“111 Places in New York That You Must Not Miss”
Emons, $19.90
Many of us are suckers for best-of lists or variations of the sort. This very entertaining book follows in that tradition. Author Jo-Anne Elikann has gathered a cornucopia of places that she believes everyone — visitors and New Yorkers alike — should see at least once in their lifetime. A few places are well-known (the Algonquin Lounge, the Hotel Chelsea, the lobby of the Chrysler Building), but more often than not, the entries offer some insight or unusual fact that makes this collection sparkle.
One of the must-see places is the Campbell Apartment, “possibly the most beautiful bar in New York.” Hidden inside Grand Central station, Campbell boasts mahogany walls, a hand-painted 25-foot-high ceiling, leaded glass windows, velvet divans and hostesses in black dresses and pearls along with Prohibition-era themed cocktails (“Imagine Jay Gatsby sipping martinis with Daisy beside the marble fireplace,” Elikann writes).
At the other extreme is the former punk/new wave club CBGB. The gritty and iconic venue closed in 2006 and was on the verge of being demolished when fashion designer (“and rocker at heart”) John Varvatos rescued it from the wrecking ball and turned it into an upscale men’s boutique. The shop also doubles as a concert venue and museum — the punk club’s original graffiti and posters are still plastered on the walls.
Other highlights include Coney Island’s circus sideshow (“theater with a twist”); the Irish Hunger Memorial, a monument to the many Irish men, women and children who died of hunger during the Great Potato Famine of 1845-1852; and Library Way, a two-block stretch of East 41st Street that leads to the New York Public Library’s main branch. Embedded in the sidewalk are 96 bronze plaques inscribed with quotations from writers, artists, scientists and philosophers
“Off Track Planet’s Brooklyn Travel Guide for the Young, Sexy, and Broke”
Running Press, $15
There’s more to Brooklyn than hipster stereotypes, as this fun, cheerfully profane and irreverent guide makes clear. “While Manhattan is mostly all about big business, Brooklyn is still mom-and-pop,” write Freddie Pikovsky and Anna Starostinetskaya. The authors are opinionated (referring to food, they note, “In Brooklyn, you’ll find the best version of everything you can dream up”) and refreshingly blunt (“Let’s talk about weirdos,” they begin in the “Safety” section).
They offer a brief history of the borough: The village of Breuckelen was founded by the Dutch East India Co. in 1646; now its wildly diverse population consists of 150 nationalities that speak 136 languages. Brooklyn, the authors maintain, is a city of underdogs who just happen to live across the bridge “from the richest, most populated city in America.”
The chapters are divided according to neighborhood, from Bay Ridge and Bushwick to Park Slope and Williamsburg. Brief introductions nicely capture the essence of each neighborhood. On Fort Greene: “People pay big bucks to live here, but even if you don’t visit any of Fort Greene’s wine bars or gastro-tasty pubs, just walking the wide, tree-lined, elaborate brownstone-littered streets is a bay-window-gawking experience.” Similarly, Park Slope “is the place where Brooklynites go to settle down and pop out offspring.” On the other hand, “If you’re looking for an earful of fuggetaboutit,” Bay Ridge “is guido paradise,” while the close-knit community of Red Hook, badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, “is all about lobster, craft beers and lazy waterfront afternoons.”
The authors feature recommendations for restaurants (especially coffee shops and bakeries), shopping, what to see and do, and partying. The Bed-Stuy chapter includes a hip-hop tour sidebar; the Coney Island chapter mentions the best places to eat Russian food. For some of the best pies in Brooklyn, they suggest Four & Twenty Blackbirds in the Gowanus neighborhood. The owners got their inspiration to open a pie shop from their grandmothers, according to the authors, “and you should probably get bigger pants if you’re looking to taste what they’re pushing here.”
Enough said.
June Sawyers is a freelance reporter.
