Weightshifting: 64 miles in New York City
We’re walking past Stüssy again on Prince Street. There’s a center funnel between two parts of a roped queue, with hordes of bored-looking, phone-staring, monogamously-dressed androgynous youth. Loafers, white Nike socks, baggy long jorts or wide jeans, cropped boxy tee is the uniform. Previously seen at KITH and Aimé Leon Dore. It’s summer in Lower Manhattan and the streets are awash with roving hordes of able-bodied Aesop-scrubbed youth, vibrant in their pursuit of a line to stand in and ready to spend their trust funds.
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Jen and I do two kinds of trips:
- We camp and travel via overland in remote areas.
- We go to a dense city and walk everywhere.
2014 was the last time we were in New York for the last Brooklyn Beta. Despite visiting a number of years, neither of us have felt that we’ve done Manhattan properly. We’ve split time between the two boroughs. We’ve never gone to NYC just to go. It’s always been work-related.
This has been the year of travel after a lengthy hiatus after Barb passed away right at the beginning of May. The heartbreak is deep but we knew we’d do our best to process it by doing what we do best: travel. Austin, Texas was first, then a three week overland trip to Colorado and all points in between, and then we turned around and got on a plane to New York. Our 18-year marriage anniversary was a good reason to go.
Age brings about a scarcity: of time, activities, places, and people. Much to do, and less and less time to do them. Friends scattered around the country and the world. Every opportunity Jen and I are on the road or in a place, we do our best to visit with friends if they’re there or close by.
Our dear friend Bill had moved to Manhattan during the pandemic after a lengthy period in San Francisco. We made it a point to visit to see him, and Bill kindly hosted us at his place for half of the trip.
Our goal was simple: hang with Bill, experience Lower Manhattan deeply (Midtown is not for us), walk a ton, eat good food, and celebrate 18 years married.
We did 141,639 steps or 64 miles over the week.
Field Notes
- New York has a different energy. It’s vibrant, ever moving, and the unique mix of urbanism, fast lifestyles, and whiplash fashion and trends beg you to meet it at its pace.
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I do a price to value check every time I visit a place. What are prices like for food? For coffee or matcha? For activities, if applicable? Granted, we ate at a good number of nicer places because we have an expectation of quality in our food — we’re looking for California standards if possible — which led us to daytime meals being on average ~$22 for a single dish. In SF, that average is in the $14-18 range. Despite commenters noting it’s expensive (for a salad?), the much hyped Aussie export THISBOWL delivered with robust well-rounded meals meeting the $17 price point for a miso salmon bowl. Towards the end of the trip, we started to consider repeats: places we knew we wanted to visit again. These included: THISBOWL, Kopitiam (excellent Malaysian — I had more Malaysian in NYC than I ever have in SF), Russ & Daughters Cafe, Banter, and Morgenstern’s Bananas.
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Accommodations are an interesting lens in which to view a place. In our travels, we’ve stayed in a full spectrum of abodes. These range from sleeping in a roof top tent on our rig (125+ nights), standard American road-trip chains, boutique hotels, and luxury hotels (abroad because of favorable exchange rates or work-related). New York City is not short on hotels. There exists a boundless variety of places to lay your head at night. It’s that same value ratio. We’re experienced at calculating the sweet spot that works for us, but you need criteria! This trip was helped greatly by being able to stay with Bill, which gave us literal room to stay at The Ludlow. The Big Apple is not known for having rooms that match its name — a shoebox wasn’t what we wanted, especially for our anniversary. Sean MacPherson, the hotelier who operates the famed paparazzi and celebrity-laden The Bowery, Hotel Chelsea, The Marlton and others, brings a sensibility to his hotels that I was dead curious about. Given his hotels are located in Lower Manhattan, and his hotels’ reputations met the criteria, we booked it. The Ludlow delivered — a high floor, views, good square footage, and an intimate tucked-away feeling. A++, would do business again.
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Everyone’s spending their money on small luxuries. Bars and alcohol are out: the coffee, matcha, and juice/smoothie shops are in. The library is the hype spot to be. On a Sunday lunch-pickup run to THISBOWL, Bill gets a pick-me-up at nearby Cafe Lyria. A mass of beautiful people are lounging at outdoor tables, and as we walk in, the inside is as packed, if not more. The line moves quick. While waiting, Bill points out the elevator doors 100 feet away. We are not in the cafe. Lyria occupies a corner of this office building lobby. Wordpress is upstairs. The woman in line before us walks away to set herself up. She meanders behind a pillar, and situates herself at a desk. Whoops, it’s a station. It’s where the security normally sits in this lobby during the week. Today, the bass is pumping, and Bill remarks, “The day club is in effect.”
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I value serendipity. Eater, The Infatuation lists, Google Maps reviews, and Yelp can make a person go too far in making mental calculations on whether you’ll enjoy a place. Every negative or mid review becomes a deterrent. At times, you gotta roll with it and send it. NYC has no shortage of wall-to-wall restaurants. On one particular evening, after striking out at two food halls and a Hail Mary Japanese izakaya last-minute drop-in that was unsuccessful, we ended up walking southeast on Greenwich Ave away from the West Village back to Greenwich Village. While stopped at a corner contemplating options, we noticed right behind us a cute French spot: Mino Brasserie. The menu looked good, all the usuals. We walked in, were seated and had waitstaff with French accents. We ordered and were rewarded with deliciousness. It reminded us of our favorite low-key French restaurant in SF, Chez Maman, which is an institution at this point. Despite hype-y spots, it’s these places that Jen and I find the most comfort in. It’s not on any of the latest lists, but is absolutely worth your time. I still think about the burger there. Not planned at all, but one of our favorite moments.
We are thankful and grateful for our time in NYC. We got to see friends and meet new ones. We ate, we walked, we laughed, we smiled, we loved.
All you could ask for in these times.
See you in Malaysia,
Naz.