New York City might be polarizing in that love/hate kind of way, but in the end, the reasons to love the city seem limitless. One could use thousands of words to describe what’s to love about NYC, but the more difficult thing to do is to break the appeal of New York down into just three words. Vimeo user Cokau (which represents filmmakers Achille Coquerel and Thomas Kauffmann) asked New Yorkers to describe what they love about the city in just three words and the resulting footage has made this cool video titled “3 Words For NYC.” It’s worth the watch.
After completing a 26-hour flight in 2010 and going from Switzerland to Morocco completely under solar power last year, the Solar Impulse is set to take on its next challenge later this spring. The high-tech plane, powered completely be the sun, will attempt to fly coast to coast across the U.S. starting in May.
On Thursday, Solar Impulse pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg announced that they will take off from Moffett Air Field at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, on May 1 and intend to head east to New York City. Along the way, they’ll make stops in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and either St. Louis, Nashville or Atlanta. They expect the entire trip will take roughly two months to complete.
The Solar Impulse features a massive wingspan of 208 feet, most of which is covered in solar panels. Energy that is collected through those panels is stored in lithium-polymer batteries, which allow the plane to stay aloft even after the sun goes down. Because of its rather large size, the plane flies at a relative low altitude of just 6000 feet and at a cruising speed of about 43 mph. That may not sound like it’s very fast, but considering the entire aircraft is powered by clean energy, it is still pretty impressive.
Obviously we’re a long way from powering commercial airliners with solar power, but this experimental aircraft is a step in the right direction. If all goes well with this flight, the team intends to attempt a round-the-world flight in 2015.
Like “Best Pizza” and “Most Delicious Bagel” lists, New York City also has its own unofficial hot dog competition outside of Nathan’s annual gorging-on-the-beach. Amongst the contenders, I side with Crif Dogs in the East Village, hands down. While you can always grab a bun filled with a wondermeat dog on any NYC corner, Crif packs each hot dog with enough love and artery clogging goodness to keep you stuffed for possibly days – add in a few beers and you’re good until next weekend. We ventured east to try two of their top-selling dogs and to get a more intimate feel for the place. As we finished our pleasure-filled franks and beers we decided to have a peek into the not-so-secret speakeasy next door. Well, technically, it’s next door.
Called Please Don’t Tell, this reservations-only bar accepts phone calls starting exactly at 3 p.m. for that evening and once filled, you can only hope to get a seat at the bar. But one can only hope, considering there will be a line for those limited seats as well. Rocking a totally different decor (Midwest-hip? Can we even write that?) than its neighboring scruffy hot dog hangout next door, this bar needs to checked out. Now, if you’re a New Yorker reading this you’re probably thinking, “A line? Reservations? No way.” Well, sure. We understand where you’re coming from – lines may be for bridge and tunnel types, right? However, when we tell you the unique drinks they mix at Please Don’t Tell are truly some of the best drinks we’ve ever had you’re either going to have to take our word on it or try them yourselves.
If you are traveling in a big city and want restaurant recommendations, it can be overwhelming to turn to online review sites like Trip Advisor or Yelp that list hundreds of places, many of which are irrelevant to your tastes and preferences. A new website launches today, giving you personalized guides of where to eat and drink, focused on spots you’ll like. Eight Spots gives you just that: a list with recommended spots for breakfast, coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks. Take the fun 10-question “taste survey” (think: night owl or early bird), and tell them a few of your favorite spots, and it will generate a personalized guide for any of the featured cities. The more spots you review or add to your go-to lists, the more tailored your recommendations become. You can also integrate Facebook to further filter your guides based on friends’ recommendations. The current range of cities include Berlin, London, New York, Paris, Perth and Sydney, with plans to expand to 90 cities worldwide.
A number of years ago while hitchhiking up Baja, Mexico, I ended up on the bed of a pickup truck, rolling around with pickaxes, rakes, bags of trash and my backpack. Gripping the edges of the truck’s frame, I was so hungry; I wondered what would be worse: dying in Mexico of starvation, or dying in Mexico from being flung from the truck. I figured that regardless of how it went down, my Jewish mom would be pretty pissed. When the truck finally stopped about 100 miles south of Tijuana, I jumped onto the dusty main street of this unnamed town. I sought food immediately, and didn’t give it a second thought that anything would really suffice. I ran across the most insane traffic on the peninsula to a gathering of men at a bus stop. Bewildered and in the best gringo understanding I could muster, they directed me to a three-walled plywood structure two blocks north on the edge of town. They said Maria made the best tacos. And sure enough, not only did I not die of starvation while in Mexico, but these were the best tacos I’ve ever had, until, of course, I stumbled upon Tehhuitzingo in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.
Tucked squarely in the back of an unassuming, very typical Mexican bodega at 695 10th Avenue, Tehhuitzingo serves everything from breakfast (open at 8 a.m., close at midnight, seven days) tacos, burritos, tortas, beer and soup out of a 2-foot, square window in the way back of the store. Sitting below piñatas and amongst an array of lights that would make the most festive Christmas caroler jealous as he nods his approving head, you can feast on the best tacos (starting at $2.50) I’ve had on the east coast, all while sipping on your favorite Mexican brew. Keep in mind that the hot sauce is not joking around.