There are times when New York begins to bite. Everything seems to be going horribly wrong, and you feel so very alone, walking against the tide of humanity flowing out of Grand Central or jostling with the well-heeled shoppers on Fifth Ave. Everybody seems to be so busy and having such a good time in the Big Apple - Except for poor you with nothing to do and no money to do it even if you wanted to. At times like these, when you’re in the dumps, I usually retreat from the merciless inhumanity of Downtown Manhattan and seek comfort in Harlem with some real soul food and quiet jazz.

Life here is still simple, and you’re not expected to have a gazillion tucked away in stock options. Whatever you may or may not be, you’re still welcome at M & G’s at the corner of 125th & Morningside near St. Nicholas Ave, for a heaping plate of fried chicken and then hang around for a couple of hours nursing a cup of iced tea and nibbling on a short rib sandwich. You can perch on your stool and yak with the regulars about what’s happening in Harlem. They’ll happily talk to strangers, and all you have to do is nod along and listen, with the jukebox belting out an excellent selection of jazz, soul and R&B tunes. There’s something comforting about the place, which makes you forget all about your pathetic existence, and just flow with it. 

And it helps that the food is great and prices are still cheap, inspite of all the fame the M & G has recieved recently. I’d much rather prefer to cure my blues with some 20 odd dollars at M & G’s, than visit a therapy hack who charges by the hour…You can, of course, visit the M & G Diner, if just like soul food or you’re just looking to get acquainted with New York and Harlem. Info: 383 W. 125th St., New York, NY 10027; (212) 864-7326  

Another place I used to hang out at in Harlem until recently is Amy Ruth’s, located at 113 W 116th St., New York, NY 10026. Right now, it’s a bit over-rated and the waiting lines for a table are getting longer than I’m used to, which is why I shifted base to M & G’s, but it’s still pretty good, if you’re looking for soul food in NYC. The meals are named after famous folks like the Rev. Al Sharpton, and they serve up a smashing dessert - The Inez Bass, a red velvet cake. It feels good to be able to stick a fork into the good Rev. Sharpton, if you know what I mean… 

Other notable soul food joints in Harlem include Miss Maude’s on 547 Lenox Ave, Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen on 2841 Frederick Douglass Blvd and the nearby Londel’s Supper Club on Striver’s Row, which also features live jazz performances during the weekend. Londel’s chicken and waffles aren’t too bad either, and their Sunday brunch spread is a pretty good example of what Harlem soul food is all about.

No, that’s not a typo. The film, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, is named ‘When Harry Met Sally’, but did you know the places and spots in New York, featured in the movie? Well, follow me along on a Where Harry Met Sally tour of New York.

Katz’s Deli: First up is th Deli where they’re having this discussion about women faking orgasms and men not realising it (youtube video), and Sally gives a vocal display of how its done. This famous scene was shot at Katz’s Deli, one of New York’s oldest and most famous delicatessen’s, and the gold standard for Jewish Deli’s. You can even sit at the same table, which has a taped sign which says “You are sitting at the table where Harry met Sally.” 

Katz’s pastrami sandwiches are the stuff of legends, and the frankfurters, knockwurst, knishes and other Jewish deli dishes are equally enticing. But more than the food, it’s about the New York experience. Eating at Katz is more of a ritual, than just about kosher food. Its a meeting place, a place where you can hang out, and be a regular and josh with the counterguys. Info: 205 E. Houston St., New York, NY 10002 at Ludlow St.; (212) 254-2246

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The pecan pie scene, where Harry asks Sally discuss dating, was filmed in the Egyptian Exhibition section at the Met, in the temple of Dendur, to be specific. There’s a lot you can do at the Met, other than gawking at the artifacts and exhibitions. The Met organizes events and programs, and there’s some fine cafes and restaurants, including the fifth floor Roof Garden Cafe which gives you an excellent view of Manhattan.  Info: 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street NYC New York 10028; (212) 535-7710

There’s a lot more of Manhattan in the film, including a stroll through Central Park in the autumn, when they talk about their sex dreams. There’s also glimpses of the Rockefeller Center Christmas display and the decorated windows of Saks Fith Ave.

