UWS, much like Park Slope, reminds me far too much of Berkeley for me to ever be able to live there. lol.
I feel ya but the Upper West Side still has a Old Jewish thang w/ an influx of Puerto Ricans in the mix, along w/ Harlem Black folk right above it. Its still has some links to its dirty days.
I dont know if Berkeley or Park Slope has the same history of grit underneath the Yuppie Steez.
Right behind Lincoln Center are some Projects.
Does Berkeley and Park Slope have a Needle Park?
There's a an underbelly of "funk" on the UWS that isnt in Park Slope.
I ride for the Upper West Side, but I'm no expert. Beats the f*ck out of Midtown, but pretty much anything does. Tess and I have been heading up there quite a bit lately. There's a great craft fair/flea market going on around Columbus and maybe 75 for the next couple of weekends, but no, no records there. None worth spending your time looking through anyway. I also highly recommend French Roast on 85th and Broadway for an authentic Euro cafe deal. Cappuccino at 11:30, Maker's Mark at noon-type steez. I'd live there if money weren't an issue.
Does Absolute Bagels qualify as UWS? Because I'll ride for that much!
Damn Odub with the secret sauce! That is the spot. Only a couple blocks from my all-time favorite pizza spot. Had to be something at Columbia that brought you that far uptown, right?
Naw. 1) My friend used to live in that neighborhood and would rave about how awesome the bagels are. I was some what skeptical until I went to visit and had to agree the hype was justified.
And 2) my wife has a friend who literally lives around the corner and every time we go to NY, she visits and I tag along just so I can get my everything bagel w/ lox cream cheese on at Absolute.
The fact that it's run by a Vietnamese family just ices the cake.
Does Absolute Bagels qualify as UWS? Because I'll ride for that much!
Damn Odub with the secret sauce! That is the spot. Only a couple blocks from my all-time favorite pizza spot. Had to be something at Columbia that brought you that far uptown, right?
Naw. 1) My friend used to live in that neighborhood and would rave about how awesome the bagels are. I was some what skeptical until I went to visit and had to agree the hype was justified.
And 2) my wife has a friend who literally lives around the corner and every time we go to NY, she visits and I tag along just so I can get my everything bagel w/ lox cream cheese on at Absolute.
The fact that it's run by a Vietnamese family just ices the cake.
I grew up on H&H bagels on 78th B'Way. And then you had Zabar's for upscale lunch. Back in the day - A Cinnamon Bagel was the "ALT" bagel w/ Bialeys as another option. And they were 30 cents each - three bagels under a dollar w/ a cube of Philadelphia.
There's a an underbelly of "funk" on the UWS that isnt in Park Slope.
Come and hang out on 3rd and 4th Aves in Park Slope, especially the further south you go. Cross 9th St on 5th Ave going south, and its almost like crossing 96th St on 2nd Ave in Manhattan. There are still Puerto Rican dudes on the corner of 5th Ave and Douglass selling heroin. Plenty of tranny prostitutes late night around the canal. Yeah 6th, 7th, 8th Aves, and Prospect Park West are whitewashed as F*ck, but come get gully if you want. Shit gets pushed to the edges of the neighborhood but its still there. And anyway, what makes that an attractive part of any neighborhood? Unless you like junkies and pros of course.
UWS, much like Park Slope, reminds me far too much of Berkeley for me to ever be able to live there. lol.
I feel ya but the Upper West Side still has a Old Jewish thang w/ an influx of Puerto Ricans in the mix, along w/ Harlem Black folk right above it. Its still has some links to its dirty days.
I dont know if Berkeley or Park Slope has the same history of grit underneath the Yuppie Steez.
Right behind Lincoln Center are some Projects.
Does Berkeley and Park Slope have a Needle Park?
There's a an underbelly of "funk" on the UWS that isnt in Park Slope.
