Casey - our former editor currently based in the Big Apple - shares her best bets for one perfect day in Manhattan.
Here’s the thing about Manhattan: Even though it’s been my home for 4 years, the city feels new every time I walk out my front door. Most often, it’s the days I don’t plan that always give me the best sense of the city—the spontaneity, the adrenaline, the “anything can happen here” attitude. And then, there are those moments of seemingly impossible calm. My perfect 24 hours in New York City would blend equal parts familiar and fresh, combining my favorite tried-and-true activities with my best new discoveries, while still leaving a little room for this town to surprise me.
7:30 AM: Why Not Coffee
This West Village coffee shop is precisely what you think of when you’re looking for “the” coffee shop. You know: the one on the quiet street with big windows and shabby-chic couches and patterned mugs. To be honest, I don’t really go for the coffee (they recently switched from Blue Bottle to Toby’s Estate), but I instantly fell in love with the rustic-meets-1960s vibe (see: the giant, golden, glittery painting of Bridget Bardot’s face), and their perfect vinyl collection that spins on a jealousy-inducing turntable.
Before venturing out for a proper breakfast, I’ll pick up the New York Times and head a few blocks southeast to Washington Square Park. The park contains many of my favorite memories of the city, with its tree-lined promenades and the iconic arch, reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe. It’s great people-watching—lots of classic New York eccentricity—but I’m usually a bit more focused on all the dogs out for their morning walk.
New Yorkers really do eat bagels, and I’ve come to love the ones at the newish Russ & Daughters Cafe, across town on the Lower East Side. The original Russ & Daughters on Houston has been around since 1914, and the cafe perfectly blends the old with the new. I can’t think of a dish on their menu that’s a better example than the Super Heebster: whitefish and baked salmon salad with wasabi-infused fish roe and horseradish dill cream cheese, all loaded onto a bagel. I’m going to order that, along with some sours and more coffee—because the fizzy, slightly sweet coffee “soda” should not be missed.
Because it’s my perfect day, and since there will be no traffic in the city, we’re going to hop back across town to Chelsea Market, a goldmine of food and fashion. Clothing-wise, you’ve got nifty vintage finds at Artists & Fleas, pop-up sample sales and a huge Anthropolgie. For the food-obsessed, there’s Cull & Pistol: The Lobster Place: my new favorite sandwich shop, Num Pang: a host of small stands including Tuck Shop (hand pies) and People’s Pops. There’s also a great bookstore with whimsical stationary, Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, and Chelsea Market Baskets, where I’ve picked up kitschy New York magnets and vintage-style food postcards. Additionally, the market is a perfect jumping-off point for window-shopping in the designer-filled Meatpacking District, or up 10th Ave., which seems to add new shops all the time (check out Story, with its “rotating concept” concept). While you’re at it, take the scenic route and walk the High Line for some nature, design and city views all wrapped up into one.
Could it be a perfect New York City day without noodles? From Chelsea Market, I’d hop on the nearby A,C,E up to 42nd Street and head to Gotham West Market, where Ivan Ramen’s Spicy Red Chili Ramen awaits, fully loaded.
There are so many fascinating museums and galleries to visit in NYC, but since my default is “nerd,” my perfect day has to include the American Museum of Natural History. If I wasn’t so culinary-minded, I’d like to think I would be living out my childhood fantasies of becoming a marine biologist or an astronaut, so between the life-sized blue whale and the Rose Center for Earth & Space, I’m golden. I’ll try to do a little stargazing and space exploration with a show in the planetarium, and then come back down to Earth to wander over to the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life and make like I’m 20,000 leagues under the sea.
You’ve never really experienced New York City until you’ve seen it via bicycle. So instead o f taking the subway back downtown, I’ll cruise above ground on a Citibike via the Hudson River Greenway along the Westside Highway. The path is dotted with parks and sites and scenes of neighborhood barbecues and picnics. Just after 30th street, though, I’ll cut in and ride east to 9th Avenue before heading south again, where, in my opinion, the streets get especially picturesque (without being too dangerous for riders).
After the bike ride it’s back to the Village for snack time. Since I have a major sweet tooth and a longing to get to Scandinavia some day, I’ll visit Sockerbit and stock up on some of their excellent Swedish treats—marshmallows and licorice and gummies galore. Then I’ll wander around window-shopping near Bleecker Street and the surrounding area (near Christopher St. and 7th Avenue South) until it’s time for a cocktail!
6:00 PM: Happy Hour at Bell Book & Candle Bar
When you’ve found the one, you just know: For me, this bar is it. Slightly subterranean, cozy, filled with warm light, brick walls and old jazz posters, it’s my favorite neighborhood bar in a city filled with great neighborhood bars. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly—all in all, the perfect place for grabbing a happy hour drink and a dozen delicious $1 oysters.
Honestly, asking someone to choose where to eat dinner in this city is just a mean thing to do to a girl. But, I’ve decided: I’m going to Tuome. Why? I can’t get their Berkshire pork and spicy peanut noodles out of my head. It’s a dish meant for two so if I don’t have a travel companion, I’m making friends with someone at Bell Book & Candle and convincing them to come with—it’s so worth it. They better have an appetite, too, because we’re also getting the deviled eggs and the sticky rice made with kale, Chinese sausage and duck fat.
Isn’t the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, you ask? But I’m not really cheating, listen: At the end of the night, I’m going to sneak out to Williamsburg on the L train to get the perfect last look at Manhattan from the Ides, the hotel’s rooftop bar. Drinking Sazeracs and Champagne cocktails while overlooking the glittering city skyline is the best way I can think of to toast to the most perfect day indeed.
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