Minor points of interest include The Plant Shed, on West 98th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave, where Harry and Sally buy Christmas trees, and then there’s a scene in a bookshop where they meet with one of Sally’s friends in tow, which makes for an interesting turn, as…Well, anyway, point is the bookshop featured in the movie is a branch of Shakespeare & Co., located at 79th and Broadway.

This is all I can remember offhand, but if you know of any more interesting NYC spots where Harry met Sally, do tell.

The Vu Hotel in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood (that’s NYC speak for Midtown West), like every hotel in New York City worth its salt, offers a sweeping view of Times Square and the Manhattan skyline, and is located within walking distance of all the major attractions and ‘visitable’ points of interest in Manhattan. The Vu is also the closest hotel to Pier 94 and the Manattan Cruise Ship Terminal, with the Javits Convention Center, Fifth Ave shopping, the Rockefeller Center and Times Square attractions a short stroll away. Its slated to open its doors to guests early summer.

The Vu is run by Kimpton Hotels (www.kimptonhotels.com). Which means that this hotel could very well end beating all the other NYC family hotels, when you factor in the KimptonKids program run by the group at all its hotels and the ‘tourist-friendly’ location of the hotel.

For the uninformed, KimptonKids sets the standard for family vacations, offering everything a family needs in a hotel, for kids of all ages, shapes and sizes, in their own words - Cribs and high chairs in rooms and restaurants and concierge services including accredited baby-sitting, 24 hour on-call pediatrician, car rentals with child friendly seats and rental of strollers. To top it off, the hotel offers special welcome gifts for all kids, and a list of kid-friendly activities and outlets near the hotel including parks and restaurants. 

And just in case you’re still not decided, the Vu is also a green hotel which relies solely on eco-friendly services and products, and is pet-friendly with special services and amenities deoted to pets. Amenities for the pets’ masters include wireless internet throughout the hotel, free coffee and tea, a luxury spa, valet and laundry services, complimentary overnight shoe shine and newspaper, valet parking and 24 hour room service.

The 222 rooms and suites at the Vu hotel each come with an expansive view of either the Manhattan skyline or the Hudson River through large windows, with wi-fi internet, flat-screen HDTV cable and over 150 channels, on-demand movies and games with Nintendo 64, an ‘essential travel kit’, iron & ironing board, hair dryer, stone tiled bathrooms and oversized showers stocked with signature bath products, in-room spa services, and some of the rooms feature a Fuji soak tub.  Room rates are expected to be pricey, starting from $425, but the hotel will be providing specials for family stays.

Dining options at the Vu include a first-floor restaurant adjacent to the hotel, which features casual dining with a regional cuisine prepared with local produce, and there’s also a 15th floor rooftop bar perefect for a warm summer night date with an unobstructed view of the City on the West and the hudson River on the East.

Info: 653 11th Avenue at 48th, New York, NY 10036; Reservations: (877) 843-8869;
Front Desk: (212) 757-0088 Web: www.vuhotel.com

Kathleen Lucadamo, NY Daily News, has some startling revelations in an ‘ Obecity fat study’ regarding New York’s collective waistline.

New Yorkers collectively gained more than 10 million pounds in two years, according to Health Department data released Wednesday. During the same period, between 2002 and 2004, obesity rates and diabetes cases swelled 17% and 173,500 of New Yorkers moved into the obesity range, health officials found. Health bigwigs blamed syrupy sodas in part for the city’s fat surge, saying that 27% of New Yorkers drink nearly two sodas a day - 300 nutrition-free calories. The survey of 10,000 adults showed that obesity ballooned 20% among whites in the city compared with 7% nationally. Obesity rates here grew 14% among Hispanics but nationally didn’t rise significantly for groups other than whites. Foreign-born New Yorkers experienced the sharpest increase in obesity at 33% since 2002, meaning that 22.4% of that population is obese.  

10 million pounds in 2 years…I have this mental picture of a fat waldo named New York who just gained 10 million pounds. Wow! Time to dust off the old nike and join the fitness freaks at central park. But seriously, exrecise and diet is just one-half of the equation. Fact of the matter is that New Yorkers are exposed to much more culinary delights than other cities. There’s so much more to eat - so many restaurants, so many diners, so many tempatations, and the food is so cheap (some NYC residents might disagree, but it is cheap, if you know the right places…). In fact, I’d say that New York, along with a lot of other awards, also takes the cake for being the biggest food fanatic in the nation.

