1) Doughnut Plant - located a couple blocks south of Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, the Doughnut Plant offers a fantastic and ever-changing selection of flavors. Over the years, I have sampled ginger, Meyer lemon, Pistachio, Coconut creme-filled, Tres Leches, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Rose petal donuts... and I have yet to come across a flavor I didn't like. Their cinnamon rolls and sticky buns rock, too. The donuts are made primarily for gourmet food stores in the City and whatever they have left over is sold from 6:30 a.m. until they run out.
2) The Metropolitan Museum of Art - For New York City residents, it's pay-what-you-like and that makes it the best deal in the City and, perhaps, the world. Their collection is staggering. Morgan and I have spent many Friday nights here, sketching and taking pictures. You can take it to another level, rent an audio guide and spend endless hours in the many, themed galleries. It's phenomenal.3) Chinatown - This neighborhood intimidated me the most when I first moved to NYC but it quickly became my favorite. I love the Vietnamese sandwich shops, the vegetarian dim sum, the Chinese bakeries, and a small, Thai supermarket that gets me kaffir limes for my curry pastes. It's one of the few neighborhoods still feels like a neighborhood. As I walk the streets, it feels both alien and comfortable and never disappoints.
4) The Bowery Ballroom - The best music venue in the City. It strikes the perfect balance between size and intimacy- there's not a bad seat in the house. The sound system is spot on and the lineup is a Who's Who of the indie music scene, and it's Clear Channel-free. I've seen everyone from Courtney Love to The Kills to the Notwist to the Wrens and the only reason I don't go every night is I'm an hour subway ride from home at the end of a show.
5) The Zip Code - I'll admit it. It feels cool to say that I live in New York. As a kid, the idea of living in a city of this size and density was terrifying. Despite the gentrification and precipitous drop in crime since the 1970s and 80s, this city is still a tough nut to crack. It's as expensive as hell and harder than ever to make it as an artist. I haven't fulfilled the grandiose plans I carried with me to the city, but simply living here has made me a survivor and proud that I have been able to hold my own in this city for this long.
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3 comments:
I think you’ve made a great list. I will miss many NYC things too. (and your #5 is so honest)
Its hard to pick what I’ll miss the most, but I think my list would look like:
Metropolitan Museum
Doughnut Plant
Statue of Liberty (beautiful statue I was lucky to see every morning as I went to work the first few years here, the symbolism and all the cultures/ethnicities)
The west village: McNulty’s Tea Shop, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Mamoun’s Falafel
New York Public Library (fantastic movie selection, and so easy to use!)
(And its hard to add to a list, but I know once I leave I’ll miss how the city is mostly Liberal: Pro-Choice, GLBT rights, public transportation, No Smoking in the bars and restaurants!)
Wow, so it's getting close. How about that energy too. Like you can wake up at three am and go outside and it's still electric. Pistachio donuts, that sounds dreamy! It all sounds dreamy actually.
MMMM Donuts...man that sounds so good. I've had lay off the donuts for heart based reasons. But really my drug of choice is a NY TIMES-Coffee-and-a-Buttercrumb Donut.
It really becomes great thing when you learn to "use" a city. I've been to New York for like 4 hours while en route to a wedding but it is amazing...a bit like being up the mountains but with a lot people and well buildings, but nevertheless awe-inspiring.
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