A Walk From Lincoln Center to Zabar's


This stretch of Broadway takes in the sights of several new housing sky-rises, several theaters, and some flamboyant former apartment hotels of the early 20th century. Flâneurs will love the Belle Epoque ambiance of these overly-ornamented buildings, and the distance from W. 66th or so to W. 80th is not so taxing, especially if you're dressed in shoes for the opera.
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The Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway, another recently restored landmark, is a major venue with upcoming Spring 2009 concerts by Van Morrison, Levon Helm Band, Allman Brothers Band, and Bryan Adams. In addition, H.H. The Dalai Lama will be teaching here all day on on May 4. The Belleclaire Hotel, 250 W 77th St., dating from 1901-1903, is an exquisite Belle Epoque building, with several Art Nouveau features. An eclectic-looking First Baptist Church at 265 W 79th St. looks like a miniature Italian Renaissance castle, meaning it's like nothing you would expect for a Baptist Church.
Zabar's & Co., 2245 Broadway, will soon come up on the left, and you'll want to spend some time shopping the aisles for cheeses, breads, salamis, pickles, chocolates, babkas, rugelachs, prepared dinners and more. They have a cafe, too. Often in New York, we don't care to

Images by Walking Off the Big Apple from February 26, 2009.
Pictured here: A look up Broadway, The Ansonia, the Belleclaire Hotel, the First Baptist Church, and Zabar's. On Thursday I picked up dinner and some cheeses at Zabar's to take home and then got on the subway. While on the train, the emergency brake caused the train to stop, so I sat there with my groceries for nearly 45 minutes. It was OK, and I wasn't upset, because I knew I wasn't going to starve.
A NON-New York memory of Zabar's: When I was in high school, my father would frequently go to New York City on business. He always returned to rural Massachusetts with wonderful treats from Zabar's and Dean & Deluca--fabulous cheeses, and usually a coffee cake with some kind of chocolate in it. He would unpack his goody bag at breakfast the morning after his return and say happily, "Simple country food........" Yum!
ReplyDeleteThese few blocks are one of my very favorite chunks of Manhattan. When I show people the Ansonia, I always mention that The Sunshine Boys was set there. My younger friends say, "What?"
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