Below, an excerpt from the book’s introduction.

New York City’s TriBeCa and SoHo neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan are home to the largest concentration of cast iron facades in the world.

These architectural gems are the legacy of a now-defunct textile merchant industry that prospered from 1850 to 1890.

While construction in the zone slowed briefly during the Civil War (during the Draft Riots of 1863,  close to sixty buildings were burned to the ground) and the Panic of 1873 depression, it was generally a frenetic period of construction.

As quickly as it began, the cast iron building boom came to an end as steel frame buildings rose to preeminence.

A precursor of steel, cast iron was the first material that could be prefabricated for architectural purposes, making it ideal as a strong, durable, and low-cost building medium.

With cast iron, all elements of the facade could be mass manufactured by heating iron to a temperature that would eliminate all impurities; this was a dramatic improvement over wrought iron that required that impurities be hammered and rolled out by labor intensive processes.

The primary difference: Cast iron, which has high compressive strength, is best suited for columns; and wrought iron, which has high tensile strength, is best suited for beams.

photos courtesy of Approach Guides

General prevailing characteristics include:

“Store and loft” building profile. The typical cast iron facade building in SoHo and TriBeCa is twenty- five to fifty feet wide, consisting of three to six bays; it is five or six stories in height.

The “store,” where sales were executed, was the ground floor; and the “loft,” which was used for storage and light manufacturing, consisted of the upper floors.

Prefabricated elements that increase facade uniformity. Builders could select from a catalog of stock pieces (columns, bays, window frames, cornices, etc.). The widespread use of these stock parts created a high degree of consistency both within a single facade and across facades on buildings throughout SoHo and TriBeCa.

Greater decorative detail. The prefabricated nature of architectural elements freed up building owners to opt for increased decorative details, the execution of which would have proved time-consuming and prohibitively costly if they had been rendered by hand carving in stone.

Variety of style blends. While there are certainly many “pure” examples of the five styles — Italian: Roman, Italian: Venetian, Italian: Sperm Candle, French: Second Empire, and French: Neo-Grec (all discussed in detail in subsequent sections) — a large portion of buildings display a blend of styles.

Step vault lighting. Buildings typically have storage basements that run under the sidewalk. Over this subterranean space, many employ a cast iron frame punctuated by thick glass lenses (often round and in manifold colors) that allowed daylight to pass through and illuminate the interior; it is called a step vault light. A large number of these step vaults survive — they were employed from 1845 until the end of the 19th century, when electric lighting rendered them unnecessary.

To order the e-book version, click here:  Guide to Cast Iron Architecture in New York’s SoHo and Tribeca (with Walking Tour) ]]> http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2011/06/new-york-city-cast-in-iron/feed/ 0 http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2010/08/new-york-on-the-upper-west-side-schmeared-bagels-for-all/ http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2010/08/new-york-on-the-upper-west-side-schmeared-bagels-for-all/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:00:23 +0000 Stacia Friedman http://www.thecitytraveler.com/?p=5135

Zabar's

When I lived on New York’s Upper West Side in the late 1970s, John Lennon resided at the Dakota, and gentrification wasn’t yet a gleam in many a developer’s eye.

Anchored by Lincoln Center to the south and Columbia University to the north, the neighborhood included an unsavory stretch of Amsterdam Avenue. The vibe was unpretentious, edgy, and laid back, a far cry from the snooty East Side or manic Downtown scene.

Flash forward. Columbus Avenue now has so many Big Brand chain stores (Kenneth Cole, Lucky, Swatch) that it has its own website and free maps to help you melt down your credit cards from 65^th to 83^rd streets. A recent visit to my old neighborhood, however, reconfirmed my original allegiance. The Upper West Side is still the Real Deal, filled with magnificent architecture, museums, eclectic boutiques and enough sidewalk cafes to rival the Champs de l’Esyee.

Gentrification has attracted the new without edging out the old. My stomach couldn’t have been happier.

Gray’s Papaya, a fruit juice and hot dog vendor at 72^nd and Broadway, was still putting the squeeze on fresh oranges. This institution was ranked as offering the number one weiner in NYC by Time Out New York, and featured in an episode of Sex and the City. Yes, folks, Carrie Bradshaw ate here.

