The NYC Nomad

Stayed

With Rob and Cory on South 4th Street.  Check out the bird’s eye view above from Bing maps.  Cory and Rob have a sweet pad with plenty of space for the aerobed and a view that looks out onto a park and the elevated J,M,Z subway line.  It was the sort of place I felt like I could have stayed for a while.  Check out Cory’s video testimonial.  He said “its kind of like having a tourist stay with you and also a really good friend.”  I liked that.

They both had great suggestions for the neighborhood whether it was a place to eat, watch football, go on a date, or go for a run.  Rob mentioned I should take a run down Bedford Avenue on Sunday and I saw stuff like this.

Ate 

At Traif, which means unkosher or forbidden in Yiddish.  I’m going to write a longer review on Yelp.  I took Cory here and we sat at the bar — It’s one of the best meals I’ve had on this nomadic journey.

Cafe Moto - Another place I could write a whole post about.  The ambiance in this restaurant takes you back to 1940’s New York.  There’s live jazz, a great horseshoe bar and the most incredible date cake (which I sadly forgot part of at the restaurant).  I went there by myself on a Friday night and sat next to the owner.  He showed me pictures from when the place was a check cashing store and I didn’t believe it was the same space.  He’s transformed it into something magical.

Vutera - food was slightly disappointing, but its a pretty cool space downstairs from Rose’s live music.

Pies n’ Thighs - i stayed with a former co-worker who now runs the business side of things at pies n’ thighs so i had experienced the food before but I am now obsessed.  It’s across the street from Rob and Cory’s and.  Cory introduced me to the ginger molasses cookie with a glass of milk.  I think its laced with something illegal because I found myself being pulled back to the restaurant every night.  Also, the egg and cheese on a biscuit will cure any hangover.

Back Forty - a place I missed on my stops to the East Village, I think these are the best pumpkin pancakes you can find.  I took Rob and his girlfriend there on a Sunday morning before.

Worked Out

P90x - Cory and Rob are rocking the p90x.  p90x are video workouts that will get you in the best shape you’ve probably ever been in.  It takes about an hour a days for 90 days.  It got me back on track when I lived in St. Thomas.  It was good to be back - Seeing Tony Horton on video was like seeing an old friend.  Rob and Cory also have a gym in their building.

Skee Ball

There are lots of unique things in New York and this bar certainly falls under that category.  There was a huge skeeball tournament going on when Cory and I went there after dinner.

Doggy Halloween Parade

Kind of fun, but mostly sad.  There was a dog died green to be oscar the grouch with big bird as the owner.  PETA anyone?  I’m reasonably sure a few of these dogs were sedated.  There was a dog that was a Lumberjack and he actually lumbered along which was really cute.

I needed a drink after seeing these crazy people and had one of the best bloody mary’s I’ve had in NYC at Bua.

Ran

Along Bedford going south, where there is a large population of Hacidic Jews.  “It is strictly forbidden to enter these premises carrying objects or pushing baby carriages.”

Some call it the Upper East Side, some call it Yorkville.

Stayed

With Kim, the most random of my hosts thus far.  I met Kim during an end of summer rooftop party and she liked the idea.  She is also exploring getting a roommate so I was something of a test case.  An exemplary test case I bet she’d say :)  Kim produces magazine covers and has some great stories about interacting with celebrities.

Kim also has a great apartment with incredible amenities.  There is a pool on the top floor, a gym, and a hot tub.  I made the most of it and swam before work a couple of days and enjoyed the hot tub during the weekend.  The views are quite stunning of the East River and Roosevelt Island.

Ate

At Uva, on not one, but two recommendations.  It was really crowded (I think the UES is lacking just a bit in trendy spots) so we sat at the bar.  A women kept asking the bartender why he didn’t card her (she was about 40), but once we got past that the food was excellent.  I had Gnocchi and wine in a bowl (the specialty).  I would definitely go back.

Dinner with a former coworker and friend at his apartment.  One of my favorite things about this project is I can let friends know I’ll be in their neighborhood for the week and we can usually find a time to meet up.  

