A Week in New York City
Jul 6th, 2015, 08:41 PM
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A Week in New York City
My husband and I just spent a full week in NY City. Though I grew up in the area, and lived there in the 80s, (and my husband had lived there in the 70s) it had been several years since we had visited so we approached it like tourists, with packed days discovering new neighborhoods, restaurants and museums. We relied primarily on the subway and buses to get around, using the MTA website to help figure out the connections (www.mta.info). You can also save money by purchasing a 7-day unlimited pass for $31. This is good for subway to bus transfers. Both usually cost $2.75. We stayed at an apartment on West 66th street by Lincoln Center. This is a great location, right on the # 1 subway line. Here's a summary of nearly everything we did:
Day 1: On our first day, we walked around the upper west side to visit our old neighborhood and lunched at an outdoor table at Isabella's. Good food and great people watching. The upper west side, up columbus and down broadway and amsterdam ave. is still a gem of a neighborhood. And I love the bike lane, which is separated from the traffic by parked cars. Later, we had dinner at Marseille, a french bistro at 630 9th Ave (Hell's Kitchen) before going to the theatre to see the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Fabulous, so creative. Afterwards, we walked a block to times square, which is now a pedestrian plaza with lots of street entertainment under the bright lights.
Day 2: We met friends at the new Whitney Museum on Gansvoort Street, in the meat-packing district. It was easy to get to - took the # 1 to 14th street and then we took a cab to the museum from there (we could have walked, but we were behind schedule). We had lunch at an outdoor table at the Standard Grill (the hotel next door to the museum), then walked the High Line. This is a must-do when you're in NYCity. It's phenomenal how this neighborhood has been transformed by this outdoor pedestrian path/garden. Later, we walked around Chelsea, going inside the Chelsea Market - an incredible food bazaar, and having dinner at Spice Market at 403 West 13th street.
Day 3:
We signed up for a bike tour of Central Park through Centralparksighseeing.com. We met at their storefront on 56th street at 8:30am for a two hour guided ride, which cost $45 per person (plus gratuity for the guide). It was a great experience and a nice thing to do if the weather is nice. Afterwards, we made it over to the east side to meet friends for lunch on upper madison ave at Le Pain Quotidien. This is a belgian chain of restaurants that are all over the city (in Paris and Washington, D.C. too). I love the simple, delicious food here and it's priced right. I always enjoy sitting at the big communal table, even when I'm there with friends. After lunch, we headed over the Neue Gallery at 86th street @ Fifth Ave. This small museum contains the private collection of Ronald Lauder and it features German and Russian expressionist art including the famous Klimt painting of Adele Bloch, which was the focus of the film, "Woman in Gold," starring Helen Mirren. It's magnificent to see.
After this museum, we dashed back to the Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd street. We hadn't visited it since it reopened after a renovation a few years ago. It is free on Fridays between 4p and 8p and it was mobbed. It was challenging to put up with the crowds. We didn't have a wait to get in, but I noticed that if you are carrying a backpack, you're required to check it and that could take at least a half hour in line. Exhausted from the day and the museum crowds, we enjoyed a few minutes in the beautiful outdoor sculpture garden, then walked over to 9th avenue and ate at La Poulette, a small take-out place that sells roasted chickens and lots of sides. We ate at one of their few tables there and then took a subway back to the apartment.
Day 4
This was our day to check out Brooklyn. Everyone I know in NYC who is under 40 lives somewhere in Brooklyn so I had to see what it was all about. We took the subway over to Williamsburg and it was teaming with Millenials. We had a nice brunch at Station, a small restaurant just by the subway station then walked around the neighborhood heading towards the water. We passed an indoor flea market where jewelry, clothes and lots of other stuff was being sold, then we stumbled upon the weekly Smorgasburg, a food flea market. Too bad we had already had lunch. There was so much good food and beverages there. It was a rainy day, but there was still a big crowd. It takes place every Saturday and Sunday 11a-6pm. Visit the website to learn more about it.
After taking the subway back to Manhattan, we had a snack at Le Pain Quotidien downtown, shopped at some furniture stores including the famous ABC Home & Carpet and had dinner back on the upper West Side at 5 Napkin Burger where we each had a delicious Beet Burger.
Day 5
We had a lazy morning then lunch on the upper West Side at the famous Barney Greengrass (the Sturgeon King). Then we headed over to the Metropolitan Museum - and saw some wonderful exhibits. The good thing about the Met is because it is so big, and there's so much to see, you never feel that you're fighting crowds (unless it's a blockbuster exhibit). It was a delight to be there, even on a rainy sunday when you'd expect big crowds. After, we walked down Madison ave, window-shopping and had a snack at EAT. We then took the crosstown bus over to Broadway and picked up take-out food at Citarella to eat at the apartment after a 6:15pm movie at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. There are two other great food markets there where you can pick up food and groceries - Fairway and the famous Zabars.
