You got a problem with that?

My
NewYork
IsBetter
Than
Yours
You got a problem with that?
by Charlie Suisman
photographs by Jorge Colombo
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There are 8 million experts in New York
City—and counting. Everyone who has ever
visited has a different opinion about
what’s essential. Some people love the eclectic nightlife at
Joe’s Pub . Others will only stay at Second Home on Second Avenue . The problem isn’t just filtering out what’s
best, but keeping up with what’s new. (Did you know Louis
Armstrong’s house is now a museum?) It’s an impossible task, even for those of us who live here, but we’ve
become hooked on a website, Manhattan User’s Guide
72 Budget Travel
(manhattanusersguide.com), which sends out weekday
e-mails on everything from the latest hot spots to the
most reliable plumbers. The man behind MUG, Charlie
Suisman , agreed to cherry-pick a few places you mustn’t
miss. Take our advice: Take his. We’ve had many wonderful meals at Mooncake Foods and Grand Sichuan ;
we’ve listened to concerts at Bargemusic ; we shop religiously at SSS Sample Sale and the Strand .
You’re always better off if you can see something with
your own eyes, as any New Yorker—honorary or otherwise—will tell you. So we had Jorge Colombo photograph
as much as possible and made a game out of the captions.
New York is known for its grids, whether in the way the
streets are laid out or in the window patterns of office
buildings. When you see a number in the text, locate
it on the colored grid nearby. A picture of the place
will be in the corresponding spot on the opposite
page. An example: Nosh Walks leads really interesting culinary tours. Now look for the in the
numbered grid and you’ll see where Nosh Walks is
shown in the photo grid.
The new Hudson River parks have changed the
face of the entire West Side of Manhattan. [Healthy
pause.] Find it?
New York is a wonderful town. We love it, Charlie and
Jorge love it, and whoever is making the T-shirts sold at
Pearl River Mart clearly loves it, too. If this little caption
device is a pain in your keister, we apologize. But if you
didn’t like a challenge, you probably wouldn’t be drawn
to New York in the first place. —The Editors
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Gramercy Tavern
42 E. 20th St., 212/
477-0777, dinner $72
Chanterelle 2 Harrison
St., 212/966-6960,
dinner $95
Le Zinc 139 Duane St.,
212/513-0001, hanger
steak $23
Peter Luger Steak
House 178 Broadway,
Brooklyn, 718/3877400, steak for two $74
The Steakhouse at
Fairway 2127 Broadway, 2nd fl., 212/5951888, appetizer, strip
steak, two sides $40
Mary’s Fish Camp 64
Charles St., 646/4862185, lobster roll $22
Joe’s Pizza 7 Carmine
St., 212/255-3946;
233 Bleeker St., 212/
366-1182; slice $2.25
Celeste 502 Amsterdam Ave., 212/8744559, ravioli $9.50
The Spotted Pig
314 W. 11th St., 212/
620-0393, gnudi $11
Moustache 90 Bedford St., 212/2292220; 265 E. 10th St.,
212/228-2022; lamb
pitza $8
Grand Sichuan
745 Ninth Ave.,
212/582-2288, cold
sesame noodles $3.50
Mooncake Foods 28
Watts St., 212/2198888
NoshWalks 212/2222243, noshwalks.com
Amy’s Bread 75 Ninth
Ave., 212/462-4338,
turkey sandwich $6
Ronnybrook Farm
Dairy 75 Ninth Ave.,
212/741-6455
The Green Table 75
Ninth Ave., 212/7416623, sandwich of the
day $10
City Bakery 3 W. 18th
St., 212/366-1414,
tart $5
Eat
New York’s temples of haute cuisine get
so much attention, it’s possible to forget
that the real pride and joy for locals—who
tend to eat out more than other Americans, on average—is the vast array of modestly priced restaurants serving food from
all around the globe. We love to eat at
Gramercy Tavern and Chanterelle from time
to time, but here are some places where
you’ll find us any night of the week.
Although Chanterelle may be out of the
question without a special occasion to
justify the price tag, its owners have
thoughtfully created Le Zinc , a casual,
affordable French bistro. A meal of hanger
steak, potato gratin, and tarte tatin for
dessert may not be Atkins-friendly, but
it’s wallet-friendly and delicious.
