Beitlers in NYC

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  All my writing energy is going into school.  But yesterday something happened that’s just too incredible to keep to myself.

I actually had to be somewhere relatively early, which meant that I was in the subway station during rush hour.  I had two bags and a latte in my hands so I decided to sit down on one of the three seats that were empty on a bench in the station.  I was sipping on my latte and listening to tunes when I realized the lady sitting to my right was trying to talk to me.  I was startled as I noticed little bits of her breakfast ready to fly out of her toothless mouth, inevitably landing somewhere on my face.  Then I was even more startled as I realized she was trying to talk to me.

“I can’t hear you,” I said.

“Then take off your fucking headphones,” she screamed in response.

“I don’t want to take off my headphones,” I replied, trying to remain calm.  This lady was crazy.  Why would I want to take off my headphones?  Sensing she was losing my attention, she stepped in front of me, bent over slightly, and wagged her ass in my face.  Flabbergasted might be a word that describes how I was feeling.  I looked at the lady to my left who just shrugged.

As the woman returned to her spot on the bench, I made the decision to try to ignore her.  After all, I had my headphones on; however, even though they were noise-canceling headphones, they could not drown out her screaming.  After another two minutes or so, I decided to move – as much for myself as the other people around me who had to listen to the screaming crazy lady.  So I crossed the platform and moved about 15 feet away.  She continued to shout at me across the crowded platform, although I think most people assumed she was just shouting randomly.

I don’t know what I did to the woman.  And actually, I don’t even know what she was saying.  I made the decision to keep my headphones on.  Even though I was curious what she was saying, I didn’t want to get angry.  I thought remaining in the dark would make it easier to laugh later.  The woman continued to berate me, publicly, until my train came and as the train pulled away, she was still screaming in my direction.

I admit to being a mail procrastinator. I procrastinate taking things to the post office. I even procrastinated putting things in the mailbox outside my house. When we first ordered Netflix, I worried that I would procrastinate putting my movies in the mail and would never have movies to watch. I didn’t though. I instead became methodical about Netflix. I opened the enveloped a certain way – I tore off everything that didn’t get mailed back. And as soon as I finished watching a movie, I put the movie back in the envelope and sealed it. Then before going to bed I put the red envelope by the front door. We grew to love Netflix because we almost always had new movies in the house.

But, of course, everything is different in NYC. In this case, there is no mailbox outside our front door. Sure we have a mailbox on the first floor, but that is only for incoming mail. To put letters, or in this case, movies, in the mail, we must take them to a blue mailbox. Well, just our luck there’s not one on our street. Luckily, there’s one on Girts’s route to the subway, so he usually takes the mail. Unfortunately, the last time Girts attempted to mail the movies, the mailbox was full. The mailbox was full. Have you ever heard of one of those blue mailboxes being full? I think that warrants an, “only in New York,” statement.

Girts came down with a cold this week and actually stayed home from work today, so that left me the chore of mailing the movies. So I grabbed the moves on my way out the door and actually looked for a mailbox the whole way to the subway. This took a lot of concentration on my part because it tore me away from my usual people-watching.  No mailbox. I got off the subway and walked my usual route to NYU and kept asking myself, “where’s a damn mailbox?”  Repeating this phrase helped me maintain focus.  Also, I was really irritated because I didn’t want to travel with the movies all day, especially considering the density of my backpack. Then, right as I was about to enter Bobst Library, voila, the glorious blue box appeared. At least I now know that there is one on my route, too!  Not that I will voluntarily take the mail, but just in case.

(Courtesy of The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)

It was really hard for me to sell my Jeep. I loved that Liberty. Thankfully I sold it to a friend! Other than loving that specific vehicle, I really looked forward to not having a car to deal with when we made the decision to move to NYC. First of all, we’re saving about $500 a month – that takes into consideration two unlimited monthly metro passes. I can only imagine how much money we would be saving if Girts and I had long commutes when we lived in Seattle. As I live here, I learn other benefits to being a straphanger:

1) great people watching – I can’t even begin to chronicle the funny situations I’ve witnessed on the subway. One particularly funny scene… late one night an older, somewhat unkempt man was sleeping on the subway and kept moving his leg back and forth, like he couldn’t control it. At the next stop a young, very well-groomed man sat at a seat on the row perpendicular to the older man. The older man’s leg kept bumping the younger man’s leg. The younger man made these faces like you wouldn’t believe, but he didn’t move even though there were plenty of empty seats. Another man, who was sitting behind the older man, did get up and move after the older man head-butted him from behind. The greasy hair inspired a hilarious look of disgust.

