The northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood is rich in parkland. Inwood Hill Park is north of Dyckman Street, while Fort Tryon Park, home of the Cloisters, is south of Dyckman Street. Both face the Hudson River on the island's west side. At the very tip of Manhattan, next to Inwood Hill Park, is Baker's Field where Columbia University's athletic teams play.
Harlem is enjoying a vigorous revival, especially along West 125th Street. At the corner of Frederick Douglass Boulevard (the continuation of Eighth Avenue) is the Harlem USA shopping complex including the Disney store. The legendary Apollo Theater is at number 253, the Studio Museum of Harlem at number 144, and Bill Clinton's office at number 55 (though the Secret Service takes a dim view of surprise visitors). When in Harlem, eat at Patsy's, Manhattan's last coal-fired pizzeria, or Miss Maude's Spoonbread Too.
If you'd like to pay your respects to Ida and Isidore Strauss, who went down with the Titanic, visit the tiny triangle known as Strauss Park at West 107th-108th streets, West End Avenue, and Broadway for a brief photo opportunity. Nearby: Henry's, Rack & Soul.
Walk due west from West 72nd on up and you'll hit the narrow strip of green known as Riverside Park. At West 100th Street, across the narrow service road from the neighborhood's stately apartment houses, is the Firefighter's Monument, where the department stages occasional commemorative ceremonies. The monument is a pleasant little spot with benches and a view of the park.
Walk due east from any restaurant between West 59th and 110th streets and you'll hit Central Park, worth a long day of exploration in itself. Despite its reputation, it's safe during the day.
If you're meditating on Latin American culture at the Museo del Barrio, at Fifth Avenue and East 104th Street, what could be more fitting than lunch at El Paso Taqueria or Santa Clarita?
If you're visiting the Whitney at Madison and East 74th or the Frick Collection on East 70th between Madison and Fifth, your best bet is the Candle Cafe.
The entire Upper East Side has access to Central Park at its western border. Crosstown buses at 96th, 86th, 79th, and 72nd take you to the Upper West Side where a lot more of our favorite restaurants are located.
For access to parks, the Upper West Side is the city's most fortunate neighborhood. On the eastern border is Central Park and to the west is Riverside Park.
You can admire the neighborhood's fine housing stock by walking along its perimeter from Columbus Circle, north to West 110th Street, west to Riverside Drive, and south to 72nd. Along the way you'll see a fine selection of stately apartment buildings erected between the World Wars, blocks of brownstones that are quintessential New York, and even the occasional mansion. Another way to explore the neighborhood is along Broadway, which cuts diagonally through the area. Like Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, farther to the east, Broadway is full of restaurants.
At Riverside Drive and West 89th is the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument with seating and a view of the park. On the opposite side of the neighborhood is the Museum of Natural History, bounded by West 79th and 81st streets, Central Park West, and Columbus Avenue. Nearby in the West 80s: Artie's, Barney Greengrass, Flor de Mayo I, Malaysian Grill, and Tibet Shambala.
If you'e taking in a show at the Beacon Theatre, at Broadway and West 76th, you'll be right across the street from the excellent Niko's Mediterranean Grill & Bistro. Have cream puffs for dessert from the Beard Papa Sweets Café a few doors up the street. Also nearby: Shining Star Restaurant/Diner.
Several of New York's leading gourmet stores are on the Upper West Side—they're tourist attractions in themselves—and two of them have cafes. Try the Fairway Café and Zabar's Café.
The bad news for concertgoers at Lincoln Center is that restaurants in the West 60s are mediocre and overpriced. Our best advice is to walk north, deeper into the Upper West Side, or south to midtown—starting with the Greek Kitchen at Tenth Avenue and West 58th.
The outlook brightens as you move down to the blinding lights of Times Square and the West 40s. Just off Times Square is Manhattan's best barbecue joint, Virgil's, and the western edge of the theater district along Eighth and Ninth avenues is fertile ground for interesting eating. Carve, on Eighth, is closest. Walk one more block west to Ninth Avenue—come on, it won't kill you—and the pickings get even more interesting with Bali Nusa Indah Indonesian Restaurant, Manganaro's Hero Boy, Rinconcito Peruano Restaurant, and Wondee Siam I and II. Also nearby: Cafe Edison and Oh! Raku. Be warned, though, that restaurants in and near the theater district often fill up in early evening between 6 and 8. Evening performances generally start at 8 PM and it's easier to get a table after that.
