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Archive for the ‘Tours’ Category

GREENWICH VILLAGE HISTORY AND DESSERT TOUR

Friday, December 18th, 2009

GreenwichVillage2848
Emphasizes the history of the Village – from wealthy Victorian neighborhood to 20th century bohemian center– and its personalities, from Washington to Bob Dylan. Historical stops include the Washington Square Arch, Minetta Lane, Patchin Place, the Jefferson Courthouse Library and Grove Court. Along the way, a sampling of desserts, from Lilac chocolate to Italian saviodi. Come prepared with an appetite for history and things sweet.
Private tours available by appointment.
Schedule subject to change.

Public tour rate: $22

Reservations and Meeting Place: 212-465-3331

Posted in Food, New York, Restaurants, Tours, art | No Comments »

Big Apple Circus!

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

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The Big Apple Circus annually presents an all-new show featuring renowned circus artists from around the world. This year’s performers come from America, Armenia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

12/17/2009
11:00 AM

COST

from $85.00

Click Here for More Info

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Posted in Festival, Fun, Tours, all, art | No Comments »

Brooklyn Bridge By Night

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

brooklyn_bridge_at_night_new_york

Few sights are as magical as the view of the Manhattan Skyline at night from the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge! It’s is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the USA, built in 1883 it spans 5,989 feet over the east river. Come along and enjoy the spectacular views as New York City’s lights sparkle over the waters of the Hudson! We’ll also grab a bite to eat in Brooklyn before riding the subway back to Harlem!

Meet Tuesdays in the front lobby at 6:30pm and bring your Metrocard!

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Christmas Window Display Walking Tour

Monday, December 7th, 2009

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Time: Leaving Front Desk at 11:00 a.m.
Cost: Free [Only Metro Card Needed]

New York City has long been known for its amazing Christmas decorations. This tour will take you to see the magic of some of the most creative and magical window displays in the whole city including the Saks snowflake spectacular on 5th Ave.

The walk is approximately 2 miles long and will take you from Macy’s at 34th st to Bloomingdale’s on Lexington.

We’ll also stop for a bite to eat at one of the many café style restaurants along 5th Avenue!

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Posted in Cafes, Festival, Holidays, New York, Tours, all, art | No Comments »

Best Touristy Dates

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Last edition of Time Out magazine offers some great options for dates with tourists and people who live in the city. Some suggestions are pretty handy but I would like to add my own few words to that whole idea being a long time tourist, as well.
Times Square
Shed your sense of shame and head to Hershey’s Times Square (1593 Broadway at 48th St; 212-581-9100, hersheys.com) to purchase the sweet stuff and post a saccharine message to your beau on their outdoor scrolling marquee, just ask a shop assistant and they’ll direct you to the counter where you can display your love in bright lettering for 15 minutes for only $1.95. (Hershey – an icon of American chocolate goods, do not miss that).

Eat your sweets in the pedestrian area’s garden chairs (Broadway between 42nd and 47th Sts) and compete to spot the most tourist faux pas–loser buys the drinks at the Marriott’s View Lounge (1535 Broadway at 45th St; 212-704-8900, marriott.com). (I highly recommend not to order food there because it is super overpriced and massively disappointing. You can meet your date, and just kidnap her few blocks away from there where prices fall and everything becomes more and more authentic.)
However, Euro-cheese karaoke lounge Pulse is an interesting cultural melange (135 W 41st St between Sixth Ave and Broadway; 212-278-0988) and sing your favorite songs in your favorite foreign accents.

Chelsea Hotel
Chelsea Hotel which was a theme in Leonard Cohen’s songs, place where Sid Vcious used to wander, Eric Clapton had his one night stands, and Andy Warhol dwelt with his factory people (222 W 23rd St between Seventh and Eighth Aves) recently revived monthly tour (July 30 11am, $40). Grab some Beat lit from Skyline Books (13 West 18th Street between Fifth and Sixth Aves; 212-759-5463; skylinebooks.com) and read to each other in Chelsea Park (W 27 to W 28 Sts between Ninth and Tenth Aves; nycgovparks.org). Once your thumbs are sore from clicking, head back to the basement of the Chelsea Hotel for a drink in the Star Lounge’s Room 100, named after the suite where Sid and Nancy’s love ended. Maybe it’ll be the place where yours begins. And if not at least you can show off to your friends that you inhaled the air of rock&roll era that is gone…



Central Park
Strap on your fanny pack and do Central Park tourist-style. New Yorkers rent rowboats, outdo them with by making a reservation for a Venetian Gondola tour of the Central Park lake (212-517-2233; $30 for 30 minutes). Grab yourself a hot dog from a vendor, pay no less than $3 and announce loudly “this is so New York.” Flee your embarrassment and take a long meander south (tourists get lost y’know) and hop in a horse-drawn carriage (they line up along Central Park South between Fifth and Sixth Avenues; $34 for the first 30 minutes,$10 for each additional 15 minutes), make sure you heckle the joggers. Get a memento of the day with a cheesy caricature in the south-east corner of the park.