There is some shady shit going down in some corners of the park on off-hours, sometimes there are helicopters flying low over certain fenced off wooden areas and the cops I sometimes meet there at night often act a bit nervous. The park officially is closed after 1 am but since I can't be ticketed, I don;t give a shit.
All in all, I can live without any "underbelly of funk". Most of the authentic grit is gone pretty much anywhere you go in NYC these days and I don't feel the need to seek the misery of others as a backdrop to my urban experience. I had enough of that in other times or at other places.
Sorry dude but I want some history in my hood not some scrubbed out mall bullshit.
I dont equate funk w/ the "misery of others" or some crime rate.
Take that gated community lifestyle shit to Connecticut.
haha, vietnamese family making bagels for all the UWS jews. Only in ny? maybe..
Anyway, db, you should hit up Good Enough To Eat on amsterdam. The roast is my solid late-night burger spot, but some hyperbolic reviewers have called GETE "best brunch in the country". I don't know if I'd go that far, but if you go with your girl on the weekend, just don't be put off by the line, which will be comprised almost entirely of 3-5 person parties. A table for 2 will prob get picked out of line within 10 minutes. Pork sausage ftw..
haha, vietnamese family making bagels for all the UWS jews. Only in ny? maybe..
Anyway, db, you should hit up Good Enough To Eat on amsterdam. The roast is my solid late-night burger spot, but some hyperbolic reviewers have called GETE "best brunch in the country". I don't know if I'd go that far, but if you go with your girl on the weekend, just don't be put off by the line, which will be comprised almost entirely of 3-5 person parties. A table for 2 will prob get picked out of line within 10 minutes. Pork sausage ftw..
Nice! Pork sausage FTW all day, err-day. Might have to hit that this Sunday. However, speaking of Sunday brunch, no booze served before noon on Sunday in NY equals NYC brunch FAIL.
There's a an underbelly of "funk" on the UWS that isnt in Park Slope.
Come and hang out on 3rd and 4th Aves in Park Slope, especially the further south you go. Cross 9th St on 5th Ave going south, and its almost like crossing 96th St on 2nd Ave in Manhattan. There are still Puerto Rican dudes on the corner of 5th Ave and Douglass selling heroin. Plenty of tranny prostitutes late night around the canal. Yeah 6th, 7th, 8th Aves, and Prospect Park West are whitewashed as F*ck, but come get gully if you want. Shit gets pushed to the edges of the neighborhood but its still there. And anyway, what makes that an attractive part of any neighborhood? Unless you like junkies and pros of course.
I dont need OVERT crime - dealers and trannies and shit.
But cant folks hang out like Sesame Street w/ out being loud all night?
Can the kids play in the street/on the block or are the kids scrubbed away?
Only teenagers are hangin out on their stoops at night, and I'll admitt that's few and far between.
Kids are forever playing with sidewalk chalk on the street, but most go to the playgrounds. Hydrants get open at pretty much every block party for the kids too.
I invite you or anybody to come out to the 5th Ave Street Fair on Sunday 5/16 to see what Park Slope is all about.
haha, vietnamese family making bagels for all the UWS jews. Only in ny? maybe..
Anyway, db, you should hit up Good Enough To Eat on amsterdam. The roast is my solid late-night burger spot, but some hyperbolic reviewers have called GETE "best brunch in the country". I don't know if I'd go that far, but if you go with your girl on the weekend, just don't be put off by the line, which will be comprised almost entirely of 3-5 person parties. A table for 2 will prob get picked out of line within 10 minutes. Pork sausage ftw..
Nice! Pork sausage FTW all day, err-day. Might have to hit that this Sunday. However, speaking of Sunday brunch, no booze served before noon on Sunday in NY equals NYC brunch FAIL.
I ride hard for GETE's Bloody Mary, but find the rest of the brunch just good...
That bloody mary is the TRUTH, though. I was a semi-regular on Monday's off there for that alone.
