9th Street Community Garden, Alphabet City

I know, I know – I spend a week in each neighborhood that I live in.  But since I’ve spent so much time in Alphabet City I thought rather than a simple recap post, I’d do an NY Times style 36 hours piece – only in this case its 24 hours.  It’s an arbitrary number, but if you live in NYC, why not check out Roomorama or AirBnB, crash with some great friends like Mike and Des to take a vacation in your own city for a night.

Alphabet City has become my nomadic home over the past year.  It’s the answer I give to the inevitable question of what’s your favorite neighborhood. I’ve stayed on 9th and C, 6th and B, 13th between 1st and A, and 3rd between B & C.  Here’s what I’d do if I only had 24 hours.

Day 1

7pm

1)   Pylos

I love this Greek Place on my favorite food block in Manhattan on 7th between 1st and A.  The food is excellent and the clay pots are hanging from the ceiling the   If you want something a little less pricey, try Caracas Arepas bar.  But be warned that you’ll have to wait.  If all else fails, Luke’s Lobster has one of the best lobster rolls in NYC and rarely has a large line.

9pm

2) Amor y Amargo

“Love and Bitters.”  This place makes its own bitters, which I learned are not associated with the rum production process.  It’s a common misconception because Agnostura is the household name for bitters and also makes a lot of rum.  I was happy to be informed as I had been pushing that misinformation for a couple of years now.  Anyway, keep it classy with cocktails from this 13 seat bar.  The bartenders know what they are doing so just give them rough guidelines and they won’t steer you wrong.  You can buy some bitters to take home with you.

11pm

3)  Summit Bar

Some of the best cocktails in NYC.  Good bartenders and good music.

4) Late night food

2 options – sandwiches from Sunny and Anne’s that are named after various politicians;  Zaragosa, a Mexican deli that serves food from steam tables.  I’m told by a friend that this is the closest you’ll get to West Coast Mexican in NYC.

Day 2

10 AM

5) 9th Street Espresso

Wake up with some excellent coffee or espresso.  If you’re planning on hanging around, you should probably have an Apple computer.  Like many cafes in NYC, it looks like a commercial for Macbooks.

11 AM

6) Best Breakfast Sandwich in NYC

It’s super expensive, but you won’t care after  you taste the best Egg and Cheese sandwich in New York City at Barnyard.

7) Community Gardens

One of my favorite things about Alphabet City are the numerous Community Gardens.  I’m most familiar with the one across the street from 9th Street Espresso which is managed by Puerto Ricans.  People also refer to Alphabet City as Loisada, which I still haven’t figured out how to pronounce, but thats what the Nuyoricans (Puerto Ricans who live in New York) call the neighborhood.  Bring a book and hang out until you get hungry.  I met some interesting people in that garden, and even got invited to a crab boil one night.  There is a laminated guide that you can pick up at the entrance if you’re curious about the various types of plants and flowers.

2pm

Royale Burger

There is an outdoor space and though there are better burgers in the city (JG Melon, Shake Shack), this is a great neighborhood Burger Joint.  If it’s a really nice out, go grab a sandwich at Sunny and Anne’s instead and find another community garden to hang out in.

3pm

9) Workout along the East River

Work off some of those calories with a run over to the East River and you’ll find a track, a path along the waterfront, and an outdoor gym.  The outdoor gym is filled with New York City characters.  It’s one of my favorite places to work out.

4pm

10)  Tompkins Square Park

Plenty of history at this park where the Tompkins Square Riots took place, the Crusty Punks have lived, and Pradubpada’s tree is located

6pm

10)  Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Check the schedule, but look for poetry and other performances at this LES / Alphabet City institution.

7pm

11) Dessert for Dinner

Lulu’s Apothecary is Vegan, but you’d never know it.  The frozen yogurt is fantastic, especially if you get it with a brownie.

Oh, and don’t forget to talk to some locals.

The Most Interesting Person in Alphabet City by thenycnomad

Stayed

On 3rd, between B & C.  This address gets the award for the best backyard.  A huge space shared by the entire building but from what my hosts described to me, only really used by them.  There are flowers, patio furniture, and three or four grills.  You could daily have 100 people in the back yard.   It was my office for a couple of days.

My hosts for the week were my good friend from Tufts, Jesse and his two roommates Simon and Chris.  We didn’t get to see a whole lot of each other, but it seems like a fun spot to live both for the location and the people living there.

Ran

Along the East River.  Jesse even had me doing sprints which is just a bad idea all around.  We also worked out at the Outdoor gym along the East River which I think is one of my favorite places to work out in NY.

