2012-2023 Form

Walking in might work, but you also run the risk of inconveniencing someone while their working. However, let's say you go for it, have you thought about what questions will I be asked at an interview for a restaurant job? Visit this link to get yourself prepared for what is surely to come your way whether at your impromptu or official interview. Having some prepared answers can make the process run more smoothly which will give you confidence and probably result in a job.

No kids, I assume?Then, start your new life! Even with little money, you can get decent education or training and get the job. Decide what you want from your life, and work hard to achieve it. Get good friends. Enjoy your freedom.Also, NY is not the cheapest place to live. Consider renting the apartment in another city with more affordable life.

It all depends. First visits were when I was very young and I remember being utterly dumbfounded by life in the big city. I stayed up late one night just staring out the hotel window at the apartment building across the street - I couldn’t believe all of the lives going on before me. It was like being in a theater with 500 miniature stages.Coming in the second phrase of my life after leaving college was much different. Couldn’t find a place to live or a decent job. Stayed in a hellish SRO drug infested hotel as I could afford nothing more. Left after two years vowing to never, ever, return.Third phase brought me back for grad school (though I lived in NJ for two years at first). But finally moved to the City for good and never looked back.But that night as a small child in the hotel window will be with me always. It is the city of dreams where 8 million human stories play out daily (and many more with all who commute in everyday).The City can still drive me crazy but I love it. To live here is to realize that you’re just a moment, a backdrop, a walk-on in someone else’s play - and they likewise in yours.

This going to be long, but I’m thorough, if anything. I do think we need to do our own homework when we visit anyplace. I agree the best way to explore this city is on foot. Some of my favorite neighborhoods and parks for walking are Greenwich Village, Chinatown (but get off Canal Street and into the actual smaller streets of Chinatown proper), the Lower East Side, East Village, Central Park, Inwood Park, Chelsea, Soho, Harlem, Battery Park/Battery City, High Line, Hell's Kitchen and that's just a fraction of Manhattan. I suggest you do a little research and decide where you want to walk the most because each of these places has something different to offer. I don't agree with the person who says to avoid all of the major sites and equates them as tourist traps. What sets you aside from the general tourist population is actually doing some research on these places before you visit them so you know a thing or two about them historically. New York has an extremely rich history as do most of its sites, as many are historical. Read a few of the stories. Learn why nobody calls Sixth Ave. “Ave. of the Americas.” Discover the proper pronunciation for Houston St. You'll appear more NY-savvy to locals and will walk away with a greater appreciation of the places you visit. I promise you. If you're only here for a short period, you might want to consider a guided walking tour or two.You actually should spend a few minutes in Times Square, but that's all you need there unless you're exploring the Theater District because that's in Times Square and seeing a Broadway show, which I do recommend to every single person who comes here. It's the number one cultural attraction that the City offers. I'm actually putting together a sing-along tour of Broadway theaters. Whatever you do, don't eat at any of the Times Square chain restaurants. I'll never understand why people come to the city with its thousands of restaurants and eat at the junk food dumps. My favorite places in this area are Sardis for before-and-after Theatre drinks. Sardi's is the iconic theater bar where you're likely to rub elbows with Broadway Stars who have their caricatures on the wall, which is what this restaurant is most famous for. It's also where the Tony Awards was first conceived. Yes, its a bit touristy, but a lot of locals go here also. Did you know it's original owner, George Sardi, loved actors so much and hated the idea of a starving actor that he created an Actor's Menu of deeply discounted selections? You show your union card and order. This generous tradition is still practiced. Sardi’s also hosts many opening night parties. For pizza, down the street from Sardis, go to John's Pizza. It's the largest pizza joint in the country, if not the world, and no two pizzas come out exactly the same. It's housed in a renovated old