New York City

V11N2 - Exploring the Village, Chinatown, Lower East Side, Upper East Side and West Side.

Comments

[Publishers]

September 11, 2001 Another Day That Will Live in Infamy. The most comprehensive coverage of this horrific event and the aftermath is in a section that The New York Times has on it's website Portraits of Grief. "Three days after the attacks, reporters at The New York Times, armed with stacks of the homemade missing-persons fliers that were papering the city, began dialing the numbers on the fliers, interviewing friends and relatives of the missing and writing brief portraits, or sketches, of their lives. In the weeks that followed, amid nonstop news coverage of the disaster and the war, reading "Portraits of Grief" became a ritual for people nationwide. In hundreds of e-mail messages and letters to The Times, readers said they read them religiously, rarely missing a day. For some, it was a way of paying homage. Others said it was a means of connecting, a source of consolation." The complete portraits are available along with much more at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/portraits/index.html The Times has said that this section will be kept on their website indefinitely.

The World Trade Towers are on the front cover of the New York City issue in the photograph of the Lower Manhattan as well as on page 8. The beginning of the walking tour on page 8 The Tip of Manhattan began in the five-acre World Trade Center Plaza.

Lespinasse, the four-star restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel is closed.

Voulez-Vous restaurant pg 18 is closed

Ritz Carlton Hotel (page 12) renamed the Central Park Inter-Continental New York is now a condo. A new deluxe Ritz Carlton has opened just down the street at Central Park South and sixth Ave.

Kuruma Zushi, 7 East 47th St. 2nd Floor; (212) 317-2802. If you love sushi and sashimi and really know, appreciate, and are willing to pay for the difference, this is the best restaurant we know. The tiny sign out front is in Japanese except for the name. You take an elevator to the second floor. We had dinner here - superb. Sit at the Sushi bar and let the owner feed you.

The Warwick Hotel, 65 West 54th Street, (800) 223-4099. The rooms are a good size, bathrooms have marble floors, location is good. Call Express Reservations (see issue) as you may get a better rate than by calling the hotel directly. Corner suites on 54th St. starting on the 12th floor have a view of the MOMA garden when the garden is finished in 2005. 6th Ave. corner suites include three with balconies (23rd, 25th and 27th floor). Ciao Europa Restaurant, Italian, serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and offers a pre-theatre menu.

Nino's Ristorante. Now in its 10th year this popular Upper East Side Northern Italian is a locals favorite. On a recent visit the 160-seat place was packed. A pianist is on hand nightly. There seemed to be a parade as waiters carried out platter after platter overflowing with the specialty of the house, a 3.5 pound lobster served fra-diavolo-style with linguine. 1354 1st Ave. between 72nd and 73rd (212) 355-5540

Inn New York City. The Loft Suite is now called a The Library Suite. The Parlor Suite is now called Opera Suite.

Daniel (page 17). The restaurant has changed to Cafe Boulud. Restaurant Daniel is in the former Mayfair Hotel, 65th St. and Park Ave.

Bouley Bakery. Right after September 11, 2001 Bouley Bakery became a non-stop commissary serving the workers at the World Trade site. The restaurant has reopened and made some changes. The name is now Bouley. The bread oven and bakery have moved across the street and there is a wonderful no reservation café on the second floor. Call ahead for reservations or come very early for dinner or late for lunch. 120 West Broadway; (212) 964-2525. http://www.davidbouley.com/

21 Club. We had known about the restaurant for years but had mistakenly thought it was a private club. Hundreds of toys that hang from the ceiling in the Bar Room are gifts from patrons and celebrities (football helmets, golf club, trucks, baseball hats, soccer balls etc.). The collection of Remington statues was started during Depression when several customers settled their accounts by bartering. The menu is wide ranging including the classic burger with mounds of fries. The pre-theater dinner is a great deal plus free parking after 4 p.m. 21 W.52nd St.(212) 582-7200.

The Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights. One of the great walks in New York is the elevated boardwalk (above the traffic) that runs down the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge over to Brooklyn Heights Park. The pedestrian entrance is opposite the east side of ckre Hall Park next to the Municipal Building. The views are wonderful looking up through the cables of this 1883 bridge and up and down the East River. The view of the Manhattan skyline at dusk is an experience you'll never forget. Get off the bridge at the Cadman Plaza East staircase. Bear right at the bottom down the hill to Old Fulton Street. Patsy Grimaldi's is on this street (718) 858-4300, closed Tuesday, makes the best brick-oven coal fired pizza in New York. For a more refined atmosphere The River Cafe located on a barge has excellent food and the best views of the harbor and downtown (718) 522-5200. Walk back over the bridge or take the new water taxi that leaves from here, operates (seasonally) around the tip of Manhattan making stops.

New York Bound Bookshop (page 2) is closed. The Traveller's Bookstore located in the lobby of 22 W. 52nd Street in New York City is now closed.

[Publishers]

The fire department of New York has a new interactive educational tourist activity for children designed to teach about fire safety. Located in Rockefeller Center and open daily there are bunker clothes for children to put on, a fire truck, and mock fire drill that children can participate in. Part of the exhibit is free and the presentation has a fee of $6, adults and children.http://www.fdnyfirezone.org