Entries Tagged 'New York' ↓

The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on December 1, 2008.

This winter, I am headed to the beach. Not the actual beach, unfortunately, because my wallet is a few Andrew Jacksons short of a plane ticket. Instead I’ll be heading to Park Slope’s newest watering hole, the beach-themed Cabana Bar.

Cabana Bar quietly opened a few weeks ago, just before its neighboring restaurant, Playa. Even on the chilliest of nights, the beach atmosphere at Cabana can just about make you forget that cold weather has arrived. The ceiling is all glass, giving the feeling of letting in the night sky while keeping out the cold. A faux palm tree shoots through the center table, dominating the room. A crashing wave mural graces the far wall, across from the tiki-thatched bar. All that’s missing is the sand, and the corniness that ruins other themed bars.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 24, 2008.

On yet another chilly afternoon, I ventured to the New York Transit Museum for my weekly dose of culture. The green globe at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street marks the subterranean entrance to the museum, housed in the now-defunct Court Street station.

Our first stop on the Transit Museum tour was Steel, Stone & Backbone: Building New York’s Subways 1900-1925. My friend and I marveled at images of the old City Hall station. With arches and intricate tile work, why can’t all our subway stations be that beautiful? (Maybe because the MTA has that pesky little budget shortage.) After perusing displays about Robert Moses, the evolution of rider currency, and the newly-renamed Triborough Bridge, we were ready to move to the hands-on exhibits.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 17, 2008.

It’s getting to be that time of year when we want to spend our weekends indoors, somewhere warm and dry. Since we can’t spend the entire winter in our apartments, museums in Brooklyn are a perfect antidote to cabin fever.

The Brooklyn Museum is a world-class museum that is literally in our backyard. While it may be the obvious choice for a post about museums in Brooklyn, I ask you this question: when was the last time you visited? For those of you who live outside of Brooklyn, it’s completely worth the short trip on the 2/3 train. (The subway stop is literally just outside the museum’s door.) To the Brooklynites among us, with an extensive permanent collection and special exhibits opening every month, the BMA begs another look.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 10, 2008.

Now that the election is over, we can get back to talking about the really important issue—food! In the month since I moved to Brooklyn, I’ve visited Flipsters twice, both times with friends who were big fans. It’s easy to see why this good-natured bar and grill in Park Slope become part of my friends’ restaurant repertoire.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on November 3, 2008.  I ended up making phone calls to Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and Nevada, and all four states went blue.

We interrupt the usual Brooklyn coverage to bring you some important election information.  This is a historic election, and arguably the most important election of our lifetimes.   It is crucial that everyone votes on Tuesday, but there is more that you can do to turn the rest of the country a little bluer.  I spent time this weekend making phone calls at Obama’s New York headquarters, and I was surprised by how much fun it was.    The energy in the room is incredible–everyone is there to affect the outcome of this election.

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The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on October 27, 2008.

When I was making plans with my friend Sarah this week, she sent me four Brooklyn restaurant choices, all with links and menus. Perhaps it’s because I looked at their website first, but Melt was the clear choice for our dinner date.

Situated in Park Slope just a few blocks away from the subways at the Atlantic Terminal, Melt was already winning points for being so conveniently located. For some reason I’d been expecting a bigger restaurant, possibly because their menu was so intriguing. The space was pleasantly small; with room enough for only about seventy people. With modern furniture and clean lines, Melt manages to be sleek and sophisticated without being pretentious.

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I write about Brooklyn every week for NYC’s Neighborbee blog.   The following post originally appeared on Neighborbee on October 20, 2008.

Hello Noo Yawkers, it’s Julie here, Neighborbee’s new Brooklyn blogger. I’m back in the city after year-long travels, and now I have one more good reason to go out and explore my new borough.

Unsure of what haunt to cover for my first post, I called my friend Hils, a long-time Brooklynite. She suggested Camp, a Smith Street bar that had always intrigued her. “Julie,” she said, “they have S’mores.” That was all it took for me to agree to a 3-train trip across Brooklyn.  (Sidebar: why is it easier for me to go into Manhattan than to go to Smith Street? I really must look into buses.)

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Hello from Fiji! Before Jared and I tell you about our time here in paradise (seriously, Fiji is heaven on earth) let’s look back on our quick jaunt to the good old U.S. of A. We spent 10 days seeing people we love and chowing down on all the food we’d been missing.

Jared and I don’t plan too far in advance, so when Jared’s sister offered us two free tickets to Houston for her graduation, we jumped at the chance to go home for a bit. We took advantage of some buddy passes and frequent flier tickets and mapped a frantic U.S. tour: first Houston, then Florida, New York, and finally Los Angeles.

