@PlacidPenguin I somehow missed this big news. It’s even closer to me - on the West Side near the Holland Tunnel. That means I can drive there fairly easily. Parking is another issue though.
@looseneck
All genders buy on the street nowadays. Or so they will try to convince you.
If you’re not of the gender that usually pays, then you will have even more offers of “company and attention”.
I am not of the gender that usually pays, either; but I have been solicited by working persons of various genders near the Manhattan side entrance to the Holland Tunnel nonetheless.
And I was neither dressed like nor acting like I wanted attention. In fact I was seriously minding my own business and just checking out the area for safely as I walked.
I was alone; it is not all that odd for non-working, non-lonely, non-sexily-dressed females to be alone on the streets at 2am in that area in very nice weather. In Manhattan, people walk everywhere. I walked everywhere.
But I guess there are slow nights, and usual crew of people get creative.
@f00l I’ve never experienced that in the city or just didn’t notice. I have had men driving past me whistling and/or yelling while walking in my nice, quiet suburb. It’s not as scary at home though.
That was years ago, now I walk with my dogs and people just look at them now
It’s diff in the city and the burbs. In the burbs it bothers me a bit more, because it feels more deliberate and directed.
In the city, it’s just street life.
Sometime someone would give. off a scary or creepy vibe. That would bother me, and I’d swing a wide berth.
But mostly it’s just people in the streets, and a certain amount of interaction is within the bounds of “normal”. It depends on the neighborhood a bit. In the evening in an area of people hanging out or a nightlife area with bars or clubs, as long as something wasn’t either weird or threatenening, it was cool.
I loved walking in Manhattan at night. Especially in nice weather. The city would just stream energy at you.
Now it’s been decades since I visited. But I still miss it.
Like reasonably priced Italian cooking, not high end, more like what people might make at home?
Consider this next time you hit Manhattan:
Cafe Puglia.
ORIGINAL PUGLIA RESTAURANT
189 HESTER STREET,
NEW YORK, NY,
10013,
UNITED STATES
(212) 966-6006
@f00l Little Italy! I haven’t been there since the Feast of San Gennaro 2002. Cried my eyes out at the World Trade Center hole then ate good food up and down the streets.
This place looks like I would like it. Not fancy, good old-fashioned Italian food. Thanks for the suggestion - I need to go back and wander around again soon. Last 20 times I’ve been to the city was for work not play.
@looseneck
I meant to say, not a quiet place. (Autocorrect madness.) As in, “noisy”.
But a really fun and satisfying place. And won’t break the bank.
A true Puglia story:
I was there once at Thanksgiving weekend, decades ago, with my Dad and younger brother.
And Dad’s rather small town HS alma-mater (small town back then), back in Texas, was playing, I think, the last game of the football season, at home that night. The team was undefeated so far.
So, after we had eaten, my younger brother changed a $20 bill into a whole bunch of quarters. There was a pay phone in the back (way pre-cellphone era), and called my Dad’s HS stadium back on Texas to get the game score. The stadium switchboard was so excited that an alumnus had called from a restaurant in Manhattan to find out about the game, that he patched my younger brother’s phonecall up to the press and broadcast booth.
When some local sports reporter picked up the phone in the press booth and figured out why my younger brother had called, it was the third quarter and my Dad’s team was ahead.
The reporters thought it was fun. So they put our call on speakerphone in the press booth, so that whoever was listening on our end could hear the reporter chatter and the live play-by-play on the stadium PA.
So younger bro started calling out the play-by-play to our table in the restaurant. The other patrons asked what game this was, and then they got into the game, after it was explained to them. (I doubt any of them had ever heard of this small town before that night.)
The restaurant owner was a football fan, and he opened his cash register and handed us all the quarters. When dad tried to pay him, he wouldn’t take the money, he said, “This is fun. I want your team to win”.
Other patrons and waiters were throwing quarters into the pile to keep the long distance call going. My brother, I, my Dad, and the restaurant manager took turns announcing the play-by-play to the entire restaurant. Every time there was a break for my Dad’s team, the whole restaurant cheered. The reporters could hear it on the speakerphone at their end.
The play-by-play guy heard about the LD phone call from NYC from the reporter chatter, and announced to the whole stadium that an entire restaurant was listening to the game live over the phone from Manhattan. The stadium cheered. So that play-by-play guy somehow got our call briefly patched into the stadium PA and played the cheering restaurant to the entire stadium.
My Dad’s HS team won the game, of course. And they did quite nicely in the state playoffs too.