2) if people-watching isn’t your thing…reading and iPods are also a popular subway activity

3) no worries about drinking and driving – Girts and I have been out late on numerous occasions and we didn’t have to worry about who needed to stop drinking when. In my case, if I was driving, I wouldn’t be able to drink at all.

4) no worries about where to park

5) no maintenance – no trips for oil changes, tire rotation, tune-ups, and no need to pay anything for the above maintenance.

6) limited contribution to global warming – you know mass transit and all

7) better legs – as convenient as the subway system in NYC is, I’m still forced to walk more, which means I’m in better shape

8) no gym fees – see above. No need to join a gym if you’re walking a lot. The four flights of stairs we climb to get to our apartment help, too!

9) no car accidents – my family has this horrible habit of worrying about people getting in car accidents. I no longer have to worry about Girts colliding with a drunk driver on his way home from work.

10) it’s a passive commute – this means that in addition to being able to people watch, read, and listen to music, there’s less stress. No worrying about traffic, other drivers, or running out of gas.

I’ve been without my car since June 11th. In fact, I haven’t driven since then. And I have to say I haven’t missed it. I thought I would at some point, but I really don’t. This summer I worried that when I finally started school and had to be somewhere at a certain time, I would miss my car. I do kind of miss the three minute commute, but my commute now gets me out into the busy city of New York and the route I take to my classes leads me through Washington Square Park, one of my favorite places in the city. So I guess that means good riddance.

For those of you who are uncomfortable with RSS feeds or like reading my blog and forget to check it, you can now subscribe by email. Thanks to Lorrin, the person who hosts my site, all you have to do is fill in the little box at the bottom of the menu on the right and each time I update my blog, you will get an email notice.

It’s my goal to continue the blog when I start school, but I’m not making any promises. I will probably be posting less frequently and I’m sure the content will change a little, but I want to maintain it because it has surprisingly helped me keep in touch with people. Thanks for reading!

Our last day in Rhode Island was spent in Providence. We started at The Coffee Exchange, with the best coffee we’ve had since moving. Next, we drove to the mall and parked Scott and Maria’s car – I still can’t believe they let us borrow their car! Then we walked through downtown Providence, which is very old and actually quite small. It’s also very red because of the many brick buildings that line its streets. After walking through Providence we reached the river and the Riverwalk, but before setting out on the Riverwalk, we needed to fill our tummies. Plus, it was raining again. So we stopped at Hemenways for lunch. After lunch we set out on our walk, and luckily, the rain slowed to a drizzle – much more like Seattle weather!

The Riverwalk was built when Providence revitalized its downtown, I think about 10 years ago. It is beautiful. And apparently on nice summer nights gas lights that run through the center of the river are lit. That would be a sight to see.

Midway through the Riverwalk we detoured through Brown, which is just a few blocks from downtown Providence. It started to rain again as we wandered through orientation groups made up of new freshmen and their parents. It made me think of my own orientation that would be later that week. Of course, my orientation wouldn’t include a tour, just a lot of information doctoral students need to know with coffee, free food, and later in the day, wine. I guess it’s nice to be an adult student!

After escaping the rain for a short time in the Brown bookstore, we returned to downtown Providence and completed the Riverwalk. It ends near the mall and capitol building. We wandered the mall for a short time, then returned to Maria and Scott’s house, packed, and took a cab to the train station. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Providence, I definitely recommend it. It’s a beautiful little city that can be enjoyed in a day of walking.

This weekend our adventure mostly took place in Rhode Island, although we did sneak into Massachusetts for a small portion of the trip. My goal for the weekend was to get good lobster. Isn’t that the quintessential thing to do as a tourist in New England? Anyway, we started our touring in Newport, where all the old rich have mansions. After somewhat orienting ourselves in Newport, we turned down mansion-street (I think it’s actually named Bellevue Drive) and decided to park at the Astor’s place. To go into the mansion you have to pay $18. We passed. But we walked through the yard and ended up on a walkway that runs between the Atlantic and all of the mansions. We surprisingly saw some surfers, however, not surprisingly, none of them caught any waves. Then it started to rain. Again. I don’t think I have mentioned the rain yet, but the NE had a VERY rainy week. Up to this point we had been troopers in the rain, partly because we were driving, but this time we forgot our umbrellas in the car. With wet hair and running mascara, I was done looking at rich people’s houses and ready to retreat to the car.

Next on the agenda was lunch. We were told that Flo’s Clam Shack would have lobster, so after winding around Newport, we asked for directions and were off to Flo’s. Disappointingly, Flo’s did not have lobster. So, and this is for the Eckstein crew, we ordered FRIED CLAMS instead. We also ordered stuffies, which are quahogs stuffed with breading, sausage, quahog meat, and chiles. They are a Portuguese specialty and apparently Rhode Island has a large population of Portuguese people.

