Oh, Agent 13, Independent George and pow...

Some NYC advice, please. We've done the Central Park / Theater District / Times Square / and other limited parts of Manhattan and as a family (the latter detailed here) but would like to return for either a one-day or overnight stay likely focusing on more hip shopping (16-year-old daughter) and good grub (her 46-year-old father).

To that end, where would you steer me and that might include a return visit to Katz's Deli? Greenwich Village? Soho?

i95 wrote:

Some NYC advice, please. We've done the Central Park / Theater District / Times Square / and other limited parts of Manhattan and as a family (the latter detailed here) but would like to return for either a one-day or overnight stay likely focusing on more hip shopping (16-year-old daughter) and good grub (her 46-year-old father).

To that end, where would you steer me and that might include a return visit to Katz's Deli? Greenwich Village? Soho?

George and I did a nice tour around Katz's. There are many unique eating opportunities. Pickles, Doughnuts, Bialys, and one of the coolest candy stores you will ever visit...all within a few blocks of your Pastrami fix. From that area it is a short walk to Chinatown, and what will soon be known as REALLY Little Italy and such. Along Canal street in this same area there are many places for a young fashionista to obtain knockoffs off designer purses, sunglasses, jewelry, watches, and even clothes. A walk (always my preference) or ride north, perhaps up broadway, will get you up toward the village and more good eats and hip shopping or people watching. I have done this tour with some visitors and they loved it. They told me it was cool to see "the real new york". It is no more real then other parts, the dirt just makes it seem that way.

Sound good, want more details...that will cost you.

Agent 13 wrote:

i95 wrote:

Some NYC advice, please. We've done the Central Park / Theater District / Times Square / and other limited parts of Manhattan and as a family (the latter detailed here) but would like to return for either a one-day or overnight stay likely focusing on more hip shopping (16-year-old daughter) and good grub (her 46-year-old father).

To that end, where would you steer me and that might include a return visit to Katz's Deli? Greenwich Village? Soho?

George and I did a nice tour around Katz's. There are many unique eating opportunities. Pickles, Doughnuts, Bialys, and one of the coolest candy stores you will ever visit...all within a few blocks of your Pastrami fix. From that area it is a short walk to Chinatown, and what will soon be known as REALLY Little Italy and such. Along Canal street in this same area there are many places for a young fashionista to obtain knockoffs off designer purses, sunglasses, jewelry, watches, and even clothes. A walk (always my preference) or ride north, perhaps up broadway, will get you up toward the village and more good eats and hip shopping or people watching. I have done this tour with some visitors and they loved it. They told me it was cool to see "the real new york". It is no more real then other parts, the dirt just makes it seem that way.

Sound good, want more details...that will cost you.

13 got to this before me but for a one-day snapshot of NYC that will fulfill both the gastronomic and fashionista needs of the 95 clan, he and I are definitely on the same page. Being able to hit the Lower East Side, Chinatown, East Village, Little Italy, Ground Zero, Wall St., etc. all within walking distance is a wonderful thing.

I don't want to blow 13's deal here but if you want more details I would appreciate the opportunity to underbid him on the project.

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

I don't want to blow 13's deal here but if you want more details I would appreciate the opportunity to underbid him on the project.

You are an evil man. It is getting harder and harder to extort tourists with your kind around.

Agent 13 wrote:

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

I don't want to blow 13's deal here but if you want more details I would appreciate the opportunity to underbid him on the project.

You are an evil man. It is getting harder and harder to extort tourists with your kind around.

On second thought maybe you and I can conspire on some sort of price-fixing scheme.

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

Agent 13 wrote:

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

I don't want to blow 13's deal here but if you want more details I would appreciate the opportunity to underbid him on the project.

You are an evil man. It is getting harder and harder to extort tourists with your kind around.

On second thought maybe you and I can conspire on some sort of price-fixing scheme.

Now your talking my game!

