When I woke up late after a few G&Ts last night, thousands of others were already in Staten Island to start a 26.2-mile run through the city. Feeling surprisingly okay and excited by the idea of cheering them along as they completed this amazing feat, I headed to the ING New York City Marathon’s route with …
Read MoreCategory / Free Stuff
November 2, 2013
…visited the Brooklyn Night Bazaar
I can never get enough of a good market, and now there’s a new way to get my fix: the Brooklyn Night Bazaar. While this night market has been tried for short stints over the past three years, it now has a permanent home on the corner of Banker and Norman streets in Greenpoint. Every …
Read MoreOctober 31, 2013
…marched in the Halloween parade
In the U.K., Halloween passes without so much as a ‘boo’. I’ve been to a couple of parties and donned a fair few homemade costumes over the years, but nothing on the same scale as they do over here in the U.S. As I walked home from work, I dodged swarms of mini monsters and …
Read MoreOctober 28, 2013
…visited the Ghostbusters’ firehouse
Continuing with the spooky theme, today I decided to call in on the Ghostbusters’ firehouse. This whole time this movie treasure has been just a few blocks away from my office at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca. Time for a disclaimer – in the 1984 film, the Ghostbusters set up their firehouse inside an …
Read MoreOctober 26, 2013
…visited Central Park’s castle
A couple of weeks ago, I learned there’s a castle right in the middle of Central Park. Today was crisp and sunny – and seemed to be the perfect day for a visit. And when I got up there this morning, there was an added treat as the leaves are just changing, turning the park orange and red. Belvedere …
Read MoreOctober 24, 2013
…went to a literary night
All year I’ve seen literary readings – prose and poetry – popping up on events calendars but it has taken me 10-and-a-half months to go to one. And this was definitely a great pick as my friend Jim was reading some of his work – and it was cracking. I headed to No. 8, a …
Read MoreOctober 23, 2013
…visited the Time Landscape
Venture to the northeast corner of West Houston and LaGuardia Place, and you’ll also venture back in time. A tiny public park called the ‘Time Landscape’ sits on the corner and features plants and trees that existed in that spot – and across the rest of Manhattan – before the Subways, Starbucks and disgruntled millions …
Read MoreOctober 20, 2013
…visited Greenpoint’s rooftop farm
When I first visited New York in 2009, my first impression was woah, this place is vertical. Even though the buildings spread out more the further you get away from Manhattan, residents still need to make the most of every inch of possible space. So while people in the country enjoy acres of green land …
Read MoreOctober 17, 2013
…browsed Bauman Rare Books
I managed to slink out of work earlier than normal today so I made a beeline for a place I’ve long been eyeing: Bauman Rare Books in Midtown. I jumped off the E train at 53rd and 5th and walked a couple of blocks to the store before it closed. Bauman Rare Books is exactly …
Read MoreOctober 16, 2013
…bought American-made crafts
All summer I’ve enjoyed New York’s outdoor markets, but it’s getting chillier and darker, and no one wants to be browsing in the cold. Tonight I checked out a market celebrating crafts made in America – but thankfully this was under the gorgeous blue skies of Grand Central Station. The two-day fair, American Made, is …
Read MoreOctober 16, 2013
…saw Art in Odd Places
If you take 14th Street and walk across the city, it’s sheer madness. The street, which is one of the widest downtown, sweeps you past neon chain stores, four-lane roads and the mania of Union Square. And for this week only, it also takes you past an array of outdoor art – but you’d better …
Read MoreOctober 14, 2013
…admired the Eldridge Street Synagogue
Thanks to an Anglo-Catholic education, I grew up in chapels and churches – and although I don’t go to services anymore, I still love exploring those buildings. Today I expanded my religious education with a visit to a synagogue – and admired it in much the same way. I don’t know if I expected many …
Read MoreOctober 13, 2013
…snooped around a stranger’s home with Open House NY
Even though moving apartments is always a pain, I love it because you get to snoop around other people’s houses. So when I learned there was a city-wide event this weekend where you could do exactly that without having to feign interest in moving in, I was very keen. Open House New York has been …
Read MoreOctober 11, 2013
…visited the Mosaic House
If there’s one thing I really love about New York, it’s that it welcomes and celebrates peoples’ quirks and differences. You see everything here. And over in Boerum Hill, this even extends to homes. On Wyckoff Street, just off the Bergen Street subway stop, all of the properties are neat brown-faced buildings. All but one …
Read MoreOctober 9, 2013
…saw Madison Square Park’s tree sculptures
I had a date with Katia after work tonight so I had to scuttle to a new thing ASAP. Thankfully this is Manhattan, so finding a great, quick experience nearby wasn’t too hard. Madison Square Park has a new outdoor art exhibit and I wanted to see it before it started getting dark out, so …
Read MoreOctober 6, 2013
…visited Socrates Sculpture Park
I think I’ve found my favourite park in New York: Socrates Sculpture Park. As well as giving plenty of green space, the park in Astoria, Queens exhibits sculptures and multimedia installations. Nearly 30 years ago, a sculptor wanted to build the park on what was then a former landfill, and a group of artists and local youngsters helped him. It was …
Read MoreOctober 4, 2013
…tracked down a Banksy
My fellow countryman Banksy is causing a daily frenzy on the streets of New York. The artist has started a month’s ‘residency’ in the city, and every day this month, a new work will crop up somewhere – causing fans to sprint through the streets to be the first to see it. Today I tracked …
Read MoreOctober 3, 2013
…spotted an animation from the Q train
Ryan and I were traveling on the Q train from Brooklyn to Manhattan tonight when he told me to look out the right-hand-side window. Before I knew it, I was looking at a colorful animation created by panels on the walls underground. Check out the video: As you can see, we slowed down halfway through, …
Read MoreOctober 2, 2013
…walked around the Harlem Meer
I was right about needing to make the most of summer and the outdoors before autumn came, because today I was caught out. I had trekked 100 blocks north to check out Central Park’s Conservatory Garden, lured by its lush lawns and dusk closing time. But when I got there, this was all I could …
Read MoreSeptember 30, 2013
…joined the crowds at Atlantic Antic
You’d have thought that the horrifying San Gennaro would be enough to put me off street fairs for life but this weekend, the city’s biggest street festival was in town and I couldn’t resist. Atlantic Antic is the oldest (it started in 1974) and largest (it has 500 vendors along one mile) street fair in …
Read MoreSeptember 29, 2013
…took a trip to Governors Island
If you look at a map of New York City, there are a few islands dotted around Manhattan. I’ve already been to Roosevelt Island, if you remember, and today I ventured to another: Governors Island – which was good timing because this is the last weekend of the year that it’s open. This is where …
Read MoreSeptember 27, 2013
…went to the Dumbo Arts Festival
Today I headed to Dumbo for the third time this week. So I know my photographs are getting a bit similar – but let’s be honest, can you ever get too much of this skyline? I went there to check out the Dumbo Arts Festival – a free three-day festival scattered among the streets and …
Read MoreSeptember 26, 2013
…visited Photoville
In the past six months, somehow I’ve become a crier. I used to let stories I wrote at work wash over me, but now I’m forever fumbling for the tissues. One of my news editors even told me recently that she can tell it’s a good story if she hears a sniff from my desk. I’m …
Read MoreSeptember 25, 2013
…shopped at the Union Square Greenmarket
I keep meaning to make a pie with the apples Ryan and I picked at Stone Ridge Orchard on Saturday. So today after work, I nipped up to Union Square to get some extra ingredients. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the Union Square Greenmarket sells fresh and local produce, baked goods and flowers until 6pm. I …
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