|
NYC Neighborhoods - SoHo |
 |
 |
|
(New York, N. Y.)
Many tour participants on WalkingToursManhattan.com love visiting SoHo, they want to spend more time exploring the neighborhood, after the tour, or want to come back on another day. I have listed more attractions to see that are not on our walking food tour.
This neighborhood is a wonderful mix of residential loft living, cobblestone streets, art galleries, boutique hotels, historic buildings and one of the best designer shopping areas in the city.
Historical Building – E.V. Haughwout
The charming cast iron buildings give this area a distinctive look that is unmatched in beauty and numbers anywhere else in Manhattan. These buildings were put up in the 1850’s through the 1890’s as a cheaper replacement for stone construction. A magnificent example is the five-story Haughwout Building built in 1857 in the city's first fashionable housewares district. The Haughwout Emporium was world famous in its day as manufacturers and purveyors of cut glass, porcelains, mirrors and chandeliers. Located at 488 Broadway corner of Broome Street.
Shopping Therapy – Bloomingdale’s and Top Shop
After Macy’s there is no other retail store as well-known. A smaller version of the 59th Street Store, located on Broadway between Spring and Broome. A few steps away is Top Shop, the British fashion retailer which recently opened its first store in the U. S.
Gallery Viewing – Dia Center
Check out Walter DeMaria’s The New York Earth Room, the longest running art show opened in 1977. For over 30 years this exhibit has brought a quiet oasis from the tuml of city life. Located at 141 Wooster Street, between Houston and Prince.
Lunch/Dinner – Balthazar Restaurant
A French brasserie offering the look and quality you’d come to expect in SoHo.
Open for 15 years this pricey classic is always busy, and their eggs benedict is only available on the breakfast menu. Visit their bakery next door for the chocolate chip cookie. 80 Spring Street, between Broadway and Crosby.
Best Real Estate – 190 Bowery
Struggling photographer Jay Maisel in 1968 bought this abandoned Germania Bank, built in 1898 complete with working safe in basement for $102,000. Yes its completely covered in graffiti but fits into the neighborhood’s artistic lifestyle on the Bowery. The 72-room mansion today is worth upwards of $40 million.
Coffee Break – Dean & Deluca
Great people watching spot with good coffee and sweets. Watch models running down Broadway late for photo shoots, to beautifully dressed European travelers
clothes shopping. Corner of Broadway and Prince.
Apartment Shopping – Trump SoHo
In case you really get to like the neighborhood and are thinking of settling down, you definitely should check this hotel condo with 391 units. Built by the Donald, naturally it towers over all nearby buildings with 46 floors and very impressive views.
For an escorted food walking tour of SoHo please visit;
http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com
|
|
NYC Neighborhoods - Greenwich Village |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y. )
Many tour participants on WalkingToursManhattan.com love being in Greenwich Village so much, they want to spend more time exploring the neighborhood, after the tour, or want to come back on another day. I have added more attractions to see.
A very popular location and a most interesting neighborhood. The Village attracts a diverse population of party goers straight and gay, bohemians, writers, musicians, college age attendees and drop-outs, all in search of its wide array of dinner spots, jazz clubs, watering holes, shopping and people-watching.
You think you’re vacation is going to be easy but traveling is actually hard work. You’re doing a lot more walking than you have at home, and that usually means you’re getting hungry more frequently and in need of food, and rest stops too!
Snack Attack – The Hot Dog
Gray’s Papaya, at 8th Street and Sixth Avenue, which sells a good chain hot dog, not in the esteemed ranks as the Carnegie Deli, Katz’s Delicatessen, or 2nd Avenue Deli. This dog is flavorful, slightly charred, and reasonably priced, but take a pass on the papaya drink. Remember its name, don’t be confused by other stores called Papaya Dog or Papaya King. Order with sauerkraut, a German word for finely shredded cabbage and mustard.
Rest Area Ahead – High Line Park
New York City’s new park, and it’s elevated, giving you a much different prospective from walking in any other park. It’s a former freight train line built in the 1920’s to bring beef from across the country to the wholesale meatpacking district here on the northern edge of Greenwich Village. Lovingly restored, the original train tracks were preserved, benches were added, and modest landscaping were added to this minimalist look. Great viewing site of the Hudson River, and Hoboken, New Jersey.Entrance on south side of 14th Street, between 9 & 10 Avenues.
