slowly south…there are a number of great Vietnamese joints on those blocks. I don’t remember precise names, but I’ve never been disappointed.
Lesson already learned last time (about three years ago)- I tried breaking in a new pair of sandals by hiking through Central Park for an entire day. The limp is almost unnoticeable now.
Oh sure. Now that you know where I’m staying, I bet you’d like me to be carrying a lot of cash huh?
What in hell do you think I’m going there for in the first place?
From the Russ & Daughtres link:
Great. Now I have to decide between the transvestite prostitutes and the caviar.
Are they really that small?
All suggestions have been noted & recorded on my list of thing to do!