Barney Greengrass at 86^th & Amsterdam, is a no-nonsense Jewish deli that has been around so long it catered Noah’s Ark. Ba-da-boom. This is where the glitterati go for sturgeon and lox combos. (Leonardo DiCaprio gets his schmear here.) The décor dates back to the 1950s and so do most of the waiters.

Zabar’s at 80^th and Broadway is to food what Tiffany’s is to diamonds. For over 70 years, the Zabar family have created a gourmet paradise. Known for its coffee, smoked fish and baked goods, it has a café on the corner for a quick bite. Don’t miss the “Knish Corner” in the back and kitchen equipment on the mezzanine. Go on weekends for the free floor show of wise-cracking deli men playing to the crowd.

Photos by Stacia Friedman

Amsterdam Avenue between 80^th and 86^th is buzzing with upscale cafes and restaurants, too. At Sarabeth’s, a brunch spot which also serves lunch and dinner, I enjoyed fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. Another brunch mecca is Popover Café which does things with eggs your mother never dared. Its Creole Scramble combines andouille sausage, garlic, onion, horseradish cheddar and tomato. Or, try the irreverent Wassanova, lox and bagel with wasabi cream cheese, red onion and watercress.

“Transcendental sushi” is the name of the game at Gari Columbus, 370 Columbus Avenue. Not your ordinary sushi eatery, Gari’s is a yupscale, Zagat-rated restaurant with prices to match. Expect to pay $50 per person . . . and be happy you did.

Given the Upper West Side’s proximity to the Theater District, it has always been home to a colorful mix of actors, dancers and musicians. Besides John & Yoko, it wasn’t uncommon to see Diane Keaton or Paul Simon strolling down the streets. Some things haven’t changed. As I passed Ducale, a trendy café at 392 Columbus, I noticed a man at a sidewalk table sporting a dashing beret and aviator sunglasses.

Damn. He looked just like Al Pacino. Then I heard his voice. It was Al Pacino.

Whatta neighborhood!

One good book: Mike Colameco’s Food Lover’s Guide to New York City

New York's aptly named Urban Oasis

When trying to book a stay in a pricey destination like New York City, where hotels average over $300 a night, don’t discount hostels as an option limited to the very young or very broke.

Cue the inevitable clichés of bed-bugs, requisite shower thongs and 16-bed dorms packed with college students sweating off last night’s beverage of choice.

But a new generation of hostels in New York City and other big cities may change this view: These properties boast private baths, Internet access and other hotel-like amenities at affordable prices without daytime lockouts and other drawbacks often associated with this type of lodging.

Consider these options for New York City:

Urban Oasis: The ultimate in backpacker chic, this hostel near the Empire State Building truly lives up to its name. Private double rooms run about $150 a night and come complete with loft-style windows that provide breathtaking views of the iconic skyscraper; cheaper twin rooms and rooms without a view also are available.

Zip112: Perfect for creative types, this hostel is located in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section, a favored hangout for the creative set. Shared rooms are available from $50 a night and private rooms start at $60.

The Gershwin: The ultimate in quirky chic, this Manhattan hotel is essentially a 13-story tribute to Andy Warhol; each floor is lined with prints from a different pop artist. The affordable and quirky rooms range from $39 per person, per night, “Bunkers,” dorm-style rooms with bunk beds and shared baths, to 450-sq.-ft-suites with separate living spaces.

The boutique-like Broadway Hotel and Hostel

Broadway Hotel and Hostel: Gotham’s first and only “boutique” hostel is located within walking distance of  Columbia University, and has frequently been rated one of the top 10 hostels in both the U.S. and the world.

Think leather sofas, plasma-screen TVs, an old-school library complete with fireplace and private two-bed rooms for rates starting at $32 a night.