Absolute Bagels is THAT REAL SCHITT, though... ODub is right about that. I live a block away, and when our fridge broke two weeks ago, it was bagels every morning for 3 days straight... also great to grab on the way to the airport.
My dad grew up on the upper west side back when it was mostly a poor immigrant neighborhood. There are some crazy stories, to say the least.
I've been back a few times over the past decade and really liked it and saw no real Berkeley connection. It's really THE place I would live in NYC if I had the chance. It has grown and gentrified like the rest of the city but without a lot of the over the top obnoxious shit. Great food too.Jewish families who pass down that rent control got it made up there.
I also am just baffled about why people are afraid to walk through Harlem. If this feels scary then you probably shouldn't be living in a city at all.
I lived for a little while on Prospect Ave & 7 Ave, just above the highway. Was a few blocks away from Park Slope "proper". I thought it was perfect.
I could walk south or west a few blocks and get cheap Mexican food, cheap bagels, or cheap Polish sausage (were still lots of Polish businesses on 5th ave south of the highway). I could also walk a few blocks east and be at the park, which is > Central Park. could also walk a few blocks north and be in whole foods/berkeley land for good sushi and fancy beer.
there was also a BBQ restaurant/bar run by hipsters 3 blocks south below the highway that had free whiskey every monday or tuesday (i forget) w/$2 pints and decent blues/country/jazz bands.
i was there for less than a year, so take that as you will.
When I first moved here, I lived in Park Slope/Windsor Terrace and it was great. Access to the park, and 24/7 food and groceries. However, It was a good 45min - 1hr subway ride to work and a $25 cab ride home after a night out. In retrospect, the food was pretty bad in a restaurant/good food ratio. Parking was also THE WORST.
I moved up to Greenpoint just south of Queens and right next to the BQE. While the neighbors are a lot more conservative and the buildings are nowhere near as attractive, the subway ride became 20 minutes, the cab ride became $9 and there is always parking. Besides that, I have a beautiful park, great coffee shop, barber, laundromat, and a grocery store withing a block radius. I can also ride my bike to Manhattan without fearing death every 5 minutes.
Oh yeah... I also realized another perk after a while living there...I can walk under the BQE all the way to the train. No umbrella or snow boots necessary. Can't put a price on that.
I hate most of Greenpoint on a whole, but I would rate my neighborhood way higher than any in park slope in terms of convenience.
I also am just baffled about why people are afraid to walk through Harlem. If this feels scary then you probably shouldn't be living in a city at all.
There are still some spots in Harlem that one should keep his/her eyes open, regardless of the changes made. But no this isnt Crack era NYC were talmbout.
Comments
I ride for the Upper West Side, but I'm no expert. Beats the f*ck out of Midtown, but pretty much anything does. Tess and I have been heading up there quite a bit lately. There's a great craft fair/flea market going on around Columbus and maybe 75 for the next couple of weekends, but no, no records there. None worth spending your time looking through anyway. I also highly recommend French Roast on 85th and Broadway for an authentic Euro cafe deal. Cappuccino at 11:30, Maker's Mark at noon-type steez. I'd live there if money weren't an issue.
Naw. 1) My friend used to live in that neighborhood and would rave about how awesome the bagels are. I was some what skeptical until I went to visit and had to agree the hype was justified.
And 2) my wife has a friend who literally lives around the corner and every time we go to NY, she visits and I tag along just so I can get my everything bagel w/ lox cream cheese on at Absolute.
The fact that it's run by a Vietnamese family just ices the cake.
I grew up on H&H bagels on 78th B'Way. And then you had Zabar's for upscale lunch.
Back in the day - A Cinnamon Bagel was the "ALT" bagel w/ Bialeys as another option.
And they were 30 cents each - three bagels under a dollar w/ a cube of Philadelphia.
