Month: May 2015
Location: Manhattan
“He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion. Uh, no, make that: He-he... romanticized it
all out of proportion. He was too romantic about Manhattan as he
was about everything else.”
So says the character of Woody
Allen, ‘Isaac’ in one of the all-time great movies, ‘Manhattan’. While not as obsessed as him, I too love New
York – henceforth any reference to New York means New York City and by that I
mean Manhattan. One of my favorite
things to do is go to NYC for ‘Memorial
Day’ weekend and then cap the summer by re-visiting over the ‘Labor Day’ weekend. This was the first of those visits.
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| Manhattan! |
I landed at ‘LaGuardia’ airport in the morning and took a cab to my ‘Midtown Hotel’. I dumped my luggage and then hopped on a
train to my first destination, ‘Katz’s
Delicatessen’, one of the premier deli’s in NYC, if not the country. They have a strange system here, where as soon
as you come in, you are given a numbered ticket.
Then, as you order, they write that on the ticket, which is also marked
after you pay. After that, you are only allowed to leave when you hand-in your
ticket. I do not understand it, but it’s
clear that you should hang on to your ticket for dear life. After figuring out the system I joined the
huge line and placed the order at the counter, which in itself was
a task and a half. Then it was getting a table, but after a few bumps I managed to find a community table that I
shared with a family. The food was
definitely worth the wait and the navigation through the crowd. Plus I had kept my ticket and so was able to
exit successfully.
My next stop this afternoon was
just a few blocks away, where I was playing “Escape
The Room NY” game. There are 5 rooms
in the city and I had already “escaped”
successfully from 3 of them, as I had in Nashville and Chicago. For this trip I had signed up for the
remaining 2 rooms and this afternoon I was attempting the first one. I arrived at the location and I was early…way
early. They send me off to a nearby bar called ‘Schillers’, which is one of those charming places with black and white tiles.
After spending the next hour getting to know a couple of cocktails, I
came back to the room in a happier frame of mind! I got to know my teammates, who were young
and when they heard about my experience, were looking at me for guidance.
We tried our best and worked well, but were beaten by the clock,
just a couple of minutes away from escaping.
The room itself was called “The
Theatre” and was a great layout for a game like this.
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| Twilight on the 'Highline' |
After mentioning to the folks
that I would be back, I set off to walk down ‘Bleeker Street’ to a place called ‘Bantam Bagels’, which I had seen on the show ‘Sharktank’ After a walk of
30 minutes or so I arrived to see that the place was closed. Well, I just kept going on towards a place
which I had never been to in all my visits, ‘The
Highline’. I had read about this on ‘Chicago Riverwalk Project’ website and
was looking forward to the visit.
Essentially the ‘Highline’
was an elevated rail line that supplied the ‘Chelsea
Market’. After decommissioning, it
was condemned to deterioration, till a group calling themselves “Friends of the Highline” came together
to rescue it. The rails stayed, but a walkway
was built around it with gardens and now it was transformed into one of the
prime location for real estate. In fact,
condos around this place are some of the most expensive in the neighborhood. I joined the ‘Highline’ at its Southern point on ‘Gavenport’ street and as I went upstairs, I saw that there were a
lot of people who had come out to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. As I walked the length of the ‘Highline’ - all the way to the 34th
street - I passed by artists, food stations, gardens and seats acting as viewing
areas for people. It was definitely a place
that I was glad to have found.
After navigating through the
crowd that is perpetually surrounding ‘Time
Square’, I arrived at my hotel for a shower, before heading out for dinner
at ‘Atera’, a restaurant I had heard
a lot about. I arrived almost 45 minutes
early in order to wait at the bar, but since they do not have a lounge, I was
directed to a nearby place called ‘B-Flat
Bar’, which is underground, and one has to enter through a dimly lit
stairway. I had a cocktail and then went
for my dinner, which comprised of 18 or 20 courses, served with impeccable
style and service. I say 18 or 20
because I had opted for a wine pairing and so lost track of what happened
towards the end!
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| The sinful 'Frozen Hot Chocolate' |
The next day dawned with me
regretting my decision to go for the wine pairing, but I had to recover fast
since I had plans. I was on my way to
the East side towards ‘Serendipity 3’. All my Saturday’s in NYC follow a pattern and
it starts with their famous ‘Frozen Hot
Chocolate’. I arrived before the
opening at 11:30 am and there was already a line. In
little less than an hour I was on my way, having had my share of the chocolate
goodness. I set off for the long walk to my favorite place in NYC, ‘Cathedral of St. John’s The Divine’. I crossed over to the West Side and then
walked up the length of ‘Broadway’,
from the ‘59th Street’ to
the ‘110th’, stopping at
some of my usual spots like a small park that’s hidden between buildings and ‘Westside Market’, which I just like for
its organization. I was in a hurry
though, since I had a tour to get to.
The group had already gathered
when I reached the cathedral and I joined them for a ‘Verticals Tour’ , which was essentially an expedition that would
take us all the way to the ceiling…and beyond.
We huffed and puffed around the narrow spiral staircase to the first
stop, which was the balcony overlooking the main floor of the cathedral. I had been here previously and now we went
even higher, to appreciate some of the
“stained-glass windows”. What was
amazing that what appeared to be small figures as you looked from the base were
actually life sized images when you got closer.
We continued climbing to over the ceiling that is visible from the
inside, and then climbed beyond it to the roof, with incredible views of Manhattan. Everything that goes up must come down and
with the remains of my heart in my mouth, I came down and for the next 45
minutes or so I walked about the cathedral, sat down and also lighted some candles.
