Almanac Travel: Travel Shorts NYC #13

 

 

Lost in Brooklyn, Chinatown & Little Italy

 

Saturday, 6th September 2014 6.30pm. Well we’ve just returned from walking about 25km today in thongs so we’re stuffed! Lynda’s having a bath and we are going to watch a NYC movie ‘Enough Said’ and pass out!

 

We started by heading towards the Brooklyn flea market but took a wrong turn and ended up going through more of Brooklyn’s toughest neighbourhoods, into the Jewish quarter of Brooklyn, found the market and a beautiful park at Fort Green then headed to the upcoming trendy area of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. Jumped under the water fountain at the kids playground then walked across the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

 

This area is could be described as ‘Uber Trendy’, and it’s full of interesting shops and bars. I bought a little something at a tiny shop owned by a lovely Nepalese guy, and we were having a chat about how hard it must be to run his business with the rents. He pays $6000 a month for a shop the size of a matchbox. Had a good look around the East Village then headed for Little Italy.

 

Right next to Little Italy is Chinatown. The two pretty much merge quite seamlessly. Chinatown is very busy and abrupt. A bit like the Footscray market but on a massive scale and with less time to think!

 

The food was extraordinary but the seafood section nearly made Lynda spew, such was the overwhelming smell. Around the corner and we were in Little Italy so we decided to have an early dinner and pigged out on a spectacular Italian meal. We then headed off down Canal St to the subway past a couple of kilometres of the dodgiest street vendors you will ever see.

 

I don’t know how these poor buggers survive all selling the same stuff for tourists? I’m tellin’ ya, you just need a little niche market in this town and you’ll kill it! You won’t believe the response I’ve had from the locals to my home made Lou Reed Rock n Roll Animal T Shirt!

 

I have some serious cred in this city man! From Brooklyn and right through Manhattan people have been acknowledging it. Even the so called ‘Uber Trendy’, in the East Village nearly choked on their tapas as I walked past them in their outdoor dining areas! You just gotta have a niche!

 

OK tip time:

 

• The subway…it’s brilliant and cheap. Don’t bother with cabs unless it’s an emergency. If you’re staying for a couple of weeks you can pay $1 for a Subway card and pay another $30 and that will get you unlimited travel for a week. As I’ve mentioned before the carriages are air conditioned (although we had two that weren’t out of probably sixty we used) but remember, if it’s busy and there is a carriage empty it’s probably for a reason! There is significant police presence in peak periods and we never felt threatened. There are plenty of young women on their own travelling the subway which is a good sign that things are ostensibly safe. Just to add to that, the cop presence is fantastic in all peak times everywhere and late at night they patrol the corners of streets like in the old days. We always feel safe getting home late in Brooklyn. Back to the subway, there are plenty of buskers and homeless that play on the platforms and come on the carriages also. They can be annoying but the locals just put their fingers in their ears and shut down! All in all, the best way to get around NYC.
  

Off to see the New York Jets playing Oakland Raiders at Metlife Stadium in Jersey tomorrow. Should be great. Lots of love Willow and Lynda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read more from Ian Wilson click here.

 

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