Refreshments Anyone – Chelsea Market
This old building was the home to Nabisco, and the smell of Oreo cookies is still smelled in some quarters of the building. The ground floor was converted into a gourmet food market, with excellent food purveyors like Amy’s Bread, wonderful chocolates from Jacques Torres and farm-fresh ice cream from Ronnybrook Farms. Convenient bathroom area, and plenty of tables outside shops. Located on 9th Avenue between 15th & 16th Streets.
All That Jazz – Village Vanguard
A true original with excellent acoustics, still going strong since 1935. A small, dark basement underground mecca for the past and present kings and queens of jazz. A very popular small & intimate club, so popular and loved, that Barbara Steisand introduced her latest CD live in this venue several months ago. Sets begin at 9 & 11.
Located on 7th Avenue South, between West 11th Street & Perry Street.
Most Charming Street – Commerce Street
Go 2 blocks south of Bleecker Street on 7th Avenue South, and you’ll enter Commerce Street. One block long and looks like a dead-end street, but it’s not.
On the left is the famous Cherry Lane Theatre, the oldest off-Broadway theatre in New York City. Take your first right and you’ll be on Barrow Street, and your next
Immediate left and you’ll be on Bedford Street. On the right side of Bedford behind all that construction is Chumley’s, a famous speakeasy until 2007, when it closed for repairs. Go further up Bedford Street, and see if you can find the residential facade for the opening building shot of Friends.
Shopping Therapy – Noho Flea Market
Usual assortment of lots of clothing and jewelry, along with tapes, and sunglasses.
Open seven days a week. Broadway and West 4th St.
Indoor Activities – Bowlmor Lanes
If you’d like to get out of the sun, and bowl this is your place. Fun place to take the kids, even has gutter guards, ending the dread gutter balls. Decent burger and fries.
And a good pizza place next door called Stomboli’s.
Dinner Plans – Sushi Samba or Garage Restaurant
Sushi Samba very good choice, has indoor seating, and roof-top deck. Garage has American menu and highly prized outdoor seating for excellent people-watching on 7th Avenue South.
Dessert Spot – Sweet Revenge
Cute little café offering liquor, coffee and sweets. Conveniently located near 6th Avenue, (Avenue of the Americas) and Bleecker Street. 62 Carmine Street,
(Bedford Street & 7th Avenue South)
For additional ways to see Greenwich Village;
http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com
|
|
Cupcake Crawl NY |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
Join our new Cupcake Crawl New York as we visit 4 of the best cupcake shops in Chelsea and Union Square. Purchase of cupcakes are additional.
We’ll start at Cupcake Cafe, the first cupcake bakery started in 1988. Next up is Aunt Butchie’s, a newly opened bakery from Brooklyn, and taste an original Cookie Dough cupcake. Then it’s Billies, a former owner of Magnolia Bakery, and finish at Chelsea Market, for Amy’s captivating cupcakes.
To help support the good work of Food Bank For New York City, a non-profit helping to feed the hungry, we ask for a $5.00 donation per person. 100% of donations go to charity.
Since December 2008 your donations at our monthly dessert walks have helped feed 58 New Yorkers for a month. We wish to thank all who generously donated. If you’d like to donate online, please go to Pay Pal at; http://www.paypal.com... and send your contribution to;
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Meet our tour guide with the red ball cap saying Walking Tours Manhattan on
Sunday March 14, at 11am at Cupcake Cafe, 18 West 18th St. (bet. 5th & 6th Ave.)
Walking distance is a little over 1 mile, and takes 1 1/2 hours.
For additional New York City food tours visit;
http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com |
|
New Spring Food Tours |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
WalkingToursManhattan.com has introduced new food walking tours to help enhance the sightseeing experience when visiting the Big Apple.
Food tours were added to the Brooklyn Bridge, Little Italy/East Village and Chelsea. Restaurants and local shops were selected to help bring the feel of the neighborhood across through it's unique foods, while visiting major landmarks.
Barbecue Ribs & Brewery Tour
We'll visit the popular Chelsea neighborhood, home to the Chelsea Food Market, and numerous art galleries. Award-winning ribs are on the menu from the well-known Baron of Barbecue Chef Paul Kirk.
Lunch will be enjoyed on the High Land Park, the city's newest elevated park, with great views of the city and the Hudson River.
