Today’s “Fab Five” / Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, July 25, 2013

Broadway in Bryant Park  (Thursdays through Aug. 15)
A series of music from the most popular Broadway and Off Broadway shows performed by the shows’ cast members. Today’s performances includes excerpts from “Avenue Q”, “Rock of Ages”, “Soul Doctor”, “Murder Ballad”, and “Gazillion Bubble Show”. Presented by 106.7 Lite FM, the series also features a guest D.J. from the radio station as well as cast members from other shows – this Thursday the D.J. is Christine Nagy, and the show is “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”.
Bryant Park, 6th Ave., Btw 40th/42nd St.
At 12:30 p.m. / FREE
(212) 768-4242 / bryantpark.org.

Mark Dendy Dance & Theater Projects’ Ritual Cyclical
“The Lincoln Center plaza bursts with the propulsive movement of Mark Dendy’s 80 dancers, dancing to classic recordings by Kronos Quartet. Dendy, whose inventive choreography includes everything from Mozart operas to Rockettes extravaganzas, draws on the ritual movements shaped by public spaces to make full use of the distinctive architecture, including its reflecting pool and grove. Viewers direct their own experiences by moving around and among the dancers.”

Commissioned by Lincoln Center Out of Doors and American Dance Festival in honor of the 80th Anniversary of ADF and the 40th Anniversary of Kronos Quartet.
Lincoln Center, Hearst Plaza
40 Lincoln Center – 65th St. bet. Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.
At 6PM / FREE (RSVP required)
1-212-875-5000

River & Blues with the Grammy-Nominated Christian Scott Quintet
Enjoy sunsets and live blues along the Hudson River.
Grammy-nominated trumpet sensation Christian Scott plays original compositions with one foot deep in his New Orleans roots, and the other leaping forward with the Rock and Hip Hop influence of his NYC home.
At 7:00PM / FREE
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park – Battery Park City (access: Battery Place)
1-212-267-9700

Fred Hersch Trio with Joe Lovano* (through July 28)
“The unfalteringly elegant jazz pianist Fred Hersch has been in an especially sociable mode lately: he has new or forthcoming albums made in collaboration with the trumpeter Ralph Alessi, the pianist Benoît Delbecq and the guitarist Julian Lage. His featured conversationalist next week will be Joe Lovano, a saxophonist who shares his knack for articulating emotional truths within the frame of a song; they’ll work together with Mr. Hersch’s regular rhythm team of John Hébert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums.” (Chinen-NYT)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. / $25 cover, with a one-drink minimum.
(212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com

Let Freedom Swing Concert
“Jazz grew out of the African-American community in turn of the 20th century New Orleans. It is a mingling of the musical expressions of all the people who came to the United States by choice or by force — people from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean — as well as those already living in America.

Jazz musicians brought their traditions together (with special emphasis on the blues, church spirituals and ragtime) in a new, universal language. Through the blues, jazz musicians showed that the sorrows common to us all could be overcome with optimism and humor. Through improvisation they celebrated newfound expressive freedom. And through the joyous rhythms of swing, they taught the many different people of New Orleans that they could work together with feeling and style.

This concert will illustrate the ideals of American democracy, the struggle for freedom, and the beauty of self-expression through the lens of America’s greatest and most democratic art form – jazz.”
Lincoln Center, David Rubenstein Atrium
Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets
At 7:30PM / FREE
This is a popular series, better get there early for a seat.
1-212-875-5377

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change ================================================================================

A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places 

Jimmy’s Corner    /   140 W 44th St (btw B’way & 7th ave)

Jimmy’s Corner is right in the heart of Times Square, but you won’t find it on the corner, it’s mid-block. Enter this long narrow bar and you are struck by the walls covered with mostly black-and-white boxing photographs, and memorabilia. Soon enough you learn that “Corner” refers to proprietor Jimmy Glenn’s long career as a corner man for some of boxing greats – Liston, Tyson, even “the greatest”, Ali.

Jimmy’s is a sort of time machine, taking you back to a time and place that no longer exists. All around you Times Square has cleaned up, grown up, assumed a new identity. Jimmy’s probably hasn’t changed a bit since it first opened in 1971. Certainly the bar itself looks original and the prices haven’t changed much either. When I brought a friend, who owns her own bar, she was surprised when she got the small tab for a round of drinks. Figured there must be a mistake, that maybe they forgot to charge for all the drinks.

Times Square today is filled with neon glitz and wandering tourists from Dubuque, but not Jimmy’s. You’ll likely find some old timer’s at the bar nursing their drinks, some younger locals at tables in the back, and maybe a few adventuresome tourists clutching their trusty guidebooks. There’s no food served here because this is just a bar, and sometimes that’s all you need.

On nights when no local team is playing, it’s a fine place to sip some drafts and listen to a great old time jukebox (40s, 50s, R&B, and soul). On sports nights this very narrow bar can get a bit claustrophobic, filled with excited fans watching their team on the TVs. Either way, Jimmy’s is the place to be if you are looking for an old time bar in the new Times Square.
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Website: are you kidding !
(although there is a facebook page with lots of photos –
facebook.com/jimmyscornernyc)
Phone #: 212-221-9510
Hours: 11am – 4 am, except Sunday they open 12 noon
Happy Hour: not necessary, low prices all day, every day
Subway: #1,2,3 to TimesSquare 42nd st
walk 2 blks N on 7th ave to 44th st; ½ blk E to Jimmy’s

“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, cocktail lounges, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge.

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3 Good Eating places 
It’s not difficult finding a place to eat in Manhattan.
Finding a good, inexpensive place to eat is a bit harder.
Here are a few of my faves in this neighborhood:

Patzeria Perfect Pizza – 231 W46 st (Betw 7th/8th ave)
Perfect name for a pizza joint. On a street filled with Broadway theaters, this is a real hole in the wall, but don’t let the dive look scare you away. You can never go wrong with a slice of NYC pizza, and this one is a classic thin crust. Only a few seats here, but pizza was made to eat standing up.

Shake Shack – 691 8th ave (Betw 43rd/44th st)
Danny Meyer has revolutionized the high quality burger in this town. Now he has a branch on the West Side that was desperately needed, with none of the insane lines that you find at the Madison Sq. Park location. Plus, it may be the cleanest joint to eat in all of Hell’s Kitchen.
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“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”

That covers a wide range of food – pizza,  burgers,  food trucks/carts,  vegetarian/falafel,  ramen,  chopped salad & salad bars,  hot dogs,  bbq,  soup & sandwiches,  picnic fixins’,  raw bars & lobster rolls. No reservations needed. ================================================================================

There are other casual dining options in this neighborhood that provide good food, especially as alternatives to overpriced hotel breakfasts, and most importantly, have free Wi-FI:

>Pret a Manger @ 11 W 42nd st (Betw 5th/6th)
Subway: #1/2/3 to 42nd st / times square

>Potbelly @ 30 Rockefeller Plaza (Betw 49/48 st)
Subway: #1 to 50th st

>Pret a Manger @ 1200 6th ave (Betw 47/48)
Subway: #1 to 50th st

For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places and extended descriptions of 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide”