My Urban Sherpa

Eat Your Way Through New York

Foods of New York Tours offers gourmands and foodies a great way to explore the city, by sampling foods by specialty shops and eateries in several neighborhoods.

Sample tours include Sushi, Chelsea Market / Meat Packing District, Chinatown, and Soho. The Greenwhich Village tour includes stops at:
• The Best Cheese Shop in NYC (est. 1940)
• Two Classic Pizzerias (est. 1974 & 2003)
• An Italian specialty food shop (est. 1900)
• A French-American bread shop (est. 1992)
• An Authentic 1950’s Style Bakery (est. 2005)
• A Mediterranean Olive Oil Shop (est. 1998)
• A Southern Italian pastry shop (est. 1972)

Tickets are $42 for and tours last 3 hours.

Off the deep end: City pools open

Photograph by Lloyd Ziff.

Manhattan’s pool of excess cash may have dried up—but the city is now flush with the real McKoy. Fifty-four outdoor pools (10 Olympic size) open June 27 and remain open through September 1. The best bargain in town, all pools are free to NYC residents with ID. Bring your suit, towel, suntan lotion, and imagination.

Sitting in its Nowhere Land

While The Dakota has become notorious as the place where John Lennon was murdered, the origin of its name may be a lot more obscure. When it was built at 72nd Street and Central Park West in 1884, anyone who was anyone lived below 59th Street. Thus, the 65-apartment future landmark was mocked at first. Legend has it that when one skeptic suggested the building might as well have been constructed in Dakota territory, a name was born.

Shakespeare In The Park

How thou doth procrastinate! Five performances remain in the Public Theater’s production of Hamlet, directed by Oskar Eustis, June 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 at 8:30 PM at The Delacorte Theater, located at the southwest corner of the Great Lawn, mid-park at 80th Street.

Click here to order tickets.

Shecky’s Girls Night Out

SheckyÂ’s Girls Night Out is a five-day shopping extravaganza for up-and-coming designers, cocktails, complimentary spa services and samples and giveaways galore.

Tickets are available via www.Sheckys.com for $10. Admission plus two deluxe goodie bags including products from Dove, got2b, Colgate, BORBA are $30.

When: June 23-27, 5:00 to 10:00 PM
Where: The Puck Building
Contact: B.olshan@sheckys.com

Rainy Sunday in New York

My favorite thing to do in the rain is run. And my favorite place to run in NY is Central Park. I love the Bridle Path because it is kind to the knees in a way that the knees of runner’s need.

After a spring rain, feeling cold, head to Bouchon at 59th and Columbus in the Time Warner Center for a perfectly brewed cup of coffee. If you are heading east, or northwest do the same at a Pain Quotidien. If you heading north of the park, stop at Café Society.

After a shower and a snack, luxuriously spend the majority of the day with The New York Times. And when peckish for a little Chinese food to go with your Sunday night, head to Shun Lee – East or West, before voyaging off to the cinema.

Downtown head to the Angelika, uptown head to The Paris, or don’t head on out at all. Stay home this Sunday in New York.

Bruckner’s 8th Symphony at the NY Philharmonic

Calling All Art Directors!

Peruse fifty illustrators’ portfolios at the Art Directors Club 2008 Illustration Portfolio Review.

Art directors, designers, and creative professionals are welcome for lunch from 1:00 to 3:00, cocktails from 5:00 to 7:00, and inspiration and conversation throughout the day.

RSVP to the ADC at 212.643.1440
@ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Picking out the hayseeds

In 1853, the future founders of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden set free several pairs of the previously unknown European house sparrow (Passer domesticus) inside Brooklyn’s Green-wood Cemetery. By picking the hayseeds out of horse droppings, the tiny birds thrived and are now one of the nation’s most ubiquitous creatures.

Moral: When all they feed us is horse ####…it’s up to us to find the hayseeds that enable us to not only survive, but to thrive.

(Mickey Z. can be found here)

The HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival

Tonight, June 16, kicks off the 2008 Bryant Park Summer Film Festival with the classic Bond flick, Dr.No. The lawn opens at 5:00 PM where you can reserve a little blanket space and enjoy a picnic spread. Bring your own delectables or
pick-up a gourmet picnic basket from ‘wichcraft,’ conveniently located at the corner of the lawn.

Films begin at dusk, sometime between 8:00 and 9:00pm. For the line-up of this summer’s movies check out their calendar.