Skip to photos here. New York has always been a place full of wonderful memories for us. Having lived there for eight months in 2000 (pre-Phil, and not one of my best moments), I surprised Phil in 2009 with a weekend get-away so that we could attend the US Open quarterfinals (where we saw Federer defeated by Djokovic). Two years later, we enjoyed a week in the city, and each of us has been here alone a few times since to celebrate this bustling city that never sleeps. There is no denying that this is one of the best cities in the world!
As a result, coming here this time was like coming home, especially since our good friend Moshe let us room with him at his Upper West Side apartment, just one block away from Central Park. That meant we could start the day with a run, and my favorite gym Elysium was nearby so I could easily get workouts in. That said, getting settled for four weeks there didn’t come too hard.
As always in New York, we did a lot of walking. In addition to the morning runs, we’d opt to walk wherever we were going as opposed to taking the subway (even though the metro runs 24/7). Our jobs kept us busy during the day, but since we started early, we usually took off in the late afternoon to see or do something. We had a great time getting to know various districts on Walking Tours: learning about the history of Harlem, and rambling through Soho, Little Italy, and Chinatown that way was absolutely wonderful.
One of my favorite spots in the city is the Highline in the Lower West Side district. An urban park constructed on an elevated section of the former New York City railway, it’s a wonderful place to people-watch and enjoy a good view of the surrounding buildings and nearby Hudson River before heading to the Chelsea Market for a meal (a must when in the area!). If the weather is good, you always find some excellent music being played up there, too: In general, the music you hear on the streets of New York City is fantastic. Some of the most amazing street musicians I’ve ever heard were those I ran across performing in random subway stations. Even early mornings in Central Park promised a saxophonist just playing a little gig to get the day started.
Having always mostly stayed in Manhattan, we also made a point of going out to other boroughs, spending quite a bit of time in beautiful Brooklyn and discovering the wonderful (and very hip and somewhat gentrified) Williamsburg. We saw an excellent special exhibit on Ai Weiwei at the Brooklyn Museum on that side of the city. There is no shortage of good museums in Manhattan (my other favorites are the MoMA and the Guggenheim), but the Brooklyn Museum can hold its own among any of them.
One of the things we’d missed on the West Coast was going to movies, so we enjoyed being a short walk away from all types of cinemas. Sadly, the summer months are some of the worst for really good film, and at the end of four weeks, we glumly came to the conclusion that “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was among the best movies we’d seen while there.
One thing that makes New York one of the best cities in the world is the offer of so many fun things to do that are free, in particular if you don’t mind queuing for hours… New Yorkers can wait in line for just hours on end (some restaurants don’t take reservations so people wait to get their tables). We managed to get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park (an annual production in an open theatre in Central Park whose tickets are free) where we saw King Lear. We thought this would be some little rinky-dink production, but it turned out that Jonathan Lithgow (in the lead) and Annette Benning headed an amazing cast. We also got into various movie screenings, and – totally by chance – got in to the taping of an episode of America’s Got Talent, where we sat in the audience right behind Heidi Klum, Mel B, and weirdo Howard Stern. You never know where you’ll end up in this city!
While the vast variety of restaurants makes New York City a true paradise for foodies, it’s simultaneously a money trap and a way to get fat. We ignored the downsides and enjoyed our time there wholeheartedly. Among favorites this time around were:
- Ippudo NY: The finest ramen in town (we got quite ramen-obsessed after reading an article about the 20 best ramen restaurants in New York and making it our mission to try them all)
- Mighty Quinns Barbeque: One of the best BBQ places on the planet (and possibly one of those meals that shortens your life expectancy). I salivate just thinking about their brisket and divine sweet potato casserole
- Artichoke Basille’s Pizza: More like a quiche than a pizza, but absolutely divine
- The NoMad Bar: Chicken pot-pie, with black truffles and foie gras. Enough said.
- Luksus: Hidden away (in Brooklyn), this place offers an interesting tasting menu accompanied by artisan beers.
- Eleven Madison Park: One of the finest places we’ve dined at so far in our travels, and very special to us since the chef (Daniel Humm) is from a town in Switzerland that’s close to where we grew up. Pictures here.
As always in big cities, I had some difficulty coming to grips with the many homeless people. I just don’t see why a country like the United States should have such a dire situation, and don’t think I’ll ever find it easy to jump into a cab when someone’s lying on a piece of cardboard close-by. Quite surprisingly though, very few people ever wanted the fresh leftovers I usually had with me after a restaurant visit. On one occasion, I asked four homeless people if they wanted my leftovers from lunch; the first three declined (two sneered at me, and one said “Nah, can you give me a buck for weed?”). The fourth was a girl about my age who was really pleased to take my gourmet sandwich, and we ended up talking over coffee.
No time in New York is complete without at least one show at Broadway, and we managed to see “Holler If Ya Hear Me” (a musical about the late rapper Tupac Shakur) and “Once” (an Irish musical set in Dublin). We also attended the lottery draws for “The Book of Mormon” and “Wicked” on about five afternoons, but never got lucky. Most Broadway shows – in order to make the shows accessible to everyone – have a lottery system in place for a small amount of tickets, which they sell at USD 30 a pop. You can enter your name into the draw a few hours before the show. For the “Book of Mormon,” the lottery in itself is like a show, as the man who runs it has become a minor celebrity (he can be found on Facebook and Twitter as “LotteryDude”).
After a super time in a city that never disappoints, we took our digital nomad selves back to Switzerland, where we plan on staying for the time being as I finish my degree.
