Rita the Rube in NYC--tips wanted

bluenoter · August-1st-2003, 12:54 PM

I'll be in NYC from the afternoon of Saturday, August 9 to the early evening of Sunday, August 10 (and seeing Dennis G. & Co. at Tonic on Saturday). I'll be staying at a hotel on W. 31st St. between Fifth Ave. and Broadway on Saturday night.

I used to bop around NYC when I was a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore, and I haven't been there for many years. So I'd love to hear any tips y'all might have.

COMMUTING: I'll figure out how to get to my hotel from Port Authority, and I'll probably figure out anything else I need to know. I already know how to get to Tonic and how to get to the Upper East Side museums.

I consider DC's subway system absolutely safe late at night. Decades ago I used NYC's subway system late at night and was downright scared. What's it like late at night now?

One buys a farecard these days, right? Any special tips?

DINING: The only dining tip that I'm really looking for is a place to eat a basic American breakfast--eggs and grease--within walking distance of my hotel. Other than donut chains and Mickey D's (yuck!), I've read about the Fifth Ave Coffee-Bar Restaurant and the New Big Apple Coffee Shop. Is anyone by any chance familiar with either of those? Any others?

For pre-Tonic dinner on Saturday and for lunch or early dinner on Sunday, I'm not looking for dining tips; I'm looking for dining COMPANY. A few "hang" possibilities have been mentioned on the NYC Jazz thread in Speak Out, but nothing is solid yet. Please come on out, folks, and if you can, please let me know in the NYC Jazz thread (to keep such discussions in one thread) or in a PM or e-mail.

MISCELLANEOUS: I'm all ears.

Thanks!

Jimmy Cantiello · August-1st-2003, 01:16 PM

NYC is safer than it has been in years. Having said that, I would not recommend that a person travelling alone, man or woman, ride the subways after dark. As for breakfast, there are a million places in the city where a decent one can be found. I'm not familiar with those coffee shops that you've mentioned. Looking forward to meeting you, Rita. If I don't get to see you before Tonic, I'll see you there and after the gig. Maybe we can drag Dennis out for a cocktail or three.....................

jazzy mary · August-1st-2003, 01:19 PM

Damn, Rita, I wish I were going to be in town--I'd show you the city bigtime!

I'm not sure what hotel you're staying in, but there are coffee shops that will serve up a fine basic eggs, toast etc. breakfast all over the West side, just walk up or down B-way. I'd realy be up for dinner but I won't be here. The JC people should take care of that for you. What happened to the Otto thing? I'd dine w/ Jimmy any chance I could get!! If you can't find company, don't be shy about dining by yourself in NYC. It's not a big deal at all. There are scads of restaurants all up and down B-way, Columbus etc. Just look in the window and at the menu and see what attracts you. You may want to click on the web site called "Citysearch" and look for dining sugestions in the area of NYC where you will be.

As far as subways, they are safe basically all the time. For the day, going back and forth, see if the "Fun Pass" is an economical idea. As far as museums, you can walk from the Met to the Guggenheim to the Whitney and it's a lovely walk. After the Tonic gig, hop a cab uptown, it won't be that much and it'll be ALOT faster and, if it's a concern safer. I hate the NYC subways. You have wait sooooo long for a train, they take forever, there's always something going wrong----a sick passenger, a train they have to wait on, all of a sudden they go express without telling anyone and on an on. If it's at all feasable to take a cab, I do!

Brian Olewnick · August-1st-2003, 01:43 PM

Aside from the wait (especially for the uptown F Train near Tonic on late nights) the subways are almost always both safe and crowded (in Manhattan, anyway). You can get onto one at 3AM on a weekday and there will be at least a dozen people in the car. Besides, if I'm there and hanging out, I'll be happy to drive you (probably Gitin too--he stayed on B'way and 25th last time)back up to your hotel; don't worry.

I don't know how you're going to jam in so much during your brief stay, though. The Met alone on Sunday morning should keep you occupied.

Jimmy Cantiello · August-1st-2003, 02:08 PM

Contrary to what you've heard I still wouldn't recommend that a lone person ride the subways at night, especially if Olewnick is out and about.................

Jon Abbey · August-1st-2003, 02:28 PM

the best gelato I've ever had outside of Italy is at a fairly new place near Tonic, il Laboratorio del Gelato, 95 Orchard St., (between Broome_& Delancey Sts), http://www.laboratoriodelgelato.com, run by the guy who founded Ciao Bella as a teenager and later sold it. unfortunately, it's only open during the day, 10-6, 7 days a week, so that might be hard to fit in...

bluenoter · August-1st-2003, 11:31 PM

Big thanks to the folks who have responded so far. I'll post more of a reply later.

Later: Make that later still, but in the meantime, I'm raising this thread.

Edit: To the person who sent me a PM and asked me to reply by e-mail: I just did, finally!

Al in NYC · August-2nd-2003, 12:58 AM

The main thing to fear in the subways these days are the constant weekend service changes. I ride the F regularly and it won't be going over by Tonic this weekend -- it will be running on the A/C line between W. 4th in Manhattan and Jay St. in Brooklyn, which is considerably to the south of where you'll want to be. So it suddenly gets a bit tricky to get from the West Side to the Lower East Side via subway. I believe you would have to take the F down to Fulton St. and backtrack from there via the J/M to Essex St.

