By Alexandra Cohen
New York City has always ranked amongst my favourite places in the world to visit. It seems to buzz with an energy that is difficult to describe without feeling it for yourself. Of course, I was thrilled when the opportunity presented itself for my friend and I to head over there for a long weekend. We certainly made the most of every minute that we had!
New York’s landmark historic Jewish neighborhood, the Lower East Side, was once home to the world’s largest Jewish community. Covering the area between Houston and Canal Streets east of the Bowery, this neighborhood is where New York’s garment industry began. Today it is a bargain hunter’s paradise! The overall New York Jewish community in the metropolitan area has remained stable at 1.4 million people, while the population of New York City is just below a million.
In New York City, Jewish life is just a walk down the street. The Jewish Museum (www.thejewishmuseum.org) at 1109 Fifth Ave. (northeast corner of 92nd St.) is dedicated to presenting the remarkable scope and diversity of Jewish culture. You can also visit the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan (www.jccmanhattan.org) at The Samuel Priest Rose Building (334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street). The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust (http://www.mjhnyc.org) first opened its doors on September 15, 1997 at 36 Battery Place. The Museum differs from other institutions of memory by telling the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of those who experienced it themselves.
WHERE TO STAY: During our visit, we stayed at Arlo Midtown, a two-year-old hotel property located right between Times Square and the Hudson Yards, on 38th street and 9th avenue. If the hotel name sounds familiar to you, perhaps that is because Arlo Hotels is an independent, four-star lifestyle hotel brand, with two other locations in New York City, two in Miami, and the newest property having just opened in Chicago. Featuring 489 guest rooms and suites, Arlo Midtown also features a modern-looking lobby bathed in greenery, with a coffee shop and plenty of comfortable, cushioned seating.
While the hotel has six different room types available for all travelers, my friend and I stayed in a King room on the 20th floor, which featured an incredibly comfortable bed, a view of nearby skyscrapers, and calming colour palates of white, grey, and light blue. One of the room’s highlights was a comfortable window bench, which you will find in most of the hotel’s rooms. Rooms are also equipped with bedside wireless charging stations, Bluetooth radios, 55” LED TVs, and complimentary WiFi. The bathroom includes a glass-enclosed shower and softly backlit bathroom mirrors.
Another hotel highlight is the rooftop, where you can soak up some beautiful panoramic views of the city, including the Empire State Building, from 26 stories as you socialize with friends, mingle with colleagues, or celebrate with family over craft beers, fine wines, creative cocktails, and light bites.
The hotel’s business features include a variety of flexible meeting and event spaces, with seven venues offering a total of 7,334 square feet of meeting space spanning across three floors. The hotel’s leisure facilities include a state-of-the-art fitness facility, outfitted with traditional weights and cardio equipment, in addition to Peloton bikes, an Interactive Fitness Mirror, a yoga studio, and more.
An Urban Fee of $25 (plus tax) is added per night throughout your stay and covers the following perks: property-wide internet access, local and long-distance calls within the United States, complimentary Citi Bike day passes, the on-site gym, and two bottles of water when you check in. The hotel also allows pets! Up to two dogs or cats are allowed per room, provided that they are under 75 pounds, for a fee of $20 (plus tax) per night. All animals must be registered with the front desk upon arrival.
For more information, visit www.arlohotels.com/arlo-midtown or call 212.343.7000
PLENTY TO DO: There is so much to do in the city. This includes Broadway shows, museums, tourist attractions like Ellis Island, the 9-11 Memorial, parks, shopping, fine dining, people watching at Times Square, sports events and much more.
DINING OUT: New York City kosher restaurants offer a variety of cuisines, from Israeli and Middle Eastern to Central Asian to Chinese vegetarian to Mediterranean Some of the best kosher restaurants in the Big Apple are Azuri Café, Taam-Tov, Buddha Bodai Kosher Vegetarian, Pitopia and Liebman’s Kosher Delicatessen Brooklyn also has many kosher dining and catering options, such as Bourbon and Bison and Kosher Palace Supermarket.
Globally acclaimed burger joint, Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, owned by husband and wife duo Chris Barish and Julie Mulligan, continues to expand within the United States, bringing their award-winning burgers and world famous CrazyShake® milkshakes to fans in more than 21 locations globally.
Black Tap, at first glance, is a classic burger joint with a downtown New York vibe. The menu offers something for everyone, from signature burgers like the All-American, chicken sandwiches, salads, wings, and a variety of snacks. Black Tap’s burgers have won awards across the world, and they are now five-time winners at the New York City Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash competition for the wagyu beef burger called The Greg Norman, the Italian-American inspired Mulberry Street Burger, and most recently for The Wagyu Steakhouse Burger. Black Tap’s famous CrazyShake® milkshakes, known for being highly Instagrammable, have reached worldwide acclaim with their whimsical and over-the-top flavors such as The CakeShake® and the Cookies ‘N Cream Supreme. Since opening its first 15-seat location in New York’s Soho neighborhood, Black Tap has expanded to the West Coast with locations in Las Vegas and Anaheim at the Downtown Disney District® at Disneyland Resort, and internationally to Dubai, Geneva, Zurich, Verbier, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.
We had a great time visiting Black Tap (www.blacktap.com) for the first time at the 35th Street location (known as Black Tap 35th). The space is inspired by 80s and 90s music, including an installation of 5,000 custom-designed cassette tapes and an oversized neon boombox. At the stand-alone Shake Bar—the first in New York—guests can get a glimpse into the magic of making one of Black Tap’s famous milkshake creations.
New York-based graffiti artists and twin brothers How and Nosm designed Black Tap 35th’s signature street art murals. Known for their large-scale installations and unique, complicated compositions, How and Nosm left their mark on the restaurant with their signature style of red, black, and white imagery.
Wanting to experience some of the restaurant’s award-winning burgers, my friend and I elected to try The Greg Norman, which is topped off with house buttermilk-dill, blue cheese, and argulua, and The Wagyu Steakhouse Burger, which includes pepperjack cheese, bacon, crispy onions, A1 sauce, and roasted garlic mayo. Both burgers were delicious, but the true highlight of the meal was the accompanying milkshakes. Restaurant-goers at nearby tables whose food had not yet arrived genuinely stopped to gawk when our server brought us our CakeShake and Strawberry Shortcake CrazyShakes. The size of an entire meal all on its own, my CakeShake included a cake batter milkshake with a vanilla-frosted rim, rainbow sprinkles, and whipped cream, all of which was topped off with an entire piece of Funfetti cake.
Black Tap 35th is located at 45 West 35th Street and is open from 11 am to midnight daily. You can call (646) 943-5135 for more information, or take a look at their social media for mouth-watering pictures.
There is a wheelchair access ramp to the left of the front door that goes into the hotel next door, where there is a side entrance leading into the restaurant. They have a few different seating places for handicap accessibility, as well as an ADA bar seating area. The ADA accessible bathroom is located in the back of the restaurant.
