Feel Good Guru

As of this week, I no longer have to live with the shame of never having visited New York City. Embarrassing as it is, in all my travels, NYC has just never been number 1 on the list. But then the perfect storm happened: Book Expo America, having a website that reviews books that make the world a better place, and having a brand new book of my own to pitch. I imagined that late May would be the sweetest time to see the city that never sleeps – and I was right. And I actually managed to get some sleep, despite having booked a cheapo apartment on Craigslist which, of course, turned out to be not quite as advertised (lesson learned), but had one thing going for it – silence – and if you’ve been to the clangorous city, you know that quiet is difficult to come by. So I count my blessings. And I give you my whirlwind best of the best of four days in NYC outside of the Javits Center, where I spent the better part of three days.

Central Park

You could spend weeks in Central Park and not cover a quadrant. It’s the number one best feature of New York City. To have that much nature smack in the middle of the mayhem is miraculous. If I lived in Manhattan, I’d make a picnic in the park a weekly ritual.

Spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon wandering aimlessly into the dense urban green and breathe deep. You can feel the air getting richer in oxygen as you get close, and the noise of the city drifts away. Strawberry Fields is a beautiful place to spend some quiet time. People stand in reverence taking photos of the John Lennon memorial mosaic decorated with a peace symbol made of flowers and rose petals. Be moved and be healed. Peace.

For $2, you can ride the carousel near the zoo. It’s fun. It takes you back to your childhood. Do it just because you can.

The snow leopard and the polar bear in the zoo, though beautiful, do not belong behind a fence.

Brooklyn Bridge

So worth the walk. Wear sneakers. Staggering views from the East River in all directions. Start out just before sunset, then make it to its suspended center just as it’s coming down, reflecting off the glass and steel and water, casting veiled light into the air and onto your face – perfect time for pics – or a kiss – it’s maybe one of the most romantic places on the planet. Then get to the other side just in time for a Mediterranean-inspired dinner made with fresh organic ingredients at Superfine in DUMBO – down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The live jazz and the lively local vibe will fuel your spirit for the long walk back across the bridge into the sea of lights. Magical.

Cornelia St. Cafe

Stumble into the historic artists’ cafe, Cornelia St. Cafe, for a local Greenwich Village experience, whether it be for Sunday brunch, Tuesday night poetry or a singer-songwriter performance. It’s been proclaimed “a culinary as well as a cultural landmark” and has hosted on its stage groovin’ performers like members of Monty Python and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Suzanne Vega, freaky fiction writers and Eskimo poets.

The High Line

Yes, take in Central Park, take photos at the Statue of Liberty, walk through Times Square, pay a visit to a museum or two…but do not miss The High Line, one of NYC’s most unique parks which runs along an old 1930′s railway line once used by freight trains to drop off goods in second stories of warehouses. The trains stopped running in 1980 when it became too dangerous to have trains and traffic mingling in Manhattan, and nature took over. The park has been landscaped to echo that nature and for 14 city blocks, you’re immersed in a wild and natural setting two stories above the streets – Hudson River to the west, big city to the east. Check out the theatre-style traffic-viewing rest area – so surreal and “so New York”. Every Tuesday morning, free fitness and movement classes are offered in the 14th St. Passage. Bring your yoga mat and breathe. The High Line is truly one of NYC’s highlights.

Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon

Acclaimed British sculptor, Antony Gormley, has placed 31 life-sized cast-iron forms of himself on various rooftops as high as 55 stories up overlooking Madison Square Park and on scattered sidewalks around the Flatiron district in an installation he calls “Event Horizon”. If you don’t know this is going on, as I didn’t, and you happen to notice one Gormley in the park itself, you’ll wonder what the dude’s thinking. But eventually you’ll perceive your surroundings in a whole new way.

Broadway’s Pedestrian Park

In an experiment that went right, portions of busy Broadway in June of 09 were closed to vehicle traffic and pedestrians took back their street. I’d forgotten about this “green” news, and on a long walk the entire length of Broadway from south to north, it took me by surprise. In a city as dense and crazed as New York, being in the middle of it all with no honking, no swerving, no vehicle emissions makes you want to sit for awhile and savor the serenity.

Quantum Leap

The two “not-quite vegan” restaurants I checked out happened to be both leaning toward macrobiotic, both with some fish on the menu, which worked out well for myself and my party. Right next door to the “Moonstruck” restaurant on Thompson St. in the West Village, where Danny Aiello proposed to Cher, is Quantum Leap. It’s sweet and homey, with a lot of seitan on the menu. We had a great guacamole between three of us, some seitan satay, which would’ve fooled any meat eater in the house, and split a pretty plain “Ma-Po Tofu Dinner.”

Purume

I saved the best for last! This beautiful Asian Macrobiotic restaurant on East 13th had just opened three weeks prior to my visit and served me one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant. I stumbled into it on my way back to the el cheapo apartment in the East Village, and for two days in a row I picked up delicious wholesome berry and nut-filled muffins and scones for breakfast to eat in the cab ride over to the book expo, but didn’t have time to stop in for a meal until my last evening, tempting as it was with its clean zen design and the communal seating inside a large window open to the street.

The waitress said there had been some sort of a mass jumping of ship from Souen across the way and that most of the staff had migrated to the new place. It’s so new there is no website, but at a glance here, it seems they brought the chef as well.

Brown rice veggie sushi, miso soup, clean salads with lots of sea vegetables, pickles and baby greens, millet seitan, chickpea croquettes, curried vegetables, and pad thai made with whole wheat udon noodles, smoked tofu, loads of crisp veggies and a very rich and creamy peanut sauce. Delish.

Whatever disharmony may have caused the mutiny, they’ve very quickly found their groove in this new locale. If you have the opportunity to dine here, I think you’ll be humbled by the quality and care bestowed upon you. 11 East 13th.

There you have my top of the pops whirlwind tour of New York. I haven’t mentioned the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel, where you can get an expensive martini with a killer view of Manhattan served with deadly attitude by devastatingly beautiful supermodels.

Oh, and I forgot about the Mud Truck, where I picked up coffee to go en route to the book expo.

I also had an incredible backstage tour of the Met from a friend who works the lights. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to shoot while we were on the stage at intermission behind the curtain three feet from ballerinas leaping in anticipation of their next act. But you might enjoy this little pre-tour prance up the steps of the Lincoln Center by yours truly – so obviously not a ballerina!

You can cram a lot in to four days in New York – especially if your apartment is not somewhere you want to spend much time;)

What did I miss? What are your favorite things to see, eat and do in this fabulous city?