church and in my opinion has the best pizza in the city. Chez Josephine is a French restaurant (with a pianist) established by Jean-Claude Baker, son of The legendary Josephine Baker, as a living tribute to his mother. He died s few years back, but handed it down to one of his associates who has carried the torch with the same theatrical flare. For Italian food with an urban, creative flare go to Etcetera Restaurant, also on 44th Street. Upstairs at Ecetera, on most Sunday evenings, is the Salon, a wonderful open mic for both professional singers (mostly Broadway and cabaret) as well as hobbyists. It was started by my musical director and it wins a lot of awards. You might even find me singing here some nights.NOTE: Never engage the costumed characters in Times Sq. They will try to solicit you to have pictures taken, may even make you feel obligated, then hit you up for tips. Well except maybe the Naked Cowboy he's nuts, but authentic) and Cowgirl. (Sidenote: My personal trainer was his former girlfriend and the original Naked Cowgirl).A five-minute walk from Time Square over to 9th Avenue will lead you to an actual neighborhood where people actually live called Hell's Kitchen. A lot of actors live in Hell's Kitchen. It's also undergone considerable gentrification and has all kinds of restaurants along 9th Avenue. On 42nd Street between 9th and 10th is Theatre Row, a complex of Off Broadway Theatre houses. 46th Street between 8th and 9th is Restaurant Row, once again, with just about every kind of restaurant you could possibly want. There's even a famed piano bar, Don't Tell Mama, in the middle of it.Forget the Empire State Building, One World Trade and Top of the Rock for views. To avoid crowds and exorbitant prices to see a view, here is a better View that costs nothing and there won't be very many people around. It's fairly easy to get to. The best view of Manhattan is not in Manhattan. It's across the Hudson River in New Jersey. Go to south terminal at Port Authority and take a Boulevard East bus to Weehawken. Get off around Fulton Street. It generally takes 10 to 15 minutes to get there . You’ll see a magnificent, sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline from the George Washington Bridge all the way down to the Statue of Liberty. The view is on one side and stately mansions dot the street behind you. I used to occupy the top floor of one of those houses and had the view. Now consider the historic aspect of where you're standing. Walk a couple blocks along Boulevard East back to a sign that says Hamilton Park. You can ask somebody if you don't see it. This is the famous dueling ground where Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr. There are some restaurants here also. Walk a few blocks along Boulevard East to 48th Street. There is a fabulous, authentic Mexican restaurant, once again with that same view. Or you can walk (or take an Uber) down the hill to the river and there are other restaurants around there. Also on the river in the summer are weekly jazz festivals. You can take the ferry from there back to Manhattan. The ferry takes about 5 minutes to cross the river.A good walk through Midtown might start at the United Nations building all the way over by the East River on 42nd St. Walk a few blocks west to the Chrysler Building, go inside and check out the murals. Next door at Grand Central Station, so go inside all the way to the main room and climb the grand staircase to really take in the magnificence of this building, one of the finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture. On the ceiling, note the mural of the Zodiac. It's upside down. No one knows why but some speculate it was meant as God would see it lookong down. Understand that this all was saved from demolition by Jackie Onassis Kennedy back in the 90s. She spearheaded its restoration to its former glory. 700,000 commuters pass through Grand Central Station every day.Continue on 42nd Street to the New York Public Library. Google why the famous lion statues are named Patience and Fortitude. The grand interior houses the original Gutenberg Bible and the Declaration of Independence, both on display. Be sure towalk into The Rose Reading Room. Before you signNow 6th Avenue you will see, in the “backyard” of the library, Bryant Park. Is a great place for people-watching. People playing chess, sunbathing, jugglers, you name it. This park fell to rack and ruin but was renovated in the 90s into a prize-winning respite from 42nd Street . Once a week in the summer, the park hosts a popular film series on the ground. In the winter, there's free ice skating (You'll pay $15 or $20 for skate rentals.) During the renovation , the library extended its stacks underneath the park , so when your in the park you're