I didn’t think I could be on the Upper East Side and not have a bagel.  Bagel Express seemed to do a pretty good job on 94th and 2nd.

Ran 

Along the East River and kind of stumbled upon the footbridge that goes to Roosevelt Island.  I had never been before and its a great place for athletics with lots of fields and a nice runway that goes along the river.

Watched 

The Patriots at Pat O’brien’s bar.  It’s a seriously Boston sports bar and for a second or two I thought I was in Foxboro.  People kept shouting “Dannny!” for every Bostonian’s new favorite Patriot Danny Woodhead.

What did I miss?

Email me to host!

Stayed

With Joaquin, a former teammate and definitely a person that falls into the category of someone I knew, but not that well, before the week.  It was fascinating to get a glimpse into growing up in Harlem.  I also probably spent the most time with Joaq of any of my hosts. 

Ate

A lot of takeout, as I posted here.  Like many New Yorkers (myself now included), I don’t think Joaquin’s cooked in a long time.

My favorite place was b-bap.

Lifted

Like I was in college, for the first time since I was in college.  Joaquin’s workout is about the same as it was at Tufts.  I was sore for about a week.  Mid City Fitness is the oldest gym in New York City and Arnold Schwarzenagger lifted there.  It’s a no frills place, and it actually felt good to lift free weights again.  I have a longer post in my head about this experience if I get around to it.

Went

To one of Joaquin’s friend’s birthday party.  She wrote and directed the film “Adelaide” which is screening this Friday at The Quad Cinema on 13th Street.  I was a fan of the laid back Joe’s bar where she had the party.

Ran

The West Side Highway in the Vibram’s.  I’m up to 3 - 4 miles on these and it feels great.  I also ran in the park on John Lennon’s birthday.  You can check out a “soundscape” I did here - that’s a fancy way of saying I recorded audio on my iPhone.

Email me if you’d like to host!

I like to tell people I that I help my hosts see their neighborhood with a new set of eyes.  I think I did a little of that in Hell’s Kitchen - We ate Bibimbap and I told Joaquin about a couple of my favorite spots in the neighborhood from my very first stay as the nomad.  That seems like a lifetime ago and it is amazing to think about how little I understood about my idea when I first showed up in Hell’s Kitchen.

But this post isn’t about Hell’s Kitchen, it’s about Harlem, and the opportunity to see parts of my old neighborhood with a new set of eyes.

We woke up on Saturday morning and rode bikes up to where Joaquin grew up on 115th street and 7th avenue (what is now called Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard). He told me that when he was growing up about 70% of the places on his block were vacant.  We walked down 114th street which might have about that percentage of places boarded up right now.  It’s said that Columbia has purchased these places as part of its major expansion and gentrification is in full swing on the surrounding blocks.  To say the neighborhood has changed / is changing is an understatement, but Joaquin painted a pretty vivid picture of how it used to be walking around the neighborhood.

Perhaps most fascinating to me was seeing the house where Joaquin grew up.  It’s always fun to see where friends grew up, but even more interesting to see an NYC apartment where a friend grew up.  It’s got plenty of 70’s to it, and I saw a Fox police lock for the first time.  These locks prevented people from being able to kick in a door and were standard issued for a time in Harlem and other parts of New York City.

My camera battery died, but this is an image I found on google. The long pole serves the purpose of reinforcing the door.

Joaq told me about how he used to tell people he lived at the “L” because the buzzer to his apartment building didn’t work and his apartment was on level with the L of a vertical Liquor store sign.  He also said they used to dump water out the window to get the alcoholics to leave the block in the middle of the night.

After dropping our bikes, we went over to the school where Joaquin talked to some current students from a program he had participated in called Wadleigh.  It’s an amazing program, which gives students the opportunity to go to boarding schools around the country and one that has been around for 47 years!  I met the man who started it, Mr. Plummer, who is inspiring.  He told me, “what’s all this about Waiting for Superman?”  I’ve been Superman for 47 years.”   He’s absolutely right, and there were a number of people there volunteering their time and helping the next generation as a direct result of Mr. Plummer’s vision to allow inner city youth the opportunity to go to some of the best preparatory schools in the country.