Here are some tips to enhance the hostel experience:

• Don’t be put off by the term, “youth hostel.” Despite what the term may imply, there is no upper age limit for guests. Quite the opposite: What was the terrain of recent college graduates and students on break is now just as likely to house business travelers, families and budget backpackers of all ages.
• Plan your stay at least a month in advance, and be prepared to be flexible with your dates, because hostels in top destinations like New York tend to book up fast.
• Stock up on multipurpose products when packing for a trip that will include a shared bathroom. For women, this might mean tinted moisturizer with SPF that can double as a blush, and scented deodorants in place of perfume. For men, shower gel can double as shampoo.
• Take a spare sheet with you to your hostel as a precaution. While most accommodations have bed linens and laundry facilities, it’s always better to be prepared.
• If there’s one thing to keep on hand at all times, it’s baby wipes. These can remove make up, sanitize hands or give suspect surfaces a quick wipe.
• Use your smartphone’s GPS tools to store the particulars for your hostel’s charming back street address, which might be difficult to find at night.

photo courtesy of Andaz Wall Street

ANDAZ WALL STREET

The Buzz This is the fourth offering from Hyatt’s new boutique brand (another one is slated to open this summer in Midtown Manhattan).

Location At the corner of Wall and Water Streets in New York’s financial district, this is a perfect spot for business travelers. But it also (perhaps unexpectedly) works for those looking to explore a different area away from the usual suspects. Manhattan’s oldest neighborhood offers off-the-grid charm, sites like the Stock Exchange and Fraunces Tavern, a thriving waterfront, and even a TKTS booth for discounted theater tickets.

The Look Guest rooms are studies in blonde wood minimalism, with brushed aluminum and British tan leather accents. They feature high-tech bedside controls that work their magic on lights and curtains, and furniture that does double-duty (spin the armoire on its axis to unveil a mini-bar, then a full-length mirror; walk around the desk that holds a flat-screen tv to discover that its back is mirrored and a vanity bench awaits ).

Bells & Whistles Wall and Water restaurant features a display kitchen and serves a farm-to-table menu. A downstairs spa is small, but gets the job done in speedy — if you so desire: there are 15-minute sessions available — and luxurious fashion.

Extra Mile The soaring lobby offers a tempting presentation of complimentary cookies and soft drinks all day, along with espresso and coffee in the morning, and wines in the early evening. Great breakfast pastries and savory munchies are available here for sale, too. Similarly, guest rooms feature a minibar stocked with free soft drinks, as well as Terra chips and organic chocolate bars.

Needs Work Some flowers or artwork might help the guest rooms feel a little less impersonal. The conceit of a uniform-less and check-in-free experience can lead to delays and confusion. — JoAnn Greco

photo courtesy of Distrikt Hotel

DISTRIKT HOTEL

The Buzz As if being located in the heart of midtown weren’t enough, Distrikt Hotel has adopted Gotham as its design theme. Starting with the lobby entrance, touches include a 14-foot “living wall” inspired by Central Park, a sculpture-like wooden art piece at the front desk symbolizing the streets of Manhattan and subway maps at the elevators. Heading upstairs, ten Manhattan neighborhoods (“distrikts” in the hotel’s parlance), from the Financial District to Harlem, are celebrated with photo collages by artist Chris Rubino along the corridors.

Location With views of the Port Authority Bus Terminal parking structure directly across the street, Distrikt couldn’t get much closer to the bus depot without actually being inside. (Fortunately, it’s not.) The block of West 40^th Street is a bit seedy at the 8^th Avenue end, but improves as you head west and becomes a kind of mini hotel row consisting of mostly budget properties, including a Staybridge Suites and a Fairfield Inn. Penn Station and the theater district are but a five-minute walk away and Chelsea is just a little farther afield.

The Look The skinny 32-story tower is a study in minimalism, inside and out. The 155 guest rooms feature contemporary, dark wood furniture and tufted leather headboards offset by white duvet covers.

Bells & Whistles Distrikt, which is part of Choice Hotels’ Ascend Collection, hits all the right boutique notes, from the Frette linens and bathrobe to the free Wi-Fi and iHome docking station radio and alarm clock. The Simmons Beauty Rest pillow top mattress in my king room was especially comfy. If you feel the need to dine-in or want to have a nightcap, there is a bar-restaurant on the premises.

Extra Mile I didn’t partake, but a free, overnight shoeshine is included.

