It's been a while since Kurt had a Spontaneous Friday (or any other spontaneous days for that matter). Somehow the holidays can get the best of you with plans and obligations and traveling, but we're back at it in 2011! Kurt had his yearly review this week at work, and since he is such a beneficial addition to the Terrain "team" (i.e. Kurt and his boss), he got a pretty sweet raise. Congratulations, Kurt!
To celebrate his success, we decided to do something Friday after work. It had been snowing pretty steadily all day, and Kurt thought it would be fun to see the High Line in the snow. The last time I had seen it was back in the summer when it was packed with people. I was excited to see how it is used differently when the weather isn't so pleasant. Unfortunately the snow passed before 6 and hadn't really stuck, so it wasn't quite the winter wonderland we had hoped. It was still interesting to see the different parts of the park still blanketed by last week's snow and encounter a few die hard patrons walking around.
It seems like we met some really nice and interesting people this night. The first was Jasper and his lady friend on the High Line. Jasper was trained in real estate but is going back to school to study architecture (funny, don't people usually go the other way?). He is a big fan of James Corner (landscape architect of the High Line) and was actually at the same lecture Kurt and I had attended at Cooper Union last year.
14th Street
Empire State Building
After we walked the length of the High Line, it was pretty chilly and we were ready for a drink and some food. We debated a long time over where to go, and finally ended up on the 1 train to head back to Brooklyn. We would eventually have to transfer because the 1 train stops in Downtown Manhattan at the South Ferry Terminal. Then Kurt had the great idea why don't we just ride this to the end and go to Staten Island?!
Just over a year ago we had gone to this awesome Italian restaurant on Staten Island for my 24th birthday. We forgot to make a reservation and had to wait a while for a table. The host at the restaurant instructed us to head a few doors down to a local bar, and they would call down there when our table was ready. The bartender was great. The bar was deserted and we fit in a drink before dinner. So, last night, Kurt and I decided to revisit Steiny's Pub, grab a bite to eat, and (of course) watch some of the LSU v. Texas A&M bowl game.
I think I've said it before, I really enjoy taking the ferry. It's much better when the weather is nice, but it is always great to just sit and stare out the window at all the city lights. Plus, the ride is the perfect amount of time to buy a beer at the snack bar and drink it. Some people may enjoy sipping champagne on yachts, but we prefer ice cold Heinekens on the Staten Island Ferry :)
We made the short walk to Steiny's and found a much different scene than our last excursion. The place was pretty full with some rowdy Islanders and the music was super loud. We found a table and Kurt was able to get the bartender, Tommy, to put the LSU game on. Unfortunately, the kitchen closed at 7 but Tommy was more than happy to offer us some take out menus from local places that would deliver. We perused the choices and eventually went with a taco place. We were quite puzzled when our food came by way of an Asian delivery guy. Our new friend Will (born and bred Staten Islander) later informed us that a Chinese family owns a restaurant in the neighborhood that does Chinese food and Mexican. Go figure! They could have fooled me. It was pretty tasty.
The crowd at Steiny's was pretty interesting. They were raucous and loud and laughing and dancing and having a great time. You can definitely tell once you get off that boat that your aren't in Manhattan (or even Brooklyn) any more. There were even a couple guido-esque guys and their fake nail wearing girlfriends. Everyone seemed like a regular at this place. We obviously stood out as outsiders but people were surprisingly nice! This old guy, Nick, came over and talked with us for a while. He and Kurt bonded over their common Ohio roots and he told us a little about how he landed in NYC over 45 years ago to be an artist. I guess he hits the Steiny's happy hour everyday. In a city where you don't often have conversations with strangers, it was nice to exchange stories with some new people.
We left the game a little early (I am fighting a little cold and was getting tired) and headed back to catch the ferry. We just missed one and had some time to kill. Luckily, that left us time to make friends with Willy, the guard dog at the ferry terminal. He was an adorable English Yellow Lab and gave both Kurt and I a very thorough licking in search of food. I'd say it was a pretty successful Spontaneous Friday :)
Ha! Great post.
ReplyDeleteI like how you did the map link on The High Line pic caption. I also like how you didn't mention Frank Gehry's turd (I'm aware of the irony in my sentence).
It's interesting that you say in the city we don't often strike up random conversation with strangers. It would seem that way for some reason, but I think it must not be true. I'm questioning this simply in light of Jane Jacobs and the NY Times article I read recently. Just a thought.
Steiny's is a such a great name for the bar that it is! I had understood his name to be Mick! Who knows, it was loud! He was great, I want to go back there earlier in the evening and just listen to him tell his story.
My first encounter with Will was odd, bc I was outside ordering the food on the phone, and having a hell of a time getting the people to understand I was at a bar. Then Will was out there with a girl on a smoke break, and the girl was giving me shit the whole time. So I was very surprised later to find Will chatting with us and being so friendly.
Sorry I didn't get a pic of the outside of Steiny's...we'll have to go back.
Good spontaneous Friday!