New York Habitat Blog

Imagine sampling delectable dishes from more than 40 of New York’s best restaurants — all in one night, all under one roof.  New York Taste, a culinary event held for charity, turns this foodie dream into a reality. 

On Monday, November 2nd, some of New York’s most celebrated chefs and mixologists will come together to serve up their signature dishes, all to benefit City Harvest. Held at the Skylight Lounge in SoHo, guests will be able to sample mouthwatering fare from an impressive lineup of participating restaurants, including Corton, Craft, Le Cirque, Morimoto, Bar Boulud and many more.

Hosted by New York magazine culinary editor, Gillian Duffy, a portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to the hunger-fighting organization. General admission tickets are available for $175 and VIP tickets for $250 at http://www.nymag.com/taste.

New York Taste

The two-hour event runs from 7:00-9:00 p.m., but a VIP ticket will grant you an extra hour to graze and chat with the chefs, starting at 6:00 p.m., as well as a VIP gift bag. Crowds gather quickly so get there early! Last year’s event drew more than 1,000 guests.

New York Habitat has gorgeous apartments conveniently located near the New York Taste event to help you be the first to nab those savory morsels, including:

- This spotless Alcove Studio Vacation Rental in Greenwich Village - Soho - New York (NY-12564) in the heart of the Village. Enjoy easy access to an array of restaurants, bars and shops.

- This tastefully furnished 2-Bedroom Vacation Rental in Noho - East Village - Lower East Side (NY-12499). The loft space includes high ceilings and a skylight.
Have you ever been to one of the New York Taste events? Do you have a favorite celebrity chef? Share your comments with us!

With the sudden surge of beer gardens cropping up around the city and the recent success of the 2nd annual New York Craft Beer Week, beer mania has officially taken over the Big Apple. There’s bacon-flavored beer, beer pairings and even a 1,000-seat beer hall opening this fall. For hop lovers interested in sampling top-notch local beer, look no further than the Brooklyn Brewery, creator of the famous Brooklyn Lager.

Now celebrating its 21st year, the Brooklyn Brewery was founded by former Associated Press correspondent Steve Hindy – who learned to brew beer while working in the dry Middle East – and his business partner Tom Porter. Tapping into Brooklyn’s rich brewing past – the borough was home to 48 breweries at the turn of the 20th century – the Brooklyn Brewery is now one of America’s top 40 breweries.

Brooklyn Brewery Logo

Located in a former matzo ball factory in the hipster neighborhood of Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Brewery is open to the public from noon – 6:00 p.m. on weekends, offering free brewery tours every hour on the hour from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.  While the “tour” isn’t so much a tour as a history lesson that takes place in the industrial brewhouse, amid enormous vats of Brooklyn Brown Ale, it is interesting nonetheless. (One fun fact: the Brooklyn Brewery’s logo was designed by Milton Glaser, the man behind the famous “I love New York” logo.)

The brewery also hosts a Friday night Happy Hour from 6:00 – 11:00 p.m. In addition to standards like the Brooklyn Lager, visitors can also sample some of the brewery’s tasty seasonal microbrews, like the Oktoberfest Beer or Pumpkin Ale, for $4 a piece or 6 for $20, in the beer-drenched tasting room. For information on how to get to the brewery, visit the Brooklyn Brewery’s website.

If you want to join in New York’s beer mania, plan a trip to the Brooklyn Brewery this fall. New York Habitat has the perfect vacation rental for you. Choose from incredible Brooklyn and Manhattan apartments, including:

- This cozy 1-Bedroom Apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (NY-12778), located in a charming pre-war walk-up building. Enjoy the apartment’s exposed brick and colorful rooms.

- This bright and spacious 2-Bedroom Vacation Rental in Noho - East Village - Lower East Side (NY-12499). The apartment is tastefully furnished and very large by New York standards. Enjoy the 12-foot-high ceilings, skylight and views of Manhattan’s rooftops and bridges.

- This stunning 3-Bedroom Vacation Rental in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (NY-12841), located on the upper three floors of a four-story townhouse. Enjoy the triplex’s terrace and garden.

Have you ever been to the Brooklyn Brewery? Do you have a favorite Brooklyn beer? Share your comments with us!

Each summer, images flash across our television screens of international cyclists dashing across one of Europe’s most scenic countries, France. We watch as the lean riders pass by villages still bearing World War II scars in Normandy and over bridges in Ardeche that were built by the Roman Empire. We gaze at the cyclists as they climb up and down the Pyrenees and up and over the Alps, but really we are looking out past them, imagining ourselves in the idyllic landscapes of modern France. More and more travellers are forgoing the dirtied windows of the tour bus and are renting bicycles to explore places and people at their own, more intimate pace. Visitors to New York are doing just that as those in the travel industry have seen a noticeable shift in the way in which voyagers move from one place to the next. In addition to being an active and free way to enjoy a city, bikes allow visitors to step off of the beaten path and to explore areas of a city that they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to. And the Bronx is one of those places.