Posted in New York, Restaurants, Tours | No Comments »

Studio B – Place to Be

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Studio B, hard to find but yet legendary club in Brooklyn, Greenpoint. Don’t be scared when you get off the train and you think you are in the middle of nowhere because you so aren’t. Greenpoint is more and more trying to be the next number one of the hottest Brooklyn hoods. You will see a lot of warehouses there, on Banker street but only one of them has palm trees on the roof!!!!
Studio B is a crazy dancing place where you can see “creme de la creme” of a Djing world and people who know how to party. It has the vibe of good old dancing venues in the eighties. (At least that is how I remember them from the movies:)
Today it is Miike Snow; it’s an electropop trio out of Sweden (he is Lykke Li’s compatriot, I dig it!) that combined high-profile production duo Bloodsy and Avant with musician and composer Andrew Wyatt. The results are low-key, dramatic club dreamscapes.
Also playing the band which took its name after dramatic act of Natalie Portman to shave her head for Wachowski Brothers. – Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

Studio B

259 Banker St (between Calyer St and Meserole Ave)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

718-389-1880

Subway: L to Bedford Ave, G to Greenpoint Ave
Time: 10 p.m.
Tickets: advance $5, day of show $10

Posted in Harlem, Movies, New York, News, Tours, Welcome | No Comments »

Take a walk in the West Village

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

L-Hostels is on the Upper West Side, but dear visitors, take a walk on the wild downtown part of the city and end up in West Village.
The West Village was this open-minded, politically active neighborhood that many members of New York artists called home or hangout since the early 1900s, and where the modern gay pride movement got its start on the night of the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

A Morning Jolt
Every fantasy of the West Village—charming historic streets packed with historic buildings, creative people absorbed in conversation, closet-scale intimacy—comes to life at Tartine. This archetypal corner bistro is as small as they come, even in warm weather when sidewalk seating wraps the storefront, underneath green-and-white-striped awnings. Because Tartine’s Lilliputian proportions usually spells lines, especially at night, consider arriving at opening hours for brunch. Opting for a morning meal is no sacrifice, since, like lunch and dinner, Tartine’s egg dishes and other platters feature fresh ingredients prepared with little pretense, and the atmosphere is consistently jovial. (253 W 11th St )

tartine

Literary Lunch
The pressures of big chain stores and online shopping have not kept independent booksellers from thriving in New York, and Three Lives & Company defines excellence in the field. Bibliophiles have been flocking to the den-like nooks and crannies of Three Lives since it opened in 1968. The store’s small size is deceiving, since its breadth of selection and artful arrangement of new works and classics is as impressive as ever, and both big names and emerging writers participate in enthralling monthly readings. Every day, the Three Lives staff dazzles customers with their attentive care, insightful recommendations and expansive knowledge of the literary universe. (154 W 10th St )

Dig into the pages of your Three Lives & Company purchase at The Spotted Pig. Like Tartine, this restaurant enjoys the kind of popularity that guarantees celebrity sightings and overwhelming crowds. So go for lunch, when it’s easier to grab a seat at the ground-floor bar or a table beneath a lace-curtained window in the upper dining room. Although The Spotted Pig recently passed the five-year mark, what keeps New York’s first gastropub both surprising and relevant is its extemporaneous approach to food. Chef April Bloomfield has done a tour of duty at Chez Panisse, and in that locavore spirit her approach to British and Italian cuisine is simple yet inventive, and constantly changing with the seasons. Despite the celebrities and crowds, Spotted servers are cheerful, generous with their time and suggestions, and adorably scruffy. (314 W. 11th St. )

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs is known for making big statements. The native New Yorker applied plaid patterns to silk and introduced grunge to the runway in 1993, hired Winona Ryder to star in an ad campaign following her shoplifting trial and had dropped trou in print. Another grand gesture can be found on Bleecker Street: the designer has ostensibly transformed that row into a shopping compound, with two freestanding stores devoted to his diffusion Marc by Marc Jacobs collections, another location that sells clothing by his namesake fashion house and a fourth filled with branded children’s clothing. (382 Bleecker St. )
Just Desserts
Although LGBT nightlife is dispersed throughout New York, the West Village still offers multiple destinations for girls and boys. Whereas Henrietta Hudson and Julius are no-nonsense, The Duplex revels in pomp. The City’s oldest continuously operating cabaret serves drinks, drag performances and disco. At the ground-floor piano bar, The Duplex’s multitasking waitstaff alternates between taking orders and belting tunes, and a 70-seat theater is busy almost every night. Patrons may strut their own stuff at an open-mic session, or just chill in the upstairs bar. Overlooking Sheridan Square, it is also an ideal perch from which to view the home stretch of the annual Pride March. (61 Christopher St. )

Posted in Bars, Cafes, Fun, In real life, Music, New York, Tours | No Comments »

STALKER TOUR

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

L-hostels following the precious advice of Time Out Magazine is inviting you for a STALKER TOUR. Put on your comfy shoes and hit the streets of NYC covered by a stardust!!!!