Hanger steak, as much as we like it, isn’t
a true New York cut like porterhouse or a
New York strip. Peter Luger serves the slabs
by which all others are judged, but that
doesn’t stop us from enjoying The Steakhouse at Fairway—Fairway is a grocery
store—where $40 gets you a strip steak
plus an appetizer and two sides.
We may be a red-meat town, but we
also have a long-standing love affair with
the sea. Get your fill of oysters and grilled
fish or try a heavenly lobster roll at Mary’s
Fish Camp , one of the most popular
seafood joints in the five boroughs. As a
result of that popularity, waits can be
long. But in a city that rarely agrees on
anything, everyone loves Mary’s.
There is no agreement on pizza—fierce
battles take place when the question arises of who makes the best. So let’s sidestep the entire issue by saying Joe’s Pizza
does not make the best slice in
town. You should go to Joe’s anyway,
because it may be the most quintessential
slice. That means a decently crisp, thin
crust, a bright tomato sauce, and plenty
of mozzarella (but not too much), served
in surroundings that won’t encourage
you to linger. Anyway, it’s very New York
to grab a slice and eat it on the run.
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You’re also not
likely to linger at
Celeste , an Italian restaurant on
the Upper West
Side. It’s too noisy
and crowded. You’ll be glad you joined the
throngs, though, waiting for a table (lines
are generally short) for marvelous pastas,
pizzas, and secondi at extremely reasonable
prices. Don’t miss the fried artichokes or
the cheeses that the owner, uh, personally transports back from Italy.
One of the more unlikely hybrids in
recent years has been the gastropub in
England. Gastronomy and pub grub were
once considered mutually exclusive, but
not anymore. The first such restaurant to
make a splash here is the Spotted Pig .
You may find shepherd’s pie on the
menu and you’ll definitely find handdrawn cask ale, but April Bloomfield also
cooks more sophisticated dishes, such as
delectable gnudi—sheep’s milk ricotta
rolled in semolina flour and sautéed.
Moving eastward, culinarily speaking,
Moustache
(with both an East Village
and a West Village location) serves terrific
Middle Eastern fare: falafel, hummus, and
what they call “pitzas”—baked pitas with
a choice of toppings such as lamb or olive
oil, sesame seeds, and herbs.
And so to the Far East. Grand Sichuan
cooks up exceptional Chinese food without making you go to Chinatown (there
are several locations, though the one at
Ninth Ave. and 50th St. is best). Not only
are familiar offerings ideally turned out—
once you’ve had their cold noodles with
sesame sauce, it’s hard to order the dish
elsewhere—but they specialize in dishes
you don’t come across everywhere else.
Choose at least one item from the section
of the menu called Mao’s Home Cooking.
You wouldn’t happen upon Mooncake
unless you were walking near
Foods
the Holland Tunnel for some unaccountable reason. And while it looks like a diner,
you won’t be eating anything like diner
food. Instead, you’ll be treated to simple
but vibrant Asian cooking, with Chinese,
Vietnamese, and Thai predominating. Just
about everything costs less than $10.
A few other food-related tips. If you’re
passionate about food and want to visit
some of the city’s ethnic neighborhoods,
take a guided tour with NoshWalks .
They explore the Indian community and
food of Jackson Heights, Queens; the
Russian enclave in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; and the Irish section of the Bronx,
among others. Most tours are $18.
For noshing on your own, seek out
Chelsea Market, a food concourse in the old
Nabisco factory building. Highlights
include Amy’s Bread , Ronnybrook Farm
Dairy, and The Green Table, a small, charming restaurant run by a catering company.
anyFinally, I drop by City Bakery
time I can. For breakfast, try the superb
croissants and rich, smooth coffee. Even if
the buffet style doesn’t make for a cheap
lunch—you’re charged by the weight of
your plate—you’d be hard-pressed to
locate fresher food. Many of the ingredients are from the local greenmarket, which
may explain how City Bakery turns vegetables exciting, and there are lovely salads,
sandwiches, and a few hot items. Top
things off with one of the signature tarts
and you just may concede that my New
York could, in fact, be better than yours.