And at the end of the game, when the HS band in Texas played my Dad’s team’s school song, the restaurant people, who have never heard the song before, halfway figured it out and kinda joined in singing.
(^Wyoming Girl)
This thread makes me somehow both sorry that I’m not a part of the NYC community, and fills me with anxiety about visiting in September and not knowing wtf I’m doing.
I presume you are not moving there. If you are, then rely on local advice and have a lot lot lot of $$$$$$.
For visits: go where the tourists go. Done go where the tourists don’t go unless a local you know takes you there.
Don’t carry a huge purse/bag. What you do carry needs to be comfy. Something that fits in a front pocket is excellent. Consider a money belt or under-shirt neck wallet. It’s unlikely to be needed, but if it is, you’ll be glad you had it. (I’d recommend one of those in London or Paris or Chicago or LA also.)
Keep track of your wallet or purse or bag. Wallets in front pockets, please.
Don’t walk in dark empty places alone unless you’re pretty sure about the neighborhood being ok.
Take taxis after dark if alone.
In busy areas at night, just keep very good track of your wallet JIC. But those busy areas are usually pretty safe.
If you follow all those rules and just go see the famous stuff, that will keep you busy for, say, way way way more than a decade or two. By then you’ll know the city well enough to know how and when to break all those rules.
Don’t worry too much. Have a great time.
Try not to spend too much $$$. (This is not possible. You will spend too much.)
New Yorkers can be direct and insulting and borderline rude, but they are usually quite honest and helpful also.
Don’t make eye contact with people you don’t know, unless you have already decided to speak to them or they are speaking the you. New Yorkers don’t do this, and it marks you as an out-of-towner. There are a few assholes around, if you are making eye contact with everyone, they might notice. You don’t want that.
Don’t smile and wave at strangers.
One of the ways Manhattanites keep a little personal privacy in a crowded city is to not interact, unless it’s deliberate. So give everyone their space, in terms of looking much directly at faces too much.
You will walk a million or so miles a day. Your shoes and clothes need to be really really comfy and well broken in. Good running shoes with cushioning, or Rockports or similar, can be great for the city.
Consider eating at dinner Cafe Puglia in Hester Steet in Little Italy and lunch or late lunch at Serendipity 3 on the upper east side.
Fun fun.
Go do everything. It’s all somewhere between very good and awesome.
Manhattan is actually pretty safe.
Manhattan rocks. Totally rocks.
Read some guidebooks before you go. One that is way out of date (50 years) but still good is the one written by Kate Simon.
New York places & pleasures: an uncommon guidebook (1971)
This is great. Seriously. I took a screenshot. I’ve only got two days in the city, so I’m going to have to be selective. The no eye-contact might be the toughest part. Around these parts, we two-finger-steering-wheel-wave at everyone.
How do you feel about street food vendors? I want some authentic New York diarrhea.
Street food vendors anywhere you are likely to be will be fine. In tourist and $ and busy areas, street food can be quite high quality.
I know about eye contact. Here in Texas everyone smiles or nods at everyone.
In rural areas here, you don’t pass someone on the road without waving. If you see folks on a 4 wheeler or tractor or horseback, or on foot, you wave.
But think about it for a sec. NYkers wish for reasonable personal privacy in a rather crowded, but civilized, space. So they don’t catch each other’s eyes, or gaze at faces, unless they have a reason to. It’s good manners.
Just practice taking a glance that does not include eye contact, and don’t let your gaze linger. If you speak to someone, be friendly and a little reserved.
Also don’t block the sidewalks. NYkers walk, and they walk fast. You prob won’t walk that fast. Just don’t slow down other people at busy times. Stay to the sides a bit.
When it’s not crowded, or matters less, but still, don’t block the sidewalks being slow. Let people by.
Watch every decent Manhattan film you can before you go. They will give you some idea.
Uber and Lyft supposedly function pretty well. Use check google maps on the way to and from airports to make sure you’re not going a roundabout way.
Taxis in Manhattan are trustworthy. Have a fair amount of cash. Tip.
If it rains you will have a hard time getting a taxi or ride-share. Prepare to walk or take the subways.
The subways are 24 hours, but they only run once an hour in the middle of the night. They are pretty safe. Quite safe. I used them lots at 4am. But better for a tourist to take a cab so you won’t get turned around.
Again, esp don’t make eye contact on subways or buses. Just mind your own biz, or look out the windows, you’ll be fine.
Tip reasonably at restaurants. Read up on tipping at hotels. You don’t have to go insane. But don’t leave it out.
