Battery Park City

When I was first doing research into Battery Park City, I stopped by the Battery Park City Authority site. I was surprised to see this as the first image on the page...

I wasn't sure if this was a good sign for my trip. It reminded me of the travel posters that hang in the New Zealand consulate in Flight of The Conchords. ("New Zealand - Don't expect too much. You will love it.")  Nevertheless, I was determined to explore this mini city on the Hudson.  

Battery Park City is named for neighboring Battery Park, although it doesn't really have much to do with the place. Where Battery Park has been around since 1623 (in its earliest incarnation as the park by the Dutch Fort Amsterdam), Battery Park City was built in the late 1970's and through the 1980's. The land on which it stands was excavated from dirt and rocks from the contsruction of the nearby World Trade Center. As I discovered on Wikipedia...

By the late 1950s, the once prosperous port area of downtown Manhattan was occupied by a number of dilapidated shipping piers, casualties of the rise of air transport. The initial proposal to reclaim this area through landfill was offered in the early 1960s by private firms and supported by the Mayor... in 1966 the governor unveiled the proposal for what would become Battery Park City. The creation of architect Wallace K Harrison, the proposal called for a 'comprehensive community' consisting of housing, social infrastructure and light industry.

After 9/11, more than half the area's residents moved away due to toxic dust, smoke, and debris from the adjacent Ground Zero. Temporarily reduced rents and government subsidies helped to keep the neighborhood alive. In fact, when I was first looking for an apartment in New York, I contemplated applying for a subsidy to move to BPC. I didn't go through with it in the end as the paperwork scared me.

Now Battery Park City is relatively back to normal and rents are set to go up in 2009. I know this because my friends, Gene and Kate, have lived here for almost 3 years and may have to move when the rents go back to their true market value. But more on them later.

I started my BPC adventure at the Irish Hunger Memorial on the corner of Vesey St. & North End Ave. It is a monument to those who died during the Irish Potato famine, and "is a symbol to highlight areas of the world affected by hunger today." As you look at the memorial from the east side, it looks like a grassy hill, with the ruin of a cottage (actually brought over from County Mayo) at the top. If you walk around the memorial, you see that the hill is, in fact, hollow and you can enter into it, and turn up into the garden. Apparently, the doors close at dusk and so I didn't get to go inside. I could hear a recording playing with Irish voices (probably Bono's) talking about world hunger through the gate. Suddenly, the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas (Feed the World)," came on. I looked down at the half of a turkey sandwich in my bag that would probably go uneaten and I felt pretty guilty.

I turned on to the Esplanade and walked south towards my first stop for the night. I have to say, the view was just gorgeous even if it was cloudy.

The sun sets over Jersey City

I stopped in the Winter Garden, which is kind of a mall/performance space/office building. The final competition in Mad Hot Ballroom took place here. I walked into the main atrium and was startled to see huge palm trees! In New York! Lots of people were hanging out on benches underneath the trees. What a great place to have a coffee!




I left the Winter Garden and walked further down the esplanade, passing tons of joggers, dog walkers and dog joggers. There were some neat sights along the walk. Like this place...



It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but all the surfaces were covered in mosaic tiles. It seemed like something out of a Dr. Seuss story: very colorful and unexpected.

There was this viewing tower...

And the sweetest, happiest, most innocent looking snowman I ever saw in front of...

...a holocaust museum?

I finally made it to the bottom of the esplanade and walked over to my first stop, The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park. I had heard that there was a bar called Rise in the hotel that had amazing views of the harbor. I walked into the bar around 6pm only to find that it was standing room only. I was a little worried about how much a drink would cost so I thought I'd be safe and order a glass of Chardonnay. Let me give you a tip: if you are in a fancy hotel - like the Ritz -and you're looking to get a relatively inexpensive glass of chardonnay, don't ask the bartender which brand he recommends. I ended up spending $27 on one. glass. of. wine.

The view was pretty spectacular though. The bar was small, but it had a terrece that opens in warmer weather that must double its size. I tried to get a picture of the view from inside the bar. This was the best I could do without a flash (that would bounce off the windows)...

The green blob in the middle is the Statue of Liberty.

I finished my glass of unicorn blood-I mean, wine, and got up to leave. There was now a long line of people waiting to get in. I stopped in Rise's "Chocolate Bar" down the hall (something the bar was doing every weekend in February). There was a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge made out of chocolate. Across the bridge was a spread of chocolate desserts. I had to leave before I devoured it like a chocolate-crazed godzilla.