Abingdon Guest House Comprised of two 1850s town
houses, Abingdon Guest House has a homey, authentic West Village feeling—perhaps it’s the creaky staircases or, in some rooms,
the wood floors and tin ceilings. Guest rooms are painted in rich,
pleasing colors, most have bathrooms en suite, and many have
(nonworking) fireplaces. Light sleepers will want to avoid rooms
facing Eighth Avenue.That said, the Abingdon is an oasis, much like
staying with a friend who has an excellent eye for detail. Check-in
is at Brewbar, the coffeehouse downstairs. 13 Eighth Ave.,
212/243-5384, abingdonguesthouse.com, from $159.
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Shop
This is a competitive town, especially when it comes to shopping—we regard it as a sport like
any other. Do some warm-up
exercises at Century 21 (designer
clothes at deep discounts) and
J&R Music and Computer World
(electronics). Limber up at Broadway Panhandler for kitchenwares.
Get your heart rate going at
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Housing Works Thrift Shop, where
the proceeds benefit people with
HIV/AIDS. If you’re born to shop, though,
you’ll want to test your game at some of
the secret stashes.
The city is known for its grandes dames
of retail, department stores such as Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman, all of
which can be a fine outing. But the Chinese
, is
version, beloved Pearl River Mart
even more fulfilling. It has a quirky selection of housewares (a lamp in the shape of
a take-out carton for $19.50), herbal remedies, musical and writing instruments
(calligraphy pens, bamboo flutes), and all
kinds of goodies that make creative, inexpensive gifts.
If you’re prowling for smart-looking,
well-designed objects for your home, it’s
hard to beat—and equally hard to pronounce—Mxyplyzyk (mix-ee-pliz-ik). It’s
also hard to say exactly what you’ll find
there, since the stock changes frequently,
and Mxyplyzyk specializes in things that
you can’t get everywhere else. Suffice it to
say, kitchenwares, bags, toys.
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After you’ve accessorized
the rest of your house (or
apartment, we New Yorkers
being more about the latter)
with stuff from Mxyplyzyk,
,a
stop by The Bathroom
store in the West Village with
a clear-enough fetish. Savor the fabulous
soaps from Europe, as well as towels,
skin-care products, and candles, including
an alluring cranberry-currant scent from a
company called Er’go Candle.
Kids and sweet-toothed adults must
on their list. A
put Dylan’s Candy Bar
bright, colorful emporium—note the peppermint-swirl bar stools—Dylan’s has it
all, from old-fashioned Charleston Chews
to Dylan’s own chocolate truffles. The displays are clever. Order an overflowing gift
basket devoted to sugary goodness.
No points for decor at the next two
spots, but there are treasures within if
you’re a book, record, or CD collector. Footlight Records specializes in original cast
recordings, soundtracks, vocalists, and
spoken word. So whether you’re clamoring for Rodgers and Hart rarities or an
Ennio Morricone film score, this is the
now proudly
place to go. The Strand
boasts “18 miles of books,” on every conceivable subject. The basement is the best:
In a fairly organized fashion—surprising,
Country Inn the City You could pass by the Upper West Side
building that houses Country Inn the City and never know that a
charming B&B lies within. Decorated with understated Americana
and European touches, the generous rooms (by city standards, anyway) have 10-foot ceilings, private baths, and kitchenettes stocked
with coffee, tea, milk, cereal, and fruit. One even has a terrace.
A few nights in this residential neighborhood, under these circumstances, will make you feel like a local in no time. 270 W. 77th St.,
212/580-4183, countryinnthecity.com, from $150 to $210
depending on time of year, three-night minimum, no credit cards.
76 Budget Travel
since the Strand isn’t known for its organizational abilities—are reviewers’ copies
of new fiction and nonfiction at about
half the retail price.
And now, a place that even most New
Yorkers haven’t heard of: On the third
floor of an office building, the decidedly
low-key 17th Street Photo is better than
the better-known B&H Photo. A friendly
staff offers great prices on cameras (both
film and digital), video cameras, photo
printers, and binoculars.
If what you’re really interested in is
clothing, you’ve come to the right place.
New York is full of fashion bargains. The
very best way to score designer duds at
gentle prices is to hit the sample sales that
are held daily. Originally, sample sales
consisted of the pieces used in a designer’s
showroom or on the runway, but the definition has expanded over the years to
include a wide range of never-worn merchandise priced to move. Some sample
sales are big, well-planned affairs, others
are a mess, and merchandise quality
varies. But with a little patience and homework—check New York or Time Out New York
magazines the week you’re visiting for current listings—you can save over 90 percent
off retail. One place that hosts sales almost
every week is called SSS Sample Sale —it’s
always worth scoping out.
