Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, OCT. 17, 2013

Archtober /October 1–31
To the design world, October is Archtober, or Design and Architecture Month, in New York City. For 31 days, the entire city opens its doors for design tours, lectures, films and celebrations, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the buildings that give this metropolis its distinct character. Presented by the American Institute of Architects New York and the Center for Architecture, more than 50 organizations are participating this year, including the Museum of Arts and Design, Queens Museum, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art. A schedule is at archtober.org/calendar.
Among today’s activities:
AIANY/Center for Architecture
BOOMING BOROUGHS: Redesigning Aging-in-Place in NYC
6:00-8:00pm
AIANY/Center for Architecture
Around Manhattan Boat Tour: NYC Architecture- online promo code ARCHOB5 for $5 off
1:45pm
Architecture & Design Film Festival
Architecture & Design Film Festival @ Tribeca Cinemas
6:30-11:00pm
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College of New York
Lecture: Charles Waldheim
6:30pm
The Museum of Arts and Design
Curator-Led Tour of Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital
6:30pm

Pinsky Reads Poe
Robert Pinsky, United States Poet Laureate (1997—2000), essayist, translator, and founder of the Favorite Poem Project (favoritepoem.org), delivers a reading with commentary on selected works of Edgar Allan Poe to coincide with the exhibition Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul.

This program is cosponsored by Poets House.
The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue
At 6:30 p.m.* / $15; $10 for Morgan and Poets House Members
212-685-0008 /
*The exhibition Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul will be open at 5:30 p.m. especially for program attendees.

New York City Wine & Food Festival, October 17–20
The New York City Wine & Food Festival returns for another food-and-beverage-filled few days—featuring a number of Food Network personalities, like Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Anne Burrell. The sixth-annual event is moving from the Meatpacking District to Midtown (Piers 92/94), but most of the event’s signature affairs are returning, including seminars, tastings, culinary demonstrations and kids’ events. The festival benefits the Food Bank for New York City and No Kid Hungry.

Reading With Malcolm Gladwell
Mr. Gladwell, a writer for The New Yorker and the #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw, will read from his new book “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants”. Some have called this his most provocative—-and dazzling—-book yet.
Barnes & Noble, 33 East 17th St.
At 7 p.m. / FREE
(212) 253-0810, tinyurl.com/p9jdnxv.

CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Opening Night: Strings Celebration
Opening Night 2013 features a thrilling display of music for strings, including Tchaikovsky’s colorful Serenade, Mendelssohn’s stately Sinfonia, and Bartók’s folk-infused Divertimento. An impressive roster of CMS artists joins forces to kick off the Chamber Music Society’s 45th season.

Mendelssohn Sinfonia No. 13 in C minor for Strings (1823)
Tchaikovsky Serenade in C major for Strings, Op. 48 (1880)
Bartók Divertimento for Strings, BB 118 (1939)

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

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

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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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 a few more PremierPubs and Good Eating places see previous Featured Neighborhoods in the right sidebar.

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places and descriptions of my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods (plus 27 casual dining places with free Wi-Fi) order a copy of my e-book: “Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($3.99).
(available Winter 2013)