NYC Tip: How To Wear Headphones In New York

March 1st, 2012 by Eric Silver

Since the dawn of mp3 players, everyone bumps their own tunes in their own earholes. And what better place to walk around with headphones on than picturesque New York City? Sadly, sometimes the activity of listening to your own music goes exceedingly wrong and annoys everyone, everywhere, all the time. Here are some helpful hints to keep your headphones in heavenly headspace: 

Know thy headphones. Not all earplugs and headphones are the same. Check the specs of your ear-blasters to see if precautions have to be taken to not annoy everyone around you. For example, the headphones from no-sleep-till-Brooklyn audio company Grado Labs are open-can headphones. Apparently, not restricting the air around the speakers in the headphones promote sound quality. (It’s physics. We don’t get it either.)

However, since the cans are open, that means the headphones are just extremely comfy speakers strapped to your head. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but everyone on the overcrowded Q train may not want to hear Rack City on repeat. Which leads into our next point.  Read more…


NYC Tip: High Style And Low Prices At Lillie’s Victorian Bar & Restaurant

February 16th, 2012 by Abe Gutierrez

It’s no secret that the Flatiron has monopolized much of the New York City dining scene. Yes, it is home to some of those astonishingly expensive restaurants that one must call months in advance to get a reservation, but there are, as well, those serendipitous little pockets of affordability that deliver fantastic food at reasonable (though still not cheap) prices. Lillie’s Victorian Bar and Restaurant, on 5th Avenue and 17th St, is one of those prime examples.

Situated on an unassuming street in the heart of Flatiron and flanked by some of the most beautiful architecture around, Lillie’s seems strangely out of place at first glance. The Victorian theme is showcased right from the get-go: plush, velvet seats entice passersby and and a threatening looking (and extremely heavy) wooden door separate the lucky diners from the rest of Flatiron.  Read more…


NYC Tip: A Very Chocolatey February

February 1st, 2012 by Sharon Wu

Once upon a time, people believed chocolate to be an aphrodisiac because, supposedly, chocolate consumption released chemicals in the brain that stimulated sexual arousal and desire. Scientists have since proven that this isn’t really true, but New York City doesn’t seem to care.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, New York’s restaurants are gearing up for the harshest part of winter with some sweet February celebrations. Throughout the city, restaurants are preparing for couples galore to hit the streets on February 14th, so they’re offering tons of chocolatey options. But regardless of your relationship status, eat chocolate, fatten up a bit, and stay warm for winter.  Read more…


NYC Tip: Evolution, Natural History Store Of Dreams

January 31st, 2012 by Eric Silver

The best part of any kid’s trip to the museum is the gift shop. After hours of being saturated with way too much information and walking around for hours, tired boys and girls (and dutiful parents) pile into a room filled with colorful geodes and anatomically-correct plush tarantulas, something ‘educational’ for the bedside table.

Sure, that’s cool and all, but there’s a store down the street that’s stepping it up. If New York City is one whirling, dangerous museum, than The Evolution Store — on the corner of Mercer and Spring — is New York City’s awesome scientific gift shop.

You may have walked by Evolution while pretending to be a rich, stable person in the West Village. It’s that store with fetus skulls in the front window, or that place where Project Accessory had that crazy bug challenge when Rich Sandomeno totally crushed that acceso-whore Christina Caruso (maybe? is that a thing?). “Its like a natural history museum where you can take everything home,” says assistant Amanda Lechner.  Read more…


NYC Tip: Real Food And Live Jazz

December 5th, 2011 by Liz Kim

There are a handful of things besides food that, when combined, produce the perfect dinner: good conversation, nice wine and live jazz. There really is something to the multiplicity of senses; the brass and piano strumming your eardrums, the smells of good food drifting from your plate, and possibly a lover stroking your leg under the table that make this combination the absolute best.

