Manhattan trip (minus JOFA)

[magid]

I decided I should go to this year's JOFA conference, which was this past Sunday (also a bit of movie programming Saturday night, but that didn't feel so necessary). I had an invitation to dinner Friday night in Cambridge, so I decided that I'd travel down to NYC after Shabbat. Being cheap, the bus was the best option. I checked the schedules, and the latest one that was convenient was 11 P.M.. The plan was to take the bus down overnight (helped along by the clocks changing), which would give me plenty of time to make it to the conference at 9.

However, the bus was much speedier than I'd wanted, even with the time shift and the rain (there was no stop in CT, either), and we arrived around 4. I had managed a bit of dozing, but no serious sleep (I rarely do when in transit).

So, there I was, 4 A.M., nowhere to be until 8 at the earliest. Yeah, NY is open all the time, but it's not exactly easy to find somewhere to just hang at that time, especially this early in the year. I considered taking the subway, then just sitting around waiting for the conference to start, but thought that would leave me feeling stupidly sleepy all day, which wouldn't be great. I had the time, and I'd be sitting all day, so I decided to walk there. It was raining a bit, mostly spitting. Enough to get wet, but not really enough to require an umbrella. And it was chill but not freezing, an invigorating temperature.
[Oh, hey. Checking a map, I just realized I could have gone just a bit south and checked out the famous Foulton St. fish market. Ah, well.]

I started north on Chrystie, then shifted west to walk north on the Bowery. I passed famous streets (Delancy, Broome, etc), and thought about The Pushcart War. There was a fair number of people out; I found out later that most bars close around 4, so many people were heading home. The Bowery started crossing numbered streets, and I was on the east side, not where I wanted to end up, but before I shifted west again, I found the square with Cooper Union in it, which was cool. And then I walked west to 7th Avenue, looking for more points of interest. As I moved north, there were fewer and fewer people out; I'm not sure how much of that was being later, and how much was the neighborhood. Still, there were businesses open, even here, whether Starbucks or Duane Reade or CVS (also hotels and the subway, of course). By the time I got to Times Square, I'd noticed a lot more paved spaces blocked off from cars, and more bike lanes. Also, my socks were uncomfortably wet. There were all the lights, and the Hershey store, and not so long after I took Broadway when it diagonalized by. Broadway led me to Columbus Circle, and I thought about continuing north in Central Park a bit, but only briefly: however much safer it may be, that felt like it would be a foolish risk. Instead, I took Broadway to Amsterdam, stopping at one point to change my socks. Unfortunately, it helped only briefly, given how wet my shoes were :-(. This was unfortunate, given how my feet were hurting some, and I was working on a bit of a blister. At that point, though, I was too pig-headed to default to the train, and forged ever northward. I knew that there was a kosher bagel (and other stuff) place that opened at 7 at Amsterdam and 90th; I got there 40 minutes before it opened. I debated just going on, but really wanted something warm, and a chance to sit for a bit, and a bathroom. So I walked in loops, looking for somewhere that might have a bathroom. I failed, but was lucky enough that by then the bagel place was just about to open, and the guy behind the counter was sweet and let me use the employees-only bathroom. That plus warm food made things much better :-). After that, it was just another 25 blocks north to Columbia's Alfred Lerner Hall for the conference, and the sky was already light (finally!). Extra added bonus: a farmer's market setting up curbside as I arrived.

After the conference, I ended up grabbing some food with twostepsfwd, at a place that had gluten-free options, around 97th. I hadn't realized just how bad the weather had been in NJ until she told me of trees and telephone poles down, electricity out, trains stopped, states of emergency. NJ has gotten so slammed this winter! And it was good to catch up in person.

I was lucky that my cousin PD lives at 110th and she was gracious enough to offer me crash space, so I had very little walking left to do (my feet still hurt). And then I was there, and didn't have to move the rest of the evening :-). The rest of the night was devoted to catching up, trading family stories, and some work-related vignettes (she's been in publishing too). It was great; I don't see her or her siblings that frequently (probably not helped by there being about half a generation age gap). Extra added bonus: I got to talk to her son A when he called from college. I hadn't realized that he'd started rowing, nor that his voice had gotten quite that low!

In the morning, I decided I'd rather hop the subway with PD than hang around the apartment longer, maximizing the time to chat during the commute. That meant that I got to Penn Station with over an hour to spare before meeting hildy9595. I'd thought about sitting somewhere and reading, but Penn Station is not at all like South Station, and lacks seats for such an endeavor. So it was back to walking, this time fueled by the plan to find the Bolt Bus terminal. I'd written it down on a paper with lots of restaurants and other useful info, but that had gone AWOL partway through the conference. I asked some official, and was given what turned out to be useless information. I ended up circling Penn Station (at least it was much less confusing above ground!), then ranging a bit farther afield, circling the main Post Office, then finally finding someone who had better information. I headed north to Port Authority, at 42nd St., where I found Greyhound and many many other buses, but nothing labeled Bolt, and schedules that included stops in Framingham and Newton (nor were prices listed anywhere). I decided not to bother getting a ticket just yet, walking back down to Penn Station at 33rd to meet Hildy.

Which worked with minimal difficulty, surprisingly, given the vast numbers of people around. We headed east, in search of Chennai Garden, which I knew was on the east side, in the upper 20s (the exact address usefully on that lost piece of paper....). We managed to find it in the end, and the people who'd suggested it were right: very yummy lunch buffet! I sometimes forget, given the availability of Tasty Bites (and equivalent) that fresh Indian food is wonderful. (Though it did mean I didn't end up eating any fancy meat meals while I was there. Next time...).

I didn't have to catch a bus for a while, and she had the time to hang out, so we started meandering south, since it was too chilly to sit around in a park or something. Which is how we got to browse the Union Square farmer's market, which had me green with envy: it's not small, even in the winter (though I hear it's larger in summer), and there were some lovely things (including a variety of mushrooms! And local apple cider! etc.), and it runs through the winter! Boston so needs something like this, though I suspect it would work better with an indoor/mostly sheltered space.

Continuing south, we walked through Washington Square Park, with its triumphal-ish arch featuring two unknown men (we couldn't find plaques anywhere), then through the Village (I think?), stopping in a few stores we fancied. I found some amazing colors of thread to crochet (though it's not the size I use most, but knowing that the company exists is most of the battle). Vosges is offering chocolate pigs with bacon in them, not just the bacon chocolate in bar form. And there was an odd store up a graffiti-filled stairway that had some very retro toys (we were enticed up by the birdsong playing in the doorway).
[Side note: why isn't Houston St. 1st St.?]

It was getting closer to when I needed to catch a bus, and I wanted to get a snack for the trip, so we walked through Chinatown to streets with names that resonated (Delancey, Orchard, etc). This time I was thinking of All-of-a-Kind Family, especially the chapter when they go shopping, and the street is lined with pushcarts. It's very different now, with some fabric stores, but very little food. We had to ask a passing guy where we could find a kosher place, and he kindly directed us to a block on Grand St. with a couple of bakeries and a pizza joint. I got some food to go, and we walked over to Chrystie St. so I could catch the 5 o'clock bus.

It was a good trip, but exhausting.

Next time: explore High Line Park, the southern tip of Manhattan, and Central Park. Also, a fancy meat meal somewhere. And see lots more of the New Yorkers I know!

Comments

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

there's a fleishig indian place in teaneck but it's not all that good, the one chennai garden opened recently is proably better and cheaper.
pickle barrels still exist! i get my pickles from a barrel, in fact - though it might actually be a plastic barrel come to think of it