actually on top of thousands of books . Before this was a park it was the pond for the Croton Aqueduct.One more block and you'll be in Times Square. Don't avoid it, but continue down 42nd Street. Do, however, avoid at all costs Madame Tussauds, one of the biggest tourist traps in the city. Go inside the AMC movie theater. Not too many people know this, but a Broadway theater the Empire, was literally moved down the street from 41st Street into this space and renovated into this movie theater. You can see remnants of the old theater when you get inside. Google it so you know what to look for for. Keep walking west all the way over to the river to the Intrepid, an old battleship that is now a maritime space & air Museum.For history buffs, visit the Financial District. This is where it all began in the seventeenth century, at the southernmost tip of Manhattan. When the Dutch settled, the settlement of New Amsterdam was established. I'll just point out a few important items. Start with a ride on the Staten Island ferry. Don't waste time and money on actually going to Liberty Island. The ferry sails right past the Statue and Ellis Island. And the ferry is FREE. You can get out and ealk around Staten Island. There are a few interesting sites such as the National Lighthouse Museum and Snug Harbor Cultural Center. SI is actually becoming a popular destination with lots of museums and , for abamdoned building enthusiasts, lots of them, including an abandoned fort. But that's a tour for another day. When you return, a walk around Battery Park will take you past Castle Clinton, built just before the War of 1812 as a fort. In future, it will become an entertainment complex, most famous for the American debut of Jenny Lind, a wildly popular opera star known as the Swedish Nightengale. Next it was an immigration hub (pre-Ellis Island) and an aquarium for Beluga whales. Now, after such a fabled past, it's been downsized to ticket stand for the Statue of Liberty. Cross State St and explore the historic streets. If if has a black street sign, it's a colonial street. Frauncis Tavern is perhaps the city's oldest surviving pub (great food) dating back to the early 1700's. It figured heavy into the Revolutionary War, as it was both a meeting place for the resistance (our Founding Fathers) and the site where Washington bid an emotional farewell to his troops. There is a small Museum upstairs. Head to Broadway and Bowling Green, the first public park. It was both a cattle market and a place for bowling. A statue of King George dominated here until they hacked it down during the Revolutionary War. You'll have to google these sites (or this would otherwise go on forever) all ong fhe stretch of Broadway known as the Canyon of Heroes: Charging Bull, Trinity Church (where Alexander Hamton is buried), take a detour down Wall St. for one block to Federal Hall and the Stock Exchange. Federal Hall is our nation's first Capitol Bldg. Now it's a museum. Back on Broadway, stop in St. Paul Chapel, where Washington prayed the night of his inauguration. At Vesey St., you can get a good view of One World Trade. You can detour if you wish. It's only a couple blocks, but bear in mind if you want to visit the observation deck or the 9/11 Museum, the lines will be long and it will cost. Continuing along Broadway is the iconic Woolworth Bldg, a gothic beauty that was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1931, when it was topped by the Empire State Bldg. From here, you’re just around the corner from our beautiful City Hall and Brooklyn Bridge and a little further along, Chinatown, the cast-iron architecture of Soho with it's trendy stores and restaurants and the Village.Take a walk around the Lower East Side and explore the street art, the boutiques, the shops, the cafes and bars, tenement buildings. Developers haven't completely destroyed this area. It's still has a strong creative edge and has emerged as a major nightlife scene. While you're there visit the small but wonderful Tenement Museum. You'll learn about the early immigrants from the mid-nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth century. These are very worthwhile tours that take you into actual tenement buildings that have not been changed. The lives of actual existing family that lived in these buildings is brought to life.Walk up to the East Village and take a walk along Saint Mark's Place(8th St bet. 2nd/3rd Aves). Although it no longer has the edge that it used to it's still a great walk that's only a block long. Once the center of the punk scene is now a colorful mishmash of bars, tattoo parlors, Etc. Walk to the Strand Bookstore, probably New York's largest independent Bookseller. Three levels of books, old and new, on every subject. Walk back down to 8th Street and