They will know you are a tourist, but that’s cool.
What do you want to see?
(Pretty sure my wee town would fit inside that lake there in that park.)
I want…no wait…I NEED a piece of NYC pizza.
And a bagel. Rainbows optional, but I’ve heard those are good.
I want to see the One World Trade Center and the 9/11 memorial.
I wanted to see Central Park, but that looks like a three day thing on its own, but maybe poke my head in between a couple trees to say I’ve been.
I’m a Yankee fan, (shush) so I’d like to see the stadium, maybe Memorial Park, but that’s another thing that I might have to plan more time to get the whole experience.
I’d like to see Times Square at night.
I’d like to see Lady Liberty from a ferry (we don’t have an ocean here.)
I want to take a taxi and a subway trip (we don’t have either of those here. In fact, we don’t have Uber here either.)
By the way, we only have two escalators in my state, none where I live (seriously) but I’m not going out of my way to ride one of those, I’m much too mature.
Okay, maybe one or two flights. I could combine that into the subway trip, yeah?
There’s a tower that I’d like to take a picture of my middle finger in front of, but that’s super low on my list.
So many things I’d really love to do and see, but two days really isn’t enough time. I’ll have to save a Broadway show for my next trip.
I definitely need more days in NYC…
CHOCOLATE
/giphy chocolate
There’s a chocolate museum in NY? I’m getting on the train!
@looseneck
http://www.mrchocolate.com/museum/
(It was on the news when it opened.)
@PlacidPenguin I somehow missed this big news. It’s even closer to me - on the West Side near the Holland Tunnel. That means I can drive there fairly easily. Parking is another issue though.
@looseneck
Hey, a place in NY which I actually am familiar with.
@looseneck
Easy to park near the Holland Tunnel if you don’t mind losing your battery, your sound system, and/or your car.
But you wouldn’t have to be alone and lonely for so very long, right?
@f00l If I buy the looters chocolate you think they’d give my stuff back?
@looseneck
I think someone might offer to sell you some kinda sweets around there …
@f00l Like candy cigarettes laced with PCP?
/image drugged candy
@looseneck
Oh honey! You want that too?
You are some kinda kinky! Come on, baby, let’s do it!
@f00l Me love you long time.
I’m not the gender that buys that on the street
@looseneck
All genders buy on the street nowadays. Or so they will try to convince you.
If you’re not of the gender that usually pays, then you will have even more offers of “company and attention”.
I am not of the gender that usually pays, either; but I have been solicited by working persons of various genders near the Manhattan side entrance to the Holland Tunnel nonetheless.
And I was neither dressed like nor acting like I wanted attention. In fact I was seriously minding my own business and just checking out the area for safely as I walked.
I was alone; it is not all that odd for non-working, non-lonely, non-sexily-dressed females to be alone on the streets at 2am in that area in very nice weather. In Manhattan, people walk everywhere. I walked everywhere.
But I guess there are slow nights, and usual crew of people get creative.
@f00l I’ve never experienced that in the city or just didn’t notice. I have had men driving past me whistling and/or yelling while walking in my nice, quiet suburb. It’s not as scary at home though.
That was years ago, now I walk with my dogs and people just look at them now
@looseneck
It’s diff in the city and the burbs. In the burbs it bothers me a bit more, because it feels more deliberate and directed.
In the city, it’s just street life.
Sometime someone would give. off a scary or creepy vibe. That would bother me, and I’d swing a wide berth.
But mostly it’s just people in the streets, and a certain amount of interaction is within the bounds of “normal”. It depends on the neighborhood a bit. In the evening in an area of people hanging out or a nightlife area with bars or clubs, as long as something wasn’t either weird or threatenening, it was cool.
I loved walking in Manhattan at night. Especially in nice weather. The city would just stream energy at you.
Now it’s been decades since I visited. But I still miss it.
Like reasonably priced Italian cooking, not high end, more like what people might make at home?
Consider this next time you hit Manhattan:
Cafe Puglia.
ORIGINAL PUGLIA RESTAURANT
189 HESTER STREET,
NEW YORK, NY,
10013,
UNITED STATES
(212) 966-6006
http://pugliaofnyc.com/
Incredible place for a bowl of pasta, or similar trad family Italian.
Just thinking about the food makes me crazy wanting some.
I dunno re parking tho.
This is not a quite place. It’s also not a serious “foodie” place. It’s a place where people come to have food they want more of, and good time.