Another terrific source for clothing
deals is vintage or consignment stores.
Take the word vintage with a grain of salt:
You may indeed snag a ’60s Dior dress or
an even earlier couture piece, but only
after looking at lots of clothes from as
recently as last year. I like browsing the
(the name
racks at Fisch for the Hip
comes from owner Terriann Fischer), a
consignment shop for men and women,
because Fischer seems to take in especially
sharp pieces, including the usual suspects—Prada, Gucci, et al. Should your
purchases need a little extra sizzle, M & J
Trimming , in the Garment District, has
endless choices of rhinestones, ribbons,
buttons, and trim.
One last stop before you head home.
Flight 001
stocks anything you need to
take some of the sting out of travel:
onboard amenity kits, games, sleeping
masks, luggage, totes, CD players, and
noise-canceling earphones. It’s almost
enough to make flying out of JFK bearable.
budgettravel.msnbc.com
Century 21
22 Cortlandt St.,
212/227-9092
J&R Music and Computer World Park
Row, 212/238-9000
Broadway Panhandler
477 Broome St.,
212/966-3434
Housing Works 143
West 17th St., 212/
366-0820; 306 Columbus Ave., 212/5797566; 202 E. 77th St.,
212/772-8461; 157 E.
23rd St., 212/529-5955
Bloomingdale’s
59th St. and Lexington
Ave., 212/705-2000
Bergdorf Goodman
Fifth Ave. at 59th St.,
800/558-1855
Pearl River Mart
477 Broadway,
212/431-4770
Mxyplyzyk
125 Greenwich Ave.,
212/989-4300
The Bathroom
94 Charles St.,
800/856-9223
Dylan’s Candy Bar
1011 Third Ave., 646/
735-0078
Footlight Records
113 E. 12th St., 212/
533-1572
Strand Book Store
828 Broadway,
212/473-1452
17th Street Photo
34 W. 17th St., 3rd fl.,
212/366-9870
B&H Photo 420 Ninth
Ave., 212/444-6615
SSS Sample Sale
261 W. 36th St., 2nd fl.,
212/947-8748
Fisch for the Hip
153 W. 18th St.,
212/633-9053
M & J Trimming
1008 Sixth Ave.,
212/391-9072
Flight 001
96 Greenwich Ave.,
212/691-1001
The Frick Collection
1 E. 70th St., 212/2880700, frick.org, $12
Gagosian Gallery
555 W. 24th St.,
212/741-1111,
gagosian.com, free
Matthew Marks
Gallery 523 W. 24th
St., 212/243-0200,
matthewmarks.com,
free
Sonnabend Gallery
536 W. 22nd St.,
212/627-1018, free
Paula Cooper Gallery
534 W. 21st St.,
212/255-1105, free
Louis Armstrong
House 34-56 107th
St., Corona, Queens,
718/478-8274,
satchmo.net, $8,
kids $6
Don’t Tell Mama
343 W. 46th St.,
212/757-0788, dont
tellmama.com
Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette St.,
212/539-8778, joes
pub.com
Bargemusic
Fulton Ferry Landing,
DUMBO, Brooklyn,
718/624-4061, barge
music.org
Playwrights Horizons
416 W. 42nd St.,
212/564-1235, play
wrightshorizons.org
New Victory Theater
209 W. 42nd St.,
646/223-3020,
newvictory.org
American Museum
of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St.,
Astoria, Queens,
718/784-0077,
movingimage.us, $10,
kids $5
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Start with an unbeatable art world
doubleheader—a visit to the Frick
followed by a jaunt
Collection
through the Chelsea gallery district.
Inside Henry Clay Frick’s beaux arts
mansion, 18 galleries of Western art
are home to three works by Vermeer, as well as paintings by Degas,
Rembrandt, and Gainsborough;
then there’s what I think of as the
“Fun With Fragonard” room. It’s a
compact, heady spin through the masters.
A world away, though only on the other
side of the island, is the headquarters for
contemporary art in New York: Galleries
by the score have made their homes over
the last few years on the less and less
gritty blocks of far west Chelsea. There
are major galleries, including Gagosian,
Matthew Marks, Sonnabend, and Paula
Cooper, but rather than seek out particular
ones, I like to wander through the byways.