Lunch

After lunch we strolled around Newport (in the rain) for about an hour and were on the road again. Our next destination involved looping through Little Compton, an area in Rhode Island with quaint villages, wineries, and a lot of very old cemeteries. We stopped at one winery, Sakonnet, for a tasting, then we ran out of time. Everything closed at 5:00 pm and we didn’t get a very early start. Oh well, we were ready for lobster anyway.

Our next recommendation for lobster was The Back Eddy. Finally our tourist-inspired lobster craving was satisfied! Our platter came with a 1.5# lobster, sausage, little necks, corn, and new potatoes that were all boiled together. Tasty! We were stuffies all the way back to Scott and Maria’s house in Cranston, RI – a suburb of Providence. A big thanks to Maria and Scott for letting us stay in their house and drive their extra car. They saved us a nice chunk of cash!
Dinner

Market & Fountain 

Our friend Barbara recommended the Chelsea Market to us.  It’s surprising we didn’t already know about it considering the market is all about gourmet food.  As you can see from the above pictures, the decor is rustic.  I particularly liked the fountain, which consisted of water falling from an open pipe.

Girts and I originally planned on stopping by the market to quickly check it out before crossing over to the Lower Eastside for Indian food.  But then we discovered the Italian market with its rows of European specialties, including spicy sopressata and creamy cheeses.  Our plan quickly changed to a night of tapas at home with a jammy bottle of Hahn Pinot Noir.  We may even stray from our current routine of shopping for groceries at Trader Joe’s by returning to Chelsea Market on occasion!  It would be harder on the pocket book, but easier on the arms and legs since it requires less schlepping.

As we explore some of the numerous restaurants in NYC, I’ve made an observation. Many of the restaurants seem to have a resident cat. Above is a kitten helping to bus a table at an unmentioned restaurant (I don’t want any retaurant owners or cats to get into trouble). The same kitten entertained us and our neighbors by attacking a napkin and shoe laces. It also sat in my lap and purred while I scratched under his chin. I wasn’t the only one completely enamored. Numerous people tried to tempt the little kitty to their tables.

I have a “Resident Cat” theory. My grandfather used to have a dairy farm and cats served an important purpose – control the mice population. Of course, I won’t mention what happened when the cat population got out of control. Well, there are mice in NYC. And rats, although rats are big and I think many cats are actually scared of the big ones. But my “Resident Cat” theory involves not rodents, but cockroaches. I think restaurant and store owners have cats to control the roaches that seem to be living wherever food and trash are in abundance. Cats can be ferocious little hunters. The only problem I would foresee involves cats liking to play with their catch before eating it. I can imagine that a few speedy roaches have made an unfortunate get-away. Thankfully, the feline roach-catchers in these restaurants are friendly, unlike the barn cats on my grandfather’s farm!

And since I’m on the cat topic, I had to include a couple of pictures of Chloe, one of our cats who has taken up residence on a window sill in our apartment. Occasionally Zoe steals her sill, but mostly Chloe owns it.
Chloe 

Many of you know that Girts and I live a half block from Lincoln Center. At night we can hear the free outdoor concert series from our apartment. I don’t know how many times we’ve said we need to check out what’s playing and get tickets, but then we just don’t get it done. So far, as you may have read in this blog, most of our adventures have been food related. We do love to eat!

Anyway, Girts’s cousin Sandis plays with Kremerata Baltica, an orchestra out of Latvia that is led by Gidon Kremer, a world-renowned violinist. Sandis plays first chair violin in the orchestra and travels all over the world. His next stops will be Austria, Brazil, and Argentina! This last weekend he played at Lincoln Center. Sandis reserved tickets for us in the 4th row. The concert was fantastic. We really enjoyed the music and being that close meant we were able to see how the orchestra interacts and hear sounds the instruments make that aren’t necessarily audible from farther away. The bows occasionally hitting wood for example.

I also really enjoyed the people watching. New Yorkers are fabulous audience members. They aren’t shy about showing emotion. Their standing ovations meant two encores and I loved hearing people say things like, “I’ll stand for that one!”, “Bravo!”, and “I need to order that CD!”

There were also some examples of bad audience behavior…the cell phone going off, of course. For all of you teachers against cell phones in schools…I think cell phones should be allowed because kids need to be taught how to use cell phones appropriately. You know, one of those life skills that aren’t necessarily tied to our curriculum. Cell phones aren’t going away. I would rather have students learning the hard way in middle school so that by the time they show up to Lincoln Center it’s habit to turn the cell phone off. Not to mention, if I was a parent, I would want my adolescent or teenager to have a phone. It’s a good tracking device.