Needs Work The Wi-Fi in my room went down in the early evening and wasn’t restored until the next morning. The front desk blamed the problem on the Internet provider, and didn’t offer any remedy or timeline for when service might come back. Although I’m not one to complain about a quiet hotel, my room on the 25th floor was so free of noise that I was bothered several times in the middle of the night by housekeeping accessing a closet across the hall. – Robert DiGiacomo

photo courtesy of Fashion 26 Hotel

FASHION 26

The Buzz Billed as New York’s first fashion-centric hotel, this 280-room property room also represents a bid by Wyndham to claim some business in the boutique hotel market.

Location The 22-story tower isn’t situated in the most scenic spot, but it is a strategic one: directly across 26^th Street is the Fashion Institute of Technology, and a short walk away is Penn Station, Chelsea and the Fashion District.

The Look The design alludes to its Fashion District location with a custom reception desk modeled on a designer’s cutting-room table. Artist Devorah Sperber has created a tactile installation from spools of thread that pays tribute to the work of Piet Mondrian. The guest rooms –– small by most standards, average for New York –– have a spacious vibe, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. The fashion theme continues in the private quarters, where bedside tables sport legs that resemble those of old school sewing machines and the wallpaper pattern is meant to seem like a classic silk tie.

Bells & Whistles Wyndham has covered its bases with the guest rooms and hotel amenities: Frette linens? Check. Powerful, walk-in shower? Yes. Free Wi-Fi? It’s there, too.The bi-level hotel restaurant, RARE, tries hard to not seem too corporate and specializes in the “great American hamburger.” A rooftop lounge, RARE View, does just that by providing a good look at the Empire State Building.

Extra Mile Specially made cupcakes from Crumbs are offered gratis at the front desk. The hotel staff seemed especially friendly and eager to accommodate the smallest request, such as storing bags after check out.

Needs Work The sheets may be Frette, but they sure felt scratchy. Note to housekeeping: Less starch, please. – Robert DiGiacomo

Going to the new Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is to slip magically behind the invisible wall. It’s more an immersion into the Chinese American experience than a museum of relics — and a place where stories, even more than objects, are curated.

Designed by Maya Lin, of Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial fame, the heart of the facility is a small space dedicated to oral histories that’s wrapped around a sky-lit courtyard. Short, biographic films tell the rich and moving stories of Chinese who forged lives in the new world.

Sheila Chin Morris (b. 1946) tells about her father, laundry man Tung Funn Horn, who left a wife and daughter behind in China and started a new family in America, while Hazel Ying Lee (1912-1944), a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during WWII, remembers accidentally landing in a corn field in Kansas during training and being confronted by a pitch fork-wielding farmer, who saw her and started screaming that the Japanese were invading. “I said ‘I am a Chinese American for the U.S. military – you put that thing down!’”

Film actress Anna May Wong (1905 – 1961) tells about the challenges of being an ethnic leading lady: “… all I could play were roles where there were no kisses.”

Because this part of the museum is small, you can hear parts of other films being played near you. Turning your head, catching different frequencies and bits of people’s lives, you can feel unmoored – in an exciting way – inside the Chinese American wave of history.

A timeline threads delicately along the wall, helping put these personal accounts into the context of events like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Chinese Communist Revolution and the 1953 Refugee Relief Act. An extremely comfortable upholstered chair (why don’t more museums do this?) is planted in front of a1950’s-era TV that broadcasts The Chinatown Files, a documentary about the suspicion that Chinese Americans might have been communist spies during the Cold War.

There’s a lot of information here, but it’s put on tap in such creative ways that it’s easy to explore and make connections.

Other displays include a life-sized re-creation of an historic Chinatown general store that you can actually walk into, and a collection of antique irons that explains how Chinese Americans came to corner the hand-laundry service market. (The visitor is invited to pick up an 8 lb. display iron and imagine working days, months and years with this heavy implement.)

photos courtesy of MOCA

As a devotee of things Chinese, one of my favorite objects is a set of old wooden Chinese characters for a printing press. You can also see a hand scale used by Chinese miners to weigh gold in the 1850’s and a “Chinese Must Go” novelty cap pistol, ca. 1879 – 1890. According to the display copy, when the trigger is pulled, the man on top of the pistol kicks the other (Chinese) man and the cap explodes.