If you're at Grand Central Station, or anywhere in the East 40s, pay a visit to the fabulous Grand Central Oyster Bar, especially if you're in the mood for seafood. Conversely, if you're eating at the Oyster Bar, do spend a few moments marveling at the ceiling of the renovated station, one of the city's most beautiful sights. If the Oyster Bar is too rich for your blood, there are lots of quick-bite outfits in the station's lower level. For dessert, enjoy Italian treats at Ferrara's.
New York is full of things to do. Here are a few attractions that are located near restaurants featured in the book. As with the geographical listings in the preceding chapter, this survey runs from north to south in Manhattan before moving to the outer boroughs.
The neighborhood between West 110th and 125th streets, Morningside Heights, is dominated by Columbia University. The Ivy League school falls between 114th and 120th streets, between Broadway and Amsterdam avenues. Bisecting the campus at West 116th Street is College Walk. North of College Walk is the dome of Low Library, the university's main administration building; south is Butler Library, vaguely reminiscent of the Parthenon. Grant's Tomb and Riverside Church are at Riverside Drive and West 122nd Street. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine—in operation for decades though still under construction—falls between West 110th and 113th streets, and between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. Neighbors call it St. John the Unfinished and occasionally it serves as a magnificent concert venue. Nearby: Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too, the Hungarian Pastry Shop, P&W's Sandwich Shop, and The Symposium.
The monument is also near a Riverside Park entrance that offers direct access to the mighty Hudson. To reach the waterfront, walk down the steps, cross Riverside Drive, and go one block south to West 99th, where you'll find an entrance to the park. Enter the park, head to the right, then duck left beneath the underpass, and you're at the water's edge—just about our favorite spot for lounging around in all of New York City. Nearby in the upper West 90s: Broadway Bagels, Cafe Viva, Flor de Mayo II, Krik Krak Restaurant, and El Malecón Restaurant.
The Upper East Side is great for museums and shopping but not the best hunting ground for restaurants. The Metropolitan is at Fifth Avenue and East 82nd, the Guggenheim a few blocks north at 89th, Cooper-Hewitt on 91st just off Fifth, and the Jewish Museum at 92nd. Somewhat nearby: the Heidelberg and the Saigon Grill.
The West 90s boast Symphony Space, at Broadway and 95th, and a lovely community garden in Riverside Park at 92nd. Nearby: Ayurveda, Café con Leche, Key West, and Saigon Grill.
With Carnegie Hall at West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue and Radio City Music Hall at 51st and Sixth—not to mention the Museum of Modern Art on 53rd between Fifth and Sixth—the central West 50s are full of tourists looking for a quick bite. We don't have many favorites in the area except for the Great American Health Bar, Menchanko-Tei, and farther west, Hallo Berlin. To the east are F&B's gourmet hotdogs. For more choices head south to the theater district.
The giants of West 34th Street are the Empire State Building at Fifth Avenue, Macy's between Sixth and Seventh, and the complex that includes Madison Square Garden and Penn Station between Seventh and Eighth. Frankie & Johnnie's Steakhouse and the Indian vegetarian place Vatan are nearby.Chelsea is the center of the city's gay community (though the LGBT Community Center is actually down on West 13th Street off Seventh Avenue). It is full of hip bars and clubs as well as rows of beautiful, peaceful, timeless brownstones south of West 23rd between Ninth and Tenth avenues. Nearby are Billy's Bakery, F&B Güdtfood, Hong Kong Noodle & Sushi, Markt, and Negril Chelsea. In the Gramercy Park area to the east are Giorgio's of Gramercy, Lady Mendl's, and the Old Town Bar & Restaurant.
Lower Manhattan (Below 14th Street) The West Village's varied social scene draws people from all over the metropolitan area. Here's where you'll find Cafe de Bruxelles, Café Español, the Corner Bistro, and the Doma Cafe and Gallery. For dessert there's the amazing Chocolate Bar (which serves the city's richest cup of cocoa) and Cones—Ice Cream Artisans (homemade ice cream in unusual flavors).
The East Village is not the artist's mecca it once was. It is now so crammed with yuppies that even the junkies have left in disgust. But it is still one of the city's best neighborhoods for eating out. Second Avenue plays host to B&H Vegetarian Restaurant, Little Poland, Pommes Frites, and enough other good restaurants to fill another book. Farther east are Banjara, Elvie's Turo-Turo, Mama's Food Shop, and Negril Village.
Care for a drink at New York City's oldest bar? That would be McSorley's Old Ale House on East 7th Street between Second and Third avenues. On the same block is Mingala, a lovely Burmese place. Nearby are New York University and Mamoun's Falafel (where the desserts are excellent).