I suspect the papers underneath are loan applications.

I walked back up the esplanade to meet my friends, Gene and Kate, at the restaurant, Steamer's Landing. Gene said that the restaurant had good food and great views. (More great views!) Gene also mentioned that 30 Rock shot part of its Cleveland episode here. "It was ridiculous. You could see the Colgate Clock in the background!" Gene cried.

The food was quite good. I ordered the "Pan Roasted Bell & Evans French Chicken Breast". It was a really yummy chicken breast atop 4 polenta triangles with a creamy, roasted garlic sauce. Gene got the Seafood Stew (which looked like it could have fed all of us) and Kate got the crab cakes.

The view was the best part of the place. (Have I mentioned the view?) It was so great that when I was writing this I actually I had to go back to Steamer's Landing's website to remember what restaurant itself looked like. Wherever you sat, you looked right out over the river. With that, the dim lighting, and the hushed conversation I could imagine this as the perfect location for a romantic dinner. Too bad Gene and Kate are taken.

After dinner, Gene and Kate showed me a few more sites including a part of the Berlin Wall!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this section of wall!

I had a great time in Battery Park City. Who knew? I definitely plan to come back for future visits. I'll have to take out a mortgage, though, before I return to the Ritz.

Alphabet City

It seems appropriate that I should begin this alphabetical adventure on Avenue A. Alphabet City is located on the lower East side of Manhattan. It is called Alphabet City because it exists where the avenues turn from numbers to letters, namely avenues A, B, C, and D. It is bordered on the South by Houston St. and the North by 14th St. When people first started living in the neighborhood in the 1800's, it was mainly populated by immigrants. In fact, the name of the area used to be "Kleindeutschland" or "Little Germany." In the 1960's the neighborhood dynamic changed as thousands of Puerto Rican immigrants moved in. "Loisaida" became the home of several important Puerto Rican intellectuals and artists and became the birth place of the "Nuyorican" movement. In the 1980's the creative atmosphere and - more likely - low rents drew (white) artists to the area. It was then that Alphabet City became the bohemian quarter made famous in Jonathan Larson's musical, RENT.

Nowadays with rents just as high as anywhere else on the island, the area has become more well to do. I encountered many yupsters as I wandered the avenues. Yupsters with tiny children and even tinier dogs. My first stop was a restaurant called Supper. I didn't actually have supper in Supper; I went there for brunch. It was Superbowl Sunday and I wasn't going to miss the Giants kicking the Pats' butts.

I found Supper online and I'm glad I brought the address with me because I'd never have found it otherwise. There was no sign and the black awning in front of the restaurant was unmarked. I walked through the front door, only to encounter a large, green, velvet curtain blocking the entrance. The velvet was bunched up and it was impossible to tell where to pull back the curtain. I tried the left side, no luck. I tried the middle, no joy. I stopped fumbling at the curtain at this point because I realized what it must look like to the patrons and workers on the other side. Probably something similar to what I see when my cat goes on a bed sheet safari.

I gave up and waited for someone to exit the restaurant while I pretended to check my cell phone. As soon as someone left, I grabbed the curtain and dashed inside.

I approached the host and, before he could ask, I told him I was a party of one. He seemed confused and a little afraid of my singleness and gave me the option of either a large table set for 6, or a seat at the counter. I opted for the counter.

The restaurant was very charming. All the tables were long and wooden, the walls were exposed brick and the light fixtures were chandeliers made of colored glass. The counter I sat at was separated from the kitchen by a short pane of glass. I was thrilled by this because I got to watch the chefs at work cooking omelets and frying up polenta.

I ordered the eggs benedict. I know that by doing so I broke a major commandment of Anthony Bourdain, but I was really hungry and they sounded awesome. After the waitress took my order, she gave me a plate with bread and a kind of white bean salsa. I usually stay away from the legume, but as I said I was starving so I gobbled up a few bites. It was surprisingly tasty!

My eggs came pretty quickly. I only noticed this because the food of the woman to my left did not and she watched me take practically every bite. Just to mess with her, I made an extra effort to enjoy my food. As I nibbled, the place filled up with people. Apparently, everyone likes a good white bean salsa.