Finally, the museum acknowledges – with photos and short, snappy bios – Chinese Americans who have made their marks on American society. Many names are familiar: film director Ang Lee, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, figure skater Michelle Kwan, fashion designer Vera Wang. Others less so, but they have had small and large effects on your life, among them Ah Bing, who cultivated the Bing cherry, and Steven Chen, co-founder of YouTube.

MOCA’s gift store offers an outstanding selection of books. But if you crave the same kind of Asian tokens and paper ephemera that I do, the real treasures are outside in the shops . . . but that’s another story.

One good book: The Chinese in America: A Narrative History

Besides being overcrowded and lacking any kind of ambience, Penn Station is a nightmare for the foodie on the go. If you crave more than heat-lamp pizza, overpriced underwhelming deli, and dishwater coffee, you’re going to have to work for it. Here are some of my favorite food and drink spots in the vicinity.

Noodle Heaven

Yook Gae Jang hot and spicy beef stew, photo courtesy of Kunjip

Immediately east of Penn Station’s 7th Avenue exit on 32nd Street is an unexpected enclave of Korean restaurants. K-Town is roughly a block of neon eateries spliced with massage parlors, but there is some great Korean food to discover.

At Kunjip,  a narrow room bustles with locals chowing down on authentic Korean dishes, and hungry diners willing to line up and wait. Once you score a table, start with the soups and casseroles on the large menu.

Ox knee soup offers a hot and spicy kick, and the crispy pancakes spiked with seafood are another favorite. The restaurant also does Korean-style barbecue. It’s easy for a two to have a tasty meal for about $50.

If the line at Kunjip is too long to take, try Mandoo Bar for dumplings or Kang Suh for “BBQ.”

New York Steak of Mind

Aged prime porterhouse, photo courtesy of Keens

A few blocks away awaits a much different, quintessentially New York experience. Keens Steak House, as the oath out front attests, has been dishing up great beef and “Mutton that jolly-well satisfies” for 125 years.

Keens oozes old New York from the Rubenesque beauty in oils behind the bar to the clay pipes hung all over the restaurant. Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth and other members of New York’s elite were regulars and so should you be.

Understand that most steaks are served a la carte at $40-plus, athough Keens does offer a more reasonable pub menu, with most items priced between $15 and $25.

Tiki Tacky Fun

For another only-in-New York experience, exit Penn Station on the west side near the Amtrak ticket window and head north on 8th Avenue to The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge at 8th Avenue, between 37th and 38th streets. You’ve been to faux dives before, but this is the real thing.

The faded Waikiki look includes nautical netting, fake palms and tacky tiki torches that were in fashion never. The powerful cocktails will make you forgot that overcrowded train ride and any other troubles.

Joe, Where Are You?

Finally, for anyone looking for a fix of the caffeinated variety, Penn Station makes you work for a decent cup.

There’s not even a Starbucks on the station’s main level; the best you can do is go to the New Jersey Transit area for a Seattle’s Best, Starbucks’ red-headed stepchild. To get your favorite Starbucks tall, half-cafe, skinny latte, follow the Long Island Railroad signs to the lower level.

Starbucks in hand, you can at least take comfort in knowing the coffee at Penn Station — if nothing else — is the real deal.

To read more: Mike Colameco’s Food Lover’s Guide to New York City

I hadn’t been back to this workaday neighborhood, bounded roughly by Houston and Canal streets and Essex St. and the Bowery, in decades. But I grew curious two years ago, when a turning point seemed to arrive. A handful of 20-story hotels opened, and long-empty storefronts lifted up their graffiti-smeared grates to unveil fancy boutiques and galleries. Then the National Trust for Historic Preservation declared the neighborhood’s authenticity “endangered.”

I wondered if the neighborhood had simply caught up with the times — or was truly about to be obliterated by them.