You bid low, get the job...then keep delaying your response until last minute at which point I come to rescue with an absurdly over priced plan. We then split the difference between what we would have charged, and what we wound up shaking loose from these out of town rubes.

Agent 13 wrote:

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

Agent 13 wrote:

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

I don't want to blow 13's deal here but if you want more details I would appreciate the opportunity to underbid him on the project.

You are an evil man. It is getting harder and harder to extort tourists with your kind around.

On second thought maybe you and I can conspire on some sort of price-fixing scheme.

Now your talking my game!

You bid low, get the job...then keep delaying your response until last minute at which point I come to rescue with an absurdly over priced plan. We then split the difference between what we would have charged, and what we wound up shaking loose from these out of town rubes.

Is anybody else creeped out by how quickly 13 was able to flesh out this scenario?

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

Is anybody else creeped out by how quickly 13 was able to flesh out this scenario?

Creeped out?

Dude, THIS is my family.

Agent 13 wrote:

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

Is anybody else creeped out by how quickly 13 was able to flesh out this scenario?

Creeped out?

Dude, THIS is my family.

I guess that's the difference between Italians and Jews............I come from a long line of CPAs.

POW - I believe it was Han Solo who said it best....


Or was it something else? Anyway, you get the idea. (Side note: "Let the Wookie win" is one of the phrases that gets tossed around in my office frequently and always makes me chuckle.)

i95 - If I thought I could add anything to what has already been suggested by the others, I would. But, theirs is fine advice (subtle allusions to getting whacked notwithstanding) - a true tour of disappearing New York. Plus, the great thing about Manhattan is that if your daughter prefers the more upscale shopping environs, you are but a short cab or subway ride away.

Dude, the Delaware Valley can get rough.

Independent George wrote:

POW - I believe it was Han Solo who said it best....

Let the Wookie throw out the first pitch.

Or was it something else? Anyway, you get the idea. (Side note: "Let the Wookie win" is one of the phrases that gets tossed around in my office frequently and always makes me chuckle.)

Screw the Wookie! We are not to be trifled with. If he wants to throw down, my "family" will get all Old Testament on his ass and audit his last 7 years of tax returns.

screw New York.

Come to Detroit.

We'll show you how it's done.

clothier wrote:

screw New York.

Come to Detroit.

We'll show you how it's done.

Plus, based on this good news, your odds are even better that you'll live through the experience.

Thursday, January 1, 2009
Detroit homicide rate is lowest in years
George Hunter / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- A few key arrests and citizen cooperation are the reasons the number of homicides in the city may be the lowest in decades, police officials said.

The unofficial number of homicides in 2008 as of Wednesday was 344 -- the lowest figure since 1967 -- said Detroit Police spokesman James Tate.

it's really because we put the Mayor in jail.

Agent 13 wrote:

George and I did a nice tour around Katz's. There are many unique eating opportunities. Pickles, Doughnuts, Bialys, and one of the coolest candy stores you will ever visit...all within a few blocks of your Pastrami fix. From that area it is a short walk to Chinatown, and what will soon be known as REALLY Little Italy and such. Along Canal street in this same area there are many places for a young fashionista to obtain knockoffs off designer purses, sunglasses, jewelry, watches, and even clothes. A walk (always my preference) or ride north, perhaps up broadway, will get you up toward the village and more good eats and hip shopping or people watching. I have done this tour with some visitors and they loved it. They told me it was cool to see "the real new york". It is no more real then other parts, the dirt just makes it seem that way.

pastrami-on-wry wrote:

13 got to this before me but for a one-day snapshot of NYC that will fulfill both the gastronomic and fashionista needs of the 95 clan, he and I are definitely on the same page. Being able to hit the Lower East Side, Chinatown, East Village, Little Italy, Ground Zero, Wall St., etc. all within walking distance is a wonderful thing.

