Running NYC thread

[Chet Lemon]

Made my first visit there this week. Here are things we did:

- Times Square, where we stayed.


- Three Broadway shows.


- WTC museum and memorial.


- Dinner in the Greenwich Village neighborhood - great pizza.


- I ran in Central Park.


- I walked/ran Fifth Avenue and saw 30 Rock, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, etc.


- “The Godfather” has a famous scene in our hotel lobby!


- Museum of Modern Art


- “Friends” TV show museum


- Ate at a great steakhouse.

 

[Severian]

Check out the Museum of the Moving Image, in Queens, if you have time.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Good first-time list. My questions: Which Broadway shows did you see? And what steakhouse?

 

[Dog8Cats]

Headed to NYC soon. Any non-obviously-tourist places in or around Times Square to recommend for a bite and a beer? Bookstores (already planning to hit The Strand)? Any of the colleges worth visiting just for the scenery if not the academic vibe? If there's time, is Brooklyn worth checking out? Anything else?

 

[Chet Lemon]

Good first-time list. My questions: Which Broadway shows did you see? And what steakhouse?

Hades Town
Ragtime
The Great Gatsby

Gallagher’s

 

[SixToe]

I love running in Central Park. So many options.

The Brooklyn Half in May goes from Prospect Park to Coney Island. Fun jaunt. The United Airlines NYC Half in March goes from Prospect Park across the Brooklyn Bridge, up thru Times Square and ends at Central Park.

IMO: No. 1: Keen’s, and 1A: Gallagher’s. Both outstanding.

- Bondi Sushi on 5th Ave and W 40th
- Thai Diner in Lower East Side - great
- Nom Wah in Chinatown for fun, and it’s good
- Golden Diner in Chinatown - get the burger, breakfast sandwich and pancakes (which are incredible)
- Court Street Grocer has great sandwiches
- Sailor in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, outstanding seafood menu and vibe; grab a pre-dinner coctail at Bar Heretic across the street

The Union Square Greenmarket is fun to visit; fruit, flowers, other cool stuff.

- The Met - ton of variety
- The Frick Collection and JP Morgan museums are definitely worth visiting

My next trip up, I want to see some of the other museums and historical sites down on the tip.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Sounds like a good trip. As I've gotten older, I've liked walking around NYC more and more. Always good vibes and good smells (pretzels overwhelm the weed). Used to dislike walking around the city. I think part of it is laughing at the MAGA clods who quake in their boots about NYC while never getting within 1,000 miles of the place.

Headed to NYC soon. Any non-obviously-tourist places in or around Times Square to recommend for a bite and a beer? Bookstores (already planning to hit The Strand)? Any of the colleges worth visiting just for the scenery if not the academic vibe? If there's time, is Brooklyn worth checking out? Anything else?

I'd highly recommend Brooklyn in the Barclays area (but not Barclays itself, which suuuuucks). Fun neighborhood with a cool vibe. Always like walking down the residential streets and wishing I had enough money to rent one of the apartments. Walking down Flatbush offers some obvious tourist stops (Junior's!!!!) as well as side streets with cool-looking bars, restaurants and street side vendors. I was there a few months ago and got $2 pizza slices that were actually quite good.

And if you're a driver, I always find Brooklyn easy to navigate with a decent amount of parking spots. Do not under any circumstances drive in Manhattan.

 

[John]

My wife's cousins own a couple of cafes/delis in Brooklyn that are quite good.

Campbell Catering, Cheese, and Cafe | Brooklyn Caterers

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

I love running in Central Park. So many options.

The Brooklyn Half in May goes from Prospect Park to Coney Island. Fun jaunt. The United Airlines NYC Half in March goes from Prospect Park across the Brooklyn Bridge, up thru Times Square and ends at Central Park.

How are those races? Do the entries fill up quickly? I've heard some mixed things about certain races organized by one of the local groups. I'd love to come down in the spring and do a half.

 

[SixToe]

How are those races? Do the entries fill up quickly? I've heard some mixed things about certain races organized by one of the local groups. I'd love to come down in the spring and do a half.

Brooklyn is a lottery. I applied in the “second chance” and got in, which was a nice surprise. Starts at the museum by Prospect, first 6miles-ish are in the park and then you hit Ocean to Coney Island. That stretch would’ve been boring except for the various clubs cheering, fans, one enthusiastic drag queen , music and seeing the mad Orthodox Jews trying to cross the road.

Well organized, NY Road Runners volunteers great, bib pickup and expo easy, wave start based on your pace. I think this year it had 33,000 finishers. Biggest half in the country. Temps were high (for NY) this year so NYRR was heavy on the warnings and had baggies of ice for runners.

Haven’t done the March half that ends in Central Park but am going to apply. I think it opens in September or October. It goes from Prospect, across your bridge, up the FDR and then to Times Square, which will be closed (only twice a year, this is one) before ending in the park. Our daughter lives on the UES so if I get in the finish will be closer to her. Route enters the park I think at east 72nd and crosses west, finishes at about 65th or so.

It’s an NYRR race, too. Joining might be a small advantage for the lottery but I don’t know for sure. I joined to try to get into the marathon if I ever want to bite that lottery bullet.

 

[MisterCreosote]

As much as I’d like to experience an NYC half or full, I’m so over races with 33,000-plus finishers. A casual jog through Central Park at non-peak time would do the trick for me.

I’m all in on smaller organized races, though. I’m running Rehoboth Beach in a few months and the full is capped at 2,000, I think. Perfect.

 

[UNCGrad]

"...across your bridge..." made me chuckle.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I love NYC. But the past couple of times, I haven't been able to get by PJ Clarke's on Third and 55th in about a decade. Is the food still good there?

 

[Chet Lemon]

As much as I’d like to experience an NYC half or full, I’m so over races with 33,000-plus finishers. A casual jog through Central Park at non-peak time would do the trick for me.

I’m all in on smaller organized races, though. I’m running Rehoboth Beach in a few months and the full is capped at 2,000, I think. Perfect.

That’s why I haven’t run Chicago in 22 years and counting. I’d rather drive to Indy or Milwaukee than deal with that nonsense.

 

[SixToe]

Thankfully, the wave start helped tremendously with 33K people. I was in Wave 4, aka “All youse slowpokes.” It took me 10 minutes to get from my spot in front of the museum to the actual starting line. The winner was done by the time I got to Mile 2.

Friends say getting to and the wait at Staten Island is terrible, 2-3-4 hours depending on your wave. Part of me wants to do the marathon to say I did, but a bigger part says just enjoy the half marathons and trail stuff.

Indy Mini half, btw, in May is fun. Run to the speedway for a lap around the track and then back downtown. Good vibe, 50-year history. And, St Elmo’s for dinner.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

You can run Central Park, then visit Zach Hample’s bookstore right down the street from the zoo end!

Our Team

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

You can run Central Park, then visit Zach Hample’s bookstore right down the street from the zoo end!

Our Team

I went there once and saw a book I wanted but Zach grabbed it out of my hands. The humanity.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Hades Town
Ragtime
The Great Gatsby

Gallagher’s

Good stuff. I’ve not seen Gatsby but loved the other two. And can’t go wrong with Gallagher’s. Peter Luger’s has fallen off a bit. My current faves are Hawksmoor and Cote.

Sounds like an outstanding trip.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

I love NYC. But the past couple of times, I haven't been able to get by PJ Clarke's on Third and 55th in about a decade. Is the food still good there?

I’ve been within the last year and thought the food was great. Had the burger for lunch.