10 Days in New York City
Returning to New York City for two weeks was a treat full of good food & reunions.
When the theatre I work at announced that it was having a festival in December, I knew it was time to return to New York. I always avoid going back to New York because of how expensive it is, because to do anything you need to pay money, but this time I came prepared.
I had ten days in the city, I had saved for months, and this was going to be my time. I knew I wanted to enjoy the city even more than I usually did, because I typically was budget-conscious whenever I went there, but that I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money on random objects I never was going to use or wear.
NYC has some of the best food, so I put my focus on that instead. With my $1 Megabus ticket and suitcase in my hands, I made the three-hour trek to the city, almost lost my arm lugging a heavy suitcase up and down the subway, and finally made it to Brooklyn. Without further ado, here’s two weeks in New York in 2021! I’m making this more into a highlights real because, to be honest, I didn’t do as much as people do in NYC.
The Museum of Modern Art and Brooklyn Museum
I did these my very first full-day in the city. I came on a Friday at 1:30 to the MoMA, and boy was it crowded. I thought that because of COVID and the new variant going around, there wasn’t going to be as many people, but it was very crowded even with timed tickets. I came to the MoMA specifically for the Motion exhibition that was on the fifth floor, the one that typically hosts the Matisse/Van Gogh/Pollock/Picasso paintings.
The very first thing you come across is the sound and image installation on the second floor about civil rights; I really liked it, it was quite immersive. I came in time to see one of my favorite photographers on display (Cindy Sherman), which I gawked at how small the photographs are in real life. I’m so used to seeing them on a screen! I gawked at those for awhile before slowly progressing through the five floors. I think my favorite exhibit was the one that I came for (the Motion one), and the random archival films they had scattered around.
If you’re a NYC college student (I was, once upon a time), you can potentially get into the MoMA for free, but I had to pay $25. All in all, I spent three hours at the MoMA. I wrapped up earlier than expected so I sat in the lounge on the second floor that has outlets to charge your electronics. You’re not allowed to take your mask off, so I got an iced latte with oat milk in the cafeteria and drank it there for a bit, but, to be honest, that was the worst latte I’ve ever had.
Once 3:30 rolled around, I packed up my notebooks and headed over to the Brooklyn Museum. I had a timed ticket for 4:30, but no one even checked it. I walked right in. I only paid $1, so it’s not like it mattered much anyways. The first floor is dedicated to an antique furniture exhibition in December of 2021 and a Black artists retrospective; the furniture bored me but I adored the retrospective. Lots of good contemporary paintings were in there.
All in all, I wish I had the money to pay for the Christian Dior exhibit. The special exhibits in the Brooklyn Museum are $25. which broke little me was not willing to pay for. I actually ended up going way under my budget, but whatever. My favorite things at the Brooklyn Museum were the exhibitions in the feminist art wing, like “The Dinner Party” and Baseera Khan’s archive.
The museum trip was absolutely worth it because I felt my creativity thrumming, so I took notes in my journals and sat whenever I could to write down lines. I can’t write poems away from home, but I think that the work I do write will end up being pretty good because of this.
Hadestown + Live Theatre is Chicken Soup for the Soul.
I work in New York City theatre and it was our festival at New Perspectives Theatre Company, so I saw our second program (three plays) twice and the first program once. Besides that, I also ended up scoring standing room tickets to Hadestown, so I put on my best tennis shoes and headed to Times Square on a Friday night. Naturally, I ended up being very anxious because of this since it was a Friday night and Times Square is always packed. The place I wanted to eat at was full, so I wandered the area in search of food and cringed at how dirty most of the places looked. I ended up at CVS and bought potato chips, which I then ate outside the Walter Kerr Theatre. Then I got in line for the show and stretched because two hours standing was going to be a long time.
I ended up being on the lefthand back side of the orchestra, which worked really well because I saw everything except the upper half of the balcony Hades usually stood on. I’m a big fan of the soundtrack, and my god I ended up at a show with the entire original cast. Hadestown was the best thing I’ve ever seen on Broadway I can confidently say. The production and blocking is absolutely insane, plus live the soundtrack is even better.