New York apartment: 2-bedroom in Midtown-East (NY-14340)

Much like the rest of New York City the Bronx is enjoying a long resurgence. The crime and neglect that still defines the borough for many out-of-towners has been largely contained and eliminated. Neighborhoods that were once abandoned are now feeling the full force of gentrification. Even the infamous South Bronx is being populated by Manhattanites in search of cheaper rent. Today’s Bronx is a culturally vibrant and architecturally-rich community of working class New Yorkers, which is a great place for travellers to discover on the seat of a bike. For visitors not familiar with the Bronx it’s better to ride with a group. On October 18th, the Tour de Bronx bike event will be held for the 15th consecutive year. The ride features normally inaccessible thoroughfares closed to vehicular traffic, as the mapped-out ride takes cyclists past historic districts, numerous parklands and the Bronx shoreline. There is both a 25-mile route and a 40-mile route for more-experienced cyclists. Police escorts, safety staff and volunteers will all be on hand to make sure that the event goes smoothly. The Tour de Bronx is a wonderful way to visit a borough that normally sits off of traveller’s radar but is worth a visit.

Below are a few New York Habitat accommodations to get your apartment search started:

• This 2-bedroom rental apartment in Hamilton Heights, Uptown (NY-12770) offers hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and comfortable, modern furnishings.
• This 1-bedroom rental accommodation in Harlem, Uptown (NY-14323) also offers hardwood floors and exposed brick. The apartment also features a fireplace and an ideal Harlem location.
• This 2-bedroom rental apartment in Midtown East (NY-14340) features a fully renovated space with a designer’s touch.

What we look for in a good travel experience doesn’t change much. We set out with our entire families or just a pack on our backs in search of interesting people and places, new ways to experience the world and food, traditions and ways of living that challenge our preconceived notions. The ways in which we travel, however, is always changing; we’ve moved from word-of-mouth travel advice to the word of a trusted print travel guide to the opinions of other jet-setters on internet discussion boards. Voyages that once took months of preparation and weeks of hard travel now take a credit card and a short flight. With all of the changes in travel it is all the more important to stay on the cutting edge in order to find the next unforgettable travel experience. The Adventures in Travel Expo taking place this October in New York City’s Jacob Javitz Center tackles the evolving travel industry with the verve of an 18th-century explorer. New York Habitat apartments are available during the expo so travellers can have a comfortable place to lay their heads while they dream about that next international jaunt.

New York Accommodation: 3-bedroom rental in Midtown West (NY-10971)

The two-day travel expo has something for every traveller out there. Not just an event for those working within the industry, the expo features informative seminars, hundreds of tour operators and experts, hands-on adventure activities and authentic cultural performances. Featured speakers include Arthur Frommer, renowned travel guide creator, Patricia Schultz, author of 1,00 Places to Visit Before you Die, Tony Wheeler, the founder and CEO of Lonely Planet, and Holly Morris, the host of Globe Trekker. Vendors, travel associations and tour operators from every corner of the world will be on hand to answer questions and entice the curious while presentations by writers and filmmakers from National Geographic Adventure will have guests in awe. A highlight of the expo is the interactive adventure activities. Guests will have the opportunity to climb a rock wall, learn to scuba dive in a heated pool and participate in an indoor ropes course.

New York Habitat apartments are still available during the weekend of October 10-11, below are a few to get your search started:

-This studio rental apartment in Upper West Side (NY-12072) features a cozy interior space and a lovely balcony with space for dinner for two. 

-This 2-bedroom rental accommodation in East Village-Lower East Side (NY-7311) is an ideal choice for jet-setting families. The apartment features a spacious backyard (In Manhattan!) and a bedroom decorated with a child’s interests in mind.

-This 3-bedroom rental apartment in Midtown West-Chelsea (NY-10971) offers some rare architectural charms and is located in one of Manhattan’s great neighbourhoods.

Let us know what your dream vacation is below. Is it an adventure cruise on the Amazon, a hiking trip in New Zealand or a weekend in a New York High Rise? Whatever it is, let us know below.

The Strand Bookstore is a New York Institution. Opened in 1927 and still operated by the same family, the store has withstood the Great Depression, The Second World War and, perhaps most impressively, the watershed changes from text to digital literacy practices and the onslaught of the corporate bookseller. Despite a massive Barnes and Noble bookstore just a few blocks away, The Strand is the preferred bookshop for any New Yorker in the know. But more than just a bookstore, The Strand is an essential stop for any visiting bibliophile looking to be overwhelmed or traveller in search of yet another example of this city’s gigantesque.

The Strand Bookstore New York City

The Strand’s name is fondly followed by “18 Miles of Books.” This bold phrase describes the length and depth of the bookstores crammed shelves. It’s really that big. The phrase was first coined in the 1970’s as “8 miles of books” by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George F. Will. The store has grown some “10 miles” since then. The iconic store caters to just about every literary interest, from readers looking for the latest on the best seller’s list to students in search of the classics at cheap prices, to people interested in the occult, sciences and just about every other type of book in print. And for all of the tourists packing Strand isles there is a large section on travel books, which could come in handy should you find yourself in the big city without a clue. Bibliophile or not, the Strand is a must-see simply for what it means to New York and the Union Square section of Manhattan as much for the books contained within its creaky space.

