48 Hours in New York City

[brc]

Native New Yorkers, what would you do? I'm there for business on Friday and figured to make a long weekend out of it. I will be staying in lower Manhattan, explore Soho, East Village, the Bowery, Meatpacking district, etc... I also want to check out the Morgan Library, the Guggenheim, and the High Line.

As for food, I know that I want to try halal street food, thin crust pizza, and water bagels. Any recommended restaurants/bars/bakeries?

[j44ke]

Go to the Whitney. As per usual, there was a cacophony of whining accompanying its opening, but now that things have settled down people are just complaining about not being able to get a table at the museum restaurant, Untitled. You begin to understand the Yogi-Berra-ism, "No one goes there anymore because it is too crowded." Right at the start of the High Line at Gansevoort.

Grumpy Cafe on 20th between 7th and 8th. Great coffee, chatting caffeinated staff, gallery workers, advertising staff and fashion models. Oh and cops from the precinct two doors down. Safest coffee shop in Manhattan. Their t-shirts are a fav among our nieces and nephews, because: grumpy. Cafe Grumpy

Breads Bakery on 16th between Union Square and 5th. Best babka in NYC, perhaps the world. Cinnamon rolls are also pretty great. Kind of crazy hectic sometimes but the owners are from Tel Aviv so that's why. Breads Bakery | New York Bakery | Union Square

Union Square Greenmarket. You'll be there on Saturday, so get out early for a walk from Grumpy, then Breads Bakery, then munch your cinnamon roll and peruse the flowers and vegetables at the greenmarket and people watch.

Keste Pizza on Bleeker between Jones and Cornelia, basically right across the street from Murray's Cheese. Newish pizza place but very good. Their dough has a unique combination of springiness and charring. Not really sure how they do it. Great toppings too. Home - Keste

Murray's Cheese is a lot of fun, and while it is all about the cheese, they also carry a few of the better brands of pasta from Italy and nice snacks. Also check out Faicco's next door for truly authentic Italian meats - been there forever. Murray's Cheese - Specialty Cheese Gifts- Cheese of the Month Club- Gourmet Cheese and Meat Gifts- Charcuterie

Rapha is now in Soho on Prince between Thompson and W Broadway. Nice place for a coffee.

Right across the street from Rapha is the venerable and vintage Vesuvio Bakery. Lots of good stuff come out of there, mostly because it is too small to stay inside. It nearly died, but a very nice bakery called City Bakery took them over and revitalized the spot. Since 1920 they've been around.

Best shops in Soho I think are APC (French daily wear,) Fiorentino & Baker (Italian boots & shoes,) Acne (Swedish & yes, that's the name) and M0851 (Toronto designer, leather & fabric jackets, bags, etc.)

Taim Falafel is in Noho at Spring and Mulberry. The best falafel anywhere, even compared to L'Age du Falafel in Paris. Ask Luis (Turkish) - he's eaten there. They also have a shop in the West Village behind the Village Vanguard on Waverly Place. Taim world renowned falafel and fresh fruit smoothies.

Russ & Daughters is on the edge of the Lower East Side (or what I think about as the Lower East Side - the Jewish part where my mother used to live in a cold-water walk-up) and is highly recommended. Smoked and pickled fish that is to die for. The decor makes it like the Pharmacy of Fish. You can literally wait hours - our record at the holidays is 2.5 hours - but as soon as your number is called, you have all the time in the world. No one rushes. And the question after they hand you another paper roll of sturgeon is always "What else?" The secret and often ignored part of the shop is their dried fruit and nuts. If nothing else, take a bundle of nuts and dried fruit home and you'll understand that even with these things, freshness makes a big difference. The kids of the daughters have now taken over the management, and they have a new cafe a block or so away from the historic dispensary and then another cafe in the Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side. http://www.russanddaughters.com

Nha Trang Center is sort of Vietnamese food and sort of just healthy Asian food. But it is cheap and fresh and the experience is kind of well, an experience. One of the waiters has a crazy Elvis meets Fu Manchu thing going on, the owner will occasionally come out and prescribe dishes for whatever ails you, and like a lot of Asian restaurants in NYC you have to be careful about the slippery floors around the bathrooms. But the hollow vegetable is very good. At 148 Centre St, not to be confused with the competing effort on Baxter.