Incidentally, the area where you're staying is NYC's Koreatown. The block of 32nd St. to the north of your hotel is lined with one Korean restaurant after another.

hornplayer · August-2nd-2003, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon Abbey
the best gelato I've ever had outside of Italy is at a fairly new place near Tonic, il Laboratorio del Gelato, 95 Orchard St., (between Broome_& Delancey Sts), http://www.laboratoriodelgelato.com, run by the guy who founded Ciao Bella as a teenager and later sold it. unfortunately, it's only open during the day, 10-6, 7 days a week, so that might be hard to fit in...

I've been dying to try that place!

TheloniousFunk · August-2nd-2003, 01:53 AM

Well, my short experience with the subway late at night (1 AM-ish) was not scary at all. I rode it that late two or three times, and nothing happened, and I'm a kid.I wasn't alone though. Had I been, I might have been kind of worried, being a youngin' and all.

Gary Sisco · August-2nd-2003, 09:12 AM

Rita -- I'm going to disagree with my good pal Jimmy on this one. There was a time (years ago, now) when I wouldn't ride the trains anymore (not out of fear but because the stations stank so bad of piss and whatever else unmentionable) so took busses (which was cool, actually, because I got to see sections of the city I'd always ridden *under*). That's going back a long ways now, though, and the trains and stations are a lot cleaner (most of them). If I were you and not familiar with the city and all, I'd avoid taking trains, say, to Brooklyn if you didn't know where you were going or where you were going to pass through on the way, but in the sections of Manhattan you'll likely be traveling through or to, I wouldn't worry about it.

On the other hand, if you're worried about it, gallant Brian has offered you a ride, and the taxis are not all that expensive if you don't make a habit of riding in them. As for me, the taxi drivers scare me more than any subway inhabitants. :-)

As for the rest, restaurants and stuff, I'm going to have to go down there and kick some JC butt if the crew doesn't organize a cocktails and dinner thing somewheres with you.

Where's our pal, Pete C, in all of this? He's the one to organize a good feast.

And, yes, use the metrocard. If you're going to be three days or less, buy a card for each day (they're good to early a.m. the next day, for any mass transit). If more than three days, get the week card (same price as three day cards). The cards are readily available at all the stops I've used, and I'm sure they're available at Port Authority if you're coming in there.

Brian Olewnick · August-2nd-2003, 09:31 AM

Check the NYC Jazz thread. Pete, bafflingly, is choosing to go see washed up has-been Sonny Rollins (KIDDING!) instead of joining us for early dinner. The nerve.

Gary Sisco · August-2nd-2003, 09:52 AM

Oh, hell. Well, you guys know where to eat and meet. You can't let Bluenoter come to town and not have a decent pre-show hang. It just isn't done.

Brian Olewnick · August-2nd-2003, 10:05 AM

Fer sure. We'll work out the details over the next week. The place Jimmy mentioned, Otto's, intrigues me now. As long as his boys can muscle us a table away from the shooting zone.....

Uli · August-2nd-2003, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bluenoter

MISCELLANEOUS: I'm all ears.

Thanks!

Be a bit on the guard with the NYC socialites, especially the erscht-rankers. I think they would not mind picking up a new rube to play their game whilst attending this museum's event.

You're welcome.

Jon Abbey · August-2nd-2003, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Uli
Be a bit on the guard with the NYC socialites, especially the erscht-rankers. I think they would not mind picking up a new rube to play their game whilst attending this museum's event.

You're welcome.

dude, you really need to get off this board and out of the house once in a while.

Brian, if you guys do go to Otto, don't expect the pizza to be pizza as you know it, because you'll be disappointed. from all reports, it's more along the lines of a matzoh-like crust. without "pizza" expectations, I think you'll enjoy it more, again from talking to people who have been.

Brian Olewnick · August-2nd-2003, 10:51 AM

Jon, you're obviously stuck in traditional, "historical" definitions of "pizza". Frankly, I'm surprised. Grimaldi's-style pizza and variations thereof have been played out for decades. Open your taste buds!

btw, should the Ul-Meister ever venture to NYC, we have minions stationed at every transportation hub, ready at the drop of a hat to casually walk by him muttering about jazz being dead and boring. All taxis (and we control 95% of them) will be instructed to tune into a specially maintained radio station that plays nothing but Erst. Moreover, once our many spies get a fix on his choice of nightclub, said bistro will be rented out for the evening, filled with eai-drones and Radu Malfatti will be flown in for the occasion to sit onstage and contemplate his trombone.

Jon Abbey · August-2nd-2003, 11:02 AM

it's true actually, all joking aside, my food tastes, as you know, are somewhat conservative. that being said, the descriptions I've heard of Otto sound more uninteresting than intimidating, although as I said earlier, their gelato is reported to be splendiferous.

anyway, good to hear taxi control is up to 95 percent. nice work, General Ollie!

