New York

hey matt can you send me tracer's tips too? looks like i'll be going to NYC for work from time to time and will be staying in that same garish area (was at the hudson last time which was the smallest room i've even been in!). the office is in rockefeller ctr, and i fear there's really nothing around there's that's not touristy crap. i'll be happy to venture around.

if you are at rock ctr and don't mind walking over to 9th ave, there are lots of little restaurants/bars. uncle nick's ouzaria is good greek tapas, next door to vintage, which has nice cocktails/"martinis" that are $10-12 instead of $15-20. uncle vanya on 54th is also nom and has infused vodkas (though if that's your thing, the vodka selection is better at the russian samovar).

none of these places are "fancy" or especially nice, but i find the quality to be pretty good and not overly expensive. if you want shi-shi atmosphere, these are not the places to go, though (with the exception of vintage) they have a lot of character.

i'm not that fancy ;) i'm sure i'll see shi-shi places with work people, but when i'm on my own that's a different story...

the waitstaff at uncle vanya is kind of lolinsovietrussiacaviareatsyouawesome.

i like cheap & full of character just as much as fancy atmosphere, but waiters like that (and infused vodkas) are the kind of quality which swing a place for me

i was just reading internets reviews and the consensus seems to be that the appetizers are better at the vodka room or russian samovar. i can not speak to that because i have only had vodka at the samovar, but i had a really nice experience at uncle vanya. also lol @ chowhound.

god i miss all those great bars in the east village

oh yeah, there's the bar at the Hudson too. if you stay there, the Cafeteria's an obvious eating choice, but Whole Foods in the Time-Warner Center is a great resource for less chi-chi, cheaper and/or solo eating

lol the new aq kafe near col circle has ikea food in pain quotidien setting. it look intersting for casual dining. i had take out coffee - not bad!

Wholefoods in the TWC is also a good way to loose your mind in a 400 person queue.

it moves pretty fast, though!

the lady at the flower counter made me 2 LOVELY bouquets that got lots of compliments the other day for under $50.

new aq kafe near col circle

!

pain quotidien setting

meaning it's not colorful like scandinavia house? i kinda hate pain quotidien.

it's more dimly lit than pq, so it feels warmer and less cafeteria-ish. i have not been to scandinavia house, but the color palette was mostly neutral with clean lines.

not really on topic, but aq cafe makes me think of aquavit which makes me think of the smorgasboard brunch. A+++++ (although probably not if you hate herring).

my parents love that stuff. i hate herring.

This is all pretty Tourist 101, but if i were in NYC for the first time and staying in midtown, I would certainly go to Rockefeller Center and check out the skating rink/tree, the Top of the Rock observation deck (at least $20), the murals inside, and Saks Fifth Avenue (49th-50th). (there's also the, uh, Radio City Christmas Spectacular; a tour also gets you inside). From there, especially if you're into architecture, you could head East past McKim, Mead & White's Villard Houses (Madison b/w 50th and 51st, best seen at night) over to Park Ave for the view down (right) to the 1929 Helmsley Building (best at night) and up to the '50s-era Seagram Building (Mies/Philip Johnson, between 52nd and 53rd) and Lever House (53rd-54th) (both better daytime).

Central Park is definitely a good idea - head up 5th Ave and enter the park at the Southeast corner. Follow the path up to the far end of the lake and loop left around Wollman skating rink.

Times Square can definitely be annoyingly crowded/touristy like Piccadilly Circus, but it's also bigger and brighter, especially this time of year, and I'd recommend heading down Broadway at night to 42nd, and maybe looping around the theater district to 8th Ave (where you get a tiny taste of the old Times Square) on 44th and 45th. Follow 44th East to Grand Central Terminal and its great main hall.

btw, if you're into modern dance at all, you're 2 blocks from City Center, the major venue in NY for same. Beginning next Wednesday, they've got Alvin Ailey with Wynton Marsalis/the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

ed koch, ilxor

I just want to say how very much I enjoyed visiting New York in October to see Echo & The Bunnymen, but not just that, I bonded with the city in some small way there in Manhattan and I never thought I would. I had a dream when I was a teenager that I was walking NYC streets and the idea of visiting New York always scared me because of that, but it turned out that I loved it. Thanks much and I hope maybe one day I will return there. It's nice to feel at peace with something that you previously feared.

NY loves you too, Bimble!

That said, I was planning to take a nice long walk into Park Slope to pick up all the goods I need for the week (passover and regular shopping) but blech, what nasty rains.

For the people who live in NY, I always wondered this: how in the hell do you afford it? What do you do for a living? And is there such a thing as a middle-class there?