That means exploring vertically—many
galleries are tucked upstairs in nondescript buildings .
The city has always enthusiastically put
out the welcome mat for musicians, and
few have been more welcome than Louis
Armstrong . Since last fall, Armstrong’s
Corona, Queens, home has been open to
the public. He and his wife, Lucille, lived
there for decades and you’ll find original
furnishings, his reel-to-reel recorder, and
one of his gold-plated trumpets, all suffused with Satchmo spirit.
Spirit of an entirely different sort is in
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evidence nightly at Don’t
Tell Mama , a piano bar
and cabaret in the Theater
District. There’s no telling
what to expect—a musical
revue, a cabaret singer, or a
Judy Garland imperson, adjacent to the Public
ator. Joe’s Pub
Theater in the East Village, is named for
the theater’s late founder, Joseph Papp.
Joe’s has perhaps the most exciting roster
of singers, musicians, comedians, and
assorted offbeat acts anywhere in the city.
Crazy ideas somehow work in New
York, and listening to chamber music on
a barge on the East River is among the crais an absolute
ziest. Yet Bargemusic
treat! Audiences listen with rapt attention
to world-class musicians while staring
out the window at a view of the Manhattan skyline; as music fills the room, the
old barge sways and creaks.
After such subtle sophistication, the
new Times Square is a sensory overload.
Take in a Broadway show by all means,
but don’t overlook the more intimate offBroadway theaters. Playwrights Horizons
(which sent I Am My Own Wife over to
Broadway, winning the 2004 Tony Award
for Best Play and Best Actor) always
seems to be up to something interesting.
You may catch a work from a rising star
Second Home on Second Avenue This 1920s town house is
in the East Village, a neighborhood which, not long ago, was invariably described as funky. While not nearly as manicured as the Upper
West and Upper East Sides, the East Village has gentrified considerably in the past few years. Fortunately, it still has plenty of energy
and excitement—and Second Home has subsequently added soundproofing to its windows.The seven rooms are themed (Peruvian, tribal) and are simply but pleasantly furnished. Two have private baths.
Be willing to climb: It’s four flights to the top guest room. 221 Second Ave., 212/677-3161, from $85.
St. Paul’s Chapel
209 Broadway,
212/233-4164, saint
paulschapel.org
The Skyscraper
Museum 39 Battery
Pl., 212/968-1961,
skyscraper.org, $5
November 2004
playwright or even a musical. The first
preview of each production has a limited
number of pay-what-you-can seats.
If you have children in tow, Broadway
shows may be too expensive, too long,
and not geared to their ages. That’s where
the New Victory Theater comes in. All
shows are meant for kids and their families, running times tend to be on the short
side, and the top price is $30. Best of all,
productions are generally first-rate. Kids
will also have a blast at the American
, in AstoMuseum of the Moving Image
ria, Queens. Despite the fancy name, this
is a fun place for all ages. There are interactive exhibits, screenings, and a collection of costumes and props that includes
the chariot from Ben-Hur.
Central Park, which turned 150 in 2003,
has never been more beautiful, and it
maintains its considerable charms in all
seasons. But the big news comes from
the string of parks that have sprouted up
in the past
along the Hudson River
few years. They start at the southern tip
of Manhattan with Wagner Park—from
which you can admire the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island—and continue northward, jutting occasionally onto reclaimed
piers. It’s still a work in progress, but
eventually the parks will extend all the
way to Riverside Park on the Upper West
Side. Walking along the Hudson, you’ll
see people of all shapes, sizes, and colors
enjoying the city we’ve all come to appreciate ever more ardently.
Going to Ground Zero, where the World
Trade Center towers stood, is a pilgrimage
for many visitors. The rebuilding is now
under way and visible from the viewing
area, but also be sure to stop into St. Paul’s
Chapel —miraculously unharmed in the
tragedy—directly across from the WTC
site. In the weeks following the disaster,
rescue workers and cleanup squads found
refuge at the chapel. A permanent exhibit
recounts those days.
A stroll away, in Battery Park City, is the
Skyscraper Museum . It’s a fascinating
exhibit, irresistible to anyone who loves
cities. Even if we all know that no city can
possibly compare with this one. ππ
ASK THE EXPERT On November 9,
from noon to 1 P.M. EST, Charlie Suisman
will answer questions about New York
City at budgettravel.msnbc.com.
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