In 2010, I started this blog to write about my new(ish) home, New York City. Somewhere along the line, it evolved into more a travel blog. I started to write about NYC less and less, aside from my Global Bites without the Flights series. Most of you joined me more recently so because of that and also because I am seriously nostalgic, having left NYC only a week ago, I now present my 50 favorite New York City posts:

Classic New York

• Walking Broadway – in which I walk the entire length of Broadway in Manhattan in one day, walking 13.6 miles from 225th Street to Battery Park City, stopping for carrot cake, pizza, cookies, and more.
• Comin’ to America – in which my cousins and I walk in the footsteps of our ancestors at Ellis Island and visit the Statue of Liberty.
• A Bridge Grows in Brooklyn – in which I walk over the Brooklyn Bridge a few times.
• Sitting on Top of the World – in which my gal pals and I make it to the top of the Empire State Building on a gorgeous fall evening.

• Radio City – in which Emily and I see the cheesy spectacular that is the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Show.
• Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard – in which I first experience Upright Citizens Brigade, where I find myself many more evenings over the years.
• Blades of Glory – in which I ice skate (for the first time since my Girl Scout days) in Bryant Park.
• Just Around the Riverbend – in which I kayak with my dad in the Hudson River and tell myself I’m going to do it every summer weekend and then never do it again.

• Saturdays in the Park – in which I explore Central Park and start writing my blog (!).
• Rockefellerin’ around the Christmas Tree – in which Mendy and I attempt to sneak in to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting.
• Voluncheering for the NYC Marathon – in which I volunteer for the NYC Marathon and pass out water to the inspiring runners of one of my favorite days in NYC all year and cheer my booty off.
• Angel is in the Outfield – in which I discuss my favorite moments at Mets and Yankee baseball games my first summers in the city.
• New Yorkers vs. Sandy – in which New York responds to Hurricane Sandy.

Unique New York

• Flashing Lights, Lights, Lights, Lights – in which I participate in an Improv Everywhere event and make it into the official video.
• With the Greatest of Ease – in which I temporarily conquer my fears of falling and failing by taking trapeze lessons on a freezing cold day above Manhattan.
• A Weird Experience – in which Aubrey and I go to the New Museum simply because there is a giant slide on display that visitors can ride (as long as they wear stylish helmets).
• How Do You, How Do You Sleep? – in which Kater, Nicole, and I attend Sleep No More, a unique theater experience where I’m terrified that people will jump out at me.

• Truth or Urban Dare – in which Emily and I participate in a scavenger hunt around the city and get our pictures on a giant screen in Times Square, which is cool, even though I misspell my own name.
• A Deluxe Apartment in the Sky – in which I visit Christopher Columbus at the top of his spire in Columbus Circle, where they built him an apartment, for no apparent reason other than “art”.
• America’s Next Top Model – in which I interrupt a “modeling shoot” and become one of the “models”.

Starstruck

• xoxo Gossip Girl – in which I inspire a look on Gossip Girl while I’m stalking the stars shooting a scene in Tribeca, years before I ever see an episode (I’m currently on Season 3).
• Live, From New York – in which I attend a filming of Saturday Night Live.
• Justified – in which I (kind of) hang out with Justin Timberlake two nights in a row.

Tours & Classes

• A Nightmare in the West Village – in which Kater and I go on a ghost tour of the West Village and I will never relax in a park in NYC the same way again.
• Big Wheel Keep on Turning – in which I take pottery classes at Mud, Sweat, and Tears for three courses and never advance further than small bowls.
• Shake Ya Tailfeather – in which I go on a bird-watching tour of Central Park and complete my “28 Things To Do Before I Turn 28” challenge that I made for myself.

• Treat Every Week Like It’s Shark Week – in which Aubrey and I have a perfect, gorgeous day riding on a speedboat around the island of Manhattan, even though it meant being splashed by Hudson River water.
• This ‘Hood was Made for Walkin’ – in which I take a tour of the Lower East Side with pickles, babka, bialys, and my now good friend Jeff of Walks of NY.
• Well I Got This Guitar and I Learned How to Make It Talk – in which I take guitar lessons and try to be Taylor Swift for six months.

Boroughs & Islands

• 5 Pointz: One of LIC’s Coolest Jointz – in which I experience the incredible graffiti mecca of 5 Pointz just days before it is surprise white-washed.
• The Art Scene Grows in Brooklyn – in which I take a street art tour with Like a Local Tours and fall in love with Bushwick, Brooklyn.
• Paradise Island – in which I recap a trip to Coney Island, complete with hot dogs, “Shoot the Freak”, and me being terrified on the Cyclone.

• When on Arthur Ave – in which I explore the *real* Little Italy, the Arthur Ave neighborhood in the Bronx.
• Cheers to the Governor – in which Kat and I visit Governor’s Island a few summers after we first promise ourselves we are going to.
• Getting Hooked on Red Hook, Brooklyn – in which I explore the neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn and eat seafood, key lime pie, and a Brookster and ran into a peacock.
• Yankee Doodle Dandy – in which I go to Staten Island.

Food & Drink

• I Like Pig Butts and I Cannot Lie & I Had a Barbecue Stain on my White T-Shirt – in which Kat and I dominate the Big Apple Barbecue, one of my favorite events in the city.
• Curd I Brie Eating Any More Cheese? – in which I attend “The Big Cheesy” to determine the best grilled cheese in the city but this mainly made the list because I am proud of all of the cheese puns I incorporated.
• You’ll Have a Gay Old Time – in which I discover Big Gay Ice Cream and fall in love with a Salty Pimp.
• A Lobster Tale – in which The World Wanderer and I have a daytime adventure on a lobster boat in the Hudson and continue to pet a dog and eat cookies later on in the evening.

• You’re So Fine, You Blow My Mind – in which Kater and I go to the Ear Inn for the first time and receive a message in bread crumbs from the sailor ghost Mickey who lives there.
• Marie’s Crisis Cafe, You’re the Top – in which friends and I first find the most unique and wonderful bar in the West Village where former choir and drama kids sing musical numbers all night, accompanied by a piano and plenty of alcohol – Marie’s Crisis Cafe.
• Doctor’s Orders – 3 Tompkins Square Bagels Meals a Day – in which I first discover what I am dubbing the “best bagels in NYC” – an important and controversial topic of NYC life – at Tompkins Square Bagels.
• Meals on Wheels – in which I’m challenged to buy every single meal I have for an entire weekend from a food truck.

• Good Ale, Raw Onions, & No Ladies – in which I first experience the perfection that is McSorley’s Old Ale House, a place where I’d later become a regular and the bartenders know my name. Yes, that is a brag.
• A Love Letter to a Bar – in which I explain how it feels to have the first place where everybody knows my name shut down after years of bringing me joy and trivia championships.
• A Tribute to Tribeca – in which I gush over my favorite restaurants in the downtown neighborhood of Tribeca.
• Four Star and Seven Years Ago – in which Amour Foud and I receive the VIP treatment at Le Bernardin, my first four-star restaurant.
• I’ll Have What She’s Having – in which I first visit Katz’s Delicatessen and enjoy my first pastrami and egg cream.

Don’t worry – this isn’t the final post about the Big Apple on this blog. It’s too intense a relationship to go cold turkey.

 xx

Want to pin this for future reference?