This archival post was migrated from an old Facebook album, so please excuse the choppy writing and odd formatting.
We stayed at the New Yorker Hotel again. Sure, the location is crazy busy just off Times Square near Penn Station, but it’s ridiculously convenient to get everywhere. And I like the old building, constructed in the 1929 in an Art Deco style. It was closed from 1970 through to the mid 90s when it was finally refurbished and reopened.
Our view out the hotel window: 34th St looking east toward the Empire State building.
The same hotel window view at night. 34th St eastwards with the Empire State lit up.
The view to the right out our hotel window: the ugly monstrosity that is the current Madison Square Gardens. The Leafs played there the Friday AFTER we left. Ah, well.
Looking up to the top of the New Yorker Hotel.
Go! Go! Curry! is a Japanese fast food curry chain that opened its first US branch here in NYC. The theme of the chain is baseball, specifically Japanese-born player Hideki Matsui who plays in the majors in the US. Apparently “55” sounds a lot like “go go” in Japanese, hence the name. The gorilla is named Gorry, I have no idea what he symbolizes.
Inside the very tiny Go! Go! Curry! Shown here are two varieties, a small chicken katsu and a small pork katsu. Both are piled on top of white rice, with the dark glossy curry sauce, and cabbage slaw on the side. Absolutely delicious — if you’ve never tried Japanese curry give it a shot, it’s not spicy, more of a comfort food. Thanks Stef for the recommendations
On what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, crowds lurked around in front of the Dakota doorway where he was shot. I’ve been to NYC four times, and three of those times I have ended up here at some point. I’m not sure why. Yoko Ono still lives at the Dakota but she was in Iceland at this particular time for another memorial (and probably to get some peace and quiet).
A bottleneck of people trying to get into the Strawberry Fields memorial at Central Park near the Dakota. We got as far as this sign, then gave up and went around another direction.
Crowds gather around the Strawberry Fields monument in Central Park. This was as close as we could get, and I stood on a fence to take this photo, but at least we could hear the singing and acoustic instruments. Sounded like they were working their way through the whole Lennon catalogue.
Josie gets into the John Lennon spirit in Central Park near Strawberry Fields.
A meadow near the south edge of Central Park. I’m always impressed by how vast and beautiful this park is.
The Asia Society and Museum’s current show is artwork from Japanese artist Yoshimoto Nara. Here we saw the originals of many artworks that we’re used to seeing only on t-shirts and in magazines. The website for the show has great images and videos of the art, as well as Nara at work.
Yoshimoto Nara is most known for the paintings and sculptures of somewhat angry or mopey looking girls, such as this large statue on a Park Avenue median outside the museum, above. Josie has owned a t-shirt with a similar character on it for years. it was a coincidence that there was a Nara show on in NYC while we were there. Two years ago our visit coincided with an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Takashi Murakami’s work — probably the only other contemporary Japanese artist I could identify. I think I personally prefer Nara’s more personal and less polished art, but both are interesting.
An art gallery in SoHo was having a show of the artwork of John Lennon, to raise money for charity. We just came across it and took some photos through the window as they closed up for the day.
This cool building with stained glass windows and nice lighting is the Bowery Mission.
We had lunch at David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village. Amazing food and with no pretension from the staff or other customers. I was so excited this photo came out blurry.
The lunch menu at Momofuku noodle bar. We tried the Cured Arctic Char, Bibim Gooksu and Pork Steamed Buns.
Cured Arctic Char with ponzu and lychee at the Momofuku noodle bar. Absolutely delicious, like sushi but with more spicy and sweet flavours.
Food highlight of the trip! Steamed Pork Buns at Momofuku noodle bar. The pork is pork belly, fatty but meltingly tender. Inside were pickled veg like in a banh mih sandwich, another of our recently discovered favourite foods. These were destroyed in seconds.
Another blurry interior shot of the Momofuku Noodle Bar: our vacant seats as we left. When we first sat down, before ordering, a staff member approached and told us they had a sudden lunch vacancy at one of David Chang’s other restaurants, Momofuku Ko, which is usually booked months in advance because it has only 12 seats and 2 Michelin stars. No doubt it was a great opportunity, but since that lunch would have been 16 courses over about 3 hours and cost us $180 each, we had to pass. Someone somewhere is crying. http://www.momofuku.com/ko/
The famous Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn. This is supposed to be the most classic old school steakhouse in NYC, all about the meat. It’s very expensive and they don’t take credit or debit, so as our guidebook says, “bring wads of cash.” We didn’t eat here, just walked past.
