NYC favorites by kgbe ROTGUT

Not being a native New Yorker, I am
certainly not the most qualified tour guide but I have spent a fair amount of
time exploring the city on a limited budget so here are some of my favorite
places and things to do.

1. Drinking Part 1

Since Mayor
Bloomberg instituted the smoking ban on all restaurants and bars it has forced
smokers like me to find alternative ways to drink and smoke simultaneously.  My
solution is to return to the old standby, drinking on the street.  But rather
then sit in front of a bodega like the old Puerto-Rican guys, I suggest you walk
around and explore while getting soused.  One route I recommend is for you to
buy some beers on Delancey, walk over the Williamsburg Bridge and then north
along the Brooklyn waterfront till you get to those big expensive lofts.  Then
you wait outside the doors till a resident comes in or out and without looking
suspicious go on up to the roof.  There you will have a great view of the city
and you can shed your brown bags and get drunk and have a good time.

/>2. Drinking Part 2

If you have no interest in getting ticketed for
drinking on the street or its February and its freezing, there are countless
bars you can go to but I think its better to go to art openings instead. 
There’s almost always free beer and wine and sometimes cheese and grapes and the
like.  It’s best if its set up so you can serve yourself but usually you have to
wait in a long line, especially at popular shows.  Resourceful people use
gallery shows to “network” and “make connections.”

3. Eating

/>Like most major cosmopolitan cities, New York City has a plethora of culinary
options from all sorts of diverse cultures.  But if your in the mood for cheap
fast food I recommend just going to the Dumpling House at 118A Eldridge and get
those 5 for 1 dollar dumplings.  They are rather good in the hot sauce and they
are ridiculously cheap.  If you have lots of money and are not a vegetarian I
recommend going to Peter Luger at 178 Broadway in Brooklyn.  My girlfriend got a
Christmas bonus one year and took me out to eat there.  It was very very good. 
I recommend the steak.

4. Sightseeing

Too many visitors to
New York restrict their visit to the island of Manhattan only.  I advise you to
go explore the outer boroughs.  The website, www.forgotten-ny.com really delves in to a lot of the physical
characteristics and history which make the outer boroughs so interesting to me. 
I don’t think the guy who runs the sight likes graffiti or street art very much
but regardless, I recommend using it as a guide if you have any interest in old
railroad tracks, tunnels, signage, or abandoned buildings.  But if that stuff is
too boring, just stick with the foam statue of liberty hat, a carriage ride
around Central Park, and catch a showing of Rent, and then shoot yourself for
being a fucker.

5. Shopping

The flea market down at Coney
Island has a lot of strange people hanging around piles of crap.  Its pretty
seedy but its cheaper then the Chelsea flea market and the selection of things
for sale is less about antiques and collectibles and more about straight razors
and dog collar choke chains.  My friend Chris got a crossbow there.  They have
lots of junk.