Entertainment in New York City
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EDITOR'S PICK
Decibel
Barely signed, this dark basement sake bar is an East Village icon. Once you get past the line (on weekends: certain) you may wonder whether the chatty staff think they know you. Up front it feels like a 19th-century Japanese bar, with a few seats wrapped around the sake bottle–backed bar. In back, there are proper tables and more sake – the lychee martini pulls no punches (two and you’re KO-ed).
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A
Radio City Music Hall
This glittering art deco masterpiece is a great place to see a show. Many throwback acts (eg Dolly Parton, Santana) take the stage, but newer names like Arcade Fire play, too.
reviewed
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B
'Cesca
Though it’s renowned for its upscale Italian fare, the cozy front lounge and bar area here are also worth a trek. With lots of dark wood, some romantic tables and a large free-floating bar in the center of the room, the front area of ’Cesca is handsome in a gentlemen’s smoking lounge sort of way. There’s an impressive list of wines by the glass, plus great bar food.
reviewed
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C
Rodeo Bar & Grill
New York’s best Texas-style honkytonk is in Murray Hill? Good shows of country, bluegrass and rockabilly are staged nightly for a foot-tappin’ Manhattan crowd. There are creative margaritas and plenty of steaks, fajitas, burgers and veggie dishes, too.
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D
Park
The party may have moved elsewhere but the Park, with its multiple rooms and over-the-top design, has lost none of its appeal. The main dining room boasts a stand of 30-ft-tall bamboo and wide glass doors leading into the garden. There’s also a Penthouse and loungey Red Room with fireplace – festive spaces that open only on weekend nights (at 11pm); there’s no cover, but expect lines.
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E
Carnegie Hall
One of the world's most celebrated music halls, Carnegie's not the biggest, nor the grandest, but definitely one of the most acoustically blessed venues you'll find. Its soaring space still leaves you feeling intimately acquainted with the performers, who can range from jazz greats to opera stars to folk singers like Cesaria Evora.
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F
Marie’s Crisis
Aging Broadway queens, wide-eyed out-of-town gay boys, giggly tourist girls and various other fans of musical theater assemble around the piano here and take turns belting out campy numbers, often joined by the entire crowd. It’s old-school fun, no matter how jaded you were when you went in.
reviewed
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G
Angelika Film Center
Angelika specializes in foreign and independent films and has some quirky charms (the rumble of the subway, long lines and occasionally bad sound). But its roomy cafe is a great place to meet and the beauty of its Stanford White–designed, beaux-arts building undeniable.
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H
Pacha
A relative newcomer that’s hyped for big-name visiting DJs, Pacha is definitely a massive and spectacular place: 30,000 sq ft and four levels of glowing, sleek spaces and cozy seating nooks that rise up to surround the main dance-floor atrium.
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I
Last Exit
Sometimes the laid-back bartenders put on a pub quiz; other times a DJ shows up to spin. Most of the time it's locals unwinding over beers, happy to talk to strangers and let the night slip away.
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J
92nd St Y
In addition to its spectrum of wonderful readings, the Y hosts an excellent Lectures & Conversations series, which has recently featured thinkers from celeb doc Atul Gawande and actor William Hurt to writer Gail Collins and MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski. The Y’s downtown outpost for the 35-and-under crowd, 92Y Tribeca, has its very own energized lineup, on topics from real estate to dating.
reviewed
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New Jersey Nets
Overshadowed by but better than the Knicks, the Nets play exciting ball, though their closest championship call was being runners-up in the 2002 and 2003 finals. Perhaps what the Nets have needed is a total relocation – which is indeed in the cards. Real estate mogul Bruce Ratner bought the Nets in 2004 and after three years of delays and lawsuits his plan to build a new stadium was finally given the green light in 2009. The controversial $4 billion project will bring an 18,000-seat arena, the Barclays Center (www.barclayscenter.com), to Brooklyn. The Nets, in the process, are likely to be rechristened the Brooklyn Nets. Construction on the stadium began as this book was …
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K
Metropolitan Opera House
New York’s premier opera company, the Metropolitan Opera offers a spectacular mixture of classics and premieres. This is the place to see favorites such as Carmen, Madam Butterfly, Macbeth and Otello, as well as new works like Hansel and Gretel and Les Contes d’Hoffmann, unveiled in 2009. The season runs from September to April. Though ticket prices start at $70 and can get close to $300, the standing-room tickets ($15 to $20) are one of NYC’s best bargains. They go on sale at 10am Saturday for the following week’s performances. True, your feet will hurt and you won’t see much, but you’ll hear everything. You can also stand in line to try and score a prized rush ticke…
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TKTS Booth
Having that much-desired Broadway experience can break the bank – but it doesn’t have to. Thanks to the Theatre Development Fund, an arts advocacy group that sells 2.5 million theater seats annually, you can snag tickets to some of the most coveted seats at up to half the full price. Just head to the Times Sq TKTS booth, which sells cut-rate, same-day tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows. For evening shows, queue up from 3pm to 8pm Monday to Saturday; for matinees, line up from 10am to 2pm Wednesday to Saturday and from 11am to 3pm Sunday. A downtown TKTS (cnr Front & John Sts, Lower Manhattan; 11am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun) can be found at the South Street Seapo…
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M
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
The pro tennis circuit’s final Grand Slam event each year, the US Open (www.usopen.org) takes place over two weeks at the end of August at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Tickets usually go on sale at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) in April or May, but are hard to get for marquee games (held at Arthur Ashe Stadium). General admission to early rounds is easier; they run about $80 (top bleachers on Court 7 can take in five matches at once). Check out the USTA site in January or February for updates. The USTA has 30 outdoor courts and an indoor tennis center with 12 courts (per hr outdoor court $20-30, indoor court $20-62) that can be hired. Reservations…
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New York Knicks
They’re bad and in trouble of late, kicking off the 2009–10 season with the worst start in franchise history – losing nine out of ten games. Recent scandals – like the $11 million sexual harassment suit in 2007 against former coach Isiah Thomas that preceded his dismissal – haven’t helped. All the same, the blue-and-orange are loved. The first song to popularize hip hop, actually, gives it up for the beloved Knickerbockers (Sugar Hill Gang sings ‘I have a color TV so I can watch the Knicks play basketball’). Despite big crowds of Spike Lee and 18,999 others at the Garden, the Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973.
