NYC-Fall 2014

New York City. What a place. You are in danger of acquiring Stendhal Syndrome- the psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance. It is something that will affect everyone to some extent when they get to NYC. There is just so much to do and see and watch and drink and eat and just get your head around…My stay began with the cab ride to mid town and after some confusion as to where I was actually wanting to go I was deposited on the sidewalk with a little over an hour to kill before meeting up with a friend. Fortunately it is NY and there was a bar directly under the apartment where I could wile away the time, drinking some fine Brooklyn lager and eating some very tasty bar food. It was the perfect reintroduction to the close proximity of everything in Manhattan. Within the block of the apartment there were numerous restaurants, bars, shopping, hotels, cafes, Laundromats not to mention Central Park-that most beautiful urban forest. Staying in Midtown is the New York of cinema and TV and Mid Century architecture. North by Northwest and Madmen assail you by the second. Drop into the Plaza or the St Regis for a martini-and to look at the extraordinary Maxfield Parish mural. Saunter to Carnegie Hall and see where the photographer Bill Cunningham lived, and to imbibe an old-fashioned cocktail and cigar at he Carnegie Lounge. Wander over to Park and see the iconic Lever House. On the way back drop into Little Collin Street café on Lexington for an espresso or flat white and fresh pastry. My first day here I walked from 56^th Street through to the Lower East Side by way of Midtown, Flat Iron and Gramercy, Union Square Park, Washington Park, West Village and the East Village. On the way back Chelsea. You quickly realise the neighbourhoods are totally unalike. I spent part of everyday traversing a different part of Manhattan. Upper West Side, Upper East Side with their extraordinary houses and architecturally astounding apartment blocks-one in particular in the Upper West Side built in 1913 was designed by J E R Carpenter and each apartment is soundproof. It has been in demand from musicians ever since as a place to live and work. He is considered the creator of the modern apartment. These apartment buildings are beautiful. Hells Kitchen is the latest reinvention-there are numerous restaurants, bars and cafes here. Rex on 10th avenue is a lovely small café where you can pull up a chair, or in my case a milk crate and spend some time off your feet and watching the world pass by. East Village still holds onto to its Bohemian character, although it is rapidly changing. Manhattan property has become frighteningly expensive. 

The quality of entertainment is just inspiring. Over the course of my stay I was fortunate to see the Masterworks performance by the NYC Ballet at the Lincoln Centre and to watch Wendy Whelan’s second last performance, Carmen at the Met, Cabaret in the studio 54 building with Michelle Williams and Allen Cumming-with table tickets in the Kit Kat Club, Hedwig and the Angry One Inch with Michael C Hall from Dexter fame in irrepressible form, Chicago, Listen up Phillip at the Lincoln Film Centre with the director Alex Ross and Jason Swartzmen in attendance, John Waters in Through a Glass Onion at the Union Square Theatre, the Ace Hotel where there is music every night in the foyer, the Bowery Ballroom, the Mercury Lounge, the Village Vanguard, Blue Note, the Sebastiao Salgado Exhibition Genesis at the International Centre for Photography, the Thomas Moran and William Turner etchings and chromolithographs at the New York Library, the Cubists at MOMA to name a few. The walk to Cabaret took all of 10 minutes. The magical vistas along the avenues and their iconic names-5^th Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Avenue of the Americas. When you visit NYC there are some must see places-the Empire State Building, The Flatiron Building, Central Park in Fall, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Woolworth Building, Tiffany's, Shopping on Madison Avenue, Museum Mile, The Frick, The Gugenheim, Broadway, eating at the bar, The Rockerfeller Center, The Natural History Museum, the United Nations Building, the extraordinary Tudor City Apartment Buildings, the view to the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry-and it only grows from here. On this trip I ventured into Brooklyn for parties, dinners and music. Brooklyn alone would be the fourth biggest city in the USA. A train trip upstate to Poughkeepsie and the enormous converted rail-bridge across the Hudson. The views to the hills and the colours of NY in fall as the trees begin to change.

Eating and drinking in Manhattan you are spoilt for choice. By far the most small bars and restaurants are in West and East Village, Soho and the Lower East side. This is an area you can wander around and explore-it is intimate and mostly free of the sea of people making their way on the avenues. Soho and the Lower East Side are alive with smaller boutiques and new designers and artists. Orchard Street in the Lower East Side has over 10 new art galleries. I was fortunate to have some great people to hang out with and to share their NYC with me. It made the trip a fantastic time. Thankyou. 

If you enjoy Midtown like I do and have ever watched Breakfast at Tiffany's you could do worse than read the fabulous Fifth Avenue, 5am by Sam Wasson. It is an exquisite look into New York Midtown and the social complexities of the 1950's and into the private lives of Truman Capote and Audrey Hepburn. My apartment was a gentle stroll from all of Holly Golightly's New York. Even better,  go to Tiffany's on 5th Avenue at 5am-the first scene on the first day of shooting. Make a date when walking back from some bars on the Lower East Side like I did.

"So smart and entertaining it should come with its own popcorn" 

Below is studio 54 waiting to be seated for Cabaret. The floor was an absolutely brilliant place to see the performance.

Some other places sampled-there are really too many to name

Viceroy Hotel Bar-29^th floor with views over Central Park and Midtown complete with mohair rugs for the chilly evenings

The Campbell Apartment Bar-Grand Central Station

Hudson Hotel-up the escalator and through the foyer to a great bar/lounge where you can sit in front of the fire and relax.

Casalulla Restaurant and Wine Bar Hells Kitchen

Betony Restaurant

Pizzarte

Joes Shanghai

Quality Italian

Blue Hill-Washington Place

Mahmouns Falafel-McDougall Street

The Dutch-Prince Street

Mangia Deli and Cafe

Lillies Bar-great before or after a show 49^th and 8^th

Little Collins Café-Lexington Avenue

Orchard Street-Lower East Side

One Fifty one Bar-Lower East Side

Ace Hotel

Union Square Café

Trattoria Del Arte-classic Italian after a show

Almar Tapas Restaurant Dumbo Brooklyn

Attaboy Cocktail Bar Lower East Side

The Dove Parlour-Thompson Street
Schillers Liquor Bar-Lower East Side
Temple Bar-NoHo for a quiet cocktail

Zibetto Café-a 3 minute walk from my apartment-stand up Italian style

Blue Bird Coffee Shop-East Village

Gimme Coffee-Mott Street
Rex Café-10^th Avenue

Keste Pizza-Napolitan Pizza Bleeker Street
Warby and Parker glasses at a reasonable price-named after characters in a Jack Kerouac novel

Worth and Worth Hats-chat to Orlando Palacios for some ideas on the best hat for you-he has a great story 

 One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years. 

Tom Wolfe

View to Manhattan from Dumbo