So this is not a PR related
topic, but then again it could be! Visiting NYC … Here are some suggestions...
Notes:
Notes:
- Drinks are expensive in NYC, so expect around $12-15 per glass of wine in good restaurants. Bars offer happy hour from 5pm-9pm so get wasted before dinner :-)
- Get a weekly subway pass (unlimited rides for $31)
Show: Queen of the Night -
http://queenofthenightnyc.com/ f you can get in - it's well worth it! (ticket
price $170 including drinks & dinner i think)
Show: Fuerza Bruta - http://fuerzabrutanyc.com/
- Amazing (ticket price $100)
Exhibition: Body Worlds
(Discovery Time Square) – http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/prelude.html
Tick these touristy things off:
·
Go to “Top of the Rock”, the top of the
Rockefeller Center (better views than up the Empire State in my opinion ….. get
to see Central Park) – Price: $28 If I remember correctly
·
Walk through Central Park
·
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (maybe Subway
back OR via boat to Midtown) – Once in Brooklyn, visit the DUMBO Neighbourhood,
the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and have a glass of wine at Brooklyn Café
located under the Brooklyn bridge) – All walking distance
·
Have a look at Wall Street and Financial
District I guess …. (once there go and have lunch or dinner at Stone Street
Historic District – excellent food and atmosphere)
·
Do a double-decker bus trip, the “Uptown Loop”
·
Get crushed in Times Square
·
Visit World Trade Centre site (Ground Zero)
·
Walk on The High Line (public park built on a
historic freight rail line elevated above the streets of west side Manhattan (2
klms long, so not much)
·
Visit Coney Island
Times Square, bus trip,
Rockefeller Center etc are all in the midtown area. Apart from doing these things stay out of
MIDTOWN. Mainly a business district and
tourist trap. Lots of shopping in the
area (5th, 6th Aves and Madison Avenue) but all the “big name” shops. The big department stores are here though
Saks 5th Ave (corner 50th & 5th), Barneys (Madison & 61st) and
Bloomingdales (Lexington & 59th).
Must also visit Eataly NYC for a
glass of wine and Nutella shots (200 5th Av, at W 23rd St.)
Regardless if you are staying in
the Midtown area or not, you will want to spend most of your time downtown. And
I mean meals and everything. When I say
downtown I am talking about 14th street south. Probably as south as Chinatown
(the heart of which is Canal Street which runs across the city). The neighborhoods I talk about below are all
downtown.
EAT HERE:
·
HURRICANCE CLUB (Park Avenue South & 26th
St). Polynesian restaurant and Tiki
Bar. Very new, popular at the moment.
·
THE BRESLIN (Broadway and 29th St). Great gastro pub, inside the ACE Hotel.
DRINK HERE:
·
ACE HOTEL (Broadway and 29th St). Either in the Breslin as above or the hotel
lobby bar. Both popular.
The downtown neighbourhoods to
check out:
Soho / Nolita
The shopping area. Get a map and draw a rectangle with these
streets as the borders: Houston –
Broadway – Canal - West Broadway. Go up
and down and side to side on all the streets within this rectangle and you will
have covered Soho.
Soho is to the west of
Broadway. If you go over to the east of
Broadway (rectangle this time is bordered by Houston – Broadway – Kenmare -
Bowery) this becomes Nolita (stands for North of Little Italy). This Very cool area much more boutique type
shops and cool little cafes and stuff.
Mott and Mulberry Streets are great (if you go down Mulberry past
Kenmare you are in Little Italy. You
could take a look but it’s a bit of a tourist trap and I wouldn't eat there.)
EAT THIS:
· BALTHAZAR (Spring St between Crosby and
Broadway). Famous french bistro always
packed great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
·
CAFE GITANE (corner Prince & Mott). Brunch or lunch. really good.
· LA ESQUINA (corner Kenmare &
Lafayette). Mexican. looks like a real shitty hole in the wall but
great mexican tacos for say lunch. You
wouldnt believe it but behind a door inside (which I think from memory says
“employees only”) are stairs that go down through the kitchen under the street
into a restaurant. one of the hardest
places to get into in new york though.
booked solid. sometimes you can
get lucky with a cancellation try them for dinner one night +1 646 613 7100.