Setting out one afternoon, I started at Orchard Street, one of the neighborhood’s main drags. At Ben Freedman Gent’s Furnishings, a white-shirted Orthodox Jew with forelocks spoke rapid Hebrew into his cellphone. Fire-escapes still fronted the brick buildings. The wares had been updated — the handbags and shoes seemed to be at least from the 1980s — but not upgraded. Down the block, though, Earnest Sewn, a boutique located in an ornate stone building with rusted iron balconies, proffered artfully torn $230 jeans and glossy Taschen coffee table books.

photos by JoAnn Greco

Nearby, I found The Pickle Guys.. Owner Al Kaufmann says he started the store specifically to bring pickles back to Essex Street, since many of the classic purveyors have left over the decades. When I handed him a $20 bill for a 75-cent sour dill, plump, briny and brimming with possibility, he glanced at the money in mock dismay. “You want me to open an account for you?,” he inquired.

Next door, a Judaica shop sold teffilin, yarmulke, and tallis. Its Hebrew sign merged in my mind’s eye with the jumble of Chinese and Bangladeshi and Spanish signs suspended from other storefronts, offering a Depression-era tableau out of a Berenice Abbott photo.

For a look back at the immigrant heritage still so present, I bought a ticket to “Piecing It Together: Immigrants in the Garment Industry,” one of several tours offered by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Our guide led us down the block, and we entered a dark hallway in all its peeling-paint, soot-covered glory. From the 1860s to the 1930s, when the area served as New York’s major immigrant portal, an estimated 7,000 people from 20 nations lived in this building. In a three-room apartment stood a dressmaker’s model draped in fabric, with a sewing machine beside it. The Levine family ran a small garment factory out of this space during the 1890s, our guide told us. Today, he claimed, about 180 “sweatshops” — the none-too-flattering term given to small factories where workers toil in sub-par conditions, often for sub-legal wages — still operate in the neighborhood.

As I exited the tour, I noticed that the street signs were marked “New York City Orchard Street Bargain District,” even though $2 million apartments and $400 hotel rooms have invaded the area. I peeked into one, the much-talked-about Hotel on Rivington, all mock mod with its white and red tubular entryway and space age touches.

Across the street, I spied Economy Candy, a neighborhood legend since 1937. The bulk barrels have given way to functional steel shelving, but there’s still loose candy to be had for $1.99 a pound, and vending machine classics like Beeman’s gum sit next to $8 Scharffen Berger chocolate bars.

It was all very encouraging: newcomers embracing the past and oldsters stepping up to the future. The shop talk may have changed — some 40 galleries can be found here — and the eateries may have gotten fancier. Too many tenements have been defaced and even erased. But this place continues to feel different: its unloveliness remains resolute, the Williamsburg Bridge still swoops off of Delancey Street, and the jabber of multiple languages is ever-present. Endangered, maybe. But gone? Never.

One good book:  Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City

A film crew sets up to shoot a scene from Ugly Betty.

It usually comes about 10 minutes into the conversation with a first-time visitor to NYC. We walked so much. It was exhausting.

I wait for it. I celebrate it. I love it. If they don’t say it, they’re not doing the city right.

While I will just smile and nod and allow you your (completely unfortunate) opinion that some other city has better bagels, pizza or baseball teams than New York, I will stomp all over any debate about which city’s denizens (and visitors) walk the most. It is NYC’s extreme walking culture that I love most.

Though there are plenty of made-for-visitors walking tours to choose from, a recommendation: hop the #7 subway out to Queens (and, facing forward on the left side of the train, snag a photo of the city’s best graffiti’d building) and get off at the 74th St-Broadway stop in Jackson Heights.

Oh, go hungry. You’re about to eat your way from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to Thailand, Korea, and the Philippines, and then, Ireland. It won’t be the prettiest walking tour you’ll ever take; you won’t get a ton of exercise; and, thanks to the elevated subway overhead, it will be one of the loudest. But, on a 15-block walk from Jackson Heights to Woodside, you’ll experience a range of cultures (and their attendant tasty treats) that, unless, of course, you have the time and the money for an around-the-world plane ticket, you just can’t find together anywhere else in the world.

