The Big Apple in 24 hours

A short while ago, I was in New York and my youngest Ali flew in to join me. It was meant to be a weekend but life intervened so it turned out to be only a little over 24 hours of father son togetherness and I meant to make the most of it.

Ali lives and works in Cayman but on occasion goes to Bermuda for work as well so it was fairly simple for him to jump on a plane for the 1 1/2 hour hop to JFK. I'd suggested he take the subway and I'd meet him and walk him around for the next 24 hours.

First thing was a late breakfast and I chose Sarge's Deli which I knew made the best all around corned beef hash in the world. Topped with 3 fried eggs and home fries, this is a real breakfast!

We ached as we came out but with the weather an unseasonal and balmy 23 degrees with bright sunshine, I proposed to walk Ali all over town. With New York set out in a classic grid pattern, all you needed to know are cross streets and you can find anywhere.

Ali needed some shopping, personal items, so we hit the stores. Midtown Mall is right next to Macy's so after blanking there, this was our target for Ali was on a budget. This all made me realise just how much US retail is suffering. There's so much of it, so many people looking to buy too, but with incomes not really rising and Amazon crowding out many retailers, those that remain have a tough time surviving.

We found a fairly ratty JC Penney as it happened with the men's department hosted by an attractive young lady who found a very special deal for Ali. I would have been absolutely mortified to be served in this fashion when I was younger and actually let an attractive young lady know what undies I wore, but then again being from the old school of Speedo's and tighty whiteys, perhaps that would be the case now too. Ali being from the new generation of board shorts and boxers held no such feeling.

As we had a subway card, we hopped on the subway for positively 4th Street (a nod to Bob Dylan who used to live there). This is Greenwich Village and home to our evening's entertainment. I wanted to show Ali the clubs and of course actually confirm that something would be on tonight. Cafe Wha was still there with the House Band due to start up around 5 pm, and around the corner Bleecker Street was also there and ..... had become almost gentrified. Possibly a Starbucks even.

When I first went to NYC back in the 1980's, it was dirty, edgy and a bit grungy. Some nice parts too of course but it had a definite Noo Yawk edge. That was one of the things that made it attractive. Perhaps it was the crack cocaine epidemic which hit the big apple in the mid-eighties? I never saw that in person but do remember walking up 5th Avenue at night near Grand Central Station with a work colleague and a couple of big black guys wearing reddish blazers came up behind us and said 'keep walking'. I hadn't a clue what was going on but my colleague said 'don't worry, they are the Angels'.... it may have been a different name but these were guys that roamed the street at nighttime to prevent people from being mugged.

There you go, the Guardian Angels.

It was Rudy Giuliani who was responsible for cleaning up NYC sometime later with his no nonsense policing tactics and I think he did a great job at that. New York is unquestionably a cleaner and safer city than it was but as we strolled along Bleecker Street, I did get the feeling that it had been tidied up a little too much. Gone were lots of the old grungy bars and eating places, gone were a number of places that showcased music like the Blues and Jazz. However Terra Blues still remains and we were able to confirm that there would be music later on.

We turned left up Broadway and because it was so lovely a day kept on walking. And walking. So much life to be seen in a city when you walk around it. New York is so fascinating too. You may think that being a huge city it has no distinctive bits and pieces but that is totally untrue. Korea Town, Japan Town, Chinatown, Little Italy, Hell's Kitchen... some great names too! Sarge's Diner was in a section called Murray Hill (2nd and 30-something). There were actually a few hills too, but not too drastic. Because big retail is suffering so much, mum and pop shops proliferate which I think is great as the independents reflect the community to a large extent and add great feel to the place. OK, I am a fan of the big apple. It's a real pleasure to visit.

Of course I wanted to eat at a venerable NY steakhouse but first choice Keens was full and Del Monico's could only manage a ridiculous time so we settled for Frankie & Johnnie's Steakhouse on W 37th street. It was great... of course. Steaks were huge and done beautifully. Martinis sang to us. Just a perfect preamble to the rest of the evening.