I've always wanted to live there, but always assumed it was out-of-this-world expensive and never likely to happen. Do most of you live in Jersey or something?

i am moving away to live some place cheaper!

is there such a thing as a middle-class there?

getting closer and closer to "poor"

yeah. i would say this is not a good time to move to ny.

unless you would like to rent my room!

d'oh. I want to move there eventually but there's no way I could make enough money right now, I think.

you spend more money but you make more money. You also live in a room in a an apt shared with many other people and often don't have much space for the same amount of money other people in other places pay to live in larger apartments. It's just about what you're comfortable with. You also maybe don't save much money because you spend more on rent then you should. Depending on what kind of work you can do, there are still certain jobs and those jobs will still pay more then in other places.

Thanks everyone for the responses. My dream may not match up with reality. So I guess it comes down to is this: how many roommates can you handle? - LOL

For what it's worth, I'm just your average Joe-Blow who works basic office-jobs, never having gone past a bachelor's degree. I don't make a lot of money, just middle-class where I live (which would probably be considered dirt-poor in NY).

i do it by sharing a small studio apt with my girlfriend, eating at home a lot, packing a lunch, getting my transportation comped by my job, doing laundry at my parents house, stealing internet from neighbors, not owning a tv, and pirating all my tv and movies

i do it by being a broke-ass bitch always on the verge of a serious situation but having fun anyway

see the thing for me is that in my field, i will make the same money somewhere else, so...

also happy hour specials and owning a flask

tehresa and flask otm!

the other obvious rule is...how far do you want to live from manhattan? how desirable a neighborhood? For relatively little money you can live in parts of Queens and Brooklyn that are totally pleasant and cheap and awesome, and you're a 20 minute train ride from parts of Queens and Brooklyn that are totally cool and hip and a 40 minute train ride from Manhattan, where everybody wants to go for some reason.

sunnyside is lovely!

love it

You also live in a room in an apt shared with many other people

As if it needs to be said, haha & fuck this.

sunnyside is lovely but Woodside and Jackson Heights are even cheaper! Though the south-side of Sunnyside is still pretty cheap and you can walk to the industrial part of greenpoint where everybody lives now anyway.

Looked up Woodside and Jackson Heights. Both look nice! I guess rent averages around 1300 a month for a one bedroom. I'm paying 900 a month where I live in Portland.

This may seem like a stupid question but do you guys own a car?

you don't even have to walk! you can just take the B24!
xpost

nope no car. recently joined Zipcar but I've barely used it. you really don't need one.

yeah. i would say this is not a good time to move to ny.

nytimes disagrees! i guess if u can find a job rents are declining/steady in a lot of neighborhoods due to rising vacancy rates this seems true to me fwiw

the real trick may be getting a job.

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I wouldn't move there without a job lined up, which probably means I'll never move there. :)

I do own a car, which makes living in Queens much easier. These areas aren't for everyone. If you like to leave your house and walk down the street and go to a record store or a cool bar, you can forget about it. If you do nothing but eat tacos and empenadas and comparing where to get the best thai crispy duck salad, then you're golden. A lot of people who end up in queens are domesticating, like moving in with a significant other and decided that cheap rent is more important than hanging out at a crowded Williamsburg bar.

It's really hard to find a cheap 1 bedroom in New York. My theory is that they just don't exist. Pretty much every 1 bedroom apartment has some shitty little extra room that was probably used for the baby or storage in the early 20th century but is now being sold as a second bedroom, so a 1 bedroom is 1300 but for 1500 you get a 2 bedroom where the second bedroom often sucks. Not always though.

Having a car in Woodside is great and parking is pretty easy, but in Jackson Heights it can be a nightmare. Jackson Heights has better train options, with the 7,E,R,V,F etc.

pretty much every 1 bedroom apartment has some shitty little extra room that was probably used for the baby or storage in the early 20th century but is now being sold as a second bedroom, so a 1 bedroom is 1300 but for 1500 you get a 2 bedroom where the second bedroom often sucks.

This is disturbingly OTM. I recently tromped all over Bed-Stuy to a place that was about 6 blocks farther from the train than the ad said it was, only to be told that the "second bedroom" was a small alcove off the living room that wouldn't fit a double bed and didn't even have anywhere to hang a DOOR.

The apt was incredibly beautiful and well-restored but under no possible circumstance was it a 2-bedroom.

this picture in times real estate this weekend was lolz

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/17/realestate/17cover650.5.jpg

Michael Robinson checks out an alleged bedroom in Manhattan. He is still looking.

^^^^^^ Jamiroquai video?

HAHAHA

the new museum is cool and it is right on the bowery. https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions

for shopping, i recommend that area, like elizabeth street, mott street, etc. a little off from the main soho drag with the mall-like stores.

Walk south on the high line

Hudson yards is worth a trip, you can get to it from the high line as well

Thanks peeps