Ate

• Cafe Gaia – my new favorite work spot.  $5 paninis, Illy coffee, and Gaia works behind the counter making fresh pasta.Snack Dragon – the best $3 taco you’ll find.
• Lavagana – Jesse’s parents took he and I out for a meal here.  Highlights included the mushroom pizza, and we shared the snapper for two.
• Royale – It’s a solid burger although its not in the same category as JG Melon or Shake Shack in my opinion.
• Ramen Kuboya – finally actually used a Groupon that didn’t expire.  The spicy miso was delicious.
• Lula’s Sweet Apothecary – vegan, cashew based desserts.  I had the brownie with peanut butter ice cream.  It was great, but minus points for coconut flavored whipped cream.

Watched

FML stories at the Nuyorican poets cafe.  I’m not sure it was an authentic Nuyorican experience, so I might have to go back. My friend who told her story and came in second place.  She definitely deserved first.

Related articles

• NYC Opens First Section Of East River Waterfront Esplanade (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Swimmers brave East River (nydailynews.com)
• First Segment of Downtown East River Esplanade Opens, Already Packed (streetsblog.org)
• Weekend Inspiration | New York City In a New Light: Olya Turcihin. (thecreativediarist.com)

Stayed

With Mike and Pete.  Mike is a co-worker at outside.in and shares my feeling of less is more with regard to stuff.  Pete is foreign currency trader by day and an 80’s pop star by night.  Check out his new album here and follow him on Twitter here, and read his blog here.

Ate

Awesome food, pretty much everywhere I went.  Some highlights:

Esperanto – Brazilian food.  Mike and I went there on Monday night for the prix fixe menu ($20) and half off bottle of wine.  $12 for a halfway decent bottle of wine?  I asked him if I was still in Manhattan.

Barnyard – Mike was a great host and recommended some spots for me while he was away for the weekend.  Barnyard was one of those spots.  An expensive, albeit delicious breakfast sandwich.  I also had turmeric juice which just tastes healthy.

Kafana – Pete, Mike and I had the nomad sponsored dinner here and it was really great.  INCREDIBLE cow’s milk feta cheese and a great selection of meats.  It’s relatively new, and neither of my hosts had been there, which always makes for a fun outing.  I had never eaten at Serbian restaurant (or had Serbian beer) before.

Wacky Wok – This is the go to take-out spot.  Pick your noodles, pick your vegetables and protein and pick your sauce.  It’s guilt free takeout as the packaging is all eco-friendly.  What’s even nicer is that they are not in your face about how “green” they are.  It’s kind of obvious from the moment you walk in the place.  There is a hippyish guy who runs the shop and like most of Alphabet city, it was just a chill place.

Caracas Arepa Bar – I finally went here after 3 previous unsuccessful attempts. There had always been over an hour long wait so when it was 30 minutes I jumped at the chance.  I am definitely a fan and would go back, but I wouldn’t wait an hour for it.  I’m of the belief that the block on 7th street between 1st and A has the best food in all of Manhattan.  Anyone have a better block?

Also had my first cupcake at Butter Lane.  You pick your cupcake and icing and its pretty fun.  I had Banana with Peanut Butter.

Met

Lots of nice people at the 9th street community garden and park.  I’m writing a whole post about it so stay tuned.  There are an abundance of community gardens in Alphabet city.

Relaxed

I had the apartment mostly to myself over the weekend.  I didn’t leave the neighborhood until Sunday and stayed in Friday and Saturday night.  I hadn’t done that in a long time and it was exactly what I needed.  I enjoyed coffee at 9th street espresso which was described to me as mecca for coffee drinkers.  I also waited for the cable guy on Saturday afternoon and scored my hosts some free cable.  Sound good?  Send me an Email!

Saw

One of the most insane performances I’ve ever seen.  This guy used to play basketball for Villanova.

Here’s a picture:

Bars

Duke’s – Duke’s is a cool spot with a dartboard in the back.  They had to take down their sign because the Duke’s restaurants in NYC were complaining about copyright.  I think that is pretty lame.

B side – It’s a cool spot with a foosball table and cheap beer

Banjo Jim’s – What a bar is supposed to be in my opinion.  Great music and a really fun crowd with $3 Tecates and $4 Dale’s Pale Ale.  Banjo’s is right below where I was staying and I can’t believe I only made it there one night.

Ran

Runners high happens about every 5 years for me, but I had it within 10 minutes of starting my run along the East River.  It was an incredible day and the five fingered shoes might have had something to do with it.  I also returned to the outdoor gym on 6th street where I always seem to meet someone interesting (this time a chef in the Financial District).

If you couldn’t tell from the length of this post, I LOVED Alphabet City!

What did I miss? Email me.