New York City staycation guide.
"Spa and pool in the afternoon. It needs to be the perfect combo of down and dirty and classy. Sort of like all the Republicans who live there."
Good afternoon, everyone.
I’m writing this to you from New York, where my weak air conditioner is trying its hardest to cool my apartment. I asked Twitter about the best places to help out New Yorkers who need AC/electricity bills paid and people suggested Bed-Stuy Strong (which accepts Venmo) and Heartshare. If you have other suggestions let me know. This heat is brutal, and forecasters are predicting more heatwaves this summer. Hopefully Jack Klein will have some ideas on Tuesday; he’s done great coverage of the topic in regards to subways.
Today in Feed Me: Readers suggest staycations that span from the sheets of The Greenwich Hotel to the streets of the Rockaways, George Soros is slowly becoming the lord of Shelter Island, a VC-backed gas station in LA aiming to replicate the Autogrill experience, where to find frozen drinks in New York this weekend, and a writer pulls a story destined for New York Magazine in order to publish it on Substack.
It’s 100°F and sunny in New York. Plan your weekend accordingly.
🍹 The River will be serving frozen passionfruit margaritas.
🥥 Long Island Bar will be serving frozen piña coladas.
🍊 Elsa will be serving a frozen blood orange and coconut julius.
New York City is a vacation town.
Earlier this week, as videos of crowds of anxious Hamptons-bound young men on the Long Island Railroad and stories about hectic air travel emerged, we asked Feed Me readers how they’d plan their ideal staycation right here in New York City. Responses ranged from patriotic sandwiches that bring up memories of field trips to Philadelphia, to dads who suggest what to do when you’re riding solo for the weekend (bar crawl with the boys), to beach itineraries that remind you that Manhattan is, indeed, an island.
“Get back to the room around 9 p.m. for room-service dessert and linear cable TV in bed, one of life’s greatest luxuries.”
If you’re going staycation, you gotta go hotel. A few come to mind, but why not just lean in and go big and go full Eloise? Check in to The Plaza, and go to Keens for an early dinner. After dinner, go on a leisurely walk through Central Park and have a nightcap at the bar at the Plaza or at Bemelmans. Get back to the room around 8-9 p.m. for room-service dessert and linear cable TV in bed, one of life’s greatest luxuries.
The next morning, you could work out in a class or go for another Central Park stroll. Breakfast at Barney Greengrass and then a museum of your choosing - I’m probably going to the Museum of the City of New York. Shopping and wandering uptown before one more dinner - if you’re trying to double down on steakhouses, go to The Grill. Otherwise, there’s a lot of great dim sum in midtown. An optional Broadway show, I’m probably going to Oh Mary or Death of a Salesman. Another perfect sleep at the Plaza before checking out in the morning.
Qualifications: “I’ve lived in New York for 10 years and have wanted to be Eloise for at least 30.”
“Get a massage at Lee 91 Spa (ask for Bee).”
It’s a (summer) Friday. Work is done and no emails and projects are hanging over your head. Pick a 5 p.m. movie at Film Forum or IFC—if nothing is good, put your name on the waitlist at Comedy Cellar. Smuggle some Pop-Up Grocer snacks for the movie. After the comedy or movie, walk to the West Village L’Industrie and get 2 slices—the burrata slice and another one you want. Walk as long as you want and then take the train back home to the UES [where we’re staying in this staycation scenario]. Stop at Perch if you want a nightcap.
Wake up Saturday: grab a coffee and Bagel Shop bagel, a blanket, and stop at Corner Bookstore for any book. Find a tree in Central Park in the North Meadow and spend the morning with your bagel and book. Drop book and blanket at home. Next, take the scenic route down Park Ave, get a massage at Lee 91 Spa (ask for Bee), stop for a croissant and iced tea at Patisserie Vanessa and walk to the Met, spend any amount of minutes in Islamic art (don’t miss the tiles). Do a drive by of Van Gogh, The Robert Lehman Collection, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Room. If your timing works, take any guided tour. Then, get an Allagash and (the best in NYC) nachos at Third Ave Ale House or go back down to the West Village, sit at the bar at Mi Garba for a wine and pasta and do the movie or comedy you did not do the night before.
Qualifications: “This is my worked and reworked ‘I have 24 hours to myself’ plan.”