NYC Tips

Spoony C

Hey gang,

My fiancee and I are getting married in a couple weeks and going to New York City for our honeymoon the last week of October. We've both been several times before, and already have some plans made as far as shows to see, museums to hit, and whatnot, but I figured I'd ask opinions from New York-based Ten Clubbers for some good options in the following categories, where we'd have some fun browsing and shopping:

-Independent Music Store
-Indepenedent Bookstore
-Comic Book Store
-Musical instrument store (primarily guitar)

Any suggestions? We figure to be in Manhattan (where we're staying) for most of our time, but other boroughs are always an open option.

Thanks in advance!

rick1zoo2

yes, you will need to tip a lot in NYC.

81

don't get married and stay home. :P


I also suggest not buying yankee world series tickets. :P


ok..i kid...congrads and have a great time.....i'm sure our friendly new yorkers will be along shortly to help

dankind

Congratulations!

Independent Music Store -- Other Music, Bleecker Bob's, Generation Records, Bleecker Street Records
Independent Bookstore -- The Strand
Comic Book Store -- Midtown Comics, Jim Hanley's Universe
Musical instrument store (primarily guitar) -- Matt Umanov Guitars

Sounds like you really nailed a keeper if she wants to go to all these places with you (assuming you are a man from the double-e in fiancée). My wife sends me to these types of places on my own while she looks for shit to get angry at me about. :evil:

Here's to many years of such bliss for you and yours.

Let me know if you pop over East River into Brooklyn.

GC31608

dankind wrote:

Congratulations!

Independent Music Store -- Other Music, Bleecker Bob's, Generation Records, Bleecker Street Records
Independent Bookstore -- The Strand
Comic Book Store -- Midtown Comics, Jim Hanley's
Musical instrument store (primarily guitar) -- Matt Umanov Guitars

Sounds like you really nailed a keeper if she wants to go to all these places with you (assuming you are a man from the double-e in fiancée). My wife sends me to these types of places on my own while she looks for shit to angry at me about. :evil:

Here's to many years of such bliss for you and yours.

Let me know if you pop over East River into Brooklyn.

Definitely recommend Matt Umanov Guitars. Great place and some great vintage guitars.

arakias

Agreeing with Other Music for Independent music store.
But for book store, aside from The Strand (tons of books, often crowded and disconcerting with so much), I suggest McNally Jackson http://mcnallyjackson.com/ (highly highly suggest as they have book print to order machine and other great new stuff) or the Housing Works Bookstore (charitable cause).

dankind

arakias wrote:

Agreeing with Other Music for Independent music store.
But for book store, aside from The Strand (tons of books, often crowded and disconcerting with so much), I suggest McNally Jackson http://mcnallyjackson.com/ (highly highly suggest as they have book print to order machine and other great new stuff) or the Housing Works Bookstore (charitable cause).

I do most of my book shopping in Brooklyn (BookCourt, powerHouse, Greenlight) but would have to second arakias's comment that The Strand can be a bit overwhelming. It's like you know they probably have what you're looking for in there, but good luck making your way through the stacks to actually find it. They usually do have a very helpful staff, though. You just have to ask for it.

Also seconding McNally Jackson and Housing Works.

Spoony C

dankind wrote:

Sounds like you really nailed a keeper if she wants to go to all these places with you (assuming you are a man from the double-e in fiancée). My wife sends me to these types of places on my own while she looks for shit to angry at me about. :evil:

She is quite the keeper! Of course, I have to spend however much time she wants looking through Tiffany & Co. (her favorite place in the world), so it's a fair trade-off.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Spoony C

We're back from the trip, and thanks for all the advice! We did get to check out the Strand, which she absolutely loved, but it was on Saturday (with all the brutal, nasty weather outside), so we didn't get to turn it into a full Lower Manhattan shopping/sightseeing excursion. Which means I missed out on hitting any record stores or the guitar shop, but that's okay; of course, when I got home to find that Louisville's premier indie record store, ear X-tacy, went out of business over the weekend, I kicked myself for missing the opportunity while in New York, but such is life.

And I did get to do my Wednesday comic-book run at Jim Hanley's Universe, which was great (my wife was napping, and our hotel was only about seven blocks from it). Great store layout, good selection of recent titles, and--Bonus!--all copies of last week's Amazing Spider-Man issue were signed by writer Dan Slott. Excellent!

The rest of the trip was great. We did make an excursion to Tiffany, where I surprised her by getting her a pair of modestly-priced (well, by Tiffany standards) silver earrings; saw Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett in The Mountaintop on Broadway; ate a Stage Deli sandwich while enjoying Friday's beautiful weather on a bench in Central Park; had some great dinners (The Spotted Pig in the West Village, Le Singe Vert in Chelsea, and Marcony in Murray Hill); and celeb-spotted NBC anchorwoman Amy Robach (shopping at The Gap, which, yes, I know, why go to the Gap on vacation, but my wife was looking for a clothing staple she'd forgotten to pack) and comedian Lewis Black (at Bar Centrale on 46th Street, where we had our pre-play drinks).

Now it's back at home to get our lives unpacked after weeks of hectic wedding preparation. We are both so ready to relax. And since my PJ20 Deluxe Blu-ray arrived yesterday, we have an excuse to just stay on the couch for a while.