@f00l Little Italy! I haven’t been there since the Feast of San Gennaro 2002. Cried my eyes out at the World Trade Center hole then ate good food up and down the streets.
This place looks like I would like it. Not fancy, good old-fashioned Italian food. Thanks for the suggestion - I need to go back and wander around again soon. Last 20 times I’ve been to the city was for work not play.
@looseneck
I meant to say, not a quiet place. (Autocorrect madness.) As in, “noisy”.
But a really fun and satisfying place. And won’t break the bank.
A true Puglia story:
I was there once at Thanksgiving weekend, decades ago, with my Dad and younger brother.
And Dad’s rather small town HS alma-mater (small town back then), back in Texas, was playing, I think, the last game of the football season, at home that night. The team was undefeated so far.
So, after we had eaten, my younger brother changed a $20 bill into a whole bunch of quarters. There was a pay phone in the back (way pre-cellphone era), and called my Dad’s HS stadium back on Texas to get the game score. The stadium switchboard was so excited that an alumnus had called from a restaurant in Manhattan to find out about the game, that he patched my younger brother’s phonecall up to the press and broadcast booth.
When some local sports reporter picked up the phone in the press booth and figured out why my younger brother had called, it was the third quarter and my Dad’s team was ahead.
The reporters thought it was fun. So they put our call on speakerphone in the press booth, so that whoever was listening on our end could hear the reporter chatter and the live play-by-play on the stadium PA.
So younger bro started calling out the play-by-play to our table in the restaurant. The other patrons asked what game this was, and then they got into the game, after it was explained to them. (I doubt any of them had ever heard of this small town before that night.)
The restaurant owner was a football fan, and he opened his cash register and handed us all the quarters. When dad tried to pay him, he wouldn’t take the money, he said, “This is fun. I want your team to win”.
Other patrons and waiters were throwing quarters into the pile to keep the long distance call going. My brother, I, my Dad, and the restaurant manager took turns announcing the play-by-play to the entire restaurant. Every time there was a break for my Dad’s team, the whole restaurant cheered. The reporters could hear it on the speakerphone at their end.
The play-by-play guy heard about the LD phone call from NYC from the reporter chatter, and announced to the whole stadium that an entire restaurant was listening to the game live over the phone from Manhattan. The stadium cheered. So that play-by-play guy somehow got our call briefly patched into the stadium PA and played the cheering restaurant to the entire stadium.
My Dad’s HS team won the game, of course. And they did quite nicely in the state playoffs too.
And at the end of the game, when the HS band in Texas played my Dad’s team’s school song, the restaurant people, who have never heard the song before, halfway figured it out and kinda joined in singing.
And then we all said goodbye.
I love Cafe Puglia. Love the food there, too. ; )
@f00l Holy shit what a story! That must have been so cool
http://shirt.woot.com/offers/essential-element
@narfcake I have this. One of my top favorites
Who doesn’t love chocolate anyway? One of my top favorites
(^Wyoming Girl)
This thread makes me somehow both sorry that I’m not a part of the NYC community, and fills me with anxiety about visiting in September and not knowing wtf I’m doing.
@Omehgawd
If it makes you feel better, if you go sightseeing, you’ll still have seen more than me.
@Omehgawd
If you are going to Manhattan:
I presume you are not moving there. If you are, then rely on local advice and have a lot lot lot of $$$$$$.
For visits: go where the tourists go. Done go where the tourists don’t go unless a local you know takes you there.
Don’t carry a huge purse/bag. What you do carry needs to be comfy. Something that fits in a front pocket is excellent. Consider a money belt or under-shirt neck wallet. It’s unlikely to be needed, but if it is, you’ll be glad you had it. (I’d recommend one of those in London or Paris or Chicago or LA also.)
Keep track of your wallet or purse or bag. Wallets in front pockets, please.
Don’t walk in dark empty places alone unless you’re pretty sure about the neighborhood being ok.
Take taxis after dark if alone.
In busy areas at night, just keep very good track of your wallet JIC. But those busy areas are usually pretty safe.
If you follow all those rules and just go see the famous stuff, that will keep you busy for, say, way way way more than a decade or two. By then you’ll know the city well enough to know how and when to break all those rules.
Don’t worry too much. Have a great time.
Try not to spend too much $$$. (This is not possible. You will spend too much.)
New Yorkers can be direct and insulting and borderline rude, but they are usually quite honest and helpful also.