Day 6
We joined friends for lunch at Cafe Luxembourg (20 West 70th street), then made our way back to upper Fifth Ave to visit the Jewish museum. Later, we met other friends for dinner at KEFI, a greek restaurant on Columbus Ave. Food was very good and we enjoyed our table in the front of the restaurant. It felt kind of hot and noisy towards the back. After dinner, we had desert at a cafe on Columbus, but passed a great looking cafe that looked like it should be in Paris or Vienna. It's called Cafe Lalo on West 83rd near Amsterdam. They are open from 8a to 4a.
Day 7
On our last full day in New York, we went to the Lower East Side and had lunch at Russ and Daughters Cafe. This is owned by the 4th generation of this family-owned business and it's original deli, the subject of a documentary that I saw last year, is located just down the street. If you want good, authentic deli food, go here, not Katz's on Houston St. which is an absolute zoo. We had a reservation for a one hour guided tour at the Lower East Side Tenement museum, which tells the story of the immigrants (jewish, irish, italian) that settled here right off the boat at Ellis Island. We walked around the neighborhood and marveled at how it has been transformed with new, small hotels going up and lots of boutiques and cafes. We headed back to the apartment near Lincoln Center in time to grab some take out food at Blossom Du Jour (another beet burger), an excellent take-out place (with a full restaurant on columbus Ave) and then make it to a 7pm performance of the King and I at Lincoln Center theatre. A real treat.
If we had had another few days, I would have added a trip to Ellis Island and the Ground Zero Memorial Museum downtown; a meal at the Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem; and a visit to the Cloisters in the Bronx. But we ran our of time and will have to wait until our next trip to NYC which I hope will be soon.
Day 1: On our first day, we walked around the upper west side to visit our old neighborhood and lunched at an outdoor table at Isabella's. Good food and great people watching. The upper west side, up columbus and down broadway and amsterdam ave. is still a gem of a neighborhood. And I love the bike lane, which is separated from the traffic by parked cars. Later, we had dinner at Marseille, a french bistro at 630 9th Ave (Hell's Kitchen) before going to the theatre to see the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Fabulous, so creative. Afterwards, we walked a block to times square, which is now a pedestrian plaza with lots of street entertainment under the bright lights.
Day 2: We met friends at the new Whitney Museum on Gansvoort Street, in the meat-packing district. It was easy to get to - took the # 1 to 14th street and then we took a cab to the museum from there (we could have walked, but we were behind schedule). We had lunch at an outdoor table at the Standard Grill (the hotel next door to the museum), then walked the High Line. This is a must-do when you're in NYCity. It's phenomenal how this neighborhood has been transformed by this outdoor pedestrian path/garden. Later, we walked around Chelsea, going inside the Chelsea Market - an incredible food bazaar, and having dinner at Spice Market at 403 West 13th street.
Day 3:
We signed up for a bike tour of Central Park through Centralparksighseeing.com. We met at their storefront on 56th street at 8:30am for a two hour guided ride, which cost $45 per person (plus gratuity for the guide). It was a great experience and a nice thing to do if the weather is nice. Afterwards, we made it over to the east side to meet friends for lunch on upper madison ave at Le Pain Quotidien. This is a belgian chain of restaurants that are all over the city (in Paris and Washington, D.C. too). I love the simple, delicious food here and it's priced right. I always enjoy sitting at the big communal table, even when I'm there with friends. After lunch, we headed over the Neue Gallery at 86th street @ Fifth Ave. This small museum contains the private collection of Ronald Lauder and it features German and Russian expressionist art including the famous Klimt painting of Adele Bloch, which was the focus of the film, "Woman in Gold," starring Helen Mirren. It's magnificent to see.
After this museum, we dashed back to the Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd street. We hadn't visited it since it reopened after a renovation a few years ago. It is free on Fridays between 4p and 8p and it was mobbed. It was challenging to put up with the crowds. We didn't have a wait to get in, but I noticed that if you are carrying a backpack, you're required to check it and that could take at least a half hour in line. Exhausted from the day and the museum crowds, we enjoyed a few minutes in the beautiful outdoor sculpture garden, then walked over to 9th avenue and ate at La Poulette, a small take-out place that sells roasted chickens and lots of sides. We ate at one of their few tables there and then took a subway back to the apartment.
Day 4
This was our day to check out Brooklyn. Everyone I know in NYC who is under 40 lives somewhere in Brooklyn so I had to see what it was all about. We took the subway over to Williamsburg and it was teaming with Millenials. We had a nice brunch at Station, a small restaurant just by the subway station then walked around the neighborhood heading towards the water. We passed an indoor flea market where jewelry, clothes and lots of other stuff was being sold, then we stumbled upon the weekly Smorgasburg, a food flea market. Too bad we had already had lunch. There was so much good food and beverages there. It was a rainy day, but there was still a big crowd. It takes place every Saturday and Sunday 11a-6pm. Visit the website to learn more about it.
After taking the subway back to Manhattan, we had a snack at Le Pain Quotidien downtown, shopped at some furniture stores including the famous ABC Home & Carpet and had dinner back on the upper West Side at 5 Napkin Burger where we each had a delicious Beet Burger.
