Tag Archives: Brooklyn

New York City 2022 – Second Trip

Posted on by
Reply

Went to New York City for the second time in 2022 in May (first time was in April, but mainly just for seeing Eric Prydz at a club called Nebula (which I would not recommend since it’s like a slightly better version than Pure Lounge), and seeing Ben Bohmer. For the rest of the trip I basically did some of the same things as my 2021 trip with my friend Steven).

Now, onto this trip. I’m gonna highlight several awesome takeaways from this trip…

First is staying near the World Trade Center in the financial district (stayed at the Marriott Downtown). Hotel was ok, but it was definitely walking distance to several things (ie the pier, the World Trade Center, and some eateries).

One restaurant that we went to that was super awesome and close to our hotel is called Skinos. Here is the read:

The one thing I do want to do next time I’m staying in the financial district area is walk along the Pier (starting from there World Trade Center). The pier actually looks super interesting and modern.

One of the main things we did in New York (but isn’t new) was see a DJ called Kaskade at Avant Gardner. (And yes, he played past 4am on Sunday :)).

Before that though we pregamed in a part of Brooklyn called LIC (Long Island Center). It reminded me of mission bay, with all these new luxury apartments.

The next day, we actually did a bunch of things (even if we had a late start at 8pm). First we went to this rooftop bar called Le Bain (in Chelsea / meatpacking district) that was pretty sick. It has a pool!

From the rooftop bar (which was right near the water), we went to something called “Little Island” that is by the Pier, which looked like a modern park floating on a tiny square island.

Then went to Marquee Nightclub. Will say it does remind me of the marquee in Vegas (which I wouldn’t say is my favorite club in Vegas). Also, people there were just meh (in terms of attractiveness).

After, ended up back in Brooklyn to Avant Gardner to see Gareth Emery (although admittedly I remember more of the opener, Aly and Fila, instead of him).

Overall, great trip!

New York City 2021 – Part 8

Posted on by
Reply

Last day in New York City for this trip!

As NJ and I called this, this was was a Jon (Ellenbogen) recommendation day.

Started the day by heading to the first Jewish deli I’ve been to in New York called Katz’s in the Lower East Side (definitely a long line, but it moves fast and it is worth it):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/28/katzs/

I would not (as I think stated in a previous post, live in the Lower East Side (kind of dirty, wide streets and not new).

Afterwards, took the subway to Hudson Yard to check out the Vessel and the shops near by. Although I’ve been to that area before, they really upped the Christmas light game there (both inside the mall and outside Vessel).

From Vessel, we walked to the Chelsea neighborhood to check out an immersive exhibit by Artechouse called Machine Hallucination. Using AI, for some of the scenes, they were able to take images from social media of New York and create immersive transitions. Thought that was really cool. Also, if you want to drink, they have a bar at the top of the experience (where you can still view the whole thing). Definitely a key setup. Lastly, they did sell art NFTs at one point, but they were all sold out.

In terms of the Chelsea area, (around 15st between 11 and 9) is regentrified, and seems to be pretty lively. If considering getting a new construction place in Hudson Yard, since Chelsea area is super close Hudson Yard, one should consider that neighborhood (but I don’t think I would get an actual place in Chelsea).

After visiting Artechouse, we headed to West Village (decided Uber was best) to check out the pizza place Jon had recommended, which was called John’s of Bleecker street:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/28/johns-of-bleecker-street/

Between Greenwich and West Village is like Hayes valley. Lots of places to eat, and older houses. Great area for eating / dating, but too old for me to live there (think of John’s of Bleecker)

After, we headed back up near our hotel to check out a lounge called The William (we had to wait about 1.5 hours since we didn’t have a reservation, it fortunately Park Avenue Tavern was 2 minutes away):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/28/the-william/

After, headed to Quantum Brooklyn (obviously in Brooklyn) to check out Aly and Fila. Then ended the night by going back to Brooklyn Navy Yard to do round 2 of Eric Prydz.

New York City 2021 – Part 7

Posted on by
Reply

7th day in. New York City!

First thing this day was to switch hotels to the Grand Hyatt, which is beside Grand Central station. The hotel definitely reminded me of a Vegas hotel (big lobby, room was big, beds super comfortable). However, it did not have any amenities (like a hot tub, pool, or even a bar!). But it’s location is great (near the subway system). So a bit of mixed feelings about the hotel.

After switching hotels, we grabbed brunch near the hotel at a place called Pershing Square, which was across Grand Central’s entrance:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/26/pershing-square/

We then made our way to the World Trade Center in the Financial district. We checked out the pool / waterfall memorial. Unfortunately tickets to the memorial museum were sold out. Did check out the Westfield mall under the World Trade Center (which I didn’t do before). Also ate at Eately in 4 World Trade Center:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/26/eataly/

In terms of living in the financial district, I would consider it, but need to walk around more (I do like how it’s clean, and pretty new. Not sure if there is new construction or not).

