Back from Gotham

I just spent the past few days in Gotham, and it was actually pretty good.

I am starting to find my way around record finding places there. Some of the locals are saying that there are parking garage/lot flea markets on the weekends. Granted these are not local cratediggers, but they say that records are there.

Academy Records on 18th, west of 5th Ave, is always good for a couple of jazz CDs, this time I came away with Sonny Stitt with Jack McGriff on Prestige. The prices are good there as well as I think I paid $8 for it.

I made another stop at Rockit Scientist on St. Marks, but on the walk over there from Union Square, I stumbled upon a guy that had some crates out on the street. I came away with a sealed copy of the Baby Huey LP on Curtom and a King Sunny Ade Hot Banana LP. That was pretty cool. Once in Rockit Scientist, Robert recommended the New Orleans Funk V. 2 on Soul Jazz, I have not listened to the whole thing yet, but it looks solid.

Robert recommended that I head over to Botanica on Houston Street to check our Mr Finewine. It sounded like a plan to me.

After that I hiked over to Madras on 2nd Ave between 4th and 5th for some vegetarian Indian cuisine. The samosas went over very well with the Taj Mahal beer. The entree of cauliflower and green peppers was excellent and very fresh tasting. A litte bit of spicy burn was present, but not enough to break a sweat or anything. The service was a bit grumpy but they warmed up after my constant use of "Thank you."

The night got the better of me and I did not make it out to see Finewine. I hear that he has a residency at Botanica on Wednesdays so I will have to take a rain check.

Biking in Gotham

I had the chance to take my first bike ride in Manhattan this morning. How awesome!

My hotel had a Puma folding bike, pictured above, that was available for riding purposes. The bike itself was pretty cool. It is a single speed, kind of a cross between a large bmx and a mountain bike. Despite the lack of a downtube, the frame felt pretty stiff under my girth. I have never ridden a bike that has been equipped with disc brakes. The brakes were perfect for the Union Square streets.

I set off from 17th St and Union Square at about 5:55 this morning and headed west towards the Hudson and the bike path that follows it. The ride along 17th was OK, I only tried to catch onto one vehicle.

Towards the end of this western jaunt, I hit a very old stretch of street that was actually cobbles, and here the wide tires were a blessing. Up off the saddle and the disc brakes killed it.

Heading south towards the Battery, I saw the site that used to have the Twin Towers on it. That was a trip. Even the path was a bit out of sorts at this point. Eieree site, never forget and all that.

Continuing on south, I hit the Battery and looked off to the south and got a good sight line on both Ellis Island and The Statue. The path sort of petered out there and I headed east along Broad Street for a few blocks. Around the bottom of the island, I caught up again with the path/ boardwalk. Heading north now, I was between the FDR and The East River. A bit further, I passed Pier 16, where I caught the Devotchka show a few weeks back at the SchniederTent Theatre, a venue that I recommend highly.

I continued in a northerly direction, passing the Houston bridge, 10th St bridge, etc. At 17th (?) and Ave C, I was able to go under the FDR. I ended up in a project looking group of brown high rises, that looked like a perfect backdrop for a breakin' throw down back in the day, but are seeing more yuppified times now.

After spinning through there a bit, I caught 12th St and headed west until I hit 1st Ave where I headed north. Once at 17th, I headed west back to my start at 17th and Union Square.

It was one of the best rides of the summer so far. 55 minutes of prime rolling in Gotham.