New York accommodation 1-bedroom in the Lower East Side (NY-11706)

New York Habitat has apartments all around the island of Manhattan that are within a short jaunt of the fabled bookstore. Here are a few to get your search started:

-This studio apartment rental in Upper West Side (NY-7620) offers hardwood florrs, lots of direct sunlight and a classic New York feel.
-This 1-bedroom accommodation rental in Upper East Side (NY-14325) features parquet wood floors and is on the 1st floor of a pre-war building.
-This 1-bedroom rental apartment in East Village-Lower East Side (NY-11706) is bathed in direct sunlight and features a balcony with skyline views.

Ever been to the Strand Bookstore? If so, what section did you gravitate to the most? Foreign languages? Literary Classics? The Occult?

During parts of the 1970’s and 80’s Central Park was often a scary place to be. Runners were told to steer clear of the reservoir loop at night, women were advised to keep a friend or two by their sides during park outings and dozens of out-of-luck men and struggling young people even spent desperate nights in one of the United States’ great urban landmarks. That era was surely one of the darkest in the park’s history, rivalled perhaps only by the period that saw the Hooverville shanty camps of the Great Depression. Today’s Central Park is enjoying a prolonged renaissance. The park is the envy of international cities that can only dream of having this much useful, manicured, diverse and safe green space in the geographic center of their metropolis. Contemporary Central Park is one of the safest places to be in an already secure large urban center. Nonetheless, the park does get quite scary at certain times of the year, especially if you happen to be a five-year-old on October 31st.

Central Park New York

Today’s park is a haven for families as much as any other group for myriad reasons, one of which being the diverse slate of events put together each month by the Central Park Conservancy. This Halloween’s Central Park offering really does have something for families of all stripes. On October 23rd the park will hold a pumpkin carving workshop designed specifically for families with children ages 6 years and older. All pumpkins carved, no matter how aesthetically advanced will be eligible to take part in the famous pumpkin sail on Sunday the 25th. On the same Sunday afternoon as the pumpkin flotilla will be the annual Halloween parade, including storytelling, pumpkin crafts, live music and, of course, plenty of candy. On Thursday, October 29th the park will hold yet another crafting event at its Chess and Checkers House while Central Park’s main holiday event will take place on the 30th when Belvedere Castle will be transformed into a haunted house. Adults looking to get in on the fun can participate in a workshop on making impressive jack-o’-lanterns that acts both as workshop and social hour. All of the Central Park Conservancy events are free to the public and require no advance registration, only a half-way descent costume.

Another scary New York experience can be arriving at a hotel that is not quite as advertised. With New York Habitat’s pre-screened apartments travellers won’t have to worry about the fright that comes with finding a closet-sized hotel room with that un-clean aura. Below are a few clean and cozy New York Habitat accommodations available at the end of October:

-This 2-bedroom rental apartment in Harlem, Uptown (NY-12688) is housed in a quintessential Harlem townhouse and features hardwood floors, a renovated kitchen and large, bright windows.

-This 2-bedroom apartment rental in Midtown East (NY-12498) is just a few blocks from the green acres of Central Park and is fully renovated from stainless steel appliances to finished hardwood floors.

Ever been in New York for Halloween? Tell us about your experiences below.

You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time when you stumble upon Stone Street, a tiny cobblestone alley hidden among Lower Manhattan’s towering skyscrapers. Considered to be the first paved street in New York, Stone Street is now a historic landmark. Today its restored 19th-century buildings are home to an international mix of restaurants and bars, making it a unique dining destination you won’t want to miss.

Stone Street New York

During the warmer months, umbrella-topped tables fill the narrow, pedestrian-only street. Seating from one restaurant flows right into the next, creating a community of diners and revelers down the two-block stretch of cobblestone. Visitors can enjoy Swedish meatballs at the Scandinavian restaurant, Smorgas Chef; seasonal ales from the Greek-Irish pub, Ulysses’; or gourmet pizza at Adrienne’s Pizza Bar.

Located in the heart of the Financial District, the Stone Street Historic District includes the swath of land between Hanover Square and Stone, Pearl and South William Streets. Stone Street is actually cleaved in two by the Goldman Sachs building but the historic section is on the east side.

Downtown Manhattan is a perfect place to stay while in New York. Consider one New York Habitat’s gorgeous apartment rentals near the social scene on Stone Street:

- This impeccable 1-Bedroom Vacation Rental in Tribeca (NY-8901), located on the third floor of a prewar building registered as a national historic landmark. The apartment features high ceilings, high-quality furniture and artwork.

- This approximately 1,200-square-foot 2-Bedroom Vacation Rental in Tribeca (NY-347), located in a former industrial building. The spacious loft apartment has a huge living space and sleeps 4-6 guests.

Have you ever been to Stone Street? Share your comments with us!