6 minute read
GLOBAL GETAWAYS
NEW YEAR’S IN NEW YORK
by Margaret Swaine
Columnist
and Author www.margaretswaine.com
inally, this fall borders opened up again without COVID related restrictions, mask mandates and other hassles. I took advantage of this to make two trips to New York City. It’s a quick, easy 90 minute flight from Toronto to the gorgeous new LaGuardia Airport. If you go in December, you’ll find a many Christmas and New Year’s related activities to enjoy, which I’ll tell you about later in this article.
On my recent trips, I explored some of the colourful neigh bourhoods on Manhattan. On my first trip I stayed part of the time in the Wyndham Garden Chinatown in order to be close to my friend’s condo so we could get together for walks and meals. While the area was a bit scruffy, it wasn’t dangerous, and from my floor to ceiling windows on the executive floor, I had unbeatable views of the city skyline. Accommodation was bargain priced for NYC and the hotel had a rooftop bar, the Shinka Ramen Bar (their beef bone marrow named best ramen in NYC in 2021), and a sports beer garden. Pretty cool.
Chinatown was just around the corner from the hotel’s Bowery Street location, and it was fun to walk around the busy streets, packed with shops, restaurants and produce markets. One of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves in North America, its first immigrant set up shop here in the 1850’s. Of course, my friend and I had to go for a Dim Sum lunch at Golden Unicorn. Established in 1989, it was the neighborhood’s first “upscale” Cantonese-style dining restaurant, and is a huge, bustling, spread out place in an office building.
Further along Bowery towards downtown, you get to SOHO and NOHO, areas that are full of the hip and trendy. The terrace of my friend’s condo looked onto the gardens of Public Hotel NYC, an Ian Schrager property (of Studio 54 fame). Room rates at this sophisticated party hotel, were double what I was paying at the Wyndham. Their roof top bar is a sexy late-night hotspot with the best local and international DJ’s.
Freeman’s NYC
We went instead to Freemans, hidden down an alley between The Bowery and Chrystie Street. The theme of the place is rugged, clandestine colonial American tavern, with wooden floors, lots of animal heads mounted on the walls, and a speakeasy on the second floor at night. During the day, the kitchen serves tasty, generously portioned comfort food, such
as huevos rancheros, and excellent craft cocktails. At Dutch, another cozy American style eatery in the area, we enjoyed oysters and plump juicy cheese burgers.
On my second trip I stayed in Midtown, home to iconic attractions such as Times Square, the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, and Madison Square Garden. It’s a great location that also has friendly neighbourhood restaurants where food is delicious and reasonable. My arugula and artichoke salad and piccata di vitello at Toscana 49 was tasty indeed. At Abaita Kosher Dairy, sitting at the bar counter, I had a tuna schnitzel with potato salad and Boston lettuce that was generously portioned and delightful. This trip I signed up with New York Historical Tours for a stroll through Lower East Side. Immigrants first stepped off Ellis Island and into the 19th century tene ments here. We heard the story of this bygone era, saw photos, and explored a few actual tenements at The Tenement Museum. The museum’s two historical tene ment buildings were home to an estimated 15,000 people, from over 20 nations, between 1863 and 2011. Our guide filled us in on some of stories of those who lived here.
We also visited some of the oldest immigrant stores, still operating and highly popular. We stopped at Kossar’s Bagels and Bialys for ‘everything’ bagels with salmon cream cheese, popped into Economy Candy, Russ and Daughters Appetizing, and The Pickle Guy. Lunch was at the insanely popular Katz’s Deli. The line-up went all the way out the door and down the street.
Katz’s Deli
Tuna Schnitzel at Abiata
This deli was the scene of Meg Ryan’s iconic fake orgasm in the movie When Harry met Sally. (“I’ll have what she’s having” is the famous quote from that scene.) One must order the legendary pastrami sand wiches here along with pickles, coleslaw and potato salad.
Big events during the holiday season include the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov 30 and the New Year’s Eve Times Square Ball Drop. Performances include the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes (Nov 18 to Jan 2), A Christmas Carol at the Nederlander Theater (Nov 21 to Jan 1), and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center (Nov 25 to Dec 31).
ARTECHOUSE, a pioneer in innovation digital and experiential art, will hold an immersive holiday art experience for the whole family. SPECTACULAR FACTORY: The Holiday Multiverse will be open to the public for guests to immerse themselves into a multi verse of holiday villages. Visitors will float among giant swinging jingle bells, crash the party of a thou sand nutcrackers, join a thrilling train ride through wreaths, take a spin in the candy cane carousel and more. (November 19 to January 8).
Fifth Avenue’s holiday celebration, The Fifth Season, returns for its second year to bring cheer to Manhattan’s most famous avenue with its holiday windows and breathtaking decorations. New for this season, Fifth Avenue will launch Open Streets, which will not only close Fifth Avenue to all vehic ular traffic, but also open the sidewalks to a variety of food vendors and musical performers from local choirs and instrumental ensembles. (Dec 4 through the holiday season).
That’s just a part of what’s going on in NYC during the holiday season.
For additional holiday celebrations and itineraries, visit www.nycgo.com/holidays
