When I visit New York I like to pretend I live in New York, which means I try to eat where lots of people living in New York eat and not at McDonald's near Times Square, which is why the url is http://hubpages.com/hub/A-NYC-Trip-likeaNewYorker. When I did live in New York, it was right on the border between SoHo and Nolita (=North of Little Italy), which are just south of Greenwich Village, making these areas my old stomping ground and thus my favorite spots.

A great place to pick up a pastry, or visit for lunch or dinner is Balthazar, www.balthazarny.com, located at 80 Spring Street (just East of Broadway), in SoHo, where it is rumored to be the place where Jerry Seinfeld became engaged. This restaurant is a feast for the eyes and tummy.

Other Breakfast options include The Grey Dog, www.thegreydog.com, at 33 Carmine Street in Greenwich Village. Another great breakfast spot is Cafe Gitane, 212-334-9552, 242 Mott Street, in Nolita. The later listing has a European feeling and lots of attractive people dining and serving.

Sometimes, you may want something for lunch or dinner that is a bit lighter and for that go to Kelly and Ping, www.eatrice.com, in SoHo, located at 127 Greene Street and have the Scallion Pancakes. They are addictive. You might also want to try, Rice, www.riceny.com, located at 292 Elizabeth Street, in Nolita, which is small, intimate and delicious. Check out their great website. For dinner head to the Mercer Kitchen, which is one of Jean-Georges many successful restaurants with a great setting right in the middle of SoHo.

Great places to eat at are critical to your trip to New York. Babbo, www.babbonyc.com, which is at 110 Waverly Place in Greenwich Village is amazing. Check out the website for menu options, prices, subway locations and reservations. Mario Batali owns this restaurant and reservations are recommended. When I lived in New York some out of town friends invited me to join them here and I showed up a little early, chatted with the cook on a smoking break by the front door and asked him how this restaurant is to which he replied pretty good. Once I sat down, my friends informed me of the famous owner and it became apparent that I had just been chatting with him outside. It was cool.

The first one to consider is The Mercer, www.mercerhotel.com, located at 147 Mercer Street, because of the amazing location right in SoHo. A few blocks to the subway and right in the middle of SoHo. Guaranteed to see someone off the charts famous if not actually end up having breakfast next to their elbow. If this is sold out, too expensive or whatever, try www.sohogrand.com which has great design qualities. A hotel that looks very cool and worth considering is SixtyThompson,at www.60Thompson.com, located at 60 Thompson in SoHo.  If you are still looking for a perfectly located, posh establishment, consider the Crosby Street Hotel.  It is not cheap, but neither are you if you are staying in the heart of SoHo.

Greenwich Village has the Gramercy Park Hotel which has been redone by the famous hotelier, Ian Shrager. Nolita doesn't have any hotels that I am aware of at this time, but it does have individual apartments you can rent.

One of my favorite type of e-mails are travel related ones that come from sites with various vacation offers about last minute travel packages, reduced flights and bargain basement deals on hotel rooms. They often have enticing titles like $39 OW (one way) from Booking Buddy, which frequently lists offers that are 30-50% below normal prices. Not too shabby. Almost free, eh? A recent bargain was for a NYC hotel for $122/night, which in the right establishment is a screaming deal. If an e-mail doesn’t come from Booking Buddy, it might be from Cheap Flights, for $59 OW or Travel Zoo.

With the economy hurting everyone, the travel industry is no exception. It is amazing to see the flight, hotel and package deals from all the big travel sites. One site I get e-mails from is hotwire, where they had a 3.5 star hotel in New York for $70/night, which could be amazing or loud or dirty, but still a good price. Ah, the possibility of seeing interesting art, clothes and people by day, a great meal at a one of a kind restaurant, then catching a show at night, is definitely tantalizing. You might want to use your American Express travel reward points to purchase entertainment, hotel rooms or airline tickets.

For a website that can be helpful with art, among other things, check out www.artseensoho.com. Another great resource is www.nymag.com. Pick up the most recent Time Out New York, http://newyork.timeout.com for current entertainment. For smaller theatre productions, check out www.nytheatre.com or for a listing of everything, check out www.newyorkcitytheatre.com.

While you are staying in SoHo, Greenwich Village or Nolita, you might want to check out what bands are playing at The Fillmore at Irving Place by looking at www.livenation.com. For art movies, check out Angelika Film Center, www.angelikafilmcenter.com, located at 18 W. Houston (@ Mercer) on North side, which is just north of SoHo (SoHo=South of Houston).

For more information on a number of subjects and on how they relate to New York, check out The Gothamist.  For another site with several categories, check out sohonyc.com.

SoHo, Greenwich Village and Nolita Offline

Recently a new raised park of sorts opened, called the highline that is worth checking out.

Located at 103 Prince Street is the super cool Apple store that all Apple lovers and users should peruse.  The stairs are beautiful.

Right in SoHo is one of my favorite stores, Kate's Paperie, www.katespaperie.com, which is a fun and creative stationary store located at 72 Spring Street.  This is not to be confused with Kate Spade which is in this neighborhood.

Some of the best and most expensive shopping in the world is located right in SoHo.  You can find lots of amazing home furniture and accessories from Artemide to Portico.  For more shopping information specific to this area check out sohonyc.com.

You might find yourself moving outside SoHo to the south towards Chinatown, where you should check out Pearl River, www.pearlriver.com, located at 477 Broadway, which is right on the edge of SoHo.

Definitely browse East of SoHo over into Nolita towards Cafe Gitane and Rice to discover a ton of little creative boutiques/shops.

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