A cool closed storefront just south of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Two random buildings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with interesting graffiti, including some pixel art video game characters which I assume were done by the same artist.
The Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg. Really cool building and we were going to do a tour, but the next one wasn’t for two hours and the bar area was rammed full of very loud hipsters, so we decided this photo would suffice and moved on.
WIlliamsburg hipsters (it’s their home base, you know) are doing some sort of fashion photo shoot outside a vintage clothing store. The dude with the huge beard and tiny shorts is the star.
A “ghost bike” in Williamsburg. The sign says: CYCLIST KILLED HERE DAN VALLE 26 YEARS OLD FEBRUARY 18, 2009 REST IN PEACE I Googled his name and found a bit more information here.
Photo out the subway window as we came over the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn back into Manhattan.
Josie contemplates her ribs at Daisy May’s BBQ on Eleventh Ave. This was really our only food disappointment of the trip, if only because our first visit here in 2008 was so mindblowing. It was the only place we went back to, and I guess our sky-high expectations could not be met because this time the ribs were kind of bland and everything was pretty salty. Also we ordered way too much food, as you can see.
The Green Market in Union Square takes place every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday morning. We visited on Columbus Day Monday morning and it was very peaceful. Lots of great quality stuff. We bought a croissant and a pastry to have for breakfast in the square along with coffee and tea from the Whole Foods across the street. A great way to start the day in NYC. http://www.grownyc.org/unionsquaregreenmarket
This stall at the Union Square Green Market sold ostrich meat and eggs.
The Green Market in Union Square, looking west.
Much of Broadway is now pedestrianized, at least partly. This area is just north of Union Square. Several lanes have been converted into street patios where people relax, drink coffee and eat food purchased at the Green Market in nearby Union Square, or at one of the many take-out restaurants along Broadway.
A composite of two photos I took of the Flatiron building on Broadway. I couldn’t get far enough back to fit it all in, so I took two photos and mashed ’em together in Photoshop. You get the idea. Too bad it’s in the shade.
We came across the world’s most kick-ass Home Depot. This is on 23rd Street across from Eataly, near the Flatiron. Eataly was kind of cool but too dark so my photos didn’t turn out.
The famous Shake Shack in Madison Square. We’d meant to eat at the Shack on both our previous NYC trips but never got there, so this time we made it a must-see. We got there just after 11am to avoid the famous lines, which were already building up by the time we left about a half hour later. The Shack is much nicer than I expected, with a great garden patio. On their website they have a “Shake Cam” so locals can monitor the length of the lineup before heading over.
The Shake Shack menu board, and a reflection of some idiot taking a photo of it.
The Shake Shack bounty. I had a classic burger, Josie had the shroom variety.
Chowing down on my Shake Shack burger. Worthy of the hype, a good classic burger, not dry, and a great small bun. Even the fries were excellent.
After you place your order and pay, you get this handy device which alerts you when your food is ready.
A close-up of the Macy’s wooden escalators. The store has been there since 1902, but I’m not sure if the escalators also date from that time. Maybe the 1920s. Interesting fact: in July a kid got his finger ripped off by one of these escalators.
One of the Macy’s wooden escalators in its entirety. People were giving me the “stupid tourist” glare while I took this photo, and I probably deserved it. But… it’s made of wood!
We did a walkthrough of a small fraction of the enormous American Museum of Natural History. Lots of fun stuff, though many of the displays are kind of dated and odd. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Holden Caulfield’s observations about the place in The Catcher in the Rye. Here we have some sort of stuffed deer-like creatures in a “natural” African setting (I couldn’t bother to read the sign).
An exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History. I liked these monkeys better than the live ones I saw in Costa Rica because these ones were dead and didn’t throw anything at me and laugh.
An exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History. Josie says these were some sort of African hunting dogs.
This photo is blurry because it was dark. Mostly I just wanted a photo of the intricate mosaic designs and signs in some of the older NYC subway stations.
April Bloomfield’s Spotted Pig pub in Greenwich Village. We went in around 4:30 and sat at the bar to enjoy some items from the bar menu. It was very quiet and relaxing with good service. But when we left a couple hours later, these groups of people were lurking outside waiting for tables and things were starting to get chaotic.