Brian Olewnick · August-2nd-2003, 11:20 AM

I was just checking out some on-line reviews of Otto. Pizza with cured fatback! Olive oil-flavored gelato! Gotta try it.

bluenoter · August-2nd-2003, 12:31 PM

Thanks a million to everybody who's posted so far! I don't know where to start.

Brian--It's a very kind offer, but I don't want to you give me a ride "home" afterwards unless you do end up giving someone else a ride in that direction. If I don't want to take the subway, I'll take a cab! I assume that one can flag down a cab in the Lower East Side, on the main streets at least. It would be nice if someone waited with me until I'd caught a cab, though.

Gary's admonishments re giving me the full "hang" treatment are very sweet. However, please don't plan an afternoon Scratcher's outing on my account. If y'all are going to be hanging there anyway, I'll join you at some point. But otherwise, I'd like to meet up for dinner.

On the other hand, I really hope that a post-Tonic nightcap excursion happens!

Re dinner: Now I'm going to sound like a total ingrate, but I'm a wimpy, conservative eater, and Otto's menu gives me pause. If Otto turns out to be what's shakin', I'll happily join y'all there. But if anybody's up for Katz's or another place instead, I'd opt for that, even though it would mean not seeing Jimmy, Tippy, and whomever until Tonic.

I'll check the NYC Jazz thread and see what develops in the days to come.

Re the subway: Service changes!? AIEEEE! Now, that scares me! I can research the basic routes, but I don't know my way around well enough to make mid-course adjustments. But just as a matter of principle, I'll be damned if I'm going to take cabs everywhere! From what y'all have said, service changes are the only thing that I'm worried about. Thanks!

Thanks for all your other tips and comments (so far) too! I'll be doing one museum at the most. If I'm still looking for a breakfast place, I'll look on Broadway. I'll be careful not to get indoctrinated into the insidious realm of eai. And so on . . .

Captain Hate · August-2nd-2003, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
Check the NYC Jazz thread. Pete, bafflingly, is choosing to go see washed up has-been Sonny Rollins (KIDDING!) instead of joining us for early dinner. The nerve.

Choosing to associate with Cultists, Ken Burns types and dweebs like Giddins instead of breaking bread with bluenoter is a poor choice, imnaaho.

moneyp · August-2nd-2003, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bluenoter
Brian--It's a very kind offer, but I don't want to you give me a ride "home" afterwards unless you do end up giving someone else a ride in that direction. If I don't want to take the subway, I'll take a cab! I assume that one can flag down a cab in the Lower East Side, on the main streets at least. It would be nice if someone waited with me until I'd caught a cab, though.

BN, you can do what I did when I was in NYC. Proceed to the nearest hotel, discreetly walk in, wait a few minutes in the lobby and then walk out and let the doorman hail one for ya!

Uli · August-2nd-2003, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mone peterson
BN, you can do what I did when I was in NYC. Proceed to the nearest hotel, discreetly walk in, wait a few minutes in the lobby and then walk out and let the doorman hail one for ya!

You went thru all that, just to avoid a ride home with Ollie, mone?

Jon Abbey · August-2nd-2003, 05:55 PM

oy. at least you'll have no trouble recognizing me if I make it to Tonic next weekend, Rita.

Pete C · August-2nd-2003, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
Check the NYC Jazz thread. Pete, bafflingly, is choosing to go see washed up has-been Sonny Rollins (KIDDING!) instead of joining us for early dinner. The nerve.

But I'm Clifton Anderson's biggest fan.

Just back from Philly. I was working on Singin Sumo to come up for this. I might change my plans and come to dinner. Not sure yet.

Jon, as far as matzoh-like pizza crust, haven't you had pizza in Rome? I know you get around.

The closest thing I ever had to NY pizza in Italy was in Salerno--I guess it's classic Pizza Napolitana, the mother of NY pizza.

Jon Abbey · August-2nd-2003, 06:16 PM

I've actually never been to Rome, my greatest regret when it comes to travelling. unfortunately, there's not much of an experimental music scene there, and my travelling is all work-related these days. I'm really hoping to stop off in Rome before I have to be in Vienna in November though.

I know Batali was/is trying to recreate an authentic Rome pizza at Otto, but it just doesn't sound too exciting to me, from reviews or reports from my friends. combine that with the crowds, and I haven't been there yet. have you, Pete? I'm a big fan of Babbo, and have enjoyed Esca and Lupa the couple of times I've been.

Pete C · August-2nd-2003, 06:29 PM

I haven't been to Otto yet. Babbo and Po were both great, but I was only once to each. Generally out of my budget. Vinnie's Foccaceria on First Ave. is more in my range.

Uli · August-2nd-2003, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pete C

Jon, as far as matzoh-like pizza crust, haven't you had pizza in Rome? I know you get around.

I doubt he's ever been to Rome. lowercase seems to be so un-Roman.

Jon Abbey · August-2nd-2003, 06:33 PM

nice to see that putting me on your ignore list hasn't affected your obsession too much.

hornplayer · August-2nd-2003, 06:38 PM

Otto sounds wonderful to me. Frankly, I can't imagine any place Mario Batali is associated with NOT being DEElicious! Everything he creates (that I've ever tasted) is top drawer. and Italian!