Staten Island Ferry & Happy Hour At Steiny's

I thought for this week’s happy hour Friday post, I’d kill two birds with one stone. I’ve never ridden the Staten Island Ferry and I’ve never gone to Staten Island. I read where they serve beer on the ferry, so the happy hour can start there and then we’ll see if we can find a bar within walking distance. I’ve heard the view from the ferry is fantastic, so let’s go find out.

And here we are at the Staten Island Ferry, I'm not quite sure what to do, so let's just walk in and see what's happening inside.

Easy enough so far, just follow the sign!

Wow, there's a big crowd, luckily from the pictures I've seen, it's a big ferry.

The doors open and now we're all headed towards the ferry. I feel kind of like a lemming marching towards water.

It's roomy inside. Kind of like a subway car with a thyroid condition.

You can stand outside up front here, but it's really crowded and windy, so I took one shot of us moving away from the city and went back inside.

The view is nice from the windows inside.

Hey, what do we have here?

It's a snack bar. I wonder if they have...

Beer!

And popcorn!

This guy was a little bit of a sourpuss and just grunted when I asked if I could take his photo. He didn't say no, so I snapped away. He probably thought I was some kooky tourist.

I like the Staten Island Ferry!

Welcome to Staten Island. Hopefully there's a bar within walking distance, let's go explore.

Good afternoon, Staten Island!

I had only walked about five minutes when I saw this sign. It's just around the corner...

Here it is, Steiny's. Looks like a nice place, let's check it out!

There's a nice neighborhood vibe in here and plenty of seats at the bar.

And here's Gina, the friendly and pretty bartender with a cold beer. Let the happy hour begin!

Here's the view of the bar from my perch.

There's polished wooden tables and stools opposite the bar.

They keep the glasses on ice here at Steiny's.

Gina got a phone call and when she was done she walked over and said, "You're not going to believe this, a woman called and asked if someone named Marty was drinking in the bar." Gina then told her I was there and the woman said she was coming over shortly. I have to admit that this both intrigued me and scared me a little. I don't know anyone in Staten Island, so I could only guess she knows me from one of my blogs. But how did she know I was in there? I ordered another beer...

And Susan showed up at the bar and said hi to me. I was glad she didn't look like a crazy woman and it turned out she followed the 365 Bar Crawl. She works up the street at the Court House and saw me taking a picture of the sign and thought I was probably going to Steiny's and called. Too funny! We had a beer and a nice chat about the 365 bar blog, Staten Island and New York City. She's really nice and I was honored to have been recognized!

Here's a co-worker of Susan's, Robin being served a beer by Gina. It's a friendly crowd in here!

After a couple beers, Susan had to hit the road to get home to her sons, so I had a few more beers and snapped an obligatory mirror shot at the bar.

And night falls, so it's time to hit the road and take the ferry back to the city.

The timing was perfect the ferry was just loading.

There was more room to move outside on the way back and I tried taking some pictures, but none of them were turning out, so I took a couple shots of other people taking photos. He's snapping one of the Statue of Liberty.

Here's someone getting a photo of us getting closer to the city.

Exit, stage left and we're back in Manhattan.

I like the sign a lot better here at night. Have a great Friday, everyone!

Staten Island Ferry
4 South St. (@Whitehall St.)
718-727-2508

Steiny’s Pub
3 Hyatt Street
Staten Island, NY
718-442-9526

Further Reading: New York Magazine, Wikipedia and Where You Eat.

So ferry cross the Mersey,
And always take me there.

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Tompkins Square Bagels

I’ve been meaning to go to Tompkins Square Bagels ever since they opened. My friend Shawn Chittle made a documentary on the shop and the owner, check it out here:

The owner, Christopher Pugliese hired local artist, Jim “Mosaic Man” Power to do the sign out front and the the bagel and sandwich restaurant was first reported on EV Grieve, who continued with follow ups right up to the opening. Well, in honor of these three gentlemen who support TSB, Christopher named sandwiches after each one of them. And so today, I’m meeting frequent guest star on TWM, The Duncester to try all three sandwiches and check out Tompkins Square Bagels. I feel a bit Hannibal Lectorish as I head out to eat, Shawn, EV Grieve and Mosaic Man. I’m hoping there’s fava beans and a nice chianti on the menu!

It's not far from where I live, so we'll hoof it over to the East Village.

And here we are. I like the way the front is open, it makes the place look inviting to the neighborhood.

The Mosaic Man's unique one-of-a-kind mosaic sign hangs over the store. Really nice to see local artist's employed to do signage to a store as opposed to something generic. It's touches like this that keep the flavor alive in the East Village.

It's a lot bigger in here than I thought it was going to be. The front has a large counter and cooking area.

And the back half is large as well, with a counter overlooking the bagel making area and tables and chairs. There's a garden area in the back that they're getting ready to fix up for the summertime.

There's a large wooden communal table in the back to enjoy your food and drink. Nice to see magazines on a table instead of iPads and iPhones!

Here's a shot from the back of the shop.

This glassed in case houses the fresh and local food for the sandwiches and salads available.

There's a familiar face at the cash register...

It's owner Christopher Pugliese, holding a piece of art from neighborhood artist, VH McKenzie. I love this piece of art, which says, "Just Say No" to Starbucks, 7-Eleven and Subway. Three businesses that have been bulldozing in on the East Village and hurting local businesses. You can read about the making of this art and the thoughts behind it here: "The Chains Are Coming..."

All the art on the walls is works from local artists. This month's featured artist is PJ Cobbs.