Then we'll visit Chelsea Piers, a 30-acre sports entertainment center, complete with a bowling alley, golfing range, and baseball batting cage. Also, home to Chelsea Brewery, the only active brewery in Manhattan, and take their brewery tour and beer tasting.
Major landmarks to see are the Chelsea Hotel, a famous residence where many famous lived, and General Theological Seminary, the oldest Seminary of the Episcopal Church founded in 1817. Tour price includes lunch, brewery tour and beer tasting.
Little Italy/East Village Pizza Tour
Our tour begins in Little Italy and the home to Lombardi's, New York's first pizzeria, still making pizza the old-fashion way in the original coal-fired brick oven. Then we'll go to Lasso, a winner of the Manhattan Borough Pizza Competition for its margherita pie. Next we'll visit Ciao Bella, for authentic home-made gelato as we clense our palate and head into the East Village.
Artichoke Basille is a popular pizzeria drawing crowds day and night with the freshest ingredients and a beautiful char crust. Must see local icons included Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, The New Museum, and Cooper Union, a free university built in 1859, the old home to CBGB's and McSorley's, the oldest pub in the city. Lunch included in the tour price.
Brooklyn Bridge Sunset Food Tour
We'll meet in Lower Manhattan near the bridge, and take a short walk into Brooklyn. The scenery from the bridge is incredible, the orange/red glow of the sunning sun, and the view of the Statue of Liberty are amazing. Our first course will be crispy Vietnamese spring rolls on the bridge as we learn more of the longest suspension bridge built at the time. Its 15 years of construction was completed in 1883.
In Brooklyn Heights we'll have the legendary pizza from Grimaldi's, a famous name in New York Pizza, who got a start working with the Lombardi family in Little Italy in the early 1900's. Their thin-crust pizza is still made in a coal-fired brick oven, and carries the highest pizza rating from Zagat.
For dessert we'll visit a gourmet hand-made ice cream store in an old fireboat house at the Fulton Ferry Landing. Sights not to miss are the old cobblestone streets in this historic seafaring neighbhorhood,
Long Island Safe Deposit Company build of cast oron built in 1869, and the Eagle Warehouse & Storage Romanesque Revival built in 1874. Lunch included in tour price.
|
|
Best New York Coffee Houses |
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
Sure, there’s a Starbucks on nearly every corner in this city, but here are our picks for the 10 best alternatives.
1. Cappuccino — Macchiato Espresso Bar, 141 E. 44th St.
This Midtown spot may be named for another coffee drink, but it churns out at least 300 cappuccinos a day. Made from its own blend of beans, Macchiato 44 from Seattle, the capp ($3.35) consists of a shot of espresso, frothed milk and heated milk.
2. Flat white — Café Grumpy, Brooklyn, 383 Seventh Ave.Park Slope Brooklyn
Flat whites are stronger than a latte, and hard to find in NYC, but at this Park Slope cafe it’s a signature drink. “We use our house espresso and full cream milk from Battenkill Valley Creamery,” says co-owner Caroline Bell of the $3.50 coffee.
3. House blend — Roasting Plant Lower East Side 81 Orchard St. (Grand St.)
Greenwich Village 75 Greenwich Avenue (7th Ave.)
Excellent quality coffee and each cup is roasted fresh for your enjoyment. Great chocolate chip cookies too.
4. Double espresso — Café Gitane, 242 Mott St. (Prince)
Espresso made from La Colombe’s Nizza blend will cost you $3 at this NoLIta cafe. It tastes bold and smooth, but not bitter — and comes with a piece of dark chocolate. If the hipster quotient inside is too much, order one to go from the tiny takeout window.
5. Iced coffee — Indochine, 430 Lafayette St.
This Vietnamese-style coffee ($5) is made with smoky beans from Thailand and condensed and evaporated milk. “The ice cubes are made from coffee rather than water, so the drink is pure, uncompromised, java goodness,” raves a fan.
6. Café con leche — Taza del Oro, 96 Eighth Ave.
This no-frills Puerto Rican restaurant does a killer cafe con leche (made from strong espresso and boiling hot milk) for just $1.25.
7. Macchiato — Ace Hotel Cafe, 18 W. 29th St.
This new café sports Stumptown coffee, the hippest, hottest java in town. Beans by the Portland, Ore., coffee roaster make an espresso with hints of chocolate and caramel — and a dollop of foam tops it off. “It’s delicious,” says owner Duane Sorenson of the $2.80 treat.
