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!