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Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Highlights

Description:

This trip takes you through my early years in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, with an eye towards architecture, open spaces, local libations and nibbles, a gorgeous botanical garden and lots more to gape at and photograph. Be a local for a few days! Comfy shoes are a must, as is public transportation and your best New Yorker impersonation. Hint: They're actually some of the nicest, most helpful and friendliest people in the world!

Photo: Brooklyn Bridge
by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

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Author: bearshapedsphere

Day 1 - New York City

This day has you waking up at a sweet budget hotel that's well-located for today's mission, the Lower East Side and Lower Manhattan. Breakfast and lunch will take you back to your (or my) roots, with Jewish-style deli fare, and the afternoon has you browsing in The Strand (a vast bookstore), slurping some gelato and enjoying photo ops and wandering this historical part of Manhattan with an eye on history and architecture (don't miss the Flatiron building!). There's a bit of comic relief in the afternoon/evening at the Comic and Cartoon Art museum and a quick trip to Cuba before bed.

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Hotel 17

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225 E 17th St
New York City, NY 10003

Phone:

+1 212 475 2845

Zucker's Bagels and Smoked Fish

Location:

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146 Chambers Street
New York City, NY 10007

Phone:

+1 212 608 5844

The Lower East Side Conservancy

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Location:

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235 East Broadway
New York City, NY 10002

Phone:

+1 212 374 4100

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

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90 Orchard Street
(at Delancey Street)
New York City, NY 10002

Phone:

+1 212 431 0233 / +1 212 431 0714

Second Avenue Deli

Location:

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162 East 33rd Street
Between Lexington & 3rd Avenue
New York City, NY 10016

Phone:

+1 212 689 9000

The Strand

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828 Broadway
At 12th St
New York City, NY 10003

Phone:

212/473-1452

il laboratorio del gelato

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95 Orchard Street
(near Broome St)
New York City, NY 10002

Phone:

1 212 343 9922

Flatiron Building

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175 Fifth Ave
(at 23rd Street)
New York City, NY 10010

Phone:

+1 212 484 1200

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art

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594 Broadway
Suite 401, Between Houston and Prince
New York City, NY 10012

Phone:

+1 212 254 3511

Son Cubano

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Location:

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405 W 14th
New York City, NY 10014

Phone:

1 212 366 1640

Day 2 - New York City, Brooklyn

Today focuses on Brooklyn, kitch and posh, from a bakery style breakfast to hotdogs and pizza throughout the day, two of Brooklynite kids' favorite munchies. Even if you don't eat meat, get a cup of fries with a tiny spear fork at Nathan's and wander the boardwalk and it's kitchy stores or walk on the beach like we used to when I was a kid. Astroland is an old-style amusement park with a wooden roller coaster, for the brave. Later, there's a pizza tour where you'll try two styles of Brooklyn's best junkfood, thin (Neopolitan) and thick (Sicilian)-crust pizzas. Later on you'll head to Prospect Park, designed by Olmstead and considered the crowning glory of NYC parks, where free music and performances are on offer in the summer. After night falls you're back in Manhattan for an alehouse evening on the small island's side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Almondine Bakery

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85 Water Street
New York City, NY 11201

Phone:

1 718 797 5026

A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour

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4th Avenue
(between 13th and 14th Streets)
New York City, NY 10003

Phone:

+1 212 209 3370

Coney Island

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1208 Surf Avenue (Post)
(Along Long Island Sound)
New York City, NY 11224

Phone:

+1 718 372 7099

Astroland Amusement Park

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1000 Surf Avenue
(Corner of West 10th Street)
New York City, NY 11224

Phone:

+1 718 372 0275 / +1 718 265 2100

Nathan's Famous

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1310 Surf Avenue
Coney Island
Brooklyn, NY 11224

Phone:

1 718 946 2202

Celebrate Brooklyn

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647 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Phone:

+1 718 855 7882

Jeremy's Ale House

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228 Front Street
New York City, NY 10038

Phone:

1 212 964 3537

Day 3 - New York City

Rise and shine for a mornign of garden traipsing and coffee sipping in Brooklyn's Botanic Garden which has walks and plants, an accessible herb garden, and in the springtime, Sakura Matsuri, or the cherry blossom festival. Have breakfast (or a second breakfast here), and then wander down Park Slope's 7th Avenue for yuppie, kid-friendly fashion and shopping, followed by a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, if you're feeling up to it. From there take a trip down to the bottom of Manhatting, paying a tribute at the WTC Visitor center, and wandering down Wall street to the South Street Seaport, where a panoply of eating options are available, and you can tour the big ship (Peking) museum there (this is where a child was recently rescued from the East River, so hold on tight). If you haven't yet had enough water, walk down to the South Ferry train station and take a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry which affords you a view of the Statue of Liberty. Once back, head slightly uptown into little Italy to wander the streets and try your luck in what has become an increasingly Asian area. Try Venieros for a cannoli or a bubble tea from any of a variety of shops. This day ends in an intimate vinoteca where you can sample some of the world's best wines in cozy atmosphere.

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