·
PUBLIC (Elizabeth near Prince St corner). one of the best brunches in town. funnily enough it has some sort of new
zealand connection (I think peter gordon had some involvement). its mainly a dinner spot so only opens for
brunch on weekends at 11am.
· LOMBARDIS (Spring & Mott Sts). Best pizza on town. Can be long waiDRINK THIS:
·
SPRING LOUNGE (corner Spring &
Mulberry). Popular Saturday afternoon
dive bar.
And if you have dinner here one
night …. GO NUTS AFTERWARDS HERE:
·
SOUTHSIDE (Cleveland & Broome). Nightlclub just around the corner from La
Esquina.
West Village & Meatpacking District
Not as easy to just wander around
the west village cause its spread out.
Good place to start is to walk down Bleecker Street from say 6th Avenue
to 8th Avenue. Few things going on down
this part of Bleecker Street including the Marc Jacobs shops (don’t ask me why
I know female visitors seem to love it ….).
Meatpacking district is one of
the main (and therefore busy) areas to go out at night. Heaps of bars, restaurants, clubs). Although
in saying that there are a bunch of shops in the area now as well.
Get in a cab and go to the corner
of 9th Avenue and Little West 12th Street.
You are in the heart of the meatpacking district here.
EAT THIS:
·
PASTIS (right on corner of 9th Ave and Little
West 12th). Sister place to Balthazar
another bistro. Extremely popular a bit
of a meatpacking district stalwart never waivers. Don’t book they take walk in but might need
to wait 30 mins at the bar. PR Ö
·
BUDDAKAN (9th Ave & West 16th). Modern Asian type place. Pretty cool interior. Will need to book here +1 212 989 6699.
·
SPOTTED PIG (corner west 11th street and
Hudson). They don't take
reservations. Gastro pub and great food
and atmosphere. Same people as the Breslin mentioned earlier.
DRINK THIS:
·
GANSEVOORT HOTEL (9th & West 12th). The hotel over the road from Pastis. Go up to the rooftop bar. Great in summer as has a retractable roof but
still good to check out in winter. A bit
expensive though would just go for a couple.
·
STANDARD HOTEL (Little West 12th St and
Washington). This is a relatively new
place and has a massive big garden bar downstairs that is enclosed in the
winter. Perfect for a Friday night or early evening session on a Saturday.
·
BRASS MONKEY (10th Ave and Little West 12th). 3
level irish pub. More low key than the
rest of the meatpacking! And you can
always get in here if you get the brush from everywhere else ….
And if you have dinner here one
night …. GO NUTS AFTERWARDS HERE:
·
SL (14th and 9th Ave). Under the Abe &
Arthurs restaurant is real popular (also hard to get in).
·
RDV (9th Ave & 13th). Underneath a restaurant/club called
Bagatelle.
Lower East Side
This time draw a rectangle around
Houston St - Orchard Street - Rivington Street - Clinton Street (Houston is
pronounced “house” – “tin”). Norfolk and
Suffolk don't worry about they are predominantly residential. Do all the ups
and downs and side to sides. Skip Essex
Street nothing on there. Orchard doesn’t
have much between say Rivington and Delancey but if you continue south on
Orchard down to say Grand Street there are some cool shops. There is also a weekend market on Hester and
Essex if you are in this area during day on weekends. I am not sure if it will still be operating
in the winter but worth checking out.
EAT THIS:
·
STANTON SOCIAL (Stanton between Orchard &
Ludlow streets). One of my
favorites. Amazing TAPAs. +1 212 995
0099. Try and book or you can just turn
up and go to the upstairs bar where you might get lucky with bar seating. Also fantastic for brunch on weekends.
·
THE MEATBALL SHOP (Stanton between Allen and
Orchard). As the name suggests they
specialize in one thing. A new place and
really popular at the moment. No
bookings.