Soho, south of Houston Street, is just too expensive for us, though we've dreamt of living in one of its spacious lofts. When we feel like splurging we go to Aquagrill or the Cub Room.
The immigrants who traditionally have populated the Lower East Side now share their grim tenements with affluent hipsters—it amazes us that anyone with money would choose to live in the city's most lightless and airless walkups. But you can get great sandwiches at Katz's on Houston. It's big enough to stand up to tourist onslaughts.
Before Wal-Mart, there was Canal Street, and it's still a phenomenally vital place to be on a weekend afternoon as people jostle for cheap watches and fake designer goods. Chinatown falls mostly south of Canal and you'll find plenty to eat at Jaya, the Nice Restaurant, Peking Duck House, Vegetarian Dim Sum House—and, though it's not exactly an Asian restaurant, Forlini's. Just north of Canal, along Mulberry Street, you'll find the bulk of Little Italy. We've always found the area overcrowded and a bit of a letdown—you can find better Italian food elsewhere in Manhattan and the really amazing stuff is in Brooklyn and the Bronx—but Umberto's is the place to go for clams, and it's fun to have dessert at Ferrara's Pasticceria Bakery & Café.
Near the southern tip of Manhattan are the World Trade Center site, Wall Street, and the South Sea Seaport. We used to work in this area, and while the Strand Bookstore on Fulton Street provided intellectual nourishment, there wasn't much that pleased the palate. But our favorite expense-account restaurant is Lorto on Gold Street, a few blocks north of Wall Street, literally in an alley leading off Maiden Lane.
Outer Boroughs New Yorkers will find this paragraph ludicrously basic, but occasionally out-of-towners are bewildered by the city's size and organization. So let us explain that New York City—which originally consisted of Manhattan only—was radically expanded in 1898 under a new city charter as Greater New York. The sprawling megalopolis (or perhaps megalomaniapolis) embraces five counties. New Yorkers call them boroughs, because we're not like everyone else, nor do we wish to be. Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island (shamefully neglected in this book) is Richmond County, while Queens and the Bronx have identical borough and county names. A magnificent public transit network links the five boroughs with subways, buses, and the Staten Island Ferry. Those living in the outer boroughs routinely refer to Manhattan as "the city" as though they weren't part of it, while snobby Manhattanites deride outer-borough and suburban residents as "bridge-and-tunnel people," but in reality we're all one big unhappy metropolitan family.
Some of the best views of Manhattan are found just outside the island. Take the 7 train into Queens and from the elevated tracks you'll see the secular steeple of the Empire State Building, the breathtaking Art Deco spire of the Chrysler Building, the turquoise box of the United Nations, and the wedge-shaped Citicorp Tower. When you get to Jackson Heights you can choose from two Indian buffets at the Delhi Palace or the Jackson Diner. Kebabs are available around the corner at the Afghan Kebab House #4. Jackson Heights is also a five-minute cab ride from LaGuardia Airport if you happen to get off a plane feeling hungry.
Flushing is the last stop on the 7 and only one stop past Shea Stadium, making Spicy and Tasty the ideal place to go after a Mets game. If it's looking busy, Flushing happens to be an enormous Asian enclave, and there are dozens of other good restaurants nearby. If you're a Yankees fan, starve.
Another great view of Manhattan is from the Brooklyn Promenade, in Brooklyn Heights, just one 2 or 3 train stop from Wall Street—people often say it belongs more to Manhattan than to Brooklyn. It certainly has some of the most impressive brownstone blocks in the city. Nearby: Noodle Pudding, an Italian restaurant.
Further into Brooklyn is Park Slope, with another stirring collection of brownstones, and our favorite English fish & chip joint, the ChipShop. Walk along the western edge of Prospect Park north to adjacent Prospect Heights to find the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. On-site parking is available at the rear of the museum on Washington Avenue.
Near the New York Botanic Gardens and the Bronx Wildlife Conservation Park—or as most people call it, the Bronx Zoo—is Belmont, an Italian neighborhood that held the line while the rest of the South Bronx was burning just a few decades ago. We made several pilgrimages to Emilia's and Pasquale's on Arthur Avenue while writing this book. The area is food heaven. It also boasts several other Italian and Albanian restaurants, bakeries offering biscotti and fresh bread, fish markets, meat markets, and some of the most unflappable and down-to-earth people in the five boroughs of New York. The Belmont Municipal Parking Field is on Arthur Avenue at East 186th Street.