After Joaquin fielded lots of questions from students currently participating in the program, we walked to a 125^th street to a church I had walked by 100 times before, but never realized there was a cafeteria style restaurant up the stairs.  Some of the best soul food awaits you at what Joaq calls Daddy Grace chruch.  I had my first ever turkey wing, some of the best mac and cheese, collard greens, candied yam (which the woman gave me “to make sure I came back”), and cornbread.  We were there on Saturday, but I’m told it’s a true event on Sunday while church is going on for the better part of the day.

Getting the motivation to hop on a bike after a meal like that is tough, but once we got going the adrenaline kicked in.  Joaq is not a fan of bike lanes (after all, they weren’t there when he was growing up) so we were bobbing and weaving most of the way home.  That was also a new way of seeing the city, albeit one I’m not likely to repeat anytime soon.

A Saturday trip to Harlem was one of the more unique experiences of my first six months bouncing around New York.  Anytime I truly feel like a tourist in my own city, I know I’m doing this right.

So I’ve been sick for most of the week.  A sick nomad is not a good thing so I’m taking this Friday night to make sure I’m better.  And since I haven’t been out at all this week, pretty much every meal has been takeout.  Below is a list of spots, in order of preference, but everything was pretty good.  There is such an incredible number of restaurants on 9th avenue.

#1 B-bap

I love Bee Bim Bap and my host Joaquin had never had it.  You can build your own, but I went for the classic and got Joaq the spicy chicken.  The chili sauce is pretty awesome.

#2 Hanci Turkish Cuisuine

Coban Salatasi (cucumber and tomato salad) and tavuk corbasi (chicken soup) were the start to my recovery.  The guy running the show was very appreciative of my greeting him in Turkish.  Just say “merhaba” and you’ll probably get a free piece of baklava.

#3 Blue 9 Burger 

Burger was just okay, but I really enjoyed my mint chocolate chip shakes and I liked the slightly soggy fries.

#4 Carnegie Deli

This one was actually delivery, but the quart of Matzoh ball noodle soup is perfect for being sick.  I also ordered the pastrami sandwich which was so big it lasted me three days.  Overpriced, but I knew that going in.

#5 Greek Kitchen

Nice Avegolemon soup, but overpriced “middle east salad.”  Not sure I would go back for takeout.

#6 Fresco

One of Joaquin’s go to spots.  They had a pretty good Cobb Salad with a ton of chicken.

#7 Burrito Box

Tiny hole in the wall.  Standard mexican fair but they do have vegan options if you are into that.

Did I miss any of your favorite takeout spots in Hells Kitchen?  

Tomorrow is the real food excitement.  We are headed up to Harlem where Joaquin grew up for some soul food at a local church!

The incident of nearly getting my face pummeled / coffee spilled all over me notwithstanding, I had a great time in Crown Heights.  Its one of those places I had never been before, but will definitely go back to.

Stayed

With Liz, a family friend who used to work at Cass Flowers in Watertown for my aunt.  She has a huge library of great books, no TV, and a lot of space.  I pretty much had my own room which is always nice.  Liz has spent a lot of time in Indonesia, specifically Bali, and performs in a gamelan group that travels the World. If you are interested in gamelan (like I am after hearing Liz talk about it, and actually messing around with one of the instruments used in the ensemble), there is a show coming up at BAM in Brooklyn on October 14th - 16th.  

Liz is someone I did not know very well before my week long stint in Crown Heights, and although we didn’t see a great deal of each other, it was a really fun when I did.

Ate

Caribbean food at Gloria’s.  Pretty awesome curry goat and pumpkin roti.

Excellent pastries and nice coffee from Breukelen coffee.

Explored

Old, amazing homes on the Crown Heights house tour which takes you around the neighborhood and into a dozen different historic homes in various states of repair. There are some amazing homes in this neighborhood.  Here are a few photos.   For more, check my Flickr Page.

This was the highlight of the tour.  A huge project with four floors and lots of work. 

a 19th century “man cave” and billiard room.  The detail is amazing.

