The New York City Traveler

It has been said that the average life span for a restaurant in New York City is five years. Balthazar, the Soho-based brasserie, is considered ancient for having been around for 10 years and is yet shows no signs of slowing down.
Balthazar offers a true French bistro dining. Breakfast and brunch feature eggs (from Benedict to Florentine) and Brioche french toast. For dinner, escargot and foie gras are standouts on the hors d’oeuvres menu while the entree menu boasts fish, chicken, duck, lamb, as well as no less than four steaks. Balthizar Bakery has an array …read more

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It was a beautiful morning in New York today, but I decided to make a quick trip up to Boston for a few days to visit some friends.  I’ll be back tomorrow with everything New York including some information on my first ever (!) trip on the Chinatown Bus from New York to Boston. 
In the mean time, I had the opportunity to guest post at political and news b5media blog, Sirened.  Stop by and check it out.  I can promise that regular Sirened blogger Alex writes with such wit and intelligence that his blog will quickly become one of your favorites!       

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For many immigrants to the United States, the first stop was Ellis Island and the second stop was Manhattan’s Lower East Side.  The unassuming building at 97 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side was home to an estimated 7,000 people from more than 20 countries between 1863 and 1935.  The building is now a designated National Historic Site and houses the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.  The museum offers tours of carefully restored apartments with the mission to promote better understanding of the lives of the immigrant working-class and poor that lived in this gateway to America.
The LES …read more

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It feels like Lent just started but Easter is a mere four weeks away and it’s never too early to start planning.  Now is the time to secure admission tickets for the Easter morning Mass at New York City’s famous St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Due to overwhelming demand, St Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest gothic-style Catholic church in the United States, requires tickets for masses on important holidays such as Easter and Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
The mass schedule for Easter is as follows:

7am
8am
9am
10:30am (tickets required)
12 noon
1pm
4pm (Spanish)
5:30pm

You may request up to four tickets for the 10:30am mass by sending a self- …read more

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Sunset and the Statue of Liberty.   
Photo credit: personal collection
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Technorati Tags: b5media,The New York City Traveler,New York City,New York,NYC,tourism New York,Manhattan,travel,photo

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Perhaps its was the anti-climatic award season or the lackluster news conference-style Golden Globes.  But this year’s best movies have not received the main-stream press attention that they would have once garnered.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is one such film that has been largely overlooked by American audiences.       
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a stunning film based on the memoir written by Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of French Elle.  After Bauby suffers a stroke that leaves him in a coma for 20 days he wakes to find that he is suffering from “locked-in” syndrome; he …read more

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Confused around the whole NY Times/John McCain debacle?  Let Cajun Boy clear it up.  Cajun Boy in the City
Or, if you need a more condensed version, let Alex break it down.  Sirened
Are we really surprised that the MTA is technically challenged?  East Village Idiot 
Madonna, Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ivanka Trump, Liv Tyler, Catherine Keener, Lucy Liu and Salma Hayek need to get Hepatitis A shots.  Find out if you do too!  Guest of a Guest
SNL is looking for a “Fauxbama.”  New York Magazine
What are New York City’s Top 10 great buildings to see?  Gothamist
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Technorati Tags: b5media,The New York City Traveler,New …read more

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Don’t forget that the foot-stomping, hand-clapping, guitar-strumming good time that is Flamenco Week ends this weekend in New York City. Though unaffiliated with Flamenco Week, the internationally-known Gypsy Kings will be performing at Radio City Music Hall. This is you chance to see the Kings perform their famous Flamenco-Rhumba music that has sold over 18 million albums worldwide and garnered a Latin Grammy.
Location: Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Avenue (map) 212-247-4777
Subway: B, D, F, V to 47th-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center; N, R, W to 49th Street
Date and Time: Monday, Feb 25 at 8pm.
Cost: $39.50-$79.50 available online

See a legend in …read more

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New Yorkers are at such a disadvantage when it comes to viewing acts of nature. We have so many tall buildings standing in the way!
I was able to snap a few shots of the eclipse; it’s amazing what you can do with a Canon digital camera in manual mode and a GorillaPod! Here are a few photos of what you may have missed.

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t catch last night’s lunar eclipse. In New York it was very cold and you’ll have a chance again in 2010.
Photo credit:  personal collection
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Technorati Tags: b5media,The New York City Traveler,New …read more

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Located about 50 miles from Manhattan, Long Island MacArthur Airport isn’t the most convenient airport to fly into, but it is one of the least expensive. MacArthur, also known as Islip Airport, is the only New York-area airport from which Southwest Airlines operates.
Bus-to-Long Island Railroad Train: Least Expensive
By far, the least expensive way to get into Manhattan is by taking a bus from the terminal to the closest Long Island Railroad station.
You have two bus options that will get you to the Ronkonkoma LIRR station:

Colonial Transport shuttle buses make the 10-12 minute ride between the airport and the …read more

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