Day 5
We had a lazy morning then lunch on the upper West Side at the famous Barney Greengrass (the Sturgeon King). Then we headed over to the Metropolitan Museum - and saw some wonderful exhibits. The good thing about the Met is because it is so big, and there's so much to see, you never feel that you're fighting crowds (unless it's a blockbuster exhibit). It was a delight to be there, even on a rainy sunday when you'd expect big crowds. After, we walked down Madison ave, window-shopping and had a snack at EAT. We then took the crosstown bus over to Broadway and picked up take-out food at Citarella to eat at the apartment after a 6:15pm movie at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. There are two other great food markets there where you can pick up food and groceries - Fairway and the famous Zabars.
Day 6
We joined friends for lunch at Cafe Luxembourg (20 West 70th street), then made our way back to upper Fifth Ave to visit the Jewish museum. Later, we met other friends for dinner at KEFI, a greek restaurant on Columbus Ave. Food was very good and we enjoyed our table in the front of the restaurant. It felt kind of hot and noisy towards the back. After dinner, we had desert at a cafe on Columbus, but passed a great looking cafe that looked like it should be in Paris or Vienna. It's called Cafe Lalo on West 83rd near Amsterdam. They are open from 8a to 4a.
Day 7
On our last full day in New York, we went to the Lower East Side and had lunch at Russ and Daughters Cafe. This is owned by the 4th generation of this family-owned business and it's original deli, the subject of a documentary that I saw last year, is located just down the street. If you want good, authentic deli food, go here, not Katz's on Houston St. which is an absolute zoo. We had a reservation for a one hour guided tour at the Lower East Side Tenement museum, which tells the story of the immigrants (jewish, irish, italian) that settled here right off the boat at Ellis Island. We walked around the neighborhood and marveled at how it has been transformed with new, small hotels going up and lots of boutiques and cafes. We headed back to the apartment near Lincoln Center in time to grab some take out food at Blossom Du Jour (another beet burger), an excellent take-out place (with a full restaurant on columbus Ave) and then make it to a 7pm performance of the King and I at Lincoln Center theatre. A real treat.
If we had had another few days, I would have added a trip to Ellis Island and the Ground Zero Memorial Museum downtown; a meal at the Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem; and a visit to the Cloisters in the Bronx. But we ran our of time and will have to wait until our next trip to NYC which I hope will be soon.
Jul 8th, 2015, 10:38 PM
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There's so much to do, we could easily have enjoyed another week. NYC residents have also become nicer than when I lived there. They used to be so surly. It's just a nicer place to live than it was in the 70s and 80s.
Jul 10th, 2015, 10:47 AM
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For what it's worth, being a zoo doesn't keep me away from Katz's. It's been a zoo forever, one of the busiest restaurants in Manhattan for generations. Even when it's packed you can move through the lines pretty quickly and that truly is part of its charm. It feels like New York in there.
I'm a native NYer and get to Katz's once a year or so and enjoy fond memories of being there with my brother and father navigating the counters as a kid.
At 46, I have no business eating giant pastrami sandwiches anymore but I'm glad this business is still thriving. So little of that still exists.
I'm a native NYer and get to Katz's once a year or so and enjoy fond memories of being there with my brother and father navigating the counters as a kid.
At 46, I have no business eating giant pastrami sandwiches anymore but I'm glad this business is still thriving. So little of that still exists.
Jul 11th, 2015, 09:13 PM
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Ciaony- My husband says the same thing about Katz's - it's worth the experience.
SF707- Thanks for leaving a comment. I've previously noticed our common travel interests and favorite places and we also live in the Bay area. Where are you headed to next??
SF707- Thanks for leaving a comment. I've previously noticed our common travel interests and favorite places and we also live in the Bay area. Where are you headed to next??
Jul 12th, 2015, 09:06 AM
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stricky, we have no current plans for any "exotic" travel this year. Next trip happens to be NY, and we're also going to Hawaii and then Florida (including Key West, where we have never been, so maybe that could be considered "exotic"). After that, the great unknown, although we're considering either New Zealand or Patagonia.
Jul 24th, 2015, 04:03 PM
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POMAH - I guess you're referring to the poster's comment "Everyone I know in NYC who is under 40 lives somewhere in Brooklyn so I had to see what it was all about. We took the subway over to Williamsburg." Yup, that's all there is to see in Brooklyn, a part of NYC that is twice the sized of Paris and has 3 million people! Just Williamsburg. Crummy though it still is.
Aug 1st, 2015, 11:54 AM
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3m people? huh? Where? All of Brooklyn has just 2.6m.
I sure would like to know where you got your info from.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36047.html
I sure would like to know where you got your info from.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36047.html
Aug 1st, 2015, 01:17 PM
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As far as I can tell, the OP did not mean to imply that she visited, saw or experienced all of Brooklyn. She just payed a visit to Williamsburg.
I thought we were mean on the Europe board; you guys give us a run for our money.
stricky, thanks for the report.
I thought we were mean on the Europe board; you guys give us a run for our money.
stricky, thanks for the report.
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