After, we took the subway to the Flat Iron district and checked out the museum of sex. Interesting experience (haha, only posting PG pics below). There are two parts to it. The first part was like a regular museum (and is further divided into 3 parts. Only the first out of 3 I found interesting, which was about different devices. The second part was about Sex Violence, and the last was about sex in media). The second part was called super fun land, and was very interactive with games (ie a version of whack a mole, the claw game, and ended of with a bar). There was also a slide (that lead to the bar). I would not recommend going down the slide (too tight). I would say that museum is good for a date (maybe 4th date?).

In terms of living in the Flat Iron district, I thought the streets were not well lit, and it’s pretty dirty (and saw a sketchy group there). Will not consider that area.

To end the night, checked out the West End for a pregame, then went to Brooklyn Ship yard to catch Eric Prydz (round 1). The West End is pretty nice (clean, new construction, and is close to Amsterdam street). Definitely would consider property there. In terms of Upper West Side, it’s mainly town houses I heard (but I think some people include West end as part of the upper west side).

New York City 2021 – Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

Decided to travel back to New York for 10 days (spending my Apple thanksgiving break there). Overall it’s an exploratory visit to figure out what some neighborhoods had to offer, the transportation system, and to see if it would be worth living there some day. Tl;dr, a city I can see myself living in or even buying property.

Instead of documenting each day with one post each, I’m going to just list things (in chronological order) of things done, and what was noticed.

First night we started it off seeing some comedy at a place called The Stand. Didn’t get any of the comedians names, but overall liked the vibe (didn’t feel intimidated there, and you can order food and drinks. Espresso martinis were definitely a thing. The burger I had was just ok). The Stand is near union square park (flat iron area).

After the comedy club we decided to check out a DJ called Adriatique at Brooklyn Navy Yard. It ended up actually being a festival with two warehouses (called Time Warp). Production value was great, and discovered another DJ, Ame, who sounded a lot like Eric Prydz. Also ran into a friend, Eric, who, uh, helped us with staying up until 8am (it also helped last call us at 4am in New York). Great night. Probably need to explore Brooklyn more.

New York City, second day

Posted on by
Reply

This day was probably the most fun day I’ve had in New York.

For the entire afternoon we spent our time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met). We had a great time looking at all different types of art from various eras (Greek, European, Egyptian). I gotta say, the European section was the best part based on how we were feeling 😉

After the Met, we went to this place for dinner:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2018/11/19/chikarashi/

After dinner, we went to pick up some hard liquor at a Wine and Liquor store around broadway and 22nd (note that in New York City, hard liquor is not usually available in grocery stores. We also found the price is kinda expensive compared to California).

For most of the night we spent at our friend Jonathan’s place for a pre-Thanksgiving party (Sam was DJing and there were a couple of kegs plus rage cafe and beer pong).

After around 12am we headed over to a place called House of Yes in Brooklyn. It was sort of a burning man type crowd. From what I remember, it was pretty crowded, but I would check out it again (they usually have themes every single weekend. We were definitely not dressed up for the occasion).

At the end of the night, we went to a pizza place called Artichoke Basille pizza where we got some artichoke pizza (also in Brooklyn). It was great, from what I remember .

New York City, first day

Posted on by
Reply

Our hotel when we arrived in Manhattan was located in midtown, which is great since it is pretty central to everything (Time Square, Empire State, Central Park, etc). It was called the Royalton.

(FYI, we did arrive in New York, Long Island at 2am of this day and stayed at the La Quinta hotel, but nothing notable about it except the hotel had a horrible bed, and the towels were not soft… but it was cheap at only $100 a night).

We started off the day going to Korea town and eating at a place called Her Name is Han. At this restaurant, we met David Schwimmer!:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2018/11/19/her-name-is-han/

We then explored a bit in Korea Town, stopping by Food Gallery 32 (a Korean cafeteria with different vendors), and then got dessert at this place:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2018/11/19/grace-street-coffee-and-desserts/

After, we headed to Central Park, and walked around (started around 86th st and made our way down).

After Central Park, we briefly stopped by Times Square. We saw Bryan Cranston while we passed by the theater were he was doing show (he starts the play by barging from the outside).

After Time Square we went to the lower East Side, where met up with our friend Mike (whose lives in New York for 5 months), and checked out a couple of bars. The most notable one is this one:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2018/11/19/bar-goto/

Afterwards, we met up with some friends at Cooper’s Craft and Kitchen for drinks.

Then we attempted to go to Marquee, where Quinto was playing. It the tickets were $60, or $500 for bottle service. Since it was already 2:30am (and I’m they close at 4am), we thought it was not worth it. We then attempted Terminal 5 where San Holo was playing, it they closed early at 1am!

That’s its for day 1.