8. Double latte — Fika, 41 W. 58th St.
Indian coffee beans, sent to Sweden for roasting are the key to this delicious brew. Once an order is taken, they’re ground fresh before adding 12 ounces of steamed milk for a strong, but velvety-tasting cup of joe ($5).
9. Drip coffee — Abraco, 86 E. Seventh St.
This teeny-tiny spot makes each order of drip coffee ($2.50) separately, which guarantees a super-fresh brew.
10. Cortado — Southside Coffee, 652 Sixth Ave.
This Spanish-style concoction ($3.25) consists of a double shot of Intelligentsia espresso and steamed milk (bought from a farmer in upstate New York), served in a 5½-ounce glass. “It’s a perfect drink,” says co-owner Joshua Sidis.
|
|
NYC Most Visited City |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
The number of visitors to New York City fell last year for the first time since 2001 when terrorists struck. But tourism declines elsewhere across the U.S. made it the most popular destination in the country for the first time in almost two decades, tourism officials said Monday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg painted the 3.9 percent decline — an estimated 45.3 million visitors — as a victory, saying that amid the recession the city had anticipated losing as much as 10 percent of tourists. The city expects to recoup most of the loss this year and remains on track to hit its longstanding goal of 50 million yearly visitors by 2012, the mayor said.
Other hot spots were hit harder, making New York America's No. 1 destination for the first time since 1990, the mayor said. For nearly two decades that title was held by either Las Vegas or Orlando.
"We have made our city cleaner, safer and more exciting than ever," Bloomberg said at a press conference at a Brooklyn restaurant. "I do think we'll continue to see even more tourists on our streets as the economy improves, and I think that we'll continue to fare better than other cities."
While many travelers stayed home simply because money was tight, the mayor also attributed the decline in international visitors to swine flu fears and concerns over border security measures.
Foreign visitors — traditionally the biggest spenders — fell to 8.6 million in 2009, a drop of almost 10 percent from the year before. That echoed a milder national trend, with international visitors to the U.S. down 7 percent in the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period the year before.
Still, some attractions, including the Statue of Liberty, reported jumps in visitation. And the city's leisure and hospitality industry — which provides one-tenth of the city's private sector jobs — actually grew in 2009.
The decline in visitors was modest partly because the city's hotels offered deep discounts, with some dropping rates by as much as 40 percent, said Bjorn Hanson, a professor at New York University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.
"The lodging industry really is using discounting to stimulate demand," he said, adding that the price drops have significantly boosted "the city's ability to maintain the level of tourism that it's had."
While the final numbers aren't in, Hanson estimates that New York City hotels dropped their average daily rate about 29 percent to between $200 and $235 last year.
|
|
TKTS: Broadway Bargains |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
Some people like to plan their theatergoing well in advance; others, especially these days, are more interested in a bargain. The TKTS booth is often the first stop for those seeking reduced-price seats to a Broadway show. The booth in the theater district, at a newly refurbished location, is a relatively quick and convenient place to score tickets.
But what about the long lines? How do you know if a show is worth the money? Can’t this be done on an iPhone? And why aren’t there ever any tickets to “Wicked”?
Victoria Bailey, the executive director of the Theatre Development Fund, the nonprofit performing arts service organization that operates the city’s TKTS booths — besides the one in Times Square, there are booths at South Street Seaport and in downtown Brooklyn — has some answers.
I asked her some basic questions recently; here is our exchange.
What is the best time of day to get tickets? Where and when are the shortest lines?
The booths open at different times depending on the day of the week. The best time to go to the Times Square booth, in terms of evening performances — if you want the shortest wait — is probably 5:30 or 6 p.m. Really anytime after 5:30 there’s never a line. Most people get there when we open so the lines are longest then. That’s also when we tend to have the most shows available. There’s also a play-only line at the Times Square booth. There are hardly any lines for that.
Weather is tricky. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon people want to hang out in Duffy Square so it will be crowded. When it snows there won’t be a line. On a cold rainy day you won’t have a line. Fall through spring; the weather can make a difference.
When you’re talking about the satellite booths, because they are smaller and not centrally located, the lines are always shorter. The lines in Brooklyn are the shortest.
I’ve heard you can get better seats if you go later in the day. Is that true?