Jazz has the magical ability of slowing down time, which we are all in need of these days with the increasing encroachment of finals. Plus, live jazz also encourages steady chewing in between measures, boosts metabolism when played at the correct volume, and gets the sexy vibes a-flowing on dates. So pick a night, text a pleasant friend, and get swanky with real food and live jazz:  Read more…


NYC Tip: Where To Eat Gluten-Free

December 5th, 2011 by Eric Silver

New York City is famous for its diverse selection of food. As NYU students, we are lucky to stuff our faces with as much of it as we can pay for, meal plans be damned. However, we must be aware of those among who us cannot eat everything that this city has to offer. There are the vegetarians and vegans, the religious dietary restrictions of Kosher and Halal, and the pickle-phobic.

One such group–though oft-overlooked–are the gluten-intolerant. For those of you too busy filling your cheeks with bread to read a book, gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. If you can’t digest gluten, you can’t eat those grains.

Luckily, this city does much to accommodate the gluten-ally challenged and boasts many restaurants that, like your favorite sourdough, rise to the occasion. Here are some of the best gluten-free eateries in our area, with a few nearby bars where we’ve found GF beer:  Read more…


NYC Tip: Wear Flannel

November 21st, 2011 by Eric Silver

According to our sources, winter is cold. While we’ve been trying to prepare you for the oncoming temperature drops and seasonal sadness, we have neglected to mention one wondrous, warming, panties/boxer-dropping fabric that ought to be a staple of your winter closet. We give you: flannel.

“But NYU Local,” you say after looking up from stuffing your face with homophobic fried chicken, “only hipsters wear flannel. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that!” Well, hypothetical person who cares way too much about others think of him, you’re wrong. Grunge rockers and lumberjacks have been wearing it for years. One might say the flannel-clad Williamsburg resident, in evolutionary terms, is an example of intelligent adaptation.

For those of you who would be proud to dress like Paul Bunyan or Kurt Cobain, here are some fun-filled flannel factoids for you to think about:  Read more…


NYC Tip: A Gentile’s Guide to Jewish Cuisine

November 15th, 2011 by Abe Gutierrez

If Gangs of New York taught you anything, it was that the earliest immigrants that populated New York were rough riding, burly settlers who knew that violence was a justifiable means of getting what you wanted. Many of us came here as tourists, walked around Little Italy pretending to be The Godfather, and expected to see street peddlers hawking their wares on the sidewalks. We thought Five Points was still the hub of the Irish Immigrant population, and were puzzled to find it ripe with foreign tourists and not The Dead Rabbits.

One thing that remained true to expectations, though, was the abundance of fantastic Jewish cuisine. Jewish food for the most part has been immune to the mass commercialization that has plagued many other immigrant cuisine, so in most cases, your chopped liver and onions sandwich is going to be made in the same style that it was made for the inhabitants of tenement housing on the Lower East Side some 80 years ago.

In New York City, we are privileged to have some of the best Jewish-style food in the U.S., on every street corner. The Jewish deli has become a staple in the city, and Kosher cuisine has become an art form. Here are some of New York City’s establishments best known for the noshings of The Tribe.  Read more…


NYC Tip: The Best Sandwiches Ever Are At Gracefully On Avenue A

November 11th, 2011 by Andrew Olshevski

Nestled between 2nd and 3rd Streets on Avenue A, the gourmet market Gracefully is one of the East Village’s most precious gems. There are top notch selections of cheese, sushi, produce, and snacks, but their strongest service is their sandwich counter. Gracefully’s savory constructions, served by one of the nicest and most virtuosic staffs in New York, are among the best available in Manhattan. At only $6-7 for a foot-long hero generously stuffed with ingredients, the bang to buck ratio is unparalleled. Read more…


NYC Tip: Poets House On The Hudson Is A Great Place To Study

November 10th, 2011 by Olivia Loving

Though its latest exhibition features rare Emily Dickinson manuscripts, the Poets House on River Terrace is more than a seasonal gem. A quick subway ride away, it’s worth consideration as an alternative study spot: its Reading Room is as quiet as Bobst and as odorless as the new Academic Resource Center.

So it’s hard to believe that the Poets House, like many of its peers, suffered during the recession. But the location itself underwent a recent upheaval: the House was in SoHo until 2009, when it secured its current rent-free spot. Construction workers on the site lucked out, too, and were treated to a poetry reading by Groundhog Day’s Bill Murray.

Read more…


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