continue west, through the buildings of NYU (which are marked with purple and white banners), to 6th Avenue. Notice the old, historic Jefferson Library, another building that has been able to sidestep the wrecking ball. A couple blocks down on Christopher St., you'll be in what was once the epicenter of gay New York, and in front of the now-landmarked Stonewall Inn, birthplace of the GLBTQ Rights movement. Although the gay scene has moved further up into Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, there is still a signNow presence in Greenwich Village along Christopher Street and environs.Another worthwhile walking tour to give yourself is a stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge into the downtown neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Here you will explore the Promenade of Brooklyn Heights with its grandiose views. Other neighborhoods are DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn Navy Yard, Williamsburg, Atlantic Ave. and Fort Greene Park. Further in are Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza Arch, the wofld-class Brooklyn Museum and Greenwood Cemetery, where many cele rities are buried. I'll leave you to Google these areas because there's too much; each neighborhood has a lot to offer and its own uniqueness.In Queens, a couple of worthwhile visits are the Museum of the Moving Image, and Queens Museum with its Panorama, a 3-D diorama of the entire city of New York. This is in Flushing-Corona Park next to the iconic Unisphere, a relic from the 1964 World's Fair. Also nearby are the New York Hall of Science; the Queens Zoo; Billie Jean King Nat’l Tennis Center (US Open); and Citi Field, home of the Mets. In summer, on Saturday nights is the Queens Night Market (next to Queens Museum) with over a hundred food vendors from all over the world, live music and art. In N the same general area, you'll find an impressive Hindu Temple devoted to Ganesh (they serve free dosas in the basement) and, for Jazz enthusiasts, the former home of Louos Armstrong, now a house museum.If you like Indian food, take the PATH train to Journal Square, across the river in Jersey City. Walk a few blocks along Kennedy Blvd. to Newark Ave. and cross the street. You are standing at the beginning of India Square, or Little India, with Indian shops, supermarkets, Hindi temples and many, many Indian restaurants lined up one after the other. These aren't fancy by any means, but all offer authentic cuisine at affordable prices. Many are cheaply priced all-you-can-eat buffets and the food is delicious.Uptown: A walk through Harlem, home of the Harlem Renaissance period which produced an explosion of African-American creativity, writing and arts during the 20s/30s and the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. Here are also great restaurants such as Sylvia's (soul food). Also, Malcolm Shabazz Mosque and Malcolm Shabazz Market, the Abyssinian Baptist Church, entertainment venues like The Red Rooster and The Apollo, as well as a plethora of intimate jazz clubs. A short walk from Harlem is The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Tom's Diner (of Seinfeld fame), Riverside Church, Grants Tomb and Columbia University.Further uptown (Take the subway) is The Cloisters, a cluster of medieval buildings imported stone-by-stone from Europe. This celebrated museum, run by the Met, houses mostly medieval sculpture and decorative art. It's located in one of our most beautiful parks Fort Tryon Park ( site of the Revolutionary War Battle of Fort Washington), and is surrounded by lush greenery, hiking trails and Gardens. It's a great place to go when you want to forget you're in the city. Only a few blocks from the north side of fhis park is a neigjborhood called Inwood, home to another nearby park, Inwood Park, with it's Native American Caves and more hiking trails. This is the alleged location where Peter Minuit purchased the isle of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians for 60 Dutch gilders ($24) worth of trinkets. A ten minute walk from here is the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, the last surviving farmhouse in Manhattan.These are but a few of a long list and combination of sites I've put together for myself and others to explore this vibrant, dynamic city. I've tried to give a choice of places for different tastes, moods and schedules and hope this has helped.

See: Where will you go, Bill de Blasio? in the Economist, and Bill de Blasio's tax plan makes NY more dependent on 'top 1 percent,' not less  in the NY Post

Was as happy as could be. NYC is an overcrowded hellhole. Everything is cheaper outside the city. (That goes for San Francisco and LA as well.) Life is slower, people are nicer and everything is cleaner. Run!