Cheers!

After this we soldiered back down to Greenwich Village for the Terra Blues experience and after some bar hopping, we finally arrived. I am pleased to say it was just how I remembered it. Small, low ceiling, little tables with chairs dotted around the club and some terrific blues. We stayed for 3 sets and made it back to our hotel about 3.30 am.

The following day was a Sunday so we wanted brunch which we found to be what almost every other New Yorker was doing as well. The myriad eateries that offered it were packed solid ... it was another lovely day so this is not surprising, however I remembered a Greek place on 1st Avenue and we wandered down there and were richly rewarded with piles of pancakes, French Toast and other goodies that you associate with brunch.

As we left JFK to our different destinations, we both agreed that we'd probably skip the next couple of meals.

If you look…

The day my meetings ended I made it back to Chelsea Market and the High Line Park but this time walked it all the way up to 30th street where it ended.

The soon to be extension of the High Line

Great views all along the trail though.  You don't often get the chance to look down on New York from 3 or 4 storeys up!

Chrysler Building from the High Line

Next day was the first of the two Living Social events I'd organized a week or so before.

I've blogged about Living Social before but really I am so impressed by them.  On one of the events, I had a problem reserving the actual day/time that I wanted -- there was a language 'misunderstanding'.  People that know me know what I mean here!  It would have been all rather embarrassing if I'd ever met the people again, but thankfully this is a big world!  I contacted Living Social's help desk and they resolved it, just like that.

The premise behind LS is the deal of the day (at least 50% off the ticker price).  They and a listed company called GroupOn are the leaders in this field but I chose to follow LS after reading a review of their competing styles.  Each time I visit a city, I try to see what is on LS as a special event and of course with larger cities the options are far more.  New York was jam packed!

My first event was a walking gastronomic tour of the West Village offered by a firm called Sidewalks of New York (see http://sidewalksofny.com).  They do loads of other neat tours too so do check them out!  Everybody on the tour had the same LS voucher as I did!!

Meeting place was near the West 4th Street subway station on Bleecker Street outside 'Porto Rico Imports', a business incorporated in 1907 and really spelled that way!  Our guide, Dante, told us that as they've been there so long and own the building, their prices are lower than anywhere else.  I bought some of the 100+ types of home roasted coffee and found he was absolutely right!

The tour was great in that Dante gave us history, some exercise and some pretty nice food -- not big slabs of it to be sure, but the combination of tastes was pretty good.  First stop was Mamoun's Falafel Restuarant on MacDougall Street, next to the renowned Cafe Wha where every major name musician in the world had performed.  Dante told us that clubs in the Village turn out at 4 am so this place and the pizza shop down the street (Artichoke Basille's our last stop on the tour) had their best custom between 4 am and 5 am.

This area of New York is old with many buildings dating back to the 18th century, in fact 1727 when a large fire rampaged through the city and destroyed all but one wooden building.

18th century apartments, these days very, very expensive indeed

We crossed 6th Avenue and went into the Italian quarter -- not Little Italy, but another one.  We passed a lovely little off-Broadway theatre called the Cherry Tree and discovered the first piece of memorable trivia of the day.

Definitely 'Off Broadway'

Whether a theatre is considered 'On' or 'Off' Broadway is nothing to do with location.  Its all to do with audience size.  On Broadway is 500+, Off Broadway is 100-499 and Off Off Broadway is under 99 -- who knew about 'Off-Off'?  Not me.

Next stop was Faicco's Italian Specialities where we had some antipasto after we'd walked past the Soprano's favourite lobster roll restaurant -- called Pearl, clearly they'd never heard about Chelsea Market! -- and Mario Batali's first New York restaurant -- he's moved on now but it's still Dante's favourite Italian restaurant in the area.  It's called Po at 31 Cornelia Street.  Sadly I never had a chance to try it this time around.

Not on the tour but right next door to Faicco's.  Looked great though!

Things became a bit of a blur after this point as the streets started to look the same and in fact as it turned out they were as we'd walked around in a great big circle!