This is great counsel, thanks. I've been to Katz's, nearby Economy Candy and dined in Soho. My big question is -- and by-foot -- how "connectable" is Katz's (or the Lower East Side, in general) and East Village, SoHo. Greenwich Village, etc.? Or, for dining and bohemian shopping purposes, should I just focus on two of these "shopping districts"? Maybe Lower East Side (and Katz's) followed by East Village and ending across Brooklyn Bridge for pizza??

i95 wrote:

...should I just focus on two of these "shopping districts"? Maybe Lower East Side (and Katz's) followed by East Village and ending across Brooklyn Bridge for pizza??

Also, is Ess-a-Bagel in the above "flight pattern"

If I am not mistaken, Katz's is very accessible to all the places you ask about - with the lone exception of Ess-a-Bagel. Think of it kind of like a hub-and-spoke from Katz's - in one direction you have Little Italy, another would be LES, another would be SoHo, another would be Greenwich Village, etc. None are more than a 3/4 mile or so walk from an epicenter of Katz's. Of course, I defer to those who know the area much better than I. 13 could have led me anywhere on our tour and I wouldn't have known any different. And, after reading today's thread, I realize that I now could have ended the day wearing cement shoes - and no one would have found me - for days.

Hmmm....would anyone like to volunteer to be a chaperone the next time we meet up?

IMHO, it would certainly be worth the short cab ride up to Ess-a-Bagel to get some take home. Even if you are driving into the city, you may prefer to park your car in one place and hop a subway or hail a cab rather than try to find parking twice.

Independent George wrote:

Even if you are driving into the city, you may prefer to park your car in one place and hop a subway or hail a cab rather than try to find parking twice.

Oh, I'd definitely, and as I've done in the past, quickly ditch the car and walk and or cab it all day.

i95 wrote:

This is great counsel, thanks. I've been to Katz's, nearby Economy Candy and dined in Soho. My big question is -- and by-foot -- how "connectable" is Katz's (or the Lower East Side, in general) and East Village, SoHo. Greenwich Village, etc.? Or, for dining and bohemian shopping purposes, should I just focus on two of these "shopping districts"? Maybe Lower East Side (and Katz's) followed by East Village and ending across Brooklyn Bridge for pizza??

I'd ask the shoppers about venturing to knock off land. As I mentioned I took my brother in law and his 14 and 16 year olds were in heaven down on canal street as they were buying handbags and such for $5 a piece. If that isn't you or your family's cup o' tea, then the village may be more suitable.

I was just playing around and made this map to give you an idea of distances. Oh nuts...map link won't work...well...I described it below. Sorry

This map shows a route from Kat'z, down to Donut plant, across through China town, down Mulberry street, across Canal, Up Broadway and across the Village on Bleeker. I ended at John's Pizza just because I knew the address. That would be about 2.5 miles. Not bad for a days walk.

The thought that you could hit Katz's, Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery, Guss' Pickles, Russ and Daughters (for smoked fish), Kossar's Bialys, il Laboratorio del Gelato, Eileen's Special Cheesecake, and the Doughnut Plant without even breaking a sweat is quite remarkable. Add on equally delectable stops in Chinatown, Little Italy, the East Village, and a quick trek over the Brooklyn Bridge for Grimaldi's, Jacques Torres Chocolates, and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory................well you get the idea.

As clothier might say, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting culinary gold.

Hey I-95, are you gonna invite Ellen along with you on this little sojurn to take pictures and whatnot?

Agent 13 wrote:

Along Canal street in this same area there are many places for a young fashionista to obtain knockoffs off designer purses, sunglasses, jewelry, watches, and even clothes. A walk (always my preference) or ride north, perhaps up broadway, will get you up toward the village and more good eats and hip shopping or people watching. I have done this tour with some visitors and they loved it. They told me it was cool to see "the real new york".

Any thoughts as to where to stay (affordable hotel-wise) in this part of the "real new york" (Feel free to take offline and e-mail me if anyone prefers. Thinking about doing this the first weekend in March.)