·
SCHILLERS (corner Rivington & Norfolk
Streets). Another one from the Pastis
and Balthazar family. Bistro place and
one of the most popular spots in the area for brunch/lunch/dinner. Stays open
late for dinner. This is the heart of
paddy country. This is my corner you may
see me eating breakfast at the bar on Saturday.
·
KATZ (Ludlow & Houston). One of the most famous Jewish kosher style
deli’s. Big pastrami on rye sandwiches
etc. Was on the movie when Harry met Sally.
·
FREEMANS (End of Freemans Alley between Chrystie
St and the Bowery). Great for brunch.
DRINK THIS:
·
SPITZERS (corner Ludlow & Rivington). Pub with good food. Nice big windows good to sit down and watch
the goings on.
·
DRAFT BAR (Ludlow and Stanton). Sports bar.
Go here on a Sunday afternoon if you want to see a bit of NFL football.
·
PIANOS (Ludlow and Stanton). Great bar with live
music out the back.
·
LIVING ROOM (Ludlow and Stanton). Same as above.
·
MERCURY LOUNGE (Ludlow and Houston). Live music spot.
And if you have dinner here one
night …. GO NUTS AFTERWARDS HERE:
·
BACK ROOM (Norfolk between Rivington &
Delancey). Don't go until later than say
10.30pm. Its on Norfolk St between
Rivington and Delancey. No sign on the
door just a little gate leading to some stairs down off the road. The bar out the back is great and serves
drinks in tea cups prohibition time sort of feel. Actually this place isn’t too crazy it’s a
good spot for drink after dinner.
·
DARKROOM (Ludlow between Stanton & Houston). Late night dark scummy club (but great ….).
East Village
East village is loosely the area
north of Houston Street up to about 14th Street. Sideways from the Bowery/2nd Ave across to
Avenue D. The area around Ave A/B/C/D is
called “Alphabet City”. The park there
Tompkins Square Park is the sort of center.
Quite famous as in days gone by this was apparently real dodgy
area. Lots of crime etc and riots in the
1980’s. Good now.
EAT THIS:
·
BLUEBIRD CAFÉ (1st Ave and 1st St). They do shit coffee in the US but here you
will get a good one.
·
LUKES LOBSTER (7th St between Ave A and 1st
Ave). Lobster funnily enough. Lobster
rolls to be exact. Bit pricey but good.
·
ABRACO (7th St between 1st and 2nd Aves but near
1st Ave). Another great coffee spot. Tiny so don’t miss it.
·
MOMOFUKU (1st Ave and 11th St). Noodle shop of famous NYC chef David Chang.
·
OFRENDA (113 7th Ave S (Christopher Sq.) Good
Mexican but a bit loud
DRINK THIS:
·
BUA (St. Marks Place between Ave A and 1st
Ave). Pub.
·
DEATH & CO. (6th St between Ave A & 1st
Ave). Cocktails.
·
PDT (St. Marks Place between Ave A and 1st
Ave). Cocktails. Stands for "Please
Don't Tell". Look for Criff Dogs
(good hot dogs have one). Go inside the
Criff dogs place. To the left is a phone
booth. Go in. Pick up the phone. Someone will answer and if they have room
they may let you in (or may not!). It’s
tiny so not much room in there.
EAT THIS:
·
DBGB (near Bowery & Houston Corner). Sausage & beer bistro from Chef Daniel
Boulud.
·
GEMMA (Bowery & 3rd). Italian restaurant in bottom of Bowery Hotel.
·
PEELS (Bowery & 3rd). Same people as Freemans. Great for brunch.
DRINK THIS:
·
MADAM GENEVA (Bleecker & Bowery). Out the back of restaurant Double Crown
(which is also good). Get in from
Bleecker St side or secret door at back of Double Crown.
Mid-Town
FOR BRUNCH:
·
BRASSERIE COGNAC (1740 Broadway – between W 55th
& W 56th Avenue)
·
SARABETH’S RESTAURANT (40 Central Park S
(Between 5th & 6th Av.) – Good to combine on the day you visit Central Park