A show may not be at the booth when it opens, but tickets may still be sent over at 4:30 or 5. The theater may have house seats that they haven’t used. If there’s no traffic at the box office, tickets will go to the booth. Producers know that there are people at the booth who are going to buy tickets that day. |
|
New Food Tours for Spring |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
WalkingToursManhattan.com has introduced new food walking tours to help enhance the sightseeing experience when visiting the Big Apple.
Food tours were added to the Brooklyn Bridge, Little Italy/East Village and Chelsea. Restaurants and local shops were selected to help bring the feel of the neighborhood across through it's unique foods, while visiting major attractions.
Barbecue Ribs & Brewery Tour
We'll visit the popular Chelsea neighborhood, home to the Chelsea Food Market, and numerous art galleries. Award-winning ribs are on the menu from the well-known Baron of Barbecue Chef Paul Kirk.
Lunch will be enjoyed on the High Land Park, the city's newest elevated park, with great views of the city and the Hudson River.
Then we'll visit Chelsea Piers, a 30-acre sports entertainment center, complete with a bowling alley, golfing range, and baseball batting cage. Also, home to Chelsea Brewery, the only active brewery in Manhattan, and take their brewery tour and beer tasting.
Major landmarks to see are the Chelsea Hotel, a famous residence where many famous lived, and General Theological Seminary, the oldest Seminary of the Episcopal Church founded in 1817. Tour price includes lunch, brewery tour and beer tasting.
Little Italy/East Village Pizza Tour
Our tour begins in Little Italy and the home to Lombardi's, New York's first pizzeria, still making pizza the old-fashion way in the original coal-fired brick oven. Then we'll go to Lasso, a winner of the Manhattan Borough Pizza Competition for its margherita pie. Next we'll visit Ciao Bella, for authentic home-made gelato as we clense our palate and head into the East Village.
Artichoke Basille is a popular pizzeria drawing crowds day and night with the freshest ingredients and a beautiful char crust. Must see local icons included Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, The New Museum, and Cooper Union, a free university built in 1859, the old home to CBGB's and McSorley's, the oldest pub in the city. Lunch included in the tour price.
Brooklyn Bridge Sunset Food Tour
We'll meet in Lower Manhattan near the bridge, and take a short walk into Brooklyn. The scenery from the bridge is incredible, the orange/red glow of the sunning sun, and the view of the Statue of Liberty are amazing. Our first course will be crispy Vietnamese spring rolls on the bridge as we learn more of the longest suspension bridge built at the time. Its 15 years of construction was completed in 1883.
In Brooklyn Heights we'll have the legendary pizza from Grimaldi's, a famous name in New York Pizza, who got a start working with the Lombardi family in Little Italy in the early 1900's. Their thin-crust pizza is still made in a coal-fired brick oven, and carries the highest pizza rating from Zagat.
For dessert we'll visit a gourmet hand-made ice cream store in an old fireboat house at the Fulton Ferry Landing. Sights not to miss are the old cobblestone streets in this historic seafaring neighbhorhood,
Long Island Safe Deposit Company build of cast oron built in 1869, and the Eagle Warehouse & Storage Romanesque Revival built in 1874. Lunch included in tour price.
|
|
Cupcake Crawl New York |
|
|
|
(New York, N. Y.)
Every month our dessert walking club goes in search of soothing sweet souls. Purchase of desserts are optional. $5.00 suggested donation per person for charity.
Join us for Cupcake Crawl New York as we visit 4 of the best cupcake shops in Chelsea and Union Square.
We’ll start at Cupcake Cafe, the first cupcake bakery started in 1988. Next we’ll visit Aunt Butchie’s, a newly opened bakery from Brooklyn, and taste an original Cookie Dough cupcake. Then it’s off to Billies, a former owner of Magnolia Bakery, and we’ll finish at Chelsea Market, for Amy’s captivating cupcakes.
To help support the good work of Food Bank For New York City, a non-profit helping to feed the hungry, donations are most welcome. 100% of donations go to charity.
Since December 2008 your donations have helped feed 58 New Yorkers for a month. We wish to thank all who generously donated. If you’d like to donate online, please go to Pay Pal at; http://www.paypal.com... and send your contribution to;
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Meet our tour guide with the red ball cap saying Walking Tours Manhattan on
Sunday March 14, at 11am at Cupcake Cafe, 18 West 18th St. (bet. 5th & 6th Ave.)
Walking distance is a little over 1 mile, and takes 1 1/2 hours.
For additional New York City food tours visit;
http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com |
|
|
