 This past weekend, we're wandering around Dumbo — that neighborhood that takes place between and beneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and seems comprised almost entirely of organic food marts and upscale designer baby clothes boutiques.
I was in the mood for a hot dog and beer, which is only a healthy meal when compared to my previous idea of a meal of ultra-rich chocolate. But there were surprisingly few hot dog vendors about the place, and in stark contrast to my own neighborhood, no guys wandering around offering to sell you a Corona for a buck fifty. However, while walking up Jay Street, I suddenly caught a whiff of…is that…is that taco? Yes it is. And suddenly all I wanted was tacos and beer. Luckily, Pedro's Spanish American Restaurant and Bar was waiting on the corner of Jay and Front Street (73 Jay St., between Front and Water) to give me exactly what I wanted.
Read the rest of: "Pedro's Spanish American Restaurant"» 
I have a love and hate relationship with Strand. The "hate" part, for those interested, will be explained at the end of this posting, but let me start with the "love" one. For a hardcover-loving bibliophile rat I am, Strand is simply a great place - one of the best in the world. It's big, cavernous (they claim to offer "18 miles of books") and full of surprises...
Read the rest of: "Stranded on Broadway"»  I have not, traditionally, gone out and done very much on St. Patrick's Day. For a while, this was because I stopped drinking (oh, so many days wasted on sobriety). And for a while, this was because I was going through a cranky phase and didn't want to combat drunken masses crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in a New York pub. These are no longer concerns for me. As for temperance, I have returned to my Scotch-Irish roots. And as for drunken crowds crammed into pubs, I have discovered that I actually enjoy the convivial revelry of such a gathering.
So in the year 2007, I decided it was time to go out and have fun on St. Patty's Day, even if my Irish ancestors were Protestants. England shipped my Scottish ancestors to the Americas as slaves, and I still rooted for them during the world Cup, so I'm over things, even if others are still fighting over Cromwell.
But somehow, I ended up celebrating the first half of St. Patty's sitting in tapas bar Las Ramblas. Nothing says Ireland quite like tapas and white berry pomegranate sangria...
Read the rest of: "St. Patty's Spanish Style: Las Ramblas Tapas Bar"»  Some of my life goals are a little unconventional. Mastering the accordion, traveling to every continent before I'm 30, going to Wimbledon (I've accepted that it will only be as a spectator at this point)— these are the things that fill my dreams. Last month, I got to check off one of the seemingly silly items on the list: going to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Finally, I'd get to root for Team Bernese Mountain Dog in person, at the Super Bowl of dog shows no less. Plus, it meant a trip to New York City. What more could a canine-crazy gal ask for?..
Read the rest of: "Oh My Dog: The 131st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show"» 
The museum experience in New York is often overshadowed by
the hard-hitters: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
The Guggenheim, The Museum of Modern Art and the Natural
History Museum. A step below these museums are many other
worthwhile institutions, although not as "famous." The Museum
of Art and Design, across from MoMA on 53rd Street has an
incredible collection of contemporary objects, innovative
furniture, package design, ceramics and other design elements...
Read the rest of: "Museum of Art and Design"»  I've always loved the Museum of Modern Art. Even during its brief hiatus in
[ Queens]
(which is now PS 1 Contemporary Art Center). The powers that be behind MoMA have a way of presenting work in an exciting and original manner, and I mean, how many ways can you really present art in a museum context? And of course, I'm impressed again with MoMA's latest project by
Doug Aitken
Read the rest of: "Doug Aitken at MoMA - or rather ON MoMA"»  If you've read the New York Times recently, you can't help but notice the craziness going on at the auction houses in New York. Paintings are selling for all time highs- I'm talking hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars. Meaning, the richest jerks get to enjoy the world's finest art- all to themselves. Imagine a Picasso or a Cezanne hanging in your living room?! Unreal. Unfair!
Well, thanks to a trip to Sotheby's with my grad school class, this outsider art lover found out something I'd wish I'd known years ago...
Read the rest of: "Secret Museums"»  The Lower East Side is a great area to spend an evening, peppered with divey bars, music venues, boutiques and cafes. The West Village is home to more French Cafes, but The Pink Pony on the East side is one not to be missed...
Read the rest of: "Pink Pony"» 
Window dressing seems to be an art form that is taken very seriously only in New York.
Bergdorf Goodman's window design department not only occupies an entire floor of their 57th Street store, but also inhabits a large warehouse across the river in Queens.
Each season, Director David Hoey's elaborate visions enliven the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street- adjacent to Central Park and the Plaza hotel. The windows have become more than just a place for showing off the wares for sale at Bergdorf's, but a venue for exquisite installation narrative art. Using designer clothing, antiques, original art works and other borrowed props (this Halloween features a skeleton horse!), the windows are somewhat of an art gallery on their own. I am a big supporter of art for art's sake, which seems to be less common in the United States as opposed to Europe...
Read the rest of: "Windows"»  When you look at a list of the world's top paddling spots, it's unlikely that you'll find Brooklyn, New York.
And it's even less likely that you'll find the Gowanus Canal, a narrow sliver of water that cuts its way from Gowanus Bay through the industrial zones of Red Hook, South Brooklyn, and Park Slope. It's not exactly what you might call scenic, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It's lined by crumbling warehouses, generating plants, shadowy factories, Coast Guard fuel depots, and even a Home Depot. It meanders beneath the Gowanus Expressway, one of the busiest highways in New York City, and has been referred to as the most polluted waterway in America. A slick, rainbow film of oil and other chemicals gives the water in the canal a colorful, shimmering candy coating that would be beautiful at sunset if it didn't smell like cold metal and gunpowder and leave a disturbing acrid taste in the air. Visibility in the water is almost zero, and any trip across it is highlighted by an overpowering fear that you might get some on you. And yet still, people put paddle to battery-scented water and get both a unique view of New York and a first-hand understanding of how a neighborhood and an ecosystem can flourish, die, and then struggle to be reborn...
Read the rest of: "Drifting Through Brooklyn"»
New York  |