After I finished my meal, I paid quickly and hauled butt outside. As a quick aside, I'd like to mention that my bill was $15.66. I gave the waiter $20, and he only gave me $4 back in change. I know what you're thinking, "Lauren, it's just 34 cents," but it's the principle of the thing! Give me all my GD change! I contemplated giving a slightly smaller tip to make up for the loss, but in the end I couldn't do it. I used to be a waitress and I could never under-tip.

I hit the streets and started winding my way through the avenues. I noticed that the closer one got to avenue C, the sketchier the street traffic got, so I started to stick to Avenues A and B. I made my way over to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on 3rd St., hoping that there would be some sort of reading or event I could check out. Sadly, it was closed. I guess there's no call for poetry slams on a Sunday. However, in the fire escape above the place someone had spelled out the word, "joy" in Christmas tree lights. Seeing this left me feeling happy, so I guess you could say the cafe did its job.

As I wandered the streets, I noticed that there were little gardens everywhere! It reminded me of the private gardens in London, only London's gardens don't have giant sculptures made out of wooden horses like this one in the 6th & B Garden.

There were also tons of painted murals...

Even a public service announcement mural...

I entered Tompkins Square Park and headed over to the dog run. As I got closer, I saw a group in the center of the park, shouting and cheering loudly as if they were watching some kind of event. My first thought was there was a dog fight going on, but then I remembered that yupsters probably wouldn't cheer for that. In fact, it was a bean bag throwing competition. Teams of two would compete against other teams by attempting to toss red and blue bean bags into wooden boxes. Everyone - competetors and spectators - got really into it. Whenever someone would get a bean bag in, the whole crowd would whoop and cheer. All the proceeds for the event went to charity. I'm not sure which one, but I'd like to think it had something to do with beans.

I exited the park and made my way to my second stop of the day, Life Cafe. Life Cafe was made famous by the musical RENT. The first act ends with all the characters singing and dancing on the tables of the cafe. Musical theater geek that I am, I couldn't resist stopping here.

Boy was I surprised when I entered the place. It was so small! The walls were painted with chalkboard paint and, therefore, covered in drawings and sayings like, "Eat life sip life nibble life," and the whole place smelled like stale beer. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a cup of coffee. I asked the bartender if he had soy milk (Made from soy beans). I'm not sure if that was a good question to ask considering the menu has things like salads topped with steamed tofu and "marinated hijiki." (Have you ever found yourself saying, "You know what I could really go for? Marinated hijiki."?)

I thought about ordering a small thing to eat, like a plate of wheat gluten or something, but I started to feel a little sick to my stomach. (Damn you, eggs benedict!) I also couldn't help feel like The Man when I looked around at the cafe's clientele. I was the Benny in this scene of RENT. I left a few dollars and any dreams I had of being a bohemian on the counter.

Shortly after I left Life Cafe, I headed over to the subway to return home. I liked the funky, dirty, beany neighborhood, but I have to admit that when I got to ordinary old Astoria I felt a little relieved.

The Challenge

New York City is made up of dozens and dozens of neighborhoods. Furthermore, it is often the case that two very distinct neighborhoods will be separated by as little as one street. You will be walking in an Italian section of town, turn the corner, and the street signs will be in Chinese.

I tend to stick to the Midtown/Times Square area (where I work) and have seen little of the wonder of NYC. My sister Megan and her boyfriend, Zack, live in Chicago and noticed that they also only stick to the a few select neighborhoods. Determined to get out of their geographic rut, they created Zack and Megan's Chicago Challenge. They would, in alphabetical order, explore as many of Chicago's neighborhoods as possible and blog about their adventures.

As I read along with their blog, I became envious of their experiences. After all, I live in "the greatest city in the world" and I've seen precious little of it. As a result, and with Megan's blessing, I have decided to create my own New York Challenge. In the coming weeks, months, or quarters (depending on my level of motivation) I will explore the neighborhoods of Manhattan. I will follow the challenge rules laid down by Megan and Zack and, if everything works out, I will branch out to the outer boroughs.

Rules (subject to change or blatant disregard):

1. For a neighborhood to count, I have to spend one hour there.
2. I have to visit at least 2 establishments
3. I have to hit the neighborhoods in alphabetical order according to my arbitrary master list.
4. Rule #3 can be temporarily disregarded if there is some kind of once-a-year event going on in the neighborhood further down the list that warrants skipping ahead
5. I don't have to go to any neighborhood where you need a gun
6. Unless I get a gun

Let the Challenge begin!