There was also the little kid who started giggling after someone’s stomach growled during a solo. Ok it was kind of funny, but the kid wouldn’t stop giggling. The mom eventually took the kid away, but it was an annoying distraction. Who thinks it’s a good idea to bring a three year old to a concert? During intermission I overheard the ladies behind me saying they wouldn’t let the mom sit down if she came back with her kid. That would have been some people watching!

Girts and I are definitely inspired to book some more events. As for Sandis… he will be back in New York in April and will perform with Kremerata Baltica at Carnegie Hall. We can’t wait!

Girts and I were so excited to go to the village of Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island. It was a chance to get out the sweltering city, kind of like all the rich people who go to the Hamptons (which is spitting distance from Greenport). Our plan was to take the train, arrive by noon, hang around Greenport, then check into a bed and breakfast. That night we would eat dinner somewhere nice. The next day we would rent bikes and ride to Bedell Cellars where John, the winemaker, would give us a tour and tasting. That night after dinner we would take the train back to the city.

Most of Greenport is supported by the tourists who visit every summer, so you would think it would be welcoming to tourists. Welcomed is not how we felt. No one in the stores acknowledged us. Our server at lunch was the necessary polite, but beyond that, I got the feeling she found us annoying. We went to check on bike rental. The guy at The Bike Stop was a total ass. Monday, the day we needed to rent, the store closes at 3:00. We didn’t think we would be able to make it to the winery between 9 and 3, so we asked about having it picked up at our B&B, something that is advertised on the website. Apparently the website hasn’t been updated in a couple of years and the owner was completely unaccommodating. He just kept apathetically repeating, “I’m sorry.” I asked about leaving the bike locked up outside the store, “no ma’am. I’m sorry. You would be liable if something happened to the bike. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

I finally said, “yeah. I can tell,” and left. It took all of my self-control to not completely lose it on the guy. At that point I thought we might still have to rent bikes from him.

There were two saving graces on the trip. First was the fabulous dinner we had at The Frisky Oyster. If I’m going to spend a lot of money on dinner, I want to go somewhere where I try new, innovative dishes that inspire me or dishes that I can’t cook myself. The Frisky Oyster met my first demand. We decided to have two appetizers: crab cakes with tatziki and a fig arugula salad in a balsamic reduction, and one entree: lobster linguini with lemon, olive oil, and garlic. The linguini was amazing. It was simple, but all of the flavors complemented each other perfectly.  Girts and I were definitely inspired to try something new in our own little kitchen.

Our second saving grace was John from Bedell Cellars, the cousin of one of Girts’s co-workers. She recommended we visit John since Girts is working in the wine store at TJ’s. First of all, John loaned us his tandem bike so we were saved from having to rent from The Bike Stop. I could have lost it on the guy after all! John also told us where to stop to get food for a picnic and gave us directions to everywhere we needed to go.  But the real excitement happened when we arrived to Bedell. I’m not sure one can fully understand the complexity of wine making without first talking to a professional wine maker. The tour he gave us was truly enlightening and showed how wine making is a detailed process that involves a combination of science, art, and even a little gambling. And I’m sure we just uncovered the tip of the iceberg. Before getting on the train back to NYC that night, we had a picnic dinner with John and his wife, Leah, who made tasty zucchini-potato latkes that we all ate while listening to live Cuban music by the water in Greenport.

Girts and I are undecided about returning to Greenport. We suggested possibly doing an apartment swap with Leah and John since they would like to come to the city more, but if they are the only ones who are friendly to strangers in Greenport, I’m not sure we want to go back when they aren’t there.

Governor’s Island is an old military base on an island nestled near Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Statue of Liberty. To get there you take a free 10-minute ferry ride from the southern tip of Manhattan. Some of the island has been turned into a national park because of its historical status, but over half will be developed with a possible convention center, resorts, and golf course. Thankfully, no permanent housing will be allowed. One proposal has two small bridges (trams?) connecting the island to Manhattan.

It was interesting to explore another part of New York, but it was a hot and humid day. For me, the highlight of Governor’s Island was the fantastic view of Manhattan. It really is a prime piece of real estate!

Coney Island is in a lot of movies.  And in the movies it looks really gaudy, but even so, I had to check it out.  Our new friend Vanessa explores something new in New York once a week.  As much as my mono will allow, I’ve tried to follow her lead.  This time, we decided to go to Coney Island together.  Girts was a little concerned that, klutz as I am, I might step on a hypodermic or something, but that didn’t stop me.  And I am here today, needle free, to tell you that Coney Island is just as obnoxious as it looks in all the movies, complete with amusement rides, loud music, bright lights, graffiti, a dilapidated boardwalk, and trash everywhere.  It must have been something in its heyday, though.  I do have to say that dirty as it was, I still enjoyed going into the water and getting sunburned.  I even managed to catch a wave.  That’s saying something in the Atlantic!