Start: 3 W 18th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves
End: 71 Clinton St between Rivington and Stanton Sts
Time: 3.5 hours
Distance: 3.6 miles

1 Shocker: Stars do have dessert. Eat what they eat at The City Bakery (3 W 18th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves; 212-366-1414, thecitybakery.com). Patronized by Harrison Ford, Susan Sarandon and Al Gore, this joint is famous for its cookies (baked fresh every 30 minutes), hot chocolate and pretzel croissants.

bbakery

2 Relax and smell the scones when you pull up a chair in the cozy dining room of Tea & Sympathy (108 Greenwich Ave at Jane St; 212-807-8329, teaandsympathynewyork.com). Made to look like the breakfast nook of an English cottage, this is a favorite spot of Rupert Everett’s. “He’s here every day,” says waitress Carole Fan. “He loves his Ribena.”

3 Pamper yourself at Think Pink Nails II (445 Sixth Ave at 10th St, 212-366-5111), where music producer Jermaine Dupri has been spotted getting a manicure. The West Village salon provides a comfortable interior with a quiet atmosphere and backlit wall panel.

4 All this exhausting indulgence demands a stiff drink. Hang with the likes of Heidi Klum, Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman at the Soho Grand Hotel’s Grand Bar (310 West Broadway between Canal and Grand Sts; 212-965-3588, sohogrand.com), where the staff will engage you in friendly conversation and fix you a cordial. Order the Grand Margarita, one of the hotel’s signature cocktails ($18).

5 Hop next to Gourmet Garage (453 Broome St at Mercer St; 212-941-5850, gourmetgarage.com), where John Travolta picks up his groceries when he’s in town. A supplier of New York’s best restaurants in the ’80s, the Garage still boasts the look of an indoor Parisian market, and the offerings are just as chichi: 12 varieties of olives, clementines from Spain and sweet limes from Chile….

6 Feel as slick as a movie star when you shop at Etiqueta Negra (273 Lafayette St at Prince St, 212-219-4015), an Argentine clothier that’s attracted such biggies as Jake Gyllenhaal and David Schwimmer. “We don’t sell fashion,” says retail manager Pablo Marucco. “We sell timeless pieces that will be in your closet forever.” Not to be missed: The showroom features a working 1938 red Alfa Romeo race car.

7 Carrie Bradshaw wanna-bes and admirers of Anne Hathaway’s wardrobe in The Devil Wears Prada should peruse Patricia Field (302 Bowery between Bleecker and E Houston Sts; 212-966-4066, patriciafield.com), the eponymous designer’s only New York store. “We offer an overdose of glamour,” says sales associate Verushka Music. “Flashy, glittery and sparkly are our middle names.” Lingerie by Hoss International and Volpino’s Swarovski-encrusted acrylic bras are especially popular. Even more eye-catching, Beyoncé was recently spotted here.

8 Chase that complimentary wine with live music at Kiefer Sutherland hang Rockwood Music Hall (196 Allen St between E Houston and Stanton Sts; 212-477-4155, rockwoodmusichall.com), followed by a midnight snack at San Marzano (71 Clinton St between Rivington and Stanton Sts; 212-228-5060, smarzano.com). The Margherita slice, made with fresh mozzarella and containing just two grams of fat, is the pizza joint’s biggest seller—even Gwyneth Paltrow has sampled it. How else do you think she maintains that waifish figure?

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Electric Boat Tours

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Electric boat tours through the bodies of water at Prospect Park float gently from the Audubon Center, through the Lullwater and end on a full, breathtaking view of the 60-acre Lake. Guided tours last about 25 minutes and depart every half hour.

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subway: F to 7th Ave. or 15th St./Prospect Park or Fort Hamilton Parkway; 2 or 3 to Grand Army Plaza; Q to Parkside Ave. and Prospect Park; B to Prospect Park.

Prospect Park
95 Prospect Park West

* phone:

* 718-965-8951

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Sail on the Hudson and East River

Monday, April 27th, 2009

I always thought that seeing the isle of Manhattan from the boat would be a great experience. However, I have found out recently that it is by far my favorite way to tour the city. In 3 hours I saw 20 bridges, Lower Manhattan, Harlem, Bronx, Ellis Island, many little islands with amazing stories unknown to majority of New Yorkers. The tour guide is extremely communicative, obviously knows all the historic facts about the city, as well as the hottest gossips about local celebrities and delivers it with great sense of humor.
I suggest sitting on the upper deck, just don’t forget sunscreens, water and something to protect your head from the sun. The breeze is amazing, especially when the boat enters Hell Gate (Don’t be scared, you will find out what it is, no life risk included.) That is absolutely unforgettable experience!

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SCHEDULE:
April 25 – September 7, 2009
10:00am; 12:30pm; 2:00pm; 4:30pm
(Special schedule on July 4th)

Directions:
Pier 83
WEST 42nd STREET & 12th AVENUE
(212) 563-3200

BY SUBWAY
Take the 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, A, C, E, N, Q or R train to Times Square 42nd Street; train B, D, F to 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, or 4, 5, 6 train to 42nd Street Grand Central Station.
Tickets:
$34
More information on:
/www.circleline42.com

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