Come and hang out on 3rd and 4th Aves in Park Slope, especially the further south you go. Cross 9th St on 5th Ave going south, and its almost like crossing 96th St on 2nd Ave in Manhattan. There are still Puerto Rican dudes on the corner of 5th Ave and Douglass selling heroin. Plenty of tranny prostitutes late night around the canal.
Yeah 6th, 7th, 8th Aves, and Prospect Park West are whitewashed as F*ck, but come get gully if you want. Shit gets pushed to the edges of the neighborhood but its still there. And anyway, what makes that an attractive part of any neighborhood? Unless you like junkies and pros of course.
Sorry dude but I want some history in my hood not some scrubbed out mall bullshit.
I dont equate funk w/ the "misery of others" or some crime rate.
Take that gated community lifestyle shit to Connecticut.
Anyway, db, you should hit up Good Enough To Eat on amsterdam. The roast is my solid late-night burger spot, but some hyperbolic reviewers have called GETE "best brunch in the country". I don't know if I'd go that far, but if you go with your girl on the weekend, just don't be put off by the line, which will be comprised almost entirely of 3-5 person parties. A table for 2 will prob get picked out of line within 10 minutes. Pork sausage ftw..
Nice! Pork sausage FTW all day, err-day. Might have to hit that this Sunday. However, speaking of Sunday brunch, no booze served before noon on Sunday in NY equals NYC brunch FAIL.
I dont need OVERT crime - dealers and trannies and shit.
But cant folks hang out like Sesame Street w/ out being loud all night?
Can the kids play in the street/on the block or are the kids scrubbed away?
Kids are forever playing with sidewalk chalk on the street, but most go to the playgrounds. Hydrants get open at pretty much every block party for the kids too.
I invite you or anybody to come out to the 5th Ave Street Fair on Sunday 5/16 to see what Park Slope is all about.
I ride hard for GETE's Bloody Mary, but find the rest of the brunch just good...
That bloody mary is the TRUTH, though. I was a semi-regular on Monday's off there for that alone.
Absolute Bagels is THAT REAL SCHITT, though... ODub is right about that. I live a block away, and when our fridge broke two weeks ago, it was bagels every morning for 3 days straight... also great to grab on the way to the airport.
I've been back a few times over the past decade and really liked it and saw no real Berkeley connection. It's really THE place I would live in NYC if I had the chance. It has grown and gentrified like the rest of the city but without a lot of the over the top obnoxious shit. Great food too.Jewish families who pass down that rent control got it made up there.
I also am just baffled about why people are afraid to walk through Harlem. If this feels scary then you probably shouldn't be living in a city at all.
I could walk south or west a few blocks and get cheap Mexican food, cheap bagels, or cheap Polish sausage (were still lots of Polish businesses on 5th ave south of the highway). I could also walk a few blocks east and be at the park, which is > Central Park. could also walk a few blocks north and be in whole foods/berkeley land for good sushi and fancy beer.
there was also a BBQ restaurant/bar run by hipsters 3 blocks south below the highway that had free whiskey every monday or tuesday (i forget) w/$2 pints and decent blues/country/jazz bands.
i was there for less than a year, so take that as you will.
Sure, you have--half a dozen times, easy.
I moved up to Greenpoint just south of Queens and right next to the BQE. While the neighbors are a lot more conservative and the buildings are nowhere near as attractive, the subway ride became 20 minutes, the cab ride became $9 and there is always parking. Besides that, I have a beautiful park, great coffee shop, barber, laundromat, and a grocery store withing a block radius. I can also ride my bike to Manhattan without fearing death every 5 minutes.
Oh yeah... I also realized another perk after a while living there...I can walk under the BQE all the way to the train. No umbrella or snow boots necessary. Can't put a price on that.
I hate most of Greenpoint on a whole, but I would rate my neighborhood way higher than any in park slope in terms of convenience.
There are still some spots in Harlem that one should keep his/her eyes open, regardless of the changes made. But no this isnt Crack era NYC were talmbout.