We touched down in Houston after more than five months in South America. I couldn’t help but immediately see the overconsumption that is prevalent in the States. Everywhere we looked we saw big SUVs, big houses, big portions of food. Then again, this was Texas, where everything is big.
We weren’t in Houston to sightsee, we were there to see family. Jared’s sister Rachel became one of the newest flight attendants in the skies, and we both gained a new respect for flight attendants. (Rachel can evacuate a plane in 90 seconds!) As a bonus, we got to stay with Jared’s cousins Cindy, Todd, 3-year-old Jessica, and one-year-old Colin. Last time we saw Jessica she was only one, and this was our first time meeting Colin, who I wanted to take with me.

Our next stop was my hometown, West Palm Beach, Florida. Throughout our last few weeks in South America, I was growing more homesick by the day. Seeing my parents, grandparents, and best friends did more for my spirits than a stay at a five-star hotel. My parents are selling my childhood home, so next time I see them they will be living in Georgia. I gave my grandparents big hugs, because they are 81 and 90, and I can’t take them for granted anymore. Jared and I even got to spend time with his grandmother Myra, who lives not far from my parents. Friends are the family you choose, so seeing Jen, Billy, Katie, Bill, Eileen, and Hope was as important as seeing my parents. (I just wish I had taken more pictures of everybody.)

Then it was on to New York City, which is still my favorite city in the world. We had 36 hours to see as many of our friends as possible. It was a chilly Tuesday night in the city, but a few friends came to meet us for dinner and karaoke, and even more came out later for drinks. Over salmon and avocado rolls at our old sushi joint, we all sang rousing versions of “Sweet Child O Mine” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Being serenaded by Feldman was worth the price of admission. Jared and I had missed all our friends more than they know, and seeing them was worth the trip to New York.

The next day in New York, I realized I had lost my wallet. Somewhere between paying for the cab back to Maria’s apartment the night before, and walking 10 blocks that morning, my wallet went missing. Both my debit cards and three credit cards were in my wallet, and I know better than to keep all that stuff in one place. As my favorite blogger would say, BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Now that I was back on familiar territory I had let my guard down, and I was paying the price. It’s better to have lost my wallet in New York than in a foreign country, but still, this is not how I wanted to spend my one free day in the New York City. I wanted to spend my day getting lemon cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop.

Los Angeles was the last stop on our North American leg. We scored a great deal on a flight to New Zealand, via Fiji, at half the price we would have paid from South America. So by coming home, we actually saved $1600. Plus we got to spend time with our good friends Erin, Hal, Hasmik, Kareem, Noah, Greg, Danielle, and Jenni. We grilled on a sidewalk, soaked in a hot tub, and spent time enjoying the hospitality of our new and old friends. Our time in L.A. also coincided with Community Next, a conference founded by our friend Noah. (We were used to seeing Noah in boxers at his Buenos Aires apartment, so it was strange to see him in a suit.) Right before our flight, we even crashed a barbecue where the host, who only met us that day, made us an incredible lunch of root beer marinated pork chops and grilled eggplant.

Having seen lots of family and friends and satisfied my cravings for margaritas, buffalo wings, spinach dip, sushi, chocolate chip cookies, salt and vinegar chips, In-N-Out Burger, Ethiopian food, sushi, burritos, The Cheesecake Factory, cookie dough ice cream, and more sushi, Jared and I boarded our flight to Fiji. We left the states feeling happy, exhausted, and ready for another long leg of travel. Thank you to everyone who put us up, transported us to and from airports, fed us and came to see us. We appreciate it more than you know.

Want to know the pros and cons of buying movie tickets online? How about a definitive guide to movie etiquette? Curious which NYC movie theater sells samosas? All those questions and more can be answered at New York Magazine’s Everything Guide to Moviegoing.

I must take a slight detour from our movie-related programming and tell you about one of New York City’s best-kept secrets. I love living in New York, but it can be quite expensive, unless you know how to beat the system.

You’re reading the title of this post and thinking, “No way.” But yes, there is really a completely legal, legitimate way to get tickets to Broadway shows for only $4. It’s called Theater Extras, and it’s awesome. For a $99 annual membership fee, you can purchase up to two tickets to available shows for $4 each. Usually the offerings are way-off-Broadway theater, concerts, or comedy clubs, but if you check the site daily and subscribe to their email updates, you can get tickets to Broadway shows.

Yesterday I saw Liev Schreiber in Talk Radio. (Schreiber’s performance as a radio shock jock was incredible and I highly recommend the play.) In the past two and a half years, I’ve seen at least ten Broadway shows through Theater Extras, including Sweeney Todd, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Even at the half-price ticket booth, two tickets would cost more than my annual membership in Theater Extras. In addition, I’ve seen several excellent Off-Broadway shows and one jazz performance, all for the bargain price of $4 per ticket.

Here’s the catch: these are last minute tickets and you don’t know where your seats are until you pick up the tickets. (The TE office is open Monday through Friday, so I found about Sunday’s Talk Radio tickets on Friday.) If you don’t pick up your tickets, your credit card will be charged a $15 penalty per ticket. But that’s it. Generally the seats are not bad, and you sure can’t beat the price.

If you join, tell ‘em julie@trailerspy.com sent ya. (Official site)