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N
Town Hall
A nonprofit entertainment organization founded in 1921 and housed in an elegant National Landmark building, Town Hall’s 2000-plus seats get filled with folks seeking eclectic musical performances. Artists are all over the map, with recent nights offering an Iranian vocalist, a Cole Porter tribute, Emmylou Harris, KT Tunstall and Judy Collins.
reviewed
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O
Merkin Concert Hall
This 450-seat hall, part of the Kaufman Center, which also runs a public arts school and public school for musically gifted kids, is one of the city’s more intimate venues for classical music. Following a light-and-airy $17 million renovation designed by local-favorite architect Robert AM Stern, this space (built in 1978) hosts a remarkable array of performances – mainly classical but with some avant-garde jazz and world music tossed in. Notable series include Tuesday matinees, which highlights up-and-coming classical solo artists; the New York Guitar Festival; and Family Matinees, which presents mini-musicals geared toward kids.
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P
Madison Square Garden
The city’s major performance venue – part of the massive complex housing Penn Station and the smaller WaMu Theater – is where you’ll find all the big-arena performers, from Kanye West and Kid Rock to Jimmy Buffett and Madonna. (The aesthetics are nil here, but it’s not about design.) It’s also a sports arena, and the place to catch games of the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, New York Rangers and boxing matches – not to mention events from the World’s Strongest Man Super Series and the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog competition.
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Q
AMC Empire 25
At this massive, 17-screen theater in the heart of Times Sq, taking the multiple flights of elevators with the crowds so you can climb up to your movie can feel a little overwhelming. But it’s pretty cool to gaze out of the huge windows that overlook lit-up 42nd St – and even more exciting to settle into the stadium-style seating, which gives good views from just about any seat. Though this isn’t the best place to catch mass-consumer Hollywood flicks, as the crowds can be massive and rowdy, it’s the perfect off-the-radar spot for indies, which show here frequently to well-behaved, manageable numbers.
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R
Moto
The Next Williamsburg is East Williamsburg – a great mix of hipsters and Latin American locals and roomy bars offering free pizza and ’70s arcade games: perfect for a bar-hopping night out. A good place to start is under the rattling J/M/Z subway tracks at Moto, a low-lit corner spot with creaky wood floors and live accordion music that feels like something straight out of 1920s Paris. Food’s not bad – snacks and starters like panini beat the mains – but it’s perfect for a glass of wine or mug of Australia’s Coopers lager to kick-start the night.
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Dixon Place
An intimate showcase for experimental theater that began as a reading space in 1985, Dixon Place recently moved from its longtime home – a cramped, apartment-like space with mismatched chairs and couches – to a sleek, brand-new space. It’s fronted by a lovely bar and lounge area for post-show discussions that has performers and audience members breathing a sigh of relief. Luckily, the move hasn’t at all altered the constant flow of exciting shows – brand-new dramas, comedy and readings, often with a queer bent. Its summer HOT! series is a great time to catch the newest works.
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New York Theater Workshop
Recently celebrating its 25th year, this innovative production house is a treasure to those seeking cutting-edge, contemporary plays with purpose. It was the originator of two big Broadway hits, Rent and Urinetown, and offers a constant supply of high-quality drama, including recent works from Rebecca Gilman (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons (Top Secret) – and even Samuel Beckett, whose quartet of one-act plays was adapted here by director JoAnne Akalaitis and composer Phillip Glass in Beckett Shorts, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov.
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U
Apotheke Bar
It takes a little effort to track down this former opium den–turned–apothecary-bar located on Doyers St (known as the Bloody Triangle back when this was gang territory). Look for a Golden Flower sign – that's the clue you've arrived. The sleek red interior, with marble bar and apothecary-type mortars, pestles and cylinders, gives the Apotheke Bar a cool vibe, enhanced when the owner passes around his homemade absinthe. The cocktails are intense and flavorful: try the Five Points (hibiscus, Italian bitters, grape juice and sugar-cane-infused rum) or the Saffron Sazerac (with saffron-infused bourbon).
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Abrons Art Center
This venerable cultural hub has three theaters, the largest being the Harry de Jur Playhouse (a national landmark), with its own lobby, fixed seats on a rise, a large, deep stage and good visibility. A mainstay of the downtown Fringe Festival, Abrons Art Center is also your best bet to catch experimental and community productions – including avant-garde jazz brought to you by the former Tonic nightclub, which was driven out of the Lower East Side by rising rents. Not afraid of difficult subjects, Abrons sponsors plays and dance and photography exhibits that don't get much play elsewhere.
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New York Giants
One of the NFL’s oldest teams, the Giants (part of the NFC conference) shocked the world (and themselves) with a 2008 Super Bowl championship won off their stingy defense and the sometimes maligned arm of quarterback Eli Manning. Like other sports franchises in the NY region, the Giants longed for a new stadium and their wish was granted. Barring any unexpected delays, the new $1.6 billion Meadowlands Stadium (no name change here) should be up and running by the time you read this. Double in size to the old stadium, it has a handy new rail link to the city courtesy of NJ Transit.
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