The New York City Traveler

Let’s face it, you need some laughs after waiting in line at the polls. You’ve heard enough about economic bailouts, a $10 billion a month war, and record job losses…for now at least! So take a break and head over to the NY Comedy Festival. Held from Nov. 5-9 at various locations around the city, this year marks its 5th year anniversary promising a high-profile lineup of performers including Frank Caliendo, Louis C.K., Craig Ferguson, Carlos Mencia, Joel McHale, Tracy Morgan, B.J. Novak, Brian Regan, Sarah Silverman and Katt Williams. Panel discussions will include writers from "The Daily Show With …read more

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Ever wonder about all the fuss surrounding a good glass of wine? Want to pair it with some excellent vegetarian dishes? Then look no further than Counter. An organic wine & martini bar and vegetarian bistro in the East Village, this place serves not only top quality but also environmentally friendly wines and food. I know, I know, you’re tired of everybody jumping on the "Green Movement" bandwagon just because it’s fashionable. But it’s different at Counter because a lot of extra effort goes into bringing that eco-conscious glass of wine and impeccable entree to your table. Owner Debra Gavito and …read more

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Just in case you need a place of refuge on the evening of Nov. 4th after casting your vote, head over to the Exit Art Gallery’s Election Night Party! This event will feature an open bar sponsored by Peak Organic Brewing Co. and Saké2Me along with desserts from Sweet Tooth of the Tiger, along with live music all for $10. Scheduled from 7pm-midnight, activities will also include screen-printing, political mask-making stations, election coverage broadcasting on two screens and a video-art installation by R. Luke DuBois. In case you want to expand your political awareness beyond the two party system, check …read more

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Just in case you don’t yet have any plans for Halloween, get yourself down to the Village tomorrow for some festivities! Be prepared for some giant puppets in the procession. It all started in 1973 with a Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer organizing a parade beginning as a walk from house to house in his neighborhood for children and friends. Now the parade is the largest celebration of its kind in the world and has been selected by Festivals International as "The Best Event in the World" for October 31 drawing more than 50,000 costumed participants and an estimated 2 …read more

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Established in 2003 by artist Alex Grey and his wife Allyson, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors is a spiritual/hallucinogenic art gallery showcasing a series of 19 paintings and two etched mirrors examining the anatomy of body, mind and spirit in rich detail. Initiated in 1979, this series took ten years to complete depicting life-sized representations of the human body often using an x-ray perspective exposing the neurological system beneath our skin. Inspired by his entheogenically induced mystical experiences using LSD, the five years he spent at Harvard Medical School working in the Anatomy department preparing cadavers for dissection, and ten years …read more

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The Central Park Pumpkin Festival is sure to be the best way to spend Halloween if you find yourself here in the city on Saturday, October 25, 2008 from 3-8 p.m.. Designed to enchant all ages, events range from the Scarecrow Design Competition at Bethesda Fountain, The Spooktacular Haunted House with six rooms crammed with bone-chilling zombies, bloody monsters, and creepy gouls jumping out from the shadows. A 20-foot tall Jack O’ Lantern Tower filled with hundreds of jack-o-lanterns at the Bandshell area that will be lit at 5:30pm, just as the sun is setting.  The entertainment roster is packed …read more

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Billing themselves, "The Big Taste of Texas in a New York Minute", Texas Rotisserie and Grill serves up top quality BBQ fast food at fair prices. There is a great deal of debate surrounding what is the most authentic BBQ joint in NYC. There really isn’t an agreed upon destination, but one thing is for sure…this place delivers the comfort food using fresh and not overly fatty ingredients. Sure they are a local chain and closely approximate what Boston Market sells but this is where the similarities end. Their cornbread is really a corn muffin, not pasty in the least …read more

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Even before the financial meltdown hit the public eye via the bail out bill signed into law a few weeks ago, news of restaurants and bars offering "recession specials" filled the streets here in NYC. So flee Wall St. like so many investment bankers but instead of with cardboard box, bring your appetite! There are plenty of bars/eateries whose business is to inject a little mood elevating stimulus amidst the tumbling stock market. These are my favorite Brooklyn hideaways:
 
More information on PlanetEye: 68, Long Tan Restaurant, Footprints Cafe, Jamie Lynn’s Kitchen

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OK, you’re on Arthur Ave. in the Bronx, NYC’s largest Italian neighborhood. You know that the countless bakeries and restaurants along this thoroughfare are going to be authentic. After all, there are high expectations to cater to here but you might just need help deciding. Well, if you’re in the mood for pizza and have wood fired thin crust on your mind, I recommend Giovanni’s Brick Oven Pizza. At $3 for a huge Sicilian slice either loaded with peppers and eggplant or lean slices of sausage or mortadella, you can’t go wrong. Everything is fresh from the rich pomodoro sauce, …read more

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Think slavery only took place on cotton plantations in the Deep South?  Think again!  Slavery, introduced by the Dutch in the early 1600s, was alive and well in NYC. Africans were imported only as slaves, but some became half-free before New Amsterdam was captured by the British in 1664. By the Revolutionary war, there were about 10,000 Africans in New York.  The skeletal remains of more than 400 African people were uncovered in 1991 while excavating the site of a new federal office building in lower Manhattan at the corner of Duane and Elk Streets. From the 1690s through the …read more

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