As Exhibit A, I present to you yesterday’s New York Times column by Henry Alford, whose sole mission is to explain how you can prepare delicious dishes and eat tasty stuff by buying ‘only at 99 cent stores and outlets’.

In fact, he labels his column as a primer on ‘How to survive in New York on 99 cents’. Here’s some brief excerpts.

 There are 99-cent stores, and then there is Jack’s. It’s Closeout Central, an off-brand oasis. Located at 110 West 32nd Street, near Herald Square, with satellite stores at 16 East 40th Street and 45 West 45th Street, Jack’s has not only lots of freezer cases and five or more aisles full of food, but also an upstairs gourmet section with more upscale items — Buitoni and Bertagni prepared pastas, Lindt and Ferrero chocolates, Hero jams — at prices ranging from about $1.99 to $4.99…I visited 21 more 99-cent stores in Manhattan, including 12 in Harlem and Washington Heights, 4 in Chinatown and 1 in Spanish Harlem.

And this is just in addition to all the cheap eats in Brooklyn and Queens and the dimsums and rice bowls Chinatown, and the low priced greasy soulfood and juicy New York steaks and ubiquitous burgers and hotdog stands and pizzerias. All this comes with the who-gives-a-shit nutrition-free abondon which poverty forces one into, washed down with sodas and draft beers which further set the calorie counters clanging.

This proves that it’s a crime to be poor or rich in New York, and not just because you have to pay more taxes than your fair share. Its also because you’re exposed to higher calories. The rich because they have the money to throw away at parties and stuff their faces from dawn to dusk, besides not having to do any work to burn thoise calories, and the poor because they have no choice - They have to eat cheap fatty foods and they have no jobs to burn the calories. The middle-class never had it so good…

Robert DeNiro, Hollywood’s favorite mafioso…Make that Oscar winning mob actor…is all set to launch the Greenwich Hotel (www.thegreenwichhotel.com) in New York’s Tribeca District on April 1st 2008.

Why New York? You talkin’ to me? Well, in his own words, “I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, ‘There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now. That’s the way it is. That’s it.”

Review from Los Angeles Times staff writer Jane Eagle quotes Robert Deniro as saying that the new eight-story 88 room Greenwich Hotel, which sports eclectic decor and a handmade brick facade, will offer “sophistication and authenticity.” And gourmets, take note: Its restaurant is the latest outpost of chef Agostino Sciandri’s Ago empire. Also coming later: a 2,500-square-foot penthouse and a spa where guests can lounge under the roof of a 250-year-old farmhouse, reconstructed by Japanese craftsmen. Hotel furnishings range from hand-loomed Tibetan rugs to Italian terracotta floors.

Photo Credit: special HoodWatch photographic correspondent Will Femia. More specifics on the Greenwich hotel’s facade and rooms from HotelMotel.com.  

There are 88 rooms, of which no two are alike. The hotel has thirteen suites - some with saunas, others with working fireplaces. There are two duplex suites: the Greenwich, designed by Grayling and the N. Moore, designed by The Rockwell Group. Conceived as artist ateliers, both have soaring 30-foot skylights, chef’s kitchens, two master bedrooms with 2 S bathrooms, stone fireplaces, and offices with separate entrances. Each of these duplex residences can be expanded to accommodate up to 5 bedrooms. Behind the hand-made brick facade, DeNiro and Drukier [Real Estate Developer Ira Drukier] have created an intimate and welcoming retreat that reflects the warmth and personality guests would feel if they were staying at the home of a good friend. Shibui, the Greenwich Hotel’s spa is a true haven for relaxation and rejuvenation.

The hotel offers babysitting/child services, business center, and concierge 24 hour front desk and laundry/valet services. There’s a very comprehensive and through list of the Greenwich Hotel’s amenities, room information, directions and miscellaneous information at MetroTravelGuide.com. 

Info: 377 Greenwich St New York NY 10013; (212) 941-8900; E-mail: info@thegreenwichhotel.com