badice.com – musings for the masses
It has been a snowy week so far in New York City. I arrived on Tuesday to blowing snow at the airport and as the day progressed the white stuff started piling up.
28th and 6 Avenue was in need of Mr. Plow by 8:30pm.
By the next morning the sidewalks were hit or miss, but the roads were clean.
Journalist Rebbeca Davis has a great compilation of photographs of New York City subway commuters. She also compiled some of the photographs into a short film. I have been riding the New York City subway a lot recently and it has given me a new appreciation of this series.
Over the past several weeks work has been taking me to New York City, specifically, an office in downtown Brooklyn. There are a couple of decent hotels eight blocks away and they are quite nice. My issue is more with the surrounding area and finding somewhere to eat at 7pm. The options are not plentiful and I really do not want to take the subway into Manhattan every night to eat.
My co-workers all stay in lower Manhattan near the Bowling Green subway station. It is a quick train ride from the office (10 minutes) but has the same issue as the hotels in Brooklyn, there really are not a whole lot of dining options in lower Manhattan (unless you enjoy pub food every night).
Why is food so important you ask? For one, I’ve gotta eat, but more importantly, going out to dinner is a way for me to not think about the day’s work but instead focus on other conversation. Even better is if I am able to meet up with some of my friends and talk travel or planes or some other non-work topic.
The last hotel stay I had was at the Four Points in Chelsea. The location is perfect, tons of restaurants around and easy access to the subway. It does take an across the platform transfer to get to the office, but that is really no problem. The downside of this hotel and what keeps me searching for other options is that it is somewhat dingy and not well kept. I do not worry about bed bugs but the hotel has seen better days. The other options I am exploring are the Four Points in SoHo, the Sheraton in Tribeca, the W on Lexington, and the Four Points in Midtown. The last option I have already kind of written off though, I have no interest being near Times Square or dealing with the trains, crowds, etc. there.
But, I am open to suggestions. Any thoughts or experiences with hotels in Manhattan? My main requirements are close to a subway stop (preferably the 4/5 or the 2/3), in an area with a decent number of restaurants, and a hotel staff that likes to keep the property clean.
Where I was and what I was doing that morning is unimportant and irrelevant when compared to the events that transpired. Our world changed eight years ago today. May we not forget the day or the innocent men and women who perished.