Christopher points to one the pieces on display, the artwork is colorful, 3-D scenes from different neighborhoods in New York.

It's a friendly atmosphere in here, here's Chris with a regular and a bagel maker himself, Kim.

And speaking of bagels, Chris was nice enough to allow me to see the entire process of how a bagel is born here. It starts down in the basement, after the dough has been hand-rolled and refrigerated.

As you can see, these aren't your everyday run of the mill bagels, these are works of art. Beautiful!

Chris opens up the specially made bagel vat...

And the bagels go in.

After about a minute or so, they float to the top and swim around in the vat for a bit.

Then they're taken out and place on wooden boards.

And here, Jonas puts the bagels into the oven. And not just any oven, this is a special bagel oven that Chris bought and brought from Florida. It's a one of a kind oven that rotates on the inside and cooks the bagels perfectly.

Here's Jonas with a tray of the finished product. They take their bagel-making seriously here and it shows!

After seeing the bagel-making process, I met Chris' partner in the restaurant, James Peterson. James owns his business, Green Army Interiors and literally built Tompkins Square Bagels from the ground up.

And at this point The Duncester shows up and it's time to sample the three specialty sandwiches of the house.

The Grieve, The Chittle and The Mosaic Man, three sandwiches named after three men that have definitely made a mark in the East Village and deserve to be on this board. Now, let's check them out.

The first up is The Grieve which is chicken cutlet, mozzarella cheese with peppers and onions. Very tasty and zingy as the blog and the man it's named after.

Here's the Chittle, smoked turkey, bacon, swiss cheesewith lettuce and onions. Chris told us that out of the three, this is the best seller.

And last but certainly not least, The Mosaic Man, Virginia ham, smoked turkey, provolone cheese with lettuce, tomatoes and spicy mustard. Delicious and the taste is as colorful as Mosaic Man's artwork. One thing Chris told me he really wants to do with Tompkins Square Bagels is create an atmosphere where everyone is welcome and feels at home in here. From the veterans of the neighborhood to those that have just got here. I have to say, that he's certainly done that. It's refreshing to sit in a local shop with artwork by artists from the neighborhood and eat sandwiches named after three men who have made a difference in the East Village. The Impov Comedy Troupe from Chicago, The Second City has always taught that when you're onstage, you should try your best to make everyone around you look great and not worry about yourself. Then when everyone else is shining, so are you. Christopher and Tompkins Square Bagels have embraced the neighborhood in the short three months they've been open and by featuting local talent and saluting others, they're shining like a pair of shoes done up by Don Ward! Stop in and have a bagel when you're in the neighborhood, you'll be happy you did. And you'll also be having the best bagel in town!

Tompkins Square Bagels
165 Ave. A ( @10th St.)
646-351-6520

Further Reading: EV Grieve, chomp chow chew and The Local East Village.

It's not the DMV cause it˛ˇ doesn't make you wait.
It couldn't be a taco cause it isn't very crunchy.
It couldn't be an Olson cause it isn't Marry Kate.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Wndows on the World Art From Danny The Freelancer!

Yesterday in the comments section, the restarurant, "Windows on the World," came up. Sadly, as we know, the restuarant went down with the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. TWM commenter, danny the freelancer, sent in this art from a pass from a series of Go-Go parties that were happening back in the day. Very cool, thanks, Danny!

Midnight At The Empire State Building

New York City is the reported city that never sleeps, so time from time I thought I’d post what’s going on at midnight in the Big Apple. I just found out that the Empire State Building is open till two in the morning, perfect for a stop at the witching hour of midnight in New York City and a chance to confront my fear of heights all within one post. But first, a little liquid courage!

I really have a fear of heights, so I thought I'd have a beer or three to bolster my courage before we go. I think I'll start with the 24 ounce can.

Okay, time to hit the road, the liquid courage is firmly ingested!

And one for the road, discreetly disguised in this vitamin water bottle.

Okay, straight up Sixth Avenue to 33rd Street.

But when I get there, these two smiling fellows tell me that it's closed due to low visibility. It seems that if it's foggy out, the Empire State Building closes.

And true, it is foggy, but I wish they would've announced this before I bought my ticket online an hour ago! And is it me, or has the Empire State Building mutated into the Cardboard Box Man...aaaahhhh!

According to their website they're open 365 days a year, rain or shine, maybe they should say if it's foggy you're shit out of luck. At least the ticket can be used again, we'll try this again next week.

And so to try and salvage this doomed evening, I thought I'd take you to the bar in the Empire State Building and maybe find some action there.

Here it is, The Empire Room.

It was kind of dead at the bar and nobody wanted to be photographed. This is one of those nights where you can't win. I should've gone to the Bronx Zoo!

I thought I'd get something to eat, just to get a photo of some food, something, anything to save this post, but I was told by the bartender who didn't want his photo taken that the kitchen was closed. That's the thing about doing a blog live, it doesn't always work. This is a good example. Here I'll show you a great equation for a shitty post.

An empty bar +

More of an empty bar =

Exit, stage left. What do you do when your post of the evening falls into the toilet?

You go across the street to the Papaya Dog. (Sorry, Al!)

Get a dog for a buck fifty...

And try, try again tomorrow. Hey, you can't script this stuff and it doesn't always work. We'll try this again next week. Hopefully tomorrow's post works better, now time to drown my sorrows in this dog and the beers left at home!

Further Reading: Wikipedia, Shades of Fun and IMDb.

Everywhere you go,
Always take the weather with you.

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