Exit the subway onto 74th Street. If you love glitz, your walking tour may get sidetracked: the street is loaded with shops that sell jewel-colored saris and exquisitely detailed gold jewelry. Or, after some window shopping, start your tasting with a samosa chat at the tiny snack shop attached to Delhi Palace (37-33 74th St.) and then move on to an order of  Tibetan dumplings – momos - in the back of Merit (37-67 74th St.).

You’re pacing yourself, right? Taste. Don’t inhale.

Photos by Jenna Schnuer

Then turn right on Roosevelt Ave. and follow under the elevated subway tracks. Breathe deep and do a few jumping jacks. You’re almost at the next stop: Unidentified Flying Chicken (71-22 Roosevelt Ave.). Space theme aside, this Korean fried chicken spot should not be ignored. At the very least, order a small. And get some pickled radish on the side.

For your next three stops, you’re spared any eating. It’s stocking up (and photo opp) time. The Phil-Am Market (70-02 Roosevelt Ave.) kicks off the Filipino section of the neighborhood. If nothing else, pop in to see the wonderful retro-ish packaging of some of the products. Blocks later, don’t miss a chance to take a photo with the plastic Jollibee mascot (pictured). He’s sweet, right? Then, your next stock-up spot:  SriPraPhai (64-13 39th Ave.). The cases in the front of the restaurant are loaded with Thai snacks. Of course, if you can handle more food right now, grab a table. SriPraPhai is, seriously, one of the best Thai restaurants in NYC. I am flat-out obsessed with the Chinese broccoli and crispy pork. And the curry puffs. And the rest of the menu.

Need a place to tally the calories, er, experiences? Stumble to Donovan’s (57-24 Roosevelt Ave.), a traditional Irish pub that pours a very good beer. Oh, and, well, they also serve a fine hamburger and a tasty shepherd’s pie. (Sorry.)

Maybe a walk back to Manhattan is in order? It’s just under eight miles to Grand Central. And think about all you’ll see!

Photo by Matthew Peyton

NOTE: The Rock & Rock Hall of Fame Annex has announced that it will close as of Jan. 3, 2010.

The urinal encased behind glass at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York may not have the artistic cachet of one by French Dadaist Duchamp. But this particular piece of porcelain has a punk rock pedigree of the highest order: It was taken from CBGB, the now defunct club on New York’s Lower East Side that helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie and Talking Heads.

The presence of a toilet among more recognizable pop-rock touchstones — one of Eric Clapton’s guitars, a beaded glove that belonged to Michael Jackson, a bustier of Madonna’s from the early ‘90s — adds an appropriately irreverent tone to the proceedings at the SoHo-based annex.

This year-old offshoot of the Hall of Fame’s main museum in Cleveland, however, doesn’t even try to represent all the greats. David Bowie, for example, barely gets a mention. Like a good jukebox, there’s plenty of stuff worthy of a spin, including a decent overview of the genre’s roots and history, and a section giving props to Manhattan’s preeminent role in making rock stars of ordinary musicians.

The current special exhibit, “John Lennon: The New York City Years,” which has a tentative January closing date, goes a bit deeper by offering a fascinating — and moving — window on the ex-Beatles’ last decade. By Lennon’s own account, his time living in the Dakota on Manhattan’s Central Park West was one of the happiest periods of his life, and it included the birth of his son, Sean, and a musical comeback with the album, “Double Fantasy.”

The Lennon section, which was co-created by Yoko Ono, covers matters personal, political and artistic, and ends on a heartbreaking note with the brown bag used for Lennon’s personal effects from when he was killed by a crazed fan outside his apartment building in December 1980.

Both in the Lennon exhibit and the main collection, music is integral to the Annex experience. Each visit starts off with a multimedia introduction to rock, replete with archival footage and surround sound. Included with the cost of admission is an individual headset that triggers various song snippets as you stroll among the exhibits.

The biggest — and perhaps the best — set piece is built around Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible, his ride during the recording of “Born to Run.” The play list cues up the album cut “Thunder Road,” conjuring images of the young Springsteen cruising the streets of Jersey before he came to be known as The Boss.