Every year Trader Joe’s hosts a party for all of the “full-timers.”  This year’s East Region party was held on a boat in Boston.  We decided to take the train since we are now car-less.  So we left our apartment at 5:30 am, walked a few blocks to the subway, traveled two stops to Penn Station, took the train to Boston’s South Station, traveled two stops on Boston’s Silver Line, and then walked across the street to the hotel.  Sometimes it really is easier to ditch the car!  I have to mention that I intended to sleep on the train to Boston, but I was distracted by all of the places I could visit on that route…New Haven (Yale), Mystic, Providence…there’s so much to explore!

Our hotel room had a view of the harbor along two walls, so instead of walking along the harbor, we enjoyed our air-conditioned view and took a nap before heading to the party.  The boat cruise was beautiful and provided another opportunity to escape the heat (but not the humidity).  I also enjoyed meeting some new people who I can hopefully connect with again.

The next day we drug our hung-over bodies out of bed at 11:00 and took a shuttle to downtown Boston with Nicole and Steve.  After a much needed meal, we traveled along the Freedom Trail.  For all of you history buffs, Boston is easy.  All the historical monuments are connected by a brick trail that meanders through the city.  It begins at Boston Common.  We started in the middle and ended at the Common.  Afterwards, we traveled to Cambridge and wandered around Harvard for a bit.  And since this is a blog about NYC, I will just say that traveling through Boston did a couple of things…1) it reminded us of Seattle, maybe because it is missing some 150,000 college students and seemed a little quiet, and 2) made us realize that our perspective is already changing, even though we have been living in New York for a very short time.

There are some things in New York that are just more difficult. For instance, there is a drug store every other block, but in every single one of them there is a long line. This is also true with grocery stores. Especially the good ones. And in the good ones, not only do you have to wait in line, but you also have to battle your way through crowded aisles. You don’t fully understand the meaning of combat shopping until you have braved Fairway Market, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s on a Sunday in New York City.

In addition to crowds and lines, you also have to deal with empty shelves and shortages of products. In the case of our Upper Westside adventure this week, the shortage wasn’t of products, but of notary publics. Thanks to the bureaucracy of the Washington State Department of Licensing, we needed to get something notarized then mail it to Washington. Seems simple enough. Just as with drug stores, there’s a bank every other block. But some things in New York are just more difficult.

Bank 1: Notary public’s day off – Great
Bank 2: Notary public with another customer for at least 25 minutes – F#*& (remember its hot, humid, and we’re on foot)
Bank 3: Notary public at lunch – You’ve got to be f#*$ing kidding me
Bank 4: No notary public at this location – Huh?
Bank 5: Our saving grace. Multiple notary publics, one actually available. Can you hear me sighing? He didn’t even charge us!

Next stop…the Post Office. Guess what we did there? Yep. We waited in a long line. At least it was normal and expected!

Girts and I aren’t very familiar with Korean food, but Vanessa, our new friend from NY, was talking about it when we went to dinner last, so Girts and I decided we should give it a try.  Of course, I researched where we should go and Gam Mee Ok seemed like it would be a good option: cheap and highly recommended.

The menu didn’t have that much on it, but the oxtail soup came highly recommended, so we ordered it and a brisket dish.  I couldn’t figure out what was so cheap about the restaurant, but what I didn’t know is that the food came with a variety of side dishes: kim chi, sauces, and three long, skinny, green peppers.  The peppers puzzled us the most.  Were they hot?  Were we supposed to dip them into the sauces?  Should we add them to our food?  We couldn’t tell from the people seated on either side of us.  So Girts finally just went for it and took a bite.  The first bite wasn’t hot at all.  So I took a bite.  I think I ate some seeds because what I was expecting to taste like a bell pepper tasted a lot more like a jalapeno.  I know, Rob, for you that would be nothing.  But for me it was hot.  After another bite Girts agreed that it was hot.  The weird thing is that one of the three peppers really wasn’t hot and the other two were.  We still never found out what we were supposed to do with them.  I know, we could have asked.

The oxtail soup was delicious, like comfort food.  The brisket was ok, but the julienned scallions in sesame oil that came with the brisket were amazing!  We also really enjoyed the Kim chi.  In the end we had more than enough food and paid less than $30 for everything, including tax and tip.