Making the Most of Your Winter Visit to NYC

Check Out Some of the Temporary Museum Exhibitions: It’s too bad the Tim Burton and Grateful Dead exhibits aren’t still up, but they both closed down this fall. Nevertheless, there are some other interesting exhibits around town. The Jewish Museum of New York hosts Harry Houdini: Art and Magic, which takes a look at both the magic and the man behind the trickery. The MOMA currently has Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, which focuses on Warhol’s bizarre screen tests (or Living Portrait Boxes) that feature many of his favorite subjects such as Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Lou Reed and Dennis Hopper.

Also, the Museum of Natural History has a new exhibition called Brain: The Inside Story, which includes a walk-through simulation of being inside the human brain and a number of other interesting brain-related exhibits. Finally, the New York City Police Museum offers a new exhibition called Policing a Changed City, which provides an inside look at fighting crime in and terrorism in the modern day using technology and outreach techniques.

The Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl: What a better way to chase the hair of the dog that bit you this Saturday and pregame for the final night at the Garden than getting learned? This pub crawl is a ton of fun, and combines a tour through the West Village via stops at some of the most storied pubs in New York City like the White Horse Tavern, the Cromley’s and the Minetta Tavern. While you drink delicious beer and chat up the other festive pub crawlers, your host will pepper you in stories of the beat writers like Jack Kerouac and Dylan Thomas who drank themselves silly right in those very same seats.

[Photo by Malcolm Brown]

On Broadway: It’s currently a pretty solid time to take the old lady to the theater and still catch something tolerable. In particular, you’ve got a bunch of good musical options like Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot, the final days of the celebration of Fela Kuti’s music in Fela (run ends January 2nd), the Beatles’ Tribute Rain or the story of the legendary jam sessions between Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins at Sun Studios in the Million Dollar Quartet.

Eat as Much Pizza as you Can: Do it. Everyone has their firm opinion of the best pizza of the best, but it’s definitely in New York City. The old favorites tend to be Lombardi’s, John’s of Bleeker, Patsy’s and Grimaldi’s (Brooklyn), which are the classic Margherita style pizzas cooked with fresh Mozzarella in a brick oven. They are all top notch, but for my money, Lombardi’s can’t be beat. Plus, allegedly the others all  descended from either Lombardi’s relatives or employees, and some claim Lombardi’s to be the oldest pizzeria in the U.S. Other more progressive styles are Artichoke on 14th street, which is famous for their artichoke dip pizza, the newer Keste Pizzeria in the West Village, which is a lighter, Neapolitan-style pizza. Both of these places are not to be missed. Frankly though, any corner pizza shop will treat you right with a nice, big, crispy slice.

Go Sledding: Not too fed up of the snow yet? Well, since you probably want to see Central Park anyway, you might as well make it an adventure. Grab a sled and head to either Pilgrim Hill (5th Ave and 72nd Street) or Cedar Hill (5th Ave btwn 76th and 79th Street). Pilgrim Hill is the more popular option, while Cedar Hill is a bit more tame in terms of crowds. Most likely, your best bet for grabbing a sled will be to pop over to Lexington or Third Avenue up by the park and head to one of the large Pharmacy chains like Duane Reade or Walgreen’s.

Hit the Bars Near the Garden: The popular meet-up spots near the Garden tend to be places like Stout and Legends, as they are large spaces right near by with decent food and drink, but these places also tend to be the most crowded. For better luck, try the slightly more banged-up looking places, like the Blarney Rock, the Blarney Stone, or Molly Wee’s. The Gingerman can also be a good option up on 36th Street as they have great beer, but it’s likely to draw a crowd.

F*ck It Dude, Let’s Go Bowling: If you been reading Hidden Track over the past year or so, you know it’s no secret how we feel about Brooklyn Bowl. Just a quick jaunt on the “L” train and you can spend your afternoon bowling, drinking great local Brooklyn beers like Kelso and Six Points, and eating tasty comfort food from on of the cities best, Blue Ribbon. Unfortunately, The Bowl opens up at 6 pm on weekdays, but they will be open at 2 PM on News Years Day with no cover all day, so this could be a perfect News Years Day activity. Also, they’ll be open at noon on Sunday for folks sticking around the rest of the weekend.