Don’t make eye contact with people you don’t know, unless you have already decided to speak to them or they are speaking the you. New Yorkers don’t do this, and it marks you as an out-of-towner. There are a few assholes around, if you are making eye contact with everyone, they might notice. You don’t want that.
Don’t smile and wave at strangers.
One of the ways Manhattanites keep a little personal privacy in a crowded city is to not interact, unless it’s deliberate. So give everyone their space, in terms of looking much directly at faces too much.
You will walk a million or so miles a day. Your shoes and clothes need to be really really comfy and well broken in. Good running shoes with cushioning, or Rockports or similar, can be great for the city.
Consider eating at dinner Cafe Puglia in Hester Steet in Little Italy and lunch or late lunch at Serendipity 3 on the upper east side.
Fun fun.
Go do everything. It’s all somewhere between very good and awesome.
Manhattan is actually pretty safe.
Manhattan rocks. Totally rocks.
Read some guidebooks before you go. One that is way out of date (50 years) but still good is the one written by Kate Simon.
New York places & pleasures: an uncommon guidebook (1971)
Take a look at something up to date, too.
@f00l
I think you may be lumping people from several states together.
@PlacidPenguin
I lived there. I know the diff.
This is great. Seriously. I took a screenshot. I’ve only got two days in the city, so I’m going to have to be selective. The no eye-contact might be the toughest part. Around these parts, we two-finger-steering-wheel-wave at everyone.
How do you feel about street food vendors? I want some authentic New York diarrhea.
@Omehgawd then eat the food from street vendors!!! You are almost guaranteed to get New York diarrhea
@Omehgawd
Street food vendors anywhere you are likely to be will be fine. In tourist and $ and busy areas, street food can be quite high quality.
I know about eye contact. Here in Texas everyone smiles or nods at everyone.
In rural areas here, you don’t pass someone on the road without waving. If you see folks on a 4 wheeler or tractor or horseback, or on foot, you wave.
But think about it for a sec. NYkers wish for reasonable personal privacy in a rather crowded, but civilized, space. So they don’t catch each other’s eyes, or gaze at faces, unless they have a reason to. It’s good manners.
Just practice taking a glance that does not include eye contact, and don’t let your gaze linger. If you speak to someone, be friendly and a little reserved.
Also don’t block the sidewalks. NYkers walk, and they walk fast. You prob won’t walk that fast. Just don’t slow down other people at busy times. Stay to the sides a bit.
When it’s not crowded, or matters less, but still, don’t block the sidewalks being slow. Let people by.
Watch every decent Manhattan film you can before you go. They will give you some idea.
Uber and Lyft supposedly function pretty well. Use check google maps on the way to and from airports to make sure you’re not going a roundabout way.
Taxis in Manhattan are trustworthy. Have a fair amount of cash. Tip.
If it rains you will have a hard time getting a taxi or ride-share. Prepare to walk or take the subways.
The subways are 24 hours, but they only run once an hour in the middle of the night. They are pretty safe. Quite safe. I used them lots at 4am. But better for a tourist to take a cab so you won’t get turned around.
Again, esp don’t make eye contact on subways or buses. Just mind your own biz, or look out the windows, you’ll be fine.
Tip reasonably at restaurants. Read up on tipping at hotels. You don’t have to go insane. But don’t leave it out.
They will know you are a tourist, but that’s cool.
What do you want to see?
The city is amazing.
@Omehgawd
(Pretty sure my wee town would fit inside that lake there in that park.)
I want…no wait…I NEED a piece of NYC pizza.
And a bagel. Rainbows optional, but I’ve heard those are good.
I want to see the One World Trade Center and the 9/11 memorial.
I wanted to see Central Park, but that looks like a three day thing on its own, but maybe poke my head in between a couple trees to say I’ve been.
I’m a Yankee fan, (shush) so I’d like to see the stadium, maybe Memorial Park, but that’s another thing that I might have to plan more time to get the whole experience.
I’d like to see Times Square at night.
I’d like to see Lady Liberty from a ferry (we don’t have an ocean here.)
I want to take a taxi and a subway trip (we don’t have either of those here. In fact, we don’t have Uber here either.)
By the way, we only have two escalators in my state, none where I live (seriously) but I’m not going out of my way to ride one of those, I’m much too mature.
Okay, maybe one or two flights. I could combine that into the subway trip, yeah?
There’s a tower that I’d like to take a picture of my middle finger in front of, but that’s super low on my list.
So many things I’d really love to do and see, but two days really isn’t enough time. I’ll have to save a Broadway show for my next trip.
I definitely need more days in NYC…