The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become more of a headache than fun – too many people, too hard to make it to my cousin’s annual parade viewing party at her apartment on the parade route. But today, things went better than expected getting from the East Side to the West Side in the morning. My friend C. and I waited until 10 a.m. and walked across the park to find the parade winding up just passing past 72nd street so there was no crossing Central Park West there. A policeman told us we’d have to walk all the way up to 84th to cross, meanwhile our party was on 74th. We ended walking to 77th where the parade had just passed through and we not only got across the street but managed to walk quickly to 74th. Lots of people but everyone was orderly and there were no big tie-ups or unseemliness. For future reference: the parade starts on the Upper West Side at 9 a.m. and lasts until about 10:30. We crossed soon after.
Category Archives: New York City
NYC – new museum, pre-parade craziness and Keith Richards
Went to the New Museum today to see the Last Newspaper exhibit. Strange but worth a visit. Also went to Cafe Habana for lunch – good chicken mole, even if not cuban. major celeb siting tonight at Scaletta Restaurant at 77th and columbus Ave. Keith Richards was sitting with a huge family group, lots of kids. bizarre.
Filed under DINING, New York City
NYC museums – open on Monday?
I often have a free day in NYC on a Monday and want to go to a museum but not all are open that day. Just checked for this month’s trip and there’s good news and bad. Museum of Modern Art – open on Monday! New Museum in the Bowery – not so new. not open on Monday.
Filed under museum exhibit, New York City
New York on the cheap
As if.
well everything’s relative and I guess that means New York’s version of cheap is Des Moines’ version of not-so-cheap but that said, the NYT had some suggestions for people visiting the Big City on a Tight Budget:
– The Jane – 113 Jane Street (a very sweet street in the West Village that my cousin used to live on)…”50-square-foot cabins” for $99 a night (that’s a single withe shared bath)…www.thejanenyc.com
– The Hotel Chelsea, studio and shared bath for $99…if it was good enough for Sid and Nancy it may be okay for you.
– MOMA is free on Friday nights. Otherwise it’s $25 as I recall painfully.
– for other free events look in the listings of Time Out NY and New York magazine also FreeNYC.net and ClubFReeTime.com
– a seven-day unlimited ride metrocard $27. soon to be $29.
Filed under cost-saving travel, LODGING, New York City
MOMA at Thanksgiving
Most Thanksgivings we visit relatives in New York City and I have one or two day to explore the city, which usually involves picking one museum to visit. This year’s winner? MOMA – which I haven’t visited for several years. Several exhibits have caught my attention that I”m eager to see – CounterSpace: Design and the Modern Kitchen (through March 14) and Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photograph (through March 21).
First runner-up (and a museum I hope to visit) is the New Museum downtown on the Bowery, which has an exhibit an old newspaperwoman can’t resist entitled “The Last Newspaper.”
Filed under museum exhibit, New York City
“affordable” NYC hotels – sort of
We’re talking “affordable boutique” hotels in NYC – and the NYTimes ran a list of them last Sunday. Except that they didn’t seem all that affordable, were in sometimes undesireable locations, and several seemed quite claustrophobic and/or sterile. All this for $159 to $269. The one that sounded most appealing is Eventi in Chelsea ($249 right now; $399 starting next fall – hardly “affordable”).
But after an unpleasant experience at a trendy affordable boutique hotel in San Fransisco – which despite its trendy art and toiletries felt like an insufficiently tarted-up hotel for transients with still-tiny rooms and still-narrow halls – I’d prefer for my money an affordable non-boutique hotel – with less “style,” and more space and comfort.
Filed under New York City
downtown manhattan and brooklyn
A gorgeous spring day lured us downtown to ramble around Soho, Nolita, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Chinatown – that mishmash of interesting neighborhoods that bump up against east other downtown. We stopped at Russ and Daughters on E. Houston to pick up rugalach and babka for Sunday brunch; wandered along Orchard Street south of Delancy past the Tenement Museum, which was doing a brisk biz, then to Prince Street where we ate a terrific lunch at Cafe Habana – not the sit down place but the one with a counter and a few tables. Place was packed for good reason – as we suspected (we’d never heard of the place) and soon discovered. Delicious cuban sandwiches, spicy sautéed spinach, corn on the cob doused with some parmesan-like cheese, spices and lime; homemade lemonade.
At night, the big event was my brother’s wedding in Park Slope at the lovely old Montauk Club. Wonderful event, of course, but my new sister-in-law made it extra special with all kinds of thoughtful touches including framed photos for each guest with the bride and/or groom. We danced until they kicked us out and a lot of us ended up at a nearby bar on Flatbush Ave. – Sharlene’s. We didn’t get back to our borrowed digs on the upper east side until 2:30 a.m.
Filed under New York City
Return to the High line:nyc
Another gorgeous day in nyc and D and E had never been to the High Line so I gladly went with them. This time, we stopped for gelato at Chelsea markets. Last night we went to a rehearsal dinner for my brother and H at Craftbar.We were in a private room but the restaurant itself looked interesting – our food and service was very good. That area around Broadway and 20th looks like its full of interesting restaurants including the Gramercy Tavern.
Filed under New York City
High life on the High line: NYC
What better place to spend a gorgeous spring day in NYC than the High Line, the new park that was once an abandoned railbed along the Hudson River. My pal Myra and I found wooden lounge chairs overlooking the water. Great people watching, scenery, landscape, had a nice chat with two young Dutch guys who were touring architectural sights in the city. Stopped by the Chelsea Market on 15th Street, had tea and peruvian something or other – a cupcake shaped savory dish that was very colorful – yellow and green. Yellow turned out to be mashed potatoes, the green avocado, and there was tuna in there. Yum. Then onto the west village which was humming with people – in the early evening, you could just hear the sounds of people celebrating the day everywhere, spilling out of bars with the windows removed and sitting at outdoor cafe tables. We ate at Westville, a tiny place on 10th street that is one of my favs – 6:45 was a good time to go. Only had to wait 10 minutes and tables all filled and line got longer through the night. No one does fresh vegetables better. Another gorgeous day.
Filed under New York City
Roaming around NYC
Is it my imagination or are airlines trying harder to be flyer friendly. Today my flight attendant on Delta even offered me peanuts. free of charge. I got two packets. Oh joy.
NYC was overcast but no longer rainy and I did my usual walk until my ankles swelled. The blossoms are coming out in central park – yellow, white, red – and the grass is green. I roamed past Belvedere Castle – which for some strange reason I’d never seen. Walked past the Museum of Natural History and spotted my first movie star of the trip – actor Matt Dillon who was eating at a window table at a restaurant at 79th and Columbus. Then onto Nice Matin at 79th and Amsterdam for a very nice lunch with my brother. Mediterranean Lamb salad and pizza with sundried tomato pesto and anchovies.
Filed under New York City
TakeBetsywithyou 