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  1. #31
    Tell me what I Ced D-FENS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    New York guys, has anyone been to a Sicilian pizza place in the Fashion District? It's called Ben's or Famous Ben's or something. Maybe I'm off with the name. Best pizza I have had in a long time

  2. #32
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by D-FENS
    New York guys, has anyone been to a Sicilian pizza place in the Fashion District? It's called Ben's or Famous Ben's or something. Maybe I'm off with the name. Best pizza I have had in a long time
    Is the Fashion District different from the garment district? You may be taking about this place. They have a union square branch

    http://www.famousbenspizzaofsoho.com/

    My favorite Sicilian slice in Manhattan is Artichoke Basille's

    Tiny place on 14th Street in the East Village. Now I see they have two other locations. The 14th street place is one of those places you go off hours because they usually have a line down the sidewalk.

    Their pizzas are almost baroque. They are famous for their artichoke pizza which is like artichoke dip on a pie. I only like a bite or two of that one. To me the ratio is off. Some folks love it though. The orange looking thing above is their crab slice.

    Their regular slices are great, but the sicilians are something else. They know how to cook a pie, which is very well done. The number one problem in bad pizza besides cheap ingredients is being under done. The cheese needs to cook, not just melt. You can see the how well the cheese is cooked in that photo.

    These guys go in the other direction. Their sicilian slices are crispy to the point of being burnt. They also pour a ton of olive oil in the pan. Good quality cheese grated on top too. $4 a slice but it's worth it. The pizza place near my grade school had a Sicilian slice I'm still trying to find a place that matches it, but nowadays if I visit my Mom, they consistently undercook it and it's no where near what it used to be.

    If you going to Wall Street or the WTC and it's a nice day, go to Stone Street and go to Adrienne's Pizzabar. Stone Street is a little cobble stone street that is lined with restaurants and they have tables outside. Get the grandma pie with pepperoni. It's fantastic. Grandma is a thinner version of Sicilian that started in Long Island and spread to the city.



    It's a good place to eat and drink outside. Get there before the market closes or else the stockbrokers will have all your tables.
    Last edited by KevinNYC; 04-08-2014 at 01:47 PM.

  3. #33
    Tell me what I Ced D-FENS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by KevinNYC
    Is the Fashion District different from the garment district? You may be taking about this place. They have a union square branch

    http://www.famousbenspizzaofsoho.com/
    Thanks buddy! That's the stuff - yeah, garment district. We're headed to New York later in the year and I wanted to get another slice of this pizza. Amazing stuff

  4. #34
    #Trump4Treason nathanjizzle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    make sure you wear a kevlar shirt just in case someone tries to stab you.

  5. #35
    Alpha Tarheel rufuspaul's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Chelsea Market on the West Side is another great spot for foodies, plus you can check out the High Line which is one of the coolest urban metamorphoses imo.

  6. #36
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by D-FENS
    Thanks buddy! That's the stuff - yeah, garment district. We're headed to New York later in the year and I wanted to get another slice of this pizza. Amazing stuff
    well this place is not in Garment District, i.e. the rag trade which is the 30's over by 7th ave. It's by Union Square (14th and Broadway). However, from 14th through 23 is where a ton of photographers work, so I thought maybe folks started calling it the Fashion District.

    I'm guessing you were actually over in Union Square.

  7. #37
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by KevinNYC
    I have no idea how casual, but surprisingly, there are actually some close to Times Square

    You should take the train down to W4th and 6Ave. Tiny little court known as The Cage. Probably the most famous court in Manhattan outside of Rucker. If the weather is warm, it probably will not be casual, but you never know. I got to play there early in the season on spring day where the temperature suddenly jumped to 70's. Just a half court game, but I had a good day, scored 4 or 5 in a row until they switched defenders on me. My guy thought the CharlesBarkleyround white kid couldn't play and gave me some room. I had three baskets before taking a dribble. Then his teammate was screaming at him to D me up and he comically overplayed me and I went in for an easy layup.

    I don't even remember why I was in that neighborhood that day. If it was later spring or the summer, I wouldn't have even gotten on that court.

    It's also the heart of Greenwich Village and is a cool place to walk around. And the court is very close to one of the best slices of pizza in NY.
    Thanks a ton, good sir. My brothers and I were laughing earlier because we knew of The Cage, but only because of NBA Street Vol. 2 and maybe NBA 2K2. The complication now becomes whether we want to lug our basketball shoes throughout the city specifically to go play at The Cage. Is the area nice? I know virtually nothing about Greenwich Village.

    Also, another softball question: what areas are probably best to avoid? I want to explore, but I don't want to unnecessarily end up in a sheisty situation. One of the youngsters wants to head to Brooklyn but I'm not sure what to do once we're there (or what part to head toward).

    Finally, an update - I did end up driving into the city and it was pretty bad traffic-wise, but only for a few blocks, so it was high intensity but short-lived. My biggest concern was actually about dinging my rental. Also, for an outsider, it was special to see a man get out of his car to argue with the guy behind him in the middle of traffic. Too cliche. Like coming to Detroit and immediately seeing someone get shot.

    P.S. We made a wrong turn into Newark initially. Felt shady. It can be shady there, no?

    P.P.S. Can ground zero be visited whenever? I know D-FENS mentioned booking ahead of time. Is that just for a tour, or to get to the site altogether?
    Last edited by Rake2204; 04-09-2014 at 12:00 AM.