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| One of my favorite locations in NYC: 'Central Park' |
I left the cathedral and went
down the ‘110th street’ to
the Northwest end of ‘Central Park’. And then I was off. After all these years I have formulated a
path through the park, all the way down to the South side, but often find
myself getting lost. I walked past the ‘Onassis Reservoir’ and for the first
time visited the ‘Belvedere Castle’
before ending up on the ‘Mall’.
Finally, I emerged from the park after over 2 hours and headed to my hotel for
freshening up. For dinner I was going to a Japanese place called ‘Brushstroke’,
which was a nice and pleasant affair.
One of my courses was a ‘Lobster
Rice’ and they brought out a pot of the finished product to show me, before
bringing out a small serving. Then I
learned that the entire pot was mine and so I found myself carrying leftovers.
Sunday morning started with a
breakfast of ‘Lobster Rice’, well because that’s what I do!
I was headed back to the ‘Escape
The Room’ game for trying the last of the rooms in NY, ‘The Apartment’. Once again,
I was grouped with a lot of youngsters and we worked well together. I impressed them when I cracked an important
clue and like a couple of days ago, we were seconds away from opening the door,
failing at the last clue because none of us spoke ‘Spanish’. I had failed on this
trip to escape either of the rooms, but it had been excellent sessions.
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| Now that's a real pizza! |
I walked up ‘Bleeker Street’ to ‘Bantam
Bagel’ and not only were they open for business, but their bagel bites were
just as good as advertised. However, the main
reason for me to go to ‘Bleeker Street’
was to get a slice at ‘Bleeker Street
Pizza’. Now let me be clear about
something. There is a constant debate on
“New York vs Chicago Style Pizza”. For me there is no discussion. New York has pizza. Chicago makes an egg-less quiche! It was as great as I remembered it and the
best $3 that I have spent in a long time. It may be
becoming more obvious that I am a creature of habit and what follows the pizza
is a stop at the famous ‘Strand’
bookstore. I had first visited this
place several years ago and had been taken in with its layout, with aisles of
stacked shelves and also books on floors.
Last year I had found a book hidden amongst some bigger ones and it was
short stories on coincidences. I bought
that and then a week later had left it on a plane. Later that year as I visited NY and ‘Strand’, on a hunch I looked in the
same place and found a copy of the same book.
After all, it is about coincidences.
After spending some time here, I
was next headed to one of the hidden treasures of NY, ‘Rice To Riches’, which celebrates this humble dessert and elevates
it to gourmet status. I got my usual guilty
pleasure, which is the ‘Mascarpone &
Cherries’ with a topping of ‘pound
cake’. I found a table and
thoroughly enjoyed this concoction before proceeding to ‘Broadway’, and headed downtown.
I had some time to spare and so stopped over at a wonderful ‘Asian’ store that had all sorts of
delights. I picked up a few things and
then continued down to my destination, which is one of the best museum,
educational institutions and tribute that I have had the privilege of visiting
- the ‘9/11 Museum’ built at ‘Ground Zero’.
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| The magnificent '9/11 Museum' |
The first time that I came here a year
ago, I had spent time at the giant fountains that mark the locations of the
fallen towers. Those by themselves are fantastic, but the real treasure lies
beneath them…7 floors down. That time I
had not been able to get a ticket to go down, but had made up for it a few
months later and was absolutely floored by what I had seen. After going down the long escalator, one
enters a lobby, which then leads down a spiral ramp, all the way to the very
foundation of the two towers. At the
base, in the main gallery are various exhibits, including a Firetruck that was
at the site of the collapse, a piece of the antenna from the ‘South Tower’ and the last pillar to be
removed from the site as it became a symbol of hope during the cleanup. The gallery itself is quite solemn but nothing
prepares you for the room under the ‘North
Tower’, which showcases a minute-by-minute account of what happened that
day. The entire recreation of that day
is difficult to see, but a valuable resource for generations to come. Under the ‘South
Tower’ is a tribute to all of the fallen from that day with photographs and
biographical histories. As sat on a
bench looking at the wall with Virgil’s quote, I was reminded of the how much
many sacrificed that day, and the innocence that has been lost forever.
I took a train back to the hotel
and that evening I was going to the best restaurant in the country, ‘Eleven Madison Park’. I took a train to the famous ‘Flatiron building’ and walked across
the park to the restaurant. The service
in this place is impeccable and I had a wonderful experience, even getting
invited for a tour of their famous kitchen and being presented with an ‘ice globe’ that was made in front of me
at a special table. To me it still
remains one of the best dining experiences out there.
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| Inside 'Chelsea market' |
My last morning in NYC involved a
3 hour walking “Food Tour” of the
famous ‘Chelsea Market’. I had first visited this place last year and
had been impressed by the layout and the variety of options available. I arrived just before 9 am and was soon
joined by our tour guide and other visitors.
For the next 3 hours we visited many eating places, tasted a lot of good
food and even visited the ‘Highline’
once again. Plus we learnt a lot about
the history of this place and how it is now the headquarters for ‘Food Network’. Well, even ‘MLB’ has an office here. At
noon the tour was over and I still had some time to spare. I went to one of my favorite ‘Food Courts’ on ‘58th Street’ and ‘5th
Avenue’ and had some wine before going back to the hotel and catching a cab
to the airport.
It had been a wonderful trip. I have been visiting NYC for a long time and
every time I find some new delight. This
time it was the ‘Highline’. Plus, I will never tire of my trip on the ‘Upper West Side’ to the cathedral and
my trip down south through the park. I
love this city and I feel that I know it a bit now. I think that ‘Isaac’ could well have been speaking for me.
"New York was his town, and it always would be."
- Manhattan,
1979
