dissentian guide to NY

h-crimm

Well-known member
i'm going to New York this weekend for NoFunFest............. wondering what the locals recommend for other stuff thats interesting in the city. not conventional tourist crap i can find that easily enough on my own. i mean hidden gems, bookstores, record shops, restaurants, bars..... uhmm sensory experiences, views, cruising spots, dead districts, cinemas, clothing stores (cos chicago is poor), galleries.

any advice?
 

petergunn

plywood violin
i might be spinning some grime a loft party in bushwick on saturday...

record shops is kinda a personal thing, in the sense that the only actual "record stores" i ever buy anything at are Rock and Soul (35th and 7th ave) or Beatstreet (fulton mall, downtown brooklyn) for new hip hop, Kim's (St Marks place, btwn 2nd and 3rd ave) for grime and dubstep, and Turntable lab (7th st, bwtn 1st and A) for trendy re-edits and whatnot... everything else i buy at flea markets and thrift stores... but, if you like to go to actual record stores, Acadamy Records is good, A1 is good, Eat Records in Greenpoint is ok...

not really hidden, but getting Indian food on 6th St (bwtn 1st and 2nd Ave) is nice... if you want to settle some sort of NY Vs. Chicago pizza battle, go to either Patsy's, Lombardi's, Di Fara's, or Grimaldi's...

most clothing stores here are expenisve for vintage stuff... if you want new clothes, like hip hop gear and stuff, it's cheap to shop on Delancey St., or Broadway, south of Canal St...
 

zhao

there are no accidents
I'll be here in NYC until March 22nd... hit me with cool stuff!!!

missed the post-punk party but caught Circle at the Knitting.

when specifically will you arrive Sufi?
 

adruu

This Is It
i could reel off spots for days , but i got to strongly second lombardi's/grimaldi's for slices...basil, tomato, and fresh mozz to be specific...

i also recommend taking the bus up and downtown instead of the subway. imho its the best way to soak up the city if you have time...

...and the promenade in brooklyn and the brooklyn bridge are good walks...

pm me if you want more info...have fun
 

h-crimm

Well-known member
i think actually i've half decided to give up on record shopping in favour of book shopping........................
i'll probably relapse though so thanks for the recommendations

definitely going to brooklyn bridge "paw of steel", christopher street (ground zero-queero), running around in the park like in shadows, williamsburg for observing the hipster phenomenon.



chicago deep dish pizza is crazy ----------- appalling even.
only the potato topped pizza from dull and greasy metro on division is anything to mention.
 

Freakaholic

not just an addiction
h-crimm said:
chicago deep dish pizza is crazy ----------- appalling even.
only the potato topped pizza from dull and greasy metro on division is anything to mention.


Always nice to meet another Chicagoan here.

And, while this might not be the best thread to post this in, i recently (like, a year ago or so) discovered that stuffed pizza is NOT "Chicago-style" pizza. I have no idea how that became the understood meaning, but i was set straight by the message board http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards/chicago/chicago.html

I guess Chicago pizza is actually the superthin crust, cut in squares, that has the cornmeal crust. the crust is the actual important part, and i think the general discussion around what constitutes authentic chicago style depends on the sauce contents. i could be wrong, its been a while since i cared.

i gotta say though, for late night, drunken greasey needs, "new york style" defintely stacks up a lot better.
 

polystyle

Well-known member
Gotham

Aha , coming to town eh ?

Agreed on taking the bus in Manhattan ( up and downtown it's good , easy ride - when it's not crowded , can be a bit slow depending ... )
ditto Rock And Soul Records @ 35th & 7th. Ave. , Kim's worth a look upstairs and down.

Pizza , I dunno 'Best' or what but Stromboli's on 8th & 1st. Ave. is not bad , got that trad flavor
even Two Boots (LES Ave. A -Corner of 3rd St.) for some different varieties , some named for characters from Tarantino films

Books. If you've never been , The Strand (12th & Broadway) has done some redo inside , stacks of books , half price downstairs can be real crowded on wkends but you might see Tom Verlaine roaming(he used to work there bk in the days when NY was wild).
Gallagers (sp.?) on corner of 12th. St. & 4th Ave. is an interesting place to check out , it's a ref/ for style & fashion -y types, stylists , glammists , if Walter's at the front desk he's usually a cheerful help.
Wall to wall with old magazines , photos of Nico and VU , H Newton stuff , G Bourdin, there was a cool little new mag by photog at the front (B&W w/ a splash of red I believe) with vintage Warhol, Iggy, Bowie . Lou Reed action . Forget the title but it's new , quite 'that period' NY vibe -y , worth a look at least.
G's also has a bigger archive around the corner that's sometimes open to public.
Forbidden Planet up from The Strand

Same area has the mega Whole Foods where you can load up a container of hot Indian/Mex/variety of foods in the back there and go eat in Union Sq. Park across the street , avoid peak times , not super expensive (maybe for some)

In gen , Union Sq.(14th & B'way) became a real hang out area for many kinds ,
East Vill. ain't what it used to be , LES can be fun , Chinatown subsuming Littler Italy (but you can still find a good meal there ) , Harlem works for some , West Village hey cruise if you want it .