From this famous musical native son of the Garden State, it’s just a short hop to “New York Rocks,” an interactive 3-D map spotlighting the city’s role in nurturing talent, as well as some of the excesses of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. You can push a button to see the location of two dozen main sites, as well as 20 other locations, and get a Wikipedia-like overview of who played — or partied — there.

Early rock keystones like Midtown’s Brill Building, where songwriters such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and Neil Diamond churned out hits in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, and the RCA studio where Elvis recorded “Don’t Be Cruel” b/w “Hound Dog, are highlighted, as are Andy Warhol’s original Factory on East 47^th Street, and the Bottom Line, a key early venue for Springsteen, as well as DEVO, the Police and Elvis Costello.

Both “New York Rocks” and the Lennon exhibit serve as reminders of the world of music — and the real sights that nurtured it — that await just around the corner in New York.

Unfortunately, many have been razed or suffered the fate of CBGB, which closed in 2006. The spot, like so many grungy landmarks of our time, has gone upscale, as a John Varvatos designer boutique.

Like most people, I first encountered the words of David Byrne in the form of lyrics. I was standing in someone’s dorm room, listening to “More Songs About Buildings and Food.” Those songs were a revelation. I bought every Talking Heads album that came out after that.

Around the time that album made the Talking Heads famous, Byrne began riding a bike around Manhattan and, eventually, traveling with a folding version. For three decades, cycling has been his preferred mode of transportation. He’s been observing cities around the world from their bike lanes – or, more often, while dodging cars and pedestrians in the street – and has compiled those observations in a memoir titled Bicycle Diaries(Viking/Penguin).

If you’re familiar with the Talking Heads, you’ll recognize the curious and quirky mind behind these tales. Byrne is riffing on the same themes here, but in considerably more depth. He is still into art and buildings; he writes for pages on the modern buildings in Istanbul, “the triumph of both the cult of capitalism and the cult of Marxist materialism.” But he’s mostly interested in people. The book is full of chance encounters and the reflections they inspire.

Most of Bicycle Diaries has nothing to do with cycling, it just happens to be how the author gets around – and it’s important to him. (Last year, Byrne designed a series of bike racks around Brooklyn and Manhattan.) Nevertheless, Bicycle Diaries serves as a handy guide for anyone contemplating the possibility of cycling in the dozen or so cities he writes about.

David Byrne on biking…

…in New York City: “I ride my bike almost everyday here in New York…. The city has added a lot of bike lanes in recent years, and they claim they now have more than any other city in the United States. But sadly most of them are not safe enough that one can truly relax….” (If you have any doubt about this, join him on this harrowing ride through Times Square: David Byrne Bike Cam)

…in Berlin: “I ride my bike along the bike lanes here in Berlin and it all seems so civilized, pleasant, and enlightened… There are little stoplights just for the bikers, even turn signals! … If the New York City streets are wilder and funkier, than the German streets are on Prozac – civilized but slightly less exciting.”

…in Istanbul: “Ride a bike in Istanbul? Are you nuts? Yes… and no. The traffic here is pretty chaotic and there are a number of hills, but on a bike I can get around the central city…faster than one can in a car.”

…in London: “London sprawls for an old city…. As a result there can be some long and strenuous pedals. These don’t necessarily result in making a trip longer than it would be on the tube, but I sometimes arrive a little shiny.”

…in Sydney: “As a place for urban biking, Australian towns are better than most. Sydney is a bit tough—the geography and busy arteries that link the various neighborhoods are not very welcoming – but Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide I find to be more accommodating.”

…in San Francisco: “San Francisco is philosophically and politically bike-friendly, but not geographically….”

Don’t expect a run-of-the-mill travelogue from a guy who collaborates with Brian Eno and has been known to perform in a tutu. Byrne takes us to some pretty strange places, combining on-the-spot observation with conclusions reached over many years, often while cycling between performances.

He makes a convincing case for taking a folding bike along on your next trip. He also presents a compelling argument for more and better bike lanes in the U.S. In that sense, his book couldn’t be better timed.

Buy here: Bicycle Diaries

Cathleen McCarthy’s take on bicycling in her hometown of Philadelphia appears here.