The 2008 Memorial Day weekend is almost here (May 23-26) and the AAA is projecting that more Americans will stay at home during this Memorial Day holiday, due to high fuel prices. That argument is not entirely without merit, so here’s a few ways you can enjoy the Memorial Day events in and around New York without having to fill up on the gas and book into an expensive hotel or getaway resort. In short, a traditional Memorial Day weekend in New York on the cheap.

Fleet Week: The Annual NYC Fleet Week (May 21-28) includes a plethora of events including public ship visitations, helicopter raid demonstrations (you know, where they throw these lines out of the copters and swoop down), a Times Square concert, Navy band performance, an F-18 Navy flight simulator display, and lots of Memorial Day parades all over New York. Here’s a full list of all events held for Fleet Week, with date, time and location.

Queens Memorial Day Parade: If you’re fond of parades, the biggest Memorial Day Parade in the U.S. is held at Little Neck and Douglaston, Queens. The parade starts at 2 pm at the corner of Jason Avenue and Northern Boulevard in Great Neck, moving west on Northern Boulevard to 244 Street into St. Anastasia Schoolyard. The theme for the 2008 parade is ‘Fort Totten From War To Peace’. Photo courtesy & copyrights Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Org., Inc.

MET Special Events: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has two specials for Memorial Day. First is the family festival at the Cloisters – Two days (May 24-25) of programs for the entire family, with tours and gallery workshops in English and Spanish. More details here. Secondly, the MET is open on Memorial Day as part of its ‘Holiday Mondays’ program sponsored by Bloomberg. Here’s the list of exhibitions open on Monday.

Lower East Side Festival of the Arts: This is the 13th year of the LES festival, and this year the organizers have put together over 70 groups with 250+ performers, with street fairs, theater, dance, music, poetry, art and multimedia presentations, food vendors, cooking competitions and lots more. More details here.

If you’re interested in street fairs, you might want to make note of the Times Square Fair on May 25th, at Seventh Avenue 47th to 57th streets, from 11 am to 6 pm. Call 212-809-4900 for more information. There’s also the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit from noon to 6 pm during the Memorial Day weekend, which attracts over 200 artists and more than 200,000 art lovers every year.

Brooklyn Bridge 125th Birthday Celebration: The Memorial Day weekend celebrations to honor the cultural significance of the Brooklyn Bridge in its 125th year include a Brooklyn Philharmonic concert followed by a Grucci Fireworks extravaganza, open air film screenings at the foot of the bridge, walking tours, and dance and music festivals. Photo by runnyc262 via Flickr.

All performances are free. Here’s the full list of events starting May 22nd. The bridge will be lit up with festive lighting until Memorial Day from 9 pm to 11 pm, so you might want to hang around from evening until at least 9 pm, just to see the lights come on.

There’s a lot of stuff going on all over New York, from Staten Island to Manhattan, and you have an extended weekend at your disposal. Why not make use of it to get to know the culture and the art and artists of New York, not to mention the additional significance of Memorial Day, in light of the Iraq war and the enormous sacrifices made by the men and women in the Armed Forces to help keep America safe.

So one day before deadline, I remember I’m supposed to submit an ‘NYC restaurant guide’. I’m scratching my head in confusion here. That’s a subject for a thick book, not a blog post to be tapped out on the fly. I mean, it’s virtually impossible to even remember all the good restaurants in New York City, let alone list them with descriptions. And how many more new restaurants open each week?

And then if you start categorizing them – Romantic, kosher, pre-theater dinner, breakfast, soul food, ethnic, greasy fast food diners, rooftop lounges – Well, let’s just say that this is going to be one heck of a blog post. Read More »

New York City has an excess of everything, and it’s all packed in so close together that it’s impossible to walk a few blocks without tripping over an establishment worth a second look-see. So this Mother’s Day, which falls on the 11^th of May, here’s a guide to help you enjoy a classy and fun filled Mother’s Day in NYC.

Listed below are the best Mother’s Day activities in NYC – Where to go for brunches and teas, spa specials, cruises, music, shows and concerts, nature exploration tours, upscale shopping, flea market shopping, food shopping and best of all – Discounts, freebies, flowers, chocolates – which you get only if you’re a Mom.

Let’s start with a list of the best NYC restaurants offering a special Mother’s Day Sunday brunch.

Palm Court Restaurant, Plaza Hotel: The first on the list, and probably the only one you need to know about, is the historic Palm Court restaurant at the Plaza Hotel, with its stained glass windows, traditional afternoon tea and genteel service. The newly renovated and reopened Plaza has always been the center of gravity for the Grande Dame social circuit in the Big Apple.Every socially conscious Mom in NYC wants nothing better than to dress up and spend a few hours sizing up the other Moms in attendance. The brunch and afternoon tea is just something that the Palm Court offers as a reason for a gaggle of Moms to congregate. The experience, as a whole, is unforgettable, and there’s nothing better or more special that you can do for Mother’s Day, than foot the bill for brunch and tea at the Palm Court for your Mother.

Read More »

St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish religious holiday. But if you happen to be in New York on March 17, 2008, you can be forgiven for thinking it is an all-american festival. On St. Paddy’s day, New York will be a green city – and that has nothing to do with the environment.The city gets a green makeover. The people, their clothes, hats, flowers, water fountains and buildings such as the Empire State Building will go green. People from all over the nation and the world come to NYC for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities, even the Irish.

Here are the list of festivities and places I recommend to join the celebration.

Start the day with the mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. No better way to start a day than a one-on-one chat with God and a cardinal who is an archbishop. Edward Michael Cardinal Egan is the Archbishop of New York and St. Patrick’s Cathedral is his HQ. It’s one of the most beautiful Gothic style catholic churches in the world, where the exquisite stained glass windows compete with the altar’s spirituality, and the marble sculptures vie for attention with the uplifting music emanating from the 150-rank Kilgen organ.

The cathedral is one of the prime tourist attractions in New York, with over 5½ million visitors each year. It is especially busy on St. Patrick’s Day. The two blocks around the church are packed with people waiting to get inside. To get a seat, get there well ahead of time, leave your car at your hotel and take the subway or walk.

Next up, is the main event of the day, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade starts at 11.00 a.m., at 44th St. and Fifth Ave. The parade is a tradition not just for the Irish here, but the whole of NYC.

Everyone wears green, shops are decked with green, green beer flows in the Irish pubs and entire families turn out to line the streets on Fifth Avenue, from 44th to the 86th streets, to enjoy the bands, the colorful costumes and the carnival atmosphere. The best viewing spot for the parade is at the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The parade ends around 3 p.m., which is a cue for a break and well deserved lunch. A suitable choice for lunch is an Irish pub in the vicinity, with thick, juicy steaks, shepherd’s pie and Irish beer. If you follow the parade to its end at 86th Street, one of the most well known pubs in the area is the Parlour, located at 250 West 86th St. (212) 580-8923, which serves fresh Irish salmon steak seared with mustard sauce and a leek confit. It is also known for its shepherd’s pie, a foodaholic’s dream – tasty, filling and reasonably priced. Wash it all down with one or three of a range of Irish beers.

St. Patrick’s Day is a part of the culture and history of the city – an essential part of the New York city experience. So tell me, how do you spend St. Patrick’s Day in your city? And is there a special festival or day in your city or town which makes it something worth visiting?