Just looking at some stuff happening round this part of town:

Sensory - get a nice sack of sense by delivery from one of the services (50 -60$ per)

Vitalic @ Avalon Thurs. night
Ellen Allien /SleepArchive @ Avalon (the old Limelight club) Sat.
St. Patty's Death Disco w. Shane Macgowan @ Southpaw (Park Slope , Brooklyn) (35$ ! toofless in B'lyn )
Annie @ Mercury Louge on the 20th
opening @ Giant Robot
Whitney Biennial "Night for Day" still going on through 28th

'Canadian Front' Films series by MOMA @ Roy & Titus Theaters on West 53rd in midtown
"C.R.A.Z.Y" (' from his premature birth through his sexually ambiguous adolescence as a David Bowie fanatic, Zac B is the lens through which ..'),
"Whole New Thing" today through the 20th

If you are here on Sunday and if you haven't done it , you could do worse then picking up a (weighty) Sunday NY Times with your AM coffee , all kinds of stuff is there, listings ,
Zizek wrote for last Sunday's Op -Ed page .
Flavor Pill for listings online and The ol' Village Voice free on almost every corner box for weekly shows/art Galleries / concerts/listings
Restaurants - depends on what you like ... it's here no problem ($ maybe tho ...)

Unfortunately , it looks like we just slipped out of 60 -63 F weather and by this AM are bk to winter ,
but what can you do ... !

For you that are coming here , feel reasonably free to PM me with questions, etc.
Cheers
 

bruno

est malade
polystyle desu said:
For you that are coming here , feel reasonably free to PM me with questions, etc.
Cheers

i'm not going to new york anytime soon but was curious as to whether the 'cleaning up' of the city (in the late 90s?) is still in effect. i went through the city in 1988, and though i was only a kid i still remember how massively fucked up it all was (esp compared to canadian cities). the metro stations were straight out of some dystopian nightmare (though the metro itself probably a lot cleaner than, say, in the early 80s apparently?)

btw, NCR is one of my favourite tunes :D
 
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polystyle

Well-known member
Hey Bruno
When you say cleaning up of the city' that reminds me of the Guliani Admin time when he crusaded
and did' clean things up' , crime / crime numbers & perceptions went down
The denaturing of the East Village / Lower East Side nightlife continues on though
On Ave. C the other night for Simon's book party most of the crowds outside of bars were frat types it looked like ...
 

bruno

est malade
polystyle desu said:
the Guliani Admin time when he crusaded
and did' clean things up' , crime / crime numbers & perceptions went down

right, the 'zero tolerance' thing. so that is perceived as a good policy, in retrospect? because it wasn't at the time .
 
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adruu

This Is It
absolutely every inch of manhattan has been cleansed of anything pre-guiliani including wtc 7

frat types and hair product
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
beware!!! this can't help but be a tourist guide!!!!!

downtown manhattan =

nublu, C b/w 4th and 5th -- best to hit on tues, wed, thurs or sunday
mundial, 12th b/w A and B -- soccer bar w/ sleek design -- i'm friends w/ owner, so had to mention!
subtonic, norfolk at delancey -- hosts the bunker on fridays -- leftfield dance sounds
the hole, 2nd ave b/w 1st and 2nd -- gay bar -- same ownership as now-defunct cock
motor city bar -- ludlow b/w rivington and delancey -- very rock scenester-ish if early part of week
don hill's, greenwich st at spring -- this friday is dfa/motherfucker-related
cafe noir, spring and thompson -- older, cosmopolitan crowd -- in soho, near don hill's
the element -- ex bank -- essex at houston -- gay megaclub -- this is where larry tee now plays
scenic -- ex save robots -- ave B b/w 2nd + 3rd -- young gay fashionista nite is saturdays
les infants terrible -- ludlow at canal -- cosmopolitan bar scene after 2 am (similar to cafe noir)
good world -- orchard b/w canal + division -- similar to les infants, but w/ dancing
leopard lounge/sin sin, 5th street at 2nd avenue -- decent mid-week destination, weekends dicey
happy ending, 302 broome at forsyth -- expect a yuppie scene on the weekend, decent on tuesdays
the delancey -- attorney at delancey, foot of w'burg bridge -- young 20s rock club -- 3 floors
fat baby, rivington at essex -- young 20s hipster option -- probably cringe-inducing