That's all I can think of right now.

[NYCfixie]

Native New Yorkers, what would you do? I'm there for business on Friday and figured to make a long weekend out of it. I will be staying in lower Manhattan, explore Soho, East Village, the Bowery, Meatpacking district, etc... I also want to check out the Morgan Library, the Guggenheim, and the High Line.

As for food, I know that I want to try halal street food, thin crust pizza, and water bagels. Any recommended restaurants/bars/bakeries?

Stay away from street meat - not worth the days you will be on the toilet afterward.
Ess-A-Bagel.

Take the Staten Island ferry to Staten island and then back to Manhattan after dark. You cannot beat the view of lower Manhattan coming back in from SI on the ferry. Just sorry the twin towers are not there anymore because they were breathtaking.

[roseyscot]

Stay away from street meat - not worth the days you will be on the toilet afterward.
Ess-A-Bagel.

Take the Staten Island ferry to Staten island and then back to Manhattan after dark. You cannot beat the view of lower Manhattan coming back in from SI on the ferry. Just sorry the twin towers are not there anymore because they were breathtaking.

This. I've been to Staten Island for business a few times lately and I take the ferry over to Manhattan to see friends after the work day. The view of the Statue of Liberty is pretty cool too. No reason to get off the ferry and explore Staten Island though. Just get right back on and take it back to Manhattan. It'll be about an hour round trip.

Oh, and it's free.

[robin3mj]

A bit outside of the norm, but the Cloisters is worth a visit- maybe not your first time in NY, but on a subsequent trip.

The Met Cloisters | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[prcrstn8]

Visit Grand Central Terminal and breathe a word of thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who spearheaded the effort to save it from the wrecking ball. Look up at the ceiling:

By the 1980s, the ceiling was obscured by decades of what was thought to be coal and diesel smoke. Spectroscopic examination revealed that it was mostly tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke. A 12-year restoration effort, completed in autumn 1996, restored the ceiling to its original design. A single dark patch above the Michael Jordan Steakhouse was left untouched by renovators to remind visitors of the grime that once covered the ceiling.

Have lunch in The Oyster Bar downstairs, sit at the counter - it's loud (the Guastavino tile ceiling), the service is brusque, and the fish is great.

[newellbt]

Red Hook Crit

BROOKLYN NO.9

APRIL 30, 2016
72 BOWNE ST
BROOKLYN, NY 11231

Brooklyn No.9 | Red Hook Crit

[christian]

I lived in NY for 10 years. I think Jorn's list is about as good for food as you'll get for a weekend in NY. I also enjoy the Staten Island ferry. Other than that, I think you've got a solid list of activities; would also recommend a long walk in Central Park.

[AngryScientist]

is it this weekend you'll be down?
i work in lower manhatten, and if it is in fact this weekend, the nyc bike expo is going on, you can stop in man meet tootall and stock up on nfs.

lower manhatten is pretty dead on the weekends really, when all the financial people evacuate their offices. it sounds like you've got a solid list of activities, and depending on how low in manhatten you're going to be, Stone Street is worth a cruise down and a beer or six. i wouldn't personally go out of my way in the least in a city as great as NYC to see any bike shops or anything like that, none are remarkable.

[guido]

Museums by day (huge selection -- chase your interests/taste), Fish on Bleeker street for oysters, Smalls and/or Mezzrow for jazz. The High Line early in the morning. Walk everywhere, there is no better place to people watch in the world...

[riceburner]

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge on your way to Maglia Rosa

MAGLIA ROSA - About

[brc]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. I arrived today and got to explore the High Line and the Chelsea Market. I wish San Francisco had something like the High Line. I'm going to wait until next time to visit the Met; that could easily occupy an entire day. Tomorrow I am in meetings during the afternoon but hope to grab a bagel at Russ & Daughters in the morning. Saturday is my only free day so I'll try to walk Central Park, visit the Guggenheim and/or Whitney, and then catch the Red Hook Crit. Any opinions on whether the city bikes are worth renting for the day?

You guys are great!