Art in the Dark and other funky shit

The Tank is a space for performing and visual arts emphasizing new work by emerging performers, designers, writers, directors and producers. They had to relocate because they're previous buildings was torn down to build apartments, or some such crap. Last time I was there, it was theatre slam - like poetry slam, only with new plawrights, 5 bucks, free if you sign up to perform. And there's beer. Church btwn Franklin and White.


The Moth is a not-for-profit storytelling organization, if you've never heard of it, check out the stories on the podcast. But it's still much better to go to a show. Events held all over town.


Abandoned Monastery in Staten Island??
St. Augustinian Academy, located on Grymes Hill, Staten Island, NY, was once a boys high school that closed in the mid to late 60's, and later became a retreat which was abandoned in 1985... blah blah blah... we came to a room blocked by wood. Behind the door were small stairs that looked like they went on forever. We followed the stairs down about ten floors, and we really starting to shake...

Drinks with shows

Rififi E. 11th btwn 1st and 2nd. We can't tell you about Rififi, you can only experience Rififi. That is where we live. Comedy.... and other stuff. There used to be burlesque, and we miss it.

KGB Bar E. 4th St. btwn 2nd &3rd. The KGB is a literary bar in the east village. Very chill, drinks are cheap. Most nights there's readings at 7ish. Downstairs is teh Krain Theatre, where they do Too Much Light Makes the Baby go Blind every Friday and Saturday at 10:30 for, like, 10 dollars or something.

SMOKE. Broadway btwn 105th & 106th. Jazz. We're here a lot. A LOT. The jazz is always really good, if rarely spectacular. Definitely better than Cleopatra's needle. No cover, but a $20 minimum at tables; sets at 8, 10 and 12. Jams monday, Brazilian Wednesdays, and afro-cuban Sundays. I love it.

Pianos. Ludlow & Stanton (LES, F to Delancey) Music. Cheap. The bands are mostly cool new, New York, way hipper than you. Nobody really cares, because it's Pianos. There's always lots of chicks and they seem to get really, really drunk.

Barbes. 9th St. @ 6th, Park Slope, Brklyn. Great music. Lots of guitar, but pretty much anything rides as long as it's grooving. Chicha Libre - rumba, baby, shake it - plays every Monday. These people produce music. There are most awesome. And they have one of the best collections of Single Malt Scotch in Brooklyn.

Restaurants: La Caverna and Inoteca

Had dinner at a dumb Italian restaurant called La Caverna on the Lower East Side with my friend T. and his fab new British girlfriend. It's on Rivington between Essex and Norfolk, just a block from the Delancey stop on the F and the J.

We were suspicious immediately: we had to go down a long candle-lit hallway and take the stairs to the basement. It was done up like a cave; stalagmites, fake rock walls, a subterranean theme that might have been cool, but wasn't. Here's the thing : there was no one else in the restaurant. I DO NOT GO TO RESTAURANTS THAT ARE EMPTY AT DINNER TIME. That is a bad sign. The food was okay, overcooked but not bad. Whatever. It was just lame.

I would have preferred it if we'd gone to the Italian restaurant two blocks east on Rivington, Inoteca, where we'd had a drink before being enticed into the cave. It was small, cozy, full, and open to the street. The food looked great. Smelled great. The people looked happy. They had a terrific selection of Italian wines, but no cocktails. Here's the best thing : they serve food until three am.

Despite what people say, this city does sleep. It goes to bed at ten. If you are like me, and you go to bed at four am, you want dinner at midnight. If you're not, I don't care, you can just drink.

The city won't love you back

My love affair with New York is over.

There are not many reasons to move to New York. There's aspiring artists of every variety, there's money, and there's those of us in love with the speed, the glamour, the opportunities, the culture -- in love with the enormous whirlwind high-chrome highdef dragonfly buzz of life in the City.

I'll admit that I moved here because I was in love with a man, but I was in love with the city too. But it is brutal - everything costs too much, the streets are dirty, it's cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and the classism and the poverty breaks my heart every day.

The point of this blog is to explore New York. More specifically, to explore Manhattan, and only the cheaper bits of it.

Everyone has their own New York, you see. There are 9 million of us, and most of us never cross paths, we have our own little hang outs, the things we like to do. Me, I tend to be on the west side. I'm not much for the bar scene, I like to be outside as much as possible, and I've got a serious itch for art.

If you want to talk restaurants, it's going to be sushi. I'm trying to go to every sushi place in Manhattan.

There's something deeply satisfying about taking on an impossible task and making progress.

My plan is to write about what I do and whatever the hell else is on my mind about the city. I'm not insanely busy every day - and I spend a lot of time in the park, or just walking around - so don't expect an action packed highly scheduled new york in three days whatever. It's the way I love, yo. On foot, at large, occasionally in disguise.