Met

Liz’s roommate Abe, who is from Mexico, and his friends Lindsey and Armando who are also from Mexico and live in East Williamsburg.  They are going to host me the week before Christmas.  I only have one week left that I need to fill to finish out the calendar in December.  

Chile Fest

Not technically Crown Heights, but close enough.  I walked to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and took in some great music and excellent beer.  The gardens are one of my favorite places and membership is quite reasonable ($50).

Saw 

Clay Shirky speak, not in Crown Heights, but in Soho (a nabe I’d like to check out so Email me!).  It was at Daylife’s HQ and I was really happy to see him speak. He wrote “Here Comes Everybody” and “Cognitive Surplus.” 

Ran

Along Eastern Parkway, a beautiful tree lined street in Crown Heights conceived of by Olmstead.

What did I miss?

I’m not a particularly confrontational person.  I’m even less confrontational when I’m standing outside Breukelen Coffee House on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights holding two large coffees, one on top of the other with a bag of croissants squeezed between my elbow and my waist and an Iphone tucked into my waist band of my shorts after a Saturday morning run in my Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  I had gone on this run to pick up some breakfast for my host and I before the Crown Heights House Tour (which was amazing).

While in line, a girl asked me about my shoes and we started chatting.  See, I’m non-confrontation and friendly.  We talked in the coffee shop, which then lead out to the sidewalk which then led me to mistakenly bump into 3 black guys walking down the street.  I apologized, and my new friend and I continued our conversation laughing about something completely unrelated to the bump.  My other new “friend” didn’t quite see it that way.

He walked probably about 10 paces past us and then came back and asked me “What the F&%$ are you laughing at?”  If you can picture the initial description (coffee, pastries, phone, shoes), you’ll understand that I stopped laughing in my defenseless position.  I kept eye contact with him he asked again, “WHAT the F&*K are you laughing at?” to which I think I muttered, “we were just talking.”  He then told me “I would knock you the F$%& out.”  I didn’t really doubt him, but focused in on his teeth which made me think that maybe he had once been knocked the f out.  He was in my face and my adrenaline was certainly flowing, but I did all I could to ensure the situation didn’t escalate (read: kept my mouth shut) and he walked away after we stared at each other for a few seconds.  The girl I was with was upset (she lived across the street, deals with this it sounds like) and had a few words for them.  His final parting shot was something to the effect of “you are lucky you aren’t a *$%%& or I’d knock your bitch out too.”  (My internal monologue…um, that’s not my bitch.)  He said “this is still Franklin Avenue,” a nod to the gentrification of the neighborhood.

It’s a story, and a good one since I didn’t get knocked out, but it’s also really bums me out.  I understand that, in my outfit outside of that coffee shop, I was the very picture of gentrification.  And even though I don’t live in that neighborhood permanently I suppose I’m somehow contributing to it.  I tried to think for the rest of the day of something constructive I could have said, but really couldn’t come up with anything.  A friend suggested “can i sleep on your couch?”  Kidding aside, the anger sucks.  I admittedly have no concept about it, or where it comes from (I’m sure it comes from somewhere), or if it can go away.

But I hope it can, and I hope that sometimes it does, and I hope the next time I’m on Franklin Avenue someone doesn’t tell me they are going to knock me the fuck out.

P.S.  Tumblr should create a function to shield certain posts from my parents.

Crown Heights House Tour on Saturday at 10am, via Nostrand Park.

Here’s a map of the historic district.

On Saturday from 12pm - 6pm, at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  

Experience New York’s hottest fall tradition with seven bands from chile-loving nations around the world, including Indian bhangra and brass, a Haitian dance fête, and Brooklyn’s own ukulele gals. Sample goodies from today’s hottest chocolatiers and cast your vote at the Chile Chocolate Takedown. Delight in spicy cooking demos by top NYC chefs and enjoy sizzling sauces, pickles, and other red-hot specialties. Don’t miss your chance to savor the fiery flavor…Brooklyn style.

Message me @thenycnomad http://twitter.com/#!/thenycnomad  if you make it to either one!