Don't often see 4th Street intersecting with 10th Street

But Dante was a good tour guide and brought to life the first Prohibition bar in New York -- Chumley's   -- before the only fine dining establishment on the tour, called Fatty 'Cue, a Malaysian fusion barbeque joint if you can believe such exists!

Chumley's -- soon to be a new 'Speak Easy' so called because if you weren't polite to the doorman, you wouldn't get in!

We sat at the bar and the GM described the endless time it took to marinade, brine and then air dry the pork belly before they simply deep fried it and slathered it with salsa verde.  Sounded great but the taster was little pinky finger size and tasted like deep fried falafel!

We also had a New York bagel and the best canoli in New York at Pasticceria Bruno -- he'd made them for the Pope last year and beaten Bobby Flay in a canoli throw down too -- before we all parted ways.  Good fun and I was able to take note of where a lot of great jazz and blues clubs were hopefully for another time.

Some of Bleecker Street's blues clubs

I then moved hotels to Pod 39 -- a take on the Yotel hotels in Heathrow and Gatwick, small but comfy. The literature said "75 square feet of luxury" and it was just that!  But really nice and funky too.  I liked the bar area downstairs as each time I came back late it was jammed with a nice party feel.  Young people, tourists, and $200 a night.  Great deal!!  Check it out here -- http://www.thepodhotel.com.

Love the iPads in the wall!

The following morning my event was a 2-hour pizza making class at AOA Bar and Grill -- check them out here: http://www.aoabarandgrill.com -- in Tribeca.  Again all but 4 of the packed house were Living Social customers like me -- no they aren't listed like Groupon, but maybe they should be!  The class was great though, did take 2 hours and the pizza was really nice too -- my pizza that is!!

There really is a process in making a pizza.  It looks like you mash lots of stuff together, stir vigorously, then stretch the dough out, lob more stuff on top and then bake.  But there's way more than that.  As its baking you really do have to measure things out properly otherwise it turns out … well it actually doesn't turn out at all.  The teacher and pizza supremo, Robert, tossed out loads of wrong 'uns along the way.

I took the subway down to the new World Trade Centre building but found every tourist in the world there at the same time and endless lines so turned left and walked to Wall Street to see if I could get a tour of the New York Stock Exchange.

The security guard told me nobody gets in after 9-11 but I apparently could call someone.  This was annoying so I went to the Museum of American Finance opposite -- check them out here:  http://www.moaf.org/.

Its not everyone's cup of tea of course but finance has been central to my life for at least the last 25 years so of course I found it interesting.  It really is amazing how one dedicated and clearly mad person can do so much with an empty canvas.

That was Alexander Hamilton by the way, an ex-Scot and Caribbean islander who because of his great intellect was sponsored into school in the North East just at the time when the fledgling US kicked off the warm embrace of their colonial overlords.  He met and fought with George Washington and came up with the idea of pretty much everything financial after the war when the US was broke and their great allies, the French, were about to collapse into bankruptcy and then revolution.  Where do we start?  Bank of New York in 1784, bonds, currency -- "let's call it the … ah, ah, I know… the dollar.  Sounds like the German 'Thaler' but with our accent…"

Oh yes, nearly forgot.  He bought that too.

He was president, and apparently a good one, and then died under 50 in a duel with a friend.  Hamilton hadn't loaded his weapon but his 'friend' did!  What's the old saying about being aware of keeping your enemies close but in particular your 'friends'?

The current score…

I closed off the day by going to BB King's Blues Bar on 42nd Street to see a British band called The James Hunter Six.  Not a blues band, more swing or R&B but still great fun.  Don't go there for the food though.  I had fried chicken that was raw in the middle!  They replaced it but I didn't really fancy it much after that.

My last morning was all about corned beef hash at Bloom's, a Jewish deli style restaurant close to Pod 39 on Lexington.  I'd had that itch since arriving in New York and I hadn't been able to scratch it until then.

Great way to finish my trip.  Thanks Noo Yawk, I had a blast!