More crowds outside the Spotted Pig as we left. Must be because of their freshly renewed Michelin Star. We tried the Deviled Eggs, Roll Mops (pickled herring with creme fraiche) and a Pot of Pickles. All delicious. I also had two different nice cask ales, and Josie had an expertly mixed martini.
The High Line is a newly opened park in NYC. It is located on top of an old raised railway line that runs up the western edge of Chelsea, Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District. Eventually it will run all the way to 34th St. A great example of urban renewal and reuse. This is the very southern tip.
A view looking down from the southern end of the High Line park. Some of the surrounding walls and roofs were covered in poetry, readable only by those up on the raised park.
They left some of the old rail lines intact on the High Line. I like how this park integrates new features and greenery with the old industrial aspects. The plantings themselves remind me of the recently opened green roofs on top of Toronto’s new City Hall.
Just off the High Line the view is still impressively industrial.
Straddling the High Line is the Standard Hotel, a cool and expensive boutique hotel. Beneath the rail line is where it has its lobby, lounges and restaurants.
Straddling the High Line is the Standard Hotel, a cool and expensive boutique hotel. Beneath the rail line is where it has its lobby, lounges and restaurants. Rooms here range from about $400 to $1800 per night.
A diner in Greenwich Village, right at dusk.
The view south of a pier on Hudson River Park, along the western edge of Chelsea or Greenwich Village or some place in that vicinity. On the left an FDNY boat and in the distance is the Statue of Liberty. The miracle plane landed on the Hudson about a dozen blocks in the other direction.
A police Hit and Run notice on a post along West Street near the Hudson River Park. Based on the insane drivers and pedestrians in NYC I’m surprised this doesn’t happen to everyone. The traffic and general chaos of Manhattan is a shock, even for someone used to being downtown in a city.
A building draped in vines in the West Village across from the Hudson River Park.
A bicycle shop and repair garage in Greenwich Village.
During a sudden and intense rainstorm on Monday night, water began flooding down into a subway station on 34th St. I started taking photos, and when I turned around tons of other people were doing the same thing. The woman in the MTA booth was muttering about how this happens every time it rains and they never fix it.
The train crawls into the station with water flowing off the top. You should have seen the shocked look on people’s faces when the doors opened and they saw what they had to walk through to get out.
A wall of rain cascades down onto the subway platform. Aboveground it was hailing.
Gray’s Papaya is a NYC institution selling crazily cheap and oddly satisfying hot dogs. This is the Eight Avenue and 37th St location, conveniently steps from our hotel. Gray’s infamous Recession Special precedes this current recession: I think they started it in the 90s and never ended it. There are only a handful of locations of Gray’s Papaya but it has various imitators such as Papaya Dog.
Josie with her Recession Special: $4.45 for two hotdogs with saurkraut and creamy papaya drink (Josie chose the Pina Colata variation).
The elegant atmosphere of Gray’s Papaya. Also, people in NYC are cool.
“We are ready to believe again.” Gray’s Papaya officially endorsed Obama for president in 2008.
Since our last visit in 2008, we noticed many new bike lanes in NYC. Note that unlike Toronto’s death trap bike lanes, these are actually smooth (what a concept!) painted in a distinct colour and separated from traffic by a neutral space. In some places the bike lane is separated from moving traffic by parked cars. Great ideas.
I like the NYC subway entrances: they are all consistent and you can see them from miles away. And the globes match (sort of) the colour of the train line serving the station.
Note to Toronto City Council: people can eat food other than hotdogs from food carts and trucks and they will survive. This gyro and sandwich truck is just one of hundreds we saw selling interesting things. I even saw a truck selling nothing but seafood and not a single person was lying in the street writhing with food poisoning. Amazing!
On our last morning before heading to the airport we ducked down to 23rd St and had some New York bagels for breakfast at Murray’s Bagels. The bagel itself was definitely amazing, crisp with a chewy interior, much nicer than the “dry white bread with a hole” they call bagels in Toronto. But they put waaaay to much cheese on this, it’s like eating a whole package of cream cheese at once. That I do not understand. Next time: just butter.
Beautiful Newark from the NJ Transit train back to the airport. It’s everything I ever expected New Jersey would be.
Another view from the NJ Transit train back to Newark airport. Stunning beauty.
Porter is truly flying in style: complimentary Steam Whistle on the way home, in a real glass no less.
BMO Field and Ontario Place, moments before landing in Toronto.
Touchdown in Toronto! Back to reality.