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Archive for January 2008

Washington Mews in Greenwich Village

January 16, 2008

If you go just north of Washington Square Park, you can find a little gated street only one block long. It’s called Washington Mews and it is like a time capsule.

Just look at the street and the buildings lining it and imagine how much people would love to live here.

I know the place is strongly tied to New York University and a number of buildings in it are part of the campus (they seem to be offices and not classrooms); but there may be a few private residences in there.

Note the gate at the end. I recently posted on the only private park I’m aware of (Gramercy Park), but there are a couple of private streets like this. At least I seem to remember a couple…

-H

Categories: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Wanderings

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Where is Times Square?

January 15, 2008

Every so often I’ll see a place that is named….wrong. I’ve written another post about some restaurant trying to persuade people that Little Italy extends into the high 40s, and there’s this one which extends Times Square into a much wider orbit than the neighborhood around 7th Avenue and 42nd Street.

It’s the Times Square Bagel Deli located in the heart of…Murray Hill? This place is located at 33rd Street and Madison Avenue. That 9 blocks south and three blocks east of the real Times Square. The 9 blocks isn’t much, but the 3-block distance from Madison to 7th Avenue is a long walk (remember, in NYC east-west blocks are big while north-south blocks are short).

I wonder how many people have walked by there and thought they were close. Nah. It’s hard to imagine it ever fooled even the newest visitors. That area is not real big on glitz.

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Mid-town, Wanderings

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Search and Rescue Dog Statue

January 14, 2008

I was walking on 50th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues (just above Times Square) and spotted this little statue off to the side. It’s actually rather nondescript for such a loud-colored dog.

It’s a tribute to search and rescue dogs that was set up by the AKC (American Kennel Club) and Lehman Brothers. It’s formal name is Bone-A-Fido Patriot and it was made by Gus Ramos. The plaque reads “DOGNY America’s Tribute to Search and Rescue Dogs”.

A closer view:

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Times Square, Wanderings

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Mariella’s Pizza

January 13, 2008

“Cuzn Cathy”, an occasional commenter on this site, mentioned to me that she had heard that Mariella’s Pizza had the best pizza in NYC.

Now, Cathy lives in a very faraway land. Why, it’s well beyond New Jersey! (Can you imagine?) How she can find out such information on the mighty subject of NYC pizza is nearly beyond me, but she made the suggestion and I thought I’d follow up.

There are actually four of them in Manhattan. I chose the one closest to me, on 60th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenue. If you know Manhattan, that puts it across the street from Bloomingdales. That means I’ve walked past “the best pizza in NYC” about 100 times or so.

It was time.

It’s the place in blue. I’m not one to take pictures of the interiors of crowded restaurants, so that’s the best you’re gonna get from me.

I went, I ate, I mostly enjoyed. I checked out some reviews on www.menupages.com and they stated that the cheese pizza was their best. And that’s the way it always is. If you want good pizza, the cheese pizza is the measure.

The interior of Mariella’s is nondescript. It’s long and thin and only stands out because it has a lot of granite throughout the place. You order at the counter, pay at the counter, and then go hunt for a seat. I got the last open table (right next to the ATM if you know the place).

How was it? The crust was perfect. I have to admit they got the crust perfectly correct (at least to my taste). The cheese was excellent. The sause was marginal. Not bad, but just not worthy of the crust.

Would I go again? Yeah, but it’s a little out of my way.

Every New Yorker has his favorite pizza place. Mine is a place close by Tudor City called “New York’s Delicious Pizza“. How can you go wrong with a name like that?

-H

Categories: Food, Manhattan, Upper East Side

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