  8. #38
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by Rake2204
    Thanks a ton, good sir. My brothers and I were laughing earlier because we knew of The Cage, but only because of NBA Street Vol. 2 and maybe NBA 2K2. The complication now becomes whether we want to lug our basketball shoes throughout the city specifically to go play at The Cage. Is the area nice? I know virtually nothing about Greenwich Village.

    Also, another softball question: what areas are probably best to avoid? I want to explore, but I don't want to unnecessarily end up in a sheisty situation. One of the youngsters wants to head to Brooklyn but I'm not sure what to do once we're there (or what part to head toward).

    Finally, an update - I did end up driving into the city and it was pretty bad traffic-wise, but only for a few blocks, so it was high intensity but short-lived. My biggest concern was actually about dinging my rental. Also, for an outsider, it was special to see a man get out of his car to argue with the guy behind him in the middle of traffic. Too cliche. Like coming to Detroit and immediately seeing someone get shot.

    P.S. We made a wrong turn into Newark initially. Felt shady. It can be shady there, no?
    Are you in NYC now?
    Virtually any place you want to explore is going to be completely fine. The sketchy places are probably places you have never heard of. Particularly, if you've never heard of Greenwich Village. It's like like a ten minute subway ride from Times Square, you won't be lugging anything far. Do you change into your basketball sneakers at the court? That will definitely peg you as a non local. The area around the court is totally fine. Washington Square Park is right nearby which is a cool place to walk around. NYU is right there, so you might find some college girls. Good used book stands on the streets too.



    You can play these guys at chess and watch them beat your ass.


    Of the places you mentioned only Rucker Park is in the "hood." You still shouldn't have a problem going there, but generally I would have to know about a person's level of street smarts before I recommend it to an visitor.

    Where are you from by the way?

  9. #39
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Greenwich Village was one of those neighborhoods that changed America.

    Beat Literature, Mark Twain, Bob Dylan and other folkies, Salvador Dali, Gay Rights, Count Basie and tons of other jazz folk. It's where I had my first cappucino years before I ever heard of Starbucks. The first racially integrated nightclub in the US opened there. The Gay Rights movement started there after the Stonewall Riots after the patrons of Mafia-owned gay bar got raided for the umpteenth time.

  10. #40
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Quote Originally Posted by KevinNYC
    Are you in NYC now?
    Virtually any place you want to explore is going to be completely fine. The sketchy places are probably places you have never heard of. Particularly, if you've never heard of Greenwich Village. It's like like a ten minute subway ride from Times Square, you won't be lugging anything far. Do you change into your basketball sneakers at the court? That will definitely peg you as a non local. The area around the court is totally fine. Washington Square Park is right nearby which is a cool place to walk around. NYU is right there, so you might find some college girls. Good used book stands on the streets too.



    You can play these guys at chess and watch them beat your ass.


    Of the places you mentioned only Rucker Park is in the "hood." You still shouldn't have a problem going there, but generally I would have to know about a person's level of street smarts before I recommend it to an visitor.

    Where are you from by the way?
    Yeah we arrived earlier this evening. Just stopping over until Friday, so we obviously won't be able to scratch the surface of possibility. We just kinda wandered aimlessly for a short period tonight, weaving past Radio City, Rockafeller, St. Patrick's, and Times Square. It was kind of a night to just get a glimpse and settle in a little. Tomorrow is where we're looking to head some places.

    I'm on the fence with basketball. Wondering if our hands will be full enough with all the other exploring we have planned. Might it be a problem getting a game in on a day like tomorrow (60 degrees)? With my rookie subway skills, I'm wondering if it's worth gearing up and heading to the courts then being stuck down there without normal attire. Hopefully we can get familiar with the subway system tomorrow so it's no longer a big deal. Greenwich looks like a nice area regardless, I think we'll be giving that a look. I hear of places like that, but I've never known a real thing about them, so it'll be nice to become enlightened.

    And yeah, my street sense is mediocre and naive, ha. I'm from Ann Arbor, MI.

  11. #41
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Brooklyn's definitely cool to check out, but you need a plan, Brooklyn is gigantic and much more spread out than Manhattan. Williamsburg can be a hopping place on the weekends. Today it was filled French high school students for whatever reason. Some one above mentioned Fort Greene in Brooklyn, but it's in the total opposite direction from Williamsburg.

    You can go walk over the Brooklyn Bridge which is always cool and check out DUMBO.

    You can take the East River Ferry and enjoy a nice view of the city from the water
    http://www.eastriverferry.com/

    If you here on a Saturday there's an outdoor food market right on the waterfront that they ferry takes you right to it
    http://www.smorgasburg.com/

  12. #42
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Aside from the touristy places, the east village/lower east side are packed with bars and young folks. So those are good night time places to check out.

  13. #43
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    All great stuff here. We're actually trying to be at least somewhat frugal in our visit so a lot of the stuff you're throwing out there is great. Very much appreciate it.

  14. #44
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Grab the Magazine, Time Out NY, it will have all the stuff going on this week.

  15. #45
    Perfectly Calm, Dude KevinNYC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Visiting New York

    Where's your hotel? Just found out one of the best cheaps eats in NYC just opened a place in midtown

    http://xianfoods.com/locations/midtown/
    $3.50 for this delicious spicy lamb burger

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