and in w'burg and other parts of brooklyn, which i don't frequent much these days =

the local aka rocky's aka ship's mast -- kent at south 5th -- top destination
boogaloo, marcy b/w broadway and south 5th -- touch-and-go, ruff crowd, good late nite
stinger bar -- grand b/w roebling and driggs -- not sure if still open -- used to be tops
black betty -- metropolitan at havermeyer -- sundays for top brazilian dj greg caz
coco 66 -- 66 greenpoint avenue b/w franklin and west -- cool scene way up north
trash bar -- ex luxx -- grand b/w roebling and driggs -- rock'n'roll bands 7 nights a week
capone's bar -- N 9th b/w roebling and driggs -- beat club, all-disco on weekends
supreme trading -- N 8th /w roebling and driggs -- first nyc grime event was here
laila lounge -- N 7th b/w wythe and berry -- young crowd, large space -- saw dj synapse here once
the lucky cat, grand /bw roebling and driggs -- young-ish crowd, hit-or-miss music, used to do breakcore
secret project robot aka llana estacado -- 210 kent at metroplitan -- todd p's place -- visual acid
galapagos, north 6th b/w kent and wythe -- venerable institution
pete's candy store -- lorimer at richardson near BQE -- charming space -- music is NME indie fare
southside lounge -- broadway b/w wythe and kent -- same ownership as formerly ultra-cool LES lotus
art land, grand b/w lorimer and leonard -- cool little bar -- neighborhood-y joint
stain bar, grand near bushwick ave -- smelly artist/hippy joint
sweet up's -- on graham near grand -- very young crowd -- made me feel old -- but not bad for a bar
bar sputnik, taaffe pl b/w willoughby and dekalb -- very cool space in artsy bed-stuy
last exit, atlantic avenue b/w clinton + henry -- carrol gardens -- top bar on other side of brooklyn

one-off spots =

rubulad -- flushing b/w classon and taaffe near BQE -- top parties -- had one last week, so doubt this week
frying pan -- pier 63 at 23rd street -- the boat of "turntables on hudson" fame -- rents for $500
asterisk -- johnson ave just east of bushwick ave -- doubles as an art gallery
mighty robot -- wythe at broadway in w'burg -- underground rock scene
lunatarium -- jay street at john street in dumbo -- big-name rave djs have parties here on occasion
6th avenue loft -- NE corner of 6th avenue and 14th street -- agcg, miss kier and others have featured

and things i'm tempted by this week =

thursday, 3/16
sin-e -- longstanding live music venue on attorney b/w houston + stanton -- see the band discovery
sapphire lounge -- can't say i like the venue -- the "jill's intervention" party

friday, 3/17
crash mansion/blvd -- really crap venue!!! -- but it's dj sujinho + chris annibell w/ chris love promoting -- free admittance all night if you rsvp
 

petergunn

plywood violin
dominic said:
beware!!! this can't help but be a tourist guide!!!!!

downtown manhattan =

nublu, C b/w 4th and 5th -- best to hit on tues, wed, thurs or sunday
mundial, 12th b/w A and B -- soccer bar w/ sleek design -- i'm friends w/ owner, so had to mention!
subtonic, norfolk at delancey -- hosts the bunker on fridays -- leftfield dance sounds

and Pure Fire on weds!

the hole, 2nd ave b/w 1st and 2nd -- gay bar -- same ownership as now-defunct cock
motor city bar -- ludlow b/w rivington and delancey -- very rock scenester-ish if early part of week
don hill's, greenwich st at spring -- this friday is dfa/motherfucker-related
cafe noir, spring and thompson -- older, cosmopolitan crowd -- in soho, near don hill's
the element -- ex bank -- essex at houston -- gay megaclub -- this is where larry tee now plays
scenic -- ex save robots -- ave B b/w 2nd + 3rd -- young gay fashionista nite is saturdays
les infants terrible -- ludlow at canal -- cosmopolitan bar scene after 2 am (similar to cafe noir)
good world -- orchard b/w canal + division -- similar to les infants, but w/ dancing
leopard lounge/sin sin, 5th street at 2nd avenue -- decent mid-week destination, weekends dicey
happy ending, 302 broome at forsyth -- expect a yuppie scene on the weekend, decent on tuesdays
the delancey -- attorney at delancey, foot of w'burg bridge -- young 20s rock club -- 3 floors
fat baby, rivington at essex -- young 20s hipster option -- probably cringe-inducing

