Bryant Park

Taking a break in Bryant Park to look out over the top of the New York Public Library and eat a tuna sandwich from ‘wichcraft. (Here’s the recipe.)
        Enjoy the long weekend! (I'm starting early.)

Church Street and Fulton Street

I love the idea of an eroded gravestone. The ones in the cemetery at St. Paul’s Chapel are especially soothing. Blank as paper. Calling to mind Keats’s epitaph. (And another one I’d hate to see erased anytime soon—my favorite—is Conrad Aiken’s: “Cosmos Mariner—Destination Unknown.”)

Fourth Avenue and 13th Street

Sign of summer: a row of French rosés at Union Square Wines. “In France, rosés are particularly common in warmer, southern regions where there is local demand for a dry wine refreshing enough to be drunk on a hot summer’s day but which still bears some relation to the red wine so revered by the French,” according to my Oxford Companion to Wine. In New York, rosés are particularly common in the warmer, southern regions of my kitchen.

23rd Street and Eighth Avenue

I know you’re supposed to go to Queens for good Thai food, but I usually can’t be bothered to travel that far, especially when there’s Rin on 23rd Street, serene on an early night. With its low light and slight waterfall and crispy duck.

Greenwich Street and Barclay Street

Balloon Flower by Jeff Koons is situated in the tiny triangular park in front of 7 World Trade Center, which is in the background here and has another nice piece of art inside it: a Jenny Holzer installation of scrolling text in the front lobby. (You can see a bit of the giant typeface through the glass.) The texts are “about the joy of being in New York City,” according to Holzer, who has more to say about her art and methods here. (And you can hear Koons talk about his piece here.)

Prince Street and Mercer Street

Has anyone else noticed the explosion of retro hats for sale on the street? It must be because of Mad Men, right? (Which returns on July 25.)

Church Street and Fulton Street

Structures are going up all over the World Trade Center site, and it seems as if there are a thousand cranes out there right now, promising recovery. An article in this week’s New York Magazine has some pretty interesting tidbits about what’s going on over there, such as: “The immense girders at the base of” One World Trade “weigh 70 tons apiece, and every one came over the George Washington Bridge and down the West Side Highway, at dawn.” (I’m pretty sure I heard that.)

Mott Street and Grand Street

“New York City has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia.”

Fourth Avenue and 13th Street

Even though Dos Toros had already sold out of tacos early on a Friday night, there was still a decent line inside the shop. I was there for one of their California-style burritos anyway. And it was pretty good, especially the chicken (which was delicious; the pork was drier, less tasty), but I wasn’t overwhelmed by the experience, as I have been in California (I’m thinking of Pancho Villa at the moment). There must be something about California (you know, the way you can get a good pizza only in New York.)

23rd Street and Sixth Avenue

Mural inside the Institute of Culinary Education, which offers tons of recreational, entertaining (in my experience) cooking classes. (They tend to sell out fast.) Right now, I’m seriously considering signing up for Contemporary Italian Pizza and Street Food from Japan. (Don’t read the course descriptions if you’re hungry.)

Greenwich Street and Murray Street

One of the city’s best new coffee bars is right around the corner from where I live and so low-key that I never thought of venturing inside (until I read about it). Kaffe 1668 has an odd sheep theme going on but perfect coffee with artistic foam designs, a last touch that I always like. (Their tea selection also looks nice.)

Mott Street and Grand Street

The banh mi at the Banh Mi Saigon Bakery was good on a recent visit, but it wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped it would be. Still, it was worth the trip just to pass through the jewelry store at the front and make my way to the back counter doing its brisk business in Vietnamese sandwiches. I ate my cheap, huge banh mi (roasted pork variety) on a stool, off to the side, while watching the salesperson try to sell a man a jade bracelet, and I was satisfied.

Sixth Avenue and 20th Street

A look inside the newest incarnation of the Limelight, now a mini-mall. I found the shopping experience inside a bit cramped, frankly, and the stores (stalls, really) were selling things I didn’t need at the moment (soap, lovely chocolates, flip-flops), but the space was gorgeous.

Broadway and Wall Street

Interesting to see what the scene in front of Trinity Church looked like in the 1940s: take a look (check out those yellow cabs) at this series of color photographs of mid-20th-century New York.

Fifth Avenue and 17th Street

Like the artist here who has set up his easel for a bit of painting en plein air, I couldn’t resist the urge to capture this intersection on a sunny afternoon. (“Always choose subjects that matter to you” is some of the advice from Kerry James Marshall in Letters to a Young Artist.)

Water Street and Dock Street (Brooklyn)

Theater posters at St. Ann’s Warehouse, where you’re pretty much guaranteed to see something interesting. (“For 30 years, St. Ann’s Warehouse has commissioned, produced, and presented a unique and eclectic body of innovative theatre and concert presentations that meet at the intersection of theatre and rock and roll,” says the website.)

50th Street and Eighth Avenue

Happy Cinco de Mayo! At Toloache, kumquat margaritas and chipotle guacamole and Baja-style (more or less) fish tacos would be just the thing for a celebration. For any day of the week, really.

Grand Street and Mott Street

Scene inside DiPalo’s, one of those places on everyone’s list of great Italian markets in New York City. (Their homemade burrata, I can tell you, is creamy, mild deliciousness.) And that tin ceiling kind of makes me want to move in.

Broome Street and Mercer Street

The new location of Purl Soho has such luscious displays of yarns (silks, recycled, wool, whatever) that I went in to browse even though I don’t knit or quilt (they also sell fabric and quilting supplies). I spent quite a bit of time thinking about this silken straw, wondering what I could use it for. (I was also attracted to the nice selection of sewing books, with several in Japanese, such as Animal Mascots Made of Wool and Felt Fruit and Vegetables.)