Brooklyn, NY
record stores :
Other music, 15 E. 4th St: A good store for new and used indie rock, electronic, and experimental music.
Vinyl and CD. Also the local clearinghouse for tickets to shows that will sell out and you need to buy in advance.
www.othermusic.com
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People will tell you to go to Generation, Kims, and other record stores around the city,
and maybe it's just the jaded record nerd in me but all of these stores suck and are way too overpriced.
The metal asshole at Generation gave me shit one day and yelled at me from across the store for taking a
record out of the polybag to see what color it was on. Fuck that place.
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generations, kims, bleeker bobs
places to eat :
Gobo, 401 6th Ave. (b/t Waverly Pl & W 8th St.): One of the best vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the city. Owned by the children of the people who own the Zen Palate mini-chain. Small plates-style menu. Recommended: Seaweed/kale/beets/walnut salad; seitan skewers; five-spice tofu rolls. Cost: $15-20 person w/o alcohol. (Second branch at 3rd Ave. and 81st St. on the UES.)
Strictly Roots, 2058 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd (7th Ave.) @ 123rd St: all-vegetarian soul food, with buffet service ("Do you want a $6 plate or a $7 plate?") on the weekends. A good option for people in Harlem or near Columbia.
Atlas Cafe, 2nd Ave. b/t 4th and 5th Streets: Vegan cake slices from vegantreats.com (they're delivered on Tuesdays); soy soft-serve ice cream; vegan sandwiches and crepes. Open late.
Vegetarian Dim-Sum House, 24 Pell St. between Mott St. and the Bowery, Chinatown. Exactly what the name says i is. Super cheap all-vegetarian dim sum house. Recommended: taro cakes; treasure balls with assorted flavor (not just for the name!); steamed roast pork buns. Recommended dessert: steamed sesame paste buns! A huge meal will cost you about $8, tops.
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TIENGARDEN - 170 Allen St (Btwn Rivington & Stanton) Incredible all vegan asian food. Some of the best tofu
I have eaten in the city. Awesome atmosphere and service. I recommend all the gluten, and a piece of chocolate
cheese cake for dessert.
RED BAMBOO - 140 W 4th St (right off 6th Ave.) I must warn you that Red Bamboo is very slow and about a
1/2 hour wait in the evenings/late nights (especially on weekends). It's always worth it though, because
Red Bamboo is my favorite vegan place in the city. Delicious entrees and appetizers. I highly recommend
going there for lunch as they are never crowded then and the lunch specials (ranging from $5-$7) are all
pretty amazing. I recommend the Dijon Chicken Cutlet Sandwich special with the Jerk Seitan. I also recommend
having a Roy Roger (real cherry coke!!).
Angelica's Kitchen - 300 12th Street (Btwn 1st & 2nd Ave.) One of my favorite vegan places in the city.
A wide variety of choices from muffins, to chili, sandwiches and more. They are a bit on the expensive
side but I don't mind paying for it because it's all organic and really good!!
RAY'S PIZZA (corner of St. Marks and 3rd Ave.) For non vegans, Ray's Pizza is some of the best pizza, hands down,
in all of New York City and it's five boroughs. The round, the square, and just about all of the other kinds of
pizza they offer are pretty incredible. I haven't tried any of the meat slices before but my non veggie friends
have said they are good, too! It's right under the St. Marks hotel, and it's usually bumping all through the
summer and on weekends but they have out door seating if you can grab it!
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dojo, 33rd and 3rd (pizza), johns of bleeker, san loco
SHOWS:
Knitting Factory - http://www.knittingfactory.com/
Tonic - http://www.tonic107.com/
Bowery Ballroom - http://www.boweryballroom.com/
Mercury Lounge - http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com/
Irving Plaza - http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7090462/
Others to know about: Roseland Ballroom, Webster Hall, ABC No Rio, Northsix (in williamsburg)
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Take the JMZ to the first stop in Brooklyn and you can probably find some crazy kind of punk show/party going on
at the Woodser. Look for the building with all bikes hanging off the fence and you'll know where you are.
As of recent, there are a lot of awesome shows being done at the Knitting Factory and North Six basements.
Both venues update their websites constantly so I recommend hitting them up when you plan to be in the city.
If you're stuck in the city for a week or so, you'd be suprised how fast you can get bored if there are no shows
or anything going on (unless you're a total tourist/museum freak). I highly recommend taking the Q train into
Brooklyn, get off at Ave. U and take the bus (B3) up to Kings Plaza. Across the street from the gigantic mall
you will see a store front in which you can purchase tickets for a cheap bus ride to Six Flags Great Adventure!
Depending on what time of the year it is, the bus leaves about an hour before and the park opens and closes.
Don't forget to get a coke can for buy one, get one free!
I know plenty of other cool things to do in the city, get in touch with me
(pattycake on vlv, maybe you can make a link to my profile here alice) and we can hang out or something!
VLV user Evan runs this website: www.nycdit.com
It's currently a little bare but there is a database for upcoming shows which some of us try to update as
much as possible and he is soon adding all the venues, restaurants, bike shops, shit to do and more to a
big fat list. Check that out!
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abc, continental, northsix, don hills
Things To Do:
Good bookstores: Strand (12th St. @ Broadway); 12th St. Books (12th St. b/t 5th Ave. and University Pl.); St. Mark's Books (3rd Ave. & 9th St., just east of Astor Place); East Village Books (St. Mark's Place between 1st Ave. and Ave. A); HousingWorks (126 Crosby St. b/t Houston & Prince); Labyrinth (112th St. b/t Broadway and Amsterdam). Strand is a behemoth with tons of used books--go there to browse, not with a specific book in mind. 12th St. Books has great used non-fiction. They specialize in literary criticism, letters, philosophy, history, and religious studies. St. Mark's may be the best store for new books in the city; extensive magazine selection too. East Village Books has a great used selection, including a lot of fiction paperbacks; they have rotating sales, so you can always find something worth reading for less than $5. Labyrinth is Columbia University's unofficial bookstore, and carries a great selection of scholarly and university press books. The best time to visit this store is a month after each semester starts (October and February), when the Columbia remainders are for sale at deep discounts. HousingWorks is a good general used store with a cafe and regular readings/events.
Two museums most people don't think to go to but are really amazing:
The Frick Collection (5th Ave. @ 70th St.): Industrialist Henry Clay Frick's collection of beautiful European paintings (up to 19th C.) presented in his mansion. www.frickcollection.org
Neue Galerie: Privately-owned museum (open to the public Wed-Mon) featuring turn-of-the-20th-C. German and Austrian art and design. In a beautifully restored mansion that used to belong to the Vanderbilt family. www.neuegalerie.org
Pick up a Village Voice or a TimeOut New York when you get here. Read it thoroughly. You will have a good idea of what is going on.