But an example of how Hadestown is wild is how the stage itself is set up. In the song “Wait For Me,” as Eurydice descends into Hadestown, Orpheus has to dodge swinging lamps and the walls open up and the blaring lights behind are almost blinding. When they’re trying to get out of hell, the entire stage is dark except for Orpheus and then the Fates rise from the ground their lamps, swirling around Orpheus and taunting him about how Eurydice isn’t there.
It’s absolutely amazing to see how the lights swirl around him, mocking him, but it’s all in his head. There was also how the microphone stand that Hermes had also actually echoes his voice, so when Hades sings “Why We Build the Wall,” his voice actually booms around the theatre. One last thing I was obsessed with was how the rotating circle at the center of the stage was used. There was this one scene as the workers stand in the middle, Orpheus paced around the next layer of circles, and then Hades and Persephone were on the outer layer. They all paced their walks so they were opposite to each other, so it was absolutely stunning to see that blocking because it worked absolutely perfect.
I will say Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page, and Andre De Shields were the best part of the show. I also just didn’t care for Orpheus; he has very little character development and his La La Las got on my nerves by the end. But the show genuinely changed my life. It was the best thing I’ve ever seen live. Attaching the Tony Award video of “Wait For Me” which isn’t as vibrant as the stage, but oh man that was so much better in real life. The woman in front of me was crying and clapping like a seal, then the entire orchestra stood up and gave the cast a standing ovation. I left absolutely wrecked.
Ethnic Food in New York City is the Best
This is what I did the bulk of my trip: I ate my way through the city. Now, I never went to Lower or Upper Manhattan, but I did make it through a chunk of Brooklyn and Queens. When I go to New York, I typically want to get the food I can never get when I’m at home. So, naturally, I ate a crap ton of Bengali and Uzbek food. If I wasn’t working and spending a ton of time at the theatre, I would’ve hunted down some Indonesian or random niche food, but I didn’t get the chance, so I ended up sticking mainly around the Theatre District. I did, however, see some old favorites around my college (the Fashion Institute of Technology) were gone, which made me sad. My college haunts were absolutely divine. Rest in peace babies.
Well, I’ll wrap this post up with a food guide since that seems fitting.
Food Recommendations: Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan
Farida. It’s in Midtown Manhattan, on 38th and 9th. I worked right near there, so it was a block’s walk and it’s not too pricy for the area. Farida specializes in Kazakh and Uzbek food. I’d been there two years ago, when I was in college, and I remember how good the kabobs were. The meat is absolutely so juicy and divine. I ended up her twice this trip. The first time I got a traditional lagman soup with Uzbek naan, which had such an interesting flavor I’d never had before. The second time I got the steak and onion manti with garlic yogurt. I liked the lagman more and would get that again.
Kashmir 9. It’s a block down from Farida. It sells Pakistani and South Asian food. I’d stop by for the $2 Kashmiri chai and the occasional dinner. I paid $15 for a dinner I only ate half of, and you can get a lot of food for only $8.
Dhaka Garden. It’s in Jackson Heights. It was where I got Bangladeshi food and thought the flavors were absolutely delicious. The food was also really cheap.
Fuska House. It’s a food truck across from Dhaka Garden. The fuskas there absolutely changed my life—I’d never had such flavors in one bite. Stunning.
Qahwah House. It’s a Yemeni coffeeshop in Williamsburg. The coffee and khaliah were absolutely divine here. My friend and I also split a cheese samosa and were blown away by the quality—it wasn’t even expensive too.
Sofreh Cafe. Couldn’t afford to eat at the actual Sofreh, but the cafe in Bushwick had really good breads that my friend and I split.
Martha’s Country Bakery. We went to the Williamsburg location and split a fruit tart and cheesecake. Both were really delicious.
Jollibee. In Times Square—go for the peach mango pie. That was the only reason it was worth it.
Ramen Danbo. I went to the Park Slope location. My ramen came out in five minutes and was the best I’d had in the city. It was a quick, delicious eat that didn’t break the bank.
