Your New York City to-do list

Hello hello! 

Coming to you live from New York–well, live as of a week ago, when I was cat-sitting on Roosevelt Island, a sliver of land nestled between Manhattan and Queens on the East River. Not a bad gig, I have to say.

Something about visiting New York City always makes me feel a little more alive, pretty much regardless of the weather or how many rats I encounter. Maybe it’s the bold street style, or the handful of different languages heard in one subway car ride, or how you can pull up a bar stool in the same spot once occupied by Bob Dylan. Regardless, it has me feeling more inspired than ever now that I’m back in Nashville. 

If you find yourself in that neck of the woods sometime soon, here are a dozen recommendations in no particular order:

1. Get caught in a rainstorm and rush into the closest corner bar

2. Buy $150 worth of books at a charming decades-old shop in the West Village

3. Drink an 8-amaro sazerac at the flagship bar of Sother Teague, one of the founding fathers of the modern craft cocktail scene

4. Go to a Mets game, buy a ballcap, and look out for the mascot trumpet dance around the 8th inning or so

5. Find the 3,200-year-old Egyptian artifact hiding in plain sight in Central Park

6. Try a chocolate negroni on a sidewalk seat at this iconic Italian cafe, a favorite of mobsters and artists alike

7. Ride the tram to Roosevelt Island and visit the cat sanctuary, tucked within the ruins of a 19th-century castle-like smallpox hospital

8. Grab a pint and a smashburger at this Beat-era haunt. Read some Dylan Thomas for extra pretension points

9. Make friends with the deli attendant while waiting for late-night pastrami

10. Read The White Album and get a slight sunburn in a tulip-filled park

11. Drink sparkling Greek wine in a cafe window and search StreetEasy for $1M apartments

12. Buy an old fashioned glazed donut and cup of coffee with a $5 bill at Greenpoint’s 60-year-old mom and pop gem

A monthly roundup of assorted items for exploration

Top (for enjoyment):

• Non-exhaustive Google Maps list of everywhere I went

Heart (for connection):

• One of my dear friends is the art director for this SoHo designer, and I can’t get enough of their work and approach to textiles

Base (for pondering):

• I spent most of the trip off my phone, and it made a world of difference. Cal Newport’s book Digital Minimalism is partially to thank–I’m doing my own digital declutter this month, and I encourage you to explore doing the same!

May Perfume: Since we’re talking so much about New York in this letter, I can’t not highlight the Brooklyn punk rockers of the perfume scene, DS & Durga. Now that it’s getting warmer, the salty, spritzy, damp petals of Rose Atlantic are all I crave.

Photo credits: Mike Dunbar