and in w'burg and other parts of brooklyn, which i don't frequent much these days =

the local aka rocky's aka ship's mast -- kent at south 5th -- top destination
boogaloo, marcy b/w broadway and south 5th -- touch-and-go, ruff crowd, good late nite
stinger bar -- grand b/w roebling and driggs -- not sure if still open -- used to be tops

closed about a year ago...


black betty -- metropolitan at havermeyer -- sundays for top brazilian dj greg caz
coco 66 -- 66 greenpoint avenue b/w franklin and west -- cool scene way up north
trash bar -- ex luxx -- grand b/w roebling and driggs -- rock'n'roll bands 7 nights a week
capone's bar -- N 9th b/w roebling and driggs -- beat club, all-disco on weekends
supreme trading -- N 8th /w roebling and driggs -- first nyc grime event was here
dj cameo... in a snow storm... good night

laila lounge -- N 7th b/w wythe and berry -- young crowd, large space -- saw dj synapse here once
the lucky cat, grand /bw roebling and driggs -- young-ish crowd, hit-or-miss music, used to do breakcore
still do


secret project robot aka llana estacado -- 210 kent at metroplitan -- todd p's place -- visual acid
galapagos, north 6th b/w kent and wythe -- venerable institution
pete's candy store -- lorimer at richardson near BQE -- charming space -- music is NME indie fare
southside lounge -- broadway b/w wythe and kent -- same ownership as formerly ultra-cool LES lotus
art land, grand b/w lorimer and leonard -- cool little bar -- neighborhood-y joint
stain bar, grand near bushwick ave -- smelly artist/hippy joint
sweet up's -- on graham near grand -- very young crowd -- made me feel old -- but not bad for a bar
bar sputnik, taaffe pl b/w willoughby and dekalb -- very cool space in artsy bed-stuy
last exit, atlantic avenue b/w clinton + henry -- carrol gardens -- top bar on other side of brooklyn

one-off spots =

rubulad -- flushing b/w classon and taaffe near BQE -- top parties -- had one last week, so doubt this week
frying pan -- pier 63 at 23rd street -- the boat of "turntables on hudson" fame -- rents for $500
asterisk -- johnson ave just east of bushwick ave -- doubles as an art gallery
mighty robot -- wythe at broadway in w'burg -- underground rock scene

closed.... people who run it now run Secret Project Robot, which is not Todd P's place,,, we just rents the basement (and never does anything there...)


lunatarium -- jay street at john street in dumbo -- big-name rave djs have parties here on occasion
6th avenue loft -- NE corner of 6th avenue and 14th street -- agcg, miss kier and others have featured

and things i'm tempted by this week =

thursday, 3/16
sin-e -- longstanding live music venue on attorney b/w houston + stanton -- see the band discovery
sapphire lounge -- can't say i like the venue -- the "jill's intervention" party

friday, 3/17
crash mansion/blvd -- really crap venue!!! -- but it's dj sujinho + chris annibell w/ chris love promoting -- free admittance all night if you rsvp

wow, that's an amazing list... you have NYC on lock... this party i'm spinning saturday looks to be very good, a Blackkat party in Bushwick, PM me for details...
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
forgot to mention . . . .

slipper room -- at orchard and stanton -- funny and inventive burlesque show on saturdays

petergunn said:
wow, that's an amazing list...

some people keep notes on music, i keep notes on . . . .

joking!

i checked some of the cross streets using power of the internet

petergunn said:
you have NYC on lock...

actually, i need to start diversifying my nightlife destinations, meet new people, etc

need balance in nightlife, even if no balance in real life (as b/w diurnal and nocturnal)

petergunn said:
a Blackkat party in Bushwick

i used to live above those fools

will pm for details, however
 

h-crimm

Well-known member
oh by the way,

thanks alot to everyone who replied. very helpful information... new york is less like chicago's islands-in-a-wasteland so its easier to find good things

had a really good time just messing around in the city, like a cross of good things from my previous american experience and european home.
all those random people i meet who tell me "you think america is fucked? oh but you'd like new york!" weren't as deluded as i initially imagined.

best thing to see........... MV carbon / Metalux at williamsburg loft parties (maybe just me)
 
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