yo new york!
 

I'm coming to your town for a week on wednesday.

I'm bringing myself, my bike, and a little bit of other crap like clothing and a toothbrush that I plan to stash at HQ.

as per suggestions given on this here board I have dug up and dusted off my helmet, bought a heavy chain+lock to couple with my standard mini U and made a vow not to bomb around town like I own it because I have no idea where the potholes of death lurk.

now the question is, what do I do with myself while I'm there?

suggestions are now being soliticed for neighborhoods I should explore, views I should take in, cheap vegan eats I should shove down my throat and perhaps even some other stuff like art galleries and tourist attractions worth looking at.

also, where shouldn't I go? I dont really want a repeat of last month's escape onto the Muni in SF because I had no idea I was in a really rough neighborhood until the crackheads got to informing me of such in that special crackhead way.
granted I'll be on a bike this time, but where wouldnt you want your sister to ride alone?

Vegan eats: Veggie Castle (Flatbush), brunch at Kate's Joint (LES), dessert at Atlas (LES).

do you know what neighb you're gonna be stayin in? i'm headin out right now, but when i get back i'll give ya all kindsa tips

When you get here, pick up a free nyc bike map from any bike shop. That'll be useful to you in the coming days.

If you're coming out to brooklyn, check out Valentino pier in Red Hook for the best view of the Statue of Liberty (head on) in the city. I also enjoy the view of lower manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park (d.u.m.b.o/brooklyn heights). Both the Brooklyn Bridge bike/walk path and the Williamsburg bridge have really nice views of manhattan. And if you're feeling particularly saucey, crossing the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is pretty too.

For food, I have a hundred suggestions, but check out Caracas (1st and 7th) for tasty Venezuelan arepas. It's super good. And there are both carnivore and veggie options.

As far as riding around, I feel like anywhere has the potential to be dangerous at night. Carry a spare tube and a pump (or CO-2 if you're not bringing one).

just off dekalb/bedford.

staying with a bunch of pratt students.

most of nyc is dangerous, stay close to a police station, its safer there.

thank you for that incredibly helpful suggestion.

sheesh.

foodswings is always a hit with out of towners of the vegan persuation, veggie castle is a great suggestion, uptown juicebar is alright, similar to veggie castle, brunch at kate's is a great idea, be warned the soycheese at kate's is not vegan, baby cakes is a great vegan bakery, i don't remember where it is exactly, you've got zen palate, i mean look on happy cow and you'll get plenty of ideas, http://www.happycow.net, there's alot of vegan food in this city and there's plenty of places that while they are not vegan they have decent options and will tell you what is vegan if you ask, don't assume though, if you're around williamsburg much there's a great veiw at the end of north 7th, it's technically tresspassing but i've never heard of the police giving anyone trouble, enjoy your trip

just trying to be helpful......

i live super close to there. who are you staying with? I got some friends on bedford and dekalb.

what about red bamboo? when i was in new york i fell in love with that place, i guess it's not too cheap though. i was only there for like 5 days.

the house I'm staying at is actually on skillman. I guess I should have said off bedford and dekalb. oh well. whatever. my friend's name is andrew mckibben. I dont know his roommates. yet. he rides a beach cruiser as of my last bicycle oriented discussion with him.

thanks everyone for the suggestions so far!

I'm sure I'll have much more coherent things to say when I'm not drunk and ready to pass the **** out.

edit: oh wait, I did say that.

here's what i reccommend:

1. do at least one loop in central park -- more if you're into it. it's beautiful and there's LOTS of bikes although most are roadies.

2. ride the hudson river path (west side) for as long as you like. it will take you from battery park all the way up to 200th street (that'll take you about 1.5 hrs one way, depending on your speed).

3. if you ride in soho, be careful of houston st. there's lots of construction and weird **** going on there and several cyclists have been killed this year alone.

4. definitely ride over the williamsburg bridge

5. ride thru chelsea and especially the meatpacking district. its not vegan, but grab a bite at florent, on ganesvoort st. its open 24/7 and its a really cool new york institution.

6. avoid east harlem.

7. check out union square, cooper union area, and tribeca.

8. hit the whole foods in columbus circle for vegan stuff (59th st)

9. a helmet is definitely a good idea. watch out for weird inconsistencies/ruts in the pavement, and dont get doored!

ps.

10. art galleries are primarily in chelsea. there is a very good one in soho called geitch gallery, and deitch projects. in bklyn, check out the riviera.

11. definitely walk over the bklyn bridge.

12. if you are into cheap designer clothing, hit centruy 21 at the WTC.

13. if you are in chelsea, you could also hit the enormous chelsea market for all kinds of food, baked goods, and general sensory overload.

avoid anywhere thats called harlem!

west harlem is fine....very up and coming actually. hey, at least donald trump thinks so...

i am in love with the southern fried "chicken" at VP2. go there, get it, and be sure that you save at least one to put in the fridge and eat in the morning, because they're just as good if not better when they're cold.

i've really got to make it down there sometime soon.

yeah. they really are the best fake chicken nuggets ever. for real. i've tried a lot. get extra sauce.

j

edit: red bamboo has the same exact ones, at both their city and brooklyn locales. the owners of VP2 are the parents of the owner of Red Bambu. (maybe you can impress someone with this trivial knowledge...)

yeah, I'm bringing it, but lets see if I actually use it.
I'm really not worried about riding.
I'm very used to riding in the street with heavy traffic and navigate through downtown portland multiple times daily. the roads here are pretty terrible. I've basically memorized the potholes on 6th.

but holy cow! thanks for all the other suggestions! I love lists.

EDIT: its Deitch galley...not geitch. typo, sorry. check it here: http://www.deitch.com/, and the riviera here: http://www.seeyouattheriviera.com/

if you fall in love with the fake meats at foodswings, red bamboo and veggie castle, you can buy the frozen version of many of them(usually unseasoned) at may wah in chinatown, it's on hester at centre

Also for super good vegan chinese food try The Greens in Brooklyn Heights. $6 lunch special. They are closed on saturdays though.

Stay outta the bike lanes in Manhattan, and Keep to the left on the Avenues. Take and plit lanes when needed.

Stay away from Yoshi so you don't get hit :D

Oh and watch out for jaywalking pedestrians, They have a habit of darting across the street at the worst times. I hit one full speed head on last week! flew off my bike luckily I didnt get hurt... cant say the same for the other guy :eek:

And watch out in brooklyn, they have the WORST drivers on the planet